www.freepressjournal.in | twitter.com/fpjindia Reg. No. Mcs/048/2018-20; RNI No. 1541/1957 I M.p.c.s office Mumbai-400001 S&P SAYS PACE OF REBOUND TO IMPACT INDIA RATINGS Pg 7 A WORRYING SPURT IN MAHARASHTRA & KERALA EIJAZ KHAN GETS CANDID ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH PAVITRA PUNIA Pg 24 FOLLOW NORMS OR GET LOCKED IN 290c. 210c. Sunrise: 07:06 am Sunset: 06:40 pm Vol. 64 No. 248 | WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 17, 2021 | 15 Pages | EDITIONS: Mumbai*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, E-Paper EDIT Pg 10 Thackeray leaves people with two options as he tells administration to crack the whip SANJAY JOG Mumbai Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra over the last few days, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray rapped the divisional commissioners and district collectors on Tuesday for lack of imple, mentation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for various sectors, that had been decided upon last year. He asked them to send out teams that would take stern action for violation of SOPs and COVID 19 norms during weddings, gatherings, parties and other social events. At the video conference, Thackeray did not announce any decision on a fresh lockdown in the state. However, at the outset, he made it clear that it was for the people to decide whether they wanted a fresh lockdown or to live freely with some restrictions. , “If people do not wear masks or follow health rules, then the district and police administration have a responsibility to strictly enforce these rules. They must take strict, punitive and necessary action, without showing leniency the CM ,’’ said. His directives came on a day when 3,663 fresh Covid-19 cases and 39 deaths with a 2.49 per cent fatality rate were reported in the state. CONTD. ON P13 Spike, yes, but cases less severe Share autos or super-spreaders? SHASHANK RAO & SWAPNIL MISHRA Mumbai Covid-19 cases are on the rise and the possibility of a second wave is being discussed. In the current circumstances, public transit is a major factor, given that commuters are in rampant violation of Covid norms. For instance, the share autorickshaws and taxis are back in business in the city and the metropolitan region. These services are running without permission. "We have not given permission. It's for the Disaster Management to decide," said Avinash Dhakne, Maharashtra Transport Commissioner. The RTOs that are the primary agency under which these autos and taxis come haven't authorised them to ply on a shared basis. Yet, passengers intrepidly board shared rickshaws as though all is well. In public perception, social distancing, clearly is only for the birds. Un, flinchingly two persons sit , on either side of the driver, with three or more in the back during peak hours. This is the scene outside several suburban railway stations like Borivli, Kandivli, Bandra, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Govandi and other sub- FPJ INSIGHT urbs.  Likewise, in the island city share taxis too are run, ning at ease, especially in business areas like Nariman Point, Churchgate, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus etc. Though there is no over-seating like in the share-autos,  four seats in all these vehicles are occupied.Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has warned citizens to follow Covid norms strictly or be ready to face action. It has decided to deploy more than 300 clean-up marshals on the Western, Central and Harbour train lines, to closely monitor all those passengers who set off on their journeys without a mask. “Earlier, we had deployed clean-up marshals outside railway stations but now we will deploy them at every railway station, to keep a tab on passengers. Our staff has been directed to take strict action against violators of Covid norms. CONTD. ON P13 Daily case count up, doubling rates down DIPTI SINGH & SWAPNIL MISHRA Mumbai With over 500 new cases being reported every day Mumbai’s positivity rate , is again on the rise, with senior BMC officials attributing it to the movement of people across the state and laxity in observance of Covid-safety protocol by citizens. A few doctors are calling this spike in the daily case count as a second wave, while civic health officials have maintained that it is too early to term it thus. According to the daily count data shared by the Mumbai civic body the , positivity rate has increased to 4 per cent, from 3.2 per cent last week. Doubling Growth Feb 15 455 days 0.15% Feb 16 Feb 14 Feb 13 Feb 12 445 days 479 days 496 days 0.16% 0.14% 0.14% 525 days 0.13 % Feb 11 Feb 10 555 days 0.12% 533 days 0.13% Uptick in cases from high-rises as opposed to slums DIPTI SINGH Mumbai Given the steady spike in the number of new corona cases in the city the Brihan, mumbai Muncipal Corporation (BMC) wards, both in western and central suburbs, have started sending circulars/advisories to housing societies, asking them to adopt 'Covid-appropriate behaviour'. The civic body has appealed to housing societies to minimise the entry of outsiders. Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health) Suresh Kakani said, local ward officials have been instructed to send notices to housing societies and residential buildings to strictly follow Covid-19 protocols. "We have asked ward offi- NARSI BENWAL Mumbai Justice Prakash Naik that his client is an 'enthusiastic environmentalist' and had no intention of suggesting farmers or the protestors take over the Red Fort during the Republic Day tractor rally . "The Delhi police had raid- Date laxation of the lockdown, violation of physical distancing and other norms, and local trains for all are the contributing factors. Another indicator of surging cases in the city is the overall case doubling rate and the weekly growth rate of infection. While Mumbai has conducted over 30.39 lakh cumulative Covid-19 tests till now, the doubling rate has now declined, from 564 days on February 1 to 445 on February 16, 2021. Meanwhile, the daily growth rate increased to 0.16 per cent on Tuesday February 16 from , 0.12 per cent on February 1. Kakani said many people who had followed strict home quarantine CONTD. ON P13 Housing societies on notice 'Toolkit did not speak of violence' Advocate Nikita Jacob, through her lawyer, on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that she absconded because she was scared that Delhi Police might arrest her and this could jeopardize her career. She further said that the 'toolkit' was prepared by many youngsters, including Disha, and it only urged the people to support farmers and had no mention of violence. The HC is likely to pass orders on Jacob's plea seeking interim protection from arrest till the time she moves an appropriate court in Delhi. Senior advocate Mihir Desai, who was appearing for Jacob, told a bench of With the flattening of the pandemic curve, the average daily positivity rate had dropped to below 3 per cent in January But in the last seven days, . it has again surged to 4.22 per cent. Re- ed my house on February 11 and seized my client's phone and also her computer. They did not arrest her the same day since it was already sunset; nonetheless, they told her that they would return the next day to arrest her. CONTD. ON P13 cers to take a call depending on the situation in their wards. However, it is an appeal to citizens to stay alert and take precautions. In many residential buildings, people are flouting the Covid safety protocols," Kakani said. To arrest the spread of cases, the civic body has started to warn residents to either abide by the norms or be ready to face yet another lockdown. It has also issued new guidelines /advisories for residential societies, saying more cases are being reported from residential buildings than slums. Ward officials are saying they have noticed that Covid-19 norms and CONTD. ON P13 100 test+ve in IT City highrise BENGALURU : A Covid cluster has surfaced in a multi-storeyed residential complex in Bengaluru after 103 residents tested positive. The surge was recorded after 45 residents recently attended a party at the SNN Raj Lakeview Apartments, which has 1,500 residents living in 435 flats. According to media reports, most of those infected are youngsters and asymptomatic. They have been put under home quarantine. Several drivers, maids and cooks working in the complex have also tested positive. The first case was detected on February 10 whereas the party was held on February 6. Karnataka is the third worst-hit state after Maharashtra and Kerala. 48 die asMP bus plunges into canal OUR CORRESPONDENT Bhopal Forty-eight people, including 25 men, 21 women and two children, drowned in Bansagar canal when a jam-packed bus heading for Satna skidded off the road and fell into the water body on Tuesday morning. The 35-seat bus was packed to capacity with 55 passengers. Seventeen girl students, who were on their way to attend the entrance exam of ANM in Satna, are among the casualties.The passengers had boarded the bus around 4.30 am from Sidhi bus stand. The driver had gathered at the bus stand that there was a traffic jam on the highway at CONTD. ON P13 AGENCIES New Delhi The Supreme Court on late Tuesday night clarified that its website had "inadvertently" shown that a suo motu contempt case has been registered against journalist Rajdeep Sardesai for his tweets. "This is in the context of a news item being flashed on some news channels about suo motu criminal contempt proceeding being initiated against Rajdeep Sardesai by the Supreme Court; it is made clear that no such proceeding has been initiated against him’’. Earlier, the news with regard to the suo motu contempt case was reported in the media based on the information available with the top court's website. It was stated that the case was registered following the filing of a petition by one Aastha Khurana under Article 129 of the Constitution, seeking initiation of the contempt proceedings. On September 17, 2020, Attorney General K K Venugopal had declined consent for initiating action against Sardesai for the same set of tweets. The plea had said that the top court in the past has passed various landmark judgements and each time PRATIP ACHARYA / Mumbai Seeking to assuage Mumbaikars’ fears of another lockdown due to the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the city Mayor , Kishori Pednekar on Tuesday said there would not be another lockdown in the city . “There is no chance of imposing another lockdown, the spike in cases is not very high and it can be easily controlled by implementing stricter policies and penalising those who are flouting Covid-19 protocols,” Mayor Pednekar told The Free Press Journal. CONTD. ON P13 SA, BRAZIL STRAINS ENTER INDIA FPJ NEWS SERVICE / New Delhi The lethal South African strain of the coronavirus was detected in four people in January and the Brazil variant in one person in the first week of February . With that, it can be said that both strains have officially entered India. India also has 187 patients who have been infected with the UK variant. According to the ICMR chief, existing vaccines have the potential to neutralise the UK variant and experiments are on CONTD. ON P13 PUDUCHERRY BOSS KIRAN BEDI SACKED N RATHI CHITHRA / Chennai In a late night development, President Ram Nath Kovind directed that former super cop-turned-politician Kiran Bedi “shall cease to hold” the office of Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry . The President has instead asked Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to hold additional charge as LG of Puducherry . Bedi, who received an electoral drubbing as the BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, was appointed Lieutenant Governor in May 2016. From the beginning her tenure remained controversial with the Raj Nivas and the elected Congress Government headed by V Narayanasamy having multiple face-offs and getting embroiled in judicial litigation. While the Chief Minister and the Lieutenant Governor kept blaming each other for the standoff, the administration suffered as many governmental schemes were stuck pending clearance from the Raj Nivas. In recent weeks, senior Congress leaders had even suggested that they boycott the Assembly polls as the Government was not allowed to function. On February 10, a delegation led by Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy had met President Kovind in Delhi. It was during this meeting that the delegation urged the President to recall Bedi, accusing her of interfering in the administration of the Union territory The . delegation also claimed that Bedi was “impeding” the implementation of various schemes. CONTD. ON P13 Tentative dates for HSC, SSC exams RONALD RODRIGUES Mumbai The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education on Tuesday announced tentative dates for Class 12 Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board theory examinations from April 23 to May 21, 2021, and those for Class 10 Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board theory examinations from April 29 to May 20, 2021 "The timetable of SSC and HSC board examinations will be available at the website of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. It is not final and is subject to change, based on the situation. CONTD. ON P13 We don’t crib about grass: Ashwin FPJ SPORTS DESK Chennai Axar Patel celebrates a wicket with skipper Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma. India won the match by 137 runs. SC clarifies: No case against Sardesai LAST WORD No lockdown but take care: Mayor Worship the forces of Nature, because, these are the ones that we are closely associated with, and interact with. _ Sri Ma the alleged contemnor has passed various disrespectful comments and questioned the fairness and credibility of the court. It especially referred to a tweet by Sardesai made on August 31, 2020, with respect to the top court verdict imposing a fine of Rs one on advocate Prashant Bhushan for contempt of court.   Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin – not the one to look the other way -- has hit back at the criticism of the pitch at Chennai, most of which was directed at him since he was playing on home ground, where the ball spun from the first session and kicked up dust after the ball had landed. Thanks to all the imponderables, he delivered a man-of-the-match performance as India beat England by 317 runs. Yesteryear England captains Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen were among those who criticised the strip, with the former describing it as a 'stinker', while the latter predicted India would have lost again had the toss not gone Virat Kohli's way . But Ashwin - who is refusing to rest on his laurels and is behind only Anil Kumble for the most Test wickets in India of any home player - responded to such criticism by stating the country's greats have not complained when they have seen plenty of grass on surfaces overseas. CONTD. ON P13 MOHAN BHAGWAT AT MITHUN'S TAILPIECE Actor Mithun Chakraborty hosted Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat at his residence in Mumbai on Tuesday Apparently the RSS wants to . , leave no stone left unturned before the election in West Bengal. Though Mithun claims only breakfast was on menu and not politics, observers are wondering whether with Sourav Ganguly out of action, the RSS-BJP combine is looking at Mithun for providing them with the necessary optics. interestingly they had last met when the , actor had dropped in at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur in 2019. The 70-year-old film star says he has a more enduring "spiritual relationship" with Bhagwat. Mithun, however, has friends in the TMC, too, and was a Rajya Sabha member of the Trinamool in the past. Before he hopped over to Mumbai for 'nariyal paani' with Mithun, Bhagwat was in Bihar for almost five days. There, too, he invited doctors, lawyers and professors for a brunch at Vijay Niketan, the RSS headquarters. CONTD. ON P13