DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

New Delhi
 2 DELHI JAL BOARD : GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
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15 DEC 1987 E-BLOCK : PREET VIHAR : DELHI-110092
“STOP CORANA; Wear Mask, Follow Physical Distancing, Maintain Hand Hygiene”
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PRESS NIT No. 22/ E-II (2020-21) bZ& vYidkyhu iqufuZfonk vkea=.k lwpuk
S. Name of Work Amount Put Tender Earnest Tender ID No. & Date Last Date/ Time of bZ&fufonk la[;k
;k:-
:- 95/RI/2020-21/RDD(RW
95/RI/2020-21/RDD(RWA)/KHUNTI
A)/KHUNTI fnukad :- 14.12.2020
No. to Tender Processing Money of Release of tender receipt of tender eq[; vfHk;ark] xzkeh.k fodkl foHkkx¼xzk0dk0ek0½] >kj[kaM] jk¡ph }kjk fuEu fooj.k ds vuqlkj e-procurement
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Solution Solution
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1. Construction of 1.00 ML Capacity Under 2,46,02,218.00 1500.00 4,93,000.00 2020_DJB_197453_1 28-Dec-20 izkDdfyr jkf'k ¼:i;s esa½
Ground Water Reservoirat Patparganj 11-Dec-2020 02:00 PM la0 la[;k@iSdst la[;k dk;Z dk uke dh frfFk dkWy ua0
Industrial Area under DSIIHC (Deposit 06:30 PM vad esa v{kj esa
LNK Udai Lt SM Dutt TA Satyavir work) in (AC-59). East-II RDD(RWA) / ,u0,p0&33 jk¡ph VkVk jksM lyxkMhg ls pkj djksM+ murhl
Narayan KHUNTI/06/ vkj0bZ0vks0 iFk ckadq ¼duky jksM½ rd iFk 4,29,09,306.00 yk[k ukS gtkj rhu
Further details in this regard can be seen at https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in 1- 18 ekg f}rh;
ISSUED BY PRO (WATER) Sd/- VIJAY SAGAR 2019-20 dk lqn`<+hdj.k dk;Z ¼yEckbZ& 13-600 fd0eh0½ lkS N% :0 ek=
In fond and ever lasting memory of our heroes, the brave and gallant
soldiers, who made the supreme sacrifice on 15 Dec 1987 Advt. No. J.S.V. 256/2020-21 EX. ENGINEER (EAST)-II 2- osclkbZV esa fufonk izdk'ku dh frfFk %& 22-12-2020
while fighitng the LTTE in “OP PAWAN”. They laid down their lives 3- bZ&fufonk izkfIr dh vafre frfFk ,oa le; %& 30-12-2020 vijkg~u 5-00 ctsA
in the finest traditions of the VEER RAJPUTSand the Indian Army. ICAR-INDIAN VETERINARY RESEARCH INSTITUTE 4- ftyk fu;a=.k d{k] jkaph esa fufonk 'kqYd] vxz/ku dh jkf'k] 'kiFk i= ds ewy izfr ,oa viyksM fd;s x;s rduhdh
Their selfless devotion and supreme sacrifice will always inspier us. ;ksX;rk nLrkost dh ,d izfr tek djus dh frfFk%& 31-12-2020 iwokZg~u 10-00 cts ls vijkg~u 3-30 cts rdA
IZATNAGAR - 243122 (UP) INDIA 5- fufonk [kksyus dh frfFk ,oa le; %& 04-01-2021 iwokZg~u 11-30 ctsA
CO anf All Ranks
TelTel: 0581-310392 FAX No.0581-230284 6- fufonk vkeaf=r djus okys inkf/kdkjh dk uke ,oa irk%& eq[; vfHk;ark] xzkeh.k fodkl foHkkx¼xzk0 dk0 ekeys½]
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No. F.21-01/2020-20/P&S December 19, 2020 7- bZ&fufonk izdks"B dk nwjHkk"k la0& 0651&2207818
8- fufonk 'kqYd >kj[k.M jkT; esa vofLFkr Hkkjrh; LVsV cSad@vU; jk"Vªh;d`r cSad }kjk fufonkdkj ds uke@vdkmaV ls
TENDER NOTICE gh fuxZr cSad Mªk¶V ds :i esa dk;Zikyd vfHk;ark] xzkeh.k fodkl foHkkx¼xzk0 dk0 ekeys½] dk;Z izeaMy] [kw¡Vh ds i{k esa
Director, ICAR-IVRI invites Tenders under Two Bid Systems for the procurement, installation, ,oa [kw¡Vh esa Hkqxrs; gksxk tks ykSVk;k ugha tk;sxkA
satisfactory demonstration, Commissioning and Training of the following equipment from Original foLr`r tkudkjh ds fy, osclkbZV jharkhandtenders.gov.in esa ns[kk tk ldrk gSA uksMy inkf/kdkjh
Equipments Manufacturers, Foreign Principals and Indian Agents of foreign principals. PR.NO.237427 Rural Work Department(20-21):D bZ&izksD;qeZUV lsy
SI. Tender Reference Bid Security Tender Tender
Name of Equipment Qty
No. Number (In Rs.) Closing Date Opening Date
Oocyte & Embryo Conjugated
1. 5-14/2020-21/P&S ONE (01) 10,000/- 24.12.2020 26.12.2020
Conveyor (Bovine)
GOVERNMENT OF PUNJAB 2. 5-16/2020-21/P&S Incubator with Peltier cooling ONE (01) 12,000/- 24.12.2020 26.12.2020
DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY & SANITATION PUNJAB Franz Diffusion Cell Apparatus
3. 5-17/2020-21/P&S ONE (01) 7,500/- 24.12.2020 26.12.2020
TENDER NOTICE INVITING ONLINE BIDS with 5-6 Cell
No. E-TENDER-07/WSSD/DIV. NO. 1 PATIALA/EE/2020-21 DATED: 11.12.2020 4. 5-69/2019-20/P&S Laparoscope with Accessories ONE (01) 73,500/- 29.12.2020 30.12.2020
THE DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY & SANITATION DEPARTMENT 5. 5-24/2020-21/P&S Cell Density Meter ONE (01) 3,600/- 30.12.2020 31.12.2020
PUNJAB INVITES ONLINE BID FOR THE FOLLOWING WORKS:
1. Providing & Installing Tubewell of 200mm straight mm i/d upto 200
mtr. depth, Construction of Brick Masonry Pump Chamber, 50000 Interested bidders can download and participate in the aforesaid tenders through
Itr. capacity OHSR having height 20.00 mtr upto FSL, Plinth e-procurement/CPP Portal https://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app. For any information or
Protection & Providing and Fixing Automatic Water Level Control
Device, Providing & Installing Pumping Machinery, C.I. Pipes corrigendum please visit Institute website: www.ivri.nic.in
Inside Pump Chamber, Disinfection Unit, Supplying & Laying of FOR DIRECTOR
PVC Pipes 6 Kg/Cm2 for Distribution System, Development of
Water Works etc. complete and Operation & Maintenance for the
period of 3 months after Commissioning and completion and all
other works contingent there to etc. for Rural Water Supply
Scheme at Village Achal, Bifurcated from Existing Water Supply
Scheme Tunga, Block-Nabha District Patiala (Under Punjab Rural
Water & Sanitation Sector Improvement Project).
Closing Date and Time: As per Website
For Details Log on to: https//eproc.punjab.gov.in
NOTE:
1. Any corrigendum to the Tender/RFP Notice shall be published on
the above website only.
Sd/-
Executive Engineer,
117323/PB Water Supply & Sanitation Division No. 1, Patiala.
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la[;k & RDD/S
D/SDD/DEOGHAR/01
GHAR/01/RE/202 20200-21
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3- bZ&fufonk izkfIr dh vafre frfFk ,oa le; & 26-12-2020 vijkg~u 5%00 cts rd
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,Q0 ih0 Hkou] /kqokZ] jk¡ph esa fufonk 'kqYd] vxz/ku dh jkf'k] Bank Credit Certificate ,oa Affidavit tek djus dh
frfFk ,oa le; 28-12-2020 vijkg~u 05%00 cts rd
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6- fufonk [kksyus dh frfFk ,oa le; & 30-12-2020 vijkâu 2%00 cts
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Government of Jammu & Kashmir nso?kj ds inuke ls ns; gks nsuk gksxkA
DIRECTORATE OF FLORICULTURE SRINAGAR KASHMIR 10- >kj[k.M yksd fuekZ.k foHkkx lafgrk dh dafMdk& 163 (a) }kjk d`r izko/kku dks voØfer djrs gq, 10% dh u;wure
Tel-0194-2474234 Fax -2482032 – email: - kasflori@rediffmail.com
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U;wu fufonkvksa ds fy, Additional Performance Security ds Øe esa ifjek.k foi= dh jkf'k ls (i) 10 ls 20
GIST of e- Tender Notice No. 13 OF 2020 Dated: - 12 /12/2020 izfr'kr below rd dh jkf'k dk 20% rFkk (ii) 20% ls vf/kd below dh jkf'k dk 30% vfrfjDr tekur dk
For and on behalf of the Lt. Governor of J&K UT, e-tender is invited from interested parties/per- izko/kku ykxw gksxkA ;g >kj[k.M yksd fuekZ.k foHkkx lafgrk ds fu;e 172 (a) ds :i esa lekfgr gksxkA iwoZ ds
sons for outsourcing of entry ticketing system of following Gardens/Parks of Floriculture lafgrk@fu;e@ifji= }kjk d`r lHkh izko/kku voØfer le>s tk;sxsaA
Department Kashmir as per details given below: - mijksDr lHkh >kj[k.M ljdkj iFk fuekZ.k foHkkx] jkWph ds ladYi la[;k 2146 (S) fnukad 09-09-2020 ls
The participants have to quote their bid amount in the concerned BOQ: - vkPNkfnr gksxkA
S. Name of Period of contract Reserve Bid Value of Cost of foLr`r tkudkjh ds fy;s osclkbZV www.jharkhandtenders.gov.in ,oa dk;kZy; dh lwpuk iê ij ns[kk tk
No. Gardens/Parks (Rs. in Lakhs) security tender ldrk gSA dk;Zikyd vfHk;ark
deposit document
1. M.G. Nishat 01 year from the date 1,41,31,121/- 1413112/- 3000/- in the PR.NO.237363 Rural Development(20-21):D xzkeh.k fodkl fo'ks"k izeaMy] nso?kjA
of award of contract shape of
e-challan SONAMARG DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
2. M.G Shalimar --do-- 1,00,53,786/- 1005379/- 3000/- Tel/Fax: 0194-2416100 (Ganderbal) E-mail: Sdaofficial@yahoo.com
3. M.G Cheshmashahi --do-- 1,10,11,000/- 1101100/- 3000/-
TENDER NOTICE
4. Green Park Harwan --do-- 27,02,000/- 270200/- 3000/-
(TWO COVER SYSTEM)
The bidding document (s) consisting of qualifying information, eligibility criteria, terms and con- e- NIT No. 17 of 2020 DATED: 10.12.2020
ditions and other details can be seen/downloaded through the Departmental website For and on behalf of the Lieutenant Governor, UT, J&K, tenders are invited by Executive Engineer, Sonamarg
Development Authority through e-tendering mode on TURN KEY basis from approved and eligible Contractors/FIRMS
www.dirflorikmr.in / www.jktenders.gov.in as per schedule of date given below:- potential assessment system as envelop 01 technical and qualification bid and envelop two financial bid from experienced
technically and financially sound and reputed contractors/ Firms registered with J&K UT Govt. CPWD, Railways and other
1. Period of downloading of bidding document 15.12.2020 to 06.01.2021 up to 02:00 PM State/Central Governments for the following works:
2. Bid submission Start Date 16.12.2020 from 10:00 AM Sr. Name of Work Adv. Cost of Earnest Date of Class of Major
3. Bid submission End date 06.01.2021 up to 02:00 PM No. Cost T/Doc. Money Completion Contractor Head of
(In Lacs) (In Rs.) (In Rs.) Account
4. Date and time of Opening of Tenders (Online) 11.01.2021 at 02:00 PM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The security deposit money exceeding 2% shall be adjustable towards approved bid 1. DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, ERRECTION, 690.00 15000/- 13,80,000/- Two FIRM/AAY Capex
COMMISSIONING AND BUILD SEWAGE Working Budget
amount in favour of the successful bidders. The CDR’s of the bidders who offer below the TREATMENT PLANT OF INSTALLED CAPACI- Seasons 2020-21
reserve bid shall be forfeited. TY 1 MLD AND ALL APPURTENANT STRUC-
TURES AND ALLIED WORKS; REVIEW THE
In case of any eventuality, the date of opening will be considered on any other convenient DESIGNS, REDESIGN WHERE NECESSARY,
working day. AND BUILD NEW UNDERGROUND SEWER-
AGE NETWORK OF ABOUT 1.825 KM
Sd/- LENGTH INCLUDING SURVEY, DESIGN, LAY-
Accounts Officer, OUT CONSTRUCTION OF 1 NO INTERMEDI-
ATE PUMPING STATION/S AND ALL APPUR-
Member Secretary TENANT STRUCTURES AND ALLIED WORKS
DIPK-10400/20
OF SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT, SEWER-
AGE NETWORK , PUMPING STATIONS & RIS-
ING MAIN AT SONAMARG with MAINTE-
Govt of Jammu & Kashmir NANCE & OPERATION FOR THREE YEARS.
OFFICE OF MATERIALS MANAGEMENT OFFICER (PURCHASE-I) Position of AAA/TS: Accorded.
Position of Funds: Available.
SHER-I-KASHMIR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES 1. The Bidding documents Consisting of qualifying information, eligibility criteria, specifications, bill of quantities
SOURA, SRINAGAR-190011 Tele/FAX NO.: 0194-2403929 (B.O.Q), Set of terms and conditions of contract and other details can be seen/downloaded from
www.jktenders.gov.in as per schedule of dates given below:
Email ID: ammopurchase1@skims.ac.in 2. a) The bidder should have successfully completed and commissioned during past five years atleast 01 STP along with
the certificate issued by Government of India, State Government, UT, Government undertakings and autonomous
H.P. BOARD OF SCHOOL EDUCATION, E-NIT No.: SIMS 325 (P1st) Cylinders Tender 07 of 2020 bodies and public sector undertakings/ Public Limited Companies.
DHARAMSALA-176213 b) The bidder should have executed work to the tune of 35% of the advertised cost for same nature of work (STP/WTP)
DATED: 12.12.2020 in the last three years and a certificate in this regard from the competent authority maybe be appended in the tech-
Hi.Shi.Bo./STORE(7)/2020-867-868 DATED: 14.12.2020 nical bid.
Sub: Notice inviting e-tenders for Purchase of Drugs/Medicines on two c) The bidder should produce/upload undertaking that the Machinery & sewers installed will function in Sub-Zero tem-
“LIMITED TENDER NOTICE” year Rate Contract basis. perature as shall be in Sonamarg area.
Sealed tenders are invited by the undersigned for printing E-tenders are invited for and on behalf of Lt. Governor UT of Jammu & Kashmir, through 3. The Bidder’s should have financial Avg. turnover of Rs. 8 Cr. in the same name and style atleast for the last 3 years
ending 31st March, 2020 in business of supply and erection/commissioning of effluent treatment plant on turnkey
and supply of Envelops from reputed and experienced firms Director, Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, Srinagar, from Manufacturers (self basis.
having experience of handling such jobs. Manufacturers) having valid Drug License/ GST registration and all other pre-qualification doc- 4. The bidder should enclose certificate of turn over from charted accountant from last three financial years and audit-
ed balance sheet of the year which is considered by the bidder in criteria.
Tender document can be obtained from the Office of the uments as per tender requirement) for supply of Drugs/Medicines to SKIMS Soura and SKIMS 5. Joint Venture in the contract may be considered only with atleast one party having minimum qualification of not less
Secretary, H.P. Board of School Education, Dharamshala on Medical College-Hospital Bemina Srinagar, on two year Rate Contract basis to be submitted than 40% of the eligible criteria i.e.
cash payment of Rs. 500/- or by Post by remitting Rs. 550/- under Two Bid Cover System- Cover I “Technical Bid” & Cover II “Price Bid.” The tender docu- i) Not less than 40% of the eligible criteria of condition No. 2.b (i.e.) Work of same nature (STP/WPT) not less than
ments/ detailed specification are available at www.jktenders.gov.in. & www.skims.ac.in 0.966 crore.
through Bank Draft in favour of the Secretary payable at ii) Not less than 40% of the eligible criteria of condition No. 3 (i.e.) Average turnover of Rs. 3.20 crore for last 03 years
Dharamshala on any working day on or before 28.12.2020 Sr. No. Description Tender Fee Earnest Money in the same name and style.
6. The bidding documents including the following volumes, together with any amendment/ addendum thereto:
upto 11.00 A.M. The Tender Document can also be down- 1. Supply of Drugs/Medicines Rs. 2,000/- Rs. 1,00,000/- Volume:- I Schedule of prices.
loaded from the Board website: www.hpbose.org. For down- Volume:- II Technical Bid.
Sr. No. Nomenclature Schedule Volume:- III General Specifications.
loaded form, the tenderer shall have to submit a Bank
1. Date of publish 12.12.2020 1. Date of Issue of Tender Notice 10.12.2020
Draft/Board Receipt of Rs. 500/- in favour of the undersigned
2. Tender Download Start Date 12.12.2020 (at 3 PM) 2. Period of Downloading of Bidding Documents From. 11.12.2020 10. A.M to 05.01.2021 3.00 P.M
along with the Tender Form. Offers complete in all respect
3 Last Date for Submission of Tender Document 05.01.2021 up to 4.00 P.M
along with Earnest Money Rs. 5000/- (Five Thousand 3. Clarification Start Date 12.12.2020 (at 3 PM)
4 Date of Opening of Technical Bid 06.01.2021 at 1.00 P.M
Rupees) in the form of F.D.R./T.D.R. valid for at least 6 4. Last date of clarification if any 19.12.2020 (upto 2 pm)
5 Date & Time of Opening of Financial Bids (Online) 11.01.2021 at 11.00 A.M. in the Office of Chief Executive
months in favour of the Secretary, H.P. Board of School 5. Bid Submission Start Date 23.12.2020 (at 2 am) Officer Sonamarg Development Authority at Mini Secretariat,
Ganderbal
Education, Dharamshala should reach in the office of the 6. Bid Submission End Date 11.01.2021 (upto 2 pm)
NOTE: The financial bid would be opened only of those bidders who fulfill all the pre-qualification criteria.
Secretary, H.P. Board of School Education, Dharamshala- 7. Technical Bid Open Date 14.01.2021 (at 11.30 am)
176213 on or before 28.12.2020 by 1.00 PM. The tenders will 8. Financial Bid Open Date To be notified separately
7. Bids must be accompanied with cost of Tender document in shape of Demand Draft (non refundable) in favour of
Executive Engineer SDA (Tender Inviting Authority) and Earnest money / Bid security in shape of CDR / FDR
be opened on the same day at 3.00 P.M. The tenders pledged to, Executive Engineer SDA (Tender Receiving Authority).
received without tender document cost (in case of down- The tenders should be submitted strictly in accordance with the provisions of 8. The date and time of opening of Bids shall be notified on Web Site www.jktenders.gov.in and conveyed to the bid-
loaded forms), Earnest Money and tenders received after the detailed e-NIT. ders automatically through an e-mail message on their e-mail address. The bids of Responsive bidders shall be
opened online on same Web Site in the office of Executive Engineer, SDA.
due date shall be summarily rejected. Sd/- 9. The bids for the work shall remain valid for a period of 120 days from the date of opening of Bids.
10. All other terms conditions are as per PWD Form 25 (Double agreement Form)
Sd/- Materials Management Officer, 11. The CDRs in respect of un-successful bidders shall be released only after depositing of demand draft in original (as
Secretary Purchase-I, SKIMS. cost of tender document) in the office Executive Engineer SDA.
H.P. Board of School Education No.: SIMS-325 (P1st) Drugs Tender 07 OF 2020-9900-06 Sd/-
NIT No: EE/SDA/ 663-74 Dated: 10.12.2020 Executive Engineer,
Dharamshala-176213 Dated:12.12.2020.
DIPK-NB-4572/20 Sonamarg Development Authority

New Delhi

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES
Govt refines vaccine
shortlisting: states told
to use district data for
under-50s with risks
KAUNAIN SHERIFF M
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
THE CENTRE has asked states to
utilise data generated at the dis-
trict level during screening for
Non-Communicable Diseases
(NCDs) to identify a priority
group that is expected to receive
Covid vaccinations early next
year: those below the age of 50
with comorbidities, top govern-
ment sources told The Indian
Express.
“The basic document will be
the electoral roll, which will pro-
vide states with age details of
beneficiaries. The states will su-
perimpose this basic document
with the NCD screenings that
they have conducted. The states
can also create their own mech-
anisms, as health is a subject of
the state,” sources said.
Last week, a high-level ex-
pert group co-chaired by Dr V K
Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, and
Union Health Secretary Rajesh
Bhushan, recommended three
SC to see if
feasible
to examine
validity of
Emergency
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
THESUPREMECourtonMonday
agreed to consider whether it is
“feasible or desirable” to exam-
ine the validity of the proclama-
tion of Emergency by the gov-
ernment of Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi 45 years ago in
1975.
A Bench headed by Justice S
K Kaul issued notice to the
Centreonapleabya94-year-old
woman who submitted that she
andherfamilywerehoundedby
the authorities during the
Emergency, forcing them to
leave India.
The petitioner, Dehradun-
basedVeraSarin,urgedthecourt
to declare the proclamation
“wholly unconstitutional”.
“This plea arises from the
passage of time. It is (counsel for
petitioner) Mr Harish Salve’s
submission that...wrongs of his-
tory must be corrected...We
would be disinclined to reopen
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
104-yr-old in
Assam dies
a ‘foreigner’,
hoping ‘CAA
will solve all’
Das and his wife last week.
Biswa Kalyan Purkayastha
TORA AGARWALA
GUWAHATI, DECEMBER 14
ABOUT SIX months ago, Nyuti
Das remembers her father
Chandrahar Das bending over
herbrother’sphone,hisonegood
eye—andtherestof him—com-
pletely absorbed by a video of a
speech of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. Then he looked
atNyutiandsaid,smiling:“Modi
aamar bhogowan (Modi is my
god)... He will solve everything.
The citizenship law is here. We
will all become Indian.”
On Sunday evening,
Chandrahar, 104, suffering from
a heart disease, who had spent
three months in a detention
camp for “foreigners” in Assam
two years ago, died in his son’s
run-down cottage in Boraibasti
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
groupstobesimultaneouslyvac-
cinatedonprioritydependingon
availability of vaccine: 1 crore
health care workers; 2 crore
frontline workers, including po-
liceandarmedforces;and,about
27 crore above the age of 50 and
those less than 50 years with co-
morbidities.
Under the National
Programme for Prevention and
Control of Cancer, Diabetes,
Cardiovascular Diseases and
Stroke (NPCDCS), launched in
October2010,stategovernments
aremandatedtoundertakepop-
ulation-based screening at the
district level for early detection
of NCDs. Those who come to
healthcarefacilitiesundergo“op-
portunisticscreening”fordetec-
tion, referral and follow-up for
hypertension,diabetesandselect
cancer categoriess.
So far, official data show, 616
NCD clinics have been set up at
the district level and 3,827 at the
CommunityHealthCentre(CHC)
level,apartfrom175CardiacCare
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
P8
THE EXPRESS
INTERVIEW
‘WHERE IS THE
CONTRADICTION
BETWEEN DDC,
ASSEMBLY POLLS?’
MANOJ SINHA
L-G, JAMMU & KASHMIR
INSIDE
LE CARRE, SPY WHO
CAME IN FROM COLD
TO WRITE THRILLERS,
DIES AT 89 PAGES 12, 16
DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
Police moved in containers as additional barriers at Delhi’s Singhu border Monday. Abhinav Saha
TOMAR MEETS FARMERS WHO BACK 3 LAWS
Govt open to talks but not to repeal
of laws; farmers hold hunger strike
Willing to listen, open for discussion, dialogue: Rajnath
HARIKISHAN SHARMA
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
THE NARENDRA MODI-led gov-
ernmentissaidtohavetakenapo-
liticalcallnottoyieldtotheprotest-
ingfarmers’demandthatthethree
laws be repealed — but is willing
tocontinuetalkswiththem.
“A repeal is not possible; and
a 0-1 binary will not work. The
government has given an
amendment option. It is also
willing to change the wordings
of the three laws based on
farmerconcerns,”saidatopgov-
ernment source who is in the
UP ‘love jihad’: 22-yr-old
tells court she is major,
goes with man’s family
MANISH SAHU
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 14
THE WOMAN who was taken to
a shelter home in Moradabad by
the Uttar Pradesh Police on
Saturdayafterarrestingtheman
she was with under the anti-
conversion law passed last
month, returned to his home on
Monday. Pinki was allowed to
leave after she told a magistrate
that she and Rashid Ali, 22, got
marriedbackinJuly,andthatshe
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
was 22 and wanted to go with
his family.
Speaking to reporters after
the arrest of Rashid, on Saturday
morning, Pinki, who is three
months pregnant, had said the
two of them were going to get
their marriage registered when
the police caught them. Rashid's
elder brother Saleem, 25, who
waswiththemwasalsoarrested.
ThepolicesaidPinkihadnoproof
of the marriage, and that they
were acting on a complaint by
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
know of developments in Krishi
Bhawan. “Thedoorfortalks is al-
ways open.”
On Day 19 of the protests,
leaders of 32 farm unions esca-
lated their agitation by observ-
ing a day’s hunger strike begin-
ning 8 am at the Singhu border.
The police, meanwhile, put up
shippingcontainersusingcranes
on NH-44 to firm up the barri-
cades already fortified with
dumpsters laden with sand and
barbed wire to prevent protest-
ers from entering Delhi.
From the Government'sside,
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
NATIONAL NETWORK
ASSAMSCHOOLS TO
REOPENWITHOUT
RESTRICTIONS
PAGE 14
`6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Jharkhand
CM grants
approval
for probe
into fraud
THE
SCHOLARSHIP
SCAM
ABHISHEK ANGAD
RANCHI, DECEMBER 14
CLEARING THE way for a
statewide probe based on the
findings of an investigation by
The Indian Express, Jharkhand
Chief Minister Hemant Soren
has “given his approval” for the
state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau
(ACB) to initiate a Preliminary
Enquiry (PE) into the Pre-Matric
scholarship scam in which poor
minority students were duped
byanexusof middlemen,school
authorities, state officials, and
bank staff.
“The CM (as Cabinet Minister
in charge of Vigilance) has given
hisapprovalforACBtoinvestigate
the Ministry of Minority Affairs-
runPre-MatricScholarshipScam.
TheACBwillinvestigatetheirreg-
ularities in pre-matric, post ma-
tric, merit-cum-means scholar-
ship schemes and submit its
initialreport,”theChiefMinister's
Secretariat said in a press release
issued Monday.
It said that Soren has also or-
deredallDeputyCommissioners
to submit a report following
physical verification of all appli-
cants and schools for the aca-
demic year 2020-21. “We were
waiting for the order. Now we
will begin the PE into the scam,”
sources in the ACB told The
Indian Express.
On Saturday, speaking at The
Indian Express Idea Exchange
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
New Delhi
DISINVESTMENT MOVE
AsAirIndiabids
close,Tatasand
consortiumled
bystaffinfray
Multiple expressions of interest, says
govt; qualified bidders to be notified Jan 5
PRANAV MUKUL
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
IN A boost to its efforts to disin-
vest stake in Air India, the Centre
said Monday that it has received The signal
“multiple expressions of inter-
est” for the debt-laden airline. behind sale
These include bids from the Tata
Group and a consortium com- WHILE MEETING the
prising several of the airline’s disinvestment target
employees and a US-based in- of Rs 2.1 lakh crore for
vestment firm, sources told The 2020-21 may be a tall
Indian Express. order — just 5% has
The deadline for submission been achieved so far —
of formal bids closed at 5 pm a successful sale of Air
Monday and the Government India will send a strong
is expected to notify the quali- message on the
fied bidders on January 5. This seriousness of the
is the Government’s second at-
tempt at disinvesting its stake
government’s strategic
sale plan.
in the airline after the previous
move in 2018 ended up with-
out a bid. tion of debt. But this time, it
“Multiple expressions of in- plans to divest 100 per cent of its
terest have been received for equity share capital in Air India
strategic disinvestment of Air
India. The transaction will now
Ltd, which includes Air India’s
shareholding interest of 100 per
movetothesecondstage,”Tuhin
Kanta Pandey, Secretary,
cent in Air India Express and 50
percentinAirIndiaSATSAirport
Department of Investment and Services.
Public Asset Management, Accordingtosources,theTata
posted in a tweet. Group has submitted an official
Earlier, the Government had
put up 76 per cent stake in Air
India for sale along with a por-
expression of interest for the air-
line although the bid has not
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
 4 THE SECOND PAGE
Aerospace scientist FROM PAGE ONE
Narasimha dies at 87 Jharkhand CM
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
BENGALURU, DECEMBER 14
EMINENT AEROSPACE scientist
and Padma Vibhushan awardee
RoddamNarasimhadiedatapri-
vate hospital here on Monday,
doctors said. He was 87. He was
admitted to the hospital on
December 8 after he suffered a
brain haemorrhage.
The scientist, who served at
theprestigiousIndianInstituteof
Science (IISc), breathed his last at
8.30 pm, neurologist Dr Sunil V
Furtado said. “When he was
broughttoourhospital,hewasin
a very critical stage. There was
bleeding inside his brain,” Dr
Furtado, neurosurgeon and sen-
ior consultant at the Ramaiah
MemorialHospitalinthecity,told
PTI. Accordingtohim,Narasimha
had a heart-related ailment and
suffered a brain stroke in 2018 as
well. He is survived by his wife
and a daughter. Born on July 20,
1933, Prof Narasimha made a
markinthefieldofaerospaceand
as a fluid dynamicist. He taught
AerospaceEngineeringattheIISc
from1962to1999.Healsoserved
as the director of the National
New experts’ panel to
review all aspects of Ram
temple in Ayodhya
AVANEESH MISHRA
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 14
AHEAD OF the beginning of the
construction work for a grand
RamtempleinAyodhya,the Shri
Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth
Kshetra Trust has formed an ex-
pert committee of eminent en-
gineers,whichwillsubmititsre-
port and recommendations to
Trust.
The construction work,
which was earlier planned to
start from October, was recently
pushed to December 15.
The eight-member expert
committee, which was formed
on Sunday, is headed by former
director of IIT-Delhi, VS Raju.
Director of Central Building
Research Institute (CBRI) in
Roorkee, N GopalKrishnan, is its
convenor, besides six other ex-
perts — NIT Surat Director SR
Gandhi, IIT Guwahati Director
TG Sitharam, Emeritus Professor
at IIT Delhi B Bhatacharjee, TCE
consultant AP Mull, Professor
Manu Samthanam of IIT Madras
andProfessor PradiptaBanerji of
IIT Mumbai — as its members.
TheTrustsaidthecommittee
would be provided with all the
detailsandreportsavailablewith
Polavaram project may release
water for 2022 Kharif season
SREENIVAS JANYALA
HYDERABAD, DECEMBER 14
THE POLAVARAM project is ex-
pected to release water for the
first time ahead of the 2022
Kharif season. Andhra Pradesh
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan
Reddy on Monday told officials
that work on the project should
be completed by December
2021 so that minor pending
work can be finished in two-
three months and water can be
released for Kharif season.
The Chief Minister con-
ducted an aerial survey of the
project construction site and
held a review meeting on con-
struction and rehabilitation
works.
Atthe reviewmeeting, he as-
serted there is no change in the
height of the dam. He said reha-
bilitation works will be taken up
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The Centre had
bestowed on him
Padma Vibhushan, the
second-highest civilian
award of India, in 2013
AerospaceLaboratoriesfrom1984
to 1993. He was the chairperson
oftheEngineeringMechanicsunit
attheJawaharlalNehruCentrefor
AdvancedScientificResearch(JN-
CASR)inBengalurufrom2000to
2014. Considering his contribu-
tion, the central government be-
stowed on him Padma
Vibhushan, the second-highest
civilian award of India, in 2013.
Accordingtohisfamilyfriends,
Narasimha was in the league of
the‘MissileManof India’andfor-
mer president Dr A P J Abdul
Kalam. Dr Kalam and Prof
Narasimhahadtogetherauthored
a book -- ‘Developments In Fluid
Mechanics and Space
Technology’. He was also a good
friend of eminent scientist and
Bharat Ratna awardee Dr C N R
Rao.Hewasthestudentof Indian
rocket scientist Prof Satish
Dhawan.
them as well as Larsen and
Toubro (L&T) and Tata
Consulting Engineers (TCE) re-
garding architectural and struc-
turaldesign,soilinvestigationre-
port and pile test reports among
others.
TheL&T,whichwasgiventhe
contract to design and build the
temple, had carried out soil in-
vestigation of the area through
Cengrs Geotechnica Pvt Ltd.
The work of TCE,whichisthe
projectmanagementconsultant,
includesreviewandcertification
of the foundation design pro-
posed by the L&T. All the data
and documents required by the
TCE for design review has been
provided by the L&T to them, a
Trust member said.
According to a statement is-
sued by the Trust, the commit-
tee has the mandate to have dis-
cussion and dialogue with the
design team of the L&T, design
review team of the TCE, CBRI-
Roorkee and IIT-Madras, and
seekdetails,dataanddocuments
in connection with their work.
Thecommitteeisexpectedto
submit its report and recom-
mendations to the Trust by
December15,afterwhichtheac-
tual construction work at the
Ram Janambhoomi will start.
on priority basis. Rehabilitation
work with an estimated cost of
Rs 3,330 crore will be started in
flood-prone areas when water
storageisat41.5m,hesaid.Later,
storage capacity will be in-
creased in a phased manner to
45.72 m, he said, and instructed
the officials to be prepared. The
officials said the work would be
completedbyFebruaryorMarch
2021.
The Chief Minister asked of-
ficials to prepare an action plan
onalternative measurestoavoid
shortage of drinking and irriga-
tion water to delta during the
closure of cofferdam gaps.
The officials said a commit-
tee is being set up to solve the
real- time problems during the
construction of the dam.
Irrigation officials, Polavaram
Project Authority and Central
Water Commission officials will
be part of the committee.
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
VIDEO OF THE DAY
event, Soren said that this news-
paper'sinvestigativeserieshasled
to the scrutiny of various state
schemesanditsimplementation.
“Ihavegivendirectionstovarious
departments to check all state
schemes and get an update on
whether or not the schemes are
reaching the people. We need to
know the status of implementa-
tion,” he said.
The Indian Express investi-
gatedentriesacrosssixdistrictsin
Jharkhand on the National
Scholarship Portal (NSP) and
matched them with beneficiary
bank accounts in the Public
Finance Management System
(PFMS) to find how the pre-
Matricscholarshipfundswerebe-
ing illegally diverted.
In several cases, The Indian
Express found, students and
gullible parents were given a
small portion of the scholarship
money; in others, they were un-
aware that bank accounts had
beensetupintheirnamestoavail
the scholarship and money dis-
bursedwasbeingwithdrawn.The
investigationalsoledtoschoolsin
neighbouringBihar,oneinPunjab
and another in Assam.
TheCBIhasalreadyinitiateda
PEintothescamwiththeagency
all set to start its investigation
fromBihar'sGaya,wherethefirst
FIR was registered based on The
IndianExpress'findings.Policein
Assam are separately investigat-
ing the scam.
The pre-Matric scholarship
scheme, launched in 2008, is
meanttohelpstudentsofminor-
ity communities from families
with annual income below Rs 1
lakh. In 2019-20, the Ministry of
Minority Affairs disbursed Rs 61
crore under this scheme to
Jharkhand.
To be eligible, students need
toscoreatleast50percentintheir
class exams. Students from Class
1 to 5 receive Rs 1,000 per year
and students of Class 6 to 10 re-
ceive Rs 10,700 a year if they are
inahostelorRs5,700ayearifthey
are day scholars.
Vaccine
Units (CCUs) and 214 Day Care
Centres for Chemotherapy.
Besides, as part of the
AyushmanBharatinitiative,states
use a Community-Based
Assessment Checklist (CBAC) for
universalscreeninginthe30-plus
agecategorytosensitiseandmo-
bilise the community to avail
services for chronic illnesses at
Health and Wellness Centres
(HWCs).
The CBAC is designed to col-
lectdetailsofhistoryofsymptoms
and includes family history of
high blood pressure, diabetes,
heart disease and presence of
commonsymptomsforcommon
cancers,epilepsyandrespiratory
diseases.
In February 2019, the Centre
informed Parliament that it had
screened1.30croreinthe30-plus
categoryforhypertensionfollow-
ing which 9.01 lakh were identi-
fiedasnewcaseswhile22.69lakh
were under treatment. Similarly,
the government said it had
screened 97.78 lakh for diabetes
of which 8.90 lakh were new
cases and 12.13 lakh under treat-
ment.Fororalcancer,breastcan-
cerandcervicalcancer,itsaidthat
over 1 crore were screened of
which37,768werenewcasesand
4,215 under treatment.
UP ‘love jihad’
Pinki's mother that Rashid had
forcibly converted and married
her daughter.
AdditionalSuperintendentof
Police, Moradabad, Vidya Sagar
Mishrasaid,“Thegirlinherstate-
ment before the magistrate said
thatshewasbornin1998andthat
she and Rashid held a nikah on
July 24 in Dehradun.” Pinki said
shehadconvertedandwantedto
return to Rashid's family, Mishra
added.
Dr Nirmala Pathak, Acting
Chief Medical Superintendent of
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
EXPLAINED: WHAT MAKES THE GEMINIDS METEOR SHOWER UNIQUE?
TheGeminidsmeteorshower,believedtobethestrongestoftheyear,isactivefromDecember4-December
20,withDecember13and14consideredtobethebestnightsforviewingthesemeteorshowers
INDIAN-AMERICAN ON
NASA’S MOON MISSION
Raja Jon Vurputoor
Chari is a graduate of
the USAF Academy, MIT
Bids for Air India close
been placed through its affili-
ate airlines, Vistara or AirAsia
India.A TataGroupspokesper-
son declined comment.
The other confirmed bid
has been placed by a consor-
tium of Air India employees
and Interups Inc, according to
Laxmi Prasad, the chairman of
the US-based firm. On its web-
site, Interups says it “is a pub-
liclylistedcompanyengagedin
thebusinessof identifyingand
investing into business oppor-
tunities or transactions either
directlyoronbehalfofitsstake-
holders, affiliates, associate
Govt open to talks but not to repeal
and Agriculture Minister
Agriculture Minister Narendra
Singh Tomar called for more
talks to resolve the deadlock.
TomaralsometHomeMinister
Amit Shah for the second suc-
cessive day.
Sources said back-channel
talks were on with leaders of
some of the unions in the
group of 32. “Some leaders are
willingtounderstandtheneed
for arriving at a middle path.
Not having discussed possible
exit options, they are stuck
withtheirmaximalistposition.
But a solution may be in the
offing,” the source said with-
out elaborating.
Speaking at a FICCI event,
RajnathSinghsaid:“Therecent
reformshavebeenundertaken
with the best interests of
India’s farmers in mind... We
are, however, always willing to
listen to our farmer brothers,
allay their misgivings and pro-
vide them with assurances.
Our Government is always
open to discussion and dia-
logue.”
Describing agriculture as
the “mother sector for all”,
Singh said, “Our produce and
procurement have been plen-
tiful and our warehouses are
full...thereisnoquestionof tak-
ing retrograde steps against
ouragriculturalsectorever,”he
said.
Moradabad Mahila District
Hospital,wherePinkiwasexam-
ined,saidthefoetuscouldbeseen
clearly in her ultrasound report
and seemed to be fine. "We have
decidedtogoinforaTransvaginal
UltrasoundScantogetamoreac-
curate condition of the foetus,”
Pathak said. There had been re-
ports earlier that Pinki had suf-
fered a miscarriage, which was
denied by officials.
While Rashid and Saleem
continue to be in jail under the
Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of
Unlawful Conversion of Religion
Ordinance,2020,theMoradabad
police said they would seek legal
opinion on Pinki's statement, in-
cluding that she was a major and
that the wedding took place be-
fore the new law was passed, to
decide what to do. One of the
things they would look into is if
the conversion followed "legal
procedures", the police said.
Soonaftershewasbroughtto
the government-run home in
Moradabad, Pinki had com-
plained of pain in the abdomen,
and was admitted to Mahila
DistrictHospital.Shewasreleased
onSundaymorning,butintheaf-
ternoon, again complained of
pain and was taken back to hos-
pital. On Monday, Pinki was
brought before the magistrate in
themorning,butthehearinghad
to be delayed as she complained
of uneasiness. She was checked
upandbroughttocourtintheaf-
ternoonforrecordingofherstate-
ment.
“All details, including Pinki's
claim of nikah and conversion,
wouldbeverified.Documentsre-
TECH REVIEW
concerns and clients”.
The bid by the consortium
proposes to give 51 per cent
stake to the group of employ-
ees involved, which includes
some board members among
219 staffers, and 49 per cent to
Interups Inc, which will act as
the financial partner.
Theplantoincludeemploy-
ees was put in motion by Air
India’s commercial director
Meenakshi Mallik, who wrote
to nearly 20,000 staff seeking
participation in the disinvest-
mentprocess.Someemployee
unions, however, had advised
Tomar said the
Government is “ready to hold
talks”. “Whenever their pro-
posal comes, the Government
will definitely hold talks,” he
said.
In Gandhinagar, Gujarat,
Union Minister of State for
AgricultureParshottamRupala
ruled out bringing the
MinimumSupportPriceunder
the legal framework, a key de-
mand of farm unions.
Addressing a press confer-
enceat thestate BJP headquar-
ters Shree Kamalam, Rupala
said, “When we are the ones
who introduced it, it is not
something which requires le-
galsupport.Itispartof thegov-
ernment system that we cre-
ated, our Modiji created. There
is no need to bring it under le-
gal framework.”
In a parallel move, Tomar
also met a delegation of the All
India Kisan Coordination
Committee(AIKCC)fromTamil
Nadu,Telangana, Maharashtra
and Bihar and said “they gave
a letter supporting the agricul-
ture reform laws”.
ShetkariSanghatanaleader
Gunvant Patil Hangargekar,
who was part of the delega-
tion, told The Indian Express:
“We told the Agriculture
Minister that we support the
three farm laws. We have been
agitating for the last 30 years
lated to the claim would be
checked.Thepolicewillalsogeta
statement of the girl’s family
members and others,” Senior
Superintendent of Police,
Moradabad, Prabhakar
Chaudhary said.
Emergency plea
suchaspects.After45yearsitmay
not be appropriate to reopen
those issues,” the Bench, also
comprising Justices Dinesh
MaheshwariandHrishikeshRoy,
said.
“We would, however, be not
disinclined to see whether prob-
ingsuchaproclamationaftersuch
a long time would be feasible or
not,” the court said.
VeraSarinsubmittedthather
latehusbandHKSarinhadlosthis
“flourishingbusinessofgoldarts,
gems, artefacts etc. at Karol Bagh
aswellasatKGMarg,NewDelhi”
following the declaration of the
Emergency.
SeniorAdvocateSalvesaidthe
proclamation constituted a con-
stitutional abuse of power. Relief
was not the issue, he said – the
country must know what had
happened to the fundamental
rights of citizens.
WiththeBenchappearingun-
convinced–“wearefindingitdif-
ficulttoentertainthis.Whatisnot
to happen, happened,” it said –
Salve argued that “there are cer-
tain things in history which we
have to revisit and see if the cor-
rect thing was done”. This was
one such issue, he said.
According to the plea, H K
Sarin's “customers were from
highstatusfamilies”,and“famous
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
PHILIPS HTL8162
SOUNDBAR REVIEW
Soundbar on a
budget but lacks
a bit of ‘punch’
their members against the
move. In its latest disinvest-
mentmove,akeychangemade
by the Government intermsof
bidding is that it has allowed
potentialinvestorstobidonthe
basisof enterprisevalue,effec-
tively allowing the bidders to
determine the debt level they
wouldwanttotakeon.AirIndia
had current liabilities and pro-
visions, including short-term
loans and trade payables, of Rs
70,686.6croreandanetdebtof
Rs 58,255 crore at the end of
2018-19.Thereafter,theCentre
transferred Rs 29,464 crore of
for an open market and liberal
system. If you want to improve
the condition of farmers, then
we need reforms...technologi-
cal reforms, economic reforms
and agricultural reforms.”
Tomar had last week met a
similar delegation from
Uttarakhand as part of the
Government's outreach to
farmers from states other than
Punjab, which has emerged as
the epicentre of the protests.
In another meeting, Tomar
held discussions with BJP MPs
and MLAs from Haryana who
submitted a letter expressing
support for the farm laws, and
raised an old faultline with
Punjab: the issue of sharing
water from the Satluj Yamuna
Link Canal.
“SYL is the lifeline of
Haryana. Haryana farmers
have been deprived of their
share of 19 lakh acre-foot of
water for the last 45 years. The
significance of water for irriga-
tion is no less than the MSP.
Therefore, the 19 acre-foot of
water that is the share of
Haryana farmers should be
madeavailablefromPunjab,so
that 19 lakh acres of land in
Haryana can be irrigated. The
Water Resource Ministry
should help in this,” the letter
said.
Tomar said the new laws
are aimed at “bringing change
foreign jewellers such as Harry
Winston, Bulgari,
Kazanjian...were his regular
clients”. In the early 1960s, Sarin
“opened his business under the
name and style of Sarin Gem
HouseinAkashDeep,Connaught
Place”; he was appointed jew-
ellery appraiser by the govern-
ment, and he evaluated the
wealthofroyalhousesfortaxpur-
poses.
After the declaration of the
Emergency, however, all the
Sarins' immovable property
“came to be seized; the movable
property consisting of artefacts,
gems, carpets, paintings, tusks,
statues, ivory worth crores of ru-
pees were also seized, and there
has been no restitution of the
same till date”, says the plea.
VeraandHKSarinweremar-
ried in 1957, and he passed away
in 2000.
InDecember2014,DelhiHigh
Courthadruledthattheproceed-
ings against her husband under
The Smugglers and Foreign
Exchange Manipulators
(ForfeitureofProperty)Act,1976,
“wereinitiatedbereftofanyjuris-
diction and therefore a nullity”.
And in July this year, the court,
basedonastatementbythecen-
tral government had “directed
paymentofarrearsofrentforthe
propertyatK.G.Marg,NewDelhi
to the Petitioner and other legal
heirsataspecifiedmonthlyrate”,
the plea says.
According to the nonagenar-
ianpetitioner,“thevaluablemov-
able properties have been si-
phoned away and illegally
appropriated by many govern-
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
How anti-slaughter
laws can be disastrous
for dairy farmers
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
Today, we take a look at the stringent
anti-slaughter law that Karnataka is trying
to implement, and discuss how such laws
can impact India’s dairy industry
this debt to a Government-
ownedspecialpurposevehicle,
Air India Assets Holding
Company Ltd. The entities that
have submitted expressions of
interest need to submit physi-
cal bids by December 29.
Qualified bidders will place
bids on the basis of enterprise
value and the winning entity
will be decided on the basis of
whoeverquotesthehighesten-
terprise value. This entity will
then have to pay at least 15 per
cent of the quoted enterprise
valueincash,whiletherestcan
be taken on as debt.
in the living standard of farm-
ers”. “The policy and intention
of theGovernmentof India,be-
hind these laws, are good. We
have held meetings with farm
unions and tried to convince
them. We wish that they dis-
cuss (these laws), clause by
clause,” he said.
Asked if the Government
willinvitethefarmersformore
talks, Tomar said: “Their pro-
grammes are going on. We are
waiting for their response.”
The previous five rounds of
talks have remained inconclu-
sive.
The last scheduled round,
on December 9, was cancelled
after a meeting between Shah
and representatives of farm
unions.
The Centre then extended
a new set of proposals to re-
solve the crisis, including a
written assurance on continu-
ation of minimum support
price (MSP)-based procure-
ment and parity in transac-
tions inside and outside
Agricultural Produce Market
Committee (APMC) mandis.
But the farm leaders re-
jectedtheseproposalsandsaid
that they would escalate their
protestsuntilthelawswerere-
pealed.
(WITHKRISHNKAUSHIKIN
NEW DELHI AND PARIMAL
DABHIINGANDHINAGAR)
mentauthoritiesandprivateper-
sons during the time of
Emergency”.She“facedinnumer-
able challenges and suffered
atrocities upon her husband be-
ingcompelledtoleaveherbehind
with the children”.
There would be “nightly
knocks” on her door, and police-
menandotherofficialswoulden-
ter her home and leave her alone
“only after she offered them left-
overpiecesofvaluables”.Sheand
herchildrenwerepsychologically
disturbed, the petition says –
“such was the indiscriminate,
high handed, unauthorized
power unleashed upon the citi-
zens of the country during the
said period”.
Now, at an advanced age, she
“hasasimpledesiretoseekaclo-
sure to her trauma and an ac-
knowledgment toher suffering”,
the petition says.
Sarin, who was born in
Moradabadasthedaughterofthe
headmaster in a missionary
school,receivedaMaster'sdegree
in school administration in the
United States. She subsequently
taughtatheralmamater,Isabella
ThoburnCollegeinLucknow,and
atJamiaMilliaUniversityandthe
AmericanInternationalSchoolin
New Delhi.
104-yr-old
in Assam’s Cachar district — still
a “foreigner”.
Speaking on the phone from
her home 30 km from Silchar, in
Assam's Hindu Bengali domi-
nated-Barak Valley, Nyuti re-
members the mild annoyance
she felt every time her father ex-
pressed such a hope. Or went to
the porch of their home, looked
across the road at Modi’s poster,
foldedhishandsinnamaskar,and
bowed his head. “The law has
come, it has been nearly a year,
but what has 'God' done?” she
would ask him.
Breaking down, Nyuti adds,
“All he wanted was to die an
Indian...Andwetried,weranfrom
court to court, from advocates to
social workers, submitted all the
papers. And just like that, he’s
gone. We are still ‘foreigners’ in
the eyes of the law. The Act
(CitizenshipAmendmentAct)did
nothing for us.”
TheModigovernmenthasre-
peatedly emphasised that the
CAA is meant to give citizenship
to people like Das, largely Hindu
persecuted minorities in their
countries of residence, who mi-
gratedtoIndia.WhiletheActhas
widespread support in the Barak
Valley,itisopposedbyotherparts
of Assam,whofearthatthegrant
ofcitizenshiprightsto“outsiders”
would change the essential na-
ture of the state.
With the Assam Assembly
elections drawing near, the BJP
has started talking of the CAA
again. However, as in the case of
Das, the change has largely re-
mainedonpaper,withevenrules
of the Act yet to be framed.
Former Silchar Congress MP
Sushmita Dev, who visited Das's
familyonMonday,saystheActis
just a “tool”. “It’s a means to an
end.Andtheendispolarisingthe
Hindu Bengali vote. Even if the
CAAwasineffect,itdoesn’tassure
citizenship to anybody. Why has
the BJP not helped any of the
HinduBengaliswhoarestillinde-
tention?”
Sitting Silchar BJP MP Dr
Rajdeep Roy claims the process
hasgotdelayedduetotheCovid-
19 pandemic. “I offer my condo-
lences to the bereaved family,
whathashappenedisveryunfor-
tunate, but this pandemic is not
inmyhands...Itoohopedthatthe
rules and regulation with regard
to the CAA would have been
framed by now.”
Heunderstandstheanxietyof
the Hindu Bengali community,
Roy adds. “I belong to the same
group, my grandfather migrated
from erstwhile East Pakistan
(now Bangladesh) to India.”
Daswouldtellhischildrenof-
ten how he crossed from East
PakistantoTripurabecauseofthe
killings there. “This was in the
1950sor'60s,”sayssonGouranga
Das. While how Das made his
way to Assam is unclear,
Gourangasaysitwasatoughjour-
ney,withhisfatherearninghisliv-
ing selling moori (puffed rice)
ladoos.
Then, one day in March 2018,
someofficialscametotheirhome,
took Das away and put him in a
detentioncentreforforeignersin
Silchar District Jail. “We had re-
ceived a few notices but couldn’t
make it to the hearings for nu-
merous reasons, the main being
that my father was old and ill,”
says Gourango.
Das was granted bail in June
2018, but the family's case is still
on in court, his children appear-
ing for hearings. “There was a
problem with the authenticity of
thecertificateofregistrationfrom
Tripura,” says his advocate,
Souman Choudhry, on the delay,
addingthatDas'schildrenwould
still have to prove their citizen-
ship.
Das's family barely under-
stands the legal jargon, only that
the label of foreigners continues.
In his last few months, Das
had slipped into deep dementia,
thefamilysays.Atonelevel,itwas
a relief. “He would eat, sleep and
rarelytalk.Whenhedid,hewould
talkabouthowhiscasewouldbe
solvedbecausetheModigovern-
mentwouldhelphim.Wedidnot
have the heart to tell him that it
hadnotmovedatall,”Nyutisays.
DaswascrematedonSunday
night with only his family in at-
tendance. Gourango fears only
worse is ahead.
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

5 THE CITY
Total Vacant
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020 TOTAL CASES HOSPITAL BEDS 18,807 14,638
6,08,830 VENTILATORS 1,525 654

*Total active cases

Daily cases Recoveries Deaths Tests

CORONAVIRUS Dec 13
Dec 14
1,984
1,376
2,539
2,854
33
60
72,335
63,944
IN THE CAPITAL Total 15,247* 5,83,509 10,074 72,86,847

DELHI POLICE TELLS COURT

Doctors flag Covid-linked deadly fungal infection
‘Kalita trying to show after Ganga Ram hospital sees 12 cases in 15 days
Mishra behind riots’ EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14

DOCTORSATSirGangaRamhos-
pital have witnessed more than
12 cases of Covid-19 triggered
Mucormycosis fungus — which
causeslossofeyesight,removalof
thenoseandjawbone,and50per
centmortalityincaseswhereitaf-
fects the brain — within 15 days.
Black Fungus or
Mucormycosis,previouslycalled
zygomycosis,isaseriousbutrare
fungal infection caused by a
group of molds called mu-
cormyceteswhichexistintheen-
vironment. Mucormycosis
mainly affects people who have
health problems or take medi-
cines that lower the body's abil-
ity to fight germs and sickness.
DrManishMunjal,SeniorENT
surgeonatthehospital,said,“The
frequencywithwhichwearewit-
nessing the occurrence of Covid
triggered mucormycosis with
high morbidity and mortality is
alarming.Earlyclinicalsuspicion
on symptoms such as nose ob-
struction, swelling in the eye or
cheeks,andblackdrycrustsinthe
noseshouldimmediatelyprompt
a biopsy and start of the antifun-
gal therapy as early as possible.”
The symptoms are face
numbness, one-side nose ob-
structions or swelling of eyes, or
pain.TheENTsurgeonstakesam-
ples for culture and start defini-
tive medical treatment which
Risk
factors
BLACK FUNGUS or
Mucormycosis is caused
byagroupof moldscalled
mucormycetes. Mucor-
mycosis mainly affects
people who have health
problems or take medi-
cinesthatlowerthebody's
ability to fight germs and
sickness.
might prevent medical loss.
Inonecase,a32-year-oldwho
hadrecoveredfromCovid-19ex-
periencedanaggingleftsidenose
obstruction, which rapidly be-
cameaneyeswellingwithintwo
days, after which he reached out
to the doctors. The left side of his
face had become completely
numb and he was brought to the
hospitalemergencyinapartially
disoriented and obtunded state.
“His tests revealed the pres-
enceofsteeplyelevatedsugarand
infection levels, but even more
deadlier, the presence of a killer
rare fungus called Mucor, which
wassampledfromhisnosedebris.
AnMRIrevealedthattheinfection
had already destroyed a signifi-
cant part of his left side sinuses,
eye,upperjawboneandmuscles,
and even had made passage into
the brain,” said Dr Munjal.
Anextensivesurgicaldebride-
ment was undertaken by a team
of ENTandeyesurgeons,andthe
patient had to be subsequently
putonlifesavingantifungalmed-
icationandvitalcriticalcaresup-
port for more than two weeks.
Early detection can prevent
loss of eyesight, nose or jaw
through clinical intervention,
doctors said. Dr Shaloo Bageja, a
senior eye surgeon at the hospi-
tal,said,“Orbitalinvolvement(the
bonycavitythatcontainstheeye-
ball)isagravedevelopmentinthe
course of this disease, and points
not only towards the possibility
ofpermanentlossofeyesightbut
lifeaswellbecausebraininvolve-
mentistheleadingcauseofdeath
in mucormycosis.”

Police said the Pinjra Tod member is trying to create a narrative and make it viral. Express
ANAND MOHAN J
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
THE DELHI Police, while oppos-
ing the bail application of Pinjra
Tod member Devangana Kalita
in connection with a Northeast
Delhi riots case, has told a Delhi
courtthat shewascreating“nar-
ratives” to show that BJP leader
Kapil Mishra was behind the ri-
ots, and making this viral to
make people believe it was the
truth.
The submissions were made
beforeAdditionalSessionsJudge
AmitabhRawatbySpecialPublic
ProsecutorAmitPrasad,whoap-
peared for the police. Kalita is
facing trial in a case where the
stringent Unlawful Activities
Prevention Act (UAPA) has been
invokedagainstherovercharges
that she was part of a conspiracy
that led to the riots.
The court put up the matter
forfurtherhearingonDecember
16.
Citingamediareport,Kalita’s
counsel Adit Pujari had argued
thatthe riots were notstartedby
the anti-CAA protesters, but
rather by pro-CAA protesters led
by Mishra.
The public prosecutor, how-
ever, told the court: “First the ac-
cusedcreateanarrativeandthen
make the larger masses believe
that the narrative that you are
giving out is correct, so that the
massesbelievethattheprosecu-
tion is targetedagainstonecom-
munity... Will these media re-
ports decide the fate of
prosecution? The accused is try-
ing to show that Kapil Mishra
wasbehindalltheseandthatthe
policewasinvestigatingonlyone
side… Why has the accused re-
lied on media reports? Because
the accused also need to take
shelter under something.”
"If theinvestigation,thepros-
ecution and this country is to
continue on the foundation of
what is being reported in the
media, then that is the end of
rule of law,” Prasad said.
Regarding Pujari’s con-
tentionthattheprosecution had
selectively placed messages
from WhatsApp chats to prove
their case against Kalita, Prasad
said that "every bit and pieces of
investigation cannot be part of
the chargesheet".
HesaidKalitacannotsaythat
her case is different from that of
the co-accused Sharjeel Imam
and that they were following
separate paths.
“I have demonstrated from
the tweet of Pinjra Tod that
Pinjra Tod was supporting
Sharjeel Imam. From the
speeches of Imam, it is clear
what was the intent. When I
want to connect the two, the ac-
cused says they were travelling
in separate paths and nottocon-
nect them. All that the accused
wastryingtodoiscreateanarra-
tive and not go beyond that,”
Prasad said.
He further said from the
statements of witnesses, it was
seen that the narrative that pro-
CAA protesters started the riots
was false.
Year after Jamia violence, university’s plea
for action against police personnel in limbo
MAHENDERSINGH
MANRAL&
ARANYASHANKAR
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
INTHEpastoneyear,theenquiry
to probe the role of its own per-
sonnel in connection with the
December 15 violence at Jamia
Millia Islamia has been trans-
ferred by the Delhi Police Crime
Branch to the Cyber Cell, but no
personnel have been identified
inconnectionwiththeassaulton
students.
Anenquirywasinitiatedafter
severalvideosemergedpurport-
edly showing police assaulting
people inside the Jamia library
andbreakingaCCTVcameraand
furniture. Police maintain they
entered the varsity in pursuit of
rioters.
Sources said a Crime Branch
special investigation team had
asked SHOs of police stations in
SouthEastdistrictfordutyrosters
of that day. “The SIT later recom-
mendedtothepolicechiefanen-
quiry… to probe the conduct of
police personnel. Later, the
Additional CP (Cyber Cell) was
askedtoconducttheenquiry,and
investigations are still on,” said a
police source.
The December 15, 2019
protests had spiralled into vio-
lenceafterasectionof protesters,
including students and local res-
idents, tried to march to
Parliament against the
Citizenship Amendment Act but
were stopped by police at
Mathura Road. As a section of
protesters started pelting stones
andsetbusesandprivatevehicles
on fire, police retaliated with
lathi-charge and eventually
stormed the campus.
Seven persons, including for-
mer Congress MLA of Okhla Asif
Khan,havebeennamedbyDelhi
Police in their FIRs. Police also
Students being brought out
of Jamia with their hands in
the air last year. Reuters
chargesheeted JNU PhD student
SharjeelImamand Jamiastudent
Asif Iqbal Tanha.
Jamia had meanwhile filed a
policecomplaintagainstthe"bru-
talaction"of "unrulypolicemen"
and the matter is now in court.
The university had also submit-
ted a bill of Rs 2.66 crore to the
MHRDfordamagetopropertyin
itslibraryseekingcompensation,
and demanded that a high level
committee or a judicial commit-
tee be set up to probe the matter.
Therehasbeennomovementon
both matters.
"We had written to them, we
even pursued it further but we
cannot force anyone. When our
police complaint was not turned
into an FIR, we went to the court.
Ithasbeenoneyear,thecourthas
notgivenitsdecision,"JamiaVice-
ChancellorNajmaAkhtartoldThe
Indian Express.
The library was opened in
Marchwith800seatingcapacity,
150 computers and new LED
lights. "It took around two
months for the renovation to be
complete," said librarian Tariq
Ashraf.
At the time of the violence,
Akhtar had publicly come out
strongly against the police entry
and in support of her students.
Asked what she expected in this
one year in terms of justice for
her students, Akhtar said she
would prefer to "focus on the
positives" and let the "nega-
tives" slide, since it was not un-
der her control.
"In this one year, we got rank
10intheNIRFuniversityrankings,
makingitthefirstMuslimminor-
ityuniversitytodoso.Inasurvey
by MHRD, we got the top rank
amongcentraluniversities...Even
despite what happened, our stu-
dents sat for exams. We are very
proud of this," she said.
Butforstudentsinjuredinthe
attack,movingonhasnotbeenas
easy. Minhajuddin (27), who lost
hislefteyeintheviolence,said:"I
wasworkingataprivatelawfirm
inDelhi,butlonghoursinfrontof
the laptop started causing strain.
Threemonthsago,Ileft.”Henow
worksatacivilcourtinhishome-
town Samastipur.

CORRIGENDUM
‘Statements taken in This is with reference to advertisement No. 1/2020 appeared
in the Dainik Jagran and Indian Express Newspapers on dated
8.12.2020 for inviting applications for One post of Chief

a hurry’: Court grants

Executive Officer in Agri Business Incubation Centre, Gandhi
Bhawan, CCS HAU, Hisar vide which last date for submission of
applications has been mentioned as 8.1.2020 instead of
8.1.2021 through oversight. Accordingly all concerned are

bail to school owner
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
A DELHI court Monday granted
bail to a private school owner in
a Northeast Delhi riots case, say-
ing it was evident that till date,
noinvestigationwasdoneinthis
case in which “statements of
witnesses were hurriedly
recorded whose veracity would
betestedatthetimeof thetrial”.
GrantingbailtoFaisalFarooq,
ownerof RajdhaniSchoolinShiv
Vihar, Additional Sessions Judge
Vinod Yadav said though the ac-
cused was in jail for a consider-
able period of time, police has
hardly been able to bring on
record any material against him
for criminal conspiracy. The
court noted that until June, vir-
tuallynoinvestigationwasdone.
Farooq was first arrested for
hisallegedinvolvementin burn-
ing and damaging the property
of adjacent DRP Convent School
during the riots. He was granted
bail in June, after which he was
informed that last date for submission of applications be read as
8th January, 2021. The candidates are also requested to visit
University website regularly for updates/corrigendum/ amend-
ment, if any, with respect to above advertisement.
arrested in another riots case in NODAL OFFICER
Dayalpur.
“It is, however, evident that
till June 20, virtually no investi-
gation had been done in the
present matter and after appli-
cant (Farooq) was admitted to
bail in the (first) case, the state-
ments were hurriedly recorded,
theveracitywhereof tobetested
at the time of trial. Prima facie,
sections 307, 153A and 155 IPC
are not made out against the ap-
plicant. The applicant has been
in jail for a considerable period.
During the last almost 10
months, applicant has been in
judicial custody and police has
been hardly able to bring on
record any material against him
under section 120-B of IPC,” the
court said in its order.
Farooq’s counsel R K Kochar
arguedhewasfalselyimplicated,
however Special Public
ProsecutorAmit Prasad,appear-
ing for police, opposed the bail,
saying witnesses said in their
statements that Farooq was al-
legedly involved in the riots.

Muslim man unlikely

to be part of Hindu
mob, says court
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
ADELHIcourthasgrantedbailto
a man in two separate cases re-
latedtotheNortheastDelhiriots,
saying “it does not appeal to the
senses that accused, being a
Muslim, would rub shoulder to
shoulderinsuchasurchargedat-
mosphere with members of an
‘unlawful assembly’, which
mainly comprised persons from
the Hindu community, and
would beat a Muslim boy to
death”.
Special Public Prosecutor
Manoj Chaudhary, appearing for
police, opposed the bail saying
Aarifwasallegedlypartoftheun-
lawfulassembly/riotousmobthat
had inflicted severe injuries on
Ashfaaq Hussain and Zakir that
ultimately resulted in their
deaths. Aarif’s lawyer, Abdul
Gaffar,toldthecourtofAdditional
Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav that
he was falsely implicated in the
case by police.
Thecourtsaidmajorityof the
accused persons which formed
the “unlawful assembly” were
Hindus, whereas Aarif was
Muslim. “It is very obfuscatory
thataMuslimboywouldbecome
part of an ‘unlawful assembly’
mostly consisted of members of
Hinducommunity...So,primafa-
cie, applicant (Aarif) cannot be
saidtobepartof‘unlawfulassem-
bly’ or share ‘common object’
withthem...,"thecourtsaid,inits
order passed on December 11.
“Applicant(Aarif)isnotvisible
in any CCTV/video footage. As re-
gards CDR location,...applicant is
residentofthesamearea...,”itsaid.

New Delhi

6 THE CITY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
SUPPLIES KEEP COMING IN FROM VILLAGES IN PUNJAB
Under Singhu shadow, Tikri protest grows in size too
SUKRITA BARUAH
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
MORE THAN two kilometres
from the start of the farmers’
blockade at Delhi’s Tikri border,
Mewa Singh sat on Rohtak road
in the midst of tightly parked
tractors and trolleys, chopping
cauliflower and onions. He was
in the process of cooking lunch
for fellow farmers from his vil-
lage in Haryana’s Fatehabad dis-
trict. “We have no shortage of
supplies and we will only leave
after complete fulfillment of our
demands,”hesaid—asentiment
that has been echoed by innu-
merable farmers over the past
two weeks.
WhiletheblockadeatSinghu
border has become the centre of
national attention, with major
farm union leaders stationed
there, the protest at Tikri has
grown over the weeks to sprawl
over several kilometres of
Rohtak road and roads adjacent
to it. While lacking some of the
facilities available at Singhu, in-
cludingfootmassagers anda15-
foot-tall steam boiler, it too has
developed into a tightly admin-
istered site of mass protest.
Farmers like Mewa Singh,
who are preparing their own
food by their tractors, are receiv-
ing fresh supplies arriving in
truckloads from villages in
Haryana.
“Every day, trucks and trol-
leys with suppliesfrom Haryana
come and pass by our tractors
and we can pick up what we
need from them — vegetables,
milk, toothpaste, soap, bottled
water,” said Gurjand Singh from
Punjab’s Bathinda district.
Jogendra Ghasi Ram Nain,
president of the Bharatiya Kisan
Union, Haryana, said his union is
in touch with stakeholders in
various districts to transport
supplies to Tikri border.
“We are in touch with prad-
hans of mandis, gurdwaras and
people in villages, and those
bringing in the supplies have
been told they have to go to the
very last point of the blockade to
reach everyone. Last week,
Uklana Mandi sent 25 sacks of
sugar and 1,500 litres of milk,
along with toiletries like tooth-
paste and soap. Dhamtan Sahib
A group of farmers at the Tikri protest site, who cook for
around 50-70 people. Jignasa Sinha
Haryana cops say over 60,000 at
borders, situation unsustainable
SUKHBIR SIWACH
CHANDIGARH, DECEMBER 14
WITH THE number of protesters
atDelhi’sbordersgrowingbythe
day, senior officers in Haryana
Policesaid theborders can’ttake
more people as “the situation is
increasingly turning unsustain-
able”. Haryana Police said more
than 60,000 protesters are
camping at the borders while
the farmer leaders said the fig-
ureishigher.Apartfromfarflung
areas of Punjab, farmers have
been arriving from Haryana, MP,
UPandotherpartsof thecountry
to join the protest.
To curb further movement,
police have installed nakas
(check posts) at the Punjab and
Haryana borders. “The idea is
that people feel there is police
presence at the borders to min-
imise movement of protesters,”
said a Haryana police officer.
When contacted, Haryana
DGPManojYadavasaid,“Wehave
madepreparationsthatifweneed
to seal the borders, we should be
able to do it. As of now, borders
have not been sealed to avoid in-
convenience to commuters.”
Two national highways,
Delhi-Ambala and Delhi-Hisar,
areblockedandanyone wanting
Gurudwara in Narwana tehsil
sent 5,000 litres milk and one
truck of cauliflowers.Ujhanavil-
lage from the same tehsil sent
2,500 litres milk and 2,500 kg of
vegetables. I cannot give an esti-
mation of how much supplies
come in each day because it
keeps flowing in,” he said.
Close to the stage of the
protest, an enclosure has been
set up where along with cooked
langar, food supplies are also
available for farmers to take to
cook at their trolleys. On
Monday, brinjals, turnips,
onions, bathua saag, palak,
pumpkin, chillies, coriander,
curd, milk packets stored in ice
water, salt, bread and spices
were lined up for them.
The overall administration of
the Tikri site is being supervised
by a 10-member committee
with representatives from
Punjab farmer unions.
“Our work is under the guid-
ance of the larger 30-member
committee at Singhu border to
ensure that this long struggle is
carried out democratically and
without violence. Every day, the
stage is set up from 11 am to 4
pm. Every person who wants to
speak has to submit all informa-
tion about themselves, and that
has to be approved by the com-
mittee. No one can speak more
than five minutes so that every-
one can get a chance to speak for
farmers. But we are very clear
that there can be no talk of reli-
gion and no attempts to talk
about one’s political party,” said
Pragat Singh, BKU Rajewal state
secretary, Punjab.
Atthefootof thestagealsosit
members of the ‘Fund
Committee’, who are coordinat-
ing donations coming in. From
time to time, people walk up to
them and make donations —
somegivingRs1,200,somemore
than Rs 5,000 — and they note
down information about them.
“Every morning at 9, we
bring together all the funds from
the previous day and distribute
them to where they are re-
quired. On Sunday, we had re-
ceived Rs 35,000. Around
Rs 20,000 is the amount being
required for the daily expendi-
ture and coordination,” said
Sukhjinder Singh, a member of
the fund committee.
At Singhu border. Sukhbir Siwach
to enter Delhi has to travel sev-
eral kilometres via link roads
through villages.
An officer, requesting
anonymity, further said: “We are
in contact with farmer leaders,
urging them to not increase the
numberofprotestersatDelhibor-
ders. If any major development
takesplace,wewillreasonandne-
gotiate with them and try to stop
them, if necessary. We have ap-
pealedtothePunjabgovernment
that more people should not be
sent to the borders... With winter
settingin,wewouldtrytoensure
the numbers don’t go up further.
The situation is increasingly be-
comingunsustainable;morethan
30-40 people have been hospi-
At Singhu border, which is one of the main centres of the farmers’ protest, Monday. Abhinav Saha
New farm laws give licence Delhi BJP gets message from
to capitalists to up prices: CM top: Use social media, restart
outreach to counter protest
ASHNA BUTANI
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
SPEAKING TO a gathering of
party workers who observed a
day-long fast in support of farm-
ers, Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal said the new farm laws
not only go against the interests
of farmers,butalsoagainstthose
of the common man, and that
they give capitalists the “license
to increase prices”.
Citing the example of onion
prices, he elaborated, “Inflation
takes place because some peo-
ple buy and hoard it in large
quantities.Thereislowsupplyin
the market and then onions be-
come expensive. The law per-
mits hoarding.” He also said
farmers are doing the country a
favour by protesting at the bor-
ders. “Farmers are protesting
non-violently.Leadershavebeen
callingthemagentsof Chinaand
Pakistan...anti-nationalsandter-
rorists,” he said, urging politi-
cians not to defame farmers.
Reiterating his party’s stance
on the farm laws, he said, “When
we were asked to convert stadi-
ums to jails, we refused. Many of
ourMLAsareattheprotestswith-
talised due to different illnesses.”
On the other hand, farmers at
Singhu border said they won’t
budgeunlessthefarmlawsarere-
pealed. “Fateh karke hi jayenge
(Wewillreturnonlyafterwinning
thebattle),”saidPuranSingh,who
travelled 520 km from Bachivind
villageonPunjab’sAtariborderto
Singhu. His tractor was part of a
cavalcade of 100 tractor trolleys
that arrivedfromPunjabvillages.
“If these laws are introduced,
we will turn into labourers on
our own fields. Till now, we have
beenleadingalifeof ourchoice...
We have brought ration for six
months to continue our agita-
tion, we won’t return empty
handed,” added Singh.
ANAND VIHAR
Poor
230
AQI
PM: 2.5
0 500
0-50 Good
CM Kejriwal, AAP MLAs during the fast. Amit Mehra
out an AAP symbol. I have also
been to the border as a sewadar.”
He further said the BJP was
rattled to see his support: “Last
week, when the farmers called a
Bharat bandh, I wanted to visit
themandparticipate.ButtheBJP
governmentlockedmydoorsand
didnotallowmetogoout.”Delhi
Police has denied claims of the
CMbeingputunderhousearrest.
As Monday’s fast began,
Kejriwal tweeted at 10 am,
“Fasting is sacred.Wherever you
are, fast for our farmer brothers.
Pray for their success. In the end,
they will emerge victorious.”
As farmers held a day-long
fastattheprotestsites,attheAAP
office too, over 1,000 volunteers
Manyof themfeelcorporates
willgrabtheirlandif thelawsare
introduced. “Introduction of
these laws have given us pain,”
saidMalkiyatSingh,aresidentof
village Kalan (Tarn Taran).
Another farmer from the same
area, Sucha Singh, added, “Our
ancestors made many sacrifices
for the freedom of our country.
Now, we are ready for any sacri-
fice to save our land. If needed,
the next generation will also
make sacrifices for the cause.”
Jamhoori Kisan Sabha leader
Pargat Singh Jamarai told The
Indian Express that the agitation
will be intensified if the “anti-
farmer” laws are not repealed
soon.Healsourgedauthoritiesto
arrangeformoremobiletoiletsat
theborders,sayingshortageoffa-
cilitieshasbecomeamajorprob-
lem: “Mobile toilets arranged by
Haryana and Delhi authorities
have turned dysfunctional in the
absence of regular cleaning.” The
Indian Express found dysfunc-
tionaltoiletsneartheprotestsite.
A senior officer in the
Haryana government said more
than 300 toilets have been
arranged at the borders, apart
fromdeploymentof safaikaram-
charisthere.However,theofficer
admittedthatsanitationandwa-
ter supply shortage is an issue.
SIRIFORT
Moderate
119
AQI
PM: 2.5
0 500
51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate
observed a fast from 9 am to 5
pm.AnilGautam, anAAPworker
from Gokalpur, said, “I am origi-
nally from Bulandshahr and I
come from a line of farmers... we
are all in solidarity with them.”
SourabhGupta,aworkerfrom
ShalimarBagh,saidtherewasno
teaservedatthepartyoffice:“We
have not eaten anything since
morning. Besides party workers,
many are observing a fast from
home.”AAP worker Anil Sharma
from Greater Kailash added:
“Wegetfoodbecauseof farmers.
So it is unfair they should strug-
gle at the borders while we live
ourlivesnormally.Thisiswhyso
many of us decided to
fast today.”
Woman set on fire 3,000 AIIMS nurses
by husband after on indefinite strike
argument, dies
MAHENDER SINGH
MANRAL
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
A 32-YEAR-OLD woman died af-
ter she was set on fire, allegedly
by her husband in Southeast
Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, following
an argument over the latter’s re-
lationship withanother woman.
Initial investigation revealed
that the woman had called her
parents hours before the inci-
dent. By the time they reached,
she was taken to a hospital
where she succumbed to in-
juries during treatment.
DCP (Southeast) R P Meena
said the accused, identified as
Mohd Ayaz Chaudhary (44), a
builder, is in police custody. “We
have arrested him on charge of
murder. Further investigation is
on,” he said.
Policesaidtheincident came
to light on December 10
after they received a call at 9 am
that a woman, identified as
Mehjabeen, was set on fire and
screaming for help from her
house.
“Ayaz was also present and
their children — a 10-year-old
SHADIPUR
Moderate
113
AQI
PM: 10
0 500
201-300 Poor 301-400 Very Poor
ABHINAV RAJPUT
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
FACING BACKLASH over the
three farm bills, the Central BJP
has once again instructed the
Delhi unit to launch its farmer
outreachprogrammeinthecap-
ital’s villages and outskirts.
It has also told the Delhi BJP,
as well its units in other states,to
use social media, hoardings,
leaflets in newspapers and dis-
tribute separate booklets that it
has published for the Sikh com-
munity to clear misconceptions
regarding the laws.
To this end, a four-day cam-
paignonagriculturalreformwill
be started by the Delhi BJP on
Tuesday from Najafgarh.
Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta,
MPs Parvesh Sahib Singh and
Ramesh Bidhuri, and Leader of
Opposition in the Delhi
Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri
will visit Najafgarhand other vil-
lages in Outer Delhi.
Gupta said, “Farmers will be
apprised of the features of the
newlawsandthemisconception
son and two-year-old daughter
— were sleeping in the other
room. Ayaz told police that his
wife was cooking when the inci-
dent tookplace. Doctorssaid she
sustained over 85 per cent burn
injuries,” a senior officer said.
The victim’s brother, Imran
Khan, told police that his sister
and Ayaz got married around 13
yearsago.HeallegedAyazbegan
seeing another woman within
months of the marriage.
“She used to stop him, but
he constantly beat her up. On
December 9, annoyed with his
wife’s interference, he assaulted
her. Afterwards, he also threat-
ened her with dire conse-
quences,” alleged Khan.
Neighbours informed police
that the couple was fighting
through the night. “Around 5
am, Mehjabeen called her
mother, but did not say any-
thing. Her mother called her
back at 8 am, but she did not an-
swer the call. Around 9 am, the
victim’s neighbours called her
parents and informed them that
she was set on fire and trapped
inside the house. Ayaz was ar-
rested based on circumstantial
evidence,” an officer said.
New Delhi
DWARKA- SECTOR 8
Moderate
164
AQI
PM: 2.5 500
0
401-500 Severe
A four-day campaign
on agricultural reform
will be started by
the Delhi BJP from
Najafgarh on Tuesday
would be cleared.”
Inanofficialcommunication,
the state units have been told
that “some political parties have
been trying to misguide and
mislead the farmers”.
As the party’s social media is
a “strong medium of communi-
cation”, “all states to utilise the
forum proactively and and pub-
licisethetrendandhashtagtobe
given by Centre”.
“The leaflet prepared by the
Central government to be in-
sertedinnewspapers...andmax-
imum publicity to be done
throughoutdooradvertisingand
hoardings... Also, a separate
booklet has been published for
Sikh brothers and sisters which
has to be circulated,” the com-
munication reads.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
OVER 3,000 nurses at AIIMS be-
gan an indefinite strike Monday
afternoon demanding clarity on
salary structure. In a letter to AI-
IMSdirectorDrRandeepGuleria,
the nursing union raised con-
cerns over the 6th CPC anomaly.
“The callous attitude of AIIMS
administration towards nurses
has forced us to go on an indefi-
nite strike from Monday after-
noon onwards,” said the letter.
Later at night, Union Health
SecretaryRajeshBhushanissued
anorder,citingaDelhiHighCourt
judgment, and directed the AI-
IMSadministrationtoensurethe
directions are strictly followed.
“There shouldbe no cessation or
disruption of nursing functions
inAIIMSnorsuchanactionaided
orabetted.Non-compliancewill
be treated as offence under
Disaster Management Act read
with Indian Penal Code and ac-
tion will be taken accordingly
against defaulting authorities/
employees,” he said.
Inavideomessage,DrGuleria
appealedtoallnursestonotgoon
strikeduringthepandemic:“The
nurses’ union has put in 23 de-
mands and almost all have been
metbyAIIMSadministrationand
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
S K Y WA T C H
FORECAST: Dec 15
Mainly clear sky.
Shallow to moderate
fog in the morning
MAX: 21 MIN: 8
2.2°Cbelownormal 0.6°Cbelownormal
According to Ramvir Bidhuri,
16majorconferences,whichwill
be addressed by the state unit
and national leaders, will be or-
ganised in Delhi under this
special campaign, while the
message will also be communi-
cated tofarmers through several
chaupals.
MP Verma said, “The leaders
will convince farmers of the
benefits like one country-one
market, which will help farmers
get the correct price for their
product and wipe out interme-
diaries. We will also show that
there are many farmers in sup-
port of the bill.”
MLA Bidhuri added:
“Agriculture Reforms Laws will
actually bring prosperity to the
livesof farmers.Ithasbeenmade
clear by the government that
MSP will continue, mandis will
be expanded, and in case of any
dispute with the contractor, the
option of going to the courts will
also be open. So we urge farm-
ers to withdraw their agitation
and return home once the gov-
ernment has resolved all their
doubts.”
The strike began Monday
afternoon. Express
government. There is one de-
mand which they have insisted
upon... a perceived anomaly in
fixation of pay, as far as the 6th
CPC is concerned. It, however,
seems inappropriate that when
the country is fighting a pan-
demic... unfortunately... the
nurses’unionhasgoneon strike.”
The administration has also
made arrangements to ensure
there is no disruption inservices.
Emergency services, OPDs, OTs
willbecurtailedandonlylimited
procedureswillbecarriedoutde-
pendingonavailabilityofresident
doctors and faculty members.
Dr DK Sharma, medical su-
perintendent, said: “We are try-
ing to manage provision of ade-
quate patient-care services with
helpfromavailablenursingstaff,
resident doctors, faculty .”
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

7 GOVT & POLITICS

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020

AFTER ADHIR LETTER SEEKING SHORT SESSION ON FARM PROTESTS, OTHER KEY ISSUES

Govt: No winter session due to Non-GulfNRIs

DELHI CONFIDENTIAL
pandemic, Budget session in Jan
MANOJ C G
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
DAYS AFTER Congress leader in
Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury, sent a letter to
Speaker Om Birla, urging him to
conveneashortwintersessionof
Parliamenttodiscussissuessuch
asthefarmers’agitation,thegov-
ernment on Monday informed
him that floor leaders of various
TAGORE ‘CONNECTION’ parties, whom it had consulted,
were in favour of doing away
THE BJP is making an aggressive push in West Bengal and the with the session due to the pan-
ruling TrinamoolCongressisleavingnostoneunturnedtode- demic situation.
fenditscitadel.Amidthehigh-voltagepoliticalbattlebetween In a letter to Chowdhury,
the two parties, the Congress will this week start rolling out Parliamentary Affairs Minister
its rallies and begin an exercise at stock-taking. The party's PralhadJoshistatedthatthegov-
West Bengal in-charge, Jitin Prasada, will be in the state for ernment is willing to have the
three days and his first stop will be a visit to the residence- next sessionof Parliament at the
turned-museum of Rabindranath Tagore. Interestingly, “earliest”, and that it would be
PrasadahasaTagoreconnection.Husgreat-grandfather,Jwala appropriate to have the Budget
Prasada, who was an ICS officer, was the husband of the Nobel session in January.
laureate's niece Sudakshina Tagore. Sudakshina was the The Budget session had be-
daughter of Tagore’s brother Hemendranath Tagore. gun on January 31 last year, and
ALL FOR CASH CROP PM to interact
WHILE MOST farmers' unions are demanding a repeal of the
three farm laws, several other farm organisations have ex-
with farmers
pressedtheirsupporttotheseacts.OnesuchunionisShetkari
Sanghatna, whose leader Gunvant Patil Hangargekar met
from Punjab
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh TomaronMonday. After
the meeting, Hangargekar said it is unfair that people with during visit
moneycannotbecomefarmers.Thelegalframework,hesaid,
should be changed so that people like Bollywood actors to Kutch
AmitabhBachchanandRaniMukherjee,whohavemoney,can
become farmers. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
RAJKOT,DECEMBER14
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury,
Pralhad Joshi
on January 28 in 2018.
Chowdhury confirmed re-
ceiving the letter but said he
never suggested that the winter
session should not be held.
“Rather,” he told The Indian
Express,“Isuggestedthattheses-
sion should be held.”
The Congress leader alleged
that the government is running
away from Parliament to evade
questions on issues such as the
farmers’ protests.
In the letter to Chowdhury,
Joshi wrote: “You are aware that
the Monsoon Session was
slightly delayed, and was held in
September 2020 due to extraor-
dinary situation arising out of
Covid-19pandemic,followingall
precautionary protocols.... the
Session proved to be one of the
most productive sessions of
Parliament, with 27 Bills passed
bybothHousesin10continuous
sittings.”
He wrote that the winter
months are “crucial for manag-
ing the pandemic because of re-
centspurtincasesduringthispe-
riod, particularly in Delhi.”
Hestated,“Atpresent,weare
inthemiddleof Decemberanda
Covid vaccine is expected very
soon. In this regard, I have infor-
mally contacted floor leaders of
variouspoliticalpartiesandthey
have expressed their concerns
abouttheongoingpandemicand
opined of doing away with
Winter Session.”
Thegovernment,Joshiwrote,
is “willing to have the next ses-
sionof Parliamentattheearliest:
it would be appropriate to have
the Budget Session, 2021 in
January, 2021 keeping in mind
the unprecedented circum-
stancescreatedbyCovid-19pan-
demic.”
Whencontacted,Chowdhury
said:“Ihaveneversuggestedthat
thesessionshouldnotbeheld.In
many states, Assembly sessions
are being held. Why should
Parliamentenjoytheexemption
when, in the same country,
Assembly sessions are being
held?Itissimplyafigleaf tohide
the failures of this government–
the government is hesitant be-
causeitdoesnotwanttoreplyto
anything in Parliament.”
He maintained that the gov-
ernmentis“dithering”onseveral
issues, including farmers’ agita-
tion, and therefore “they don’t
want to convene the winter ses-
sion of Parliament”.
likelytobefirst
togetpostal
votingrights
RITIKACHOPRA&
SHUBHAJITROY
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER14
THEELECTIONCommission’s(EC)
proposal to grant postal voting
rights to Non-Resident Indians
(NRIs)maygetimplementedfirst
forvotersbasedintheUS,Canada,
New Zealand, Japan, Australia,
Germany,FranceandSouthAfrica,
The Indian Express has learnt.
The EC and the Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA) held a
meeting last week in which the
latter, sources said, agreed to the
proposal,ontheconditionthatthe
Commission should arrange the
manpower needed at the India
missionsabroadtofacilitatepostal
voting for NRIs.
The poll panel has also indi-
cated to the MEA the countries
whereitwouldliketohavepostal
votingintroducedonapilotbasis.
For now, Gulf countries are not
part of the proposed pilot given
thereservationsearlierexpressed
bytheministryoverseekingper-
mission in non-democratic na-
tionstofacilitatepostalvotingfor
ministrativelyready”toextendthe
Electronically Transmitted Postal
Ballot System (ETPBS) to voters
abroad for elections next year in
Assam,WestBengal,Kerala,Tamil
NaduandPuducherry.
Under ETPBS, which is cur-
rentlyonlyavailabletothoseinthe
defence services, the postal ballot
isdispatchedelectronicallyandre-
turnedviaordinarymail.Toextend
this facility to overseas voters, the
governmentonlyneedstoamend
theConductofElectionRules1961.
Theproposalcomesayearaf-
tertheBillthatproposedtoextend
proxy voting to overseas Indians
lapsedwiththedissolutionofthe
16th Lok Sabha.
Currently, voters residing
abroadcanonlycasttheirvotesin
their respective constituencies.
This regulation is seen as restric-
tive as only a little over a crore
Indians living overseas have reg-
istered as voters, the maximum
being from Kerala.
AccordingtotheCommission’s
proposal,anyNRIinterestedinvot-
ing through the postal ballot in an
election will have to inform the
ReturningOfficer(RO)atleastfive

TAKING TECH FORWARD

PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi
willinteractwithfarmersinKutch,
THECENTREonMondayannouncedthatthetelemedicineserv- includingthosefromPunjab,dur-
ice of the Health Ministry, which has gained momentum dur- ing his visit to the border district
ingthepandemic,crossed1millionteleconsultations.Themin- on Tuesday to lay the foundation
istryspecificallyhighlightedthetwouniquepracticesadopted stone of a 30,000-megawatt
byKerala andHimachalPradesh. Itsaid thatKerala isusing the (MW) hybrid renewable energy
eSanjeevaniOPDtoofferhealthservicestoinmatesofPalakkad park, four seawater desalination
DistrictJail,whileHimachalPradeshhasrolledoutthetechplat- plantsandamodernmilkprocess-
form at old-age homes. Kerala and Himachal Pradesh stood at ingplantof SarhadDairy.
sixth and seventh positions, respectively, in terms of consulta- The PM will land in Kutch dis-
tion offered through the tech platform. trict headquarters Bhuj and fly to
Tent City, the venue of the annual
Rann Utsav at Dhordo village near
Khavda,around80kmwestofBhuj.
Anand Sharma pans govt “At Dhordo, the Prime Mini-
sterwillinteractwithprogressive
India citizens living there.
According to sources, in the
meetingheldlastweekwithMEA,
theECislearnedtohaveproposed
that a designated officer in the
Indianmissiondownloadthebal-
lotpaperonthevoter’sbehalfand
hand it over. The overseas elector
can then mark her preference at
the mission, get the self-declara-
tion form attested by the desig-
nated officers and hand back the
ballotpaperanddeclarationform
in a sealed envelope to the mis-
PROTEST IN UP: SP workers protest against the new farm laws in Lucknow on Monday. sion, which will then dispatch all
District units of the SP organised protests and marches in several parts of Uttar Pradesh. theenvelopestotheelectionoffi-
Party chief Akhilesh Yadav did not actively participate in them. In Lucknow and Hardoi,
police used mild force to evict the protesters. Vishal Srivastav
cer concerned.
AsfirstreportedbyTheIndian
days after the notification of the
election. On receiving such infor-
mation, the RO will dispatch the
ballotpaperelectronically.
The EC first began to look for
options to enable NRIs to vote
from overseas after it received
several requests, including one
from former Rajya Sabha MP and
industrialistNaveenJindalandthe
Ministry of Overseas Affairs, and
after three writ petitions were
filedbyNRIsintheSupremeCourt
in 2013 and 2014. A 12-member
committee was set up after the
2014LokSabhaelectionstostudy
mainly three options — voting by
post, voting at an Indian mission

over farm laws, hails

farmersofKutchaswellasPunjabi ExpressonDecember1,theECap- abroad and online voting.
farmersonKutchborder,”anoffi- proached the Law Ministry last The committee ruled out on-

Covid infra ramp-up

cial release from the information
department of Gujarat govern-
ment stated on Monday.
Ex-diplomats: Trudeau’s protest monthtopermitNRIstocasttheir
votesoverseasthroughpostalbal-
lots.TheCommissiontoldthegov-
line polling as it felt this could
compromise “secrecy of voting”.
It also shot down the proposal to

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
ARGUINGTHATreformsmustbe
participatory and not arbitrary,
senior Congress leader and for-
mer Union minister Anand
Sharma Monday said reforms in
India have always been backed
bynationalconsensusandurged
the BJP-led government to hold
a dialogue with farmers agitat-
ing against the new laws and to
involve Chief Ministers of states
too to resolve the crisis. Senior
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
has been suggesting that repeal
of thelawswastheonlywayout.
Interestingly,Sharmasaid“in
any agitation sometimes there
would be elements who do not
represent the mainstream” but
argued, “I personally feel that
throughdialogueeverythingcan
be resolved, through negotia-
tions, through persuasion.”
Sharma’s remarks follow
claims by Union ministers that
“ultra-left andMaoist elements”
havehijacked the farmers’ agita-
tion.
Sharma was addressing the
‘In any agitation... there
would be elements who
don’t represent mainstream’
annual general meeting of FICCI.
Referring to the country's
fight against the pandemic,
Sharma asked the government
to be more generous in giving
out money to all sections af-
fected, especially the poor, and
provide more stimulus to help
revive the economy. He appreci-
ate the scaling up of health care
infrastructure.
While India witnessed a ma-
jor upheaval and contraction in
the economy, the country was
“not thrown off-balance” like
many other countries, he said.
The Congress, on the other
hand, has been heavily critical of
the government’s handling of
the pandemic.
Farmers, largely from Punjab
and Haryana, have been camping
onDelhiborder,demandingthere-
pealoffarmlawsenactedrecently.
Asmanyas245Sikhfarmersfrom
PunjabandHaryanawhoownland
inKutchhavebeenfightingalegal
battle for 10 years after the state
government froze the records of
theirland,statingthattheycannot
own agricultural land in Gujarat
sincetheyarenotnativeofthestate.
“AnappealfiledbytheGujarat
government against the Gujarat
High Court verdict ordering de-
freezing of our land records has
been awaiting judgement,” said
Lasman Singh Brar, one of the
leaders of Sikh farmers in Kutch
fighting the legal battle.
Surendra Singh Bhullar, an-
otherSikhfarmerleader,saidthat
he had “no idea” about farmers
being invited at the PM’s event.
“Modi didn’t listen to uswhen he
wasthechiefministerofGujarat...
soonecannotexpecthimtolisten
to us as the PM,” said Bhullar.
Bhavya Verma, district devel-
opment officer of Kutch, said his
office had no role in assembling
thedelegation.“Everythingisbe-
ing handled by the Prime
Minister’s Office,” said Verma.
remarks made to ‘fan flames’
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER14
CANADIAN PRIME Minister
Justin Trudeau's comments on
farmers' agitation in India were
"uncalled for", "disconnected
with ground realities", and
"served merely to fan the
flames", said a group of former
Indian ambassadors on Monday
in a sharply worded open letter
condemning what they called
"vote bank politics in Canada”.
Interacting with the Sikh
community last week on the
birthanniversaryof GuruNanak
Dev, Trudeau had said that the
“situation is concerning, and
we'reallveryworriedaboutfam-
ily and friends."
"Such blatant interference in
India'sinternalaffairstoappease
a section of the Liberal Party's
voter base is completely unac-
ceptable and cannot but cast a
long shadow on bilateral rela-
tions," the former diplomats
wrote.
Several farmers' unions have
Canada PM Justin Trudeau
been protesting on the bound-
aries of the national capital for
more than two weeks now, de-
manding repeal of the new farm
laws. They also want a new law
to guarantee them minimum
support price (MSP).
Theletter,signedbyatleast22
retired diplomats, including for-
merIndianHighCommissionerto
Canada Vishnu Prakash, under-
lined that Trudeau's support to
Indian farmers' demand for MSP
contradicts the stance it took in
theWTO,whereCanadawasone
of the most strident critics of
India's MSP system.
Theformerdiplomatssaidthat
Ottawaconvenientlyignoredthat
theIndiangovernmenthas,ingood
faith,beenholdingtalksatministe-
rial level with the representatives
of agitating farmers. They wrote
thatwhileCanadianinvestmentin
Indiaiswell-positionedtoscaleup,
"yet the fact remains that not un-
often, bilateral political equations
developstress,duetothepropen-
sity of certain Canadian political
parties and leaders to engage in
votebankpolitics."
The letter also condemned
Canada's indifference towards
separatist Khalistani elements
who "carry out anti-India activi-
ties, from the safety of Canadian
soil." "They (Khalistanis) are also
radicalising the Canadian youth
with far-reaching consequences,
which is being ignored at the al-
tarofshort-termpoliticalexpedi-
ency," the ex-diplomats wrote.
KhalistanielementsinCanada
controlseveralprominentgurud-
waras,whichgivesthemaccessto
substantial funds, some of which
areallegedlydivertedtoelectoral
campaign of political parties, es-
pecially the Liberals, said the for-
mer diplomats.
ernmentthatithadreceivedrep-
resentations from the Indian
diaspora about facilitating voting
throughpostalvotessincetravel-
ling to India for elections was a
“costly affair”.
The EC informed the govern-
mentthatitis“technicallyandad-
MP: RSS-affiliate to protest
for MSP procurement today
IRAM SIDDIQUE
BHOPAL, DECEMBER 14
DEMANDING IMPLEMENTA-
TION of the Minimum Support
Price (MSP), the RSS-affiliated
BharatiyaKisanSanghisallsetto
protest on two highways of the
state, with 10,000 farmers, on
Tuesday. State Agriculture
MinisterKamalPatelwillkickoff
hisseriesof meetingswithfarm-
ers to clear “misconceptions”
pertainingtothethreefarmlaws.
The RSS’s farmers’ wing has
called for the protest statingthat
the cotton producing farmers
centered in the western part of
vote at Indian missions abroad as
they do not have adequate re-
sources. In 2015, the panel finally
recommended that NRIs should
be given the “additional alterna-
tiveoptionsof e-postalballotand
proxy voting”, apart from voting
in person.
Madhya Pradesh were not given
the MSP for their cotton and
maize. Several farmers who
would otherwise cultivate soy-
abean had taken to maize culti-
vation this season but were left
inthelurchafterthegovernment
did not begin procurement.
“The farmers will assemble
and submit a memorandum
highlighting their demand that
the Cotton Corporation of India
should procure their crop, even if
itisataslightlylowerrate.Wealso
want that the procurement cen-
tres in the region should be in-
creased,”saidMaheshChoudhari,
Organisational Secretary for MP
and Chhattisgarh.

Bulletproof car
in Vijayvargiya Bengal polls: BJP wants TMC to ‘target’ it, make it main oppn
E
security upgrade Nadda's convoy was attacked on sition of President's Rule.” from TMC leaders. process, as the battle intensifies.
EXPLAINED

Kolkata: Following an attack on

BJPnationalpresidentJPNadda’s
convoy on the outskirts of
Kolkata last week, BJP national
general secretary Kailash
Vijayvargiya’s security cover has
been upgraded with the addi-
tionof abullet-resistantcartohis
convoy. He was part of the con-
voy that had come under attack.
The Union Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA) has issued an or-
der directing the CISF to ensure
Vijayvargiya only travels in that
vehicle. The CISF has been pro-
viding Z-category security to
Vijayvargiya since February
2019.
Addressing a public meeting
in Mathurapur in South 24
Parganas on Monday,
Vijayvargiya said that “it is not
Bengal’s tradition to welcome
people with stones”. ENS
LIZMATHEW
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER14
THE CONFRONTATION between
theBJP-ledCentreandTMC-gov-
ernedWestBengalgovernmentis
likely to intensify in the coming
days, with the BJP keen on Chief
MinisterMamataBanerjeetarget-
ingthesaffronparty,andinadver-
tentlyhelpingthepartyprojectit-
self as the main challenger. Party
leaders expect this to further di-
minish the Congress and the Left
Front as potential challengers in
the narrative before next year's
Assembly polls.
While the face-off has been
high-pitchedsincebeforetheLok
Sabha polls, with pitched battles
allegedlyinvolvingworkersofthe
twopartiesandaccusationsfrom
bothsidesofbeingattackedbythe
other, it was cranked up a notch
last week when BJP president J P
the outskirts of Kolkata.
Sources in BJP said the party
wants the Centre to take action
againstofficialswhowereseenas
negligent in the attack. They said
thewidelyheldviewisthatimpo-
sition of President's Rule for the
“collapsing law and order situa-
tion” could boomerang, and
Banerjeecoulduseittodrawpub-
lic sympathy. But they also said
that the “tension” between BJP
and TMC should remain, as that
could keep the BJP up in the per-
ception battle against the state's
ruling party.
Kailash Vijayvargiya, BJP gen-
eral secretary and party's West
Bengal in-charge, told The Indian
Express:“Itisanarchy;lawandor-
der has completely collapsed in
thestate,andtherulingpartyhas
crossed all limits of democratic
values and constitutional propri-
eties.It'sthefittestcaseforimpo-
For BJP, Vijayvargiya said, the
battle is only getting intensified.
“We have decided to take it up
withthepeople.Wewillcontinue
ourfight,nomatterhowmuchvi-
olence is unleashed on us. After
Nadda-ji's visit, Home Minister
Amit Shah is coming later this
week(December19-20),andthat
will infuse more confidence
among the workers,” he said.
On demands for President's
Rule, a person involved in BJP's
electioneering process in West
Bengal said, “The Chief Minister
willmakeahueandcry(overthat)
and could create sympathy in
favourofTMC.SotheBJPdoesnot
want that drastic step (imposing
President's Rule) for the time be-
ing. However, we want action to
be taken against officials so that
the heat is on.”
Other than the absence of a
strongcadretomatchthatofTMC,
BJP wants a ‘direct’ After Nadda took over the
party's reins and revamped his
Fivesanghatanmantrishavebeen
appointedinthestate'sfivezones
●
battle withTMC team in several states, he did not
move either Vijayvargiya or Shiv
and there is constant communi-
cation between the workers and
Prakash,anRSSpracharakloaned leaders,partyleaderspointedout.
toBJPwhohasbeenthejointgen- BJPnationalsecretariesandUnion
THE POLITICAL battle in West Bengal is now perceived as eralsecretaryinchargeof Bengal. ministers are also visiting each
one between the TMC and the BJP. This is exactly what the Both have been working in the zoneatleastonceintwoweeksto
BJP wants – to make it a TMC versus BJP political battle in stateforlongandplayedkeyroles keep this communication chan-
people's minds and relegate to the sidelines the other two intheparty'simpressiveperform- nel open, they said.
big players, the Left Front and the Congress, which are ex- ance in 2019 General Election, AnimeshBiswas, nationalex-
pected to contest the polls together. The party wanted when it won 18 of 42 Lok Sabha ecutive member of Bharatiya
Mamata Banerjee and her party to target its leaders to cre- seats. Janata Yuva Morcha, who has
ate the narrative of a direct contest, and the Centre's deci- The party also appointed been camping in Kolkata for the
sion to replace a “mild” Keshari Nath Tripathi as Governor Arvind Menon and Amit last few months, said: “After J P
with Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has been on a warpath with Malaviya, head of its national IT Nadda's visit, Amit Shah's visit
the state government since taking charge, is seen as having cell,asco-incharges.Withaneye next week will be the biggest
helped that. tokeeptheheatonTMC,theparty morale boost for party workers
hasalsogivenafreehandtohard- here.TheTMCleadershipistrying
liner Dilip Ghosh, the state unit toinstilfear(amongBJPworkers)
the “fear factor” has also been a where.Ourworkersaregettingat- president,totakeonBanerjeeand tojeopardisetheelectoralprocess.
hurdlefortheBJPleadershiptoex- tacked and killed,” Vijayvargiya her party aggressively. But by keeping the communica-
tract full commitment and hard said. Thepartyhasappointedabat- tionchannelsopenbetweenparty
work from the cadre, party lead- There have been similar alle- tery of lawyers in each district to workers and senior leaders, we
ers said. “There is violence every- gations against the saffron party support BJP workers in the legal aretryingtokeepthemoraleup.”

New Delhi

8 GOVT & POLITICS
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
Forces fought PLA with ‘Where is the contradiction between
utmost bravery: Rajnath DDC and Assembly elections?’
KRISHN KAUSHIK
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
CHINA INDULGED in “unpro-
voked aggression” in eastern
Ladakh but Indian troops
demonstrated “exemplary
courage” and “forced them to go
back”, Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh said on Monday.
Speaking at an event organ-
ised by FICCI, Singh said that
“the unprovoked aggression on
our Himalayan frontiers is a re-
minder of how the world is
changing, how existing agree-
ments are being challenged,
how power is being asserted
not just in the Himalayas but
across the Indo-Pacific, and how
uncertain the future of the re-
gion and world could be in this
backdrop”.
He stated that “there is big
build-up of armed forces” at the
Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.
“In these testing times our
forces have shown exemplary
courage and remarkable forti-
tude. They fought the PLA with
utmost bravery and forced
them to go back. The coming
generations of this nation will
CDS LAUNCHES FIRST PROJECT 17A STEALTH FRIGATE
High levels of preparation under
way on land, sea and air: Rawat
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, DECEMBER 14
CHIEF OF Defence Staff (CDS)
General Bipin Rawat on Monday
said that “high levels of prepara-
tion are underway on land, sea
and air” as “China attempts to
change the status quo on Line of
Actual Control (LAC) along the
northern border”.
The CDS was speaking at the
launch of the first Project 17A
stealth frigate ‘Himgiri’, an ad-
dition to the might of the
Indian Navy, built by the
Garden Reach Shipbuilders and
Engineers Limited (GRSE), in
Kolkata.
The PSU was awarded a con-
tract, amounting to over Rs
19,293 crore, for construction of
three stealth frigates under
Project 17A.
Nath says ready
to rest; sparks
retirement talk
Chhindwara: Veteran Congress
leaderKamalNathhassaidhewas
“readytorest”andnothankering
forapoliticalpost,settingoffspec-
ulationthatheishintingatpossi-
bleretirementfromactivepolitics.
Nath’s comments, made at a
partyeventonSunday,cameover
a month after the Congress won
just 9 out of 28 Assembly seats in
MP, where bypolls were held in
early November.
Making amends in his state-
ment, the former chief minister,
whohadjust15-month-longstint
in the CMO, on Monday said the
daythepeopleofChhindwara,his
native district and constituency,
wishthatheshouldretirefromac-
tivepolitics,hewouldcallitquits.
“Iamreadytorest.Ihavespent
a lot of time (in politics). I dont
hanker for any post or position. I
had enough...” he had said. PTI
Lone Congress
BTC member
to join BJP
Guwahati:Thenewly-electedsole
Congress member of the
BodolandTerritorialCouncil(BTC)
announced on Monday that he
would join the BJP and will be a
partoftheBJP-UPPL-GSPcoalition
in the new Council.
Sajal Sinha, who was elected
from Srirampur on a Congress
ticket, announced his decision to
switchovertothesaffronpartyin
the presence of North East
DemocraticAlliance(NEDA)con-
venor and Assam Minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma here.
Sinhasaidthathehasdecided
tojointheBJPintheinterestofthe
developmentofhisconstituency,
which borders West Bengal. The
coalitionstrengthwillgoupto23
in the 40- member council with
the Sinha’s crossing. PTI
Rajnath Singh
be proud of what our forces
have managed to achieve this
year. Whenever there is a situa-
tion at the LAC, the most obvi-
ous outcome is a comparison
between India and China’s mil-
itary strength. But I don’t want
to dwell on that. There can be a
serious debate on who owns
more military might but when
it comes to soft power there is
no scope of ambiguity. India is
far ahead of China when it
comes to leading the world
with ideas.”
The Defence Minister said
the “entire east Asia from
Burma to Thailand to Indonesia
and Malaysia, even Japan, there
is a huge Indian cultural impact
on all these countries” and
“Buddhism had a monumental
GRSE chairman and MD
Rear Admiral (retd) VK
Saxena with CDS Bipin
Rawat at the launch in
Kolkata Monday. Partha Paul
General Rawat said the
Indianarmedforceswillleaveno
stone unturned to safeguard the
nation against any eventuality
and Himgiri will be a major
boost to naval prowess.
“We are in a standoff situa-
State poll panel seeks Pinarayi explanation BJP on Goa zilla panchayat poll win:
over ‘free Covid vaccine’ statement
EXPRESS NEW SERVICE
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
DECEMBER 14
THE KERALA State Election
Commissionhassoughtanexpla-
nation from Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan over complaints
thatheviolatedthemodelcodeof
conductbysayingthattheCovid-
19 vaccine would be made avail-
able free of cost.
Vijayan had made the state-
ment to the media on Saturday
-- after the model code of con-
duct had come into play for the
final phase of Kerala’s local body
elections.
State Election Commissioner
VBhaskaransaidthecommission
hasreceivedcomplaintsfromthe
OppositionCongressandBJP.“The
Commissionwouldhearwhatthe
Assam’s madrasas to become regular schools
ABHISHEK SAHA
GUWAHATI, DECEMBER 14
THEASSAMgovernmenthasap-
proved the dropping of Islamic
subjects from the curriculum of
all state-run madrasas and the
institutions are to be turned into
regularschools.Also,thegovern-
ment has approved converting
Sanskrit tolls into centres for
learning of Indian heritage and
civilisation.
“In 1934, when Assam was
run by Muslim League govern-
ment under Sir Syed Sadullah,
madrasa education was intro-
duced in the Assam education
curriculum..Yesterday our state
government in our Cabinet
meeting has finally decided to
reform the education system
and make it secular. As a result
all [state-run] madrasa will stop
influence over China to an ex-
tent that before the 1949 revo-
lution, almost 80 per cent of
China’s population followed
Buddhism”.
Quoting Chinese thinker Hu
Shi, Singh said, “India has cul-
turally dominated and con-
trolled China for more than
2,000 years without sending a
single soldier across the bor-
der”. This statement, he added,
“underlines the fact that India
as a civilisational state has been
inspiring and influencing the
world through its culture and
soft power for centuries”.
“Due to its location, size,
population and economy,” the
defence minister stated, India
has “always been at the strate-
gic forefront of global security”.
“We have been victims of
cross-border terrorism, yet have
fought the scourge alone even
when there was no one to sup-
port us but later, they under-
stood we were right about
Pakistan being the fountain-
head of terrorism. And now
again our brave forces are there
in the forefront fighting icy
winds to guard our borders and
to fulfill their responsibility.”
tion in Ladakh and based on that
there is some development ac-
tivity which has been ongoing in
Tibet Autonomous Region of
China. Every nation will con-
tinue to prepare for ensuring its
security based on their strategic
interest.Iwishtoassureyouthat
we are fully prepared for any
eventuality,” he said.
“P17A ships will be the most
advanced state-of-the-art
Guided Missile Frigates, 149-m-
long, with a displacement of ap-
proximately 6670 T and having
anadvancedCODOGpropulsion
system enabling speed of over
28 knots. These complex
weapon platforms are equipped
with a powerful weapon and
sensor package capable of neu-
tralising threats in all three di-
mensions, air, surface and sub-
surface,” read a statement
by GRSE.
Results show people stand with Modi
Pinarayi Vijayan votes during the final stage of local body
polls in Kannur. Turnout in the third phase was 78.6%. PTI
ChiefMinisterhastosayontheis-
sue. We have sought an explana-
tion. The Chief Minister himself
Himanta Biswa Sarma
functioningandtheywillbecon-
verted into institutions of gen-
eral education,” Education
Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma
told reporters on Monday.
Assam currently has two
kinds of state-run madrasas —
189 High Madrasa and Madrasa
Higher Secondary Schools run
under the Board of Secondary
Education, Assam (SEBA) and
the Assam Higher Secondary
IN JUST OVER four months since
he took oath as the Lieutenant
Governor of the Union Territory
of Jammu and Kashmir on
August 7, MANOJ SINHA has vis-
ited all 10 districts in Kashmir
and six out of 10 in Jammu. His
effort in this period has been to
ensure that government pro-
grammes and services reach
people within specified time
limits. Simultaneously, he kick-
started the political process by
facilitating elections to the
District Development Councils
(DDCs). He spoke to P
VAIDYANATHAN IYER on a
range of issues from the unrav-
eling of the now-annulled
Roshni Act to the timeline for
Assembly elections and restora-
tion of 4G services.
Based on your four months as
L-G, what gives you
confidence?
Over the last four months, I
am convincedthatpeoplein J&K
have a new belief… common
people feel they will be heard
well, and they will get
justice…The DC and SPs have
been directed to meet the com-
monmanfrom10.30amto11.30
am on all days, except
Wednesdays and Sundays. I am
happy that in about 16 districts,
about 95 -96 per cent saturation
— on works such as updation of
rationcardswithAadhaar,Prime
Minister’sAwasYojana,pension,
etc — has been achieved...
We have institutionalised a
‘grievance redressal mecha-
nism’, the first such anywhere
which is synchronised with the
Government of India.
Complaints made by people
withtheCentreareimmediately
directed to us...
What was your impression
when you first took charge?
I was a bit disappointed. For
example, the number of govern-
ment employees here more or
less matches that in Bihar. But if
you lookat the population of the
two, there is a huge difference
(J&K: 1.25 crore, Bihar 9.9 crore).
If you look at the Budget too, J&K
has a budget of about Rs 1 lakh
crore, and is comparable with
many other states. Given these
statistics, I feel resources have
not been put to good use.
Have you met leaders of
mainstream political parties
has to explain under which cir-
cumstances he had made the
statement.Thenextstepofaction
Education Council (AHSEC); and
542 Pre-Senior, Senior and Title
Madrasa and Arabic College run
by the State Madrasa Education
Board.
An official note on the points
approvedbythecabinetshowed
that the government has de-
cided to dissolve the State
Madrassa Education Board after
results of the examination of the
2021-22 academic year are an-
nounced.
Thereafter, all records, bank
accounts andstaff shallbetrans-
ferred to SEBA.
These institutions will admit
students from April next year
against “relevant courses of
SCERT, SEBA and AHSEC as ap-
plicable for their institutions”.
From the Pre-Senior, Senior and
Title Madrasas and Arabic
Colleges, subjects like Holy
Quran, Islamic Studies, Fiqh,
such as Farooq
Abdullah,
Mehbooba Mufti
or Sajad Lone?
I have met the
THE EXPRESS
ex-MLAs and minis-
ters of most parties.
INTERVIEW
WITH
I have not met
MANOJ SINHA
Farooq Abdullah, J&K LT GOVERNOR
Mehbooba Mufti
and Omar Abdullah.
I have spoken twice with Farooq requested the High Court that
Sahab over the phone. I do not we intend to bring a law on this
have any hesitation talking with and allow ownership of land to
anyone. I have heard them with the latter category based on to-
intent, and tried to implement day’s prices. The High Court has
their constructive suggestions.
How has the Roshni Act and
its annulment by the High
Court unravelled?
The Finance Minister’s
speech of 1990 said those who
have illegal occupation of gov-
ernmentlandwillbegivenown-
ership by paying an appropriate
price. In 2001, 2004 and 2007,
this was extended. For owner-
shipof landin 2001,the ratepre-
vailing in 1990 was taken; in
2004 too, the rate of 1991 was
fixed. The doctrine or theory be-
hind natural resources, be it air,
water, forests, and government
land, is these cannot be anyone’s
personal property at whatever
price. But these can be used for
public purposes, or for the gen-
eral public.
The High Court has given its
judgement based on this theory.
I welcome it, and its orders are
being implemented despite dif-
ficulties. Ibelieve this is the tip of
the iceberg.
But how do you differentiate
between the rich and
influential, and poor and
landless?
Should we treat those who
wouldbedecidedaftergettingthe
version of the Chief Minister,” he
said.Thethree-phasedlocalbody
elections ended Monday, with
four northern districts going to
polls in the final phase. The elec-
tions are being seen as a referen-
dum for the CPI(M)-led LDF gov-
ernmentinKerala,withAssembly
polls scheduled for April-May
next year.
The results of the local body
elections will be declared
Wednesday.Aftercastinghisbal-
lot, Vijayan said, “The people are
withthisgovernment.Theoppo-
sition has been spreading lies
againstthegovernment.Thehuge
turnout of voters indicates that
people are with this government
andtheywanttoregistertheirin-
dignation against spreading ca-
nards against the government,”
the CM said.
Hadith,UsulAlFiqh,Aqua,Tafsir,
Hadith and Fariad will be re-
moved — although Arabic will
continue as a language.
The staff will continue to get
salaries and allowances as be-
fore; however, the account head
will change from ‘Madrasa edu-
cation’ to ‘Secondary education’.
“The posts of teachers who are
teaching theological subjects in
the provincialised madrasa in-
stitutions will teach other sub-
jects available in their schools as
pertheiraptitude,”thenotesaid.
The High and Higher
Secondary Madrasas run by
SEBA will have ‘madrasa’
dropped from their names and
function as regular schools. The
note said, “The Fiqh and Aquaid
subjects shall be withdrawn
from these schools. However,
Arabic language subject shall
continue to be part of syl-
have occupied
large tracts of land
along the same
lines as those who
have bought a
kanal of land with-
out knowledge?
Can we equate
wrongdoing by the
two categories of
people? We have
to decide. Is this wrong?
The High Court has asked the
CBI to look into the cases. But
the UT government is not
keen on that as well.
We will provide CBI the nec-
essary assistance. But we have
requested that the UT govern-
mentbeallowedtoconstitutean
SIT(Special InvestigationTeam);
and let it be monitored by the
High Court. What’s wrong with
this?
The government wants ACB
to continue with cases which
name many government
officials. Unwillingness to
hand these cases over to CBI
has raised questions whether
the government wants to
shield these officials.
There are just19 caseswhere
the Anti Corruption Bureau has
already filed a chargesheet or is
in the process of doing so.
Transferring these to CBI will
only lead to delays. And justice
delayed is justice denied. And as
far as the integrity of the ACB is
concerned, I will say it with ut-
most responsibility... that none
should doubt its credibility.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
PANAJI, NEW DELHI, DEC 14
THE RULING BJP Monday swept
polls to two zilla panchayat bod-
ies in Goa, winning 33 of the 42
seats contested. The Congress
won only one of the 38 seats it
contested. Applauding Goans for
voting amid the pandemic, Chief
Minister Pramod Sawant said
“people have shown faith in us”.
The victory comes amid
protestsagainstseveralinfrastruc-
tureprojectsandpolicydecisions.
State BJP president Sadanand
Tanavadesaid,“Thereweremany
agitationswhichwereconstantly
up on social media regarding the
power, double tracking and coal
transportation…all NGOS, politi-
cal parties which initiated these
protests tried to defame the gov-
labus…”
As far as Sanskrit tolls are
concerned, the Cabinet has de-
cided that the 97 provincialised
tolls will be converted to “Study
Centres, research Centres and
Institutions to study the
Certificate/ Diploma/ Degree
courses to be started by Kumar
Bhaskar Varma Sanskrit and
Ancient Studies University,
Nalbari with effect from
1/4/2022”.
“There will not be any fresh
admission in the provincialised
Sanskrit tolls from 1/4/2021.
Students have to take admission
in high schools,” the note said.
“Wearebasicallygoingtorun
courses on Indian civilisation [in
the Sanskrit tolls]…It will be dif-
ferent from history. The curricu-
lum will be prepared from a
civilisational point of view,”
Sarma said.
New Delhi
Waving the list in the public
domain has been selective
and many point out it was
timed with the DDC elections,
to taint those belonging to
mainstream political parties.
The High Court delivered the
judgment on October 9. It has
beenverydifficulttopreparethe
list. This has nothing to do with
theDDCelections.Weareimple-
menting the High Court’s order
and as and when lists are com-
piled,thesearebeingreleasedon
the website without any bias or
prejudice. This will continue.
All mainstream leaders have
been released but then the
government restrains
Mehbooba Mufti from
stepping out of her residence
or from holding a press
conference. Why?
There is no restraint. On the
dayof polls,willthegovernment
provide security to her or con-
duct elections? This is India, a
democracy,andfreedomsarefor
all. Hence you can say whatever
you want. She is a protectee, an
ex-Chief Minister,andshewants
to step out on a polling day. How
can we allow it? We have not re-
strainedherfromholdingapress
conference ever.
There has been a demand for
4G across the UT. Your
predecessor G C Murmu too
said the UT did not have an
objection to restore 4G
services. Why is it still not
being restored?
The issue is with the
Supreme Court. It has been re-
stored in two districts. The gov-
ernment has also assured that it
will be restored gradually in
other districts. Given the sensi-
tivity of the region, and the mat-
ter pending in the Supreme
Court, I do not think I need to
give an opinion on this issue. We
will move as per the govern-
ment’s affidavit in the Supreme
Court.
There are fears here
Assembly elections will be
put on the back burner after
DDC polls.
In his August 15 speech from
the Red Fort, the Prime Minister
had talked about it. And every-
one knows the fact that the
Delimitation Commission is at
work, not just in J&K, but four
Northeasternstatesaswell.Once
ernment. The result is a slap on
their faces and a certificate of ap-
preciation to BJP.”
“The result shows the faith of
farmers, labourers, merchants,
women and youth in the leader-
ship of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and Chief Minister Pramod
Sawant,” said C T Ravi, national
general secretary for BJP and also
in-charge of Goa.
AddressingthemediainDelhi,
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra
said repeated victories point to
popularsupportforPrimeMinis-
ter Modi over a host of issues, in-
cluding agricultural reforms and
thehandlingof theCovid-19out-
break.“Thepoor,ruralregionsand
farmers form the spine of this
country. These results would not
have been possible without their
support," Patra said.
Another aspect of the polls
2 chariots to trace Ram’s route
in Chhattisgarh during exile
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
RAIPUR, DECEMBER 14
TWO CHARIOTS, carrying sym-
bolicimagesofRam,Laxmanand
Sita, were flagged off from
Chhattisgarh’sKoriyaandSukma
districtsonMonday--thedaythe
Congressgovernmentinthestate
completed two years.
ThechariotswilltracetheRam
VanGamanPath,ortheroutethat
Ramtookduringhisexile,andwill
cover a collective 1,575 km. They
will meet on December 17 at
Chandkhuri – considered the
birthplace of Ram’s mother
Kaushalyaandthesiteoftheonly
Kaushalya temple in the world.
“During the exile period, Lord
RamhadenteredChhattisgarhvia
Sitamadi-Harchauka area in
Koriya district and his last visit in
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
the Commission’s report is
ready, then it is the job of the
Election Commission, and the
PrimeMinisterhassaiditaswell.
Which state doesn’t have a
DDC,beitinsouthIndiaornorth.
And Assembly elections are also
held. So, where is the contradic-
tion? Are we scared a new lead-
ership is being created?
Over the years, the gulf
between the two divisions of
Kashmir and Jammu, has
only grown.
I think people must ponder
overthereasonsforthis.ButIbe-
lieve that Kashmir and Jammu
are our two eyes. Samaan bhav
sey dono kay vikas kay liye
humein kaam karna hai aur
dono milkay hee iss UT ko aage
badha sakte hai (We have to
work towards the development
of thesetworegionsequally,and
they can take the UT ahead only
together). I think, if the adminis-
tration’sintentionsareclear,and
the government is not favouring
one over the other, then there
will be no opposition.
Union Home Minister Amit
Shah refers to the
mainstream political parties
in the region as ‘Gupkar
Gang’. Doesn’t it hurt the
political process?
This questionneedstobeput
to the Home Minister. But all
must understand that the Home
Minister is also a leader of a
party. As a leader of a party, he
haseveryrighttoissueapolitical
statement. If leaders in a politi-
cal party can give certain state-
ments, then others also have the
freedom to speak their mind.
Constitutional post hum hold
kar rahein hain, humko iss say
matlab nahi (I hold a
Constitutional post, and I am not
concerned about it). I need not
comment on this.
With the change in land laws,
there is concern that people
from outside will come and
settle here?
There is no treatment for
imagined fears. Give me a single
example of any outsider having
boughtlandhere.SinceAugust5,
2019, tell me a single name. I
challenge anyone to name one
person from outside who has
boughtlandhere.Thisisbaseless.
FULLINTERVIEWON
www.indianexpress.com
which cannot be ignored by
legacypartieslikeBJPorCongress
is the rise of Independents this
year — a total of seven seats were
won by Independents.
GoaCongresspresidentGirish
Chodankar said a “deep analysis”
of the results will be done. “We
failed to convince people that we
arechanging.Theyfeelthatifthey
vote to Congress, then their vote
will go to BJP as in the past our
MLAs defected,” he said.
Thevoting,whichwasheldon
December 12, also saw AAP and
regional party MGP not making
much inroads either, with MGP
winning4seatsandAAPjustone.
TheoneseattheAAPwoninsouth
Goaisalsoitsfirstinanelectionin
Goa,wherethelastonemonthhas
seentheArvindKejriwal-led party
pushingdebatesinlocalmediaon
thepromiseof freeelectricity.
The chariot being flagged
off in Sukma district.
Chhattisgarh state was at
RamaramareaofSukmadistrict,”
an official statement said.
Thechariots,termedParyatan
Raths,willcarrythesoilfromeach
district they cross, according to
state government officials. The
chariot in Koriya was flagged off
at Harchauka. Simultaneously, in
Sukma's Ramaram, Municipal
Council chairman and District
Collector flagged off a second
chariot.
New Delhi
 10 EXPRESS NETWORK WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020

Kanpur: Colonel booked for sexual Modi, Hasina to

hold bilateral British foreign secy arrives, In SC, Jaishankar
defends his RS
assault on friend’s wife, on the run talks on Dec 17 to meet Jaishankar today election, says
unconscious, the accused sexu- was recorded. We are sending no legal bar on
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 14
ally assaulted her while she was
heavily intoxicated.
the woman for internal exami-
nationand are givinganapplica- NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14 SHUBHAJIT ROY
However, given the surge in
Covid-19 cases in the UK since separate polls
The couple tried to get an FIR tion in court for her statementto NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14 October,itcouldbedifficultforthe
A WOMAN on Monday recorded registered in Lucknow but were be recorded under Section 164 PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi Dominic British PM to commit to an over-
a statement with the police, ac- told they would have to of CrPCbeforeamagistrate,”said and his Bangladesh counterpart BRITISH FOREIGN Secretary Raab seas travel engagement. So Delhi EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
cusinganArmycolonelpostedin get it filed at the police station of KanpurSP(East)RajkumarAgar- Sheikh Hasina will hold discus- DominicRaab arrivedin India for is keeping its fingers crossed. NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
Kanpur’sCentralOrdnanceDepot the area where the crime wal.TheSPadded,“Whenthecou- sionsontheentirespectrumofbi- a bilateral visit on Monday night If Johnson is able to visit, he
(COD) of sexual assault. She has occurred. plecametousonSaturday,wefirst lateral ties at a virtual summit on and will meet External Affairs bility, education, and health sec- will be the sixth British leader to THEREISnoprovisionintheCons-
said the incident occurred last “The FIR was registered informedtheseniorofficersinthe December 17, the Ministry of MinisterSJaishankaronTuesday. torsinthepost-Covid,post-Brexit be chief guest on Republic Day titution or the country’s election
weekinthedepot’sofficer’smess. Saturdaynightandthesameday, ArmyandtheCODandthenregis- External Affairs said on Monday. The two ministers will hold context”. The ministry, while an- andthefirstBritishPMsinceJohn lawswhichmandateasingleelec-
The complainant is married an external medical examina- teredthecaseafterforwardingthe Theministrysaidthetalkswillalso talksonbilateral,regionalandin- nouncingRaab’svisitonMonday, Major in 1993. tion to fill up vacancies arising in
totheaccused’schildhoodfriend. tion was conducted. The doctors information to our seniors in the focus on strengthening coopera- ternationalissuesofmutualinter- said India and the UK have had a An invitation to be chief guest the Upper House of Parliament,
She said the accused, who had asked the woman to come the policedepartment.” tioninthepostCovid-19period. estandareexpectedtoreviewef- strategic partnership since 2004 onRepublicDayissymbolicfrom External Affairs Minister S Jaish-
madeadvancesatherinthepast, next day for an internal medical Theofficersaidprimafacieex- “During the summit, the two forts to forge a 10-year roadmap that has been marked by regular theIndiangovernment’sperspec- ankar told the Supreme Court on
hadinvitedherandherhusband examination, but the couple left amination established that there leaders will hold comprehensive fortheIndia-UKrelationshipand high-level exchanges and grow- tive.NewDelhihasbeenweaving Mondayinresponsetoapleacha-
todinnertocelebratehispromo- for their residence in Lucknow. were some injuries on the wom- discussions on the entire spectr- discuss a defence logistics agree- ing cooperation in diverse areas. , a strategy with hospitality to de- llenginghiselectionfromGujarat.
tion. She has alleged that after HerstatementunderSection161 an’sbody.Thepolicehaveformed umofthebilateralrelationship,in- ment. Raab will also have official Raab’s visit assumes signifi- cideitschiefguest.Everyyear,the “There is no provision in the
they arrived in Kanpur from CrPC could not be recorded on two teams to trace the colonel, cludingfurtherstrengtheningco- meetingswithEnvironmentMin- cance at a time when New Delhi choice is dictated by a number of Constitutionor
LucknowlateonThursdaynight, Saturday as it was late at night who is absconding. operationinthepostCovid-era,”it isterPrakashJavadekarandEduc- has approached British Prime factors—strategicanddiplomatic, under the
they were served drinks laced and their baby started crying. The complainant is of foreign said.Itsaidboththecountrieshave ationMinisterRameshPokhriyal. Minister Boris Johnson through businessinterestsandgeo-politics. Repres-
withsedatives.Thecomplainant They reached Kanpur on Mon- originandhasbeenlivinginIndia continuedtomaintainregularex- Aspartofhisfour-dayvisit,the informalchannelstobechiefgue- ThechoiceoftheUKisinteresting entation of
said that after her husband fell day after which the statement for almost a decade. changesatthehighestlevel. BritishForeignSecretarywillalso st for Republic Day celebrations. sincetieswithpost-BrexitUKwill People Act
TiesbetweenIndiaandBang- traveltoBengaluru,wherehewill Usually, the invitation for the betestedonmultiplefronts—eco- which pre-
ladesh have witnessed a signifi- meetKarnatakaChiefMinisterBS parade and confirmation are sea- nomic,people-to-people,political scribes for the
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER, cantupswinginthelastfewyears. Yediyurappa on December 17. led by the end of November, but andstrategiclevels.Bothsideswill mandatoryre-
R.W.S.&S. DIVISION, NUAPADA. Both sides have scaled up trade TheMinistryof ExternalAffa- with Covid-19 disrupting diplo- bekeentoengagewitheachother, quirement of S Jaishankar
and economic engagement be- irs said Raab’s visit will “pave the matic calendars, New Delhi had andDelhiwillwanttoleverageits conducting
O-713 1st Corrigendum to Bid Identification No. RWS&S_10/2020-21
sides implementing a number of way for further strengthening of sentoutfeelerstoJohnsontoknow relationship with the EU, while election thro-
Remaining unaltered of all terms and conditions, the following changes are hereby made to Bid Identification No.
RWS&S_10/2020-21 of the Executive engineer, RWS&S Division, Nuapada by virtue of this corrigendum as connectivity and infrastructure the partnership across trade, de- if he is willing to travel to India to dealing with the UK — especially ughsingleby-election,andthere-
mention below: projects, the ministry said. fence,climate,migrationandmo- bechief guestatthecelebrations. oneconomicties. forethereisnoviolationofanylaw
As per Original NIT As per Corrigendum in the facts and circumstances of
Date and Time of availability of bid document in the portal: Date and Time of availability of bid document in the portal: thepresentcase,”he said,oppos-

Impersonation case
14.12.2020 at 10.00 A.M. 22.12.2020 at 10.00 A.M. INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PUNE
(An Autonomous Institution of the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India) ing the plea by Congress leader
Last date/Time for receipt of bids in the portal: 23.12.2020 up Last date/Time for receipt of bids in the portal: 29.12.2020 up
to 5.00 P.M. to 5.00 P.M. Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune - 411 008 l www.iiserpune.ac.in Gaurav Pandya, who has chal-
lengedtheGujaratHighCourtor-

filed by Hrithik
Date of Opening of bid: 24.12.2020 at 11.00 A.M. Date of Opening of bid: 30.12.2020 at 11.00 A.M.
NOTICE INVITING TENDER (E-Procurement Mode)
der dismissing his election peti-
Sd/- Executive Engineer, IISER Pune invites bids through e-Procurement system of Central
tion. The minister said this in an
RWSS Division, Nuapada Public Procurement (CPP) portal for the following:
affidavit filed before a bench

transferred to CIU
OIPR-25043/11/0004/2021 1) Superconducting Magnet system with liquid helium cryostat
2) Multimode Plate Reader headed by Chief Justice of India S
GOVT. OF ODISHA Tender document is published on A Bobde, which adjourned the
OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER https://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app and case for detailed hearing in the
RURAL WORKS, CIRCLE, BHAWANIPATNA http://www.iiserpune.ac.in/links/tender-notices-and-eoi The letter read, “We write to third week of January next year.
O-712 Bid identification No.:- BPT/Online-05/2020-21 Date:10.12.2020
NOTICE INVITING TENDERS FOR ROAD WORKS IN ODISHA
Advt. No: IISER/S&P/06/20-21 Dated 11/12/2020 Director EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE youonbehalfofourclientHrithik Pandya had assailed Jaisha-
NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING THROUGH e-Procurement MUMBAI, DECEMBER 14 Roshan. Our client lodged a FIR nkar'selection,contendingthatin
1. Name of the work : Construction of incomplete Road and Bridges works under State Plan in the District of Nuapada.
2. No.of work : 1 No.
bearing C.R.No.78/ 2016 dated violation of the law, the Election
3. Location details : Nuapada District FOUR YEARS after Bollywood ac- 23.05.2016, with the cyber crime Commission of India (ECI) issued
4. Estimated Cost : As per NIT.
torHrithikRoshanlodgedacom- policestationagainstunidentified two separate notifications for
5. Period of completion. : As per NIT.
6. Cost of tender paper : Rs.10,000/- per set. plaint of impersonation with individuals for offenses punish- holding by-polls for casual and
7. Other details. : Mumbai Crime Branch’s Cyber able under sections 419 IPC r/w. regularvacanciesforRajyaSabha.
Availability of tender for online bidding Last date & time for seeking tender clarification Date and time of opening of technical bid unit, senior officials on Monday sections 66(c) and 66 (d) of the IT ThematterrelatestoECI'sde-
From To
17.12.2020 11.00 A.M. 30.12.2020 5.00 P.M. 29.12.2020 31.12.2020 at 11.00 A.M.
transferred the case from Cyber Act. A copy of the FIR is attached cisiontoholdseparatepollsforthe
Further details can be seen from the web site "www.tendersorissa.gov.in" unit to Crime Intelligence Unit. herewithforeaseofreference.Our twoRajyaSabha seatsvacatedby
Sd/-
Superintending Engineer TheCIUisalsoconductingaprobe clientco-operatedwiththeinves- Union ministers Amit Shah and
Rural Works, Circle, Bhawanipatna
OIPR-25102/11/0005/2021 into the TRP rigging scam. tigationandhandedoverhiselec- SmritiIrani.Jaishankarsaidthatit
On May 23, 2016, the police tronic devices. It is pertinent to iswrongtosaythattheprocedure
had registered a case against uni- statethatinspiteofanorderdated adopted by the ECI to notify elec-
dentified persons under sections 30.11.2016, passed by the Ld. Ma- tions separately for the vacancies
419(impersonation)oftheIPCand gistrate, Esplanade Court, direct- arisingontwodifferentdateswas
66 (C) and 66 (D) of IT Act. In his ing the return of our client’s lapt- notcorrect.HereferredtotheECI
complaint, he had alleged that opandphonehehasnotcollected stand in a 2019 case in which the
mailswerebeingsentoutfroman the same as he wanted to assist pollpanelsaidthatjointelectionis
email id which doesn’t belong to the police reach the real culprits not mandatory if more than one
him.Themailswereallegedlybe- who had impersonated him.” casual vacancy occurred at about
ing sent to Kangana Ranaut. The letter stated that till date the same time.
Pursuant to filing of the case, the the case was pending and re-
two actors had sent legal notices quested for completion of inves-
toeachother,seekinganapology. tigation. “Till date there has been Mumbai Police to
The transfer of investigation no progress in the investigation
from one unit to another comes andtheaforementionedcasesare court: Won’t
five days after a lawyer from sen-
ioradvocateMaheshJethmalani’s
still pending. We thus request to
kindlylookintothematterandis-
arrest Republic TV
officewrotetotheMumbaipolice sue appropriate orders to kindly CFO till Tuesday
commissioner, seeking develop- directcompletionofinvestigation
ment in the FIR registered by his at the earliest since the same is
client Hrithik Roshan. pending since 2016,” it said. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 14
NOTICE
As per enforcement of Haryana Clinical Establishment
(Registration and Regulations) Adoption Act 2018, all Clinical
Establishments (Hospitals, Maternity/Nursing Homes, Clinics etc.)
Sarnaik moves privilege MUMBAI POLICE on Monday as-
suredasessionscourtthatitwon’t

notice for defamation arrestRepublicTVChiefFinancial

owned, controlled and managed by Government, Public/Private or
Trust having more than 50 Beds are required to be registered under
the prescribed rules of the act. During March 2019, the State
Government expanded the purview of the Act and now Medical
Diagnostic Laboratories are also included under this Act. The Central
Rule regarding the Act all Medical Diagnostic Laboratories has been EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
notified in the Haryana Official Gazette during August 2019. So all MUMBAI, DECEMBER 14
Medical Diagnostic Laboratories are also required to be registered
under the prescribed rules of the act. Whoever contravenes any pro-
vision of the act shall be punishable as per law.
SHIVSENAlegislatorPratapSarn-
Sd/- aiksubmittedaletteronMonday
District Registering Authority, tothestatelegislaturesecretariat,
Clinical Establishment
Act-cum-Civil Surgeon, Rohtak. seeking admission of his breach
84239/HRY
of privilege notice against print
and electronic media outlets for
allegedly defaming him by pub-
lishingstoriesbasedonatweetby
actor Kangana Ranaut.
Sarnaik has requested Pri-
ncipal Secretary of Maharashtra
Legislative Assembly to forward
thenoticetothePrivilegeCommi-
ttee of the Assembly to initiate an
inquiry. Hehasallegedthatsome
printandelectronicmediaoutlets
and “some people, motivated by
political hatred” ran news about
the recovery of a Pakistani credit
card from his residence during
searchesconductedbytheED,lea-
dingtothedefamationofhisfam-
ily. In the last week of November,
ED conducted searches at his res-
idence and offices in connection
withamoneylaunderingcase.
“ED has conducted two raids
atmyresidenceandofficeandhas
seizedmanydocumentsbutithas
notfoundanythingsuspicious.ED
alsohasnotsaidanythingofficially
about it. So, I am being defamed
by publishing the false and base-
lessnewsofrecoveringaPakistan
creditcardfrommyhouse,”hehas
stated in his letter.
Officer (CFO) S Sundaram till
Tuesday in the TRP scam case.
Sundaram’s anticipatory bail ap-
plicationwillbeheardonTuesday.
Sessions court Judge D E Kot-
halikar expressed displeasure
overthemannerinwhichRepub-
lic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani
wasarrestedonSunday,adaybe-
fore his plea for anticipatory bail
wasscheduledforhearing.“What
wastheurgencytoarresthimlike
thisadaybefore,whentheappli-
cationwassub-judice?”thejudge
asked Special Public Prosecutor
Sishir Hirey. Niranjan Mundargi,
representing Sundaram, said
Khanchandani was arrested in
haste and expressed apprehen-
sion that the same action will be
takenagainstSundaramifnopro-
tection is granted by the court.

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New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
Defamation case: ELGAAR PARISHAD CASE
Speaking up on
MeToo platform
no crime, Ramani
tells Delhi court
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
JOURNALIST PRIYA Ramani, fac-
ing trial in a defamation case
filed by former Union minister
M J Akbar, has told a Delhi court
through her lawyer that speak-
ing up on the #MeToo platform
was not a crime and that these
are“actsof extremecouragethat
require celebration”.
Ramani's lawyer and Senior
Advocate Rebecca John made
theargumentsbeforeAdditional
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
Ravindra Pandey on Monday.
Herargumentscouldnotbecon-
cluded and will be heard on
December 18.
Akbar has sued Ramani for
defamation over allegations of
sexual misconduct and harass-
ment. With several other
women making similar allega-
tions against him, Akbar had re-
signed as Minister of State for
External Affairs.
While reading out the testi-
mony of Joyeeta Basu, who de-
posedinfavourofAkbar,Johntold
thecourt,“Whatisthecredibility
of this witness who was ready to
be a witness for Akbar even be-
fore legal action was taken?”
On Akbar's witness Sunil
Gujral's testimony, John told the
court, “This man is a friend. The
familiesknoweachother.Heex-
tended a loan to MJ Akbar. It is
strange that when so many
womenmadeallegationsagainst
Akbar, he only saw Ramani's
tweets. What is his credibility?”
After reading through jour-
nalist Ghazala Wahab's testi-
mony in which she accused
Akbar of sexual harassment,
John told the court, “I am estab-
lishing a pattern of behaviour.
Wahab's statement is not
hearsay. She tells us a story. It is
direct evidence.”
On the #MeToo movement,
John told the court, “It wasn't a
crime to speak up on the MeToo
platform.Theseareactsofextreme
courage that require celebration.
These are not acts for which one
shouldfacedefamation.”
LAST DATE OF SUBMISSION IS 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Stan Swamy’s bail
plea opposed by NIA
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 14
THE SPECIAL National
InvestigationAgency(NIA)court
will consider an application by
Elgaar Parishad accused Father
Stan Swamy, the 83-year-old
Jesuit priest and tribal rights ac-
tivist, seeking clone copies of
data retrieved from electronic
equipment that was seized dur-
ing his arrest. This came after
counsels representing Swamy
told the court that a huge
amount of data was collected
fromhim,yettheamountof data
cloned and provided to him was
only 8 Terabyte (TB).
Moreover, Swamy’s counsel
alsoinformedthecourtpresided
over by special judge D E
Kothalikar of the reply received
from the jail authorities on the
possible transfer in view of his
variousailmentsandage.Swamy
MALANKARA ORTHODOX SYRIAN CHURCH
Top court to examine plea
against ‘forced confessions’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
CONFESSINGONE’Ssinsisoneof
the sacraments of the Church,
but can a believer be compelled
to do it?
The Supreme Court on
Monday decided to examine a
petition which has raised the
question of “forced/mandatory
confessions” in theKerala-based
Malankara Orthodox Syrian
Church and its alleged abuse.
A bench headed by Chief
Justice of India and comprising
Justices A S Bopanna and V
Ramasubramanianissuednotice
on the plea by three members of
the Kerala-based Church who
claimedthatsuchconfessionsby
women are subsequently used
There is no fixed way to save water. In
different regions, different methods are
being adopted with the single aim - To
conserve every drop of water.
For application and more details
hadmovedapleaseekingoppor-
tunity to be heard if a decision is
takentotransferhimtoanyother
prison. Swamy has been lodged
in Taloja Central Jail in Navi
Mumbai since his arrest in
October. The court has asked the
authorities to reply to the plea.
Swamy submitted to the court
that any such transfer should be
done only after intimating the
court and giving Swamy an op-
portunity to argue in that.
Special Public Prosecutor
Prakash Shetty for NIA however
opposedSwamy’sbailpleaalong
with other applications and said
thattheinvestigationagencyhas
taken only relevant data and has
given a copy of the same to the
applicant. After the court asked
NIA to give a copy of all the data
it had taken, Shetty sought time
totakeinstructionsontheextent
of data recovered.
Moreover, advocates Sudeep
Pasbola and Sharif Shaikh for
to sexually exploit them.
The plea referred to the 1934
Constitution of the Church and
saidthatasperthis,aperson--in
order to remain a member of the
Church--ismandatorilyrequired
to make a confession once a year
andnamesofthosewhodosoare
recorded in a confessions regis-
ter, maintenance of which is also
mandatory.
“Mandatory Requirement to
‘Confess’ coupled with the
Mandatory Requirement to keep
a‘ConfessionRegister’...hasturned
intoatoolforexploitingmenand
women parishioners by
vicars/priests of the respective
church.Thiscompulsionimposed
on a parishioner/devotee to
mandatorilyconfess,especiallyaf-
terseveralreportsofexploitation,
both sexual and financial have
-Narendra Modi
th
Swamy moved another applica-
tion seeking Swamy’s bag that
was allegedly seized by NIA dur-
ing his arrest and also raised ap-
prehensionregardinghispossible
transfer to another jail. However,
NIA and jail authorities said they
do not have any bag that belongs
to Swamy and opposed the plea.
Swamy’s counsels apprised
the court that as per reply by
TalojaJailauthorities,hemayhave
tobeshiftedtoabetter-equipped
jailduetohishealthailmentsand
age. The lawyer said that they
shouldbeheardifheislikelytobe
shifted and the shifting can hap-
pen only on order of court.
The court was also informed
about the application by co-ac-
cused Gautam Navlakha seeking
from jail authorities to provide
him five books per month in
Taloja prison. After hearing sub-
missions,thecourtgrantedNIAto
respond to the pleas and posted
furtherhearingsonDecember21.
surfaced,seriouslyinterfereswith
the guarantee provided to every
citizenunderArticles21and25of
theConstitutionof India,”thepe-
titioners Mathew T Mathachan,
Shaji P J and Jose C V said.
The petitioners said women
are being forced to confess and
suchconfessionisbeing“usedto
exploitthemsexually”bythreat-
ening to divulge the contents to
the parent or husband. In the
case of men too, these are “used
to exploit them financially and
at times sexually as well”.
The petition also questioned
theprovisionsintheChurchcon-
stitutionwhichentitletheadmin-
istration to remove a member
fromtheparishregisterforfailing
to meet financial demands.
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
DAVP 45101/13/0001/2021
EXPRESS NETWORK 11
Kerala journalist METRO CAR SHED IN MUMBAI
dies after vehicle HC asks govt to consider withdrawing
knocks down his order, decide after hearing all parties
scooter, mother
Justice Girish S Kulkarni was While the state government
OMKAR GOKHALE
suspects foul play MUMBAI, DECEMBER 14
hearing the Centre’s writ plea,
filed through its deputy salt
transferred 102 acres in
Kanjurmarg to MMRDA for the
commissioner, challenging a Metro car shed project, the
SHAJU PHILIP THE BOMBAY High Court on November2018orderof therev- Centre opposed it on the ground
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MondayaskedAdvocateGeneral enue minister declaring that that all salt pans belonged to it.
DECEMBER 14 Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, repre- while the state was the owner of CJ Datta said, “The Collector
sentingtheMaharashtragovern- various salt pans in Mumbai, is aware that there is a pending
AJOURNALISTwaskilledinahit- ment, to consider whether the some were privately owned. suit. In his order, is there any
and-run case in Thiruvanantha- Mumbai Suburban District The state, through the mention on the suit? No refer-
puramonMonday,withhisfam- Collector can withdraw an order Mumbai Suburban Collector, enceatall?Hejustturnedablind
ily suspecting foul play. transferring the 102-acre hadpassedanordertransferring eye and there should be proper
According to the police, S V KanjurmarglandtotheMumbai the Kanjurmarg salt pan land on exerciseof power.Primafaciewe
Pradeep, 36, who was editorial Metropolitan Region October 1 and handing over its are of the view that the matter
director at recently launched Development Authority (MM- possession to MMRDA on should go to the Collector. Let
YouTubechannelBharatlive,died RDA) and inform its decision to October 6. Consequently, MM- himdecideafterhearingGarodia
when his two-wheeler was hit the court on Wednesday. RDA transferred the land to the and others.”
by an unidentified vehicle. A division bench of Chief DelhiMetroRail CorporationLtd Further hearings have been
The police formed a special Justice Dipankar Datta and (DMRCL) on October 8. posted to Wednesday.
team to probe the incident, but
thevehicle,believedtobeatruck
according to local people, re-
maineduntraceduntillatenight.
Thevictim'smother,Vasantha
Kumari,allegedthatPradeephad
faced threat on social media.
Pradeep, who had worked
withseveralMalayalamTVchan-
nels, had been known for several
exposesagainstthestategovern-
mentonhisYouTubechannel.He
had run a series of reports on the
goldsmugglingscandal,andother
crimes allegedly involving politi-
cians and their families.
The Kerala Union of Working
Journalists wrote to Chief
Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and
sought a comprehensive probe
into Pradeep's death.
Leader of Opposition and
Congress leader Ramesh
Chennithala sought a high-level
probeintothedeath.“Itisshock-
ingthatthepolicecouldnotsofar
trace the vehicle that hit the
scooterof thejournalist.Thegov-
ernment should clear the mys-
terybehindthisaccident,”hesaid.
New Delhi
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

12
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020

THE EDITORIAL PAGE WORDLY WISE

A desk is a dangerous place from which to
view the world. — JOHN LE CARRÉ

FOUNDED BY
The prospects for recovery
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
Government cites lack of fiscal space for reluctance
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
to provide adequate support to economy. This is odd

TALKING AND LISTENING Jahangir Aziz

That’s what PM said was spirit of democracy. Invoking
SOMETIMESWEMISStheforestforthetrees, where female employment is much higher lion fewer jobs today. After improving after
imaginary ‘anti-national gangs’ of farmers undermines that

I
and at other times the trees themselves be-
comethestory.Thatseemstobethecasewith
T MAY WELL be that the BJP-led government at the Centre is following a blow hot India’s 3Q20 GDP print.
andcoldstrategyontheongoingfarmers’protestsonthecapital’soutskirts.While Somehaveexultedoverheadlinegrowth
Union Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary reiterates that the gov- printing a “better-than-expected” -7.5 per
ernment is keeping its door open for a sixth round of talks with farmers, his boss, centrateonayear-agobasis,whileothers,in-
UnionAgricultureMinisterNarendraSinghTomarmakesasweepingdenunciation cludingtheRBI,havelamentedthatthisputs
Indiainitsfirstever“technicalrecession”.But
—thethreefarmbillsarebeingopposedbythesamecastofcharacters,hesays,thatprotested
neither inference is meaningful. After clock-
against the abrogation of Article 370, the amended citizenship law and the construction in ing-24percentthepreviousquarter,printing
Ayodhya of the Ram temple. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad talks about the pri- a growth rate that is one percentage point
macyof dialogueandtheninvokesthe“tukdetukdegang”andhiscolleague,PiyushGoyal, higher than expected is nothing to write
who sat at the table in the government-farmer negotiations, alleges the protests are being home about and, no, India is not in a techni-
“infiltratedbyLeftistsandMaoistelements”.Itmaybethatthelabellingispartof thesame cal recession.
game-plan as the professed openness to talk. But the government must know that as it is The National Bureau of Economic
Research(NBER)intheUSdefinesatechnical
seentodipintoitswell-wornplaybookfordealingwithdissent,itisshrinkingitsownroom
recession to be one where the growth rate is
for manoeuvre vis-a-vis a protester who is different from those it has faced before. negativefortwoconsecutivequarters.Butthe
The farmer, the annadata, is an intimate and resonant figure who will not be easily growth rate is measured on a quarter-over-
quarter, not year-ago, basis. Almost all large
Othered. And so far, the protest led by the Punjab farmer, is making itself heard in a way
that is restrained and carefully calibrated. While the demand may be all-or-nothing — economies, including China, publish official
protesting farmers want a repeal of the laws and say they will settle for nothing less — the quarterlygrowthnumbers.India’sCSOdoes-
n’t. This leaves us to our own devices. JP
manner in which it is being made is sober. The protesters have kept the peace, and con-
Morgan’s estimates suggest that on a quar-
sciously resisted extraneous or extremist agendas. The joint resolution passed by 32 terlybasis,India’sGDPplunged25percentin
farmer unions on Saturday, reiterating that their only issue is the repeal of farm laws and 2Q20 and recovered by 21 per cent in 3Q20.
nothing else, distancing themselves from the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), India did not suffer two consecutive quarters
whosememberswavedpostersdemandingthereleaseof activistsintheBhimaKoregaon of negative growth, and, therefore, it is not in
case on Human Rights Day on December 10, is an illustration of this. For the BJP-led gov- a recession.
But the astonishing 21 per cent 3Q quar-
ernment to attempt to taint and tar this protest, for it to see it through its adversarial and
terlygrowthisalsonotsomethingoneshould
fetishistic you-are-with-us-or-with-anti-nationals/Leftists lens, is ill-judged. take much comfort in. If the level of GDP was
What is at stake here is not just the BJP government’s ability to push through a policy. 100 in 1Q, then it fell to 75 in 2Q and recov-
Howthegovernmenthandlesthisagitationwillhaveconsequencesforreformandchange ered to about 92 last quarter, it is still about 8
in agriculture and in other sectors as well. A government that has shown formidable skills per cent lower than the level in 1Q20. In fact,
and machineries of communication must find the message and the medium to engage weexpectGDPgrowthinFY22torecoverto12
the anxieties and concerns of farmers. More name-calling is not an option, nor is blam- per cent from -9 per cent in FY21, which im-
plies that six quarters from now it will still be
ing it on “too much democracy”. It is time the BJP listened to its own Prime Minister, who
about 7 per cent below the pre-pandemic
only days ago, reminded the nation that democracy is, most of all, about “kuch kehna, path, or roughly $300-billion-a-year of in-
kuch sunnana”, talking and listening. That’s the only way to expand the table and give comelossesacrosstwoyears,comparedtothe
both sides the space needed for an agreement. pre-pandemic path. Imagine the havoc this
can wreak to household and SME balance
sheets, to income inequality, to poverty, and
Over the last five years, India’s
current account deficit
averaged 1.6 per cent of GDP
annually. This turned into a
surplus of 4 per cent of GDP
in 2Q20 and JP Morgan
projects it to average 1.6 per
cent of GDP this fiscal year.
Consequently, despite the
apparent lack of fiscal space at
home, the RBI has been
funding other countries’ fiscal
deficits. Since April this year,
the RBI has bought $70
billion of foreign assets,
presumably mostly US
government bonds. That’s
roughly 2.7 per cent of GDP.
Put differently, while the
government has limited its
support to the domestic
economy, it has, via the RBI,
invested almost 3 per cent of
than in manufacturing.
Whilenotavoidable,muchof theincome
loss could have been mitigated by budgetary
income support. But the government chose
not to provide this. And this shows up clearly
in the 3Q GDP numbers. Government con-
sumptiondeclined22percentonaquarterly
basis in 3Q. The government’s unusual reluc-
tance in providing adequate support to the
economyhaspurportedlybeenbecauseofthe
lack of fiscal space. This seems quite odd. The
privatesector’sexcesssavings(savingslessin-
vestment) is so large that instead of borrow-
ing from abroad (running current account
deficits) as it usually does, India has been in-
vesting abroad, that is, running current ac-
count surpluses.
Overthelastfiveyears,India’scurrentac-
countdeficitaveraged1.6percentof GDPan-
nually.Thisturnedintoasurplusof 4percent
of GDP in 2Q20 and JP Morgan projects it to
average 1.6 per cent of GDP this fiscal year.
Consequently,despitetheapparentlackoffis-
cal space at home, the RBI has been funding
othercountries’fiscaldeficits.SinceAprilthis
year, the RBI has bought $70 billionof foreign
assets, presumably mostly US government
bonds.That’sroughly2.7percentof GDP.Put
differently,whilethegovernmenthaslimited
its support to the domestic economy, it has,
viatheRBI,investedalmost3percentof GDP
inforeignassetsjustinthefirsthalf of thisfis-
cal year!
Separately, the RBI reported last month
thatprofitsofnon-financiallistedfirmssurged
(35percentinnominalandabout30percent
in real terms) in 3Q20. We know that wages
andprofitsmakeupthebulkofGDP.SoifGDP
fell by 7.5 per cent and profits of listed com-
panies increased by 30 per cent, it stands to
reason that wages, employment, and earn-
ings of SMEs plummeted. The Centre for
Monitoring the Indian Economy’s surveys
suggesttheemploymentrateisstillmorethan
the lockdown, the employment rate has
plateaued since July, consistent with almost
10 million more rural households seeking
MGNREGA employment per month since
August compared to a year ago. And herein
lies the “fallacy of composition” or the
“tragedyof commons”problem.Itmaybera-
tionalforeachfirmtocutbackemploymentor
wages, but if all firms do the same, they are
simplyhurtingfutureconsumptionand,thus,
their own future demand and profits.
There is an obvious solution to the prob-
lem, but it is not spending on infrastructure
projects or reforms as is widely believed. As
long as the pandemic persists, mobility will
remainlimited.Sowhileinfrastructurespend-
ing and reforms are critical to sustain
medium-term growth, neither can boost
near-term demand. The pandemic is still not
behindusandfornowIndiawillneedtohun-
kerdownaslongasittakesforthevaccinesto
create herd immunity. Once immunity has
been achieved, mobility will normalise and
therecoverycanbegininearnest.Whatneeds
to be ensured is that the recovery is not ham-
strung by damaged household and SME bal-
ance sheets because of the extended loss of
wages and incomes. This requires extensive
income support now. It is not so much that it
willhelpsupportdemandthisyear,butthatit
willprotectbalancesheetsfromtheextensive
damage the pandemic has already signalled
it will likely leave in its wake.
Unlike typical EM crises, the pandemic is
notaninstanceofafinancialcrisisturninginto
aneconomicshock.Instead,itisaneconomic
shockbroughtonbyaweakpublichealthsys-
tem that can turn into a financial crisis if the
damagetobalancesheetsisnotlimitedbypol-
icy.Thegovernment,however,haseschewed
going down this path. And it must have good
reasons for doing so. But, as discussed earlier,
the lack of fiscal space isn’t one of them.

HUNGER ALARM to women’s employment, since much of the

economic shock has been borne by services,
GDP in foreign assets just in
the first half of this fiscal year!
two percentage points below its pre-pan-
demiclevel,translatingintomorethan10mil-
The writer is Chief Emerging Markets
Economist, JP Morgan. Views are personal

NFHS data on child malnourishment presents sobering picture.

Government must go back to drawing board, plug holes

E SURGICAL MIS-STRIKE
ARLYDATAFROMthefirstphaseoftheNationalFamilyHealthSurvey(NFHS)
(2015-2019)tellsagrimstory.Theproportionof stuntedchildrenhasrisenin
several of the 17 states and five Union territories surveyed, putting India at
riskofreversingpreciousgainsinchildnutritionmadeoverpreviousdecades.
Worryingly,thatincludesricherstateslikeKerala,Gujarat,Maharashtra,Goa Standards must not be lowered to certify Ayurveda postgraduates surgeons
and Himachal Pradesh. The share of underweight and wasted children has also gone up in
the majority of the states. Between 2005-6 (NFHS-3) and 2015-16 (NFHS-4), India had re-
markable success in reducing stunting from 48 per cent to 38.4 per cent. Not only is it ex- Shailaja Chandra
ceptionally rare to see a major economy and democracy undoing such gains, but these fig-
ures come after massive government programmes that sought to address issues crucial to A THREE-DECADE-OLD wrangle between the than question a surgeon’s qualifications. geriesundersupervision.Inover400Ayurvedic
allopathicandAYUSHfraternitieshasbeenres- The statutory regulatory body for AYUSH hospitals,itisreportedthat,perhaps,only10have
healthandnutrition,fromthebigpushtoendopendefecationbytheSwachhBharatAbhiyan
urrected following a recent clarification on a education is the Central Council of Indian attachedallopathichospitals.Surgicalskillsareby
to access to clean cooking fuel and drinking water. 2016 notification. This time, the clash is not Medicine (CCIM). Over the last 20 years, it has nomeansimpossibletolearnbuttheybecome
Thoughmoregranulardataisneededtoparsethereasonsforthisunexpectedsetback, abouttheAYUSHpractitioners’righttotreatus- become a clone of the erstwhile Medical difficulttomasterwithoutcontinuoustraining
there have beenseveral indicatorsof theslowingdownof economic growth andemploy- ingallopathicdrugs,buttheir“right”toconduct Council of India. For decades, stalwarts of andsupervision.Duetothepaucityof patients,
ment distress, which are bound to have an effect on hunger and nutrition. The 2017-18 surgeries. Ayurveda have lamented that CCIM has only limitedscopefortrainingandaccesstogaining
NSSO report, for instance, showed a dip in consumption expenditure for the first time in Threeimportantgroupsaffectedbythisor- promoted what private college managements hands-on practice, it is hazardous to allow all
decades, but the government eventually decided to withhold it. But the problem of child der have this to say: The Ayurvedic fraternity demand, propelled, in turn, by students’ need Shalya and Shalakya postgraduates to under-
maintainspostgraduatesinShalyaandShalakya to earn a stable income as medical profession- takesurgicalprocedures.
malnourishmentisahardonepreciselybecauseitistangledinseveraldeep-rootedprob-
(twosurgicalstreamsamong14post-graduate als. In this misplaced zeal to give better earn- Ironically, even an MS Surgery (allopathy)
lems,andisnotjustafunctionof growth.ThegenderskewinIndiansocieties,whichleads courses)aretaughtprocedureslistedinthecur- ings to the Ayurvedic vaidyas, CCIM has side- orasurgeonwhohaspassedoneoftheworld’s
to poor education, lack of reproductive choice and inadequate nutrition from childhood, riculum; that the oldest-known surgical spe- lined many skills that Ayurveda could have toughest examinations to become a fellow of
perpetuatesaviciouslegacyof under-nutrition.Inrecentyears,theculturewarsovernon- cialist was, in fact, an Ayurvedic surgeon/sage included, which are relevant even today. theRoyalCollegeofSurgeons(FRCS)isnotper-
vegetarian food habits have also led several states to knock off eggs — one of the cheapest Sushrut (600 BC) who wrote the Sushrut EventheAyurvedicfraternitylamentsthat mitted to conduct even comparatively simple
sources of protein for children — off mid-day meal and anganwadi menus. Samhita—aprofoundexpositiononconducting the statutory body that sets standards for operations like tonsillitis. In the last three
human surgery which continues to receive Ayurvedic education has subjugated the cur- decades, specialisation has excluded general
Thatthesearepre-pandemicfiguresgivesmorereasonfordisquiet.TheCOVID-19out-
worldwide acclaim. Surgery was practised by riculum to nurture more and more replicas of surgeonsfromperformingwhatwasoncecon-
break — and the lockdown to contain its spread which left millions stranded and hungry Ayurvedic surgeons long before the advent of Two facts make the case for doctors of modern medicine. Thereby, an an- sidered routine. For example, only an ENT sur-
—hassentincomesintoatailspin,withtheeconomyyettorecoverfromtheshock.Thepan- western medicine. cient, time-honoured system and its wealth of geoncanperformatonsillectomy.Therefore,to
Ayurvedic surgeon-vaidyas
demichasalsosharpenedtheedgeof allinequalities,andrippedapartfragilewelfarenets. Allopaths question the logic of this claim. empirical knowledge has been substituted by notifythatAyurvedicpostgraduatesinsurgery
So, the real-time deprivations of hunger are bound to be far more acute, with serious im- CanSushrut’smillennia-oldpre-eminencebe- weak. When it comes to teachingstudentstoimbibeasmuchallopathy canperformomnibusoperationsrunscounter
plications for generations to come — as well as for national aspirations of prosperity. The stow the right to practise modern surgery? Do surgery, it is not knowledge as possible. This has killed the knowledge, pu- to the norm in India and in other countries.
governmentmustundertakeurgentassessmentsof nutritionstatusduringthepandemic
these Ayurvedic surgeons know the hidden but rigorous training and rityandgoodnessof classicalAyurveda,which Inperformingsurgery,theonlybenchmark
risks of every surgical procedure and how to continuous practice which ironically is the Ayurveda in high demand in shouldbethedurationofhands-ontrainingre-
and go back to the drawing board to plug the holes. surmount sudden mishaps? Europe, Russia and America. ceived — counted by surgeries under supervi-
TheMinistryofAYUSHjustifiesitsnotifica- makes for perfection. Until now, the debate was riveted on sion, and being judged through external eval-
Allopathic students of
LE CARRE’S PEOPLE
tiononthegroundthatnotallvaidyasbutonly Ayurvedicvaidyasusingallopathicdrugstotreat uation. Every surgeon’s skills and competence
postgraduates qualifying from two surgical surgery learn first by symptoms.Butnowithasexpandedtoencom- must be tested by applying exactly the same
streams have been authorised to perform se- pass surgery. And two facts make the case for standards before she/he can operate. This co-
watching and then
lected surgeries. And none of this is new. But Ayurvedicsurgeon-vaidyasweak.Whenitcomes nundrum of different standards for surgical
performing scores of
He elevated the espionage novel to literature. His protagonists the moot point is who decides whether tosurgery,itisnotknowledgebutrigoroustrain- trainingmustbesolvedbecausepatientsafety
Ayurvedic surgeons possess sufficient profi- surgeries under supervision. ingandcontinuouspracticewhichmakesforper- is far more important than the career progres-
were all too human, and bore cost of ideologically-driven battles

I
ciency to conduct these surgeries safely? By Most Ayurvedic hospitals do fection. Both require clinical material and most sion of Ayurvedic postgraduates.
what standard are their skills judged? Surgical Ayurvedichospitalsdonothaveafractionofthe
N 2011, WHEN John Le Carre (born David Cornwell), who died on Monday at 89,
proficiencycannotbejudgedbydifferentstan-
not have a fraction of the surgicalpatientsfoundinallopathicgeneralhos- Thewriterisformersecretary,AYUSH
was nominated for the Booker Prize, it took just 45 minutes for him to issue a dardsinonecountry—particularlywhenless- surgical patients found in pitals. Allopathic students of surgery learn first Government of India,andhealth secretary,
statement saying, “I do not compete for literary prizes and have therefore asked educated patients would rather save money allopathic general hospitals. bywatchingandthenperformingscoresofsur- Delhigovernment
for my name to be withdrawn”. Le Carre’s withdrawal was a snub to the English
literary world, which had long enforced a caste system between literary fiction
and genre fiction. Yes, he wrote about espionage, but he was no Ian Fleming, and George
Smiley is no James Bond.
LeCarrespenthisearlycareer,tillthephenomenalsuccessof TheSpyWhoCameinfrom DECEMBER 15, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO
the Cold (1963), as a spy. While he never broke the silence that his erstwhile profession
demanded, the air of authenticity in his work is often attributed to his days at MI6. What FRESH STIR IN ASSAM As a concession to neighbouring states, the the next day itself, December 22.
makes his work literarily significant are the themes he explored. For over 50 years, Le AGITATORS ARE SET to intensify the strug- agitators will permit the transport of ply-
Carre wrote of fathers and sons (Single & Single), of love and longing (The Night Manager) gle against foreigners in Assam from wood from those areas through Assam. CLAMOUR FOR RAJIV
December 18 after ending the 46-day-old LEADERS OF THE Youth Congress (I) made
and how those on the frontlines of ideologically-driven battles are the ones who end up
making the greatest moral compromises.
gherao of state legislators. The AASU and MAHARASHTRA TALKS fervent appeals to Rajiv Gandhi to join poli-
AAGSP leadership issued a statement firmly THEMAHARASHTRAGOVERNMENTagreed tics and “lead them” at a function held in
After the end of the ColdWar, manythought that Le Carre’s bestwas behind him. After rejecting any move by the newly-installed to negotiate with the representatives of the Delhi to mark the 34th birth anniversary of
all, part of what made the mild-mannered, portly, cuckold George Smiley, the protago- stategovernmenttoholdnegotiationsonthe Shetkari Sanghatana, including its leader, Sanjay Gandhi. PM Indira Gandhi, however,
nistof theTrilogy—Tinker,Tailor,Soldier,Spy; The HonourableSchoolboyandSmiley’sPeople foreigners’ issue. It said the present govern- SharadJoshi,ontheirdemandsfor remuner- turned down their pleas by denouncing the
— so appealing was the inevitable dissonance between the high-minded rhetoric of the menthad“neitheranyauthoritynorwasitin ative prices for agricultural produce. craze for searching a leader. “All of you are
ColdWarandthecompromisesandcostsof fightingit.ButLeCarredefinitivelyestablished a position” to settle the foreigners’ issue. The Consequently, the Shetkari leaders sus- leaders and should develop the leadership
new agitation, starting on Thursday, is ex- pended their agitation till next Sunday. The within you,” she said. The rally was organ-
with Absolute Friends, which dealt with terrorism, and The Constant Gardner (on the cor-
pected to go on till December 30, according government informed the Sanghatana lead- ised by the Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress (I).
ruptions of the global pharmaceutical industry), that the end of the Cold War was not to the two organisations. It will take on the ersthatitwaswillingtoholdtalkswiththem. It was attended by most members of Mrs
the end of history, and certainly not of his literature. Perhaps, most importantly, in the form of mass satyagraha in front of the of- Joshi said that if the negotiations “fail to con- Gandhi’s cabinet, Haryana Chief Minister
age of ultranationalistic pride, his characters established firmly that patriotism, in art and fices of the deputy commissioners and sub- cede our demands by next Sunday”, the sec- Bhajan Lal and Youth Congress (I) president
in government, is far more complex than “my country, right or wrong”. divisional and block development officers. ondphaseof theagitationwouldcommence Ghulam Nabi Azad, among others.

New Delhi

13 THE IDEAS PAGE
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
India and a new tech order
The Biden presidency is likely to promote issue-based alliances for transfer of emerging technologies.
Delhi must actively participate in these coalitions to secure its geopolitical interests
RAJA MANDALA
By C Raja Mohan
AS THE US formally declares Joe Biden as the
next president, one important legacy from
Donald Trump is likely to endure. It is the
proposition that “like-minded countries”
must come together to cope with emerging
global challenges, including the governance
of emerging technologies that are reshaping
relations within and among societies. India
traditionallyreliedonmultilateralapproaches
togovernadvancedtechnologiesorchoseiso-
lation when the rules did not suit it. The time
is now ripe for Delhi to consider coalition-
buildingasamajortoolof itstech-diplomacy.
Thediscourseontechnologicalcoalitions
is not taking place in a political vacuum, but
amidst the growing apprehensions about
China’s use of newly acquired technological
muscle in support of its expansionist aims.
Technology issues are now quite central to
thecurrentcontestationbetweentheUSand
China. Reducing economic and, especially,
digital dependence on China has also be-
come an important objective for India, as
Delhinavigatesthedeeplytroubledrelation-
ship with Beijing.
Indiahasfiguredquiteprominentlyinthe
US and Western discourse on building new
coalitions to promote and regulate advanced
technologies.ThesizeofIndia’smarketaswell
as its technological capabilities make it an at-
tractivepartnerintheefforttobuild“technol-
ogy coalitions of the capable and willing”.
Delhi,whichwasgettingdrawnintothese
conversations with Washington during the
Trump term, must now get ready to engage
theincomingBidenadministration.Butisthe
Biden team interested? On the face of it, the
differences between Trump and Biden are
real. Trump’s coalition-building was rooted
in scepticism about the efficacy of multilat-
eral institutions like the World Trade
OrganisationandWorldHealthOrganisation
indealingwitharisingChina.Restoringmul-
tilateralism, on the other hand, is among
Biden’s top priorities.
This difference is likely to be less impor-
tant when we look at Washington’s longer-
term record. The US has worked with multi-
ple formats to achieve its technological
objectives. In the nuclear arena, for example,
the US negotiated arms control agreements
with its main rival, the Soviet Union, during
the Cold War. At the same time, Washington
workedinmultilateralforumstoproducethe
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and exclu-
sive groupings like the Nuclear Suppliers
Group to regulate the flows of civil nuclear
technology.Inotherwords,theformdepends
on the function.
Even as he trashed traditional alliances
like the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation,
Trump devoted much energy to the consol-
idationof theQuad,orQuadrilateralSecurity
Framework, that brought Australia, India,
JapanandtheUStogether.Trumpalsosought
to develop the idea of a “Quad Plus” that
brought additional countries ranging from
Brazil to South Korea and Vietnam and Israel
to New Zealand to discuss the coordination
of national responses to the pandemic. This
Nalini Singh
SIX MONTHS AGO, on June 14, actor Sushant
Singh Rajput was found dead, hanging from
theceilingfanof hisbedroominMumbai.The
city police quickly (too quickly?) concluded
that he had died by suicide. Tearing at this
tragedyimmoderately,manyTVchannelsand
social media commentariat pieced together
“evidence”andequallyquicklysuggestedthat
SSR’s death was a foul murder with the paw-
marks of top Shiv Sena politicians.
While this theory was turning into “fact”
rapidly,SSR’sfatherissuedaringingaccusation
inPatnathathissonhadbeenmurderedbythe
actor’s live-in girlfriend, actor Rhea
Chakraborty, who he alleged had helped her-
self to Rs 15 crore from her partner’s account
andsalteditawayinherownfamily’saccounts.
Thecountrywasriveted.Anextraordinary
spectacleof knock-down-drag-outfightsun-
folded between the Mumbai and Patna po-
lice forces when the latter launched its own
investigation in Mumbai. Charges of money
laundering and drug abuse gave a toehold to
two Delhi-based central agencies — the
Enforcement Directorate and the Narcotics
ControlBureau—tojetdowntoMumbai.The
SupremeCourttaskedtheCBItotakeoverthe
casefromtheMumbaipolice,anorderwhich
was hailed as a victory for the Patna police.
Six months later, what is the tally in the
SSR case? Three facts stand out.
One, that the SSR investigation has so far
cost taxpayers Rs 6 crore at the least. Here is
included the idea of developing trusted
global supply chains that are not vulnerable
to Beijing’s weaponisation of economic in-
terdependence.
Trump actively mobilised US allies and
partners to shun China’s telecom companies
intherolloutof5Gor“fifth-generation”wire-
less technology and promoted the idea of a
coalitionof“cleannetworks”thatwouldshun
harmfulsoftwareandappsfromChina.Trump
expanded the ambit of the Anglo-American
intelligence-sharing alliance called Five Eyes
(US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand)
byinitiatingconsultationwithJapanandIndia
on addressing the tension between encryp-
tion, privacy and law enforcement.
Biden has promised to reverse Trump’s
decision to walk out of the 2015 Paris Accord
onclimatechangeonhisfirstdayattheWhite
House. If global warming demands a collec-
tiveapproach,thereareareaswhichdemand
a different framework. Biden has promised
to rebuild alliances and partnerships with
like-minded countries in addressing the
threats from China. This is where we might
see some overlap between the strategies of
Trump and Biden.
Trump, for example, had invited India,
Australia and South Korea to the G-7 summit
that was to be held in the US this year, before
the pandemic compelled its postponement.
The members of the Group of Seven are the
US, Canada, United Kingdom, France,
Germany,ItalyandJapan.Biden’splansforthe
G-7 summit are yet to be announced. Biden
also promised to convene a “Democracy
Summit”earlyoninhistenurethatwoulddeal
with multiple objectives, including the pro-
motion of human rights and protection of
democracies from new digital technologies.
Meanwhile, Britain has been discussing
the merits of a “Democracy Ten” that brings
India,SouthKoreaandAustraliawiththeG-7
to build telecom products to reduce the cur-
rent global reliance on China. The US strate-
gic community is debating variations on the
ideaofanalliancebetweentechno-democra-
cies — or plural societies with strong techno-
logical capabilities.
AfterBiden’selection,theEuropeanUnion
hasofferedtorebuildthetransatlanticalliance
with a special focus on technological cooper-
ation. Amidst the growing recognition of the
danger of China-led global regimes on tech-
nology, Brussels has offered what has been
described as a once-in-a-generation oppor-
tunitytotransformtherelationshipbetween
Six months, six crore later
SushantSinghRajputcasewasusedtocreatemasshysteria,amountingtonothing
the maths: From mid-June to mid-August,
about100personneleachof theMumbaiand
Patnapoliceforceswereengaged24x7intheir
separateinvestigations.InJuly,ateamofabout
20 ED personnel was detailed to hoover the
money laundering angle, and in August, the
NCB deployed at least 20 of its personnel to
sniff out the drugs angle. By the time the CBI
got its mandate, the media had sluiced the
country’sattentiontothe“murdertheory”.A
CBI official admitted that political and public
pressure caused the agency to deploy a dis-
proportionately large and high-powered
team, also to allow for drop-outs due to
COVID-19. This elite team had investigated
theVijayMallyaandAugustaWestlandcases.
So, on August 20, when the CBI team swept
into Mumbai, it comprised senior officers of
the rank of Joint Director, DIG, ASP, SP et al.
About 25 CBI personnel have been engaged
in this case for the last four months.
Taken together, the state and Central gov-
ernment personnel have devoted nearly 460
person-monthsontheSSRinvestigationsofar.
Since the staff members range from joint di-
rectorstoheadconstables,anaveragemonthly
per person compensation of Rs 1 lakh tots up
toasalary-plus-DAbillofaboutRs5crore,con-
servatively calculated. Add to this the cost of
logistics support, legal advisors, public prose-
cutors, banking resources, data processing,
translators and other technical staff, and the
officialexpenditurealreadyincurredisalmost
Biden has promised to
reverse Trump’s decision to
walk out of the 2015 Paris
Accord on climate change on
his first day at the White
House. If global warming
demands a collective
approach, there are areas
which demand a different
framework. Biden has
promised to rebuild alliances
and partnerships with like-
minded countries in
addressing the threats from
China. This is where we
might see some overlap
between the strategies of
Trump and Biden.
Rs6crore.ThecostsbornebytheAIIMS’foren-
sics team would add to this estimate.
As a searing counterpoint, recall that the
LSR BSc Mathematics (Hons) student
AishwaryaReddycommittedsuicidebecause
she could not afford a functioning second-
hand laptop and internet connection to con-
tinue her studies online at home.
Two, despite SSR’s family’s high-decibel
social media campaign, including regular
posts of the sisters’ wedding and birthday
videos,thefamilyhasnotdisclosedthename
of the suspect who siphoned off crores from
SSR’s accounts. Neither has the ED so far es-
tablishedmoney-launderingchargesagainst
Rhea Chakraborty. The family has not shared
publicly the modus operandi or the identity
of money-laundering suspects, who must
have been very close to SSR since, presum-
ably, they had access to his accounts. And the
family does not appear to have been publicly
fully forthcoming on the seemingly cavalier
manner in which they forwarded a forged
prescription of mind-altering drugs to a
brother they knew was in a fragile mental
state. Neither is it clear why a sister left him
inhisapartmentinthat precarious state, two
days before his body was found.
Three, the “nationalist” media, which had
blitzed the SSR “murder” story, has neither
apologisednoracknowledgeditsownmotiva-
tions.RecallthatonedayafterSSR’sdeath,the
Chinesebrutallykilled20ofourvaliantjawans
C R Sasikumar
Europe and America. Earlier this year, France
and Canada launched the Global Partnership
on Artificial Intelligence to promote respon-
sible development and use of AI. India was
among the 15 founding members.
ThereareotherinitiativesthatIndiaisnot
yetpartof—forexample,thegroupcalledthe
“DigitalNations”thatwasfoundedin2014by
Britain, Estonia, Israel, South Korea and New
Zealand. The group wants to mobilise digital
technologies to enhance the quality of life for
their citizens.
India is also not part of the “Artemis
Accords” that were launched in October by
theTrumpadministration.Theseagreements
outline a set of principles for the cooperative
andtransparentexplorationof outerspace.It
is based on the recognition that the structure
of space activities is undergoing profound
transformation and the Outer Space Treaty
negotiated in 1967 and the Moon Treaty of
1979needtobesupplemented.Thefounding
membersoftheArtemisAccordsareAustralia,
Canada,Italy,Japan,Luxembourg,UnitedArab
Emirates, United Kingdom, and the US.
Delhi needs to appreciate the value of is-
sue-based coalitions in producing more pro-
ductive outcomes in the technological arena.
SuchcoalitionswillcomplementIndia’stradi-
tionalfocusonmultilateralism.Inthelastfew
years, India has taken the lead in promoting
the International Solar Alliance and the
CoalitionforDisasterResilientInfrastructure.
Indiaisalsonowamemberof theWassenaar
Arrangement that regulates the flow of dual-
use technologies and the Missile Technology
Control Regime.
Thescopeoftechnologygovernanceisex-
panding rapidly. In the digital domain alone,
the emerging issues include cyber-security,
righttoprivacy,integrityofpoliticalprocesses,
contentmoderationonsocialmedia,prevent-
ing tech monopolies, digital trade and taxa-
tion, trans-border data flows and robotic
weapons.Therearenoagreedanswerswithin
or among democracies on these difficult is-
sues.Newdigitalruleswillemergeoutofcon-
sultationandcooperationamonglike-minded
countries. At this fluid digital moment, Delhi
cansecureitseconomic,politicalandsecurity
interests through active participation in the
new technology coalitions.
The writer is director, Institute of South Asian
Studies, National University of Singapore and
contributing editor on international affairs for
The Indian Express
and their commanding officer in Galwan,
Ladakh.Yetmostofour“patriotic”mediacon-
tinuedthesaturationcoverageoftheSSRstory,
anddemotedthetreacheryoftheChinesePLA
downthenewsschedulerun-order,whichad-
mittedly was their privileged right.
A PIL in the Supreme Court might nudge
CBItoexpediteitsreportonSSR’sdeath.Butfor
inspiration,theCBIcouldturntotheabruptdis-
appearance of Australia’s Prime Minister
Harold Holt 50 years ago over the Christmas
weekend. The debonair Holt entered the wa-
ters at a beach on the southern Australia coast
for a swim, with his glamorous girlfriend
Marjorie watching him from the escarpment,
andhewasneverseenagain.Manyconspiracy
theorieswereadvanced,includingthathewas
aChineseagentandthathewillinglyentereda
waitingChinesesubmarinewithstatesecrets,
orthathehadcommittedsuicide.Butaftertwo
days of intensive searches by divers and heli-
copters, the Australian government officially
ended its search, sent its condolences to Mrs
Holt,announcedthePM’sdeathandproceeded
with governance. No further enquiries were
mounted.Hisbodywasneverfoundandspec-
ulations continue to this day.
Our government agencies would do well
to remember that speculations have an infi-
nitelife,butprobeshaveafiniteremit,andthe
gulf between them is called credibility.
The writer is a senior journalist
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“Whether or not the West can curb horrors against Uighurs in China, it must not
profit from them, nor encourage those who do. Companies should, like Barcelona
forward Antoine Griezmann, look to their consciences.”
Seeds of a
revolution
Old model of agriculture is a drag on the economy,
rural living. New farm laws offer a way out
Shesh Narayan
Singh
FARMERSAREPROTESTINGattheDelhibor-
der.MostoftheleadersarefromPunjaband
Haryana.Agroupoflargelandholdingfarm-
ers from western Uttar Pradesh is also part
of the protests. The farmers are dissenting
against the three new farm laws.
Inits2019electionmanifesto,theBJPhad
promisedtocreateacountrywidemarketfor
the selling and purchasing of foodgrain and
other agricultural produce. These laws are a
crucial link in that direction.
It would be apt to discuss the historic
needtohavetheselawsforthebettermentof
the farm sector in the country. For the rich
farmers of Punjab, Haryana and western
Uttar Pradesh, things are different; but for
croresofsmalllandholdersinUttarPradesh,
Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West
Bengal,Odisha,etc.,itisnowpossibletofeed
their families.
Landholdings in many states have
shrunk. In eastern UP, the cultivators are
largely marginal farmers now. Generally,
farmerswithlessthananacreof arableland
are identified as marginal farmers. Small
farmers are those with landholdings be-
tween 1 acre and 2.5 acres. In my village, all
thefarmersexcepttwofamiliesaremarginal
farmers. It is difficult for a farming family to
sustainthemselveswithjustanacreofarable
land. The farmer will have to explore other
avenues to improve his financial position.
After Independence, there was no con-
crete effort to uplift the farm sector for al-
most two decades. After the China war,
when India was standing at the precipice
of economicdestruction,Pakistanattacked
India. There was an acute scarcity of food-
grain in the country. The then Prime
Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, asked his
agricultureminister,CSubramaniam,todo
something. Subramaniam, with the help
of M S Swaminathan, invited scientist
NormanBorlaugtoIndia,whohadbrought
arevolutionarychangeinthefarmsectorin
Mexico with his semi-dwarf varieties of
rice and wheat.
Borlaug analysed the farm sector in
Punjab and concluded that production can
be doubled. But none of the farmers was
ready to use his methods of farming. Then,
Subramaniam promised the farmers that if
theyimplementthenewfarmingtechniques,
the central government will compensate
them.Thisschemewasinitiallyimplemented
in around 150 farm holdings with the assis-
tance of Punjab Agriculture University,
Ludhiana.Thusbeganthe“GreenRevolution”.
Farmproducemorethandoubled,and,sub-
sequently, all the farmers in Punjab and
Haryana joined the programme. The Green
Revolution worked on three fronts — better
seeds,irrigationandoptimumuseoffertilis-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
WELCOME DATABASE
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘Counting
workers in’ (IE, December). A compre-
hensivedatabaseof allthoseworkingin
the unorganised sector, not just the
floatingpopulation,haslongbeenover-
due. The pandemic-induced lockdown
in March-Aprilandtheconsequenttra-
vails of the migrants has once again
brought the issue centrestage. A
plethoraof governmentschemescanfa-
cilitate this endeavour giving not only
an identity but also a social security net
to this otherwise “faceless” section of
society.
Vijai Pant, Hempur
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘Counting
workers in’ (IE, December). Data is im-
portantandabetterdatabasealwaysen-
hances the quality of work. The contin-
ued lockdowns bring out the poor
human resource management in our
country as well as the pathetic condi-
tion of labour. However, the govern-
ment’s decision to work on a better
databaseforemployabilityof thework-
forcemaybenefitthemasses.Moreover,
this Aadhaar-linked database will en-
able the government to create a social
security architecture for workers in the
unorganised sector.
Sonit Kumar Goswami, Delhi
PRAGYA’S IGNORANCE
THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Brahmins,
Kshatriyas don’t take offence, why
Shudras, says Pragya Thakur’ (IE,
December 14). She attributed this to
Shudras’ ignorance of the caste-based
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— THE GUARDIAN
ers. Soon, rest of the country’s farmers fol-
lowedtheleadof theirbrethreninPunjab.
After more than 50 years, now there has
been some movement worth appreciating
in the farm sector. The latest steps initiated
by the Modi government could again usher
in revolutionary changes in India’s agricul-
ture sector.
When India opened up its market to the
world in 1991, Manmohan Singh bid adieu
toJawaharlalNehru’spolicyofeconomicde-
velopmentbasedonsocialisticprinciplesand
broughtthecountryonthepathtoeconomic
development. At that time, he had talked
about major changes in the farm sector but
could not move ahead due to coalition poli-
tics. Today, Narendra Modi is also talking
about reforming the agriculture sector. The
Congresspartyisagainstthereformsimple-
mented by the Modi government. There is
alsoasectionoffarmerswhoareopposedto
thelaws.Althoughthisispolitical,itisperti-
nenttounderstandthesociologicalandeco-
nomic aspects behind farm sector reforms.
Thelatestfarmpolicyreformsofthegov-
ernment are also called agrarian transition
development and were implemented in
Europe and the US early on. Today, around
45 per cent of the country’s workforce is in-
volved in agriculture. When India attained
Independence, the contribution of agricul-
ture to the country’s GDP was huge, which
todayhascomedowntoaround15percent.
The old model has been a drag on the econ-
omy as well as the villages.
To have a sustainable farm economy,
about 20 per cent of the agriculture work-
forcemustfindbettermeansofemployment
in cities. Ideally, they should be absorbed in
the industrial sector. Today, India’s service
sectorisabigemployerandthese20percent
of farmers can be absorbed there. We can-
not allow such a huge chunk of the popula-
tion to be dependent on farming because if
such a practice continues, the number of
poorwillcontinuetorise.Therefore,itistime
to develop models of contract farming. It is
anavenuetodevelopanorganisedcorporate
model of agriculture in the country. This, in
turn, will speed up urbanisation in the vil-
lagesandthedevelopmentofindustriesand
theservicesectorthere.Thesesectorswillbe
able to absorb the excess workforce in the
farm sector.
Variousviewsarecirculatingwithrespect
tocontractfarming,butitisimportanttoun-
derstand its structure and potential. For in-
stance, if a village has a thousand farmers
who have an acre of arable land, then,
throughcontractfarming,someonecansow
crops on the entire 1,000 acres of land. The
landcontinuestobelongtothefarmer,while
ontheotherhand,he/shewillearntheprofit
from the sale of produce generated from
his/herpartofthelandholding.Thisalsofrees
him/her to pursue other employment op-
portunities.
The Green Revolution changed the face
of India’s agriculture through seeds, irriga-
tion and fertilisers. The next revolution —
Green Revolution 2.0 — will come through
in-depth research, better investment op-
portunities and access to the market. The
three farm laws are a revolutionary step in
that direction.
The writer is a former journalist
IDEAS
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hierarchy,derivingsanctionfromscrip-
tures like Manusmriti. So, if a Shudra is
upsetabouthisdegradedandostracised
social status, there is no remedy other
thanleavingtheHindureligion,whichis
what B R Ambedkar did in October 14,
1956, by converting to Buddhism.
L R Murmu, Delhi
THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Brahmins,
Kshatriyas don’t take offence, why
Shudras, says Pragya Thakur’ (IE,
December 14). One does not need the
wisdom of Solomon to answer why a
Shudra hates to be called so. BJP MP
PragyaThakurSinghcouldknowthean-
swerjustbyputtingherself inaShudra’s
shoes. Clearly, Shudras fear that once
theydisclosetheiridentity,theywillnot
be greeted equally or with respect by
people of other castes.
Tarsem Singh, Mahilpur

14 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
BRIEFLY
Bandaru Dattatreya
TELANGANA
Himachal
Governorunhurt
inroadmishap
Hyderabad: Himachal
Pradesh Governor
BandaruDattatreyahada
lucky escape after his car
veeredoff theroadonthe
national highway on
Monday, police said. No
one was injured in the in-
cident, which occurred at
Choutuppal on National
Highway-65(Hyderabad-
Vijayawada), a senior po-
lice official said. As per
preliminary information,
the driver lost control of
thecarandthevehiclego-
ing off the road, the offi-
cial said. The Governor
was on his way to
Nalgonda district for a
programme, police said,
addinghelatercontinued
hisjourneyinanotherve-
hicle. PTI
CHHATTISGARH
CoBRAofficer
diesofinjuries
fromIEDblast
Raipur: A 36-year-old
CoBRA deputy comman-
dant died on Monday, a
dayaftersufferinginjuries
in an IED blast in Sukma
district.Hewasairliftedto
Raipur after the blast on
Sunday, where he suc-
cumbed at the hospital.
BastarIGSundarrajPiden-
tified the deceased as
Vikas Kumar of the 208
Battalion.Accordingtothe
IG, Kumar suffered in-
juries while trying to dif-
fuse an IED found in a
search operation in
Kistaram area of Sukma
district. "He was out with
histeam andthestate po-
lice force near Kasaram
NalainKistaramwhenhe
encountered a pressure
IED. He suffered injuries
whiletryingtodiffusethe
bomb," he said.. Kumar's
body has been sent to his
hometown Muzaffarna-
gar in UP. He had been
posted in Chhattisgarh
since 2019 ENS
TAMIL NADU
‘Suicidepact’
leadstodeath
offiveoffamily
Villupuram: A couple in
their thirties and their
threechildrenwerefound
dead in their house at a
village in Villupuram on
Monday, police said.
Preliminary probe hint at
a 'suicide pact' and the
man and woman could
have ended their lives af-
ter killing their two
daughters, aged seven
and eight, and their five-
year-old son, police said.
Thebodieshavebeensent
to a government medical
college hospital here for
autopsy by a team of po-
lice personnel. PTI
WEST BENGAL
Youthhacks
stepmotherto
deathwithaxe
Jalpaiguri:Ayouthhacked
his stepmother to death
with an axe in Jalpaiguri
districtonMonday,police
said. The incident hap-
penedintheKrantipolice
station area of Malbazar
block, they said. There
was a feud between the
woman and her stepson
and the killing was a re-
sultof that,policesaid.An
investigation has begun,
theysaid.Thestepsonhas
been arrested, they
added. PTI
‘Alarming’ trend of very high
C-section births, says survey
UDIT MISRA, NUSHAIBA
IQBAL & ANURADHA
MASCARENHAS
NEW DELHI, PUNE, DEC 14
DATA FROM the latest National
Family Health Survey shows an
“alarming” trend of very high
“births delivered by caesarean
section” across most states and
Union Territories that were
mapped in the first phase.
A caesarean delivery (C-sec-
tion)isasurgicalprocedureused
to deliver a baby through inci-
sionsintheabdomenanduterus.
According to the World
Health Organisation, a reason-
able percentage of births by C-
section is between 10-15 per
cent. At this level of use, C-sec-
tion reduces maternal as well as
newborn mortality rates.
However, in India, according
to NFHS-5 data released last
week, several states have C-sec-
tion between 30-40 per cent. In
Telangana, this number is over
60 per cent.
Public healthcare experts
such as Sakthivel Selvaraj,
Director, Health Economics,
FinancingandPolicy,atthePublic
Health Foundation of India, say
Domestic violence cases double in Karnataka
ESHA ROY
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
NEARLY A third of women in
four states out of 17 surveyed so
far have experienced domestic
violence, and in three states the
numbers reported have in-
creased, with Karnataka show-
ing a doubling of the number of
cases of domestic violence over
the last survey, according to the
National Family Health Survey
(NFSH)-5.The data was released
by the Union Health Ministry on
Saturday.
Domestic violence against
women include both physical
and sexual violence, and the
states where more than 30 per
centreportedhavingsufferedvi-
olence by their spouses are
Karnataka, Telangana, Assam
and Bihar. The number of cases
reported went up in Karnataka,
Telangana and Maharashtra.
NFHS-4 data was for 2015-
16. The next round of NFSH-5
Covid testing in New Delhi on Monday. Praveen Khanna
Pune-based Gennova to
begin human trials of
its Covid vaccine ‘soon’
PRABHA RAGHAVAN
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
Pune-based Gennova
Biopharmaceuticalsplanstokick
off early- to mid-stage human
trialsof itsCovid-19vaccine can-
didate "soon", enrolling around
620 participants across several
sites over the next few months.
"We have started the
processes. We hope to start
phase 1 soon. We will present
our phase 1 data to the DCGI
(Drug Controller General of
India),beforestartingthesecond
phase,andsothetimelineforthe
trials to be completed will de-
pend on these factors," said
Gennova CEO Dr Sanjay Singh.
"Forphase1,wehavegottwo
sites where we will be starting
enrolmentsoon,"hesaid,adding
that around 120 volunteers will
be registered in the first phase at
two sites -- KEM Hospital, Pune
and a government hospital in
Kolhapur.
"We are looking at enrolling
500 participants for phase 2 tri-
als and this will go into many
sites. I hope it will be 6-10 sites,"
Doctors say a C-section surgery can have consequences such
as anaesthesia complications, blood loss, and infections. File
India’snumbersaremuchhigher
thanothercountries.“At60.7per
cent,Telanganahasanalarmingly
high proportion of C-section de-
liveries compared to global stan-
dards,” he said.
Several Indian states already
had high levels of C-section de-
liveries in NFHS-4 (2015-16).
Preliminary data for the latest
round — 2019-20 — shows that
in most states this number has
gone up further. For instance, in
Andhra Pradesh it is 42.4 per
cent, in Kerala it is 38.9 per cent,
in Goa it is 39.5 per cent and in
E
EXPLAINED
Why thejump
infiguresisseen
as goodnews
● in 2020; of these, 124cases were
WHILE THE jump in Karnataka's figures appear alarming,
experts in gender violence put the increase down to im-
proved reporting of domestic violence cases, and therefore
“good news’’. Women rarely come out and report domestic
violence cases, and thus an increasing trend in numbers is
seen as a good sign. It's states where the numbers have re-
mained stagnant, or have even shown a decline, that are a
matter of some concern, since it is possible that domestic
violence is not being reported in those states, according to
Ranjana Das from Oxfam.
data is likely to be released next
summer.
In Karnataka, over 44.4 per
cent of both rural and urban
women surveyed as part of
NFHS-5 reported having experi-
enced spousalviolence– the fig-
ure was 20.6 per cent in NFHS-4.
Singh said.
The DCGI, who heads India's
apex drug regulator, last week
gave Gennova the green light for
phase 1/2 trials. If successful, the
vaccine may be the first indige-
nously developed vaccine using
mRNAtechnologythatcouldpo-
tentially use India's existing cold
chaincapacity in its distribution.
This is the same platform
used by Pfizer/BioNTech and
Moderna and the US National
Institutes of Health (NIH) to
make their vaccine. Preliminary
information released on the two
vaccines with respect to late
stage trials shows that they have
an efficacy of around 94-95 per
cent.
Gennova'scandidate,known
as HGCO19, is "stable" at 2°C to
8°Cfortwomonths,accordingto
the Ministry of Science and
Technology. On the other hand,
the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine re-
quires deepfreeze technology to
be stored at around -75°C and
canbekeptin2°Cto8°Crefriger-
ated units for up to five days.
Moderna'scandidatecansurvive
in these refrigerated tempera-
tures for up to a month.
J&K it is 41.7 per cent.
“There has also been a rise in
the number of institutional de-
liveries, and the fall out could be
anincreaseintheC-sections,”Dr
K S James, director of Mumbai-
based International Institute of
Population Sciences, said.
Accordingtodoctors,aC-sec-
tion surgery is a bodily interven-
tion, and it can have conse-
quences such as anaesthesia
complications, blood loss, infec-
tions and injury to other vital
structures. Crucially, it is the
mother who bears the risk in
About 11 per cent of young
women surveyed in the state re-
ported having experienced sex-
ual violence by the age of 18 in
NFHS-5. The corresponding fig-
ures in the 2015-16 survey was
10.3 per cent.
According to the National
IIT-M suspends
academic
activities after
100 Covid cases
in two weeks
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, DECEMBER 14
IIT-MADRAS HAS temporarily
suspended all academic opera-
tions and has shut all labs and li-
braries after 104 people on cam-
pus tested positive for Covid-19
over the past two weeks -- the
largest cluster reported in Tamil
Nadu after campuses reopened
for final-year college students.
IIT-M Director Bhaskar
Ramamurthi said about 10 per
cent of the institute’s students
werebackinhostels--mostlyre-
search scholars engaged in lab-
oratory works along with proj-
ect staff who assist in research
projects labs works.
The institute’s management
saidithastested408outof atotal
of 774 students staying in the
campus after classes reopened.
According to them, over the past
twoweeks,104people–students
andcanteenstaff–testedpositive
for the virus, and 26 have been
taken to hospitals.
Two hostels -- Krishna and
Jamuna, which reported 22 and
20 cases respectively until
Sunday--havebeenshut.AnIIT-
Madras official said the disinfec-
tionworkhasbeenstrengthened
and that all the students have
beenquarantinedintheirrooms.
State Health Secretary J
Radhakrishnan said, “Since col-
leges have opened, we need to
keep an eye on hostels and mess
and encourage takeaway food.
Corporation and health officials
are closely working with institu-
tions to take preventive steps.”
Students have pointed to
overcrowding at the only can-
teen as a reason for the spike in
infections.
most of these interventions.
Thereareseveralreasonswhy
C-section deliveries may be pre-
ferred.Thefirst,ofcourse,iswhen
doctorsbelievethereisathreatto
the life of the pregnant woman.
But it is also a fact that many
women ask for it themselves.
Dr Bharati Dhorepatil, vice-
president of the Federation of
Obstetric and Gynaecological
Societies of India, pointed to yet
another reason. “Marriages are
happening late. The pelvis can
get rigid during pregnancy, and
duetosafer techniques available
now,thereisalsoapressurefrom
families to get a C-section done,”
she said.
Adisaggregateddataanalysis
- which is possible only when
more data is available - will also
help understand whether these
deliveriesarehappeninginpub-
lic facilities or private facilities
andwhethertheyarehappening
to economically poor women or
better off ones or if the rates are
similar across the board.
But,regardlessof thereasons,
prima facie, the rates of C-sec-
tions deliveries in several states
are abnormally high.
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
Commission for Women’s
(NCW) data, the overall com-
plaints received from Karnataka
have increased. The NCW re-
ceived 311 complaints of vio-
lence from women in the state
thatof domesticviolence.Incon-
trast,NCWhadreceived52cases
of domestic violence in 2019.
“We believe that the rise in
cases is because of the social
awareness campaigns run by
our state office (in Karnataka),
as well as more avenues now
open for complaints to be
lodged, such as through social
media,’’ NCW chairperson
Rekha Sharma said.
In Telangana, about 36.9 per
cent women surveyed reported
facing spousal violence, with
more rural women reporting vi-
olencethantheirurbancounter-
parts. About 5 per cent of the
young women surveyed re-
ported having experienced sex-
ual violence by age 18.
Oxfam's Ranjana Das, who
TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE
287 CASES: ACTIVE CASES: 3,52,586
98,84,100 DEATHS: 143,355
DAYS SINCE
PANDEMIC
BEGAN TESTS: 15,45,66,990 | RECOVERIES: 9,388,159
CASES
27,071
Uttarakhand
STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASES
N/A
N/A
STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLINING
Karnataka
Delhi
Maharashtra
STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES
Kerala
Maharashtra
West Bengal
STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS
Maharashtra
West Bengal
Delhi
DataasonDecember13,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical
Researchandstategovernments.Often,thenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays
aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive
Pune schools to suspend online
classes over non-payment of fees
Pune: Close to 1,000 schools in
PuneandPimpri-Chinchwadare
expected to go on a three-day
suspension of educational activ-
ity to protest non-payment of
feesbymajorityof studentsfrom
December 15.
RepresentativesofFederation
Findings of
NFHS-5 show
population of
India stabilising
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
PUNE, DECEMBER 14
INDIA’S POPULATION is stabilis-
ing,asthetotalfertilityrate(TFR)
has decreased across majority of
the states. Of 17 states analysed
in the fifth round of National
Family Health Survey (NFHS),
except for Bihar, Manipur and
Meghalaya, all other states have
aTFRof 2.1orless,whichimplies
that most states have attained
replacement level fertility, an
analysis by the Population
Foundation of India (PFI) has
said.
The first set of findings from
the fifth NFHS, conducted in
2019-20, was released by the
Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare on Saturday.
All 17 states have witnessed
an increase in the use of modern
contraceptives of family plan-
ning. The proportion of women
with unmet need for family
planning has declined in all
states, except Meghalaya and
Andhra Pradesh. Except for
Manipur,allstateshavereported
an increase in users getting in-
formation on side effects of cur-
rentcontraceptivemethods,said
Poonam Muttreja, executive di-
rector of PFI.
has worked in Telangana for
three years in creating aware-
ness campaigns on gender vio-
lence, said, “Telangana and
Karnataka governments have
had a number of flagship pro-
grammesoncreatingawareness
and have been very active on
gender issues.” In contrast, she
said, “In Bihar, for instance,
where I have worked, while the
government pushes gender em-
powerment programmes such
as banking for women, gender
norms and domestic violence is
rarely discussed.”
According to NFSH-5, 40.6
per cent women in Bihar re-
ported spousal violence (up
from 43.7 per cent in NFSH-4)
InAssam,32percentwomen
reported experiencing domestic
violence – up from 24.5 per cent
in NFHS-4.
A third state where the per-
centage of cases reported in-
creased was Maharashtra –
25.2% as per NFSH-5, compared
to 21.3% in 2015-16.
DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS
336 30,695 8,55,157
ACTIVECASES
7,256
RISEINLASTWEEK
1,178
-
-
-
-
ACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK
17,409 7,972
16,785 7,908
74,104 5,975
ONDEC13 TOTAL
4,968 6,69,330
3,717 18,80,416
2,580 5,21,795
ONDEC13 TOTAL
72 49,307
47
33
9,057
10,014
of Unaided Private Schools
Association of Maharashtra
made the announcement on
Monday afternoon, and said the
protestisawarningagainstabig-
ger shutdown in the coming
months,unless"capableparents"
pay up. ENS
New Delhi
UP govt opposes
bail for journalist
Kappan in top court,
points to ‘SIMI links’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
OPPOSING A plea by the Kerala
Union of Working Journalists
(KUWJ), which has sought re-
lease of its member Siddique
Kappan, the Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment has sought to link him
to the banned Students Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI) and
has told the Supreme Court that
he went to Hathras on the “in-
structionsof” Delhiriots case ac-
cused Md Danish.
Inanadditionalaffidavitfiled
inthetopcourt,thestategovern-
ment also questioned the bona
fides of KUWJ, and accused it of
“tryingtotryingtocoverup/hide”
Kappan’s “true identity”.
It contended that there is a
“strong likelihood” that Kappan
would go “underground” if
granted bail at this stage, when
investigation is still pending.
Alleging that Kappan is not
assisting the investigation, the
Statesaidheisnot“disclosinghis
social media accounts, pass-
words and details associated
with the same in order to con-
ceal his misdeeds”.
The KUWJ's petition stated
that Kappan has more than 10
years of experience as a journal-
ist and was on way to Hathras to
report on the alleged gangrape
and death of a Dalit girl when he
was picked up by UP Police in
Mathura on October 5.
Stating that Kappan “has
been found associated with
Popular Front of India (PFI)”, the
UP government stated that PFI
“has been responsible for dis-
rupting public peace of the State
by provoking class and caste
conflictswithanintentiontode-
stroy public order and tarnish
the image of the Government by
inciting hatred, contempt and
dishonortotheGovernment.PFI
has been involved in anti-na-
tional activities and keeping
linkswithterroroutfitslikeISIS.”
“Severalcases”areregistered
against PFI members and ac-
tivists, who have also been
chargesheeted in Kerala, Delhi,
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and
other parts of the country, ac-
cording to the affidavit, filed by
Special Secretary, (Home), UP.
It stated that “as per investi-
gation till date, most members
of PFI who are ex-office-bearers
of “banned organization SIMI”
havebeenincloseintimacywith
UP Police to seek custody
of CFI gen secy held by ED
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 14
THE UTTAR Pradesh Police will
seek custody of KA Rauf Sharif,
the national general secretary of
CampusFrontof India(CFI),who
wasarrestedbytheEnforcement
Directorate (ED) from
Thiruvananthapuram airport
last Saturday in a money laun-
dering case.
The UP Police, which will ap-
proach a Mathura court to issue
a production warrant of Sharif,
wants to question him in con-
nection with the Hathras case.
The ED, which arrested Sharif
in a case of alleged money laun-
dering related to a 2013 training
camp in Kerala, on Sunday said
that Sharif had transferred funds
to CFI treasurer Ateequr Rahman
Assam schools to resume
regular classes from Jan 1
ABHISHEK SAHA
GUWAHATI, DECEMBER 14
The Assam government on
Monday announced that start-
ing January 1, all state run
schools will function in a regular
way doing away with Covid-re-
lated restrictions imposed as of
now.
At present, Classes 6 and on-
wards have been functioning in
a staggered fashion in govern-
ment-run schools.Asperthean-
nouncement, classes from nurs-
ery to Class 6 will reopen on
January 1.
Assam Education Minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma told re-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Kappan. “Several incriminating
evidence have been found from
the house of the accused
Sidhique Kappan during search
conductedon11.11.2020....These
documents disclosed crucial in-
formation/journey of the very
formation of PFI as a reincarna-
tion of SIMI after it (SIMI) being
banned,alsothatthemotiveand
ideology of both organizations
are corroborative in nature,” the
state government said.
The affidavit stated that “in-
vestigation has revealed that”
Kappan and his co-accused
“were mobilized towards
Hathrasuponinstructionsof Md.
Danish, who is himself accused
in the Delhi Riots case”, and that
“Rauf Sherief, General Secretary
of CFI (Campus Front of India)
was facilitating the movement”.
CFImembersAtiqurRahman
(25), Masood Ahmed (26) and
Alam (26) were arrested along
with Kappan.
The state Home Department
stated that Rehman was also
wanted in a case registered at
Muzaffarnagar station, and that
“Danish and Rauf Sherief were
continuously in touch
with...Kappan and other co-ac-
cused through cell phones,
which were recovered by police
from the vehicle being used by
the accused on way to Hathras
on 05.10.2020”.
It stated that Kappan’s co-ac-
cused “Masood is being funded
fromPFIanditsmembersbankac-
counts, the other co-accused
AtiqurRehmanisbeingfundedby
Rauf Sherief...who have received
crores of funds from various na-
tionalandinternationalsuspicious
sources”. It said Kappan’s “State
BankofIndiaaccountalsoreflects
various suspicious cash deposits
on numerous occasions, and the
sameisunderinvestigation”.
The affidavit said Kappan is
“closely associated and has been
in frequent connection through
socialmediaandtelephoniccon-
versations with PFI members
holding various portfolios across
thecountry...mostof whomhave
also been executive members of
thebannedTerroristorganization
SIMI. Investigation has also re-
vealed that accused Sidhique
Kappan is not only involved in
hatchingadesigntocommitcog-
nizable offence to disrupt public
orderandpeacebutisalsoamas-
ter mind having links with vari-
ous unfortunate riots, disturbing
public tranquility nationwide.”
“with a directive to go to Hathras
(UttarPradesh)withadelegation”.
Ateequr is one of the four
persons, including journalist
Siddique Kappan, who was ar-
rested by UP Police while they
were on their way to Hathras,
where a Dalit woman was al-
legedly gangraped and mur-
dered. The police had said they
were going to Hathras to disrupt
social harmony.
"Sharif has been sent to judi-
cial custody by a court in Kerala.
We would seek his production
warrant in connection with the
Hathras case," Additional
Superintendentof Police(Special
TaskForce)RajKumarMishrasaid.
Intheremandreport,EDsaid
theagencyhascomeacrosshuge
remittance into multiple ac-
counts of Sharif, particularly in
the current year.
porters, "From January 1, all re-
strictions on schools will be
withdrawn. Regular classes will
begin. Only mask will be re-
quiredandsocialdistancenorms
will be followed. All classes will
start, ending the pattern of stag-
gered classes we were following
till now."
A detailed Standard
Operating Procedure (SOP) in
thisregardisexpectedsoonfrom
the education department.
Sarma said the decision was
taken considering that Assam’s
Covid cases have been consider-
ably low in the recent past. On
Monday, the state registered 146
cases against 28,560 tests, a pos-
itivity rate of 0.51 per cent.
 E EXPLAINED
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

15
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com

SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER

CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD

New evidence why pet cats

(and possibly lions) are so
Farm reforms — in India, China
At a time when farmers are agitating in Delhi against the new agriculture laws pushed by the government,
vulnerable to coronavirus a look at how China had approached reforms differently — agriculture first — and how it helped growth

EIGHT SPECIES AND THEIR INFECTION RISK the rural economy, for livelihood,” the au-
UDITMISRA TWO ECONOMIES, SIX DECADES thors clarify.
Chicken Duck Mouse Rat Pig Dog Ferret Cat Civet NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
■ China ■ India So what was the key difference between
THE ONGOING farmer protests in Delhi have the two strategies?
forced the government to rethink its new Agriculture,forestry,andfishing,value GDP(constant2010US$)-China.India “The Chinese policymakers first created
farm laws by proposing amendments. added(constant2010US$) the incentives and institutions required by
11.53 tn
However, the impasse continues. For the the market economy and then, in the mid-
InferredAffinity

800 793.89 bn 12
most part, the protests have been led by 2.23 tn 1980s, they began to slowly open up mar-
700 10
farmers from Punjab and Haryana — which 600 873.35 bn kets, by withdrawing central planning and
NonSusceptible
areIncidentallythe two statesthatbenefited 500 1978: 381.56 bn 8 reducingthescopeof procurementwhileex-
Susceptible
1978:

Trillion
the most under the previous policy regime. 400 138.55 bn 6 2.964 panding the role of private trade and mar-

Billion
In the context of India’s push for farm re- 300 119.274 bn 4 293.62 bn tn kets,” the authors find.
forms, China presents a study in contrast. A 200 392.24 292.24 bn “Of course, it is no one’s case that India
100 2
2008 paper published in Economic and 215.41 bn bn couldhavesimplyreplicatedtheChinamodel.
HumanAffinityThreshold PoliticalWeeklyunderlineshowdifferentre- 0 0 It is crucial to note that China had more

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1975

1990
1995

2015
2019
Source: Centre for Genomic Regulation form routes — China, unlike India, started off favourable initial conditions — even in 1970,
withreformsintheagriculturesector—have China had a significant edge over India be it
Vulnerability to coronavirus infection, compared to humans. Based led to different economic trajectories for the World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files health, education, more egalitarian access to
on the binding affinity of each species’ ACE2 receptors with SARS- two countries. land,andgrowthofthepowersector.Andthat
CoV-2 spike protein. Source: Centre for Genomic Regulation explains “why, despite the private and eco-
What are the reasons for the farmer economic aspects. made it more competitive. Besides, prosper- nomic restrictions imposed on the Chinese
protests in India? ity in agriculture favoured the development rural population, the country could achieve a
REPORTS AT various stages during the elling to test this. They also compared There are two aspects to the current im- Couldthingshavebeendifferent? of adynamicruralnon-farm(RNF)sector,re- sustained growth even before the reforms”.
pandemic have shown that domestic the “codon adaptation index” - which passe.Oneiswhetherthesereformswillben- The Economic and Political Weekly pa- garded as one of the main causes for rapid
cats, as well as lions and tigers, can be isameasureofhowefficientlythevirus efit farmers or not. This is a question of eco- per of 2008 mentioned earlier — titled ‘The poverty reductionin Chinaasit provided ad- What are the takeaways for India?
infected with the novel coronavirus. replicates after entering the cell. nomics. The government’s argument is that Dragon and The Elephant: Learning from ditional sources of income outside farming,” Seen in this perspective, the whole issue
New research has provided evidence They found that the most vulnera- opening up the farm sector to market forces agricultural and rural reforms in China and the authors write. of minimum support prices (MSPs) is essen-
for what makes pet cats vulnerable, ble species next to humans are ferrets, will not only reduce the stress on its finances India’ — by Shenggen Fan and Ashok Gulati “The rapid development of the RNF sec- tially about flawed incentives.
addingtothefindingsofpreviousstud- followedbycats,civetsanddogs.These butalsohelpfarmersbymakingfarmingmore (both associated with the International Food tor also encouraged the government to ex- Notwithstanding the economic logic that
ies — and the general un- speciestickedbothboxes remunerative. Farmers argue that interaction Policy Research Institute at that time) is pand the scope of policy changes and put greaterplayof freemarketswillimproveout-
derstanding—thatfelines — binding affinity and withprivateplayerswillruinthemfinancially. quite instructive. pressure on the urban economy to reform as comes for farmers, it is unreasonable to ex-
are susceptible because colon adaptation index. The second aspect is more political and “Despite similar trends in the growth well, since non-farm enterprises in rural ar- pectfarmersofPunjabandHaryanatogiveup
their cellular structure fa- BIG CATS: Before the relates to how the concerned laws were leg- rates, the two countries have taken different eas had become more competitive than the on the safety of MSPs overnight.
cilitatescoronavirusinfec- BarcelonaZoolions,seven islated. The government says it has gone reformpaths;Chinastartedoff withreforms state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Reforms of What the government could have done
tion. The latest research tigersandlionshadtested through the required due diligence before in the agriculture sector and in rural areas, the SOEs, in turn, triggered macroeconomic is to build up the case for markets ground up
comesfromtheCentrefor positive at New York's turning its ideas into laws. Farmers, on the whileIndiastartedbyliberalisingandreform- reforms, opening up the economy further,” and then allowed farmers the time to adjust
Genomic Regulation PAPER Bronx Zoo earlier. Does other hand, stridently criticisethe lack of de- ing the manufacturing sector. These differ- they write. to market forces. It is also noteworthy that
(CRG) headquartered in
Barcelona — incidentally
the same city where four
CLIP thereasonwhydomestic
cats are vulnerable also
apply to big cats?
bate before the laws enacted.
The first one indicates a deep-seated mis-
trust in the way a market economy functions.
ences have led to different growth rates and,
more importantly, different rates of poverty
reduction,”theywriteatthestartofthepaper.
Between1978and2002,therateofgrowth
inagriculturenearlydoubledcomparedtothe
1966-1977period,andthis was the main rea-
several other policy choices by the govern-
ment -- providing production linked incen-
tives to the manufacturing sector, import
zoolionswerefoundpos- NEW RESEARCH “We have not looked A market economy essentially refers to a sys- son why poverty in China came down from bans, higher import duties, not joining the
itive for coronavirus last at the genome of big fe- temwherethepricingandsupplyofgoodsand How did it help that reforms in China 33% of the population in 1978 to 3% in 2001. Regional Comprehensive Economic
week. The paper is published in the lines,”CRGDirector Luis Serrano, sen- servicesarepredominantlydeterminedbythe started with the farm sector? In stark contrast, the two authors found Partnership (RCEP)trade pact, going slow on
journal PLOS Computational Biology. ior author of the study, said by email, free and voluntary interaction of people and “Bymaking agriculture thestartingpoint that in India, the most rapid poverty reduc- the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code imple-
THE MECHANISM: The coron- “but I assumed that since cats can be firms in the marketplace. of market-oriented reforms, a sector which tion occurred from the late 1960s to the late mentation — are essentially about shielding
avirusinitiatesinfectionusingthespike infected, there is a big chance that li- The second one reflects a deepening dis- gave majority of the people their livelihood, 1980s. This was, however, not because of re- constituents from market forces.
proteinonitssurface.Onthesurfaceof ons and tigers will as well, since they trustinthewaythegovernmentisfunctioning. China could ensure a widespread distribu- forms,butratherduetostrongpolicysupport Datashows thatthebulkof farm produce
thehumancellareproteinscalledACE2 will be very close in sequence.” As it turns out, both strains of suspicions tion of gains and build consensus and polit- to agriculture. was traded privately even before these laws
receptors.Thespikeproteinbindswith PREVIOUSFINDINGS: Earlierthis are intertwined and that is what makes the ical support for the continuation of reforms. “India still continues with state food pro- came into force. The key concern for India
theACE2receptor,theninvadesthecell year, a larger study had compared the currentdeadlockaquestionof politicalecon- Reform of incentives resulted in greater re- curement and distribution, mainly because shouldbethecreationof incentivesandinsti-
and goes on to replicate. The same vulnerability of over 400 studies (The omy and not just economics. That is why it turns to the farmers and in more efficient re- it is seen as affirmative action for over two- tutions for a market economy to function be-
mechanismtakesplaceincoronavirus Indian Express, September 1). It was is reasonable to expect that the eventual so- source allocation, which in turn strength- thirds of the population, including the poor- cause therein lies the only sustainable solu-
infection of other species, too. basedonananalysisof aminoacids in lution would likely have both political and ened the domestic production base and est, who are dependent on agriculture and tion to allaying deep-set suspicions.
WHAT'S NEW: The new research theACE2receptor.Thatonefoundcats

What’s driving civic movement in Cuba

looksattheACE2receptorsof10differ- and Siberian tigers at medium risk,
entspeciesandcomparestheiraffinity behind humans, some other primate
forbindingwiththevirusspikeprotein. species, and dolphins.
The researchers used computer mod- KABIRFIRAQUE

Thecollectivebeganatatimewhenmany who were inside, claiming that one of the International.

INDIA ACTIVE CASES 352,586 OMMARATHE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
420,000 ACAMPAIGNbyartistsandactivistsdemand-
ing greater freedom of expression in Cuba, a
country where an authoritarian communist
regime has been ruling for over six decades,
409,689 352,586 has been earning international attention.
Twoyearsafteritbeganasaprotestagainst
370,000 state censorship of artistic works, the
Movimiento San Isidro, or the San Isidro
Movement (MSI), has become a platform for
Cubandissidentswithinandoutsidethecoun-
LAST 10 DAYS trytospeakoutagainstgovernmentexcesses.
Dec 4 Dec 13 Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel has
320,000 branded the movement “an imperialist real-
ity show to destroy our identity & subjugate
Note: The Dec 13 figure in this graph is based on the government update on Dec 14 us again” and called for it to be “crushed”.
What is Movimiento San Isidro?
INDIA TOTAL CASES WORLD TOTAL CASES It started in September 2018, when the
9,884,100 72,417,335 CubangovernmentsoughttoenforceDecree
349, a law that would have given powers to
Source:MinistryofHealth&family Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity, the Culture Ministry to restrict cultural activ-
Welfare,updatedat11pmonDec14 updatedat11pmonDec14 ity that it did not approve. In protest, artists,
poets,journalistsandactivistsgatheredinSan
Isidro, a Black-majority locality that is part of
theOldHavanaUNESCOWorldHeritageSite.
CubansweregettingaccesstotheInternetfor
the first time in a country where the govern-
ment controls all modes of communication.
Thishappenedthankstoa2015dealbetween
Cuba and the US, one provision of which was
that the Cuban regime should allow its peo-
plegreaterInternetfreedomsinexchangefor
opening bilateral relations.
When the MSI demonstrated outside
Cuba’sparliamentagainstDecree349,thegov-
ernment,usuallyswiftincrushinganydissent,
agreedtosuspendenforcementofthedecree.
Why are artists protesting again?
Itwastriggeredbythearrestof amember
of the MSI, Afro-Cuban rapper Denis Solís, on
November 9. He livestreamed the arrest on
Facebookfromhismobilephone,recordinga
policeofficerenteringhishousewithoutper-
mission. Two days later, he was sentenced to
eight months in prison for “contempt”, and
wassenttoamaximum-securityfacilityout-
side Havana, where he remains incarcerated.
MSI members began a hunger-and-thirst
strike,andlockedthemselvesinsidetheirSan
Isidroheadquarters.Thestrikecontinuedun-
til November 26, when government agents
broke down the door and arrested 14 people
protestingmembers,ajournalist,hadbroken
Covid-19 protocols. These arrests too were
recorded on cell phones and posted to social
media networks. For an hour after the raid,
Facebook,YouTubeandInstagramwentdown
all over the country, as per The Economist.
A day later, in a rare show of defiance,
around300protesters,includingMSIsupport-
ersaswellasactivistsfromothermovements,
demonstrated outside the Culture Ministry,
demanding dialogue with the Vice-Minister,
who subsequently met with them for five
hours, surrounded by security forces.
How has the international community
responded?
DaysafterSolís’sarrest,USSecretaryofState
Mike Pompeo expressed support for the MSI,
saying,“WeurgetheCubanregimetoceaseha-
rassment of San Isidro Movement protestors
and to release musician Denis Solís, who was
unjustly sentenced to eight months in prison.
Freedom of expression is a human right. The
UnitedStatesstandswithCuba’speople.”
After the November 26 crackdown, the
Netherlands and the Czech Republic voiced
concern for human rights in Cuba, as did var-
ious activist rights groups, such as Amnesty
Inmanycountries,membersoftheCuban
diaspora are holding rallies supporting MSI.
Faced with public anger, the Cuban gov-
ernmentreleasedaprominentpoliticaldissi-
dent, Silverio Portal Contreras, on December
1.However,itcontinuestoderidetheMSI,call-
ing it an agent of “Yankee imperialism”.
Has greater access to Internet influenced
recent activism?
SinceDecember2018,whenCubafirstal-
lowed access to the web on mobile phones,
its use has become more widespread. The
New York Times reported that about two-
thirdsofthepopulationnowenjoyssomekind
of Internet access, giving them the chance to
rally around causes using social media.
Local activism that has sprung up due to
this has already forced the government to
budge on a couple of occasions. In 2018, the
regime had to ease rules that would have re-
strictedentrepreneurstoonelineofbusiness,
after members of the tourism sector threat-
enedastrike.In2019,afterauthoritiestriedto
clamp down on a private intranet used by
gamers, called SNet, dozens gathered in
protest.ThegovernmentallowedSNettocon-
tinue, albeit under surveillance.

John le Carré’s legacy: spies who were human rather than glamorous
PAROMITA CHAKRABARTI
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
A SHORT, pudgy, unkempt spy in the lead
might not sound like the best advertise-
ment for an espionage novel, but British
writerJohnleCarré,whorevolutionisedthe
genre, knew what he was signing his read-
ers up for when he introduced George
Smileytothem—adeepdiveintothemoral
ambivalence that characterises the world
of secret service. Le Carré, 89, died on
December 12 in Cornwall, UK.
Early life & works
Born on October 19, 1931, as David John
Moore Cornwell, the writer had an unsta-
ble childhood, especially his father’s fre-
quentrun-inswiththelaw,whichgavehim
a unique understanding of human nature
and its failings.
He wrote his first novel Call for the Dead
in 1961, followed by A Murder of Quality
(1962). Here, he introduced Smiley, an un-
prepossessing man, whose drab appear-
ancegiveslittlecluetohissharpintelligence
and emotional depth. While Smiley inves-
tigates what appears to be a case of suicide
and the murder of a schoolboy respectively
in the first two novels, it is with le Carré’s
third and most well-known novel, The Spy
who Came in from the Cold (1963), that the
novels move into a new direction.
FollowingWorldWarII,uneasypeacehad
marked relations between the US and the
thenSovietUnion,andtheirallies.Espionage
and covert propaganda played a big role in
foreignaffairsuntilthefalloftheUSSRin1991.
CornwellhadhimselfservedintheBritishfor-
eign office, in MI5 and MI6. In fact, it was the
objection of the Foreign Office to let him use
his name for his writing career, that led him
to adopt the pseudonym John le Carré.
Spies minus the glamour
In The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, le
Carréfirstcreatedamurkymoraluniverseof
British secret service operations that was far
fromtheprevalentnotionof spyingasanact
ofglamorousdaredevilryintheserviceofthe
nation—anideaestablishedbyIanFleming’s
JamesBondnovels.LeCarré’sspies—Smiley,
Alec Leamas who fronts The Spy Who Came
infromtheCold,andtheotherswhofollowed
— were the antithesis of Bond, a character le
Carré termed as “an international gangster”.
His men spent their lives fighting loneliness,
bureaucratic red tape and moral dilemmas
just as any other person, but often with
deeper personal and political fallouts.
It was this world that he created — peo-
pledbymenwhodidnotalwaysunderstand
the implications of their actions, who sup-
John le
Carré,
author of
The Spy Who
Came in
from the
Cold, died on
Saturday.
AP/File
pressed their emotions to carry out the vi-
sionof governmentsforwhattheybelieved
would be for the greater good but often
turned out to be not quite — that upended
established hierarchies and came to be the
benchmark of a good espionage novel.
While a blurb from novelist Graham
Greenetermedhis1963bookas“thebestspy
story I have ever read”, The Spy Who Came in
fromtheColdwasonlythestartingpointof le
Carré’s many successes, that include Tinker
Tailor Soldier Spy (1974), The Honourable
Schoolboy (1977), A Perfect Spy (1986), The
Tailor of Panama (1996) and The Constant
Gardener (2001). In a career that spanned
nearly 50 years and 25 books, le Carré’s later
novelsbecamemorepolitical,offeringveiled
commentaryonthefalloutsoftheuseofforce
to combat insurgency and terrorism, by the
US and the UK in particular. His books were
often situated in troubled conflict zones, in-
cluding in Chechnya, Rwanda and Israel-
Palestine.HislastnovelwasAgentRunningin
the Field, published in October last year.
Resolute against awards
Throughouthiscareer,leCarrérefusedto
allowhisbookstobesentforawards.Hewas
equally resolute about not accepting state
honours. But his contribution, especially his
humanisation of the espionage system, did
not go unrecognised by his readers or his
peers. British novelist Philip Roth declared
hisautobiographicalnovel,APerfectSpy,fea-
turing a double agent, Magnus Pym, as the
“bestEnglishnovelsincethewar”.Cinematic
translationsof hisnovelsacquiredidentities
of their own. These include the Martin Ritt-
directed The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
(1965),featuringRichardBurton;TheLooking
Glass War (1970), directed by Frank Pierson
and with Anthony Hopkins, Christopher
Jones and Ralph Richardson in the cast; The
LittleDrummerGirl(1984),byGeorgeRoyHill,
and featuring Diane Keaton; Fernando
Meirelles'sTheConstantGardener(2005),fea-
turingRalphFiennes;andTinkerTailorSoldier
Spy (2011), directed by Tomas Alfredson.
Althoughhewroteseveralsemi-autobi-
ographical accounts in his books, le Carré
was dismissive of the idea of memoirs and
autobiographies.“I’mhorrifiedatthenotion
of autobiography, because I’m already con-
structing the lies I am going to tell,” he fa-
mouslysaidinaninterview.Buthisfictional
universe offers a glimpse of the truths that
mattered.InanessayinMarch1992,leCarré
wrote, "All fictional characters are amal-
gams; all spring from much deeper wells
than their apparent counterparts in life. All,
intheend,likethepoorsuspectsinmyfiles,
are refitted and remoulded in the writer's
imagination,untiltheyareprobablycloserto
his own nature than to anybody else's."

New Delhi

16 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
Journalist Ruhollah
Zam was executed by
Iran last week
EUROPE
France,others
withdrawfrom
Iranforumover
execution
Paris:FrancesaidonSunday
its ambassador to Iran
wouldnotparticipateinan
online business forum in
Tehran this week, in a
growing row betweenIran
andEuropeannationsover
theexecutionofIraniandis-
sident journalist Ruhollah
Zam. Other envoys from
Germany, Austria and Italy
were also cancelling their
involvement in the Dec. 14
event, the French foreign
ministrysaidonTwitter.At
the foot of its tweet, the
ministry ran the hashtag
#nobusinessasusual. In a
separatestatement,organ-
isers of the Europe-Iran
business forum said
they were postponing the
event. REUTERS
WEST ASIA
Explosives-laden
boathitsfuelship
atSaudiport
SAUDI ARABIA said on
Monday that a fuel trans-
port ship anchored at a
Jeddah terminal was at-
tacked by an explosive-
laden boat, after shipping
firmHafniasaidthatoneof
its oil tankers, the BW
Rhine, had been hit by an
unidentified “external
source”. A Saudi energy
ministry spokesman, in a
statement carried on state
media,didnotmentionthe
nameof thevesseloriden-
tifywhowasbehindtheat-
tack. Hafnia said there was
an explosion and a fire
while the BW Rhine was
dischargingatJeddahport.
Theship’screwputoutthe
fire and no-one was in-
jured, it said. REUTERS
JAPAN
Spaceagency
confirmsasteroid
soilisincapsule
JAPAN’SSPACEagencysaid
Monday it has confirmed
the presence of black soil
samples inside a capsule
that the spacecraft
Hayabusa2 brought back
from a distant asteroid last
week. The pan-shaped
capsule,15inchesindiam-
eter, was dropped by
Hayabusa2 from space
onto a spot in a sparsely
populated Australian
desertonDecember6.Itar-
rived in Japan last Tuesday
forresearchthatwillhope-
fully provide insights into
the origins of the solar sys-
tem and life on Earth. AP
HIS COLD WAR NOVELS EXPLORED THE MORAL COMPROMISES OF AGENTS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE IRON CURTAIN
John le Carré, author who turned the spy novel into high art, is dead at 89
SARAH LYALL
LONDON, DECEMBER 14
JOHN LE Carré, whose exquis-
itelynuanced,intricatelyplotted
Cold War thrillers elevated the
spy novel to high art by present-
ing both Western and Soviet
spies as morally compromised
cogs in a rotten system full of
treachery, betrayal and personal
tragedy, died on Saturday in
Cornwall, England. He was 89.
His death was confirmed on
Sunday by his literary agency,
the Curtis Brown Group.
Before le Carré published his
bestselling 1963 novel The Spy
Who Came in From the Cold,
London to be on highest alert as new
coronavirus variant identified in UK
New variant found in over 1,000 Covid-19 cases, likely associated with faster spread: minister
ADITI KHANNA
LONDON, DECEMBER 14
BRITAIN’S CAPITAL will be
placed under the highest level of
coronavirus restrictions from
Wednesday amid a “very sharp”
spike in Covid-19 cases in
London and its surrounding ar-
eas and a new variant of coron-
avirus being identified as re-
sponsible for the “faster spread”,
the UK government announced
in Parliament on Monday.
Health Secretary Matt
Hancock told MPs in the House
of Commons that “swift and de-
cisive action” was needed as the
doubling rate of the deadly virus
has hit just seven days in many
of these areas.
Tier-3restrictions,thehighest
level in England’s three-tier sys-
tem, meananear-completelock-
down, with people allowed to
meet those they do not live with
only in outdoor settings and hos-
pitalityvenuesdirectedtoshutex-
ceptfortakeawaysanddeliveries.
“Anewvariantof coronavirus
has been identified in the UK,
which may be associated with
thefasterspreadinthesoutheast
of England,” said Hancock.
“Wedonotknowtheextentto
which this is because of the new
variantbutnomatteritscause,we
havetotakeswiftanddecisiveac-
tion which unfortunately is ab-
solutely essential to control this
deadlydiseasewhilethevaccineis
rolled out. We must act now to
shiftthecurve,becausewhenthe
virus moves quickly, we must
move quickly too,” he said.
The minister said that ex-
perts had identified over 1,000
cases with the variant, predom-
inantly in the south of England.
He added that the World
Health Organisation had been
notified about the variant and
that it was unlikely to cause a
more serious disease than other
variants of the coronavirus.
He stressed that mobile test-
ingandcommunitytestingwere
also being expanded, with an-
Electors meet to choose Biden as next president
MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 14
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS coast
tocoastarecastingthevotesthat
willformallychooseJoeBidenas
the nation’s next president.
In Nevada, the first battle-
ground state won by Biden that
voted on Monday, Democratic
electors gave Biden and Vice
President-elect Kamala Harris
the state’s six electoral votes in a
session held via Zoom because
of the coronavirus pandemic.
Monday is the day set by law
for the meeting of the Electoral
College. In reality, electors were
meeting in all 50 states and the
US sanctions Iran officials over ‘abducted’ FBI agent
MICHAEL CROWLEY
DECEMBER 14
THE TRUMP administration an-
nounced sanctions on two
Iranian officialsfor theirinvolve-
ment in the 2007 disappearance
and presumed death of the for-
mer FBI agent Robert Levinson,
which Graham Greene called
“the best spy story I have ever
read”, the fictional model for the
modern British spy was Ian
Fleming’s James Bond — suave,
urbane, devoted to queen and
country. With his impeccable
talent for getting out of trouble
while getting women into bed,
Bond fed the myth of spying as a
glamorous, exciting romp.
Le Carré — the pen name of
David Cornwell — upended that
notionwithbooksthatportrayed
British intelligence operations as
cesspools of ambiguity in which
right and wrong are too close to
call and in which it is rarely obvi-
ous whether the ends, even if the
ends are clear, justify the means.
Ambrose Dlamini
Eswatini PM dies
of coronavirus
Johannesburg: The govern-
ment of Eswatini has an-
nouncedonTwitterthatPrime
MinisterAmbroseDlaminihas
died after testing positive for
Covid-19. The 52-year-old
Dlamini,whohadbeenprime
minister since 2018, an-
nouncedinNovemberthathe
had tested positive for the
virusandwasbeingtreatedat
a hospital in neighbouring
SouthAfrica.TheEswatinigov-
ernment said he died on
Sunday afternoon. AP
Singapore clears
Pfizer vaccine
Singapore: Singapore has ap-
provedPfizer-BioNTech’snovel
coronavirus vaccine and ex-
pects to receive shots by year-
end, Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong said on Monday, adding
that he planned to be among
theearlyvaccinerecipients.The
city-state of 5.7 million people
expects to have enough vac-
cines for everyone by the third
quarterof2021andwillmakeit
free for citizens and long-term
residents,Leesaid. REUTERS
other67localauthorities getting
community testing this week to
help areas “move down tiers”
and return closer to normal life.
In reference to the Pfizer-
BioNTechvaccinerolloutcurrently
underway, Hancock said that
thanks to science “help is on its
way”,but“thisisn’toveryet”. PTI
Members of Vermont’s Electoral College cast their votes. AP
District of Columbia to cast their
ballots. The results will be sent to
Washington and tallied in a
January6jointsessionofCongress
Robert
Levinson
thefirsttimetheUSgovernment
has officially implicated Iran’s
government in Levinson’s case.
Led by his greatest creation,
the plump, ill-dressed,unhappy,
brilliant, relentless George
Smiley,leCarré’sspiesarelonely,
disillusioned men whose work
is driven by budget troubles, bu-
reaucratic power plays and the
opaque machinations of politi-
cians — men who are as likely to
be betrayed by colleagues and
lovers as by the enemy.
Smiley has a counterpart in
the Russian master spy Karla, his
oppositein ideologybutequalin
almost all else, an opponent he
studies as intimately as a lover
studies his beloved. The end of
Smiley’sPeople,thelastinaseries
known as the Karla Trilogy,
brings them together in a stun-
Sandra Lindsay, a nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, is inoculated with the vaccine
in New York on Monday. Reuters
US health care workers get
first shots of Covid vaccine
THE NEW YORK TIMES
DECEMBER 14
THE FIRST shots were given in
the American mass vaccination
campaign on Monday morning,
opening a new chapter in the
battle against the coronavirus
pandemic, which has killed
morepeopleintheUnitedStates
than in any other country.
Shortlyafter9am(localtime)
onMonday,thefirstknownclin-
ically authorised vaccination
took place in Long Island Jewish
Medical Center in Queens. The
pandemic has scarred New York
State profoundly, leaving more
than35,000peopledeadandse-
verely weakening the economy.
“I believe this is the weapon
that will end the war,” Governor
Andrew Cuomo said at the event
over which Vice President Mike
Pence will preside.
The electors’ votes have
drawn more attention than
TheTreasuryDepartmentsaid
in a statement that it was impos-
ing sanctions on two officials in
Iran’s Interior Ministry,
Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad
Khazai,whoitsaidwere“involved
in the abduction, detention and
probable death of Levinson”. US
officials said they had obtained
new information about their in-
John le Carre was the pen name of David Cornwell
ning denouement that is as
much about human frailty and
the deep loss that comes with
winning as it is about anything.
“Thematically, le Carré’s true
on Monday morning, shortly be-
fore the shot was given to Sandra
Lindsay,acriticalcarenurseatthe
centre.Stateofficialssaidtheshot
wasthefirsttobegivenoutsideof
avaccinetrialintheUnitedStates.
Lindsay, who has treated pa-
tientsthroughoutthepandemic,
said that she hoped her public
vaccination would instill confi-
dence that the shots were safe.
“I have seen the alternative,
and do not want it for you,” she
said. “I feel like healing is com-
ing. I hope this marks the begin-
ning of the end of a very painful
time in our history.”
US President Trump posted
on Twitter: “First Vaccine
Administered. Congratulations
USA! Congratulations WORLD!”
The vaccinations started after
the Food and Drug
Administration’s emergency au-
usualthisyearbecausePresident
Donald Trump has refused to
concedetheelectionandcontin-
ues to make unsupported alle-
gations of fraud.
There have been concerns
about safety for the electors, vir-
tually unheard of in previous
years. In Michigan, lawmakers
from both parties reported re-
ceiving threats.
Legislative offices there were
closed Monday over threats of
violence. The 16 electors were to
meet in the Senate chamber in a
ceremony headed by
Democratic Governor Gretchen
Whitmer.Bidenwonthestateby
154,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage
points, over Trump. AP
volvement in what they called
Levinson’s abduction, but they
wouldnotprovidefurtherdetails.
Levinson, who would be 72
years old, disappeared under
mysterious circumstances off
Iran’s Kish Island in March 2007.
The Iranian government has
never admitted a role in his dis-
appearance. NYT
subject is not spying,” Timothy
Garton Ash wrote in The New
Yorker in 1999. “It is the endlessly
deceptive maze of human rela-
tions:thebetrayalthatisakindof
thorisationofthePfizer-BioNTech
vaccineonFridaynight,andasthe
US coronavirus death toll ap-
proaches 300,000, with a steady
surge in new cases daily.
On Sunday night, Trump said
he would delay a plan for senior
WhiteHousestaffmemberstore-
ceive the coronavirus vaccine in
the coming days.
The shift came just hours af-
ter The New York Times reported
that the administration was rap-
idly planning to distribute the
vaccinetoitsstaff.“Peoplework-
ingintheWhiteHouseshouldre-
ceivethevaccinesomewhatlater
intheprogram,unlessspecifically
necessary,” Trump tweeted. “I
have asked that this adjustment
be made. I am not scheduled to
takethevaccine,butlookforward
to doing so at the appropriate
time. Thank you!”
Britain to ease
rules on blood
donations by gay,
bisexual men
LIVIA ALBECK-RIPKA
DECEMBER 14
BRITAIN ANNOUNCED on
Monday that it would loosen re-
strictions on blood donation by
gay and bisexual men beginning
next year, a shift in policy called
“landmark” by the government
and hailed by activists who have
long fought rules they described
as discriminatory.
The change will take effect
next summer after the recom-
mendations of a health commit-
teethatsaidablanketbanonsex-
ually active gay or bisexual men
donating blood should be lifted.
The government accepted these
recommendations.
“This landmark change to
blood donation is safe and it will
allow many more people, who
havepreviouslybeenexcludedby
donorselectioncriteria,totakethe
opportunity to help save lives,”
Britain’s health secretary, Matt
Hancock, said on Monday. NYT
love, the lie that is a sort of truth,
goodmenservingbadcausesand
bad men serving good.”
Some critics took le Carré’s
message to be that the two sys-
tems, East andWest, were moral
equivalents, both equally bad.
But he did not believe that.
“There is a big difference in
working for the West and work-
ing for a totalitarian state,” he
told an interviewer, referring to
his own work as a spy in the
1950s and early ’60s.
Le Carré refused to allow his
books to be entered for literary
prizes.Butmanycriticsconsidered
hisbooksliteratureofthefirstrank.
Born David John Moore
Cornwell in Poole, Dorset, on Oct.
New Delhi
TREASURY, COMMERCE DEPTS TARGETED
Russian hackers
broke into federal
agencies: US officials
DAVID E SANGER
DECEMBER 14
THE TRUMP administration ac-
knowledgedonSundaythathack-
ers acting on behalf of a foreign
government—almostcertainlya
Russian intelligence agency, ac-
cording to federal and private ex-
perts — broke into a range of key
governmentnetworks,including
in the Treasury and Commerce
departments,andhadfreeaccess
to their email systems.
Officials said a hunt was on to
determine if other parts of the
governmenthadbeenvictimised
by what looked to be one of the
most sophisticated, and perhaps
amongthelargest,attacksonfed-
eralsystemsinthepastfiveyears.
Severalsaidaseriesofnationalse-
curity-relatedagencies werealso
affected, though it was not clear
whether the systems contained
highly classified material.
In public, the Trump admin-
istrationsaidlittleaboutthehack,
which suggested that while the
government was worried about
Russian intervention in the 2020
election,keyagenciesworkingfor
the administration — and unre-
latedtotheelection—wereactu-
allythesubjectof asophisticated
attackthattheywereunawareof
until recent weeks.
The motive for the attack on
the Treasury and Commerce de-
partments remains elusive, two
people familiar with the matter
said.Onegovernmentofficialsaid
it was too soon to tell how dam-
agingtherecentattackswereand
how much material was lost.
Therevelationcamelessthan
a week after the National
Security Agency, which is re-
sponsible for both breaking into
foreign computer networks and
defending the federal govern-
ment’s most sensitive national
security systems, issued a warn-
ing that “Russian state-spon-
sored actors” were exploiting
flaws in a system that is broadly
used in the federal government.
Report: Leak reveals China’s
ruling party members work
in global firms, consulates
NATASHA CHAKU
MELBOURNE, DECEMBER 14
AMID SIMMERING tensions be-
tween Canberra and Beijing, the
Australian media on Monday re-
ported a major data leak con-
taining official records like party
position, birthdate, national ID
number and ethnicity of nearly
two million members of the
Communist Partyof China (CPC)
who are purportedly living and
working across the world.
The data leak obtained by The
Australian newspaper has re-
vealedhowtheallegedCPCmem-
bers are employed with some of
the world’s biggest corporations
intheareasofdefence,banksand
pharmaceutical giants manufac-
turing coronavirus vaccines.
Among the companies iden-
tified as having alleged CPC
membersastheiremployeesare
Boeing and Volkswagen, phar-
maceutical giants Pfizer and
AstraZeneca, and financial insti-
tutionsincludingANZandHSBC,
according to the reports.
19,1931,hehadaragged,destabi-
lizingchildhooddominatedbyhis
father, Ronald, an amoral, flam-
boyant, silver-tongued con man.
The boys’ mother, Olive (Glassey)
Cornwell, walked out of the fam-
ilyhouseandintothearmsof an-
other man when David was 5.
David went to Switzerland at
age 16 and enrolled at the
University of Bern to study mod-
ern languages. There he was re-
cruited by a British spy working
undercoverattheembassy,andso
hislifeof spyingbegan.Exceptfor
twoyearswhenhetaughtatEton,
England’s premier secondary
school,leCarréwasaspyof some
kindfor16years,forbothMI6and
itsdomesticcounterpart,MI5.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
The US Commerce Dept
acknowledged that one of
its agencies had been
E
targeted, without naming it
E X P L A I NE D
2014-15
hacklikely
● settone
IF THE involvement of Russia
behind the latest hacking inci-
dent is confirmed, it would be
the biggest Russian theft of US
government data since a
months-long effort in 2014
and 2015 during which oper-
atives in Moscow gained ac-
cess to email systems at the
White House. At the time,
President Obama decided not
to publicly state that Russia
was responsible for the
breach. Many, including from
his own administration, now
believe that was a mistake
and that the lack of action
taken then emboldened the
Russians to hack the
Democratic National
Committee during the 2016
election campaign, and po-
tentially the newly discovered
breach on federal agencies.
Atthetime,theNSArefusedto
give further details of what
prompted the urgent warning.
Shortlyafterward,FireEye,alead-
ing cybersecurity firm, an-
nouncedthathackersworkingfor
a state had stolen some of its
prized tools for finding vulnera-
bilities in its clients’ systems, in-
cludingthefederalgovernment’s.
Thatinvestigationalsopointedto-
ward SVR, one of Russia’s leading
intelligence agencies. NYT
The leak has exposed details
of1.95millionCPCmembersafter
being extracted from a Shanghai
server by whistleblowers.
An investigation by The
Australian has found that at
least 10 consulates in the east-
ern Chinese metropolis
Shanghai have CPC members
employed as senior political
and government affairs special-
ists, clerks, economic advisers
and executive assistants.
Ithasfurtherrevealed79,000
branches, many of them inside
companies, universities and
even government agencies.
The leak has alleged that the
ruling CPC has infiltrated the
Australian, British and US con-
sulates in Shanghai.
TheAustralianjournalistSharri
Markson said it was “worth not-
ingthatthere’snosuggestionthat
thesemembershavecommitted
espionage — but the concern is
over whether Australia or these
companies knew of the CCP
membersandifsohaveanysteps
been taken to protect their data
and people”. PTI
In his books, the Secret
Intelligence Service, otherwise
known as MI6, was the “Circus”,
agentswere“joes,”operationsin-
volving seduction were “honey-
traps”andagentsdeeplyembed-
ded inside the enemy were
“moles”, a word he is credited
withbringingintowideuseif not
inventing it.
In 2011, a new movie adap-
tation of his Tinker, Tailor,
Soldier, Spy — the first in the
Karla trilogy and the account of
Smiley’s painstaking unmask-
ing of a Kim Philby-esqe Soviet
mole working at the Circus —
brought renewed interest in le
Carré’s work and sent backlist
sales soaring. NYT

17 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
PRE-BUDGET CONSULTATIONS
Divestment,fiscaldeficit,infrapush
featureinFMmeetingwithindustry
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER14
FINANCE MINISTER Nirmala
Sitharaman held her first pre-
Budgetmeetingwithtopindustri-
alists on Monday amid expecta-
tions of the government
presenting “growth-oriented
Budgettoboosteconomicactivity
recoveringfromeffectsof Covid.”
The meetings with industry
chamberswillbefollowedbytwo-
dayconsultationswithstakehold-
ers of financial sector and capital
markets. Aggressive disinvest-
ment of state-owned companies,
government reducing its stake in
most public sector banks (PSBs)
below 50 per cent, managing the
fiscal deficit over a three-year pe-
riod were among the suggestion
presented by Confederation of
IndianIndustry(CII)totheFinance
Ministry.Itsuggestedmeasuresto
reduce tax litigation and pitched
fortheneedtoextendtheVivadse
Vishwas tax dispute resolution
schemetillDecember31,2021.
“CII has suggested that the
Budgetproposalsshouldfocuson
Nov: Wholesale, retail
inflation diverge again
Wholesale inflation at 9-month high
of 1.55%; retail inflation eases to 6.93%
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER14
RETAIL AND wholesale inflation
continuedtodivergeinNovember.
Wholesale price-based inflation
raterosetoa9-monthhighof1.55
per cent in November on costlier
manufactureditems,evenasfood
pricescooled,whileretailinflation
eased to 6.93 per cent on softer
food prices, but remained above
medium-termtargetof theRBI.
Retail inflation based on the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) had
stood at 7.61 per cent in October,
Jio says peers
running ‘divisive
campaign’ against
it over farm stir
NewDelhi:RelianceJiohasalleged
that industry peers Bharti Airtel
andVodafoneIdeaarerunning“vi-
cious and divisive campaign”
against it and making preposter-
ous claims that migrating Jio mo-
bile numbers to their networks
would be an act of support to
farmers’protests.
The operator in a letter to Trai
hassoughtstrictactionagainstthe
two companies. Bharti Airtel and
Vodafone Idea have termed the
complaint as “baseless” and re-
futedthecharges. PTI
BRIEFLY
BurgerKing
zooms131%
Mumbai: Burger King’s
shares, sold at Rs 60 apiece,
openedwithapremiumof92
percentatRs115.35ondebut
andclosedatRs138.40,again
of130.67percent.
Aonbuys49%
inMurthyfirm
Mumbai:Aonhasre-entered
Indianinsuranceintermedi-
arymarketbybuying49%in
Narayana Murthy’s Anviti
InsuranceBrokers. ENS
UdayShankar
Ficcipresident
New Delhi: Media executive
UdayShankarhastakenover
asFiccipresidentfor2020-21.
GSTNlaunches
taxpayerfacility
NewDelhi:GSTNetworksaid
it has launched “communi-
cation between taxpayer”
featureonitsportal. PTI
SENSEX: 46,253.46 ▲ 154.45 NIFTY: 13,558.15 ▲ 44.30 NIKKEI: 26,732.44 ▲ 79.92 HANG SENG: 26,389.52 ▼ 116.35 FTSE: 6,570.39 ▲ 23.64 DAX: 13,275.75 ▲ 161.45
FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamanandotherofficialsduring
ameetingwithindustrialistsinNewDelhionMonday. PTI
growth, and alongside look at fis-
cal management from a 3-year
perspective.Aggressivedisinvest-
ment and monetisation of assets
can augment government rev-
enuesatatimewhentaxrevenues
have fallen sharply,” said Uday
Kotak, president, CII. The Budget
proposalsshouldalsoaddresstwo
criticalareasofboostingprivatein-
vestmentsandprovidingsupport
for employment generation.
Stressingtheneedforfinancialsec-
torreforms,Kotaksaidthegovern-
while WPI inflation was 1.48 per
centinOctober.
The divergence between the
foodcomponentofwholesaleand
retailinflationrosetoafive-month
highof 5.5percentinNovember.
Food items such as protein-
rich items such as egg and meat
witnessed high inflation at the
wholesale level. At retail level,
however, food inflation eased to
9.43percentinNovemberfrom11
per cent a month ago. In WPI, in-
flation in non-food articles was
higherat8.43percentinNovem-
ber, while in fuel and power bas-
ketitwas(-)9.87percent.
Ola to invest `2,400 cr to set up
e-scooter factory in Tamil Nadu
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
CHENNAI,DECEMBER14
RIDE-HAILING PLATFORM Ola
said Monday it has inked an
agreement with the Tamil Nadu
government to invest Rs 2,400
croreforsettingupitsfirstelectric
scooter factory at Hosur in the
state. Upon completion, the fac-
torywillcreatenearly10,000jobs
and will be the world’s largest
scooter manufacturing facility,
withaninitialannualcapacityof2
millionunits,itsaidinastatement.
Health data management policy gets nod
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
THE HEALTH Ministry Monday
approved a policy under the
National Digital Health Mission
(NDHM) to protect and manage
personal data of patients using
thedigitalservicesof thescheme.
Thehealthdatamanagement
policy under the scheme is ex-
Big Tech turns its lobbyists loose on Europe, alarming regulators
ADAMSATARIANO&
MATINASTEVIS-GRIDNEFF
NEWYORK,DECEMBER14
A LEAKED document jolted the
European Union capital of
Brussels in October, laying out in
painstakingdetailplansbyGoogle
tounderminenewlegislationthat
could severely damage its digital
advertising business.
“Academicallies”wouldraise
questions about the new rules.
Google would attempt to erode
support within the European
Commission to complicate the
policymaking process. And the
company would try to seed a
trans-Atlantictradedisputebyen-
mentshouldbringdownitsstake
inPSBstobelow50percentviathe
market route over the next 12
months, except for 3-4 large PSBs
suchasStateBankofIndia,Bankof
BarodaandUnionBank.
IndustrychambersCIIandFicci
alsosuggestedtheneedtostepup
expenditureonhealthcareandin-
frastructure sectors significantly
forasustainablegrowthtrajectory.
The Union Budget 2021-22,
which will be presented on
February1,willprovideclarityon
COVID-19 IMPACT
‘Higher credit loss, provision
coverage rates likely for NBFCs’
Hit by the coronavirus pandemic, non-banking financial
companies (NBFCs) are expecting higher credit loss as well
as an increase in provision coverage rates, an EY study said
33% Rise in ECL
allowance of NBFCs
as on March 31, 2020, against
year ended March 31, 2019
26% Overall rise in
provision coverage
of NBFCs as on March 31,
2020, as against at FY20-end
Why is it important: NBFCs analyse co-relation of a wide range of factors with their default
patterns and shortlist the factors relevant to their respective businesses to take into account
the impact of forward-looking information. ECL estimates are then adjusted to consider the
impact of these short-listed factors
“We are excited to
announce our plans to set
up the world’s largest
scooter factory.”
BHAVISH AGGARWAL
CHAIRMAN & GROUP CEO, OLA
“We are excited to announce
our plans to set up the world’s
largestscooterfactory.Thisisasig-
nificant milestone for Ola and a
proudmomentforourcountryas
werapidlyprogresstowardsreal-
ising our vision of moving the
pected to act as a “guidance doc-
ument” across the National
Digital Health Ecosystem
(NDHE), setting out the mini-
mum standard for data privacy
protection.
“Thispolicyistobereadalong
with,andnotincontradictionto,
anyapplicablelaw,oranyinstru-
menthavingtheeffectof anylaw
together with the Blueprint, the
information security policy, the
listing US officials against the
European policy, according to a
copy reviewed by The New York
Times and confirmed by Google.
For many officials in Brussels,
the document confirmed what
they had long suspected: Google
and other American tech giants
are engaged in a broad lobbying
campaign to stop stronger regu-
lation against them.
AstheEuropeanUnionhasbe-
comethegloballeaderintechreg-
ulation,thesecompanieshavein-
creasingly focused on Brussels in
hopes of choking off even stiffer
rules before they spread.
Americanlawmakersandregula-
tors have already become much
more aggressive. Last week, fed-
the government’s fiscal position
as well as the policy approach to
provide an impetus to the econ-
omythathasbeenintechnicalre-
cession and recorded the worst
contractioninApril-Junequarter
post the economic lockdown.
Contraction has since slowed
down with expectations a posi-
tive growth in fourth quarter.
Along with Finance Minister,
Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan
Pandey,DepartmentofEconomic
AffairsSecretaryTarunBajaj,Chief
Economic Advisor Krishna-
murthy Subramanian and other
senior officials attended the
meeting via a videoconference.
Sources said there were lot of
suggestionsforsteppingupinfra-
structureinvestmentsignificantly
asithasamassivemultipliereffect.
Fundingforthiscouldbefacilitated
through a Development Finance
Institution(DFI).CIIsuggestedthat
DFIs could be established on the
lines of KfW Germany, Brazil
Development Bank, and Korea
DevelopmentBank,andthiscould
be achieved by infusing equity in
NABARDforfinancingagriculture
and rural sector, SIDBI for financ-
42 NBFCs, including 14
housing finance
companies (HFCs), whose
standalone financial
statements for FY20 were
analysed for the EY study
‘Expected credit loss analysis
for non-banking financial
companies’
world to sustainable mobility so-
lutions across shared and owned
mobility,” Ola chairman and
groupCEOBhavishAggarwalsaid.
Olasaidtheplantwillhelpcut
importdependenceinakeysector
like electric vehicles, boost man-
ufacturing, create jobs and im-
provetechnicalexpertiseinIndia.
Earlier this year, Ola had an-
nounced plans to hire over 2,000
people for its electric business. It
also roped in General Motor vet-
eran Jose Pinheiro to head its
globalmanufacturingandopera-
tions for its electric business. FE
data retention and archival pol-
icy and any other policy which
maybeissuedfortheimplemen-
tation of the NDHM,” stated the
NationalHealthAuthority,which
is implementing the scheme.
Thepolicywasapproved“af-
ter over a month” of soliciting
feedback from various stake-
holders and the general public,
according to NHA CEO
Dr Indu Bhushan.
Techgiantsarefocusedonthe
EuropeanUnioninhopesof
chokingoff evenstifferrules
beforetheyspread. Reuters
ingMSMEsandIIFCLforfinancing
infrastructure.
Ficci suggested the Budget
must prioritise growth-oriented
measures and fiscal considera-
tionsshouldbesecondary,asthe
needforfurtherfiscalstimulusre-
mains.Itsuggestedaschemelike
MGNREGAforurbanpoor,higher
interest subvention on housing
loans, and utilising a portion of
foreignexchangereserves($15or
$20 billion) for setting up a fund
for lending subsidised lending to
Indian industry at around 6 per
cent for new projects.
It said the government can
raise revenues by pledging PSU
sharestotheRBI,byissuinglong-
term pandemic bonds and
through aggressive divestment
and monetisation of non-core
state-owned assets.
Suggesting need for conver-
gence in GST rates, Ficci said: “...
The government should consider
converging the existing band of
GST rates to three, in line with in-
ternational standards. This will
helpresolveinterpretationissues,
reduce complexity and probabil-
ityof disputes.”
OVERALL INCREASE
IN GROSS LOANS
NBFCs
7.63%
HFCs
2.44%
ECLallowance:Arisewasseen
inexpectedcreditloss(ECL)
allowanceonstage1andstage2
assetsby56%,and25%inECL
allowanceonstage3assets
Source: EY/PTI
‘Pushing India
to surpass
China in mobile
manufacturing’
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 14
INDIA AIMS to replace China as
the manufacturing hub for mo-
bile phones and other electronic
equipment by attracting the
major global companies to the
country, Information Tech-
nology Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad said on Monday.
Addressing a webinar at the
annual general meeting of in-
dustry body FICCI, Prasad said
that the new production linked
incentive (PLI) schemes were
designed with an aim to invite
all big global players to India,
and to those who were looking
to shift their production units
out of China.
“We wanted India to be-
come the second largest mobile
manufacturer in the world.
Now I am pushing India to sur-
pass China. That’s my goal and I
am very clearly defining it,”
Prasad said.
eral and state officials accused
Facebook of illegally crushing
competition. In October, the
Justice Department accused
Google of illegally protecting its
monopoly over search.
In Europe, the companies are
spending more than ever, hiring
formergovernmentofficials,well-
connectedlawfirmsandconsult-
ing firms. They funded dozens of
thinktanksandtradeassociations,
endowed academic positions at
top universities across the conti-
nentandhelpedpublishindustry-
friendly research by other firms.
Inthefirsthalfof2020,Google,
Facebook, Amazon, Apple and
Microsoft declared spending a
combined €19 million, or about
GOLD
`48,371
Note: Gold, silver rates at Delhi spot market; gold per 10 g, silver per 1 kg; Brent crude as of 2300 IST
NARASAPURA FACTORY VIOLENCE
Apple to send extra teams to
assess Wistron unit damage
Facility to remain shut until ‘detailed investigation’ over
AASHISHARYAN
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER14
FOLLOWING UNREST at
Wistron’s Narasapura unit near
Bengaluru,Applesaiditwillsend
additional teams and auditors to
the factory to assess the situation
andextentof damage, andinves-
tigate the conditions that led to
the workers’ outrage.
In response to queries sent by
The Indian Express, the company
said it had sent teams on the
groundandwaslaunchinganim-
mediate“detailedinvestigationat
Wistron’s Narasapura facility”.
“Apple is dedicated to ensur-
ingeveryoneinoursupplychainis
treated with dignity and respect.
We have teams on the ground
...We are also dispatching addi-
tional Apple team members and
auditors to the facility. Our teams
are in close touch with the local
authoritiesandwe’reofferingour
fullsupporttotheirinvestigation,”
the company said in a statement.
The Narasapura facility, lo-
cated on the outskirts of
Bengaluru,islikelytoremainshut
until a detailed investigation by
the state authorities as well as
Appleiscompleted,sourcesclose
tothedevelopmentsaid.Appleis
alsolikelytoinvestigatethecom-
plaintsofnon-paymentofduesby
Wistron and whether the com-
panyhadviolatedanylabourlaws
of the state, sources added.
“It will be difficult to put a
timelineofwhetheritwillremain
shut for two days or one week or
whatever,” an Apple executive
said, asking not to be named.
Wistron, a contract manufac-
turer for Apple, had started the
NarasapurafacilityinJulyatacost
of Rs 3,000 crore. While the
Narasapura unit has about 2,000
regular employees working on
Apple’s phones and the rest are
contractual,theoldPeenyaunitin
employs around 3,500 people.
Apple also has Foxconn and
Pegatron as major contract man-
ufacturers for making of flagship
iPhones, iPads and other devices.
Foxconn has a unit at
Sriperumbudur,intheoutskirtsof
Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The com-
pany has pledged to invest up to
Wistron claims `437 cr in damages
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
BENGALURU, DECEMBER 14
FOUR SEPARATE police com-
plaints have been lodged by the
Kolarpoliceovertheworkerram-
page on December 12 in the fac-
tory of Wistron Infocomm
Manufacturing India Pvt Ltd in
Narasapura, including one by
companyofficialsclaimingdam-
agestothetuneof Rs437crorein
Unpaid bills lead to poor access
to electricity & outages: Study
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER14
UNPAID ELECTRICITY bills have
ledtopooraccesstoelectricity,in-
cluding issues like widespread
outages and rationing of power,
suggestsanewstudy.
The study draws upon micro-
data from poor, rural or small-
towncommunitiesinBiharwhere
the link between payment and
supply had been severed. In 2017,
$23 million, equal to what they
haddeclaredforallof2019andup
from€6.8millionin2014,accord-
ingtoTransparencyInternational,
a group that monitors EU lobby-
ing.Thespendingishelpingtode-
liver access; the companies and
their allies reported hundreds of
meetings with officials at the
European Commission and the
European Parliament.
“The budgets are really unri-
valed—we’veneverseenthiskind
of money being spent by compa-
niesdirectly,”saidMargaridaSilva,
a researcher at Corporate Europe
Observatory, a group that tracks
lobbyinginBrussels.Thetotalsare
probablymuchhigher,shenoted,
because disclosure rules do not
New Delhi
RUPEE
`73.55
The WistronfacilityinNarasapuranear Bengaluru. Reuters
How worker issues
led to the violence
AASHISHARYAN
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER14
APPLE’SCONTRACTmanufac-
turerWistronIndiahasseena
riseinitsdisagreementwitha
sectionofitscontractworkers
over alleged non-payment of
salaries and dues.
Whatdoesthe
Wistronfacility
makeforApple?
Like other con-
tract manufacturers
of Apple, Wistron is
also involved in pro-
ductionofitsflagshipiPhones.
ThefactoryinNarasapuranear
Bengaluru is a new unit from
whereithadstartedassembly
of the iPhone SE (2020). The
originaliPhoneSEwasthefirst
iPhonetobemadeinIndiaand
nowtherearefourmodelsbe-
ing produced here, including
the iPhone 11.
Beside this 43-acre plant,
Wistron has another unit in
Peenya,locatedintheoutskirts
of Bengaluru, from where it
Rs7,000croreoverthenextthree
years to expand the existing unit.
Apple’s other contract manu-
facturer Pegatron Corporation’s
boardofdirectorshadlastmonth
approved an investment of Rs
1,099.8 crore in India via its arm
the violence.
Threeofthepolicecomplaints
have been filed by employees of
the firm itself, while another has
been filed by the police over an
attackonthemwhenthefirstde-
ployment reached the factory.
Violence broke out at the fac-
torySaturdayfollowingadispute
overunpaidwagesbetweencon-
tract workers and officials of the
firmresultinginriotingandarson
whichhasforcedthesuspension
customers received on average
about17hoursofelectricityaday.
“Most strikingly, areas that
paid more didn’t necessarily get
morepowerelectricity,”statedthe
Energy Policy Institute at the
UniversityofChicago(EPIC),which
conductedthestudyincollabora-
tion with the London School of
Economics and Political Science
andYaleUniversity.
“In combining this data with
observationsfromseveralfieldex-
perimentsincountrieslikeBrazil,
capture all the spending on law
firms,academicpartnershipsand
activities in individual countries.
While the spending is less
than in the United States, the
growing influence industry is
alarmingEuropeanUnionofficials
who believe that Big Tech is con-
tributing to a Washingtonization
of Brussels, giving money and
connections an upper hand over
the public interest.
Google, Amazon, Apple and
Facebook declined to comment.
In public statements, all have ex-
pressed a desire to work with
European officials, while voicing
concerns that the proposed laws
could harm innovation and the
European economy.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
OIL SILVER
$49.85 `62,469
International market data till 1900 IST
hasbeenproducingiPhoneSE
models since 2017. The flag-
ship iPhones produced at the
Narasapura and Peenya units
are also exported to other
countries across the world.
Whydidtheviolencestart?
The violence erupted on
Saturdaywhensomecontrac-
tualworkersallegednon-pay-
ment of regular and
overtime dues.
The said workers
startedpeltingstones
as well as damaged
some vehicles inside
the factory.
Additionally, according to re-
ports, the iPhones manufac-
tured at the unit and kept for
export were looted by work-
ers.WhileWistronsaidthatit
had followed all the laws and
was supporting the authori-
ties in their investigation,
Apple said it had “immedi-
ately launched a detailed in-
vestigation at Wistron’s
Narasapura facility”.
Full report on
www.indianexpress.com
Pegatron Technology India
Private.PegatronCorporationwill
put in the funds raised fully
through its internal resources as
partofits“longterminvestment”,
the company had said, without
elaborating those plans.
of productionworkatthefactory
premises since Saturday.
PrashanthTD,aseniorexecu-
tiveintheadministrationdepart-
ment at the Wistron Infocomm
facility, stated in one of the com-
plaintsthathundredsof contrac-
tualworkersatthecompanyand
several unidentified persons
wereinvolvedintheviolenceand
arsonthatbrokeoutatthefactory
during a shift change around
6 am on Saturday.
Pakistan and South Korea, the re-
searchers found this was indica-
tiveof abroadertrend,”itadded.
The root of the problem may
lie in the fact that society “too of-
ten”viewselectricityasarightthat
doesnotneedtobepaidfor,itsaid.
Theresearchersinvolvedinthe
study have suggested solutions
spanningremovalofsubsidies,in-
troducing consumer incentives
and changes to the bill collection
process as well as technology-
basedreformslikesmartmeters.
Despite the lobbying, the in-
dustry has had few major suc-
cesses. European leaders like
Margrethe Vestager, who over-
seesdigitalpolicy,havecalledthe
companies threats to democracy
and anticompetitive and have
taken several steps to rein them
in. Amazon, Apple, Google and
Facebook either are under an-
titrust investigation or have al-
ready been penalized billions of
dollars.Inrecentyears,theEUhas
adopted industry-opposed laws
on issues including privacy and
online copyright.
But the industry does not
seem deterred, even as it faces
what many believe will be its
toughest fight yet. NYT
 18 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
Yeejle mejkeÀej / GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
HejceeCeg Tpee& efJeYeeie / DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY
v³egefkeÌue³ej He̳etue keÀe@cHueskeÌme / NUCLEAR FUEL COMPLEX
Electrical Projects, 2nd floor, Sarathi building, ECIL post, Hyderabad-500 062

Classifieds
PERSONAL
I, Jasleen Kaur W/o Jasbir Singh
Anand R/o A-50/3, GF, Ganesh
Nagar, Tilak Nagar, New Delhi,
have changed my name to
Jasleen Kaur Anand
0070723809-1
I Sunder Lal Jain S/O, Kashmiri
Lal Jain R/o A71 Ashok Nagar
I, Tanya Chawla Wife of Shri
Irwin Chawla, Resident of
Third Floor, Flat No. 315, Block:
A-1, Sector-55, Sushant Lok-II,
Gurugram-122011(Haryana),
consequent upon marriage on
06 December 2020, changed
my name from Tanya Sinha to
Tanya Chawla. 0040557701-1
NOTICE INVITING TENDER
I, Amir Siraj s/o Siraj Uddin,R/o PUBLIC NOTICE Item rate e-tender in two Part system are invited on behalf of the President of India by Dy Chief Engineer (CED,EP&PD), address mentioned
D-190/2, street.No-17, Zakir The publice at large is hereby inform above Phone No. 040-2718-4380 from eligible contractors for the following works.
that my clientess SMT. SHEELA
Nagar, Okhla, New Delhi- DEVI W/o Late SH. MELA RAM Sl. No. Tender Name of work Estimated Cost of the tender/ Tender Document Last Date Last Date
ARORA R/o EXB-31, Gali No.1, Hari Notice No. Cost (EC) (Rs. transaction fee available on website submission / of
110025,have changed my Nagar, New Delhi-110064, had
name to Aamir Siraj
published a Publice Notice on dated
06-10-2010 in daily newspaper
in Lakhs) www.tenderwizard.com/DAE uploading submission
Permanently. 0040557704-1 “RASHTRIYA SAHARA” thereby for free view & download (for e-tender) of hard
she debarred and disowned her son
namely SH. AMIT ARORA and her of bids copies
I, Aaryan S/O Mohit Agarwal daughter-in-law namely SMT.
CHARU W/o SH. AMIT ARORA from 1 E/611/2020 “Providing of Rs 96.5 Lakhs Rs. 5694/- From : 15.12.2020 10.02.2021 16.02.2021
R/O 701,New Shivalik Society, her all movable and immovable (two part AC facility to : 10.01.2021 @ 22:00 hrs @ 14:00 hrs
properties due to their disobedient
Sector-51,South City- behavior and arrogant attitude.But e- Tender) for Tube
presently due to good behaviour of
2,Gurgaon,HR-122018 have their above said son and daughter- Preparation
changed my name to Aaryan in-law, my above named clientess
Bay at CFFP "
hereby cancelled her previous public
Agarwal 0070723918-1 notice dated 06-10-2010 through this
at NFC
public notice.
Sd/- B.B.N. DEO, ADVOCATE Hyderabad”
I, Preeti Yadav, DOB- S.R.IInd, Janakpuri, ND-110058
08/03/1998 resident of RZ 57A Detailed NIT indicating eligibility criteria, method of participation, fees payable and other details is available on website www.nfc.gov.in. Part-1 of
e-Tender will be opened on the same day of date of submission of hard copies at 15.00 hrs. Date for opening Part-2 of tender will be intimated
Block Vinoba Enclave ND- subsequently to the qualified bidders.
110072.I declare that I am the
d/o of S M Yadav or Surya Mani

Delhi 110092 have changed my
name to Vinod Jain for all
purposes. 0040557667-1
I, Sandeep Kaur W/o Vikas
Kumar Goel R/o Regent-B-101
Grand omaxe sector-93B
Noida have changed my name
to Saniya Goel 0040557691-1
I Gopesh Gupta s/o Radhe
Shyam Gupta resident of A/3-
509, Tower-10, Silver City-2,
Sector-PI-2, Greater Noida has
changed my name to Gopesh
Chandra for all purposes.
0040557679-1
I HARJEET KAUR W/O SHRI
BRIJESH DIMRI R/O GH 9/604,
PASCHIM VIHAR, NEW DELHI-
110087, INFORM THAT IN MY
DAUGHTER SIMRAN DIMRI
SCHOOL RECORD MY NAME IS
WRONGLY MENTIONED HARJIT
KAUR BUT MY ACTUAL NAME IS
HARJEET KAUR, WHICH
SHOULD BE AMENDED
ACCORDINGLY. 0040557686-1
I,Varsha Gola W/o Nand Kishore
R/o C-104,IFCI Colony,Jwala
Heri Paschim Vihar, N.Delhi-
110063,changed my name to
Varsha Devi. 0040557710-8
I,Siddharth Sikka,S/o Shri
Satinder Nath Sikka R/o-
H.No.2,B-3,Vasant-Vihar, New
Delhi-110057,have changed
my name to Sidharth Sikka.
0040557710-2
I,Ranjeet Kumar S/o Praveen
Kumar R/o-511, Sector-7, R.K-
Puram Delhi-110022,have
Change My Name from
Ranjeet Kumar to Ranjit
Kumar,for all future purposes
0040557684-1
I,Pawan Joshi S/oLate Om
Prakash Joshi R/o 42-B, Block-
R, Dilshad Garden, Delhi-
110095, have informed that
Pawan Joshi & Pawan Kumar
Joshi both are one and same
person. 0040557675-1
I,MURALA NAVEEN KUMAR S/O
MURALA KRISHNA, R/o 42-
620/B SHIVA NAGAR, ALLWYN
COLONY, KUKATPALLY,
HYDERABAD, TELANGANA
500072, have changed the
name of my minor Son
MURALA KARTHIKEYAA aged
about 1 Year and He shall
hereafter be known as
MURALA DHRUVAN
KARTIKEYA 0070723955-1
I,Gazala Banday,D/o Gulam
Mohamad Dar,W/o Mr.Aamir
Mushtaq Banday,R/o-
Flat.No.202, Tower-A1,Tulip
White,Sector-
69,Gurugram,(Haryana),have
changed my name to Gazala
Mehmood. 0040557710-4
I,GUMIDELLY LAVANYA W/O
GUMIDELLY BALARAJU ,R/o 1-
4,1 Wada
Kummariwada,Bollepally,
Bhongir, Nalgonda Telangana-
508285, have changed the
name of my minor Daughter
GUMIDELLY HISHITA aged
about 5Years and She shall
hereafter be known as
GUMIDELLY ANANYA
0070723952-1
I,Anil Kumar F/o-Abhiuday
Ravish R/o-602,Amar Nagar,
55,Amarnagar,Faridabad-
121003 have changed my
Minor Son’s name from
Abhiuday to Abhiuday Ravish
for,all purposes 0040557717-1
I, Vikram Singh Chandela S/o
Ransingh R/o-114/10,
Girdharpur, Chhapraula,
Gautam Budh Nagar-201009,
UP have changed my name to
Vikram Singh. 0040557707-1
I, Vikas Kumar Verma S/o-
Virender Kumar Verma R/o-G-
56,Om Vihar Phase-5,Uttam
Nagar,DELHI-110059, declare
that name of my father has
been wrongly written as
Virendra Kumar in my 10th &
12th Class Certificate. The
actual name of my father is
Virender Kumar Verma.
0040557710-5
I, Lakshmi Sharma W/o Arun
Kumar Sharma R/o C-28/1, 2nd
floor, Paryavaran Complex,
Saidulajab, New Delhi-110030,
do hereby solemnly affirm
declare That Lakshmi Sharma
& Anju Sharma both are one
and the same person
0040557677-1
I, Mitalee Chandra D/o Shri
Prakash Chandra R/o HNo. 24-
B, Street No.2, 2nd Floor, East
Guru Angad Nagar, Delhi-92
have Changed My Name From
Mitalee to Mitalee Chandra.
Mitalee and Mitalee Chandra
both are same Person.
0040557685-1
I, Km Irram Batul,W/o Tehzeeb
Haider,R/o Flat.No.913,
Gomukh Appartment,
Kaushambi,Ghaziabad,have
changed my name to Iram
Batool. 0040557707-4
I, Kanta D/o Late Mohan Lal, R/o
F-15A, Nepali Mandir, Punjabi
Basti, Baljeet Nagar, New
Delhi-110008 have changed my
name to Kumkum,
permanently. 0040557694-1
I, Kumar Abhishek S/O Late
Ram Kumar Singhal, R/o H.No.-
148, Sector-21C, Nit, Faridabad,
Haryana-121001, have
changed my name and shall
hereafter be Known as
Kummar Abhisshek.
0070723947-1
I, Sushila Devi Pathania,W/o
Raghubir Singh Pathania, R/o-
895, Sector-29,Noida,(U.P.)-
201303have changed my name
from Sushila Devi Pathania to
Sushila Pathania,for all
purposes. 0040557703-1
I, SHANTI BALODI,W/O
CHANDER SHEKHAR, R/O-D-
364, DELTA-1ST, GREATER-
NOIDA, GAUTAMBUDH-NAGAR
-201308, U.P, HAVE CHANGED
MY NAME TO SHANTI.
0040557703-2
I, Rudal Yadav S/o Ramkishun
Yadav R/o 161,Paraskhand,
Tarkulwa,Deoria,U.P-
274408,have changed my
name to Ramlagan Yadav and
my DOB-05-01-1977. Mob:-
7503965073. 0040557710-1
I, Resham Verma, D/o,Vipul
Verma W/o,Utkarsh
Ahuja,R/o,I-1101, Caitriona,
Ambience Island, NH-8,
Nathupur(67)Gurgaon,HR-
122002, have changed my
name to Resham Ahuja for,all
purposes. 0040557704-3
I, Ramlal,S/O Shri Ram
Kumar,R/O G-22/195, Sector-7,
Rohini,Delhi-110085, have
changed my name to Ram Lal
Garg. 0040557710-9
I, Rafat Fatima Tatreen,W/o
Tarique Akhtar Tareen,R/o-B-1,
202,Lotus-Pond Society,
Vaibhav-Khand-1,
Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, have
changed my name to Rafat
Fatima Tareen. 0040557707-3
I, RITA SRIWASTAW D/O UMESH
PRASAD SRIWASTAW,R/o
Diulia Pipra, Shikarpur, West
Champaran,Bihar-845455 have
changed my name and shall
hereafter be Known as NANCY
SRIVASTAVA. 0070723954-1
I, PARDEEP KUMAR MAHAJAN
s/o BAL KISHAN MAHAJAN r/o
A-387-388, JJ Colony, Khayala,
New Delhi-110018 have
changed my name to PRADEEP
MAHAJAN. 0040557673-1
I, Om Prakash S/O Chhgana
Ram, R/o 7/61-2, Viswanatha
Puram, St. Thomas Mount,
Chennai 16, Kancheepuram,
Tamil Nadu-600016,, have
changed my name and shall
hereafter be Known as
Prakash 0070723953-1
I, Neelam Kumari Sharma D/o
Charan Das Sharma R/o B-68
Asha Park Hari Nagar Tilak
Nagar ND-18 Have Changed
My Name To Neelam Sharma
For All Purposes. 0040557704-5
I, Nand Kishore Gola S/o Tirkha
Ram R/o C-104, IFCI,
Colony,Jwala Heri Paschim
Vihar, N.Delhi-110063 changed
my name to Nand Kishore.
0040557710-7
I, NEERU (Aadhar. No.
881152617661),W/O Sh.Anurag
Yadav,D/O Sh.Rakesh,R/O
Village-Hasanpur, P.O.Ujwa,
New Delhi-110073, have
changed my name,from
NEERU to BHARTI YADAV
0040557707-7
I, MILLI KATHURIA d/o SHYAM
SUNDER KATHURIA r/o 13/36,
Subhash Nagar, Delhi-110027
have changed my name to
MILLIE KATHURIA.0040557672-1
I, Suresh Kumar S/o Kewal
Kumar R/o-B-2/7, Third-Floor,
Paschim Vihar, N.Delhi-
63,have changed my name to
Suresh Kumar Madaan.
0040557707-5
I, Ikram S/o Abdul Rahim R/o-
1105, Kazivada Mohalla,
Hapur-245101, UP have
changed my name to
Ikramuddin. 0040557707-2
I, Irashad Ahmed,S/O Faiz
Mohammed R/O-350, Shahzad
-Bagh Phase-1,Inder Lok, New
Delhi-110035, changed my
name to Irshad Ahmed.
0040557703-4
I, Gurleen Kaur Makkar,D/o-
Jaspal Singh,Sarabjeet
Kaur,R/o-25-B,Gali.No.11, Old-
Tezab Mill Bhola Nath Nagar,
Shahdara, Delhi-110032,have
changed my name to Gurleen
Kaur,for all purposes.
0040557704-2
I, Gurdeep Singh Satija
S/o,Gurbachan Singh Satija
R/o-G-54A, Nandram Park,
Uttam-Nagar,Delhi-110059,
have changed my name to
Gurdeep Singh S/o Gurbachan
Singh. 0040557707-6
I, Devender Gupta S/O Ram
Narayan Gupta R/O-B-136,
Rameshwar Nagar Gali.No-2,
Azadpur,Delhi-110033,
changed my name to
Devender Kumar Gupta.
0040557703-3
I, Danesh S/O Ashraf Ali R/O-C-
26, Sector-1, Avantika Rohini
Delhi-110085 changed my
name to Danish. 0040557703-5
I, Cheranjeet Kaur W/o Jagat
Singh R/o WZ-49/C, Gali No.23,
Sant Nagar, Tilak Nagar, New
Delhi-110018 changed my
name to Charanjeet Kaur.
0040557710-3
I, Bernadethe A M,W/O Anthony
Manickam R/O.H.NO-208,
Munirka Village,New-Delhi-
110067.Have Changed my
Name to Bernandethe
Anthony Manickam.
0040557704-4
Yadav who is the same person,
for all future purpose.
0040557688-1
LOST & FOUND
Lost DDA Site Possession Slip
against my MIG Flat No.82,
Pocket-B-6, Sector-4, Rohini,
Delhi-85 (File
No.M24(229)1985/NP/Rohini).
Finder may Contact-Anjali
Sethi W/o-Dilip Chand
Sachdeva at above noted
address. 0040557666-1
It is notified for the information
that my Original Marksheet,
Passing Certificate,
Provisional
Certificate,Migration
Certificate and Transfer
Certificate of Senior
Secondary Examination of
Year 2019 and Roll No.9159008
issues by CBSE has been
actually lost. Name of the
candidate- Kajol, Flat No.B-37C
Shivangi Kunj, Paschim Vihar
New Delhi-110063 (Mob.-
9560611847)
0040557688-2
I, Swati Verma,W/o Prasun
Kumar Verma R/o Flat no.-47,
Pkt-1,Sector-23,Rohini, Delhi-
110085,have lost original
Mutation Letter issued by MCD
of above given address. Finder
contact: 9520481754.
0040557704-10
I, Bhanu pratap,S/o Lalasa
prasad, R/o- 25A janta-flats
Rampart Delhi-35,have lost my
original-certificate class-10th
year-2017 Rollno-8324814
CBSE-DELHI. 0040557704-9
I, Samakshi Sharma,D/o Girish
Kumar Sharma R/o-WS-
45,Sudamapuri,
Babarpur,Shahdara,Delhi-32
have lost my original-
certificate Class-Xth Year-
2017,Rollno-8159436 CBSE-
DELHI. 0040557704-8
PROPERTY FOR SALE
COMMERCIAL PLOT for sale,
suitable for showroom, good
location, urgent basis, Lal
quater Krishna Nagar, main
market, contact: 9871959666
0040557608-3
PUBLIC NOTICE
PUBLIC NOTICE
Be it known to public at large that my clients S.
Bhupinder Singh S/o Late S. Saroop Singh and
Kawaljeet Kaur W/O S. Bhupinder Singh both R/o
House No.30, First floor, Gopal Nagar, New
Delhi-110018 have debarred and disowned their
son S. Amandeep Singh and his family
comprising of his wife i.e. Harbind and one
daughter Harsheen Kaour from all their
immovable and movable properties because of
their continuous disrespect, misbehavior with my
clients and for the fact that they are out of control
of my clients. Public is further informed that from
today onwards neither my son Amandeep Singh
nor his family neither shall have any relation what
so ever with my clients nor they shall have any
right in movable and immovable property(ies) of
my clients. Public is further informed that S.
Amandeep Singh and his wife is residing in the
same premises with my clients unlawfully,
forcefully & against the wishes of my clients, if any
person deals with them shall do so at his own risk,
cost and consequences and my clients shall not
be responsible to any one in any manner for the
same. My clients shall not be responsible for any
act, conduct of Amandeep Singh and his family.
Sd/- K.S. TANEJA (Advocate)
Ch. T-57, Near Tehsil Building Tis Hazari
Courts, Delhi-54
PUBLIC NOTICE
Be it known that my client Sh. Mahinder
Singh S/o. Pritam singh and Smt. Nisha
Yadav W/O. Sh. Mahinder Singh both R/O
225, Pradhan Gali, Shivalaya Mandir,
Chaudhar Wala Mohalla, Badli, Samai
Pur, North West Delhi, Delhi-110042 has
debarred and disinherited his son from all
his movable and immovable properties.
My client has no control over his son as
he is in bad habits. My client will not be
responsible and not liable for any act
done by his son. If anybody deal with
them in any manner then he/she will be
responsible for his/her own act at their
own cost and risk.
Sd/- SANJEEV KUMAR RAWAT
(Advocate)
Chamber No 556, Dwarka Court
complex, Sector-10, N.D-110075
PUBLIC NOTICE
My clients Rajkumar S/o Sh.
Harprasad and his wife Usha Devi R/o
C-2/245, Sector-17, Rohini, Delhi have
disowned and debarred their son
Himanshu Sharma and daughter in law
Shanu Sharma, #36, Keerti Nagar,
Sector-15/1, Gurgaon from their
movable and immovable property and
also have severed all connections with
them and my clients shall not be
responsible for any acts of them.
Sd/-
SANJEEV PANDA
ADVOCATE
Ch. No. 232,
Lawyer's Chamber Block
Rohinl Courts Complex, Delhi
TAMILNADUNo.417,
MEDIcAL SERVIcES coRPoRATIoN LTD.
Pantheon Road, Egmore, Chennai-600 008.
Phone : 28191890 / 28190259; Fax: 044 –28190636 E-Mail: equipment.tnmsc@tn.gov.in
INTERNATIoNAL coMPETITIVE BIDDINg – TENDER EXTENSIoN NoTIcE
1. The Tender due dates are extended as follows:
1) Tender No.PKG3/ICB/TNUHP/JICA/C2/USG/TNMSC/ENGG/2020, dt.04.02.2020 -
Ultrasound Machine (5), Ultrasonogram Colour Doppler with 3 probes (18) & Portable Ultrasound
Machine (6)
PUBLIC NOTICE 2) Tender No.PKG6/ICB/TNUHP/JICA/C2/OPE-I/TNMSC/ENGG/2020, dt.04.02.2020 -
Under the instruction and on behalf of my Multipara Monitor (4), Multipara monitor with IBP (4), Multipara monitor with ETCO2 (18),
client be it known to general public at
Defibrillator (15), Anesthesia Work Station with monitor (18), Anesthesia Workstation (20),
large that my clients Sh. Dharmender
Ranjan S/o Sh. Man Mohan Ranjan, Operation Theatre fracture Table (with ortho attachment, C-arm compatible) (17) & Operation
Hindu, adult aged about 51 years and
Smt. Monika Ranjan W/o Sh. Theatre Table (with General Surgery attachment) (10)
Dharmender Ranjan, Hindu, adult aged
about 45 years both presently residing Sl. No. Sale period Submission of Bids opening of Bids
address at 944, First Floor, Dr Mukherjee
1 Upto 21.12.2020 22.12.2020, 03.00 PM 22.12.2020, 04.00 PM
Nagar, Near Batra Cinema, Delhi-110009,
have disowned and debarred their son
namely Mr. Kartik Ranjan hindu adult age 2 Upto 22.12.2020 23.12.2020, 03.00 PM 23.12.2020, 04.00 PM
23, from their all movable and immovable
properties and assets and severed all For details visit www.tenders.tn.gov.in and TNMSC website www.tnmsc.tn.gov.in
relations, social with them because of his
Acts, conducts and behavior towards DIPR/ 4647 /Tender/2020 general Manager (Equipment)
my clients. Thus, my clients don't want
to have any relationship with him and
all their relationships stand severed
and hereby also withdraw all his rights
even to perform my clients' last rituals.
Anybody dealing with them shall do so at
her/his/their own risk and cost my clients
shall not be responsible for any social and
economic relations.
Sd/- LOKESH KUMAR AGGARWAL
(D/275/03) ADVOCATE FOR ACE
CONSILIUM B-101, B.G.S. Block,
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi-110 054
''IMPORTANT''
Whilst care is taken prior to
acceptance of advertising
copy, it is not possible to verify
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 19 SPORTS/CALENDAR
BRIEFLY
Barcelona-PSG
rematchhighlightof
CLRound-of-16draw
Nyon: Barcelona will face Paris Saint-
Germain in the Champions League
round of 16 in a rematch of their clas-
sic encounter at the same stage four
seasons ago. Defending champion
BayernMunichwaspairedwithLazio.
Atalanta will host 13-time champion
Real Madrid, and Liverpool is away
firstagainstLeipzig.CristianoRonaldo
will return to his native Portugal with
Juventus for the firstleg againstPorto.
Here are the other pairings: Borussia
Monchengladbach vs. Manchester
City; Atletico Madrid vs. Chelsea; and
Sevilla vs Borussia Dortmund. The
round of 16 is spread over four mid-
weeks. First-leg games are scheduled
February 16-17 and 23-24.
MessihelpsBarca
endlosingstreak
Barcelona: Facing another setback in
an already difficult season, Lionel
Messi found his finishing touch to
save Barcelona from falling further
behind in the Spanish league. Messi's
late goal secured a hard-fought 1-0
home victory over Levante on
Sunday to end a two-game losing
skid for Barcelona. Messi fired a left-
footed shot off the far post and into
the net to get Barcelona's break-
through in the 76th minute after
Levante had withstood the hosts
with tenacious defending. Barcelona
are eighth with nine points behind
the leaders Real Sociedad, whom
they face on Wednesday.
10-manJamshedpur
holdMumbaiCity
Bambolim:Aflurryof missedchances
saw table-toppers Mumbai City FC
settle for a 1-1 draw against
Jamshedpur FC in the Hero Indian
Super League at the GMC Stadium
here on Monday. Owen Coyle's men
took the lead through Nerijus Valskis
(9') before Mumbai hit back through
Bartholomew Ogbeche (15'). A red
cardforAitorMonroyaroundthehalf-
hour mark saw Jamshedpur reduced
to 10 men but some dogged defend-
ing and a number of missed chances
for Mumbai, saw the former get away
with a draw. Mumbai remain on top
of the table with 13 points from six
matcheswhileJamshedpur,whohave
seven points, are sixth. On Tuesday,
East Bengal will face Hyderabad.
CROSSWORD 4302
ACROSS
1 Book by which one’s simply
instructed (7)
5 When knocked out of course it
should be replaced (5)
8 Refusing to compromise Irene
can’t sign anyway
(13)
9 New or old slaver
(5)
10 Yet he still plays Shylock
(7)
11 Charge back up in time
perhaps (6)
12 Still good advice to the excited
(6)
15 Jams and preserves
(7)
17 New bales of fur
(5)
19 Cheating by giving two cards
instead of one (6-7)
20 Measures ladder
(5)
21 Slight point to one who makes
advances (7)
SolutionsCrossword4301:Across: 1Slums,8Fandango,9Avail,10Sedative,11
Edits,12Lad,16Endive,17Aspire,18Dim,23Group,24Lacrosse,25Sighs,26
Terriers,27Leash.Down:2Lovedone,3Maintain,4Valeta,5Ideal,6Snail,7Nobel,
12Led,13Dam,14Sportive,15Crouches,19Insert,20Flute,21Score,22Toxin.
JUMBLED WORDS
Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget
theanswerforthegivenquip.
Ifyoufelldownyesterday,____today.-H.G.Wells(5,2)
EPUAS
TOONS
Answer: If you fell down yesterday, stand up today. - H. G. Wells
SOLUTION: PAUSE, SNOOT, FONDUE, PUMPER
[ Immersive tales of eager rookies and established headliners waiting to swallow up Test glory Down Under
Tinkerman’s big Test
R Ashwin will take at least 20 wickets in the series, says South Africa’s performance analyst
SRIRAM VEERA
DECEMBER 14
“CRICKET IS a failure sport,” R Ashwin tells
a group of schoolkids hunched on the
ground in Chennai. “Even Sachin Tendulkar
had just 30 per cent success rate.” He later
corrects it to 35.
It’s a sobering introduction to the world
of frustrations but seems an apt message
to engage a potential spinner among those
10-year olds. Another video, another kid –
this one seems even younger, and has the
ball in his hands when Ashwin questions
him about his field. The kid shyly states his
case and moves his friends. Ashwin probes
further, “which side is tougher to hit?” Off,
says the cutie and Ashwin points to the on-
side and goes, “then use one more fielder
here, no. If he hits through the offside, you
can clap for him.”
In those two YouTube video chunks,
more than any conversations with adults,
Ashwin captures the inner world of a spin-
ner, and in particular his own art of off-spin.
In England in 2018 and Australia in 2019,
hestarteddreamilyatEdgbastonandAdelaide,
before his body betrayed him. “If I could, I
wouldhavepulledmysoul out andkilledthis
body,” he told Cricbuzz about that phase.
“He will take 20 wickets in the four Tests
this series,” says Prasanna Agoram, South
Africa’s performance analyst who has
worked with Ashwin in the Indian Premier
League and Tamil Nadu Premier League.
It was Australian spinner Mitchell
Swepson who nailed Ashwin’s secret couple
of years ago. “The batsmen have to watch his
hands closely which gives them less time to
move and they sort of stay in the crease a bit.
It (the watching)cutstheirreaction time and
that’s probably his biggest asset.” Another
Australian, batsman Matt Renshaw, detailed
the effects on the mind. “Working out what
he is trying to do is probably the biggest
(challenge) and how is he trying to get you
out, what fields are in play – the mental side
is the biggest thing as a batsman.”
■■■
Ashwin doesn’t place the fingers on the
ball, he wraps them around. It’s a sight to see
him demonstrating his grip to kids; he
would pick, lift, and fold his fingers into pre-
ferred spaces.
PTI/AP For most off-spinners, the index finger
cuts across the seam and so does the middle
OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson
DOWN
1 Diana madly in the swim
(5)
2 It’s not made still but it’s still
made (6,7)
3 Oriental up late perhaps is
carried shoulder high
(7)
4 My sets methodically arranged
(6)
5 Sort of lead mother will follow
in principle (5)
6 Screen an Italian is unable to
see (8,5)
7 The more complicated
mathematical proposition
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong
(7)
11 Is in the way of progress
(7)
13 Take a liberty? (7)
14 Remarks players ignore as the
team comes in (6)
16 Still producing cheerful tunes
(5)
18 Keen section of the age range
(5)
DifficultyLevel5s
Instructions
TosolveaSudokupuzzle,
everydigitfrom1to9
SUDOKU 4323
mustappearineachofthe
nineverticalcolumns,in
eachoftheninehorizontal
EFNODU rowsandineachofthe
nineboxes.
EMPRUP DifficultyLevel
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;
3s=Medium;4s=Hard;
5s=VeryHard;6s=
Genius
SHORT STORIES
To be successful in the four-Test series, R Ashwin will have to make Australian
batsmen drive, feels South Africa’s performance analyst Prasanna Agoram. File
finger, with the ball clasped between these
two spread-out fingers. Ashwin is different.
The middle finger curls in and stretches
alongside the seam rather than cutting it,
which means the ball rests on the knuckle
–imparting more revolutions on the ball.
Unlike other off-spinners, Ashwin’s thumb
too is tucked in beside the seam, pointing to-
wards the index finger, almost touching it.
When he wants to impart sidespin to get
more turn, his index finger does cut that
seam. When he wants overspin, he cocks it
in,towardshim,besidetheseam,likeahook,
and the extremely supple wrist turns like a
doorknob to send the ball up and over.
“He will bowl a lot more overspin in
Australia this series, according to me,” says
Agoram.Ashwinwillhavetoadapt,andhewill,
as he has the “experience and intelligence”.
“In Australia, the order of traits needed
by a spinner is as follows: Trajectory, length,
speed, and line. The ideal length is six me-
tres from the batsman, full enough to make
him feel he can drive but just about dipping
short. The ideal line is fourth stump – not too
far outside off as they will drill you through
the off, and not too straight as they can eas-
ily work you to the legside,” says Agoram.
He places trajectory on top as a spinner
hastobeatthebatsmanintheairinAustralia.
You can’t be too fast or drop it too short in
Australia because you can be cut or heaved
away as there is no fear of variable bounce or
alarmingturn,unlessthereisgenerousrough
in the second innings.
“Ashwin usually bowls at 82 kmph and
it’squitegoodforAustralia–if hecanvarythe
paceinthe80swiththeoccasionalquickone
or a real slow one, and focus on overspin, he
canbeatthebatsmenintheair,”Agoramsays.
Ashwin had burnt his fingers on his first
visit to Australia in 2011-12 when Michael
Clarke kept driving him en route to a triple
hundred in Sydney. “He drove me through
the covers really well, I wasn’t putting any
speed on the ball and I kept tossing it up.”
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4322
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
Australia add
] Henriques to
squad, injured
Abbott ruled out
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
SYDNEY, DECEMBER 14
ALL-ROUNDER Moises Henriques was on
MondayaddedtoAustralia'sinjury-hitsquad
He will bowl a lot more overspin in fortheopeningTestagainstIndiawhilepacer
Australia this series, according to Sean Abott was ruled out of the match due
me. In Australia, the order of traits to a calf strain.
needed by a spinner is as follows: Henriques, who had missed the three-
daysecondpracticegameduetoalow-grade
Trajectory, length, speed, and line. hamstring strain, cleared the fitness Test on
The ideal length is six metres from Monday to return to the Test squad after a
the batsman, full enough to make gap of four years. The opening game, a day-
him feel he can drive but just nighter, begins on December 17 in Adelaide.
about dipping short.” "All-rounder Moises Henriques has been
added to Australia's squad for the first
PRASANNA AGORAM
PERFORMANCE ANALYST, SOUTH AFRICA
Vodafone Test against India after the hosts'
camp continues to be hit with injury," a re-
“Overspin in Australia isn’t going to
port in cricket.com.au. said.
AbbottbecamethelatestAustralianplayer
make the ball spin as much as in India but tojointheinjurylistafterbeingpickingupthe
it will help you beat the batsmen in the air,” strain during the second warm-up game here
says Agoram. A crucial element in Australia which ended in a draw. He is, however, ex-
would be bat-pad catches. The extra pected to be available for the second Test in
bounce coupled with the angles will result Melbourne, which begins on December 26.
in hesitant prods. Abbott,whohadtakenthreewicketsinIndia's
Even his open-chested run-up has been first innings, will not travel with the team to
tweaked towards this effect. In recent times, Adelaide. "Fast bowler Sean Abbott will not
Ashwin has already tinkered with his action travel to Adelaide with Henriques and the re-
(no longer do his arms kick in as much as maining Australia squad members from
they used to) and his run-up too is fairly Sydneytodayafterpickingupacalfstraininthe
straight as the focus is on loading up in front day-nighttourmatchattheSCGonSaturday."
of his face. That load-up helps him stay up- Henriques last played a Test more than
rightatreleasewhichtogeneratemoreover- four years ago in Sri Lanka. He made a come-
spin. He varies the pace with the revolutions backtothenationalset-upafterthreeyearsby
on the ball, but also positions his body featuring in the limited-overs series against
smartly for extra effect. At times, he leans India. He is the second player after Marcus
front at release if he wants to bowl slower Harris to be added late to the Test squad.
but doesn’t give too much time in the air to
the batsman. Or drop his arm sideways a
Harris was included in the squad for the
opening Test following a spate of injuries, in-
touch to flatten the trajectory. When he
wants more flight, turn, and dip, he will arch
cluding David Warner and opener Will
Pucovski being ruled out of the first game
back after loading and finish the action in an due to a groin injury. Cameron Green and
exaggerated way. HarryConwayhadsufferedconcussionsdur-
“In the Pink-ball Test on a slow Adelaide ing the second warm-up game, while
track, you might see him try even leg-spin Jackson Bird ended up with a calf injury.
and carrom balls,” Agoram says. “It’s not his
T20 game coming in but it would be a calcu- Starc ready to make amends
lated move as the pink Kookaburra has a Mitchell Starc said he is ready to make
black seam which can get difficult to pick in amends for the previous series, terming it a
lightsinthelastsession,andcanbeexploited chance to "rectify" that. Under Kohli's cap-
by wrist spinners.” taincy, India humbled hosts Australia 2-1 in
Ashwin's Australia campaign won’t be 2018-19fortheirfirstserieswinDownUnder
easy. “Can't Bowl too straight, can’t bowl too after seventy years of trying.
wide, got to make them drive,” Agoram says. "You never want to lose a series and you
“Therewillbelotsof dotballsinAustraliabut certainlyneverwanttoloseoneinAustralia,"
also lots of fours as Aussies can cut or play Starc told ESPN's The Cricket Monthly. "India
that pick-up flick shot on the leg that they all were just better than us throughout the
lookforagainstoff-spinnersastheycantrust (2018-19) series with bat and ball. Sure, we
the bounce and turn. You have to get it per- haven't hidden away from that. We needed
fect for long periods to succeed, but I think to be better in all facets of the game and this
Ashwin has the skill and the heart for it. My summer's certainly a chance to rectify that,"
bet is that he will take at least 20 wickets.” the pace ace added.
DAY TODAY BY PETER VIDAL
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20) LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
Most of what At times like these,
planetary activity when planetary
there is takes place pressures are few,
in public-reaches of you should begin to
your solar chart, suggesting notice Jupiter’s benevolent
that your worldly ambitions movements in your emotional
should occupy first place. life. Remember, though, that
Private concerns may be put on ‘good luck’ often has strange
the back burner, even if only results. Today’s blessings
temporarily. Hopefully friends might bring tomorrow’s
and lovers will wait their turn. problems, so leave nothing
to chance.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
You now have a SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
chance to prove You may have had to
just how astute, endure some sort of
sympathetic and a break or
self-protective you can be, separation. Don’t
although nobody should blame other people, and don’t
doubt just what you have had blame yourself, either! Rather,
to go through to reach your try to see what underlying
current state of self- purpose may have been
knowledge! Only your closest served. Even an unexpected
friends really understand rejection could pave the way
how you feel. for something much better.
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec
Reassuring 22)
planetary aspects Although you still
signify that you need to choose your
may procrastinate words with care,
to your heart’s desire. In fact, you should insist on telling the
there is nothing like truth as you see it. The crux of
putting things off until the matter is not what you say,
tomorrow to restore your but who you say it to: some
belief that you are in control people understand you, others
of your own life. Mind you, do not. You might have to learn
you can’t put the inevitable the difficult art of patience.
off forever.
CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
CANCER (June 22 - July 23) You must not be
The financial drawn into any
outlook is becoming further unnecessary
brighter. The one arguments,
thing you can be especially if you have no
sure of is that planets aligned personal emotional interest in
with your solar house of the people with whom you
money are doing their best. disagree. It would be better to
Your long-term security is enjoy the little pleasures that
therefore not at issue, but if are now coming your way, and
you’re tempted to take a risk leave thoughtless individuals
you might want to leave it for a to fend for themselves.
few days.
AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23) Atworkitisalla
You should, by questionof leastsaid,
rights, fare better soonestmended.
than most these Onethingyoucan
days, for you are relyonisthatemployersor
under a sort of infallible colleagueswilleventually
celestial protection. The returntothesamequestion,like
important planetary aspects somesortof brokenrecord.
are setting up a pattern Whydon’tyoutryandlead
extending over two or three everyoneintothefuture?
years, so their effects will not at
first be obvious. PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
Your romantic feelings should
VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23) now be on the
Sometimes you upward, optimistic
have to stand up, be phase of your
counted and be true emotional cycle.
to your beliefs. Don’t You should therefore pack your
become complacent or social diary as full as you can,
imagine that others will step in ready for the next great
to save the day. Only if you rely opportunity. I know that you
on your own skills and talents sometimes need more
can you be sure that you will confidence, but you may just
win through and achieve have to dive into public events
your goals. whether you’re ready or not.
New Delhi

20 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
Bahrain child reaches out to F1 champion Hamilton, seeks help for release of father
SHAHID JUDGE
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 14
FORMULA ONE world champion Lewis
Hamilton has been a champion of several so-
cial,politicalandhumanitariancausesinrecent
times. Ever since he secured his seventh title
lastmonth,makinghimthejoint-recordholder
with Michael Schumacher, the 35-year-old
BritonhasbeenreceivinglettersfromBahraini
citizensseekinghishelpandinfluence.
However, one particular letter - from 11-
year-old Ahmed Ramadhan asking him to
help save his father from a death sentence -
Hamilton claimed, “really (hit) home.”
An appeal for help
BahrainInstituteforRightsandDemocracy
(BIRD),anadvocacygroupinLondon,saidthat
the letter, accompanied by a drawn picture of
Hamilton’s race car, said: “Lewis, please save
my father. When I was drawing the car, I felt
hope that it might save my father's life.”
“IreallyhopeLewisHamiltondeliversmy
message so my dad can come back home,”
Agence France-Presse reported.
Ramadhan’s father Mohammed, a secu-
rity guard, was allegedly arrested in 2014 for
the death of a policeman, and subsequently
sentenced to death. Human rights groups,
however, have claimed that confessions that
led to the conviction were forced through
torture. Ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
last weekend, Hamilton addressed the letter
at a press conference.
“I think the saddest thing for me was
that there is a young man on death row and
it’s not clear… when his son writes me a
letter, that really hits home. All lives matter.
I think there’s definitely work to be done
in the background,” he said.
“I definitely won’t let it go unnoticed.
When I get some time now, I will definitely
try and speak to those (people) and see
how I can positively impact that (race)
weekend (in future).”
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Letter of hope
Ahmed Mohammed Ramadhan holds his drawing of Lewis Hamilton's racing car
with his appeal for help in saving his father from execution. AP/Reuters
The Bahrain Grand Prix has been a regu-
larontheF1circuitsincethefirstracein2004.
It’s also the country’s biggest sporting event.
Covid interrupts meeting
Hamilton claimed that he had hoped to
meet Bahrain’s Crown Prince and Prime
Minister Salman binHamadAlKhalifato ad-
dresstheissueof socialinjusticeprevalentin
the kingdom.
Hehadhopedtoattendthemeetingwhile
in the Middle-Eastern country that hosted
back-to-backGrandPrixonNovember29and
December 6.
However,Hamiltontestedpositiveforthe
coronavirus at the time, and was forced to
miss the second race.
Hamilton’s activism
TheMercedesdriverhasbeenvocalinhis
supportfortheBlackLivesMattermovement
that gained steam in May after the death of
African-American GeorgeFloydat thehands
of the police. In fact, Hamilton has also been
critical of the F1’s apparent lack of respon-
siveness when it comes to addressing hu-
man rights issues, especially in countries
where races take place.
“Werealisewe’vegottofaceandnotignore
the human rights issues in the countries that
wegoto,notjust20years,30yearsfromnow,
but now,” he had said after securing his sev-
enth world title after winning the Turkish
Grand Prix in November. In Abu Dhabi,
Hamiltonadded:“Naturally,thehumanrights
Vol LXXXIX No. 30 Regd.No. DL-21046/03-05
The Indian Express ®
EX-FRANCE MANAGER HOULLIER NO MORE
Gerard Houllier, a Frenchman who won three titles in one season as manager of
English club Liverpool following a disappointing spell as the coach of France's na-
tional team, has died. He was 73. Liverpool and the French football federation an-
nounced the death Monday. French sports daily L'Equipe said he died at home on
Sunday following heart surgery in France.
Ramadhan’s father Mohammed,
a security guard, was allegedly
arrested in 2014 for the death of
a policeman, and subsequently
sentenced to death
issue in so many of the places that we go to is
a consistent and a massive problem. We are
probably one of the only ones that (go) to so
many different countries and I do think as a
sport we need to do more.”
Formula One’s stance
Inastatement,theF1claimedithadbeen
vigilantregarding social injustice around the
world. “We have always been clear with all
race promoters and Governments with
which we deal worldwide that we take vio-
lence, abuse of human rights and repression
very seriously.” However, there have been
constant protests by activists ahead of the
annual Bahrain Grand Prix, seeking the race
to be cancelled in light of the government’s
alleged human rights violations.
Bahrain government’s take
Ever since Bahraini citizens – both cur-
rent and former political prisoners - started
to appeal to Hamilton to support their cause,
the government of the country has claimed
that it respects freedom of expression and
the right to protest. “No person is arrested or
prosecuted for the peaceful expression of
their opinion, and all persons arrested (re-
gardless of the charge) benefit from full due
process safeguards, including the right to
representation and the right to fair trial be-
fore Bahrain’s independent judiciary,” read
a statement reported by The Guardian.
The statement also addressed the claim
about the use of torture in Ramadhan’s case.
“Further, the claims of torture and/or retri-
bution are categorically denied.”
NZ inflict innings defeat on
Windies, clinch series 2-0
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WELLINGTON, DECEMBER 14
NEWZEALANDachievedthefirstobjectiveof
the domestic summer when it swept the
West Indies in a two-test series to join
Australia atop world cricket's test rankings.
After winningthefirst test in Hamilton byan
innings and 134 runs, New Zealand won the
second at the Basin Reserve by an innings
and 12runs inside the first hour of the fourth
morning on Monday.
The West Indies resumed their second in-
ningsat244-6,trailingNewZealandby85runs
after being forced to follow-on 329 behind.
Wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva (57) provided
some late resistance, achieving a half century
inhisdebuttest,beforethetouristswereallout
for317,theirhighestinningstotalof theseries.
The series win lifted New Zealand level
withAustraliaonaratingof 116pointsinfirst
placeontheICCworldteststandings,thefirst
timeinitshistoryithasachievedthatranking.
New Zealand also moved past England into
third place in the world test championship
standings, a more pressing objective as it at-
tempts to claim a place in next year's final at
Lord's.Acleansweepof Pakistaninatwo-test
seriesstartinglaterthismonthwillgiveNew
Zealandachanceof competingwithAustralia
and India for a place in the June final.
The ICC test championship started last
year and involves nine teams each playing
sixseriesforpointsonahome-and-awayba-
sis, with the top two meeting in the final.
Australia and India are meeting in a four-test
seriesstartingThursday.NewZealandisnow
unbeaten in its last 15 test matches at home,
giving it one of the most formidable home
advantages in world cricket. "Looking at the
world test championship, it's nice to get the
full points from this series," New Zealand
captain Tom Latham said.
Latham took over the captaincy for the
second test from Kane Williamson, who
missed the test because his wife is expecting
their first child, and New Zealand showed
depth in its ability to win in Williamson's ab-
sence. "As far as the world rankings go, it's
nice togo there but that's a by-product of the
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
AP
E
E X P L A I NE D
WhyNZwinputs
● pressureonIndia
NEW ZEALAND 2-0 win over West
Indies makes them a contender to
make the final of the World Test
championship and also has them
snapping at India's heels. With
cricket series being cancelled be-
cause of the pandemic, the percent-
age of points won is the criteria in-
stead of total points. Australia tops
with 82.2 per cent, followed by India
75 per cent and then New Zealand
62.5 per cent. New Zealand plays
Pakistan in a two-Test series at home,
starting with a Boxing Day Test. If
they sweep that series, the percent-
age points table could look very dif-
ferent. At the same time, India will be
playing Australia away from home.
Australia are to play South Africa
sometime in February after the India
series. Kohli's side will host England
in a four-Test match series on return.
Which way these results go will de-
termine which two teams make the
final at Lord's next year. ENS
effort these guys have put in time and time
again over the last couple of years," Latham
said. "We've got another test series starting
(soon)andsothefocusnowwillturntothat."
The secret of New Zealand's success is an
open one. It has an extremely solid batting
lineup,especiallywithWilliamsoninhisreg-
ular place in the top order. But it is the work
of the bowlers which is the key ingredient:
NewZealand'sfour-prongedseamattack,led
by Tim Southee and Trent Boult and with
Kyle Jamieson now a key member, is relent-
less and gives batsmen very little respite
from pressure.
BRIEF SCORES: New Zealand 460 beat
West Indies 131 & (f/0) 317 (Campbell 68,
Holder 61, da Silva 57, Wagner 3-54, Boult 3-
96) by an innings and 11 runs