CMYK TUESDAY www.thestatesman.com 16 FEBRUARY 2021 FIND US ONLINE Scan this with your smartphone twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd facebook.com/thestatesman1875 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR NIGERIAN ECONOMIST NAMED FIRST WOMAN AFRICAN WTO HEAD WAY FORWARD P9 WEATHER Partly cloudy sky with fog/mist in the morning. Ttemperature likely to be in the range of 30 -19 degrees Celsius. P9 P5 Toolkit row: Activist’s arrest sparks outrage RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Opp cries ‘murder of democracy’; BJP says ‘crime is crime no matter age’ Max. 98% SNS & PTI TEMPERATURE Min. 35% Max: 30.2°C (N) Min: 20.8°C (2) SUN RISES SUN SETS 06:08 hrs 17:33 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 08:27 hrs 20:44 hrs Moon first quarter on 20 February THUMBNAILS A man buys idol of Goddess Saraswati on the eve of Basant Panchami, in the Capital on Monday. SNS SC grants 5-day bail to Kappan: The Supreme d Court on Monday granted 5-day interim bail to journalist Siddique Kappan, arrested on his way to Hathras where a young Dalit woman had died after being allegedly gang-raped, to visit his ailing mother. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, however, said that during his visit he shall not give any interview to the media, including social media. NEW DELHI, 15 FEBRUARY he action taken by the Delhi Police on an FIR related to a toolkit shared by climate campaigner Greta Thunberg in support of the ongoing farmer protests has triggered a war of words between the Opposition and the ruling BJP. Accusing the government of “murdering democracy” by using force against a 21-year-old, the Opposition on Monday said the voice of India cannot be silenced even as the BJP defended the action, saying a crime is a crime no matter at what age. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi led the Opposition offensive following the arrest of 21-year-old Disha Ravi in the case and said the country will not be silenced. “Your lips are free to speak. Say that the truth is still alive. They are scared, not the country,” he said in a tweet in Hindi. “India will not be silenced,” he added. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “Arrest of 21 year old Disha Ravi is an unprecedented attack on Democracy. Supporting our Delhi police identifies toolkit creators: The Delhi Police on Monday alleged that climate activist Disha Ravi along with two other suspects Nikita Jacob and Shantanu created the “toolkit” document related to the farmers’ protest and shared in on social media. The police claimed Disha, who was arrested by the force on Saturday from Bengaluru, sent the “toolkit” to teen climate activist Greta Thunberg via Telegram app. Addressing a press conference, Joint Commissioner of Police (Cyber) Prem Nath claimed that Disha deleted a WhatsApp group she created to spread the “toolkit”. Nath claimed that Nikita and Shantanu attended a zoom meeting organised by ‘pro-khalistani’ group Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF) and added that Jacob was also one of the editors of “toolkit” document.SNS T farmers is not a crime.” RJD leader Manoj Jha said democracy is under threat. “I am worried about democracy, as it is passing through the most difficult times,” he said. BJP general secretary B L Santosh tweeted: “21 year old. environment activist. student. Are these credentials for becoming a part of breaking India forces? How does she get the access for editing tool kit.? Why she is part of anti-national WhatsApp groups.? Many questions. But only one answer. 21 year old.” Former Union ministers P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh have also come out strongly against ASHWIN PUTS INDIA ON TOP DEFENCE MINISTER LAUDS INDIAN ARMED FORCES the police action in the case, accusing the government of running an authoritarian regime as it was threatened by a student. “I strongly condemn the arrest of Disha Ravi and urge all students and youth to raise their voices to protest against the authoritarian regime,” Chidambaram said. “A ‘took kit’ to support the farmers' protest is more dangerous than the intrusion by Chinese troops into Indian territory. India is becoming the theatre of the absurd and it is sad that the Delhi Police has become a tool of the oppressors,” he tweeted. Reacting to the Opposition charges, BJP spokes- CMYK person Gaurav Bhatia said, “A criminal is a criminal, gender and age are immaterial if not a juvenile. Kasab was just 21 when he attacked Mumbai.” “Supporting ‘farmers’ is not a crime but conspiring against India and inciting others surely is,” he said. BJP’s IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya said, “The Left has been using young impressionable minds as cannon fodder for their deranged politics for a long time. From JNU to Jamia, AMU to Nadwa and now Disha Ravi, are all part of their sinister plot...Unfortunately they are abandoned soon after they have served their purpose.” P12 SC notice to Centre, WhatsApp PRESS TRUST OF INDIA NEW DELHI, 15 FEBRUARY The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre and WhatsApp to reply to a fresh plea alleging lower standards of privacy for Indians in comparison to European users saying it is the duty of the judiciary to protect citizens’ privacy. People have grave apprehensions that they will lose their privacy and it is our duty to protect them, the top court said. “You may be two or three trillion companies but people value their privacy more than money,” a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde told WhatsApp even as it sought to argue that Europe has special data protection laws which India doesn’t. The apex court issued notice to the government and the Facebook-owned app on an interim application filed by Karmanya Singh Sareen in a pending petition of 2017. Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the messaging app was applying lower standards of privacy for Indians and they be barred from sharing data with Facebook. The bench observed, “We are impressed by Mr. Divan’s argument that it was proposed before us that a data protection law would be brought into force. Now under this policy you will share data of Indians.” The petitioner challenged privacy policy alleging that there is huge metadata of users which is being shared for profit. 18-19 vaccine candidates against Covid in pipeline STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 15 FEB About 18-19 vaccine candidates against Covid-19 are in the pipeline and in different clinical trial stages, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said. Vardhan said that in the next 2-3 weeks, vaccinations against Covid19 will be started for people above 50 years of age. “About 18-20 vaccine candidates against Covid are in the pipeline and are in preclinical, clinical and advanced stages,” Vardhan said. Gujarat CM Covid positive: Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani tested positive for Covid19 on Monday, a day after he collapsed on the stage, most probably due to blood pressure and sugar factors, during his speech at a BJP poll meeting at Tarsali in Vadodara. Bengal cases: Bengal today registered 133 fresh Covid cases and 1 death due to infection. The total Covid case count is 5,72,728 and death toll is 10,233 in the state till now while there are 3,960 active cases. 1,09,16,589 1,39,637 11,649 9,489 1,55,732 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. MONDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2021