BHUBANESWAR l Thursday l january 28, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION VISA Biden nixes Trump bid to kill spouse work permits Joe Biden administration has withdrawn Trump’s proposal to refuse work authorisation to spouses of H1-B holders Obama era decision restored Indians among biggest beneficiaries Until 2015, H4 visa holders (spouses of H1-B workers) could not legally hold paid employment in the US. Former US President Barack Obama changed the regulation. However, the Trump administration proposed to reverse Obama’s decision, saying it is economically significant and is in line with the Buy American and Hire American executive order ■ ■ The decision to rescind Trump proposal came on the day Biden signed an executive order calling for racial equity in the country Indian and Chinese workers account for the majority share of H1B visas and H4 visas. Indians filed 74% of all H1B petitions in 2019 while the number was 11.8% for the Chinese 1,25,000 No. of H4 visas issued by the u.s. in 2019 calendar year 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 Police go after farmer leaders Claim they instigated mobs; add their names to the FIRs; unions call off Parliament march slated for February 1 Figuring it out 394 police personnel injured 19 people arrested, 50 detained 25 FIRs filed so far leaders named 37 farmerin FIRs Vandalised ticket counters on the premises of the historic Red Fort bear testimony to Tuesday’s mob fury during the kisan tractor parade | Parveen Negi E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi A day after Delhi convulsed as mobs resorted to violence amid the farmers’ tractor rally the police on Wednes, day launched a crackdown, adding names of several farmer union leaders to the 25 first information reports (FIRs) filed in connection with the riots. Delhi Police Commissioner S N Srivasatava squarely blamed leaders like Satnam Singh Pannu, Darshan Pal Singh and others for giving provocative speeches at Mukarba Chowk to instigate the mob. Others like Bhuta Singh and Bhurj Gill at the Tikri border and Rakesh Singh Tikait at Ghazipur instigated the people, which led to the violence, he charged. “No one will be spared and strict ac- Pools for all, more can watch movies 50% seating cap on cinema halls and theatres lifted, says the latest Union home ministry advisory. New standard operating procedure (SOP) to be issued by I&B ministry to lay down norms Swimming pools permitted for use of sports persons now open for all B2B exhibition halls already permitted, now all types of exhibition halls can function Further opening up of international air travel of passengers based on assessment of the situation Persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 advised to take precautions while moving out | P9 tion will be taken against everyone involved, who incited the violence,” he said. The police later sent show cause notices to farmer leaders like Darshan Pal Singh and asked them to identify members of their union who took part in the riots. The police are scanning CCTV footage and using the facial recognition tool to identify more culprits. As many as 394 police personnel were injured and many of them are in serious condition in the ICU. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body of agitating farmer unions, on Wednesday announced its decision to postpone the proposed march to Parliament on February 1, the budget day and observe fast on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30 as atonement. Bharatiya Kisan Union Punjab (Ra- Leaders named in FIRs include Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal, Kulwant Singh Sandhu, Satnam Singh Pannu, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Surjeet Singh Phool, Jagjeet Singh Dalewal, Balbir Singh Rajewal, H S Lakhowal, Gurnam Singh Chanduni, Rakesh Tikait jewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal said, “the morcha regrets the Red Fort incident and accept moral responsibility for it.’’ Rajewal and Swaraj Abhiyan president Yogendra Yadav alleged that Punjabi actor-singer Deep Sidhu and the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee were behind the mob violence and added that they would expose the ‘conspiracy’ of the government. In a related development, the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (RKMS) announced its withdrawal of support to the farmers’ agitation. “We cannot continue to join forces with people who have a different direction,” said VM Singh, its national president, in Ghazipur. Nalco expansion on track: Pralhad Joshi E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Union Minister of Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi has assured that the proposed brownfield expansion of National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco)’s smelter plant at Angul is very much on track and will be executed on priority . In his reply to the recent letter of Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan seeking Nalco capacity expansion, Joshi said there is no change in the brownfield plans of the company . “I have been informed that there is no change in the proposed expansion projects of Nalco at Angul district of Odisha. These projects are very much on priority Prepara. tion of detailed project report is underway and the company will do due diligence on their feasibility, based on the report,” Joshi said. “Ministry of Mines is taking all steps for implementation of the projects to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. The proposed expansion will be beneficial in the progress of the country and the State,” the Minister said. The Navaratna PSU has planned to invest around `30,000 crore by 2027-28 on expansion and diversification. Around `22,000 crore will be invested on the expansion of the company’s aluminium smelter unit from 0.46 million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 1 MTPA and construction of a 1400-MW feeder captive power plant (CPP) in Angul. Over `7,000 crore have been pegged for the 5th stream refinery and development Pottangi bauxite mines and Utkal D & E coal blocks. Buried history ASI unearths ancient temple floor near Suka-Sari complex Remnants of a temple floor excavated near Suka-Sari temple complex on Wednesday | Express D i a n a S a h u @ Bhubaneswar THE Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday stumbled upon an ancient structure, believed to be the floor of a temple, while carrying out scientific cleaning of the two acre land adjacent to the Suka-Sari temple complex. The structure was unearthed in the wake of the demolition work being undertaken by Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation Limited and Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) as part of the Ekamra Kshetra project for beautification of Lingaraj temple and its periphery In the last few months, sev. eral structures including a mutt on the land adjacent to Suka- Sari temple complex have been demolished. The newly discovered structure lies on the north-west corner of the ornate Sari temple. Two other struc- tures, also believed to be the remains of small shrines, have been partially exposed. Going by the findings, the ASI is presuming that the Sari temple complex was built on the Panchayatana model where the main temple is surrounded by four subsidiary shrines. A portion of the Sari temple which was earlier buried under the campus of the demolished Sanskrit college to its north has also been exposed while cleaning. Officials of the ASI excavation wing said existence of one subsidiary shrine of the Sari temple, located on its north-eastern part and behind Bhabani Shankar temple, was known. “Today, we found the floor of a temple in the north-west direction of the complex and two more structures on the south-west and south-east corners are partially exposed. Once the structures are completely dug up, we can confirm that the Sari temple was a Panchayatana model like the Brahmeshwara and Chitrakarini temples in the vicinity”, said Dr Sushant Kumar Kar, head of excavation CONTINUED ON: P7 wing, ASI. The curious case of Deep Sidhu E x p r e s s ne w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi In his quest for his 15 seconds of fame, he was seen on social media instigating mobs to hoist a religious flag at the Red Fort on Tuesday How. ever, Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu stands today as the most reviled person, disowned by the farmer leaders, his own state and politicians across the spectrum. While some opposition parties accused the government of planting him to discredit the farmers’ agitation, the BJP sought to distance itself from him. There were conflicting reports on his name figuring in the bunch of FIRs filed in the case. While earlier it was claimed that he did not figure in any of them, DCP, North Delhi, Anto Alphonse, later confirmed that Sidhu and gangster-turned-activist Lakha Sidhana have indeed been named in the FIRs. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha alleged ‘anti-social elements’ like Sidhu attempted to torpedo their peaceful agitation as part of a government plot. Pointing to his past links with the BJP, farmer leaders alleged he misguided some protesters. “Sidhu is an RSS man. Police let him go after he hoisted flag,” said farmer leader Darshan Pal. Sidhu was recently summoned by the NIA in connection with a sedition case against the banned pro-Khalistan continued on: P9 outfit Sikhs For Justice.  FARMERs PROTEST 80 Odisha artistes stuck in bus amid mayhem E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar/Bhawanipatna For Bajasal folk dance guru Dhyanananda Panda and his group, this trip to New Delhi was special as they were the only troupe from Eastern India to perform at the Republic Day parade on the Rajpath. But little did they know, their experience in the national capital would turn nightmarish even after an impactful performance that drew huge appreciation from all quarters. The 80-member troupe in two buses was stuck on the Mansingh Road for over five hours as the protesting farmers went on a rampage, attacking policemen and damaging property before laying siege to the Red Fort. The artistes were getting ready to leave Rajpath for their place of stay behind ITO Square after their performance at 12.30 pm when they got information that their route had turned into a battlefield. They then took an alternative route through Mansingh Road, which was also found to be blocked. The escort police party advised them to stay inside the bus till nor malcy was restored. The troupe members, including 28 girls, couldn’t even have lunch despite being too hungry after the performance. “We were stranded near Bikaner House. All the members were scared when we came to know about the violence. Thanks to the officials of Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC), our dancers could get some dry food like Samosa. We left the place with police escort at about 6 pm,” said Panda. The Prativa Anusthan troupe from Kalahandi had taken part in the parade through EZCC, Kolkata under Union Ministry of Culture. Union PNG and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Tourism and Culture Minister Pralhad Singh Patel on Wednesday met the troupe members and regretted the inconvenience caused to them. “The Ministry officials were in regular touch with the group and ensured their safe return from the venue,” Patel said. The team is slated to return to Odisha by Hazrat Nizamuddin-Visakhapatnam special train on Thursday .