MONDAY www.thestatesman.com 22 NOVEMBER 2021 FIND US ONLINE Scan this with your smartphone twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd facebook.com/thestatesman1875 Pages 12 |` 5|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR RITTENHOUSE VERDICT PUTS BIDEN IN A SPOT BOOST FOR TRS P6 WEATHER Mainly clear sky. Mist in the morning. The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 27 and 10 degrees Celsius respectively. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max: 93% Min: 34% TEMPERATURE Max: 27.3°C (+1) SUN RISES 06:50 hrs MOON RISES 19:36 hrs Min: 09.8°C (-3) SUN SETS 17:25 hrs MOON SETS 10:08 hrs GOVT PLANNING TO END MSP FOOD , PROCUREMENT: SIDHU P10 MAN U SACK SOLSKJAER AS MANAGER P3 5 Pilot loyalists inducted as ministers in Raj P12 CLEAN SWEEP 15 ministers, including 11 of Cabinet rank, sworn in ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL JAIPUR, 21 NOVEMBER I THUMBNAILS With the night temperature dipping below the freezing point, icicles appeared on Sunday morning across Kashmir. MOHAMMAD AMIN WAR India make it 3-0:The diaphanous lunacy of a 0 Twenty20 International series with three matches in five days ended here this evening when India won the last match by 73 runs versus New Zealand for a clean sweep. The visitors, chasing 185, lasted only 17.2 overs. Axar Patel was declared as The Man Of The Match while Rohit Sharma wonthe Player Of The (P12) Series award. Peng Shuai reappears: Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai appeared at a Beijing tennis tournament Sunday, according to official event photos, after international pressure mounted for information about her well-being. This was her first public appearance since her sexual abuse accusations were widely censored on the Chinese internet. The two-time Grand Slam doubles champion had not been seen publicly since alleging earlier this month that former vice premier Zhang Gaoli, forced her into sex during (P9) a relationship spanning several years. n a much-awaited reshuffle of the Rajasthan council of ministers, as many as 15 ministers ~ 11 of cabinet rank and four ministers of state ~ were inducted into chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s cabinet on Sunday. The ministers were administered the oath of office by Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra at the Raj Bhavan here. The eleven Cabinet ministers are Hemaram Choudhary, Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, Ramlal Jat, Mahesh Joshi, Vishvendra Singh, Ramesh Meena, Mamta Bhupesh Bairwa, Bhajanlal Jatav, Tikaram Juli, Govind Ram Meghwal and Shakuntala Rawat while Zahida Khan, Brijendra Singh Ola, Rajendra Gudda and Murari Lal Meena sworn in as Ministers of State. The reshuffle took place after a series of high-level meetings of Gehlot and former Deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot with the Congress high command in the national capital in the past few weeks. Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra on Saturday shared a list of 15 MLAs who will take oath on Sunday and informed that three ministers of state will be elevated to cabinet rank. Ahead of the reshuffle, all ministers of Rajasthan submitted their resignations to the chief minister on Sat- Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra and newly sworn-in ministers during swearing ceremony, in Jaipur on Sunday. ANI urday. Notably, Congress leader Sachin Pilot's "loyalists" MLAs Hemaram Choudhary, Murari Lal Meena, Zahida Khan, Rajendra Gudda, and Brijendra Singh Ola have now been accommodated in the Gehlot cabinet after the reshuffle. Pilot expressed his satisfaction over the move and stated that the inclusion of four Dalit ministers in the Cabinet has sent out a positive message about the party and the state government. He also asserted that "there are no factions in the party and the decision of a Cabinet reshuffle has been taken together." The Cabinet reshuffle had been expected for a long time after Pilot rebelled against Gehlot's working style in July last year. Following the rebellion, Sachin Pilot was stripped of the posts of state Deputy chief minister and Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief. His loyalists Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena were also removed from their ministerial posts. After the Gandhi family's intervention, Pilot agreed to work for the party. A committee was also set up under state Congress incharge Ajay Maken to look into the issues raised by Pilot and his camp. Also, this is the first cabinet reshuffle of the Gehlot government since it came to power in December 2018. Rajasthan will go for Assembly polls in 2023. Gehlot said that the Congress will once again emerge victorious in the 2023 Assembly elections in the state and form the government. “We will all unite and take the policy, ideology and programmes of Congress to the common people under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and win the 2023 assembly polls on the issue of development and form the government again," he said in a tweet. Team India celebrates after a convincing 73-run win over New Zealand in the third and final T20I at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. ANI Cabinet to take up Bills for withdrawal of three farm laws next week STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 NOVEMBER Farmers to write open letter to PM on MSP The Union Cabinet is likely to approve next week Bills to withdraw the three controversial farm laws, official sources said today. These Bills will be then introduced in the forthcoming session of Parliament beginning 29th November. A meeting of the Cabinet is scheduled on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday the government's intention to withdraw the laws in the interest of the nation. Passed in the last year’s Monsoon session, the three farm Acts were opposed by farmers in several States and there were large sit-ins at all entry points of the ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEW DELHI, 21 NOVEMBER The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of over 40 protesting farmer unions on Sunday held an all delegation meeting and announced that the agitation will continue while adding that it will write an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Minimum Support Price (MSP). Briefing mediapersons, farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said, "We will write an open letter to Prime Min- ister mentioning the pending demands including MSP Committee, its rights, its time frame, its duties; Electricity Bill 2020 and the withdrawal of cases against farmers. We will also write to him to sack minister Ajay Mishra Teni over Lakhmipur Kheri incident." While welcoming the rollback of farm laws by Mr Modi, he said a lot of things still remain. “We discussed repeal of farm laws. After this, some decisions were taken. SKM’s predecided programmes will continue as it is ~ Kisan panchayat in Lucknow on November 22, gatherings at all borders on November 26 and a march to Parliament on November 29," he said, adding that another meeting of SKM will be held on November 27 to discuss way the future course of action. national Capital. The Opposition parties supported the farmers’ movement and kept pressure on the gov- ernment to accept the farmers’ demands.The agitating farmers have said that they will continue their dharnas till Parliament completes formalities on the withdrawal of the Acts. (More reports on Pg 5) Delhi schools to stay shut till further orders India’s Covid vaccination INS Visakhapatnam inducted into Indian Navy coverage exceeds 116 crore NEW DELHI, 21 NOVEMBER STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 NOVEMBER NEW DELHI, 21 NOVEMBER All schools in the national capital will remain closed until further orders in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas, owing to the rising levels of air pollution in the city. As per a directive by the Education Department, all government, government aided, unaided recognized, NDMC, MCDs and Delhi Cantonment Board schools will remain closed. However, online teaching learning activities and the examinations for board classes would be conducted as per earlier guidelines. Delhi’s residents continue to breath polluted air as air quality in the city was recorded under‘very poor’ category on Sunday morning. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research said the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital was 324 for PM10 and (SEE P2) 200 for PM2.5. IANS With the administration of 67,25,970 doses in the last 24 hours, India’s Covid-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 116.50 crore, the Health and Family Welfare Ministry said today. This has been achieved through 1,20,41,157 sessions. The recovery of 12,329 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally of recovered patients (since the beginning of the pandemic) to 3,39,22,037. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.30 per cent, the ministry said. The number of deaths climbed to 4,65,662 with 313 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 a.m. Sustained and collaborative efforts by the centre and the states/UTs have resulted in the country reporting less than 50,000 daily new cases for the last 147 consecutive days now. The ministry said a total of 10,488 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours The active caseload presently stands at 1,22,714. These cases presently constitute 0.36 per cent of the country's total positive cases, which is the lowest since March 2020. The last 24 hours saw a total of 10,74,099 tests being conducted. India has so far conducted over 63.16 crore cumulative tests. The weekly test positivity rate at 0.94 per cent remains less than two per cent for the last 58 days now. The daily positivity rate is reported to be 0.98 per cent. The positivity rate has remained below two per cent for the last 48 days and below three per cent for 83 consecutive days now. Delhi cases: Delhi reported 29 cases of coronavirus on Sunday. With this, the tally of COVID-19 cases in the nation- 3,45,10,413 1,22,714 10,488 12,329 4,65,662 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. SUNDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2021 al capital has reached over 14.40 lakh, while the death toll mounted to 25,095. (SEE P2) INS Visakhapatnam, a P15B stealth guided missile destroyer, was commissioned into the Indian Navy today with defence minister Rajnath Singh asserting that the state-of-theart ship, equipped with the latest systems and weapons, will strengthen maritime security and protect the interests of the nation. The event, at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, marks the formal induction of the first of four Visakhapatnam class destroyers, indigenously designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai. Speaking at the event, Rajnath termed INS Visakhapatnam as a symbol of the growing maritime prowess of the country and a major milestone in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India, Make for the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveils the INS Visakhapatnam's name plaque during its commissioning ceremony, at Naval Dockyard, in Mumbai on Sunday. ANI World’. He said the ship was one of the most technologically advanced guided missile destroyers in the world which would meet the present and future requirements of the armed forces and the nation as a whole. “The (vessel) will increase our reach from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. Its commissioning will be a golden moment in the history of Indian defence. It will be the best occasion to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India's independence and the 50th anniversary of India's victory in the 1971 war,” he said. Noting that global security reasons, border disputes and maritime dominance have forced countries to move towards strengthening their military power, Rajnath exhorted the public and the private sector to take advantage of the government's policies and make India an indigenous shipbuilding hub. He emphasised the need to keep the Indo-Pacific region open, safe and secure, terming it as the primary objective of the Indian Navy. He said India’s interests were directly linked with the Indian Ocean and the region was crucial for the world economy. “Challenges such as piracy, terrorism, illegal smuggling of arms and narcotics, human trafficking, illegal fishing and damage to the environment are equally responsible for affecting the maritime domain,” he said. IAF to upgrade Rafale fleet from Jan PM calls for setting up High-Power Police Technology Mission to adopt future technologies for grassroot policing ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEW DELHI, 21 NOVEMBER ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL LUCKNOW, 21 NOVEMBER Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for constituting a High-Power Police Technology Mission, under the leadership of the Union Home Minister to adopt future technologies for grassroot policing requirements. Addressing the valedictory session of the 56th DGsP/IGsP Conference in Lucknow, PM Modi called for an analysis of all police-related incidents and developing case studies to make it an insti- tutionalised learning mechanism and also suggested the development of interoperable technologies which would benefit Police forces across the country. He also hailed the hybrid format of the Conference as it allowed a free flow of information between various ranks, according to a release by the Prime Minister's Office. The Prime Minister also suggested the development of interoperable technologies to benefit Police forces across the country. Citing the importance of technology in the lives of the general public, the Prime Minister gave examples of CoWIN, GeM and UPI. He also appreciated the positive change in Police attitude towards the general public, particularly post-COVID, and suggested positive use of drone technology for the benefit of the people. PM Modi stressed on review of the SMART Policing concept introduced in 2014 and suggested the development of a roadmap for its continuous transformation and institutionalisation of the same in Police forces. To tackle some of the routine challenges faced by Police, he urged to involve highly qualified youth to look for technological solutions through hackathons. In the run-up to the Conference, various core groups of DGsP were formed for holding discussions on key aspects of national security such as prison reforms, terrorism, Left Wing Extremism, cyber-crimes, narcotics trafficking, foreign funding of NGOs, drone-related matters, development of border villages, etc. The Prime Minister also awarded the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service to IB personnel. As per the media statement, for the first time, as per the directives of the Prime Minister, IPS officers from various states had submitted articles on contemporary security issues. The Conference was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 19, 2021, wherein he had awarded trophies to the threebest Police Stations of the country. Having already received around 30 Rafale combat aircraft from France, the Indian Air Force would start upgrading its fleet of French-origin fighters from January 2022, with India specific enhancements. "A high-level team of Indian Air Force officers is in France to evaluate the performance of the testbed aircraft with tail number RB-008 at the Istres airbase there. The aircraft has been equipped with all the India Specific Enhancements agreed upon between the two sides in the 2016 contract," government The India-specific enhancements would include integration of highly capable missiles, low band jammers and satellite communication systems sources told ANI here. Once the enhancements are approved and accepted by the IAF the upgrade is planned , to be started from January next year onwards making the Indian planes more capable," they said. The India specific enhancements would include integration of highly capable mis- siles, low band jammers and satellite communication systems as per Indian requirements. India has already received around 30 of these planes and three more of them would be arriving in the country on December 7-8. As per the contract schedule, sources in the Air Force said kits would be brought to India from France and every month, three to four Indian rafales would be upgraded to the ISE standards. The upgrade of the aircraft would be carried out at the Ambala Air Force Station which is the first base of the plane in the country.