OPPN RAISES FARM PROTESTS IN LS; FAROOQ SAYS BID TO 'BUY' DDC MEMBERS IN J&K

On a day the Opposition as well as former alliance partners came down on the

central govt for its stance on the contentious farm Bills in the Lok Sabha,

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah warned it against, what he

called, attempts to subvert democracy in Jammu and Kashmir by trying to

"buy" members elected in the District Development Council (DDC) polls

through pressure from the administration.

"The DDC polls were conducted fairly, but now what's happening there is not

good. It's going against the mandate people have given. Now your district

collectors and officials are pressuring people to elect other chairpersons,"

Abdullah said while speaking on the motion of thanks to the Presidential

address.

Pointing out that the BJP govt did not consult him or other political

leaders before the abrogation of Article 370, he reminded the treasury

benches that he had spoken for India in international forums. Taking

exception to the criticism his party had to face, Abdullah said hundreds of

his workers, including ministers, had been killed for holding the Tricolour.

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh

Yadav slammed the central govt on the issue of farmers protest. "Yesterday I

heard 'MSP tha, MSP hai, MSP rahega'. It's just in speech but not on ground.

Farmers are not getting it, had they been getting, they wouldn't have been

sitting in Delhi. I congratulate the agitating farmers that they have

awakened farmers across India."

SAD's Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who quit the BJP-led govt protesting against the

farm laws, also hit out at the Prime Minister. "The Prime Minister spoke

about 'Andolan Jeevi'; however, he used another word, whose meaning I didn't

know earlier. He used the word 'Pari Jeevi' which means parasite. Who is the

Prime Minister calling a parasite? Are you calling the annadata (farmers) a

parasite, who feeds the country," she said.

She cited the recommendation given by Modi, as the chairman of a working

committee on consumer affairs to the Manmohan Singh govt that MSP should

have statutory backing.

RAHUL GANDHI DEMANDS V K SINGH'S SACKING OVER LAC REMARK

Hitting out at the BJP over its minister Gen V K Singh's (retd) remark on

the LAC, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he should be sacked for "helping

China make a case against India".

Gandhi tweeted, "Why is a BJP minister helping China make a case against

India? He should've been sacked. Not sacking him means insulting every

Indian Jawan."

Attending a programme in Madurai on Sunday last week, Singh, who is the

Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways in the NDA govt, had said

that India has transgressed the LAC more often than the Chinese side based

on perceptions, contradicting India's official position. ".none of you come

to know how many times we have transgressed as per our perception. We don't

announce it. Chinese media does not cover it. Let me assure you, if China

has transgressed 10 times, we must have done it at least 50 times, as per

our perception," Singh said.

Reacting to his remark, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin

claimed this was an "unwitting confession" of "frequent acts of trespass".

GOODBYE GHULAM NABI AZAD: CONGRESS LARGELY SILENT, MODI SHEDS TEARS

Ghulam Nabi Azad's last day in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday turned out to be

highly eventful.

A teary-eyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi bid a surprisingly emotional

farewell to the Congress leader from Kashmir, saying "my doors are always

open for you" as he held back tears.

Then, Azad himself gave a non-partisan, statesman-like speech where he

hailed several leaders, from Indira Gandhi to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It

provided a stark contrast to his fiery and evocative speech after the Modi

govt scrapped J&K's special status under Article 370 in 2019, in which he

had accused the BJP of "murdering the Constitution".

Tuesday's 30-minute-long farewell speech, in which Azad recounted his almost

five-decade-long political journey, gave the sense that there is no chance

of him being re-elected to the Rajya Sabha. The Congress hasn't yet

officially dismissed the possibility, but ever since Mallikarjun Kharge,

former leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, became a Rajya Sabha

member, it has been widely expected that he will take over as leader of the

opposition in the Upper House from Azad.

But the tensions that exist between the senior leader and his party were

apparent in how the Congress reacted - or didn't react - on his retirement,

even though opponents praised him to the sky. Only late Tuesday evening did

the party tweet two snippets of his speech, and one quoting from fellow

senior leader Anand Sharma's speech, calling it an emotional moment.

Modi broke down several times during his 13-minute speech, as he recalled

his close association with Azad. "At a personal level, I would request him

to not consider that he is not in the House. My door is always open for all

of you. I will always expect, and value, your views," Modi said. "I will not

let you retire," he told the Congress veteran. "I worry that after Azad,

whosoever will take over from him will have to fill very big boots, because

he cared not only about his party but about the country, as well as the

House."

"Power comes and goes but (only a few know) how to digest it. therefore,

like a friend, I respect him on the basis of the things he has done over

these years," Modi said, while wiping his tears and saluting Azad.

UTTARAKHAND DISASTER: DEATH TOLL 31, 30 TRA\PPED, 197 MISSING

With five more bodies recovered Tuesday, the death toll from the Uttarakhand

glacier disaster has risen to 31, even as multiple agencies race against

time to rescue about 30 workers trapped inside a tunnel at the Tapovan power

project in Chamoli district.

Briefing the Parliament about the incident, Home Minister Amit Shah said the

situation in Uttarakhand is being monitored round-the-clock at the highest

level by the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

Shah informed the House that as many as 197 people are missing and that the

figures received from the state govt may change.

The Home Minister said the rescue operation to evacuate people is going on a

war footing, and that all-out efforts are being made to locate those

missing. "I assure the House that the Centre is extending all possible

assistance to the state govt for relief and rescue work. The central govt is

working in close coordination with the state and all necessary steps are

being taken," he said in the Rajya Sabha.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

US SENATE VOTES TO PROCEED WITH TRUMP'S CASE AFTER CONSTITUTIONALITY DEBATE

The Senate voted on Tuesday to proceed with the impeachment trial of former

President Donald J. Trump, rejecting his defense team's claim that it would

be unconstitutional to prosecute a president after leaving office. But the

final tally signaled that his Republican allies could muster enough support

to potentially block the two-thirds necessary for conviction.

The 56-to-44 vote, with six Republicans joining all 50 Democrats, paved the

way for the House Democrats trying the case to formally open their arguments

on Wednesday afternoon as they seek to prove that Mr. Trump incited an

insurrection by encouraging supporters who stormed the Capitol last month

and disrupted the counting of Electoral College votes.

But the 44 Republicans who agreed with Mr. Trump's claim that a former

president cannot be subject to an impeachment trial seemed to all but

guarantee that he would have the 34 votes he needs on the final verdict to

avoid conviction. To succeed, the House managers would need to persuade at

least 11 Republican senators to find Mr. Trump guilty in a trial that they

have deemed unconstitutional.

The vote came after House managers, arguing to proceed with the trial, moved

immediately to their most powerful evidence: the explicit visual record of

the deadly Capitol siege that threatened the lives of former Vice President

Mike Pence and members of both houses of Congress juxtaposed against Mr.

Trump's own words encouraging members of the mob at a rally beforehand.

Trump's lawyers argued that Trump's words at the rally on Jan. 6 constituted

free speech akin to typical political language and hardly incited the

violence.

WHO SAYS CORONAVIRUS UNLIKELY TO HAVE LEAKED FROM CHINA LAB

The coronavirus is unlikely to have leaked from a Chinese lab and is more

likely to have jumped to humans from an animal, a WHO expert said Tuesday.

WHO food safety and animal diseases expert Peter Ben Embarek made the

assessment at the end of a visit to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where

a team of scientists is investigating the possible origins of the

coronavirus. The first cases were discovered in the city in December 2019.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology has collected extensive virus samples,

leading to allegations that it may have caused the original outbreak by

leaking the virus into the surrounding community. China has strongly

rejected that possibility and has promoted other theories that the virus may

have originated elsewhere.

". the findings suggest that the laboratory incidents hypothesis is

extremely unlikely to explain the introduction of the virus to the human

population," Embarek said.

THE REST

========

GOVT PRESENTING COWARDICE AS COURAGE: MAHUA MOITRA MAKES A MARK AGAIN

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra caused an uproar in Lok Sabha on Monday

as she raised the issue of a "former CJI" being accused of sexual harassment

and then sitting on his own trial.

Treasury benches vehemently opposed Moitra's speech, saying a person of high

authority could not be discussed like this without a prior notice and

approval of the chair.

As the Treasury demanded her remarks to be expunged, RSP member N K

Premachandran, who was in the Chair, said they will be expunged if found

objectionable.

In her speech during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the

President's address, Moitra lashed out at the govt for making "hate and

bigotry" a part of its narrative and alleged that the judiciary and the

media have also "failed" the country.

She said: "India's tragedy today is not that her govt has failed her, but

that her other democratic pillars, the media and the judiciary have failed

her.

Moitra said the govt was presenting its cowardice as courage to the country.

"People are facing police harassment simply for asking questions of this

govt or for voicing an opinion on the state of affairs in this country.

Today I speak of cowardice and courage and the difference between the two.

Cowards who hide behind the false bravado of authority, of power, of hate,

of bigotry, of untruths and dare to call it courage. After all this, govt

has turned propaganda and misinformation into a cottage industry, whose

biggest success is recasting of cowardice as courage," she said.

ONE IN 1,400 SHOW VACCINE SIDE-EFFECTS

Only one in 1,400 Covid vaccine beneficiaries in India have so far reported

mild side effects such as pain or rash since the inoculation drive began on

January 16.

Out of 63, 10, 194 healthcare and frontline workers vaccinated till 2 pm

today, 4,303 had mild adverse events following immunisation (AEFI).

"Indian AEFI rate is only 0.07 per cent. This means Covishield and Covaxin

are superbly safe. The fact that over 6.3 million people have accepted the

vaccines shows we have overcome the challenge of vaccine hesitancy," Member

Health, NITI Aayog VK Paul said, noting that India was on course to cross

one crore vaccinations in a few days.

DEEP SIDHU ARRESTED

Actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu Sidhu was arrested from Haryana's Karnal

around 10 pm Monday by teams of Delhi Police Special Cell, which had been

camping in Punjab.

He has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the 26 January violence

in the national capital

He shuttled between 10 towns, including Bathinda, Ludhiana and Abohar, to

evade arrest and was using devices with IP addresses in the US to upload his

videos on Facebook and other social media platforms.

Sidhu has now been sent to judicial custody for seven days and will be

questioned by the Delhi Police Crime Branch in connection with the case.

30-DAY NOTICE UNDER SPECIAL MARRIAGE ACT FAIR AND REASONABLE: CENTRE

The Centre has told the Delhi High Court that the procedure and conditions,

including the 30-day notice for solemnisation of a marriage under the

Special Marriage Act (SMA), are "fair and reasonable" and in consonance with

the intention behind the statute.

The submission has been made by the Ministry of Law and Justice in an

affidavit filed before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti

Singh in response to an inter-faith couple's plea challenging the provision

under the SMA of issuing a public notice to invite objections to marriages

under the Act.

The ministry in its reply has stated that the intention behind the Act "is

to keep adequate safeguards" with regard to the interest of the various

parties involved.

The inter-faith couple have contended that the 30-day notice period

discourages couples like them from getting married. They had further

contended that there was no such provision under the personal laws with

regard to same-faith marriages.

BILL ON CRYPTOCURRENCY SOON

Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur on Tuesday

told the Rajya Sabha that the RBI and SEBI lack a legal framework to

regulate cryptocurrencies which are neither currencies nor securities or

commodities.

Taking note of the inadequacy of the laws to deal with the subject, the govt

formed an inter-ministerial panel to enact legislation, Thakur said during

Question Hour. "We will be bringing the Bill soon," he said.

There are multiple definitions of cryptocurrencies available globally, he

said. The RBI had banned cryptocurrencies. "All these factors have been

taken into account while framing the proposed law, which will be tabled in

Parliament soon," he said.

INDIA HAS LOST OUT ON 5G NETWORK LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY

India's date with 5G was proclaimed with fanfare in June 2019 when

Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that spectrum for trial

runs would be allocated to operators in 100 days. Twenty months later,

forget spectrum auctions or the actual rollout of commercial services.

Operators are still waiting for the go-ahead for 5G trials.

What critics call the govt's casual attitude came in for criticism yesterday

when a report by a Parliamentary Panel headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor

slammed its 'laidback' approach and trial delays. The committee pulled up

the Department of Communications (DoT) for insufficient preparation for

launching 5G.

Over 140 operators in 63 countries already run commercial 5G services,

according to the Global mobile Suppliers' Association. China has rolled out

5G in over 50 cities and has over 200 million customers. This year, it will

be adding 600,000 5G towers and launching industrial applications.

CHENNAI TEST: INDIA LAST 45 OVERS ON DAY 5; ENGLAND GO UP 1-0

India started the day 381 runs adrift in an improbable chase of 420 to win

the match. With nine wickets in hand, they needed to play out 90 overs to

eke out a draw. About an hour and 15 minutes after lunch, they folded for

192 in their second innings (45 overs on day 5, 58 overs in the innings),

losing the game by 227 runs.

English paceman, 38-year-old James Anderson's 3/17 (accounting for Gill,

Rahane, Pant) on the final day was the game-changer.

Anderson's reverse swing was always going to be India's biggest threat on

the fifth day. He had used it to perfection in Mumbai in 2006. He worked

over Sachin Tendulkar in Kolkata in 2012. He tormented Virat Kohli in 2014

in England.

But Anderson versus Kohli yesterday was connoisseur's cricket. Kohli stood

outside the crease, forcing the bowler to alter his length. Anderson started

to bowl outswingers on a fourth- stump line to the India captain. When he

erred in line a bit, Kohli took singles. The two greats were cancelling out

each other. On a wearing surface, Kohli was giving a batting masterclass

until a Ben Stokes delivery kept a little too low to go under his bat and

hit the off-stump. Kohli made 72.

But skipper Kohli is now under a harsh light - India have now lost four

Tests in a row under his captaincy.

Scores: England 578 & 178, India 337 & 192

NO REGRETS PICKING NADEEM AHEAD OF KULDEEP: KOHLI

India captain Virat Kohli did not regret picking Shahbaz Nadeem over Kuldeep

Yadav but felt the support spinners had let the team down in their opening

Test.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Nadeem managed four wickets overall, including two

as England amassed 578 in the first innings to take early charge of the

contest, while all-rounder Washington Sundar went wicketless.

Kohli did not name the duo but when asked if he felt the support spinners

had failed to put pressure on England, the India captain said, "Yeah, that's

a fair assessment.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan was among those surprised by what he

called the "ridiculous decision" not to play Kuldeep.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN KICKS OFF: NADAL DEALS WITH A BAD BACK

Rafael Nadal's back may be creaking, but it held, as did the Spaniard's

slightly tweaked serve. The World No.2 got his Australian Open campaign off

to a fighting start with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 win over Laslo Djere on Tuesday.

Nadal, who hurt his lower back during an early practice session in Adelaide,

sat out of the ATP Cup. On Sunday, he served for the first time in weeks.

The 34-year-old, looking for a second Aus Open crown and a record-breaking

21st Grand Slam title, isn't feeling his best. "Every day that I'm able to

go through, probably there are more chances to get better. That's why I'm

here, fighting to try to get better and then give myself a chance," he said.

Russian Daniil Medvedev won his 15th straight match, coming away with a 6-2,

6-2, 6-4 result against Canadian powerhouse Vasek Pospisil.

INDICATORS

Sensex 51,329 (-20), Nifty 15,109 (-7), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores)

82037.58

Nasdaq 14,008 (+20) Dow 31,376 (-10), S&P 3,911 (-4)

US$-Rs. 72.86 GBP-Rs. 100.43, Euro-Rs. 88.11, UAE Dhm-Rs.19.83, Can$-Rs.

57.26, Aus$- Rs. 56.28

GBP 0.72 /US$, Euro 0.82 /US$, Jap.Yen 104.73 /US$, Aus$ 1.29 /US$, Sing

1.32 /US$, Bang Taka 83.02 /US$, Can$ 1.27 /US$, Mal Ring 4.05 /US$,

Pak Re 159.39 /US$, Phil Peso 48.02 /US$, Russian Rouble 74.04 /US$, NZ$

1.38 /US$, Thai Baht 29.90 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.40 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 46,500

Dollar Index 90.40 Brent Crude 61.01 BDI 1317

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,841 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,789 /

4,689, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 70,200

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Tact is the art of recognizing when to be big and when not to belittle. -

Bill Copeland

OFF TRACK

"When I give a lecture, I accept that people look at their watches, but what

I do not tolerate is when they look at it and raise it to their ear to find

out if it stopped."