NEW DELHI 23 JANUARY 2022 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  twitter.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in The Fit ‘Bit’ Workbook PLUS: 12 PAGES MAGAZINE Cricket’s Past Masters EXCLUSIVE VOICES Cryptoman Rises Prabhu Chawla TJS George Shankkar Aiyar Ravi Shankar A Matter of Detail ‘A is for Acting’ Living the East Indian Legacy Wonder Women to Wonder Dolls Pushpesh Pant Shilpi Madan S Vaidhyasubramaniam Amar Bhushan SADHGURU SPEAKS Disengage from the Mind Ban on rallies, road shows extended till January end Global crypto market suffers $1-trillion loss U M A K A N N A N @ Bengaluru EC allows relaxation from Jan 28, Feb 1 for meetings for Phase 1, 2 polls K U M A R V I K R A M @ New Delhi Sushil Chandra Relaxations in place for parties, candidates Public meetings of political parties or contesting candidates in designated open spaces with a maximum of 500 persons or 50% of the capacity of the ground, whichever is less Video vans for publicity with Covid restrictions at designated open spaces with a maximum of 500 viewers or 50% of the capacity or the limit Enhanced the limit of door to door campaign, instead of 5 persons, now 10 persons, excluding security personnel, will be allowed for door to door campaigns Indoor meetings of a maximum of 300 persons or 50% of the capacity of the hall COVID PROJECTIONS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT The EC reviewed vaccination status and action plan for expeditiously completing vaccination for first, second and booster doses for eligible persons amongst polling personnel. It also checked status and projected trends of the Covid pandemic. THE Election Commission on Saturday extended the ban on physical rallies and road shows till January 31 but gave some relaxation for physical public meetings of political parties or contesting candidates for Phase 1 of the elections from January 28 and Phase 2 from February 1. It also enhanced the limit of five persons for door to door campaigning to 10. The decision to extend the ban was taken following a review meeting it had with the union health secretary, chief secretaries, chief electoral officers and the health secretaries of the five poll-bound states After taking into consideration the inputs and ground reports from these officers, the commission deliberated on requirements of the campaign period in phases where candidate lists will be finalised on January 27 for Phase I and on January 31 for Phase 2. The commission decided to allow physical public meetings in designated open spaces with a maximum of 500 persons or 50% of the capacity of the ground or the prescribed limit set by state disaster management authorities, whichever is fewer. The commission has also al- lowed video vans for publicity with usual Covid restrictions at designated open spaces with a maximum of 500 viewers or 50% of the capacity or the limit. Political parties and contesting candidates shall ensure the compliance of Covid appropriate behaviour and guidelines and the model code of conduct at all occasions during the activities connected with elections. It shall be the responsibility of the officer concerned to identify and to notify the designated spaces in advance for the aforesaid purposes, the EC said. The commission also reviewed the vaccination status and action plan for expeditiously completing vaccination for first, second and booster doses for eligible persons among polling personnel. The commission deliberated on relaxing restrictions for physical rallies in the wake of prevailing situation. Chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra along with election commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey accompanied by secretary general and concerned deputy election commissioners participated in the review meeting. The present situation with respect to the status and projected trends of the Covid-19 pandemic were discussed. CAUSE FOR CONCERN Congress survey says AAP gaining fast in Punjab R I C H A S H A R M A @ New Delhi THE Aam Aadmi Party is giving a tough fight to the ruling Congress in the Punjab elections and the Arvind Kejriwalled party is likely to gain with the announcement of party MP Bhagwant Mann as the chief ministerial face in the Malwa region, according to an internal assessment by the Congress. The initial note a month before the scheduled polling showed that the party gained the people’s support by replacing Amarinder Singh with Charanjit Singh Channi as the chief minister but with JAB-O-METER TAKE YOUR SHOT January 21 58,37,209 doses January 22 61,62,171 doses TOTAL DOSES: 1,61,81,65,913 Mann entering the fray for the top post, things are changing on the ground and it could favour the AAP in its stronghold in Malwa. Mann is an MP from Sangrur that falls in the same region and the AAP had won 18 of the 20 seats in the last assembly elections from Malwa. The region has 69 of the 117 assembly seats. The AAP has fielded Mann from the Dhuri seat and he has challenged Channi to contest against him. On the ongoing tussle between Channi and state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, the party’s assessment shows that it is not going down well with the people on the ground and the opposition parties are also leaving no stone unturned to use it while campaigning. “The AAP is gaining ground fast in Punjab. Channi as the chief minister will help the party but with Mann projected as the CM, it is going to help the AAP Congress sources said. ,” The assessment also showed that the AAP was expected to gain in the Malwa region and that would help in the party balancing the party’s performance in the other two regions of Majha and Doaba. MORE REPORTS ON PAGE 8 NATIONWIDE JAN 21 Fresh cases 3,47,254 3,37,704 JAN 22 Fresh cases DELHI JAN 21 10,756 JAN 22 11,486 Recoveries Deaths 2,51,777 2,42,676 703 488 Recoveries Deaths 17,494 38 14,802 45 Evacuated residents after being rescued to a safe place (above); smoke billows out from the 18th floor of the Kamala Building in Mumbai on Saturday | PTI Towering inferno kills six EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Mumbai THE early morning calm at Tardeo in central Mumbai was shattered around 7 a.m. following a massive fire at an upscale 20-storey building that left six persons dead and 29 injured on Saturday . According to fire brigade officials, a fault in the air conditioning unit of a flat caused the fire, which quickly engulfed the 18th floor of the Kamala Building perhaps because of the strong sea breeze. Thirteen fire engines and seven jumbo tankers had to be rushed to douse the fire. The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation said seven injured persons were admitted to the Nair Hospital of whom five succumbed to their injuries. Two were taken to the Kastubha Hospital where one died. A BMC official said 17 persons were admitted in the Bha- tia Hospital. While five have been discharged the remaining are said to be critical. Others were taken to the Masina Hospital, Wockhardt Hospital and H N Reliance Hospital. Mayor Kishori Pednekar said as soon as the fire brigade received the message of the fire at the Kamala Building they rushed to the spot. “We have ordered the inquiry to ascertain the cause of the fire. The injured are being treated at various hospitals.” BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said he has asked for a report in the next 15 days. It was alleged that some addition and alteration were being carried out in the high rise building. Residents of the building said they heard a loud sound followed by black smoke and recalled a frenzy among them to get to safety “We heard a big . noise and rushed outside. There was black smoke coming out of some floors above us. We immediately rushed downstairs and came into the open area,” a resident said. Nanda Chavan, a relative of an injured person, said the hospitals sought deposit money first before admitting the victims. “When we rushed with the injured people, we were asked to deposit the amount before admitting the patients. They even asked for Covid RT-PCR test.” RTI activist Anil Galgali alleged the BMC’s fire brigade department does not carry out fire audits of buildings. “I had sought fire audit reports on January 1, 2018, but they are yet to furnish the details.” We heard a big noise and rushed outside. There was black smoke coming out of some floors above us. We immediately rushed downstairs and came into the open area —A survivor EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE hymn ‘Abide with me’ which endeared itself to Mahatma Gandhi and has been a part of the Beating Retreat ceremony since 1950 will not be played this year. All the tunes included in the list are of Indian origin, according to a brochure released by the army on Saturday . ‘Abide with me’ has been replaced by the popular patriotic song ‘Ae mere watan ke logon,’ written by Kavi Pradeep to commemorate the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers in the 1962 India-China war. In 2020 also there were Rehearsal for the Beating Retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk | PARVEEN NEGI reports of the tune to be dropped but no such decision was taken. The calming and alleviating hymn was written by Henry Francis Lyte in 1861 and it was set to tune by William Henry Monk. The re- Bring back our son, Arunachal boy’s parents urge PM KUTJIT Taron’s tears have dried up but she does not stop craving for her son, Miram, who was allegedly abducted by China’s People’s Liberation Army on January 18. The 17-year-old was taken into custody at the fuzzy IndiaChina border in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. His mother is inconsolable and has taken ill while the father, Opang Taron, is making desperate appeals to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to secure the teenager’s release from Chinese hands. She has virtually stopped eat- Parents and the eldest brother of Miram Taron | EXPRESS ing food and is going through hypertension, a worried Opang told this newspaper on Saturday. He is a farmer and father of four sons. “I appeal to PM Modi to bring my son back home. He did not intrude into Chinese territory ,” Opang said. His mobile phone has never been so busy. Not just friends, neighbours and relatives, offi- FIGHTER WOMAN’S INSPIRING TALE Labelled ‘witch’, this Jharkhand super woman has become a voice against the social evil | P5 BAPU’S FAVOURITE HYMN DROPPED FROM BEATING RETREAT treat tune will continue to be ‘Sare jahan se accha.’ Twitterati reacted sharply to the dropping of the hymn. “Abide With Me’, Gandhi ji’s favourite hymn, dropped from Beating Retreat. There is no end to the hate,” said APPEAL P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati CRYPTOCURRENCY prices, falling ever since Russia’s central bank proposed a ban on crypto trading on Thursday, touched a new low on Saturday with Bitcoin tumbling to $36,000 level, a drop of over 17% compared to last week’s trading. In the past 24 hours alone, Bitcoin has shed over 8.5%. Ethereum, the second largest crypocurrency after Bitcoin, dropped over 12% in 24 hours. Other altcoins from BNB, ADA, and SOL also tanked. In all, the cryptocurrency market cap has shrunk by over $1.3 trillion. Russia’s central bank called for a ban on cryptos citing threats of citizens’ wellbeing and financial stability As Rus. sia, one of the largest crypto adopters in the world, announced its plans for a blanket ban on crypto, the digital asset market plunged back into the reds. While this may be a cause for concern for investors, fact remains that the crypto industry has weathered multiple bans, restrictions and regulatory scrutiny in the past. According to CoinDCX, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, this will not impact on crypto’s performance. cials from the district administration and the army are also calling him frequently to inquire about his and his family members’ well-being. Miram was allegedly abducted when he and his friend, Jhonny Yaying, had ventured into a deep forest to hunt wild animals and collect medicinal herbs. While Miram was nabbed by the Chinese soldiers, Jhonny managed to flee. He reached Tuting, the nearest circle headquarters, the next day and informed the villagers and the authorities of the incident. The two youngsters are from the same village, Zido. The site of incident is around 35-40 km away . Opang said he was at Tuting on January 17 when his son had set out for the forest. “We have a puja in mid-February where, as per a customary practice, my sisters would offer rice cakes and local brew to me and I would give them dry meat. As the meat needs to be dried up before being gifted, Miram had gone out early for the traditional hunting of a wild animal.” He said Miram, who has never been to that forest before, had dropped out of a Kendriya Vidyalaya when he was in Class VIII. The boy’s two elder brothers help their father in farming while the young est is a college student. one. “new India, No Amar Jyothi, no Abide With Me during the Beating Retreat. Sicko’s BJP Congress leader ,” Ajoy Kumar tweeted. The move to drop the hymn from this year’s ceremony comes days after the decision to merge the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate with the eternal flame of the National War Memorial. The merger took place during a brief ceremony on Friday . Beating Retreat is an old military tradition of troops disengaging from battle at sunset. A total of 44 buglers, 16 trumpeters and 75 drummers will perform this year. Devil in the details 33 With the BCCI closing registration for IPL 2022, a look at some of the key points ahead of the mega auction on February 12-13 BIG NAMES IN AUCTION With the 8 teams retaining 27 players, and the 2 new teams drafting 3 each, as many as 1,214 players are willing to take part in the auction DAVID WARNER, R ASHWIN, KAGISO RABADA, SHREYAS IYER, ISHAN KISHAN, QUINTON DE KOCK, FAF DU PLESSIS, DWAYNE BRAVO, TRENT BOULT AND PAT CUMMINS 318 BEN STOKES, CHRIS GAYLE, JOFRA ARCHER, CHRIS WOAKES, MITCHELL STARC, SAM CURRAN HAVE OPTED OUT OF THE AUCTION CITING VARIOUS REASONS Overseas players have registered for the auction, with the highest of 59 from Australia, followed by South Africa (48) and West Indies (41). A maximum of 60 overseas players can be bought from auction MAIN MISSES `72 crore PUNJAB KINGS IS THE TEAM TO RETAIN THE LEAST NUMBER OF PLAYERS, 2, AND WILL GO INTO THE AUCTION WITH L72 CRORE — THE MOST FOR ANY TEAM