01122020-TT-01.qxd 11/30/2020 11:09 PM Page 1 13 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | vol.140 no.332 | 12 pages | ~5.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2018-2020 established in 1881  haryana INDIA VS AUSTRALIA: INJURED WARNER RULED OUT SPORT /thetribunechd CNG STATIONS AT PETROL PUMPS NOT FOR THIRD PARTY ACCESS BUSINESS CHINA: WILL PROTECT NEPAL’S SOVEREIGNTY BACK PAGE /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com tuesday, december 1,2020 Govt intentions pure as Ganga: PM to farmers Slams Oppn for misinformation| Demands non-negotiable, say farmers camping at Delhi borders Vibha Sharma FARMERS THREATEN TO BLOCK 5 KEY HIGHWAYS Tribune News Service IN BRIEF Leading historian VN Datta no more NEW DELHI: Leading historian of modern India Vishwa Nath Datta, most celebrated for the pioneering work “Jallianwala Bagh”, passed away at his New Delhi residence on Monday. He was 94. Born into a famous business family of Amritsar, Datta was the first to chronicle the Jallianwala massacre and bring to light the findings of the Hunter Committee Report the British had long suppressed. A Padma Shri, Datta’s long career included his time as a contributor to The Tribune in which he started writing as a student at Lahore and went on to author “Off the Shelf”, a well-regarded column for years. — TNS obituary on oped JEE-Main proxy candidate held GUWAHATI: A man was arrested by the Guwahati Police from Delhi for appearing in the JEE-Main on behalf of the candidate who “topped” the test in Assam, officials said. A team, led by ADCP Suprotive Lal Baruah arrested Pradeep Kumar, the eighth accused to be nabbed in connection with the case, they said. Prime accused Bhargav Deka, the owner of city-based coaching institute Global Edu Light, was held on November 1. Neel Nakshatra Das, who “topped”, has been arrested too. — PTI SINGHU TIKRI Singhu and Tikri borders already blocked by farmers CM Capt Amarinder Singh at Gurdwara Sri Ber Sahib in Sultanpur Lodhi. PTI Open corridor: Capt Jaipur-Delhi highway that connects Gurugram to Delhi Tribune News Service dis, which would protect them from being cheated. “I want to tell them (farmers) that our intentions are as pure as Ganga...Those who have doubts about these laws will see the benefits in future,” he stressed. AMIT SHAH ASSESSES SITUATION Flaying the government for its ‘farmers being misled’ claim, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha leader GS Charuni said: “We want to tell Modi if they (govt) think our resolve will weaken, they are mistaken. Let this be a warning. He (PM) should defuse the situation at the earliest or else we may have to take harsher steps.” An angry Balbir S Rajewal of the BKU said: “The PM has a forked-tongue. He is selling the country to corporates.” Narendra Modi, PM After his meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Agri Minister Narendra Singh Tomar at the residence of BJP chief JP Nadda’s Delhi residence on Sunday night, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met Tomar again on Monday morning for an assessment of the ground situation. Meanwhile, more protesters have converged on the borders of the national Capital, prompting the Delhi Police to enhance security and place concrete barriers at all entry points from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The farmers, who had on Sunday announced that they would blockade five points of entry into Delhi in the coming days, said they had come for a decisive battle. Terror main threat to region: India at SCO Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 30 India on Monday said terrorism is the region’s biggest challenge and sought the elimination of this threat to enable it realise its true potential, including in the economic sphere. “We are particularly concerned about states that leverage terrorism as an instrument of state policy. The most important challenge faced by us is terrorism, particularly cross-border terrorism,” said Vice President Venkaiah Naidu here while chairing the virtual meet of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Parts of several SCO countries are in an “arc of radicalism” stretching from Pakistan to the Caucasus running through several central Asian countries. The Vice President’s observations seemed to hint at Pakistan, but MEA’s Secretary (West) Vikas Swarup said at a media briefing that the SCO’s charter prohibits the raising of bilateral issues. “We do not raise bilateral issues and expect others to do the same,” he said. Naidu also Hapur-Delhi highway that connects Delhi with Ghaziabad ‘CAN’T WEAKEN OUR RESOLVE’ ❝ first tenure of his BJP-led NDA government than during the Congress-led UPA-II government. The PM said that small farmers would now be able to take legal action on deals struck outside the man- Deepkamal Kaur Mathura-Delhi highway connecting Faridabad to Delhi Farmers light candles on the occasion of birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev at the Singhu border, during their ongoing ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest against Centre’s new farm laws, in New Delhi. PTI FARMERS MISLED The farmers are being deceived on these historic agriculture reform laws by the same people who have misled them for decades. ‘Why not listen to farmers,’ asks Centre Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service FOCUS ON START-UPS has proposed a special working group on start-ups and innovations ■ Turkmenistan is the only central Asian country that has stayed out of SCO ■ India also focused on science and technology and traditional medicine NAIDU CHAIRS MEET ❝ Venkaiah Naidu, VP expressed similar sentiments in his opening address: “It is unfortunate to note that deliberate attempts have been made to bring bilateral issues in the SCO forum. Such acts are counterproductive. We should respect each others’ territorial integrity and sovereignty.” His reference was to the Pakistani representative continued on page 9 A 60-year-old Covid-19 patient being airlifted in a critical condition for treatment to Chennai from Indore airport on Monday. PTI 321 in fray for Phase-2 Srinagar/Jammu, November 30 As many as 321 candidates are in the fray for the second phase of the District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir for which the voting will take place on Tuesday at over 2,100 polling booths, State Election Commissioner KK Sharma said here today. In the second phase, 43 constituencies are going to the polls in the union territory— 25 in Kashmir and 18 in Jam- DDC POLLS mu, he said. Sharma said 196 candidates were in the Kashmir valley and 125 in the Jammu region. The SEC said simultaneously with the DDC polls, the sarpanch elections will be conducted in 83 constituencies and total 223 candidates were contesting in second phase. INSIDE New Delhi, November 30 With the national Covid-19 caseload crossing the 94 lakh mark today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair an all-party meeting on Friday to discuss the pandemic and related challenges, including vaccine rollout, economy and post-Covid India. The government said floor leaders of both Houses of Parliament had been invited for the virtual meeting in which ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Harsh Vardhan will be present. The meeting comes close on the heels of the PM’s visits to Covid vaccine hubs in India. Citing protests, Raj ally threatens to walk out of NDA new delhi: Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal, NDA ally, on Monday said he would reconsider his party’s support to the Centre if the farm laws were not withdrawn. Beniwal is Rashtriya Loktantrik Party convener and the party’s only MP The party has three . MLAs in Rajasthan. “Our strength lies in youth and farmers,” he said. — TNS HP Cabinet to take final call on D’sala winter session Tribune News Service Shimla, November 30 The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet will hold a meeting here tomorrow to discuss the fate of the winter session of the Vidhan Sabha, which is scheduled to be held at Dharamsala from December 7 to 11. It is in view of the sudden surge in Covid cases and the high fatality figure that the possibility of the session being postponed has arisen. Even though an all-party meeting was held to deliberate on the issue but it could not reach a consensus. Hence, it was decided to place the matter before the Cabinet for a final decision even though the dates for the session have already been notified. Opinion remains divided over the holding of the fiveday session, scheduled to be held at Dharamsala. While Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mukesh Agnihotri has said that the session must be held even Sultanpur Lodhi, November 30 The Centre should open the Indian side of the Kartarpur corridor, Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh said today. He was speaking on the sidelines of the 551st Parkash Purb celebrations here. “I don’t know why the Centre is not opening the Kartarpur corridor. I can’t say if it has anything to do with Covid. However, now that everything has been reopened and Pakistan has opened its side of the corridor, India should do likewise,” he emphasised. On PM Narendra Modi continuing to insist the recent three farm laws would benefit the farmers, Captain said, “The PM has been maintaining this stand from the very beginning. That is why we passed Bills in the Assembly to subvert the central laws. But the Governor is sitting on these Bills. He has no business doing so. The Bills are lying in Raj Bhavan whereas his job is to send these to the President.” Says Guv sitting on farm Bills, has no business doing so On the standoff between the Centre and farmers, he replied, “I would like it to end. Farmers across the country, including Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttarakhand, are agitating. Why does the government not listen to them?” Asked if his Haryana counterpart ML Khattar had stopped the farmers at the Centre’s continued on page 9 All-party Covid meet on Dec4 ■ India, as SCO CHG chair, We are against states that use terrorism as an instrument of state policy... We need to create conditions for stability and economic sustainability Peaceful protests continued for the fifth day at the Singhu and Tikri borders. In the evening, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava visited Singhu to take stock of the security arrangements. MAP NOT TO SCALE New Delhi, November 30 The standoff between the Centre and the agitating protesters persists with PM Narendra Modi on Monday stoutly defending the three agriculture laws, assuring the farmers that the intentions of his government were as “pure as Ganga”, and the farm unions reiterating that their demands were “nonnegotiable”. The unions, camping at the Delhi borders, claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had called “some of them”. Demanding that those camping at Nirankari Ground in Burari be allowed to return to the Singhu border, they stressed they would not change their stand on the three “black” agri laws and warned the PM to listen to their ‘mann ki baat’ or else the government would have to “pay dearly” for it. In Varanasi, addressing a public meeting, the PM said: “We are seeing a new trend in the country. Protests are based on creating doubts through misinformation. We must remember that those doing so are the ones who had for decades deceived the farmers.” He also claimed that crops worth much more were procured during the OPINION DIVIDED AMID SURGE IN COVID CASES ■ CM Jai Ram Thakur says most BJP MLAs not in favour of session due to Covid surge ■ Virbhadra Singh, former CM, wants session in Shimla instead of Dharamsala ■ CLP leader keen on session, though some of his party MLAs want it deferred though some of his own party legislators are favouring postponement of the session. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said a majority of the BJP legislators were not in favour of the session in view of the surge in Covid cases so the matter would be decided by the Cabinet. Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has demanded that the session must be held in Shimla instead of Dharamsala. The lone CPM legislator Rakesh Singha said the session should be conducted, though it could be held in Shimla. There is a tradition of conducting the winter session in Dharamsala with the entire government, including the CM, ministers, MLAs, bureaucrats and other officials, moving there from Shimla. It is feared that since everyone will be putting up in rest houses and hotels, the chances of acquiring infection remained high. continued on page 9 Three more vaccine makers engaged as India eyes self-reliance COVID-19CASES INDIA COUNT 94,31,691 TOTAL RECOVERED DEATHS RECOVERED 88,47,600 FRESH FATALITIES 443 TOTAL DEATHS 1,37,139 WORLD 6,32,37,485 4,37,28,896 14,68,114 MODERNA CLAIMS 100% EFFICACY REPORT ON WORLD PAGE Eyeing self-reliance in vaccine production, the PM today engaged three more vaccine makers, seeking suggestions on the modalities of the regulatory processes. “India is looking to be self-reliant in both development and production of the vaccine. While at least five pharmaceutical companies of India are engaged in vaccine development, Serum Institute in Pune has been chosen for mass production of Covishield developed by Oxford-Astra Zeneca. The Centre has initiated a robust vaccine manufacturing and delivery ecosystem to meet the demand,” the government said today. The PM today followed up his three-city visit to the facilities of Zydus in Ahmedabad, Serum Institute in continued on page 9 Ind Dadri MLA quits post to join farm stir Deepender Deswal Tribune News Service Hisar, November 30 With Independent MLA from Dadri Sombir Sangwan quitting as Haryana Livestock Development Board chairman today, the disquiet in the BJPled ruling alliance in Haryana over the farmers’ protest has come to the fore again. Sangwan, who heads the Sangwan khap having influence in 40 villages of Bhiwani and Dadri districts, was among seven Independent MLAs who had extended support to the BJP-JJP government after the Assembly elections last year. Four of them were made chairpersons or corporations and Boards. In October, JJP legislator from Barwala Jogi Ram Sihag too had raised a banner of revolt over the same issue and refused to accept the post of Haryana Housing Board chairman. In his resignation, sent to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Sangwan wrote he JOLT FOR KHATTAR GOVT ❝ We will march on tractor-trailers to Delhi tomorrow and won’t return till the Centre redresses the grievances of farmers. If the Centre thinks the new laws will not alter the existing system, why is it reluctant on giving a written assurance on MSP system? Sombir Sangwan, IND MLA FROM DADRI was quitting and would join the farmers’ protest in Delhi. He said a large number of farmers from his constituency had been camping at the Delhi border. Among others, Kalirawan, Chahal, Kher Khap, Daran Khap and Thua khaps have extended support to the protesting farmers.