YK MYK US HOUSE PASSES BILLS GRANTING ‘DREAMERS’ PATH TO CITIZENSHIP WORLD Rs. 5 RANCHI SATURDAY, 20 MARCH, 2021 PG-12, YEAR—10, ISSUE—314 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) WEATHER TODAY MAX 33 C MIN 18 C MOUNI: BHAGWAT GEETA MUST BE PART OF SCHOOL CURRICULUM SCREEN & CINEMA Morning India CM launches scathing attack on ‘double engine’ govt SANJAY SAHAY Sky will be partly cloudy. AT A GLANCE FINLAND WORLD’S HAPPIEST COUNTRY, INDIA AT 140TH HELSINKI: For a fourth consecutive year and despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Finland has been ranked the world’s happiest country, a UN report said on Friday. The researchers said this was “no surprise”, citing that Finland has “always ranked very high on the measures of mutual trust that have helped to protect lives and livelihoods during the pandemic”, reports Xinhua news agency. Finland was one of 23 surveyed countries that had a female head of government. They “have tended to favour making policy with overall wellbeing as the objective, and this makes suppressing community transmission an even more obvious choice for them”, according to the World Happiness Report. The report is based on three years of Gallup surveys of how happy citizens perceive themselves to be. The US ranked 20th, Russia 77th, China 85th, and India 140th. Trailing the 149-strong list were Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and Afghanistan. RANCHI: Chief Minister (CM) Hemant Soren launched a bitter attack on the BJP -led opposition alliance saying it let the people down when their self-proclaimed 'double engine' government was in power. He added after voted out of power the BJP is trying to destabilise the government. Soren was giving a reply to the issues raised by the MLAs of both the ruling and the opposition benches. The BJP MLAs walked out of the house in protest in the middle of the CM's reply. The CM said that opposition leaders have raised the issue of scarcity of water, unemployment, lack of teachers but they could have done a lot when they were in power for so many years in the state. Terming the BJP government as 'nalayak', he said it closed down schools in the name of saving Rs 15,000 cores. He added several trips were made to Israel for increasing farmer's income. He said that the BJP government wasted Rs 40 crore on turning the Morhabadi ground into a replica of Times Square. He said that the government had even planned a flyover worth Rs 400 crore at places where traffic CH Hemant Soren arrives at Vidhan Sabha building in Ranchi on Friday. could have been made smooth by removing the encroachments. He stated that former minister CP Singh who is among the senior-most members of the house tore papers inside the assembly US Def Secy in Delhi to face Indo-Pacific ‘pressing challenges’ CORONA METER INDIA TOTAL CASES: 1,15,15,434 TOTAL DEATH: 159,414 WORLD TOTAL CASES: 122,507,465 TOTAL DEATH: 2,705,517 adding he should have been expelled for at least a week. The CM stated that the BJP - led government was voted out of power in state adding soon the people would perform the 'pindaan (last rites)' of the NDA alliance in the state. He said that BJP feels uneasy when our government is taking steps like 75 percent reservations for locals in the private sector. He said when his government was voted out of power in 201415 the rate of growth was 12.5 percent but the figures fell to 5.7 percent between 2015-19. He said the debt on the people increased from Rs 12,000 to Rs 24,000. He said that the state government has sent a proposal for a separate Sarna code for the Adivasi people in the population census but the centre has not taken a decision yet. He pointed out that Adivasi population is 11.5 crore in the state The CM said that he raised the issue of the state's dues on Coal India Limited with the centre but the latter simply assured to look into the matter. The CM began his speech by stating that despite being rich in resources Jharkhand was far behind in several national indicators. He said that the state government was sensitive to public issues raised in the house. WOMEN POWER Women personnel of CRPF march during the 82nd CRPF Raising Day Parade, in Gurugram on Friday. ANI NEW DELHI: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived here on Friday for discussions on cooperating to face “most pressing challenges” in the Indo-Pacific. The first visit by a member of US President Joe Biden’s cabinet to India came as leaders of the US and China clashed at a meeting in Alaska symbolising the growing aggressiveness by China. It is particularly seen in the IndoPacific region and the US is responding by working closely with allies and partners. India has seen a year of violent attacks by Chinese military against India along the Line of Actual Control in the Himalayas. Austin tweeted: “Thrilled to be here in India. The breadth of cooperation between our two nations reflects the significance of our major defence partnership, as we work together to address the most pressing challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region.” He is scheduled to hold discussions with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The Pentagon said that he will Five states account for 80.63 pc of daily COVID-19 cases, says ministry NEW DELHI: Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh continue to report a surge in fresh COVID-19 cases and they account for 80.63 per cent of the daily new cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. “Some states in the country are reporting a surge in the daily new COVID-19 cases. Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh together account 80.63 per cent of the daily new cases,” according to a statement. As many as 39,726 new daily cases were reported in last 24 hours. Maharashtra continues to record the highest daily new cases at 25,833, 65 per cent of the daily cases, followed by Punjab with 2,369 while Kerala reported 1,899 new cases. In terms of response, the Centre is actively engaging with all state and Union Territories (UTs) governments, especially those showing an upsurge in daily new cases and with a high caseload of active cases. The government is regularly reviewing the status of COVID-19 containment and public health measures with them, as per the statement. States/UTs have been advised to improve testing in districts reporting reduction in testing and increase the overall share of RT-PCR tests (more MORE ON PG 5 than 70 per cent). BENGAL POLLS: SHAH TO RELEASE BJP MANIFESTO TOMORROW also be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On his arrival in New Delhi, Austin was met by representatives of the three India armed forces and by US Defence Attache in New Delhi, Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher. The visit reflects President Biden’s focus on the Indo-Pacific region to meet the Chinese challenge. Last week Biden held a virtual summit with other leaders of the Quad, Prime Ministers Modi of India, Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan, at which they discussed security issues in the face of Chinese aggressive actions. NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will release the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for the West Bengal Assembly elections in Kolkata during his day-long visit to the poll-bound state on March 21. According to a statement issued by the BJP, Shah will hold a public meeting at Pallighai Scholl ground in Egra in Purba Medinipur district on March 21 (Sunday noon). Later, he will hold a meeting with district and divisional office bearers of the party at Mecheda. In the evening, the Union Home Minister will release BJP’s manifesto for the West Bengal Assembly elections. India’s middle class shrinks by 32 mn, poverty spreads due to Covid NEW DELHI: A new Pew Research Center analysis finds that the middle class in India is estimated to have shrunk by 32 million in 2020 as a consequence of the economic downturn, compared with the number it may have reached absent the Covid pandemic. This accounts for 60 per cent of the global retreat in the number of people in the middleincome tier defined here as people with incomes of $10.01-$20 a day. Meanwhile, the number of people who are poor in India (with incomes of $2 or less a day) is estimated to have increased by 75 million because of the Covid19 recession. This, too, accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the glob- al increase in poverty. Perhaps not surprisingly, media reports in India point to a spike in participation in its rural employment programme - originally intended to combat poverty in agricultural areas - as the many who have lost jobs in the reeling economy seek work. The number now participating is setting record highs in the programme’s 14-year history, Pew Research said. Prior to the pandemic, it was anticipated that 99 million people in India would belong in the global middle class in 2020. A year into the pandemic, this number is estimated to be have been 66 million, cut by a third. Meanwhile, the number of poor in India is projected to have reached 134 PEOPLE’S PLIGHT A new Pew Research Center analysis finds that the middle class in India is estimated to have shrunk by 32 million in 2020 as a consequence of the economic downturn, compared with the number it may have reached absent the Covid pandemic. This accounts for 60 per cent of the global retreat in the number of people in the middle-income tier defined here as people with incomes of $10.01-$20 a day. Prior to the pandemic, it was anticipated that 99 million people in India would belong in the global middle class in 2020. A year into the pandemic, this number is estimated to be have been 66 million, cut by a third. Meanwhile, the number of poor in India is projected to have reached 134 million, more than double the 59 million expected prior to the recession. The poverty rate in India likely rose to 9.7 per cent in 2020. million, more than double the 59 million expected prior to the recession. The poverty rate in India likely rose to 9.7 per cent in 2020, up sharply from the January 2020 forecast of 4.3 per cent. Most people in India were in the global low-income tier in 2020. Some 1.20 billion people in India were expected to be in this tier in 2020 prior to the pandemic, accounting for 30 per cent of the world’s low income population. This number is projected to have dropped to 1.16 billion as the Covid-19 downturn pushed more people into poverty. For both India and China, the drop in living standards in 2020 is a sharp departure from recent trends. From 2011 to 2019, the THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE POOR IN INDIA (WITH INCOMES OF $2 OR LESS A DAY) IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE INCREASED BY 75 MILLION BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 RECESSION. New Pew Research Center number of poor in India is estimated to have decreased from 340 million to 78 million. The projected rise in poverty in 2020 when comparing pre-pandemic and revised figures - 75 million claws back several years of progress on this front for India. The retreat of India’s middle class in 2020 - by 32 million - also looms large in the context of the addition of 57 million to this income tier from 2011 to 2019. For Indian trade, 2020 was a year dominated by unprecedented challenges, irregular manufacturing and buying patterns, disrupted trade environments and lack of predictability, Maersk report said on Friday. With the Covid-19 pandemic spreading across the world in a staggered manner and in varying proportions, the impact on containerised trade was felt the most in Q2/2020 when exports contracted by 34 per cent.