tight vigil for 72nd republic day Security has been beefed up across the State in view of the Republic Day celebrations. RPF personnel and a dog squad checking luggage of rail passengers at Coimbatore Junction railway station on Monday | U RAKESH KUMAR HYDERABAD l Tuesday l january 26, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE City EDITION 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 Minor face-off on LAC, this time in Naku La M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi Hours after India and China concluded talks on resolving the months-long stand-off along the Line of Actual Control, reports of another face-off on January 20 between troops on both sides emerged, this time in north Sikkim area. “There was a minor face-off at Nakula area of North Sikkim on January 20. It was resolved by local commanders as per established protocol,” an army officer said, which indicates the entire border with China continues to be hot. However, the ruling Chinese party’s mouthpiece Global Times called it fake news. This was the second face-off in over eight months in the same spot at Naku La; the first one happened on May 9. Monday’s meeting of Corps Commanders of both sides went on till 2.30 am on Tuesday A joint statement issued later stated, “The two . sides agreed to push for an early disengagement of the frontline troops. They also agreed to follow the important consensus of their state leaders, maintain the good momentum of dialogue and negotiation.... The two sides agreed to continue their effective efforts in ensuring the restraint of the frontline troops, stabilize and control the situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the ChinaIndia border, and jointly maintain peace.” Galwan warrior Col Santosh gets Maha Vir Chakra E N S @ New Delhi/ Hyderabad Acknowledging the bravery of soldiers who fought against PLA troops in Ladakh’s Galwan valley to safeguard India’s territory the Army decided to confer , awards on them that are given only during wartime. Col Bikumalla Santosh Babu, who led the Galwan of fensive and laid down his life, has been awarded the Maha Vir Chakra. Six others who were part of the same operation will receive the Vir Chakra. The Maha Vir Chakra was last given during the 1999 Kargil opContinued on P7 erations.  Parveen negi 2 lakh tractors to roll into Delhi today l 2 lakh tractors will take part in the kisan parade today, according to farmers’ unions l Thousands of farmers are ready with tractors at three Delhi borders Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur l 500 women, too, are expected to drive tractors l Tractor march likely to begin at 11.30 am and continue for over 12 hours l Each tractor can carry a maximum of five persons, including the driver; no It has been 60 days since the farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan are protesting near Delhi. Did the country’s PM enquire about them? - NCP supremo Sharad Pawar overtaking allowed l Over 3,000 volunteers, including women, to manage the parade l Three routes decided for rally; expected to cover over 100 km in Delhi l Coming up, protest on budget day, Feb 1. Farmers will march towards Parliament on foot | P7 padma for Abe, spb, Paswan, gogoi E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ New Delhi Former Union minister late Ram Vilas Paswan, two ex-chief ministers — late Tarun Gogoi of Assam and late Keshubhai Patel of Gujarat — renowned Islamic scholar Kalbe Sadiq and PM Narendra Modi’s former principal secretary Nripendra Mishra will be awarded Padma Bhushan, the government said on Monday . Former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan and singer K S Chithra will also receive this year’s Padma Bhushan. Ex-Japanese PM Shinzo Abe will be among the seven recipi- ents of Padma Vibhushan along with late singer S P Balasubramaniam and ex-director-general of Archaeological Survey of India B B Lal, who was part of the team which found a Hindu temple beneath the now-demolished Babri mosque. Veteran table tennis player Mouma Das was among the six sportspersons awarded the Padma Shri. A total of 102 people have been named for the Padma Shri this year. The list includes billionaire techie Sridhar Vembu, singer Bombay Jayashri, and lyricist Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri. P Anitha, Madhavan Nambiar, Sudha Hari Narayan Singh, Vi re n d e r S i n g h , a n d K Y Venkatesh have also been awarded the prestigious award for their achievement in sports. Padma, one of the highest civilian awards conferred by the President on the eve of Republic Day every year, will be conferred on 119 people from various fields including arts, science, medicine, agriculture, trade, sports, education and spiritualism. Padma Shri for TS artiste Kanaka Raju E N S @ Adilabad Kanaka Raju, a master of the ancient Gondi dance form Gussadi, has been chosen for the Government of India’s civilian honour Padma Shri. An Adivasi from the Gond tribe in Kumrambheem-Asifabad district of Telangana, Kanaka Raju is the only person from the State to be selected for Padma awards this year. This is not the first time that Kanaka Raju, a senior citizen from Marlavai village, is being nationally recognised for his prowess in the dance form. He had earlier participated in the Republic Day parade and performed Gussadi, when late APJ Abdul Kalam was the President of India. “I am very happy that the government is acknowledging my talent and the art form. I may be a poor man, but I have the blessings of my teachers and ancestors,” he said.