30-11-2021-VAJIRAMRAVI-INDIANEXPRESS.pdf - AWS

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BUSINESS AS USUAL

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

TWITTER’S CHIEF TechnologyOfficerParagAgrawal,whoisanalumnusof IIT-Bombay,will re-placeoutgoingCEOJackDorsey,the microblogging site an-nouncedMonday. Agrawal hasbeen with Twitter since 2011and has served as ChiefTechonologyOfficer(CTO)sinceOctober2017.In a statement, Twitter said

that while Dorsey is steppingdown and Agrawal’s appoint-ment in the executive role willbe effective immediately, theoutgoingCEOwillcontinuetobeon the company’s board till theendof his termnextyear.“I’ve decided to leave

Twitter because I believe thecompany is ready to move onfrom its founders. My trust inParag as Twitter’s CEO is deep.Hisworkover thepast 10yearshas been transformational. I’mdeeply grateful for his skill,heart, and soul. It’s his time tolead,”Dorsey said.AsCTO,Agrawalhasbeenre-

sponsible for the company’stechnical strategy, while

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STORMYSTARTTOWINTERSESSION

Houseclears farm laws repealBill,Govt rejectsOppcall for adebateAdhir,Kharge targetGovtover lackofdiscussion, repealdelay;Tomarsaysdebate tohavenotangible results

LIZMATHEW&KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

THE WINTER session ofParliament began on a stormynote Monday when the FarmLaws Repeal Bill, 2021, clearedthe twoHouses via voice voteswithout anydiscussion. TheBillsailedthroughamidOppositiondemand for a debate on issuesraised by farmers protestingagainst the three new agricul-ture laws being withdrawn bythegovernment.TheLokSabhapassedtheBill

in the first half of the proceed-ings amid vociferous demandsforadiscussion.AndintheRajyaSabha, itwaspassedminutesaf-ter resumption of the post-lunch session.Claiming that the Bill had

beenbroughtinwithconsensus,that itdidnothaveanyclausetodiscussandthatadebatewouldhave no tangible results, thetreasury benches rejected de-mandsof theOpposition,whichwas keen to target the govern-ment over the delay in with-drawal of the laws given thatfarmerprotestsbeganmorethana year ago and some demands,including legal guarantee forMSP, are still being raised.In Lok Sabha, Agriculture

MinisterNarendraSinghTomarintroducedandtabledtheBillforconsideration and passing.Members of the TMC andDMKcame to theWell, seeking adis-cussion while Congress MPs,

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MANOJCGNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

WITHTHEsuspensionof12RajyaSabhaMPsdeepeningthepoliti-cal divide and threatening awashoutoftheentirewinterses-sion,backchanneltalkswereheldbetweenthegovernmentandtheOppositionMonday to find anamicable resolution, but therewasnoimmediateheadway.Minutesafterthesuspension

of the MPs, Opposition floorleaders met in the chamber ofMallikarjun Kharge, Leader oftheOpposition inRajyaSabha.The RJD’sManoj Kumar Jha,

it is learnt, said Kharge should

speak to ChairmanMVenkaiahNaidu on behalf of the entireOppositionanddemandrevoca-tion of the suspension. He sug-gested that if thegovernment isnot amenable, then theOpposition should think aboutboycotting the entire session.Leaders of the Left parties arelearnt tohavesupportedhim.

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PMModi,UnionMoSArjunRamMeghwalandJitendraSinghatParliamentatstartofwintersessionMonday.AnilSharma

SANDIPGKANPUR,NOVEMBER29

UNDER THE smoggy, flood-litskies of the historic Green ParkStadium, a draw for the ages,where sweat and emotionflowed in equal measure, wasplayed out between India andNew Zealand. The fortunes ofthegame fluctuated, as thedaytoggledbetweensmogandsun-shine. The tourists needed 284

runstowintheTest,whichwasa lost pursuit even before NewZealand’s fourth inningsbegan,but theybattedstoutlyandsto-ically to deny India by a lonewicket in the opening Test ofthe series.At theheartof therearguard

were a debutant all-rounderandaleft-armspinnerof Indianheritage, Rachin Ravindra (18off91balls)andAjazPatel (2off23), who blunted 52 balls todeny India.

Rachin’s father was a soft-ware system architect fromBengaluru who emigrated toWellingtonattheturnofthecen-tury, but continued his love forcricket. He soon began organis-ingcricketforschoolchildrenandstarted the Hutts Hawks Club,whichorganisedcricket tours todifferent outposts of the gameacross the world. Naturally,Rachin,hisnameaportmanteauofhisfather’sfavouritecricketers,

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India vs India-origin Rachin, Ajazas Kiwis save Test in last-day epic

KAUNAINSHERIFFM&SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

SOUTHAFRICANhealthauthor-itieshaveconveyedto topmed-icalexpertsinIndiathattheyarewitnessing “very lowhospitali-sation” directly linked toOmicron, although the newCovid variant of concern is“highly transmissibile” and pa-tientsareexperiencingextremefatigue evenwithmild disease,The IndianExpresshas learnt.The latestupdatecameeven

as the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) assessedglobal risk from the newly dis-covered variant as “very high”,and India extended support tocountriesdealingwithOmicron

inAfrica,andpromisedsuppliesofMade-in-Indiavaccines.Top Government sources

told The Indian Express that ex-perts fromthe IndianCouncil ofMedical Research (ICMR) andNational Centre for DiseaseControl (NCDC) held a detailedexchangewithSouthAfricanau-thorities onOmicron, includingthetransmissibilityandseverityof infection.Sources said South African

experts conveyed thatOmicronhas been found to be highly

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AjazPatel,whobattedtill endofdayMonday, survivesanappeal. PTI REPORTS,PAGE20

Omicron news fromS Africa: high fatigue,low hospitalisation

Dorsey stepsdown, ParagAgrawal isnew CEOof Twitter

KRISHNKAUSHIK,MANOJCG&SOURAVROYBARMANNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

IN A move that angered theOppositionandset the stage foracrimoniousexchanges,adozenmembers of Opposition partiesin Rajya Sabhawere suspendedfrom thewinter session on theveryfirstdayfollowingamotionbrought inby thegovernment.The members were sus-

pended for alleged unruly con-duct towards the end of themonsoon session in Augustwhenmarshals were called af-ter Opposition members

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12 RS MPssuspended forentire session,Opp calls itundemocratic

PARIMALDABHIGANDHINAGAR,NOVEMBER29

THE BJP in Gujarat’s Gandhi-nagar, the Lok Sabha con-stituencyrepresentedbyUnionHome Minister Amit Shah, isplanningtohosttournamentsincricket and kabaddi under thelabel Gandhinagar LoksabhaPremier League 370, or GLPL370, to “drawmaximumnum-ber of youth to the party”, localleaders said.According to Ahmedabad

city BJP unit general secretaryJitubhai Patel, the league isnamedafterArticle370, “whichwas abrogated in 2019 underAmit Shah’s leadership”, andthere are plans to start tourna-ments in the middle ofDecember.HarshadPatel,whoistheBJP

in-charge of Gandhinagar LokSabha constituency, told TheIndianExpress:“Theeventshavebeen organised to make the(young)voters,whosenamesare

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BJP to startsports leaguenamed afterArticle 370 inAmit Shah seat

ANISHADUTTANEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

AQUESTION by Congress RajyaSabhamemberKCVenugopaltotheMinister of External Affairsonwhether NRIs living abroadwere harassed at airports andsentback,andsomeevenaskedbyauthoritiestostophelpingthefarmers’ agitation, was provi-sionallyadmittedandscheduledtobeansweredonDecember2,butdroppedfromthefinallistofquestions for theday.The question (Provisionally

Admitted Question Starred/Unstarred diary number U455)read: “Will the Minister of

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Question Govtskipped: WereNRIs asked tostop aidingfarmers? PMSPEECHVSLAST

SESSION’S15BILLSIN10MINUTESP6

DIMINISHINGHOUSETHEEDITORIALPAGE,P 10

COVIDVICTIMBODIESFOUNDAFTERAYEAR,KINDISTRAUGHTPAGE9

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RULE256fromRulesofProcedureandConductofBusiness inRSwasin-vokedagainsttheMPs.TheOppositionsaidtherule is forongoingses-sion,nottobeusedinanearlierone. In6decades,ithasbeenused13times.

EXPLAINED,PAGE15

Rarelyused rule

TheIIT-alumnus iscurrentlyChief TechnologyOfficer

Boycott session or takefight to the Govt? Oppwill take a call today

New Delhi

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021

Sports leagueon the voters’ list, pro-BJP. Forthat, cricket and kabaddi havebeen selected. The target is tohave at least two teams in eachward (one each for cricket andkabaddi).”Harshad Patel said: “Home

Minister Amit Shah first dis-cussed thiswitharound8-10ofus in the party.” Subsequently,he said, a meeting of 200-250partyworkerswascalledandre-sponsibilitiesassigned.For instance, Gujarat MoS

Jagdish Vishwakarma, who or-ganised the Karnavati PremierLeague(KPL)inAhmedabadfiveyearsago,hasbeenaskedtoplanthe tournaments.BJP state unit general secre-

tary Pradipsinh Vaghela said:“AnentireteamoftheLokSabhaconstituency is involved. Theplan is to organise a kabadditournamentfortheconstituencyandsevencricket tournaments,one for each of its sevenAssemblysegments.”The seven segments are

Vejalpur,Ghatlodia,Naranpura,Sabarmati, Kalol, Gandhinagar(North) and Sanand. The LokSabha constituencyhas around1,800boothsacrossAhmedabadandGandhinagar,andBJPoffice-bearershavebeenaskedtoiden-tifyteams,venuesandcommen-tatorsaswell as framerules.The leagueiscurrentlyopen

formen only, and thematcheswillbeplayedusingtennisballsongrounds rented fromprivateowners, BJP leaders said.Publicity is mainly being donethroughWhatsAppgroups.Shah has been associated

with the Gujarat CricketAssociation(GCA)since2007,inending the 16-year reign of theCongress.Hewasalsovicechair-man of GCA when then ChiefMinister Narendra Modi waschairman. Shah's son, Jay Shah,is thecurrentBCCI secretary.“On the lines of

Narendrabhai'sconceptofmoti-vating players through KhelMahakumbh, Amitbhai has gotthis organised... ByWednesday,weshouldbeabletoget thefirstregistered teams,” said JitubhaiPatel, the Ahmedabad city unitBJPgeneralsecretary.

Kiwis save TestSachin Tendulkar and RahulDravid, took to thegame.Ajaz was born in Mumbai

and shifted to Aucklandwhenhe was eight with his fatherYunus,whowasthenarefriger-atormechanic. Upon his aunt’sinsistence, hewas enrolled in alocal club, where former NewZealand spinner Dipak Patelspottedhim.Destiny brought Rachin and

Ajaz together. It’s unsure howtheir career would progressfrom here, but they have col-lected memories of a lifetimeduring those52balls.Therewasmore drama and

outpouring of emotion in thelast 10minutes than in the en-tirematch -- appeals, reviews,chats,umpiresflippingthelight-meter, deafening chants fromthe stands, chirping fielders,edgesfallingshort,pitchplayingtricks,andtheball seldomkick-ingupthigh-high.Fromhopetodejection,desperationtoagony,the stadium swung. In themixofall,NewZealand’slast-wicketpair remainedunflustered.On the sixth ball of the 96th

over, Ravi Ashwin rapped Ajazon his pads. The umpire re-mained unmoved. SkipperAjinkya Rahane reviewed. Thecrowdheldtheirbreath.There-plays showed no bat, much totheir joy, but Hawkeye showedtheballhadpitchedjustoutsideleg-stump.Ajazheavedasighofrelief,Rachinwrappedhisarmsaroundhim.Rahane chewed his lips,

Ashwin frowned. Half an inchinto the stumps, and hewouldhavebeenwheelingawayincel-ebration. Ravindra Jadeja,

though, exuded serenity. Onlytwo overs remained for NewZealand to seal a memorabledraw and India to pinch a fa-mouswin.Butthen,theumpiresflicked out the light-meter. Itwas15minutespastfour,butthestadiumwasindarkness.Awaveofanxietylashedtheground,be-foreitburstinjoywhentheum-pires concluded that the gamecouldcontinue.It was the third time in as

many overs that the umpireshadcheckedthe light.Soon, thecrowd started chanting thenames of the umpires, NitinMenon and Virender Sharma,perhapsa first for them.Then,theywerechantingthe

nameof AxarPatel, the first-in-nings hero with the ball. ButRachinrepelledeverythingthatwas thrown at him. The thirdballspunviciouslyintohimandbrushedtheinsideedge.Buttheedge eluded leg-gully. By thistime, every Indian fielder wasaroundthebatsmanlikeanum-brella. A pin-drop silence filledtheground,asRachindefendedthefinalthreeballstosafety.Andthen, inbetweentheovers,theygavehima standingovation fortheheartandskillhehadshown.Butonemoreoverremained,

andJadejacalmlytossedtheballin the air. Hewas the force thatstretchedthematchthisfarwithfourwickets, including those ofKane Williamson and RossTaylor, breathing life into amatch that wasmeandering toa tamedraw.ButAjaz frayednonerves,defendingeachofthesixballs. The second ball spun andkept low, but Ajaz had his eyesontheball andbodybehind it.At the end of the over, the

98th of the New Zealand in-nings,with10minutes remain-ingforcloseofplay,theumpireschecked the light again, andruled that the game could notcontinue.Withweary eyes, theIndian players lingered, staringat the skies, just in case the sunwinked again. By this time,Rachin and Ajaz were alreadybaskinginthesweatof theirtoil.The game was yet again a

vindication of New Zealand’sfortitude,theirknackof fightingtill the end and their heart for ascrap. Not for nothing are theythe world champions, and noteamhas run India this close athome in recent times.Andhowironic it was that two Kiwis ofIndiandescentwereattheheartof a fifth-dayepic.

Omicron newstransmissible when comparedtoDelta, the predominant vari-ant in India. “Based on the ex-change,wealsoknowthat verylow hospitalisation is linked tothevariant so far,” sources said.Significantly, the South

African experts have informedthatOmicronhasnotresultedinany deaths, as of now. “So far, itonlymanifestsasamilddiseasewithextremefatigueandthroatirritationbeingthepredominantsymptom,” sources said.TheSouthAfricansalsohigh-

lighted thatpatientsarenotex-periencing loss of sense, smellandtaste,ordropinoxygenlev-elsasreportedintheDeltavari-ant. “At this point, we are notpanicking... But if anything un-towardhappens,theywillsharewithus,” sources said.In Delhi, meanwhile, the

Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) said in a statement thatIndiaexpresses “solidaritywiththe countries, particularly inAfrica”. It said that theGovernment “stands ready tosupportthecountriesaffected...in dealing with the Omicronvariant, includingbysuppliesofMade-in-Indiavaccines”.“Suppliescanbeundertaken

through Covax or bilaterally. Inthisregard,theGovernmenthascleared all orders placed so farby Covax for supplies ofCovishieldvaccines,includingtoAfrican countries likeMalawi,Ethiopia,Zambia,Mozambique,

Guinea and Lesotho. We havealsoclearedsuppliesofCovaxintoBotswana," theMEAsaid."Any new requirement pro-

jected either bilaterally orthrough Covaxwill be consid-eredexpeditiously,” it said.The Government also said

thatitisreadytosupplylife-sav-ing drugs, test kits, gloves, PPEkits and medical equipment,suchasventilators.India has, so far, supplied

more than 25million doses ofMade-in-India vaccines to 41countries inAfrica.On Sunday, the WHO had

said that it is not yet clearwhetherinfectionwithOmicroncauses more severe diseasecompared toothervariants.Later, inanewtechnicalbrief

circulated to countries, it saidtherewere“considerableuncer-tainties” in information aboutOmicron, but preliminary re-portssuggestapotentialfor“in-creasedrisk” fromthisvariant.“Givenmutations thatmay

confer immune-escape poten-tial and possibly transmissibil-ity advantage, the likelihood ofpotential further spread ofOmicron at the global level ishigh... Theoverallglobal riskre-lated to thenewVoC (variantofconcern)Omicronisassessedasveryhigh,” theWHOsaid."... If anothermajor surge of

Covid19 takes place driven byOmicron,consequencesmaybesevere. Increasingcases,regard-lessof achange inseverity,maypose overwhelming demandsonhealthcaresystemsandmayleadtoincreasedmorbidityandmortality,” it said. TheWHO,however, also noted that noOmicron-related death hadbeenreportedanywhere.

(WITHENS/PUNE)

MPs suspendedstormed the Well during thepassageoftheGeneralInsuranceBusiness (Nationalisation)AmendmentBill, 2021.The suspended members

comprisesixfromtheCongress,two each from TrinamoolCongressandShivSena,andoneeach from CPI and CPM: PhuloDevi Netam, Chhaya Verma,RipunBora,RajamaniPatel,SyedNasir Hussain and AkhileshPrasad Singh of Congress; DolaSen, Shanta Chhetri ofTrinamool Congress; PriyankaChaturvedi, Anil Desai of ShivSena; Elamaram Kareem ofCPM;and,BinoyViswamofCPI.The motion, moved by

Parliamentary AffairsMinisterPralhad Joshi, was passed byvoicevote.Callingit“undemoc-ratic”and“unprecedented”,theOppositionsaidtheirfloorlead-ers will hold a joint meetingTuesday todiscuss the issue.The members were sus-

pended for the rest of thewin-ter session under Rule 256 ofRulesofProcedureandConductof Business in Rajya Sabha. Therule has been used 13 times inthepasttosuspend26members(some multiple times) since1962. Membership of twoParliamentarians was termi-natedunder the rule in2010.Reading the motion, Joshi

said “this House takes cog-nizanceandstronglycondemnstheutterdisregardtotheauthor-ity of the Chair, complete abuseoftherulesoftheHousepersist-ently, therebywilfully obstruct-ing the business of the Housethrough their unprecedentedactsofmisconduct, contemptu-ous, unruly and violent behav-iour and intentional attacks onsecurity personnel on the last

dayof the254thsession”.Responding to the suspen-

sion, 14 Opposition parties is-sued a joint statement whichwas not signed by TrinamoolCongress, to whom two of thesuspended members belong.“The motion moved by theGovernment... isunprecedentedand violates the Rules ofProcedure and Conduct ofBusinessof theCouncilofStates(RajyaSabha),” it said.Askedwhyhispartywasnot

a signatory to the joint state-ment,SukhenduShekharRoyofTrinamool Congress said:“Neitherdidtheyconsultusbe-fore issuing the statement, nordidwereachout to them.”His colleagueDolaSen,who

was suspended earlier inSeptember 2020 for behaviourduringthepassageof farmlaws,saidthegovernmentwillnotbeable to “silence dissentingvoices”. “This is complete law-lessness,” shesaid.Shanta Chhetri said: “While

wewere protesting that day, Ifelt unwell, andwas rushed tohospital... Even the motion tosuspend uswas brought with-outanyconsultation.This isourpunishment for raising issuesthataffectthemasses,beitfarmBillsorPegasus.”Shiv Sena’s Priyanka

Chaturvedisaid:“Evencriminalsare allowed to give their ver-sions… If speaking for the peo-ple isunruly... I amwilling todoit a thousandtimesover”.WhileAkhileshPrasadSingh

of Congress called the suspen-sion“unfortunateandundemo-cratic”,hispartycolleagueSyedNasirHussain said “thegovern-ment is throttling the voices ofdissent inParliament”.Borasaid:“Thesuspensionis

nothingbutpoliticalvindictive-ness.It ismurderofdemocracy...They will have to pay a heavyprice for this in2024,”hesaid.Patelsaid:“If theyhadtosus-

pend us… they should havedone it in the last session. Howcan you suspend an MP forsomethingwhich happened intheprevioussession?”Verma said: “Some of the

memberswhoclimbedontothetableandtorefileswerenotsus-pended…Theydidnotevengiveusachance tospeak.”Viswamsaid:“If thegovern-

ment believes that such a sus-pensionwill deterus fromcon-tinuing to raise people’s issues,it is going tobedisappointed.”Kareem said the action has

no justification. “There is noprecedent or practice of takingaction against a member forsomethingwhichhadhappenedin theprevioussession.”

A questionExternal Affairs be pleased tostateA)Whether it is a fact thatanumberofNRIsbasedoutsideIndia were harassed at the air-ports and even sent back fromAirports; B) If so the detailsthereof inthelastthreeyears;C)Whether it isa fact thatsomeofthemwere asked to stop help-ingfarmersagitationagainstthethree farm lawsby the authori-ties;D)ifsothedetailsthereof?”Thequestionsweretobean-

sweredbytheMEAonMonday,the day the Farm Laws RepealBill,2021,wastabledandpassedby both the Lok Sabha and theRajyaSabhawithoutadebate.The sources saidmailswere

sent onNovember 23 to the di-visions concerne in theMEA toseekinputsontheprovisionallyadmitted questions including

Venugopal’s by November 29.Venugopal’squestions,however,didnot findmention in the ten-tative list of Finally AdmittedQuestions(FAQs)clearedbytheministryonNovember26.Venugopal told The Indian

Express,“Earliertheyusedtogivea clear reason for dropping aquestionbutthistimetheyonlyconveyeditorally.Anotherques-tion of mine on the JallianwalaBagh renovation was alsodropped.” Pointing out that itwastherightofamembertoaskaquestion,hesaid,“Itisnot‘anti-national’…Thisisaclearcutdic-tatorialwayof functioning.”Thetentativelistofquestions

forDecember2 includedfinallyadmitted questions on the fol-lowing topics: Easing travelingrestrictions; Augmenting rela-tionshipswithTaiwan;Hindiasone of the official languages intheUN; India-Afghanistanrela-tions; Reciprocal VaccineCertificate; Passport SevaKendra inruralandsemi-urbanareas;Salarycutsandnon-pay-ment of wages from the coun-triesabroad;SecondIndia-NewZealand Bilateral CyberDialogue; Membership inNuclearSuppliersGroup(NSG);Visits of foreign dignitaries andHumanrightsviolationsagainstTamils inSri Lanka.Thefinaladmittedlistforthe

RajyaSabhaclearedonMondayfor December 2 comprises allquestions approved in the ten-tative list except Venugopal’squestion,whichwasmissing inthe tentative list too.A questionnaire sent to the

MEA spokesperson remainedunanswered.When called, thespokespersonattheRajyaSabhaSecretariatdeclinedacomment.The admissibility of ques-

tionsinRajyaSabhaisgovernedby Rules 47-50 of the Rules ofProcedure and Conduct ofBusinessintheCouncilofStates.Ordinarily, once a questionwhich fulfils the conditions ofadmissibility is received, it issent to theministry concerned.On receipt of the facts in re-sponsetothereferencemadebythe Secretariat, the question isfurtherexamined.Admittingordisallowingquestionsisthesolediscretionof theChairman.Theprinted lists of questions, circu-lated toMinisters, are the finallists on the basis of whichMinistries frametheir answers.Aseniorofficial,whodidnot

wish to be named, said, “Thequestion concerned has likelybeendisallowedasitisnotmen-tioned anywhere in the finallyadmittedquestionsforitssched-uled date. There aremany pro-visions under the Rajya Sabharules that can remove a ques-tion.” The Rajya Sabha lists 22conditionsof admissibility.Duringthemonsoonsession

of Parliament, the governmenthadmoved to disallow a ques-tioninRajyaSabhawhichaskedif the government had enteredinto a contract with Israeli cy-bersecurity firmNSOGroup.The government had then

said that “the ongoing issue ofPegasus” was sub judice after“several PILs have been filed intheSupremeCourt”. Ithadthenwritten to the Rajya SabhaSecretariat seeking that the“Provisionally AdmittedQuestion” by CPI MP BinoyViswam scheduled to be an-swered on August 12, 2021, intheRajyaSabha,benotallowed.The letter said, “It would be

noted that Part (a) to (c) of PAQseeks to know about the ongo-ing issue of Pegasus owned byNSO Group. On this issue, sev-eral PILs have been filed in theSupremeCourt.”Citing Rule 47 (xix) of the

RulesofProcedureandConductof Council of States (RajyaSabha),dealingwithadmissibil-ity of questions, the letter said,anadmittedquestion“shallnotask for information onmatterwhich is under adjudication byacourtof lawhavingjurisdiction

inanypartof India”.

Dorsey quitsoverseeing machine learningand AI. Since joining Twittertenyearsago,hehas ledeffortsonscalingTwitterAdssystems,as well as re-accelerating usergrowth by improving hometimeline relevance.Prior to joining Twitter, he

was involved with research inlarge-scale data managementwithcollaboratorsatMicrosoftResearch,Yahoo!Research,andAT&T Labs.Agrawal holds a Ph.D. in

Computer Science fromStanford University and aBachelor'sDegree inComputerScience and Engineering fromIIT-Bombay, from where hegraduated in 2005.Agrawal joins a list of

Indian-American tech bosses,which currently includes IBMchairman and CEO ArvindKrishna, Microsoft chairmanandCEOSatyaNadella,Googleand Alphabet CEO SundarPichai and Adobe chairman,president and CEO ShantanuNarayen.Lately,underDorseyasCEO,

Twitter has been embroiled indifferent controversies acrosskey markets, including India.Just months after his visit toIndia in November 2018,Dorsey was summoned by a31-member committee ofParliamentarians to get hisviews on “safeguarding citi-zens’ rights on social/ onlinenewsmedia platforms”.Thisyear,Twitterhadarun-

in with the Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology after the mi-croblogging platform did notremove certain accountsflagged by the government.In May, following the is-

suanceof thenewrules for so-cialmediaplatforms, theDelhiPolicevisitedthecompany’sof-fices to serve a notice askingtopexecutives to jointheprobeinto a complaint by theCongress against allegationstweeted by BJP leaders of a“toolkit” plot to malign thePrime Minister and theGovernment.The social media giant had

termed the Delhi Police’s visitas “intimidation tactics”—andsaid it was concerned for itsemployees in India, and by a“potential threat” to freespeech of Twitter users.On Monday, following the

newsofDorseysteppingdown,Twitter’s stock jumped morethan 10 per cent on the US ex-changes at the opening bell.The 45-year old co-founder ofTwitterhasbeenallocatinghistime to his other ventures in-cluding digital payments firmSquare, which he also co-founded. According to reports,the board of Twitter had beenlooking for a full-time CEO forthe social media companysince the past year.Dorseyco-foundedTwitter

in 2006, and served as CEO till2008beforehewaspushedoutof his role at the time. He re-turned to the company in theexecutiverole in2015after for-merCEODickCostoloresigned.For Agrawal, the appoint-

menthascomeata timewhenTwitter isaggressivelypushingforgrowth.Earlier thisyear, thefirmannounced itsaimtohave315 million monetisable dailyactiveusersby theendof 2023andtoat leastdouble itsannualrevenue by then.In an internal mail to

DorseyandTwitteremployees,Agrawal wrote: “We recentlyupdatedourstrategytohitam-bitious goals, and I believe thestrategy to be bold and right.But our critical challenge ishow we work to executeagainst it and deliver results”.Hepostedacopyofhismail

on Twitter.FULLREPORTSON

www.indianexpress.com

FROMPAGEONE

House clears farm laws repeal Bill

Boycott session or take fight to Govt? Opp decides today

whowere there initially, re-turnedtotheirseatstolettheirleader Adhir RanjanChowdhuryspeakontheirbe-half.“Whenitislistedasconsid-

eration andpassing of the Bill,why can’t there be a debate?This government, since 2014,hasbeenpassingandrepealingBills without any discussion.YouhavetakenthisHouseforaride,”Chowdharyalleged.The Speaker said there

could be discussions later buttherehadtobedecorumintheHouse.HerepeatedlysaidthattheHousehadtobeinorderforadebate.Chowdhury’s party col-

leagueMallikarjunKhargetoldRajya Sabha that everyone“welcomes”therepealBill,andthatnobodyisagainstit.But,hesaid, it took the government ayear and threemonths to takebackthethree“black” laws.Khargesaidwhenthethree

farm Bills were brought toParliament for discussion, “allmembers,whetherfromLoweror Upper House, NGOs andfarmerunions,protested..theysaid it is not in the favour offarmers, it will be against

them”.He accused the govern-

mentofrepealingthelawsonlydue to electoral compulsions.He said the rulingBJPwas im-pacted in the recent by-elec-tionsinseveralstates“andthenthere are elections in fivestates”comingup,andthatthegovernmentfeelsitwillhaveanimpact intheseelectionstoo.Tomarmaintainedthatthe

“government had brought thethreeBillsforthebettermentofthe farmers” but “we are sadthatsometimes,evenaftertry-ing…evenafterCongressmen-tionedit intheirmanifestobuthad a hypocritical attitude to-wards it…wewere unable toconvince the farmers duringourdiscussions”.He said the PrimeMinister

“demonstratedhistoricmagna-nimity,”andannouncedthere-pealofthelawsonGuruNanakDev Jayanti. “This showsunityin the PrimeMinister’swordsandactions,”hesaid.“Wehave comehere to re-

peal the laws, thegovernmentisreadyandtheOppositionhasbeen demanding. Therefore,there is no need to discuss itand the repeal Bill should be

passed,”Tomarsaid.UnionHomeMinisterAmit

Shah and Defence MinisterRajnath Singhwerepresent inLok Sabhawhen the Bill waspassed.ModiwasinLokSabhawhenitmetinthemorningbutdid not return to the Housewhenproceedingsresumedaf-ter a brief adjournment atnoon.The start of the session in

LokSabhasawOppositionMPsrushtotheWell,raisingvariousissues. While Congress andTMCMPsraisedslogansinsup-port of farmers, DMK’s T RBaalu demanded that theHouse pass a resolution con-doling the death of farmersduringtheagitationagainstthefarm laws. In Rajya Sabha too,memberswere in theWell oftheHouse,holdingplacardsde-manding uniform procure-mentpolicy.Outside ParliamentHouse,

Congress leaderRahulGandhicriticised the government’smove to pass the repeal Billwithoutdiscussion.“Earlier, we had said that

the government will have towithdraw the farm laws, andtoday these laws were re-

pealed. It is unfortunate thatthe farm lawswere repealedwithout discussion. This gov-ernment is scaredof holdingadiscussion,”hesaid.TheOpposition intensified

its protests in the afternoon inLok Sabhawhile Rajya Sabhadescended into chaos after amotionwasmovedtosuspend12OppositionMPs over theirbehaviourduringthemonsoonsession.Earlierintheday,beforethe

two Houses met, PrimeMinisterModisaidthegovern-mentwas ready to discuss allissues in the House.Discussions, and not disrup-tions, should be the yardstickon which the success ofParliamentmust beweighed,hesaid.“Our government is ready

toanswerall questionsduringthe winter session ofParliament,” he said. Statingthat the dignity of the Houseand the Chair must bemain-tained,Modi said: “Weshoulddebate in Parliament, andmaintain the decorum of theproceedings.“Sawalbhi, shantibhi(askquestions,maintainor-der),”hesaid.

TheCongress,sourcessaid,didnot reveal itsmind imme-diately. Some Congress lead-erssaidboycottingthesessionwould be an extreme re-sponse.“Thegovernmentthenwill

haveafreerun.Wecannotva-cate thespace.Wehavetone-gotiate and arrive at a tacticaltruce,” aCongress leader said.Sources said one proposal

is for members to meet theChairman inhis chamber andexpressregretsothatsuspen-sion can be revoked. But thishasbeenstronglyopposedbysomeof thesuspendedmem-

bers.The Trinamool Congress

neitherattendedthemorningmeetingofOppositionleadersconvened by Kharge nor theoneafterthesuspensionof the12 MPs though two amongthemare fromtheparty.ENS adds: Earlier in the

day, Venkaiah Naidu referredto the incident of the last ses-sion.Inhisopeningaddress,hesaid“bitterandunpleasantex-periences” of the monsoonsession“stillcontinuetohauntmostof us”.“The treasury benches

wantedadetailedinquiryinto

theconductofsomemembersduring the final two days ofthe last turbulent session,” hesaid, adding that he had triedto reachout to leadersof vari-ousparties.“Some of them made it

clear that their memberswould not be a party to anysuch inquiry. Some leaders,however, expressed concernover the way the functioningof theHousewasderaileddur-ing the last session and con-demnedtheunrulyincidents,”Naidu said.“Onmypart, Iwasexpect-

ingandwaitingfortheleading

lights of this august House totake the lead in expressingtheir outrage over what hadhappenedduring the last ses-sionwithassurancesof intro-spectionandspiritedeffortstopreventrecurrenceof suchin-cidents.Suchassurancesbyallconcernedwouldhavehelpedme in appropriately handlingthematter.Butunfortunately,itwasnottobe,”hesaid,refer-ring to unruly scenes in theHouseonAugust11duringthepassage of the GeneralInsurance Business(Nationalisation)AmendmentBill.

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Politics has takenover public interest:Delhi govt in HCon ration schemeEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

DEFENDINGITShomedeliveryof ration scheme, the DelhigovernmentarguedbeforetheHigh Court that “politics hastakenoverpublicinterest”andtermed objections against it“egotistic”. Terming it a pro-gressive scheme, the govern-mentsaidtherewasnoexplicitprohibitionagainstitundertheNationalFoodSecurityAct.“It would require a very

verystrangelegislationtosug-gest that in this time... ofdoorstep delivery of almostanythingandeverything,beitAmazonornon-Amazon,beitfood articles like Swiggy orotherdeliveries,yourlordshipis told that ration delivery tothedeservingandtheentitledshould not be done by thismethodology,” argued senioradvocate Abhishek ManuSinghvi, who represents thegovernment,duringthehear-ing of a petition challengingthescheme.Terming the petition filed

byDelhiSarkariRationDealersSangh a proxy litigation, thegovernment contended thatwhileNFSAisacentralAct,thesameispremisedupontheop-erationalworkbeinghandledby the state government andnottheunion.“Yourlordshipshavetosee

through this. Ultimately poli-tics has taken over public in-terest. ‘Don’t call itmukhyamantri’ is the objection. You(thoseobjecting)don’twantaschemewhich isbothbenefi-

cial andwill get support fromthepublic,”submittedSinghvi,referring to the initial objec-tionofthecentralgovernmentagainstthescheme’sname.Healso said “an overwhelmingpercent of people” in Delhihad opted for the schemethroughthe ‘call system’.However, the division

bench of Justice Vipin Sanghiand Justice Jasmeet Singhob-served that the questionwasnotof itbeingabetterschemebut whether it was coveredundertheNFSA.Itrecalledthatthe central government in itsargumentshadprincipallyop-posed the ouster of fair priceshops(FPS) fromthesystem.“EvenASGdidnot say that

doorstep delivery cannot bethere,butwhat isbeingsaid isthereisanarchitecture...Whatareyouproposingtodo?Ifyouare proposing to take grainfromcentralgovernment,giveit to tendered contractors forcleaning and conversion, andtheywilldeliverittothebene-ficiaries,whichmeans theFPSarenowhere,”saidthecourt.Singhvisubmittedthatone

FPSwouldbeineverycircle.“Itisfromthesecirclesthathomedeliverypersonpicksup... notbypasses,” he said. The argu-mentswillcontinueinthecaseonDecember3.On November 22,

Additional Solicitor GeneralAishwarya Bhati had termedfairprice shops integral to thearchitecture of the NFSA. OnMonday,Bhatisubmittedtheywereconcernedwitha“com-plete compliance of theman-date of NFSA” and not inter-estedinanyotherthing.

3 men arrested for hacking exam centre computersNewDelhi:TheDelhiPoliceCyberCell arrested threemenwhoruncoaching centres in Delhi andAhmedabadforallegedlyhelpinghundreds of students cheat incompetitiveexams.Police said the trio used the

darkwebtoadvertise their serv-ices,andwouldhacksystemsand

changeanswersduringonlineex-ams. To ensure no one from thetest centre suspected them, theyused software to detect move-ment of all people inside using acomputer there,police said.Seniorpoliceofficers said the

accusedchargedRs1-2lakhfromeachcandidatetohelpthemclear

examssuchasGMAT,GATE,CAT.KPS Malhotra, DCP (Cyber

Cell), said, “Our teamwas surfingthe dark web when we cameacross the gang. Two accusedworkfromAhmedabad.Thethirdis a technical expertwhoworksfromShaheenBagh. Theyhelpedstudentsappearingforcollegead-

missionsandjobsintheITsector.”Theyhadstudentsregisteron

their platform. One personwould be assigned to check thesurroundings of the candidateusing a software and webcamduring the test. The other ac-cusedwouldsolvethepaperanduploadanswers,policesaid.ENS

0-50 Good

ANANDVIHARSevere

0 500

428AQIPM2.5

SIRIFORTVeryPoor

0 500

SHADIPURVeryPoor

0 500 500

51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate 201-300 Poor 301-400 VeryPoor 401-500 Severe

IHBASVeryPoor

0

320AQIPM2.5

FORECAST:Nov30Partlycloudysky.Shallowfoginthemorning.

S K Y WA T C H

MAX: 250.6°Cbelownormal

MIN:100.1°Cabovenormal

361AQIPM10

361AQIPM2.5

New Delhi

ABHINAVRAJPUTNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

APHOTOGRAPHofTamilauthorPerumalMurugan has inadver-tentlymadeit tothepostersofacampaignbeingrunbytheDelhiBJP for the capital’s slumdwellers. Part of a campaigncalledtheJhuggiSammanYatra,theposter—sharedbytheDelhiBJPonitsTwitterhandleandalsoput up in parts of the city —showsMuruganamongagroupof people, ostensibly meant torepresent residentsof slums.When contacted about the

faux pas, BJP Delhi vice-presi-dentRajanTiwari said, “Wewillcheck with the design teamaboutwhathappened.”Murugan, when contacted,

toldTheIndianExpress:“Imyselfbelong to slums, so I am de-lighted. I amhappy to have fea-turedalongwith them.”Thepostersevenmadeittoa

Delhi BJP event held in Patel

NagaronMonday,addressedbyparty president JP Nadda andDelhiunit chief AdeshGupta.Murugan has authored 10

novelsandseveralcollectionsofshort storiesandpoems.

ABJP leadersaidthatusually,thedesignworkforsuchpostersis either outsourced to a privateagency or is handled by theparty’s IT team, but it first has tobe approved by the party’s top

functionaries.“Asperprocedure,an original photograph from apreviousBJPprogrammeorrallyshouldhavebeenused,insteadofsuchaphotographwhosesourceisnotknown,”saidtheleader.

BJP Delhi president Guptaandvice-presidentAshokGoel,whowerecoordinatingthepro-gramme,didnot respondtore-peatedattemptsseekingacom-ment.TheJhuggiSammanYatraisa

month-and-a-half-longoutreachprogramme to be held in slumsofDelhiaheadof theMCDpolls.Nadda, while addressing

Monday’s event as part of theinitiative, said, “Only falseprop-agandawasdoneinthenameofdevelopment in Delhi; blamingothers has become a habit ofDelhi government. If workwasnot done, it was said that thecentralgovernmentdidnotdoit.WhateverworkModi jidid,they(the AAP government) cam-paignedbypastingtheirpictureonthatwork.”“The Centre fought the fight

againstcoronaallovertheworld.PrimeMinister NarendraModifought this fight against coronabytakingthegovernmentaswellas thesocietyalong,”hesaid.

Theposter (left) showingMuruganamongagroupofpeople,ostensiblymeant torepresentresidentsof slums,alsomade it toaDelhiBJPeventheld inPatelNagaronMonday. (Right)Theposter inthebackgroundasBJPpresident JPNaddaaddresses theaudience.Express

BACK TO SCHOOLDelhi schools,whichwereshutbrieflybecauseof arise inpollution levels, reopenedonMonday.GajendraYadav

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

THEDELHIDisasterManagementAuthority has asked the statehealthdepartmenttomakesurethere are enoughhospital beds,medicines, andmedical oxygenin the city to battle a possiblespikeinCovidcases.In ameetingheldMonday to

discussinterventionsandactionstobetakeninviewoftheOmicronvariant beingdetected in severalcountries, chaired by L-G AnilBaijal,itwasdecidedtosticktothetest,track,treatstrategyearnestly,and to follow-upwith interna-tionalpassengerswhohavetobeplacedunderhomeisolation.TheDelhihealthdepartment

has also designated Lok NayakHospitalasthededicatedfacilityto treatpatients testingpositivefor the new Covid variant. Thehospital has been asked to ear-mark wards for isolating andtreatingsuchpatients.At present, Delhi has 8,968

hospitalbedsreserved forCovidpatients. Of these, 128 are occu-pied.Ithasanother3,871bedsinCovid care facilities and 140 inCovid health care institutions.Out of these, only onebed is oc-cupiedinaCovidcarefacility.Outofthe285activecasesinthecity,122areunderhomeisolation.Chief Minister Arvind

Kejriwal, DeputyChiefMinisterManish Sisodia, healthministerSatyendarJain,revenueministerKailash Gahlot, NITI AayogmemberDrVKPaul,DrSKSinghfromNCDC,DrRandeepGuleriafrom AIIMS, Dr S Panda fromICMRwereamongthosewhoat-

tendedthemeeting.“The new variant was dis-

cussed during the meeting.There is uncertainty across theglobe about its impact. In themeeting,scientistsdiscussedtheinformationwe have about thevariant at present... We are onalert in any case. The plan cre-ated during the deadly secondwavewillbebroughtintoactionif cases increase.Our facilitiesatRamlila Maidan and DilshadGarden can be operationalised,if needbe,” Sisodia said.In themeeting, sources said,

the spike in cases in countrieswhere the variant has been de-tected so far was discussed.“Preliminaryevidence” that thevariantposesan“increasedrisk”ofreinfectionwasalsodiscussed.“Caseshavebeenrisingacross

severalwesterncountries.Thesetrendswere also discussed. Theprotocolforinternationalpassen-gerswho enter India, especiallyfromcountrieswherethevarianthas been detected, will be thesameasthatissuedbytheCentre.

Tracking,testing,andisolatingbe-comes very important in thiscase. The Delhi governmentwantedtheCentretobanincom-ing flights fromcountries at riskbutthereseemstobenodecisionon that yet,” said anofficialwhodidnotwanttobenamed.All passengers who come

from high-risk countries willhave toundergoRT-PCR tests attheairport.Thesamplesofthosewhotestpositivewillbesentforgenomesequencing.Experts,meanwhile,saidthe

speed of vaccination needed tobe increased to make sure asmany people as possible havegot at least one dosewithin thecoming fewweeks. At present,1.37 crore people have got atleast one shot. Of these, 87 lakhhave got both shots. The totalpopulation that is eligible for avaccineisanestimated1.5crore.However, many people fromNCR towns also got vaccinatedin the city. On Sunday, over28,000peoplegotvaccineshots.

(withPTI inputs)

Noideawherecircusanimalsare:HighCourtrapsAnimalWelfareBoardNewDelhi:TheDelhiHighCourt Monday sum-moned AnimalWelfareBoardof India’sSecretaryand pulled up the statu-torybodyfornotcomply-ingwith court directionspertaining to the condi-tion of captive animals,which were in circusesthat shut down duringthepandemic. Itdirectedthe AWBI to disclosewhereabouts of all per-forming animals keptwith such circuses, andlistedthecaseforhearingon February 9. The divi-sion bench of JusticesVipinSanghiandJasmeetSinghsaid itwillnothes-itate to initiate contemptaction against the officerfor not complying withthe order. “There is utternon-compliance of ourdirections,” it said.ENS

KejriwalgivesRs1crtokinofsanitationworkerwhodiedofCovidNew Delhi: CM ArvindKejriwalMondayhandedoverachequeofRs1croretothehusbandofasanita-tionworkerwho died ofCovid in May. “Sunita jiwas a frontline warriorworking as a swachhatakaramchari with EastMCD... Shewas a coura-geouswomanwhoservedthepeopleofDelhiduringthe toughest times. Sheputherlifeonstaketopro-tect us,” Kejriwal said, af-terhemether familyandhanded over the cheque.The Delhi governmenthas so far extended anamountofRs1croreto18“coronawarriors”.PTI

BRIEFLY

Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 13,507 13,350ICU BEDS 2,791 2,765

Cases Recoveries Deaths TestsNov28 32 33 1 53,515Nov29 34 36 1 43,399Total 285* 14,15,517 25,098 3,08,68,725

CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL *T

otalactivecases

TOTAL CASES

14,40,900VACCINATIONS INLAST24HOURS

28,0984THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Delhi govtreleases EVcharging normsfor corporates

BJP’s poster showing slum dwellers has curiousaddition: Tamil author Perumal Murugan


THEBANonentryof trucks car-rying non-essentials into Delhi,except electric trucks and thosethatrunonCNG,willcontinuetillDecember 7, while the ban onconstructionanddemolitionwillcontinuetillfurtherorders,asperEnvironmentMinisterGopalRai.The SupremeCourt order is-

sued lastweek had re-imposedthebanonconstructionactivitiesintheNCRuntil furtherorders.Rai was speaking after a

meeting held with officials ofvarious departments Monday.Schools, which were shutbriefly because of a rise in pol-lution levels, re-opened, andemployees of government of-fices who had been workingfrom home, returned to work-ing fromofficesMonday.After threeconsecutivedays

of AQI in the ‘severe’ category,the air quality was in the ‘verypoor’ categoryMonday,withan

AQI of 389, as per the CentralPollution Control Board bul-letin.TheSAFARforecastattrib-utes the marginal improve-ment to local winds that arepossibly increasing dispersionof pollutants on Monday andTuesday. Wind speed is likelyto fallagainonDecember1,andAQI could deteriorate slightly,the forecast indicates.

SCmulls independenttask force on pollution

TheSupremeCourtMondayasked states in the NCR andPunjab to appraise it about theimplementation of various di-rections given by it and theCommission for Air QualityManagementforcurbingairpol-lution and said that itmight setupan independent task force toensure the implementation ofthedirections.A three-judgebenchheaded

by Chief Justice of India N VRamanasaidthatwhiletheinten-tionsof the central authorities inissuing various directions to thestatesmaybegood, their imple-mentationhasbeen“zero”.“Wewillaskstateswhatthey

havedonetoimplement... If theydon’t(implement),wewillcreatean independent task force our-selves”, the CJI said as SolicitorGeneral TusharMehta took thecourt through the directions is-sued by the Commission fromtimetotime.


CHARGINGSOCKETS,CCTVcam-eras, fire detection systems, anddynamic route maps on LCDscreens are part of DelhiMetroRail Corporation’s ‘refurbish-ment’of thefirstof70trainsthatwere inducted as part of Phase IoftheDelhiMetrofrom2002on-wards. These trains have beenshowingsignsofwearandtear.Whilethenewertrainscame

with these facilities, the olderones had to be retrofitted to in-clude these in a ‘mid-life’ refur-bishment exercise, according toDMRCofficials. The first suchre-

furbishedtrain,onefromtheBlueLinethatconnectsDwarkaSector21withNoidaElectronicCityandVaishali, was unveiled at theYamunaBankDepotonMondayandislikelytoberolledoutsoon.Inadditiontomobileandlap-

topchargingsockets,CCTVsandafiredetectionsystem,workdoneonthe first train includes repair-ingthefloorsthathaddevelopedcracks and undulations, a freshcoat of paint to fix scratches anddents, and upgraded electricalpanels.Theoldertrainshadroutemapsonstickers,andhalfoftheseare being converted to LCDscreenswithdynamicmaps.The average lifespan of the

trainsisaround30years,accord-

ing toDMRCofficials, and thosethatwerepressedintoservicebe-tween 2002 and 2007, underPhase1,havecompletedover14yearsonthetracks.Acontracthasbeenawarded

for refurbishmentof 10 trains, atacostofaroundRs40to45crore,andworkon these is likely to becompleted by September nextyear. Work on seven of thesetrainswillbedoneattheYamunaBankMetroDepot,which is thedepotfortheBlueLine,whiletheremainingthreetrainswillbere-furbished at the Shastri ParkMetroDepotthatfunctionsasthedepotfortheRedLine.A tenderhasbeen floated for

the remaining 60 trains that are

to be spruced up. These are thetrains that operate on the Red,BlueandYellowLines.Although inspections and

cleaning of the interiors andequipment are carried out peri-odically, this is the first such ‘re-furbishment’,DMRCofficialssaid.The first train took around twomonths to refurbish, and the re-maining trains are likely to takearoundamonthofworkpertrain.DMRChasafleetof355trains.

They cover around400-600 kmperday, inaround16to18hoursof service. The refurbishment ismeanttobringtotheoldertrainsthe look and systems that are innewer coaches introduced inDMRC’smorerecentexpansions.

PART OF REFURBISHMENT PLAN

Charging sockets, CCTVs, LCD maps — 70 old Metro trains to get upgrade

Thefirst suchrefurbishedtrain,onefromtheBlueLine,wasunveiledat theYamunaBankDepotonMondayandis likely toberolledoutsoon. PraveenKhanna

New Delhi: The Dialogue andDevelopment Commission ofDelhi (DDC) launched a guide-book for EV Charging in work-places for corporates,Monday.DDC vice-chairperson

Jasmine Shah said research sug-gested that 90% of EVs arechargedathomeorworkplace.“This guidebook details the

processes involved for effectivedecision-making to installworkplacechargingandisaimedatmaking corporates an integralpartoftheEVmovement,”hesaid.Delhiatpresenthas380pub-

lic EV charging points and thiswill be increased to 500 pointsin thenext sixmonths.“Tobuildcharginginfrastruc-

ture at mass scale, we are alsosubsidising private installationof chargers. The private sectorshowed great interest and weheard their concerns regardingplanningandimplementationofEV charging stations at work-places...,” Shahsaid.ENS

Expertsalsosaid thespeedof vaccinationneededtobeincreased.AmitMehra

DDMAMEETINGONNEWVARIANT

Covid action plan: test,track and treat; ensurehospitals are ready

ANANDMOHANJNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

FORMER JNU student UmarKhalid,throughhislawyer,askedaDelhicourtMondaywhypoliceallowedtheNortheastDelhiriotsto take placewhen a protectedwitnesswassupposedlyintouchwith the local SHO, informinghimabouttheplanning.Senior advocate Trideep Pais

was arguing for bail onbehalf ofUmarbeforeAdditionalSessionsJudgeAmitabhRawat.However,his arguments couldnotbecon-cluded and will continue onDecember9.During Monday’s hearing,

Pais submitted that awitnessesin theUAPA case hadmade im-proved statements to theMagistrate and that theywere“cherrypicked”bypolicearoundUmar’sarrest.Referringtothestatementof

a protected witness, whoclaimedhewasintouchwiththelocalSHO,Paistoldthecourt,“HesaysheisregularlyintouchwithSHO(Seelampur)whoaskshimto keep himupdated. If you areintouchwithSHO,thenwhydidyou not ensure that nothingwenton?Whathappened?Theyare such adarsh citizens... they

saysuchnoblethoughtsandarein touchwith thepolice... isn’t itapparent that these witnesseswereprocured?”Paissaidthiswitnessmetthe

SHO sometime in January 2020and that theofficer knewevery-thingbeforehand. “Sometime inJanuary,I(witness)methim,thenhecalledmeandaskedmetotellhim everything. So SeelampurSHOkneweverything. Howdidwehaveriotsinthecity?Thisbril-liant intelligence that he hadaboutthisandhedidnotregisteranFIR,”Paissubmitted.Paisapprisedthecourtabout

the protectedwitnesses’ state-mentswhichtalkabouta ‘secretmeeting’attendedbytheriotac-cused, inwhichtheplanning forthe riots allegedly took place.

Referringtoonesuchstatement,hetoldthecourtthatthewitness,aftermakinghisstatementtothepolice, “miraculously remem-bered themeeting after sevendays” in his statement to theMagistrate.On allegations that women

andchildrenwereropedinbytheaccused as a cover for theirprotests, Pais told the court,“Advocacy against a law is not acrime.ItisnotindoubtthatwhentheCAAkicksinandNRCstarts,apersonwithoutdocumentsisputin detention... Is there a singlewoman and child who comesforth and sayswewere cannonfodder?”Paissubmitted.He then read out the state-

ment of a witness who told aMagistrate that Umar gave aspeechwherewordslikechakkajamand“bloodmustbe spilled”wereused.“Hedoesn’t claimtobepres-

entatthemeetingbutgivesgran-ular details of themeeting. Hedoesn’tcallitasecretmeeting,butchargesheetcallsitasecretmeet-ing.VideosandphotosareoutonFacebook.Howcanasecretmeet-ing have selfies posted onFacebook?Certainly,itisnotase-cret.Thismustmeantheprotest-ers are dumbor the police doesnotknowthem,”Paissubmitted.

Why no action if police knew ofriots plan beforehand, asks Umar

UmarKhalid

Schools reopen after pollutionbreak, construction ban still on

Thebanonconstructionanddemolitionwill continuetillfurtherorders.GajendraYadav

New Delhi

New Delhi


INPARLIAMENTWinterSession


FROMTHECHAIRRAJYASABHA

“Onmy part, I wasexpecting andwaitingfor the leading lights ofthis augustHouse totake lead in expressingtheir outrage over whathad happened duringthe last session... Butunfortunately, it wasnot to be.”MVENKAIAHNAIDU,Chairman inhis opening remarks

LOKSABHA

“Today is the first day.Everyone has highexpectations from thissession... Please do notcome to the well of theHouse…”RAJENDRAAGRAWAL, in theChair,toOppositionmembers before headjourned theHouse till Tuesday

5QUESTIONSKODIKUNNIL SURESH, CONGRESSCHIEFWHIP IN LOK SABHA, TELLSLIZMATHEWWHYHIS PARTYDID NOTWANT TOBE IN THEWELL OF THEHOUSEWHEN THE FARMLAWSREPEALBILLWAS TAKENUP

CongressMPsreturnedtotheirseatswhentheFarmLawsRepealBillwastakenupwhilesomeotheroppositionmemberswerestill inthewell.Yes. Itwas theparty'sdecisionnot todisruptduringthepassageof theBill.Butwewantedtodiscussanumberof issuesrelatedto the farmBills...Wehaddecidedtoraise theLakhimpurKheri incidentalso.Butwedidnotwant tobe in thewelloftheHousewhentheBillwas tabled,otherwiseBJPwouldhaveaccusedtheCongressofdisruptingtherepealingprocess.

Didthepartymakethedemandforadebateearlier?TheCongress,TMCandDMKtogetherdemandedadiscussionafter theBillwas introduced.Wemadeourcase in theBusinessAdvisoryCommittee (BAC)meeting.

Butthegovernmentrejectedyourdemand...Thegovernmentknewthat itwouldbeexposed ifwediscussedtheissues.Wewereallprepared for thediscussions.But lasteveningtheysaid theywouldnotallowadebate.Itwouldhavebeenondefensive ifthedebate tookplace.

TheOppositionwasnottogetherandTMCMPswerestillprotesting...ButtheTMCalsomadethesamedemandintheBAC.TMC'sKalyanBanerjeestoodforitveryaggressivelyintheSpeaker'smeeting.

DoyouthinktherewillbeunityamongtheOppositionintheWinterSession?TheCongress is tryingto talk tootherparty leadersalso toputupaunitedoppositionagainst thegovernment.... Therearemanyissues...wecanbeonthesameboard in thecomingdays.

From The Gallery

Govt ready todiscuss allissues, answerall questions: PM

CongresspresidentSoniaGandhi, seniorparty leaderRahulGandhiandotherOpposition leadersprotestatParliamentHouseonMonday; (right)AgricultureMinisterNarendraTomar.Anil Sharma


THEOPPOSITIONparties criticised the gov-ernmentforstonewallingtheirdemandforadiscussionontheFarmLawsRepealBill,2021,whichwaspassedbyParliamentonMonday.WhiletheCongresssaidthegovernment

was “terrified” of having a discussion, theCPI(M) called it a “murder of India’s parlia-mentary democracy”, the TrinamoolCongress called it “shameless”, and the RJDsaid itwas“undemocratic”.Speaking to reporters, senior Congress

leader Rahul Gandhi said the Congress hadpredicted that the governmentwould havetotakebackthefarmlawsasitknewthatthe“might of three-four large crony capitalistscannot stand against themight of farmersand labourers”.“WhatisunfortunateishowtheBillshave

been repealedwithout anydiscussion,with-out any conversation.Wewanted to have aconversation about the forces behind theseBills, because theseBills don’t just reflect theviewof the PrimeMinister, they reflect thepowerbehindthePrimeMinister,thepowerofpeopleandforcesbehindthePrimeMinister,andthatiswhatwewantedtodiscuss,”hesaid.On theBJP’s argument that therewasno

needforadiscussionsincethefarmBillswerebeing repealed, he said: “Thenwhat is theneed for Parliament. Shut it down. Then thePrimeMinister can saywhatever hewantsandenactwhateverlawshewantstoenact.”CPI(M)generalsecretarySitaramYechury

saidwhilethePrimeMinistersermonisesondebatesinParliament,nodiscussionwasal-lowed in both Houses. “It is a murder ofIndia’sparliamentarydemocracy,”hesaid.“ModiI(2014-19):Repealing&Amending

Bill 2017was one instance. SixMPs partici-pated in the discussion. A fig leaf of democ-

racythen.Someshame.ModiII(2019-today):#FarmLaws Repeal Bill 2021 taken up andpassed.Nodebateallowed.Notevenafigleafof democracy. Shameless,” tweeted TMCRajyaSabhafloor leaderDerekO’Brien.BSPchiefMayawatisaidthepassageofthe

Bill was a “real victory of democracy” butquestioned the government’s “silence” overthe demand for a legal guarantee formini-mumsupportprice.“People cannot forget the manner in

which farm laws were passed and theywould always remember the ‘undemocra-tic’styleinwhichfarmlawswererepealed...the only consistent feature of this regime isto decimate democratic processes andpro-cedure24X7.Yet this ‘phase’ tooshallpass,”said seniorRJD leaderManoj Jha.“Passed without discussion; repealed

withoutdiscussion.Anewmodelofdemoc-racy for a new India,” National ConferenceleaderOmarAbdullah tweeted.


WITHTHEOppositionaccusingthegovern-ment of not allowing a discussion on theFarm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, UnionAgricultureMinisterNarendraSinghTomarsaidonMondaythat therewas“consensus”ontheissue.HealsosaidadiscussionontheBill could have started in Lok Sabha butprotestsbyOppositionparties ruled itout.Tomarsaidthegovernmenthadenacted

thethreefarmlawsforthebenefitof farmers.“Thegovernmenthadhelddiscussionswiththeprotestingfarmunions,butwearesorrythatwecouldnot succeed inexplaining thebenefitsof the farmlaws,”hesaid.Tomar said the Oppositionwanted the

laws repealed, andwhen the governmentagreed to it, therewasconsensus.In Lok Sabha, Speaker OmBirla repeat-

edly requested Oppositionmembers to re-turn to their seats so thatadiscussioncouldtakeplace, saidTomar. If therewasadiscus-sion, the governmentwould certainly haveresponded,hesaid.TomarsaidPrimeMinisterNarendraModi

had kept hisword as the Bill was passed onthefirstdayoftheWinterSession.HesaidtheCentrehadtriedtotakeforwardtheagricul-turesectorthroughseveralschemesoverthelastsevenyears.He said the government has imple-

mented theMSP as per the SwaminathanCommittee’s recommendations, andMSP-based procurement has almost doubled ascompared to2014.


MINUTES BEFORE the start of theWinterSession, PrimeMinister NarendraModi onMonday said the governmentwas ready todiscussall issuesandanswerallquestionsintheHouse.Calling on lawmakers to maintain the

dignityoftheHouse,Moditoldreportersout-sideParliamentinDelhithatthebenchmarkfor success should be based ondiscussions,and not disruptions. “Our government isready to answer all questions during theWinter Session of the Parliament. It is alsoready to answer all questions... We shoulddebate in the Parliament, andmaintain thedecorumof theproceedings,”hesaid.Modi also reminded theMPs that they

are inParliament to fulfill thedreamsof thecroresof people in thecountry.PointingoutthatParliamenthasrenewed

its pledge to protect the spirit of theConstitutionlastweek,Modisaid:“Everyonein the countrywouldhope that the spirit ofthe Azadi ki AmritMahotsavwill bemain-tained.AndthattheHouseshoulddebateonthe issues of national interest, explore newways for development andmake construc-tive decisions thatwould have far-reachingimpact.”ThePrimeMinister alsourgedpeople to

be alert about Omicron, the new variant ofCovid-19 that has triggered fears over an-otherpotentialwaveof infectionsacrosstheworld.

MANOJCGNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

NINEMINUTES in Rajya Sabha and threeminutes in Lok Sabha: that’s how long theFarm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, took to bepassedMonday— withoutanydiscussion.Just a few hours before the Bill was

passed, PrimeMinister NarendraModi as-serted that the governmentwaswilling todiscuss all issueswith an “openmind” andreadytoanswerallquestions—astatementhehasoftenrepeated,advocatingdebateanddiscussions inParliament.“Victory teachesusmany things andwe

should learn also. Victory teaches us to behumble. I givemy trust to this Parliament, Ibelievethattheseniorshere,fromwhatevergroup theymaybe,with theirblessings,wewillgetthatstrengthwhichwillsaveusfromarrogance. Itwill teachuseverymoment tobe humble.Whatever be the number here,butIwillnotmoveforwardwithoutyou.Weshould notmove on the basis of numbers.We shouldmove on the basis of the powerof collective approach (samoohikta). Wewanttomoveforwardwiththefeelingofcol-lective approach,”Modi said in hismaidenspeech inLokSabhaon June11,2014.Just a fewdays ago, addressing the inau-

gural session of the 82ndAll India PresidingOfficers’ Conference onNovember 17,Modisaid“meaningfuldiscussionsintheHouseareveryimportant”.“Howtoaddvaluetodebatesandhowtosetnewstandards forqualityde-bates?Canwethinkof settingaside time forqualitydebate?Suchadebateinwhichthereisdignityandseriousnessandthereisnopo-liticalslander.Inaway,itshouldbethehealth-iest timeof the legislature. I’mnotasking foreveryday. Itcanbetwohours,half-a-dayoraday sometimes. Canwe try something likethis? It should be a healthy day, healthy de-bate and quality debate, a debate that doesvalue addition andwhich is absolutely freefromeverydaypolitics,”hehadsaid.

OnSeptember15,speakingatthelaunchofSansadTV,hesaidhisexperiencewasthat“content is connect”. “When you have bet-ter content, people automatically engagewithyou.Asmuchasthisappliestotheme-dia, it isequallyapplicabletoourparliamen-tary system. Because there is not only poli-ticsinParliament,thereisalsopolicymaking.When Parliament is in session, debates areheldondiversesubjects,andthereissomuchfor the youth to learn.Whenourhonorablemembers also know that the country iswatchingthem, theyalsoget inspiration forbetter conduct, better debates inside theParliament. This also increases the produc-tivity of Parliament, and public interestworksalsobecomepopular,”hesaid.In2019,speakinginRajyaSabha,Modihad

askedmemberstodrawadistinctionbetween“checkingandclogging”legislation.“Inaway,many of our dignitaries say this again andagain,thattheHouseshouldbefordiscussion,dialogueanddebate.Therecanbedebatesinloudvoices;thereisnoharminit.However,itis necessary thatwe choose the path of dia-

logueinsteadof interruptions,”hesaid.OnMonday,hesaid:“Thissessionshould

berich in ideasandpositivedebates, shouldhavefar-reachingimpact...Parliamentshouldbejudgedonhowit functionsanditssignif-icant contributions, rather than who dis-ruptedParliamentforcefully.Thiscannotbethe benchmark. The benchmarkwould behowmany hours Parliament worked andhowmuchpositiveworkwasdone.Thegov-ernmentiswillingtodiscusseveryissuewithan openmind. The government is ready toanswer every question. Andwewould likethatthereshouldbequestionsinParliamentandpeaceshouldalsoprevail.”The passage of the farm laws in the

MonsoonSessionof2020wasmarredbydis-ruptions,withtheOppositioninRajyaSabhaalleging their demand for a division of voteswasignored.Buttherewasadebatethen.LokSabhadiscussedthefarmBillsonSeptember17,2020,fortwohoursand48minutes;threedayslater, theRajyaSabhadiscussedtheBillsfor two hours and eightminutes.While 44membersparticipatedinthediscussioninLok

Sabha,32memberstookpartinRajyaSabha.TheBJPgovernmenthasoftenfacedcrit-

icismforrushingBills.Thelastsessionsaw15Bills—14inLokSabhaandoneinRajyaSabha—beingpassed in less than10minutes, and26 Bills in less than half-an-hour. In its sec-ond term, over six Parliament sessions, theModigovernmenthaspassed42Bills in lessthanhalf-an-hour,and19inlessthan10min-utes, according to PRS Legislative Researchdata.WhilemanyoftheBillswereordinaryinnature, somedeservedseriousdiscussion.For instance, the 14 Bills passed in less

than10minutesinLokSabhaintheMonsoonSession included the General InsuranceBusiness (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill(discussedfor8minutes),TheInsolvencyandBankruptcyCode(Amendment)Bill (5min-utes),TheTribunalsReformsBill(9minutes),andTheTaxationLaws(Amendment)Bill (6minutes). The Oppositionwanted the gen-eral insurance Bill to be referred to a stand-ing committee; in Rajya Sabha, the Bill waspassed in22minutes.According to the PRS data, theMonsoon

Sessionperhapsholdstheworstrecordwhenit comes to Bills being rushed through inParliament. The other Bills passed in under10minuteswere: TheNational Institutes ofFood Technology, Entrepreneurship andManagementBill,TheInlandVesselsBill,TheCoconutDevelopmentBoard(Amendment)Bill, The Limited Liability Partnership(Amendment)Bill,TheDepositInsuranceandCreditGuaranteeCorporation(Amendment)Bill, The Commission for Air QualityManagementinNationalCapitalRegionandAdjoining Areas Bill, The Constitution(ScheduledTribes)Order(Amendment)Bill,The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill,TheNationalCommissionforHomoeopathy(Amendment) Bill and The NationalCommission for Indian SystemofMedicine(Amendment)Bill.In Rajya Sabha, the Coconut

DevelopmentBoard (Amendment)Billwaspassed in less than10minutes.

Opposition leadersstageaprotest inRajyaSabhaonMonday.RSTV/PTI

Inspeeches,PMcalled for ‘qualitydebates’; inHouse,Govtpushed15Bills inunder 10mins lastsession

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

JUSTIFYINGTHEsuspensionof12Oppositionmembers fromRajya Sabha on the first dayof theWinter Session, government sourcessaid theOpposition leaders couldhavepre-sentedtheirsideofthestoryhadtheyagreedto be part of a committee to look into theeventsofAugust11.They also argued that since the events

happenedonthelastdayofthepreviousses-sion,Mondaywas the first opportunity forthegovernment tobring inamotion tosus-pendthem.Sourcesalsosaidshouldthesus-pendedmembersapologisefortheiractions,thegovernmentmight reconsider its stand.Government sources pointed out that

soon after the end of the previous session,Unionminister PiyushGoyal hadwritten toVice-President and Rajya Sabha ChairmanVenkaiahNaiducomplainingagainstthecon-

duct of 20MPs in theHouse, and seeking aspecialdisciplinarycommitteetodecide“ex-emplary disciplinary action” against themandformulateacodeofconduct.However,asenior government source said, “manyOppositionparties refused tobe apart of it”evenafter theChairmanrequested them. “Ifsuchacommitteewouldhavebeen formed,eachpartycouldhavehadachancetoexplaintheirpositionandraise theirconcerns.”The source admitted that therewas “no

precedentofsuchaction(ofsuspension)aftera session”, butadded, “there is alsonoprece-denttosuchunrulyandobnoxiousbehaviour”.Thesourcealsocalledwhathappenedin

theMonsoon Session “a planned attack” toensure that theHouse didnot run, and saidtheMPs concerned had not just obstructedPrimeMinisterNarendraModibutalsooth-ers fromspeaking.Referring to Naidu “breaking down” on

August 11morning, the sourcementionedthat“theChairman’straumawasliterallythe

last straw and action had to be initiated atthefirstavailableopportunity,whichwastheopeningdayof theWinterSession.”Claimsthatdisruptionshappenedwhen

Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj led theOppositionwere lies, the source said. “TheBJPneverused force or resorted to violenceorimpingedontheprivilegesofotherMPs.”On Monday morning, Parliamentary

AffairsMinisterPralhad Joshiwrotea three-pagelettertoNaidutobeallowedtobringthemotion to suspend the 12OppositionMPs,highlightingseveral instancesof allegedun-rulybehaviouronpartof severalmembers.Mentioning the events of August 11, he

alleged that the CPM’s Elamaram Kareem“physicallyassaultedandtriedtoasphyxiateamarshalonDuty”andtheCongress’sPhuloDevi Netam and Chhaya Verma “pulled,draggedandassaultedafemalemarshal”.Hecalled these instances “unfathomable andnothing short of sacrilege”, and said these“demandexemplary remedy”.

MPs’ suspension: Opp didn’t present its side, believes govt

Govt-Oppconsensus onrepeal: Tomar

NODEBATEONFARMLAWSREPEALBILL, 2021

‘Shameless’: Opp mounts attack on Govt

BKUleaderRakeshTikaitatGhazipurborderafter theBill torepeal thethreefarmlawswaspassed. PTI

RAAKHIJAGGALUDHIANA,NOVEMBER29

ASPARLIAMENTapprovedtherepealof thethree farm laws onMonday, the 32 farmerunionsofPunjabcalledit“ahistoricday”anddeclared“victoryof themostpeacefulstrug-gle”, but added that the Centre has time tillTuesday to reply on its other demands, in-cluding legal guarantee forMSP. They alsosaidanemergencymeetingof theSamyuktKisanMorcha(SKM)onDecember1willde-cide their futurecourseof action.“This isavictoryforusandahistoricday.

Wewant withdrawal of cases against thefarmers.Wewantacommitteetobeformedonthelegalguaranteeofminimumsupportprice for crops. The Centre has time till to-morrow(Tuesday) toreply toourdemands.We have called an emergencymeeting onWednesday to discuss the future course ofaction,” theSKMsaid inastatement.TheSKMsaidimportantdemandsarestill

pending. “Historywasmadewhentheanti-farmer laws got repealed. However, the de-velopmentwasmarredbythefactthattherewas no debate allowed on the Bill tabled torepeal the three laws,” it said.Buta Singh Burjgill, president BKU

(Dakaunda), said, “Wehavewon this agita-tion. It is timetocelebratenow.Peopleusedto say thatModi hai tohmumkin hai, but noone isabovepeople’spower.”Sourceshintedthatif thegovernmentex-

pressed its intention or gave guarantee toconsider the farmers’ remaining demands,the agitation at Delhi’s borders might becalledoff.Harmeet Singh Kadian, president BKU

(Kadian),talkingtoTheIndianExpress,termedtheyear-longagitationas“thebiggestandolan(movement)” after Independence. “It is ourvictory,butadecisiveannouncementwillbemade at the SKMmeeting,” he said. “Ourother demands — repeal of ElectricityAmendment Bill 2020, cancellation of FIRsagainst protesters, and suspension of AjayMishra fromUnion Cabinet— are pending.Themost importantdemandisMSP...”

NewDelhi:OnAugust11—whichwasnotsupposed to be the last day of theMonsoon Session — the government’spushtopasstheGeneralInsuranceBusiness (Nationalisation)Amendment Bill, 2021 at around6pmledtochaoticscenesinRajyaSabha. TheHousewas adjournedsinedie later thatday.The government intended to

amend the General Insurance Business(Nationalisation)Act,1972,allowingittoreduce its stake in insurance companies—aBillpassedbyLokSabhaonAugust2.FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharaman

introducedtheBillwithoutmakinganyre-

marks.Therewerefouramendmentslisted— by CPI’s Binoy Viswam, CPI(M)’sElamaramKareem, TMC’sDerekO’Brien

andDMK’sTiruchiSiva—tore-fertheBilltoaSelectCommitteeof Rajya Sabha. Only Sivawasabletomovehisamendment.The Bill was passed by a

voice vote, and the proposedamendment to send it to a se-

lectcommitteewasnegated.AsOppositionmembersstormedintothewell,additionalmarshalswerecalledin.Whentheprotes-torstriedtomaketheirwaytotheTableofHouse, therewas some jostlingbetweenthemandthemarshals. ENS

Monsoon Session: Govt push topass Bill led to chaos in Rajya Sabha

Repeal of farmlaws: Punjabunions hail‘historic day’

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK 7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021

Omar: Detentions after Aug 5a conspiracy to wipe out NCARUNSHARMAJAMMU,NOVEMBER29

NATIONAL CONFERENCE (NC)vice-president and former J&KchiefministerOmarAbdullahonMonday said that senior leadersof his party, including presidentFarooq Abdullah and himself,were detained after August 5,2019, “as part of a conspiracy towipeouttheNC”.Addressing a public rally in

Kishtwar, headded that thegov-ernment had invoked the strin-gent Public Safety Act (PSA)against himwhile hewas in de-tention“onthechargethatheper-suadedpeople tocast their votesanddefeatPakistan’spollboycottconspiracy”.InFebruary2020,afterOmar

had spent sixmonths inpreven-tivedetention,hewasbookedun-der the provisions of PSA alongwith former chief ministerMehboobaMufti.ThePSAdossierprepared by the police onAbdullahsaid:“thecapacityofthesubjecttoinfluencepeopleforany

causecanbegaugedfromthefactthat hewas able to convincehiselectoratetocomeoutandvoteinhuge numbers even during thepeak ofmilitancy and poll boy-cotts.” “Despite the fact that thesubject has been amainstreampolitician, he has beenplanninghisactivitiesagainst theUnionofIndia under the guise of politics.Andwhile enjoying the supportof gulliblemasses, he has beensuccessfulinexecutionofsuchac-tivities,” itadded.Hesaidthatthepurposeofde-

tainingNCleaderswasnotonlytostop themfrommeetingpeople,but“theywantedtofinishouror-ganisationduring theperiodweremainunderdetention’’.HeslammedtheCongressfor

notsupportingthedemandtore-storestatehoodandspecialstatus.Referring toGhulamNabiAzad’sstatementlimitinghisdemandtorestorationof statehoodandnotthe special status, he said “evenparties whomwe expected tospeak out in support of our de-mandhavebeensilent”.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIALUCKNOW,NOVEMBER29

A 55-YEAR-OLD Dalit govern-ment official and his wifewerefounddeadwiththeirthroatsslitin their house at Tithaupur vil-lage in Azamgarh district onMondaymorning,police said.AzamgarhSuperintendentof

Police Anurag Arya said someunidentified miscreants hadbarged into the couple’s homelate Sunday night and killedthem by slashing their throatswithasharp-edgedweaponandleft, Arya said. The police cameto know of the doublemurderafterbeing informedby thevic-tims’neighbours,hesaid.Reacting over themurder of

the Dalit couple, BSP presidentMayawati said the governmentmust check the recurrence ofsuch incidents and “stop suchatrocitiesonDalits”. Shewasre-ferring to the murder of fourmembers of a Scheduled Castefamily inPrayagraj.

Azamgarh: Govtofficial, wifefound dead withtheir throats slit

OmarAbdullahatarally inKishtwar, Jammu. PTI

ASADREHMANPRAYAGRAJ,NOVEMBER29

WHILE THE eight upper castemembersheld for themurderoffourof aDalit family inPrayagrajdistrictwere releasedMonday,police havedetained threeDalityouths.While one of themwassent to judicial custody onMonday, police sources said thatthetwootherswouldbereleasedsoon.Policeofficersdidnotconfirm

theevidencetheyhadagainsttheDalityouthwhomtheynowsus-pectof thecrime, includingrape,oranyproofregardingallegedac-complices. Thebodiesofthefour,includingacoupleandtheirchil-dren,hadbeenfoundonThursdayattheirhome.Theirrelativeshadaccused11peopleof threateningthe family, andpolice of helpingthem. AnFIRnamingthe11wasregistered onThursday, andpo-

liceheldeightuppercastemem-bers. TwopolicepersonnelweresuspendedafterPriyankaGandhiVadra visited the family and theYogi Adityanath governmentfacedheat,with theOppositionaccusingitofbeing“anti-Dalit”.TheDalit youth's family said

hehadbeendetainedbypoliceonSaturdayevening.OnMonday,the19-year-old, who works as alabourer,waspresented in courtandsent to judicial custody. Twoother youths from the 19-year-old'svillage,locatedaround2kmfromthemurderedDalitfamily’s,were pickedup alongwithhim.OnMonday, their familymem-bersgatheredoutsidethelocalpo-lice stationaskingwhen the twowouldbereleased.An officer told The Indian

Express that the two, 17 and 20,would be released soon as theyhadnotfoundanyevidence.In a statement Sunday, ADG,

Prayagrajzone,PremPrakashhad

claimedthatthe19-year-oldwasstalking the girlwhowas rapedandkilled.“Hewasharassingthegirl...Onthebasisof thelastmes-sageandcircumstantialevidence,hewasarrested.”However,onMonday,asenior

officerwho is part of the probetoldTheIndianExpress:“Wehavenothadenoughtimewiththeac-cusedaswehave tooversee lawandorder too...We are awaitingforensic and DNA reports.”Pressedontheevidencesofar,theofficersaid,“Itispartoftheinves-tigation,Ican’trevealanything.”OnMonday, neither Prakash

nor Prayagraj DIG SarvashreshtTripathi could be reached for acomment.Tripathiwas“onleave”.Therelativesofthemurdered

Dalit family saidpolicewere try-ingtoprotect theuppercasteac-cused.“Howcanoneboy(the19-year-old) kill four people on hisown?Andifotherswereinvolved,where are they,whoare they?...

And if theboyhadan issuewithmyniece, hewould have killedher,whytheotherthree?”saidthebrother of the man who waskilled.While his niecewhowasrapedandkilledwas earlier saidtobeaminor,policesaytheyhadfoundproofshewas23.Theeldersisterofthe19-year-

oldheldbypolicesaidhewasbe-ing targeted “becausehe isDalitand poor”. Contesting policeclaimsofhimstalkingthewoman,shesaid:“Hewasathomethedaythemurderstookplace...Heisbe-ingmade a scapegoat as policewant to save the upper castemen,”shesaid.Themotherofthe17-year-old

Dalit youth detained by policesaid: “My son cannot do some-thinglikethis.”Therelativesofthemurdered

Dalitfamilysaidtheyareworriedfortheirsafetyafterthereleaseoftheupper castemembers. “Theywillcomebackforrevenge.”

PRAYAGRAJKILLINGS

Dalit youth sent to custody asupper castemembers released

New Delhi


GOVT&POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

ACTION, REACTIONIT ISarace for theOppositionspace.OnMonday,minutesaf-ter CongressMPs including SoniaGandhi andRahulGandhistaged a protest in the Parliament complex, a senior TMCleader received a call, reportedly fromKolkata, asking himwhy TMCMPswere not holding a demonstration. The TMChadmade it clear lastweekthat itwasnot interested in join-ing handswith the Congress in Parliament. The TMC leaderimmediately called some of the party’s MPs and staged ademonstrationat thesamevenue.

TWO-IN-ONEWITHTHEgovernment trying to findnewways to celebrateAzadikaAmritMahotsav,commemorating75yearsof inde-pendence, theonsetofwinterhaspresentedanewopportu-nity. TheDepartmentof Personnel andTraininghas sentoutcommunications asking government employees to donatewarm clothes for the poor. Collection centres have been or-ganisedatmultipleplaces includingNorthBlock. In fact, thegovernment has clubbed twoof its campaigns in this drive,linking it to Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav as well its Swachhta(cleanliness)mission.

WARNING NOTEWITH THE adoption of FASTag and electronic toll collectiongrowingexponentiallyoverthelastfewmonths,anewprob-lemhas surfaced. FakeFASTags are reported tohaveenteredthe market, especially the online space. The NationalHighwaysAuthorityof Indiahas issuedwarnings that fraud-stersare sellingcounterfeit tagsonline, andasked thepublictoavoidorderingonline.

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

ATHREE-MEMBERpanelconsti-tuted by the Supreme Court tolookintoallegationsofunautho-rised phone surveillance usingPegasus, the spyware fromIsraeli companyNSO, has askedthepetitionerstosubmitthetar-geteddevicesfor“technicaleval-uation”, The Indian Express haslearnt.According to sources, the

panelaskedthepetitionersinanemail to submit the devices“within the week”, which willthenbe tested. The sources saidtheemailinformedthepetition-ersthattheywouldbegiventheoption of “making submissions

underoath”beforethepanelsu-pervised by retired SupremeCourt judge, Justice R VRaveendran.The members of the panel

are Dr Naveen Kumar Chaud-hary, Dean of National ForensicSciences University inGandhinagar; Dr Prabaharan P,Professor at Amrita VishwaVidyapeethaminKerala;andDrAshwin Anil Gumaste, InstituteChair Associate Professor at IIT,Bombay.The sources said the email

mentions that the devices willbe collected in New Delhi butdoes not specify the exact ad-dress, adding that “it could becommunicated later”.Earlierthisyear,followingre-

ports that Pegasus had been

usedtosnooponjournalists,ac-tivists, officials and even UnionMinisters, some of the activistsand journalists moved theSupremeCourt seeking the for-mation of a committee to lookinto the issue.OnOctober27,athree-judge

benchof Chief Justiceof IndiaNV Ramana, and Justices SuryaKant and Hima Kohli, orderedthe formation of a three-mem-ber technical committee to beoverseenbyJusticeRaveendran.The apex court had then

listed a six-point term of refer-ence for the committee, askingit to determine, among otherthings, whether Pegasus wasusedonphonesorotherdevicesof citizens toaccess storeddata,eavesdroponconversations, in-

tercept information and for anyotherpurposes.Thecourthadalsoaskedthe

committee to determinewhether the software was ac-quired by a state or the CentralGovernment, and that if a state,Centre,oranyof itsagencieshadused the software, what lawsandprocedureswere followed.InitsorderonOctober27,the

SupremeCourtobservedthatse-lection of the three-membercommittee was “an extremelyuphill” task since they had to“findandselectexpertswhoarefree from prejudices, are inde-pendentandcompetent” --andthat“someofthecandidatespo-litely declined this assignment,while others had someconflictof interest”.

To induct leadersfrom outside Bengalin top panel, TMCto amend its rules

PEGASUS

VIVEKDESHPANDENAGPUR,NOVEMBER29

WITHLEGISLATIVECouncilelec-tions to two seats less than twoweeksaway,NagpurBJPhassentoffmost of its corporators alongwith councillors frommunicipalcouncils in thedistrict aswell asZila Parishadmembers to BJP-ruled states, in an apparent at-tempttopreventpossiblesplittingofvotes.Overall,350personsaffiliated

with the BJP have gone outsideMaharashtra,saypartysources.ElectiontoLegislativeCouncil

seats of Buldana-Akola andNagpur are scheduled tobeheldonDecember10.“Manyofthecorporatorshave

beensenttoGoawhilesomeoth-

ershavechosentogotoNainital,”said BJP spokesman ChandarGoswami.ThecorporatorsleftthecityinseveralgroupsthroughthedayonMonday.In theDecember 10 election,

BJP’s former KampteeMLA andex-minister ChandrashekharBawankule is pitted againstRavindra ‘Chotu’ Bhoyar, a long-timeRSS swayamsevak,who re-cently defected to the CongressaccusingBJPof“ill-treatment”.The BJP, currently in its third

consecutive term as the rulingparty in the NagpurMunicipalCorporation(NMC),hasastrengthof 107 out of 155 seats in theHouse.Thoughtheparty lost the70-memberNagpurZilaParishadtoCongress last year, the saffronpartyanditsallies stillcommandabout350outoftotal559votesto

becastintheDecemberelection.Askedaboutthemove,cityBJP

president PravinDatke said, “Anatmosphere of confusion hasbeensought tobecreatedby theOppositionbyclaimingthatsomeof our corporatorswere in touchwiththem.So,wehavedecidedtosendthemaway.”“Thereisnopanic.Wearesure

tofetchover400votes...”hesaid.CongressMLAVikas Thakre

said, “...they are at least 80 votesaheadofusatpresentandyettheyhavedonethis.Itshowsthattheyarenotsureaboutwinning.”Therulingdispensationinthe

stateandtheBJPhaveworkedoutacompromise in fourof sixseatsfor unopposed election, leavingonlyBuldana-Akola andNagpurasthetwoseatswherepollingwillbeheld.


THESUPREMECourtonMondayissued notice to the Centre andthe Tripura government on aplea seeking an independentprobeintoallegedcommunalvi-olence in the state, and soughttheir responses within twoweeks.A bench Justices DY

Chandrachud and AS Bopannaissued the notice on a plea byAdvocate Ehtesham Hashmi,who,alongwithtwootheradvo-cates, claims to have gone on a“fact-finding exercise” to thestate in the aftermath of the al-legedcommunal flare-up.According to reports, a

mosque and some shops werevandalised inNorthTripura at a

time that the Vishwa HinduParishadwas holding a rally inthearealastmonth.Tripuragov-ernmentandpolicehavedeniedthe reports and said thesewereattempts to disturb communalharmony in the region.In the plea, Hashmi said he

wasconstrainedtoapproachthecourttoseekitsurgentinterven-tion“inrespectofaseriesofhatecrimes that tookplace betweenthe 13.10.2021 to 27.10.2021 inTripura. The said hate crimeswere perpetrated by organisedmobs and included damage tomosques, burning of businessestablishments owned byMuslims, organising ralliesshouting Islamophobic andgenocidal hate slogans and de-liveringhatespeeches targetingMuslims in various parts ofTripura”.

LALMANIVERMALUCKNOW,NOVEMBER29

THERULINGBJPinUttarPradeshhas deployed more than 175MLAs,MPs, formerstatelegisla-tors and other leaders fromOtherBackwardClass(OBC)andDalit communities as part of its‘samajik sampark (social out-reach)’campaign.Theseleadershavebeen instructedto interactwith small groups of peoplefrom their communities in oneto 10 Assembly constituencies,excluding theirownseats.A BJP leader told The Indian

Express onMonday that such acampaign could help the partybagtheAssemblyseatsthatitnar-rowlylostinthe2017electionsbe-

causeofthedominanceofYadavs,JatavDalits andMuslims. “If wecan consolidate the support ofvarious castes scattered in suchconstituencies,we can evende-feattheSPandBSPinconstituen-cies dominated byYadavs, JatavDalitsandMuslims,”headded.Among the constituencies

that BJP lost by less than 4,000votes in 2017 are Matera,Mahmoodabad, Najibabad,Lalganj, Kannauj, Dholana andChhaprauli.A senior BJP leader said 25-

30eventswerebeingheldeveryday as part of the programme.Before this campaign, the partyalso organised 27 samajik pra-tinidhi sammelans with OBCand Dalit groups. “Localities inurbanareasandpockets inrural

areas have been identified ac-cording to the presence of par-ticular castes there. The focus ison OBCs and SC/ST-populatedareas. Each of those over 175MLAs, MPs, and other seniorleaderswhohavebeenassigned1-10 Assembly constituenciesoutside their constituencies tovisit and address samajik sam-melans of a group of people oftheircaste,” saidaBJP leaderas-sociatedwith thecampaign.BJP spokesperson Rakesh

Tripathisaid,“Suchprogrammesalso create enthusiasm amongparty workers.” Apart fromMLAsandMPs, currentand for-mer, the ruling party has alsoroped in chairmen of boards,corporations,districtpanchayatchairpersonsandblockchiefs.

SC-appointedpanelseeksdevicesofpetitioners for technicalchecks

‘Communal’ violence: SCseeks Centre, Tripuraresponse on plea for probe

UP Assembly polls: BJP fields OBC,Dalit leaders for outreach programme

Bengal govtseeks to rope inconsultants vialateral entry

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH,NOVEMBER29

FORMERPUNJAB chiefministerAmarinderSinghMondaysaidhisPunjabLokCongresswillformthegovernment state in 2022 in al-liancewith the BJP and abreak-awayAkali faction.Hemade theremarks after paying a visit toHaryanaChiefMinisterManoharLal Khattar,which hedescribedas“acourtesycall”.“Godwilling,weandwithour

seatadjustmentwiththeBJPandwith Mr (Sukhdev Singh)Dhindsa’s party (SAD Sanyukt),wewillformthegovernment,”hesaid,replyingtomediaqueries.His meeting with Khattar

cameonadaywhenaBill to re-peal the three contentious agrilaws,againstwhichfarmershavebeen protesting for over a year,waspassedbyParliament.Amarinder, however, said

therewas no political develop-ment.“Ihadaverynicecupofcof-feewiththechiefminister.Itisnot

thatwheneveryoumeetanybody,itisapoliticalmeeting.Itwasjustacourtesycall”.AskedifhewillmeetBJPlead-

ersforaseatsharingarrangement,the former Congress leader saidhewill go toDelhi and certainlycallonUnionministers.Toaquestionon the registra-

tion of his party, he said theyshouldbegettinginformationre-garding it any time. “Weare alsoexpecting the party symbol in acouple of days. The processwasstarted10daysago”.

Punjabex-CMAmarinderSinghwithHaryanaCMManoharLalKhattaronMonday.Express

House IT panelquestions FB, willseek Speaker nod tocall whistleblower

SUNNYVERMANEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

OFTHEseven statesheaded intoAssembly elections next year,UttarPradeshhasthehighestpro-portionofpeoplewhoaremulti-dimensionally poor, at 37.79percent of its population,whileGoahaslowestratioat3.76percent.There is wide variation be-

tweenruralandurbanpovertyinfive of the seven states — Goa,Punjab, Himachal Pradesh,Manipur, Gujarat, Uttar PradeshandUttarakhand. There is alsowidedivergence inperformanceonthe12indicatorsusedtocalcu-late the first everMultidimensional Poverty Index(MPI) by theNITIAayog. Thena-tional MPI, as per the 2015-16NFHS,is25.01percent.OfUP’s71districts,asmanyas

64haveMPIhigher than thena-

tional average. InGujarat, 9of 26districts fall in this category; inManipur, 4 of 9; and inUttarakhand,1of13.Ontheotherhand, all districts of Punjab (20),Himachal (12) andGoa (2) havelowerMPIthannationalaverage.TheMPIisanindicatorofdep-

rivation acrossmultiple dimen-

sions and complements povertystatisticsbasedonpercapitacon-sumption expenditure. It hasthree equallyweighted dimen-sions— health, education, andstandardof living—basedon12indicators such as nutrition,school attendance, years ofschooling,drinkingwater,sanita-

tion, housing, bank accounts,amongothers.While urbanMPI in UP, the

country’smostpopulousstate, is18.07percent, that initsruralar-eas ismorethandouble,at44.32percent.Thestatefaresthepoor-est on the cooking fuel indicator,with68.9percentpopulationde-privedof it, followedbyhousingat67.5percent,andsanitationat63.7percent.Goa is the best among poll-

bound states inMPI,withhardlyanydifferencebetweenruralrate(4.44 per cent) and urban (3.34percent)areas.Itsworstperform-ance is in thenutrition category,at24.6percentdeprived,followedbysanitationat21.4percent.Lessthan1percentof thepopulationis deprived in indicators such asschoolattendance(1%),childandadolescentmortality(0.6%).

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Electionbound Multidimensional Rural Urbanstates Povertyratio (%) poverty% poverty%Goa 3.76 4.44 3.34Punjab 5.59 6.4 4.32HP 7.62 8.24 1.46Uttarakhand 17.72 21.94 9.89Manipur 17.89 22.95 9.9Gujarat 18.60 27.4 6.59UttarPradesh 37.79 44.32 18.07Source:NITIAayogNationalMPIReport

BY THENUMBERS

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

THE IT parliamentary commit-teeislearnttohaveunanimouslydecidedMonday to record thestatement of Facebookwhistle-blower Sophie Zhang even aspanel members questionedFacebook India officials over itssafeguardstopreventhatemon-gering, polarisation and tweak-ingof thedemocraticprocess.The committee will ap-

proach Lok Sabha Speaker OmBirla for permission to inviteZhang for recording her state-ments — the Speaker’s permis-sionisrequiredtoallowpersonsfrom overseas to appear beforethe panels. Zhang, the first for-mer Facebook employee whohadmadepublic thecompany’salleged unethical working, hadshared dossierswith theHousepanel led by Congress leaderShashiTharoor.OnMonday, representatives

of Facebook India includingShivnathThukral, itsheadofpol-icy,werequestionedbyMPs foralmost two hours. They weresummoned following allega-tionsbywhistleblowersandnu-merous studies on how socialmediaplatformswhipupsenti-ments to enhance activities ontheirplatformstopromotebusi-ness interests.Panelmembers,itisbelieved,

weresaidtobedissatisfiedwiththeresponse,andFacebookwasaskedtoprovidemoredetails inwritingonthesafeguards.The social media giant has

beencriticisedbypolitical lead-ers for not taking into accountthepluralityof thenationwhiledealingwithsuchissues.Leadershavesaiditdidnothavelinguis-tic or ethnic diversity amongthosewhoflaggedsuchissues—it has content reviewers only inHindi, Tamil,UrduandBangla.Recently, in a written re-

sponse to The Indian Express,Facebook said it has, in the lasttwo years, hired more peoplewithlanguage,countryandtopicexpertise. “Adding more lan-guage expertise has been a keyfocusareaforus.Theyarepartoftheover40,000peoplewehaveworking on safety and securityincludingglobalcontentreviewteams in over 70 languages, in-cluding 20 Indian languages,” aMetaspokespersonhadtoldTheIndianExpress.TheITpanelhadearliersum-

monedFacebookforseekingex-planationonareportinTheWallStreetJournal,whichsaidtheso-cialmedia company had delib-erately turned a blind eye to-wards hate speeches by a BJPleader from Telangana and didnot take them down from itsplatform,fearingthatitmayhurtthe firm’s business interests inIndia, itsbiggestmarket.

Badal family loyalist HarjinderSingh Dhami is new SGPC president‘Will form next govt in Punjab with BJP’

Among poll-bound states, UPtrails on poverty index, Goa best

HAVINGNARROWLYlostinseatsdominatedbyYadavs, JatavDalits,andMuslimsinthe2017Assemblypolls, theBJP’scampaignisamoveto-wardsmakingabetterconnectwiththefloatingvotesfromnon-YadavOBCsandnon-JatavDalits.SuchoutreachwillalsoenableBJPtogettheirownleaderswithstrongsupportamongdifferentsub-castes.

BJPeyeingfloatingvotesE●EXPLAINED

LEGISLATIVECOUNCILELECTIONS

BJP herds off Nagpur corporatorsto other states; Opp calls it panic

TRIPURACIVICPOLLS

Agartala:AdayafterTripuracivicpoll results were announced,CPI(M) state secretary JitendraChaudhurysaidonMondaythathis party retained the second-largest vote share after the BJPandisthemainOppositioninthestate,contrarytoclaimsmadebytheTrinamoolCongress (TMC).“Where did they (TMC) get

this data from? EC statistics sayCPI(M) is the second-largestparty,”Chaudhurysaid.When contacted, Tripura

Trinamool YouthCongress con-venerBaptuChakrabortysaidhispartycontested120seatsacrossdifferent civic bodies and se-cured “24 percent votes”. “TMCdidn’tcontestinalltheseats.Wecontested in 120 seats and se-cured 24percent votes. Hadwecontested from all seats, wewould have got 100 percentvotes,”Chakraborty said. ENS

CPM hits out atTMC, claims 2ndlargest vote share

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,NOVEMBER29

THE STATE government onMondayputoutadvertisementscalling for applications fromserving and retired profession-als as senior consultants andconsultants for 50posts in vari-ousdepartmentsthroughlateralentry. The age limit is 35-70years and the successful candi-dateswould be absorbed in thegovernment on contractual ba-sis with remuneration of Rs 1.5lakh-2 lakh a month, officialsources said.Adecision in this regardwas

taken just after Durga Puja ear-lierthisyearafterChiefMinisterMamataBanerjeeagreed.According to officials, in the

initialstage,thegovernmenthasdecided to recruit such profes-sionals for 30 major depart-ments of the stateadministration.Theywill begiven thestatus

of special secretary in each de-partment.Theywillbeabsorbedin the posts of consultant andsenior consultant, governmentsources said.Asource in thestategovern-

ment said, “This is not a newconcept. The Central govern-mentalsorecruitedsuch profes-sionals in key departments.However,theabsorptionoftheseprofessionalswill help the gov-ernmenttosolvemanycomplexproblemsraisedindifferentday-to-day governmentwork. Theywillalsohelptomakenewpolicyguidelines...”However,anothersenioroffi-

cialsaid,“Thiswillcreate confu-sion and hierarchical problemsbecause, in many cases, theseconsultants will have morepower and remuneration thanthe Joint Secretary, AdditionalSecretary and specialsecretaries.”

ATRIMITRAKOLKATA,NOVEMBER29

AS THE Trinamool Congress(TMC) aims to increase its foot-print at the national level, theparty onMonday said it wouldchange its constitution and re-constitute its working commit-tee to induct more membersfrom outside West Bengal.However, TMC chief MamataBanerjee will have the “lastword” regarding both thesemoves, TMC MP DerekO’Briensaid.“Theworking committee of

theparty,whichmettoday,gaveveto power to our leaderMamataBanerjee. Itwasunani-mously decided in themeetingthat our leader MamataBanerjee is the last word,” saidO'Brien, who is also TMCspokesperson.The party also decided that

its next working committeemeeting will be held in NewDelhi. However, the date of themeeting will be finalised later,party sources said.

Amritsar: Shiromani GurdwaraParbandhak Committee (SGPC)honorary chief secretaryHarjinder SinghDhamiwas onMondayelectedasitspresident.Dhamiisthe44thpresidentof

the SGPCand succeedsBibi JagirKaur who was named theShiromani Akali Dal candidatefrom theBholathAssembly seatin Kapurthala district for nextyear’sAssemblypolls.Dhami,aBadalfamilyloyalist,

is amember of the SGPC from

Sham Chaurasi segment ofHoshiarpurdistrict.Speakingtoreporters,Dhami

said that besides expediting theongoingreligiouspreachingcam-paign,healthandeducationserv-iceswouldalsobegivenanewdi-rection.

HarjinderSinghDhami

SELF-IE GOALUNDERFIREforaselfie(above)withsixwomenMPs,whichhepostedwiththecaption“whosaystheLokSabhaisn’tanattrac-tiveplace towork?”, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor receivedsupportfromTMCMPMahuaMoitraonMonday.Whilemany,includingSupremeCourtadvocateKarunaNundy,pointedoutthatTharoor’scaptionattemptsto“reduceelectedpoliticalleaderto their looks”,Moitra tweeted that the criticismseeks to “de-tractattention fromthisnon-attractivegovernment’sdecisiontonotallowadiscussiononthefarmActrepeal.”TharoorthankedMoitraforshowing“solidarity”,inarareshowofcamaraderieatatimewhentiesbetweentheirpartiesarestrained.

Credit: Twitter/@ShashiTharoor

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK 9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021

MAYURAJANWALKARPORVORIM,NOVEMBER29

DIGNITYANDsensitivity are ex-pectedfromallparties,specificallywhilereadingevidencerelatedtorape cases, the Bombay HighCourt observed lastweekwhilerejectingpleaby former Tehelkaeditor-in-chiefTarunTejpalseek-ingin-cameraproceedings.Tejpalhadsoughtin-camera

hearings by thehigh court aftertheGoagovernmentfiledanap-peal against his acquittal in the2013rapecaseagainsthim.Hewasaccusedofsexuallyas-

saultinghis junior colleague at ahotel inGoa in 2013.Hewas ac-quittedbyasessionscourtonMay21thisyear,withthejudgesayingthat therewasn't "enough evi-dencetowarrantaconviction".“Inproceedingssuchasthese

i.e. rapecases ingeneral, it is ex-pected that all parties conductthemselveswith dignity, sobri-ety and some sensitivity that isrequired, particularly, whilstreading evidence pertaining tointimatedetails,”theHighCourtsaid in a 23-page order ofNovember24.ThedetailedorderwasmadeavailableonMonday.

“...Maintaining decorum inthe courtroom is not merely asuperficial means of protectingtheimageof lawyersandjudges–but it is absolutelyessential tothe administration of justice,”thecourt said.Turning down the applica-

tion, a division bench of JusticeRevati Mohite Dere and JusticeM S Jawalkar said that Tejpal’sapplication for in-camera pro-ceedingswas“devoidofmerits”.Tejpal’s counsel Amit Desai

hadarguedthatkeepingthepro-ceedings open to thepublic andthemediawill restricthimfrommakingcertainsubmissionsoverfears that those may be pub-lished. Thejudges,however,saidthe argumentwas not justified.“There is no embargo or restric-tionontheapplicanttoarguehiscase freelynorhis right to arguehis case can be curtailed,” thecourtsaid.

KIRANPARASHARBENGALURU,NOVEMBER29

FORNEARLY a year-and-a-half,Durga'sdaughtersthoughttheirmother who died at the heightof Bengaluru's first Covidwavehadbeengivenapropercrema-tion.Theironlysurvivingparent,Durga died last year. OnSaturday, her bodywas amongtwodiscoveredfromanoldmor-tuarybuildinginagovernment-run hospital in the city, afterabout500daysof theirdeath.Thehousekeeping staffwent

intocleantheabandonedmortu-aryatEmployeesStateInsuranceCorporation (ESIC) ModelHospital, which falls under theUnion Ministry of Labour andEmployment,aftercomplaintsofa foul smell.While Durga, 42, agarmentworkerwholivedinKPAgrahara,wasdeclareddeaddueto Covid on July 5 last year, theother personwhose bodywasfound was Muniraju, 68, ofChamarajpet, a father of threegirls,whodiedonJuly2.“Durga'sdaughters(15and10

now) lost both their parents

within twoyears.After500days,police say her bodywas aban-donedatahospital.WhatdoItellthem?”Durga'ssisterSujathaGBsaidMonday.ApoliceofficersaidwhenESICHospital'soldmortu-ary was pulled down and re-placed by a new building, offi-cials failed to check the freezerwhere thebodieswerekept.At the time, Bengaluruwas

strugglingtocopewiththeCovidspread.Thebodiesof thosewhodied due to the virus were nothanded over to families by thegovernment, amidst fears thatthismight further transmit thedisease,withthe last riteseithercarriedoutbytheBBMP(BruhatBengaluruMahanagara Palike)itself, or in the presence of fam-

ilymembers.BBMPChiefHealthOfficerDr

Balasundar A S said it seemedthehospitalhadbeennegligent."Ihavesoughta report fromthefield officers and actionwill betakenif therewasnegligenceonthe BBMP staff's part," he toldThe IndianExpress.Medical Superintendent Dr

ImtihamHussain's phonewasswitchedoff.Hedidnotrespondto messages. Durga andMuniraju's families battledshockandanger,astheircrema-tionswerecarriedoutMonday.Sujatha, also a garment

worker, said: “Durga lost herhusband, an alcoholic, in 2019.She had only started hoping togiveabetterlifetoherdaughterswhenshedieddue toCovid.”She said themunicipal au-

thoritiessentheranoticeregard-ing the cremation at the time,addingthatshecouldjoin.“Atthetimeweall fearedthevirusandIdidnotwanttoputthechildren'slives at risk.We asked them tocremate thebody.Later,weper-formedall therituals.”Describing her shock on re-

ceivingthecallthatDurga'sbody

had been discovered, Sujathasaid: “Initially, I didnot believeit, but then they sharedmoredetails.”Sujatha, who is raising

Durga'sdaughters, said shesentthe two to school and thenreached the Rajajinagar PoliceStationunderwhichthehospitalfalls around 9am. The body,moved toVictoriaHospital forpost-mortem,washandedoverto the familyaround5pm. “All Ihadtoidentifyherwasthetagonherbody,”saidSujatha.Rajeshwari, the youngest

daughter of Muniraju, who re-tired as a jewellery storeworker,saidanofficialfromtheRajajinagarPoliceStationaskedher to identify the body. “Wehad not been able to performhis last rites, leaving it to theBBMP...Weperformedthe11th-day rituals aswell as observedthe firstdeathanniversary."BJPMLAandformerminister

SureshKumarslammedthe"in-humane"episodeanddemandedaninquiryandactionagainsttheofficials responsible.He saidhehad written to the LabourMinistrydemandingthesame.


THESUPREMECourtonMondayexpressedconcernover the lownumberofclaimsbeingfiledforcompensation for Covid-19deathsandsaidthiscouldbeduetolackofenoughpublicityabouttheschemeorlackofknowledgeaboutwhere toapply.AbenchheadedbyJusticeM

R Shah asked states and UnionTerritories to furnishdetails, in-cludingonthenumberofdeathsrecorded and claims receivedand processed, what publicityhas been given to the compen-sationschemeandaboutwhereandwhomtoapproach,whetherthey have set up portals for re-

ceiving claims and disbursingcompensation. The court di-rectedthat thesedetailsbesup-plied to theMinistry of HomeAffairs or the National DisasterManagement Authority on orbeforeDecember3,afterconsid-ering which it will pass orderslaying down a uniform proce-dure across the country. Thebench,alsocomprisingJusticeBV Nagarathna, said the modeldevelopedbyGujaratcanbeap-pliedpan-India.On the previous hearing, the

benchconveyeddispleasureovertheGujaratnotificationputtinginplace a committee to scrutinisetheprocessof claimreceipts.OnMonday,SolicitorGeneralTusharMehta said the procedure hadbeenrevisedandsimplified.The

bench expressed satisfactionwiththerevisedscheme.It said the fresh resolution

datedNovember28“canbesaidtobeabsolutely”asperthecourt’searlierdirections.“Theproceduretoclaimcompensationissimpli-fiedandabsolutelyinconsonancewith our judgment and orderdated04.10.2021,”saidthebench.Thecourt saidall statesmust

setuponlineportals for thisas itwill “facilitate the applicants tomakeapplicationsforcompensa-tion fromtheir place”. The courtpointed out that claim figureswere low for Haryana andKarnataka while it was morethan the number of recordeddeathsinAndhraPradesh.Itwillhear the matter next onDecember6.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,NOVEMBER29

THE KARNATAKA governmenthas sought clarity from theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) and theUnionHealth Ministry regarding aCovid-19 variant detected in aforeign traveller from SouthAfrica,stateHealthMinisterDrKSudhakarsaidhereonMonday.The 63-year-oldman, who

wasamongthetwopersonswhotested positive after returningfrom South Africa mid-November,was earlier reportedbystateofficialsasbeinginfectedby the Delta variant. However,SudhakarsaiditwasnottheDeltavariantandthatclarificationshadbeensoughtfromICMR.“Iwillnotcommentonthede-

tectionoftheOmicronvariantinatravellerfromSouthAfrica.Weareholding discussionswith ICMRandtheMinistryofHealthat theCentre.Oneperson...hasbeenin-fectedbyavariantdifferent fromtheDeltavariant,”Sudhakarsaid.“Wewill be getting a report

byDecember1onthenewvari-ant and its characteristics andpatterns,”hesaid.


SEEKINGTOputtorestapprehen-sionsaboutCovid-19vaccines,theCentre has told the SupremeCourt that the percentage ofAdverse Event FollowingImmunisation(AEFI)havingseri-ous or severe consequences, in-cludingdeaths,inthecaseofbothCovaxinandCovishieldislessthan0.01%andsoughtdismissalofaPILthatsoughtreleaseofsegregatedtrialdataforeachofthephasesof

clinicaltrialsofthesevaccinessay-ingthatentertainingitwillnotbein public interest as anymisgiv-ingscanledtovaccinehesitancy.In an affidavit, the Health

Ministry said AEFI “is beingmonitored and reviewed. Thepercentageofsucheffecthavingserious / severe [includingdeaths] in case of both CovaxinandCovishieldislessthan0.01%.Thisisinthecaveatthatanysuchserious effect cannot be attrib-uted tovaccination.”

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

RUPSACHAKRABORTYMUMBAI,NOVEMBER29

DAYS AFTER a 32-year-oldDombivli residentwith interna-tional travel history fromSouthAfrica tested Covid-19 positiveuponarrivalinMumbaiviaDelhion November 24, the KalyanDombivliMunicipalCorporation(KDMC)isunabletotrackthetaxidriverwho drove theman fromMumbaiairport toDombivli.“Itriedcontactinghimbuthe

isnotansweringcalls...Astheper-sondoesn'tresideinKDMCjuris-diction, the departmentmightask Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) to trace thedriver,” said Pratibha Panpatil,ChiefMedicalOfficerofKDMC.Thepatienttestednegativein

an RT-PCR test conducted 72hours prior to his Cape TownflighttoMumbai.“UponlandinginDelhi,when another RT-PCRtest was conducted, he wasfoundpositive. There is apossi-bility that his previous reportwasfalsenegative,”saidPanpatil.KDMC has tested eight of

the Dombivli resident's closecontacts.Their reports werenegative. “We have sent hissamples for genome sequenc-ing...We are hoping to get thereport within a week,” saidPanpatil. HealthofficialsareyettoascertainifheisinfectedwiththeOmicronvariant.

CLIMATE CHANGE:IS THE WORLDDOING ENOUGH?

The recently-concluded climate change conference in Glasgow, COP26, was supposed to put the world on the1.5 degree Celsius pathway. But has it? The Glasgow COP delivered some important successes, but overall the

final outcome was far short of expectations, and nowhere near the ambition that, science says, is required tokeep global temperatures within 1.5 degree Celsius from pre-industrial times. In that manner, COP26 was not

very different from the earlier such meetings.

One of the highlights of COP26 was India’s new climate pledges, including a promise to attain net-zeroemission status by 2070. To discuss the COP26 outcomes, and India’s new climate plans, Amitabh Sinha,

Resident Editor of The Indian Express in Pune, will talk to Rajani Ranjan Rashmi, who was India’s chiefnegotiator at these conferences for several years.

To register, SMS- IEEXP<space>"IE”<space>”Your name and email ID” to 56161

Dec03 2021 06:00PMTo RegisterSCAN

Associate Partner

In conversationwith

Resident, Editor, PuneThe Indian Express

Amitabh SinhaDistinguished Fellow and

Programme Director, Earth Scienceand Climate Change, TERI

Mr. RR Rashmi

Durga,Munirajudied in Julylastyearamidstasurge

Covid victimbodies found after16months, ‘identified by tag’

Covid variant inSA traveller notDelta: KarnatakaHealth Minister

Fewer claims, SC tells UTs,states to send details to Centre

COVIDDEATHCOMPENSATION After passenger fromSouth Africa tests positive,taxi driver yet to be traced

TARUNTEJPALPLEA

Expect dignity whilereading evidence inrape cases, says HC

TarunTejpal

Less than .01% showadverse effect: Govt

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH,NOVEMBER29

A39-YEAR-OLDmaleresidentofChandigarh’s Sector 36 hastested positive. On his returnfromSouthAfricaonNovember21, his RT-PCR reportwas nega-tiveonarrival.He was quarantined at

home on his arrival inChandigarhandasperprotocol,was tested again on Monday.The Health Department hasconfirmedhe is Covid-19posi-

tive.Oneofhis familymembersandadomestichelpalso testedpositive. While two familymembershave testednegative,the report of another familymember is awaited.Asper theprotocol, theman

is currently kept in isolation inGMCH-32. According to Dr.SumanSingh,DirectorofHealthServices,samplesof thepositivecaseshavebeensentforgenomesequencing to National CentreforDiseaseControl,Delhi, toas-certainthevariantandif it isoneof concern.

Chandigarh man whowas in SA tests positive

New Delhi

10WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DIMINISHING HOUSEATVaddresstonation,unctuoustweetsdonotadebatemake.ThewaythefarmlawshavebeenrepealeddentsParliament

I TJUSTTOOKfourminutesfortheLokSabhaonMondaytopassabill thatsoughttorepeal the three controversial farm legislationswhich saw farmersmobilise at theDelhibordersforoverayear.Itisshocking—buthardlyasurprise—thatthegovern-mentrefusedtoheedtheOpposition’sdemandforadiscussionintheHouseonthe

subjectthathadbeendebatedextensivelyondifferentplatformsacrossthenation.Thisisrem-iniscentofthemannerinwhichthecontroversiallawswererammedthroughinParliamentinSeptember2020withoutdueconsideration,asdemandedbytheOpposition, leadingtodeepdistrustaboutthereformsitselfinthesociety,particularlyamongasectionofthefarmercommunity.Infact,theobstinacyofthegovernmentwasamajorreasonwhyitfailedtocon-vince theprotestorsdespite 11 roundsof talks and the interventionof the SupremeCourtaboutcrucialreforms.ThedecisiontorepealtheActswasannouncedbyPrimeMinisterNarendraModionGuru

Purab.Butatelevisedaddresstothenationisnosubstituteforadetailedstatementanddis-cussion inParliamentsincetheseActshadbeenpassedbytheHouse.UnionministershadtakentosocialmediaandhailedthePM’sclimbdownasagreatgestureinthenationalinter-est—whatwasagainstthenationalinterestwasneverexplained.So,whatweretheimper-atives?Wasthegovernment’sfailuremerelyacaseofmiscommunication?Whathasbeentheoutcomeof similar “reform”measures in the states? Should theCentrehenceforth letthe states decide their ownagriculture reformpaths asper thedemandsof local politicaleconomyratherthanpushcentralisedsolutionsonasectorrichindiversecultivationprac-tices andmarkets? Then, there is the continuingdemandamong farmers formaking theminimumsupportpricealegalright,whichraisesseveralfraughtissues. Italsoseemseventhosewhohadopposedthe farmlawsagree that Indianagriculture is inacrisisandneedsradical solutions. Sowhat is theway forward?All these andmuchmore— the tragedy inLakhimpurKheriwhereacentralminister’ssonwasarrestedonallegationsthataSUVownedbyhimranoveramarchkillingfivepersons—needsvigorousdebateinParliament.Bynowthegovernment should know that agriculture is a deeply contested territory andpolicy-makinginthesectorcallsforconversationsacrossfences.Infact,thefarmingcommunityit-self, includingthoseintheforefrontofprotests,have,bytheirownadmission,gonethroughaperiodofeducationanddeepintrospectionaboutfarmpractices.PrimeMinisterModi iswonttocall theConstitutionaholybookandParliamentatem-

ple.ButhisgovernmenthasbeenfoundwantinginlivinguptotheletterandspiritofthatholybookandhasfrequentlyuseditselectoralmajoritytoimposeitswillonParliamentbystomp-ing out dissenting voices and ignoring customandprocedure. Debates are the lifeline ofParliament;theirabsencewilldiminishtheinstitution,putaquestionmarkonthenextsetof lawsanddeepenalreadyhardeningfault lines.

TRAGEDY OF ERRORSBengalurupolicedisgraces itself byshuttingdownMunawarFaruqui’s show.Statemustnotsuccumbtomob’sveto

BENGALURUPOLICECOMMISSIONERKamal Pantmust answer:Whydid thepoliceforceofoneof India’smostcosmopolitancities,wherethefutureisdailyreimaginedand innovatedon, disgrace itself by submitting to andenforcingaheckler’s veto?Howelse does onedescribe the act of theBengalurupolice

writingtotheorganisersof a ticketedcomedyshowbyMunawarFaruquiand“suggest-ing”thattheycancel itbecause“organisationsopposedto”Faruqui’scomedy“couldcre-ate chaos…and lead to law and order problems”? Facedwith threats from right-wingorganisations, Faruqui and the show’sorganisers found theycouldnotdependonwhatis taken forgranted in functional democracies—that the statewoulddefend their rightto stage a showagainst amob. Instead, thepolicewere foundupholding the right to beoffendedof thosewhohave repeatedlyused the threat of violence to force amajoritar-ianconsensus.Thepolice is, indeed, responsible for keepingpeacebut that doesnot empower it to

impose a prior restraint on an act of speech. The SupremeCourt has several times spo-kenagainst theuseof suchpre-censorship—most recently, in a case last year involvingaprovocativeshowbySudarshanTV.Inthe1989SRangarajancase,whenaTamilfilmwassought to bedenied clearanceon the grounds that itwould lead to violent protests, theSChadasked:“Whatgoodistheprotectionof freedomofexpressionif thestatedoesnottakecare toprotect it? ...it cannotbesuppressedonaccountof threatsofdemonstrationand processions or threats of violence. Thatwould be tantamount to…a surrender toblackmailandintimidation.”Unfortunately,thehoundingofMunawarFaruqui,whichbe-gan lastyear in Indoreovera jokehemightnothaveevencracked, illustratespreciselyasurrendertothispoliticsof “blackmailandintimidation”.Anorganisedcampaignofha-rassmenthasbrought theyoungcomic to thebrinkof quittinghis career.Inthelastseveralmonths,Faruqui’sshowshavebeencancelledinseveralcities, from

Mumbai toRaipur toSurat, after threatsof violencebyHinduright-wingorganisations.Thepolitical class, irrespective of theparty in office, has silently allowed this campaignto grow louder, even while making lofty declamations on Constitution Day. TheConstitution promises Faruqui — and all citizens— the freedomof speech and liberty.Thestateand itspolicemustgoback to its jobof defending those rights.

FerozeVarunGandhi

PratikDatta

Fromjobstohouseholdbudgets,slumpinMSMEstogatheringdebt,distresslooms.Needistocoursecorrect

POWERLESS TO PAYUseofbankruptcycodetorecoverdiscomarrearswill requirecareful thinking

INEARLYNOVEMBER,threetroublingreportscamein.Approximately5.46million Indianslost their jobs inOctoberasperCMIEdata. Inparticular,ouryouthunemploymentratewas28.26percentin2020-21,comparedto15.66per cent in 2016-17. ByAugust 2021, around33percentof all employableyouthwerees-timated to be unemployed.With 20millionIndians entering the jobmarket annually,thereare fewjobsbeingcreated.All this, inaperiodwhentheinformalsector,whichwasanaturalback-up,isroiledbyapushforformal-isation, driven by demonetisation, GST andthelockdown.Ideally, India couldhavecapitalisedonan

opportunitytocreatemillionsofjobsbydevel-opingacompetitive ready-madegarment in-dustry(similartoBangladesh).Thiscouldhavebeendonebyprovidingincentivestotheinfor-malsectorandMSMEstoacquirescale,whilepursuingtradedealswithEurope,CanadaandtheUSthatunlockedaccesstosuchmarkets.Instead, India’s textileexportswerevirtu-

allyflatbetween2015and2019;theunitlabourcost of producinga shirt in India is $0.5 com-paredto$0.22inBangladesh—muchofthisisduetoanunproductiveworkforceandpoorlo-gistics. The consequenceof policy inaction isstark:AsperaWorldBankestimatein2017,12millionjobsshiftedfromChinatoBangladeshinthepastdecade.Muchofthiscouldhavere-furbishedatextileecosysteminIndia.Meanwhile,forIndianswithjobs,thedaily

commuteispinchinghard.PetrolpriceswereaboveRs100/litreinmostcitiesinNovember,driven by high taxes. India is likely to haveElectricVehicle(EV)salesrisingoptimisticallytojust8percentofallnewcarsalesby2030—aclearcaseoflackofpolicyincentivesleadingtohigh-cost EVs. This is anopportunity lost.CountrieslikeChina,whichseektosolvesuchstructural issues (likedependenceon foreignoil), have spent the past decade focused onbuildinganEVindustry,incentivisingproduc-tionandpursuingarapidgrowth inchargingstations. China is nowon track to have EVscomprise40percentofallcarsalesby2030.The average India’s kitchen budget has

beenhit by rising retail inflation. LPGpriceshaverisensharply(almost30percentbetweenJanuaryandOct2021).Withalmost300mil-lion registereddomestic LPGconsumers, the

impactonpersonalandfiscalfinanceshasbeensignificant. Someof this is alsodue topolicymissteps— the state has pushed for greateradoptionof LPGcook-stoves; instead, apushforelectriccook-stovescouldhavehelpedre-duce import demandand shielded theordi-naryconsumerfrompricehikes.Meanwhile,edibleoilhasseensignificanthikes:Almost30percentforpackedmustardoilandvanaspatiinDelhibetweenJune2020andJune2021;al-most40percentforsunflower.This ispartlydue toadependenceon im-

portsforpalmoil.Apushforbiodieselproduc-tionisalsohavingaconcomitantimpact.Inanidealworld,policymakerswouldhavesoughtto increase the average yield of an oil-seedsfarm in India and cut duties on imports.Campaignstoshiftedibleoildemandtolocallyproducededibleoiltypes,suchasmustardandsunflower,couldhavebrokenthelinkagewithinternationalprices.Wearenowactivelypro-moting deforestation in theNortheast by apush for palmoil plantations. Additionally,evenordinaryvegetablesarenowpricier;dailyessentials, fromkey FMCGplayers, have be-comedeareroverthepastfewyears.Put together, such factors have made

Indianspoorer.Anaveragefarmer’snetworthdeclinedby33.8per cent between2013and2019; anaverage entrepreneur’s declinedby30.5percent,onareal-valuebasis.To cope, Indians have taken to personal

debt,enmasse.Between2012and2018,priortoCovid-19,thenumberofIndianhouseholdswithdebtrosesignificantly,withanincidenceof indebtedness (percentage of householdswith any outstanding debt in 2018) in ruralhouseholdsof35percent,andinurbanhouse-holds of 22.4 per cent (All India Debt andInvestmentSurvey,NSS77thRound,2019).Theaverage rural household in Indiahadanout-standingdebtofapproximatelyRs59,728;theaverageurbanhouseholdwastwiceasmuch.Increasingly,thepoorestIndiansaregiventheworstconditionsfornewloans—44.8percentof allnewborrowers inApril-June2019werefrom the sub-prime/ near-prime category(havinghigher credit risk). Such citizens arecharged loans at 25-40per cent annual per-centage rate and then chased by recoveryagents.Asaconsequence,manyIndianshavehad to flog off their family gold—gold loans

outstanding have risen by 77.4 per cent be-tweenAugust2020andJuly2021.Allthis,inaviciouscycle,hasledtoareturn

tomasspoverty. Thenumberof Indianswhoarepoor(withadailyincomelessthanorequalto$2perday)roseto134millionin2021from59millionin2020.Themiddleclassisshrink-ing, from99million in2020 to 66million in2021(PewResearch,March2021).AllthishashappenedinaneraofextremeinequalitywithIndia’stop1percentholding73percentofthenationalwealthin2017.Thereseemstobeapalpable lossofhope.

Goingforward,weshouldchartoutanewjour-ney for India, onewherepolicymakers skewaway fromsupply-sidemeasures (for exam-ple cutting taxes for corporates,monetisingstate assets, burdeningMSMEs) andpursuedemand-sidemeasures, seeking tohelp thecommonman.Over the past decade, our policymakers

havegrandlyannouncedhundredsofineffec-tual policies to promotemanufacturing inIndia, create jobs and raise farmer income;meanwhile,Bangladeshsimplymadeclothes.Theyarericherthanusnow.Asimpleexamplehighlights howpolicy inaction, apathy andmistakes have brought us to thismoment.MSMEshavehadaroughdecade,beingdislo-cated bydemonetisation andbeing hit by acomplexGST system.Meanwhile, a slowingeconomy,withlittletonodemand-sidepolicymeasures,hasmeantpoorrevenuegrowthforsuch firms tipped over into steep decline.Across sectors, awhiff of oligopoly is emerg-ing,whereMSMEshavenoplace andwherethestateiscomfortablewithlargecorporatesdominatingthevaluechain.In select sectors, the share of the top five

firmsintotalrevenuesofthesectorcanbequitestark—forFMCG,it is64percent;forcement65percent, for infrastructure73percent, forpower81percent, forelectricals75per cent.Amidstallthis,India’spolicymakerscouldhaveintervened to conduct antitrust actions, en-hancecompetition,openupgreaterfinancingtowardsMSMEs andoffer a simplified taxa-tion system. There is still time, only just, tocoursecorrect.

Gandhi isBJPMPfromPilibhit,UP,and theauthorofARuralManifesto

THECENTRALgovernmenthasrecentlyclar-ified that IBCproceedings couldbe triggeredagainst state government-ownedelectricitydistributioncompanies(discoms).Thiscouldhavemajorimplicationsfortheelectricitysec-tor. Successful resolutionof discomswould,however,requirefurtherpolicythinking.Electricityisaconcurrentsubjectunderthe

Constitution. Yet, state governments haveplayed a critical role in this sector sincepre-Independencetimes.TheElectricity(Supply)Act, 1948establishedStateElectricityBoards(SEBs) for thedevelopment andoperationofgeneration, transmission anddistributionofelectricity. In1991,electricitygenerationwasopened-uptotheprivatesector.However,stategovernmentcontroloverelectricitydistribu-tion continued. Push came to shove in 2001whenSEBshad to bebailed out due to theirmountingarrearstowardscentralpublicsec-torgenerationcompanies.Thispavedthewayfor the Electricity Act, 2003. Itmandated allSEBs to beunbundled into separate genera-tion,transmissionanddistributioncompanies.Since then,most states have unbundled

their electricityutilitieswithvaryingmarketstructures.While around47per centof elec-tricity isnowbeinggeneratedprivately,mostdiscomsarestillstategovernmentowned.Stateshavestrongincentivestofavourim-

portant political constituencies by charginglower tariffs, selectively enforcing againstunauthoriseduseetc.Discomshave,therefore,beenusedas a tool of redistribution.Despite

fourbailoutsinthelasttwodecades,theycon-tinuetosufferfromprecariousfinancialhealth.Privatisingdiscomscouldpotentiallysolve

problems.Somestateshaveopposedthisidea.Thecentralgovernment is, therefore, consid-eringdelicensingelectricitydistributionitself.This ideahas alsobeenmetwithopposition.Against this backdrop, enabling creditors totrigger IBCproceedings against discoms as-sumessignificance.ThreatofIBCwouldcom-pelstatestoeitherreformtheirfinanciallydis-tresseddiscomsoryieldtoprivatisationeffortsthroughinsolvencyresolution.Successfulprivatisationofdiscomsthrough

IBCwould depend onmultiple factors. Theconsumermixandgeographyare importantdeterminants of a discom’s commercial via-bility. A recentNiti Aayog report argues thatprivatisationwould be difficultwhen adis-com’sserviceareaismorerural.Giventhetar-iff differential anddifficulty of billing, collec-tion, and in somecases,metering, the costofservicingruralandagriculturalconsumersbe-comescommerciallychallenging.Additionally,state regulators,which issue distribution li-censes and set tariffs, havenot turnedout tobeas independent of state government con-trolasneeded.Thisremainsamajorriskforin-vestors. Given such sectoral factors, a goingconcern sale of somediscomassets throughIBCmaybechallenging.Policymakersneed to also think through

the interplaybetween the electricity regula-torsandtheinsolvencytribunal.Forinstance,

theUSbankruptcy code explicitly preservesthe regulatory agencies’ rate-setting author-ityunderaplanof reorganisation.Thereisnosimilarprovision inthe IBC.Therefore, clarityis neededon theNCLT’s power to approve adiscomresolutionplan thatproposes a tariffchange.If theNCLTcoulddoso,tariffchangesthroughresolutionplanswouldbebindingonthe State Electricity RegulatoryCommission(SERC).Thepolicyonthis issuemayhavesig-nificantimplicationsfordiscomresolution.Insolvencyofsuchutilityserviceproviders

mayneed special treatment to ensure conti-nuityofsupply.Wide-scaledisruptionofsuchservicescouldhavedisastrousconsequencesforaneconomy.Forthisreason,theUKrestrictstherightsofenergysuppliersandtheircredi-tors to initiate insolvencyproceedings. Theymust first notify the financial distress to theSecretaryofStateandOfgem,theenergyreg-ulator.Ofgemassesseswhether a supplier oflastresortcouldbeappointedtotakeovertheresponsibility of the failed supplier. If that isnot feasible, Ofgemor the Secretary of Statemayapplytothecourttoinitiateaspecialad-ministration regime that ensures continuityofsupply.ComparableinstitutionalsafeguardsmayberequiredinIndia,whilebeingmindfulof state capacity constraints. Thepolicy solu-tionsthatemergeshouldbeinformedbyfor-eignprecedentsbutrootedinIndianrealities.

Thewriter is senior research fellow,ShardulAmarchandMangaldas&Co,NewDelhi

Over the past decade, ourpolicymakers have grandlyannounced hundreds ofineffectual policies topromote manufacturing inIndia, create jobs and raisefarmer income; meanwhile,Bangladesh simply madeclothes. They are richer thanus now. A simple examplehighlights how policyinaction, apathy andmistakes have brought us tothis moment. MSMEs havehad a rough decade, beingdislocated by the impact ofdemonetisation and beinghit by a complex GSTsystem. Meanwhile, aslowing economy, with littleto no demand-side policymeasures, has meant poorrevenue growth for suchfirms tipped over intosteep decline

Privatising discoms couldpotentially solve problems.Some states have opposedthis idea. The centralgovernment is, therefore,considering delicensing ofelectricity distribution itself.This idea has also been metwith opposition. Againstthis backdrop, enablingcreditors to trigger IBCproceedings against statediscoms assumessignificance. Threat of IBCwould compel states toeither reform theirfinancially distresseddiscoms or yield toprivatisation efforts throughinsolvency resolution.

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,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021WORDLYWISE

Comedy is an escape, not from truth but fromdespair; a narrowescape into faith.

—Christopher FryTHEEDITORIALPAGE

These are hard times

GURDWARA EXPLOSION

THREE PERSONSWERE killed on Sunday inan explosion in Gurdwara GurdarshanPrakash atMehta Chowk, headquarters ofSant Jarnail SinghBhindranwale.At the timeof the explosion, the Santwas away inBarervillage inGurdaspur district. He returned tohisheadquarters,about40kmfromAmritsar,onhearingabouttheincident.Theexplosionbrought downamajor part of the gurdwaracomplex.ThethreedeadweredisciplesofSantBhindranwale. A case under section 302 IPCandsection4oftheIndianExplosivesActwasregistered on a complaint lodged byDharaSingh, a confidant of the Sant and establish-ment in-charge at the gurdwara. The explo-

sion, which occurred at 12.30 pm, killedJaswantSingh(20), SukhmandhirSingh (13)andGajjan Singh (27). It destroyed the com-munitykitcheninthegurdwara.

ASSAM TENSETHE ARMY STOOD by to help the civil ad-ministrationandCRPFunitsweredeployedat sensitive points in Assam on Sunday, onthe eve of the 13-hour “Rasta roko” pro-grammebeginningat5amonMonday.Thisis the first time since the suspension of thestir last year that the agitation leadershiphas asked the people to agitate actively inthe face of heavy police arrangement andthepossibility of violence. TheGovernor of

Assam andMeghalaya, PrakashMehrotra,has already announced that all highwayswill bekeptopen.

MEETING DISRUPTEDCONGRESS (I)WORKERS indulged in fist-fighting and snatched themicrophone fromthedais at themeeting of theHinduRakshaSammelan in Jalandhar on SundaywhenSankaracharyaNiranjandevTirathofPuriwasspeaking.TheprovocationfortheCongress(I)workers to disturb the meeting was theSankaracharya’s criticismof theCongress (I)for “downgradingHinduism” in thecountry.TheSankaracharyaheldMrsGandhirespon-sibleforthepresentplightofHinduism.

NOVEMBER 30, 1981, FORTYYEARSAGO

KIM DEANForyears,KimJong-unforcedNorthKoreans toemulatehisstyle.Nowthathehasacool jacket,hewantsnocopycats

K IMJONG-UN,SUPREMELeaderofNorthKorea, justcan’tseemtofigureoutwhatkindof fashioniconhewantstobe.Foryears,therehavebeenreportscomingout of themysterious, tragicomical totalitarian state of the lackofchoice for thepeople. A great symbol of that unfreedomwas the fact that

people could only get their hair cut in state-approved styles andmanymen and boyswereencouragedtoemulateKim’shairdo—asortof bowlcutwithanoddmiddlepart-ing. It’s a hairstyle only a dictator canpull off:Most regular peoplewill be teasedout ofit. Now, it seems thatNorthKoreanauthorities havedecided that imitation is no longera formof flattery.SinceDecember 2019, Kimhas been seen sporting a leather trench coat. Unlike the

haircuts, this fashion choice reportedly hasmore takers andmanyNorth Koreans havebeenspendingrelativelyexorbitantamounts—thecountryhasanabysmalpercapitain-come—torockaleatherjacket.But, itseemsKimnowwantstobeuniqueinhislookandthe police have been cracking down on the trench coat. Copying his look, it appears, isnowan insult toKim’s sacredpersonality.Atfirstglance, itappearsthatKimisconfused—itseemsthathecan’tdecidebetween

wantingtobetheleaderof thefashionpackorjustacool, leather-jacket-wearing, James-Dean-like lonewolf. After all, if a leather jacket becomes a uniform, is it even a leatherjacketanymore?Butperhapsthereismoreofamethodtothesartorialdiktats.Whenallpeople spokeaboutwasadated, somewhatunflatteringbowl cut, hewantedeveryonetobelikehim.Nowthathe’scool,hewantstogoitalone.Misery,Kimknows, lovescom-pany.Andwhenyou finallygeta lookright, youdon’twantanycopycats.

New Delhi

11THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“It will be weeks before we understand just how much a risk Omicron presents.If it is much more infectious than the Delta variant of Covid, its global spread isto some degree inevitable, though it will of course be slowed by vaccines andtravel restrictions. ” —THEOBSERVERTHE IDEASPAGE


China’s aggressive policieshave not brought thepolitical acquiescence thatBeijing expected from all itsneighbours. In fact, it hashad the opposite effect withkey neighbours. China,which never stops toemphasise its ownnationalism, appears to haveunderestimated the depth ofsimilar sentiment in otherAsian states. In the past,Asian nationalism was easilymobilised against the USand the West. Today, it isdriving many of China’sneighbours into the UScamp. It is America and notChina that today talks aboutthe sovereignty andterritorial integrity ofAsian nations.

THEREISNOreasontobelievethatthereisaconnectionbetween“whatchildrenlearninschools”andrecenteventssuchasthelynch-ingofaDalityouthtodeathinPunjab,socialmediatweetsagainstactorShahRukhKhanforthearrestofhisson,AryanKhanandup-roar over Fabindia advertising Diwali asJashn-e-Riwaaz.Underlyingtheseeventsaredeep-rootedprejudices,stereotypes,expres-sionsofself-righteousness,mistrustandha-tredforthose“different” fromus—intermsofgender,religion,casteandclass.Amoreap-propriatequestiontoaskperhapswouldthenbe,“whatistheroleofschools”intheforma-tionofprejudices/stereotypes.Wemust begin by acknowledging that

schools are amicrocosmof the larger soci-ety.Iftherearecleavagesinsociety,theywillgetreflectedinschools.Forexample,aDalitgirl’s experiencewill be different from aBrahmin boy, even if they go to the sameschool.Thisisbecause,foreachchild,theso-cialrealityoutsideofschoolwillalsoimpactwhatheexperiencesinsideschoolsbecauseof messages, either manifest or hidden,transmittedinschools.Now let us examine how schools treat

their students. On the onehand, theyhavehomogenising rituals such asmandating aschooluniform,commonassemblyandcom-monmodesof teaching,evaluatinganddis-ciplining imposing the same code of con-duct/expectations fromeveryone. On theotherhand, there are rituals that aremeanttomark/grade and separate students fromeachother. This ismost evident in thewayhighachievers are rewarded,made towearmarksofdistinction,sometimesevenphys-ically separating them from the so-calledweakersections.Thiswouldleadustobelievethatschools

givelittleweightagetodifferentformsofcap-ital—economic,socialandculturalresourcesthat studentsmay ormaynot possess de-pendingonwheretheycomefromandhowthat influencestheirperformance inschool.Insteadof acknowledgingdiversity, stratifi-cationandassociatedinequalityanddiscrim-inationschoolspretendthatall iswell intheworldoutsideandshutthemselvesoff fromdivergentexperiencesthatdifferentchildrenmayhave. There are safeguards in the formof syllabi,prescribedtextbooksandfocusedexaminations that ensure the child’sworld—knowledge,language,culture,experiences—isnotallowedentryintotheschool.Whilethis ismadeexplicit in all formal and infor-mal communication to students and theirparents, thereisanotherwayinwhichmoststudents’ experiences are distorted in theclassroom. Textbooks, the central pivotaroundwhichteaching-learningrevolves,areresponsible for perpetuating symbolic vio-lenceagainst certain social groups livingonthemargins of societybyeither ignoringor

misrepresentingthem.For instance,women, and other social

groupsonthegenderspectrum,peoplewithdisabilities,hardlyfindanypresenceintext-books.Iftheydo,theyarecaricaturedorpre-sentedinapoorlight.Thereareexamplesga-loreofwomenshownasbeingdumb,peoplewithdisabilities ashelplessorevenwicked,peoplefromlowerclassesasbeingdirtyandlazy,Dalitsasbeinginferioranddeservingofhardshipsandtribalsasbeingsteepedinor-thodoxyandsuperstition.Minorities, eitherlinguisticorreligious,alsomeetthesamefate.Loose, irresponsiblestatementsaremadeintextbooks, which are then reinforced byteachersintheclassroom.Socialinequalitiespresent intherealworldarethusreplicatedinsideschools.Anotherseriouslimitationwithourtext-

booksisthetendencytokeepthemsanitised,withnomentionofanysocialevilorconflicts.Thisisdonetokeepyoungmindsawayfromthe ill effects of all that is bad in society.Ironically, a child experiencingdiscrimina-tiondayinanddayoutinhisreallifeistrans-ported toamake-believeworldwhereall iswell.Achildwearingaskullcapbeingteasedoutsidetheclassandaccusedofbeingater-roristonenteringtheclassroomreadsatext-book,whichsays, “Hindu,Muslim,Sikh, Isaiapasmeinbhaibhai”.NaziaErum,inherbookMotheringaMuslim,basedonsystematicre-searchinschoolsacrossseveralcitiesinIndiashowshowMuslim children are teasedbybeing called “terrorist” and “Pakistani”.Similarly, a Dalit child living a life on thefringesofhisvillageisgiventobelievethatalliswellwith school andsociety. Sociologists,Murali Krishna andGovardhanWankhede,intheirautobiographies,poignantlypresentexperiencesof discriminationandhumilia-tiontheyfacedintheirchildhoodbothinsideandoutsideschool.Addedtothisisthepedagogicnecessityto

passively accept whatever is taught inschools.Prejudicesbecomeourlens,shapingthewaywe look at theworld and othersaroundus.Asadults,weclingtothemastheyhelpusjustifyourmisdeedsagainstothers.The National Curriculum Framework

2005 radically tried to shift the nature ofschooling inIndia.Socialsciencetextbooks,particularlySocialandPoliticalLife,wereout-standing in severalways. Instead of adopt-ing an attitude of an ostrich they acknowl-edged inequity in society, brought insubalternliteratureandvoices,andaccordedlegitimacytomultipleworldviews.Contraryto the spirit inwhichNCFwaswritten, onefindsitdifficult tounderstandwhysacrificeis espoused and valued in the NationalEducationPolicy,2020.Eklavya’ssacrificeofhisthumbasgurudakshinatoDronacharyaiscelebrated inour textbooks rather thanbe-ingcondemned.Inagrosslyunequalsociety,it isnotdifficulttoimaginethatwhowillbeexpected to sacrificeand towhom,and the“we” in school and societywill continue toengage in acts of violence.Whilewe takepride in inflictingviolenceonthoseweakerthanus,witheachsuchact,webecomemoredehumanised.

Thewriterisprofessor,SchoolofEducation,TataInstituteofSocialSciences,Mumbai

Chinese policies have driven theUS towardsanunanticipated internal consensus on con-tainingBeijing.Making a friendly America into an en-

emy prematurely could go down as one ofXi Jinping’segregiousstrategicerrors.Forallclaims about America’s decline, historypointstothedangersofunderestimatingUScapacity for self-renewal and thewill to re-tain its primacy.China’s aggressive regional policies are

drivingmany countries like Australia, India,Japan, the Philippines andVietnam, towardstheUS.All thesecountrieswhowerehopefulofdeepertieswithChinaarenowunderpres-sure to find external support to copewithBeijing’sthreats.WhilethemilitarybalanceofpowerinAsia

has certainly turned in China’s favour, it hasnotcoweddownitsneighbours.Manyarepur-suingstrongernationalmilitarycapabilitiestolimit someof the threats fromChina. TheUS,in turn, has begun to strengthen thedefencecapabilities of Asian nations at the receivingendofChinesemilitarypower.China’sexpan-sionismhasledtotheinevitablemilitarisationof itsperiphery.China’s aggressive policies have not

broughtthepoliticalacquiescencethatBeijingexpectedfromallitsneighbours. Infact, ithashad theopposite effectwithkeyneighbours.China,whichneverstopstoemphasiseitsownnationalism,appearstohaveunderestimatedthedepthof similar sentiment inotherAsianstates. Inthepast,Asiannationalismwaseas-ilymobilised against the US and theWest.Today,itisdrivingmanyofChina’sneighboursintotheUScamp. It isAmericaandnotChinathattodaytalksaboutthesovereigntyandter-ritorial integrityofAsiannations.Meanwhile, Chinese diplomacy, once

hailedaswiseandfar-seeing,hasnowbecomethetextbookcaseofhownottoconductbusi-nesswithotherstatesandsocieties,thankstoitscrude“wolfwarriors”.It has beenquite fashionable in theWest

aswellas intheEast, toproclaimthatChina’shegemony is inevitable, American decline isterminal, andAsian coalitions areunsustain-able.Thoseconclusionsareprematureatbest.ForXiJinpinghassquanderedmanyofChina’snaturalgeopoliticaladvantages.

Thewriter isdirector, InstituteofSouthAsianStudies,NationalUniversityofSingapore

andcontributingeditoroninternationalaffairs forTheIndianExpress

UNDERMINEDTHISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘MakingtheHouse work’ (IE, November 29). Thegovernment’sbacktrackingonthefarmlawshascastthespotlightonthefunc-tioning of Parliament yet again. In re-centtimes,anumberof lawshavebeenpassedwithlittlediscussion,purelyonthestrengthoftherulingparty’smajor-ity. The Opposition and civil societyhavebeenpainted,moreoftenthannot,as a nuisance and their protests sup-pressed. The regular defection of MPsandMLAs to rival parties, lack of criti-cal debate on proposed laws, and theinterference of the executive pose athreat to the independence of theParliament.Therepealof thefarmlawsshouldpromptthegovernmenttotakecognizanceof this fact.

IlaRailkar,Mumbai

COMEDY DENIEDTHIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Faruquishow inBengaluru cancelled; he says:hatehaswon, I’mdone’ (IE,November29). It seems like comedyhasnoplacein Indian society. Stand-up comedianMunawar Faruqui has announced hewill hang up his boots after severalshows across the country were can-celled. VirDas is facing theheat for his“two Indias” comment.Where areweheading? Some of these comediansmayhave steppedon certain sensitiveissuesbutdoweneedtokeeptargetingthem to such an extent that they areforcedtogiveup?It’s timewebroadenourperspective. It’stimeweacceptthelittle“comedyoferrors”committedbyourstand-upcomedians.Lifeisonebig

comedy, let’s live it!MelvilleXD’Souza,Mumbai

CATEGORY CLARITYTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Newhori-zons’ (IE,November29). It isnodoubtamatterofsatisfactiontoseethestatusofour twoneighbouring countries beingupgradedfromLDCtodevelopingcoun-tries. It is also time tohavea lookat themultiplicity of classifications for coun-triesbydifferentagenciessuchastheUN,WTOandWorldBankandthedifferentmethodsanddifferentterminologyusedbythem.Somedevelopedcountriesalsoclassify others, using their owncriteria.The case of the Trump administrationdeeming India tobeadevelopedcoun-tryandnotadevelopingoneisanexam-ple. The status of a country has impor-tanttrade,resourceallocationandotherimplicationsand it is, therefore, impor-tant to have a consistent approach tocountry classification. All countriesshouldtakethismatterupinearnest.

HemantContractor,Pune

TMC HYPOCRISYTHISREFERSTOthereport, ‘InTMCcan-didate list, family ties run deep’ (IE,November 28). Trinamool CongresschiefMamataBanerjeealwaysaccusestheCongressofdynasticrulewhilethelist of her party’s candidates for theKMCelections shows thatwards, rela-tives of theministers, leaders close toherwerenominated, includinghersis-ter-in-law.Thisprovesthatshedoesn’tpracticewhat shepreaches.

SSPaul,Nadia

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

CAPFsmustaddressstructural issuestoovercomestressamongpersonnel

Broken bonds

MPNathanael

Xi Jinping’saggressiveregionalpoliciesaredrivingmanycountriesthatwerehopefulofdeepertieswithChinatowardstheUS

DishaNawani

Beijing’s blunder

ONEOFTHEmanyconsequencesofChina’sas-sertivepostureinAsiahasbeentheemergenceofgeopoliticalcoalitionstolimittheprospectsfor Beijing’s regional dominance. Two newcoalitions thathavegota lotofpoliticalatten-tionaretheQuadrilateralframeworkinvolvingAustralia, India, Japan and the US, and theAUKUS,which brings togetherAustralia, theUnitedKingdomandtheUnitedStates.Untilrecently,Chinawasquitecontemptu-

ousofthenewpoliticalformations.Ithadcom-paredtheQuadto“seafoam”thatisherenowbut gone in a second. China’s dismissive atti-tudehas nowyieldedplace to denunciation.In Beijing’s diplomatic lexicon, Quad andAUKUSare“smallcliques”.“Smallcliques”arenotnewtointernationalpolitics;nor isChinaunfamiliarwiththem.Youcouldarguethatfo-rums such as RIC and BRICS — the formerbringstogetherRussia,IndiaandChinaandthelatterhas, inaddition,Brazil andSouthAfrica—are“smallcliques”.Hypocrisyisendemicininternationallife.“Mycliquesaregreat—theyare about promoting a ‘multipolarworld’ —but your cliques are dangerous because theythreatenregionalsecurity”.Whereyoustanddependsonwhereyousit.TwobigfactorsarebehindChina’srethink-

ing. Onewas the surprising emergence ofAmerican domestic political consensus onchallengingChina.BeijingwasconvincedthatPresident JoeBidenwouldreversehisprede-cessor’sconfrontationwithChina.Beijingbe-lievedthatDonaldTrumpwasanexceptiontothe longstanding US policy of deeper eco-nomic integrationwith China and sustainedpoliticalengagement.ButBidenhassimplyre-inforcedTrump’sstrategy.Chinaisperhapstheonly issue thatcutsacross thedeepeningpo-liticaldivideintheUS.Thatbringsustothesec-ondbigfactor.Trump thought that alliances are a bur-

denonUStaxpayersandrelentlesslytrashedlong-standing allies in Europe and Asia.Biden, incontrast,hasmadealliancesacriti-cal element of his China strategy. The ideawas to create “situations of strength” vis-a-vis China by rebuildingUS alliances andde-velopingnewcoalitions.In Asia, the Biden administrationmoved

quickly to strengthen the traditional securitytieswithitsalliesinnortheastAsia—JapanandSouthKorea. It also elevated theQuad to theleaders-levelwithinweeks after Biden tookcharge and had a physical summit inWashington six months later. It also an-nouncedtheAUKUS.NotonlyhasWashingtonbacked theBritish aspirations to regain a se-curity role in Asia, but also encouraged theEuropeanstofocusontheChinaquestionandcontributetoIndo-Pacificsecurity.Bidentrav-elled to Europe in June this year to revitalisetheNorthAtlanticTreatyOrganisation.Biden also decided on an early summit

with Russian President Vladimir Putin thattook place in Geneva at the end of hisEuropeantour.WhiletheideaofAmericasep-arating Russia fromChina continues to lookfanciful,Washingtonnowrecognisestheim-portance of keeping channels open to

Moscow.ItwasonlyaftergettinghisducksinarowthatBidenhadhisfirstsummitwithXiJinpingearlier thismonth.Biden’s team believed that the greatest

strength of the USwas its wide network ofallies and partners. And that mobilisingthemwas the key to rebalancing relationswith China. What about China’s own al-liances andpartnerships?While China’s economic reach is now

globalanddeep,politicalandmilitaryallianceshavenotbeenpartofBeijing’stradition.Tobesure, Beijing’s tieswithMoscowhave neverbeenascloseastheyare.Chinaalsohasstrongalliance-like relationswithNorthKorea andPakistan. But there can be little comparisonthough between the kind of strengths thatAmerican allies bring to the tablewith thoseofChina’spartners.AlthoughtheUShasmorealliesandpart-

ners, Beijingwas betting on the propositionthattheAsiangeopoliticalstructurewasturn-ing,irretrievably,inChina’sfavour.Thisisbasedonanumberofpropositions.One, America, located far fromAsia,will

havetroubleovercomingthetyrannyofgeog-raphyinaconflictwithChina.Two,China’shardpower—botheconomic andmilitary—rela-tive to theUS is growing rapidly and shiftingthe localbalanceofpower in its favour.Three,theproximityofChinaandAsianregionalinte-grationhavemadeBeijingthemostimportanteconomicpartnerforthewholeregion.BeijingbelievedthatfewAsiannationswouldwanttospoiltheircommercialrelationswithChinaandalignwithWashington. If someonedidmakethemistakeof embracing theUS, Beijingwasconfidenteconomicpunishmentwouldbringthembacktotheirsenses.Four, the vast imbalance in military

powerbetweenBeijinganditsneighbours itpresumedwoulddissuademostAsianstatesfrom considering armed confrontationswithChina.Five,Chinacountedonthefactthatitiseas-

iertobreakupcoalitionsthanbuildthem.Thecountry trying to construct a coalitionwillneedtomaintainunityofpurposeamongadi-versesetofcountries.That isnoteasytodoina sustained manner even in the mostfavourable circumstances. A capable disrup-torcanoffervaluablebilateraldealstoindivid-ualmembersof theopposingcoalition.China has been confident, at least until

now, that it can tempt theUS into a bilateraldeal inthenameofsharedgreatpowerinter-ests and jointmanagementof theworld. But

CRSasikumar

THERECENTKILLINGof fourpersonnelof the50th Battalion of the Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) by one of their colleagues,Constable Reetesh Ranjan, at their camp inMaraiguda Lingalapalli village of Sukmadis-trictofChhattisgarhhasonceagainhighlightedtheneed foranoverhaulof thegrievances re-dressalmechanismintheforce.Theconstable,whowastotakethepostat4amonNovember8,gotreadyandbeganfiringathissleepingcol-leagues around 3.30 am, seriously injuringsevenofthem.Afterhehademptiedthemag-azine, hewasoverpoweredbyotherperson-nelinthebarrack.Of the seven injured, four succumbed to

their injurieswhile the remaininghavebeenadmittedtoahospital.Preliminaryreportsandavideo recording indicate that the constablewas irkedby certain jokes targetinghimandhiswife.TwopersonneloftheBorderSecurityForce (BSF)werekilledatKhagracharipost inGomati district of Tripura on September 24whenaconstableturnedhisgunonaheadcon-stable, killinghimon the spot. The constablewas thenshotbyanotherconstable,whenhetrainedhisgunonasub-inspector.Asmany as 18deaths due to incidents of

fratricideinCRPFalonehavebeenreportedinthe last four years. Coupledwith a growingnumber of suicides, the conclusiondrawn isthatthepersonnelareonashortfusethatonlyneedsatrigger.Asmanyas29CRPFpersonnelcommittedsuicidein2016.Thefigureroseto38

duringthefollowingtwoyears.In2019,43per-sonnel committed suicidewith the figuretouching60lastyear.Brainstorming sessionsheldby senior of-

ficersinthepasthaveresultedindecisionsthathave,tosomeextent,helpedamelioratethesit-uation.While yogawas introduced in almostallthebattalionsoveradecadeback,ithashadlittleeffect.Mobilenumbersof seniorofficersareprominentlydisplayedinrecreationroomsandmessesof themen,allowingthemaccessforairingtheirgrievancesdirectlytoseniorof-ficers.Personnelareevenallowedtoseekper-sonalinterviewswithseniorofficerstoexplaintheirproblemsandseekredressal.There can be no denying that stress has

contributedtotheescalationof fratricideandsuicide cases in Central ArmedPolice Forces.WhileCRPFofficialsattribute therecent inci-dent in Sukma to “emotional stress” leadingto“suddenpsychologicaldisbalance”,therea-sons for such stress call for a thorough studyandremedialaction.Largenumberof vacan-ciesintheforcesmakeitdifficultforsupervi-soryofficerstosendmenonleaveeventwiceayear.Anyefforttoincreaseleaveentitlementof theCAPFs is turneddownontheplea thattheyarecivilianforcesandaretobegovernedby the relevant rules. Defence personnel areentitledto60daysofannualleave,apartfrom30 days casual leave, while CAPF personnelareentitledtoonly15dayscasualleave,apartfrom60days earned leave. Before the strike

byCAPFpersonnelin1979,theywereentitledto just34daysof earnedleave.Frequentchangesofcompanycommand-

ersandevencompanysecondincommand(in-spector)haveadverseimpactsoncohesiveness,whichisessentialformaintaininghighmorale.Though it is ideal tohaveboth in every com-pany,oneofthemalwayshastobenecessarilypresent. Incidents of fraggingwere very rareuntil a fewdecadesbackbecauseof thebondthat existedbetween the supervisoryofficersandthemen.Vacanciesthenwereminimal.Thevacancies inCAPFswerenearlya lakh

asof January1,2019,whichshotupto1,27,120on January 1, 2020,with CRPF alone havingnearly25,000vacantposts, including550 forgazettedofficers(GOs).BSFhad27,423vacan-ciesincluding487forGOs.Suchlarge-scaleva-cancies also affect the smooth functioningoftheorganisations.Thepostofonesubedarmajor(SM)issanc-

tionedinallbattalionsandinstitutions.This isa very important postwhich, in recent years,hasnotbeenfullyused.TheSMkeepsthebat-talioncommandersintouchwiththepulseofthemenonvariousissues,themostimportantbeingthemoraleofmenof theunit.Thispostneeds tobe activated to avert such incidents.Though theCRPF rules provide for thegrant-ing of the honorary company commander(nowassistant commandant) posts to excep-tionallydeservingsubedars/SMs,thisperhapshasneverbeen implemented. Confermentof

suchhonoraryrankswhodonotmakeittotheposts of regular assistant commandantswillboosttheirmorale.Overadecadeago,thebattalionsmovedas

one cohesiveunit fromoneplace to another.Thesedays,athirdofthepersonnelofabattal-ionistransferredout,adverselyimpactingthebonding.Thepersonnelareexpectedtoadjustthemselves frequently inanewenvironmentandcultivateanewsetoffriendstosharetheirwoesandjoy.Restorationofthesystemofpost-ingpersonnelinabattalionuntiltheyattaintherankof sub-inspectorswould instil a senseofbelonging. In theirwisdom, senior officers ofyoredecided to end themovingof battalionsin the pursuit of economy. But economisingcannotbeatthecostofmorale.The CRPF has introduced the concept of

holding “chaupals”where thepersonnelwillbe free to air their grievances in informal set-tingswith senior officers. This is a creditablestep.However, notmanymayopenup in thepresenceoftheircolleagues,whomaylaterusethosedisclosurestomockthem.Completepri-vacyshouldbeensuredwhenpersonnelmeettheirseniorofficers,sothattheycancomeoutwiththeirdomesticproblemscandidly.Losing lives in incidentsof fratricide isde-

plorableandallstepsshouldbetakentoarrestrepeatofsuchincidents.

Thewriterisaformerinspectorgeneralofpolice,CRPF

RAJA MANDALA

ByC. RajaMohan

Prejudice inthe schoolyardOurschoolsandtextbookscannotpretendthattheinequalitiesofsocietydonotpermeatethem

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK12 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021

Jammu: A teenager from PoK, who hadcrossedovertoPoonchdistrictfromacrosstheLoC lastweek,wasonMondaybookedby the J&K Police under provisions of theEgress and Internal Movement (Control)Ordinance. Sources said he was initiallyquestionedby theArmy. ENS

TORAAGARWALAAIZAWL,NOVEMBER29

THE GAUHATI High Court lastweekset asideanex-parteorderbyaForeigners’ Tribunal (FT)de-claring aCachardistrict residentandhis familymembers as “for-eigners”andsaidthatthepetition-ersshouldbegivenanotheroppor-tunity toprove they are Indians.Thecourtalsosaidsuchopinionsdeclaringpeople as “foreigners”should bemade on the basis ofanalysisandnotasa“default”.In 2018, a tribunal in Cachar

declared Rajendra Das and fourof his familymembers as “for-eigners” after they failed to ap-pear before it following sum-mons thepreviousyear.Hearing a writ petition, a

bench of Justices N KotiswarSinghandMalasriNandisaidthatthepetitionersshouldbeofferedanother opportunity to “provethattheyareIndiansandnotfor-eigners”. The judges said that ifthepetitionerswereabletoprovethe authenticity of the docu-ments presented before thecourt, they “may have a legiti-mateclaimthattheyareIndiansand not foreigners”. The peti-tionerhadsubmittedtothecourtvoters’ lists of 1965 and 1970, inwhichthenamesofDas’parentswerementioned,andamarriagecertificateofDasandhiswife is-sued by theMahadevpur gaonpanchayat in Cachar. The HCaskedthefivepeopletoreappearbefore the same tribunal on orbeforeDecember24.Das, his wife Renubala and

threeminor childrenwere de-clared foreignersbyanex-parteorder (in the absence of thesepersons)inApril2018bytheFT-4thofCachar.Atthetime,thetri-bunal said that Das did not ap-pearfortheproceedingsnordidhe file awritten statementafterseekingtime.Das’scounselpre-viously saidhecouldnotattendthehearingbecauseof illhealth.InitsjudgmentonNovember

24,theHCsaiditwas“consciousof the fact that ex-parte orderscannotbeinterferedinaroutinemanner”but thecasepertainedto a very important right of aperson: citizenship.It said that despite an FT be-

ing“merelyquasi-judicial inna-ture”,anopinionthatapersonisaforeigner“almostsealsthefateof theproceedeeas faras the is-sueofcitizenshipisconcerned”.For this reason, Foreigners’Tribunals should pass anopiniononlyafter“analysingtheevidence” and “not by way ofdefault”,asithadinDas'case,thejudgessaid.Last week's order empha-

sised on the importance of citi-zenship in today’s world andsaid: “It is through citizenshipthat a person can enjoy and en-force fundamental rights andother legal rights conferred bythe Constitution and otherstatutes,withoutwhichapersoncannot lead a meaningful lifewithdignity...Apersonstrippedofcitizenshipwouldberenderedastatelessperson...”Human rights lawyer Aman

Wadudsaidtheverdictwas“ex-actlyhowaconstitutional courtshouldprotect themost impor-tantrightofacitizen”.“Assamisstaring at amajor statelessnesscrisis, I am glad that the HighCourthasacknowledgedtheriskof statelessness of the petition-ers in the case,” he said, addingthat he hoped that FTs acrossAssamwould follow the obser-vationsof thecourt.Wadud said the order was

significantbecausemanypeopleweredeclared foreigners byex-partebecauseofnon-deliveryofnoticesortheyfail toappearbe-forethetribunalduetoillhealthand financial problems. “This isamajorobstacle,”hesaid.In 2019,Minister of State for

HomeGKReddytoldParliamentthatbetween1985andFebruary28, 2019, FTs in Assamhave de-clared63,959peopleasforeign-ers inex-parteproceedings.

‘CITIZENSHIP IMPORTANT’

Bihar teachers’body protestsover delay inappointments

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPATNA,NOVEMBER29

ANASSOCIATIONof candidatesselectedas teachersonMondaywent on an indefinite strike inPatna to protest against an al-leged delay in appointments ofaround38,000school teachers.Theseteacherswereselected

after counselling five monthsago. Another round of coun-selling isdue.Around500membersof the

Bihar State Teachers EligibilityTest (BTET)/ Central TeachersEligibility Test (CTET) UttirnAbhayarthi Sangh began theirprotest at Gardanibagh in thestatecapital.State president of the teach-

ers' body Rajendra Singh saidthe Bihar government had as-sured appointment letters byAugust15.“Wecannotunderstandrea-

sonforthedelay.Weneedtoin-tensify thestir,”hesaid.Governmentofficialssaidthe

processwillbecompletedsoon.Bihar Additional Secretary (ed-ucation) SanjayKumar, told TheIndian Express: “The process ofcounsellinghastobecompleted.About1200niyojanunits are yettoconcludecounselling.Once itis done, we will begin theprocessof appointments.”

J&K POLICE BOOKMINOR TEENWHOCROSSEDOVER FROMPoK

SAGARRAJPUT&VALLABHOZARKARMUMBAI,NOVEMBER29

HOURS AFTER the state-ap-pointed ChandiwalCommissioncancelledthebail-ablewarrantissuedagainstfor-merMumbai Police commis-sioner Param Bir Singh, aninquirywasinitiatedintoanal-leged “secret meeting” be-tweenSinghanddismissedpo-licemanSachinWaze.Singh andWaze -- an un-

dertrial prisoner who is themainaccusedintheAntiliase-curityscarecaseandisbeingin-vestigated by the NIA -- al-legedlymetinaseparateroomin the premises where theChandiwal Commissionholdsits hearings,without seekingthe judge's permission. The

MumbaiPolicewillconductaninquiry into the incident andsubmit its report to the NaviMumbaiPolice,whoshall takeaction against the four police-men -- including onewho al-lowed the allegedmeeting totakeplace.Earlierintheday,theformerMumbai Police com-missioner presented himself

before the com-mission.TheChandiwal

Commissionwasappointed by the

governmenttoprobeSingh'sal-legationsof corruptionagainstformer Maharashtra homeministerAnilDeshmukh.Ithadissued a bailable warrantagainsthimonSeptember7af-terhefailedtoappearbeforeit.After Singh resurfaced lastweek, his lawyers filed an ap-plication before the commis-sionseekingcancellationofthebailable warrant, which thecommission granted onMonday.“Itisinformedthatillhealth

andother ailments precludedhimfromremainingphysicallypresent before this commis-sion. Based on protection ex-tended by Hon'ble SupremeCourt by order dated 22ndNovember 2021, Singh hascause to ensure his presencebefore the commission,” readtheorder. Thebailablewarrantwas cancelled and SinghwasfinedRs15,000.Singh reached the Old

Secretariat BuildingAnnex inFortat10.30am.Thecommis-sionsitsonthesecondfloor.TheofficeoftheHomeguardsissit-uated on the first floor of thesamebuilding.Singhfirstwenttohisofficeandspentabouthalfan hour there. He then ap-pearedbeforethecommissionatabout11.05am.Meanwhile,Wazehadalso

been brought to the buildingandmarked his presence be-fore the commission, but hewasnotscheduledtodeposeonMonday. The meeting be-tweenhimandSinghisalleged

tohavetakenplaceintheroomnext door towhere the com-missionholdsitshearings.Theirmeeting allegedlywent on asWaze'sfourpoliceescortsstoodoutside. Following the allegedmeeting, at around12:05pm,Singhandhislawyersreturnedtothecommissionandfiledanaffidavit inwhichSinghreiter-atedthathehadnothingmoretoaddordeposebeforeit.WhenDeshmukh’s lawyer

flagged the “secretmeeting”betweenSinghandWaze, thejudge instructed Waze tohenceforthsitinthesameroomasthecommission.The public prosecutor,

ShishirHiray, said, “Therewasnopermission grantedby thejudgeforanymeetingwithajailinmate.”Singh’slawyerdidnotreplytocallsandmessages.Mumbai Zone 1 DCPHari

Balaji said they decided totransfertheinquirytotheNaviMumbaiPoliceasthefourpo-licemen are posted in thatjurisdiction.

Police to investigate ‘secret meeting’between Param Bir, Sachin Waze

ParamBirSingh(left)andSachinWazeappearedbeforetheChandiwalCommissiononMonday.GaneshShirsekar

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR,NOVEMBER29

A 26-YEAR-OLD man fromMadhya Pradesh, who wasbrought to a police station inRajasthan’s Alwar districtalongwith a groupof peoplefor identity verification andwas later released, died adayafter,saidofficials.Policesaidtheman,identi-

fied as Amar SinghwhowaslivinginAlwarasagarbagecol-lector,wasbroughttotheNEBpolice station on the night ofNovember 27 alongwith 42others. They were releasedwithinanhour,policesaid.ASPSaritaSinghsaidinitiallysomepeopleheldthepolicerespon-sible but his familymemberslatersaidthattheydidn’twantanyactionagainstthepolice.

PUB/0856

Corrigendum to e-tender no. EWS-WKS-T-31-2021-22-2 Dt.05.11.2021regarding change of the GeneralConditions &Special Conditions for thework of "Operation of Railway'sStationary Flash ButtWeldingMachineand other connected machines &accessor ies, in f ras t r uc tu re a tFBWP/Moula-Ali for carrying out FlashButt Welding work of new and secondhand rails of various sections includingunloading, leading & loading of52/60Kg/any other rails/ rail panels,E n d c r o p p i n g o f C I - I I r a i l s ,transportation of rails from FBWP/MLYto EWS/LGD or other places, repairsand maintenance of 10/20RP EURrakes, gantries, 2T capacity Electricalhoists, Roller conveyer system andother existing infrastructure (other thanStationary Flash Butt Welding Planta n d c o n n e c t e d m a c h i n e s &accessor ies ) as per Ra i lwaysrequirement to convert single rails into10/20 rail welded panels for a period of12months".In connection with the above e-tenderno, the following corrigendum is to beissued.

E-tenderNo.EWS-WKS-T-31-2021-22-2Description of item: Tender closingdate&timeE a r l i e r P u b l i s h e d a s :13.12.2021&15.00 hrsNow to be published as : 28.12.2021&15.00 hrs

Note: Other Terms and Conditions ofthe above Tender Notice remainunchanged.

CORRIGENDUM

Details of the Tender Notices ofS.C Railway can be seen on our

website : www.scr.indianrailways.gov.in

Dy. Chief Engineer/EWS/Lallaguda

For further tender conditions /details and for downloading the

tender documents,Please visit website at

http://www.ireps.gov.in orwww.scr.indianrailways.gov.in

A1342/21

CX.´fi. ´ffUSX MÑfÔÀfd¸fVf³f IYfSX´fûSXZVf³f d»f. BÊ-d³fdUQf Af¸fÔÂf¯f Àfc¨f³ff A³fb·fUe I f¹fÊQf¹feÀfÔÀ±ffAûÔ/R ¸fûË ÀfZ BÀf I f¹ffÊ»f¹f IZd³f¹f³Âf¯ff²fe³f dUd·f³³f ´ffS Z¿f¯f J¯OûÔ IZA³°f¦fÊ°f d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fûË/Ii ¹f WZ°fb BÊ-d³fd½fQfEZÔ BÊ-´fûMÊ»f etender.up.nic.in ´fSAfÔ¸fdÂf°f I e þf°fe W`Ü BÊ-d³fdUQf Jb»f³fZ I ed°fd±f ´fS AUI fVf Wû³fZ I e dÀ±fd°f ¸fZÔ BÊ-d³fdUQf A¦f»fZ I f¹fÊ dQUÀf ¸fZÔ Jû»fe þf¹fZ¦feÜBÊ-d³fdUQfAûÔ I û d¶f³ff I ûBÊ I fS¯f ¶f°ff¹fZAÀUeI fS/dU·ffdþ°f I S³fZ I f Ad²fI fSA²fûWÀ°ffÃfSI °ffÊ IZ ´ffÀf ÀfbSdÃf°f SWZ¦ffÜIÈ ´f¹ff dUÀ°fÈ°f ªff³fI fSe, OfC³f »fûO, A³¹fÀfÔVfû²f³fûÔ EUÔ BÊ-d³fdUQf ´fiÀ°fb°f I S³fZ IZdQ³ffÔI °fI dUÀ°ffS AfdQ IZ Àf¸¶f³²f ¸fZÔIÈ ´f¹ff etender.up.nic.in ´fS »ffg¦f Af³fI SZÔÜ dUUS¯f d³f¸³f ´fiI fS W`- BÊ-d³fdUQfÀfÔ£¹ff, I f¹fÊ I f dUUS¯f, I f¹fÊ I eA³fb¸ffd³f°f »ff¦f°f, Jb»f³fZ I e dQ³ffÔI , ²fSûWSSfdVf EUÔ d³fdUQf I f ¸fc»¹f IZ Ii ¸f ¸fZÔ ´fPÞfþf¹fZÜ 1. ETC/MU/T-117/2021-22:- (Ad°f-A»´fIYfd»fIY) d½fôb°f 400IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi J¯O, ¸fbªfµR S³f¦fS IZA³°f¦fÊ°f 400 IZ .½fe. d½f¿¯fb´fi¹ff¦f-¸fbªfµR S³f¦fS dõ´f±f ´ffSm¿f¯f »ffBÊ³f I f½ffd¿fÊI Af²ffS ´fS A³fbSÃf¯f I f I f¹fÊÜ ÷ .97.54 »ffJÜ dQ³ffaI 06.12.2021,(°fI ³feI e ·ff¦f ´ffMÊ-1 Jû»f³fZ WZ°fb) ÷ .97,600/-, ÷ . 5,900/- (I S ÀfdW°f)ÜA²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff d½fôb°f ´ffSmX¿f¯f¸f¯OX»f CX.´fi.´ff.MÑXf.IYf.d»f. ·fû´ff SXûOX,¸fbªfµRYSX³f¦fSX RYû³f ³fa.:- 0131-2608038´fÂffaIY/No. 2931/ d½f.´ff.¸f.(ETC)/¸fb.³f¦fSX(MZN)/ dQ³ffaIY/DATED29.11.2021

Your Convenience - Our Concern

Letter No 6846/141 Yata-12/2021-22 Dated 29.11.2021Notice Inviting Tender

Superintending Engineer, 12th Circle, Public Works Department Pauri onbehalf of Hon’ble Governor of Uttarakhand, invites item rate e-tender (two bidsystem) of the following works. For further details please log on in tohttp://www.uktenders.gov.in from 06.12.2021.SI.No.

Name of work Earnestmoney (inRs. Lakh)

Costof

Tender

Validityof

tenderin Days

Time ofcompletionIn month

Contractor’scategory ofRegistration

1 2 3 4 5 6 71. Construction of 150m

Span double lane RCCbridge over Been Riverat Chila Pashulok motorroad Under the CMGhosna No. 155/ 2018Yamkeshwar AssemblyConsitituency

39.72 5000 +18%G.S.T

180 18 Category A orhigher with forBridge work inCentral / StateGovt. or anyPSU underCentral / StateGovt.

Office of the Superintending Engineer12th Circle P.W.D. PauriFax & Phone No. 01368-222322

E-mail:[email protected]

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEERPUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, CIRCLE NO.1

RAIPUR (C.G.)

Contractors, Registered appropriate class in UnifiedRegistration System (e-Registration) invited Online tenders for thefollowing works:-NIT No./ Name of Work ProbableSystem amount of

Tender No. contract1 2 3

170/86727 Rs. 148.59Lakh

171/86729 Rs. 102.91Lakh

172/86730 Rs. 44.64Lakh

Last Date of Tender Download Date up to 19.12.2021 Time 17.30 PM.● Note:- All eligible/interested contractors are mandated to getenrolled on the e Procurement portal (https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in)in order to download the tender documents and participate in the sub-sequent bidding process. Sd/-

Superintending EngineerP.W.D. Raipur Circle No.-1

Raipur (C.G.)

Tender Notice (1st Call)

65438

B.T. Renewal Work of 1. Dharsiwa-Kurra-Khairkhut-Lakhna-Bhumiya Road In Km 19,20 & 21/2 = 2.20 Km. 2.Dharsiwa- Kurra-Khairkhut-Lakhna-Bhumiya Road In Km21/4 To 23/4 = 2.20 Km.

B.T. Renewal of Semariya-Nardaha-Dhansuli-Baradera Road, From Length - 1/2to 2/10 = 2.00 Km., Raipur (C.G.) 2. B.T.Renewal of Raipur-Palari-Baloda BazarDiversion Road, Length-2.00 km., Raipur(C.G.) 3. B.T. Renewal of Hathbandh-TenduaRoad, Length-2.00 Km., Raipur (C.G.)

B.T. RENEWAL OF TOHDA-BHILAUNIROAD AT (Km. 1/2 TO 3/10) = 3.00 KM

Alwar: Mandies day afterdetention

Gauhati HC setsaside tribunal orderdeclaring five of afamily as foreigners

New Delhi

SUKHBIRSIWACHCHANDIGARH,NOVEMBER29

A ROUGHLY 1,600-year-old archaeologi-calsitehasbeendiscoverednearHaryana’sSandhai village (Yamunanagar district)with ties to losthabitationsalong the leg-endarySaraswati river.The archaeologists have claimed to

havefoundevidenceof“continuedhabita-tion”andareligiousplace,probablyatem-ple, at themedieval site at what wouldoncehavebeenthebankofSaraswatiriver.A teamof officials headedbyHaryana

Saraswati HeritageDevelopment Board’sdeputychairman,DhumanSinghKirmach,andstatearchaeologydepartment’sdeputydirector,BananiBhattacharya, recentlyvis-itedthesiteafteravillagerBalwinderSinghinitiallyfoundsixantiquecoinsinanoldfortspreadacrosstwoacres.Since then, asmany as 33 coins have

beenfoundthereapartfrombricks,earth-


NEHRU MEMORIAL MUSEUM AND LIBRARYTeen Murti House, New Delhi-110011

(Autonomous Body set up by the Govt. of India)The Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), an Autonomous Bodyunder the Ministry of Culture, seeks qualified candidates for appointmentto the post of Director, Nehru Planetarium.Post: Director, Nehru PlanetariumNo. of Post: One (1)Category: UnreservedAge: Below 50 years as on 31st December, 2021Pay Scale: Level-11 (Rs. 67700-208700)Eligibility: For details like qualification and experience required, generalinstructions etc., please visit NMML websitewww.nehrumemorial.nic.in.Interested candidates may send their applications along with selfattested copies of educational qualifications and experience certificates,etc to this office address i.e. The Director, Nehru Memorial Museum &Library, Teen Murti House, New Delhi- 110011 so as to reach latest by31st December, 2021.

davp 09142/11/0016/2122

Whereas, the undersigned being the authorized officer of the IDBI Bank Ltd., Chapra, Bihar underthe Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act,2002 (54 of 2002) and in exercise of the powers conferred under section 13 (12) read with rule 3 of theSecurity Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued a demand notice on the date mentioned againstthe accounts calling upon the borrower/guarantor/mortgagor to repay the amount as mentionedagainst the account within 60 days from the date of receipt of the said notice. The borrower/guarantor/mortgagor having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby issued to the borrower/guarantor/mortgagor and in the public in general that the undersigned has taken possession of the propertydescribed herein below in exercise of powers conferred on him under sub-section (4) of section 13of Act read with rule 8 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 on the dates mentionedagainst the accounts. The borrower/guarantor/mortgagor in particular and the public in general arehereby cautioned not to deal with the property and any dealing with the property will be subject tothe charge of IDBI Bank Ltd., Chapra, Bihar, for the amounts mentioned below plus applicableinterest and costs/charge thereon.The borrower’s attention is invited to provisions of sub-section(8)of section 13 of the Act, in respect of time available, to redeem the secured assets.

Place : ChapraDate : 24.11.2021

Sd/- Authorized OfficerIDBI Bank Ltd.

Sl.No.

A)Name of theborrower

B)Name of themortgagor/guarantor

1) Date of DemandNotice

2) Date of Possession3) Claim amount asper DemandNotice

Description of the Property

1. A) Smt. KantiSingh, W/OSri RavindraChaudharyB) Sri RavindraChaudhary S/OSri VishwanathPrasad

1) 15.09.20212) 24.11.20213) `14,36,492.78(Rupees Fourteen LakhThirty Six ThousandFour Hundred NinetyTwo and Seventy EightPaise only) and interestthereon.

All the part and parcel of the property VillageDahiyawan Tola, Near Jagdam College, Bintoli Road,Thana-Chapra Muffasil, Area-2 Katha, Thana No.284,Tauzi No.3567, Khata No.-96, Plot No.1408. Bounded:On the North by: Devi Lal Rai, On the South by:Gramin Kachha Road, On the East by: Birndra Rai andOthers, On the West by: Jitendra Rai. Together withall buildings and structures thereon and all plantand machinery attached to the earth or permanentlyfastened to anything attached to the earth.

IDBI Bank Ltd., Chapra, Bihar,Kashatriya Niwas Complex, ShivNandan Road, Chapra- 841301,

Bihar

Appendix IV [(Rule 8(1)]POSSESSION NOTICE(For Immovable property)CIN: L65190MH2004GOI148838EXPRESSNETWORK


enwareandremainsof a statue.Kirmachsaid:“Therearesev-

eral old sites at the bank ofSaraswati river fromAdiBadri toRajasthanborderinHaryana.Thesignsofhabitationshowthepeo-

pleusedtosettleherebecauseoftheavailabilityofdrinkingwaterfrom the river.” Adi Badri is aplace in the foothills of Shivalikrange, 9 km from the newly lo-catedhistorical site.

1,600-yr-old archaeological site found in Haryana

New Delhi


THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

MEANWHILE

RAREWHALESNEARNYC:SHIPSTOLDTOSLOWDOWNScientistshavedetectedararespeciesofwhalesoutheastofNewYorkCity,andtheUSgovernmentisusingavoluntaryprotectedzonetotrytokeepthemsafe.Therearefewerthan350NorthAtlanticrightwhalesleft,accordingtoscientists.AnacousticarraydetectedthepresenceofthewhalesintheareaonNov20.

USA

FashiondesignerVirgilAblohdiesofcancerat41VIRGIL ABLOH, a leadingdesigner whose ground-breaking fusions ofstreetwear and high cou-turemadehimoneof themost celebratedtastemakers in fashionand beyond, has died ofcancer.Hewas41.Abloh’sdeath was announcedSunday by the luxurygroup LVMH (LouisVuittonMoët Hennessy)and Abloh’s own Off-White label, which hefounded in 2013. Ablohwas the artistic directorfor Louis Vuitton’smenswear,buthisubiqui-tous, consumer-friendlypresence in culture waswide-ranging and dy-namic. In2018,Ablohbe-came the first Black artis-ticdirectorofmen’swearat Louis Vuitton in theFrenchdesignhouse’ssto-riedhistory. AP

VirgilAbloh

TOPOFTHEWORLD

AUSTRALIA

GovturgesFBtobackanti-trolldefamationlawFACEBOOKWILL show ithasnointerest inmakingtheonlineworld safe if itquits Australia over lawsholding it liable fordefamation on its plat-form, Prime MinisterScott Morrison said onMonday. In the latest ofseveral attempts to holdglobal internet compa-niestogreateraccountforcontent on their plat-forms,Australia plans tomake them share theidentities of peoplewithanonymous accounts ifanother person accusesthemofdefamation.If thesocial media companyfails togivethat informa-tion,itmustassumelegalliability. REUTERS

UAE

NomorejailforthosebringingTHCintocountryTHE UNITED ArabEmirateshaseasedsomeof itsharshdruglaws,re-laxing penalties for trav-ellers who arrive in thecountry with productscontainingTHC,themainintoxicating chemical incannabis. The new law,published Sunday in theUAE’s official gazette,sayspeoplecaughtcarry-ingfood,drinksandotheritemswithcannabis intothe country will nolongerlandinprisonif it’stheir first time. Instead,authorities will confis-cate and destroy theproducts. AP

GUYFAULCONBRIDGE&BRIANELLSWORTHBRIDGETOWN,NOVEMBER29

BARBADOS ON Monday pre-paredtoremoveBritain’sQueenElizabethasitsheadofstateandbecome a republic, as it seversimperial tiessome400yearsaf-terEnglishshipsfirstreachedtheCaribbean island.Britain's Prince Charles ar-

rivedonSundaynighttojointheinauguration of President-electSandraMasoninreplacementofQueen Elizabeth, a move byBarbados to shed the final ves-tiges of a colonial system that

oncespannedtheglobe.“Tonight’s the night!” read

the front-page headline ofBarbados’ Daily Nationnewspaper.PrimeMinisterMiaMottley,

the leader of Barbados’ republi-can movement, will help leadthe ceremony.Mottleyhaswonglobal attention by denouncingtheeffects of climate changeonsmallCaribbeannations.“I am happy.We are on our

ownnowwithnokingorqueenfrom England,” said NigelMayers,60,whosellsorangesata stall in central Bridgetown.“This is the full drop after inde-pendence.”

A celebration includingBarbadianmusicanddancewillbegin at 8 pm local time, withMasontobeinauguratedjustaf-termidnight— coincidingwithBarbados IndependenceDay.Prince Charles will give a

speechhighlightingthecontinu-ingfriendshipofthetwonationsdespite the change in constitu-tional status.Barbados will remain a re-

public within theCommonwealth, a grouping of54 countries across Africa, Asia,theAmericasandEurope.British colonialists shipped

over captured African slaves towork the island’s sugar cane

fieldsandBarbadosbecameafo-cus of the brutal transatlanticslave trade. Today’s populationofunder300,000isoverwhelm-inglyofAfricandescent.Monday’s elegant celebra-

tion comes at a time whenBarbados is strugglingwith in-flation due to supply-chain dis-ruptions driving up prices in acountry thatmust importmostgoods. Its tourism industry, acrucial part of the economy, isstillrecoveringfromearliercoro-navirus travel restrictions.Someresidentsacknowledge

theyareuncertainwhatthetran-sition to a republic evenmeansorwhy itmatters.Otherswould

havepreferrednot tochange.“They should leave Queen

Elizabeth be— leave her as theboss. Idon’tunderstandwhyweneedtobearepublic,”saidSeanWilliams, 45, standing in theshadow of an independencemonument.The last time the queenwas

removedasheadof statewas in1992whenMauritius, an islandintheIndianOcean,proclaimeditself a republic.Theshiftmayspurdiscussion

of similarproposals inother for-mer British colonies that haveQueen Elizabeth as their sover-eign, which include Jamaica,AustraliaandCanada.REUTERS

Britain’sPrinceCharleswithBarbados’sPresident-electSandraMasonafterhearrives inBridgetown,Barbados,totakepartineventstomarktheisland’stransitiontoarepublic.Reuters

JAPANBANSALLFOREIGNTRAVELLERS;AUSTRALIADELAYSREOPENING

NYT& APNOVEMBER29

JAPANONMonday joined IsraelandMorocco in barring all for-eigntravellers,andAustraliade-layed reopening its borders fortwoweeks, as more countriessealedthemselvesoffinresponseto the newOmicron variant ofthecoronavirus.Thevariantcon-tinued to spread around theworld, with Scotland, PortugalandSpainidentifyingnewcases.TheJapaneseprimeminister,

Fumio Kishida, said that Japanwouldreverseamoveearlierthismonth to reopen its borders toshort-term business travellersand international students.The emergence of the

Omicron variant in southernAfrica has left countries aroundtheworldscramblingtorespond,with some institutingor consid-eringsweepingtravelbans,whileothershaveputinplacemorefo-cused,butalsomorediscrimina-tory,borderprohibitions.Some countries proceeded

with their plans to reopen onMonday, like Singapore andMalaysia, which opened theirlandborder.SouthKorea,ontheother hand, announced that itwas delaying any loosening ofsocialdistancing restrictions.The moves by Japan, Israel

andMorocco to close off to allforeigners stood in contrast tothose in places like the UnitedStates, Britain, Canada and theEuropeanUnion,whichhaveallannounced bans on travellersonly fromsouthernAfrica.Meanwhile, Indonesia on

Monday joined a small butgrowing list of countries to bartravelwithHongKongaswellasthesouthernAfricanregion.

New casesCases had already been re-

ported in EU nations Belgium,DenmarkandtheNetherlandsbe-

forePortugueseauthoritiesiden-tified 13 omicron infectionsamong members of theBelenenses professional soccerteam. Authorities reported onememberhadrecentlytravelledtoSouth Africa. A game over theweekend had be abandoned athalftimeforlackofplayers.Spain also reported its first

confirmed case of the variant. Itwasdetectedinatravellerwhore-turnedSundayfromSouthAfricaafter making a stopover inAmsterdam,oneofMadrid’sma-jorpublichospitalstweeted.AndafterScotlandreportedits

firstsixcases,FirstMinisterNicolaSturgeon warned that “theremight alreadybe somecommu-nitytransmissionofthisvariant.”

UK to give boostersto all adultsBritain expanded its Covid-

19 booster programme toeveryone18andolder,makingmillions more people eligible.Up until now, booster shotswereavailableonly to those40and over and people particu-larly vulnerable to the virus.The UK has reported about adozen omicron cases.

CHARLIESAVAGEWASHINGTON,NOVEMBER29

NEARLY20yearsago,about150familymembers of September11 victims sought ameasure ofjusticefortheir lossesbysuingalist of targets like Al Qaeda andthe Taliban. A decade later, acourt found the defendants li-able by default and orderedthem to pay damages nowworthabout$7billion.Butwithnoway tocollect it,

thejudgmentseemedsymbolic.Today,however,theTalibanis

back in control of Afghanistan.The group’s leaders say theircountry’scentralbankaccountattheFederalReserveinNewYork,inwhichtheformergovernmentaccumulated about $7 billionfrom foreign aid and othersources, is rightfully theirs. Andthatinturnhasraisedaquestion:If the money is the Taliban’s,shouldn’ttheplaintiffsintheSept11lawsuitbeentitledtoseizeit?High-levelofficialsintheBiden

administrationarenowdebatingtheanswertothatquestion,whichpresents a complex knot of na-tional security, legal, diplomaticandpolitical problems—the lat-estexampleofhowthornyissuesstemming from the terrorist at-tacks remain unresolvedmorethantwodecadeslater.Among the specifics to be

workedoutiswhetherandhowthe United States can sidestepany legal requirement to recog-nisetheTalibanasthelegitimateAfghan government in order touse the money in the centralbankaccounttohelpresolvetheclaimbytheSept11 families.The administration is sched-

uledtotellacourtbyFridaywhatoutcomewouldbeinthenationalinterest, evenas theUSgrappleswithbroader issuesarising fromtheendof theAmericanmilitarypresenceinAfghanistan.Inaddi-tion to recognition, they includehowtoprovidehumanitarianaidthatmight forestall amass exo-dusofmigrants.

The US Justice Departmenthas been negotiating withlawyers fortheSept11plaintiffsabout a potential deal to divideupthemoneyif thegovernmentsupports their attempt to seizeit, and the White House’sNational Security Council hasbeen working with agenciesacrossthegovernmenttoweighthe proposal, according to peo-plewhodescribedthedelibera-tionsonconditionofanonymity.In a statement, two of the

plaintiffs in the lawsuit— FionaHavlish,whosehusbandworkedin the South Tower, and EllenSaracini,whosehusbandwasapi-lot of oneof thehijackedplanesthat flew into theWorld TradeCenter—said theadministrationshouldhelptheircause.“After our husbands were

killedintheSept11,2001terror-ist attacks,wehave spentmanyyears fighting to achieve justiceon their behalf,” they said.“Togetherwiththeothers inourcase,weobtainedanenforceablemoney judgment against theTaliban and now call onPresident Biden to ensure thefundswehaveattachedgotousand not the terrorists whoplayed a role in taking the livesof our lovedones.”Any transfer of the Afghan

central bank reserves is sure toinfuriate the Taliban at a mo-mentwhentheWestistryingtopressureandcoaxtheorganiza-tion into behaving differentlythan it didwhen it last ran thatcountry. NYT

RIAZKHANPESHAWAR,NOVEMBER29

AMOB burned a police stationand four police posts overnightinnorthwestPakistanafteroffi-cersrefusedtohandoveramen-tally unstable man accused ofdesecrating theQuran, authori-ties saidMonday.No officers were hurt in the

attacks,which forced thepolicetosummontroopstorestoreor-derinCharsadda,adistrictintheKhyberPakhtunkhwaprovince,localofficerAsif Khansaid.Avideopostedonsocialme-

dia showed the police stationburning.Khan said officers foiled an

attemptbythemobtolynchthedetainee and the policemovedhim to another district. He didnot disclose the name of theman,sayingofficerswerestill in-vestigatingandthesuspectwasarrestedadayago.Khansaidofficersinitiallyre-

sistedbutfledafterthousandsofdemonstratorsattackedthepo-

lice buildings. He said policeavoided the use of force to pre-vent casualties among demon-strators. The situation inCharsaddawasnormalMonday,he said, and law enforcementwas seeking to arrest peoplelinked to theattacks.Blasphemycarriesthedeath

penaltyinPakistan,wheremereallegationsof theoffenceareof-tenenoughtoprovokemobvio-lence. Internationalanddomes-tic rights groups say thataccusations of blasphemy haveoftenbeenusedtointimidatere-ligiousminoritiesandsettleper-sonal scores.In2017,agroupofstudentsat

theAbdulWaliKhanUniversityinthenorthwesterncityofMardanattacked andkilled another stu-dent,MohammadMashal, afteraccusinghimofsharingblasphe-mouscontentonFacebook.A Punjab governor in

Islamabad was also shot andkilled by his ownguard in 2011,after he defended a Christianwoman,AasiaBibi,whowasac-cusedof blasphemy. AP

ASSOCIATEDPRESSLONDON,NOVEMBER29

DOZENS OF customers whostopped for a drink at Britain’shighest altitudepubgot a longerstaythantheybargainedfor,afteritwascutoffbyablizzard.Sixty-one people woke up

Mondayafter their thirdnight atthe TanHill Inn in theYorkshire

Dales, 435 kmnorth of London.Theyhave beenunable to leavesince Friday, when a stormbrought snow and heavywindthatblockedroads.Thepubsits1,732feetabove

sea level. Manager NicolaTownsend said staff had organ-ised movies, a quiz night andkaraoke for the strandedguests.Theyhavealsobeenentertainedby anOasis cover band, Noasis,

whohave also been stuck at thepubsincetheirgigonFridaynight.Townsend said the guests

were “in reallygoodspirits”.“They’ve formed quite a

friendship... like a big family isthe best way I can describe it,”shesaid. “One ladyactually said‘I don’twant to leave.’”Townsend said she hoped

people would be able to headhome laterMonday.

More travel bans, curbs as Omicroncases found in Portugal, Scotland

TravellersbeingtestedforCovidatSydneyAirport.Reuters

Concerts comingback to S Korea,but fans toldnot to sing alongAT THE first BTS concert of thecoronavirus era on Saturday,Maggie Larin, 25, and her threefriends were surrounded by aroaring crowd of 70,000 otherfans in Inglewood,California.ButwhenLeeHyeSu,23,and

hertwofriendsgotoseetheK-popgroup The Boyz in Seoul nextweekend, she will be seatedsilently,maskedandsociallydis-tanced,alongsideonly2,100otherfans,accordingtothevenue’srules.AsK-popbandsstarttouring

the world and performing forliveaudiencesagain,fansintheirhome country, SouthKorea, areflocking to stadiums. But theymustabidebythegovernment’sstrict rules: no shouting, chant-ing or singing along at concertswith500ormoreattendees.Live K-pop concerts are re-

turningtoSouthKoreaashospi-talizations are rising across thecountryandthespreadofanewvariant alarms the world. Thehealth minister, Kwon Deok-cheol, said thegovernmentwasconsidering tightening somerestrictions. NYT

Taliban, 9/11 familiesfight for billions infrozen Afghan funds

TalibanspokesmanZabihullahMujahidatapressconference inKabulearlier thisyear.NYT

XiomaraCastro

Honduras isset for its firstwoman presidentTegucigalpa: Honduran presi-dential candidate XiomaraCastro headed for a landslidewin in Sunday’s election, de-claring victory as supportersdanced outside her offices tocelebrate the left’s return topower 12 years after her hus-bandwas ousted in a coup.The election, set to give

Honduras its first female presi-dent, seemed to have runsmoothly,acontrasttofouryearsagowhenacloseoutcomeledtoa contested result and deadlyprotests after widespread alle-gationsof irregularities.Withhalf theballotscounted,

Castro, the wife of formerPresidentManuel Zelaya, held anearly 20-point leadoverNasryAsfura,thecapital’smayorandrul-ingNational Partyhopeful,whowon34%according to aprelimi-narytallyonMonday. REUTERS

Dozens stuck in England’s highest pub after storm

TheTanHill Inn, inYorkshireDales,England. AP file

Mob attacks Pakpolice, fails to grabblasphemy suspect

SHERYLGAYSTOLBERGNOVEMBER29

USPRESIDENTJoeBidensoughtto reassure the nation onMondayaboutthenewOmicronvariantofthecoronavirusascru-cial questions about it remain,telling Americans that the vari-ant is “acause for concern,nota

causeforpanic,”andthathisad-ministrationwasworkingwithvaccinemanufacturers tomod-ify vaccines and booster shotsshould thatprovenecessary.“We’rethrowingeverything

wehaveat thisvirus, tracking itfromeveryangle,”BidensaidattheWhite House, adding, “I’msparing no effort, removing allroadblocks to keep the

Americanpeople safe.”Thepresident saidhewould

outline “a strategy for howwearegoingtofightCovidthiswin-ter,notwithshutdownsorwithlockdowns,butwithmorewide-spread vaccinations, boosters,testing andmore.” The varianthasyet tobedetected in theUS.Bidenhas already restricted

travel fromeightnations, includ-

ingSouthAfrica, amove that ex-pertssaidwouldbuytheUStimeindetermininghowto respond.Butitwilllikelybeaweek,possiblytwoweeks, beforeexperts knowmoreaboutthenewvariant.Ithasmutationsthatscientistsfearcouldmake itmore infectious and lesssusceptibletovaccines,thoughev-idence to support those fearshasyettobeestablished. NYT

KJMVARMABEIJING,NOVEMBER29

OFFERINGA slew of incentives,including one billion Covid-19vaccines,waiverofdebtandcre-ationof eight lakh jobs inAfricain the face of theUS’s push intothe continent to challengeBeijing’s influence, ChinesePresidentXi JinpingonMondaytoldameetingofAfricanleadersthatChina joins them inoppos-ingracismandexternalinterfer-ence indomesticaffairs.“We both oppose interven-

tionindomesticaffairs,racialdis-

criminationandunilateralsanc-tions,” he said addressing theEighthMinisterialConferenceofthe Forum on China-Africa

Cooperationviaavideo link.“To help the AU (African

Union) achieve its goal of vacci-nating60per centof theAfricanpopulation by 2022, I announcethat Chinawill provide anotherone billion doses of vaccines toAfrica...,”Xisaid.Themeetingtookplaceamid

efforts by US President JoeBiden’s initiative of Build BackBetterWorld (B3W),whichwasseenasrivaltoXi’sBeltandRoadInitiative (BRI) with a focus ondevelopingcountries,especiallyAfricannations.Offeringavarietyofbenefits,

Xisaid,“Chinawillencourageits

businessestoinvestnolessthan$10 billion in Africa in the nextthree years, andwill establish aplatformforChina-Africaprivateinvestmentpromotion,”hesaid.Chinawill undertake 10 in-

dustrialisationandemploymentpromotion projects for Africa,providecreditfacilitiesof$10bil-lion to African financial institu-tions, and support the develop-mentofAfricanSMEs,hesaid.“China will exempt African

LDCs(leastdevelopedcountries)from debt incurred in the formof interest-freeChinesegovern-ment loans due by the end of2021,”headded. PTI

THEDECISIONbyBarbados,whichwasoneof Britain’s earliestcolonies, tobecomeare-public is likely to revivethedebate regardingothercountries’ links toBritish royalty. Expertssayothercountries in theCaribbean,particularlyJamaica, couldbehead-ing towardsbecomingrepublicsgiven thesmoothnatureofBarbados’s transitionandtheapparentendorse-mentby the royal familyof thecountry’sdecision.

OthercountriesmayfollowE●EX

PLAINEDPRESIDENT-ELECT SANDRA MASON TO REPLACE QUEEN ELIZABETH AS HEAD OF STATE

‘Tonight’s the night’: Barbados prepares to become a republic

Biden says Omicron variant a cause for concern, not panic

USPresident JoeBiden

Xi woos African leaders with debt waiver,vaccines, jobs amid US push into continent

Xispeaksviavideo linkattheForumonChina-AfricaCooperation,Monday.Reuters

New Delhi

ANURADHAMASCARENHASPUNE,NOVEMBER29

THEOMICRONvariantofSARS-CoV2isbeingseen as a big threat, with theWorld HealthOrganization (WHO) on Sunday assessingthe global risk as “very high”. Preliminarydatahas indicated thatOmicroncouldhavehigher transmissibility, and also a greaterabilitytoevadetheimmuneresponsegener-ated either through prior infection orthroughvaccines.Timelydetectionof thisvariant is, there-

fore, key to containing its spread. TheWHOhassaidonepositivethingaboutthisvariantisthatitcouldbedetectedinsomeoftheRT-PCR diagnostic tests being used across theworld,unlikeothervariantswhosepresencecan be determined only after genetic se-quencing. This can speed up detection andhelp incontrolling thespread.Butasscientists toldThe IndianExpress,

thisisnotstraightforward;mostRT-PCRtestsin Indiamightnotbeable todistinguishbe-tweenOmicronandothervariants.

Howa ‘miss’ by RT-PCR helps

RT-PCR tests can only confirmwhetherthe personhas an infection or not. They arenotdesignedtodeterminewhichparticularvariant has infected the person. For that, agenomesequencingstudyhas tobedone.Not all infected samples are sent for

genome sequencing, because it is a slow,complicated and costly process. Normally,only a very small subset of all positive sam-ples—about2to5percent—issentforgeneanalysis.RT-PCR tests look for the presence of

somespecificidentifiersinthegeneticmate-rial (not the entire gene sequence) of thevirus in the human body. Usually, two ormoreidentifiersaresearchedtoincreasetheprobability of finding amatch. If one of theidentifiers hasmutated, the other one canstill returnapositive result.ManyoftheRT-PCRtestslookforaniden-

tifier in the coronavirus spike protein, theprotrudedareathatallowsthevirustoenterthe human body. If there aremutations inthe spike protein, as is the case with the

Omicron variant, then there is a possibilitythatsuchRT-PCRtests, lookingforidentifiersin this region,wouldnot recognise themu-tation as the identifier it is looking for, andwould thusgiveanegative result.But as mentioned above, RT-PCR tests

look formore than one identifier. So, if thetest finds the identifier in the other region(whichwouldmean the person has coron-avirus infection)butdoesnot find the iden-

tifier inthespikeprotein, thenitcouldbeanindication that the infection is with theOmicronvariant.The problem is that Omicron is not the

onlyvariant thathasmutations in the spikeprotein.Afewothers,notablytheAlphavari-ant, also havemutations in this region, andtherefore could show similar behaviour inRT-PCRtests.Nonetheless,sucharesultcanbeseenas

ascreeningmechanismfortheOmicronvari-ant, especially since the prevalence of theAlpha variant in the Indian population hasgone down significantly. Such screening atthediagnosticteststagecanbevital iniden-tifyingandisolatingthepotential infectionswith theOmicronvariant.

Gene sequencing for certaintyAs Anurag Agarwal, director of Delhi

basedInstituteofGenomicsandIntegrativeBiology(IGIB)explained,sucharesultwouldonlybeindicativeofthepresenceofOmicronvariant, and would need to be confirmedthroughgenesequencing.Butitisstillanim-portantheadstart.TheWHOsaidoneofthewidely-usedRT-

PCR kits, developed by Thermo FisherScientific, can detect the presence ofOmicronvariant.Someofthekitsbeingusedin India can also potentially detect the vari-ant. AsVinodScaria, a scientist at IGIB, said,the ability of kit to detect the variant de-pendedon theprimers (chemicals thatwillpickupthe identifiers)beingused.“Unfortunately, the primer details for a

majorityofkitsusedinIndiaarenotpubliclyavailable. So,onecannotsaywhetherapar-ticular kit being usedwill be able to detectthisvariantornot,” Scaria said.If thediagnostictestsdonotofferanyin-

dication, the detection of Omicron, or anyothervariant,wouldhavetoawaittheresultof gene sequencing exercise that takes any-wherebetween24and96hours,dependingon the technology being used. But since allsamplesarenotsentforsequencing,itispos-sible that the Omicron variant will havestarted circulating but not been picked up.Oneway tocounter this isby increasing thenumberof samples sent for sequencing.R R Gangakhedkar, former head of epi-

demiology at ICMR, said a smart strategyneeded to be worked out since it was notpossible to send all samples for gene se-quencing. He said that in India, it was stillthe Delta variant that wasmost prevalentand, therefore,whereverapplicable, thedi-agnostictestlaboratoriesshouldlookoutforthemissing identifier in the spike proteinregion, and immediately mark these forgene sequencing.

15WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AVANEESHMISHRADEHRADUN,NOVEMBER29

MONTHSAHEADof Assembly elections intheirstates,UttarPradeshChiefMinisterYogiAdityanathandhisUttarakhandcounterpartPushkar SinghDhami recently reached anagreementonthedivisionof assetsand lia-bilities, a subject the two states have dis-cussedanddebatedeversinceUttarakhandwascarvedoutofUP21yearsago.

History of the disputeUttarakhandwasformedonNovember

9, 2000 following the Uttarakhandmove-ment in undivided UP. This was soon fol-lowed by disputes over assets and liabili-ties, mainly of the irrigation, transport,housing, forest, food & civil supplies andtourismdepartments.Uttarakhand leaders would cite the

UttarPradeshReorganisationAct2000,un-derwhich any property should be ownedbythestatewhereit issituated,andwouldallegethatUPhadnothandedovercontrolof even 41 canals which flowed from andback into Uttarakhand. They cited the ex-amples of Tehri Dam, Nanak Sagar Dam,BaigulDam,TumariaDam(outof sixdamslocated in Uttarakhand and controlled byUP)andHaridwar’sAlaknandaGuestHouse(controlledbyUPTourism, andnowbeinghandedover toUttarakhand).Successive governments inboth states

havemadeattemptstoresolvetheseissuesovermeetings between their chief minis-ters, otherministers, and bureaucrats. Onsomeoccasions,disputes relatedto irriga-tion, transport and sharing of employeesand liabilities have reached the courts.Whilethecaseonsharingofemployeeshassincebeen resolved, theothermatters arepending.

In 2018, when Trivendra Singh Rawatwas Uttarakhand CM, a formulawas pro-posedthatirrigationdepartmentassetswillbe divided in the ratio 75:25, withUttarakhandgetting the largerchunk.

The newest agreementUnder the agreement signed between

DhamiandAdityanathonThursday,their-rigation Department officials of the twostateswouldmeetwithin 15 days to con-ductajointsurveyof5,700hectaresof landand1,700buildingsinUttarakhandthatareunder the control of the UP IrrigationDepartment. The studywould identify thepropertiesthatwillbeusefulforUP,andtherestwouldgo toUttarakhand.UP has granted permission to

Uttarakhand conduct tourism andwatersports activities in the Dhaura, Baigul andNanakSagarwaterbodies inUdhamSinghNagardistrictandtheUpperGangacanalat

Roorkee.TheUPirrigationDepartmentwillsoonreleaseanorderon this.Following the division of the Uttar

Pradesh Forest Department andUttarakhand Forest DevelopmentCorporation, UP had paid around Rs 77.31crore to Uttarakhand; another Rs 13 crorewillbedepositedinajointescrowaccount.Themeeting also decided that the UP

Transport Department’s dues will be de-cided as per the circle rate in 2003, alongwithinterest;thiscomestoRs205.42crore.AsUttarakhandowesRs105.43croretotheUPFoodandCivilSuppliesDepartment,theamountwillbeadjusted.Thestatesalsore-solvedthat theUPIrrigationDepartment’sbus stand land inKichcha inUdhamSinghNagar district would be handed over toUttarakhandwithin15days.The two governments also decided to

equally share the incomes and liabilitiesgenerated by the assets and properties of

theUttar PradeshAwas Vikas Parishad lo-catedinUttarakhand.TheAlaknandaGuestHousewill be transferred to Uttarakhand,and inauguratednextmonth.TheChiefMinistersagreedtowithdraw

cases pending in courts and resolve themthroughmutualconsent.Itwasalsodecidedthat the UP Irrigation Departmentwouldreconstruct barrages at Banbasa on theIndia-Nepal border andKichcha thatweredamaged innatural calamities.

Issues raised byOppositionAfter the two state governments

claimed to have resolved their disputes,former Uttarakhand CMHarish Rawat oftheCongressallegedthatDhamihad“sur-rendered” to his UP counterpart over theagreementonthedivisionof assetsand li-abilities.He alleged that not only have thepres-

ent rights of Uttarakhand been sold out to

UP, but the future rights related towater,too,havebeenhandedover. In2018,whentheBJP governments inboth state govern-mentshadagreedondividingtheIrrigationDepartment assets in a 75:25 ratio withUttarakhand getting the larger chunk, theCongresshadopposed in then too,hesaid.Congressorganisationgeneralsecretary

Mathura Dutt Joshi said theUttar PradeshReorganisation Act clearly states that apropertywillbeownedbythestatewhereit is situated, and theUttarakhandgovern-ment need not have given in to UttarPradesh.He alsoquestionedwhy theduesof the UP Transport Departmentwere de-cidedasper the circle rate in2003andnotasper thecurrent,higher rate.The Congress has said it will protest

against the agreement in the Assembly,call on Governor Lt Gen (retd) GurmitSingh, and explore legal ways to opposethe agreement.

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

CHAKSHUROYNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

THEWINTERSessionofParliamentbeganona stormynote onMonday. BothHouses sawdisruptions as Lok Sabha passed the Bill re-pealingthethree farmlawswithoutanydis-cussion,andRajyaSabhapasseditafterabriefintervention by Leader of OppositionMallikarjunKharge.After that, Minister for Parliamentary

Affairs Prahlad Joshi sought the approval oftheHouseforsuspending12RajyaSabhaMPs(sixoftheCongress,twoeachoftheTrinamoolCongress andShiv Sena, andoneeachof CPIandCPI-M) for the remainderof the session.Thereasonfortheirsuspensionwas“theirun-precedentedactsofmisconduct,contemptu-ous,unrulyandviolentbehaviourandinten-tional attacks on security personnel” on thelastdayof theMonsoonSession.

So,whathadhappenedinRajyaSabhaduringtheMonsoonSession?Parliament has seen continuous disrup-

tionssincethepassageofthefarmlawsinthe2020Monsoon Session too.When the Billscame up for discussion in Rajya Sabha,OppositionMPsdemandedtheirscrutinybya Select Committee. Amid slogan-shouting,MPs hurled papers at Deputy ChairmanHarivansh. This led to the suspension of sixOppositionMPs. Parliament passed theBillswithoutscrutinybyacommittee.Then, in this year's Monsoon Session,

Oppositionpartieswereasking foradiscus-sionontheallegedPegasushackingandfarmlawsissues.WhenElectronics&InformationTechnologyMinisterAshwiniVaishnawwasmaking a statement on Pegasus in RajyaSabha,TrinamoolCongressMPShantanuSensnatched thepapers fromhim.Thiswas fol-lowedbyaheatedexchangebetweenUnionMinisterHardeepSinghPuriandSen,whoal-leged that theminister threatened and ver-ballyabusedhim.RajyaSabhasuspendedSenfor therestof theMonsoonSession.DisruptionsmarredbothHousesthrough-

outthesession,whichendedwithameleeinRajyaSabha.OppositionMPsaccusedsecuritystaffofmanhandlingthem,andinturn,LeaderoftheHousePiyushGoelaccusedOppositionMPs of attacking the security staff and de-manding a special committee to investigatetheincident.Thesessionthenendedtwodaysaheadofschedule.

WhatpowersdopresidingofficershavetodealwithMPsdisruptingproceedings?MPsarerequiredtoadheretocertainrules

of parliamentary etiquette. For example theLokSabharulebookspecifiesthatMPsarenottointerruptthespeechofothers,maintainsi-lence andnot obstruct proceedings by hiss-ingormakingrunningcommentariesduringdebates.Newer formsof protest led to theserulesbeingupdated in1989.Now,membersshould not shout slogans, display placards,tearupdocuments inprotest,andplayacas-sette or a tape recorder in theHouse. RajyaSabhahas similar rules. To conduct the pro-ceedings smoothly, the rulebook also givescertain, similar powers to the presiding offi-cersofbothHouses.ThepresidingofficerofeachHousecandi-

rect anMP towithdraw from the legislativechamber for grossly disorderly conduct. TheMP thenhas to remainabsent fromthepro-ceedings of theHouse for the remainder oftheday.Thepresidingofficerscanalso"name"anMPfor"persistentlyandwilfullyobstruct-ingthebusiness"oftheHouse.Insuchacase,usually, the Parliamentary AffairsMinistermovesamotionforsuspendingtheoffendingMP from the service of theHouse. The sus-pensioncanlastuntil theendof thesession.In2001, theLokSabharulewasamended

to give the Speaker one additional power. Anewrule,374A,empowerstheSpeakertoau-tomaticallysuspendanMPforamaximumoffive days for disrupting the business of theHouse.In2015,SpeakerSumitraMahajanused

thisruleforsuspending25CongressMPs.

HowoftenhavedisruptionsledtosuspensionofMPs?Thefirst instanceoccurredin1963.Afew

Lok SabhaMPs first interrupted PresidentSarvapalli Radhakrishnan and thenwalkedoutwhilehewasdeliveringthejointaddressto both Houses. Lok Sabha ended in repri-manding theseMPs. In 1989, 63MPsweresuspendedfromLokSabhaonthediscussionof the Thakar Commission report.More re-cently in 2010, 7MPswere suspended fromRajyaSabhaforsnatchingthewomen'sreser-vationbill fromtheminister.Sincethen,MPshaveraisedslogans,usedpeppersprayintheHouseanddisplayedplacards.

Howdifficulthasitbeentosolvetheproblemofdisruptions?Presiding officers have grappledwith it.

Overnumerousconferences,theyhavedelib-eratedonwaysofaddressingtheissue.Former President K R Narayanan, who

also chaired Rajya Sabha from1992-97, ex-plainedthedifficultyinvolved:“Inmostcases,disorders intheHouseariseoutof asenseoffrustrationfeltbymembersduetolackofop-portunities tomake his point, or clear hischest of grievances of the people thatmovehimor out of the heat of themoment. Theyareperhapseasiertodealwith.Whatismore

difficult to tackle is planned parliamentaryoffencesanddeliberatedisturbancesforpub-licityor forpoliticalmotives.”In2001,duringanationalconferenceinthe

CentralHallofParliamentorganisedontheis-sueof disruptions, different political leaderssummedup their positions. PrimeMinisterAtalBihariVajpayeesaidthemajoritypartyisresponsible for governing and should takeother parties into confidence. He said theOppositionshouldplayaconstructive role inParliamentandbeallowedtoput forward itsviewsandexpressitselfinadignifiedmanner.Sonia Gandhi, the then leader of

OppositioninLokSabha,emphasisedthatde-bate is central to democracy, and thereforethere should bemoredebate and fewer dis-ruptions. She identified "the reluctance andprocrastination" of the treasury benches toface discussions as a cause for disorder inParliament.Shesoughtthesupportofthepre-sidingofficers tohelp theOpposition in rais-ingissuesuncomfortabletothegovernment.MamataBanerjee,leaderoftheTrinamool

Congress, said that in ademocracy, power istransientandthatapartyrulingattheCentremaynotbeincontrolinthestates.Shestressedtheneed for cordial and respectful relationsbetweentheOppositionandrulingparties.

ChakhsuRoyisHeadofOutreachatPRSLegislativeResearch

SIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

How, when MPs are suspended12OppositionMPshavebeensuspendedfortherestof theWinterSessionfordisruptions inRajyaSabhaduringtheMonsoonSession.Whathadhappenedthen?Whataretherules fordealingwithdisruptions?

E EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021

Divisionof assetsbetweenUP,Uttarakhand : old dispute, newagreement

(Fromleft)ShantaChhetriandDolaSenofTrinamoolCongressduringaprotest inParliamentonMonday,andPriyankaChaturvediof ShivSenaspeakingafterhersuspension. Photos:Anil Sharma&ANI

Holding social media platformsaccountable for trolls: what adraft Bill in Australia proposes

MEHRGILLNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

ONMONDAY, theAustraliangovernmentreleasedthedraftofaBillaimedatholdingsocialmedia companies accountable forthecontentpostedontheirplatforms,andprotectingusersfromtrolls.In a statement on the Social Media

(Basic Expectations andDefamation) Bill2021 issued on Sunday, PrimeMinisterScottMorrison’soffice said: “The reformswill ensure socialmedia companies areconsideredpublishers andcanbeheld li-ablefordefamatorycommentspostedontheirplatforms.Theycanavoidthis liabil-ityiftheyprovideinformationthatensuresa victim can identify and commencedefamationproceedingsagainstthetroll.”Morrisonsaid,“Socialmediacantooof-

tenbeacowards’palace,wheretheanony-mouscanbully,harassandruinliveswith-out consequence.Wewould not acceptthesefacelessattacksinaschool,athome,intheoffice,oronthestreet.Andwemustnotstandforitonline,onourdevicesandinourhomes.”

What it proposes■AustraliansandAustralianorganisa-

tionswithasocialmediapagewillnotbelegally consideredpublishers of contentpostedthere

■Australianswillbeabletofileacom-plaint if theyhave reason to believe thattheyarebeingdefamedbymaterialpostedonlineonaparticularsocialmediaservice.

■ Individualswill also be able to givethe provider of the service a defamationnotice, provided theyare able togive evi-dencethatthematerialinquestionwasthesubjectofacomplaint.

■ Socialmedia platformswill be re-quired to establish a standardised com-plaints systemwhosepurposewill be toensurethatdefamatoryremarkscanbere-moved and trolls can be identifiedwiththeirconsent.

■Socialmediacompanieswillalsobe

required todisclose identifyingdetails oftrolls to victimswithout consent,whichwillenableadefamationcasetobelodged.

The triggerThe Bill comes in response to a

AustralianHighCourt judgmentthatme-diacompaniescouldbeheldliableforcom-ments thatwere left by third parties ontheirsocialmediapages.Dylan Voller, whowas the subject of

variousnewsstoriesaboutyouthdeten-tion, had brought defamation proceed-ingsagainstmediacompanies includingThe SydneyMorning Herald and RupertMurdoch’sTheAustralian.Heallegedthatafter the media companies publishedpostsaboutthenewsstoriesthatreferredto himon their Facebook pages, variousthird-partyusersmadedefamatorycom-ments against him. Lawyers for theme-diaoutlets,fortheirpart,arguedthattheycould not be held liable for third-partycomments since theywerenot thepub-lishersof thosecomments.On September 8, the High Court of

Australia ruled in favour of Voller. It dis-missedanappealbythethreemediaout-lets against a decision by the Court ofAppealof theNewSouthWalesSupremeCourt, which had said that, “by postingcontentrelatingtonewsstoriesaboutMrVoller, the respondent, on their respec-tiveFacebookpages,theappellantswereliable for the publication of allegedlydefamatory‘comments’thatwerepostedby third-party Facebook users in re-sponse to thecontent.”The statement from the PM’s office

quotedAttorney-GeneralMichaeliaCashas saying: “Since the High Court’s deci-sionintheVollercase, it isclearthatordi-naryAustraliansareat riskof beingheldlegallyresponsiblefordefamatorymate-rialpostedbyanonymousonlinetrolls…The reforms will make clear that, indefamation law, Australianswho oper-ate ormaintain a social media page arenot ‘publishers’ of commentsmade byothers.”

Aflier toUgandahashisswabtakenatJohannesburgairport.Reuters

Can an RT-PCR test detect infection with Omicron?

New Delhi

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION KOTA-SOUTH, RAJASTHANRajeev Gandhi Building, Dusshera Ground, CAD Circle, Kota

email: [email protected], websites: www.kotamc.org, Ph:- 0744-2502142S./NNK-S/CIVIL/2021/565-579 Date: 29.11.2021

CorrigendumE-Tender No. 25/2021-22, NNK/CIVIL/2021/488-502 dated 08.11.2021 issued by this office ispartially modified which can be kindly seen for reference on www.kotamc.org andwww.sppp.raj.nic.in, http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in.

The rest will remain the same. Sd/- Superintendent EngineerMunicipal Corporation Kota-South

S.No.

description Before Date After Date

1 Date & time of downloading of Bid 10.11.2021 to 28.11.2021(06:00 PM)

10.11.2021 to 04.12.2021(06:00 PM)

2 Date & time of online submission of Bid 10.11.2021 to 28.11.2021(06:00 PM)

10.11.2021 to 04.12.2021(06:00 PM)

3 Last date of submission of DD in office ofNagar Nigam Kota-South

29.11.2021 (04:00 PM) 06.12.2021 (05:00 PM)

4 Date, time and opening of Technical Bid 01.12.2021 (11:00 AM) 07.12.2021 (11:00 AM)

5 Financial Bid Opening Date After technical bid test After technical bid test

PR 258048 Drinking Waterand Sanitation(21-22).D

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'kqf} i=bl dk;kZy; ds bZ fufonk la[;k 11@21&22 ih0 vkj0 la[;k

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14&12&2021] 5-00 cts vijkgurdA

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5fufonk ds rduhdh chMksads [kksyus dh frfFk ,oa

le; %&

16&12&2021] 12-30 ctsvijkgu ls

PR 258065 Water Resource(21-22).D

Executive EngineerMINOR DISTRIBUTION DIVISION No.-8,

JAMSHEDPUR.

NOTE1) Only e-Tenderwill be accepted.2) More information are available on Website http://jharkhandtend

ers.gov.in

OOFFFFIICCEE OOFF TTHHEE EEXXEECCUUTTIIVVEE EENNGGIINNEEEERRMINOR DISMINOR DISTRIBUTION DIVISION No.-8,JTRIBUTION DIVISION No.-8,JAMSHEDPUR.AMSHEDPUR.

(Email ID : eemdd8.chandil @gmail.c(Email ID : eemdd8.chandil @gmail.coomm))

Short E-Procurement Tender Notice (e-Tender Notice)E-Tender Ref. No. :WRD/MDD-8/JSR/F2-01/2021-22

Date: 29.11.2021

1. Name of Work

CONSTRUCTION OFBOUNDARYWALLAT

SUBERNREKHARESIDENTIALCOLONY, DIMNA.

2. Estimated Cost (Rs.)

Rs. 21405947.81 ( Rupees TwoCrore Fourteen lakh and five

thousand nine hundred fourty sevenand eighty one paisa only )

3. Earnest Money Rs. 430000/- (Rupees Four lakh andthirty thousand only )

4. Time of Completion 270 (Two Hundred Seventy) Days

5. Date of Publication of Noticeinviting tender on website 30.11.2021 (5:00 P.M.)

6. Last Date of Downloadingtender Documents 15.12.2021 (5:00 P.M.)

7. Date and Time for Receivinghard copy of EMD in Division 16.12.2021 (2:30 P.M.)

8. Date of Opening tender 17.12.2021 (11:30 A.M.) (TechnicalBid)

9. Contact Number ofProcurement Officer 8709790887

10. Help Line No. ofe-Procurement officer 8709790887

PUNJAB STATE SPORTS COUNCIL(Punjab Govt. Undertaking)

SCO NO. 116-117, SECTOR 34-A, CHANDIGARH, TELEPHONE NO. 0172-2606400, 2668794,E-mail ID: [email protected] /[email protected]

No. 3691 Dated: 29.11.2021Secure Online Submission of Tenders

Online tenders on item rate basis as per the DNIT are invited on two bid system (Technical bid & FinancialBid) for the following work:

For detail of works, other terms & conditions & tender documents, the bidders can log in tohttps://eproc.punjab.gov.in

For participating in the above e-tendering process, the Bidders shall have to get themselves registered withhttps://eproc.punjab.gov.in and get user ID, Password. Class-3 Digital Signature is mandatory to participate inthe e-tendering process. Detailed Notice Inviting Tender and other tems & conditions are available on website:https://eproc.punjab.gov.in. in all payments regarding purchase of bid document i.e., Tender form fee, process-ing fee & earnest money shall be strictly through Online mode (e-payment only). Bidders are advised to openBank Account with Core Banking Solution Branches (with NEFT/RTGS facility).Note: Any Corrigendum/Addendum to the DNIT shall be uploaded towebsite only. Sd/-

Executive Engineer (C),Punjab State Sports Council,

Chandigarh.

Sr. Name of the Work Last Date ofNo. Online Submission

of Bidding Document Technical Bid Financial Bid

1. 20.12.2021 20.12.2021 To be Intimatedat 2.00 P.M. at 03.00 P.M. later on

Providing & Laying of 400 Mtr 8 Lane Synthetic AthleticTrack (Full PUR Type) and allied works complete in allrespects at Guru Nanak Dev Stadium, Amritsar.

Opening of Bidding Documents

10515/Pb

HIMACHAL PRADESH PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENTPh. No. 01907-266245 E-mail: [email protected]

INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)The Executive Engineer, HPPWD Division Sunder Nagar (HP) on behalf of Governor of H.P. invites the item rate bids,

in electronic tendering system from the eligible class of contractors registered with HPPWD for the works detailed in the table.

The bidders are advised to note other details of tenders from the department website WWW.hptenders.gov.in.Executive Engineer,

Sunder Nagar Division,HPPWD Sunder Nagar-175018

On behalf of Governor of Himachal Pradesh5234/HP

S. Name of Work Estimated Cost Starting Date Earnest Deadline forNo (In Rs.) for downlo- Money submission

ading Bid of Bid.

1. Rs. 4,14,81,383/- 02.12.2021 Rs 8,30,000/- 10.12.2021only only

Construction of Govt. Sen. Sec. School building at Taleli, TehsilSundernagar, Distt. Mandi (HP)(SH: C/o building portion,WS&SI, Septic tank & RWHS).

(Short-term)

e -NIT NO: MHCHD/TS /2021-22 /209/e-tenderingDated:-27.11.2021

For and on behalf of the Lt. Governor, J&K UT e-tenders are invited from Authorized dealers of Suggestedmakes of Split ACs or Registered/ Reputed and experienced firms for the below mentioned work:-

Government of Jammu & KashmirOFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER MECHANICAL HOSPITAL AND CENTRAL

HEATING DIVISION SRINAGAR

--------Telefax:- 0194-2496089, Email ID:- [email protected]

1. The Tender document Consisting of qualifying information, eligibility criteria, specifications, Bill of quan-tities (B.O.Q), Set of terms and conditions of contract and other details can be seen/downloaded from thedepartmental website www.jktenders.gov.in from 27.11.2021 (18.00 hrs).

2. The bidders shall deposit their bids in electronic format on the above web site from 27.11.2021(18:00hrs) to 04.12.2021 (14:00 hrs) in two (02) cover.

3. The bids uploaded on the website up to due date and time will be opened on 04.12.2021(17.00 hrs) orany date convenient to the department in the office of Executive Engineer, MHCHD, Srinagar.

Sd/-Executive Engineer,MHCHD, Srinagar.

Name of Work Est. Cost Cost of Time of AAA TS No. Position of EMD(Rs. in T/Doc. Completion of Funds AmountLacs) (In rupees) (in days)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

7.66 500 10 68 146 of Available 15500MCS of 11/21

2021 Dt:-16.11.2021

Supply, Installation, TestingCommissioning of Hot cold (reversibleacs) at UPHC NishatLabour Room ofSDH Hazratbal

No: MHCHD/ TS/7456-60Dated:27.11.2021DIPK-13842

PR.NO.258055 Jharkhand State Building Construction Corp. ltd.(21-22):D

Any change can be seen on Website http:// Jharkhandtenders.gov.in.Any other information can be seen on http:// Jharkhandtenders.gov.in.

Sd/-Nodal Officer

e-Procurement CellJharkhand State Building Construction

Corporation Ltd., Ranchi.

e-Pre-Prooccuurrement Cellement CellJHARKHAND STAJHARKHAND STATE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION CORPORATE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION CORPORATIONTION

LLTD., RANCHITD., RANCHIShort Term e-Procurement Notice

Date : 29/11/2021

2 Date of Publication of Tender on Website 06.12.2021 at 11:00 AM3 Start Date of Submission of Bids 06.12.2021 at 11:00 AM4 Last Date/Time of Submission of Bids 20.12.2021 at 05:00 PM5 Last Date/Time of Submission of Bid Security

Money and Tender Fee22.12.2021 upto 11:30 AM

6 Date/Time of opening of Bid 22.12.2021 at 12:00 PM7 Name &Address of office Inviting tender e-Procurement Cell,

Jharkhand State Building Construction CorporationLtd., Ranchi.

8 Helpline Number of e-procurement Cell 0651-24462599 e-mail ID [email protected]

Sl.No

TenderReference

No.

Work Name Amount in(Rs)

CompletionTime

Call No. Advt. PR.No.

1 JSBCCL/18/2021-22

Construction of PavilionBuilding, Gallery and Campusin New International AstroturfHockey Stadium at SimdegaDistrict

5,83,70,789/- 12 Months 2nd 255885

PR.NO.258094 Health Med Edu and Family Welfare(21-22):D

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OFFICE OFOFFICE OFTHE SUPERINTENDENT,THE SUPERINTENDENT,SHEIKH BHIKHARI MEDICALSHEIKH BHIKHARI MEDICALCOLLEGE HOSPITCOLLEGE HOSPITALAL ,HAZARIBAG,HAZARIBAG

E-mail ID [email protected] Mobile No.- 9431E-mail ID [email protected] Mobile No.- 9431174412174412vfr vYidkyhu fufonk vkea=.k foKkiu la[;k 02@2021&22

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tk¡p Hkh nwljs ySc ds tk¡p ds U;wure nj ij gh djuk gksxkA

GOVERNMENT OF ODISHAOFFICE OF THE CHIEF CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER

RURAL WORKS CIRCLE, CUTTACKNo:- Tender Online RWC- 22/21 Letter NO. - 3477 Date:- 25.11.21

e-Procurement NOTICE

O-1115

Procurement Officer BidIdentification

No.

Availability of TenderOn-line for bidding

Last date & timeof seeking tender

clarification

Date & Time of opening oftender

From To Technical Bid Financial Bid

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Chief Construction Engineer,Rural Works Circle, Cuttack

Tender OnlineRWC- 22/21

01.12.2021 at11.30 A.M.

15.12.2021 to5.00 PM

14.12.2021 up to02.00 PM

16.12.2021 at11.30 A.M.

Will be intimatedlater on

1. Name of the work : Construction of Tahasil office Building at Salipur for the year 2021-22.2. Class of Contractor

a) Estimated cost more thenRs. 40.00 Lakh & upto Rs.3.00 Crore

: A & B Class (of Odisha PWD) & relevant class of other licensingauthorities.

3. Time for Completion : As specified in the Column-5 of the Annexure.4. Detail Projects : As per Annexure attached5. Other Details :

Further details can be seen from the website www.tendersorissa.gov.inSd/-

Chief Construction Engineer,Rural Works Circle, Cuttack

OIPR-25097/11/0018/2122

GOVERNMENT OF ASSAMOFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF TRAINING

ASSAM ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF COLLEGEJAWAHARNAGAR:KHANAPARA:GUWAHATI — 781022

PHONE NO.0361-2362372, FAX NO-0361-2362361Email: [email protected], [email protected]

[An institute certified under the standards of ISO 9001:2015]NOTICE INVITING TENDER (NIT)

No. AASC(PETC)49/2021-22/74The Assam Administrative Staff College, under the Administrative Reforms, Training,Pension & Public Grievances Department, Government of Assam, invites sealed Tendersfrom National level reputed Coaching Institutes having local presence in terms of aCentre in Guwahati, for imparting Class Room Coaching at Assam Administrative StaffCollege, Khanapara, Guwahati — 22 to the aspirants of Central Civil Service (IAS andAllied Services) for Preliminary and Mains Examination, 2022 conducted by UPSC.Coaching will be only on General Studies Paper I and Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT)covering all relevant areas.Duration of the Coaching Programme: 3 monthsIntake Strength of Students: 50-65The Director of Training, Assam Administrative Staff College reserves the right to acceptor reject all or any of the Tenders at any stage without assigning any reason thereof. TheTender documents can be downloaded from the website of AASC i.e.www.aasc.assam.gov.in or it can be directly collected from the office of the Director ofTraining, Assam Administrative Staff College, Khanapara, Guwahati-22.The last date for submission of Tenders is 6th December, 2021 (upto 12.00 PM) and thesame will be opened on the same day at 1.00 PM.

Sd/-Additional Director of Training

Assam Administrative Staff College, Jawaharnagar:Khanapara: Guwahati-22

Janasanyog/C/8293

No. 4770 dated. 23.11.2021Government of Odisha "e" procurement Notice

Bid Identification No. TENDER ONLINE SNPR- 12 OF 2021-22

Sd/-Superintending Engineer,

Rural Works Division, Sonepur.OIPR - 25054/11/0014/2122

1. Name of the work : Road Work as per DTCN available in the website. www.tendersodisha.gov.in2. Total No. of Work : 01 (one) Nos3. Estimated Cost : Varies from Rs 17.68 lakhs4. Period of Completion : 02 (Two) Calendar months

5. Period and time of availability of bid document in the portalfor bidding

: 01.12.2021 at 11.00AM to 09.12.2021 up to 5.00 PM

6. Date and time of opening of Tender : 10.12.2021 at 11.00AM

7. Name and address of the officer inviting bid : S.E.R.W.Divn. Sonepur

(1) Other details can be seen from detailed notice inviting tenders, available in website www.tendersodishagov.in(2) Corrigendum if any shall only be published in the website: www.tenderodisha.gov.in

O-1019

DELHI JAL BOARD GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHIEXECUTIVE ENGINEER (M)-10

H-BLOCK UDYOG NAGAR INDL. AREA, PEERA GARHI CHOWK, NEW DELHI-41NIT No.446/ EE(M)-10/ACE)(M)7/(2021-22)

Press Notice TenderS.N.

Name of Work AmountPut totender(Rs.)

EMD Dt. of releaseof tender

procurementsolution/I.D. No.

Last dt./ time ofreceipt of tender

through E-procurement solution

1. Engaging 20 no. beldars(unskilled labour) for repairand maintenance of waterlines in Kirari Constituency(AC-09) under AEE(M)9

ItemRate

Exempted vide office memorandumno. F.9/4/2020- PPD, 12.11.2020and DJB endorsement No: DJB/2020-21/ Misc-II(PT)/971 Dated:

23.12.2020

26.11.2021/2021_DJB_211609_1

17-12-2021at 3.00 P.M.

Further details in this regard can be seen at https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in Sd/-ISSUED BY PRO (WATER) (Himanshu Agarwal)Advt. No. J.S.V. 681/2021-22 EX. ENGINEER(M)-10

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (TENDERING) M-3DELHI JAL BOARD : GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI

H-BLOCK: SECTOR-15: ROHINI: DELHI-110089E-mail Id:- [email protected]

“STOP CORONA; Wear Mask, Follow Physical Distancing, Maintain Hand Hygiene”PRESS NIT No. 34 (2021-22)

Press Notice TenderS.

No.Name of Work Amount put to

Tender /Estimated cost

TenderFee

Date of release oftender procurement

solution/I.D. No.

Last date/time ofreceipt of bid through

e-procurement solution

1. P/L 400/350/300/250/200/ 150/100 mm dia DIwater line in Rajiv Nagar Extn. Begampur(1307/1639) in AC-07 Bawana under EE(NW)-II(Presently ACE (M)-3).

Rs. 7,28,14,395/- Rs. 1500/- 27.11.20212021_DJB_211716_1

13.12.2021Upto 3.00 PM

Further details in this regard can be seen at https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in.ISSUED BY PRO (WATER) Sd/- (O.P. Gupta)Advt. No. J.S.V.676(2021-22) Executive Engineer (T) M-3

16 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021

New Delhi

17SENSEX: 57,260.58 ▲ 153.43 (0.27%) NIFTY: 17,053.95 ▲ 27.50 (0.16%) NIKKEI: 28,283.92 ▼ 467.70 HANG SENG: 23,852.24 ▼ 228.28 FTSE: 7,128.70 ▲ 84.67 DAX: 15,365.63 ▲ 108.59

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

GOLD`47,242

RUPEE`75.07

OIL$76.45

SILVER`62,248

Note:Gold,silverratesatDelhispotmarket,goldper10g,silverper1kg;Crudeoil (Indianbasket)asofNovember26

Toraiseholdinginlendertonearly10%

RBI clears LIC stake hikein Kotak Mahindra Bank

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,NOVEMBER29

LICWILLincreaseitsstakeinKotakMahindra Bank to nearly 10percent, having received approvalfrom the Reserve Bank of India(RBI), the private bank said in aregulatoryfilingonMonday.Kotak said it has received an

intimationfromLICforthesame.“KotakMahindraBankhasrecei-ved an intimation from LifeInsurance Corporation of India(LIC)statingthattheReserveBank

of Indiahadgranted its approvaltoLIC,forincreasingitsholdinginthebankupto9.99percentofthepaid-upequity share capital ofthebank,”itadded.The stakehike is subject to

RBI’smasterdirectionsonpriorapproval for acquisition ofsharesorvotingrightsinprivatesectorbanksandonownershipinprivatebanks.Itisalsosubjectto Sebi’s Foreign ExchangeManagementActnorms.KotakBank shares tradedat Rs 2,020onBSE,up2.91percentfromthepreviousclose.WITHPTI

Office of the Additional Chief Engineer(Project)

PHED Bharatpur (Rajasthan)E-Notice Inviting Bid No. 01/2021-22

No.:- PHED/ACE (P)/JJM/Tender/2021-22/1270-78 Dated:- 18.11.2021On behalf of the Governor of Rajasthan, NIT no. 01/2021-22 online tender ishereby invited from eligible bidders for work of “Retrofitting of Dang areaWater Supply Project of District Dholpur to provide FHTC including 10-year O&M, after defect liability period of one year on percentage ratebasis single point responsibility turnkey contract, under JJM” as percriteria mentioned in the detailed NIT/tender document: available on website:http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in & http://sppp.rajasthan.gov.in. Tenders areto be submitted online in electronic format on websitehttp://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in as per prescribed schedule

SAVE WATER- SAVE LIFEUBN NO.:- PHE2122WLOBO9652

NIT No. Name of work Estimatedcost (Rsin Lakh)

UBN no. Date & timefor online

downloading/ submission

of bid01/2021

-22Retrofitting of Dangarea Water SupplyProject of DistrictDholpur to provideFHTC including 10-year O&M, after defectliability period of oneyear on percentagerate basis single pointresponsibility turnkeycontract, under JJM

7948.36 PHE2122WLOBO9652

From24.11.2021(6.00PM) to27.12.2021(6.00PM)

Sd/-(Hemant Kumar)

Additional Chief Engineer (Project)DIPR/C/11903/2021 PHED Bharatpur

GOVERNMENT OF RAJASTHANOFFICE OF THE MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT CUM MEMBERSECRETARY, RMRS. SAWAI MAN SINGH HOSPITAL, JAIPUR

[Sawai Man Singh Road Tonk Road, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302001][Phone 0141-2518308, 0141 2565647, [email protected]]

No. 3922/Store/SMS/MH/2021 Jaipur dated, the 25.11.2021

Notice Inviting BidBids for rate contract for procurement of Neuro Spine Navigation system for Neurosurgerydepartment are invited from interested bidders up to 30.12.2021 on 5.00 pm. Other particularof bid may be visited on the procurement portal (http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in,http://sppp.raj.nic.in) of the state.UBN No. MCJ 2122GLOB00178

Sd/-Member Secretary RMRS,

DIPR/C/12052/2021 S.M.S. Hospital Jaipur

BRIEFLYADBloanNewDelhi:TheAsianDevel-opmentBank(ADB)approv-edaloanof$125millionforwatersupplyandsanitationprojectsinUttarakhand.

RIL,BTGroupNewDelhi:RelianceIndustr-ies onMondaydenied anyintenttobidfortheUKtele-comgroup,BT,dismissingareportas“completelyspec-ulativeandbaseless”.

PenaltyonUBIMumbai:TheReserveBankhasimposedapenaltyofRs1 crore on Union Bank ofIndia(UBI)fordeficienciesinregulatorycompliance.

PNBstakebuyNewDelhi:PunjabNationalBank (PNB)will invest as apromoter inOpenNetworkfor Digital Commerce bypicking up over 9 per centstakeinthecompany. PTI

SECONDSTRATEGICSTAKESALETHISFISCAL

The term ‘closed company’ is not defined under the Act andcompanies would be struck off after following due process of law

The response was to a query on state-wise companies closeddown after demonetisation, GST and Covid-19 pandemic

INAREPLYtotheLokSabha,MoSforCorporateAffairsRaoInderjit

Singhsaidtheministrydoesnot“maintaindataoneventbase”

‘Over 5L cos shut down, 7Lnewones registered in six yrs’More than5 lakh companieswentout of businesswhile over7 lakhnewcompanieswere set up in the last nearly six years,as perdata fromCorporateAffairsMinistryonMonday

DatafortheperiodstartingfromApril1,2016,tilldateshowed:

5,00,506 companieswereshutdown

7,17,049 newcompanieswereregisteredunderCompaniesAct,2013Source:Governmentdata/PTI

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,NOVEMBER29

THERESERVEBankof India(RBI)onMondaysupersededtheboardofdirectorsofRelianceCapitalLtd(RCL), belonging to the AnilAmbanigroup, inviewof thede-faultsbyRCLinmeetingthevari-ous payment obligations to itscreditorsandseriousgovernanceconcernswhichtheboardhasnotbeenabletoaddresseffectively.The central bank has ap-

pointedNageswarRaoY, formerExecutive Director, Bank ofMaharashtra,astheAdministratorofthecompanyunderSection45-IE(2)of theRBIAct. “TheReserveBank will shortly initiate theprocessof resolutionof thecom-pany under the Insolvency andBankruptcyRules,2019,”itsaid.TheRBIwill also apply to the

NationalCompanyLawTribunal,MumbaiforappointingtheAdmi-nistratorastheInsolvencyResolu-tion professional. OnOctober 5,theRBIsupersededtheboardsofKolkata-based NBFCs SreiInfrastructure Finance and SreiEquipmentFinance.Earlier,ithadsuperseded theboardof DewanHousingFinance(DHFL).RCL owesRs 21,781.01 crore,

including interest, as onOctober31tolenders.Ithasalsodefaultedon repaymentof inter-corporatedeposits taken fromvariouspar-ties aggregating to Rs 562 croreandinterestRs120croreforwhichmaximumdaysofdefaultrangesfrom510daysto567days.RCLmade a loss of Rs 10,971

croreonarevenueofRs563croreduring the fiscal endedMarch2021.Itssharesfell5percentatRs19.05ontheBSEonMonday.The company reported con-

tinuousdelayinservicingofdebtobligations onaccount of stretc-hed liquidity. “The liquidity pro-

file of the group continues to beunder stress onaccount of delayin raising funds from the assetmonetizationplan and impend-ingdebtpayments,”CareRatingssaidwhilegivingdefaultrating–D–tothecompany.Lendershadputseveralassets

of RCL, including its insuranceventures, asset reconstructionfirm, and securities armon sale.SBICapsandJMFinancialhadre-ceivedover90expressionsof in-terestforthecompany’sninekeyassets,butthedealcouldnotbefi-nalisedduetotheongoinglitiga-tion.RCLwasamong the leadingNBFCsatonetime,butcameun-der pressurewhen the financialsectorfacedacrisistwoyearsago.RCL’s consolidateddebt is Rs

40,000croreandtheresolutionofthetwolendingbusinesses—RCFandRHF—willhaveanimpactontheconsolidateddebtofthecom-pany, its chairmanAnil Ambanihad said. “Between these twocompanies,thereisadebtofoverRs 20,000 crore, and thiswill bedeconsolidated from RelianceCapital’sbalancesheet,”hesaidatRCL’sAGMinSeptember.

OWES`21,781CRTOLENDERSASOFOCT31


AMINISTERS’panelondisinvest-ment onMonday cleared awin-ningbidofRs210croreforselling100per cent government equityinCentralElectronicsLtd(CEL)toNandal Finance and Leasing PvtLtd. TheAlternativeMechanism—comprising FinanceMinisterNirmala Sitharaman, TransportMinister Nitin Gadkari andMinister of State (Independentcharge) for Science andTechnol-ogy Jitendra Singh— approved“thehighestpricebid”forstrategicsaleofgovernmentstakeinCEL.“Thenextstepwillbetoissue

theLetterof Intent(LoI)andthensigntheSharePurchaseAgreem-ent followingwhich, the condi-tionsprecedentwouldneedtobesatisfiedbythesuccessfulbidder,thecompanyandGovernment.Itis expected that the transactionwillbecompletedduringcurrentFY2021-22,”theFinanceMinistrysaidinastatement.CEL recorded sales of Rs

245.99crore in2019-20, ascom-paredtoRs232.55crore in2018-19, as per latest available data inthe company’s annual reports. Itrecordednetprofitafter taxofRs3.13crore in2019-20,upfromRs

1.69 crore in 2018-19. The com-panyhas a total debt of Rs 42.96crore atMarch-end2020, as perthe annual report. The companyisalsocarryingunpaidwagerevi-sion arrears for the year 2007amountingtoaroundRs19crore.Setupin1974,CELoperatesin

fourkeyareas—railwaysafety&signalling systems, defence(strategic)electronics,solarphoto-voltaics,andsecuritysurveillancesolutions. Its paid up capital atMarch-end 2020was Rs. 70.87crore.This is thesecondstrategicstake saleby thegovernment af-terAirIndiathisfiscal.Afterreceiptof sealed financial bids, a reserveprice of Rs 194 crorewas fixedbasedonvaluationsbythetrans-action adviser and the asset val-uer,thegovernmentsaid.

RBI supersedesboard of default-hitReliance Capital


THERESERVEBankof India(RBI)hasproposedamendmentstotheReserve Bankof India Act, 1934,whichwouldenableittolaunchaCentral Bank Digital Currency(CBDC). Themove comes amidthegovernment’s plans to intro-duceaBilloncryptocurrenciesinthe current Parliament sessionthat seeks toprohibit “all privatecryptocurrencies in India”with“certainexceptions”.“Governmenthas received a

proposal fromReserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) in October, 2021 foramendment to theReserveBankof IndiaAct, 1934 toenhance thescope of the definition of ‘banknote’toincludecurrencyindigital

form.RBIhasbeenexaminingusecases andworkingout aphasedimplementationstrategyforintro-ductionof CBDCwith little ornodisruption,”Minister of State forFinancePankajChaudharysaidinreplytoaqueryinLokSabha.TheCBDC is a digital formof

fiat currencywhichcanbe trans-acted using wallets backed byblockchainandisregulatedbythecentralbank.ThoughtheconceptofCBDCswasdirectlyinspiredbybitcoin, it isdifferentfromdecen-tralised virtual currencies andcryptoassets,whicharenotissuedbythestateandlackthe‘legalten-der’status.CBDCsenabletheuserto conduct both domestic andcross border transactionswhichdonot require a third party or abank. “Introductionof CBDChasthepotentialtoprovidesignificantbenefits,suchasreduceddepend-encyoncash, higher seigniorageduetolowertransactioncosts,re-duced settlement risk.Introductionof CBDCwouldalsopossiblyleadtoamorerobust,ef-ficient, trusted, regulatedand le-gal tender-basedpayments op-

tion.Therearealsoassociatedriskswhichneedtobecarefullyevalu-ated against thepotential bene-fits,”Chaudharysaid.Meanwhile, in response to a

separate query in Lok Sabha,Finance Minister NirmalaSitharamansaid thegovernmentdoes not collect data onBitcointransactions and on trading incryptocurrencies. She added thegovernment has noproposal torecogniseBitcoinasacurrency.“ACBDCisthelegal tender is-

suedbyacentralbankinadigitalform. It is the sameas a fiat cur-rencyandisexchangeableone-to-onewiththefiatcurrency.Onlyitsform isdifferent,” as per theRBI.CBDCisadigitalorvirtualcurrencybutitisnotcomparabletothepri-vatevirtual currencies that cameupgloballyoverthelastdecade.

NOPROPOSALTORECOGNISEBITCOINASCURRENCY: FM


THESUPREMECourtonMondayextendedbytwoweeksthedead-lineforCompetitionCommissionof India (CCI) to decide on theConfederationofAllIndiaTraders’(CAIT)plea seeking revocationofapprovalgrantedtotheAmazon-FutureGroupdeal in2019. It alsogavelibertytoAmazontoraiseob-jectionsbeforetheCommission.Earlier, onNovember 16, the

DelhiHighCourthaddirectedCCItodecideinthematterwithintwoweeks instead of January 4, theearlierscheduleddateofhearing.TheCAIThadmoved theHCde-manding theannulmentof CCI’sapproval that was granted toAmazonin2019andwantedpro-tection of its 6,000 traderswhohad supplied goods worth Rs10,000croretotheFutureGroup.OnMonday, a Bench led by

Chief JusticeNVRamanawhiledisposing of Amazon’s appealagainsttheHC’sordersaiditdoesnotwant to express anyopiniononthemeritsofthecaseortheCCIproceedings, but gave anexten-sion of two weeks beyond thetwo-weekdeadlinesetbytheHC.Thejudgesduringthehearing

also asked about the “tearinghurry” for the Commission tocompletetheproceedingswhenitisalreadyhearingthecase. FE

THECENTRALBankDigitalCurrency(CBDC)isadigitalform of fiat currencywhich can be transactedusing wallets backed byblockchain and is regu-latedbythecentralbank.

WhatisCBDC?E●EX

PLAINED

RBIforwideningscopeof ‘banknote’to includedigitalcurrency

SC gives two moreweeks to CCI to decideFuture-Amazon case

TheSCgavetheextensionbeyondthe2-weekdeadlinesetbytheHighCourt. File

CELFINANCIALS (in ` cr)Year 2019- 2018-

2020 2019Production 249.09 229.73Sales 245.99 232.55GrossMargin 14.01 11.69GrossProfit 9.06 7.21Profitbefore 6.36 4.07TaxNetProfit 3.13 1.69afterTax

Source:Annualreports

Panel clears `210-crorebid by Nandal Financefor Central Electronics

DELAY INSERVICINGDEBT

■Thecompany,belongingtotheAnilAmbanigroup, reportedcontinuousdelay inservicingofdebtobligationsonaccountof stretched liquidity


ABOUT 7.5 PER CENT joblosseswere seen during thenationwide lockdown tospread the Covid pandemiclastyear,withthemanufactur-ing, construction, educationand trade sectorsbearing thebruntmore thanwhite-col-laredemploymentinIT/BPOs,financial services andhealthsectors,governmentdatapre-sented in Parliament onMondayshowed.Among the nine key sec-

tors covered for theAll IndiaQuarterly Establishmentbased Employment Survey(AQEES), themanufacturingsector recorded job losses of14.2 lakh between the pre-lockdown (March 25, 2020)and post-lockdown period(July 1, 2020). Constructionsectorrecordedalossof1lakhwhiletradeandeducationsec-torsregisteredjoblossesof1.8lakhand2.8lakh,respectively.On the other hand, job

lossesinthefinancialservicessector, consideredwhite-col-lared, were recorded at 0.4lakh and at 1 lakh for theIT/BPOs sector during thesameperiod.Femaleworkersregistered

a job loss of 7.44 per centamong the nine key sectorswhile the figure for maleworkers between the pre-lockdownandpost-lockdownperiods(July1,2020)stoodat7.48percent,thedatashowed.Labour andEmployment

MinisterBhupenderYadavinawritten reply to aquestion intheLokSabhasaidthatfemaleemploymentinthemanufac-turing sector reduced to23.3lakh (as on July1, 2020) from26.7 lakh (as on March 25,2020).Maleworkersinmanu-facturingduringthesamepe-rioddroppedto87.9lakhfrom98.7 lakh. Femaleworkers inthe construction sector re-

ducedto1.5lakhfrom1.8lakh,andmaleworkers fell to 5.1lakh from5.8 lakhduring thelockdown. Female employ-ment in the trade sector re-duced to 4 lakh (as on July 1,2020) from 4.5 lakh (as onMarch25, 2020),whilemaleemployment was down to14.8 lakh (as on July 1, 2020)from16.1 lakh (as onMarch25,2020).The findings are part of

AQEES. The revampedQuarterly EmploymentSurveywasconductedduringthe first quarter (April-June2021) to collect the informa-tionontheimpactofthepan-demicontheoperationalandemploymentstatusof thees-tablishments in thenine sec-tors—manufacturing, con-struction, trade, transport,education,health,accommo-dation&restaurants,IT/BPOs,andfinancialservices.The new quarterly em-

ployment survey, released inSeptember, had shown em-ployment in keynine sectorsrising to 3.08 crore in April-Junethisyear from2.37crorein2013-14,thebaseyearcho-sen based on the sixth eco-nomic census. Assessing theimpact of the pandemic onemploymentintheorganisednon-farmsegment,thereporthad said employment de-creased in 27per cent of theestablishments.Asmuchas81per centof

the workers received fullwages during the lockdownperiod (March 25-June 30,2020),16percentreceivedre-ducedwages and only 3 percentweredenied anywages,it said. The earlier version ofQESwas suspended in 2018,citing a gap innumberswiththepayrolldata.There are two compo-

nents underAQEES,QES andArea Frame EstablishmentSurvey (AFES),which coversthe unorganised segment(withlessthan10workers).

EMPLOYMENTWATCHALL-INDIA SURVEY

SECTORS NUMBEROFEMPLOYEES(INLAKH)Prior to lockdown AsonJuly1,(beforeMarch25, 2020

2020)Male Female Male Female

Manufacturing 98.7 26.7 87.9 23.3Construction 5.8 1.8 5.1 1.5Trade 16.1 4.5 14.8 4Transport 11.3 1.9 11.1 1.9Education 38.2 29.5 36.8 28.1Health 15 10.6 14.8 10.1Accommodation 7 1.9 6.2 1.7&restaurantsIT/BPOs 13.6 6.3 12.8 6.1Financialservices 11.5 5.9 11.3 5.7Total* 217.8 90.0 201.5 83.3*Totalalso includes66establishments in surveybelonging toother thanninesectors, source:Ministryof LabourandEmployment

2020 lockdown:Most job losses inblue-collar sectors;finserv, IT stem fall

File

Relief rally: Oilrebounds 3% asinvestors see‘fall overdone’

REUTERSLONDON,NOVEMBER29

OIL REBOUNDED bymore than3 per cent onMonday to above$76 a barrel as some investorsviewedFriday’sslumpinoilandfinancial markets on concernabout theOmicron coronavirusvariantasoverdone.Brentcrudewasup$2.28,or

3 per cent, at $75.02 a barrel by12:29 pm Eastern (1729 GMT),havingslidby$9.50onFriday.USWest Texas Intermediate (WTI)crude was up $2.93, or 4.3 percent, at $71.08, having tumbledby$10.24intheprevioussession.Saudi Energy Minister

PrinceAbdulazizbinSalmanal-Saud said on Monday he wasnot worried about Omicron,AsharqBusiness reported,whilehisRussiancounterpart saidhesees no need for urgent actionon themarket.

New Delhi

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021

GOVERNMENT OF ASSAMDIRECTORATE OF TRAINING

ASSAM ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF COLLEGE[An Institute certified under the Standards of ISO 9001:2015]

KHANAPARA, GUWAHATI- 781022

CANCELLATION NOTICENo. AASC(PETC)49/2021-22/72Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) issued vide no AASC (T) 49/2021-22/55 dated 27th October 2021 for imparting Class RoomCoaching at Assam Administrative Staff College,Khanapara, Guwahati-22 to the aspirants of Central CivilService (IAS and Allied Services) Preliminary and MainsExamination 2022 conducted by UPSC is hereby cancelleddue to unavoidable circumstances.

Additional Director of TrainingAssam Administrative Staff College

Janasanyog/C/8298 Khanapara, Guwahati- 22

Regd. Office.: PSPCL Head Office, The Mall, Patiala-147001)CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813; Website: www.pspcl.in

Mobile No. 96461-07205 E-mail: [email protected]

E-Tender Enq. No. 346/P-3/EMPW·11828 dated 22.11.2021 Dy.Chief Engineer/Headquarter (Procurement Cell-3) GGSSTP,Roopnagar invites E-Tender ID No. 2021_POWER_77291_1 forthe work of Seat Replacement of HP Bypass Spray Valves E32S of210 MW 'KWU' Design Units at GGSSTP, Rupnagar. For detailedNIT & Tender Specification please refer to https://eproc.punjab.gov.in from 24.11.2021 from 05.00 PM onwards.

Note :- Corrigendum & addendum, If any will be published online athttps://eproc.punjab.gov.in RTP 38/21 10490/Pb

LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD

PPUUBBLLIICCNNOOTTIICCEE

ClassifiedsPPEERRSSOONNAALL

II DineshSatyadevBhardwajS/OSatyaDevSharmaR/OFlatno. 1806, TowerB3, PanchsheelGreens, GreaterNoidawest -201318HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETODineshBhardwaj

0070763194-1

IIMumtazBegumaliasMumtazFareedD/oMohammad IlyasW/oFareedAhmedR/oHouseNo.1201, GaliMazarWali, KalanMahal, DaryaGanj, Delhi G.P.O.,NorthDelhi, Delhi-110006havechangedmyname toMumtazFareed for all purposes.

0040593745-2

II SEEMAAGARWALW/OPRAMODKUMARAGARWALR/O202 ARIHANTALTURAINDIRAPURAM GHAZIABADHAVE CHANGEDMYNAMETOSEEMAAGRAWALW/OPRAMODKUMAR AGRAWAL

0070763196-1

II SanjayKumarBhardwaj aliasSanjayBhardwaj S/oSh. RamDhanBhardwaj R/o FlatNo.006,Shri KeshavKunj Apartment,Sector-17, Pocket-D, Phase-2,Dwarka, NewDelhi-110078have changedmyname toSanjayBhardwaj for allpurposes.

0040593745-1

II Vedanti GargD/o-RajeshGargR/o-M-98, GuruHarkishanNagar, PaschimVihar, Delhi-110087havechangedmynametoVedhanti Garg for allpurposes.

0040593747-1

II,,VViinnaayyKumar,S/O-LT. Shri KatarSingh,ResidentOf 39-A.,J-EXTN.,LaxmiNagar, Delhi-110092,have changemysonname fromDharayaPanwar toDhairyaPanwar for all futurepurposes.

0040593815-6

II,,VVIINNAAYYSHANKARUPADHYAY,FATHEROF,ABHISHEKKUMARUPADHYAY,R/OVILL-BABHANGAWANPO-GUNDIDIST-BHOJPUR-802313,BIHAR,have changedmyname,fromVINAYSHANKARUPADHYAYTOBINAYSHANKARUPADHYAY,VIDE-AFFIDAVIT,DATED-29/11/2021,BEFORENCT-DELHI

0040593817-9

II,,SSoonniiaaGuptaW/oSiddharthGoel R/oBE-62 First-FloorShalimar-BaghDelhi-110088,have changedmynametoSoniaGoel.

0040593809-1

II,,SShhrriisshhttii Yadav,D/O-Late ShriAnil kumarYadav, R/O-H.No.2917,Gali.no-7, Libaspur,Delhi-110042, inform thatKhushbooandShrishti Yadavbotharenameof one& thesameperson shewill be knownasShrishti Yadav in future.Herdateof Birth is 21.01.1998.

0040593815-1

II,,SSeerrvviiccee..NNoo..1155661188992233XXRankHAV/CLK(SD)NamePradeepChahar, S/oBaljeet-ChaharUnit-15GUARDSC/o-56APO&resident of Village-Khorra,Tehsil-Matanhail, District-Jhajjar (Haryana) -124142,declare that inmyservice-recorddaughter namehasbeenwrongly-mentionedasVersha InsteadofVarsha vide-Affidavit. No. 49AA877768dated-25/11/21, Haryana.

0040593809-7

II,,SSaarruullii DeviW/o,Lt.BalbirSingh,No.4041376. ExPNR ,R/oH/no.8/11,Block-C, Gali No.-2,RamaVihar,MohammadpurMajri, Delhi-81 have changedmy toShardaDevi all purposes.

0040593817-1

II,,IIrrsshhaaddS/ONisharulHaqueR/O,B-10/75, DDA-Flate Inder-LokDelhi-110035,have changedmyname toMohd Irshad.

0040593809-2

II,,SSAANNJJEEEEVVAGRAWALS/oBrpAgarwal R/oplot.no.322, F-4,GyanKhand-1 Indirapuram,Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh-201010,have changedmynametoSanjeevKumarAGRAWALfor,all Purposes.

0040593817-2

II,,RRaammeesshhChander JiyaramGuptaS/o JiyaramRajaramGuptaR/o-BLD-253 TheBelaireDLF-City, Phase-5, Gurgaon-122009Haryana, have changedmyname toRameshGuptaPermanently.

0040593796-1

II,,PPaannkkaajj Kumar alias PankajYadavS/oRohtashSingh, R/o-1728/1 27, Feet-RoadWest Side-DabuaColony, NIT Faridabad-121001, Haryanahave changedmyname toPankaj RaoPermanently.

0040593796-2

II,,OOmmkkaarr Singh Lodhi,S/o-KishanLal Lodhi,R/o-A-221,GaurGreenAvenue, AbhayKhand-2,Indirapuram,GhaziabadUP-201014,have changedmyson’sname fromDhruvSingh toDhruv Lodhi for all futurepurposes.

0040593815-4

II,,NNoo - 9106550F, Hav- JameedAhmadLone, S/O -NoorMohdLone, R/O- ShahporaBala(Chorwan) Tehsil- Gurez,District- Bandipora. Inmyservice records theDoBofmysonnamelyRayeesAhmadLone iswronglymentionedas11.05.2006 insteadof11.05.2007. It needs correction.Objectionsbe filed toconcernedauthoritieswithinsevendays.

0020430154-1

II,,KKuummaarrii Archana,D/o lateSri.NareshKumar Sinha,R/oQuater.No-1CPWDEnquiryOffice, Sec-1,PushpVihar,Malviya-Nagar, Delhi-110017,have changedmynametoArchanaSingh,for all futurepurposes. 0040593817-8

II,,KKaannwwaarr HargobindMehta,S/o-Sant RamMehta,R/o-11263,DooriwalanRamNagar, KarolBagh,NewDelhi-110005,InformthatHargobind&KanwarHargobidMehtabothnamebelongs to sameperson. Thatin Future,Iwouldbeknownwith thenameof “KanwarHargobindMehta” for all futurelegal purposes.

0040593815-3

II,,KKAAUUSSIILLYYAADEVI,MOTHEROF,ABHISHEKKUMARUPADHYAYR/O.VILL-BABHANGAWANPO-GUNDIDIST-BHOJPUR-802313,BIHARhavechangedmyname,fromKAUSILYADEVI TOKAUSHALYADEVI,VIDE-AFFIDAVITDATED-29/11/2021,BEFORENCT-DELHI.

0040593817-10

II,,IIsshhaaKhanna,D/oMahendraPalArora,W/o-Rahul Khanna,R/o-B-604, 6th-Floor, Bestech-ParkviewAnanda,Sector-81,Gurugram(Haryana)-122004,have changedmynameto IshaArora. 0040593809-6

II,,HHIIMMAANNSSHHUUS/O-MOHINDERASIJA,HOUSE.NO-277GROUND-FLOORTARUNENCLAVEPITAM-PURADELHI-110034,changedmyname toHIMANSHUASIJA.

0040593809-5

II,,DDhhaarrmmvviirr S/O-DariyavSinghR/O.H.No-945, Gali.No-20,Village-LibashpurDelhi-110042, have changedmynametoDharamvir Singh,forall, futurepurpose

0040593809-4

II,,CChhaannddrraa Singh,R/o-H.No.244/B,Gali no.1,NearSwarajMandir,babaColony,Burari,NorthDelhi-110084,have changed thenameofmyminor son’s fromHarishNegi toAdityaNegi for allpurposes. 0040593815-5

II,,AAnniill Kumar,S/o Jai KishanR/o-H.No.206, PanaBichli Gali,Gali-no.20,Mangolpur-Kalan,Delhi-110085,have changedmyson’sname, fromKrishna toDevainKumar,for all purposes.

0040593809-8

II,,AANNIILL VERMASONOFSHRIRANJIT SINGHVERMA,R/O-A3/36, GROUNDFLOOR,ALOKKUNJ,SECTOR-15, ROHINI,Delhi-110089, HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOANILKUMARVERMA.

0040593815-2

II,, VedPrakash Juneja S/oDesRajJunejaR/o 230, First-Floor,Pocket-4, Sector-24,Rohini,Delhi-110085,havechangedmyname toVishalJuneja. 0040593809-10

II,, SurinderMohanMalik S/oRamDittaMalMalik R/o 1657,Sector-29, Noida(U.P) havechangedmyname fromSurrinderMohanMalik toSurinderMohanMalik for allfuturepurposes.

0040593761-2

II,, Siddharth Tewari, S/oAshwani Tewari, R/o 88/3, PremNagar, KanpurUttar Pradesh -208001, have changedmynameandshall hereafter be knownasSiddharthaShankar Tewari.

0070763204-1

II,, ShubhamJain S/OAnil Jainbornon 14/1/93R/oPocket-DFlatNo-450, DilshadGarden,Delhi-110095have changedmyname toPrakhar Jain videaffidavit dated 27/11/21 atHaryana.

0050187992-1

II,, SWETAW/oSH. ROHANLAKHAIYAR, R/o Flat-No-20,JDMApartment, Sector-05DwarkaDelhi have changedmyname toSWETALAKHAIYARpermanently

0040593792-1

II,, SWEETYW/OSANJEEVKUMARAGRAWALR/oplot.no.322,F-4,GyanKhand-1 Indirapuram,Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh-201010,have changedmynametoSWEETYAGRAWAL for allPurposes.

0040593817-3

II,, SALEEMKUMARPILLAI s/oPARACKANALMADHVANKUNJUPILLAI r/oA-4/324, DDAFlats, PaschimVihar, ND-63have changedmyminor, aged14 years, son’s name fromABHINAVSKUMAR toABHINAVKUMAR. 0040593771-1

II,, Rajni KandwalW/oSunilKandwal R/oC-1425, GaurGlobal Village,CrossingRepublik, Ghaziabad, UP-201016have changedmynamefromRajaniNaithani toRajniKandwal.

0040593749-1

II,, RajeshKumar Singathia S/o,Attar SinghR/o-Flat-No.8523C8NearGate-No.8, Vasantkunj,South-WestDelhi-110070,havechangedmyname fromRajeshKumar Singathia ToRajeshKumar.

0040593809-9

II,, PradeepKumarPandeyS/oShri Diwakar Pandey R/oPlotNo-143, F-1, Sector-4, Vaishali,Ghaziabad, U.P.-201010. havechangedmyname fromPradeepKumarPandey toPradeep Pandey forAll futurepurposes.

0040593773-1

II,, PoonamSawilaniW/oLalitGurnani, R/o-39-A, NehruNagarNear-Sai BabaMandir, AjayNagar, Ajmer - 305001,Rajasthanhavechangedmyname toMansiGurnaniPermanently.

0040593796-3

II,, PoojaRathorew/oBahadurSinghRathore r/o E1-1102,SkytechMatrott, Sector-76,NOIDA, UP-201301havechangedmyname toPOOJACHAUHAN. 0040593770-1

II,, Pallavi Parth, Ex.W/oPrakashParth, R/o F-48, 2nd Floor, TulipGarden, Sushant Lok-2, Sector-57, Gurgaon, Sector-56,Haryana - 122011, declare that Igot divorced frommyhusbandvideCourt DecreeNo. â€”HMA103of 2007Dated 1stMarch2007. Further I have changedmynameandshall hereafterbe knownasAnita Israni.

0070763199-1

II,,MamtaSharmaD/o,Nathu LalSharmaR/o-18/13-B, Tilak-Nagar, NewDelhi-110018,inform thatMamtaSharmaandShristi bothnamesarebelong tooneandsameperson. 0040593817-5

II,, Gujral RashmeetNarendersinghW/oKundanKatreR/o-1F-102,MeeraOmaxe-Eternity, ChatikaraRoad, VrindavanBangar,Mathura, UP-281121,have changedmyname toRashmeetKatre. 0040593817-4

II,, AdityaSharmaS/oRavinSharmaR/oC-3/72, Sector-31,Noida(U.P) have changedmyname fromAditya toAdityaSharma for all futurepurposes.

0040593761-1

II,, KMRACHNAGAUTAM,W/oASHOKGAUTAM,R/O- F-244,Hari Nagar Extension, BadarPur, Jait Pur, SouthDelhi-110044 inform that KMRACHNAGAUTAM andRACHNAGAUTAM botharesameandoneperson.

0070763195-1

I,AjeetAhuja S/OBrij Lal R/O,A-13, First-FloorChander-NagarGhaziabad-Uttar Pradesh-201011,have changedmynametoAjit Ahuja. 0040593809-3

IItt is notified for the informationthatmyoriginalmark sheet ofsemester 2, Examination year2012-2013 IMURoll no12006011013 issuedby INDIANMARITIMEUNIVERSITY forNautical sciencehasbeen lost.Name:GauravDhoundiyal (GauravDhoundiyal ) S/OChandarmani Dhoundiyal Add :E-67, SatguruKripaNiwas,Pipalwala road,Mohangarden, Uttamnagar, NewDelhi, Pin: 110059 if foundcontact :9654460742

0040593769-2

II Ruchi AroraW/oNikhil AroraR/oE-50, SecondFloor, Sector-1, Avantika, Rohini, Delhi havelostmyall Original documentsi. eAllotment Letter, DemandLetter, Possession Letter etc.ofLIG FlatNo.101, Block-A,G.F.,Pocket-3, Sector-7, Rohini,Delhi. Findersmaycontact ataboveaddress. 0040593745-3

II GauravKhosla have lostmyOriginalmarksheets forGraduation, Roll no. G-1155100543, SHUATSUniversity.If FoundPleaseContact:9891967818 0050187994-1

II CharanKaurW/oLateBakhshish SinghR/oC-28,Pushpanjali Enclave,Pitampura, Delhi have lostmyOriginal Builder BuyerAgreement to Sell, PossessionLetter&Receipt of Unit No.301,AdarshComplex, PlotNo.3,CommunityCentre,WazirpurIndl. Area, Delhi. Findersmaycontact at aboveaddress.

0040593745-4

I, VivekKhannaS/o Latesmt.Kamini KhannaR/oSilverOaksApartments, 104/95, DLFCity Phase-I, Gurgaon,Haryanahave lost theall OriginalDocuments i.e. AllotmentLetter, BuyerAgreement,Possession Letter, PaymentReceipts andSaleDeedsbearing serial Nos. 16362dt.17.2.1997, 1054dt. 21.4.1997 &4793dt. 29.5.2006pertaining tomyabove said residentialproperty. Finder please kindlyinform the same tomeon theaddressmentioned in above.

0040593816-1

II,,MMaaddaannKumar Sharma, s/o-InderDutt Sharma,R/o-B-121,Gazipur-Village, Delhi-96,have lostmyoriginal-OwnershippapersGDASaledeed,RegisteredGPA,Allotment,&possession-Letter of Plot.no.3rd F-379,Vaishali-Ghaziabad,UPalongwith someotherdocuments.Misuseof lost-documentswill beillegal.FinderCall-9313696262.

0040593817-11

EExxppeerrtt Editingof academicandnonacademicdocuments/manuscripts.WhatsAppGSat9930082738 [email protected]

0050187882-1

BBUUSSIINNEESSSSOOFFFFEERRSS

PUBLIC NOTICE“Public at large is hereby informedthat my client Manveen Singh S/o Lt.Sh. Harmander Singh Chowdhary,presently living in Australia, is one ofthe legal heirs of his late father, whoexpired on 11.10.2021, isunauthorisedly and unlawfully, beingmisrepresented represented by hissecond wife Smt. Bela Chowdharyand adopted daughter Pooja as theonly legal heirs of Lt. Sh. HarmanderSingh Chowdhary. Now Any bodydealing with them in any mannerwhatsoever with regard to themovable, immovable properties,assets, shares, debentures, bankaccounts etc., of the said Sh.Harmander Singh Chowdhary shallbe doing so at his/her/their own risk,cost and responsibility.”

Sd/-HARBANS SINGH

AdvocateCh. No. 572, Saket Courts,

New Delhi-17

PUBLIC NOTICEMy clients Om Prakash (aged about 75years) S/O late Sh. Arjun Singh and hiswife Sito Devi (aged about 70 years)both resident of H. No. B-53, Madipur,JJ Colony, Delhi, hereby disown theirson namely Manoj and his wife namelySapna and their children all resident ofE-368, Madipur Colony, Delhi from theirall movable and immovable propertiesbecause they are not in the control ofmy clients and hence, my clients severeall their relation with them, if anybodydeals with them, he/she will himself beresponsible for the same and my clientswill not be responsible in any manner.

Sd/- Deepak Ghai (Advocate)Ch. No. 440, W. Wing,

Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi- 110054

PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to all that my clients Sh. JagdishPrashad S/o Muktiyar Singh and his wife Smt.Lila Wati W/o Jagdish Prashad, both residentof H.No. A-262, Gali No. 9, A-Block,Mahalaxmi Enclave, Karawal Nagar, North-East Dist., Delhi-110094 have disowned anddebarred their both sons and their wivesnamely (1) Amit Kumar and his wife Sweeti,and (2) Kapil Kumar and his wife Manisha fromtheir all movable and immovable properties.My clients have severed all their socialrelations with them due to their misconduct andmisbehavior. Anybody dealing with them in anymanner either civil or criminal matter shall do attheir own risk, cost and responsibilities and myclients would not be responsible for any of theiracts in future.

Sd/-AHMAD PARVEZ

CH. No. 171, Block-II,High Court of Delhi, New Delhi

General Public is hereby informed that my clientSH. ASHOK AGGARWAL S/O AVADH BIHARIAGGARWALR/OBLOCK-BG-5/65-B,PASCHDMVIHAR NEW DEILHI-63 AGE -73 have severedall his relations and disowned,debared SH.NEERAJ AGGARWAL S/O SH. ASHOKAGARWAL, MRS. CHANDNI AGGARWAL W/0SH. NEERAJ AGARWAL and his Grand SONSDEEPANSHU AND PANKAJ AGGARWAL bothS/O SH. NEERAJ AGGARWAL from all hismovable and immovable assets due to- theirbad habits and conduct. Anybody dealing withNEERAJAGGARWALand his family will do a his/her/their own risk and responsibilities and myclient will not be respansibiefor any act, deed, ordealing done by them.

SURENDER SHARMA, AdvocateCh.No. X-16 ACIVIL SIDE LAWYERS

CHAMBER NEW DELHI-54

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to public at large that my clients(1) Ms. Bashiran w/o Late Noor Mohammad(2) Ms. Reshma & Ms. Shabnam both D/oLate Noor Mohammad (3) Mr. Rahis, Mr.Saleem & Mr. Aslam all S/o Late NoorMohammad all residing at T-41, MoolchandColony, Adarsh Nagar, Delhi-110033 havesevered their relationships with Mr. Mohd.Chand S/o Late Noor Mohammad R/o T-41,Moolchand Colony, Adarsh Nagar, Delhi-110033 (son & brother respectively) andcompletely debar and disown him from alltheir movable and immovable properties andother things of benefits because of his badtreatment meted out to my aforesaid clientsby him. If anybody deals with him they will doso at heir own risk, cost and consequencesfor which my above clients shall not beresponsible in any manner.

Sd/-Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal

AdvocateCh. No. 345, Western Wing,

Tis Hazari Court, Delhi-110054

General public is hereby informed thatmy Clientess Mrs. Reena Kumar W/oLate Mr. Ashok Mishra has nothing todo with Mr. Amit Mishra and Dr. SumitMishra both Resident of V-38, ArvindNagar, Ghonda, Delhi-110053, bothson's of Late Mr. Ashok Mishra fromhis previous marriage to Mrs. Anita. Myclientess has no relations with them northey have any interest or connectionsin my clients movable or immovableproperties.

SUNIL JACOB (Advocate)141, lawyers Chamber Block,Saket Courts, New Delhi-17

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICEThis is to inform public at large that myclient Mrs. Prabha Aggarwal D/o Sh. TaraChand Aggarwal R/o 120, New RajdhaniEnclave, Shakar Pur Baramad,Shakarpur, East Delhi, Delhi-110092have cut off his family relations and havedisowned his son namely Sh. AjayAggarwal S/o Sh. Ramesh Aggarwal fromher movable / immovable properties dueto their disobedient and quarrelsomenature and my client was not/is not/willnot be responsible for any act of Sh. AjayAggarwal in any manner.

Sd/-Renu yadav & Shubham Bagodia

AdvocateCh. No. 771-772, Western Wing,

Tis Hazari Court, Delhi-110054

PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to all that my client BabuLal Gupta S/o Sh. Narayan LalGupta R/o H.No.G-9/72, SangamVihar, Pushp Vihar, New Delhi-110062 has disowned his son Sh.Vikas Gupta and his wife Smt. Pooja@ Pooja Sharma from his allmoveable and immovableprooperties and severed all relationswith them due to their disobedience.My client shall not be responsible fortheir acts.

Sd/-Sandeep Kumar (Advocate)

Ch. No.486, Saket CourtsNew Delhi-17

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SPORT/CALENDAR 19WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER30,2021

I THINK the first three games followed thepattern of a typical World Championshipmatch. The two players were testing eachother on different lines, without any obvi-ous weakness on either side in terms ofopening or strategy. ButMagnus (Carlsen)shoulddefinitelybehappy,especiallyaboutthe third game, where he had a relativelyeasy draw despite playing with the blackpieces.Delving into the technical side ofthings, Nepo’s (Ian Nepomniachtchi) firstmovewase4(King’spawnopening) inbothgames where he played with the whitepieces. Magnus responded to that with e5in both games. Against e5, Nepo adoptedRuyLopez.MagnuscounteredthatwiththeMorphy defence, employing theMarshallvariation.Nepodidn’twanttoallowthatandresorted to theAnti-Marshall counter.It’s a stepby stepprocess.Nepo’snextgamewiththewhitepieces

would be Game No.5. If he plays e4 again,not necessarily that Magnuswould repeate5. Hemight do it, hemight not. He couldwell turn to c5, the Sicilian defence. But Ithink in the fifth game, Nepo wouldmostlikelyplayd4–theQueen’spawnopening–totryandfigureouthowMagnus’steamhasprepared against that. He has played e4 inhis first two gameswithwhite, andmaybehecan think that it’s time to change.After twogameswith thewhitepieces,

Nepo has enough information about howMagnus’s team has prepared against e4.Now Nepo’s team is expected to work oncracking the existing line –Magnus’s e5 –while trying to get information about thelatter’s preparation against d4. Differentteams have different match strategies.WhenwewereattheWorldChampionship,especially during (Viswanathan) Anand’smatch against (Boris) Gelfand, our strategywasthatwewouldplaybothe4andd4,andwith the black pieces, wewould start withe5 against e4 in the first couple of games.Andwhentheopponentwouldstartspend-ing time on that, we would shift to someother opening. So it’s very much possiblethatMagnuswouldnowturntotheSicilian,but this is something you can’t predict. Hemightwell stick to theexisting line.As a player, I am not speculating any-

thing. I am excited about the WorldChampionship but as regards to openingsand/ormoves, I don’t speculate. Of course,whenAnandwasplaying, itwascompletelydifferent, for Iwasdirectly involved.Here, Iam looking forward to a great match andthat’s what I am seeing.The second game

wasveryentertainingandatthepost-gamepressconferenceMagnusspokeaboutcom-mitting a “blunder”. But I don’t read toomuch into that. Comments atpress confer-ences are usually very generic and I don’ttake themseriously. Therewill bemistakesin every game. If I run every game throughthe computer and put it under themicro-scope, somemistakes can be found. Veryrarelydoweseeanabsolutelyflawlessgame–oneout10, that’s the ratioandeven therealso, it couldbea case that the second-bestmovewasplayedsomewhereinsteadof thebest one.Mistakeswill happen.I had earlier mentioned that if Nepo

could take thematch deepwith the scoreslevel, his chanceswould increase.Whetherthat would happen, it’s too early to say. Ingeneral, when draws pile up, the chal-lenger’sconfidence levelgoesup,while theworldchampiontendstogetatadnervy.Forexample, if there’sastalemateevenaftertheGame No. 13, then Carlsen no longer re-mainsthefavourite.Fromthatpointofview,Nepo should be happy to take the matchdeep.Thenagain,Magnushasgotmoreen-

ergy ingeneral.Hewill not get tired.In the only game that Magnus has

playedwiththewhitepiecessofar,hewentfor the Catalan opening. But I don’t expecthim to repeat it in the next game. In fact,based on my experience, I would be sur-prised if he does it. Nepo has played twogameswith thewhite pieces so far and hecannotbethrilledwithwhathappened,buthe shouldn’t be disappointed alsowith theoutcome. Thematch hasn’t taken a depar-ture fromthenormal asyet.With theblackpieces inthesecondgame,Nepowasunderseriouspressureatonepoint.Butotherthanthat, it’s still about the two players testingeachother.I think the fourth game is going to be

verycrucial,Magnus’ssecondattemptwiththewhitepieces. If he takes the leadhere, itcouldeasily getone-sided.Grandmaster Surya Sekhar Ganguly

wasoneofViswanathanAnand’s secondsand assisted him in winning the WorldChampionshipmatches against VladimirKramnikandVeselinTopalov.He spoke toShamikChakrabarty.

If Magnus takes the lead in crucialfourth game, it could get one-sided

WorldchampionMagnusCarlsenwill aimtoclaimawinwithwhitepieces inthefourthgameof theworldchampionshipmatchagainst IanNepomniachtchionhis31stbirthdayonTuesday. AP

CROSSWORD4599

ACROSS1 He iswrongabout thedoctor(5)

8 Onekeeps it in reserve (8)9 Checkspartof therigging (5)10 See18Across11 Thespeedwithwhichnotesareproduced(5)

12 Makeagetawaybyair?(3)

16 Its leaddecreasesand itoftendraws(6)

17 It’senoughtomakeonesick(6)

18and10Across:Vicissitudesrarelyencountered inHolland(3,3,5)

23 Sotightlypacked it’s stupid(5)

24 Thebuildingwasduetobeconsecrated(8)

25 Transportorderedatsix(5)

26 Charge toomuch?(8)27 Theheadenquiresaboutpiecesofwork(5)

DOWN2 Onthewrongsidewherebanksareconcerned(2,3,3)

3 Small companysimplyinvolved inproducinggames(8)

4 Remarkablepieceof railwayequipment (6)

5 Roomformentalimprovementperhaps (5)

6 Isacquaintedwithsomemilitaryworknowsecret (5)

7 Drawn- fromthepast forexample?(5)

12 Feverstarts to fluctuate (3)13 Certainlya featureof everyestate (3)

14 Maderareconcoctionof sugar(8)

15 Femalecolourbar (8)19 Advancetosecure theproperty (6)

20 Killoff newgrowth(5)21 Strangestory told inarticle (5)22 Workofmonumentalstupidity (5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)You'reonetoset therules, rather thanobeythem.Considerthecourseof action

that iscorrect foryou, ratherthan justgoingalongwiththecrowd.Distantplacesmaybeckon,andonthemostmundane level this isausefulday for fixingtravelplans.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Social connectionscould involve legalcomplications. Justhoworwhythisshouldbeso isnot

clear,butyoucanhelpmattersalongbymakingsure thatyouknowexactlywhat isyourresponsibility -andwhat isapartner's.Mindyou, theymightnotagreewithyou.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Yourverypersonalbusinesscouldappeartobesomeoneelse's

problem,butyoushouldn'tbelieveeverythingyouhear.Atworktherearewaystoboostyour income,butonly if youapproachtheissuesfromaradicallydifferentdirection.Youmayhavetodragcolleagues intothepresent, though.

CANCER(June22- July23)Assoonasonerelationship isendedanotherwillbegin,whichmust

begoodnews.Yet, itmaybeyourownattitudeswhichneedattention, rather than thepeopleyoumixwith.Youcan, ifyouwish, completelytransformyour feelingsandbehaviourwithinonespecialintimatepartnership.

LEO(July24-Aug23)Sometimes the rightwordscomeout inthewrongway. Toomuchhasbeensaid

inhasteor inanger recently,andyoushouldnowfindwaysto rechargeyouremotionalbatteries. Try to findimaginativemeansofincreasingyourearningpower,but remember toconsultothersat every step.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Oneparticularemotionalinvolvement is nowpassing through acurious phase.

What once seemed so truemaynowseem like awaste oftime. Youmay feel free tospeak yourmind andput yourfoot down, and shouldn't beintimidatedbyothers' abilityto confuse the issues.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)You're comingup toacriticalmomentforhomeand familyrelationships, and

anyandall positive changesoughtnowtobeencouraged.There shouldsoonbegoodnews for thoseplanningamove, andwhile financialmatters lookuncertain, youmayneed to reach thebestagreementyoucan.

SCORPIO(Oct24 -Nov23)Youmaystill have toconsider long-terminvestments, but it'simmediate cash

concernswhichneedsortingout first. You'reatyourmostpersuasive, soyoumaytrypresentingproposalswhichhavealreadybeenrejected,giving themanentirelydifferentgloss.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov24-Dec22)Theclimate is stillmuch toovolatile tosettleon long-termplans. Thecurrent

feeling thateverything isup forgrabs should suit yourtemperament, soyou'll betempted toputasideanylingering fears foryour security.Keeppartners informedasandwhenyou feel it'snecessary.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)There is intensepressureforconstructivechangeacrosstheboard.You

maybe primedtobenefitmostif youarepursuingacreativeline,orcommittedtoanyactivitywhichisdesignedforself-improvement.Onlythehigheststandardswilldo.

AQUARIUS (Jan21-Feb19)Whatyoudowithyourprivate life isuptoyou.However,othersmay

disagree! It's especiallyimportant tokeepadialoguegoingathome, all themoreso ifyouwant tokeepparentsorchildrenonyour side. If you trytogo it alone thenyou'll almostcertainly comeunstuck.

PISCES (Feb20-Mar20)Youwill be temptedinto rashdecisionsand impulsiveactions, a tendency

whichalthoughstrong today,maycontinueallweek. Thefinaldecisionmustalwaysbeyours, butdobeawareof thelikely consequences: there isnosubstitute for carefulplanning.

SUDOKU4670

DifficultyLevel5sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4669

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Ibelievethingscannotmakethemselves___-StephenHawking(10)

SOLUTION:OLIVE,SUSHI,LUMBER,UPBEATAnswer:Ibelievethingscannotmakethemselvesimpossible-StephenHawking

VOILE RUMBLE

HUISS AETUBP

SolutionsCrossword4598:Across:1Intwominds,6Hard,10Adult,11Cosmetics,12Icywaste,13Owing,15Atelier,17Tsarina,19Fanfare,21Precede,22Sinai,24Bookworm,27Exonerate,28Evade,29Pier,30Settlement. Down:1Ivan,2Truncheon,3Ontow,4Incisor,5Dissect,7Alibi,8Designated,9Lemonade,14Half-asleep,16Imagines,18Inebriate,20Embrace,21Project,23Noose,25Where,26Dent.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

Surya SekharGanguly

“I hadearliermentioned that ifNepocould take thematchdeepwith the scores level, his chanceswould increase.Whether thatwouldhappen, it’s too early to say.In general,whendrawspile up, thechallenger’s confidence level goesup,while theworld championtends toget a tadnervy.Forexample, if there’s a stalemateevenafter theGameNo. 13, thenCarlsenno longer remains thefavourite”

SURYASEKHARGANGULYGRANDMASTER

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENOVEMBER29

CONFINEDINabio-bubble,withtheOmicroncloudhangingoverthetour,theIndiaAteamwillplaytheirsecondfour-dayunofficialTestagainstSouthAfricaA inBloemfontein fromTuesday. International teams and playershaverushedtoflyoutofSouthAfricafollow-ingthespreadofthenewvariantofthevirus.OnMonday, Olympic javelin goldmedalistNeerajChopracancelledhistriptothecoun-try,wherehewassupposedtogoforatrain-ing-and-competitionstint.TheBCCI, though,hasn'tpulled theplug

on theA team's tour andasof now, the sen-ior team's upcoming visit to South Africa ison schedule aswell."The IndiaAgameswillbeplayedasperscheduleatthemoment.Theplayersareinabio-bubbleandwehavebeenconstantlymonitoring the situation, whilemaintaining regular contact with CricketSouth Africa (CSA). The matches will beplayed behind closed doors, but as of now,theywillbeheldaspertheitinerary.EventheIndiangovernmenthasn't sentanyadvisory(to us), so the India A tour is on at themo-ment,"BCCItreasurerArunDhumaltoldTheIndianExpress.Confirmation also camevia aCSApress

release that said: "The South African A sideareeagerforanimprovedperformancewithballinhandwhentheytakeontheircounter-partsIndiaAinthesecondfour-daymatchatthe Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein onTuesday."The India A team is touring SouthAfrica for three unofficial Tests, three one-dayers and four T20s. The senior teamwillleave for the country, after their ongoinghome series against New Zealand, to playthree Tests, threeODIs and four T20Is. BackinSeptember,theIndianteamhadrefusedtoplay the fifth Test against England inManchesterfollowingaCovidoutbreakinthecamp.Dhumal, however, told this paper lastweek that theBCCIwould follow the Indiangovernment's directive as regards to thecricket tours in South Africa. "HealthMinistry’sdirectiveissupreme. Ifwegetanyadvisory in this regard,wewill certainly fol-low that.”In an advisory to all the states lastweek,theHealthMinistryidentifiedthenewvariant of the virus, B.1.1.529, to potentiallyhave “serious public health implications”.Thishasalso ledtoarethinkontheresump-tion of scheduled international flights fromDecember15.Severalcountries,includingtheUnited Kingdom, the United States andEuropeanUnionhaveslappedatravelbanonSouth Africa.As for cricket, South Africa'sthree-match ODI series against theNetherlands saw a Covid-forced postpone-ment,whiletheInternationalCricketCouncilabandonedthewomen’sWorldCupqualifierin South Africa’s neighbouring countryZimbabwe.The new variant of the Covid-19 virus,

designatedasOmicronby theWorldHealthOrganization, has caused panic in severalcountries including SouthAfrica,where thescientists first identified the variant at a labinDurban.As per the SouthAfrican govern-mentdata,issuedbytheirhealthdepartmentonSunday, 2,858newcasesweredetectedin the last24hours, although itdidn't revealthenumberofinfectionsbytheOmicronvari-ant.Reportsfromgroundzero,however,don'tpresent a grimpicture. "A lot of people heredon'tevenknow(aboutthenewvariant).It'sall in themedia. I'mrightnext to thesecondbiggest hospital in South Africa - UnitasHospital in Pretoria - and there's no alarmfrom their side as yet," former South Africafast bowler Fanie de Villiers told The IndianExpress."Weare stillwatching cricket at thefields, we are still watching cricket at thegrounds, school grounds, everywhere. If itwere that serious, theywouldhave stoppedit longago,"headded.

Despite SA’s covid cloud, IndiaA team to play four-day game

New Delhi: Olympic gold medalistNeerajChoprawon'tbe travelling toSouth Africa as planned for a train-ing-and-competition stint becauseof the spread of the Omicron vari-ant in the country, an AthleticsFederation of India official said."Neeraj's travelplans toSouthAfricahave been cancelled and we willhave to look for a new training basefor him," the official said.Inearly2020,Choprahad trained inPotchefstroomandthis timehewasscheduled to fly out of India in thefirst week of December and bebased in South Africa till March.Neeraj isaimingtoparticipate in theDiamondLeague inDoha inMayfol-lowed by the Golden Spikes inOstrava.TheWorldChampionships,theCommonwealthGamesand theAsian Games are the big events forthe TokyoOlympics champion.

ENS

Neeraj Chopra’s SAtrip cancelled

TheIndiaAteamistouringSouthAfrica for threeunofficialTests, threeone-dayersandfourT20s.Theseniorteamwill leaveforthecountry,after theirongoinghomeseriesagainstNewZealand, toplaythreeTests,threeODIsandfourT20Is.

New Delhi


SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

No winner in Test winEnthrallingKanpurcontest thatwent till the94thoverof the lastdayprovidedarobustargument for five-daygames

SANDIPGKANPUR, NOVEMBER29

JUST BEFORE the onslaught of the pan-demic, four-day Tests matches were sud-denlytherage.Theoften-jettedreasonwasthat Test matches, these days, seldom lastfive days. Four-day skirmishes flew thickand fast, and in thegame’sgluttonousurgetocompressthelengthofacontest, thethe-ory gained currency.Buteverynowandagain, justwhenone

starts buying the four-day Test theory,comesalongamatchthatarguesthat thereis no spectacle in cricket as enthralling as aTest match that lasts the full course. Theyarrive, like messiahs and avatars, few andfarbetween,butareworththewait.AndforthatrareTestaloneshouldfive-dayTestsbepreserved.Like the one that played out between

IndiaandNewZealandinKanpur,acontestthat was alive till the last ball of the game,which the visitors saved by a lone wicket.WhenRavindra Jadejasauntered intobowlthelastballof the98thoverof theKiwisec-ond innings in bleary darkness, thematchwas still pregnantwith twopossibilities—he could nick awicket and be India’s hero,whileAjazPatelcouldholdfortandbeNewZealand’s saviour. The Kiwi No. 11 eventu-ally blocked the ball to produce a famouslast-balldraw,onethatposteritywouldre-member and recount.A Test match lasting five days doesn’t

necessarily become a grandee. Just likesomeof thefootballgamesthatroll intoex-tra-time, more due to defensive dournessthan attacking vigour. But the Kanpur onewasagrandee,agloriouscelebrationofTestcricket,purelybecauseof thespreadofvar-iegated skills theplayers exhibited.Aflashybatsmanembracingrestrainton

his Test debut, a pair of versatile seamerschiselling tools to be penetrative in hostileconditions, spinners making do with thelack of bounce and pace on the strip, over-seas batsmen digging the depth of theirskill-setsandwill-power, andwicketkeep-ers stretching to the outer limits of theirphysical andmental flexibility.

Challenging the bestNothingcamecheaponthiswicket,nei-

ther runs nor wickets nor catches. It wasperhaps the much-maligned Green Parkdeck’s way of acting pricey after all theflaky-wicket criticism it had copped. It’s inawayareflectionof thecity.Nothingcomeseasyhere.Onehas toearn.Andas it ideallyshould be in Test cricket. Even Jadeja, theclassic fifth-dayhangmanofbatsmeninhisbackyard, had to drudge for wickets. He isaccustomed to running through sides, buthere he had to plan, re-plan, review andthen revise again.The Williamson set-up was a classic

case. Itwas the resultof anelaborate tease.Jadeja kept mixing the ones that turnedawaya fractionwith theones thatheld thelineon the angle. A straighter onewith theanglebeatWilliamson’s forward-defensivestride and gripped the surface. It suddenlysowed doubts in the Kiwi skipper’s mind,and thereafter he was hesitant to ventureforward. Jadeja wanted exactly that, forWilliamson to doubt his impenetrable de-fence. Thereafter, itwas the caseof slither-ing in the arm-ball.Jadeja, though,wasnotfinishedwithhis

webof deception, setting the stage assidu-ously likeadramatist.Withafewdeliveriesoutside the off-stump, he pushedWilliamsonacross,andthenflungthearm-ball, a bitwider from the crease thanusualforanillusionofdrift.Williamsoncameoutof his sagely shell of focus and hung back

fatally to manoeuvre the ball through theleg-side, only to helplessly watch the ballmissile into his pad. It was a tribute toJadeja’s genius that even though itwasnothis idea of a fifth-daywicket, he could stillweavehismagic.But the ball that exploded the match

into life came just before the tea interval,whenhebeatRoss Taylor on the front-footwith nothingmore than the angle.Maybe,Taylor was playing for the break and pre-emptedthe front-footdefence,whereasallthis while, he was comfortably playingJadeja on the back-foot. But the left-armspinner kept pushing his length up, andeventually inducedthestrokeofmisjudge-ment.Later, even against the lower order, he

had to keep altering and re-altering hisplans. As opposed to themiddle order, thearm-ball became the set-upball,while theaway-spinnerbecamethestrikeball. Jadejais not much of an experimentalist, buttucked deep into his bag of variations tobring India back into the game. He fiddledaroundwith his grips, released some ballswith a higher arm action, so that he couldpurchase more bounce; some were moreround-arm thanusual.

Master at workHis ally, Ravichandran Ashwin, was

nothing less thanaspinbowlingalchemist,attempting everything a spin bowler pos-sibly could. All he didn’t try was bowlingleft-handed.Yet, he nipped TomLathamwith a rou-

tineball, ashort-of-lengthwideball thatheinside-edgedontothestumps.Lathamwasdevastated, as he was in the first inningswhenhewas stumpedon95.The left-hander enhanced his reputa-

tionasoneof themost stableall-conditionopeners in the world, soaking 428 balls intheTest.NoopenersinceEngland’sAlastairCookhasfacedasmanyballs inasingleTest.His judgmentshonebrightly,undoubtedlymoreskilledthanmanynon-Asianbatsmenat negating spin and decoding the plans ofIndia’swell-versed spin artistes.MostofNewZealand’sbatsmendemon-

stratedanironwill tonot throwtheirwick-etsaway,beitWillYounginthefirst inningsorRachinRavindra inthesecond, the lattera debutant and the former just playing hisfourth Test. Unlike several other touristswho left these shores cribbing and cussingabout pitches, dust, and what not, NewZealandwentaboutfindingsolutionstotheriddles around them.Not every Test match will last till the

94thoverof the fifthday,but it’sworth thewait. And on days like these, the future ofTestcricket looksbrighter thaneverbefore.

SCORECARD:India 1st Innings: 345NewZealand1st Innings:296India 2nd innings:234-7declaredNewZealand2ndinnings: (Overnight4-1in 4overs)Tom Latham b Ashwin 52, Will Young lbw bAshwin2,WilliamSomerville cShubmanGillbUmesh36, KaneWilliamsonlbwbRavindraJadeja24,RossTaylor lbwbRavindra Jadeja2,Henry Nicholls lbw b Axar 1, Tom Blundell bAshwin 2, Rachin Ravindra not out18, KyleJamieson lbw b Ravindra Jadeja 5, TimSouthee lbw b Ravindra Jadeja 4, Ajaz Patelnot out 2Extras: (B-12, LB-1,NB-4) 17Total: (For 9wicket, 98overs) 165Fall of wicket: 3-1, 79-2, 118-3, 125-4, 126-5, 128-6, 138-7, 147-8, 155-9.Bowling: Ravichandran Ashwin 30-12-35-3,AxarPatel21-12-23-1,UmeshYadav12-2-34-1, Ishant Sharma 7-1-20-0, RavindraJadeja 28-10-40-4.

VolXCNo.17 Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05R.N.I.No.506/57. PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LimitedandPrintedatThe IndianExpress (P) LimitedPress,A-8, Sector-7,Noida -201301andDBCorpLtd,DainikBhaskarVillageUnanTola,NearDanapurCantt, ShivylyaRoad,Post

Khagaul, Shahpur, Patna (Bihar) andPublishedatThe IndianExpress (P) Limited,MezzanineFloor, ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg,NewDelhi110002.Editorial office:The IndianExpress (P) Limited,MezzanineFloor, ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg,NewDelhi-110002.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingoffice:The IndianExpress (P) Limited,B1/B, Sector-10,Noida-201301.Phone:01206651291.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha, Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Delhi):RakeshSinha**

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MIHIRVASAVDABHUBANESWAR, NOVEMBER29

THEUSAdodgedpastamazeofpandemic-forced travel restrictions, battled long lay-overs at the airports and spent more than30hours travelling, to reach Bhubaneswarfor the Junior World Cup. Only to getspanked:3matches,3defeats,36goalscon-ceded andonly one scored.TheirneighboursCanadaweremargin-

ally better … or were they? The Canadianplayers paid $6,500 each from their ownpockets togethere.Theirgroupstage,how-ever, endedwinless; allowing25goals andscoring just two.The two North American sides weren’t

an exception. Their plight, in fact, wassymptomatic of the gulf existing betweenthe haves and have-nots of world hockey,which has only been exacerbated by thepandemic.“Anykindofworldeventlikethisalways broadens the gap between peoplewho have resources and don’t have re-sources,” Canada coach Indy Sehmbi says.“At the best of times of times, Canada al-readyhasagap.”Now, it’s furtherwidened.

SAMPLETHIS:■ In the last threemen’s JuniorWorldCups–2009,2013and2016–therewasonlyone

match–IndiavsSingapore,2009–whereateam ended with a 10-goal winning mar-gin. In the first phase of the ongoing JuniorWorld Cup alone, there have already beensix such instances, not including the one-sided score lines of 12-5 (Netherlands-SouthKorea)or9-0(Spain-SouthKorea)or8-2 (India-Poland).

■ The bottom four teams of each group –Chile, Canada, the USA and Egypt – haveconceded99goals,unprecedentedevenbythehigh-scoringnature of hockey.

■Before this tournament began, the high-est victorymargin for a team in the JuniorWorld Cup was 13-0, when India beatSingapore in 1982. That marked has beencrossed twice already in this edition, withUSAonthereceivingendonbothoccasions:17-0 loss to Spain and 14-0 to theNetherlands.ConsidertheplightofEgypt. In the2016

JuniorWorld Cup, the African nation let in13goals in total. This time, theyallowed14injustonegame,againstArgentina.“Wedidverylittlebackhome, inthelastyearwehadvery few training sessions,” says Egyptcoach Abu-Talib Maggid. “There are nosponsors because of Covid but the federa-tion isdoingtheirbest.However, it’snotaneasy job.”

In oneway or another, every country intheJuniorWorldCuphassufferedbecauseofthepandemic.TheIndianplayersdidn’tcom-pete internationally for almost two years.Germanydidn’tevenpracticeasagroup,their

playerswerespreadalloverthecountryandtrainedinsmallergroupsdependingoneachother’sproximity.Buttheyatleastgottotrainunhindered,eventhe Indians.Formanycountries, this luxurywasnot

possible. Egypt had less than 20 trainingsessions inthewholeof lastyear. InCanada,theyweren’t evenallowed to steponto thetraining field because of thepandemic.In fact, the last timeCanada’s players—

half of them of Indian origin — played amatch was in 2019. In that sense, they arein the same boat as India. The difference,however, is thedepth inplayerpool.WhileGraham Reid and BJ Kariappa had a groupbig enough toplay intra-squadmatches orevenmake themplaywith the senior side,therewasahighdropoutrate inCanadabe-cause of thepandemic.“Certain countries have had choices to

make: health or sport,” Sehmbi says. “I’malways proud of a country that chooseshealth over sport… we weren’t even al-lowed to do physiology. No on-field train-ingalso.Wehadareallyrobustprogrammefrom2017to2019. (But) afterCovidhit,welost probably say 15-20 players from theprogramme.”The pandemic had affected theWorld

Cup even before it began. Australia, NewZealandandEnglandhadallpulledoutdueto different Covid-related reasons.

Consequently,Canada,USandPolandweredrafted as late replacements tomake surethebalanceof thegroupswasn’tdisturbed.It was widely expected that these teamswould end up being the whipping boys oftheir group. But it wasn’t anticipated thatthe competitionwould get this skewed.

Europeans dominantOtherthanFrance’supsetwinover India

ontheopeningday,mostothermatchesfol-lowedthescript.FormerJapanandthenewPakistan coach Siegfried Aikman says it’snot a coincidence that Europeannations—who have topped all four groups — havebeendominant in the first phase.“TheEuropeanteamshavemanyoppor-

tunities to play practice matches becausetheyareverynear toeachother. TheyhaveEuropeanChampionships, Europeanqual-ification matches…we don’t have that inAsia,”Aikmansays. “Actually,Asianhockeywas out of running for two years, at leastwith the juniors.”Aikmanknows.AsJapancoach,hestrug-

gledtogetanymatchtimeforhisplayers inthe build up to the Olympics due to strictCovid-19regulationsanddistancesbetweenthe hockey-playing countries. It was thesame with India as well. As senior pro-grammessuffered,thejuniorswerehitevenmore. InPakistan, theonlypreparationthey

hadwasashorttrainingcampweeksbeforeleaving for India. Malaysia, Aikman says,went toBritain ‘withabit of luck, but still itwasverydifficult to compete.’“India lost toFranceonlybecause itwas

their firstmatchandtheyhadn’tplayed in-ternationally in a long time. France playedBelgium,Holland, Germany… they playedmanymatches. They came here with a lotof experience,” Aikman says. “You needmatches,becauseyoulearnwhenyouplay.If youarenot challenged, youwon’t learn.”Incaseof theteamsfromNorthAmerica

andAfrica, theproblemscausedbythe lackofmatchesareglaring.Canadahasn’t reallybeenathreat toanyofhockey’smajorsidesbuttheyhadareputationofhavingastrongdefence — India will vouch for this, aftertheywere held to a frustrating drawat theRio Olympics that changed the dimensionof their campaign.Post-pandemic, however, that’s been

one big change. Their nifty footwork hasgonemissing, thegritnon-existent.Not justthem,teamslikeSouthKoreaandPakistan,who were anyway on the decline, havefallen furtherbehindbecauseof the lackofmatches in the last twoyears.“Somepeoplesaytheseteamsshouldn’t

behere”,Sehmbisays. “Buthowelsedoyouget better? We don’t want to sit and cry(over this).Wehave to learnand improve.”

How Covid has widened gulf in class between hockey’s haves & have-nots

ABHISHEKPUROHITMUMBAI,NOVEMBER29

IF ONE is an Indian spinner bowling in thefourthinningsofaTestmatchinAsia,andpar-ticularlysoathome,oneiscriticisedafterdo-ingwell,andevenmoresoifonedoesn’t.Iftheformer happens, the pitch often takesmorecreditandif thelatterhappens,thespinnerisoften deemed to have let down the pitch it-self, inadditiontotheteamandthefans.If even one of the few close shaves the

NewZealandlastpairhadinKanpurbeenjusta bit closer, itwouldhavebeena fittingwayfor Ravichandran Ashwin to go pastHarbhajanSinghasIndia’sthird-highestTestwicket-taker.ThatRachinRavindraandAjazPatelheldonforadrawinfadinglightshouldtakenothingawayfromthefactthatsincehedebuted exactly a decade ago, nobody hastakenmoreTestwickets thanAshwin.Andcontrarytotheperceptionthatallhe

hastodoisturnupathomegroundstofeaston clueless visiting batsmen, Ashwin, likeany other bowler in Test cricket, has had toworkprettyhard forhis 419wickets.Since he made his debut in Delhi in

November2011, it has taken51.4deliverieson average for awicket to fall in the fourthinnings of a Test match in India. And con-trary to India’s perception as a fourth-in-ningsgraveyardforbatsmen,wickets inthelast innings have fallen quicker in asmanyas four other countries – Bangladesh,Pakistan (albeit with a tiny sample size ofthree Tests),West Indies and counter-intu-itively, England.Even when India themselves have

bowled in the fourth innings at home overthe last decade, they have needed 49 balls

per wicket, only marginally less than theoverall figureof51.4forthecountry. It isthenanother indicationof Ashwin’s quality thathe strikesevery40balls in the final inningsof homeTestmatches.At times, though,nomatterhowgreata

bowler one is and howmonumental hisbodyofwork, hewill be checkedby condi-tions. The Green Park surface played lowenoughtoserveuptheoddgrubber,yes,butmorethanthat, itwasitssheerslownessthatblunted the spinners.One needs the ball to rush batsmen

off the pitch at least to some extent in or-der to force mistakes, especially whenthey are in nomood to take risks to scoreruns. But in Kanpur, evenRavindra Jadeja

andAxar Patel,whousually bowl quickerthan Ashwin in Tests, found it hard tohurry the determined Kiwis.

Unhelpful surfaceAsheadcoachRahulDravidsaidafterthe

match, one felt that only bowled and LBWwere the dismissals the fielding side had togo for (eight of thenineNewZealandwick-ets in the second innings came in that fash-ion). Both edges of the bat were hardly inplay,andontherareoccasiontheywere,theballwouldn’t carry even to close-in fielderswhowere kneeling to try andmake up forthe lackof bounce.Onerecallsa2017-18RanjiTrophymatch

betweenMumbai and Tamil Nadu at theBandra-Kurla Complex groundon apitch sounresponsiveevenonthefinalafternoonthatnomatterwhatAshwin tried, it didn’twork.Atonestage,hewasevenbowlingflightedleg-breaks from round thewicket to right-han-ders.Noimpact.Buthekepttrying.Therewasmore assistance available in

Kanpur,ofcourse,butagain,considerablyoff-set by the lack of pace. Ashwin didn’t quiteresorttoleg-spinatGreenPark.Therewaslit-tleelsehedidnottrythough,includingacar-rom-ballwiththesecondnewcherrythathitthe rough from round thewicket and spunlike a leg-break but somehow eludedRavindra’soff-stump.Attimes,then,onehastolookatmarathon

matchfiguresof72.3-22-117-6andacknowl-edgetheeffort,regardlessofthatonedecisivestrikethatdidn’tcome.Andalsoacknowledgealltheeffortoverthepastdecadethathasgoneintoearning419Testwicketsthathavecomewhileenduringseveraldayslikethefinaloneagainst NewZealand in Kanpur. HarbhajanSingh,with417scalps,wouldknow.

TheGermanswerespreadalloverthecountryandtrainedinsmallergroupsdependingoneachother’sproximity. PTI

Respect the titan: Ashwin’s 4th-inningsprowess at home is second to none

RavichandranAshwinhadtorelyonallhis smarts, tricksandwisdomtoearnhis rewards. AP

MostofNewZealand’sbatsmendemonstratedanironwill tonot throwtheirwicketsawayanddenyIndiaawin. AP

(Novak) has said that he views this as aprivatematter for him.Wewould love to seeNovakhere, he knows that he'll have tobe

vaccinated toplay here.”

CRAIGTILEY - AUSTRALIANOPENTOURNAMENTCHIEF

ChineseteamreportsracialabuseatTTWorldChampionshipHouston: Chinese officials' formalcomplaintof racistabusetowardoneof their players at the table tennisworld championships in Texas wastaken “very, very seriously,” thesport's governing body said. A racialslur seemed to be directed by anunidentified spectator at LiangJingkunduringhismatchonFridayatthe George R. Brown ConventionCenter inHouston. The sixth-seededLiangwentontobeatLiamPitchfordofEngland.“WegotacomplaintfromtheChineseTableTennisAssociationand we noticed something on onenight ourselves,” said SteveDainton,chief executive of the InternationalTableTennisFederation.“Andassoonas we got that complaint, togetherwith the local organizers, we took itvery, very serious, andwe started totake action,” Dainton told ChinesebroadcasterCGTNAmerica. AP

PakistaninchclosertowinvsBangladeshChattogram: Fast bowler ShaheenShahAfridi claimed5-32asPakistanclosedinonvictoryinthefirstcrickettest against Bangladesh onMonday.Afridi'sfourthfive-wickethaulintestswrappedupBangladesh'ssecondin-nings for 157 on Day 4, settingPakistan a 202-run target to win.Openers Abid Ali and AbdullahShafique thenhelpedPakistan reach109-0 at stumps, leaving the teamneeding93morerunsonthefinalday.Ali, who scored 133 in the first in-nings, was on 56 and debutantShafiquewas unbeaten on 53whenbad light ended play early for thefourth consecutive day. Bangladeshhad a 44-run first-innings lead afterposting 330 and then bowlingPakistanout for286. APBRIEFSCORES:StumpsPakistan286and109for0(Abid56*,Shafique53*)trail Bangladesh330and157 (Liton59,Yasir36,Afridi5-32)by93runs

RootreiterateshesawnoracistbehaviourtowardsAzeemBrisbane: England's Test captain JoeRoot on Monday reiterated he didnotwitness racism at Yorkshire butsaidhe is in touchwithAzeemRafiqsince his former teammate testifiedat a recent parliamentary hearingaboutthediscriminationthathehadfaced at the club. During the hear-ing, Rafiq has told MPs he felt "iso-lated,humiliatedattimes"duetotheracismhesufferedandthe"constantuses of the word p***'" during histime at Yorkshire. Root said he hasreached out to Rafiq since he spokethrough tears in Parliament onNovember 16. "We have exchangeda coupleofmessages since, quite re-cently actually, and hopefully whenwefinishthistourwewillgettheop-portunity to sit downand talk aboutthis whole situation. About howwecanmove the game forward," Rootsaid. However,atthesametime,RootstoodbyhisearlierclaimthathehadneverwitnessedanyracistbehaviourtowardsRafiq. "No, I standbywhat Isaid," he said. PTI

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