tight vigil for 72nd republic day Police bomb squad carries out inspection at the bus stand in Kozhikode as part of the Republic Day security measures | Manu R Mavelil kochi 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 AYAN K SING 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, stabilise and control the situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the ChinaIndia border, and jointly maintain peace.” Galwan warrior Colonel Babu gets Maha Vir Chakra M AYAN K SING H @ New Delhi 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 offensive 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 operations. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was honoured with the Vir Chakra in 2019 for downing a Pakistan F-16 and his fortitude while in enemy territory . Parveen negi 2 lakh tractors to roll into Delhi today l 2 lakh tractors will take part in the kisan parade on Tuesday, 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 11.30am 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 started protesting near Delhi. Did the 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 100km in Delhi l Coming up, protest on budget day, Feb 1. Farmers will march towards Parliament | P7 padma for Abe, spb, Paswan, gogoi E x pr e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi Former Union minister the late Ram Vilas Paswan, two ex-chief ministers — the late Tarun Gogoi of Assam and the 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 prime minister Shinzo Abe will be among the sev- STATE’S SHARE OF HONOURS PADMA BHUSHAN: K S Chithra (arts) PADMA SHRI: Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri (arts) Madhavan Nambiar (sports) K K Ramachandra Pulavar (arts) Dr Dhananjay Diwakar Sagdeo (medicine) Balan Putheri (literature and education) en recipients 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.  ● More on P4 cong & nationalist cong While the Congress has decided to make the most of the government’s decision to hand over solar case to the CBI, NCP MLA Mani C Kappan wants Sharad Pawar to resolve the issues in the party. CBI probe in solar case: chandy questions timing T’Puram: A day after the LDF government announced its decision to hand over the probe into the sensational solar case allegedly involving Congress leaders to the CBI, former chief minister Oommen Chandy on Monday seemed to face the challenge head on while questioning the timing and real intention behind the move. P4 KAPPAN MEETS PAWAR, SEEKS INTERVENTION Kottayam: Amid the growing rumblings in the NCP state unit, party MLA Mani C Kappan on Monday met national chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai and sought his urgent intervention to resolve the issues. Pawar shied away from giving any assurance. Our offices will remain closed today. There will be no issue of the paper tomorrow 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express