JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES
Army vehicles moving along the Manali-Leh highway, in Kullu Monday. ANI
Pangong south bank new
flashpoint: India says took
measures to thwart China
Indian troops have moved to occupy heights, foil bid to
change status quo; Brigade Commander-level meeting on
SUSHANT SINGH, KRISHN
KAUSHIK & NIRUPAMA
SUBRAMANIAN
NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, AUG 31
TENSIONSSOAREDinLadakhaf-
ter the Indian Army announced
Mondaythatithadtaken“meas-
ures to strengthen our positions
and thwart Chinese intentions”
to change the status quo on the
south bank of Pangong Tso.
Thisisthelatestfrictionpoint
between the two armies ever
since the standoff began early
May. Until now, troops were fac-
ing off on the north bank of
Pangong Tso where the Chinese
have not disengaged after com-
ing in 8 km west of Finger 8
which India says marks the LAC.
In a statement on the south
bank incident, the Army said:
“On the Night of 29/30 August
2020, PLA troops violated the
Bhushan fined ` 1,
says case a moment
for free speech
Prashant Bhushan after the SC verdict Monday. PTI
ANANTHAKRISHNAN G
& APURVA VISHWANATH
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
THESUPREMECourtonMonday
imposed a token fine of Re 1 on
advocate Prashant Bhushan,
whom it had last week held
guilty of criminal contempt over
two tweets.
TheBenchledbyJusticeArun
Mishra, and also comprising
Justices B R Gavai and Krishna
Murari, said it could have im-
posedaharsherpunishment,but
it was “showing magnanimity”.
The Bench, which had held
Bhushan guilty on August 14,
asked him to deposit the fine
with the Supreme Court registry
by September 15, “failing which
THE WORLD
HISTORIC DIRECT
FLIGHT BETWEEN
ISRAEL AND U.A.E.
LANDS IN ABU DHABI
TRUMP SEIZES ON
PROTESTS AS DEMS
BLAME HIM FOR
TENSIONS
PAGE 13
INSIDE
LAC: MILITARY
MOVES RAISE FEARS
OF ESCALATION
MINISTERS OF QUAD
GROUPING TO MEET
IN NEW DELHI
PAGE 7
previous consensus arrived at
during military and diplomatic
engagements during the ongo-
ing standoff in Eastern Ladakh
and carried out provocative mil-
itary movements to change the
status quo.”
“Indian troops pre-empted
this PLA activity on theSouthern
Bank of Pangong Tso Lake, un-
dertook measures to strengthen
our positions and thwart
Chinese intentions to unilater-
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
he shall undergo a simple im-
prisonment for a period of three
months and... be debarred from
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
PAGE 1
ANCHOR Up ahead, more outside air flow, a warmer Delhi Metro
SOURAV ROY BARMAN
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
ASITpreparestobeginoperations
fromSeptember7,oneof thekey
measures Delhi Metro is looking
at is managing air circulation, to
allowmorefreshairfromoutside
andtodisperseanysuspendedvi-
ral particles. This will raise tem-
peratures further from what’s to
now be maintained inside
coaches as a precaution against
the coronavirus — in the range of
24-30 degrees Celsius.
The Indian Express spoke to
the Delhi Metro Rail
DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
ally change facts on ground. The
Indian Army is committed to
maintainingpeace and tranquil-
lity through dialogue, but is also
equallydeterminedtoprotectits
territorial integrity. A Brigade
Commander level Flag Meeting
is in progress at Chushul to re-
solve the issues,” the Indian
Army said.
The meeting, sources said,
was “stormy” though both com-
manders agreed to continue the
talks on Tuesday. The talks were
held after a flurry of calls on the
militaryhotlinebetweenthetwo
sides on Sunday, sources said.
Sources said there was “no
contact, no scuffle, and no en-
gagement” between troops on
the two sides.
Details of what exactly tran-
spired are sketchy, but sources
said Indian troops had moved in
tooccupydominatingheightson
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Sister wrote
to Sushant
on anxiety
drugs 6 days
before death
DEEPTIMAN TIWARY
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
SIX DAYS before actor Sushant
Singh Rajput's alleged suicide at
his Mumbai home, he and his
sister Priyanka had exchanged
messages about anxiety and the
latter had recommended him
some medicines, investigations
by the CBI and the Enforcement
Directorate have found.
Priyanka, who is a Supreme
Court lawyer,also got a prescrip-
tion arranged from Delhi when
the actor pointed out that such
medicinescouldnotbeobtained
without a doctor’s advice.
The prescription, dated June
8, was given by cardiologist
Dr Tarun Kumar of Ram
ManoharLohia Hospital in Delhi
and bears his signature and
stamp. Rajput is known to have
been in Mumbai on June 8,
which also happens to be the
date when fellow actor Rhea
Chakraborty,facinganabetment
of suicide case in his death,
moved out of Rajput’s home.
Rajput’s family has main-
tained that they had no knowl-
edge of him suffering from any
mental illness, and has accused
Chakraborty of administering
him an overdose of medicines.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Corporation’s (DMRC) technical
team and independent experts
to figure out what India’s largest
subway system is doing to
emerge from Covid.
A senior DMRC official said
theairinsidethecoachesisamix-
ture of 70-73% recycled air and
27-30% fresh air, pulled in from
outside,atanygivenpoint.Thera-
tioiscomparabletotheairinside
subway coaches in New York.
When the trains are running
with commuters, the air inside
the coaches constantly get
pulledinbytheHVAC(heat,ven-
tilation, air-conditioning), is
cooled, filtered, and then re-
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
CONSTRUCTION DOWN
Minus 23.9 per cent
50.3%, TRANSPORT 47%
GDP shrinks:
slowdown
plus Covid
plus effect
of lockdown
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
ALREADY in a slowdown before
the Covid pandemic, India’s
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
growth contracted 23.9 per cent
in the April-June quarter. This
alsomarkeditsentryintoareces-
sionary phase this year, data re-
leased by the National Statistical
Office (NSO) Monday showed.
Construction,manufacturing
and trade, hotels and transport
were the worst-hit sectors,
recording contractions of 50.3
per cent, 39.3 per cent and 47.0
per cent, respectively. This re-
A chapter ends: Pranabda,
gentleman for all seasons
COOMI KAPOOR
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
FORMERPRESIDENTandBharat
RatnaPranabMukherjeepassed
away Monday at the Army
ResearchandReferralHospitalin
New Delhi where he had under-
gone surgery earlier this month.
He was 84.
Probably no Indian politician
canmatchMukherjee’senviable
recordasalong-distancerunner.
He had a ringside view of Indian
politics for some five decades,
though in his four-part memoir,
he hid more secrets than he re-
vealed of his eventful life.
He was the Congress party’s
ManforAllSeasons,whoseserv-
ices were often required for cri-
sis management because of his
intimateknowledgeof bothgov-
ernment and the party.
Mukherjee’s career started as a
junior minister in the Indira
Gandhigovernmentinthe1970s
andendedwhenhedemittedof-
fice as President of India in 2017.
Before 2019 polls, BJP
flagged 44 ‘rival’ pages,
14 now off Facebook
KARISHMA MEHROTRA
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
IN THE run-up to the Lok Sabha
elections in January 2019, BJP
flaggedtoFacebookIndiaa listof
44 pages opposed to the party,
claiming they were “in violation
of expected standards” and car-
ried posts “not in line with facts.’
As of Monday, 14 are no
longer on the platform.
Pages flagged by the BJP that
are on the platform include the
official account of the Bhim
Army, satire site “We Hate BJP”,
unofficial Congress-supporting
pages, and a page called “The
leased back. Outside air sucked
in by the system is also released
simultaneously into the coaches
after passing through the same
cooling and filtration units.
Consequently,airinsideDelhi
Metrocoachesisfullyreplacedby
outside air every 2 minutes and
33 seconds. The same process
takes 3 minutes and 20 seconds
in New York City subway, which
since May 6 has shut down its
services daily between 1 am and
5amfordisinfectiondrives—the
first time in its history.
Infusionof freshairatafaster
rate is among the key measures
that public transporters like the
AGRICULTURE OUTLIER,
POSITIVE GROWTH AT 3.4%
QUARTERLY ESTIMATES OF GVA
INDUSTRY
Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Manufacturing
Construction
Trade, hotels, transport,
communication & services
related to broadcasting
Public administration,
defence & other services
Gross Value Added (GVA)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
*at Basic Prices in Q1 (April-June) of 2020-21 (at 2011-12 Prices)
flects the unprecedented sus-
pension of economic activity in
the first quarter of this fiscal due
to the pandemic and the series
of lockdowns that are only now
beginning to unwind.
The April-June quarterly
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
PRANAB MUKHERJEE
1935-2020
Truth of Gujarat” sharing mostly
Alt News fact checks.
Of the pages taken down are
sites in support of journalists
Ravish Kumar and Vinod Dua.
In November last year, the
BJP also asked Facebook India to
re-instate 17 deleted pages and
“monetise” two right-leaning
news websites — The Chaupal
and OpIndia. Monetising refers
to letting the pages receive ad
revenue for their content.
The 17 pages are all back on
the platform. Facebook told BJP
IT Cell head Amit Malviya that
the pages were taken down “er-
roneously”.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
A trial run on the Red Line through Ghaziabad on Monday.
Metro sevices will resume on September 7. Praveen Khanna
`6.00 (`8 PATNA & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
CHANGE OVER
PREVIOUS YEAR
April-June April-June
2019-20
3.0%
3.0%
2020-21
3.4%
-39.3%
5.2%
3.5%
-50.3%
-47.0%
7.7% -10.3%
4.8% -22.8%
5.2% -23.9%
ECONOMY
GST: MORE STATES
REJECT BORROWING
PROPOSAL
PAGE 15
Inthedecadesinbetween,he
held almost every important
ministerial portfolio at some
point. A five-time member of
Rajya Sabha and twice of Lok
Sabha, Mukherjee was the un-
challenged authority on parlia-
mentary procedure and laws.
But the one post which
eluded him was that of Prime
Minister, a position he believed
was his due. But twice his ambi-
tions were thwarted, just when
he assumed the post was within
grasp. In 1984 when Indira
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
HE WAS A MAN OF
GOVERNMENT
BY NEERJA CHOWDHURY
PAGE 8
MUKHERJEE, THE
FOREIGN MINISTER
PAGE 6
On? Off? On: JEE from today,
a scramble to reach centres
GARGI VERMA
RAIPUR, AUGUST 31
STUDENTSACROSSChhattisgarh
were on Monday scrambling to
get to centres for IIT-JEE Main, to
be held between Tuesday and
September 6, with transport
preparations made by the state
government at the last minute,
due to the uncertainty over
whether the exam would be
held, catching many unawares.
JEE(Main)isthefirstnational-
level entrance test to be held
amidst the pandemic. Around
8.58 lakh students are set to ap-
pear for it at 660 centres across
India over six days, in 12 shifts.
In Chhattisgarh, more than
New Delhi
EXOGENOUS SHOCK: CEA;
INFORMAL SECTOR HIT MOST
LAC chill, GDP fall,
Covid surge: storm
hits heated markets
SANDEEP SINGH
& GEORGE MATHEW
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
Afterbreachingthe40,000mark
for the first time in six months,
the benchmark Sensex Monday
crashed 1,382 points from the
day’s high to close at 38,628.29
as a fresh India-China flare-up
was reported in Ladakh and
worries grew over the contrac-
tion in India’s first quarter GDP.
Implementation of new margin
norms from September 1 got
added to this mix and led to a
sharp sell-off .
The Sensex fell 839 points or
2.13 per cent over Friday’s clos-
ing and Nifty at NSE fell 260
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Extent of damage
clearer, stage set
for second stimulus
AANCHAL MAGAZINE
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
WITH THE FIRST official esti-
mates of GDP data for April-June
revealing the extent of damage
the pandemic and the lockdown
have inflicted on the economy,
policy experts working closely
with the government suggest it
is time the finance ministry
quickly announced a second
round of fiscal stimulus targeted
at the poor.
The urgency also stems from
the RBI’s assessment that initial
greenshoots visible in May-June
had reversed in July and August,
and that it will take some for the
economy to mend and regain
momentum.
After announcing the Rs 20
lakhcroreAtmaNirbharpackage
inMay,FinanceMinistryofficials
had said they still did not have
enoughclarityonthestateof the
RinuJhadi,sisterPriya,on
waytoRaipurfromBijapur,a
distanceof 450km,invehicle
arrangedbygovt. Express
13,500studentsareregisteredto
take the exam, at three centres.
To many, this means travel up-
wardsof 400kmand16hoursto
DMRC can take to reassure com-
muters, Columbia University
ProfessorFayeMcneill,anexpert
in atmospheric chemistry and
aerosol, told The Indian Express.
“Ventilation systems should
be set to bring in maximum
freshair.Whererecirculationoc-
curs, a high-grade air filter capa-
ble of capturing small particles
should be used,” Mcneill said.
The US subway systems, for ex-
ample, use filters of standard
MERV 13 or better, MERV stand-
ing for minimum efficiency re-
porting value, with a higher
score meaning higher ability to
block particulate matter.
Correction
and caution
AS OF Friday, Sensex had
regained almost 85% of
its losses between Jan 17
(when it touched 41,945)
and March 23 (when it
fell to 25,981). The mar-
kets may see more cor-
rection in the short term
on account of GDP and
LAC concerns and ex-
perts advise caution.
economy. Bulk of the package
had then comprised monetary
stimulus through liquidity
measures, with just about 1 per
cent of GDP actual cash outgo by
the Centre. “We have to keep the
gunpowderdryandbeprepared
forthefuture,”afinanceministry
official had said then.
In fact, in an interview to The
Indian Express two days after an-
nouncing the fifth and final
tranche of the AtmaNirbhar
package, Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman had said, “I
havetobeready(goingahead)…
because no one knows how this
is going to turn out, how this is
going to end, how this is going to
withdraw. So obviously I have to
be ready, I can’t finish my story
with these announcements.”
Economists said the April-
June contraction was actually
worse than 23.9 per cent, with
theimpactof theinformalsector
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
get to the centres, as well as
arrangements to be made for
lodging, both difficult due to the
Covid restrictions.
The Supreme Court had ear-
lierrejectedpleasto not holdthe
exam,andstateshadbeenasked
to make arrangements for stu-
dents to get to centres. A review
petition filed by several opposi-
tion parties before the Supreme
Court to put off the exam is
pending and has not been listed
for hearing as yet.
While district administra-
tionsinChhattisgarhannounced
on Sunday arrangements it had
made for students, with several
alsoorganisingfoodandlodging,
many aspirants, especially those
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Metro officials said they are
planning to open fresh air
dampers, which are essentially
inlets to let air into the coaches,
by up to 50 to 60 per cent more
than usual. As a result, the interi-
ors of the coaches will have tem-
peraturesbetween24-30degrees
Celsiusandmayfeelwarmerthan
usual, an official said.
About the HVAC units, Metro
officialssaidthesehadtwotypes
of filters—freshairfiltersandre-
turn air filters, both made up of
wire mesh and fibre to trap par-
ticles.“Thecleaningfrequencyof
HVAC filters will be doubled.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
FROM PAGE ONE
Facebook
Thefounderof“TheChaupal”
Vikas Pandey told The Indian
Express that his site has not been
allowed monetization after
Facebook revoked its monetiza-
tion in March 2019. OpIndia did
not respond to queries.
All the 17 pages reinstated by
Facebook India on BJP’s request
currently share content almost
exclusively from Postcard News,
many in Kannada. None of these
pagesaredirectlylabeledascon-
nected to a political party.
One of the 17 pages took the
name of Postcard News founder
Mahesh V Hegde. Hegde was ar-
restedinBangaloreinMarch2018
onchargesofpromotingcommu-
nalenmityandoutragingreligious
sentimentsbyposting“fakenews”,
accordingtopoliceatthetime.
The Bangalore police then
conductedaninvestigationtosee
if Hegde had the backing of BJP
leaders. Hegde was represented
in court by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya.
Facebook had taken down
PostcardNewsofficialpageinJuly
2018. Hegde did not answer re-
quests for comment.
These requestscamethrough
emails between Malviya and
Facebook India Public Policy ex-
ecutives Ankhi Das and Shivnath
Thukral.DasandThukraldeclined
to comment.
InemailsfromFebruary2019,
Malviya referred to a meeting
whereFacebookIndiaandhehad
discussed“shielding”certainBJP-
leaning Facebook pages. Malviya
told The Indian Express that
Thukral had suggested this idea
in a January 2019 meeting to ad-
dress pages that the BJP thinks
have been “wrongly targeted”.
A Facebook spokesperson
said: “There is no term as shield-
ing. We have a process called
Cross-Checkwhichisasystemfor
reducing errors in enforcement
by ensuring content from some
Pages and profiles is given a sec-
ond layer of review to make sure
we've applied our policies cor-
rectly.Itdoesnotpreventenforce-
ment action if a violation of our
Community Standards is found.”
Malviya said: “There were
pages like I Support Narendra
Modiandotherlargepagesrunby
genuine volunteers who were
fearful they might get struck
down. We have in the past spo-
ken to Facebook and asked them
to do the right thing. They barely
even respond to us. We were
seeking a more transparent and
fair system. Clearly, they have
thought otherwise.”
When asked if public policy
hasaninputoncontentdecisions,
the Facebook spokesperson said
public policy has an input only if
the designated content policy
teamdecidestopullinotherteams
Malviyasentareminderofthe
pages to be "shielded" in
November,listingeightpagesthat
are some of the biggest BJP sup-
porting pages on the platform.
None of them is officially linked
to the party on the platform.
Theseinclude“TheChaupal”and
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“PMO India: Report Card”.
FacebookIndia’sPublicPolicy
Director Das, The Wall Street
Journalreported,hadobjectedto
applying hate speech rules to at
least four different pages or
groups linked to the BJP. The WSJ
has also published findings from
internal messages “detailing
(Das’s) support” for the BJP and
“disparaging its main rival.”
Minus 23.9%
growth, which is the lowest
growthratesinceIndiastartedre-
porting quarterly data in 1996,
hadonlyagricultureastheoutlier
— the only sector posting a posi-
tivegrowthamongtheeightsec-
tors at 3.4 per cent.
The April GDP print is also
worse that the 21.7 per cent con-
tractionreportedbytheUKecon-
omy in the June quarter -- the
sharpestGDPcontractionamong
thetop20globaleconomiessofar.
The GDP growth in nominal
terms recorded a contraction of
22.6 per cent in April-June as
against a growth of 8.1 per cent
last year.
Growth rate of Gross Value
Added (GVA), declined 22.8 per
cent in the first quarter of this fi-
nancialyearasagainst4.8percent
growth in the corresponding pe-
riod last year.
Chief Economic Adviser
Krishnamurthy Subramanian
saidthecontractioninGDPis“pri-
marily due to an exogenous
shock"thathasbeenfeltglobally.
HeattributedittotheCovidpan-
demic which has resulted in
global lockdowns and India was
in one in the firstquarter,he said.
JEE from today
living in the interiors, said word
got to them too late.
Bhumika Korsa's village
Pedakodepal,inJagdalpurdistrict,
is435kmfromhercentre,Raipur.
Ithasbeenraining,andshespent
the past few days worrying she
would not make it out of the vil-
lage. "Had it rained more, the ac-
cess road to our village would
havebeencutoff,"Bhumikasaid.
By thetime Bhumikaand her
father reached the Jagdalpur
District Collectorate, 15 km from
Pedakodepal, from where buses
weretoleave,onMonday,abatch
had already left. "I have taken a
drop year and I worried it would
allgowaste.Butmyfathersaidhe
would do anything to take me to
Raipur,"Bhumika,whoprepared
on her own for the JEE.
Her father Amit Korsa,a mid-
dle-school science teacher, said
they had been hoping the lock-
down would be over by the time
of the exam.
Finally,thedistrictadministra-
tion arranged a car at 2 pm on
Monday to take the father and
daughter to Raipur. "The car
needed some repairs, so we will
reachRaipurby4amonTuesday,"
Korsa said. The exam starts at 12
noon, and he hasn't figured yet
whattheywilldoforeighthours.
TheJagdalpurdistrictadmin-
istration, like several others, pre-
paredadatabaseofJEEapplicants
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
VIDEO OF THE DAY
with the help of schools and
coaching institutes.
Surajpur District Collector
Ranbir Sharma said they organ-
ised a mini-bus on Monday to
take fouraspirants and their par-
entstocentresinBilaspur,around
230 km away, and Raipur, more
than 350 km away.
A parent of one of the appli-
cants, from Bhaiyathan block,
whodidnotwanttobeidentified,
said they arrived at Surajpur on
Sunday night itself. "We didn't
have any information on when
thevehicleswouldleave,"hesaid,
addingthathehadhopedthatthe
exam would either be put off or
thelockdownrelaxed."Busesare
not functioning, hotels are not
opencompletely...Saalbarbaadho
higayahai,kyunpareekshalerahe
hain (Anyway the year is wasted,
whyaretheyholdingtheexam)?"
Rinu Jhadi of Bijapur, whose
centreinRaipurismorethan450
km from her home, however,
welcomed the decision to hold
theexam."Ifschoolsandcolleges
canhaveonlinelearning,whynot
IIT?" she said, on her way to the
statecapitalwitheldersisterPriya
andateacherinacararrangedby
the authorities.
One of 11 students who got
coaching for JEE under the
Chhattisgarh government's resi-
dential Choo Lo Aasman (Touch
the Sky) scheme, Rinu says she is
not worried about catching the
coronavirus."Sinceourteacheris
coming with us, I don't feel nerv-
ous yet."
Priyasaidtheymightnothave
been able to make it to Raipur if
the officials hadn't helped.
"Private vehicles asked for too
much money. Plus, the family
might not have let us travel."
InUttarPradeshandBihar,es-
pecially the flood-hit parts, stu-
dents expressed concern about
reaching their centres.
WITHENSINPUTSFROM
LUCKNOW,PATNA,BHOPAL
Sushant sister
In his statement to the
Mumbai Police immediately af-
ter his death, Rajput’s father K K
Singhsaidhissonwouldoftenfeel
low but he was not aware if he
was depressed.
On August 3, The Indian
Expresshadreportedthatdaysbe-
forehisdeath,RajputhadGoogled
his name and information about
mental illness.
“This does not contradict our
storyinanymanner,"thefamily's
lawyer, Vikas Singh, told The
IndianExpress."Thefamilydidnot
know he was having any psychi-
atric problems. Yes, he had in-
formed the family about anxiety
and his sister was doing some
self-medication.Sincetherewasa
lockdown, she got a prescription
from Delhi,” he said.
Dr Tarun Kumar did not re-
spond to multiple attempts to
contact him. Medical
Superintendent of RML Hospital
A K Rana said, “I am not seized of
thematter,soIcannotcomment.”
According to the chats be-
tween Rajput and Priyanka, she
asked the actor to take one drug
foraweekandthenstartanother.
PriyankaalsoaskedRajputtokeep
a particular drug “handy when-
everthereisananxietyattack”.
Theactorrespondedbysaying
thatnoonewouldgivethesemed-
icines without a prescription. To
this, Priyanka said, “Let me see if I
manage”, followed by a missed
voice call and message asking
Rajputtocallsothataprescription
couldbemadeavailabletohim.
A message fromPriyanka fol-
lowing this said, “My friend here
is a well-renowned doctor who
cangetyouconnectedtothebest
doctor in Mumbai all confiden-
tial... so don’t worry.”
Mostofthisconversationhap-
pened early on June 8, between
around 4.30 am and 5.30 am. At
around 7 am, Priyanka sent a
scannedcopyoftheRMLHospital
prescription followed by a mes-
sagethatsaidthatthoughthepre-
scriptionwasfromDelhi,itwould
not matter and he could say he
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
HOW JOURNEY IN A METRO WILL CHANGE WHAT OTHER NATIONS HAVE DONE?
Whilerestoringriders’confidencewillremainachallengeinthenearfuture,forsomecitieslikeDelhi,where
themetroisconsideredthecity’slifeline,theresumptionofservicesisalsocloselyknitwitheconomic
recovery
WHALE SHARK
WASHED ASHORE IN TN
Weighing about 7
tonnes, it washed up
at Valinokkam Beach
LAC chill, GDP fall, Covid surge
points or 2.23 per cent to close
at 11,387. The fall was across
the market — mid and small-
cap indices at BSE fell 3.8 per
cent and 4.4 per cent respec-
tively.
While concerns over the
market’s over-valuation have
been raised by various partici-
pants and even by RBI
Governor Shaktikanta Das,
many feel the markets were
waiting to correct and news
from the Line of Actual Control
was the trigger.
“Markets have been in
overvalued territory for some
Pranab Mukherjee, the Man for All Seasons, departs
Gandhi was assassinated,
Mukherjee felt that as the most
senior minister and by far the
mostqualified,hewastheobvi-
ouscandidateto takeherplace.
He did not comprehend that
Rajiv Gandhi, then a political
novicewhowasnotevenamin-
ister,wouldbehisparty’snatural
choice.In2004,aftertheUPAvic-
tory when Sonia Gandhi de-
clined to be Prime Minister,
Mukherjee again assumed that
he was the obvious candidate.
Instead, Sonia selected
Manmohan Singh, a man who
had once worked under
Mukherjee as RBI Governor
when he was Finance Minister.
Mukherjeewasatfirstreluc-
tanttoworkunderSingh,some-
one with scant political experi-
ence. But Sonia persuaded him,
and he acquiesced. Both Rajiv
and Sonia were always wary of
Mukherjee, even though it was
hewhowasindirectlyresponsi-
ble for installing Sonia as presi-
dent of the Congress. In 1998,
Sitaram Kesri, then Congress
president,refused tostepdown
gracefullyandthepartywasina
fix since its constitution was
silentonhowapresidentistobe
removed. The resourceful
Mukherjeezeroedinonaclause
which empowered the CWC to
resortto“appropriatesolutions,’’
subject to ratification by the
AICC. He took advantage of this
vagueclausetoappointSoniaas
president, even though Kesri
wasstillhangingontothepost.
Blessed with a phenomenal
memory and a razor-sharp
mind,Mukherjeewasashrewd
analyst of all things political.
Once at an Idea Exchange pro-
grammeofTheIndianExpress,he
stunnedhisaudiencebyrattling
off dates and victory margins of
diverse elections held several
decades earlier. Pritish Nandy,
editorofTheIllustratedWeeklyof
India, famously and mischie-
vously described him, “As the
Man who knew Too Much’’. It
was a headline which was the
last straw for Rajiv Gandhi, al-
ready suspicious of Mukherjee
fortellingthemediaintheafter-
mathof IndiraGandhi’sassassi-
nationin1984,thatdueconstitu-
had done online consultation.
While Chakraborty's lawyer
Satish Maneshinde was not avail-
able for comment, he told India
Today earlier that Rajput's family
wasawareofhismedicalcondition.
Delhi Metro
These will be disinfected us-
ing a 5 per cent bleach solution,”
the DMRC said in a written reply
to queries sent by The Indian
Express.
Inaccordancewithguidelines
prepared by the Union Ministry
of Housing and Urban Affairs,
Metro trains will also halt for
longer duration at terminal sta-
tions with their doors open to let
fresh air in.
Asked about the possible
build-up of pollutants in its un-
derground stations, the DMRC
said these were ‘open type’,
MOVIE REVIEW
time now and have been wait-
ing for some reason to correct.
I believe the China factor came
as a reason for the correction
and for investors to book prof-
its on Monday. Also, anxiety
has been there around GDP
numbers,” said CJ George, MD,
Geojit Financial Service.
Red-flaggingtheGDPnum-
bers that came after market
hours, George said: “This is not
the time to invest when the
market dips as investors need
to very careful. Investors
shouldlookforcompaniesthat
did well in Q1 and held on to
tional procedure would have to
befollowedbeforeanyonecould
besworninasPrimeMinister.
To Mukherjee’s shock, Rajiv
dropped him from the Cabinet
when he took over as Prime
Ministeralthoughhehadserved
thePM’smotherfaithfullyinsev-
eral key positions, including as
Leader of the House in Rajya
Sabha and Finance Minister.
Further humiliation was to fol-
low, and he was even removed
from the Congress Working
Committee. In April 1986,
shortly after The Illustrated
Weekly interview, Mukherjee
wasexpelledfromtheCongress
forsixyears.Hewentontoform
his own party, the Rashtriya
Samajwadi Congress (RSC),
which failed miserably in the
WestBengalassemblyelections.
In his memoirs, Mukherjee
confessed he believed that
Gandhi’s hostility toward him
wasfuelledbyArunNehruwho
spreadwordthathehadaspira-
tions to be made interim Prime
Minister following Indira
Gandhi’s death, which in all
probabilityhedid.
Asabruptlyashewasousted
from the party, Mukherjee was
mysteriouslyreinstatedin1988.
By then Arun Nehru, and V P
SinghhaddesertedtheCongress.
Even PV Narasimha Rao, a good
friendwhomMukherjeehadac-
tively supported as Congress
president,didnotinitiallyinduct
Mukherjee into his cabinet in
1991whenhebecamePM--he
wasappointedvicechairperson
of thePlanningCommissionin-
stead. Rao confided to
Mukherjee that he would tell
him the secret of his non-inclu-
sionsomeday,butheneverdid.
Whatever their past differ-
ences,asPrimeMinisterfortwo
terms, Manmohan Singh relied
heavilyonMukherjee,whohan-
dledmanyofhisresponsibilities.
It was Mukherjee who decided
the seating order of the minis-
ters in Parliament and presided
over some 95 GoMs (Group of
Ministers)andEGoMs.Thepre-
ponderance of GoMs was his
shrewd way of establishing an
effective decision-making
process by virtually bypassing
meaning the interiors of the sta-
tions got free flow of air from en-
tryandexitgatesandthetunnels.
“As a result, air at the station
platform and concourse (where
ticket counters are located) areas
get exchanged with outside air
everytimeatrainpullsin.Also,the
air conditioning systems are de-
signedinawaythatfansgetauto-
maticallyactivatedwhenCO2lev-
elsriseinastation,”theDMRCsaid.
Bhushan fined
practising in this Court for a pe-
riod of three years.
“In our considered view, the
actcommittedbythecontemnor
is a very serious one. He has at-
temptedtodenigratethereputa-
tionoftheinstitutionofadminis-
tration of justice of which he
himself is a part.”
Hoursafterhewassentenced,
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
MANIYARAYILE
ASHOKAN REVIEW
The half-baked plot
results in a wannabe
slice-of-life movie
theirbusinessesastheywilldo
reasonably well when the
economy revives”.
“The GDP number for the
first quarter at -23.90 per
cent, is a deep fall, the worst
ever, which is the direct con-
sequence of the pandemic
and the lockdown. A fall close
to -20 per cent was more or
less expected by a number of
market participants,” said
Joseph Thomas, Head of
Research, Emkay Wealth
Management.
Anotherfactorthatrecently
pushedupmarketswasthesig-
Cabinet meetings in a coalition
government subjected to pres-
suresindifferentdirections.
During Manmohan Singh’s
tenure,Mukherjeeheldatdiffer-
ent times the three top portfo-
lios -- Defence, External Affairs
andFinance--apartfrom being
LeaderoftheHouse.AsExternal
Affairs Minister, he oversaw the
signing of the US-India Civil
Nuclear Agreement with the
Bush government. Mukherjee
had also held the Finance port-
folio under both Indira Gandhi
andManmohanSingh.Tenyears
before economic liberalisation,
he encouraged NRIs to invest in
theIndianeconomy.Hewasalso
responsible for many tax re-
formsandintroducedameasure
of accountability. However, his
last years as Finance Minister
were marred by some contro-
versy. He even got his office de-
buggedbyaprivateagencysince
hesuspecteditwasbeingtapped
by a Cabinet colleague.
Whenever he held economic
portfolios, his name was fre-
quentlylinkedtoaprominentin-
dustrialhouse.
One of Mukherjee’s many
strengths was his ability to de-
velopcordialrelationswithlead-
ers across the spectrum. When
the Left opposed the Patents
Amendmentnegotiationsinthe
UPA, Mukherjee called on his
goodfriend,thelateCPMleader
Jyoti Basu, to convince his party
to support a diluted Bill. He ob-
served dryly, “An imperfect Bill
isbetterthannoBill.’’
The late Arun Jaitley named
Mukherjee as unquestionably
themanheadmiredmostinthe
Congressparty.Afterhestepped
down as President of India in
2017, Mukherjee took the con-
troversialstepofvisitingtheRSS
headquarters in Nagpur and
meeting its chief Mohan
Bhagwat.TheModigovernment
awarded him the Bharat Ratna
just a year ago. It was one of the
happiestmomentsofhislife,his
daughterSharmistharecalls.
He owed more to non-
Congressfriendsratherthanhis
own party for his election as
PresidentofIndia. SoniaGandhi
had reservations about
Bhushan told a press conference
thathewouldpaythefine,buthe
reservedhisrighttoseekareview
of the judgment holding him
guilty of contempt.
“Iproposetosubmitmyselfto
this order and will respectfully
pay the fine as I would have sub-
mitted to any other lawful pun-
ishment,” he said. “What is very
hearteningisthatthiscasehasbe-
come a watershed moment for
freedom of speech and seems to
haveencouragedmanypeopleto
stand up and speak out against
the injustices in our society,”
Bhushan said.
The judgment said that al-
though Bhushan was given
chancesto“expressregret”,hedid
notdoso.Bhushan'sconduct,the
courtsaid,“reflectsadamanceand
ego...andnoremorseisshownfor
the harm done to the institution
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Decoding India’s new
peak of COVID-19 cases
and reinfection
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
In today’s episode we’re looking at India
touching a global high with Covid-19 cases
and the impact of the discovery that people
can be reinfected by the virus
nificant foreign inflows —
around Rs 46,000 crore in
August,thebiggestmonthlyin-
flow in the calendaryear2020.
Another factor that market
participants say played a role
inMonday’sfallwastheimple-
mentationof newmarginrules
from September 1. According
to Sebi circular, brokerage
firms were required to square
upallopenpositionsonAugust
31, 2020 and from September
1 onwards, investors will only
be allowed to trade in themar-
ket with 20 per cent margin
money.
Mukherjeeasapresidentialcan-
didateeveninthe2007election
when the Left parties proposed
his name. She claimed his serv-
ices were invaluable to the
Congress.In2012,thereseemed
to be a general consensus over
his name, except for Sonia. The
BJP was ready to support him if
the Congress officially nomi-
nated him. But Mamata
Banerjee left her no option but
to announce his name after
Banerjeespokeoutvehemently
against his candidature. In fact,
the TMC leader secretly backed
herfellowBengaliandsentapri-
vate message to him, “Tell Dada
nottoworryaboutme.”
Mukherjee came from a
humble middle-class family of
undivided Bengal, unlike the
aristocratic bhadralog back-
grounds of most senior Bengali
leaders in the Congress at the
Centre. Mukherjee’sfatherwas
a freedom fighter, MLC and a
memberoftheCWC.Aftercom-
pleting his MA in Political
Science and obtaining a degree
in law, Mukherjee was a college
lecturer for a short while. He
caughtIndiraGandhi’sattention
whenheactedasapollingagent
forKrishnaMenonwhowonthe
Midnaporeby-electionasanin-
dependentin1969.MrsGandhi
brought him to Delhi and made
himaRajyaSabhaMP.Shortlyaf-
terwards, he became a deputy
minister.
During the Emergency, he
was close to Sanjay Gandhi and
was later indicted by the Shah
Commissionforexercisingextra
constitutionalpowers.Imethim
for the first time during the
Emergency.Althoughawarethat
my husband was a MISA pris-
oner,hewascourteousasever.
A criticism that rankled
Mukherjee was that his detrac-
tors described him as a pipe-
smokingarmchairpoliticianbe-
cause of his long years in the
Upper House. Late in life, he
proved he could also be a grass-
roots politician by winning the
Lok Sabha elections from
Jangipur in 2004. He was re-
electedfromtheconstituencyin
2009, an achievement that he
wasveryproudof.
to which he belongs.
“However, by showing mag-
nanimity,insteadofimposingany
severe puishment, we are sen-
tencing the contemnor with a
nominal fine of Re.1/- (Rupee
one),” the Bench ruled.
Thecourtrejectedtheattempt
by Bhushan “to justify” himself
“on the basis of the Press
Conference dated 12.01.2018 of
thefoursenior-mostJudgesofthis
Court”.Thejudgmentalsodisap-
proved of the unprecedented
pressconferenceitself.“Wehope
it was the first and the last occa-
sion that the Judges have gone to
press,” Monday's judgment said.
New flashpoint
itssideoftheLAContheinterven-
ingnightofSaturdayandSunday
onthesouthbankofPangongTso,
afterISR(intelligence,surveillance
andreconnaissance)reportssug-
gested a PLA move to occupy the
sameareas.Theseheightsarealso
claimed by the Chinese, as lying
on their side of the LAC.
Indian troops, sources said,
have positioned themselves at a
more advantageous location to
prevent Chinese troops from
coming in. The area, east of
Thakung base, has always been
under Indian control and is west
of the Indian perception of the
LAC, the sources said.
The area has seen few trans-
gressionsbyPLAtroopsevenear-
lier, primarily because the area is
heavilydefendedbyIndiantroops
deployedatpostsclosetotheLAC.
This is unlike the northern bank
where the contentious area was
not occupied by the Indian side
but was only patrolled. Sources
saidanewattemptbytheChinese
to push towards Finger 3 has also
beenrepulsedbytheIndianArmy.
TheLAConthesouthbank,ac-
cordingtoIndia,passesthrougha
place called LAC Point, which is
backed by a company operating
base at Thakung, slightly to the
west of LAC Point. The Chinese
contendthatLACpassesafurther
8 km to the west, mirroring the
northern bank of Pangong Tso.
Meanwhile, China’s state-
controlled broadcaster CGTN
quoted Senior Colonel Zhang
Shuili, spokesman for the PLA
WesternTheatreCommand,say-
ing the Indian Army crossed the
LAC.Zhangcalledit“aprovocative
move that violated the previous
consensus” and urgedthe Indian
side to withdraw its forces.
InBeijing,respondingtoques-
tions, Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Zhao Lijian said
Chinese border troops have al-
waysstrictlyobservedtheLACand
have never crossed the line. The
bordertroopsofthetwocountries,
hesaid,havebeenincommunica-
tionoverterritoryissues.
The area of the new standoff
is near Black Top, a ridge on the
south bank of Pangong Tso. It is
approximately 25 km east of
Chushul.
Sources said more than 200
PLA troops are massed on the
Black Top heights. Black Top is a
Chineseobservationpost,andfor
PLAtroopstogatherthereinsuch
numbers is unprecedented,
sources said. There are intelli-
genceinputsoftanksandartillery
guns also near Black Top.
Sources in the Army said that
in the “early part of Saturday
night, Army noticed some activ-
ity on China side” and saw they
were“movingabodyoftroopsat-
tempting to change the status
quo, deploying troops in a previ-
ously undeployed area”. The
Armyrespondedbysending“ad-
equateforces”and“pre-empted”
the Chinese troops “to foreclose
any option” to “change the facts
on the ground”.
Second stimulus
not getting fully captured into the
headline number. Including the
impact of the informal sector, es-
peciallyinmanufacturing,theGDP
growth is estimated to have con-
tracted by over 30 per cent in the
quarter,formerChiefStatisticianof
IndiaPronabSensaid.
Itisthissectorwhichhasfaced
the brunt of the lockdown, with
huge job losses. The lack of data
from the unorganised sector in
manufacturing and services has
meantthatdatacollatedfromthe
organised segment of the Indian
industryhasbeenextrapolatedto
covertheinformalsector.Inreal-
ity, the informal sector is much
worse off.
“Given today’s numbers, in-
corporating the informal sector,
my estimate is that GDP number
wouldbe(-)30percent.Wehave
noideawhathashappenedtothe
informalsector,especiallymanu-
facturing.Thisistotallyformalbe-
causeweareusingeithertheSEBI
dataforcorporatesalongwiththe
IIPwhichisalsofortheformalsec-
tor,” Sen told The Indian Express.
FULLREPORTSON
www.indianexpress.com
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 3

New Delhi

4 THE CITY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
Work on the Chandni Chowk redevelopment project is set to be completed in November. A 400-metre stretch is almost ready. Pics: Praveen Khanna
Hit by coronavirus and lockdown, Chandni Chowk
hopes a new look and feel will revive its fortunes
SOMYA LAKHANI
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
"CHAMAK JAAYEGA Chandni
Chowk," said 52-year-old Bobby
Yadav, a flour mill owner at
Maliwara market on a slow
weekday in the neighbourhood.
While the lanes of Kucha
Mahajani, Dariba Kalan and
Paranthewali Gali are almost
empty, the hustle-bustle is out-
side, on the main road, where a
1.3 km-long stretch from
Fatehpuri Masjid to the Red Fort
is being redeveloped.
Work on the ambitious
Chandni Chowk redevelopment
project started in 2018, after hit-
ting several road bumps since
2004, and is set to be completed
by November this year — a delay
BRIEFLY
Parkingrow:
18-year-old
shotintheleg
New Delhi: A parking row
in South Delhi's
Chhattarpur area took an
ugly turn Sunday night
when an 18-year-old boy
was allegedly shot in the
legs by two men he had
an argument with. DCP
(South) Atul Kumar
Thakur said, "Prabhpreet
Singh has two bullet in-
juries in his right leg. As
per his statement, he
was eating snacks with
two friends when he
asked the accused to
move their car as it was
improperly parked. On
hearing this, the accused
got angry and one of
them shot Singh. A case
has been registered and
accused Chetan (22) has
been apprehended."
Vegetable
sellerfound
dead
Gurgaon: A 38-year-old
vegetable vendor was
found dead on his cart
near Pataudi Chowk
Monday, with police sus-
pecting he was beaten to
death with
stone.Accordingtopolice,
a to social media messages give to her daughter, held
the victim has been iden-
tified as Vaidyanath Jha,
who hailed from Bihar
and used to sell tea and
vegetables near Pataudi
Chowk. “A stone covered
with blood was found
near the spot, because of
which it is suspected that
the victim was beaten to
death with it,” said
Subhash Boken, Gurgaon
Police PRO. ENS
Gangster
arrested
New Delhi: Delhi Police
has arrested an alleged
shooter of Nasir gang of
the trans-Yamuna area,
officers said on Monday.
Police identified the ac-
cused as Imran (35), a
resident of Gautam Vihar
in New Usmanpur. He
was arrested from
Kashmere Gate based on
a tip-off. PTI
of eightmonthsduetoCovidand
the lockdown. Apart from the
"Mughal aesthetic" that can be
seen in the red sandstone bol-
lards, planters and the benches,
the big draw is that the stretch
will be a car-free zone.
Itisthisaspectthatremainsa
bone of contention and a talking
point in Chandni Chowk. Babli
Singhal (50), who runs a lace
store in Paranthewali Gali, said,
"Apart frombridesandwedding
parties, my major clients are
women who run boutiques in
South Delhi, Gurgaon and
Manesar. The moment they
heard this will be a car-free
stretch,theyseemedreluctantto
come,andpreferredgoingtoan-
other market or getting their or-
der couriered. The pace of work
isalsoslow,andsinceeverything
Day after wife
died of ‘snake
bite’, man held
for murder
Gurgaon: A day after a man
claimed that his pregnant wife
died of an “insect or snake bite”,
police have arrested him after
the postmortem revealed that
she had been strangled to death.
According to police, the ac-
cused, Roshan, who worked as a
gardener, hails from Bihar and
was currently living on rent in
Gurgaon’sNathupurvillagewith
his wife, Nikki, who was seven
months pregnant.
“On Saturday, he contacted
Gurgaon Police claiming that his
wife was bitten by an insect or a
snake, and died... The body was
sent for postmortem,” said SI
Singh, the Investigating Officer
(IO) of the case.
The postmortem, conducted
on Sunday, however, revealed
that the woman had been stran-
gled to death. Her father,
Parmanand, then submitted a
complaint against Roshan and
an FIR was lodged.
“Theaccusedwasarrestedon
Sunday itself and will be pro-
ducedincourtTuesday.Thecou-
ple had been marriedfor around
a year,” said the IO. ENS
Assembly panel links riots Woman steals toddler to
SOURAVROYBARMAN
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
DELHIAssembly'scommitteeon
peaceandharmonyMondaysaid
that "prima facie" it appears
Facebook"playedarole"inaggra-
vating the Northeast Delhi riots,
andannounceditsdecisiontoex-
amine the role of WhatsApp in
the spread of violence.
Committee chairperson
Raghav Chadha based his asser-
tion on depositions made by
Chhattisgarh-based journalist
AweshTiwariwhohaslodgedan
FIR against Facebook India's pol-
icy head Ankhi Das, and inde-
pendentjournalistsKunalPurohit
and Subhash Gatade. Facebook
officials did not respond to email
and texts seeking a comment.
“The committee through its
chairman Raghav Chadha has
primafaciefoundFacebookcom-
plicit in Delhi riots of February
2020 on the premise of incrimi-
natory material produced on
recordbythewitnessesaswellas
theirscathingdepositionsbefore
is dug up, we have lost clients.
We were hoping that by March,
the area would be ready, but
then a delay happened due to
the virus."
But next door, 22-year-old
Abhishek Sharma, who now
manages the iconic Sharma
Bhojanalya which was opened
by his grandfather around 60
years ago, said the project will
“benefit the market and the
older generation will have to
make some changes”. "We live
in Kinari Bazaar nearby and
work in Paranthewali Gali.
Chandni Chowk has been home
to us for generations, and I am
glad to see these changes... The
air will be cleaner, the road will
have no traffic, no constant
headache of honking cars."
So far, 70 percent of work on
Discord within as BJP chooses
district, mandal presidents
ABHINAVRAJPUT
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
THE DELHI BJP has finalised the
names of 14 district presidents
and 250 mandal presidents who
willbepartofanewteamthatwill
contest municipal polls in 2022
and help expand and strengthen
the party in the capital.
Sources said that while most
MPsmanagedtogetdistrictpres-
idents of their choice appointed,
former Delhi BJP chief Manoj
TiwariandRameshBidhuriaren’t
tooupbeatwithonedistrictpres-
ident each in their constituency
of Navin Shahdara and South
Delhi respectively. There are two
district presidents in each of the
sevenparliamentaryconstituen-
cies,andtheyformthebackbone
oftheparty’soutreachefforts,act-
ing as the main representatives
next in line to the MP.
Some party workers from
SouthDelhigatheredoutsidethe
stateofficeinPantMargMonday
to raise their concerns. “Some of
them threatened to resign, de-
mandingnewfunctionaries,”said
a senior leader.
Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta
Raghav Chadha
the Committee, and thus decid-
ing to summon the Facebook of-
ficialsinitsnextmeetinginorder
toexaminethemonoathandde-
termine on their culpability," an
official statement said.
The committee, formed on
March 2, said it had taken up the
case after receiving "multiple
complaints" against the social
media giant, days after The Wall
StreetJournalpublishedastoryon
the company's India unit.
Atapressconference,Chadha
demanded that Facebook be
treated as a co-accused in the ri-
ots.OnsummoningFacebookex-
ecutives,hesaidthatwillbedone
"for the sake of natural justice".
0-50 Good
the stretch, which includes fix-
ing water lines and putting
wires underground by Delhi Jal
Board and BSES, has been com-
pleted. Apart from this, 95 per-
cent of work in the first 400 me-
tres, till Gurdwara Sis Ganj
Sahib, has been completed.
Nitin Panigrahi, nodal officer of
the Chandni Chowk
Redevelopment Plan, said, "The
project is coming along as
planned. The underground
work by the Delhi Jal Board and
BSES has been completed.
Surface work is yet to be com-
pleted. There will be four toilets
and two police booths too. There
will be an integrated traffic
management plan and entry
will be restricted from roads
such as Lal Kuan to ensure traf-
fic does not enter from the rear."
Gupta met party workers
from South Delhi, Monday
said, “I have assured them that
their concerns will be looked
into... When undertaking such a
large exercise, there can be some
concerns here and there. But the
importantthingisthatmostpeo-
ple are happy with the exercise.”
MPs Harsh Vardhan,
MeenakshiLekhi,HansRajHans,
Gautam Gambhir and Parvesh
SahibSingh’schoiceshaveeither
been accommodated or they
have got district presidents with
whom they have no issues.
The choice of district presi-
dentcanemergeasaboneofcon-
tention between MPs and the
state organisation, with each of
thesevenwantingpeopleoftheir
choice to get the post.
Theselectionofsomemandal
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
A 58-YEAR-OLD woman was ar-
rested on Monday for allegedly
stealing a 25-day-old baby boy
from a woman sleeping on the
pavement, in North Delhi’s
Lahori Gate.
Police said she planned to
give the baby to her childless
daughter.
"On Monday, a 25-year-old
woman lodged a missing report
for her 25-day-old son. She told
policethatshewassleepingwith
her two sons, a five-year-old and
the victim, at the footpath near
Gole Hatti, Khari Baoli, on
Sunday when the incident hap-
pened. She said she could not
find her younger son when she
woke up around 4 am. She tried
to search for him, but could not
find the infant,” a senior police
officer said.
Thereafter, she came to the
Lahori Gate police station and
lodged a complaint
Police analysed the CCTV
ANAND VIHAR
Moderate
106
AQI
0 Pollutant: CO 500
51-100 Satisfactory
In the afternoon, rickshaws
and carts were parked next to
the bollards, and a group of
"kaan maeliye" or ear cleaners
awaited business. "This project
is good for our business too. The
moment Chandni Chowk be-
comes a proper tourist spot, it
willattractmoreforeigners,who
are ourmainclients. Localsdon't
care for kaan maeliye... What we
do is exotic only for non-
Indians," said Salim Khan (33),
one of the ear-cleaners, as oth-
ers joked about having the ma-
jesticRedFortinthebackground
while cleaning ears.
Thirty-year-old Kamran, a
businessanalystwholivesinGali
Chowkidar Wali, said that the
area being turned into a car-free
zonefortouristscouldspelltrou-
ble for residents. “Now I have to
presidents has also left a section
disappointed. In the first list of
250mandal(ward)presidents,80
percent are new faces, as part of
the ongoing organisational re-
structuring in the party.
There are 280 ward units of
the BJP in Delhi. Sources said
some Sikh leaders are unhappy
as just three Sikhs have been
picked at the mandal level, and
none at the district level. BJP na-
tional secretary R P Singh, how-
ever,said,“Theteam'sexpansion
isstillawaitedandwearehopeful
more Sikh faces will be included
in the state team and further ex-
pansion of mandal team, espe-
ciallyinseatslikeTilakNagar,Hari
Nagar, Vishnu Garden, Jangpura,
Shahdara.”
Party leaders, including for-
merandcurrentwardpresidents,
councilors,legislators,parliamen-
tarians and state office bearers,
wereconsultedwhilemakingthe
selection,theBJPhadsaidearlier.
The BJP’s central leadership
hasappointeditsnationalgeneral
secretary Arun Singh and Mahila
MorchapresidentVijayaRahatkar
asobserversfororganisationalre-
structuring of the Delhi unit,
which is headed by Gupta.
The woman was asleep
on the pavement with
her two sons when the
accused lifted the child,
said police
footageof theareaandidentified
the woman stealing the baby.
Police said the accused
woman, who is 58, runs a stall in
Khari Baoli area.
She was arrested and the
missing infant found, the officer
added.
"Shehastwomarrieddaugh-
ters. One of her daughters, 23, is
marriedtoamaninAgra,UP,and
has no children after her mar-
riage. The accused saw that for
the last two days, the victim's
mother was staying on a nearby
footpath with her two boys. She
also noticed that one was newly
born. So she planned to steal the
child," the officer said.
She kidnapped the infant
around 3 am on Monday.
SIRIFORT
Good
49
AQI
PM: 10
0 500
101-200 Moderate
take a very long route to get out
of old Delhi. What if there is an
emergency?"
The stretch will be car free
from 9 am to 9 pm, after which
cars, trucks and other vehicles
that help with loading and off-
loading will be allowed. Said
Priyank Sharma (24) of Ram
Vilas Milk Merchants, a milk
shop set up in 1943 at Kucha
Mahajani: "For years, we have
had free parking outside the gali
but now we pay Rs 200 per day
for parking at the Old Delhi rail-
way station, and we don't mind
it. This is our city, we have to al-
low it to breathe. We are a bit
hassled, butif this can end traffic
on the stretch, I don't mind the
sacrifice.”
(With inputs from
Ashna Butani)
Data costly,
parents seek
more WiFi
hotspots for
e-classes
ASHNABUTANI
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
AS ONLINE classes continue in
government schools, students
and their parents are struggling
tosetasideenoughmoneytopay
for internet on their phones.
At Trilokpuri, in East Delhi,
residentsrecentlyheldameeting
with area MLA Rohit Mehraulia,
askinghimtoprovidemoreWiFi
hotspots in the area to ensure
childrendonothavetosufferdue
to a lack of internet connectivity.
Last year, the Delhi govern-
mentlauncheditsmuchawaited
WiFi scheme at public places.
According to officials, out of
nearly 10,000 places identified,
hotspots are functional at 7,000
places. MLA Mehraulia also said
that work to set up hotspots in
Trilokpuri is underway. “A few
have been installed already and
soon there will be one on nearly
every street,” he said.
But Afsana (30) and her three
children do not have connectiv-
ity near their home in Trilokpuri.
“Rechargingthephoneeveryfew
days is a big burden for us. My
husband,arickshawdriver,earns
aroundRs4,000amonth.Twoof
my children are in Class V and XI.
We heard that WiFi would be in-
stalled in the area… if that hap-
pens,thechildrencanstudywith-
out interruptions,” she said. She
recharges her phone for Rs 250
per month.
Similarly Pradeep Kumar,
School Management
Committee member of
Premchand Rajkiya Sarvodaya
Bal Vidyalaya, said, "Teachers of-
ten send worksheets and videos.
I have managed to recharge the
phone but around 50 percent
students do not have internet
connectivity. If there is a WiFi
hotspot in the area, parents can
go to the spot and download the
necessary study material.”
Udit Prakash Rai, Director
(Education),saidtheywereplan-
ning to roll out classes on televi-
sion. “We are doing our bit to en-
surethatstudentsdonotmissout
on classes. We have informed
schools to send worksheets and
notlongvideossothatdatausage
is minimised. We are also in the
process of rolling out classes on
cable TV, which has a high pene-
tration,” he said.
New Delhi
SHADIPUR
Good
47
AQI
Pollutant: CO 500
0 0
201-300 Poor 301-400 Very Poor
‘DRAGON NOT YET SLAYED’
Court seeks
new testing
strategy for
Covid in Delhi
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
THE DELHI High Court on
MondayaskedtheDelhi govern-
menttore-strategiseitspolicyfor
testing Covid-19 patients in the
nationalcapitaltoaccommodate
asymptomatic patients in wake
oftheincreasingnumberofcases,
after the ICMR said that it is only
an advisory body and the states
arefreetomakechangesaccord-
ing to their own testing capacity.
The order was passed by a
bench of Justices Hima Kohli and
Subramonium Prasad, who or-
dered,"Whiledrawingupafresh
guideline,Delhigovernmentshall
examineastowhethertheneces-
sity of obtaining a prescription
from a private doctor for under-
goingtheRT-PCRshouldbemade
mandatory/optional or done
away with."
"You (Delhi government)
thought you had slayed the
dragon(Covid-19).However,this
dragon has several heads, which
is making life miserable for peo-
ple. Cases are rising in the city
every day,” the court said.
The court was told that the
tally of tests conducted revealed
that while testing through the
RAT (Rapid Antigen Testing)
mode has increased incremen-
tally, testing through RT-PCR has
been stagnating between 5,000
to 6,000 per day on an average.
In other words, though the
combinedtestingcapacityof pri-
vate and public laboratories in
Delhi through the RT-PCR mode
is 14,000, the actual testing
through RT-PCR including CB-
NAATandTrueNatisvirtuallyhalf
of that, the court said.
The court enquired from Dr
CORONAVIRUS IN THE CAPITAL
TOTAL CASES
HOSPITAL BEDS 14,138 9,948
1,74,748 VENTILATORS 1,216 741
Daily cases Recoveries
Aug 30 2,024
Aug 31 1,358
Total 14,626*
More kits being
procured to ramp
up testing: Jain
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
DELHI HEALTH Minister
Satyendar Jain said that the gov-
ernment was continuing “ag-
gressive testing” as the state
recorded 1,358 new Covid-19
cases Monday, taking the total
tally to 1,74,748. The death toll
reached 4,444 with the capital
reporting 18 more deaths in the
last 24 hours.
Delhi also saw 1,507 recov-
eries in 24 hours, taking the to-
tal number of people who have
recovered from the virus in the
capital to 1,55,678. The positiv-
ity rate in Delhi is about 9%
while the growth rate stands at
around 1%.
On the directions of Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal,
the district officials have been
asked to ramp up the testing in
the city to reach the target of
40,000 tests per day. However,
the number of tests conducted
on Monday was 14,389, much
lower than the average 20,000
done per day.
“We have sufficient stock of
Covid-19 testing kits for 10-15
days, but we are procuring
more from the market to meet
the target of 40,000 tests per
day. The 300 health facilities in
Delhi are already testing a large
number of people. We don't
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
DWARKA- SECTOR 8
Good
43
AQI
Pollutant: CO 500
401-500 Severe
NiveditaGupta,Scientist-F,ICMR,
whyICMRshouldnotconsideris-
suing a fresh advisory for Delhi,
particularlywhenthereisahuge
increase in Covid-19 cases on a
daily basis from August 21 on-
wards. Gupta submitted, “ICMR
onlyissuesnationwideadvisories
and is in the process of re-strate-
gisingtocomeupwithafreshad-
visory,butthatdoesnotpreclude
any state from declaring their
own set of guidelines depending
on its capacity of testing and the
numberofCovid-19casesemerg-
ing in the said state."
Gupta also gave the example
ofPunjab,wherethegovernment
haspermittedtestingthroughRT-
PCR without obtaining any pre-
scription from a doctor.
She also stated that
Maharashtra, looking at its own
needs, has tweaked the advisory
tocomeupwiththeirownguide-
lines, the court said.
Dr Nutan Mundeja, DGHS,
GNCTDwasaskedwhythe"Delhi
government has not decided to
open up RT-PCR testing through
privatelaboratories,aslongasthe
publicexchequerisnotburdened
anditdoesnotcreateascarcityof
testing."
Mundeja submitted that "in
view of the rise in the number of
Covid-19 cases and the submis-
sion made on behalf of the ICMR
today, Delhi government will re-
strategise its plans of testing, not
only through RAT, but also
through the RT-PCR mode."
Advocate Satyakam, the
Additional Standing Counsel for
Delhigovernment,toldthecourt
the Delhi government is “con-
scious of the fact that the testing
capacity has to be ramped up,
particularly in containment
zones, which have risen to 820."
Total Vacant
Deaths Tests
1,249 22 20,437
1,507 18 14,389
1,55,678 4,444 15,83,485
*Total active cases
Jain said that the govt is
continuing ‘aggressive
testing’ in the state. Archive
want to leave any case,” Jain said
on Monday.
From Tuesday, the state gov-
ernment will start the third
round of serological surveil-
lance in Delhi in which about
17,000 people will be tested to
check the prevalence of novel
coronavirus in the general pub-
lic.
Jain said that many people
were going out without wear-
ing masks and added that
teams had been deployed to pe-
nalise such violators of public
safety norms, including impos-
ing fines.
He said that the doubling
rate of coronavirus cases in
Delhi was 85 days, which he
said was at a “comfortable
level”.

5 THE CITY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
Sero finding: Not all
who recovered from
Covid had antibodies
SOURAV ROY BARMAN
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
THE NATIONAL Centre for
Disease Control (NCDC) did not
findantibodiesinthebloodof 97
out of 208 people who had pre-
viously tested Covid positive
duringitsJulyserosurvey,afind-
ing the organisation said indi-
cates that immune response
generated by the virus may be
"transient in nature".
The NCDC, which comes un-
der the Union Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare, also ob-
served in its sero-survey report
that immune response among
Delhi’spopulationmaybe“short
lived”asthecityhasalargefloat-
ing population from places such
as Noida, Gurgaon and
Ghaziabad.
It also recommended sero-
surveysinallthemajorNCRcities
and towns, which have not been
carriedoutsofar.Thereport,pre-
pared on July 21, has been sub-
mitted to the Delhi High Court in
connection with the ongoing
hearing on testing in Delhi.
TheDelhigovernment,which
had written to NCDC on August
27foracopyofthereport,alsore-
ceived it Monday during the
hearing,DelhiDirectorGeneralof
Applications to DU’s UG
courses jump by a lakh
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
WITH3,53,717applicationsforits
undergraduate courses, Delhi
Universityhasseenajumpinthe
numberofapplicationsbyalmost
a lakh this admission season.
Last year, the university had
received 2.58 lakh applications
for its undergraduate courses.
Monday was the last day for ap-
plying to the university for the
academic year 2020-2021, after
the deadline had been extended
from July 31 by a month.
While the number of appli-
cations has seen a jump, unlike
last year, more number of boys
than girls have applied this time.
While 1.81 lakh applicants are
boys,1.72lakharegirls.Lastyear,
the number of girls was margin-
ally higher at 1.29 lakh, as op-
posed to 1.28 lakh boys.
Around 60% of the applicants
arefromoutsideDelhi.At1,42,526,
those from Delhi make up 40.2%
Health Services Nutan Mundeja
told the court.
Among the major highlights
of thereportistheNCDC’sobser-
vationsonsero-positivity,orpres-
ence of antibodies, among those
whopreviouslytestedCovidpos-
itive.TheJulyroundofthesurvey,
whichcovered21,387people,had
thrown up a sero-positivity rate
of 22.83%.
Among those surveyed, 208
peoplesaidtheywerepreviously
tested positive through the RT-
PCR method. “And only 111 of
208, i.e 53.37%, were found to be
seropositive and 97 study sub-
jectswhoweretestedpositiveby
RT-PCR were seronegative. The
caveatofthisfindingcorroborates
withthecurrentscientificknowl-
edge that the immune response
generatedbySARSCoV2isprob-
ablytransientinnatureandneeds
tobefurtherinvestigatedthrough
prospective cohort studies,” says
the NCDC report.
Thesecondroundofsero-sur-
veyinDelhiinAugustwascarried
outbytheMaulanaAzadMedical
College. Having covered 15,000
people, it found 29% people had
antibodies, which the Delhi gov-
ernment had said indicates that
60lakhoutof thecity’stwocrore
population have developed im-
munity to the virus.
BIG LEAP
UG APPLICATIONS
MALE
FEMALE
OTHER
Total
TOP 5 STATES
Delhi
Uttar Pradesh
Haryana
Bihar
Rajasthan
80% applications from CBSE students
of the applicants. There has been
a surge in the number of applica-
tions from Haryana state board –
from last year’s 8,195 to 12,272 –
and CISCE – from 8,398 to 11,521.
Likeallyearsthough,80%oftheap-
plicantsarefromCBSE.
After a long controversy on
whether the university would
TheNCDC,however,saidinits
report that the correlation with
sero-prevalence and natural im-
munity acquired after infection
by SARS CoV 2 needs to be “care-
fully speculated in view of mea-
gre scientific evidence available
for immune response generated
by this novel virus”.
“There is no conclusive evi-
denceregardingdurationofsero-
positivityandalsothelevelofpro-
tection being rendered by the
sero-prevalence of antibodies.
Furtheritispertinenttomen-
tionthatasDelhihasalargefloat-
ingpopulationfromneighboring
districtsof UPandHaryana,even
ifsubstantialpopulationhasgen-
erated immune response, which
maybeonlyshortlived,thereisa
constantthreatofriseincasesand
hence Covid fatalities,” it said.
The July sero-survey also
found a marginally higher sero-
positivity (24.40%) among BPL
category people as compared to
non-BPL category (20.45%). “The
studyalsorevealedapositivecor-
relation with overcrowding as
sero-positivity was higher in the
subjectslivinginovercrowdedat-
mosphere (over 3 persons per
room) at 23.5% vs 19.8% in sub-
jects not living in overcrowding.
The difference was statistically
significant,” the NCDC said.
2019 2020
1,28,634 1,81,484
1,29,753 1,71,780
1 6
2,58,388 3,53,717
APPLICATIONS
1,42,526
66,657
50,701
21,151
14,485
conductECAadmissionsthisyear,
itfinallyopenedupapplicationsin
the various ECA categories in
August. There has been a signifi-
cant drop in the number of appli-
cations in various categories —
from2,031lastyearto1,282inde-
bate, from 1,704 to 1,090 in quiz,
andfrom1,626to709infinearts.
Schools charging additional fee, education
dept intervenes: ‘A violation, inhumane’
SUKRITA BARUAH
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
IN A strongly worded order, the
education department has di-
rected that no private school can
chargefeesunderanyheadother
than‘tuition’untiltheyphysically
open,andthatanyschoolthathas
been collecting other charges in
the last few months must refund
oradjustcollectionimmediately.
The department’s position
had been expressed in the Delhi
HighCourt,afterwhichthecourt
stayed the collection of annual
anddevelopmentchargesforthe
month of April by a private
school in South Delhi.
Intheearlydaysofthenation-
widelockdown,theDelhigovern-
menthadissuedanorderstating,
“Nofee,excepttuitionfee,willbe
charged from parents during the
lockdownperiod.”Thiswastobe
collected on a monthly basis as
opposedtoinlumpsumssuchas
onaquarterlyorannualbasis.The
order had gone on to state:
“Annual and development
charges can be charged from the
parents, on a pro-rata basis, only
onamonthlybasisaftercomple-
tion of lockdown period.”
Sharjeel Imam custody
extended by 3 days
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
A DELHI court on Monday ex-
tended by three days the police
custody of JNU student Sharjeel
Imam, arrested under the strin-
gent Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act, in a case re-
lated to communal violence in
Northeast Delhi in February.
Imam was arrested by the
Special Cell of Delhi Police on
August 25 for allegedly being
partof a“premeditatedconspir-
acy” in connection with the ri-
ots during protests against the
Citizenship Amendment Act.
Additional Sessions Judge
Amitabh Rawat granted the po-
lice remand for an effective and
properinvestigation. “Theinves-
tigation in the present case of
conspiracy for Delhi riots is con-
tinuing. The custodial interroga-
tion has been sought of the ac-
Several schools across the city had begun charging annual
and development charges on a pro-rata basis. Archive
While ‘unlockdown’ has been
taking place in a phased manner,
several schools across the city be-
ganchargingannualanddevelop-
ment charges on a pro-rata basis
starting July. The education de-
partment stated that it has been
receiving complaints about this
“not only from parents of the stu-
dentsbutalsofromothercorners”.
Coming down heavily on
schools,thedepartment,initsor-
der to heads and managers of all
recognisedprivateschools,stated,
“… such act of the schools is not
only in the clear violation of the
Sharjeel Imam
cused for confronting the mate-
rial that has come during the in-
vestigation... In order to have an
effective and proper investiga-
tion,Ideemitfittoallowthepres-
entapplicationforseekingpolice
custody remand... However, it is
granted for three days and not
seven days," the judge said.
Special Public Prosecutor
Amit Prasad, appearing for the
state, told the court that certain
questions were asked to Imam
buthedidnotsupporttheprobe.
above said directions… but also
an inhumane act on their part
keeping in view the prevailing
Covid pandemic conditions and
longclosureofschools.Theatten-
tion in this regard is invited that
theseschoolsarerunbytrustand
charitablesocieties,hence,asper
theirMemorandumofArticle,are
supposedalwaystokeepinmind
thecharityandprovidingof edu-
cationtothestudentswithoutin-
dulging in profiteering.”
It also stated that the order it
has issued in April with regard to
fee collection continues to stand
New Delhi
because“unlockingstageisstillgo-
ingoninaphasedmanner,hence
complete lockdown is yet to be
overandschoolsareyettobeopen
forphysicalclassroomlearning”.
The new order states that no
amountotherthantuitionfeeand
no increased tuition fee can be
chargedbyanyschool,andthatif
any school which has charged
fees under any other head, “the
same shall be refunded or ad-
justed immediately”.
The principal of a West Delhi
private school which had begun
collecting annual fees on a pro-
ratabasisfromJulyinadditionto
tuitionfeessaidthatschoolscan-
not cover all their costs with just
tuition fees, and staff members
will be affected the most.
“Our tuition fees have not
been increased for the past five
years because of the govern-
ment’s restrictions and we don’t
have any contingency funds left.
Wedon’tjusthaveteachersalaries
totakecareof—wealsohaveelec-
tricity and maintenance charges,
installments for our vehicles,
taxes. There are huge costs to be
met, and unfortunately, the only
way schools can adjust is by re-
ducing — or further reducing —
teachers’ pay,” she said.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Parents write
to Sisodia
over fee
New Delhi: Parents of stu-
dents from Delhi Public
School, RK Puram and its
two junior branches had
writtentotheeducationde-
partment and education
minister Manish Sisodia,
complaining about the col-
lection of fees under heads
other than ‘tuition’ in the
month of August. In an
email, which was signed by
135 parents, the com-
plainantsclaimedtheschool
fee for August was 47%
higher than that being col-
lected since April. A parent
ofaClassXIstudentsaidthat
whileshehadbeencharged
the tuition fee of Rs 9,100
from April to July, the fee
rose to Rs 13,414 in August.
Theschool’spublic rela-
tions officer stated that she
was not aware of any in-
crease in fee. ENS

6 GOVT & POLITICS
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
Politician, diplomat, a range in between
Asked why he did not become PM,
he once said: ‘My fate was decided
the day Bengal was partitioned’
SHUBHAJIT ROY
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
IT WAS May 2008. Pranab
Mukherjee, then External Affairs
Minister, was in Islamabad for a
bilateral meeting with the new
Pakistan government, the first
high-level meeting after Benazir
Bhutto was assassinated and
Pervez Musharraf ousted.
HemetPakistanPresidentAsif
AliZardari,PMYousafRazaGilani,
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi and former President
Musharraf. As one of the journal-
ists covering the meeting in Isla-
mabad,thisreporter—alongwith
afewothers—wenttoIndianHigh
Commissioner Satyabrata Pal’s
residencetomeetMukherjeeand
getasenseof theconversationhe
hadwithPakistan’sleaders.
But, before he shared his as-
sessment of the meeting, he was
onthetelephonewithNewDelhi
on an issue bothering him: the
West Bengal panchayat election,
for which counting of votes was
under way. We now know that
the2008panchayatelectioninhis
home state was the pivotal elec-
tion signalling the beginning of
the end of the Left Front rule and
MamataBanerjee’s TMC’s march
tovictory.Banerjeewon19outof
42 seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha
elections, before dislodging the
Left in the 2011 Assembly polls.
ThatwasMukherjee,thequin-
tessentialpoliticianwhoknewthe
importance of events and tasks,
and could carry them out effort-
lessly.HewastheUPA’spointper-
sonof allthingsimportant—gov-
ernance and politics, but my
interaction with him was prima-
rily during his days as External
Affairs Minister. He was key to al-
most every important decision in
theUPAregime,especiallyonfor-
eign policy matters. This was un-
derlinedbythenNSAShivshankar
Menon in his book Choices: Inside
theMakingofIndia’sForeignPolicy:
“In India since Nehru’s time, for-
eign policy has always been di-
rectlymanagedbytheprimemin-
ister, strong external affairs
ministers, such as Pranab
Mukherjee,aretheexception.”
Menon should know.
Mukherjeewasattheforefront
ofthenegotiationsoftheIndo-US
nuclear deal between 2005 and
2008. “Showing infinite patience
and mastery of detail, Mukherjee
never allowed the talks to break
down, even though the Left par-
tiesweredeterminedtoscuttlethe
deal, or at least to drag out the pr-
ocessinthehopeof ensuringthat
itneverreachedfruitionorentered
DELHI JAL BOARD: GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (C) DR.XI
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With PM Narendra Modi. PTI
intolegalforce,”Menonwrote.
Mukherjee’s other important
foreign policy moment was after
the26/11attacksinMumbai. The
External Affairs Minister was at
theforefrontofIndia’sdiplomatic
blitzkrieg against Pakistan over
thenextfewmonths,andshaped
theIndiangovernment’sresponse
to globally shame Islamabad.
Mukherjee’s personal diplo-
matic capital with Bangladesh is
nosecret.Legendhasitthathehad
personally looked after Sheikh
HasinawhenshelivedinIndiaaf-
ter Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was
assassinated in 1975. The Hasina
family was close to him, and suc-
cessive governments used his of-
ficestostrengthentieswithDhaka.
Many have wondered how a
politician of his calibre felt as he
wasbypassedforthePrimeMini-
ster’sjob.Oncethisreportergotan
answer in a gossip session be-
tweenhimandsome“Bengali”jo-
urnalists.DuringanaddaatMuk-
herjee’sresidenceonaslownews
day, we were all trying to get a
story out of him. But he was in no
moodtoindulge.Suddenly,oneof
the journalists asked: “Pranab
babu, you have worked at the top
levelforsomanydecades,andbe-
en a step away from the PM’s job.
What’s the problem? Why don’t
yougetit?”Therewasahushedsi-
lence.Aftersometime,Mukherjee
justsaid,“Myfatewasdecidedthe
dayBengalwaspartitioned.”
This reporter didn’t catch on
immediately. Later, I was explai-
ned that he meant that an undi-
vided Bengal would have had
morethan100seatsinParliament
becauseofitspopulation,making
it the largest sender of MPs and
givingithugeswayinIndianpoli-
tics — the way UP has today with
80 seats. With Bengal’s partition,
the chances of a leader from
Bengal becoming PM had gone,
andsowashis,hefelt.
One wouldn’t know.
FULL REPORT ON
www.indianexpress.com
NIT No: 02/(2020-21)
(PRESS TENDER)
Estimated
Cost
Date of release of tender on e-
procurement system
Tender ID
2020_DJB_194005_1
PRANAB MUKHERJEE 1935-2020
(Clockwise from above) In a moment of leisure; with BJP veteran L K Advani at an At Home reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2013; with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
LEADERS PAY TRIBUTE
Sadtohearthatformer
PresidentShriPranab
Mukherjeeisnomore...
Thenationmournslosing
oneof itsworthiestsons...
RAMNATHKOVIND,
PRESIDENT
Thecountryhaslost
anelderstatesman
inhisdeath...
MVENKAIAHNAIDU,
VICE-PRESIDENT
Indiagrievesthepassing
awayof BharatRatnaShri
PranabMukherjee.Hehas
leftanindeliblemarkonthe
developmenttrajectoryof
ournation.Ascholarpar
excellence,atowering
statesman,hewasadmired
acrossthepolitical
spectrumandbyall
sectionsof society
NARENDRAMODI
PRIME MINISTER
Pranabdahadbeensuchan
integralandprominentpart
of nationallife,Congress
partyandthecentral
governmentforoverfive
decades.Itishardto
imaginehowwecando
Last Date/Time for
receipt of tender through
e-procurement system
25.09.2020 upto 15:00
hours
Sd/-
EE (C) DR. XI
withouthiswisdom,
experience,sageadviceand
deepunderstandingof so
manysubjects.
SONIAGANDHI
CONGRESS PRESIDENT
Ijointhecountryinpaying
homagetohim.Mydeepest
condolencestothe
bereavedfamilyandfriends
RAHULGANDHI
CONGRESS LEADER
PranabDa’slifewillalways
becherishedforhis
impeccableserviceand
indeliblecontributionto
ourmotherland...
AMITSHAH
UNION HOME MINISTER
Anerahasended.For
decadeshewasafather
figure.Frommyfirstwinas
MP,tobeingmysenior
Cabinetcolleague,tohis
becomingPresidentwhileI
wasCM...Somany
memories.AvisittoDelhi
withoutPranabdais
unimaginable...
MAMATABANERJEE
WEST BENGAL CHIEF MINISTER
Assam govt
firm on NRC
re-verification
demand
ABHISHEK SAHA
GUWAHATI, AUGUST 31
THE ASSAM government on
Mondaysaidthatitstickstoitsde-
mandof10-20%re-verificationof
names included in the final
NationalRegisterofCitizens(NRC)
publishedlastyear,evenasitcon-
tinueditscriticismofformerNRC
coordinator Prateek Hajela.
The remarks by minister and
governmentspokespersonChan-
draMohanPatowaryintheAsse-
mbly,whosefour-daysessionbe-
gan Monday, came exactly a year
after the publication of the NRC.
Around19lakhapplicantswe-
releftoutofNRC.TheNRCprocess
hashitastonewallastherejection
orders to the excluded persons —
which will allow them to appeal
against the exclusion in the For-
eigners’ Tribunals — are yet to be
issued.Officialshavecitedthe pa-
ndemicasareasonforthedelay.
“We had given an affidavit in
theSupremeCourtsayingthatth-
ereshouldbere-verificationof20%
included names in the districts
bordering Bangladesh and 10% in
therestof thedistricts,”Patowary
toldtheAssembly.“Weneedare-
verification because people of
AssamwantacorrectNRC.”
FULL REPORT ON
www.indianexpress.com
As Finance Minister, he saw India
through 2008 global financial crisis
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
FORMER PRESIDENT Pranab
Mukherjee’s eventful tenure as
Finance Minister was dotted by
navigatingtheIndianeconomyin
theaftermathof theglobalfinan-
cial crisis through massive doses
offiscalstimulusandintroduction
of “retrospective” tax laws that
faced intense criticism.
During the span of his career
intheCongressandUPAregimes,
Mukherjee handled several im-
portanteconomicportfoliosoffi-
nance, commerce, shipping and
industries ministries.
The introduction of General
Anti-AvoidanceRuleswereaimed
at curbing deals that were struc-
turedtoavoidpaymentoftaxesin
India.Buttheretrospectiveamen-
dmentofthisdirecttaxlawandits
otherprovisionsinvitedtheback-
lash of foreign investment frater-
nity. This was mainly to prevent
multinational companies getting
intooffshoresharetransactionsto
domestic assets without paying
capital gains tax in India, particu-
larly Vodafone Group Plc’s acqui-
sition of Hutchison Whampoa
Adhir urges Speaker to rethink
whether Parliamentary panels
can take up sub-judice matters
MANOJ C G
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
DAYS AFTER Lok Sabha Speaker
Om Birla asked chairpersons of
Standing Committees to not take
up any matter that is sub-judice
orrelatedtonationalsecurity,and
to ensure confidentiality of pro-
ceedings, Chairman of the Public
Accounts Committee (PAC) and
leader of the Congress in Lok
Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
met him on Monday and urged
himtorethinkthematterandlay
down clear guidelines.
Chowdhury told The Indian
Express that it is just convention
that sub-judice matters are not
discussedatlengthinParliament.
“It is neither in the Act nor in the
rules. If we are to decide that is-
sueswhicharesub-judicewillnot
bediscussed,thentherewillbeno
need for Parliament or the
Standing Committees.”
“Because everyday scores of
PublicInterestLitigationsarefiled
in High Courts and Supreme
Courts against some issue or the
other. Once a PIL is admitted, it
means the matter has become
sub-judice. If we pay attention to
that… and say Standing Comm-
ittees should not take up these
matters… then Parliament too
cannot discuss…then anybody
S Paul/ Express Archive
Duringhiscareer,he handled
severalimportanteconomic
portfolios. Express Archive
Ltd’sIndiantelecomassets.
The economy was on a roller
coasterafterthecollapseofglobal
investment bank Lehman Broth-
ers in September 2008, bringing
a major financial crisis across the
globeandengulfingtheIndianfi-
nancialsectoraswell.Mukherjee,
Adhir
Ranjan
Chowdhury
can file a PIL and subvert our
whole system,” he said.
“Forinstance,ifIortheopposi-
tion parties want to raise an issue
whichisuncomfortabletothegov-
ernment… the government can
arrange for somebody to file a
PIL…Thematterhasbecomesub-
judice.Moreover,thegovernment
isoneofthebiggestlitigantsinour
country…if we take this sub-ju-
dice convention very seriously…
thenwewillnotbeabletodiscuss
anythinginParliament,”hesaid.
Hesaidthequestionofdiscus-
sions influencing courts does not
ariseinthecaseofStandingCom-
mittees. “The meetings of the
Standing Committees are confi-
dential. Remember, none of the
StandingCommitteescouldmeet
virtually during the lockdown…
it was said virtual meetings may
violate confidentiality norms… I
feel we should look at this issue
afresh,” he said.
Chowdhury also handed over
alettertotheSpeaker,outlininghis
views.Intheletter,heappreciated
New Delhi
who stepped in in January 2009
tosteeraneconomyrecuperating
from such a crisis, administered
multiple doses of fiscal stimulus,
whichhelpedinboostinggrowth
in the short-term but also led to
deteriorationinthefiscalposition
of the central government.
EvenasMukherjeeisnomore,
this debate of fiscal expansion to
support the economy is still alive
intheaftermathofCovid-19pan-
demic, which has led to a major
contraction in the economy and
threatens to unravel weak busi-
nesses across the board.
The Union Budget for
2008–09,presentedaheadof the
collapseof LehmanBrothers,had
penciledinafiscaldeficitof2.5per
cent. However, in the following
year’sbudget,thefiscaldeficitbal-
looned to as high as 6 per cent of
GDP. Many economists argued
thatthisstokedinflationandcon-
tainedgovernment’sspendingca-
pacity and fiscal arithmetic for
many years — resulting in Indian
economybeinglabelledasafrag-
ile economy on the brink of a rat-
ings downgrade to a junk status.
WhileIndiacouldavoidajunksta-
tus, growth started to taper off.
In 2010, a crisis erupted in the
the Speaker for “very rightly” em-
phasising the need to ensure that
“rulesandthewelllaiddownproc-
eduresareadheredtointhematter
of selecting and examining sub-
jectsbytheCommittees”.Heassu-
red the Speaker that “every effort
wouldbemadetoensurethatthe
Parliamentaryethosthathasevol-
vedovertheyearswillcontinueto
beupheldinthefunctioningofthe
PublicAccountsCommittee”.
“Nevertheless, I would also
liketodrawyourkindattentionto
the likely drawbacks of preclud-
ing the Committees from taking
upsubjectsonaccountofmatters
relatedtherewithbeing‘pending’
in Courts. I do notfeel the needto
placebeforeyouthefactthatthere
may be numerous as well as di-
verse issues, inclusive of policy
matters and schemes that are of
concern to specific sections of
people,regionsetc,andtherefore,
rightfullydeservetobeexamined
and reported upon...,” he wrote.
“Iwould,therefore,urgeupon
to have a re-think on the matter
and lay down clear guidelines on
theissue,whichwouldcontribute
to the overall interestof the func-
tioning of Parliament and its
Committees; and serve the pur-
pose of effectively ventilating in
Parliament, matters that are of
concern and are in the interest of
the people at large,” he added.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Renuka Puri
PTI
regulatory architecture of Unit
LinkedInsurancePlans(ULIPs)—a
hybridproductthatofferedlifein-
surancecoveralongwithbenefits
of investment in mutual funds.
When Securities and Exchange
BoardofIndia(SEBI)barredprivate
insurance companies not to sell
anyULIPproducts,aninter-regula-
torycrisiseruptedamongSEBIand
Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (now IR-
DAI).ULIPwasaproductfavoured
by the industry as it comprised
nearly30-40percentcommission
income for agents during initial
yearsofthepolicy,andcomprised
nearly70percentofnewbusiness
premiumincomeforcompanies.
Mukherjee saw thisas a tactic
ofregulatoryofficialsandbureau-
crats to bypass him. To put at rest
the turf war, he got an Ordinance
issued, which decided that ULIPs
willberegulatedbytheinsurance
regulator, even as he formed a
high-level coordination commit-
teeofregulators,chairedbythefi-
nance minister, to resolve future
disputes.ToassuageReserveBank
of India’s concerns over the
Ordinance diluting some of its
powers, RBI Governor was made
ViceChairmanof theCommittee.
States can
set quota for
govt doctors
in PG, says SC
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
STATESCANprovidereservationto
servinggovernmentdoctorsinad-
missionstopost-graduatemedical
courses, the Supreme Court ruled
on Monday. A five-judge Cons-
titutionBenchsaidstatesmaypro-
vide for such a quota after requir-
ing candidates to serve in rural,
tribal,orhillyareasforfiveyears.
The detailed order was
awaited until press time.
The Bench headed by Justice
ArunMishraaddedthattheMedi-
cal Council of India (MCI) regula-
tions which barred such reserva-
tionwerediscriminatory,arbitrary,
and unconstitutional. The Bench
saidMCIisacreature ofTheIndian
MedicalCouncilAct,1956,andhas
nopowertomakeanyreservations
for in-service candidates seeking
admissiontoPGdegreecourses.
Thecourtwasansweringaref-
erencemadetoitbyathree-judge
BenchonapleabytheTamilNadu
Medical Officers’ Association and
others challenging Regulations
9(4) and (8) of the Post Graduate
Medical Education Regulations,
2000, as framed by the MCI. They
contendedthatgivingsuchreser-
vation benefits will encourage
thoseworkingingovernmenthos-
pitals and in rural areas.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
Military moves raise fears
DELHI CONFIDENTIAL
of escalation along LAC
SUSHANT SINGH
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
AN UNUSUALLY sharp exchange
between India and China on
Monday, going by the irreconcil-
ablestatementsissuedbythetwo
armies, has led to fears of a mili-
tary escalation on the Line of
Actual Control (LAC) in case the
situation is not resolved quickly
ALL AGGRO through bilateral talks at a politi-
cal and diplomatic level.
FormerGovernorTathagataRoy,whoevenwhileinofficerarely Thesestatementsfollowedthe
pulled punches on social media when it came to his politics, moves by the two armies on the
tweeted against the Mamata Banerjee government in West southern bank of Pangong Tso.
BengalonMonday.Thistime,alongwithattackingBanerjee,Roy Unlike the northern bank of
also brought up poll strategist Prashant Kishor, referring to the Pangong Tso, where the Indian
latter as the “Bihari brain”. Tweeting in Bangla, Roy stated that Army only carries out patrolling,
Kishor’s “Bihari brain of a bull” will not work, and called him a thesouthernbankisstronglyheld
“Bihari from Arrah district” and a “Rs 450-crore Bihari”. by Indian troops very close to the
LAC. China’s PLA is fully aware of
the Indian deployment and has
notattemptedanytransgressions,
MOURNING A FRIEND even though it believes the LAC
lies 8 km west of Indian posts.
BANGLADESH HAS had a special relationship with former The attempted ingress by the
PresidentPranabMukherjee.AshepassedawayonMonday,the PLAtooccupydominatingheights
Bangladesh government declared a one-day national mourn- in this area, which was thwarted
ingonWednesday—September2.TheBangladeshnationalflag by Indian troops in a peremptory
willbeflownhalf-mastthatday.Thereareplansforahigh-level move,isaclearindicationthatthe
participation from Bangladesh as well, especially since PLA is trying to change the status
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina had a personal rapport with quo in all areas up to its percep-
Mukherjee. tion of the LAC. If this trend con-
tinues,thePLAislikelytoattempt
NO TABOO. PERIOD
similar moves in places like
Demchok and Chumar. With the
situation already on a tinderbox,
WHENPRIMEMinisterNarendraModimadeareferencetothe any misapprehension or misun-
topicofmenstruation,hedrewapplausefortouchinguponwhat
is still considered a taboo subject in the country. But it has
promptedsomelawmakerstotakesomeaction.BJPRajyaSabha
MPRakeshSinhahasrecentlywrittentothePrimeMinister,stat- Pence reiterates support for ‘free, open Indo-Pacific’
ing that he has decided to send 6,000 sanitary napkins to the
twovillageswhichhehasadopted:Kongthong(Meghalaya)and SHUBHAJIT ROY
Begusarai(Bihar),wherealargepopulationisfromtheeconom- NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
icallyweakersectionof thesociety.InKerala,CongressMPHibi
Edensaidhehasinstalledsanitarynapkindispensersandincin- USVICEPresidentMikePenceon
erators in 150 government schools in Ernakulam constituency. Monday reiterated his country's
support to India for a “free and
open Indo-Pacific” while Deputy
Monsoon Session to begin from Sept 14 SecretaryofStateStephenBiegun
said an “in-person” ministerial
New Delhi: TheMonsoonSession the Lok Sabha to meet at New meeting of the Quad grouping
of Parliament will begin on Delhi on Monday, the 14th wouldbeheldinNewDelhiinthe
September 14, a notification is- September, 2020...” said the noti- coming weeks.
sued by President Ram Nath fication. This will be the 4th ses- Theircommentscameatavir-
KovidsaidMonday.“Inexerciseof sion of the 17th Lok Sabha. The tualsessionorganisedbyUS-India
thepowersconferreduponmeby previous one was the Budget Strategic Partnership Forum, a
clause (1) of article 85 of the Sessionwasadjournedsinedieon thinktank,whereExternalAffairs
Constitution, I hereby summon March 23. ENS MinisterSJaishankarsaidIndiais
A view of the Pangong area. Express File
derstandingcanleadtoaquickes-
calation between the two sides.
Asthelatestroundoftensions
involve a new area on the LAC —
away from the friction points of
last17weeks—italsosaysthatthe
wholedisputedborderinLadakh
is open for any military moves
now. This expansion of the
frontage of tensions, with both
sides constantly trying to gain an
upper hand in areas manned
heavilybytroopsofbotharmies,is
inherently unstable. In such a
charged environment, with a
heavy deployment of troops on
bothsides,suchanunstablestruc-
ture is a recipe for a massive mili-
taryescalation.Thestatementsis-
sued by the two armies did not
agreeevenonthedateofincident,
leavealonethenatureof theinci-
dent on the LAC. This points to a
completebreakdownof trustbe-
tweenthetwosides,whereevery
Mike Pence
very “cognizant of the rise of
China”,andthatitis“veryimpor-
tant” that India and China reach
some kind of “understanding or
equilibrium between them”.
During the session, Pence de-
scribed US President Donald
Trump and Prime Minister
NarendraModias“largerthanlife
figures”. TheUS“willcontinueto
stand firm with allies such as
India… (will) take all steps with
single move will be viewed with
suspicionandcaneasilyleadtoan
over-reaction.Initsstatement,the
IndianArmysaidPLAhad“carried
out provocative military move-
mentstochangethestatusquo”.It
statedthatwhileitis“committed
to maintaining peace and tran-
quilitythroughdialogue,(it)isalso
equally determined to protect its
territorialintegrity”.Thisisinline
with CDS General Bipin Rawat’s
view stated last week that “mili-
tary options to deal with trans-
gressions bythe Chinese Armyin
Ladakh are on but it will be exer-
cised only if talks at the military
and the diplomatic level fail”.
PeopleinIndiaarealreadyan-
gry with China over its moves in
Ladakh, and Monday’s exchange
is bound to further inflame pub-
lic opinion against China.
After alleging that “this move
by the Indian side seriously vio-
ouralliestoensureafreeandopen
Indo-Pacific,” he said.
TheQuadgroupingcomprises
US, India, Japan and Australia. A
Quad Foreign ministers’ meeting
had taken place in New York on
the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly in September 2019.
Deputy secretary Biegun un-
derlined that the Quad grouping
is one of democracies, of Pacific
powers, of countries integrated
into regional frameworks and of
countriesthathavecooperatedon
Covid-19, supply chain resiliency
and countering Chinese disinfor-
mation.IthashelpedIndiafindits
place in the Indo-Pacific, he said.
GOVT & POLITICS 7
lated China’s territorial sover-
eignty and severely undermined
thepeaceandstabilityoftheSino-
Indianborderarea,”thePLAstate-
ment said it is “taking necessary
countermeasures, (and) will pay
close attention to developments
and resolutely safeguard China’s
territorial sovereignty and peace
and stability in border areas”.
The mood in China is no bet-
ter.About70percentrespondents
in a recent survey conducted by
the ‘Global Times’and China
Institutes of Contemporary
International Relations (CICIR)
had advocated that the Chinese
government should be tough in
fighting back against India’s
provocations.Thesurveyreported
89.1 per cent respondents sup-
ported military retaliation, with
50.4 per cent of them “strongly
supporting” self-defence and
counterattacks.
If these statements and the
public mood is confrontational,
reportsfromMonday’sflagmeet-
ing at Chushul between the two
brigade commanders suggest a
‘stormy’interactionwhichwould
not have helped matters.
While the Chinese side in-
sistedthatIndiantroopsmoveout
of the heights they had occupied
onthesouthernbankof Pangong
Tso, the Indians refused, arguing
that the Chinese would occupy
those areas in case they were va-
cated now.
“Our strategy is to push back
against China in virtually every
domain,” he said, citing Galwan
Valley,theSouthPacific, US-China
traderelationship,amongothers.
Jaishankar said, “We are an
immediateneighbourofChina.So
obviously, if you are a neighbour,
youareverydirectlyimpactedby
the rise of… a potential global
power...So,if youhavetwocoun-
tries,twosocieties—abillionpeo-
ple each — with the history and
culturetheyhave.It’sveryimpor-
tant they reach some kind of un-
derstanding or equilibrium...”
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
New Delhi
Poll panel passes
majority order on
KC (Mani) symbol,
Lavasa dissents
RITIKA CHOPRA
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
THE ELECTION Commission (EC)
onMondaypassedamajorityor-
der awarding the disputed ‘two
leaves’symbolofKeralaCongress
(Mani)tothefactionledbyJoseK
Mani, son of party founder K M
Mani. Outgoing Commissioner
Ashok Lavasa, however, wrote a
dissenting order stating that nei-
ther of the two factions can be
recognisedasKC(M)untilfreshaf-
fidavits of support are called in.
KC(M)splitintotwogroupsaf-
ter the death of party patriarch
K M Mani last year. One faction is
led by Jose K Mani, who is also a
RajyaSabhaMP,whiletheotheris
led by PJ Joseph, who was work-
ing chairman of the party at the
time of KR Mani's demise.
CEC Sunil Arora and his col-
leagueSushilChandrawereofthe
opinion that Jose K Mani enjoys
majoritysupportinthelegislative
and organisational wings of the
party.Thisdecisionwasbasedon
the verification of affidavits filed
by 305 State Committee
Members who were common
among the list of supporters pro-
vided by both factions.
Lavasa—whohadresignedas
ECearlierthismonthandMonday
was his last day in office — dis-
agreed and was of the opinion
thatthetestofthemajorityshould
be applied after calling for fresh
affidavits of support from both
SC: Accused can’t be acquitted just
because informant is probing NDPS case
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
on Monday ruled that an ac-
cused under the Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotic Substances
(NDPS) Act cannot be acquitted
for the mere reason that the in-
vestigating officer is also the in-
formant in the case.
A five-judge Constitution
bench headed by Justice Arun
Mishrasaidtherecannotbeagen-
Ashok
Lavasa
factions.
"On verification of these affi-
davits, it was observed that the
languageusedintheaffidavits(by
both factions) to claim the so-
called 'support’ was neither con-
sistent nor conclusive to deter-
mine the unequivocal support
supposedly extended. Besides,
repetition of names, non-disclo-
sure of full names, it was found
thatfivemembershadsubmitted
affidavits of support for both the
factions.Therefore,theverybasis
of determining the ‘majority’ ap-
pearsmuddledanddifficulttorely
upon," Lavasa said in his order.
Arora and Chandra were not
in favour of calling for fresh affi-
davitsonthegroundthatthenext
Assembly election is less than a
yearawayandcallingforfreshaf-
fidavitsofsupportcoulddelaythe
EC's decision.
“Moreover, allowing another
chancetofilefreshaffidavitsmay
also give both the factions an op-
portunitytoengageinhorse-trad-
ing which may not lead to a fair
outcome,” the majority order
states.
Lavasaarguedthattheissueof
horse-trading is speculative.
LavasaresignedasECtojoinas
vice-president at Asian
Development Bank in Manila.
eral proposition of law that the
trial will be vitiated and the ac-
cusedentitledtobailineverycase
wheretheinformantisalsothein-
vestigator.
The bench, also comprising
Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet
Saran, M R Shah and Ravindra
Bhat, said the “question of bias”
willhingeonthefactsandcircum-
stances of each case. ENS
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

WORDLY WISE
All political parties die at last of swallowing
their own lies. — JOHN ARBUTHNOT

FOUNDED BY
Bharat ratna
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
PranabMukherjeewasamanof government, whosaw
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
consensusasthewaytoadministerIndia

MEASURING PAIN Neerja Chowdhury

GDP figures confirm the sharp contraction of the economy, and HISNAMECARRIEDthecorrectinitials--“PM” would force British telecom operator headed innumerable GOMs and EGOMs.
the arduous challenge of recovery that lies ahead -- for the top job but the office of Prime Vodafone to pay Rs 23,000 crore as tax and When Singh did not know how to handle

T
MinistereludedPranabMukherjeeallhislife.
HE INDIAN ECONOMY contracted by a staggering 23.9 per cent in the first India’s13thRashtrapati,a“BharatRatna”who
strodethepoliticalstageforhalfacentury,was
quarter of the current financial year — a period when economic activities
numbertwoinIndiraGandhi’sCabinetinthe
were largely curtailed due to the imposition of a national lockdown to deal early Eighties. A quarter of a century later, he
withthespreadof the COVID-19pandemic.Withtheexceptionof agriculture remainednumbertwoinManmohanSingh’s
and allied activities, value added by all other sectors in the economy witnessed a con- Cabinet.
traction, underlining how grim the scenario is. Excluding the farm sector, the rest of the ThefirsttimeIwenttoseehim—hewould
economy contracted even more severely by almost 27 per cent. This is also the first time see scribes in that side room at 13 Talkatora
Road,wherehelivedforover15years—Iwas
the Indian economy has contracted since the government began releasing the quarterly
strucktoseeapictureofKautilyaandacopyof
growthestimatesin1996-97.However,astheseestimatestendto relylargely onthelisted the Arthashastra in his room. It was his
corporate sector data, and don’t accurately capture the state of the informal economy, favourite book and he would refer to it often.
they may well be underestimating the true extent of the shock. Subsequent revisions of When you went in to see him, you knew in-
the data may well provide a more accurate assessment of the economic pain stemming stinctivelynottositdowntillhehadaskedyou
from the COVID-19 pandemic. todoso.Severaljournalistswouldkeepstand-
The agriculture and allied activities sector was the only bright spot in the first quarter. ing, if he was poring over a file. “Were you a
bureaucrat in your last birth?” he teased one
The sector, which was excluded from the lockdown restrictions, grew by 3.4 per cent on
of them.
the back of a healthy rabi harvest. A good monsoon, coupled with healthy sowing of the But Pranabda was a stickler for protocol.
kharif crop suggests that it may well continue to grow at a relatively healthy pace. But the He did not like it when an editor remarked
manufacturing sector collapsed by 39.3 per cent, while construction activities fell by a that there was no ashtray on his table. He
staggering50.3percent.Ontheservicesside,sectorssuchasaviationandhospitalityfared ticked off a leading TV anchor, on camera, for
badly,withthetrade,hotels,transportandcommunicationsectordecliningby47percent. asking questions in a raised voice. He was, af-
ter all, speaking to the former President of
Private consumption fell by a little more than a fourth during this period, underlining the
Indiawhodeservedcourtesy.Thediminutive
collapseinhouseholddemand.Goingforward,thecontinuinguncertaintyoverincomeand man was conscious of his political stature;
job prospects, coupled with the fear of moving in crowded places is likely to continue to Indira Gandhi had told him that “political
weigh down household spending, especially discretionary spending. Investment activity standing must never be compromised”.
declined by a staggering 47.1 per cent, while government consumption expenditure, ar- Pranabda was a paradox in more ways
guably the only driver of growth in the current scenario, grew by a healthy 16.4 per cent. thanone.HesupportedtheEmergency,which
abridged fundamental rights, and was in-
Leading economic indicators suggest that parts of the economy have continued to
dicted by the Shah Commission. Impressed
improve sequentially. However, hopes and expectations of a quick bounce back to pre- withhistalentswhenhehadcampaignedfor
COVID levels in the near term are likely to be dashed, with indications of some economic VKKrishnaMenonin1969,IndiraGandhihad
activities plateauing at below pre-COVID levels. While the pace of contraction may well given him a Rajya Sabha seat when he was
ease, the near term prospects don't appear to be promising. With the number of COVID- only33.Andyet,inthelatterpartof hislife,he
19 cases still rising, and localised lockdowns continuing, self-imposed curbs by individ- becameaconvincedbelieverintheimportof
uals, coupled with risk-aversion by both households and businesses, suggest that nor- democratic rights, possibly because he saw it
as the only way to run a country as diverse as
malisation of activities to pre-COVID levels is unlikely in the near term.
India. He said later that the Emergency could
have been avoided. He called Parliament, the
“Gangotri of our democracy”.
Pranabda supported the
Emergency, which abridged
fundamental rights, and was
indicted by the Shah
Commission. Impressed with
his talents when he had
campaigned for V K Krishna
Menon in 1969, Indira
Gandhi had given him a Rajya
Sabha seat when he was only
33. And yet, in the latter part
of his life, he became a
convinced believer in the
penalty. His words — “Indian Parliament is
omnipotent” — were meant to demonstrate
theauthorityof theIndianState,withitsown
message to the MNCs. Yet, he enjoyed an ex-
cellent relationship with Indian business
houses.
Though Indira Gandhi called him a “man
for all seasons”, he was not really trusted by
Rajiv Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi. In 1984, when
Rajiv won with a whopping 404 seats,
Pranabda kept waiting for an invitation to
join the Cabinet. It was said that Pranabda
had expressed the view that the number
two in Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet should take
over, after her assassination, as had hap-
pened after the death of Nehru and Lal
Bahadur Shastri. But he always denied this.
He was expelled from the Congress in 1986.
But he did a “ghar wapasi” after three years
in the wilderness. He had hoped that Sonia
Gandhi would choose him as the PM in
2004. But she plumped for the “apolitical”
Manmohan Singh, not the politically sharp
Pranabda.
In 2007, he almost became President. But
Sonia Gandhi ruled it out, saying she could
“notsparehim”.However,in2012,heoutma-
noeuvred her, with the last-minute support
of Mamata Banerjee. And he moved into the
Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Thoughhesawhimselfasa“constitution-
ally correct” President, he was not really cut
outforaceremonialrole.Starvedof thepolit-
ical tidbits, he would often call up his former
Congresscolleaguestofindoutwhatwashap-
pening in Parliament and in the Central Hall.
Hewasoneof thoseoldschoolpoliticians
interested in wielding power, and not just in
the perks of power. “My family has got a free
housenow,”hequippedinjesttoafriendsoon
after being elected Rashtrapati. He was more
used to 13 Talkatora Road.
He must have found it galling to be num-
trickyissues,evendelicateoneslikewhereto
seat Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, it was
Pranabdawhocametohisrescue.Manmohan
Singh used to call him “Sir” and continued to
do so, in private, even after he became PM.
As convener of the special UPA-Left com-
mittee set up in 2007 to sort out differences
on the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation
Agreement, Pranabda displayed intellectual
rigour. He held nine meetings with the Left
leaders, framed the UPA’s responses, and
would meet Prakash Karat and Jyoti Basu in-
dividuallytosoftenthem.Butbeforethe10th
meeting could take place, the Left withdrew
support to the UPA.
While being a convinced secularist,
Pranabda was also a devout Hindu. For two
hours every morning, he recited the “Chandi
Path”inhislittletempleathome.Healsocar-
ried a copy of the Indian Constitution in his
briefcase. He could recite from it chapter and
verse, just as he knew from memory the 700
slokas about goddess Durga’s destruction of
thedemons.OnceBJPleaderPramodMahajan
recitedaslokainParliament.Pranabdagotup
and told him that his recitation was flawed.
He then recited it the correct way. The then
PM,AtalBihariVajpayee,counselledMahajan
never to argue with Pranabda.
Pranabda drew eyeballs when he at-
tendedtheRSS’sannualprogrammein2018.
Hespokeaboutliberalvaluesandpositioned
himself as someone acceptable to both the
Right and the Left. It was soon thereafter I
found to my surprise — while talking to a
group of traders in Delhi to ascertain their
views on the GST— many making a pitch for
PranabdaastheOpposition’sprimeministe-
rialcandidatefor2019:“Yehsambhaallenge”.
IndiawillrememberPranabdaforhiscon-
tributionasaministerheadingvirtuallyevery
important ministry. He will also be remem-
bered as a leader who saw consensus as the

MR BHUSHAN’S FINE
He was cast in the mould of a Nehruvian,
and his political DNA stayed with him till the
end.Hesentshockwavesthroughthecorpo-
rate world when he defended the retrospec-
He should seek a review so that the Honourable Court tive amendment in the income tax law that
may get an option to erase the blot
import of democratic rights,
possibly because he saw it as
the only way to run a country
as diverse as India.
bertwoinManmohanSingh’sministry.After
all, he had, as finance minister (1982-84),
signedtheorderappointingSinghasRBIgov-
ernor.Andyetheputhisbestfootforward,as-
sisting the PM in big and small ways. He
way to run a country as heterogeneous as
India, and believed in holding conversations
across the political divide.
The writer is a senior journalist

A
With due respect, the highest court in the land has not shown its custom-
ary wisdom and institutional grace in the contempt case against Prashant

HIS DEEP BOW

Bhushan. On Monday, it lost another opportunity to correct course. In a
108-page order on August 14, it had convicted Bhushan for scandalising
the court by two tweets. Subsequently, it urged him to reconsider his position. Bhushan
stood his ground, and the court has now, over 82 pages, argued why it is necessary to
punish the lawyer and activist — even though he has a fine record of pursuing public in- Shinzo Abe’s élan, his resolute foreign policy in disturbed international times shall be missed
terest litigation, even though the offence itself can be seen to be vague and colonial, even
thoughinstrikingthebalancebetweenrightsandrestrictions,rightsmustbedeemedfun-
damental. The court has punished Bhushan despite all these arguments that it takes note Swasti Rao
of, because, “both the tweets coupled with averments in the reply affidavit are capable of
shaking the confidence of the public in the institution as a whole”. It is not just that the IMAGES OF A visibly tired Shinzo Abe, the discussthepossibilityof someJapaneseman- former defence minister and Abe’s arch-ri-
court fails once again to persuade that it is acting, not just to protect itself, but, as it claims, longest-serving Prime Minister of Japan, ufacturing units shifting to India. valinthe party, is afavouriteinJapaneseme-
topreservethepeople’strustintheadministrationof justice.Itisalsothatthepunishment apologising to the Japanese people with low So, what went wrong? Who is likely to dia surveys, though he is less popular within
cast eyes are afloat in international media. succeed Abe? What would be the major im- the government. Defence minister Taro
seems indefensibly disproportionate. If Bhushan does not pay Rupee 1 by September 15,
His surprising resignation due to deteriorat- plications of this apparent power vacuum in Kono, and economic revitalisation minister
hewouldbejailedforthreemonthsanddebarredforthreeyears—havingtriedandfailed ing health has come amidst turbulent times post-pandemic times? And finally, what Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of
to extract an apology, the court has attached to its token fine an unbecoming or-else. in the Indo-Pacific and the world at large. does this hold for India? coronavirus measures, are also contenders.
Bhushan has respectfully accepted the punishment while reserving his right to seek Despite his failings, he represented stability The blow to his popularity came from Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga,
a review. The court will have yet another chance to reconsider — it must not miss it again. both at home and abroad as he took up res- Abenomics that delivered little on the DeputyPrimeMinisterandFinanceMinister
These are not the best of times for the court. In recent months, it has invited questions urrecting a liberal order in Asia that US ground. Abe was elected eight years ago pri- Taro Aso (who was PM during 2007-08) and
aboutitslackof alacrityoncases thatinvolvethelibertiesof thecitizenandencroachment President Donald Trump had abandoned. marilyduetohiseconomicpromises.Hewill LDPpolicychief FumioKishidaarealsobeing
A controversial leader, Abe strove to nowleavethecountryintheworsteconomic discussed for the PM's office. However, the
by the state. On matters ranging from habeas corpus to electoral bonds, it has attracted
change Japan’s defence strategy and tried to crisis in decades. The second quarter of 2020 successor is not expected to deviate signifi-
criticism for giving the benefit of doubt, and delay, to a powerful executive. It has also revise its pacifist constitution and revive saw growth shrink by almost 8 per cent. The cantly from Abe’s current domestic and in-
been ill at ease within — Monday’s order recalled the unprecedented January press con- Japan’s economy with Abenomics (the Nikkei Index has dropped 2.1 per cent at the ternational policies.
ference of four senior-most judges in 2018. nomenclatural inspiration for our news of his resignation. Should India be worried?
In such times, it is even more necessary for the court to acknowledge that its prestige Modinomics). He delivered consequential Abenomicswasaboutrevivingastagnant India has pinned its hopes on formalis-
as the custodian of constitutional values and individual rights is best protected not by agreements,suchasmultilateraltradeagree- Japanese economy with three “arrows” — a ing the QUAD for establishing a rules-based
ments in the Pacific (the CPTPP) and the hyper-easy monetary policy, fiscal stimulus orderforafreeandopenIndo-Pacific.Would
rushing to use its punitive powers against those who would criticise it, but by living up
Atlantic(theJapan-EUEconomicPartnership andmostimportantly,structuralreformslike this cooperation continue without Abe? The
to its most capacious institutional self. And by showing its ability to self-correct. Bhushan Agreement), as well as the Australia-Japan- The blow to his popularity corporate reform and labour liberalisation. answerisyes.Abe’ssuccessorislikelytocon-
hasadmirablyheldhisground,heshouldnowseekareviewsothattheHonourableCourt US Trilateral Infrastructure Partnership. came from Abenomics that The structural reforms never happened and tinue with his policies at least until
has the option to strike down the conviction — and erase this blot. India saw great strides in the bilateral re- delivered little on the faultlinesstartedtoappear.Abenomicsover- September 2021.
lations 2014 onward. Whether it was the ground. Abe was elected leveragedtheeconomytothepointof sover- If so, what really is going to be amiss?
Indo-Japanesecivilnuclearenergydealorthe eign bankruptcy and confidence in capital Abe’s charm and élan and his resolute for-
eight years ago primarily due

WAKANDA FOREVER
catchy synergy of Abenomics-Modinomics,
India-Japanbilateralrelationsseemedbetter
than ever. Abe promised a 3.5 trillion yen in
investment and planning and India recipro-
Chadwick Boseman paved the way for actors of cated in October 2014 with establishing the
“Japan Plus” office in the Ministry of
colour in the cinema of comic book blockbusters Commerceasa“one-stop”locationforresolv-
to his economic promises.
He will now leave the
country in the worst
economic crisis in decades.
The second quarter of 2020
markets declined. While corporations and
hedge fund managers did well, the average
personcouldn’tseeanybenefits.Aconsump-
tion tax was introduced in 2019, which hit
the consumption cycle badly and created a
downward spiral. As the Japanese economy
struggled to revive, the pandemic hit hard.
eign policy in disturbed international times
shall be missed. On the ground, little is sup-
posedtochangewithonecaveat—lestChina
chooses to take advantage and escalate mil-
itary engagement in the disputed Senkaku
Islands.

L
ing problems faced by Japanese companies. saw growth shrink by almost The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has The writer has a PhD in Advanced
ASTYEAR,CELEBRATEDfilm-makerMartinScorsesestokedcontroversywhen
Upbeat, the two leaders were to sign a key several factions. According to the Kyodo Comparative Politics and Japanese Studies
he said that films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were “not cinema” and military logistic pact, Acquisition and Cross
8 per cent. The Nikkei Index newsagency,adecisiononAbe’ssuccessoris from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, and
more like “theme parks”. Given their ubiquity, and dominance of the market, Servicing Agreement (ACSA), and, in com- has dropped 2.1 per cent at likely on Tuesday. The winner would hold currently teaches in the Department of
Scorsese’sargument had many takers. In their defence, thefans of comic book binedeffortstooustahostileenemyinChina, the news of his resignation. the post till September 2021. Shigeru Ishiba, Strategic and Security Studies, AMU
movies held up Black Panther (2018). Chadwick Boseman's role as T'Challa, king of the
fictional nation of Wakanda, was a celebration of African culture, imagining a technolog-
ical superpower that is rooted in a milieu that is not white American. It remains the first
superhero movie to be nominated for an Oscar. With his performance, Boseman paved
the way for actors of colour in the world of blockbusters. SEPTEMBER 01, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO
Boseman died last week after afour-year battle with cancer. Hewas 43.While T'Challa
will undoubtedly be his most popular character, the role was of a piece with the body of SIXTH PLAN PREP BEGINS sion taken at the meeting was to scrap the the Congress-I observer for Andhra Pradesh
work he built up in his all-too-brief career. Before playing a fictional progressive ruler The National Development Council asked 10 per cent provision in Central Assistance had met Reddy earlier. The high command
the Planning Commission to proceed with to states under the Gadgil formula for on- is keen that the crisis is over soon.
and fighter, he played the lead role in three biopics of African-American icons — Jackie
the preparation of the final draft of the Sixth going power and irrigation projects. Finance
Robinson, the first African-American to play major league baseball (42, 2013); musician Five Year Plan. A resolution adopted at the Minister N D Tiwari said this 10 per cent will ANOTHER CPI
and entertainer James Brown (Get On Up, 2014) and civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall end of the two-day meeting of the council be only allocated to states whose income is An All India convention to launch another
(Marshall, 2017). Like Denzel Washington (who, incidentally, helped pay for Boseman to said that the basis of the draft plan will be below the national income. CPI is expected to take place end of
study acting at Oxford), Boseman managed to bring out the humanity and complexity of the objectives, programmes, targets and September or early October. Roza
great historical figures, without diminishing their dignity or legacy. thrusts for growth and additional resource CONGRESS-I CRISIS Deshpande, the organiser of a communist
Black Panther came out at a time when racism and police brutality were being backed, mobilisation outlined in an earlier draft THE CRISIS IN the Andhra Pradesh convention at Calcutta, said the party would
framework. The Planning Commission and Congress-I is likely to be resolved by the end follow genuine communism. She warned
at least tacitly, by the highest office in the US. Boseman, the star of the film, was also a
state governments will discuss the sugges- of this week. Chief Minister M Chenna of recrimination if the CPI attacked the new
generous performer, allowing strong women actors and characters to shine alongside tions made at the meeting. The draft will Reddy had a meeting with Prime Minister group or SA Dange. She also said that it was
him.Afterplayinggreathistoricalblackfigures,hegavetheworldafictional,futuristicone, also be considered at another meeting of Indira Gandhi. Parliamentary Affairs uncertain if Moscow had blessed the CPI’s
someone to both look up to and look forward to. the council in January next year. One deci- Minister Bhisham Narain Singh who is also line on nationalism.

New Delhi

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
THE IDEAS PAGE
A different view of the world
In dealing with Chinese power, Delhi needs an internationalism that is rooted in realism
and tethered to India’s economic and national security priorities
RAJA MANDALA
by C Raja Mohan
AFORGOTTENINTERNATIONALconference,a
hundred years ago this week, offers enduring
insights into the perennial tension between
globalism and localism. Three current devel-
opments reveal the inevitable clash between
grandioseinternationalismandtheintractable
nationalism.
One is Delhi’s decision to pull out of this
month’s military exercise of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation, which was to her-
ald a new era of Eurasian unity. But the ambi-
tion to unite a large geopolitical space, how-
ever, is being trumped by the sharpening
contradictions between India and China.
Second, is the Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s claim to leadership of the Muslim
worldthathasrunintoresistancefromalarge
sectionoftheArabrulerswhohavenotforgot-
tentheOttomanimperialrule.Third,istheten-
sion between the globalism of the US foreign
policy establishment and Donald Trump’s
“AmericaFirst”nationalism.Democraticpres-
identialnomineeJoeBiden’spromisetorestore
America’s “global leadership” is struggling to
overcomeTrump’sargumentthattheUSmust
rather take care of itself.
But first to the international conference a
century ago. In early September 1920, the
newly-minted Revolutionary Russia and the
CommunistInternational(Comintern)backed
by Moscow convened the “Congress of the
Peoples of the East” in Baku (now in
Azerbaijan). Its agenda was to spread the rev-
olutiontoAsiaamidstthesetbackstoleftforces
in Europe.
Butthepromised“newdawn”inAsiawas
aselusiveastheEuropeanrevolution.Although
theframeworkoftheBakucongresswasabout
the East as a whole, the focus was on the
Muslim populations on the periphery of
Russia. Grigory Zinoviev, the head of the
Comintern, which convened the congress
called on the 2,000 odd delegates to wage a
“holywar”againsttheimperialistforces,espe-
cially the British Raj.
ButCommunistsinRussiaranintoaprob-
lemthatallfuturerevolutionaryforceswould
inevitably confront — the need to balance na-
tional interest against declared ideological
commitments.Astheprospectsfortradewith
Britain opened up, the Soviet Union agreed to
scaledownitsjihadagainsttheBritishempire
intheEast.TheCominternalsofoundMuslim
nationalism and conservatism as impossible
allies in promoting the Asian revolution.
National purpose, in some cases at least,
may well be baked into the framing of a uni-
versalideology.SomescholarsargueMoscow's
internationalismisverymuchpartof Russian
religious tradition and its self-perception as a
redeemerofboththeWestandtheEast.Critics
ofliberalismhavelongpointedtothedifficulty
of separating the geopolitical interests of the
Westanditsinternationalistideology.China's
claimthattheBeltandRoadInitiativeisabout
"international public goods" is part of a hoary
tradition in which great powers present their
own interests in universalist terms.
AlthoughtheBakuCongresswasplanned
Santhosh Jayaram
IN A CONVERSATION, the moment it is evi-
dentthatIamfromKerala,thefirstcomment
usually is that it is a beautiful state. The con-
versation typically extends to saying that no
industry can survive in Kerala. I defend my
statebystatingthat,notmanycompaniesare
mature enough to operate in Kerala. Having
saidthat,theKeraladiasporaisawell-known
story. The state also has a high debt ratio and
inrecenttimes,hasbeenoneof thesloweco-
nomic growth states. I am not implying that
the industrialised states of India are much
better,butthereissomethingnotquiteright.
The pandemic presents an opportunity
for us to think of a new recovery path, one
that can decouple economic growth and en-
vironmental degradation. It becomes more
important as India sees opportunities on the
global call to diversify the supply chain and
its internal call for Atmanirbhar Bharat. For
that, we need to strengthen our production
and manufacturing capabilities.
Indian cities feature high in the list of pol-
luted cities in the world, and the country fea-
tures very low on quality of life. At the same
time, any discussion on more production fa-
cilities, mining, utilities and construction
evokesfearsaboutwherewearegoingwrong.
Wehavealltheenvironmentalregulationswe
need, but the biggest gap lies in monitoring
and implementing them. Take the municipal
solidwasterules.Twodecadesaftertheregu-
lationscameintoeffect,theirstatusisforallto
see. A comparatively recent regulation, cen-
as the first of a series, it would be the last.
Communist internationalism, however, did
have some successes. Within a few weeks of
the Baku Congress, the Communist Party of
India was launched at Tashkent. A separate
track saw the establishment of the Chinese
Communist Party in 1921.
Butthecommunistsinbothcountriesand
their supporters in Russia and the Comintern
hadtheunendingproblemofhowtodealwith
nationalist forces. The CCP’s success in win-
ningstatepowerandtheCPI’sfailurehavenot
ended their continuing difficulties with
Chinese and Indian nationalism.
The inability of the Baku Congress to set
the east ablaze has not stopped the frequent
re-emergence over the last century of mes-
sianic claims for liberating the world. China’s
MaoZedongaccusedRussiaofabandoningthe
revolutionary spirit and embarked on an ad-
venturism of his own.
The Islamic world has long been vulnera-
ble to sweeping ideas of internationalism.
Erdogan’s Islamist politics has a long lineage.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic revolu-
tioninIran,alQaeda,andtheIslamicStatehave
all sought to liberate the Islamic world. But
none of them has been able to transcend the
nation-state system of the Middle East.
Marxists and Muslims are not the only
oneswhoareinthethrallofexpansiveinterna-
tionalism. Western liberalism has had more
power than anyone else to promote interna-
tionalism.Buttheliberalinternationalisteffort
atconstructingsupra-nationalinstitutionsthat
seek to rearrange the political and economic
structuresof othersocieties,afterthecollapse
of the Soviet Union, now faces big setbacks.
Thegreatestresistancetotheliberalinter-
nationalist vision has not come from Iraq or
Afghanistan, but from within the US. It was
TrumpwhochannelledtheAmericanresent-
mentsagainsttheglobalistexcessesoftheWall
Street, Washington and the Silicon Valley.
The Indian elite has not been immune to
messianictemptations.AsIndiannationalism
came of age between the two world wars, it
was inevitably influenced by liberal interna-
tionalism, socialism, communism, pan-
Islamism,pan-AsianismandThird-Worldism
to name a few. It has been hard to shake off
those impulses despite the repeated knocks
from real-life experience.
Pakistan can’t discard pan-Islamic ideol-
ogydespiteitsgrowingproblemswithimpor-
tantsectionsoftheMuslimworld.Ontopofit,
Address the trust deficit
Environmentalregulatorysystemshouldbebridgebetweencommunity,industry
tredaroundExtendedProducerResponsibility,
has also posed challenges in monitoring and
implementation.Inarecentruling,thejudici-
arynotonlyruledagainsttheindustrybutalso
blamed officials responsible for implement-
ingtheregulations.Thiswillnothelpusincap-
italisingonthecurrentopportunity.Regulatory
infrastructure is supposed to be the bridge of
trustbetweenthecommunityandindustry.If
thebridgeisnotstable,thecommunityandin-
dustryfeeltheimpact,which,overaperiodof
time, spreads to the nation.
No community wants an industrial facil-
ity, a key economic engine, shut unless there
are very serious issues. Other than an acci-
dent,suchproblemsdon’thappenoveraday.
When early signs from the environment are
neglected,theyreachthresholdsleadingtoa
community upsurge. Then the political sys-
temintervenes.Itisabattlethatnobodywins.
Even as a nation, we have shown inability to
showcase growth in a sustainable manner.
Dilutingregulatoryrequirementsisnota
solution—inthelongrun,itwillcreatemore
adverseimpactsresultingingreatercommu-
nity upsurge. The focus has to be to improve
the system’s capabilities to monitor and im-
plement regulatory requirements. There
needs to be greater transparency and ac-
countability;thereisnodearthof technology
tofacilitatethis.Aroundtheworld,wearealso
debating another issue of extreme surveil-
lance. Since somebody is always watching,
spotting,noticingoridentifyingtheproblem
After the Cold War, India re-
embraced Asianism in the
1990s when it unveiled the
Look East Policy and joined
the Asian regional
institutions led by the
Association of South East
Asian Nations. But few
could have anticipated that
Delhi would eventually walk
out of one of the most
consequential agreements
negotiated by the ASEAN —
the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership
(RCEP) that sought Asia-
wide economic integration.
Delhi believed that the
contradiction between
India’s domestic commercial
interests and a China-led
Asian economic regionalism
was irreconcilable.
shouldnotbeachallenge.Butwhathappens
afterthatisachallenge.Theintentionandca-
pacitytotakeaction,rectifyanddiffuseiscrit-
ical.Therightecosystembetweentheindus-
try, community and regulator is crucial — if
the three stakeholders remain isolated and
getactivatedonlyinacrisis,wewillnotmake
any progress towards solving the issue.
IwillgobacktoKeralatodiscussaninitia-
tive by the state’s police — Janamaithri
Suraksha. It aims to bridge the gap between
the police and public with citizens’ involve-
ment. We need similar maithri, an improved
levelof trust,betweentheregulator,commu-
nity and industry on environmental protec-
tion. The conventional manner of waiting for
anagitation,investigatingandthenknocking
on the doors of justice is not the way to sus-
tainable development.
Anyanthropogenicactivitywillhaveim-
pacts. It is important to understand whether
we have a net positive effect from all stake-
holders’ perspectives, wherein the future
generation is also a key stakeholder. I wrote
earlier that the way forward is to decouple
economicgrowthandenvironmentaldegra-
dation. However, it would be more right to
say that we need to couple growth and envi-
ronmentalprotection.Environmentalhealth
will be the key enabler of socio-economic
growth in the future.
It is important for us to get this right
quickly.Communityactivismintermsof en-
vironmental damage is surging and we will
C R Sasikumar
Pakistanhasstruggledtocopewithitsrelative
economicdeclinevis-a-visIndiaandthegrow-
ing economic linkages between India and
much of the Islamic world.
NotwithstandingtheIndianromanticism,
both the Asian Relations Conference (Delhi
1947) and the Afro-Asian Conference
(Bandung 1955) showed up the deep differ-
encesamongtheAsianelites.Indiathenturned
itsbackonAsianismtoclaimtheleadershipof
the broader Non-Aligned Movement, that
neveracquiredtheneededstrategiccoherence.
After the Cold War, India re-embraced
Asianism in the 1990s when it unveiled the
LookEastPolicyandjoinedtheAsianregional
institutionsledbytheAssociationofSouthEast
AsianNations.Butfewcouldhaveanticipated
thatDelhiwouldeventuallywalkoutofoneof
the most consequential agreements negoti-
ated by the ASEAN — the Regional
ComprehensiveEconomicPartnership(RCEP)
--thatsoughtAsia-wideeconomicintegration.
Delhibelievedthatthecontradictionbetween
India’s domestic commercial interests and a
China-ledAsianeconomicregionalismwasir-
reconcilable.
Even more difficult has been the tension
betweenEurasianregionalismledbyMoscow
and Beijing and the deepening conflict be-
tween Indian and Chinese interests. India’s
diplomaticfinesseontheSCOhasbecomein-
creasinglyunsustainableafterChineseaggres-
sion in eastern Ladakh.
Delhi’spursuitofeconomicregionalismin
East Asia and a multi-polar world in partner-
ship with China and Russia had severely un-
derestimatedtheeconomicandpoliticalcon-
sequencesofChina’srapidrise.Asinthe1950s,
so in the 1990s, India took a benign view of
Chinese power and has been shocked to dis-
cover otherwise in 1962 and in 2020.
Onbothoccasions,fanciful tropesof mes-
sianicinternationalism—pan-Asianisminthe
1950s and the quest for a multipolar world
sincethe1990s—preventedDelhifromrecog-
nising the problems with Chinese power.
India today needs more internationalism,
than less, in dealing with the Chinese power.
But it must be an internationalism that is
rooted in realism and tethered to India’s eco-
nomic and national security priorities.
The writer is Director, Institute of South
Asian Studies, National University of Singapore
and contributingeditor on international affairs
for TheIndianExpress
have more judgments from the courts.
Nobody benefits from such outcomes in the
long run. We need to grow to keep progress-
ing, and for that we need industries. When
trust between the industry and community
erodes, there are more agitations.
By focusing on the bridge element of the
regulatorysystem,Iamnotunderminingthe
roleof industryandthecommunity.Industry
needs to realise that it is a part of an ecosys-
tem and not at the centre of it. Communities
get impacted, either positively or negatively.
They need to empower themselves through
education, so that they are not driven by the
agenda of individuals with vested interests.
We need to accept that we have a chal-
lengeinimplementingenvironmentalregu-
lations. The community does not trust that
the industry is meeting its compliance re-
quirements. The regulatory system’s role is
toimprovethistrustquotient.Thereisaneed
to evolve a more effective implementation
involving all stakeholders, and a more trans-
parent monitoring system. There is, thus, a
necessity for a maithri system.
As we plan our recovery past the pan-
demic,wehaveagoodchancetocreateanew
normal.Weneedtoaligntowardsacommon
cause and goals. We should not miss this
chance.
Jayaram is partner and head, Climate
Change and Sustainability Advisory,
KPMG India
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“There are lies, there are damned lies — and then there was this week’s
Republican national convention: a four-day cavalcade of brazen falsehoods from
the president (Trump) and his enablers.”
Year of uncertainty
Government needs to act urgently, and with due
process, to conclude National Register
of Citizens process in Assam
Padmini Baruah and
Aman Wadud
NURJEHAN BEGUM, A 45-year-old home
maker from the flood-ravaged Bongaigaon
districtin northwest Assam, struggles to be
optimistic. The devastating combination of
the recent floods and COVID-19 lockdown
has exacted a significant toll on her family.
But that is not her biggest fear: 2020 marks
the end of Nurjehan’s three-year confine-
ment in one of Assam’s six dreaded deten-
tion centres, the final destination for those
who are deprived of their right to citizen-
ship in the state. While she is silent about
the trauma she has experienced, Nurjehan
does not hesitate to share her deepest fear
— her family could now face the same fate,
as they too have been excluded from the
National Register of Citizens (NRC).
On August 31, 2019, the final list of the
NRC in Assam was released. This was con-
sidered to be the culmination of decades of
strifeandagitationinthestateovertheques-
tionof continuedpresenceof “illegalimmi-
grants” and the urgent need to identify and
deport them. The NRC was envisaged as a
comprehensiverecordof citizensinAssam,
identified by the law of the land as persons
who had migrated to Assam before March
25,1971.ThelegalhomefortheNRCisfound
in the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens
and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules,
2003. The updation of the NRC was sanc-
tionedbytheSupremeCourt,which,in2014,
began monitoring the entire process.
Five years, 5,5000 employees, and Rs
1,200 crore were only the visible adminis-
trativecosts—thisdoesnotincludethelives
thatwerelost,primarilyoutof fearof exclu-
sion. The loss of citizenship, after all, is the
lossofoneofthemostcrucialrightsaperson
canhave;initsabsence,one’sentirebodyof
rights disappears. Conversations on the
ground revealed that initially, people from
across the spectrum agreed on the NRC.
People who belong to the ethno-religious
categoryof Bengali-Muslimoriginwerere-
lieved at the prospect that inclusion in the
NRC would end the cloud of suspicion over
their heads. On the other end, of the spec-
trum,theindigenousAssamesepopulation
welcomed the NRC as fulfilling the aim of
weeding out “immigrants”.
The result of the NRC list has been well
documented — 1.9 million people were ex-
cluded from its ambit and now face the
prospectof filingappealsagainstthisexclu-
sion before the quasi-judicial body known
as the Foreigners Tribunal (FT).
Set up in 1964 under the Foreigners
(Tribunals) Order, the FT is the main legal
body withthe power to determine who is a
citizeninthecontextof Assam.Ashasbeen
extensivelydocumented,thisprocessofcit-
izenshipdeterminationisriddledwithflaws.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
CYNICAL APPROACH
THIS REFERS TO the article, 'The Age
Trap'(IE,August31).Waiting fortheab-
solute elimination of the myriad socio-
cultural obstacles before raising the
matrimonial eligibility of girls is a
flawed and cynical approach. The per-
tinentconcernsof “education”and“nu-
trition” and the problem of an unequal
minimumageformarriageforboysand
girls are not mutually exclusive.
Delayed marriage and childbirth will
ensure physical, psychological and
emotional maturity of women, in turn
improving maternal and neonatal
health and the overall well-being of
the family.
Fatima Ghazali, Patna
AFTER ABE
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'As Abe
bows out' (IE, August 31) Japan’s
longest-serving Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe stepped down due to health rea-
sons, leaving behind a unique legacy of
India-Japan ties. India and Japan’s rela-
tionship had reached new heights dur-
ing Abe’s tenure. Now India will need
to work much harder to maintain our
relationship with Japan.
S S Paul, Nadia
CHINA’S EXAMPLE
THIS REFERS to the article,
'Atmanirbhar China' (IE, August 31).
The flexible approach of China towards
globalisation is worth considering as
it has displayed how efficiently glob-
alisation and an atmanirbhar economy
can be balanced. India has a lot of po-
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— THE GUARDIAN
The burdenof provingone’sstatusisonthe
person who faces scrutiny. S/he is expected
to provide stringent documentary proof of
citizenship, despite there being no clarity
fromthestateonwhatdocumentsmeetthis
evidentiary standard. (It has been held that
Aadhaarcards,PANcards,landrecords,birth
certificates and passports may not amount
toproof.)Oraltestimonyisfrequentlydisre-
garded, and the tribunal is quick to dismiss
paperwork on flimsy grounds such as mi-
norerrorsinspellingordates.Themaintest
of citizenship according to the Tribunal is
the ability to trace one’s legacy to a person
who had been residing in the state before
1971.Applyingsuchahighstandardof doc-
umentary evidence flies in the face of the
ground realities of the country. Moreover,
there are serious concerns around the judi-
cialindependenceofthetribunals.Members
areappointedbythehomeandpoliticalde-
partments of the Assam government, and
theperformanceof tribunalmembersisin-
centivised based on the number of persons
they declare as foreigners. This implies bi-
ases entrenched in the system. As a result,
around 1.3 lakh people have been declared
foreignerssincetheinceptionoftheFTs.Like
Nurjehan,manydeclaredforeignersaresent
to languish in detention centres.
The potential repercussions from the
NRCexclusionscouldbecatastrophic.Itdoes
not help that the appeals process is fraught
with delays; one year on, there is no sign of
when this process will begin and decisions
suchasthere-checkingofrejectionordersto
exclude people only add to the uncertainty.
Vulnerablepopulationsarepoisedtosuf-
fergraveconsequencesintheabsenceof le-
gal clarity. For instance, there are multiple
instances of children who have been ex-
cludedfromtheNRC.Willtheybeextended
protections as per the law governing juve-
nilesinthecountry?Willtheybeseparated
from their parents and sent to detention if
they are unable to prove their citizenship?
Whatguaranteesareinplacefortheprotec-
tionof theirrights?Weonlyhavequestions
to which there seem to be no answers.
Thestatemachinery’strackrecordisone
of see-sawing. In 2019, the Ministry of
External Affairs described the NRC process
as “statutory, transparent, legal”, a “fair
process based on scientific methods”. In al-
most the same breath, it has called for the
NRCtobescrapped.Shiftingthesegoalposts
for political gains reflects an extraordinary
lackof regardforthepeoplewhohavebeen
excluded.ThoseincludedintheNRCarealso
waiting for the final list to be gazetted.
The authorities have not been treating
thismatterwiththegravitythatitdeserves.
Justice delayed, as the adage goes, is justice
denied.Thestateneedstotakeurgentsteps
tomovetheNRCprocessforwardassoonas
possible and to ensure that guarantees of
dueprocessesareinplace.Otherwise,inthe
wordsof NurjehanBegum,“citizenshipwill
remain a dark cloud looming over (our)
lives”.
Baruah is a Guwahati-based lawyer and
graduate student at the Fletcher School of
Law and Diplomacy, Boston. Wadud is a
Guwahati-based human rights lawyer. Both
work with the Justice and Liberty Initiative,
which takes on cases of those deprived of
citizenship in Assam
IDEAS
ONLINE
ONLY IN THE EXPRESS
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THE DIGITAL AGE:
JYOTHI S
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tential in it's manufacturing and pro-
duction sector, but the problem lies in
its utilisation. We must not see at-
manirbhar economy as protectionism
or isolation from the rest of the world,
but rather attempt to increase exports.
Daksh Solanki, Delhi
SUBTLE CATEGORIES
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,'Acasefor
equality' (IE, August 29). The idea of
subcategorisation of Scheduled Caste
reservation will deepen the existing
scheme for the annihilation of caste-
based inequality. But specifically cate-
gorising particular castes would do in-
justice to intra-caste mobility. The
existing categorisation of socially and
educationally backward classes can be
horizontally applied to the SCs.
Sudip Kumar Dey, Kolkata
 10 CLASSIFIEDS & TENDERS WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Classifieds
PERSONAL
I, Dilip Kumar Mishra S/o
Avdesh Kumar Mishra, wish to
changed my,Daughter name
from Ananya Mishra to Pariniti
Mishra in, LIC-Policy (LIC
Policy.No.-3344799) R/o-RZG-
25, Nihal Vihar, Nangloi West-
Delhi-110041. 0040546712-1
I Aparajita Mitra Amarjothi
Mitra W/O, Dwaipayan
Chakraborty R/o 2nd Floor, C-
399, sector 19 Noida 201301 UP
have changed my name to
Aparajita Chakraborty for all
purposes and Aparajita Mitra
Amarjothi Mitra and Aparajita
Chakraborty are one and the
same person vide affidavit no.
93AD, 369616, dated 31 August,
2020. 0040546658-1
I Kavita, W/o Siraj Ahmed R/o-T-
650, Durga Mohalla Baljeet
Nagar,Delhi-8,have changed
my name to Zahira,for all
future purposes.
0040546702-4
I Nisha Jatav D/o Late Sh. Dhiraj
Kumar W/o Sh.Avinash Sagar
R/o 2449, Street Munde Wali,
Sadar Bazar, Delhi-110006
have changed my name after
marriage to Nisha Sagar for all
purposes. 0040546637-1
I, Faheeman W/o Karua Khan
R/o-4/402, Jamalpur,PS-Civil
Line, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh,
have changed my name to
Faiman. 0040546704-6
I Sandesh Deep S/O, Jitendra
Singh R/o 681 Gali Jatwara
Kundewalan Ajmeri Gate New
Delhi 110006 have changed my
name to Yudhveer for all
purposes. 0040546666-1
I Saty Vir alias Satya Vir S/o Sh.
Dalvir Singh R/o G-2/57, Sai
Enclave, Block Part-I, Mohan
Garden, Delhi-110059 have
changed my name to Satyavir
Singh for all purposes.
0040546637-2
I, ARMY NO-14666865A sep
Sandeep Solanki, R/o-H.No-89,
Mangeram Park, Pooth Kalan,
Delhi-110086, declare that in
my,services record my
daughter,name wrongly
mentioned-as Prachi, I,have
changed my,daughter name
from Prachi to Prachi Solanki
permanently. 0040546686-1
I, Amandeep Singh Chadha,S/o
Gurnam Singh R/o-Flat-
301,Tower-B2,Olive-
County,Sector-5,Vasundhara,
Ghaziabad, have changed my
son’s name Kanwarveer Singh
to Kanwarveer Singh Chadha.
0040546704-7
I, Army No.10315782P
L/Hav.Chandra Deo Yadav,S/o
Late Sh.Kishun Yadav,R/o
village-pandeydih,post &
Police-Station-JhaJha,Distt-
Jamui,Bihar-811308.want to
changed my son,s name,from
Rahul Kumar to Rahul Rajnish
in my army-record also his
DOB wrongly-written 02-06-
2001 in my army-record But
correct-DOB is-25.12.2005.
0040546702-10
I, Braham Saini S/o Late Raju
Saini R/o-553, Gali.No-1,
Sector-44, Chhalera,
Noida(U.P.),Have changed my
name to Brahma Singh Saini
for all future purposes.
0040546686-2
I, Dinesh Kumar S/o Krishan
Kumar R/o-G-404,Aditya Urban
Casa,Sector-78,
Noida(U.P.),have changed my
Name to Dinesh Aggarwal for
all future purposes.
0040546686-3
I, Gitanjli Negi,W/o Rahul
Kumar,R/o-Flat.No.2151,
Sector-D, Pocket-2,
VasantKunj, New.Delhi-
110070,have changed my
name,from Geetanjali Negi to
Gitanjli Negi for all,future
purposes. 0040546704-1
I, HASHIM SIDDIQUI S/O
NIZAMUDDIN SIDDIQUI R/O-
281 KHUREJI KHAS DELHI-
51,HAVE CHANGED MY NAME
TO HASHIM KHAN.
0040546702-5
I, JITENDER KUMAR,S/O
NARINDER KUMAR, H.NO827,
FIRST FLOOR SECTOR-3
FARIDABAD-121004,HARYANA,
changed my name to JITENDER
KHARBANDA, permanently.
0040546716-1
I, KRITIKA KHANNA,D/O
MANISH S KUMAR R/O-À-
19/20 DOUBLE-STORY MALKA-
GANJ DELHI-110007,have
changed my name KRITIKA N
KHANNA, for all purpose.
0040546702-7
I, Kallan Khan S/o Ramjani R/o-
4/402,Jamalpur, PS-Civil Line,
Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh,have
changed my name to Karua
Khan. 0040546704-5
My correct D.O.B. is 15.03.1979
instead of 16.08.1976 as
wrongly-mentioned in my ESI
card.Kiran,W/o Kanhaiyalal, E-
229, Madipur, J.J.Colony,Delhi-
63.
0040546702-2
I Ranganath Ramkrishna Joshi
S/O, Ramkrishna Joshi R/o
19/259 Arjan Vihar Delhi Cantt
New Delhi have changed my
name to Ranganath Joshi for
all purposes. 0040546625-1
I, Sandeep Paul,S/o
Shri.Surinder Paul,
H.No.109,Sainik Enclave, Vipin
Garden,Uttam Nagar, Delhi-
110059,have changed my
name to Sandeep Pal.
0040546702-9
I, Raveena Jugesh D/O Jugesh
Pal Singh born on 17th July,
1993 residing at C-157,second
floor, Sarvodaya Enclave New
Delhi-110017, have changed
my name to Raveena Singh
vide affidavit dated 27th
August 2020 at National
Capital Territory of Delhi, India
0050168343-1
I, Rajput Pratima Ramachalsinh
W/o Manoj Kumar Singh R/o-B-
225/13A,Street No.7,Ashok
Nagar, Shahdara,Delhi-
110093.have changed my
name to Pratima.
0040546704-3
I, Raheesh babu S/O Bela
pehalwan H.no.1146 gali.no.37
jafrabad delhi 110053,
changed my name to rahees
babu. 0040546702-3
I, Pawan Kumar,S/o Sh.Krishan
Dev,H.No 341, Pocket-B-9,
Sector-3, Rohini,Delhi-
110085,have changed my
name to Pawan Kumar Verma.
0040546702-1
I, Pankaj s/o Atma Ram r/o 112,
Block-E, Shyam Vihar Phase-1,
Najafgarh, Delhi-110043 have
changed my name to PANKAJ
THAKUR. 0040546667-1
I, Manoj Kumar S/o Hawaldar
Singh R/o-B-225/13A, Street
No.7, Ashok Nagar,Shahdara,
Delhi-110093.have changed
my name to Manoj Kumar
Singh. 0040546704-2
I, Madhvi Tyagi, W/o Late Sh.
Ashok Tyagi R/o 120/12A, Gali
No.10, Ashok Nagar Shahdara,
Delhi-110032, do hereby
declare that my actual name is
Madhvi Tyagi instead of
Madhiv Tyagi as wrongly
written/typed in my 12th Class
School Certificate. I should be
known as Madhvi Tyagi for all
future purpose.
0040546664-1
I, Kanwaljeet Kaur,W/o
Jeevanjot Singh R/o-18,
Gurdwara Staff-Qtrs, Mata
Sundri-Road, Delhi-110002.
have changed my name to
Kanwaljit Kaur.
0040546704-4
I,Manish S Kumar,S/o-Jagadish
S Kumar,Residing at-A-
19/20,Double-Story,Malka-
Ganj,Delhi-110007,have
changed the name of my
minor Son GARVIT Khanna
aged 15-years to GARRVIT
KHNNA,for all,purposes.
0040546702-6
LOST & FOUND
I Padam Sain Bansal, S/o. Shri
Faquir Chand Bansal R/o. Flat
no.198, Pocket-7, Sector-23,
Rohini, Delhi. I have lost the
original Demand cum
Allotment letter and original
Bank Challan’s issued by DDA
for the above mentioned
property address.
0040546668-1
It is notified for the information
that my Original Qualifying
Passing Marksheet &
Certificate issued by CBSE,
Secondary Examination & Sr.
Secondary Examination of
10th Roll No.6313996 Year 2006
& 12th Roll No.6604397 Year
2008 has lost. Brahamjeet
Singh Savita R/o C-91/A, Gali
No.9, Gamri Extension, Delhi-
110053. Mob.: 7210220062
0040546645-1
I, Varun Jawa S/o Satish Jawa R/o-
29/1, Ward.No.1, Mehrauli, New
Delhi-30,have lost Stamp Duty
Paper for property 1043/D, 12A,
Ward-8, INDL 79906121832998N.If
found pls contact:9711336005.
0040529929-5
EDUCATIONAL
NEET 2020 physics predicted
questions: Just solve these and
sit in exam. Don’t delay.
tkgphysicsacademy.
email:gtkphy2019@gmail.com.
whatsapp:+919836767097
0050168161-3
PROPERTY FOR SALE
HN. 43 BLK- E St.No. 3 Dayal pur
Extn. Delhi - 110094 Price - 35
lacs* Price will be changable.
Sold by - Gayatri Devi M. No.
7701970930 0050167659-1
PUBLIC NOTICE
PUBLIC NOTICE
PUBLIC NOTICE
THIS IS TO INFORM YOU ALL THAT MY
CLIENT SMT. URMILA GUPTA W/O LATE
SH. JAI BHAGWAN GUPTA, R/O H. NO.
32-U.A. (6015) JAWAHAR NAGAR,
NORTH DELHI, DELHI- 110007, HAS
DISOWNED HER SON SH. ANAD GUPTA
S/O LATE SH. JAI BHAGWAN GUPTA
AND SMT. URMILA GUPTA, AT PRESENT
R/O H. NO. 32-U.A. (6015) JAWAHAR
NAGAR, NORTH DELHI, DELHI- 110007,
FROM HER ALL MOVABLE AND
IMMOVABLE PROPERTIES AND HAS
SEVERED ALL SORTS OF
RELATIONSHIP FOR ALL PURPOSES
AND INTENT AND IF ANYBODY DEALS
WITH HIM AND HIS FAMILY, HE SHALL BE
DOING IT AT HIS OWN RISK, COST AND
CONSEQUENCES AND MY CLIENT
SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY
ACTS OR DEEDS OF HER ABOVE
NAMED SH. ANAD GUPTA OR HIS WIFE,
IN ANY MANNER, WHATSOEVER.
Sd/- PANCHAM KUMAR JHA (Advocate)
Ch. No. 597-A2, Western Wing, Tis
Hazari Courts, Delhi-54
PUBLIC NOTICE
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G.S.SINGH (Advocate)
A-108-A, Bhagwati Garden Extn.,
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any manner whatsoever.
remain the same.
Prospective bidders may visit HSIIDC’s Website at www.hsi-
idc.org.in and also e-Auction Portal: http://hsiidc.bidx.in.
Haryana State Industrial and
Infrastructure Dev. Corpn. Ltd.
A State Government Undertaking
Regd. Office: C-13 & 14, Sector-6, Panchkula. Ph.: 0172-2567103, 2590481-83
Fax: 2590474, E-mail: contactus@hsiidc.org.in , Website: hsiidc.org.in
82524/HRY
CIN: U29199HR1967SGC034545
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D/838/2007
PUBLIC NOTICE
For and on behalf of my clients Kishore
Kumar Dua and Dalip Kumar Dua
both S/o Kundan Lal Dua both R/o
UP-43, Pitam Pura, Delhi-34, I,
Surender Kumar (Advocate) serve this
public notice that my clients has pub-
lished an article for lost of property doc-
uments of Property Bering No. BE-
266, 60 Sq.Yds., Khasra No. 1907,
area of Village Tehar, Hari Nagar,
Delhi-110064 in JANSATTA & INDIAN
EXPRESS on dt. 09.07.2020, in the
above publication area of the property is
wrongly mentioned as 60 sq.mtrs.
instead of 60 sq.yds. In actually the area
of the said property is 60 sq.yds., so in
the said publication area shall be read
as 60 sq.yds.
SURENDER KUMAR (Advocate)
Shop No. Ru-6, Pitampura, Delhi.
RECRUITMENT
SITUATION VACANT
OTHERS
government of india
department of Atomic energy
Bhabha Atomic research Centre, mysore
Corrigendum-1
With reference to the below tender, please note the extension of
dates in tender sale period, submission etc.
Tender Reference No. BARC/SMF/CFMF/EPC/2020/1
Name of work Expression of Interest Cum pre qualification
for setting up of Polymerization, Utility,
HVAC, ETP and other associated systems
of Process Facility at SMF project site,
Challakere, Chitradurga Dt, karnataka
Tender Sale Period Tender sale period is extended up to
14.09.2020 (15:00 Hrs.) on website
www.tenderwizard.com/DAE.
For other changes in dates of pre bid clarifications, Last date and time
of closing of online submission of tenders, Last date for submission
of original documents towards Receipt of e-payment towards
Tender Processing Fee and EMD, Date and time of online opening
of EoI tender etc, please download the corrigendum documents in
website www.tenderwizard.com/dae under this tender.
Chief Engineer
For & on behalf of President of India
GREETINGS

I,Vishav Mohan S/O Sh.Suraj
Bhan,R/O C-9,Rajdhanipark
Nangloi, Delhi-110041,have
This is to inform you that my client
Ms. Bhavna Seth D/o Late Shri
Bharat Bhushan Seth R/o B-50, 3rd
Floor, Krishan Kunj Part 2, Lakshmi
PRESENT OWNER AND THE MEMBER OF VEER PURU
CGHS LTD., SECTOR-13, ROHINI, DELHI, DECLARE
THE LOST OF ORIGINAL SHARE CERTIFICATE ISSUED
BY VEER PURU CGHS LTD., SECTOR-13, ROHINI,
DELHI, MEMBERSHIP NO. 394 HAVING ONE SHARE OF
RS. 100/- ISSUED UNDER THE SEAL OF THE SOCIETY
ON 25TH JUNE 1987 AND DID NOT FOUND IN SPITE OF

changed my name is Viswa
Mohan,for all purpose.
Nagar, Delhi-110092 wants to certify/
inform through this public notice that
my client’s father got expired on
HIS/HER/THEIR ALL SINCERE EFFORTS.
IT IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT ANY PERSON OR
ENTITY FIRM/COMPANY, BANK, FINANCIAL
INSTITUTION HAVING CLAIM ANY CHARGE, INTEREST
OR LIEN OR CLAIM OR POSSESSION OR CUSTODY OF

0040546702-8 01/02/2018 so, my client or other ORIGINAL SHARE CERTIFICATE OR OTHERWISE

I, Umesh Kumar Tiwari S/o
Umakant Tiwari R/o-RZC-99,
Nihal Vihar,Nangloi West-
AND/OR OBJECTION TO THE
legal heirs of Late Shri Bharat EQUITABLE/REGISTERED MORTGAGE WITH STATE
BANK OF INDIA THEREOF HE/SHE/THEY MAY
Bhushan Seth are not responsible LODGE/NOTIFY THE SAME TO THE UNDERSIGNED
WITH THE DOCUMENTARY PROOF/COURT
for any kind of loan, debts, assets
and any transaction of movable or
JUDGEMENT/DECREE WITHIN 15 DAYS FROM THE
DATE OF PUBLICATION, FAILING WHICH THE
immovable properties done on
TITLE/SALE DEED EXECUTED IN FAVOUR OF MR.
NEERAJ KUMAR & SONAM SOTA SHALL BE DEEMED

Delhi-110041, wish to changed behalf of Late Shri Bharat Bhushan

TO BE CLEAR AND MARKETABLE WITHOUT ANY
DEFECT, ENCUMBRANCE, FLAW AND IMPEDIMENT

my name,from Umesh Kumar Seth by forged signature or by any
other means after 01/02/2018.
Tiwari to Ravi Tiwari in my,all Sd/- SHIVALI DHINGRA
Documents. ADVOCATE
(E. No.- D/3445/2016)
0040546712-2 R/c C-2, Press Apartment
23, I.P. Extension, Delhi-110092
AND MY CLIENTS IS/ARE FREE TO CREATE
EQUITABLE/REGISTERED MORTGAGE BY DEPOSIT
OF CHAIN OF AVAILABLE TITLE DOCUMENTS AND
DUPLICATE SHARE CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY VEER
PURU CGHS LTD., SECTOR-13, ROHINI, DELHI TO MR.
SATISH AGGARWAL WITH ANY PERSON/FIRM,
COMPANY, FINANCIAL INSTITUTION/BANK.
Sd/- RENU BALA
(ADVOCATE)
ENRL. NO. D-4533/2014.
SHOP. NO. 9, RU-BLOCK, DDA. MKT.
PITAMPURA, DELHI-34

New Delhi

11 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
In Agra, three of
family strangled
to death, set on
fire in their City has maximum number of active
home, say police cases in country, admn to concentrate
AMIL BHATNAGAR
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
THREE MEMBERS of a family
werestrangledtodeathandseton
fire in their home in Agra’s Nagla
Kishan Lal village sometime late
Sunday night, the police said.
Thepolicerecoveredcharred
bodies of Ramveer (57), Meera
(55), and Bablu (23) on Monday.
The accused are absconding,
andthepolicesuspectanalleged
financial dispute could be the
motivebehindthetriple-murder.
The victims’ hands had been
tiedupandtheirmouthshadbeen
taped, the police said. The gas
cylinder in the kitchen had been
leftopen,theysaid.Thebodieshad
sustainedburnsonhandsandlegs
andwerekeptnexttoeachother.
Agra’s Senior Superintendent
of Police Bablu Kumar said: “We
received information from local
residentsearly(Monday)morning
about the bodies in a house. We
foundthebodiesinacharredstate
anditappearsthecrimehadtaken
placesometimeduringthenight.”
Kumar said the police are
workingontwoanglesatpresent.
“Thefamilyhadborrowedmoney
fromanotherpersonandwasun-
abletoreturnit.Theotheraspectis
a burglary gone wrong which, at
thispoint,seemslesslikely.Weare
workingonthefirstangleandthe
casewillbecrackedsoon,”hesaid.
According to police, a retired
soldier had given the family Rs
12 lakh against a promise for a
job, and they had apparently
been unable to repay it.
Ramveerranagroceryshopin
Naglaareaforthelastmorethana
decade. Ramveer and his family
were last seen by neighbours re-
turninghomepast10pmSunday.
J&K Police: Plan
to revive LeT in
Reasi busted
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, AUGUST 31
THEJAMMU andKashmir Police
on Monday arrested three peo-
ple, including a government
school teacher, from Reasi dis-
trict and said that it has busted a
majorLashkar-e-Taiba(LeT)plan
to revive militancy in the dis-
trict’s Mahore area.
Police identified the arrested
asschoolteacherGhulamHussain,
Abdul Aziz and Ashfaq Ahmed —
all residents of Mahore tehsil —
and said that they were in touch
withLeT’sPakistan-basedhandler
Mohammad Qasim.
The three arrested had been
receiving funds from their han-
dler in Pakistan, police said,
adding that some benami trans-
actions in different bank ac-
counts have also been detected.
Thepolicealsosaidthattheyhad
identified some families of slain
militants who received financial
aid from Pakistan’s Inter-
Services Intelligence (ISI).
Qasim, a resident of Mahore,
hadcrossedovertoPakistanoccu-
piedKashmir(PoK)in2002,asen-
ior police officer said, adding that
the involvement of some more
suspectshasbeenfoundduringin-
vestigationswhichareinprogress,
andthatmorearrestswerelikely.
SC rejects Mallya
plea against 2017
contempt ruling
NewDelhi:TheSupremeCourton
Monday dismissed the petition
filedbybusinessmanVijayMallya
seekingreviewofitsMay2017rul-
ingholdinghimguiltyofcontempt
of court for not disclosing the re-
ceiptof $40millioninhisaccount
andtransferringittohischildren.
A bench of Justices U U Lalit
andAshokBhushanaskedhimto
appearbeforeitonOctober5at2
pm and directed the Ministry of
HomeAffairs“tofacilitateanden-
sure” his “presence” before it.
Thetopcourt,initsMay9,2017
order, held Mallya guilty of con-
tempt on two counts — for dis-
obeying its order asking him to
fully disclose his assets and for vi-
olating the Karnataka High Court
orderrestraininghimfromalienat-
ing his assets. The SC found that
he had not revealed the receipt
of $40 million and in violation of
the HC’s order, had transferred
the amount to his children. ENS
Pune overtakes Delhi in Covid count
on bringing down mortality rate
AJAY JADHAV
PUNE, AUGUST 31
WITH 1,931 fresh coronavirus
cases on Monday, Pune has now
overtaken Delhi to become the
city with the highest number
people infected with the virus.
Monday’s addition took Pune’s
total infections to175,105, ahead
of Delhi’s 174,748, as per figures
from the Maharashtra Public
HealthdepartmenttillAugust31.
Pune already had the maxi-
mum number of active cases in
the country. It currently has
52,172 patients, much higher
than approximately 20,000 in
Mumbai and 15,000 in Delhi. A
total of 4,069 patients have suc-
cumedtothevirusinthedistrict.
The Pune district administra-
tion has been struggling to check
the spread of Covid-19.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit
Pawar, who is also the guardian
minister of the district, has been
takingaweeklyreviewof thesit-
uation, while Chief Minister
UddhavThackerayhadtopullup
the administration to check the
spreadof infectioninthedistrict.
The administrative heads of
Pune divisional commissioner,
Pune district collectorate and
Pune Municipal Corporation
(PMC) have changed in between
due to various reasons.
The PMC has been the most
affected of the civic bodies in the
district followed by neighbour-
ing Pimpri-Chinchwad
Municipal Corporation (PCMC)
where the infection spread was
slow in the beginning.
The PMC has been able to
bring control on the number of
active cases as more patients
were being cured but numbers
of new patient continue to re-
main over 1,000 mark per day.
Despite Centre directive, Bengal 4 killed as car hits pedestrians
to continue biweekly lockdown at Mumbai’s Crawford Market
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, AUGUST 31
THE WEST Bengal government
on Monday said the dates of
statewide lockdown in
September would remain un-
changed and it would go ahead
with imposing curbs on
September 7, 11 and 12 as part of
itsstrategyofbiweeklylockdown
tocontainthespreadof Covid-19.
The state government had
announced the dates earlier, but
in its recent Unlock 4 guidelines
the Centre made it clear that
states cannot enforce local lock-
down outside containment
zones without consulting it.
In the guidelines, published
on August 29, the Centre said,
“State or UT governments shall
not impose any local lockdown
(state/district/sub-division/city
level), outside the containment
zones,withoutpriorconsultation
with the central government.”
In its notification, the state
said, “In consideration of the cur-
rentCovid-19situation,lockdown
in the containment zones stands
extended up to September 30. In
addition, as already announced,
statewide complete lockdown
shall be observed on Monday
September7,FridaySeptember11
and Saturday September 12.”
Karnataka and Goa
allow bars to reopen
Bengaluru, Panaji: Bars will re-
open in Karnataka and Goa from
September 1.
Announcing the decision,
Goa CM Pramod Sawant said
that social distancing will be
compulsory. Meanwhile, the
Karnataka government issued
an order for reopening of bars
and pubs at 50 per cent capacity.
Thiswillbethefirsttimebars
willbeallowedtoopensincethe
nationwidelockdownwasputin
place in March.
“Barswillbeopenedfromto-
morrow (Tuesday). I repeat, so-
cial distancing will be compul-
sory,” Sawant said while
speaking to reporters here.
Other public places are also
On the other hand, the count of
active cases in PCMC and Pune
rural has seen rise in the district
in this month.
“As per the infection trend,
PMC is two weeks ahead of
PCMC while the Pune rural is
two weeks behind PCMC,”
Divisional Commissioner
Saurabh Rao recently said while
analyzing the trend of pandemic
in the district.
The administration has been
attributing the surge in patients
in the district to increased tast-
ing. “The scaling of testing has
been done in PMC, PCMC and
Pune rural by procuring two
lakh, one lakh and 50,000 rapid
antigen kits. The more the test-
ing the faster it would help in
identifying infected persons so
that they would be given treat-
ment and put in isolation to fur-
ther check the spread of the in-
fection,” he said.
It also put the health infra-
structureonstrainandtheauthor-
ities had to decide that the mild
symptom or asymptomatic pa-
tientbekeptinhomeisolationin-
steadofhospitalizationtoaccom-
modatethecriticalpatientswhich
have been rise in the district.
The state government had to
setup two jumbo Covid19 treat-
ment facility to treat 1,600 criti-
cal patients, including provision
of 400 ICU beds. Both the facili-
ties were started in last week
along with additional facilities
forcriticalpatientssetupbyPMC
and PCMC.
Now, the focus of administra-
tion is more concentrated on re-
ducingthemortalityratewhichis
hovering around 2.40 per cent.
The option of plasma therapy is
being pushed by encouraging
cured patients to donate the
plasma to treat the critical
patients.
A deserted Howrah Bridge on Monday. Partha Paul
Punjab to continue weekend,
night curfew till Sept 30
KANCHAN VASDEV
CHANDIGARH, AUGUST 31
THE PUNJAB government said
Moday the weekend and night
curfewsimposedinthestatewill
continue in all 167 cities in the
state till September 30. The state
government’sfreshorderstothis
effect came as Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh refused to re-
lentonhisstandagainstfullyim-
plementing the Centre’s Unlock
4.0 guidelines that direct states
not to impose any lockdowns.
STATES RELAX CURBS
opening in the state, including
public places of worship. Mosq-
ues have decided to reopen on
September1,withAssociationof
All Goa Muslim Jamaats appeal-
ing to worshippers to maintain
strict social distancing.
In Karnataka, all licensed
liquor vendors including bars,
pubs and microbreweries can
sell liquor along with food with
“up to 50 percent seating capac-
ity”, the state excise department
saidin ordersissuedon Monday.
The state government had in
June allowed bars and pubs to
sell liquor stocks to buyers at re-
tail prices whilemicrobreweries
were allowed to sell beer on
takeaway basis. ENS
TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE
182 CASES: RECOVERED: 27,74,801
36,21,245 DEATHS: 64,469
DAYS SINCE
PANDEMIC
BEGAN TESTS: 4,23,07,914 | DOUBLING RATE: 32.50**
KEYSTATES TOTAL
TOWATCH CASES
■ Maharashtra 7,80,689
■ Tamil Nadu 4,22,085
■ Andhra 4,24,767
■ Karnataka 3,35,928
■ Uttar Pradesh 2,25,632
* Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last 7 days
CASE FATALITY RATIO POSITIVITY RATE
7 DAYS EARLIER: 7 DAYS EARLIER:
1.85
NOW:
1.78
Deaths as a ratio of Positives against
positive cases (in %); number tested
indicator of progress (in %); indicator of
in averting deaths the spread of disease
DataasonAugust30,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers
includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive
Pune mayor Murlidhar Mohol, who recovered from Covid-19
in July, gets his blood tested before donating plasma for the
treatment of critical coronavirus patients. Pavan Khengre
AsPunjabwrotetotheUnion
government on the matter
Monday, a state government
spokesperson, quoting the CM,
saidthatthedecisiontocontinue
with additional restrictions has
been taken in consultation with
the Centre. He said CrPC Section
144 banning all social, political,
religious gatherings, protests
and demonstrations will con-
tinue to remain in force.
After Centre’s guidelines,
neighbouring Chandigarh and
Haryana had lifted the
lockdowns.
Maharashtra:
More can go to
offices, hotels
Mumbai:FromSeptember2,pri-
vate offices in Maharashtra will
be permitted to operate with 30
per cent strength as against the
10 per cent allowed previously.
Anticipating more people
outdoors, the government has
permitted “passenger move-
ment by private buses and mini
busesforwhichthetransportde-
partmentwillissueindependent
SOPs”. All curbs on inter-district
travelhavebeenlifted. Taxisand
carscannowcarrythreepassen-
gers plus driver instead of the
earliertwopassengersanddriver.
Hotels and lodges, which re-
opened on July 6 with 33 per
cent capacity, can run at full ca-
pacity. ENS
SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING
24HOURS GROWTH* TIME**
16,408 1.94% 37.09
6,495 1.54% 46.90
10,603 2.67% 26.92
8,852 2.75% 26.18
6,175 2.66% 27.09
** Calculated over 7-day growth
DAILY IN, DAILY OUT
DETECTED TODAY
8.65 78,512
NOW: RECOVERED TODAY:
8.56 60,868
Becoming sick vs
recovering; more
recoveries for 14 days
may signal the peak
SAGAR RAJPUT
MUMBAI, AUGUST 31
FOUR PEOPLE were killed and
four others were critically in-
jured after a car ran into pedes-
trians before smashing into the
wall of Cafe Janata at Crawford
Market in Mumbai late Monday.
Themandrivingthecaralsosus-
tained injuries in the incident.
Thedeceasedwereidentified
as Saroja Naidu (65), Zubeda
Abdul Khan (60), SairaBanu (60)
and Mohamed Naeem (55).
The four injured, along with
the driver of the car, Sameer
Diggy, are under treatment at JJ
hospital.
Asad Qureshi, a passerby,
said that after 9 pm, he saw a car
beingdrivenatahighspeed first
hitting Saira Banu and then
Saroja Naidu.
“The car was at such a speed
that it dragged the two women
till Cafe Janata and there it
smashed into the wall,” Qureshi
said. The car jumped on to the
footpathbeforecrashingintothe
restaurant’s wall. The impact
wassostrongthattheentirewall
collapsed.
According to eyewitnesses,
Zubeda Abdul Khan was having
a cup of tea at a shop when she
was hit as the car mounted the
Kabaddi player shot dead in
Punjab, 5 cops among 6 held
KAMALDEEP SINGH BRAR
AMRITSAR, AUGUST 31
A 28-YEAR-OLD kabbadi player
wasshotdeadbysixassailants—
fivepolicemenandacivilian—at
Bhagwanpur village in Punjab’s
Batala on Sunday evening.
Gurmej Singh was the son of
former Akali sarpanch Amrik
Singh.Batalapoliceclaimeditwas
acaseofroadrageandtheaccused
were drunk. His family however
said it was a “pre-planned mur-
der due to old rivalry”.
Amritsar traffic police ASIs
Ranjit Singh and Baljit Singh,
head constables Avtar Singh and
BalkarSinghandSurinderSingh,
a security personnel deployed
with the Punjab CM’s security,
In Rajkot, govt blames
disparity in hospital,
official figures on
‘non-corona deaths’
GOPAL KATESHIYA
RAJKOT, AUGUST 31
RAJKOT HAS been reporting a
steadyriseinCovid-19caseseven
as Gujarat Principal Secretary
(Health) Jayanti Ravi attributed
the huge disparity in the official
number of deaths due to Covid-
19 and total number of patients
who died in Covid hospitals in
the city, to non-Covid deaths at
designated Covid hospitals.
The Gujarat government has
moved in a team of 15 doctors
from other cities to Rajkot after
the district reported nearly 100
cases per day in the past week.
Ravi who was in Rajkot on
Monday, said, “Everyone whose
last rites are performed as per
Covid protocol may not have
died due to Covid-19. There
could be suspected cases but
theymaynotbeconfirmedcases
of Covid-19.”
She was responding to a
question from journalists over
disparity in the official figures of
deaths due to Covid-19 and
number of persons being cre-
mated or buried as per Covid-19
protocol in the city.
According to daily bulletins
putoutbytheofficeof theRajkot
chief district health officer
(CDHO), there have been 308
deaths in dedicated Covid hos-
pitalsinRajkotdistrictsinceJune,
when the district reported its
first death, while the state bul-
letin reflects only 89 deaths.
According to the data, 65
people died in Covid hospitals in
Rajkotdistrict,includingthemu-
Police said the man driving the car had been booked in
another accident case three months ago. Express
pavement. Mohammed Naeem
was walking on the pavement
when he was hit.
A Cafe Janata employee said,
“I rushed outside when I saw
that some debris of the building
had fallen and people had gath-
ered around the car.”
At the time of going to press,
the Pydhonie police was in
process of registering a case
against Diggy. The police said
that three months ago, he had
been booked in another car ac-
cident case. “He rammed into a
truck then but there were no ca-
sualties,” said a police officer.
and civilian Simrat Singh were
booked under IPC Sections 302
(murder), 148 (rioting, armed
with deadly weapon), 149 (un-
lawful assembly) and 25, 54, 59
of the Arms Act.
“The accused had two cars...
They all were drunk. Excise
Inspector Amarit Kaur was driv-
ingaheadoftheaccused.Shewas
goingtohervillageBhagwanpur
and the road was narrow.
Accusedwantedhertogivethem
way. As soon as she entered
Bhagwanpur, the accused
stopped their car and got out.
They started attacking her car.
SomevillagersaswellasGurmej
rushed to the spot. Amarit Kaur
is the wife of Gurmej’s cousin.
There was some alteration be-
tween the accused and Gurmej,
New Delhi
nicipal corporation area.
In August, 234 patients died
in Covid-19 hospitals in Rajkot
district. The state bulletin till
Sunday showed only 89 deaths
as due to Covid-19 in the district.
On Sunday, the Rajkot CDHO
bulletin showed eight deaths at
Covid hospitals, while the state
bulletin showed no deaths from
the district for the day.
Monday’s state bulletin
showed three deaths for Rajkot
district of which one was of the
RMC limit, while the CDHO bul-
letin showed four deaths for
Rajkot district of which RMC re-
ported three.
Phonecalls to local healthof-
ficers and Rajkot district collec-
tor to seek comment on this dis-
parityinfiguresof deathsdidnot
elicit any response on Monday.
However,Ravisaid: “Thegov-
ernmentisconcernedandtaking
steps... Despite no treatment
available for this novel disease,
Gujarathasdonewellincontain-
ing it. Every life matters and the
government is doing its best.”
She added that Gujarat was
the first state to make
Tocilizumab injections available
free of cost to critical patients in
governmenthospitals.“Thegov-
ernment's efforts are directed to
prevent any loss of life due to
Covid-19,” she said.
The Rajkot Municipal
CorporationareaandRajkotrural
have witnessed a sharp rise in
Covid-19 cases since July. As of
Monday,thetotalnumberofcases
stood at 3,061 and 1,527 respec-
tively. These figures were 1,173
and 659 respectively on July 31.
Among the injured are
Nadeem Ansari (40), Kamlesh
Singh (18), Mustakeen Shah and
Mohammed Hanif Jailnul (41).
Jainul, who works at Cafe Janata,
was standing on the footpath
when the car hit him, said his
colleagues.
MustakeenShah,whoworks
at Crawford market, said: “I was
heading home along with my
brother when a car suddenly
came from behind and hit me. I
wasthrownafewmetersandfell
unconscious.Mybrotherrushed
me to JJ hospital where I re-
gained consciousness.”
and then Baljit Singh fired a shot
with his licensed pistol. Gurmej
died on the spot. We arrested all
accused,”saidSSPBatalaRachpal
Singh.
However Gurmej’s father
Amrik Singh, in his statement to
thepolice,said,“MysonandIhad
gonetoBatalaafewmonthsback
when we had an accident with a
bike. The bike belonged to Balkar
Singh. We had a small alteration
aftertheaccident.Theaccusedat-
tacked us to take revenge.”
This is the second time in the
last four months that a kabaddi
player has been murdered with
the accused being a policeman.
On May 9, ASI Paramjit Singh
had allegedly shot dead kabbadi
playerArvinderJeetSinghPadda
in Kapurthala.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
2 DYFI workers
killed in Kerala;
CPM blames
Cong, oppn
party denies role
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
AUGUST 31
TWO WORKERS of DYFI, the
youth wing of CPI(M), were
killed at Venjaramoodu, in
Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram
district, late Sunday night, with
CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri
Balakrishnan alleging a conspir-
acy of top Congress leaders be-
hind the murders.
TheCongressdeniedinvolve-
ment in the crime.
The police identified the vic-
tims as Mithilaj, 30, and Haq
Muhammed, 24. While Mithilaj
died on the spot, Haq suc-
cumbed while being taken to
hospital, the police said.
According to police, CCTV
footage of the incident showed
twogroupsclashingatajunction
in the town late at night, and the
DYFI men were hacked with
swords. The police said they are
investigating to ascertain
whether it was a political mur-
der or one triggered by group
rivalry.
WhiletheCPI(M)blamedthe
opposition party for resorting to
politics of violence and murder
in Kerala, state Congress chief
Mullappally Ramachandran
claimed that the killings were
the fallout of “gang rivalry”. The
Congress, he said, does not sup-
port political violence and if
Congressmenareinvolvedinthe
crime, they would not be given
any support from the party.
“The CPI(M) is accusing the
Congress to divert public atten-
tion from controversies and
scandals involving the govern-
ment,” Ramachandran main-
tained.
The CPI(M) said a black day
would be observed on
September 2 at all branches of
the party to protest the killings.
SNC-Lavalin: SC
to hear CBI plea
against Pinarayi
discharge from
September 21
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
THE SUPREME Court is likely to
take up CBI's appeal against the
Kerala High Court order that up-
held Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan’s discharge in the multi-
croreSNC-Lavalingraftcaseinthe
week beginning September 21.
On Monday, the appeal,
alongwithrelatedpleasbysome
of the accused in the case, came
up before a bench of Justices U U
Lalit and Vineet Saran, which re-
turned it to thebench headed by
Justice N V Ramana, which had
been hearing it so far.
Although the matter was be-
ing considered by the bench of
JusticeRamana,itwasonMonday
listed before the bench led by
JusticeLalit,whichwonderedhow
it had happened. Although the
counselappearingforVijayansaid
he had no problem if the bench
hearsit,JusticeLalitobservedithas
tobeheardbytheotherbench.
AppearingforCBI,Additional
Solicitor General Madhavi Divan
urgedthecourttogiveadate,fol-
lowing which the bench said it
will be listed in the week start-
ing September 21.
The CBI's appeal challenges
the Kerala HC’s August 2017 de-
cision by which it upheld a trial
court order discharging Vijayan
in the case, which had set off a
political storm in the state.
Vijayan had denied the alle-
gations and maintained that the
case was “politically motivated”.
The case relates to award of
contractsforrenovationandmod-
ernisationofthreehydroelectricity
projects to Canadian firm SNC-
Lavalinin1995,whenVijayanwas
the state electricity minister. An
audit by the Principal Accountant
General of Audit in Kerala later
pegged the loss to the exchequer
duetothedealatoverRs350crore.
On November 5, 2013, a CBI
court in Thiruvananthapuram
dischargedVijayan andsixother
accused. The CBI had then ap-
proached the HC, which upheld
thedischargeof Vijayanandtwo
others. The HC set aside the dis-
charge of three other accused
anddirectedthatthecaseagainst
them be revived in trial court.
 E EXPLAINED
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

12
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 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

–23.9%: the economics behind the math

Demand from individual citizens and private businesses plummeted in Q1, increase in government’s demand made up for just 6% of this fall

UDIT MISRA & NUSHAIBA IQBAL

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 31
CHART 1: INDIA’S GDP STORY SINCE ECONOMIC LIBERALISATION
From average growth of 7% to contraction of 7%
ALTHOUGH MOST people expected India’s
8.8%
GDPtoshowsubstantialcontractionwhenthe 12 7.6%
Ministry of Statistics and Programme 8
Implementation(MoSPI) released the data for 4 4%
the first quarter (April, May, June) of the cur- 1.1%
0
rent financial year on Monday, the broad con-
-4
sensus was that the decline would not exceed Source:McKinseyandExpressResearchGrOup
20%.Asitturnsout,theGDPcontractedby24% -8
Y92
FY93
FY94
FY95
FY96
FY97
FY98
FY99
FY00
FY01
FY02
FY03
FY04
FY05
FY06
FY07
FY08
FY09
FY10
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18
FY19
FY20
FY21
per cent in Q1.
Inotherwords,thetotalvalueof goodsand
services produced in India in April, May and
June this year is 24% less than the total value of CHART 2: PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN KEY INDICATORS
goods and services produced in India in the
same three months last year. Indicator
As Chart 2 bears out, almost all the major Production of coal
indicators of growth in the economy — be it
production of cement or consumption of steel Production of cement
—showdeepcontraction.Eventotaltelephone Consumption of steel
subscribers saw a contraction in this quarter. Total telephone subscribers
What is worse is that, because of the wide-
Commercial vehicle sales
spread lockdowns, the data quality is sub-op-
timal and most observers expect this number Cargo handled at major sea ports
to worsen when it is revised in due course. Cargo handled at airports
Passengers handled at airports
What is biggest implication?
With GDP contracting by more than what Railways, net tonne kilometres
most observers expected, it is now believed Source: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
that the full-year GDP could also worsen. A
fairly conservative estimate would be a con-
traction of 7% for the full financial year.
CHART 3: WITH REFORM, INDIA COULD RELEASE UP TO 3.6% OF GDP
Chart 1 puts this in perspective. Since eco- ON AVERAGE PER YEAR, TO FINANCE ADDITIONAL SPENDING
nomic liberalisation in the early 1990s, Indian
economy has clocked an average of 7% GDP
Potential average annual improvement in
growth each year. This year, it is likely to turn deficit by FY 30 over FY 20 (% of GDP)
turtle and contract by 7%. Efficient subsidy
In terms of the gross value added (a proxy 1.0
and social spend
for production and incomes) by different sec-
SOE privatisation
tors of the economy, data show that barring
agriculture, where GVA grew by 3.4%, all other
sectors of the economy saw their incomes fall. Asset
monetisation
The worst affected were construction
(–50%),trade,hotelsandotherservices(–47%), Tax buoyancy
manufacturing (–39%), and mining (–23%). It
is important to note that these are the sectors
Power-sector
that create the maximum new jobs in the
reforms
country.In ascenariowhereeachof thesesec-
tors is contracting so sharply — that is, their Market-linked
small savings rates
output andincomes arefalling —itwould lead
to more and more people either losing jobs Total annual
(decline in employment) or failing to get one
average savings
(rise in unemployment). Incremental
net spend 2.0
What causes GDP contraction? Why hasn’t
the government been able to curb it?
In any economy, the total demand for
goods and services — that is the GDP — is gen- Financing growth
erated from one of the four engines of growth. -oriented spend
Thebiggestengineisconsumptiondemand
Source: McKinsey
from private individuals like you. Let’s call it C,
CHART 4: ENGINES OF GROWTH FALTER
Sourcesoftotaldemand Q1FY20 Q1FY21 Difference %change
9.8% 10.3% 8.3% 6.8% /enginesofgrowth (Rscrore) (Rscrore) (Rscrore) (yearonyear)
average
Expenditurebyindividual 19,92,967 14,61,164 —5,31,803 —27
consumers[C]
3.8% 3.9% 5.5%
Expenditure/Investment 11,32,195 5,99,192 —5,33,003 —47
byprivatebusinesses[I]
-7% ExpenditurebyGovt[G] 4,18,249 4,86,636 68,387 16
Netdemandfromexports —1,17,242 75,675 1,92,917 165
minusimports
Total(including 35,35,267 26,89,556 —8,45,711 —23.9
discrepancies)
Source: MoSPI and Express Research GrOup
Q1 2019-20 Q1 2020-21
2.6 -15.0
and in the Indian economy, this accounted for other words, government’s spending in-
1.0 -38.3 56.4% of all GDP before this quarter. creasedbutitwassomeagrethatitcouldcover
5.0 -56.8 The second biggest engine is the demand just 6% of the total fall in demand being expe-
1.5 -2.0 generated by private sector businesses. Let’s rienced by people and businesses.
call it I, and this accounted for 32% of all GDP The net result is that while, on paper, gov-
-9.5 -84.8
in India. ernment expenditure’s share in the GDP has
1.7 -19.8 The third engine is the demand for goods gone up from 11% to 18% yet the reality is that
-6.5 -57.2 andservicesgeneratedbythegovernment.Let’s the overall GDP has declined by 24%. It is the
callitG,anditaccountedfor11%of India’sGDP. lower level of absolute GDP that is making the
-0.6 -94.1
The last engine is the net demand on GDP government look like a bigger engine of
0.7 -26.7 afterwesubtractimportsfromIndia’sexports. growth than what it is.
Let’s call it NX. In India’s case, it is the smallest
engineand,sinceIndiatypicallyimportsmore What is the way out?
thanitexports,itseffectisnegativeontheGDP.
So total GDP = C + I + G + NX
When incomes fall sharply, private indi-
viduals cut back consumption. When private
NowlookatChart4.Itshowswhathashap- consumption falls sharply, businesses stop in-
pened to each of the engines in Q1. vesting. Since both of these are voluntary de-
■ Increaseinsavings
Private consumption — the biggest engine cisions, there is no way to force people to
■ Decreaseinsavings driving the Indian economy — has fallen by spend more and/or coerce businesses to in-
Higher subsidy efficiency and 27%. In money terms, the fall is of Rs 5,31,803 vest more in the current scenario.
crore over the same quarter last year. The same logic holds for exports and im-
savings in admin expenses
Thesecondbiggestengine—investmentsby ports as well.
Monetisation of capital owned in
0.7 businesses—hasfallenevenharder—itishalfof Under the circumstances, there is only one
state-owned enterprises
what it was last year same quarter. In money engine that can boost GDP and that is the gov-
Recycling of infrastructure and terms, the contraction is Rs 5,33,003 crore. ernment (G). Only when government spend
0.7 public-sector assets
So the two biggest engines, which ac- more — either by building roads and bridges
Higher tax collection driven by high- counted for over 88% of Indian total GDP, Q1 and paying salaries or by directly handing out
0.6 growth scenario, simplified GST saw a massive contraction. money — can the economy revive in the short
Cost-reflective tariffs, with targeted The NX or the net export demand has to medium term. If the government does not
0.3 subsidies to agri, household segment turned positive in this Q1 because India’s im- spend adequately enough then the economy
ports have crashed more than its exports. will take a long time to recover.
Market-linked interest rates for While on paper, this provides a boost to over-
0.3 small savings schemes and PPF
all GDP, it also points to an economy where What is holding back the government
economic activity has plummeted. from spending more?
0.3 3.6 That brings us to the last engine of growth Even before the Covid crisis, government
—thegovernment.Asthedatashows,govern- finances wereoverextended.Inotherwords,it
Higher interest expenses due to ment’s expenditure went up by 16% but this was not only borrowing but borrowing more
increased short-term borrowing,
was nowhere near enough to compensate for than what it should have. As a result, today it
payment of government dues, the loss of demand (power) in other sectors doesn’t have as much money.
Covid-19 fiscal package, etc (engines) of the economy. It will have to think of some innovative so-
Increased public infrastructure Looking at the absolute numbers gives a lutions to generate resources. Chart 4 by
1.7 spend (including on healthcare) clearer picture. When the demand from C and McKinsey Global Institute provides ways in
I fell by Rs 10,64,803 crore, the government’s which an additional 3.5 per cent of the GDP
spending increased by just Rs 68,387 crore. In can be raised by the government.

CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD
C VID-19 VACCINE TRACKER Importance of Pangong’s south bank
US FDA says could approve KRISHNKAUSHIK LATEST INCIDENT TOOK PLACE ON SOUTHERN BANK OF PANGONG TSO; LAC PASSES THROUGH LAKE
vaccine before phase 3 trial NEWDELHI,AUGUST31

ON SATURDAY night, the Indian Army LADAKH

RAISING THE possibility of the most comprehensive stage of testing thwarted an attempt by China to change the
United States getting a novel coron- of a vaccine. statusquoneartheLineofActualControl(LAC)
JAMMU&
KASHMIR

avirus vaccine this year itself, the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
the country’s drug regulator, has said
it could consider emergency autho-
risation to a vaccine before
the completion of phase-3
human trials.
In an interview to the
Financial Times newspaper
in London, FDA commis-
sioner Dr Stephen Hahn
said it was up to the vaccine
developers to apply for approval be-
fore phase-3 trials were over.
But in case some developer did
apply, FDA would consider it, and not
reject it for not having completed
phase-3 trials, which is the last and
INDIA ACTIVE CASES
800,000
697,330
700,000
LAST 10 DAYS
Aug 21
600,000
Note:The August 30 figure in this graph is based on government update on August 31
INDIA TOTAL CASES
3,621,245
Source:MinistryofHealthandFamily
Welfare,updatedat11pmonAugust31
“We may find that (application)
appropriate. We may find that inap-
propriate. We will make a determi-
nation,” Hahn said.
But he said the decision
would be based on science
and data and not on politi-
cal considerations. “This is
going to be a science, med-
icine, data decision. This is
not going to be a political
decision,” he said.
Hahn also said that if the emer-
gency use authorisation was indeed
giventoavaccine,itwouldmostlikely
be approved for use only in particu-
larly vulnerable groups and not on
everyone.
781,975
781,975
Aug 30
WORLD TOTAL CASES
25,318,901
Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,
updatedat11pmonAugust31
by deploying its troops to a previously un-de-
ployed area on the southern bank of the
PangongTsoLakeineasternLadakh.TheArmy
said in a statement on Monday morning that
Chinesetroops“violatedthepreviousconsen-
sus arrived at during military and diplomatic
engagements during the ongoing standoff in
Eastern Ladakh and carried out provocative
militarymovementstochangethestatusquo”.
While the Pangong Lake has been among
the most contentious sectors in the ongoing
military standoff in eastern Ladakh for nearly
four months now, the activity until now had
been restricted to the northern bank.
WhatisPangongLake?
Made popular by the Hindi film 3 Idiots,
PangongTsoisanendorheiclake(landlocked)
thatispartlyinIndia’sLadakhregionandpartly
inTibet.Thenamereflectsthemixedheritage
of thelake:PangonginLadakhi meansexten-
siveconcavity,thewordTsoisTibetanforlake.
Situated at an elevation of about 4,270 m,
itisanearly135-kmlong,narrowlake—6km
at its widest point — and shaped liked a
boomerang. Its total area is over 600 sq km.
The Karakoram Mountain range, which
crossesTajikistan,Afghanistan,Pakistan,China
and India, with heights of over 6,000 metres
includingK2,theworld’ssecondhighestpeak,
ends at the north bank of Pangong Tso. Its
southernbanktoohashighbrokenmountains
sloping towards Spangur Lake in the south.
The lake’s water, while crystal clear, is
brackish, making it undrinkable. The lake
freezes during the winter, allowing some ve-
hicular movement on it as well.
Whocontrolsit?
Nearly two-thirds of the lake is controlled
by China, with just about 45 km under Indian
control.TheLAC,runningnorth-south,cutsthe
western part of the lake, aligned east-west.
ButIndiaandChinahaveunsettledborders,
andtheperceptionof theLACdiffersinmulti-
ple sectors, including on Pangong Tso. At the
lake’snorthbank,accordingtoIndia,theinter-
national boundary is close to Khurnak Fort, a
AREA OF North bank
AUG 15, 2017
CLASH
South bank
Chushul
AREA OF AUG 29-30, 2020 INCIDENT
Near Black Top, a Chinese observation post on a ridge on the south bank of Pangong Tso, approximately 25 km from Chushul. More
than 200 PLA troops are massed on the Black Top heights, and there are intelligence inputs of tanks and artillery guns nearby.
19th-century ruin. But the LAC, according to
India,isaround15kmwest.Onthenorthbank
arespursthatjutintothelake,identifiedasfin-
gers.IndiasaystheLACpassesthroughFinger
8; China claims it is farther west.
Comparedtothenorthbank,thedifference
inperceptionoftheLACisnotverywideinthe
south bank. A former brigade commander
from the region said the perception may dif-
fer by 100 to 200 m, and lacks prominent fea-
tures like fingers.
These“differingperceptionsoftheLAC”,as
the Army has called it, are one of the main
causes of face-offs.
Whatisthecurrentstatus?
The north bank was one of the two points
ineasternLadakhthatsawfrictioninearlyMay
thatledtothestandoff thatisnownearlyfour
months old. On the night of May 5-6, troops
wereinvolvedinviolenthand-to-handfights,
thoughChinesesoldierswerearmedwithrods
and nail-studded batons.
There was a similar fight in Galwan Valley
onMay6.However,theseviolentface-offsdid
not result in any fatalities, unlike the June 15
SPANGGURTSO
clash in Galwan Valley in which India lost 20
soldiersandanundeclarednumberofChinese
troops were also killed.
Since then China changed the status quo
anditstroopshadoccupiedtheregionbetween
Finger 8 and Finger 4, which was patrolled by
both but occupied by neither side earlier.
Chinese troops continue to occupy the Finger
4 ridgeline, though they have stepped back
fromthebaseofFinger4tothebaseofFinger5.
ButChinahasfortifieditspositionsinthearea.
Theslightrearwardmovementwaspartof
the initial disengagement process after the
June 15 clashes. However, there has not been
any improvement in the situation since mid-
July and the talks are stuck in a stalemate.
Howarethetwobanksdifferent?
Until this weekend, the south bank had
been quiet during the standoff. Army sources
saidIndiahastraditionallyhadastrongerpres-
ence in the southern bank compared to the
north bank, because of its proximity to areas
like Chushul and Rezang La.
Theformerbrigadecommanderexplained
thatthenorthbankhascomeintothelimelight
PANGONG
LAKE
Image: Google Earth; Graphic: Ritesh Kumar
only in the last few years, due to clashes be-
tweenpatrollingunits.Traditionallythesouth-
ernbankhasbeeninthelimelight,becauseitis
justnorthoftheChushulapproach.Thisisalso
the reason why the south bank has tradition-
allyhadastrongerpresenceof Indianforces.
The region south of the lake is also strate-
gically important for both countries.
Thearea,knownastheChushul approach,
is one of the few sectors that can be used as
launchpads for an offensive, because of the
plains.Duringthe1962conflict,bothbankswit-
nessedaChineseoffensive,andIndialostterri-
toryonboth—firstSirijiap,thentheentirenorth
bank by October 22; on the south bank India
hadtoabandonitscomplexofpostsinYula,and
movetoahighareanorthof GurungHill.
Over the weekend, the Army mentioned
thatIndiantroops“pre-emptedthisPLAactiv-
ityontheSouthernBankofPangongTsoLake,
undertook measures to strengthen our posi-
tionsandthwartChineseintentionstounilat-
erallychangefactsonground”.Indiahasoccu-
pied a more advantageous position, though
stillonitssideoftheLAC,topreventChinafrom
any intrusions in the area.

New Delhi

13 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
Pritam Singh
SINGAPORE
PritamSingh
takeschargeas
1stOppnLeader
INDIAN-ORIGINpolitician
PritamSinghscriptedhis-
tory in Singapore when
thecity-state’sParliament
officially designated him
the country’s first Leader
of the Opposition. Singh’s
Workers’ Party won 10
parliamentaryseatsoutof
the 93 it contested in the
July 10 election, making it
the biggest opposition
presence in Singapore’s
parliamentary history.
ThispromptedSingh’sfor-
mal recognition as the
Leader of the Opposition.
Addressing Parliament,
Singhunderlinedtheneed
to focus on the living con-
ditionsofforeignworkers.
“Their presence gives
Singapore a vitality that
keepsuseconomicallyrel-
evant and also provides
jobs and opportunities to
ourfellowSingaporeans,”
Singh said. PTI
NORWAY
25poisoned,
5critically,at
illegalraveparty
SOME 25 people taking
part in an illegal rave in a
bunker in the Norwegian
capital, Oslo, were poi-
soned by carbon monox-
ide given off by portable
generators,policesaid.Five
people — including two
police officers who were
first on the scene — were
hospitalisedincriticalcon-
dition, but their lives are
not in danger, Norwegian
news agency NTB said.
Two of the five were dis-
charged from intensive
care on Monday, NTB re-
ported.Upto200partygo-
ersintheir20sand30shad
gathered for the rave. AP
BRITAIN
Sikhsoldier’s
promotionmakes
wavesoninternet
A BRITISH Sikh soldier’s
promotion within the UK
Armyrankshasbecomea
socialmediasensationaf-
terthenewspostedbyhis
proud wife attracted
thousands of messages
and comments. Corporal
Chamandeep Singh, a
Punjab-bornsoldierinthe
RoyalLogisticCorpsof the
British Army, attended a
militaryschoolinIndiafor
12 years. Singh's father
had served in the Indian
Army.HeisnowaTwitter
sensation after his wife,
Ceese Kaur Seera, posted
thenewsof hispromotion
earlier this month, which
attracted over 7,300 likes
and 500 retweets and
comments. PTI
ANTI-CORONAVIRUS MEASURES IN THE REGION INCLUDE PHYSICALLY LOCKING RESIDENTS IN HOMES
In China’s Xinjiang, forced medication accompanies lockdown
DAKE KANG
BEIJING, AUGUST 31
WHENPOLICEarrestedthemid-
dle-aged Uighur woman at the
height of China’s coronavirus
outbreak,shewascrammedinto
a cell with dozens of other
women in a detention center.
There,shesaid,shewasforced
todrinkamedicinethatmadeher
feel weak and nauseous, guards
watching as she gulped. She and
the others also had to strip naked
onceaweekandcovertheirfaces
as guards hosed them and their
cellsdownwithdisinfectant“like
firemen,” she said.
“It was scalding,” recounted
Israeli,USofficialstakehistoricflight
toUAEtofinalisenormalisationdeal
On 2-day trip to the Arab nation, officials hope to pave way for pact signing ceremony in Washington
DAN WILLIAMS
ABU DHABI, AUGUST 31
TOP AIDES to US President
Donald Trump and Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
arrived in the United Arab
Emiratesonahistoricflightfrom
Tel Aviv on Monday to finalise a
pact marking open relations be-
tween the Gulf power andIsrael.
Even before discussions start
inAbuDhabi,thedelegatesmade
aviation history when the Israeli
commercial airliner flew over
Sauditerritoryonthedirectflight
from Tel Aviv to the UAE capital.
“That’s what peace for peace
looks like,” Netanyahu tweeted,
describing a deal for formal ties
with an Arab state that does not
entail handover of land that
Israel captured in a 1967 war.
Announcedon August13,the
normalisationdealisthefirstsuch
accommodationbetweenanArab
country and Israel in more than
20yearsandwascatalysedlargely
by shared fears of Iran.
Palestinians were dismayed
by the UAE’s move, worried that
it would weaken a long-stand-
ingpan-Arabpositionthatcalled
for Israeli withdrawal from oc-
cupied territory — and accept-
ance of Palestinian statehood —
in return for normal relations
with Arab countries.
Trump’s senior adviser and
son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and
national security adviser Robert
O’Brien head the US delegation.
The Israeli team is led by
O’Brien’s counterpart, Meir Ben-
Shabbat.
“I prayed yesterday at the
(Western) Wall that Muslims
and Arabs throughout the world
will be watching this flight,
recognising that we are all chil-
Cheng Lei
Australian host
for Chinese state
TV held in China
CHRIS BUCKLEY
SYDNEY, AUGUST 31
INVESTIGATORS IN China have
detained an Australian journalist
who has been a host on Chinese
state-runtelevision,theAustralian
foreignministrysaidonMonday,
opening up another potential
point of friction in testy relations
between the two countries.
The journalist, Cheng Lei,
whohasworkedonEnglish-lan-
guage business news for CGTN,
theChineseinternationalbroad-
caster, was detained in mid-
August, the Australian foreign
minister, Marise Payne, said.
The Australian statement
gavenodetailsof anyaccusations
againstCheng,andChinahasnot
commentedpubliclyonhercase.
But this could become another
irritantinChina-Australiaties,es-
peciallyif sheischargedwithse-
rious offences. NYT
the woman from Xinjiang, de-
clining to be named out of fear
of retribution. “My hands were
ruined, my skin was peeling.”
ThegovernmentinChina’sfar
northwest Xinjiang region is re-
sorting to draconian measures to
combat the coronavirus, includ-
ingphysicallylockingresidentsin
homes, imposing quarantines of
more than 40 days and arresting
those who do not comply.
Furthermore,inwhatexpertscall
a breach of medical ethics, some
residents are being coerced into
swallowing traditional Chinese
medicine, according to govern-
ment notices, social media posts
andinterviewswiththreepeople
inquarantineinXinjiang.Thereis
FIRST TIME EVER
■ El Al Flight LY971 is
the first-ever direct
commercial flight
between Israel and UAE.
■ The Israeli airliner
made the trip to the
UAE via Saudi Arabian
airspace — the first
time the Saudis have
agreed to such a flight.
dren of God, and that the future
does not have to be pre-deter-
minedbythepast,”Kushnertold
reporters on the tarmac at Tel
Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport.
Israeli officials hope the two-
day trip will produce a date for a
Washington signing ceremony,
perhapsasearlyasSeptember,be-
tweenNetanyahuandAbuDhabi’s
CrownPrinceSheikhMohammed
binZayedal-Nahyan.
Explosions in UAE
Hoursbeforetheplanelanded
threepeoplewerekilledandsev-
eral others were injured in two
separateexplosionsinAbuDhabi
and UAE tourism hub Dubai, po-
lice and local media said.
The Abu Dhabi government
media office said two people
werekilledintheblastinthecap-
ital, which the National daily re-
ported had hit KFC and Hardee’s
restaurants.Thegovernmentsaid
the blast was caused by a “mis-
alignment in the gas container
fittings following refuelling”.
In a second incident, one
person was killed when a gas
cylinder exploded in a Dubai
restaurant, local media re-
ported. REUTERS
Lebanon leaders agree on new Prime Minister
TOM PERRY &
LAILA BASSAM
BEIRUT, AUGUST 31
LEBANON’S AMBASSADOR to
Germany Mustapha Adib is set
to be designated prime minister
on Monday ahead of a visit to
Beirut by the French President
who will press for long-delayed
reforms to steer the Middle East
nation out of its deep crisis.
Emmanuel Macron, who ar-
rives late on Monday for his sec-
US Covid cases top 6 million as New Zealand lifts virus
Midwest, colleges face outbreaks lockdown in largest city
LISA SHUMAKER
AUGUST 31
USCASESofthenovelcoronavirus
surpassed6milliononSundayas
many states in the Midwest re-
ported increasing infections, ac-
cording to a Reuters tally.
Iowa, North Dakota, South
Dakota and Minnesota have re-
cently reported record one-day
increases in new cases while
Montana and Idaho are seeing
record numbers of currently
hospitalised Covid-19 patients.
Nationally, metrics on new
cases,deaths,hospitalisationsand
the positivity rates of tests are all
Paramilitary forces were deployed to enforce the strict
lockdown in China’s Xinjiang region. Reuters
a lack of rigorous clinical data
showingtraditionalChinesemed-
icineworksagainstthevirus,and
USPresident Donald Trump’sadviserandson-in-lawJaredKushner(centre)andUSNational
SecurityAdviserRobert O’Brien(centre-left)withmembersof the Israeli-Americandelegation
before thedeparturetoAbuDhabi, atBenGurionAirport,near TelAviv,Israel, onMonday. AP
Aboard the El Al aircraft, tight
security and an Arabic greeting
DAN WILLIAMS
AUGUST 31
ON BOARD a packed airliner tak-
ingUSandIsraelidelegatestothe
UnitedArabEmiratesonMonday,
passengers were welcomed in
Arabic as well as English and
Hebrew, a gesture marking the
historic first Israeli direct flight
from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi.
“Wishing us all salaam, peace
andshalom,haveasafeflight,”the
pilot, Captain Tal Becker, said on
the intercom, in Arabic, English
and Hebrew, using all three lan-
guagestoalsoannouncetheflight
number and destination.
Mustapha Adib
ondvisitinlessthanamonth,has
spearheadedinternationalefforts
togetLebanon’sfractiousleaders
The number of people
being tested in US has
fallen in recent weeks
declining,butthereareemerging
hotspots in the Midwest.
ManyofthenewcasesinIowa
areinthecountiesthatarehome
totheUniversityofIowaandIowa
State University, which are hold-
ing some in-person classes.
Colleges and universities around
the country have seen outbreaks
after students returned to cam-
pus,forcingsometoswitchtoon-
line-only learning.
one of the herbal remedies used
inXinjiang,QingfeiPaidu,includes
ingredients banned in Germany,
Journalists and officials
inside the El Al Boeing 737. AP
Passengers received swag
bags filledwithcoronaviruspro-
tection gear — disinfectant gel
and wipes — and some donned
facemasksemblazonedwiththe
totackletherootcausesofafinan-
cialmeltdownthatdevastatedthe
economy even before the Aug 4
port blast killed 190 people.
Senior Lebanese officials said
Macron’smediationwasessential
insecuringagreementonacandi-
date in the 48 hours before con-
sensus emerged on Adib. Last
week,theywereindeadlockover
whowouldbethenextpremier.
Adib’s name surfaced on
Sunday when he was nominated
byformerprimeministers,includ-
ing Saad al-Hariri, who heads
New York Governor Andrew
Cuomo on Sunday said his state
was sending a “SWAT team” to a
State University of New York
(SUNY) campus in Oneonta in
upstate New York to contain a
Covid-19 outbreak. Fall classes,
which started last week at the
college, were suspended for two
weeks after more than 100 peo-
ple tested positive for the virus,
about3%of thetotalstudentand
faculty population, SUNY
Chancellor Jim Malatras said.
More than eight months into
the pandemic, the United States
continuestostrugglewithtesting.
The number of people tested has
fallen in recent weeks. REUTERS
Switzerland, the US and other
countries for high levels of toxins
and carcinogens.
The latest gruelling lock-
down, now in its 45th day,
comes in response to 826 cases
reported in Xinjiang since mid-
July, China’s largest caseload
sincetheinitialoutbreak.Butthe
Xinjiang lockdown is especially
striking because of its severity,
and because there hasn’t been a
single new case of local trans-
mission in over a week.
Harsh lockdowns have been
imposed elsewhere in China,
most notably in Wuhan in Hubei
province, where the virus was
firstdetected.ButthoughWuhan
grappled with over 50,000 cases
Israeli and Emirati flags.
A spokesman for El Al said
the plane was equipped with a
C-Music anti-missile system on
its rear carriage — standard for
the 737s in the carrier’s fleet.
ArequestbyReutersjournal-
ists to film inside the cockpit
went up several chains of com-
mand before being approved.
Therewasalsoabitofsecurity
flair to coronavirus checks for
journalists the weekend before
thetrip.UponarrivalforCovid-19
testing,reportersweretoldtogive
a code-phrase — “I’m here for the
‘experiment’”—tobefast-tracked
throughbyarepresentativeofthe
Israeli PM’s office. REUTERS
Lebanon’sbiggestSunniparty.The
postof PMmustgotoaSunniun-
der Lebanon’s sectarian system.
Adib,whohasbeenenvoytoBerlin
since2013andwasadvisertoafor-
mer PM, was set for an over-
whelmingmajorityoflawmakers.
Hariri’sFutureMovement,the
Iranian-backed Shia party
Hezbollah and the Progressive
SocialistPartyledbyDruzepoliti-
cian Walid Jumblatt were among
the first groups to nominate Adib
in consultations hosted by
PresidentMichelAoun. REUTERS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WELLINGTON, AUGUST 31
NEW ZEALAND has lifted a lock-
down imposed on the city of
Auckland and also made it
mandatory to wear masks on
public transportation.
The nation’s largest city had
been in a lockdown for more
than two weeks after an out-
break of the coronavirus was
discovered earlier this month.
The new outbreak followed
more than three months
without any community
transmission.
Health Minister Chris
Hipkins said Monday that it was
and Hubei with 68,000 in all,
manymorethaninXinjiang,res-
idents there weren’t forced to
take traditional medicine and
weregenerallyallowedoutdoors
within their compounds for ex-
ercise or grocery deliveries.
Theresponsetoanoutbreakof
more than 300 cases in Beijing in
early June was milder still, with a
fewselectneighbourhoodslocked
downforafewweeks.Incontrast,
more than half of Xinjiang’s 25
million people are under a lock-
down that extends hundreds of
miles from the centre of the out-
break in the capital, Urumqi, ac-
cordingtoareviewofgovernment
noticesandstatemediareports.
Even as Wuhan and the rest
New Delhi
“Climate change is probably the
biggest challenge we are facing, much
bigger than the pandemic.”
— ISABEL SCHNABEL,
German economist and European Central Bank board member
A man affiliated with a right-wing group was shot and killed
on Saturday in Portland, where Trump supporters travelled
in a caravan and clashed with protesters. NYT
Dems blame Trump
for tensions as he hails
supporters who
clashed with protesters
JILL COLVIN
WASHINGTON, AUGUST 31
DEMOCRATS ACCUSED US
President Donald Trump of try-
ingtoinflameracialtensionsand
incite violence to benefit his
campaign after he praised sup-
porters who clashed with pro-
testers during a deadly night in
Portland, Oregon. and an-
nounced he will travel to
Kenosha,Wisconsin,amidanger
over the shooting of another
Black man by police.
Trump unleashed a flurry of
tweetsandretweetsthedayafter
amanidentifiedasasupporterof
a right-wing group was shot and
killed in Portland. The city has
been the site of months of daily
protests, and a large caravan of
TrumpsupportersandBlackLives
Matter protesters clashed
Saturdaynight.Trumppraisedthe
caravan participants as “GREAT
PATRIOTS!” and retweeted what
appeared to be the dead man’s
name along with a message to
“Rest in peace”. “The people of
Portland, like all other cities &
parts of our great Country, want
Law&Order,”Trumpwrote.“The
Radical Left Democrat Mayors,
likethedummyrunningPortland,
or the guy right now in his base-
ment unwilling to lead or even
speakoutagainstcrime,willnever
be able to do it!”
Trump has throughout the
summer cast American cities as
under siege by violence and law-
lessness,despitethefactthatmost
of the demonstrations against
racial injustice have been largely
peaceful. Democrats accuse
Trump of rooting for unrest and
tryingtostokefurtherviolencefor
politicalgaininsteadofseekingto
ratchet down tensions.
“Hemaythinkthatwarinour
streets is good for his reelection
Although the lockdown
was lifted, masks in
public transport were
made mandatory
safetoreopenAucklandbecause
all the recent infections have
been linked to the same cluster
through contact tracing.
He noted: “We’re already
seeing signs of the city getting
back to normal.”
New Zealand reported nine
new virus infections Monday,
including four among recently
returned travellers who are in
quarantine.
of China has mostly returned to
ordinary life, Xinjiang’s lock-
downisbackedbyavastsurveil-
lance apparatus that has turned
the region into a digital police
state. Over the past three years,
Xinjiang authorities have swept
a million or more Uighurs,
Kazakhs and other ethnic mi-
noritiesintovariousformsof de-
tention, including extrajudicial
internment camps, under a
widespreadsecuritycrackdown.
Afterbeingdetainedforovera
month,theUighurwomanwasre-
leased and locked into her home.
Conditionsarenowbetter,shetold
the AP, but she is still under lock-
down,despiteregulartestsshow-
ingsheisfreeof thevirus. AP
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Unrest shapes
lead-up to polls
THEVIOLENCEandshootings
asright-winggroupsclashed
withBlackLivesMatterpro-
testershaveseenTrumpdou-
bledownonhislawandor-
derelectionplank,warning
votersthatunderBiden,the
US wouldseemoreunrest.
TheDemocratshavere-
spondedbypointingoutthat
theviolencewastakingplace
duringtheTrumppresidency,
andbyblamingthePresident
forinflamingtensions.Butac-
cordingtotheNewYork
Times,theBidencampaign
wantstoavoidprolongedfo-
cusontheunrestduetofears
thatitcoulddivertattention
fromTrump’sCovidresponse
andtheeconomicdownturn,
whicharethemainplankson
whichtheyseektocornerthe
incumbent.
chances, but that is not presiden-
tialleadership—orevenbasichu-
man compassion,” Democratic
presidential candidate Joe Biden
saidinastatementrespondingto
the shooting, in which he “un-
equivocally”condemnedviolence
onallside,whileaccusingTrump
of “recklessly encouraging” it.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler,
a Democrat, blamed Trump for
the tensions. “Do you seriously
wonder,MrPresident,whythisis
the first time in decades that
Americahasseenthislevelofvio-
lence?” he asked at a news con-
ference.“It’syouwhohavecreated
the hate and the division.” AP
PaulRusesabaginawasgiven
theUSPresidentialMedalof
Freedomin 2005 by
GeorgeWBush. Reuters
Hotel Rwanda
hero arrested on
terrorism charges
CLEMENT
UWIRINGIYIMANA
KIGALI, AUGUST 31
RWANDA SAID it had arrested
Paul Rusesabagina — the man
who was hailed a hero in a
Hollywood movie about the
country’s1994genocide—onter-
rorismcharges,andparadedhim
infrontofthemediainhandcuffs.
Rusesabagina was played by
Don Cheadle in the film Hotel
Rwanda which told the story of
howheusedhisjobatahoteland
hisconnectionswiththeHutuelite
toprotectTutsisfleeingslaughter.
On Monday, two police offi-
cers brought the 66-year-old to a
pressconferenceattheheadquar-
tersoftheRwandaInvestigations
Bureau and let media film him.
“Rusesabaginaissuspectedof
being a founder or a leader or
sponsor or member of violent
armed extremist terror outfits...
operatingoutof variousplacesin
the region and abroad,” the bu-
reausaid.ItsaidonTwitterhehad
been the subject of an interna-
tionalarrestwarrant,withoutgo-
ingintofurtherdetails. REUTERS
 14 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

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RYû³f ³fa. 07532-226361

Government of Arunachal Pradesh

Office of the Executive Engineer,
Seppa Division, PWD, AP Seppa
East Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh
No. SEPD/AGMT/2020-21/ Dated
Notice Inviting E-Tender
The Executive Engineer, Seppa Division, Public
Works Department, Arunachal Pradesh, Seppa on
behalf of Governor of Aurunachal Pradesh invites
e-Tender for the work Construction of Road from
Lumdung NH-229 to connect 9.00 Km point of
PMGSY road Nere (4.50 Km).
For details please visit website https/www/
arunachaltenders.gov.in
Sd/-
Executive Engineer,
Seppa Division, PWD, A.P,
DIPR/ARN NO-13029-31 Seppa

New Delhi

15 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
Even as the first half
of the current fiscal
is expected to
remain weak, we can
expect a recovery in
the second half.
CHANDRAJIT
BANERJEE
DIRECTOR GENERAL, CII
The sharp plunge in
quarter-1 GDP
growth numbers
was anticipated.
However, the
magnitude of the
contraction has
indeed come as a
surprise.
SANGITA REDDY
PRESIDENT, FICCI
Goingforward,weare
anticipating
contractions...inthe
July-September
quarterandthe
October-December
quarteraswell.
NIRANJAN
HIRANANDANI
PRESIDENT, ASSOCHAM
India among worst hit major economies
globally; local lockdowns added to woes
AASHISHARYAN&
PRABHARAGHAVAN
NEWDELHI,AUGUST31
INDIA’SGROSSdomesticproduct
(GDP), which contracted by 23.9
per cent during the April-June
quarter 2020-21, is among the
worst in countries severely im-
pactedbytheCovid-19pandemic,
ananalysisofGDPnumberacross
major economies has shown.
WhileChina,whichmanybe-
lieve to be the epicentre of the
Covid-19 outbreak, announced a
surprise3.2percentgrowthinits
GDP during this quarter com-
paredtothesameperiodlastyear,
others like the UK and Germany
witnessed a contraction. For the
April-June period, the UK took a
20.4 per cent hit in its GDP, while
Germany experienced a “record”
10.1 per cent contraction.
Govt ignored warnings, fake
narrative has exploded: Cong
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEWDELHI,AUGUST31
ASGDPinthefirstquarterof2020-
21 declined 23.9 per cent, former
FinanceMinisterPChidambaram
on Monday said the “fake narra-
tive” peddled by the BJP-led gov-
ernmenthas“exploded”.
He said it will take many
monthsbeforetheeconomyturns
the corner and registers positive
growth but “the inaction and in-
eptitude of the government gives
usnohopethatwewillseelightat
the end of the tunnel at any time
soon”.FormerCongresspresident
RahulGandhiaccusedthegovern-
ment of “attacking” the informal
sector of the economy. “GDP re-
duces by 24%. The worst in
Independent India’s history.
Unfortunately, the Govt ignored
thewarnings,”hetweeted.
Pointingoutthatthegrossdo-
BRIEFLY
CBDTchief
getsextension
NewDelhi:PramodChandra
ModywasonMondaygiven
a six-month extension till
February next year as the
chairman of the Central
Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT),aPersonnelMinistry
order said.
Divestmentof
L&Tunits
New Delhi: Engineering and
construction giant Larsen
and Toubro (L&T) on
Monday said it has com-
pleted the strategic divest-
mentofitselectricalandau-
tomation business to
Schneider Electric. PTI
SENSEX: 38,628.29 ▼ 839.02 NIFTY: 11,387.50 ▼ 260.10 NIKKEI: 23,139.76 ▲ 257.11 HANG SENG: 25,177.05 ▼ 245.01 FTSE: 5,963.57 ▼ 36.42 DAX: 13,071.79 ▲ 38.59
GOVT FISCAL HEALTH MAY COME UNDER FURTHER PRESSURE ON LOWER GDP DATA
RBIstepstokeeplidonyields,equitymarkets
likelytobecautiousongeopoliticaltensions
SUNNYVERMA
&SANDEEPSINGH
NEWDELHI,AUGUST31
ARECORDcontractionof23.9per
cent in Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) in April-June quarter is un-
likely to cause disruption in the
bond market as measures an-
nounced by the Reserve Bank of
India(RBI)onMondaywillprovide
a fresh impetus to buying activity
while keeping a lid on yields.
Equity markets, which are being
driven largely by global liquidity
and expectations of normalcy re-
turning to the markets, may re-
main cautious after sharp falls on
Monday, following news of
Chinese aggression at the Indian
borders,marketanalystssaid.
The decline in nominal GDP
growthrate,however,isexpected
topushupthefiscaldeficitforthe
year.AccordingtoareportbyCare
Ratings, while the nominal GDP
growthfelltorecordlowsof -22.6
percentin Q1 2020-21,as against
growthof8.1percentinQ12019-
20, since it indicated lower rev-
enues for the government it has
adverseimplicationsforthefiscal
For the UK, the fall in its GDP
was reportedly one of the worst
intheEuropeanregionandtheco-
untry’ssecondconsecutivequar-
terlydeclineasitsgovernmenten-
forced lockdowns hit services,
construction and production.
China’s sharp recovery in the
April-Junequarterwaschieflydue
tothecountry’ssuccessincontrol-
ling the coronavirus and policy
support, according to a Nikkei re-
port. It had implemented a lock-
down in the Hubei province, tar-
getingthecityofWuhan—where
cases of the contagious virus first
erupted — towards the end of
January, at a time when the out-
breakfromthevirushadnotbeen
labelled as a pandemic.
TheUnitedStates,ontheother
hand,recordedasteepercontrac-
tion of 31.7 per cent in its GDP for
the April-June quarter compared
with the same period last year,
mestic output has fallen by about
20 per cent since the end of 2019-
20, Chidambaram said the only
sectorthathasgrownisagriculture,
forestryandfishingat3.4percent.
“The Finance Minister who
blamedan‘ActofGod’fortheeco-
nomic decline should be grateful
to the farmers and the gods who
blessed the farmers. Every other
sector of the economy has de-
clinedsharply,someprecipitously.
manufacturing is down 39.3 per
cent;constructionisdownby50.3
per cent; and trade, hotels, trans-
portandcommunicationsby47.0
percent,”hetoldthemedia.
Chidambaram said the esti-
mates did not come as a surprise
totheCongress.“Theyshouldbea
matter of surprise to the govern-
ment that was seeing ‘green
shoots’onseveraldaysduringthe
firstquarter.Theyshouldalsobea
matter of shame to the govern-
ment that did nothing — literally
RBI to hold special OMOs, term repo ops to
‘ensure orderly functioning of financial mkts’
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
MUMBAI,AUGUST31
THE RESERVE Bank of India (RBI)
Mondayannouncedseveralmea-
sures including two more tranc-
hes of special open market oper-
ations(OMOs)inbondsandahike
in the held-to-maturity (HTM)
limitunderthestatutoryliquidity
ratio (SLR) for banks, so as to “en-
sureorderlyfunctioningof finan-
cial markets”.
Announcing the new meas-
ures on a day when the Sensex
tanked839pointsandtheCentre
announced GDP contraction by
23.9 per cent in Q1, the RBI said it
will conduct additional special
OMO involving simultaneous
purchaseandsaleofgovernment
securities for an aggregate amo-
unt of Rs 20,000 crore in two
Fiscal deficit
crosses Budget
target in July
NewDelhi:Thegovernment’s
fiscal deficit overshot the
Budgettargetforthecurrent
financial year within four
months (April-July), mainly
on account of the impact of
lockdownonrevenuecollec-
tions.Asperdatareleasedby
the Controller General of
Accounts, fiscal deficit dur-
ing April-July was at 103.1
per cent of the annual target
or at Rs 8,21,349 crore. PTI
deficit ratio. “The severe contrac-
tion in nominal GDP will push up
thefiscaldeficitratio(asapercent-
ageof GDP)fortheyear.Thefiscal
deficitBudgettargetof3.5percent
for the current fiscal year is based
on the assumption of 10 per cent
growthinGDP,”saidthereport.
DK Joshi, chief economist at
Crisil, said while fiscal deficit will
depend on the full-year GDP, the
numbers show that the revenue
making it the sharpest GDP de-
cline in the country’s history.
Italy, which was one of the
worst impacted due to the out-
break of Covid-19, saw its April-
June GDP contract 12.8 per cent
comparedwiththepreviousthree
monthsanda17.7percentdecline
with the same quarter last year.
CanadaandJapan’sGDPinthe
April-June quarter shrunk at an-
nualisedratesof38.7percentand
27.8 per cent, respectively.
GDP of many major econom-
ieshavebeenhithardduetolock-
downs forced by the pandemic,
whichcausedeconomicactivities
to come to a grinding halt.
In India, while most factories
andindustriesremainedshutthr-
oughout April and May, subse-
quent localised lockdown sched-
ulesbeingannouncedbystatesin
thewakeof thesurgeinCovid-19
caseloadaddedfurtherpressure.
nothing — to cushion the fall by
taking suitable fiscal and welfare
measures, but we know that the
Modi government has no shame
andwillnotacknowledgeitsmis-
takes,” he said. He added the dip
was foretold by “many close ob-
servers of the Indian economy,
mostrecentlybyRBIinitsAnnual
Reportreleasedafewdaysago”.
“... The country, as a whole, is
payingaheavyprice,thepoorand
the vulnerable are in despair. It is
only the Modi government that
wasnonchalantanduncaring.The
governmentpeddledafakenarra-
tive,butthatnarrativehasbeenex-
ploded today by the CSO esti-
mates,”hesaid.
Rahul,inavideomessage,said
the government has been attack-
ing the informal sector over the
past six years. “I am giving you
three massive examples — de-
monetisation, wrong GST and
lockdown,”hesaid.
Regulators commit
to coordination
New Delhi: Financial sector
regulators,includingtheRBI
andSebi,Mondayreaffirmed
their commitment to con-
tinue coordinating on many
initiatives to strengthen the
financialsectorinthesechal-
lenging times, the RBI said.
tranches of Rs 10,000 crore each.
Theauctionswouldbeconducted
on September 10 and September
17. “The RBI remains committed
to conduct further such opera-
tionsaswarrantedbymarketcon-
ditions,” it said. The six-month
moratorium on loan repayments
also ended on Monday.
Thecentralbankwillalsocon-
positionofthegovernmentinthis
quarter would have been very
tight and fiscal stress would have
beenhigh.
Fromalowof 5.74percenton
July10,yieldonthe10-yearbench-
mark government bond rose to
6.23percentonAugust24,butfell
subsequently to 6.08 per cent on
Monday,asliquiditymeasuresan-
nounced by the RBI in the bond
marketassuredinvestorsthatthe
elevated borrowing programme
ofthegovernmentwillgothrough
smoothlythisyear.Yieldandbond
pricesmoveinversely,withhigher
yields pushing down bond prices
andviceversa—makingitdifficult
for the government to raise funds
atcost-effectiverates.
“EventhoughRBIdoesnottake
a view on yields, or tries to main-
tainanyparticularlevel,wedoex-
pect that there wouldn’t be any
undue disruption in the market.
Monday’s action (of the RBI)
should provide comfort to the
market,despitetheslumpineco-
nomic activity,” a senior govern-
ment official said. Despite record
contraction in GDP and expecta-
tions of government borrowing
heavily in bond markets, the
Breaking down GDP numbers:
Transportation, CV sales hit most kilometresforQ1of2020-21
The impact of the pandemic and the consequent lockdown At56.8%,consumption
was evident in the main indicators used for estimation of the
nation’s GDP. The transportation sector saw the worst impact,
with the steepest fall in railways, airports and vehicle sales
SIMILARLY, PASSENGERS
handledatairportssaw94.1%fall
giventhatdomesticflights
remainedshutforalmosttwo-
thirdsofthequarter.
WITH SALES ofvehiclesalso
beingsuspendedduringtheperiod
oflockdown,commercialvehicle
Indicators
Railwayspassengerkilometers
Passengershandledatairports
Salesofcommercialvehicles
Cargohandledatairports
Consumptionofsteel
Productionofcement
Only farm sector output sees growth,
outpaces overall GDP for 3rd straight qtr
HARISHDAMODARAN
NEWDELHI,AUGUST31
APRIL-JUNE2020isthethirdstrai-
ght quarter where the country’s
farmsectoroutputhasgrownata
higher rate than the overall GDP
in‘real’terms.Butitalsomarksthe
fifth consecutive quarter of agri-
cultural growth surpassing the
growthoftheeconomyasawhole
in ‘nominal’ terms, i.e. at current
prices unadjusted for inflation.
Thelatestquarterlyestimates
of GDP released by the National
StatisticalOffice(NSO)onMonday
show that the gross value added
(GVA) from agriculture, forestry
and fishing grew 3.4 per cent at
constantpricesinApril-June2020
overApril-June2019.Thiswasag-
ainsta22.8percentyear-on-year
(y-o-y)declineinoverallrealGVA
for the quarter. GVA is basically
GDP net of all indirect taxes and
subsidies on goods and services.
duct term repo operations for an
aggregate amount of Rs 1,00,000
crore at floating rates (at the pre-
vailingreporate)inthemiddleof
September to assuage pressures
on the market on account of ad-
vancetaxoutflows.Inordertore-
ducethecostof funds,banksthat
had availed of funds under long-
termrepooperations(LTROs)may
exercise an option of reversing
these transactions before matu-
rity.“Thus,thebanksmayreduce
theirinterestliabilitybyreturning
funds taken at the repo rate pre-
vailingatthattime(5.15percent)
and availing funds at the current
repo rate of 4 per cent,” it said.
TheRBIhasalsodecidedtoal-
low banks to hold fresh acquisi-
tions of SLR securities acquired
fromSeptember1,underHTMup
toanoveralllimitof22percentof
NDTL up to March 31, 2021.
FinanceMinistryexpectsyieldsto
remain“soft”,sourcessaid.
“WithGDPnumbersexpected
toremainweakinsecondquarter,
inflation expected to decline and
accommodative stance from RBI,
thebondyieldsareexpectedtore-
main soft in immediately future,”
said LIC Mutual Fund CEO Dinesh
Pangtey. The RBI on Monday said
insupportof theaccommodative
stance of monetary policy, it is
committed to ensuring comfort-
ableliquidityandfinancingcondi-
tions in the economy. It an-
nouncedanincreaseintheratioof
securities that banks can hold till
maturitywithintheirstatutoryliq-
uidityratio(SLR)requirement.This
would help banks in containing
mark to market losses on their
bond portfolio. The central bank
also announced open market op-
erations and a Rs 1-lakh crore
worth of liquidity injection (term
repooperation)measuresinmid-
September to maintain orderly
conditionsinthemarket.
“GDP data is on an expected
line, now the market will look for
GDP recovery in the remaining
months of FY21, however, this is
not strong enough to offset the
At99.5%, de-growth
wasrecordedinrailwayspassenger
salesrecorded84.8%de-growth
duringthequarterendedJune
2020,comparedwith9.5%fall
lastyear
“WITH Aviewtocontainspread
oftheCovid-19pandemic,
restrictionswereimposedonthe
economicactivitiesnotdeemed
April-June April-June
2019-20 2020-21
-2.2% -99.5%
-0.6% -94.1%
-9.5% -84.8%
-6.5% -57.2%
5.0% -56.8%
1.0% -38.3%
GVA from agriculture,
forestry and fishing
grew 3.4% at constant
prices this April-June
over April-June 2019
Agricultural GVA grew even
more at current prices, by 5.7 per
centy-o-y,inApril-June2020,wh-
ilecontractingby20.6percentfor
overallnominalGVA.SinceGVAis
thevalueofoutputlessthecostof
all inputs and raw materials that
go into production of any good, it
is a reasonable proxy for income
or “take home” of farmers.
NominalfarmGVAgrowthfor
April-June 2020 was its lowest
since October-December 2018,
but has exceeded overall GVA for
fivesuccessivequartersnowfrom
April-June 2019. In other words,
farm income growth has also
slowed — in fact, more than
Core sector output
shrinks 9.6% in
July, pace of
contraction slows
New Delhi: Drop in production
across the eight core sectors of
India’s economy, while continu-
ing, slowed its pace of contrac-
tion in July. Output during this
monthfell9.6percentasagainst
the year ago period, according to
data shared by the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry on
Monday.
However, save for fertilizers,
production continued to decline
in most core sectors in July.
The country’s eight core sec-
tors—coal,crudeoil,naturalgas,
refinery products, fertilizers,
steel, cement and electricity —
had grown by 2.6 per cent in July
2019, and their cumulative
growth during FY20 was 0.3 per
cent. ENS
GOLD
`52,638
Note: Gold, silver rates at Delhi spot market; gold per 10 g, silver per 1 kg; Brent crude as of 2130 IST
shock from Q1. Base effect will
push up growth in FY22. Now,
watchoutwillbe,afterunlock4.0,
howtheeconomicactivitiespans
out and the direction of the high
frequencyindicators,”saidNaveen
Kulkarni,chiefinvestmentofficer,
AxisSecurities.
Analysts note that while GDP
contraction was expected by the
financial markets, for the equity
segment, other factors will come
into play.”What is more concern-
ingfortheequitymarketsisthelat-
est tension brewing on the India
China border and also the new
margin requirement for the retail
investor, which requires the in-
vestor to put upfront 20 per cent
margininformofcashorstockfor
bothbuyorsell.TheQ1FY21GDP
printisalreadypricedinthemar-
kets.Whatneedstobelookedatis
the Q2FY21 GDP no. If that no. is
also on the negative side and on
similarlinestoQ1FY21GDPprint,
thenwemayseeacorrection.The
current rally and euphoria has
been on back of liquidity injected
globally and in India. I will con-
tinue to be cautious,” said Arjun
YashMahajan,head–institutional
business,RelianceSecurities.
ofsteelcontractedasconstruction
activityremainedshut.Thisis
comparedtoa5%growthlastyear
essential,asalsoonthemovement
ofpeoplefrom25March,2020.
Thoughtherestrictionshavebeen
graduallylifted,therehasbeenan
impactontheeconomicactivities
aswellasonthedatacollection
mechanisms,”thegovernment
saidinastatement.
Source: MoSPI
halvedcomparedtothe previous
January-March 2020 quarter —
but not collapsed and dived deep
intonegativeterritoryliketherest
of the economy.
The farm sector is still grow-
ing,butnotenoughtopulloutthe
economy that has entered reces-
sionmodesincethelockdown-hit
firstquarterofthisfiscal.TheNSO
hasestimatedagriculturalgrowth
for the last quarter based on pro-
duction during rabi season that
technically ended in June 2020.
Withthesouthwestmonsoon
rainfall being 9.8 per cent above
normal during June-August and
kharifacreages8.6percenthigher
thanlastyear—theprobabilityof
a developing ‘La Nina’ bodes well
forthecomingrabicropaswell—
agricultural growth is set to be
buoyant in the rest of the fiscal as
well. This, even as general GDP
growth for 2020-21 is forecast to
benegative,issomethingthathas
never happened before.
International flight ban
extended to Sept 30:
What are the exceptions?
PRANAVMUKUL
NEWDELHI,AUGUST31
THEDIRECTORATEGeneralofCivil
Aviationhasextendedthebanon
scheduledinternationalcommer-
cial flights till September
30.Earlier,theflightsstood
suspendedtillAugust31.
WhyhastheDGCA
extendedtheban?
The government has
pointedoutthattherelaxationon
international flights will depend
onhowthevirusbehavesandhow
caseloadsarebeingrecordedwit-
hin India as well as in destination
countries. Keeping that in mind,
international scheduled flights
New Delhi
RUPEE
`73.60
GST mop-up shortfall:
More states reject
borrowing proposal, call
for alternate mechanism
AANCHALMAGAZINE&
PRANAVMUKUL
NEWDELHI,AUGUST31
EXHORTING THAT the constitu-
tionalliabilitylieswiththeUnion
Government,atleastsevenstates
and one Union Territory have re-
jected the Centre’s proposal to
have state governments borrow
to make up for the shortfall in
GoodsandServicesTax(GST)col-
lection. At a meeting on Monday,
sixnon-BJPruledstates—Punjab,
WestBengal,Kerala,Delhi,Chhat-
tisgarhandTelangana—calledfor
an alternative mechanism to be
workedoutforcompensatingthe
GST revenue shortfall. Addition-
ally,Congress-ruledRajasthanand
Puducherry expressed their sup-
portontheissueofcompensation.
Kerala Finance Minister Tho-
mas Isaac tweeted, “FMs of Pun-
jab,Delhi,WBengal,Chhattisgarh,
TelanganaandKeralaagreedtore-
ject the Centre’s options on GST
compensation.Ouroption:Cent-
ralGovttoborrowentirecompen-
sation due regardless of acts of
gods,humansornature,tobepaid
back by extending the period of
Cess.”Headdedthatthestatehad
nochoicebuttorejecttheCentre’s
option “lock, stock and barrel”.
In a letter to Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman, Punjab’s
Minister of Finance Manpreet
Singh Badal noted that if states
have to borrow, then the Centre
would have to amend the com-
pensation law that stipulates the
central government to compen-
satestatesforlossinrevenuearis-
ing out of GST implementation.
Badaldemandedfullclarityonthe
options given by the Centre and
sought an urgent meeting of the
GST Council on the issue.
“Punjab is prepared to coop-
erate in a spirit of finding a solu-
tion to this vexed problem but is
unabletopersuadeitselftoeither
of the options presented at this
stage,”Badalsaid,addingthatthe
Centre’s method to calculate los-
seswas “arbitrary,one-sidedand
devoid of any legal justification”.
Adani Group signs deal to
acquire Mumbai airport, take
over Navi Mumbai airport
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
MUMBAI,AUGUST31
THEADANIGrouphastakencon-
troloftheMumbaiairportandthe
proposed Navi Mumbai
International Airport. Adani
AirportHoldingsLimited(AAHL),
the flagship holding company of
the Adani Group for its airports
businessandasubsidiaryofAdani
Enterprises Ltd, has entered into
anagreementtoacquirethedebt
of GVK Airport Developers Ltd
(GVK ADL).
GVK ADL is the holding com-
pany through which GVK Group
holds 50.50 per cent equity stake
in Mumbai International Airport
Ltd(MIAL),whichinturnholds74
per cent equity stake in Navi
MumbaiInternationalAirportLtd
(NMIAL). While full details of the
dealwerenotdisclosed,GVKsaid
the agreement involves Adani’s
ability to convert the acquired
debttoequityofGVKADLonmu-
tuallyagreedterms,subjecttoob-
taining necessary regulatory ap-
provals. MIAL’s total bank loan
havebeensuspendedfurther.
Dointernationalflightsbound
toarriveanddepartoverthe
nextonemonthgetcancelled?
Ifapassengerhasbookedtick-
ets for flights being operated un-
der the government’s air
bubblearrangementswith
either Indian or foreign
carriers or the Vande
Bharat Mission, those
flightswillcontinuetoop-
erate as per schedule. The
DGCA has allowed international
flightsonselectroutessuchasthe
US, Canada, the UK, France,
Germany, the UAE, Maldives, etc
on a case-to-case basis.
Full report on
www.indianexpress.com
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
OIL SILVER
$45.79 `68,095
International market data till 1900 IST
The Centre and Opposition-
ruledstatesareinconflictoverthe
financingofGSTshortfallamount-
ingtoRs2.35lakhcroreinthecur-
rent fiscal. Of this, as per the
Centre’s calculation, about Rs
97,000 crore is on account of GST
implementation and the rest Rs
1.38 lakh crore is the impact of
Covid-19onstates’revenues.Last
week, the Centre proposed two
optionstothestates:toborrowei-
ther from a special window facil-
itatedbytheReserveBankofIndia
or from the market. It also pro-
posed extending the compensa-
tioncessleviedonluxury,demerit
and sin goods beyond 2022.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister
BhupeshBaghelalsowrotetoSit-
haramansayingtheCentreshould
notpressurisestatestotakeloans.
The money to compensate them
forthelossoftaxrevenuesshould
bearrangedbythecentralgovern-
ment.“WhiletheGSTcompensa-
tion was to be paid bi-monthly,
stategovernmenthasnotreceived
Rs 2,828 crore compensation for
thefourmonthsof current2020-
21 fiscal,” he wrote.
SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress,
ChhattisgarhFinanceMinisterTS
Singh Deo said, “These are com-
promises,iftheyaremade,it’sbet-
ter for there not to be a GST
regime. We have a common rate
of tax in the country but there
must not be any such intermedi-
aryregimes.Leteachstatefaceit’s
collection and meet its revenues
from its own sources”.
Meanwhile, Bihar Deputy
ChiefMinisterSushilModiwasof
theopinionthattheCentre’sposi-
tion is also stretched.
“There is no mechanism to
compensate for their losses. It’s
only the losses of the states that
will be compensated and they
(Centre) are also incurring heavy
losses. You can’t force the Centre
to borrow,” Modi told this news-
paper.
Several states have also said
thatborrowingsbythestatesmay
be costlier by up to 150 basis
points, as compared to the bor-
rowing by the Centre, Badal said.
facility is Rs 9,781 crore.
According to the agreement,
AAHLwillacquirethedebtofGVK
ADL from its airport lenders. The
GVKgroupandAAHLhaveagreed
that AAHL will offer a stand-still
toGVKinadditiontoreleaseofthe
guarantee given by GVK Power
and Infrastructure Ltd with re-
spect to the debt acquired by it.
TheAdaniGroupwillalsotake
steps to complete the acquisition
of a 23.5 per cent equity stake
fromACSAandBidvestinMIALfor
which it has obtained CCI ap-
proval.Aftertheacquisitionofthe
debtofGVKADL,theAdanigroup
willtakestepstoobtainnecessary
customary and regulatory ap-
provals,asmayberequired,toac-
quirecontrollinginterestinMIAL.
The balance 26 per cent stake is
held by the Airports Authority of
India.
“AAHLintendstoinfusefunds
intoMIALtoensurethatMIALre-
ceivesmuchneededliquidityand
also achieves financial closure of
Navi Mumbai International
Airport to be able to commence
construction,” Adani said.
Report: 75% of
cos that availed
moratorium below
investment grade
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
MUMBAI,AUGUST31
CLOSE TO 1,700 companies, or
three out of four entities, that
availedofmoratoriumonloanre-
paymentsareratedinthesub-in-
vestmentgrade,Crisilsaid.Thesix-
month moratorium on loan
repaymentannouncedbytheRBI
endedonMonday.
“Only one out of four compa-
niesthatavailedofthemoratorium
is rated in the investment grade
(rated Crisil BBB- or higher). They
took recourse to moratorium to
buildaliquiditycushionforexigen-
ciesinthenearterm,”Crisilsaidin
a report after analysing the finan-
cialprofileof 2,300companies.
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

16 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 Lyonwin5thstraightwomen'sChampionsLeaguetitle
Lyon extended its European dominance by beating Wolfsburg 3-1 to win its fifth straight
women's Champions League title. Eugénie Le Sommer , Saki Kumagai and Sara Björk
Gunnarsdóttir scored for Lyon as it clinched a record-extending seventh Champions
League trophy on Sunday.

How Anand stayed on chess grid US Open: Nagal wants

Electricity board ensured legend’s building got power during scheduled outage
SHASHANKNAIR
NEWDELHI,AUGUST31
A SCHEDULED maintenance power cut
from 9AM to 5PM in Viswanathan Anand’s
locality in Chennai almost derailed India’s
hopes of progressing past their quarter-final
tie against Armenia in the first-ever Online
Chess Olympiad.
At the end of the tournament, the Indian
chess team was basking in the glory of their
joint victory with Russia at the Olympiad, but
it was the absence of electricity at a crucial
juncturethatwasoneof theirbiggestworries
inaformatthatwassupposedtobethefuture
of chess in Covid times.
On Monday, Anand revealed that India’s
non-playing captain Srinath Narayanan
arranged for the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board
(TNEB)toprovideelectricitytohisbuildingde-
spite a scheduled maintenance in the
Kottupuram locality in the Adyar zone. The
power cut was scheduled to end around an
hour into India’s tie with Armenia.
“I was worried because this tournament
wasalreadygivingsomedifficultiestoVishy,”
Srinath told The Indian Express.
“He had to do all this screen-sharing and
had to be on the camera – all new and unfa-
miliarthingsforafewofourplayers.Ontopof
this, he had to worry about his internet (con-
nection). I didn’t want these kinds of distrac-
tionsforhimandfeltthatafewsecondscould
be lost. Losing that time is not a big deal, but
the loss in concentration is,” felt Srinanth.
“I spoke to Dr Darez Ahamed, an IAS offi-
cerwhoiscurrentlyinLondonandaskedhim
for help. He used to work in Tamil Nadu. He
immediately got in touch with people in
ChennaiandIgotacallfromtheexecutiveen-
gineer in Anand’s area. I gave him the match
timings and requested him to ensure that no
workwouldbegoingonduringthattimeand
in the next two days. They were more than
happytostoptherenovationworkandwithin
an hour, power was restored.”
IAS officer, a fan, helps
DrAhamed,whoseWhatsAppdisplaypic-
ture is of Anand himself, refused to take any
credit for helping out and told The Indian
Express, “What Anand has done for chess in
India is revolutionary. He made kids dream. I
havealwaysbeenafanofhisandevenifIhad-
n’tmadethatphonecall,thiswouldhavebeen
The Indian team had to overcome poor
internet, server outages, and electricity
problems before being declared joint
champions of Chess Olympiad
done. But it was easier this way because I was
the sub-collector of Pankaj Kumar Bansal
(Chairman of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board)
earlierandhaveknownSrinathforalongtime
now because of our mutual love of chess.”
Technical difficulties
Theissueofpowercutshadearlieraffected
India’s group-stage tie with Mongolia. Cuts in
their respective localities had hindered
GrandmastersKoneruHumpyandteamcap-
tain Vidit Gujrathi. This incident was one of
manythatplayersfromdifferentcountrieshad
to face in Chess’s premier international tour-
nament contested over the internet.
Be it poor connections, server outages or
electricityissues,chesssufferedandtheIndian
team was forced to find ways to deal with a
host of problems thrown in their direction.
After the initial struggles in the Mongolia
match where India went from 3-1 up to 3-3
afterdroppingtwopointsduetopowerprob-
lems, they had a window of 3-4 days when
the problems could be fixed.
“KoneruHumpy’shousewashavingpower
fluctuation problems in the league stages it-
self. That is why in the last two days of the
league, she chose to take two quick draws
against Georgia and China because we didn’t
wantthegametokeepgoingfortoolongaswe
didn’t know when she could lose connection
to the Chess.com website,” said Srinath.
In the later stages of the tournament, the
fluctuation issue was taken care of, with
Humpy herself admitting in Monday's press
conferencethatlineworkerswerepresentun-
der her house during her matches.
I spoke to Dr Darez Ahamed, an
IAS officer who is currently in
London and asked him for help. He
used to work in Tamil Nadu. He
immediately got in touch with
people in Chennai and I got a call
from the executive engineer in
Anand’s area. I gave him the
match timings and requested him
to ensure that no work would be
going on during that time and in
the next two days...
SRINATH NARAYANAN
INDIA’S NON-PLAYING CAPTAIN
Besides, the Indian chess team started to
keep multiple backups. All of their homes
were already equipped with power genera-
tors but the problem came down to the 10-
15 second delays when power sources were
switched that led to them getting logged out
of the host website.
“I think when the incident happened
with Mongolia, that’s when we realised that
we have to be extra careful about this. I
think that moment of caution probably
happened for our own good. After the
match, we got a gap of 3-4 days and every-
one started taking extra precautions and
Srinath had the idea for us to download the
Speedify app and get multiple connections,”
confirmed GM Harika Dronavalli.
Thinking out of the box
SpeedifyisaVirtualPrivateNetwork(VPN)
app that allows channel-bonding. With no
guarantees against power outages, Srinath
cameupwiththeideatoavoidthe10-15sec-
ond delays that Indian players would face if
they lost power in their homes, by using the
app and multiple internet connections.
Srinath explained the need for the VPN to
The Indian Express. “Let’s say I have a wired
Airtel connection and I use Jio on Wi-Fi and
set my wire connection as a primary
(source). Now for whatever reason if my pri-
mary connection fails, the app ensures that
I connect to my backup internet connection
within a second. If your router fails, or there
is a problem with one network provider,
then you can immediately connect to your
alternative within a second and not the
usual 10-15 second delay.”
second bite of Big Apple
SHAHIDJUDGE
MUMBAI,AUGUST31
BY NOW, the hustle and bustle of New York
City is something Sumit Nagal would have
beenaccustomedto.Itissomethingheenjoys.
NYC is where he made his breakthroughs on
thecourt.Backin2014attheUSOpen,hequal-
ifiedforthemaindrawof aJuniorGrandSlam
for the first time in his career.
At the same venue last year, in front of a
packedArthurAsheStadium,hemadehissen-
ior main draw debut at the Slams against the
great Roger Federer. But now, as he travels to
theBigAppleforthefirsttimesincehismeet-
ing with the former World No.1, he finds the
exhilarating vibe of the sprawling metropolis
missing inside the bio-secure bubble. He, like
most of the other players, is staying at a hotel
in Long Island, an hour away from the courts.
“It’s kind of boring now actually,” he says.
“It’sadifferentfeeling.We’renotstayinginthe
cityanymore,whichisabitawkward.Youcan-
notleavethebubblesothere'snotmuchtodo.
Gotothecourts,practiceandcomebacktothe
hotel.That’sit.Butattheendof theday,when
you get home it's already evening and you’re
tired. So it's not the worst thing in the world.”
On Tuesday, the 23-year-old will face
Bradley Klahn, an opponent ranked five spots
behindhisWorldNo.124position,oncourt12
at Flushing Meadows. Last year, he was never
expected to do much against the 20-time
GrandSlamchampion.Butnowhehasagood
chance of becoming the first Indian singles
player to win a main draw match since 2013.
“It'llbeagoodmatch,andIlikeplayingleft-
ies,” he says of his opponent. “I do feel that I
haveagoodchancetodowell.I'mgoingtofight
for every point because this is the biggest
chance I'm getting to win at a Slam.”
And Nagal has done all he could to be
prepared for the first Grand Slam since the
Covid-19 outbreak. When the tour was sus-
pended in March because of the pandemic,
he decided to stay back in Peine, Germany,
where he trains at the Sascha Nensel
Academy. Professional players were allowed
to resume training towards the end of May
in the country, and Nagal managed to com-
pete in exhibition events in Germany and
Switzerland before heading to Prague for a
Challenger, shortly before flying to the
United States. “The plan was to play the
Challenger before the US Open. It felt good,”
Sumit Nagal will begin his campaign
against 129th-ranked Bradley Klahn.
he says. “I feel I played some good tennis, so
I don't think I'll be worried about it. The
courts are a bit faster here than last year. So
it'll be interesting to see how everyone is go-
ing to adapt. But I’m ready.”
The US Open will add another chapter in
the life of the Jhajjar-native who had, back in
2008,caughttheattentionofIndia’sfirstGrand
Slam champion Mahesh Bhupathi. At that
point,Nagalhadtakenupthesportafterhisfa-
ther,ateacheratagovernmentschool,enrolled
him into the DD Tennis Academy in Paschim
Vihar, New Delhi. By 2011, under Bhupathi’s
guidance, the then 13-year-old shifted to
Canada for three years before moving to
Germany to continue his growth in the sport.
Nowhefindshimselfreturningtothesame
venuewherehehad createdastir,if onlyfora
New York minute, last year.
Facing the great Roger Federer in the
world’s largest tennis stadium after rising
through the qualifying round, Nagal defied
expectations by winning the opening set
against the five-time US Open champion.
Federerwouldeventuallywinthematch,but
wasimpressedbyNagal’sfocus,andhispow-
erful forehand.
Despite an injury-plagued start to his ca-
reer,India’shighestrankedsinglesplayerhas
started to gather momentum and grow in
confidence.Butplayingonthebigstageisal-
ways different.
“Ithinktherewillalwaysbesomenervous-
ness when playing big events like the Slam or
Masters,” he offers, “but that’s normal.”
He’snowgettingusedtothe‘newnormal’
in this pandemic, but just as tennis has man-
agedtoresume,Nagal’slookingtoaddanother
feather to his cap.
CSK will always
stand by Raina:
N Srinivasan
SHAMIK CHAKRABARTY
KOLKATA, AUGUST 1
FORMER INDIA player Suresh Raina’s shock
departure from the Chennai Super Kings
(CSK) squad in Dubai notwithstanding, the
franchise will stand by the player. CSK boss
N Srinivasan has confirmed.
“As far as Suresh Raina is concerned, he
is a great player who has done so much for
CSK. We have a lot of respect for him. [We
have] a lot of regard and affection for all
that he has done. CSK will always stand by
him,” Srinivasan told The Indian Express.
Eyebrows have been raised over Raina’s
sudden departure from the CSK fold for the
Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United
Arab Emirates, with the franchise calling it
“for personal reasons”.
The left-hander being the second most
vital cog in the CSK wheel, with 5,368 runs
in 193 matches over the past 12 seasons,
his utility as a part-time off-spinner, and
his presence as MS Dhoni’s deputy, Raina’s
exit has created a huge void for the three-
time IPL champions.
Srinivasan stressed he has returned to
India because of “personal problems”.
“There’s nothing more to it. He is a player
we will stand by,” he said.
‘He’s a great player’
Asked if Raina would return to the CSK
fold next year, Srinivasan said, “See, next
year is next year. He is a great player. He
is very important to CSK and CSK will
stand by him.”
The former BCCI and ICC chief admitted
that it would be difficult to fill Raina’s void.
At the same time, he spoke about Dhoni’s
leadership and how it would help the team
to manage.
“He [Raina] is an outstanding player, but
CSK will manage. I have belief in the great-
est captain of cricket.”
Srinivasan called Raina a prima donna
with a positive connotation. “A prima
donna is a lead singer in an opera. So it is
not running anybody down.” He informed
that the team management hasn’t decided
about a replacement for Raina yet. “That’s
up to the team management. I don’t think
that so far they have sought a name.”

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 4212 DAY TODAY
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20)
You should wake up
with a spring in your
step, hopefully. This
may be an
emotional day, but it could also
be a positive one. The feelings
to emphasise today are those
thoroughly saintly qualities of
compassion and sympathy for
the under-dog which do you
such credit.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
You might be a little
secretive today and
why not. It may be
that other people
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson are not ready to hear what you
have to say, or even that you
yourself do not yet fully
understand your deeper
feelings. In that case,
you have all the more reason
to delay.
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)
ACROSS Down Teamwork will
1 Dismiss a money handler 1 Swim before one can walk serve you best. If
(7) (5) you must press on
4 Return of spirit in debate (5) 2 Dance of the Bedouin in his alone, it may be
7 Looks composed? (4) own environment that financial pressures are
8 A loud and valuable (8) paramount, or that money is
description of a very rich 3 Show errors in a feature just generally on your mind.
society (8) lacking a proper revision Your attitudes are likely
10 Tenor with alibi possibly gets (6) to be somewhat conservative
release (10) 4 Sister vessel’s company? and tied to the past, but
12 Angle brackets in the end (10) there is nothing wrong
(6) 5 Possibly free a knot (4) with that.
13 A way to avoid peace’s
outcome (6)
6 Label in slipper means it can
be changed (7) MARVIN by Tom Armstrong CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
15 They bank on earning interest 9 In a way property is wealth It’s a special time of
(10) (10) year, again. This
18 Writes one’s first letters 11 The spirit of America doesn’t mean that
(8) (8) everything will be
19 A number four iron brought 12 A budding salesman? (7) easy, but it will be positive,
out (4) 14 Don’t take the lead but which is an entirely different
20 Sort of gun for a British soldier succeed (6) matter. Events of importance
(5) 16 Appears to understand are lining up. All you have to do
21 Evidence of a spectator handwriting (5) is make sure you have the skills
(7) 17 Stable company (4) and experience to make the
most of them.
SolutionsCrossword4211:Across:1Overbearing,9Present,10Agree,11Last,12 LEO (July 24 - Aug 23)
Propound,14Claque,16Latent,18Tripling,19Mete,22Orbit,23Eritrea,24
Bear in mind that
Temperature.Down:2Views,3Reef,4Entire,5Reappear,6Nurture,7Application,8
Leadstheway,13Fullstop,15Amiable,17Endear,20Error,21Mint. very soon you will
be under powerful
pressure to come
clean. It may be that you have
nothing to hide but, in any
event, you should be as honest
JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel5s
as possible, and that means
being straight with yourself as
Instructions well as with others. Choose
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4217
BY PETER VIDAL
LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
Listencarefullyand
paygreatattentionto
partners’feelings.If
thereistobeany
emotionalfriction today,early
morningandmid-afternoonare
thelikelymoments,which
meansthataroundthesetimes
youshould beespecially
diplomatic.Spreadalittle
goodwill andyou’llearnrespect.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
There are some
indications that this
should be a busy
day, but not
overwhelmingly so. While you
will have your fair share of
chores, there could also be
opportunities to duck and dive
and generally opt out of
unwanted commitments
should you wish! Just make
sure that you don’t let
anyone down.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
The times are
looking positive,
although finance is
one area where you
could feel uncomfortable. To be
precise, it’s joint monetary
matters which could be
irritating, and you may easily
come to resent domestic costs.
Ultimately, it’s your status
which is more important than
your bank balance.
CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
If there is any
question about your
priorities, family
matters should
come first. Even at work, you
will do best if your profession
in some way concerns the
home, domestic matters or
family relationships. In love,
stand back and let others set
the pace.
AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
You must accept
whatever
boundaries or
restraints are
necessary to enhance your
aims, and not create any sort of
rumpus, especially where joint
agreements are concerned.

Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, your words with care. Your major goal now should be
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 to build up your long-term
VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23)
SUDOKU 4218

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe security, no questions asked.

Yourworthconsistsinwhat__areandnotinwhatyou__.-ThomasEdison(3,..,4) You are known to
nineverticalcolumns,in be cautious in many PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
eachoftheninehorizontal matters, but you It’s hard cash which
AVWEE ANOPHR rowsandineachofthe can be surprisingly holds the key to your
nineboxes. assertive when it comes to current ambitions.
joint finances. This is one In all matters,
such time, and you should especially financial, it’s a
KPRAA DEISTV DifficultyLevel
make it clear that your moment to be assertive. This
desires must be respected. doesn’t mean being aggressive
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; You might be surprised or selfish, but it does mean
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; how willingly others do your standing up for yourself and
5s=VeryHard;6s= bidding if you ask in the seeing that your interests
Answer: Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have. - Thomas Edison Genius right way. are respected.
SOLUTION: WEAVE, PARKA, ORPHAN, DIVEST

Vol LXXXVIII No. 253 Regd.No. DL-21046/03-05

R.N.I. No.506/57. Printed and Published by R.C. Malhotra on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited and Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, A-8, Sector-7, Noida - 201301 and Published at The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 & 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002. Editorial office:
The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 & 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: 0120-6651500. Advertising office: The Indian Express (P) Limited, B1/B, Sector - 10, Noida - 201301. Phone: 0120-6651291. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor: Raj Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni
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