19-05-2022-VAJIRAMRAVI-INDIANEXPRESS.pdf - AWS

DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

SIMPLYPUTHISROADTOFREEDOMPAGE11

Inflation up,FMCG firmshike rates, cutpack volumeand weightPRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,MAY18

ASINFLATIONsoars,India’scon-sumption trends arewitnessingapalpableimpact.Withrawma-terial prices rising, fast-movingconsumergoods(FMCG)compa-niesareincreasingproductprices—not justbydirectly raising theretail rates but also by reducingthepacksizes, an industryprac-ticethatisknownas“grammagereduction”. On the consumerside, buyers of items such assoaps, shampoos, toothpastes,biscuitsetcare“downtrading”—meaning they are either optingfor cheaper alternatives orsmallerpacksizes.Evenas thestrategy to shave

smallquantities—fewgramsormillilitres—frombiscuitpacketsandshampoobottlesisbeingde-ployedacrosstheboardbyFMCGcompaniestodealwiththeinputcostpressure,startingOctober1,thesecompanieswillhavetodis-play the unit sale prices of pre-packaged items, according to anotification issued by theMinistry of Consumer Affairs inMarch.Thecompanieswillhavetodisplaypricespergramwherenetweight is less than one kilo-gram, and per kilogramwherenetweightismorethanonekilo-gram; permillilitre where netvolumeis less thanone litreandper litre where net volume ismore than one litre, enablingconsumers to better comparenon-standardpacksizes.Amailsenttotheministryon

the trend of grammage reduc-tion by companies did not getanyresponse.

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RSS on Gyanvapi: Timeto put historical factsin the right perspectiveDEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI,MAY18

WITH THE Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapicontroversybeingde-bated in court rooms, the RSSWednesday said the time hascome for “historical facts” to beputinthe“rightperspective”be-fore society.“Right now the issue of

Gyanvapi is going on. There aresomefactswhicharecomingoutin theopen. I believewe shouldletfactscomeoutintheopen. Inany case, truth always finds away to comeout. How long canyouhideit?Ibelievethetimehascometoputhistoricalfactsintherightperspectivebeforesociety,”RSS Akhil Bharatiya PracharPramukh(all-Indiapublicity in-

charge) Sunil Ambekar said atthe Devrishi Narad PatrakarSammanSamaroh,anRSSeventto felicitate journalists.On India's syncretic culture,

Ambekar said, “It is true thatIndia is assimilative. People talkabout the Ganga-Jamuna cul-ture. But later it should becomeone. It should become Ganga.Onlythencanwewalktogether.Ibelievethereisaresponsibilitytocreatepublic awakening.”Minister of State Sanjeev

Balyan, whowas chief guest attheevent, saidhebecameemo-tional when he learnt about aShivling being found in themosque complex. “Last week Iwas inVaranasiwhen this issueof Gyanvapiwas going on. I be-came emotional. But I became

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ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI,MAY18

THE SUPREME Court onWednesdayorderedthereleaseof A G Perarivalan, one of theseven convicts in the RajivGandhiassassinationcase,exer-cising its special powers underArticle142of theConstitution.The order came 24 years af-

terPerarivalanwassentencedtodeath in the case by a lowercourt, and twomonths after hewas granted bail by the apexcourt. Perarivalanwas arrestedonJune11,1991,at theageof19,weeks after former PrimeMinisterRajivGandhiwaskilledin a suicide bomb attack atSriperumbudur in Tamil NaduonMay21.“Inexerciseofourpowerun-

der Article 142 of theConstitution, we direct that theAppellant is deemed to haveserved the sentence in connec-tion with (the) crime. TheAppellant,whoisalreadyonbail,

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ARUNJANARDHANANCHENNAI,MAY18

“THESUPREMECourthasfinallyorderedmyson’srelease.SoIamstandingheretothankeveryone.Allof youknowour fight for thepast 31years. I don’t have to tellyouabouthim.Youallrespectedmyfight.”Surroundedby cameras, the

exhausted75-year-old hungontoherson’sarmsatJolarpettaiinTamil Nadu’s Tirupattur.Arputham Ammal’s long andgruelling fight for her son A GPerarivalan, one of the convictsintheRajivGandhiassassinationcase,was finallyover.Perarivalan told The Indian

Express: “The only grip I had, toclingon,duringtheyearsof longstruggle formy life and justicewas my mother.” He alsothanked “each and every indi-vidual who fought a desperatebattle against the mighty sys-tem,standingshouldertoshoul-derwithme”.“I cannot find aword in any

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‘You respectedmy fight’: Hismother’s 31-yrwait is over

JOLTTOPARTYAHEADOFGUJARATPOLLS

VAIBHAVJHA&LEENAMISRAAHMEDABAD,MAY18

JOLTING THE Congress in thecountdown to Assembly elec-tions in Gujarat later this year,PatidarleaderHardikPatel,whowasmadeworkingpresidentofthe state unit two years ago, re-signed from the partyWednesday, saying its top lead-ers seemedmore interested in“messagestheyhadreceivedontheirmobile(phones)”,behavedas if “they hate Gujarat andGujaratis” while state Congressleaderswere“morefocussed”inarranging chicken sandwichesfor them.In his resignation letter, ad-

dressed to Congress presidentSonia Gandhi and posted onTwitter, Hardik took a swipe at

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MANOJCGNEWDELHI,MAY18

FROM INTRO-SPECTIONtonewresolve,whentheCongress leader-ship deftly

changed the format of theUdaipur Chintan Shivir, manypertinent questions remainedunanswered.Themuch talked about “in-

accessibility” of Rahul Gandhi,hisfrequentdisappearances,theaccountability of the Gandhis,

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E●EXPLAINED

‘Leadersbusyonmobiles, stateunit ingettingchickensandwiches for them’

HardikPatel joinedCongress in2019. File

AGPerarivalanwithhismotherArputhamAmmalatJolarpettaiinTamilNaduonWednesday.PTI MOREREPORTS,P6

Hardik quits Congress:Plays roadblock, leadersabroadwhen needed

RAJIVGANDHIASSASSINATIONCONVICT:APEXCOURTUSESSPECIALPOWERSUNDERARTICLE 142

EXPLAINED

Days afterUdaipur, areality checkfor Congress

MYMOTHERWASMYHOPEBYAGPERARIVALAN PAGE8

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

THEEDITORIAL PAGE

SC lets Perarivalanwalk free, 24 yearsafter death penalty

PM panel flags urban job guaranteescheme, universal basic incomeENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY18

A REPORT commissioned andreleased by the EconomicAdvisory Council to the PrimeMinister (EAC-PM) has sug-gested that the Governmentshouldlaunchaguaranteedem-ploymentprogrammefortheur-ban unemployed and roll out a

universal basic income (UBI)schemetoreduce incomegaps.Citingthe“skewednature”of

incomedistributioninthecoun-try, the report also recom-mendedstepstoraiseminimumincome andmore governmentspending on the social sector tomake vulnerable sections im-mune to sudden shocks” and“stoptheirdescentintopoverty”.The report, titled “The State

of Inequality in India” and pre-pared by the Gurgaon-basedInstitute for Competitiveness,was released onWednesday byEACchairmanBibekDebroy.“Lookingatthedifferencebe-

tween the labour force partici-pationrateinruralandurbanar-eas, it is ourunderstanding thattheurbanequivalentofschemeslike MGNREGS that are

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LALMANIVERMAVARANASI,MAY18

ADAY after the Supreme CourtaskedtheVaranasidistrictmag-istratetosecurethewazukhanaarea where a Shivling wasclaimedtohavebeenfounddur-ingavideographicsurveyof theGyanvapi mosque complex,without impedingorrestrictingtherightsofMuslimstoofferna-maz, the faithful flocked to themosque for prayers and themosquecommitteeaskedthemtoperformwazuathomebeforeheading there.In the adjoining Kashi

Vishwanath complex, an idol ofNandi, gazing in thedirectionoftheGyanvapimosque,hasbeendrawing crowds ever since the

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Securitypresencesteppedupoutsidethesite. File

DMsaysSCordercompliedwith;dowazuathome, saysmosquepanel

Shivling claim site inGyanvapi secured, norestrictions on namaz

RELATEDREPORTPAGE6

CITY

DELHI L-G BAIJALRESIGNSAFTER5-YEAR TENUREPAGE3

New Delhi

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022

Hardik quitsRahul Gandhiwithout naminghim: "Whenever our countryfaced challenges andwhen theCongress needed leadership,Congress leaderswere enjoyingabroad.”Heaccusedthepartyofbeing

“aroadblock”onkeyissues."Overthe last3years, IhavefoundthattheCongresspartyanditsleader-ship, both at central and statelevel, havebeenmerely reducedtoopposingeverything,whereasthepeople always seek analter-native that thinksof their futureand is capable of taking Indiaahead.""Be it the Ram Mandir in

Ayodhya,revocationofArticle370fromJammuandKashmir,imple-mentationofGST—Indiawantedsolutions for these subjects for along time and Congress onlyplayedtheroleofaroadblockandwas always only obstructive.WhenitcametoissuesrelatedtoIndia, Gujarat and my Patidarcommunity, Congress’s onlystandwas to opposewhateverGovt of India led by PrimeMinister NarendraModiji did!Congresstodayhasbeenrejectedinalmosteverystateof Indiabe-causethepartyanditsleadershiphave not been able to present abasicroadmaptothepeople."Reached for comment after

the resignation announcement,Hardik said hewas inHimachalPradesh for "darshan" (pilgrim-age).TheCongressreactedangrily,

andaccusedhimof being "handin glove" with the BJP. RaghuSharma, AICC general secretaryin-chargeofGujarat, saidhisexitwouldmakeno impact. "All thathe talked aboutwas the casesagainsthim…Hejoinedthepartyonly three years ago. Did theCongressnotexistbeforethat?""Howcanhe say hewas not

givenresponsibility?Isn'tthepostofworkingpresidentaresponsi-bility? Hewasmade star cam-paignerforAssemblyelectionsinPunjab,UPandUttarakhand.Isn'tthat a responsibility? In thesecampaigns,hemusthavespokenout againstModi, isn't it? Thenwhathappenedsuddenlythatheis praising his decision on RamMandir, Article 370 and CAA?"Sharmasaid.Senior Congress leader

ShaktisihnGohil said the partyhad given a "big leadership re-sponsibility"totheyoungman—Hardik is 28. "But theBJP, scaredof losing elections, usingCD, theED, CBI andall other below-the-belt tricks including blackmail,luredandforcedhimtoresignaspartof a conspiracy to remain inpower,”hesaid.Inhisresignationletter,Hardik

wrote:“WheneverImetwiththeseniorleadership,Ialwaysfeltthatleaderswerenotreallyinterestedinhearing about problems con-cerningthepeopleofGujaratbutweremore engrossed onwhatmessages they had received ontheirmobile (phones) andothertrivial things. Whenever ourcountry faced challenges andwhentheCongressneededlead-ership,Congressleaderswereen-joyingabroad.Seniorleadersbe-have in a way like they hateGujaratandGujaratis.Howintheworld can theCongress thenex-pect that people of Gujaratwillseethemasanalternativetoleadourstate?""It is unfortunate thatwork-

ers like us,who travel 500-600kilometres inour cars in a singledaytomeetpeople,gettoseethatbig leaders of Congress are faraway from the issues of Gujaratbutaremore focussedonensur-ing that chicken sandwich forleaders who have come fromDelhi is delivered on time,” hesaid.

Reality checktheir unilateralways, the lack ofcollective decision-making etc,discussionsonthatwereavoidedsincetherewasnopost-mortem.Now,daysaftertheShivir,the

same set of issueshas blownupin the Congress's face, withGujaratleaderHardikPatellistingthem inhis letter of resignation,whichcamejustthreeyearsafterthe young Patidar face wasbrought into the party amidstmuchfanfarein2019.TheShiviralsoresolvedtogive

theparty“ayounglook”bygivingrepresentationtoyouthatalllev-elsintheorganisationandbring-ing them into leadership posi-tions. At 28,Hardik, theworkingpresidentoftheGujaratCongress,is as young as the Congress canget.Andoneofhismajorgrouses,voiced by himmore than once,wasnotbeinggivenenoughof a

roleintheparty.TheCongress leadership and

itsdrumbeaterswouldclaimthatHardikhaslosthischarmandap-pealamongthePatidarcommu-nity in theyears sincehe led thePatidarquotaagitation.However,thatmayappearlikeacaseofsourgrapeswhenHardikisnotthefirst– andmost likely not the last –Congressman to leave thepartyfrustratedatlackofopportunitiesandgrowthforitsyounganden-ergeticleaders.Manyof thosewhohave left

theCongressintherecentpast,infact,heldgoodposts,withseveralof them part of Team Rahul.SushmitaDevwas president oftheMahilaCongress.RPNSinghand Jitin Prasadawere AICC in-charges.PriyankaChaturvediwasnational spokesperson.Jyotiraditya Scindiawas amem-ber of the Congress WorkingCommittee.Theywere all seen ashaving

leftforgreenerpasturesdrivenbya senseof despair andhopeless-ness.In his resignation letter to

party president Sonia Gandhi,Hardik took swipes at Rahul di-rectly,sayingtherewaslackofse-riousnessaboutall issues–againnot a new charge against theparty'sdefactopresident.Incidentally, at the Udaipur

session, the prospect of raisingthese issues was foreclosed.While thesenever cameupdur-ingdiscussion,soonaftertheses-sionwasover, Rahul returned toDelhi on a special flight withRajasthanChiefMinister AshokGehlot. At the instance of someleaders,hehad,incidentally,takenthetraintoarrivefortheUdaipursession,withmuchfanfare.Thecaveatononefamily,one

ticket ruleat thesessionwasvir-tuallya reiterationthat the threeGandhis are here to stay. In hisconcludingaddress,Rahulattrib-utedthecaveatideatoAICCgen-eralsecretaryKCVenugopal, inamove that didn't go downwellwiththeranks.TheUdaipurShiviralsofailed

to comeupwith that big ideaorprovide an alternative vision tothe BJP. The focuswas on struc-turalreformsintheorganisation,thattoohalf-hearted.Forinstance,therewere no satisfactory an-swers on what should be thecounter to the BJP's Hindutva

push. The plannedBharat Yatracanhelpinpropagatingthemes-sage.Butwhatisthemessage?As Hardik said in his letter:

"TheCongresstodayhasbeenre-jected in almost every state ofIndia because the party and itsleadershiphavenotbeenable topresent a basic roadmap to thepeople.”WhileHardikwasnotpresent

attheShivir,someotherhigh-pro-file lateral entrantswere. For in-stance, Kanhaiya Kumar. HejoinedtheCongressinSeptember.Eightmonthslater,thepartyisyetto figure outhis role andhowtoutilise him in the organisation.Independent MLA JigneshMevaniisanotherrecentinducteewhoattendedtheShivir.

Perarivalan freeissetatlibertyforthwith.Hisbailbonds are cancelled,” the apexcourtordered.The bench of Justices L

NageswaraRao,BRGavaiandASBopannaalsodisapprovedof theTamilNaduGovernorsendingtothePresident the recommenda-tionof theStateCabinet to remittheremainingpartoftheconvict’ssentence.Thebench said that “nopro-

visionundertheConstitutionhasbeen pointed out to us nor anysatisfactoryresponsetenderedasto the source of theGovernor’spowertoreferarecommendationmadeby theStateCabinet to thePresident of India”. It said theGovernor's “action is contrary totheConstitutionalscheme”.The bench refused to accept

theCentre’sargumentthat,aslaiddownbytheSupremeCourt ina2014decision (Unionof India vsSriharan), the “appropriate gov-ernment”todecideonremissionof sentence inmatters towhichtheexecutivepoweroftheUnionextends is the UnionGovernment. This is “incorrect”,thebenchsaid.The bench said that where

boththestateandCentrehadthepower tomake laws, theUnionGovernment’s powerwill takeprecedence only if “executivepower hadbeen expressly con-ferred on the Union under theConstitutionor the lawmadebytheParliament, failingwhichtheexecutive power of the State re-mainedintact”.Perarivalanwassentencedto

deathbyalowercourtinJanuary1998afterbeingconvictedunderIPC section 302 (murder) readwithsection120B(criminalcon-spiracy) for supplying twonine-volt batteries used to trigger thebelt bomb that killed formerPrimeMinisterRajivGandhi.Thesentence was upheld by theSupremeCourtinMay1999.On Wednesday, the bench

said that “insofarasoffencesun-der Section 302 IPC are con-cerned,intheabsenceofanyspe-cific provision under theConstitutionorunder lawmadebytheParliamentexpresslycon-ferring executive power on theUnion,theexecutivepoweroftheStatewould extend, irrespectiveofwhether thesubjectmatterofSection 302 is considered to becoveredbyanentry” in the con-currentlist.NotingthattheGovernorhad

forwardedtherecommendationto the President two-and-a-halfyears after it wasmade by theStateCabinet, thebenchsaidthis“is without any Constitutionalbacking and is inimical to thescheme of our Constitution,whereby 'theGovernor is but ashorthand expression for theStateGovernment'asobservedbythisCourt”.The judgment pointed out

thattheGovernor’spowerunderArticle 161 to grant pardons, re-prieves, respitesor remissionsofpunishment,issubjecttojudicialreview-- andalso that “non-ex-erciseof thepowerunderArticle161 is not immune from judicialreview”.“Non-exercise of the power

underArticle161or inexplicabledelay in exercise of such powernotattributabletotheprisonerissubject to judicial reviewby thisCourt, especiallywhen theStateCabinethastakenadecisiontore-leasetheprisonerandmaderec-ommendations to theGovernortothiseffect,” itsaid.The court refused to remand

thematter back to theGovernorforreconsideration.The Supreme Court had

granted bail to Perarivalan onMarch 9 this year, saying itwas

taking into account the fact thathehad already spent over threedecadesinjail.

A mother’s waitlanguagetoexpressthegratitudeIwish to convey. Standing for avery ordinary person with nobackgroundneeds an immensesenseofrighteousness.Spendingtime and energy for a personwhom they didn’t evenmeet,speaks volumesabout their loveandcare,”hesaid.“Iwish to reach out to every

singlepersonwhojoinedthevar-ious stages of struggle andholdtheir hands to conveymygrati-tudeandthankfulness.Icannevercompensate for that, ever.Nevertheless,‘Thanks’istheonlysinglewordIcanexpressfornowwithprofuse tears of happiness,loveandreverence,”hesaid.On January 28, 1998, after a

prolonged trial, the TADA courtsentenced26accusedinthecasetodeath,includingPerarivalan.OnMay11,1999,theSupremeCourtupheldthedeathsentenceoffour,includingPerarivalan.In August 2011, theMadras

HighCourt stayed theexecutionorder. It was around the sametimethatAmmalstartedbuildinganationwidemovementagainstthedeathpenalty,visitingprisonsacross the countrywith abadgepinnedonhersariwiththemes-sage: “Marana ThandanaiOzhipom” (abolish capital pun-ishment).Hailing froma family bound

to the ideals of Periyar and theDravidianmovement, Ammalmethersonin jailwhenevershecould. “Butduringourmeetings,he used to giveme courage, nottheotherway,”saidAmmal.While her 86-year-old hus-

band, Kuyil Dasan akaGnanasekaran, a Tamil poet andretired reacher, stayedwith oneof her two daughters, Ammalshuttled between Chennai andJolarpettai, betweenVellore andPuzhal central prisonswherehewaslodged.“Hewasalwaysmyfavourite.

We used to sing together,” shesaid,recallingthedaysbeforehis

arrestinthecase.When Perarivalanwas first

grantedparole in2017,Ammal's“youngfriends”,includingseveralfilmmakers, brought akeyboardforthemotherandsontosingto-gether.The first songPerarivalansangwas “Ponnu Pola Aatha”,abouta“motheraspureasgold”getting“onlysorrowinreturn”.ForAmmal,carryingabundle

ofbookstoprisonwasahighlightofhervisitstoseeherson.

RSS on Gyanvapimoreoverwhelmedwhenajour-nalist told me that Nandi hadbeenwaiting centuries for LordShiva.Myeyeswelledup,”hesaid.

Shivling claimclaim of the discovery of theShivlingduringthesurveyof themosquecomplex."Is that the placewhere the

Shivlinghasbeen found?"askedGulabrao, a pilgrim fromMaharashtra, pointing towardsthe mosque. Priest Ganeshi,seated near theNandi idol, toldthe devotees: "Yes, wahinmilehainBaba (Lord Shiva).Hum logtopehlesejaantethhekiBabaan-dar hain (Yes, Baba has beenfound there.Weknewall alongthatBabaisthere)."Nandi,hesaid,alwaysfacestheLord.Another priest, Ravi Pandey,

had a different take: "Jo zakhmbhar chuke hain, unhe kyunkhureden. Sauhard bana rehnazaroorihai(Whyscratchwoundsthat havehealed. It is importanttomaintainharmony)."SMYaseen, JointSecretaryof

theAnjuman IntezamiaMasajidwhich manages the Gyanvapimosque,said:"Namazisbeingof-fered everydaywithout anyob-struction.But the faithfularenotabletodowazubecausetheareawherewaterisavailablethroughtapshasbeensealed.Wehavere-quested thenamazis todowazuat home before coming to themosque. Water in drums hasbeenmadeavailabletothem,butit isnotsufficient.Onanaverage,200-500 namazis visit themosquefornamazeverytime."DistrictMagistrate Kaushal

Raj Sharma said for the conven-ienceofthefaithfulwhocometooffer namaz, an applicationhasbeenfiledincourt,seekingdirec-tionforshiftingawaterpipeout-side. He said orders of theSupreme Court regarding thematterhavebeencompliedwith--thetopcourtwillhearthemat-teragainThursday."Areaisalreadysecureandna-

mazis are visiting themosquewithoutanyproblem. Ihavealsospoken to the IntezamiaCommitteeof themosque. Theyhave arranged 2-3 drumswithwaterforwazu,"hesaid.Meanwhile,thewomenpeti-

tioners,whohave been seekingpermission for daily prayers atMaaShringarGauri Sthal on theouterwall of themosque com-plex, filedanapplicationincourtasking that a report be obtainedfromAjay KumarMishra -- hewas removed as the AdvocateCommissionerTuesday--onthesurvey doneunder his supervi-siononMay6and7.

PM paneldemand-basedandofferguaran-teed employment should be in-troduced so that the surplus-labourisrehabilitated,”itsaid.According to the report, rais-

ingminimumincomeandintro-ducinguniversalbasicincomearesomeof the recommendationsthat can reduce incomegapandensureequaldistributionofearn-ingsinthelabourmarket.“Most importantly, the

Governmentmustallocatemorepercentageoftheexpenditureto-wardssocial servicesandtheso-cial sector tomakethemostvul-nerable population resilient tosuddenshocksandstoptheirde-scentintopoverty,” itsaid.The EAC-PMnoted that the

most important aspect ofmeas-uringpoverty in amulti-dimen-sional context requiresmappingthemobilityinandoutofpoverty.Citing theresultsof the three

rounds of the Periodic LabourForce Survey (PLFS), theCouncil

noted that in the three years to2019-20,“exceptingforverymar-ginalchanges”,thetop1percentofpopulationheld6-7percentofthetotalincomeearned,whilethetop10percentheldathird.Over the threeyears to2019-

20,theshareofthetop1percentofthepopulationinthecountry'stotal incomeincreasedfrom6.14percentto6.82percent.It said that though therewas

marginaldeclineinincomeshareof the top10percent from35.18per cent in 2017-18 to32.52percent in 2019-20, this hasn't re-sultedinincreasedsalariesofbot-tom-mostpopulation. “...Thetop1percentgrewbyalmost15percentbetween2017-18to2019-20,whereas thebottom10per centregisteredacloseto1percentfall(intheirincomeshare),” itsaid.Speaking at the report’s re-

lease, Debroy said, “In India,wehave never had comprehensivedataandwewillneverhavedatameasuringincomeinequality”.“TheclosestwasNCAERdata

manyyearsagobutonewasverysceptical of that despite it beingNCAER.Whatwe do have andwhatwe shouldhave is data ondistributionof consumption ex-penditure.Unfortunately, it's thecasethatthelastcomprehensiveNSSdataonconsumptionandex-penditure is for2011-12.Andwehavehadnothingafterthat. Inallprobabilityanotherconsumptionexpenditure roundwill start thisyear. But we will not haveprocesseddata till theendof theyear,”Debroysaid.“Intheabsenceofdataoncon-

sumptionexpenditure,aclearar-ticulationof thepoverty line, ob-viously we do not knowwhatpoverty numbers are, everyonejumps into the bandwagon. Allkindsof peopledo somekindofextrapolationonthebasisof2011-12data, on thebasis of someas-sumedTendulkarpovertylineandcomeupwith all kinds of esti-mates... TheonlydatawhichcanbeusednowisPLFSwhichiswhatthisreportmostlyuses,”hesaid.

Inflation upAccording to information

sourced from companies andFMCGsectoranalysts,therawma-terial inflation has led to pricehikesacrossproductcategories—either through increase inMRPsorreducingquantitiesofpackages.Some categories like soaps

sawpricehikes of 25%-50%overthelastoneyear(April2021-April2022), while others like deter-gentssawpricehikesof4%-18%inthe threemonths fromFebruarytoAprilthisyear.Duringthesamethreemonths,companiesmanu-facturing toothpastes raised thepricesoftheirproductsby2%-18%,whilesomeshampoobrandssawapricehikeof nearly 47%. In thefood andbeverages segment aswell,whileedibleoilssawa10%-29%pricehike,noodlessawanin-creaseof10%-17%.Grammage reductions have

beenespeciallyfocussedonlow-unitpriceproducts, according toFMCG companies. For biscuit-maker Britannia, grammage re-ductions accounted for around65%ofthepricehikesitundertookduring2021-22. The company'sMD,VarunBerry, said at anana-lyst call thismonth that goingahead“thegrammagecutmightend up being even higher thanthat”.For FMCG companies, these

grammage reductions mostlyhappenacrossthelow-priceunititemsthatarepricedatRe1,Rs2,Rs5,Rs10,etc.“Almost30%ofourbusiness comes frompacks thatoperateatmagicpricepointslikeRe1,Rs5orRs10. Inthesepacks,our preferredmode of price in-creaseisbyreducinggrammage.As a result, even the samenum-berof units sold leads tovolumedecline.Thishadacirca2%-3%im-pactonourUVG(underlyingvol-umegrowth),”RiteshTiwari,chieffinancial officer of HindustanUnilever, India's largest FMCGcompany, said.ForBritannia, the low-priced

packsmake up 50%-55% of thecompany'ssalesmix.

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ABHINAVRAJPUTNEWDELHI,MAY18

THE DELHI PoliceWednesdaydetainedAamAadmiPartyMLAKuldeepKumarduringademo-lition drive in Kalyanpuri for al-legedlyobstructingapublicser-vant fromcarryingouthisduty.The Delhi Development

Authority (DDA)said itwascar-ryingouttheexercisetoreclaimitsproperty.It said the demolition was

carried out in Khichripur onDDA land, measuring aroundtwohectares.Thelandhasbeenunder encroachment for a longtime, and the exercisewas car-riedoutunder thedirectionsoftheDelhiHighCourt,whichhaddirectedtheagencytotakepos-session of the land forthwith,the DDA said in a press state-ment.AAP’s Kumar, who was

protesting against the anti-en-croachmentdriveinabidtostopthebulldozers,claimedthepeo-

pleresidingintheareahavevaliddocuments.The owner of the building

that was demolished, S Nagar,said the DDA has illegally con-ducted demolition and he wasnot given any information ortime to vacate thepremises.“Wehavebeenlivingherefor

generations; the DDA did noteven have a record of wheretheir land is,”heclaimed.The area was used for both

residential and commercial

purposes, where around 20people lived. Itwasalsousedasa furniture shopandgodown.AseniorDDAofficialsaidthe

agency is not required to give anoticewhen it is reclaiming itslandoncourtorders.In an order on May 6, the

court questioned DDA for nottakingpossessionof its land.The demolition was earlier

scheduled thrice, but could notbe carried out due to the non-availability of the police force,

theDDAofficial said.Since the anti-encroach-

ment drive at Jahangirpuri onApril 20, the three municipalcorporations of Delhi and theDDA have intensified suchdrives and anti-encroachmentaction on properties in areassuch as Shaheen Bagh,MadanpurKhadar,NewFriendsColony, Mangolpuri, Rohini,Gokulpuri, Lodhi Colony,Rithala, Janakpuri, Hari Nagar,Khyala andKalyanpuri.

ACTIONCARRIEDOUTUNDERHC’SDIRECTION,SAYSDDA

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY18

AN ASSISTANT professor fromDelhiUniversity’sHinduCollegehasbeenbookedforanallegedlyobjectionable socialmediapostreferring to claims of a Shivlingbeing found at the Gyanvapimosque, police said onWednesday. According to thepolice, professor Ratan Lal al-legedly posted a photo of thestructure andmade objection-ablecommentsonTuesday.A case has been registered

againsthimatNorthdistrict cy-berpolicestationunderIPCsec-tion 295-A (malicious acts, in-tended to outrage religiousfeelings) and 153 A (promotingenmity between differentgroups on ground of religion,race, place of birth, residence,language, etc).After his social media post

went viral, Lal posted a videosayinghewasbeing threatenedbymanyusersonline,andaskedpolice for “security”andhelp.He toldThe IndianExpress: “I

havenotyetreceivedanynoticefromthepolice, but if I do, Iwill

cooperatewith them. I was notexpectingthreatsandabusesforthis statement. There is a longtraditionofcritiqueinHinduismfrom Phule, Ravidas andAmbedkar. Here, I haven’t evencritiqued it, it is justanobserva-tion. In our country, religiousfeelings get hurt over anything.What will people do, just putpattiontheirmouths?”Police said an FIRwas regis-

teredatcyberpolicestation lateonTuesdaynight.DCP (North) Sagar Singh

Kalsi said, “Acomplaintwasre-ceived last night against the

professorregardingadeliberateandmaliciouspostonFacebookintended to outrage religiousfeelings by insulting areligion/religious beliefs. Legalactionhasbeen initiated in thisregard.”TheSupremeCourtTuesday

had asked the Varanasi districtmagistrate to secure the areawhereaShivlingwasclaimedtohavebeenfoundintheGyanvapiMosque during a videographicsurveyof themosqueareawith-out impeding or restricting therights of Muslims to access andoffernamazat themosque.

AAP’sKumarclaimedpeople intheareahadvaliddocuments. PremNathPandey

MALLICAJOSHINEWDELHI,MAY18

DELHI LIEUTENANTGovernors,sincetheAamAadmiPartycameinto power as the single largestpartyin2015,havehadatumul-tuousrelationshipwiththestategovernment.AnilBaijal,whoisthecurrent

L-Gandsenthisresignationfromthe post to the President onWednesday, is no different.While his term saw periods ofrelativecalm,asopposedtothatof formerL-GNajeebJung, therewereseveral issuesonwhichheandtheelectedgovernment, ledbyArvindKejriwal,differed.Delhi,beingaUnionTerritory

with special character, is gov-erned both by the elected stategovernment and the CentrethroughtheL-G.Mattersrelatedto land, police, law& order andservicescomeundertheL-G.

■ The first big difference ofopinion between Baijal and thegovernmentwas seen over thedoorstepdeliveryofservices,un-derwhich a ‘sahayak’would goto people’s houses and collectanduploaddocumentsforthemtoapplyforseveralservicessuchas getting a caste certificate, ap-plying fora learners licenseetc.InDecember2017,Baijal’sof-

fice issued a statement whichsaidthattheproposalhadimpli-cations for the “safety and secu-rity of women and senior citi-zens, the possibility ofcorruption, bad behaviour,breach of privacy, loss of docu-ments,etc,andaddsunnecessaryexpenditureforthegovernmentand the people… the unneces-

saryroadtripstakenbytheserv-ice delivery personswould addto air pollution.” Amonth later,however, he approved thescheme.

■Among the biggest stand-offs thatcameinearly2018,wasafter Chief Secretary AnshuPrakashwasallegedly assaultedbyAAPMLAsatKejriwal’shomeduring ameeting. IASofficers inthe city, the party alleged,werenotcooperatingwiththecabinet,andworkwasstalledaftertheal-legedincident.While Health Minister

SatyendarJainfirstsatondharnaat the L-G office, he was soonjoined by Kejriwal and his cabi-net of ministers. The stand-offlasted nine days. Delhi govern-ment officials said later that themainissuewasthepassingofthefile on the installation of CCTVcamerasacrossthenationalcap-ital,whichwasanimportantpollpromisedmadebytheparty.

■DifferencesbetweentheL-Gandthegovernmentalsocameto the fore over the ambitiousdoorstep delivery of rationscheme.While the elected gov-ernment said that the schemeshould be implemented at theearliest, the L-Gdid not give thego-ahead, citing a lack of clear-ancefromtheUniongovernmentandanongoinglitigationinvolv-ing the scheme. Delhi has sincebeen locked in battle with theCentreovertheimplementationofthescheme,whichitpassedinits cabinet in November 2017over theusageof grainprovidedbytheCentre inastatescheme.

■ In July 2018, the SupremeCourt in a verdict said that inmatters other than land, police,

law and order services, the L-Gwas“boundbytheaidandadviceof the government”. The judg-ment gave a freer hand to theelected government. In 2019, aSupremeCourttwo-judgebenchdelivered a split judgement onthejurisdictionoftheCentreandthe Delhi government over theappointmentandtransferofbu-reaucrats. Both justices agreedthattheCentrewillhavecontrolovertheAnti-CorruptionBureauwhiletheDelhigovernmentwillhave the powers to appoint thespecialpublicprosecutorsanddi-rectorsunder theElectricityAct.

■After riotsbrokeout in thecapital in 2020, theDelhi Policeset forth a proposal to hire spe-cial public prosecutors for riotandanti-CAAprotestcasesbeingtried in the Delhi courts.WhileAAPsaidthiswastheirexclusivepower,theL-Greferredthemat-ter to the President after a longtussle,andtheDelhiPolicegotitspreferred panel of lawyers. TheDelhigovernmenttookthemat-tertoHighCourt,challengingthedecisionsoftheL-G.Thematterispendingincourt.TheDelhiPolicealso got a lawyers’ panel of itschoice inthecasesagainst thoseallegedlyinvolvedintheviolencethat took place at the Red Fortduring the farmers’ protest rallyonRepublicDay.

■ After themedical oxygencrisis during the second Covidwave in 2021, theDelhi govern-mentpassedanordertosetupacommittee to probe whetherpeoplehaddiedduetotheshort-ageofoxygen.Baijalopposedthedecision,sayingacommitteesetupbytheSupremeCourtwasal-ready looking intothe issue.

Baijal and AAP govt: Hotand cold through the years


ANILBAIJAL,whowasappointedastheDelhiLieutenantGovernorin2016,has senthis resignationto the President of India. Baijal,76,hasresignedforpersonalrea-sons, sources said.The 1969-batch IAS officer’s

tenure as L-Gwas 5 years and5months.Hewasearlierthevice-chairperson of the DelhiDevelopment Authority andUnion Home Secretary duringtheAtalBihariVajpayeegovern-ment. He retired in 2006 asUnion Urban DevelopmentSecretary.His tenure was marked by

regularrun-inswiththeAAP-ledDelhi government. The biggestface-offhappenedin2018whenCMArvindKejriwalandhiscab-inetofministerssatonadharnainBaijal’soffice,allegingthatIASofficers posted with the stategovernmentwere not workingintandemwithelectedofficials.Hewasalsoatloggerheadswiththegovernmentovertheimple-mentationofthedoorstepdeliv-ery of services and rationschemes.WhiletheDelhigovernment

was also locked in battle withBaijal’spredecessorNajeebJung,BaijalwastheL-Gforthemajor-ity of the seven years that theAAP government has been in

power. In2021,theGovernmentof National Capital Territory ofDelhi Act, 1991 was passed bytheParliament,whicheffectivelymadetheL-GtheoverallheadoftheDelhigovernment,meaningall fileswouldhavetobepassedthroughhim.Sources said that while the

governmentwas apprehensivethatBaijalwouldtrytotakecon-trolofthegovernmentfollowingthe amendment being passed,hecontinuedtoworkintandemwithelectedrepresentatives.The biggest issues arising

latelywasovertheappointmentof special public prosecutors intheDelhi riots, anti-CAAprotestand Red Fort violence cases,where he cleared the panel putforthbytheDelhiPolice insteadof goingwith theDelhi govern-

ment’spanel.“Despitetheirdisagreements

over several issues, the Delhigovernmenthadacordialwork-ingrelationshipwithhim.Baijalbeing amild-mannered officer,who had spent a great deal oftimeinthebureaucracy,handledthe fraught relationship be-tweenthetwowingswell,espe-ciallyduringCovidasheheadedtheDelhiDisasterManagementAuthority,” said aDelhi govern-ment official who did not wishtobenamed.Delhi,atpresent, isundergo-

inganadministrativeflux,withanew Chief Secretary appointedinApril, andaSpecialOfficer forthe unified MunicipalCorporationofDelhiexpectedtobe appointed soon till the newhouse iselected.

L-GAnilBaijalandCMArvindKejriwal.HehasbeenL-GforthemajorityofAAP’s tenure.Archive

Baijal resigns as L-G,cites personal reasons

Hindu College prof booked for Shivling post

13-yr-old kidnapped,raped for days; 4 held

Thefirebrokeout ina four-storeybuildingonMay13.Archive


DAYSAFTER 27 people died in-side a four-storey commercialbuildinginMundka,preliminaryinvestigation has revealed thattheswitchboardonthefirstfloorhad sparking, followingwhichcardboardsandothermaterially-ingnearbycaughtfire.DCP(Outer)SameerSharma

said,“Weconductedaninitialin-vestigation and found that onthe first floor, there was achange-over switch/board forelectricity connection. At thesameplace,theykeptcardboardand dumped other materialswhich supposedly caused thefire to spread quickly.” He saidthebuildingwascongesteddueto storageandassemblingunitsforCCTVsandrouters.“Wehave

found that therewereworksta-tions and offices. Steel sheetswere used to separate staircasefrom floors. There were parti-tions which were also used asstorage. But all facts will beclearerafterforensicreports,”hesaid. The Forensic ScienceLaboratoryhasalreadycollectedDNA samples from 27 bodiesandisnowmatchingthosewithblood samples collected fromfamilymembers.Sharmasaid,“Wehavetaken

around15documentsrelatedtoproperty, rent agreement, andcompany documents from thetenants, Harish Goel and VijayGoel, and ownerManish Lakra.Allarephotocopiesandwehavesentthesetomorethan10agen-cies to verify...” Meanwhile, aDelhicourtWednesdaysentthethree men to five-day judicialcustody.


NEARLYAweek after a 13-year-oldwentmissingfromherhomeinSouthDelhi,policehavefoundthatshewasallegedlygangrapedby at least fourmen, who kid-napped her and took her out ofthe city. The girlwas eventuallyabandoned and foundoutside aMetro station. Police said theyhavearrested threeaccusedandapprehendedaminorsofar.Accordingtothegirl’sfather,a

driver, she left herhouse around5pmonApril 24 to eatmomos.When she didn’t return, hethoughtshehadgonetoafriend’splace or was with relatives.Eventually,amissingpersoncom-plaintwaslodgedonApril26.“Shewould usually take an

autoore-rickshawtothemarket.Whenshedidn’tcomeback,Ifirstthought shewent tomeet herfriends... But later I called every-one to enquire and realised shewasmissing... She camebackaf-ter aweek—she toldmetheac-cused kidnappedher in an autoandsedatedher. Theyrapedher,andthreatenedtokillherusingabrokenbeer bottle…On return-ing, shewas taken for amedicaltestandthenpolicetookustothecourt to record a statement. TheChildWelfareCommitteeofficials

cametoseeherandthenshewassenttoashelterhome.Iamclue-less, depressed… I don’t knowwhattodo,”saidherfather.Police said they registered a

kidnappingcaseonApril 26andsentteamstotraceher.OnMay1,police received inputs from in-formers that a suspect was inSouthDelhi. BenitaMary Jaiker,DCP(South),said,“Wewerelook-ingforthevictimandtheaccused.On May 1, a boy was appre-hended.He led us to the others.Theyconfessedbutdidn’thelpusinidentifyingortracingthegirl.”OnMay 2, police found her

nearaMetrostationwiththehelpof a localwho recalled seeing amissing posterwith her photo.“Theinvestigatingofficerreceivedacallfromawoman...Wesentanofficerandrecoveredthegirl.Shewas under the influence of nar-coticsordrugs.Shewastakenforamedical examination at AIIMSwhere sexual abuse was con-firmed,”saidDCPJaiker.Police identified the accused

as Mohit (20), Aakash (19),Shahrukh (20) and a juvenile.During interrogation, they saidthatafterkidnappingthegirl,theyraped her and took her to TigriandMathurabeforeabandoningheronMay1.Policesaidshewasscared and didn’t want to gohome,soshewalkedtotheMetrostationandstayedthereforaday.

Mundka fire: Probe pointsto congestion in building

HC raps DDA for permittingschool to take loan against plotEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY18

THE DELHI High CourtWednesdaypulledup theDelhiDevelopment Authority forgranting permission to theRaisina Bengali School Societyformortgaging the school plotwhich is a leasehold land allot-ted only for thepurpose of run-ning the school. The court alsosaid it hopes and expects theDelhi government to completetheprocessofthetakeoverofthedebt-ridden Raisina BengaliSchool in thenext twomonths."It'snoanswerforDDAtotake

that thepermissiontomortgagethe propertywas grantedwiththeconditionthattheuserof theplotcouldnotbechangedeven...intheeventualityofthemortgage

beingenforcedandthepropertybeing sold," said the divisionbenchofactingChiefJusticeVipinSanghiandJusticeSachinDatta.ThecourtsaidtheDDAshould

be equally concernedwith thefactthatworkingoftheschoolit-self would get disrupted on en-forcement of the mortgage,whichwould jeopardise the fu-tureofstudents."Wethereforedi-rect theDDA to reconsider theirpolicyinthisregardandtakecor-rectivemeasures,"saidthebench.Thecourtwashearingapub-

lic interest litigation related toauctioningoftheschoolbuilding.The Delhi government in Aprilhadtoldasinglebenchthatithasdecided to take over the schoolsituated in CR Park and onWednesday reiterated the sub-mission. The courtwas also toldthe government has already ini-

tiatedstepsforauditoftheschoolaccounts. "Howareyougrantingpermission to schools tomort-gage school property?What doyoumean by conditional per-mission?The society is going toswindle theamounts after real-ising ... This is not a commercialproperty; it is given for a socialcause.Thepointisif themanage-mentwants tomonetise theas-set, they take themoney, theyrun awaywith themoney andeverything is left high and dry.How can this be?" the divisionbenchasked theDDAearlier.On November 11, 2021, the

Debt Recovery Tribunal had or-deredthatthegovernment-aidedschool would go for e-auction.Theschoolhaddefaultedonloantaken from a bank. The auctionwassettoaffectthecareerof900students.

MCDstobemergedonMay22NewDelhi:Thethreemu-nicipal corporations ofDelhi will be formallymerged onMay 22, ac-cording to a central gov-ernment notification is-sued Wednesday. TheMunicipal Corporation(Amendment) Act, 2022will come into effect onMay22, a notification is-suedby theUnionHomeMinistrysaid.

Rs424croreearnedfromGurgaonliquorshopsauctionGurgaon:Haryana gov-ernment onWednesdayearnedRs424crore fromauction of 148 liquorshopsinGurgaonthroughe-tenders, officials said.AnirudhSharma,deputyexciseandtaxationcom-missioner (West), said,“Auctionwas held in 37zones out of the total 42in West zone. As com-paredtoearliernumbersand reserve price, therehasbeenagrowthinrev-enue.”

112dupedinVaishnoDevichopperscamNew Delhi: A group offraudsters,posingastravelagents, allegedly cheated112people to the tune ofRs5.6 lakhonthepretextof providing helicopterservices to VaishnoDeviTemple in Jammu, policesaid. Delhi Police SpecialCell registered a caseagainst unknown fraud-stersafterreceivingcom-plaintsonline. ENS

BRIEFLY

DELHI GOVTSEEKSREPORT FROMMCD

DAYS AFTER holding ameetingwith AAPMLAstodiscussanti-encroach-mentdrivesbeingcarriedout in the city sinceApril1, the Delhi governmentWednesday sought a re-portfromBJP-ledmunic-ipal corporations on useof bulldozers in thecity.“The Delhi govern-

ment has asked all threeMCDs to submit a reportand data since April 1 onrunning bulldozers andnumber of drives con-ducted in the nationalcapital,” a sourcesaid.Recently, Delhi Chief

Minister ArvindKejriwalheld a meeting with allAAPMLAs to discuss the‘bulldozer drive’ by theMCDs.

Another demolition flashpoint as AAP MLAis detained during DDA drive in Kalyanpuri

Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 9,581 9,470ICU BEDS 2,222 2,183

CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL

VACCINATIONS INLAST24HOURS29,255

NOIDAMay 17 May18

Cases N/A N/ADeaths N/A N/AGURGAONCases 199 188Deaths 0 0

PATIENTS INHOSPITAL: 113OXYGENSUPPORT 41VENTILATORSUPPORT 5

DELHI TOTALCASES19,01,660

Cases Recoveries Deaths TestsMay17 393 709 2 11,731May18 532 767 0 24,989Total 2,675* 18,72,787 26,198 3,82,72,486*Total active cases inDelhi

New Delhi

THECITY4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022

ClassifiedsPPEERRSSOONNAALL

II,, R. Dhanabackiam, SpouseofNo. 3190187NHav/MessKeeperJotheeswaranM, Resident ofVill-MelbodinathamPO-Mahimandlam, Teh- Katpadi,Distt- Vollore (TN), havechangedmyname fromR.Dhanabackiam toDhanabackiamJ videAddidavit/ Self Declarationdated- 18.05.2022.

0070785920-1

II,, PradeepAttri S/oSh.JainarainR/o-RZ-189,Q-ExtnUttam-Vihar, uttamNagar,WestDelhi-110059 I,inform thatmynamechangePradeepSharmatopradeepAttri,for all futurepurposes 0040614166-3

II,, Pooja Shukla, D/oHarjit SinghSondhi,W/o AkashdeepSingh,R/oA-71, GroundFloor, NewFriendsColony, Delhi-110025,have changedmynameandshall hereafter be knownasPooja Sondhi. 0070785891-1

II,, PiyushKumar thakar S/oSunderDas thakar, R/o-153, A-Block,Sainik-colony, FaridabadHaryana, have changemyname toPiyush thakur

0040614166-1

II,, NurhasanS/oNisar,HouseNo-352Village-ShekhpurKhichra-PostHasanpurDistrict HapurUttar Pradesh-245301.Changedmyname to NoorHasan

0040614211-4

II,, NiveditaMishra, D/oAnilKumarMishra, R/oT-4,PrincipalQuarter, JNV-Campus, DhoomManikpur,GautamBudhNagar, UP, havechangedmyname fromNivedita toNiveditaMishra forall futurepurposes.

0070785897-1

II,, Nitin, S/oShri PawanKumar,R/oA-117, StreetNo.07, VijayNagar, Bawana, Delhi-110039,have changedmyname fromNitinKumar toNitin for allfuturepurposes. 0070785913-1

II,, NeelkamalChoudhary S/oChanderpal ChoudharyR/o1309 Sector-7 PushpViharM.B.RoadMalviyaNagar S.O.SouthDelhi Delhi -110017havechangedmyname toNeelkamal Chaudhary.

0050197113-1

II,,Mohammad Javed, S/oAnisAhmed, R/o 33/22, Gali-No-16,BhikamSinghColony, VishwasNagar, Delhi-110032, havechangedmyminor SonnamefromMohammadAnas toMdAnas. 0070785902-1

II,,MohammadHadishAhmad,S/oGulMohammad, R/oH.No.1710, Gali No. 11, AmbedkarNagar, ArthalaMohanNagar,Ghaziabad (U.P.) 201007, havechangedmyname toMohammadHadish for allpurposes. 0070785852-1

II,,MISHRAPANKAJKUMARBASHISTHANARAYANS/OBASHISTHNARAYANMISHRAR/OA3,203-Tulip Lemon, Sector69, GurgaonHaryana 122101have changedmyname toPANKAJMISHRA 0040614152-1

II,, Kumari Pragya, D/oAnil KumarSingh, R/o-Vill &PO-Alipur,Dist- Arrah, Bihar-802161, havechangedmyname toPragyaSingh. 0070785900-1

II,, Kapil DevSingh, S/oVijaySingh, R/oHouseNo. 111,Sector-11, VasundharaGhaziabad, havechangedmyname toKapil Singh for allfuturepurposes.

0070785922-1

II,, Jasbir Singh, S/oShiv Singh,R/oR-815, RaghubirNagar,Delhi-110027, have changedmyname to Jasvir Singh for allpurposes. 0070785910-1

II,, JagdishChandar S/oSh.MohanLal R/oH.No.185-B,Pocket-A6, PaschimVihar, NewDelhi-110063, have changedmyname to JagdishChander forall futurepurpose.

0040614229-1

II,, Harmeet Singh s/oBhupinderSingh r/oD-85, TagoreGardenExtn., NewDelhi-110027havechangedmynameandshallhereafter be knownasHARMEETSINGHSETHI.

0040614171-2

II,, Harmeet SinghSethi s/oBhupinder Singh r/oD-85,TagoreGardenExtn., NewDelhi-110027being the legalguardian /father of KRISWEENKAURSETHI have changedhername toKRISWEENKAUR.KRISWEENKAURSETHI&KRISWEENKAURbothnamesareof the sameperson.

0040614171-3

II,, GulMohammed, S/oMd.Musa, R/oH.No. 1710, GaliNo.11, AmbedkarNagar,ArthalaMohanNagar,Ghaziabad (U.P.) 201007, havechangedmyname toGulMohammad for all purposes.

0070785853-1

II,, DeepaAdhikariW/oChhatraBahadurChhetri R/oB-202,MahalaxmiApartment, PlotNo.4, Sector-2,Dwarka, Delhi –110075have changedmynametoDeepaChhetri for all futurepurposes.

0040614260-1

II,, Dalbir Kaur,W/o Jasvir Singh,R/oR-815, RaghubirNagar,Delhi-110027, have changedmyname toRajvir Kaur for allpurposes. 0070785909-1

II,,AAbbhhiimmaanniiyyuu SinghChhikara@AbhimaniyuBirjander Singh,S/o-BirjanderSinghChhikara,R/oA-504,Park-ViewCity-I Sohna-RoadGurgaon-122018,have changedmyname toAbhimaniyuBsingh. 0040614211-9

II,, BalwanSingh, S/oRamPat,R/o 44-G/9, KishanGarh,VasantKunj, Delhi-110070, havechangedmyminor Son’s namefromNirmal Singh, aged 10years toKaanhaGandasforever. 0070785898-1

II,, AshaDeviW/oPradeepSharmaR/oB-104,MajorBholaRamColony, PochanpurVillage, Delhi have changedmyname toAnuradhaSharma(Aadhaar723422820002) for allpurposes. 0040614205-1

II,, AnamikaMishra, D/oShymacharanMishra, R/oKhudiyaMishra, BarakaGaon,Deoria, Uttar Pradsh-274601,declare that nameofmyFatherhasbeenwronglywrittenasShyamacharan inmy12thClassCertificateNo- 0840530.Theactual nameofmyFatheris ShymacharanMishra,whichmaybeamendedaccordingly.

0070785893-1

II,, ADITI NUPURSINHAW/oGauravNigam,R/o 107, KailashHills, East of Kailash, NewDelhi-110065, have changedmyname toADITI SINHANIGAM forall purposes 0040614165-1

II SuranderKumaraliasSurenderKumarGupta S/oLate Sh. Gauri Lal R/oX-1222A,SatsangMarg, GandhiNagar,ChandMohalla, GandhiNagarS.O., EastDelhi, Delhi-110031have changedmyname toSurenderKumarGupta for allpurposes. 0040614153-2

II RenuW/oSh.MukeshKumarR/oA-1/1004, Loni Road,Saviour Park Society, NearNagarNigamOffice,MohanNagar, Ghaziabad, UttarPradesh-201007 have changedmyname toRenuKhodwal forall purposes. 0040614153-1

II No - 15572932X HavHusainKhan Jogi Unit =Engineer inchief Branch Kashmir house,,C/O 56Apo., inmySarviceRecordmywifeName&DOBwronglymention Farmena&15-05-1985. HerCorrectName&DOB is FARMEENA&06-07-1986

0040614184-1

II,, Gurpreet Kaur Sethiw/oHarmeet SinghSethi r/oD-85,TagoreGardenExtn., NewDelhi-110027have changedmynameandshall hereafter beknownasGurpreet Kaur

0040614171-1

IIMukeshKumar S/oSh.Ramphal SinghR/oA-1/1004,Loni Road, Saviour ParkSociety, Near NagarNigamOffice,MohanNagar,Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh-201007have changedmynametoMukeshKumarKhodwal forall purposes. 0040614153-3

II GulfamAnasari R/o Sf-4, A-9/3DLFAnkurVihar LoniGhaziabad.Have changedmyname toGulfamAnsari for allpurposes. 0040614163-1

I,VINODKUMARS/O.CHHOTEYLAL ADD-S-635- A,SCHOOLBLOCK ,GALI.NO.5 SHAKARPUREASTDELHI-110092,Changedmyname toVINODCHOUDHARY, 0040614222-5

IItt is for general information thatI,Praveenkumar,S/o Jagdevsingh,R/oD/595,Ashok-nagar,Delhi-93,declare thatnameofmyandmywife hasbeenwrongly-writtenasParveenkumarandDeepali inmyminor daughter Janvi herschool record.the actual-nameofmyPraveenkumarandBabli.whichmaybeamendedaccordingly. 0040614208-7

II,,VViijjaayyKumarGoel S/oBalakRamGoel R/o-B-2/22,RajasthaliAppt,PitamPuraDelhi-34,havechangedmyname toVijayGoel. 0040614208-2

II,,TTeeeennaa JindalW/oSunil JindalR/o-FlatNo.27,AkashKunjApartment Sector-9 RohiniDelhi-11085,changedmynametoPrarthana Jindal.

0040614223-3

II,,TTaannaayyaaAnejaD/oRakeshKumarR/o 146 3rd-Floor BheraEnclavePaschimViharDelhi-110087 changedmyname toTannayaAneja 0040614223-1

II,,SSwwaarrnn LataGusainW/oAnkitAgarwal R/o-A-38,BalajiApartments, Plot-No.37,Sector-6,Dwarka, N.Delhi-110075,have changedmynametoSwarnGusain.

0040614224-1

II,,SSuurriinnddeerr Jeet Kaur,W/oSatnamSinghNarula,R/oH.No-60SecondFloor, Block-A, Sector-8, Dwarka,NewDelhi-110075,have changedmynameSurender Jeet KaurNarula,forall purposes. 0040614208-4

II,,SSuunniittaa Yadav,spouseof,OmPrakashRaiR/O.House.No.10A,Gali.No-14A,Harphool-Vihar, Jai-vihar-II,Najafgarh-43,have changedmyname,fromSunitaYadav toSunitaKumari vide-affidavitdated-11/05/2022,BEFORENCT-DELHI. 0040614208-10

II,,SSrriisshhttii SinghD/o-Udai SinghR/oKharsatiyaKhasotiaBarabanki Uttar Pradesh-225124have changedmynametoSrishati Singh for allpurposes. 0040614158-2

II,,SShhyyaammSundarBehal,S/oDevRaj, H.No.180,Sector-23, Near-Water Tank, Gurgaon(Haryana)-122017,havechangedmyname toShyamSunderBehal. 0040614222-4

II,, Yesha Jangid,W/o MayankGautam,R/o E-1103, AvasVikasColony, RajendraNagar,Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh-243122,have changedmynameandshall hereafter be knownasYeshaGautam.

0070785886-1

II,,AABBHHEEYYMALHOTRA,S/OAJAYKUMARMALHOTRA,R/oPLOT.NO.903,GH1, SHALIMARGARDEN,GHAZIABAD,U.P.201005,changedmyname toABHEYKUMARMALHOTRA.

0040614222-1

II,,SShhooiibbAhmedS/oAbdulAzizR/o-J3/140 ExtensionKrishnaKunj Laxmi-NagarDelhi,havechangedmyname toShuaibAhmed 0040614224-5

II,,SSaannjjaayyGoel S/O.Mr. KaramChandR/o.B-12, Street.no.3,BhajanpuraDelhi 110053. haveChangedmyName toSanjayKumar,for all futurepurposes.

0040614223-4

II,,SShhaasshhaannkkKumar,S/oSanjayKumar,R/o Flat.No.502, PlotNo.15, Artha-HousingSociety,Sector-4,Vaishali,Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh-201010,have changedmynametoShashankKohli.

0040614238-4

II,,SShhaarroonn ElizabethRajan,D/oRajanYohannanR/o-KG-2-232,VikasPuri NewDelhi-110018,have changedmydaughter nameHazel Lijo toHazel,for all purposes.

0040614208-5

II,,SSaanncchhiitt KhannaR/oB-277,Sector-50, Noida(U.P) havechangedmydaughter’s namefromNyasaKhanna toNaysaKhanna for all purposes.

0040614172-1

II,,SSUUNNAAIINNAA,,DD//OORAKESH, ADD-HUT.NO-4DHOBIGHATNO-4GURUDWARARAKABGANJROAD,NEWDELHI-110001,changedmynametoSUNAINAKUMARI,Permanently. 0040614224-3

II,,SSTTUUTTII,,DDAAUUGGHHTTEERRof,AshokKumarPresently,residingat,246/1, Vikram-Vihar,Shankar+Vihar, Delhi-Cantt.New-Delhi-110010.havechangedmyname,fromSTUTItoNAINAKATARIA,vide-affidavit dated-18-5-22.

0040614248-3

II,,SSIIKKAANNDDAARRDASH,S/ONARAYANDAS ,R/o-MIG 2-7/37,B.D.A.COLONY,CHANDRASEKHARPUR,KHORDA,ODISHA-751016,changedmyname toSIKANDARDAS.

0040614222-2

II,,SSHHVVIIAAMMBALKRISHANKHATTAR,S/oBALKRISHANKHATTAR,R/OHNO-D-102NEAR-METROHEART-HOSPITALPREET-VIHAREAST,DELHI-110092,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOSHIVAMKHATTAR.

0040614222-3

II,,RRaakkeesshhKumarS/oHansRajR/o 146 3rd-FloorBhera,Enclave,PaschimViharDelhi-110087,changedmyname toRakeshKumarAneja

0040614223-2

II,,RRaajjiinnddeerr KaurW/oRagubirSinghR/o-A-16, GurunanakVihar,Nilothi Extn.,Delhi-110041,have changedmynametoRanjeet Kaur. 0040614235-1

II,,RRaajjeesshhKumar S/o-RamNihoreR/o-177,Block-RMangolpuri,Delhi-110083,inform thatmyfather,namewrongly,writtenRamDev inmy,Driving,Licencebut father correct name isRamNihore. 0040614238-2

II,,RRAANNDDEEEEPPKUMAR,S/OOMPRAKASHGALHOTRA,HNO.5/10,SECOND-FLOOR,SUBHASHNAGAR,DELHI-110027.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETORANDEEPGALHOTRA.

0040614208-3

II,,PPrriiyyaaRanaD/o-DharamPalR/o-H.No.76, QutabGarh, Delhi-39. HaveChangedMyNameToRiya ForAll Purposes.That Riya&PriyaRana is theoneandsameperson. 0040614162-1

II,,PPRRAADDIIPPKUMARMITTAL,S/OKAILASHCHANDMITTALR/O-10/2, CASSIAROAD,SHIPRASUNCITY,INDIRAPURAM,Ghaziabad(UP)have changedmyname toPRADEEPKUMARMITTAL. 0040614208-9

II,,PPAARRVVEESSHHKUMARI,D/O.SURESHKUMAR,ADD.E-530,GALI.NO-10,WESTVINODNAGARPSMANDAWALI EASTDELHI-110092.Changedmyname toPRABHAKUMARI

0040614211-1

II,,NNoommiittaa SinghDube@AshiW/oShri.AbhishekKumarDube,R/o-D3/404, Parsvnath-ExoticaGolf Course-Road,Gurgaon-122002(Haryana),havechangedmyname toNomitaDube. 0040614211-10

II,,NNiitteesshhKumarGoyal,S/OShriGovindRamGoyal,R/O-B-183,UpperGroundFloor,LokVihar,PitamPura,Delhi-110034,have changedmyminorsonname fromShresthaGoyalto ShresthGoyal.

0040614235-2

II,,NNeeeellaammGoelW/O.Mr.SanjayKumarR/O.B-12, street.no.3,BhajanpuraDelhi-110053,haveChangedmyNametoNeelam,for all futurepurposes 0040614223-5

II,,NNiimmmmii ArunkumarGanjoo,W/oArunkumarPredimenkishenGanjoo,R/oB-133,ClassicApartments,PlotNo.11, Sector-22,Dwarka,Delhi-110075,havechangedmyname toNimmiGanjoo. 0040614238-3

II,,NNaarreesshhKumarAgrawal,S/OShri ParmanandAgrawal,R/O-C-404,G.F.Majlish Park,AdarshNagar,Delhi-110033,havechangedmyname toNareshAggarwal. 0040614235-3

II,,MMoohhddHashmatAli,S/oNoorMohdAddress-HouseNo-391Masuri GhaziabadUttar-Pradesh-201302.,Changedmyname toNewName-HashmatAli. 0040614211-6

II,,DDeevveennddrraa father ofNyeisha(DOB14.12.2009) hereby statesthat nameofmydaughterNyeishahas changed fromNyeisha toNyeishaSingh.mydaughter from this dateassumes thename/surnameasNyeishaSingh. 0040614157-1

II,,MMaanniisshhGarg,Father of,SomyaGarg,R/O3/78,RamGali-Vishwas-Nagar shahdaraDelhi-110032have changedmyminor daughters name(DOB-19-09-2007)fromSomyaGarg toSaumyaGarg,permanently.

0040614208-6

II,,MMOOHHDDSHAHNAWAJ,S/O.MOHDMUSTKEEMSAIFI,ADD-L-2,918GALI.NO-22SANGAMVIHAR,SOUTHDELHI-110062.Changedmyname toMOHDSHAHNAWAJSAIFI.Permanently. 0040614211-2

II,,KKaaiillaasshhKumar S/o-SurenderKumarSaajan,H.No.2C, Pocket-B,Block-11, Phase-3,Ashok-Vihar,Delhi-110052,havechangedmyname toKailashKumar Saajan. 0040614238-5

II,,KKHHUUSSHHNNAAZZZAIDI,W/OSYEDPARVEZZAIDI,ADD- 332/12, C-15,GALI.NO-2BATLA-HOUSEJAMIA-NAGARSOUTHDELHI110025,Changedmyname toSYEDKHUSHNAZPARVEZ,Permanently. 0040614222-6

II,,KKAARRTTIIKK SINGH,S/oSh.CHANDANSINGH, R/o-4649/93-B,GALI.NO-4,NEWMODERN, SHAHADARA,DELHI-110032,have changedmyname,fromKARTIK toKARTIKSINGH for all futurepurpose.

0040614248-2

II,,JJyyoottiiW/oSanjayWadhwaR/o,7/154, Ground-Floor,Backside, RameshNagar,N.Delhi-110015,have changedmyname to JyotiWadhwa forall-purposes. 0040614224-2

II,,JJaaggddiiddhhGupta S/O-MusadhiLal Garg,R/OB-188,StreetNo-7,AshokNagar,Delhi-110093,HaveChangedmyName to JagdishPrasadGarg.

0040614222-7

II,,IIffrraaW/oZishanAli,Ho.No-14MughalGardenColony , VillagePiplehdaDistrictHapurUttarPradesh 245101.Changedmyname toNewName- IfraRizwan 0040614211-5

II,,HHaassaannAbbas,S/o-MajharR/o-D-31,Gali No.3,Shastri-Park,Delhi-110053,that name,ofmy father,mistakenlywritten,inmypassport,andvoter-cardasMazarAbbas,andMajaharAbbas,insteadofMajharAbbas 0040614224-4

II,,HHaarriisshhKumar,S/oSohanSingh,R/oC-28A,Shiv-Park,Khanpur,Deoli,South-Delhi,Delhi-110062,havechangedmyminor sonname,fromPiyushMathuraged-13-years toNipunMathur,for all futurepurposes.

0040614238-6

II,,GGiittaa RoyW/o-ArvindRoy,R/o-30/A 88-Block, DDA-Flats,ChittranjanPark,NewDelhi-110019,have changedmynameGeetaRoy for allpurposes. 0040614248-1

II,,DDeevveennddrraa father of Reyansh(DOB11.10.2014) hereby statesthat nameofmySonReyanshhas changed fromReyansh toReyanshSingh.mySon fromthis date assumes thename/surnameasReyanshSingh. 0040614157-2

II,,KKaappiill kumar sharma, S/o-RameshChandsharma,H.noH-41,street.no.3 Shastri-parknorth eastDelhi-110053,Changedmyname toKapil sharma. 0040614238-1

II,,AAnnoooopp Jindal,S/oBajrangJindal,R/oB.N.45, 1st-Floor EastShalimar-BaghDelhi-110088,have changedmyminorson’s nameNISCHAY JINDAL toNISHCHAY JINDAL,Permanently. 0040614224-6

II,,AAmmaannaa,,00WW//ooNoorHasan,HouseNo-352VillageShekhpurKhichraPostHasanpurHapurUttar Pradesh245301.Changedmyname toAamna, Permanently.

0040614211-3

II,,AAddiittyyaa,,SS//ooDeepakKumar, R/o-B-119, BabaPrakashPuriMandir, NewPalam-ViharPhase-3,Gurgaon (Haryana)-122017, have changedmynametoAdityaKumar. 0040614211-8

II,,AASSHHWWAANNII SINGLA,S/OPRAKASHCHAND,R/OFlatNo.C-403,Supertech Icon,NyayKhand-1,Indirapuram,Ghaziabad(UP)have changedmyname toASHWANIKUMARSINGLA. 0040614208-8

II,, Vimla SinghwithAadhar 38326902 8228 isW/oOmpal SinghwithAadhar 3228 0646 6268,andMother ofNitin KumarBanawithAadhar 3295 04496038 is R/o 27MetroResidency,Ansal Town,Modipuram,Meerut, Uttar Pradesh - 250001,has changedmyname toBIMLA fromVIMLASINGH forall futurepurposes.

0070785895-1

II,, Urmila,W/oPhool Kumar, R/o382A,NearDrainNo-8, AsodaTodran (28), Jhajjar, Haryana-124505, have changedmynameandshall hereafter be knownasUrmilaDevi. 0070785892-1

II,, Sunimol Zacharias,W/oJaison Jose, R/OA-81/7, Phase-1, AyaNagar, NewDelhi-110047,have changedmyname toSuniJaison. 0070785904-1

II,, SiddharthBhardwaj S/oSh.BalKishanBhardwaj, R/o-NearShivMandir,VPO-Mubarakpur,DabasDelhi-110081,havechangemyname fromSiddharth to SiddharthBhardwaj,for all futurepurposes 0040614166-2

II,, Sachin Tembhurne 6S/OSureshRamachandraTembhurne, R/oKI-2, 1504,JaypeeKlassic (IB), Sector-134,JaypeeGreenWishTown,NoidaGautamBuddhaNagar,Uttar Pradesh-201304. I havechanged thenameofmyminorAaughterAmmyTembhurne,agedabout 9 years andsheshall hereafter be knownasAmyTembhurne.

0070785883-1

II,, Sahil Saini, S/o Ramniwas, R/oRadaMohalla,WardNo-7,Safidon, Jind, Haryana- 126112,have changedmynameandshall hereafter be knownasSahil Singh. 0070785888-1

II,, ShamanPurthi S/O,SudhirPruthi,R/O, 226, 2nd-Floor,Vaishali Pitampura,Delhi-110034,have changedmynametoShamanPruthi.

0040614208-1

II,, SandeepS/o Jyoti ParsadR/o1376, SinghaDevi, NayagaonMohali Punjab-160103havechangedmyname toSandeepPetwal for all purposes.

0040614173-2

II,,AArrjjuunnChabraS/o-BharatBhushanChhabra,R/oH-2/116,G.F.,Sector-16, Rohini,Delhi-110089,have changedmynametoArjunChhabra.

0040614211-7

II,, RupaMehra, D/oKamalChandMehra&W/oRahulGupta, R/o-CM3-103, SupertechCapetown,Sector-74, Noida, changedmyname toRupaMehraGuptaaftermarriage. I shouldnowbeknownRupaMehraGupta forall futurepurposes.

0070785911-1

II,, Rinki Devi,W/oPawan, R/oPlotNo-44, SandeepNagar,SanigawanRoad, Kanpur,KanpurNagar, Uttar Pradesh-208021, have changedmynameandshall hereafter be knownasRagini Sharma.

0070785885-1

II,,SSaavviitthhrrii Thapar (Allottee)W/oAjayThapar, have LostmyOriginal Demand-cum-Allotment Letter,issuedbyD.D.A. File no.A-504(0445)95/EHS/RO, ofproperty-bearing Flat-no.83,Pkt-9,Sector-25,Rohini,Delhi-110085. FinderCall:-8447819443.

0040614211-11

Public NoticeThis is to inform public in large that myclient Mr. Ajay Arora and his wife Mrs.Sangeeta Arora both R/o E – 1510Sec -49, Sainik Colony, Faridabad,Haryana 121001(permanent address )& Flat 211, Aashirwad Apartment,Pa tpa rgan j ,De lh i -92 (p resen tAddress) have cut off their familyrelation and have disowned their sonMr Rishabh Arora and his wife MrsA a r u s h i M e h r a f r o m t h e i rmovable/immovable properties due totheir disobedient and quarrelsomenature andmy client were not / are not /shall not be responsible for any act ofMr Rishabh Arora and his wife MrsAarushi Mehra in any manner infuture. Advocate Praveen Mahajan,

D/3225A/1999Off: B-2, 1st Floor, Lane - 15,

Madhu Vihar, New Delhi-92

PUBLIC NOTICEThe General Public is hereby informedthat my clients Sh. Trilok Chand S/oLallu Ram Khanna and his wifeSantosh Khanna, both R/o Plot No. 92.G.F. Sainik Vihar Phase-2, MohanGarden, Uttam Nagar, New Delhi havesevered all their relations with their sonKeshav Kumar and his wife Sunita dueto his bad habits and have disownedand debarred Keshav Kumar from alltheir movable and immovableproperties. Anybody dealing withKeshav Kumar will do so at his/her/theirown risk and responsibilities and myclients will not be responsible for anyact, deed or dealing done by KeshavKumar.

I.A. ALVI ADVOCATEChamber: 110 Civil Wing

Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi: 110054

PUBLIC NOTICEMy clients, Mr. Narendra Kumar s/o Shri MoolChand, aged 66 years and Mrs Santosh w/oShri Narendra Kumar, aged about 59 yearsboth R/o H. No. 4764, Gali No.46, Raigar Pura,Karol Bagh, New Delhi - 110005, have severedall relations with their son namely, Mr. NitishMourya aged 34 years, currently residing at H.No. 536, 1st Floor, Sector-7, R.K.Puram. NewDelhi and further disinherited him from all theirmoveable, immoveable properties henceforth.My clients shall have no concern with him.Anybody dealing with him in connection withany property and otherwise may do so athis/her own risk and peril and my clients shallin no way be responsible for his any civil orcriminal liabilities in any manner whatsoever.

Sd/-R.P. SINGHAL

ADVOCATEChamber No. 214, Western Wing,Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi-110054.

LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD

PPUUBBLLIICCNNOOTTIICCEE

CCOOUURRTTNNOOTTIICCEE

Family opposed to match, 2sisters poison them in NoidaAMILBHATNAGARNOIDA,MAY18

NOIDAPOLICETuesdayarrestedtwosisters,theirmother,andtwomen for allegedly attempting topoisonanentirefamily.Accordingto police, the sisters, Jyoti andArchana Singh, allegedly lacedthe dinner of four familymem-bers,includingtheirfather,withapoisonoussubstance,becausethevictimswereopposedtothetwomarryingtheirboyfriends.Theirmother,Rajkumari,was

alsoallegedlypartoftheplan,saidpolice.Themenhavebeen iden-tifiedasAbhishekandDeepak.

Officials said the sisters livedwith their family in Dankaur’sJunaidpurvillage. Police said thefamily’s objections to thewomen’srelationshipsledtofre-quentdisputes.Accordingtopo-lice, thetwowomenhadrecentlygraduatedfromschool.Accordingtopolice,thethree

womenallegedlyhatchedaplanto kill the family, and theboyfriendsjoinedin.OnSundayevening, thetwowomenmixedtwo tablets of a poisonous sub-stance in thedinner,whichwasconsumed by four people. Thevictimswere rushed to ahospi-talafterarelativefoundthemly-ingunconscious.All fourpeople

areoutof dangernow."Afteraninitialprobe,weput

thenumbers of the twowomenundersurveillance.Wetracedthetwo, theirmother, and the twomentoDankauritself,wheretheyhad taken a room. Upon ques-tioning,thewomenrevealedthemurderplot," saidanofficer.Theaccusedplannedtorunawaybutwerecaughtintime,saidofficials.According to police, their fa-

ther and his brotherswere op-posed to themarriage. The fam-ily is primarily involved inagriculturalactivities.Policesaidthemotherjoinedtheconspiracysince she had amarital disputewithherhusband.

PAVNEETSINGHCHADHAGURGAON,MAY18

HARYANA CHIEF MinisterManoharLalKhattarWednesdayreviewedthedetailedprojectre-port (DPR) forametroextensionproject for the proposed routeconnecting Palam Vihar inGurgaon toDwarka sector 21 inDelhi, and gave directions tostudythefeasibilityof takingthelast 1.5 km stretch of the line inDelhi underground. The CMsought a report in 15 days andsaid a revised DPRwill be pre-paredafterthesubmissionofthereport.The report, prepared by Rail

India Technical and EconomicServiceLimited(RITES),estimatesthecostof theprojectatRs2,281crore. A presentationwas givenby RITES officials to Khattar inGurgaon.Theprojectwillbe im-plemented by Haryana MassRapidTransportCorporation.Officials said the proposed

metro extension connectingRezangla Chowk in PalamViharandDwarkasector21stationwillbe8.4kmlong.Thecorridorwill

have sevenmetro stationswithtwointerchangepoints.One interchange has been

proposedatRezanglaChowk,andtheotheratsector21Dwarkasta-tion.Landacquisitionfortheproj-ect andconstruction is expectedtostartby2023if approved.“After approval of this new

proposed line, a large area ofGurgaonwillbecoveredbymetroconnectivity.TheproposedmetrolinewillbenefitresidentsofwestDelhiandGurgaon,”saidKhattar.An official present at the

meeting said, “The feasibility totake the last 1.5 km stretch inDelhiundergroundwill be stud-iedsinceitwasfelttherecouldbe

issues related to acquisition ofland,whichcoulddelaytheproj-ect. There could beminor alter-ationsinroutealsolaterandcostmay increase.” The project hasbeen in limbo for several yearsandislikelytogetfurtherdelayed.

Global City projectround-tableEarlierintheday,Khattarsaid

theHaryanagovernmentplanstoholdaconclave inDubai tomeetinvestorsandlearnbestpracticesof similar projects for the devel-opmentoftheglobalcityproject.The CM and deputy ChiefMinisterDushyantChautalaheldthethirdround-tableconferencewith industry leaders, realtorsandHaryanaStateIndustrialandInfrastructure DevelopmentCorporationLimitedofficials.Theproject,envisagedasafu-

turistic city to be developed in1,003-acreareainsectors36B,37Aand37BalongDwarkaexpress-way,will be developed as a cen-tral businessdistrict of Gurgaon.Khattarsaid,“Wehavesoughtin-puts from investors and realtorsand are in initial stages of plan-ning.”

Khattar reviews project tolink Palam Vihar, Dwarka

Action against 9factories runningwithout licenceNewDelhi: Aspartof a survey tocheck factory licences and pre-parednesstopreventincidentsoffire, the East Delhi MunicipalCorporation took action againstnine factories for functioningwithoutlicences.Thesurveywascarriedoutagainst thebackdropof a recent fire in a four-storeycommercialbuilding inMundkathatkilled27people.Over the last few days, 138

factories have been surveyedandchallanshavebeenissuedtoninefactoriesforoperatingwith-out licences, AdditionalCommissioner Brajesh Singhsaid. The EDMChas proactivelyengaged its staff to prevent theoccurrenceofanyfiremishapinEastDelhi, headded.Seven teams comprising of-

ficers and staff members havebeen deputed to check compli-ancewithlicencesandfiresafetynorms in vulnerable units,specificallyfactoriesfunctioningin approved industrial areas aswell as non-conforming areas,Singhsaid.During the survey, factory

ownerswereapprisedofstepstoprevent fire incidents and theprocesstoobtainafactorylicencefrom the East MCD, he added.Notices are also being issued tofactoryowners forproductionofvalid licences andothermanda-torypermissions.ENS

Apresentationwasgivenbyofficials toKhattar inGurgaon

New Delhi

GOVT&POLITICS 5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022

ADVERTORIAL

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin,who completed a year in office onMay 7, has broken many stereotypes.

After winning the Assembly elections lastyear, he proved that he didn’t need his fa-ther’s mantle or a superhero’s charisma toconnect to voters. With his steady perfor-mance graph, he has shown that halo does-n’t matter so long as he can deliver on hispromises. And he did that despite the chal-lenges posed by COVID-19 and the floodhavoc brought on by extreme weather. Bybeing low-key and working on people-friendly and inclusive policies that can gohand-in-hand with development, Stalin hasquietly crafted a “Dravidian model of Gov-ernment,” which works not only for TamilNadu but presents an alternative templatefor the rest of the country.

His sensitive approach towards the mar-ginalised sections of society has been muchappreciated, be it women, children, thetransgender community and senior citizens,who are now beneficiaries of several pio-neering and enabling schemes. MarkingDMK’s one year in power, he announced sev-eral new public schemes in the Assembly. Hesaid there would be a breakfast scheme forgovernment school students from standardsI to V, schools of excellence, medical/nutri-tional check-ups of students and publichealth centres in urban areas. He also insti-tuted a “CM in your constituency scheme,” adirect window for grievance redressal.

INCLUSIVE AND RESPONSIVE GOVERNANCEThe free bus travel scheme for women andgirl students, applicable to the entire fleetunder the Tamil Nadu State Transport Cor-poration, is a hit. Transgenders with valididentity cards can travel free in town buses,too. Prioritising social welfare, the ChiefMinister has ordered an audit of the Noon

Meal scheme at all centres and ramped upquality, supplies and infrastructure.

But the most commendable project hasbeen the special initiatives and packagetaken for the rehabilitation and protection ofchildren who lost their parents due toCOVID-19. A sum of Rs 5 lakh has been de-posited in the name of each child who lostboth parents which he/she can redeem onreaching the age of 18. A sum of Rs 3 lakhhas been given to the surviving parent ofaffected children for immediate relief. Amaintenance grant of Rs 3,000 per month isbeing given for a child, who has lost bothparents and is living with arelative/guardian without being admittedin registered child care institutions or Gov-ernment hostels. Besides, Tamil Nadu isnow one of the few states to set up the“Tamil Nadu Child Victim CompensationFund” and enforce guidelines for the reha-bilitation of abused children under the Pro-tection of Children from Sexual OffencesAct (POCSO)-2012 with an initial amountof Rs 2 crore. The Government has also is-sued a child protection policy for the overallwell-being of children so as to set a bench-mark at par with international standards.

As the pandemic showed the need forbuilding a robust public health infrastruc-ture and a data-based, responsive module,the state government has extended theMakkalai Thedi Maruthuvam programmeacross the state.The Tamil Nadu PopulationHealth Registry and the Health IT Platformhave been set up.The State Emergency Oper-ation Centre (SEOC) and 24x7 emergencycall centre have been established, morebeds have been provisioned at the state anddistrict level and 24-hour war rooms havebeen created post the pandemic, which willhelp the health department tackle futureemergencies.A total of 3,075 doctors, 5,362nurses, 1362 medical staff, 626 health in-

spectors and 5,828 health workers were ap-pointed to control the pandemic, all ofwhom can significantly improve the qualityof medical care at the most basic level. Morepromises are yet to be met, including themonthly provision of Rs 1,000 to homemak-ers and custodial deaths.

Stalin is not only interested in implement-ing schemes but ensuring that regular feed-back from the ground helps him improvethem. So, he has set up a dedicated depart-ment called the Ungal Thoguthiyil Mudhala-maichar (UTM) to honour the commitmenthe made to the public during the electioncampaign that their grievances would be re-dressed within 100 days from the date offormation of the new Government. Thestate government has even integrated theMudhalvarin Mugavari Thurai departmentwith the CM Special Cell and the Chief Min-ister’s Helpline Management System(IIPGCMS).

THE INDUSTRIAL PUSHThe state government has signed 124 MoUsfor an investment of Rs 62,276 crore, whichwill create job opportunities for 1,90,702people through investment conclaves heldin Chennai, Coimbatore and Thoothukudi.Toactualise these on the ground, the Chief Min-ister has ordered that a land back of 45,000acres be set aside in the next five years.

The Tamil Nadu Fintech Policy 2021, the

Tamil Nadu Export Development Strategy2021, the Single Window Portal 2.0, the Sin-gle Window Mobile App and the Tamil NaduLand Information Portal are suitable en-ablers for future-proofing the already devel-oped state.

The State Industries Promotion Corpora-tion of Tamil Nadu Limited (SIPCOT) has al-lotted 982.39 acres of land to 163 industriesand attracted an investment of Rs17,251.03 crore, thereby providing employ-ment opportunities for about 27,771 peo-ple.The Industrial Eco-System Fund, with anestimated cost of Rs 500 crore, will enablethe creation of infrastructure facilities for in-dustrial parks, business innovation centres,research and development activities andgeneral facilities. Multi-modal connectivityhas got a boost with an MoU signed be-tween the National Highways LogisticsManagement Limited, Chennai Port Trustand Tamil Nadu Industrial DevelopmentCorporation Ltd.

While the state government has sanc-tioned loans of Rs 144.11 crore for revivingthe MSME sector, it has apportioned Rs87.06 crore for the New Entrepreneurs cumEnterprise Development Scheme (NEEDS).

The state government has sanctioned Rs360 crore as State Capital Subsidy. Of this, Rs254.97 crore of subsidy has been extendedto 2,584 MSMEs. It has sanctioned Rs 100crore as the first instalment of the Tamil

Nadu Credit Guarantee Scheme (TNCGS),making Tamil Nadu the first state in India tohave its own general Credit Guarantee pro-gramme.

Indicating that he was keen on makingTamil Nadu a manufacturing hub, the ChiefMinister himself launched a new brand ofcement called “Valimai.” The AlangulamCement Unit has so far earned a net profit ofRs 19.83 crore.

He is also developing new growth driverslike tourism.The Tourism Destination Devel-opment Scheme envisages an integratedand holistic approach of the Master Plan for300 destinations across the state.

RURAL DEVELOPMENTAND PANCHAYAT RAJThe Rural Development and Panchayat RajDepartment has taken up 18,25,160 worksat a cost of Rs 23,841.01 crore and releasedRs 6,970.45 crore to three-tier panchayats.Out of this, an amount of Rs 4,500.25 crorehas been released to village panchayats.Funds have been evenly spread out for ruralhouseholds, road construction, completingprojects under MGNREGA and rejuvenatingwater bodies in rural areas. And to achievethe objective of “Housing for All”, 2,89,887houses are to be constructed in rural areas ata cost of Rs 8,017.40 crore.

GREEN DRIVEThe Stalin Government is responsive to theneeds of climate change and sustainabilityand has already set up separate missions forclimate change and wetland development. Ithas set up a green fund in each district forreclamation and rehabilitation of aban-doned quarries/mines. It has inserted a newRule 44 in Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Con-cession Rules, 1959 for the removal of earthup to 1.5 metres from the top, for the bet-terment of agricultural lands and to utilise

that for the manufacture of bricks.

WATER MANAGEMENTNot for nothing has the Ministry of JalShakti, Union Government, awarded TamilNadu the third best state in water manage-ment. The state government has released249.338 TMC of water at Billigunduluagainst the prescribed quantity of 171.121TMC from Mettur dam for irrigating cropsin the Cauvery delta region. This year thewater level of Mettur Dam was 120 ft for 41days.The desilting of water bodies to the de-signed bed level, removal of shoals andthorny bushes in rivers/canals/channels,branch canals/drains/supply channels andso on have been executed on a war footingwith the involvement of the Uzhavar Kuzhu(Farmers’ Association).

UPHOLDING TAMIL PRIDEChief Minister Stalin has consolidated hisregional space enough to take on national is-sues and protecting federalism. He has beenconstructively networking with chief minis-ters to press the Centre to share a more sig-nificant share of the Goods and Services Tax.He is arguing for NEET selection measures tobe brought back on the state list and reserva-tions in medical education. He is position-ing himself as a crusader of social justice bylaunching the All-India Federation for SocialJustice to “achieve principles of social justiceand federalism at the national level.”

And if the DMK’s latest victory in the ur-ban polls is any indication, then Stalin hasemerged as a galvaniser of the Oppositionparties, having brought together 12 ofthem, including the Communist parties andthe Congress in the state. He could actuallytake his negotiating capabilities to the na-tional level and become a key face of the na-tional Opposition. Transformation, he be-lieves, can always happen ground up.

A Dravidian model of governanceTamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has quietly crafted an inclusive and pro-people template,

which works not only for Tamil Nadu but presents an alternative for the rest of the country

M. K. StalinChief Minister of Tamil Nadu

HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI,MAY18

THIRTYONEyears is a very longtimeinpoliticsbutwhenitcomesto the BJP’s stand on Kashi andMathura, it’shardlyablink.ThePlacesofWorship(Special

Provisions)Act,1991,thatisbeingtestedbytheGyanvapisurvey,thelawthattheSupremeCourt,initsAyodhyaruling,linkedtothesec-ularnatureofthenation,wasstri-dently opposedby theBJPwhenit was first brought in by theCongress’s RaoGovernment onAugust23,1991.The law froze the status quo

for all places of worship as ofAugust 15, 1947with the excep-tion of Ayodhya since itwas al-readyincourt.Parliament records show

that opposing the law, the BJPsaid it appreciated this excep-tionanddemandedasimilarex-emption for KrishnaJanmabhoomi inMathura andKashi Vishwanath temple inVaranasi, the two sites that arebackon the frontburner today.In LokSabha, discussions be-

ganonSeptember 9 and theBillwas passed the next day,September10.RajyaSabhapassedtheBillonSeptember12–almostayearbeforetheBabriMasjidwasdemolished.In LokSabha, theBillwasop-

posedbyBJPveteranLKAdvani–itwasayearafterhisRathYatra--who ledhis partymembers towalkoutoftheHouse,protestingagainsttheBill.Alongwithhiscol-leagues Uma Bharti, RamNaikandMadanLalKhurana. InRajyaSabha,BJP leaderSikanderBakhtledthecharge.Bharti, then MP from

Khajuraho,was the lead speakerwhoopenedthedebate.“Iwouldbe thankful to theGovernmentthatAyodhyahasbeenexcludedfrom the purview of this Bill,”

Bhartisaid.Andthenwentontoframeher

opposition:“Iheardinchildhoodthatpigeons fear thepresenceofcats.Pigeonsaresoinnocenttheybelievemere closingof eyeswillprove to be an effective shieldagainstcats.Butthisisnotcorrect.Maintenance of status quo as in1947inrespectofreligiousplaces,islikeclosingeyessimilartothatofpigeons against advancementofcats. Thismaintenance of statusquoof 1947willmeanpreserva-tionoftensionforthecominggen-erations.”Bharti flagged theGyanvapi

mosque:“Twentydaysago,IwenttoVaranasi to visit Gyanvapi… Isawthemosquebuiltontherem-nantsof thetemple, somesortofcurrent of anger ran throughmybody.I feltdisgracedatthefateofmy ancestors,who I thinkwerechallengingmywomanhoodandaskingme,whethertheintentionofAurangzebwasmerelytobuildamosque, thenwhywere rem-nantsof thetempleleft.“Was not the intention of

Aurangzebbehind leaving rem-nants of the temple at the site ofthemosque to keep remindingHindusoftheirhistoricalfateandtoremindcominggenerationsofMuslims of their past glory andpower,”sheasked.“Ownersofbullockcartsinvil-

lages,createawoundonthebackof the ox andwhen theywanttheirbullock-cartstomovefastertheystrikeatthewound.Similarly.these disputes arewounds andmarks of slavery on our 'BharatMata'.Solongas'GyanVapi'con-tinues in its present condition atBanaras…itwill remindusof theatrocities perpetrated byAurangzeb,”Bhartisaid.Drawingaparallelto“Draupadi’sChirharaninMahabharata,Bhartiurgedthemembersto“comeoutopenandopposetheBill.”Advani said, “I do not know

howmuchhelpfulthisBillwouldbe but I certainly know thatweare not solving those problemswhicharebehindall thetensionandwearepassingthisBilltocre-atetensionattheplaceswhereitisnotexisting.”Earlier, moving the Bill for

considerationoftheHouse,thenHomeMinister S B Chavan said,“It is considered necessary toadoptthesemeasures inviewofthe controversies arising fromtimeto timewithregard tocon-version of places of worshipwhich tend to vitiate the com-munalatmosphere.”In Lok Sabha, 21 members

participated in the debate andonlyfourmembers---threefromBJP and one from Shiv Sena,AshokAnandraoDeshmukh,op-posedtheBill.SupportingtheBill,Congress

member Mani Shankar Aiyarsaid,“Today,thereisanopportu-nityforsecularforcestocometo-gether and fight communalforces and get rid of the politicsof communalism.”Ghulam Nabi Azad,

ParliamentaryAffairsminister intheRaogovernment,madeabriefintervention in the debate. Hesaid,“AccordingtoPt.Nehru,tem-plesandmosquesarethosewhichirrigate the fields, supplyus foodand lead thenation towards ad-vancement.”

WestBengalMinisterParthaChatterjeeat theCBIoffice inKolkataonWednesday.ParthaPaul


THEALL IndiaMuslimPersonalLaw Board (AIMPLB) onWednesdaysaiditwillprovidele-galandfinancialassistancetotheGyanvapi Masjid IntezamiyaCommittee to fight the case inSupreme Court, even as JamiatUlama-i-HindstatedthatnootherMuslimorganisation should “in-terfereinthecase”.On Tuesday night, AIMPLB

heldavirtualemergencymeetingwithitsmembers“todiscussatti-tude of the sectarian forces to-wardsGyanvapiMasjidandvari-ous masjid and holy places ofMuslimsinthecountry’’.“ItistheCentre's and state governments'responsibility to ensure that theReligious Places ofWorshipAct-1991isimplemented.TheActen-sures protection to all religiousstructures... The governmentsmust come clear on their posi-tion,’’AIMPLBexecutivememberQasimRasoolIlyassaid.Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind presi-

dentMaulanaMahmoodAsa’dMadani,saidmembersofMuslimcommunity “…shouldnothitthestreets;allkindsofpublicdemon-strationsshouldbeavoided”.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,MAY18

INANunprecedentedmove, thesingle judge bench of JusticeAbhijit Gangopadhyay of theCalcutta High Court onWednesday night directed theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI),whichisprobingtheallegedirregularitiesintotherecruitmentof teachers inWest Bengal gov-ernment schools, to seek assis-tanceofcentralforcesinsecuringthe state's School ServiceCommission office.Italsodirectedthat no one should enter thebuilding till 1 pmThursday andmaketheCCTVfootageof theof-ficeavailablebyThursdaynoon.TheHCheldaspecialhearing

from10.40pmtojustbeforemid-night after the incumbent SSCchairperson, SiddharthaMajumdar, stepped down fromhispost,fourmonths aftertakingthecharge.FollowingthenewsofMajumdar's resignation, lawyersof Sabina Yasmin and BabitaSarkar–thepetitioners inthere-cruitment scam --met JusticeGangopadhyayandtoldhimtherewasanapprehensionthatcrucialevidencecouldbetamperedwithinthewakeofthenewSSCchair-persontakingthecharge.

Sources in the governmentsaid that IAS officer SubhraChakrabortyhasbeenappointedasthenewSSCchairperson.Themidnight hearing con-

cludedafter a stringof dramaticevents in the day that saw stateMinister Partha Chatterjee ap-pearingbeforetheCBIinconnec-tionwith the alleged illegal ap-pointments after he failed to getrelief fromtheCalcuttaHC.Earlier in the day, a Division

bench of theHighCourt upheldtheApril12orderofasinglejudgebench of JusticeGangopadhyaythathaddirectedtheCBItoprobeinto the alleged illegal appoint-mentsmadebytheSSCbetween2014to2021.ChatterjeewasthenstateEducationMinister.Following theDivisionBench

upholding its order, JusticeGangopadhyay again directedChatterjee to appear before theCBI andsaidthathe expectedtheminister to stepdown“in the in-terestof justice”.Chatterjee, who holds the

portfolio of Commerce andIndustriesMinistry, thenmovedanother Division Bench of theHighCourt for relief. TheBench,however,refusedtohearthemin-ister'splea.After failing toget re-lief,ChatterjeereachedtheCBIof-ficeat5:40pmonWednesday.

HC orders sealingof SSC office afterits chief steps down

TEACHERSRECRUITMENT ‘SCAM’

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

LETTING IT OUTWHILE THEBJP is known to leverage socialmedia to amplifyitsmessageandshapepublicdiscourse,UnionministerSanjeevBalyanonWednesdaywonderedwhysomuchimportanceisgiventosocialmediawhenithasnoimpact.SpeakingatanRSSevent, Balyan said socialmedia cannotbe trustedand thathewasfrustratedwithit.HespeciallycamedownonTwitter,say-inghealwayswonderedwhomade it. “If youstart readingallthecomments,youwillbecomeaheartpatientwithin10days,have a brain haemorrhage in 15 andpass awayby the endofthemonth.Suchamediahasbeencreatedbytheworld.Peoplehave stopped reading newspapers. They are hooked on to amediumwhichhas99%lies,”hesaid.“Peoplekeeptalkingabouttrending. Howdoes your trending impact anything? I haveneverfiguredouthowtotrendanythingtilldate.Ithasbecomeaworlduntoitsownwherebulletsareflying,canonsarebeingfired and the country is being supposedly changed.Who arethesepeople?Itsaddensme.”

EYE IN THE SKYDEFENCEMINISTERRajnathSinghlaunchedtwonewwarshipsforNavyinMumbaionTuesday.Duringthetrip,healsogotthechancetoseeanothernavalcapabilityupclose–notinthesea,butintheair.SinghundertookasortieonNavy’sP8Ilong-rangemaritime reconnaissance anti-submarine aircraft. Duringhissortie,Singhwitnessedthelong-rangesurveillance,electronicwarfare,imageryintelligence,anti-submarinewarfaremissions,andsearch-and-rescuecapabilitiesof theaircraft.Thecrewin-cludedtwopilots, andsevenNavalAirOperationsOfficers, in-cludingthreewomen.Beginningtheirinductionin2013,Indiahasgot12oftheaircraft,boughtfromBoeing,lastofwhichwasdeliveredinFebruary.TheseaircrafthavesignificantlyenhancedtheNavy'ssurveillanceoperationsintheIndianOceanRegion.

STAYING PUTDAYSAFTER the shock change in leadership, the rumblingswithinTripuraBJPrefusestodie,withsuspensecontinuingoverthenextstateunitchiefoftheparty.WhileformerstateBJPpres-identManikSahaissettlinginhisnewroleastheChiefMinister,BiplabDebhasbeenenthusiasticallyparticipatinginorganisa-tionalactivities. SpeakingataneventonWednesday,Debhadamessageforthosewhothought“IwillleaveforDelhiafterre-signingasCM”. “I amgoingnowhereandwill bring theBJP topowerin2023,”hesaid.

Ahmedabad:Police onWednesdayarrestedtheGujaratspokespersonofAllIndiaMajlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen, DanishQureshi, for allegedly posting acontroversial statement on so-cial media regarding theGyanvapimosquerow,afterVHPworkersstagedaprotestoutsidetheNarodapolice stationhere .Amit Vasava, DCP,

Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell,said, “An FIR has been lodgedagainst Qureshi under IPC sec-tions 153a, 295a and section 67of the IT Amendment act... Hehasbeenarrested.” ENS

‘PIGEONCLOSESEYESASCATADVANCES’

In ’91,whenUmaBhartiflaggedGyanvapi in LS,opposedWorship Bill

GyanvapimosquecomplexinVaranasi.Express

Gujarat AIMIMleader held for‘derogatory’ post

AIMPLB to helpmasjid panel fightcase; Jamiat asksMuslim outfitsto stay off

CBIquestionsministerParthaChatterjee

New Delhi


EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ABHISHEKANGADRANCHI,MAY18

STATING THAT ‘incriminating’materials have been recoveredfrom the possession of arrestedIAS officer Pooja Singhal,SolicitorGeneralof IndiaTusharMehta, whowas appearing onbehalf of the EnforcementDirectorate in a Public InterestLitigation filed in 2021 againstChiefMinisterHemantSorenforalleged use of shell companiesformoney laundering, submit-teddocuments inasealedcovertothecourt,which,hesaid,“dis-closesinvolvementofhigherupsof Jharkhand”.The submission essentially

linked two petitions – one onshellcompanies,andanotheroninvestigationintotheMGNREGAfundspilferageinwhichSinghalhad been arrested. A bench ofChief Justice Ravi Ranjan andJusticeSujitNarayanPrasadthenordered to placeMGNREGA in-vestigationwritpetitionof2019‘side by side’ with this matter(shell companies) on the nextdateof hearing’ onMay19.The submission was made

on May 17 in the High Court,

however,thedetailedorderwasmadeavailableonWednesday.Earlierduringthehearingon

May13,Mehtahadsaidthatma-terialscollectedduringEDoper-ations hadmade “certain star-tlingrevelationsconnectedwiththe subjectmatter of this (shellcompanies) Public InterestLitigation”.Asperthecourtdoc-uments of May 17, the sealedcover was perused by theJharkhandHighCourt ‘consider-ing the public interest at large’,however, the contentswerenotmadepublic.“...the Secretary (Mines) of

Jharkhand has been appre-hended and incriminatingma-terialsascontainedinthesealedcoverhavebeenrecoveredfromherpossession.Assuch,forpub-lic interest at large and for a fairinvestigation, it is necessary tohand over the investigation tothe Central Bureau ofInvestigation,”Mehta had sub-mitted.ThepleaforCBIinvestigation

byMehtawasearlierobjectedtobyKapilSibal,whoappearedforthestate,statingthatsincethereisnoFIR(intheshellcompanies),investigations can't be trans-ferred to theCBI.

PapersseizedfromSinghal linkhigher-ups:S-G

PERARIVALANRELEASED

ANISHADUTTANEWDELHI,MAY18

IN AN analysis of the WorldBank’s World GovernanceIndicators,akeyinputforIndia’ssovereignratings, apresentationby the Ministry of Finance’sEconomic Division found thatIndia’s scores were “much be-low” its peers on all counts. Italso said factors noted in theFreedomHouse report also ledto the country receiving thelargest scoredeclineamong theworld’s 25 largest democraciesin2020.The Indian Express had on

May9reportedthattheFinanceMinistry’s economic divisionwas drafting a strategy tocounterthe“negativecommen-tary” on India by global think-tanks, indices andmedia, amid

worriesthiscouldleadtodown-grading of sovereign rating to“junk”. In June 2020, thenPrincipal Economic Advisor intheMinistryofFinance,SanjeevSanyal, preparedapresentation— “Subjective Factors that im-pact India’s Sovereign Ratings:Whatcanwedoabout it?”—forinternal circulation within thegovernment.The World Bank’s World

GovernanceIndicatorsprovidearankingof215countriesterrito-ries based on six dimensions ofgovernance: ‘Voice andAccountability’; ‘PoliticalStability and Absence ofViolence’; ‘GovernmentEffectiveness’; ‘RegulatoryQuality’; ‘Rule of Law’ and‘Controlof Corruption.’Sanyal’s presentation

showed the government feltthere was a danger India may

witness a drop inWGI scores“due to the latestnegativecom-mentaryonIndiabythinktanks,survey agencies and interna-

tionalmedia,” ithadnoted.The presentation noted

India’sWGIscoreismuchbelowtheBBBMedianonallsixindica-tors. While BBB is an invest-ment-grade rating issued byglobal rating agencies such asS&P and Fitch, aWGI score be-lowBBBMedianwould suggestthatIndiafallsbelowthemiddlewhenthescoresofcountriesarearranged inadescendingorder.To understand this, the gov-

ernment analysed all 15 datasourceswhose ratings have themaximum impact on India’soverallWGIscoresincludingtheEconomist Intelligence Unit,Varieties of Democracy Project,Freedom House and HeritageFoundation Index of EconomicFreedomamongothers.It noted that the Freedom

House Report 2020 mentions“alarming setbacks in the

world's largest democracy” andhighlighted that “a series of ac-tions by India’sHindunational-ist government in2019violateddemocratic rights in India andIndianKashmir”.It also noted that Kashmir

went from “partly free” since2017 till 2019 to “not free” in2020 scoring 8 (out of 40) inPoliticalRights, 20 (outof 60) inCivilLiberties. Itstotalscorewas28 (out of 110) comparedwith50 (out of 100) in 2017, 49 in2018and49 in2019.Notably, it said that the US

State Department mentionedthe following: “In2018, theBJP-ledgovernmentharassedandattimes prosecuted activists,lawyers, human rights defend-ersandjournalistsforcriticisingauthorities. Draconian seditionandcounterterrorismlawswereused to chill free expression.

Foreign funding regulationswere used to target NGOs criti-cal of government actions orpolicies…”Its analysis of the Economic

Intelligence Unit (EIU) showedIndia's rank in theEIU's democ-racyindexfell from27in2014to51 in 2019. On “What does EIUsayaboutIndiainitsDemocracyIndex?”, it noted that Indiaslipped to the 51st place from42nd on EIU's 2019 GlobalDemocracy Index and remainsclassifiedas'flaweddemocracy'.In the Bertelsmann

Transformation Index (BTI), thegovernment noted that under‘PoliticalTransformation’:“Frombeing in the top category of‘Democracies in consolidation’in 2014 we have fallen to‘DefectiveDemocracy’.”

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, CHENNAI,MAY18

THECONGRESSWednesdayex-pressed disappointment overthe Supreme Court’s verdict forthe releaseofAGPerarivalan.“A terrorist is a terrorist and

should be treated as one,” saidcommunication departmentheadRandeepSurjewala.

The party’s reaction is inter-esting as the members of theGandhi familyhavemadestate-ments in the past suggestingthey have forgiven the killers ofRajiv. The Congress said Soniaand her children Rahul andPriyanka Gandhi Vadra hold noill-willagainstthekillersofRajiv.The party said it respects theirsentiments but legal proceed-ingsaredifferent.

DMK leader and ChiefMinister M K Stalin, who metPerarivalan and his family, wel-comed the order, adding: “TheSC order also clarified that theGovernorcannotinterfereinthepowers of an elected state gov-ernment.” The oppositionAIADMKalsowelcomedtheor-der, recalling steps taken by thelate J Jayalalithaa forPerarivalan’s release.

Cong flays verdict, DMK welcomes it

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEDEHRADUN,MAY18

THE AAMAadmi Party’s (AAP)chiefministerial candidate in re-centUttarakhandpolls, ColonelAjayKothiyal (Retd), party’s for-mer state working presidentBhupeshUpadhyayresignedfromthepartyonWednesday.“I have been a member of

AamAadmi Party from19April2021 till today, 18 May 2022.Keeping inmind the feelings offormersoldiers, formerparamil-itary, elders,women, youthandintellectuals, I am sendingmyresignation from the partymembership,”Kothiyalstatedinhis resignation letter toAAPna-tionalconvenorArvindKejriwal.AAPfailedtowinasingleseat

inthestate,withKothiyal losingfrom Gangotri seat. Kothiyalcouldnotbe reached for a com-mentdespite several attempts.In his letter to Kejriwal,

Upadhyaystated,“Theworkcul-tureandthoughtprocessofAAPis not in favour of Uttarakhandand the common people ofUttarakhand.Thisiswhypeopleof Uttarakhand rejected thepartyinVidhanSabhaelections.”AAP state president Deepak

Balisaid:“WethankColKothiyalforworkingwithus...”

PMLAPILAGAINSTSOREN INHC

MAY1999:SCupholdsdeathsentenceofMurugan,

Santhan,PerarivalanandNalini (above). Frees19,commutessentenceof3others to life

AUGUST2011:MadrasHCstaysexecutionorders.

NOVEMBER2013:FormerCBISPVThiagarajanadmitsPerarivalanneversaidheknewthebatteryheboughtwouldbeusedtomakethebomb.

AUGUST2017:TNgrantsparole toPerarivalan

SEPTEMBER2018:TNcabinetheadedbythenCMPalaniswamirecommendsreleaseofall sevenconvicts

MAY18,2022:TOPCOURTUSESSPECIALPOWER,ORDERSRELEASE

Arrest to release, three decades of the case

MAY2021:Perarivalanoutonparole

MAY21,1991:FormerPMRajivGandhi(left)assassinatedatSriperumbudur

JUNE,1991:CBIarrestsAGPerarivalan (right), 19

JANUARY1998:TADAcourtsentences26, includingNaliniandPerarivalan, todeath

JANUARY2014:SCcommutesthedeathpenaltyof threeconvicts to life

2015:PerarivalansubmitsmercypleatoTamilNaduGovernor.Withnoreply,movesSC

2011,AUGUST:11yrson,PresidentPratibhaPatilrejectsmercypetitions

2001:Santhan,MuruganandPerarivalansubmitmercypleas toPresident.

APRIL2000:Nalini’sdeathpenaltycommutedto lifebyTNGovernoraftercabinetrecommendationandpublicappealbySoniaGandhi

JANUARY2021:Governorcontinuestositoncabinetrecommendation.SCordersadecision.Governorsends files tothePresidentdespite itbeingastatecabinet recommendation

Santhan Murugan

MARCH2022:SCgrantsbail toPerarivalan


FROMWHEN he first filed hismercy petition to when theSupreme Court ordered his re-lease, the case of Rajiv Gandhimurder convict AGPerarivalanwas lobbed fromthe state to theCentre, Governor House toRashtrapati Bhavan, for sevenyears.ThefortunesofPerarivalan–heldattheageof19–swungasper theparties inpower, evenasmultiple accounts since theMay21, 1991, assassination and thelong probe kept shedding newlightonthecase.While the key conspirators

andassassinscouldnotbecaughtalive,26accusedweresentencedtodeathin1998byaTADAcourt.In 1999, the SupremeCourt ac-quitted19.Overtheyearsthatfol-lowed,thedeathsentenceoffourotherswas commuted to life –AGPerarivalan,Nalini,herhusbandandSriLankannationalMurugan,andSanthan.It's the books pennedby the

investigators in the casepost-re-tirementthathaveraisedseveralcriticalquestions:DidthethenCBIchief fail to hand over a crucialvideooftheassassintotheSpecialInvestigationTeam?Wasadeathsentencehandedoverjustforthepurchaseoftwo9-volttoybatter-ies, used in thebomb that killedRajiv, andwas it basedona con-fessionalstatementunderduress?Whywaslittleheadwaymadeonthe actualmakingof thebomb?WhywasassassinDhanu’s inter-actionwith awomanCongressleaderatthevenuenotprobed?Amongthosewhohavewrit-

tenor talked at length about thecasearethechiefof theSITinthecase,DRKarthikeyan;chiefinves-

tigationofficerKRagothaman;de-fencecounselCDoraiswamy;oneof the inspectors in the probe, PMohanraj;andPerarivalan.Karthikeyan detailed the

killing and theprobe inhis book‘Triumph of Truth’; whileRagothaman’s ‘Conspiracy toKillRajivGandhi: FromCBI Files’ al-legedthatseveralcrucialpiecesofevidencewereeithersuppressedorconvenientlyignoredto“shieldmanypoliticians”.Oneofthese,hesaid, was a video of Dhanu'smovementspriortotheblast.Perarivalanwrote inhisbook

‘AnAppeal fromtheDeathRow’,published in 2006, that hewasimplicatedon thebasis of a con-fession takenunder duress, andaskswhyaprobedidn'ttrytofindoutwhere thebombwasmade.He also talked about howa de-codedradiomessage,sentonMay7, 1991, showed that only threepeoplewereawareoftheconspir-acy,notincludinghim.Incidentally,while twoof the

accused,NaliniandRavichandran,wereclearedofconspiracychargebased on this evidence by theSupremeCourt, Perarivalanwasnot.Perarivalanalsodescribed indetail the alleged torturehewasput throughduringquestioning,especiallyattheMalligaiofficeoftheSIT.

PerarivalanmeetsTNCMStalin,Wednesday. PTI

31 years in prison: Themany turns in the case

If you have time,please visit, saysSC ex-judge whoheaded ’99 Bench


JUSTICEKTThomas (retd),whoheaded the Supreme Courtbench that sentenced A GPerarivalantodeathin1999,saidWednesday he wants to meethim andwished him to lead anormal life.Justice Thomas’s comments

camesoonafterthetopcourtor-deredPerarivalanrelease.“I wish to see him,” said

JusticeThomasafterhearingthenews of Perarivalan’s release.“Perarivalan, if you find time,please visitme…” Thomas saidwhile speaking to The IndianExpress from his residence atKottayam,Kerala.“Afterthelongincarceration and the release atthe age of 50,what should I tellhim? He should get marriedsoon…Heshouldlivehappily…with his dear ones. And I givecomplete credit to his mother(ArputhamAmmal).”Raising the issue of ‘double

jeopardy’ in the case in 2013,Thomassaidhangingtheconvictsafter23yearswouldbeunconsti-tutional.IthadledtotheSCordercommutingthedeathsentencesof threeconvicts in2014.Justice Thomas had pleaded

withRajivGandhi’swidowSoniaGandhi to showmagnanimity,andcalledtheTamilNadugover-nor’sdecisiontopassthebucktothe President “unheard andun-constitutional”.

AAP’s CM facein Uttarakhandelections, topleader quit

WORLDBANK’SWorldGovernanceIndicatorsrank215countriesandterrito-riesbasedonthese: ‘Voice&Accountability’; ‘PoliticalStability&AbsenceofViolence’; ‘GovernmentEffectiveness’; ‘RegulatoryQuality’; ‘RuleofLaw’&‘ControlofCorruption.’ThegovtnotedthattheWGImatteredmorethanEaseofDoingBusinessIndex.

Aneyeon imageE●EX

PLAINED

Govt flagged low score in World Bank’s governance index

LEENAMISRAAHMEDABAD,MAY18

WHEN HE had launched thePatidar quota agitation as thePatidarAnamatAndolanSamiti(PAAS) founder in 2015, HardikPatel, then aged 22, had notimaginedhowitwouldsoonfirethe imaginationof the commu-nity's youth, who were strug-gling to secure education andjobs after their agrarian assetshadshrunk.Having established himself

in Gujarat politics seven yearsdown the line, Hardik resignedfrom the CongressWednesday,launching a scathing attack onRahulGandhi,whohadgothiminducted into the party in 2019and barely one year later ap-pointed him as the workingpresidentof theGujaratPradeshCongressCommittee(GPCC).Hehasbeen theyoungest leader toget thisGPCCpositionso far.Whenreachedforcomments

on his resignation from theCongress,HardiktoldTheIndianExpress thathewas inHimachalPradeshfor“darshan”(worship),refusingtosayanythingfurther.In his resignation letter to

CongresspresidentSoniaGandhi,HardikhasaccusedtheCongress

of allegedly hating "Gujarat andGujaratis", calling it a party thathasbeenmoreinto"virodh"(op-positional politics) than provid-inga“vikalp”(alternative).TargetingtopCongress lead-

ers, especially Rahul, Hardikcharged howwhen hewent tomeet senior leaders theywouldbe busy on their "mobiles" and"when the Congress neededleadership,theCongressleaderswereenjoyingabroad",andthat"big leaders from Gujarat" in-stead of being concerned aboutstate issues were more con-cernedaboutdelivering"chickensandwiches on time" to leadersfromDelhi. FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT,MAY18

AT LEAST 12 people, includingthreechildren,werekilledandan-other onewas injured afterwallofashedinasaltprocessingplantnear Halvad town in Gujarat’sMorbi district collapsed onWednesday.Prime Minister Narendra

Modi andUnionHomeMinisterAmit Shah expressed grief overthelossoflivesevenasGujaratCMvisited the factory in theeveningand announced Rs 4 lakh com-

pensation each to the kin of vic-tims. The incident took placearoundnoonatSagarChemFoodIndustries locatedintheestateofGujarat Industrial DevelopmentCorporation on the outskirts ofHalvadontheMaliya-Viramgamstatehighway.“Awall, 100 feet long and12

feethigh, of a shed in the factorycollapsed... The debris fell onworkerswhowerepackingsaltinbagsundertheshedandchildrenwhowerewiththem,killing12ofthem,”MorbiDistrictCollectorJBPateltoldTheIndianExpress.Officialssaidthedeceasedin-

clude fivemen, fourwomenandthree children. They have beenidentified as Ramesh NarsinhKhirana,45,RameshMeghaKoli,42, Sheetal Dilip, 32, RajibenDahyabhai Bharwad, 30, RajuJeramKoli, 30,Dilabhai Ramesh,26,DilipRamesh,25,KajalGanas,21, Daksha Ramesh Koli, 18,Deviben,14,ShyamRameshKoli,13,andDipakDilipSomani,5.Halvad is locatedontheedge

of the Little Rann of Kutch, thelow-lying3,500sqkmexpanseofmudflats,oneofthelargestsingle-location salt-cultivation areas inthecountry. (WITHPTI)

3 children among 12 killed inwall collapse at Gujarat salt unit

Atthemishapsite inHalvad,MorbidistrictonWednesday.Express

Cong leadersatanevent tomarkthedeathanniversaryofHardikPatel’s father. File

After meteoric risein Congress, Hardikdeals it a body blow

Express

ONEOFtheG23leaders,whowaspresentattheCongress’sChintanShivir in Udaipur, SHASHITHAROOR talks toMANOJ CGabout the session,Hardik Patel’sdeparture,andwhyideologiesofmost regional parties actuallyalignwiththeCongress.Excerpts:

YourviewsontheChintanShiviranditsoutcomes?Iwouldsaythespiritofcama-

raderieandof commonpurposewas very much in evidenceamongstthoseattending.Thoughweweredivided into six groupsand the groupsdidnot have anyinteractionwith each other, wedidmeeteachotherduringmealtimes, breakfast anddinner andtherewere lots of conversationsandexchanges of views. Iwouldsay, on the whole, the atmos-pherewasveryconstructive...Theultimatethingabout the

outcome…Iwouldsaytheclicheis true: theproof of thepuddinglies in the eating.We have seenthe beginning of an importantprocess. But a lot depends onhowitunfoldsoverthenextfewmonths…BecauseIthinkifpeo-plewithin theparty feel there isa change,wewill also be able tosee it in a renewed burst of en-ergy in theparty.But if there isasense thatnothingmuchhasal-tered and it is all carrying on asbefore, therecouldwellbeadif-ferentreaction.Alotdependsonhowthenext fewmonthsgo.

TheexitofHardikPatel...yourviewonconstantexodus.I am very disappointed in

Hardik’sdeparturebecauseIhavemethimandbeen impressedbytheyoungmanassomebodywhohasalotofpassion,alotof intelli-genceandtheabilitytomakeveryeffective contributions. So it is aloss for us. Actually losing anyvaluable partymember dimin-ishesus.... Oneof the reasonswewantedthesereformsinthepartywas to give every Congressmanandwoman a sense of involve-ment in theparty,which clearlyHardik felt he did not have, andthatsenseof involvementcomesfrom, we believe, institutionswithinthepartyinwhichpeoplecanbeeffectivelyinvolved.

HaveyouspokentotheotherG-23leaders?Tobehonest,Ihadtocomeim-

mediatelytoKeralaafterUdaipurandIhavenothadachancetositand talk to all of them. I havesensedthatbyandlargeitissortofawait-and-watchreaction.Idon’twanttospeakforalltheothersbe-causehonestlyIhavebeentotallyimmersedinKeralapoliticsforthe

last two-and-a-half days... Tomymind,manyofthereformistshadallalongbeeninterestedinstren-gtheningtheparty,revivingit,en-ergising itandtryingtomakeitamoreeffectiveinstrumentofval-ues,principlesweallholddear...

HowdoyouviewRahulGandhi’sstatementthatregionalpartieshavenoideologyandcan’ttakeonBJP?I think what he meant, at

least what I understood him tosay,was thata regionalpartybydefinitionisweddedtointerestsofaparticularregion,stateoraninterest group, whereas theCongresshas anational vision. Ithink that is a fair proposition.Butwithin each statewedo co-operate with regional partieswho we consider to be like-minded. The truth is that thereis not much ideological differ-encewithmostpartiesthathavearegionalfocus.Whereintermsof policy issues arewe going tofind amajor difference of opin-ionwithRJD, orNCP, TrinamoolCongress, or with most of theparties known to be regionalparties,orpartiesthatessentiallyembody the same values thattheCongresshasbrought to theforefront during the freedomstruggle andwhich have beenenshrined in the politics of ourcountry formanydecades?TheBJPhasalwayshaditsdif-

ferentapproach,andthatisadif-ferentmatter.And,ofcourse,theDravidian parties have theDravidianphilosophy...Iamsorrythatsomeof theregionalpartieswere offended but I don’t thinkthe Congress party was in anywayseekingtooffendanybody.

FULLINTERVIEWONwww.indianexpress.com

THE EXPRESS

INTERVIEWWITH

SHASHITHAROORCONGRESSLOKSABHAMP

‘Beginning of animportant process,but lot depends onhow it unfolds’

New Delhi


THE SUPREME Court onWednesdaygrantedbailtoformermedia executive IndraniMukerjea, nearly sevenyears af-ter shewas arrested in the caseover the allegedmurder of herdaughterSheenaBorain2012.A bench of Justices L

NageswaraRao, BRGavai andASBopannatooknoteof Indrani'scounsel senior advocateMukulRohatgi’s submissions that shehadbeeninjailformorethansix-and-a-half-years. It concludedthatwithonly68ofthe237pros-ecutionwitnesses examined sofar,thetrialisnotlikelytoendanytimesoon.AdditionalSolicitorGeneralS

VRaju argued that the prosecu-tionintendedtogiveuphalfoftheremainingwitnessesandthatthetrialwouldconcludeearly,butthecourtdidnotagree.“Admittedly, the petitioner

hasbeen incustody for six-and-a-halfyears.Wedonotintendtocomment on themerits of thecase,whichmightbedetrimen-tal to the interest of either theprosecution or the defence.Taking intoaccount the fact thatthe petitioner has been in cus-todyforsix-and-a-halfyears,and

evenif50percentoftheremain-ingwitnessesaregivenupbytheprosecution, the trialwill notbecompleted soon, we are of theconsidered view that the peti-tioner is entitled to be releasedonbail,” thebenchordered.The court directed that

Indrani,whohasbeenlodgedinthe Byculla women’s prison inMumbai, be released on bailsubjecttothesatisfactionof thetrial court.Among the conditions at-

tachedare:surrenderpassporttoCBI andnot leave Indiawithoutthe agency's permission; informplace of residence and contactnumberimmediatelyafterbeingreleased to the prosecution andtheCBIcourt;notinfluencepros-ecutionwitnessesortamperwiththe evidence; and, regularly at-tend trial andnot seek adjourn-ments. The court said that “iftherearetwoconsecutivedefaultsinappearingbeforethetrialcourtorbreachofanyoftheabovecon-ditions,theprosecutionwillbeatlibertytoapplyforcancellationofpetitioner’sbail”.

TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI,MAY18

AHEADMISTRESS of a govern-mentschoolinAssam’sGoalparadistrictwasarrestedonMondayfor allegedly carrying beef forlunch to school, police said onWednesday.The incident occurred on

Saturdayduringthestategovern-ment’s annual program. OnSunday, theschoolmanagementcommittee filed a complaintagainst the 56-year-old head-mistress, who was then ques-tioned,policesaid.Sheiscurrentlyinjudicialcustody,theysaid.“The school management

committee said that she hadbroughtbeef toschool for lunch,andwasservingittosomemem-bers of the staff – that created asense of discomfort amongthem,”hesaid.Headdedthattheincident had “upset religiouscommunities” intheschool.She has been booked under

sections153A(promotingenmitybetween different groups ongroundsof religion, race,placeofbirth,residence)and295A(delib-erateandmaliciousacts,intendedtooutragereligiousfeelingsofanyclassbyinsultingitsreligionorre-ligiousbeliefs)oftheIndianPenalCode.

Headmistressarrested forcarrying beef toschool in Assam

IndraniMukerjea

SC grants bail toIndrani, says beenin jail for 6 yearsBengaluru: The Department of

Pre-University Education in itscurriculumfor2022-23hasmadeitmandatoryforstudentstowearuniformsprescribedbytheinsti-tution concerned, barring themfromwearinganyreligiousattire.Thedepartmenthascitedthe

KarnatakaHCorderofMarch15that upheld the recommenda-tionsoftheCollegeDevelopmentCouncilonuniforms.Minister for Primary and

SecondaryEducationBCNageshsaid,“It is importantforstudentstofollowtherulesandupholdthediscipline of the educational in-stitutions. One cannot livewiththeirownwhimsandfancies.TheKarnataka High Court order ofwearing a uniformwill apply toalleducationalinstitutionsregis-tered under the KarnatakaEducationAct.Studentswhoturnupwith religious attireswill notbeallowed.” ENS

Lucknow:Minister of State forMinorityWelfare Danish AzadAnsari onWednesday said thatthe state Cabinet on Tuesdaycleared theproposal not to pro-vide government grants to newmadarsasinthestate.“Theideaistofocusonquality

than quantity.We already have558aidedmadarsas,withatleastthree-aidedmadarsas in everydistrict.Thereareatotalof16,000recognisedmadarsasinthestate,out ofwhichmodern educationhas been introduced in about7,000. So, there is no shortageofinfrastructure.Now,weplantofo-cuson thequality of the existingones,”Minority AffairsMinisterDanishAzadAnsarisaid. ENS

ANDHRAPRADESH

CMtolaunchmobilevetclinicstodayNew Delhi:The govern-ment of Andhra Pradeshis implementing the 340Dr YSR Samchaara PasuAarogya Seva/ MobileAmbulatory VeterinaryClinicsinthestatewithanoutlay of Rs 278 crore tostrengthen the servicesdelivery mechanism toensure better accessibil-ity of veterinary servicesby thedepartment.ChiefministerYSJaganMohanReddywillformallyinau-gurate the event onThursday. ENS

GUJARAT

Weddinggiftblastinjuresgroom,kid;1heldSurat:A25-year-oldnewlywedman and his three-year-old nephew weregrievously injured inNavsari district in a blasttriggered by an electricteddybearthatthecouplegotasweddinggiftonMay13. Thebride’sfatherfiledacaseallegingroleofRajuPatel,theestrangedlive-inpartnerofhiselderdaugh-terJagruti,followingwhichpolicearrestedhim. ENS

UTTARAKHAND

SIsuspendedforthrashingwomanDehradun:Followingalle-gations of domestic helpbeing brutally thrashedandgivenelectric shocksat a police outpost inDehradunoversuspicionof theft, district SSP hassuspended the policeoutpost in-charge andfurther inquiry has beenordered.Accordingtothecomplaint, the woman,Manju,waspickedupforinterrogation on suspi-cionof theft. ENS

JAMMU&KASHMIR

HurriyatcallsforKashmirbandhonMay21Srinagar: The HurriyatConferencehascalledforashutdown inKashmir onMay21 to pay tributes toMirwaizFarooqandAbdulGani Lone on their deathanniversary.Theseparatistamalgamaskedpeople tovisitEidgah,wherethetwoleaders have been laid torest, andoffer prayers forthem. In a “policy state-ment”, theMirwaizUmarFarooq-ledoutfit has saiditwill continue topursuethe goal andpath shownbyitsleaders. ENS

BRIEFLY

No religiousattires will beallowed: minister

KARNATAKA


SUPREMECOURTonWednesdaygave thego-ahead forpolls to lo-calbodiesinMadhyaPradeshwithOBCreservation,allowingthestategovernment to notify the quotapatternas recommended ina re-visedreportdrawnupbythestatebackwardclassescommission.Butthecourtmadeitclearthat

itshouldnotbeseenashavingex-pressed final opiniononvalidityandcorrectnessoftherevisedre-port, and if challenged, it “mayhavetobeconsideredon itsownmeritsinaccordancewithlaw”.Abenchpresidedby JusticeA

MKhanwilkar took into accountthestate’ssubmissionthatanear-lierreport,whichthecourthadob-jected to, had been revised andthatthedelimitationexercisehadalreadybeencompletedandnoti-fied. “For the timebeing,weper-mittheMPStateElectionCommi-ssion to notify the electionprogramme for the local bodies,keepinginmindthedelimitation

notificationsalreadyissuedbythestategovernmentason thisdate,i.e., till today;andalsothereportssubmittedbythededicatedcom-mission...,”itsaid.“WealsopermitthestateofMPtonotifythereser-vationpattern localbodywiseasdelineated in the reports of thededicatedcommission, tobead-hered to by the State ElectionCommission.Thatbedonewithinoneweek from today. The StateElectionCommission shall issueelectionprogrammeinrespectofconcernedlocalbodiesthereafterwithinoneweek,”thecourtsaid,modifyingitsMay10order.OnMay10, the court haddi-

rected that the polls be notifiedwithin twoweekswithoutOBCquota, stating that the statewasyet tocomplete the triple test re-quirement laiddownby it court.Thetripletestrequiresthestateto(1) set up a commission to con-ductempiricalinquiryintothena-tureandimplicationsoftheback-wardnessqualocalbodies,withinthe state; (2) specify thepropor-tionof reservationrequiredtobeprovisioned local bodywise in

light of recommendationsof thecommission, so asnot to fall foulofoverbreadth;and(3)suchquotashallnotexceedaggregateof50%of the total seats reserved forSCs/STs/OBCstakentogether.Subsequently, the state again

approachedthecourt,statingthat“certain crucial facts... before thedateof...orderwerenotbrought”to its notice. It said thedelimita-tionexercisehadbeencompletedandnotified beforeMay 10 andthat “the report of thededicatedcommissionhadbeenrevised”inlight of the court observations.“Thesecond(revised)reportcametobe submittedby the commis-sionincorporatingalltherequisiteissues, also giving break-up ofreservationforOBCcategorytobeprovidedlocalbodywise.Thisre-portwas submitted to the stategovernmenton12.05.2022.”The bench, which perused

bothreports,said“thesecondre-porthasfocusedonproportionoflocalbodywisereservation,tobeprovisionedforOBCswhilekeep-inginmindthemaximumreser-vationlimitof50%”.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBHOPAL,MAY18

WELCOMING THE SupremeCourt’s decision to allow OBCreservationinthelocalbodyelec-tions inMadhya Pradesh, ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhantargeted the Congress for “in-dulginginvotebankpoliticsinthenameofwelfareof thebackward

community”.“Today, I

am over-whelmed.TheBJPiscommit-ted towelfareofallgroupsofsociety. Itwasbecauseof theCongress thatelectionsweredelayed afterthey appro-

achedthecourt.TheydonothaveanythingtodowiththewelfareoftheOBCother than indulging invote bank politics...BJP imple-mentswhatitcommits,”hesaid.Chouhan,alongwithstateBJP

chief VDSharmaandChairmanof theOBCWelfareCommissionGauriSankarBisen,wasaddress-ingapressconferencehere.He said the BJPwas holding

panchayat polls and theprocessforthefirstphasehadstarted,buttheCongresswenttocourt.“Ihadalso committed in the VidhanSabhathatwheneverwegoaheadwithlocalbodyelections,itwillbewithOBC reservation and today,wehavefulfilledthatpromise.”

YOGESHNAIKMUMBAI,MAY18

AFTER THE Supreme Court al-lowedlocalbodypollsinMPwithOBCquota, leaders of the rulingMVA alliance in Maharashtraquestionedwhy the same ruleswerenotapplicabletothestate.State Congress chief Nana

Patolesoughttoknowwhat“mir-acle” happened in the last fourdaysthatthecourtallowedMPtohold local body pollswith OBCquota.HesaidwhileMaharashtrahas been fighting to restoreOBC

quota for past two years, theCentrehasbeencreatingobstruc-tions and refused toprovide therequiredempiricaldata“TheSChasallowedtheMPto

holdelectionswithOBCreserva-tion,but it seemstohave takenadifferentstanceinMaharashtra’scase. In the last hearing, instruc-tions given toMaharashtrawere

alsogiven toMP,”he said. “WhatdatadidMPprovidethatsatisfiedthe SC?Did theCentre give thatdatatoMPgovernment?”Sena spokespersonManisha

Kayande said, “Wewelcome theSCdecision. But four days ago, anon-BJPstatelikeMaharashtragotone ruling andonWednesday, aBJP-ruled state likeMPgot a rul-ingkeepingtheOBCquotaforlo-cal body polls. MVA did every-thing to save OBC quota butCentre...didnotsharetheirempir-icaldata....WehavetoseehowtheMPdatawas accepted andoursrejected.’’

Cong plays votebank politics,BJP delivers,says Chouhan

MPgetsSCnod to hold local bodypollswithOBCquota, for now

MVA: What ‘miracle’ happened in 4 days?

MPCMShivrajSinghChouhan

MaharashtraCongresspresidentNanaPatole

No govt grantsto new madrasas,says UP minister

EXPRESSNETWORK 7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022

New Delhi

8WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

COSTLY AFFAIRRecentdataconfirmsthat inflationhasbecomeentrenched in

theeconomy.RBIwillhavetoact firmlyandswiftly

ONTUESDAY,DATAreleasedby thegovernment showed that inflationat thewholesalelevelhadrisentoastaggering15.08percentinApril,upfrom14.55percentinMarch,despiteahighbaseeffect.Withthislatestprint,wholesaleinflationhasnowbeenindoubledigitsfor13consecutivemonths.Comingjust

daysafterdatareleasedbytheNationalStatisticalOfficethatshowedretailinflationasmeas-uredbytheconsumerpriceindexhadrisentoaneightyearhighof7.8percentinApril,thislatestdataprintonlyreaffirmstheinflationarypressures intheeconomy.Thesharpspurt inwholesale inflation isdrivenbyallmajor categories—primaryar-

ticles,fuelandpowerandmanufacturing—indicatinghowbroad-basedthepricepressuresare.Allthreesub-groupsregistereddoubledigit inflationinApril.TheWPIfoodindexhasalsorisento8.88percentinAprilonthebackofhigherpricesinvegetables,fruits,milkandspices.Considering thatan increase in food inflationat thewholesale level tends tohavea“significant” impacton inflationat theretail level, this isamatterof concern.Asper therecentlyreleasedreportbytheRBIonthestateof theeconomy,highfrequencypricedataonfooditemsforthefirsthalfofMay(1-12)indicates“anincreaseincerealprices,prima-rilyonaccountofasurgeinwheatprices”,ahardeningofpotatoandtomatoprices,anda“broad-based increase” in edible oils. This isworrying, as AshimaGoyal,memberMPC,pointsout, “thehistoryof past shocks in Indiashowsfoodandoilprice inflationtogethercangiverisetosecondroundeffects”.Onthenon-foodside,thelatestdataalsoshowsthatmanufacturing inflationroseto10.85percent inApril,upfrom10.71percent themonthbefore.With cost pressures onmanufacturers continuing to rise, they are likely to passthemfurtherontoendconsumers,exertingupwardpressureonpricesat theretail level.Andthentherearealsoconcernsoverservices inflationfirmingupasdemandpicksup.InthefirstweekofMay,themonetarypolicycommitteeof theRBIhadheldanoff-cy-

clemeeting to raise thebenchmark repo rateby40basis points to4.4per cent to tackleinflation. This implied that hikes of another 75basis pointswouldbeneeded just to re-vert to thepre-pandemic level—MPCmember JayanthVarmahassaid that “more than100basispointsofrateincreasesneedtobecarriedout”.Consideringcurrentpricetrendswhich suggest that inflationwill continue to remain elevated, and likely to breach theupper threshold of the RBI’s inflation targeting framework for three consecutive quar-ters, theMPC is likely to frontload theratehikes.

A MATTER OF TASTEFrombiscuits tosandwiches,Congresshasan imageproblem

as leadersseekbetterpastures

THREEMONTHSAGO,RahulGandhi’s“highcommandmindset”hadcomeinfor sharp criticism fromAssam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmawhochidedhimforoncefeedinghisdoginthepresenceof leaders fromthestateand thenoffering them“the samebiscuits”—a callback to the incident that

Sarmahaddescribed as being the impetus for his resignation fromtheparty. The same“mindset” is thetargetof someratherthinly-veiledcriticismintheCongress’s latestres-ignationsaga:HardikPatel,whoquit theparty today,hasblamedhisexiton the leader-ship’s “hatred” of India, Gujarat andGujaratis and theyouthof thenation, evenas it re-mainspreoccupiedwith“chickensandwiches”.Inhis trilingual resignation letter, postedonTwitter, Patel is scathing aboutwhathe

sees as themany failures of theCongress.Muchof the letter bemoans thevariouswaysin which he says the party has “insulted” Gujaratis (including, predictably, SardarVallabhbhai Patel),the allegedvenality of theGujaratCongress and thenational leader-ship’s lack of a proactive opposition agenda. Running through these complaints, how-ever, isachargethathaslongbedevilledtheCongress—thattheleadership’selitismandabsorptionin“trivialthings”(petdogs,foreignvacations,partiesand,now,chickensand-wiches)have led it to lose touchwith themasses.With the BJP looking to consolidate its hold overGujarat in the state assembly polls

laterthisyearandtheAAPthreateningtospoilwhateverchancetheCongresshas,aker-fuffle about chicken sandwiches is the last thing theparty leadershipneeds. It could, ofcourse, be said thatwithelectoralprospectson the line, it is Patelwho is chickeningoutof a toughbattleby leavingwhathe seesasa sinking ship.On theotherhand, consider-ing that themuch-hyped Chintan Shivir in Udaipur, which concluded on Sunday, alsofailed to address the leadership question, perhaps it is the Congress that is chickeningaway fromaddressing its realproblem.

ROAD TO KATHMANDUPMModi’s recentNepalvisit sawasuccessfuldeploymentofIndia’s softpower torepairbilateral ties thatwereunderstress

PRIMEMINISTERNARENDRAModi'svisittoLumbinionBuddhaPoornimawasintendedtoconveythatthesharedculturebetweenIndiaandNepalisfarmorevaluable than themoney that China has been pouring into the birthplace oftheBuddha.If theModigovernment'searlyrelianceonaHinduconnecttowin

influenceinNepaldidnothavethedesiredeffect, thecarefullychosendateanddestina-tionofModi’s fifthvisit toNepal sincebecomingPrimeMinisterwasapush tomakeupforlosttimeandopportunitywithanothersharedreligion.LumbiniisalsowhereChina'spresence looms close to the Indian border, from aBeijing financed airport to a Chinesemonastery. The announcement of a joint India-Nepal plan to give Lumbini its rightfulplaceintheBuddhistcircuitpromotedbyIndiantouroperators, thePrimeMinister'sre-iteration that this was the birthplace of the Buddha, and the laying of the foundationstone for an Indianmonastery are belated attempts to deploy Indian soft power to re-claimsomespaceinIndia'sHimalayanneighbour.Therealpotentialforturnaroundinbi-lateralrelations, though, liesviathemoremundanerouteof infrastructureprojects.Oneof thebigstumblingblocks inthe India-Nepal relationshipusedtobeDelhi's inability tocompleteagreeduponinfrastructureprojectsinNepal, includingroads,railwaylinesandmegapowerprojects.Over the last fewyears thishaschanged.Duringhis45-minutemeetingwithModi,NepalPrimeMinisterSherBahadurDeuba

invitedDelhi to take up the long stuckWest Seti hydro power project, whichwas oncetakenupbyAustraliabutabandoned,andlatercovetedbyChinaThreeGorgesCorporation.TheofferfollowsIndia’ssuccesswiththe900MWArunIIIhydropowerproject,developedbySatluj JalVidyutNigam(SJVN), a jointventurebetweentheCentreandtheHimachalPradeshgovernment.Amongother significantagreements signedduringModi's visit isaproposedcollaborationbetweenMadras IIT andKathmanduUniversity for a jointde-greeprogramme,andasecondinthehighereducationsectorbetweenIndianCouncilofCultural Relations and Lumbini Buddhist University for the establishment of a DrAmbedkarChair forBuddhist Studies.Thespadeworkfortheagreementsindiversesectorssignedduringthesix-hourvisit,was

clearly donewell ahead. Deuba,who replacedKP SharmaOli as the PrimeMinister lastyear,andwasinNewDelhionanofficialvisit inApril,appearstohavehadacalmingeffectonbilateraltiesroiledbystormyweatherinrecentyears.ThePrimeMinister'sremarkthatbilateral tiesare“asstableas theHimalayas”mayhavebeenmoreaspirational thanaccu-rateand,asagoal,alsoconveysasenseof thedistancethatbothsidesneedtotravel.

AGPerarivalan

Byusingmodelling, andnotnationaldatasourcesonCoviddeaths in India, ithas ignoredUNconventions

MY MOTHER WAS MY HOPERajivGandhiassassinationconvictonhisyears inprison

THECONTROVERSYOVERtheunder-report-ing of Covid deaths in India has spiralled. AWorldHealth Organisation report has pro-jected,throughmathematicalmodelling,thatIndiahad4.7million,or47lakh,excessCoviddeathsin2020-2021.Surprisingly,noneoftheauthors seems to have engaged with theRegistrarGeneralofIndia(RGI)whoisrespon-sible for the Civil Registration System (CRS).The responsibilities for reporting and regis-teringbirthsanddeathsareenunciatedintheRegistration of Births andDeaths (RBD)Act,1969, which draws its strength from theConcurrentListof theConstitution.Underthelaw,theChiefRegistrarofevery

stategetsoneyeartosendthecompileddataon births anddeaths to the RGI for collationandpublication.CRS2020cameoutonMay3and a two-year time lag has been standardeveninthepre-Covidyears.Thecauseofdeathis registeredunder theMedical Certificationof the Cause of Death (MCCD) system— thescopeofthisdataislimitedbecauseitappliesonlytourbanareasandnotifiedhospitals.TheRGI is yet to publish it. But for theWHOandothermathematicalmodellerstosurmisethatIndiadoesnothaveasystemtoenumeratethedead and plunge into calculatingmortalitybased on minuscule samples collectedthroughinformalchannels ispreposterous.Deathdata fromCRSshowsanover6per

cent increase overall inMaharashtra, Bihar,Gujarat,WestBengal,AndhraPradesh,TamilNadu,Karnataka,MadhyaPradesh,Rajasthan,Assam,AndhraPradesh,andHaryana.TheCRSdataevenprovidesabreakupbyagecohortsand comparing deaths among the elderlyfrom 2018 to 2020 shows a reduction ofdeathsinthe70+agegroupinKeralaandpar-tiallyinTelangana.Ofcourse,greateranalysisandcommentaryarerequiredbutnoonecansaythesystemisdysfunctional.AnevenmorereliabletoolthantheCRSis

the Sample Registration System (SRS)— it'sthe largestdemographic survey in theworldandhasbeen implementedsincetheSixties.

Eightmillionhousevisitsresultinacorpusofdata on fertility andmortality. Such visits,however,weredelayedduringthepandemic,from2020toearly2022,whenfamilies,enu-meratorsandreviewerswereconfrontedwithrepeatedCovidoutbreaksandlockdowns.TheSRShasbeenoperationalfordecadesalthoughthepriorityaccordedtotimelydatacollectioncouldcertainly improve.Underthelaw,theinformerandtheregis-

trarmustcompletetheprocessofregistrationwithin21days.Registrationafter21days re-quires approval at the higher levels— theseseemtobeprogressively increasing—speci-fiedintheRBDAct.Surprisingly,MaharashtraandDelhiaremissingfromtherelevanttablesbecause “only partial informationwas pro-vided”.Thisshowsthatthestateresponsesarenotacceptedmechanically.Thegapsandde-layscallforassigninghigherpriorityandover-sighttobirthanddeathdatacollection.The RGI has a statutory duty to declare

birthsanddeaths.Forthecalendaryear2020,theCRSfigure isabout81lakhdeaths—thisis 4.7 lakhmore than thepreviousyear. TheSRSpublicationisexpectedsoonwhichwill,inallprobability,showahigherfigure.Butinnocasewill itbeanywherenear the47 lakhdeaths theWHOmodellershaveputout for2020 and 2021 for India. The WHO’sTechnicalAdvisoryGroupselected India foritsmodellingexercisewithoutengagingwiththe RGI. Instead, modellers and academicshave published a slew of papers using datalikedeathsamongMLAsandIndianRailwaypersonnel or based their studies on statewebsitesorRTI responses tomediaqueries.None of these is representative enough tojustify extrapolation to cover a country aslargeanddiverseas India.India’spopulationissoontobe(if it isnot

already)thelargestintheworld.TamilNadu’spopulation is about that of France andBiharisthesizeofGermany.ThepopulationofUttarPradesh,India’smostpopulousstate,isaboutthatofBrazil.Insuchascenario,tobaseaWHO

international report and academic researchon sundry samples and extrapolate data togivealarmingresultsisadisservicetoatime-honoured national system. But it also over-turnsaconventionthatUNsystemsrelyonlyonnationaldatasources.Thereporthasneed-lessly alarmed Indian citizens and theworldcommunity.That tensof thousands lost their livesun-

dertragicconditionsthatnoonewaspreparedfor, isa fact.Currently, aroundseven lakhap-plicants have applied for compensation re-latedtoCoviddeaths—notmillions.Thepub-licationof CRS reports has always taken twoyearswhich,without question, requires re-duction. But that doesnot justify theWHO'sferreting for fresh sources, almost implyingthat the state data is unreliable. If thatwerethe case,women'smortality data, for exam-ple,wouldnotbeshowinga40percent reg-istration as against the 60 per cent registra-tionformen—thisis inconsonancewiththegroundrealitiesbecausewomen'sdeathsarenotviewedasmaterial tomatters like inher-itanceandpropertyrights.Thegoodnewsisthatawarenessaboutthe

needforbirthanddeathregistrationisgrow-ing.TheRGI’swebsiteindicatesthatthetight-ening of reporting schedules andmaking itmandatoryformedicalinstitutionsandprac-titionerstoreportthecauseofdeathsisonthecards through amendments in the RBDAct.Digitisationat theprimary levelhas touched85percentandthiswillslashthedatapubli-cation time. Theuseof digital software is in-creasing across states and dependence onmanual reporting is reducing. FutureRGI re-portsmust be published promptly becauseonly suchdata canalert thepolitical system,policymakers and society of progress or thelackof it.This iswhatoughttostirreform.Indiafacesseveralchallenges,butdatacol-

lectionandpublicationarenotamongthem.

Thewriter isaformersecretaryintheMinistryofHealth.Viewsarepersonal

WHENTHESUPREMECourtorderedmyre-lease around 10.40 am, I was waiting at apublic hall near my uncle’s house with afriend. Of course, I was waiting for the re-port fromDelhi.Andwhenthenewsfinallycame, I went home. My mother(Arputammal)who fought forme all theseyearswascrying.Myeldersisterwastoo. Infact, Ihaveneverseenhercrysomuch. Ihadto struggle to calm her. My younger sisterwho reached home a little late, andmy fa-ther, a retired Tamil teacher, were visiblyhappy.Mymotherdidn'tspeaktometoday,she

justkeptcrying. Idon'trememberif I triedtocomforther.Butyes, IhavetositwithAmmaand talk toher.It is just a few hours since the SC order

came. I feel very tired, after taking somanycalls fromrelatives and friends.I couldn’t thinkof anythingnow,maybe

except a few names who I miss badly thisday,who Iwishwerealive, orherewithmeat thismoment.Ithasbeenalonglegalbattle forme.But

I wasn’t tired as I knew how much mymotherwas fighting forme. I spent around11yearsinsidea6×9feetcell insolitarycon-finement. It was in those days I started be-coming aware of my senses — actuallymydiminishing senses. A room inwhich I hadnothing but empty walls to look at. I toldsomeone earlier how I used to obsessivelycount thebricksonthewall, takemeasuresof thedoorandboltsandimaginethesmellsI craved.There were days when I was desperate

to seeababy inprison.Andall thosebabiesathome,whowereborn in theearlypartofmy imprisonment, have now become

adults.Sencholai,mysister’steenagedaugh-ter, is withme now. She was very frank —shewantedme to give her a treat, buy hersweets. I am yet tomake arrangements forthat. I badly miss Agaran and Inimai, chil-dren of my sisters — Agaran is in the US,Inimai is onherwayhome fromcollege.I miss Selva anna (Selvaraj), who has

been abroad for the past fewmonths. HewasoneselflesspersonwhohelpedAmmato lead an anti-death penalty campaign. Imissmylawyer,SPrabuRamasubramanian,inDelhi,whowasthereallalongwithmeinthe fight. I did ask him to come to Chennaitodaybuthehasmanymorebattlestofight.Myfriendandbrother,Sankar,anaccused

whowasreleasedinthecase, isabroadnow.IbadlymisshimwhenIrecallthegifthegaveme when he was released in 1999 — hisshoes, a shirt andapairof trousers— insist-ingthatIwearthemonthedayIgetreleased.I am 50 now, and have outgrown thoseclothes.But I still treasure them.I remember one Thenmozhi akka who

sentmehergoldthaali (necklace)formyle-gal expenses after learning that I had beensentencedtodeath.Shediedofcancer later,I never got a chance tomeether.I can't forget the late Mukundan C

Menon,ajournalistandactivist,whovisitedme in the Salem prison in 1997 to share anotethatread,“Iamalwayswithyou”. Ican-not describe the impact his words had onme.ItwasJusticeVRKrishnaIyer,whostoodlike a pillar of support in my fight. Manytimes, the limited number of phone calls Iwas allowed tomake from theprisonweretoJusticeIyer,oneof thefewpeoplewhobe-lievedme,inmyfightforjusticeandinspiredmealot inmyfightforsurvival. Ipaidmyre-

spectsbeforephotographsof JusticeIyerandP Senkodi, whowas 20when she self-im-molated in 2011 to protest the death sen-tenceawarded tous.Thirukkural says, Avviya nenjaththan

aakkamumsevviyanketumninaikkappatum(Theunexpected rise of adishonest personanddistressofanhonestpersonareworthyofpublicscrutinyastheyareagainstthelawof nature).Similarly,my anguish that stretched for

32 yearswas shared bymillions across theworldwithempathy,affectionandcare.Myhopewasmymother. Her stupendous ef-fortsandincrediblesteadfastnesswerelife-savingplanksinanarduousjourneythroughahurricane infestedocean.I thank everyone. I wishmy story gives

hope to everyone who is forced to fight amighty systemfor justice.I am reminded of the wonderful days I

spent as a young boy in my hometown,Jolarpet. I findahugegapbetweenthenandnow—Iamnowamiddle-agedman,moremature andwith life experience.Howam Igoing to bridge the gap? I don’t know.MyhometownisnotthelittlenestIhadleftoverthreedecadesago.

Perarivalanwas taken into custodybyCBIfromPeriyar Thidal, theheadquarters of

DravidarKazhagaminChennai, inconnectionwith theRajivGandhi

assassinationon June11, 1991. In1998, aTADAcourt convictedand sentencedhimtodeath,which theSCconfirmed in1999. TheSC revisited the case in2014andcommutedthe sentence to life imprisonment.Hewasoutonparole for the first time in2017.He

spokewithArun Janardhanan

That tens of thousands losttheir lives under tragicconditions no one wasprepared for, is a fact.Currently, around seven lakhapplicants have applied forcompensation related toCovid deaths — notmillions. The publication ofCRS reports has alwaystaken two years which,without question, requiresreduction. But that does notjustify the WHO's ferretingfor fresh sources, almostimplying that the state datais unreliable.

My friend and brother,Sekar, an accused who wasreleased in the case, is abroadnow. I badly miss him whenI recall the gift he gave mewhen he was released in 1999— his shoes, a shirt and apair of trousers — insistingthat I wear them on theday I get released. I am 50now, and have outgrownthose clothes. But I stilltreasure them.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

B E C A U S E T H E T R U T H I N V O L V E S U S A L L

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022 WORDLYWISEToofewpeopleunderstandareally

goodsandwich.— JAMES BEARDTHEEDITORIALPAGE

STATE POLLSTHECONGRESS(I)isfacingitstoughestchal-lenge since it returned to power in 1980whenabout 52million voters lineup at thepolling booth onMay 19 to elect state gov-ernments in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana,WestBengal andKerala.While the LokDal-BJP is fightingthekeenestbattle for90seatsinHaryanaand68 inHaryana, theMarxist-ledLeftFront ismakingall-outefforts tode-feat the United Democratic Front in Kerala.InWest Bengal, the Congress (I)'s objectiveislimitedtoreducingtheLeftFront'sstrengthinthe294-memberhouse.PMIndiraGandhihas spent fourdays ineachstate.

CHINA-INDIA TALKSTHEOFFICIAL-LEVEL TALKS between IndiaandChinacontinuedthroughthesecondday.According to an official source, all perspec-tivesontheborderissueweregonethroughin a cordial manner but nothing has so farhappened to change India's earlier assess-mentthatabreakthroughwasnotexpectedin thecurrent roundof talks.

THATCHER UPS ANTEBRITISH PRIME MINISTER MargaretThatcher, accusing Argentina of stallingpeacetalks,saidthatBritainshouldknowin

48 hourswhether a diplomatic solution tothe Falkland conflict was possible. She alsosaidthatnomilitaryactioncanbeheldup. “WehavebeennegotiatingwithArgentinaformorethansixweeksingoodfaith,butthere'slittlesignofArgentinaimplementingtheUNSecurityCouncilResolution,” shesaid.

IRAN’S OVERTUREWEWISH TO have relations with all, pro-vided they do not impose their will on us,saidAliAkbarHashmiRafsanjani, thepresi-dentof Iran'sMajlis. TheWest is angrywithusbecausewehaveadoptedananti-imperi-alistpolicy,hesaid.

MAY 19, 1982, FORTYYEARSAGO

WHO’s gone wrong

Shailaja Chandra

New Delhi

9THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

‘‘The frequency of urban terrorism incidents over the past few weeks inKarachi should send alarm bells ringing within the state apparatus andresult in an effective strategy to counter such destabilising activities.’’

—DAWN,PAKISTANTHE IDEASPAGEWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

A robust system (drones,satellites, ground data) tomonitor weather conditionslike temperature, moisturestress, etc needs to be put inplace immediately with afocus on key crops and majorgrowing regions. With theexpertise available in thecountry today, algorithmscan be built to assess theimpact of weather and pestevents on crop size andquality. The governmentneeds this information morethan anyone else.

INDIANCIVILISATION,liketheChinese,roseon the banks of great rivers. And Indra, orShakra,isthemostspectacularleaderoftheearlypantheon.Bythefactofdivinity,hewasthechiefwaterauthority—andalsotheleastmodestof thegods.Alongwith thecycleofrains, he also controlled thunder, electricstormsandlightning(vajra).Hismoodswerereflected inhowheunleashed themuponhis earthly devotees,mostly farming com-munities and nomadic cattle rearers. Hisworshippersheldhimingreataweandpaidhimobeisanceintheformofsplendidrituals.Indra’s empire gradually dissolved and

madewayforRamandlater,Krishna.Buthislegacycontinuedwithhisbanner, theIndraDhwaja, which was also adopted byBuddhistsandJainsects.Thedhwaja,sinceIndra,hassummedup

thepowerandunificationofanamorphousmassofstatesunderoneflag.Since2014,theBJP-led coalitionhas sought to capture thepeople’sattentionandtheirfearsandhopesfor the futureand in theprocess, the Indiannational flag, the tricolour or tiranga, wasgivenasteadybuild-up. Itwasunderscoredby the political leadership as a symbol ofmighty India. And that necessitated itsprominent display everywhere.MuchwasalsomadeofthetirangareplacingtheflagofJammuandKashmirwhenthestatewastri-furcated andArticle 370 struckdown. Thisstarted a race among theNDA-ruled statesandofficesanduniversitiescontrolledbytheCentre to compete indisplaying the tallestandmostprominenttirangaontheirprem-ises. ItbecamethenewIndraDhwaja.Evenmovietheatreaudienceswereinstructedtostandupandsingthenationalanthematthebeginning of each show,when the IndraDhwajaofthe21stcenturyappearedonthescreen.At this point,we seeKPrabhakarBhatt,

an RSS leader fromKarnataka, suggestingthat theHindusuniteunder the full saffronflag,theBhagwaDhwajaoftheRSS.IfHindumembers of Parliament unite, it could bedoneeasilybyaparliamentaryvote.Agrandfelicitationmounted recently by theNRIcommunityinGermanyfortheIndianprimeminister’s visit,was a further attempt to fitintotheIndratradition.Thiswasunderscoredby the image of amanwith a saffron scarfandtopi,hoppingupanddownwiththesaf-fronpennant.Inthevisuals,thenationalflagwasnoticeablyabsent.ItisnotedintheMahabharatthathaving

consolidatedhis followers as amass, Indraascended to heaven. But before that, heformedacoalitionwithKingUparichara,theruler of theChedi Janpad (roughly the areaknownnowas Bundelkhand), one of themostwater-scarceregionsintheland.Heap-pointedthekingashispartnerandputhim

inchargeofhisestates.Butlikeallpolitically-savvyemperors, IndraleftspaceforShiva—the“AdiDev”, thealphagod—andensuredhewouldbepart of all festivities and cele-brations in IndraMah, the ritualsmountedunderhis name. This Indradidbypresent-inghisearthlyrepresentativewiththreegifts,eachwithasymbolicvalue:Aviman(vehicle)totravelintheairlikethegods,anever-freshgarland(vyjayantimala)oflotusflowersanda robust bamboo staff (vaishnavi yashti),whichwas32arms(about48feet)high.This robust yashti, Indra told the king,

stood for the pure laughter of Lord Shivaaroundwhich all community celebrationsmust revolve henceforth.Multi-colouredflagsmust bemounted on it to symboliseIndra’sjoyfulunionwithhisseniorandpred-ecessor. Then, Indra began a tour of ChediJanpad,withthekingholdinghisyashtiinthefront, heralding Indra’s visit. The IndraDhwajamountedontheyashtiflutteredwithpieces of cloth, andwas decoratedwithflowergarlands,piecesofsugarcaneandvar-iousshinyornaments.Atthecitycentre,theIndraDhwaja, theflagof thenewly-blessedruler,wasfirmlyplantedupontheearth,sig-nallingthatrevelriesmaybegin.Overtheyears,thereplayofthisoccasion

begantobecalledayatra(jatra),meaningatravelling folk festival repletewith feastingandstorytelling.IntheHimalayanregion,in-cluding Nepal, all festivals still begin bymounting a travelling IndraDhwaja, calledjaat. As the Indra cult travelled south, Indraor ShakraDhwaja began to surface in talesthere.TheHarivanshPuranareportsthatinthe

Dvapara Yuga, a new dark-skinned herocalled Krishna challenged fair-skinnedIndra’s hegemony. Brought up amongcowherds, Krishnahada spectacular tusslewithIndrathatnearlywipedoutthelatter’sfollowing. ThepowerwasKrishna’s, as alsotheIndraDhwaj.Heallowedthetraditionofcollectivemerry-making around the IndraDhwajbycommonpeople andartists of allkinds.Why?Becauseallleadersneeddrama.When they go towar or undertake a tour,they like to beheralded by the blowing ofconchesandflutes,drumsandrowsofmenandwomen in colourful attire dancing tomusic. BharataMuni’sNatyashastrahadbynoweffortlessly linked the royal yatras allover the landwithmusic, dance, drinkingand theatre. Indra or no Indra, themulti-colouredIndraDhwajabecamethemotherlodeofallsortsofcreativityonceagain.BythetimetheMuslimsrodein,theIndra

Dhwajawasthrivingandthecommonfolkswerehappytomount itasthecentralpointat each city festival. The erectionof Shiva’syashti and Indra’s colourful pennants her-alded all sorts of celebrations: VasantPanchami, RangPanchami,Holi, DussehratableausofRam’slife,MaDurga’sarrivalanddepartureinBengal,NandaandSunandarid-ing through villages in Garhwal towardsMountKailash,hometotheirlordShiva.ThepoetJayasisumsuptheDhwajaand

allthejoyandcolouritusheredintothelivesofordinaryfolk in India: “Yahvasant sabkertyoharu”.Can any party’s dhwaja overtake the

IndraDhwajainthat?

Thewriterisformerchairperson,PrasarBharati

IWAS“COOLINGoff”(abureaucratictermforspendingaminimumperiod in thestateaf-teracentralposting) inRanchi inJune2006,hoping to be back in Delhi by October. Onemorning, I getacall fromtheestablishmentofficer askingme to report as Secretary ofFood and Public Distribution the next day. Iwasparachuted to the job andasked to “hitthedeckrunning”,ofashipinturbulentwa-ters. Import of wheat had begun and Indiawas trying to avoid a food crisis. Howweavoided the global food crisis of 2008 is an-other story.Whilemeasurestomanagethesituation

wereunderway,Imadeeffortstounderstandhow it came to such a pass. Figure 1 offerssome insights.Procurement in 2006-07 (April-March)

at9.23MMTwasfarbelowtherequirement(notethatthe2006-07procurementfiguresrelate to the 2005-06 crop of wheat). Thebufferstocksweredrawndownby2MMT,acardinal error in food management. Thestock position at the endof a poor procure-ment season had put the government in atight spot.What led to this situation? The central

poolhadbeencarryinglargestocksandtherewas wide criticism that these were beingheldfornogoodreasonandcostingthetax-payerhugesumsofmoney(someevensaid“tofeed”therats!).Thegovernmenthad,af-ter due consideration, decided to liquidatesomestockswiththeFCIforexport.Figure2explains thenumbers forwheat.Coincidentally,procurementhadstarted

goingdownfromahighof20.6MMTto15.8MMTin2003-04,marginallyupto16.7mmtin 2004-05 to drop again to 14.8 MMT in2005-06.Thistrendandtheresultantdeple-tionof stockswent “unnoticed”.Withtheadvantageofhindsight,onecan

drawsomeconclusions.TheexuberancethatIndiahasafoodsurplusandcanfeeditspeo-ple and “ the world” resulted in the unin-tendeddepletionofpublicstocks.Thedraw-down on public stocks without reviewingthe production and stock position everyquarter was ill-planned. Overlooking thedrop in production almost every alternateyear,particularlyin2000-01,02-03,and04-05 followedby05-06provedcostly.Not estimating the impact of climate

change (high temperatures) on production-- grain formation and grain size/weight --turnedout tobecritical.The last point above was the game-

changer. TheDepartment of Food, overcon-fident about procuring large quantities, be-lieving that the crop size estimated by theMinistry of Agriculture is above 75MMT,went about disposing of old stocks. By thetimethethirdadvanceestimatescamebyendofMay(therewerenodronesorsatelliteim-ageryinthosedays), thedamagewasdone. Idid turn to a few private sources to under-stand the impact of weather and the extentof private stocks. No official data existed onIndia’sprivately-heldstocksof grains.Thegovernmentdependedononlypro-

duction andpublic stockdata to takepolicydecisions,ignoringtheimportanceofprivatestocks in the market. The CEO of anMNCshowedmehowtheircompanytrackedtem-

perature changes in North-West India on adaily basis and came to the conclusion, us-ing changes in grain formation and grainweight, to arrive at a crop size of 68MMT.Government agencies hadmissed this im-portant part. Another CEO had drawn up atime series of a “wheat balance sheet” forIndia, based on production, export, import,procurement,consumption(NSSOdata)andprivatestocks.Hehadforeseenashortage.Athird, fromamarketagency,gavemeaccessto daily prices from across two dozenmar-kets, a “real-time” ticker onmy computerscreen.Thesewereeye-openers.The current situation looks so familiar.

Therevisedcropsizeisreportedas102mmt.No bonus overMSP this year in spite of anexpectedshortfall.Now,anexportban,afterclaims of being willing to feed the world,raises questions about the government’sconfidence in the production numbers.Whilemostexpertswerepredictingalowercrop in lateMarch, wherewas the need totalk big on exports? A case of over-confi-dencebasedonwrongdata?Whatcan Indiado toavoidsucherrors?First, set up systems to get reliable and

timely estimates of crops. The second ad-vanceestimates come inmid-Februaryandthethirdinmid/lateMay.Foodmanagementrequires a better picture by early March(same for kharif). The National CropForecasting system including “FASAL soft”will have to be reset. The much-hypedDrone-Artificial Intelligence- Blockchaintechnologiesshouldbedeployedtodoasim-ple thing: Prepare a correct estimate of the

cropwellintime,forthegovernmenttoplanandactaheadof anycrisis.Reliable price data has always been a

missing link in policy planning.Mandatoryreporting of price (not just the APMC pricedata)ofalllarge(limitscanbedefined)trans-actionsareamust.Pricemovementisanim-portantindicatorofthesupply-demandmis-match.The government should be aware of the

quantum of private stocks, preferably inanonymised,aggregatedformats.Thisneedslegal backing. A provision tomandate thesubmission of anonymised stock data fromallwarehouses shouldbeput inplace.The futuresmarket remains grossly un-

der-utilised. A vibrant futuresmarket canhelpplanbetter.Blamingthefuturesmarketfor price rise is passe. A futures marketshouldbeallowedtofunctionwithoutknee-jerk interventions fromthegovernment.A robust system (drones, satellites,

grounddata)tomonitorweatherconditionslike temperature,moisturestress, etcneedsto beput inplace immediatelywith a focuson key crops andmajor growing regions.With the expertise available in the countrytoday, algorithms can be built to assess theimpact of weather and pest events on cropsizeandquality.Thegovernmentneedsthisinformationmore thananyoneelse.It is timewewalked the talkon technol-

ogyanddata.

ThewriterwasFoodSecretaryduring2006-08andAgricultureSecretary,GovernmentofIndiaduring2008-10.Viewsarepersonal

Heavenly emblem,earthly successors

NO AMBIGUITY

THISREFERSTO the editorial, 'Caution,constitution' (IE,May18). The SupremeCourt’s interimorder on theGyanvapimosque–allowingMuslimstoofferna-maz but protecting the placewhere ashivlingwas said tohavebeen found --has notmade either side too unhappy.ButthefundamentalquestionfortheSCiswhether thePlacesofWorshipAct, of1991 should be upheld. Following theVaranasi court ruling, therearenowde-mandsonsurveyingandexaminingthereligiouscharacterofmonumentsinclud-ingMathura’s Shahi IdgahMasjid, TajMahal,QutubMinar,andJamiaMasjidatSrirangapatnainKarnataka.TheSCmustbe very clearwhile giving its Gyanvapiruling.Evenalittlereliefcaninviteotherdemands, anddisputes canmove fromcourtstothestreets,andeveryoneknowswhat that can lead to. The SCmust alsotelllowercourtstofollowthe1991Actre-ligiouslywhile hearing anypetitions infuture and that no judicial lapsewill betoleratedinthisregard.Onlythenwillthisissuecometoanend.

SanjayChopra,Mohali

LEADERSHIP ISSUETHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, 'Walkthechintan' (IE, May 17). In its three-daychintan gathering, the Congress partyagain refused to tackle the elephant inthe room— the proven incapacity of

Rahul Gandhi as its president. Gandhispentmore time in criticising the BJPthanarticulatinghisnationalvisionasabetter substitute for the ruling party’s.Instead, he kept repeating his accusa-tion that demonetisation and GST de-stroyedIndianeconomy—achargenotprovedby facts.Hemade theominousprediction that inflationwill goupbe-yond control but did not amplify howhis partywould have solved the issue.He advised his party men to spendmore time among the people but hasnotsetagoodexamplebyhisowncon-duct.AllthissuitstheBJPbutnotthena-tion,whichneedsastrongopposition.

YGChouksey,Pune

PARTISAN PETITIONTHISREFERSTOthearticle, 'Weaskthewrongquestion'(IE,May18).Thoughinamoderndemocracy,therightquestionwouldhavebeenaboutclearlydefiningthe issues regarding the conflicted ar-chitectureandwhetherthestatehasthepower to define it through legislation.ThequestioninIndiadoesn'tseemtobethis.Thenatureof thequestion ismorearound invokinghatredandconflictbyclaiming such sites, encouragemajori-tarianism. Given the 1991Act, the cur-rentclaimsareamisuseofthejudiciaryandawasteofthecourt'stime.The1991Actneedstobeupheldinletterandspirittodiscourageanti-modernvalues.

HUpadhyay,viaemail

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

THERE ISMaulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, theIttehad-e-MillatCouncilpartychiefandcleric,andthereisYatiNarsinghanandSaraswati,thepriestoftheDasnaDevitempleinGhaziabad,UttarPradesh.Unfortunately,bothhaveloud-speakerswithdecibellevelsthatnoonewantstocontrol.Razaabusestheprimeminister,bla-tantly calls for jihad and aims to provokeMuslims against Hindus. Narsinghanand,slappedonthewristwitha fewFIRs, calls forgenocide.Howmuch of a resonance they have in

their communities beyond socialmedia orWhatsAppisnotknownbutonethingisclear:Amajority in both the communities are in-vested in the futureof a safe andprosperousIndia.Peopleofbothcommunitieswanttheirchildrentostudyhardandbetreatedfairly inthe competitiveworldof educationandem-ployment. One canhope that thehate-filledwordsdon’tcarryfar.RSSchiefMohanBhagwatwasabsolutely

rightwhenhe said that you cannot imagineIndiawithout the contribution ofMuslims.And, “theday it is said thatMuslims are un-wanted here, the concept of Hindutvawillceasetobe,”hehadsaid. It’sunfortunatethattheseremarksdon’treachtherabble-rouserswhopeddlehate.It’s also unfortunate that every thinking

Indian,withaminimumsenseofcivicrespon-sibility,needstotodaydefineherpositiononis-sues likemosques, temples, hijab andazaan

while serious economic, educational, unem-ployment and social problems cry for atten-tion.Butlet’susethisoccasionasanopportu-nity to create anewsocial compact inwhicheachoneofus,whicheverGodweprayto,con-tributes to lowering tensionandblurring thecommunaldivide.For, this isacountrywhere thegreatpoet

Iqbal once said about LordRam:“Hai RamkewajoodpeHindostankonaaz/Ahlenazr sama-jhte hainus ko Imam-e-Hind!” (ThepeopleofIndia feel proud to find Ramamong them/People of vision takehimas a great spiritualleaderofIndia).Iqbal’swordsarenotfrozenintime but have to be part of a continuousprocess of assimilation. For this to happen,therehastobereformandrethinkingonbothsides.Muslimsmuststartthinkingabouttheide-

ologyofnegatingtheBJPandvowingtovoteforanyonewho is “capableof defeating theBJP.”Thishasdoneaworldofharmtothembecausethepartieswanting to “defeat theBJP” seemto be caught in a timewarp— in aworld inwhichdynasties are privileged. Therewas atime,duringthesixdecadesofCongressrule,whenitwasheld—andtheCongressisguiltyof perpetuating thismyth— that to come topowerat theCentre,youneededtheMuslimvote.Thatmythwasshattered in2014andinvirtuallyeveryelectionsincethen.Muslims know that these parties have

failedtoaddresstheirsocial,educationaland

securityproblems.Yet, thesepartiesbankedon their vote. Nowonder, the refrain of allthese parties — the Congress, SamajwadiParty, Trinamool Congress, Bahujan SamajParty, and the AIMIM— is that the RSS andBJPareouttomarginalisetheMuslims.Whydon’tthesepartieshaveMuslimsintheirtopechelons?Thecontroversyoverthehijabinafewdis-

trictsinKarnatakawassoughttobemadeintoanational issuewhen it foundno resonanceinanyotherstate.ThefearsofIndiabecomingaHindutheocraticstatearealsooverblownassecular andpeace-lovingHindus vastly out-number the bigoted, rabid fringe.When ayoungHinduman inHyderabad,BNagaraju,was murdered in full public view by theMuslimbrother of hiswifeAshreenSultana,hisonlycrimebeingthatheandhiswifewerein love, very few in the community stoodupand spokeagainst it. Even theusual suspectswhoissuepamphletsweresilent.Before the dismemberment of the

Subcontinent, theMuslimpeasant inBengalparticipated as joyously in the villageDurgaPuja as hisHinduneighbour. In Bangladesh,HinduscelebratedId.IfentireMuslimvillagesinMalaysia canwatch the Ramayana beingperformedon stage, there is no reasonwhythey cannot do the same in India or includeHindusintheirtaziaprocessionsandKarbalaenactments.MeenaKumari,Nargis,WaheedaRehman

andMumtaz played the role of the devotedHinduwifewith sindoor on their foreheads.What about bhajans sung inMohammedRafi’s sonorous voice? Shouldweban theserecordings?Shouldwestopseeingfilmsstar-ringDilip Kumar or Aamir Khan or SalmanKhan?After namazwhenMuslims steppedout of mosques, in almost all walled cityneighbourhoods across India, one could ob-serveHindumenandwomenstandingwiththeir sick children to be blessed. Amaulvisahib used towake up a panditji to ring thetemplebells inthemorning.SirSyedAhmadKhanoncepaidafittingtributetoIndia'scom-posite culturebydescribing the countryas abeautiful bridewith twobewitching eyes—HindusandMuslims.Sufisaints likeSheikhMuinuddinChishti,

Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, KhwajaQutubuddinBakhtiyarKakiandotherpirslikeHajiMalanginMaharashtraarereveredbyallIndiansirrespectiveof theirfaith.ThespiritofassimilationisIndia'strumpcard;itcanmakethe country a beaconof hope for theworld.Urdupoet,AfzalManglorihaslaidoutthegoalaptly: “Koi mushkil nahin hei Hindu yaMusalmaanhona/Haan badi baat hai is daurmein insaanhona (It'snofeattobeaHinduorMuslim/Whatmatters today is to be a goodhuman).

TheauthorisformerVice-Chancellor,MaulanaAzadNationalUrduUniversity

Nation’s trump card

Another time, another crisisIn2006, likenow, India facedawheatcrisis. The lessons fromthat timeareyet tobe implemented

TNandaKumar

Firoz BakhtAhmed

India’ssyncreticismenduresdespitefringeelementsamongstHindus,Muslims

Onceasymbolofdivinepowerthatbroughtjoyintoordinarypeoples’ lives,howtheroleof the

flagchangedinmodernIndia

FIGURE 1 FIGURE2

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

■Procurement-mmt (million tons)■FCIStockon1April-mmt

■ReleasefromFCIstocksforexport-mmt (million tons)■Exportofwheat-mmt

14.78

4.062.0

4.7 5.8

13.429.23

11.12

22.6825.38

2.14

0.8 2.65 3.67 4.09

2.003.79 7.39

7.17

0.8

Mrinal Pande

INGOOD FAITH

§

CR Sasikumar

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK10 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022

No.F.2/4100/2020/ESTT/IHBAS/5771 Dated: 18/5/22

CORRIGENDUM1. Corrigendum is hereby being issued against the

Advertisement No. Advt. No.6/2022/Estt/IHBAS - /4786dated 07.05.2022 for filling up the Faculty post in IHBAS:-

i. Associate Professor (Psychiatry), number of posts (at SI. No.18) may be read as 06 (UR:02; ST:01; OBC:03) in place of 08(UR:03; ST:01; OBC:04).

ii. Associate Professor (Neurology), number of posts (at SI. No.19) may be read as 02 (UR: 01; OBC:01) in place of 03(UR:02; OBC:01).

2. All other terms and conditions will remain unchanged.(For complete details please visit our websitewww.ihbas.delhi.govt.nic.in)

Sd/-(Prof. (Dr.) Rajnder K. Dhamija)

DirectorMENTAL ILLNESSES ARE TREATABLE

Dip/shabdarth/0098/22-23

INSTITUTE OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR &ALLIED SCIENCES (IHBAS)

Hospital based autonomous academic Institute, underGovernment of National Capital Territory of Delhi, dealing with

“Brain - Mind Problems & Their Solutions”Dilshad Garden, Delhi 110095 (India)

Tel.: 22112136 Fax: 22599227, E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ihbas.delhigovt.nic.in

GOVERNMENT OF ASSAMOFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER:: PWD BUILDING::

ASSAM::GUWAHATI-3.No. CE/TECH-V/08/2022/10

PRESS NOTICEThe Chief Engineer, PWD (Building), Assam, on behalf of the Governor of Assam, invites bids fromeligible contractors/ Firms having requisite experience in similar nature of works for the following work.Details of the bid may be seen at e-procurement portal website i.e. www.assamtenders.gov.in

The Bidders must be enrolled in www.assamtenders.gov.inN.B.Value of work may vary according to the detail NIT.

All terms and conditions will be as per the Bidding Documents.The Press Notice will be a part of the Bidding Documents.

Sd/-Chief Engineer, PWD (Bldg.)

Janasanyog/C/2622/22 Assam, Guwahati-3.

SI.No.

Name of Work Approx. Value(in Rs)

Bid security(2 % for General and

1 % for Reservedcategory)

Cost ofDocument

(in Rs)

Completionperiod

1 Construction of JudicialCourt Building at Gohpur,Sonitpur District, Assam(G+1) with futureprovision (G+3)”

Rs.19,91,12,081.00

Rs. 39,82,242.00 (forGeneral category)

orRs. 19,91,121.00 (forreserved category)

12,500.00 24 (twentyfour) Month

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BANGALORE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

T. Chowdaiah Road, Kumara Park West, Bangalore - 560 020

No.BDA/EM/EE/ID/Tender/PRR-70/2022-23 Date:18.05.2022

CORRIGENDUMTender Notification issued for the Development of 8 Lane

Peripheral Ring Road with service road to Bengaluru City for

approx length of 74 Km vide No.BDA/EM/EE/ID/Tender/PRR-

30/2022-23 dated:18.04.2022 has been revised on request

of bidders in pre-bid queries meeting held on 28.04.2022.

The revised dates are as follows: (1) Authority response to

queries latest by: 1st June 2022 (2) Bid Due date:

9th June 2022 (up to 16:00 Hrs IST) (3) Physical submission

of Bid Security/Power of Attorney etc.: 10th June 2022

(up to 17:00 Hrs) (4) Opening of Technical Bids at venue

provided in Clause 2.11.4: 13th June 2022 at 11:00 Hrs IST

Sd/- Engineer Member, BDA, Bengaluru

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEERPUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, CIRCLE NO-1 RAIPUR (C.G.)

Contractors, Registered appropriate class in Unified Registration System[e- Registration] invited Online tenders for the following works :-

Last date of tender Download Date up to 28.05.2022 Time 17:30 PM• Note :- All eligible/interested contractors are mandated to get enrolled

on the e-Procurement portal (https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) in orderto download the tender documents and participate in the subsequentbidding process. Sd/-

Superintending Engineer91221 P.W.D. Raipur Circle No-1, Raipur (C.G.)

Tender Notice (2nd Call)

NIT No./System

Tender No.1

266/99418

Probableamount ofcontract

3Rs. 183.83

Lakh

Name of Work

2INTERIOR WORK FOR THE OFFICE OF

RESIDENT COMMISSIONER AT (7TH & 8THFLOOR) EAST KIDWAI NAGAR, NEW DELHI

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in9722/HRY

SR.No.

1

NAME OFBOARD/

CORP./AUTH

MUNICIPALCOMMITTEE

PATAUDI

NAME OF WORK NOTICE TENDER

CONSTRUCTION OF STREETS FROMH/O SURAT TO H/O DHARAMBIR ANDH/O DR. SUMER TO H/O RAJBIR AND

H/O SURESH TO H/O SATISH INFRONT OF US SCHOOL WARD NO 01

AND CONSTRUCTION OF STREETFROM H/O JOTRAM TO H/O DEVI RANIWARD NO. 02 MC PATAUDI+7 OTHER

WORKS

AMOUNT/EMD (APPROX.)

IN RUPEES

EMD

68725/-

OPENING DATECLOSING DATE

TIME

17.05.202226.05.2022

WEBSITE OF THEBOARD

CORP./AUTH

https://etenders.hry.nic.in

NODALOFFICER/CONTACT

DETAILS/EMAIL

0124-2672869secymcpataudi@

gmail.com


SR.No.

1

2

NAME OFBOARD/

CORP./AUTH

MUNICIPALCORPORATION,

ROHTAK

MUNICIPALCORPORATION,

ROHTAK


LAYING OF SEWER LINE & CONST.

OF STREET IN BABRA MOHLLA

WARD NO- 04 ROHTAK.

PROVIDING AND MARKING THER-

MOPLASTIC ROAD MARKING

PAINT IN MUNICIPAL CORPORA-

TION, ROHTAK AREA


IN RUPEES

1.65 LACS

12 LACS


TIME

17.05.202227.05.2022

18.05.202230.05.2022

WEBSITE OFTHE BOARDCORP./AUTH

www.etenders.hry.nic.in

www.etenders.hry.nic.in


DETAILS/EMAIL

[email protected]

[email protected]


SR.No.

1

NAME OFBOARD/

CORP./AUTH

HAFED

PANCHKULA


HAFED INVITED SHORT TERM E-TEN-DERS/ E-AUCTIONS FOR PURCHASEOF APPROX. 400 MT KACHCHI GHANIMUSTARD OIL (LOOSE) AND APPROX.200 MT SOYABEAN REFINED OIL FORHAFED OIL MILL, REWARI AND NAR-NAUL. THE DETAILS ARE AVAILABLEON HTTPS://ETENDERS.HRY.NIC.IN

AND WWW.HAFED.GOV.IN


IN RUPEES

4 LACS


TIME

17.05.202225.05.2022

WEBSITE OF THEBOARD

CORP./AUTH

www.hafed.gov.in


DETAILS/EMAIL

0172)[email protected]


SR.No.

1

NAME OFBOARD/

CORP./AUTH

HSVP

SONIPAT


ANNUAL MAINTENANCE OF SEW-ERAGE SCHEME IN SECTOR - 23,U/E, SONIPAT "REPLACEMENT OFDAMAGED SW PIPE WITH 250MM

& 350 MM I/D HDPE PIPE ANDCONSTRUCTION OF MANHOLEOF SIZE 5' X 3' AND ALL OTHER

WORKS CONTINGENT THERETO"


IN RUPEES

25500/-


TIME

18.05.202223.05.2022

WEBSITE OF THEBOARD

CORP./AUTH

https://etenders.hry.nic.in


DETAILS/EMAIL

[email protected]

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESRINAGAR,MAY18

AFTER NEARLY a week of protests by members of theKashmiri Pandit community, Kashmir DivisionalCommissionerKPandurangPoleonWednesdaysaidhehaspasseddirectionstoallheadsofgovernmentdepartmentstoensurethatemployeesfromthecommunityarenotpostedin“vulnerableareas”butintownsordistrictheadquarters.Anywritten order to this effect, however, is yet to be

passed.Members of theKashmiri Pandit communityhavebeenprotestingsincetheMay12killingofagovernmentem-ployee,RahulBhat,bysuspectedmilitantsinthetehsilofficeof Chadoora inBudgamdistrict. EmployeesworkingunderthePM’spackageinKashmirhaverefusedtoreturntoworksincethekillingandaredemandingpostingstosaferareas.“I held a meeting today and passed directions to all

chief engineers, directors, HoDs that they (KashmiriPanditemployees)shouldbegivenduties intownsordis-trict headquarters. So that they are not in vulnerable ar-eas, their traveldistancecanbereducedandthatasenseof security canbe instilled,” Pole said.“All employees have toworkwithin a code and com-

petence.Asfarasallservice-relatedmattersareconcerned,whether it is issuesof theirpostings, promotionsor com-pletingconstructionofaccommodationsassoonaspossi-ble, thosearebeing resolvedat theearliest,”hesaid.Residents of the government colony at Sheikhpora,

Budgam,whichhouses employeesworkingunder thePMpackage,continuedtheirprotestsagainsttheadministration.OnWednesday,afteracandlelightvigilfortheBhat,employ-eesblockedtheairportroadforatleast20minutes.On Sunday, members of the mainsteam coalition

People’sAllianceforGupkarDeclarationhadmetLGManojSinha,seekinga“safeandsecureworkingenvironmentforthe [Kashmiri] Pandit employees.”Members of the stateunitof theBJPhadalsometSinha,urginghimtoconsiderthedemandsof theKashmiriPandit community.

Jammu: The pilgrimage to theVaishno Devi shrine in Jammuand Kashmir was suspendedWednesday from the newTarakote and Himkoti Margroutes followinga forest fire.Shrine Board Chief ExecutiveAnshulGargsaid the firestartedTuesday evening and the deci-sion to suspend theyatraon thenewtrackswasaprecaution.ENS

Remark on Kashitemple: Lucknowprof assaulted

Lucknow: AnassociateprofessoroftheLucknowUniversity(LU)wasal-legedly assaulted by a student onthecampusonWednesday,daysaf-ter an FIRwas lodged against theprofessor,RaviKant, forhisremarks

ontheKashiVishwanathtemple.Karthik Pandey, a postgraduate

student of Sanskrit, has been ar-restedforbreachofpeace.WhiletheLucknowuniversityadministrationsuspended Pandey and formed a

committeetoprobethematter, theSamajwadiPartysaidthatithasex-pelled Pandey from the party.PandeywasamemberofSPChhatraSabha’sLucknowUniversityunit.KantsaidthatWednesday'sas-

sault on himwas in continuationwith theMay10 incident. “Today, Iwas going to take classes whenKarthikPandeycameinfrontofmeand startedhurling abuses andat-tackedme. He alsomade casteist

remarks,” said Kant. Later, policetookPandey incustody.AnFIRhasbeen filed against Pandey andunidentified students under vari-ousIPCsections.PolicealsoinvokedSC/STActagainst theaccused.

Kashmiri Panditswon’t be postedin sensitive areas:top Valley official

VAISHNODEVIYATRAONNEWROUTESSUSPENDED

New Delhi

TELLINGNUMBERS

SCIENTISTS HAVE long assumed thatSoutheast Asia was once home toDenisovans,whowere ancient cousins ofmodern humans and Neanderthals, butabout whom not very much is known.Evidenceoftheirpresenceintheregionwas,however,sofarlimitedtotracesof DNA found in indigenousgroups.Now, the first physicalevidence has emerged andbeenverified:achild'swisdomtoothandafinger,discoveredina cave in Laos. Scientists haveconcluded that it likely be-longed to a girl, andwas de-posited in the cave 13,000 to16,000yearsago.Their findings have been

published in NatureCommunications.WHOWEREDENISOVANS:Theywere

homininswholivedacrosspartsofAsialakhsof years ago, who coexisted withNeanderthals andwho interbredwithearlymodernhumans.Butfossilfindingshavebeenrare. A fragment of a finger bone and twoteeth,datingbacktoabout40,000yearsago,

werefoundintheDenisovanCaveinSiberiaanddescribedinapaperin2010.Anotherfos-silwasfoundontheTibetanplateauin2019.Thesehavebeentoosmall adataset tode-riveanymeaningfulcomparisons.“UntilwefindmoreDenisovanmaterial, we cannot

begin to understand their fullgenomeinthewaythatwecanstudy Neanderthals,” theSmithsonian Institute said in apostonitswebsiteinDecember2020.THE DISCOVERY: The

child’s toothwas found in2018insideCobraCave in Laos, amidremains of animals. Using vari-ous techniques for dating andmeasurements,scientistsfoundthat the tooth, amolar, closely

matchedlowermolarsfoundinTibet.Apro-teinanalysisindicatedthatitcamefromthesamegenusashumans,Homo.PAPER: Demeter et al, ‘A Middle

Pleistocene Denisovan molar from theAnnamite Chain of northern Laos’,NatureCommunications.

doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29923-z


AGPERARIVALAN alias Arivu, 50, was only19whenhewasarrestedonJune11,1991.Hewas accused of having bought two 9-volt‘Golden Power’ battery cells for Sivarasan,the LTTEmanwhomasterminded the con-spiracytoassassinateRajivGandhi.Thebat-terieswereused in thebombthatkilled theformerPrimeMinisteronMay21thatyear.Perarivalanwas“setatlibertyforthwith”

onWednesdaybytheSupremeCourt,whichused its extraordinary powers “for doingcomplete justice” under Article 142 of theConstitution.Perarivalan’sreleasemarkstheculmination of the legal battle he wagedfrom his cells in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore andPuzhalCentralprisonsover threedecades.Perarivalanhadfiledapleaseekingrelease

in accordancewith the recommendationmade by the Tamil Nadu government inSeptember2018.TheGovernorsatontherec-ommendationfortwo-and-a-halfyearsbeforeforwardingittoPresidentRamNathKovindinFebruary2021,andthedelaycontinued.OnMay11,theSCcompletedthehearing

and reserved its orders.OnWednesday, thecourtruledthatitis“well-settledthatthead-vice of the State Cabinet is binding on theGovernor in the exercise of his powers (togrant pardons, reprieves, respites or remis-sions)underArticle161of theConstitution”,andthatthe“non-exerciseof thepowerun-derArticle161orinexplicabledelayinexer-cise of such power not attributable to theprisoner issubject to judicial review”. Italsosaid “the reference of the recommendationof the Tamil Nadu Cabinet by the GovernortothePresidentof Indiatwoandahalfyearsaftersuchrecommendationhadbeenmadeiswithoutanyconstitutionalbackingand isinimical to theschemeofourConstitution”.

Long legal battlePerarivalanwas sentenced todeathbya

TADA court in 1998, and the sentencewasupheld by the Supreme Court in 1999. Thesentencewas commuted to life imprison-mentbytheSupremeCourtonFebruary18,2014, along with the death sentencesawarded to other convicts in the case,MuruganandSanthan.The case in the SCwaspart of a 2015 re-

missionpleasubmittedbyPerarivalantotheTamilNaduGovernor,seekingreleaseunderArticle161oftheConstitution.HemovedtheSupremeCourtafter receivingnoresponse.

Hewas granted parole for the first timein August 2017, tomeet his ailing father, aTamilpoetandaretiredschool teacher.The parole order said that he had com-

pletedthesentencesawardedtohimforvar-ious offences for which he had been con-victed, and thathewasnowserving time inprison only under IPC Section 302 (punish-mentformurder).Theordersaiditwasopento the appropriate authority (the state gov-ernment)toconsiderthecaseof theconvict.Hearinghispleaonthedelayindeciding

his plea for remission, the SC had said inSeptember 2018 that the Governor had theright to decide onhis petition.Within days,the Tamil Nadu Cabinet, headed by thenChiefMinisterEdappadiKPalaniswami,hadrecommended the release of all seven con-victs.ButRajBhavanchose tositon it.TheGovernorfacedstrongremarksfrom

theMadrasHighCourt in July2020. TheHCreminded him that no time limit had beenprescribed for the constitutional authority(Governor)todecideonsuchissuesonly“be-cause of the faith and trust attached to theconstitutional post”. The court added that“…Ifsuchauthorityfailstotakeadecisioninareasonabletime,thenthecourtwillbecon-strained to interfere.”InJanuary2021,theSCtooexpresseddis-

pleasure on the delay on the part of theGovernor,andwarnedthatthecourtmaybeforced to take a decision. The governmentcounsel promised a decisionwould not bedelayedfurther.Buttakingeveryonebysur-prise,theGovernor’sofficeforwardedthefile

toRashtrapatiBhavan inFebruary2021.Senior jurists described the Governor’s

actionas“illegal”,andtheSCraisedquestionson themove inmultiplehearingsafter that.But the matter continued to lie withRashtrapatiBhavan.In themeantime, the state government

granted parole to Perarivalan onMay 19,2021.Hisparolewassubsequentlyextendedon “health grounds”. The Supreme Courtgrantedhimbail onMarch9,2022.

Charges against him“...Moreover, I bought two9 volt battery

cells (Golden Power) and gave them toSivarasan. He used only these tomake thebombexplode,”saidPerarivalan’sconfessionstatement taken under Section 15(1) ofTADA.While the TADA court used the con-fession to establish his linkwith the assas-sinsandhisknowledgeandroleintheassas-sination, in multiple pleas before theGovernor,Presidentandthecourtssincehisconviction in1999, Perarivalanconsistentlyclaimed innocence.GivinglegitimacytoPerarivalan’sclaims,

anIPSofficernamedVThiagarajanrevealedin2013thathehad, infact,alteredthestate-mentthatwastakenfromPerarivalanwhilehewasincustody.ThiagarajanrevealedthatPerarivalan had admitted to having pur-chasedthebatteries,buthedidnotknowthepurpose forwhich theywouldbeused.“As an investigator, it put me in a

dilemma.Itwouldn’thavequalifiedasacon-fession statementwithout his admission of

beingpartof theconspiracy.ThereIomittedapart of his statement andaddedmy inter-pretation,”Thiagarajansaid.Four witnesses were examined by the

TADAcourt regarding thebattery to corrob-oratePerarivalan’sconfession.Threeofthesewitnesseswereforensicexpertswhogaveex-pert opinions on the battery and the bomb;the fourth was an employee of a shop inChennaithatclaimedtohavesoldthebattery.In a 2017 interview with The Indian

Express, JusticeKTThomas,whoheadedtheSCBenchthatawardedthe finalorder in theRajiv Gandhi assassination case, saidPerarivalan’scasehadbroughttotheforean-otheraspectthatgeneratedintensedebate—using the confession of one accused againstanother. “Under the conventional EvidenceAct, a confession can be used only as a cor-roborative piece of evidence. But the twootherjudgesonmyBenchdidnotagree,theyinsisted thatweshoulduse it as substantiveevidence. To prevent the laying of such awrong law, I calledthemtomyhomewherewehad several roundsof debates inwhich Itriedtoconvincethem.Butthemajorityviewin the judgment considered the confessionstatement as substantive evidence as itwasunder TADA (Terrorist and DisruptiveActivities(Prevention)Act).Later,manysen-ior jurists calledme to say that themajorityorder laidawronglawinthecase,”hesaid.

Support for PerarivalanAmong the factors that sustained

Perarivalan’slongbattlewasthedetermina-tion and commitment of his mother,ArputhamAmmal,whoemergedasthefaceofananti-deathpenaltymovement,andthesympathy and empathy that he receivedfrompeople fromallwalksof life.“Hissoulisprecious,hisvaluesnoble,his

jail lifehasnotmadehimacriminal,”wrotethe former SC judge, the late Justice V RKrishna Iyer, in 2006. He was in constanttouchwithPerarivalanuntilhisdeath.JusticeThomas,whohadraisedtheques-

tionof ‘double jeopardy’ in2013 inthecase,which led to the SC order commuting thedeath sentences of three convicts in 2014,had pleaded with Sonia Gandhi to showmagnanimity,andcalledtheGovernor’sde-cisiontopass thebuckto thePresident“un-heardandunconstitutional".He cited the central government’s deci-

sionin1964tosetfreeGopalGodse,brotherofNathuramGodse,whowaschargedwithconspiracy in theMahatmaGandhiassassi-nationcaseafter14yearsof imprisonment.

11WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

MAULSHREESETHLUCKNOW,MAY18

ATWEETbyUttarPradeshChiefMinisterYogiAdityanath welcoming Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to Lucknow, “the city ofLaxman”, onMay16has triggered fresh re-portsofapossiblechangeofthenameofthestatecapitalto“Laxmanpuri”.“Sheshavatar Bhagwan Shri Laxman ji ki

paawannagari Lucknowmeinaapkahaardikswaagatwaabhinandan(Youarewelcomeinthe sacred city of Lord Laxman, Lucknow),”he tweeted alongwith apicture of himselfandGovernorAnandibenPatelwithModi.While there is noofficial proposal yet to

changethename,theChiefMinister’s tweetcame threedays after theMayor of the cityspoke about the Lucknow MunicipalCorporation’splantoerecta151-footstatueofLaxman on the bank of the Gomti. BothMayorSanyuktaBhatiaandBJPleadershave

said Lucknow’s ancient connectionwithLaxmanmustbere-established.While the city's namehas longbeenas-

sociatedwithLaxmaninthepopular imagi-nation,speculationaboutitspossiblerenam-inggainedgroundafterthelateBJPleaderLaljiTandonwrote a book,Ankaha Lucknow, in2018, inwhichhe lamented the loss of thecity’s connectionwith the brother of LordRam.Over theyears, Lucknow’s “Laxmankatila”hadbeenforgotten,Tandonwrote—andtheonlyremainingassociationwiththehis-toric tila (mound)wastheTilewalimasjid,amosquebuilt by aMughal governorduringthereignofAurangzeb.Followingthepublicationofthebook,BJP

corporatorsintheNagarNigamfloatedapro-posaltobuildastatueofLaxmanneartheTilewalimasjid. Soon afterward, veteran BJPleader Kalraj Mishra, now Governor ofRajasthan,saidtherewasnoharminchang-ing thenameof Lucknow to Laxmanpuri ifeveryoneagreed.

Tandon'sbookTwoof the chapters inAnkaha Lucknow,

launched by Vice President M VenkaiahNaiduinMay2018,aretitled‘LaxmanTila’and‘Virasat ke saath chher-chhar’ (Messingwithheritage). Tandonwrote, “Purana LucknowLaxman Tile ke aas paas basaa tha. ChaaheMughalkaalho,Aurangzebkesamayekmasjid

kanirmaanho,MohammedAliShahkamazaarho, Naubat Khana ho, Itra Bagh ho, AlvidaGround ho, chaahe angrezon ka kaal ho,Nawabikaalho,aazaadikekuchhdashakbaadho... LaxmanTila hamesha LaxmanTila raha.AbLaxmanTilakanaampooritarahmitaadiyagayahai aur yeh sthanaaj Tilewalimasjid kenaamsejaanajarahahai. (OldLucknowwassettledaroundLaxmanTila.Duringthetimeof theMughals, theNawabs, theBritish,anduntila fewdecadesafter Independence; theconstructionof themosque inAurangzeb’sreign,mazaar of Ali Shah, Naubat Khana,Alvida Ground, Itra Bagh, Laxman Tila re-mainedLaxmanTila. But now its namehasbeen removed, and that place is knownbythenameofTilewalimasjid.)”Thenameof the city had changed from

“LaxmawatitoLaxmanpurtoLakhnawatitofinally Lucknow”, hewrote.He said the cityhad been given to Laxman by Ram, andAurangzebhadbuilt theTilewalimasjidonthemound of the ancient settlement. The

moundshouldbeexploredforarchaeologicalremains,Tandonsaid.

StatuedemandIn June 2018, BJP corporators Rajnish

GuptaandRamKrishnaYadavbroughtapro-posal before themunicipal board to erect astatueofLaxmannearthesiteof theancientLaxman ka tila. This faced opposition fromnon-BJPpartiesandMuslimclerics.Abudgetallocationwasmade, but theproposalwasputoniceafterthepandemicstruckin2020.“Weopposed theproposal saying there

wasalreadyastatueofLaxmanbytheGomti,whichwasnotmaintainedwell,sowhatwastheneedforanotherstatue?WealsosaidthatsanatanHindudharmadoesnotspeakaboutinstalling statues of gods by the roadside,where they cannot beproperly respected,”saidCongress spokespersonMukeshSinghChauhan,whowasacorporatoratthetime.MayorBhatia has announceda151-foot

statueofLaxmanwouldbebuiltatJhulewala

VatikanearHanumanTemple.Theproposalhas been sent to the government, and abudgetofRs15croresetaside,shesaid.ShetoldTheIndianExpressthatLucknow

was originally called Laxmanpuri, and theproposedstatuewouldbeaprernasthalandagatewaytoAyodhyapuri,thecityofRam.Amuseumwouldtell thecominggenerationsaboutLaxman’scontributions,shesaid.

Historian’s viewIn his book Purana Lucknow, historian

AbdulHalimShararwrotethatwhilenooneknowsforsurewhoestablishedthecityandhowitgotitsname,basedoncertainfindingsandancient folklore, it canbesurmisedthatafterLordRamreturnedfromexile,thislandwasgiventohisbrotherLaxman.Ahamletwas established around a tila,

whichcametobeknownasLaxmanpur,andthetilabecamepopularasLaxmanTila,Shararwrote. Itwas believed that a cave lay con-cealedwithinthedepthsofthetila,hewrote.

Perarivalan’s road to freedomSIMPLYPUT

ThreedecadesafterhisarrestintheRajivGandhiassassinationcase,AGPerarivalanhasbeensetfreebytheSupremeCourt.Alookatthechargeshefaced,thecommutationofhisdeathsentence,andhislegalbattle.

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,MAY18

DEFENCE MINISTER Rajnath Singh onTuesdaylaunchedtwotypesofsurfaceships,whichwillbeinductedintotheNavylater.Hesaidthesewillbeamongthemosttechnolog-icallyadvancedmissilecarriers intheworld.THESHIPS:SuratandUdaygiri,bothfront-

line vessels,will go through sea trials beforetheycanbecommissionedintotheNavy,withthe prefix INS. Both are designed by theDirectorateofNavalDesign.Surat is a VisakhapatnamClass guided-

missiledestroyer,withthecapabilityofattack.UdaygiriisaNilgiriClassfrigate,whichareusu-allyfasterandmoremanoeuvrable.SuratisthefourthshipbuiltinIndiaunder

Project15B—after INSVisakhapatnam,deliv-eredtotheNavyinOctober2021;Mormugao,undergoingseatrials;and Imphal,nowinad-vanced stages of outfitting and trials of vari-ousauxiliaryequipment.Udaygiri is the second warship under

Project17AofNilgiriClass frigates, followingINSNilgiri launchedinSeptember2019.

CURRENT FLEET: The Navy’s presentfleet includesmore than130 ships and sub-marinesandover230aircraft.Surface ships, the largest section, include

corvettes, frigates, destroyers; amphibiouswarfarevessels, landingshiptanksetc.Theaviationsectionincludesmorethan

tenNaval Air Squadrons, flying aircraft andhelicopters including MiG29K, Dorniers,surveillance and anti-submarine-capableP-8I,Chetak,Dhruv,Seaking42BandKamovhelicopters.

In underwater capacity, theNavyhas16conventional diesel-electric submarines,classified as SSKs, with twomore KalvariClass subs launched but yet to be commis-sioned. Two nuclear ballistic submarines,classified as SSBN, are under the StrategicForcesCommand.IN THEWORKS: At the moment, 39

shipsandsubmarinesarebeingbuilt fortheNavy, including 37 at various Indian ship-yards, as per the Parliamentary StandingCommittee’s report submitted inMarch. Inaddition,theNavyhasgottheAcceptanceofNecessity(AoN)fromthegovernmentfor43shipsand111NavalUtilityHelicopters tobebuilt indigenously.Since1960,130warshipsandsubmarines

havebeenmadeinIndia.Thefirstindigenousaircraftcarrier,Vikrant,isexpectedtobecom-missionedlaterthisyear.TheNavy’sonlyair-craftcarrieratpresent,INSVikramaditya,com-missionedin2013, isonleasefromRussia.IMPORTANCEOFMODERNISATION:

While theNavyhasalwayshada significantrole, its importance is bound to grow in thecoming years because of its dependence onthe IndianOcean for its international trade,

andbecauseofthemodernisationofPeople’sLiberationArmyNavy(PLAN)byChina.According to a report by the US

Department of Defense inNovember, Chinahas“numericallythelargestnavyintheworldwithanoverallbattle forceof approximately355shipsandsubmarines,includingapprox-imatelymorethan145majorsurfacecombat-ants”. It saidChina is alsoenhancing its anti-submarine warfare capabilities andcompetencies to protect the PLAN’s aircraftcarriersandballisticmissilesubmarines.In comparison, asmentioned, the Indian

Navyhasjustover130shipsandsubmarines.AsChina increases its presence in the IndianOcean,bothmilitaryandcivil,thiswillbringitinthedirectthreatperceptionfor India.TheNavy’sroleisalsosettogrowasitproj-

ectsitselfasapreferredsecuritypartnerintheIndianOceanRegionforcountriessuchastheUS,Japan,Australia,France,etc,mostofwhicharewaryofChina’sincreasingglobalfootprint.Thenaviesofthesecountriesconductregularjointexercisestoincreaseinteroperability.

LONGERVERSIONONwww.indianexpress.com

@ieExplained#ExpressExplainedIf there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould likeexplained, pleasewrite to [email protected]

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

E EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022

MORE SONS OR MORE DAUGHTERS?

All India 15.40% 3.40% 16% 4.10%Bihar 31.30% 1.90% 22% 2.80%UttarPradesh 23.10% 1.90% 22.40% 3%Jharkhand 24.30% 2.10% 16.40% 2%Rajasthan 15.60% 1.70% 15.90% 2.10%Meghalaya 15.40% 21.20% 18.40% 11.60%

MORESONSTHANDAUGHTERS

MOREDAUGHTERSTHANSONS

MORESONSTHANDAUGHTERS

MOREDAUGHTERSTHANSONS

WOMENWHOPREFER... MENWHOPREFER...

THELATESTNationalFamilyHealthSurvey(NFHS-5)reconfirmsthatalargenumberofIndianshaveapreferenceforsons.Thepro-portion of marriedmenwhowantmoresons thandaughters (16%) is four times theproportionwhowantmoredaughters(4%).Amongwomen,theformerpreference(15%)is5timesmoreprevalent(seetable).MEGHALAYAOUTLIER: The only ex-

ception is women inMeghalaya, amongwhom the preference formore daughtersthan sons (21%) ismoreprevalent than thepreference for more sons (16%). AmongMeghalaya’smen, 11%prefermore daugh-ters, thehighestformeninanystate,butanever higher proportion (18%) prefermoresons,matchingthetrendinotherstates.“Weareamatrilinealsociety,”Shillong-

basedsocialactivistAngelaRangadsaid,ex-plainingMeghalayawomen’s preference.Butwhatexplainsthemen’spreferencefordaughters? “Because,” she said, “in theirviewof things, thethingsthatmatter, lead-ingthedurbars,it'sallaboutmen—andtheyare also very patriarchal. In fact, there is awholesectionofmenwhothinkthatwearebeingheldbackbecausewearematrilineal.”PatriciaMukhim, Editor of The Shillong

Times,raisedquestionsaboutvariousaspectsof the survey. She noted that it refers toMeghalaya as a “matriarchal society”.

“Meghalayaisamatrilinealsocietywhereadeeperstudyongenderequalityandequitywill revealagenderbias intraditional insti-tutions,wherewomen are not allowed toholdoffice.Onlylineageisfromthemother’sclan line. Andwomen are perpetuators ofthe clan.Which alsomeans that when awomanisabandonedbythehusband/part-ner, the responsibility of looking after thechildren are solely hers. So definingMeghalaya society asmatriarchal couldmeanthatthesurveyitselfisfaulty,”shesaid.IDEALFAMILY:Askedabout their idea

of an ideal family,men andwomenwouldbothwanttohaveanaverageof2.1children—1.0sons,0.9daughters,and0.2childrenofeithersex.Thatsaid,79%ofwomenand76%ofmenwantat leastonedaughter.THIRDCHILDORNOT:Amarriedper-

sonwithatleastonesonislesslikelytowantmorechildrenthananothermarriedpersonwhosechildrendonotincludeason.Forex-ample,amongthosewhosetwochildrenin-cludedatleastoneson,9in10didnotwanta thirdchild. Incontrast, amongthosewithtwo children but no sons, only two-thirdssaidtheydidnotwantanymorechildren.

KABIRFIRAQUE

LONGERVERSIONONwww.indianexpress.com

Why Meghalaya women (not men)prefer more daughters than sons

What a child’s tooth tells usabout humans’ ancient cousins

Perarivalanwithhis fatherandsister in Jolarpet,TamilNadu onWednesday. PTI

UdaygiriandSurat, launchedatMazgaonDocksLtdonTuesday. PTI

Tilewalimasjidnowstandsat thesiteofwhat isbelievedtohavebeenanancientsettlement.Vishal Srivastav/Archive

Twonewships andamodernising IndianNavy

Source:NFHS-5

Originmyth and history of the nameof Lucknow, the ‘city of Laxman’

New Delhi


THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ANYFILMwhichhas a charac-ter say “this is so boring”, runsthe risk of everyone in the au-dience instantly turning it intoametadescriptor ofwhat theyarewatching. Especially, if it isin anopening filmof a top filmfestival likeCannes,whichhadhad a similar opener in 2019 (

Jim Jarmusch’s “The DeadDon’t Die”).“Coupez!”(FinalCut),Michel

Hazanavicius’sremakeof theri-otous Japanese zom com “OneCut Of The Dead” ( 2017),adornedbymanymoreof thesezingers, runs the risk of beingdubbed an also-ran. But, itscrapes past its first thirtymin-utes, which are bad and reveal-ing its true shambolic colours.But, and this the problem, ittakesa long timegetting there.The thing with zombie

comedies is that there are onlysomanywaysyoucansliceanddicethem.Withhisready-madematerial, andnothaving to castabout for the right tone (“OneCut Of The Dead’ was fast, furi-ous and ferociously funny),

Hazanavicius,whowontheBestDirector Oscar for ‘The Artist’,shouldn’t have taken that longtohithisstride.Whatwegetisabunchof headless chickens—ahysterical director yelling at anactor having trouble deliveringthe right emotion, a KravMagaexpert (Hazanavicius regularBereniceBejo),whodoublesupas a make-up artist, and someothers running around in ran-dom circles — shooting a low-budget flick, being attacked byzombies.Looks like a perfect schtick

for the celebration of badmovies, a genre that can yieldriches in the righthands.And inastrangesortofway,azomcom,even if it comes too soon after2019, must have felt like a per-

fect opening film —what elsehave we been, but zombies inthelastcoupleyears,buffetedby

the pandemic. But questionsarise.Why do these characters,clearly French, have Japanese

names?Whyisprojectilevomitstill meant to induce laughter?Ditto for tummies which run:there’s literally a guy leakingfromhisnetherendonscreenforaconsiderable lengthof time. Inthebestpartofthefilm,thechar-acters who do not have muckpainted on their faces, or axesstickingoutof their forehead,orbuckets of redpaint runningofftheir clothes, come into theirown.Did Imisssomething,asksoneof thesecharacters,ashere-turns froma loobreak.Uh-huh,saysanother.Nowthat’s funny.Zelenskyy's speechOne of the highlights of the

openingceremonywasUkrainePresident VolodymyerZelenskyy’s address, beamedlivefromKyiv.Itfeltsurreal—not

so far from this strip of hot-house glitter and curated cine-matic delights in South OfFrance, is a country being rav-agedbywar.Howdoes it feel tobe operating under the shadowof such lethal conflict? It is aquestionwhichgoesfartherthanjust this 75thedition of theCannesFilmFestival.Whatisthevalueof suchaneventintoday’sworld that is strugglingwith in-creasinglevelsofpollution,foodscarcity, fundamentalism, anddeathanddisaster, bothnaturalandman-made?Theansweriswrappedinthe

question.Thebiggestconnectorof people is cinema, that mostpopular art form which hasweathered so many storms,vaulted across so many wars,

andhasemergedevenmoreim-pactful.This iswhymoviescon-tinue tobemade,and filmfesti-valssuchasthisonecontinuetobe so relevant.We need a newChaplin, declared Zelenskyy,himselfaperformer,referringtothe director and his great anti-warclassic,“TheGreatDictator”.Ofcourse,wedo,aswellasmoreinclusion,more diversity, moredifferences,asactoranddirectorRebeccaHallrightlypointedoutat the jurypressconference.And now, fittingly, I’m off to

catch “Tchaikovsky’s Wife’,screening in the Competitionsection, directed by KirrillSerebenikov, an outspokenRussian dissident. (The festivalhasplacedabanon state-spon-soredRussiandelegations).

Âcastmember,BereniceBejo,ofCoupez(FinalCut). Reuters

EXPRESSINCANNESSHUBHRAGUPTAMAY18

UKRAINE PRESIDENT REMEMBERS CHAPLIN

Glittering Cannes opens with Zelenskyy’s appeal and a slice of zom-com

ECONOMICCRISIS

Govt:Countryhasnodollars topayforpetrolshipment

Received $160 mn fromWB, says PM, looks atpossibility to buy fuel

NATO talks with Sweden,Finland falter, will continue

Nepal’s no to Ukraine request forbanning Russia in Everest event

LORNECOOKBRUSSELS,MAY18

NATO ENVOYS failed to reach aconsensusonWednesdayaboutwhether to start membershiptalkswith Finland and Sweden,diplomats said, as Turkey re-newed its objections to the twoNordiccountries joining.The envoys met at NATO

headquarters in Brussels afterFinlandandSweden’sambassa-dorssubmittedwrittenapplica-tionsto jointhemilitaryorgani-zation,inamovethatmarksone

of thebiggestgeopolitical rami-fications of Russia’s war onUkraine — and which couldrewriteEurope’s securitymap.The diplomats declined to

saywhoorwhatwasholdingupthe procedure. They pointed tothemessages frommany of the30 NATO allies welcomingFinlandandSweden’s request.Lithuanian Ambassador

DeividasMatulionistoldSwedishandFinnishmediathattheenvoyshadexchangedviewsabouttheirnationalsecurity.“Thediscussionwas about that, but it is up toTurkeytocomment,”hesaid.AP

Kathmandu: The Nepal govern-menthasturneddownarequestfromthegovernmentofUkrainenottoletRussianteamtopartic-ipate in the annual expeditionevent toMtEverest.Official sources said the

Department of Tourism thathandles the annual event re-fused to take cognisance of theletter from the Ukrainian

Embassy based in Delhi whichrequested not to allow theRussian team to participate intheeventasa tokenof condem-nationof invasionofUkraine.Nepalhasvotedinfavourofa

Resolution condemning theRussian invasion in the UNGeneralCouncil,butchosenottoobstruct Russia fromparticipat-ingintheongoingexpedition.ENS

MIKEBAKERPORTLAND,MAY18

WHILE PONDERING the bestmethodsforspousalmurder,theromancenovelistNancyBrophywrote that her career as an au-thor—withsteamystoriesofro-mance and betrayal — left herthinkingoftenaboutkillingsandhowthepoliceinvestigatethem.A spouse who commits

mariticidewill almost certainlybecomeaprimesuspect,shesaidina2011blogposttitled“HowtoMurderYourHusband.”Thewife,she said, must “be organised,ruthlessandveryclever.”“After all, if the murder is

supposed to set me free, I cer-

tainly don’t want to spend anytimeinjail,”Brophywrote.“Andletmesayclearly for the record,Idon’tlikejumpsuitsandorangeisn’tmycolour.”Seven years later, Brophy’s

husband, Daniel, was brutally

murdered,shot twice insidethekitchen of a Portland, Ore., culi-nary institutewhere hewas ar-riving forwork on a sunny Junemorning. Now, prosecutors aretrying to build a follow-the-stringcriminalcasetoprovethatBrophy, 71, killed her husbandwith the same type of brutalcunning she once speculatedwould be necessary to evadeconvictionandreaptherewards.This week, Brophy took the

stand in her own defense inMultnomah County CircuitCourt.“Hisweaknessesweremystrengths.My strengths tendedto be his weaknesses,” she toldthe jury. “Together, it just fit im-mediatelyandnever stopped.”On the morning of June 2,

2018, students arriving at theOregonCulinaryInstitutediscov-ered Brophy’sbodyonthefloorofa back kitchen. Later thatmorn-ing,afterbeingtoldtherewaspo-lice activity at the institute,Brophyarrivedon scene. Brophytestifiedthisweekthatshehadnorecollectionofbeingthereduringthe earlymorning nor of muchthat happened later, as shewasprocessing the shockof learningthatherhusbandwasdead.The defence claims that the

surveillance footage provideshints about other potential sus-pects. Prosecutors argue thatBrophyhadafinancial incentiveto kill her husband. The couplehadbeengoingthroughaperiodof financial instability. NYT

REUTERS&APWASHINGTON,MAY18

INVESTIGATORS LOOKING intothe crash of a China EasternAirlines jetareexaminingtheac-tions of the crew on the flightdeck,with no evidence foundofatechnicalmalfunction,twopeo-plebriefedonthemattersaid.Thepilotsdidnotrespondto

repeated calls from air trafficcontrollers and nearby planesduring the rapid descent, au-thoritieshavesaid.On Tuesday, theWall Street

Journal said flightdata fromoneof theblackboxesindicatedthatsomeone in the cockpit inten-tionallycrashedtheplane,citingpeoplefamiliarwiththeprelim-inaryassessmentofUSofficials.One source toldReuters that

investigators were looking atwhether the crashwasa “volun-tary”act involvingcrewinputstothecontrols,thoughthatdoesnotnecessarilymeanthedivewasin-tentional. The cockpit voicerecorderwasdamagedduringthecrashanditisunclearwhetherin-vestigators havebeenable to re-trieveanyinformationfromit.Boeing Co , themaker of the

jet, and the US NationalTransportationSafetyBoardde-clinedtocommentandreferredquestionstoChineseregulators.

The Civil AviationAdministrationofChina(CAAC),which is leading the investiga-tion, did not respond immedi-ately toa request for comment.ScreenshotsoftheWallStreet

Journal story appeared to havebeen censored both on China’sWeibosocialmediaplatformandtheWechatmessaging app onWednesday. The hashtag topics“China Eastern” and “ChinaEasternblackboxes"arebannedonWeibo,whichcitedabreachoflaws, and users are unable toshare posts on the incident inWechat groups. China saidWednesdaythatUSinvestigatorshaven’treleasedanyinformationaboutthecauseof thecrash.The Journal said the data

recorder suggests inputs to thecontrolspushedtheplaneintothefataldive.

Aqueuetobuykeroseneata fuel station inColomboonWednesday.Reuters

Ukrainiansoldiersbeingsearchedbythepro-Russianmilitary inMariupol,onWednesday.Reuters

REUTERS&PTICOLOMBO,MAY18

SRI LANKA is expected to beplaced into default by ratingagenciesonWednesdayafterthenon-paymentofcouponsontwoof its sovereignbonds,while theenergyministersaidthecountryhad runout ofmoney topay forfuel. Sri Lankahasalreadysaid itis unable to make the couponpayments, and a 30-day graceperiodendsonWednesday.Sri Lanka currently has no

dollars to pay for petrol ship-ments, Power and EnergyMinister KanchanaWijesekeratold parliament, appealing topeople to stop queuing for thenext two days. “There aren'tenoughdollarsavailabletoopenlettersofcredit,”hesaid.“Weareworkingtofindfundsbutpetrolwill not be available at least un-til theweekend. The very smallreserve stock of petrol is beingreleased for essential serviceslikeambulances,”hesaid.Theminister urged people

nottowaitinlineforfuel.“Thereisnoissuewithdiesel.But,pleasedonot stay in line forpetrol.Wehave limited stocks of petrol.”“We apologise for this. We ap-peal to the public not to remaininlineforfuelonWednesdayandThursday,"hesaid.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIACOLOMBO,MAY18

SRI LANKA has received $160millionfromtheWorldBankandislookingatthepossibilityofus-ing someof it tobuy fuel, PrimeMinisterRanilWickremesinghetoldParliamentonWednesday.Wickremesinghe added

that the country hasmissed apayment to the AsianDevelopment Bank, blockingfresh fundsamidwarnings thatthe currencycrisis-hit countrycould be locked out of multi-

lateral funding in a newblow.He said themoney received

from theWorld Bank cannot beused to buy fuel. “Weare tryingtoseeifwecanusesomeof itforfuel purchases,” he said.Wickremesinghe in his addressto the nation onMonday saidthattwomorepetrolshipmentsundertheIndiancreditlineweredue thisweekandbyMay29.His remarks came as angry

protestersblockedseveralroadshere onWednesday as part oftheprotest against ongoing fuelandgasshortagescausedbytheeconomiccrisis.

Sri Lanka to defaulton debt, nomoneyfor fuel, saysminister

Hundreds more Ukrainian fighterssurrender in Mariupol, says RussiaKyivsilenton fateofnearly1ktroops

REUTERSKYIV/MARIUPOLMAY18

RUSSIA SAID on Wednesdaynearly700moreUkrainianfight-ershadsurrenderedinMariupol,but Kyiv was silent about theirfate, while a pro-Russian sepa-ratist leader said commanderswerestillholedupintunnelsbe-neath the Azovstal steelworks.MorethanadayafterKyivan-

nouncedithadordereditsgarri-son inMariupol to stand down,theultimateoutcomeofEurope'sbloodiest battle for decades re-mained unresolved. Ukrainianofficials halted all public discus-sion of the fate of fighters whohadmadetheir last standthere.“Thestateismaking effortsto

carryouttherescueofourservice-men. Let’s wait. Currently, themost important thing is to savelives of our heroes,” militaryspokesman Oleksandr Motu-zaynik said. “Any information topubliccouldendangerthat.”Russia’sministry of defence

said 694more fighters had sur-renderedovernight,bringingthetotal numberof peoplewhohadlaiddownarmsto959.Theleaderofpro-Russianseparatistsincon-trolofthearea,DenisPushilin,wasquoted by a local news agency

DNA as saying the main com-manders were still inside theplant.“Unfortunately,thesubjectissensitiveandthereisaveryfrag-ilesetoftalksgoingontoday,”saidMariupol Mayor VadymBoichenko. He said PresidentZelenskyy, theRedCrossand theUNwereinvolvedintalks.Meanwhile, a Russian sol-

dier accused of war crimes inUkraine pleaded guilty onWednesdaytokillinganelderlyunarmed civilian.

Indian nursesdrive UK’shealth serviceforeign intakeADITIKHANNALONDON,MAY18

INDIANS ARE driving a rise inforeign nurses coming in toboost theworkforce of theUK’sNationalHealthService,accord-ing toofficial figures released inLondononWednesday.TheNursing andMidwifery

Council (NMC) data for 2021-22shows 37,815 Indian nurses onthe council’s register of thosequalified towork in the UK, upfrom28,192thepreviousyearandajumpfrom17,730fouryearsago.ThePhilippinesremainsthetop-mostsourcecountrywith41,090nurses andNigeria is thirdwith7,256nursesontheregister.“Our register is at thehighest

levelever.This isgoodnewscon-sidering all the pressures of thelasttwoyears.Butacloserlookatour data reveals somewarningsigns,”saidAndreaSutcliffe,ChiefExecutiveandRegistrarat NMC.“The total numberof people

leavingtheregisterhasrisen,af-ter a steady and welcome fallover the previous four years.Thosewholeftsharedtroublingstories about the pressurethey’ve had to bear during thepandemic. PTI

USA

DustydemiseforNASAMarslanderinJulyCape Canaveral: A NASAspacecraft on Mars isheadedforadustydemise.TheInsight lander is losingpower because of all thedust on its solar panels.NASA said Tuesday itwillkeepusingthespacecraft’sseismometer to registermarsquakes until thepowerpetersout, likely inJuly.Thenflightcontrollerswillmonitor InSight untiltheendof thisyear, beforecalling everything off.“There really hasn’t beentoomuchdoomandgloomon the team.We’re reallystill focusedonoperatingthe spacecraft,” said JetPropulsion Laboratory’sBruceBanerdt, theprinci-pal scientist. Since landingonMarsin2018,InSighthasdetectedmore than1,300marsquakes; the biggestone, a magnitude 5, oc-curredtwoweeksago.AP

TheInSightlanderislosingpower.AP file

TOPOFTHEWORLD

USA

GeorgeFloyddeath:Ex-coppleadsguiltyMinneapolis: A formerMinneapolispoliceofficerpleaded guiltyWednesday to a statechargeofaidingandabet-ting second-degreemanslaughter in thekillingofGeorgeFloyd.Aspart of the plea deal, acount of aiding and abet-ting second-degreeunin-tentionalmurder againstThomas Lanewill be dis-missed. Lane and formerOfficers J. AlexanderKuengandTouThaohavealreadybeenconvictedonfederal countsofwillfullyviolating Floyd’s rightsduring the restraint thatled tohisdeath. AP

PAKISTAN

Police:ManfromminoritygroupkilledoverfaithLahore: A 35-year-oldPakistaniman belongingto the minority Ahmadicommunity has beenstabbed todeathbya “re-ligious fanatic” over hisfaith in the country'sPunjab province, policesaid onWednesday.Theincident took place inOkara districton Tuesday.AbdulSalamwasstabbedto death by “religious fa-natic”HafizAliRaza,policesaid. “When Salamwasreturning from his farm,Raza attacked himwith aknife. Salam died on thespot,”policeadded. PTI

RUSSIAHASaccusedthebattalionofusingcivil-iansashumanshieldsandfacilities likekinder-gartensandmedicalcen-ters tostoreammunition.Amnesty InternationalsaidtheRedCrossshouldbegivenimmediateac-cess tothe fighters.American intelligenceagencieshaveassessedthat thepossibility oftalksonexchangingpris-onersofwar isnarrow.

WhatwillhappentothetroopsE●EX

PLAINED

TheplanecrashedonMarch21killing123peopleandninecrew.ReutersFile

China crash probe looksinto crew actions: Report

She wrote ‘how to murder your husband,’did she do it? Romance novelist fights case

NancyBrophyisaccusedofkillingherhusband.NYT

AFTER THREE-MONTH CLOSURE,US REOPENSKYIVEMBASSYThe US embassy in Kyiv reopened on Wednesday after a three-month clo-sure due to Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. "We are officially reopeningoperations," spokesperson Daniel Langenkamp said shortly before the USflag was raised above the embassy.

New Delhi

13SENSEX: 54,208.53 ▼ 109.94 (0.20%) NIFTY: 16,240.30 ▼ 19 (0.12%) NIKKEI: 26,911.20 ▲ 251.45 HANG SENG: 20,644.28 ▲ 41.76 FTSE: 7,502.22 ▼ 16.13 DAX: 14,154.57 ▼ 31.37

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

GOLD`50,037

RUPEE` 77.58/USD

OIL$112.21

SILVER`60,920

Note:Gold, silverratesatDelhi spotmarket,goldper10g, silverper1kg;Crudeoil (Indianbasket)asofMay17

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY18

RESERVE BANK of India (RBI)Monetary Policy Committee(MPC)Member Jayanth Varmahas said100basispoints (bps)ofrate increaseneedstobe“carriedoutverysoon”as therate-settingpanel “delayednormalisationbycontinuingthe forwardguidanceforfartoolongafterthepandemicabated”.“Thismeansthatitisnowimperative to front-load the rateaction to the extent possible,”Varmasaid,accordingtothemin-utesof theMPCmeetingheldonMay4. The panel hadhiked thereporateby40bpsto4.4percenttotamerisinginflation.“Thereisalotofcatchingupto

dobecausetheMPCrightlypriori-tised economic recovery at theheight of the pandemic in 2020

andearly2021,”Varmasaid. “Mypreferencethereforeisfora50-bpincrease in the repo rate in thismeeting.ThemajorityoftheMPCis in favourof 40bps for reasonswhicharenotverycleartome...,”“Also reducing thehikeby10

bpsnowwould require anextra10-bphikeatsomepoint(andper-haps sooner rather than later).Nevertheless, I have thought it fitnot todissenton this issueas theoptimalratehikeisnotsomethingthatcanbecalculatedwithmath-ematicalprecision...,”hesaid.Varma saidmonetarypolicy

remainsextremelyaccommoda-tivedespitethe40basispointhikeinthismeeting.As per RBIGovernor Shakti-

kantaDas,worseninginflationout-lookwarrantstimelyactiontofore-stall second roundeffectswhichcouldleadtounanchoringofinfla-tion expectations. “As severalstormshittogether,ourmonetarypolicyresponseshouldbeseenasan important step to steady theship,”hesaid.TheinflationprintforAprilwasexpectedtobefurtherel-evated,hesaid.“Hence,itbecomesnecessarytoactthroughanoff-cy-clepolicymeeting.Waitingforonemonthtill JuneMPCwouldmeanlosingthatmuchtimewhilewar-related inflationarypressuresac-centuated,”hesaid.Further,itmaynecessitateamuchstrongeractionintheJuneMPCwhichisavoidable,hesaid. Full report on

www.indianexpress.com

‘CATCHINGUPTODOASMPCRIGHTLYPRIORITISEDRECOVERY’

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,MAY18

APPLEHASunveiled a set ofnewsoftware features, com-binedwiththehardwarecapa-bilities,onsomeofitshigh-enddevicestohelpphysicallychal-lengedusers.Thesefeaturesin-cludeDoorDetectionon theiPhoneandthe iPad; livecap-tionsoniPhone,iPadandMac,and more. These features,Apple said,will be availablelaterthisyearthroughsoftwareupdates on Appledevices.

WhatisDoorDetection?Howdoesitwork?Apple said in a

statementthat thisfeaturecanhelpusers,whoareblindorhavelowvision,locateadooruponarrivingatanewdestination, understandhowfar they are from it, and de-scribe door attributes— in-cluding if it is openor closed,andwhenit’sclosed,whetherit canbeopenedbypushing,turning a knob, or pulling ahandle. Door Detection canalso read signs and symbolsaroundthedoor,liketheroomnumber at an office, or thepresenceof anaccessible en-trance symbol, the companyclaimed. This feature usesLiDAR,camera,andon-devicemachinelearning,andwillbe

available on iPhoneand iPadmodelswithLiDARScanner.

Whatarelivecaptions?Usersinthedeaforhardof

hearingcommunitycanfollowany audio content on theiriPhones, iPads and Macs

through realtimecaptioning. This in-cludes use casessuchasaphonecall,a FaceTime call, avideo-conferencingor a social mediaapp, in addition to

streamingmedia content oreven having a conversationwithsomeonenexttothem.

Arethereanyconcernsaroundtheintroductionofthesefeatures?AsperaTechCrunchreport,

some features and servicesthatApplewill introduce arealready being provided bythird-party providers andapps.Andbringingtheseserv-ices as in-built features onAppledevices could “clip thewingsof independentserviceprovidersofsimilarservices.”

Full report onwww.indianexpress.com

SECTORWATCHBIGTECH

How will Apple’sDoor Detectionfeature help users?

Thesefeatures,Applesaid,willbeavailablelaterthisyearthroughupdatesonitsdevices

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY18

THEUNIONCabinetWednesdayempowered the boards of theCentral Public SectorEnterprises(CPSEs) to privatise, disinvest orclosetheirsubsidiariesandstakesin joint ventures. Themovewillgiveafilliptothegovernment’sef-forts tounlock capital,whichareeitherstuckorsub-optimallyem-ployed in state assets, and puttheseintomoreproductiveuse.Many large profit-making

CPSEs likeCoal India,ONGCandNTPChavevaluable subsidiariesorJVpartnerships.TheCabinetde-cisionwillenablethemtomone-tisepartsof theseassetswithouthaving to secure the approval ofthe Cabinet or go through theprocessinvolvingtheadministra-tiveministriesand/orthedepart-mentof investmentandpublicas-setmanagement(Dipam).Themoveisalsoexpectedtore-

ducetheburdenonDipam,whichwillcouldnowfocusonprivatisa-tionofholdingcompaniesorpar-

ent CPSEs. Currently, there areabout 380 PSEs (including sub-sidiaries),20-30percentofwhichmaybeclosedforbeingsickorun-viable.Thegovernmenthasmadeit clear thatexcept for thesakeofhaving itsminimumpresence inthe four strategic sectors, othercompaniesinthestrategicsectorsandall innon-strategicsectorswillbeprivatisedorclosed.Currently,CPSEBoardsdonothavepowersfordisinvestment/closureof theirsubsidiariesorunitsorstakeinJVs,exceptsomelimitedpowersgiventoMaharatna PSEs forminoritystakedisinvestmentofsharehold-ingintheirsubsidiaries.FE

CPSEs to get powersto sell arms, exit JVs

Be watchful,proactive:Das to PSBsMumbai: RBI Governor Shakti-kanta Das onWednesdaymetheadsof select public sector andprivate banks to take a stock ofcreditgrowthandassetqualityinthebankingsysteminthewakeofrecentgeopoliticaldevelopments.He asked banks to remain

watchful of the ongoing geopo-litical developments and proac-tively takemitigatingmeasures,includingraisingcapital, tomin-imise potential impact on bal-ancesheets.Dasandothertopof-ficialsdiscussedissuesrelatingtocredit off-take, asset quality out-look,amongothers.ENS

NewDelhi:TheCabinet hasapprovedadvancingthetar-get of blending20per centethanolinpetrolby5yearsto2025-26aswell asallowingmore feedstocks for thepro-ductionofbiofuels.PTI

Cabinet amendsbiofuels policy

NIT NO.05 /EE (WB)-II(2022-23)S.

No.Name of Work Estimated Contract

Value (ECV)/ Amountput to tender

EarnestMoney(EMD)

TenderFee

Date of Release of tenderin E-Procurement Solution

& Tender ID No.

Last Date/ Time ofreceipt of tender

E- Procurement Solutiont

1. Supply of 30MGD treated effluent to GarhiMandu forest from 1500mm dia. twin effluentfrom Yamuna Vihar STP.

Rs.5,55,25,811/-

Rs.11,10,600/-

Rs.1,500/-

18.05.20222022_DJB_222382_1

08.06.2022 at 3:05 PM

Further details in this regard can be seen at https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in.

ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER)

Advt. No. J.S.V. 116(2022-23)

Sd/-Rakesh Kumar

EE(WB)-II

DELHI JAL BOARD: GOVT. OF N.C.T. OF DELHIOFFICE OF THE ADDL. CHIEF ENGINEER (P)-8,

THROUGH EXECUTIVE ENGINEER WATER BODIES-II3RD FLOOR, VARUNALAYA PH-I, NEWDELHI-110005

Email: [email protected]

"STOP CORONA, WEAR FACE MASK, FOLLOW PHYSICAL DISTANCING, MAINTAIN HAND HYGIENE"

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gsrq 60 Journals (Indian and International) dh vko”;drk gSAls dksVs”ku vkeaf=r dh tkrh gSA blls lEcfU/kr

leLr tkudkjh jktdh; nwu esfMdy d‚yst] nsgjknwu dhij miyC/k gSA dksVs”ku izsf’kr djus dh vfUre frfFk

fnukad 30-05-2022 lka; 4%00 cts rd gSA

ReputedPublishers/Distributers

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jktdh; nwu esfMdy dkWyst]nsgjknwuA

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100-bprepohikeneeded‘verysoon’:MPCmemberVarma

TheRBI,Mumbai. File

Bank unions seek action against GurumurthyENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY18

BANKUNIONS,includinganem-ployees union of the ReserveBankof India,havesoughtactionagainst S Gurumurthy, Directoron the Central Board of the RBI,for “the recent indecent andnasty remarks” allegedly aboutemployeesofpublicsectorbankemployees duringhis speech inone of the functions in Chennaiin the presence of FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharaman.“The dirty and provocative

remarksmade by Gurumurthythatpublicsectorbankemploy-ees are only “kazhichadaikal”(hair thrown away after shav-ing)haveseriouslyhurtthefeel-ingsandsentimentsof thebankemployeesandofficersatlarge,”the All India Bank EmployeesAssociation said in a letter toFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman.“They rightfully feel andde-

mand that Gurumurthy should

apologise and express regret,”AIBEA General Secretary SHVenkatachalam said. “We alsofeel that such persons likeGurumurthywhohavenosenseof proportion and discretion inpublicbehaviourandpublicex-pression,andhavedistortedun-derstandingaboutpublicsectorbanks and bank employeesshould no longer continue as a

memberof thehighofficeof theCentralBoardof theRBI,”AIBEAsaid, seeking his removal fromtheRBIboard.“His remarks about public

sector bank employees asscums, filths and left-overs andhence were not able to shift toprivate banks and hence theyare left over in public sectorbanks is defamatory andderogatory. We strongly con-demn his uncalled for and un-warranted comments,” theAIBEAsaid.“Bytheaforesaidaction…he

has brought the august body ofthe Central Board of the RBI todisrepute and has proved him-selfunworthyof suchahighpo-sition — that is the unanimousopinion of bank employees aretheir unions which we doshare,” Samir Ghosh, GeneralSecretaryof theassociationsaidin a letter to the FinanceMinister.“Werequestyoutosetanex-

amplebytakingappropriateac-tionagainstGurumurthyforhis

derogatory remarks againstbank employees and therebytarnishing the image of the RBIand also understandably, put-ting theMinistry of Finance atunease,”Ghosh said.In his reply to AIBEA,

Gurumurthy said, “the NPA is-sue, action against it by vigi-lance, CBI, CVC, not tomiss theprudential norms, completelyshook the bank officers. Thisgave a huge opportunity to theprivate banks and fundswhichhad a heyday because the bestloan accounts shifted to them.Theybegangivinghigh salariesand attracting capable PSBofficers.”“Consequently, many capa-

ble officers left the PSBs,whichleft many filtered ones whocould not go in the PSBs — forwhich I used the word‘kazhichadaikal’,whichactuallymeans many could not passthrough the filter, remained in-side. It isa factandIstandbyit,”Gurumurthy said.

“I asked the FM to speak onall this. I am happy she cameheavily in defence of PSB em-ployees,whichnotmanyFMsinrecent times had had thecourage to do.What I said thatday in front of the FM shouldhavemadethePSBsintrospect,”he said.“Itwas not about all officers

and certainly about all bankstaff.TodaynoonecandenythatmanyPSBofficials lack thewill,capacity and the knowledge inacomplicatedfinancialworldtomakecredit decisions. Theyarealso afraid because of the over-hangof theenforcementandle-gal system,”Gurumurthy said.“You all think thatmebeing

in the RBI Board is a big thing. Iwas pressurised to take up thatpositionastherewerenotmanytoput a counter view in theRBIBoard. I didnotneed it nordid Iseek it. For decades I had nevertakenanypositioninorfromthegovernment. Nor will I ever,”Gurumurthywrote.

RBIBOARDMEMBERGURUMURTHYSAYSHESTANDSBY IT (REMARKS)

NewDelhi:ChiefEconomicAdvi-ser (CEA) V Anantha Nages-waranonWednesdaysaidamidglobal uncertainties caused bythe Ukraine crisis, India is stillbetter placed among largeeconomies because of an im-provedfinancialsystemandaro-bust corporatehealth.India,hesaid,hastakenahost

of reforms in banking andothersectors and is now focussing onsteppinguppublicinvestment.Besides, Nageswaran added,

Indian corporates are in good fi-nancial health as they havetrimmedtheirbalancesheet.PTI

CEA: India betterplaced amonglarge economies

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1 SITC work at Medical and Hospital, Bhilwara (Phase-II).UBN No. RRC2223WSOB00138

290.00Lakh

BÊ-054/22-23

2 Construction works at Sainik School, Jhunjhunu.UBN No. RRC2223WSOB00133

299.55Lakh

1 Remaining Work of ITI Building at Rohat Distt. Pali.UBN No. RRC2223WSOB00131

308.26Lakh

BÊ-055/22-23

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“Youall think thatmebeing in theRBIBoard isa big thing. Iwaspressurised to takeupthat position as therewerenotmany toput acounter view in theRBIBoard. I did not need itnor did I seek it. Fordecades I hadnever takenanyposition in or fromthegovernment.Norwill I ever”

SGURUMURTHYDIRECTORONCENTRALBOARD, RBI

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY18

THEGROUPofMinistersoncasi-nos, online gaming and racecoursesunderGoodsandServicesTax in ameetingWednesday fi-nalised its reportdetailingvalua-tiontechniqueandaconsensusona tax rateof 28per centon theseservices.MeghalayaChiefMinisterConradSangma,panelchairman,said the reportwill be submittedto Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman in adayor twoand,then,theissuewillbediscussedinthenextGSTCouncilmeeting.Thepanelislearnttohavedis-

cussed severalmeasures for tax-ingtherevenuestreamfromcasi-nos,racecoursesandonlinegam-ingincludingtaxingtheinitialbidamount and gross gaming rev-enue (GGR). “The Group ofMinisters (GoM)oncasinos, racecourses&onlinegaminghascometo a consensus...,” Sangmatweeted. In its previousmeetingearlier thismonth, thepanelhaddecidedonhiking the tax rateonthese services to 28per cent. Atpresent, onlinegaming (withoutbetting)attracts18percent,whiletheones involvingbetting, alongwithgamblingandraceclubs,at-tract28percent. Full report on

www.indianexpress.com

28% GST on casinos,gaming: GoM finalisesvaluation technique

NewDelhi:TheCentrehas askedstatestoimmediatelystartimport-ing coal tomeet power require-ments and to lift coal by road asfailuretodosomayleadtoshort-ages in such states during themonsoon. Power Minister RKSinghhaswritten tochiefminis-ters of all stateswhichhavenotstartedtheprocessofcoalimport,accordingtoagovernmentrelease.InseparateletterstoHaryana,

Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka andWest Bengal, Singh “expressed

concern that tender process forcoalimporthaseithernotstartedornotcompletedinthesestates,”saidtherelease.Hehasalsoaskedstatestolifttheentirequantityofcoalofferedtothembycoalcom-panies throughRCR (road-cum-rail) mode to build coal stocks.Earlier, government sourcesnoted that an insufficient num-berof railway rakes available fortransportation of coal had con-tributedtotheshortageofcoalatpowerhouses. ENS

NewDelhi: IndiGoonWednesday ap-pointedPieterElbers,presidentandCEOofKLM Royal DutchAirlines,asitsCEO,re-placing RonojoyDutta,whowill retireon September 30.Notably, 71-year-oldDutta,who took over as CEO inJanuary2019,wasappointedonafive-yeartermtill2024.RahulBhatia,managingdirec-

tor, IndiGo, said, “TheBoard of Directors and IwouldliketothankRonoforeffectivelyleadingourbusiness for almost fouryearswithasteadyhandthroughwhat has beenthemost turbulent pe-riodintheairline’shistoryand aviation globally”.

IndiGodidnotputoutthereasonbehindDutta’searlyretirementinitsstatement. ENS Fullreport

onwww.indianexpress.com

PieterElbersvia IndiGo

KLM’s Elbers to succeedDutta as IndiGo CEO

SOUMYARENDRABARIKNEWDELHI,MAY18

MINISTEROFStateforElectronicsandITRajeevChandrashekharonWednesdaywarned virtual pri-vate network (VPN) serviceprovidersthatiftheydon’tadheretothelatestcybersecurityrulesre-leased by the Indian ComputerEmergency Response Team(CERT-In),theywillhavetotermi-natetheiroperationsinIndia.Whilelaunchingclarifications

onCERT-In’scybersecuritynorms,he said, “ If you’re a VPN thatwantstohideandbeanonymousabout thosewhouse VPNs andyou don’t want to go by theserules, thenifyouwanttopullout(fromthecountry),frankly,thatisthe only opportunity you willhave.Youwillhavetopullout.”Thecommentscomeatatime

when many VPN providers, alargepartofwhosevalueproposi-tion is ensuring anonymity ofuserson the Internet, haveques-

tioned the directives for poten-tially violatinguserprivacy,withsomeproviderslikeNordVPNsay-ing they are consideringpullingtheirserversfromIndiashouldtherulesbeenforcedonthem.Whenasked about concerns

raised by certainVPNproviderswhoclaimtonotmaintainlogsofhow their customers use theirservice Chandrashekhar said,“There is no opportunity forsomebody to saywewill not fol-lowthe lawsandrulesof India. Ifyou don’t have the logs, startmaintainingthelogs”.

Fullreportonwww.indianexpress.com

MoSITRajeevChandrasekhar.PTI

Comply with rules or exitfrom India: MoS IT to VPNs

Start coal imports:PowerMin to states

‘Investors bet big on SIP;inflows climb 30% in FY22’

`96,080crinflowinFY21throughthesystematicinvestmentplan(SIP)route,asperdatawithAssociationofMutualFundsinIndia(Amfi)

34%growthseeninSIPbook,from`9,182

croreinMarch2021toanalltimehighof`12,328crorethisMarch

Inflows inmutual funds via SIPs jumped 30% over last fiscalto reach over Rs 1.24 lakh crore in FY22, as per Amfi data

Mutual fundSIPcontributionhasseenovertwo-foldriseduringlastfiveyears

Source:Amfi/PTI

TUSHARGOENKABENGALURU,MAY18

VEDANTUONWednesdaylaidoffstaff for the second time thismonth,firing424ofits5,900em-ployees—around7percentof itsworkforce. Earlier thismonth, ithadlaidoff200employees.Thelatestroundoffiringcame

tolightthroughaninternalemailofCEOVamsiKrishna.Inpastfewmonths,Unacademyhad laidoffaround1,000employees. Earlierthismonth,Byju's laidoff around800employeesof oneof itsunit,White Hat Jr. In February, LidoLearningletgoofaround150em-ployeesbeforeshuttingshop. FE

‘Vedantu laysoff 424 staffin 2nd round’

BRIEFLYS&PforecastMumbai:S&PGlobalRatingscutIndia’sFY23growthpro-jectionto7.3%from7.8%ear-lieronrisinginflation.

BPCLselloffNewDelhi: TheCentrewillrelook at BPCL divestmentplans,sourcessaid. ENS

AdaniPortsCEONewDelhi:Indiacangetbacktotheageofcontrollingone-fourth of global economylike it used to, said AdaniPorts and SEZ CEO KaranAdaniatAmazonSmbhav.

GSTevasionNewDelhi:GurugramZonalUnitGSTofficers arrested aman for tax evasionwheretotal ITC of over `160 crorewasusedandpassedonbyanetwork of 10 fake firmsalongwithexistingentities,FinanceMinistrysaid. PTI

EPF interest income: Govt weighingrequests for tweaking tax normsNewDelhi:TheCentremaycon-siderproposals to changenormsfor taxability of interest incomeearnedby subscribers of EPFO, asenior official said.The FinanceMinistrywillalsoclarifydoubtsonapplicabilityofthenewTDSprovi-

siononbenefitsorperquisitesre-ceivedinabusinessorprofession.“EPFOcircular (onTDS) isone

issuewhichisunderourconsider-ation.Peoplehaverequestedthatit shouldbeonwithdrawalbasisandnotaccrualbasis.Thisisunder

considerationof thegovernment.Ican’tsaymuchonthat.Theseareone of the issues are being dis-cussedregularly,”JointSecretaryinthe FinanceMinistryKamleshCVarshneysaidonWednesdayatanAssochamevent. ENS

New Delhi

HIMACHAL PRADESH PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENTe-Procurement Notice

INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)1. The Executive Engineer Thalout Division HP.PWD.Thalout on behalf of Governor of H.P invites the

online bids on item rate, in electronic tendering system, in 2 Cover System for the under mentionedwork from the eligible and approved contractors/Firms registered with HPPWD Department.

2. Availability of Bid Document and mode of submission: The Bid document is available online andbid should be submitted in online mode on website https://hptenders.gov.in.Bidder would be required to register in the web-site which is free of cost. For submission of bids, the

bidder is required to have Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities(CA). “Aspiring bidders who have not obtained the user ID and password for participating in e-tendering inHPPWD may obtain the same from the website: https://hptenders.gov.in. Digital signature is mandatory toparticipate in the e-tendering. Bidders already possessing the digital signature issued from authorized CAscan use the same in this tender.3. Key Dates:

4. TENDER DETAILS:The Tender Documents shall be uploaded online in 2 Cover:

i) Cover 1: shall contain scanned copies of all “Technical Documents/ Eligibility Information”.ii) Cover2: shall contain “BOQ/Financial Bid”, where contractor will quote his offer for each item.

5. SUBMISSION OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS:The bidders are required to submit (a) original demand drafttowards the cost of bid document and (b) original bid security/Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and otherTechnical Documents in O/OExecutive EngineerThalout Division HP.PWD.Thalout as specified in Keydates Sr. No. 3 on Tender Opening Date, failing which the bids will be declared non-responsive.

6. BID OPENING DETAILS:Thetechnical bids shall be opened on 04.06.2022 at 11:30 HRS in the officeof Executive Engineer Thalout Division HP.PWD., Thalout by the authorised officer. In their interestthe tenderers are advised to be present along with original documents at the time of opening of ten-ders. If the office happens to be closed on the date of opening of the bids as specified, the bids will beopened on the next working day at the same time and venue.

7. The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than120 days after thedeadline date for bid submission.

8. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The officer inviting tender shall not be held liable forany delays due to system failure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bid-ders of any bid updates, the Employer shall not be liable for any information not received by the bidder. Itis the bidders’ responsibility to verify the website for the latest information related to the tender.

Executive Engineer,Thalout, Division HP.PWD,Thalout Distt. MandiPhone No. 01905- 293767

on behalf of Governor of Himachal Pradesh1059/HP

Chhattisgarh Rural Roads Development AgencyVIKASH BHAVAN, CIVIL LINES, RAIPUR (C.G.)

NIT No. 772 & 773 /TC-T/CGRRDA/2022, Dated 17/05/2022

Chief Engineer (Tender Cell), CGRRDA, Raipur on behalf of Governor of Chhattisgarh invitespackage wise bids in electronic tendering system for Vendor for Supply, Installation, Operation andMaintenance of GPS enabled Vehicle Tracking System in Key machinery and equipment engagedduring execution of road works under PMGSY III and onwards project in CG State & Constructionof CC Road under MMGGPY sanctioned for different districts of the state as per B.O.Q. from theeligible contractors / Firms registered with unified registration system (e-registration) for the worksmentioned below. Date of release of Invitation for Bids through e-procurement:

01

02

Availability of Bid Documents and mode of submission: The bid document is available onlineand should be submitted online in https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in. The bidder would be required toregister in the website which is free of cost. For submission of the bids, the bidder is required tohave a valid Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities.

Detailed NIT and other details can be viewed on our websitehttps://eproc.cgstate.gov.in from 19.05.2022 from 5:00 PM & onwards. In future any relatedcorrigendum would be seen in the notice section of this website.

Sd/-Chief Engineer (Tender Cell)

Chhattisgarh Rural Road Development AgencyCivil Lines, Raipur (C.G.)

32537 E-mail : [email protected]

E-Procurement Tender Notice

S.No

NITNo

772

773

Districts

For allDistricts of

Chhattisgarh

Janjgir-champa

Rate invited

Item rateTender

PercentageRate SOR22.02.2018

issued by CE,CGRRDA

Raipur

Amount(Rs. in Lakhs)

Total Cost Rs 144.60Lacs.

Total Cost Rs 155.24Lakhs

Work Name

Vendor for Supply, Installation, Operationand Maintenance of GPS enabled VehicleTracking System in Key machinery andequipment engaged during execution of

road works under PMGSY III and onwardsproject in CG State.

MMGGPY

HIMACHAL PRADESHPUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

Telephone No. 01893-220098 E-mail :- [email protected]

INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)The Superintending Engineer HPPWD 9th Circle Nurpur H.P. on behalf of Governor of H.P. invites the items rate bids, in the electronic

tendering system from the eligible class of contractor registered with HPPWD for the works as detailed in the table.

Sr.No.

Name of work. Estimated Cost( In lacs).

Starting date fordownloading Bid.

Earnest Money( In lacs).

Deadline forsubmission of Bid

EligibleContractor.

1. Widening & Strengtheningof Sadwan to KaleshwarRoad Kn. 0/0 to 7/00 inDistt. Kangra (HP) (SH: C/OR/walls, Cross Drainagework GSB, WBM-II, WBM-III, CC pavement, Tarringwork, Interlocking Paverblock, Road side drain andparapets etc. including fiveyear maintenance) underNABARD RIDF-XXVII.

619.38 30-05-202210.00 AM.

12.39 15-06-2022(5.00 PM)

‘A’ Class.

The bidders are advised to note other details of tender from the department website .www.hptenders.gov in. Date of opening of tender is16.06.2022 at 11.00 AM.

Superintending Engineer,9th Circle, HP.PWD., Nurpur.

Pin No. 176202. Tel. No. 01893-220098. e-mail:- [email protected] behalf of Governor of Himachal Pradesh

1076/HP ---HIM LOK SAMPARK--

HIMACHAL PRADESH

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

e-Procurement Notice

INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)

The Executive Engineer HPPWD Dharamshala Division, on behalf of Governor of H.P. invites the item rate bids, in electronic tenderingsystem, for following works from the eligible and approved contractors registered with HPPWD:-

Sr.

No.

Name of Work Estimated

cost in Rs.

Earnest

Money

Time

Limit

Cost of

tender

form

Start date for

downloading

of bid

Deadline for

submission

of Bid

1 Construction of City Convention Centre-cum-Parking at Dharamshala in Distt. Kangra, HP(Deposit work) (SH:- construction of CityConvention Centre-cum-Parking including watersupply, sanitary installation and rain waterharvesting system)

4,45,04,414/- 8,90,100/- Twelvemonth

5000/- 26.05.2022 04.06.2022

The bidders are advised to note other details of tenders from the departmental website https://hptenders.gov.in. The Executive Engineerreserves the right to reject any tender or all tenders without assigning any reasons.

HIM SUCHANA AVAM JAN SAMPARK.

Executive Engineer,

Dharamshala Division,

HP.PWD., Dharamshala.

On behalf of Governor of Himachal Pradesh1074/HP

HIMACHAL PRADESHJAL SHAKTI VIBHAG

NOTICE INVITING TENDERCORRIGENDUM / ADDENDUM

The dated of online publication/download of tenders, called through e-procurement vide this office NoticeInviting Tender No. No.EE-JSD-FTR-EA-I-Tender/2021-1683-1733 Dated 04.05.2022, are herebyextended due to some administrative reasons. The following new dates, of Bids through e-procurementare shown as under:-

SN Key Dates Tender ID

1 Date of submission of e-bid 20.05.2022, 05:00 PM

2022_HPIPH_60394_1

2 Physical submission of Original Bid Security ( in case of offlinedeposit of Bid security before 21.05.2022 up to 11.00 A.M

3 Date of Opening of bids on 21.05.2022 at 11.30 A.M

4 Annexure-VIMaterials for issue of the bidder

(See Clause: - 35.01)

1 Cement Rate Rs. 370/-

2 Re-enforcement Steel HYSD Bars Rs. 6780/-

All other terms and condition will un-changed.Executive Engineer,

1070/HP JS Division, Fatehpur

14 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022

New Delhi

SPORT/CALENDAR 15WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY19,2022

Srikanth,SindhuentersecondroundBangkok: Two-timeOlympicmedal-list PVSindhuhuffedandpuffedherway to thewomen’s singles secondroundwhileKidambiSrikanthandHSPrannoy, the protagonists of India’shistoric Thomas Cup triumph, suf-feredcontrastingfatesintheopeninground of Thailand Open here onWednesday.Sindhu,seededsixthandranked seventh in theworld, stavedoff a spirited challenge fromworldnumber 62, USA’s Lauren Lam21-1919-2121-18tosetupaclashwithSimYuJin,whohadplayedapivotalroleinKorea’s Uber Cup win. Fresh fromplaying amajor role in the ThomasCupvictory, Srikanth, seededeighth,producedagrittyshowtogetthebet-ter of Brice Leverdez of France 18-2121-1021-16 in49minutes. —PTI

GokulamKeralabeatBaganinAFCCupKolkata: Riding high on their succes-sive I-League triumph, GokulamKeralaFCstunnedATKMohunBagan4-2 in a six-goal thriller in their AFCCup debut at the Salt Lake Stadiumhere onWednesday. In a battle be-tween the two heavyweights of thetop-tier ISL and the second-tier I-League,GokulamKeraladishedout amuchmore compact and technicaldisplay than Bagan. Fresh fromwin-ninganunprecedentedI-Leaguedou-ble at the same venue last Saturday,GokulamKeralaledthewaywiththeirSlovenian centre-forward LukaMajcen (50', 65') striking a brace.RishadPuthanveettil(57')andsubsti-tute JithinSubran (89') slammedoneeachtosealthreepointsandgiveare-alitychecktotheISLgiantsandthelo-cal favourites. —PTI

IndianarchersstunmightySouthKoreaGwangju (South Korea):The Indianmen's compound archery team pro-ducedstunningperformancestooustworld no.1 USA and powerhouseSouth Korea in the quarterfinals andsemifinalsrespectively,toassureitselfatleast silvermedal at theWorldCupStage2hereonWednesday. AbhishekVerma,AmanSainiandRajatChauhanroseaboveexpectationstoshockUSA234-228 in the quarterfinals beforegettingthebetterofSouthKoreaintheshoot-off tosealtheirplaceinthetitleclash,where theywill take onworldno.4France. —PTI

BRIEFLY

ASSOCIATEDPRESSMAY18

THEPREMIERLeaguetitleraceisgoingtothewire. Remarkably, an unprecedentedquadruple is still on forLiverpool.Tiredandhitbyinjuriesafterwinningthe

FACupfinalonSaturday,Liverpool fieldedasecond-choice lineupagainstSouthamptonanddemonstratedagreatmentalitytocomefrombehind towin2-1onTuesday.It leaves JurgenKlopp’s teamapointbe-

hindManchesterCityheading into the finalroundof a thrilling league campaign. That’son Sunday, when Liverpool is at home toWolverhampton at the same time as Cityhosts Aston Villa —managed by LiverpoolgreatStevenGerrard.“Whateverhappensthisseason,wehave

doneourselvesproud,”LiverpoolmidfielderJamesMilnersaid. “Allwecoulddo is take itto the lastgameandwe’vedone that.”City remains the favorite in its bid for a

sixthleaguetitlein11seasons,butLiverpoolhas done its part by taking the defendingchampionsall theway.Infact, theRedsaretakingeverycompe-

tition to the final game this season, with aChampionsLeaguefinalagainstRealMadridstilltocomeonMay28.They’vealreadywonbothdomestic cups inaseason for theages.Joel Matip completed Liverpool’s latest

comebackbyunwittinglyheadinghomethewinninggoalinthe67thminuteatSt.Mary’sStadium. Klopp’s teamhad also come frombehind in its previous two league games, a2-1 win against Villa and a 1-1 drawwithTottenham. It just doesn’t knowwhen it isbeaten.“Wekeepgoing,” Klopp said. “Wenever

giveup.That’showit is.”The game came only three days after

Liverpool’senergy-sappingFACuptriumphover Chelsea, whichwent 120minutes be-fore the Reds won a penalty shootout.MohamedSalahandVirgilvanDijkwerein-juredatWembleyStadiumanddidn’t travelto Southampton. Fabinhowas already in-jured.AndrewRobertsonandLuisDiazwereunusedsubstitutes.

Liverpool beatSouthampton2-1, title racegoes to the wire

EPL STANDINGSTeam P W D L PtsManCity 37 28 6 3 90Liverpool 37 27 8 2 89Chelsea 36 20 10 6 70Tottenham 37 21 5 11 68Arsenal 37 21 3 13 66

SHASHANKNAIRNEWDELHI,MAY18

THE SUPREME Court on WednesdaystrippedAll IndiaFootballFederation(AIFF)President Praful Patel and his executivecommitteeof theiradministrative respon-sibilities. Patel, aFIFAcouncilmember,hadnot called for the AIFF elections, despitehaving completed three four-year termsandnotbeingeligible for standingaspres-ident again, as per the National SportsCode.A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud,

SuryaKant andPSNarasimha appointed athree-member Committee ofAdministrators (CoA) in place of Patel andhis committee. TheCoAcomprises formertop court judge AR Dave, former ChiefElection Commissioner SY Qureshi andBhaskar Ganguly, former captain of theIndian football team.ThecourtmandatedtheCoAtomanage

theday-to-dayaffairsof theAIFF, adapt theconstitution of the premier Indian foot-balling body in line with the country’sNationalSportsCode,andprepareelectoralrolls so that an election for the executivecommitteeof theAIFFcouldbeconducted.“Weareof theviewthat itwouldbeap-

propriate if the two-member CommitteeofAdministratorswhichwasappointedbytheorderof this court (Nov10, 2017),witha specific mandate, is expanded and themandate of the committee is similarlybroadened. The committee of administra-tors is reconstituted … and shall takecharge of all the affairs of the All IndiaFootball Federation immediately,” said thecourt. The court also made it clear thatwhile theCoAwas in chargeof theday-to-day activities of the federation, they couldchoose tousePatel andhisexecutivecom-mittee inaconsultingrole,but that thiswasnotmandatory.

Background storyIndian football can look at its fractured

league structure – one that contributed tomore clubs fading into oblivion - andporeover itsever-waning influence instatesnotnamed Bengal, Kerala or Goa to assess themismanagementof football thathas takenplace over the decades.Butmatters reallycametoaheadwhen

the legal logjamover proposed changes inthe AIFF constitution – a case stuck in theSupremeCourtsince2017–meant that theelection kept getting postponed to thepointwhere Patel remained in power twoyears past his term. In the 85-year historyof theAIFF, electionshadneverbeenpost-poned and the Supreme Court was thusforced to appoint a CoA.

It didn’t help that at the time of thishappening, Patel and theAIFF lost supportboth internallyandexternally.Be itFootballDelhi, thatwrote toFIFAandAsianFootballConfederation general secretaries askingfor a normalising committee to get in-volved,or stateassociations likeKeralaandJammu and Kashmir who were bypassedbytheAIFFtoholdtournamentsandcoach-ingcamps in thestate– theAIFFcontinuedtobleed internally. FootballDelhipresidentShaji Prabhakaran, spoke to The IndianExpressonhowtheneedof thehourwas tomove forward now.“Nothing surprising about the judge-

ment. It was what we were anticipatingand conveyed that to the rest of the feder-ations as well. Anyone could see that thiswas going to happen.We have to now seehow to move forward for Indian football

because we can’t change what was notdone or what could not be done. It wastheir situationandtheydid it theirway.Wehave to ensure that we don’t get into thiskindof situationagain,” saidPrabhakaran.The final nail in the coffin for thePraful

Patel regime was slammed in when thesportsministry filled an affidavitwith theSupremeCourt, stating thatPatelhad longoverstayed his welcome as president andwasyet toensure thatelectionswereheld.

FIFA status in limboAIFF’s defence in court onWednesday

was to invoke FIFA and its zero-tolerancepolicy towards any externalmanagementof member associations. There have beeninstances in thepastof FIFAbanningcoun-tries on account of strife within memberassociations.In 2014, Indonesia was banned for a

year after its sports ministry and footballfederation remained at loggerheads overwhowas running the sport in the country.That ban was lifted in 2016. In 2015, FIFAhad banned the Kuwait FootballAssociationbecause theirgovernmenthaddrafted and imposed a sports bill that in-fringedupontherightof thecountry’s foot-ball federation to exist independently.TheKuwaiti governmentwas forced to

restructure their bill to adhere to FIFA’s

constitution as well as the InternationalOlympicCommittee’s charter. Thebanwaslifted after two years, but in that time thecountrydidnotreceiveanygrants fromtheworld body andwas barred from interna-tional competitions for both club and na-tional teams– leading todefenderTalalAl-Fadhel stating thatan ‘entiregenerationoffootballerswas lost’.PrabhakaranwasnotsurewhetherFIFA

wouldseethisscenarioasacaseof interfer-ence and propose punishments. “It all de-pendsonhowFIFAsees this scenario. Theywill seehowtheseeventsaregoing tohavean impact and could possibly stage an in-tervention or invoke a third party to con-trol the administration,” he said. But headded that the issue requiredmore clarityon the part of FIFA.Both FIFA and AIFF general secretary

Kushal Das were contacted for commenton the situation but had not responded tocallsoremails at the timeof going toprint.

CoA takes over Indian footballAIFFpresidentPrafulPatelhadcompletedthree terms;SCappointedCoAtomanageday-to-dayaffairs

TheAIFFconstitutionmustbe in linewiththesportscode.

ThecourtmandatedtheCoAtomanagetheday-to-dayaffairsoftheAIFF,adapttheconstitutionof thepremier Indianfootballingbodyin linewiththecountry’sNationalSportsCode,andprepareelectoral rolls.

NewDelhi: The Supreme Court-ap-pointedCommitteeofAdministrators(CoA)will try to hold elections of AllIndiaFootballFederation(AIFF)withintwotothreemonthsfromthedaythetop court approves thenewconstitu-tion,oneofthepenalmemberssaidonWednesday.Itmeansanewdispensa-tion of the AIFFmay not be installedbefore the FIFAWomen's Under-17WorldCup,whichthecountryishost-ing betweenOctober 11 and 30. TheSupreme Court onWednesday ap-pointed a three-member Committeeof Administrators headed by formertopcourtjudgeARDavetomanagetheaffairs of theAIFF and adoption of itsconstitution in linewith theNationalSports Code andmodel guidelines.Former Chief ElectionCommissionerSYQuraishiandexIndianfootballteamcaptainBhaskarGangulyaretheothermembersof theCoA. "Theearlier ex-ecutive committee of the AIFF is nolongerthereaftertoday'sSCorder.TheSC asked us to take charge immedi-ately,soassoonaswegetthecourtor-derwewill assume charge, speak toeachotherandchalkoutourcourseofaction,"QuraishitoldPTI.Hesaidanewconstitutionof theAIFF isexpectedtobe approvedby the SCby July 30, thenextdateofhearing,andafterthatthepollprocesscanstart. —PTI

COA member hintselections in Sep-Oct

CROSSWORD4744

ACROSS1Train toput intowords (7)5Hisaccountsarenot takenseriously (5)8Ragingkingof the insectworld? (6,7)9Poetwrongly translatedasyet (5)10Putmeonship inaSicilianport (7)11 Isunusuallyhardontheoutsidebutedible (6)12Heraldic symbolof Frenchdepravity (6)15 Induces tomakenodeals(5,2)17Timeto invoketheMuse(5)19Achoristernot involved inthearrangement (13)20Totalhas tocorrespond(5)21Helpingpoorrelations? (7)

DOWN1Perhapsmypetneedsfeeding(5)2Upset theapplecart -darn,it’s all in (4,3,6)3Listensout for recruits (7)4Abouteleventheshipmovesoff (6)5Manages tovary inscope(5)6Wrongaction- I’mfor it, tomydismay(13)7Ranwild incaptivitycausinggreat slaughter(7)11Excludeapossiblecauseoffaultymeasurement (4,3)13Get lean inorder tobegraceful (7)14 Joined induet (6)16Havingthemeans togrowshabby?(5)18Lightweightcat (5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)TheSun'srelationshipwiththat intenseplanet,Pluto,generally

addsdeterminationandvigourtoevents inyour life.Onaspecific level, youmayexpect toreceivemoneyfromanunexpectedsource,butonlybecauseyouwillmakeanextraeffort.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)It's timetodoa littlethinkingaboutyourlong-termhopes,whoyouare,where

you'regoingandall thatsortof thing.Try talkingtopeopleandseewhatresponsesyouget.Youmayfindthatbyusingapartnerasasounding-boardyoureceiveadvice thatyouneverthoughtpossible.

GEMINI (May22- June21)heremaybeaclashofprioritiesasfamilymembersandhomeinterests

compete forattentionwithprofessionalambitions. Itmaybeapartnerwhois theunwittingcauseof acurrentdilemma. If so,give themall thespaceandsupport theyneedtosort itout.

CANCER(June22- July23)TheSunhasnowbeenjoinedbyMercury inanadventurous

position,aprettygoodsignthatmanyof youare likely tobetravelling farafieldover thenextmonth.All adventurousCancerianswillbe in theirelement,expandingtheirhorizonsandextendingtheirboundaries.

LEO(July24-Aug23)In thepastyouhavechangedyourideas rather toooften.Now,however,

youmustmakeupyourmind, forget thepastandconcentrateonturningcurrentsituations toyourowngoodfortune.Athome,youcouldbenefit fromafamilygathering.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)If youhavemanagedtoextractwatertightguaranteesor

assurances, thenyouhavenothingto fear. It is importantthatyoubuildupasupportnetworkof friendsandrelativeswhoyouknowwillbackyouto thehilt,whateverhappensandthroughthickandthin.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)TheSunandMercuryarebothstressingyourworkingaffairsinarather favourable

manner. It is timetoturnyourattentiontopersonalmatters,seeingto it thatharmoniousrelationshipsformthebasisof asatisfactorypublicandprofessional life.Thetwoareclosely linked,asyouknow.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Along-standingrelationshiporinvolvementstillappears tobegoing

throughan intensephase.Whattranspiredatworktodaymayarouseyouremotions,especially if colleaguesseemdeterminedtobecomedependentonyou.Perhapsit is timeyoutooka littlemoreresponsibility.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)ThecurrentSun-Moonpatternsuggests thatamoveormajorupheaval

willbe toyouradvantage.Publicandprofessional issuesmaybedominatedbypurelypersonalandprivate feelings.What thatmeans is thatyouhaveto figureoutyourownmotivationsbeforeyoucandoanythingelse.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)heoveralllunarpicturesignifiesthatthetideof fortuneisallreadytoturnin

yourfavour.Indeed,imminentdevelopmentscanonlyleadtofurthersatisfactionandasenseofdeepeningpersonalfulfilment.Aslongasyoufeelricherinside,itwillallbeworthit.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Yourpowerful senseof rightandwrong isyourbestallyat themoment.Remember

all thosewonderful sayingsabout turningtheothercheekandhowyoushould forgiveyourenemiesseventimesseven.That's thebestadvicerightnow.Afriendlyhint fromacolleaguecouldalsopointyouinapositivedirectionatwork.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Youmayexpectsomegoodfortunebut,inaway,that'snottheimportantpoint.

Rather,youmustseethatallpartsofyourcharacterareexpressedtothefullandthatyourlifeasawholeishappyandcontented.Youcanalwaysfindapositiveoutlet,evenwhenunexpecteddifficultiescomeyourway.

SUDOKU4839

DifficultyLevel1sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4838

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Loveis___oflife.-RobertBrowning(6)

SOLUTION:VERVE,BORNE,NOTIFY,GUNMANAnswer:Loveisenergyoflife.-RobertBrowning

RVVEE FINOTY

BEONR AMNNUG

SolutionsCrossword4743:Across:1Drawn,8Pilchard,9Sleep,10Adorable,11Scott,12Pet,16Please,17Apathy,18Peg,23Under,24Trotters,25Abeam,26Reigning,27Close.Down:2Rollcall,3Wheatear,4Girdle,5Score,6Lambs,7Idler,12Pep,13Tag,14Cannibal,15Cheetahs,19Errand,20Story,21Solid,22Stand.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

New Delhi

VolXC-162Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05R.N.I.No.506/57. PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.MalhotraonbehalfofTheIndianExpress(P)LimitedandPrintedatTheIndianExpress(P)LimitedPress,A-8,Sector-7,Noida-201301andDBCorpLtd,DainikBhaskarVillageUnanTola,NearDanapurCantt,ShivylyaRoad,PostKhagaul,Shahpur,Patna(Bihar)andPublishedatTheIndianExpress(P)Limited,MezzanineFloor,ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg,NewDelhi110002.Editorialoffice:TheIndianExpress(P)Limited,MezzanineFloor,ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg,NewDelhi-110002.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingoffice:TheIndianExpress(P)Limited,B1/B,Sector-10,Noida-201301.Phone:01206651291.ChairmanoftheBoard:ViveckGoenka,ChiefEditor:RajKamalJha,Editor:UnniRajenShanker,Editor(Delhi):RakeshSinha****

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SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

TV timingsPLAYING TODAYRCB vs GT; 7:30 PM; Wankhede

MIHIRVASAVDAMUMBAI,MAY18

IT BEGINS as a self-deprecating joke. But asVinesh Phogat starts to peel off the layers,sherevealstheextremesshehadtogotopro-pel her from a dark, deep corner and backinto thespotlighton thewrestlingmat.One Saturday, a fewmonths ago, she

went out on the 400m track to test her en-durance by running as many laps as shecouldinthreeminutes,thetimedurationforone round of awrestling bout. “I could notevencompleteone lap! I got soexhausted, Ifelt likevomiting.”Duringsparringsessions,wrestlers much smaller and lighter thanVineshbeganpummelingher.“Unhonemu-jhe utha, utha ke maara (They threw mearound),” she laughs.Then, in February, she travelled to

Istanbul to take part in the Yasar DoguInternational.Theformerworldnumberonewantedtogaugeif she’dhavetostart from0alloveragainbutherfindingswerefarmoresevere.The competitive firewithin her seemed

tohavedoused.“Iwasdull. Ididnotfeelany-thing... haarna hai, jeetna hai, khelne aayihoon? (win, lose,haveIcometocompete?) Iwasconfused, insomeotherworld,” shere-flects. “If someone took two points againstme,thenIthoughtofgivingupeasilyinsteadof fightingback.”VineshwonMonday’sselectiontrialsfor

theCommonwealthGames,aresultshesaysgivesher'reassuranceandrelief' that ‘every-thing is on track’. But formonths after lastyear’s Tokyo Olympics, the thought of ‘giv-ingup’hadbeenarecurringone,whichmustbefrustratingforawrestlerwhosegameisalotaboutchutzpahanddoggedness.Formost athletes, the Olympics are the

ultimate highlights of their careers. ForVinesh,however,they’vecausednothingbutheartbreaksandmiseries.InRio, itwasthephysicalpaincausedby

twistingherkneeduringabout. InTokyo, itwas the ‘mental torture’ thatundidher.Hercampaignendedinthefirstround,wassub-sequently sanctioned by the federation forperceived‘indiscipline’and, inanemotionalpieceforTheIndianExpress,Vineshnarratedhowshewasleftbrokenafterunfaircriticismofherperformance.“Ihadnomotivation. Iwas so tiredmen-

tally I thought, chod do sab, nahi karni (Ithoughtofquiting)wrestling.Mybodywas-n't picking up and mind had given up.Imaginehowitmust feel if it reachesastagewhereanathletewantstostopdoingtheonlythingshehasdoneallher life?”shesays.“Butsomethingwithinmestillconvinced

metogiveonemoreshot.Callitinnervoiceorwhatever…thatdrivehasalwaysbeenthere.So I thought, let's seewhere this takesme.Dekhengekyalikhrakhahaikismatne. (Letusseewhat fatehastooffer)”Ittooktwomonths,Vineshsays,tocome

outof thatphase.Andseveralmoretoreturntosomething that resembledherpeak.Ayearago,Vineshwasn’t theself-doubt-

ing,low-on-confidencewrestlerthatshe’dbe-come. Shewas flying high, beating almostevery opponent that stood in herway,win-ningtitles,climbinguptherankingschartandbecomingoneofthefavouritestowinamedalinthe53kgcategoryattheTokyoGames.Onthedayof thecompetition,shelost in

thequarterfinals to formerworldchampionVanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus, whichsparked criticismsmainly fromwithin thewrestling federation. Vinesh would havegivenup,sheadmits,butthethoughtthattherivalsshehadconsistentlybeatenbeforehadfinishedonthepodiumgavehersomeconfi-dence to return to themat. “So I knowwhatmy level is. There are some shortcomings, I

know.Gir,girkseekhgayethoda(I learntwithevery fall),”shesmiles.

Self-monitoring progressThe diary she frequently updated until

last year has no entry after the Olympics.Now, however, shemaintains data that ismuchmore helpful in her comeback trail.Vinesh records every tiny detail tomonitorherprogress:therateofherheartbeatswhilerunning,sprinttimings,theaveragetimesofthe400mlapssheruns,andherspeedwhileattacking.“WhenInotethisdataandseetheimprovementonaweeklybasis, it givesmealotofconfidence,”shesays.“Andreally, it’sall about confidence forme. If I am feelinggood, I’ll performwell. And I gather confi-dence fromtraining.”Shegivesapeekintotheothersideofelite

sport, something that the HD cameras andflashlights do not always capture: the longperiods of training alone, away from thespotlight, at venues that are far from glam-orous.Vineshcutherdiettokeepheraverageweightwithin a couple of kilos of 53kg, theweight class she competes in. She liftedweights, ran sprints and spenthours on thematat the trainingcentre inLucknow.“It took awhile but gradually, I stopped

leaking points and started scoring some.

First,againstthegirlsfromthe50kgcategoryand then, after around six weeks, I starteddoingwell againstwrestlers frommy cate-gory. Thatgavemesomeconfidence.Whiledoingstrengthexercises, say forexample inweightliftingIshowedsomeimprovements.My attacking speed improved and I startedrunning two 400m lapswithin threemin-utes,” she says, adding that the concussionshesufferedisonthemend,too.“Itmademefeelmoreconfidentaboutmyself.”

Back to 70 percentConvinced that she’d reached a level

whereshecouldcompeteagain,Vineshde-cided to take part in the selection trials fortheCommonwealthGames;herfirst ‘fulltri-als’ since theOlympics. The fight to get intothe team for the CWG is far tougher thanwinningthegoldmedalattheGames,giventhe low level of competition among theCommonwealthnations.“Ifwestartputtingthe same level of effort for the Olympics aswedofortheCWGtrials the,bhaisaab,we’llreachadifferent level,”Vinesh laughs.She felt it in her category especially,

where her opponents smelt blood. Despitethe progress she’d made in the last fewmonthswith respect to her fitness, Vineshwas still vulnerable because of a lack ofmatch practice. “Everyone saw a chance toattackme. Ihaveneverseen11girlsgivingatrialinmycategorysoperhaps,everyonewasinthemoodtoattack.Abhipakdo,abhipakdo(Letusattack),” shesays.It didn’t bother her. Vinesh is no longer

consumedbythethoughtofwinning.That’simportant, too, she insists, but she is inpur-suitofself-satisfactionandhappiness.Winsandmedals, shesays,will beaby-product.Atthetrials,shesaysshereached70per-

centofpreviouslevels.“Iwasabithesitanttoattack, wasn’t sure if it’ll be a success. I stillhavetoworkmoretosustainforsixminuteswith the same intensity during a bout. Ihaven’t reachedthat level.But I amnotput-ting pressure onmyself. It’ll happen gradu-ally,” shesays.She’s counting, instead, on other big

gains.“Ispenttwomonthsremaininginjury-free. I am calm and excited towrestle,” shesays.“Iamenjoyingagain,there’snoburden.And forme, that'smost important.”

If someone took two points, Ithought of giving up: Vinesh

Announces admission to Integrated Programme in Management

(Business Analytics and International Business) Programme 2022-27

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) set up by the Department of Commerce, Government of India, invitesapplications for admission to residential Integrated Programme in Management (BBA-Business Analytics andMBA-International Business) 2022-27 being offered at Kakinada Campus (Andhra Pradesh).

Eligibility: (1) Candidates should have passed 10+2/XII/HSC examination in arts/commerce/science streamor equivalent with 60% (55% for SC/ST/PwD/Transgender) or more in the year 2020, 2021 or appearing in2022. (2)The candidate must have passed class 10th examination with 60% (55% forSC/ST/PwD/Transgender) or more in the year not before 2018. (3) Mathematics/ Business Mathematics asa subject in +2 level is mandatory.

Mode of Admission: Selection will be on the basis of IPMAT 2022 Score (to be conducted by IIM-Indore),Academics Profile of class 10 and Gender Diversity.

Note: The Candidate should follow IPMAT advertisement & admission procedure for IPM 2022-27 batchavailable on the website of IIM Indore for Registration of IPMAT 2022 Examination. IIFT will use IPMAT 2022Score for shortlisting / selecting the candidates for its Integrated Programme in Management. IIM Indore hasno role either in the selection process or in the conduct of the programme.

Please refer IIFT Website (www.iift.ac.in)for complete details about the programme

For any query, contact: Ms.MeenakshiSaxena, Assistant Registrar (Academics)

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, B-21, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110016

Tel. 011-39147213, (M) 09773698083 E-mail:[email protected] Website:www.iift.ac.in

davp 05103/12/0002/2223 Dr. P.K. Gupta, Registrar

Y·ffSX°fe¹f d½fQZVf ½¹ff´ffSX ÀfaÀ±ff³f

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN TRADE(Category-I Deemed to be University)

(Department of Commerce, Govt. of India)Accredited "A Grade" by NAAC

Important DatesLast Date to apply online 2 June 2022Date of IPMAT 2022 (to be conducted by IIM Indore) 2 July 2022

LSG seal play-off berth, KKR knocked outABHISHEKPUROHITMUMBAI,MAY18

LUCKNOWSUPER Giants had racked uptherecords.Highestopeningstandeverinthe IPL, betweenQuintondeKockandKLRahul.Third-highestindividualscoreeverin the IPL, fromde Kock. The first time intheIPLthatateambattingfirsthadn’t losta singlewicket.But Kolkata Knight Riders had stunnedLSGwithabravechase.They’d kept swinging fours and sixes

regardless of thewickets theywere con-stantly losing. And Rinku Singh hadseemedtohavelandedtheknockoutblow-with 21 needed off the last over, Rinkuhad clubbed a four and two sixes off thefirst three balls from Marcus Stoinis.Another tworunswerescrambledoff thefourth and KKR needed amere three offthe last twodeliveries.Evin Lewis had played his lastmatch

on April 7, sixweeks ago. He hadn’t got achance to bat last evening. NowwhenRinkuslicedafullandwideballovercover,Lewissprintedacrossfromdeeppoint.KL

Rahulwasaftertheballtoofromcover,buttherewasnowayhewasmakingit,anditappeared even Evinwouldn’t. At the lastinstant,Lewiswentslidingontheturf,andhisoutstretchedlefthandpluckedthedy-ingball safely.Stoinishadbeendealingincuttersand

wideones, but seeingUmeshYadavnow,

hewent for theyorker.Andassoonasthebails turned red, he set off on awild run.He’d pushed LSG into the playoffs withtheirlastdeliveryof theleaguephase,anddumpedKKRoutwith thesameball.

To retire or not?“Attheendof the18thover,wesentin

amessagesaying, 'ifyouguysaretootiredhitting the ball hard, you can retire andwe'llsendsomeofourbighittersin,’”LSGhead coach Andy Flower said during theinningsbreak.After 18 overs, LSGwere on 164 for 0.

Clearly their dugout’s thoughtwas that anewbatsmancouldhavemorechancesofclearingorfindingtheboundarythantwoveteranswhohad been in themiddle for109deliveries.De Kock was clearly tiring but had

pickeduppaceinthelasttwo-threeoversto reacha59-ball century in the18th.ButRahulwasclearlystrugglingtomiddlehisattempted hits, and had consumed 49balls forhis61.Was the retiring-outmessagemeant

forthecaptainhimself?Themessagehadbeendeliveredindeedbutasitturnedout,

the replywasa ‘no.’RahulproceededtobashTimSouthee

into the sightscreen first ball of the 19th,anddeKock showedhis exhaustionwas-n’t impactinghishitting.It didn’t matter what Southee tried -

full, slow andwide towards the slightlylonger boundary; short, slow andwide;good length on the stumps.With all thecasual confidence of aman batting on ahundred, de Kock launched himover thestraightboundary thrice insuccession.In the last over, he squeezed a near-

yorker fromAndreRussellpastbackwardpoint for four andwent on to hack threemore fours off the next three balls. DeKock’s acceleration was incredible; hereached50off 36, surgedtotheton inthenext23ballsandthentookanother39offhis last11deliveries.

BRIEF SCORES: Lucknow Super Giants:210 for no loss in 20 overs (Quinton deKock 140 not out, KL Rahul 68 not out;Sunil Narine 0/27) bt Kolkata KnightRiders:208for8 in20overs(Shreyas Iyer50, Rinku Singh 40;Marcus Stoinis 3/23,MohsinKhan3/20).

IPL TABLE

TEAM M W L PT NRRGT 13 10 3 20 0.391

LSG 14 9 5 18 0.251

RR 13 8 5 16 0.304

DC 13 7 6 14 0.255

RCB 13 7 6 14 -0.323

KKR 14 6 8 12 0.146

PK 13 6 7 12 -0.043

SRH 13 6 7 12 -0.230

CSK 13 4 9 8 -0.206

MI 13 3 10 6 -0.577

JUMP OF JOYNikhatZareencelebratesafterbeingdeclaredtheunanimouswinneragainstBrazil’sCarolineDeAlmeida.BFI

COMEBACKTRAIL

It took a while butgradually, I stoppedleaking points andstarted scoring some.First, against the girlsfrom the 50kgcategory and then,after around sixweeks, I started doingwell against wrestlersfrommy category.”

CWG-boundVineshPhogat isunburdenedandinjury-free.

25-year-oldNikhatZareenbeatsBrazil’sCarolineAlmeidabyunanimousdecisionatWorlds;will faceThailand’s JitpongJutamasinflyweight final today

NITINSHARMACHANDIGARH,MAY18

NIKHATZAREENsteppedintotheringsmil-ing,punchingtheair,andaspringinherstep.She left the same way. The Indian boxerleaped in joy and hugged her opponent,Caroline Almeida, as shewas declared theunanimouswinner of the flyweight semifi-nalsof theWorldChampionship in IstanbulonWednesday.ThewinmeantZareen,competinginher

secondWorldChampionship,willnowgetachancetostamphermarkintheweightcat-egory that has been rejigged in the lead uptotheParisOlympics–at52kg,itis1kgmorethanherusualflyweight51kgand2kglesserthanthenewly-introduced54kgdivisionforParis2024.ZareenhadoutclassedCharleyDavison,a

much taller opponent, in the quarterfinals.OnWednesday, shehad to face off against aboxerwhowasalmostthesameheightasher.The 25-year-old Indian said her planwas tonotletheropponent,asouthpaw,hernaturalgame. “(I)was successful in that. Shewas ofthesameheightsoIhadtocounterherto lether fall in my trap,” she said. “It’s my firstworld championship final and IhaveplayedonceagainsttheThaiboxer(JitpongJutamas).Iwill sitwithcoachesandprepareastrategytoreturnhomewiththegoldmedal.”TheBrazilianwouldtrytolungeforward

andmakeherattacksinthefirstfewsecondsof the semifinal but Zareen ducked thepunchesandunleashedhercounter-attacks,surprisingAlmeidawithaflurryofpunches.ThefirsttworoundssawZareenimpress-

ingthe judgeswithheruppercutsandhook

combinations.Aftersecuringahealthylead,shedidnotforcetheissueinthefinalround,simply staying away from trouble to securehermaiden final appearance.“Ourplanningwastodominatefromthe

firstroundandAlmeidawastryingtoattackfrom the start. So,Nikhat dodgedher initialattacks and launched her counters. Herstraightpunches,coupledwiththehookanduppercuts, helped her dominate the firstround and it was the same in the secondround,” Bhaskar Chandra Bhatt, Indianwomen’snationalchiefcoach,said.“CharleyDavison, Nikhat’s opponent in the quarter-final, was a southpaw aswell and it helpedNikhat iron out some flaws in facing suchboxers. Both thewinswill motivate Nikhataheadof the final.”For amajorpart of her senior career, the

2011World Youth champion had to take aback seat in theweight category,withmul-tiple-time world champion and LondonOlympicsbronzemedallistMaryKommak-ing the flyweightdivisionherown.Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics qualifier,

too, Zareen hadwritten to the then sportsminister Kiren Rijuju, demanding trials.Zareen eventually lost toMary in acrimo-nious circumstances. However, withMarytouching40 this year, renderingher ineligi-ble for international competitions, Zareenhasachance toassertherdominance.Last year, theHyderabadboxerhadwon

the bronzemedal in the Bosphorus Boxingtournament in Istanbul, where she hadscored wins over former light-flyweightworldchampionEkaterinaPaltcevaofRussiaand two-time former light flyweightworldchampion NazymKyzaibay of Kazakhstanbefore suffering a loss in the semi-finals

against eventual Tokyo Olympics silvermedallistBusenazCakirogluof Turkey.

‘Mature boxer’Earlier this year, she won the Strandja

Memorial title in Bulgaria, where sheavenged her loss against the Cakiroglu be-forescoringawinover formerworldcham-pionshipmedallistTetianaKob in the final.“Therewere timeswhenNikhat would

get disappointed on not getting opportuni-ties, or when trials did not go herway. Butthen that’s the past. She understands thatandthinksonlyaboutthefuturenow,”Bhattsaid.“Earlier,sometimesshewouldchasetheopponent and in that,wouldget abit closerintheirrange.Weworkedonherdeceptionsand ability to launch counterattackswhenthe opponent came close. She is amatureboxerandthewinsoverboxerslikePaltcevaand Cakiroglu show that she is starting todominate.At theWorld Championships, each of

Zareen’s fourwinshasbeenunanimous5-0verdicts. This will boost her confidenceagainstThailand’sJitpongJutamas,whoout-classedKazakhboxerZhainaShekerbekova4-1 in theother semifinal.ZareenhasfacedJutamasoncebeforeand

hademergedvictorious,recordinga4-1splitdecisionwinattheThailandInvitational.Bhattsaid theywould take confidence from thatbout.“TheThaiboxer,too,usesherlongreachandthefactthatNikhathasdefeatedheronceisapositivesignforus.Yet,wecannottakeherlightlyandNikhatwillhave tocarryonplay-inghernaturalgameofcounterpunchesandcombinationstounsettletheThai.SheisabittallerthanNikhatbutwearesurethatNikhatwill tackleherstrongly,”saidBhatt.

Floats, stings, wins

New Delhi

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