bhubaneswar l monday l january 25, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 28 l late CITY EDITION NINTH round of talks over LAC stand-off underway The Corps Commander-level talks to address the situation in Eastern Ladakh began at Moldo on Chinese side on Sunday India firm on demanding status quo ante ties in ‘difficult phase’ due to china While India is demanding that China pull back its troops from all stand-off points and restore status quo ante along the Line of Actual Control, the latter wants India to first withdraw its soldiers deployed on strategic heights on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso lake. Indian jawans continue to hold their positions despite the merciless Himalayan winter ■ ■ On December 9 last, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said ‘five differing explanations’ by China for its deployment on the LAC had pushed bilateral ties into its most difficult phase It’s not a problem of lack of communication. The fact is there are ample pacts but the other side is not following them, he said Round 8 of bilateral talks had taken place on november 6 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Doctor recruitment Odisha opens doors for medical grads from other states H e m a n t K u m a r R o u t @ Bhubaneswar Struggling to find doctors to fill up the large-scale vacancies in the public health facilities, the Odisha government, for the first time, has decided to allow medical graduates from other states to join its service as doctors. The decision to permit doctors from outside Odisha has been taken in the wake of a major recruitment drive planned this year to fill up the posts of 2,452 doctors, 82 dental surgeons and 94 assistant professors. Earlier only residents of Odisha who are able to read, write and speak Odia, and those who have passed middle school examina- tion in Odia as a language subject or passed matriculation or equivalent with Odia as medium of examination in non-language subj e c t we re e l i g i bl e fo r t h e recruitment in State-run hospitals. The move is expected to meet the challenges the State has been facing due to shortage of doctors. In the last major drive, a year ago, only 1,403 doctors could be recruited against 3,278 posts due to lack of adequately trained professionals. The State gover nment has amended the Odisha Medical and Health Services (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules to remove the restrictions on entry of doctors in the government jobs from outside states. The MBBS graduates from other states will have to register their name in the Odisha Council of Medical Registration system established under section 3 of the Odisha Medical Registration Act, 1961 before issue of the appointment order. If any candidate has not passed middle school examination in Odia as a language subject, he/she will be allowed to pass the examination conducted by Board of Secondary Education within four years of joining the service. Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said the rules have been amended after getting approved by the State Cabinet. “The Odisha Medical and Health Services (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Amendment Rules, 2020 will be applicable for the planned recruitment drive and the OPSC has accordingly been recommended to issue the job notification,” he said. Sources said no other state than the North Eastern ones like Assam has provisions for recruitment of non-resident doctors in government hospitals. express read Nepal PM Oli expelled from his party Kathmandu: The ruling Nepal Communist Party’s splinter faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on Sunday expelled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from the party’s general membership. A Standing Committee, led by Prachanda and Madhav Kumar Nepal, took the decision | P9 W ITH THIS ISS U E THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST 28 PAGES, INCLUDING YOUR 16 OF edex LIFE COACH (TABLOID) garden poise A visitor poses for photographs within a floral arrangement at Flower Show-2021 in Botanical Garden in Bhubaneswar on Sunday | Express Shah plays infiltration card against Congress-AIUDF Bar on diesel sale to block tractor parade lifted E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Guwahati N a m i ta B a j pa i @ Lucknow Listing out the achievements of the BJP-led government in Assam, Home Minister Amit Shah pitched for another term to ‘safeguard’ the state’s interests. Shah on Sunday said the Congress-AIUDF combine would open ‘all gates’ to infiltrators if voted to power. Addressing his first political rally in the poll-bound state, Shah took a swipe at the Congress for calling the BJP communal by questioning its alliance with Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF, which draws support mainly from Muslims.At the Vijay Sankalp Samaroh, Shah asserted that an era of peace and development has been ushered in Assam by the BJP Appeal. ing to the people to vote for BJP Shah , said Assam has become ‘bullet-free and agitation-free’ and the next BJP dispensation will make it ‘flood-free’, calling floods its biggest problem. Shah projected his party as the only alternative capable of safeguarding and promoting the regional culture. He also took a dig at the Assam Jatiya Parishad, a party floated by former AASU leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi, which is tipped to ally with Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal, without naming them, saying they are in the A circular issued by the Gazipur police in eastern Uttar Pradesh advising fuel outlets not to tank up tractors ahead of the proposed farmers’ parade in New Delhi was withdrawn after it drew flak on social media on Sunday . Ghazipur SP Om Prakash Singh sought to play down the circular, claiming it was issued by a station officer two days ago. “It has been withdrawn,” he added. The circular issued by station officer of Sohawal in Ghazipur refers to the ‘high alert’ ahead of the farmers’ rally, and tells fuel outlet owners to sell diesel to tractors. “Farmers have announced to take out a tractor march. Therefore, you are advised not sell diesel to any tractor or in a can...” it read. The UP police on Sunday mounted vigil in districts bordering Delhi, besides putting 100-odd farmer leaders under house arrest. The top brass met on Sunday to chalk out a strategy to tackle the rally a day after an attempt by farm, P7 ers to besiege Raj Bhawan.  Amit Shah addressing a political rally at Nalbari in Assam on Sunday | pti poll arena to help the Congress by trying to cut into votes of the BJP . These two parties are stridently opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and have alleged the CAA is a ‘threat’ to Assam’s culture and identity. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), which has led mass agitations over the issue of regional identity in the past, has backed Assam Jatiya Parishad. Hitting out at the Congress, the Home Minister said the party had adopted the British Empire’s policy of ‘divide and rule’ by pitting different groups of people against one another, leading to bloodshed and loss of lives of thousands of youth. green carpet Chepauk to have ‘English’ look for India Tests V e n k ata K r i sh n a B @ Chennai V RAMESH KUMAR has an MBA in international business. Growing up in Tiruppur – India’s textile hubs — he wanted to be an athlete. He even represented Tamil Nadu in 100m hurdles in open nationals. An entrepreneur who runs a garment and dying factory which employs around 700 people, these days he is camped in Chennai for some other reason. Ramesh, 43, a certified BCCI curator, will oversee the pitch preparation for India’s upcoming two Tests against England from February 5 at MA Chidambaram Stadium. He might be young for a curator but, in TN cricket, he already has a reputation for making sportive wickets. Ramesh was the one who laid turf wickets at Salem, Tiruppur and Coimbatore: all BCCI approved venues to host first-class cricket. It was this trait that ma­ e TNCA d give him this huge responsibility The . Chepauk pitch over the couple of seasons has come under critici­ m, includs ing from MS Dh­ ni for its slow o nature. The last time Chennai hosted a Test match in 2016, it provided a flat strip and a repeat of it would also affect India’s chances of making to the Word Test Championship final. “I was surprised when I got the call. I have done few age-group tournaments and have assisted other curators for IPL. But this is the first time I’m making a pitch from scratch. I didn’t expect it alone this soon” Ramesh said. After getting the outfield ready, Ramesh’s eyes are now on the sq­ ­ re, ua which has four pi­ ­ ­ es. “It is a chaltch lenging task because we are ho­ ­ ­ ng sti back-to-back Tests with three days gap. It is unprecedented in India. It is hectic because preparations for both the pitches are happening simultaneously for the past one week.” Chepauk pitch has traditionally assisted spinners. Ramesh expects this to be the same, but he throws in a googly “A Chepauk pitch wi­ h an English . t look is being made. I always believe there should be an equal contest between bat and ball. Pacers, spinners and batsmen sho­ ­ d have someul thing on the pitch and that is what cricket is all ab­ ­ ­ . out There will be grass cover because it needs to last five days.” Teams will also get similar sort of pitches at the MAC ‘B’ ground where the nets are. “If the pitch is green, so should the practi­ e c turfs. It will be a sportive pitch,” said Ra­ esh, who trains 80 and supports m the education of 25 kids, at his ac­ ­ ­­ ade­ my Tiruppur School of Cricket. Worry over proposal to tie forest to WPI index Formula suggested in a draft note to panel on revising Net Present Value of forest land used for non-forest purposes R i c h a S h a r m a @ New Delhi In what is being seen as a severe threat to the country’s green cover, the Union environment ministry has proposed that forests be treated as tradable commodity having value as per the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), to cut down the cost of diversion of pristine forests for infrastructure projects. In a draft note on the revision of the Net Present Value (NPV) of forest land diverted for non-forest purposes sent to a Committee of Secretaries (CoS), the ministry on January 22 suggested the interim arrangement of aligning the rates with the WPI till the information sought for revision in NPV rates as proposed by experts of the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, are compiled. “Keeping in view that more than three years had elapsed since the NPV came into force, the MoEF&CC proposed to revise the NPV based on the WPI,” said the ministry in the draft note, a copy of which is with this newspaper. The sticking point was articulated in clause 1.30 of the note. It said the IIFM had proposed scaling up NPV rates by as much as four times the existing figures, and warned that the higher tariff could impact ongoing power and other infrastructure sector projects. To soften the blow, the ministry is seeking to align the rates with the WPI, as the escalation that way would not be as steep. However, experts expressed concern over the proposed new system because high NPV rates are meant to be a deterrent, but WPI is a facilitator. Kanchi Kohli, Legal Research Director at CPR-Namati Environment Justice Program, said: “This new proposal further embeds forests as a commodity to be traded through instruments such as the ‘Wholesale Price Index’. It is not focused at protecting forests or forest rights. Ironically the success of this exercise is only dependent on more forests being lost.” Why concern over high NPV rates The note says high NPV rates could lead to a surge in the Centre’s import bills and render smaller projects unviable. It pointed out that the ministries of steel, coal and power as also the NITI Aayog had flagged reservations about the proposed abrupt jump in the rates If it was only timber and/or minor forest produce, it is acceptable but dense forest as commodity is the most inappropriate index. NPV is to dissuade people to look for forest land; but WPI will encourage them Manoj Misra, former Indian Forest Service officer