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India can

never forget

Mumbai

attacks: Modi

IANS

New Delhi

T

he nation observed the

12th anniversary of the

26/11 terror attack in

Mumbai yesterday and Prime

Minister Narendra Modi said In-

dia cannot ever forget the attack.

He also clarifi ed that the

country has now been “combat-

ing terrorism with new policy

and new method”.

Noting that the day is associ-

ated with the biggest terrorist

attack on the country when in

2008 terrorists attacked Mumbai

leaving many Indians, as well as

foreigners dead, the prime min-

ister said he pays his respect to all

those killed in that attack.

“India cannot forget Mumbai

attack. Today’s India is facing

terrorism with new strategy and

new polity. I praise those secu-

rity offi cers who have been play-

ing major role in securing the

country,” the prime minister said

while addressing the concluding

session of 80th All India Presid-

ing Offi cers Conference via video

conferencing in Kevadia, Gu-

jarat.

Paying homage to security

forces and police personnel who

lost their lives in the Mumbai at-

tack, the prime minister asserted

that India’s security scenario has

changed from previous years.

“Today’s India is combating

terrorism with new policy and

new method.”

A series of terrorist attacks

took place on November 26, 2008

in Mumbai when 10 Lashkar-e-

Taiba terrorists carried out 12 co-

ordinated shooting and bombing

lasting four days killing 166 peo-

ple and injuring over 300.

In these gruesome attacks,

nine terrorists were killed and

the lone survivor, Ajmal Kasab,

caught and was sentenced to

death at Yerwada Central Jail in

Pune in 2012. On November 11,

2012, Kasab was hanged in Yer-

awada Jail in Pune.

Meanwhile, in Maharashtra

governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari

and Chief Minister Uddhav

Thackeray led the state by sol-

emnly laying wreaths at the new

Martyrs’ Memorial erected in-

side the Mumbai Police commis-

sionerate premises near Craw-

ford Market in south Mumbai.

The other dignitaries included

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh,

Tourism Minister Aditya Thack-

eray, chief secretary Sanjay Ku-

mar, director-general of police

Subodh Jaiswal, Mumbai Police

commissioner Param Bir Singh

and other offi cers.

A large number of police per-

sonnel also paid homage to their

colleagues who had been mar-

tyred in the terror attacks car-

ried out at key locations in south

Mumbai, with a special thought

for Tukaram G Omble, who sac-

rifi ced his life in nabbing Kasab

alive.

Later, the relatives of the mar-

tyrs and several brave-hearts also

turned up to pay homage to their

departed kin as the governor,

chief minister and other top of-

fi cials waited and acknowledged

them with folded hands.

The relatives including wid-

ows, mothers, sons, daughters,

brothers or sisters stepped up to

the memorial and off ered their

own personal tributes with fl ow-

ers or tears for their near and

dear ones.

Several other relatives of vic-

tims felled during the terrorists’

mayhem also paid homage at the

Martyrs Memorial and other lo-

cations.

Other memorial services were

held at the Chhatrapati Shivaji

Maharaj Terminus, Hotel Taj

Mahal Palace, Hotel Oberoi, the

Chabad House, Cama Hospital,

and the Leopold Cafe, all sites

brutally targeted by the attackers.

Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata

Trusts, tweeted: “The wanton

destruction that took place 12

years ago today will never be for-

gotten...”

The traditional and social me-

dia featured many remembrance

ads, touching tributes and mes-

sages of the 60-hours that shook

the world.

Singh warns BJP against

pushing farmers to brink

IANS

Chandigarh

S

trongly condemning Har-

yana’s forcible attempts to

stop farmers from march-

ing to Delhi in protest against

the farm laws, Punjab Chief

Minister Amarinder Singh yes-

terday warned the BJP-led gov-

ernment against pushing them

to the brink.

Urging the Manohar Lal Khat-

tar government to allow the pro-

testing farmers to pass through

the national highway to take

their voice to Delhi peacefully,

Amarinder Singh questioned

the need to stop them from pro-

ceeding.

“Why is the Khattar govern-

ment in Haryana stopping farm-

ers from moving to Delhi? The

tyrannical use of brute force

against peacefully protesting

farmers is totally undemocratic

and unconstitutional,” he said,

asserting that “the hands that

feed the nation deserve to be

held, not pushed aside”.

Terming it a “sad irony” that

on Constitution Day, the consti-

tutional right of farmers to pro-

test was being suppressed, the

chief minister fl ayed the use of

brute force by the Haryana po-

lice, which had used water can-

nons and teargas in a bid to stop

the Punjab farmers from march-

ing through the state and had

not allowed farmer from Harya-

na to move out of their villages in

many places.

“What was the need for vio-

lence,” Amarinder Singh asked,

pointing out that the farmers

had been protesting for the past

two months in Punjab without

any problem, even though the

state had suff ered crores of ru-

pees in losses.

There had been no violence

or law and order problem in

Punjab, he observed, terming

the Haryana government’s ac-

tions as provocative. “For nearly

two months farmers have been

protesting peacefully in Punjab

without any problem.”

On Delhi Chief Minister

Arvind Kejriwal’s condemna-

tion of the use of force against

farmers in Haryana, Amarinder

Singh raised doubts over the

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s

sincerity towards the farmers’

cause, asking why the Delhi gov-

ernment had failed to bring its

own laws in the state Assembly

to counter the dangers of the

central farm laws.

“Kejriwal is just playing to the

gallery, the fact is that he nei-

ther cares for the farmers nor is

interested in protecting them,”

said the Punjab chief minister,

urging his Delhi counterpart

to stand fi rmly with the farm-

ers instead of indulging in dou-

ble standards, if he really cared

about them.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands

of farmers managed to break po-

lice barricades at several places

in Haryana while heading to the

national capital.

Several protesters and police-

men were injured.

The farmers broke barricades

and threw them down the bridge

ahead of the Punjab-Haryana

border in Shambhu near Am-

bala.

According to offi cial esti-

mates, there are over 50,

farmers heading towards Delhi.

Residents of several towns

located along the Punjab-Hary-

ana borders throughout the day

faced a harrowing time due to

the heavy deployment of the se-

curity forces and snapping of the

bus services in the past 24 hours.

Several link roads entering

Haryana have also been barri-

caded.

Despite the use of water can-

nons, the protesting farmers,

comprising men and women —

both young and old — and school

and college students riding trac-

tor-trailers, cars and motorcy-

cles, managed to enter Haryana

from Punjab near Shambhu in

Patiala district.

Angry farmers threw stones at

security forces deployed to con-

trol the crowd at the Shambhu

border.

Three die as cyclone

batters Tamil Nadu

IANS/AFP
Chennai/Puducherry

T

hree people were killed
and an equal number in-
jured as the very severe
cyclonic storm Nivar wreaked
havoc in Tamil Nadu and Pu-
ducherry yesterday.
Accurate forecasting and the
evacuation of several hundred
thousand people helped a major
loss of life, authorities said yes-
terday, as rescuers worked to re-
store power and clear fallen trees.
Nivar made landfall at 3.05am
(2135GMT) near Puducherry,
packing gusts of up to 130kms
per hour, uprooting trees and
bringing torrential rain of up to
30 centimetres (12 inches) in a
few hours in some parts.
Thousands of emergency per-
sonnel were deployed in Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Pu-
ducherry as authorities began
restoring power that had been

suspended to prevent damage to

the electricity grid.

“The people have given us full

co-operation,” said Tamil Nadu

deputy chief minister O Panneer-

selvam. “It’s a solace that nothing

untoward happened and the weak-

ening of the cyclone is good news,”

he said, adding that 250,000 peo-

ple were housed in shelters in the

state as a precaution.

Rescue workers were using

heavy machinery to remove hun-

dreds of trees uprooted in Tamil

Nadu and Puducherry, the Press

Trust of India reported.

Electricity pylons were also

toppled in some areas, and sev-

eral fl ash fl oods were reported.

Chief Minister K.Palaniswami

appreciated the work done by the

Chennai corporation and Chen-

nai police in clearing fallen trees

and helping the needy.

Palaniswami also visited Cud-

dalore to inspect the cyclone

damages and meet the aff ected

people.

Initially classifi ed as a “very

severe cyclonic storm” as it

swirled in the Bay of Bengal, Ni-

var weakened after landfall into a

“severe cyclonic storm”, the In-

dia Meteorological Department

(IMD) said.

“No major damage has been

reported in Tamil Nadu. We are

assessing the situation but things

are returning to normalcy,” an

offi cial at the State Disaster Re-

sponse Force said.

Ahead of the arrival of the

storm – a regular and often

deadly occurrence in the Bay of

Bengal – local authorities de-

clared a public holiday Wednes-

day and yesterday, shutting

everything except emergency

services. Flights at Chennai air-

port were suspended until yes-

terday morning and metro train

services halted. Bus services that

were stopped from November 24

afternoon ahead of the cyclone

resumed yesterday in seven dis-

tricts of Tamil Nadu.

As the national capital battles a resurgence in

Covid-19 cases, health experts yesterday said Delhi

is currently facing the third wave of the disease

which is likely to last at least a few more weeks.

Although the last week off ered some signs of slow-

down in fresh Covid cases in Delhi as compared to

the previous five weeks, the resurgence cannot be

said to be over yet, according to doctors. There is,

however, no unanimity among them about when

the curve will flatten. According to Dr Ajay Aggar-

wal, director, internal medicine, Fortis Hospital, No-

ida, the second wave of Covid-19 ended in October

and the third wave started around mid-November

and is likely to end in mid-January and post that.

A Kerala special court yesterday refused to grant

bail to arrested former minister V K Ebrahim

Kunju. The court, however, also rejected the Vigi-

lance and Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (VACB) plea

for his custody. Kunju, a senior legislator of the

Indian Union Muslim League — the second-big-

gest party of the Congress-led UDF, was arrested

by the VACB last week from a leading private

hospital in the Palarivattom flyover collapse case.

His arrest was recorded by VACB last week while

he was under treatment for multiple myeloma at

the private hospital. The Muvattupuzha vigilance

court permitted the probe team to question him

for a day on Monday from 9am to 5pm.

The Centre yesterday extended the suspension of
scheduled commercial international flight operations
to and from India till December 31. “This restriction
shall not apply to the international all-cargo opera-
tions and flights specifically approved by the DGCA
(directorate general of civil aviation),” an off icial
statement said yesterday. “However, international
scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes
by the competent authority on a case to case basis,”
it added. At present, India has entered into ‘Air Bubble’
agreements with several countries. Passenger air
services were suspended on March 25 due to the
nationwide lockdown to fight Covid-19. Domestic
flight services, however, resumed from May 25.

Lalan Paswan, the Bharatiya Janata Party legisla-

tor from Pirpaiti in Bhagalpur district, lodged a

complaint with the vigilance department in Patna

yesterday afternoon in connection with ‘tape-

gate’. Paswan claims that Rashtriya Janata Dal

leader and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Pras-

ad called him from Ranchi on Tuesday evening

and asked him to remain absent during the voice

vote for the post of Speaker in the Bihar assembly

on Wednesday. Following this, Paswan claims he

informed senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi

about the development. Paswan has also released

a recording of the telephonic conversation with

Lalu Prasad on social media platforms.

An eight-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh apparently

died when she allegedly hanged herself from a

ceiling fan at her home in Muzaff arnagar district.

According to a police off icer at Charthawal police

station, the family members of the girl buried the

body before the authorities could arrive. The inci-

dent took place in Nirdhana village. Apparently the

child took the drastic step after her mother refused

to take her along to a wedding ceremony. The fam-

ily members said the girl had been pressurising

her mother to take her to the wedding ceremony

of a relative but she instead took her son to the

function. According to villagers, the girl had locked

the door from inside and hanged herself.

Third wave of Covid

in Delhi ‘far from over’

Kerala ex-minister’s

bail plea refused

International flights to stay

suspended till December 31

Legislator complains

against Lalu Prasad

Eight-year-old ‘hangs

self’ in Uttar Pradesh

DECISION CONTROVERSY PANDEMIC CONTROVERSY TRAGEDY

A man carries a child through a water-logged road after cyclone

Nivar’s landfall, in Chennai yesterday.

Farmers gather on a bridge as police block a road during a march to New Delhi to protest against the central government’s recent agricultural reforms, on the outskirts of

Ambala yesterday.

PM pitches ‘One Nation, One

Election’ as need of India

P

rime Minister Narendra

Modi yesterday again

emphasised the need to

introduce the “One Nation,

One Election” formula to save

time and money of the country.

Reiterating his idea for si-

multaneous elections across

India, the prime minister said

that “One Nation, One Elec-

tion” is not a matter of debate

only, but this is the need for

India.

The prime minister pitched

the idea while addressing the

concluding session of the 80th

All India Presiding Offi cers

Conference via video confer-

encing in Gujarat’s Kevadia on

the occasion of the celebra-

tions of Constitution Day.

Modi suggested that a single

voters’ list should be prepared

for the Lok Sabha, assembly

and panchayat polls, saying

that separate lists are a waste

of resources.

“Only one voter list should

be used for Lok Sabha, Vid-

han Sabha and other elections.

Why’re we wasting time and

money on these lists?,” Modi

said.

“One Nation, One Election’

isn’t just an issue of delib-

eration, but also need of the

country. It hampers the devel-

opmental work and all of you

know about it. We must think

about it seriously and offi ce-

holders can lead deliberations

on this.”

“I would urge you to take

initiatives to make aspects of

our Constitution more popular

among our youth and that too,

through innovative methods,”

the premier said.

Modi has been committed to

the idea of “One Nation, One

Election” since he fi rst became

prime minister in 2014.

As per the prime minister,

“One Nation, One Election”

would reduce the cost of hold-

ing elections, and limit all elec-

tions to a single season as elec-

tions happen somewhere or

the other almost all the time at

present. Modi had been press-

ing for holding a constructive

dialogue to enable the Election

Commission to hold elections

simultaneously to bring down

expenses.

Besides, this will also give

governments more free time to

implement welfare schemes.

INDIA

11

Friday, November 27, 2020