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THE NATION FIRST Feb 6th 2021 | hiindia.com
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Punjab, Haryana roads blocked This is the farmers’ first major event since the rally on Republic Day, which saw chaotic scenes as groups of protesting farmers broke off the planned parade route, entered the centre of the national capital, and clashed with the police.
HiIndia Newsdesk HiIndia Newsdesk The Delhi government has reduced the circle rates of residential, commercial and industrial properties by 20% for the next six months. A circle rate is the minimum price at which a property can be bought. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the step will help in giving a boost to the economy post the COVID-19 pandemic. HiIndia Newsdesk Farmers protesting against the Centre’s new farm laws blocked roads at several places in Punjab and Haryana on the call given by the farmers’ unions for a nationwide ‘chakka jam’ or road blockade on Saturday. Barring Delhi, the blockade is taking place in other parts of the National Capital Region, and the rest of the country. In view of the nationwide ‘Chakka Jam’, the Delhi Police have strengthened security arrangements at all border points in the national capital. The police have erected multilayer barricades to stop the movement of vehicles at the Ghazipur border. Barbed wires have also been put up to keep off people on foot. As many as 50 people have been detained near Shaheedi Park in central Delhi for allegedly holding a protest in support of the ‘chakka jam’ call given by the farmers agitating against the farm laws, police said. The Haryana Police has also stepped up security measures in a bid to maintain law and order. Senior police officers have been asked to personally supervise security and traffic arrangements at vital junctions and roads while district police chiefs have been directed to ensure deployment of adequate personnel, according to an official communication issued to them.
HiIndia Newsdesk As per Delhi Police’s investigation, the toolkit on farmer’s protest, tweeted by Greta Thunberg, has been created by Canadian Mo Dhaliwal and his proKhalistan organisation Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF). Dhaliwal is the founder of a Vancouver-based digital branding creative agency called Skyrocket. He is an alumnus of the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia.
HiIndia Newsdesk India has reported 11,713 new COVID-19 cases and 95 fatalities in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. With this, the total number of cases rose to 1,08,14,304 while the death toll reached 1,54,918. As many as 14,488 patients were discharged in a day, taking the total recoveries to 1,05,10,796. India’s active cases stand at 1,48,590.
HiIndia Newsdesk Indian netizens’ outrage at those perceived as toeing the government’s line on the farmers’ agitation runs so deep that it has shredded the immunity enjoyed by even Sachin Tendulkar, a man the country’s cricket fans habitually referred to as “God”. Indians, predominantly Malayalis, have flooded the Twitter handle of retired Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, apologising for trolling her seven years ago when she said she didn’t know Tendulkar. The gist of most of the posts – triggered by anger at what the tweeters saw as Tendulkar’s endorsement of the government’s handling of the farmers’ protest — was that the writers too had realised they didn’t really know Tendulkar all these years. “Yes.... we also dont know the new @sachin_rt. Sorry for the comments two years before. #maapakkanam,” wrote Jiffy Shams. “Sorry to say after long seven years we could recognise him. We wish we didn’t know Sachin Tenduker, sorry for the FB abuse,” said Seeker. Tanmay’s acid comment was: “It’s better not to know who Sachin actually is, sorry for whatever was said before.” Hundreds of these tweets were posted in Malayalam, a language Sharapova would be even more unfamiliar with than the name “Tendulkar”, but the 33-year-old would have got a sense of the messages from the heart and flower emojis and smileys accompanying them.
The coveted Padmashree award might have brought him glory, but the humble rural poet, Haldhar Nag, remains grounded and even continues his small business of selling channa and ‘ghuguni’ by the roadside in his village Ghens in Bargarh district. Long back, he was running a small shop with food items like groundnut, chana, mixture, biscuits, pencils etc. as it was close to a school. His status as a Padmashree awardee has not changed him a wee bit. “Like every year, during the famous Rath Yatra, I sell ragchana and ghuguni and I did so this year too,” he said without batting an eyelid. He seemed happy to see that the demand for his food items remains the same and he could earn Rs 4000 to Rs 7000 during the Car Festival at his native Ghens. “I prepare the Ghuguni in my home and sell it in my small shop mostly to the children and all other devotees coming to the Rath Yatra,” says Nag. “Since my shop is my prime source of livelihood, I never hesitate to continue this business,” he adds. Nag says he had neglected the shop for a while due to the attention/ invitations to literary functions etc. that had increased after he got the Padmashree in 2016. “But I have not quit the small street side business of mine totally,” added Nag. It is worth mentioning that Nag is popularly known as ‘Asu Kabi’, i.e. one who composes poems instantly. He has composed volumes of poems and ‘Haladhar Granthabali’ contains all of them. “I take pride in earning money from my labour,” says Nag. “On Rath Yatra (Dwitiya Rath), I sold Ghuguni worth Rs. 4000 and Rs 7000 on Bahuda Yatra, but with less margin of profit. My preparation suits more to stomach than to tongue,” he added. Many were shocked to find that Nag still sells food on the streets during the Car Festival in Ghens even after attaining the status of a Padmashree poet. Sixty-nine-year-old Nag, a school dropout, has composed poems mainly on nature, society, mythology and religion.