US BACKS REFORM, FLAGS INTERNET CUT; INDIA DRAWS RED FORT-CAPITOL PARALLEL

In its first reaction to the ongoing farmers' agitation, the new US

administration on Thursday said it encourages that any differences between

the parties be resolved through dialogue even as it backed steps that can

improve the efficiency of India's markets and attract greater investment.

The US also said peaceful protests and unhindered access to the internet are

'hallmarks' of a 'thriving democracy'.

Hours after the Joe Biden Administration reacted to the farmer protests,

India on Thursday said the comments must be seen in their entirety and

compared reactions to the violence at the Red Fort with those seen after

storming of the United States Capitol.

At a media briefing, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag

Srivastava said any protests must be seen in the context of India's

democratic ethos and polity, and the ongoing efforts of the government and

the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse.

Srivastava said India has taken note of the comments by the US, adding the

two countries are vibrant democracies with shared values. "The incidents of

violence and vandalism at the historic Red Fort on January 26 have evoked

similar sentiments and reactions in India as did the incidents on the

Capitol Hill on 6 January and are being addressed as per our respective

local laws," he said. "The temporary measures with regard to internet access

in certain parts of the NCR region were therefore understandably undertaken

to prevent further violence," he said.

"As you can see, the US state department has acknowledged steps being taken

by India towards agricultural reforms," the MEA spokesperson said. "We have

taken note of comments of the US State Department. It is important to see

such comments in the context in which they were made and in their entirety,"

he said.

Asked if a 'motivated campaign' was being run and whether any entity was

behind foreign reactions to the farmers' stir, Srivastava did not give a

direct reply. "What I will say broadly is that the debate on reforming the

agricultural sector is an issue best addressed by the Indian democratic

polity.

OPPOSITION CORNERS GOVERNMENT OVER FARM AGITATION

Hitting out at the government over its "failure" on various fronts,

including the ongoing farmers' agitation, Opposition members in Rajya Sabha

today asked the ruling NDA leadership to stop "monologue" and instead

"initiate dialogue with the protesters".

Opening the second day of discussion on a motion thanking the President for

his address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the Budget

session, RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha said the government had "lost the patience

to hear and any criticism was painted as anti-national".

"With folded hands, I request you to please understand the pain of farmers.

In harsh winter you stopped water supply and toilet facilities, dug

trenches, put barbed wires and installed spikes," the RJD MP said. "Such

aggressive approach wasn't even heard of towards the neighbouring nations

who came inside (the Indian territory)," he added.

On a tweet by pop star Rihanna on the farmers' protest, Jha said the

democracy would not be weakened by a tweet, but by the approach of the

government.

In a veiled reference to cold storage chain and godowns built by private

corporates, Jha said, "Your backbone is the farmer.. 303 (seats won by the

BJP in last General Election) did not come from cold storage or godowns, but

from these very people."

Hitting out at the government, TMC MP Derek O'Brien said, "Today we are very

touchy about remarks coming from outside on the farmers' agitation. But who

said this 'Abki baar Trump sarkar'. And now we are talking about

interference?"

As he rose to participate in the discussion earlier, the TMC MP said, "Such

are times... we should be thankful for small freedoms. Freedoms like being

allowed to speak without the microphones being muted, or the television

feeds censored or MPs not being escorted out by marshals."

PUNJAB REACHES OUT TO CENTRE AND FARMERS, PROPOSES LONGER PAUSE: AN IE

REPORT

Wary of the protracted farmers' agitation in the capital and the Republic

Day incident at Red Fort, the Punjab government has stepped up efforts to

reach out to the Centre to work towards an early resolution, sources told

The Indian Express.

Some top state officials have been camping in Delhi and are in constant

touch with both the protesting farmers and the Centre.

"Everybody here knows that if farmers come back without getting anything

after these weeks and months of protests, anger will mount in the state.

That would be a perfect breeding ground for resentment and we cannot afford

that," said a top state government functionary.

That's why, sources said, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh invoked Operation

Blue Star at the all-party meeting this week and warned that Pakistan could

"exploit" the situation to foment trouble.

A source said the state is trying to impress upon the Centre to repeal the

laws but the Centre is "willing to do anything other than repeal." So one

option the state has proposed is to put the laws on hold for three years

instead of the earlier offer of 18 months.

"The farmers leaders had not agreed then. But now we are working on both the

farmers as well as the Centre to make sure that the agitation is called off

soon. If we can get the laws on hold until 2024 - which means the next

elections - we can then work on the farmers to back down. After the Republic

Day incident, we all have learnt our lessons. We will have to agree on

something," said the source.

Asked what was the time frame the state was looking at, the source said: "It

should not take long."

Those aware of these talks say the farmers' reservation against suspension

of laws was that there was "huge pressure" from people back home. "Farmer

leaders feel that if they come back with anything less than a repeal,

people, who have been supporting the agitation will feel let down," said the

source.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

COVID: MIX-AND-MATCH JAB TRIALS IN UK

So far the conventional wisdom in the UK and in the west in general has been

that that the first and second doses of Coronavirus vaccine should come from

the same vaccine. In other words, no mix-and-match. If someone has been

given the Oxford vaccine as a first dose, the second should be the same.

That would also apply to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

But during an informal Zoom chat between Cambridge academics earlier this

week, a scientist took everyone by surprise with his enthusiastic

endorsement of mix-and-match: "I think it's a great idea."

The retired Royal Society president Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, who got his

2009 Chemistry Nobel Prize, also seems to agree: "I think the mixing might

be a good idea to eliminate the problem of the vector being recognised in

the booster shot, but they need to do some trials, which I believe are under

way."

Hardly had he spoken that the British government announced that

mix-and-match trials have started, involving the Oxford/AstraZeneca and the

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines.

The logic seems to be that while two doses of the same vaccine are very

good, two doses from different vaccines might be even better and provide

longer immunity. For the time being, the British government is sticking to

the same vaccine policy but depending on the trial results, this might

change in the future.

BIDEN PUSHES FOR DIPLOMACY

President Joe Biden will Thursday announce an end to US military support for

the Saudi allies' devastating war in Yemen in a speech meant to show a

reinvigorated focus on diplomacy.

Two weeks into his presidency, Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris

travelled together to the State Department in a show of support for the role

of diplomats.

"America is back. Diplomacy is back. You are at the centre of all that I

intend to do," Mr. Biden told a socially distanced auditorium of diplomats

ahead of what was billed as his first major foreign policy speech as

president.

"We're going rebuild our alliances. We're going re-engage the world and take

on the enormous challenges we face dealing with the pandemic, dealing with

global warming and again standing up for democracy and human rights around

the world."

THE REST

========

RAJIV GANDHI CASE CONVICTS: BUCK PASSED AGAIN, GOVERNOR SAYS PRESIDENT

'APPROPRIATE AUTHORITY'

Three days after the Centre assured the Supreme Court that Tamil Nadu

Governor Banwarilal Purohit was set to take a call on release of Rajiv

Gandhi assassination convict A G Perarivalan, the Governor's office, on

January 25, left a decision on pardon of all the convicts in the case to

President Ram Nath Kovind.

On Thursday, the Centre conveyed the same to the Supreme Court in an

affidavit, saying, "The proposal received by the Central government will be

processed in accordance with the law."

Incidentally, the issue figured in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday, with

Chief Minister E Palaniswami saying they were waiting for a reply from the

Governor, and that he had taken up the matter with Purohit for an

expeditious decision, including on January 29.

The Tamil Nadu government first recommended pardon of the seven convicts,

who have been in jail since 1991, mostly without parole, in September 2018.

The Supreme Court then asked the Governor to decide the pardon plea "as he

deemed fit".

Justice (retired) K T Thomas, who was part of the Supreme Court Bench that

had upheld the conviction of the seven in 1999, says that Purohit's decision

to hand over the remission matter to the President was "unheard" of. "Why is

he doing that.. Not taking a decision for 28 months and now what he did is

not in consonance with the spirit of the Constitution," Justice Thomas said.

FIR OVER 'TOOLKIT' SHARED BY GRETA THUNBERG ON TWITTER, SHE ISN'T NAMED

Delhi Police's cyber cell has launched a probe following filing of an FIR in

connection with a document tweeted by Swedish environmental activist Greta

Thunberg on Wednesday night. The cops aim to establish the identity of the

creators of this toolkit with detailed plans for creating disruption in

Delhi through January and February.

It predates the January 26 violence and indicates execution of a conspiracy,

they believe.

The FIR, lodged under the IPC sections pertaining to sedition, hatching a

criminal conspiracy and promotion of enmity amongst groups, doesn't name

Thunberg or anyone else as an accused, said the police. It is an openended

FIR and the probe will suggest who the accused are, they said.

What had alarmed them, and activated the social media monitoring team of

Delhi Police and its cyber cell was the fact that crucial portions of the

document were erased and edited, they claimed. They are in the process of

writing to Google for the original document uploaded by her. A notice will

be served on the basis of the FIR.

A preliminary inquiry has revealed that the toolkit appears to have been

created by a pro-Khalistani organisation, Poetic Justice Foundation," said

special commissioner Praveer Ranjan.

WHAT'S WRONG IF FOREIGN CELEBS SUPPORT FARMERS' STIR: RAKESH TIKAIT

Rakesh Tikait, the 51-year-old Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader from the

hinterlands of Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, welcomed the support

from international artistes and activists, including Rihanna and Greta

Thunberg, but acknowledged he does not know them.

Commenting on a futile attempt of 15 members of parliament to reach Ghazipur

and meet protestors earlier on Thursday, the BKU national spokesperson said

the MPs should have sat on the ground on the other side of the barricading

where they were stopped by the Delhi Police.

The 15 MPs from 10 Opposition parties, including the Shioramni Akali Dal,

the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Nationalist Congress Party and the

Trinamool Congress, wanted to meet protestors at Ghazipur. Members of the

National Conference, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Indian Union

Muslim League were also part of the delegation.

ICMR SURVEY FINDS 21.5% INDIANS COVID AFFECTED

The novel coronavirus has infected 21.5 per cent of India's population,

including one in three persons living in urban slums, the head of India's

health research agency said on Thursday, releasing select findings from a

third nationwide survey.

The survey has found an overall seroprevalence of 21.5 per cent with average

values of 31.7 per cent in urban slums, 26 per cent in urban non-slum areas

and 19 per cent in rural districts, Balram Bhargava, director-general of the

Indian Council of Medical Research, said.

The overall prevalence level implies that India's actual number of

infections is over 292 million, or 27 times higher than the 10.7 million

lab-confirmed cases.

"A large proportion (of the population) still remains vulnerable -

prevention is the key, vaccines are necessary, and there can be no

complacency," Bhargava said, asserting that people need to continue to adopt

precautions such as face masks, physical distancing, hand hygiene and

avoiding crowds.

The survey by the ICMR looked for antibodies - signatures of an immune

response - against the coronavirus in 28,589 people and 7,171 healthcare

workers from the same 70 districts across 21 states where it had conducted

two earlier surveys.

BSE M-CAP CROSSES HISTORIC RS 200 LAKH CR MARK

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies on Thursday crossed the

historic Rs 200 lakh crore mark for the first time, driven by a continuous

rally in the broader market.

Riding high on the bullish investor sentiment, the market capitalisation of

BSE-listed companies reached a record Rs 2,00,47,191.31 crore at close of

trade.

"It is a matter of immense pride that, since 1875, BSE has acted as a

catalyst to help create immense wealth to the tune of Rs 200 lakh crore

amounting to $2.75 trillion..It is also good to note that no other

developing country at the stage of India's development has a thriving

capital market as compared to India," said Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD and CEO,

BSE.

TWITTER TAKES DOWN KANGANA'S TWEET TO ROHIT SHARMA ON FARMERS' PROTEST

Twitter on Thursday put out a statement saying it had taken down a post by

actor Kangana Ranaut in which she quote tweeted a tweet by cricketer Rohit

Sharma over his remarks on the ongoing farmers' protest.

Sharma wrote, "India has always been stronger when we all stand together and

finding a solution is the need of the hour. Our farmers play an important

role in our nation's well-being and I am sure everyone will play their roles

to find a solution TOGETHER. #IndiaTogether."

Kangana, who has been vocal about her support to the farm laws, then took a

swipe at Rohit in reply to his tweet. "Why all these cricketers sounding

like dhobi ka kutta na ghar ka na ghat ka? Why would farmers be against laws

which are revolutionary for their well-being. These are terrorists who are

causing ruckus." she had allegedly said in her tweet.

Earlier, Kangana hat reacted to Rihanna's tweet thus: "No one is talking

about it because they are not farmers they are terrorists who are trying to

divide India, so that China can take over our vulnerable broken nation and

make it a Chinese colony much like USA...Sit down you fool, we are not

selling our nation like you dummies."

Kangana had also tweeted thus about Rihanna: "Yes please India wants to

know, to simplify to Indians, she is a singer much like Sunidhi Chauhan or

Neha Kakkar ...what is so special about her, well... she can shake her bum

cheeks and expose her a** crack right in to the camera lens while

singing..ya that's all. Nothing else."

SOME CRICKETERS WHO TOOK A DIFFERENT STAND

Big-ticket cricket celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Head

Coach Ravi Shastri had, on Wednesday, said in reply to tweets from pop star

Rihanna and teen climate activist Greta Thunberg that the farmer protests

are an internal matter and that external forces cannot become participants.

On Thursday, three cricketers took a different stance.

Sandeep Sharma, who plays cricket for Punjab, voiced his support for

Rihanna, with a long note on Twitter on Thursday morning before deleting it.

'By this logic no one should care about each other because every situation

is someone's internal affair,' Patiala-born Sandeep tweeted. Among other

examples, he cited persecution of Jews in Hitler's Germany and of minorities

in Pakistan.

Another cricketer who made a sharp assessment of the Rihanna-Greta drama was

former Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary. 'When I was a kid, I never saw a puppet

show. It took me 35 years to see one,' Tiwary tweeted about the flood of

coordinated celebrity tweets on Wednesday.

'When George Floyd was brutally murdered in the USA by a policeman, our

country rightly expressed our grief. #justsaying,' Irfan Pathan tweeted.

Pathan and Tiwary have retired from the game and thus unlikely to be

penalised for their candour. Not so Sharma, which perhaps accounts for why

he deleted his tweet.

CHENNAI TEST GETS UNDERWAY: ENGLAND WIN TOSS, CHOOSE TO BAT FIRST

England skipper Joe Root won the toss and chose to bat firrst, in the first

match of the series, at Chepauk, Chennai this morning. "I do enjoy playing

in India. It's a big challenge and the boys will have to relish it," he

says.

Virat Kohli admitted that he would have batted first, too, and calls it a

"good cricketing wicket".

Axar Patel - who looked set to partner R Ashwin as the second spinner - was

ruled out 80 minutes before the toss with a knee injury suffered in

yesterday's training session. They have decided to pick three spinners in

Ashwin, Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem, with Jasprit Bumrah (playing

his first-ever home Test) and Ishant Sharma forming a two-man pace attack.

The top six batsmen , in playing order: Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3

Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rishabh Pant

INDICATORS

Sensex 50,614 (+358), Nifty 14,896 (+106), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores)

90287.6

Nasdaq 13,778 (+167) Dow 31,056 (+332), S&P 3,872 (+42)

US$-Rs. 72.89 GBP-Rs. 99.40, Euro-Rs. 87.41, UAE Dhm-Rs.19.84, Can$-Rs.

56.89, Aus$- Rs. 55.51

GBP 0.73 /US$, Euro 0.83 /US$, Jap.Yen 105.30 /US$, Aus$ 1.31 /US$, Sing

1.33 /US$, Bang Taka 83.23 /US$, Can$ 1.28 /US$, Mal Ring 4.05 /US$,

Pak Re 159.81 /US$, Phil Peso 48.06 /US$, Russian Rouble 75.66 /US$, NZ$

1.39 /US$, Thai Baht 30.02 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.65 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 36,886

Dollar Index 91.58 Brent Crude 59.35 BDI 1327

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,794 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,760 /

4,660, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 68,500

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Whoever wants to be a judge of human nature should study people's excuses. -

Christian Friedrich Hebbel

OFF TRACK

A village paper had not been able to print any sensational news for weeks,

when during an electric storm, a live wire fell on the Main Street. While

every one feared to go near it, the city editor sent out two reporters. One

to touch the wire and one to write.