NEW DELHI 26 JANUARY 2025 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in PLUS: 12 PAGES The Wonder of Women and Water Face it, Fat is on the Move THE SHAPE OF NOW The Sunday Standard wishes its readers a MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Pushpesh Pant Ravi Shankar S Vaidhyasubramaniam Anu Aggarwal Debashis Chatterjee Prabhu Chawla Shankkar Aiyar Namrata Joshi SWAMI SUKHABODHANANDA SPEAKS PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK in from April 1 @ New Delhi OSAMU Suzuki, the former CEO of Suzuki Motors, who gave India its people’s car, and veteran Malayalam writer M T Vasudevan Nair were on Saturday among the eminent personalities who have been conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the nation’s second highest civilian award. Others who have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan include Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy for medicine from Telangana, Justice (Retd) Jagdish Singh Khehar for public affairs from Chandigarh, Kaumudini Rajnikant Lakhia for Art from Gujarat, Lakshminarayana Subramaniam for Art from Karnataka and folk singer Sharda Sinha. The Padma Bhushan was awarded to 19 people, prominent among them being late BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi and Shiv Sena leader from Maharashtra Manohar Joshi. Celebrated filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, ace hockey goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, noted economist and former chairman of PM’s economic advisory council Bibek Debroy late , ROLL OF HONOUR Osamu Suzuki & M T Vasudevan Nair Padma Vibhushan: Sharda Sinha, renowned folk singer; D Nageshwar Reddy, health expert from Telangana; Justice (Retd) Jagdish Singh Khehar; Kaumudini Rajnikant Lakhia, artist from Gujarat; Lakshminarayana Subramaniam, artist from Karnataka Padma Shri: Libia Lobo Sardesai, 100-year-old freedom fighter from Goa- Gokul Chandra Dey, 57-year-old Dhak player from West Bengal. Dr. Neerja Bhatla, gynecologist from Delhi specializing in cervical cancer detection and prevention Ghazal maestro Pankaj Udhas and former chairman of Prasar Bharti A Surya Prakash are the other recipients of the Padma Bhushan. Sadhvi Ritambhara, who was associated with the Ram Janam Bhumi movement in the 1990s, has also been awarded Padma Bhushan, according to the list released by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. In all, 139 eminent personalities were awarded. On the list of 113 Padma Shri awardees were several unsung heroes. Prominent among them are Libia Lobo Sardesai, a 100-yearold freedom fighter from Goa, who played an important role in the state’s freedom movement, Gokul Chandra Dey, a 57-year-old Dhak player from West Bengal who broke the gender stereotype by training 150 women in the male-dominated field and Dr Neerja Bhatla, a gynaecologist from Delhi, who specialises in cervical cancer detection, prevention, and management. Sardesai had co-founded an underground radio station – ‘Voz da Liberdade (Voice of Freedom)’ — in a forest area in 1955 to rally people against Portuguese rule in Goa. Dey created a lightweight Dhak and represented India at international platforms. P7 India, Indonesia to step up defence, maritime, trade ties INDIA and Indonesia agreed to instill a new momentum into their ties, with particular focus on collaborating in defence manufacturing, maritime security and supply chains as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive talks with President Prabowo Subianto on Saturday . The Indonesian President, who is on a three-day visit to India, will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on Sunday . “To strengthen our cooperation in the defence sector, we have decided to work together in the areas of defence manufacturing and supply chain,” Modi said. Describing the visit of the President as the chief guest for the Republic Day as a “matter of immense pride”, Modi said: “We have also highlighted the importance of cooperation in maritime security cyber secu, rity counter-terrorism, and de, radicalisation. The agreement Logging Off Life but Living On ‘Fickle Feelings Matter as Much as Morals’ PADMA VIBHUSHAN Unified Pension FOR MT, SUZUKI CZAR Scheme to kick EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Indian Jones in America signed today on maritime safety and security will enhance our collaboration in areas such as crime prevention, search and rescue, and capacity building.” Indonesia, an ASEAN partner and an archipelagic nation comprising more than 17,000 islands located between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean holds immense strategic significance to India. “We agree that the freedom of navigation should be ensured in line with international law,” Modi said amid growing global concerns over China’s muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific region. Prabowo said his government will accelerate its economic partnership with India and prioritise the cooperation over the long term. Both leaders expressed their commitment to boosting two-way trade worth more than $30 billion in 2024. Modi said the discussions focused on improvi n g m a rke t a c c e s s a n d diversifying the trade basket. Applies to all Central govt staff; state govts, too, can implement UPS, says notification D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi THE Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for Central government employees — an improvement over the existing National Pension System (NPS) — will come into force from April 1. A government notification issued on Saturday said those who opt for UPS can’t go back to the NPS. State governments, too, can implement the UPS. As on March 31, 2024, 26 lakh Central government and 66 lakh state government employees were making contributions to NPS. Of the `11.7 lakh crore corpus under NPS, state and Central government employees accounted for `9 lakh crore. The UPS guarantees an assured monthly payout of 50% of the 12 monthly average basic pay, immediately prior to the retirement of an employee who completed at least 25 years of service. It also guarantees a minimum monthly pension of `10,000 for those who have less than 25 years of service but served 10 years or more. In the case of voluntary retirement after at least 25 years in service, the assured payout will start from the date on which the employee would have retired, had he continued in service. In the event of the pensioner’s death, his family will receive 60% of the pension Lump sum at the time of superannuation A lump sum amount will be given at the time of superannuation, in addition to gratuity. Employees will receive 1/10th of their monthly salary (pay + DA) for every six months of completed service. It will not affect the amount of guaranteed pension amount that was being disbursed at the time of demise. The pension will be adjusted for inflation. This means that the payments will include dearness relief. The UPS will have two funds — an individual corpus with employe e c o n t r i bu t i o n a n d matching Central government contribution; and a pool corpus with additional Central government contribution. The contribution of employees will be 10% of basic pay plus DA. The government will match it and provide an additional contribution of an estimated 8.5% of basic pay plus DA to all those who chose the individual corpus option. An employee can exercise investment choices for the individual corpus alone. If he does not choose one, a default option decided by the pension regulator will apply . Purifying the Mind to Banish Ego NOIDA FIR against FITJEE boss for cheating EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi WITH FIITJEE centres across Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh being shut over the past few weeks, the Noida Police on Saturday registered an FIR against nine people, including the institute’s director on charges of cheating. The FIR also named the in-charge of the institute located in Noida Sector-62. The coaching institute chain prepares students for competitive exams like Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). The FIR was lodged by Satsang Kumar on behalf of the parents’ association under Sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and relevant Sections of the IT Act against DK Goel, Monila Goel, Partha Halder, Sadhu Ram Bansal, Rustam Dinshaw Batliwala, Shahsikan T Dubey , Mohit Sardana, Aanad Raman P and Ramesh Baltish. “To utter shock and surprise for the parents, they have not even issued any notice that under what circumstances, they have closed the FIIT-JEE centre in Sector-62,” the FIR read. “Manish Anand, COO, FIITJEE; Rajiv Babbar, CFO; Ashish Gupta, Centre in-charge, were running an unregistered coaching centre and were cheating the parents and students by taking advance payment and not paying salaries to teachers and employees,” the FIR said. Noida DCP Ram Badan Singh said that the case is being investigated. “No arrests have been made yet. We are trying to collect all evidence against the accused,” the DCP said. 26/11 co-conspirator loses appeal in US court, to be extradited to India M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Saturday | SHEKHAR YADAV Support for Hindu temple conservation The bilateral relationship dates back thousands of years. Modi announced that after the Buddhist Borobudur Temple, India will now contribute towards the conservation efforts of the 9th century Prambanan Hindu Temple in southern Java Indonesia marching contingent at parade “This is not only the first time an Indonesian contingent will march in our Republic Day parade, but it also marks the first time Indonesia has ever sent a military band and a military contingent to participate in a parade abroad,” the foreign office said DECKS have been cleared for the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin and a convict in the Mumbai terror attack case, to India after the US Supreme Court recently dismissed his review petition. India has been seeking Rana’s extradition since 2019. Rana’s petition in the US Supreme Court was his last legal option to avoid his extradition to India. Incidentally, the US Supreme Court’s order came on January 21, a day after Donald Trump took charge as the 47th President of the US. Rana, 64, is currently lodged at the Metropolitan Detention Tahawwur Hussain Rana Centre in Los Angeles. According to Indian agencies, Rana is an associate of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, a key conspirator of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. At least 166 people were killed in the attacks orchestrated by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. Ajmal Kasab was the only convict executed in the case. Another accused, Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, an Indian operative working for Lashkar terror group, was arrested in 2012 after being identified by Kasab. He is currently in a jail in Mumbai. Rana had earlier worked as a doctor for the Pakistan Army . He had prior knowlewdge of the attacks, and a federal jury convicted him in 2011 of helping Lashkar with material support. Officials in New Delhi said Rana’s actual extradition is just a matter of time and once he is brought to India, further interrogation could help unravel the role of Pakistani state actors in the attack. Will ensure upgraded sewer system in Shah promises welfare board for gig workers entire city in next 5 yrs, says Kejriwal A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that he would solve sewer issues plaguing the national capital by overhauling infrastructure in the next five years. He also promised to repair all the sewer lines and the replacement of aging pipelines on a war-footing during the next term of the AAP government. At a virtual press conference, the former CM said, “When our government was formed for the first time in 2015, we inherited several problems, with one of the major ones being faulty sewer systems. There are 1,792 unauthorised colonies. Before 2015, there was no developmen- tal work in those colonies. However, we overcame all the hurdles and initiated development work in those colonies.” The AAP supremo said, “These colonies had no sewer pipelines, so all the sewage used to spill over to the streets, making people’s lives miserable. In the last 10 years, we have laid sewer pipelines in almost all those colonies. After laying the pipelines, we are now work- ing to connect every household with the sewer system.” Kejriwal sought to reach out to the voters, saying, “If there is a sewer problem in your area, don’t worry. After forming the government, we will ensure proper cleaning.” Shortly after Home Minister Amit Shah accused him of misleading the people with false promises, Kejriwal said the BJP is relying solely on personal attacks. The 70-member Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on February 5, with the results set to be announced on February 8. The AAP is seeking a third straight term, having won 62 of the 70 seats in the 2020 election. MORE REPORTS ON PG 3 Yamuna riverfront Home Minister Amit Shah promised to develop Yamuna riverfront on the lines of Sabarmati, with the help of the Central government. The BJP leader said that the party would ensure a clean Yamuna if it wins the February 5 elections. `10L life insurance Amit Shah said BJP would give `10 lakh life insurance and `5 lakh accidental insurance to gig workers. The party pledged to create an integrated public transport network with an investment of `20,000 crore, convert Delhi into a 100% e-bus city. E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi IN an attempt to provide gig workers’ social security Home , Minister Amit Shah on Saturday announced to form a welfare board to deal with the challenges of the gig economy in the country Releasing the third . and final phase of ‘Sankalp Patra’ of the party, Shah said the BJP would give `10 lakh life insurance and `5 lakh accidental insurance to gig workers if the party wins February 5 polls. Rajasthan had become the first state in July 2023 to legislate social security measures for platform-based gig workers. In January 2024, the Haryana government had indicated that it would introduce legislation establishing a wel- fare board for the gig workers. However, the law is yet to be notified there. Addressing the media, Shah promised complete ownership rights to people in 1,700 unauthorised colonies, 50,000 government jobs and 20 lakh self-employment, 13,000 e-buses, development of Yamuna riverfront on the lines of Sabarmati river front. “The BJP will provide free treatment to senior citizens under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and we will approve it in the first Cabinet meeting if we come to power,” he said. Accusing Arvind Kejriwal of doing negative campaigning through WhatsApp, Shah said people were getting fake calls that the BJP would stop welfare schemes if the saffron party formed the government. “I want to reiterate that no welfare schemes for the poor will be stopped and the BJP will fulfil its promises,” Shah said. He took on Kejriwal on the liquor policy, saying the AAP supremo “proudly” stayed as CM in prison. He said the biggest poll issue in Delhi was to get rid of “liars and betrayers”, while referring to the AAP .