OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
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LUCKNOW l SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00
RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No.30
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) moved the Apex Court challenging the controversial agriculture laws, claiming that these legislations will make farmers “vulnerable to corporate greed” as Centre reiterated that the govt is ready to talk
GOING AGGRO, BKU TAKES SC ROUTE
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Friday moved the Supreme Court challenging the controversial agriculture laws, claiming that these legislations will make farmers “vulnerable to corporate greed”, news agency ANI reported. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, on the other hand, reiterated that the government is ready to talk with the farmers and urged them to stop agitation in the “interest of the common people” and take the path of discussion. He further said that the government is willing to make reforms in the laws after talks, ANI reported. Meanwhile, two senior Delhi Police officers heading security arrangements at Singhu border, where thousands of farmers have been camping for two weeks, have tested positive for Covid-19, an officer said. Hundreds of police personnel have been deployed at the Singhu border point to prevent the protesters from entering the national capital. The Centre on Thursday issued a fresh call for farmers to end their agitation Turn to P6
A KRANTI IN THE MAKING!
WILL QUIT IF NO MINIMUM PRICE FOR FARMERS, SAYS DUSHYANT
Chandigarh: Haryana’s Deputy Chief Minister, Dushyant Chautala, a key BJP ally, on Friday promised to resign from his post if he is unable to secure the minimum support price (MSP) guarantee for farmers.
Farmers shout slogans during a protest march against Centre’s agri-laws, at Delhi-Meerut Expressway in New Delhi on Friday.
Women family members of farmers protesting in Delhi, work in fields in their absence, at Daun Kalan village, in Patiala on Friday. —PHOTOS BY PTI
Two senior Delhi Police officers heading security arrangements at Singhu border, where thousands of farmers have been camping for two weeks, have tested positive for Covid-19.
BENGAL TUSSLE DEEPENS Mamata govt refuses to send chief secretary, DGP despite summons from Home Ministry
New Delhi/Kolkata: The tussle between Mamata Banerjee government and the Centre over attack on BJP president JP Nadda’s convoy escalated further on Friday with the former deciding not to send the state’s chief secretary and police chief to New Delhi in compliance with Union Home Ministry’s summons. In a letter to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, state chief secretary Alapan Bandopad-
WB GUV DHANKAR URGES MAMATA TO APOLOGISE
File pic of the broken windshield of JP Nadda’s convoy vehicle.
hyay said he had been directed to request to “dispense with the presence of the state officials” in the meeting con-
vened on December 14. “While further reports are being obtained and compiled, Turn to P6
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the attack on Nadda’s convoy, calling it a “slur on democratic fabric”. Sharing a video of Banerjee where she is heard commenting on the Nadda’s visit and the incidents that followed, Dhankhar urged her to “apologetically” withdraw the remark that “outrages essence and sublimity of Bengal’s rich culture”. “I urge Chief Minister @MamataOfficial to engage in deep reflection and apologetically withdraw Turn to P6
YOGI’s “ROAD” TO POWER M Tariq Khan Lucknow: Expressways are a means for faster travel. In Uttar Pradesh, however, they could well pave way and become Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Road to Power’ once again given the pace with which his government has doubled down on the Infra-projects. “Samajwadi Party (SP) never tires of taking credit for building the Agra-Lucknow Expressway as it was an Herculean task. The
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
Yogi Adityanath Government will complete three expressways and start work on another one before its term comes to end in 2022,”
claims Chandramohan, secretary of BJP’s state unit. The battle for the hustings in 2022, says BJP would literally “be its way because of the
highways.” The Yogi Government still has 15 months to go. “And mind you, there was no Covid-19 when Samajwadi Party was in power. We have achieved what the latter could not in adverse circumstances not merely expressways but overall development of the State,” emphasised the BJP leader. When Yogi Adityanath took over as UP CM in 2017, the State had only two functional expressways — the 165 km long Yamuna Expressway, Turn to P6
FARMERS TO ‘CHAKKA JAM’ DELHI-JAIPUR HIGHWAY TODAY Jaipur: A day after threatening to intensify the agitation across the country, the famers on Friday said they will block Delhi-Jaipur road on Saturday. They also said will stage sit-in protest in front of DC offices, houses of BJP leaders & block Reliance/Adani toll plazas on December 14. However, they will not block the train services on the day of their nationwide protest.
BJP’s campaign amid pushback: 100 Press Confs, 700 Meetings New Delhi: With no end to the deadlock between protesting farmers and the government, the BJP has planned a massive campaign across the country to promote the controversial farm laws against which farmers have been protesting for the sixteenth straight day. As part of the big push from the ruling party over the next few days, 100 press conferences and 700 farmers’ meets have been planned in 700 districts, sources in the party said. Cabinet ministers will also take part in the communication campaign, BJP sources said, adding that the government’s measures to address the issues raised by farmers on the agricultural laws will also be spelt out during the outreach. The BJP will also address questions and concerns people have about the farm laws, they said. Farmers on Wednesday turned down the centre’s written offer of
Amit Shah may visit Bengal on Dec 19, 20 Aditi Nagar New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah is set to visit West Bengal once again. Shah is likely to visit West Bengal on December 19 and 20, revealed sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This will be Home Minister Shah’s second visit to the state in the last one and a half months. “Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to arrive in the state on December 19 and 20,” an official from the West Bengal unit of the BJP told IANS.
“During his two-day visit, apart from meeting party workers, he will also interact with the general public. The Home Minister’s visit will again infuse enthusiasm among the party workers the way it did the last time he visited the state,” said the source. Turn to P6
Adityanath govt to distribute free vegetable seeds to 20L farmers Horticulture can maximise income of farmers: Govt First India Bureau Gorakhpur: To promote cultivation of vegetables, the Yogi government will be giving vegetable seeds free of cost to over 20 Lakh farmers. The government is also promoting horticulture, vegetable and fruit farming in the Purvanchal region as it is very effective in dou-
bling the income of farmers of this region. Surya Pratap Shahi, the Minister for Agriculture, Agriculture Education and Research, has said that
horticulture has immense potential in Purvanchal. In this region, while cereals are ready in 6 months, vegetable take 2 to 3 months to reap. Turn to P6
amendments in farm laws, and announced a series of plans to escalate their protest. The next day, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged farm leaders to consider the proposals and said he is ready for further discussions with them. “The government is ready to consider with an open mind any provision in the new laws where farmers have any issues and we want to clarify all their apprehensions,” Tomar had said on Thursday. “We kept waiting for suggestions from farmers’ leaders to address their concerns, but they are stuck on the repeal of laws,” he said, while virtually ruling out conceding to the key demand of farmers. Thousands of farmers, who have braved water cannons, tear gas and police barricades, began their protest over two weeks ago against the farm laws, aimed at doing away with middlemen and allowing them Turn to P6
India’s mRNA vaccine gets approval for human trials
New Delhi: An antiCoronavirus vaccine being developed by the Pune-based company, Gennova, has become the first indigenous mRNA candidate to have received approval to initiate human clinical trial, a central government statement has said. The mRNA vaccines are different than the conventional model. “The mRNA vaccines do not use the conventional model to produce immune response. Instead, mRNA vaccine carries the molecular instructions to make the protein in the body through a synthetic RNA of the virus,” the government said in the statement. The mRNA vaccines are considered safe as they are “non-infectious, non-integrating in nature, and degraded by standard cellular mechanisms”. The vaccines developed by American companies Pfizer and Moderna, which are said to have over 90 percent efficacy, use the mRNA model.