eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE HOW TO SURVIVE A SCOURGE KOLKATA,LATECITY FEBRUARY21,2021 A look back at the chequered history of smallpox vaccination in colonial India PAGES 11, 12, 13 14PAGES,`5.00 (EX-KOLKATA`7,`12INNORTHEASTSTATES&ANDAMAN) DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA SUNDAY STORY The Road by the Sea The Coastal Road project, with its undersea road and reclaimed land, promises to change the face of the Mumbai coast. PAGE7 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM PM asks states to focus on exports and infrastructure FARM LAWS DEADLOCK Extending 18-month hold on farm laws to 24 could be way out, says Punjab CM Flags security threat, says arrest of activists absurd P6 RITU SARIN CHANDIGARH, FEBRUARY 20 EXTENDING THE pause on the farm laws from 18 to 24 months could be one possible way out of the impasse as farmers have to return to their fields for the wheat harvest next month, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said here Saturday. In an interview to The Indian THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW AMARINDER SINGH CHIEF MINISTER, PUNJAB Express , Singh said a protracted standoff hasserioussecurityimplications given the inflow of weapons into Punjab since the agitation began, an issue that he had flagged to Union Home Minister Amit Shah when they met last December. The Chief Minister said that while he had not intervened directly in the matter with Central leaders in New Delhi, his “sense” was that an extended period for CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU Disha Ravi says difference of opinion not sedition, judge questions police on evidence Her lawyer: If I prefer Kung Fu to Yoga, I am a Chinese spy?’ ANAND MOHAN J NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 20 ADELHIcourtSaturdayreserved its order for February 23 on the bail application of activist Disha Ravi,arrestedinconnectionwith a toolkit on the farmer protests NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 20 thatwastweetedbySwedishactivist Greta Thunberg. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Meeting at Moldo held after Pangong disengagement, Indian side also raises issue of Demchok grazing rights DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 20 INDIAN AND Chinese commanders sat across the table Saturday to discuss pullback of troopsfromthefriction pointsat Hot Springs, Gogra Post and Depsang Plains in Ladakh followingcompletionof disengagement and restoration of status quo ante on the north and south banks of Pangong Tso. The Corps Commander-level talks began at 10 am Saturday at the Moldo border point facing Chushul. The talks, sources said, areexpectedtocontinuelateinto the night. The Indian delegation is being led by Lt General PGK Menon, Commander of the Lehbased XIV Corps, while South Xinjiang Military District Commander, Major General Liu Lin, is heading the PLA team. InHotSpringsandGograPost areas, Chinese and Indian troops are still in a faceoff, nine months after the military standoff began in May 2020. Disengagement of troopsinthesetwoareaswasattempted last July but Chinese re- luctancetocompletetheprocess led to a stalemate. In the Depsang Plains in the far north, Chinese troops have been blocking Indian soldiers at a place called the Bottleneck, preventing them from accessing theirtraditionalpatrollingpoints PP10, PP11, PP11A, PP12 and PP13. Depsang Plains is close to the strategic Indian base at Daulat Beg Oldie, near the Karakoram Pass. At the talks, the Indian side is also learnt to have broached the subject of grazing rights of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPLAINED Pullback from Depsang, Hot Springs, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, MP Gogra on table as India, China talk & Chhattisgarh see Covid uptick KAUNAIN SHERIFF M NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 20 WHILE 18 STATES didn't report any Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours and the national positivity rate — now at 5.22 per cent —hasbeenshowingasteadydecline over the last 13 days, there isaspotof worry:fivestateshave been reporting an upsurge in daily cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. The rise in the number of cases in Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh comes in the backdrop of five persons, who returned recently to India, being detected with the infectious Trains being sanitised in Thane, Saturday. Deepak Joshi Covid-19variantsfoundinSouth Africa and Brazil. Over the last 24 hours, Maharashtra contributed the highestnumberofdailynewcases E ● THE UPSURGE in cases in five states comes in the backdrop of infectious variants of the virus being reported. Though there is no evidence to link the new cases to the new variants, vigil is critical. KARISHMA MEHROTRA NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 20 in the country — 6,112, almost twicethe3,611casesitreporteda weekago,onFebruary14. Amidthesurge,neighbouring CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 To get blemish free skin use NO SCARS. It helps to reduce and remove, scars and marks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the video conference on Saturday. PTI products not only for our country but supply to the world,” he said. With Cabinet colleagues and chief ministers of most states joining him via video conference, the Prime Minister urged states to prepare agro climatic regional planning strategies to help farmers, and create CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Enabling vote, mapping skill, inter-state teams: first migrant policy draft Needfor vigil don’t bother for scars any more. EXHORTING states to focus on exports and self-reliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturdaysaidcommoditiessuch as edible oils that India imports in large quantities can be locally produced, and the gains must accrue to Indian farmers. Addressing the 6th meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, he said, “Our agriculture sector is full of opportunities but still there are some truths we needtoaccept.Wemaybecalled a krishi pradhan desh but despite that we import edible oil worth Rs 65,000-70,000 crore. We can stop this, this money can go to our farmers. Our farmer is the claimant of this money. Our farmers can produce many such ENSURING THE political inclusion of migrant workers so they can demand their entitlements, setting up inter-state coordination mechanisms, embedding a migration wing in each state’s labour department, getting source states and destination states to work with each other. These are among a broad rangeofproposalsinthefirstdraft nationalpolicyonmigrantlabour prepared by Niti Aayog and a workingsub-groupasaresponse to the Covid fallout on migrants. Last year’s migrant crisis sent 10 million labourers home, according to numbers provided to ParliamentbySantoshGangwar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Labour and Employment. Responding to demands CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Get dazzling Glamour with... Long Lasting Premium Quality Soap N o t h i n g m a k e s a wo m a n m o re beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful. This belief paves the way to real beauty inside which reflects outside. 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