DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES
SPUTNIK V
Russia shares data
on vaccine with
India, one option is
Phase 3 trials here
KAUNAIN SHERIFF M
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
EVEN AS Lancet published the
results of Phase-1 and Phase-2
clinical trial data of the Sputnik
V vaccine — cleared by Moscow
regulators for public use — the
Russian research institute has
nowsubmitted“comprehensive
data” on the vaccine’s safety and
efficacytoIndianauthorities,The
Indian Express has learnt.
Senior officials saidIndiahad
sought this from the Moscow-
based Gamaleya Research
Institute of Epidemiology and
Microbiology. The vaccine can-
didate triggered a “strong” im-
mune response in Phases 1 & 2
of the clinical trials on 76people.
“Wearenowdeeplyengaged
withRussiaonthevaccinefront,”
asourcesaid.Thisengagementis
Coaches being sanitised a day ahead of the stage-wise
resumption of services of the Delhi Metro, at Khyber Pass
yard in New Delhi Sunday. Praveen Khanna
EXPERT
EXPLAINS
Neelkanth
Mishra
From The Indian Express panel
of specialists, exclusive insight
HOW TO READ
GDP DATA
The contraction seen in
first-quarter GDP data is
severe, but not
unexpected. What
should be done – or not
done – at the level of
government policy so
that the economy gets a
chance to rebound?
EXPLAINED
PAGE 10
THE WORLD
ONE KILLED, SEVERAL
INJURED IN SERIES
OF STABBINGS IN
BIRMINGHAM
PAGE 12
App developed by two IIT-B friends helps
J&K students beat slow Internet speeds
LOCKDOWN
LESSONS
CHANGING
CLASSROOMS
AN EXPRESS SERIES
NAVEED IQBAL
SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 6
AT 10.37 one morning last week,
as Shakir Rashid went live with
his class online, he had already
been rung up by several of his
students–hewassevenminutes
being coordinated here by Renu
Swarup, Secretary, Department
of Biotechnology, and, in Russia,
by Indian Ambassador D B
Venkatesh Varma.
Asthis“comprehensivedata”
is evaluated by experts in India,
one option, sources said, is to
have a separate Phase 3 clinical
trial after necessary approvals
from regulators here. In fact, ac-
cording to the official Sputnik V
website,runbysovereignwealth
fund Russian Direct Investment
Fund, Russia plans to conduct
Phase 3 clinical trials in many
countries,includingSaudiArabia,
UAE, Brazil, and the Philippines.
Theproductionof thevaccine
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
COVID COUNT: INDIA
OVERTAKES BRAZIL
PAGE 7
REPORT,PAGE4
AAMBY VALLEY IN SAHARA PROBE
Under scanner: Over
Rs 62,000 cr depositors’
cash in loss-making firm
KHUSHBOO NARAYAN
& SUSHANT KULKARNI
MUMBAI, PUNE, SEPTEMBER 6
AAMBY VALLEY Ltd, the com-
pany whichisunder the scanner
of thegovernmentforgettingin-
vestments of Rs 62,643 crore
from deposits collected by four
Sahara cooperative societies al-
legedlyinviolationof norms,has
been making losses for at least
the past five years, its consoli-
dated accounts show.
In 2018-19, the last year for
4 years after elephant corridor secured
in Wayanad, rise in animals, incomes
ESHA ROY
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
A REPORT released by the
Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) last
month shows that four years af-
tertheThirunelli-Kudrakoteele-
phant corridor in Kerala’s
Wayanad district was accorded
protection by the state, unen-
cumbered elephant movement
in the corridor has increased, as
hasthepresenceof otherspecies
Masudi (left) and Abidi developed the 2G-friendly app. Express
late, and they were impatient.
Rashid decided to wait a few
more minutes to let some more
THE TVIRUS
Rhea Chakraborty at the office of the Narcotics Control Bureau in Mumbai on Sunday. She was questioned in the drugs case
linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Her brother was arrested in the case September 4. Express REPORT,PAGE6
At crucial time for foreign policy,
Jaishankar is guest at e-Adda today
External
Affairs
Minister
S Jaishankar
which financial numbers are
available, Aamby Valley Ltd
made a consolidated loss of
Rs 994 crore compared to a loss
of Rs 1,133 crore a year earlier. Its
total income came down to
Rs 958 crore in 2018-19 from
Rs 1,530 crore a year ago.
The firm not only operates
theAambyValleyhillcitylocated
amidst the lush Sahyadri moun-
tain ranges near Lonavala in
Maharashtra but also owns
properties in India and abroad
through 12 Indian subsidiaries
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
A family from Thirulakunnu
village that was encouraged
to move out and relocated
elsewhere. Pic courtesy: WTI
studentsjoinin.Andat10.40am,
he began his class – on the the-
ory of demand and supply.
SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`8 PATNA & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
6 WKS AFTER PM MEETINGS
100 days and
GDP shrink:
Govt works on a
fresh stimulus
Non-salaried middle class, small trade
target; talks on timing, quantum
E
E X P L A I NE D
AANCHAL MAGAZINE Will itbe
& P VAIDYANATHAN IYER late and
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
● little?
AFTER MORE THAN 100 days
since Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman announced an eco-
IN ELABORATE presenta-
tions to the PM six weeks
nomicpackage,sixweeksaftera ago, NITI Aayog, the PM’s
series of meetings at the highest Economic Advisory
level underlined the need for a Council and the Chief
stimulus and official estimates Economic Advisor’s of-
indicating the worst-ever first fice in the Ministry of
quarter GDP contraction of 23.9
per cent, the government has fi-
nallyidentifiedthe“non-salaried
Finance, made two im-
portant points: one, the
economy needs a fiscal
middle class and small busi-
nesses”asthetargetaudiencefor
a second round of stimulus.
boost, and two, the finan-
cial system needs sup-
port. The government
India faces a range of com- In mid-May, Sitharaman had has zeroed in on the tar-
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE plex foreign policy challenges announced five tranches of the get audience but is still
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6 right now, and the Minister is at AtmaNirbhar package, adding working out the timing
the centre of efforts to resolve up to an economic package of and the quantum.
AT A time when the Covid-19 the border crisis with China, Rs 20 lakh crore. Much of it was
pandemic has spotlighted in- even as he reaches out to other liquidity support, with extra fis-
creasing uncertainties in inter- neighbours. Elsewhere too, a lot cal outgo by the Central govern- butisstilldebatingitstimingand
national relations, and many is happening — the US has en- ment just a little over 1 per cent mode of delivery. “This round of
parts of the world have begun to tered the home stretch of a of GDP. While April-June GDP fiscal stimulus will be more for
look inward rather than out, hugely consequential presiden- ‘I have not got GST wasexpectedtoshrink,thereare the group which is not com-
External Affairs Minister tial election. clear signals the second quarter, pletelypoorandnotrich.Thisin-
since March... If Centre
S Jaishankar will be the guest at This is also a good time to too, will contract, with July and between, the non-salaried mid-
the Express E-Adda on Monday. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 doesn’t have money, August not showing any prom- dle class, it is the most affected.
how are we to get it?’ ise of big recovery. The timing of the rollout is cru-
AMARINDER SINGH With a more clearer picture cial in getting the maximum
CHIEF MINISTER, PUNJAB now available, the government benefit,”aseniorgovernmentof-
PAGE 11 seems to have zeroed in on who ficial told The Indian Express.
needsfinancialsupportthemost CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
INSIDE
KESAVANANDA
BHARATI,PETITIONER
INLANDMARK‘BASIC
STRUCTURE’CASE,DIES
PAGES 6, 10
in the area, including tigers and
spotted deer.
The Wayanad corridor, initi-
ated by the Kerala government
nearly15yearsagoinassociation
with the WTI and several other
nationalandinternationalNGOs,
is the first of its kind in South
Asia, wherein villagers living di-
rectly in the path of the elephant
movement were encouraged to
voluntarily move out and were
relocated elsewhere.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Rashid, who is based in
Srinagar, teaches a class in a
course of cost management ac-
counting – and this is how most
mornings begin. His 76 students
come from nearly all districts of
Jammu and Kashmir, from Doda
to Shopian and Kupwara. And
even at the restricted data
speeds in 18 of the 20 districts in
the Union Territory, the lesson
hits home loud and clear.
Theseclasseshavebeenmade
possible by the use of a mobile
phone application called ‘Wise
App’, which has been developed
by two friends from IIT-Bombay,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
New Delhi
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
TOY TRAIN RUNS FOR 2
■ A SPECIAL seven-coach toy
train run by Indian Railways
on the Shimla-Kalka
heritage line brought an
NDA exam candidate and his
father as its only passengers
to the Himachal Pradesh
capital Sunday morning.
■ Anurag Sharma boarded
the toy train along with his
father at Solan at 4.30 am
and arrived in Shimla,
around 45 km away, at 7.10
MONSOON SESSION FROM TODAY
Two Maharashtra
legislators, 37 govt
staffers test positive
VISHWAS WAGHMODE
MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 6
AT LEAST two MLAs and 37 gov-
ernmentstafferswhoweretoat-
tendtheMonsoonSessionof the
Maharashtra legislature from
Monday have tested positive for
Covid-19.
Sources said that while
around 2,200 people, including
legislators and 37 government
officials, have been tested since
Saturday,thereportsof someare
yet to come in.
Maharashtra’s legislators are
set to converge at the Vidhan
BhavaninMumbaiforatwo-day
MonsoonSession–thefirstsince
the pandemic – amid strict
safety measures place by the
Legislative Secretariat.
“The number of those in-
fected may increase further as
some MLAs have tested them-
selves at their district headquar-
HYDERABAD
Fight between retired Army
couple ends in husband’s death
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
HYDERABAD, SEPTEMBER 6
A RETIRED Army Major was fa-
tally stabbed allegedly by his
wife, also a retired Army official,
followingaquarrelattheirhouse
in Hyderabad, police said on
Sunday.
The woman, who retired as a
Lieutenant Colonel, has been ar-
rested. After the argument on
Saturday, the woman, aged
around 50, stabbed her husband
Rape charge: Police file FIR against
Uttarakhand BJP MLA, his wife
LALMANI VERMA
DEHRADUN, SEPTEMBER 6
OVER A fortnight after a married
woman in Dehradun filed a
complaint accusing BJP MLA
MaheshSinghNegiof rapingher,
Uttarakhand police on Sunday
lodged an FIR against the legis-
lator and his wife.
The police action comes a
dayafteranadditionalchief judi-
cial magistrate (ACJM) court di-
rected them to do so while hear-
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Pradeep Kumar
am to appear for the
National Defence Academy
and Naval Academy
Examination (I) and (II),
conducted by the UPSC.
■ Services on the Shimla-
Kalka rail line were
suspended in March due to
the Covid-19 pandemic. The
special train was run on
instructions from the Centre
for the benefit of candidates,
a railway official said.
ters and the reports are yet to be
compiled,” said an official,
adding that the final figure of
how many have been infected
would be known on Monday.
Maharashtra Assembly
Speaker Nana Patole had tested
positive on Friday. Sources said
that in Patole's absence, Deputy
Speaker Narhari Zhirwal is ex-
pected to chair the proceedings
in the Vidhan Sabha.
The Business Advisory
Committee of the state legisla-
ture, which comprises Chief
Minister Uddhav Thackeray and
Leader of Opposition in the
Assembly Devendra Fadnavis
among others, had made Covid-
19 tests compulsory for all who
would be a part of the Monsoon
Session, including MLAs and
government officials.
Only those who test negative
will be allowed entry inside in
both the Assembly and the
Legislative Council.
(43) in the chest, the police said.
Hisdaughterandneighbours
took him to hospital but he died
on the way, they said.
The retired Major was work-
ing as a chief security officer in a
company, they said.
Preliminary probe revealed
that the couple used to fight fre-
quently and he had allegedly hit
thewomanaroundamonthago,
the police said.
A case has been registered
and further investigations have
begun, they added.
ing a petition from the com-
plainant. Nehru Colony police
SHO Rakesh Gosain confirmed
that an FIR under IPC sections
376 (rape) and 506 (criminal in-
timidation) has been lodged
against the MLA and his wife.
The woman had filed the ini-
tial complaint on August 16 ac-
cusingNegiof rapingherandde-
manding a DNA test to confirm
that he is the father of her child.
Negi is presently the MLA from
Dwarahat Assembly con-
stituency in Almora district.
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
IN PHOTOS
FROM PAGE ONE
Russia vaccine
is expected to start in
September 2020. Significantly,
it states that at least 20 coun-
tries, including India, “had ex-
pressed interest in obtaining
the Sputnik V”; these countries
include the UAE, Saudi Arabia,
Indonesia, the Philippines,
Brazil, and Mexico.
Western experts have been
sceptical about the Russian
claim given the speed and se-
crecy with which the Gamaleya
candidate got regulatory ap-
proval. The Lancet study states
that Sputnik’s Phase 3 trial will
involve 40,000 volunteers from
different age and risk groups.
And will include “constant
monitoring” of volunteers
through an online application,
with each dose of vaccine hav-
ing its own QR code assigned to
the volunteer.
On September 4, the
Russian researchers published
their preliminary findings of
Phase 1 and 2 of their vaccine
candidate in the Lancet based
on two open and non-ran-
domised trials of two formula-
tions at two hospitals in Russia.
“In conclusion, these data col-
lectively show that the heterol-
ogous vaccine based on rAd26-
S and rAd5-S is safe, well
tolerated, and does not cause
serious adverse events in
healthy adult volunteers. The
vaccine is highly immunogenic
and induces strong humoral
and cellular immune responses
in 100% of healthy adult volun-
teers,” the study said.
Jaishankar
listen to Jaishankar for another
reason – his much-awaited
new book, The India Way:
Strategies for an Uncertain
World, has been released over
the weekend. While the book
promises to be a must-read, the
Express E-Adda will provide a
unique opportunity to gain in-
sights from its author in per-
son.
Rising from being a career
diplomat to India's Foreign
Secretary to its External Affairs
Minister, Jaishankar has had a
ringside view of the twists and
turns of India's policy in the
neighbourhood and beyond,
the deepening of its ties with
partners old and new, and the
evolution of its rightful claim
to a seat at the global high
table.
At the E-Adda, Jaishankar
will be in conversation with C
Raja Mohan, Contributing
Editor, The Indian Express and
Director, Institute of South
Asian Studies, National
University of Singapore, and
Shubhajit Roy, Associate Editor,
The Indian Express, who cov-
ers foreign affairs for the paper.
On November 14 last year,
while delivering the Fourth
Ramnath Goenka Memorial
Lecture, Jaishankar had shared
his ideas on 'Beyond the Delhi
Dogma: Indian Foreign Policy
in a Changing World'. The lec-
ture has been developed into a
chapter in his book, titled, 'The
Dogmas of Delhi: Overcoming
the Hesitations of History'.
The Express Adda is a series
of informal interactions organ-
ised by The Indian Express
Group, and features those at
the centre of change in our
world – and whose ideas touch
the ways in which we live and
work. These discussions, which
have moved online during the
pandemic, are especially signif-
icant in these uncertain times.
Among prominent guests at
past editions of Express Adda
have been Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman, Nobel
laureates Abhijit Banerjee and
Esther Duflo, Chief Economic
Advisor Krishnamurthy
Subramanian, cancer specialist
and Pulitzer Prize-winning au-
thor Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee,
and cricketer Cheteshwar
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
SHER SHAH SURI, ASAF-UD-DAULA AND THE IMPORTANCE OF FISCAL MULTIPLIERS
Atthisjuncture,theIndiangovernment—muchlikeAsaf-ud-Daula—needstoprovideimmediatereliefinthe
formofexpandingruralemploymentguaranteeschemeand,someargue,introducinganurbanemployment
guaranteeschemeaswellasmoredirectcashtransferstothepoor.
DURGA PUJA MONTH IN
KOLKATA’S KUMARTULI
Kumartuli idol makers
offer glimpses of what
to expect in puja month
Govt works on second stimulus
In the meantime, even as
several inter-ministerial dis-
cussions were being held,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
presided over presentations
by members of his Economic
Advisory Council, NITI Aayog,
Chief Economic Advisor’s of-
fice, the Ministry of Finance
and the Ministry of
Commerce. One consistent
message in the presentation
by EAC, NITI and CEA was the
need for a fiscal stimulus and
support for the financial sys-
tem, said more than one of the
50-odd participants in the four
presentations made over 10
days end of June and begin-
ning of July.
With almost a dozen Union
Under scanner: Over Rs 62,000 cr of
depositors’ cash in loss-making firm
and 19 foreign subsidiaries lo-
cated in Mauritius, British
Virgin Islands, Macedonia, UK
andWestIndies,showrecords.
At the end of March 31,
2019, the company had total
assets of Rs 61,095 crore com-
pared to Rs 64,777 crore a year
earlier.
Records scrutinised by the
Central Registrar of
Cooperative Societies show
that between 2012 and 2014,
the four Sahara societies —
Sahara Credit Cooperative,
Humara India Credit
Cooperative Society Ltd,
Saharayn Universal
Multipurpose Society Ltd and
Stars Multipurpose
Cooperative Society Ltd –
raisedRs86,673crorefromde-
positors and invested Rs
62,643 crore in Aamby Valley
Ltd, allegedly in violation of
norms.
As The Indian Express first
reported, the Registrar has
asked the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs (MCA) to
launch a probe by the Serious
Fraud Investigation Office
(SFIO) into Aamby Valley Ltd.
Pujara.
Union Minister for Road
Transport and Highways and
Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises Nitin Gadkari,
Union Minister for Education
Ramesh Pokhriyal, Director of
AIIMS Dr Randeep Guleria, and
former Chief Economic Advisor
Arvind Subramanian were re-
cent guests at the E-Adda.
Elephant corridor
The 2,200-acre Thirunelli-
Kudrakote corridor is located in
the tri-junction of Karnataka,
Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In all, 37
acres were secured to ensure
that this corridor remains un-
broken, linking6,500 elephants,
as well as other species.
Enthused by the project's
success, the Kerala government
has initiated a process to "ac-
quire and secure" all elephant
corridors in the state. "There are
seven elephant corridors in
Kerala. Of these, two are already
secureandneednolandacquisi-
tion. One has been secured for
us by the WTI. We have initiated
acquisitionintheremainingfour
corridors and plan to escalate
the process," Principal Chief
Conservator of Forests and Chief
Wildlife Warden, Kerala,
Surendra Kumar said.
The biggest win in the
Wayanad project remains the
relocation. The 200-odd vil-
lagerswhowererelocatedtoen-
surethe unbroken corridorhave
been provided pucca houses, in
lieu of the thatched huts they
FULL COVERAGE
Cabinet ministers attending
these meetings, the partici-
pants stepped out with a sense
of optimism because they saw
it as a signal that the Prime
Minister was building consen-
sus within the government for
a bigger stimulus.
Those present in the meet-
ings included Sitharaman,
Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah,
Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal
and Gajendra Singh
Shekhawat.
But the government has
hardly made any announce-
ments over the last six weeks
based on these discussions.
“We got the impression that
the government will press the
accelerator… but doesn’t
The Registrar has alleged these
four societies have shown "fic-
titiousprofits"intransactionof
shares of Aamby Valley Ltd.
ASaharaGroup spokesper-
son said the cooperative soci-
eties have 4 crore depositor
members and the money in-
vested in Aamby Valley Ltd
was used for "development,
operatingandcreditclearance"
of Aamby Valley.
“Our society is not accept-
ing any deposit/contribution
from general public, we are
only accepting deposits/con-
tribution from our members
whoarehavingvotingrightsin
our society. We are investing
our money as per the provi-
sions of our bye-laws which
were approved by the Central
Registrar of Cooperative
Societies…(which)in2018has
specially conducted a special
audit of our societies through
independent chartered ac-
countant firms and we came
clean…there was no violation
of bye-laws/act. We always
welcome anytime any type of
inspection/audit,” said the
spokesperson.
lived in earlier, and also have the
assurancethattheircropswould
not be destroyed by elephants.
Before they were moved, roads
were constructed, power lines
laidandwaterfacilitiesprovided
in the new areas.
The WTI report says the vil-
lagershavetestifiedthattheyare
no longer in conflict with the
elephants and that their annual
income has actually gone up
from Rs 41,040 per annum per
familytoRs1,75,080.Apartfrom
the saved crops, access to mar-
ket facilities and jobs has also fa-
cilitated the increase in income.
The new villages are closer to
health centres and schools.
Villagers have been coming for-
ward for vaccinations, and even
illiteracy among them has seen
a decline from 33 per cent to 28
per cent, notes the report.
In another success for the
project, several years ago, the
Forest Department captured its
first tiger movement in the cor-
ridoronitscameratraps.Thelast
sighting was in March.
The 37 acres to secure the
Thirunelli-Kudrakote corridor
fall between the protected areas
of the Brahmagiri Wildlife
Sanctuary and Wayanad
Wildlife Sanctuary. While 25.3
acres were acquired on a private
purchase model by the WTI, the
Asian Nature Conservation
Foundationsecuredtheremain-
ing12acresandhandedoverthe
land to the Kerala Forest
Department, a process that took
around a decade.
The WTI report says that
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
HAZRAT NIZAMUDDIN
DARGAH REOPENS
Use of sanitisers and
face masks has been
made mandatory
seem like that,” said an official.
The government, an official
said, believes it has provided
substantially for the poor in
terms of making available food
grain, cooking gas, and income
from MGNREGA work. “The
non-salaried urban and rural
people, who are not abject
poor, and do not have an as-
sured income, are the ones
who have been left out in the
previous packages. These are
the small businessmen and
shop owners, such as an air
conditioning repair shop or
similar ones,” the official said.
“There is a general consen-
sus that more demand is re-
quired. But funds are limited,
and there is a binding factor on
AambyValleyLtd'sflagship
project is Aamby Valley City,
which is spread over 10,000
acres and eight villages near
Lonavala. The hill city boasts of
an airstrip, helipads, captive
power plant, two small dams,
an international school, shop-
ping complexes, luxury leisure
facilities and a hospital. It has
over 800 luxury bungalows
pricedbetweenRs5croretoRs
20 crore.
In 2017, the Supreme Court
attached Aamby Valley city for
realising money to repay in-
vestors of two Sahara firms
Sahara India Real Estate
Corporation Ltd (SIRECL) and
Sahara Housing Investment
Corporation Ltd (SHICL) that
hadraisedoverRs20,000crore
from 3 crore investors in al-
leged violation of norms.
At that time, the apex court
had valued Aamby Valley at Rs
37,392 crore, a figure disputed
bytheSaharaGroupwhichsaid
its valuation was about Rs 1.5
lakhcrore.Despitethecourtset-
ting a reserve price lower than
Sahara's estimates, Aamby
Valley failed to find a buyer.
even in the initial stages of con-
sultation, the villagers of
Thirulakunnuthemselvesasked
to be relocated. Villagers who
did not want to be moved were
not forced to, such as those in
Edayur Vayal, who continue to
stay where they were.
Apart from Thirulakunnu,
Valiya Emmadi, Kottapady and
Puliankolly villages were en-
tirely relocated. Villagers of
SultharVayalwerenotrelocated,
but land was acquired and they
were given alternative agricul-
tural plots.
The land in the corridors to
be linked now would be directly
acquired by the Kerala Forest
Department, the Principal Chief
Conservator of Forests said.
"The Thirunelli-Kudrakote
corridor is one of the most im-
portantecologically.South India
has one of the highest popula-
tions and concentrations of ele-
phants and this corridor con-
nects some of the biggest
elephant-inhabitedareas.When
an elephant corridor is frag-
mented, then elephants cannot
migrate and this leads to in-
breeding and genetic isolation.
Whenthathappensthereisabig
chanceof thepopulationdeclin-
ing,"theWTI'sOfficerIn-Charge,
Corridors, Upasana Ganguly,
who has been involved with the
Wayanad project, said.
Gangulyaddedthattheproj-
ect took this long because of its
sensitive nature and care was
taken to ensure that only those
villages which fell directly in the
path of the elephants were relo-
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
India-China defence
minister talks end in
stalemate
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
In today’s episode, we analyse what
happened in talks between the Indian and
Chinese defence ministers and what it
means for the two nations.
the quantum. It is not clear
what can be done that will
make it directly effective.
There are different opinions,
we still need to work out the
details,” the official said.
Further, there are expecta-
tions that the services sector,
especially the non-financial
services sector, might con-
tinue to drag for a while.
Several discussions are learnt
to have been held about
whether a tax break could be
given for a limited time period
to restaurants in the service
sector, but the decision did not
materialise as it was thought
it may not yield an immediate
boost to consumption de-
mand, another official said.
In July 2018, the Supreme
Court lifted the attachment of
Aamby Valley after several
failed attempts by the official
liquidator to auction the prop-
erty to repay the depositors of
Sahara.
According to Aamby
Valley's consolidated financial
statement of 2018-19, the
company has given Rs 2,035
crore to Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
aspaymentonbehalf of SIRECL
and SHCIL as mandated by the
Supreme Court.
The apex court, in August
2012, ordered the Sahara
Group to deposit with SEBI
over Rs 24,000 crore collected
by SIRECL and SHCIL through
issuance of bonds in violation
of norms.
Most of the activities inside
the city have halted since 2017
when the Supreme Court or-
dered the attachment. For a
brief period in between, some
facilities had started getting
patrons for functions, confer-
ences, events etc which are on
hold since the Covid-19 pan-
demic began.
cated.
South India has 28 corridors
that are essential for the move-
ment of its 14,612 elephants be-
tween protected areas.
Annually, India sees 450
deaths in encounters with ele-
phants, with at least 500,000
families affected due to the
man-animal conflict. Elephants
are estimated to damage 0.8 to
1millionhectaresof cropsevery
year. At least 100 elephants are
known to be killed annually in
the conflict.
Apart from its flagship Asian
elephant, the Wayanad Wildlife
Sanctuary has 45 species of
mammals, including tigers,
Sambhars, sloth bear, common
leopards, Gaurs, spotted deer,
Grey Langurs, the Bonnet
macaque and the Malabar giant
squirrel. The sanctuary houses
227 bird species, accounting for
48% of the total bird species in
the state.
App developed
Mubeen Masudi from Kashmir
and Bilal Abidi from Lucknow.
The app is a 2G-friendly video
interface that allows students
and teachers to cut through
problems of scheduling, makes
teaching and assessments over
the Internet easier, and makes
the experience as close to a real
classroom as possible.
“Two graduates of @iitbom-
bay have developed an Android
application “Wise App” to en-
able #onlinelearning on the 2G
service. The application is ex-
tremely user-friendly, com-
pletely free of cost and comes
without any advertisements,”
Minister for Education Ramesh
Pokhriyal Nishank posted on
Twitter on August 13.
“Kudos to the team,” the
Ministersaid,withtwothumbs-
upemojis.Thedevelopersof the
app were also featured on the
Government of India’s 74 years,
74 series campaign, which gave
it fillip and reach. A month after
its launch, the app is being used
by 3,000 teachers, a vast major-
ity of whom are in J&K, and who
are nowable to reach thousands
of students even over restricted
network speeds.
“I have been an educator for
the past eight years in Kashmir.
During all these years I have
worked directly with students,
schools, localNGOs andthegov-
ernment’s education depart-
ment. A significant part of this
time has been spent in class-
rooms teaching mathematics
and chemistry to high school
students,” Masudi told The
Indian Express.
OncetheCovid-19lockdown
wasimposed,alleducationalin-
stitutions were forced to move
online. As a result, “every
teacher, including me, faced an
uphill task”, he said. “While
tech-savvy teachers such as me
were able to find fixes, most of
the teachers, and their students,
suffered.”
The challenges were com-
pounded by the low Internet
bandwidth (2G) in Kashmir.
Masudi and Abidi initially found
workarounds such as using
whiteboardontheZoomappin-
stead of video, which somehow
worked on 2G. However, teach-
ing is more than just live classes,
online and offline, Masoodi said.
“Whileeveryonewasfixated
on the chaos around live classes
– which client to use, how to
share meeting Ids and pass-
words, etc. – equally important
aspects such as assignments,
testing, content-sharing, clear-
ing of doubts, etc. took a back
seat. Consequently, most of the
studentshavebeenreceivingin-
adequate or discontinuous edu-
cation since March. As a teacher,
I realise that for great learning
outcomes,qualityaswellascon-
tinuity of education is very im-
portant,” he said.
From this arose the need for
a platform that was easy to use,
andwhichwasaccessibletostu-
dents even on low bandwidth,
Masudi said. The existing solu-
tions, the developers of the app
realised,wereeithertoodifficult
to use for the average teacher, or
solved only part of the problem.
C S Paul, vice-principal of
Lucknow's Unity College, who
now uses the app, described
some of the problems that
teachers faced: “Every night I
was on 30 to 35 WhatsApp
groups,managingthenextday's
classes. Scheduling and sending
notifications across these differ-
ent groups was a massive issue,
especially for senior classes,
whichneedgreaterinteraction,”
he said. “Additionally, 90 per
cent of students did not have
laptops, so there was a need for
an application that could reach
the largest numbers of students
on mobile phones. Wise does
not share the details of students
with everyone.”
A unique feature of the app
is the way it tracks attendance,
Paul said. “There is no upper
limitfor enrollment but thisapp
tells me how many students are
attending. Other vendors also
had apps but with Wise, at the
endof theclass,Igetalistof who
was in the class for how long,”
Paul said.
For Masudi and Abidi, the
purposeof Wisewasto“democ-
ratise education” by empower-
ing teachers through technol-
ogy. They now hope their
creation will reach all corners of
the country where connectivity
and slow Internet speeds are a
problem.
 3 THE CITY
3,256 CASES ON MONDAY
Several Delhi govt hospitals
to test all patients for Covid
ASTHA SAXENA
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
DAYS AFTER the Delhi High
Court advised the state govern-
ment to devise a new strategy
to test asymptomatic Covid-19
patients, several Delhi govern-
ment hospitals have made rapid
antigen testing mandatory for
all patients.
This is part of the govern-
ment's shift in testing policy.
Last week, Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal had asked dis-
trict officials to double testing
by conducting 40,000 tests in a
day. Over the last few days, the
number of daily tests have gone
up. On Sunday, 36,046 tests
were conducted.
Covid cases in the city
breached the 3,000 mark on
Sunday, touching 3,256, while
29 deaths were reported in the
last 24 hours. This takes the to-
tal case count to 1,91,449 and
the death toll to 4,567. This is
also the highest single-day
spike in 69 days.
According to sources, any
patient visiting non-Covid hos-
pitals will have to undergo test-
ing for the virus, as a part of the
new directives from the state
Ghaziabad man
held for stalking,
harassing women
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
GHAZIABAD, SEPTEMBER 6
A 22-YEAR-OLD man was ar-
rested for allegedly stalking and
harassing dozens of women in
the NCR by using a software to
make calls, which would mask
his phone number.
The accused, Rohtak resi-
dent Deepak, was arrested by
Ghaziabad's Cyber Cell on
Saturday.
Police said he had contacts
and chats of more than 500
women in his phone at the time
of his arrest. Police began look-
ing for him after a woman
lawyer filed a complaint.
"A case of cyber stalking and
cyber bullying had been filed.
The Cyber Cell team laid a trap
and traced the IP address of the
accused. It was found he would
harass multiple women from
different states. We are gather-
ing digital evidence on his pre-
vious criminal activities," said
Kalanidhi Naithani, SSP,
Ghaziabad.
Police said the accused, a
class V dropout, would al-
legedly dial different combina-
tions of numbers. If a woman
picked up, he would save the
number. Later, he would al-
legedly send lewd messages
and texts on WhatsApp to the
women. If they blocked his
number, Deepak would al-
legedly use a software to make
calls, which would show an un-
traceable international number.
Police said the accused also
threatened some women. The
women are from Delhi,
Haryana, Punjab and UP, among
other states, said police.
The complainant told police
she had been getting incessant
calls and messages from a num-
ber which appeared to be orig-
inating from South Korea and
Mumbai International Airport Ltd.
INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN BIDDING
PROCESS FOR VARIOUS RETAIL
CONCESSIONS AT CSMI AIRPORT
Mumbai International Airport Limited (“MIAL”) is inviting parties to
participate in the competitive bidding process for various Retail
concessions at CSMIA.
Parties are requested to visit the website: https://csmia.aero à
Businesses à Business Opportunities à Commercial
Opportunities) for downloading form of Application for purchase of
Request for Proposal document(s).
Please check the website for Last date and time for submission of
Application.
CORONAVIRUS IN THE CAPITAL
TOTAL CASES
1,91,449
Daily cases
Sep 4 2,914
Sep 5 3,256
Total 20,909*
health department.
Dr BL Sherwal, medical di-
rector of Delhi State Cancer
Institute, said: "Earlier, testing
was not mandatory for all. Over
the last few days, however, we
have started testing all patients
who are visiting the hospital
through rapid antigen test. If re-
The accused, Deepak
Philippines. Police traced the
accused to Haryana, based on
the address listed by the inter-
net service provider. The ac-
cused has been booked under
relevant sections of the IT Act,
police said.
"The cyber operation lasted
one month, in which we tried
to trace the accused's location.
From one of the WhatsApp
calls, we enquired about the IP
address. In such cases, it is pos-
sible the address is registered to
a fake ID. In this case, the ID was
found to be the accused's own
registration which helped us
zero in on him. He was an ex-
pert in registering fake accounts
on WhatsApp using other peo-
ple's numbers. We request peo-
ple to carefully authenticate
WhatsApp to prevent misuse,"
said Abhay Mishra, in charge of
Ghaziabad Cyber Cell.
NEW DELHI YMCA
Jai Singh Road,
New Delhi 110 001 – Ph.43644031
NOTICE OF THE
ONLINE SPECIAL MEETING
The Online Special Meeting of
the Members of New Delhi YMCA
will be held on 29 September
2020 at 3.00 PM. Online Special
Meeting ID and Link will be sent to
Members e-mail id by 29 September 2020
forenoon.
New Delhi
Jovial Vaghela
Chairman
07 Sep 2020 Board of Directors
Total Vacant
HOSPITAL BEDS 14,161 8,975
VENTILATORS 1,204 615
Recoveries Deaths Tests
1,751 13 36,219
2,188 29 36,046
1,65,973 4,567 17,80,512
*Total active cases
There were 36,046 tests
done in the capital on
Sunday. Praveen Khanna
quired, re-testing is done
through RT-PCR." The cancer in-
stitute, like other hospitals, was
earlier testing only non-Covid
patients who were getting ad-
mitted or in need of surgery.
Dr Anil Agarwal, director of
GB Pant hospital, said they are
following the Delhi govern-
ment's protocol: "A separate
area has been created near the
registration counter where all
patients are tested. Guidelines
are being followed as per gov-
ernment policy. A staff mem-
ber is stationed near the
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
2 kill man they met on dating app, arrested
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
R P Meena, DCP (Southeast),
said, “Locals found a man’s body
was identified as Arjun Kumar, a
resident of Gautampuri,” said a
rob men they met there.
“The two started speaking to
in the jungle on Sunday morn- senior police officer. Dayal on the app and later in-
ing with stab wounds. Local po- Kumar told police that his vited him to meet them in Sarita
A 25-YEAR-OLD man was al- licerushedtothespot,identified phone is used by his friend Vihar. The men took Dayal on
legedlykilledbytwomenwhohe him and initiated a probe.” Sumit, who lives near his house. theirbiketoajungle.Oncethere,
metonadatingapp,inSoutheast Police couldn’t find Dayal’s The police team arrested Sumit they tried to snatch his phone,
Delhi’s Sarita Vihar on Saturday. phone, which was switched off, from his house. During interro- but when he resisted, they
WiththehelpofaWhatsAppdis- but they found the SIM number. gation, the man confessed to the threatened him with a knife and
counter to ensure people follow playphotoandcalldetailrecords, “We traced the last location be- crime and said he met Dayal on stabbed him to death,” said po-
social distancing."
The National Centre for
theaccusedwerearrestedwithin
a day, police said. Police said the
fore the phone was switched off
and found that Dayal was in
a dating app called Blued.
Police said he allegedly killed
lice. The two left him in the jun-
gle and fled the spot.
Disease Control, which con- accused had been using the dat- Badarpur. Call detail records of Dayal with the help of his friend A case has been registered
ducted the first sero survey in ing app to target and rob men. the phone were also checked Karthik, said police. Karthik was against the two under sections
Delhi, in its final report to the
High Court had mentioned that
The victim, Sunny Dayal,
worked with Volvo buses as
and we found that Dayal was in
constanttouchwithaman.With
also arrested from the same lo-
cality. The accused told police
of robbery and murder. Karthik
is involved in four cases of vio-
asymptomatic patients can pantry staff. His body was found the help of WhatsApp, we saw that they created an ID on the lence, attempt to murder and
pose a huge challenge in effec- in Aali Vihar on Saturday night. the man’s display picture and he app and planned to target and theft, police said.
tive containment of the disease.
Director-General of Health
Services, Delhi government, Dr
Nutan Mundeja had said the
government will re-strategise
its testing plan through RAT and
RT-PCR.
While hospitals have started
testing asymptomatic patients,
private labs are still awaiting
guidelines.
"ICMR has relaxed guide-
lines for asymptomatic patients,
and each state can alter them as
per the need. However, we are
yet to receive any official com-
munication from the Delhi gov-
ernment on testing asympto-
matic patients," said a private
lab owner.
At present, no private lab is
authorised to test any patient
without a prescription.
States like Punjab and
Maharashtra have already
tweaked testing guidelines for
Covid patients.
New Delhi

4 THE CITY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
BRIEFLY
Ex-Delhichief
secydies
New Delhi: Former Chief
Secretary of Delhi, D M
Spolia(65),succumbedto
Covid-19 at a south Delhi
hospital on Sunday.
Spolia lived in Moti Khan
and was admitted to hos-
pital in late August. A
1979 batch IAS officer,
Spolia retired in 2015. He
served two stints as
Delhi’s Chief Secretary —
once under the Congress
andoncewhenthenewly
formed AAP government
had resigned and Delhi
was under President’s
rule. He earlier served as
the Delhi finance secre-
tary.
DCW rescues
minorgirl
New Delhi: The Delhi
Commission for Women
(DCW) rescued a minor
girl, who was trafficked
from Jharkhand eight
years ago. Officials said
the girl was allegedly
raped by several men
during this period and
was forced to work as a
domestic help. The girl
was rescued on Saturday
night after DCW re-
ceived a complaint from
her father on the
helpline.
HarshVardhan's
mothernomore
New Delhi: Union Health
MinisterHarshVardhan's
mother died following a
cardiac arrest on Sunday
morning at the age of 89,
the minister said on
Twitter.Vardhansaidthat
as per his mother’s wish,
her eyes were donated at
theAIIMSandherbodyto
the Maulana Azad
Medical College.
Minorsinjured
whileplaying
withgun
Noida: Threeminorswere
injured after one of them
accidentally fired a li-
censed gun in Greater
Noida Sunday. According
topolice,theminorslived
inpolicequartersandone
of themallegedlyusedhis
father's weapon while
playing. ENS
In Master Plan Delhi 2041, focus on city’s water
bodies, green lungs and unauthorised colonies
ABHINAV RAJPUT
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
A BLUE-GREEN policy that aims
at bringing water management
andgreeninfrastructuretogether,
focus on cycling infrastructure in
the city, vertical growth in unau-
thorised colonies to make it less
dense — these are some of the
features that would be part of
Delhi’s 2041 Master Plan.
Delhi Development
Authority vice-chairperson
Anurag Jain told The Indian
Express that these features
would be part of the next mas-
ter plan to control pollution and
provide better health facilities.
ThecurrentMasterPlan2021,
whichlaysdownplanningguide-
lines,policies,acodeof develop-
ment, and space requirements
FOR ADMISSION TO UG, PG, MPHIL AND PHD LEVELS
DU entrance tests kick off for 37 courses across 24 centres in country
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
WITH OVER 2,20,000 aspirants
havingregisteredfor133courses
across the undergraduate, post-
graduate, MPhil and PhD levels,
theDelhiUniversityEntranceTest
(DUET) kicked off on Sunday.
The tests are being held at 24
centres across the country, and
exams for admissions to 37 dif-
ferent courses were held on
AS NEW CASES RISE
Hotels, banquet halls unlikely
to be roped in again for Covid
MALLICA JOSHI
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
AS COVID cases rise in the city,
the Delhi government is making
preparations to ensure there are
enoughbedsforpatients.Hotels,
however, are not expected to be
roped in this time. Banquet halls
toowillnotbeaskedtohandover
facilities for now.
“Only if the number of cases
rises suddenly will banquet
halls be requisitioned. The last
time, making arrangements
took some time as such an ex-
ercise was carried out for the
first time. This time, we are
more prepared. Initially, we
don’t believe there is a need to
requisition these facilities. If
they are needed at a later stage,
we will be ready,” said a senior
government official.
Hotels, officials said, will not
be requisitioned as experience
shows occupancy remained
low. “When cases rose suddenly
earlier, we requisitioned five-
and four-star hotels but experi-
ence showed that very few pa-
CM kicks off anti-dengue
campaign, asks people to join
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
DELHI CHIEF Minister Arvind
Kejriwal kickstarted the Delhi
government's 10-week anti-
dengue campaign by inspecting
his own residence for stagnant
water on Sunday. The campaign
— '10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute'
— seeks to build greater aware-
nessonthepreventionof vector-
borne diseases in Delhi, by ex-
horting people to examine their
houses and nearby areas for
mosquito breeding spots.
“Honourable Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal kickstarted the
anti-dengue campaign by re-
moving stagnant clean water at
his residence. He said that like
last year, two crore Delhiites will
come together to make this ini-
tiative successful and to defeat
dengue,” the Chief Minister's
Office tweeted.
Last year, dengue cases
dropped to 2,036, with only two
deaths, as compared to 2015,
forvarioussocio-economicactiv-
itiessupportingthecity’spopula-
tion, is set to end next year. The
DDA is presently in the stage of
consultation with different
stakeholders for MPD 2041.
On the blue-green policy,
Leenu Sehgal, commissioner of
DDA’splanningdepartment,said
Delhihasaround50drains(blue
areas) managed by different
agencies and due to their poor
condition,landaround(greenar-
eas) has also been affected.
DDA, along with other agen-
cies, will integrate them and re-
move all sources of pollution by
checkingtheoutflowofuntreated
wastewater.Amixofmechanised
and natural systems may be
adopted, and dumping of solid
wasteinanyof thesesiteswillbe
strictlyprohibitedbylocalbodies
through imposition of fines.
Sunday — including MA English,
MA Political Science, MSc
Computer Science, MCom, and
PhD in Law.
DUET is conducted by the
National Testing Agency (NTA).
While the NTA could not be con-
tacted to confirm how many of
theregisteredcandidateshadap-
pearedforSunday’sexamination,
DU’s Dean Admission Shobha
Bagai said the turnout appeared
to be good.
“I do not have the complete
IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS
■ Activecases
25000
20000
11,626 13,208
15000
10000
5000
3,886
3,904
4,934
3,609
4,426
3,828
4,636
3,966
4,730
4,275
4,190
5,185
3,617
4,011
0 0
Aug24
Aug25
Aug26
Aug27
Aug28
Aug29
Aug30
Aug31
Sept1
Sept2
Sept3
Sept4
Sept5
Sept6
tients were shifted here. In the
first week of June, the rush for
beds we saw was primarily for a
week; even in that case, it was
ventilators and ICUs that were
running short. This time, as
cases rise, we have a higher
number of beds, ventilators and
ICUs as compared to last time;
oxygen is available in most
beds. We don’t think we will
need to requisition hotel
rooms,” the official said.
When they were first requi-
sitioned, two hotels had gone to
CM Kejriwal inspects his residence, Sunday. PTI
when Delhi recorded 15,867
cases and 60 deaths due to
dengue. The government has at-
tributed the drop to the mass
campaign. At present, the city
has reported 74 cases of malaria,
78 cases of dengue and 34 cases
of chikungunya.
“Last year, two crore people
of Delhi had defeated dengue...
At 10 am, I will check my house
whether there is any stagnant
water. Youmustalso.Wehaveto
‘Blue-green’
infrapolicy
UNDER the MPD 2041,
DDA has proposed a
‘blue-green’ policy — in-
tegrating drains (blue ar-
eas) and land (green ar-
eas) around them. This
includes developing or-
chards, planned parks
and landscaped recre-
ational greens alongside
development of wet-
lands, ponds, lakes, natu-
ral drains, canals.
datafromtheNTA,butitappears
that the turnout in centres in
Delhi wasgood.Theturnoutwas
comparatively lower in regions
outside Delhi, but maybe that
was expected, as many candi-
datesmightpreferadmissionsin
their state universities,” she said.
AtthecentresinDelhi,candi-
dateshadtravelledlongdistances
through various means to reach
their exam venue on time.
Murari Lal, whose sister ap-
peared for her exam at a centre
0-50 Good
■ Personsinhospital
7500
16,502 20,909
6000
14,793
4500
3000
1500
court which ruled in the gov-
ernment’s favour, and hotels
were attached to hospitals.
However, only a handful of pa-
tients took admission in the 40
hospitals that were attached to
hotels and later, they were un-
linked.
A senior official also said
since hotels had been allowed
to function, the government did
not want to stall their business
unless absolutely necessary: “A
lot of facilities were created in
the last two months and we
defeat dengue again this time,”
said Kejriwal.
Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia, cabinet minis-
ters Rajendra Pal Gautam and
Kailash Gahlot also shared pic-
tures and videos on Twitter as
part of the campaign.
While announcing the cam-
paign, the CM had appealed to
Delhi ministers, MLAs and the
citizens to begin the mega cam-
paign from their own homes.
Thereafter, real estate projects
would be developed along these
integrated corridors, she said.
Cleaning of waterbodiesand
nullahs has, however, been a
challenge for different agencies.
As per an earlier report by the
Central Pollution Control Board,
Delhi generates 3,800 million
litres of sewage per day and half
of this goes directly into water
bodies without being treated.
DDA’s earlier attempt to consti-
tute a special task force and pe-
nalise those dumping waste in
the Yamuna did not met with
much success.
Continuous green mobility
circuitsof pedestrianandcycling
paths shall be developed along
the drains to serve functional
and leisure trips, said a DDA offi-
cial. “The aim is to provide ade-
quate amenities like toilets,
Outside an exam centre in Okhla Sunday. Gajendra Yadav
ANAND VIHAR
Satisfactory
100
AQI
0 Pollutant: CO 500
51-100 Satisfactory
don’t think we will need to ask
businesses to stop functioning.
This is a disease we need to
learn to live with and control
deaths as much as possible.”
Over the last few weeks,
number of beds occupied has
gone from 3,600 to 5,185. The
highest number of hospitalisa-
tions previously was around
6,300 in the last week of June.
The number of ventilators in
hospitals has also gone up since
June.
Officials said cases increased
suddenly as more tests are be-
ing conducted now. On Sunday,
3,256 cases were recorded and
over 36,000 people were tested.
Delhi was testing around
18,000 people per day till two
weeks ago.
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal had said on Saturday
that the situation in Delhi was
under control and there were
enough beds in hospitals. He
also said the number of people
from outside Delhi who have
taken admission in city hospi-
tals has risen after lockdown
was eased.
NE riots: One
more arrest in
Rahul Solanki
murder
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
THE DELHI Police Crime Branch
arrested a 25-year-old man in
connection with the murder of
law student Rahul Solanki (26)
during the Northeast Delhi riots
inFebruary.CrimeBranchofficials
said the accused, Mustaqeem,
was arrested on Thursday and
senttojudicialcustody.Policesaid
he is a school dropout and works
as a carpenter.
Police said the accused al-
legedlykilledSolanki,anLLBstu-
dentfromacollegeinGhaziabad,
near Rajdhani School when he
stepped out to buy milk and gro-
ceriesonFebruary24.Policesaid
they received a tip-off after six
monthsandarrestedMustaqeem
from Bhajanpura Majra. He de-
niedhisinvolvementinitiallybut
allegedlyconfessedlater,saidpo-
lice.Sevenotherswereearlierar-
rested in the case.
drinking water fountains, rest-
ing places, visitor information
centres, recreation, exercise,
yoga, nature classes,” he said.
DDA, along with developers,
willalsooptforverticaldevelop-
ment in unauthorised colonies.
“Wewilltakeupredevelopment
in unauthorisedcoloniesby ask-
ing people to give their land so
that we can widen roads and
give other facilities. We will in-
crease FARinthe remaining por-
tion,” said Jain.
With a rise in cycling as
transportation mode among
people, DDA said it would make
provisions for cycle tracks. Work
ona33-km-longdedicatedtrack
forcyclistsandpedestrians,with
four corridors connecting areas
like Jahanpanah forest and oth-
ers in South Delhi, will start this
month, said Jain.
SIRIFORT
Satisfactory
81
AQI
Pollutant:
0 500
OZONE
101-200 Moderate
Sanitisation work in progress at the Khyberpass Metro depot Sunday. Praveen Khanna
Restarting today, Metro
says talk less, travel light
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
TALKLESS,avoidcommutingun-
necessarily and travel light — as
Delhi Metro resumes operations
in the capital after 169 days on
Monday amid the Covid pan-
demic, authorities have asked
commuters to follow guidelines
to help stop the virus spread.
Services will start in a stag-
gered manner, with the Yellow
Line (Samyapur Badli in Delhi-
HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon)
and the Rapid Metro in Gurgaon
the first to be made operational.
Remaininglineswillrestartgrad-
ually by September 12.
Wearing masks and ensur-
ing social distancing will be
mandatory for all. Cash transac-
tions will not be undertaken,
which means only smart cards
can be used. Officials said 70% of
commuters used smart cards
before operations were sus-
pended in March. Trains will op-
erate in four-hour slots — be-
tween 7 am and 11 am and 4 pm
and 8 pm — in the first stage.
Fire inspection of
guesthouses, hotels
to begin again
JIGNASASINHA
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
AFTERAfive-monthbreakdueto
the Covid outbreak, Delhi Fire
Services(DFS)issettoresumein-
spections of restaurants and
guesthouses, and conduct fire-
safetytrainingsessionsforthees-
tablishments,inthenationalcap-
ital. Officials Sunday said most of
their work will now be done
through an online portal, called
‘Unified Portal for Licensing of
Eating/Lodging & Boarding
Establishments in Delhi’
(https://delehlhlic.mha.gov.in/).
DFS Chief Atul Garg said the
portalwascreatedearlierthisyear
butmostapplicationsweren’tac-
cepted because of the lockdown:
“Wereceivedmorethan1,000re-
questsontheportaltoissueNOCs
or renew fire licences. Most
restaurants and guesthouses
wanted to get an NOC but we
couldn’t carry out inspections.
Now that restaurants and other
establishmentsarereopening,the
portalisbeingusedandweareis-
suingNOCsinlessthanamonth.”
After the government an-
nounced that bars will be al-
lowed to reopen post
September 9, the DFS said it is
receiving more applications for
NOC and licence renewal.
To simplify the process, the
in Okhla, had made an arrange-
ment with a friend who is an au-
torickshaw driver. “We have
come from Geeta Colony, which
is very far from here. Since there
isnosafepublictransportoption,
I made an arrangement with my
friend, who charged a dis-
counted rate of Rs 200 to bring
us here. He has gone back, and
will return oncetheexamisover
to take us home,” he said.
At the Okhla centre, the early
afternoonexamshifthad200can-
New Delhi
SHADIPUR
Satisfactory
56
AQI
PM: 10
0 500
201-300 Poor 301-400 Very Poor
Metroauthoritieshaveurged
people to “avoid unnecessary
travel as far as possible, “talk less
duringtravelintheMetrotopre-
ventthepossibilityofshort-range
aerosoltransmission”and“travel
with minimum luggage”.
“Avoidcarryingmetallicitems
for faster frisking... Keep only
pocket-sized hand sanitisers...
Hand sanitisers will not be per-
mittedbeyond30mlfromsafety
pointofview,”theDMRCsaidina
statement.Itsaid57trainswould
perform around 462 trips.
Measures such as automated
thermal screening, modified
hand-held metal detectors and
doorframe detectors, auto sani-
tiser dispensers and lift-calling
system driven by a foot pedal
have been put in place already in
several stations, along with
changesintheventilationsystem
inside coaches to allow in more
air from outside.
Automated sanitiser dis-
pensershavebeeninstalledat45
stations. Lift-pedalswill beavail-
able at 16 Metro stations, includ-
ingRajivChowk,PatelChowkand
Vishwavidyalaya. At other sta-
With bars set to reopen,
DFS said it is getting more
requests for NOC renewal
portalasksforalldetailsthatwill
be required by the DFS, MCDs,
the Delhi Police and Delhi
Pollution Control Committee.
“Earlier, restaurant owners
had to submit their documents
to the agencies separately. Now,
they can scan their documents
anduploadthemonthewebsite.
The application is forwarded to
each agency and if everything is
correct, we send our personnel
for verification,” said Garg.
To prevent incidents of fire in
the future, the DFS is also open-
ing an online training centre for
restaurant/hotel staffers and
owners. “We want to teach peo-
ple fire safety measures. The ses-
sions will be free of cost and we
areonlychargingRs1,000asreg-
istration fee from applicants.
Somesessionswillbeconducted
online and others will be done at
our institute,” said a DFS official.
didates allotted for the venue. As
candidates lined up to the enter
the venue, they were asked to re-
movethemaskstheywerewear-
ing and were handed fresh 3-ply
maskstowearatthecentre.Their
temperature was checked at the
entrance, and they left their bags
withtheirguardiansandcompan-
ions who waited outside.
At another centre in Kalkaji,
SarikaBhatthadtravelledforher
MA Sociology entrance test from
Burari — over 30 km away.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
DWARKA- SECTOR 8
Satisfactory
72
AQI
PM: 10
0 500
401-500 Severe
tions, auto-sanitiser dispensers
will be available, but thermal
screening will be done manually
usingathermalgun,officialssaid.
Commuters will sit on alter-
nateseats,andmustmaintainso-
cialdistancingwhilestandingtoo.
Most entry and exit gates will re-
main closed and information
about each gate can be accessed
on the Delhi Metro website,
www.delhimetrorail.com.
To prevent crowding, short
loops might be run to cater to a
certain section as the situation
arises, DMRC said. Stops at sta-
tions will also be 10-20 seconds
longer to avoid crowding.
Stations in containment zones
will not be operational.
Delhi Transport Minister
Kailash Gahlot also visited Rajiv
Chowk station Sunday to assess
preparedness. “I’m happy to
note that Rajiv Chowk, despite
being one of the busiest sta-
tions, has ensured all precau-
tions are in place as per the SOP.
We are also deploying civil de-
fence volunteers for crowd
management, inside and out-
side stations,” he said.
Capital’s peak
power demand
rises by over
50% since May
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
DELHI’SPEAKpowerdemandhas
increasedbyover50%sinceMay
thisyearduetotheeasingoflock-
down restrictions, BSES said in a
statement.“Peakpowerdemand
in the city has been muted this
yearascomparedtolastyeardue
to the lockdown and cool
weather conditions. But since
easing of restrictions on May 18,
Delhi’s peak power demand has
increasedbyover50%.Ifwecom-
pare peak power demand since
April, it has already increased by
over 87%,” a discom official said.
In June and July this year, the
peak power demand surpassed
last year’s demand on 13 corre-
sponding days by up to 19%, and
on six corresponding days in
August, said the discom.
However, the peak demand
overall has been muted this year
due to the weather and the lock-
down, at 6,314 MW on June 29
this year. Last year on July 2, the
peakdemandclocked7,409MW,
anall-timehigh.“Powerdemand
hasbeenincreasingwiththeeas-
ing of restrictions and restarting
of commercial activities,” a BSES
official told The Indian Express.
The cooling load is the main
factor behind the increase, con-
tributing to around 50 % of the
power demand.
“I just took an Uber even
though it cost me quite a bit. I
don’tthinktheexamshouldhave
beenpushedbackfurther.It’sbet-
ter to get it done with, so we can
be sure of where we will be go-
ing,” she said.
Among other precautions
takenatthevenuesweresanitis-
ing between each of the three
exam shifts, minimal physical
contactwhilefriskingandallow-
ing applicants to carry their own
waterbottlesandhandsanitisers.
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

5 GOVT & POLITICS

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Alliance or alone in Bihar: LJP to decide today

In latest snipe at Nitish, Chirag says: Give jobs to kin of Dalits killed in last 15 yrs, ensure speedy trial in cases of atrocities
DELHI CONFIDENTIAL

E
community is killed. Unless jobs for (the) last 15 years. Your gov- Chief Minister has not spoken to

DIPANKAR GHOSE &
SANTOSH SINGH
NEW DELHI, PATNA,
SEPTEMBER 6
THE LOK Janshakti Party (LJP) is
set to hold a crucial meeting
Mondaytodecidewhetheritwill
go into the upcoming Bihar
Assembly election as a part of
Nitish Kumar-led NDA alliance.
Ontheeveof themeeting,LJP
president Chirag Paswan on
Sunday wrote to Nitish, Chief
aregiventofamilymembersofall
Dalits killed in the 15 years of
Nitish’s tenure as Chief Minister,
theannouncementwouldbeper-
ceivedonlyasan“electionstunt”,
wrote Paswan.
The LJP and the JD(U), both
NDA constituents, have been
lockedinatussleforawhilenow.
The BJP has tried to make recon-
ciliatorymoves,withpartychief J
P Nadda saying all NDA partners
will fight the polls under Nitish’s
leadership. Over the past few
E X P L A I NE D
Chirag Paswan and Nitish
Kumar. File
made to Dalit communities have
not been fulfilled.
InalettertotheChiefMinister,
the LJP president wrote, “It is the
A fresh ernmentshouldgivejobstofam-
churning ily members of all those killed
withinamonthandforcespeedy
● in Bihar trial of pending cases of Dalit
atrocities.”
AHEAD OF the polls in JD(U)spokespersonKCTyagi
Bihar, a churning has told The Indian Express, “Nitish
started with key Dalit Kumar has been a leading politi-
leaders switching par- cal activist to come out of the so-
ties. Within NDA, LJP is cialistmovement...Hisstatement
trying to woo Dalit voters of laying down provisions to give
by questioning the Nitish jobs to SC/ST families should be
government. HAM(S) welcomedinsteadofchallenged.”
chief and Dalit leader LJP sources said a categorical
ChiragPaswan.Thereisalsoafeel-
ing that there may be some anti-
incumbency,”aseniorleadersaid.
Sources said one of the op-
tions being discussed within the
LJPistopulloutfromthealliance
and contest the polls on its own.
In that case, sources said, LJPwill
not field candidates against BJP
nominees, but will contest
against JDU nominees. “This will
ensure that when the next gov-
ernment is formed, BJP will take
our voice into consideration,” an

HIGH ON PRIORITY Minister and JD(U) chief, asking

him to ensure that family mem-
bers of all SC/STs killed in the last
months, LJP president Chirag
Paswan has repeatedly targeted
Nitishoverhisgovernment’sper-
samegovernmentthathadprom-
ised to give three decimal land to
each Dalit family. But Dalits are
Jitan Ram Manjhi, who
recently returned to the
NDA, is backing the gov-
decision would be taken in the
meeting on Monday on whether
thepartywillcontesttheelections
LJP leader said. Sources also said
that if LJP continues in the al-
liance, it is likely to get few seats
AHEAD OF bypolls to 27 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, 15 years are given employment. formance, criticising its handling disappointed at the government ernment. as part of NDA. “We are an ally of to contest.
the Centre has lined up several announcements and pro- The letter comes after the of the Covid-19 pandemic, the not having fulfilled its promise... the BJP at the Centre and there is AJD(U)leadersaidLJPwastry-
grammes for the state. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh ChiefMinister’sdirectivetoframe lockdown and floods. People are calling me to know if scheduled caste people in case of no problem with them. But for a ing to secure a better deal. “The
Tomar, instrumental in the BJP's return to power in the state, rules to provide a job to the next In the latest salvo Sunday, the government’s instruction to their killing is an election stunt.” year, except one conversation on truth is they have 2 MLAs here.
is visiting districts where polls are due. In five flood-hit dis- of kin if a person from an SC or ST Chirag alleged that promises give jobs to family members of Headded,“YouhavebeenCM theSushantSinghRajputcase,the This is all posturing.”
tricts, he announced extension of the last date for paying pre-
mium for insurance of Kharif crops under the Fasal Bima
Yojana till September 7. PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to
interact with street-vendors who benefited under the PM
SVAnidhi scheme in Madhya Pradesh on September 9.
Cong sends message: 7 panels announced
2 years before UP polls, big names left out
PARTY MURMURS MANOJ C G
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
The other panels cover out-
reach, membership, pro-
gramme implementation, train-
Jaiswal are also among those left
out. Prasada and Babbar were
part of the “group of 23”. Singh
Priyanka
THERE IS speculation within the Congress on whether doc- Gandhi ing and cadre development, hadafaceoffwithRahulataCWC
tor and activist Dr Kafeel Khan will join the party. While the ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS in Uttar Vadra. File panchayat polls, and media and meeting in June when he sug-
leadershipistight-lipped,two leaderssaidhis entry could not Pradesh are two years away, but communication. gested that the party should not
be ruled out. Khan was released from jail after the Allahabad the Congress Sunday wasted no Salman Khurshid will head attack Prime Minister Narendra
HighCourtsetasidehis detentionunderthe National Security time in announcing seven com- In the 2017 Assembly polls, it thesix-membermanifestocom- Modi personally. Rahul re-
Act. Escorted by a prominent Uttar Pradesh Congress leader mitteesforthepolls—anattempt won just seven seats despite an mitteewhichhasasitsmembers sponded that he was not scared
and party workers, he crossed over to Congress-ruled to send a message, particularly alliance with Samajwadi Party P L Punia, CLP leader Aradhana ofModibutwouldstopattacking
Rajasthan.Congressgeneralsecretaryinchargeof UPPriyanka to its rank and file, that the party and an extensive campaign by MisraMona,AICCsecretaryVivek him if the CWC tells him to.
Gandhi Vadra had spoken to Khan after his release. was serious about the key heart- Rahul Gandhi. In the Lok Sabha Bansal, spokesperson Supriya Congress sources said the
Rajnath with his Iran counterpart, Brigadier General Amir landstateandtheuphillelectoral election last year, it managed Srinate and Amitabh Dubey. A partywillconstitutemorepanels

EYE ON ‘DISLIKES’
Hatami, in Tehran on Sunday. PTI/Twitter challenge it faces there. only one seat. Rahul, then the policy coordinator for All India and “everyone will be included”.
Big name leaders from Uttar party chief, lost from the Nehru- Professionals’Congress,Amitabh The announcement of the
Pradesh,suchasJitinPrasada,Raj Gandhi bastion of Amethi. isthesonofSumanDubey,afam- panels came on a day nine ex-
The increasing number of “dislikes” on videos of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches on social media seem to Rajnath discusses security BabbarandRPNSingh,wereex-
cluded from the committees,
Congress leaders said
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, general
ily friend of the Gandhis.
While Pramod Tiwari will
pelled Congress leaders from UP
were learnt to have written to

with Iran Defence Minister

be disturbing the BJP. The Prime Minister’s latest Mann Ki one of which was tasked with secretary in-charge of Uttar head the outreach committee, party chief Sonia Gandhi, asking
Baat address received many responses from across the coun- drawing up a manifesto. Pradesh, wants the party to put AICC in-charge of Uttarakhand, her to “rise above the affinity for
tryinwhichyoungstersaskedwherethejobswere.BJPclaims The Congress has been striv- itsbestfootforwardin2022.The AnugrahNarayanSingh,willhead thefamily(parivaarkemoh)”and
that the “trend has been created by the opposition”. Afghanistan and the issues of bi- ing—without much success—to party has already started the the membership committee. run the organisation with dem-
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE lateral cooperation.” effect a revival in the politically- process of consultations for Rashid Alvi, in his political come- ocraticvalues. Amongthesigna-
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
PRAISING THE PEOPLE
The Defence Ministry said significant state after more than preparingthemanifesto.Sources back, will head the media panel. tories are former MP Santosh
Singh held a bilateral meeting three decades in the political said the first consultation was Former Union ministers Singh and former minister
DEFENCE MINISTER Rajnath with Hatami, Iran’s Minister of wilderness there. held in Kanpur in January . Rajeev Shukla and Sriprakash Satyadev Tripathi.
MINORITY AFFAIRS Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Sunday Singh on Sunday met his Iranian Defence and Armed Forces
reopened the Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi after four months. counterpart Brigadier General Logistics, at the latter’s request.
At the event, the minister congratulated people of the coun- Amir Hatami on a transit halt on Singh,thestatementsaid,was“on
try, saying that everyone had “exercised great restraint” by thewaybackfromRussiaandthe a transit halt in Tehran enroute
not going to temples, mosques, and churches during lock- twodiscussedregionalsecurityis- from Moscow to New Delhi”.
down and had also taken precautions in celebrating festivals. suesandwaystostrengthenbilat- “The meeting between the
eral cooperation. twoministerstookplaceinacor-

MAKING A POINT
Singh was on his way back
from Russia, where he had gone
to attend the meeting of defence
VIDEO CLIPS of Rhea Chakraborty being mobbed as she ar- ministers of member nations of
rived at the Narcotics Bureau Office in Mumbai elicited a re- theShanghaiCooperationGroup.
sponse from chairperson of the National Commission for Tweeting about the meeting,
Women Rekha Sharma. Soon after the clip went viral, Sharma Singh said, “Had a very fruitful
tweeted it with a post that questioned if there are any work meeting with Iranian defence
ethics for the media. minister Brigadier General Amir
Hatami in Tehran. We discussed
regionalsecurityissuesincluding
dial and warm atmosphere” and
both leaders “emphasised upon
theage-oldcultural,linguisticand
civilisational ties between India
and Iran”, the statement added.
The statement mentioned that
“they discussed ways to take for-
wardbilateralcooperationandex-
changed views on regional secu-
rity issues, including peace and
stability in Afghanistan”.

BJP worker in
Bengal dies after
clash with TMC,
six arrested
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, SEPTEMBER 6

A 41-YEAR-OLD BJP worker died

on Saturday night following a
clash with Trinamool Congress
supporters in Purba Bardhaman
district’s Kalna subdivision. Six
people have been arrested in
connection with the violence.
Minutesbeforehisdeath,the
deceased, identified as Rabin
Paul, accused ruling party work-
ers of brutally assaulting him.
“TMC workers kept beating me
till I became almost uncon-
scious,” Paul said at the hospital.
Accordingtosources,agroup
of people were working on a
beautification project as part of
the 100 days’ work scheme,
when Paul allegedly stopped
them. An argument ensued, and
it soon turned violent.
“A group of 45 people took
him to another place and kept
beating him. His family tried to
reach the place, but were
stopped midway. Later, the po-
lice arrived and rescued him.
Paul was declared dead at the
hospital,” a local resident said on
the condition of anonymity.
“He was taken to Kalna sub-
divisionalhospital,anddieddur-
ing treatment. Investigation is
on,” said a senior police official.
TheOppositionpartyaccused
the TMC of killing Paul to spread
fearamongstitssupportersinthe
area. Rebutting the allegation,
TMC leader Pranab Roy from
Kalna Block-2 said, “This man
used to always threaten TMC
workers.Evenontheincidentday
he attacked TMC workers with a
sharpweapon.Oneofourleaders,
too, was seriously injured.”

New Delhi
 6 EXPRESS NETWORK WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Kesavananda Bharati, whose petition led to

SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT DEATH

landmark verdict on Constitution, dies at 79 Rhea questioned by NCB

SHAJU PHILIP
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
Bharati’s 1970 plea was
heard by a 13-member
In his petition, Bharati had
sought enforcement of rights
guaranteed under Article 25
the petitionfor 68 working days,
from October 31, 1972 to March
23, 1973.
for 6 hours in drugs case
SEPTEMBER 6
bench, the largest-ever
(Right to practice and propagate
religion),Article26(Righttoman-
In an interview a few years
ago, Bharati had said that he be- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
andotheraccusedarrestedinthe
case. “A few more people will be
Bihar BJP puts
KESAVANANDA BHARATI, the
head of Edneer Mutt at
in SC’s history age religious affairs), Article 14
(Right to equality), Article 19(1)
lieved the SC verdict was God’s
decision.Hehadsaidhewassuc-
MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 6 called in for questioning in the
next few days,” the official said.
out posters
Kasaragod in Kerala whose peti-
tion in the Supreme Court led to It was on March 21, 1970 that
(f)(freedomtoacquireproperty),
Article 31 (Compulsory
cessfulinprotectingtheproperty
of themuttandhappythatmany
THE NARCOTICS Control Bureau
Sunday questioned actor Rhea
Sushant’s cook, meanwhile,
wasproducedbeforethecourton
seeking ‘justice’
the landmark verdict of 1973
that outlined the basic structure
Bharati moved the apex court,
challenging the Kerala govern-
Acquisition of Property).
Hehadprayedthatprovisions
persons benefited from the ver-
dict in their fight for justice.
Chakraborty for over six hours in
connectionwiththedrugscasein
Sunday afternoon with the NCB
seeking his custody till
for Sushant
doctrineof theConstitution,died ment’s takeover of land owned of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, Bharati became the head of which her brother Showik and Wednesday. He was sent to NCB
in the early hours of Sunday. by the mutt as per the land re- 1963 (Act 1 of 1964) as amended the mutt at the age of 19 in 1960 lateractorSushantSinghRajput’s custody till September 9. SANTOSH SINGH
He was 79 and had been in- Bharati was the head of forms Act of 1969. by the Kerala Land Reforms following the death of former housekeeper Samuel The agency, in its remand ap- PATNA, SEPTEMBER 6
disposedfor the pasttwo weeks, Jagadguru Shankaracharya Following enactment of the (Amendment)Act1969(Act35of Ishwarananda Bharati Swami. MirandawerearrestedonFriday. plication, claimed that its probe
said sources from the mutt. Samsthanam mutt law, the mutt had lost its prop- 1969) be declared unconstitu- Underhim,themuttemergedas While Rhea was allowed to hasdisclosedthatonMarch17,on EVEN AS the BJP says the death
Bharati was the head of erty and was struggling for fi- tional,ultraviresandvoid. During a seat of art and learning. leave around 6.45 pm, NCB offi- the directionsof Showik,Sawant of actor Sushant Singh Rajput is
Jagadguru Shankaracharya nancial resources for its func- pendencyofthewritpetition,the Bharatiwaspassionateabout cials said she will be called again wentwithMirandatoreceivethe notanelectionissueinBihar,the
Samsthanam mutt, which be- His Holiness Kesavananda tioning and charitable activities. Kerala Land Reforms Carnatic music and was at the for questioning on Monday. deliveryof 5gmofcannabisfrom party's art and culture wing has
longsto theShankaracharya tra- Bharati Sripadagalvaru and Ors. Veteran barrister M K (Amendment) Act 1971 was forefront of promoting The CBI, meanwhile, on arrested accused Zaid Vilatra in mounted a full-fledged cam-
dition. The mutt is believed to Vs. State of Kerala and others Nambiar, the father of K K passed and it received assent of Yakshagana,atraditionaltheatre Sunday recorded the statement Bandra. paign in the state demanding
have been established by caseinwhichtheSupremeCourt Venugopal, currently Attorney the President on August 7, 1971. form popular in Kasaragod and of Sushant's sister Meetu Singh, "On April 17, Rhea and her “justice” for the deceased actor.
Totakacharya, one of the first ruled that the basic structure of General of India, had introduced The petition was heard by a coastal Karnataka. He had di- who was with him till two days brother Showik ordered him The wing has published
four disciples of Adi the Constitution is inviolable, Bharati to jurist Nani Palkhivala 13-member bench, the largest- rected Yakshagana plays and before he died by suicide at his (Sawant) to receive a delivery of around30,000 posters featuring
Shankaracharya. and cannot be amended by and he had helped Bharati file ever bench in the history of the used to organise musical con- Bandra residence on June 14. 10gramsof charasfromoneper- the actor and the slogan “Na
He was the petitioner in the Parliament. the petition in Supreme Court. Supreme Court. The court heard certs at the mutt. Meetuwasalsoquestionedbythe son named accused Kaizan bhoole hain, na bhoolne denge”
agency at the DRDO guesthouse. Ibrahim near the Mount Blanc (We haven’t forgotten, we will
Rhea, who was issued sum- building (Sushant's Bandra resi- not let one forget)'. The wing has
mons on Sunday morning, ar- dence)," the remand application also printed 25,000 car stickers
rived at the NCB office around 12 stated. and has been distributing it
pm. With massive media pres- The NCB added that similar acrossseveraldistricts sinceJuly.
ence outside the building, transactions – delivery of 50 gm The wing’s convenor, Varun
Mumbai Police officers escorted of charas and 100 gm of ganja – Kumar Singh, says the death of
her to the building. were conducted in May by the actor was “an emotional and
“She was shown some chats SawantonShowik'sinstructions. not a political matter” for them.
in a WhatsApp group that also Besides,theNCBhasdetained “We have also got 30,000 masks
had her brother, Miranda and onemorepersoninthecasewho withthesamemessageandhave
Sushant’s cook Dipesh Sawant... itclaimedhadsuppliednarcotics been distributing them. We had
Singh worked with The there were some incriminatory to Ibrahim, who had earlier been also conducted meetings in
Indian Express from 2000 to chats and she was questioned arrested in the case. The agency Patna in July. It is just a coinci-
2015. about them,” an official said. said that during a raid, it had dence that some people noticed
The NCB is planning to bring found hashish, LSD sheets, mari- the stickers and are attributing a
her face to face with her brother juana and cash on Ibrahim. political motive to it,” he said.
Punjab: Former
SGPC secretary India takes up with PLA ‘abduction’ 2 killed as crude
Harcharan Singh of five people from Arunachal bomb goes off in
dies at 75 long Line of Actual Control in Bengal shanty
ENS & PTI view of the simmering dispute
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6 between the two countries in Kolkata: Two men died and an-
KAMALDEEP SINGH BRAR Pangong Tso area of eastern other was injured after a crude
AMRITSAR, SEPTEMBER 6 THE INDIAN Army has taken up Ladakh. bomb,keptinashanty,exploded
with the Chinese military the A senior official of the at Kamarhati’s congested
FORMERSHIROMANIGurdwara reports of abduction of five peo- Arunachal Pradesh government Dhobighat area in North 24
Parbandhak Committee chief ple from Upper Subansiri dis- said on Saturday that the local Parganas on Sunday.
secretary Harcharan Singh died trict of Arunachal Pradesh by police has launched a probe into The deceased have been
of a heart attack on Saturday. He the Chinese People’s Liberation the matter. identified as Mohammad Razza
was 75. Army, military sources said on Tapir Gao, MP from East and Shahid Sheikh — residents
A former banker, Singh Sunday. Arunachalconstituency,hadear- of Kankinara. Three people were
worked with The Indian Express The commander of the liertweeted:“5Taginyouthshave inside in the shanty and one of
from 2000 to 2015 and was Army unit deployed in the area reportedly been abducted by them is critical, said Barrackpore
Director (Corporate) and Group has sent hotline messages to China’s#PLAfromSera7areabe- Police Commissioner Manoj
Financial Advisor. the PLA unit concerned about low the McMahon Line under Kumar Verma.
Hestartedhiscareerasapro- the reported abduction, the IndianterritoryinUpperSubansiri Asked if the men were mak-
bationary officer with a public sources said. in Arunachal since 3rd Sept. ing crude bombs when the ex-
GOVERNMENT OF MANIPUR sector bank in 1969 and retired The reports of abduction of Similar incident happened in plosion occurred, he said, “That
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT as its general manager in 2000. the five men came at a time March. Time to take a stand is not yet clear.” Police have initi-
He also had a stint as director of Indian Army has enhanced its against #CCP.” Tagin is the tribe atedaprobe,andaforensicteam
OFFICE ADVERTISEMENT
thePunjabSmallScaleIndustries deploymentalongthe3,400km- the men belong to. willvisitthespottomorrow. ENS
SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER Imphal, the 7th September 2020 and Export Corporation.
ELECTRICITY URBAN DISTRIBUTION CIRCLE No. 22/PD/SRDIP/PROC-W/2020/1Bids are invited Singh was the first full-time
PASCHIMANCHAL VIDYUT VITARAN NIGAM LIMITED
MUZAFFARNAGAR
from eligible bidders for the ADB assisted SASEC Road
Connectivity Project works
secretary appointed by the
Shiromani Gurudwara Cong leader Kavitha Reddy apologises
E-mail : seeudcmzn@gmail.com

E-Tender Notice
(i) Construction of Imphal Kangchup Tamenglong Road
Section IIA Package 1 (Km. 34+600 to Km. 51+000)
Parbandhak Committee in 2015,
a move seen as an effort to run
the organisation in a more pro-
for ‘moral-policing’ of actor at park
E-Tenders are invited from eligible bidders. Please visit E-tender portal (Lot 1) fessional manner. and sincerely apologise to gation regarding alleged drug
www.etender.up.nic.in for details/download and for any other corrections/
amendments/ extensions till the date of submission of bids. (ii) Construction of Imphal Kangchup Tamenglong Road Singh,however,didnotcom- ENS & PTI Samyuktha Hegde and her links with those in Kannada film
Sl. Tender Name of Works Earnest Tender Fee Last Date Date for Section IIB Package 2 (Km. 51+000 to Km. 72+300) plete the three-year contract BENGALURU, SEPTEMBER 6 friends!," she added. industry.
No. Specification Money (Rs.) for online opening (Lot 2) with the SGPC and resigned on There was no reaction from Hegde had put out her alle-
No. (Rs.) submission of tender
of tender part-I Details are available at https://tenderlink.com/adb July 28, 2017, a month after Congress leader Kavitha Reddy Samyuktha Hegde who found gations on social media, with a
document Sd/- Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s who had allegedly attacked ac- herself at the receiving end on video of the purported incident.
1 E-Tender No. Repairing work of 11 KV 2000.00 1180.00 07.10.2020 07.10.2020
30/2020-21 VCB at 33/11 KV S/s (18% (Y. Joykumar Singh) son,IsharSingh,andformerAkal tress Samyuktha Hegde on Friday. Hours later, however, Reddy had
EUDC MZN Kakroli under EUDD-II, ªfe.EÀf.Me. ÀfdW°f) Project Director Takht Jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode September 4 at park in the city Hegde had alleged on hit back, saying she did not wish
Muzaffarnagar.
EAP, PWD, Manipur demanded his expulsion from tendered anunconditionalapol- Saturday that Reddy tried to at- to respond to an actor on “cheap
2 E-Tender No. Packing work of oil 1000.00 1180.00 07.10.2020 07.10.2020
31/2020-21 leakage of 05 MVA T/F at (18% the SGPC executive committee. ogy on Sunday. tack and abuse her and her publicity mode”.
EUDC MZN 33/11 KV S/s Barla under ªfe.EÀf.Me. ÀfdW°f) He had also developed differ- "I have always opposed friends for doing a hula-hooping Responding to the allega-
EUDD-II, Muzaffarnagar.
3 E-Tender No. Maintenance work of 11 1000.00 1180.00 07.10.2020 07.10.2020
ences with the then SGPC presi- moral policing. I realize that my workoutataparkwearingwork- tions, Reddy had tweeted: “I did
32/2020-21 KV Line in the area of (18% dent, Kirpal Singh Bandugar. actions were construed as such. out clothes at the Agara Lake in not bother about Vikram Hegde
EUDC MZN EUDSD-III, Muzaffarnagar. ªfe.EÀf.Me. ÀfdW°f) Later, Singh went on to write Anargumentendedupinmere- the city. trolls, will I bother about
4 E-Tender No. Replacement work of 11 2000.00 1180.00 22.09.2020 22.09.2020
33/2020-21 KV CT/PT unit combind (18%
a tell-all book on the committee. actingaggressivelyaswell,itwas She also accused a group of Samyukta Hegde trolls? Aiyo
EUDC MZN under EUDD-III, ªfe.EÀf.Me. ÀfdW°f) Singh is survived by wife amistake,"Reddysaidinatweet. people instigated by the woman when some CHEAP Publicity
Muzaffaragar. Dalwinder Kaur and daughter "As a responsible citizen n of threateningtolabelheradrug Actor does a Video it is clear that
5 Short Term Replacement work of 33 2000.00 1180.00 22.09.2020 22.09.2020
E-Tender No. KV CT/PT unit combind (18% Nimrata Kaur. progressive woman, I own up to user, amid the ongoing investi- she is doing it for Publicity.”
34/2020-21 under EUDD-III, ªfe.EÀf.Me. ÀfdW°f)
EUDC MZN Muzaffaragar.

Sd/-
(R.D. Singh)
SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER
Environment Ministry to
"Save Electricity in the interest of Nation"
´fÂffaI : 1987/ d½f.³f.d½f.¸f.¸fb.³f¦fS dQ³ffaI : 05.09.2020 HC: Not legally required
MADHYA PRADESH PUBLIC HEALTH
SERVICES CORPORATION LIMITED
PERSONAL
I Praveen Kumar S/O, Jagdish
PUBLIC NOTICE
The general public is here by informed
that my Client Nanak Chand S/o Shri
to translate EIA draft
Dalpat Pal R/o H.No 1530, J-Block
Tilhan Sangh Bhawan-01, Arera Hills, Bhopal Prasad R/o 115 Sreshtha Vihar Jahangirpuri, Delhi-110033 here by cases, even lost. Translating the
URL : www.mpphscl.in, Phone : 0755-2578915
Delhi - 110092 have changed declares that our Daughter Jyoti (Dob : 20
November 2000) & her Husband Ravi
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE document would “open a flood-
my name to Praveen Kumar
Date : 05.09.2020 Himmatramka for all
Sood are not well behaving with us and NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6 gate of litigation due to multiple
also showing selfish attitude towards us.
purposes. Therefore we hereby severe and
interpretations in different lan-
TENDER NOTICE 0040547488-1
disowned from all assets and liabilities
from now onward. Any person deals with
IN A review petition filed in the guages,” it said.
Delhi High Court, the “The impugned judgement
Tenders for rate contracts of following items/Services shall be I Aakanksha Raipuriya W/o
Jyoti & Ravi Sood, will be at their own risk
and my clients shall not be responsible of Environment Ministry has ob- wouldcreateaprecedentandlead
floated on websites from today to next 30 working days : Rohan Dhawan R/o House no - any claim against him with immediate
173, 3rd floor, pocket -1, effect in any circumstances. Sd/- jected to the court's direction to to future demands of translation
1. Tender No. T-093/Online Tender for Outsourcing of Paschim puri, Paschim vihar
Narendra Kumar Sharma
(Advocate) Enrl. No. ID-D/1587/2010 translate the controversial draft of all statutory regulations in dif-
COVID-19 testing Services (Through RTPCR) New Delhi 110063 have
Shalimar Bagh, Delhi-110088
Environmental Impact ferentlanguagesandwouldresult
uploaded on 04.09.2020 (Portal & Website) changed my name to Assessment notification 2020 in inchallengetoallthenotifications
Akaansha Raipuriya I Bharat Raghuvanshi R/o E 403,
2. Tender(s) for Service Provider for Daialysis Centers of Freedom Park Life, Sector 57,
other Indian languages, saying it and other official documents of
MP 0040547480-1 Shamshpur (92), Gurugram - was not required by law and the Union of India for translating
3. Tender(s) for Walkin Cooler & DG Set I, Ramandeep Singh Baidwan 122003, Haryana have changed wouldleadtooperationaldifficul- them in to vernacular lan-
4. Tender(s) for Super Speciality Equipment R/o FlatNo 14223, Tower 14,ats my minor daughter s name ties for future legislation. guages..’’says the petition.
One Hamlet, Sector 104, Noida. from Ira Singh Raghuvanshi to The High Court on June 30 di- Thepleasaysthataccordingto
5. Tender(s) for TB Equipment Microscope Ira Raghuvanshi for all
201304 have changed my rectedtheministrytopublishthe the Official Languages Act, 1963,
6. Tender(s) for FDA Equipment minor son’s name from Amber purposes
7. Tender(s) for BP Instrument Singh to Amber Singh Baidwan
draft notification in all 22 lan- only Hindi and English will be
0040547482-1
8. Tender(s) for Various Equipment guagesintheEightScheduleona used for resolutions, general or-
0040547535-7
9. Tender(s) for Various COVID-19 releated Kit/ petition filed by conservationist ders and notifications, and that
I Vikas Vana S/O, Pardosh Pal LOST & FOUND Vikrant Tongad. there is no law which requires is-
Consumables Singh R/o A-7 Ram Nagar Near The last date for filing objec- suanceofdocumentsinanyother
10. Tender(s) for Gloves and RNA Extraxtion Kits N.r. Aryan Public School I vimlesh notified that my
Sahibabad Ghaziabad Up
tionsandsuggestionstothedraft vernacular language.
11. Tender(s) for Various Drugs passed CBSE certificate of 10th
201005 have changed my name class, year 2011 roll no. 8702829 wasAugust11,bywhichtimethe Tongad, in the last week of
12. Tender(s) for Kachi Aushadhi
to Pradosh Pal Singh has been lost plz call ministry received 19.8 lakh re- August, moved an application
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0040547475-1
14. Tender(s) for Dental Equipment One of the main contentions 30 judgement to the extent of
15. Tender(s) for Physiotherapy - Equipment I Monika W/o Sunil Phogat R/o
S-3, Plot No. 48, Gyan Khand-I, of the petition, filed on Friday, is granting a 60-day extension for
Prospective bidders are requested to visit Indirapuram, Ghaziabad have that issuing the notification in receivingpubliccommentsonthe
www.mptenders.gov.in./www.mpphscl.in for further changed my name to Monika multiple languages would result translatedversionsofthedraftEIA
Dixit in translation and interpretation after they are uploaded on the
details.
M.P. Madhyam/98392/2020 CGM (TECHNICAL) 0050168771-1 issues as the meaning of words websites of the State Pollution
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New Delhi

7 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
BRIEFLY
The actor apologised
in a video. Express
PUNJAB
Dressedascop,
actorsaysliquor
curesCovid,held
Ludhiana: The Ludhiana
policehavearrestedalocal
theater artiste for upload-
ing a video in which he
dressesupasacop,takesa
few swigs of liquor and
says: “After seeing liquor,
coronarunsawayasathief
runs away on seeing po-
lice”. He says in the video
that“alcoholisatreatment
for coronavirus” which
“ancestorshaddiscovered
long back”. Police said
KulwantSinghDhillonhad
been arrested for spread-
ingrumoursandmisusing
a police uniform. The ac-
cusedhastenderedawrit-
tenapologyoverthevideo
and promised that he will
not repeat the act. ENS
TRIPURA
CleaneratCovid
centre‘molests’
twoteenagers
Agartala: PoliceinTripura
have registered a com-
plaint relating to the al-
leged sexual assault of
two minor Covid-19 pa-
tients inside a Covid Care
Centre in Unakoti district,
officials said Sunday.
Unakoti SP Ratiranjan
Debnath said it was al-
leged that a 50-year old
cleaner had molested the
17-year-olds, both of
whom are still being
treated at the centre. No
arrest has been made.
The Covid centre’s au-
thorities said the accused
has been fired and his de-
tails provided to police. A
casehasbeenbookedun-
der relevant sections of
IPC and POCSO Act. ENS
MAHARASHTRA
Transformer
explosionkills
woman,infant
Pune: An elderly woman
andaninfantwhohadsuf-
fered severe burns after a
transformer exploded in
Pune’sBhosarisuburbsuc-
cumbed to injuries late
Saturday night. The
Maharashtra State
Electricity Distribution
Company Ltd announced
a probe and ex-gratia of
Rs4lakheachforthekinof
the deceased. The trans-
former,installednearares-
identialbuilding,exploded
at around 1.30 pm on
Saturday,spillinghotoilon
threemembersofafamily,
including the woman and
infant who died. Police
said the transformer was
replaced recently. Oil in
transformers acts as both
insulator and coolant.ENS
85% of parents want Haryana govt schools to reopen: Survey
SUKHBIR SIWACH
CHANDIGARH, SEPTEMBER 6
PARENTS OF about 85 per cent
students of Class X and XII in
Haryanagovernmentschoolsare
in favour of reopening schools
fromSeptemberdespitethepan-
demic,accordingtofindingsofan
online survey that saw participa-
tionofparentsof76,019students.
The survey, conducted by the
state school education depart-
ment, also found that parents of
83 per cent students are ready to
send their wards to the schools
from September.
Aspartof thesurvey,theedu-
cation department randomly se-
lected some schools from each of
the22districtsinthestatetoseek
the parents’ opinion on reopen-
ing.
A crowded Kasimedu fish market in Chennai on Sunday after the authorities lifted the weekend lockdown. A total of 5,783
new cases and 88 deaths were reported in the state on Sunday, according to state government health bulletin. With 5,820
patients discharged, the number of recoveries in the state crossed the 4-lakh mark, the bulletin said. PTI
India overtakes Brazil, now
No. 2 in global Covid cases
Over 90,000 new cases reported on Saturday; Only US ahead of India
AMITABH SINHA
PUNE, SEPTEMBER 6
INDIAHASemergedasthecoun-
trywiththesecondlargestnum-
berof peopleinfectedwithnovel
coronavirus, having overtaken
BrazilonSaturdaywhenitadded
more than 90,000 new infec-
tions, a fresh record.
As on Saturday, India had
more than 41.13 lakh confirmed
infections, of which more than
8.62 lakh were active cases. The
complete figure for Sunday
would become available only on
Monday morning. According to
the latest figures from the World
Health Organization (WHO) on
Saturday evening, Brazil had
40.41 lakh confirmed infections.
Only the United States,
where more than61lakhpeople
have so far been found to be in-
fected, is ahead of India.
While India has been con-
tributing the largest number of
newinfectionseverydayforover
three weeks now, there has also
been a big jump in daily num-
bers in the last 11 days. During
this time, India has been report-
ing more than 75,000 new cases
everyday.Thisnumberhasbeen
far less in Brazil and the United
States in the last few weeks.
Brazil,forexample,found51,000
new cases on Saturday, but on
some days its daily numbers
have even dropped
below 20,000.
The United States also has
been reporting between 40,000
and 50,000 cases a day, which
means India is expected to rap-
idly close down the gap with the
United States as well in the com-
ing weeks.
The recent surge in India’s
numbers could,at least partially,
beexplainedbyacorresponding
increase in the number of tests
being carried out. While India’s
testing capacity has been in-
creasing steadily, there has been
a sharp rise since August, more
so in the last two weeks.
At the start of August, be-
tween 4 and 5 lakh samples
were being tested every day
across the country. Towards the
end of the month, that number
crossed the one million mark,
The parents were asked four
questions--(i)Shouldtheschools
be opened from September? (ii)
Are parents willing to send their
wardstoschoolfromSeptember?
(iii) Has any member(s) of the
familytakenaCovidtest?(iv)Has
any member of the family tested
positive for Covid?
Theeducationdepartment,of-
ficials said, has now decided to
conductatrialrunintwoschools.
The survey found that a majority
of parents of Class X and XII stu-
dentsintheseschoolswereinthe
favourofreopening.Theseschools
are Government Senior
Secondary School, Nigdhu in
Karnal district, and Government
High School, Bajidpur in Sonipat
district. Eachoftheseschoolswill
reopen for four days each; the
dates are to be finalised shortly.
During the trial run, officials
E
E X P L A I NE D
Rise in
numbers
● expected
INDIA’S EMERGENCE as
the country with the
second highest caseload
is no surprise. After all, it
has four times the popu-
lation of the United
States, and five times that
of Brazil, and is also
much more densely pop-
ulated than them. In fact,
even now there are more
than 88 countries which
have more cases per mil-
lion population than
India. And, 82 countries
have recorded more
deaths per million popu-
lation than India. With
restrictions being eased,
and movements nor-
malised, the numbers are
expected to rise further,
in the short-term at least.
and has stayed there ever since.
No country hascarriedoutmore
tests on a day, except the
United States.
Along with the rise in cases,
therehasbeenanincreaseinthe
numberof deathsbeingreported
inthelastfewdays.Thetwomet-
rics are not directly related
though,sincethedeathshappen-
ing right now are from the lot of
people who would have got in-
fected two to three weeks ago.
But this lag effect would mean
that the deaths would rise fur-
ther in the coming weeks.
Right now, more than 1,000
deaths are being reported from
acrossthecountryeveryday.The
total number of people who
have so far succumbed to the
diseasenowexceeds70,000,the
third highest death toll in the
world. Only the United States
and Brazil have seen more
deaths, though as a proportion
to total population, or to the to-
tal number of confirmed infec-
tions, several other countries
have had many more deaths
than India. In fact, there are 82
countries have recorded higher
deaths per million population.
said, the functioning of schools
will be filmed — how students
cometotheschools,onfootoron
cycles;howtheyenter;howthey
attend classes; whether they
touch each other and how they
leave. Four or five camera teams
may be engaged for this.
The classes will be held with
small groups of students on the
porch instead of classrooms.
Social distancing will be ensured
and students of one section will
notbeallowedtocomeincontact
with students from another sec-
tion, officials said.
A seven-memberteam, com-
prising health and sanitation ex-
perts and four officials of the ed-
ucation department, will watch
these videos every evening to as-
sess whether all SOPs are being
followed, said officials.
Incaseoflapses,theywillalert
TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE
188 CASES:
41,13,811
DAYS SINCE
PANDEMIC
BEGAN TESTS: 4,88,31,145 | DOUBLING RATE: 33.36**
KEYSTATES TOTAL
TOWATCH CASES
■ Maharashtra 8,83,862
■ Andhra 4,87,331
■ Tamil Nadu 4,57,697
■ Karnataka 3,89,232
■ Uttar Pradesh 2,59,765
* Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last 7 days
CASE FATALITY RATIO
7 DAYS EARLIER:
1.79
NOW:
1.72
Deaths as a ratio of
positive cases (in %);
indicator of progress
in averting deaths
DataasonSeptember5,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers
includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive
Kerala Finance Minister
tests positive for Covid-19
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
SEPTEMBER 6
KERALAFINANCEMinisterDrTM
Thomas Isaac tested positive for
Covid-19 on Sunday, the first in
the state Cabinet to contract the
infection, and has been shifted to
themedicalcollegehospitalhere,
official sources said.
Hisswabsamplesweretaken
as he had a minor cold and he
tested positive on Sunday, they
told PTI.He is the first minister in
the Cabinet to test positive, they
said. “All other staff have tested
negative. The minister has been
shiftedtothemedicalcollege,”the
the teachers to rectify them the
next day. The recording will be
showntoallteachersbeforeother
schools open up. The education
department,itislearnt,isprepar-
ing to hold classes of Class X and
ClassXIIfromSeptember21asthe
CentrehassaidstudentsofClasses
IX to XII may meet teachers for
guidance in schools outside con-
tainment zones. However, stu-
dents have to submit a written
consentfromtheirparentsforthis.
The state government has
now sent the data from the sur-
vey to all government-run
schools, seeking the opinion of
schoolmanagementcommittees
that comprises parents of stu-
dents, school headmaster, village
sarpanch/ward councillor and
other stakeholders.
“The school management
committee will take opinion of
To study Covid
impact on body,
Gujarat medical
school to carry
out autopsies
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
RAJKOT, SEPTEMBER 6
THE PANDIT Deendayal
Upadhyay(PDU)MedicalCollege
will conduct post-mortem on
those who died of Covid-19 in an
attempttoknowhowtheviralin-
fection causes deaths so that bet-
ter treatment protocols may be
developed.
An official release from the
stategovernmentsaidthe foren-
sic medicine department of the
college has initiated a research
projecttostudythephysiological
andbiologicalchangesaCovid-19
infectioncausesinahumanbody.
For this, a research team, led by
ProfessorHetalKyada,theheadof
theforensicmedicinedepartment
andadditionalsuperintendentof
dedicatedCovid-19hospitalsetup
on the campus, will perform au-
topsies on some who died.
“The objective of any post-
mortem is to know the cause of
death. So, the study will focus on
themechanismsthatthisviralin-
fectiontriggersandcausesdeath.
It can be clotting of the blood, in-
flammation or any other condi-
tion. If we come to know the
causes of death, then we can find
out ways to prevent it,” Professor
GauraviDhruv,deanofPDUmed-
ical college, said.
Dhruv said as the study is
RECOVERED: 31,80,865 highlyrisky,theresearchteamhas
DEATHS: 70,626
converted a room into a special
mortuary. “The disease being
highly infectious, the researchers
willfollowalltheinfectioncontrol
measures,” said the dean.
Kyada said, “this being a re-
search project, we will require
permissionofnextofthekinofthe
victim for autopsy. We shall sani-
tise the body, cover it and also
sanitise the cover and then last
SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING rites will be performed.”
24HOURS GROWTH* TIME** Kyadafurthersaidthattheau-
20,800 2.10% 34.31 topsieswouldbepathologicalau-
10,825 2.35% 30.62 topsies and not medico-legal
5,870 1.39% 51.86 post-mortems and that the re-
searchwouldbeconductedunder
9,746 2.52% 28.61 directionandguidanceofthestate
6,590 2.44% 29.53 government.
** Calculated over 7-day growth
POSITIVITY RATE
7 DAYS EARLIER:
DAILY IN, DAILY OUT
DETECTED TODAY
Body swap in Meerut
8.54
NOW:
8.42
90,632
RECOVERED TODAY:
73,642
hospital, officials
Positives against
number tested
(in %); indicator of
Becoming sick vs
recovering; more
recoveries for 14 days
point to drunk sweeper
the spread of disease may signal the peak
AMIT SHARMA
& AMIL BHATNAGAR
MEERUT, NEW DELHI,
SEPTEMBER 6
AN ERROR while attaching iden-
tity tags led to the swapping of
bodies of two elderly persons
whodiedattheCovid-19wardof
Meerut Medical College. Senior
officials said the error happened
asthesweeperattachingthetags
T M Thomas was inebriated.
Isaac Whilerelativesof onepatient
cremated the body without re-
moving the PPE it was in, the
official said. otherfamilydiscoveredtheerror
Kerala on Sunday reported its when they uncovered the face.
highest ever single-day spurt in Rajendra Dubey, Secretary,
Covid-19caseswith3,082people Medical Education has sought a
testing positive and 10 related fa- reportfromDMAnilDhingra.The
talities, taking the total infection DM has asked the district’s Chief
countinthestateto87,840.Health Medical Officer Rajkumar Saini
Minister K K Shailaja in a release and ADM Ajay Kumar Tiwari to
said out of the new patients, 56 probe the incident and the two
reached the state from abroad, officials confirmed that the ine-
132 from other states and 2,844 briated sweeper made the error.
contracted the disease through “ModinagarresidentGuruva-
their contacts. chan (65) was admitted Tuesday
the parents of all students who
study in the classes from 9th to WHAT THE PARENTS WANT
12th.If morethan60%of thepar-
ents are in favour of reopening of The survey by education dept found most parents
the schools, then it will be want govt schools to open up despite the pandemic
recorded in the register of the
school,” says an official commu- 85% ofparentsin
nicationissuedbytheDirectorate favourofopening
schoolsinSept
of School Education on
September4.Thecommitteewill
later inform parents.
83% ofparentsin
Officials say the process to
favourofsending
seek the opinion of parents will
wardstoschools
startonMondayandmeetingsof
the SMCs shall be completed by ATTHEHOTSPOTS
September 21. Director of State
IN FAVOUR OF OPENING SCHOOLS (%)
Secondary Education, J Ganesan,
told The Indian Express that the 85%
process to reopen schools is “still
in planning stage”. Faridabad Gurgaon
Director of Elementary (13,898)* (13,335)*
Education Department Pradeep
Kumarsaidthegovernmentisyet *Covid cases Source: Haryana school education department
to take a final decision.
New Delhi
19-yr-old raped by
ambulance driver
on way to Covid
centre in Kerala
SHAJU PHILIP
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
SEPTEMBER 6
A 19-YEAR-OLD woman who
tested positive for Covid-19 was
raped allegedly by an ambulance
driverwhilebeingtakentohospi-
tal late Saturday night in Kerala’s
Pathanamthitta district.
Police arrested the driver,
Noufal, and said he has a case of
attempted murder pending
againsthimsince2019.Policealso
said he had not obtained the
mandatory clearance certificate
beforejoiningasadriverwiththe
statehealthdepartment’sambu-
lance service, which is operated
by GVK EMRI Emergency
Management Services.
Pathanamthitta.
Superintendent of Police K G
Simon said the driver picked up
thevictimandanotherwoman,a
40-year-old Covid patient, from
Adoor.Whilethe19-year-oldwas
to be admitted to a Covid First
Time Treatment Centre at
Pandalam,theotherwomanwas
to be taken to a Covid centre in
Aranmula. Though Pandalam is
enroutetoAranmulafromAdoor,
the driver went directly to
Aranmula, dropped the 40-year-
old there, and then set off to
Pandalam with the 19-year-old.
On his way, the driver allegedly
drove the ambulance to a de-
sertedplaceandrapedher,before
taking her to the Covid centre.
Police said that before drop-
pingheroff,thedriverapologised
to her and told her not to speak
abouttheincident.Policesaidthe
woman recorded the conversa-
tion and informed the hospital
staff,leadingtothedriver’sarrest.
The SP said the condition of
the woman is stable.
Health department officials
said if there is more than one pa-
tient from a particular locality,
they usually arrange for them to
withbreathingproblems.Hedied
Friday night. The same night,
Meerut resident Yashpal (58)
died in the ward. Both bodies
werewrapped(inPPE)beforebe-
ing handed over to the families.
The sweeper, under influence of
liquor, messed up,” said ward in-
charge Dr Lokesh.
ChiefMedicalOfficerSainisaid
Yashpal’srelativescrematedGuru-
vachan’s body Saturday without
removing the PPE. “We have col-
lected Guruvachan’s ashes and
willgivethemtohisfamily,”Saini
said, adding that Yashpal’s body
willbehandedovertohisfamily.
Guruvachan’s nephew Vikas
Sharmasaid,“Foronelastlook,we
removedthecoverandweresho-
cked.” Family members staged a
protest at the crematorium. “We
were denied something impor-
tant. Those responsible must be
punished,” said Vikas.
The family has lodged a com-
plaint with the CM’s Office and
DM Dhingra. “This is a serious is-
sueandwewilltakeactionagainst
those responsible,” said Dhingra.
76,019
responses
received
81% 82%
Sonipat
(5,046)*
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
bepickeduptogetherandshifted
to hospital.
“The driver’s chamber is par-
titioned and no other staff or
nurse accompanies the driver
while ferrying patients to hospi-
tal.Thisistolimittheexposureof
health workers to infected per-
sons.Inrarecases,if thepatientis
serious, we send a nurse. In this
case, both patients were stable,’’
said the official.
As the incident triggered out-
ragefrompoliticalpartiesandcivil
society, Kerala Health Minister K
KShailajasaid,“Itisashockingin-
cident. The GVK Emergency
Management and Research
Institute,whichoperatestheam-
bulanceservice,wasaskedtotake
action.’’
The Kerala Human Rights
CommissionandKeralaWomen’s
Commission have sought an ac-
tion-takenreportfromthepolice.
Women’s panel chairperson and
CPI(M) leader M C Josephine said
people with criminal record
shouldnothavebeenputonCovid
duty.Theincident,shesaid,shows
thatwomenpatientsrequirespe-
cial protection while being taken
to hospital.
The Opposition said the gov-
ernmentshouldrevealwhyaper-
son with criminal background
was put on Covid duty.
Inastatement,GVKEMRIsaid
thedriverhasbeenremovedfrom
service and a police complaint
filed against him. “The GPS of the
ambulancehasbeenhandedover
to police... So far, 108 ambulance
serviceshavecompleted1.50lakh
trips as part of Covid operations.
The accused driver, Noufal, had
not obtained a police clearance
certificate while joining duty. He
had submitted a written under-
taking that he would soon obtain
a clearance certificate, based on
which he was hired... All drivers
have now been asked to submit
clearance certificates against the
backdrop of this incident,’’ it said.
Jaipur man
accused of
stealing around
50 cars arrested
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 6
THEAHMEDABADCrimeBranch
arrested a 40-year-old man from
Jaipur on Sunday for allegedly
stealing around 50 luxury cars
from Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar,
Bangalore, Ghaziabad, Chennai
and other cities of the country.
According to police, the ac-
cused, Satyendra Singh
Shekhawat, a resident of Jaipur,
was arrested by a team of
Ahmedabad Detection of Crime
Branch (DCB).
TheaccusedisanMBAdegree
holder and has been involved in
carjacking since 2009, the
police said.
BV Gohil, Assistant
CommissionerofPolice,DCB,said,
“Earlier,theaccusedusedtoenter
car showrooms during lunch
hours and steal car keys from the
key stand and flee with the avail-
able demonstration cars.
However,afterafewthefts,hewas
arrested when he was caught on
CCTV footage doing so. Later, he
took help of Youtube to get new
ideas and ordered Chinese gadg-
etssuchaskeydatascannercalled
‘handy baby’, electronic key cut-
ting machine, power supply ma-
chine among others.”
“Now, the accused goes to
any service centre and using the
‘handy baby’ device, he clones
the key data of the electronic
luxury car and hacks into the
car’s GPS system. He used the
electronic key cutter machine to
make a duplicate key and later
he used to locate the car using
the GPS system. When the car
owner took the vehicle from the
service centre, the accused fol-
lowsthecar’slocationandwhen
the vehicle is parked in an area,
wherethere werenoCCTVcam-
eras, he used the duplicate key
to steal it,” the DCP said.
According to police, thefts of
as many as 12 luxury vehicles in-
cluding Scoprio, Fortuner and
Mercedes have been detected till
now in Ahmedabad, Gandhina-
gar, Ghaziabad, Chennai,
Bengaluru,among others.

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
FOUNDED BY
Breach of trust
§
§
RAMNATH GOENKA
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
KEEP TALKING T M Thomas Isaac
But to break stalemate, Delhi must convince Beijing that India
THE RELATION BETWEEN the Centre and
has options and the resolve to explore them
T
the states has reached its nadir with the
controversy over the GST compensation
HE GOOD NEWS from the interaction between Union Defence Minister payment. The shortfall in GST revenues in
Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart, Gen Wei Fenghe, in Moscow 2020-21 from the protected level will be of
late last week is that talks will continue at all levels. The bad news, how- the order of Rs 3 lakh crore. The collection
ever, is that the talks don’t seem to be going anywhere. Beijing's definition from the compensation cess from which
of the problem is rather different from Delhi’s. Unsurprisingly, the goals of this shortfall is to be paid, will be only Rs
70,000 crore. So, how to fill the gap of 2.3
the two sides are divergent and that makes it harder to end the current military standoff
lakh crore?
in eastern Ladakh, now into its fifth month. It is therefore unlikely that the scheduled The only recourse is to temporarily bor-
talks between the external affairs minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and China’s top row this amount and recoup it by extend-
diplomat, Wang Yi, in Moscow this week will ease this stalemate. ing the period of the cess collection from
Continuous engagement is necessary to communicate Delhi’s political resolve that it the stipulated five years to a longer period.
will accept nothing less than a full restoration of the status quo ante that existed before This indeed was the solution that was put
forward by none other than the former
the People’s Liberation Army’s aggression in Ladakh. China, in contrast, wants to per-
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley when such a
suade India to accept the changed territorial disposition onthe ground, forget theGalwan contingency came up for discussion in the
clash in June that saw the first deaths on the disputed frontier in more than four decades, GST Council.
and resume normal economic and political cooperation. India insists that the conflict on However, the Union government today
the border can no longer be separated from the rest of the bilateral relationship. Beijing’s is unwilling to borrow the necessary
media keeps reminding that China is a much stronger power than India. It highlights amount and make it available to the cess
fund. They are afraid that such a large bor-
India's domestic economic difficulties and a faltering battle against the coronavirus.
rowing will push up the interest rate. It is
Beijing is also betting that Indian governments in the past had acquiesced in China’s fre- strange that this should be the reaction of
quent nibbling of India's Himalayan territory and that the present dispensation in Delhi the Centre which has proposed a Rs 21 lakh
has no choice but to lump it. crore stimulus package, mostly relying on
Delhi needs to disabuse itself of two unfortunate assumptions of the previous govern- bank credit.
If one is seriously worried, then the solu-
ment. It entertained the illusion that China’s preoccupations in the South China Sea will
encourage Beijing to be more flexible in the Himalayas. President Xi Jinping has repeat- tion will be to monetise the debt. That’s
what governments all over the world are do-
edly signalled he has enough military power and political will to fight on multiple fronts.
ing. That is what even C Rangarajan, the for-
Delhi also believed that keeping strategic distance from Washington will win political mer RBI governor who put an end to the age
rewards in Beijing. Xi is saying that China can deal with the US on its own, and his prior- old practice of monetising the debt, finds ac-
ity with India is to redeem territories that Beijing has long claimed. While the talks with ceptable in the present situation. But the
China must continue, they will be productive only when Delhi can convince Beijing that Centre will have none of it. They will shift
their argument to the ballooning fiscal
India has options; and that it will take them and pay the necessary price. India, then, must
deficit. Surely, the deficit will go up even if
pursue three sets of actions parallel to the talks. First, to demonstrate that its security
the states are doing the borrowing.
forces will not only stand firm through the approaching harsh winter, but also intensify It is much more convenient for the
pro-active defence. Second, to continue to raise the economic costs of Chinese territorial Centre to borrow to meet the shortfall in the
aggression. Delhi has already announced a series of steps; and must sustain the pressure cess fund. The cost of borrowing by states
would be higher by 1-2 percentage points.
through additional measures. Third, Delhi needs to step up its security cooperation with
its international partners to reduce the real power gap between India and China. The states’ fiscal deficit ceiling would have to
be raised. And further, since the compensa-
UNLOCKING THE METRO
Resumption of rail services is a far-reaching step. Delhi’s
government and people must not relax vigil
N
EARLY SIX MONTHS after they were suspended due to the COVID-19 in-
duced lockdown, metro rail services are set to resume in Delhi today. The
Delhi government has, reportedly, been keen to restart operations since
JunebuttheCentrehasfavouredamorecautiousapproach.Now,asmetro
services commencein a “graded manner”,the yellow line will be thefirst
tobefunctionalandthetrainsonotherrouteswillresumeinthenextfivedays.“Adequate
Suranjali Tandon
dwell time at stations will be provided to enable smooth boarding/deboarding and en-
suring social distancing. Metro rail corporations may also resort to skipping of stations to AN ECONOMIC CONTRACTION this year
ensure proper social distancing,” an SOP issued last week says. Delhi’s transport minister will deal a severe blow to tax collections.
KailashGahlothasassuredthathisgovernmentwillmakesurethatthemetrodoesnotadd With a shrinking tax base, any calibration
tothespreadof thepandemic.TheDelhigovernmentmustalsoensurethatitsmedicalin- of rates or the tax base is difficult since a
frastructure is equipped to deal with any uptick in the capital’s caseload. hurried approach can have wider conse-
quences. In light of the limited policy space,
It’s more than two months that markets, restaurants and other business establish-
the only tool available to the government
ments have resumed operations in the National Capital Region (NCR). But the unlocking to maintain its tax base is to urge voluntary
of public transport has not kept pace with the opening up of the economy. This has not compliance. Historically, compliance is
only inconvenienced workers but also contributed to low customer footfall in several achieved through a fine balance between
sectors.Gettingthe metro,whichtransportsabout25lakhpassengersdaily,back ontrack, enforcement and encouragement. In the
therefore, had become critical to reviving business after the lockdown. At the same time, past, while enforcement-driven measures
have been implemented, the taxpaying
given the volume of commuters, the resumption of the metro’s services is also signifi-
population has remained at a fraction (6 per
cant from a public health standpoint — especially because Delhi is witnessing another cent) of the total population. Thus, the only
surge in infections. After being down to less than 1,000 cases for most of July and August, way to boost collections is to build trust be-
the city has been recording in excess of 2,000 cases daily for more than a week. Experts tween the administration and the taxpayer.
believe that the prolonged decline could have induced complacency, leading to a drop in To this end, the government has announced
compliance with physical distancing norms. With the two rounds of sero surveys in Delhi measures to usher in transparency in the
indicating a large number of asymptomatic carriers of the infection in the capital, the system. This includes a taxpayer’s charter
and faceless assessments.
metro authorities will have to be vigilant against any letting down of the guard.
A taxpayer interacts with the system at
The Delhi government maintains that it is equipped to deal with any COVID-related numerous instances, therefore, compliance
emergency. That more than 1,000 COVID beds are vacant in the city’s hospitals, and is also a function of the perception of the ad-
these health facilities have adequate ventilators, offers hope that the situation will not ministration. Perceived complexity can dis-
get out of hand. Even so, the Delhi government and its residents must remain vigilant courage individuals from filing returns. This
when the metro is back on the rails. could reflect simply in the difference be-
tween the number of taxpayers and the re-
turns filed — the former exceeds that latter
by around 20 million. Such behaviour is
Freeze Frame E P Unny bound to impact tax collection. With the
lower withholding rate this year on certain
incomes, it is important that taxpayers file
their returns on time.
In practice, a taxpayer’s charter is often
perceived as a means to build taxpayer’s
trust, especially in countries where compli-
Centre’s stance on GST compensation to states is
untenable, legally and morally
The stance of the Centre is a
body blow to public trust
which is essential for any
federal system to work
smoothly. It is unilateral and
a brazen abrogation of the
solemn promise made to the
states when they
surrendered more than 70
per cent of their tax domain.
The payment of full
compensation is a
constitutional right of the
states and there can be no
compromise on this
principle. This is the
position that is taken by all
the non-BJP states.
A NEW TAX PACT
Tax system needs efficiency in case selection, consistency in assessment
A charter does not
necessarily translate into law.
It remains, as in many
countries with exceptions
such as Germany, a
document that lists the
standards that the tax
department imposes on
itself. Therefore, these
cannot be enforced, unless
backed by legislation.
SEPTEMBER 7, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO
ASSAM TALKS
THETALKS BETWEENUnionHome Minister
Zail Singh and the Assam agitation leaders
will resume on September 17.Manipur Chief
Minister Dorendra Singh who is mediating
between the two sides said that the Centre
will make a formal announcementto thisef-
fect soon. The first round of talks had got
bogged down because the Assam leaders
had insisted on preconditions before dis-
cussing the foreign nationals’ issue.
UP VIOLENT AGAIN
WHILETHEDAYcurfewwasliftedinAligarh,
tension is building in Moradabad following
incidents of stone throwing, stabbing and
WORDLY WISE
In all circumstances in the world — even the
most difficult circumstances — we need to
push for dialogue. — ANTONIO GUTERRES
tion requirements of the states differ so
widely, the permissible increase in fiscal
deficit ceiling of each state would have to be
separately fixed.
Apart from above reasons, it is the moral
responsibility of the Centre to provide re-
sources to the fund. When there was surplus
in the cess fund, as was the case in the first
two years, the surplus funds were deposited
in the Consolidated Fund of India. Even the
undistributed portion of IGST, which at
times was over Rs 1 lakh crore was de-
posited in the public account of Government
of India. Symmetry demands that when the
cess fund is in deficit and requires tempo-
rary accommodation, the Government of
India should support it.
This, I would say, was the spirit of the ini-
tial discussions spread over five hours in the
last special meeting of the GST Council. Then
all of a sudden, at the fag-end of the meeting,
the Centre came up with an out-of-the-hat
argument, never heard before. The consti-
tutional provision is for compensating for
the loss of revenue in the course of “imple-
mentation of GST”. The loss in revenue as a
result of COVID-19 is not a shortfall arising
out of the “implementation of GST”. It is an
act of god. The Indian government has the
dubious distinction of invoking the princi-
ple of force majeure to avoid payment due to
its constituent states.
The whole argument is legally unten-
able. How the loss due to the “implemen-
tation of GST” is to be calculated is clearly
laid down in Section 7 of the Compensation
Law on “Calculation and Release of
Compensation”. It is the difference between
the protected revenue and the actual col-
lection, to be paid every two months. It
makes no distinction between acts of gods,
humans or nature.
The stance of the Centre is a body blow
to public trust, which is essential for any
federal system to work smoothly. It is uni-
ance is an issue. Countries such as the UK
and Canada had introduced a charter in the
1980s, while India earlier had a citizen’s
charter. The charter is a document that lists
a taxpayer’s rights and obligations. India’s
citizen charter also specifies timelines for
completion of different administrative
processes. However, a charter does not nec-
essarily translate into law. It remains, as in
many countries with exceptions such as
Germany, a document that lists the stan-
dards that the tax department imposes on
itself. Therefore, these cannot be enforced,
unless backed by legislation.
While the rights and obligations men-
tioned in India’s new charter — such as con-
fidentiality, right to representation and fair
treatment — are in line with global practices,
there are a few interesting additions. In the
new form, India’s charter conveys acommit-
menttoreducingcompliancecostsinadmin-
istering tax legislation, holding its authori-
ties accountable and publishing a periodic
report of service standards. While these are
important considerations for a taxpayer, it is
critical that the details are spelt out concern-
ing how these may be implemented in prac-
tice. Ideally, a tax ombudsman can ensure
that some of these standards are met.
However, in 2019, the cabinet approved the
abolition of the quasi-judicial post.
The other important element of the gov-
ernment’s proposal is faceless assessment.
This tends to the taxpayer’s grievance that
the assessment process is often bogged
down by corruption and delay. To end per-
sonal interface, e-assessment was intro-
kidnapping. According to news reports, one
person was stabbed to death in Kotwali lo-
cality of Moradabad. Outof two persons kid-
napped in Khooni Gali, the dead body of one
was foundinawell. Anofficial spokesperson
told reporters that 15 persons were arrested
for brickbatting and 13 in the case of firing.
SUGAR IS RISKY
A CURIOUS SITUATION has arisen on the
sugar issue in Delhi. According to a whole-
saler, retailers are refusing to lift the com-
modityandprefertotelltheircustomersthat
sugar isn’t available. The retailers are hesi-
tant to deal with sugar in view of the formal-
ities involved in selling it and out of fear that
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
lateral and a brazen abrogation of the
solemn promise made to the states when
they surrendered more than 70 per cent of
their tax domain. The payment of full com-
pensation is a constitutional right of the
states and there can be no compromise on
this principle. This is the position taken by
all the non-BJP states today.
Non-payment of full compensation will
force the states to cut their expenditure be-
cause their budgets were prepared after
factoring in a 14 per cent growth in GST. The
states are not demanding accommodation
for increasing the expenditure, but for
maintaining it at the budgeted level. States
account for 60 per cent of total government
expenditure in India. On the one hand, the
claim of the Centre is that it is trying to
stimulate the economy by increasing the
government expenditure and on the other
hand, it is forcing the states to cut expendi-
ture. It is surely going to aggravate the eco-
nomic crisis.
The data for the first quarter for the cur-
rent fiscal year shows that the global aver-
age contraction of 60 countries, for whom
data is available, is only around 12 per cent,
while the contraction in India has been 24
per cent. The major reason for the miser-
able performance of the Indian economy,
after the fiasco of demonetisation and the
manner in which lockdown was imple-
mented, has been the weakness of its stim-
ulus package. The real stimulus is only
around one per cent of the GDP. The total
consumption demand in the economy has
fallen by 27 per cent. A reduction in the ex-
penditure of the states will further under-
mine aggregate demand and the recovery.
The stand of Indian government is de-
void of any macro-economic logic. It is not a
contra-cyclical, but a pro-cyclical stance.
And it is untenable, legally and morally.
The writer is finance minister of Kerala
ducedin2019,whereinataxpayercoulddig-
itally respond to any query related to their
return. Developing this idea further, faceless
assessment now seeks to further automate
the case selection and the distribution func-
tion of the assessing officer — assessment,
scrutinyand drafting order —among various
units located outside the jurisdiction of the
taxpayer. The intent of this initiative is to di-
vest and distribute the functions of a single
assessing officer so that assessment is car-
ried out in a fair manner. This does not apply
tosearchandseizurecases,andcasesrelated
to tax evasion and international taxation.
Whilethiscanperhapsalleviateconcerns
of possible corruption, it is important that it
does not undermine the concerns of taxpay-
ers. Tax returns can be voluminous and the
information contained therein can be
unique. Therefore, taxpayers must ideally
have an opportunity to explain their case in
person. Further, for smoother functioning of
the new system, swift co-ordination is nec-
essary among various units.
One of the major concerns for the tax-
payer has been dispute resolution. There is
evidence of inconsistent and delayed deci-
sions often culminating in the poor success
rate of the tax department at various levels
of dispute. If the commitment to a fair and
impartial system and a time-bound resolu-
tion of matters is to be met, the new
processes, with reviews and anonymity,
must ensure efficiency in case selection and
consistency in assessment.
The writer is assistant professor, NIPFP
they may be prosecuted under the Essential
CommoditiesAct.Ashopkeeperwhodidnot
want to be named said that there were too
many risks associated with selling sugar in-
cluding the stipulation that the sale should
be to a genuine person.
WRONG CALL
THE MINISTRY OF Communications is bent
uponbuyingthecrossbartechnologyfortele-
phones from Sweden at a cost of Rs 60 crore.
A factory to manufacture crossbar lines will
be set up in Rae Bareilly and is expected to be
completed by 1986, by which time all such
factoriesintheworldwouldhavecloseddown
because the technology is antiquated.

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
THE IDEAS PAGE
Perils of a K-shaped recovery
Post-COVID ‘new normal’ might be marked by greater economic, social and political divisions.
It could see intensification of populism, further erosion of guardrails of basic human rights
OVER THE BARREL
by Vikram S Mehta
COMMENTATORSHAVERECENTLYaddedthe
letter “K” to the alphabetic potpourri already
compiled to define the trajectory of a COVID
andpost-COVIDeconomicrecovery.“V”,“U”,
“W”, “L” and “I” were already in the pot. “K” is
reflectiveoftheperformanceofthestockmar-
ket — a sharp decline followed by sharply di-
vergent pathways. Thus, Apple, Microsoft,
Amazon,FacebookandGooglehavetogether
added$1trilliontotheirmarketcapitalisation
over the past six months, whereas according
to the market research group, Cornerstone
Macro, 100 or so of the 500 companies com-
prising the Standard and Poor’s stock market
index,aretradingatmorethan50percentbe-
low their peak. A similar trend is evident in
India. Reliance has added nearly $10 million
and most technology and e-commerce com-
panies have done well. But a large swathe of
othersespeciallyinthemidandsmall-capcat-
egory — in particular, restaurants, hotels, real
estate,airlines—arestrugglingtokeepafloat.
The reason I was struck by this latest ad-
dition was not because of what it revealed
aboutcorporatevaluationsbutbecauseof the
suggestion that the post-COVID “new nor-
mal” might be marked by even greater eco-
nomic, social and political divisions than
those that roiled the pre-COVID world. It got
me to ask whether whilst, at the social level,
we are going to witness a radical retrench-
ment of our social circle and, in a sense, a re-
versiontotheextendednuclearfamily(joint
family?) set up that defined the social rela-
tions of our tribal ancestors, at the political
level,wearegoingtoseeanintensificationof
thepopulismthatbroughtpeoplelikeDonald
Trump to power and the further erosion of
Abhishek Saha
THE STORY OF Kamala Harris, a woman of
Indian and Jamaican origin running for Vice
President in the US presidential elections, is
inspirationalaswellascatharticformigrants
and their descendants across the world. It is
ironic that at a time when there is jubilation
in India on her nomination, in Assam, a re-
port of aUnion Ministry of Home Affairs-ap-
pointed high-level committee suggests
mechanisms to stifle the rights of large sec-
tions of migrant-origin people.
In 1958, Harris’s mother Shyamala —
later a well-known breast cancer researcher
— migrated from India to study at UC
Berkeley. She was 19. She met a Jamaican
economics student Donald Harris, who had
migrated to the US in 1961 and later taught
economics at Stanford. They got married in
1963. Harris was born a year later, an
American citizen by birth.
The day when Harris was chosen as the
running mate of Democratic nominee Joe
Biden,Iwaswritinganewsreportontherec-
ommendations by the Committee on
Implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam
Accord. This clause provides “constitutional,
legislative and administrative safeguards”
for “Assamese people”.
The 14-member committee was headed
byaretiredGauhatiHighCourtjudgeandin-
the guardrails of basic human rights.
I am a member of the fortunate minority
thathasnothadtoworryaboutsurvivingthe
exigencies of the COVID present but instead
have been able to use the lockdown to read
andreflectabouttheCOVIDfuture.Theintro-
ductionof theletter“K”remindedmeof three
tomes that I had recently perused. The one I
speed read, because I was frankly not inter-
ested in the minutiae of the Trump adminis-
tration, was John Bolton’s The Room Where It
Happened, the one I read in parts as it was an
edited compendium with each chapter ad-
dressing a specific theme was After Piketty,
The Agenda for Economics and Inequality ed-
ited by Heather Boushey, Bradford DeLong
and Marshall Steinbaum. And the volume I
read with care was Daron Acemoglu and
JamesRobinson’sTheNarrowCorridor:States,
SocietiesandtheFateofLiberty.Thereason“K”
mademethinkof thesethreebookswasthat
each of them, in very different ways, alerts
one to the consequential dynamics of a di-
vided world.
In his monumental best-seller, Capital In
TheTwenty-FirstCentury,ThomasPikettyhad
asserted—here,Imustapologiseforthisone-
sentence summary of a 700-page volume —
thatconcentrationof wealthleadstounequal
distributionofincomesandthat,giventhehis-
torical evidence that the rate of growth of
profit from capital (inherited and accumu-
lated)exceedstherateof growthof theecon-
omy, “society will inexorably tend towards
dominancebyinheritedwealth”.Thecontrib-
utors to the above referenced edited volume
do not all agree with Piketty’s reasons for in-
equality but the majority, I surmised, accept
the conclusion that the “super-rich” in soci-
ety have the power to “purchase influence”,
“determinepublicdiscourse”and“shapeand
drive politicaldirection” (Paul Krugman) and
thatthepersistenceanddeepeningofinequal-
ity and “patrimonial capitalism” will eventu-
ally “overwhelm growth and lead to societal
collapse”. In other words, to paraphrase
Piketty, “The past (will) devour the future”.
Acemoglu and Robinson argue that in-
equalityisnotpredeterminedorunstoppable.
Anditisnottheresultofeconomicforcesonly.
It is also the outcome of politics, the institu-
No Kamala Harris in Assam
Asacommitteesuggestsanewdefinitionof‘Assamese’,anewcut-offyear
cluded influential Assamese advocates, aca-
demicsandstudentleaders.Theirreportrec-
ommendsthat“Assamesepeople”bedefined
using 1951 as a cut-off — those who were re-
sidinginAssambeforeJanuary1,1951willbe
definedas“Assamese”.Itthensuggestsaslew
ofreservationsfor“Assamesepeople”,includ-
ing 80-100 per cent of Assam’s seats in
Parliament and the same proportion in as-
semblyandlocalbodies(inclusiveof pre-ex-
istingreservations).Itrecommendsjobreser-
vations of up to 80-100 per cent in
governmentandprivatesectorsandasksthat
“land rights be confined” to the “Assamese
people”. It also recommends an Inner Line
Permit regime in Assam, which could prove
a hindrance for investments and tourism.
The Assam Accord, signed in 1985 after
a long “anti-foreigner” movement, set a cut-
off of midnight of March 24, 1971 for the de-
tection of non-citizens in Assam. The Assam
NRC uses pre-1971 lineage to establish
Indian citizenship — and those who fail to
do so first, in the NRC and then, in the for-
eigners’ tribunals, stand the risk of being put
into detention camps. After an exhaustive
NRC exercise, costing over Rs 1,600 crore, us-
ing 1971 as a cut-off year, there now
emerges a further exclusivist idea to ascer-
tain who is an “Assamese” based on pre-
Inequality is not
predetermined or
unstoppable. And it is not
the result of economic forces
only. It is also the outcome
of politics, the institutions of
governance and the nature of
the relations between civic
society and the State. It is the
consequence of actions,
events, and of ‘decisions not
made’ which the sociologist
Steven Lukas calls the
‘second face of power’. To
counter this ‘face of power’,
state and society must enter
a ‘narrow corridor’ within
which the ‘leviathan’ of the
State is checked and
balanced by society.
1951 lineage in the state.
Assamese groups have long stressed
that since Assam has “accepted” migrants
from 1951 to 1971 as per the Accord, imple-
mentation of Clause 6 of the pact is neces-
sary to safeguard the interests of the state’s
indigenous people. The state government
had emphasised on the speedy implemen-
tation of provisions of Clause 6 of the Accord
as an antidote to the Assamese opposition
to the CAA.
But at the same time, the recommenda-
tions of the high-level committee have sug-
gest a framework that could end up render-
ing a large section of Assam’s society as an
inferior class of citizens. This exclusion will
comprise both Muslim economic migrants
of Bengali-descent as well as post-Partition
Hindu Bengali refugees, who can prove that
they or their ancestors were residing in
Assam between 1951 and 1971, but not be-
fore that. They might be stripped of several
rights and privileges. They will be Indian
citizens as per the 1971 cut-off but may not
be represented by a legislator or may be in-
eligible for a job or may not be able to pur-
chase land.
A2019WashingtonPostreportnotedthat
in her first campaign stop after announcing
her presidential bid, Harris was asked by a
C R Sasikumar
tions of governance and the nature of the re-
lations between civic society and the state. It
is the consequence of actions, events, and of
“decisions not made” which the sociologist
StevenLukascallsthe“secondfaceof power”.
To counter this “face of power”, state and so-
ciety must enter a “narrow corridor” within
which the “leviathan” of the state is checked
and balanced by society. To stay in this corri-
dor, the two must move forward in lockstep
harmony. They must strike a balance of
power. The glue holding this balance is trust
in the efficacy of the institutions of gover-
nance to build a sustainable society. In their
words,“if peoplelosetrustintheinstitutions,
thecorridornarrowsandtheabilityof society
to handle conflict diminishes”.
Itisthislatterpointabouttrustthatbrings
metothebookbyJohnBolton.Heclearlykept
capacious notes of his time as the National
SecurityAdviser andthebookprovidesade-
taileddescriptionof hisproximitytotheOval
Office. What interested me were not these
details but the fact that almost every page
brought into sharp relief the thinness of the
linebetweennormalcyandcataclysm.What
thebookrevealedinspadeswasthefactthat
themanwhohashisfingeronthelargestnu-
clear arsenal in the world is narcissistic, self-
absorbed, egotistical and vindictive and in-
terested only in re-election — and this from
someoneknownforhishawkishnessandbel-
licosity.Atsomepointintheread,Ilostinter-
est in the details of Trump’s inconsistencies.
Only one thought ran through my mind.
“How on Earth did US society allow such a
person to become the arbiter of public inter-
est?”. And that is when, for me at least, the
letter “K”, the consequence “inequality” and
the sentiment “trust” conjoined to provide
theanswer.TrumpwaselectedPresidentbe-
cause, in 2016, the US was the most unequal
society in the world — 1 per cent of the US
population accounted for 20 per cent of na-
tionalincome.Societyhadlosttrustinthees-
tablished elite — anyone but them was the
electorates' response.
The message: No country can risk a “K”
shaped recovery.
The writer is Chairman, Brookings India
reporter how she would describe herself
since she was both “African American” and
“Indian American”. Harris replied that she
was a “proud American”.
Harris’sparentshadmigratedtotheUSin
the 1950s and 60s seeking education and
better opportunities. Today, their daughter
is running for one of the top offices in the
country. In Assam, in contrast, proposals are
beingdraftedtodepriveIndian citizens,who
or their ancestors migrated in that era, from
rights rightfullyavailable to anyordinary cit-
izen. Harris, if hypothetically asked to trace
herancestryinthe US, couldpossiblybeable
to fetch records not prior to 1958. But in
Assam, a document from 1958, might not be
goodenoughtoensureone’s candidaturefor
election or a job at a state or private sector
outfit—if therecommendations of thehigh-
level committee are implemented.
At a time when the world battles grow-
ing concerns of statelessness, can India af-
ford to have a community of second-class
citizensin a state strategically important like
Assam? As the 2021 Assam elections draw
closer, all eyes will be on the BJP govern-
ments at the Centre and the state as to how
they respond to the recommendations.
abhishek.saha@expressindia.com
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“The world is drowning in plastic packaging, and signs point to the problem
getting worse. Time is running out to do something about it.”
A different court
Supreme Court’s apparent reluctance
to question government on consequential
issues affects its moral authority
Christophe
Jaffrelot
THE SUPREME COURT has made headlines
because of its verdict holding senior advo-
cate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt
of court. Lately, the behaviour of this insti-
tution — once recognised as among the
most prestigious judicial bodies in the
world — has been seen as problematic on
anothercount:TheCourthasceasedtocon-
front the government. Over the last four
years, none of its decisions has come as a
major embarrassmentfor the government.
For these two power centres to be on the
samewavelengthforsuchalongtimeisun-
precedented — especially, after the period
of tension between 2014 and 2016.
Almost immediatelyafter assuming of-
fice, in 2014, the Narendra Modi govern-
ment blocked the elevation of Gopal
Subramanium as a judge of the apex court.
Subramanium was the Court’s amicus cu-
riae in the Sohrabuddin case in which cur-
rent Home Minister Amit Shah was the
primeaccused.Thegovernmentclearedthe
names of the three other candidates pro-
posed by the collegium — Rohinton
Nariman, Arun Mishra and A K Goel. The
government’s decision attracted the criti-
cism of the then Chief Justice R M Lodha. A
month later, the Modi government intro-
duced a bill to create the National Judicial
Appointments Commission (NJAC), which
wouldreplacetheCollegiumsystemforap-
pointing judges to high courts and the
Supreme Court. The Commission would
comprisetheCJI,twoseniorjudgesandtwo
“eminent personalities” selected by a com-
mittee comprising the CJI, the Prime
Minister and the Leader of Opposition in
the Lok Sabha. The NJAC Act was passed by
Parliament in December 2014.
InOctober2015,theSCstruckdownthe
NJAC Act, ruling that it would affect the in-
dependence of the judiciary vis-à-vis the
executive—adecisioninwhichArunJaitley,
then Minister of Finance, saw “the tyranny
of the unelected”. That was almost the last
time the SC opposed the government in a
major case. This, ironically, when the court
burnished its reputation in the 1980s-90s
with “judicial activism”.
After the 2014 blitzkrieg, came a long
war of attrition. In order to show the world
that it was open to a reform of the admit-
tedly dysfunctional collegium system, the
SC directed the government to propose a
newmemorandumof procedure (MoP)for
appointments to the higher judiciary. The
government seized this opportunity to up-
gradeitsroleintheprocess.Thedraftitsent
to the Court allowed the government to re-
ject any name recommended by the
Collegium on grounds of national security
and made it compulsory for the Collegium
to justify its selection. The Collegium re-
jected these clauses and the MoP could
never be finalised.
Meanwhile, the government was sit-
ting on the appointments that the
Collegium had recommended months ago
— if not more. In early 2016, more than 40
per cent of posts in the high courts were
vacant while the backlog of pending cases
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
AVOIDING QUESTIONS
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Masking
the question’ (IE, September 4). The
NDA government’s decision to not have
a Question Hour and curtailing the Zero
Hour because of the pandemic is not
unexpected. This is because every gov-
ernment has a tendency to avoid ques-
tions from the Opposition on contro-
versial issues exposing its malfeasance
and culpability. The curtailment of the
Question Hour is tantamount to the
ruling dispensation’s proclivity to avoid
being accountable to voters. It is impor-
tant to unmask the opportunism of any
ruling party, irrespective of its ideolog-
ical roots.
Tarsem Singh, Mahilpur
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Masking
the question’ (IE, September 4).The
government of the day deserves to be
congratulated on its brilliant strategy
of disarming the Opposition by can-
celling the dreaded Question Hour. The
term “pandemic” has now become a
convenient excuse the moment the
government faces anything unpalat-
able. It is strange that there is no “pan-
demic” when it comes to laying the
foundation for the Ayodhya temple, the
bullet train project or monthly mono-
logue, Mann ki Baat.
Ajay Singh Grewal, Bhiwani
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— THE GUARDIAN
amounted to over four million. In April
2016, addressing the annual Conference of
Chief Justices and Chief Ministers in the
presence of PM Modi, then CJI T S Thakur
broke down, saying that the Indian judici-
ary was too understaffed to fulfil its obli-
gations — 170 proposals for appointments
to the high courts were pending at that
time. On November 11, 2016, the govern-
ment returned 43 out of 77 names recom-
mended by the Collegium for HC judges —
the number of vacant posts had by then
gone up to about 500.
CJI Thakur retired in January 2017 and
after that, relations between the executive
and the SC improved. Appointments and
transfers ceased to be a problem because
the Collegium, by and large, accepted the
law ministry-orchestrated appointments
and transfers, even when it had not pro-
posed them orhadsuggested others,likein
the casesof JusticesJayant Patel, Ramendra
Jain, Basharat Ali Khan, Mohammad
Mansoor, Mohammad Nizamuddin, Akil
Kureshi and S Muralidhar to name a few.
In the same vein, the Court considered
that the Aadhaar Bill could be passed as a
Money Bill, validated the Electoral Bonds
Act, and in the case of Special Judge Loya, as
Gautam Bhatia puts it, it acted as “the
Supreme Magistrate, the Supreme
Investigating Officer, and the Supreme
Additional SessionsJudge,the Courtof First
andLastInstance”—somuchsothat,finally,
noadditionalinvestigationwasorderedde-
spite the many grey areas that remained.
The SC also abstained from dealing with
sensitive issues like the abolition of Article
370 or the Citizenship Amendment Act: By
doing nothing, the judges do not take the
risk of making mistakes. This modus
operandi of the court, when applied to
Aadhaar, created a fait accompli.
Commenting on the role of the apex
court in maintaining checks and balances,
the former judge, Madan Lokur, recently
asked: “Has the last bastion fallen ?” To re-
spond, one needs to make sense of the tra-
jectory.Thenon-confrontationalattitudeof
theSCcanpossiblybeexplainedbythearm
wrestling of the years 2014-15. Some other
variables need to be factored in. First, the
court’s reluctance to question the govern-
ment on contentious issues — from J&K to
misuse of sedition law or the NRC — is dis-
turbing. More so, when some of these are
labelledbytheBJPasitsideologicalprojects.
Second, the manner in which the judi-
ciary has addressed allegations against it-
self —KalikhoPulorPrasadEducationTrust
or on sexual harassment — gives a handle
to those in power. For, these allegations af-
fect the moral authority of the judges, es-
pecially when they fail to apply the basic
principle of natural justice by being judges
intheirowncause.Third,theindependence
of the judiciary is inevitably affected by the
acceptance of post-retirement jobs.
In this context, in convicting Prashant
Bhushan of contempt, the Court is trying to
silence one of the few lawyers who have
used the judicial arena to speak truth to
power.Indoingso,itindulgesinjudicialau-
thoritarianism, an “ism” that becomes ob-
vious, when, according to Lynne
Henderson,acourt'sjurisprudenceappears
“to manifest inflexibility, lack of compas-
sion, and approval of oppression”.
The writer is senior research fellow at CERI-
Sciences Po/CNRS, Paris, professor of Indian
Politics and Sociology at King’s India
Institute, London, and non-resident scholar
at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace
IDEAS
ONLINE
ONLY IN THE EXPRESS
● BAJPAI, AT HOME
IN THE WORLD:
SUDHIR T DEVARE
● FIELDNOTES
FROM THAR:
AASTHAMAGGU
www.indianexpress.com
UNWISE UNLOCKING
THIS REFERS To the report, ‘As Metro
reopens after 5 months, top priority:
Please mind the gap’ (IE, September 4).
When the nation is recording more
than 80,000 COVID-19 cases per day,
and Delhi witnessed on Thursday the
highest single day spike of 2,700 cases
in 67 days, the decision to open the
Metro and bars seems to be based on
political convenience, not science.
There are elaborate SOPs for travellers.
But what about the surging crowds
outside stations?
L R Murmu, Delhi
 E EXPLAINED
10
CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD
C VID-19 VACCINE TRACKER
Pushback from manufacturers
against rushing vaccine release
AT A time governments have been
more than willing to relax regulatory
provisionstomakeacoronavirusvac-
cineavailable totheirpublic quickly, a
pushback seems to be coming from
vaccine developers them-
selves. According to a report
in the Wall Street Journal,
some of the top vaccine de-
velopers, including Pfizer,
are planning to release a
common statement, pledg-
ingnottoseekregulatoryapprovalfor
their products till their safety and ef-
fectiveness was firmly established.
The report said the joint statement,
planned to be released early next
week, was still being prepared.
Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are
also reported to be on board.
INDIA ACTIVE CASES
900,000
800,000
742,023
LAST 10 DAYS
Aug 27
700,000
Note: The Sept 5 figure in this graph is based on the government update on Sept 6
INDIA TOTAL CASES
4,113,811
Source:MinistryofHealth&Family
Welfare,updatedat11pmonSept6
Post-Covid review in children
finds severe heart damage
MULTISYSTEM INFLAM-
MATORY syndrome in
children (MIS-C), be-
lieved to be linked to
Covid-19, damages the
heart,says a medical lit-
eraturereviewpublished
in EClinicalMedicine, a PAPER
journalof TheLancet.The
heart damage is so se- CLIP
vere that some children
will need lifelong moni- NEW RESEARCH an ECG test and 54% of
toringandinterventions,
according to senior author Dr Alvaro mal. The heart damage included:
Moreira of The University of Texas ■ Dilation of coronary blood ves-
Health Science Center at San Antonio. sels, a phenomenon also seen in
“According to the literature, chil- Kawasaki disease.
drendidnotneedtoexhibittheclassic ■ Depressed ejection fraction, in-
upperrespiratorysymptomsofCovid- dicatingareducedabilityfortheheart
19todevelopMIS-C,whichisfrighten- to pump oxygenated blood to tissues.
ing.Childrenmighthavenosymptoms,
nooneknewtheyhadthedisease,and
In SC reading of basic structure, the signature of Kesavananda Bharati
APURVA VISHWANATH
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6
THE LANDMARK ruling in which the
Supreme Court announced the basic struc-
ture doctrine was in the case of His Holiness
Kesavananda BharatiSripadagalvaru andOrs
v State of Kerala. Kesavananda Bharati, the
manwholenthisnametothisiconiccaseas
the petitioner, died on Sunday.
The ruling is considered among the
most consequential decisions by the
SupremeCourt as itsetoutthe “basicstruc-
ture” of the Constitution that Parliament
cannot amend.
Who was Kesavananda Bharati?
Kesavananda Bharati was the head seer
of the Edneer Mutt in Kasaragod district of
Kerala since 1961. He left his signature in
oneof thesignificantrulingsof theSupreme
Court when he challenged the Kerala land
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
The move comes at a time the US
appears to be setting the stage for au-
thorising emergency use of one of the
vaccinesinafewweeks,possiblyeven
before the November 3 Presidential
elections. The US Food and
DrugAdministrationhassaid
it is open to granting prema-
tureemergencyuseauthori-
sation to a vaccine, if it was
able to assess that the bene-
fits of doing so outweighed
the risks. It said it would consider vac-
cine candidates for emergency ap-
provalevenbeforetheirphase-3trials
were completed. The Centers of
Disease Control and Prevention has
askedhealthauthoritiesacrosstheUS
to be begin preparations for a vaccine
rollout by November, or even earlier.
862,320
862,320
Sept 5
WORLD TOTAL CASES
26,929,464
Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,
updatedat11pmonSept6
a few weeks later, they
may develop this exag-
gerated inflammation in
thebody,”Moreirasaidin
a statement.
The team reviewed
662 MIS-C cases re-
ported worldwide be-
tween January 1 and July
25.Elevenof thechildren
died.Ninetypercenthad
the results were abnor-
Source: University of Texas Health
Science Center
reforms legislation in 1970.
A 13-judge Bench was set up by the
Supreme Court, the biggest so far, and the
case was heard over 68 working days
spread over six months. The Bench gave 11
separate judgments that agreed and dis-
agreed on many issues but a majority judg-
ment of seven judges was stitched together
by then Chief Justice of India S M Sikri on
the eve of his retirement. However, the ba-
sic structure doctrine, which was evolved
in the majority judgment, was found in the
conclusions of the opinion written by one
judge — Justice H R Khanna.
What was the case about?
The case was primarily about the extent
of Parliament’s power to amend the Constit-
ution. First, the court was reviewing a 1967
decisioninGolaknathvStateofPunjabwhich,
reversing earlier verdicts, had ruled that Pa-
rliamentcannotamendfundamentalrights.
Second,thecourtwasdecidingtheconsti-
Decoding GDP contraction
The contraction seen in first-quarter GDP data is severe, but not unexpected. What should be done — or
not done – at the level of govt policy so that the economy gets a chance to rebound as quickly as possible?
EXPERT
EXPLAINS
Neelkanth Mishra
From The Indian Express panel
of specialists, exclusive insight
How should one read the first-quarter
GDP data and the contraction by 23.9%?
What signal does it offer for the future?
And does it give any idea of the sectors
that the government must prioritise?
Compared to the first quarter of last year,
the income split showed growth in agricul-
ture,minordeclinesinfinancialservices,util-
ities (like electricity and water) and public
administration, and major declines in retail,
transportation, manufacturing, hotels, and
construction.
The expenditure split showed growth in
government spending, private consumption
was down by a quarter, and investments
nearly halved. On both fronts there was little
surprise in the GDP release.
The quantum of decline seems to have
surprised many, but it should not have.
The first lockdown curtailed nearly two-
thirds of GDP, and while this proportion
camedowninsubsequentphases,tilltheend
of May activities adding up to nearly a fifth
of GDP were still restricted. Even in August,
we estimate, up to 9 per cent of GDP was re-
stricted either by regulation or fear.
While the economic trajectory going for-
ward would be affected by the wealth and
income losses seen in the past five months,
the decline in the June quarter was almost
entirely due to activity restrictions. Nowthat
there is an official measure, however inac-
curate, of the scale of losses, the first priority
shouldbetoremoveasmanyof theserestric-
tions as possible.
While the Union government caught on
to this by May, state and local governments
arestillusingunprovenadministrativemeas-
ures like lockdowns on weekends or on ran-
dom days, or quarantines for travellers.
Further, seroprevalence studies in several
cities are now showing fatality rates of one
or less per thousand infections; more such
studies are needed to reduce fear among the
people.
This release should also allow the gov-
ernment to calibrate itsfiscal response. With
a steady recovery in growth rates till the end
of the year, the full year decline would be
around 10 per cent, or a loss of about Rs 20
lakh crore.
Weestimatethatabouthalf of thiswould
be felt by the government in the form of lost
taxes and some extra expenditure, such as
free grains. About a fourth would be borne
by wage earners. Given that consumption
was also affected by restrictions, the lasting
impact would be smaller. The worst affected
would be informal firms and low-income
households,which wouldexitthe pandemic
with fewer assets or higher debt. This could
impair their economic potency for a long
time, unless the government intervenes fis-
cally, spreading the losses over current and
future citizens through a rise in sovereign
debt to GDP: as close to “water under the
bridge” as one can get.
How should we read suggestions that
the scale of contraction may not be
correct since the damage to the informal
economy is not being captured in the
GDP data?
More than 40 per cent of our GDP is in-
formal, meaning there is no data even on an
annualbasis.GDPdatainIndia,therefore,are
prone to large revisions — it is a calculation
more of an estimate than a measurement
untilatleastthesecondrevisedestimatethat
is published two years later.
Quarterly GDP calculations must rely on
tutional validity of several other amend-
ments.Notably,therighttopropertyhadbeen
removed as a fundamental right, and Parlia-
ment had also given itself the power to am-
endanypartoftheConstitutionandpasseda
law that it cannot be reviewed by the courts.
The executive vs judiciary manoeuvres
displayed in the amendments ended with
the Kesavananda Bharati case, in which the
courthadtosettletheseissuesconclusively.
Politically,thecaserepresentedthefight
for supremacy of Parliament led by then
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
What did the court decide?
In its majority ruling, the court held that
fundamental rights cannot be taken away
by amending them. While the court said
that Parliament had vast powers to amend
the Constitution, it drew the line by observ-
ingthatcertainpartsaresoinherentandin-
trinsic to the Constitution that even
Parliament cannot touch it.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com
EXPLAINED ECONOMY
The income split shows growth in agriculture compared to the first quarter of last year. There have been minor declines in
financial services and utilities, and major declines in retail, transportation and manufacturing. Jasbir Malhi/Express Archive
even less hard data than available annually, displaying divergent trends, with WPI the fiscal space for such a push, how can
projecting formal economy growth rates on staying in the negative territory, this space be created?
to the informal economy for several activi- reflecting weak pricing power, while CPI There is a need to socialise at least some
ties. It is possible that the growth rates may has been rising, staying above the RBI's of the losses for the smaller and informal
have been overstated, as anecdotal evi- comfort level. Is the country headed firms and low-income households. Given
dence suggests that in many sectors, formal towards a long phase of stagflation and weak financial penetration in India, mone-
firms gained share. However, it is hard to recession? tary steps are likely to have limited impact
quantify this. One should try not to read too much into on these entities.
GDP projections for the July-September
inflation data currently for three reasons.
First,theconsumptionbasketiscurrently
The challenge appears to be less a lack of
fiscal space and more the central govern-
quarter also point towards a very different from what CPI is based on. ment’s worry that undirected large schemes
contraction, but shallower than the one Forexample,theweightof market-priced create economic distortions and corruption.
seen in April-June. Does this imply that rice in CPI is nearly 10 times the weight of Many of the areas that require investment
GDP growth has PDS rice (i.e., subsidised are state subjects, and there appears to be a
bottomed out? How are rice) in CPI. However, to- lack of trust between the Centre and the
readings of other high
frequency data points THE EXPERT
day a large part of the
populationisgetting free
states on leakages, should a large uncondi-
tional allocation be made to states.
and other numbers rice; if this showed up in This is resolvable – we have already had
beyond the first NEELKANTH MISHRA is CPI, inflation could be successful schemes where the Centre pro-
quarter? a Managing Director, and 200 basis points lower. videdfundsandalsoexecutedworksinareas
The year-on-year co-head of Asia Pacific There are numerous that are state subjects, such as rural roads,
growthmomentumgoing Strategy and India Equity such examples. rural housing and sanitation, and now even
forward should be better Strategist for Credit Second, as local lock- drinking water provision. New schemes fo-
than in the first quarter, as Suisse. He has been rated downs impede normali- cusing on areas that trigger widespread de-
activity restrictions are among the best analysts sation of supply chains mand — say, the creation of a hospital in
progressivelyrelaxed,and in India by several and markets, shortages every block — may be necessary.
people’s fear of the virus investor polls. He has are appearing. So much
reduces. All activity indi- been an advisor to several so that firms now say What can the states themselves do to
cators we track show a
much better reading now
government appointed
committees like the
that market share gains
will be supply driven
push growth?
State governments have fiscal stress, but
than they did between Fifteenth Finance (that is, who gets hold of they also have more administrative control.
April and June. Commission and the the supply) rather than They should look to permit as many activi-
However, the pace of FRBM Review Committee. demand driven. This is tiesaspossible.Forexample,thereisnoneed
the rebound has slowed He is also part of the CII’s alsoshowing upin lower forquarantinesfortravellersnowwhenmost
since July. This has two Economic Advisory discounts. districts in Indiahave a thousand or more in-
drivers. Council. He worked for Lastly, uncertainty is fections already. Each state also has its own
One,therestillexistre- Hindustan Unilever and impeding supply re- niche sectors that may not be as important
strictions on several eco- Infosys before he joined sumption even in basic nationally — like tourism in Goa, Kerala and
nomic activities – for ex- Credit Suisse. Neelkanth categories like vegeta- Rajasthan, or dairy in UP — that it can devise
ample, just transport to is a gold medallist from bles, where farmers are policies for.
and from schools/colleges IIT Kanpur, graduating in unwillingtoplantcertain
isaRs-1,20,000crorebusi- Computer Science. crops because they are There is a clamour for a fiscal push —
ness.Similarly,demandfor afraidof notbeingableto increased spending by the Centre. But
ethnic premium apparel, sell the harvest. This is what could be the means to raise such
usedforfestivalsandfamilyeventsissubdued. where the stagflation risks can emerge – if resources?
Nearly a fifth of milk is consumed out-of- the amount of chicken consumed is down The current excess of incoming dollars is
home.Activitiesatlargeconstructioncompa- by a third but prices are up 5 per cent, the fo- likely to last. Instead of the RBI letting the ru-
nies are still not back to pre-crisis levels. cus should be on reviving supply rather than peeappreciate,itmaychoosetoallowexcess
Two, the effects of the weak economy in raisingrates. Thechallenge,thus,is to reduce fundsinthedomesticeconomytorise,which
thelastfivemonthswillnowstartshowingup. economic uncertainty so that more busi- canhelpthegovernmentraisefundscheaply.
Somebusinesseshaveshuttered,andthesharp nesses do not shut down, as reviving supply Further, with interest rates globally likely to
increaseineconomicuncertaintythatwesaw is far more difficult than reviving demand. be low for quite some time, and capital mar-
sinceMarchwouldhavechangedsavingsand kets on a tear (issuance of debt and equity is
investment behaviour for many others. So far the government has mostly relied alreadyatarecordhigh),thegovernmentcan
The economy is, therefore, far from nor- on the RBI to support the economy; is it divest assets in real estate, steel, copper, iron
mal, and may stay that way for a while. time now for a big bang fiscal push to ore, oil marketing, banking and insurance, to
generate growth and employment? And create new assets in healthcare, education,
CPI-WPI inflation rates have been given that the government does not have and social safety.
case. But as many legal scholars point out, view,secularismareallheldbycourtsasba-
thegovernment did notwin the caseeither. sic structure, the list is not exhaustive.
What is the basic structure doctrine? What was the fallout of the verdict?
Theoriginsofthebasicstructuredoctrine Politically,asaresultoftheverdict,theju-
arefoundintheGermanConstitutionwhich, diciaryfaceditsbiggestlitmustestagainstthe
after the Nazi regime, was amended to pro- executive.TheIndiraGandhi-ledgovernment
tect some basic laws. The original Weimar did not take kindly to the majority opinion
Constitution,whichgaveParliamenttoamend and superseded three judges —J M Shelat, A
the Constitution with a two-thirds majority, N Grover and K S Hegde — who were in line
was in fact used by Hitler to his advantage to to be appointed CJI after Justice Sikri.
Kesavananda Bharati died on Sunday. maderadicalchanges.Learningfromthatex- Justice A N Ray, who had dissented
Twitter/@VPSecretariat perience,thenewGermanConstitutionintro- againstthemajorityverdict,wasinsteadap-
ducedsubstantivelimitsonParliament’spow- pointed CJI. The supersession resulted in a
erstoamendcertainpartsoftheConstitution decades-long continuing battle on the in-
However, despite the ruling that whichitconsidered‘basiclaw’. dependence of the judiciary and the extent
Parliament cannot breach fundamental In India, the basic structure doctrine has of Parliament’s power to appoint judges.
rights, the court upheld the amendment formed the bedrock of judicial review of all But the ruling has cemented the rejec-
that removed the fundamental right to laws passed by Parliament. No law can im- tion of majoritarian impulses to make
property. The court ruled that in spirit, the pinge on the basic structure. What the ba- sweeping changes or even replace the
amendment would not violate the “basic sic structure is, however, has been a contin- Constitution and underlined the founda-
structure” of the Constitution. uing deliberation. While parliamentary tions of a modern democracy laid down by
Kesavananda Bharati, in fact, lost the democracy, fundamental rights, judicial re- the makers of the Constitution.
New Delhi

11 IDEA EXCHANGE
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
‘
I have not got GST since March... If Centre
doesn’t have money, how are we to get it?
TheCMsaysletterby23Congleadersaffectsdiscipline instateunits,warnsfarmerswillfallpreytoPakpropagandaif PunjabshareswaterwithHaryanaunderSYL
canalproject,andnotesanywarwithChinawillalsoinvolvePakistan.ThesessionwasmoderatedbyResidentEditor(Punjab&Haryana)ManrajGrewalSharma
MANRAJ GREWAL SHARMA: The
Congress Working Committee
meeting was held after a letter by 23
leaders sought sweeping changes in
the party. Has that been helpful in
shaping a strong Opposition?
Ithinkso.Theonlydifference(of opin-
ion) that I had (with the leaders who
wrote the letter) was that it should have
beensharedanddiscussedattheCWC.
We should have approached the
Congress president and resolved
it instead of going to the press.
We have to maintain disci-
plineinstates.Wehavetosee
to it that the party remains
a cohesive force. If you
start having divisions at
the CWC-level, how do I
maintain discipline at
the state level?
LIZ MATHEW: Some
Congress leaders
were angry with the
letter. The leaders
who wrote the letter
claimed that they had
tried to raise the issues
several times, but they
were not addressed.
Iaminthe firstcategory.
As far as the second category
is concerned, how can anyone
say that? How can Mrs Gandhi
say that I am not going to meet
20-odd senior leaders of the party?
She would never say that. Had they
written to her or to Rahul Gandhi or to
bothof them,andsaidtheywantedtodis-
cuss these points, it would have been
done.
We are not angry. We only feel that
there should be a certain decorum. I will
tell you a story. Many years ago, I was a
youngMPandhadcometoParliamentfor
the first time in 1980. I told a newspaper
that I did not agree with the then Punjab
chief minister. Indira Gandhi was the
prime minister. Around mid-day, I got a
messageintheCentralHallthattheprime
ministerwantedtoseeme.Sheasked,‘Did
you write it?’. I said yes. She asked me
why, and I said because this is how I felt.
She said, ‘Do you know who has made
(him) the chief minister?’. I said you have.
She said, “Don’t you think you are writing
against my discretion? He has been made
the CM by me and if you have any prob-
lems, meet the CM or tell me. But don’t
go and write this in the papers.’
HARISH DAMODARAN: Punjab has
come up with a Paani Bachao, Paise
Kamao scheme to save water. What
has its progress been? How do you
wean away the Punjab farmer from
paddy?
Wehaveputmetersoneverytubewell
and we check the consumption. We have
fixed the (electricity) consumption for
paddy and other crops. If a farmer does
not reach that figure, say of Rs 3,000, and
his consumption is worth only Rs 2,200,
then we give him Rs 800. That way we
save water, if not money.
Asforpaddy,theonlyway to wean the
farmer away from it is diversification. I re-
memberwhenIlefttheArmyin1969and
came home, nobody knew what paddy
was. In 1966-67, they started research on
paddy in the Philippines, and by 1970, the
whole of Punjab was growing paddy.
Today, we have two problems. One, your
glaciers are melting, river water is deplet-
ing. As a consequence, people are over
pumping. In 1969, the groundwater in
Patiala stood at 30 feet, now it is at 350
feet. Seventy per cent of my farmers have
less than five acres, can they dig 400 feet
for a tubewell? How will they pay for it?
Diversification is the answer. I am also
pushing hard for industry.
MANRAJ GREWAL SHARMA: With the
Supreme Court directing the chief
ministers of Punjab and Haryana to
negotiate and settle the Sutlej-
Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, the
project is back in the news. Given that
there is not enough water, does it only
remain an emotive and political issue?
When Punjab and Haryana were
formed, every asset of Punjab was divided
inthe60:40ratio.Wegot60%andHaryana
40.Everythingwasdividedonthisbasisex-
ceptforwater.YouputSutlej,RaviandBeas
into the pool to decide. But what about
Yamuna water that was coming into erst-
while Punjab? That was given to Haryana.
They have 80 lakh acres and we have 105
lakhacres.Asof today,theyhavemorewa-
terthanus.Andnowtheyhavegotafurther
commitment of 1 MAF (million acre-feet)
fromtheSharda-Yamunalinkcanal.Isitfair
for them to ask for more water?
They keep saying it has been decreed.
But what can you do with a decree? You
AMARINDER SINGH, CHIEF MINISTER, PUNJAB
PLEASE JOIN ' EARLY MORNING NEWS' TELEGRAM
CHANNEL THROUGH https://t.me/early_news AND IGNORE &
EXIT SECONDARY CHANNELS
know what will happen? Punjab will
come under the shadow of guns again.
Pakistan is waiting for an opportunity...
(Poor) farmers will become available for
propaganda by Pakistan. I have caught
about 140 terrorists coming from there,
‘
apart from gangsters. Today, they are
sendingweaponsthroughdrones.Idonot
want my Punjab to
burn again. We had
trouble in 1984...We How can Mrs Gandhi say 1967 and they will
had trouble after
1990 when they as- that I am not going to meet this time too.
sassinated our chief
ministerBeantSingh.
20-odd senior leaders? Had casshouldhavenever
This Sikhs for Justice they written to her or to
in the US is always
making noise. Who Rahul... seeking discussion, right orders. You had
are they fronting?
Who is paying
it would have been done
Gurpatwant Singh
Pannu? It is the ISI.
We have to avoid any
situation that can brew trouble.
SHUBHAJIT ROY: You are a military
historian and you have written on
Kargil. You are working on a book on
India-China as well. What are the
similarities between the border
standoff with China and at Kargil?
Kargil was a different issue. It was a
misconception of the Pakistani president.
He made a blunder. It is sad we lost a lot of boys are in very good shape. The leader-
people,butwehandledtheintrudersvery
professionally and they had to suffer.
Now China is flexing its muscles. In
1962too,theycametoGalwan.Butweare
in a much, much better position. Now we
have a whole corps there — 10 brigades.
‘
We have fine commanders. Chinese are
going to be very foolish if they think they
can run us over. They
had a bloody nose in
get a bloody nose
The Galwan fra-
happened had the
command given the
Doklam, and after
that you knew that
the Chinese werebe-
coming aggressive.
But you still have in
placea1993ordersayingyoucannotcarry
oruseweapons.IwasattheChineseborder
fortwoyears.Weneverwentoutonpatrol
till we were fully armed.
Our boys fought very well. They had
nothing, they picked up stones and finally
snatchedclubsfromtheChineseandused
those. I have my boy from Mansa, Gurtej
Singh, who killed with whatever he could
pickuptillhewasstabbedintheback.Our
Newsmakers in the Newsroom
could be looming? Do you think it was
the fault of the military, intelligence
or political leadership that things
have come to this stage?
Normally, these things should have
been known in the diplomatic and intel-
ligence channels and the government
should have been informed accordingly.
But, the fact is that it has taken place and
it’s now for the government to resolve it.
Iamnotforwar.Butwemustbeprepared.
WHY There is an old saying that ‘if you want
peace, then prepare for war’. We have to
AMARINDER SINGH
A
see that we are secure... We have got a
s he battles rising good military, a good air force, though we
may be short of some aircraft, and we
Covid-19 cases in have an established navy.
We have been surrounded by the
Punjab, Singh’s Chinese. Right from the whole of the
problems have been North, they are also there on the Western
front, they are great allies with Pakistan,
compounded by the lack of and the Chinese Navy is now operating in
funds. The veteran the Indian Ocean. They are holding Aksai
Chin... Now they are demanding areas in
Congress leader and Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim
military historian has andArunachalPradesh—whenisthisgo-
‘
ingtostop?Wecanputanendtothisonly
emerged as a leading voice when we can deal with them effectively,
militarily. It is the
of the Opposition, taking government’sdutyto
on the Centre over non- prioritise this. They (Haryana) have more
payment of GST dues. He KRISHN KAUSHIK: water than us. They have
backed Sonia Gandhi China has also got commitment of 1 ment, but we all
developed much
against 23 leaders who better MAF from Sharda-Yamuna malisethrough talks.
infrastructure on
sought changes in the party their side of the link canal. Is it fair for them macy... I can’t com-
LAC. We have never to ask for more water?
been able to
develop that…
It is because we
have very steep
mountainous terrain. They have got the
Tibetan plateau so it is easier for them to
bringtheir trainsandroads rightupto the
border. It is not easy for us. Now, Rohtang
isthrough.So,wewillhaveanall-weather
road going to Leh and you won’t have to
come through the Kashmir Valley.
Secondly, we need resources. The
Chinese economy is booming, we
need alternatives too.
SUNNY VERMA: The onus
for the recovery of the
economy will also be
on the states.
What is Punjab’s
plan? Do you
agree with the
Centre’s
approach?
I don’t agree three years became the bread bowl of
one per cent
with the cause Punjabi farmer knows that if he
Centre’s approach. Firstly, we had to shut
down everything in March. The 1.34 lakh
industrial units in Ludhiana were down
to zero. Now we have got them working
and about 16 lakh migrant workers are
returning. But unfortunately, we have got
no support from the Central government
to fight Covid-19... The Government of
India has given us Rs 101 crore till now. I
have spent Rs 500 crore. I don’t have the
money because my own resources have
ground to a halt. We have around 44,000
cases, which don’t sound so much as
compared to other states, but we are just
2 per cent of India. We are expected to
‘
‘
Illustration: Suvajit Dey peak by mid-September and a team of
doctors guiding us has forecast that we
will go to 1.10 lakh
ship has to be effec- cases and fatalities
tive. If we have any operation will cross 3,000. I
need resources to
MANOJCG:The with China, Pakistan will deal with that. I don’t want Indo-Pak friendship because the ISI
contentsof the intercede, and if we have it have them.
letterwrittentothe Now I am told
with Pakistan, China will
Congresspresident that even GST (pay-
werenever ment) is not going to
discussedbythe intercede. That’s what we come. I have not re-
party.Instead,the have to be prepared for ceived GST since
timingandintent March and I have
werequestioned. been told that ‘there
Whywastheletter is no obligation on
notcirculatedin the Central govern-
theCWCmeetingthatcontinuedfor ment to pay GST compensation to the
sevenhours? states and GST council has to decide the
The letter appeared in the morning. I ways to make up for the shortfall’. My FM
opened The Indian Express and saw the goes to meet Nirmala Sitharaman and
pictures and everything. And, the very she says, ‘I don’t have the money’. If you
next day, the CWC was called. We did not don’t have the money, then from where
even know the contents fully. I do not are we to get the money from? We gave
knowif anyonehadthecontents.Youcan- you the power to tax us and your job was
not discuss it the very next day. First task to give us a certain percentage. But you
is to resolve the current issue. You have to don’t want to give us that either. I don’t
see that normalcy returns. I am sure the have money of my own, I can’t get money
issues will come up in the next meeting. from them. All my figures are negative.
I have known Soniaji since she made Things are picking up, but they don’t
me a (state) Congress president in 1999, happen overnight.
she is a very perceptive person. She will As for education, theUGC is not allow-
deal with this. It is a question of timing. ing me to postpone the exams or to pass
children like I have done up to Class 10.
KRISHN KAUSHIK: You mentioned Theysayno,they mustsit for exams. How
China flexing its muscles. What can can they sit for an exam when Punjab is
India do to prepare for a war that heading for a crisis? I don’t understand
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
‘
sometimes what this government is up
to. We are in a war-like situation and we
have to take decisions accordingly.
KANCHAN VASDEV: At the meeting of
the Opposition called by Sonia
Gandhi, you said Punjab is going to
have a deficit of Rs 25,000 crore this
fiscal. How is it going to stay afloat?
This is the story of all the states. We
have asked for a few things, for example,
the state’s GST... they have agreed to let us
borrow upto4per cent, but theyhave put
conditions that we cannot meet, and we
have sought their removal. We have also
asked NITI Aayog to extend help for four
years. I have set up a committee under
Montek Singh Ahluwalia to see how we
can get the economy moving despite
Covid-19,butit’sgoingtotakealotof time.
SHUBHAJIT ROY: You seem to have a
high level of confidence in the
military leadership to respond to any
incursion by the Chinese. What about
the political and diplomatic
‘
leadership of India? The PM gave a
statement which was contradicted
the next day by the
Foreign Ministry.
Firstly, I am not a
diplomat, I don’t
have that tempera-
hopethatthingsnor-
Talks mean diplo-
ment on the Foreign
office or the PM. He
must be knowing
what he is doing, but
he should work for
peace and prepare for war.
ANJU AGNIHOTRI CHABA: Your
government is opposing the
Agricultural Produce Markets
(Amendment) Ordinance passed by
the Central government. Isn’t the
dismantling of monopolies of APMCs,
allowing traders to buy produce
directly, in favour of farmers?
We are not saying that don’t buy from
farmers, they are already buying it. Who
is buying all my milk? It is Nestle in Moga,
other plants in Nabha, Patiala; Anand
from Gujarat is buying our milk. We are
not stopping that. We have ITC and Pepsi
setting up plants. We are opposing this
ordinance because in 1966 when we
were going around with a begging bowl,
Punjab rose to the occasion and within
India. We have done it for 60 years. It’s be-
grows wheat or paddy, he will get a min-
imum support price. The trouble is when
you lift that. For instance, recently spring
corn came into mandis. The support price
for maize was Rs 1,700 but the corn went
for Rs 600. It’s such price crashes I fear.
SHUBHAJIT ROY: You have been an
advocate of ties between the two
Punjabs, and India and Pakistan. With
the LAC standoff, how do you see the
Pakistan relationship going forward?
During my last tenure from 2002-
2007, I was very keen on close ties… I
went to Pakistan twice, their Punjab CM
came twice, we had Punjab to Punjab
games, exchange of teachers, students,
lawyers and everyone... Unfortunately,
there is a disconnect between interper-
sonal contact andtheway Pakistan estab-
lishment functions. I don’t think they
calls the shots and it thrives on tensions.
Now the ISI is very strong. Look what
they are doing in Kashmir. Every day my
boysaredying.Theirmilitary’ssurvivalde-
pends on hostilities with India. Now they
havecomeclosetoChina,theyhavegotthis
KarakoramHighwaydone,theyhavebeen
given Chinese naval support… The
Highwayisaverystrategicproject,ittravels
all along Punjab border via Islamabad till it
reachesKarachi—itisasortofdefensiveline
that they have created... I don’t think
Pakistan and India will ever be in a friend-
shipstagebecausenowPakistan’sinterests
lie with China.
If we have any operation with China,
you can mark my words, it will be a collu-
sive war, with Pakistan also involved in it.
GotoPakistan,youwillfindaChinesechap
in every second or third household. I don’t
know what commerce they are doing
there, I am sure our intelligence people
would know. But with so many Chinese
there, and so much Chinese economic, in-
dustrial and naval interest, they will defi-
nitelyworktogetherinanyoperation.Ifwe
have any operation with China, Pakistan
will intercede and if we have it with
Pakistan,Chinawillintercede.That’swhat
we have to be prepared for.

12 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
Strong wind in
Miyazaki Sunday. AP
JAPAN
TyphoonHaishen:
100,000urged
toevacuate
TYPHOON HAISHEN
drew closer to Japan’s
southern mainland on
Sunday, cutting power
and prompting authori-
ties to recommend evac-
uation and warn of po-
tentially record rainfall,
unprecedented wind,
high tides and large
ocean swells. Authorities
urged early evacuation
for more than 100,000
households in the south-
ern island prefecture of
Okinawa and in
Kagoshima, Kumamoto
and Nagasaki on Kyushu,
Japan’s main southern is-
land, according to the
Fire and Disaster
Management Agency.
REUTERS
LEBANON
Nosignsoflifein
Beirutrubbleafter
3-daysearch
RESCUE WORKERS dig-
gingthroughtherubbleof
a Beirut building for the
thirddayonSaturdaysaid
there was no longer hope
of finding someone alive
morethanamonthaftera
massive port explosion
shatteredLebanon’scapi-
tal.About50rescuework-
ersandvolunteers,includ-
ing a specialist team from
Chile, had worked for
three days to locate any-
one after sensors on
Thursdaydetectedsignsof
breathing and heat.
“Technically speaking,
there are no signs of life,”
avolunteersaid. REUTERS
BANGLADESH
Deathtollfrom
mosqueexplosion
risesto24
THE DEATH toll from a
gas pipeline explosion in
a mosque outside
Bangladesh’s capital rose
to 24 on Sunday while
authorities were examin-
ing how a leakage caused
the accident during
evening prayers. A 7-
year-old boy who went to
pray with his father in
Narayanganj district was
among the dead. The fa-
ther’s condition is critical.
The series of explosions
triggered a fire Friday
night as worshipers were
finishing their prayers. At
least 37 people were ad-
mitted to a burn unit in a
state-run hospital in
Dhaka, where 24 subse-
quently died. AP
MANY WOMEN FEAR THAT ALL THEY HAVE FOUGHT FOR WILL BE SWEPT AWAY IF THE TALIBAN NEGOTIATE A RETURN
Fighting patriarchy in Afghanistan, and fearing worse from the Taliban
DAVID ZUCCHINO
& FATIMA FAIZI
KABUL, SEPTEMBER 6
WHEN GAISU Yari was six, she
was engaged to the six-year-old
sonof a pro-Talibancommander
in eastern Afghanistan.
After she turned 18, Yari said,
she escaped the forced engage-
mentandfledtotheUnitedStates
with the help of US soldiers. She
returnedtoAfghanistanfiveyears
ago with a master’s degree from
Columbia University and now
worksasagovernmentcivilserv-
ice commissioner.
But Yari, 32, fears that all her
achievements could be erased if
Harris: Won’t
take Trump’s
word alone on
possible vaccine
RAPHAEL SATTER
WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 6
DEMOCRATIC US vice presiden-
tialcandidateKamalaHarrissaid
she would not take President
Donald Trump’s word alone on
anypotentialcoronavirusvaccine.
In an interview excerpt
broadcast by CNN on Saturday,
Harris said Trump had a track
record of suppressing expert
opinion about the coronavirus
pandemic and that she worried
that might happen again in the
case of a prospective vaccine.
“I would not trust Donald
Trump,” Harris said, saying she
wouldbeconvincedoftheefficacy
ofavaccineonlyifsomeonecred-
iblewerevouchingforitaswell.“I
willnottakehiswordforit.”
Harris suggested to CNN that
Trumpmightseizeonavaccine—
nomatterhowuntested—tobur-
nishhisimage. REUTERS
Cohen book says
US President
disparaged Black
leaders, voters
REUTERS
WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 6
MICHAEL COHEN, US President
Donald Trump’s former personal
lawyer, is alleging in a new book
that Trump made disparaging re-
marks about Black world leaders
including former South African
PresidentNelsonMandela,aswell
as about US minorities in general,
theWashingtonPostreported.
Cohen worked closely with
Trump for years. Now, he is serv-
ing a three-year sentence for,
amongotherthings,makingfalse
statements to Congress. In a book
due to be published next week,
Cohen wrote that following
Mandela’s death in 2013, Trump
said: “Mandela f***ed the whole
countryup.Nowit’sas***hole.F***
Mandela. He was no leader.”
Cohen also alleged Trump said:
“Tellmeonecountryrunbyablack
person that isn’t a s***hole. They
areallcompletef***ingtoilets.”The
WhiteHouserejectedtheclaims.
Nothing to see here: Coronavirus origins HK police fire pepper
off-limits as China’s Wuhan touts recovery balls to stop new protest
DAVID STANWAY
WUHAN, SEPTEMBER 6
THEHUANANseafoodmarketin
the Chinese city of Wuhan, be-
lievedbymanytobetheoriginof
theCovid-19pandemic,issealed
behinda blueperimeter fence.A
largeteamof securitystaff chases
away anyone who lingers.
“We are just doing our job,”
said a guard in black who or-
dered a Reuters reporter to
delete footage recorded near the
market’s main gates. He identi-
fiedhimself asaworkerfromthe
citygovernment’sepidemicpre-
vention and control team.
Foreign journalists were in-
vited on an official tour to report
on Wuhan’s efforts to rebuild its
economy after the months-long
trauma of Covid-19. The official
message:the“heroiccity”isback
to normal and back in business,
its schools and tourist sites re-
opened and its enterprises run-
ning at full capacity.
the Taliban return to power now
that they have signed a deal that
started a US troop withdrawal
from Afghanistan.
Yari and three other women
spoke to The New York Times
about their concerns. All said
that even as they worry about a
Taliban return, they are already
struggling to navigate a patriar-
chal society deeply hostile to
equal rights for women.
Gaisu Yari, rights official
WhenYarisawthefirstTVre-
port of the peace agreement, her
thoughts flashed to her father.
The same pro-Taliban com-
mander who had forced her fa-
ther to agree to Yari’s engage-
SEVERAL BOATS SINK AT TRUMP PARADE
A boat is engulfed in waves from the large wakes of a flotilla of supporters of US President Donald Trump, during a boat
parade on Lake Travis near Lakeway, Texas, on Saturday. While at least four boats sank during the parade, several others
crashed into rocks, officials said. No one suffered major injuries. Bob Daemmrich via Reuters
In final stretch, Biden tries to defend
polling lead against Trump’s onslaught
Ascampaigningintensifies,DemocratstrytomakeinroadsinGOP-leaningstates
ALEXANDER BURNS,
JONATHAN MARTIN &
MAGGIE HABERMAN
SEPTEMBER 6
A PRESIDENTIAL campaign long
muffled by the coronavirus pan-
demic will burst into a newly in-
tense and public phase after
Labor Day, as Joe Biden moves
aggressivelytodefendhispolling
lead against a ferocious on-
slaught by President Donald
Trump aimed chiefly at white
voters in the US Midwest.
Private polls conducted for
both parties during and after
their August conventions found
the race largely stable but tight-
ening slightly in some states,
with Trump recovering some
supportfromconservative-lean-
ing rural voters who had drifted
A blocked entrance to
Huanan seafood market in
Wuhan in March. Reuters
“No other place is as safe as
this,” said Lin Songtian, president
oftheChinesePeople’sAssociation
for Friendship with Foreign
Countries, a state-backed group
thathelpedorganisethetour.
The location of more than
80% of the country’s Covid-19
deaths, the central Chinese city
on thebanksof theYangtze river
has reported no cases of local
transmission since April, and
most of the stringent controls
imposed during a two-month
lockdown have been relaxed.
ment with his son then de-
manded Yari’s older sister as a
bride, she said. When her father
refused, she said, he was kid-
napped in 2000 and has not
been heard from since.
“The environment here in
Afghanistan is still not friendly to
women,tosaytheleast,”shesaid.
Yarihasaprominentjob:She
reviews human rights and civil
rightscasesbroughtbycivilserv-
ice employees in the govern-
mentinKabul.Itisapositionthat
would have been inconceivable
for a woman under Taliban rule,
but it is no insurance against ha-
rassment, Yari said.
“I’m a survivor,” she said. “I
camealongwaytogetwhereIam
Trump and Biden have
stepped up their campaigns
with less than two months
to go for the election. Reuters
away over the summeramid the
worsening pandemic. Yet Biden
continues to enjoy advantages
with nearly every other group,
especially in populous areas
where the virus remains at the
forefront for voters, according to
people briefed on the data.
No President has entered
Labor Day weekend — the tradi-
tional kickoff of the fall cam-
But China was accused of act-
ingtooslowlyintheearlystagesof
the outbreak. Critics say media
censorship and the silencing of
whistleblowers gave the virus
moretimetospreadundetected.
Wuhan remains reluctant to
allow light to be shed on the ori-
ginsof a pathogen thathaskilled
nearly 900,000 people world-
wide. The city still restricts ac-
cess to locations like theHuanan
market, which was linked to the
first identified cluster of infec-
tions in December.
Atanotherwholesalemarket
in the far north of city, which is
open to the public, Reuters was
tailed by security staff and de-
terred from speaking to stall-
holders and traders.
China has shown little ap-
petiteforaninternationalenquiry
into the origins of Covid-19 or for
allowing more scrutiny of its ef-
fortsintheearlystagesoftheout-
break, preferring to focus on the
country’s rapid economic and
psychologicalrecovery. REUTERS
right now. I refuse to go back.”
Hasiba Ebrahimi, actress
InAfghanistan,onecolloquial
RACE FOR
THE WHITE
HOUSE
paign — as such a clear under-
dog since George Bush in 1992.
Trump has not led in public polls
in such must-win states as
Florida since Biden claimed the
nomination in April, and there
has been little fluctuation in the
race. Still, the President’s sur-
prise win in 2016 weighs heav-
ily in the thinking of nervous
Democrats and hopeful
Secrecy at the
provincial level
WHILE IT is widely believed
that China withheld a lot of
information at the begin-
ning of the Covid outbreak,
a recent internal US intelli-
gence report says local offi-
cials in Wuhan and Hubei
province kept the central
leadership in Beijing in the
dark about the initial out-
break, the New York Times
reported. This further de-
layed action to stop the
virus, and the continued se-
crecy of Wuhan officials
has made it difficult to pre-
cisely pinpoint the origin of
the virus.
(Clockwise from top
left) Raihana Azad,
a member of
Afghanistan’s
Parliament; Hasiba
Ebrahimi, an
actress; Gaisu Yari,
a government
civil service
commissioner; and
Nargis Hurakhsh, a
journalist based in
Kabul. NYT
synonymforactressisprostitute.
“The best way to call some-
one a bad or immoral woman is
to call them an actress,” said
MEANWHILE
CHINA’S 1ST REUSABLE SPACECRAFT RETURNS
China’s first reusable spacecraft landed Sunday after two days in orbit, a possible step
toward lower-cost space flight, the government announced. State media have yet to
publish any photos. The craft’s size and shape are unclear.
Republicans alike.
Trump’s effort to revive his
candidacy by blaming Biden’s
partyforscenesoflootingandar-
son in US cities has jolted Biden
into a more proactive posture,
one that some Democrats have
longurgedhimtoadopt.Thefor-
mer vice president spent last
week pushing back forcefully on
Trump’s often false attacks.
Both parties see Trump with
a narrow path to re-election
that runs through heavily white
states like Wisconsin and
Minnesota, where his strategy
of racial division could help him
catch Biden.
Yet the President is also on
defense in diverse Southern
and Western states he carried
in 2016, including Florida,
North Carolina, Arizona and
Georgia. NYT
against election delay
JESSIE PANG
HONG KONG, SEPTEMBER 6
POLICE FIRED rounds of pepper
balls at protesters in Hong Kong
onSundayashundredstooktothe
streetstodemonstrateagainstthe
postponementoflegislativeelec-
tions andanew national security
law imposed by China.
HongKongleaderCarrieLam
postponed the Sept. 6 election
for seats in the Asian financial
hub’s Legislative Council for a
year in July because of a spike in
coronavirus cases.
The move dealt a blow to the
pro-democracy opposition who
hoped to win a historic majority
intheCouncil,whereonlyhalfthe
seats are directly elected and the
other half are appointed mem-
bers who mostly support Beijing.
“Todayissupposedlyourvot-
ing day, we need to resist to fight
back for our vote,” said a 70-year
Hasiba Ebrahimi, 24, who has
defied social customs and her
own family by working as an ac-
tress on TV dramas in Kabul.
Performing as an actress was
unimaginableundertheTaliban,
who did not allow women to
leave their homes unescorted.
But nearly two decades after the
extremists were removed from
power, actresses like Ebrahimi
still struggle to shed images as
dissolute women.
Now, with a Taliban return
possible, Ebrahimi feared the
worst, and said she would con-
sider fleeing the country.
Raihana Azad, politician
When Raihana Azad ran for
New Delhi
1killed,several
injuredinseries
ofstabbings
inBirmingham
Attacksatfourlocations intwohours
linked,saypolice;searchonforsuspect
PHIL NOBLE
BIRMINGHAM, SEPTEMBER 6
POLICE SAID they were search-
ingforamaninrelationtoatwo-
hour stabbing spree in the city of
Birmingham, central England,
early on Sunday, that left one
man dead and seven people in-
jured, two of them critically.
Theknifeattackshappenedin
four locations in the city centre
startingfrom12.30am,policesaid.
“We are treating all four of
those incidents as a linked se-
ries,”WestMidlandsPoliceChief
Superintendent Steve Graham
said. “We are searching for one
suspect and inquiries to identify
and then trace that suspect are
ongoing.”
He said there was no sugges-
tion that the attacks were tar-
geted at any section of the com-
munity or were gang related.
“At this stage we can’t find a
particularmotive,butitdoesap-
pear to be random in terms of
the selection of people who
were attacked,” he said.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary
Dominic Raab said he had no in-
At one of the sites of the stabbings in Birmingham, England,
on Sunday. Reuters
Riot police use pepper spray
guns to disperse protesters
in Hong Kong Sunday. Reuters
oldwoman asshemarchedwith
other demonstrators.
Thepollwouldhavebeenthe
city’s first official vote since
Beijing imposed new security
legislation in late June. The gov-
ernmentinsiststherewasnopo-
litical motive behind the delay.
Police said they arrested at
least 30 people for illegal gath-
erings, in a notice on their
Facebook page. REUTERS
a seat in the Afghan Parliament,
she received no support from
members of her own family. In
fact, they publicly opposed her.
ForAzad,thiswasareminder
that life for women could be-
come even more precarious if
the Taliban returned to govern-
ment. She said the US, in negoti-
ating the peace deal, had aban-
doned gains women have made
since 2001. “The Americans
don’t care about rights for
Afghan women,” she said. “This
deal happened behind closed
doors, and Afghan women were
not part of it.”
Nargiss Hurakhsh,
journalist
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
UK’s Foreign Secretary
Dominic Raab said he
had no information to
indicate the incidents
were terrorism related
but the public should
stay ‘very vigilant’
formationtoindicatetheincidents
were terrorism related but the
publicshouldstay“veryvigilant”.
The first stabbing was in
ConstitutionHill,policesaid,and
the suspect then moved from
north to south, to Livery Street,
Irving Street and ending at Hurst
Street.
The final location is an area
known as the city’s Gay Village,
where people had been seated
at outdoor tables eating and
drinking.
A knife was visible to a
Reuterswitnessbesideadrainin
Edmund Street, near to the sec-
ond location.
Graham said it was “way too
early” to say if the knife was con-
nectedtotheincident. REUTERS
Over 50 arrested
in Portland as
protests continue
for 100th day
KANISHKA SINGH
SEPTEMBER 6
PROTESTERS IN Portland threw
rocks and fire bombs at police
whointurnmadeover50arrests
and used tear gas on Saturday
nightonthe100thdayofdemon-
strationsintheOregoncityagainst
racism and police brutality.
Police described what they
called “tumultuous and violent
conduct” by protesters on the
city’s Southeast Stark Street.
Oneofthefirebombscaughta
community member on fire and
hewastakentohospital,Portland
policesaidinastatement,adding
thatasergeantwasalsostruckby
acommercial-gradefireworkthat
injured his hand. Police said offi-
cers used teargas among other
crowd control measures to dis-
perse the gathering, which the
Oregonian newspaper had esti-
mated to be 400. REUTERS
After Nargiss Hurakhsh, a TV
journalist, reported on the details
of the US-Taliban peace deal, she
concluded that the US had aban-
doned Afghanistan. “They are no
longer interested in this country,”
she said. “The Americans want to
leaveAfghanistanatanycost.And
neither the Americans nor the
TalibancareaboutAfghanwomen
anymore.”
For the country’s small band
of professional women,shesaid,
the peace agreement marked
the beginning of a period in
which they are struggling to
maintain and extend their hard-
won rights even as they face a
Taliban return that would likely
end them. NYT

13 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
WALR ON OUTSTANDING RUPEE LOANS FALLS BY ONE-FIFTH OF REPO RATE CUT
Ratecutsonexistingloansmuchlower
thanfreshcredit,PSBsoutdoprivatebanks
SANDEEPSINGH&
SUNNYVERMA
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER6
EVENAStheReserveBankofIndia
(RBI) has cut the repo rate by 250
basis points (bps) from 6.5 per
centto4percent,inthe17-month
period between February 2019
and June 2020, there is very little
that existing borrowers have
gained from the same.
Data from the RBI shows that
in the 15-month period, the
weightedaveragelendingrateson
outstandingrupeeloanshascome
down by only 53 bps or almost
one-fifth of the cut in repo rate —
the rate at which the RBI lends to
commercial banks.
This means that even as the
economyhasseenasharpreduct-
ionininterestrates,allexistingbo-
IT Ministry seeks bids from cos to help recycle,
refurbish end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, PCBs
AASHISHARYAN
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER6
THEMINISTRYof Electronicsand
Information Technology has
floated an expression of interest
(EoI)toinvitecompaniesthatcan
assist in recycling and refurbish-
ingofend-of-lifelithium-ionbat-
teries as well as printed circuit
boards(PCBs),accordingtodocu-
mentsseenbyTheIndianExpress.
Theproject,tobeexecutedby
the Centre for Materials for
Electronics Technology (C-MET),
will also aim at extraction of pre-
ciousmetalssuchascobalt,nickel,
lithium,copper,aluminium,gold,
and platinum from such end-of-
life lithium-ion batteries or PCBs,
according to the documents.
“Anotherobjectiveoftheproj-
ectistoencourageestablishment
ofstart-upstocollaborate/partner
C-METbygettingtrainedindiffer-
entaspectsoftheprocessinvolved
in E-waste management and to
commence their own industries
intherelevantareas,aftertheybe-
come strong enough to com-
mencetheirownfacilities,”theEoI
document said.
The aim of the project is to
BRIEFLY
‘Smallpositive
growthmaynot
beruledout’
New Delhi: A small positive
economic growth in FY21
maynotberuledoutassec-
tors like agriculture and es-
sential goods and services
werefullyoperationalinthe
first quarter despite coron-
avirus-induced lockdown,
according to a paper co-au-
thoredbyformerRBIGover-
nor C Rangarajan. Rangara-
jan and India EY India chief
policyadvisorDKSrivastava
in a paper ‘India’s Growth
Prospects and Policy Opti-
ons: Emerging from the Pa-
ndemic’s Shadow’ said the
storyoftheIndianeconomy
as it unfolds under the im-
pact of Covid is disquieting.
LVBtoseeknod
to raiseupto
`1.5KcratAGM
New Delhi: Lakshmi Vilas
Bank (LVB) plans to raise up
to Rs 1,500 crore to fund
business growth and in-
creaseforeignshareholding
to up to 74 per cent, the pri-
vate bank said. LVB said it
will seek approval for the
proposals from its share-
holdersintheupcomingan-
nualgeneralmeeting(AGM)
onSeptember25whichwill
takeplacethroughaudio/vi-
sual means.
HGSJuneqtr
netprofitrises
21.7%
New Delhi: Hinduja Global
Solutions (HGS) saw a 21.7
percentriseinconsolidated
netprofitatRs49.2crorefor
the quarter ended June. PTI
rrowers continue to pay a higher
interestratesontheirborrowings.
According to the RBI data,
whilethetransmissioninlending
rates on outstanding loans has
been very slow, banks have been
moretransparentinthetransmis-
sionofratecutindepositratesand
themediantermdepositratehas
come down by 147 bps in the
same period.
Banks have, however, been
more diligent in transmission of
repo rate cut in fresh rupee loan
rate as the WALR for fresh rupee
loanshascomedownby162bp.It
is however still far from the the
250-bp cut in the repo rate exe-
cuted by the RBI.
In its August Monetary Policy
Statement, the central bank said,
“The transmission to bank lend-
ing rates has improved further,
with the weighted average lend-
❸ KEY POINTS
1 Theproject,tobe
executedbytheC-MET,
willalsoaimatextraction
of preciousmetalsfrom
end-of-lifelithium-ion
batteriesorPCBs,
accordingtodocuments
seenbyThe Indian Express.
2 The aim of the project is
to contain the import of
raw materials used for the
manufacturing of
lithium-ion batteries and
PCB, as well as contain the
e-waste generated by elec-
tronics gadgets using these
components.
3 Atpresent,the
governmentdoesnot
haveanyfacilityfor
processing,recycling,or
refurbishingof
end-of-lifelithium-ion
batteriesorPCBs.
contain the import of raw mate-
rials used for the manufacturing
‘Need long-term regulatory roadmap to
raise auto industry’s GDP contribution’
A long-term regulatory roadmap is required for the
automobile industry to grow and raise its contribution to
GDP to 12% from the current 7%, Nomura Research
Institute Consulting and Solutions India (NRI India) said
DomainsofIndianauto
industrythathaveundergone
changesinrecentyears:
■ Passenger safety
■ Emission control
■ Connected technology
Policychangesthathavehelp
autoindustry:
■ Leapfrogging from BS-IV to
BS-VI emission norms and
hence achieving parity with
Euro emission norms
■ Bringing much needed
amendments to the Motor
Vehicle Act (MVA)
Why this is important: While the vision to bring Indian auto industry at par with
developed nations in safety and emission regulations is praiseworthy, it should be
acknowledged Indian conditions are different to developed nations in many aspects
BPCL privatisation: Rules
on employee protection,
asset stripping later
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER6
THE GOVERNMENT will provide
guidanceonemployeeprotection,
assetstrippingandbusinesscon-
tinuity in Bharat Petroleum Corp
Ltd (BPCL) to potential acquirers
of the company only at a later
stageofbidding,accordingtopri-
vatisationrulesissuedbythedis-
investment department.
The government is selling its
entire 52.98 per cent stake in
India’ssecond-largestfuelretailer
and third-biggest oil refiner.
Preliminary expressions of inter-
est or EoIs are due on September
E
E X P L A I NE D
Borrowers
stillpay
● higherrates
THE UNEVEN transmis-
sion of cut in repo rate by
the RBI to loans disbursed
by banks indicates that
even as the economy has
seen a sharp reduction in
interest rates, all existing
borrowers continue to
pay a higher interest rates
on their borrowings.
ing rate (WALR) on fresh rupee
loans declining by 91 bps during
March-June 2020.”
PrivatebanksvsPSBs
Acloserlookatthedatashows
of lithium-ion batteries and PCB,
as well as contain the e-waste
generated by electronics gadgets
usingthesecomponents.Atpres-
ent, the government does not
haveanyfacilityforprocessing,re-
cycling,orrefurbishingofend-of-
life lithium-ion batteries or
printed circuit boards.
The companies selected for
theprocessingoflithium-ionbat-
teries will be expected to set up
the necessary infrastructure for
scaling up the technology once it
has been tested and verified in
C-METlabs,accordingtotheoffer
terms of the EoI.
Apart from this, C-MET has
also reached out to public as well
as private sector companies for
collaborations as “second co-
fundingindustrialpartner”tosup-
portthedevelopmentoflithium-
ion as well as sodium-ion
batteries.
“Theco-fundingpartywillget
the proportionate share as per
funding ratio in the revenue gen-
erated from know-how and IPR
generated from collaboration ac-
tivity,” another offer document
floated by C-MET read.
ForPCB,theC-METhassought
collaborations from companies
AREASTHATDIFFERENTIATEINDIANAUTOINDUSTRY
FROMOTHERCOUNTRIES:
■ Economic status of
consumers
■ Number of cars per 1,000
individuals
30, which will be followed by
qualified bidders being asked to
submit financial or price bids.
The Department of Investm-
entandPublicAssetManagement
(DIPAM), erstwhile known as
Department of Disinvestment,
hasissuedclarificationsonqueries
raisedbypotentialbiddersforthe
government stake in BPCL.
On a query on restrictions re-
latingtoemployeeprotection,as-
setstripping, businesscontinuity
andlock-inofshares,DIPAMsaid,
“This information shall be pro-
vided to the Qualified Interested
Parties (QIPs) in the RFP/ SPA
(Request for Proposal/ Share
Purchase Agreement).”
thatinthesame15-monthperiod,
private sector banks have been
muchslowerthanthepublicsec-
tor banks (PSBs) in transmission
of repo cut in case of outstanding
rupeeloans.WhilePSB’sbrought
theirWALRforoutstandingloans
down by 58 bps, private banks
brought it down by only 40 bps.
In case of fresh rupee loans,
however, the private banks have
been more aggressive as they cut
the rates by 195 bps against a re-
duction of 129 bps by PSBs.
A similar trend was observed
when interest rates were rising
duringJune2018-January2019,as
private banks’ lending rates on
freshloansrosefasterthanthatof
state-owned banks. Even in case
of termdepositrates,privatesec-
torbankshavebeenmoreaggres-
sive as they have brought down
the weighted average domestic
andstartupswhichcansetupgas
fired tilting rotary furnace for py-
rolyticdecompositionsothatpre-
cious metals such as copper and
others could be recovered.
Pyrolytic decomposition is the
thermal decomposition of mate-
rials at elevated temperatures in
an inert atmosphere.
“Thesystemshouldberobust
enough to withstand the various
working conditions and operat-
ing temperatures. The furnace
shouldbeabletouseforcontinu-
ous operations on commercial
scaleforsmeltingofvarioustypes
of shredded PCBs,” the EoI read.
Indiaproduced2.6kge-waste
per capita in 2019, while it has
around 312 authorised e-waste
recyclers, according to the latest
data from Global E-Waste
Monitor, released in July 2020.
“Legislation in India has been
a driver for the setting up of for-
mal recycling facilities, and there
are 312 authorised recyclers in
India, with the capacity for treat-
ing approximately 800 kt (kilo
tons) annually. However, formal
recyclingcapacityremainsunder-
utilised, as the large majority of
thewasteisstillhandledbythein-
formal sector,” the agency said.
3%: AUTOMOBILE
PENETRATION IN INDIA,
DESPITE THE
COUNTRY’S INDUSTRY
BEING ONE OF THE
LARGEST GLOBALLY
■ Price sensitivity
■ Technology and
infrastructure development
■ Driving behaviour
Source:
NRI
India/PTI
Etihad Airways
extends pay cuts
until end of year
REUTERS
DUBAI,SEPTEMBER6
ABU DHABI’S Etihad Airways has
extended the period of reduced
pay for their staff until the end of
the year, a spokeswoman for the
carrier said on Sunday.
Employees will have their
salaryreducedby10percentfrom
September until the end of
December,shesaid,comparedto
an earlier cut of between 25 per
centand50percentwhichended
last month. The state-owned air-
line had resumed paying al-
lowances,thespokeswomansaid.
It had earlier stopped paying
transportandotherjob-relatedal-
lowances.
term deposit rate by 109 bps
against a cut of 75 bps by PSBs.
Interestingly, foreign banks
have been the most transparent
in transmission of repo rate cut.
While they have bought their
WALRforoutstandingrupeeloans
down by 139 bps, the WALR for
freshrupeeloansforforeignbanks
isdownby243bpsagainsta250-
bp cut in repo rates.
In contrast to PSBs, WALR on
freshrupeeloansofprivatesector
banks is typically higher, reflect-
ing their higher cost of funds and
higher marginal cost of funds-
based lending rate (MCLR).
Interest rate reduction for
fresh rupee loans sanctioned has
been better in sectors including
housing,otherpersonalloansand
MSMEloans,wherenewfloating
rateloanshavebeenlinkedtoex-
ternalbenchmarkssuchasMCLR.
By October 31,
pan-India faceless
assessment for all
imports: CBIC
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER6
THE CUSTOMS Department will
rolloutpan-Indiafacelessassess-
ment for all imported goods by
October 31, the Central Board of
IndirectTaxesandCustoms(CBIC)
has said. While faceless assess-
ment for import of certain goods
was already rolled out in Bengal-
uru and Chennai ports on June 8,
it was extended to Delhi and
Mumbai Customs on August 3.
This will now be extended in
phases to all ports across the
country by December 31. “Board
hasdecidedtorollouttheFaceless
AssessmentatanallIndialevelin
all ports of import and for all im-
ported goods by October 31,
2020,” the CBIC said in a circular.
Faceless assessment enables
an assessing officer, who is phys-
icallylocatedin aparticular juris-
diction,toassessaBillofEntryper-
taining to imports made at a
differentCustomsstation,when-
ever such a Bill of Entry has been
assignedtohimthroughanauto-
mated system.
Airlines required to refund passengers, but forcing
them may be ‘counter-productive’: DGCA to SC
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER6
AIRLINES ARE required to refund
passengers for flights cancelled
during the Covid-driven lockd-
ownperiodbutforcingthemtodo
so may be “counter-productive”
inviewoftheliquiditycrunchthe
sector is facing, the Director
General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
hastoldtheSupremeCourtwhile
suggesting a “workable solution”
thatconsideredthebestinterests
of flyers as well as companies.
In an affidavit filed in the SC,
theDGCAhassaidairlinesshould
“immediately” refund the ticket
fares of passengers who booked
theirticketsduringthelockdown
period — between March 25 and
May 3 — and were scheduled to
travel in the period. However, for
carriersfacing“financialdistress”,
ithassuggestedsettingupatrans-
ferable credit shell with life up to
March31,2021andarefundifthe
HDFC approves over `47,000 crore
loans under PMAY subsidy scheme
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 6
MORTGAGE FIRM HDFC Ltd on
Sunday said it has disbursed
subsidy to over two lakh home-
buyers under the Pradhan
Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme
(CLSS),becomingthefirstlender
todoso.Thisistheflagshiphous-
ing scheme of the government.
The corporation has ap-
proved over Rs 47,000 crore of
home loans under CLSS to
homebuyers belonging to the
economically weaker sections
(EWS), low income group (LIG)
andmiddleincomegroup(MIG),
it said. “Subsidy under PMAY
amountingtooverRs4,700crore
Market Watch
FPIS NET SELLERS IN SEPT SO FAR
New Delhi: Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) pulled out Rs 900
crore on net basis from Indian markets in the first four trading
sessions of this month as weak economic data and India-China
border tensions hit market sentiment. PTI
Unplanned localised lockdowns did
little to check spread of Covid, led
to increased economic uncertainty
AANCHALMAGAZINE
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER6
THE USE of haphazard localised
lockdowns by states in July and
August,whichbadlyimpactedec-
onomic activity, has had little eff-
ect on tempering the Covid case
count in these locations. State-
wise data for states which impo-
sed localised lockdowns during
July 10-August 3 shows that the
riseinnewcasesona7-daymov-
ingaveragebasis,beforeandafter
the lockdown, ranged between
37-578 per cent in the seven re-
gions which imposed localised
lockdown during that period.
These localised lockdowns
end up disrupting the supply
chains and increase the level of
uncertaintyinthesystem,impact-
ing the decisions by entrepre-
neurs to re-hire workers or scale
upoperations.WestBengal,Uttar
Pradesh,PunjabandHaryanaan-
nounced lockdowns, despite the
Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA)
directives to desist from imposi-
tionof theselockdownsandseek
its clearance.
ResearchbyStateBankofIndia
(SBI) shows that the 7-day mov-
ing average of new cases in-
creased by August-end in states
such as West Bengal, Uttar Prad-
esh,Punjab,Haryana,Chandigarh,
Mizoram and Hingoli district in
Maharashtra when compared
with the 7-day moving average
before the lockdown was an-
nounced.“Stateshaveresortedto
partial lockdowns in July and
August. However, the same has
notledtoalowernumberofCovid
cases. The 7-day moving average
ofnewcasesincreasedbyAugust-
endinallthosestateswhencom-
pared with the 7-day moving av-
erage before the lockdown was
announced.Statesmustmoveout
of the self-imposed lockdown
mentality,” the SBI report stated.
Meanwhile, the national 7-
day moving average for the same
periodshowedthatthenewcases
rose by 44,379 or 190 per cent to
67,615 cases from 23,236 cases
during the same period.
The initial four lockdowns
were initiated with the specific
purpose of lowering the rate of
transmission and preparing the
systems for an anticipated in-
crease in cases, which, according
to public health expert Chandra-
kant Lahariya, did serve that pur-
Forcarriersfacing
“financialdistress”,
DGCAsuggestedsetting
upatransferablecredit
shellwithlifeupto
March31, 2021
shell remains unused after that.
According to DGCA, airlines
willhavetomakeafullrefundim-
mediately to passengers who
bookedtickets—eitherindividu-
allyorthroughatravelagent—on
anydomesticorinternationalair-
lines (when the booking is ex-
India) during and for travel in the
lockdown period. The affidavit
said that “this is being mandated
... as the airlines were not sup-
posed to book such tickets”.
However, it added that the credit
shellfacilitywillnotapplytotick-
etsbookedoninternationalcarri-
ers where booking is ex-India.
“Forallothercases,theairlines
“The government’s
PMAY scheme has been
successfully assisting
homebuyers belonging to
different income groups
since 2015.”
RENU SUD KARNAD
MANAGING DIRECTOR, HDFC
has been passed on to these two
lakhhomebuyers, becoming the
only financial institution in the
country to achieve this feat,”
HDFC said in a statement.
Renu Sud Karnad, managing
director, HDFC, said, “The gov-
ernment’s PMAY scheme has
been successfully assisting
homebuyersbelongingtodiffer-
ent income groups since 2015.
New Delhi
STATE/UT LOCKDOWNS AND COVID CASES
State Lockdown Newcases Newcases
date before
lockdown* lockdown**
WestBengal July23 2,234
UttarPradesh July10 1,129
Punjab July22 357
Haryana July23 710
Chandigarh July24 23
Mizoram July31 8 15
Hingolidistrict August6 20
(Maharashtra)
*7-day moving average new cases before lockdown
**7-day moving average new cases after lockdown (as on Aug 28)
Source: SBI Ecowrap report
pose.Therewasincreasedtesting
capacity,betterprovisionofisola-
tion, oxygen and ICU beds and
ventilators.Butthesubsequentlo-
calised lockdowns have failed,
even as they have impacted the
feelingofcertaintythatbusinesses
needtoscaleupoperationstopre-
lockdown levels, analysts said.
Many states imposed full and
partiallockdownsinJulyandAug-
ust. West Bengal had announced
completelockdownforJuly23,25
and 29, Uttar Pradesh imposed
lockdown between July 10-13,
Bihar imposed between July 16-
31 and Haryana had announced
weekendlockdownsforalloffices
andshops,exceptthosedealingin
essential services, on August 21.
The MHA, on August 29, de-
cided to rescind the power of
states to impose lockdowns out-
sidethecontainmentzones.Ithad
inthepastwrittentostatesmulti-
pletimestonotrestrictthemove-
ment of people and goods across
districtorstateborders.“State/UT
Governments shall not impose
anylocallockdown(State/district/
sub-division/ city/ village level),
outside the containment zones,
without prior consultation with
theCentralgovernment.Theresh-
all be no restriction on inter-state
andintra-statemovementofper-
sons and goods,” the norms said.
After the guidelines, states
such as Haryana have tweaked
their lockdown orders allowing
markets in non-containment
zonestooperateonalldays.West
Bengal has, however, announced
state-wide lockdown for
September 7, 11 and 12,
TheFinanceMinistry,initslat-
estmonthlyeconomicreviewfor
shall make all endeavours to re-
fund the collected amount to the
passengerwithin15days,”theaf-
fidavit added. The DGCA made it
clear that refund is the rule and
added that “non-refund of fares/
creating involuntary credit shell
by airlines would be in violation
oftheCARs(CivilAviationRequir-
ements) and the passenger char-
ter,whichmayresultin initiation
of enforcement action for viola-
tionofCARsandalsoasperprovi-
sions of the Aircraft Rules, 1937.”
Itaddedthatduringmeetings
betweenofficialsoftheCivilAviat-
ion Ministry and representatives
of airline companies and travel
agents associations, “representa-
tives of airlines have submitted
thatonaccountof cancellationof
flights/Complete suspension of
operations due to Covid-19 pan-
demic,theairlineshaverunoutof
liquidity, whereas, despite sus-
pension of the their operations
they have been paying salaries to
theiremployees,leaserent,main-
The scheme is in line with our
overall philosophy that every
Indianmusthaveahomeof their
own.”
“Due to the Covid-19 crisis, a
number of sectors including the
real estate sector have been af-
fected. Having said that, we feel
thatthedemandforhousingwill
pick up gradually as the econ-
omy emerges out of this difficult
period and confidence in the
economy is restored,” she said,
adding, “One must not forget
thatstructuraldemandforhous-
ing for India will always be
strong due to factors such as im-
proved affordability, govern-
ment’s thrust on affordable
housing,favourabledemograph-
ics, increasing urbanisation and
rising aspirations.”
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Change
after
3,056 36.8%
5,226 362.8%
1,436 302.2%
1,210 70.4%
156 578.3%
87.5%
38 90%
August, has said that India en-
forced the most stringent lock-
down in the April-June quarter,
which got reflected in the sharp
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
growth contraction of 23.9 per
cent—theworstamongsttheG20
countries.It,however,saidthatthe
lockdownhasenabledIndiatore-
strain the pandemic induced
death rate to one of the lowest in
theworldandthecountryisnow
witnessing a V-shaped recovery.
State-wisedataforcaserecov-
eryandfatalityratesshowedthat
case fatality rates are higher than
the national average in states of
Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and
Punjab,aFinanceMinistryreport
showed. In fact, the fatality rate is
evenhigherthantherecoveryrate
in states of Maharashtra, Gujarat
and Punjab, it showed.
The maximum number of
new cases are being seen in rural
areas.InAugust,amongthetop50
worstaffecteddistrictswhichwit-
nessedthemaximumnumberof
new cases, 26 were rural, the SBI
reportsaid.RuralareasinAndhra
Pradesh are the worst hit, while
Maharashtra,KarnatakaandUttar
Pradesh are showing increasing
ruralspread.Amongtheruraldis-
tricts which have less than 50
cases in April and where spread
hasbeenmoreinAugust,thereare
four districts which contribute
more than 10 per cent to respec-
tiveGrossStateDomesticProduct
(GSDP). State-wise GSDP losses
show a disproportionate loss in
rural areas of states like Andhra
Pradesh,UttarPradesh,Telangana
and Rajasthan, with these states
mostly producing cereals and
pulses, it said.
tenance charge etc. without any
turnover whatsoever, and there-
fore are facing an acute financial
crisis in terms of liquidity”.
“Theairlineshavefurthersub-
mitted that on lifting of the lock-
down,theoperationsthoughhave
started to a limited extent, how-
ever, in those operations also, the
passenger occupancy is limited.
Therefore,theyarenotinposition
to refund the fares as of now and
can only provide a Credit Shell.”
The DGCA told the court that
“considering the concerns high-
lighted by the airlines”, any en-
forcementactionagainstthemat
this stage would cause further
bottlenecks to the resolution
process.“Undersuchcomplexcir-
cumstances, initiating enforce-
ment action against the airlines
maynotyieldanymeaningfulre-
sultforanystakeholder.Rather,it
mayprovecounter-productivefor
each stakeholder and thereby,
maybeagainsttheIndianaviation
as a whole,” said the regulator.
‘IT services will
continue to be
significant part
of India’s job
environment’
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER6
IT SERVICES will remain a signifi-
cant part of the job environment
in India as the demand for talent
andservicescontinuestogrowin
the country, according to Tata
Consultancy Services CEO and
MD Rajesh Gopinathan.
He also emphasised on the
need for experienced IT profes-
sionals to embrace automation
andothernewtechnologiestore-
maincompetitiveevenasyoung-
sters,whocouldbenativetothese
new tools, enter the workforce.
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

14 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
SERENA SURVIVES STEPHENS SCARE
Serena Williams survived a third-round scare at the US Open
to topple 2017 champion Sloane Stephens 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 and keep
alive her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
Meanwhile, men’s second seed Dominic Thiem beat former
champion Marin Cilic 6-2 6-2 3-6 6-3 to reach the fourth round.

Squash players get payout for data DC asst. physio tests positive
on last day of quarantine

E
Numbers such as heart rate will soon be monetised; Ghosal loves the idea but isn’t on board yet
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE MI to face CSK

SHIVANI NAIK
MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 6
SAURAVGHOSALcallsitanotunwelcome“ob-
jectificationofsport.”Squashwillstartpayouts
toplayerssoon,bymonetisingtheirphysiolog-
ical data like heart rate — something that gets
flashed on courtside screens at various junc-
tures of the match right now. The governing
body, Professional Squash Association (PSA),
reckons that this data belongs to the athletes.
Butbysecuringtheirconsentwithremunera-
tive advances for commercially using these
numbers, the sport seeks to attract more eye-
ballsandchatter.
“We’ve known this for the last year and a
half.Anythingthatgivesyounewinformation
aboutasportevokesinterest.Forexample,foot-
ball has insane number of stats which entices
people’s imagination,” Ghosal says. The 34-
year-oldhasn’tsignedupyet,butreckonsmon-
etisingplayers’dataprovidesanextraincentive
to getting many on board, to get the data train
chugging into the land of social media chatter
andnewerfansbesottedbynumbers.
Ghosalhashisreasonstonotjumponboard
asofnow.“Trieditintraining,butthestrapsslip
down the chest. And if it’s too tight, breathing
becomes constrained,” he says. But there’s a
strategic thought to his non-consent: “I’m un-
sure if I want the whole world to know what
my heart rate is at any point in the match,” he
sayscoyly,whilelaudingthetechnologicalup-
gradeinhissport.
Squash beams out heart rates in real-time
onscreenscurrently-subjecttoaplayer’sper-
mission. Possibilities in data mining are im-
mensenowthattechieshaveenteredthefour
wallsofsquash.“There’sheartrate,forstarters.
Numbers will be interesting when a player’s
tired and when playing at high pace. We can
addothermetricslikedistancecovered,speed
goinguptothefrontwallandatthebackofthe
court.Totalmileageandaveragerallylengths-
shortest, longest. How many rallies that go up
to one minute, how many are 30 seconds,” he
thinks aloud. “It’ll make people see sport in a
totallydifferentway,”theWorldNo.13adds.
Whileaudiencearealluredbycomparative
stats - speed, etc which are simplistic, players
tendtobeimmersedinmorenuancedmetrics.
“Personally,I’dlovetoknowatwhatheartrate
are we playing maximum intensity. Top play-
ers can go up to 185-200. I’d also like to know
Squash beams out heart rates in real-time on screens currently — subject to a
player’s permission. Sports Data Labs
how quickly their heart rate comes down,” he
adds.Thenumbersregardingattritionalrallies
andfastonesperplayerandspikesinheartrate
canalsoproveinterestingtoknow.
Ghosal though is realistic. “Look, all this
needs a support team like a video analyst to
help apply in training. But this is definitely the
future of the sport as spectators come to de-
mandthesedata,”hesays.
While all this is useful information for a
coach, an ideal heart rate can’t be set as a tar-
get,nationalcoachCyrusPonchasays.“Aplayer
putting in less effort into the same output will
be naturally dubbed a good player,” he says.
Whichmeansthatcommercialisingthedatais
aimedtopiquethecuriosityofspectators,more
thanforcoachinganalytics.“Heartrateanddis-
tancecoveredusedtobeassumptionswemade
earlier. Now they are formalised as facts,”
Ponchasays,addingthatcollectingandcollat-
ing the data is good as players now routinely
clockaheartrateof180onGPSgadgetsduring
matchesthatgouptotwohours.“It’susefulin
close matches between equal calibre players
becausetheintensityissohighsothesemight
betheonlydifferentiators,”hesays.
Ironically,anumberthat’sbeendiscussedat
lengthwithinsquashcirclesevenashigh-tech
insightsswampthesport,isthenumberofde-
cisions (lets/no lets/ strokes) given in a match
byofficials.Ahighlyhumanvariable.
Ghosalreckonsdatatalkmakingitswayinto
squashwasinevitable.“Lookatfootballandits
ridiculousnumbers.Allchatteroftransferwin-
dowshasfanstalkaboutwhichplayercancre-
atespaceonwhichside.Earlieritwasif(Kylian)
MbappeisquickerorAlphonsoDavies.Squash
is just beginning,” he says. However, he warns
that though data opens up new talking points
forfans,itcannotdominatescoutingappraisals
ofplayers.“Statsarebig,buttheydon’tmakeor
breakaplayer,”hesays.LikeCristianoRonaldo,
whose leaps off the ground gets the digital
measure tapes busy. “What we see is that he
jumpssohigh...butthere’snothingtomeasure
howaccuratelyhegetsintopositiontoheadthe
ball in. It can’t be about superlative degrees —
otherwise Usain Bolt would become the best
football player. Things like a good read on the
gameandthementalsidecannotbemeasured.
Federer, Nadal, Djokovic are all good, but they
aremadedifferently-whichcan’tbecalibrated.”
EXPLAINED
● It’s learnt that he had reached Dubai five days
Squash courting
betting market
WHENTHEPSAsignedthepartnership
withSportsDataLabof MarkGorskiin
2018 after in-game testing at
Manchester,bothpartiessawpotential
in using physiological data from both
performance and commercial stand-
points. “Aside of sponsorship, bigger
opportunityisinsportsbetting,”Gorski
toldsquashtv.comafterthefirstpayouts
of$100,000toplayers.Gorskireckoned
data analytics could now help book-
makers offer new bet types.
“Forexample,isPlayerX’sheartrate
gonnabemorethan180?Yes/No,that’s
a bet. Or Is Player Y gonna spend more
number of minutes in peak perform-
ancezone?Yes/No,that’sabet,”hesaid.
Squashisalsoaimingtoofferthisas
bet stimulation data, prior to placing a
bet. It’s predictive analytics where one
guesses why a certain outcome oc-
curred based on what was happening
inaplayer’sbody.Thisdependsonhis-
torical data and real-time numbers.
Former World No 1 and PSA, COO, Lee
Beachillsaidtheassociationsawpoten-
tial: "Squash has been yet untouched
by betting. But we are looking at new
opportunities."
Likewise for squash. “Many things make a
goodsquashplayer.Thoughit’suniversallyac-
ceptedyouneedtobefit.Butthatwouldn’tim-
ply that great marathoners, the fittest people,
will be great at squash necessarily,” he quips.
Data though is the newest gimmick in town
and players are getting duly recompensed for
standalone physical feats they are capable of,
which in turn can bring in new fans. Ghosal
thoughiswillingtoforsakesomeseriousdough
andnotwearhisheartrateonhissleeve.
SEPTEMBER6
THEINDIANPremierLeaguesufferedanother
COVID-19 scare as the assistant physiothera-
pistofDelhiCapitalstestedpositiveonSunday.
back and was in quarantine when he tested
positive. After testing negative in the first two
tests, he tested positive on the third test done
on the sixth and final day of the quarantine.
“Delhi Capitals assistant physiotherapist
has tested positive for COVID-19. He was go-
ing through his mandatory quarantine, and
hadtestednegativeforhisfirsttwotestscon-
ducted on arrival in Dubai, and tested posi-
tiveforthethirdone,”thefranchiseinformed
through a press release.
The member now will be undergoing a
14-day quarantine and will join the team
onlyaftertestingnegative.Delhihavealready
had a fewpractice sessions in Dubai and will
beplayingthreepracticegamesstartingfrom
Monday. “He was yet to meet with, and had
notbeenincontactwithanyplayersorstaffof
the franchise. He was isolated immediately,
and is currently at the IPL Isolation Facility in
Dubaiforthenext14days,attheendofwhich
he will have to produce two negative reports
for him to be able to join the Delhi Capitals
squad.Thefranchise’smedicalteamisincon-
stanttouchwithhim,andwisheshimaspeedy
recovery,” the release further stated.
Delhi Capitals is the second team to have
been hit by the COVID-19. Earlier, 13 mem-
bers of Chennai Super Kings, including two
players, had tested positive.
In its Standard Operating Procedure
(SOP),theBCCIhadlaidtheprotocolsforsuch
ascenario."If theindividualisasymptomatic
or has mild symptoms, he/she will be iso-
lated in the designated area outside the Bio-
SecureEnvironmentfor14daysfromthefirst
day of symptoms or a positive RT-PCR test
report whichever is later. During the 14-day
isolation, the individual must rest and avoid
any exercises. During the 14-day isolation,
the individual will undergo an RT-PCR test
on Day 10, Day 13 and Day 14. Provided, both
the test results from Day 13 and Day 14 are
negative, and he/she does not have any
symptoms for more than 24 hours, the indi-
vidual will be permitted to re-enter the Bio-
Secure Environment. After recovery, players
must undergo a cardiac screening before re-
in IPL opener
Dubai: THE BCCI on Sunday released
theschedulefortheupcomingIPL,and
in keeping with tradition, defending
champions Mumbai Indians will take
onrunners-upChennaiSuperKingsin
theopenerinAbuDhabionSeptember
19.MovedoutofIndiaduetoasurgein
COVID-19cases,theupcomingedition
of the world's biggest T20 league will
be held in the three venues of Dubai,
Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in the UAE.
After the tournament-opener,
Dubai will host its first game the next
day when Delhi Capitals take on Kings
XI Punjab followed by the third match
on Monday between Sunrisers
Hyderabad and Royal Challengers
Bangalore. The action will then shift to
Sharjah on September 22 when
Rajasthan Royals will host Chennai
Super Kings. There will be 10 double
headers, with the first match starting
at3:30pmISTandthesecond7:30pm,
according to BCCI release. In all, 24
matcheswillbeheldinDubai,20inAbu
Dhabi and 12 in Sharjah. PTI
suming any team activities," the SOP stated.
Wrestler Aware tests positive
PTI adds: WorldChampionshipbronzemedal-
list wrestler Rahul Aware has tested positive
for coronavirus after his arrival at the Sports
Authority Of India's (SAI) Sonepat Centre for
the national camp. Aware is the fifth Indian
wrestler to test positive for the dreaded virus
afterVineshPhogat,DeepakPunia,Navinand
Krishan. Aware had won a bronze in non-
Olympic61kgweightcategoryattheWorldsin
Nur-Sultan, last year.
"As per protocol Aware has now been
shifted to a SAI empaneled hospital as a pre-
cautionary measure and for further monitor-
ing," the SAI said in a statement. "Aware has
beeninquarantinesincehisarrivalatthecamp
and didn't come in contact with any other
athelete or staff members since his arrival."
Deepak Punia has been discharged from
the hospital and kept in home isolation since
he was asymptomatic.

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 4217
ACROSS
1 Dragged to the altar? (5)
8 Results of splitting hairs (8)
9 Once more makes a profit
(5)
10 Quartz watch that doesn’t look
real (5,3)
11 They secure some stock, not
shares (5)
12 Disguise dad put on (3)
16 I am surrounded by rambling
roses and trees (6)
17 About three minutes’ fighting
(6)
18 Centre of radiation (3)
23 Lower a boat on lake
(5)
24 Possibly respects apparitions
(8)
25 In a position to give a broad
smile (5)
26 Threaten to put a stop to bad
temper (8)
27 Point of view that may be right
(5)
SolutionsCrossword4216:Across:1Elasticity,6Oars,10Delhi,11RaiseCain,12
Confetti,13Ideal,15Oboists,17Grandam,19Greases,21Gremlin,22Naomi,24
Lastlegs,27Offensive,28Ditto,29Acre,30PresentdayDown:1Ends,2Allforone,
3Thief,4Curates,5Toiling,7Awake,8Singlemind,9Celibate,14Gorgonzola,16
Sessions,18Delighted,20Soldier,21Gushers,23Offer,25Laden,26Copy.
JUMBLED WORDS
DAY TODAY
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20)
There are days when
you have no choice
but to come down to
earth and be as
businesslike as possible, and
this is one of them. Never for a
single moment should you
drop your guard. Mind you, if
you want to give yourself over
to love and passion, that’s a
different matter.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
You are on to a
winner. Jupiter,
planet of optimism,
expansion and
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson success, is on your team, urging
you to greater achievements.
All you need to do is keep your
feet on the ground and take
care of the facts. When your
natural skill combines with the
power of the stars you are
DOWN unstoppable.
2 rio sang composition of this
musician (8) GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)
3 Pauline may describe these Nobody would
letters (8) blame you if you
4 Song and dance kept yourself to
announcement (6) yourself. After all,
5 Good man has novel to hide there are times when even you
away (5) have to go in for a spot of quiet
6 Poles always use an expression reflection. Always ignore
of contempt (5) rumours and gossip, by the way
7 Wakes all awry (5) for, if you act on
12 Has become the possessor of a unsubstantiated information,
wooden trunk (3) you risk damaging your
13 A soft touch (3)
14 Tree house perhaps of frontier
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong reputation.
CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
days (3,5) You’re now in the
15 Winter dancing party? No, but clear on a personal
it’s thrown for enjoyment (8) matter, but you may
19 Rough? That’s odd (6) be wondering why
20 He leads us to her (5) certain other people still refuse
21 Prepared to study at the end of to be pinned down. An unlikely
the day (5) romantic goal now begins to
22 Stitches up the skunk’s seem attainable, at last. And, if
defence (5) a partner doesn’t respond to
pressure, you may try
persuasion.
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23)
Although good
communication is
absolutely
necessary, it’s by no
means certain that sticking to
the facts will do you any good.
DifficultyLevel5s
You would do well to try and
give reluctant partners a
Instructions picture of how much better life
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4223
BY PETER VIDAL
LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
Joint financial
affairs could do
with a little
attention today, so
why don’t you clear paper-
work and settle any debts that
are due as soon as possible?
Once new creative projects are
under way, tried and tested
solutions should offer the best
route to success.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
The slow passage of
planets through the
most sensitive
quarters of your
solar horoscope suggests that,
at the moment, personal
motivation is everything.
Employers may have to
respect your desire to do
things your way. But, if
you follow your own path,
it’s even more essential
that you do better
than ever.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
There is a lot to be
said for having a
last burst of
extravagance before
the present financial cycle
comes to an end. You would be
wise to consult as many people
as possible before committing
yourself, though, for your
judgement may not be at
its best.
CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
Venus and Mars are
still linked, and
given that these are
the planets of love
and passion it follows that the
emotional temperature is still
high. You should aim for
activities which are
enthusiastic, optimistic and
idealistic and involve
other people.
AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
You’ll have to take
more notice of
family obligations
and domestic
routine than expected. You
should also set aside sufficient
time to accomplish whatever is
necessary. This is not the

Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, would be if only they’d agree moment to stick your head in
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 with you! They might not, the sand, so face real life
SUDOKU 4224

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe though! head on.

__personwitha____isequaltoaforceofninety-ninewhohaveonlyinterests-JohnStuart nineverticalcolumns,in
Mill(3,..,6) VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23) PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
eachoftheninehorizontal You should spare a It’s a useful day for
LMEEE AEKTLN rowsandineachofthe thought for ethical discussions, so keep
nineboxes. issues, like whether other people up to
what you are doing date with your
is right and proper. If it is, all thoughts. But hold something
CRUIO AEHLBF DifficultyLevel
well and good. If not, make back if you have the least
the necessary changes inkling that partners are not yet
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; tomorrow. Romantic ready to hear the whole truth.
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; individuals, by the way, are Sometimes you need to give
interests - John Stuart Mill 5s=VeryHard;6s= about to receive an additional other people the chance to
Answer: One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only Genius shot of passion. catch up.
SOLUTION: MELEE, CURIO, ANKLET, BEHALF

Vol LXXXVIII No. 258 Regd.No. DL-21046/03-05

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