Central Asia meet forms Afghan group - Sosin Classes

CMYK

A ND-NDE

friday, january 28, 2022 Delhi

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Overcoming the lack of landconnectivity between Indiaand Central Asia’s landlocked countries was one ofthe “main issues of discussion” during the fi�rst IndiaCentral Asia Summit hostedby Prime Minister NarendraModi with the Presidents ofKazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan andUzbekistan, offi�cials said onThursday.

The leaders also spoke atlength about concerns overAfghanistan, sharing the“same concerns and sameobjectives” in broader termsand agreed to setting up aJoint Working Group ( JWG)of senior offi�cials, said Ree

nat Sandhu, Secretary (West)in the Ministry of ExternalAff�airs, listing those concerns as the need for immediate humanitarian assistance, ensuring theformation of a truly repre

sentative and inclusive government, combating terrorism and drug traffi�cking,and preserving the rights ofwomen, children andminorities.

Mr. Modi tweeted that all

countries at the summitwere “concerned about thedevelopments in Afghanistan”. “In this context, ourmutual cooperation has become even more importantfor regional security and stability,” he said.

More meetings proposedMr. Modi also proposed anumber of highlevel exchanges between the twosides, including biannualsummits and annual meetings of the Foreign, Tradeand Cultural Ministers andSecretaries of Security (National Security Advisers) to“strengthen cooperation inthe areas of political and development, partnership,trade and connectivity, cul

ture and tourism and security”, the offi�cials said, addingthat these proposals were accepted, along with a plan tobuild a “Central Asia Centre”in New Delhi. They also announced two “Joint WorkingGroups” on Afghanistan andthe Chabahar port project.

“Further development ofmutual connectivity is essential for enhanced trade andcommerce between Indiaand Central Asian countriesin the context of their landlocked nature and lack ofoverland connectivity withIndia,” said the “Delhi Declaration” joint statement issued at the end of the 90minute summit.

Central Asia meet forms Afghan groupPM says countries ‘concerned about the developments in Afghanistan’; leaders discuss connectivity

Suhasini Haidar

NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the IndiaCentral AsiaSummit, held via video link from New Delhi on Thursday. * PTI

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

The Union government onThursday transferred itsshares in Air India, alongwith control and management, to the Tata Sons subsidiary Talace, ending a disinvestment process thatstarted fi�ve years ago andsaw a failed attempt. The airline has been a public sectorundertaking from 1953.

The transaction covers AirIndia, Air India Express andthe government’s entire 50%stake in a ground handlingcompany AI SATS.

“We are excited to haveAir India back in the Tata

Group and are committed tomaking this a worldclass airline. I warmly welcome allthe employees of Air India to

our Group and look forwardto working together,” N.Chandrasekaran, chairman,Tata Sons, said. He met

Prime Minister NarendraModi.

Govt. transfersshares to TataSons unit Talace

Jagriti Chandra

NEW DELHI


Air India back in Tata Group hangarThere are early indicationsof a plateau in COVID19 cases being reported in certaingeographies, but the trendneeds to be observed andrequired precautions needto be continued, the UnionHealth Ministry said onThursday.

At the weekly briefi�ng,Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said 10States contributed to morethan 77% of the total activecases in the country. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Keralaand Tamil Nadu led the tally.

90% in home isolationData released by the Ministry added that Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Haryana and West Bengal wereregistering a steady declinein daily caseload, whilePune, Ernakulam and Nagpur were fl�agged as districtsof concern. Also more than90% of active cases are un

der home isolation at present — indicating mild tomoderate clinical severity,Mr. Agarwal said.

“A clear trend in terms offewer COVID cases requiring oxygensupported bedsor ICU beds has been observed,” he said.

Need to track changes: Health Ministry

Early signs of a fl�atcaseload, says govt.

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI

The 17yearold youth fromArunachal Pradesh, MiramTaron, who went missinglast week, was handed overby the Chinese People’sLiberation Army (PLA) tothe Indian Army at Damaiin Anjaw district of theState on Thursday. ThePLA termed the incidentan “illegal entry” into Chinese territory.

“I thank our proud Army for pursuing the casemeticulously with PLA andsecuring our young boy,”tweeted Minister of Lawand Justice Kiren Rijiju.

PLA handsover missingteen to Army

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI


Conditional marketauthorisation was grantedon Thursday by the DrugsController General of Indiato COVID19 vaccinesCovishield and Covaxin foruse in adults. This wasannounced by UnionHealth Minister MansukhMandaviya. A page 10

Conditionalmarket nod fortwo vaccines


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OPEN THE SCHOOLS A EDITORIAL

2.49 LAKH NEW CASES A PAGE 10

Students booked in Biharover rail exam protest PATNA

A police complaint has been

fi�led against six teachers of

coaching institutes in Patna

and hundreds of students

across Bihar have been

booked for their violent

protests over a railway

recruitment exam. Some

student organisations have

called for a bandh on Tuesday

to protest against alleged

irregularities in the exam.

NEWS A PAGE 8

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

IN BRIEF

Woman sexuallyassaulted, paraded NEW DELHI

A 20yearold married

woman was sexually

assaulted, tonsured,

publicly shamed and

paraded with a blackened

face and a garland of

shoes around her neck in

Shahdara on Wednesday.

CITY A PAGE 3


Odd-even rule, weekendcurfew lifted in DelhiNEW DELHI

The Capital will no longer

have weekend curfews,

shops will be allowed to

open without adhering to the

oddeven rule, and cinemas,

bars and restaurants will be

allowed to operate at 50%

of their capacity, the DDMA

announced on Thursday.

CITY A PAGE 3


China’s military said onThursday it was “opposedto thirdparty involvement”in the IndiaChina borderdispute, as it hit out at comments from Washingtonabout Beijing “intimidating” its neighbours.

“The ChinaIndia borderissue is a matter betweenChina and India, and bothsides have expressed theiropposition to thirdpartyinvolvement,” People’s Liberation Army (PLA) SeniorColonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry ofDefence, said in Beijing.

He appeared to be referring to comments fromWashington ahead of the14th round of talks betweenIndian and Chinese militarycommanders earlier thismonth saying the U.S. was“closely monitoring” thesituation and that it wasconcerned about Beijing’s“destabilising” behaviourand “attempt to intimidateits neighbours”.

“Some people on theU.S. side like to use theword ‘coercion’ but they donot know that the U.S. is theoriginator and master of

‘coercive diplomacy’,” Col.Wu said, adding that Chinawas “fi�rmly opposed to theU.S. engaging in ‘coercivediplomacy’ with othercountries”.

“China will work together with the Indian side tocontinue to properly dealwith the border issuethrough negotiations,” headded. The PLA spokesperson described the 14thround of talks as “positiveand constructive”.

He referred to the jointstatement put out by bothsides after the talks agreeing to “stay in close contactand maintain dialogue” towork out a “mutually acceptable resolution” of remaining issues along theLine of Actual Control(LAC).

While there was noagreement to disengage inthe three remaining areasof diff�erence — the focus ofthe 14th round was HotSprings, where both sidesare thought to be close toagreeing on a plan to disengage, while diff�erences inDemchok and Depsang aremore pronounced with theprospects of an early resolution unlikely — the jointstatement struck a morepositive note than the previous round, when bothsides traded accusationsand failed to issue a jointstatement.

‘14th round of talks on thedispute with Indiawas positive andconstructive’

Ananth Krishnan

Hong Kong

Opposed to thirdparty in LAC talks, China tells U.S.


CMYK

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CITY

0DISCLAIMER: Readers are requested toverify and make appropriate enquiries tosatisfy themselves about the veracity ofan advertisement before responding toany published in this newspaper. THGPUBLISHING PVT LTD., the Publisher &Owner of this newspaper, does not vouchfor the authenticity of any advertisementor advertiser or for any of the advertiser’sproducts and/or services. In no event canthe Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Dir-ector/s, Employees of this newspaper/company be held responsible/liable inany manner whatsoever for any claimsand/or damages for advertisements inthis newspaper.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday led the installation of Tricolours at 75locations across Delhi. Thefl�ags were unfurled, he said,to instil “a strong sense ofdeshbhakti” in citizens. Headded that the 75 fl�ags, in

stalled at a height of 115 feeteach, have been put up insuch a pattern that each citizen can see at least one fl�agwhenever they step out.

On the 75th Independence Day, the Delhi government said it would install 500 fl�ags at a cost of₹�104 crore in every district.

Kejriwal unfurls 75 TricoloursSpecial Correspondent

New Delhi

The North Delhi MunicipalCorporation on Thursdaypassed a resolution to allot

Majlis Park. While a fewpockets are in Mangolpuriand Peeragarhi, others liebetween Madhuban Chowkand Prashant Vihar.

eight land pockets on permanent and temporary basis to the DMRC for the MassRapid Transit System ProjectPhaseIV from Janakpuri to

North civic body allots land to Delhi MetroStaff Reporter

New Delhi

AAP MLA from Karol BaghVishesh Ravi on Thursdaymet LG Anil Baijal and re

quested him to stop theNorth Delhi Municipal Corporation from selling publicland belonging to a dispensary and three primary

schools. He also demandedan inquiry into Delhi BJPchief Adesh Gupta “encroaching on” the corporation’s land.

AAP MLA meets L-G over ‘selling’ of govt. landStaff Reporter

New Delhi

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI

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CITY

A 20yearold married woman was sexually assaulted,tonsured, publicly shamedand paraded with a blackened face and a garland ofshoes around her neck inShahdara on Wednesday.

The horror unfolded inbroad daylight at a spot barely 50 metres from a policebooth. While the family of thewoman claimed that the police reached the spot almostan hour and a half after a PCRcall was made. The police however maintained that theyrescued the victim within afew minutes of receiving theinformation. The woman wasattacked over “personal enmity”, the police said.

DCP (Shahdara) R. Sathiyasundaram said a case underdiff�erent sections of the IPC,including gang rape, abduction and wrongful confi�nement, has been registered.Seven women have been arrested and two minors (allfrom the same family) havebeen apprehended in thecase. The police are lookingfor more suspects.

A senior police offi�cer saidthe victim’s parents and the

accused were neighbours andwoman was in a relationshipwith a teenage boy belongingto the accused’s family. Theboy killed himself in November last year and his familymembers blamed the womanfor his death.

Abducted outside home

The accused abducted thewoman from near her husband’s house in the Karkardooma area. They took her totheir house and assaulted herin full public view. In some videos of the incident — recorded by the accused themselves— a group of women can beseen smearing black polishon the victim’s face, chopping off� her hair and abusingher before parading her inthe colony. People could beheard cheering and hootingwhile the woman was beingviolated.

Speaking to The Hindu,the victim’s 18yearold sistersaid around 11 a.m., she hadgone to her sister’s house,about a km away, to hand over some wheat. She suspectsthat the accused women werefollowing her. “When my sister stepped out of her rentedhouse, the women caught

hold of her and forced her into an autorickshaw. I was soscared that I ran from thereand reached my house,” thesister said, adding that shecalled the police for help immediately. The woman’s husband was informed by theirhouse owner and he toocalled the police for help.

Recalling the events thatled to the incident, the woman’s sisterinlaw said boththe families were opposed tothe relationship between thevictim and the teenager because they belonged to thesame ‘gotra’. Three yearsago, when the victim was stilla minor, she was married off�to another man and she nowhas a twoyearold son.

Her family said the now deceased teenager had been

chasing the victim even afterher marriage and they hadcomplained about it to theircommunity’s head, but to noavail.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, East Delhi MPGautam Gambhir, NationalCommission for Womenchairperson Rekha Sharmaand DCW head Swati Maliwalwere among those who condemned the incident andasked for strong actionagainst the accused.

“This is very shameful.How did the criminals get somuch courage? I urge the Union Home Minister and theLG to instruct the police totake strict action... Delhiiteswill not tolerate such heinouscrime and criminals at anycost,” tweeted Mr. Kejriwal.

Woman sexually assaulted, tonsured, paraded Nine members of a family — 7 women, 2 minors — held in the case; victim was attacked barely 50 m from a police booth

Hemani Bhandari

NEW DELHI

Crime scene: The room where the victim was tonsured onWednesday. * HEMANI BHANDARI

More than 400 convictslodged in Delhi’s three jailsare set to have their sentences remitted or reduced forshowing good conduct during incarceration.

The decision comes daysafter the city government accepted the Delhi Prisons’proposal, moved every yearon the occasion of RepublicDay.

“The Delhi governmenthas issued orders on specialremission for inmates in view

of Republic Day. We are inthe process of identifying theconvicts who have showngood conduct. Over 400 to450 inmates will benefi�t thisyear,” said DG (Prisons) Sandeep Goel. However, inmateswho have been convicted ofheinous crimes like rape andterrorrelated cases arebarred from availing themselves of remission.

Inmates who have to servea jail term which is less thantheir remission period will bereleased immediately, saidan offi�cer. So far, three con

victs have walked free afterreduction of their sentence,he said.

Granting remission is adiscretionary power of theState government under Section 432 of CrPC where it canat any time suspend the execution of the convict’s sentence or remit the punishment.

Mr. Goel said the remission process acts as a rewardfor a convict’s good behaviour and encourages otherinmates to rehabilitatethemselves.

ARNABJIT SUR

New Delhi

Govt. to grant remission to over400 convicts for good conduct

Traders and market association heads expressed a sighof relief after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority announced the lifting ofweekend curfew and theoddeven rule for shops inthe Capital.

However, most of themsaid the authorities concerned should “consult withstakeholders” before imposing restrictions that can “result in economic distress”.

Welcoming the move,

Praveen Khandelwal, secretarygeneral of the Confederation of All India Traders,said, “In the last 25 days, businesses have suff�ered a lossof over ₹�10,000 crore,which is close to 70% of thetotal business of the city.The wedding season is onand the increase in the guestlimit will provide the tradercommunity some relief,although the road to recovery is a long one.” The decision to not lift the night curfew will lead to logisticaldiffi�culties, he added.

Traders relieved as govt.eases COVID restrictionsStaff Reporter

New Delhi

Ever since the death of theteenage boy in Novemberlast year, the accused hadbeen troubling her family,the victim’s younger sistersaid, adding that she hadlodged a complaint regarding the same on January 20.

“I used to work at a garments shop and women ofthe [accused] family used tocome to the shop and threaten me. Upset with the everyday aff�air, the shopkeeperfi�red me about a monthago,” she said.

The sister said on January19, the accused caught holdof her aunt and “thrashedher mercilessly”. Shelodged a formal complaint aday later at the Vivek Viharpolice station. “The policeassured us of help. The offi�cers also shared their numbers but that’s all. They didnot pursue the matter furth

er,” she said.A senior police offi�cer

said “the matter was resolved amicably, but we willlook into it”. The offi�cer added that the family has nowbeen given protection.

The victim’s sisterinlawsaid that on the day the boytook his life, she was beatenup by the accused family –all women – because “theythought I had helped the girl[victim] escape from the locality”. I did not report thematter to the police as I wasvery scared,” she said.

Videos of the publicshaming of the victim,which went viral, showed acrowd following the womanbut most residents The Hin-du spoke to said they didn’tsee anything. A neighbour,requesting anonymity, saideveryone in the locality isscared of the accused family. He alleged that they sellillicit liquor for a living.

‘We were regularlythreatened, beaten’

Hemani Bhandari

NEW DELHI

Victim’s sister had lodged complaint

The Capital will no longerhave a curfew during weekends, shops will be allowedto open without adhering tothe oddeven rule, and cinemas, bars and restaurantscan operate at 50% of theircapacity, the Delhi DisasterManagement Authority(DDMA) decided onThursday.

The DDMA also increasedthe ceiling of attendees atweddings to 200 and allowed government offi�ces towork at 50% of theirstrength. Night curfews willremain in place and a decision on opening of schoolswill be taken up at the nextmeeting, offi�cials said.

According to governmentdata, COVID claimed over33 lives per day over a 13dayperiod, with 438 deaths reported between January 13and 25. According to sources, offi�cials at the Health Department, who were alsopresent at the DDMA meeting, said as many as 337deaths were of patients whohad tested positive after

their admission to hospitalsfor nonCOVID illnesses.

COVID19 was identifi�edas the cause of death in just94 cases. Of these 94 patients, only 32 were vaccinated, the offi�cials said during the meeting. They alsosaid genome sequencing ofas many as 2,503 samples,analysed between January 1and 23, led to the detectionof the Omicron variant in asmany as 1,978 samples.

LG Anil Baijal, whochaired the meeting, whichhad Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal and experts in attendance, said he was in favour of easing the restrictions gradually to avoid thepossibility of a sudden surgein COVID infections. TheLG reiterated that the paceof vaccination be enhancedfor maximum coverage.

The test positivity rate ofCOVID infections in the cityreduced to 9.56% on Thursday from 10.55% a day earlier, according to a government bulletin. The numberof new COVID19 cases over24 hours decreased to 4,291from 7,498 on Tuesday.

Decision on schools at next meetingJatin Anand

New Delhi

Weekend curfew,odd-even rule lifted

PUBLIC NOTICE SITUATION VACANT

GENERAL

EDUCATIONAL

S.Chakravarthy, S/o ANS Raghavan& Ranganayaki Raghavan attainedAcharyan Tiruvadi on 27 Jan 2022.Inserted by Pradeep, Jaideep &Raghavan Pradeep.

DEATH

OBITUARY & REMEMBRANCEOBITUARY & REMEMBRANCE

DEATH

DEATH

Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 ● RNI No. UPENG/2012/49940 ● ISSN 0971 - 751X ● Vol. 12 ● No. 23

Timings

DELHI

FRIDAY, JAN. 28

RISE 07:12 SET 17:58

RISE 03:12 SET 13:48

SATURDAY, JAN. 29

RISE 07:11 SET 17:58

RISE 04:21 SET 14:45

SUNDAY, JAN. 30

RISE 07:11 SET 17:59

RISE 05:29 SET 15:50

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


STATES

A petition fi�led before theDelhi High Court has soughtdirection to the ElectionCommission to postponethe upcoming election in allfi�ve States for a few monthsor weeks in view of the ongoing wave of COVID19.

The petition fi�led by Congress leader Jagdish Sharmasaid there was a growingconcern of new variants,which are posing a gravethreat of infection, especially in Delhi.

Mr. Sharma said: “Ourhealth infrastructure isdangerously outstretched,understaff�ed and under resourced”. He claimed thatmany State governmentsand the Central governmenthad assured to the peoplethat they will build an infrastructure which can faceany upcoming pandemicsituation.

“For the last two years,the country has faced twovariants of COVID and tilldate the country has lost4,84,213 lives due to the infection as per governmentrecord,” it added.

The petition said that dueto elections in fi�ve States ofUttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand andGoa, “almost all Ministers ofthe government are busy inelections and less concerned about the upcominghealth emergency in theState”.

Plea in HC topostpone pollsin fi�ve States

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


STATES

When the anticipatory bailpetitions fi�led by actor Dileep and fi�ve others in a caserelating to hatching a conspiracy to do away with theinvestigation offi�cers in theactor sexual assault casewere taken up for hearingon Thursday, the prosecution sought more time toanalyse and produce thedigital evidence collectedduring the investigation andthe interrogation.

Meanwhile, Dileeptermed the police noticeasking him to produce hisphones as arbitrary and illegal.

In his reply to a notice issued by Varghese Alexander, Detective Inspector ofthe Crime Branch, Ernakulam, Dileep said no noticecould be issued to an accused to produce any document or article, as pre

scribed in Section 91 of theCode of Criminal Procedure. The ConstitutionBench of the Supreme Courthad reiterated this position.

According to Dileep,none of the phones whichwere directed to be produced before the policewere used in 2016 or 2017,the period of the allegedcommission of the off�ence.He urged the police offi�certo seize the phones andelectronic devices used byDeputy Superintendent ofPolice Baiju Paulose and histeam to communicate withBalachandrakumar, thefi�lmmaker who came upwith allegations of conspiracy to harm the policeoffi�cers.

The court adjourned thehearing to February 2 anddirected that its interim order restraining the arrest ofDileep and others wouldcontinue till that time.

Notice asking to producephones illegal, says Dileep


KOCHI

Actor assault case adjourned to Feb. 2

A worker of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority spraying a solution into the Hussainsagar Lake to prevent algaeformation, as part of the bioremediation eff�orts to prevent pollution, in Hyderabad on Thursday. * NAGARA GOPAL

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Green measures

The Congressled United Democratic Front (UDF) onThursday sought the intervention of Governor ArifMohammed Khan to thwartthe Left Democratic Front(LDF) government’s “underthetable” move to promulgate an Ordinance to “defang” the Kerala Lok Ayuktaand relegate the Ombudsman to a “nominal advisory role” in critical public interest cases related tocorruption, nepotism, maladministration and abuseof offi�cial power.

A UDF delegation led byLeader of the OppositionV.D. Satheesan met Mr.Khan and entreated him towithhold gubernatorial assent to the proposed executive order.

Later talking to reportersoutside Raj Bhavan, Mr.

Satheesan said the CPI(M)had furtively pressed for anexecutive order in a Cabinetmeeting last week to “dilute” Section 14 of the KeralaLok Ayukta Act, 1999.

The proposal aimed toforestall the Constitutionaland political fallout of possible adverse Lok Ayukta fi�ndings against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan andHigher Education MinisterR. Bindu, he said.

Opposition sees bid to save Kerala CM

G. Anand

Thiruvananthapuram

Arif Mohammed Khan

UDF asks Governorto reject Ordinance

When Basavaraj Bommaisucceeded B.S. Yediyurappa,many believed he would beable to strike a balance between Hindutva and his socialist moorings. But the government led by him seemsto have taken a sharp rightturn, even more than underhis predecessor, who wasfrom the RSS stables.

The Basavaraj Bommailed government enacted theKarnataka Right to Freedomof Religion Act, 2021, popularly called the “anticonversion law”, on the lines of Uttar Pradesh, MadhyaPradesh and Gujarat, whatmany argue was “more draconian”. It was also preced

ed by a campaign of vigilanteattacks on the Christiancommunity. The coastal beltalso recorded an uptick inmoral policing incidents,which Mr. Bommai even defended saying “there will always be a reaction when sentiments are hurt.”

A group of senior writers,academics and scientists recently wrote an open letterexpressing concern over frequent violence against reli

gious minorities. Mr. Bommai’s govern

ment was quick to enact theKarnataka Religious Structures Protection Act, 2021,also, to protect temples andplaces of worship built onencroached lands from demolition. Mr. Bommai recently announced his government will free Hindutemples from “governmentcontrol” and give them autonomy, a long standing demand of the Sangh Parivar.He has also been trying topitch development of Anjanadri, believed to be thebirthplace of Lord Hanuman, to be in line with Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir.

“Mr. Yediyurappa hadcome from the RSS stablesand had the stature, seniority and was winning electionsfor the party. Mr. Bommai,

who has lost an election onhis home turf, has jumpedon to the Hindutva bandwagon. His Hindutva zealseems mostly inspired bypolitical pragmatism,” said asenior strategist of the party.

“During the fi�rst wave ofthe pandemic, Mr. Yediyurappa could ask his partymen to stop demonisingMuslims over Tablighi Jamaat. Mr. Bommai can ill afford to do that. Even Mr. Yediyurappa let Hindutvaideologues have their waywhen he was a weak wicket.His government enacted theanticow slaughter legislation and he defended TejasviSurya when he targeted Muslim employees of the COVID19 war room during hislast months in power, whenthere was an internal rebellion,” another leader said.

A sharp right turn under Bommai ‘His Hindutva zeal seems mostly inspired by political pragmatism’

Basavaraj Bommai

K.V. Aditya Bharadwaj

Bengaluru

NEWS ANALYSIS

“The healthcare system inthe country has totally collapsed and the COVID19pandemic has only exposedit. It is worse across north India as primary healthcare isin shambles there with thepoor and downtrodden having no access to emergencyor quality healthcare,” saidpaediatrician Kafeel Khan onThursday.

“COVID has shown thateven those with money hadno access to hospital beds,drugs, oxygen and even losttheir lives during the secondwave. The reality is: this isthe daily issue with 70% ofthe population in the country. We need to have ‘Rightto Healthcare’ passed in Parliament for everyone to getmedicare within 510 km of

their homes,” he said.Dr. Khan has been in the

limelight as the Yogi Adityanathled Uttar Pradesh government jailed him for thedeaths of children due tolack of oxygen supply at theBRD Medical Hospital in Gorakhpur in 2017. He was inHyderabad to release his

book, “A doctor’s memoir ofa deadly medical crisis”, recounting the incidentswhere he was made the ‘scapegoat’ for the tragedy despite he being “the juniormost in the department withno administrative and fi�nancial power”.

The book chronicles what

went wrong during thattime, how he was framedand became a ‘hero to a zero’, his jailed life and latertermination from servicethough he was given a ‘cleanchit’ by the High Court.

‘Not a hero’“I am not a hero, just a common man fi�ghting the hatredintoxicating the minds ofyoungsters and the innocentin the name of religion. I amtrying to do what a commonIndian should do. Everyoneknows my story but I wrotethe book to compile whathad happened with evidenceas 81 families are still waitingfor justice having lost theirchildren due to the administrative failure and corruption of Mr. Yogi Adityanath’sgovernment,” charged Dr.Khan.

Make healthcare a right, says Kafeel KhanThe paediatrician says that primary medical care is in a shambles in north India

Former Osmania University Dean P.L. Viveshwar Rao releasingthe book written by noted paediatrician Dr. Kafeel Khan.


HYDERABAD

Miff�ed Ibrahim says hewill quit CongressBENGALURU

Miffed at being denied the

post of Leader of Congress in

Karnataka Legislative

Council, veteran party leader

C.M. Ibrahim on Thursday

said, “I am quitting the

Congress. I will send the

resignation letter to Council.”

IN BRIEF

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursdayacquitted ThadiyantavideNazeer, a selfstyled SouthIndia chief of the LashkareTaiba, and Shafas, his relative, in the case relating tothe twin bomb blasts thattook place in Kozhikode in2006.

The Bench comprisingJustice K. Vinod Chandranand Justice Ziyad Rahman also dismissed an appeal fi�ledby the National InvestigationAgency (NIA) challenging theacquittal of Abdul Halim andAboobacker Yusaf.

The court passed the ver

dict while allowing an appealfi�led by Nazeer and Shafaschallenging the order of theNIA Special Court convictingthem in the case.

NIA court judgmentThe NIA Special Court, Ernakulam, had awarded lifeimprisonment to Nazeer, thefi�rst accused, and Shafas, thefourth accused and had imposed a fi�ne of ₹�1.6 lakh and₹�1.1 lakh on Nazeer and Sha

fas respectively. Abdul Halim and Aboo

backer Yusaf, the third accused and the ninth accusedrespectively, had alreadybeen acquitted by the specialcourt. Sixth accused Fayizdied during the trial whileseventh accused Shammi Firoz had turned approver.

The court observed thatthere was “no reliable evidence on the preparation orcommission of the crime

that would incriminate theaccused beyond reasonabledoubt. The approver’s evidence fails miserably in thetwin tests, that of inherentreliability and credibility asalso on the aspect ofcorroboration.”

The caseAccording to the NIA chargesheet, Nazeer and the other accused had conspired,planned and executed thebomb blasts in the KeralaState Road Transport Corporation’s bus depot and themofussil bus stand in Kozhikode on March 3, 2006.

The NIA alleged that theblasts were carried out in retaliation against what theyregarded as “the perceivedpartisan action of the Executive and Judiciary in rejecting bail to the Muslim accused in the second Maradcommunal carnage”.

Kerala HC acquits two accusedin Kozhikode twin blasts case No reliableevidence againstNazeer andShafas, says court


KOCHI

Clean chit: A fi�le photo of Thadiyantavide Nazeer beingbrought out of the NIA special court in Kochi. * K.K. MUSTAFAH

The BJP on Thursday announced the setting up of afactfi�nding committee intothe alleged suicide of a student, Lavanya, in Thanjavurdistrict of Tamil Nadu. Theparty claims the girl took thestep due to an alleged pressure to convert to Christianity from her school.

BJP Mahila Morcha chiefand Coimbatore MLA Vanathi Srinivasan said partypresident J.P. Nadda hadauthorised the setting up ofa fourmember committeefor not just going into the

“truth” of the case but alsoto “provide comfort to thebereaved family of Lavanya.”

“Members of the committee are MP Sandhya Rai, BJPleader from Telangana Vijayshanti, Chitratai Waghfrom Maharashtra, Karnataka Mahila Morcha presidentGeeta Vivekananda. Theywill be tasked with ascertaining the facts of the case, especially the allegations ofconversion made by Lavanya in a video,” she said.

Ms. Srinivasan also alleged that silence of TamilNadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin in this case was omi

nous. “When he was leaderof the opposition, he raisedhis voice for each and everystudent who died by suicidebut he hasn’t said a word inthis case. Ministers of his government try to suppressthe conversion angle. This iswhy we have no faith in anyinvestigation being carriedout in the case,” she said.

The BJP has already demanded that the case behanded over to the CBI.

(To overcome suicidalthoughts contact T.N.’shealth helpline 104 and Sne-ha’s suicide prevention hel-pline 044-24640050.)

BJP sets up committee toprobe death of T.N. studentParty again demands investigation be handed over to CBI


NEW DELHI

Kathakali expert fromFrance Milena Salvini diesTHRISSUR

Padma awardee and foreign

student of one of the initial

batches of the Kerala

Kalamandalam, Milena

Salvini, 84, died in France on

January 25. The Italianborn

French art researcher was an

ambassador of Kathakali and

other Indian classical art

forms in France. She was

honoured with Padma Shri in

2019.

A Central Water Commission status report in the Supreme Court on Thursdaysaid the “overall condition ofthe Mullaperiyar dam and itsappurtenant structure” is satisfactory based on visual inspections conducted by thecourtappointed Supervisory Committee.

The Commission (CWC)said the Supervisory Committee had visited the damduring its annual meetingsheld at the project site.

“Till date 14 meetings ofthe Supervisory Committeehave been held, the last oneon February 19, 2021,” thereport said.

The records of past fi�ve ofthese meetings concludethat the “overall condition ofthe dam and its appurtenantstructure, based upon visualinspection is found to besatisfactory”.

The CWC however said “afresh review of the safety ofthe Mullaperiyar dam is nowdue and is required to beundertaken”.

The report said the safetyaspects of the dam were under the watch of the Empowered Committee constituted by the Supreme Court in2010. This committee had,from 2010 to 2012, “lookedinto and thoroughly investigated” the safety aspects.

The Empowered Commit

tee, with the help of expertorganisations, had then “arrived the conclusion that theMullaperiyar dam is foundto be safe in all respects, viz,hydrologically, seismicallyand structurally”, the CWCreport said.

In the last hearing, thecourt had made it clear thatit would not intervene to“administer the dam” whena Supervisory Committeewas already in place to examine the issue of safety ofthe dam and the management of its water level.

The court had said it wasonly concerned about thesafety, security and health ofthe persons living in the vicinity of the dam.

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

Condition of Mullaperiyar damsatisfactory, CWC tells top court

Responding to GovernorR.N. Ravi’s contention thatschool students in TamilNadu should not be deprived of knowledge of other Indian languages, Minister for Tamil Offi�cialLanguage and CultureThangam Thennarasu onThursday said the State government had been following the twolanguage policy since 1967.

He also reiterated theState government’s requestto the Governor to clear[for Presidential assent]the NEET exemption Bill,which was adopted by theAssembly in Septemberlast year.

Mr. Thennarasu referredto the Governor’s RepublicDay address, and said hiscomments sounded as if headvocated a threelanguage policy in TamilNadu.

T.N. reiteratesstand onbilingual policy


CHENNAI

Asserting that the BharatiyaJanata Party would return topower in the upcoming GoaAssembly election, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant onThursday claimed that thesaff�ron party would winmore than 22 seats andachieve an “absolutemajority”.

The Chief Minister fi�ledhis nomination from Sanquelim, which he won inboth the 2012 and 2017 Assembly elections.

“This time, too, I am confi�dent of winning the Sanquelim seat and the BJP willwin the polls by a huge mar

gin,” said Mr. Sawant, whofi�led his nomination accompanied by the party’s Goaelection incharge DevendraFadnavis.

The 40seat Goa Assemblygoes to polls on February 14.

The Congress, on the other hand, lashed out at Mr. Sawant, with Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC)chief Girish Chodankar alleging that serial FIRs had beenfi�led against Dharmesh Saglani, the Congress’ candidate from Sanquelim who isfacingoff� Mr. Sawant.

Mr. Chodankar allegedthat Mr. Sawant was misusing his post to stifl�e the Congress candidate.

‘BJP will return to powerwith absolute majority’Goa CM fi�les papers from Sanquelim

Shoumojit Banerjee

Pune

Ahead of the Goa Assemblyelection, Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) MLA Filipe NeryRodrigues, who is the coastal State’s Water ResourcesDevelopment Minister, resigned on Thursday.

He becomes the sixth sitting BJP MLA and the thirdCabinet Minister in the Pramod Sawantled government to quit ahead of theelection.

An incumbent fourthterm legislator from the Velim Assembly constituencyin South Goa, Mr. Rodrigues,had been dropped by theBJP in favour of journalist Savio Rodrigues, who is thefounder of an online mediaportal ‘Goa Chronicle.’

A disgruntled Mr. Nery,whose resignation was a foregone conclusion, hadbeen contemplating themove for some time now. Heis expected to join the Sharad Pawarled Nationalist

Congress Party (NCP), whichis contesting the Goa election in alliance with the ShivSena.

He was one of the 10 Congress MLAs who had defected to the BJP in July 2019 andhad held the Velim seat forthe Congress since 1999.

Mr. Nery, who was due toresign last week itself afterbeing denied the Velim ticket in the fi�rst list of 34 candidates announced by the BJP,had deferred his decision atthe last minute.

At the time of the BJP’sfi�rst list, Mr. Nery’s colleague in the Cabinet — GoaPublic Works DepartmentMinister Deepak Pauskar —had exited the party afterbeing dropped for the Sanvordem constituency. TheBJP had fi�elded exMLA Ganesh Gaonkar in lieu of Mr.Pauskar. Last week, anotherBJP MLA Wilfred D’sa — thesitting legislator of Nuvemconstituency — had bidadieu to the party.

Ahead of polls, anotherGoa Minister quits BJP Shoumojit Banerjee

Pune

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


EDITORIAL

Third wave

The Omicron variant ofCOVID19 may be relativelyless fatal than the Deltavariant. And, on account ofthis, hospitalisation may beless (Page 1, January 27).However, the gaps in ourmedical system have beenlaid bare. Vagaries over thevirus and its new variantspersist. The Government atbest can buttress the

medical system. Under thegarb of Omicron, theGovernment should not getaway from its responsibilityof reinforcing the medicalinfrastructure. Aanya Singhal,

Noida, Uttar Pradesh

■ This is no case for loweringone’s guard as long asCOVID19 continues tospread. It is also scientifi�cally

possible that a new variant ofconcern may emerge in thenear future. As such, peopleshould be impressed upon tocontinue to follow COVIDappropriate behaviour andreport cases of positivityfound on selftesting to theauthorities concerned andget themselves treated undermedical supervision. Anynegligence on the part ofeven a few could lead to the

emergence of new variants ofconcern. The vaccinationprogramme should bespeeded up as it does appearto be the key weapon.Kosaraju Chandramouli,

Hyderabad

Padma awards

Declining the freedomfi�ghters pension, Marxistleader P. Ramamurthi saidyears ago, “It is not for this

are not necessary to be speltout.N.G.R. Prasad,

Chennai

we fought.” Continuing andconfi�rming this line,Buddhadeb Bhattacharjeehas declined the Padmaaward from the presentregime for good reasons that

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

To read more lettersonline, scan the QR code

R. Nagaraj &

Radhicka Kapoor

Since 2016, the Governmenthas made several eff�orts toformalise the economy. Cur

rency demonetisation, introduction of the Goods and Services Tax(GST), digitalisation of fi�nancialtransactions and enrolment of informal sector workers on numerous government Internet portalsare all meant to encourage the formalisation of the economy. Butwhy the impetus for formalisation? The formal sector is moreproductive than the informal sector, and formal workers have access to social security benefi�ts.

The abovementioned eff�ortsare based on the “fi�scal perspective” of formalisation. This perspective appears to draw from astrand of thought advanced bysome international fi�nancial institutions such as the InternationalMonetary Fund, which foregrounds the persistence of the informal sector to excessive stateregulation of enterprises and labour which drives genuine economic activity outside the regulatory ambit. It underplaysinformality as an outcome ofstructural and historical factors ofeconomic backwardness. Arguably, excessive regulation and taxation ensure the endurance of informal activities. Hence, it isbelieved that simplifying registration processes, easing rules for business conduct, and lowering thestandards of protection of formalsector workers will bring informalenterprises and their workers intothe fold of formality.

The fi�scal perspective has a longlineage in India going back to taxreforms initiated in the mid1980s.Early on, in an attempt to promoteemployment, India protectedsmall enterprises engaged in labour intensive manufacturing byproviding them with fi�scal concessions and regulating largescale industry by licensing. Questions ofeffi�ciency aside, such measuresled to many labourintensive industries getting diff�used into theinformal/unorganised sectors.

Further, they led to the formation of dense output and labourmarket interlinkages between theinformal and formal sectors viasubcontracting and outsourcingarrangements (quite like in labourabundant Asian economies). Inthe textile industry, the rise of thepower looms at the expense ofcomposite mills in the organisedsector and handlooms in the unorganised sector best illustrates thepolicy outcome. While such policyinitiatives may have encouragedemployment, bringing the enterprises which benefi�ted from thepolicy into the tax net has been achallenge. The challenge is onlypartly administrative. Political andeconomic reasons operating at theregional/local level in a competitive electoral democracy are responsible for this phenomenon,too.

Sign of underdevelopmentUndoubtedly, widening the tax netand reducing tax evasion are necessary. However, global evidencesuggests that the view that legaland regulatory hurdles alone aremainly responsible for holdingback formalisation does not holdmuch water. A wellregarded study, ‘Informality and Development’(https://bit.ly/3KOBEVx), arguesthat the persistence of informalityis, in fact, a sign of underdevelopment. Across countries, the paper

fi�nds a negative association between informality (as measured bythe share of selfemployed in totalworkers) and per capita income.The fi�nding suggests that informality decreases with economicgrowth, albeit slowly. A similar association is also evident across major States in India, based on offi�cialPLFS data. Hence, the persistenceof a high share of informal employment in total employment seemsnothing but a lack of adequategrowth or continuation of underdevelopment.

Transformation in AsiaThe defi�ning characteristic of economic development is a movement of lowproductivity informal(traditional) sector workers to theformal or modern (or organised)sector — known as structural transformation. East Asia witnessed rapid structural change in the second half of the 20th century aspoor agrarian economies rapidlyindustrialised, drawing labourfrom traditional agriculture. However, in many parts of the developing world, including India, informality has reduced at a verysluggish pace, manifesting itselfmost visibly in urban squalor, poverty and (open and disguised) unemployment.

Despite witnessing rapid economic growth over the last two decades, 90% of workers in Indiahave remained informally employed, producing about half ofGDP. Combining the International

Labour Organization’s widelyagreed upon template of defi�nitions with India’s offi�cial defi�nition(of formal jobs as those providingat least one social security benefi�t— such as EPF), the share of formalworkers in India stood at 9.7%(47.5 million). Offi�cial PLFS datashows that 75% of informal workers are selfemployed and casualwage workers with average earnings lower than regular salariedworkers. Signifi�cantly, the prevalence of informal employment isalso widespread in the nonagriculture sector. About half of informal workers are engaged in nonagriculture sectors which spreadacross urban and rural areas.

It has many layersIt needs to be appreciated that informality is now diff�erentiated andmultilayered. Industries thrivingwithout paying taxes are only thetip of the informal sector’s iceberg. What remains hidden are thelarge swathes of low productivityinformal establishments workingas household and selfemployment units which represent “pettyproduction”. To confl�ate the twodistinct segments of the informalsector would be a serious conceptual error. Survival is perhaps thebiggest challenge for most informal workers (and their enterprises), and precarity defi�nes theirexistence.

Despite (wellintentioned) efforts at formalisation, the challenge of informality looms largefor India. The novel coronaviruspandemic has only exacerbatedthis challenge. Research by theState Bank of India recently reported the economy formalisedrapidly during the pandemic yearof 202021, with the informal sector’s GDP share shrinking to lessthan 20%, from about 50% a fewyears ago — close to the fi�gure fordeveloped countries. As we have

argued elsewhere (https://bit.ly/3G6JtST), these fi�ndings of asharp contraction of the informalsector during the pandemic year(202021) do not represent a sustained structural transformationof the low productive informal sector into a more productive formalsector. They are a temporary (andunfortunate) outcome of the pandemic and severe lockdowns imposed in 2020 and 2021. The informal sector will perforce springback to life soon, for sheer survival, to produce whatever it can, using its abundant labour andmeagre resources.

The necessary elementsPolicy eff�orts directed at bringingin the tip of the informal sector’siceberg into the fold of formalityby alleviating legal and regulatoryhurdles are laudable. However,these initiatives fail to appreciatethat the bulk of the informal unitsand their workers are essentiallypetty producers (selfemployedand casual workers) eking theirsubsistence out of minimal resources. Therefore, these attemptswill yield limited results. The continued dominance of informalitydefi�nes underdevelopment. Policyinduced restrictions are minorirritants, at best. The economywill get formalised when informalenterprises become more productive through greater capital investment and increased education andskills are imparted to its workers.A mere registration under numerous offi�cial portals will not ensureaccess to social security, considering the poor record of implementation of labour laws.

R. Nagaraj is with the Centre for

Development Studies,

Thiruvananthapuram. Radhicka Kapoor

is with the International Council for

Research on International Economic

Relations, New Delhi

India’s economy and the challenge of informalityPolicy eff�orts to formalise the economy will have limited results as the bulk of informal units are petty producers

V. R

AJU

Is the forthcoming Assemblyelection in post1966 reorganised Punjab, its thirteenth, go

ing to mark any signifi�cant deviation from the State’s longtermelectoral trends and issues? Forany discernible observer of Punjabpolitics, the trends have been asfollows: presence of electoral regions, identity politics, competitive populism, ascendance of theStatelevel party and leadership,close contests, electoral volatilityand pragmatic electoral alliances/coalition government. The issuesthat have remained with the Statefor over two decades include: ethnic peace, human security, endemic economic crisis in the postGreen Revolution phase, ecological crisis, institutionalisedcorruption and, more recently, anexodus of youth, drug menace, sacrilege, farm laws, among others.

On social assertionWhile the issues are Statespecifi�cas elsewhere, in terms of trends,crossState comparisons show the‘exceptionalism’ of Punjab in theabsence of the incremental transfer of political power to sociallymarginal communities throughthe electoral route. Assertion frombelow remains elusive despitenearly a third of the State population being from 39 ScheduledCastes (34 reserved seats out of 117after the fourth delimitation exercise). And also when Dalits arecomparatively economically welloff�.

And in terms of electoral participation, Punjab has registerednumbers that are consistentlymore than the national average inrecent elections. The sheer dominance of the landowning and numerically strong Jat Sikh commun

ity in Punjab politics isunparalleled when compared withthe nontwice born landowningdominant castes in other States(the Reddys, Khammas, Lingayats,Nayars, Vokkaligas, Kapus, toname a few). Barring Zail Singh, allthe Chief Ministers and the leadersof most parties have been Jat Sikhsin the Punjabi Suba, a testament tothe asymmetrical power structurethat defi�nes the State polity. Evencaste Hindus and Khatri Sikhshave played second fi�ddle in theState’s politics.

Not much political tractionPunjab exhibits another ‘exceptional’ trend — in the inability ofthe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) inmaking electoral gains despite entering into a longterm alliancewith the Akali Dal, a State party.One can refer to the fruitful alliances the BJP has stitched in different States in the past, i.e. the Biju Janata Dal, Trinamool Congress,the two Janata Dals (Secular andUnited), the Telugu Desam Party,the Shiv Sena, and the Asom GanaParishad. Instead of gaining, theBJP has witnessed shrinking of itssocial constituency of urban trading/professional casteHindus.Confi�ned to 23 constituencies, theparty has gradually ceded a part ofits urban upper caste base to theCongress, polling less than 9% ofthe vote in the last fi�ve Assemblyelections.

There is much continuity visiblein the present elections both interms of the trends mentionedabove and issues: new pragmaticalliances are now in place BJPPunjab Lok CongressShiromani AkaliDal (Sanyukt); Shiromani Akali Dal(Badal)Bahujan Samaj Party; parties are gungho about making tall,unrealistic promises and not seeking a vote on their past performances in government (for example, one has the ₹�1,000 a monthfor every woman in the State thatthe Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP,‘promises’). Identity politics isplaying out along caste and communal lines (AAP leader and Delhi

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hasdeclared that a Sikh would be thechief ministerial face of AAP; SunilJakhar of the Congress being denied chief ministership ostensiblyfor being a Hindu, and the AkaliDal promising a Dalit Deputy ChiefMinister if voted to power).

In the CongressFactionalism in the Congress isrife, with Punjab Chief MinisterCharanjit Singh Channi and Punjab Congress chief Navjot SinghSidhu fi�ghting it out to be the chiefministerial face of the Congress.There is also Sukhdev SinghDhindsa leading the Akali faction,the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt)against the offi�cial Akali Dal. TheBJP has been raising the issue ofnational security, territorial integrity, Pakistansponsored terrorism, which has now been takenup by Punjab Lok Congress headed by Captain Amarinder Singh.Governance issues, the drug menace, corruption, unemploymentand the mafi�a raj have now become the staple electoral issues.So, this election is also witnessingboth SAD and the Congress blaming each other for not doingenough when in power.

Interestingly, the present Congress government led by Mr. Channi seems very keen to blame thegovernment led by Captain Amarinder as if it was the Oppositiongovernment! The most vocal overthese issues has been AAP — understandably so as it has never

been in power in the State and wasfi�rst off� the block to raise the drugissue back in the 2014 Lok Sabhaelection.

Impact of farm lawsThe runup to the present electionhas, however, witnessed two recent developments which markdeviations in terms of trends andissues, thereby making it an unusual one. The yearlong farmers’movement against the three contentious farm laws has cast its shadow over State politics. Reelingunder the threat of losing its coresocial constituency of the Jat Sikhlanded peasantry, the Akali Dalbroke up with the BJP (an alliancefi�rmly in place since the 1990s).The breakup is likely to result inthe loss of votes for both parties.While the BJP could lose the Akalirural Sikh vote, the Akali Dal couldlose the muchneeded Hindu votethat has allowed it to take on theCongress which has always haddecent support among the Sikhs.The Akali Dal has suff�ered a dent(which can be called long term) inits image as being the farmers’ party due to its initial support for thefarm laws. As for the Congress, itdeftly kept away from the farmers’wrath by mouthing support for thecause without getting directly involved.

The movement has paved theway for the formation of the Samyukta Samaj Morcha (SSM) by 22farmers’ unions — the fi�rst suchpolitical initiative by the landowning Jat Sikh farmers in the State.The development has the potential to harm AAP which has beenhoping again to receive formerAkali voters (like in the 2017 election, especially in the Malwa region), who are disgruntled also over the sacrilege incidents involvingSikh holy scriptures and subsequent fi�ring at protesters in 2015when the Akali Dal was in power.The performance of the SSM mayhave electoral implications in amulticornered contest as in thelast Assembly election, there were16 constituencies where the mar

gin of win was less than 2%.

The Dalit voteIn the long term, the movementhas rekindled the focus on farmers’ issues and farmers are beingseen as a distinct voting community. The elevation and installationof Mr. Channi as the fi�rst DalitChief Minister is also supposed tohave farreaching consequences.Even though he is an ‘accidental’Chief Minister — as the Congresshigh command chose him only after powerful Jat Sikh leaders Navjot Singh Sidhu and Deputy ChiefMinister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa cancelled out each other —the Congress is now betting onhim to consolidate the Dalit vote,thus ensuring the party win. Thereare 54 constituencies where Dalitsconstitute more than 30% of thelisted voters, which is a signifi�cantfactor in this multicornered contest. The Dalit vote so far has remained fractured mainly along religious lines, going to the Congressand the Akali Dal whereas the other claimant, the BSP, has been in astate of terminal decline, pollingless than 5% of the vote and noseat in the last three and four Assembly elections, respectively.

Mr. Channi has been prudentenough so far not to challenge theexisting social power structure,thus averting a possible countermobilisation of Jat Sikhs. Arguably,in case of a Congress win, it wouldbe diffi�cult to displace him — a factthat explains the restlessness ofMr. Sidhu. Mr. Channi is projectinghimself as the original ‘aam aadmi’who has risen from the ranks totake on a resurgent AAP. Irrespective of the results, uncertain due toso many parties in contention andgiven the State’s history of narrowmargins in wins, Mr. Channi’s appointment has already opened upthe political space so far dominated by Jat Sikhs.

Ashutosh Kumar is a Professor in the

Department of Political Science, Panjab

University, Chandigarh. The views

expressed are personal

Punjab is more than just another election The farmers’ movement and Charanjit Singh Channi’s elevation have opened up the political space

Ashutosh Kumar

PT

I

The Kerala government’s proposal to amend its

Lok Ayukta Act through an ordinance appears

questionable and hasty. Even though the Left De

mocratic Front (LDF) government is citing legal opinion

to justify the proposed amendments, it does give an im

pression that it is in an unseemly hurry to remove the fi�

nality attached to a provision that allows the anticor

ruption judicial body to direct a public servant to vacate

offi�ce, if an allegation is substantiated. The criticism by

the Opposition that the change may dilute the Lok Ay

ukta law appears valid, as Section 14 of the Lok Ayukta

Act is its most stringent provision. Both the Congress

led United Democratic Front and the BJP have appealed

to the Governor not to promulgate the ordinance

cleared by the Cabinet. Opposition parties have sug

gested that the proposal may be linked to ongoing in

quiries by the Lok Ayukta against members of the Cabi

net. Also, the present regime has been adversely

aff�ected by this particular provision. In April 2021, Mi

nister for Higher Education and Minority Welfare K.T.

Jaleel had to resign after the Lok Ayukta found him guil

ty of nepotism. The present regime seems to have real

ised only after this episode the implications of the bind

ing nature of the Lok Ayukta’s ‘declaration’ that a public

servant, against whom an allegation is substantiated,

should not continue to hold offi�ce. It is strange that the

Government now says the section is unconstitutional

when it could have been challenged by Mr. Jaleel

himself.

The Government has defended the proposed ordi

nance on the ground that the section amounts to remo

val of a Minister duly appointed by the Governor on the

advice of the Chief Minister, and violates Articles 163

and 164 of the Constitution. Further, there is no provi

sion for appeal. It proposes to amend it to the eff�ect that

the Governor, the government or authority may decide

on the Lok Ayukta’s fi�nding within three months. It also

seeks to provide for an appeal. While these are valid

points, there is room to question the adoption of the or

dinance route. It is also curious that the provision is

now considered unconstitutional when it was an earlier

LDF regime headed by E.K. Nayanar that enacted the

law in 1999. The legislation was quite ahead of its time,

as it envisaged removal of a public servant from offi�ce

following an adverse judicial fi�nding long before the Su

preme Court paved the way for automatic disqualifi�ca

tion of an elected representative upon conviction. It

was only in 2013 that the apex court struck down a

clause in election law that saved a serving legislator

from disqualifi�cation following conviction until an ap

peal was fi�led and disposed of. A regime truly disposed

towards corruptionfree governance should not nor

mally be worried about a law that allows an indepen

dent judicial forum to direct a public servant to leave of

fi�ce. If it has wellfounded reservations about the

process, it should not be chary of introducing relevant

amendments in the Assembly.

Wrong routeKerala’s move to dilute the Lok Ayukta law

through an ordinance is questionable

India continues to record over 2,80,000 cases every

day, which on its own is an uncomfortable statistic.

These are not too far from that observed during the

second wave and it is understandable why State admi

nistrators continue to impose lockdowns. However,

numbers are meaningless without context and the data

from States show that what was most feared about Om

icron — an upsurge of hospitalisations and indiscrimi

nate mortality — has not come to pass. The States that

are in the throes of the wave now report, on average,

that more than 95% of their available beds are unoccu

pied. By no means does this suggest that an Omicron in

fection is mild or that those vaccinated can be assured

of pre2020 nonchalance. However, the evidence is un

equivocal that the odds of requiring hospitalisation are

low in the doubly vaccinated and the vaccines, so far,

continue to deliver on their promise of staving off� sev

ere illness. These observations are no doubt accounted

for by various State governments which are now easing

restrictions and allowing business establishments and

public places to open up.

However, schools continue to be shut in most places

and administrators are reluctant to open them because

most children are unvaccinated. Serology surveys by

the ICMR and independent experts have found that

greater than 70% of children displayed COVID19 anti

bodies — which is no diff�erent from adults. Other lines

of research also establish that while children are likely

to contract the infection and be carriers, they are less

likely to fall severely ill. Placing this in context with the

disruption that has taken place in schools, the years of

quality teaching time that have been lost and, the en

trenching of inequality among welloff� children and

those who are dependent on schools not only for learn

ing but also a nutritious meal, it is clear that schools, in

good conscience, cannot be allowed to remain shut.

The COVID19 pandemic has not ended but societies are

better prepared and aware of the reasonable measures

that can be undertaken to save lives. Lockdowns are ef

fective as a temporary measure and give time to stock

up, but they come with huge costs and are not sustain

able over the longer term. Thus, States should prioritise

expanding vaccine coverage, insist on masks when chil

dren are in close confi�nes, undertake periodic testing to

gauge transmission and monitor hospitalisation trends

while fully reopening schools. Experience from other

countries such as the U.K. and the U.S. suggests that the

reopening of schools hardly impacted transmission

trends. India must incorporate these lessons.

Open the schools Schools must reopen as severe cases dip

and vaccination coverage increases

corrections & clarifications:

In the report titled “Flypast and State tableaux mark RDay celebration at Rajpath” ( January 27, 2022), there was an erroneousreference to Param Vir Chakra being conferred on the occasion.The Param Vir Chakra award was not given this year.

The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300;

E-mail:[email protected]

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


OPED

Delhi, Jan. 27: Diametrically opposite viewswere expressed before the Racial Distinctions Committee today, on the question ofJury trial. The Hon’ble Mr. Raza Ali stronglyadvocated its abolition as it had often led tomiscarriages of justice, owing to the perversity of Jurors. If the right now enjoyed by Europeans were granted to Indians, it wouldonly accentuate racial feeling. He thereforebelieved and pressed for trial, by experienced Judges, who, with their judicialframe of mind and outlook of life, wouldmete out justice better. The opposite viewwas expressed by Mr. C.O. Remfry, BaratLaw, representing the European Association, Calcutta, who believed there had beenno miscarriage of justice in jury trial, whichought to be extended. His Association waswilling to meet Indian sentiment and remove Indian disabilities, so long as the safety of Europeans in India was safeguarded bymixed jury with at least half the number ofjurors as Europeans or Indians according tothe chance. He had no objections to Indiansclaiming the same rights which Europeansnow enjoyed, but objected to the privilegesof Europeans being taken away.

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO JANUARY 28, 1922

Trial by jury

As Russia stands poised on the edgeof a military invasion of Ukraine andtensions are at an alltime high between Moscow and the West, it is evident that the seeds of deeprootedsuspicion between the U.S. and Russia were sown during the secondterm of the Barack Obama administration. As the U.S. correspondent forthis newspaper during 201015, it wasobvious to me that what could loosely be described as ‘Cold War 2.0’ wasgaining traction during those years,and the interregnum of the Trumpyears thereafter did little to mitigatethe bilateral malaise.

Mr. Obama began, as most idealistic leaders do, with good intentions,to bring about a “reset” in relationswith Russia. At the time, Vladimir Putin had stepped back from the Russian presidency to the role of PrimeMinister, ceding the top post to Dmitri Medvedev. Yet within the politicsof Washington’s beltway, it was hardly a secret that Mr. Medvedev wasconsidered Robin to Mr. Putin’s Batman. Nevertheless, Mr. Obama andMr. Medvedev, it was clear, shared adecent amount of personal chemistry and that allowed them to earnestly embark on tackling some of the bigbilateral policy issues of the day. Inearly 2010, they signed the NewSTART Treaty, which restricted bothnations to 1,550 deployed strategicnuclear warheads, nearly twothirdsless than what the original STARTtreaty permitted. Russia entered theWorld Trade Organization in 2012.However, by that time, Mr. Putin hadreentered the presidency and thenthe troubles began again.

The irony was that it was not bilateral issues as such that generated themost tension. Rather, Russian involvement – or lack thereof – in thirdcountries such as Libya and Syria hada destabilising eff�ect on what little‘reset momentum’ had been carefully built so far. In Libya, Russia alongwith China allowed the passage of aUN resolution in 2011 setting up a nofl�y zone, an action that did not winsupport of the U.S., U.K., France, andothers, which continued air operations in the country. In Syria, while

civil war escalated around 2012, itwas again Moscow and Beijing thatblocked numerous UN resolutionscritical of Bashar al Assad, even asthe U.S. and Western European powers chose to recognise the Syrian opposition’s National Coalition. Pettybickering over specifi�c individualsthen muddied the bilateral watersfurther, including the cases of SergeiMagnitsky, a Russian lawyer whodied in prison in 2009 after accusingcertain Russian authorities of corruption and after whom the U.S. Congress named a sanctions law that itpassed in 2012; and of Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor whorevealed the depth and breadth ofU.S. intelligence agencies’ surveillance of domestic and foreign targets,and then fl�ed to Russia evading Espionage Act charges in the U.S.

The last straw came in 2014, whenMr. Putin annexed Crimea in Ukraine– yet the Obama administration’s response was timid. It included a bevyof sanctions in coordination with theEuropean Union and an attempt tostrengthen NATO’s eastern fl�ank, theEuropean Reassurance Initiative. Inpart Mr. Obama faced domestic political constraints in terms of not beingable to embark on any military adventurism to contain Russian territorial aggression. However, more pertinent was the fact that Mr. Obamalikely believed that rather than fomenting Cold War 2.0, Russian actions only represented the weak ambition of a “regional power” – anassessment that subsequent developments have shown to be poorlymade.

Thus, by the time intelligence reports of interference in U.S. elections, including those linking Russiangroups to Democratic Party serverhacking and targeted undermining ofthe Hillary Clinton campaign, beganto surface in early 2016, it was toolate for a hard push back. This legacyof tepid response will perhaps continue to shape the decisions of U.S.President Joe Biden as he manoeuvres to answer Mr. Putin’schallenge.

[email protected]

Seeds of suspicion U.S.-Russia ties began to weaken during thesecond term of the Barack Obama administration

Narayan Lakshman

NOTEBOOK

Rawalpindi, Jan. 27: Economic sources in Rawalpindi said that the Pakistan President,Mr. Z.A. Bhutto’s reversal to a policy of conciliation instead of threats to business community is connected with the visit on Saturday of the World Bank President, Mr. RobertMcNamara. According to the sources, Mr.McNamara reacted sharply to the reportsthat Mr. Bhutto had taken over the management of factories in 10 industrial categoriesin what was reported as a form of nationalisation. Mr. McNamara’s critical reaction wasreported here last week during a visit of Mr.Peter Cargill, head of the World Bank’s SouthAsia Division and Chairman of the Aid to Pakistan Consortium, said the sources. Mr.Bhutto responded by releasing three majorindustrialists from house arrest and postponing the deadline for the return of hiddenforeign exchange assets from abroad fromTuesday to February 15. Mr. Bhutto has ordered the release of Mr. Ahmed Dawood,whose family manages the Dawood Hercueles Chemical Fertilizer plant to which theWorld Bank has loaned more than Rs. 3crores (Pakistani), retired Lt. Gen. Khan Habibullah Khan, head of Gandhara Industries,and Mr. Fakhruddin Valibhai.

FIFTY YEARS AGO JANUARY 28, 1972

McNamara’s attitude softens Bhutto

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

With Omicron becoming the domi-nant COVID-19 variant in the coun-try, and with its reputation of beinga ‘milder’ form of the disease, thereis a debate raging on what treat-ment methodologies are appro-priate. Should we adopt a conserva-tive line or an aggressive line totreat Omicron? The responses toSARS-CoV-2 have been changingconstantly, whether in the form oftreatment or social restrictions. In aconversation moderated by RamyaKannan, infectious diseases spe-cialists Dr. V. Ramasubramanianand Dr. Subramanian Swaminath-an discuss the question and thechallenges of responding to anevolving pandemic. Edited excerpts:

Omicron has a reputation forbeing ‘mild'. Is this true?

Dr. V. Ramasubramanian: We arefortunate that the current thirdwave, which is caused predominantly by the strains of lineages ofOmicron, appears mild. In otherwords, the disease is much more rapidly transmissible but disease severity is signifi�cantly less comparedto the Delta variant. The incubationperiod is much shorter, the transmissibility is much, much higherand faster, and the disease is mild.The only slight diff�erence I wouldsay is that unlike Delta, whichcaused milder infections amongyounger people, we fi�nd now thateven youngsters have highgradefever. But fortunately, it settlesdown in three to four days in mostpeople. Even though Omicron hassignifi�cant mutations, and it spreadsvery fast, disease severity is lowercompared to Delta.

Dr. Subramanian Swaminathan:Delta was an unmitigated disasterfor the whole world, not just for us.We do have a lot of symptomatic disease now. We are seeing quite a fewof the extremely elderly, especiallythose with comorbidities, nowcoming in with severe disease; myICU is currently full. And I havequite a few patients who we wouldclassify as critical COVID19 cases.

And let's not forget that mortalityis not insignifi�cant. We call this variant mild, based on the need for oxygen. But having said that, I'm seeing

an increasing number of peoplewho are completely miserable dueto Omicron because of the fatigueand body ache it causes. I'm seeing alot of elderly people with mentalfogginess. They have loss of energy,some of them tend to buckle andfall, some have had a fall in bloodpressure. None of this would qualifyas severe disease, but the symptomsin older people can be dangerous.

So, while treating COVID-19,presumably since the dominantstrain is now Omicron, do wetake a conservative approachor a more aggressive path?

Dr. Ramasubramanian: It’s a diffi�cult question in the sense thatthere are people who can becomesick — for instance, the elderly withcomorbidities can end up very sick.But if you look at the percentage ofpeople who become sick, it's verysmall compared to the number ofpeople who fall ill and have symptoms, which is signifi�cantly higherthan what we saw with Delta. So, people who are elderly, have comorbidities, or people who are unvaccinated can fall ill. But this percentageis very small.

Because [symptoms in] most people settle in three to four days, wehave a window of at least fi�ve daysbefore we need to react to it. I don'tthink we should hurry and give something on the fi�rst or second dayof the infection. So, my advice hasbeen to wait for three to four days. Ifby the fourth day, the patient is feeling signifi�cantly better, which iswhat happens to most people, theyshould be fi�ne. But if by day four orfi�ve, things are not settling down,the patient is not feeling better, weneed to probably act.

Dr. Subramanian: I agree withthat. Jumping the gun and runningfor medicines for every patient isprobably ill advised. I think weshould be very generous with thingslike paracetamol. Rest, drink lots offl�uids. The [symptoms in] the majority of patients are going to settlevery nicely.

Is vaccination helping keepdeath, severe disease andhospitalisation at bay? Are

more children infected now?

Dr. Subramanian: The vaccinecampaign has been one of the majorvictories that we've had in reducingthe impact of COVID19. That is certainly making a diff�erence. Thequestion is, how long does immunity last and how eff�ective is it, especially in the most vulnerablegroups? Obviously, the unvaccinated do remain a signifi�cant vulnerable group. However, we are noticingthat among patients 70 years andabove, especially those who havemultiple comorbidities, if the second dose of the vaccine was administered to them more than sixmonths ago, it seems as though it isnot protecting them adequately.Those who had received the seconddose of the vaccine within the lastsix months didn't seem to do so badly, irrespective of their age. So, Ithink there is some value in thebooster dose. And I really wish wehad started administering the thirddose earlier.

And yes, we are getting a lot ofchildren and adolescents coming inwith fever. But thankfully, the majority of children do not have a problem. Just watching symptoms andproviding symptomatic therapy isenough. My colleagues are tellingme that children are coming in withfeverinduced seizures. It’s too earlyfor us to say if there is a real linkwith COVID19 or is just happenstance. But that's something that weneed to observe very carefully.

Dr. Ramasubramanian: With regard to vaccination helping, it isspot on. But we have seen that asthe antibodies wane, there is a higher risk of picking up Omicron. Nowstudies have shown that if a boosterdose or a third dose had been givento people, they would have stood alower chance of having symptomatic Delta virus infection. If your immunity after two doses was about8090% and went down after sixmonths or so and you were given abooster for the Delta virus infection,the protective effi�cacy would havegone up again to 80% or 90%. Inother words, the booster wouldhave brought up your level of protection from symptomatic diseaseto 8090%. But with Omicron, protection from the third dose was actually only about 5060%. So, thebooster dose was not as eff�ective forOmicron in preventing symptomatic disease as it was with the Deltavariant. This has been clearly documented.

But if you look at severity, whichwarrants hospitalisation or complications and death, even for Omicron, the third dose actually did very well. The necessity for a booster

in preventing serious infections,whether it is Omicron or Delta, is very well established. But one thing Iwould like to add is, even though weare looking at administering threedoses for most people, I think thepriority is to ensure the two dosesare given to the entire population.

How do you deal with theconstantly changing goal postsfor treatment for COVID-19?

Dr. Subramanian: The process ofdata gathering is not necessarily linear or streamlined. If we look atmedicine as such, we have evolvedour way of looking at the data andunderstanding the science of it in amuch better way right now than wedid, say, 50 years ago.

When you have a new problem,and a new molecule, and newdrugs, if there is one study done very well with enough numbers, itmay be fairly useful in concludingthe path ahead. But we need to dostudies in diff�erent settings andpopulations, and then decide how itworks. During an evolving pandemic, what is true in one wave may ormay not be applicable in the secondwave, especially when it comes toantivirals. That’s exactly wherewe’re going.

The third thing is that it also depends on the kind of population weare looking at. For example, a lot ofthe studies, on the basis of which wehave got approvals for variousdrugs, were done on people whowere unvaccinated. But now, nearlyall the people who are coming in arevaccinated.

When we talk about COVID care,there are two parts to it — antiviralsand the treatment of hypoxia. Andthe good news is that for the secondpart of the treatment, which is treatment of severe COVID19, which isbasically lung injury, the data ontreatment are fairly clear. The antiviral use is a moving target and itchanges based on where you areand who you are studying.

Dr. Ramasubramanian: Medicineis constantly evolving. But what wehave to understand is that there aretwo issues. One is medical and theother is advocacy. If you look at themedical evidence, this should bebased purely on science, purely onrandomised control studies. Butthese kinds of trials and studies taketime, you cannot be waiting around

to come up with advocacy. The advocacy will involve political issues,logistic issues, such as the questionof lockdown.

In the early part of the pandemic,all kinds of drugs were recommended for all kinds of situations. Thathas been streamlined. So, we havedefi�nitely become a lot better in ourapproach to handling this crisis. Butwe need to understand that this situation is constantly evolving. Earlier, nobody was vaccinated; nowwe have a vaccinated population.So, would the same drugs work? Itdepends on the population dynamics and behaviour; on the susceptibility of each person to infection,whether they are unvaccinated/vaccinated; on the immune response toearlier infections. And most importantly, it would depend on the variants and how they behave. So, thebottom line is, this is still constantlyevolving, and we need to learnalong the way.

Is it possible to ensure thatcertain recommendedprotocols are implementedacross the country?

Dr. Subramanian: It's a prettycomplex area. While COVID19 hasshone a spotlight on it, it is happening everywhere else. So, therefore,while the government has had verydetailed guidelines on treatment forseveral diseases, not many doctorsare aware of them. There is obviously a problem in education and dissemination, and that needs to be addressed. These protocols should bestrictly followed in academic institutions. Only if that happens will webe able to fi�x the private sector.

Dr. Ramasubramanian: With regard to COVID19, even with evidence there is a problem becausethis is constantly evolving and whatwas true two months ago may notbe valid now. In the Indian situation, one more complication is thespectrum of care which is given tothe patient, unlike in the U.S. or theU.K., where the standard of care is avery small band and the best andthe worst fall within the band. In India, the best hospital is probably onpar with or better than some hospitals in the West, but the worst hospitals are really bad. So, it is very diffi�cult to come up with guidelines tocover this entire spectrum of population and healthcare delivery.

What approach should we adopt to treat Omicron? If symptoms settle down within four days, thereis no need for aggressive treatment

SubramanianSwaminathan is Director,

Infectious Diseases

and Infection

Control, Gleneagles

Global Hospitals,

Chennai

V. Ramasub-ramanian is Senior Infectious

Diseases

Consultant, Apollo

Hospitals, Chennai

Scan the QR code tolisten to the fullinterview online

JO

TH

I R

AM

ALIN

GA

M B

.

PARLEY

<> Jumping the gun and

running for medicines for

every patient is probably ill

advised. I think we should

be very generous with

things like paracetamol.

Rest, drink lots of fl�uids.

Subramanian Swaminathan

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DATA POINT

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

sia and Iran, and which isdue to include both Chabahar and Turkmenistan’sTurkmenbashi port.

Notably, the statement recorded that President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedovhad “stressed on the importance of TAPI gas pipelineproject” that runs fromTurkmenistan’s Galknyshkoil fi�elds near Mary (Marv)through Afghanistan andPakistan to India, but didnot record any support fromIndia on the project. The TAPI project, inaugurated in2015, has run into issues over IndiaPakistan tensionsand the situation in Afghanistan, though the Taliban offi�cials recently said theyhope to restart work on thepipeline in September 2022.

“The leaders emphasisedthat connectivity projectsdeserve priority attentionand could be a forcemultiplier for trade and economic cooperation and contactsbetween countries and people,” it added, but did not directly refer to the blocks ontransit trade imposed by Pakistan.

The leaders discussedpossibilities of increasing Indian trade with the regionbeyond the currently low levels of about $2 billion, welcoming options over seaprovided by Iranian portsincluding the Chabahar portterminal managed by Indiaand the International NorthSouth Transport Corridor(INSTC) through Bandar Abbas that is promoted by Rus

Central Asia meet forms Afghan group

a book value of ₹�15,834crore will also remain withthe government.

“Formalities have beencompleted. Air India disinvestment transaction is nowclosed. The shares havebeen transferred to Talace.A cash consideration of₹�2,700 crore has been received and the debt of₹�15,300 crore has been accepted [by the new owners],” Secretary, Department of Investment andPublic Asset Management,Tuhin K. Pandey told reporters here.

Tatas will get Air India’sfl�eet of 141 planes, alongwith ownership of iconicbrands like Air India, IndianAirlines and the Maharajah.

As many as 13,500 permanent and contractual employees will also move to theTata fold and have to be retained at least for one year.

Mr. Chandrasekaran’s comment followed the last meeting of the incumbent Boardof the airline headed by Secretary, Ministry of CivilAviation, Rajeev Bansal.Once the transfer was completed, the new Board of theairline held its fi�rst meeting.

In a statement, the TataGroup said that it philosophically agreed with thePrime Minister’s vision ofmaking the aviation sectoraff�ordable.

The government has a total disinvestment target of₹�1.75 lakh crore for the fi�nancial year 202122.

Tata Sons have paid₹�2,700 crore in cash for theairline, along with taking ona debt of ₹�15,300 crore. Ofthe total debt and liabilitiesof Air India of ₹�77,396 crore,the government will absorb₹�62,096 crore. Some noncore assets of Air India with

Air India back in TataGroup hangar

“Also, active COVID19 casesand corresponding deathsare much lower during thepresent wave compared toearlier surges,” he added.

Warning against any laxity in following COVIDnorms, Mr. Agarwal said400 districts have reportedover 10% weekly positivitywhile in 141 districts, it wasbetween fi�ve to 10% in theweek ending January 26.

Speaking at the briefi�ng,National Centre for DiseaseControl (NCDC) director Su

jeet Singh warned that Deltavariant cases had not beencompletely eliminated. “Unvaccinated persons with comorbidities form the highrisk group currently, andmaximum fatalities due toCOVID are being reportedfrom this group,” he said.

Omicron subvariantBA.2 is more prevalent in India now as opposed to BA.1being dominant when international travellers were being analysed, Mr. Singh added.

Early signs of a dip incaseload, says govt.

“Due procedures are beingfollowed including the medical examination, Mr. Rijijusaid. The boy was handedover around 10.30 a.m. under strict COVID protocols,a defence offi�cial said.

The defence PRO Tezpursaid in a statement that onJanuary 26, the PLA confi�rmed that Miram would behanded back to the Army atDamai Border PersonnelMeeting (BPM) Point on

Thursday and it was doneaccordingly after completing the formalities. Mr. Taron is in high spirits and iselated to be back in hiscountry. He and his familyexpressed gratitude for thesincere eff�orts by the Armyand the government to ensure his safe return, thestatement said adding thathe inadvertently stra yedand went missing recentlywhile hunting on January 18.

PLA hands over missingArunachal teen to Army

The police have registered acomplaint against six teachers of coaching institutes inPatna and hundreds of students across Bihar for theirviolent protests over a railway recruitment exam.

Some student organisations, meanwhile, havecalled for a Bihar bandh onTuesday to protest against alleged irregularities in theexam.

An FIR has been lodgedagainst teacher Faizal Khan,popularly known as “KhanSir”, and fi�ve other teachersfor allegedly inciting students to protest. Some of theteachers named in the complaint, however, said theyhad appealed to the studentsto keep away from such protests, as damaging government property was a punishable act.

“Still, the police bookedus,” they said.

Among the other teachersnamed in the complaint areS.K. Jha, Gagan Pratap andGopal Verma.

The police have alsobooked hundreds of unidentifi�ed students in Patna, Nawada, Bhojpur, Sitamarhi,Buxar, Muzaff�arpur and other places where there wereprotests and railway property was allegedly damaged.

In Jehanabad, protestingstudents burnt effi�gies ofPrime Minister NarendraModi on railway tracks andraised slogans against thegovernment.

The protests aff�ected themovement of several trains

under East Central Zone,causing inconvenience topassengers.

Bandh callMeanwhile, the All IndianStudents Union and otheryouth organisations havecalled for a Bihar bandh onJanuary 28.

The student bodies havealso called the Railway Ministry’s move to form a committee to look into their concerns a “hoax”.

Thousands of students

gathered on railway tracksand at stations on January 25to protest irregularities inthe Railway RecruitmentBoard’s NonTechnical Popular Categories (RRBNTPC)Exam, 2021.

At some places such asGaya, the protesting students set coaches of a trainon fi�re and damaged railwayproperty and were caned bythe police personnel.

About 1.25 crore studentshad applied for the examthat had advertised over35,000 posts with initial salaries ranging from ₹�19,900to ₹�35,400 a month. Around60 lakh had appeared for theexam. The angry studentswere protesting against a decision by the Railways tohold the exam in two stages.

“The second stage of theexam is totally unfair tothose who have cleared thefi�rst stage and for which results were released on January 15,” they said.

The Railways has set up ahighpowered committee tolook into the grievances ofprotesting students.

Hundreds of students bookedin Bihar over rail exam protest FIR lodged against 6 teachers of coaching institutes in Patna; students call for bandh

Amarnath Tewary

Patna

Angry outburst: Students protesting on railway tracks in Gayaon Wednesday. * AFP

Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra onThursday virtually interacted with aspirants of Railways’ NonTechnical Popular Categories (NTPC) jobswho were allegedly beatenup by the police at Prayagrajin Uttar Pradesh.

Separately, the Congressalso urged the Centre not tocancel the earlier computerbased NTPC test as thosewho might have qualifi�ed toappear for the AprilJuly2020 exam might no longerbe eligible if the exam washeld all over again.

Protests have eruptedsince Monday in Bihar andUttar Pradesh over allegeddiscrepancies in the NTPCresults declared earlier thismonth. While studentsblocked the railway track inPrayagraj on Tuesday, theprotests to block rail routesturned violent in Bihar onWednesday.

“Youth who are preparing in Prayagraj told thatthey were beaten up afterentering the lodges that arelocated a kilometre awayfrom the protest site. This is

sheer injustice. Strict actionshould be taken againstthose who torture students.Youth, in these elections,you decide ‘no job, novote’,” Ms. Vadra tweetedalong with a video of her interaction.

“You are the next generation, future of U.P.. Youshould ask for your rightsand seek accountabilityfrom them. You should askthem “what have you donefor us?’ Ms. Vadra said in thevideo.

Stressing that the Congress does not believe in anyform of violence, party spokesperson Supriya Shrinatetold reporters at a press conference that “the Congressis standing with the youth intheir peaceful protests andfor their just demands”.

Congress slams policeaction on job aspirantsPriyanka Gandhi interacts with them


New Delhi

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Thursday said political leaders approachingcourts seemed to be due to“election virus”. He wasdealing with an urgent request made by ShiromaniAkali Dal leader BikramSingh Majithia to speedily listhis appeal for anticipatorybail in a case registered under the Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic SubstancesAct.

Assembly elections are

due soon in fi�ve States, including Punjab. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for Mr.Majithia, during the mentioning, said the case wasone of political vendetta.

HC dismissed appealThe Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court recently dismissed his plea for anticipatorybail. “I do not know if this iselection fever or election virus. Everyone is rushing tothe courts now,” the CJI addressed Mr. Rohatgi in alighthearted manner.

The court listed the casefor January 31 and told theState not to take any coerciveaction against him till then.

Senior advocate P. Chidambaram, for the State,said Mr. Majithia had goneinto hiding.

“Tell your State not to doanything. We are listing thison Monday,” the court addressed Mr. Chidambaram.

NDPS ActMr. Majithia was booked under the NDPS Act on December 20 last year and movedthe High Court seeking anticipatory bail.

The former Punjab Minister was booked under the

NDPS Act on the basis of a2018 report of a probe into adrugs racket operating in theState.

Mr. Majithia was bookedunder Sections 25 (punishment for allowing one’s premises for its use for the commission of an off�ence), 27A(for fi�nancing sale, purchase,production, manufacture,possession, transportation,use or consumption, importand export or any act pertaining to narcotics) and 29(abetting or plotting an offence) of the NDPS Act.

SC breather for Akali leader in drugs case Don’t act against Majithia till January 31, court tells Punjab while listing his appeal for anticipatory bail

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi

Supreme Court asks MLANitesh Rane to surrender NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on

Thursday gave Maharashtra

BJP MLA Nitesh Rane 10 days

of protection from arrest in

an attempt to murder case

and asked him to surrender

and seek regular bail in a trial

court. A threejudge Bench

led by Chief Justice of India

N.V. Ramana did not

comment on the merits of

the case. Senior advocates

Mukul Rohatgi and Sidharth

Luthra, for Mr. Rane,

submitted that the charges

against the leader were

“completely bogus”.

IN BRIEF

Maharashtra allows saleof wine in supermarketsMUMBAI

The Maharashtra Cabinet on

Thursday cleared the decision

to allow sale of wine at

supermarkets and grocery

shops with area more than

1,000 square feet. “Wine

bottles can be sold in

supermarkets or shops with

area more than 1,000 square

feet where the operators will

be allowed to have a stall for

wines. The decision will help

farmers and wine producers in

the State,” said Minister

Nawab Malik after the

Cabinet meeting. Under the

new policy, the government

will charge ₹�10 excise duty

per bulk litre production on

all types of wine bottles.

Senior Karvy officialsdiverted funds: EDNEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directorate

(ED) has alleged that the

senior management of the

Karvy Group had designed a

complex web of transactions

to misuse the securities of

their clients for raising loans

fraudulently. Funds to the

tune of ₹�2,873.82 crore were

diverted by the accused

persons. The agency has

arrested Karvy Group’s

chairmancummanaging

director Comandur

Parthasarathy and chief

financial officer G. Krishna

Hari on money laundering

charge.

Don’t take coercive stepsagainst GVK Power: SCNEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on

Thursday restrained Punjab

authorities from taking any

coercive steps against GVK

Power (Goindwal Sahib),

which has challenged a

decision of the Punjab State

Power Corporation Ltd. to

terminate the power

purchase agreement with the

company. A Bench led by

Chief Justice of India N.V.

Ramana restrained the

authorities for two weeks, by

which time GVK can seek

alternative legal remedy in

the State High Court or the

tribunal concerned.

Union Minister for Minority Aff�airs Mukhtar AbbasNaqvi on Thursday criticised former VicePresident of India Hamid Ansarifor his comments during apanel discussion whereinhe expressed concerns regarding the state of democracy in India.

Mr. Naqvi said the “madness for Prime Minister Narendra Modi bashing isturning into a conspiracyfor India bashing”.

“People who used to exploit minority votes arenow anxious about the prevailing positive environment in the country,” theMinister said.

“Our cultural nationalism is our constitutionalcommitment,” Mr. Naqviadded.

“Yesterday when thecountry was celebratingRepublic Day, and unfurledthe tricolour at Srinagar’sLal Chowk, at that time, someone who occupied aconstitutional post wasspeaking at a platform provided by an organisationthat has worked againstour country and has a linkto the ISI, to criticise thecountry,” Mr. Naqvi said.

Priyal Bharadwaj, vicepresident of BJP’s MahilaMorcha, said, “The factthat Hindus can be happyin their own country becomes intolerable for the‘seculars’. Over years theydistinguished and cultivated their ‘vote banks’ forthe purpose of appeasement, at the cost of majority. For the fi�rst time thereare no HinduMuslim riotsin years, the country is undergoing long term reforms and is economicallyprogressing, unfortunatelythe exVP fi�nds it the apttime to critisise our owndemocracy at an AmericanMuslim Platform.”

Naqvi slamsAnsari for hisremarks


New Delhi

As part of a refl�ective celebration of India’s RepublicDay, a Democratic Senatorand three Democratic Congressmen expressed theirconcerns about democracyand human rights in India.

The remarks were madeat a Congressional briefi�ng,Protecting India’s PluralistConstitution, organised bythe Hindus for HumanRights, the Indian AmericanMuslim Council and 15 otherorganisations.

Former VicePresident ofIndia Hamid Ansari also delivered a video message at theevent.

Ed Markey, senior Senatorfrom Massachusetts, saidthat as the world’s largest democracy, India had for longbeen committed to universalhuman rights and the rule oflaw, but there were concerns

now. “That commitment includes the protection of religious freedom and refraining from actions that limitthe rights of minorities,” Mr.Markey said.

Peeling back rights“That is why I remain concerned about Prime MinisterModi’s government’s eff�ortsto peel back the rights of religious minorities in India.Laws on religious conversion, citizenship and otherrestrictive measures fl�y inthe face of India’s inclusivesecular constitution and

core tenants of any democracy,” he said.

Mr. Markey said that whilehonouring the strong tiesbetween the two countries,the U.S. would continue tospeak up when a fellow democracy was “unable to protect” all of its people.

Rising intoleranceMr. Ansari also shared hisconcerns.

“In recent years, we haveexperienced emergence oftrends and practices that dispute the wellestablishedprinciple of civic nationalism

and interposes a new andimaginary practice of cultural nationalism … It seeks topresent an electoral majorityin the guise of a religious majority and monopolise political power. It wants to distinguish citizens on the basis oftheir faith, give vent to intolerance, insinuate otherness,and promote disquiet and insecurity,” he said.

Mr. Ansari said thesetrends need to be contestedboth legally and politically.

U.S. Congressman fromMassachusetts, Jim McGovern, who cochairs the bipartisan Tom Lantos HumanRights Commission, alsospoke about the strength ofthe U.S.India relationshipand the need to speak up forhuman rights.

He listed various concerns, including the linkingof “citizenship to religiousidentity [the CAA].”

‘Growing threat to rights in India’Former VicePresident Hamid Ansari, four U.S. lawmakers express concern

Sriram Lakshman

Two militants escaped froman encounter site at Shopianin south Kashmir on Thursday, after a gunfi�ght left twosoldiers injured on Wednesday evening.

“Two terrorists, including one foreign terrorist,were inside [a residentialarea]. Two soldiers receivedbullet injuries in the initialexchange of fi�re. Both terrorists escaped under the cover of darkness and duringevacuation of civilians bythe forces,” InspectorGeneral of Police Vijay Kumarsaid.

The two militants weretrapped in Check Nowgamvillage on Wednesday even

ing, where the security forces had laid a cordon after receiving a tipoff�.

The antimilitancy operation went on through thenight and was called off� inthe morning. A joint team ofthe police, the Army and theCRPF was part of theoperation.

2 militants escape fromencounter site in J&K Two soldiers injured during gunfi�ght

Peerzada Ashiq

Srinagar

A fi�le photo of jawansreturning from an encountersite in Shopian.

The police on Thursday detained two persons for allegedly shooting dead a 30yearold man in Dhandhukatown of Ahmedabad districtin Gujarat over his controversial social media postagainst a minority group.

The police said KishanBoliya was killed on Tuesday by two motorcycleborne assailants.

The murder acquired acommunal colour as theVishwa Hindu Parishad andother outfi�ts gave a bandhcall on Thursday. Marketand shops remained shut inthe town.

“We have detained twopersons in connection with

the murder. They are beinginterrogated,” a senior police offi�cial said.

As per the details, KishanBoliya was travelling pillionon a motorcycle with hisbrother, Bhaumik, around5.30 p.m. when two maskedmen on a motorcycle fi�redat them from behind. “Theycame from behind and started fi�ring at us. One bulletmissed as I tried to dodgebut another one hit mybrother,” said Bhaumik,who lodged the complaint.

The police have lodgedan FIR for murder, attemptto murderand criminalconspiracy.

Mr. Bhaumik said hisbrother had apologised forthe post.

2 detained for gunningdown man in GujaratHe allegedly posted off�ensive remark


Ahmedabad

Bikram Singh Majithia

China, Indian offi�cials havesaid, has dragged its feet inthe negotiations to return tostatus quo on the LAC, priorto the multiple transgressions by the PLA starting inApril 2020.

The PLA spokespersonsaid there were four pointsof agreement reached in thelast round. “First, the twosides agreed that theyshould follow the guidanceprovided by the leaders ofthe two countries and workfor the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest,” he said. “Second, the

two sides agreed to consolidate the previous outcomesand take eff�ective eff�orts tomaintain the security andstability on the ground inthe Western Sector including in winter. Third, theyagreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialoguevia military and diplomaticchannels and work out amutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issuesat the earliest. Fourth, theyagreed that the next roundof the Commanders’ talksshould be held at the earliest.”

No need for third partyin LAC talks: China

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


NEWS

The Samajwadi Party isbanking on regional heavyweights across the board —from the OBC communitiesto Brahmins. Many on its latest list of 56 candidates foreastern Uttar Pradesh areBSP turncoats. The AkhileshYadavled party has built amost formidable caste alliance in the region to challenge the BJP.

At the centre of these efforts are Azamgarh and Ambedkar Nagar districts.

In Azamgarh, where theSP won fi�ve out of 10 seats in2017, the party has retainedfour sitting MLAs — veteranlegislator Alam Badi, Sangram Yadav, Nafees Ahmadand Durga Prasad Yadav.

Three other candidatesfrom the district are formerLok Sabha member and Yadav strongman RamakantYadav, who is contestingfrom Phulpur Powai; Kamlakant Rajbhar, son of the lateSukhdev Rajbhar, formerBSP leader and Speaker ofthe Assembly, from Didar

ganj; and Bechai Saroj, former MLA, repeated for Lalganj. Nominees for threeother seats are yet to beannounced.

Solid line-upIn neighbouring AmbedkarNagar, a traditional BSP bastion, the SP has an equallysolid lineup of candidates:senior OBC leaders and sitting MLAs Lalji Verma in Katehari and Ram Achal Rajb

har in Akbarpur; senior Jatavleader and former MP Tribhuvan Dutt in Alapur and Rakesh Pandey, father of BSPMP Ritesh Pandey, from Jalalpur. Mr. Verma, Mr. Rajbharand Mr. Dutt have had a longassociation with the BSP before they switched to the SPto boost its outreach amongthe nonYadav castes. Mr.Pandey’s son Ritesh was theMLA from Jalalpur before hecontested the 2019 Lok Sab

ha election and became anMP. The senior Mr. Pandey isalso a former MP and a prominent Brahmin face in theregion.

In Ghosi in Mau, the SPhas fi�elded Dara Singh Chauhan, who quit as Cabinet Minister recently. Mr. Chauhan,a BSP leader, had switched tothe BJP in 2017 and contested from Madhuban, beforemoving to the SP recently.

In Gorakhpur, the bastion

of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the SP has named candidates for seven seats. Theyinclude Vinay Shankar Tiwari, the sitting BSP MLA fromChillupar and son of Brahmin strongman Hari ShankarTiwari, who is often considered a challenger to Mr. Adityanath. By roping in the Tiwari family in the campaignagainst the Chief Minister,the SP hopes to exploit thetussle between Thakurs andBrahmins in the pilgrimagetown and adjoining areas,since Mr. Adityanath wasborn into a Kshatriya family.The SP is, however, yet toname a candidate to take onMr. Adityanath in GorakhpurSadar.

Sizeable communityThe SP’s fresh list also includes Kajal Nishad, a Bhojpuri actor, who will contestfrom Campiyarganj in Gorakhpur, while AmrendraNishad, the son of Nishadstalwart Jamuna Prasad Nishad, has been fi�elded againfrom Pipraich in the samedistrict. Nishads and other

riverine castes form a sizeable community in the State.

Other forward castesFormer Assembly SpeakerMata Prasad Pandey will contest from Itwa in Siddharthnagar, while another Brahmin leader Brahma ShankarTripathi will fi�ght from Pathardeva in Deoria. Both areexpected to take on incumbent Ministers in the U.P.government.

Former MP Daud Ahmad(Mohammadi in LakhimpurKheri), former BSP MLA PujaPal (Chail in Kausambhi), sitting BSP MLA from PrayagrajMurtaza Siddiqui, RakeshVerma (Kursi in Barabanki),the son of senior Kurmi leader Beni Prasad Verma whodied last year, former MP Tufani Saroj (Kerakat in Jaunpur) and Yadav heavyweights Shailendra YadavLalai (Shahganj) and Ramgovind Chaudhary (Ballia), theleader of the Opposition, also fi�gure in the latest list.Former Minister Om PrakashSingh will contest from Zamania in Ghazipur.

Akhilesh trying to build a strong caste allianceThe Samajwadi Party’s latest list of 56 candidates for eastern Uttar Pradesh refl�ects the extensive crosscommunity allianceOmar Rashid

LUCKNOW

Running point: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav during his campaign for the UttarPradesh Assembly election in Lucknow. * PTI

Playing down the BharatiyaJanata Party’s bid to wooJats by holding a meeting ofthe representatives of thecommunity with UnionHome Minister Amit Shah inDelhi, Rashtriya Lok DalChief Jayant Singh on Thursday said the meeting provedthat the ground beneath theruling party was shifting.

“The promise to solve thefarm issues after the nominations for the fi�rst round ofelections have been fi�ledmeans nothing. What werethey doing for fi�ve years,”said Mr. Singh in Muzaff�arnagar after conducting adoortodoor campaign forthe RLD candidate in Budhana.

In a show of strength, SPand RLD have decided tohold a joint press conference in Muzaff�arnagar onFriday. The press conference will be attended bythe presidents of both parties, RLD sources said.

The SP has left 33 seatsfor RLD in west U.P. that willvote on February 10 and 14.

“The press conferencehas been called to clear theconfusion the BJP’s leadership is trying to create in theregion by making statements like the BJP’s doorsare open for Jayant Chaudharyji after polls,” said Sandeep Chaudhary, nationalspokesperson, RLD.

During the meet, he said,the party would remind people how Mr. Jayant Chaudhary was lathicharged inHathras and how farmerswho constitute the RLD’scadre vote were crushed inLakhimpur Kheri.

“We were called names.Our dignity and self respecthas been crushed. Throughthe vote, we will try to regain it,” Mr. Sandeep Chaudhary said.

He said those who participated in Wednesday’s meeting in Delhi were workers ofthe BJP and did not represent any community.

“The BJP gave their workers the names of Jat leaders.Top leaders of the Jat Mahasabha and khap leadersdidn’t attend the meeting,”he said. Mr. Sandeep Chaudhary said it was reprehensible that the ruling party wasdividing farmers on the basis of caste and religion.

He said Mr. Shah shouldhave spoken to farmers onthe promise of doublingtheir income during his Kairana visit. “Instead, he indulged in divisive politics,”Mr. Sandeep Chaudharysaid.

He said the party leadership had made it clear that itdid not want to get into thepolitics of Hindus and Muslims. “Jayantji had clearlytold party workers that hewould prefer to stay athome than do politics overHindus and Muslims.”

He admitted there wereissues over ticket distribution for two or three seatsbut, unlike the BJP, nobodyhad left the party.

Meanwhile, U.P. DeputyChief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya tweeted that people could not forget theSP’s rule.

SP, RLD play down BJP’smeet with Jat delegatesIt shows ruling party is rattled: RLD

Anuj Kumar

GHAZIABAD

Akhilesh Yadav and RLDpresident Jayant Chaudharyduring a rally ahead of theU.P. elections. * PTI

The Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) on Thursday changedtwo more of its candidates inUttar Pradesh as those whoswitched parties have a fi�eldday in the coming Assemblyelection. The party had earlier changed seven of its declared candidates last weekin west Uttar Pradesh.

At Dhampur in Bijnor, theBSP has now fi�elded formerMinister and threetime Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAMool Chand Chauhan in

place of Kamal Ahmad. Mr.Chauhan has been a Ministerin both Mulayam Singh and

Akhilesh Yadav governmentsin 2003 and 2012. In 2017, hestood second in Dhampur.

However, the SP this timefi�elded Naimul Hasan, a sitting MLA in Noorpur seat inthe same district, fromDhampur, following whichMr. Chauhan shifted to theBSP.

The Kundarki seat of Moradabad also witnessed shifting of equations after the sitting SP MLA MohammadRizwan, who is a threetimelegislator, was dropped inplace of ZiaurRehman, thegrandson of Sambhal MPShafi�qururRehman Barq. In2017, ZiaurRehman contest

ed on the AIMIM symbol andstood third in Sambhal securing almost 50,000 votes.

Mr. Rizwan has joined theBSP and is its new nomineein Kundarki. The BSP hadearlier fi�elded Haji ChandBabu Malik for the seat. Hissupporters staged a protestafter he was dropped.

The BSP also announcedits candidates for Nawabganj, Faridpur and Bareillyseats in Bareilly district andDadraul in Shahjahanpur. Sofar, the party has announcedcandidates for 113 seats.

BSP changes two more candidates in U.P.Mayawatiled party had changed seven of its declared candidates in the western region last week

BSP supremo Mayawati leaves after addressing a pressconference at the party offi�ce in Lucknow on Jan. 15. * PTI


LUCKNOW

A day after he was expelledfrom the Congress, formerUttarakhand party president Kishore Upadhyay onThursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) inDehradun.

The Uttarakhand BJPsaid in a tweet that Mr.Upadhyay joined the partyafter being impressed bythe policies of the BJP government. He was welcomed by election incharge and Union MinisterPralhad Joshi and State BJPpresident Madan Kaushikat a ceremony at the partyoffi�ce in Dehradun.

On Wednesday, AllIndiaCongress Committee incharge for Uttarakhand Devender Yadav wrote to Mr.Upadhyay informing himof his expulsion.

Mr. Yadav tweeted a copy of the letter and said:“The esteem and dignity ofthe party is above all.There never was and therenever will be any place forthose who do not respectthe basic integrity and value system of the majesticinstitution that is the Indian National Congress.”

UttarakhandCong. leaderjoins BJP


NEW DELHI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the party would soon announce itschief ministerial candidatefor the Assembly election inPunjab.

“...I had a discussion withCharanjit Singh Channi andNavjot Singh Sidhu aboutwho will lead — the mediapersons term it a CM candidate. Both Mr. Channi andMr. Sidhu told me that the

biggest question in Punjab iswho will lead the Congressparty. And both have assured me that no matter whois declared the party’s chiefministerial candidate, theywill support each other andfi�ght the polls with all theirmight to ensure the party’svictory,” he said.

“...we usually don’t announce the CM candidatebut if the party workers andPunjab want it, then we willtake a decision for you. How

will we make this decision, itshall be by asking our workers. The person who is rightwill take Punjab forward andothers will back him like ateam,” Mr. Gandhi said.

He was addressing theparty’s “Punjab Fateh” virtual rally in Jalandhar in therunup to the Assembly election. A party statementclaimed that the digital relaywas connected throughLEDs across all 117 assemblyconstituencies and 22 dis

trict headquarters of Punjab,where up to 300 peoplegathered at each location following the COVID19protocols.

The party statement added that more than4,00,000 people watchedon social media with 30,000comments, 9,000 sharesand over 9 lakh people reachwithin only two hours of therally making it the most successful hybrid virtual rally ofthe country.

Cong. will reveal Punjab CM face: Rahul Special Correspondent

Chandigarh

The Bharatiya Janata Partyon Thursday announced itssecond list of 27 candidatesfor the Punjab Assemblyelection, slated for February 20.

The new list includedformer Union Minister Vijay Sampla, besides two sitting MLAs, Fatehjang SinghBajwa and Harjot Kamal,who had quit the Congressand joined the BJP.

The BJP is contesting theelection in 65 seats in a prepoll alliance with the Punjab Lok Congress, led byformer Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, and SukhdevSingh Dhindsaled Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt).

Mr. Vijay Sampla will becontesting from Phagwarawhile Mr. Bajwa will becontesting this time fromBatala. Mr. Kamal will becontesting from his currentconstituency Moga, wherehis former party, the Congress, has fi�elded actor Sonu Sood’s sister MalvikaSood.

Other prominent candidates include Rakesh Dhingra from Lambi, RandeepSingh Deol from Dhuri,Darshan Singh Shivjot fromChamkaur Sahib, IqbalSingh Lalpura from Rupnagar, and Sarabjit SinghMakkar from JalandharCantt.

BJP issuesanother listfor Punjab


CHANDIGARH

Raising the electoral pitch inthe Brij region of Uttar Pradesh, Union Home MinisterAmit Shah said in Mathuraon Thursday that the upcoming Assembly election inthe State was no ordinaryelection, as they would decide the future of the country. “Women in Mathuracheck their matki (pitcher)before buying by tapping ittwice. Do check out whomyou are voting for beforecasting your ballot,” said Mr.Shah after conducting adoortodoor campaign inthe district where the partyis facing a tough fi�ght fromthe SPRLD alliance and theBSP.

Mr. Shah said the upcoming election would decidewhat kind of ideology wouldgovern the State. He saidthat before the BJP came topower, the Samajwadi Partyand the Bahujan Samaj Partyworked only for specifi�ccastes. “They never gave aroad map for the compositedevelopment of the Stateand followed the policy ofcasteism, nepotism and appeasement.” It is only whenthe BJP governments cameto power at the Centre andin the State, he said, thatsabka saath, sabka vikas be

came a reality. Accusing theopposition parties of not being serious about nationalsecurity, Mr. Shah said timehad come for voters tochoose between an individual or a party and the security of the country and theState. “They could not manage Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh,” he said and went onto describe U.P. as a sensitiveborder State as it shared aborder with Nepal.

Citing the abrogation ofArticle 370, Mr. Shah saidthe party did not indulge invote bank politics. “Thosewho said rivers of bloodwould fl�ow if such a decisionwas taken are now surprisedthat not even a pebble hasbeen hurled.”

Describing constructionof the Ram Temple and theKashiVishwanath corridor

as cultural nationalism, Mr.Shah said no party workedfor the redevelopment ofpilgrimage centres.

He accused the SP of supporting criminal elements.“Azam Khan has committedso many crimes that the police ran out of sections of theIndian Penal code. The government has freed acres ofland from the control of mafi�a. During the BJP rulecrime rate had come downin the State,” he said.

“There has been a 70%drop in dacoities and casesof loot has come down by72%. The number of murders has come down by 29%,murder and kidnapping by35%. You have to decidewhether you want a government that stands for development or goondaism,” Mr.Shah said.

U.P. polls will decide the futureof the country, says Amit ShahUnion Minister does doortodoor campaign in Mathura

Anuj Kumar

Ghaziabad

Doorstep campaign: Amit Shah during his campaign atSatoha village in Mathura district on Thursday. * PTI

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

(set by Vidwan)

Display keystrokes of genius.

Type your answers in our online grids.

@ https://qrgo.page.link/jjpTn

■ ACROSS

1 Wavy ‘New Jazz’ gig lacks original jauntiness (6)

4 Topic for an egotist? (5)

9 Country song about soldiers (7)

10 Where vagrants hang out and derelict kids fi�ght (4,3)

12 Oddly costliest brand of a machine (4)

13 Rock star big as lead in U2, supports harmony (4,6)

15 She waxed eloquently, impressed many VIPs (7)

17 Install software on it freely (7)

19 Master returns, has bread and some steamy stuff (7)

21 It fl�ows with energy regularly, in tizzes (7)

23 Song about old fl�ame in country town (10)

26 Immense desire — not new, not right (4)

28 One trapped in a blood curdling game (7)

29 It is about better management of the races (7)

30 It is a nightmare! Of course! (5)

31 Dull, sickly dog confi�ned in a fi�lthy place (6)

■ DOWN

1 Lifeless ones seen on Zoom, expressing nothing! Pricks wasting

time! (7)

2 Nucleotide regularly found in Green Tea (4)

3 Posture like a halfCobra (5)

5 Japanese work with very few words (5)

6 Myself and Rajinikanth are basically this (almost) (7)

7 How Nadal felt about due process? (3,2,3,4)

8 Very boring, say it’s sort of geological equilibrium (8)

11 Upwardly mobile, fresh B.Tech men working hard to stay on the

sidelines (4,3,5)

14 Racist person? A Zionist? To some extent (4)

16 Unreasonable time spent for total messaging system in

underground (8)

18 Unopened bottle and a delinquent (4)

20 Mint gold and silver in one round (7)

22 Collection of sports ties (7)

24 Promotion and honour for a reader (5)

25 Write about boring sex cowboy! (5)

27 Grey, broken wall’s gone (4)

SCAN TO PLAY

+ 13465SUDOKU

Solution to puzzle 13464 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Pandavas have spent 12 years in the forest and anotheryear in disguise. Now it is time for them to claim their rightful share of the kingdom. But Duryodhana is determinedthat the Pandavas should not get even an inch of land to calltheir own. Yet, Yudhishthira is reluctant to wage war againsthis cousins. So he requests Krishna to go to the Kauravas as amessenger of the Pandavas, and to negotiate on their behalf.Krishna stays with Vidura and then goes to the Kauravacourt. When Krishna enters the court, His eff�ulgence makeseveryone else appear dull, said P.T. Seshadri in a discourse.Bhishma and the others stand up and welcome Krishna.When Krishna speaks, His voice is like the sound of the musical instrument known as dundubhi.

Krishna says that Duryodhana and Karna are responsiblefor the relationship between the cousins to have soured tothis extent. If war breaks out, they are to blame. Krishnasays that He is known as the all powerful One. This being thecase, if He does not make attempts to stop the war, then people will question Him. That is why He has come to meetDuryodhana.

Addressing Dhritarashtra, Krishna says, “ Neither theKaurvaas nor the Pandavas should suff�er. So, I request youto ensure there is no war. Yours is a great dynasty. Therehave been many great kings in this clan. Your sons operateagainst dharma. They are greedy. Whereas, the Pandavasare patient. In fact, they will even protect you, if need arises.Your subjects will die if there is a war. Should many die because of your sons? I have warned you of the consequencesof your sons’ actions. Now, you think about it, and make theright decision.” But Dhritarashtra, unfortunately, does nottake the right decision, and lets his sons do as they please.

FAITH

Advice to Dhritarashtra

The country recorded2,49,415 new COVID19 caseson Thursday. The total number of infections has reached4.03 crore, and the activecases have crossed the 33.5lakh mark.

The fi�gures are based onthe State bulletins releaseduntil 10.30 p.m. on Thursday. However, Ladakh, Tripura, Jharkhand and Lakshadweep had not yet releaseddata for the day.

Kerala recorded 51,739 infections on Thursday, followed by Karnataka (38,083)and Tamil Nadu (28,515).

On Thursday, 616 deathswere recorded in India, considerably higher than the average levels recorded in thelast week. The total numberof recorded fatalities hasreached 4,91,754.

Kerala reported the mostdeaths with 153 fatalities (57were from a backlog), fol

lowed by Tamil Nadu (53)and Karnataka (49).

On Wednesday, 14.6 lakhtests were conducted (theresults for which were madeavailable on Thursday).

The test positivity rate(the number of cases detected per 100 tests) was 17%.

As of Thursday, 91.9% of

the eligible population hasbeen vaccinated with at leastone dose, while 68.4% havereceived both doses.

In the 1517 age cohort,59.9% of the populationhave received their fi�rstdose.

Altogether, 93,67,34,502fi�rst doses, 69,72,07,423 se

cond doses, and 98,74,345booster doses have been administered across India.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extendedthe COVID19 guidelines issued under the DisasterManagement Act till February 28.

Union Home SecretaryAjay Kumar Bhalla said in aletter to States that due tothe current COVID wave, ledby the new variant, Omicron, there has been a steady increase in the number ofCOVID cases in the countryand the active cases have increased to over 22 lakh.

“Though a majority of active cases are recovering fastand a low percentage of cases are in hospitals, it is still amatter of concern that 407districts in 34 States and Union Territories are reporting

a positivity rate of more than10%. Therefore, looking atthe current trends of COVIDvirus, there is a need to exercise caution and vigilance,”the letter said. States wereasked to observe all precautions and not let the guarddown.

“Imposition and lifting oflocal curbs/restrictionsshould be dynamic andshould be based on the casepositivity and hospitalisation status at the local level,”the letter said.

The Ministry said thereshould be continued focuson the fi�vefold strategy oftesttracktreat, vaccinationand adherence to COVID appropriate behaviour. Stateenforcement agencies havebeen told to strictly enforcenorms such as wearing ofmasks, maintaining safe social distancing and limitingsocial gatherings.

(With inputs fromVijaita Singh)

2.49 lakh fresh COVID-19 cases reported Union Home Ministry extends guidelines till February 28, tells States to strictly enforce norms

The Hindu Data Team

Chennai

Meticulous work: A health worker checking swab samples forCOVID-19. * S.S. KUMAR

Conditional market authorisation was granted on Thursday by the Drugs ControllerGeneral of India (DCGI) toCOVID19 vaccines Covishield and Covaxin for use inadults. Announcing the decision, Union Health MinisterMansukh Mandaviya tweeted: “The @CDSCO_INDIA_INF has now upgradedthe permission for Covaxinand Covishield from restricted use in emergency situations to normal new drugpermission in the adult population with certainconditions.”

The conditions set downby the DCGI include supplyfor programmatic settingsincluding registration on theCoWin platform and continued submission of safetydata on a sixmonthly basis,

the Minister added, referring to rules under the NewDrugs and Clinical TrialsRules, 2019.

Adverse events followingimmunisation will continueto be monitored.

Conditional market authorisation is a new category

of market authorisation thathas emerged during the current global pandemic of COVID19. The approval pathways through this route arefasttracked with certainconditions to enhance theaccess to certain pharmaceuticals for meeting theemerging needs of drugs orvaccines, the Health Ministry explained.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO ofSerum Institute of India (SII)which manufactures Covishield said, “We are delightedto receive the conditionalmarket authorisation forCovishield from the DCGI.With this, our focus shouldbe to reduce the gap between the 2nd and the 3rddose to six months, as it isdone globally. Our objectivemust be to get the population fully vaccinated to curbthe spread of the pandemic.”

Covishield and Covaxin getconditional market approvalHealth Ministry announces DCGI approval for adult use

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

New Delhi

Covishield is made by theSerum Institute of India andCovaxin by Bharat Biotech.

A pictorial book telling thestories of 20 unsung women freedom fi�ghters wasreleased by the Culture Ministry here on Thursday.The book was brought outin partnership with AmarChitra Katha.

Minister of State for Culture Meenakshi Lekhi saidRani Abbakka had thwarted Portuguese attacks forseveral decades. She saidthe stories were beingbrought to light under the“Prime Minister’s vision”as part of Azadi ka AmritMahotsav, the celebrationof 75 years ofIndependence.

The book contains stories of Matangiri Hazra, afreedom fi�ghter from Bengal who laid down her lifein the struggle; Gulab Kaur,who fought against theBritish rule after abandoning her own dreams of alife abroad; Padmaja Naidu, Sarojini Naidu’sdaughter and a freedomfi�ghter in her own right; Velu Nachiyar, the fi�rst Indianqueen to wage war againstthe East India Company;and Jhalkari Bai, a soliderand adviser to the Rani ofJhansi.

Picture bookon unsungheroes is outSpecial Correspondent

New Delhi

The controversy over thePadma awards refused to diedown in West Bengal withtwo artists saying they haverefused the awards.

After former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee issued a statement sayinghe would not accept the Padma Bhushan, legendary singer Sandhya Mukherjee andtabla maestro Anindo Chatterjee [also known as Anindya] have said they were approached by the UnionHome Ministry for the Padma Shri honour but they refused it.

The list for 2022 howeverdid not contain their names.

While the reason for Mr.Bhattacharjee’s refusal maybe “political”, the two artists

were of the opinion that theaward was too late for themat this point of their career.

The family members ofnonagenarian singer Sandhya Mukherjee said PadmaShri for the artist was “humiliating”. She was informedover phone by the Central

Ministry that she was goingto be given the Padma Shri.“She is 90 and recorded herfi�rst song at the age of 12… ather age, to be awarded a Padma Shri for someone of herstature, we feel is nothingshort of an insult. She has already refused it,” her

daughter Soumi Senguptasaid. Mr. Chatterjee too toldjournalists that the awardhas come too late. “I did notlike the manner in which itwas being conferred; so Isaid no to it.”

Among those from theState who were conferredthe honour are classical singer Rashid Khan and screenactor Victor Banerjee, whowere awarded the PadmaBhushan.

War of words

The development has triggered a war of words between political parties.

While the CPI(M) welcomed Mr. Bhattacharjee’sdecision saying the party’s“policy has been consistentin declining such awardsfrom the government”, the

Trinamool Congress leadership said the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to win overLeft voters.

“The recent rise of the BJPin the State is because of thesupport of the Left voters.The BJP leadership is tryingto say that we have givenPadma award to your leaderso they should vote for BJP,”Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

State BJP leaders said theTrinamool and the CPI(M)were inclined to see politicsin everything, including thePadma awards. “There is always an attempt to portraythat West Bengal is someplace outside the country.The Communists have donethat and now the TMC is doing that,” BJP national vice–president Dilip Ghosh said.

Stir over Padma awards continues in BengalWhile CPI(M) welcomed Buddhadeb’s decision, Trinamool said BJP is trying to win over Left voters

Icons of music: Anindo Chatterjee and Sandhya Mukherjee.

Shiv Sahay Singh

Kolkata

Almost 250 members of twoextremist organisations inAssam laid down their armsbefore Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at a formalprogramme in Guwahati onThursday.

The organisations are theTiwa Liberation Army (TLA)and the United Gorkha People’s Organisation (UGPO).

Formed in 2014 to cater tothe aspirations of the Tiwacommunity, the TLA was active in Morigaon, Nagaonand West Karbi Anglong dis

tricts of central Assam. The UGPO, formed in

2007, was mostly active inthe Bodoland Territorial Re

gion and Biswanath district.The two outfi�ts had 246members. Together, they deposited 277 assorted fi�

rearms, grenades and 720rounds of ammunition.

On the occasion, the ChiefMinister also distributed a fi�nancial grant of ₹�1.5 lakheach to 462 members of fi�veother extremist groups whohad surrendered earlier.

These disbanded groupsare the Rabha National Liberation Front, the AdivasiDragon Fighters, the National Santhal Liberation Army,the National LiberationFront of Bengalis and the United People’s RevolutionaryFront.

“We are focused on peace.Today’s surrender will go along way in putting Assamon the road to more development,” the Chief Ministersaid.

250 Tiwa, Gurkha extremists lay down armsAid of ₹�1.5 lakheach given to 462 persons

Route to peace: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmaviewing the weapons surrendered by extremists. * PTI


Guwahati

At least fi�ve people died andthree others fell critically illin a suspected case of hoochconsumption in Buxar district of Bihar on Wednesdaynight.

The district police,though, said the “reason oftheir death could be ascertained only afterinvestigation”.

Five people of Amsari village of Dumraon in Buxardistrict died on January 26night and three fell critically

ill. The sick have been admitted to a hospital in Buxartown.

The deceased are AnandKumar, 20; Rinku Singh, 35;Dinu Singh, 48; Shiv MohanYadav, 45; and Sukhu Musahar, 55.

The critically ill are BuntiSingh, Munna Chaudharyand Sanjay Chaudhury.

“At midnight, their condition deteriorated and fi�ve ofthem died,” the relative of avictim told presspersons.

“We have got the information about deaths. The pol

ice have reached the villageand investigation is on, buthow the villagers died can besaid only after a probe andpostmortem report,” saidBuxar Superintendent ofPolice Neeraj Kumar Singh.

Recently, 11 people died ina hooch tragedy at ChhotiPahadi area of Nalandadistrict.

Earlier in 2021, over 40people died in Gopalganj,West Champaran, Muzaff�arpur, Vaishali, Rohtas andother districts after consuming spurious liquor.

Five dead in suspected hoochtragedy in Buxar; 3 critically ill Police say more details will emerge after investigation

special correspondent

Patna

Amid a row over naming asports ground in the western suburbs of Mumbai afterTipu Sultan, the Shiv Senaon Thursday asked the BJPwhether it will ask PresidentRam Nath Kovind to resignfor glorifying the 18th century Mysore ruler.

Mumbai Mayor KishoriPednekar slammed the BJP,questioning whether theparty was trying to instigateriots in Mumbai. Ms. Pednekar released documentsfrom 2001 and 2013 showingthat BJP members were partof a decision that unanimously named roads inMumbai after Tipu Sultan.

Sena MP Sanjay Raut,while referring to Mr. Ko

vind’s speech at the 60th anniversary of the KarnatakaVidhan Soudha, said thePresident had said that TipuSultan was a historical warrior against the British.“Will the BJP now ask for thePresident’s resignation?They should come out andclarify,” he said.

Congress leader SachinSawant, commenting on renaming a road as ShaheedTipu Sultan Road which hadbeen seconded by now BJPMLA Amit Satam, said, “Wasthis Tipu diff�erent from theTipu that is being opposedby BJP now?.”

Countering it, Mr. Satamsaid that he never supported any such proposal andhis name was added laterthrough forgery.

Tipu Sultan row: Senaand Congress slam BJPMumbai Mayor releases documents

Staff Reporter

Mumbai

CMYK

A ND-NDE

WORLDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI


Russia said on Thursday theU.S. had shown it was notwilling to address Moscow'smain security concerns, setout during their standoff� over Ukraine, but that bothsides had an interest in continuing dialogue.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow,which has massed troopsnear Ukraine, would notrush to draw conclusions after Washington formally responded to Russian proposalsfor are drawing of postColdWar security arrangementsin Europe.

Describing tensions onthe continent as reminiscentof the Cold War, Mr. Peskov

said it would take time forMoscow to review Wednesday's response from Washington. But he said U.S. andNATO statements that Russia's main demands were unacceptable did not leave

much room for optimism.“Based on what our col

leagues said yesterday, it'sabsolutely clear that on themain categories outlined inthose draft documents... wecannot say that our thoughts

have been taken into account or that a willingnesshas been shown to take ourconcerns into account,” Mr.Peskov said.

“But we won’t rush withour assessments,” he said.

Nuanced reaction The nuanced Kremlin reaction made clear that Russia,which has massed tens ofthousands of troops close toits border with Ukraine, isnot rejecting the U.S. and NATO responses out of hand orclosing the door todiplomacy.

Russian and Ukrainiandollar bonds, which havebeen hammered in recentweeks by the mounting tension, both rose in response

to Mr. Peskov's comments.Russian Foreign Minister

Sergei Lavrov said there washope of starting serious dialogue, but only on secondaryquestions and not on thefundamental ones, Russiannews agencies reported.

The U.S. and NATO saidon Wednesday they had delivered the written responsesrequested by Moscow to proposals it submitted inDecember.

Among other things, it demanded that NATO halt anyfurther enlargement, bar Ukraine from ever joining thealliance and pull back forcesand weaponry from easternEuropean countries thatjoined it after the Cold Warended.

Russia sees room for dialogue with U.S. Kremlin says it would take more time to review the written response from U.S. to its security demands

Reuters

Moscow

Diffi�cult path: A convoy of Russian armoured vehicles along ahighway in Crimea, in this fi�le photo . * AP

The senior most justice ofthe U.S. Supreme Court, Stephen Breyer, a moderate liberal, is expected to announce his retirement,making way for U.S. President Joe Biden to nominateanother justice in his place.The court is split 63 between conservatives and liberals, with the opening allowing Democrats toappoint someone, whocould serve decades on thecourt.

Democrats will be lookingto get a replacement on thebench after the 83yearoldjustice steps down this summer — and while they stillhave control over the evenlysplit Senate, with VicePresident Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote.

“If all Democrats hang together — which I expect theywill — they have the power toreplace Justice Breyer in2022 without one Republican vote in support,” Senator Lindsey Graham, theprevious chair of the SenateJudiciary Committee (thebody that confi�rms nominations), said on Twitter.

Mr. Biden has previously

said he would nominate aBlack woman to the highestcourt if the opportunityarose. Supreme Court justices are given lifetime appointments and sometimes die inoffi�ce, as was the case withliberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in 2020.

Asked to comment on thepossibility of the JusticeBreyer’s retirement on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said hedid not want to get ahead ofany announcement from thejustice, whose expected retirement was reported in theAmerican press but is notyet offi�cial.

“The President has statedand reiterated his commitment to nominating a Blackwoman to the Supreme

Court and certainly standsby that,” White House PressSecretary Jen Psaki said , asshe also declined to confi�rmwhether Justice Breyerwould retire, saying it wasup to the justice to announce it.

Asked if VicePresidentKamala Harris would benominated by Mr. Biden, Ms.Psaki said Mr. Biden intendsto run for offi�ce again withMs. Harris as his runningmate.

Names in the running forJustice Breyer’s replacementinclude Ketanji Brown Jackson, a U.S. Court of Appealsjudge, California SupremeCourt (i.e. the highest statecourt) Justice Leondra Kruger, U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs and civil rightslawyer Sherrilyn Ifi�ll.

Justice Breyer was appointed to the Court in 1994by former U.S. President BillClinton, a Democrat. Duringhis career he has questionedthe constitutionality of thedeath penalty, supportedhealthcare coverage andstrengthened abortionrights. He is also known forhis ability to reach a compromise and has a reputation for being a pragmatist.

Biden likely to nominate a Black woman as his replacement

Sriram Lakshman

Stephen Breyer

U.S. Supreme Court JusticeStephen Breyer set to retire

The U.K. government denied on Thursday that embattled Prime Minister BorisJohnson had prioritised petsover people in the chaoticevacuation out of Afghanistan as Kabul fell to theTaliban.

The issue involving a British animal charity fuelledquestions about Mr. Johnson’s truthfulness as heawaits an internal inquiryinto lockdownbreachingparties that could determine his fate as leader.

After launching its owninvestigation, London’s Metropolitan Police force wassaid to be poring over the“partygate” fi�ndings by a senior civil servant, holdingup the report’s release.

Foreign Ministry emailsfrom August, newly released by a parliamentarycommittee, showed diplomats referring to a decisiontaken by Mr. Johnson toevacuate the staff� and animals of the Nowzad animalcharity.

Mr. Johnson at the timedenied insisting on preferential treatment for thecharity, which sheltereddogs and cats in Afghanistanand was run by a mediasavvy former soldier, Paul“Pen” Farthing.

“Equivalent charity Nowzad, run by an exRoyal Marine, has received a lot ofpublicity and the PM has

just authorised their staff�and animals to be evacuated,” one email said, referring to other charities wanting the same treatment.

‘Afghans left behind’The rushed nature of theevacuation meant many Afghans, who had served theBritish in various capacities,were left behind.

The U.K. has been working since to repatriate thoseit can reach under Talibancontrol.

Downing Street on Wednesday reiterated Mr. Johnson’s denials about Nowzadin light of the leaked emails,and Defence Secretary BenWallace insisted he hadbeen given no order fromthe Prime Minister to prioritise pets.

“The PM didn’t make anyindividual decisions aboutevacuations,” Cabinet Minister Therese Coff�ey told SkyNews on Thursday.

“A lot of people will claimthat the PM is involved insupporting their particularpet projects, but the PM saidhe wasn’t involved in individual decisions,” Ms. Coff�eysaid.

Senior Conservative MPTom Tugendhat agreed itwas possible that some civilservants had exploited Mr.Johnson’s name after hiswife Carrie — an animalrights campaigner andfriend of Farthing — reportedly intervened.

For Afghan evacuations,Johnson ‘prioritised’ pets Downing Street denies allegations

Agence France-Presse

LondonKurdishled forces onThursday found dozens ofjihadists holed up in a Syrian prison as they carriedout mopup operations after recapturing the facilityfrom Islamic State groupjihadists.

An IS assault on thesprawling Ghwayran prison complex near the cityof Hasakeh on January 20sparked six days of fi�ghting, in violence thatclaimed more than 200lives.

It was the most highprofi�le attack launched by thejihadists since the loss oftheir “caliphate” nearlythree years ago.

The Kurdishled SyrianDemocratic Forces saidthey had retaken full control of Ghwayran prison onWednesday, ending battlesthat turned the largest cityin northeastern Syria into awar zone.

But search operationsthe next day found around6090 jihadists still holedup in one wing of the prison, the SDF said, addingthat 3,500 IS inmates hadso far surrendered to itsforces.

The Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights said Kurdish forces are combingareas inside the prison,proceeding with “greatcaution over fears of suicide bombers or landmines laid by the IS”.

SDF combingfor IS fi�ghtersafter jail attack


Hasakeh

China’s Foreign MinisterWang Yi on Thursday told hisU.S. counterpart AntonyBlinken that Russia’s “legitimate concerns” needed tobe addressed amid risingtensions over Ukraine.

The U.S. Secretary ofState, in the phone call, “underscored the global securityand economic risks posed byfurther Russian aggressionagainst Ukraine and conveyed that deescalation anddiplomacy are the responsible way forward”, the U.S.State Department quotedhim as saying.

The phone call on Thursday came as Mr. Blinken saidthe U.S. had given Moscow adocument “setting out a serious diplomatic path for

ward” and highlighting U.S.concerns about Russian actions, including a buildup oftroops.

Call for diplomacyChina, which maintainsclose relations with Russia,has been largely muted onthe crisis except for callingfor diplomacy.

Mr. Wang’s comments inthe call with Mr. Blinken arethe strongest yet in supportof Russia, whose PresidentVladimir Putin is scheduledto be in Beijing next week tomeet with Chinese PresidentXi Jinping and attend theopening of the Winter Olympics on February 4.

Mr. Wang said China “callson all parties to remain calmand refrain from infl�amingtensions or hyping up the

crisis” and added that “thesecurity of one countryshould not be at the expenseof the security of others, andregional security should notbe guaranteed by strengthening or even expandingmilitary blocs”, referring toNATO.

He said that “Russia’s legitimate security concernsshould be taken seriouslyand addressed.”

On ChinaU.S. relations,he said “the top priority wasfor the U.S. side is to stop interfering in the Beijing Winter Olympics, stop playingwith fi�re by playing the ‘Taiwan card’ and stop formingall kinds of small cliquesaimed at working againstand containing China”. TheU.S. has said its offi�cials willboycott the Winter Olympics

— although its athletes areparticipating — because ofhuman rights violations inXinjiang.

The U.S. State Department, in a brief readout ofthe call, said both had “exchanged views on how to advance work together following President Biden’s virtualmeeting with President Xi onNovember 15, 2021, including on managing strategicrisk, health security, and climate change.”

Relations between the twosides had plunged amid atrade war and diff�erences over a range of issues from Taiwan to the South China Seaand investigations into theorigins of COVID19, withtensions spiralling under theprevious Donald Trump administration.

Some Chinese experts hadexpected a change of courseand greater stability with Mr.Biden taking offi�ce. The Biden administration has, however, made clear it wouldconfront China and competeon issues where needed, andseek cooperation where itcan.

Many of the previous administration’s policies, particularly on trade, have so farremained in place.

Mr. Wang in the call saidthere “has been no substantive change in the tone of theU.S. policy towards Chinaand Biden’s pledges have notbeen fully delivered”. “Pressure will only make the Chinese people more united,”he said, “and confrontationwill not stop China from becoming stronger.”

Address Russia’s ‘legitimate concerns’, China tells U.S.Antony Blinken, in a phone call with Wang Yi, warns of ‘global risks posed by Russian aggression’Ananth Krishnan

Hong Kong

The European Union angered China on Thursday bylaunching a case againstBeijing at the World TradeOrganization (WTO) for targeting Lithuania over itsstance on Taiwan.

The move by Brussels wasa further deterioration inties between China and thebloc, with a longnegotiatedinvestment deal already onthe rocks after both sides exchanged titfortat sanctions.

The latest spat is overLithuania, one of the smallest countries in the European Union, which madewaves in July when it allowed Taiwan to open a diplomatic outpost in Vilnius.

The move outraged Beijing, which does not recognise Taiwan as a state andconsiders the selfruled democratic island a rebelliousterritory of the mainland.

“Launching a WTO case isnot a step we take lightly,”said the EU’s trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis in astatement.

“However, after repeatedfailed attempts to resolve theissue bilaterally, we see noother way forward than torequest WTO dispute settlement consultations with China,” he said.

The European Commis

sion handles trade policy forthe EU’s 27 member statesand takes the lead on confl�icts at the WTO in Geneva,even if they involve a singlestate.

By going to the WTO, theEU lent support to accusations by Lithuanian businessleaders and offi�cials that therow has resulted in Chinablocking imports from Lithuania and other economicrestrictions.

The move on Thursdaylaunches a 60day windowfor the two sides to come toa solution before moving thedispute to a panel.

Beijing responded bitterlyto the move, calling accusations of the “socalled” Chinese coercion “groundlessand inconsistent”.

“The issue between Chinaand Lithuania is a politicalone, not an economic one,”said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

EU launches WTO case againstChina for ‘targeting’ LithuaniaBeijing allegedly blocked imports, launched trade sanctions


Brussels

Taiwanese and Lithuanianfl�ags displayed at Taiwanembassy in Vilnius. * REUTERS

North Korea fi�red two suspected ballistic missiles onThursday, Seoul said, itssixth weapons test thismonth in one of the most intense spates of launches onrecord that has delivered anemphatic rejection of Washington’s off�ers for talks onits nuclear programme.

Pyongyang has not fi�redthis many missiles in a calendar month in decades,according to data compiledby the Center for Strategicand International Studies —a Washingtonbased thinktank.

The last time they cameclose was in 2019, after highprofi�le negotiations between leader Kim Jongunand thenU.S. President Donald Trump collapsed.

With U.S. talks stalledsince then, Pyongyang hasdoubled down on Mr. Kim’spledges of military modernisation, embarking on a

string of sanctionsbustinglaunches this month, including hypersonic missiles.

The sabrerattling comesat a delicate time in the region, with Mr. Kim’s solemajor ally China hostingWinter Olympics nextmonth and South Koreagearing up for a presidentialelection in March.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs ofStaff� said it detected twosuspected shortrange ballistic missiles fi�red from theHamhung city area towardsthe East Sea from around 8a.m.

Pyongyang fi�red two suspected cruise missiles onTuesday, and tested ballisticmissiles on January 14 and17. It also fi�red what it saidwere hypersonic missiles onJanuary 5 and 11. “I believe,if we include the two cruisemissiles, this is now themost recorded North Korean missile launches in anymonth ever,” analyst AnkitPanda wrote on Twitter.

N. Korea fi�res 2 missilesas testing blitz continues‘Record launches in a single month’


Seoul

CMYK

A ND-NDE

BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU


NIFTY 50

PRICE CHANGE

Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 709.10. . . . . . . . -2.00

Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3116.95. . . . . . -30.15

Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 773.85. . . . . . . 21.65

Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3501.10. . . . . . . 32.00

Bajaj Finserv. . . . . . . . . . .. 15359.85. . . -169.10

Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 6837.00. . . -126.75

Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 707.25. . . . . . . . -4.60

BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 382.20. . . . . . . . -0.35

Britannia Ind . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3494.15. . . . . . -45.15

Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 927.60. . . . . . . 21.95

Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 160.55. . . . . . . . -0.60

Divis Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3939.85. . . -109.35

Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 4256.35. . . -146.50

Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. . . . 2643.85. . . . . . -48.15

Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1687.05. . . . . . -34.25

HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1077.75. . . . . . -45.95

HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2503.35. . . . . . -27.25

HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1474.95. . . . . . -13.10

HDFC Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 621.50. . . . . . . . -9.30

Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 2715.00. . . . . . -67.05

Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 489.15. . . . . . . . . 3.40

Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2295.35. . . . . . -31.90

ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 794.65. . . . . . . . -7.00

IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 888.10. . . . . . . . . 3.85

Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1678.60. . . . . . -43.55

Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 122.70. . . . . . . . . 1.25

ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 214.60. . . . . . . . . 0.30

JSW Steel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 626.10. . . . . . . . -5.05

Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1889.25. . . . . . . 34.60

L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1910.85. . . . . . -14.45

M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 858.05. . . . . . . . . 3.55

Maruti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 8820.20. . . . . 217.60

Nestle India Ltd. . . . .. 18385.45. . . -405.30

NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 135.00. . . . . . . . -0.30

ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 165.70. . . . . . . . . 0.55

PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 214.85. . . . . . . . -4.00

Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2338.10. . . . . . -35.15

SBI Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1211.65. . . . . . -16.35

State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 528.95. . . . . . . 14.30

Shree Cement . . . . . . . .. 23961.80. . . -535.70

Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 812.10. . . . . . . . . 4.05

Tata Consumer

Products Ltd. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 705.95. . . . . . . . -1.80

Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 494.40. . . . . . . . . 3.85

Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1088.35. . . . . . -20.75

TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3649.25. . . -120.65

Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . 1445.60. . . . . . -55.00

Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2310.05. . . . . . -66.45

UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 7100.70. . . . . . . . . 2.35

UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 771.95. . . . . . -19.20

Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 544.75. . . . . . -17.95

EXCHANGE RATES

Indicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on January 27

CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 74.88. . . . . . . 75.24

Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 83.8. . . . . . . 84.23

British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 100.5. . . . 100.99

Japanese Yen (100) . .. . . . . . . . 65. . . . . . . 65.32

Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 11.77. . . . . . . 11.83

Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 80.7. . . . . . . . . 81.1

Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . . . 55.4. . . . . . . 55.68

Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 59.02. . . . . . . 59.31

Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 17.84. . . . . . . 17.94

Australian Dollar . . . . . . .. . 53.07. . . . . . . 53.33

Source:Indian Bank

market watch

27-01-2022 % CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 57,277 ddddddddddddd-1.00

US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 75.09 ddddddddddddd-0.41

Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 48,215 ddddddddddddd-0.70

Brent oil dddddddddddddddddddddddd89.9 ddddddddddddddddddddd—

India plans to raise spendingon infrastructure in its annual budget next week to setthe economy on a fi�rmerfooting, but fi�scal constraints leave little chance ofconcessions for householdshurting from the pandemic,offi�cials said.

Asia’s thirdlargest economy is estimated to expand9.2% in the fi�scal year thatends in March, following acontraction of 7.3% in theprevious fi�scal year.

Yet private consumption,which makes up almost 55%of GDP, is below prepandemic levels amid risinghousehold debt, while retailprices have swelled almost a

tenth since the COVID19outbreak in early 2020.

The Feb. 1 budget comesdays before the start of elections in fi�ve States, whichcould spur Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman to promise higher rural spending

and subsidies on food andfertiliser.

Yet these are likely to beovershadowed by spendingto beef up transport andhealthcare networks, whichanalysts estimate could risebetween 12% and 25% in the

next fi�scal year.“We will focus on reviving

the economy through higherinvestments, while individual and corporate taxes willbe kept steady,” one offi�cial,who sought anonymity, toldReuters, adding that revivinggrowth would be a priority.

To attract investmentsthat create jobs and spurgrowth, Ms. Sitharamancould also boost incentivestied to production.

“Continuing on its capexpush, we expect another25% increase in capital expenditure by the central government ... we expect budgetary allocations for roads,highways and railways torise,” Nomura analyst SonalVarma said in a note.

India seen boosting budgetspending on infrastructure‘Fiscal constraints limit room for concessions to pandemic-hit households’

Reuters

New Delhi

Pump priming: Spending to beef up transport and healthcarenetworks may rise by 1225%. * FILE PHOTO/VIVEK BENDRE

Indian bond yields spikedwhile the rupee struck aonemonth low on Thursdayon concerns of potential outfl�ows after the Federal Reserve delivered a morehawkishthanexpected update,saying a U.S. interest rate increase was likely in March.

The Fed also reaffi�rmedplans to end its bond purchases around the sametime, calling time on a longphase of easy money. India’sbenchmark 10year bondyield rose 7 basis points to6.73%, its highest since December 19, 2019. Bond yieldsrise when prices fall.

So far in January, foreigninvestors have dumped $2.2billion of Indian shares after

having bought a net $3.76billion in 2021. They hadbought $23.29 billion worthshares in 2020 and $14.23billion in 2019. They are still,net buyers of $575.35 millionworth debt so far this monthafter having sold $3.66 billion in 2021.

The rupee depreciated by31 paise to close at a morethan fourweek low of 75.09against the dollar. High glo

bal oil prices have added tobearish pressure on the rupee, as India imports morethan twothirds of its oilneeds, and rising fuel costswill spur domestic infl�ation.

“The concerns around oilare still very much alive andwe now have Fed tighteningcoming up,” a senior traderat a private bank said. Markets are likely to stay jittery,he added, as the Centre is setto deliver its annual budgetof February 1, while the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee willmeet on February 79.

Economists at HDFC Bankexpect volatility in the rupeedollar exchange rate tocontinue through earlyFebruary.

(With PTI inputs)

Bonds, rupee weaken as Fedtone sparks outfl�ow concernsU.S. central bank says interest rate increase likely in March

Reuters

Mumbai

Swiss gold exports rose lastyear to their highest since2018 as demand for bullionin China and India, the biggest consumer markets, recovered from a collapse early in the COVID19pandemic, Swiss customsdata showed.

The coronavirus crisisupended the bullion marketin 2020, hammering jewellery sales while triggering arush among investors tostockpile gold, which is traditionally seen as a safeplace to store wealth. Switzerland is the world’s largestgold refi�ning centre andtransit hub. Its trade data

showed a 2020 plunge in exports to Asia, where mostgold is sold as jewellery, andhuge shipments to the U.S.and Britain, where investorscluster. In 2021, exports toIndia surged to 507 tonnes,up from 148 tonnes in 2020and the most since 2015.

Shipments to mainland

China reached 275 tonnes,up from 30.5 tonnes in 2020and the highest since 2018.

Exports to Hong Kongrose to 79 tonnes, up from27 tonnes in 2020 and thehighest since 2018. The datasuggests a weaker demandrecovery in China than in India. Between 2012, whenSwiss fi�gures became available, and 2019, Switzerlandexported 400 tonnes of golda year on average to Indiaand about 600 tonnes a yearto mainland China and HongKong combined.

Swiss shipments to theU.S. fell to 113 tonnes in 2021from 508 tonnes in 2020. Exports to Britain declined to76 tonnes from 130 tonnes.

Swiss gold exports to Chinaand India hit multiyear highs Demand recovered in 2021 in biggest consumer markets

Reuters

LONDON

TVS Motor Co. has acquired 75% stake in Switzerland’s largest ebikeplayer Swiss EMobilityGroup for $100 million.

The acquisition hasbeen made in an allcashdeal through TVS Motor(Singapore) Pte Ltd. This isthe second acquisition byTVS Motor in recent timesafter the buyout of majority stake in emobility fi�rmEGO Movement — alsoSwiss — in September.

Asserting that the fi�rmwas planning to buy the remaining stake next year,Sudarshan Venu, JMD, TVSMotor, said: “We see this asa key driver of our growthin Europe and other developed markets.”

TVS Motor Co.buys 75% ofSwiss EV fi�rm


CHENNAI

Renault and Nissan willwork more closely togetherto make electric cars, theysaid on Thursday, detailingplans to spend €23 billion($26 billion) on the transition to cleaner vehicles over the next fi�ve years.

The twodecade old alliance, which also includesMitsubishi Motors, said itwould increase the number of common platformsfor electric vehicles (EV) tofi�ve from four.

They will be used tobuild a combined EV lineup of 35 vehicles by 2030,the companies said in apress release. By 2026,four fi�fths of all their models would share commonplatforms, the fi�rms added.

RenaultNissanto ally more in$26 bn EV bet

Reuters

Tokyo

European insurance majorGenerali on Thursday said itwas set to become the majority shareholder in its general and life insurance jointventures ( JVs), Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd. (FGIICL) and Future Generali India LifeInsurance Company Ltd.

Future Enterprises Ltd.agreed to sell a 25% stake inFGIICL to Generali Participations Netherlands N.V.,for ₹�1,252.96 crore in cash.Generali also acquired anoption to buy out the remaining interest in the general insurance venture.

Generali said the decisionto increase its stake in the JVwas in line with its strategy

to strengthen its presence infastgrowing markets.

In the life insurance JV,Generali had earlier agreedto invest up to ₹�330 crore intranches. With the investment and purchase of the16% stake held by IndustrialInvestment Trust Ltd., Generali will become controlling shareholder in FGILICL.

“With an expected doubledigit annual growth rate,India’s insurance market off�ers considerable opportunities,” said Generali Group’sCEO International Jaime Anchustegui Melgarejo.

Generali to own majorityin Indian insurance JVs Future sells 25% in general insurer


Hyderabad <> We look forward

to deepening our

presence in this

geography

Jaime Anchustegui Melgarejo

Ola Electric said its globalcentre for advanced engineering and vehicle design,Ola Futurefoundry, wouldbe based in Coventry, U.K.

The EV maker said itwould invest more than$100 million over the nextfi�ve years in Futurefoundry,which would employ morethan 200 designers and automotive engineers.

‘New energy systems’

“Ola Futurefoundry will enable us to tap into the automotive design and engineering talent in the U.K. tocreate the next generationof electric vehicles,” saidfounder and CEO BhavishAggarwal. The facilitywould employ talent thatwould focus on vehicle R&Daround new energy systemsincluding cell technologies

and work in tandem withOla’s design and engineering teams in Bengaluru.

“We want to create aworldclass design and R&Dteam with global sensibilities,” said Wayne Burgess,VP, Vehicle Design, Ola Electric. “Ola Futurefoundry isan important step in building a multidisciplinaryteam that is agile, fl�exible,and responsive to the various needs of our consumers around the world,” Mr.Burgess added.

Ola Electric to set up EVdesign centre in the U.K. Firm to invest $100 mn in R&D facility


BengaluruDrugmaker Laurus Labs reported a more than 43%decline in consolidated netprofi�t to ₹�154.97 crore forthe quarter ended December 31, 2021.

The lower net profi�t,compared with the ₹�272.85crore seen a year earlier,came on the back of totalincome of ₹�1,034.09 crore(₹�1,295.35 crore). The company attributed the 20%decline in income to thetransient inventory correction of the antiretroviral(ARV) business.

Core results continuedto remain resilient withstrong growth in synthesisand other APIs, Laurussaid in a release. CEO Satyanarayana Chava saidlower sales of ARV APIsand formulations due tostocking at channel partners had aff�ected Q3 results.

Laurus Q3 netslides 43% asARV sales drag


Hyderabad

Despite the ongoing supplychain challenges, HP India is‘very bullish’ about businessgrowth in India driven bycontinued strong demandfor personal computers dueto workfromhome, onlinelearning and the emergingcreator community.

“In the last two years,there has been a massivesurge in demand for our products because products likePCs became essential devices without which you couldnot work, learn or play,” Ketan Patel, MD, HP India toldThe Hindu. “It has completely changed the landscape of the industry, especially in India, where the

penetration of computingwas relatively lower than in alot of other economies,” hepointed out. He added thatdespite semiconductor shortages and other challengesin the supply chain over thelast two years, the company

was able to garner 30% market share in the computingbusiness and 40% share inthe printing segment.

Mr. Patel said the futurefor either work or learningwas going to be hybrid — agood blend of online and offl�ine. “This throws up significant opportunities… for example, in large enterprises,only in the IT sector in India,we have fi�ve million userswho will be fl�ex workersstarting this year.”

He added that there werestill 63 million small and medium businesses that werenot yet digitised. The about240 million students, currently using smartphones astheir main device, were alsoa target market.

‘Workfromhome, onlinelearning driving PC demand’Bullish on growth despite supply chain challenges: HP India

Yuthika Bhargava

New Delhi

Ketan Patel

Kirloskar Oil Engines MDSanjeev Nimkar quitsMUMBAI

Sanjeev Nimkar, MD, Kirloskar

Oil Engines, has resigned

from the post citing personal

reasons, the company said.

The board has requested

Gauri Kirloskar, KOEL’s

nonexecutive

nonindependent director to

supervise the daytoday

affairs in the interim, under

the guidance of Atul Kirloskar

and the board.

IN BRIEF

BoAt hearables makerfi�les for ₹�2,000cr. IPONEW DELHI

Imagine Marketing Limited,

the makers of boAt brand of

hearables, has fi�led a draft

red herring prospectus

(DRHP) with markets

regulator SEBI for a ₹�2,000

crore initial public off�ering

(IPO). The IPO will consist

of fresh issue of equity

shares of ₹�900 crore and

‘Off�er for Sale’ of ₹�1,100

crore. The company said it

plans to use the proceeds

from the IPO to repay or

prepay its debt.

CG Power Q3 net dips5.5%, revenue doublesCHENNAI

CG Power and Industrial

Solutions Ltd., a

Murugappa group fi�rm, said

standalone net profi�t for

the third quarter shrank

5.5% to ₹�360 crore from a

year earlier. Revenue from

operations more than

doubled to ₹�1,446 crore, it

said in a fi�ling. The fi�rm said

it had completed the long

pending sale of land for a

consideration of ₹�402 crore

including refund of security

deposit, aiding prepayment

of ₹�363crore debt.

Rane Brake Lining Q3net profi�t slides 47%CHENNAI

Rane Brake Lining Ltd. said

standalone net profi�t for

the third quarter slumped

47% to ₹�6.9 crore due to a

decline in sales volume.

Revenue from operations

grew 1% to ₹�134 crore. “Q3

was a challenging quarter

with semiconductor

shortage impacting the

supply chain and elevated

commodity prices reducing

the profi�tability," said L.

Ganesh, chairman.

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


SPORT

A ruthless Ashleigh Bartyswept into her fi�rst Australian Open fi�nal on Thursdaywith a clinical, straightsetsdemolition of Madison Keysto setup a title match withthe hardhitting DanielleCollins.

The World No. 1 overwhelmed 51stranked Keys61, 63 in just 62 minuteswith another Americanawaiting after the allbusiness Collins crushed Polishseventh seed Iga Swiatek 64,61. Despite the disappointing defeat, Swiatek showedcharacter on her way to thelast four and said she had noregrets from her time at Melbourne Park, where shemade her fi�rst semifi�nal.

Barty is the fi�rst Australianwoman into the summitclash of her home GrandSlam since Wendy Turnbullin 1980 and is aiming to become the fi�rst winner sinceChris O’Neil two years earlier.

TenaciousBut the tenacious Collinsstands in her way on Saturday with the 28yearold enjoying a second coming aftersurgery last year for endometriosis left her pain free.

Nine months on and she

has a 327 winloss record,capturing her maiden WTAsingles titles last year in Palermo then San Jose.

After making the semifi�nals at Melbourne in 2019,she is now in a fi�rst Slam fi�naland will break into the top 10

for the fi�rst time to cap a remarkable comeback.

“To play against the number one player in the worldin her home country, it’s going to be spectacular,” saidCollins of the fi�nal.

“I couldn’t be happier. It’s

been such a journey, so many years of hard work.”

Barty has been rampantso far, dropping serve justonce through six matchesand is yet to drop a set as shepowered through the tophalf of the women’s draw.

She is also looking to addto her 2019 French Open and2021 Wimbledon titles and ison a 10match win streak tostart the year. The top seed,who played cricket with herteam on Wednesday to relax,was once more in full command of her game with an attacking forehand and lethalbackhand slice.

Incredible experience“To be in the fi�nals weekendof your home Grand Slam iswhat a lot of Aussie playersdream of. Yeah, it’s going tobe an incredible experiencecome Saturday,” said Barty.

“Obviously I was able tomake Maddie uncomfortableand make her press, and thatwas kind of part of the plan,as well. I felt like we did areally good job all in all ofplaying the match in kind ofour terms.”

Barty paid tribute to Keys,a former top10 player who ison the rise again after somediffi�cult years. “It’s just sonice to see her back whereshe belongs,” said Barty.“She’s an amazing humanbeing.”

Ruthless Barty shuts the door on Keys World No. 1 Aussie looking for a fi�rst home Major triumph; Collins powers past Swiatek


Melbourne

AUS OPEN

Women:Semifi�nals: 1Barty (Aus) btKeys (USA) 61, 63; 27Collins(USA) bt 7Swiatek (Pol) 64,61.

THE RESULTS

Wheelchair great Alcotthangs up his racquetWheelchair great DylanAlcott bowed out of tennison Thursday after losing theAustralian Open fi�nal,drawing the curtain on aglittering career in which hebecame a prominentdisability advocate. The31yearold Australian, themost successful quad tennisplayer ever with 15 GrandSlam singles and eightdoubles titles, hadannounced his decision toquit before the tournament.It followed hishistorymaking exploits in2021 when he completedthe Golden Slam of winningall four quad singles Majorsand the Paralympics gold inthe same year. But the World No. 1, aprominent sporting andmedia fi�gure in Australia,was unable to go out on ahigh, losing to

secondseeded DutchmanSam Schroder 75, 60 onRod Laver Arena.“All around the world, everysingle lockerroom we go to,there's wheelchair tennison. I'm very thankful. “I’m really the luckiest guyin the world, and I didn’tneed to win today to realisethat,” he said courtside,holding back tears.

Special K Express chugs along merrilyIt’s going to be anallAustralian men’s doublesfi�nal on Saturday atMelbourne Park. A fi�rst in42 years.Nick Kyrgios and ThanasiKokkinakis, dubbed the‘Special K’ team, beat thethirdseeded pair of MarcelGranollers of Spain andHoracio Zeballos ofArgentina 76(4), 64.“I've played a lot of singlesmatches around the globewith amazing atmospheres,but this week, with Thanasiand playing in front of you,nothing beats this,” saidKyrgios.On an adjoining nearemptyMargaret Court Arena,fellow Australians MatthewEbden and Max Purcell beatsecondseeded Rajeev Ramof the United States and JoeSalisbury of Britain 63,76(9), saving four setpointsin the second set.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

\ PASSING SHOTS \

Crusader: Alcott was a champion on the court as well asoff� it. * GETTY IMAGES

Home boys: Kokkinakis and Kyrgios celebrate semifi�nalvictory. * AFP

Neeraj Chopra: Neeraj wonIndia’s fi�rstever Olympicgold medal in athletics. Healso became only the secondIndian to win an Olympic individual gold, after AbhinavBindra.In 2021: Won gold in themen's javelin in TokyoPramod Bhagat: Pramodjustifi�ed his status as the favourite in the SL3 class whenhe took top honours in the

ParalympicsIn 2021: Won gold in themen's singles badminton SL3class in TokyoRavi Dahiya: A product ofthe famed Chhatrasal stadium in Delhi, Ravi Kumar Dahiya did the country proudas he matched Sushil Kumar’s 2012 London Olympicsfeat in Tokyo.

In 2021: Won silver in themen's 57kg wrestling inTokyo

The Sportstar Acesawards are presented by Byju's Classes with IDFC FirstBank as the associate partner. Odisha is the Sports Destination Partner and UnionBank of India the bankingpartner.

ONGC is the associatepartner. Nippon Paint is theColourPartner andLife Insurance Corporation ofIndia the Insurance Partner.

To vote, visit aces.sport-star.thehindu.com

Aces’ Sportsman of the year nomineesNeeraj, Ravi and Pramod make it to the Sportstar Awards shortlist

Sports Bureau

Neeraj. * FILE PHOTO Pramod. * FILE PHOTO Ravi Dahiya. * FILE PHOTO

It was a tale of two halves asHyderabad FC won 32

against Odisha FC to stay ontop of the league standingswith 23 points from 13matches. Odisha started the

match well, but Hyderabadstarted to fi�nd its feet fromthe 20minute mark.

However, it was Odishawhich struck fi�rst throughJerry Mawihmingthanga inthe 45th minute. Nandhakumar Sekar charged down theleft fl�ank and whipped in alow cross. Jerry, at the front

post, fl�icked the ball homethrough the legs of goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani.

The second half belongedto Hyderabad. It did not takemuch time to grab the equaliser after the break. In the51th minute, Akash Mishrafound Chianese with a pinpoint cross and the latterguided the ball into the net.

In the 70th, Hyderabadskipper Joao Victor gave histeam the lead, showing goodskill to control the ball andlash it into the top corner onthe turn. Akash Mishramade it 32 three minutes later when he met Yasir Mohammad's cross and guidedthe ball home.

Odisha substitute Jonathas pulled one back in the84th minute, curling the ballin after receiving a pass fromanother substitute RedeemTlang. However, Hyderabadheld fi�rm after that.

HFC edges out OFC in thrillerHyderabad side retains the top spot with 32 win

Sports Bureau

ISL 2021-22

A strike to remember! Joao controlled the ball well beforelashing it into the the top corner on the turn. * FOCUS SPORTS/ISL

Brett Lee’s transition fromone of the world’s fastestbowlers into a perceptivecommentator on the game,especially on the subtlestnuances of his trade, hasbeen smooth. He has left themicrophone behind for thetime being though, to gripthe cricket ball once again.

The Australian is one ofthe biggest stars at the Legends League Cricket whichhas reached its business endhere. He may be 45, but hebowled his full quota of fourovers and took one for 27,playing his part in WorldGiants’ comfortable sevenwicket win against AsiaLions at the Al Amerat Stadium on Wednesday night.

He is enjoying the experience. “It’s a fantastic tournament,” said the man whohas 310 Test and 380 ODIwickets. “The quality of theplayers on show and thespectacle that has been presented to us (prove that).”

Lee, who has come hereafter doing commentary onthe Ashes series back home,is happy that Pat Cumminsshowed that fast bowlerscould be good captains. Australia had won the series 40with the skipper leadingfrom the front.

“He has done a prettygood job,” he said. “His captaincy has been really solidand he has some great people around him. The issuemay have been if Pat couldtake wickets while captaining. He has proved hecould.”

Lee believes Scott Boland’s stunning start to hisTest career — 18 wickets inthree Tests at an average of9.55 — shows the depth ofAustralian fast bowling.

“He took six for seven (ondebut) at the MCG, backed itup at the SCG and bowledbeautifully in the last Test atHobart. The great thing

about Australian cricket isthat there is a conveyor beltof fast bowlers, which is aluxury to have.”

He doesn’t believe in themodernday practice of resting the fast bowlers, though.“I don’t like bowlers resting,” he said.

“I like bowlers to playeach and every single gameif they can. If they are struggling from injury, that is fairenough. What I would like tosee is bowlers doing thehard work and playing dayin and day out.”

(The writer is in Muscat atthe invitation of LegendsLeague Cricket).

‘Cummins showed fast bowlerscould be good captains too’His leadership has been really solid, says Brett Lee

P.K. Ajith Kumar

MUSCAT

Smooth and easy: Lee, who had a terrifi�c runup and action,was a delight to watch. * LLC

LEGENDS LEAGUERovman Powell’s blisteringcentury laid the foundationfor West Indies’ 20run winover England in the thirdT20I on Wednesday.

With this, the host hasgone 21 up in the fi�vematchseries.

The recalled Powell’s 107off� just 53 balls, as well as hisfourthwicket stand of 122with Nicholas Pooran (70),helped take the West Indiesto 224 for fi�ve after standinEngland captain Moeen Aliwon the toss.

Tom Banton hit six sixesin a rapid 73 and Phil Salt 57on his T20I debut as England tried to chase down

225, with Moeen leading anewlook side after regularcaptain Eoin Morgan pulledhis quad during warmup.

But England fi�nished on204 for nine in a remarkablematch yielding over 400runs. Powell’s impressive

display of ballstriking, including four fours and 10soaring sixes, saw the 28yearold Jamaican becomeonly the third West Indiesbatter, after Evin Lewis andChris Gayle, with two T20Ihundreds.

Three debutants

England’s side featuredthree debutants in Salt, fellow batter Harry Brook andpaceman George Gartonand, even more unusually, atrio of leftarm quicks in Garton, Reece Topley and Tymal Mills.

The scores: West Indies 224/5in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran70, Rovman Powell 107) bt England 204/9 in 20 overs (TomBanton 73, Phil Salt 57; Romario Shepherd 3/59).

Powell power wins it for WIBanton and Salt lead England’s spirited chase


Bridgetown

ENG IN WI

Rovman Powell. * AFP

The Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) hasdeferred the decisionabout holding the RanjiTrophy till Monday. Ameeting of offi�cebearerson Thursday decided tovet all the options throughBCCI executives and arriveat a “decision suitable toevery stakeholder”.

“Make no mistake all ofus want to stage the RanjiTrophy but there are lotsof practical hurdles, including COVID19 protocols and scheduling issues.We hope for a viable solution at the earliest,” an offi�cial privy to developmentstold The Hindu, citing anonymity, after the meeting.

The Hindu understandsthat the BCCI offi�cebearers have directed executives to check with thestate associations aboutwhether their teams canenter pretournament quarantine by February 5 inorder to start the tournament around February 10.

However, time seems tobe running out for theBCCI considering thepriority of ensuring a safepassage for the Indian Premier League (IPL). TheBCCI offi�cebearers havedirected the executives toprepare a backup planthat would result in theRanji Trophy winding upby March 20.

BCCI defersdecision onRanji Trophy

Amol Karhadkar

Mumbai

Jacob Bethell’s blisteringbatting display helped England advance to the semifi�nals of the ICC Under19World Cup with a sixwicket win over South Africahere on Wednesday.

Bethell (1/30) was one ofthe bowlers to restrictSouth Africa to 209 all outbefore hitting 88 to see England set up a clash witheither Sri Lanka orAfghanistan.

The scores: Quarterfi�nals:South Africa 209 in 43.4 overs(Dewald Brevis 97, GerhardusMaree 27; Rehan Ahmed 4/48) lost to England 212/4 in31.2 overs (Jacob Bethell 88,William Luxton 47).

Englandmoves intothe semifi�nals

Press Trust of India

North Sound

Puneri Paltan's young starshelped the side beat U.P.Yoddha 4438 in their ProKabaddi League (PKL) matchhere on Thursday.

Mohit Goyat picked up 14raid points and was ably supported by Aslam Inamdarwith 12, including 3 tacklepoints.

The victory boosted Paltan’s chances of making it tothe playoff�s after a jittery

start to its campaign.

Surender Gill got 16 pointsfor Yoddha but didn’t get thesupport he needed. The Paltan defence, too, had a stellar night, hunting down raiders in packs, with AbineshNadarajan and Sombir leading them.

Paltan’s young guns gotthem off� to a fl�ying start. Inamdar and Goyat shared theraiding duties while defender Abinesh Nadarajan wasrock solid.The result: Puneri Paltan btU.P. Yoddha 4438.

Inamdar, Goyat help Paltan beat Yoddha

On the prowl: Goyat’s raids fetched 14 points for Paltan.* PROKABADDILEAGUE

PKL

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

BENGALURU

Topranked Indian tennisplayer Ramkumar Ramanathan was on Thursdayawarded a wildcard intothe singles main draw ofthe Tata Open Maharashtrato be held at the BalewadiStadium here from January31 to February 6.

Ramkumar had won hismaiden ATP Challenger title in Manama in Novemberlast year and regained hisposition in the top200.

It will be Ramkumar'sfourth appearance at SouthAsia's only ATP 250 tournament, organised by Maharashtra State Lawn TennisAssociation (MSLTA) andsponsored by Tata Group.

The 27yearold fromChennai will join compatriot Yuki Bhambri in themain draw.

Ramkumargets wildcardfor Tata Open


PUNE

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


SPORT

Australian Open: Sony Ten2 & Sony Six (SD & HD), 9a.m. & 2 p.m.U19 Cricket WC: StarSports 1 (SD & HD), 6.15 p.m.Legends League Cricket:Sony Ten 1 & 3 (SD & HD), 8p.m.PKL: Star Sports 2 (SD & HD),7.15 p.m.ISL: SS Select 1HD, 7.15 p.m.

TV PICKS

Hornets rout Pacers inrecordsetting pushLOS ANGELES

Kelly Oubre Jr. had 10

threepointers in his 39

points as the franchise total

recordsetting Charlotte

Hornets overwhelmed

Indiana Pacers 158126 on

Wednesday at Indianapolis.The results: Cavalier 115 btBucks 99; Pacers 126 lost toHornets 158; Magic 102 lostto Clippers 111; Hawks 121 btKings 104; Heat 110 bt Knicks96; Nets 118 lost to Nuggets124; Bulls 111 bt Raptors 105;Spurs 110 lost to Grizzlies118; Jazz 97 lost to Suns 105;Trail Blazers 112 lost toMavericks 132. REUTERS

IN BRIEF

Langer into Australiancricket Hall of FameMELBOURNE

Former opener and head

coach of the senior men’s

side, Justin Langer has been

inducted into the Australian

Cricket Hall of Fame

alongside Raelee Thompson,

one of the pioneers of the

women’s game in the country.

During his successful career

as a player, Langer had

formed a formidable pairing

with Matthew Hayden in Test

cricket, playing a key role in

Australia’s dominance in the

early and mid 2000s. Former

fast bowler Thompson, 76,

captained the Australian team

on four occasions. PTI

Star midfi�elder and Olympicbronze medalwinning captain Manpreet Singh will leada 20member strong Indianhockey team in the doubleleg FIH Pro League tiesagainst South Africa andFrance to be held betweenFeb. 8 to 13.

Manpreet will be assistedby ace dragfl�icker Harmanpreet Singh.

Young dragfl�icker JugrajSingh and striker Abhishekare the two new faces in thesquad.

Jugraj, who is from Attari,came into the senior national

camp for the very fi�rst timethis time after he impressedthe national selectors duringthe fi�rst Hockey India SeniorMen Inter Department National Championship wherehe turned up for ServicesSports Control Board.

Abhishek, on the otherhand, is a striker who wasearlier part of the junior program and had played for theIndia colts in Sultan of JohorCup in 2017 and 2018.

From Sonepat, Haryana,Abhishek also did well forPunjab National Bank in themaiden Senior Men InterDepartment National Championship which helped himearn a spot in the senior national camp for the fi�rst time.

“After a threeweek campin Bengaluru, a team hasbeen selected that includes14 Tokyo Olympians and twodebutants,” India’s chiefcoach Graham Reid said in astatement.

Keeping in mind the COVID19 pandemic, India willtravel with four additionalplayers besides keeping fi�vestandbys.

The Indian team will leavefor South Africa from Bengaluru on Feb. 4.

India will play France intheir fi�rst match on Feb. 8 before squaring off� againsthosts South Africa the nextday.

The Indians will again playFrance on Feb. 12 and then

fi�nish off� their engagementsagainst South Africa the nextday.The squad:

Goalkeepers: P.R. Sreejesh,Krishan Bahadur Pathak.

Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh(Vicecapt.), Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar,Jarmanpreet Singh, JugrajSingh.

Midfi�elders: Manpreet Singh(Capt.), Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Jaskaran Singh,Shamsher Singh, Vivek SagarPrasad.

Forwards: Mandeep Singh, LalitKumar Upadhyay, AkashdeepSingh, Shilanand Lakra, DilpreetSingh, Abhishek.

Standbys: Suraj Karkera, Mandeep Mor, Raj Kumar Pal, Sumit,Gursahibjit Singh.

Manpreet to lead India against South Africa and FranceHarmanpreet will be the vicecaptain; Jugraj and Abhishek to make debuts

At the helm: The Manpreetled Indian team will travel with four additional players besides fi�vestandbys. * FILE PHOTO

FIH PRO LEAGUE


New Delhi

Alcaraz in Spanish DavisCup team, Nadal left outMADRID

Carlos Alcaraz will play for

Spain in the qualifying rounds

of the Davis Cup in March but

Rafael Nadal was not named

in the squad announced by

the Spanish tennis federation

on Thursday. The 18yearold

Alcaraz joins Roberto

Bautista, Pablo Carreno,

Alejandro Davidovich and

Marcel Granollers in the

Spanish team, with Sergi

Bruguera as captain. AFP

Captain of India’s 1964 Tokyo Olympics gold medalwinning hockey team, Charanjit Singh, died on Thursday at his home in Una,Himachal Pradesh after suffering a cardiac arrest thatfollowed prolonged agerelated illnesses.

Prolonged illnessThe former midfi�elder was90 and would have turned ayear older next month. He issurvived by two sons andone daughter. Charanjit suffered a stroke fi�ve years agoand was paralysed sincethen.

“Dad was paralysed aftersuff�ering a stroke fi�ve yearsback. He used to walk with astick but since the last cou

ple of months, his health deteriorated and this morninghe left us,” his younger sonV.P. Singh told PTI.

Charanjit was also part ofthe 1960 Games silverwin

ning and 1962 Asian Gamessilverwinning team. Thetwotime Olympian was apart of India’s glorious days.

Charanjit was an alumniof Col Brown Cambridge

School, Dehradun and Punjab University. After his illustrious career in internationalhockey, he worked as the director of the Physical Education department in Himachal Pradesh University inShimla.

HI’s condolence

Hockey India condoled thedeath of Charanjit, sayingthe country has lost a legendof the sport.

“It is a sad day for thehockey fraternity. Even inhis old age, he would light upevery time there were conversations about hockey andhe could accurately recall every great moment he waspart of during India’s goldendays of hockey,” HI presidentGyanendro Nigombam said.

Hockey legend Charanjit Singh passes awayCaptained India to Olympic gold at Tokyo 1964

Yesteryear hero: Charanjit Singh at the Corporation Stadium,Madras in 1962. * THE HINDU ARCHIVES


New Delhi

Former India captain andNational coach GurbuxSingh remembers his 1964Olympics goldwinningIndia hockey team captainCharanjit Singh as a verydowntoearth person anda compact player.

“I am very sad to hear ofCharanjit Singh’s demise.He was a softspoken,downtoearth andwelleducated man. He wasa compact centrehalf. Istarted playing under himin 1961 on the New Zealandtour.

“The 1962 internationaltournament atAhmedabad, where almostthe whole world except

Pakistan played, and theLyon (Olympics qualifying)tournament in 1963 weresome of the importantevents we played togetherbefore the 1964 Olympics,”Gurbux told The Hindu onThursday. We playedagainst each other when herepresented Punjab at theNational level,” he said.

Gurbux said Charanjitwas a team man to thecore.

“Charanjit began playingas an insideright withBalbir Singh. He was very

good in our own half,inside the 25yard line. As adefender, I can say he usedto take on the oppositionplayers very solidly.

“In the 1964 (Olympics)team we could shout atanybody for any lapse andno one took it personally.Even captain Charanjit didnot mind and took it in hisstride as he understoodthat it was for the team’sgood. That was one of thegood points of that team,which was studded withwellknown players such asfourtime Olympian UdhamSingh, Prithipal Singh,Charanjit, ShankarLakshman, Haripal Kaushikand Mohinder Lal,” saidGurbux.

‘A very downtoearth person’ Gurbux remembers skipper Charanjit

Y.B. Sarangi

KOLKATA <> As a defender, I

can say he used to

take on the

opposition players

very solidly

The Indian women’s cricketteam will play all its six upcoming matches againstNew Zealand in Queenstownas NZC on Thursday announced a revised scheduleto reduce chances of a COVID19 outbreak.

The team, which is already in New Zealand, is nowscheduled to play all fi�veODIs and a T20I, starting February 9 at John Davies Ovalin Queenstown.

The bilateral series,

which is key for India aheadof the World Cup in MarchApril, was earlier scheduledto begin with the oneoff�T20I at McLean Park in Napier followed by the fi�rst ODIat the same venue two dayslater.

The Saxton Oval in Nelsonwas to host the second andthird ODIs on February 14and 16, with the fi�nal twoODIs to be played in Queenstown on February 22 and24.

Other changes in theschedule announced by NZCinclude the South Africamen’s side remaining in

Christchurch for the entireduration of its visit, playingboth its scheduled Tests atHagley Oval rather than decamping to Wellington forthe second match, as initially planned.

Australia’s three T20sagainst the New Zealandmen’s side will now be hosted in Napier (subject to MIQavailability), and the Netherlands men’s tour is set to besplit between Mount Maunganui (one T20 and one ODI)and Hamilton (two ODIs).

All matches have been retained on originallyscheduled days.

Covid threat: India’s matchesmoved to QueenstownAll fi�ve ODIs and a T20I will be held at John Davies Oval

WOMEN’S NZ TOUR


Auckland

Veteran paceman KemarRoach and young allrounder Nkrumah Bonner havebeen recalled to the West Indies OneDay Internationalsquad for the threematchseries in India beginning onFebruary 6.

Roach, who has notplayed any ListA cricketsince his last ODI in 2019, hasmade the return with WestIndies great DesmondHaynes picking him in hisfi�rst squad selection sincetaking over as lead selector.

Six additions have beenmade to the squad, to be led

by Kieron Pollard, that lostto Ireland at home.

The ODIs against Indiawill be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahme

dabad on February 6, 9 and11.

The T20Is will be playedat Eden Gardens in Kolkataon February 16, 18 and 20

and the squad for that is expected to be announced onFriday.

Besides the experiencedRoach, the 22yearold Bonner, a middleorder batterwhose last ODI appearancewas exactly a year ago, andBrandon King, an opener,have been recalled to thesquad. The 27yearoldKing’s last ODI outing wasback in 2020.

The squad: Kieron Pollard(Capt.), Fabian Allen, NkrumahBonner, Darren Bravo, ShamarhBrooks, Jason Holder, ShaiHope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, NicholasPooran, Kemar Roach, RomarioShepherd, Odean Smith andHayden Walsh Jr.

Roach, Bonner in Windies squad for India ODIsSix additions have been made to the team that lost to Ireland at home

WI IN INDIA


St. John’s (Antigua)

Kemar Roach. * GETTY IMAGES Nkrumah Bonner. * FILE PHOTO

Struggling for form, R.Praggnanandhaa pun

ished Vidit Gujrathi for a misjudged pawncapture andposted his second win in theMasters section of the TataSteel chess tournament atWijk aan Zee, near Amsterdam, on Wednesday.

The result kept Praggnanandhaa (3.5 points) in the13th spot in the 14playerfi�eld but brought down Vidit(5.5) from the overnight jointthird to tied fi�fth.

Magnus Carlsen (7) continued to lead after a 16movedraw in 20 minutes with Sergey Karjakin. After the fi�nalrest day, action resumes onFriday.

Playing white, Viditlooked in control until the33rd move when he falteredby taking an unguardedpawn on the king’s side. Thatwas enough for Praggnanandhaa to seize his chance.

The youngster used hisproactive queen and rookwell to keep Vidit underpressure. Once the queenswere off� the board on the50th move, Praggnanandhaaestablished a onepawn advantage on the king’s sideand continued accurately to

end Vidit’s resistance in 78moves.

In the Challengers section, Arjun Erigaisi (8.5points) maintained his overnight twopoint lead after adraw with former World junior girls’ champion PolinaShuvalova. The results (10th round): Masters (Indians unless stated):Vidit Gujrathi (5.5) lost to R.Praggnanandhaa (3.5); SergeyKarjakin (Rus, 5.5) drew withMagnus Carlsen (Nor, 7); AnishGiri (6.5) drew with JanKrzysztof Duda (Pol, 4.5); SamShankland (USA, 4) drew withShakhriyar Memdyarov (Aze,6); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 5)lost to Richard Rapport (6);Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 5.5) btJorden van Foreest (Ned, 4.5);Daniil Dubov (Rus, 3.5) lost toNils Grandelius (Swe, 3).Challengers (involving Indians): Arjun Erigaisi (8.5)drew with Polina Shuvalova(Rus, 3.5); Surya Shekhar Ganguly (5) bt Zhu Jiner (Chn, 2.5).

Praggnanandhaabrings down Vidit

CHESS

Praggnanandha. * FILE PHOTO

Sports Bureau

Upcoming talent MithunManjunath knocked out

seventh seeded MalaysianCheam June Wei as IndiansIndians captured all quarterfi�nal spots in men’s singles in the $75,000 OdishaOpen badminton tournament at Cuttack onThursday.

Mithun, after impressiveshowings in the India Openand Syed Modi India International this month, isamong the serious titlecontenders in the grossly depleted fi�eld. He marched onfollowing a 2111, 2118 victory in 40 minutes. He nowfaces another exciting prospect, Priyanshu Rajawat.

In the other quarterfi�nals, Kaushal Dharmamerwill play Abhyansh Singh,third seed Subhankar Deymeets Kiran George and Ansal Yadav takes on TharunMannepalli.

Ishika fi�ghts backLike the men’s singles, alleight women singles quarterfi�nal spots could have

come India’s way had USA’sIshika Jaiswal not saved fourmatchpoints against Deepshikha Singh to win 1821, 2725, 2118. All other prequarterfi�nals ended in straightgames.

With all the higherranked players no longer inthe fray, Malvika Bansodand Ashmita Chahila,ranked 67 and 69, are fi�rmlyon course to set up thetitleclash.

In the quarterfi�nals, Malvika clashes with Tanya Hemanth, Samiya Imad Farroqui meets Unnati Hooda,Ashmita plays Rhucha Sawant and Ishika challengesSmit Toshniwal.

Mithun takes outseventh seed Wei Indian men sweep quarterfi�nal spots,women miss one berth

ODISHA OPEN

Sports Bureau

Mithun Manjunath.* INSTAGRAM

Mohamed Salah scored thedecisive penalty as Egyptbeat the Ivory Coast in ashootout on Wednesday toadvance to the Africa Cup ofNations quarterfi�nals, whileorganisers of the troubledtournament moved twomatches away from Doualato Cameroon’s capitalYaounde.

The Liverpool starsmashed home his spotkickwith the Ivory Coast’s EricBailly the only player to missin the shootout in Douala,which Egypt won 54 afterthe last16 tie fi�nished goal

less at the end of extra time.Egypt, the record seven

time continental champion,will play Morocco in the lasteight in Yaounde on Sunday.

Meanwhile, SantiagoEneme was Equatorial Guinea’s hero as the minnowsedged Mali 65 in a shootoutafter a drab 00 draw following extra time in Limbe.

Penalty savedAfter Francebased Enemeconverted, Malian FalayeSacko had a kick saved by Jesus Owono and his countrybowed out in the fi�rst knockout stage for the second successive Cup of Nations.

An ultracagey last16match produced minimal

excitement for the crowdwith both teams managingjust one shot on target in 120minutes.

Equatorial Guinea nowfaces Sadio ManeinspiredSenegal, one of the title favourites, in Yaounde onSunday for a place in thesemifi�nals.

The results:

Prequarterfi�nals (aet denotesafter extra time): Egypt 0 drewwith Ivory Coast 0 aet (Egyptwon 54 on penalties).

Mali 0 drew with EquatorialGuinea 0 aet (Equatorial Guinea won 65 on penalties).

Quarterfi�nal lineup: Gambia vCameroon, Burkina Faso v Tunisia, Egypt v Morocco, Senegal vEquatorial Guinea.

Egypt, Equatorial Guinea advanceSalah and Santiago Eneme convert the decisive penalties

Over the moon: The Egyptians are an ecstatic lot after Salah’s winning strike. * REUTERS

CUP OF NATIONS

Agence France-presse

Doula

Akash Gaonkar knockedout top seed Denim Yadav64, 62 in the boys’ quarterfi�nals of the ITF grade5junior tennis tournamenthere on Thursday.

In the semifi�nal, Akashwill face Kriish Tyagi. Theother semifi�nal will be between Daksh Agarwal andTarun Korwar.

In the girls’ section, Amishi Shukla beat secondseed Kashish Bote 62, 64to set up a semifi�nal againstChahana Budhbhatti. Theother semifi�nal will featuretop seed Sonal Patil andfourth seed Nandini Dixit.The results: Boys (quarterfi�nals): Akash Gaonkar bt Denim Yadav 64, 62; KriishTyagi bt Ritvik Nadikude 62,62; Daksh Agarwal bt DeepMunim 63, 61; Tarun Korwarbt Azmeer Shaikh 64, 76(5).

Doubles (semifi�nals): Deep &Denim bt Akash & Shivam Kadam 64, 62; Prajwal Tewari& Kriish bt Daksh & Arjun Gohad 16, 64, [106].

Girls (quarterfi�nals): SonalPatil bt Gauri Mangaonkar 61,60; Nandini Dixit bt HarshiniNagaraj 76(5), 62; ChahanaBudhbhatti bt Sree Tanvi Dasari 64, 64; Amishi Shukla btKashish Bote 62, 64.

Doubles (semifi�nals): Nandini& Sonal bt Sree Tanvi & Thaniya Sarai 60, 61; Aanya Choubey & Pehal Kharadkar bt Chahana & Amishi 36, 64,[107].

Akash packsoff� Denim

Sports Bureau

INDORE

CMYK

S ND-NDE

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022 follow us:

thehindu.com

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The story so far: With the economy stillhurting from the pandemic, the Budget onFebruary 1 is likely to address concernsaround growth, infl�ation and spending. TheBudget, which will be tabled in Parliamentby Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, isthe Government’s blueprint on expenditure,taxes it plans to levy, and other transactionswhich aff�ect the economy and the lives ofcitizens.

What are the major components of theBudget? There are three major components —expenditure, receipts and defi�cit indicators.Depending on the manner in which they aredefi�ned, there can be many classifi�cationsand indicators of expenditure, receipts anddefi�cits.

Based on their impact on assets andliabilities, total expenditure can be dividedinto capital and revenue expenditure.Capital expenditure is incurred with thepurpose of increasing assets of a durablenature or of reducing recurring liabilities.Consider the expenditure incurred forconstructing new schools or new hospitals.All these are classifi�ed as capital expenditureas they lead to creation of new assets.Revenue expenditure involves anyexpenditure that does not add to assets orreduce liabilities. Expenditure on thepayment of wages and salaries, subsidies orinterest payments would be typicallyclassifi�ed as revenue expenditure.

Depending on the manner in which itaff�ects diff�erent sectors, expenditure is alsoclassifi�ed into (i) general services (ii)economic services, (iii) social services and(iv) grantsinaid and contribution. The sumof expenditure on economic and socialservices together form the developmentexpenditure. Economic services includeexpenditure on transport, communication,rural development, agricultural and alliedsectors. Expenditure on the social sectorincluding education or health is categorisedas social services. Again, depending on itseff�ect on asset creation or liability reduction,development expenditure can be furtherclassifi�ed as revenue and capitalexpenditure.

The receipts of the Government havethree components — revenue receipts,

nondebt capital receipts and debtcreatingcapital receipts. Revenue receipts involvereceipts that are not associated with increasein liabilities and comprise revenue fromtaxes and nontax sources. Nondebt receiptsare part of capital receipts that do notgenerate additional liabilities. Recovery ofloans and proceeds from disinvestmentswould be regarded as nondebt receiptssince generating revenue from these sourcesdoes not directly increase liabilities, orfuture payment commitments. Debtcreatingcapital receipts are ones that involve higherliabilities and future payment commitmentsof the Government.

Fiscal defi�cit by defi�nition is the diff�erencebetween total expenditure and the sum ofrevenue receipts and nondebt receipts. Itindicates how much the Government isspending in net terms. Since positive fi�scaldefi�cits indicate the amount of expenditureover and above revenue and nondebtreceipts, it needs to be fi�nanced by adebtcreating capital receipt. Primary defi�citis the diff�erence between fi�scal defi�cit andinterest payments. Revenue defi�cit is derivedby deducting capital expenditure from fi�scaldefi�cits.

What are the implications of theBudget on the economy? The Budget has an implication for aggregatedemand of an economy. All Governmentexpenditure generates aggregate demand inthe economy since it involves purchase ofprivate goods and services by theGovernment sector. All tax and nontaxrevenue reduces net income of the privatesector and thereby leads to reduction inprivate and aggregate demand. But exceptfor exceptional circumstances, the GDP,revenue receipt and expenditure typicallyshow a tendency to rise over time. Thus, thetrend in absolute value of expenditure andreceipts in themselves has little use formeaningful analysis of the Budget. The trendin expenditures and revenue is analysedeither by the GDP or as growth rates afteraccounting for the infl�ation rate.

Reduction in expenditure GDP ratio orincrease in revenue receiptGDP ratioindicates the Government’s policy to reduceaggregate demand and viceversa. Forsimilar reasons, reduction in fi�scaldefi�citGDP ratio and primary defi�citGDPratios indicate Government policy of

reducing demand and vice versa. Since diff�erent components of

expenditure and revenue can have diff�erenteff�ects on income of diff�erent classes andsocial groups, the Budget also hasimplications for income distribution. Forexample, revenue expenditure such asemployment guarantee schemes or foodsubsidies can directly boost the income ofthe poor. Concession in corporate tax maydirectly and positively aff�ect corporateincomes. Though both a rise in expenditurefor employment guarantee schemes orreduction in the corporate tax would widenthe fi�scal defi�cit, its implications for incomedistribution would be diff�erent.

What are fi�scal rules and how do theyaff�ect policy?Fiscal rules provide specifi�c policy targets onthe basis of which fi�scal policy is formed.Policy targets can be met by using diff�erentpolicy instruments. There exists no uniquefi�scal rule that is applied to all countries.Rather, policy targets are sensitive to thenature of economic theory and depend onthe specifi�city of an economy.

In India’s case, its present fi�scal rule isguided by the recommendations of the N.K.Singh Committee Report. Allowing for somedeviations under exceptional times, it hasthree policy targets — maintaining a specifi�clevel of debtGDP ratio (stock target), fi�scaldefi�citGDP ratio (fl�ow target) and revenue

defi�citGDP ratio (composition target). Though both expenditure and revenue

receipts can potentially act as policyinstruments to meet a specifi�c set of fi�scalrules, tax rates within the existing policyframework happen to be determinedindependent of the expenditurerequirement of the economy. Accordingly, inthe present institutional framework in India,it is primarily the expenditure which isadjusted to meet the fi�scal rules at giventaxratios. Such an adjustment mechanismhas at least two related, but analyticallydistinct, implications for fi�scal policy. First,independent of the extent of expenditureneeded to stimulate the economy or boostlabour income, existing fi�scal rules provide acap on expenditure by imposing the threepolicy targets. Second, under any situationwhen the debtratio or defi�cit ratio is greaterthan the targeted level, expenditure isadjusted in order to meet the policy targets.By implication, independent of the state ofthe economy and the need for expansionaryfi�scal policy, existing policy targets may leadthe Government to reduce expenditure. Inthe midst of the inadequacies of fi�scal policyto address the contemporary challenges ofunemployment and low output growth rate,the nature and objective of fi�scal rules inIndia would have to be reexamined.

Zico Dasgupta is an Assistant Professor atthe School of Arts and Science, Azim PremjiUniversity, Bengaluru

EXPLAINER

How does the Budget aff�ect economy and growth? In a pandemic year, is fi�scal policy tuned to addressing contemporary challenges ofunemployment and low output growth rate?

Understanding the Budget formulation

THE GISTB There are three majorcomponents of the Budget—expenditure, receipts anddefi�cit indicators. Dependingon the manner in whichthey are defi�ned, there canbe many classifi�cations andindicators of expenditure,receipts and defi�cits. Totalexpenditure can be furtherbe divided into capital andrevenue expenditure.Similarly, the receipts of theGovernment also have threecomponents —revenuereceipts, nondebt capitalreceipts and debtcreatingcapital receipts while fi�scaldefi�cit means the diff�erencebetween total expenditureand the sum of revenuereceipts and nondebtreceipts.

B Since diff�erentcomponents of expenditureand revenue can havediff�erent eff�ects on incomeof diff�erent classes andsocial groups, the Budgethas implications for incomedistribution as well.

B In India the fi�scal rule isguided by therecommendations of theN.K. Singh CommitteeReport. Allowing for somedeviations under exceptionaltimes, it has three policytargets —maintaining aspecifi�c level of debtGDPratio (stock target), fi�scaldefi�citGDP ratio (fl�owtarget) and revenuedefi�citGDP ratio(composition target).

Zico Dasgupta

The story so far: Stock markets acrossthe world are witnessing a signifi�cant fallas it becomes increasingly clear that theU.S. Federal Reserve will raise interestrates to contain rising prices. U.S. FederalReserve chairman Jay Powell onWednesday struck a hawkish tone bystating that the American central bankwill begin raising interest rates as soon asMarch this year. Stocks have been fallingfor a while now with the S&P 500 downalmost 10% from its alltime high hitearlier this month and India’s Nifty 50index down about 7% from its mostrecent high. Bond yields, on the otherhand, have risen as speculators expectcentral banks to reduce the liquiditysupport that they off�er to bond markets.

What do rising interest rates mean?Central banks such as the U.S. FederalReserve, the European Central Bank, theReserve Bank of India and othersconstantly infl�uence interest rates byregulating money supply. When centralbanks are willing to fl�ood the creditmarket with plenty of money, this causesthe overall demand for creditinstruments like bonds (which representa claim over future cash fl�ows) to rise as

speculators bid up the price of bonds inthe expectation that central banks willlap up these bonds eventually. The rise inthe price of bonds causes their yields (orinterest rates) to fall. In Europe, forinstance, speculators were willing to paymore money than the future cash fl�owsthat they were entitled to receive frombonds, thus pushing yields into negativeterritory; these speculators expected theECB to buy up these bonds. The U.S.

Federal Reserve has also been a majordeterminant of interest rates in theAmerican mortgage market through itsbond purchase programme namedquantitative easing. When central banks,on the other hand, contract moneysupply or slow down the pace at whichthey create fresh money, this can lead toa fall in liquidity in the credit market andconsequently lead to a drop in thespeculative demand for bonds and other

credit products like short term loans. As aresult, the prices of these instrumentsdrop and their yields (or interest rates)rise.

Why are stocks falling as interestrates rise?Stock prices and bond yields areinversely related. As bond yields rise,stock prices fall; and as bond yields fall,stock prices rise. This is because, wheninterest rates (or yields) on saferinvestments like bonds fall for instance,more investors would be willing to dabblein stocks. For example, if interest rates onbonds were to drop from 5% to 1%, thiswould persuade investors requiring aminimum return on investment ofanything between 1% to 5% to desertbonds and move into stocks in whichthey hope to make higher returns byassuming greater risk. This processbasically leads to future cash fl�ows fromstocks being discounted at lower ratesthan before, thus causing stock prices torise. Conversely, when interest rates rise,this can cause future cash fl�ows fromstocks to be discounted at higher rates,causing stock prices to fall as a result. So,it is possible that the recent fall in stocksis due to speculators pricing in higherinterest rates.

What lies ahead?If central banks were to withdraw thesupport they have off�ered to creditmarkets and allow interest rates to rise,this should mean that stock prices willfall. However, it should be noted thatmarkets can be overvalued orundervalued when compared to theirfundamentals for long stretches of time.

Further, there are other variables suchas earnings expectations that infl�uencestock prices. Stocks may also consolidateat high prices for a long time untilearnings catch up to justify the highprices.

So, at the end of the day, the technicalforces of demand and supply maydetermine trends in stock prices in theshort run. At the moment, it seems likethe S&P 500 has found some support atthe 4,300 level while the Nifty could fi�ndfurther support at 16,600.

Rising interest rates can also wreakhavoc on the economy as there could bethe need for widespread reallocation ofgoods and services across the economy toadjust to higher interest rates. Forexample, business projects that seemedto make sense when interest rates werelow and liquidity was abundant may needto be abandoned in favour of other, moreviable projects.

The stock markets’ recent downturn across the worldAre stock prices and bond yields inversely related? Why is the U.S Federal Reserve increasing interest rates?

EXPLAINER

Prashanth Perumal

THE GISTB Stock markets across theworld are witnessing asignifi�cant fall as the U.S.Federal Reserve prepares toraise interest rates to containrising prices.

B When central banks arewilling to fl�ood the creditmarket with plenty of money,this causes the demand forcredit instruments like bondsto rise as speculators bid upthe price of bonds in theexpectation that centralbanks will lap up these bondseventually. The rise in theprice of bonds causes theirinterest rates to fall.

B When interest rates onsafer investments like bondsfall, more investors would bewilling to dabble in stocks.

* REUTERS

Pace drops

5.4In lakh, the sevenday

rolling average of daily

COVID19 vaccination

doses administered in the

country on January 27. The

average daily rate has declined

consistently over the past few days. It

peaked at 8.9 lakh on January 9 and

has been on a downward trend since

then. Of the country’s 15+ population,

91% have received at least one dose

while 68% have been inoculated with

both doses. Of the 1517 population,

59% have received at least one dose. A

total of 163.84 crore doses have been

administered in the country.

Hunger deaths

5,000The number of

deaths that

occurred in

Ethiopia’s Tigray

region due to

hunger and disease related to the

blockade, according to the region’s

health bureau. This count includes 350

young children. “Deaths are alarmingly

increasing,” including from easily

preventable diseases like rabies as

medicines run out or expire, the head

of Tigray’s health bureau, Hagos

Godefay, told The Associated Press late

last year as the findings were being

compiled. AP

New species

224The number of new

species of plants and

vertebrate animals

discovered across the

greater Mekong region in

2020, according to a WWF report. The

region includes Myanmar, Thailand,

Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The finds

include a new primate, a colourless

cavefish and an iridescent snake with

an unusual nonoverlapping pattern of

scales. The Mekong region is home to

some of the world’s most impressive —

and most endangered — species

including the tiger, the Asian elephant

and the Mekong giant catfish. AFP

Legend of the game

15The number of Grand Slam

singles titles won by

Australia’s Dylan Alcott, the

world’s most successsful quad

tennis player. A prominent

disability advocate, Alcott bowed out

of competitive tennis after losing the

Australian Open final on Thursday. He

also has eight Grand Slam doubles

titles to his name. In 2021, Alcott made

history by winning all four quad singles

majors and the Paralympics gold in the

same year. He has won the Australian

Open seven times, the French Open

and the U.S. Open thrice each and the

Wimbledon twice. AFP

Transfer of power

26In percentage, the market

share of the Tata Group in the

Indian domestic aviation

sector after it took over the

reins of Air India on Thursday.

The Tatas already have a 51% stake in

Vistara and 84% stake in Air Asia. In

October 2021, a Tata Sons subsidiary,

Talace Pvt. Ltd., won the bid for the

former national carrier after quoting an

enterprise value of ₹�18,000 crore as

part of a disinvestment process

undertaken by the Government. The

company will own 100% stake in Air

India and the airline’s international

lowcost arm Air India Express.

compiled by the hindu data team

CMYK

S ND-NDE

friday, january 28, 2022

| II



actually happened. “Whether or not it is the Truth is no longer

relevant. The point is that it will become theTruth,” writes Arundhati Roy in her incensedcriticism of Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen, whichis based on the life of Phoolan Devi. If Kurup drewthe complaints of glamorising an infamouscriminal, Roy lambasts Kapur for tarnishing thecomplex life story of a lowcaste rural woman,who became an outlaw and, later, a Member ofParliament.

Shoojit Sircar, who made Sardar Udham — atenebrous retelling of Udham Singh’s story —told The Hindu how he handled the problem ofgetting the factfi�ction balance right. “Forexample, what he [Udham Singh] wore on aparticular day can vary. But his sensibilities, hismorals and values, and his philosophy must notbe wrong.”

Some fi�lmmakers distance the fi�lm from thereallife subject by calling it an “inspired story”rather than a biopic. ManiRatnam’s Nayakan, Iruvar, and Guru, forinstance, were loosely based on reallifepersonalities. But they did not claim to be biopics.“[The distancing] gives you the liberty to look atthe theme, and not just focus on soandso didthis to soandso,” he says in thebook, Conversations With Mani Ratnam. “You getaway from the minor details of factual things andgo only into the titbits that are thematicallynecessary. It liberates you from ‘oh, he was neverlike this, he was like that.’”

Though Kurup tweaks the names of people anda few places, it does not adequately distance itselffrom the actual story of Sukumara Kurup. Hence,it cannot be absolved of obfuscating the truth.

The rewards are greater than the risksBiopics are a risky busines because there is ameasuring stick available to the audience. Are theimportant events of the person’s life adequatelycovered? Are the costumes and environmentauthentic? Does the actor look like the reallifesubject? A.L. Vijay’s biopic of J.Jayalalithaa, Thalaivi, was criticised for castingKangana Ranaut in the lead role.

Since a biopic has to be familiar and novel,there are so many ways it could backfi�re.Regardless of these risks, however, fi�lmmakersand actors in India and Hollywood readily jumponto the biopic bandwagon. What explains thisfatal attraction?’

For the actors, especially in Hollywood, it is atriedandtested route to glory. Since 2000, 11 ofthe Academy Awards for best actor and 10 for bestactress have been awarded for reallife portrayals.This year too, the frontrunners include Will Smithfor playing Richard Williams, the father and coach

Biopics: Treading the fi�ne line

“Even the most interesting person – if you aretelling their life from beginning to end, it’s goingto be a f***ing boring movie.” This is whatQuentin Tarantino says of biopics, which is one ofthe two genres he dislikes. Srinath Rajendran’s Kurup, which is based onKerala’s most popular fugitive, Sukumara Kurup,did not cause boredom. It is a stylishly madecrime drama, with its lead, Dulquer Salmaan,playing the eponymous protagonist with dazzlingcharisma and swagger. But therein lies the issuewith Kurup. Is it okay to glorify a reallife criminalon screen for the sake of entertainment?

For those of you unaware of the SukumaraKurup story, he murdered a man to pull off� aninsurance fraud and got away. This happened in1984. His continued evasion from the policeslowly seared his name into Kerala’s pop culture.

Kurup, in fact, is not the fi�rst fi�lm based on thenotorious criminal. Baby’s NH47 was released thesame year of Kurup’s crime. AdoorGopalakrishnan, then, revisited it in his 2016fi�lm, Pinneyum, starring Dileep.

All three fi�lms fi�ctionalise the Kurup story invarying degrees. For instance, the names ofpeople and places are altered, butwhere Kurup stands out from the other two fi�lmsis in the treatment of its protagonist. In NH47, theKurup character (named Sudhakara Pilla) getsstoned to death by the public. The onscreen mobjustice perhaps partially alleviated people’sstillfresh anger of him getting away.

Pinneyum, which came three decades later,punishes its protagonist (named PurusothamanNair) with a tortured soul, and the fi�lm ends withhis suicide note.

In Kurup, the titular character (namedSudhakara Kurup) gets away. Of course, this iswhat happened in real life but the escape isromanticised. A song, earlier in the fi�lm, calls himan ‘antharvaahini’ (a submarine) – something thatcan move around without being spotted. The fi�lmends with him throwing a menacing look at thecamera (also with the hint of a sequel). Instead ofsaying, ‘Kurup managed to run away,’ the fi�lm tellsus ‘Kurup can never be caught’.

Fact and fi�ctionBiopics, especially about controversial fi�gures,can be a walk across a minefi�eld. On the onehand, the makers cannot go for a chronologicalretelling of events lest it would make for “a f***ingboring movie”. On the other hand, they cannottamper too much with the facts. Because,regardless of the cursory disclaimers about thefi�ctionalisation of events, the fi�lm can misleadmany into believing that what is depicted is what

of tennis legends Venus and Serena, in KingRichard, and Kirsten Stewart for playing the latePrincess Diana in Spencer.

For the makers, a biopic is easily marketable.Unlike other genres, it has a true story, a historicalsetting, and an aura of grandeur. With a biopic,you are not merely watching a fi�lm, you arerevisiting history. It also has a famous personplaying another famous person. In the cases ofcontroversial biopics, this can be problematic.

The star conundrumEven if we discount the aggrandising backgroundscore and the snappy lines the Kurup charactergets in the fi�lm, Dulquer Salmaan’s mere presencemakes it diffi�cult to dislike the character.

Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, starringDenzel Washington, has the same problem. Thefi�lm narrates the story of Frank Lucas, a blackman who, at one point, was one of Harlem’s mostnotorious drug lords. Even if Washington, whoplays Lucas, did not want to glorify him, hischarisma makes the character likeable.

Martin Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street, a biopicof former stockbroker and convicted felon JordanBelfort, is another fi�lm that suff�ers from this starsyndrome. When Leonardo Di Caprio plays thecocky, cashswindling, and cocainesnortingBelfort, the character’s actions, albeitunscrupulous, appear attractive. When a starplays a reprehensible reallife person, either theirlikeability reduces the reprehensibility of thatperson or the makers of the fi�lm intentionallyreduce it so that it does not aff�ect the star’slikeability. Hence, casting a wellknown star forsuch biopics can be a doubleedged sword.

When a criminal gets a heroic portrayal onscreen, one essential question that arises is: “Howwould his victim and/or his family feel?”In Kurup’s case, Jithin, the son of Chacko (theman who Kurup murdered in real life), vindicatedthe fi�lm. “Once I watched it, I understood thatthere was more to the story than I had heard allthis while and it was important that it reached thepeople. There was no glorifi�cation of the man whokilled my father,” he told The News Minute.Despite Jithin’s statement and the fi�lmmaker’sdenial of glorifying the titular character, there areseveral instances in Kurup where you areinevitably drawn towards him. The fi�rst time wesee him, for example, the camera shows his legs,his back, and only then, his face — with peppypercussion and synth guitar sounds in thebackground. Throughout the fi�lm, he is shown assmart, suave, and charming. He gets punchlineslike, ‘From now on, the police aren’t after Kurup;Kurup is after the police’.

In other words, Kurup is more attractive thanaversive.

IN THE LIMELIGHT

Biopics, especially about controversial fi�gures, can sometimes end up glorifyingproblematic characters for the sake of entertainment

THE GISTB Biopics, especially aboutcontroversial fi�gures, can bea walk across a minefi�eld.On the one hand, themakers cannot go for achronological retelling ofevents lest it would makefor a very dull movie. Onthe other, they cannottamper too much with thefacts for regardless of thecursory disclaimers aboutthe fi�ctionalisation ofevents, the fi�lm can misleadmany into believing thatwhat is depicted is whatactually happened. This iswhy some fi�lmmakersdistance the fi�lm from thereallife subject by calling itan “inspired story” ratherthan a biopic.

B For actors biopics are atriedandtested route toglory. Since 2000, 11 of theAcademy Awards for bestactor and 10 for bestactress have been awardedfor reallife portrayals. Forthe makers, a biopic is easilymarketable. It has a truestory, a historical setting,and an aura of grandeur.With a biopic, you are notmerely watching a fi�lm, youare revisiting history.

B When a star plays areprehensible reallifeperson, either theirlikeability reduces thereprehensibility of thatperson or the makers of thefi�lm intentionally reduce itso that it does not aff�ectthe star’s likeability.

Praveen Sudevan

An ambivalent hero: A still from Kurup starring Dulquer Salmaan.

“Good evening, sir.” “Good evening.” “Sorry sir. I was detained by my brotherin

laws who were discussing about their problems.”

“Well, everyone has their problems.” “Excuse me, sir. I have read that everyone

should be followed by his or her. But youhave used their. I am a little confused.” “

You are right. In formal writing andspeech, it is followed by his/her. Their is usedin informal contexts. This is to avoid sayinghis or her. Examples:

Everyone has to do their duty. Everybody started waving their handker-

chiefs. It is not wrong to say his or her after eve

ryone or everybody. However, in contemporary English, after everyone, everybody theplural pronoun is generally used except informal contexts. You will fi�nd a discussion ofthis in Fowler’s A Dictionary of Modern En-glish Usage (2 edition). About the use of his orher, the dictionary says: “It is correct and issometimes necessary; but it is so clumsy as tobe ridiculous except when explicrtness is urgent, and it usually sounds like a bit of pedantic humour.” I hope I have made myself clear.”

“Yes sir.” “By the way, the plural of brotherinlaw is

brothersinlaw. So also mothersinlaw, fathersinlaw, sistersinlaw, daughtersinlaw,sonsinlaw, etc. Also you discuss a problem,you discuss a subject. You don’t discuss abouta problem or subject. ‘Discuss’ is not followed by ‘about’. However, you can say Therewas a discussion about it. There can be a discussion about something. You don’t discussabout it. I discussed the matter. There was adiscussion about the matter. I hope youunderstand.”

“Yes sir.” Thank you, sir. What’s the diff�erence between ‘delicious’ and ‘delightful’,sir?”

“’Delightful’, by and large, relates to thestate of mind. ‘Delicious’ relates to one of thesenses, especially those of taste and smell. Itis a delightful place. He is a delightful person.But a ‘dish’ is delicious, not delightful. Yourperfume is delicious. A joke may also be‘delicious’.”

“It is high time that I go, sir. I have to takemy father to a doctor. He has pain in the backside.”

“I hope you are not using ‘backside’ in thesense of ‘back’. ‘Backside’ is the part of thebody on which you sit. You lie on your backand not on your backside. Any further, strainwill make your back ache. Other examples:

What is going on at the back of yourhouse?

Sit at the back. There is a garden at the back of his house. Go to the back of the bus. Also, you don’t say, “It is high time that I

go”. High time means ‘time beyond the proper time but before it is too late’. It should be,“It is high time that I went”. Other examples:

It is high time he became punctual.It is high time he went home. It is high time we started the meeting. The verb should be in the past tense. You

notice that the verbs in the examples arewent, became and started. I hope you understand.”

“Yes sir. Thank you sir. Goodbye.”“Goodbye.”

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Know yourEnglish

Please send in your answers to [email protected]

Answers to the previous day’s daily quiz: 1.Harpsichord, 2. Miserere by Gregorio Allegri, 3.Written when he was 11, it is considered Mozart’sfi�rst true opera, 4. Franz Mesmer, 5. Marriage ofFigaro, 6. Prague and Jupiter, 7. It stands for(Ludwig van) Kochel, who painstakingly cataloguedthe master’s works in the 1860s, 8. Antonio Salieri,9. Peter Schaff�er, 10. Symphony No. 40 in G minor,K. 550, 11. Franz Joseph Haydn.

Early Birds: Pooja Khyalia| Sriraam Kalingrayar|Mahmood Lebbai| Prabal Rakshit| SubhashminMoharana.

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THE DAILY QUIZ

Cryptocurrency has been the subject of heated debate in our country and beyond. Test your knowledge on thecrypto world through this quiz.

1 What is the smallest unit of ether — thecryptocurrency coin used on the Ethereum

network?

2 In which year was the genesis block of Bitcoincreated?

3 In terms of self declared crypto wealth, who isbelieved to be the richest currently? This

person has joined the ranks of the world’s topbillionaires, with an estimated net worth of $95billion.

4 What is the offi�cial name of the latest upgradein Ethereum which was released last year?

5 Crypto has been called a revolution as it is notin the control of an centralised entity. Keeping

this in mind, what does “De Fi” in crypto assetsexpand as?

F What is the signifi�cance of this image ? Hint:Sotheby’s in New York.

Compiled by: Venkataraghavan Srinivasan

For feedback and suggestions forText & Context, please write [email protected] with thesubject ‘Text & Context’

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