www.freepressjournal.in | twitter.com/fpjindia Reg. No. Mcs/048/2018-20; RNI No. 1541/1957 I M.p.c.s office Mumbai-400001 GOVT MAY SELECT TWO PSU BANKS FOR PRIVATISATION BY MARCH END Pg 7 PM UPS THE ANTE, NO GOING BACK ON FARM REFORMS RITUPARNA’S MANTRA TO STAY RELEVANT IN THE FILM INDUSTRY Pg 24 R-DAY ACTOR-INSTIGATOR HELD Vol. 64 No. 242 | WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 10, 2021 | 14 Pages | EDITIONS: Mumbai*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, E-Paper FPJ NEWS SERVICE / New Delhi Actor-activist Deep Sidhu, who was allegedly a key player in the acts of vandalism at the Red Fort on Republic Day has , been arrested by the Delhi Police from Karnal in Haryana. The arrest came a day after PM Modi lamented the mushrooming of a tribe of professional protesters (Andolan-jeevi) who are undermining the national agenda. Sidhu had melted into the crowd after the chaos at Red Fort and could not be traced. But now it is learnt that he spent the night at a five-star hotel where he met many people. He fled to Punjab the next day where, according to sources, he kept moving from one location to another to evade arrest. Since he did not use a mobile phone, the Delhi Police was unable to track him down, it is claimed. He wore the same clothes for five days and did not communicate with his friends, lest his location is revealed. From these hush-hush locations, Deep was posting videos explaining his position, much to the embarrass- Rhetoric on Mon, tears on Tuesday FPJ NEWS SERVICE / New Delhi PM Modi broke down several times in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while recalling his close association with Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, whose term is coming to an end next week. Modi’s detractors may see in the tears sign of stress – possibly over the longdrawn farmers protest – but his legion of supports see in them a ‘sensitive persona’ that often gets blindsided by the political demeanour. Of course, this is not the first time the PM has shed tears – he has done so both inside Parliament and outside. The prime minister was participating in the farewell speech for Leader of Opposition Azad and three other members from Jammu and Kashmir, whose terms in the Upper House are coming to an end. Reminiscing about their long association, Modi said that as chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat, both of them kept in constant touch with each other. Sharing details of their interface during a terrorist attack on Gujarati pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir, Modi said Azad was the first one to sound him about the incident. CONTD. ON P13 BETWEEN THE LINES CHINA FAUX PAS OR INTENTIONAL? Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asked: "Why is a BJP Minister helping China make a case against India." He insisted that the minister should have been sacked. In a tweet, he said: "Not sacking him means insulting every Indian Jawan." He was referring to remarks by Union Minister of State for Highways General (retd) V K Singh that India has transgressed Line of Actual Control (LAC) more times than China. Singh happens to be a former 4-star general of the Indian Army. His disclosure has been an embarrassment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While China lost no time in describing the admission of the Minister as an “unwitting confession”, strategic experts are wondering whether what Gen Singh said had the tacit approval of the Modi regime. EDIT Pg 10 Deep Sidhu ment of the authorities. Now, it is learnt Sidhu "was in contact with a woman friend who lives in California. He would make the videos and send them her, and she would upload them on his Facebook account," a police source said. The audacity with which he was uploading the videos and the ineptitude of the authorities, which were not able to apprehend him, had reinforced the suspicion in a certain quarter that he was being provided ‘protection’ and was in cahoots with the powers that be. His arrest, to Anderson loves running thru Indian middle-order COLLAPSE KHURRAM HABIB / New Delhi When pace bowler James Anderson was getting rid of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in quick succession in the third Test in Mumbai to help England script a series-levelling win in 2006, Rishabh Pant, the last of his three victims on Tuesday was still eight , years old and over two years away from joining an academy to learn the basics of cricket. Anderson, now 38, has a made it a habit of striking at the heart of Indian batting in India and allowing his other teammates to walk away with the glory and man of the match awards. He took six wickets (four and two) in the Mumbai Test of 2006 and then returned in 2012-13 to again take six (three and three) key wickets in the third Test at Kolkata, getting rid of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli and applying pressure to dent India's middle-order. India conceded a lead and lost the game. The then captain MS Dhoni admitted that Anderson was the difference. On Tuesday with Shubman , Gill and Virat Kohli looking to cement a partnership, Anderson took three quick wickets -- Gill, Ajinkya Rahane and Pant -- to put England on road to victory which they eventually achieved. "He is a world-class bowler. Slowing down the tempo Mumbai Traffic dept mulls curbs on commercial vehicles SOMENDRA SHARMA Mumbai In yet another attempt to ease the congestion and parking problems in the city , Mumbai Traffic Police are mulling restrictions on the plying of commercial tempos, mostly three-wheelers, as police have observed that they enter the city in large numbers throughout the day , throwing up congestion and parking issues. Speaking on the subject, the joint commissioner of police (traffic), Yashasvi Yadav said, , “The influx of commercial tempos, mostly three-wheelers, has become predominant in the city and they occupy a lot of space, as well.” In 2017, traffic police had placed restrictions on the plying of heavy vehicles in south Mumbai. Heavy vehicles are only allowed to ply during the night in South Mumbai, from midnight 12am to 7am in the morning. CONTD. ON P13 10 yrs’ jail in UK for Covid travel lies LONDON: Travellers who lie about whether they have been to mutant coronavirus hotspots face up to ten years in prison, under a new draconian regime unveiled by UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock. In other words, it will be a criminal offence to hide from the authorities that you have visited one of the countries on the UK's 'red list'. Also, from Monday all incomers from 'red list' countries must stay in rooms in a quarantine hotel for 10 days, costing £1,750 each. Besides, they will have to show a negative result, in a test taken 70 hours before travelling to the UK. The most draconian is the proposal that people who lie about whether they have been to 'red list' countries could be hit with a jail sentence of up to 10 years under a new law. The maximum punishment puts the offence in a category with some of the most serious, such as carrying a firearm with intent. Sentences for rape can be shorter than 10 years, although the maximum for that is life. The coming of age of Kangana... LAST WORD FPJ NEWS SERVICE Mumbai Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut is known for her exaggerated sense of self-importance. Smug in the belief that she is a cinematic legend -- the stuff of folklore -Kangana on Tuesday likened herself to Hollywood greats Meryl Streep and Gal Gadot. To reinforce the notion, the actress even shared on Twitter the transformation she underwent for her movies Thalaivi and Dhaakad, and wrote, "Massive transformation alert, the kind of range I display as a performer, no other actress in the globe has that (range) right now, I have raw talent like Meryl Streep for layered character depictions but I can also do skilled action and glamour like Gal Gadot #Thalaivi #Dhaakad (sic)." Warming to the theme, that extent, will serve to dispel these misgivings. Sidhu has been sent to seven-day police custody by Metropolitan Magistrate Prigya Gupta. However, the actor’s counsel claimed that he had nothing to do with the violence and was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Sidhu, it is understood, was arrested from the Karnal bypass at 10.40 pm on Monday; among other charges, he is wanted in connection with a case of instigating the crowd at the Red Fort. CONTD. ON P13 Kangana added: "I honestly want to know why we worship white people? Forget their budgets and our age gap, tell me about her acting, can she do Thalaivi and Dhaakad? Queen and Tanu? Fashion and Panga? Kaya and Datto? The answer is she can’t, then why not emerge from the deep-seated complex?" The outlandish outpouring – though there is no detracting from Kangana’s acting merit -- had the Twitter twitching and scratching its head in disbelief. An amused user wrote, "I just hope to god Meryl Streep never reads this;" another said, "Kangana and Meryl Streep in one breath? BLASPHEMY. Kangana is nowhere close to Meryl and can never be. Why is Kangana so pompous?" Others wondered why she is so-selfobsessed. CONTD. ON P13 I would say he is the best bowler in the world. At the moment, no one is better than him. [That is because] he can bowl at will. If reverse swing starts, he can become unplayable on any wicket," said former India pace bowler Manoj Prabhakar, an exponent of reverse swing. CONTD. ON P13 Tharoor & co: SC stays arrest FROM OUR BUREAU New Delhi The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the arrest of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor as also of senior journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pande, Zafar Agha, Vinod Jose, Anant Nath and Paresh Nation in connection with the multiple FIRs registered against them over their respective tweets and unverified report on a farmer's death on R-Day . A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde issued notices on the petitions seeking quashing of the FIRs registered in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, for allegedly sharing the unverified news about the death of a protester. (The death was attributed to a gun wound whereas the protestor died due to head injuries when his tractor overturned.) An FIR registered in Delhi also accuses them of "posting tweets and deliberately circulating fake news." Posting further hearing after two weeks, the Bench also directed the authorities not to take any coercive action against the petitioners. Sardesai works for the TV channel India today while Mrinal Pande is the consulting editor of National Herald and former editor of Hindi daily ‘Hindustan’ of the Hindustan Times Group; Zafar Agha is editor of Herald's Urdu daily ‘Quaumi Awaz’. Paresh Nath, Anant Nath and Vinod Jose are associated with the news magazine ‘Caravan.’ The FIRs against them have been widely condemned by the press fraternity . CONTD. ON P13 Race against time in tunnel 350c. 210c. Sunrise: 07:09 am Sunset: 06:37 pm A word is like a finger pointing at different things. Do not look at the finger; focus on the essence of the word. Focus on what the finger is pointing at! Master Choa Kok Sui FPJ NEWS SERVICE / Chamoli A desperate race is on to save the hapless labourers trapped in the 2.5 km-long Tapovan tunnel in Utttarkhand. Clearing of debris and slush continued the whole night. ‘‘ bout 120 metres of A the stretch is now clear," ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey told news agency PTI. "The height of the accumulated slush has also reduced... ITBP personnel are waiting to enter as soon as possible," he added. The challenge, though, is clearing the slush quickly (and safely). "... CONTD. ON P13 Virus unlikely to have leaked from China lab ASSOCIATED PRESS / Wuhan A World Health Organisation expert said on Tuesday the coronavirus is unlikely to have leaked from a Chinese lab and most probably jumped to humans via an intermediary species. ‘‘It was very unlikely that anything could escape from the laboratory a WHO official said, ,” citing safety protocols. WHO food safety and animal diseases expert Peter Ben Embarek gave the assessment while summing up the team's investigation into the possible origins of the coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first cases were COVID TIDE IS TURNING discovered in December 2019. “ the work that has been All done on the virus and trying to identify its origin continue to point toward a natural reservoir,” said Dr Embarek while speaking at a news conference in Wuhan. There have been unproven allegations that the Wuhan Institute of Virology which , was collecting virus samples, may have caused the original outbreak by leaking the virus into the surrounding community . China has strongly denied that possibility and countered by suggesting that the virus may have originated elsewhere. CONTD. ON P13 The Covid tide seems to be turning. At least the data put out by the Union Ministry of Health on the progression of the pandemic suggests so. Sample this: Seven states and UTs have reported no new COVID-19 deaths in the last three weeks; also 15 states have not registered any such fatality in the past 24 hours. CONTD. ON P13 day bringing the total count , to 3,12,468, with 11,396 deaths so far. Meanwhile, the recovery rate is at a healthy 94 per cent, with 415 patients having recovered in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally of those recovered to 2,95,045. In the rest of Maharashtra, there were 2,515 new cases and 35 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday taking the total , count to 20,48,802, with 51,360 fatalities till now. CONTD. ON P13 FPJ NEWS SERVICE / New Delhi Less than 400 corona cases in city SWAPNIL MISHRA Mumbai Less than 400 cases were reported in the city for the second consecutive day with 375 , new infections and three Covid-19 fatalities on Tues-