kannur l tuesday l january 18, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Deadline for feedback on GM food norms extended DECISION AFTER pressure from rss outfit The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)’s decision to push the last date comes in the wake of protests from anti-GM groups, activists, farmers and NGOs. Last week, the RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), too, put its weight behind the anti-GM campaign shooting off a letter to the FSSAI asking it to withdraw its “irresponsible” proposals People can now submit feedback on the draft regulations till Feb 5, the FSSAI said on Monday. Original deadline was Jan 15 Blanket nod for use as ingredient? ■ ■ SJM co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan also launched an online campaign highlighting GM food’s impact on health and nature According to the draft norms, once the FSSAI grants approval, no other clearance is required for GM food to be used as an ingredient in any product, except infant food | P7 Nov 15, 2021 When the fssai released the draft guidelines on gm food CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Drone strike kills 2 Indians in UAE Trouble to escalate after first attack by Houthi rebels, as Gulf nation says it has a right to respond E xpress N ews S ervice @ New Delhi 25 years India’s policies are long-term: PM India’s policies are made not just for today’s needs but for the next 25 years, PM Narendra Modi said in his address at the World Economic Forum’s online summit on Monday | P7 Synonym of kathak, complete kalakaar IT’s called the safest country in the Gulf region. Yet, three people, including two Indians, were killed in a drone attack near the Abu Dhabi airport on Monday The ter. ror message was clear – don’t think the UAE is a safe place any longer. Yemen-based Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack. Tension in the region is set to rise as the UAE has vowed to retaliate. “This terrorist attack by the Houthi militia on areas and civilian facilities on Emirati soil... will not go unpunished,” UAE foreign ministry said. The identity of those killed could not be immediately known and the authorities are working on it, India’s Ambassador to the UAE Sunjay Sudhir told this newspaper on phone. A Pakistani na- Iran-backed rebels Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack in UAE. The Houthis, backed by Iran, have in the past launched several cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia but this is the first time they are claiming an attack deep inside the UAE. Monday’s attack is reportedly a retaliation against the Saudi-led coalition’s offensive against the Houthis express read HC nod to examine 5 more witnesses Pandit Birju Maharaj  4 Feb 1938 - 17 Jan 2022 W hen Maharaj ji accepted his riyaaz in a store room for 4-5 my invite to take a work- hours till the sweat of his feet shop at my home in Con- made the floor slippery Then he . necticut, I was very nerv- would try his hands at various ous. But much to our surprise, instruments in the store. he turned out to be a simple man When he was 19-20, Maharaj ji immersed in dance and music. joined the Bharatiya Kala KendHe would eat home-made food, ra and started creating a grammake sketches on paper and af- mar for understanding every ter the workshop even invite all movement. He introduced many parents and sing for them. When new sams, the ending pose of a a life opens up before you like dancer. All these experiments that how does one start to de- were very well received by the scribe it! audience during the late 50s and Pandit Birju Maharaj was a early 60s. He also choreographed legend in his lifetime, a synonym many successful dance dramas. for Kathak and a complete KaMaharaj ji later joined Kathak lakaar, an artist par excellence. Kendra. As he had many interBorn as Brij Mohan Mishra in national students, he simplified the illustrious family his compositions by of Ishwari Prasad, making them numeriwith Kalka-Bindadin cal. He broke long Maharaj as his grandrhythmic composifathers and Achhan tions into playful Maharaj as his father, words for kids. Many he further added treof his complicated mendously to the reptihais (polyrhythmic ertoire of his technique) were made Neelima Beri heritage. playful for the audiMaharaj ji passed Director of Kalaleen Center ence while retaining away in Delhi on for Traditional Learning their complexities. Monday. He was 83. Maharaj ji perMaharaj ji started his taalim formed extensively all over India from his father at a very tender and abroad and recalled many age, but he was only nine when hilarious incidents from this his father passed away He then time. One particularly memora. learnt from his illustrious un- ble one was at Jhansi. The rowdy cles, Shambhu Maharaj and crowd was brought under conLachhu Maharaj. They had very trol by him by making an extemdifferent styles of dancing, one pore piece of Rani of Jhansi placing emphasis on the mascu- fighting the British. line style and the other on the Maharaj ji then set up his infeminine (Lasya). He told us sto- stitute, Kalashram. He was very ries of how he had to keep their fond of spicy street food and mastyles different for maintaining lai of Lucknow. He loved my peace with his uncles. paranthas and called me paranIn 1953, Kapila Vatsyayan, a thewali for quite some time. He disciple of Achhan Maharaj, also loved gadgets of all types called Birju to Delhi to work at but not in black colour. He was Sangeet Bharati. He would go to also the first Kathak artist to rethe school every morning and do ceive the Padma Vibhushan. Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday allowed the prosecution to examine five additional witnesses in the 2017 actor abduction and sexual assault case involving actor Dileep. “The order rejecting the summoning of five additional witnesses Nileesha, Kannadasan, Suresh D, Usha and Sathyamoorthy is set aside. The prayer to examine these witnesses stands allowed,” said the court. Amid Covid surge, int’l film festival postponed T’Puram: THE 26th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala, scheduled to begin on February 4, has been postponed in view of the state’s worsening Covid situation. The festival will be held based on the prevailing Covid scenario and the date will be announced later, said Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian. Except two, Monson’s ‘antiques’ are fake tional also died in the explosion. All the injured are said to be out of danger. According to reports, boobytrapped drones were launched at the storage facility of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) in Musaffah Industrial area, which sparked multiple explosions in the Emirate capital. The area is just 22 km from the city centre and has an oil pipeline network including 36 storage tanks, from which heavy vehicles transport fuel across the country . The UAE is a key member of the Saudi-led coalition that has waged war against the Houthis since 2015. The Houthis had recently threatened to launch strikes against the UAE after losing the key area of Shabwa, which is near the city of Ma’arib China grew at 8.1% in 2021 on low base effect E xpress N ews S ervice @ New Delhi CHINESE economy grew 8.1% in 2021, the fastest in 10 years, driven by low base effect. The annual growth rate is lower than economists’ average estimates of 8.4%. However, GDP growth in the fourth quarter at 4% bettered analysts’ expectation of 3.6%, data released on Monday showed. Macroeconomic futures showed that fixed asset investments in 2021 grew 4.9%, beating expectations of a 4.8% growth. Investment in real estate rose 4.4%, while that in infrastructure was up 0.4%. Investment in manufacturing shot up by 13.5% in 2021 from a year ago. Industrial production registered a 4.3% year-on-year growth in December 2021 beating analyst’s estimate of 3.6%. Though the 2021 growth rate Environmentalist M K Prasad, who spearheaded the Save Silent Valley movement in the 1970s, passed away in Kochi on Monday. The 89-year-old breathed his last while undergoing treatment for Covid. Prasad had led the protest against the state government’s plan to build a hydroelectric project in the evergreen tropical rain forests of Silent Valley. As the head of the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, he brought together prominent green activists to oppose the project. I have had the good fortune to know well and be inspired by four remarkable people — Salim Ali, Edward O Wilson, M K Prasad and Chandiprasad Bhatt, all of them great lovers of nature and dedicated to a higher goal transcending nar row selfinterests. I first heard of M K Prasad in connection with his initially single-handed and single-minded campaign in 1973 to save the Silent Valley. When I got to know E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Kottayam A criminal gang leader dumped the body of a 19-year-old, whom he beat to death, at a police station in Kottayam in the early hours of Monday, triggering widespread complaints against the cops for their laxity while dealing with the case. The shocking episode began to unfold Shan Babu with Jomon K Jose aka KD Jomon, 40, a local goon, reaching the deceased Shan Babu’s house at Muttambalam here by 9pm on Sunday and forcefully taking him in an autorickshaw. When Shan did not return even after late into the night, his mother Thressyamma filed a complaint at the East Police station by midnight. The police sent her back with the assurance that Shan would be rescued at the earliest. Around 3.30am, Jomon arrived at the police station with Shan on his shoulders and informed the police that he killed the youth. Jomon tried to flee, but the police overpowered him. Though Shan was immediately taken to the nearby hospital, doctors declared him brought dead. The Kottayam East Police later recorded the arrest of Jomon, of Mullankuzhy in Kottayam. The incident, however, exposed the police force’s failure to act swiftly to prevent the murder. Thressyamma who lost her only son was inconsolable as she blamed the police for sitting on her complaint. “I visited the police station at midnight and told them that my son is missing and someone named Jomon took him away But they told me . there was nothing to worry about. At 2am, the goon killed my son and dared to bring his body to the police station,” she said, blaming the police for letting out a history● More on P4 sheeter like Jomon on a free-run.  Covid wave ebbing in Mumbai, Delhi? New Delhi: Though the ongoing third wave of Covid continues to be building in the country, the curve in a few big cities may have started to bend. An analysis of daily Covid cases and deaths in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata shows that the wave may have already peaked there. Mumbai logged 7,895 new cases on Sunday; its figures have been declining since January 7 when the city had a whopping 20,971 fresh cases. Punjab poll postponed to February 20 New Delhi: The poll panel on Monday said Punjab election will be held on February 20 instead of February 14 in view of Guru Ravidas Jayanti. Various parties including the Congress and BJP had urged the EC to postpone the voting as thousands of Guru Ravidas followers travel from Punjab to Varanasi to celebrate his birth anniversary | P8 NATIONWIDE jan 16 jan 17 Fresh cases 2,71,202 2,58,089 Recoveries 1,38,331 1,51,740 Deaths 314 385 Riding the desi wave INS Vikrant performing various manoeuvres during the third round of sea trials off Kochi coast. The first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier of the country completed the sea trials and returned to Kochi Port on Sunday | Express A true nature lover, a thinker and a doer M a d h a v G a d gi l looks impressive, it is more a recovery from the Covid-driven slump in 2020, when growth had fallen to 2.2%. Analysts are not bullish on China as growth may slip again in future. According to a recent World Bank report, China’s growth will moderate to at 5.1% in 2022, owing to lingering effects of the pandemic and tighter regulations in certain sectors. It expects GDP to grow at 5.2% in 2023. Retail sales in December only grew 1.7% against analysts’ expectation of 3.7% . Unemployment rate among 16-24 age group remained high at 14.3%. Consumer spending in rural areas remains below prepandemic levels. Foreseeing a slump in GDP growth in 2022, China’s central bank on Monday cut key lending rates by 10 basis points, for the first time since April 2020. Police under fire as goon kills 19-year-old, carries body to station Kochi: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has revealed that a copper plate inscription — claimed to have a historical Sabarimala link — found in the possession of conman Monson Mavunkal is fake. The ASI found that, other than two silver coins and a wood-crafted spear, the items in Monson’s ‘antique’ collection are fake. (1932-2022) M K Prasad no more in north-east Yemen and is considered as central to the war. Saudi forces and UAE-backed ground troops tried pushing back the Houthi advance. Shia militias in Iraq have also been threatening the UAE in the past few days. This suggests that this attack may have been well orchestrated. Saudi-led coalition had issued a statement that they had destroyed three drones in southern Saudi Arabia. However, it provided no evidence to substantiate the claims. It has been targeted by Yemen through drones and missiles. The first confirmation of the death of Indian nationals came through a tweet by the Abu Dhabi police. Indian ambassador Sudhir, however, averred that the UAE is a very safe place. him well six years later, I discovered that he was a rarity among the community of scientists, a person driven by social concerns and committed to applying his scientific learning to advance the causes he held dear to his heart. His obsession is to empower the common man with a spirit of enquiry , with an urge to question all authority be it the priests of the old , who would not allow lower castes to draw water from their wells or the priests of modernity who preach that we should meekly accept pollution and despoilment of pristine nature on the altar of progress. M K Prasad was born on Vypeen, at the mouth of the Periyar and an island of great natural beauty spoiled by pollution. He was an Ezhava, of a community traditionally engaged in toddy tapping and barred from higher education and the learned professions.  ● More on P4 statewide jan 16 jan 17 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 18,123 4,749 8 22,946 5,280 18 Jab-o-meter Take your shot January 16 39,46,348 doses January 17 68,95,050 doses Total doses 1,57,91,63,478 Police to free ghost of colonial lingo from inquest of bodies S h a n A S @ T’Puram The word ‘pretha vicharana’ used by the state police to describe the inquest of a body will soon get salvation as the department has sought the state government’s permission to purge it from the police lexicon. They cite that addressing a dead body as “pretham” (ghost/soul) is illogical as well discourteous. It will be replaced by ‘mrithadeha parisodhana’ that translates to examina- tion of a body The decision . to write to the government regarding replacing the word was taken during a meeting of the ADGPs last week. “Pretha vicharana” is the word that’s often used in police records regarding examination of the body and the crime scene in cases related to unnatural deaths. According to sources, one of the attendees told the meeting that “pretham” is the term used for soul/ghost, which has no physical or ma- terial reality, and “vicharana” meant trial. It was pointed out that a soul cannot be tried and the examination of the dead body is not a trial. Instead, the term should be replaced with “mrithadeha parishodana” or “bhowthika sareera parishodana” (both can be translated as examination of the body). Finally, a consensus was reached and it was decided that “mrithadeha parishodana” should be used as the ● More on P4 alternative.