Academic regression during Covid: Study The Loss of Learning During the Pandemic study reveals 92% kids lost at least one specific language ability from the previous year. The language ability lost includes describing a picture or their experiences orally; reading familiar words; reading with comprehension. The study on primary school children was carried out by Azim Premji Univ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l thursday l February 11, 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 Shed status quo mindset and let new laws help empower small farmers, urges PM Ready for talks, says Modi while backing reforms E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Nobody had asked for the triple talaq or dowry laws, but they were still enacted, for reforms must be attuned with changing times was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the Opposition’s charge that farmers had not sought the agri laws. Addressing a joint sitting of the two Houses after Lok Sabha passed the Motion of Thanks to the address of President Ram Nath Kovind, Modi on Tuesday reiterated his government’s willingness to talk with the farmers all the while defending the laws as progressive. “Besides creating an additional, but optional, avenue has there been any change after the enactment of the laws? When the farm laws offer only an option, there cannot be any reasons for protests,” he said. Conceding that 100% acceptance to any new measure was not possible, Modi, however, said progress could not be gained without shedding the status quo mindset. Recalling Chaudhary Charan Singh’s words on farm fragmentation, he said: “We cannot progress if we do not care for small farmers, who constitute 80% EXPRESS READ India, China begin disengagement New Delhi: After a ninemonth-long stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh, the situation appeared to ease a tad on Wednesday as both China and India began a “synchronized and organised” disengagement process. Search suffers for want of layout Tapovan: After more than 72 hours of operations in Chamoli following flash floods, the rescue strategy changed with new information that they may be in another tunnel. 20 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express Amid freedom of speech spat with Twitter, govt begins Kooing B i s m a h M a l i k @ Bengaluru Caught in the eye of a political storm over the ongoing farmers protests, US social media giant Twitter on Wednesday said it had suspended more than 500 of the 1,178 accounts the ministry of electronics and information technology ordered it to remove citing the possibility of inciting violence and threat to national security . However, the site took a dig at the government saying the others were not suspended as the blocking orders were not consistent with Indian law. “Keeping with our principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression, we have not taken any action on agitation path On 77th day of their protest on the borders of the National Capital, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Tuesday prepared a detailed pan-India protest plan. The finer details will be decided later Feb 12: All toll plazas in Rajasthan will be made toll free The furnace oil leaks into the drainage leading to the sea at Kochuveli in T’Puram | B P Deepu Feb 14: Candle and mashaal march across the country 2,000 litres of oil leaks from Titanium into sea, Veli coast on alert Feb 16: Solidarity day to mark birth anniversary of Sir Chhotu Ram Feb 18: Four-hour rail roko across the country of the farming community. Fragmentation is a reality and , this is what the farmers’ producers organisations aim to address.” “A new world order is in the making in the post-corona era, and we have to choose between being a mute spectator and making reforms. An Atmanirbhar Bharat will play a crucial role in the new world order,” argued the prime minister. When Congress leaders began disrupting his speech, Modi took potshots at the GOP , saying it was divided. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram AROUND 2,000 litres of furnace oil leaked from state-run Travancore Titanium Products Ltd (TTP) to the adjacent coast around Ve l i i n T h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a m o n Wednesday . District Collector Navjot Khosa said the situation was under control and there was no need for concern among the public. However as a precaution, tourism and fishing activities in Veli, Vettucaud and Shankhumukham have been banned for two days. Visitors won’t be permitted to these coasts during the period. The incident happened when a glass furnace pipe burst and the oil leaked to the sea ● More on P4 through the drainage pipe.  ORTHODOX-JACOBITE ROW Panel proposes referendum to determine church ownership E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kottayam IN A MOVE to end the decadesold dispute between the Orthodox and Jacobite factions of the Malankara Church, the Kerala State Law Reforms Commission headed by former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas has proposed a referendum to determine the majority of the faithful in a parish for claiming ownership of its church. The commission submitted the draft bill to the government on Wednesday . “To determine the majority a , referendum needs to be carried out. Provisions also have been made to protect the ownership rights and beliefs of the churches,” Justice K T Thomas told TNIE. According to him, a threemember authority headed by a retired SC/HC judge has to carry out the referendum. “The authority will also have a member each from the Jacobite and the Orthodox factions. If the Churches do not nominate a member to the authority, then the state government can do the nomination,” ● More on P4 he said. jallikattu drops out of oscar race What the bill entails Referendum has to be carried out by a 3-member authority The authority should comprise a retired SC/HC judge and a representative each of Jacobite and Orthodox factions The Academy did not include the Lijo Jose Pellissserydirected flick when it named the list of final 15 movies. P7 accounts that consist of news media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians. To do so, we believe, would violate their fundamental right to free expres- sion under Indian law,” Twitter said. The ministry termed Twitter’s statement as ‘unusual’, posting its response first on a rival platform, Koo, which gar- Fully Indian firm Aprameya R, the co-founder and CEO of Koo, said it is an India-registered firm backed by investors like 3one4 capital. A Chinese investor, Shunwei, is also a shareholder, but will exit fully nered more than three million downloads in two days. “Upon the request of Twitter seeking a meeting with the government, the Secretary IT was to engage with senior management of Twitter. In this light a blog post published prior to this engagement is unusual. The government will share its response soon,” Meity said in a statement.