FRIDAY CBSE BOARD EXAMS FROM MAY 4, RESULTS BY JULY 15 01 Exams for Classes 10 and 12 will be held physically from May 4 to June 10, 2021, practical examinations from March 1 JANUARY, 2021 NEET The Morning Standard wishes its readers a A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Worries remain: Core sectors contract for ninth month in a row EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE output of eight core infrastr ucture sectors dropped by 2.5% in November 2020, contracting for the ninth month in a row. In November 2019, the production of these eight sectors had recorded a growth of 0.7%. The core sector had showed signs of recovery in September with only 0.1% contraction from 6.9% dip in the preceding month. However, the momentum was short-lived as the core infra industries contracted at a faster pace in October at 0.9% and in November. The numbers are significant as eight core industries account for 40.27% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and the experts feel the core-sector data could drag down IIP numbers as well. The IIP grew 3.6% in October, posting growth for the first time in October since February . However, economists said the revival was aided by festival-season demand and a low base, which may not Retail inflation for indl workers eases Retail inflation for industrial workers eased to 5.27% in November compared to 5.91% in October thanks to lower prices of certain food items be sustainable. Aditi Nayar, principal economist at Icra, said, “We expect the IIP to revert to a temporary but unpalatable 2-5% contraction in November.” According to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Thursday the drop in core sector , output was mainly due to decline in production of natural gas, refinery products, steel and cement. Barring coal, fertiliser and electricity all sectors — , crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel and cement — recorded negative growth in November 2020. During April-November, the sectors’ output dropped by 11.4% compared to a growth of 0.3% in the same period of the previous year. CHILLY Controversial Hathras DM shifted in UP J8.00  PAGES 12 G S V A S U @ New Delhi CHIEF Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde has initiated a slew of steps to deal with the crisis in the judiciary in the wake of an unprecedented letter written by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to him on October 6, 2020. In his letter that was later officially released to the media, the AP chief minister had accused the second seniormost judge of the Supreme Court Justice N V Ramana of influencing the roster of the Andhra Pradesh High Court to favour the rival Telugu Desam Party, and the state Chief Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari of bias. Among the steps taken by CJI Bobde was to shift Chief Justice Maheshwari to Sikkim and his Telangana counterpart R S Chauhan to Uttarakhand apart from transfers and promotions of a few other high court judges in a move that appeared as a routine reshuffle. The shake-up came into effect on Thursday following their gazette notification after President Ramnath Kovind’s assent. But what was not disclosed then was that the CJI had simultaneously initiated a few other measures, including asking S A Bobde Jagan Mohan Reddy Jagan to send his complaint in the form of an affidavit (given under oath). The latter is understood to have complied by sending the same letter he had written to the CJI on October 6 as a signed affidavit. Parallelly, the CJI sought responses from both justices Ramana and Maheshwari to the allegations made by Jagan. The letter accused the Chief Justice Maheshwari of staying almost every decision taken by the state government under influence from Justice Ramana. While Chief Justice Maheshwari is said to have sent a voluminous reply to the CJI, details of how Justice Ramana responded are not known. Before initiating the action on Jagan’s letter, CJI Bobde is learnt to have discussed the matter with a few of his colleagues in the Supreme Court. The opinion given, according to sources, was that the charges required ‘deeper examination’. That the CJI viewed the issue with the attention it deserved was evident from the transfer of Chief Justice Maheshwari, while a bench of the SC in a parallel action stayed the gag order of the Andhra Pradesh high court on the media from reporting details of the investigation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) into what has come to be known as the Amaravati land scam. Apart from former advocate general of Andhra Pradesh Dammalapati Srinivas and several others, the family members of Justice Ramana have also been named by the ACB in its FIR on the land scam. Vaccine nod around the corner, dry run across India on Saturday EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi A medic checks cold storage at the national capital’s first COVID-19 vaccination centre in Srinivaspuri area on Thursday | SHEKHAR YADAV TESTING STATUS 43,780 RTPCR/CBNAAT/ TrueNat tests conducted 86,59,830 Total tests done so far 4,55,780 Tests per million DELHI COVID WATCH STATUS OF CASES Today Cumulative RECOVERED 888 6,09,322 DEATH 13 10,536 ACTIVE CASES -5,511 TOTAL +VE CASES 574 6,25,369 PATIENT MANAGEMENT Total beds Occupied HOSPITAL 18,718 2,096 CARE CENTRE 7,922 58 HEALTH CENTRE 562 22 Vacant 16,622 7,756* 540 2,761 HOME ISOLATION *108 beds of CCC are occupied by persons under quarantine including travellers who came by Vande Bharat Mission and Bubble flights 4,085 TOTAL NUMBER OF CONTAINMENT ZONES AS ON DATE 158 TOTAL NUMBER OF CALLS DISPATCHED TO AMBULANCES Source: Delhi health bulletin | December 31 WITH approval to Covid-19 vaccines in India expected anytime now, the Centre on Thursday decided to carry out a dry run of the vaccination drive all over the country on Saturday . It already completed dry runs in four states — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Punjab — last Monday and Tuesday and found the outcome satisfactory . The activity will now happen in all state capitals in at least three session sites, though some states will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain or have poor logistical support. However, Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their capital. In each of the three session sites, there will be 25 test beneficiaries (healthcare workers). The subject expert committee of the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation on Covid-19, which is in the process of analysing data submitted by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech for their respective vaccine candidates, is scheduled to meet on Friday after its Massive manpower involved in exercise About 2,360 participants have been trained in National Training of Trainers while over 57,000 participants trained in district level training in 719 districts. States are also augmenting the helpline 104, which shall be used in addition to 1075, for any vaccine and software query. deliberations on Wednesday remained inconclusive. The objective of the dry run is to assess operational feasibility in the use of the Co-WIN application in a field environment, to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges and chart the way forward prior to actual implementation, the government said. Parallelly, the Union health ministry released an 88-page communication strategy to support the Covid-19 vaccine rollout in India to disseminate accurate and transparent information and address apprehensions so that the acceptance of the jab is uninterrupted. Also, five new cases of the highly infectious UK strain of Covid-19 have been detected in India, taking the total number of such patients to 25. 30 ARRESTED IN PAKISTAN FOR DAMAGING HINDU TEMPLE EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow HATHRAS District Magistrate Praveen Kumar Luxkar who came under fire over his handling of the gangrape and murder case in Uttar Pradesh’s Boolgarhi village, has been shifted to Mirzapur in the same capacity . Luxkar’s name features in the list of 17 IAS officers who were shifted as part of a routine transfer on the last day of 2020. Luxkar will be replaced by Ramesh Ranjan who was posted at the UP Jal Nigam as joint MD. The victim’s family and political leaders have sought the removal of Luxkar over his role in the past-midnight cremation of the victim on September 30. The victim was cremated allegedly without the consent of her family in the dead of night. The Allahabad High Court had also taken a suo moto cognizance of the ‘forcible cremation’. It had even questioned the state government during the previous hearings as to why no action was taken against Luxkar while the district police chief was suspended after the incident. Luxkar was shifted almost a month ahead of the next hearing on January 27. In other transfers, Shruti who was serving as the additional CEO of Noida, was made Balrampur DM. She will replace Krishna Karunesh who has been moved to Ghaziabad Development Authority as its vicechairperson. Kanchan Kumar, the V-C of GDA, has been posted as managing director of the UP Medical Supply Corporation.  CJI seeks Jagan affidavit, Ramana response 37,970 Minimum temperature dropped to 3.30C on Thursday. Cold wave is likely to continue today as well. The average minimum temperature in December was the second-lowest in 15 years. Visibility drops to 50 m at Palam due to fog | P5 NEW DELHI Steps initiated to reform the judiciary, including transfer of Andhra CJ, after CM shared his anguish on slanted orders Rapid antigen test DELHI RECORDS SEASON’S LOWEST  BOARD DATE SHEETS SOON Usually, practical exams are in Jan Schedule could while written be affected due exams begin in to cbse exams Feb and end in in may March. Exams are delayed due OTHER BOARDS CONSULTED: MINISTER to the Covid-19 The decision to conduct the board exams in May was taken after pandemic. The consultation with other educational boards, said Union Minister date sheets will of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’. The CBSE had earlier be issued soon, this month announced that board exams in 2021 will be the CBSE said in conducted in written mode and not online a statement. How it unfolded A mob had vandalized the temple in Terri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district and set it on fire on Wednesday, protesting against its expansion work. The mob, initially raising slogans, reportedly turned violent after provocation by some clerics, according to media reports OVER 30 people, including several Muslim clerics and members of a radical Islamist party , were arrested for vandalising a Hindu temple in northwest Pakistan even as the provincial government has vowed its reconstruction and the country’s Supreme Court has ordered the local authorities to appear before it on January 5. According to a statement by the apex court, Hindu lawmaker and the Pakistan Hindu Council chief Ramesh Kumar Vankwani called on Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed in Karachi to discuss the issue. “The chief justice of Pakistan showed grave concern over the tragic incident and informed the member of parliament that he has already taken cognizance of the issue and has fixed the matter before court on January 5, at Is- lamabad,” according to the statement. The court has also issued directions to one-man Commission on Minorities Rights and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chief secretary and inspector general of police to visit the site and submit a report on January 4. Spokesman for the provincial gover nment, Kamran Bangash, said on Thursday the government would reconstruct the temple, which was damaged in a mob attack. The mob was led by a local cleric and supporters of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party (Fazal ur Rehman group). According to the police, more than 30 people, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Rehmat Salam Khattak, were arrested in overnight raids. Over 350 people were named in the FIR, provincial police chief KPK Sanaullah Abbasi said. GLAD TIDINGS People enjoy the festive spirit at New Delhi’s Connaught Place as they ring in the New Year | PARVEEN NEGI | P5 EXPRESS READ Wanted Khalistani terrorist arrested NEW DELHI: A suspected Khalistani terrorist who is suspected to be involved in the killing of Shaurya Chakra awardee Balwinder Sandhu in Punjab in October was arrested from the Delhi airport on Thursday, police said. The terrorist, who has several cases registered against him, was deported from Dubai and arrested by the Delhi Police. DDA scheme to be launched on Jan 2 NEW DELHI: The DDA’s new housing scheme with nearly 1,350 flats on offer, is scheduled to be launched on January 2. Under the scheme, everything from processing of applications to possession of flats will be done through the newly developed AWAAS software of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), a senior official said. SELF-SUSTAINABLE Migrants turn quarantine centres into manufacturing hub in Bihar R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ Patna Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is given a first-hand experience of products being manufactured at Chanpatia Innovative Start-Up Zone on Thursday | CMO HUNDREDS of workers and artisans skilled in embroidery and readymade garment manufacturing have turned Covid-19 quarantine centres into a mini textile-hub in Bihar. They had returned from various states during the coronainduced lockdown to West Champaran district. Now, they have started manufacturing as many as 43 goods in the Chanpatia-based Bazar-Samiti premises where they were once quaran- tined upon their arrival. On Thursday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar visited the Chanpatia based Innovative Start-Up Zone where workersturned-entrepreneurs demonstrated what self-reliance is. T he zone has employed around 400 migrant workers. Here’s an instance: Manoj Kumar is skilled in stitching jackets and returned from J&K.ww “When we returned during lockdown, we remained quarantined here for 14 days. Thanks to DM Kundan Kumar’s encouragement and support, we have started manufacturing jackets and track suits”. The CM was surprised when informed about the export of jackets manufactured from the hub to Qatar, Spain and Italy. The track-suits are supplied to When we returned during lockdown, we remained quarantined here for 14 days. Thanks to the DM’s encouragement and support, we have started manufacturing jackets and track suits — Manoj Kumar, a migrant Leh & Ladakh. Kundan Kumar, DM of West Champaran, who encouraged the migrant workers after mapping their skills to start such an enterprise, informed the CM that a Noida-based brand had placed a huge order for tracksuits manufactured by these workers at Chanpatia. Another worker said jackets are priced low to improve exportability while still maintaining a decent profit margin. The CM has promised all help to these workers.