Observer Dawn-Eng-Feb-2021 by OBSERVER DAWN

Scan the QR Code to Download the Observer Dawn App

www.observerdawn.com

RNI REG.No DELENG/2013/50357

OD/ MAy / 2020 / INR - 300 UAD - 10 ENG

OD/ JANUARY / 2021 / INR - 300 USD - 10 ENG

www.observerdawn.com

Year-10, Issue-10, January 2021, Price : `300

Torch BEARER DR. PIYUSH KUMAR DWIVEDI Chairman - NexGen Energia Limited

Power of Thoughts

Year-10, Issue-5, May 2020, Price : `300

Power of Thoughts

DEADLY

VIRUS

NOT INFECTED BUT AFFECTED

BIG LOSS IN MUTUAL FUND SIP? KNOW YOUR OPTIONS

Scan QR Code to Watch Interview

OUTLOOK 2020

TOURS & TRAVEL

INVESTMENT

DEFENCE

Power of Thoughts

Letter from the

Editor in Chief

Editor

HARIOM TYAGI

Business Editor

Senior Editor

YOGESH SOOD

KULDEEP TYAGI

Senior Asst. Editor

Consulting Editor

PRAVIN KUMAR MISHRA

RAKESH PUROHIT DINESH GAUR

Sub Editor

Senior Reporter

SHRISHTI S NAGAR

DEEPAK MANDHAN

CREATIVES Design Head

Designer

ANIL KUMAR

EKANSH PANDEY

Senior Producer

Photographer

ROBIN GUPTA

SACHIN KUMAR

SALES AND MARKETING National Marketing Head UMAKANT MISHRA

Deputy National Marketing Head GAURAV SHANKER KHARE

Business Development Manager PARVEEN KR. SINGH

Senior Manager - Marketing VAIBHAV CHAUHAN

CIRCULATION SANJEEV KR SINGH

CO-ORDINATION TWINKLE SINGH

CORPORATE OFFICE B-97, Sector-63, Noida, Gautambuddh Nagar, U.P. Contact No.: 0120-4804780

OBSERVER DAWN MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT PRIVATE LIMITED Publisher/Printer/Editor: Mr. Hariom Tyagi Published from B-97, Sector -63, Noida-201301, U.P. Printed at Modest Print Pack Pvt. Ltd., C-52, DDA Sheds, Phase-I, Okhla Industrial Area, New Delhi-110020 www.observerdawn.com • info@observerdawn.com Contact No.: 0120-4804747

©All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, electronic, mechanical or otherwise without prior permission. All disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of competent court in Delhi / New Delhi only.

Coronavirus ‘Vaccines’, India’s Gift for One & All

t has been more than 300 days, since the entire country witnessed a nationwide lockdown, meant to curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. Over 15 lakhs people died of the disease only in India. The country’s recovery rate continues to rise and now stands at 96.75%. Globally, more than 9.74 crore people have been infected by the coronavirus and 20.88 lakh have died so far. India, along with many countries, has granted emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines and has started the process of vaccinating healthcare workers and high-risk groups. India's regulator has granted restricted emergency use approval for two vaccines: Covishield and Covaxin. Global approach to create a secured and efficient Coronavirus vaccine has now began to fetch fruitful results. It’s not only India, but the entire world is the eyewitness of this grand success of the Indian scientists and research scholars. Initially, a handful of vaccines have now been authorized around the globe. Significantly, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has assured that that India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used for the benefit of all humanity to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Witnessing the fruitful and positive endeavor of the Indian government, the United States applauded India for gifting COVID-19 vaccines to several countries including its closest neighbors like: the Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh, saying New Delhi is a ‘true friend’ which is using its pharma industry to help the global community. The State SCA, often known as the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in US State Department, through its Twitter handle said, “We applaud India's role in global health, sharing millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine in South Asia. India's free shipments of the vaccine began with Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal and will extend to others. India's a true friend using its pharma to help the global community”. India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used for the benefit of all humanity to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The Union Government had on January 19, 2021 announced its grant assistance of vaccines to the neighboring countries. Consequently, on January 20, almost 1.5 lakh doses of the vaccines were supplied to Bhutan and one lakh doses to the Maldives as grant assistance. While, the country supplied over 10 lakh doses to Nepal and 20 lakh doses to Bangladesh till January 21, large lots Covishield vaccine doses were flown in special Indian aircraft to Seychelles, Mauritius and Myanmar on January 22. The supplies of these vaccines may be termed as grant assistance to the neighboring countries amid pandemic. While, supply of the Coronavirus vaccine as grant assistance to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will be undertaken after getting confirmation of regulatory clearances, contractual supplies are being undertaken to Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil, Morocco, Bangladesh and Myanmar. India has already rolled out a massive coronavirus vaccination drive using two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin. Covishield has been developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and is being manufactured by Serum Institute of India. Covaxin is an indigenous vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Connect with Hariom Tyagi Hariom Tyagi Editor-in-Chief Observer Dawn

@harityagi2003

@harityagi

GOLDEN CHANCE TO RECEIVE OBSERVER DAWN DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR EVERY MONTH!

Please Contact: 0120-4804780 3/50357

ENG/201

.No DEL

RNI REG

com

rdawn.

bserve

INR - 300

USD -

10 ENG

www.o

ghts

ARY / OD/ JANU

2021 /

Thou Power of

Year-10,

, January

Issue-10

2021, Price

: `300

TBoEArRcEhR IVE DI MA R DWLim ited rgia US H KU DR . PIYan - Nex Gen Ene Cha irm

Cod e to Sca n QRInte rvie w Wat ch

Yes, I Would like to subscribe for the following magazines For 1 Year Magazine Type Cost

Original Price

For 2 Years

Discounted You Get Price

Original Discounted Price Price

For 3 Years

You Get

Original Price

Discounted Price

You Get

Observer Dawn (Hindi) Monthly

`100

`1200

`1000

2 month free

`2400

`2000

4 month free

`3600

`3000

6 month free

Observer Dawn (Eng.) Monthly

`300

`3600

`3000

2 month free

`7200

`6000

4 month free

`10800

`9000

6 month free

`400

`4800

`3600

3 month free

`9600

`7000

6.5 month free

`14400

`9000

9 month free

COMBO (Print+Digital)

Monthly

Observer Dawn is available in these 2 languages, please tick the option: English

Hindi

Attached Cheque/DD No.

Date

Bank

Please write your name and address behind cheque/DD For Observer Dawn Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Name Phone

Address

State

E-mail

Please Fill this form and send to Observer Dawn Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. B-97, Sector-63, Noida. *Terms and Conditions: Prices and discounts are only offered in India. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing of subscription. For further information please do not hesitate to call: 0120-4804780. Write to us at: info@observerdawn.com

BRIEFING

COVER STORY COVACCINE/ COVISHIELD

NATIONAL

EMERGES AS LIFE SAVING DRUGS FOR LAKHS OF CRORES OF PEOPLE AMID PANDEMIC

Neighboring Bangladesh, Pakistan to Get Coronavirus Vaccine from India

INTERNATIONAL

With Hope of Ending Nightmare, New Year Enters COVID Ward

OPINION

BUSINESS OUTLOOK

Roblox’s value Rises Seven Times Amid Pandemic

Intellect’s Psyche & Hypocrisy Behind ‘Reservation’

IN-DEPTH

Growing Corona Fear Forces Belarus Prison Demonstrate against President

february 2021

DAWN

BRIEFING

CAREER How your MBTI Type can help in picking your career

44 8

DEFENCE Indian Army Chief Warns China on Ladakh Standoff

HEALTH Is Your Liver Living At Ease?

INT’L BIZ Becoming ‘Techno Superpower’ Seems a Reverie for China

DAWN february 2021

TOURS & TRAVEL These Travel Sites in Kerala are: Nature’s True Blessings

LIFE STYLE Healthy Life for Healthy People

RNI REG.No DELENG/2013/50357

OD/ MAy / 2020 / INR - 300 UAD - 10 ENG

www.observerdawn.com

Year-10, Issue-5, May 2020, Price : `300

Power of Thoughts

DEADLY

VIRUS

NOT INFECTED BUT AFFECTED

OUTLOOK 2020

TOURS & TRAVEL

BIG LOSS IN MUTUAL FUND SIP? KNOW YOUR OPTIONS

INVESTMENT

DEFENCE

national

NEIGHBORING BANGLADESH, PAKISTAN TO GET CORONAVIRUS VACCINE FROM INDIA

ndian Government has decided to send 20 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh and neighboring Pakistan, is exploring options to get made-in-India vaccines either through a global alliance for vaccines or through the bilateral route. The authorities in Bangladesh have confirmed that a plane carrying 20 lakh doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine — manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India under the name Covishield will arrive to Dhaka. The consignment will be handed over to the Bangladesh government by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. Bangladesh has had more than 5 lakh cases of Covid, with about 7,900 deaths so far. Pakistan’s move to source Indian vaccines comes after the country’s drug regulator, the Drug Regulatory Authority

connect the city to the state capital of Gandhinagar along two corridors connecting Motera Stadium to Mahatma Mandir and G N L U t o G I F T C i t y. The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah said, “The vikas yatra (journey of development) of Gujarat started at a time when the entire country ’s faith on democracy was shaken and there was a huge question on people’s mind on whether a multiparty democratic system could take the journey of development.

PM MODI LAUNCHES AHMEDABAD METRO PHASE-2 VIA VIDEO CONFERENCING

M Narendra Modi, launched the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Phase-2 via video-conferencing. He stated how his government has expedited projects to ease the lives of people. “There was a time when there was no modern thinking and policy on Metro in our country. The result was that there was a different (type of) metro in each city”, PM Modi said adding that there was no uniformity on metro trains that started in different cities. Now, an integrated approach has been brought in so that various modes of transport, such bus and trains, complement each other rather than running independently. Surat Metro will be completely elevated and will cover 40 kms with two corridors — connecting Sarthana to Dream City and Bhesan to Saroli. The Ahmedabad Metro Phase 2 will

DAWN february 2021

The Ahmedabad Metro Phase 2 will connect the city to the state capital of Gandhinagar along two corridors connecting Motera Stadium to Mahatma Mandir and GNLU to GIFT City

Tr u s t i n p o l i t i c s a n d d e m oc r a c y h a d s ta r ted shaking when Narendrabhai as chief minister (of Gujarat), laid the foundation of development and took it forward… as a result of which Gujarat got allround development and became like a brand ambassador of the country”.

Speaking over video-conference, Shah thanked Modi, Union Minister for Urban Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani for Phase II of Ahmedabad Metro that would cover his constituency of Gandhinagar. He said that as a result of what Modi did in Gujarat “today Narendrabhai’s government has come (to power) with complete majority and today he is laying the foundation of a similar all-round development in the country… and in six-and-a-half years, we have seen beautiful results where the world is looking at India differently”.

national

of Pakistan (DRAP), over the weekend approved OxfordAstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use. Pakistan has reported more than 5 lakh Covid cases and almost 11,000 deaths. Sources said the thinking in Islamabad is that it can get the vaccine through Covax, an alliance set up by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and World Health Organisation. The alliance has pledged free vaccines for 20 per cent of the population of around 190 countries, including Pakistan. Pakistan expects to get the first consignment from Covax just after the start of the second quarter of 2021. But, for the remaining population, Pakistan hopes, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as well as Bharat Biotech-ICMR’s Covaxin can be procured through bilateral arrangements. Alternatively, Pakistan can procure the India-made vaccines through a third country, but that may push up costs. According to the sources, one of the vaccine manufacturers in India has over the last few weeks reached out to the Pakistan government on the supply of vaccines. While tensions between India and Pakistan have impacted bilateral trade between the two countries, the supply of “life-saving medicines” is exempted from restrictions.

UNION GOVT TO OBSERVE NETAJI’S BIRTHDAY AS

RAHUL, CHIDAMBRAM QUESTION ON CHINA CONSTRUCTING VILLAGE HOUSE IN AP

riticizing Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, over reports of Chinese troops building a village in Arunachal Pradesh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “Remember his promise - ‘Mai desh jhukne nahi dunga’ (I will not let the country bow)”. The Congress leader reacted over reports that China has built a village in Arunachal Pradesh surfaced. Congress leader Randeep Surjewala also slammed PM Modi on the matter and said, “Modiji where is that 56-inch chest”. In a cautious reaction to the reports said it keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on the country’s security, and takes necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Meanwhile, Congress leader P Chidambaram sought answers from the government whether the recent claim of the BJP MP, Tapir Gao regarding building of a 100-house village in the ‘disputed area’ deep into Arunachal Pradesh is true? Chidambaram said if the allegation made out by the BJP MP is true, will the government again give a clean chit to China or will blame the previous governments for it. He said, “Tapir Gao has alleged that deep into Arunachal Pradesh, in a ‘disputed area’ within Indian Territory, the Chinese have built a 100-house village, a bazaar and a two-lane road in the last year”. “If this is true, it is clear that the Chinese have altered the status quo by converting a disputed area into a permanent settlement of Chinese nationals. What has the government to say about these startling facts,” he had said on Twitter. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet, while India contests it. India and China are locked in a bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh for over eight months. India and China have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks in order to resolve the eastern Ladakh standoff, but no significant headway has been made for its resolution.

he Union Government has decided to celebrate the birthday of legend Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as ‘Parakram Diwas’. In a notification issued by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, the Centre has announced that January 23 will be observed as Parakram Diwas every year. Ahead of Netaji’s 125th birth anniversary, the Union Ministry of Culture said, “In order to honor and remember Netaji’s indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation, the Government of India has decided to celebrate his birthday on the 23rd of January every year as Parakram Diwas to inspire people of this country especially the youth and to infuse in them a spirit of patriotic fervor”. Earlier this month, an 85-member panel, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was formed to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. A statement said that the committee will lend guidance to the commemoration activities in Delhi, Kolkata and other places associated with Netaji and the Azad Hind Fauj, both in India as well as overseas. The committee will decide on the activities for a year-long commemoration, beginning on January 23, 2021, a statement from the Ministry of Culture said. The vibrant Indian Nationalist, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 and disappeared from the scene since August 18, 1945. Netaji’s selfless devotion and defiant patriotism made him a hero in the country.

february 2021

DAWN

International

RELIGIOUS LAW OPPOSED BY CHURCH, CHANGED IN MONTENEGRO

he new pro-Serb of Montenegro authorities have amended a law on religious rights and property that was passed by a previous government but was strongly opposed by the Serbian Orthodox Church, which led months of protests against the bill. The parliament approved the legislative changes with 41 votes in the 81-member assembly. The revised law was supported by the ruling pro-Serb lawmakers while pro-Western opposition boycotted the session. The changes abolished the sections on ownership that the Serbian church insisted were designed to strip it of its property in Montenegro despite repeated denials by the previous government. Church-led rallies against the law helped strengthen the pro-Serb camp ahead of an August parliamentary vote that led to the ouster of the long-ruling Democratic Party of Socialists. Montenegro declared independence from a union with Serbia following a 2006 referendum. The country’s residents remain divided over relations with Belgrade. Some 30 per cent of Montenegrins identify themselves as Serbs, and the Serbian Orthodox Church enjoys the biggest following of any organized religion. The previous government, led by the DPS, steered Montenegro away from the influence of Serbia and Russia. The Adriatic nation joined NATO in 2017 and is seeking European Union membership. Montenegro’s new Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic said on Twitter that the religious law changes “set right the injustice” toward the Serbian Orthodox Church. Thousands of opponents of the changes rallied outside the parliament building, accusing the new government of pushing Montenegro back into Serbia’s grip. Waving Montenegrin flags, the protesters chanted “Treason!” and “This is not Serbia!” No clashes were reported.

US INTRODUCES BILL TO TERMINATE PAK’S DESIGNATION AS MAJOR NON-NATO ALLY

lawmaker has on the first day of the 117th Congress, introduced a Bill in the US House of Representatives to terminate the designation of Pakistan as a Major non-NATO Ally. Introduced by Republican Congressman Andy Biggs, the Bill removes Pakistan’s designation as a major non-NATO ally, a status that allows for various benefits such as access to excess US defense supplies and participation in cooperative defense research and development projects. The Bill also notes that the US President cannot issue a separate designation of Pakistan as a major NATO ally unless a presidential certification that Pakistan continues to conduct military operations that are contributing to significantly disrupting the safe haven and freedom of movement of the Haqqani network

DAWN february 2021

WITH HOPE OF ENDING NIGHTMARE, NEW YEAR ENTERS COVID WARD

t a time, when the entire world recited goodbye — or good riddance — to 2020, a year in which the pandemic brought hardship and pain to billions. Sections of those who have been fighting the deadly virus on the front lines, soldiered on even as the clock passed midnight. At the Casalpalocco Covid 3 Hospital on the outskirts of Rome doctors and nurses barely seemed to register the New Year as they tended to 100 patients struggling with serious to critical illness as a result of coronavirus infections. In one intensive care ward, all but one of a dozen beds were occupied. Medical staff calmly tended to patients lying in dimly lit rooms, dispensed medication, checked respiratory machines and filled in medical records. “This particular one is a surreal night, as was Christmas, as will be the Epiphany, as was the past Easter and all the other holidays”, said Dr. Paolo Petrassi. The 53-year-old recounted the experience now familiar to so many in the medical profession worldwide who has had to treat COVID patients: having to constantly monitor patients and manage their condition, with each having their

International

INDIA STARTS COUNTDOWN AS UNSC’S NONPERMANENT MEMBER

mong other major developments, India is set to begin its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The event will be marked by the installation of the Indian tricolour at the stakeout during a special ceremony.

own set of complicated problems. Over 83 million infections with the coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, and over 1.8 million deaths. Along with the elderly, medical staffs have been particularly hard hit, struggling to save patients even as their own colleagues have fallen ill with a disease almost nobody could have imagined a year ago. Italy was the early epicenter of the pandemic in Europe in the spring. Last month, after a summer in which Italy seemed to have beaten back the scourge, it again became the country with the highest death toll in Europe. And once more, the grim reality was reflected in the eyes of Italy’s medical staff. “Now we are almost reaching the 12 months of this pandemic and unfortunately we still don’t have the possibility to say it’s over”, Petrassi added.

Ambassador TS Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN will install the tricolour during the special ceremony in the first week of January 2021. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) took to Twitter to share a video of top officers speaking about India’s approach and priorities for the UNSC. While talking to the media, the Ambassador TS Tirumurti said that the country would aggressively push for UN reforms during its tenure while also focusing on a “human-centric” approach. India will also use the opportunity to continue its sustained campaign against terrorism and sponsors of terror, Ambassador Tirumurti told the media. Apart from India, Norway, Kenya, Ireland and Mexico are also poised to join the UNSC as non-permanent members. Other non-permanent members of the key UN body include Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam. The UNSC has five permanent members, namely China, Russia, France, the UK and the US. Since the presidency of the UNSC is held by each of the members in turn for one month, India will preside over the council as UNSC President in August 2021 and again in 2022. It was Kazakhastan that first introduced the flag installation ceremony in 2018. The tradition was unanimously accepted by all 15 UNSC members as an annual ceremony of the Security Council. Besides India, Norway, Kenya, Ireland and Mexico are also poised to join the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as non-permanent members.

in Pakistan. It also seeks a presidential certification that Pakistan has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment to preventing the Haqqani Network from using any Pakistani territory as a safe haven and that the Pakistan government actively coordinates with Afghanistan to restrict the movement of militants. The Bill also asks the President to certify that Pakistan has shown progress in arresting and prosecuting Haqqani network’s senior leaders and mid-level operatives. Pakistan was named a major non-NATO ally during the Bush administration in 2004. Currently, there are 17 major non-NATO allies. Brazil was the last country to given this designation by President Donald Trump in 2019. The designation gives the countries to enter into cooperative research and development projects with the Department of Defense (DoD) on a shared-cost basis, participation in certain counter-terrorism initiatives, purchase of depleted uranium anti-tank rounds, priority delivery of military surplus. The designation among other things expedites export processing of space technology and permission for the country’s corporations to bid on certain DoD contracts for the repair and maintenance of military equipment outside the US. The former US President, Donald Trump had in January 2018 suspended all financial and security assistance to Pakistan. The outgoing Trump administration even considered terminating the designation of Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally.

february 2021

DAWN

Business Outlook

MESSAGING SERVICE, SLACK, SUFFERS GLOBAL OUTAGE

ROBLOX’S VALUE RISES SEVEN TIMES AMID PANDEMIC

oblox, the company behind children’s online gaming platform has witnessed it’s value rocket during the pandemic. The company raised USD520m in private capital which valued the firm at USD29.5bn, a seven-fold increase since February 2020. Roblox said it would also push ahead with a US share listing, having delayed the move last year. “It will use the fresh funds to build its community and become more of a social platform”, the company authority said in a statement. Roblox was first released in 2006, but has seen dramatic growth during the Covid-19 pandemic as children who were forced to stay home spent more time playing games. Its revenue jumped 91 per cent from a year earlier to USD242.2m, Roblox said in its prospectus.

he renowned messaging service, Slack, used by millions of people for work and school, suffered a global outage on January 4, 2021. This is the first day back for most people returning from the New Year’s holiday. It’s the latest tech glitch to show how disruptive technical difficulties can be when millions of people are depending on just a few services to work and go to school from home during the pandemic. The company stopped releasing its daily user count after topping 12 million last year. “Our team is currently investigating and we’re sorry for any troubles this may be causing”, Slack said. The outage began around 10 a.m. Eastern Time and disrupted service in the U.S., Germany, India, the U.K., Japan and elsewhere. At 12:30 p.m., service was still sporadic and Slack said the outage was ongoing, but that some users may begin to see improvement. Slack said that people should check https://status.slack.com for updates. Most issues were resolved by 3 p.m. on following afternoon. Internet service outages are not uncommon, are usually resolved relatively swiftly and are only rarely the result of hacking or other intentional mischief. Google went down briefly in December, with people in several countries briefly unable to access their Gmail accounts, watch YouTube videos or get to their online documents during an outage. In August, Zoom went down briefly just as many students were beginning the school year at home. And in September, Microsoft services had an outage that lasted for five hours. More complaints rolled in as the sun hit the West coast and there were still outages four hours after it began in New York City. The outage comes about a month after Salesforce.com said it would acquire Slack for USD27.7 billion. The companies hope to be better able to compete against Microsoft, which is a threat to both of them. The deal is aimed at giving the two companies a better shot at competing against longtime industry powerhouse Microsoft.

DAWN february 2021

Roblox games, which allow users to create avatars across different titles, are free to play but the company sells digital currency called Robux that can buy virtual goods and enhance characters. The move to debut its shares is slightly different than originally planned as it will be a direct listing rather than the traditional initial public offering (IPO) route. With a direct listing, a company typically doesn’t raise capital and investors don’t have to wait for a lockup period to expire before selling their shares. The USD520m of private financing was led by Altimeter Capital and Dragoneer Investment Group. Warner Music Group is also one of several current investors. “The proceeds from the financing will advance Roblox’s growth initiatives and mission to build a human co-experience platform that enables shared experiences among billions of users”, Roblox said in a statement. It had 31 million daily active users during the first nine months of 2020, up 82 per cent from the same period in 2019. Roblox has been expanding its focus to become a social platform, where users can play games and also attend virtual birthday parties and concerts with friends.

Business Outlook

STOCK MARKET VALUE OF TESLA GOES UP

shares were bought and sold during the session, a record for Tesla and more than the next three most traded companies combined, which were Apple, Alibaba Group Holding and Amazon.com. Tesla, up over 700 per cent in the past 12 months, has become the most valuable auto company in the world by far, despite production that is a fraction of rivals such as Toyota Motor, Volkswagen and General Motors.

ith over 700 per cent cent in the past 12 months, Tesla has become the most valuable auto company in the world. It’s shares surged to a record high in heavy trading in January 2021, with the electric car maker’s stock market value exceeding Facebook for the first time. Shares in the company led by Elon Musk jumped nearly 8 per cent to end the session at USD816, putting its market capitalization at USD774 billion and making it Wall Street’s fifth-most-valuable company, just behind Google-parent Alphabet and ahead of Facebook. The stock market value of Facebook was USD765 billion after its shares rose about 2 per cent, according to Refinitiv data. Over USD39 billion worth of Tesla’s

Musk surpassed Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person. Tesla’s latest lift came after RBC raised its rating on the stock to “sector perform” from “underperform”. The RBC analyst Joseph Spak said in his research note that he previously underestimated Tesla’s ability to use its soaring stock price to raise capital to fund the company’s expansion. Spak says, “We took a fresh look at the growth opportunity, what we got wrong about TSLA’s positioning and the valuation and conclude that the stock price itself is likely to be somewhat self-fulfilling to TSLA’s growth and strategy”. Analysts, on average, expect Tesla to report USD1.2 billion in net profits for 2020, compared with USD5.8 billion in net profits expected from GM and USD27.1 billion in net profits expected from Facebook, according to Refinitiv.

CENTRAL BANK STEPS-UP TO SUPPORT GROWTH

he RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das, has said the central bank will remain steadfast to take any further measures as may be required to support growth without compromising financial stability. “The principal objective during the pandemic period is to support economic activity; and looking back, it is evident that the RBI’s policies would help in easing the severity of the economic impact of the pandemic”, Das said while delivering the 39th lecture at Palkhivala Memorial. He said, “I would like to unambiguously reiterate that the Reserve Bank remains steadfast to take any further measures, as may be necessary, while at the same time remaining fully committed to maintaining financial stability”. In a bid to maintain financial stability, Das emphasized the need for banks to raise resources in advance as a buffer. Going ahead, he said, financial institutions in India have to walk a tightrope in nurturing the economic recovery within the overarching objective of preserving long-term stability of the financial system. The current COVID-19 pandemic related shock will place greater pressure on the balance sheets of banks in terms of non-performing assets, leading to erosion of capital, he said, adding building buffers and raising capital by banks “both in the public and private sector

will be crucial not only to ensure credit flow but also to build resilience in the financial system” He added, “We have advised all banks, large non-deposit taking NBFCs and all deposit-taking NBFCs to assess the impact of COVID-19 on their balance sheet, asset quality, liquidity, capital adequacy, and work out possible mitigation measures, including capital planning, capital raising, and contingency liquidity planning, among others”. The governor said that the recent experiences across nation, especially during the pandemic, suggest that banks, non-banks, financial markets and payment systems remain at the core of financial stability issues, there was a need to work much closer at the system in its entirety.

february 2021

DAWN

cover story

COVACCINE/ COVISHIELD EMERGES AS LIFE SAVING DRUGS FOR LAKHS OF CRORES OF PEOPLE AMID PANDEMIC

DAWN february 2021

cover story

Residuals are tiny amounts of various substances often used during manufacturing or production of vaccines that are not active ingredients in the completed vaccine

Co ro n aviru s vaccin es contain tiny fragments of the disease-causing organism or the blueprints for making the tiny f rag me n t s . T h e y als o contain other ingredients to keep the vaccine safe and effective. These latter ingredients are included in most vaccines and have been used for decades in billions of doses of vaccine. Each vaccine component serves a specific purpose, and each ingredient is tested in the manufacturing process. Most of these ingredients are tested for safety. Vaccines contain an active component (the antigen) which generates an immune response, or the blueprint for making the active component. The antigen may be a small part of the disease-causing organism,

like a protein or sugar, or it may be the whole organism in a weakened or inactive form. Preservatives prevent the vaccine from becoming contaminated once the vial has been opened, if it will be used for vaccinating more than one person. Some vaccines don’t have preservatives because they are stored in one-dose vials and are discarded after the single dose is administered. The most commonly used preservative is 2-phenoxyethanol. It has been used for many years in a number of vaccines, is used in a range of baby care products and is safe for use in vaccines, as it has little toxicity in humans. Stabilizers prevent chemical reactions from occurring within the vaccine and keep the vaccine components from sticking to the vaccine vial. It can be sugars (lactose, sucrose), amino acids (glycine), gelatin, and proteins

(recombinant human albumin, derived from yeast). Surfactants keep all the ingredients in the vaccine blended together. They prevent settling and clumping of elements that are in the liquid form of the vaccine. They are also often used in foods like ice cream. Residuals are tiny amounts of various substances used during manufacturing or production of vaccines that are not active ingredients in the completed vaccine. Substances will vary depending on the manufacturing process used and may include egg proteins, yeast or antibiotics. Residual traces of these substances which may be present in a vaccine are in such small quantities that they need to be measured as parts per million or parts per billion. Diluents are a liquid used to dilute a vaccine to the correct concentration immediately prior to use. The most commonly used diluents are sterile water. Some vaccines also contain adjutants. An adjuvant improves the immune response to the vaccine, sometimes by keeping the vaccine at the injection site for a little longer or by stimulating local immune cells. The adjuvant may be a tiny amount of aluminum salts (like: aluminum phosphate, aluminum hydroxide or potassium aluminum sulphate). Aluminum has been shown not to cause any long-term health problems, and humans ingest aluminum regularly through eating and drinking.

Facts Regarding Mode of Development

Each vaccine under development must first undergo screenings and evaluations to determine which antigen should be used to invoke an immune response

Most vaccines have been in use for decades, with millions of people receiving them safely every year. As with all medicines, every vaccine must go through extensive and rigorous testing to ensure it is safe before it can be introduced in a country’s vaccine program. Each vaccine under development must first undergo screenings and evaluations to determine which antigen should be used to invoke an immune response. This preclinical phase is done without testing on humans. An experimental vaccine is first tested in animals to evaluate its safety and potential to prevent disease. If the vaccine triggers an immune response,

february 2021

DAWN

cover story

it is then tested in human clinical trials in three phases. Initially, the vaccine was given to a small number of volunteers to assess its safety, confirm it generates an immune response, and determine the right dosage. Generally in this phase, vaccines are tested in young healthy adult volunteers. And, in the second phase, it was given to several hundred volunteers to further assess its safety and ability to generate an immune response. Participants in this phase have the same characteristics (such as age, sex) as the people for whom the vaccine is intended. There are usually multiple trials in this phase to evaluate various age groups and different formulations of the vaccine. A group that did not get the vaccine is usually included in phase as a comparator group to determine whether the changes in the vaccinated group are attributed to the vaccine, or have happened by chance. Consequently, in the very third phase the vaccine was given to thousands of volunteers – and compared to a similar group of people who didn’t get the vaccine, but received a comparator product – to determine if the vaccine is effective against the disease it is designed to protect against and to study its safety in a much larger group of people. Most of the time phase three trials are conducted across multiple countries and multiple sites within a country to assure the findings of the vaccine performance apply to many different populations. While, during the phase two and phase three trials, the volunteers and the scientists conducting the study are shielded from knowing which volunteers had received the vaccine being tested or the comparator product. This is called “blinding” and is necessary to assure that neither the volunteers nor the scientists are influenced in their assessment of safety or effectiveness by knowing who got which product. After the trial is over and all the results are finalized, the volunteers and the trial scientists are informed who received the vaccine and who received the comparator. As the results of all these clinical trials are available, a series of steps is required, including reviews of efficacy and safety for regulatory and public health policy approvals. Officials in each country closely

review the study data and decide whether to authorize the vaccine for use. A vaccine must be proven to be safe and effective across a broad population before it will be approved and introduced into a national immunization program. The bar for vaccine safety and efficacy is extremely high, recognizing that vaccines are given to people who are otherwise healthy and specifically free from the illness. Thereafter, monitoring takes place in an ongoing way after the vaccine is introduced. There are systems to monitor the safety and effectiveness of all vaccines. This enables scientists to keep track of vaccine impact and safety even as they are used in a large number of people, over a long time frame. These data are used to adjust the policies for vaccine use to optimize their impact, and they also allow the vaccine to be safely tracked throughout its use. It is believed that once a vaccine comes in regular use, it must be continuously monitored to make sure it continues to be safe.

Germs are all around us, both in our environment and in our bodies. When a person is susceptible and they encounter a harmful organism, it can lead to disease and death

DAWN february 2021

Mode of Action Germs are all around us, both in our environment and in our bodies. When a person is susceptible and they encounter a harmful organism, it can lead to disease and death. The body has many ways of defending itself against pathogens (diseasecausing organisms). Skin, mucus, and cilia (microscopic hairs that move debris away from the lungs) all work as physical barriers to prevent pathogens from entering the body in the first place. When a pathogen does infect the body, our body’s defenses, called the immune system, are triggered and the pathogen is attacked and destroyed or overcome.

Natural Response of the Body A pathogen is a bacterium, virus, parasite or fungus that can cause disease within the body. Each pathogen is made up of several subparts, usually unique to that specific pathogen and the disease it causes. The subpart of a pathogen that causes the formation of antibodies is called an antigen. The antibodies produced in response to the pathogen’s antigen are an important part of the immune system. You can consider antibodies as the soldiers in your body’s defense system. Each antibody, or soldier, in our system is trained to recognize one specific antigen. We have thousands of different antibodies in our bodies. When the human body is exposed to an antigen for the first time, it takes time for the immune system to

cover story

Once the antigen-specific antibodies are produced, they work with the rest of the immune system to destroy the pathogen and stop the disease

antibodies in its primary response to an antigen, it also creates antibody-producing memory cells, which remain alive even after the pathogen is defeated by the antibodies. If the body is exposed to the same pathogen more than once, the antibody response is much faster and more effective than the first time around because the memory cells are at the ready to pump out antibodies against that antigen. This means that if the person is exposed to the dangerous pathogen in the future, their immune system will be able to respond immediately, protecting against disease.

The Way It Helps

Once the vaccine reached preapproval stage following clinical trials, it is assessed by the relevant regulatory body for compliance with quality, safety and efficacy criteria

respond and produce antibodies specific to that antigen. In the meantime, the person is susceptible to becoming ill. Once the antigen-specific antibodies are produced, they work with the rest of the

immune system to destroy the pathogen and stop the disease. Antibodies to one pathogen generally don’t protect against another pathogen except when two pathogens are very similar to each other, like cousins. Once the body produces

Vaccines contain weakened or inactive parts of a particular organism (antigen) that triggers an immune response within the body. Newer vaccines contain the blueprint for producing antigens rather than the antigen itself. Regardless of whether the vaccine is made up of the antigen itself or the blueprint so that the body will produce the antigen, this weakened version will not cause the disease in the person receiving the vaccine, but it will prompt their immune system to respond much as it would have on its first reaction to the actual pathogen. Some vaccines require multiple doses, given weeks or months apart. This is sometimes needed to allow for the production of long-lived antibodies and development of memory cells. In this way, the body is trained to fight the specific disease-causing organism, building up memory of the pathogen so as to rapidly fight it if and when exposed in the future.

Herd immunity When someone is vaccinated, they are very likely to be protected against the targeted disease. But not everyone can be vaccinated. People with underlying health conditions that weaken their immune systems (such as cancer or HIV) or who have severe allergies to some vaccine components may not be able to get vaccinated with certain vaccines. These people can still be protected if they live in and amongst others who are vaccinated. When a lot of people in a community are vaccinated the pathogen has a hard time circulating because most of the people it encounters are immune. So the more that others are vaccinated, the less likely people who are unable to be protected by vaccines are at risk of even being exposed to the harmful pathogens. This is called herd immunity. This is especially important for those people who not only can’t be vaccinated but may be more susceptible to the diseases we vaccinate

february 2021

DAWN

cover story

against. No single vaccine provides 100 per cent protection, and herd immunity does not provide full protection to those who cannot safely be vaccinated. But with herd immunity, these people will have substantial protection, thanks to those around them being vaccinated. Vaccinating not only protects yourself, but also protects those in the community who are unable to be vaccinated. If you are able to, get vaccinated. Throughout history, humans have successfully developed vaccines for a number of life-threatening diseases, including meningitis, tetanus, measles and wild poliovirus. In the early 1900s, polio was a worldwide disease, paralysing hundreds of thousands of people every year. By 1950, two effective vaccines against the disease had been developed. But vaccination in some parts of the world was still not common enough to stop the spread of polio, particularly in Africa. In the 1980s, a united worldwide effort to eradicate polio from the planet began. Over many years and several decades, polio vaccination, using routine immunization visits and mass vaccination campaigns, has taken place in all continents. Millions of people, mostly children, have been vaccinated and in August 2020, the African continent was certified wild poliovirus free, joining all other parts of the world except Pakistan and Afghanistan, where polio has not yet been eradicated.

Vaccinating not only protect You, but also protects those in the community who are unable to be vaccinated. If you are able to get vaccinated, you must go ahead ….

Basic Assumptions Once the vaccine reached pre-approval stage following clinical trials, it is assessed by the relevant regulatory body for compliance with quality, safety and efficacy criteria. Following regulatory approval, manufacturers can submit a vaccine to WHO for prequalification (PQ), an assessment process that ensures quality, safety and efficacy and helps the UN and other international procurement organizations determine the programmatic suitability of a vaccine. During global health emergencies, the WHO Emergency Use Listing Procedure (EUL) may be used to allow emergency use of the vaccine. The EUL exists because, in a pandemic situation, products that could benefit the lives of people all over the world may be prevented from coming to market with sufficient speed. The EUL

DAWN february 2021

is a fast-tracked but rigorous process, designed to bring impactful products to all those in need, as quickly as possible, on a time-limited basis and based on a risk-versus-benefit evaluation. The WHO PQ/EUL recommendation may be used by UN agencies such as UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization Revolving Fund for procurement decisions in low- and middle-income countries. Gavi also relies on WHO EUL/PQ to specify which vaccines its funds may be used to purchase.

Preparations Ty p i c a l l y, c o m p a n i e s w i l l w o r k independently to complete clinical development plans for a vaccine. Once a vaccine is authorized, manufacturing begins to scale up. The antigen (part of the germ that our immune system reacts to) is weakened or deactivated. To form the full vaccine, all ingredients are combined.

cover story

The whole process, from preclinical trial to manufacture, can sometimes take over a decade to complete. In the search for a COVID-19 vaccine, researchers and developers are working on several different phases in parallel, to speed up results. It is the scale of the financial and political commitments to the development of a vaccine that has allowed this accelerated development to take place. Also, nations and international health organizations are working together through COVAX to invest in development capacity upfront to streamline the process, as well as to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines.

Its Packaging When the vaccine is made in bulk quantities, it is bottled in glass vials and then carefully packaged for safe cold storage and transport. Vaccine packaging must be able to withstand extreme temperatures, as well as the risks involved in being transported globally. Therefore, vaccine vials are most commonly made from glass, as it is durable

New technologies have invented some portable devices that can keep vaccines at their cold temperature for several days without needing electricity

and able to maintain its integrity in extreme temperatures. So far as the storage of the vaccine is concerned, it was learnt that when a vaccine is too hot or too cold, it becomes less effective or even inactive. If stored at the incorrect temperature, vaccines can be ruined or unsafe for use. Most vaccines require refrigerated storage at between 2 and 8 °C. Some vaccines require temperatures as cold as -20°C. Some

of the newer vaccines need to be kept ultra cold at -70°C. For frozen vaccines some of them can be safely stored for a limited time between 2 and 8°C. Regular refrigerators cannot maintain an even temperature consistently, so specialized medical refrigerators are required for these precious products. Consequently in order to maintain this cold chain, vaccines are shipped using specialized equipment that does not compromise the integrity of the product. Once shipments land in the destination country, refrigerated lorries transport the vaccines from the airport to the warehouse cold room. From there, portable iceboxes are used to transport vaccines from the cold room to regional centres where they’re stored in refrigerators. If vaccination takes place outside of the regional facility, the final step often requires portable iceboxes to transport the goods to local areas for vaccination campaigns. New technologies have invented some portable devices that can keep vaccines at their cold temperature for several days without needing electricity. When the vaccines start being administered, national authorities and WHO constantly monitor for – and establish the severity of – any possible adverse side effects and responses from people who have received the vaccine. The safety of the vaccine is paramount, with regular assessments and post-approval clinical studies to report on its safety and effectiveness. Significantly, the studies are often conducted to determine how long a given vaccine remains protective.

Fundamentals of Coronavirus Vaccines The world is in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic. As WHO and partners work together on the response - tracking the pandemic, advising on critical interventions, distributing vital medical supplies to those in need: they are racing to develop and deploy safe and effective vaccines. Vaccines save millions of lives each year. Vaccines work by training and preparing the body’s natural defenses- the immune system – to recognize and fight off the viruses and bacteria they target. If the body is exposed to those disease-causing germs

february 2021

DAWN

cover story

later, the body is immediately ready to destroy them, preventing illness. There are currently more than 50 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in trials. The WHO is working in collaboration with scientists, business, and global health organizations through the ACT Accelerator to speed up the pandemic response. When a safe and effective vaccine is found, COVAX (led by WHO, GAVI and CEPI) will facilitate the equitable access and distribution of these vaccines to protect people in all countries. People most at risk will be prioritized. While we work towards rolling out a safe and effective vaccine fairly, we must continue the essential public health actions to suppress transmission and reduce mortality. The current COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented, but the global response draws on the lessons learned from other disease outbreaks over the past several decades. As part of the WHO’s response, the R&D Blueprint was activated to accelerate diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for this novel coronavirus. The Blueprint aims to improve coordination between scientists and global health professionals, accelerate the research and development process, and develop new norms and standards to learn from and improve upon the global response. Noticeably, on 30 January 2020, following the recommendations of the Emergency Committee, the WHO Director-General declared that the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The world’s scientists on COVID-19 then met at the World Health Organization’s Geneva headquarters on 11– 12 February 2020 to assess the current level of knowledge about the new virus, agree on critical research questions that need to be answered urgently, and to find ways to work together to accelerate and fund priority research to curtail this outbreak and prepare for those in the future. The discussion led to an agreement on two main goals. The first was to accelerate innovative research to help contain the spread of the epidemic and facilitate care for those affected. The second was to support research priorities that contribute to global research platforms in hopes of learning from

the current pandemic response to better prepare for the next unforeseen epidemic. Building on the response to recent outbreaks of Ebola virus disease, SARS-CoV and MERSCoV, the R&D Blueprint has facilitated a coordinated and accelerated response to COVID-19, including an unprecedented program to develop a vaccine, research into potential pharmaceutical treatments and strengthened channels for information sharing between countries.

Fact Findings Covaxin, Covishield vaccines for Coronavirus The premier institution, Bharat Biotech and

The premier institution, Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute rolled out their vaccines recently. Lakhs of people had been vaccinated, and there have been 580 adverse events

DAWN february 2021

Serum Institute rolled out their vaccines recently in January 2021. Lakhs of people had been vaccinated, and there have been 580 adverse events. The institution released a “fact sheet” had on January 19, 2021 detailing the risks and benefits of its vaccine for the novel coronavirus. The Hyderabad-based company reiterated that the efficacy of its vaccine, Covaxin, was yet to be established as Phase 3 clinical trials were underway. Earlier this month, Serum Institute of India had also put out a similar release with FAQs. Serum Institute, which makes Covishield, said beneficiaries should disclose certain health information to doctors before taking its shot. The companies, which have been granted approval for restricted use of their vaccines in an emergency situation, rolled out their vaccines on January 16, 2021. Lakhs of people had been vaccinated against Covid-19, and there have been 580 adverse events. Those with following conditions are not advised to take Covaxin in any of the following conditions: Have any allergies, Have fever, Have a bleeding disorder or are on a blood thinner, Are immune compromised or are on a medicine that

cover story

breathing, Swelling of your face and throat, A fast hear beat, Rash all over your body, apart from Dizziness and weakness Those restricted to take Serum Institute of India Covishield vaccine include: Serum Institute says Covishield “may not protect everyone”. Those who are receiving the shot must disclose to their vaccinators the following: If you have ever had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) after any drug, food, any vaccine or any ingredients (see below) of Covishield vaccine, If you have fever, If you have a bleeding disorder or are on a blood thinner, If you are immune compromised or are on a medicine that affects your immune system, If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant, If you are breastfeeding, If you have received another Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine includes the following ingredients: L-Histidine, L-Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate, Magnesium chloride hexahydrate, Polysorbate 80, Ethanol, Sucrose, Sodium chloride, Disodium edetate dihydrate (EDTA), and water for injection. Covishield consists of two separate doses of 0.5 ml each. The second dose should be administered four to six weeks after the first. A person who has had a severe allergic reaction to the first dose of the vaccine, should not be administered the second. The company says you may develop immunity for Covid-19 four weeks after the second dose of the shot.

Covaxin, which is injected into the deltoid muscle of the upper arm, is shown to generate immunity following two doses, four weeks apart

affects your immune system, Are pregnant, Are breastfeeding, Have received another Covid-19 vaccine and any other serious health related issues, as determined by the vaccinator. Besides, the company specifically states those who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not take the vaccine as its effects have not been studied on pregnant women and nursing mothers. It also says there is “no scientific information yet available of the appropriateness of use of Covaxin along with other vaccines”. Covaxin, which is injected into the deltoid muscle of the upper arm, is shown to generate immunity following two doses,

four weeks apart. Bharat Biotech says there is no chance of getting Covid-19 because of Covaxin vaccination.

Side Effects The important side effects that have been reported with the Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine include: Injection site pain, Injection site swelling, Injection site redness, Injection site itching, Stiffness in the upper arm, Weakness in injection arm, Body ache, Headache, Fever, Malaise, Weakness, Rashes, Nausea and Vomiting are among the significant side effects of the vaccine. Sometimes, it can also cause a severe allergic reaction like: Difficulty in

Side effects of Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccine The very common side effects include: Tenderness, pain, warmth, redness, itching, swelling or bruiding, fatigue, chills or feeling feverish, headache, nausea, joint pain or muscle ache, a lump at the injection site, fever, vomiting, flu-like symptoms, such as high temperature, sore throat, runny nose, cough and chills, feeling dizzy, decreased appetite, abdominal pain, enlarged lymph nodes, excessive sweating, itchy skin or rash. Apart from this, “serious and unexpected side effects may occur”, the company states.

february 2021

DAWN

Opinion

INTELLECT’S PSYCHE & HYPOCRISY BEHIND

‘RESERVATION’ By Pradeep Narayan

he very word reservation may be termed as an instrument of protective discrimination that has become defensive over the past few years, specifically for few sections in the society. However, subsidies and the reservation that the privileged enjoy, camouflaged as cultural norm and market principle, have now come out of the closet. In December 2020, there was an unmatched increase in the price of an LPG cylinder. In just 12 days, the amount went up from Rs 544 to Rs 644. However, the upper middle class metropolitan residents were unperturbed. Most of them have piped natural gas (PNG) connections in their home. The price of PNG, instead, reduced from Rs 28.55 per standard cubic metre (scm) to Rs 27.50 per scm since October 2020. When LPG cylinders used to cost Rs 538, the same quantity of PNG came at a price of Rs 375. Nevertheless, the drawing rooms of the affluent class would still examine the efficacy of LPG subsidies payable to the underprivileged. There would be a conspicuous silence on the fact that there is a parallel cheaper infrastructure exclusively for one class. Is this not a subsidy or a form of reservation? From January onwards, every year, every affluent class family with 4-6-year-old children would be complaining about the reservation for the economically weaker section in private schools. That poor families cannot afford the school fees to get their children admitted in many famous private schools is, of course, not their concern, for their wealth entitles them to that right. Often the fees are not the only barrier for poor families. Admission norms further privilege the privileged. There are extra points for children whose parents are alumni of the same school; whose siblings are already in the school; whose parents are professional degree holders and know English and multiple languages. This class flashes its wealth and also sets the rules so that this education infrastructure is its privilege, and yet, it does not consider this as reservation. Similarly, getting a confirmed ticket in trains had always been a task for everyone. But there was a Tatkal system. Confirmed tickets were made available for a reasonable additional charge. Now there is a Premium Tatkal scheme. A Premium Tatkal sleeper

Admission norms further privilege the privileged. There are extra points for children whose parents are alumni of the same school; whose siblings are already in the school; whose parents are professional degree holders and know English and multiple languages

DAWN february 2021

ticket from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram would cost as high as Rs 1,100, the fare for the same ordinary sleeper berth being Rs 305 and Tatkal at Rs 420 (Mathrubhumi, 5.12.2019). The scheme covers around 1.71 lakh seats in 2,677 trains, out of the total of 11.57 lakh seats. The affluent class has thus reserved for itself an exclusive travel segment (15 per cent) in railways; and yet it is not named as reservation? There are many other examples. For decades, there exists the system of management quota. A student gets just the pass mark in his class XII exam, but the affluent class feels payment of capitation fees entitles it to engineering and medical seats. Does this not compromise merit or not lead to exclusion of meritorious students who are not able to afford capitation fees? But these questions around merit are made to haunt only the reservation that is available for SCs and STs. Similarly, the media spends a lot of time on encroachments by the poor into public spaces. Have they ever spoken about the way a number of playgrounds have been converted into parking spaces in different posh colonies? Is this not an encroachment? Community centres across posh localities are well-resourced. They are often maintained by the same municipal corporation, which does not resource a similar centre near slum locations. Resources are the same. Officials are the same. Isn't the so-called good governance also ‘reserved’ for the affluent section?

Opinion

This affluent class, despite receiving all these privileges, constantly complains about reservation and subsidies that are constitutionally available to the SC, ST and OBC. It always puts the efficacy of the instrument of positive discrimination-based reservation system under the microscope Now, who live in these posh localities, own PNG connections, afford to pay capitation fees or create admission norms that favour themselves to put their children in resourced private schools or do not bother paying excessive amounts for premium tatkal tickets? At 2012 prices, if a household is earning Rs 50,000 per month or more, it is among the richest 0.6 per cent of the Indian citizenry. Many of us are in this income bracket. And the probability that this household belongs to the dominant caste is absolutely very high. Nitin Bharti, through his remarkable paper, proved that "Brahmins and nonBrahmin forward caste households earn 48 per cent and 45 per cent above the national average respectively, whereas SC and ST households earn 21 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively, less than the national average". This affluent class, despite receiving all these privileges, constantly complains about reservation and subsidies that are constitutionally available to the SC, ST and OBC. It always puts the efficacy of the instrument of positive discrimination-based reservation system under the microscope. By repeatedly citing and focusing on examples of ‘their’ children not being able to access government jobs and college seats, it has successfully located itself as victims of the reservation system. Now, when one explores who these children are, the response would be: what about children of poor parents from the general category? So, by identifying themselves with poor families of general category, this affluent class exposes its caste character. Now, this class has started making inroads into the formal reservation system by demanding reservation for the community that it predominantly belongs to. Jats and Marathas are demanding reservations. Many dominant castes in Tamil Nadu already have access to reservations. A lot has been spoken about the recent 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections among the general category, but rarely is there a discussion on the way the dominant castes have managed to secure formal publicly funded privileges, mostly in the last ten years. The following are some of the examples of the state-sponsored Brahmin Welfare Boards in a few states, for they are more endowed than many

february 2021

DAWN

Opinion

other caste-based boards set up by various governments. The executive committee of the government-supported Telangana Brahmin Samkshema Parishad met twice (May and October 2020) in the midst of the pandemic and approved a subsidy of Rs 9.6 crore to 372 Brahmin entrepreneurs. It also approved Vivekananda Overseas Education Scholarship of Rs 20 lakh each to 57 Brahmin students. Incidentally, this scheme borrows the guidelines from Dr Ambedkar Overseas Education Scheme of the state government available for SCs and STs. The scheme exclusively for Brahmins, of course, gets a new name after Vivekananda. In February 2020, before the pandemic lockdown, the Telangana administration approved a similar scholarship for 37 tribal students. It is pertinent to note that since 2013, only 138 tribal students have received this scholarship. Brahmins form 3 per cent of the state population, while tribals are almost 9 per cent . The Andhra Pradesh Brahmin Welfare Corporation, during 2015-16 to 201819, has supported 1.41 lakh Brahmins with grants worth Rs 216.4 crore. This includes overseas fellowship for 224 Brahmin students. Another 155 students were provided Rs 2.16 crore for pursuing Vedic education. In fact, Rs 1.5 lakh each

Recently, this board demanded the removal of passages in the school textbook that said that food scarcity was caused during the Vedic period because of sacrifices of agricultural animals and milk and ghee offerings to the fire god during havans done by Brahmins

DAWN february 2021

was provided to two Brahmin brides for marrying the Brahmin boys in the profession of purohityam. Further, funeral expenses of Rs 10,000 each were provided to 3,093 households. The government has also set up AP Brahmin Credit Cooperative Society with a corpus of Rs 50 crore. About 8,022 Brahmin women received a support of Rs 12 crore; and 4,474 Brahmin men received support of Rs 6 crore for their economic empowerment. Even Maruti Swift Dzire cars were distributed to 30 unemployed Brahmin youth, where the beneficiary had to pay just 10 per cent of the cost of the car. The Brahmins probably have additional pressure to set high ‘benchmarks’ even in the kind of privileges the state could offer to them. The state of Karnataka, where Brahmins constitute just 4 per cent of the population, was a late starter. In March 2019, the government set up the Karnataka State Brahmin Board with a seed capital of Rs 20 crore. In September, 2020, it announced free 7 months online coaching for UPSC exams. It also approved Rs 31,000 each to Brahmin beneficiaries for a housing scheme. It has now proposed a Rs 200 crore budgetary allocation for the board, for implementing its various initiatives including aid for marriages and other ritual ceremonies. Recently, this board demanded the removal of passages in the school textbook that said that food scarcity was

Opinion

Firstly, there are a number of examples of privileges that are enjoyed by the affluent class, which are subsidies, encroachment and reservations. These privileges are camouflaged as cultural norms and market principles and not called reservation

caused during the Vedic period because of sacrifices of agricultural animals and milk and ghee offerings to the fire god during havans done by Brahmins. In December 2020, the government faithfully obeyed their demand. The state of Himachal Pradesh, where Brahmins constitute 5 per cent of the population, also has a Brahmin Kalyan Board, with 139 members across different districts. Just two of them are women. In March 2017, under the chairmanship of the-then chief minister, the board meeting was held. The 18-page detailed minutes are available online, which detailed the process with which the CM responded to the demands of each board member, and decisions were taken on the spot. Many decisions were related to public infrastructure including renovation of temples at public cost. A number of religious places have anyway become the exclusive domain of dominant sections. Religion has been reduced to transaction, wherein if one pays fees and ‘donations’, one has entitlements inside the religious place. Now, what really happens is that the fees and contribution becomes an alibi to exclude those at the margins, often on the basis of caste. Dalit and tribal hamlets were not allowed to contribute to their construction funds. Further, various public land parcels are exclusively reserved for the dominant caste, where Dalits cannot cremate or bury or even use the public street for funeral processions. Sociocultural norms get cited to explain this form of reservation. It is not that there is no attempt to counter the ‘privileges’ enjoyed by them. The temple priests in almost all the major temples around the country, especially those funded by the governments, have been exclusively recruited among Brahmin men. In Kerala, one is witnessing a gradual shift. A few non-Brahmins have now been appointed. Even, the Tirupati Devaswom Board has trained 200 persons from Dalit and backward communities in priesthood. However, it was unable to appoint any of them into its existing temples. It has instead decided to build 500 new temples near SC,

ST and fisherfolks' colonies to appoint them. The solution is being found within the four walls of the caste system. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, in 2006, a total of 206 non-Brahmins joined six training schools located across the state to receive instruction to become priests. Only one of them succeeded in getting employment after 12 years; others are still awaiting employment orders. Similarly, in 2019, the Banaras Hindu University appointed Professor Firoz Khan in its Sanskrit Vidya Dharma department. Even when appreciations were pouring in, within a week, the ABVP students went on strike against the appointment. Prof Khan resigned in a few days and is teaching Sanskrit in another department. So, universities would now be hesitant to recruit non-Hindus, even though the rules allow them, and they are ‘meritorious’ and have the knowledge and expertise in Sanskrit. What does all this mean? Firstly, there are a number of examples of privileges that are enjoyed by the affluent class, which are subsidies, encroachment and reservations. These privileges are camouflaged as cultural norms and market principles and not called reservation. They are consciously invisible. Instead, what is constantly discussed is the reservation that is applicable for Bahujans in Lok Sabha, assemblies, government jobs and education institutions. These are discussed so pejoratively that communities are further bothered and stigmatized. Secondly, the key question asked is whether this statutory reservation would continue forever. How long should the reservation continue? It is actually not difficult to answer this question. Look at the composition of the important non-ceremonial public institutions, where there is no reservation for SCs and STs. The 22-member Union Cabinet has two Dalit representatives. There is one Dalit among 89 secretary-level officers in the Union Government. Between 2010 and 2019, we did not have a Dalit Supreme Court judge. Only one judge appointed to the Supreme Court in this decade is a Dalit. Seven Bharat Ratna recipients that got decided in this decade were all Brahmins.

The GST Council has no representation of Dalits. The 14-member high-profile committee that is going to define the cultural past of the country has no representation of Dalits or tribals or women. There are only 17 Dalit MPs (around 7 per cent) in the 241-member Rajya Sabha. Only ten states have elected Dalit members to the Rajya Sabha. So, if these public institutions were to become diverse based on gender, caste and tribal status, without reservation, there is probably a case to discontinue reservation. Similarly, there are also open-category seats in those domains where there is reservation. Until there is a reasonable presence of diversity among those selected in open-category seats, should the reservation not continue? The problem has been about the way reservation has been, conceptually, reduced as benefits to communities at the margins. Reservation is essential to build credibility of the public decision-making institutions by making the institutions diverse and acceptable to all. Reservation is primarily for the benefit of the public institution and not the community. The next decade is going to be the decade of reservation. Reservation as an instrument of protective discrimination has become defensive. However, subsidies and the reservation that the privileged enjoy, camouflaged as cultural norm and market principle, have now come out of the closet. The affluent class, with its caste character, has formally encroached into the public funds with confessed casteism. It is sometimes appealing to approve this exposed caste-based confrontation as better than the invisible casteism of the past decades. However, one needs to keep in mind that spaces for dialogue and negotiations are also shrinking. There is no level playing field for all narratives. Some probably fear that there may even not be a playing field. (The writer is the Director, Partners in Change, New Delhi)

february 2021

Courtesy: News 18

DAWN

Opinion

WHETHER INDIAN CONSTITUTION SUPPORTS

‘RIGHT TO FREE VACCINE’ By Radhika Roy & Mukund Unny

ith free Coronavirus vaccine being administered across the nation only to “prioritized beneficiaries”, the largest vaccination drive in the history has been initiated in India. Initially, the beneficiaries include over three crore healthcare and frontline workers. Even though states like Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar and Kerala have assured free vaccines for everyone, there is no commitment from the central government to ensure that the benefit of vaccination is universal for all Indians. In a country like India, the Centre should ensure that there is a right to free vaccine for all Indians. However, the Indian authorities are tentative in declaring free COVID vaccines for all, countries such as the United States, France, Japan, Russia, Norway and Bahrain have pledged free vaccines for all their citizens. In May 2020, around 140 global

leaders and experts, including the President of South Africa and Chairman of the African Union, Cyril Ramaphosa, and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, signed an open letter requesting the governments across the world to unite behind a “people’s vaccine” against COVID-19. The global leaders have declared, “Access to vaccines and treatments as global public goods are in the interests of all humanity. We cannot afford for monopolies, crude competition and near-sighted nationalism to stand in the way”. Incidentally, the WHO as well as GAVI, a global vaccine alliance, have advocated for the declaration of vaccination as a “global public good” and have urged countries to not perceive immunization in terms of solely protecting an individual, but for the long-run idea of creating herd immunity, thereby protecting the entire society. The WHO categorically enlists

DAWN february 2021

disease eradication as a concept which is non-excludable from being qualified as a “global public good” as it, despite its externality, benefits everyone at the end of the day. Studies from the United Kingdom and the United States have shown that death due to COVID-19 is proportionally related to poverty. Maybe such aspects weighed in favour of free COVID-19 treatment offered by Kerala, which has shown one of the least death rates among big states in India. As Nelson Barbosa, former Finance Minister of Brazil, opined, market solutions are not

Opinion

optimal to fight a pandemic. Therefore, the public healthcare system, including free vaccination and free treatment are essential to deal with such a massive public health crisis. A recent survey by the Gaon Connection found that the biggest worry in rural India was whether the vaccine would be available for free and that 36 per cent of the interviewed respondents exhibited an unwillingness to pay for the vaccine. “Vaccine hesitancy” has been ranked by the WHO in 2019 as one of the top ten threats

treatment. In light of the above, if the right to health is a guaranteed fundamental right for an Indian citizen, she also possesses a right to free vaccine as it is a sub-set of the right to life which is guaranteed by our Constitution. A case study in the year 1996 in West Bengal (Paschim Bangal Khet Mazdoor Samity & Others versus the State of Bengal & others), the Supreme Court had held that the primary duty of a welfare state encompassed the obligation of the government to provide adequate medical facilities for its citizens. India, by furthering its commitment as a welfare state, must

provide the vaccine for free as the taking the vaccine is not an individual choice, but is a mandate for the overall security of the country. There is also the apprehension that prioritizing the administration of the vaccine at the behest of the bureaucracy may lead to arbitrariness. It is well-recorded that in such situations, it is the poor who end up with the short end of the stick. Therefore, in order to ensure that there is complete equity in the availability and accessibility of the vaccine, it would be prudent to dispense the vaccine for free to all. The 1946 Constitution of the WHO, 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, all enshrine the right to health, and countries, including India, who have ratified these treaties and conventions, have committed themselves to uphold this right, in an inclusive manner so that everyone can attain the equal opportunity to enjoy the highest attainable level of health. Despite being home to one of the world’s largest health programs, vaccinating a billion people for the first time is bound to be a daunting challenge and the government will have to navigate rough administrative, societal and financial terrains. While the intention behind the promises of free vaccine is laudable and in consonance with the principles enshrined in our Constitution, there is a need to examine the plausibility of such open-ended statements through the prism of ground realities. In this context, the ultimate methodology that can be effectuated for free pan-India vaccination would be one that can successfully take a leaf out of the playbook of the practice that was implemented for eradicating smallpox and polio.

to global health. To tackle this hesitancy, one of the greatest barriers — the affordability of the vaccination — must be dispelled to secure the right to health of its citizens. The right to health flows directly from Article 21 of the Constitution of India as has been held consistently by the Supreme Court in a catena of judgments, starting from the 1984 case of Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India and Ors. This inviolable right naturally encompasses the right to access affordable treatment, as iterated by the Supreme Court in a suo moto case pertaining to the proper treatment of COVID-19 patients. The apex court held the state responsible for making provisions to cap the charges levied by private hospitals on incoming COVID-19 patients and noted that even if one managed to survive COVID-19, the individual would be rendered financially compromised due to the high cost of the

Despite being home to one of the world’s largest health programs, vaccinating a billion people for the first time is bound to be a daunting challenge and the government will have to navigate rough administrative, societal and financial terrains.

Enabling vaccine equity will also lead to longterm financial benefits for the government as the national lockdown wreaked havoc on the economy. A healthy society is directly proportional to a healthy economy. For this, there resides in the government a solemn duty to disseminate the vaccine to counter COVID-19 for free to all. Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective survival interventions and extending the free vaccine to every individual in the country will inevitably prove to be beneficial for not only the citizens of the country, but also to the state. Significantly, the moral of the Union Government, international and legal obligations make it imperative that COVID -19 vaccines are free and universal. Courtesy: Indian Express

february 2021

DAWN

Interview

UTTAR PRADESH IS GOING TO EXPERIENCE

A BOOST IN TOURISM – DR. ARUN VIR SINGH Q. You’ve recently signed up a consultant for the ambitious YEIDA Film City Project. What is the way ahead? A. In this regard many meetings have been conducted by CM Yogi alongside Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority. It was further notified that the sector 21 area would be utilized for the Film City Project. Now, in order to begin the procedures, a world-class consultant was required, and keeping in mind the prerequisites, a consultant was hired. We shortlisted CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd., a New York based company for this purpose. It is a Fortune 500 company, and has worked in Ireland, California, Bangalore with regard to Film Studios and Amusement Parks. We have shortlisted them on the basis of their vast experience with the help of the Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) Method. The real estate consultancy company is expected to submit the DPR (Detailed Project Report) in 60 days. The YEIDA has been exploring three models- public-private-partnerships (PPP), the authority alone, or another single developer to develop the project. The DPR is expected to find an answer to this question. It will contain the details of the layout of the sector dedicated to the film city project and the financial feasibility of the project. Once the DPR is ready, it will be broadly discussed with the cabinet and probably in April 2021, we will consider the developing aspects.

The Jewar Airport, to be known as Noida International Airport is a highly ambitious project of the Uttar Pradesh Government. In order to seek answers to few significant questions, Hariom Tyagi, Group Editor Observer Dawn interviewed IAS Dr. Arun Vir Singh, the CEO of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) and Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL). Here is an excerpt from the conversation.

about the development of the project in four phases, a Delhi-Varanasi high speed rail station will be constructed in this airport building, providing passengers with air, as well as rail connectivity. The plan also talks about making the Jewar Airport a domestic hub with 75 per cent of all its operations concentrated within India. Once the master plan is approved, the company will further submit the construction plan. Recently, Zurich Airport International presented the master plan and also revealed the official logo of Noida International Airport — a symbol that shows a Sarus Crane - the state bird of the state - in flight. The symbol is created using thin uniform converging lines with a bluegreen colour gradient fill symbolizing technology and connectivity on one hand and eco-consciousness on the other. The upward movement denotes positivity and upliftment of experience. The logo effectively combines technology with emotions while lending sophistication and elegance. The second airport in the National Capital Region will be officially known as Noida International Airport. Q. Many Builders are working in the YEIDA Region with regard to Infrastructure. What progress has been made in this regard? A. A lot of work has been done this year despite obstacles posed by COVID-19. We have constructed about 50 Kilometers

Q. Along with the Film City project, another very ambitious project Jewar International Airport is under development. What is its current progress? A. A lot of developments have taken place with regard to Jewar International Airport in past one month. The agreement happened on 7th October and the Jewar Airport master plan was submitted by developer company Zurich AG to Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) on 4th December. It was then sent to the Civil Aviation Ministry for feedback and comments. The document, which will also be vetted by the UP government, Noida International Airport Limited, etc., before being unveiled next year, will act as the blueprint for the development of the mega project. Under the master plan, which talks

DAWN february 2021

Hariom Tyagi, Group Editor Observer Dawn is sitting with IAS Dr. Arun Vir Singh, the CEO of YEIDA and NIAL while taking interview

Interview of road and 122 Kilometers of Sewerage lines in the last year. We are also focusing on strengthening the connectivity by connecting the Jewar Airport to Mumbai Delhi Expressway via Ballabhgarh. This will be shared by both UP and Haryana Government. The NHI will look after the construction aspects. Additionally, Metro has also been approved for the connectivity to both Film City and Noida International Airport. There is a very close connectivity from the Eastern Peripheral Expressway too. It will also interchangeably connect with the western peripheral Expressway, which in turn will connect the film city to Manesar, Sohna and Faridabad. The proposed Bullet train pathway will also be easily accessible. In addition to the connectivity, there is a lot of Industrial Development taking place in this region. About 900 to1100 Industrial

plots have been allotted in this region in last 8 months. There are 4 clusters namely MSME Cluster, Apparel Cluster, Toy Cluster and Handicraft cluster. In addition to this, we are also planning to set up a Medical Device Cluster. In these industries, there is an investment of 7617 crores involved which will give employment to about 1.51 lakh people. The Top companies include Kent RO, Mitsubishi, Vivo, and many more. Q. Are there any plans for Residential Development in YEIDA region? A. Yes, in October we did a draw about Residential Scheme in already developed plots. We will further bring up more plans in last week of January 2021. We are focusing on developing quite economically affordable plots so that the construction workers who

will work in the Film City and Airport area can meet the expense. We have already allotted 13 plots for housing societies and there is a visible delay in completion of project. So, we are going to focus on the acceleration of construction. Q. What is the update with regard to the Jaypee Infra case? A. The Supreme Court ordered the status quo for two weeks on Jaypee Group's plea against NCLAT's order after it was informed that Parliament had passed the proposed amendments in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Jaypee Group has moved the Supreme Court against the NCLAT order which barred Jaypee Associates Ltd, the parent company, from bidding for Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL). In its October 8 hearing, the Supreme Court had reserved its judgment. Now that the courts are closing for winter break next week, the pending issue of construction of the remaining flats will only be resolved in 2021. Q. Jaypee had also given its land to other developers for construction. Are those developers going to face some action? A. There is going to be no such action involved if the land has already been acquired by the said developers, but in case the land is still registered under Jaypee Property, its liquidation will be done certainly. Q. Is there anything that you would want to tell our readers?

A. Uttar Pradesh is going to experience a boost in Tourism in the upcoming years. We are focusing on Agra development in the upcoming year. There are plans of developing a Heritage Corridor from Yamuna Expressway to Vrindavan. It will ease up the travel to Banke Bihari Temple. Another Corridor will focus on places like Gokul, Barsana and Nandgaon and DR. ARUN VIR SINGH (I.A.S.) the rich cultural experience Chief Executive Officer of Lord Krishna’s life. It will be developed in the land area of about 500 hectares which Yamuna Expressway Industrial will include a pedestrian Development Authority (YEIDA) pathway for Parikrama. We and Noida International Airport have already started the Limited (NIAL) process to hire a consultant and the work on detailed project report of these two projects will start soon. YEIDA has planned to develop a heritage city along the Yamuna Expressway so that the tourists have ample options to engage with during their journey in this region from Greater Noida to Agra that is home to Taj Mahal.

february 2021

DAWN

Interview

ASIA'S LARGEST PLASTIC WASTE STRUCTURE TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN GHAZIABAD – MAHENDRA SINGH TANWAR (I.A.S.) Ghaziabad is called the Gateway of Uttar Pradesh, as it is the main land of entry into the state. Due to its proximity to Delhi, the capital of the country, it is said to be of great importance. The cleanliness and beautification of the metropolis is entrusted to the Municipal Corporation of Ghaziabad. Hariom Tyagi, the Group Editor of Observer Dawn, interviewed Municipal Commissioner IAS Mahendra Singh Tanwar on various issues related to the metropolitan city. Here are the excerpts from the conversation. Q. Ghaziabad is called the Gateway of Uttar Pradesh and its specialty is further enhanced by being near Delhi. What are the plans you have made for beautification, sanitation and waste disposal etc. and how is the work being done by the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation? A. Main function of municipal body is to maintain the city and it is a regular process. The corporation is a civic body and we provide various services like cleanliness, maintenance, lighting, water supply etc. of the urban body area. As you said, Ghaziabad is called the Gateway of Uttar Pradesh, due to this, whenever there is talk of any service facility, we are compared

to Delhi-NCR. It is our priority to live up to this expectation. In such a situation, we have to keep in mind that the service-hygiene standard of the city is somehow lower than Delhi. Keeping all these points in mind, in the last four months we have made several initiatives including cleanliness in the metropolis. We have primarily focused on 19 points that were identified. Service facilities of any city say that development is first identified by its cleanliness and its important aspect is waste disposal. First, we have focused on the disposal of solid waste. If we do not process it, then in

IAS Mahendra Singh Tanwar was given the charge of Nagarayukta in Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation on August 15 last year. Mahendra Singh Tanwar is a 2015 batch IAS and was posted as CDO Shahjahanpur till he took over the charge of Nagarayukta in Ghaziabad. Mr. Tanwar completed his training as an IAS on 3 May 2016. After this, his first posting was in Bahraich as Assistant Collector. Mr. Tanwar held this post from 4 May 2016 to 29 September 2017. Thereafter, he was posted as SDM at Etah from 30 September 2017 to 12 February 2019. Childhood Mahendra Singh Tanwar, originally from village Kahnore in Rohtak district of Haryana, was born on 3 June 1988 to Omprakash Singh Tanwar and Gindori Devi. His father, Omprakash Singh, was in the Tanwar army. Mahendra Singh Tanwar got married to Ahmedabad resident Priyanka in the year 2016. Education and career Mahendra Singh Tanwar has studied up to the eighth standard from a government school. He then studied up to Intermediate from Balabhavan School in Bhiwani. He did his B.Tech in Textiles Engineering from TIT College, Bhiwani. After doing B.Tech, Mahendra Singh Tanwar worked for two years from 2009 to 2011 in a private company

DAWN february 2021

located in Sector-63, Noida. After this, for two years, he worked as Assistant Section Officer in the Government of India in the South Block of Delhi. He cleared Examination of Administrative Services in the year 2013, and got IRTS. During the IRTS training, in the year 2014, he attempted the Civil Service Examination yet again, and was allotted the Uttar Pradesh cadre in the batch of 2015. The first posting training took place in Bahraich followed by the deployment of SDM in Etah. Thereafter worked as a CDO in Shahjahanpur for one and a half years. He is currently working in the post of Nagarayukta in Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation. Special interests Mahendra Singh Tanwar loves playing cricket. He has a special interest in poetry writing and he writes about love. He says that writing is a hobby that does not require you to set aside time, as you can do writing even while traveling. Dislikes Mahendra Singh Tanwar, the administrative officer, hates keeping a mobile phone. However, he believes that mobile phones have become an important necessity in life. Actually being an administrative officer, he gets a lot of phone calls. He prefers communicating via text messages rather than via calls.

Interview

some form or other, it will be found lying somewhere in the drain or on the road and it makes the whole city look dirty. We have decided to develop a capacity to dispose of 1500 tonnes of garbage released daily from the city in the next three months. Half the disposal capacity will be achieved in the month of January and the rest will be completed by April-May. We have started a campaign for cleanliness in the city, which is named as 'dust free Ghaziabad'. For this, we asked for 6-7 thousand cotton bags and after cleaning, the dust and soil collected would be filled in those bags. More than 60 thousand bags have been picked up since October 2, wherein one bag weighs eightten kg. Like this about 500 tons of dust and soil have been disposed of so far.

maintenance. For this, our entire team is much appreciated, I salute them.

Plastic waste disposal is a major issue; important initiatives have also been taken on how to get everyday products from waste plastic. For this, local artists have been invited through media and people among them have been selected, to make decorative items and products of necessity from plastic. Tiles, Tree guard, Dustbin have been made to meet various needs of Municipal Corporation. We have prepared and established Asia's largest structure made of plastic waste, for this we have been named in the Asia Book of World Records.

Q. There are many cases of illegal construction and encroachment on municipal land, what action has been taken?

Q. The entire world has been affected by the outbreak of the Corona epidemic. How has it impacted the work of the Corporation? A. The work of the municipal corporation is mainly maintenance and it is a regular work. The outbreak of the corona virus infection epidemic has been a double challenge for us, because on the one hand where we had to focus on how to work to reduce the impact, on the other hand we had to pay enough attention to the maintenance of the city. During this, our team had to work doubly. We are happy that we have fully lived up to this task. More than 5000 people work in our Municipal Corporation. When everyone was quarantined and locked in their homes, then our entire team went street to street, not only sanitized but also continued the work of regular cleaning and

Q. What measures are being taken to reinforce the system affected by the Corona outbreak? A. See one thing is certain that due to corona infection, we have to make a habit of social distancing. It is very important. For this, let me give you a small example, our garbage carts go to every ward of the city, along with picking up garbage in it. A small message to protect against corona virus infection can be sent to the public through the public announcement system to completely follow social distancing and what to do to avoid infection. This brings awareness among the people.

A. The Municipal Corporation has a very large land bank and is about 828 hectares. A lot of villages from time to time come to the border and the LMC land there is that of the corporation, it becomes the property of the municipal corporation. We have a revenue team but we have to rely on the revenue department and depend on it. Because until we don't know where our land is, how much is there, how can we protect it from illegal occupation and how can we take action? We have started an effort with this, which is a simple way. We are living in the era of technology and we have tried to make better use of technology concerning municipal property. Comparative matching of the map of the satellite map and the Department of Revenue is done to find out the reality of land use. In the last 4 months, we have freed about 45 hectares of land from illegal occupation; the value of this property is more than Rs 700 crores. Although it is not even 10 percent of the total assets of the corporation, if we work on it for a whole year, then the property worth several thousand crores of rupees will be vacant. Q. What are you doing to improve Ghaziabad's cleanliness rankings?

A. If we talk about the cleanliness ranking, in the year 2018, we were number one in Uttar Pradesh and 13th in the whole country. This time its ranking has come down from 13 to 19th and Lucknow has surpassed us in Uttar Pradesh. Everyone talks about the number one, but only we can decide which place to live because everyone makes every effort to improve according to their own. Many times you do very well, but you are not able to get a better rank even when it is seen that you have done nothing special and you come out on top. Our effort in this is that we should do our work better in a regular manner and the citizens themselves realize that we are living in a nice city. This feeling of the townspeople will be equal to the number one ranking for me. Q. Complaints of contaminated water supply, road drainage, sewer and sewage etc. are common in various areas of Ghaziabad. There are also many problems associated with irregular colonies. What is being done to resolve them? A. Under the 'One Operator One City' scheme, the work of dealing with sewer line problems has now gone to a private company. They have set up a separate control room for this. Along with this, work is going on under the 'Amrit Yojana' to lay new sewerage lines at eight places, which should be completed by the month of March. Q. Would you please explain something about the process of taxation, recovery and transfer in regular-irregular colonies? A. We cannot maintain a colony without a handover. We are a maintenance agency, not a development agency. The Municipal Corporation collects three types of taxes, house tax, water tax and sewerage tax. Transfer of the colony developed by the Authority after the consent of the Corporation and GDA or HousingDevelopment Council is made only after notification from the government. Q. What are the new things that corporation is going to do, what are the future plans? A. Now we are preparing to issue Green Municipal Bond. By the month of February-March, the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation will become the first Municipal Corporation in the country to issue a Green Municipal Bond. While the general municipal bonds are issued by a corporation to raise funds for various developmental works, Green Municipal Bonds are the means through which the funds collected are used for green initiatives such as the promotion of water resources, plantation etc. Our project is to set up such an STP, which will make sewerage water usable for industrial use.

february 2021

DAWN

In-Depth

GROWING CORONA FEAR FORCES BELARUS PRISON DEMONSTRATE AGAINST PRESIDENT

ecent wave of the deadly Coronavirus has swallowed up the prisons in Belarus that are packed with people in custody for demonstrating against the nation’s authoritarian president, and some of the protesters who contracted the coronavirus while incarcerated accuse authorities of neglecting or even encouraging infections. Speaking on these issues, sections of the activists, after issuing their press release described massively overcrowded cells without proper ventilation or basic amenities and a lack of medical treatment. One, Kastus Lisetsky (35), a musician who received a 15-day sentence for attending a protest, said he was hospitalized with a high fever after eight days at a prison in eastern Belarus and diagnosed with double-sided pneumonia induced by COVID-19. “Humid walls covered by parasites, the shocking lack of sanitary measures, shivering cold and a rusting bed —-that was what I got in prison in Mogilev instead of medical assistance”, Lisetsky said the media agencies over the telephone. “I had a fever and lost consciousness, and the guards had to call an ambulance”, he added.

DAWN february 2021

He said that before he entered prison, he and three bandmates were held in a Minsk jail and had to sleep on the floor of a cell intended for only two people. All four have contracted the virus. Lisetsky must return to prison to serve the remaining seven days of his sentence after he’s discharged from the hospital.

The alleged vote-rigging and the brutal crackdown on demonstrations have prompted the United States and the European Union to introduce sanctions against Belarusian officials

He accused the government of allowing the virus to run wild among those jailed for political reasons. “The guards say openly that they do it deliberately on orders,” Lisetsky said. More than 30,000 people have been detained for taking part in protests against the August reelection of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in a vote that opposition activists and some election workers say was rigged to give Lukashenko a sixth term. Police have repeatedly broken up peaceful protests with clubs and stun grenades. The alleged vote-rigging and the brutal crackdown on demonstrations have prompted the United States and the European Union to introduce sanctions against Belarusian officials. Opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who placed second in the presidential election and was forced

In-Depth

to leave the country after she challenged the official results giving Lukashenko 80 per cent of the vote, urged foreign leaders and international organizations to intervene to help stem the coronavirus outbreak in Belarus’ prisons. “In the center of Europe, inmates are being deliberately infected with coronavirus”, Tsikhanouskaya told the media. “They move the infected people from one cell to another, and the cells are overcrowded and lack ventilation. It’s an atrocity, it can only be assessed as abuse and torture”, he said.

Authorities haven’t released the number of prisoners with COVID-19, but rights activists say that thousands of protesters tested positive after they were detained

Authorities haven’t released the number of prisoners with COVID-19, but rights activists say that thousands of protesters tested positive after they were detained. “The horrible condition of Belarus’ penitentiary system has contributed to an outbreak of COVID-19 in prisons, but the authorities haven’t even tried to improve the situation and have put thousands of activists on that conveyer”, Valiantsin Stefanovic, vice chairman of the Viasna rights center, said. Artsiom Liava, a 44-year-old journalist, said he got infected last month while awaiting a court hearing in a jail cell intended to accommodate 10 but housing about 100 inmates. Liava was detained while he was covering a protest in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, for the independent Belsat TV channel. “First, fellow inmates and then me stopped feeling the prison stench,” he told the media persons. “All of us had a fever, strong cough and were feeling feeble, but they weren’t giving us even hot water”, he added. Liava said that after receiving a 15-day sentence, he was moved to different jails and prisons in Minsk and nearby towns as authorities struggled to house inmates in overcrowded detention facilities. He said he witnessed similar conditions in all of them — cellmates coughing or experiencing difficulty breathing, and prison wardens treating them with emphatic neglect. “It was like a mockery, doctors weren’t responding to pleas and complaints,” Liava said. “It was forbidden to lie down during daytime and mattresses were folded up. We all felt exhausted, but we were forced to stay seated on iron beds in the basement without any access to fresh air.”

The journalist said he didn’t get a single dose of medicine during his stint behind bars. The day after he left prison, Liava said, he tested positive for COVID-19, and a CT scan showed that his lungs were badly affected. “Prison doctors should be prosecuted for negligence. They put our lives in danger by refusing us (basic) medical treatment,” said Liava, who had a strong cough and was breathing with difficulty while speaking to the media. Belarus has reported more than 180,000 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, but many in the ex-Soviet republic of 9.4 million people suspect authorities of manipulating statistics to hide the true scope of the country’s outbreaks.

Lukashenko cavalierly dismissed the coronavirus early during the pandemic, shrugging off the fear and national lockdowns the new bug had caused as “psychosis” and advising citizens to avoid catching it by driving tractors in the field, drinking vodka and visiting saunas. His attitude has angered many Belarusians, adding to the public dismay over his authoritarian style and helping fuel the postelection protests. Ihar Hotsin, a doctor working at a top oncology hospital in Minsk, was detained when he joined a rally of medical workers opposing the crackdown on demonstrations. He said he and four of his colleagues who were arrested all contracted the virus in custody. Hotsin, 30, believes he got infected at the prison in the city of Baranovichi where he was held in a 12-square-meter (129-squarefoot) cell together with about 80 other inmates. “Five doctors from our hospital were detained, and all five tested positive for COVID-19 after being released, a 100 per cent rate,” Hotsin said. “We must cry out loud about an outbreak of COVID-19 in jails overcrowded with political prisoners”. As per the available photographs, Belarusian riot police officers stand next to detained after an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results demonstrators inside a police station in Minsk recently, almost a month ago. Over 30,000 people were detained for taking part in protests against the re-election of Belarus’ authoritarian President, Alexander Lukashenko, in August 2020, during the presidential vote that was widely seen as rigged with fraud. The protests, some of which attracted up to 200,000 people, now have entered their fifth month.

february 2021

DAWN

In-Depth

VACCINE TO DEFEAT DEADLY CORONAVIRUS LAUNCHED IN EU

he medical officials including doctors, nurses and the elderly rolled up their sleeves across the European Union to receive the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine during the last week of December 2020. It was being termed as a symbolic show of unity and moment of hope for a continent confronting its worst health care crisis in a century. Almost eight days after the United States, Canada and Britain began inoculations with the same vaccine, the 27-nation bloc staged a coordinated rollout aimed at projecting a unified message that the shot was safe and Europe’s best chance to emerge from the pandemic. For health care workers who have been battling the virus with only masks and shields to protect themselves, the vaccines represented an emotional relief as the virus continues to kill. But it was also a public chance for them to urge Europe’s 450 million people to get the shots amid continued vaccine and virus skepticism. The first person to be inoculated at the Spallanzani infectious disease hospital in Rome, Claudia Alivernini (29) said, “Now I am here as a citizen, but most of all as a nurse, to represent my category and all the health workers who choose to believe in science”. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called the vaccine, which was developed in record time, a game-changer. He said, “We know that today is not the end of the pandemic, but it is the beginning of the victory”. Italian virus czar Domenico Arcuri said it was significant that Italy’s first doses were administered at Spallanzani, where a Chinese couple visiting from Wuhan tested positive in January

DAWN february 2021

and became Italy’s first confirmed cases. Within weeks, northern Lombardy became the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe and a cautionary tale of what happens when even wealthy regions find themselves unprepared for a pandemic. Lombardy still accounts for around a third of the dead in Italy, which has the continent’s worst confirmed virus death toll at nearly 72,000. “Today is a beautiful, symbolic day: All the citizens of Europe together are starting to get their vaccinations, the first ray of light after a long night,” Arcuri told reporters. But he cautioned, “We all have to continue to be prudent, cautious and responsible. We still have a long road ahead, but finally we see a bit of light”. The vaccine developed by Germany’s BioNTech and American drugmaker Pfizer started arriving in supercold containers at EU hospitals from a factory in Belgium. Each country was only getting a fraction of the doses needed — fewer than 10,000 in the first batches for some countries — with the bigger rollout expected in January when more vaccines become available. All those getting shots have to come back for a second dose in three weeks. Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Union’s Executive Commission, said with additional vaccines in development, the EU will have more shots than necessary this year and could share its surplus with the western Balkans and Africa. “Europe is well positioned”, she insisted. In the Los Olmos nursing home in the Spanish city of Guadalajara, northeast of Madrid, 96-year-old resident Araceli Hidalgo and a caregiver were the first Spaniards to receive the vaccine. “Let us see if we can all behave and make this virus go away”, Hidalgo said. The Los Olmos home suffered

In-Depth

two confirmed COVID-19 deaths and another 11 deaths among residents with symptoms who were never tested. The Czech Republic was spared the worst of the pandemic in the spring only to see its health care system near collapse in the fall. In Prague, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis received his shot and asserted: “There’s nothing to worry about.” Sitting next to him was World War II veteran Emilie Repikova, who also received a shot. Altogether, the EU’s 27 nations have recorded at least 16 million coronavirus infections and more than 336,000 deaths — huge numbers that experts say still understate the true toll of the pandemic due to missed cases and limited testing. The vaccination campaign should ease frustrations that were building up, especially in Germany, as Britain, Canada and the United States kicked off their inoculation programs with the same vaccine weeks earlier. As it turned out, some EU immunizations began a day early in Germany, Hungary and Slovakia. The operator of a German nursing home

where dozens were vaccinated, including a 101-year-old woman, said “every day that we wait is one day too many”. In France, where many question the safety of vaccines, the French government has been cautious in its messaging and keen to ensure that it is not seen as forcing vaccinations on the public. France’s first vaccination at a nursing home in a poor area outside of Paris was not broadcast on live television as it was elsewhere in Europe and no government ministers attended. “We did not need to convince her. She said: yes, I’m ready for anything to avoid getting this disease”, said Dr. Samir Tine, head of geriatric services for the Sevran nursing home where France’s first shot went to 78-year-old Mauricette. “It is an important day,” Tine said. “We are very eager to have a new weapon at our disposal and we are very eager to rediscover our normal lives.” Among the politicians who got shots to promote a wider acceptance of vaccinations was Bulgarian Health Minister Kostadin Angelov. “I can’t wait to see my 70-year-old father without

Altogether, the EU’s 27 nations have recorded at least 16 million coronavirus infections and more than 336,000 deaths — huge numbers that experts say still understate the true toll of the pandemic due to missed cases and limited testing

fear that I could infect him,” Angelov said. After he got his shot, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared “a great day for science and the European Union.” “We hope that, with time, even those of our fellow citizens who are suspicious of vaccination will be convinced it is the right thing to do,” he said. Meanwhile, a new virus variant that has been spreading rapidly around London and southern England has now been detected in France, Italy, Spain, Canada and Japan. The new variant, which British authorities said is much more easily transmitted, has prompted many countries to restrict travel from Britain. Japan announced it would temporarily ban all non-resident foreigners from entering through Jan. 31 as a precaution against the U.K.’s new variant. Germany’s BioNTech has said it’s confident that its vaccine works against the new U.K. variant, but added that further studies are needed. The European Medicines Agency has on the first week of January 2021 planned to consider approving another vaccine made by Moderna, which is already being used in the United States. Dr. Annalisa Malara, who diagnosed Italy’s first domestic case on Feb. 20 that confirmed Europe’s outbreak was underway, was on hand at her hospital in Codogno to encourage all Italians to get the shot.

february 2021

DAWN

In-Depth

IS THERE ANY SIGNIFICANCE OF BEING

SHUBMAN GILL By Mukul Kesawani

hether Shubman Gill exists? Or it’s just an imagination? The answer primarily seems in assertive. Soon after his cameos in the Melbourne Test, I called clued-up cricketing friends for a reality check. Was he, in fact, the best desi prospect since Tendulkar? Or even, touch wood, the most highly finished debutant in whites since Sunil Gavaskar took guard at the Queen’s Park Oval half a century ago? Or was I dreaming? He had, after all, been dropped twice while making 45 in the first innings and the fluent 35 not out in the second could be put down to the confidence that chasing a small winning total brings. Even Joe Burns, the hapless Australian opener, looked the part while scoring a fifty in his second innings in Adelaide when Australia had set off in pursuit of a paltry 89. Had I been carried away by a pretty technique and perfect teeth? I can report that the consensus is that Gill is the goods. There has been whispered excitement about him for a couple of years now, but it was constrained by the usual ‘can he keep this up at the highest level’ caveat that haunts all cricket prodigies. Starc, Cummings, Hazlewood and Lyon, as good an attack as any Australia has fielded this century, will testify that he can. Gill is gasp-inducing for two reasons: the rate at which he scores runs and the style in which he scores them. Of the eighty runs he scored at Melbourne, sixty of them came off fifteen boundaries, eight fours in the first innings and seven in the second. By way of comparison, Ajinkya Rahane’s batting as fluently as he has done in years, struck 12 boundaries while scoring nearly three times as many runs as Gill did in the first innings. The other batsmen managed ten boundaries between them. Gill’s strike rate for the match was nearly 80. This is derived from two relatively small scores in one match but a little light digging into Gill’s first-

DAWN february 2021

Shubman Gill

In-Depth

There was an upright backfoot force, played backward of point, off Hazlewood’s bowling that reminded some people of Tendulkar. Australians, inevitably, searched for and found an ancestor in Laxman. Gavaskar, who knows something about opening the batting, felt Gill should drop down to number five for the next Test because his technique suggested that he was a middle order batsman, not an opener. He probably had the precedent of Laxman in mind, who was made to open till he found his natural niche in the middle order. Latest Test batsman India has produced, has long maintained that an opener’s dharma is self-denial. The willingness to give the first hour to the bowler, to leave everything outside the off stump by default, defined Gavaskar’s batsmanship even though he played every shot in the book. He can see that Gill is not that kind of batsman. Gill’s default mode is to play every ball he On the face faces. On at least four occasions that I can of it, the remember, he met short of a length balls ‘can he do outside his off stump with a diagonal bat, his stuff in a just to knock them down defensively. It was as if he was looking to cut or square drive off Test match’ the back foot, then decided not to, but still question wanted to feel bat on ball.

has been answered

class record will show that over forty innings, he has a strike rate just under 75 in the service of a batting average just under 70. This is rampaging on a Sehwagian scale, only conducted in such a well-bred way that it doesn’t feel like carnage. That brings us to the way Gill plays. Gill is to stroke-play what Pixar is to full motion, hyper-realist animation: his batting seems to happen at 48 frames a second instead of the customary 24. The preternatural smoothness of his strokeproduction, the absence of hurried or spasmodic motion, the refusal of flourish, suggests to the spectator, a pared-back classicist with time to spare. How he achieves these effects is not something that enthusiasts like us are likely to understand, but that impression of unhurried poise is what marked him out from the other 21 batsmen on view in Melbourne. This is not the only way to be a masterful batsman - Steve Smith has shown us, right through a great, maverick career, his zombie brand of twitch and spasm genius - but because it has an obvious relationship with orthodoxy, the uncanny grace and economy with which the classical prescriptions are performed, is immediately recognizable. It’s the cue for us, enthralled tamash been that we are, to go ‘wah!’

Gill was cut in half and dropped off an inside edge before nicking a catch to slip, trying to play a drive he could have avoided, so Gavaskar has a point; but regardless of which position Gill eventually occupies, the interesting thing about him is how secure he looks despite the frequency of his shot-making. Even the time he seemed to start to duck, then changed his mind and short-armed a hook shot, it didn’t seem involuntary: he seemed to have the time to deftly tonk the ball into an unmanned space.

It’s worth making an obvious point: Gill scored these runs against fast bowlers who had flattened India for 36 in the previous match by moving the ball both ways at unplayable speeds. On the face of it, the ‘can he do his stuff in a Test match’ question has been answered. His second innings, which should find immortality on YouTube as the ultimate batting cameo, was played against Cummings, Hazlewood and Starc, ranked first, fifth and seventh, respectively, in ICC’s list of the best ten bowlers in the world currently. In the course of scoring 35 at nearly a run a ball, his sequence of boundaries went like this: he cover-drove Cummings, then drove Starc through straight mid-off, forced him to square third man, guided him through slips, edged Cummings through the same area, pulled Hazlewood through midwicket and then drove Labuschagne through mid-on to finish up. In between times he produced defensive shots off the back foot to the fast men and played forward, bat welded to pad, to Lyon, with the composed solidity that is the stuff of coaching dreams. Wasim Jaffer has properly reproached pundits for reflexively comparing Gill to past immortals; they should be careful not to hail Gill as the new Tendulkar or Laxman, but it can be said with some confidence that he isn’t the new Graeme Hick. Batting aside, Gill’s presence might signal a significant aesthetic shift. It’ll be a nice irony if the ascension of a clean-shaven Sikh ends the trend of Kohli-bearded clones. In the meanwhile, cricket’s spectators can look forward to the unlikely sight of a young Cary Grant walking out to open for India. (Courtesy – NDTV)

february 2021

DAWN

Career

HOW YOUR MBTI TYPE CAN HELP IN PICKING YOUR CAREER By Shrishti S. Nagar

ver found yourself stuck in the constant dilemma of this or that? You could’ve just finished college or are probably working at a big-shot position in your company; either way the career dilemma can dawn upon just any day. So do you go to a career counselor then? Worse even: you’ll have to start over, worst nightmare ever. Here’s the thing. Well first of all, you’re not alone. People lose their sleep a lot over this “find your dream career” quest. Yours truly was doing just the same when one random day out of boredom; she came across this out of the word Quiz. Now, let’s be real. We stumble across thousands of quiz and honestly, after the social media result sharing trend, we are just too done. No, we don’t want to know about our spirit animal anymore, leave us alone! But as soon as this quiz came up, yours truly thought to give it a go. So, spilling the beans, The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-reported psychological assessment that sorts people into categories based on how they perceive the world and make decisions.

During World War II, Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Briggs, developed the test to help women entering the industrial workforce for the first time find jobs that they enjoyed based on their personality type. The test builds on the personality theories of Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Carl Jung in his book, Psychological Types. To find their personality type, test-takers select one trait they identify with the most across the following four categories, also known as a scale or dichotomy: Your personality type will depend on four crucial factors: 1. Favorite world - Extrovert (E) or Introvert (I) 2. Information - Sensing (S) or Intuition (N) 3. Decisions - Thinking (T) or Feeling (F) 4. Structure - Judging (J) or Perceiving (P) Here’s a refresher on what all these mean and where you fall.

Extrovert (E) or Introvert (I) Your favorite world is a descriptor of how you assign your energy.

DAWN february 2021

• Do you like to focus on the outer world - other people, nature, external environment? Then you are an extrovert (E): outgoing, comfortable in groups, and energetic around other people. • Do you put your attention on your own inner world? Then, you are an introvert (I): you like doing things alone, like to reflect and are usually reserved.

Sensing (S) or Intuition (N) The second measure has to do with how you collect information. • A sensing (S) personality type pays attention to physical reality when collecting information. If you’re a sensor, you trust experience first, are pragmatic, and only rely on facts. • A person who collects information through intuition (N) pays more attention to patterns in the information, rather than the hard facts. They like to work with symbols, theories, and look at the bigger picture.

Career

Thinking (T) or Feeling (F) The third preference pair describes how you make decisions. If you make decisions based on objective principles and facts, you are a thinking (T) type. You take pleasure in technical and scientific subjects, where logic and facts are important. You are task-oriented, and sometimes can be a bit “uncaring” or “untactful”. If you think you make the best decisions by putting more weight on the people involved, then you are a feeling (F) type. You’re all about maintaining synchronization and making others happy. You are caring, tactful, but can every now and then be too idealistic or downright “cheesy”.

the “outer” world. Are you structured and decided? Do you prioritize work before play, start things well before the deadline, and enjoy making to-do lists? Then you are a judging (J) type. Are you flexible and adaptable? Do you work in bursts of energy, procrastinate, and hate planning? Then you’re most likely a perceiving (P) type.

What Are the 16 MBTI Personality Types? There are 16 possible letter combinations resulting in 16 personality types, and each grouping of traits gives rise to different strengths, weaknesses, ways of perceiving the world, and interacting with others.

Self-assessment: You can have a good look at the four categories and judge which of the extremes you identify with to obtain your four-letter code. Then, you can interpret the meaning of your code by searching online for your personality type. While this method may deliver a less accurate result, it can give you a rough idea of which personality type you are. Take an online test: There are honestly plenty of websites that offer you quizzes to find which of the 16 personality types you align with best. You’ll be presented with a number of statements and asked to indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each one. Go professional: You can take the MBTI assessment with personal feedback offered from a certified professional.

Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)

How Do You Find Your MBTI Personality Type?

Last, but not least, structure is all about what behaviors others tend to see from you in

There are a few different ways to find your MBTI personality type.

MBTI Personality Types

ISTJ - The Inspector

ISTP - The Crafter

ISFJ - The Protector

ISFP - The Artist

INFJ - The Advocate

INFP - The Mediator

INTJ - The Architect

INTP - The Thinker

ESTP - The Persuader

ESTJ - The Director

ESFP - The Performer

ESFJ - The Caregiver

ENFP - The Champion

ENFJ - The Giver

ENTP - The Debater

ENTJ - The Commander

february 2021

DAWN

Career

GUIDE TO CHOOSING YOUR NEXT CAREER INTJ - The Orchestrator You are an INTJ if you are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging. You are creative but dwell on the details, and usually like to work alone. You’re an analytical problem-solver, always trying to improve systems, processes, and whatever else you find in your path. The top careers for an INTJ are: Project Management, System Engineering, Marketing Strategy, System Analysis, Software Engineering, and Financial Analysis

INTP - The Rationalist You are an INTP if you are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving. You love thinking and experimenting with new ideas. You’re very independent and like to analyze theory and numbers. Because you love deep thinking, you prefer positions that allow you to innovate. The top careers for a theory-loving INTP are: Computer Programming, Software Development, Research & Academia, Business Analysis, Corporate Strategy, and Technical Writing

INFJ - The Humanitarian You are an INFJ if you are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging. This personality type is very rare - only 1 per cent of the population is INFJs. You approach work with deep thoughtfulness, care, and imagination. You care deeply about others, but you are not a dreamer. You take actionable steps to make the world a better place. The best careers for

a h u m a n i t a r i a n a r e : Counselor, Psychologist, Human Resources, Writing/ Editing, Environmental Science, and Special Education

sharp. You respect authority and want a sense of security and consistency from your career. The top careers for an ISTJ are: Military & Police, Legal counsel, Supply Chain Management, Medical, Inspection (of any kind), financial management, Data analysis

INFP - The Imaginative

ISFJ - The Protector

You are an INFP if you are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving. You are quiet, imaginative, and open-minded. Although intelligent, you dislike school and dread the thought of years of unimaginative routine tasks. This is why anything that is routine doesn’t work for you.

You are an ISFJ if you are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging. You are efficient and responsible but have a great desire to help others. Your personality traits are essential to the modern world - you are altruistic and skilled, so you usually find yourself happy in the service of others.

The description should give you a hint to the best career paths for an INFP: Writing, Music, Visual arts, Massage therapy, Social work, Museum curation, Speechlanguage pathology, Fashion design, and Graphic design

The most suited careers for an ISFJ are: Nursing, Teaching, Social work, Religious work, Customer service, Human resources

ISTJ - The Organizer You are an ISTJ if you are Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging. You are rational and don’t like making impulsive decisions. You make for a great employee because you are reliable, objective, and

ISTP - The Explorer You are an ISTP if you are Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving. You are highly creative and have an individualistic mindset - stopping at nothing to achieve your goals. You thrive in the unknown and are a born problem-solver, although the problems you want to solve might not be so practical. This combination of curiosity

Ever found yourself stuck in the constant dilemma of this or that? You could’ve just finished college or are probably working at a big-shot position in your company; either way the career dilemma can dawn upon just any day

DAWN february 2021

Career

Sensing, Thinking, and Judging. You are a true leader and honor tradition and order. You have a strong moral compass and enjoy leading others and being busy. You gravitate towards careers that give you a sense of structure and organization, where you can exercise your responsibility and loyalty. ESTJs love climbing the corporate ladder, so top careers include: Sales engineering, Credit analysis, Insurance, Real estate, corporate management, corporate executive, public administration

ESTP - The Entrepreneur and grit make ISFJs one of the most unique personality types out there. The top career paths for an ISTP are in: Mechanics, Engineering, Forensic science, Sports/Athletics, Intelligence agencies, Gastronomy, Detective work

ISFP - The Maestro You are an ISFP if you are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving. You love adventures and living in the moment. You use aesthetics and design to fuel your love for beauty. You don’t care much about wealth, power, or security. In your job, you are looking for creative freedom and a chance to express yourself artistically. The best career paths for a creative ISFP are: Fashion design, Cosmetology, Graphic design, Music, Fitness training, Art director, Photography

ENTJ - The Chief You are an ENTJ if you are Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging. You make decisions quickly and are motivated by external rewards. You usually take charge of teams and have high self-confidence. You make sure to exercise your authority so that everyone is doing what they’re supposed to and things are getting done. ENTJs do well in any career that will put them in charge. Some of the most suitable include: Top executive, Emergency management, Entrepreneurship, Corporate strategy, Politics

ENTP - The Orator You are an ENTP if you are Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving. You are

bold, creative, and sarcastic, and are not afraid of hard work to reach your goals. You have a quick wit and think well on your feet, which makes you a great debater. At work, you enjoy creating solutions for technical and intellectual problems. Top careers for ENTPs include: Stock trading, Sales, Film production, Public relations, Legal counseling, Engineering

ENFJ - The Hero You are an ENFJ if you are Extroverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging. You love helping others and being the center of attention. You have strong ideas and values and are not afraid to stand for them. You reach your meaningful goals through creative energy and collaboration. The best career paths for an E N F J p e r s o n a l i t y a r e : Teaching, Counseling, Human resources, Politics, Life coaching, Motivational speaking

ENFP - The Motivator You are an ENFP if you are Extroverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving. You are a true free spirit - charming, independent, and energetic. You enjoy interacting with others and exploring new ideas and want your work life to reflect that. You find EVERYTHING interesting, so you can have a hard time choosing a career path. The top career paths for a curious ENFP are: Sales management, Real estate, Customer service, Film direction, Screenwriting, Marketing

ESTJ - The Executive You are an ESTJ if you are Extroverted,

Don’t settle for a career that won’t make you happy. Get to know yourself and pick a career where you don’t dread for Monday to come. No matter your personality type, there is a job out there where you can feel fulfilled AND be productive

You are an ESTP if you are Extroverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving. You are energetic, goal-oriented, and are inspired by short-term achievements. You want to be where the action is - making decisions daily while thinking on your feet. These are the most popular of the personality types, and they have an easy time networking and interacting with others. The top careers for likable ESTPs include: Entrepreneurship, Management, Politics, Real estate, Acting, Front office clerk, In-the-field reporting, and Human resources

ESFJ - The Delegate You are an ESFJ if you are Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging. Like all extroverts, you enjoy interacting with others and taking part in your community. You are an altruist and love to be of service to others. You are extremely loyal and wellorganized and avoid conflict at all costs. You are happy to do what needs to be done and don’t shy away from routines. The best career paths for the ESFJ personality type are: Event planning, Nursing, Office management, Paralegal, Medical assistance, Receptionist, Catering

ESFP - The Entertainer You are an ESFP if you are Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving. As an ESFP, you are definitely THE life of the party. You randomly start singing and dancing and love giving out time and energy to other people. Any job that restrains you from that freedom will 100 per cent makes you miserable. You want excitement, interaction, and a chance to shine! The top careers for an ESFP are: Event planning, Sales, Trip planning, Tour guides, Stand-up comedy, Theatre

Moral of the story: Don’t settle for a career that won’t make you happy. Get to know yourself and pick a career where you don’t dread for Monday to come. No matter your personality type, there is a job out there where you can feel fulfilled AND be productive.

february 2021

DAWN

health

The contaminated bile itself gives rise to diseases like fatty liver. Due to improper eating, toxic substances accumulate in the liver, due to which the liver has to work more than normal

IS YOUR LIVER LIVING AT EASE? The liver is a major part of our body. It is involved in processes ranging from digesting food to producing bile. The liver plays an important role in fighting infections, controlling blood sugar, removing toxic substances from the body, reducing fat and making proteins. Eating in excessive amounts, drinking alcohol and eating inappropriate fat-rich foods make you prone to diseases like fatty liver. Some people think that fatty liver is caused only

by consuming alcohol or other drugs and it is not possible to treat fatty liver at home. First of all, be aware that fatty liver disease can also occur in people with obesity and improper eating habits. The second thing to know is that you can also treat fatty liver at home. Home remedies for treating fatty liver are very useful. This allows the liver to be protected to some extent from fatty liver damage.

What is Fatty Liver?

Types of Fatty Liver

When a large amount of fat accumulates in the liver cells, the resulting condition is known as Fatty Liver. It is normal to have some amount of fat in the liver, but a fatty liver disease occurs when the amount of fat exceeds the weight of liver. In such a condition the liver becomes unable to function normally. Usually its symptoms are seen late in time but accumulation of excess fat in the liver for a long time becomes harmful. It usually occurs at the age of 40-60 years. In Ayurveda, the relationship of liver has been described with bile. Due to contamination of bile, liver is affected and it is not able to perform its function properly.

There are two types of fatty liver Alcoholic fatty liver disease is among the excessive consumption of alcohol. Excessive consumption of alcohol can cause liver inflammation and liver damage.

The contaminated bile gives rise to diseases like fatty liver. Due to improper eating, toxic substances accumulate in the liver, due to which the liver has to work more than normal. This leads to inflammation in the liver, which necessitates the treatment of fatty liver.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or NAFLD is a big reason which seems to be the problem of obesity and diabetes in people with a high-fat diet and improper lifestyle. These conditions are highly likely to cause fatty liver even when not taking alcohol. There is also the possibility of other diseases when one has fatty liver. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease consists of four stages: • Normal fatty liver and steatosis In this stage the fat starts accumulating in the liver but there is no swelling. In this condition, no symptoms are visible and it can be cured by taking proper diet.

DAWN february 2021

• Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis - In this stage, inflammation begins in the fatfrozen liver. When there is inflammation in the liver, it tries to heal the damaged tissue. The more tissues are damaged there, the faster the liver tries to heal them and thus there is a wound in the inflamed tissue. In this stage, when the lesion tissue starts developing, there is a state of fibrosis. • Fibrosis - This occurs when permanent lesion tissue begins to form in the liver and its surrounding blood cells and vessels. In this state the liver continues to function to some extent. If treated at this time, further damage to the liver can be prevented and the damage that has been done can revert back to normal. However, over time, they become healthy tissue instead of wound tissue. • Cirrhosis - In this stage the liver stops functioning normally and symptoms

health

the three doshas present in the body. The effect of treatment depends on what one eats. Ayurvedic treatment naturally brings unbalanced doshas to normal state. It does not suppress the symptoms rather eradicates the disease by removing the toxins and balancing the defects. But at the time of Ayurvedic treatment, the patient should adopt proper lifestyle and specified diet otherwise one cannot get the benefit of medical treatment. Proper eating and eating is part of Ayurvedic treatment. like yellowness of the skin and eyes start appearing. At this time, the tissues in the liver, which are injured, become difficult to remove. Most people have normal fatty liver (steatosis) which can be brought to normal by changing diet plan; fibrosis and cirrhosis take 3-4 years to develop.

Causes of Fatty Liver The common causes of fatty liver are: • Excessive drinking • Heredity • Obesity • Fatty food and spicy food intake • High blood fat levels • Prolonged use of medicines such as steroids, aspirin or tetracycline

• Diabetes • Excess of chlorine in drinking water • Viral hepatitis

Fatty Liver Symptoms • Pain in the right upper abdomen • Weight drop • Feeling weakness • Yellowing of eyes and skin • Food is not digested properly which causes acidity • Stomach bloating

Fatty liver can be treated by the purification therapy described in Ayurveda. Fatty liver is a disorder caused by biliary pathology, so it is purified, bile is suppressed and toxic substances are released from the body. Due to the outbreak of bile in autumn, it is said to be the appropriate time for purgation and according to age, 30-50 years is also called the period of bile. Therefore, there is a possibility of fatty liver at this time. Bring these changes in diet and lifestyle during the treatment of fatty liver:

How to Prevent Fatty liver Ayurveda calms disease not only with medicines, but also with proper diet and lifestyle. Ayurveda works on the principles of Vata, Pitta and Kapha,

• Include fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. • Eat a diet rich in fiber, such as legumes and whole grains. • Stop the use of excess salt, transfats, refined carbohydrates and white sugar. • Do not consume alcohol at all. • Include garlic in the diet, it prevents fat accumulation. • Drink green tea. According to research, it reduces fat deposits in the liver and improves liver function. • Abandon the consumption of friedroasted and junk food. • Use more of these vegetables like spinach, broccoli, bitter gourd, gourd, tinda, zucchini, carrots, beetroot, onion, ginger and sprouted grains. • Rajma, white gram, black lentils should all be reduced and green moong dal and masoor dal should be consumed. • Butter, mayonnaise, chips, cakes, pizza, sweets, sugar should not be used at all. • Pranayam regularly and go for a walk in the morning.

february 2021

DAWN

Int’l Biz

BECOMING ‘TECHNO SUPERPOWER’ SEEMS A REVERIE FOR CHINA

he recent move of China to regulate large technology giants seems to be the part of its broader push to become a technological “superpower”.

Like the U.S. and European Union, China is working out the way to regulate the technology sector in many areas, from data protection to antitrust. China’s technology companies have grown, largely unencumbered by regulation, and become one of the biggest in the world. There are a number of regulations that have come into effect or are in the works. In November 2020, China’s central bank and regulators released draft rules on so-called micro-lending, which included provisions such as capital requirements for technology firms offering loans. The State Administration of China for Market Regulation (SAMR) has also published draft rules looking to stop monopolistic practices by internet platforms. It is one of the most wide-sweeping proposals in China to regulate large tech companies. While, in December last year, SAMR said it had begun a probe into Alibaba over monopolistic practices, in October, China released a draft personal data protection law aiming to regulate how companies process user data. All of these regulations are part of China’s bigger effort to become a major global tech power, according to Kendra Schaefer, a partner at Trivium China, a research firm based in Beijing. “Underneath all of this stuff I think China understands that if it’s going to become a technological superpower, then it has to lay a solid regulatory foundation. It has to lay that foundation in the way that it regulates company operations, but it also has to lay that foundation in terms of data. In fact, data might be the most important regulations that it has got to lay down. All of these things are foundational and it’s really just kind of setting a framework, a springboard from which China can develop and move forward faster. Beijing appears to have taken a harder stance against the country’s technology firms recently.

DAWN february 2021

The regulators had in November forced the Ant Group, the finance affiliate of Alibaba, to suspend plans for what would have been the world’s biggest initial public offering (IPO), while the company dealt with regulatory changes. Last month, Alibaba and two other firms were slapped with a fine for not making the proper declarations to authorities about past acquisitions. But this does not mean Beijing is working in opposition to its tech champions, according to Emily de La Bruyere, co-founder of consultancy Horizon Advisory. “These multinational tech companies are decidedly the force enablers that China uses to extend its information and standards strategy globally. That’s not going to change. “We are not going to see Beijing turn on its Big Tech the way Washington appears to be”, Bruyere told the media through email. “But, Beijing is going to ensure that its Big Tech acts by its rules and regulations, connects to its platforms, and serves its strategies”, the email reads. The European Union has been perhaps the most aggressive region in the world on the issue. Its landmark General Data Protection Regulation approved in 2016, sought to bring in rules around how user data was processed. And in December last year, the EU introduced the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act which aims to bring stricter controls on the behavior of tech giants in a number of areas. But the U.S. has yet to take a similar approach with wide-ranging legislation around areas like data. “We do not have good data regulation in the U.S. yet”, Trivium China’s Schaefer said. “So we do not have that foundation, those kinds of basic fundamental principles, on which we can regulate not only our domestic companies but foreign incoming companies as well”, he said. “I think that us not having that fundamental data policy is one of the reasons that we are taking this bizarre scattershot approach to trying to control incoming Chinese apps like TikTok, targeting specific Chinese companies because we do not have a universal regulation”, he said.

Int’l Biz

WORLD BANK EXPECTS WORLD ECONOMY TO RISE BY 4 PER CENT IN 2021

ith the Coronavirus vaccines rolling out in the various countries, the World Bank expects that the global economy will expand four per cent in 2021, but will still remain more than five per cent below its pre-pandemic trend. The World Bank President, David Malpass said, “The global economy appears to be emerging from one of its deepest recessions and beginning a subdued recovery”. He added that the Global Economic Prospects report, according to which a recovery, would likely be subdued, unless policy makers move decisively to tame the pandemic and implement investment-enhancing reforms. Although the global economy is growing again after a 4.3 per cent contraction in 2020, the pandemic has caused a heavy toll of deaths and illness, plunged millions into poverty, and may depress economic activity and incomes for a prolonged period. Top near-term policy priorities are controlling the spread of COVID-19 and ensuring rapid and widespread vaccine deployment. To support economic recovery, authorities also need to facilitate a re-investment cycle aimed at sustainable growth that is less dependent on government debt, the report said.

Malpass said, “While the global economy appears to have entered a subdued recovery, policy makers face formidable challenges - in public health, debt management, budget policies, central banking and structural reforms - as they try to ensure that this still fragile global recovery gains traction and sets a foundation for robust growth”. In order to get rid of the impacts of the pandemic and counter the investment headwind, there needs to be a major push to improve business environments, increase labor

and product market flexibility, and strengthen transparency and governance,” he said. The collapse in global economic activity in 2020 is estimated to have been slightly less severe than previously projected, mainly due to shallower contractions in advanced economies and a more robust recovery in China. In contrast, disruptions to activity in the majority of other emerging markets and developing economies were more acute than expected, the Bank said in its report. The Vice President and World Bank Group Chief Economist, Carmen Reinhart said, “Financial fragilities in many of these countries, as the growth shock impacts vulnerable household and business balance sheets, will also need to be addressed”. According to the report, global growth is projected to moderate to 3.8 per cent in 2022, weighed down by the pandemic’s lasting damage to potential growth. In particular, the impact of the pandemic on investment and human capital is expected to erode growth prospects in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) and set back key development goals. The global recovery, which has been dampened in the near term by a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, is expected to strengthen over the forecast horizon as confidence, consumption, and trade gradually improve, supported by ongoing vaccination, the report said. Although aggregate EMDE growth is envisioned to firm to an average of 4.6 per cent in 2021-22, the improvement largely reflects China’s expected rebound. Minus China, the recovery across EMDEs is anticipated to be more muted, averaging 3.5 per cent in 2021-22, as the pandemic’s lingering effects continue to weigh on consumption and investment, the World Bank said. In his forward to the report, Malpass said that making the right investments now is vital both to support the recovery when it is urgently needed and foster resilience. He said, “Our response to the pandemic crisis today will shape our common future for years to come. We should seize the opportunity to lay the foundations for a durable, equitable, and sustainable global economy”. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused heavy loss lives, apart from dragging millions into poverty, depressing economic activity and affecting incomes for a prolonged period.

february 2021

DAWN

Int’l Biz

DEADLY VIRUS PUSHING MASSES AWAY FROM COASTAL AREAS IN US

ith the deadly Coronavirus pushing the masses away from the coastal areas in the United States, the home prices have gone up rapidly in those areas.

Nationally, home prices rose a remarkable 8.4 per cent in October from a year earlier on the S&P Case Shiller Index. That’s up from a 7 per cent gain just the month before and is the largest one-month move in over a decade. Traditionally more affordable markets are becoming less affordable as prices rise faster. At the end of 2020, the median price of homes in just over half the counties in the nation was considered less affordable to the average wage earner than they have been historically, according to Attom Data Solutions. That is a significantly larger share than a year ago — pre-pandemic. “These price gains are completely offsetting the benefit of lower mortgage rates and it takes even more to come up with a down payment which is a big deal for that 1st time buyer, less so for others,” said Peter Boockvar, managing director with Bleakley Advisory Group.

Mid-cities of the US are among other significant examples. In real estate section, the home values have historically risen most sharply in large cities on the coasts, where supply is leaner and demand is Another of the Fed’s unintended consequence of hurting those that are least able to afford it. Mortgage rates set more than stronger. That is no longer the case. Smaller metropolitan a dozen record lows in 2020, fueling the demand for markets, like: Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, housing. They also fanned prices higher by giving Indianapolis, Kansas City, Boise, Idaho, Austin, MID-CITIES OF THE buyers more purchasing power. Rates are not Texas, and Memphis. Tennessee are seeing US ARE AMONG OTHER expected to rise meaningfully this year, but some of the strongest price gains in the nation SIGNIFICANT EXAMPLES. their benefit is already far less than it was as now, according to the Federal Housing IN REAL ESTATE SECTION, prices keep rising. “These factors appear Finance Agency. Prices in those cities are likely to remain in place in the near term, now at least 10 per cent higher than with a THE HOME VALUES HAVE and an incrementally improving economy year earlier. These have all been historically HISTORICALLY RISEN should encourage more buyers to enter more affordable markets, and markets MOST SHARPLY IN LARGE the market”, said Matthew Speakman, an that generally have more inventories of CITIES ON THE COASTS, economist with Zillow. Taken together, this homes available for sale. That makes the WHERE SUPPLY IS torrid pace of home price appreciation appears suddenly strong price growth in the middle LEANER AND DEMAND IS primed to continue well into 2021. of the country that much more striking. Much STRONGER of it is likely to do with the new ability to work Significantly, the major highlights may be summed up from anywhere due to the coronavirus. People are like: the smaller metropolitan markets like Indianapolis, leaving larger more expensive metropolitan markets and heading to less expensive markets where they can get more Kansas City, Boise, Austin, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Memphis and space and land for their money. “Although the full history of the Pittsburgh are seeing some of the strongest price gains in the nation; pandemic’s impact on housing prices is yet to be written, the data prices in those cities are now at least 10 per cent higher compared from the last several months are consistent with the view that Covid with a year ago, and nationally, home prices rose a remarkable 8.4 has encouraged potential buyers to move from urban apartments per cent in October from a year earlier on the S&P Case Shiller to suburban homes”, said Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Index. That’s up from a 7 per cent gain in September and is the largest one-month move in over a decade. Dow Jones Indices.

DAWN february 2021

Int’l Biz

‘GROWING JOBLESSNESS’ EMERGES AS AN OMINOUS SIGN FOR ECONOMY

he surprise jump in new jobless claims filings to the highest level since mid-September signals a weakening in the labor market that could drag down the economy into the first quarter. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped to 853,000, rising 137,000 during the week ended from the prior week, the largest weekly increase since the height of economic shutdowns in March. Economists had expected 730,000 claims, according to Dow Jones. They note the Thanksgiving holiday period could have added distortions in both weeks, but the trend is clearly negative. State continuing claims rose by 230,000 to 5.76 million, the first increase since August. “It looks like the unemployment losses are starting to stack up for the economy. It’s not going to be a good month”, said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank. “You are starting the first week of the month on a bad note, and it’s probably going to be all downhill from here. It feels like the lockdowns are intensifying. It’s closer to reality for those forecasts that look for the economy to go negative in the first quarter”.

THE IMPROVEMENT IN THE LABOR MARKET HAS BEEN SHOWING SIGNS OF SLOWING. NOVEMBER’S 245,000 INCREASE IN PAYROLLS WAS ABOUT 200,000 BELOW EXPECTATIONS AND WELL BELOW OCTOBER’S ADDITION OF 610,000 JOBS.

The improvement in the labor market has been showing signs of slowing. November’s 245,000 increase in payrolls was about 200,000 below expectations and well below October’s addition of 610,000 jobs. “The seasonal factors tell you the first week of December is always a disaster with a lot of winter weather layoffs. This is traditionally the start of winter, if you’re a worker and doing outside work”, Rupkey said. He noted the data without seasonal adjustments showed a bigger jump of 228,982 to 947,500. “There’s some catch-up here but the skies look like they’re darkening with some states in lockdown, especially California which is 10 per cent of the population. It’s going to get worse”. Economists expect an average 3 per cent growth in first quarter GDP, after a forecast 3.8 per cent growth rate in fourth quarter GDP, according to CNBC/ Moody’s Analytics Rapid Update. Some economists expect a flattish

quarter for growth, and JPMorgan has said it sees a contraction in first quarter GDP. Rupkey said he expects the economy to pick up again after vaccines are widely distributed. “That’s a second quarter or late first-quarter story”, he said. Jobless claims data has been viewed by economists as a steady early warning signal for the labor market, as claims reflect actual layoffs.

However, during the pandemic, the data has been difficult to read, and also needs to be considered alongside the numbers of workers claiming benefits under special federal programs. “We think this recent weakening in the data likely reflects deterioration in the labor market associated with virus-related developments. But other factors also could be at play, and the data can be noisy around the holiday season”, the JPMorgan economists noted. The majority of workers collecting benefits fall under special pandemic programs, funded by Congress and set to expire at the end of the year. The programs cover gig workers and individuals who may have run out of other benefits. The Labor Department said that in the week ending, the total number of continued claims in all programs was 19 million, a decrease of 1.1 million from the previous week. There were 427,609 individuals filing for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in the week ended, an increase of 139,375 from the week earlier. “Part of it is catch-up, but the trend is in the wrong direction,” Grant Thornton chief economist Diane Swonk said of the weekly increase. She said about 13 million people are covered by the programs that are about to expire. Congress has been dithering about more stimulus since the summer, and is now working toward reaching a deal on a plan by next week. They need stimulus now.

february 2021

DAWN

defence

INDIAN ARMY CHIEF WARNS CHINA ON LADAKH STANDOFF

n another tough message to China, amid the Ladakh standoff, the Indian Army Chief, Gen MM Naravane, has said no one should make any mistake of testing India's patience even as he asserted that a befitting response was given to the "conspiracy" of unilaterally changing the status quo along the northern frontier.

He also said that India is committed to resolve the over eight-month-long military standoff with China through talks. In his address at the Army Day parade in Delhi Cantonment, Naravane said the deaths of the "Galwan heroes" in eastern Ladakh in June last year will not go waste and that the Indian Army will not allow any harm to the country's sovereignty and security. "We are committed to resolve disputes through talks and political efforts but no one should make any mistake of testing our patience," he said in the presence of the country's top military brass including Chief of Defense Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria. Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a bitter standoff in eastern Ladakh since May as multiple rounds of military and diplomatic talks have not yet produced any breakthrough. Referring to the situation along the Line of Control (LoC), Naravane said Pakistan continues to shelter terrorists and 300 to 400 of them are waiting in training camps on the Pakistani side of the LoC to infiltrate into India. "The last year was very challenging for the Army. You are aware of the tension with China along the northern border. A befitting reply was given to the conspiracy of unilaterally changing the status quo on the border”, he said. Twenty Indian Army personnel lost their lives in a fierce handto-hand combat on 15 June 2020 in the

"Our efforts will continue to find a solution to the current situation on the basis of mutual and equal security”, he said. About crossborder terrorism emanating from Pakistan, he said there has been 44 percent increase in ceasefire violations that reflect the neighboring country's sinister design

Galwan Valley, an incident that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. China is yet to disclose the number of its soldiers killed and injured in the clash though it officially admitted to have suffered casualties. According to an American intelligence report, the number of casualties on the Chinese side was 35. Naravane also noted that eight rounds of military talks were held between India and China to bring the situation under control. "Our

DAWN february 2021

efforts will continue to find a solution to the current situation on the basis of mutual and equal security”, he said. About cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan, he said there has been 44 percent increase in ceasefire violations that reflect the neighboring country's sinister design. He said, “Strong response is being given to the enemy on the other border. Pakistan continues to provide safe haven to terrorists. In the training camps, across the LOC around 300-400 terrorists are ready to infiltrate”. There was an increase of 44 percent in the ceasefire violations last year which is proof of Pakistan's sinister plans. There were also attempts to smuggle weapons using drones. "There were efforts to smuggle in weapons (into India) from across the border using drones and tunnels," he said. The Chief of the Army Staff said India's active operations and strong counter infiltration grid not only inflicted heavy losses on the enemy but they contained infiltration attempts as well. Naravane said the Army killed over 200 terrorists in counter-terror operations and on the LoC last year, adding these measures have provided people of Jammu and Kashmir relief from terrorism. On the security situation in the North East, he said major success was achieved in anti-militancy operations conducted by the Army in cooperation with the Myanmarese Army. Naravane said around 600 militants had surrendered last year in the North East due to proactive operations by the armed forces. Myanmar is one of India's strategic neighbors and shares a 1,640-km-long border with a number of northeastern states including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur. There has been increasing cooperation between Indian and Myanmarese armies in the last few years in guarding the border.

defence

INDIAN ARMY PREPARES FRESH A GROUND WITH FOREIGN PARTNERS

y undertaking multiple visits to the foreign countries, the Army chief, General Manoj Mukund Naravane, created fresh grounds till the end of the year 2020. These visits would help to bolster India's military diplomacy and to take forward its strategic objectives on multiple fronts. They are also expected to help secure India's strategic interests in the context of an increasingly assertive China. In 2020, General Naravane undertook at least four foreign tours which had diplomatic overtones — a visit to Myanmar along with foreign secretary Harsh Shringla in October, Nepal in November, and West Asia and South Korea in December 2020. The significant features of these visits may be summarized as follows:

Myanmar The Army Chief, along with foreign secretary, Harsh Shringla had on October 4 & 5 had on October 4 & 5 visited. The visit took place just days after Shringla had a detailed foreign office consultation with his counterpart in Myanmar. It all happened weeks before parliamentary elections in Myanmar, in which Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a majority. The meeting assumed significance as Myanmar's dependence on China has been increasing in recent years, and Beijing is also said to be pushing some strategic projects along with the China-Myanmar Economic Project, as noted by News18. In this context, India and Myanmar discussed "maintenance of security and stability in their border areas and reiterated their mutual commitment not to allow their respective territories to be used for activities inimical to each other”, according to an official statement.

Nepal Exactly a month after the Myanmar trip,

General Naravane visited Nepal from 4 to 6 November. At the time, India was seeking to resettle relations with the Himalayan nation after bilateral ties came under severe strain following a bitter border row. During the visit, the Indian Army chief was conferred with the honorary rank of 'General of the Nepal Army' by Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari at an event in Kathmandu. India also confers the honorary rank of 'General of Indian Army' to the Nepal Army Chief. Naravane also gifted medical equipment to the Nepali army, including X-ray machines, computed radiography systems, ICU ventilators, video endoscopy units and anaesthesia machines. The ties between the two countries had come under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-kmlong strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on 8 May, 2020. Nepal protested the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through its territory. Days later, Nepal came out with the new map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territories.

West Asia On 8 December, the Indian Army chief embarked on a visit to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. According to a statement by the Indian Army, the visit was historic as it was the first time that an Indian army chief visited both the countries. During the visit, General Naravane discussed issues of bilateral defence cooperation with General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutir, Commander Royal Saudi Land Forces, the Indian Army ’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information had said in a tweet. He also received a

Guard of Honour at headquarters of the Royal Saudi Land Forces. In the UAE, the army chief discussed bilateral defence cooperation and issues of mutual interest with the UAE’s Commander of the Land Forces Major General Saleh Mohammed Saleh Al Ameri. General Naravane’s visit comes in the midst of fast-paced developments in the Gulf region including normalization of Israel’s relations with several Arab countries as well as situation arising out of the assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

South Korea General Naravane is presently on a three-day trip to South Korea aimed at deepening strategic ties with the country amid mounting concerns over China's military muscle-flexing in the region. The army chief interacted with Minister of National Defence Suh Wook, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Won In Choul and Minister of Defence Acquisition Planning Administration Gang Eun Ho, officials said. An article in The Indian Express quoted an army source as saying that India considers South Korea to be a high-quality manufacturer of defence-related equipment in sectors such as aeronautics, shipbuilding, electronics, missile technologies, miniaturization and software. The source was also reported to have said that South Korea "has the potential to be the principal partner in developing the Indian defense industry base”. The South Korean military is considered one of the strongest professional forces globally and it often operates alongside the US troops as well as carries out exercises regularly with American and other regional armed forces.

february 2021

DAWN

defence

INDIA PROTESTS CHINA’S PLAN TO CONSTRUCT DAM ON BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER

he Union Government has on January 21, 2020 stressed that any attempt by China to set up a hydropower station on the Brahmaputra river would be an encroachment on the entitled rights of lower riparian states like India and Bangladesh and adversely affect the availability of water in its basin during the lean season. The issue was discussed during a review meeting of the Central Water Commission by Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State in the Jal Shakti Ministry. A statement issued by the Ministry said, “Regarding the alleged plan of China to set up a super hydropower station at the Brahmaputra at Medong, Tibet, the officials apprised that any attempt to divert the water of Brahmaputra river shall act as an encroachment on the entitled rights of lower riparian states like India, Bangladesh and adversely affect the availability of water in the Brahmaputra basin during the lean season”. The statement also reads, “There are official platforms - like the Expert Level Mechanism set up between India and China in the year 2006 to discuss various issues related to trans-border Rivers”. In November 2020, Yan Zhiyong, Chairman of the Power Construction Corp of China, said China will “implement hydropower exploitation in the downstream of the Yarlung Zangbo River” (the Tibetan name for the Brahmaputra) and the project could serve to maintain water resources and domestic security. India, too, plans to build a multipurpose 10,000 MW reservoir in Arunachal Pradesh to offset the impact. The proposed 9.2 BCM ‘Upper Siang’ project on the Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh will be able to take the excess load of water discharge and can even store water in case of any deficit, an official said. Almost 90 per cent of the Brahmaputra water comes through its tributaries in India during the monsoon season, thanks to the abundant rainfall in the northeast region. It is only in the winters that 80 percent of the Siang river gets its water from the upper stretches as glaciers become the main source. During the discussion over flood forecasting and management, an issue pertaining to flooding caused by the Brahmaputra River was discussed. The CWC officials apprised about the need for setting up a project at Upper Siang/Brahmaputra which shall be highly beneficial for the state of Assam. The mighty Brahmaputra, one of the longest rivers in the world, passes through China, India, and Bangladesh and has several tributaries and sub-tributaries. The river is known as Siang when it enters India through Arunachal Pradesh. It is further joined by several tributaries to take shape of the Brahmaputra.

Under existing bilateral memorandums of understanding, China provides hydrological information of Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers to India during the flood seasons

The mighty Brahmaputra, one of the longest rivers in the world, passes through China, India, and Bangladesh and has several tributaries and sub-tributaries

As a lower riparian state with considerable established user rights to the waters of the trans-border rivers, the Indian government has consistently conveyed its views and concerns to the Chinese authorities and has urged them to ensure that the interests of downstream states are not harmed by any activities in upstream areas. India and China established Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) in 2006 to discuss various issues related to trans-border rivers. Under existing bilateral memorandums of understanding, China provides hydrological information of Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers to India during

DAWN february 2021

the flood seasons. Under the arrangement, China provides flood season data of the Brahmaputra river between May 15 and October 15 every year. The statement said the minister was informed that there will be better water management by the formation of river basin organizations. The statement added, “He was worried about the increasing water conflicts in the country. CWC Officials informed that with the passage of ISRWD (Inter-State River Water Disputes) Amendment Bill, the water conflicts will be solved more quickly. CWC officials also informed that the passage of ISWRD Bill and Dam Safety Bill is very much necessary for holistic management of water resources in the country”. Kataria also reviewed the progress under various programs like the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). He was informed that during the last one and a half year, 10 out of 99 priority projects under PMKSY have been completed. The officials told Kataria that 79 new flood forecasting stations have been made operational in the last one year. As a result, 11,721 forecasts were issued in the year 2020 from 328 forecasting stations set up across 19 river basins. (Courtesy: Indian Defense News)

defence

INDIA’S PHILOSOPHY BEHIND DESIGNING LCA By Retd. Air Chief Marshal, S. Krishnaswamy

rime Minister, Narendra Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Security’s approval for 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) TEJAS jets by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) seems to be a good news. The Union government had in 1983 decided to design a new combat aircraft in India in order to reduce dependency on imports and encourage those aspiring for a career in aeronautics. However, HAL, which had been absent from the scene for over 20 years, did not have the capacity to take on this task. As an alternative, under the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) was created to design and develop the TEJAS, with the production to be undertaken by HAL. The ADA was the brainchild of Dr VSR Arunachalam, then head of DRDO. With no designers and facilities, a nucleus was formed at ADA with 250 engineers drawn from HAL on ‘deputation’. A new facility was built on an open plot behind HAL. Dr Kota Harinarayana, the Chief Residential Engineer of Directorate of Aeronautics at HAL, Nashik, was made the Program Director of ADA. A bright and energetic aeronautical engineer, with a smile even under extraordinary circumstances, was suited for the job that would involve facing a series of challenges. A search was initiated for a suitable design for the TEJAS. Two designs from Germany were evaluated. They were unique but unfamiliar and did not generate enthusiasm in the Indian Air Force (IAF). The IAF was then in the process of procuring the Mirage-2000. The aircraft was test-flown by the IAF team, which was impressed by its design and performance. The ADA invited M/s Dassault Aviation for design assistance in developing a lightweight combat aircraft (The Air Force had the Gnat in mind and was looking to replace the Mig-21s). Dassault agreed to support the Project Definition Phase (PDP) wherein the Indian engineers would participate. The aim was to come up with the basic design for the aircraft. The work was carried out in France, using the French facilities. Similarly, L.M. Ericsson of Sweden was roped in for the PDP to develop the design of Air Interception (AI) Radar. The radar design that was presented did not meet the performance expectations of the Air Force. The idea was dropped, and instead, it was decided the radar would be developed indigenously at HAL, Hyderabad, following the guidelines from the PDP. After

A hunt for a suitable engine for the TEJAS culminated in the selection of the GE-F404 of General Electric from USA

working on it for a while, the HAL gave up. It was then decided that radars would be imported to equip the initial batch of aircraft and would be indigenously developed subsequently. The attempt to develop an indigenous engine, Kaveri, met a similar fate. A hunt for a suitable engine for the TEJAS culminated in the selection of the GEF404 of General Electric from USA. The design that emerged looked very much like a mini-Mirage-2000 but there was nothing in common between the two aircraft. The performance projection for the TEJAS, deduced from the PDP, was found falling short in some areas. In order to overcome doubts, it was decided that two “Technology Demonstrators” would be built. This decision eased the pressure and the Demonstrator program provided an opportunity to refine and improve the design. Designing digital fly-by-wire controls was a difficult task and American help was sought. Extensive simulations were conducted in the US and Indian test pilots got the feel of it, flying in variable stability aircraft at Calspan, US. The enthusiasm of the ADA silenced the naysayers. The ADA brought in IT engineers for the job. Flight control hardware was sourced from the US. The basic design of the TEJAS was even more unstable than the F-16 or the Gripen, which was being developed in Sweden. One of the Gripen prototypes crashed while landing. This made the Indian designers a bit nervous;

discussions were held with the Gripen team that cleared the doubts. Flight control laws of the TEJAS were made more robust. Now, TEJAS is recognized as having one of the best flight controls in the world— state-of-the-art, offering excellent and safe handling. The body of the TEJAS was to be made of carbon-composites – first such attempt in India. Special sanction had to be obtained from the US for carbon fibre material and the production technology besides the GE-F404 engine. When the HAL was about to start series production, the production drawings were not ready. Almost 35 years have elapsed since the formation of the ADA. It would take a few years for the order for 83 aircraft to fructify. Currently, the program is managed by a string of committees, the apex one being the ADA Governing Body, headed by the defence minister. The three organizations concerned with the development and production of the TEJAS are ADA, HAL and the Air Force. Each organization works independently and is not directly accountable to the other—together, they function under the Ministry of Defense. The ADA has come a long way. The TEJAS project has been an enormous learning experience for the Indian team and the industry. The biggest learning being that all participants must be integrated at all levels from day one. (Courtesy: Indian Defense News)

february 2021

DAWN

Tours & Travel

erala’s waterfalls attract more than 100 million tourists every year. The practice of Ayurveda is still prevalent in the state of Kerala and includes uzhichil and pizhichil treatments. Apart from this, many types of festivals are also celebrated in Kerala and some festivals are being celebrated in every nook and corner of the church or mosque. There are many herbs in Kerala which are full of medicinal properties. The state of Kerala has some cherished plants of medicinal properties like Ashwagandha, Amalaki, Kataphal, Brahmi, Yashtimadhu and Sankhupushpam. Adorned with lush green trees, beaches and pleasant weather, Kerala is nothing short of a paradise for tourists. You will find many different types of food in this tropical place too. So let’s know about the best places in Kerala.

DAWN february 2021

These Travel Sites in Kerala are

Nature’s True

Blessings

Tours & Travel

Alleppey

he arrangement of living in Alleppey is very good. Here you will get the comfort of staying in hotel or homestay, but when coming to Alleppey, you must enjoy staying in a houseboat instead of a hotel. The pleasure of staying in a houseboat very close to the backwaters is something else. You can also take a canoe ride to go through the narrow streets of Alleppey. Alleppey is also called Venice of the East. Shikara rides will also be good to avoid sunlight. Apart from this, the houseboat also provides lunch, dinner and night stay. So if you come to Alleppey, instead of staying in a hotel, enjoy a houseboat. The local liquor is also very famous here. If you like spicy food, then you must taste the taste of food in Alleppey. Different spices are added to the Kerala cuisine. Apart from this, many temples and churches can be seen in Alleppey.

Kochi

f you feel tired as soon as you arrive at the airport, you can rest in Fort Kochi near the International Airport. Traditional customs here will help you learn about the local people. There are Chinese fishing nets on the beaches of Kochi to catch fish and sea creatures, which attracts the maximum attention of tourists. Kochi has many scenic spots that attract tourists. St. Francis Church, which is the first European Church of the country, is also located in Kochi. Apart from this, you will get acquainted with the finest spices of the world on Market Road. The royal Dutch palace used to house the kings of Kochi and also has a synagogue (Jewish or Samaritan house of worship) which is the only active synagogue in the entire list of Commonwealth countries. Apart from walking, you can taste the Dosa at Sri Krishna Cafe and the view from the Palace Road to the Santa Cruz Basilica and the Fort Kochi Beach is also a delight for tourists.

february 2021

DAWN

Tours & Travel

Munnar

rom Fort Kochi you can come to Munnar via road. Munnar is situated 6 hours away from Kochi. There is a direct bus to Munnar every hour from Ernakulum. Munnar city is also known for easy and difficult trekking. You can enjoy visiting tea factory, camping, trekking and adventure here. Apart from adventure, people who are fond of taking photographs will also get the whole lot in Munnar. On the way from Kochi to Munnar, you will see many such beautiful places, which will make you feel in high spirits. Mattupetty and Devikulam are very famous here. From these places one can get a great view of the surroundings and here you can also enjoy boating. Meesapulimala trekking is conducted by the Kerala Forest Department. The tasty and probably the longest dosa of the Saravan Bhavan will be enough to satisfy your hunger. Apart from this, there are also some restaurants here, one of which is a rapci. People who have come here have written some messages in their language on the walls of this restaurant. If you also come here, do write a message on its wall in your language.

DAWN february 2021

Thekkady T

hekkady or Periyar is situated about 165 km from Kochi. If you like driving, then this 4-hour Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary will give you memories that will last you a lifetime. You will feel refreshed by enjoying the mystical hills of Nilgiris and boating in the Periyar Lake. You can also enjoy the Elephant ride in Thekkady forests. The jeep drive here is also very famous. In the evening there is a Kerala martial art show which is visited by a large number of tourists.

Tours & Travel

Kovalam K

ovalam is just 20 km away from Thiruvandram. If you are tired of daily life, then in Kovalam, your mind will definitely get freshness and comfort. The beaches, coconut trees and vegetation of Kovalam double the amount of beauty here. Here you can also add to your energy with the help of Ayurvedic Healing Expert.

Wayanad N

eelambur Road, 53 km from Wayanad, is the nearest railway station. Bus services are available from major cities of the country to Wayanad. The nearest airport to Wayanad is Calicut International Airport. The cool climate of Wayanad and the waterfalls, caves, lakes and dams mesmerize the minds of tourists. Deer, bison, cheetah and bear can also be seen in the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary located here. Tree houses attract tourists the most in the forests of Wayanad. Apart from this, tea, coffee, cardamom and spices are also produced here.

february 2021

DAWN

Tours & Travel

Trivandrum T

his capital city is known for its culture. Here you can still see the uniqueness of cultural heritage and magnificent architecture. The rapid urban development has not yet affected the culture of Trivandrum. In Kovdiar Palace, you will get to see royal living and elegance. Tourists also get an opportunity to know the royal family of Travancore.

DAWN february 2021

Varkala

ourists like Varkala beach very much. This place in Kerala is very beautiful and this is probably the reason why the Varkala coast is crowded with tourists. Varkala is just 40 km from Trivandrum International Airport and you can also get a bus from Alleppey. You can also enjoy yoga in Varkala. Apart from this, Varkala is also very famous for water sports. You can also enjoy surfing and the panoramic views of Sunset here.

Tours & Travel

Kumarakom

umarakom is a group of small islands of Vembanad Lake in the Kuttanad region. The bird sanctuary is built on 14 acres of land here. It is abode to migratory birds such as egrets, herons, darters, teal, waterfowl, cuckoos, jungle ducks and Siberian storks. Places of interest in Kumarakom include Amanam, Pallikudam, Kallara, Nattakom, Panachikadu Reservoir, Thazhathangadi, Thanniramukkam, etc. You can visit this place in a single day. Also one can enjoy houseboat during monsoon at Kumarakom.

Kollam

ery well known cashews are found in Kollam, known as Quilon. It is an old port city located on the Arabian coast. The shimmering water of the Ashtamudi Lake fills the tourists with joy. It is an interesting place which was referred to as Sundar Desinganadu. Kollam is also known as a commercial center as well as a beautiful city of palaces. Kollam is adorned with colorful cities, beaches, waterfalls and shrines. Minerals like limonite, rutile, monazite and zircon are found here in large quantities. Kollam is very special for several reasons. In the 14th century, two literary gifts such as Lilathilakam and Ununilisandesam were handed over to Kerala. Even Ramanattam and Krishnamattam have historical significance.

february 2021

DAWN

Tours & Travel

Kottayam K

ottayam is called the literacy capital of Kerala. Kottayam was the first place to have 100 per cent literacy rate in Kerala. It is located in the south of central Kerala. The picturesque landscape, backwaters, bird sanctuaries and temples enhance the beauty of the place. The place is surrounded by Ernakulum in the north, Idukki in the east and Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts in the south. The city attracts colonial style houses and Kottayam is indeed famous for its excellent churches and a wide variety of books. There is also a 1000 year old mosque in this district. Kottayam is a unique gateway to the pilgrimage centers of Sabarimala, Ettumanur, Bharangam, Aruvithura, Vaikom, Erumeli, Manarkad and Athirampuzha. Not only this, in the midst of reaching these places, you will also see temples of Permedu, Munnar, Idukki, Thekkady, Ernakulum and Madurai.

DAWN february 2021

Palakkad

opularly known as Palghat, this city has a lot to offer to tourists. The Palakkad Fort of the 18th century tells the saga of the wars of that time. A Hanuman temple is also located in its grounds. The grand Ratholasavam Rath ceremony in the 15th century at the Vishwanath Swamy Temple, located near the Kalpathi temple, also attracts a lot of tourists. Rock Garden located in Malampuzha city is a tourist attraction. This garden is made from recycled materials. You can have a picnic in Malampuzha Gardens or enjoy the spectacular views here by cable car. The glow of the water of springs will make your mind relaxed. Nelliyapathy Hill Station is situated on its south side. The Pothundi Dam located here is famous for catching small fish. At the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve one can see tigers and some Teak plantations on the shore. Attractive birds such as gray-headed fishing eagles can be seen here.

Tours & Travel

Bekal

he beauty and the uniqueness of the Bekal Fort attract a lot of tourists. It is one of the largest forts in Kerala. It is located at a distance of about 16 km to the south of the Northern District in Kerala. This fort, built at an altitude of 130 feet from the beach, is very famous and apart from this, the Fort Beach of Bekal is also liked by tourists. You will feel very peaceful at this place. This fort is a huge building which is situated on steep hills and it is built in polygon shape from laterite slabs. It also has an observation tower with intricate towers. After this one can also see two Theyam statues built from masonry and laterite in the Anjaneya temple. The architecture of the rock garden here surprises the tourists while the ancient mosque built by Tipu Sultan also attracts the attention of the visitors. The beach is lighted at night, which makes the view of this place more beautiful and captivating.

Devikulam D

evikulam is just 8 km away from Munnar where you can enjoy a picnic and dinner with your family. Here you can see green lawns and many species of flora and fauna. Sita Devi Lake is also one of the scenic places. The clear shining water of the lake and the surrounding area makes this place even more beautiful. The most important thing is that you can also do fishing in this lake.

february 2021

DAWN

life style

HEALTHY LIFE FOR

HEALTHY

PEOPLE T

he life of our generation revolves around computers, mobiles, burgers, pizza, and late-night parties - basically all of this is unhealthy. Professional commitments and personal issues have gripped everyone and they are losing their health in the middle of all these chaos. These days, people have become so busy with their daily lives that they have forgotten what it means to live a healthy life.

Importance of Healthy Lifestyle Our elders often insist on eating nutritious food, sleeping on time and waking up on time each day. They also insist us to walk instead of using vehicles at nearby places. However most of us ignore his advice and continue to follow our unhealthy routines. Everything they suggest is absolutely correct. It is important to follow a healthy lifestyle. The need to shift to healthy habits is being emphasized everywhere these days. Here's why it is important to follow a healthy lifestyle: • It makes you more organized and increases your productivity. • It keeps you physically fit and keeps away health problems. • This is a great way to live stress-free. • It provides a positive outlook. • It brings us closer to our family and loved ones.

DAWN february 2021

Getting involved in unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, junk food, spending too much time on TV screens can lead to many serious diseases and one should try to avoid them. A healthy lifestyle means following good habits like eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and taking time to get enough sleep at night. It is necessary to follow a healthy lifestyle to keep various diseases away and to live a completely healthy life.

life style

How to quit unhealthy habits? Although most of us know about the unhealthy habits that we have and many try to quit, but we often do not. You just can't wake up one day and decide to give up your unhealthy habits, which you have followed till now. Yes, it takes a lot of effort to quit such habits, especially if you have been following them for a long time. Here are some things that can help you: 1. Write down The first thing you should do is to write down the bad habits that are deep-seated in you and the positive effects you can bring to your life if you leave it. Stick it in a place where you can read it often it can serve as stimulation for you. 2. Effect of friendship Friendship affects our habits to a great extent. If you live with people who are habitually engaged in drinking and smoking then you will find it difficult to quit these habits. It is time to end your contact with such people. 3. Avoid provocative triggers There are many things that can act as enhancing stimuli. For example, if you smoke cigarettes with alcohol, you will have to slash your drinking habits. If you have the habit of eating chips and cookies while watching TV, then you have to reduce the time you watch TV.

A healthy lifestyle means following good habits like eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and taking time to get enough sleep at night

4. Try to find options Boredom and stress are some of the common reasons why people adopt unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, spending large amounts of time on mobile or TV screens. Instead of engaging in such activities, you should try to move your energy in the right direction. For example, you can follow something during your free time. For example, you can play with your dog or even do a painting.

Friendship affects our habits to a great extent. If you live with people who are habitually engaged in drinking and smoking then you will find it difficult to quit these habits. It is time to end your contact with such people

5. Get professional help If the above mentioned measures are not able to help you specifically when you are thinking of getting rid of the addictions you have developed, then it is time to seek professional help.

If you have the habit of eating chips and cookies while watching TV, then you have to reduce the time you watch TV

february 2021

DAWN

life style

Some healthy habits can help you develop a healthy lifestyle over a certain period of time

3. Work out Take out at least half an hour each day to do the physical exercise of your choice. You can also try exercises like walking, swimming, practicing yoga, deep breathing. It helps to relieve stress. 4. Sleep on time Since you have to wake up early, it is necessary to sleep on time. You should make sure that you get at least 7-8 hours of sleep every day. 5. Put your mobile aside When you are working to increase productivity, make a habit of keeping your phone away from you. Keep your phone at a distance whenever you stay at your home and spend quality time with your family. The rays emitted by mobile phones are harmful, so keep it away especially while sleeping at night.

Healthy Habits that Should be Followed

People are working hard, working hard and doing everything except taking care of their health. It is time that we should take our health seriously. Some healthy habits can help you develop a healthy lifestyle over a certain period of time

Healthy lifestyle is the need of the hour. Previous generations did not have to face such difficulties, but nowadays it is difficult for people to follow healthy lifestyles. People are working hard, working hard and doing everything except taking care of their health. It is time that we should take our health seriously. Some healthy habits can help you develop a healthy lifestyle over a certain period of time. 1. Follow a healthy diet plan It is extremely important to follow a healthy diet plan when you are trying to live a healthy life. Start following a healthy diet plan that includes all the necessary nutrients and does not contain any amount of junk food. 2. Get up early Most people fail to exercise, have breakfast, and spend some quality moments with their loved ones in the morning because they cannot wake up on time. Make it a habit to get up early every morning so that you have enough time to adjust to all these tasks.

DAWN february 2021

6. Connect with a positive mind It is always good to be friends with those who bring positivity in your life and should stay away from those who are engaged in speaking negative words. Also increase interaction with people who follow healthy lifestyles rather than those who regularly indulge in unhealthy habits like smoking or drinking alcohol. 7. Have your meal on time As much as it is important to follow a healthy diet plan, at the same time your food is important. Make sure you do not skip your breakfast or any other meal of day and eat your food at the right intervals. It is also suggested that instead of eating three times a day, one should eat 5-6 times a little. 8. Follow your interest Most of us are so engrossed in our work that we forget to take the time to follow our interests and hobbies. It is a good idea to follow your favorite horticulture, reading, writing or some such hobbies. It acts as a good replacement for unhealthy habits and also helps in maintaining stress.

life style

HABITS TO AVOID 1. Smoking The first step towards a healthy lifestyle is to quit smoking and stop consuming the tobacco products that you are used to. This obviously cannot be achieved in a day nor will it be easy. Try to get some professional help so that it can be finished within a certain period of time. 2. Drinking alcohol Sometimes it is okay to drink alcohol but if you are addicted to it then you may have difficulty. Excessive drinking can cause many health problems. If you are addicted to it, then try to seek the advice of a professional and to get help from your friends and family friends to get rid of this habit. 3. Junk food Eating junk food has become a lifestyle these days. This is the time when you have to reduce your intake of junk food and discuss healthy eating. This will not only keep you healthy but will also help you in getting a good shape. 4. Leaning towards devices Most people these days stick to their mobile screens. This is another unhealthy habit that you should overcome immediately. Watching too much TV or spending too much time on a laptop is also something you should avoid. 5. Skip meals Many people are so engrossed in their work these days that they even give up their food. Most people are usually busier in the morning and during that time most people have a tendency to skip breakfast to accommodate other tasks. This is the worst punishment you are giving your body. 6. Eat more pills Many people find an easy way to get rid of their mental and physical pain and that is to take pain relief pills. Pain relieving pills work best for such people but it is necessary to understand why they cause serious side effects by providing only temporary relief.

Time to Follow Healthy Habits Now that you know the habits you should avoid, you should work to live a healthy lifestyle. Here are some things that can work for you in this direction:

• Get support from family and friends. Limit your contact with people involved in unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking • Remind yourself about the positive facts of a healthy lifestyle • Meet with people who are following a healthy lifestyle like you. • Follow your hobbies and interests during your free time so that you do not have time to indulge in unhealthy habits. • Do physical exercises to promote the growth of endorphins, a great way to reduce stress and its negative consequences.

It takes some time to develop a healthy lifestyle, especially if you are suffering from the unhealthy habits stated above. The task is not easy, but it is definitely doable. If you plan to fix things then it is time to work on that plan

Conclusion It takes some time to develop a healthy lifestyle, especially if you are suffering from the unhealthy habits stated above. The task is not easy, but it is definitely doable. If you plan to fix things then it is time to work on that plan.

february 2021

DAWN

life style

SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE:

SITTING AND DOING NOTHING

your desk to get some water or confer with a colleague at their desk rather than sending an email.

e are practically living a culture t h a t p r o m o t e s i n a c t i v i t y. Technology for sure has made our lives easier, but is in turn making us lazier day by day. Most of our day to day activities do not involve physically moving from one place to another. We literally spend all of our time either on our computers or on our smartphones. According to a new study, people who have a sedentary lifestyle for 20 consecutive years have twice the risk of premature death compared to those who live a healthy life. That’s a scary thought, isn’t it?

Well, here are a few ways that can help you get out of your sedentary lifestyle. 1. Walk More Plenty of research has borne out the health benefits of a daily 30-minute walk. It's easy to start walking more, even if you're at the office. Suggest walking meetings instead of sitting around a conference table. You can also try adding activity before or after work, such as walking your dog for longer stretches. Look for other opportunities to take a walk. For example, if you live close by, walk your kids to or home from school, or at least as far as the bus stop. You can also take a walk after dinner and make it a family event. Not only will you all get moving, but you'll get to spend quality time together. 2. Take the Stairs A study published in 2017 discovered that stair climbing, which is considered a vigorous-intensity physical activity, burns more calories per minute than jogging.

Taking the stairs whenever possible can help you to maintain a healthy weight as well as build and maintain strong bones, joints, and muscles. 3. Ditch Your Car How we travel in the modern age is associated with rates of overweight and obesity. Compared to more passive ways of getting around, the active modes, such as walking or cycling, have many health benefits and greater potential to prevent obesity. Even public transit appears associated with lower body mass index (BMI) compared to driving your own car to work. Standing on a metro platform or walking to a bus stop requires more steps than just going from your front door to your garage.

5. Do Your Chores Instead of moving from table to couch, clean your kitchen after dinner. It's easy to forget that tasks like doing the dishes and wiping down counter tops do count as standing activities in your day. Other chores like taking out the garbage, sweeping the floors, and vacuuming are even more physically active. A bonus is that you'll get housework done during the week, which frees up your days off for more fun activities.

Plenty of research has borne out the health benefits of a daily 30-minute walk. It's easy to start walking more, even if you're at the office. Suggest walking meetings instead of sitting around a conference table

4. Stand Up If you've got a physically demanding job, you may not need to add activity to your workday. For those who sit at desks all d a y, t h o u g h , i n c o r p o r a t i n g m o r e movement can be an important lifestyle change. If your job requires you to sit for long periods, make it a point to stand up at least every 20 minutes. You may need to set a reminder using your calendar or phone, especially if you're used to getting involved with a project and losing track of time. Try taking brief breaks away from

DAWN february 2021

6. Go for a Run If the thought of going for a run intimidates you, remember that you don’t have to run a marathon to enjoy the benefits of running. There are several options for running as well. Experiment and find which you prefer. You might find you like running outdoors on trails or through your neighborhood best, or maybe you'll like running on an indoor track or treadmill better. Running can also be a social event if you want it to be. While many people prefer to run solo, you can also join a running group.

7. Try a Fitness Tracker A pedometer is a great way to track your steps, which can help you gauge your activity throughout the day. Knowing how active you really are can alert you to patterns or habits that lean toward an overly sedentary lifestyle. You can take action to combat the effects of sitting too much by finding opportunities to move more. Sophisticated fitness trackers do more than tell you how many steps you're taking—you can use them to track calories in and calories out, your day-to-day activity level, and set goals. Some even track your heart rate and sleep.