YK MYK EVERY POLITICAL LEADER INCLUDING PUNJAB CM ONLY CONCERNED ABOUT IMPACT ON POLL OPINION Rs. 5 RANCHI MONDAY, 17 JAN, 2022 PG-12, YEAR—11, ISSUE— 250 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) AT A GLANCE LATA MANGESHKAR CONTINUES TO BE IN ICU: DOCTOR MUMBAI: Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar continues to be under treatment in the ICU of a city hospital here, the doctor treating her said on Sunday. The 92-yearold singer tested positive for coronavirus with mild symptoms and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai last week. Associate professor Dr Pratit Samdani from the Breach Candy Hospital told PTI, "She continues to be in the ICU and is under treatment". Mangeshkar's niece Rachana Shah had on Thursday said the singer is doing well and requested the media to respect the privacy of the family. Regarded as one of Indian cinema's greatest singers, Mangeshkar started her career at the age of 13 in 1942 and has over 30,000 songs to her credit in several Indian languages. INDIA LOGS 2,71,202 NEW COVID CASES NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing Covid-19 resurgence, India reported 2,71,202 fresh Covid cases in last 24 hours which pushed the active caseload to 15,50,377, accounting for 4.18 per cent of the country's total positive cases, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Sunday. Also in the same period, there were 314 additional fatalities which increased the nationwide death toll to 4,86,066. Meanwhile, the Omicron infection tally also climbed to 7,743, an increase of 28.17 per cent from Saturday's figure. The recovery of 1,48,331 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 3,50,85,721. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 94.51 per cent. CORONA METER INDIA TOTAL CASES: 37,122,164 TOTAL DEATHS: 486,094 WORLD TOTAL CASES: 327,199,527 TOTAL DEATHS: 5,555,306 INDIA OPEN BADMINTON: SATWIK-CHIRAG PAIR WINS MEN'S DOUBLES TITLE SPORTS Morning India ISI activates terror wings to derail Punjab, UP polls: Intel NEW DELHI: With an aim to to derail the electioneering process in the state and to increase the Khalistani footprints in Punjab, the Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has activated its terror outfits to execute more terror activities in the state and also in some parts of Uttar Pradesh, the Intelligence agencies have warned. The sources in the security set up, quoting the intelligence inputs, said that the ISI sponsored Sikh terror outfits may target the election rallies and may attempt to hit some important leaders or VVIP during the electioneering process in Punjab, parts of UP and Uttarkhand. Considering Punjab election as an apt opportunity to reactivate the Khalistani movement in the state and also in other poll bound states wherein the Sikh voters are in large numbers, the ISI has activated all small or big terror groups which have been tasked to derail the poll process in the state, the sources further said. The inputs have been shared by the Punjab, UP and Uttrakhand administrations which disclosed that these outfits may try to make inroad among Sikh population in other states too to gain their supports for their cause. The ISI has also conveyed these proscribed Sikh Militant organizations that this is a time of 'Now or Never' for Khalistan. Accordingly, the UP and Uttarakhand governments have been asked to keep a vigil on these activities and to keep in touch with the Sikh religious leaders and prominent persons in these states. The ISI has instructed the Sikh militant groups which are active abroad to channelize the supply of weapons and explosives in Punjab and the organizations like International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) to arrange the supply of weapons through Pakistani handlers. The sources, quoting the intelligence input, also said that Sikh militant Wadhava Singh Babbar of BKI, Parmjit Singh Panjawar of Khalistan India’s vax drive has added great strength in fight against Covid: PM NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that India's vaccination programme has added great strength to the fight against Covid-19. On completion of one year of vaccination drive, Modi saluted each and every individual who is associated with the vaccination drive. The Prime Minister lauded the role of doctors, nurses and healthcare workers for vaccination drive. He said that India's vaccination programme has added great strength to the fight against Covid-19. In response to a tweet by MyGovIndia in a series of tweets, the Prime Minister said, "Today we mark #1YearOfVaccineDrive. I salute each and every individual who is associated with the vaccination drive. Our vaccination programme has added great strength to the fight against COVID-19. It has led to saving lives and thus protecting livelihoods." "When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck, we did not know much about the virus. However, our scientists and innovators immersed themselves in developing vaccines. India feels proud that our nation has been able to contribute to fighting the pandemic through vaccines," he said. The Prime Minister mentioned that role of our doctors, nurses and health care workers is exceptional. "At the same time, the role of our doctors, nurses and healthcare workers is exceptional. When we see glimpses of people being vaccinated in remote areas, or our healthcare workers taking the vaccines there, our hearts and minds are filled with pride," he said. The Prime Minister emphasized that India's approach to fighting the pandemic will remain science based. "India's approach to fighting the pandemic will always remain science based. We are also augmenting health infrastructure to ensure our fellow citizens get proper care," Modi said. Commando Force and Ranjeet Singh Neeta of Khalistan Zindabad Force are in constant touch with ISI and executing the instructions while Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of Sikh for Justice who have already been declared terrorist by Indian authorities, is also active in the UK, the US and Germany to support his men in Punjab by all means. They also said that Lakhveer Singh led ISYF has a substantial influence in the villages at international border with Pakistan and many of his henchmen are expert in making bombs and other explosive devices. Singh has been tasked to arrange safe passage in Punjab of these explosive materials once it is smuggled in to Indian Territory, the sources revealed. The use of drones for transporting weapons and explosives across the border LAKSHYA SEN WINS INDIA OPEN 2022, DEFEATS LOH KEAN YEW IN SUMMIT CLASH NEW DELHI: India shuttler Lakshya Sen won the men's singles final of the ongoing India Open 2022 here at the KD Jadhav Stadium here on Sunday. Lakshya Sen defeated Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 24-22, 21-17 in the summit clash that lasted for 54 minutes. This is the first time that Sen has managed to win the Super 500 title in his career. Lakshya Sen was comfortably leading the first game, but world champion Kean Yew came from behind, and it was evenly poised at 22-22. The India shuttler then raised his game to win the first game 24-22. The 20-year-old Sen continued with his momentum and he went on to win the summit clash in straight games. Earlier on Sunday, the duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy clinched victory in the men's doubles finals of Indian Open 2022, which is part of the BWF World Tour tournament series. The Indian pair defeated the Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in straight games 21-16, 26-24 in the summit clash that lasted for 43 minutes. Tableau politics heats up ahead of Republic day parade NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Republic day parade, politics of tableau has heated up after Centre rejected the proposals of Kerala and West Bengal governments with Mamata Banerjee shooting off a letter to the Prime Minister and Congress alleging partisan and vindictiveness in the selection of the states for the Tableau. Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad has alleged that the BJP is vindictive towards non-NDA ruled states. "BJP is having vindictive attitude towards certain states. The Centre has rejected Kerala government's tableau which was based on Narayana Guru, a philosopher & social reformer." "He fought against casteridden society & rejecting his tableau is an insult to the spiritual guru. This smells of #BJP conspiracy." he added. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday too shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to reconsider the decision of excluding West Bengal's tableau. The tableau was to commemorate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army (INA) on his 125th birth anniversary. "All the people of West Bengal are deeply pained by this attitude of the central government. Bengal was at the forefront of the Indian freedom struggle and has paid the heaviest price for the country's Independence through the partition," Mamata in her letter said. Earlier, floor leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had written to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh over the issue and had said that he is disappointed and shocked. "It is an insult to the people of Bengal that the Central Government has rejected the proposal of West Bengal's tableau showcasing its cultural heritage and Netaji's life and contributions in our Freedom Struggle, on Republic Day", he said. has become a major challenge for the security forces in recent times along the Punjab border. According to the officials, over 60 incidents of drones have been spotted on the Indo-Pakistan border in Punjab sector. Many of them have been shot down by the Border security Force. The investigations into the recent Ludhiana blast have also revealed that how these Sikh Militant groups are trying to execute their terror attacks in the state with their overground workers. A senior official in the Punjab security grid said that the ISI has also activated the old terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e Mohammed, Indian Mujahideen and Hizbul Mujahideen and asked them to recreate their sleeper cell network in Punjab and other parts of UP too. These Pakistan Occupied Kashmir based terror wings have been more active in Jammu and Kashmir through over ground workers especially after the Taliban took over the reign in Afghanistan in August last year. He also said that by extending the jurisdiction of BSF up to 50 km from the border to the hinterland in Punjab will help the security forces to prevent the terror activities in forthcoming elections. CBSE set to conduct Class 10, 12 phase-2 board exams amid Covid surge NEW DELHI: As exams across the country have been scrapped in view of the surging Covid-19 cases, the CBSE Board and the Union Ministry of Education are all set to conduct Term 2 of the 10th and 12th board examinations, the first phase of which were held in November-December, 2021 and the second phase is scheduled to be conducted in MarchApril. The chances of the second term of the board examination getting cancelled this year are very slim, as health experts had earlier mentioned that the third wave is under control. The duration of the second phase of exams will be of two hours and the questions will be subjective. Dr. Joseph Emmanuel, Academic Director of CBSE, told IANS: "The sample question papers and the marking schemes for Term 2 examinations of Class 10 and 12 have been released on the website and the schools affiliated to CBSE Board have been alerted too." Sanyam Bhardwaj, CBSE's controller of examinations, said: "If the situation gets worse, only then the second term of examinations will not be held. Marks obtained in the first phase will be considered final and based on them, the results will be prepared. But if such a situation does not arise and the second term is held successfully, the final result will be decided on the basis of 50-50 per cent marks of these two terms." Both the Union Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health are paying special attention to the vaccination of students between the 15-18 years of age group so that they can appear for the board exams safely. Pankaj Rathore, principal of Seth Jaipuria School, said: "The preparation for the exam and the Covid situation has made children used to the hybrid mode of learning. School's new method of evaluation will help us move beyond the traditional notions of assessment. Schools must keep up with the situation and ensure that students are well prepared for pre board and board exams. He added: "Offline classes are being planned for these children after immunisation of the 15-18 years age group is complete. Vaccination camps within the school premises will help the children feel at home. It is important to observe the students for a few days after vaccination as their health is our top priority." Talking about the children's health being the first priority, the Ministry of Education said that the CBSE Board exams will be held while strictly adhering to all the Covid protocols. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is soon going to do a show called 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' for which more and more students, teachers and parents are being encouraged to register. According to the Ministry, this year the format of this programme has been proposed to be kept online like last year. An online creative writing competition on various topics is being organised from December 28 to January 20 to select the participants. The questions asked by the selected winners will be included in the 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' programme. School students, teachers and parents of Classes 9-12 students will be selected through an online competition.