BIG CITY BLUES - Sosin Classes

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DECEMBER5,202120PAGES,`6.00

(`8 BIHAR&RAIPUR, ` 12 SRINAGAR)

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What is it aboutM Mukundan’s fiction that

made him a cult figure?

PAGES 14,15,16,

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

eyeBIG CITYBLUES

2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021

New Delhi

NEWDELHI,LATECITY

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WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMD A I L Y F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N A G P U R , P U N E , V A D O D A R A

CONTACTSOFMUMBAICASENEGATIVE

TwomoreOmicroncases:mild, not fully vaccinated72-year-old inJamnagar landedfromZimbabwe;Mumbai33-yr-oldfromCapeTown

SOHINIGHOSH&RUPSACHAKRABORTYAHMEDABAD,MUMBAI,DECEMBER4

TWOMORE cases of Omicronwerereported in thecountryonSaturday,oneeachfromGujarat’sJamnagar andMumbai, takingthe total to four. Both havemildsymptomsofCovid.ThefirsttwocasesofOmicronwere reportedfrom Bengaluru, of whom oneflewoutof thecountry.

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Govt flags rise in 30 dists; 2doses to 50% beneficiariesKAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, DECEMBER4

HALFOFtheeligiblepopulationinthe country is now fully vacci-nated,withover1.03croredosesbeing administeredonSaturday.Around 21.38 crore unutiliseddosesarestillavailablewithstates.More than 10 lakh vaccina-

tion doses were administeredSaturday in Bihar (15.33 lakh),Tamil Nadu (14.84 lakh),Rajasthan (10.8 lakh) and UttarPradesh(10.24lakh),amidstthegovernment’s push for vaccina-tion in the light of the newOmicronvariant.

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‘The stars aligned for me’

ABHISHEKPUROHITMUMBAI,DECEMBER4

WHENANILKumble took all 10wicketsinaninningsintheDelhiTest against Pakistan in 1999,AjazPatelwas10yearsold.Thatmay ormaynot have been pro-pitious, but on a day theMumbai-bornNewZealandleft-arm spinner became the firstmansinceKumble,andonlythethird since England’s Jim Lakerin 1956, to achieve themagicalmark atWankhede Stadium, itwas hard not to look at suchhappystatisticalquirks.OnSaturdaymorning,theair

of expectation kept building atWankhedeasAjaz’swickettallykept getting tantalisingly closerto double digits. When JayantYadav swung him straight tolong-off tobecomehisninthvic-tim, thetenthsuddenlyseemed

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What is it aboutM Mukundan’s fiction that

made him a cult figure?PAGES 14, 15, 16

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

eyeBIG CITYBLUES

SUKRITABARUAHNEWDELHI, DECEMBER4

FLAGGINGUNEQUALadmissionopportunitiestoDelhiUniversityfor students of different boards,a panel constituted to examineadmission related issues therehas recommended that admis-sionstotheuniversitybecarriedout through a CommonEntranceTest, conductedeitherby theuniversity throughan in-

ternalarrangementorbyanex-ternal agency.The committee's observa-

tions are based on data from47,306 admissionswhich Dean(Examinations) D S Rawat saidare fromadmissions conductedagainst the first three cut-offlists. There are around 70,000undergraduate seats in DelhiUniversity towhich admissionsare conducted through the cut-off system.

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RITUSARINNEWDELHI, DECEMBER4

INAPRIL 2019, the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) filed achargesheetonBritisharmsagentChristianMichel’sallegedrole intheAgustaWestland case—andhis statements during custodialinterrogation. The chargesheetdealsmostlywith tranches to-talling Euro 42million allegedly

paid by AgustaWestland toMichel andhisdispatchesallud-

ingtoallegedpoliticalpay-offs.Butthecompletesetofcusto-

dial statements, accessedby TheIndianExpress,revealsmuchmore— fromwhatMichel claimswasaninterventionbyUSSecretaryofStateHillaryClintontopurporteddiscussions in the CabinetCommitteeonSecurity(CCS).On Saturday, The Indian

Express reported that Michelclaimedtohavelobbiedwiththe

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WITHTHEemergenceof thenewvariantofconcern, vaccination isakey tool.While theefficacyof thevaccinesagainstOmicron is stillbeingscientificallyexamined, it is signifi-cant thathalf of India’spopulationhasacertain levelof protec-tionagainsta severeformofCovid.

Akeyprotectivetool

Incityofhisbirth,AjazPatel scalps10/10,only thirdinTesthistory

PAVNEETSINGHCHADHAGURGAON,DECEMBER4

THE SAMYUKT KisanMorcha,spearheading the farmerprotests at the borders of Delhifor more than a year now, hasformedafive-membercommit-teewhichwilldiscussthe“pend-ing demands”with the Centralgovernmentfollowingtherepealof the three farms laws.TheSKMsaiditunanimously

decidedat itsmeetingSaturdaythat thefarmagitationwill con-tinue until formal and satisfac-toryresponsesarereceivedfromtheCentre.BKUleaderRakeshTikaittold

mediapersonsthatthecommit-tee was a “medium” to have a

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MIDDLEMANSPEAKS

AN EXPRESS SERIES

PART -2

Hillary raised chopper deal with Govt,Russians pushed India too far: Michel

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA,DECEMBER4

NOONEhasvisitedDilipKumarYadav, 30, in the two monthssince hewas sentenced to “lifetillhislastbreath”fortherapeofan eight-year-old. The convic-tion, on October 4, by a POCSOcourt isnowbeingcalledby theBihargovernmentas“theshort-esttrialinthecountry”underthe

Act—lastingoneday.Defence counsel Vinit

Prakash, appointed by the gov-ernment after no one fromYadav's sidecameforward, says:"ImetDilip twice in jail. He saidwhenhisfamilyisnotsupportinghim,he shouldbe left tohis fate.Yet,Itriedmybesttodefendhim.”Yadavwasconvictedforrap-

ing the child, a student of Class2,onJuly22.TheFIRwaslodged

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Govt headedtowards a pact:Tikait; SKMforms panel

AjazPatelcelebrates thewicketofMohammedSirajduringthe India-NewZealandTest inMumbaionSaturday.PTIINDIABOWLOUTNZFOR62,TAKE332-RUNLEADPAGE20

NCRBONPOCSOCASESCases Convictionrate

Bihar All-India20171,356 49.3% 33.2%

20182,094 71.2% 34.2%

20191,540 67.7% 34.9%

‘No change if few days more’: How aBihar POCSO court tried rape in 1 day

Universityacademiccouncil to takeupcommitteereportonDecember10

Panel raises inequality,backs CET for DU

EXPRESSNETWORK

JOURNALIST VINODDUADIES AT67 PAGE 8

SHAHCONFIRMS: BJPMAYTIE UPWITHAMARINDER PAGE 7

New Delhi

THESECONDPAGE4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021

Omicron casesOne of those declared posi-

tive for the Omicron variant onSaturday is a 33-year-old whotravelled to India from CapeTowninSouthAfrica,arrivinginMumbai on November 24, viaDubai and Delhi. He is the firstpatientwith the Omicron vari-ant inMaharashtra. The secondOmicronpatientisa72-year-oldNRIwhoflewinfromZimbabweon November 28, and isGujarat’s first case.While the 33-year-old has

not taken any vaccination, the72-year-old received only onedoseofSinovac,avaccinedevel-oped inChina.Originally natives of

Jamnagar, the 72-year-old flewand hiswifewere tested on ar-rival and their positive reportscame on November 30.Whilethe result of genome sequenc-ing of the man’s sample fromNIVPune is awaited, saidDr S SChatterjee, the nodal officer forCovid in Jamnagar, the GujaratBiotechnology Research Centreto which the sample was senthad confirmed he had theOmicrant variant. Chatterjeesaid the 72-year-old, admittedto a hospital, had a mild casecough,coldandsorethreat,andwasnowasymptomatic.Maharashtra Additional

ChiefSecretaryDrPradeepVyasconfirmed the state’s firstOmicron case as a resident ofKalyan-Dombivali MunicipalCorporation. “Only onNovember 24 (the day he ar-rived), he had fever but is nowasymptomatic and healthy. Hehas been shifted to an isolationcentre,”PratibhaPanpatil,ChiefMedicalOfficerof themunicipalcorporation, said.While12ofthe33-year-old’s

“high-risk” contacts, includinghis parents, and 23 “low-risk”contacts have tested negative,othersarebeingtraced.Twenty-five people who were in theDelhi-Mumbai flight with himhavealso testednegative.Officialssaidthe33-year-old

hadanegativeRT-PCRnotmorethan72hourspriortohisdepar-ture from Cape Town. Uponlanding atDelhi airport, hewastested,butbeforegettingthere-sult, he was allowed to fly toMumbai. He got his result on

landing inMumbai, butdespiteitbeingCovidpositive,helefttheairportshowingtheearlierneg-ative report. He took a privatecabtotravelsome50kmhome,thuscomingincontactwiththedriverandothers.Chatterjee said theywould

test the 72-year-old Jamnagarpatientagain in three-fourdaysfor Covid. “Even if his result isnegative, the protocol requiresthatheremainisolatedasitdoesnot mean the patient hasstoppedviralshedding,”hesaid.A source said that the 72-

year-old’sRT-PCRtestdidnotre-portamissingS-gene.TheWHOhad said on November 26 thatthe missing gene could be amarker forOmicron’spresence.Officials said a 30-year-old

NRI woman who landed atAhmedabad from London onFridaynighthad testedpositivefor Covid. She is asymptomaticandinisolationinahospital.TheUKisamongthecountriescate-gorisedas‘at-risk’bytheCentre.As per a UK Health SecurityAgency report, as of December3, 104 cases of Omicron havebeen identified inEngland.

30 districtsIn total, 85% of the eligible

adult population has now re-ceived the first dose, while50.35%are fullyvaccinated.India’s active caseload as of

Saturday stood at 99,974, thelowest sinceMarch 2020. Thedaily positivity rate has re-mainedbelow2%for the last61days, andunder1% for20days.Rising numbers in over 30

districts, however, are a bit ofconcernfortheHealthMinistry,whichcautioned fivestatesandthe Union Territory of JammuandKashmirSaturdayregardingthesame.Union Health Secretary

RajeshBhushanwrotetoKerala,Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha,Mizoram and J&K, regardingtheir districts reporting an in-crease innewcases in theweekending December 3 comparedtoNovember26.Theyhavebeendirectedtosendallpositivesam-ples for genome sequencing, toruleoutOmicron.

SKM paneldialoguewith the government.“Thegovernmenthadbeenask-

ing… through themedia… tonominate five members for asmall committee. Sarkar eksamjhautekitaraf jarahihai(Thegovernment is headed towardsan agreement). Yesterday, dis-cussions took place with theHaryana CM and his messagewasthattalksshouldcontinue.”A PTI report from Gwalior

quoted Union AgricultureMinisterNarendraTomarsayingfarmersshouldendtheirstirandreturnhome.Afterameetingof32farmer

unionsattheSinghuborder,theSKM emphasised that thenames were not for the MSPcommitteeassoughtbythegov-ernment, but to discuss all“pendingdemands”mentionedinitslettertothePrimeMinister.Thefive-membercommittee

comprising farm leadersAshokDhawale, Balbir Singh Rajewal,Gurnam Singh Chaduni, ShivKumar Kakkaji and YudhvirSingh will negotiate with thegovernment, theSKMsaid.Thedemands, itsaid, include

legal entitlement to remunera-tive MSP; withdrawal ofElectricity Amendment Bill2020/2021; deletion of the sec-tion related to setting up of acommissionforDelhiAirQualityregulation;withdrawal of casesagainst the protesting farmersandsupporters;rehabilitationofthekinof 708 farmerswhodiedin thecourseof theprotests andallotmentoflandfortheirmemo-rial; and the sacking of UnionMinisterofStateAjayMishraTenifortheLakhimpurKhericase.The farm leaders said the

next meeting will be held onDecember 7, adding that thenext two days have been re-servedforthegovernmenttore-spondto theSKM.Joginder Singh Ugrahan,

state president, Bhartiya KisanUnion,EktaUgrahan,toldmediapersons that discussions wereheldonseveral issues includingthe future course of the agita-tion.“Tillwedon’thaveanythingin written from the govern-ment... till casesarewithdrawn,wewillnotgoback,”hesaid.

CET for DUWithin five boards -- CBSE,

Kerala board, Haryana board,CISCE, and Rajasthan board --with thehighest admissions till

the time the report was com-piled, there is significant varia-tion inacceptance rates.The Kerala board, with a to-

talof4824applicantstotheuni-versity, is head and shouldersabove the otherswith a 39.18%acceptance rate. The Rajasthanboard has a 27.75% acceptancerate, Haryana board 18.39%,CISCE 16.63%, while CBSE, with229,264applicants,hasa16.47%acceptance rate.Withinthesefiveboards,the

committee has also observedunevenness in the mean per-centages of the total number ofadmitted students from them.For Kerala board, themean ad-missionpercentage isby far thehighest at 98.43%. This is fol-lowed by Rajasthan board at94.68%, Haryana board at92.69%, CISCE at 92.33% andCBSEat91.3%.Observing these variations,

the committee, in its report, un-derlined:“UniversityofDelhi,be-ingaCentralUniversityhasacar-dinal responsibility of ensuringabsolute equality in admissionsacross all theHigher SecondaryBoards spanning over variousstatesandUnionTerritories.”The committee has recom-

mended that a common en-trance test be conducted. It hascalled this an “equitableoppor-tunity” and ameans to addressissues suchasover-admissions.It has stated that “as long as

Undergraduate admissions inthe University is cut-off based,thereisnowaythatfluctuations,sometimes significant, can beavoided tomaintainequity”.

Chopper dealthenUPAGovernmentwhen,ashedescribes it, thedealwas “ontheedgeofthecliff”beforeitwassealed in 2010. Saturday alsomarkedthreeyearssinceMichelwasextraditedfromDubai.In dispatches to

AgustaWestlandaboutlast-ditcheffortsmade to nix the deal bycompetitors,mainly US aircraftmanufacturer Sikorsky and theRussians, Michel writes abouthowClintonpurportedlytookuptheVVIPchopperdealwiththenPrime Minister ManmohanSingh, leading to a hectic roundof lobbyinganddamagecontrol.The first reference to this

comes in a dispatch dated

December 4, 2008: “Lastweek,Sikorsky sent a letter to theSecretary stating thatAgustaWestlandhadbeenshownundue favoritismand financialcompliances have been over-looked.Theletterthreatenedlegalaction. In short, he (the Sikorskyofficial)accusedtheCNC(ContractNegotiationCommittee)ofbeingcompromised, andwith a newGovernment comingwhichwillinvestigateallactions...”OnAugust 28, 2009,Michel

sent a dispatch to the companydescribing the purported inter-ventionbythethenUSSecretaryof State. “On the 19th of July(2009)tothe23rd,HillaryClintonvisited India. She hadmeetingswith the IndianPrimeMinister...sheraisedapointthatwasnotintheagenda (Why is Indiabuyingthe101?Howcan India do it?),”hewritesinanapparentreferencetoAgustaWestland'sAW-101.To keep "good" India-US bi-

lateral relations as "his legacy,"Michel claims in a fax, the PM"promised to look into it.”In the dispatches, Michel

claimsthatatthemeetingoftheCabinet Committee onSecurity(CCS),thePMaskedallMinisterstoraiseanyquestionsonthedealto the DefenceMinistry -- andthat they should be answeredbefore thecontract file is sent tothecommitteeforasecondtime.Michel claims that he and

theAgustaWestlandteamwere“stunned” by the “aggressive-ness” of the Americans andbeefed up the secondCCSnote.Thedealwasclearedat thesec-ondmeetingof theCCS.AccordingtoMichel,thePM’s

intervention served two pur-poses: placate the Americansandwardoff objections.The purported objections

raised by the then FinanceMinisterPranabMukherjeealsofind mention in dispatchesquoted in theED’s complaint. Ina dispatch dated July 31, 2009,Michelwrites:“WhatthePMhasdone is clear any obstacles toclearing the file. Any questionsanyMinistermay havewill beanswered.IftheFinanceMinisterwishes to make trouble, thisprocess should outmanoeuvrehimandwecanexpectasmoothpassageofour fileat theCCS.’’In the same dispatch, he

writes: “We think the FinanceMinisterisOkaynow...Atthistimethewholeteammovedwithevery

connectionpossible. If this teamwasnotinplace,theVIP(chopperdeal)wouldneverhavebeenabletopassthroughthisperiod.”Interrogation records show

that in response toquestions onhis access to CCS proceedings,Michel claimed thiswasmostlyduetoeffortsofBritishdiplomats.“I at no time accessed or usedclassified information of theMinistryofDefencetotiltthedealin favor of AgustaWestland. All Iandmy teamdidwas to accessinformationmade freely avail-able to us to enhance the trans-parencyof thedeal...,”hesaid.Intheseconddispatch,hesays

that “withoutourpolitical chan-nel, Ambassador and Jeff Hoon(formerBritishDefenceMinister)wewould have probably calledtheirbluff,goneforescalation(ofprice)andlostthedeal...”Duringinterrogation,Michel

also detailed the purportedRussian approach: “TheRussians woke up. They hadsuddenlyrealisedthattheywereabout to lose the VIP (chopperdeal). Itwasabouttogothroughwithoutthem,sotheylaunchedadiplomaticandmediaattack.”Confrontedduringquestion-

ingwith a dispatch on April 10,2008, the records show thatMichel spoke about how theRussian competitionwas tack-led. “TheRussians thought theyknewwhattheyweredoingandpushed India too far. It was de-liberate on Russia’s side and itwas no accident, except Indiameant what they were tellingthem and the Russians did notknowthat,”hewrites.Accordingtorecords,Michel

claimed that the Russian sidealsorefusedtogiveabidbondorsignan integritypact inorder toavoida“precedent”.Respondingto questions, Michel claimed:“TheRussiansfeltif theydidthatthey would have to do it fromthere on and theywanted to betreated differently...someone,someone, very close to themwhotheytrustedimplicitlymusthavetoldthemnottobackdown.So the Russians called India’sbluffandIndiathrewthemout...”Speaking to The Indian

Express, Michel's lawyer Aljo KJoseph said that Michel's trial“willonlystartafter the investi-gationiscompleted”.Accordingto him, “Michel is on hungerstrikeandhishealthconditionispoor...Tihar jail will be giving

medicalassistance, if required.”(Tomorrow:howthebriberycasegroundedotherdefence

projects)

Ajaz Patelalmostinevitablewithfourballstogo inAjaz’s48thover.And as Mohammed Siraj

mishit the fifth ball of the overhighintheair,theroaracrosstheground told you that fanswanted this catch taken. As theball settled into RachinRavindra’shandsatmid-on,Ajazwas engulfed by team-mates,and thecrowdcheered louder.He hadbowled 47.5 of 109.5

overs in the innings, and lookedtheonlybowler likelytostrike.Earlier, the crowd had gone

silent as always whenever anIndianwicket had fallen, but asthe end of the innings ap-proached,theyrealisedthathis-tory was about to be made.Wankhedewasmoved enoughto give Ajaz a standing ovation,as did spinning great R Ashwinfromthe Indiandressing room.Kumbletweeted,"Welcome

to theclub#AjazPatel!”“Honestly, it’s surreal and

pretty special. The stars havealigned for me to do it inMumbai,”Patelsaidafterhisfeat.“Unfortunatelymy family is notheredue toCovid. I’m in illustri-ouscompanywithKumbleSir.”Bowlers have taken eight

wickets in a Test innings on 12occasions in India, and four ofthose hauls have belonged tovisitors. Nine-fors have beentaken only thrice, and none ofthem have come from visitingbowlers. For Ajaz then to takeonlythethirdten-foreverinthehistoryofTestcricketagainstthecountryofhisbirthinthecityofhis birth has to belong to therarestof rarecategory.Ajaz was only about eight

when his family left for NewZealand. He began as a fastbowler. He has said he had tolearn “from scratch” under an-other New Zealand spinner ofIndianorigin,DipakPatel.The doors to the national

team,however,didnotopenforAjazuntilhewaspast30.Andin-stantly, he took fivewickets ondebutagainstPakistan in2018.Coming into theWankhede

match, in another of those de-lightful quirks, Ajaz had playedexactly 10 Test matches. He’dhad an unimpressive outing inthe firstTest inKanpur.For a spinner to take out

Cheteshwar Pujara and ViratKohlicheaplytakessomedoing,for him to dismiss them forducksinthesameoverisincred-ible. Ajazwouldgoon to repeatthisinanovertwiceonDayTwo.Askedwhichscalpoutof the

10was special, Ajaz said, “Notanyone inparticular. Just tryingto be repetitive and ask ques-tions of batters.” AtWankhede,alltenof themcouldnotanswerAjaz’squestionsconvincingly.

POCSO courta day later. Yadavwas arrestedwithin a week. On September18, a local women's police sta-tion submitted a chargesheetsaying police had enough “cor-roborative” evidence, includingmedical report proving the girlwas raped and her testimonyidentifying the accused. A DNAtestwasnotperformed.On September 20, charges

were framed against Yadav un-der the IPCandPOCSO.ThetrialwasheldonOctober

4 in a POCSO court, with Yadavappearing over video-confer-encing fromjail.The prosecution presented

10witnesses, including thevic-tim, her parents, her brotherwho is slightly older, two doc-tors, an auxiliary nursingmid-wife, the investigating officer,andtwoneighbours.Allof themwere examined and cross-ex-aminedthesameday.All10de-posedagainstYadav;noonetes-tified in his favour. Apart fromsentencing Yadav to life, thecourt asked the government topayRs2 lakh to thevictim.Lastweek theDirectorate of

Prosecutionof theBihargovern-

ment’s Home Departmentclaimeditwasthefastesttrialun-derPOCSOActinthecountry,andsaidithadbrokenthe“record”ofa verdict in three days set by acourtinMadhyaPradeshin2018.Says Shyam Lal Yadav, the

public prosecutor: "We had averystrongcase,with themed-ical report and blood-stainedclothes of the girl conclusivelyproving shewas raped. The girlidentified the accused. All thewitnesseshelpedourcase.”He adds that “thingsmoved

fast” from the time the trial be-gan at around 9.30 am onOctober 4. “After all the wit-nesseswere examined and theprosecutionanddefenceofferedfinalarguments,thecourtdeliv-ered the sentence. It was a full-day hearing and the verdictcame in theevening (at5pm).”Onthe“weakcase”byYadav,

Shyam Lal says: “His parentsturnedagainsthim.”Prakash, the defence lawyer,

sayshetriedtoarguethatthein-juriesthegirl sufferedinherpri-vate parts could have occurredwhen shewas defecating in theopenamidstbamboobushes. (Amedical report said her hymenwasrupturedandtherewerese-riousinjuriestoherprivateparts.)Court records showthat the

defence submitted that the FIRwas not clear onwhere the as-sault had taken place. In its or-der,thecourtquotedthatthede-fence counsel pointed out that"there is a contradiction in thetimeof incidentdisclosedbytheprosecution… There is contra-diction in the statement of thevictimmadebefore the learnedMagistrateandthecourt."ShyamLal says “thedefence

madegeneral statementswith-out any contention”. “It did notspecify contradictions.”ReetaKumari,theinvestigat-

ing officer, says after the girlidentified Yadav, they had littlereason to suspect anyone else."Yadav was arrested within aweek.Thevictimidentifiedhim.Theaccusedtriedtooffermoneytothevictim'sfamilyto‘manage’thecase,butdidnot succeed.”ShyamLal says therewasno

need for a DNA test as the girlhad identifiedYadav.Prakash told The Indian

Express: "The court did not seeanymeritinmyargumentastheprosecutionpresentedevidencetoshowtherapehadtakenplaceat thehomeof thegirl... ”Prakash adds: “A fewmore

days of trial would havemadelittle difference to my client...None of Dilip's family turnedup...Wehadaweakcase.”The order of the Special

Judge,POCSOCourt,ShashiKantRai, said: "Undoubtedly, there isa cross-cultural conflict where(the) living lawmust find (an)answer to new challenges...Protectionofsocietyandstamp-ing out of criminal proclivitymust be the object of the law,whichmust be achievedby im-posinganappropriatesentence.”Yadav's parents, who are

daily wagers, say they do notwant anything to dowith him.Says father Dinesh: "We havecut off all ties with Dilip. Hebroughtusabadname.”Yadav,whostudied till Class

12, has a younger brother. Aneighboursayshewasknowntobea“lafua (loose)” character.Biharhasahugependencyof

cases in subordinate courts –4.70lakhcivilcasesasperthelat-estdata,and28.95lakhcriminalcases.Buttheconvictionrateun-der POCSO cases is among thehighest inthecountry.Asofnow,thereisnoplanfor

anappealagainstthecourtorder,Prakashsays."Someonefromtheconvict's familyhas to approachthe District Legal ServicesAuthoritywitharequesttochal-lenge thePOCSOCourtorder. Sofar,noonehasapproachedit.”Theeight-year-old'smother

says the verdict has strength-ened their faith in justice. "Weare thankful to God and thecourt.Wehopeshegetsoverhertraumaandresumesschool.”

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Assamlynching, ‘NoUPA’,OmicronupdatesNEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

HowtheprimeaccusedinthelynchingofastudentleaderdiedinAssam,thesignificanceofMamataBanerjeesayingthat“thereisnoUPAnow”,andthegovernment'sstrategytotackleOmicron

New Delhi

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER4

THREEMORE passengers fromthe UK were referred to LokNayakHospital, takingthenum-ber of passengers from ‘at risk’countries placed in isolation to15.“Nowthereare15peoplebe-ing isolated at Lok Nayak ofwhom 9 are Covid positive.Their genome sequencing re-sults are awaited,” said MDDrSureshKumar.Meanwhile, Delhi

International Airport Limited(DIAL) has set up 20 dedicatedcountersforpassengersfrom‘atrisk’ countries who have pre-booked their Covid tests.Separate queues will bearranged for these passengersandthisislikelytosmoothentheprocess.Crowds and long queues

were seen at the Indira GandhiInternationalAirportearlierthisweek, when the new testingguidelineswere introduced forpassengers from ‘at risk’ coun-tries, in the wake of concernsover theOmicron variant of the

coronavirus.Passengerswillbeabletopay

online and pre-book the testfromtheoriginatingairport,us-ing theAirSuvidhaportalof theDelhi airport. Around80%of in-ternational passengers arrivingattheairportfrom‘atrisk’coun-tries opt for rapid PCR tests, ac-cording toa statement fromtheairport.Countries that are cate-

gorisedas ‘at risk’ includeSouthAfrica, Brazil, theUK,Mauritius,Hong Kong, New Zealand,Singapore, Israel, BotswanaandChina. Passengers arriving from

thesecountriesaremandatorilyrequired to get themselvestested at the airport and canleaveonlyaftertheygettheirre-sults.Fivepercentofpassengersarriving from other countrieswill be randomly subjected toCovid testing.DIAL will also provide free

RT-PCRtests for2percentof in-ternational travellers arrivingfromcountriesotherthanthosecategorised as ‘at risk.’ An RT-PCRtestcostsRs500andresultscan take6 to8hours.RapidPCRtestscostRs3,500andresultsareavailable in60 to90minutes.

5THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,DECEMBER4

AMID CONCERNS over thenew coronavirus variantOmicron, theDelhi Police hasdirected its personnel andtheir familymembers to getfully vaccinated, revive theCovid-19 healthmonitoringcellsheadedbyinspector-rankofficials,andensureavailabilityof oxygen cylinders and life-savingmedicines.In an order issued on

December 2, Special CP(Welfare) Shalini Singh in-structed all 15 police districtsandotherunitstobefullypre-paredto faceanyexigencyre-latedtoOmicronthroughtheirrespective Covid-19 nodal of-ficers. “The force has beenaskedtoensurepreparednessofCovidcarecentres,availabil-ity of oxygen cylinders andconcentrators, life-savingmedicines,hospitalbeds,am-bulances, sanitisers, masks,gloves, PPE kits and other es-sential items,” it states.“Wehaveaskedourstaffto

wear masks, maintain hy-giene, minimise touchingitems,andusesanitisersregu-larly.Windows of police sta-tions are being kept open forventilation. They have alsobeen asked to ensure there is

no crowding at police sta-tions,”aseniorofficersaid.According to data shared

bytheDelhiPolice,over95%ofits staff are vaccinated. Of thetotal 77,809members, 74,289have been vaccinated tillDecember2while1,636havebeenmedicallyexemptedduetohealth-relatedissues.Theorderlaidemphasison

revivalofCovidcarecentresatShahdaraandRohinionprior-ity.“DCPs have been tasked

with reviewing themedicalexemption granted to certainpolicepersonnelfromvaccina-tionandencouragingthemtogetvaccinatedafterconsultingdoctors. The DCPs should bethenodalofficersforensuringpropermedicalfacilitiestopo-licepersonnel and their fami-lies, and anofficer of the rankofinspectororaboveshallvisithospitalised police personneland ensure requisite assis-tance,” theorderstates.The department directed

thatnodalofficersfromhospi-talsandtheDCPs,whoarethenodal officers for the police,share all contact informationimmediately on the depart-ment’s official e-mail ID.Besides, the DCPswill be re-sponsibleforensuringdataonhospitalisation of police per-sonnel is e-mailed to the de-partmentby8ameveryday.

DIALhassetup20dedicatedcounters forpassengers from‘at risk’ countrieswhohavepre-bookedtheirCovidtests

Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 13,508 13,327ICU BEDS 2,791 2,731

Cases Recoveries Deaths TestsDec3 54 29 0 62,221Dec4 51 61 0 64,826Total 322* 14,15,875 25,098 3,11,65,273

CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL *T

otalactivecases

TOTAL CASES

14,41,295VACCINATIONS INLAST24HOURS

1,04,328

Vaccine push, Covidcells: Police actionplan against Omicron

At IGI Airport, 20 countersfor pre-booked Covid tests NewDelhi:Observing that itwas

illogical to expect customers towearamaskwhileeating,acourtdischarged twomen accused of

running a dance bar floutingCovid norms andordered an in-quiryagainstseniorpoliceofficersfor filingthechargesheet.ENS

Court discharges 2 men accused ofrunning bar, flouting Covid norms


THE JAWAHARLAL NehruUniversity administrationSaturday“firmlyadvised”thestudents’ unionagainsthold-ing a screening of AnandPatwardhan’s documentary‘Ram Ke Naam’ on campus,warning themof “strictdisci-plinary action” if they wentaheadwith it. The universitysaid the film “may disturbcommunalharmony”.The JNUSU, however,

screened the documentary,whichisbasedonthedemoli-tion of the Babri Masjid onDecember6,1992.“Ithascometothenoticeof

theundersignedthatagroupofstudents have in the nameofJNUSUreleasedapamphletforscreening a documentary/movie ‘RaamKeNaam’sched-uled for tonight at 9.30 pmatTeflas.Nopriorpermission forthiseventhasbeentakenfromJNUadministration. This is toemphasisethatsuchanautho-risedactivitymaydisturbcom-munal harmonyandpeacefulenvironmentof theUniversityCampus,” JNU RegistrarRavikeshsaidinanotice.

“The students/individualsconcernedare firmlyadvisedto cancel the proposed pro-gramme immediately failingwhichastrictdisciplinaryac-tion as per university rulesmaybeinitiatedagainstthoseresponsible. The students arealso instructednottogetpro-voked by this pamphlet,which is unauthorised andunwarranted,”hesaid.JNUSU president Aishe

Ghosh said the filmhadbeenscreenedin2019withoutanyissue: “It’s anaward-winningfilm that has been shown onDoordarshan.Thereisnothingaboutitthatcandisruptcom-munalharmony.”In a video message,

Patwardhan cameout in sup-portofthestudents.“Icongrat-ulate the students for goingaheadwith the screening de-spite the administration’s ob-jections.Youhaveeveryrighttoscreenthefilmasithasa‘U’cer-tificate,wonaNationalAwardand has been screened onDoordarshan onprimetime...Thefilmcannotbestoppedun-til there iscomplete fascisminthecountrywhichhasn'thap-penedtillnow,”hesaid.The Registrar did not re-

spondtocallsandtextsbyTheIndianExpress.

JNU students’ unionscreens Babri filmdespite admin order

New Delhi


WITHTHEhighestmeanadmis-sion percentage among allboards, the report of the DUcommittee to examine admis-sion-related issuesrecords that,at the time of its compilation,34.13% of students from theKeralaboardadmittedto itsun-dergraduate courses were ad-mitted toHinduCollege.The committee, which has

recommendedthatundergradu-ateadmissions to theuniversitybe conducted through a com-mon entrance test, has done adetailed study of colleges andcourses towhich students fromthe boardswith highest admis-sionnumbers—CBSE,theKeralaboard, the Haryana board, andtheRajasthanboard—weread-mitted. The data covers 47,306admissionsdoneunder the firstthreecut-off lists.TheKeralaboard,whichhad

the highest mean admissionpercentage of 98.43%, had highnumbersof admissionsatsomeof themostpopular colleges.As many as 645 students

fromtheboardwereadmittedtoHindu College, whichmade up34.13%ofthetotalstudentsfromthe board admitted to DU; 268were admitted to MirandaHouse; 146 to Zakir HusainCollege; 117 to Ramjas College;and107toHansrajCollege.FromtheRajasthanboard,the

highest number of admissions,252,werealso inHinduCollege.From the Haryana board, thehighest were recorded atMirandaHousewith160admis-sions.ForCBSE,thehighestwererecordedatDyalSinghCollege.In several of its popular

courses, thecollegehadalsoad-mittedfarmorestudentsthanitscapacity, mostly from theseboards. For instance, in BSc(Honours) Physics, HinduCollege’s total capacity was 79students. Against these, the re-port records 123 admissionsfrom the Kerala board, 52 fromthe Rajasthan board, 17 from

CBSE and 7 from the Haryanaboard.Similarly, for BA (Honours)

Political Science, it had a capac-ityof49students.Againstthese,the report records 120 admis-sions from the Kerala board, 22

fromCBSE,3fromRajasthanand1 fromHaryana.In BSc (Honours)

Mathematicswith a capacity of49,thereportrecords77admis-sions from the Kerala board, 61from the Rajasthan board, 14

from CBSE and 11 from theHaryanaboard.A similar picture has also

been recorded in MirandaHouse. There, in BSc (Honours)Physicswith86sanctionedseats,thereportrecords56admissions

from the Rajasthan board, 39fromtheHaryanaboard,and38fromKeralaboard.In BA (Honours) Political

Science with 68 sanctionedseats, it records 43 admissionsfromtheKeralaboard.


WHEN 18-YEAR-OLDHimalakshee Saikia found thather final board-year result was90.75%, she felt her DelhiUniversityNorthCampusdreamsslipawayfromher.Shehadcompletedherhigher

secondaryeducationfromNorthLakhimpur College under theAssam state board and had re-ceivedher result in late July. TheCBSEresultshadbeendeclaredaday before and she remembershowdemotivated she feltwhensheheard about the recordhighresults that students across thecountryhadscored.“Iwasnothappywithmyre-

sultsatall.Ihadscored95%inmyClass X board exams and I hadnever thought thatmyClass XIIresultswould be less than that.My expectation was that 95%wouldbemylowerlimit.Butwedidn’t have board examinations—theresultswerebasedonpre-testswhichIhadn’tgivenwithut-most seriousness. I hadn’t re-alised those would be mydecidingexams.Icamesecondinmy school but it seemed so lesscomparedtowhatIknewIwouldneedtoget intoaNorthCampuscollege,”shesaid.She said she had decided

years ago that she wanted to

study History in Delhi. WhenDelhiUniversity released its firstcut-off list inOctober, she poredover it and found that she hadqualifiedforadmissioninthepro-grammeundertheOBCcategoryatDyalSinghCollege.“After seeing thekindof cut-

offsreleasedbycolleges,Iwasre-lievedandhappytogetintoDyalSingh,eventhoughIdidn’tknowmuchaboutit. IhadcomeacrossitwhiledoingmyresearchaboutdifferentDUcolleges,”shesaid.Sheisthefirstinherfamilyto

leave the state forhigher studies—herparents and twoelder sis-tershaveallstudiedinAssam.Anacquaintance — she calls himdada—isastudentatAryabhattaCollege.Becauseof thatfamiliar-ity,shehopedshewouldgetintothatcollegeinthesecondlist.On the other hand, Yuvraj

Madhok, a student fromSomervilleSchoolinNoida,foundthat therewere no suitable col-legesforhimtotakeadmissioninhis chosen course, BComProgramme.With his 93%, theonlycollegehewasqualifyingforin that course was SwamiShraddhanand College, one ofDU’s rural colleges located inNorthwestDelhi’sAlipur.“Ihadn’teventhoughtabout

BCom (Honours) because I’mnotcomfortablewithmathsandmyscore in the subjectwasnotgood. I had been satisfied withmy score, and had thought itwould get me a seat for theBCom programme. I knew thecut-offs would be higher thisyearbutnotthishigh. Iqualifiedfor Swami Shraddhanand butdecided not to take admissionthere. I wasn’t happy with the

locationanditwastoofarformeto travel,” he said.When the second list came

out, his options did not expandand he continued to wait forthem to open up in subsequentlists. In themeantime, he had afewoptionselsewhere—hehadqualified forMumbai’s NarseeMonjee College and a couple ofcollegesaffiliatedtoGuruGobindSinghIPUniversity—buthewasnotinclinedtowardstakingthemup. He was put off by the ex-penses of living inMumbai andthought a lesser knownDUcol-lege would be a better optionthantheIPUniversityoptions.In the third list, options for

BComprogramme still did notopenup.Now,hewasworried.“IdecidedthatIneededtosecureaseat somewhere or Imight endupwithout a college. I took ad-mission inAurobindoCollege inBAProgrammewith EconomicsandCommerce. Itwasn’twhat Ihadreallywantedbutthesubjectcombinationworks formyplanof doing anMBA in finance laterandBAProgrammealsoworks ifI decide towrite civil service ex-amslater,”hesaid.On the other hand,

Aryabhatta College did open upforHimalaksheeinthesecondlistbut she decided to stick to DyalSinghCollege.“After I took admission, I did

more research and found that

Dyal Singh generally had betterrankingsandIlearntmoreaboutthe faculty. I also got added tosomeWhatsAppgroupsofotherAssamesestudentsinthecollegeandgotintroducedtootherfresh-ers from the state, so therewerepeopleIknewthere,”shesaid.Shewasalsokeenlyfollowing

thecut-offsatKamalaNehruandMaitreyiCollege,buttheydidnotdipenoughforherinsubsequentlists either.With her academicyear beginning, she has comearound to embracingwhere sheis. “I lost hope of getting intoNorth Campus right at the startand I also couldn’t get into someother preferred colleges. But I’lldomybesthere.Thecourseisthesame, theuniversity is thesame,andIhavetomakethemostof itandstudywell,”shesaid.Yuvraj did get some options

forBComprogrammeinthefifthlist, but thesewere all eveningcolleges.“Ididn’twantaneveningcollegebecause Iwork inanani-malwelfareNGOintheeveningsand that’s important to me. Idecided to stick to the BA pro-gramme combination atAurobindoCollege.I’mokaywithwhere I ambut it’s a frustratingsystem. The kind of cut-offswehavemakes us feel likewehaveno options and I can’t help butwonderifitwouldhavebeenbet-ter forme if I couldhavewrittentheboardexams,”hesaid.

6THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

In DU, Hindu and Miranda colleges are toppicks among students from state Boards

Assam to Noida — journey of two studentsspells out challenges posed by high cut-offs

HimalaksheeSaikia (left)has joinedDyalSinghCollegeandYuvrajMadhok decidedtosticktotheBAprogrammecombinationatAurobindoCollege

0-50 Good

ASHOKVIHARVeryPoor

0 500

357AQIPM10

SIRIFORTVeryPoor

0 500

SHADIPURVeryPoor

0 500 500

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

IHBASVeryPoor

0

340AQIPM10

364AQIPM10

318AQIPM10

FORECAST: Dec5Partlycloudysky.Verylightrain/Thundershowerstowardsevening/night

S K Y WA T C H

MAX: 25Normal

MIN:123°Cabovenormal

CBSEApplications 2,29,264Admissions 37,767Acceptancerate=16.47%Meanadmission%=91.3KERALABOARDOFHIGHERSECONDARYEDUCATIONApplications 4,824Admissions 1,890Acceptancerate=39.18%Meanadmission%=98.43BOARDOFSCHOOLEDUCATIONHARYANAApplications 9,918Admissions 1,824Acceptancerate=18.39%Meanadmission%=92.69CISCEApplications 9,659Admissions 1,606Acceptancerate=16.63%Meanadmission%=92.33BOARDOFSECONDARYEDUCATIONRAJASTHANApplications 4,789Admissions 1,329Acceptancerate=27.75%Meanadmission%=94.68BOARDOFSECONDARYEDUCATIONMADHYA

PRADESHApplications 1,827Admissions 440Acceptancerate=24.08%Meanadmission%=91.58UPBOARDOFHIGHSCHOOL&INTERMEDIATEEDUCATIONApplications 8,007Admissions 414Acceptancerate=5.17%Meanadmission%=82TELANGANASTATEBOARDOFINTERMEDIATEEDUCATIONApplications N/AAdmissions 331Acceptancerate:N/AMeanadmission%=95.41%J&KSTATEBOARDOFSCHOOLEDUCATIONApplications 1,806Admissions 289Acceptancerate=16%Meanadmission%=91.17BIHARSCHOOLEXAMINATIONBOARDApplications 4,470Admissions 275Acceptancerate=6.15%Meanadmission%=80.73*Number10th inadmissions indata is ‘Other’ than39boards

BOARD-WISE BREAKUP

COLLEGESWITHHIGHESTMEANPERCENTAGESShriRamCollegeofCommerce 98.62%DelhiCollegeofArtsandCommerce 97.56%HinduCollege 97.56%ShaheedSukhdevCollegeofBusinessStudies 97.48%MirandaHouse 96.82%LadyShriRamCollege 96.53%KiroriMalCollege 95.98%RamjasCollege 95.49%SriVenkateswaraCollege 95.42%RamanujanCollege 95.33%

COURSESWITHHIGHESTNUMBERSOF ADMISSIONSBCom(Hons) 4,167BCom 4,033BA(Hons)PoliticalScience 3,217BAProgramme(History+PoliticalScience) 2,821BA(Hons)History 2,345BSc(Hons)Mathematics 2,315BA(Hons)English 1,920BA(Hons)Hindi 1,729BA(Hons)Economics 1,625BSc(Hons)Physics 1,263

28,892Femaleadmissions

18,413Maleadmissions

MOREGIRLS THANBOYS

DU admissions: Under first 3 cut-offs

Thedatacovers47,306admissions.Archive


OF THE 1,003 air pollution-re-lated complaints received fromDelhi by the Central PollutionControlBoardbetweenOctober15 andDecember 2, nearly 60%have not been resolved, as perthe redressal status of com-plaintsavailablewith theCPCB.Thesecomplaintshavebeen

registered by CPCB inspectionteams and the public. The pub-

lic can register complaintswithCPCBontheSameermobileappandthroughtheCPCBwebsite.The maximum number of

complaints receivedwas for theNorth and SouthMCDs — 325complaints each betweenOctober 15 and December 2.WhileNorthMCDhad resolvedonly78,Southhadresolved100of thesecomplaints, leaving69%unresolved. The East MCD hasreceived around 70 complaintsandresolved35,data shows.The Delhi Development

Authority,meanwhile,received74complaints andhas resolved30,less thanhalf received. ThePWDreceivedabout70complaintsandmanagedtoresolve56.The CPCB teams have been

lodging complaints sinceOctober 20. Of the 1,003 com-plaints registered, 405were re-solved and 598 have been leftunresolved. The CPCB’s inspec-tion teams list sources of pollu-tion at the 13 hotspots in Delhiincludinggarbageburning,roaddust, and traffic congestion.

A senior official of the SouthMCDsaidthecomplaintsarere-ceivedseparatelyfromtheCPCBand the Delhi Pollution ControlCommittee’s Green Delhi app.Complaints are sometimes leftmarkedasunresolvedorare re-opened, he said. Some com-plaintsareresolvedfaster,whileothers, like fixing of potholes,can take longer, he said, addingthat complaints are sometimesregistered for issuesnot specifi-callyrelatedtoairpollution, likedamaged footpaths.

Anofficial of theNorthMCDsaidcomplaintsarealsoreceivedvia social media. Road damageleading to dust generation, bio-mass, and garbage burning arecommon complaints, he said.“Despite staff shortage, effortsaremade to resolve these com-plaints coming frommultipleplatforms,”hesaid.Another MCD official said

complaintsaredirectedtothemdependingonthezone,andonceresolved,photosofthesitearetobeuploaded forconfirmation.

Over 60% pollution complaints unresolved: CPCB

In 28 colleges,hirings on holdtill governingbodies formed

50 lakh members, 3months: AAP’s aimahead of MCD polls

Sisodiaatthelaunchof thecampaign,Saturday.PraveenKhanna


AAPSATURDAYlauncheditscam-paignfortheMCDpolls,expectedto be held in March. The firstphase, called theMCDBadlaavCampaign, involves a door-to-doormembershipinitiativewithanaimtoincreaseitsmembershipby50lakh,partyofficialssaid.Speakingat the launchof the

campaignatthepartyoffice,AAPleader Gopal Rai said: “The lasttime we contestedMCD elec-tions,itwasfortheveryfirsttime.Wehadnoexperienceandwerelearning.WhatwelearntwasthatifwewantDelhitoshine...clean-liness is of utmost importance,which iswhywe are launchingthisMCDBadlaav Campaign. Aspartofthis,wehavetogotoeverystreet,lane,booth,ward,mandal,assembly.Wehavetogotoeverycorner in Delhi and let peopleknow that just the way theychose Arvind Kejriwal to eradi-cate corruption from the Delhigovernment, the time has nowcomefortheMCD.”He added: “We can improve

everything inDelhi,we cangivefreewater,freeelectricity,wecaninstall CCTVs, butwhen peopleopen their doors... and seegarbagestrewnacrossthestreets,it sours themood... We have 3

monthsleft—December,JanuaryandFebruary...wewillbesettingupday-longmembershipcampsat every booth andmandal inDelhi... You have towork 3 daysatthesameboothandgetatleast300members fromeach booth,it’simportanttorememberthat.Ourtargetistomake50lakhpeo-plemembersof theAamAadmiParty inthenext threemonths.”TheBJPhasbeen inpowerat

theMCDs for three consecutiveterms, with AAP losing its firstmunicipalelectiontothepartyin2017.ForAAP,whichhaswonthehighest number of seats in thepast threeDelhi Assembly pollssince2013, awin in themunici-palpollsnowbecomescrucial.Emphasising on the impor-

tantofworkingatthegrassroots,senior party leader ManishSisodia saideachpartymemberwill have towork at themandallevel irrespectiveof seniority.“No one should think they

can get away by just markingtheir attendance and posting afew photos on Facebook... Thewholeteamwhichisengagedinthis mission, don’t take themlightly.Youcannotjustsendafewpictures onWhatsApp or postsome on Facebook and thinkpeople will laud you for doingyourmandalwork.Whenyoudoactuallywork at yourmandal, itwillbeapparent,”hesaid.

ARANYASHANKARNEWDELHI, DECEMBER4

INAstepthatcouldcreatefurthertension between theDelhi gov-ernmentandthe28DUcollegesitfunds,theDirectorateofHigherEducationhaswritten to the in-stitutions to notmake appoint-mentstillgoverningbodiesofthecollegesareconstituted.An official orderwas issued

by Vinay Kaushik, DeputyDirector,DHE,onDecember3tothe colleges. Of the 28 colleges,12 are fully funded by theDelhigovernment.Manyof thesecol-legesare functioningwithtrun-catedgoverningbodies—apointof contention between DU andthegovernment.“It has come to notice that

manyDelhigovernment-funded(fully/partially) University ofDelhi colleges are in process ofmaking appointmentswithoutnotification of duly-constitutedgoverningbodies in the college.Hence, you are hereby directedthat no appointments are to bemade till thenotifiedgoverningbodies are formed in the col-leges,” stated theorder.DUTApresidentAKBhagisaid

it could create issues for ad-hocfacultywhowere to join the col-legesfromSaturday.Governmentofficials did not respond to at-temptsseekingacomment.

1,003complaintswerereceived.AmitMehra

EXAM RUSHStudentsdoa last-minuterevisionbeforeappearingfor theClassXBoardexamataDelhigovtschool, Saturday.Thefirst-termBoardexamsarecurrentlyunderway.PraveenKhanna

Tihar turns into a fortress tocrack down on phone use in jailMAHENDERSINGHMANRALNEWDELHI, DECEMBER4

INSTALLINGTHREEmobile net-workjammers,walkie-talkiesetsforjailstaff, installing7,000CCTVcameras,transferring120inmatestoanotherwardorjail,procuringtwobodyX-rayscanners—thesearesomeofthestepstakenbytheTihar jail administration to stopinmatesfromusingphones.Slamming the “sorry state of

affairs” inTihar jail, theSupremeCourt lastmonth said therewasan “urgent need for prison re-formsandenhancedprisonman-agement”.ItalsoaskedtheUnionHome Ministry to appraise itaboutfollow-upactiononrecom-mendationsmade in this regardbytheDelhiPoliceCommissioner.The court was a hearing a

matter inwhich it had orderedshiftingofrealestatefirmUnitechLtd’s promoters Sanjay andAjayChandra, who were lodged inTihar Jail, toArthurRoad Jail andTalojaCentral Jail followinga re-port by the EnforcementDirectorate that the duowerehaving a free run in Tihar andwere even flouting the jailman-

ual inconnivancewithofficials.Director General (Prisons)

Sandeep Goel told The IndianExpresstheyhaveinstalledthree‘dominant towers’ to curbmo-bilenetworkcoverageinsidethejail complex. “The jammers arefunctional and nowphones, in-cludingours,arenotworkingin-sidethejailcomplex.Weareus-ing WiFi connection in ourheadquarters and our staff useanintercomalongwithawalkie-talkie system to communicate.We are also in the process ofprocuringmorewalkie-talkiesinthecomingdays,”hesaid.The jail administration had

also come under scanner afterthe Delhi Police, in theirchargesheet filed against con-man Sukesh Chandrashekhar,who is facing trial for allegedlyduping Rs 200 crore from thewife of former Ranbaxy pro-moter Shivinder Singh, said hepaid Rs 25 crore-Rs 30 crore ayear to jail officials to get an en-tirebarrack tohimself.“Wehavealso identified120

probablemobileusersandtrou-blecreatorsamonginmatesandtransferredthemtootherjailstobreak the chain of their con-nivance with anyone. We are

alsotransferringourjailstaffreg-ularly so they cannot developany sort of collusionwith any-one,” said theDG.“We have also got approval

from the AERB (Atomic EnergyRegulatory Board) to install twofullbodyX-rayscanners,”hesaid.Goelfurthersaidtheyalsoin-

stalled7,000camerasandmade18control rooms tomonitor in-mate activities from inside jails.“Werecentlypreventedasuicidebid after our staff saw one in-mate trying tohanghimself us-ing a towel from the fan in hiscell.Ourstaff immediatelyraisedanalarmandrushedtohiswardto stop him. He was shifted toDDU andwas discharged aftertreatment,”hesaid.The jail administration has

150 body-worn cameras andthey have purchased 375moretorecordanyincidentsofaggres-sivebehaviourbyinmatesorin-appropriateconductbyjailstaff.“Wehavealsoprocurednon-

linear junctiondetectors (NLJD)anddeep searchmetal detector(DSMD)toconductdeepsearch-ing in barracks and cells of in-mates,” said Goel. An NLJD de-vice can detect any electroniccircuit even if it is switchedoff.

New Delhi

7THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021

GOVT&POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AVANEESHMISHRADEHRADUN,DECEMBER4

ATTACKING THE Oppositionover “vote bank politics”, PrimeMinister Narendra ModiSaturday said in poll-boundUttarakhand that theBJPbringsschemesthatare for thegoodofthe country, rather than anycommunity.Hewasinauguratingandlay-

ingfoundationstonesfordevel-opment projects worth Rs18,000 crore at Dehradun’sParade ground, justmonths be-fore Uttarakhand goes to thepolls. PMModi said these proj-ects would help make thisdecade that of Uttarakhand.“Withtimetherehavebeenalotof deformities in Indianpolitics.Bycreatingdiscrimination,somepoliticalpartiesarefocusingonlyon a particular section, be thatpeople of their caste, a particu-lar religion, or from their local-ity. They see their vote bank inthat.Thesepoliticalpartieshavefound anotherway. Thatway isto not let people gain strength.Theywant people to always bedependent on them. These po-liticalpartiescreatedabeliefthatthey are dependent on the gov-ernment. Pride and self respect

of the common people wascrushed under a planned con-spiracy,"hesaid.He added that the way BJP

has chosen is harder, but is forthewelfare of the country andthepeople.“Ourpathisofsabkasaathsabkavikas,andwhateverschemewe start, it is for every-onewithoutanydiscrimination.Our approach is to strengthenthe country.We bring schemeswhichmight not fit on the bal-ance of the vote bank, but aregood for thecountry,"hesaid.He said developing

Uttarakhand is a toppriority forthe “double engine” govern-ment, which is why the Centrehas sanctioned over Rs 1 lakhcrore for thestate.“TodayprojectsworthoverRs

18,000 crore are inaugurated orstarted today. Thosewho ques-tion the benefits of a double en-gine government, they can seehow the double engine govern-menthasstartedtheGangaofde-velopmenthere,”saidPMModi.Heexpressedhappinessthat

the foundation stone of theDelhi-Dehradun EconomicCorridor had been laid. Whenready, the time taken to travelfromDelhi to Dehradunwill bereducedtojustaround2.5hoursfrom6hours.

PM attacksOpp over ‘votebank’ politics

PrimeMinisterNarendraModiwithUttarakhandCMPushkarSinghDhamiatarally inDehradun. PTI

ASADREHMANJHANSI, DECEMBER4

AT9.30AM,ahugecrowd,wear-ing the Samajwadi Party cap, isgatheredoutsideathree-starho-tel on Jhansi’s Station Road.Hoping to catch a glimpse ofAkhileshYadav,theykeepbreak-ing into lusty slogans of “Jai, Jai,Jai, JaiAkhilesh”TheSPnationalpresidentand

former chief minister is sched-uledtoaddressapressconferencebefore setting off on his ‘VijayYatra’. It is the fifth phase of theyatra, as part of which the SPleader is covering the backwardregion of Bundelkhand, all ofwhose 19 Assembly seatswerewonby theBJP in the 2017polls(thespoilswereevenlydividedintheelectionbeforethat).Akhileshbeginsbythanking

the people of Bundelkhand fortheir “love”. The BJPwill be re-ducedtozeroinBundelkhandinthecomingpolls, hesays.Akhilesh talks about the

price rise, aswell as “rising cus-todial deaths”, “discriminationagainst minorities” and “farmdistress” under the YogiAdityanath government. Hevows increased pension forwomen and supply of water toall—aperennialpollpromise inthesemi-aridBundelkhand.The yatrawill be on a “rath”

—aluxurybuswithbullet-proofwindows, an office space and apantry, a ramp to take Akihleshto the roof, fromwhere he canaddress peoplewithout gettingoff, and a window for him toshakehandswith them.

Thevehicle isplasteredwithpictures of SP patriarch andAkhilesh’s father MulayamSingh Yadav, his uncle RamGopal Yadav, jailed SP RampurMPAzamKhan, andparty statepresidentNareshUttamPatel.Akhilesh sets off in a caval-

cade, to the sound of the SP’smostprominentcampaignsong,“Janta pukaarti hai Akhileshchaahiye (people are calling outthat theywantAkhilesh)”.The first stop is1.5kmaway,

at theMandi chauraha, aroundnoon, where Akhilesh’s haltcausesa traffic jam.HarshitVimal (22), a student

ofB.ScatBundelkhandUniversity,who calls himself an SPworker,

says “Bhaiyya (Akhilesh)” hasdonealotfordevelopment.Nishchay Rajput (24), a by-

stander, stopshim,accusing thelast SP government led byAkhileshof “goondagardi”.AsVimalnowraisestheissue

of“bodiesfloatingintheGanga”attheheightofthesecondwave,an elderlymanwearing the SPcap steps in. “When the resultscome,wewill seewho thepeo-plearewith,” themansays.After speaking to the crowd

for about 10minutes, on prices,hisgovernment’slaptopschemeand Covid deaths, Akhileshmoves on,making thenext haltnearastatueofRaniLakshmibai.By 1.30pm,Akhilesh’s bus is

in Badagaon. Supporters herewieldtheflagsofMahaanDal,ledbyKeshavDevMaurya,whocom-mands support of thebackwardMauryaandKhushwahacommu-nity.SP’salliesincludeRastriyaLokDal led by Jayant Chaudhury,SuheldevBharatiyaSamajPartyofOm Prakash Rajbhar and theJanwadiParty(Socialist)ofSanjayChauhan.RLDisstronginwestUPwherethefarmstirhasbeencon-centrated; Rajbhar, a former BJPally,isstrongineastUP;ChauhanandMaurya are expected to getthenon-YadavOBCvote.Speaking to The Sunday

Express onboard the bus later,AkhileshaccusestheAdityanathgovernmentof “liesanddeceit”.“Theyhavemanipulatedallfactsand figures,”hesays.The final halt,Moth, sees the

biggest crowd yet for the day.Loudspeakersblare songs takingoff from the TMC slogan for theWest Bengal elections— Khelahobe.TMCchiefMamataBanerjeehasdeclaredsupportfortheSP.Most of the vehicles parked

outside thevenuehaveSP flags,indicating they have been as-sembledby theparty.Around 4.30 pm, Akhilesh

wraps up, asking people “to in-crease the speed of the SP’s cy-cle”, and leaves to board a heli-copter for Lucknow. Somesupporterslingeraroundtochat.“Bheedtohaarahihai.Abdekhnahaivotekitnemilengebhaiyyako(Thecrowdsarecoming,butlet’ssee howmany votes Akhileshgets),” says Bahadur Yadav (48)fromHamirpurdistrict.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

‘Bhaiyya getting crowds; let’ssee how many votes he gets’

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER4

TAKING A dim view ofTrinamool supremo andWestBengal chief minister MamataBanerjee’s bid to sideline theCongressandemergeasthekeyface of the Opposition againstthe BJP dispensation, the ShivSenaonSaturdaysaidthatpush-ing the grand old party awayfromnationalpoliticsandcreat-inganOppositiongroupingpar-allel to the UPA (UnitedProgressive Alliance) would beakin to strengthening the BJPand"fascist" forces.Barely a few days after

Banerjee pronounced the de-mise of the Congress-led UPA,theSena, inaneditorial inpartymouthpiece “Saamana”, saidthosewhodonotwant theUPAshould make their stand clearopenly and not whisper as itwouldsparkconfusion.Rising in defence of the

Congress, the Sena said if eventhose fighting the BJP feel thattheCongressshouldceasetoex-ist, then this attitude is the"biggest threat". It asserted thatif there is no unity among theOppositionparties,thenthetalkofcreatingapoliticalalternativeto the rulingBJPshouldend.“It is true that Mamata fin-

ished theCongress, Left and theBJPfromWestBengal.Butkeep-ingCongressoutofnationalpol-iticswill amount tostrengthen-ingthecurrentfascistforces. It isunderstandable that (PMNarendra)Modi andhisBJP feelthat Congress should bewipedout. This is part of their agenda.But, themost dangerous threatisthateventhosewhoarefight-

ingagainstModiandhis ideolo-gies think that Congress shouldbe wiped out,” the “Saamana”editorial stated.ItremarkedthatBanerjeehas

asked amillion-dollar questionas towhere is the Congress-ledUPAinthecountry.“NotjusttheUPA, the NDA also does not ex-ist.WhileModi's partydoesnotneed the NDA today, theOpposition needs the UPA.FormingaparallelalliancetotheUPAwillamounttostrengthen-ing theBJP.”The Sena noted that the

Congress party’s decline in thelast ten yearswas “worrisome”.“But to not let it come back ontrack and to take that space ofCongress is also fatal,” it said.

UTTARAKHANDPOLLS

AnnouncesprojectsworthRs18,000cr

Developmentorgoondagardi?InBundelkhand,opinionisdividedonAkhilesh

SP chiefAkhileshYadavinJhansiduringhisyatra.VishalSrivastav

WITH SENAmouthpiece‘Saamana’ explicitly stat-ing that those whowantemergence of a strongOpposition front shouldhelp strengthen UPA byinvolving the Congress,the grand old party mayhavereceivedfirstsupportafter criticism from TMCchiefMamataBanerjee,SPleaderAkhileshYadav,andpoll strategist PrashantKishor. While supportfrom the MVA ally mayhave been expected, thestrong pitch by Sena inkeeping Congress in anyanti-BJP front may en-couragesomeotherfence-sitters to speakup.

StandingwithgrandoldpartyE●EX

PLAINED

Shiv Sena hits out atMamata, bats for Oppalliance led by Cong

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, CHANDIGARH,DECEMBER4

THEBJPmaygointoPunjabelec-tions in alliancewith thepartiesof Amarinder Singh and formerAkali leader Sukhdev SinghDhindsa, UnionHomeMinisterAmitShahsaidhereSaturday.“We are talking to Captain

(AmarinderSingh)saabaswellasDhindsasaab.Itispossiblewewillhaveanalliance,”ShahsaidattheHTSummit.While Amarinder has been

talkingaboutsuchanalliance,thisisthefirstindicationfromtheBJPsideofatie-up.EarlierBJPrefusedto say anything, andasserted re-peatedly that itwouldcontestallthe117seatsinthestate.AttheHTSummit,Shahadded

that Prime Minister NarendraModi, “showingabigheart”, hadtaken the decision on the farmlegislation, “saying fine, if youthinkthefarmlawsarenotinyourbenefit,Itakethemback”.Hesaidthat the farmprotest as an issuewasoverinPunjab.Dhindsa,thepresidentofAkali

Dal (Sanyukt), told The SundayExpress he had met ShahThursday, but did not confirm iftherewasanallianceinthemak-ing. Indicating the divide in the

party,AkaliDal (Sanyukt)patronRanjit SinghBrahampura calledtalkofanyalliance“baseless”.PunjabDeputyChiefMinister

SukhjinderSinghRandhawasaidtherewas nothing surprising inShah’s statement. FormerCongress CMAmarinder had anunannounced alliancewith theBJP, he said. “TheBJP is abig zeroandwhen anything getsmulti-pliedwithzero,itresultsinazero.”RandhawaaskedAmarinder

tomakehispositionclearonwhowas responsible for thedeath of“700farmers”duringthestir.On Shah’s announcement,

MohdMustafa,the‘ChiefStrategicAdviser’toPunjabCongresschiefNavjot SinghSidhu, said: “Itwillbe good riddance. Bye-byeCaptain.” He also added the BJPwas a “hardworking party” andwould endup rueing analliancewith Amarinder. “He does notworkatall.”OppositionleaderandAAPMLAHarpal SinghCheemasaidtheywerenotworried.TheBJP’stwoMLAsinthe117-

memberAssemblysaidtheywel-comedtheleadership’sdecision.In the interview at the HT

Summit, Shah also spoke onKashmirandthecomingUPpolls.HesaidstatehoodinKashmir

willberestoredonlyafterdelim-itationandelectionsandthosede-mandingitearlieraremerelytry-

ingtocreatepoliticalcontroversy.Heclaimedthatanatmosphereofdevelopment and lawandorderhasbeencreatedinKashmir.“Ibe-lieve thepeopleof Kashmirwel-comethischange,”hesaid.Askedabouttherecentkilling

of civilians, particularly non-Muslimoutsiders andKashmiriPandits,Shahsaid:“Irecentlysawastatementby(Farooq)Abdullahsaab thatKashmirwill seepeaceonlywhenArticle370isrestored.Article370wastherefor75years,whywas there no peace?... Useanydimensiontoassess(lawandorder)…includethe(recent)tar-getedkillings(ofcivilians),wewillnot reach even 10% (of earlier).

Thismeans that peacehas beenrestored.” Shah said the imposi-tion of curfew and bans onInternetintheregionwereonlytoensuresafetyof thelocalpeople.OnUPpolls, Shahsaid theal-

liancesformedbyOppositionpar-tieswouldnotstoptheBJPfromathumpingmajority.“Politicsisnotphysics, it is chemistry,” he said.ShahaddedthatthefarmprotestswouldhavenoimpactinUP.While assuring that the gov-

ernmentwascloselywatchingthenewCovidvariantOmicron,Shahruled out making vaccinationcompulsory, saying the govern-ment didn’twant “unnecessarycontroversy”.

Shah confirms: BJP may tie up with Amarinder


THEWELFARE of soldiers andjawans is the responsibility ofthegovernment,UnionMinisterAmitShahsaidonSaturdaydur-ing anaddress toBSFpersonnelataforwardpostalongtheIndia-Pakistanborder inRajasthan.Speakingtopersonnelat the

Rohitash Border Outpost, Shahsaid: “Today, 130 crore people,includingme,sleeppeacefullyatnightbecause theyhave faith inyou that you are protecting ourborders... Rohitash is the postwhere the soldiers of the ArmyandBSFhavesetmanyexamplesof gallantry.”He lauded the efforts of BSF

personnelinsecuringtheborderandsaidthegovernmentwouldmakeeveryeffort totakecareofthemandtheir families.Shah citing the variouswel-

fare schemes for jawans

launched by the NDA govern-ment at the Centre, particularlytheAyushmanBharatcard.“Themessage behind this gesture isthat the responsibility of takingcare of the health of the jawanswho guard the borders of thecountry in adverse circum-stances, is that of the govern-mentandshouldnotrestontheshouldersof jawans,”hesaid.TheHomeMinister,whowill

be the chief guest at BSF's 57thRaisingDay functiononSunday– being celebrated for the firsttime on the India-Pakistan bor-der – also dinedwith jawans atRohitash. Hewas accompaniedby Jal Shakti Minister GajendraSingh Shekhawat and severalBSFofficers.AccordingtoBSF,onSunday Shah also visited TanotTemplenear theborder.During the visit, Shah “was

briefedontheoperational intri-cacies, latestdevelopmentsandtechnological advances beinginitiatedby the force...”

HomeMinisterShahwithBSFpersonnelonSunday.MHA

‘Welfare of securitypersonnel, their kingovt responsibility’


COURTSSHOULDbe the last re-sort fordisputeresolution,arbi-tration,mediation,andconcilia-tionbeingoptionstobeexploredbefore that, said Chief Justice ofIndiaNVRamanaonSaturday.“Myadvice, afterbeing in the

legalprofession forover40yearsindifferentcapacities, is thatyoumustkeep theoptionof going tocourtsasalastresort.Usethislastresortonlyafterexploringtheop-tionof ADR (AlternativeDisputeResolution)—arbitration,media-tionandconciliation,”theCJIsaidat the curtain raiser and stake-holders’conclaveofInternationalArbitrationandMediationCentre,

Hyderabad.He said,

“themost im-portant factorbehindtheres-olution of anydispute ishav-ingtherightat-titude. By rightattitude,Imean

we should leave aside our ego...and embrace practicality. Oncetheseconflictsenteracourt,muchgetslostintheprocedure.”Pointingout that despite the

presenceofarbitrationcentresinIndia,partiesthatenterintoanin-ternationalarbitrationagreementoftenoptforsuchacentreoutsideIndia, the CJI expressed confi-dencethattheHyderabadcentrewillchangethistrendinIndia.

NVRamana

CJI: Courts should be lastresort, after mediation fails

Shillong:Meghalaya’s lone BJPministerSanborShullaihaswrit-ten to PrimeMinister NarendraModi, urging him to ensure“safety and security” ofChristians living inKarnataka.Shullai, the Northeastern

state's labourminister, soughtthe PM’s interventionwith “re-gards to a recent survey of theChristiancommunity”.

He termed it “unconstitu-tional” and said such an actwouldcreatedistrustamongtheminority Christian communityin Karnataka, besides beinghighlyobjectionable.“Kindlyensurethatthesafety

and security of ChristiansCommunity living inKarnatakaand every state of India is pro-tected,”hesaidintheletter.ENS

Meghalaya BJP minister to PM:Ensure Karnataka Christians’ safety


SINCE 2014, India has exporteddefence products worth Rs38,000 crore, DefenceMinisterRajnath Singh said while ad-dressing an event of MSMEConclaveonSaturday.“Government aims to

achieve the export target of Rs

35,000croreby2024-25,”Singhsaid, adding that the country is“exporting defence equipmenttoaround70countries”.Hementionedthat,giventhe

government’spushtoencourage

exports, he hoped that Indiawould soon become a net ex-porter from a net importer. Thecountry will soon become astate-of-the-art technologyprovider not only for the Indianarmed forces, but for theworld,headded“Due to reformsundertaken

by the government, the coun-try'sdefenceexportscrossedRs38,000-crore mark in the last

sevenyears,and12,000MSMEsjoinedthedefencesector. Therehasbeenanincreaseinresearchanddevelopment, start-ups, in-novation and employment op-portunities,” saidSingh.He stated that the govern-

ment had estimated Rs 85,000crore industry of aerospace anddefence, and the “contributionof the private sector to this hasincreased toRs18,000crore.”

DefenceMinisterRajnathSingh

Rs 35k-cr defence export target for FY25: RajnathNewDelhi:Aspartofamajorbu-reaucratic reshuffle, the CentrehasappointedAlkaUpadhyayaaschairpersonofNationalHighwaysAuthorityof India(NHAI).A 1990-batch IAS officer of

Madhya Pradesh cadre,UpadhyayaiscurrentlyAdditionalSecretary, Department of RuralDevelopment.Sanjay Bandopadhyay,

Additional Secretary,Ministry ofPorts, Shipping andWaterways,hasbeennamedchairmanInlandWaterwaysAuthority of India, aPersonnelMinistryordersaid.Dharmendra S Gangwar,

AdditionalSecretaryandFinancialAdviser,Ministry of Health andFamilyWelfare,willbeSecretary,Department of BorderManagement. ENS

NHAI gets new chairperson

Lucknow:TheUPgovernmentonSaturday announced that anIndo-Russian unit would be setup at Korwa in Amethi toman-ufactureAK-203assault rifles.Agovernmentspokesperson

said: “It will be produced by ajoint Indo-Russian venture, ap-provedbyGovernmentof India.”A government statement

saidthe7.62X39mmcaliberAK-203 rifles would replace INSASrifles, inducted over threedecadesago. ENS

Indo-Russia unitto make AK-203rifles in Amethi EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

NEWDELHI, DECEMBER4

WHILE THE contribution ofPrudent Electoral Trust to politi-calpartiesdeclinedbyover9percent as it donatedRs245.7 crorethisfinancialyear,comparedtoRs271croreinthe2019-20financialyear, its share for the Congresspartydippedbymorethan93percent— fromRs31crore lastyeartojust2crorethisfiscal,ananaly-sis of its contribution submittedtoElectionCommissionshows.TheAamAadmi Party (AAP)

too sawadecline indonationbymorethan84percentasitssharefell fromRs11.2crore last year tojust1.7crorethisyear.The share of Prudent Trust –

therichestelectoraltrustandoneof theBJP’s biggest funders since2013-14 – for the saffron partyrosemarginallyby2percentatRs209 crore, compared to Rs 203crore in the last fiscal. Thisamountedto85percentofitsen-tire donation as compared to 74percentlastyear.Accordingtothecontribution

for FY 2020-21, the Janata Dal(United)receivedRs25croreand

is the second largest beneficiaryof contributions made by thetrust. ItalsodonatedRs5croretothe NCP and Rs 2 crore to theRashtriyaJanataDal(RJD).Interestingly,itdroppedafew

politicalpartiesfromitslistofben-eficiariesthis fiscal, includingtheShiv Sena, Akali Dal, SamajwadiParty and Jannayak Janta Party(JJP)andLJP.Thesepartieshadre-ceiveddonationslastyear.ThePrudentElectoralTrust is

amongthelargestelectoraltrustsin Indiawith nearly over 90 percentofallcorporatedonationstoelectoraltrustsgoingintoitskitty.

Amongitsmajorcontributorsare Future Gaming and HotelServices, infrastructure firmMegha Engineering andInfrastructures India Ltd, BhartiAirtel, Bharti Infratel andPhillipsCarbonBlack.ItraisedRs100crorefrom Future Gaming andHotelServices,Rs25crore fromHaldiaEnergyIndiaLtd,Rs22crorefromMegha Engineering, Rs 15 crorefromBhartiAirtel,Rs10crorefromBhartiInfratelandRs20croreeachfromPhillips Carbon Black andTorrentgroupcompanies.Ananalysisof the trust’s con-

tributionsoverthepastfiveyears

shows that the BJP has receivedthe maximum contributionamongpoliticalpartieswhiletheCongress’ sharehas significantlydeclined.InFY2016-17,PrudentTrust’s

(then known as Satya ElectoralTrust) contribution to politicalparties rose significantly toRs283.7crore.Itdonated88.9percent or Rs 252.22 crore to BJP,whiletheCongressreceivedonlyRs14crore.Thecontributionsre-ceivedbyPrudentElectoralTrustformed87.18percentof thetotalamount donated to all electoraltrustsduringFY2016-17,accord-

ing to the Association ofDemocraticReforms(ADR).ADRnotedthatbetween2016

and 2018, Prudent Trust,whichdonatestoseveralpoliticalparties,gave theBJP Rs 405.25 crore, al-most 44per cent of theelectoralfundsofRs915.59croredeclaredby the BJP. Thatmade Prudent’scontribution the single largest tothe BJP. The party received Rs915.59 crore in donations fromover 1,500 corporates between2016 and 2018, nearly 16 timeshigher than the Congress in thesameperiod.TheBJP’sRs915.59crorecame

from 1,731 corporate donors,while the Congress received itsdonations from151 corporates.TheNCP receivedRs 7.737 crorefrom23corporatedonors.TheCPIhasthelowestshareofcorporatedonations at 2per cent, theADRnoted.Infact,inFY2017-18,BJPalone

receivedRs167.80croreor86.59percentofthetotaldonationsre-ceivedbyallpoliticalpartiesfromelectoral trusts.Other fourpoliti-cal parties, including Congress,BJD,NCPandJKNC,collectivelyre-ceivedonlyRs25.98crore,accord-ingtoanADRanalysis.

Over 93% dip in Prudent Trust funds for Cong in FY21, BJP share rose 2%

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK8 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021

5th December 1996Sashastra Seema Bal fondly remembers andcherishes the valiant act of the brave heartShri Vijay Singh, Deputy Commandant ofGC SSB Debendranagar, who laid down hislife in an ULFA militants attack atSalonibari, Assam on this day in the year1996. His courage and valor would continueto inspire us all.We salute the valor and supreme sacrifice ofthe brave soldier.

SASHASTRA SEEMA BAL

Martyr of CISF on 05th DecemberHC/GD RAJ KISHOR PRASAD

CCL KARGALICISF proudly remembers the supremesacrifice of this brave-heart. On this day, helaid down his life at the altar of duty whilefighting with criminals. His courage andbravery would remain an abiding source ofinspiration for the force. The force willremain eternally indebted to him for hisnoblest deed.

SHRI VIJAY

SINGH

DEPUTY

COMMANDANT

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E-Tender Notice E-Tender No. SD-930- online e-Bids are invited for"Supply of 189 Nos. 245 kVPolymer type CTs" E-tender hasbeen uploaded on 02.12.2021 onwww.etender.up.nic.in estimatedCost of supply: Rs 510.61 Lakhonly. Completion Period: 04months E.M.D. cost Rs 256000/-only. Last date of tendersubmission 03.01.2022 at 15:30Hrs. Total Quantum of work, tenderspecification and other terms &conditions are as per tenderdocument available on the e-tender portal. Undersignedreserves the right to cancel the e-Bids without assigning any reason.Corrigendum, Addendum,Extension if any shall be uploadedonly on the above website. Biddersare advised to visit the websiteregularly for updated informationfrom time to time. SuperintendingEngineer, ESDC-I, UPPTCL No.416 ESDC-I (GS)/Tender NoticeDated 04.12.2021

OMKARGOKHALE&SAGARRAJPUTMUMBAI,DECEMBER4

NINEDAYSafterformerMumbaiPolice commissioner ParamBirSinghappearedbeforetheCrimeBranch, the Crime branch onSaturday filed a 1,895-pagechargesheet before amagistratecourtagainstSingh,dismissedof-ficerSachinWazeandtwoothersinconnectiontoanextortioncaselodgedatGoregaonpolicestation.This is the first chargesheet

against Singh, who has beenbookedinmultiplecasesofextor-tion.Thechargesheet,whichwasfiledbeforetheEsplanademetro-politanmagistratecourt,containsstatementsof62witnesses.Thecaserelatestoacomplaint

filedbyBimalAgarwal,ahotelierand civic contractor, based onwhich theGoregaon police hadbooked Singh alongwith RiyazBhati, Vinay Singh, Sumit Singh,AlpeshPatelandWaze.Agarwal has alleged that

ParamBirSingh,alongwithWaze– currently in jail for his allegedinvolvement in theAmbani ter-ror scare scare and MansukhHiranmurder case – extortedcashandvaluablesworthRs11.92lakh fromhim.Thecasewas ini-tially registered at theGoregaonpolicestationonchargesofextor-tion, criminal conspiracy andcommon intention, followingwhichitwastransferredtoCrimeBranchUnitXI.Following the arrest of ac-

cused Sumit Singh, the policeseizedhis cellphone. "Whenwetried to trace his location, wefound him to be present in theMumbaiPoliceCommissionerate.Wehave sent the cellphone forforensic examination... yet to getareport,"saidthechargesheet.It added that awitness – an

owner of a restaurant and bar –

has told police that Vinay Singhand Riyaz Bhati, who allegedlyclaimed to representWaze andSingh,met him and demandedmoney. "TheyaskedforRs2lakhforgoodluck... theyalsosaidthatIwillhavetohandoverRs1.5lakheverymonth if Iwant to runmybusiness.Theythreatenedtocon-ductaraidandshutdownmyho-telifIrefusetopaythem,"hesaid,adding that hehandedoverRs2lakh to Waze at the CrimeIntelligence Unit (CIU) in theMumbaiPoliceCommissionerate.Majorityofthebusinessmen,

in their statements to thepolice,havesaidthatWazewouldoftenrefertoParamBirSinghas“num-ber one”. However, in his state-menttoEnforcementDirectorate,Wazehasallegedthatwasrefer-ringtoformerhomeministerAnilDeshmukhas“numberone”.Assistant Commissioner of

Police Sanjay Patil, in his state-ment, has said that during themeetingwithrestaurantandbarowners,WazehadtoldhimthatParamBir Singhwas the “num-ber one” and givenhima targetof collectingRs2croreperday.The Maharashtra govern-

ment on Thursday suspendedParam Bir Singh and DeputyCommissioner of Police ParagManere, against whom FIRswereregisteredonchargesofex-tortion.

ARANYASHANKARNEWDELHI, DECVEMBER4

APIONEERofHindiTVjournalism,withinterestsrangingfrompoliticsandcul-turetofood,PadmaShriawardeeVinodDua died at Apollo Hospital onSaturday.Hewas67.DuawashospitalisedwithCovid-19

earlier this year along with wifePadmavati ‘Chinna’ Dua, who died onJune 11. His health had been consis-tentlydeterioratingsince then.Dua’s deathwas announced by his

youngerdaughter,actor-comicMallikaDua, on Instagram. The couple’s elderdaughter, Bakul Dua, is a clinical psy-chologist.“Our irreverent, fearless and ex-

traordinary father, Vinod Dua haspassedaway.Helivedaninimitablelife,risingfromtherefugeecoloniesofDelhitothepeakof journalisticexcellenceforover42years,always,alwaysspeakingtruth to power. He is now with ourmom, his beloved wife Chinna inheaven where they will continue tosing, cook, travel and drive each otherup the wall. The cremation will takeplace tomorrow (5.12.21) at Lodhi cre-matoriumat12noon,”Mallikaposted.Coming from a family of Saraiki

Hindus,DuawasbornandraisedinOld

Delhi. He completed his graduation inEnglish fromHansraj College, andMA— also in English — from DelhiUniversity.Beforejournalism,Duawasactive inDelhi’s theatrecircles.His foray into journalism began

withDoordarshan,where hewas partof several shows, including YuvaManch,YuvJan, JawanTarang,andAapKe Liye. In the 1980s, Dua alongwithNDTVco-founderPrannoyRoystartedelectionanalysisonDoordarshan.OnSaturday, Roy tweeted, “Deeply

mourningthelossofVinod.Hewasnotjust one of the greatest, he was THEgreatest of his time. I have always saidthat. THEgreatest. An amazing talent Iadmired and respected - and from

whomI learnta lot…”Dua later anchored Janvani, which

gavepeopleanopportunitytoquestionministers,andlatermovedtotheIndiaTodaygroupinthelate-80s.Hewasalsoassociatedwith Zee TV and Sahara TVatdifferentpoints inhis career.Overtheyears,Duacametobeasso-

ciatedwithalmosteffortlessnewsread-ing, combinedwith sharpwit and in-sights. Om Thanvi, former editor ofJansatta, posted on Facebook: “Fewpeoplewould know that Vinod neverused to prepare the script of his pro-grams. Neither did he refer to theteleprompter. Bold, straight. He wasvery frank…”ThanvisaidDuawasequallyatease

in both English and Hindi. At NDTVIndia,Duaaddedanotherfeathertohiscap as the host of the popular show,ZaikaIndiaKa,forwhichhetravelledtodifferentpartsofthecountry,tastinglo-cal food.Dualaterentereddigitaljournalism,

joining The Wire Hindi, where hehosted the show JanGanManKi Baat,offeringwiseandwittytakeonnewsofthe day. M K Venu, co-founder of TheWire, said Dua hosted the showwith-outchargingasinglepenny.In 2018,Duawas accusedof sexual

harassment by a documentary film-maker, allegationshedenied.


POINTING OUT that resourcebaseandtheirbestuseseparatedevelopingeconomiesfromde-velopedones,VicePresidentandRajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu on Saturdaycalled for a wider debate on"freebies" givenbyvarious gov-ernmentsandsaid thereshouldbe harmony between welfareanddevelopmentobjectives.Addressing a function to

markthecentennialcelebrationsof Parliament's Public AccountsCommittee(PAC),hesaidthePACmay be redesignated as PublicAccounts andAudit Committeegiventhefactthatauditreviewisalso itscore function.Thetwo-dayeventwasinau-

gurated by President RamNathKovind,who, inhisaddress,saida “Parliamentary democracywould be incomplete withoutParliamentarycommittees, andscrutiny of public accounts bythe people's representativesplaysanimportantroleinensur-ingaccountability,whichiscen-tral togovernance."Lok Sabha Speaker OmBirla

said themain responsibility ofdemocratic institutions is tomake thegovernmentaccount-ableandtransparent topeople.Emphasisingthesignificance

of House panels, PresidentKovind said: “WithoutParliamentary committees, aParliamentary democracy

wouldbe rendered incomplete.ItisthroughthePACthatcitizenskeep a check on government fi-nances. In Parliamentarydemocracy, accountability iscentral togovernance.”Speaking on freebies, Naidu

said,"Weareallalivetothepres-entscenarioofgovernments in-

dulgingindolingoutfreebiesforobviousreasons.Whileensuringthewelfareandsocialsecurityofthe needy is an important obli-gation of the governments, it istime there is awider debate onharmonisingwelfareanddevel-opment objectives.Expendituresmust be carefully

balancedsothatbothshort-termandlong-termdevelopmentob-jectivesgetequalattention.”Hesaid,“SincePAChastoex-

amine the effectiveness of re-sourceuseintermsofsocio-eco-nomic outcomes, it may be inorder for the committee to ex-amine the issue of balancingthese two objectives for widerconsideration.”Birlapointedoutthatdemo-

cratic institutionsnot onlyhavea crucial role in nation-buildingbut today are seen as “effectiveplatforms for solving problemsof the people and fulfilment oftheir expectations”.Speakers of Legislative

Assemblies from across thecountry attended the inauguralfunction.Noseniorministerwaspresent.BothKovindandBirlalauded

the role playedbyPACs in inde-pendentIndia'shistoryofgover-nance. “It has been entrustedwith a great responsibility ofshowingthevirtueofprudence,”Kovindsaid.PAC chairman Adhir Ranjan

Chowdhurysaidthecommitteeworksonnon-partylineswithaspirit of dedication and serviceto thecountry.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER4

STUDENTS NEED to acknowl-edge their privileges and givebacktosocietyinwhateverwaystheycanas India is at a junctureof "extreme pain", Nobel laure-ate Abhijit Banerjee said inAhmedabadSaturday.“We're in a time of extreme

paininIndia.Theeconomyisstillwellbelowwhereitwasin2019.Wedon'tknowhowmuchbutitis substantially below. I'm notblaminganybody.I'mjustsayingthis is amomentwhere societydemands your abilities, talents,commitmentandwill todo it indifferentways-- somewillstartbusinesses, somewill providejobs to other people, somewillfight forsocial justice, somewillwritenovelsthatwilluplift(peo-ple)... do take into account thatbecausewe are in this place ofprivilege,wecandosomething,”Banerjee implored as he ad-

dressed the 11th convocationceremony of AhmedabadUniversityvirtuallySaturday."I justspentsometimeinru-

ralWest Bengal and the storiesyouhearaboutthedashedaspi-rations of the people are veryrealbecausea lotofpeoplewhomigratedhad to comeback andtheyhadsmallaspirationswhichbecame smaller now. So I thinkthatweareinamomentofgreatpain," the Nobel Prize-winningeconomist further told the 833graduatingstudents.Banerjee cited Mahatma

Gandhi as an example, empha-sisingtheimpactof incrementalchanges and cautioning againstaspiring to immediately changetheworld.“Thingschangeslowly.Gandhi first came back to Indiain1915.Readinghimyourealisehe also didn't knowwhere hewas going... You read him (andyou see that) he is changing hismind about everything overtime. That's the greatness ofGandhi.Sodon'tworrywhether

youcantransformtheworld,youprobably can’t. Butwhatwecando, eachof us, is, doingwhatwearebestatdoing,whatwe'repas-sionateaboutdoing,(which)cu-mulatively changes theworld,”saidtheMITeconomist.Banerjeeremindedthegrad-

uatingstudentsthattheyshouldthink of themselves as“supremelyprivileged”forstudy-ingatoneofthebestinstitutionsin India. It is important torecog-nise this privilege because it is asociety wheremost people donotgetthesameopportunitybe-cause of the lack of preparation,opportunityandtalent,hesaid."You are the winners of an

extremely difficult competitioninacountrywith1.4billionpeo-ple and that's a perspective tokeep inmind because that tellsyou that relative tomostpeoplein India, you are in a place to beuniquely influential, effectiveandabletodothings.That'sbothaprivilegeandaresponsibility,"hesaid.

Extortion case:ParamBir,Wazechargesheeted

100YEARSOFPUBLICACCOUNTSCOMMITTEE

PresidentRamNathKovind,VicePresidentandRajyaSabhaChairmanMVenkaiahNaidu,andLokSabhaSpeakerOmBirlaarrive for theeventmarkingthe100-yearcelebrationsofPAC, inCentralHallofParliament inNewDelhi, Saturday. PremNathPandey

TRIPURA

Jawankills2seniors;surrendersAgartala: A Tripura StateRifles (TSR) jawan shotdead two of his seniorcolleagues at a camp ofthe counter-insurgencyforce in Konaban area ofthestate’sSepahijaladis-trict Saturdaymorning.The accused jawan, whohad joined the service in2002, surrenderedat thelocal police station.Preliminary probe sug-gestedhemayhavecom-mittedtheactoutof frus-tration as he had beendenied leave from duty,thepolice said. ENS

J&K

EffortsbegintorebuildancienttempleinPoKSrinagar: Inabidtorevivepilgrimage to ShardaPeeth, the ancientHinduuniversityinPakistanoc-cupiedKashmir, theSaveSharda Committee laidthe foundation stone ofSharda temple anddharamshalanear LoC inKupwara for their re-building. The foundationstone was laid byDarakshan Andrabi, theChairperson of WaqfDevelopmentCommitteeof Union Ministry ofMinoritiesaffairs,andBJPNational ExecutiveMember. ENS

KARNATAKA

KannadaactorS Sivaramdiesat88Bengaluru: VeteranKannada actor SShivaram,whose stint inthe film industry spansoversixdecades,diedataprivate hospital here onSaturday. He was 83.Chief Minister BasavarajBommai, whomournedhis demise, said the lastriteswillbeperformedonSundaywithfullstateho-nours. Shivaram, popu-larly known asShivaramanna,workedinover 60movies, besidesdirecting and producingfilms. PTI

PUDUCHERRY

L-GinfavourofSubramaniaBharathistatuePuducherry: PuducherryLt Governor TamilisaiSoundararajan onSaturdaysuggestedthatastatue of national poetSubramania Bharathi,taller than the Statue ofUnity erected for SardarVallabhbhai Patel inGujarat, be built on theshore in theUT to attracttourists and called for acomprehensive policy todevelopthesector.TheL-Gwas addressing a con-clave organised by thetourismdepartment.PTI

BRIEFLY

ParamBirSingh

New Delhi: A Delhi court onSaturday granted bail to for-mer Star India CEO, PeterMukerjea in the INXmediamoneylaunderingcasebeinginvestigated by theEnforcementDirectorate.In May 2017, the Central

Bureau of Investigation (CBI)registered an FIR alleging ir-regularities in the ForeignInvestmentPromotionBoard(FIPB)) clearance granted tothe INXMedia group for re-ceiving overseas funds of Rs305 crore in 2007 when PChidambaram was theFinanceMinister in the thenUPAgovernment.TheEDlaterlodged amoney launderingcase in thematter.Special judge NK Nagpal

grantedbailtoMukerjea,not-ing that the evidence againsthim is “mainly documentaryinnatureandit isnotthecaseofprosecutionthat theappli-cant is in a condition totamperwith thesame”.

INX media case:Peter Mukerjeagets bail

Time to give back to country:Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee

Venkaiah calls for debate on freebies,Birla underlines role of House panels

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,DECEMBER4

KANPURPOLICEhavedeployedfive teams to trace a 54-year-old forensic science professorwho allegedly killed his wifeand two teenage children athis Kanpur home on Fridayand left behind a 10-pagenote in which he admitted tokillinghis familymembers, cit-ing fear of Covid-19 and an“in-curabledisease” thathe is “suf-fering from”.Policesuspectthattheprofes-

sormayhaveharmedhimself ashecouldbesufferingfromdepres-sion. The last locationof his cell-phonewastracedatAtalghatonFriday around 6pm. The ghat isaroundsevenkilometresfromhisresidenceand is locatednear theGangabarrage.In the 10-page note, pur-

portedly written by Dr Kumar,headmittedtokillinghiswife–ChandraPrabha,aprincipalatagovernment primary school –and twochildren–18-year-oldsonwhowas preparing for en-gineering exams and 15-year-oldschool-goingdaughter–“toliberate them and remove alltheir troubles in amoment”.Thenote talks about Covid-

19-related depression. “(TheCovid-19 pandemic) will notspareanyone...Nomorecount-ing bodies now... I am con-sciously destroying myself bykillingmyfamily.Nooneelse isresponsible,” theprofessorpur-

portedlywrote.The note also mentioned

that he was suffering from an“incurabledisease”, andhedidnotseea futureandthathehadno other choice.According to police, the pro-

fessor's brother received ames-sageonFriday evening asking tohiminformthepolice.Whenapo-lice teamreachedtheprofessor'sresidence they found the threebodieslyinginseparaterooms.“During the preliminary in-

quiry, ithascometolightthatDrSushil Kumar gave tea lacedwith intoxicating substance tohiswifeandchildren.Aftertheyfellunconscious,hekilledthemonebyone,”saidapoliceofficer.Whilethewife'sbodyborein-

juriesofhammerstrike, thechil-drenhadstrangulationmarks,theofficer said, adding that they arewaitingfortheautopsyreport.DCP (Crime) Salmantaj

Jafertaj Patil said they are try-ing to trace the professor andadded that police have, so far,not found any evidence of foulplay in the case. He has beenbooked formurder.In the CCTV footage from

thearea, theprofessor is foundleavinghis residenceat1.10pmon Friday afternoon alone onfoot. A senior officer said theycouldnot rule out thepossibil-ity that the accused hadharmed himself after leavingthe house. “The picture willbe clear when we get anyinformationabouthim,” theof-ficer added.

SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABAD,DECEMBER4

FORMERCHIEFministerofundi-vided Andhra Pradesh KonijetiRosaiah passed away inHyderabadonSaturdaywhilebe-ing takento thehospital afterhisblood pressure plummeted. Hewas88.Politicalleadersofallpar-ties across Andhra Pradesh andTelanganacondoledhisdeath.The Telangana government

has decided to observe statemourning for three days fromDecember4to6.ThelastriteswillbeheldonSundayafternoon.

In a tweet, PM NarendraModi said, “Saddened by thepassing away of Shri K. RosaiahGaru. I recall my interactionswithhimwhenweboth servedas Chief Ministers and laterwhen he was Tamil NaduGovernor. His contributions topublic service will be remem-bered. Condolences to his fam-ilyandsupporters.OmShanti.”Telangana Chief Minister K

Chandrashekhar Rao visitedRosaiah’shometopayhis lastre-spects. Andhra Pradesh CMY SJaganMohanReddyalsosentcon-dolences.Rosaiah’spolitical jour-neybegan in1968asanMLC.HewasappointedtheCMin2009af-ter the death of then CMDrY SRajashekaraReddy in a choppercrash. His tenure till November2010,wasmarkedbyrevoltsfromwithin theCongressasmembersdemandedhemakewayforYSR’ssonYSJaganMohanReddy.InaninterviewtoTheIndianExpress,hesaidhedidnot likebeing theCMbut hewasboundby thewishesoftheCongresspresident.

KonijetiRosaiah

5 police teams lookfor Kanpur prof who‘killed’ wife, children‘Admitted’themurders;‘Covidwillnotspareanyone,’hewrotein10-pagenote

Vinod Dua, foodie, pioneer in TVjournalism, dies: ‘Bold, straight, frank’

VinodDuawas67

Former Andhra CM Rosaiah dies at 88

New Delhi

9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021

Xya^mf g§»`m : 020-26233100 B©-_ob AmB© S r : [email protected] NOTICESHORT NOTICESubject: Recruitment for the posts of Junior Hindi Translator, Sub Divisional Officer Grade II

and Hindi Typist in offices of Defence Estates Organisation, Govt. of India,Ministry of Defence.

F.No. 551/Adm/RECRUITMENT/JHT,SDOII&HT/2021: Govt of India, Min of Defence,Directorate General of Defence Estates Organisation is going to conduct the examinationof the following posts:- The details of vacancies are:

(*)Scale of pay and allowances shown in the table are as per 6th CPC and have been revised to7th CPC pay scales.In this context, it is informed that detailed advertisement alongwith eligibility criteria, instructionsto apply etc., for the above said posts along with Forms are available on the following websites,i.e, https://www.dgde.gov.in, https://pune.cantt.gov.in, https://nidem.dgde.gov.in,https://delhi.cantt.gov.in and https://barrackpore.cantt.gov.in. Any subsequent corrigendum tothis advertisement will be hosted on these websites only.Accordingly, interested candidates may apply. The last date for receipt of the applicationform is 15-01-2022 upto 17:00 Hrs. For candidates residing in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur,Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Lahaul & Spiti,Districts and Pangi, (Sub-Division of Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh), Andaman Nicobarand Lakshadweep islands are given Two weeks extra time to submit the application.

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Government of India, Ministry of Defence,Principal Directorate, Defence Estates, Southern Command,

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EXPRESSNETWORK

10 travellers from S Africa trackeddown, isolated: Bengaluru officials

Constructionrow in Old Goa:Union ministerpromises action

10 months on,Maharashtraacting chief secytakes first dose

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIABHUBANESWAR,KOLKATA,VISAKHAPATNAM,DECEMBER4

INDIA'SEASTcoastisunlikelytoface the fury of cyclonic stormJawadwhichhasweakenedintoadeepdepressionbeforereach-ing theOdisha-Andhra Pradeshcoast but thousands of peopleliving along the sea have beenevacuated as a precautionarymeasure, officials said onSaturday.A teenager, however, was

killed in Srikakulam district ofAndhra Pradesh after an up-rooted tree fell on him afterheavyrainfall.ThepeopleofOdisha,a state

already battered by cyclones‘Gulab’ and ‘Yaas’ over the lastone year, heaved a sigh of reliefas Jawad— the Arabicword formerciful — began ebbing awaywhile still rollingover thesea.TherewasnoraininOdisha’s

capitalBhubaneswarandcoastaldistricts since noon. “About1,500 people have been evacu-

ated...Wehavestoppedevacua-tionnow,”anofficial said.“Thesystemislikelytohitthe

Puricoast(Odisha)asadeepde-pressionaftergettingweakenedduring its journey to the shore,”WeatherScientistUSDashoftheMeteorological Centre,Bhubaneswar, said on Saturdaymorning. However, theweath-erman said in the evening thatthedeepdepressionwill further

weakenandPuri,where thecy-clone was expected to makelandfall,willwitnessrainfallandwindat50-60kmphonSunday.Heavyrainlasheddespitethe

north coastal Andhra Pradeshbreathing easy as the cycloneweakened. In Vajrapukothurumandal, heavywinds uprooteda coconut tree that fell onGorakalaIndu,16,killinghimin-stantly.

Several relief centres havebeen opened to lodge peoplefrom vulnerable areas, theAndhra Pradesh governmentsaid.Odishaauthoritieshaveshel-

teredfishingboatsfromAndhraPradeshandWestBengal,whichwere unable to return to theirdestinationwithinthestipulatedtime, and fishermen have beenadvised not to venture into thesea tillDecember5.The West Bengal govern-

ment too evacuated thousandsinSouth24ParganasandPurbaMedinipur districts. TheDirector of AliporeMeteorological Office, SanjibBandyopadhyay, said, "There islittle possibility of Jawad turn-ing into a cyclonic stormwhenit reaches the Bengal coastlineonSunday.It will become a deep de-

pression,whichwilltriggerrainsacross South Bengal and veryheavy rains in some coastal ar-eas.” A total of 19 NationalDisaster Response Force teamshavebeendeployedinthestate.

East coast breathes easy as cyclone weakens

BoatsanchoredatPuri’s coast.ThecyclonicstormJawadturned intoadeepdepressiononSaturday. PTI

AKSHEEVTHAKURBENGALURU

THE 10 travellers from SouthAfrica,whowentuntraceableaf-ter they reached Bengaluru,were tracked down by BruhatBengaluruMahanagara Palike(BBMP)FridayandSaturday,andsubsequently isolated.“All of themhave been sub-

jected toRT-PCR testingandweare awaiting their results.Samples of only thosewho testpositivewillbesent forgenomesequencing,”BBMPspecialcom-missioner (health) K V Thrilok

Chandra toldThe IndianExpress,He added, “While some of

themwere traced Friday night,the rest were tracked Saturday.TheyarrivedinBengaluruinthefirst and second week ofNovember beforeOmicronwasidentified.Theyhadnotcomeincontact with the two personswho were detected with thenewvariantof Covid-19.”On Friday, KarnatakaHealth

MinisterKSudhakar said the10travellershadswitchedoff theirphones. According to a healthdepartmentofficial, themissingtravellers were spread acrossJayanagar, BTM Layout and

Mahadevapura.The Bangalore International

Airport Limited (BIAL) onSaturdaysaid inatweet, “Asperinternal travel guidelines, twoper cent passengers comingfromcountriesthatarenotinthe‘at-risk’ list shall undergo ran-dom testing at the airport uponarrival. Thecostof randomtest-ing of such passengers will bebornebyBIAL.”Thestatehealthdepartment

said 397 Covid cases were re-portedonSaturday,with207 inBengaluru.Thereare7,012activeCovid-19 cases in Karnataka ofwhich5,096are inBengaluru.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,DECEMBER4

KARNATAKA CHIEF MinisterBasavaraj Bommai on Saturdaysaid that any areawith three ormore cases of Covid-19will beclassifiedasacluster.Sourcessaidthatthedecisionhasbeentakentocontain thespreadof theOmicronvariant of Covid-19 inthestate.Earlier, theBruhatBengaluruMahanagara Palike(BBMP)had said that areas hav-ing at least 10 Covid-19 caseswouldbedeclaredasclusters.TheCMsaidthestategovern-

menthas receivedapreliminaryreport on Omicron cases. “Thehealth department has been in-

structed toobtain a comprehen-sivereportontreatmentprotocolbeing followed in various coun-tries.Atpresent, theprotocol fol-lowed for theDeltavariant isbe-ingappliedtoOmicroninfectionstoo. Iwant a scientific system tobefollowed.ExpertshavesaidthatOmicron is a fast-spreadingvari-ant, but it has not shown severeimplications. However, instruc-tions have been issued to inten-sify tracing and treatment,”Bommai said. The CM said thateveryone in the clusterswill betested. “Only thosewith doubledoses of the vaccinewill be al-lowedtoassembleincommonar-easof apartmentcomplexes,”hesaid. Bengaluru has 57 contain-mentzones.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPANAJI, DECEMBER4

UNION TOURISM Minister GKishan Reddy Saturday said aspecial Archeological Survey ofIndia teamwould look into theconstructionoftheallegedlyille-gal bungalow in a heritage OldGoaprecinct.“I have received information

aboutit.IthashappenedwithoutpermissionfromASI.Wearetak-ingactionagainst it. It iswrong. IhavealreadyaskedaspecialteamofASI to inquire.Wewill takeac-tionagainstit.Iamconvincedthisshouldnothavehappened,but ithas.Therewillbeadecisionaboutit,” Reddy said in Panaji onSaturday.Theallegedillegalstruc-ture has been at the centre ofprotestsandahungerstrikebycit-izensandactivists.Oneof the twobuyers of the

plotswasManishMunot, hus-band of Mumbai-based BJPSpokesperson Shaina NC. BothShaina andMunothad said theyhavenothingtodowiththealcon-struction.Munot subsequentlypulledoutof theproject.

Kejriwal visits fastingAAP leaderDelhiCMArvindKejriwalarrivedin Goa on Saturday to visit AAPleaderAmitPalekar,whohasbeenfastingalongsideotherprotestors.“AfterseeingAmitPalekar'sindef-initehungerstrikeandthekindofsupport he has been receivingfromGoans, finally the govern-ment was forced to cave in,”Kejriwalsaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER4

TENMONTHSafterthemassim-munisationprogrammeagainstCovid-19 began in the state,ActingChief SecretaryDebashisChakraborty took his first doseof the vaccine this week onThursday, sources said.Chakraborty took a shot of

Covaxinat thegovernment-runJJHospital inMumbai.Sources at the hospital said

on Saturday that after themat-ter became public, the bureau-crat held senior doctors at thehospital responsible for “leak-ing”hispersonaldetails.The Indian Express tried con-

tacting Chakraborty, but hecouldnotbe reached.

Areas with three-pluscases to be classified asclusters: Karnataka CM

MAYURAJANWALKARBAMBOLIM(GOA),DEC4

WHEELED BACK into hospitalwardafterundergoingaCTscan,NiteshKumarVishwakarma, 24,is frailbutkeentotell thestoryofhissurvivalthatheisstillcomingtotermswith.Frombehindhisoxygenmask,

he recreated thehazypicture ofthe early hours of Thursday.Poundingrain,waterenteringthebargethatheworkedon(MVShriKrishna), his crewmembers, lifejackets, and a fiercewave thatflunghimintothesea,unheededcalls for help, andhis body start-ingtogivewayaftermorethan24hoursof tryingtoremainafloat.“We call it pitching,” he said,

lifting his right hand to demon-strate with his palm how thebargemovedupanddownamidstrong sea currents and heavyrain. It threwthe crewmembersintothesea.Twonights andanentireday

hadpassedbeforeVishwakarmawasbroughttosafegrounds.Vishwakarmaisoneofthefive

survivors rescuedafter thebarge

capsizedoffthecoastofGoa.Of10crewmembers, theCoastGuardrescued two, three fishing boatsrescuedthreeothers,andoneper-son was found dead by CoastGuard.Fourothersarestillmissing.“By the time I saw the (Coast

Guard)helicopter Iwas just float-ingonwater,”Vishwakarmasaid.“I was exhausted, I could notswim...I raised my hand andshoutedforhelp.Iwasnotsuretheyhadseenme.Thesawthehelicop-terflypastbutthenreturnsoonaf-ter;theyloweredittorescueme.”Recuperating atGoaMedical

College and Hospital,Vishwakarmasaidhisbodyachesandhefeelsextremelyweek.“A first bigwave threwusoff

our feet; I fell somewhere insidethebargebut then therewasan-otherhugewave that struck andit flungme somewhere into thesea,” he recalled. “On the secondnight that Iwas swimming, I feltsomemetal ring touchmy foot, Idon’tknowwhatthatwas…”In another ward is

MohammedAnsari, 21, his rightarm covered in a blood-stainedbandage.“Idon’tevenknowhowmyhandwashurt. I don’t knowwhat hit it. I was swimming formore than 30 hours and wasfoundbyafishingboat….Ihadnoideawhere I was, how far landwas, or if there was any helparound.”Evenwhenhesawthefishing

boat,Ansari saidhewasnot surehewould survive— “until theypulledmeontheirvessel.”Listening closely were

ShahnawazAlamand Zakir Ali,relativesofMusharraf Alam,oneof the crewmembers yet to thetraced,astheCoastGuardcontin-ued its search operations on thesecond day. “Did you seeMusharraf fall into thewater?Was hewearing a life jacket?"Shahnawazasked,tryingtopiecetogether a story he can tellMusharraf's pregnant wife inMalda,WestBengal. Shahnawazand Ali, both employed inGurgaon, flew toGoa fromDelhion Friday after they were in-formedbythebargeownersthatnoneof the10crewmembersonboardwerereachable.Deputy Inspector General

ArunabhBosesaidrescueopera-tionswereunderway to find thefourmissingcrew.CoastGuardof-ficials said two search shipswillcontinue the operation throughSaturdaynight.A representativeofMumbai-

based Shri Krishna StevedoresPrivate Limited said theydidnotwishtocomment.

RESCUEDMORETHAN24HOURSAFTERBARGECAPSIZED,CREWMEMBERRECALLS

NiteshVishwakarmawasrescuedonFriday.CoastGuard

‘(Coast Guard) chopper first flew past,then returned... lowered it to rescue me’

New Delhi

10 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021OPINION

FifthCOLUMNTAVLEENSINGHTwitter@tavleen_singh

THECENTRALgovernmentanditsminis-tersspeakadnauseumonthethreatfromPakistan,hostilityof anunnamedneigh-bour (China), Hindutva, disruption ofParliament,andolanjeevis(perennialpro-testers),dynasticpolitics,70-years-of-no-development, India is a vishwa guru(teachertotheworld)andsoon.However,Ihavenotheardthemspeakof thestatusofourchildren,especiallythestatusofourchildren’shealthandeducation.I havediligently followed theAnnual

Statusof EducationReport (ASER) that ispublishedperiodically.Wehadthereportsfor2018and2020.Now, theASERreportfor 2021 has been published onNovember17,2021.At about the same time, theNational

Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21)waspublished. It follows thesamepatternasNHFS-4, and that is helpful formaking acomparison. The two reports — ASER2021 andNFHS-5—capture the pictureof real India,unlike the BSE index or theNIFTYindexthatcapturethehealthofnomore than 100 listed companies. Thesereports have been in the public domainforthelast twoweeks,but Icannotrecallthe Prime Minister or the EducationMinisterortheHealthMinisterspeakingonthetwosubjects.

TWO REPORTS, KEYCONCLUSIONS

The two reports assess the impact ofthe pandemic. They cannot be brushedasideastheresultsofaone-offoccurrence.

The conclusions of the reports are de-pressing.Letmelist thekeyfindings:ASER2021(RURAL):1. There is a clear shift in enrollment

fromprivatetogovernmentschools.2.Thereisasteadyincreaseinchildren

taking ‘tuition’.3. Smartphone ownership has in-

creasedbutchildren’s access remainsanissue.4.There isadecrease in learningsup-

portathomeasschoolsreopen.5.Thereisaslightincreaseinlearning

materialsavailableforchildren.NFHS2019-21:1. TheTotal FertilityRatehas reached

2.0(slightlybelowthereplacementrate),but the population of three states (alsoamongthepoorest)continuestogrowatahigherrate.2.Sexratioamongchildrenborninthe

lastfiveyearshasdroppedinexplicablyto929(femalestomales).3.Sanitation,CleanFuelandHealthis-

suescontinuetobechallengestomillionsof families.4.Mortality rates are falling, but are

unacceptablyhigh.5.Stunting,WastingandAnaemiaare

gravechallengestochildren.Juxtaposethefirst setof conclusions

onEducationwiththesecondsetofcon-clusionsonHealth.Itwillbeevidentthatthemostpreciousresourceofanycoun-try—children—isneglectedinIndia,andthereisscarcelyanypublicdiscussiononthesubject.Eventheministryexclusivelyset up for their welfare, theMinistry ofWomenandChildDevelopment,seems

tobe indeepslumber.

INEQUALITIES,AGGRAVATED

Inequality among different sectionsof thepeopleisobservedinallcountries.Incomeandwealtharethebiggestdiffer-entiators. In India, those differences areaggravatedby religionandcaste. Peoplefromdisadvantagedsocialandeconomicgroups are among the poorest and themostunemployed,discriminatedagainstand neglected by the State. You mayimaginethestatusof theirchildren’sed-ucation and health in comparison tootherchildren’s.ASERandNFHShavenotdonea reli-

gion- or caste-based enumeration oranalysisofthedata.Theyareaboutallchil-dren.Let’sconsiderwhatkindofchildrenaregrowingupincontemporaryIndia,es-peciallywhenthecountryisaffectedbyapandemic.Myconclusionsare:

■Couples have fewer children, butthey are not giving birth to an approxi-matelyequalnumberofmaleandfemalechildren.Whiletheoverallsexratiooffe-males tomales is healthy (1,020), it hasdroppedalarmingly among0-5years to929. This numberhasbeen contested—anditshouldbescrutinisedrigorously—but the trend, if correct, is a matter ofgreatworry.

■Thethreepooreststatescontinuetobebadlygoverned.Theyareaddingtothepopulation at a rate higher than the na-tionalaverage.Thatmeansmorechildren

arebeingaddedinpoorstates.Povertyal-leviationmeasuresseemtohavefailedinthesestates.

■Despite tall claims, India is not yetOpenDefecation Free. The free-cylinderscheme (now calledUjjwala) is not thesuccessthat it isclaimedtobe.

■While health infrastructure andhealthserviceshaveimproved,maternaland child health are still neglected.Wecannot accept a situationwheremanychildrenaredyingatbirth(24.9perthou-sand), during infancy (35.2) andwithinthefirst fiveyears(41.9).

■Forthechildrenwhosurvive,nutri-tion isabigchallenge.This is captured inthe disconcertingly high percentage ofstunting (35.5 per cent), wasting (19.3)andnutritionaldeficiency(32.1).

■The ‘learning loss’ in 2020-21 and2021-22 has been colossal. Schools hadbeenclosedfor73weeksagainstaglobalaverage of 35 weeks. Children havemoved fromprivate schools to govern-mentschoolsbecauseofmigrationandfi-nancial distress. The capacity of govern-ment schools to absorb the increasednumberofchildrenisdoubtfulandmanychildrenwere observed sitting inmulti-gradeclass rooms.Only39.8percent re-portedreceivinglearningmaterialwhenschoolshadbeenshut.Foundationalskills(reading and arithmetic)werewoefullyshortof thelevelof theclass.Will the PrimeMinister, the Chief

Ministers and theCentral and state gov-ernments spare a thought—andutter aword—abouttheworrisomestateofourchildren’shealthandeducation?

Precious resource in peril

The two reports — ASER2021 and NFHS-5 — capture

the picture of real India,unlike the BSE index or the

NIFTY index that capture thehealth of no more than 100

listed companies. Thesereports have been in the

public domain for the lasttwo weeks, but I cannot recall

the Prime Minister or theEducation Minister or the

Health Minister speaking onthe two subjects

AcrossTHEAISLE

PCHIDAMBARAMWebsite:pchidambaram.inTwitter@Pchidambaram_IN

SOUTHERN DISTRESSAGITATED leaders fromSouth India, cut-tingacrosspartylines,arereportedlyplan-ning tomeet in the Capital nextweek todiscuss organising a joint protest againstanyattemptbythegovernmenttoimple-mentdelimitationofparliamentaryseats,scheduled for 2026. Delimitationwouldrequireeachconstituencytohaveroughlythe same population. An indication thatthegovernmentwasplanningtogoaheadwith a delimitation exercisewas seen inPrimeMinister NarendraModi’s instruc-tion to Bimal Patel, the architect for thenewParliament building, to increase theseatingcapacityofthenewLokSabhahallfrom543seatstoover750.Ifdelimitationis implemented, stateswith lowpopula-tiongrowthratessuchasKeralaandTamilNaduwillseetheirshareofrepresentationin the House fall, while UP, Bihar andRajasthan would increase their clout.Southern politicians say theywill not al-low their states to be politicallymargin-alisedforbetter familyplanning.

HEALTHY CONCERNSThere is someconcernoverMaharashtraChiefMinisterUddhavThackeray’shealth.Thackeray, 61, was admitted to a privatehospitalforaspinesurgeryonNovember10, andwas discharged on December 2,after22days.HeconductedCabinetmeet-ings from the hospital and his residencehasbeenfittedouttohandleanymedicalemergency. With doctors advisingThackeraycompletebedrest,heskippedfatherBal Thackeray’sdeathanniversaryfunction on November 17, and deputedhis sonAditya tomeetMamataBanerjeewhenshevisitedMumbai lastweek.TheMaharashtraAssemblySessionhasbeenmoved fromDecember 10 to December22 and curtailed to aweek. Also, in a de-parturefromtradition,theWinterSessionwill beheld inMumbaiandnotNagpur.

ODD CHOICEThe new team additions to the IndianPremier League were puzzling asKolkata industrialist Sanjiv Goenkaopted for the Lucknow franchise overthe more lucrative Gujarat franchise.Goenka’s firm Rs 7,090-crore bid wasway above the next highest of Rs 5,625crore, by a little-known Europeanprivateequityfirm,CVCCapitalPartners.So it could have picked either venue.

Since the Narendra Modi Stadium inAhmedabad has a seating capacity of1,30,000 and the Lucknow EkanaStadiumcanaccommodateonly50,000,it mademore business sense to opt fortheAhmedabadfranchise,particularlyasit was also likely to attract moreadvertisers.Goenka,whoownstheIndiaSuper League football club MohunBagan, attributedhis surprise choice tothe fact that he has business interestsinUPandsawpotential in thepopulousnorthernregion.Butscepticswonderedwhether thereal reasonwasthathedidnot want to rile Mamata Banerjee, theCMofhishomestate,byowninga teamwhich would be viewed as a brandambassador for Gujarat. Incidentally,Gautam Adani, who was widelyexpectedtobidfortheGujarat franchise,stayedaway.

LAID-BACK REPLYA Congress MP on a recent visit toJharkhandcameacrosssomenewswhichheconsideredalarming.Thegovernment,with the JharkhandMukti Morcha andCongressaspartners,wasindangerofcol-lapsing, due to crisis brewingwithin theCongress.SomeCongressMLAswerebe-ingwooed by the BJP, he learnt. TheMPpromptlymessaged Rahul Gandhi thatthesituationwasseriousandimmediatestepsshouldbe taken.Hereceivedaper-functory response to his SOS 14 hourslater, assuring him that his informationwouldbecheckedout.GandhiwasoutofthecountryforthreeweeksinNovemberand innohurry toact.

NOT SO PRIVATETrinamool Congress chief MamataBanerjee’s attempt inDelhi to reachoutto politicians and intellectualsdisillusionedwith the Gandhi family’shegemony over the Opposition andlooking for a viable alternative to theBJP was not as successful an outreachas she had hoped. Several of thoseinvited to meet Banerjee were takenabackwhentheydiscoveredBanerjee’snephew Abhishek Banerjee, PrashantKishor and Derek O’Brien sitting closeby. The presence of the three madeconversation awkward since manywereafraid tospeakopenly fearing thatthe talks would leak. One member ofthe Congress G-23 dissidents groupcancelled his meeting when he learnttherewas to be company. A TrinamoolCongress member felt humiliated bythe overzealous frisking by securitypersonnel. Banerjeecomplained toherpeople that the meetings were badlyorganised. InMumbai, Banerjee held ajointget-togetherwithprominent civilsocietymembers.

insideTRACKCOOMIKAPOOR

THE BALL of the foot hurts a little, feelsburnt actually. But there’s ablood rush inthattoe-tapping,sole-thumpingandheel-thudding,asenseofachievementinabe-ginner’sKathakclass.Myfellowstudents,allbetweensixandpre-teens,areallraringtoclaimeverythingtheworldhastooffer.Bestfootforward.ButIam51,batteredbycircumstance, too beaten to claim some-thing new. Yet, here I am, standing tall inmyawkwardness.Unmindfulof fears,ex-pectations, judgments, age-appropriate-nessandallkindsof gaze.Enoughseptuagenariandancershave

madeheadlines.Buttheybeganearlier.At

KathakmaestroShobhanaNarayan’sstu-dio,ahandfulofstudentsbetween50and60arereclaimingtheirlostpassion.Iamafresher. Andwhile Narayan herself hasbeenaguru forwhomher sadhananeverends, for me dance is about self-indul-gence.Andabitof self-evolution.Growingup, I had always loveddanc-

ing. As I did painting,writing anddrama.AndifyouhavespentyourwonderyearsinKolkata,youwouldknowthatBengalipar-entspursue their holistic education idealswithamissionaryzeal.Good,becauseIgotexposedtoartandcultureearlyon.Bad,be-causedancinggotleftbehindforsoundca-reer choices. After all, journalism had agreaterpotentialtochangetheworld.Thosedays,ourchoiceswereidealistic

thanbeing either oriented or driven. Andadulting during the post-liberalisationyearsmeantthattheworldhadopenedupand had to be gulped down ravenously.Thentherewasthesun-kissedwarmthofa family life. Suffice to say, I gave up ondance.Mid-life andmid-career,when lifestillseemstobeaworkinprogress,havingduckedacurveballortwo,I’verealisedthatmineneededtobeleavenedbyadollopofpassion. Many suggested story-telling,painting, pottery, all supposedly in therealmofsuitability.Whatifdancehappensto bemynew-foundmoment of self-ex-pression?Fulfilment?Youwouldthinksuchexistentialques-

tionsshould ideallybeaskedata restless25 than at a sedate 50. But then I gotmy

answers fromtwopeople Ihadmetearlyon inmycareer.Narayanwas thesubjectof an interview and choreographerBhavini Mishra an intern in my team.Narayanmade it easier forme to under-standKathakbeyonditsrawphysicalen-ergy and feel its sensuality, subtlety andnuances. The dance form also helps youfeel the navarasas, enacting emotionsthroughfacialexpressionsandhandges-tures, feeling something that you’ve notdared to ina long, long time.WhenImetBhavini,shewasfinishing

hermasscommunicationcourseandget-ting her rhythms right, be it for Chhau,jazz, contemporary... Sharp and focused,shewouldhavemadeitasajournalistbutchosedance.Andjustwhenshewasmak-

ing hermark, a fall on stagemeant thatcouldneverperformagain.Butsheproveddoctorswrong, soaringwith abandon assheconceivedhermostdifficultactssince.Shebelievesthateachoneofuscancreateour owndance forms andget our bodiestospeakourminds.Why is it that Ibelieve themnowand

didn’t go with my impulses before?BecauseI’vebeentrappedbybiasesofmyownmaking. I amprofessedly liberalbutnot liberated enough. People look at youone time, then themoment passes on.Andweletthatonemomentruinourfreespirit.We’vegottotellourselves,we’llstillbeokay.Buthappier.

National Editor Shalini Langercurates the ‘SheSaid’ column

Life at 50... one twirl at a time

WHEN SOUTH Africa first detected theOmicronvariantwithwholegenomese-quencing,wedecidedtoimmediatelyco-ordinate thework of collecting and dis-tributing 1,400 Covid samples that hadtestedpositiveinOctoberandNovembertovariousINSACOGlabs inPuneandruleout thisvariantof concern.Under INSACOG or the Indian SARS

CoV2 Genomics Consortium, the ViralResearch and Diagnostic Laboratory(VRDL)atBJGovernmentMedicalCollegeinPunecurrentlysequencessamplesthatare clinically relevant, those of break-through infection, and in case there is aspike in infection inaparticulararea.Till date,wehavecoordinated the se-

quencing of 21,371 samples and sharedthe data with relevant government au-thorities. Until now, the VRDL at BJGMChas tested6,33,847COVID-19samples—5,54,151throughRT-PCRtestsand80,933throughRapidAntigenTests. This tally isthe highest for government laboratoriesinMaharashtra.Mymornings since the start of the

pandemicaremostlyspentinsharinglat-est scientific papers and developmentswithlike-mindedcliniciansaboutRT-PCRtestsandgenomesequences.To fully understand the spread and

evolution of SARS-CoV2 virus and tackleits future spread, sequencing andanalysinggenomicdatawill be required.The study of accumulatedmutations inthe viral genomeswill help us comparevirussamplesandlineagestounderstandif localoutbreaksarecausedbythetrans-mission of single or multiple lineages.Analysis of SARS-CoV2 genome se-quences is importanttounderstandhowthe virus evolved and also further assesswhetherthesemutationsinfluencetrans-mission, clinical outcomes, severity or iftheymay impactpublichealth interven-tionmeasuresandvaccines.Genome sequencingwas initiated at

BJGMC, Pune, with the help of theNational Centre for Cell Science, Pune,veryearlyinthepandemic,withthesign-ing of anMoU in June 2020. Then it wasintheformofascientificresearchstudytofind mutations in SARS-CoV-2 duringAprilandMay2020.Ourdepartmentwasapart of theprestigiouspan-IndiaSARS-CoV-2 RNA Genome SequencingConsortium formed under the aegis ofDepartmentofBiotechnology,MinistryofScienceandTechnologyandGovernmentof India throughtheNCCS,Pune.

Wehad carriedout genome sequenc-ing on samples fromAmravati, YavatmalandSatara,followingtheCovid-19surgeinFebruary2021. The12 samples (four eachfrom the districts) were sequenced byDrAthiraJayaram,DrSushmaYanamandra,Dr Smriti Shende, under the guidance ofGenotypicTechnologiesPvtLtd,Bengaluru,andmutations analysed byDr RashmitaDas andDr Suvarna Joshi alongwithme.Thisstudyledtofindingof theKappavari-antinsamplestestedfromAmravati.Our sequencing lab is now a partner

inINSACOGandweundertooktheimpor-tant preliminary clinical study for com-paringDeltavarianttotheAY.4variantasrequestedby the INSACOG.As the Laboratory Director for the

ClinicalTrialsUnit(CTU)of JohnsHopkinsUniversityatBJGMC,Icontinuetopursuemypassion for research. Overseeing testresults is part of thework that I have toensureasthemicrobiologylaboratorycu-mulatively caters to over 1,500 samplesdaily, diagnosingbacterial and fungal in-fections using conventional and auto-matedtechniques,andviralinfectionslikedengue, chikungunya, andhepatitis.The journey started during the early

stage of the pandemic, when the IndianCouncil of Medical Research’s (ICMR)National Institute of Virology (NIV) inPunewasengagedinCovid-19testingus-ingRT-PCR. TheB JGovernmentMedicalCollegetooktheinitiativetohelptheNIVby lessening its load in the humongousamount of testing anticipated in theIndiansetting.

AftertheICMRnod,testswerecarriedout in our Clinical Trial Unit and theHIVtestinglaboratoryofthemicrobiologyde-partment—theonlyplaceswhichhousedPCRmachines. The first reporting wassuccessfully carried out on March 23,2020,thatpavedthewaytotheestablish-mentof a full-fledgedViralResearchandDiagnostic Laboratory (VRDL).Eventually, the BSL-2 VRDL saw the

addition of two automated RNA extrac-torsandfivenewPCRmachines.Wethendecided to start rapid antigen tests andCB-NAAT for Covid-19 in the casualtyemergencyward itself, something thathelped rapid segregation and admissionofpatientstoeitherCovid-19ICU/wardsiftested positive or to the non-CovidICU/wards if testednegative.Thismonu-mental taskof testingmore thansix lakhsamples for Covid-19, and coordinatingthesequencingofover20,000samples, isa group effort carried out with the helpandguidanceofmanyother institutions.Work does not stop at 7 pm and, at

home, I ambusy sending reports to gov-ernmentauthoritiesonguidelinesandpro-tocols for Covid-19. This is apart frompreparingqualityteachingmaterialforstu-dentsofmicrobiology.Mydayendsafteranewonehasalreadybegunatmidnight.

DrKaryakarte isMaharashtracoordinator forgenomesequencing,HoD,Microbiology,atBJGovernmentMedical

CollegeandSassoonHospital, Pune

As told toAnuradhaMascarenhas

Where is thealternative?

life &WORKRAJESHKARYAKARTE

[email protected]

As Omicron hits, sifting1,400 samples, and more

Ahealthworkersortsemptyvialsduringavaccinationdrive,amidfearsof thenewOmicronvariant, inBengaluru.PTI

IF PROOF were needed that NarendraModi goes from strength to strengthonly because he faces noOpposition, itcame this year. In the seven years thathe has been Prime Minister, this hasbeen theyearmostdefinedbyblundersand fiascoes. The mistakes made byModi personally in areas ranging fromhealthcare to national security are toolong to list in this limited space. In myviewthe twothat standoutare thedes-perate state that India found herself inat the height of the second Covidwavewhen public healthcare literally col-lapsed, and we discovered that thePrime Minister had failed to orderenough vaccines to save us from thisevil virus. The second was Modi’s fail-ure to understand in time that if farm-ers were ready to protest for a wholeyear against laws that they believedwould ruin them, then the PrimeMinister should have addressed theirfears earlier insteadofmaligning them.Modi’s failure to consult the people hewas trying to benefitwasnot just a ter-riblemistakebutapoor reflectionof thequality of his leadership.It is remarkable thathehasbeenable

to ride out the storms of this year andhas come through, if the polls are right,as a man who India’s voters still trustmorethananyotherpolitical leader.Thefailure, as the Chief Minister of WestBengal sovividlypointedout lastweek,is the failureof theOppositionparties totake advantage of Modi’s many seriousmistakes. Shesaid that itwas importantfor whoever led the Opposition partiestohavethecourageto fight, andthat theCongresspartyhadshownthatnotonlydid itnothaveany fight left in itbut thatit had a leader who was always loafingoff to some foreign country when hewas neededhere.Brutal. But, sometimes it is essential

for the truth to be told brutally, and thetruth is that if despite thisyear inwhichModi has totted up a litany of mistakesandfailures, theOppositionstill remainsstagnant, thenweneedtostart asking ifwe have an Opposition left at all. Notwhether it is capableofuniting todefeattheBJP invital state elections thatdrawevercloser,but if there isanyOppositionout there at all.TheOppositionparties routinelyac-

cuse the Modi government of makingParliament dysfunctional, but who is itwhospendsmoretimesittingunder thestatue of Gandhiji than inside thatvaunted ‘templeofdemocracy’?The lastsession of Parliament was wasted be-causeof theOppositionparties insistingthat until Pegasus spyware was dis-cussed, nothing else would be. ThisSession looks as if it will be wasted be-cause those 12 suspendedmembers ofthe Rajya Sabha refuse to apologise forextremelybadbehaviourandchoose in-stead to spend their time underGandhiji’s statue. If there is a strategybehind this endless disruption ofParliament, then it isabadone.And,onethat seems to be designed by politicalleaders stuck in a timewarp.In that long ago time before social

media and instant news, this kind ofprotest may have had some value. It nolongerdoesandreally looksas foolishasgatheringoutsidethegatesofParliamentandtrottingoff toRashtrapatiBhavantocomplaintothePresident. Is itanywon-der that Modi continues to be seen asIndia’sonly leader? Is itanywonderthatdespite themanyblundershehasmadethis year, he still appears unscathed? Ifyou were watchingMamata Banerjee’spress conference inMumbai last week,youwouldhavenoticed that thepeoplewho have flocked to her side are thosewho once believed that the Congresspartywas theonebulwarkagainst IndiabecomingaHinduversionof the Islamicrepublicnextdoor.Horriblethought,butonethatwemuststartdwellinguponal-beit gloomily.ThetruthisthatwithouttheCongress

party, therecanbenorealpoliticalalter-native at the national level. But not onlydoes it seem incapable of rising to thetask, it seems not to have understoodhowmuchpolitics has changed. Insteadof renewal itseemstobewallowinginitspastglories,as if ithasnothingelsetoof-fer.ThesadtruthisthatSoniaGandhiandherchildrenappeartohavelearnednoth-ingatallaboutwhytheyhaveledourold-est political party to humiliating defeatsin twogeneral elections.Unless theybegintoquestionwhyall

the Congress party’s stalwarts have ei-ther left or seem unhappier by the day,there iseverychance that regionalplay-ers likeMamata Banerjee will try to dowhat they can to fill the empty spacethat grows larger and larger, where thenationalOppositionshouldbe. Inherdi-atribe against the Congress party lastweek,oneof thechargesBanerjeemadewas that the Congress has ‘become theTRP’ofNarendraModi.She isnotwrong.This is why when things go badly forModi, his spokesmen always invokeRahul Gandhi to remind Indian votersthat he is their only choice and that heis really no choice at all. If thiswere nottrue, there isnochancethatModiwouldhave emerged unscathed at the end ofwhathasbeentheworstyearofhis longpolitical career.

New Delhi

THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021

SUNDAYSTORYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

TAKE5EGGS, BANANA INMID-DAYMEALS

“Weexpectavisiblechange innourishment levels, and,thereby,moreattendance”

‘Each student willget 42 boiled eggs(or bananas) innext 4 months’FromDecember 1, theKarnataka governmentincluded boiled eggs and,for vegetarians, bananas initsmid-daymeal forstudents in 7 districts

RALPHALEXARAKAL

1What is theexpectedoutcomeof includingeggsinmid-daymeals?The recent National Family

Health Survey revealed that chil-dren in seven Karnataka districts— Ballari, Bidar, Kalaburagi,Koppal, Raichur, Vijayapura andYadgir—weresufferingfromhighmalnourishment and anaemia.With boiled eggs or bananas be-ingincludedinthemid-daymeals,we expect a visible change innourishment levels among chil-dren and, thereby, more atten-danceatschools.Improvinghealthconditions are expected to fuelbetter learningoutcomesaswell.

2Howmanystudentsareexpectedtobenefit from

this?We have estimated that

14,44,322studentswillbecovered.Eachstudent isexpectedtoget42boiled eggs (or bananas) fromDecember2021toMarch2022.

3Areschoolsaskedtoprocureeggsthemselves?The government has in-

structed the school developmentand monitoring committees(SDMC)atnearly11,000schoolstobuyandboil eggsof goodquality.The cost incurred will be de-posited to the school account inatimelymanner.

4Howmuchis itexpectedtocost thegovernment

additionally?Rs 39.86 crore has been allo-

cated towards including eggs intheschemefor thesedistricts.

5 Is thereanyplantoextendthisschemetoschools

across thestate?No such plans have been for-

mulatedyet.However, theresultsfrom these seven districtswill becloselynoted.

DIVYAGOYALGOPAL

AS THE teacher dictates lines in fluentPunjabi, the anxiety of Japmanpreet Singh,11, a student of Class 5 at GovernmentElementary ‘Smart’ School in Kansal villageofMohalidistrict inPunjab, grows.It has been nearly a year since

Japmanpreet’s parents shifted him to thisschoolintheirvillagefromaCBSE-affiliated,English-medium private school inChandigarh—his younger brother Sahibjotjoined theschool inClass1 thisyear.For Japmanpreet and Sahibjot, 7, it has

meant adjusting fromPunjabi as one of thesubjects to Punjabi as themain one. In theclassof21, Japmanpreet is theonlyonewhohasopted for ‘EnglishMedium’. Thismeansa separate set of books and extra attentionfromtheclassteacher—whoteachesall thesix subjects, includingPunjabi andEnglish.Japmanpreet, who is more fluent in

EnglishandHindi,strugglestokeepup,espe-cially in takingnotes inPunjabi.Therearesixclassroomsfor330children

attheschool.The‘smart’tagisessentiallyfortwoclassroomsfittedwithprojectors.Socialdistancing is impossible.Harpreet Kaur Bedi, 37, says she had to

shifthertwosonstoagovernmentschoolasthe incomeof herhusbandMandeepSinghBedi,amusicteacheratagurdwaraintheUS,nearly halved during the pandemic, when

the gurdwara was shut. “Wewere payingRs7,200amonth for the twoas tuition fees.We requested some concessions for onlineclasses,buttheprivateschooldidnotagree.”For Japmanpreet, math tables are now

‘pahaadey’, ‘Thought of the day’ is ‘Ajj davichaar’,andtiffin ismid-daymeal.Sahibjot,whohadnoexposuretoPunjabi

asitstartsasasubjectinprivateschoolsonlyfromClass3,hasforgottentheEnglishpoems

helearnt.HeishavinganeasiertimemakingtheshifttoPunjabithough,andhavinglearntthe alphabet only this year, shows the neatthree-letterwordshehascopieddown.Japmanpreet’s class teacher Ramanjeet

KaursaysheisslowerinPunjabiwritingbutmuchbetter at English thanhis classmates.“For instance, Japmanknows thedifferencebetween ‘nice’ and ‘niece’,” she says. Kaurtries toexplain the topics tohimseparately,

but thecommonclassesare inPunjabi.HeadteacherNDTewari says theschool

isshortofatleasttworooms,andhencetwosections of pre-primary (LKG, UKG) have tobe combined in one room. At least 25 chil-dren from private schools have enrolled intheirschoolthisyear,Tewarisays,atrendno-ticedacrossPunjab followingCovid.Englishmediumisprovidedasanoption

for students inPunjabgovernment schools.

There is no tuition fees, and books anduni-formareprovided free.Harpreet,whostayswithhermotherand

drops the children to school on her Scooty,says she finally decide to make the shiftwhen the private school demandedRs40,000for“freshadmission”inClass5forJapmanpreet.Moving into the new school, she says,

Japmanpreet had only one question: “How

will IhandlePunjabi?”Butmath and English are the real prob-

lem,feelsHarpreet.“Mathpracticematerialandmodel question papers are in Punjabi.Japmanpreet’sbasehasbeenEnglish.”Whilethey can’t expect the same facilities as theprivateschool, shesays, shewishesthegov-ernmentschoolat leasthadmore teachers.Harpreet’sfearsabouthersonsfallingbe-

hind in English are also due to the expecta-tion of joining her husband in the US soon.“Withhisincomerecoveringabit, Ihaveen-gagedtuitionsforthemforRs2,500amonthto focusonEnglish. I too teach them.”Shealsoworriesabouttheotherchildren

attheschool.“Parentsofmoststudentsworkas labourers, vendors etc... I tell my sons tobefriendswitheveryone,butIamafraidtheymightpickup foul language.”Atlunch,JapmanpreetandSahibjotlineup

fortheirmid-daymeal.Today,theyarehappyasitishotcurryandrice.Ondaysthereisdaal-roti, theyasktheirmothertopackatiffin.If themove to the US does not happen,

HarpeetmightoptforaprivateschoolagainwhenJapmanpreethastomoveinClass6.“Iamalreadypreparinghimashehasmissedouta lot inClass5here,” shesays.Japmanpreet,though,maybemuchwiser.

“Thepreviousschoolwasaskingfortoomuchfeesevenforonlineclassesandwouldnotex-plainanythinginthoseclasses.Somymotherchangedmyschool,”hesays,adding,“This isalsoaverygoodschool. I like ithere.”

Japmanpreet,brotherSahibjotwerestudentsof anEnglish-mediumpvtschool inChandigarh, tillCovidsetbacks forcedtheirmother toshift themtoagovtschool. ItmeansuppingtheirPunjabi, strugglingwithmath,andtuitions

THEWORLDiswatchingusnow,evenmore than theyhavebe-fore,”ParagAgrawalwrote inanote to the staff of Twitter onNovember 29, the dayhewas

namedChiefExecutiveOfficer(CEO)ofthemi-crobloggingplatform.AsAgrawal,37,takesoverfromJackDorsey

—theembattledfounderofanembattledcom-panythathasstruggledtokeeppacewithcon-temporaries such as Facebook — the IITBombay(IIT-B)alumnuswillbeacutelyawareof the spotlighthe findshimself inasTwitternegotiates the free-speech linewithgovern-mentsaroundtheworld, includinginIndia.While this is probably the first time

Agrawalhasstepped into themediaglare,hehasbeenakeyforceatTwitterasDorseyhim-self acknowledged. “(Parag) has beenmychoiceforsometimegivenhowdeeplyheun-derstands the company and its needs. Paraghas beenbehind every critical decision thathelpedturnthiscompanyaround....MytrustinhimasCEO is bonedeep,”Dorseywrote, an-nouncingAgrawal’sappointmentandhisownsteppingdown.Parag,who joinedTwitter as anengineer

in 2011 and went on to become the SanFransisco-basedcompany’sChiefTechnologyOfficer(CTO),hasbeenresponsiblefordrivingmostofthepath-breakingprojectsatthecom-pany, themost crucial being the successfulmonestisation of the company’s advertise-ment-basedrevenuemodels.UnderAgrawal,theadsteamusedmachine-learningtoanalysedataandtargetadvertisementstousers.He has also worked to accelerate user

growth by improving ‘Home timeline’ rele-vance, reworking the company’s technicalstrategy,andoverseeingmachinelearningandAIacrosstheplatform.In2019,DorseyleanedonAgrawal to launchBluesky, an ambitiousTwitter-funded initiative to create a decen-tralised socialmedia,whereusers can applytheir ownalgorithms tomoderate andpro-motecontent.Whiletheindustryandthemediareacted

with surprise and curiosity at Agrawal’s ap-pointment, with Twitter’s India timelinesfloodedbyarushofmemeson“Agarwal ji kabeta”,hisfriendsandteacherssaytheyarenotsurprisedatthemeteoricriseofthis“brilliant”,“focused”,“creative”mind—traitsthatseemtohave ledhimall thewaytoSiliconValleyandonwardstoTwitter.HiswifeVineetaAgrawala,whoholdsaB.S.

inbiophysicsfromStanfordUniversityandhasMDandPhDdegrees fromHarvardMedicalSchool/MIT,isaGeneralPartneratAndreessenHorowitz,aSiliconValley-basedventurecap-italfirm.Thecouplehaveathree-year-oldson.Newsof Agrawal’s appointmentbrought

in a rush ofmemories for Praveen Tyagi, 47,who coachedAgrawal for his Joint EntranceExam(JEE)— fromthe timeAgrawal andhisfriendsfelloffacycletheywere“ridingtriple”whileontheirwaytoclass, towhentheboyswould escort him to the gatewhen a backpain left him using crutches, to the goldmedal Agrawal won at the InternationalPhysicsOlympiad.“Paragwasabrightstudent...gotahighJEE

rank. Hewould have rankedbetter but I re-member,duringhisexamination,heaskedforsupplement sheets anddue to amisunder-standingon thepart of the examiner, he lostvaluabletime,”saidTyagi.Dr JenniferWidom,professor at Stanford

UniversitywhoguidedAgrawal throughhisPhD thesis on ‘IncorporatingUncertainty inDataManagement and Integration’, says hisanalytical skills andability to collaboratewillhelphiminhisnewroleatTwitter.“Paragis incrediblysmartandcreative.As

aPhDstudent,hewasequallyadeptwiththe-oreticalconceptsasbuildingsoftwaresystems.Hewasalsoawonderfulsoundingboardandcollaboratorwithotherstudentsandtheirre-search,verygenerouswithhistime.Heisalsoanalytical, curious,andpatient—allofwhichwillhelpinhisnewrole,”shetoldTheSundayExpress, signingoffwithanadvicetothenewTwitterCEO:“Don’tloseyourfun-loving,light-hearted,down-to-earthpersonality.Youkeptit duringmanychallengingyears asCTOandI’mcountingonyoutokeepitasCEOaswell.”SupratimBiswas, Professor of Computer

ScienceandEngineeringat IIT-B,who taughtAgrawal,saidinarecentvideoaddress,“Paragisfromthe2001batchandgraduatedfromourdepartmentin2005.WeallknowweonlygetthetoppersfromalloverIndiaintoourdepart-ment,andtotopwithinthatitself,requiresspe-

cialcalibreandParagdefinitelyhadit.Hewasextremelybright, focused, andhence it is nowonderthatatsuchayoungagehehasearnedthis distinction.Hewas also honouredwiththeYoungAlumnusAwardfromtheinstitutethreeyearsago,sohewasinthenewsasfarasthedepartmentisconcerned.”AnandKumar, nowprincipal of Atomic

EnergyJuniorCollegeinMumbai’seasternsub-urbsofAnushaktiNagarwhereAgrawalstud-ied, said, “Fromwhat I have heard fromhisteachers,hewasveryintelligent,focused,cre-ative and always to thepoint.Wewere veryexcited(abouttheappointment)...Hewillbeatalking pointwhenwegive speeches in ourcollegetoinspireourstudents.”Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director of IIT

Bombay,said,“Thesignificanceofauniversityisoftenjudgedbythecollectiveachievements

ofitsalumni...ParagAgrawalisonesuchalum-nusthatIIT-Bisproudof.”Agrawal’s contemporaries at Stanford

UniversityandearlieratIIT-B,wherehespenthours hanging outwith friends near ViharLake, behind the institute’sHostelNo. 4, tootalkofhimasamanwholearnedfast.DevdattaGangalof FacebookRealityLabs

recently wrote a post on Agrawal, hisComputerSciencecontemporaryatIIT-B,andhow their friendshipwas cemented duringGangal’sfrequentvisitstoStanford,wherehiswifestudied,andlaterafterhemovedtoSiliconValley.“ThelivingroomofParag’shomeat50Dudley Ln, Stanford, was our unofficial‘CommunityCenter’andwehavespenthourschatting, playinggames, cooking, eating, cel-ebratingDiwali etc, and crashing there. Andusing it as abase for various treks, hikes, and

weekendski trips toTahoe,”hewrote,beforelistingAgrawal’swinning traits— that he iswell-read, logical, hyper-efficient, has clarityof thought,andthathelovesTwitter.“Parag isdeeplyknowledgeableaboutal-

mosteverytopichecaresabout.Andtherearemany—sports, finance, IndianandAmericanpolitics, travel, andunsurprisingly consumerelectronics and tech. If there is somethinghedoesn’tknow,heisquicktosay‘jyadaideanahi’,‘Ihaven’t followedit recently’, andfollowsupwith‘batawhat’sthedealwithXYZ’,withtheright set of questions to get informed on it.MaybethisiswhatJackDorseymeantwhenhewroteaboutParag’scuriosity,”wroteGangal.VijayKrishnan,CTOof theSiliconValley-

based Turing.com,who graduated from IIT-BandStanfordUniversity,said,“Myfirstover-lapwithParagat IIT-Bwaswhenwewere inageometricalgorithmselectivecourse.Itwastaughtbyaprofessortryingtosolvethe ‘PvsNP’ problem,which is one of the toughestopen problems in Computer Science. Onlystudents who did extremelywell in othermathematics and algorithms classes at IITwouldoptforit.IvividlyrememberthatParagseemed to easily understand thematerialwhilemost others found it hard andwouldlean on him for questions and clarificationsafter theclass.”But one of the biggest challenges awaits

AgrawalbackinIndia,whereTwitterisincreas-ingly finds itself caught in the free speechvscensorshipdebate.Whiletensionsbetweenthecompanyand

the government,which peaked earlier thisyear, have eased considerably, Agrawal’s ap-pointment, say officials of theMinistry ofElectronicsandInformationTechnology,isex-pectedtodousethefirefurther.“Theministryismuchmorethanjustabout

socialmedia intermediariesor Internetregu-lation.Wearehopefulthatwiththis(appoint-ment),thingswillbemorepositiveincomingtimes,” said theofficial. Twitter India refusedtocommentonAgrawal’sappointmentorhisroleinthecompany.Like the current cropof Indian-American

techbosses—amongthemIBMChairmanandCEOArvindKrishna;MicrosoftChairmanandCEOSatyaNadella;GoogleandAlphabetCEOSundarPichai;andAdobeChairman,presidentandCEOShantanuNarayen—Agrawaltoowillhave tobe “smart and clever inhismeetingsand dealingswith the Indian government”,saidanindustryexecutivewhohasworkedintheSiliconValley.However, as CEO of the company,

Twitter’sIndiaoperationswillonlybeasmallpart of what Agrawal surveys. He will bewatchedforhowhesteersthecompanyanditspolicieswhilefocusingonthecompany’sfinancialperformanceandtechnological in-novations.A big testwill also be howhenavigates

hot-button issues — including “misinfor-mation” on the platform— in a highly po-larised political environment. Across theworld,whilesomewantTwitter todomoretoaddressmisinformationandhatespeechon the platform, others have accused it ofcensorship.Agrawal got a taste of what awaits him

when,soonafterhisappointmentasCEO,anoldtweetofhiswasdugoutbyconservativeswhoaccusedhimof racialbias.Arelativelymoreinnocuoustweetofhis

is from2018,whenanemployeeof theplat-form had quoted him as saying, “Formostproblems you encounter someone else hasencounteredasimilarproblemandhasprob-ably built a solution that you can re-use,modifyorbeinspiredby.Sotrytobelazyandmakeuseof thosesolutions.”

ALETTER FROMKANSAL,MOHALI

PUNJAB

WhileJapmanpreet,whoisinClass5,struggestokeepupwiththefluentPunjabiofclassmates,theyoungerSahibjotishavinganeasiertimewiththeshift. JasbirMalhi

11

BCNAGESHKARNATAKAPRIMARY&SECONDARY

EDUCATIONMINISTER

T H E S U N D A Y P R O F I L E

Trending:#Parag Agrawal

ThenewCEOofTwitter takesoverata timewhenthesocialmediaplatformisnegotiating the free-speech linewithgovernmentsaroundtheworld,including in India.TheSundayExpress tracesParagAgrawal’s journey fromIITBombaytoStanfordUniversity toSiliconValleyandfinally,Twitter.

ByAASHISHARYAN,KHUSHBOONARAYAN,JAYPRAKASHSNAIDU&RAVISHTIWARI

NUMBERPLATE`1,87,13,500

Theamountspentoneducation in1947

Rs 1,20,61,800Theamountspentonhighereducation in1946-47. Itwashigherthantheamountspentonsecondaryeducation(Rs22,86,020)andprimaryeducation(Rs12,77,010) thatyear

Rs 93,224 lakh crTheamountallocatedforeducation inUnionBudget2021-22.That is2.6%of thetotalBudgetofRs34,83,236 lakhcroreduringthecurrent financialyear

HARIKISHANSHARMA

Illustration: SuvajitDey

The ‘govt class’

57india 0.42%wastheexpenditureoneducationaspercentageoftotalBudget justbefore thecountrygot

Independence. In1946-47,outof thetotalCentralBudgetofRs442.35crore,asumofRs1.87crore,or4%,wasspentoneducation.Inawrittenreply, the firstMinisterof Education,MaulanaAbulKalamAzad, toldtheConstituentAssemblyonDecember10,1947,thatwhentheexpenditureonDefence,PostsandTelegraphsandRailwayswasexcludedfromtheCentralBudget, thepercentageofexpenditureoneducationworkedout to1.8%

Chandigarh

PUNJAB

Kansal(Mohali)

ENROLMENTINGOVTSCHOOLS(PRE-PRIMARYTO12TH)

2019-20 25.60 lakh

2020-21 27.52 lakh

2021-22 29.80 lakh

STUDENTSWHOHAVESHIFTEDFROMPVTTOGOVTSCHOOLS(2021-22)

Total 2.30 lakh

Ludhiana 27,565

Amritsar 17,607

Patiala 17409

Gurdaspur 16148

Fazilka 13,733

SASNagar (Mohali) 6529Source:OfficeofDirectorGeneralof SchoolEducation (DGSE), Punjab

New Delhi


THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

BRITAIN

TEEN FINDSBRONZEAGEAXEMilly Hardwick, 13, said she, her father and her grandfather had been out in a fieldwith metal detectors in Royston, England, when she found a 3,000-year-old axe andother artefacts including socketed axe heads, winged axe heads, cake ingots and bladefragments made of bronze. Experts said these items were likely from the Bronze Age.

INDONESIA

Volcanospewsash, lava;1killed,dozensinjuredTHEHIGHESTvolcanoonIndonesia’smostdenselypopulated island of Javaspewed thick columns ofash, searing gas and lavadown its slopes in a sud-deneruptiontriggeredbyheavy rains on Saturday.At least one villager diedfrom burns and dozenswerehospitalized.MountSemeru’s eruption inLumajang district in EastJava province left severalvillages blanketed withfalling ash. A thunder-storm and days of rain,whichhaderodedand fi-nally collapsed the lavadomeatopthe3,676-me-tre Semeru, triggered aneruption, said Eko BudiLelono,whoheadsthege-ologicalsurveycentre.AP

Atashelterafter theeruptionofMountSemeru, inLumajang,East Java.AP

TOPOFTHEWORLD

USA

3IndiansheldinUSVirginIslandsforillegalentryTHREE INDIANnationals,whowereearlierdeportedtoIndia,havebeenarrestedonceagainintheUSVirginIslands for illegally enter-ing into the country, anAmerican attorney hassaid.KrishnabenPatel, 25,NikunjkumarPatel,27andAshokkumar Patel, 39were arrested at St Croixairport inUSVirgin Islandas they were about toboard a flight for FortLauderdale in Florida onNovember24.Ifconvicted,they faceup toapotential10yearsinprisonandsub-sequent deportation, ac-cordingtotheDepartmentof Justice. PTI

ITALY

DentistpresentsfakearmforvaccineADENTIST in Italy facespossible criminal chargesafter trying to receive acoronavirus vaccine in afakearmmadeof silicone.Anurseinthenortherncityof Biella, FilippaBua, saidshe could tell right awaythat something was offwhenamanpresentedthephony limb for a shot onThursday.“WhenIuncov-eredthearm,Ifeltskinthatwascoldandgummy,andthecolorwastoolight,”Buatold Italian newspaperCorrieredellaSera.Shesaidsheinitiallythoughtthe57-year-oldmanwasanam-puteeandhadmistakenlyofferedthewrongarm.AP

ELISABETTAPOVOLEDO&RONENBERGMANROME,DECEMBER4

NEARLYTHREEmonthsafterhewas spirited by his grandfatherto Israel, setting off an interna-tionalcustodybattle,asix-year-old boy whowas the sole sur-vivorofanItaliancablecarcrashreturnedto ItalyonFriday.Theboy,EitanBiran, survived

atragiccablecarcrashinMaythatkilled14people,includinghispar-ents,andhisreturntoItalycapsamonthslong legal clash in Israelover theboy’s guardianship thatwillcontinueintheItaliancourts.He arrived late Friday on a

flight toMilan, to return to thecustodyof hisaunt.Italianauthoritiesarepursu-

ing kidnapping charges againsttheboy’sIsraeligrandfatherandanIsraelimandescribedasafor-mer operative for BlackwaterWorldwide security company.They are accused of abductingthe boy in “a strategic and pre-plannedoperation,”accordingtoan Italianarrestwarrant.Thegrandfather,ShmuelPeleg,

pickedEitanupfromthehouseofhis aunt, Aya Biran, in Italy, inSeptember for what was sup-posedtobeatoy-shoppingspree.ButinsteadofreturningEitan

in time for dinner, as promised,the grandfather drove the boy

acrossthebordertoSwitzerlandand then tookhimto Israel onaprivateplane.AccordingtoanItalianarrest

warrant, Peleg had help fromGabriel Abutbul-Alon,whowasdescribed as a former “merce-naryworking forBlackwater”.BlackwaterWorldwidewas

a private security company,since sold and renamed, thatbecame a symbol of the ex-cesses of US military contrac-torsafterfourof itsguardskilled17 Iraqi civilians in 2007.Peleg was summoned for

questioningbytheIsraelipolice,before thewarrant was issued,and released on bail. Abutbul-AlonwasarrestedinCyprus last

monthandreleased.Theallegedkidnappingturned

the tragedy intoan internationalcustodybattle that drewworld-

wide attention,with relatives inItalyandIsraeleachclaimingtobelookingout forEitan’sbest inter-ests, andcivil and criminal cases

playingoutinbothcountries.Theboylosthisparents,his2-

year-old brother and twogreat-grandparentsonasunnyweekendafternoon inMaywhen a cablesnappedonagondola theywereridingupMottaronemountain.Eitanwasinjuredbutsurvived,

and a court in Turin, Italy, ap-pointedBiranashislegalguardian.Biran, the sister of Eitan’s fa-

ther,anIsraeliwhowasstudyingmedicineinItaly, lives inasmalltown near Pavia, in northernItaly. Eitan hadbeen livingwithhis parents in a nearby townsincehewas2monthsold.PelegarguedthatEitan’spar-

ents had always planned to re-turn to Israel, where Eitanwas

bornandhadrelatives.However, those questions

werenotat issue in Israeli familycourt, which considered onlywhetherPeleg’stakingtheboytoIsrael violated The HagueConvention’sprovisionsonthein-ternationalabductionofminors.ThecourtruledinOctoberthat

itdidandorderedthatEitanbere-turnedto Italy. Pelegappealed todistrict court,whichupheld thelower court’s decision. Israel’sSupremeCourt declined tohearthe case lastmonth, clearing thewayforEitan’sflightFriday.The alleged involvement of

Abutbul-Alon raises freshques-tionsabouthowEitanwastakenfromItaly.

According to the Italian ar-rest warrant, planning for theabduction began in July,months before Peleg’s flight toIsrael with the boy. This was,according to the warrant, thebeginning of “strategic plan-ning on the part of ShmuelPeleg in partnership withGabriel Abutbul-Alon” thatwould endwith an abduction.According to the warrant,

Abutbul-Alon coordinated therentalofaprivateplanethatflewPeleg and Eitan from Lugano,Switzerland, to Israel.Italy is seekingPeleg’sextra-

dition fromIsrael.TheIsraeliJusticeMinistryde-

clinedtocommentFriday. NYT

EITAN BIRAN, WHO LOST HIS PARENTS IN A CABLE CAR CRASH IN ITALY THIS YEAR, HAD BEEN TAKEN TO ISRAEL BY HIS GRANDFATHER

6-yr-old in international custody battle back in Italy; grandad faces abduction probe

Thefallencablecarat thesceneof thecrash in Italy.NYT

ASSOCIATEDPRESSMOSCOW,WASHINGTON,DECEMBER4

US PRESIDENT Joe Biden andRussianPresidentVladimirPutinwillspeakinavideocallTuesdayas tensionsbetween theUSandRussia escalate over a Russiantroop buildup on the Ukrainianborderseenasasignof apoten-tial invasion.Kremlin spokesmanDmitry

Peskov confirmed plans onSaturday to Russia’s state newsagencyRIANovostiandsaiditwilltakeplaceintheevening.Peskovadded that “the presidentswilldecidethemselves”howlongtheconversationwill last.WhiteHousedidnot imme-

diately comment on the an-nouncement.Bidenhaspledgedtomakeit

“very, verydifficult” for Putin totakemilitary action in UkraineasUSintelligenceofficialsdeter-mined that Russian planning isunderwayforapossiblemilitaryoffensive that could begin assoonasearly2022.The new intelligence finding

estimates that the Russians areplanningtodeployanestimated175,000troopsandalmosthalfofthemarealreadydeployedalongvariouspointsnearUkraine’sbor-der, accordingtoaBidenadmin-istrationofficialwhospokeontheconditionofanonymitytodiscussthefinding.

ItcomesasRussiahaspickedupitsdemandsonBidentoguar-anteethatUkrainewillnotbeal-lowedto jointheNATOalliance.The official added that the

plans call for themovement of100 Russian battalion tacticalgroups along with armor, ar-tilleryandequipment.Intelligenceofficialsalsohave

seenanuptickinRussianpropa-gandaefforts throughtheuseofproxies and media outlets todenigrate Ukraine and NATOaheadofapotentialinvasion,the

official said.Askedabouttheintelligence

findingashesetoutforthepres-identialretreatatCampDavidonFridayevening,Bidenreiteratedhis concerns about Russianprovocations. “We’ve beenaware of Russia’s actions for alongtimeandmyexpectationiswe’regonnahavea longdiscus-sionwithPutin,”Bidensaid.Therisksofsuchagambitfor

Putin, if he actually wentthroughwithaninvasion,wouldbeenormous.

MZULQERNAINLAHORE,DECEMBER4

OVER 800 peoplewere bookedunderterrorismchargeswhile13primesuspectsareamong118ar-rested so far in the lynching of aSri Lankan national over allega-tions of blasphemy in PunjabprovinceofPakistan,atoppoliceofficial saidonSaturday,aspres-sure mounted on the govern-menttobringtheguiltytojustice.On Friday, angry supporters

of the hardline Islamist partyTehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan(TLP)attackedagarmentfactoryandlyncheditsgeneralmanagerPriyantha Kumara Diyawadanabefore setting his body on fireoverallegationsof blasphemy.Diyawadana,whowas in his

40s and was from Sri Lanka’sKandy city, wasworking as thegeneralmanagerintheRajkogar-ment factory in Sialkot district,some100kilometresfromLahore,forthelastsevenyearsorso.Sri Lanka’s Parliament and

Prime Minister MahindaRajapaksa on Saturday con-demnedthelynching,andurgedPakistan PrimeMinister ImranKhan tobringall those involved

to justice and ensure the safetyof the rest of the island nation’sexpatworkers.A preliminary report of the

incident was shared with themedia by Inspector General ofPolice (Punjab) Rao Sardar AliKhan and the Punjab govern-ment spokesperson HasaanKhawarhereonSaturday.“We are conducting the in-

vestigation on professional

grounds and no culprit will bespared,”Khawarsaid.PrimeMinisterKhansaidina

tweet: “Thehorrific vigilante at-tack on factory in Sialkot & theburningaliveofSriLankanman-ager is a day of shame forPakistan. I amoverseeing the in-vestigations&lettherebenomis-takeall thoseresponsiblewillbepunishedwithfullseverityofthelaw.Arrestsare inprogress.”Sri Lankan Prime Minister

MahindaRajapaksa also took toTwitterandsaid:“Shockingtoseethe brutal and fatal attack onPriyanthaDiyawadanabyextrem-istmobsinPakistan.Myheartgoesouttohiswifeandfamily.SriLankaandherpeopleareconfidentthatPM ImranKhanwill keep to hiscommitmenttobringallthosein-volvedtojustice.” PTI

KENMORITSUGUBEIJING,DECEMBER4

CHINA’SCOMMUNISTPartytookAmerican democracy to task onSaturday, sharply criticizing aglobaldemocracysummitbeinghosted by President Joe Bidennext week and extolling thevirtuesof itsgoverningsystem.Party officials questioned

how a polarised country thatbotcheditsresponsetoCovid-19could lecture others, and saidthat efforts to force others tocopy theWestern democraticmodelare “doomedto fail.”The harsh rhetoric reflects a

growing clashof values that has

been thrust into the spotlight asChinarisesasaglobalpower.Thequestion iswhether theUnitedStatesandotherleadingdemocra-ciescanpeacefullyco-existwithapowerful authoritarian state

whoseactionsareatoddswiththeWesternmodelthatemergedvic-toriousattheendoftheColdWar.The pandemic exposed de-

fects in the American system,said Tian Peiyan, the deputy di-rectorof theCommunistParty’sPolicy Research Office. HeblamedthehighCovid-19deathtollintheUSonpoliticaldisputesandadividedgovernment fromthehighest to the lowest levels.“Suchdemocracy brings not

happinessbutdisastertovoters,”he said at a news conference torelease a government report onwhattheCommunistPartycallsits form of democracy, which isfirmlyunderpartycontrol.Neither ChinanorRussia are

among about 110 governmentsthathavebeeninvitedtoBiden’stwo-day virtual “Summit forDemocracy”, which startsThursday and will addressstrengthening democracy, de-fendingagainstauthoritarianism,corruptionandhumanrights.The participation of Taiwan

has furtherangeredBeijing.US-China relations remain

straineddespiteavirtualsummitbetween Biden and ChineseleaderXiJinpinglastmonth.BidenhasrepeatedlyframeddifferenceswithChina inhisbroader call forthe US and its allies to demon-strate thatdemocracies canofferhumanity a better path towardprogressthanautocracies. AP

STEPHANIENOLENNTUZUMA(SOUTHAFRICA),DECEMBER4

A FEW months ago, SizakeleMathe, a community healthworkerinthissprawlinghillsidetownshipontheedgeof thecityof Durban, was notified by aclinic that a neighbour hadstoppedpickinguphermedica-tion. It was awarning sign thatshehadlikelystoppedtakingtheantiretroviral tablet that sup-pressesherHIV infection.Thatwasathreat toherown

health—and,intheeraofCovid-19, itmight haveposed a risk toeveryone else’s. The clinic dis-patchedMathe to climb a hill,wend her way down a narrowpath and try to get thewomanbackonthepills.Mathe,ascheerfulassheisre-

lentless,ispartofanationaldoor-to-door nagging campaign. It’shalf of a sophisticated SouthAfrican effort to curb the emer-genceofnewvariantsofthecoro-navirus, like theOmicron strainthat was identified here andshooktheworldthispastweek.Theotherhalf takesplaceata

state-of-the-art laboratory 25miles down the road. At theKwaZulu-Natal ResearchInnovation and SequencingPlatforminDurban, scientists se-quencethegenomesofthousandsofcoronavirussampleseachweek.TheKRISPlab,asitisknown,ispartof anationalnetworkof virus re-searchersthat identifiedboththeBetaandOmicronvariants,draw-ingonexpertisedevelopedhereduring the region’sdecades-longfightwithHIV.

Thiscombinationofhightechandgrassroots representsoneofthefront lines intheworld’sbat-tle against the evolving coron-avirus. On Friday, the researchnetworkinSouthAfricareportedto aworldwaiting anxiously fornew information that the newvariantappearedtospreadtwiceasquicklyasDelta.The researchers atKRISP are

global leaders in viral phyloge-netics, the study of the evolu-tionary relationship betweenviruses.Theytrackmutations inthe coronavirus, identify hotspots of transmission and pro-vide crucial data onwho is in-fectingwhom—whichtheyde-duce by trackingmutations inthe virus across samples — tohelp tampdownthespread.Sincethestartofthepandemic,

theyhavebeenclosely scrutiniz-inghowtheviruschangesinSouthAfrica because they areworriedaboutonething inparticular: theeightmillionpeople in thecoun-try(13percentofthepopulation)wholivewithHIV.When people with HIV are

prescribedaneffectiveantiretro-viralandtakeitconsistently,theirbodies almost completely sup-pressthevirus.Butifpeoplewith

HIVaren’tdiagnosed,haven’tbeenprescribedtreatment,ordon’t,orcan’t,taketheirmedicinesconsis-tentlyeachday,HIVweakenstheirimmunesystems.Andthen,iftheycatch thecoronavirus, it can takeweeksormonthsbeforethenewvirusisclearedfromtheirbodies.When the coronavirus lives

that long in their systems, it hasthe chance tomutate andmu-tate andmutate again. And, ifthey pass themutated virus on,anewvariant is incirculation.“Wehave reasons to believe

thatsomeof thevariants thatareemerginginSouthAfricacouldpo-tentially be associated directlywithHIV,” saidTuliodeOliveira,chief investigator of thenationalgeneticmonitoringnetwork.That is where the efforts of

health workers such asMathecome in. On a typical workday,shewalksdirtpathsarmedwitha mental roster of who hasturnedupatthecliniclately,whoislookingunwellandwhoneedsa visit. She convinced SilendileMdunge, 36, who had stoppedtakingherantiretroviralsbecausethepandemicmade it harder toaccess the drugs, to start takingthemagainforherowngoodandthegoodofthecommunity.NYT

JOHNIRISHDOHA,DECEMBER4

SEVERALEUROPEANcountriesare working on opening up ajoint diplomatic mission inAfghanistan thatwouldenabletheir ambassadors to return tothe country, French PresidentEmmanuel Macron said onSaturday.Westerncountrieshavebeen

grapplingwith how to engagewith the Taliban after they tookoverAfghanistaninalightningad-vance inAugust asUS-led forceswerecompletingtheirpullout.The United States and other

Western countries shut theirembassies andwithdrew theirdiplomats as the Taliban seizedKabul, followingwhich themil-itants declared an interim gov-ernment whose topmembersareunderUSandUNsanctions.“Wearethinkingofanorgan-

isationbetweenseveralEuropeancountries...acommonlocationforseveralEuropeans,whichwouldallow our ambassadors to bepresent,”Macron told reportersinDohabeforeheadingtoJeddahinSaudiArabia.TheUnited States, European

countries and others are reluc-tant to formally recognize thePashtun-dominatedTaliban,ac-cusing themof backtracking onpledgesofpoliticalandethnicin-clusivityandtoupholdtherightsofwomenandminorities.

“This is a different demarchethanapoliticalrecognitionorpo-liticaldialoguewiththeTaliban...wewill have a representationassoon aswe can open,” he said,adding that the still needed toironoutsecurity issues.Inastatementfollowingtalks

withtheTalibanaweekago, theEuropean Union suggested itcouldopenamissionsoon.“The EU delegation under-

lined that the possibility of es-tablishing aminimal presenceon the ground in Kabul, whichwould not entail recognition,willdirectlydependonthesecu-ritysituation,aswellasoneffec-tivedecisionsbythedefactoau-thorities to allow the EU toensureadequateprotectionof itsstaff andpremises,” it said.France separately an-

nounced on Friday that it hadcarried out an evacuationmis-sion in Afghanistan withQatar’s help, takingmore than300 people, mostly Afghans,out of the country. REUTERS

PutinandBidenwillholdtalksviavideocall

ProvincialgovernmentspokespersonHassanKhawar(right)andpolicechiefRaoSardaratapressconferenceinLahore,Saturday.AP

Over 800 booked, 113 arrested in Pakistanover lynching of Sri Lankan man: police

China slams US democracy before Biden summit

SeniorChineseofficialXuLinholdsacopyofareporttitled‘Democracythatworks’.AP

THEARRIVALoftheOmicronvari-ant of the coronavirus in theUShashealthofficials insomecom-munitiesrevivingcontacttracingoperations. New York, whichidentified5Omicroncasessofar,hasthecountry’sbiggestcontracttracingeffort.Thevarianthasbeendetectedinseveralotherstates—includingCalifornia,ColoradoandHawaii—where contact tracinghasnowpickedupspeed. AP

THE DELTA variant of Covid-19remains predominant inEngland, accounting forover99percentofallcoronavirusinfec-tions, even as 75more cases ofthe new Omicron strain havenow been detected, taking thetotal to 104. A further 16 caseshavebeenidentifiedinScotland,bringingthetotalto29,andwithone case fromWales, the UK-wide total standsat134. PTI

THEOMICRONcoronavirusvari-antspreadinAustraliaonSaturday,testingplans to reopen theecon-omyasaclusterinSydneygrewto13casesandaninfectionwassus-pectedinQueensland.Australiare-ported its first community trans-missionofOmicrononFridayataschool inSydney.Authorities arelooking for the source and saidmorecaseswerelikely.REUTERS

CONTACT TRACING REVSUP INMANYU.S. STATES

75MORECASESOFNEWVARIANT IN ENGLAND

OMICRONVARIANTSPREADS IN AUSTRALIA

The variant hunters: Inside South Africa’seffort to curb dangerous virus mutations

SizakeleMathe(left)withSilendileMdungeinNtuzuma,northofDurban.WhenMdungestoppedtakingherHIVmedication,Mathehelpedpersuadehertocontinue.NYT

France, Europeansworking to openjoint mission inAfghanistan: Macron

FrenchPresidentEmmanuelMacron

JamesandJenniferCrumbleyduringthevideoarraignmentof their son.AP

Parents of USschool shootingsuspect held aftertrying to escape

REUTERSDECEMBER4

THE PARENTS of a Michiganteenageraccusedofmurderingfour fellow high school stu-dents were taken into custodySaturday, a day after each waschargedwith fourcountsof in-voluntary manslaughter inconnection with the campusmass shooting.Authorities began searching

forJamesandJenniferCrumbleyafter Oakland County prosecu-tors announced the charges onFriday, saying the CrumbleysboughtthegunfortheirsonasaChristmas present and then ig-nored warning signs that mayhavepresagedsuchamassacre.Detroitpolicesaidintheearly

hours of Saturday that they hadtakenthecoupleintocustody.The police found the two at

what “looked like a residentialbuilding”, Detroit policespokesmanRudyHarper said.“We arrested them,”Harper

said when asked if the parentsturned themselves in, addingtheyweretryingtoescapewhentheywerecaught.

Fears ofmajor international crisis

ARUSSIANinvasionofUkrainewouldsetoffamajorsecuritycrisisforEurope.TheUShasalsodeclaredan“ironcladcommitment”toUkraine’sin-dependence.Thisislikelytoprecipitateaninternationalcri-sis,withWesterncountriesre-

portedlyalreadyplan-ningstrictsanctionsonRussiaincaseofaninva-sion.However,expertsaredividedonwhether

thethreatofsanctionswoulddeterPutin,raisingfurtherfearsofabroadermilitarycon-flictbeingsetoff.

US intelligence findsRussiaplanningUkraineoffensive;Biden,Putin to talkTuesday

New Delhi


ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Crude WatchOIL SLIPS FOR SIXTH WEEK IN A ROWNew York: Oil prices fell for a sixth straight week — for the first timesince November 2018 — on Friday, erasing earlier big gains on worriesthat the new Covid variant and rising cases could lower globaldemand. Brent settled at $69.88, and US WTI at $66.26. REUTERS

It is difficult to decipher the increase and subsequent decline, but it poses questions on liquiditymanagement/financial stability or a shift in behavioural trend in customer payment habitsthrough digitisation and hence lower currency leakage and concomitant deposit bulge or both

`3.3lakhcrorewastherise inbankdeposits—thefifthbiggest rise in24years—for fortnightendedNov5

`2.67lakhcrorewastheslump—the largestsince1997—inthenextfortnightendedNovember19

DEPOSITACCRETION tosuchextenthasneverhappenedduringaDiwaliweekasthere isalwaysacurrency leakageandconcomitantdepositdecline

Source: SBI Research/PTI

‘After abrupt rise, aggregate bankdeposits fall in fortnight to Nov 19’

``

``

``

`

` `

The expected IPOboomand subsequent poor show in laterweeks could have beenbehind themassive spike in bankdeposits for the fortnight toNovember 5 and the subsequentplunge in the following fortnight, an SBI Research report said

BRIEFLYGoyalontradeNewDelhi:CommerceMini-sterPiyushGoyalsaidataCIIeventforeigntradeisinaco-mfortablepositionandtimehascomeforIndiatoengagemorewiththeworld. PTI

TwitterrejigBengaluru: Twitter said itsengineering headMichaelMontano and design chiefDantley Daviswould stepdownfromtheirrolesbytheendofthemonth.REUTERS

MIDClandnodNewDelhi:MaharashtraInd-ustrialDevelopmentCorpo-ration (MIDC) gave invest-ment and land approval toL.G.Balakrishnan&BrosLtdinAdditionalButiburi(Nag-pur)areainoneday.ENS

DishTVAGMNewDelhi:DishTVwillholditsAnnualGeneralMeeting(AGM)onDecember30.PTI

NewDelhi:Asserting that a lot ofspeculation is taking place oncryptocurrencies, FinanceMinisterNirmala SitharamanonSaturday said these speculationsarenot “healthyatall.”Hercom-mentscomeagainstthebackdropof the government preparing tocomeoutwithlegislationtoregu-latecryptocurrencies.SpeakingattheHTLeadership

Summit,theFinanceMinistersaidthereiscertainlyawellconsultedbillwhichiscominginParliamentafter theCabinetnod. “There is alot of speculation...that’s nothealthyat all,” she said in a replytoaquestionifshethinksthatalotofunregulatedspeculationistak-ingplaceoncrypto.The Cryptocurrency and

Regulation of Official DigitalCurrencyBill, 2021, has been in-cludedintheLokSabhaBulletin-Part II for the introduction in theongoingWinterSession.Thebill seekstocreateafacil-

itativeframeworkforthecreationof the official digital currency tobe issuedby theReserveBankofIndia(RBI), theBulletinsaid.Italsoseekstoprohibitallpri-

vate cryptocurrencies in India,however, it allows for certainex-ceptionstopromotetheunderly-ingtechnologyofcryptocurrencyanditsuses.Earlierthisweek,Sitharaman

intheRajyaSabhawhilereplyingto a series of questions had saidthenewbilltakesintoaccounttherapidly changing dimensions invirtualcurrencyspace,andincor-porates featuresof theearlierbillthatcouldnotbetakenup.Askedif thegovernmentpro-

poses to banmisleading adver-tisements inmedia, the FinanceMinister had said the guidelinesof AdvertisingStandardsCouncilof India are being studied andtheir regulations are also beinglooked into “so thatwecan take,if necessary, somekindof aposi-tionor adecision to seehowwearegoingtohandleit”. PTI

Washington: The InternationalMonetaryFund(IMF)islookingatallof its researchprocesses inor-der to ensure the Fund’s data in-tegrity in thewakeof adata-rig-ging scandal at theWorld Bank,Managing Director KristalinaGeorgievasaidFriday.“Istheresomethingmorethat

canbedone, andweare lookingatalltheprocesses—aretheysuf-ficientlyuptodatewithwhatoth-ers are doing?” she said, addingthat inadifficultyearahead,“theFundhas to be thebest it canbeforthemembership.” REUTERS

‘Examining allIMF researchprocesses toensure integrity’

LALITKJHANEWDELHI,DECEMBER4

INDIA HAS been exemplary inpublishing its foreign exchangemarket intervention, the USTreasury Department said onFriday adding that New Delhishouldallowtheexchangeratetomoveflexiblytoreflecteconomicfundamentals.“The (Indian) authorities

shouldallowtheexchangeratetomoveflexiblytoreflecteconomicfundamentals, limit foreign ex-change intervention to circum-stancesofdisorderlymarketcon-ditions, and refrain from furthersignificantreserveaccumulation,”itsaid.“Astheeconomicrecoveryprogresses,theauthoritiesshouldcontinue topursue structural re-formsthatcanhelpliftproductiv-ity and living standards, whilesupportinganinclusiveandgreenrecover,”theTreasurysaid.

In its semi-annual Report toCongressonMacroeconomicandForeign Exchange Policies ofMajor Trading Partners of theUnited States, the Treasury re-viewedandassessedthepoliciesofitsmajortradingpartners,com-prisingmore than80per cent ofitsforeigntradeingoodsandserv-ices, during the four quartersthroughJune2021.InaccordancewiththeOmni-

bus Trade andCompetitivenessAct of 1988 (the 1988 Act), theReport concludes that nomajorUS tradingpartnermanipulatedthe rate of exchangebetween itscurrency and the US dollar forpurposes of preventing effectivebalanceofpaymentsadjustmentsorgainingunfaircompetitivead-vantageininternationaltrade.However, it found that 12

economieswarrantplacementontheTreasury’s‘MonitoringList’ofmajortradingpartnersthatmeritcloseattention. PTI

US: India exemplaryin publishing forexmarket intervention

MARIAPONNEZHATH&VIDYARANGANATHANNEWDELHI,DECEMBER4

BITCOINSHEDa fifth of its valueonSaturday as a combinationofprofit-taking and macro-eco-nomic concerns triggerednearlya billion dollarsworth of sellingacrosscryptocurrencies.Bitcoinwas12percentdown

at0920GMTat $47,495. It fell aslowas $41,967.5 during the ses-sion,takingtotallossesforthedayto22percent.Thebroadselloffincryptos also sawether, the coinlinkedtotheethereumblockchainnetwork,plungeover10percent.Basedoncryptocurrencydata

platformCoingecko, themarketcapitalisationof the11,392 coinsit tracks dropped nearly 15 percent to $2.34 trillion. That valuehadbrieflycrossed$3trillionlastmonth,whenbitcoinhitarecord

$69,000. The plunge follows avolatileweek for financialmar-kets. Global equities andbench-markUSbondyieldstumbledonFriday after data showedUS jobgrowthslowedinNovemberandtheOmicronvariant of the coro-naviruskeptinvestorsonedge.Justind’Anethan,HongKong-

basedhead of exchange sales atcryptocurrency exchangeEQONEX,saidhehadbeenwatch-ingtheincreaseinleverageratiosacross the cryptocurrencymar-ketsaswellhowlargeholdershadbeenmoving their coins fromwalletstoexchanges.Thelatterisusuallyasignof intenttosell.

The selloff also comes aheadof testimonyby executives fromeightmajorcryptocurrencyfirms,including Coinbase Global CFOAlesiaHaasandFTXTradingCEOSamBankman-Fried, before theUS House Financial ServicesCommitteeonDecember8.The hearingmarks the first

timemajor players in the cryptomarketswilltestifybeforeUSlaw-makers,aspolicymakersgrapplewith the implications of cryp-tocurrenciesandhowtobestreg-ulatethem.Lastweek, theUS Securities

andExchangeCommission(SEC)rejectedasecondspot-bitcoinex-change-traded fund proposalfromWisdomTree.Datafroman-otherplatformCoinglassshowednearly $1 billionworth of cryp-tocurrencieshadbeenliquidatedover thepast 24hours,with thebulk being on digital exchangeBitfinex. REUTERS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER4

THEESIC announced an annualpreventive health checkuppro-grammefortheCorporation’sin-suredmembersaged40yearsandaboveinphases,startingfromESIhospitals inAhmedabad, Farida-bad,HyderabadandKolkata.At the 186thmeeting of the

Employees’ State InsuranceCorporation (ESIC) on Saturday,chaired by Labour MinisterBhupenderYadav,aproposalwasalso cleared for constructionof a500-bedESICHospitalatHSIIDC,Manesar inGurgaon for expan-sion of services of the existing100-bedhospitalaswellasacqui-sitionofthisplotforthispurpose.TheESICalsoapprovedrelax-

ation of the contributory condi-tionof payment from70days to

35 days for eligibility under theESICCovid-19Relief Scheme forfamilies of the insured personswhodiedduetothevirus.“Wehavestartedapilotproj-

ectunderwhichweareprovidingfreemedicalcheckupfor insuredpersons(IPs)ofESICwhoareof40yearsoraboveageeveryyear.Wehaveadreamof ‘SwasthBharat’.Wehavearound3.5 crore IPs. Soifwealsorunpreventivecareunitsin ESIC alongwith curative, thenwecanachievethatvision,”Yadavsaidafterthemeeting,addingthatthe pilot would be further ex-panded in comingdayswith theincrease innumber of IPs to fivecrorewithimplementationoftheproposedSocialSecurityCode.The ESIC has also approved

formationofthreehigh-poweredcommittees: first, headed byMinister of State for Labour &Employment Rameswar Teli on

buildingsandinfrastructureofESIformonitoringongoingprojectsof ESI hospitals etc.; second,headedbyLabourSecretarySunilBarthwalonhumanresources tosuggestanactionplanforrecruit-mentandmanpowerofESIC;andthird,headedbytheLabourSecre-taryoninformationandtechnol-ogyforcapacitybuilding,artificialintelligence,telemedicine,onlinemonitoring of procurement anddispensingofmedicines.

Yadav also talked about rollout of themobile app ‘Santusht’forESICbeneficiariesforimprov-ingdeliveryofservices.HeaddedthatconstructionoftwoESIChos-pitalsatBihtainPatnaandAlwarinRajasthanhasbeencompletedandwouldbeinauguratedsoon.AllIndiaTradeUnionCongress

GeneralSecretaryAmarjeetKaursaidwithnewindustrialbeltshav-ing comeup in the country, it’snecessary tohaveESIChospitals

in locations such as Manesar.“There’s an ESIC hospital atFaridabad,forwhichworkershadtogothere.AhospitalatManesarwasalongpendingdemand.”TheESICalsoapprovedapro-

posalandprocessofacquisitionofidentifiedlandforconstructionofa 100-bed ESIC Hospital atMeerut. TheUttar Pradesh gov-ernmenthas identifiedapieceoflandmeasuring 2 hectare andconveyedapprovalforfreeofcosttransferof thelandfor90years.TheCorporation also cleared

taking over of the state govern-ment-runESICHospital,Tinsukia,Assamanditssubsequentupgra-dationasa100-bedESIChospital.TheAssamgovernmenthascon-sentedforhandingoverthehospi-tal. The ESIC also approved landacquisitionforaproposed30-bedESICHospital at Atchutapuram,Visakhapatnam,AndhraPradesh.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, DECEMBER4

FINANCE MINISTER NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday urgedofficials of intelligencewings toensurealogicalandspeedycon-clusion to every case whichwould act as a deterrence forperpetratorsofeconomiccrimessuchassmuggling.“Logicalconclusionisimpor-

tant but speedier conclusion iswhatwill keep theheatonpeo-ple who are promoting thesekinds of activities ... greater at-tentionshouldbegiventobring-ingittoaclosure, logicalconclu-sion but the speedier you do it,thegreaterdeterrenceitcanpro-vide,” Sitharaman said at the64thDRIFoundationDay.The Directorate of Revenue

Intelligence (DRI), under theCentral Board of Indirect TaxesandCustoms(CBIC), isanintelli-gence and enforcement agencyof the Government of India onanti-smugglingmatters.She said there are a lot of in-

telligenceinputsbutmanytimes

it’s difficult to identify if it’s ac-tionable. “Yougeta lotof intelli-genceinput,butsometimes,andmanytimes,itisdifficulttoiden-tifyif itisreallyactionable,some-times they’re so generic. To act

onitbecomesdifficult ...capacityto be built within these institu-tionstomakesureyou’reabletoseewhich of these intelligenceinputsaresoquicklyactionable,”theFinanceMinister said.

“I think attempts at preven-tionwill also have to be under-taken by us while deterrenceand detectionwill always havetobeonthehigh,” sheadded.Shealsoexpressedconcerns

aboutthehightoxicwastebeingdumped into the country andurged DRI to bemore active. Inemerging economies, “becauseof the way in which we havebuilt over the decades capacityto recyclematerials, I am afraidquite a large and frequent at-temptisbeingmadeonbringingin toxicwaste to our shores andleave them there,” Sitharamanadded. “So Iwould think that isan area inwhich Iwould like toseeDRImoreactive.”Citing the recent case of

seizure of 3,000 kg at Mundraport, she termed such attemptsof smuggling inhugequantitiesofbannedsubstancessuchasco-caine, cannabisas “brazen”.“Thebrazennesswithwhich

banned,objectionableanddan-gerous goods are coming in isjustmindboggling ... need tobeconscious, cognizantof suchat-tempts,” Sitharamansaid.

FINANCEMINISTERNIRMALASITHARAMANATDRIFOUNDATIONDAY

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI,DECEMBER4

AFALL in international crudeoilpriceduetoconcernsaboutthe Omicron variant of thevirus that causes Covid-19could,ifitpersists,enduplow-ering the price of petrol anddiesel forconsumers in India,aswellasinothercountries.

Howmuchhavecrudepricesfallen?The price of Brent crude

saw its largestmonthly fallsince the beginning of thepandemic inNovember,end-ing themonth at $70.6 perbarrel down from$84.4 perbarrel at thebeginningof themonth.Concernsthatcurrentvaccinesmaynotbeas effec-tive at preventing infectionfrom the Omicron variantSARS-CoV-2astheyhavebeenforother variantshave raisedworries about oil demand.Brent crude is currently trad-ing at around $70perbarrel.The announce-

ment of a plannedcoordinated re-leaseofemergencycrude oil reservesby the UnitedStates,China,Japan,India, South Korea and theUnited Kingdom has alsohelped curbayear-long rally,which saw theprice of crudenearlydoubleto$85.5perbar-rel in October from $43 perbarrel inOctober2020.TheUShadlatelastmonth

announced that itwould re-lease 50 million barrels ofcrude oil from strategic re-servesaspartofeffortstocurbrising crude oil prices. Indiaannouncedareleaseof5mil-lion barrels of crude oil fromstrategic reserves,while theUKannouncedareleaseof1.5millionbarrels.

Howwillthefallaffectdomesticfuelprices?If Brent crude prices re-

mainatcurrentlevels,oilmar-ketingcompanies(OMCs)willlikelybegincuttingpetrolanddieselpricesinlinewithglobalpricesforpetroleumproducts.The impact of changes to

crudepricesisoftenseenwitha lag as domestic prices arebenchmarked to a 15-dayrollingaverageofglobalpricesofpetrolanddiesel.However, OMCshavenot

been strictly followingglobalbenchmarkssincethestartofthe pandemic and have attimes held prices constantduringperiodsofvolatility.During previous falls in

crude oil prices, OMCs havebeen slow to cut the price ofpetrolanddieselastheytrytomake up for lowermargins

during periodswhentheyhaveheld domesticprices constantduringanuptickinglobalprices.OMCs had

held the pricesofpetrolanddieselnearlycon-stant despite sharp volatilityin internationalpricesduringMarchandApril thisyearasanumberofstateswereheadedforelections.They had also held the

prices of the two auto fuelsconstantfor83daysstartinginthe middle of March 2020when international pricescrashed in response to a col-lapse in demand due to theCovid-19pandemic.OMCs have also kept the

price of petrol anddiesel sta-ble since early Novemberwhen theCentre announcedaRs 10per litre cut in exciseduty ondiesel and aRs 5perlitre cut in the excisedutyonpetrol.Most states have alsoannounced cuts in ValueAddedTax (VAT) imposedonthe two fuel. The Centre hasstillnotreversedcentraltaxesto pre-Covid levels as it hadhikedexcisedutyonpetrolbyRs13perlitreandondieselbyRs16perlitrein2020toshoreup revenues as economic ac-tivityfellsharply.Despite the cut in central

and state taxes, the currentpricesof petrolanddieselarestill significantly higher thantheywerepriorto2021.Petroliscurrentlyretailing

atRs110per litre inMumbai,up21.7per cent fromthebe-ginning of the year, whiledieselisretailingatRs94.1perlitreup17percentduringthesameperiod.

SECTORWATCHPETROLEUMPRODUCTS

GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,DECEMBER4

ASTRONGregulatoryecosystemincludingpurchase-pricesubsi-diesandtaxexemptionscanfuelelectricmobility growth in thecountry,aseniorofficialof ItalianluxurycarmakerMaserati said.Sucharegulatoryecosystem

of anycountry shouldbedevel-opedkeepingthebestinterestofthecostumerinmind,saidBojanJankulovski,headofoperations,Maserati India.“Therefore, purchase-price

subsidies and tax exemptionswill have amajor effect on con-sumer demand. Furthermore,governments need to ensure arobustinvestmentinchargingin-frastructure as part of their eco-nomic-stimulus programmes,”hetoldTheSundayExpress.“It’strulyanexcitingtimebe-

causewe’reonthevergeofanewera.Electricmobilityisthefutureandevery automotivemanufac-turerincludingMaseratiiswork-ingtowardsthat,”hesaid.However, Jankulovskiadded

that automotivebrandsneed tocombinetheirtraditionalvalueswith the electrification project.“That’swhyweneed to find thebalanceinmeetingthemarket’sdemands that push toward thegreenmobility and, at the sametime, we do not want to forgetthe traditionalbrandDNA.”HesaidIndia’sluxurycarmar-

ketisexpectedtogrowataround15-20percentover thenext fiveyears,withgrowthcoming fromnon-metroandtier2cities.“We are seeing a newwave

of demand coming from non-metro and tier 2 cities as well.Thesecitieshavethepotentialtocontinue providing sizable op-portunitiesinthefuturetooandare proving to be catalysts inspurringdemandfortheautoin-

dustry,” Jankulovski said. Anevolvedcustomerbase,coupledwithhigher disposable income,is leading to growth of theseemergingmarkets.Overthepastyear,Maseratihaswitnessedanincreased demand from thesetier2cities, hesaid.Headdedthereisnodenying

that the chip shortage situationhasbrieflyimpactedtheautoin-dustry. ForMaserati, the globalpremiere of Grecale, originallyscheduled forNovember of thisyear, has been postponed tospring2022inviewof theback-ground problems that havecausedinterruptionsinthesup-ply chains for the key compo-nentsnecessarytocompletethecar’sproductionprocess.“Inpar-ticular, due to the shortage ofsemiconductors, thequantityofproductionwould not allow usto respond properly to the ex-pected global demand,”Jankulovski said.“I believe that auto compa-

nies including Maserati havefound newer ways to executetheir business strategies andthere isabig focusondigitalisa-tionbecauseonlinesalesarego-ing to become a new trend,” hesaid,addingthatwhileadaptingto the new normal, digital andcontact-lessexperiencesarego-ing toplayamorecrucial role.

WORRIESONTOXICWASTE,BANNEDSUBSTANCES

■FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamanexpressedconcernsaboutthehightoxicwastebeingdumpedintothecountryandurgedDRItobemoreactive

■Citingtherecentcaseofseizureof3,000kgatMundraport,shetermedsuchattemptsofsmugglinginhugequantitiesofbannedsubstancesas“brazen”

‘Economic crimes: Speedyclosure a great deterrent’

■TheUShadlatelastmonthannouncedthatitwouldrelease50millionbarrelsofcrudeoilfromstrategicreservesaspartofeffortstocurbrisingcrudeoilprices

■Indiaannouncedareleaseof5millionbarrelsofcrudefromstrategicreserves

RELEASEOFRESERVES

How loomingOmicron worriesmay temper pricesof petrol, diesel

Reuters file

FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamanwithMoSFinancePankajChoudhary(right)andRevenueSecretaryTarunBajaj(left)atthe65thfoundationdayofDRI,Saturday. PTI

186THMEETINGOFEMPLOYEES’STATE INSURANCECORPORATION FM: Lot ofunhealthyspeculationon cryptos

Maserati Indiaheadofoperationscalls forstrongregulatorymechanism

‘Purchase-pricesubsidies, tax reliefcan fuel electricmobility growth’

“Weare seeinganewwaveof demandcomingfromnon-metro and tier2 cities ... Thesehave thepotential to continueproviding sizableopportunities in thefuture too andareproving tobe catalysts inspurringdemand ...”

BOJANJANKULOVSKIHEADOFOPERATIONS,MASERATI INDIA

ESIC nod to free annual check-ups, hospital proposals

LabourMinisterBhupenderYadav(centre)chairs the186thmeetingofESIC,onSaturday. Credit: PIB

■BasedoncryptocurrencydataplatformCoingecko,marketcapitalisationof11,392coinsittracksfell15%to$2.34trillion.Thatvaluehadbrieflycrossed$3trillionlastmonth,whenbitcoinhitarecord$69,000.

■Theplungefollowsavolatileweekforfinancialmarkets

VOLATILEWEEK FOR FINANCIALMARKETS

ETHER, TOO, FALLS IN BROAD SELLOFF

Profit-taking, macro concerns: Bitcoin fallsby a fifth, cryptos see $1-bn worth liquidated

Reuters file

New Delhi

Amrith Lal

O N A hot June afternoon in1961,a19-year-oldmanfromthe once-French enclave ofMahesteppedoutfromatrainthat arrived, fromKerala, at

NewDelhi station. A taxi took him to LodhiColony,aresidentialareadominatedbygov-ernment quarters, where his elder brother,lived.Sixdecadeslater,herecallsthestrangesmell thatgreetedhimashesteppedoutonto the platform. The smell of Delhi, he says,has stayedwithhimall theseyears. The city—itsalleys,crowds, thewarmsmellof sum-merandthewinterchill—havehauntedhimallhis life.Theychangedhimasawriter.Itwasin1969,sevenyearsafterhemade

Delhi his home, thatMMukundan, 79, firstwrote abouthis belovedcity.Delhi (CurrentBooks)washisfirstmajorworkthatgavetheyoung novelist a cult following in his lan-guage,Malayalam.Itreflectedthezeitgeistofthetime—therebelliousSixties,whenyouthacross theworld sought to smash the sys-tem, or, in disillusionment found refuge inradical lifestyle choices that ranged fromtranscendentalmeditation todrugs.Aravindan, theheroofDelhi, hadshades

of youngMukundan, whowas discoveringhimself inthebigcity.“ThesightsandsoundsI saw in the 1960s is what Delhi is. A shortperiod,butan intenseperiod,”hesays.Four decades later, he returned tomine

Delhi for another novel. Delhi: A Soliloquy(Delhi Gathakal;DC Books), a translation ofwhichwon the JCB Prize for Literature lastmonth, is amorematurework that has anepicquality. A sweepingviewofDelhi fromthe 1960s to 1980s, it is the biography of acity in turmoil and transition.Within thelarge panoramaof history,Mukundan situ-ates the subculture of theMalayalidiasporaandthestrug-glesof lower-middleclassfami-lies. Sahadevan, the conscienceof Delhi: A Soliloquy is amatureversionof Aravindan inDelhi. IfAravindanwas anunsuccessfulartist,Sahadevanisafailednov-elist—“Delhi:ASoliloquy”isthenovel that he publishes late inlifeundersomeoneelse’sname.Aravindan arrives inDelhi afterwinningaprizeforhispainting,shacks up in a mess inConnaught Place and wastesawaywhileconsumingbhang inPaharganj and sharing psyche-delicdreamswith friends.“Thetraincametoastandstill

at NewDelhi Station. The plat-formwaswet. The stationwaswet. Delhi was wet. The earthand skywerewet. Rain floweddownthespineofthetrain.Rainslithered down the platformsandpillarslikesnakes.Thetrackswere decked with rain drops.Therewasthesmellofraineverywhere.Andof coal fumes.Rain fell to theearth fromthesky.Coal fumesgallopedtotheskyfromtheearth.” (Delhi)Thissenseofoptimism,asAravindanar-

rives in Delhi (1965), is missing whenSahadevan reaches Delhi (1959).Sahadevan’sDelhi,ashetellshimself,“istheground where Gandhi ji fell after he wasshot”.War clouds are gathering on thebor-ders. Death, of dreams and lives, is lurkingeverywhere. As China invades India,Sahadevan’s mentor, Sreedharanunni, atradeunionist rooted in theborderless soli-darityofworkingclass,dies fromaheartat-tack, leavingbehindayoung familywithnosavings other than a clerk’s governmentquarter, where a photograph of ChinesePrimeMinister ZhouEnLai adorns thewall.For Sahadevan, Sreedharanunni’s death isthe demise of a dream that he never recov-ers from. Sahadevan becomes a sentinel ofDelhi as he roams its deep recesses, discov-ering life and living itsmiseries, refusing tograbopportunitiestotransformhimself intoa “successful” person. He doesn’t marry orbuildafamily.Helivesforothersandsoaksintheir tragedies, in the process transcendingthelimitsofhisownregionalsubculture.Heisawitness totheriseof theradicalLeft, the1971 war, influx of refugees from WestPakistan and the liberation of Bangladesh.He experiences the violence of theEmergency (1975) and lives through thetraumaof theanti-Sikhriots (1984). Eachofthese events scars his soul, inflicts woundsthat refuse to heal. The march of historymuddieshismemory.Hislifebecomesanin-timate conversation with Delhi. Delhi: ASoliloquy isascrapbookofhistory,themem-ory of a city traumatised by its past. In itsbloodstained pages are stories of religiousandgenderprejudice, caste and communalviolence,commonerswithbigheartsreach-ingout to rebuild faith inhumanity.Mukundan lived in Delhi for nearly half

a century. In the 1950s and ’60s, jobswerescarce for youngmen in Kerala. After com-pleting their school education, they learnttyping and shorthand and travelled toMumbai, Delhi and Chennai in search ofwork.MukundanhadhisschoolinginFrench

and chose Delhi tomake his life. His elderbrother and writer of some repute,MRaghavan,wasemployedwiththeFrenchEmbassy. He spent the first three years inDelhi learning the French language andstudying its literature. He read the classicsandspenthis spare timeroaming thecity.Delhi,Mukundan remembers,was then

a city of villages ringed in by fields wherewheatandvegetablesgrew. “Iused togo forwalks among the cauliflower fields inwhatis todayGreaterKailash.People felt farmoresecure in the city then,” he says. His Frenchskills fetched him a job as an assistant to acounsellorattheembassy.Itrequiredhimtovisitlibrariesandgatherresearchmaterialforthe counsellor. The best of contemporary

French literaturewas available at the em-bassy;Mukundanreadvoraciously.Later,hewould join the American Library and readBritishandAmerican literature.He had also started writing stories in

Malayalamby the ’60s. The first recognitioncamewhenthecounsellorspottedareviewofMukundan’s short story collection, Veedu(House), in Thought, a prominentmagazine,andorganisedacocktailpartyattheembassyto introduceMukundan to otherwriters inDelhi. “NirmalVerma,HabibTanvir, thecriticKKNair(KrishnaChaitanya)wereamongthosewhocame.ItwasthefirstbigencouragementIreceived,”Mukundanrecalls.Delhi,whichwaspublished in1969, launchedMukundan intothebigleague.

The 1960swere a time of transition inMalayalamfiction.ModernistwriterssuchasOVVijayan, George Varghese Kakkanadan,VadakeKoottalaNarayanankuttyNair (VKN),MPNarayanaPillai,ASethumadhavan(Sethu),Punathil Kunjabdulla, PattathuvilaKarunakaran,Anandandothershadstartedtochangetheform,languageandsubjectmatterof literature. Fiction started to travel beyondtheborders of Kerala and engagewith ideasemanatingfromEurope.Mukundan,schooledin Frenchexistentialist classics and themod-ernistidiominEuropeanart,waswell-poisedto ride thiswave. Young readers exposed tocommunism and modernist poetry inMalayalam flocked to this newwriting thatcaptured the restive spirit of the times.None

captured the angst of the educatedbutdisil-lusionedyouthlikeMukundan.StoriessuchasVeshyakale, NingalkkoruAmbalam (ATempleforWhores), Radha RadhaMatram (Radha,OnlyRadha),AncharaVayassullaKutti(AFive-year-old Child),Mundanam CheyyappettaJeevitam(TonsuredLife)spokeaboutalienationandtheabsurdityoflivingandwerecelebratedasexamplesof thenewmodernistfiction.Interestingly,mostof thesewriterswere

basedinDelhiandintouchwithoneanother.Each had a distinct voice, which helped themodernist short story to gain new readers.VijayanandVKN,too,setnovelsinDelhithatcapturedthepolitical lifeof thecity inasub-versiveidiomthatcontinuestosurpriseread-erstothisday.Mukundanalsowroteamono-graph, Enthanu Adhunikata (What isModernism;1976),asamanifestoforhisgen-eration. But themodernistwriting faced anavalancheofcriticismfromtheconservatives,who saw in them evidence of debauchery,decadent capitalist values, a betrayal of tra-ditionandrootsanddefeatist in theirvision.It was awave of cultural globalisation thatshook the foundations of the literary estab-lishment inMalayalam.Delhiwasalsoanexperimentinlanguage.

Critic V Rajakrishnan, in his introduction toMukundan’s short stories,mentions the in-fluence of Jean-Paul Sartre in works likeDelhi.Mukundanadmits to this intellectualdebtbutisquicktopointoutthatcharacterssuch as Aravindan inDelhiwere not rare inthecity in the1960s. “Ihadasecure job,butI related to those people, especiallyEuropeans, who had left their societies insearchofadifferent lifeexperience. I shareda mental landscape with them,” saysMukundan.The flâneur inhimalsoexposedhim to the underbelly of Delhi and allowedhim to portray experiences unfamiliar toMalayalam fiction readers. Fascination for

Cubistartinspiredhimtobein-ventive in form and language.Novels such as HaridwarilManikal Muzhangunnu (BellsTollinHardwar;2008),KoottamThettiMeyunnavar (Away fromtheHerd; 2001) endeared himto the youth and establishedhim as an icon in the 1970s.Restive young men in Keralaidentifiedwiththecharactersofthese novels, which also stoodfor itsnarrative innovations.Inthe1980s,Mukundandis-

covered new groundwith theshort story, Delhi-1981.Rajakrishnan cites this story asadepartureinformandsubjectin Mukundan’s oeuvre.Cinematicinitsnarration, itde-scribes twomenphysically as-saulting a young woman inbroad daylight and in front ofmanypeople,whoprefer to re-mainvoyeuristicspectators.Theonly living being that respondsto the gruesomeassault is a pi-

geonthatpecksontheheadofoneofthetworapists. It anticipated aDelhi, where empa-thywas inshortsupply.In2004,Mukundantookearlyretirement

and, in 2006, returned toKerala. By then, hehadwonallmajorawardsinMalayalam,andthe French government awarded him theKnight of the Order of Arts and Letters(Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres;1998).Therebelinhimhadmellowedandhegrew close to the Left establishment in thestate. He continued to be a popularwriter,though themodernist phase inMalayalamnovelhadended.Then,in2011,hepublishedDelhiGathakal

(Delhi: A Soliloquy). Episodic in its structurewith rounded characters, especially strongwomen, a tragic vision underlies the novel.Sahadevan has shades of Romain Rolland’sJean-Christophe(1904).ItwasanovelthathadstayedwithMukundanforyears.HehadoncewrittendownJeanChristophe’swords:“It isgood fortune to stay amidst miseries andtragedies. Theymakeyou feel that youhavelived.” Sahadevan embraces themiseries ofhisfriendsashisown,andthesorrowofDelhibecomeshisownfate.Mukundanhas a thing for places. Hebe-

lievesthathomeiswhereyouare;thereisnopermanenthome.HistwoMayyazhi(Mahe)novels—Mayyazhippuzhayude Theerangalil(OntheBanksoftheRiverMayyazhi;1999)andDeivathinteVikruthikal (God’sMischief;1998)—are elegant though tragicworks that cap-ture life in the former Frenchenclave and itsstrange cast of residents caught betweentwocultures.But what’s the fascinationwith Delhi?

“Some cities, like somepeople, force you tobe creative. Delhi is one such city,”Mukundansays,“Itputsapenintoyourhandandmakes youwrite.” Mukundan had re-turned to his flat in the city when hewaswritingDelhi: A Soliloquy. “It helps to live inthemidst of the place and people you arewriting about. The city comes alive then.”Sahadevan’s soliloquyends in the1980s.Is there a novel in the years thereafter?

AllthatMukundansaysisthatinhisdreams,heisoftenwalkingalongthegrandcolumnsofConnaughtPlace,watchingbeautifulpeo-plebask in thewinter sun.

T H E S U N D A Y E X P R E S S M A G A Z I N E

BOOKS● Interview with this year’s Booker Prize-winner

South African writer Damon Galgut onThe Promised

● A discussion with Salman Rushdie on whythe religious imagination is unappealing to him

ARTSetc

Painting WaterKolkata artist Paresh Maity on drawing fromchildhood memories, and how Bengal andRajasthan merge on his palette

DECEMBER 5, 2021 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 14

● ● ●

The flâneur in him exposedhim to Delhi’s underbelly

and allowed him to portrayexperiences unfamiliar to

Malayalam readers... youngmen in Kerala identified

with his characters● ● ●

eyeBig City Blues

OUT OF PLACEMukundan capturedthe angst of theeducated butdisillusioned youth inhis stories, as in thiscollection ofMukundandeKathakal (Storiesby Mukundan)

HOME ISEVERYWHEREM Mukundan (left);book jacket of Delhi:A Soliloquy (DelhiGathakal), a novelthat presents thememory of a citytraumatised byits past

Delhi has been the muse of Malayalam writer M Mukundan – winner of thisyear’s JCB Prize for Literature – for over five decades. But, what is it about

his modernist fiction that made him a cult figure?

AJEEBKOMACHI

New Delhi

A R T S e t c 15EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 5, 2021

Mama SaidWhat migratory geese think ofaeroplanes and our flying abilities

RanjitLalRanjit Lal isanauthor,environmentalistandbirdwatcher

DOWNINJUNGLELAND

ANEXCLUSIVEexcerptofavianradiocommu-niquébetweenajuvenilebar-headedgoose,BabaGosling(BG),curiousabouttheflyingob-jectsonhisfirstmigratoryflight—theepicjour-

neyfromCentralAsiatothemarshlandsof theKeoladeoNationalPark,Bharatpur—andhismother(MamaGoose/MG),concernedhedoesn’tstrayfromtheflock.

MamaGoose:Doyoureadme?BG:Loudandclearmom,over.MG:Stayrightbehind,inmyslipstream:you’llbelesstired.BG:Ya,ya, Iknow!Thevorticesthataregeneratedbyyourwingswillgivemealift...welearntthatat flightschool.MG:Goodboy.Stayclose.Yourfather is leadingtheflock.BG (excitedly):MG, Ihaveavisualofastrange, long,silverywhiteflyingobjectatabout25,000ft,climbinghigherandmakingaroaringnoise. Is thisaUFO?MG:Darling, that’s justanaeroplane,anAirbusA330.BG (gettingalarmed):MG, it’sheadingstraightforus.About10nauticalmilesdeadahead.MG:Visualaffirmative.Yourdadhassignalledweshoulddescendto15,000ft.BG:Copythat!Butwhat isanAirbus?MG: It’samachineusedbyhumanstoflyfromoneplacetoanother.They’regenericallycalledaeroplanes.BG: Idon’tseeanyhuman.Onlyalong,noisy,shinycylinder.MG:They’reallcrammedinsideit.Maybe,300of them.BG:What?MG:Yes, they’llallbetieddowntotheirseats.Twoguysinfrontcalledpilotsactuallyflythething,butthey’renotverygoodat it, so it’sbetterthatwetakeevasiveaction.BG:Whatdoyoumean‘notverygoodat it’?MG:Dear,theyundergoyearsofrigoroustrainingandex-ams,butwithoutahuge,expensiveback-upsystem,theycan’tfindtheirwaytothewashroomletalonetheirdesti-nation.TheyneedGlobalPositioningSystem(GPS),AirTrafficControl(ATC),fly-by-wire....Betteravoidthem.BG:What?MG:Darling, theyhavethesefancymachinescalledcom-puterstocalculateeverythingforthem:theirheight,di-rection,distance,airspeed,whetherthenoseof theirair-craftarepointingup,downorupsidedown,andwhen

theyhadtheir last toiletbreak. Itevenautomatically fliesthemachineforthementirely,poweringitupanddown,landingit, takingoff.Withoutthem,thepilotswouldn’thaveaclue. If you’dwatchedtheNationalGeographic’sAirCrashInvestigationseriesduringyouronlineclasses in-steadofDonaldDuck,you’dhaveknown.They’veputma-chinescalledsatellitesupinthespace, totell themexactlywheretheyare, theycall it theGPS,andwhentheyarriveortake-off fromtheirdestinations, theyhavetobehand-heldbytheATC,passedfromonecontrol towertoanotherallalongtheirroute, toensuretheyareguideddownsafelyandland,anddon’tcrashintooneanother.BG:Goodgrief,MG!MG (smiling):Yes,andweworkouteverythinginourheads!Ourbrainsaremaybejust10mlinvolume,yettheydoeverything, fromflyingtonavigation!BG:Whatdotheseaeroplaneseat?MG:Theygulpdownenormousquantitiesof thesmellyAviationTurbineFuel,anddigest itwithhugeamountsofair.ThatAirbushastwogapingroundmouthssuckinginairall thetime.Theyburnupthefuelandpropelthem-selveswithonehugecontinuousroaringfart.BG:MG,yougottobekidding!Theydon’t justbrowseongrassandseedslikeus?MG:No.Andit’s terriblefortheenvironment.Thenthere’sthenoisetheymake!Youmust,atall times,stayasfarawayfromthoseopenmouthsaspossible. If yougetsuckedin—you’llbeflungoutof therearendintatteredbits.Also, theaeroplanemightgetacuteindigestionandcrash.Theycall itabird-hit.Oneaircraft flewintoanen-tireflockofgeeseandhadtocrash-landinariver!BG:So, likeus, theycanlandonwater?MG:Notmostof them.Theyneedmilesof flatrunwayandanairporttoputdownsafely.BG:Wow!We’rereallycool,aren’twe?MG:Notascoolassomeotherbirds.Sometinytotsmayweighlessthan10g,butflymorethan5,000km,oftenatnightandnavigateusingthemoonandstarsandarriveattheirdestinationbangontime!Monarchbutterflies intheAmericasdomuchthesamething.Therearestarlingswiththeiraerobaticmurmurations!BG:Howdidthesedudesever learntofly?MG:Theycopiedusoutright.Atfirst, theyfailedmiserablybutthensucceeded.Butdidtheygiveusanypaisa?Yourfathersaystheyshouldbepayingusroyaltyforeveryflightthattakesoff. Instead,theyshootusenmasse!OnegeezercalledLordLinlithgowshotover4,000ducksatBharatpur,inasingleday!Andtheythinkthey’rethemostadvancedlivingcreature!Anyway,dear,climbto29,000ft.TheHimalayasaredeadahead!Nopoopingonthemountains—they’vebeenbefouledenoughbythesegeezers!BG:Ugh!Copythat.Over!

UPWARD AND ONWARDBar-headed geese on their migratory flight

RANJITLAL

Ektaa Malik

ONE LATE night, while watching a HindithrillerfilmApartment:RentatYourOwnRisk(2010), which she says “very few peoplewouldhaveseenorheardof”,GeetikaNarangAbbasi spottedactorKishoreBhanushali—aDevAnand look-alike— in the film. She re-called hewas in the Aamir Khan-MadhuriDixit-starrerDil (1990).“His presence in the film

made me curious. Where isKishorenow?Whatishedoing?The idea took hold of me, andthroughKishore, I also thoughtabout the other look-alikes inBollywood,andhowthe indus-try had always had them,” shesays.This ideastuck,amongthemanyshewastoyingwithafterwrappingupher documentaryon Indianmatchmaking,MuchAdoAboutKnotting (2012).Almost six years later, her quest has re-

sulted in a 90-minute documentary, Urf,which will be premiering in the CinemaRegained section at the prestigious 2022InternationalFilmFestivalRotterdam(January26-February6), theNetherlands.Urf inUrdutranslatestoaliasorakaincol-

loquialEnglish.ThefilmtakesusintotheworldofBollywoodlook-alikes.WemeetBhanushaliurfJuniorDevAnand,58,FirozKhanurfJuniorAmitabhBachchan, 53, andPrashantWalde

urfJuniorShahRukhKhan,44.Bollywoodpro-ducesabout1,000filmsayear,andyetthere’sadearthoffilms/commentaryonthissubject.Urftakesusbehindthescenes,intothelivesofthese actors,whose identities aredefinedbythebrandofalarger-than-lifecelebrity.“Look-alikeshaveplayedahugeroleinthe

industry.We have had Ramgarh ke Sholay(1991), amainstream filmwith look-alikes(andthe“original”AmjadKhan).Tome,howthese actorsmadea career and life basedon

someone else’s identity... thatwhole thingwas very fascinat-ing.Theseactorsarecalledbythenames of the celebrities (theylooklike),andaskedtoperformtheir signaturemoves, on thestreets,”saysNarangAbbasi,40,aDelhiUniversitygraduate.Bollywood has had a long

traditionofthelook-alikes.Inthethe1930s-’40s,comedian“NoorMohammed (Charlie) did anIndianversionofCharlieChaplin,

sported the samemoustache, etc. TherewasSona, a popular look-alike of Madhubala.Therewas thiswhole theory that (gangster)HajiMastanmarried her because he lovedMadhubala.Itwas(actor-director-producer)ISJoharwhomade this subgenre popular. His(directed) filmsNasbandi (1978) and 5 Rifles(1974)featuredlook-alikesofpopularactors,”shesays.Urf speaks of how these doppelgängers

thrive in the “reflected glory” of their “origi-

nals”.“Therewasatimewhenaccesstothesestarswas so difficult that peoplewould lineuptogetaglimpseoftheselook-alikes.Today,the definition of stars has changed. For theaamjantawho’venevermetBachchaninreallife, Firoz is good enough to performat theirweddings. These look-alikes, settled in theirMumbaiflats,haveenoughwork,oftenmorework than upcoming actors,” says theGurugram-basedfilmmaker.Shehadtocontendwithhowthese“sea-

soned” actors were “too familiar with thecamera”.“They’dstartperformingtheminutewe started rolling the camera. Firozwouldonly act out Bachchan,whilewewanted to

capturewhathewaslikewhentalkingtohiswife and child.We’d just let thembe, spentdaysjusttalkingtothem,andwaitedforthemto ‘not perform’. Theywere confused aboutwhatthefilmwasabout.”Bhanushali grew up inMumbai, while

Khan andWalde came fromBudaun (UttarPradesh)andNagpur, respectively.Theyweremade aware of their “similarities”with bigstarsatanearlyage,yearsbeforetheyenteredshowbiz. “Their look-alike-ness gave themaleg up in the industry, and they had a readybodyofwork, but that’s their limitation, too.It’sadouble-edgedsword.They’vebeentype-cast, it’sdifficult for themtodoanythingelseeven if theywant to. This is their personalangst,” addsNarangAbbasi. The film showsWaldemakingpoha for his family, Khan ex-plaininghowessentiallyhe’s“anactorwho’sacting like Amitabh Bachchan”, andBhanushali introducinghis screenwriter-ac-torsonKaranBhanushali.Narang Abbasi picked up “life lessons”

fromHindicinemawhilegrowingupaswellas during the filming of this documentary.“Firoz,PrashantandKishore,theyallbelieveintheinnategoodnessthatHindifilmshavepur-veyed. That’s why, I think, wewere able tomakethis film,”shesays.

Almost FamousFilmmaker Geetika Narang Abbasi on her documentary

film on Bollywood lookalikes, which will premiere at IFFR

Vandana Kalra

YourexhibitionatKolkata’sCIMAgallery,“NoiseofManyWaters”,capturesyourfascinationwithwater,bothasasubjectandamedium(watercolour).Couldyoutalkaboutthat?Water is the source of life. I grew up in

Tamlukvillage inWestBengal, surroundedbycanals and rivers. It isdifficult topullmeaway fromwater, it is my heart and soul.Nature is the ultimate source of my art.WhenIseeanything, I amvisualising its re-flectiononwater, the colours change everymoment. Since the very beginning, I havebeen paintingwater, and themedium, too,is primarilywatercolours. It’s a challengingmediumand you can’t really changemuchif you falter. Eitheryousucceedoryouareafailure, which is why very few artists workwith it.

Atageseven,you’ddecidedyouwantedtobeanartist, and, later, travelledmilestopursue thatdream.Couldyoushareabout that journey?As a child, Iwas very inspiredbyminia-

ture and tribal art and claymodelling. I re-membermakingmyfirstpaintingattheageof seven. I tore a piece of paper frommynotebookandmadea landscape.Myfather’scolleaguesinsistedthatIgave

joint entranceexams formedical andengi-neering, but I wanted to study art. So, I ranaway to Delhi, and that’s whenmy familyagreed to let me take admission intoGovernment College of Art and Craft,Kolkata. For six years, I travelled for fourhoursand200kmeachwaytoreachmycol-lege from Tamluk, since I did not have themoney to stay inKolkata.

YourlandscapestransformedtoincludemorefiguresandthecolourpalettebecamebrighterafteryoucametoDelhi,foryourpost-graduationfromCollegeofArt.Whatbroughtaboutthatchange?In1990, I travelled toRajasthanand that

wastheopeningof anewworld forme.Thesights and colours of the desert influencedmystyleandthefiguresIsawbeganenteringmywork.Infact,BengalandRajasthansharealonghistoryandyouseeareflectionof thatinRajasthani courtpaintingsandhavelis.Over theyears,wherever I travelled, I’ve

triedtoexploreandintroducedifferentele-ments fromtheplace intomywork. I studythe history, culture and the energy of eachcity. I am painting evenwhen I am travel-ling,mymaterialsgowithmeeverywhere—fromKolkata toVaranasi toVenice.

Motifs likeants(Procession,2010)andbellsrecurinyourwork.Someof thesereflect intheinstallationsatyourongoingsolo“Cast”,presentedbyGalleryArtExposure.What’stheirsignificance?The memories of my childhood have

stayedwithmeandalsoreflect inmywork.In Tamluk, I saw ants everywhere. I wouldadmire the discipline with which theywouldmove in line. Some years ago,whenI saw a Royal Enfield motorbike, I felt Iwanted to do somethingwith it. I sourcedmore than100bikes,dismantled themand

createdahugeinstallation,Procession,withants crawling around. The ongoing exhibi-tionattheBirlaAcademyofArtandCulture,Kolkata, has an installation titledMotion,where I’ve used junk material, includingRoyal Enfield bikes and ceiling fans, to de-signgrasshoppers.Theexhibitionalsohasaninstallationti-

tled Power, where hundreds of bells cometogether to form a bull. These bells also go

back tomy childhood, I saw them in tem-ples and around the necks of animals.Another installation,Birth of theGoldenEgg(2018), had antiquemetal cages that I sawin Rajasthan. I was prompted to createsomethingastheyremindedmeof thehenswehadwhenIwasgrowingup.Whentheygave eggs, I would sell them and use themoney to buy art material, make toys andsell themin thevillage.

You’veworkedwitharangeofmediums(watercolourstoacrylics)andforms(installations,photography, films).Howimportant is it toexperiment?As an artist, it is extremely important to

explore. I likeexperimentingandtransform-ing; thatposeschallengesandallowsonetofantasise. I’vemadetwoshort filmstillnow,andamworkingonsomemore.TheMagicofMonsoons: Montage, Moments, Memories(2011) captured the natural sounds aroundmonsoon across India— fromKolkata, Goa,to Mumbai and Kanyakumari. The MysticMelody:ADayintheGoldenDesert(2010)wasshot inRajasthan. These films are related tomyart, Ihavebeentotheseplaceshundredsof times.Theintentionistobringintherich-ness of the places, the mysticism, in theworks.Atpresent, IamworkingonafilmonVaranasi, about thecity’s sightsandsounds,whatyouobserve fromthewater.

Your7x800ftmonumentalpaintingIndianOdyssey isatNewDelhi’s IndiraGandhi InternationalAirport.Howimportant is it toreachouttothemasseswithart?It is very important to have public art.

Look at the cave paintings of prehistorictimes. In India, we are gradually workingtowards art education. Indian Odyssey isone of the longest paintings in the world.It tookalmost ayear topaint, and fromtheverybeginning, IknewIwanted it torepre-sentdifferent facetsof India, fromitsdiver-sity to colour, richness, beauty and its dif-ferent states.

Howdidyoureactwhen,earlier thisyear,yourportraitof SubhasChandraBosewascomparedwithBengaliactorProsenjitChatterjee,whoplaysBose inthe2019biopicGumnaami.I don’t get bothered by all this, or else I

will not be able topaint. Theportrait camefrom the family and I know what I havedone. I have grownup listening about himandadmiringhim.Forme,Bosewasagreathero topaint.

Whydoyouworkonlyduringtheday?HasCOVID-19alteredthewayyouwork?Light plays a vital role in my painting.

Understanding light is important and I al-ways paint next to the source of light as ithelpsmeanalyseacolour’s intensity.Tome,COVIDhasreassertedtheimportanceoftak-ing it slowand contemplating over things. Ialsofeelmycolourshavebecomepurer. I’vebeen focusingmoreonexpression.

Amid two ongoing shows in Kolkata, artist Paresh Maity, 58, speaks about drawing from childhoodmemories, and how the pandemic has taught him the importance of taking things slow

‘It is very important tohave public art’

THE JUNIORS(Clockwise from top)

Firoz Khan/JuniorAmitabh Bachchan,

Prashant Walde/Junior Shah RukhKhan, and KishoreBhanushali/Junior

Dev Anand inthe film’s stills;

director GeetikaNarang Abbasi

REFLECTIONS,RIPPLES

(Clockwise from top)Maity; After the Rain(1995), watercolouron paper; The Power

(2018), brass andcopper sculpture

● ● ●

COVID-19hasreassertedthe importanceof taking it

slowandcontemplatingoverthings...mycolourshavebecomepurer. I’vebeen

focusingmoreonexpression● ● ●

YASIRABBASI

New Delhi

B O O K SEYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 5, 2021

Paromita Chakrabarti

DoesyournovelThePromisedrawfromyourownexperienceofgrowingupinPretoriaduringtheApartheid?Well,yes,andno.Imean,nothingverydi-

rect. But I did growup in Pretoria,which is aplacenotmuchlikeanyotherplace,especiallyback in those days. I did do twoyears in themilitary, although Iwas in theAir Force andworkinginanoffice.Mymothergrewupona—well, youknow,weused tocall it a farm—butitwaslikethefarminthebook,notmuchofa farm,butakindofapatchworkof small-holdings just outsideKrugersdorp.WeusedtospendweekendstherewhenIwaslittle.So,allofthatgetsjumbleduptogether.Youdrawonvariousmemoriesandyoureshapethem,but there’s nothing direct. The truth is, youcan’twritecharactersinanovelwithoutdraw-ingonyourselfinsomeways.Soeachofthesecharactersreflectsomeaspectofme,oftenex-aggerated in an almost cartoonishway. Theidea thatwriterswrite books that have ab-solutelynothingtodowiththeirpersonalitiesor lives, I think, is false. Your rawmaterial isyourself.Thereisnothingelsetodrawon.

IwanttoaskyouabouttheperilsofbeingawriterinacountrylikeSouthAfricathathasachequeredpast.Areyouexpectedtobeasoothsayerofsortswhoexplainsthepastorshowsthewayforward?I suppose that role has changed because

SouthAfricahaschanged.TherewasatimeintheeraofmaybeNadineGordimerorAndréBrink,where awriterwas supposed to be amoralsignpost, toshowpeoplehowtothinkandwhere their values should be.Which iswhy, inApartheid times, thegovernmentsostronglytriedtocontrolwritersthroughcen-sorship or banning. That’s not the case any-more. And it’s not just because the AfricanNationalCongress(ANC)governmentisopentodifferentpointsofview,althoughthatisanelement.It’salsobecausebooksarenolongervaluedinthatway.Ithinkwritersarenotseenas an important voice at all. Nobodywouldmake amove now to ban awriter in SouthAfrica, but theymightmake amove to banTwitterorTikTokifitwasthreatening,justbe-causethathasfarmorepowerasavoice.Imistrusttheideathatwritersshouldbea

moralsignpost,justbecausemostofthewrit-ers I knowarenot particularlymoral peoplethemselves.We’reallhuman.So, I guess, I’vetried, in this book and in others, to workagainst this notion. Even the characters thatdo actmorally, inmywriting, tend to haveflaws or be damaged in someway. Becausethat seems to be true of howhumans oper-ate. Even thebest of us,with themostnobleimpulses,arealwaysopentoquestion.

Partof thejoyofreadingthisbookwashowunexpectedthenarratoris,howhedrawsthereaderintothestory. Iwonderif thishadanythingtodowithyourtrainingindrama?In fact, it was a fortuitous diversion, not

intodramabutintoscriptwriting.Igotofferedthechancetowriteacoupleofdraftsofafilmscript. Iwasalreadybusywith thenovel andnotverysatisfiedwiththewayIwashandlingthenarration.WhenIgotthechancetodothefilm script, I took the job, although thatwasnotespeciallysatisfyingeither.Butitdidopenmythinking intothepossibilityof adifferentmodeofnarration.Icarriedoverfromthefilmto thebook thesense thatyoucan jumpandcut fromone point of view to another quitefast.Thatwasinstantlymorepleasing.BecausethewayIthoughtofwhatIwasdoing... ifyousee thebookasakindof apainting, the con-ventionalmode of narrationwould be longand steady brushstrokes.Whereas this feltmuchmorelikedabbingwithabrushtogivelittlepoints,likeakindofpointillism,or,touseanotherpaintingimage,thatitallowedmetofracturetheimagelikeCubismwoulddo.ThatwaspleasingbecauseSouthAfricaismadeofinfinitelytinybutwarringperspectives.It’snota country thathasonevoiceoroneperspec-tiveonanything.There’sthesensealwaysthatwhatever your narrative positionmight be,there are countless others coming in to tellyou:‘Butwhataboutthis?’, ‘No,you’rewrongaboutthat’.So,IwasabletoconveysomethingofthesensethatSouthAfricaspeaksinafrac-tured chorus. As soonas you set uponeper-spective,anotherwillcometocancelthatoutandanotherandanother.Also,justinaliterarysense,onedoesn’tal-

wayswanttodowhat’sbeendonebefore.Youwanttofindanewwayoftellingthestory.Butof course, it’s awaythathas towork. Indeed,this narrative approach has notworked foreveryone.Butenoughpeoplehavelikeditforme to feel thatmymission is fulfilled. Theother thing is that it gives enough space tospeakwith an ironic tone, to speakwithhu-mour,whichisareliefbecausetherawmate-rial of the story is death, funerals anddecay,whichisverydepressing.

WhatwentintocreatingSalome,theBlackcharacterattheheartof thestory,whoseperspectivewedon’tgettohear?Youmusthaveknownthattherewouldbequestionsaboutherrepresentation?Yeah,IdecidedquiteearlyonthatIwasnot

goingtogointothemindsoftheBlackcharac-ters inthewaythat IdowithaWhitecharac-ter. Primarily, because this is a book aboutWhite SouthAfricans andhow they see theworld and other people. It’s simply a brutal,unpleasanttruththatWhiteSouthAfricansingeneraldonotperceivethelivesofBlackSouthAfricans around themas full and human inthewaythattheywouldseethelivesofotherWhite people. So, Iwanted to convey that inthenarrativeitself. Ididthinkforawhilethatwhat I might do is withhold any sense ofSalome’s inner lifeuntil right at theend, andthenopenitupinakindoffloodalmost,toletherlifespillintothebook.ButIdecidedagainstit,rightlyorwrongly,infavourofoneofthosemomentswherethenarratorturnsandactu-ally speaks to the reader directly and says, ifyou didn’t knowanything about her life, it’sbecausemaybeyoudidn’twanttoknow,andyoudidn’t ask. So I, as itwere, implicate thereader in thisavoidanceof seeingotherpeo-ple. Salome is a character you can see everydayonthestreet.There’snodifficultyinimag-ining such a person’s life. Itwas a consciousdecisionnottodoit,becauseIthoughtIwouldmakeher presence speakmore loudly if shewassilent.Idislikebooksthatsolvetheirownproblems, because you finish the book, youcloseit,andyouclosetheproblem.Youdon’tthinkaboutitagain,youfeeltheworld’sprob-lemsaresolvable.Manyarenot.Why,27yearsintodemocracy,doessomebodylikeSalome,and there aremillions of them, still have novoice inSouthAfrica?It’sa lifeproblem.But Imadeitaliteraryproblemtoo,sothatreaderswillcarrythataroundandbebotheredbyit.

You’vespokenaboutyourdiscomfortwithcomparisonswithJMCoetzee.Doyouthinkit’sbecausepeopledon’tknowenoughaboutcontemporarySouthAfricanliterature,so theytendtoreachoutforestablishedfigurestocompare?I thinkwhatyou’vejustexpressedistrue,

thatpeopleknowrelativelylittleaboutSouthAfricanwriting. So they reached for figuresthatareimmediatelyiconicallyrecognisable,andhavedominatedtheliterarylandscapeforyears. There’s a certain satisfaction, I have tosay, in thinking that, perhaps, at last, I havemanagedtocarveoutmyowngroundinthisrespect.ThatpeoplemaythinkIhaveavoiceofmyownas opposed to just being anothertorturedWhitemanfromCapeTown.

Forthelongerversionoftheinterview,logontowww.indianexpress.com

‘I mistrust the idea that writersshould be a moral signpost’

Booker Prize-winning South African author Damon Galgut, 58, on trying to represent the many South Africas in his novel,the waning relevance of writers and living down comparisons with JM Coetzee

Nobody would make a move now to ban awriter in South Africa but they might move toban Twitter or TikTok if it was threatening justbecause that has far more power

THEPROMISEBYDAMONGALGUTChatto andWindus304 pages`699

INArecentOPJindalseminarattheCenterforContemporarySouthAsia,BrownUniversity,US, SalmanRushdieparticipated in a panelon“Politics,ReligionandLiterature:IndiaandPakistan”.TheliterarydiscussionwassteeredbyGauri Viswanathan, professor of Englishand Comparative Literature, ColumbiaUniversity; religious discussion by ShahzadBashir, professor of IslamicHumanities andHistory(Brown);andthepoliticaldiscussionby Ashutosh Varshney, professor ofInternationalStudiesandtheSocialSciences,andPoliticalScience(Brown).Editedexcerpts:

GauriViswanathan:Iwouldliketofocusonyourmorerecentworks,especiallyQuichotte(2019)andTwoYearsEightmonthsandTwenty-EightNights...(2015).Depictionofchildhoodcontinuestobeprominentinyourstories.AlthoughyourrecentnovelsaresetintheUS,theyhaveIndian-origincharactersandbeginwithchildhood,whichisgenerallysetintheIndiansubcontinent. IsitthatthroughchildhoodyouareholdingontoSouthAsiaasamajorsubtextofyournovels?SalmanRushdie:Yes,thatistrue.Butitis

alsotruethatifyouwanttodevelopacharac-ter,itisimportanttoknowwhatkindofchild-hoodthecharacterhashad.My childhood, of course, was spent in

Bombay. In TwoYears, one ofmy Indian-ori-gincentralcharactersdiscoversthatlikemanyof us, he can’t gobackhomeagain—notbe-cause you can’t buy a plane ticket, but theworld you came fromhas gone. The loss ofhomeisnotbecauseyouarenotthere,butbe-causeitisnotthere.IhaveneveryetmanagedtowriteanovelwhichdidnothaveanIndiancentral character. Iwanted to, but it doesnotseem towork out. I havenowwritten aplaywhichdoes not have an Indian central char-acter.IhavetakenthelibertyofwritinganewGreektragedy. Itdidfeelverydifferent.Atonelevel,mylastthreenovelsarequite

American.IhavelivedintheUSformorethan20 years, so it is reasonable that the booksshould also live here to someextent. But viatheir Indian-origin characters, these novelsstill haveat theirheart the subjectof India—and in particular, the subject of Bombay. IknowwhereIamfrom.

ShahzadBashir:Letmenowposeaquestionaboutthedifferencebetweenliteratureandreligiousunderstanding.Itcanbesaidthatthedifferenceisnot

aboutthelackof imaginationinoneortheother,butit isactuallyacontestationabouttheplaceof imaginationwithinhumanexistence.Religiouscritiqueaboutliterarysensibilityisthatithasbeentakenawayfrominvestmentsinpoliticsandthemessybusinessof life—inordertocreateanartificialspacewherediscussionhappens.Theliterarycritiqueofreligiousimaginationisthatit isclaustrophobic,asit isalreadytieddowntoontology,epistemology,cosmology.Ifthisreadingisright,theyarefightingoverthesamecontestedspace.Doesthatdiminishthedifferencebetweenliteraryandreligiousimaginations?That isagreatquestion.Likeanyatheist, I

amobsessedwith religion. Tomymind, thedifferencebetweenthesecularandreligiousimaginations is thewillingness to questionfirst principles. The first principle of religionis: is thereaGod?Asawriter, if youcan’t askthatquestion,youarenotfree.Thepurposeoftrue imagination is always to question fromfirstprincipleonwards. If youcanonlyques-tion the secondprinciple, then you are trulylimited.Thatiswhythepurelyreligiousimag-ination isunappealing tome, for itsdoesnotaskthedifficultquestion.

AshutoshVarshney(AV):Politicsrunsthroughyournovels.Midnight’sChildren(1981)startswithIndia’sIndependenceandendswiththeEmergency.ThatPakistanisaninsufficientlyimaginednation,acentralimageofShame (1983), isaprofoundlypolitical idea.Hereiswhatyouwrotein2000,whenyouvisitedIndiaafteragapof12-13years,aseparationforcedbythe fatwaagainstyou: ‘IhaveleftIndiamanytimes.ThefirsttimewaswhenIwasthirteenandahalf,andwenttoboardingschoolinRugby,England.Sincethen,mycharactershavefrequentlyflownwestfromIndiaandinnovelafternovel,theirauthor’simaginationhasreturnedtoit.Thisperhapsiswhatitmeanstoloveacountry.Thatitsshapeisalsoyours,theshapeofthewayyouthink,youfeel,youdream.Thatyoucanneverleave’.Comments?I think, oneof the secretsof awriter’s life

istoknowwhereyoucamefrom.Ihadafalsestart as awriter—with a fantasy novel thatfailed. I thoughta lot aboutwhy. Theanswerto thatwasMidnight’s Children. I thought Ishould go back to India, for that is where Istarted. IrememberwhenIwroteTheMoor’sLastSigh(1995),Iwasveryworried.Itwasthe

first time I hadwritten about IndiawithoutgoingtoIndia.Becauseof the fatwa, IhadnotbeentoIndiaforsix-sevenyearsatthatpoint.I neverwantedmywork to be seen as thework of an outsider. Iwanted it to belong totheplaceitwasabout.Luckily,noonethoughtit did not belong.My recent books have, ofcourse,lookedawayfromIndia,butIamback.IamnowwritingabookthatiscompletelysetinIndia. Indianevergoesaway.

AV:OtherthanBombay,youhavelivedalotofyourlifeinLondonandnow,forover20years, inNewYork. WhatrolehaveLondonandNewYorkplayedinyourliteraryimagination?Thereissomuch.CharlesDickenswasvery

importanttome.IactuallythinkofDickensas

an Indianwriter. ThatDickensian city—big,rotting,corruptplace—isexactlylikeanIndiancity now. In the sameway, Jane Austen is agreatIndianwriter.Thosebrilliantoppressedwomenhavingtosettleforhusband-huntingwhentheywereactuallysomuchbetterthanthat, transported them to India, and they fitright in.

AV:Hasitalsoinformedyourpolitical,notsimplyliterary, imagination?TheFirstAmendment (1951)wasoneof

the reasons I came to live in America.Different countries in theWesthaveplaceddifferentkindsof restrictionsonfreedomofexpression. In England, the Race RelationsAct(1968)makesitillegaltosayracistthings.I had no problemswith that.Whynot sendraciststojail?Then,youcometotheUSwhichallows the Ku Klux Klan to speak. The FirstAmendment in theUSdefines freedomverybroadly.SinceIdon’tthinkbadideasgoawaybybeingsweptunderthecarpet,Icameroundtoaccepting thebreadthofAmericandefini-tion,thoughIamawareof itslimitations,too.I have learnt a lot from theWest about

theseargumentsaboutliberty. Sadly,inSouthAsia, there isvery little interest inthesubjectof individual liberty. The importance of the

group is seen as being supreme, and that oftheindividualasbeingof lessersignificance.

AV:HalfofyourfamilylivedinPakistan—perhapsstilldoes.PakistanisthecentrepieceofShame.Lookingbackovertheperiodsince1981,whenyournovelsacquiredhugereadershipandShameappearedin1983,howhaveyou—asaliteraryand/orpoliticalbeing—lookedatPakistan?Hasthatchanged?Youmention Shame. I should confess to a

pieceof familyshame. Ihadanunclebymar-riage,whowasthefounderandthefirstheadoftheISI—notorious,theguardiansofOsamabin Laden, theharbourers of the Taliban.MyunclewasthebasisforthecharacterofGeneralZulfikar inMidnight’s Children.When the at-tacksonTheSatanicVerses(1988)began,he,ofcourse,quicklydistancedhimself fromme.The idea that Pakistanwas ‘insufficiently

imagined’was,ofcourse,earlierprovenbythesecessionofBangladesh.Acountrycouldnotsurvive on the basis of a religious identityalone.IusedtothinkthatIndiahadgotthingsrighttoadegreethatPakistanhadnot.Ifindithard tobelieve that anymore—notbecauseoftheimprovementofPakistanbutbecauseofthedeteriorationofIndia.Pakistanstillhastheproblemsitalwayshad—anapparentlydem-ocraticstructurewhichisactuallyapawnforthemilitary,where the religious groups alsohave far toomuchpower. Pakistan has nowplayedadangerousgamebygivingsafehavento the Taliban. Pakistan was afraid that itwouldhavean Indiaallyon itswestern fron-tier and India on the eastern frontier.EverythinginPakistanisdeterminedbyitsob-sessionwith India. But Pakistan iswhat theTaliban would really like to capture.Afghanistanhascolossalproblems.Pakistan,abiggercountry,isworthmoretotheTaliban.

AV:AndIndiaisgoingthePakistaniway?Itain’tquitethereyet.ThefactthatIndia’s

statusasademocracyhasbeendowngradedbyvariousinternationalbodiesistragic.Indiaused to take enormous pride in being theworld’s largest democracy. It ismuch easierfor rich countries to bedemocratic. It is veryhard for poor countries tomaintain demo-cratic freedoms. The fact thatMr (Narendra)Modi hasmanaged to sell to a lot of Indiansthe ideaofHindumajoritarian rule,which isanti-democratic, is trulytragic.

Formore, logontowww.indianexpress.com

Writer Salman Rushdie on locating himself through hisnovels, Pakistan’s strategic importance to the Talibanand why the religious imagination is unappealing to him

‘I know where I am from’

● ● ●

Ineverwantedmyworktobeseenastheworkofan

outsider. Iwantedit tobelongtotheplace itwasabout

● ● ●

16

MARTHINUSBASSON

New Delhi

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021

Government of OdishaOffice of the Chief Construction Engineer, Rural Works Circle, Sambalpur

Tel-0663-2548268, E-mail Id [email protected] Identification No. Road Tender Online RWCSBP-33/2021-22 No: 3182 Dated: 26.11.2021

The Chief Construction Engineer Rural Works Circle, Sambalpur on behalf of Governor of Odisha invites online percentage rate Bid from experienced & eligible bidders for 3 (Three) nos group of AnnualMaintenance Plan of Rural Roads for the year 2021-22.

O-1138

Procurement Officer Bid Identification No. Availability of Tender on-line for bidding Last date & time for seekingclarification

Date & Time of opening of tender

From To Technical Bid Financial Bid

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Chief Construction Engineer RuralWorks Circle Sambalpur

Road Tender Online -RWCSBP-33/2021-22

06.12.2021 at 11.00 AM 20.12.2021 upto 5.00 PM 18.12.2021up to 1.00 P.M.

21.12.2021 at 11.00A.M.

Will be intimated later

* Further details can be seen from the e-procurement portal www.tendersorissa.gov.in. (https//tendersodisha.gov.in)* Subsequent modification/ corrigendum/Addendum if required shall appear in website only.* The amount put to bid is exclusive of GST*Bidder should inspect the road before bidding and quote his rate accordingly.

Sd/-Chief Construction Engineer,Rural, Works Circle, Sambalpur

OIPR-25091/11/0040/2122

1 Name of work : Annual Maintenance Plan of Rural Roads for the year 2021-22.

2 No of works : 3(Three) nos as per DTCT.3 Estimated cost : Approximately varies from Rs. 105.30 lakhs to Rs. 134.89 lakhs.4 Class of Contractor. : ‘B’ and ‘A’5 Cost of tender paper and mode of deposit. : Rs. 10,000/- per set.( to be deposited On-line) in favour of concerned Executive Engineer.6 Mode of submission of tender : Tender should be submitted only On line in website www.tendersorissa.gov.in. (https//tendersodisha.gov.in)7 EMD and mode of deposit : No, EMD is required but Bid Security declaration should be furnished by the bidders as mentioned in DTCN..

8 Summary of key dates are provided below :

Online Tender Document for M.P. PolicePOLICE HEADQUARTER, M.P., BHOPAL

No. PHQ / 15/ GPC/ 5381-1 /2021 Bhopal, Dated 26/11/2021"ONLINE TENDER NOTICE"

Online tender are invited by Assistant Inspector General of Police (Provisioning) Police HeadQuarter, Bhopal on behalf of DGP MP Bhopal for Road Safety Fund on websitehttps://mptenders.gov.in/nicgep/app

1. Cost of tender document (Tender Fee) is non refundable and cannot be exempted in anycondition & must submit online through website https://mptenders.gov.in/nicgep/app.

2. Tender document can be download from the website of MP Police(www.mppolice.gov.in)

3. Bids shall be submitted online only at MP Tenders websitehttps://mptenders.gov.in/nicgep/app

4. Critical Date Sheet:

5. Intending Bidders are advised to visit this website regularly till closing date of submissionto keep themselves updated as any change/ modification in the tender will be intimatedthrough this website only by corrigendum / addendum/ amendment.

6. Bids will be opened as per date/time as mentioned in the Tender Critical Date Sheet. Afteronline opening of Technical-Bid the results of their qualification as well Price-Bid openingwill be intimated later.

Sd/- (Shailendra Singh Chouhan)A.I.G. (Provisioning)

For: Director General of Police M.P.G-19939/21

S.No

ItemQty.

EMDPaid Online Through

mptenders.gov.in

TenderFees (Rs.)

1Laser Speed Radar Gun Intergratedwith Camera (inbuild) and Printer

117 No. 23,00,000 30,000.00

Published Date 27/11/2021 Time 11:00 AM

Bid Document Download Start Date 27/11/2021 Time 14:00 AM

Pre Bid Meeting Date 02/11/2021 Time 12:00 PM

Bid Submission Start Date 09/11/2021 Time 11:00 AM

Bid Submission End Date 16/12/2021 Time 14:30 PM

Bid Opening Date 17/12/2021 Time 16:30 PM

Qû ¦fªf IYe QcSXe, ¸ffÀIY W`X ªf÷YSXeÜ

GOVERNMENT OF RAJASTHANDEPARTMENT OF MINES AND GEOLOGY

Email: [email protected]

NOTICE INVITING TENDER (NIT)In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 10B of the Mines and Minerals(Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, its subsequent amendments and inaccordance with the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015 as amended from time to timenotified thereunder, the Government of Rajasthan has notified the following mineralblock for the purpose of grant of Mining Lease for mineral limestone and hereby invitesbids in digital format only from eligible bidders through electronic auction.

The details of mineral block and last date of submission of bid is as summarized below:-

The block is being put up for first attempt of auction. The interested and eligible bidders,upon registration on MSTC website <http.www.mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/mIcl/index.jsp> will obtain login ID and Password. After successfulregistration, the eligible bidder can purchase the Tender Document online on payment ofthe tender fee of Rs. 2,00,000/- + GST and can participate in the e-auction process.

The GST at the rate of 18% is applicable on the purchase of tender document. The GSTapplicable is to be submitted by the prospective bidder itself and the copy of receipt isto be attached with the technical bid. The prospective bidder shall be solely responsiblefor remitting the GST as per applicable law and statutory liability in this regard will beresponsibility of prospective bidder and no liability whatsoever shall be borne by theDMGR/MSTC.

Detailed terms and conditions, deadlines etc. for participation in the electronic auctionare provided in the Tender Document. The Model Tender Document and the MineralBlock Summary is available free of cost in electronic form and can be downloaded fromthe website of MSTC Ltd, <https://www.mstcecommerce.com/ auctionhome/mIcl/index.jsp>, and Department of Mines & Geology <www.mines.rajasthan.gov.in> forthe purpose of information only. Timelines, notifications, updates and other details for thee-auction process are available on the website of<https://www.mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/mIcl/ index.jsp>

Any revision, clarifications, addendum, corrigendum, time extensions, etc. to the abovetender documents will be hosted on websites <https://www.mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/mIcl/index.jsp> and <www.mines.rajasthan.gov.in> only and noseparate notifications shall be issued in the press.

Sd/-Director

Department of Mines & GeologyDIPR/C/12324/2021 Rajasthan, Udaipur

SNo

Block Lease Start Date ofSale of TenderDocument onMSTC website

Last Date ofSale of TenderDocument onMSTC website

Bid Due dateand time

1. Gothra-Parasrampura EastBlock, Teshil Nawalgarh,District Jhunjhunu

MiningLease

03-12-2021 20-12-2021 upto2400 Hrs (IST)

07-01-2022upto

1300 Hrs (IST)

E-TENDER INVITING NOTICE 1. Tender is invited through e-tendering for the Supply of 3400 no. 33 KV disc fitting 70 KN (B&Stype) against tender specification no. PVVNL-MT/MM/101/21-22,Earnest Money Deposit (EMD): Rs. 17000.00, Last Date oftender submission & Time:- 06.01.2022 at 14:00 hrs., Date oftender opening (Part-I & II) & Time:- 06.01.2022 at 16:00 hrs.,2. Tender is invited through e-tendering for the Supply of 9000 Kg.GI Wire 3.15mm/10 SWG, 29000 Kg. GI Wire 5 mm / 6 SWG &27000 Kg. GI stay wire (7/4 mm) 7/8 SWG against tenderspecification no. PVVNL-MT/MM/102/21-22, Earnest MoneyDeposit (EMD):- Rs. 40000.00, Last Date of tendersubmission & Time:- 06.01.2022 at 14:00 hrs., Date of tenderopening (Part-I & II) & Time:- 06.01.2022 at 16:00 hrs. 3.Tender is invited through e-tendering for the Supply of 4000 no.33 KV 33 KV Polymeric disc insulator 70 KN (B&S type) againsttender specification no. PVVNL/MT/MM/103/21-22, EarnestMoney Deposit (EMD):- Rs. 26000.00, Last Date of tendersubmission & Time:- 10.01.2022 at 14:00 hrs., Date of tenderopening (Part-I & II) & Time:- 10.01.2022 at 16:00 hrs. Note:-In case of any amendment in tender specification or date ofextension, the same shall be uploaded on e-tender websitewww.etender.up.nic.in and www.pvvnl.org SuperintendingEngineer (MM-I) “Help line Number For Information of Theft ofElectricity: “1800-180-3002 (Meerut), & 9412207451” Sd/-Superintending Engineer (MM-I) For Managing Director RO-10998, Dt. 04.12.2021 Save Electricity in the interest ofNation.

Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd.Victoria Park Meerut

CX0´fi0´ffUSX MÑfaÀfd¸fVf³f IYfSX´fûSXZVf³f dÕX0 BÊ-d³fdUQf Af¸fa{¯f Àfc¨f³ff A³fb·fUe I f¹fÊQf¹feÀfaÀ±ffAû ÀfZ dUôb°f ´ffS Z¿f¯f ¸faOÕ, ¦fiZMS ³fûEOfIZ A³°f¦fÊ°f d³f¸³f I f¹fûÊ WZ°fb BÊ-d³fdUQf¹fZa BÊ-´fûMÊÕ etender.up.nic.in ´fS d³fdUQfJbÕ³fZ I e dQ³ffaI I û 12.00 ¶fþZ °fIAf¸fad{°f I e þf°fe W`Ü BÊ-d³fdUQf JbÕ³fZ I ed°fd±f ´fS AUI fVf I e dÀ±fd°f ¸fZa BÊ-d³fdUQfA¦fÕZ I f¹fÊ dQ½fÀf ¸fZÔ JûÕe þf¹fZ¦feÜ 1. d³fdUQfÀfa£¹ff Me-82/2021-22 : dUôb°f ´ffS Z¿f¯fJ¯O, Wf´fbO IZ A³°f¦fÊ°f 220 IZ 0Ue0 Wf´fbO- dÀf¸·ffUÕe ÀfdI ÊM -II ÕfBÊ³f I e ÕûI Vf³fÀfa£¹ff 117 EUa 118 ´fS dVfR Mea¦f EUa D h¨ffBÊ¶fPÞf³fZ I f I f¹fÊÜ ²fSûWS SfdVf ø 0 75,000/-d³fdUQf ´fi´f{ Vfb»I ø 0 7,080/-(I SÀfdW°f)Ü £fb»f³fZ I e dQ³ffaI 14.12.2021ÜA³fb¸ffd³f°f Õf¦f°f :- ø 0 72.68 ÕfJÜ 2.d³fdUQf Àfa£¹ff Me-83/2021-22 : dUôb°f´ffS Z¿f¯f J¯O, Wf´fbO IZ A³°f¦fÊ°f 220 IZ 0Ue0Wf´fbO - dÀf¸·ffUÕe ÀfdI ÊM -´fi±f¸f ÕfB³f I fÕfZIZ Vf³f Àfa£¹ff 95 EUa 98 ´fS dVfR Mea¦f EUaD h¨ffBÊ ¶fPf³fZ I f I f¹fÊÜ ²fSûWS SfdVf ø 065,000/- d³fdUQf ´fi´f{ Vfb»I ø 0 7,080/-(I S ÀfdW°f)Ü JbÕ³fZ I e dQ³ffaI14.12.2021Ü A³fb¸ffd³f°f Õf¦f°f :- ø 063.96 ÕfJÜ 3. d³fdUQf Àfa£¹ff M e-84/2021-22 : dUôb°f ´ffS Z¿f¯f J¯O, JbþfÊ IZA³°f¦fÊ°f dUd·f³³f 220/132 IZ 0Ue0 ÕfBÊ³fû IZ

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17CLASSIFIEDS&TENDERS

KHATRIS/ARORAS

MALYALEEKERALITE

ClassifiedsPPEERRSSOONNAALL

''IMPORTANT''Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertisingcopy, it isnotpossible toverifyits contents. The IndianExpress (P) Limited cannot beheld responsible for suchcontents, nor for any loss ordamage incurredasaresultoftransactions with companies,associations or individualsadvertising in its newspapersor Publications. We thereforerecommend that readersmake necessary inquiriesbefore sending any monies orentering into any agreementswith advertisers or otherwiseacting on an advertisement inany manner whatsoever.

IINainPrakashSabharwal S/oMoti Lal Sabharwal R/oH.No.60-B,DDAFlats, D2/ABlock,JanakPuri, NewDelhi-58declare that nameofmineNainPrakash&NainPrakashSabharwal andmy fathernameMoti Lal &Moti LalSabharwal are thenameofsame&oneperson.

0040594536-1

II,,hhiitthheerrttoo knownasLakshmi@NiveditaaD/o-Ganesh,residingat,K-1572,Jahangirpuri,Azadpur,Delhi-110033,have changedmynameandshall hereafter be knownasNiveditaa. 0040594574-4

II,,SSHHIILLPPIIPRAKASH,w/oVIVEKKUMAR,ADD-88A,2ND-FLOOR,GALI.NO-16, ARJUN-NAGARSAFDARJUNG-ENCLAVE,SOUTH-WEST,DELHI-110029,changedmyMinor daughtername,fromDIAYADHUVANSHItoADIRAYADUVANSHI,permanently. 0040594564-2

II,,RReennuuDatta aliasRenuDuttaD/o-HarbansSinghDatta/Dutta,W/o-VikramKapoorR/o-H.No.58,East of Kailash,Delhi-110065, have changedmynameafter-marriage toRenuKapoor/Kapur,for all purposes.

0040594574-6

II,,RRaavviiChouhan,S/OShri.SitaRamChouhan,R/OS-16/17,Upper-GroundFloor,Vijay-Vihar,Uttam-Nagar,New-Delhi-110059,HaveChangedmyName toRavi Chauhan.

0040594574-3

II,,RREENNUUKKUUMMAARRIIPURVE,D/OKRISHANSHAH,W/OPRAMODKUMAR, PURVE,9-B, YP-BLOCKNEAR-SHIVMANDIRPITAMPURA,DELHI,-34,MYNAMERENUKUMARIWRONGLY-WRITTEN INMY10TH-AND12TH-CLASSMARKSHEET,ANDCERTIFICATE.ACTUAL-NAME ISRENUKUMARIPURVE 0040594564-8

II,,PPaarrvviinnddeerrKaurw/oArjunSinghR/o.95-A, LIG-Flats,Rajouri-Garden,Delhi-110027,have changedmyname toParminderKaur,for all futurepurposes. 0040594574-10

II,,NNOO--1133666633111100GDSMCHOKHELAL,S/o SukramSingh,R/o.village-Naseerpur p.opachawar tehsil ghirormainpuri,U.P infrom that nameofmywife hasbeenmentionedasGangaShri inmyArmyservice-Record the correctmywife name isCHAMELI DEVI.whichmaybeamendedaccordingly. 0040594564-10

II,,MMaannoojj S/o-MaheshR/o-B-533,H-4,N-30, Jhuggi (B-Block),Jahangir Puri,Delhi-110033,have changedmyname toManoj Kumar, permanently.

0040594574-7

II,,KKMMPallvi SinghD/O-RavindraSinghR/O,B-279, S/F, NewAshok-NagarVasundhara-EnclaveDelhi-110096,havechangedmyname toPallviSingh. 0040594574-8

II,,JJaasskkaarraarrnn SinghS/O-AvtarSinghR/O,WZ-G/45, Sant-Nagar-Ext. VishnuGardenDelhi-110018,have changedmyname to JaskaranSingh.

0040594574-9

II,,HHAAMMSSAAVVEENNIIY,WIFE OF,MKYUVARAJ,RESIDING AT,1A 64/2HAMSAVENI-NILAYAM BEHINDTTK FACTORY GANGAPPA-LAYOUTSHAKTHINAGAR-BANGALORENORTH-BANGALOREDOORVANINAGARKARNATAKA-560016,HAVECHANGED MY NAMEHAMSAVBNI TO HAMSAVENIY,VIDE-AFFIDAVIT DATED-06.OCT.2021. 0040594586-4

II,,GGoouurraavvKumar,S/o-Sh.Chhotelal,R/o-F-71,Ground Floor,Sector-22,Noida,GautamBuddhaNagar,Uttar Pradesh-201301,inform that nameofdaughter (GarimaKashyap)haswronglymentionedasGarima insteadofGarimaKashyap inher School records.

0040594574-1

II,,DDiinneesshhMandal S/o-Sh.RaghuMandal,R/o-A-1142,G.D.COLONY,MAYUR-VIHARPHASE-III,DELHI-110096,informs thatthe,date-of-birth ofmyminorsonnamedAyushMandalhas,beenwrongly-written.24/04/2006.in place,of-24/04/2004. in hisAadhar-Card.

0040594586-1

II,,BBhhaavvyyaaAgarwal, S/OPurshottamLal TulsyamR/OH.No-42, 3rd-Floor, Block-8,SouthPatel-Nagar, Delhi-110008,have changedmynametoBhavyakumarTulsyam.

0040594558-6

II,,AAsshhwwaannii Sharma,S/ORamChander SharmaR/O-2920/217,VishramNagar,Onkar-Nagar,Tri Nagar,Delhi,ChangedMyMinor daughterName,FromMaanvi Sharma toManviSharma. 0040594574-5

II,,AAnnmmooll S/oPawanKumar,R/o-7699/51,Dharampura LodgeClock-Tower Subzi,MandiDelhi-110007,have changedmyname toAnmol Sachdeva,forall purposes. 0040594574-2

II,,SimranSingh, S/oBhupendraSingh, R/o-WZ-295E, NewH.No.-H-19, TiharVillage, TilakNagar, Delhi-110018, havechangedmyname toSimranSinghGrover. 0070764011-1

II,,AAnniillKumarGoel S/oKishan LalGoel R/o-12, Naveentam-Apartments, Sector-9, Rohini,Delhi-110085,have changedmyname toAnil Goel.

0040594586-3

II,,AASSHHRRAAFF JAHAN,W/OMOHD.AMEERR/O.E-3/43,HUTS-SYEDPEERMAZAR,T-BLOCK, RAMESH-PARK, LAXMI-NAGAR,DELHI-110092,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMEASHRAFBEGUMTOASHRAF JAHAN,FORFUTURE,ALLPURPOSES.

0040594586-2

II,,SandeepAgrawal, D/o M.L.Agarwa, R/o 4/14, PunjabiBagh,NewDelhi-110026, havechangedmyname toSandeepAgarwal. 0070763950-1

II,,PraveenChoudhary S/oSurendraPal Singh, R/oKC-116Kavi-Nagar, Ghaziabad-201002,HaveChangedMyNameToPraveenChaudhary.

0040594564-6

II,,Paban Jena, S/o LambodarJena, R/oB2/1001,OrriscarnationResidency, Sector 85,Gurgaon 122004, have changedmyname toPabanKumar Jena.

0070763956-1

II,,Nikhil S/o Shri KaluramR/oH.No.-53, Village-Aghapur,Sector-41, Noida, havechangedmyname toNikhilBaisoyaS/oShri Kaluram forall futurepurposes.

0040594522-1

II,,NatallyaOksenyukW/oPraveenChaudhary, R/o F-802,AdityaMegaCity Indirapuram,Ghaziabad-201010, HaveChangedMyNameToNataliyaOksenyuk. 0040594564-5

II,,SanjanaAgrawal, D/o S.S.Chamria, R/o 4/14, PunjabiBagh,NewDelhi-110026, havechangedmyname toSanjanaAgarwal. 0070763949-1

II,,NareshKumarPhabrani s/o-Shri.DayaRamPhabrani,R/o-K-10,First Floor,OldDoubleStorey,LajpatNagar-4,NewDelhi-110024,have changedmy,name toNareshPhabranito all,futurepurposes.

0040594564-1

II,,NareshKumarPhabrani s/o-Shri.DayaRamPhabrani,R/o-K-10,First Floor,OldDoubleStorey,LajpatNagar-4,NewDelhi-110024,have changedmy,name toNareshPhabranito all,futurepurposes.

0040594558-5

II,,Mohit Kumar Sharma, S/oHariSharanSharmaR/o-LambaGaliyaraDankaurGautamBuddha-NagarUP-203201,changedmyname tomohitSharma. 0040594558-3

II,,Mohammad ImtazKhan,S/oMohammad IrshadKhanR/o-555Ward.No.6,Madina-ColonyNear-Airtel TowerNuhMewatHaryana-122107,changedmyname toMohammad ImtiazKhan. 0040594558-1

II,,MinakshiW/oShubhamR/o-62, Kanha-Patti, Kalayat,Kaithal, Haryana-136117,havechangedmyname toMinakshiChauhan, for all futurepurposes. 0040594540-1

II,,Mahipal, S/oDheeraj Singh,R/oH.No.-1/3220,MainMandoliRoad, RamNagar Extn.,Shahdara, Delhi-110032, havechangedmyname toMAHIPALSINGH for all futurepurposes.

0070764008-1

II,,MANOJKUMARS/o-SH.TIRLOKINATHGROVERR/o-M-480,GURUHARKISHANNAGAR,PASCHIMVIHAR,NEWDELHI-110087,havechangedmy,name toMANOJKUMARGROVER for all,futurepurpose. 0040594558-4

II,, JAGRITIMALIK, daughter ofAnil KumarMalik, resident of2547, SecondFloor, HudsonLane, GTBNagar, KingswayCamp,Delhi-110009, havechangedmyname fromJAGRITI to JAGRITIMALIK, forall future purposes.

0040594538-1

II,,Harpal Singh,R/o 701Sovereign-1, VatikaCity,Sohna-Road,Gurgaon(Haryana)-122018,havechangedmyMinor Daughtername, fromSwastikaRawat toSannahRawat. 0040594564-4

II,, FakidaKhatoon,W/o-Mohammad ImtiazKhanR/o-555Ward.No.6,Madina-ColonyNear-Airtel TowerNuhMewatHaryana-122107, changedmyname to FaridaKhatoon.

0040594558-2

II,,DEEPIKARANID/O-RAMAVTARSINGHR/O-1-29GyanMandir-Road Jaitpur-Extn. New-Delhi-110044, have changedmynamefromDEEPIKA toDEEPIKARANI.

0040594564-9

II,,AmritaDeviW/oDharmenderKumarR/oRZ-35, HansPark,West Sagarpur, NewDelhi-46have changedmyname fromAmrita to AmritaDevi for allpurpose in future.

0040594535-1

II,,Amit Bhati, S/o SatybeerSingh, R/o I-525, Beta-2, GreaterNoidaU.P., have changedmynameAmit Singh for allPurposes. 0070764010-1

IIMadhuGuptaW/oSh. RakeshGuptaR/oH.No.4705, StreetUmraoSingh, Pahari Dhiraj,Delhi-110006 is also knownasManjuGupta.Bothnamesareof oneand the sameperson.

0040594517-7

IIHimani aliasHimani KaurD/oSh. SatnamSinghR/o 1344, GaliNo.13, Govindpuri, Kalkaji,SouthDelhi, Delhi-110019 havechangedmyname toHimanifor all purposes. 0040594517-4

II,,NIRMALADEVI PAHWAW/O,SURESHPAHWAR/O,1102,SECTOR14, GURGAONHARYANA-122001, HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETONIRMALPAHWA. 0040594564-3

IIChanchal S/oSh. Sher SinghR/oD-278/A, RajeevNagar,Begampur,Delhi-110086havechangedmyname toDivyanshfor all purposes. 0040594517-6

OOrriiggiinnaallPossession certificate&Share certificateNo.177dated-26/11/2002 of flat.No-5/303Vidut vihar Sehkari AwasSamity Ltd. PlotNoB-9/3sector-62Noida in thenameofTejinder Pal Singhhasbeenlost. If anybody foundmaycontactmewithin-15 daysofthis advonMobile:-9773527158

0070764005-1

II,,VijayKumarMalhotra,S/oSh.Devi DasMalhotra,R/oFlat.No.174,SitaramApartmentI.P.Extn.Delhi-110092,have LostPossession-Letter&Allotment-LetterDated-03-02-2000,MembershipNo.636 in thenameofBanarasi Devi Verma.FinderContact-9810056475.

0040594564-11

IIUmaVij D/oSh.SohanLalDhingraR/oA-4, GoldenPark,KrishnaNagar, Delhi-110051have lostmyAgreement to Sell,PaymentReceipt&GPAexecutedon31.05.1994byShanti Rani in favour of BalbirKaur of PropertyNo.C-1/1,GoldenPark,Main Shiv PuriRoad, Delhi-110051. Findersmaycontact at aboveaddress.

0040594517-8

LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD

PPrrooffeessssiioonnaallllyyqualified,workinggirl forApril 1992born,handsome,Gursikhboy,5’7”,B.Tech fromDTU,MBA fromIIM Ahmedabad,working inMNC, 50 LPA+, Parents SeniorGovt. officers, 98717-78855

0020430474-1

IISandeepalias SandeepSinghS/oSh. SatnamSinghR/o 1344,Gali No.13, Govindpuri, Kalkaji,SouthDelhi, Delhi-110019havechangedmyname toSandeepfor all purposes. 0040594517-5

HHiinndduuMaruthuvar/Vilakkuthalai Nair,fair,tall ,26yrs engineer seekssuitable groom.Contact9486407217 0050186735-1

PPrrooffeessssiioonnaallllyyQualifiedHinduEzhavaAnizhamNakshatramGirl 27yrs 164cmsB.Com,B.Ed,M.AEnglishBorn&Brought upoutsideKeralaD/O late Father,Mother(Rtd) Lt Col Residing@Pune invitesProposals fromparents of SuitableWorkingBoys (PreferablyworkingoutsideKerala)MobNo-8087649982, 9765968280

0090294806-1

PUBLIC NOTICEGeneral Public is hereby informedthat my client Smt. Amarjit Kaur w/oDaljit Singh, r/o H.No. 3, New FourStorey Flats, Vishal Enclave,Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-110027,has severed all her relations andconnections with her son ManpreetSingh living somewhere else as hehas proven to be most disobedient,disrespectful and harmful towardsmy client and my client herebydisowns and debars him frominheriting any of her movable andimmovable properties. Anybodydealing with him shall be doing so athis/ her own cost and peril and myclient and her other family membersshall not be held liable orresponsible therefor.

Sd/-N.K. MISHRA (Advocate)

Ch. No. 568-A, First Floor, WesternWing, Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi-54

PUBLIC NOTICEIT IS HEREBY INFORMED THAT MY CLIENTS(I) SH. SURESH CHANDER JINDAL S/O SH.DIWAN CHAND JINDAL R/O C-8/6. SECONDFLOOR, MODEL TOWN - III, DELHI & (2) SH.SACHIN JINDAL S/O SH. S. C. JINDAL R/O C-189, SECOND FLOOR, PUSHPANJALIENCLAVE, PITAM PURA, DELHI - 110034,ARE THE JOINT OWNERS OF PROPERTYNO. H-15, SITUATED AT MANUFACTURERSCO-OPERATIVE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE LTD.,UDYOG NAGAR, PEERA GARHI, DELHI ANDTHEY HAVE MISPLACED/LOST ORIGINALPERPETUAL SUB-LEASE DEED,POSSESSION LETTER & MCD MAP INRESPECT OF ABOVE SAID PLOT & THEYHAVE LODGED A FIR/NCR VIDE LR NO.1012684/2021 DATED 04.12.2021, WITHPOLICE STATION, CRIME BRANCH, DELHI, IFANY BODY FIND THE SAID DOCUMENT,PLEASE INFORM HER AT THE ABOVESAIDADDRESS OR PH. NO. 9810107740.IF ANY OTHER CLAIMENT HAS ANY RIGHTIN THE AFORESAID PROPERTY, HE/SHESHOULD FILE AN FIR & GIVE INTIMATION TOASST./DEPUTY DIRECTOR. (INDL.) WITHIN15 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF ISSUE OFTHIS NOTICE.

Sd/- SACHIN KUMAR (Advocate)EnrI.No.D/2092/2008

PUBLIC NOTICEIt is hereby informed to the public atlarge that my client Sh. Jaspreet SinghS/o G.P Singh R/o H-348, GF, VikasPuri, Delhi has entered into anagreement to sell regarding propertyNo. H.341 2nd Floor, Vikas Puri NewDelhi with roof rights and proportionateland underneath it with Ms. MadhuSapra. Now Ms. Madhu Sapra has noright to enter into any further agreementand sell regarding this property. Ifanybody do so, then he/she/they wouldbe solely responsible for the same andthe legal consequence therof.

Sd/-AMIT SHARMA (ADVOCATE)

CH. NO. 272 WESTERN WING,TIS HAZARI COURT, DELHI-54

PPUUBBLLIICC NNOOTTIICCEETo be known to all that I M K Jos S/oLate M L Kochappan R/o Flat No. 17-C,Pocket-I, Dilshad Garden, Delhi-110095owner of the above said property, the originalAllotment Letter & Original NOC of Electricity& Water connection Slip from DDA in respectof property No.17-C,Pocket-I, Dilshad Garden,Delhi vide File No. MO22(145)84/DG/SF,has been actually Lost/Misplaced. An F.I.Rto this effect has been lodged in thePolice Station, Crime Branch, Delhi videLR No.1012804/2021 dated 04.12.2021.Any person(s) claiming any right, interest,having any objection or found in possessionof original document, may write/contact withabove address/Phone no.9560273847 within15 days from the date of publication of thisnotice or write to Dy. Director(LAB) or Director(LAB Housing), DDA Vikas Sadan, Delhi-23.

PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to all concern that my clientShikha Gupta W/o Late Sudhir KumarGupta R/o B-9/47, Sector-5, Rohini,Delhi-110085, disowned and severed allrelationship with her son namely AakashGupta, and debarred him from all hermovable and immovable propertiesacquired or to be acquired because of hismis-behaviour & mis-conduct and hisnature being disobedient, abusing andquarrelling with my client, so my clienthave broken all her relations with him.Any person dealing and having relationwith him in any manner shall be at theirown risk, cost & consequences and myclient shall not be responsible for any actand deed of him.

Sd/- VISHAL SINGH (Advocate)Enrl. No. D-749/2014

PUBLIC NOTICEIt is hereby informed to thePublic at large that my clientAnil Kumar S/O Shri ChattarSingh R/O B-155 J.J. ColonyRaghubir Nagar New Delhi hasdisown and debar His SonPankaj Kumar, daughter in lawMuskan from his all movableand immovable properties/assets and breaks all kind ofrelation with them, due to theircruel-conduct. My client shallnot responsible for their anykind of misconduct.

Sd/- D.C. Akarniya(Advocate)

B-22, BGS Block, Tis HazariCourts, Delhi-110054

LOST AND FOUNDI, Mrs. Kamla Devi @ KamlaBa i , owne r o f and i npossession of a piece of landmeasuring 1 Bigha and 1Biswa, out of Khasra no.100/24/1, situated in the areaof Revenue Estate of VillageMundka, Delhi - 110041, wouldlike to inform general publicthat I have lost my originalproperty documents ie, SaleDeed dated: 08/05/1996 inmyfavor and Sale Deed dated:16/08/1995 in favor ofRajender Kumar Bhutani. Ifany person/s finds it, maykindly return the same to meat the below mentionedaddress.Mrs. Kamla Devi @ Kamla Bai

W/o Late Shri. S N GargR/o B-244, Top Floor, Lok Vihar,Pitampura, North West Delhi-34

+91-9821699797

New Delhi

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, R.W.S & S DIVISION, GAJAPATIPARALAKHEMUNDI, ODISHA

Email - [email protected]. Ph No- 06815224803

Invitation of Bid Through E-TenderingBid Identification No. SE/RWS&S/GPT/19 of year 2021-22

O-1178

1. The Superintending Engineer, RWS&S Division, Gajapati, on behalf of Governor of Odisha, invites percentage rate bids in double cover systemin ONLINE MODE for Rural Piped Water Supply Projects as detailed in the DTCN to be hoisted in the website www.tenderorissa.gov.in. Theeligible Class of Contractors may offer their bids for e-procurement.

2. No. of works :- 05

3. Estimated cost :- Ranging from approx. Rs. 277.50 to Rs. 341.06 Lakhs.

4. Period of completion :- 12 Calender months

5. Tender Cost :- Rs. 10000/- as mentioned in the Annexure.

6. Class of Contractor :- “B”, “A” & Special Class.

7. Date & time of availability of bid in the website :- 06.12.2021 to 20.12.2021 up to 5 PM

8. Last date & time for seeking Tender clarification :- 19.12.2021 up to 5.00 PM.

9. Last date & time for receipt of bids :- 20.12.2021 up to 5.00 PM.

10. Date & Time of Opening of Technical & Financial Bids :- 21.12.2021 at 11.00 AM

11. Further details can be had in the website www.tenderorissa.gov.in only.

12. The contractors who have been awarded with the work orders for execution of any work under this Division earlier, but, on some account or theother, have not successfully completed the same within the stipulated period and, have remained defaulter for considerable period of time aredebarred from participating in the tender process.

13. Authority reserves the right to reject any or all the tenders without assigning any reason thereof.

Enclosed :- The details of the works in annexure attached herewith for reference.

Sd/- Superintending EngineerRWS&S Division, Gajapati

ParalakhemundiOIPR/25025/11/0007/2122

E-Tender NoticeDAHOD SMART CITY DEVELOPMENT LIMITED

Dahod Smart City Development Limited (DSCDL) invites online E-Tenders for “Design and Development offacilities required forMunicipal SolidWaste Plant consisting of Site grading, Internal Roads, Sheds, StormWater drain, Electrical works, Street Lighting , Landscaping, Sanitary landfill and Leachet Handlingfacilities and other miscellaneous works” Tender ID: 494294Estimated Cost (In Rs.) Rs. 14.78 Cr/-EMD (In Rs.) Rs. 14,77,934/-Tender Fee (In Rs.) Rs. 18,000/-Bid Document Downloading start date 03/12/2021Last Date for online Submission of Tender Document 24/12/2021

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: (1) The tender document for this work can be downloaded from websitewww.nprocure.com. (2) Other Details of NIT shall be seen on website. (3) One Copy of Technical Bidincluding all drawings, data sheets and duly filled up formats excluding the Financial Bid along with originalTender Fee and Bid Security to be submitted to the Owner up to 17.00 Hrs. on or before 01/01/2022 atthe below mentioned address: Chief Executive Officer, Dahod Smart City Development Limited, Jilla SevaSadan, Chhapri, Dahod-389151, Gujarat by RPAD/ speed post only. Chief Executive Officer, DSCDLreserves the right to accept or reject any or all tenders without assigning any reason thereof. This Tendernotice shall form a part of contract document.Tender No. 01 of 2021-22 Chief Executive Officer

Email:[email protected]

E-mail ID : - [email protected] OF INDIA

DISTRICT PROJECT OFFICE,SAMAGRA SHIKSHA, SUNDARGARH

“e” - Procurement NoticeBid Identification No - DPC/SS/SNG/07 of 2021-22

Letter No : - 6648/Civil/ Date : - 04/December/20211 District Project Co-ordinator, Samagra Shiksha, Sundargarh on behalf of Governor of

Odisha inviting percentage rate bid in Double cover system on ON-LINE mode from eligiblecontractors with valid licenses for “Improvement of Infrastructure (Civil + Electrical + PH+ Renovation) in the Schools” as detailed in DTCN.

2 Nature of Work : Improvement of Infrastructure (Civil + Electrical + PH +Renovation) in the Schools.

3 No. of Works : 128 (One Hundred Twenty Eight nos.)4 Cost of Tender Paper : Rs. 10,000/- in 127 Projects & Rs. 6,000/- in 1 Project.5 Class of Contractor : “B” & “A” in 123 Projects / “A” & “Special” in 5 Projects.6 Availability of bid : From 09.00 Hours of date - 07.12.2021 to 18.00 Hours of

document in the website 18.00 Hours of date - 21.12.20217 Date of opening of Bid : 09.00 A.M. on Dt.22.12.20218 The bidders have to participate in ON-LINE bidding only. Further details can be seen from

the website (https://tendersodisha.gov.in). Any addendum / corrigendum / cancellation oftender can also be seen in the said website only. District Project Co-ordinator,

Samagra Shiksha, Sundargarh

IWògû ieKûe

PR 258478(Water Resource)21-22*D

PR No. 257089 Water Resources (21-22)D dt. 18.11.2021izdkf'kr fufonk esa fuEuor~ la”kks/ku fd;k tkrk gSA

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,oa le;17-12-2021 vijkgu~ 5%00 cts

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PR 258511 Drinking Water and Sanitation(21-22)#D

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PR 258496(Rural Work Department)21-22*D

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,rn~ }kjk lwfpr fd;k tkrk gS fd bl ize.My }kjk vkeaf=rbZ&vYidkyhu fufonk lwpuk la[;k&RDSD/RAMGARH/16/2021-22 mDr dk 'kqf)&i= ftldk PR No.& 258183 RuralWork Department (2021-22):D esa izdkf'kr eq[;ea=h xzke lsrq;kstuk vUrxZr jkex<+ ftyk ds irjkrq iz[k.M vUrxZr chpk iapk;resa xzke yse ls vkjk'kkg iFk ds chp flejk unh ij iqy fuekZ.kAftldk Offline Bid Submission frfFk dks fuEu izdkj la'kksf/krfd;k tkrk gS%&1-xzkeh.k fodkl fo'ks"k ize.My] jkex<+@eq[; vfHk;ark] xzkeh.kfodkl fo'ks"k iz{ks=] ,QŒ,QŒihŒ Hkou /kqokZ] jk¡ph ds dk;kZy;d{k esa fufonk 'kqYd] vxz/ku dh jkf'k] 'kiFki= ds ewyizfr ,oaviyksM fd;s x;s rduhdh ;ksX;rk nLrkost dh ,d izfr tekdjus dh frfFk ,oa le; fnukad 14-12-2021 vijkg~u 05%00 ctsrd gSA'ks"k lHkh ;Fkkor~ gSA

PR 258509(Drinking Water and Sanitation)21-22*D

dk;Zikyd vfHk;ark]dk;Zikyd vfHk;ark]is;ty ,oa LoPNrk ize.My xqeykis;ty ,oa LoPNrk ize.My xqeyk

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bl dk;kZy; ds bZ fufonk la[;k 10@21&22 ih0 vkj0 la[;k&257329 }kjk fofHkUu nSfud lekpkj i=ksa esa izdkf'kr fllbZ iz[k.Mxzkeh.k ikbZi tykwifrZ ;kstuk ds bZ0 fufonk esa fuEu izdkj ls 'kqf} i=izdkf'kr dh tkrh gS&

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gkml jk¡phA3 chM izkfIr dh vfUre frfFk ,oa le;

%&15&12&2021] 5-00 cts vijkgu

rdA4 cSad xkjaVh ,oa ifjek.k foi= dk ewY;

tek djus dh vfUre frfFk] le;16&12&2021] 5-00 cts vijkgu

rd]5 fufonk ds rduhdh chMksa ds [kksyus

dh frfFk ,oa le; %&17&12&2021] 11-30 cts vijkgu

ls

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CONSTRUCTIONENGINEER

RURAL WORKS CIRCLE, BARIPADA“e” Procurement Notice for Building Work

Identification No.- Online Tender- Building N.C.B. No. 201 for 2021-22.

Letter No. 3816/ Date: 1.12.2021 //

O-1188

1. Name of the work :- Building works

2. Total No. of work :- 02 Nos. (Three)

3. Estimated Cost :- Rs. 453.49 lakhs & Rs 515.46 lakhs(Approximately)

4. Eligible Class of Contractor :- ‘A’, & ‘Special’ Class

5. Period of Completion :- 18 Calendar months.

6. Other details :-

ProcurementOfficer

BidIdentification

No.

Availability of tenderOn-line for bidding

Last Date &Time ofseekingTender

Clarification

Date & Time of Openingof Tender in O/O

C.C.E.R.W. Circle,Baripada

From To TechnicalBid

FinancialBid

1 2 3 4 5 6 7Chief

ConstructionEngineer,

Rural WorksCircle,

Baripada

BuildingOn-line

N.C.B. No.201

Dt.07.12.2021

at11.00 A.M.

Dt.21.12.2021

up to5.00 P.M.

Dt.20.12.2021

up to5.00 P.M.

Dt.22.12.2021

at11.00 A.M.

Will beintimated

later

Further details can be seen from the website: www.tendersodisha.gov.in.Any Corrigendum/ Addendum will be displayed in the above e-tender website only.

Chief Construction Engineer,R. W. Circle, Baripada

OIPR- 25130/11/0024/2122

GOVERNMENT OF ODISHA"e" PROCUREMENT NOTICE

Bid Identification No 22 of 2021-22

Further details can be seen from the website www.tendersorissa.gov.inCorrigendum, if any, will be uploaded in website only.

Sd/-Superintending Engineer

RWS&S Division, PhulbaniOIPR- 25006/11/0009/2122

O-1170

1. Name of the Work :- Laying of pipe lines, construction of R.C.O E.S.R,construction of valve chambers, pumping unit installation and providing 100%FHTC in connection with piped water supply to different villages in the districtof Kandhamal.

(Refer DTCN available in the website:- tendersorissa.gov.in)

2. Total No of work : 3 Nos.

3. Estimated Cost : Rs. 373.26 lakh to Rs.425.46 lakh

4. Eligible Bidder : A & Super class Contractor

5. Period of Completion : 11 (Eleven) months (Refer DTCN available in theweb site tendersorissa.gov.in)

6. Other Details :

ProcurementOfficer

BidIdentification

No.

Availability of tender online forbidding

Date and timefor opening ofTechnical BidFrom To

SuperintendingEngineer, RWSSDivision, Phulbani

22 of 2021-22 Dt.06.12.2021 At.

10.00 Hrs

Dt. 20.12.2021Up to. 17.00 Hrs

Dt. 21.12.2021at 11 00 A.M

OFFICE OF THE ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF (CIVIL), ODISHANIRMAN SOUDHA, KESHARI NAGAR, UNIT- V,

BHUBANESWAR — 751 001File No- C-IIM-IFB-06/2019 No. 45939 Dtd. 03.12.2021

3rd corrigendum to RFP Identification No. CE-DPI & R-01/2021-22The following changes are made to the NIT for the package vide RFP Identification

No. CE-DPI & R-01/2021-22 issued vide letter No.28749 dtd.02.08.2021.Modification in Critical Dates

The Request for Proposal documents will be available in the websitewww.tendersodisha.gov.in from 10.00 A.M of 17.12.2021 to 5.00 P.M of20.01.2022 for online bidding.Interested bidders may download the documents from the State Government website www.tendersodisha.gov.in from 10.00 A.M of 17.12.2021 to 5.00 P.M of20.01.2022 for participation in the online bidding.The application shall be received only on "online- on or before 5.00 P.M of20.01.2022.The applications received on line shall be opened at 5.30 P.M. on 20.01.2022 inthe office. of the Engineer-in-Chief (Civil), Nirman Soudha, Unit-V, Bhubaneswar.One set of hard copy of such uploaded application shall be submitted to the ChiefEngineer (DPI & Roads) Odisha, O/o the E.I.C (Civil), Odisha, Nirman Soudha,Bhubaneswar within a week time for assisting evaluation procedure.A Pre-Application conference of the interested parties shall be held on 05.01.2022at 12.30 P.M.

Modification in Project Cost put to tenderThe Indicative approximate Total Project Cost may be read as Rs.64.30 Croreinstead of Rs.56.00 Crore.

All other terms and conditions of Notice remain unchanged.Sd/-

Chief Engineer (DPI & Roads), Odisha

OIPR- 34117/11/0079/2122

B-733

PUNJAB STATE TRANSMISSION CORPORATION LIMITED(Regd. Office: PSEB Head Office,The Mall, Patiala-147001)

CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033814CE/Communication, Ludhiana, Mobile: 96461-18008, 96461-18025

www.pstcl.org, E-mail: [email protected],[email protected]

NOTICE INVITING TENDERSupply of 66 Nos. PLC Terminals with PC, Tender Enquiry No. STQ-

8049, EMD- Rs. 4,54,000/- (Deposited through online mode), 1. StartingDate of Downloading of Tender Documents: 04.12.2021, 2. Last Dateof Downloading Tender Documents: 04.01.2022 (upto 12.00 Hrs.), 3.Last Date and Time of Bid Submission: 04.01.2022 (Upto 12.00 Hrs.),4. Opening of Tender: 07.01.2022 (at 12.00 Hrs.)

Detailed specification may be downloaded from PStCL E-tenderingwebsite https://eproc.punjab.gov.in/nicgep/app. Corrigendum, if any, willnot be published in newspaper. Details regarding corrigendum may beseen on Official/PSTCL, website: www.pstcl.org,https://eproc.punjab.gov.in/nicgep/app

Dy. CE/ Communication, Ludhiana.10778/Pb

OFFICE OF THE ADDITIONAL CHIEF ENGINEER,RUSHIKULYA BAHUDA BASIN, BERHAMPUR,

Phone No 0680-2281966/2281550 (Fax) E-mail ID- [email protected] Notice No. ACE, RBB - 15/2021-22

1. Type of Work :- Flood Proteciton Work.2. Total No of Works :- 01 (One) No.3. Amount put to tender :- Rs 284.02 lakhs4. Period of completion :- 11 (Eleven) calendar months

Date of opening of the Technical Bid:- 23.12.2021 at 11.30 A.M.Further detail can be seen from the Govt. website www.tendersodisha.gov.in

Sd/-Additional Chief Engineer

Rushikulya Bahuda Basin, BerhampurOIPR - 32411/11/00012/2122

Procuement officer Bid Identification NO. Bid Amount (Rs. inlakh)

Availability & Submisison of BidOn-line

Additional Chief Engineer, Rushikulya BahudaBasin, Berhampur, Ganjam.

ACE, RBB (CHID) - 28/2021-22 284.02 From 07.12.2021, 10.00 A.M. to22.12.2021, 5.00 P.M.

A-690

18

New Delhi

ITWAS an amazing game (Game 6). EvenMagnus(Carlsen)saidthatpeoplemightre-memberhimassomeonewhowonaWorldChampionshipgameafterfiveyears;thefirstdecisive game in classical chess after such abiggap.Itwasaprettytongue-in-cheekcom-ment. The last decisive game happened in2016.IwascommentatingwithJuditPolgarand

foreighthoursand45minutes, itwasa fan-tastic experience. The gamewasplayed at avery, very high level. It was a roller-coaster.It’sveryeasytogetcompletelyconfused,onlywhenyoustartanalysingdeeperdoyouun-derstandthe intricaciesandcomplications.At some point, Nepo (Ian

Nepomniachtchi)was taking a bit of initia-tive. On a number of occasions, he avoidedsimplifications. If he wanted to push for adraw,hecouldhavealsoachievedthatatthebeginning.Aftertheopeningphase,Nepohadaslightlypreferableposition,wherehecouldhavesimplifiedthingsincertaincases.Buthedidn’t, choosing a complex line instead. Itgraduallybecamemorecomplicatedandaf-terapoint,Magnustookover.Then, therewasaphasewhenaccording

to the computerworld,Magnus blundered.But from a human point of view, it was in-sanelydifficult toseethatkindof geometry;bringingyouractiverookbackinordertopro-tectyourrook.Thenyouputyourknight inacorner andgoback to attack theopponent’sking,while in theprocessyouaresacrificingyourentirequeensidearmy.As a player and as a commentator, you

knowhow inhuman that particular combi-nationis.ItwasunderstandablethatMagnusmissed it.Then again, for a large phase, the com-

puterkeptonsaying it’s adraw, andmeandJudit kept screaming howdifficult the posi-tionwasforblack. Imagineapositionwherewhitehas10differentmovesandeverymoveis a draw,whatever he plays he canmake adraw. Now, black has the same position,wherehehastomake10accuratemovesandonly then it’s adraw.So fromahumanpointof view, would you call this favourable forwhiteorblack?Obviously, it’s favourable forwhite,forwhitecanplayanythingandit’sstilladraw,butfromblack’spointofview,hehastofindallcorrectmovesandthenit’sadraw.

Computer doesn’t analyse in thismanner. Itwill say0.00.Evenifyouhavetoplay100correctmoves

andthenit’sadraw,it’sstill0.00oncomputerevaluation.Sothatcanbeverytricky,partic-ularlyforthosewhoaren’tprofessionalchessplayersornotplayingatacertain level.Theymight think, itwas equal on computer evo-lutionandNepo lost fromanequalposition.Butpractically, itwasverydifficult.

Options give complicationsThroughout the game,we could see the

playersweregivingeachotherchoices,area-sonwhy theywere consuminga lot of time,aseverythinglookedsimilarandtheyhadtotake decisions. It’s always easy to take deci-sionsthatareforced,inlifeaswellasinchess.Havingdifferentoptionsmakesthingscom-plicated.Theopening(inGame6)wasagreatpsy-

chologicalmovebyMagnus.Thethirdmove,whenheplayedG3,Ihaveneverseenthisbe-foreinaWorldChampionshipmatch.HewasaimingforaCatalanopeningbutwithadiffer-entmoveorder,notverypopular.Nepochose

toplayhisset-up(againstthat),whichheem-ployedinGame2.Hethoughtforawhile,butstucktoasimilarset-up.ItgaveMagnusadif-ferentkindofaline,similartoCatalan,butwecan’t exactly call it a Catalan.When Nepocamewith a very interestingmove, B5, thepositions gotneutralised andas I said,Nepohadzero issues intheopening.IthinkMagnusisahugefavouritenowbe-

cause a game like this saps your energy likeanything,particularlyifyouareonthelosingside.Youplayagame foreighthoursand45minutes, thenyouattendapressconferenceand by the time you get to your room, yoursecondswillbewaiting.Whenyou thinkabout this game... chess

isagamewhereyoucanidentifyonepartic-ularmistake. You know exactlywhere youwentwrongandhowyouwentwrong.Sobythetimeyougotosleep,it’salreadylateinthenight.Thenyouhavetowakeupinthemorning

and prepare again (for the next game). Andlet’snotforgetthatMagnusalwayshasmoreenergythanhisopponent.KnowingMagnus,Iknowhewillnotshut

up shop, just because he has the advantagenow.Themomentheknowshehasachance,hewilltrytosqueezethemaximumoutof it.In Game 7, he will play with black and

maybewon’tmind a short draw (it pannedout like that).But in general, hewould like to have as

manylonggamesaspossible.(GrandmasterSuryaSekharGangulywasoneofViswanathanAnand'ssecondsandassistedhiminwinning theWorld ChampionshipmatchesagainstVladimirKramnikandVeselinTopalov.Hespoke toShamikChakrabarty)

19WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER5,2021 SPORT/CALENDAR

Sunday December5Thereisnopointinbeingawkwardjustbecauseotherpeopledon'tseeeyetoeyewithyou.Thereiseveryopportunitytoreachanagreementbasedonthefactthatnobodyknowswhatisgoing tohappen.

Monday December6You'llbediscreetaboutyour ideas,nostalgic inyour feelingsandambitiouswithmoney.Youmaybechuckingmoney intoablackholenextweek.

Tuesday December7Youmay expect a generous invitation insix months. Don't take it for grantedbecause thewindowof opportunitymaybe surprisingly brief. The key to successover the coming year is careful timing.

Wednesday December8Mostofyourobvioussocialtalentsshouldbe appreciated over the comingmonths.Youmightbethebest,butyoudon'thaveto make a song and dance about it.

Thursday December9I'mhopingyou'llhaveyourbestyearever.There’s a high chance that in twelvemonths you'll be primed to set yourselffree from restrictive circumstances andready to benefit from all your actions.

Friday December10What, is responsible formaking you feelthatsomethingstrangeisabouttohappen,orcausingadilemma?Answerswillcomesoon,butnotasexpected.

Saturday December11Thismaynotbethebestmomenttomakefinal decisions, unless you're prepared tochangethemnextweek.

If it’s yourBirthday

SUDOKU4675

DifficultyLevel3sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4674

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.__ _ __ _andyouwillgetmoreofit-LynneDeal(3,2,4,2)

SOLUTION:PIPIT,GUTTY,UPPISH,WEIGHTAnswer:Putupwithitandyouwillgetmoreofit-LynneDeal

PPIIT HISPPU

GYTTU EGITHW

JUMBLEDWORDS

ARIES (Mar21 -Apr20)There's noplace likehome. But then, youknowthat.WithwittyMercury and

beautifulVenus soactive andalignedwithdomestic sectorsof your chart, youneedcomfort andcompany, not tomentionextra luxury. It is timefor a small familyparty, butalso fordecorations andnew furnishings.

TAURUS (Apr21 -May21)What's newthisweek?First, you'llhave a shrewdsenseof yourown

importance andagoodgraspof the facts. And thatmeansyou'll finally take familydecisionswhichhavebeendelayed for far too long.Whendealingwith fitnessmatters,take the long-termview, andlookat your life as awhole.

GEMINI (May22 - June21)It's time to exerciseyour authority andfulfil additionalresponsibilities,

putting thepast behindyou.Yourplanetshavemovedon,theparty is over and it's a finemoment topickup thepiecesand treasureyourmemories,until next time that is.

CANCER (June22 - July23)Sometimesyoudoknowbest. But isthis oneof thosemoments? Inone

sense, it's theperfect period tostandup for yourself at home,althoughyoucouldbe just amite tooemotional, blowingminor familymolehills intomajormountains. Atworkanemployerwill be impressedbyyour efficiency.

LEO (July24 -Aug23)Your planets aresendingmixedmessages. Creative,athletic and artistic

individuals could be facingdelays. That's fine, for you'llhavemore time for honingyour skills. Those ofyou caring for childrenwillhelp themmakeup for anoldmistake.

VIRGO(Aug24 - Sep23)Nothing stays thesame forever, as youknowwell enough.You're on the

winning straight andapartnerwho imagines theyhaveyouon the runcouldnotbemorewrong.What'smore, a rival isabout to find that their case isunravelling,much toyour satisfaction.

LIBRA (Sep24 -Oct23)Youcanbedifficulttopindown,especially at theendof theweek.

Astrologers oftenemphasiseyour vulnerability.However, itis nowtime togive anairing toyour ambitious andhard-nosedqualities, toput yourfoot downandsaywhatyouwant.

SCORPIO (Oct24 -Nov23)Your stars are takingup somestrikingpositions. Achallenging

planetarypicturenowurgesyou to take themost cautiousapproach in relation toyouremotional affairs. I say thisbecause the chancesof anextravagant error arehigh,but avoidable.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Your attention isattracted toquestionsofmaterial security,

but youmaybeunwilling toaccept further restrictionsonyour freedom.A series ofplanets is jostling for attentioninyour financial affairs, butshouldyoubuyor sell, spendor save?

CAPRICORN(Dec23 - Jan. 20)Weneed to lookatthe long-termpicture, and thesuspicion that

decisionsnowcould causehuge changes inyour life intwomonths' time. Plus, Venus'gentlemovements areinaugurating aperiodof harmonyandunderstanding, and if you treatpartners and lovedoneswithdue consideration,especiallymidweek.

AQUARIUS (Jan21-Feb19)Youdon't have tofaceup to certainproblems if youdon'twant to. If

you're in control thenyoumaychoose the timeandplace toconfrontdifficulties. Youmayevendoyourself a favour andhidewhen thebankmanager arrives.

PISCES (Feb20 -Mar20)Youmay feelconfused if there istoomuchchoiceavailablebut, if you

takenewopportunities oneata time, and thinkvery clearlyaboutwhat eachhas tooffer,and could cost, thenyouwillfind itmucheasier tomake thebest decisions. Short journeyswill almost certainlybenecessary.

YOURWEEKAHEADBRIDGENORTH♠ A1074❤AK05♦ 83♣AK10SOUTH♠ K2❤764♦ KJ♣0J9874

NORTH♠ J32❤ 1054♦ 865♣10843

SOUTH♠ AKQ1097❤QJ♦ AK♣ AJ2

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH2C

Pass 2D Pass 2SPass 3C Pass 3NTPass 4S

SUNDAY CROSSWORD 2350QUICKCLUESACROSS8. Doorhandle (4)9. Familiaror inured(10)10. Mediaevalpainter (6)11. Absenceof light (8)12. Ex-IndiaPresident (4)13. Authorizedapprovalorpermission(10)

17. Humatune(4)

18. `Irene' turned intoaboy?(5)

19. Duty-roster (4)20. FamousnovelwrittenbyGeorgeOrwell (6,4)

22. Stingingremark(4)23. Rusts,deterioratesorerodes (8)27. Smotherorchoke(6)28. Canadianprovince?(4,6)

29. Judge(4)DOWN1. Restraint (10)2. Borderingon?(8)3. Supermanof thecomic-stripworld? (3,2,5)

4. Gotaperfect score? (4)5. Internetpatron(4)6. Large island inthePacific (6)7. Animaldoctors, inshort (4)14. Japanesewarrior (5)15. Temperaturecontroldevice (10)16. Captivated,enrapturedorentranced(10)

19. Reconstructs (8)21. Infiniteamount (6)24. AncientGreekcoin (4)25. Dropanchor (4)26. Habitualdrunkards (4)

CRYPTICCLUESACROSS8. Makeabighitwithapriest (4)9. Makingnotally - inamessalloverthecountry (10)

10. PretentiousGreekcharacterdoubledup(6)

11. Amusedbya"Yuck!"at the fishcaught (8)

12. TormentuppityWang(4)13. Showingbroadmindedness (10)17. Work forhidden love?What's thetrick?(4)

18. Tiredoutandannoyed(5)19. Singquietly - theblues (4)20. It takes the fatherandmotherof amindtoproduce it ! (5-5)

22. Theytakeorders fornewsuntreatment (4)

23. Excitingtoseeagang leaderusingaknifemaybe(8)

27. Irresolute thoughtrendyset(6)

28. Awfulwomannovelisthasblueveins (10)

29. Wassorry forsaying"uncivilised"(4)

DOWN:1. Aboxer's secondisno lady,accordingtoonedishingoutroughtreatment (10)

2. It'sanopening foran incubationmethod! (8)

3. Worker,onestillnotattractingdust(10)

4. Rising in thenight,perhaps,alongwithothers (2,2)

5. Lower-class irregularnoun(3-1)6. Bible landprohibitionaboutatree(6)

7. Tribe fromaprosaic land(4)

14. Lewis in Italy (5)15. FlierbackingtheGermanleadingseaman(3,7)

16. They illustrate thesourcesof light(10)

19. Suspendfashiontobedelayed inaction(4,4)

21. Challengeonepoliticianongunrunning(6)24. Measure theholes in theroad(4)

25. Isnotcurtailed inbrokentins(4)

26. Expandingwithoutsuccessmustbethedrink(4)

QUICKCLUESAcross:8Delphi,9Intheair,10Sear,11Licentious,12High,13Matterhorn,17ESPN,18Trade,19Best,21Consecrate,23Owes,24Rippingoff,28Byes,29Singular,30Ennead.Down: 1Genetics,2Apprehends,3Diplomatic,4Zinc,5Stun,6Desi,7Liquor,14Tiara,15Elevenfeet,16Hobnobbing,20Skeletal,22Origin,25Page,26Null,27Ogre.CRYPTICCLUESAcross:8Sheila,9Imitator,10Bead,11Outfielder,12Ida's,13Eastbourne,17Leda,18Ngaio,19Dory,21Brain-child,23Thin,24Quidproquo,28RSVP,29Bermagui,30Everso.Down:1Shrewdie,2Hindustani,3Napoleonic,4Dirt,5Fifi,6Gaul,7Poteen,14Stasi,15Blood-money,16Undeterred,20Reinvest,22Roused,25Dump,26Rigg,27Quiz.

Solutionsto2349

Westleadsthejackofhearts,wonbytheaceindummy. Southsawthathehadeleven top tricks andwished that hehadgotten adiamond lead,whichwouldhavesparedhimhavingtoguessthediamonds. HowdoyouthinkSouthshouldplaythediamonds? Shouldheleadtothekingorthejack?TheWestHand:S-QJ3 H-J1092vD-AQ64 C-53TheEastHand:S-9865H-83D-109752C-62It isa littlebitearlytothinkaboutthediamonds. It ispossiblethatheartsare3-3andthatwillgiveSouthatwelfthtrick. Certainlyit isrighttodrawtrumpsandtrytheheartsbefore leadingdiamonds. Let'sstartwiththetrumps. Theseare2-2,soafterfinishingthetrumpsyoustillhaveoneleftindummy.Istheheartsuityouronlychanceforgettingridofoneofyourdiamonds?Infact,youhaveadditionalchances. ItisnotlikelybutoneofthedefenderscouldhavetheQJxofspades. Itcan'thurttosee. Sotheplay istowintheheart leadandcash the ace andkingof clubs. Whenclubsdivide2-2, switch to spades,playingthekingandaceofspades, ruffingthethird round inyourhand.This lit-tleextrachancecomesthrough.Westhas theQJ3ofspadesandthatsetsupthetenforadiamonddiscard.Shouldyoutrytheheartsnow?Someplayers,hav-ingfoundawaytogetridofadiamondloser,wouldplaytherestoftheheartsuittoseeiftheybreak. This isbadbridge. It isnicethatyouhavetwelvetricksnowbutit isnotnicetostopthinking. HINT.Thinksqueeze.Hereisthewaytomax-imizeyourchancesformakingseven. Goover todummywithaheartandcashthetenofspades. Getridofthejackofdiamonds. Nowleadthatlastclubtoyourhandandrunoffalloftheclubs. Ifheartswere3-3fromthestartyouwillstillhavethirteen tricks. But if eitherdefenderhas fourheartsandtheaceofdiamonds,hewillbesqueezedandyouwilltaketherestofthetricks.Westissquished. Hecannotkeepaheartstopperandtheaceofdiamonds."Ialmostledtheaceofdiamonds,"saysWest. East,appropriatelysympathetic,replies that a diamond leadwould give up any chance of setting6C. All true.West is innocentandunlucky.NOTEthatifthespadesdonotworkandtheheartsdonotwork,youwillhavetoguessthediamondsattheend. Atleastyoucansaythatyoutriedyourotherop-tionsfirst.Dealer:South Vulnerable:None

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTHPass 2NT Pass 3CPass 3H Pass 4CPass 4S Pass 5CPass 5C Pass PassPass

Southopened2Candshowedhisspadesuit. OverNorth'sartificialweak-nessbidof3C,Southbid3NTthinkingthathehadninelikelytricks. AllNorthwouldneedfor3NTwouldbeenoughheartstostopthesuitfromrunningforthedefenders. North,however, returnedto4Sandthatwastheendofthebidding.West ledthefourofspades. WhatshouldSouthdo?

Dealer:South Vulnerable:North/South

SindhuprevailsoverYamaguchi innail-biter toenterTourFinalsdecider

SHIVANINAIKMUMBAI,DECEMBER4

MATCHESBETWEENPVSindhuandAkaneYamaguchi are standalone sensations –Saturday’s 21-15, 15-21, 21-19win for theIndianwasa rollicking roller-coaster.They’ve faced off 21 times starting from

juniors through to the Olympics. And theability to throw up a classic, evenwhile alleyes are on theWorlds in Spain in 10 days,makes theduoengagingentertainers.Saturday happened to be the semifinals

of the year-endingWorld Tour Finals. Andsuch is the opulence in depth in women’ssingles that evenwithout half the topplay-ers turning up in Bali, there were still foursemifinalistswhomanagedtoputonacap-tivatingspectacle.SindhuhasmadethreeWorldTourFinals

Sunday summits. She won in 2018. Andthough she's not won a title in Indonesia(made finals rightbefore theRioOlympics),not picked a title in 2021 (made finals atSwiss Open) and never beaten An Seyoung(played her twice inDenmark), it is the 70-minute pulse-pounder against Yamaguchithatbrought listless contests inBali to life.ThereweretwoidenticalActsof thefirst

two sets - 21-15 scorelines - that the twotraded.Sindhustartedfuriouslyandguardedher

lead, earned with an attacking intent,through theopening exchanges. Just as onethoughtYamaguchi’slabouredpushescrash-ingintothenetweretakingthiscontest intosoporific straight-game territory, theJapaneseseemedtoawaken.In the first set, the24-year-old, ranked3

in the world, had relied on hitting steepdownwardstoSindhu’sbackhandflank.Buthernetformwasabysmal.Thatchangeddra-matically in the second, when she turnedpin-pointaccurate.Thedifferencebetweentheduoinstature

is 23 cm and Sindhu had used her handyreachon thewings and in taming theback-court-boundbirdseffectively.ButYamaguchihasspringyelasticitynot

just in her back, but also in the elbows.Mixingjumpswithwhiplashretrieving,shewassmotheringtheshuttle-withwildhits,throwingher limbsoutof thesockets.Mostwould struggle to channel the ag-

gressive shots into accuracy, but notYamaguchi. She had swapped staves for asabre,andpulledawaycomfortably.Quickly,Sindhuwasstaringata1-1score.

Reaching a crescendoMomentummatters little when these

two stubborn ladiesmeet, and refuse to re-treat.So far from exhaustion setting in, the

quality of rallies and their length increased.Sindhu in deciders is a sight to behold be-

cause she can blur out everything from thepast andmake it a desperate now-or-neverskirmish.Matters little if it’sRound1orafatpaycheque semifinal. The lull before thestormread11-10.Thenallhell broke loose.Sindhuvisiblyaddedathudtoherham-

mering of the shuttle, her cross-courtsmasheswhizzing likepassing shots acrossYamaguchi’s eyeline.She also miraculously cut out going

across to the backhand retrieves, and em-ployed the round-the-heads, finding im-mense distance on the deep cross-hits, im-posing her physique and power. 17-12 up.Cue:warm-uptoa thriller.Yamaguchi,nottobebullied,wouldstart

chipping away, closing the gap, baitingSindhu at the net with tight dribbles. TheIndian was far from poor at the net, butYamaguchikeptitsotaut,refusingtolift,thatSindhuhad tobite butnot bail out fromtheconfrontation.

Atothertimes,shebrazenlyexploitedtheJapanese retriever’s modest reach to taunther, sending her scurrying to corners. Yet,Yamaguchi threatened by simply snappingatSindhu’sheels.Longralliesinvariablywenther way as Sindhu felt the nerves and hershort and long serveswere attacked. 18-17to the Japanese.LaterspeakingtoBWF,Sindhuwouldtalk

aboutgulpingdownnerves. Itwasmorelikeslurping on noodles, or chomping on kim-chee-her leashingofherownnervousness.Shewouldroarouthercoiledknotsat19-19.Historyreads12-8inSindhu’sfavourintheirhead-to-headrecords.It’s because she can really get into

Yamaguchi’s head in these finishing mo-ments, and loom larger than her 179 cm.Sindhuwoulddestroy thenext two returnswithblisteringforcetostubYamaguchi’sre-sistance.Korean An Seyoung has generally kept

Sindhuquietwithherrelentlessretrieval.Butthe Indian is hungry for a title in a seasonwhereshehasn’twonone.It’s another puzzle for coach Park Tae-

Sang to solve, and he would video-bombSindhu’s media interaction to remove herkitbagfromhershoulders.Thelead-upwithaquietseason-whereshewontheOlympicsbronze - is just like2018-her firstbiggold.The biggest challenge awaits at Huelva,

Spainwhere she defends her title. But theWorlds canwait. Bali isn’t quite donewithits shareof fireandbrimstone.LiveonStarSportsNetwork10:30AMonwards

This is thethirdtimeSindhuhasreachedthesummitclash of theyear-enderFinals,whichshehaswonjustonce, in2018.AP

Classic before the final

AfterCarlsen(right)got thebetterofNepomniachtchi inthe136-movegameonFriday,Saturday’sdrawinGame7lasted just41moves.AP

Magnus now favourite as a game likethis saps energy if you on losing side

“After the openingphase,Nepohada slightly preferable position,where he could have simplifiedthings in certain cases.But hedidn’t, choosinga complex lineinstead. It gradually becamemorecomplicatedandafter a point,Magnus took over.”

SURYASEKHARGANGULYGRANDMASTERANDCHESSCOMMENTATOR

Sindhuindeciders isasighttobeholdbecauseshecanblurouteverythingfromthepastandmakeitadesperatenow-or-neverskirmish.Matters little ifit’sRound1orafatpaychequesemifinal.The lullbeforethestormread11-10.Thenallhellbrokeloose.

Surya SekharGanguly

New Delhi

Ajaz 10/119, New Zealand 10/62Siraj’snew-ballburst, spinners’ guileput India332aheaddespitehistoric10-forbyNZ’sPatel

ABHISHEKPUROHITMUMBAI,DECEMBER4

JUSTAFTER1pmonSaturday,AjazPateldis-missedMohammedSiraj to complete a his-toricten-for–onlythethirdeverinTestcricket– andend the Indian first innings in the sec-ond Test atWankhede Stadium. Just after3.30pm,hewasbackinthemiddleforanun-beatenone-ballstintatNo.11asNewZealandcrumbledin28.1oversfor62-thelowest-evertotalbyateamagainstIndia.On a day when the perfect ten was

achievedforthefirsttimesinceAnilKumble’sfeatagainstPakistanin1999,andasmanyas13ofthe16wicketstofallwenttospin,itwasthethree that fell topace thatset the tone for theday.AndinkeepingwithadayonwhichaKiwispinner registered tenwickets in an inningsagainstIndiainIndia,anIndianfastbowlerout-bowledtwoNewZealandpacers.AfterKyle JamiesonandTimSoutheehad

sentdown34wicketlessoversonaWankhedetrackmade for spin, Siraj ripped through theNewZealandtoporderinjust13deliveries.SirajnippedoutWillYoungandRossTaylor

withsomeawaynibble,andinbetween,con-sumed stand-in skipper TomLathamon thehook. Siraj does not have Southee’s bananaoutswing, nordoeshehave Jamieson’s awk-wardbounce.Whathedoesall the timewithhismanic

energy--mostevident inhisbustlingrun-up-- iscreatethissensethatsomething isaboutto happen soon. And often, he doesmakesomethinghappen.Sirajwould later say that hehad seen the

NewZealandpacersbowlwiderandthathadonlymade it easier for themtobe left. Sohedecidedthathewouldtargettheoffstumpandtrytomovetheballaway.Thatisexactlywhathedid.Theinwardangleontheoff-stumplinemadebothYoung andTaylor play; the awayseammovementtookYoung’sedgetosecondslipanduprootedTaylor’soffstump.“Adreamdelivery for a fast bowler,” as Siraj said aboutthelatter.TheplantoLathamwasclearinthelead-uptohiswicket,andhestillfellforit.FourofthefivedeliveriesfromSirajtoLathamwereshortor shortof agood length.Thesixthwasduginsharpandshortwithlongleganddeepbackward square legwaiting. Lathamcouldnotresistandpickedoutthelatterman.Sirajknewhewouldnotgetmuchofabowl

on this pitch andwent flat outwith thenewball.“IknewIwouldgetaspellof3-4oversandwanted tobowlwith full intensity and in therightareas,”Sirajsaid.The27-yearoldfromHyderabadhadbeen

outforacoupleofweeksaftersufferingasplitwebbingwhile fieldingoff hisbowling in thefirstT20IagainstNewZealandinJaipur.Whenheresumedtraining,hesaidhedidalotofsin-gle-wicketbowlingwiththeaimofgettingtheballtomoveandconsistentlyhitonearea.Admittedly, Kanpurwas a lot slower and

lower,butthiswasthesudden,stingingburstthat India hadmissed in the first Test, withIshantSharmanotquitefindinghisradarandrhythm. Itwas just the start of the sixthover,andNewZealandwerealready17/3andripeforthepickingforIndia’sthreespinners.AxarPatelwouldstrikewiththefirstballofhissec-ondover,JayantYadavinhisveryfirstover,andRAshwinwithhisveryfirstball.It was a given that the Indian spinners

wouldbehardtohandleonatrackgiven justhowmuchpurchaseAjazhadgot. But Siraj’ssurgehadroughedNewZealandupsomuchthattheyjustcavedin.WhenNo.8’s36deliv-eriesisthelongestanybatterhaslastedinthemiddle,ittellsyoueverythingaboutwhathasprecededhim.The left-handerHenryNicholls’dismissal

summed upNew Zealand’s predicament.

Ashwincamefirstballfromroundthestumpsand tossed it upoutsideoff. Nicholls pushedforwardtodefend,assumingsomeawayturn.Buttherewasn’tanyastheballslidinwiththeanglebetweenbatandpadtostrikeoffstump.To say thatAshwinwas too good right awayforNicholls’ hopeful forwarddefencewouldbeanunderstatement.Theywent caught off theoutside edge at

slip,theywentcaughtofftheinsideedgeatlegslip. Theywent to tumbling catches at shortleg,theywenttoreboundcatchesoffthewick-etkeeperatsillypoint. Inshort, itwasallhap-pening,andtherewasnowheretohide.India rubbed it inwhen theydidnot en-

forcethefollow-onafterafirst-inningsleadof263 runs. Having bowled nearly 110 oversacrossthreeandahalf sessions,NewZealandwere back in the heat andhumiditywithinthreehoursformorepunishment.Oneoftheoptionstoaccommodatethein-

coming skipper Kohli for thismatchwas tomakeCheteshwarPujaraopen.Thathappenedin the second innings, as ShubmanGill hadtakenahit fromNicholls on theelbowwhilefieldingatforwardshortleganddidnotcomeouttobat.PujaranudgedhisfirstballfromAjazforfourandevenpulledhimlateroverthedeepmidwicketboundary,hisfirstsixinTestcricketsince the Pune Test against South Africa inOctober 2019.He’d yorkedhimself chargingout to Ajaz in the first innings but he nowsteppedout anddrovehim for four throughextracover.Agarwal,whohad stretched his first in-

nings to150 in themorning,keptbatting flu-

ently,hittingsixfours.HeandPujaraclosedthedaywith India 332 ahead, shutting thedoorfirmlyonNewZealand.

SCOREBOARD:India1stInnings:(Overnight221/4)Mayank Agarwal c Blundell b Patel 150,ShubmanGillcTaylorbPatel44,CheteshwarPujara b Patel 0, Virat Kohli lbw b Patel 0,ShreyasIyercBlundellbPatel18,WriddhimanSaha lbwbPatel 27, RavichandranAshwinbPatel0,AxarPatellbwbPatel52,JayantYadavcRavindrabPatel12,UmeshYadavnotout0,MohammedSirajcRavindrabPatel4Extras:(B-13LB-5)18Total:(Alloutin109.5overs)325FoW:1/802/803/804/1605/2246/2247/2918/3169/32110/325Bowling: Tim Southee 22-6-43-0, KyleJamieson12-3-36-0, Ajaz Patel 47.5-12-119-10,William Somerville 19-0-80-0, RachinRavindra4-0-20-0,DarylMitchell5-3-9-0.NewZealand1stInnings:TomLathamcIyerbMohammedSiraj10,WillYoung c Kohli bMohammed Siraj 4, DarylMitchell lbw b Patel 8, Ross Taylor bMohammedSiraj1,HenryNichollsbAshwin7, TomBlundell c Pujara bAshwin8, RachinRavindra cKohli b J Yadav4, Kyle Jamieson cIyerbPatel17,TimSoutheecsubbAshwin0,WilliamSomervillecMohdSirajbAshwin0,AjazPatelnotout0Extras:(LB-1NB-2)3Total:(Alloutin28.1overs)62FoW:1/102/153/174/275/316/387/538/539/6210-62Bowling:UmeshYadav5-2-7-0,MohammedSiraj 4-0-19-3, Axar Patel 9.1-3-14-2,RavichandranAshwin8-2-8-4, JayantYadav2-0-13-1.India2ndinnings:Mayank Agarwal batting 38, CheteshwarPujarabatting29Extras:(lb-2)2Total:69fornolossin21oversBowling:TimSouthee5-0-14-0,AjazPatel9-1-35-0, Kyle Jamieson 4-2-5-0, WilliamSomerville2-0-9-0,RachinRavindra1-0-4-0.

SHAMIKCHAKRABARTYKOLKATA,DECEMBER4

THE90THAnnualGeneralMeetingoftheBCCIinKolkataonSaturdayunanimouslyagreedtotruncate anddefer India’s upcoming tour ofSouthAfrica. As this paper already reported,the Indian team’s departure to the countrywouldbedelayedbyaboutaweek.Asper thenewschedule, three Tests and

asmanyODIswouldbeplayed,whiletheT20Ishavebeenpostponedfornow.Theallocationof the newvenueswill be donebyMonday,withthefirstTestcommencingontheBoxingDay. TheAGM,however, didn’t deliberateonIndia’sT20WorldCupfailure,asaccordingtoamemberwho attended themeeting, thegroupleaguephaseexitwasseenas“onebadtournament”.“India’s tourofSouthAfrica,2021-22,will

proceedwith the reviseddates and itinerary.Theteamwillparticipateinathree-matchTestseries followedby a three-matchODI seriesstartingDecember26th,2021,”BCCIsecretaryJay Shah stated via a press release after theAGM.ThiscameinthewakeofaCricketSouthAfrica (CSA) press advisory that said: “... thetourisnowconfirmedandthearrivaltimingsoftheIndiateamwillbemovedoutbyaweek,toallowforeffectivelogisticalplanning.”TheBCCIhadchosentowaitandwatchaf-

terthedetectionoftheOmicronvariantofthecoronavirusinafewcountriesincludingSouthAfrica.Itdidn’tcalloffIndia‘A’team’songoingtourtothecountry,whileconstantlykeepingintouchwithCSAoverthedevelopment.“CSAisalsopleasedtoconfirmthattheal-

locationofmatchvenueswillstillbeinrespectof the Bubble Safe Environment (BSEs) andtherefore thedecisionon theallocationswill

takeintoaccounttheneedforsaferplayingen-vironments. CSAhas instituted theseworldclass standards andmeasures to ensure thatall players, staff and officials are protectedwithinthisenvironment.CSA’smainfocusistosafeguardthecricketbiospherebymanagingstrictentrystandardsandlimitedmovementoutsideofitscordon.CSAwillconfirmtheven-ues in the next 48 hours,” said the SouthAfricanboard’spressrelease.TheoriginaltouritineraryhadthefirstTest

at JohannesburgfromDecember17followedby the second Test at Centurion fromDecember26andthethirdTestatCapeTownfromJanuary3.PaarlandCapeTownweretohost the threeODIs on January11, 14 and16respectively.ThetouralsohadfourT20Is.CSAwill comeupwithamutuallyagreedrevisedschedule.The surgeof theOmicronvariant saw in-

ternationalteamsandplayers’scrambletogetoutofSouthAfrica.But“averycordialrelation-ship”,asmentionedbyCSA,betweenthetwocricket boards prevented the cancellationofIndia’s tour. TheCovid figures put out by theSouthAfrican government’s health depart-mentonDecember3mentioned16,055newcaseswithout revealing thenumberof infec-tionsfromtheOmicronvariant.Thechiefmed-icalofficerofCSA,DrShuaibManjra, told thispaperacoupleofdaysagothatthevirusspreadwas“growingexponentially”inunvaccinatedpeopleinGautengprovince,whereIndiawerescheduled toplay their first twoTests. At thesametime,heensuredthatbio-bubbleswouldensuresafety.TheIndiansquadmemberswillhave toundergo a five-dayquarantineuponreachingSouthAfrica.TheotherdecisionsattheAGMsawanin-

crease in the age limit ofmatchofficials andsupportstaff from60to65years.

Sirajplayedakeyrole inNewZealandgettingbowledout for62 intheir first inningsashegot threetop-orderwickets inquicksuccession. PTI

Boxing Day start to Testseries, T20s postponed

BHAKER TAKES NATIONAL CROWNHaryana's Manu Bhaker was crowned the women's 10m airpistol champion for the second successive time, shooting 241.6in the final of the ongoing 64th National ShootingChampionship in New Delhi on Saturday. Bhaker has now wonthree of the last four nationals in the event, losing once to EshaSingh in the 62nd edition of the tournament. PTI

VolXXNo.38Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05 R.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,PostKhagaul, 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** **Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct.Copyright:The IndianExpress (P) Limited.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission ispro-

hibited.The IndianExpress®


SPORT

HIL gave rise to fearless players, it's absence hurts next generationMIHIRVASAVDABHUBANESWAR,DECEMBER4

RICCHARLESWORTH isn’t one for hot takes.ButheknewexactlyhowIndianhockeyturneda corner. It was when, the pioneeringAustraliancoachsaid,theplayers‘realisedthatthe international players onlyhad twoarmsandtwolegs, justliketheydo.’“So psychologically, itwas an important

barrier tobebroken,”hesaid recently. “Morethan anything else, I think theHockey IndiaLeaguewasthecatalystforthat.”ThedayafterIndia’slosstoGermanyinthe

semifinalsoftheJuniorWorldCupseemslikeagoodtimetorevisitCharlesworth’sanalysisof India’s climbup theworld hockey ladder.For, India’s two JuniorWorldCupcampaigns–in2016andtheongoingtournament–showjusthow important theHockey India League(HIL)wasindevelopingplayers.In 2016,when India ended their 15-year

wait to become juniorworld champions, al-most all players in the teamhad the experi-enceofplayingintheHIL,atournamentwheretheysharedthedressingroomwiththeworld’sbestplayersandcoaches.Theyearthatfollowedwasthelasttimethe

HIL–asuccesshockey-wisebutacommercialfailure–washeld.Consequently,thebunchofjuniors that succeeded theClass of 2016didnotgetthesamelevelofexposureandexperi-

ence.Theyare,infact,thefirstbatchofplayerswithout any background of playing in theleagueand, if anything, the last 10dayshavehighlightedthedifferencebetweenIndia’sHILandpost-HILproducts.To be clear, this isn’t about the skill set of

theplayers.Nor is thisaboutthedefeat inthesemifinal.Infact,forateamlikeIndiathatcameintothetournamentwithoutplayingevenonematchfortwoyearsduetoCovid-relatedcom-plications, finishing in the top four is com-mendable.After all, the JuniorWorld Cup isn’t only

aboutbecomingchampions.Formostteams,thisisanidealplatformtocheckif theirU-21shaveit inthemtomakeitbig. It’salsoatestofthedomesticsystemsandintheprocess,iftheyendupwinningthetitle, it’sabonus.In that sense, irrespectiveof thesemifinal

loss,SanjayKumar’sdrag-flicks,ShardaNandTiwari’s calmdefending, Vishnukant Singh’sstickskillsandAraijeetSinghHundal’spower-hitting bodewell for Indian hockey goingahead.However, the teamdidn’t showthe same

level of confidence and fearlessness that thegenerationbeforethem,whoplayedintheHIL,possesses.ThetwomatchesIndiahaveplayedagainst

Germanythisyearunderlinethedifference.AttheTokyoOlympics,Germany’saggressivetac-ticscaughtIndiaoffguardinthebeginningbuttheywere quick to react and gave it back to

themconfidently andwithout any fear. OnFriday, Germanyplayed in a similar fashiononce again. But the colts looked intimidatedandwentintotheirshells,havingneverexpe-riencedanythinglikethat.

Strongdomestic leagueNothing illustrated thebenefits of having

astrongdomesticleaguethanthesupplychainofplayersIndiahashadinthelasteightyears.“Itwasaturningpoint for Indianhockey,”

formerHigh-PerformanceDirectorDavidJohnsays. “Birendra Lakra, for example,wasplay-ingwith(Australia’s)FergusKavanaghandthetwoof themwereaforce.Birendragotalotof

confidenceout of playingwith someone likeFergusandhethentookthatformintointerna-tionalhockey.”It isn’t a coincidence that someof Lakra’s

bestyearswiththenationalteamcamewhenhewasalsoat thepeakofhis formintheHIL.ThesamecanalsobesaidofcaptainManpreetSingh, who has earlier stated that playingalongsideformerGermanystarMoritzFuersteforonemonthhelpedhimgrow‘severalyearsasaplayer’.WhileManpreet,Lakraandothernational

teamregularsgotbetterbyplayingintheHIL,an entire generation of young players –Surender Kumar, Mandeep Singh, AmitRohidas and the rest – got a taste of playingagainstforeignplayersevenbeforetheymadetheirinternationaldebut.Also,bythetimetheygot selected for the national team, theyhaddozens of high-quality competitivematchesundertheirbelts.To ensure that the ‘next generation is a

stronggeneration’,BelgiumU-21coachJeroenBaart,whohasbeenwiththejuniorsidesince2015,saidtournamentsliketheHILwillbeim-portant.“ItwasamassiveboostforhockeyinIndia.

Unfortunately, it's not been there for the lastfewyears.Hopefully,itcancomebacksoitcanhelptheseboysperformbetter,fortheirrisetothe top.Not just seniorplayers but alsoplay-erswhoareyounger,”Baartsaid.Baartunderstandstheimportanceofaro-

bustdomestic structure. That’showBelgiumshot to the top of the world after beingnowhereclosealittlemorethanadecadeago.

PlayingabroadIn the beginning,whenBelgiumdidnot

haveastrongleague,theysenttheirplayerstotheNetherlands,whoboastthestrongestdo-mesticclubcompetitionintheworld.Thatex-perience helped the national team, and theplayers shared their knowledgewith thosebackhome,alongwithforeignexpertise,tode-veloptheirowndomesticstructure.Now, France, one of themost-improved

teams in recent years, is following a similarmodel. Someof their keyplayers play in theBelgian leaguewhile at the same time, theFrench federation is trying to create a stronglocal leagueof itsown.India’s junior and seniorplayers,whoare

holedupinthenationalcampforthemostpartoftheyear,donotplayintheEuropeanleagues.In the last decade, Sardar Singhwas theonlyactivenational teamplayer toplyhis trade inEurope.DevendraWalmiki,whoplayedintheRioOlympics, followed the former captain’sfootsteps. Butby then, hehadbeensidelinedfromthenationalteamprogramme.HockeyIndiahasnotstateditspolicy,ifany,

on Indian players’ participation in leaguesabroad. It has, however, hinted that theHILcouldberevived.Thatwillbecrucialtomain-tain themomentumthat Indianhockeyhas

pickedrightnow.Notjusttocontinueproducingplayerswho

areskillful,whichIndiahaskeptondoing,butalso fearless.Or toparaphraseCharlesworth,makethembelievethat‘theinternationalplay-ers onlyhad twoarmsand two legs, just liketheydo.’

NewDelhi: Indiahas reversed itsdeci-sion topull out its hockey teams fromnext year's BirminghamCommonwealthGamesandwillcom-pete in themulti-sport quadrennialevent, the Commonwealth GamesFederationhas said.Hockey Indiahadearlier this year decided towithdrawits teams from the 2022CWG, citingCOVID-19 related concerns and shortturnaroundtimebetweenBirminghamGamesandHangzhouAsianGames,aqualifier for the 2024ParisOlympics.However, it is learnt that after SportsMinister Anurag Thakur intervened,Indiadecidedtosendbothitsteamsforthe event. The BirminghamCWG isscheduled tobeheld from28 July to8August next year while the AsianGamesarestartingon10September.

'India to compete inCWG hockey'

AgainstGermany,theIndianslookedintimidatedandwentintotheirshells. HI

JIM LAKER VS AUSTRALIAOld Trafford, 1956

It was Laker’s Test,as he tormented IanJohnson’s Australiawith his off-spin.England batted firstandscored459beforeLaker weaved his

magic.Australia’s first innings foldedfor 84, with the offie taking 9/37 in16.4 overs. Left-arm spinner TonyLock took the otherwicket.Following on, Australia were all

out for 205, Laker returning figuresof 10/53 from51.2 overs. Hismatchhaul of 19wickets still remains un-matched in Tests. England won thegame by an innings and 170 runs.Laker finished his Test career with193 wickets from 46matches at anaverage of 21.24.

KUMBLE VS PAKFeroz Shah Kotla, 1999

It was a two-Testseries and Pakistanhad won the firstmatch in Chennai. InDelhi, India won thetoss and rode onMohammad

Azharuddin’shalf-century to252 intheir first innings.OnaturningKotlapitch, Kumble andHarbhajanSinghensured that Pakistan were all outfor 172 in reply. Kumble took fourwickets, while Harbhajan baggedthree.SadagoppanRameshtop-scored

for India with 96 in the second in-nings, while Sourav Ganguly made62. India posted 339 and had a leadof419.Pakistanhada101-runopen-ing partnership, but post-lunch onDay Four, Kumble became un-playable. He bowled unchangedfrom one end and returned with a10-wicket haul to secure a 212-runwin for India to level the series.Towards the end, when Pakistan’slast pair was batting, skipperAzharuddin instructed fast bowlerJavagalSrinathtobowlwideoutsidethe off-stump, as the whole teamwanted the leg-spinner to achievethe feat. Kumble hung up his bootsafter claiming619wickets from132Tests at an average of 29.65.

AJAZ PATEL VS INDIAWankhede, 2021In theend,unlikeLakerandKumble,

the left-armspinner’sspecial achievementis likely to go in vain,as the New Zealandbatsmen fell like apack of cards to bebowled out for 62 in

their first innings, replying to India’s325. Still, Patel’s 10-wicket haul in47.5 overs in India’s first inningswould ascertain his place in cricketfolklore.

SHAMIKCHAKRABARTY

First two 10-ferslead to wins, looksunlikely for AjazFor the third time thishashappened inTests, the rarest ofrare occasions, a bowler takingall 10wickets in an innings. JimLaker,AnilKumble andAjazPatel formanelite club, thethree spinners to achieve thespecial feat.

WhatSirajdoesallthetimewithhismanicenergy—mostevidentinhisbustlingrun-up—iscreatethissensethatsomethingisabouttohappensoon.Andoften,hedoesmakesomethinghappen.

New Delhi

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