tight vigil for 72nd republic day A member of a bomb squad conducts a security check at Manekshaw Parade Grounds in Bengaluru on Monday, ahead of the Republic Day celebrations | Shriram BN bengaluru l Tuesday l january 26, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 20 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 MAYA N K S I N GH @ 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 Colonel Babu gets Maha Vir Chakra MAYA N K S I N GH @ 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 today, say farmer 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 overtaking allowed | P9 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 No tractors in B’luru: Pant l Nearly 20,000 farmers in around 10,000 vehicles may take part in protest l Police Commissioner Kamal Pant said they will not allow farmers to enter Bengaluru in tractors l But they can use vehicles, like cars and jeeps | P4 Dr Hegde, Kambara get Padma awards E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @Bengaluru Renowned cardiologist Dr B M Hegde, Jnanpith awardee Chandrashekar Kambara and folk artist Manjamma Jogati are among five from Karnataka to get Padma awards this year, which were announced on Monday . While Dr Hegde gets the secondhighest civilian award of Padma Vibhushan, Kambara gets Padma Bhushan. Jogati, K Y Venkatesh (para-athlete) and Prof Rangasami Lakshminarayana Kashyap (a mathematician) have been awarded Padma Shri. Dr BM Hegde and Chandrashekar Kambara Dr Hegde said he is extremely happy with the award. “I got a call on Monday mor ning asking whether I agree to receive the award and I did.’’ Asked whether he expected it, Dr Hedge, who was conferred with Padma Bhushan in 2010, said many had expected the second- highest civilian award for him. Kambara said the award is for Kannada Saraswathi. “It is Kannada which got me till here. It gave me Jnanpith and now Padma Bhushan. I might not have got the awards if I had done my literary work in English. I am happy  P7 .’’ Award for Abe, SPB Ex-Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and late singer S P Balasubramaniam will be awarded Padma Vibhushan. Ex-Union minister late Ram Vilas Paswan, late Tarun Gogoi and late Keshubhai Patel will get Padma Bhushan | P7 Cabinet 4.0, BSY reshuffles again E N S @Bengaluru Once you start juggling, you have to keep juggling. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, under sustained pressure from his cabinet colleagues upset with their portfolios, offered fresh proof of that on Monday A fourth cabinet re. shuffle in the last five days, twice on Monday alone. He carried out the first cabinet expansion and reshuffle on January 21. But as grumbling grew loud from among his ministers, he reshuffled it again on January 22. That too did not stop the ministers from complaining, and he reassigned portfolios on Monday morning. But by evening, there P4 was a new list out.  express read Startups pin hope on tax holiday in budget Bengaluru: Ahead of the Union Budget, startups say a regulatory system should be brought in place to address the tax parity concerns. Incentivising domestic investments and FDI will be the key things to P13 watch out for, they said.