22112020-TTB-01.qxd 11/22/2020 12:05 AM Page 1 123 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | vol.4 no.323 | 18 pages | ~6.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2018-2020 established in 1881 UK PM SOUGHT TO ‘TONE DOWN’ BULLYING REPORT WORLD /thetribunechd AIADMK POLL ALLIANCE WITH BJP STAYS BACK PAGE STRAY AT HOME: PARIAH DOGS START FINDING ACCEPTANCE SPECTRUM /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com sunday, november 22,2020 from aiding Pb farmers to lift blockade for 15 days DesistPak envoy told terror, Back on tracks if issue not resolved: Unions | Will resume services: Railways Tribune News Service & PTI Chandigarh, November 21 Punjab farmers protesting against the Centre’s recent farm laws have decided to allow passenger trains to run for 15 days, beginning Monday evening. The farmers’ unions warned that they would again block the tracks if the government failed to address their concerns. Hours later, the Railways said it would resume goods and passenger train services in Punjab following the state government's communication that the tracks were clear for operations. Sources indicated that the services would resume from Tuesday. Thirty farm unions met here on Saturday morning and later called on Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. “We have given 15 days to the BJP-led Union Government to initiate talks with us on the three controversial farm laws, failing which we will resume our agitation on the Railways property,” warned Balbir Singh Rajewal, BKU-Rajewal chief. NO ROAD MAP, TALKS ARE POINTLESS The state govt has failed to rein in liquor, sand and land mafia. This has hurt Punjab’s growth. It is wrong to relate the state’s falling economy with our cause. The Centre and Punjab Govt have no road map to resolve our issues. Holding talks is pointless. SS Pandher, KISAN MAZDOOR SANGHARSH COMMITTEE DISCORDANT NOTE: TWO UNIONS DISAGREE ❝ ■ Kirti Kisan Union distances itself from decision by 29 unions ■ Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee to continue ‘rail roko’ Farmers protest against urea shortage in Bathinda on Saturday. PTI Meanwhile, the unions will continue to protest outside the residences of BJP leaders and toll plazas and businesses owned by certain corporate houses. Train services in Punjab were suspended on September 24 when the farmers launched “Rail Roko”. While the farmers in October allowed the movement of goods trains in Punjab, the Railway Board refused to resume services until the Railways property was cleared of all protesters. Sources said the Kirti Kisan Union refused to shift the protest from the Railways property, arguing that this would make the farmers appear weak. Hence, it kept away from the meeting with the CM where issues such as subsidy on stubble manage- CM HAILS FARMERS’ DECISION I welcome this step since it will restore normalcy to our economy. I urge the Central Govt to resume rail services to Punjab forthwith. Capt Amarinder Singh, CM ment machines, withdrawal of FIRs for farm fires, releasing dues of cane growers and hiking the state advised price to Rs 360 per quintal were raised. A report from Amritsar said the Majha-based Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee too had decided to continue the agitation, arguing that any dialogue with the Centre was pointless. In his appeal earlier, the CM had urged the farmers to let the train services resume as the blockade had so far caused a loss of Rs 40,000 crore to the state. Pointing to the shortage of coal, fertilisers and other essential commodities, he had said a large number of units had closed down in Ludhiana and Jalandhar due to scarcity of raw material. Pvt hospitals fleeced patients: House panel Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 21 All Indians must be vaccinated against Covid-19 and the government must create a mechanism in advance to check black marketing and hoarding of the vaccine as soon as it becomes available, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health has warned the government as the vaccine race intensifies. In a comprehensive review of the national Covid-19 response, the committee said a sustainable pricing model to treat Covid patients could have averted many deaths. It lamented that “instances of patients being turned away from overburdened hospitals due to lack of vacant beds became the new normal during the pandemic.” “Amidst the uncertainty in Covid treatment protocol, India’s out-of-pocket expenditure of 62.4 per cent may have further driven many families below the poverty line. The number of government hospital beds was inadequate to handle the increasing rush of Covid and general patients,” said the panel, noting that the situation led to SAYS NEED A STRATEGY AGAINST BIO WEAPONS ■ Govt must create a mechanism to check black marketing of vaccine ■ Develop a strategy against biological weapons ■ Address the “abysmally low” public spending on health ■ Cap the price of oxygen cylinders & ensure availability ■ Increase testing by reliable RT-PCR technique ■ Create Indian Health Service; make available testing facilities in villages continued on back page 2 HAFIZ AIDES JAILED Lahore: A Pakistani court has jailed two more aides of Mumbai attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed in a terror financing case. The Anti-Terrorism Court of Lahore handed down six and five-and-a-half years of imprisonment to JuD leaders Muhammad Ashraf and Lucman Shah, respectively. PTI ISOLATE ‘ROGUE’ NATIONS Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu has called upon the world community to come together to isolate nations that sponsor terrorism and impose sanctions against them. Observing that no country was safe from terrorism, he said the days of platitude were over and it was time for concrete action. New Delhi, November 21 India on Saturday crossed the milestone of 13 crore Covid-19 tests with the national infection positivity rate dropping below 7 per cent. Sustained daily tests of one million (10,66,022 samples were tested in the past 24 hours) took the total tests to 13,06,57,808 today. The last one crore tests were done in 10 days. This is a huge leap from July considering India had tested only one crore samples as of July 7. “An average of more COVID-19CASES INDIA COUNT 90,50,597 TOTAL RECOVERED DEATHS RECOVERED 84,78,124 FRESH FATALITIES 564 TOTAL DEATHS 1,32,726 WORLD 5,80,90,337 4,02,56,633 13,80,759 INDIAN-US SCIENTIST IDENTIFIES POSSIBLE CURE IN MUSSOORIE, 57 IAS PROBATIONERS TEST +VE than 10 lakh tests daily has ensured that cumulative positivity rate is sustained at low levels and is presently following a downward trajectory. The cumulative positivity rate stands at 6.93 per cent. The daily positivity rate yesterday was 4.34 per cent. Higher volumes of testing eventually led to a low positivity rate,” said the Health Ministry. The WHO advice to countries is 140 tests per day per million people until national positivity rates fall below 5 pc. — TNS Soldier dead in Pak LoC firing Jammu, November 21 A soldier was today killed in unprovoked firing by Pakistan on forward posts and villages in two sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. The casualty comes barely a week after multiple ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the LoC in north Kashmir left 11 persons, including five security personnel, dead on November 13. Havildar Patil Sangram Shivaji, who was manning a forward post, was critically injured in the Lam area of Rajouri district’s Nowshera sector at 1 am, the officials said, adding he succumbed to his injuries later. Another soldier was hurt. — PTI ❝ India blames terror flow from across Durand Line People wait for a bus to the railway station after a 60-hour curfew in Ahmedabad on Saturday. PTI Havildar Patil Sangram Shivaji SECURITY AN EXCUSE TO IMPEDE DEMOCRACY: FAROOQ A strange and unique feature has come to the fore (amid DDC polls). Candidates put up by the Gupkar alliance are whisked away to ‘secure locations’ in the name of security and confined there. They are not allowed to canvass and are completely out of touch with those from whom they are supposed to seek votes. GUPKAR ALLIANCE CHIEF REPORT INSIDE BLASTS RIP KABUL Cumulative positivity rate falls private hospitals heftily overcharging patients. In the report titled “The Outbreak of Pandemic Covid-19 and its Management”, the panel has said the Centre must address the “abysmally low” public spending on health and raise it from the current nearly 1 per cent of the GDP to 2.5 per cent in two years. The spending on health research should New Delhi, November 21 India on Saturday summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission and lodged a protest with him over attempts by Pakistanbased terror group Jaish-eMohammed to carry out attacks in J&K ahead of local elections there. Referring to the Nagrota incident, the MEA said the huge cache of arms and explosive material indicated detailed planning for a “major attack to destabilise peace and security” in J&K and to derail the District Development Council polls. “The MEA demanded that Pakistan desists from its policy of supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from its territory and dismantle the terror infrastructure operated by terrorist outfits to launch attacks in other countries,” a statement read. Four suspected JeM terrorists, who were hiding in a truck, were killed by security forces in Nagrota on Thursday morning. — PTI Kabul, November 21 About 23 mortar shells hit different parts of the Afghan capital on Saturday, killing at least eight persons and wounding 31. The Taliban denied any role. The mortar barrage came as representatives of the Afghan Government and the Taliban continued to hold talks in Qatar. In an oblique reference to Pakistan, India told the UN that Afghanistan could succeed only when terrorism no longer flowed across the Durand Line. India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti said: “For durable peace, we have to put an end to terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries operating across the Durand Line. It is important to ensure that those who shelter terrorists must be held accountable,” he said, without naming any country. — Agencies A policeman in Kabul stands guard after rockets hit residential areas. TIME TO ACT AGAINST TERROR CAMPS PMLA case: ED raids in Kashmir New Delhi, November 21 The Enforcement Directorate today said it had conducted searches at seven locations in the Kashmir valley in connection with its probe into money laundering linked to alleged suspicious transactions in J&K Bank. According to officials in the agency, the probe agency covered seven locations — six in Srinagar and one in Anantnag district. The searches were conducted under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they added. INSIDE IN BRIEF time the ❝ It is speaks Security Council unequivocally against violence and acts against terrorist sanctuaries TS Tirumurti, INDIAN REP AT UNITED NATIONS Comedian Bharti held in drug case MUMBAI: The Narcotics Control 100 deaths in 35 days, Hisar dist Haryana’s new hotspot Deepender Deswal OCT 16 100 190 238 NOV 20 200 256 290 ‘LATE REPORTING TO BLAME’ It seems that patients are seeking treatment at later stage of the disease, which has resulted in a higher number of casualties PAST 35 DAYS 100 66 52 Priyanka Soni, DC Tribune News Service Hisar, November 21 Hisar witnessed 100 deaths due to Covid-19 in the last 35 days, indicating a higher mortality rate as compared to state’s worst-affected districts of Faridabad and Gurugram. The first Covid death was reported in Hisar on June 11. The number of casualties touched 100 on October 16. Since then there has been a sharp upswing with the toll touching 200 on Friday. The total number of deaths is higher in Faridabad (290) and Gurugram (256), considered Covid hotspots in the state. But in the last 35 days, Hisar witnessed 100 deaths, Gurugram 66 and Faridabad 52. Hisar also saw a high number ❝ WORSE THAN FARIDABAD TOLL AS ON HISAR GURUGRAM FARIDABAD of cases in the last about one month. With a total of 14,342 cases as on November 20, the district stands third in the state after Gurugram (42,632) and Faridabad (35,613). It was previously at number 9 with 7,950 cases as on October 16. A Civil Hospital official claims that a number of venti- lators are lying defunct in the hospital. “The doctors and paramedics are finding it difficult to manage Covid wards. Patients often complain of negligence on part of the staff,” the official said. Priyanka Soni, DC, however, claimed that there was no shortage of ventilators and other facilities. 2nd Covid wave inevitable: Capt Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 21 Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday offered all possible help to Delhi in managing its spiralling Covid-19 cases, even as he warned that the second wave striking Punjab was an almost certain eventuality. “Delhi is fighting a tough battle, and we are there to help if needed,” he said, while assuring all possible measures by his government to prepare for the second wave in Punjab. He warned that experience of the NCR and other states showed the second was was an almost certain eventuality. Captain Amarinder expressed confidence that the Health Department would once again rise to the occasion to meet any challenge. Cases rising, Lahaul admn bars outsiders beyond Atal Tunnel Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, November 21 With seven Lahaul and Spiti panchayats witnessing a sudden spurt in Covid cases over the past fortnight, the district administration has barred the entry of outsiders into the tribal region that has been attracting a lot of tourists ever since the Rohtang Atal Tunnel was inaugurated. The administration has imposed restrictions under Section 144, which prohibits the gathering of five or more persons and the holding of public meetings, in the seven panchayats. Four of the panchayats — Sissu, Sanskar, Gondla and Koksar — are in Lahaul and the rest in Spiti. As many as 166 Covid cases 41 of 42 residents of a village test positive Bureau on Saturday arrested comedian Bharti Singh following seizure of cannabis from her house here. The NCB carried out search as part of its probe into alleged drug use in the film industry. BACK PAGE Man killed, 5 hurt in Tripura police firing AGARTALA: A man was killed and 5 others injured on Saturday when the police fired on a mob, which went berserk while protesting the government’s decision to rehabilitate tribal refugees in northern Tripura. IANS Police stop a vehicle near Sissu in Lahaul-Spiti district on Saturday. PTI SHIMLA MARKETS CLOSED ON SUNDAYS Shimla: Amid a spike in Covid cases, the administration has directed all markets in Shimla district to be closed on Sundays. Only those selling essential commodities would be allowed to open. have been reported from Gondla panchayat alone over the past two weeks. The situation has been alarming in Tholang village where 41 of the total 42 residents have tested positive. Only 52-year-old continued on back page Books by 3 Indians among year’s best NEW YORK: Books by three Indi- an writers have featured among this year’s ‘100 Notable Books’ list of The New York Times. The authors are Megha Majumdar, Deepa Anappara and Samanth Subramanian. INSIDE