YK MYK OMICRON VARIANT DEEPENS PROBLEM OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE COUNTRY OPINION Rs. 3 KOLKATA WEDNESDAY, 12 JAN, 2022 PG- 8, YEAR— 8, ISSUE—232 (RNI NO: WBENG / 2014 / 56803) AT A GLANCE PM TO INAUGURATE NATL YOUTH FESTIVAL TODAY NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 25th National Youth Festival on Wednesday in Puducherry via video conferencing on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, that is, National Youth Day. Briefing media persons virtually about the National Youth Festival 2022, Secretary, Youth affairs, Usha Sharma said that the Festival aims to shape the minds of India's youth and transform them into a united force for nation-building. "As we celebrate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, his teachings and eternal beliefs in the power of youth greatly resonate with the changing times in India," she said. SHIRSHENDU MUKHOPADHYAY TESTS COVID POSITIVE IPL 2022: LUCKNOW, AHMEDABAD FRANCHISE RECEIVE FORMAL NOD SPORTS Morning India 30k COVID tests on Vivekananda’s birthday in Diamond Harbour: Abhishek Banerjee MI NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee announced to conduct 30,000 COVID test at his constituency in Diamond Harbour on Swami Vivekananda's birthday on Wednesday. Abhishek Banerjee published a leaflet announcing the programme on Tuesday. It read, "The service and welfare of our people will always be on the priority list." Conducting 30,000 COVID-19 tests at a Lok Sabha seat in the State is considered by some doctors as an important step in tackling the infection. The list and phone numbers of the 15 COVID management control rooms in the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha con- stituency were also released on Tuesday. Besides Diamond Harbour, there are control rooms at Budge Budge, Maheshtala, Pujali, Falta, Bishnupur and Thakurpukur areas. Earlier, Banerjee had announced 'Doctor on Wheels' service at his Lok Sabha constituency. That project has been launched since Tuesday. Doctors will reach home for the treatment of COVID19 patients in the area through that service. It has been initially decided that doctors will reach the infected area in a vehicle. The project has been started in collaboration with the district administration and the doctors' organisation 'Protect the Warrior'. BATTLE FOR UTTAR PRADESH Cabinet Minister Swami Prasad Maurya quits BJP NEW DELHI: In the first major jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, senior minister and prominent leader from the backward community Swami Prasad Maurya has left the party to join the opposition ranks. The resignation has brought cheer to the opposition camps, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Uttarakhand, where many BJP legislators have resigned to join the opposition. Reacting to the developments, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said in Mumbai that he is working towards a joint opposition in Goa, and more MLAs will join the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. He said: "The people of Uttar Pradesh are looking for a change and they will ensure change in the state." Since these developments, the Opposition has got a major boost as the Congress is the principal opposition party in Uttarakhand and Goa. In the hill state, the party has already poached a few MLAs, and a few others are due to join the party, though the names have not been disclosed by the Congress. The Samajwadi Party which was feeling the heat after the BJP took early leads in the campaigning has also got some boost in the form of Swami Prasad Maurya who is considered to have influence in the eastern and central Uttar Pradesh. In Uttar Pradesh after Maurya, Roshan Lal Varma, another BJP MLA - Brijesh Prajapati from Tindwari in Banda -- has said that he has submitted his resignation from the saffron party. R-Day celebrations to take place with stricter curbs KOLKATA: Veteran literatteur Shirshendu Mukherjee tested positive for Coronavirus. He is in seclusion at home. He was tested on Monday for cold, cough and weakness. His test report came positive on Tuesday. Mukherjee went to Malda on January 2 to inaugurate a book fair. The book fair was postponed later. After returning home from Malda, he developed the symptoms of cold, cough and physical weakness. Following which he took a COVID test. The test report came positive on Tuesday. Informing about his health, the author said, "I never had fever, my symptoms include fatigue, weakness, and loss of taste." Further reduction in number of visitors likely LATA MANGESHKAR ADMITTED TO ICU AFTER CONTRACTING COVID-19 NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday successfully testfired a naval variant of the advanced supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from a stealth guided-missile destroyer of the Indian Navy. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said the missile hit the designated target "precisely". "Advanced sea to sea variant of BrahMos Supersonic Cruise missile was tested from INS NEW DELHI: Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar was recently admitted to a Mumbai hospital after she was diagnosed with COVID-19. The veteran singer was admitted to Mumbai's Breach Candy hospital on Monday. "Didi is admitted to ICU after she was diagnosed with COVID-19. Dr Pratik Samdani is treating her and he says that there is nothing serious but she needs to be kept in ICU for precautionary reasons seeing her age. We hope she will recover soon. Please respect our privacy and keep didi in your prayers," Mangeshkar's niece Rachna told ANI. NEW DELHI: In wake of the ongoing third wave of COVID19 in the country, the Republic Day celebrations will take place with stricter restrictions than the ones imposed last year with the possibility of further reduction in the number of visitors allowed to witness the parade, said an official from the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday. The officials told ANI that a joint meeting was held by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Defence and other concerned agencies to discuss the safety and security of visitors during the event. It was decided in the meeting that there will be stricter restrictions during the Republic Day celebrations this year in addition to the restrictions imposed last year. "The route of the parade will be shorter as similar to last year. The marching contingent will end at the India Gate C-Hexagon instead of Red Fort. The Rajpath that has been redeveloped under Central Vista has been opened between Vijay Chowk Advanced version of BrahMos missile test-fired Visakhapatnam today. Missile hit the designated target ship precisely," the DRDO tweeted. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the successful launch of the missile reconfirmed the robustness of the Indian Navy's "mission readiness". "The robustness of @indiannavy mission readiness is reconfirmed today after successful launch of the advanced version of BrahMos Missile from INS Vishakhapatnam today. PEOPLE WILL CHOOSE NEXT CM: SIDHU CHANDIGARH: To position himself as the chief ministerial candidate of the Congress in Punjab, state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday said it is the people who will choose the next Chief Minister of the state. Unveiling the first set of plans in his Punjab Model with focus on resurrection of Punjab, Sidhu, in the absence of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his Cabinet colleagues, told the media here: "Punjab Model is people's model, an effort to give a roadmap to return power to people." British judge rules BR Shetty to pay Barclays $131 mn NEW DELHI/LONDON: Barclays can enforce a $131 million judgment to recover unpaid bills from embattled NMC Health founder B.R. Shetty following the failure of a foreign exchange venture, a British judge has ruled, The National reported. The UK-based international bank had sought to claw back its losses after the businessman's Abu Dhabibased UAE Exchange Centre (UAEEC) reneged on a currency-swap agreement in March 2020 with his empire on the brink of collapse. Barclays gave UAEEC more than $129 million in less than a week, but never received the expected currencies in exchange as share trading in parent company Finablr was suspended on the London Stock Exchange amid a massive accounting scandal, the report said. A court in Dubai ruled in favour of the bank in April last year, prompting Barclays to go to the High Court in London to enforce the ruling and tap the cricket lover's frozen assets around the world, the report added. They include his only known English asset, a $5.4 million penthouse close to the Lord's cricket ground in north-west London. The flat is owned by Shetty through a British Virgin Islands company, Multi Skies Ltd, according and India Gate for rehearsal of contingent participating in Republic Day Parade 2022," the official told ANI. "All invitees attending parade at Rajpath on Republic Day have to strictly comply with the COVID-19 advisory that includes temperature check, sanitizer, mask, and social distancing. The decision on making vaccine certificate mandatory for invitees will be decided in the next meeting," he added. The official further informed that just like last year, the entry to the Republic Day parade will strictly be through the invitation card, and added that children below the age of 15 years will not be allowed at the parade. Doctors visit the transit camp at Babughat specially arranged for Gangasagar pilgrims to assess the COVID situation on Tuesday. Prabir Bhattacharya Goa polls ‘No discussions held on possible alliance with TMC in meeting with Rahul Gandhi’ MI NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal has said that no talks regarding an alliance with Trinamool Congress were held during his meeting with Rahul Gandhi. Taking to Twitter, the senior Congress leader said that the rumour in circulation that a possible alliance with the TMC was discussed by Rahul Gandhi in the meeting is completely "baseless and untrue". "The rumour in circulation that a possible alliance with TMC was discussed by Shri Rahul Gandhi in today's meeting is completely baseless & untrue. Let me assure that the Congress party is confidentwe will put Goa back on the path to progress soon," Venugopal tweeted. Derek O’Brien seeks parl panel meet T Rahul Gandhi returned back to India on Sunday night from his personal visit abroad, informed party sources on Monday. He held a meeting on Monday evening with General Secretary KC Venugopal and Senior Observer of AICC for Goa P Chidambaram through video conferencing and took stock of the poll preparedness and Congress campaign strat- egy in the state where voting for assembly polls is scheduled to be held on February 14. Earlier, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also said that it won't forge an alliance with Trinamool Congress for the 2022 Goa assembly elections. Meanwhile, in a major pre-poll promise, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) com- rinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien, who had last week sought a discussion on 'Tek Fog' app in the forthcoming meeting of parliamentary committee of Home has now sought a meeting of the panel stating that "use of such manipulative technology is a danger to national security and democratic rights of free speech and unfettered media". Congress leader Anand Sharma heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home. In his fresh letter, Derek O'Brien, also a member of the panel, said he was bringing to attention "new developments on the matter of the use of a violative software application called 'Tek Fog'". He also referred to the Pegasus row and said the "hacking technique was formerly used by the Pegasus spyware before the NSO Group developed an even more sophisticated zero-click hijacking method". bine on Tuesday, promised subsidised housing to 50,000 homeless native families and an expeditious process for clear land title to long-staying tenants, defined under the twin legislations, namely 'The Goa Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964' and 'The Goa Daman & Diu Mundkars (Protection from eviction) Act, 1975'. Innovation, start-ups will get boost from edu sector NEW DELHI: Our Higher Educational institutions have enormous potential to serve as enablers in the Indian innovation and start-up ecosystem said Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for Education while addressing E- Symposium On 'Building Innovation Ecosystem In Educational Institutes' organised by Ministry of Education, DPIIT, AICTE and Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education. The Minister also launched a movie on Smart India Hackathon. Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shared his vision of building a new and Aatmanirbhar Bharat. "This could be achieved by supportive ecosystem and dedication and efforts of our innovators and entrepreneurs," he added. He stressed that the India of tomorrow should merge the best of our tradition with the best of the modern global outlook. Singh further said, "Our country has one of the largest higher education systems and the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world. We strive to be a knowledge-based economy and this is not possible without innovative sprit and entrepreneurship within our educational institutions." The Minister urged the educational institutions in India to shift their mind-set and create environment that supports high-quality research, innovation, and entrepreneurship leading to commercialization and technology transfer. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh also congratulated the 75 start-ups who were identified by the Ministry of Education as part of the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebration. These 75 startups of students and faculty have developed innovative technologies and have huge potential. The start-ups received funding support upto Rs 10 lakhs each and moreover mentoring and incubation support will also be provided in collaboration with partnering agencies. K Sanjay Murthy, Secretary, Department of Higher Education said, "In India currently we have 2500 Innovation Cell and an additional 5000 cells will be added in the future." He informed that 50,000 teachers under the ambassador program are being trained which will bring huge transformation in education sector. "This is a culture of innovation and these type of events motivate the youth to come forward and showcase new ideas and capabilities," he added. Anita Karwal, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy talked about how India's young minds are focusing more on developing problem-solving skills. She appreciated the huge participation of young girls in such nation and character building events indicating the success of New Education Policy (NEP) 2020's vision of equitable education. MORE ON PG 7