Declutter, Resell, Buy, Online Classes, Hard Lessons

Repeat p.16 “No Plans to p.12

The Man Defer Bihar
Behind the Elections”
Galwan River Sunil Arora,
p.08 Chief Election
Commissioner
p.15

www.economictimes.com | New Delhi | 20 pages | `10

June 14-20, 2020

Reducing the dependence on

China has to be a gradual effort
over several years. Any other
approach will spell pain in
Indian markets
p.06-07
 02
JUNE 14-20, 2020
Covid in Delhi:
Shah to Meet
LG, CM Today
New Delhi: Home Minister Amit
Shah will meet Delhi Lt Governor
T
Anil Baijal, CM
Arvind Kejriwal
and others on
Sunday to discuss
the situation in
the national capi-
tal. The number
of coronavirus cases in Delhi is
the third highest in the country.
There has been complaints of
non-availability of beds in hospi-
tals and difficulty in getting tests
done.
PM Reviews Situation
PM Narendra Modi on Saturday
reviewed the country’s response
to the pandemic with senior min-
isters and top bureaucrats. Dur-
ing the meet, it
was obser ved
that two-thirds of
India’s Covid-1 9
infection load
were in five states
with an over-
whelming proportion of cases in
big cities, the statement said. In-
dia surpassed the three lakh-
mark on Saturday with the worst
daily spike of 11,458 infections,
while the death toll too climbed to
8,884 with 386 new fatalities, the
Health Ministry said. — PTI
Fiat Wins M&M
Jeep Copy Case
Detroit: Fiat Chrysler Automo-
biles NV won its bid for an order to
block US imports of Mahindra &
Mahindra Roxor off-road vehicle
that it said copies the look of the
iconic Jeep Wrangler, the Interna-
tional Trade Commission said. The
commission upheld a judge’s find-
ing that Mahindra’s off-road vehi-
cle is a copy of the Jeep. The Trump
administration can veto the ban on
public policy grounds, though that
rarely happens. —Bloomberg
European Nations, India’s SII Sign Vaccine Deals with AstraZeneca
New Delhi/Rome: Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Se-
rum Institute of India (SII), on Saturday an-
nounced that his firm has signed a deal with As-
traZeneca to supply one billion doses of vaccine
for low and middle-income countries before the
end of 2020 to combat coronavirus. “We finally
have a deal signed with @AstraZeneca, to exclu-
sively manufacture their product for India and @
gavi countries, up to a billion doses annually. This
will ensure supply and access to all Indians,” he
tweeted.
In Europe, Italy, Germany, France and the
Netherlands have signed a contract with Astra-
Zeneca to supply its citizens with a vaccine
what’s news
India, China ‘Disengaging’ in
Phased Manner: Army Chief
he military talks between India and China
over the eastern Ladakh row have been “very
fruitful”, and both the armies are “disengag-
ing” in a phased manner beginning from Galwan
Valley, Army Chief Gen M M Naravane (pictured)
said on Saturday, in first official confirmation of mu-
tual pulling back of troops from the region.
The Chief of Army Staff also said “the entire situa-
tion” has been under control along India’s borders
with China and exuded confidence that the ongoing
dialogue will “settle” all the perceived differences
over the de-facto Sino-India boundary. Gen Nara-
vane was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of
the passing out parade of the Indian Military
Academy. “Both sides are disengaging in a
phased manner. We have started from the
north, from the area of the Galwan river
where a lot of disengagement has taken
place. It has been a very fruitful dialogue
that we have had. As I said, it will go on and
the situation will improve as we go
on,” he said.
The Indian and Chinese ar-
mies are locked in an over five-
week standoff in Pangong Tso,
Galwan Valley, Demchok and
Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern
Ladakh. A sizeable number
of Chinese Army personnel
Nepal Parliament Moves a Step Closer
to Approve Contentious Border Map
Kathmandu: The Lower House of Nepal’s Parliament
on Saturday approved a new map of the country, in- Representatives, said the new map was approved by
cluding areas disputed with India. The move signals a 258 out of 275 MPs, exceeding the required two-thirds
hardening of Nepal’s position over a dec-
ades-long border row that has strained ties
between the neighbours.
India has rejected Nepal’s new map, call-
ing it a “unilateral act” that is not based on
historical facts or evidence. Nepal published
its revised map in May after India inaugurat-
ed a 80 km road connecting Uttarakhand Nepal PM
with Lipulekh on the border with Tibet that KP Sharma Oli
passes through the land Nepal says belongs to it. The outstanding boundary issues,” the Indian government
map shows a sliver of land on the northwest tip of Ne- added.
pal as the Nepali territory.
Dr Reddy’s Gets Gilead Nod to Make Remdesivir
New Delhi: Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has
entered into a non-exclusive licensing
agreement with Gilead Sciences giving it
the right to register, manufacture and sell
remdesivir, which is being developed as a
potential treatment for Covid-1 9. The
agreement covers 127 countries including
India, Dr Reddy’s said in a statement. In-
cluded in the pact is a technology transfer
from Gilead for the manufacture of the
even transgressed into the Indian side of the de-
facto border in several areas including Pangong
Tso. The Indian Army has been fiercely objecting to
the transgressions, and demanded their immediate
withdrawal for restoration of peace and tranquillity
in the area. Both sides held a series of talks in the last
few days to resolve the row. “I would like to assure
everyone that the entire situation along our borders
with China is under control. We are having a series
of talks which started with corps commander level
talks which was followed up with meetings at the
local level between commanders of equivalent
ranks,” Naravane said. “As a result a lot of disen-
gagement has taken place and we are hopeful that
through the continued dialogue that we are
having, all perceived differences that we (India
and China) have will be set to rest.”
Military sources had claimed the two ar-
mies began “disengagement” around patrol-
ling points 14 and 15 in Galwan Valley and an-
other in the Hot Spring area, adding
the Chinese side has even moved
back up to 1.5 km in the two are-
as. However, neither the min-
istry of external affairs nor
the ministry of defence re-
sponded to queries about
the disengagement so
far. —PTI/Dehradun
Agni Prasad Sapkota, Speaker of Nepal’s House of
majority. There were no votes against. The
map must also be passed by the National As-
sembly, the Upper Chamber, and approved
by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari before it
becomes a part of the constitution.
Responding to the situation, India said ar-
tificial enlargement of claims is not based on
historical facts or evidence. “It is violative of
our current understanding to hold talks on
—Agencies
drug. Dr Reddy’s is responsible for scaling
up production and ensuring regulatory
approvals for marketing are granted in
each country. Remdesivir is currently ap-
proved in the US for the emergency treat-
ment of Covid-19 and an application for
conditional marketing authorisation has
been made to the European Medicines
Agency.
—Bloomberg
106 JSW Bellary
Plant Staffers
Test Positive
Kolkata: JSW Steel has asked
1 1 ,000 employees out of a
20,000-strong workforce at its
main plant in Bellary to work from
home after 106 employees tested
positive for Covid recently. How-
ever, the plant is “operating at full
capacity and there has been no
impact of the developments on
production at the shop floor,” Vi-
nod Nowal, Deputy MD, told ET on
Saturday.
About 400 employees have
been kept in quarantine while
their family members and neigh-
bors are in containment after it
was found that a Covid positive
employee had come in primary
and secondary contact with 500
of his fellow employees. Following
this, JSW Steel mobilised the ad-
ministration and got all the 500
employees tested within a day.
Out of them, 106 employees tested
positive. “While all of them are in
hospital, barring five, the rest of
the employees have shown no sign
of the infection,” Nowal said.
Only those employees whose
presence at the plant is necessary
have been asked to report for
duty. — Rakhi Mazumdar
UTI AMC Gets a
CEO After 2 Years
Mumbai: Acting CEO of UTI Asset
Management Company Imtaiya-
zur Rahman has been appointed
as the CEO.
The position has been vacant
for almost two years after Leo Pu-
ri’s exit from the fund house. Rah-
man, earlier the CFO, had joined
the UTI group in 1 998 and has
been with the AMC since 2003.
The move will pave the way for
UTI’s much awaited initial public
offering. The company had filed
its IPO documents in December
2019. —Our Bureau
against the coronavirus, Italy’s health minister
said on Saturday. The contract is for 400 million
doses of the vaccine, which was developed with
the University of Oxford and whose experimenta-
tion phase is already advanced and expected to
end in autumn, Roberto Speranza said in a Face-
book post. He added that a first batch of doses
would be made available by the end of this year.
The European Commission received a man-
date from EU governments on Friday to negotiate
advance purchases of promising coronavirus
vaccines, the EU’s top health official said, but it
was unclear whether there would be enough
money available. —Agencies

Crossing the Data Line
It’s hard to define a Chinese app and therefore bans and boycotts can’t be a robust response to
their popularity. India should build platforms with its own cultural and political ethos
:: Apar Gupta
A
s a growing number of Indians
consume their news and con-
tent online, there are high chances
that you are accessing this op-ed on a
device with components manufactured
in China. This long-standing dominance in
computer hardware has now tipped over
towards software deployment. Today,
there are a growing number of online
platforms with roots in China. This
trend has not gone unnoticed. Local tech-
nology entrepreneurs have been visiting
these technology companies in China to un-
derstand their growing scale and adoption in
global markets, including India. There is a sense of
admiration tinged with a hurt sense of national pride.
This insecurity has been growing in recent months as
public opinion and commentary have focused on the
growing dominance by China-centred companies. It has
become an issue policy makers are engaged with. Critics
point to the spread of disinformation as well as content
and business models that appeal to the base instincts of
users. There are also concerns around national cyber
security due to the proximity of large Chinese tech com-
panies to the Communist Party of China. Tangibly, this is
demonstrated in growing demands towards data locali-
sation or onerous compliances on not only Chinese but
even other large foreign social media companies. These
arguments reached a tipping point recently when follow-
ing the skirmishes on the India-China border, Indian so-
cial media users mounted a large-scale campaign to re-
move “Chinese apps” from their smartphones.
These public responses and policy conversations are
here to stay. At their very root is the unexamined premise
of protectionism. Such prescriptions are often made on
the basis of the policies which were adopted in China
through barriers for foreign firms that were possible due
to the unique and complex features of its nation-state at
a specific time. Replicating it from the pure standpoint of
imitating similar outcomes is a strategy prone to failure.
For instance, one complication is that Chinese compa-
nies are among the biggest investors in local technology
start-ups. Hence, to discern what is “Indian” and what is
“foreign” is a moot issue as a natural consequence of glo-
balisation.
Another consideration is that such prescriptions for
protectionism have adverse ecological impacts towards
broader innovation, which benefit local firms and end
users. This has been demonstrated by economic studies,
but also the fundamental political beliefs of the public
internet. The internet, as much as it becomes a walled
garden controlled by large corporations, is still at its root
a technology which permits cross-border data flows
and collaboration agnostic of physical jurisdictions,
enabling functionality and value for each participant.
Hence, the prescription of bans, creation of regula-
tory barriers or even consumer boycotts are crude im-
plements which do not satisfy the root of the issue,
which is lack of adequate local innovation. This need
arises from user demand for services which are not be-
perspective 03
JUNE 14-20, 2020
iing met, and while many
may question whether such
technologies may even be devel-
oped, alternative models and nu-
anced prescriptions are absent. To
build towards the future, not only for India
but for the world, there are some solutions
b
which merit examination.
It is important here to recognise that
Chinese firms build products for closed
societies, as evidenced in an influential
Chinese Communist Party memo titled “Docu-
ment No. 9”. The values that underlie state policy are
m
of centralising control and viewing the internet as an
o
extension of the political project of the state. While
this is a point of concern, within it rests an important
lesson of technology development being a function of
the larger political economy of a state. Playing to the
institutional culture of a country is a lesson which is
worth emulating.
Unlike China, India is a multi-party state. It has elec-
tions, institutions which push back against the execu-
tive, and a Constitution that guarantees fundamental
rights to all citizens and all of these are, at the very least,
imperfectly practised. This poses a positive value that
can be built out as more technology frameworks are
built that integrate with our daily lives. While threshold
issues centre on free expression in the age of big data,
informational privacy impacts all data-side interac-
tions. For instance, digital contact tracing technologies
provide a basis for quarantine, exit and entry, availing
public transit and even the ability to practically join em-
ployment. Here, risks arise even in the context of dis-
crimination—for instance, how do these algorithms
work? Do they objectively further the policy objectives?
What risks do they create?
Many of these answers can be found when product
design and legal safeguards
safeguard match each other. They arise
from a long ju jurisprudence of fundamental
rights and administrative
a law, which In-
dia shares with other democracies and
common law jurisdictions. Hence,
commo
leaning into these values offers a lev-
el of protection and user con-
e
trol which is a user expecta-
tion, something people ex-
pect and demand as they gain
greater knowledge about tech-
gr
nology. Within India and beyond.
nolog
Hence, the frefreedoms guaranteed under the
constitution can enable entrepreneurs to see
them as features rather tha than bugs. Tangibly, this may be
features and operational practices
through product feature
thatt can h
th helpl grow th the market for our technology in-
novations within and beyond India. To compete effec-
It is important to recognise that Chinese tively globally, we may learn from the practices of suc-
firms build products for closed societies, cessful global firms but have to focus on the needs and
as evidenced in a Chinese Communist values of our own local users. 
Party memo titled “Document No. 9 The writer is executive director, Internet Freedom Foundation,
a think tank
 HOW COVID
04 special report DELAYS WORK
JUNE 14-20, 2020

BETWEEN
Shortage of
semi-skilled
labourers

ROCK
Conditional
permission
from districts,
social distancing,

&
quarantine of

COVID
returning labourers

Work only in one

shift, unlike the
24x7 work cycle
in pre-Covid days

Shortage of materials
such as sand in J&K,
and explosives for
blast in the Aravali

TUNNELS IN
Geological hurdles in building NUMBERS
tunnels seem surmountable to the In the Himalayas
Indian Railways when compared
with the challenges of the
pandemic: shortage of labour and
disruption in the supply of materials
P H OTO S B Y S H A N TA N U N A N DA N S H A R M A

:: Shantanu Nandan Sharma

H
appiness comes in many forms. For geolo-
gist Amit Rawat, elation is what he feels
when he hears the sound of metal while he
is test-drilling rocks. He looks out for some-
thing else, too: whitish boulders. These two
as they need to adhere to social distancing
norms. They are also facing frequent prob-
lems in the supply of materials, particu-
larly explosives. “We wanted to see the big
day — when both sides of the tunnel meet—
while, procuring unskilled labourers from Udhampur-Srinagar-
nearby villages is turning difficult as they
are suspected and mocked at by people as Baramulla Rail Link
potential carriers of virus. Project (USBRL)
In J&K, where work has resumed in nine

are necessary for flawless tunnelling. Once
he is assured of both — the sound and the
colour — it is the time to pick explosives and
trigger a blast to make tunnels.
At Rojka Meo, a nondescript Haryana vil-
lage on the Aravali hills,
the rocks are of poor qual-
in May, but because of Covid-19, daylight-
ing will now happen only in August,” says
Kumar, an employee of Larsen & Toubro,
which is executing the project. This writer
visited the tunnel in the second week of
March and spoke to engineers over the
phone later as well.
38
tunnels, including the 12.75-km-long tunnel Total no. of tunnels
in Ramban district that will soon be India’s (excluding escape tunnels
longest, the procurement of sand is the key that are built parallelly)
constraint, says an officer in the Rail Bha-
wan, on the condition of anonymity. At pre-
sent, 11.2-km-long Pir Panjal, also in J&K, is
India’s longest railway tunnel. Gotthard
11 No. of tunnels already in use
in the functional stretches

ity. But the engineers
camping there since Au-
gust 2019 to build a rail-
way tunnel are confident
This project in the Aravalis is one of
the 200 railway tunnels that are at
various stages of development in
the country. These include 148 in
18
base tunnel in the Swiss Alps — measur-
ing 57.1 km — is the world’s longest. No. of tunnels being
With the pandemic delaying the readied for use
proposed sand re-auctioning pro-

that the geological chal-
lenges can be overcome.
They have state-of-the art
technology to mend the
“In the Kashmir
project, we are passing
through young fold
cracks and stitch the
rocks. The 1-km-long tun-
nel, built as part of the
119km
the Northeast and 27 in Jammu cess in J&K, the Railways is negoti- Length of tunnels
and Kashmir. As the pandemic ating with the local administra- in a total route
hit the nation, the geological hur- tion to find alternative ways, in- of 272 km
dles seem minor for the cluding taking over a mining
Railways when compared
with the Covid-19 troubles.
The challenges include
“The beauty of tunnel
construction is that we
encounter geological
site on a temporary lease, to
tide over the crisis. Gam-
mon Infrastructure Pro-
67km Length of
escape tunnels

mountains of the
Himalayas. That itself
is a challenge for
building tunnels. Now,
Covid is a new
challenge. Still, we
have taken permission
from authorities and
western dedicated freight
corridor (DFC) from Dadri
in Uttar Pradesh to Mum-
bai, will need 350 blasts in
total, each using 180-200
kg of explosives.
For Rawat and his col-
shortage of labour and dis-
ruption in the supply of ma-
terials, particularly sand in
Jammu and Kashmir and
explosives for the Aravali
project. Also, for the re-
sumption of work in each
surprises. Covid-19 has
also brought in
surprises. The good
news is that tunnelling
has resumed though
we anticipate a delay of the railway tunnels in the
six months or so in
completing tunnels”
12.75km
jects, Afcons Infrastructure
and Hindustan Construc-
tion Company (HCC) are
some of the private firms India’s longest rail transportation
that are engaged in building tunnel being constructed in Ramban
district of J&K
`27,949 crore Udhampur-

resumed work”
Vijay Sharma,
Chief Administrative Officer,
Udhampur-Srinagar-
Baramulla Rail Link Project
leagues at the site, con-
quering the rock is easier
than facing the challeng-
es thrown by the novel
coronavirus. As construc-
tion manager Sanjeev Ku-
tunnel project, permissions
need to be obtained from
district magistrates. Work is
further hampered by social
distancing, which means
bringing down the work-
Anurag Sachan,
MD, Dedicated Freight
Corridor Corporation of
India Limited
11.22km
Srinagar-Baramulla Rail
Link (USBRL) project.
It’s not an ordinary rail-
way project. Out of a total Length of Pir Panjal railway tunnel,
route of 272 km in USBRL, the longest so far
119 km are tunnels. At pre-

mar explains over the
phone, the present situation has forced
them to scale down the operation by 50%,
2022
force by half; prohibition of 24x7 opera- sent, 11 tunnels in J&K are fully functional,
tions; and 14-day quarantine for migrant with trains regularly passing through them. Deadline for the
labourers returning from home. Mean- In addition, there are escape tunnels meas- entire project
Source: USBRL
 special report 05
JUNE 14-20, 2020

Bhanupali-Bilaspur- In the Aravali

Beri Project Mumbai-Ahmedabad
(Punjab-Himachal) Dedicated Freight High Speed Corridor
Corridor Project
20 Total no. of tunnels
being planned
6 No. of tunnels under
construction on the alignment
8 Total no. of tunnels
being planned

3.81km 21km
uring 67 km — these are built parallel to the main Length of the proposed

1km
tunnel for the purpose of emergency exit. Fur-
ther, a provision for access roads to the tunnels
Length of tunnels in a total for emergency exit and rescue services is added
route of 63.1 km as an integral part of the project’s disaster man-
agement plan. Railways builds an escape tunnel
810m
whenever the length of the main tunnel is three
kilometres and above.
“In the Kashmir project, we are passing
Length of an escape tunnel through young fold mountains of the Himalayas.
That itself is quite a challenge for building tun-
nels. We also face adverse climate with massive
snowfall and landslides. Now, Covid-19 is a new
challenge. Still, we have taken permission from
In the district authorities and resumed work,” says Vi-
Northeast Hills jay Sharma, chief administrative officer of the
USBRL project. He, however, refuses to com-
ment on the possibility of shifting the 2022 dead-
line due to the pandemic.
The question of extending dead-
lines is important as it bumps up
cost. The more the delay, the great-
er will be the cost. Tunnel costs, in
fact, vary depending on geology,
location, specification and the
size. A kilometre-long tunnel usu-
ally costs `60-80 crore. But there are exceptions.
The tunnel in the DFC corridor, for example,
costs `185 crore mainly due to its size and other
features — like its diameter being double that of
the tunnels in J&K. The escape tunnels, though,
Length of the longest tunnel
in Nuh district, Haryana
WHAT GOES INTO
TUNNEL-MAKING?
A look at a tunnel
in the Aravali
LOCATION OF THE TUNNEL: Rojka
Meo village, Nuh, Haryana
Part of Western Dedicated
undersea tunnel in the
Thane creek
6.6km
Total length of 7 tunnels in the
mountainous terrains in Maharashtra’s
Palghar and Valsad districts
12.6 km in 2014-19.
Now 148 tunnels are being built in the region,
and in terms of length, 87 km are completed. The
110 km Jiribam-Imphal line, executed at a cost of
`12,524 crore, has the highest number of tunnels
in a Northeast project— 47.
The Northeast has unique challenges: pro-
longed monsoon, prevalence of sandstones with
high susceptibility to moisture, seismic vulnera-
bility and occasional insurgency. An officer con-
nected to the project says there is one more bot-
tleneck now: barriers in inter-state movement.
A senior railway officer tells ET Magazine that
with the deployment of an advanced technology
called the New Austrian Tunnelling Method a few
years ago, India’s tunnelling activities have been
fast-tracked both in J&K and the Northeast. “By
2022, our project in Kashmir and most parts in
the Northeast will be completed,” he claims, add-

148
No. of tunnels
cost less — about `25 crore per kilometre. Freight Corridor ing that the line connecting Assam to Meghalaya
being built in eight
While the USBRL project is a legacy of the UPA (Tetelia to Byrnihat) is facing some land acquisi-
ongoing projects LENGTH: 1 km
era — two legs involving 161 km out of 272 km tion issues, and the first ever railway line in Sik-
were commissioned by July 2014 — railway pro- kim — the 45 km Sivok-Rangpo line, being con-
DIAMETER: 14 m

25
jects in the Northeast got a boost during the NDA structed at a cost of `4,086 crore — is expected to
No. of completed rule. If the average annual tunnel mining in the SHAPE: Modified Horseshoe be completed only by 2023. It will have 14 tunnels
tunnels Northeast in 2009-14 was 6.3 km, it jumped to measuring 38.5 km.
CONTRACTOR: Larsen & Toubro Tunnel mining could well be the mainstay of

160.8km
railway construction if the national transporter
PROGRESS: 720 metres
ventures into other geographies, including
completed connectivity under the sea. In the design of
Length of tunnels in TECHNOLOGY: NATM (New Austrian Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor, for
ongoing NE projects Tunnelling Method) example, there are eight tunnels, the highlight
being the proposed 21-km-long undersea tun-

102km
nel in the Thane creek, mainly to avoid a fla-
mingo sanctuary and the nearby mangrove.
PROCESSES The rest of the seven tunnels in the proposed
Total length of tunnels flagship project are designed to pass through
Survey and Profile
already mined in NE 1 Marking: This is the key
mountainous terrains in Palghar and Valsad
“In tunnels, we work against nature. We districts of Maharashtra. Twenty more tunnels
are winners only if we can control the component of planning
are being planned in the Bhanupali-Bilas-
rocks. In this particular tunnel at Rojka Drilling: Two German pur-Beri line connecting Punjab with the
Meo in Haryana, we wanted to see the big 2 boomer machines are hills of Himachal Pradesh.
day — when both sides meet— in May, but The chief of the DFC project, Anurag
Tunnel Mining in because of the Covid crisis, daylighting will
deployed, each costing
`4.8 crore Sachan, anticipates delay in completing
NE and J&K (in km) now happen only in August. We are the tunnels he has been handling. “The
working at 50% capacity & maintaining Charging of Explosives:
2009-10 6.5 social distancing” 3 180-200 kg explosives
beauty of tunnel construction is that we
often encounter geological surprises, like
2010-11 8.6 Sanjeev Kumar, are required to achieve three a gush of water as we excavate. Covid-19
construction manager, Larsen & Toubro metres of depth has also brought some surprises. The good
2011-12 12.4 news is that tunnelling has resumed
Blasting: A total of 350
2012-13 15.8 4 blasts will be required though we anticipate a delay of six months
or so in completing our tunnels,” he says.
2013-14 18.2 Mucking: A method to Sachan had earlier headed the USBRL pro-
2014-15 24.9 5 remove the debris using ject in Kashmir.
loaders and dumpers In building tunnels, one works against
2015-16 28.5
nature. Only those who can control the
Rock Support System: Two
2016-17 29 6 Swedish Cifa machines –
rocks can win. “When perfect matching hap-
pens and we achieve daylight, we feel proud and
2017-18 34.3 each costing `1.5 crore — are happy. We have a good drink at every daylight,”
2018-19 39 deployed; boomers are used says an engineer in the Kashmir project. The
for stitching rocks (mending next cheers could take a while longer. 
2019-20* 33.7 cracks) shantanu.sharma@timesgroup.com
(*till February) | (Source: Ministry of Railways)
 06 cover story
JUNE 14-20, 2020

9%
The share of China and
Hong Kong together in
India’s export basket

17%
The share of China and HK in
India’s import basket

220
Number of Indian companies
with legal linkage to
companies in China

$550 mn
The amount spent by Chinese
tourists in India every year

Electronics
Reducing industrial Trade Imbalance 17,041 the way he likes.
Bose says it is almost impossible to re-
dependence on China Between April 2019 and
Machinery place Chinese sticks in India, although
January 2020, India’s
has to be a gradual effort exports to China added 13,727 some north Indian producers make ice-
cream sticks from poplars in Uttarakhand.
up to $14.42 billion,
over several years of while imports were over
He buys the second grade in the trade at $17

$57,936 mn
per carton of sticks, and says similar quality
four times that at
accelerated $57.93 billion
sticks made in India would cost $25-26 a
carton. The year 2020 is likely to be a wash-
indigenisation. Any other Imports from China out for the business, says Bose, although he
$mn says Chinese suppliers have been constant-
approach will spell pain ly in touch. With the summer gone and
monsoon a lean season for ice cream, Bose
in Indian markets says he will likely place his next order close
to December.
:: Suman Layak What is true for something as mundane

D
uring his yearly visits to China, food re-
mains an issue for businessman Rajnath
Bose. The supplier of wooden ice-cream
sticks, spoons, and medical tongue depres-
sors, who works out of Mumbai and Kolka-
ta, sources his wares from a bunch of Chi-
nese companies. Bose visits the Chinese
cities of Dalian and Harbin, to the north and
east of Beijing, respectively, close to that
country’s borders with Mongolia, Russia
and North Korea. The Birchwood needed
for making the sticks comes from Russia or
Mongolia. Bose’s firm — Wood-
makers —also makes ice cream
sticks in their own factory in
Kolkata using local wood, but
$14,421 mn
Bose says Chinese quality is
better. Besides, the latest ice
cream machines coming from
Italy or China, need sticks
made of Birchwood or Poplar.
Therefore, in spite of the
severe cold, Bose keeps
“If we can improve visiting northeastern Chi-
transportation, we na and his dozen-odd sup-
can become as pliers there. The Chinese
competitive as hosts try to make his stay
China” as comfortable as possi-
ble, going to the extent of
Arun Singh,
Source: D&B
as ice-cream sticks is also true for a range of
intermediary products that India buys from
China. Be they automotive parts, active
pharmaceutical ingredients (API) or elec-
tronics, they remain key ingredients for
products that are made in India. Industry
experts and economists who spoke to ET
Magazine say that any move to reduce our
Chemicals reliance on Chinese products and compo-
13,506 nents has to be a long drawn-out project,
and sudden moves will be painful for Indi-
an industry. It is a question that has gath-
ered heft over the past few months, due to
the stand-off at the border, the US-China
trade war that India has sought to benefit
from as a potential destination for factories
Exports to China moving away from China, popular calls for
$mn Metals boycott of Chinese products and a general
Minerals 4,423 4,380 move towards self-sufficiency as a country
in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chemicals 3,716 Rajeev Karwal, founder of robots maker
Agriculture 2,377 Milagrow Robots, and a veteran of the con-
Textile sumer durables industry, says it will be im-
Textile 1,171 3,768 possible for the Indian consumer electron-
Metals 956 ics industry to survive without supplies
Stones 1,389 coming in from China, and adds that even
Machinery 837
Covid-19 testing kits come from China. “Ge-
Electronics 737 Vehicles 1,353 opolitical issues and border issues will al-
Agriculture 1,337 ways be there and need to be addressed at a
Stones 115

arranging induction cook- different platform. With business linkages,

chief economist, Minerals 1,062
tops at restaurants, so he Vehicles 90 there are better chances of solving geo-po-
Dun & Bradstreet
can cook or modify a dish litical issues. Otherwise stakes become
Others 1 Others 374

“We are working
aggressively with
our vendors for
Make in India to
reduce overseas
dependence. We
see these events as
a big opportunity to promote
localisation”
Sunil Kakkar, executive director (supply
chain), Maruti Suzuki India
zero,” Karwal adds.
A look at the numbers of India-China trade
tells the story. According to CARE Ratings, In-
dia’s exports to China grew from $9 billion in
2015-16 to $16.78 billion in 2018-19, at a com-
pounded annual growth rate of 23%. On the
other hand, imports from China, a much larg-
er number, also grew in the same period from
$61.72 billion to $70.4 billion at a CAGR of
4.48%. Imports had hit a high of $76.37 billion
in 2017-18 before dropping in 2018-19. There is
a huge trade imbalance between the two
countries. But, encouragingly, the Indian ex-
ports were growing way faster than imports.
Arun Singh, chief economist with Dun &
Bradstreet, says that there are around 220 In-
dian companies that have legal linkages (read
sister-company relationship) with around
350 Chinese entities. Also when China and
Hong Kong are taken together, they consti-
tute 17% of India’s imports and 9% of India’s
exports.
Singh further points out that some Indian
industries are more deeply dependent on
China than the others. According to calcula-
tions from a March report by Dun & Brad-
street at the outset of the lockdown, China’s
share in India’s import of bulk drug and phar-
maceuticals intermediaries was 68%. The
share of China in consumer electronics im-
ports was at 43% and for textiles and gar-
ments, China’s share in imports was at 27%.
Balance of Trade
The report further identified industries such
as gems and jewellery, media and entertain-
ment, tourism and metals as areas where In-
dia had substantial export earnings from
China. Around 3% of all foreign tourists visit-
ing India are Chinese, and they are high-
spending tourists who stay an average of 19
days in the country, cumulatively spending
about $550 million in India every year. Indian
films make a killing in Chinese cinema halls
and around 38% of India’s gems and jewellery
exports are to Hong Kong. China was also the
largest importer of copper from India till two
years back, when a larger facility owned by
Sterlite in Tuticorin had to shut down.
Singh says: “Any disengagement with Chi-
na will be painful. It will also affect price sta-
bility in the Indian markets.”
Madan Sabnavis, economist with ratings
agency CARE, points out that unless the en-
tire world decides to reduce dependence on
China, India cannot do it alone. “Boycott calls
can appeal to you and me, but people will al-
ways buy Chinese if prices are lower than
Japanese or Korean products,” he says.
Amit Bhandari, fellow of energy and envi-
ronment studies at Gateway House, a Mum-
bai-headquartered thinktank, says a bigger
dependence would be created if India were to
go for electric vehicles with their current
technology. He points out that China controls
70% of the world’s rare-earth production
used to build magnets for electric vehicles.
The 17 rare-earth elements, though reasona-
bly abundant, are rarely found in economi-
cally exploitable ore deposits. Cobalt, anoth-
cover story
JUNE 14-20, 2020
Top Indian
Internet
Companies er key element needed to build electrodes for
with Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), is again mined largely in
Congo and Chinese companies have already in-
Investors vested there heavily.
Ranked in the order
“Supply of two out of the three key items for
of total funding EVs are controlled by China and the third one,
lithium, also has supply constraints as it mostly
comes from Australia,” Bhandari says, pointing
out that India would do well to wait out for other
EV technologies to develop.
Paytm While EVs are things of the future, the supply
chains of the automobile sector of today is also
Alibaba,
largely China-dependent. Sunil Kakkar, the ex-
Alibaba Group, ecutive director for supply chain at Maruti Su-
Ant Financial zuki India, says: “At Maruti Suzuki, our localisa-
tion levels are quite high and our direct imports
are very limited. However, our suppliers, which
are global auto component manufacturers, im-
ports certain category of parts, mainly electron-
ic parts like semiconductors, LCDs, Sensors, or
LCDs from China and use for local assemblies
Ola and then supply to us.”
China-Eurasia Economic Kakkar says while supplies from China have re-
Cooperation Fund,
Didi Chuxing,
Sailing Capital,
sumed now, the company had also activated oth-
er suppliers who have a base outside China, in
February. Maruti is now looking at pushing local-
Tencent ised manufacturing. Kakkar adds: “We are work-
ing aggressively, along with our vendor partners,
for Make in India to reduce overseas dependence.
We see these events as a big opportunity to pro-
mote localisation. We are discussing with our ven-
dors along with their global partners to invest in
India and to bring in their Tier-2 sup-
Oyo pliers in India to reduce dependency
Didi, on other countries.”
Huazhuhui Singh of Dun & Bradstreet points
out that local industry can benefit if
the degree of localisation in the sup-
ply chains of the various China-de-
pendent industries can go up. He
points out that there is a manufactur-
ing exodus happening out of
Snapdeal China and companies are look-
ing at India. “If we look at the “We must know
Alibaba Group, Manufacturing Cost Index and exactly how much of
Tybourne Capital
if USA is at 100, China is at 95 the product is made
Management
and India is 86. But where we in India. We have to
become uncompetitive is the look at the bill of
cost from factory gate to port materials and see if
gate and then from the port gate
to the port gate of the importing
the Indian content is
nation,” Singh says.
50% or more”
In 201 8, D&B had done a Rajeev Karwal,
study on port logistics and had founder, Milagrow Robots
Swiggy
graded all India ports on their
Hillhouse Capital Group, performance and efficiency. “If
Meituan, we can improve the transportation, we can be-
Tencent come as competitive as China,” Singh adds.
Karwal of Milagrow says that India will need to
look carefully at the current products that are
Source: TRACXN touted as made in India. “We must know exactly
how much of the product is actually made in In-
Key Industries Dependant on Imports from China
Figures are % share of China in imports by India
Bulk Drugs and Auto
Intermediaries Electronics Garments Ancillaries
68% 43.2% 27% 8.6%
Source: D&B
07
Top Chinese Investors in India
in Indian Ecommerce/Tech
Figures are number of investee companies
19
Tencent
16
Shunwei Capital
Swastika 10
8
Xiaomi
Fosun RZ Capital 6
Hillhouse Capital Group 5
4
NGP Capital
Alibaba Group 3
Axis Capital Partners 3
3
BAce
Source: TRACXN
dia. We have to look at the bill of mate-
rials and see if the Indian content is
50% or more,” Karwal says, adding
that components imported from ASE-
AN countries often have parts that are
imported from China. He adds that 80-
85% of magnetrons, a component for
microwave ovens, are made in
China and India does not have
chip or fab plants (expensive fab-
ricator units that make semicon-
ductor chips, found in all com-
puting devices) or units making
flat panels, compressors or in-
verter motors, either. “Reducing
dependence on China will be a
three-to-five-year process and
must start at the component lev-
el,” Karwal says.
Malay Mukherjee, the former
chief operating officer of Mittal
Steel (now ArcelorMittal), says it
has to be a carefully considered strategic move
rather than an emotional move. “Every country
is looking at how to reduce their dependence on
China. It has to be a coordinated move by a
group of countries.” He points out that while In-
dia can seek mass-production opportunities,
something the western countries are not very
good at. China has strategised over the years
how they will handle the situation of trade barri-
ers coming up. “Consumer goods can be re-
placed quickly, but our problem will be in capital
goods. They have designed equipment in a way
so that a key component has to be made in Chi-
na, and everything else must fit. A prime exam-
ple is the power generating equipment where
we are very dependent on the Chinese. Thank-
fully not so much in mining,” Mukherjee says.
Mukherjee adds that the Chinese business-
men are very entrepreneurial, but at the same
time follow government rules and guidelines,
even if these rules are not always written down.
Even in business dealings with the dragon, the
Chinese government remains the key. 
suman.layak@timesgroup.com
08 first person
JUNE 14-20, 2020

FAMILY
RIVER
An improbable thread links two generations of
my family to India-China border conflict

:: Rasul Bailay

I
t’s probably safe to assume that you have
by now heard of the Galwan river. Its valley
is one of the flashpoints of the ongoing
high-altitude standoff between the Indian
and Chinese forces.
The river, which runs 80 km westwards
from its origins in Karakoram range
through Aksai Chin and east Ladakh to join
the Shyok river, a significant tributary of
the Indus, is deemed to be of strategic sig-
nificance in this region, with simmering
border tensions between India and China.
The valley was also a flashpoint during the
1962 India-China war.
It is named after Ghulam Rassul Galwan,
a hardy Ladakhi adventurer and explorer
who assisted many famed European ex-
plorers at the turn of the 19th century. He
later brought alive that world — of treacher-
ous expeditions through high Himalayas
during The Great Game, as Russia and Brit-
ain jostled for dominance in the region — in
the book Servant of Sahibs.
He was also my great-grandfather.
Born in 1878, Galwan either led or was
part of numerous expeditions into Tibet,
Yarkand (now in the Uygur Autonomous
Region of Xinjiang, China), the Karakoram
range, the Pamirs and other Central Asian
regions — mostly through inhospitable ge-
ographies with altitudes ranging from
5,000 m to 7,000 m above the sea level and
where temperature plunged to -30 degree
Celsius in the winter. At that temperature,
an inadequately clothed person develops
hypothermia in 10 minutes.
Galwan assisted and travelled with the
legendary names of those times. In 1887, he
travelled with Major HH Godwin-Austen,
the English geologist who determined the
height of K2, the world’s second tallest
peak, also known as Mount Godwin-Aus-
ten. In 1892, he travelled with Charles Mur-
ray, the 7th Earl of Dunmore, on a trip
thought to be a diplomatic or espionage
mission. In 1890 and 1896, he travelled
known among the expeditions of a man
who appears to have been travelling near-
ly all of his relatively short life — he died
at 47, in 1925.
During the 1 892 mission with
Murray, the 7th Earl of Dunmore,
the group had hit a wall of tall
mountains and steep gorges
with no possible way out. Gal-
wan, a 14-year-old boy at the
time, went ahead searching for
a possible route out of the laby-
rinth. To the group’s surprise,
The Man Behind
the River
Ghulam Rassul Galwan
c 1878 -1925
Born in Leh, Ladakh
the boy found a relatively easier pas-
sage through the ravines that helped
the expedition to go ahead without
much difficulty or any casualty.
Impressed, Dunmore decided to
name the newfound passage
through the edge of the gurgling
water the “Galwan Nullah”, ac-
cording to Ladakhi historian
Abdul Ghani Sheikh.
“I have never heard of an
instance of naming of major
geographical feature after a
SUNEESH K

with Sir Francis Younghusband, the archi- native explorer. Briti sh

tect of the Anglo-Tibetan Treaty of 1904,
which ensured long-term trade conces-
sions for the British government. In 1913,
he accompanied Italian zoologist Filippo
de Filippi. These were just the better
names have been given but nev-
er heard of one being named after a local,”
says Harish Kapadia, mountaineer, author
and long-time editor of the Himalayan
Journal.
 first person 09
JUNE 14-20, 2020

The Ladakh of those days was a land-
scape stricken with poverty. Galwan was
forced to go on risky, long-distance expedi-
tions when he was just 12, to supplement
the meagre and inconsistent income of his
single mother, a winnower. But the path he
chose due to compulsion later became a
passion and he never looked back even af-
ter his material circumstances improved.
Starting out as a porter and pony man,
he rose through the ranks to eventually
become the aksakal or the chief assistant
of the British joint commissioner at Leh.
For about 35 years, he assisted or led
expeditions with British, Italian and
American explorers. He spoke the native
Ladakhi, Turki and Urdu and had work-
ing knowledge of Kashmiri and Tibetan,
according to Ghani Sheikh. During the
courses of his trips, Galwan also learnt
English language and eventually wrote
his autobiography. Ghani Sheikh reckons
Galwan was probably the first person in
the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir
to write an autobiography in English.
“When he joined my husband, he had
an English vocabulary of a dozen words,
and therewith an ambition to write ‘the
story of his happened’ in English,” Kath-
erine Barrett, who edited the book,
would write in the Editor’s Introduction.
In a bid to increase his vocabulary, her
husband, the American adventurer Rob-
ert Barrett, spoke to Galwan in his style of
broken English, exchanged notes and
gave him the King James Bible and a copy
of a 17th century travel book to read. Gal-
wan kept jotting down the experiences of
his trips and about various sahibs on thin
paper and kept shipping them to the
The Mission
Pamirs and Central Asia.
During Galwan’s life, his homeland was
part of the famed Silk Route, which was
volatile (how some things never change),
with different kingdoms and tribes trying
to maintain their control over the lucra-
tive paths, swarming with robbers.
Galwan was born in Leh, possibly in 1878.
He was raised by his single mother; both of
them got by doing menial jobs and house-
hold chores for a government official.
The book offers early glimpses of his
doughty spirit. Once to protest being chid-
ed by his mother, he left home for a friend’s
house, and walked defiantly for miles in the
freezing winter, without shoes.
During those days, Leh, the capital and
principal town of Ladakh, was an impor-
tant hub on the Silk Route, where traders
from Kashmir, Punjab, Afghanistan, Ti-
bet, China and Central Asia would con-
gregate and barter their goods — teas to
turbans, creams to carpets. The triangu-
lar town, situated at an altitude of 13,500
ft above sea level, was a melting pot of
various ethnicities.
Petty fights would often
break out between them.
In one such scuffle, Gal-
wan and his friends
were chased through
the streets of Leh and
were badly beaten by a
group of Chinese traders
and their aides, according
to his autobiography. J&K
As he lay on the ground,
Galwan recalled in his book,
“I thought: ‘This people will
kill to me.’”
My father was
wounded but
Dead Man Walking survived. The
high ridges. Despite their
The same fear of being survivors were
precarious positions and
killed by the Chinese captured by the PLA,
with their modest fire-
would be experienced arms, the Indian contin-
which made them
by another member of gent fought bravely but
carry the bodies of
my family seven dec- 10 Indian lives were lost
ades later. This was
their deceased
in the incident.
when a hail of bullets colleagues back to the
My father was wound-
from the People’s Lib- Chinese side
ed but survived. The sur-
eration Army (PLA) vivors were captured by
rained down on a the PLA, which made
the hostages carry the bodies of their de-
search party of Indian security forces in Oc-
ceased colleagues back to the Chinese
tober 1959 near the Hot Springs check post
side. For more than a month, they were
near Aksai Chin, close to the Galwan river.
kept in underground bunkers. With no
In that patrol party was a 24-year-old
news from the border, my father was con-
recruited by the Intelligence Bureau — my
father Abdul Majeed Bailay. sidered dead. My devastated grandmother
performed his last rites as per Islamic ritu-
Tensions were brewing between India
als and local Ladakhi traditions.
and China that year. During the 1959 Ti-
Then as part of an agreement after five
betan Uprising, the Dalai Lama had fled to
weeks, China released the hostages and
India in March and India had granted asy-
handed over the bodies of Indian jawans
lum to the Tibetan spiritual leader.
who died in the Hot Springs shootout.
On October 21, one of the three recon-
On a winter afternoon, children playing
naissance parties that had gone to the Hot
at Stalam, near the Leh Palace, saw an ap-
Springs area did not return to the base.
proaching party of security forces on
Sensing something amiss, a search team of
horseback. When some of them recog-
about 20 members, comprising Central Re-
nised my father among the soldiers riding
serve Police Force (CRPF) jawans and Intel-
the horses, the children were stunned.
ligence Bureau (IB) men, including my fa-
Old-timers say the children ran scared,
ther, went searching. At
shouting, “ghost... ghost”, as he was be-
around noon, when
Galwan lieved to be dead.
the Indian search
Valley After that episode my father gained
party was passing
Leh some notoriety in Leh as datlok, loose
through ravines, look-
translation for “dead man walking”, in
ing for their lost col-
Ladakhi. He married Galwan’s eldest
leagues, they were am-
granddaughter (my mother) in the late
bushed by the Chinese
1960s.
PLA forces. Bullets and
In 2018, a year before he passed away at
grenades rained down
the age of 84, my father and three other
from the PLA vantage on the
surviving members of the Hot Springs
search party were honoured by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi when he inaugu-
rated the renovated National Police Me-

An 1892 mission of Charles Murray to

His Expeditions He was Part of morial and Museum in New Delhi. The

the Pamirs and Kashgar hit a wall of
tall mountains and steep gorges.
Galwan, then just 14 years old, went
searching for a possible route and
found a relatively easier passage
through the ravines that helped the
expedition go. Dunmore decided to
name the passage with the gurgling
water Galwan Nullah
American editor for more than a dec-
ade.
“The thin sheets of manuscripts have
been following us all over the world for
fourteen years,” wrote Barrett. “Unin-
telligible early chapters have been sent
back several times for rewriting. At
last, Rassul has acquired a style with
which we do not tamper.” The
book, Servant of Sahibs: A Book
to be Read Aloud, was finally pub-
lished in 1 923 by Cambridge-
based W Heffer & Sons Ltd, with
an introduction by Sir Francis
Younghusband, then a British in the Hot Springs area on India-
army officer who was dispatched
by the British India government
to gather intelligence on the stra-
tegic and trade routes of the
Galwan either led or was
part of expeditions into
Tibet, Yarkand (now in the
Uygur Autonomous
Region of Xinjiang, China),
the Karakoram Range, the
Pamirs and other Central
Asian regions
He spoke Ladakhi, Turki, Urdu, Tibetan
He wrote Servant of Sahibs (1923),
becoming arguably the first Ladakhi
to write a book in English
Abdul Majeed Bailay,
a 24-year-old jawan and 6
colleagues, who were patrolling
China border, were captured by
PLA on October 21, 1959. 10
other Indians laid down their
lives in the skirmish
Expeditions by sacrifices made by the brave personnel of
CRPF and IB at the Hot Springs in 1959 is
remembered every year on October 21,
HH Godwin-Austen in 1887
observed as the National Police Com-
Charles Murray, Earl of memoration Day.
Dunmore, in 1893
I grew up hearing the tales of my fa-
ther’s hostage saga as well as the storied
Sir Francis Younghusband adventures of Galwan. The treks lasted
months and ran through dangerous trails
in 1890 and 1896 in gorges with the ever-present threat of
snowstorms. While the European sahibs
Filippo de Filippi in 1913 got mountains named after them, the
porters and pony men did the backbreak-
ing work. Poverty and lack of opportuni-
ties led many Ladakhi locals to take up
dangerous jobs. Tours were so tough that
many had to amputate all toes and fingers
due to frostbites.
But Galwan’s sacrifices bestowed good
fortune on successive generations of his
family. As Ladakh over the years became
a highlight of the domestic tourism cir-
cuit, the land Galwan owned in and
around Leh town became prime
property and the clan produced a
new breed of hoteliers.
The sacrifice made by Whenever I build a modest hotel
the brave Indians at on the Galwan land I inherited in
Leh, a friend suggested that I
the Hot Springs in should name it after my great-
1959 is marked every grandfather. But my uncle already
year on October 21 as runs an establishment across the
road — Galwan Guest House. 
the National Police rasul.bailay@timesgroup.com
Commemoration Day
10 centrespread centrespread 11
JUNE 14-20, 2020 JUNE 14-20, 2020

TAKING
Why June?
Pride Month JUNE Who Joins?
Pride month is
Why ‘Pride’?
“The poison was shame, and
Why the Rainbow?
The LGBTQ flag has the
began as a focused on the LGBTQ the antidote is pride,” says colours of the rainbow to
commemoration community, where activist Craig Schoonmaker, reflect the various groups
of the Stonewall LGBTQ stands for who coined the term “Gay within the community.
uprising in New York on June 28, 1969, lesbian, gay, bisexual, Pride” for the events in It was designed in 1978
when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a transgender and queer. 1970 to commemorate the by artist Gilbert Baker
gay bar in New York City. People fought The last is a catch-all Stonewall upraising. It was after San Francisco city
back, and protests sparked by that day’s term for those who popularised by activists like supervisor Harvey Milk
arrests continued for weeks. The first pride identify as non-straight. Brenda Howard, an iconic commissioned him for the
marches took place the following year However, anyone who LGBTQ figure who was part job. Milk himself was one of
in June, and is considered a watershed wants to support the of the panel that planned the the first openly gay elected
moment in LGBTQ rights in the US community can join first Gay Pride Week in 1970 officials in the US

Going Virtual
On June 27, organisers expect 300 million viewers to watch icons address the global LGBTQ
community at Global Pride, a 24-hour virtual celebration. The event, which will be streamed
on YouTube and the Global Pride website, is likely to see the participation of president of
The parades are going virtual this June, celebrated as Pride Costa Rica, PMs of Norway and Luxembourg and Manvendra Singh Gohil, who hails from an
erstwhile royal family in Gujarat. The Dixie Chicks and Olivia Newton John will perform
Month by the LGBTQ community in various countries. Here
is a look at its origins, events being held this year and shows
and films you can catch up on
:: Indulekha Aravind

GLOBAL PARADES
NEW YORK CITY
The city where it all began sees one of the biggest turnouts for its Pride parade. Last
year, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, New York held a month-long THE INDIAN
celebration called WorldPride 2019 with rallies, concerts and exhibits across throughout
the city. This year, 5 million were expected to attend the celebrations, which will now be
EXPERIENCE
virtual due to the Covid-19 pandemic Pride Marches are held in
metros and non-metros in
November-December. The
first one, the Rainbow
Pride Walk, was held in
SAO PAULO Kolkata in 1999. From
2008, marches were
The Sao Paulo Pride Parade is simultaneously held in
among the biggest in the
world, with about 3 million TORONTO multiple cities

estimated to have attended

The Toronto Pride Festival is
last year. It started in 1997
when LGBTQ activists gath- usually held from June
21-23. The parade originated
AMSTERDAM
ered to protest discrimination
and harassment. This year’s from the Bathhouse riots of Pride celebrations in the Dutch capital take place at the end
event has been rescheduled 1981, following a police raid of July. There are street parties, the Drag Queen Olympics
to November of four gay bathhouses and and a Pride Parade that floats down the city’s canal network.
arrests of hundreds Incidentally, the Netherlands was the first country to legalise
same-sex marriage

MOVIES, SCHITTS CREEK

The Canadian show
THE HALF OF IT
The new Netflix film is a
MOHANASWAMY
Originally written in Kannada
CALL ME BY
YOUR NAME
MOONLIGHT
The Oscar-winning
LESS
A satirical novel by

SHOWS about a rich family that

goes broke and restarts
coming-of-age, high
school rom-com. Loosely
and later translated into Eng-
lish, the iconic book is about
Set in Italy in the
'80s, the film by
film is considered as
much a biography of
Andrew Sean Greer,
the book is about a

& BOOKS
life in a small town based on the premise of the journey of a young, gay director Luca Guadag- America as it is failed novelist about
became a sleeper hit. It Cyrano de Bergerac, man looking for love nino follows 17-year- about the characters, to turn 50 who has
stars cocreator Dan Levy it has teen Ellie Chu get- old Elio as he falls in who are black, poor, been invited to his
as David, a pansexual, ting paid to write love love with his father’s and gay ex-boyfriend’s wed-
who went on to become letters on behalf of the 24-year-old graduate ding. The novel won
one of the most-loved school jock to his love student assistant the Pulitzer Prize
gay TV characters interest, who Chu herself
gets attracted to
Source: CNN, USA Today, Feminism In India, Harpers Bazaar
12 spotlight
JUNE 14-20, 2020

Obstacles abound even for those who are fortunate to have access to
online classes, as parents, teachers and students learn the hard way
:: Indulekha Aravind

W
ith the new academic year starting, 8 am in Ruchika Ra- not been able to buy them for everyone yet.
chel Premi’s house is rush hour. But this year, the morn- The Premis’ predicament might be familiar to
ing hurly-burly is slightly different. Instead of scrambling many others. With no let-up in the Covid-19 pandemic
to reach school on time, the schoolteacher and her three in India and children staying at home, several schools
children have to divvy up the devices at home so that they have begun online classes. While there is consensus
can all log in for their respective classes, using mobile that virtual learning can never really replace physical
phone hotspots. Since there aren’t enough laptops to go classes for students up to 12th grade, or K-12 classes, it
around, the 38-year-old hands over her phone to her el- is considered the next best alternative when going to
der son for his eighth grade lessons. “I’ve told people I school is not an option.
can’t take calls till 1pm but sometimes calls do come, and In India, access is one of the biggest challenges in a
some of them are important,” she says. A phone call nationwide rollout of virtual classes. Only 12.5% of
means the internet connection snaps. households of students in India have internet access
Premi, who teaches French in a private school, has to at home, according to National Sample Survey data,
be online most morn- economist Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay re-
ings, while her husband, cently wrote in ThePrint. But even for
an entrepreneur, takes Cecil & Ruchika Premi those fortunate enough to have access,
business classes a couple Bengaluru obstacles abound, as teachers, students
of times a week. “At and parents are discovering while taking
times, there will be five tentative steps in this new territory. In Vishakha Khadria
CLASSES FOR: Three children, aged
Google Meets happening the last month, for instance, pictures of Mumbai
13, 11 and 8 years
in our house and none of teachers and students climbing up trees
us is supposed to disturb THE CHALLENGE: Sharing devices and perching on rooftops for that elu- CLASSES FOR: Two children, aged 11
others,” she says. While between five people sive mobile signal have gone viral. years and 6 years
the children’s school has
suggested they use head- Age Appropriate? THE CHALLENGE: Attention span is an
phones, the parents have “My son uses my phone for his Conversations with parents reveal issue for the younger one, a parent
classes so I’ve told people not that lack of enough devices and needs to stay with her
to call me from 8 am to 1 pm” patchy connectivity apart, niggles
vary according to age groups. The “Six years is a little early for online classes
first day of school for Mumbai- but I guess there isn’t much choice, given
based Anurag and Vishakha Khad-
ria’s two children, aged 11 and 6 the situation”
years, could not have been more
different. “It was pretty smooth for
my son, who is in the sixth grade,
because he is quite familiar with took a while for everyone to settle down,” says Radhika,
gadgets. For my daughter, who is in mother of a six-year-old in Delhi, who requested that
the first grade, it was the opposite,” only her first name be used. It was no different on the
says Anurag. It was the first time first day of class for Premi’s youngest. “There were 50
the six-year-old had to sit for so noisy, over-excited children who had logged in. Every-
long in front of a computer, and her one wanted to say ‘good morning’ to the teacher and
attention kept wandering, he says. ‘hi’ to each other,” she laughs. Vocabulary, too, has
Maintaining discipline among adapted to the new normal — instead of the traditional
tots is not easy either when the “Keep quiet”, teachers now exhort students to “Mute
teacher is on a screen instead of in yourselves”.
front of them. Classes tend to de- Children as young as five and six years getting online,
scend into chaos rather swiftly, often for the first time, means that one of the parents has
especially when it’s early days. “It to be around, which is not always easy. “My wife is a
Sonia Joseph
Bengaluru
CLASSES FOR: Son, aged 13 years
THE CHALLENGE: Strain on the
eyes, fatigue, frustration from
lack of social interaction
“Children need outdoor
space and social interactions.
I think a large part of their
childhood is going to be
taken out of their hands”
homemaker so she can arrange her
schedule in a way that she can be with
our son throughout. But I know homes
where both parents have office work
and it becomes a challenge,” says Del-
hi-based Kartik Rai, whose son, Pra-
nav, is five years old. Rai says he seems
to have adapted to the new way of
learning, which began in April, faster
than his parents have.
Then there are parents who seem
more enthusiastic than children them-
selves. “Some of the parents were so
excited that they would be prompting
their children in class,” says Rai. There
are instances where parents have told
teachers to pay more attention to their
children or have asked multiple ques-
tions. A harried private school in Ben-
galuru had to issue a circular, sternly
telling parents not to have tea in front
of the camera or chat with each other
while class was on.
Screen Overload
For parents of older children, it’s the
long hours of screen time and the lack
of physical activity, social interaction
and emotional connect that are cause
for worry. In Kochi, Sandhya CR, a gov-
ernment employee, and Manoj SM, a
financial sector executive, are concerned about the effect that
sitting in front of a computer for hours at a stretch will have on schools are taking to ensure that learning continues during
their daughter, Malavika. Classes for the 11-year-old began on
June 1 and go on from 8:20 am to 1 pm, with a 10-minute break
between sessions. “She’s not used to sitting in front of the sys- an acceptance that these are unprecedented times, during
tem for a long time. She has started to have shoulder pain,”
says Manoj. He and Sandhya are planning to buy a computer
spotlight 13
JUNE 14-20, 2020
chair for their child, to make things a bit easier, along with an The results will reveal itself over time. There is so much uncer-
inverter so that power supply during classes is uninterrupted. tainty that I don’t think it’s important to see this working 100%
In Bengaluru, Sonia Joseph insists her 13-year-old son, who effectively,” says Joseph.
has been having online classes since May, step out for an hour Education policy consultant Meeta Sengupta would agree.
every evening for some exercise. TV is not allowed during the In times of crisis, she says, online learning must offer continu-
week. “Their eyes get tired. There’s also some frustration ity, care and a sense of community. “It will help students to
about the lack of opportunity to go out, to interact and get that stay connected to their friends and to some sort of future,
sense of confidence you derive from being among your motivate them to continue working and learning. Content de-
peers,” she says. Joseph, who runs a Montessori school, says livery is sort of secondary,” says Sengupta.
that while it is still early days, if online education continues for During a recent virtual conference by Ashoka University to
months, it will impact how children process things. “Children discuss the future of schools in the context of Covid-19, Secre-
need outdoor space, social interactions and all the other posi- tary of School Education and Literacy Anita Karwal revealed
tives that come from a school. With online education alone, I that the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development is
think a large part of their childhood is going to be taken away working on a standard operating procedure for digital educa-
from them,” she says. The joy of shared lunches, exchanging
notes with benchmates or just sitting next to friends and chat-
ting seems distant pleasures, for now.
Kartik Rai
The learning curve has been steep for some teachers, too, New Delhi
as they adapted to experimenting outside the physical class-
room for the first time. “There was apprehension among CLASSES FOR: Son, aged 5 years
teachers about being in an unfamiliar territory,” says Clemen-
THE CHALLENGE: One of the parents
tina Phillips, a teacher in a private school
in Bengaluru. While she was familiar with
always has to be with the child
technology, some older colleagues were while class is on
anxious even as they were determined to “I believe nothing can replace
learn. Though nothing quite matches a live
class, Phillips says the move to virtual the old model of being in a
classes has also given teachers like her an classroom. But given the
opportunity to use different tools for les- circumstances, we are happy”
sons, like PowerPoint presentations and
apps. While some schools are using their
GOVERNMENT’S own software or Zoom for online classes,
STAND others are using Microsoft Teams
or Google Classroom. In April,
HRD ministry India saw the second highest
In
download of Google Class-
d
working on
rroom in the world, according
reducing
tto data from Sensor Tower.
syllabus, hours Fr Francis Swamy, principal
of education of St Mary’s School in Maza-
o
gaon, Mumbai, says they began
gao
Guidelines for online e training teachers to take online class-
teaching and school es as soon as the lockdown began. “We
reopening in the works began online classes only when we felt the
teachers were adequately prepared. Dur-
ing their training, they would send stu-
Schools likely to reopen
dents audio or video clips of lessons,” he
after August, in a says. The training, he says, helped reduce
staggered manner apprehension among teachers. Manila
Carvalho, principal of DPS, Bangalore
States also formulating own East, says the school trained 400 teachers
guidelines on reopening, in the span of a week so that they would be tion in schools. In the interim, some states are forming their
online classes ready to take classes for around 8,000 stu- own policies.
dents. “There were initial issues with con- On Wednesday, the Karnataka government issued a direc-
nectivity and bandwidth but things are tive, temporarily banning live virtual classes for students up
now going smoothly,” she says. to class five, which it later extended to recorded classes. An
Their concerns apart, parents are appreciative of the effort expert committee has been set up to help take a final decision.
The announcement has divided parents, who have been ex-
the lockdown. “The teachers are handling it very well, to my changing incensed messages on social media. While some feel
surprise. I am impressed,” says Delhi-based Rai. There is also an hour or two of online classes help keep youngsters en-
gaged, others expressed relief that young children, who were
which everyone needs to be a little more understanding. “I’m hardly learning much online anyway, would be exempt. On
giving both my son and his teachers time to figure things out. Friday, the hashtag #stoponlineclasses was trending on Twit-
ter. “It’s a big boon! Half the time, my youngest
was unable to attend because he could not get a
Sandhya CR device and it was anyway more of a timepass for
Kochi him,” says Premi.
In an interview, Union HRD Minister Ramesh
Pokhriyal said schools and colleges would reo-
CLASSES FOR: Daughter,
pen after August, though there has been no offi-
aged 11 years
cial announcement yet. But even with all the
THE CHALLENGE: Connectivity, hiccups around virtual classrooms, parents say
health issues from sitting in they are not keen on schools reopening as long as
front of a computer for long Covid-19 cases continue to rise. They say that un-
like adults, children cannot be expected to main-
tain social distancing or keep masks on all the
“She is enjoying the classes but time. Echoing many parents, Radhika in Delhi
she’s worried about power going says, “Even if the school reopens, I will send my
because we don’t have backup” child only when I feel it’s safe for him.” 
indulekha.aravind@timesgroup.com
 14 poll watch
JUNE 14-20, 2020
Vote for Virtual
With Amit Shah’s virtual rally, the BJP
has already sounded the poll bugle in
Bihar. The Opposition does not seem to
have a plan in place yet
:: Prerna Katiyar
B
ihar has moved from jungle raj (anar-
chy) to janta raj (democracy) under the
NDA,” Home Minister Amit Shah said
on June 7, addressing the people of Bi-
har in a first-of-its-kind virtual rally
from Delhi. He also said he was confi-
dent the alliance in power in the state
would get a majority in the assembly
polls due later this year.
The comments made it clear the BJP,
which is part of the ruling alli-
ance led by Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar of the Janata Dal (Unit-
ed), would go full steam ahead
and organise virtual rallies for
the elections so that it can can-
vass safely in the midst of the
pandemic. “Amit Shah’s virtual
rally kicks off our digital cam-
“The virtual rally paign for the assembly elections
can be called the in Bihar,” says state BJP presi-
commencement dent Sanjay Jaiswal.
Bihar is home to a large num-
of our digital
ber of migrant workers who are
campaign for returning home from across the
assembly
country as the lockdown has
elections in Bihar. wiped out jobs. There have been
Out of 72,727 several reports on the hardships
booths in Bihar, being faced by such migrant
we have got
workers. The state health depart-
reports from ment has had its hands full testing
60,000 over residents and migrants for the
WhatsApp that novel coronavirus.
On May 31, the state BJP unit
we are
kicked off a campaign — Pradhan
poll-ready” Mantri Ke Mann Ki Baat, Saptari-
Sanjay Jaiswal, shi Ke Saath. The PM addressed
several seven-member booth-
president, BJP, Bihar
level committees. These people
were then asked to take his message to
the people to mobilise support. “Both
programmes were grand successes,”
says Jaiswal. The state BJP chief was ad-
dressing the party’s district unit presi-
dents through video conference when ET
Magazine caught up with the Lok Sabha
MP from West Champaran and the BJP’s
chief whip in the Lok Sabha.
Sitting a few feet away and speaking
from behind a mask, BJP’s General Secre-
tary (Organisation) Nagendra Nath ex-
horts the district chiefs to energise the
“NDA’s double engine (at the Centre and in
the state) has failed. Bihar is suffering the
most due to the corona crisis.
Rather than helping the migrants
and the poor, power-hungry NDA
is talking about polls. Are they
celebrating the deaths of our
migrant labourers?”
Tejaswi Yadav, RJD leader
(Clockwise from right)
Home Minister Amit Shah
addresses a virtual rally in
Bihar from New Delhi on June
7; BJP workers outside the party’s
Bihar HQ before Shah’s address;
party members participate in a virtual
rally in Patna
organisational units at the panchayat
level. “Please remember, labour today
will bear fruit tomorrow. Mobilise every-
one for house-to-house contact pro-
grammes and virtual rallies. Take a
WhatsApp connection and follow up. Set
a target of how many houses we have
reached out to.”
The party has been training its district,
block and booth presidents on partici-
pating in virtual meetings. “Now even
our booth-level presidents are trained in
this,” Jaiswal added.
The BJP has 54 MLAs in the 243-strong
assembly. The largest media, television advertising, known for his rustic one-liners, was a
Election
partner in the 131-MLA al- FM and community radios, Na- crowd-puller on his own.
liance is the JD(U), which tional Voter Service Portal and The younger son, Tejaswi, says it is not
Likely in
has 70. Oct-Nov the ECI app,” Chief Election the time to discuss elections. But the par-
The JD(U), meanwhile, Commissioner Sunil Arora told ty held a door-to-door campaign called
is staying in step with its No. of Seats in the ET Magazine in an interview. Gareeb Adhikar Divas on the day Shah
IT-savvy alliance partner. Assembly Parties are aware of the limi- had his virtual rally. “BJP’s double engine
243
“We started training our tations of this form of election- (at the Centre and state) has failed and
cadre for virtual meets eering. “Earlier, a rally by the Nitish babu is merely holding video con-
well before the lock- PM could easily accommodate ferences,” says Tejaswi. “Bihar is in a bad
down,” says JD(U) leader Campaign in 10 lakh people. The limitations shape with poor quarantine facilities and
KC Tyagi. “Use of social Covid-19 Times of WhatsApp and virtual rallies hospitals. Migrant labourers are dying
every day. NDA held a maut ka jashna (a
media will only grow would mean the frequency of
now. The traditional
Through virtual such programmes has to in- celebration of death) on June 7.” He says
rallies, FB live, live
ways of holding rallies crease,” says a senior leader he would rather reach out to people di-
are being reworked.” chats, WhatsApp who works closely with the Un- rectly than hold virtual rallies.
The engagement for groups, virtual ion home minister. Therefore, People in the state, on their part, are
electioneering will conferences, BJP is set to hold virtual meet- questioning his two-month absence from
change due to restric- door-to-door ings covering all 243 assembly Bihar during the lockdown. The ruling
tions on public meetings pamphlet segments. “No part of Bihar parties had even put out mock look-out
and mass gatherings and distribution will remain untouched,” posters targeting him. There have also
also because of the fear of claims a state BJP leader. been some murmurs of discontentment
the contagion. The opposition camp, led by the Rash- within the RJD-led alliance, the Mahagat-
The Election Commission is also gear- triya Janata Dal, is yet to come up with an bandhan. Tejaswi says all differences will
ing up for sweeping changes in the con- election plan for the state. With party su- be sorted out in time.
duct of elections. “We shall step up the premo Lalu Prasad in jail, his sons The BJP, meanwhile, is strengthening
use of digital technologies in voter aware- Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav its booth network. “Out of 72,727 booths
ness, outreach and training. We will have been holding fort. However, senior in Bihar, we have got reports from
make greater use of digital and media party members say the sons can’t be 60,000 over WhatsApp shows that we
platforms, including bulk SMS, social compared with the father. Lalu Prasad, are poll ready,” says Jaiswal.
But will virtual canvassing satisfy the
Break-up of Parties in the Assembly appetite of a population obsessed with
political parcha, kharcha and chai pe
National Democratic Alliance Opposition Alliance
charcha? “This is not an alternative to
mass rallies but parties don’t have an op-
Independents 5
JD(U) 70 Cong 26 Vacant 1 tion,” says Badri Narayan, a political ana-
lyst and director at GB Pant Social Sci-
ence Institute. But one thing is certain, he
says. “Any party with a strong cadre and
organisation will benefit even if the battle
BJP 54 LJP 2 RJD 80 HAM 1 Others 4 for votes is fought virtually.” 
AIMIM 1 & CPI-ML 3 prerna.katiyar@timesgroup.com
Source: ECI
 the interview 15
JUNE 14-20, 2020

No Plans to Defer
Bihar Elections
The Election Commission will increase the
use of digital and media platforms and
limit voters in polling booths to conduct
elections in the midst of the pandemic,
says Chief Election Commissioner
Sunil Arora. In an email interview with
Prerna Katiyar, the retired 1980 batch IAS
officer of the Rajasthan cadre says the
commission has also requested the law
ministry to allow postal ballots for people
above the age of 65. Edited excerpts:

C
ovid-19 has made social distancing a part of
everyday life now. How is the Election Com-
mission (EC) planning to conduct polls?
We will have to constantly reassess the proce-
dures that we follow at various stages. A team of
EC officials is working on these aspects right now.
All instructions and electoral processes will be
suitably modified to ensure smooth functioning
during the pandemic. We will conduct elections
without breaking the orders, advisories, instruc-
tions and guidelines issued by the National Disaster
Management Authority (NDMA). Any rule in force dur- sion, on its part, will ensure that a standard operating postal method.
ing the period of the election process will be followed. procedure is made and followed at all stages.
The Election Commission will take appropriate ar- The EC is also looking at rationalisation of polling sta- The Rajya Sabha elections due on June 19 will be
rangements regarding social distancing, sanitisation, tions and a reduction in the number of electors at each the first major elections after the outbreak of
disinfection and use of masks, gloves, etc. All officials polling station. This will avoid crowding. Covid-19. What change in procedures will be in-
on election duty are being duly sensi- Currently, Bihar has 72,723 polling stations to cater troduced for these?
“The EC is tised about Covid-19 and related precau- to approximately 7.18 crore electors. Different permu- The commission has already conducted MLC elections
looking at tions. tations and combinations are being in Maharashtra in May. So we have
The poll panel’s flagship Systematic worked upon, factoring in the number of “Postal ballots some experience in this. During that
rationalising Voter Education and Electoral Participa- people at each polling station, the addi- process, all arrangements were made
polling stations tion programme is being suitably modi- will ensure
tional manpower requirement and the vulnerable according to the statutory require-
and reducing the fied. We will step up the use of digital associated infrastructure augmentation. ments of public health authorities.
number of technologies to spread voter awareness sections are
For example, if the electors per polling The state was asked to depute a sen-
electors at each and training. The commission will make not exposed to
station are capped at 800, around ior nodal health officer to ensure that
polling station. greater use of digital and media plat- 55,000 additional polling stations would
undue risk. instructions related to the contain-
All guidelines forms, including bulk SMSes, social me- be required.
Widening its ment of Covid-19 were adhered to. On
pertaining to dia platforms, television advertising, FM All ECI guidelines pertaining to elec-
eligibility criteria the direction of the commission, the
political parties and community radios, the National toral machinery, voters, political parties, will help in safe Union home secretary, who is also the
and other Voter Service Portal and the voter hel- candidates and other stakeholders are conduct of chairman of the NDMA, appointed a
stakeholders are pline app to reach out to as many people being modified. Training and capacity- elections” nodal officer to facilitate the process.
being modified” as possible. building of electoral machinery are being We will conduct the Rajya Sabha elec-
planned accordingly. There will be ap- tions in a similar manner.
Is there a possibility that the Bihar assembly propriate signage and displays at all polling stations. Chief secretaries of the states concerned have been
elections, due in October-November, or the by- These rules will be applicable to all elections that will asked to depute nodal health officers to ensure pub-
polls due in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar might be be conducted during the pandemic period. lic health norms are not breached. Each state may
postponed due to the pandemic? have a different set of norms with regard to the pan-
The by-elections for legislative assem- While most people would take demic and the lockdown.
blies and Parliament due in April, May “No matter what precautions to keep themselves All the rules regarding social distancing and saniti-
and June had to be deferred because of we do, all safe during voting, older people sation will be followed.
the pandemic. The commission will de- stakeholders will might stay away as they carry a Every elector will be informed in advance appropri-
cide on conducting by-polls in various
have to higher risk of catching the novel ately of the dos and don’ts. The chief electoral officers
states at the appropriate time. At the mo- coronavirus. That could mean a of states would act as observers for these elections.
collectively
ment, no plan is being considered to de- large section of people are exclud-
fer Bihar elections. Necessary prepara-
ensure that the ed from this democratic process. How are you harnessing technology to help
tions are underway at the Election Com-
relevant safety Postal ballots are a way to ensure vul- you conduct elections through limited human
mission to conduct the polls. guidelines issued nerable sections of society such as contact?
by the NDMA and senior citizens and differently-abled All facilities relating to information technology are
State elections involve mass public health people are not exposed to undue being further augmented to handle the extra usage.
gatherings and public rallies. What authorities are risk. Widening the eligibility criteria The Election Commission has already set up a tech-
measures are the EC taking on this followed in letter for postal ballots will help in safe nical advisory group that includes eminent experts
front? and spirit” conduct of elections by minimising from IITs and other places to work on a solution to
No matter what we do, all stakeholders congregation. enable remote voting using secure blockchain fea-
will have to collectively ensure that the relevant safety The Election Commission has already recommend- tures. However, it is too early to say when this will be
guidelines issued by the NDMA and public health au- ed to the Ministry of Law and Justice that voters above ready for implementation. 
thorities are followed in letter and spirit. The commis- the age of 65 be also allowed to cast votes through the prerna.katiyar@timesgroup.com
16 trendspotting
JUNE 14-20, 2020

Thinning
the
Wardrobe
Overzealous decluttering by people forced
to stay indoors due to the lockdown is
fuelling the recommerce industry
:: Nupur Amarnath Before the Lockdown: An offline swap

T
his lockdown, the one thing that has been or low,” she says. party for This for That; (left and below)
swap events organised by Exchange
on an upswing for Nohar Nath, founder Several studies have said most of us Room in Bengaluru
and CEO of pre-owned clothing website use only 20-30% of our wardrobes.
Kiabza, is the rising number of people get- Even Kiabza’s self-conducted market
ting in touch to put up their clothes for sale research survey had found that most India, it never will.”
on the platform. Kiabza, which procures women don’t use 70% of their ward- The community of swappers on
branded second-hand clothes from various robe; 50 for men. This for That have been adding new
sources on a consignment basis, gets 800 Mumbai-based organisation coach categories on their own. For instance,
products for sale every month. After April Rohini Rajagopalan, founder of Organ- Bhasin notes they never added inner-
15, that has shot up to 1,400 and ise with Ease, has been re- wear and loungewear as a category.
more are showing interest eve- ceiving queries on products But swaps on these items are happen-
ryday. Even though the plat- that will make homes func- ing. With a 75-80% repeat rate, she
form’s sales have dropped 60% tional and less cluttered. says most swappers will only buy a
due to lockdown restrictions, “Decluttering is overwhelm- product once they are not able to find
Nath says these consignment ing for most. But with no oc- it on a swap platform.
deals have grown 30-40%. casions this year, people are Second-hand, subscription and
Realising a hidden potential relooking at possessions and rental are the top three fastest grow-
ing retail categories. Online consign-
early on during the lockdown,
Kiabza tweaked its market-
realising they are blocking
real estate in their clos- Time for ment and thrift store ThredUP’s 2019
ing communication “The lockdown is a ets.” Gandhi says: “You will
Recommerce resale report suggested the global second-
hand apparel market would double by
through digital channels
towards the sell side. “For
turning point when have occasions to carry your
Gucci bags, but you proba- 2023, from $24 billion to $51 billion. The $7
people will notice Second-hand, subscription
the first time, people are sit- bly don’t need 10 of them”. billion global luxury resale market is pro-
the underutilised and rental are the fastest growing
ting at home with so much Even the resale of luxury jected to grow to $11billion by 2022, accord-
and unutilised retail categories
time at hand. They are goods has been witnessing ing to Cowen.
value in their home. an upswing due to the trend
reevaluating their closets.
There is a realisation that For the resale/swap to lighten the load. Anvita $24 bn is size of second- Shopping second-hand goods has a sus-
tainable sheen too. Did you know that if a
you don’t need these many segment to take off, Mehra, founder of Confi- hand apparel market million people bought only one second-
clothes. So they are looking this is the time. If it dential Couture, a website hand clothing item, it would save 6 pounds
for options other than do- that sells pre-owned luxury $51 bn is projected size of of CO2 emissions — equivalent to removing
does not open up second-hand apparel market in 5 years
nating,” says Nath. accessories and clothing, half a million cars? It is the 18-25-year-olds
now in India, it who are active in the garment resale seg-
Other recommerce play- has noticed a 45% jump in
ers such as P2P swap plat-
never will” selling enquiries. “Luxury
49% of recommerce market ment. For luxury resale, the age-group is
Nancy Bhasin, in the US dominated by clothing, shoes
form This for That and buys are high-value goods above 30. Nath says, “Now even the 30-35
Bengaluru-based swap cofounder, This for That that don’t make much finan- and accessories category is coming round to buying pre-
pop-up Exchange Room cial sense to hold on to dur- owned.” Historically, an economic slow-
20 times faster growth seen
have also noticed similar trends. ing this time. They are taking up space and down has helped recommerce as people
by US recommerce retailers
Prithvi Rao, cofounder of Exchange you don’t have enough occasions to take have less money to spend.
Room, says, “Increased awareness of cli- them out now. That reflects wasteful hoard- 1 in 3 European consumers The luxury segment is also adapting to
mate change, personal carbon footprint ing,” she adds. the post-Covid realities. For instance, Con-
take sustainability into account when
and also the realisation for many that less is Two prime areas of hoarding are clothes fidential Couture has added entry-level
shopping for clothes
more is giving rise to a wave of ‘make do’ (including accessories like shoes and bags) luxury brands and made the payment plan
and ‘reduce’ habits. It is a good time to be in and kitchen equipment, says Rajagopalan. Source: apparelresources.com more flexible. Mehra adds, “The more sup-
this space. The enquiries we get for sales Since lockdown, people have gone and Fashion Revolution ply you have the more demand it will
have increased.” beyond sharing clothes to sharing create as India is a demand-driven
That decluttering is on top of the mind of kitchen equipment, baby goods and economy for pre-owned luxury.”
people in lockdown is evinced from the advice, and tips and tricks on other Sai Sangeet Paliwal, cofounder of
popularity of decluttering coaches who are subjects, says Nancy Bhasin, cofound- Exchange Room, says, “Resale is pick-
running packed webinars and workshops. er of This for That. “Even as deliveries ing up faster. We have seen a rise of
KonMari-trained organising expert Gayatri were shut, transactions didn’t fall as online thrift stores. Every single day,
Gandhi of Joy Factory says she has been people kept exchanging. The lock- there is a new one popping up. Every
flooded with decluttering queries since the down is a turning point when people single day, there is a new one popping
lockdown. “The prime reason to not organ- will notice the underutilised and unuti- up. Even during the lockdown, items
ise has been lack of time. People want their lised value at their home. It looks like were getting sold in spite of disclaim-
home to be a space that calms them and not the resale/swap segment is taking off. If ers for delayed deliveries.” 
something that makes them anxious, upset this segment does not open up now in nupur.amarnath@timesgroup.com
 in focus 17
JUNE 14-20, 2020

Weaving a
Success Story
KVIC, which has surprised many by posting a
turnover that would make FMCG majors jealous,
now sees a larger role for itself as the country
gets set to tread the path of self-reliance
:: Nishtha Saluja

F
inding its bearings in the freedom Now, KVIC is well-positioned to

PHOTO COURTESY: KVIC

struggle, khadi sits soft on the skin leverage the opportunities posed by
and on the scale of discourse on na- the Covid-19 outbreak and Prime
tionalism. Minister Narendra Modi’s call for
The hand-woven natural cloth “atma nirbharta” or self-reliance to
propagated by Mahatma Gandhi to boost the post-lockdown economy.
promote self-dependence during In fact, KVIC has made and sold
the Independence movement has nearly a million masks — the most es-
got more sheen in the last six years, sential weapon in the fight against
since the Narendra Modi govern- the novel coronavirus — since
ment took charge. At least the num- March. It has also distributed an
bers say so. equal amount of masks free, Saxena
The Khadi and Village Industries says. “Since Covid-19 cases started
Commission (KVIC) recently an- coming up in India, we directed all
nounced a turnover of close to our khadi institutions to start manu-
`90,000 crore in FY20. KVIC’s turn- facturing cotton and silk masks.
over was more than twice that of Over eight lakh masks have been
Hindustan Unilever (`38,785 crore), sold since then, and nine lakh masks
India’s largest consumer goods com- have been distributed to the district
pany. The government now aims to collectors.”
take KVIC’s turnover to `5 lakh crore KVIC has stepped up to play a
by FY24. more active role in the recent past,
These numbers may come as a says Saxena. “Brand Khadi saw the
surprise to many, as KVIC products widest acceptance in the country af-
have had a largely obscure exist- ter Prime Minister Modi started pro-
ence, thanks to its humble packaging moting it.”
. “We have been focussing on quality Khadi’s unprecedented growth
and price,” says KVIC Chairman VK during the period can be gauged by
Saxena. “Some of our products are the fact that production of the fabric
unmatched. And they are all hand- has grown at an average of 19.45% a
made, homegrown products.” year since 2015-16, from 6.25% in
2004-2014. Similarly, sales grew at
an annual 27.6%, from 6.65% in
88,886.7
(Clockwise from top) KVIC imparts skill training in pottery and spinning, among others, to aspiring
entrepreneurs; The flagship Khadi India store in Connaught Place, New Delhi; women sew khadi
handkerchiefs at a KVIC unit in Nagrota, Jammu and Kashmir
mission has granted over 500 Khadi expertise to provide several types of
Mark affiliations to various brands. “I employment opportunities. It is a
am willing to open khadi to the mar- nodal agency for the Prime Minis-
ket, but I want to keep its inherent ter’s Employment Generation Pro-
value intact,” he says. gramme (PMEGP) that helps benefi-
KVIC has also supplied khadi man- ciaries set up businesses by giving
ufactured by its institutions to com- them financial help.
What is Khadi and panies such as Raymonds, There are 2,25,886 KVIC
Village Industries Arvind Limited and Aditya units across the country, di-
Commission? Birla Fashion and Retail rectly employing 5,26,070
Limited. “We are in talks artisans. Additionally, it
Set up in 1956 to with three to four interna- supports jobs through
protect and propagate tional companies also,” PMEGP. In 2018-19, an
khadi and village Saxena says, without estimated 14.6 million
industries “Khadi is a
revealing names. jobs were supported by
Gets funds from The protection of national fabric. KVIC, minister Nitin
MSME Ministry to what Saxena terms as There are Gadkari said in the Lok
implement schemes the national fabric is sentiments Sabha.
related to khadi and not limited to trade- attached to it. We Noida-based Amit
village industries mark alone. KVIC is Mathur is one entrepre-
have to protect
also driving a campaign neur who has gained
Trains artisans, these. I want to because of KVIC. Un-
procures raw materials to limit imports of prod-
keep its inherent der the PMEGP, he es-

2004-2014. When KVIC was set up in and creates facilities to ucts that can be easily
value intact”
KVIC Turnover 1956, 0.42 million sq m of khadi were make goods made in the country. tablished a mustard oil
made. It reached 103.22 million sq m Earlier this year, the VK Saxena, unit in a village close to
(` cr)
in 2013-14. Since 2014-15, production government increased chairman, KVIC Jaipur in 2018. “I was
In 2019-20, KVIC has
74,292.1

has gone up by 15.8 million sq m a Has set a target the customs duty on in- able to generate a sus-
reported sales that are twice
that of Hindustan Unilever, year. In 201 9-20, the output was of `5 lakh cr cense sticks and bam- tainable employment
India’s largest consumer 198.29 million sq m. turnover by boo used to manufacture these, cit- avenue,” says Mathur, who recently
goods company KVIC has also been leading the 2023-24 ing the onslaught of imports on the supplied a batch of mustard oil to the
59,182.4

fight to protect the term khadi. It had domestic industry. CAPF canteens. “Thanks to this or-
asked several entities to not use KVIC is also pursuing the com- der, I not only see better order visi-
52,138.2

terms such as “handspun or hand- merce ministry for a ban on im- bility but am also assured of returns
woven” while selling khadi products ports of silk and wooden toys. on my investment.” He now plans to
without getting its permission. This KVIC, set up by an act of Parlia- double the number of machines de-
41894.6

protective measure started in 2013, ment, is also set to gain from the ployed at his oil extraction unit to 40.
when the UPA government made it home ministry’s order that only KVIC has helped people set up
33136.3

mandatory for companies to get a products made in India be sold over 2 lakh industry units in villag-
27,839.7

“Khadi Mark” certificate from at the Central Armed Police es in the last five years. These units
27,770.4
26,797.1
25,792.9

KVIC to sell khadi products, after it Force (CAPF) canteens. This produce food and agriculture-
noticed that mill-made products was part of the government’s based products, small electronic
were being sold as khadi. “Khadi is “atma nirbhar” move. “Ap- items such as fan regulators, elec-
a national fabric. There are senti- proximately, 75-80% of the tric tandoors and doorbells, among
ments attached to it. We have to products to these canteens others.
protect these. It is a fabric gifted will now be supplied by Though it is a decades-old organi-
to us by none other than Mahat- KVIC. We are looking at 30- sation, KVIC has become relevant
ma Gandhi and it is being nur- 40 lakh new consumers now by leveraging sustainable fash-
tured by the PM,” Saxena says. now,” Saxena says, adding ion and entrepreneurial spirit. It is
He quickly clarifies that KVIC is that they were not supplying also upping the cool quotient of the
2010-11

2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2011-12

not against allowing khadi a to the canteens earlier. homegrown, hand-spun fabric. 
wider market. In fact, the com- KVIC has also leveraged its nishtha.saluja@timesgroup.com
Source: KVIC
18 food & drink
JUNE 14-20, 2020
Food Chains
How slavery influenced the food we eat
:: Vikram Doctor
A
fter anti-racism protesters in Bristol
dramatically pulled down the statue of
Edward Colston, a local merchant and
philanthropist, who became rich in the
17th century slave trade, there is now
pressure to drop his name from other
city institutions. So Colston Hall,
Colston Tower and Colston schools
might all change their names, but will
they stop baking Colston buns?
These are large sweet buns divided
into eight wedges to make it easier for a
large family to share (one extra small
bun is given to those taking them
home, so they don’t eat the big
one). Colston left funds to
have them distributed on
specific occasions. They
became a Bristol
speciality — and a
reminder of how
complex the
interactions of food
and slavery have
been.
American slavery
was mainly for cotton
cultivation, but the
British trade Colston
engaged in was mostly for
sugar produc tion in the
Caribbean. One reason the
Black-eyed peas,
British became famous for cakes
which originated
and puddings is the surge of
in West Africa
where most cheap sugar that came from
slaves came from, Caribbean plantations to the UK.
were taken with Sugar supplied quick energy to
them as a pulse to fuel workers in the Industrial
grow in captivity Revolution, though its poor
nutrition led to lasting health
problems, and a reputation for
bad teeth that dogs the British till today.
Sugar also resulted in molasses that
was exported to the US to be made into
cheap rum. Sugar and rum were
because
produced food, but
slaves
because they had to be
fed. The food they
received was never good,
C o l l i n g h a m ’s T h e
Hungry Empire, she
notes the devastating
impact of the removal of
so many able-bodied
but smarter slave-owners people from food
knew that better production. Appallingly,
The abundant cod, the resulting food shortages
Protesters throwing nourished slaves worked
caught in cold
the statue of Edward better, and different actually helped Western
Colston into northern seas and
methods were tried to slavers, as African “owners
Bristol harbour salted for
balance nutrition with would sell off any slaves
preservation, was a
the least possible cost. staple of slave food,
they could not feed, and the
One obvious solution adding another desperate sold themselves
was to let slaves produce their trading element to into slavery to escape death
own food, and they were the business by starvation”.
often allowed space for O n c e i n We s t e r n
vegetable gardens. captivity, the slaves had to
Black-eyed peas, which be fed, and more food was needed to
originated in West Africa stock the ships when they made the
where most slaves came notorious “Middle Passage” across the
from, were taken with Atlantic. The solution came from their
them as a pulse to destination, with two New World
grow in captivity. crops, maize and cassava, proving so
Breadfruit was ideally suited to growing in Africa that
another plant taken they would become staples on the
across the world as an continent till today.
easy way to provide Maize produced two crops each year
starchy food. rather than the single crop local millets
But meat was a provided, and cassava (tapioca) was
problem when slaves resistant to droughts and the local
Colston buns are were not allowed to fish locust swarms, and the roots could be
divided into eight (because they might escape stored for a long time. The roots
wedges to make it by boat) or hunt (because they required a lot of washing and pounding
easier for a large family to might use the arms against their to be made edible, but Collingham
share. Colston left funds to have them masters). Beef and pork were reserved notes that a further twist to slavery
distributed on specific occasions. for the masters, but slaves did receive provided the solution. The traders
They became a Bristol speciality the cheaper cuts and offal. Chicken mostly wanted male slaves, so many
would become the ideal solution, and female slaves were left with their African
poultry farming (and fried chicken) was owners to mass produce the food that
exchanged in Europe for cloth and popularised by the Black communities sustained both the trade and the region
other commodities that went to African descended from slaves. devastated by it.
rulers in exchange for slaves. Triangular Before that, though, the abundant Both maize and cassava would later
trades like this c o d c au g h t i n c o l d come to India, and this shows how
were a feature of northern seas and salted efficiently the slave trade worked to
s l av e t r a d i n g , Beef and pork were reserved for preservation was a disperse new food crops around the
increasing its for masters; slaves had staple of slave food, adding world. Collingham quotes from an
influence across chicken. Poultry farming (and another trading element to account left by a French slave trader,
the w o r l d . fried chicken) was popularised the business. After slavery Michel Jajolet de la Courbe, of a meal
Stopping the trade by Black communities ended, one reason Indian given to him in 1686 by a West African
was always going descended from indentured labourers filled ruler’s daughter who was a leading slave
to be a problem slaves their roles was because it owner herself. The food included
when so many was felt that they didn’t chillies and pineapples which were
people in so many need meat in the same way, from the Americas, but now being
places profited from it. and could be supplied with grown in Africa, most probably brought
Protesters today rightly protein from cheap yellow by the same ships that came to take the
want Western countries to peas grown on Canadian slaves with them.
reckon with their legacy of prairies. Stories like these show the complexity
slavery, but its links with One often overlooked of the network spread by slavery, and
food show how complex this part of the slave trade is its the number and diversity of people it
can be. This was not just impact in West Africa. In Lizzie ensnared. But if dealing with its legacy is
hard, at least the protesters are trying.
This can be contrasted with the
Once in Western captivity, the slaves had to be fed, comparative silence over the equally
and more food was needed to stock the ships when tangled webs that caste has woven with
they made the notorious Middle Passage across food in India. For example, when under-
the Atlantic. The solution came from two New
nourished children in schools in
World crops — maize and cassava
Madhya Pradesh are denied free eggs on
the grounds that this is somehow
impure, but no equivalent source
of nutrition is provided, it
shows a world of privilege
linked to food and status that
we need to question, just as
much as protesters in the West
are doing with the legacies of
slavery. 
vikram.doctor@timesgroup.com
 tech talk 19
JUNE 14-20, 2020

GET IT FOR:
`62,990
HIGHLIGHT:
Asus TUF A15 Strong
performance
GAME ON
Apart from a slightly
audible fan, the TUF A15 is
a delightful package

:: Utkarsh Saurbh

G
Vivo V19 aming laptops have a niche but loyal
audience. To cater to them,

SHARP
Asus has launched
the new

SHOOTER
TUF A1 5 FA566.
The new gaming
laptop from Asus
Despite a less-than-ideal comes powered with
processor, the phone performs an AMD Ryzen 7 4800 proces-
sor, coupled with the Nvidia GeForce GTX
without any lag 1660Ti graphics card. It has a default memory of
16GB and comes with up to 1TB of storage and sports a starting without any tear or stutter and very less frame rate fluc-
:: Shaurya Shubham

V
ivo’s V-series smartphones have al-
ways been about the camera. The Chi-
nese brand wants to extend that prop-
osition with the new V19. Vivo has
priced the smartphone at `27,999 for the base
variant that comes with 8GB + 128GB and there’s
also an 8GB+256GB that costs Rs 31,990.
The smartphone comes with a Qualcomm
Snapdragon 712 processor with Adreno 616
GPU, which is not the ideal processor in this
price segment. However, it manages to deliver
a good output as most apps run without break-
ing any sweat. App-loading was fluid and lag-
free. Games ran with a smooth frame rate with-
out any noticeable lag. However, you might
need to tone down the graphics setting for
some games to make them run
smoothly. The device does not
GET IT FOR:
heat up at all, even under heavy
load. `27,999
There is a quad-camera set- HIGHLIGHT:
up here that consists of a 48MP
primary shooter, an 8-meg-
apixel wide-angle camera and
Capable
camera
two 2-megapixel cameras for
macro and bokeh shots. For selfies, it comes
with dual punch-hole front-facing camera set-
price of `62,990.
It has a very solid hinge design, the sturdiness of which contin-
ues all the way up to the full-HD display, making the display
panel uniform in thickness from top to bottom.
The back of the display has a steely, professional look, that
says gamer without screaming. The chassis, especially the right
side of the keyboard area, remains very slightly warm when the
laptop is used for both gaming and other applications. The lap-
top comes with four USB ports, one of which is a Type-C one.
There are four modes to operate the laptop: Windows, Silent,
Performance and Turbo. The first is meant for activities that
don’t require performance load on the CPU and GPU. The re-
maining three are the gaming modes.
We played Crysis 3, Shadow of The Tomb Raider and The
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt at the maximum possible graphics settings
possible on both Performance and Turbo Mode. While for the
first two, the 144Hz display of the laptop handled the challenge
Butter Royale
UTTERLY, BUTTERLY, GAMEILICIOUS
The best thing about this 'PUBG-with-pudding' game is that it comes in small servings
:: Aabhas Sharma
tuations, the Witcher 3 proved more challenging at the highest
possible settings that included turning on Nvidia Hairworks also.
Heat dissipation is quite effective and you won’t notice heating
of the top right part of the chassis until you touch it (after about
3 hours on Turbo mode). Fan noise at Turbo mode could be an
issue for some.
Watching video content at 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution was a
pleasant experience, with accurate and vivid colour reproduc-
tion. The audio is okay for watching films and some soft music.
The battery life of the laptop, when not gaming, can go on for an
average of 2-3 hours.
Barring the noise of the fan, which can be exasperating at
times, the TUF A15 delivers competent performance on all
fronts: strong hinge design, staid looks and can run some graph-
ic-intensive games very smoothly. It delivers the strongest in the
most important factor: Smooth gaming. 
The writer is with gadgetsnow.com

up of 32MP and 8MP. The camera quality is
good and offers some sharp and detailed pho-
tos in both daylight and lowlight conditions.
Selfies too are vivid and offer good details in
every shot we took. Vivo has also added a Super
Night Selfie mode to the camera that works sur-
prisingly well and manages to light up the entire
face and surroundings while retaining the natu-
ral colour tone. Also, the Aura Screen Light
adds a soft light in low light.
Vivo V19 aims to be a premium phone. The
smartphone features a modern-looking mini-
malistic design — symmetrical bezels across the
sides of a 6.44-inch full HD+Super AMOLED dis-
play. At the back, it features a rectangular cam-
era housing with four lenses stacked in L-shape
and 3D glass curved back with a gradient de-
sign. The battery managed to last for a day and
a half under normal usage. The phone also
comes with a 33W FlashCharge 2.0, which
charges the smartphone up to 70% in just under
30 minutes.
The Vivo V19 is a capable smartphone when
it comes to performance and features. The
camera that may just tilt the balance in its fa-
vour for a lot of buyers. 
The writer is with gadgetsnow.com
S
ince Fortnite and PUBG but give them a fun experi-
exploded on the scene, ence. The controls are easy to
the battle royale genre use and you won’t take much
of games has seen a lot time getting used to them. Hav-
of activity. Most of these games ing said that, after playing a
are all about guns, bombs and dozen times or so, we did lose
non-stop action. Just like any some interest.
other game in this genre, But- One thing that works in fa-
ter Royale is all about the ac- vour of Butter Royale is the
tion but with a twist. game duration. Games rarely
Instead of guns, you indulge last more than 5 minutes,
in fighting with food items like which means you can squeeze
Breadzooka, hot dog Miniguns in a round or two after getting
or Snipermeasan rifle. It takes some work done or in between
food fight to a different level. those Zoom meetings.
Unlike PUBG, where 100 players congregate and fight, GET IT FOR: The game is free but you require an Apple Arcade
Butter Royale has 32 players. The idea is simple: elimi- Free on Apple subscription, which costs `99 per month. Since Apple
nate competition and be the last person standing. Arcade doesn’t encourage in-app purchases on Arcade, you
It is fun and quirky, albeit a bit childish. But if you are don’t have to deal with constant popups about buying
tired of playing in Sanhok (PUBG) or Killhouse (Call of HIGHLIGHT: this or that. So you don’t really have to spend real cash
Duty Mobile) then Butter Royale is a tasty treat. It is not Quirky to get the best out of this game, something that can’t be
all fun and games, however, as there is tactical warfare gameplay said about other popular titles in the genre.
at play as well. You can hide in the bushes or tents and It can’t be the staple of your gaming menu but it is
ambush the enemy. fun and quirky and gives you a nice feeling — just like a
The graphics are good but lack the finesse of a battle. That is un- nice dessert. 
derstandable as the idea is not to put gamers in a warzone situation The writer is with gadgetsnow.com
 20 feel smart
JUNE 14-20, 2020

The Taepyeongso THIS WEEK,

PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS BEYOND HEADLINES
THAT YEAR
JUNE 15-21

June 15, 2012

Nikolas Wallenda becomes the

first person to walk a tightrope
stretched directly over Niagara
Falls. The American acrobat has
A tongue twister?
11 Guinness World Records for
various acrobatic feats.
It is a musical instrument and
it is Korean, actually.
June 16, 2010
Now, now — first tell me Bhutan becomes the
how the word is first country to enact a
pronounced? nation-wide tobacco
Easy. Tay-pyong-so. ban – including on
cultivation, harvesting,
You bought one of these? production and sale of tobacco
I would love to, but not yet. and tobacco products.
Is there an example closer home? No, here it is associated with royal
What kind of music?
Generally used in classical.
The shenhai is a double reed wind movement — when the king is on the
move, the taepyeongso is played.
June 17, 1973
instrument. In some ways, the Leander Adrian Paes is born in
taepyeongso looks like a shorter Kolkata to Vece Paes
Not K-Pop then? version of it. A king in Korea?
We will get to that. In a music video. and Jennifer Paes.
Why are you so hung up on the He is today
Ah, building up the suspense? taepyeongso today? K-Pop? considered one of
Not at all. The taepyeongso is a wind Guess what it means in Korean – “the Yes. Suga, a member of the K-Pop the most successful
instrument with double reeds. peace pipe” or the “peace instrument”. group BTS, used the taepyeongso in the doubles players in
beginning of a music video titled tennis history.
Double reeds? Now, isn’t there a tradition of a Daechwita.
A reed is a thin material placed inside “peace pipe” among the Native
And Daechwita means?
June 18, 1948
an instrument that vibrates to create Americans? Columbia Records unveils the
the musical sound. Flutes do not have Yes, of course. Marching song for the king. Guess
reeds. Saxophones and clarinets have what, the last time they played it was LP or vinyl long playing record
single reeds. Bassoons, oboes, Is the taepyeongso used for peace in in 2017 when Donald Trump came in New York. Audiophiles love
bagpipes have double reeds. Korea? visiting. vinyl records because of its
Text: Suman Layak superior audio quality.

June 19, 2002

Past Disgrace American
businessman
Steve Fossett
The anti-racism protests have hit statues now. Protesters takes off on his
say people immortalised through these statues do not balloon, Spirit
deserve the honour in today’s world. A look at some of Freedom,
discredited statues and personalities from Northam
in Australia to
Residents in Shrewsbury, meanwhile, complete the
want a statue of Robert Clive removed. first solo flight around the
The statute honors a person who is world in a hot-air balloon.
seen as having engineered British rule
in India.
June 21, 2004
Source: News agencies

Protestors did not

even spare Winston
In another first in aviation,
Churchill, the war- SpaceShipOne becomes the
time PM of UK who world's first manned private
Christopher Columbus discovered America In Belgium, the authorities took down a statue has cult status among spaceflight to fly just over 100
but today, a lot of Americans think he of Leopold II in Antwerp after protestors set some. A monument km above sea level.
“represents genocide”. Some in Boston, it on fire and daubed it with paint. The former in London was
Source: onthisday.com, timeanddate.com
St Paul and Richmond felt so strong about it king of Belgium is termed as one of the most vandalised with
that they vandalised Columbus statues in brutal and ambitious exploiters of Africa. graffiti that said: Write to us with feedback
their cities. Protestors in Richmond even He amassed a huge fortune based on ivory “was a racist”. etmagazine@timesgroup.com
burnt it and those in Boston beheaded it. and rubber.
Compiled by: Ram Mohan

PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETORS, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. by Rajeev Yadav at Times House, 7, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110 002 and printed by him at (A) The Times of India Press, 13 & 15/1, Site IV, Industrial Area, Sahibabad, UP (B) Elegant Offset Printers, Shed No. D2-31, Thivim Industrial Estate, Karas-
wada, Mapusa Goa - 403526. EDITOR: Sruthijith K.K.(Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act). © Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. All rights reserved. RNI No.: DELENG/2012/48648. MADE IN NEW DELHI VOLUME 09 NO.23. AIR CHARGE: Raipur, Ahmedabad,
Srinagar, Leh & via `2.00 PRICE IN NEPAL: NEP `15.00 except on Saturday & Sunday: NEP `26.00.