friday, december 10, 2021 DELHI - Sosin Classes

CMYK

J ND-NDE

friday, december 10, 2021 DELHI

City Edition

16 pages O ₹�10.00

Printed at . Chennai . Coimbatore . Bengaluru . Hyderabad . Madurai . Noida . Visakhapatnam . Thiruvananthapuram . Kochi . Vijayawada . Mangaluru . Tiruchirapalli . Kolkata . Hubballi . Mohali . Malappuram . Mumbai . Tirupati . lucknow . cuttack . patna

follow us:

thehindu.com

facebook.com/thehindu

twitter.com/the_hindu

instagram.com/the_hindu

CMYK

J ND-NDE

DELHI THE HINDU

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2021J2EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CMYK

M ND-NDE

friday, december 10, 2021 Delhi

City Edition

16 pages O ₹�10.00

Printed at . Chennai . Coimbatore . Bengaluru . Hyderabad . Madurai . Noida . Visakhapatnam . Thiruvananthapuram . Kochi . Vijayawada . Mangaluru . Tiruchirapalli . Kolkata . Hubballi . Mohali . Malappuram . Mumbai . Tirupati . lucknow . cuttack . patna

follow us:

thehindu.com




Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday eveningpaid last respects to Chief ofDefence Staff� (CDS) GeneralBipin Rawat, wife and 11 defence personnel who werekilled in the Mi17V5 helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu. Hewas joined by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Ministerof State for Defence AjayBhatt, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the threeService Chiefs at the PalamAir Base.

Earlier, the Defence Minister informed Parliament thatthe Indian Air Force (IAF)had ordered a triservice inquiry headed by Air MarshalManvendra Singh, Air Offi�cerCommandinginChief,Training Command, to investigate the crash.

The mortal remains weremoved by road from Wellington to Sulur around noonsince the weather was notappropriate for air operations and from there werefl�own in an IAF C130J transport aircraft to Delhi.

The mortal remains ofGen. Rawat will be kept at his

residence on Friday morning for members of the public to pay their respects andwill be moved to the BrarSquare Crematorium around2 p.m., Army offi�cials said.

Identifi�cation processA defence offi�cial said the severity of air crash has led todiffi�culty in positive identifi�cation of mortal remains.“All possible measures arebeing taken for positive identifi�cation considering thesensitivities and emotionalwellbeing of the lovedones,” the offi�cial said.

Positive identifi�cation of

only three mortal remainswas possible till evening(Gen. Bipin Rawat, Madhulika Rawat and Brig. L.S. Lidder). Offi�cials said their mortal remains will be released tothe next of kin, for fi�nal rites.

Process for positive identifi�cation of the remainingmortal remains is continuing, the offi�cial said adding,the remains will be kept atthe mortuary of the ArmyBase Hospital till the completion of positive identifi�cationformalities.

India pays homage to fi�rst CDS,wife and 11 other crash victimsIAF has ordered a triservice inquiry into the accident, Rajnath tells Parliament

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI

Grieving nation: PM Narendra Modi paying tributes to CDSGen. Bipin Rawat, 12 others in New Delhi. * SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

The Cockpit VoiceRecorder and Flight DataRecorder of the IAFchopper that crashed withCDS Gen. Bipin Rawat andothers were recovered onThursday. A page 8

‘Black box’recovered

Amid foggy weather,investigators of the IAFand the Tamil Nadu policeon Thursday fl�ew dronesat the site of the helicoptercrash in Coonoor lookingfor evidence. A page 8

Drones lookfor evidence

Group Captain VarunSingh, the lone survivor inthe IAF Mi17V5 crash, wasairlifted to Bengaluru onThursday for intensivetreatment. A page 8

Survivor sentto Bengaluru

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The thousands of farmerscamped out on the bordersof Delhi for over a year willstart returning home on Saturday, with victory rallies tocelebrate the achievementof most of their major goals.On Thursday, the SamyuktKisan Morcha (SKM), a coalition of unions spearheadingthe protests, called off� theagitation, accepting the Central Government’s latest off�er to resolve their pendingdemands.

However, the political rewards the ruling BJP mayhave expected in concedingthe farmers’ demands remain uncertain given theconfl�icting opinions on theSKM’s approach towards theAssembly elections in UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand.Rakesh Tikait, the unions’best known face in U.P., toldThe Hindu a decision onwhether or not to campaignagainst the BJP would be taken at the SKM’s next meeting on January 15.

That meeting is meant toreview whether the Government has kept its promisesto unconditionally withdraw

cases fi�led against protesters, provide compensationfor the kin of farmers whodied at the protests, andform a panel to ensure thatall farmers can sell their produce at remunerative minimum support prices (MSP).

“This is a historic victoryfor Indian farmers after ahistoric movement both interms of size as well as theunity and peaceful nature ofthe protest,” All India KisanSabha (AIKS) leader HannanMollah said. “After the repeal of the farm laws lastmonth, and today’s proposalfrom the Government on theremaining demands, I feelwe have achieved 95% of the

SKM’s demands,” KrantikariKisan Union leader DarshanPal said.

Victory celebrations havebeen scheduled for Saturday, out of respect for thecremation of Gen. Bipin Rawat on Friday. At the Singhuborder site, a number offarmers have already begunpacking up their temporaryaccommodations, althoughU.P. leader Rakesh Tikaitsaid it could take a while forall protesters to vacate theprotest sites, especially inhis Ghazipur stronghold.

Farmers declare victory, tostart vacating protest sites No decision yet on SKM campaign against BJP in U.P. polls

Priscilla Jebaraj

NEW DELHI

Joy returns: Farmers celebrating at the Singhu border afterending their protest on Thursday. * SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

The Govind Ballabh PantSocial Science Institute(GBPSSI), a constituent ofthe Allahabad University inPrayagraj, is facing a stormfor allegedly leaving postsdesignated for the OtherBackward Classes (OBC)vacant under the “NoneFound Suitable” (NFS) category in its latest recruitment drive for teachers.

After two law studentsfrom the Tata Institute ofSocial Sciences, Mumbai,and Delhi University complained to the NationalCommission for BackwardClasses of alleged irregularities in appointments atGBPSSI, the panel issued anotice to the institute onWednesday seeking detailsof recruitment.

GBPSSI director BadriNarayan Tiwari, however,denied the charges of casteism and bias, saying thelist with NFS placed againstOBC posts was an “unfortunate coincidence” but notmalicious. A “special drivein mission mode” was being initiated to advertisethe “backlog positions ofOBC”, Mr. Tiwari said.

U.P. institutedraws ire overOBC vacanciesOmar Rashid

LUCKNOW

The Gujarat High Court onThursday reprimanded theAhmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) for seizingfood stalls selling nonvegetarian food in the city, andasked the civic body how itcould stop people from eating what they wanted.

The High Court was hearing a plea by a number of petitioners whose carts sellingnonvegetarian food itemswere seized by the AMC recently. The vendors includedthose selling nonvegetarianfood, eggs and vegetables.

The court disposed of thepetition fi�led by over 20street vendors challengingthe AMC’s drive to removefood kiosks along the mainroads in the city.

‘Will expedite hearing’The court directed the AMCthat if the petitioners approached it [the High Court]within 24 hours to releasetheir seized goods, “basedon the policy and in accordance with law, their casesshall be considered as expeditiously as possible”.

Justice Biren Vaishnavrapped the civic body, asking

whether it would decidewhat people should eat outside. “What seems to be theproblem? You don’t like nonveg food? That’s your lookout. How can you decidewhat I should eat outside?It’s always the convenienceof the respondents. How canyou stop people from eatingwhat they want? [Is it] suddenly because somebody inpower thinks that this iswhat they want to do?” Justice Vaishnav asked thecounsel representing the civic body. “Tomorrow, you willdecide what I should eat outside the house?”

He also asked if only nonvegetarian food vendorswere being singled out. TheAMC has been contendingthat the drive was not meantto target such vendors but toremove encroachments.

Civic bodies in other citiestoo such as Vadodara, Rajkot, Junagadh and Jamnagarhad recently launched a similar drive. This came afterGujarat Revenue MinisterRajendra Trivedi and somemunicipal councillors fromthe ruling BJP publicly statedthat selling nonvegetarianfood on the roads “hurt thesentiments” of Hindus.

Gujarat HC fl�ays closure of nonveg food stallsCourt asks Ahmedabad civic body how it can stop people from eating what they wantSpecial Correspondent

Ahmedabad

For Naga talks, AFSPAmust go: NSCN (I-M)GUWAHATI

The Isak-Muivah faction of

the National Socialist Council

of Nagaland, or NSCN (I-M),

has said the “Indo-Naga”

political talks will not be

meaningful under the

shadow of the Armed Forces

(Special Powers) Act, 1958.

NEWS A PAGE 9

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

IN BRIEF

Sudha Bharadwaj out on bail from Byculla jailMUMBAI

Human rights lawyer

and trade unionist Sudha

Bharadwaj was released on

Thursday from Byculla jail

after spending over three

years in prison in connection

with the Bhima-Koregaon

caste violence case of 2018.

NEWS A PAGE 8


BJP MP pitches forMathura templeNEW DELHI

Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh

Assembly election in early

2022, BJP MP Harnath Singh

Yadav on Thursday called for

the repeal of the Places of

Worship Act to construct a

Krishna temple in Mathura.

NEWS A PAGE 9


FARMERS TO TAKE HOME

SINGHU MEMORIES A PAGE 2SEE ALSO A PAGE 3

CMYK

M ND-NDE

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 20212EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CITY

The song and dance hadstarted the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of thethree farm laws but the roarof “Jo Bole So Nihal... Sat SriAkal” was loudest on Thursday when a speaker announced from the main stageat the Singhu border that alltheir demands have been accepted and they will leave fortheir homes on Saturday.Farmers camping at the protest site for the last 378 daysbroke into a celebratorydance as beats of drumsplayed in the background.

Removing the tarpaulinfrom his makeshift accommodation, Kuldeep Singh,40, a farmer from Patiala,said he will miss the place alot but is happy to returnhome. “Who could have imagined seeing so many trucksand trolleys and fl�ags together at one place. I will missthis the most,” he said.

“I am upset,” said GandhiVir Bhan from Haryana’sKaithal, trying hard to hidehis smile. “Free main za-meen mil gayi thi Delhi mein.Ab chhorni padegi (We hadgot free land to stay in Delhi.Now we will have to leave

that),” he laughed with hispeers. “It’s been a remarkable one year and probablythe most memorable one ofour lives,” he said.

Life Care Foundation Hospital, which has treated thousands of people at the protestsite in the last one year, willwrap up once all the farmersleave, said Avtar Singh, theman running the hospital.“We’ll go back with fanfare.There will be DJs on ‘KisanExpress’ and ‘Kisan Metro’(trucks named so as they ferried protesters to the mainstage),” said Mr. Avtar.

The legacy of the hospitaland Jangi Kitab Library —

which have been a permanent feature at the site— willbe memorialised at Cholangvillage in Jalandhar where afarmer has reportedly offered land for the memorial.“The replicas will be installed and every year, on November 26, we will gatherthere,” he said.

Looking back, Mr. Avtarsaid not only farmers, but also the local residents had became the hospital’s regularpatients. “We lost a little over700 people during the protest. The numbers may havegone up drastically if not forthe hospital.”

According to Mr. Avtar, the

protest was a success because of the elderly whodidn’t budge. “If they wouldhave given up and left because of circumstantial reasons, the protest would havefallen apart.”

It was this protest thatmade Jagdev Singh, 55, fromBarnala pick up his cameraagain after 20 years. Sharinghis story, Mr. Jagdev said hewas a wedding photographerfor 10 years before he metwith an accident and injuredhis leg. He quit photographyand became a fulltime farmer. “A year ago, when I camefor the protest, I picked upmy camera again and I don’t

think I’ll stop now,” he said.The protest has also given

lifelong friendships to many.Jagtar Singh, 22, from Sangrur hugged his friend Jagmeher Singh, 47, from Patialaas he said: “We have becomelifetime friends here. I know Ihave someone for me in Patiala and he knows he has mein Snagrur.”

Mixed emotionsAs the protest comes to anend, the street vendors at thesite are upset, while the shopowners in the vicinity arehappy. Ramvir Singh, whohad been setting up his stallat the Singhu border for ayear now, said he and his family ate all the meals at thesite and his business had alsobeen going well. “I’ll now goback to the junction about akm from here and see how itgoes there,” he said.

Naresh Kumar, 42, a grocery store owner at Kundlijunction, said his shop hadbeen shut for over a year dueto the protest and he is hoping to to revive his businessnow. “People lost their money and livelihood. Manyshopkeepers left permanently because they couldn’t afford the rent. Now, there’ssome hope,” he said.

Farmers to take home Singhu memoriesProtesters to vacate site tomorrow; promise to build memorials of hospital, library in Jalandhar village

Hemani Bhandari

NEW DELHI

Time to wrap up: Farmers dismantling tents at the Singhu border on Thursday. * SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Following repeal of the threefarm laws, the BJP’s hope ofretaining sway over the Capital’s civic bodies hinges largely on its performance inUttar Pradesh, the Aam Aadmi Party’s success or lackthereof in Punjab and a routine electoral exercise inDelhi.

According to party sources, its dented public perception following the repeal ofthe three “black laws” is asdependent on poll results inthe neighbouring States as itis on the rotation of municipal wards in Delhi which isscheduled early next year.

Sources said this rotationwill come in handy in avoiding bad press the partyusually generates wheneverit announces replacement ofsitting leaders to combat antiincumbency as part of aconsidered and successfullytested strategy.

“Electoral success, theparty has observed time andagain is contagious. Howwell we win in Uttar Pradeshand how badly the AAP faresin Punjab will be signifi�cant

factors for the Delhi municipal elections,” a party leadersaid.

Ward rotation“Between January and February next year, civic wardswill be rotated, which willhelp the party escape theslight negativity with whichvoters view the replacementof sitting civic body leadersas a sly ploy to counter antiincumbency,” another leader said.

Responding to the notionof a possible delimitationprocess, an offi�cial at the Delhi’s State Election Commission said, “There will be nodelimitation exercise prior tothe civic elections.”

“There will be a reservation of wards which will bedone based on the fi�guresfrom the census of 2011. Reservation of seats in wards,for women, SC/ST, will bebased on the census of 2011,”said a senior offi�cial.

“There will be rotationalreservation which meansthat if a seat was previouslyreserved for women candidates, then it is likely that theseat might be reserved inanother category but there

might be some repetitions aswell,” the offi�cial said.

East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Standing Committee chairman B.S. Panwarsaid the rotational revision ofthe seats “will not aff�ect ourpolitical prospects”.

‘No benefi�ts’“There is no question ofgaining benefi�ts because it’san exercise that is conductedby the State Election Commission. There have been instances where seats have remained in the same categoryfor many years and then suddenly the repetition stops.But we are not worried abouthaving to change candidatesaccording to the rotations,”said Mr. Panwar.

South Delhi MunicipalCorporation’s Standing Committee chairman B.K. Oberoitoo said that he was doubtfulon whether the rotational exercise would benefi�t the party. However, a senior leadersaid, “We will decide on thequantum and the details ofthe faces who will be replaced based on the resultsof the exercise which willprobably be after the civicpolls in Punjab in February.”

Ward rotation could also help boost its chance in civic polls

Jatin Anand

Muneef Khan

New Delhi

BJP awaits poll outcomes in U.P.,Punjab to play its cards in Delhi

A couple died after a dumpercrashed into their car insouthwest Delhi’s R.K. Puram around midnight onWednesday. Their sixyearold daughter was rescuedsafely, the police said.

According to DCP (SouthWest) Gaurav Sharma, a callabout the accident was received at R.K. Puram policestation around 12 a.m.

A team reached the spotand found that the dumpercarrying stone rodi had hitthe road divider, overturnedand landed on the car, leaving the family stuck inside.

In a threehour rescue operation involving the fi�re bri

gade, the dumper was removed using a hydrauliccrane. The couple, identifi�edas Manish Sharma and hiswife Shipra, and their

daughter were taken to AIIMS. While the parents succumbed to their injuries, thesixyearold has been discharged from the hospital.

The driver of the dumperhas been arrested and hasbeen booked under Sections,including 304A (causingdeath by negligence) and 279(rash driving), of the IndianPenal Code.

Manish worked as a seniorlegal adviser at Jindal Polyfi�lms, while Shipra was a homemaker. They used to livein Noida.

The DCP said that the accident occurred when the carwas trying to overtake thedumper. As a result, the dumper, in order to prevent a collision, changed the lane andhit the divider. “Subsequently, it overturned and fell overthe car, which was right behind it,” the DCP said.

Six-year-old daughter survives the accident in R.K. Puram; dumper driver arrested

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Couple killed after dumper crashes into car

The car that was involved in the accident. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A lowintensity explosion occurred inside a laptop bag ata courtroom on the Rohinicourt premises on Thursday,injuring a naib court, thepolice said.

The incident occurredaround 10.25 a.m. insidecourtroom number 102 onthe fi�rst fl�oor, presided overby Metropolitan MagistratePreetu Raj. The spot was cordoned off� and a forensicteam and the National Security Guard were called in.

During investigation, ablack bag was found lying on

the spot. The naib court,identifi�ed as head constableRajeev, sustained minor injuries and is receiving treatment at a hospital.

The police said that theforensic team collected thedebris for test.

According to a senior police offi�cer, an assembleddevice has been found insidethe bag and it has been sentfor examination. The offi�cersaid that the police are stillascertaining whether it wasan explosive device.

Sources, however, ruledout the angle of gang rivalrybehind the incident and said

that a forensic report of theobject that exploded isawaited.

Meanwhile, lawyerscalled the incident anothercase of security lapse, coming just months after ashootout on the court premises where Delhi gangsterJitender Gogi was shot deadby rival gang members whoposed as lawyers.

Rohini Court Bar Association president Inder SinghSaroha said all the lawyerspractising at the court andthe judges are concerned over the repeated securitylapses.

Low-intensity explosion on Rohinicourt premises leaves one injuredGang rivalry ruled out; lawyers call it another security lapse

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

A Delhi court on Thursdaygranted bail to JawaharlalNehru University PhD scholar Sharjeel Imam in a caserelated to violence on theJamia Millia Islamia campusin December 2019.

The bail was granted bythe court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dinesh Kumar. CMM Kumar said,“Considering the nature ofoff�ence, and the fact that hewas not arrested during investigation, the applicationis allowed.”

Mr. Imam was grantedbail subject to furnishing abail bond of ₹�25,000 withone surety of the likeamount. In the presentcase, he has been bookedunder Sections pertainingto rioting, attempt to commit culpable homicideamong others of the IndianPenal Code.

Mr. Imam will continueto stay in jail because of other cases.

In October, a Delhi courthad dismissed Mr. Imam’sbail in a case where he allegedly delivered infl�ammatory speeches and incitedviolence during the antiCAANRC protests in 2019.

Sharjeel getsbail in Jamiaviolence case

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

The Federation of ResidentDoctors’ Association (FORDA) on Thursday suspendedfor a week its ongoing boycott of work over delay in PGNEET counselling. But resident doctors’ associations(RDA) of some hospitals saidthey will continue their boycott of routine services, except emergency issues.

“A plea was issued by theMinistry of Health and Family Welfare for fasttrackingthe court hearing (related toPG NEET counselling) andwe were assured by the Union Health Minister that theOffi�ce of the Prime Ministeris also looking at the issueand the process will be com

pleted within a week. Considering the above and looking at the security situationof the nation owing to theuntimely demise of [the]Chief of Defence Staff�, General Bipin Rawat, and otherarmy personnel in a tragicaccident yesterday, FORDAhas decided to hold the agitation for a period of 1 weekafter discussing with StateRDA representatives,” FORDA said in a statement.

The Association said thatresident doctors will be resuming all services with immediate eff�ect and in casethe issue of PG NEET counselling is not addressed byDecember 16, they will beforced to call for a completeshutdown of all services ex

cept COVIDrelated duty. But all RDAs have not sus

pended the strike.

‘Only emergency service’“We will be continuing theboycott tomorrow (Friday)also. We have deescalatedthe strike to resume emergency services from tomorrow. However, all nonemergency work will beboycotted,” said Dr. Keshav,president of the RDA ofMaulana Azad Medical College and associatedhospitals.

Dr. Aditya, president ofthe RDA of GTB Hospital,too said they would continue the boycott of routineservices, but doctors will attend emergency work.

Doctors protesting against delay in PG NEET counselling

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

FORDA suspends boycott for aweek; some RDAs to continue stir

The Aam Aadmi Party onThursday alleged that theBJPgoverned North DelhiMunicipal Corporation isplanning to sell 132 plots inSanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar at “throwaway price to fi�llits own pockets”.

AAP MLA Dilip Pandeyclaimed that 94 of these 132plots marked for sale by theBJP were meant for buildinghospitals, toilets and nightshelters for the poor. “Why isthe North MCD going to sell132 plots at throwaway prices? Now that it is certain thatthey [BJP] will be kicked out,they are plundering whatev

er is left after their 15yearlong pillaging to fi�ll theirpockets,” Mr. Pandey said.

The AAP leader said theBJP was selling land whichcould have generated muchneeded revenue. He addedthat the BJP had alreadyhanded over a substantialchunk of land demarcated forbuilding schools and healthcentres to the parking mafi�a.

BJP’s rebuttalDelhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor saidthe party strongly condemned “the daily diatribe ofAAP leaders” against theNorth MCD.

“Today in this series Dilip

Pandey levelled unfoundedallegations regarding plots allocation at Sanjay GandhiTransport Nagar. Same allegations were earlier levelledby Durgesh Pathak and Saurabh Bharadwaj,” Mr. Kapoorsaid. He said if AAP leadersbelieved that there is an irregularity in any property dealof North MCD, then theyshould ask the Delhi Government to order an inquiry.

“Similarly if AAP leadershave even an iota of sympathy for civic employees,then instead of doing lip service they should ask DelhiGovernment to release accumulated municipal funds,”Mr. Kapoor said.

North municipal corporation planningto sell 132 plots at throwaway rates: AAPBJP challenges Govt. to order inquiry into property deals

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Maintain COVID protocolsin Sadar Bazar, says HC NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court has

directed the Commissioner of

Police and the Station House

Officer of Sadar Bazar to

ensure compliance of

COVID-19 protocols by

vendors at the market. It gave

the direction on a plea

highlighting laxity in

enforcement of COVID-19

behaviour in Sadar Bazar by

the local police.

IN BRIEF

EDMC launches projectfor park maintenanceNEW DELHI

East Delhi Municipal

Corporation Commissioner

Vikas Anand on Thursday said

the civic body has launched a

pilot project for maintenance

of parks under its jurisdiction.

Based on the PPP model, it

will allot eight of its parks to

private nursery owners for a

period of five years.

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB)will give an explanation ifthe water bill is more than1.5 times the previous one,Water Minister SatyendarJain said on Thursday.

“The DJB today has revised the billing system.Now your bill cannot bemore than 1.5 times the previous one. If it crosses this,an explanation will be provided to the customer andhe/she can put in grievancefor the same,” Mr. Jain said.He added that the Government has started treatingwastewater coming fromHaryana. “Haryana discharges 15MGD of wastewater in Delhi through drainnumber 6. We have startedtreating this,” he said.

If bill is high,DJB to giveexplanation

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

CMYK

M ND-NDE

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, Director/s, Employees of this newspaper/company be held responsible/liable inany manner whatsoever for any claimsand/or damages for advertisements inthis newspaper.

In a village 50 km from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu districtheadquarters, grieving relatives of Squadron LeaderKuldeep Singh, who was thecopilot of the IAF helicopterthat crashed in Tamil Nadu,and residents were onThursday busy preparing forhis cremation.

Singh’s last rites will beconducted at the MahatmaGandhi Government Schoolground in his GhardanaKhurd village and thousandsare expected to gather to bidhim farewell.

Village sarpanch UmmedSingh Rao said the Education Department has givenits nod for Singh’s cremationat the site. His statue will alsobe installed in the school.

“This is very sad news foreveryone in the village. Assoon as the news of Singh’sdeath was confi�rmed onWednesday evening, his rela

tives started reaching the village,” he said.

“The entire village is engaged in making arrangements for the funeral procession and the cremation," headded.

Mr. Rao said Singh’s fatherhad retired from the Navyand many of his cousinbrothers are also serving indiff�erent arms of the armed

forces.His father and other mem

bers of the family live in Jaipur, while his extended family lives in Ghardana Khurd.

“Singh's father is currently said to be in Delhi,” hesaid.

Chief of Defence Staff�General Bipin Rawat, hiswife Madhulika and 11 otherpeople on board an IAF

MI17 helicopter died onWednesday after it crashednear Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.

Governor condoles deathRajasthan Governor KalrajMishra condoled Singh’sdemise.

“The Governor Kalraj Mishra has condoled the martyrdom of Squadron LeaderKuldeep Rao, resident ofGhardana Khurd, Jhunjhunu, in a helicopter accidentin Tamil Nadu,” an offi�cialstatement said. Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje took to Twitter to pay a tribute to Singh.

“Deeply saddened tolearn that #Rajasthan too haslost a braveheart in the helicopter crash that claimedthe life of CDS #BipinRawat& others. I salute the martyrdom of Squadron LeaderKuldeep Rao, a resident ofGhardana Khurd, Jhunjhunu,” she said.

Co-pilot’s village in Rajasthangets ready to bid him farewellSquadron Leader Kuldeep Singh from Jhunjhunu perished in chopper crash

press trust of india

Jaipur

Remembering the heroes: Students light candles to paytributes to the crash victims in Amritsar on Thursday. * AFP

A pall of gloom descendedon Takdah, a sleepy hamletin West Bengal Darjeelingdistrict, on Thursday as locals learnt about the deathof Havildar Satpal Rai whowas among the 13 peoplekilled in the helicopter crashin Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor.

Rai, who was a native ofTakdah, is survived by wife,a daughter and a son who isalso in the Army.

Rai’s distraught widowsaid that he had last comehome during Deepavali. “He

was supposed to come homein April again and had promised us a vacation to someplace,” she said.

His body is likely to arrivein Takdah on Friday, a neighbour of the Rai family homesaid.

CM expresses griefExpressing deep condolences, Chief Minister MamataBanerjee wrote to Rai’smother. “I sincerely expressmy deepest condolence tothe unfortunate and suddendemise of Late Havildar Satpal Rai due to the helicopter

crash yesterday at Coonoor,Tamil Nadu at the age of only40 years,” an offi�cial statement quoted Ms. Banerjeeas saying.

Rai was in the personal security of Chief of DefenceStaff� General Rawat, shesaid. The Chief Minister saidthat Rai's sacrifi�ce for thecountry will never beforgotten.

“The demise of this braveson of the hills is an irreparable loss. We will always remember the sacrifi�ce of Bengal’s brave son Satpal Rai,”she said.

Wife of Satpal Rai says he last came home on Deepavali


Darjeeling/ Kolkata

‘He promised to take us on vacation’

Dode Sodhian village here issaddened by the death ofNaik Gursewak Singh, whowas killed in the helicoptercrash.

Singh had joined workonly two weeks ago after being on leave.

He is survived by his father Kabal Singh, wife Jaspreet Kaur, daughters Simratdeep Kaur (9), GurleenKaur (7) and son FatehdeepSingh (3), local authoritiessaid.

He also leaves behind fi�vebrothers and two sisters.

Punjab villagemourns losspress trust of india

Tarn Taran

A BJP youth leader died at ahospital in Jharkhand’sEast Singhbhum district onThursday morning after being stabbed with a dagger,police said.

Suraj Kumar Singh, 26,the BJYM general secretaryof the district, succumbedto injuries at the Tata MainHospital here, they said.

He was allegedly stabbedby one Sonu Singh and hisaccomplices on Tuesday inHarharguttu when he wasreturning home, policesaid.

BJP youthleader stabbedin JamshedpurPress Trust of India

Jamshedpur


THE HINDU DELHI

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2021 3EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

STATES

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. 11 ● No. 291

Timings

DELHI

FRIDAY, DEC. 10

RISE 07:03 SET 17:26

RISE 12:24 SET 23:53

SATURDAY, DEC. 11

RISE 07:04 SET 17:26

RISE 12:58 SET 00:00

SUNDAY, DEC. 12

RISE 07:05 SET 17:26

RISE 13:28 SET 00:50

Former convener of the AamAadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab,Sucha Singh Chhotepur onThursday joined the Shiromani Akali Dal ahead of the Assembly polls.

Mr. Chhotepur, who wasAAP’s Punjab convener wasremoved from the post in2016, following which heformed his own political outfi�t —Apna Punjab Party.

Shiromani Akali Dal chiefSukhbir Singh Badal announced that Mr. Chhotepurhas been appointed as a senior vice president of the party and that he would also bethe party’s candidate for theBatala Assembly seat.

“Chhotepur Sahib has always been a champion ofPunjabi pride and has done

the most to expose outsiders’conspiracies to divide the people of the State along communal lines. I have profoundsatisfaction today that thechampion of unity of all Punjabis returns home when I amthe chief sevadar of the party,” said Mr. Badal.

Mr. Chhotepur said thatthe future of Punjab’s unique

cultural identity as well aspeace, progress and prosperity were in danger of being hijacked by a vicious threepronged attack by nonPunjabi invaders, which includethe Congress, the BharatiyaJanta Party and the AAP. “Allthree want to usurp the destiny of Punjab by creating divisions, hatred and misunder

standings not only betweentwo brotherly communities,the Hindus and the Sikhs, butalso by engineering a civil warwithin the Sikh quom,” hesaid.

Hitting out at AAP supremo and Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal, Mr. Chhotepur said the latter was only interested in becoming ChiefMinister himself.

“This is why he sits onstage with Bhagwant Mannand Harpal Cheema andstates that the party is searching for a capable person. Kejriwal hated Punjab and Punjabis from the core of hisheart and heaps contemptand humiliation on everyPunjabi leader in AAP whotries to raise his or her voicein favour of the State,” allegedMr. Chhotepur.

Ex-AAP Punjab convener joins Akali DalSucha Singh Chhotepur will be SAD candidate for the Batala Assembly seat

Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal with Sucha Singh Chhotepur(left) at a press confi�erence in Chandigarh on Thursday. * PTI

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHANDIGARH

The Jannayak Janta Party( JJP), the junior partner inthe ruling coalition in Haryana, on Thursday sentout a political message hinting at its intentions to expand beyond its bastion byholding a rally in South Haryana’s Jhajjar district, thestronghold of former ChiefMinister Bhupinder SinghHooda.

The supporters at the rally, which coincided with itsthird foundation day anniversary, however, soundeda word of caution sayingthat “less than expected”turnout could be the hint oferosion in support andshould serve as a “wakeupcall” for the party.

In a scathing attack onthe former CM at “Jan Sarokar Rally” here, party’s national president Ajay Chautala said that Mr. Hooda had

bought thousands of acresof agricultural land acrossthe State at throwaway prices rendering the farmerspenniless, adding thatthose who usurped thefarmers land were nowclaiming to their wellwishers.

Attack on INLDMr. Chautala also attackedthe Indian National Lok Dal(INLD) saying that the party’s present condition wasnot hidden from anyone.

“When we left the INLDto launch JJP, we handedthem over the party’s fl�agand funds, but they couldnot handle it,” he said.

The choice of rally’s venue, which shares borderwith Gurugram, Rewari andMahendragarh districts, also hints at the party plansto explore possibilities forexpansion in these districtsdominated by the Ahirs.

JJP holds foundation dayrally in Hooda’s bastion ‘Turnout of people less than expected’

Ashok Kumar

JHAJJAR

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhansaid on Thursdaythat theKenBetwa river link projectwill lead to prosperity for thedroughtprone Bundelkhandregion.

The Chief Ministerthanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union MinisterNitin Gadkari and the Cabinetfor approving the project.

The Centre on Wednesdaycleared the funding and implementation of the projectand sanctioned ₹�39,317 crorefor it.

Chhatarpur, Panna, Tikamgarh, Niwari, Damoh, Sagar, Datia, Shivpuri, Vidishaand Raisen districts of Madhya Pradesh would benefi�tupon completion of the riverlink, said an offi�cial.

In addition, 103 mega wattof hydropower and 27 megawatt of solar power will be

generated from the project,he said.

A tripartite memorandumof understanding (MoU) hasbeen signed in the presenceof the Government of Madhya Pradesh, Government ofUttar Pradesh and the PrimeMinister to prepare the detailed DPR of the project.

Mr. Chouhan said the linking of rivers will increase agricultural production and leadto prosperity. A new dawn ofdevelopment and progresswill be ushered in Bundelkhand when the project takesshape.

‘Ken-Betwa project aboon for Bundelkhand’ It will increase agri output: Chouhan

Anup Dutta

Bhopal

CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Former JNU student leaderUmar Khalid on Thursdaytold a Delhi court that witness statements recorded bythe police in the riots conspiracy case were “fabricated”.

Mr. Khalid and severalothers have been booked under the Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act (UAPA), astringent antiterror law, andare accused of being the“masterminds” of the riotswhich had left 53 peopledead and over 700 injured.

Arguing his bail plea before Additional SessionsJudge Amitabh Rawat, senioradvocate Trideep Pais, representing Mr. Khalid, saidthat the witness statementswere “inconsistent with eachother, and will not stand thetest of law.”

He read out a statement ofone of the witnesses andsaid, “Even a 12yearoldwould know this is a fabrication. They (prosecution)should be ashamed. Noteven a shred of physical evidence.”

Mr. Pais added, “I recently

watched a movie called ‘TheTrial of Chicago 7’ where witnesses of the State had already planned to be the witnesses of the State.” Thelawyer was addressing the allegation levelled by the police against Mr. Khalid that heand his father were presentat a protest organized by theWelfare Party of India at Jantar Mantar, wherein childrenand women were taken inbuses.

‘How is that an off�ence?’“I am not even admitting tothat but advocacy that persons should protest againstCAA, how is that an off�ence?"he said and concluded his arguments. He had begun hisarguments on the bail pleaon August 23.

Special Public ProsecutorAmit Prasad will commencethe arguments on the behalfof police on January 5, 2022.The Delhi Police had earliersaid that the bail plea has nomerit and that it will demonstrate the prima facie caseagainst him before the courtby referring to the chargesheet fi�led in the case.

Witness statementsfabricated, says KhalidHe is an accused in the Delhi riots case


New Delhi The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested an associate of alleged conman SukeshChandrashekhar in a money laundering case andquestioned actor JacquelineFernandez for the secondconsecutive day in connection with the probe into it,offi�cials said.

Pinky Irani was placedarrested under the provisions of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA). According to offi�cials, Ms. Irani was allegedlynot cooperating and hencewas taken into custody.

The probe agency hadearlier arrested Mr. Chandrashekhar, his actor wifeLeena Maria Paul and twoassociates.

Meanwhile, the agencycontinued to record thestatement of 36yearoldactor.

She had spent abouteight hours at the agency'soffi�ce on Wednesday as shewas questioned and herstatement recorded in multiple sessions.

Conman’s aide arrested, actor grilled


New Delhi

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


STATES

Goa’s Chief Electoral Offi�cerKunal has appealed to offi�cials of all banks to keep aneye on unusual and suspicious cash transactions inthe wake of the State Assembly polls due early nextyear.

During a meeting with representatives of variousbanks on Wednesday, the offi�cial pointed out that thereare chances of distributionof gifts and goodies duringthe election period.

He urged all banks to ensure proper documentationis done during the transaction of cash and its transportation by vans for fi�lling theATMs. While delivering cashat other branches, the outsourced private agencies orbank vans have to carry

proper documents issuedby the bank, the State Information Ad Publicity Department said in a release.

During the meeting, theChief Electoral Offi�cer appealed to all bankers tomonitor the unusual andsuspicious cash transactionsand ensure free and fairconduct of the upcomingState polls. He said if anysuch transaction is identifi�ed, the State poll machinery will promptly react. Healso urged banks to take appropriate measures and alsodirected them to submit areport in such a case.

Citizens can also complain about any violation ofpoll norms on the ECI’s cVIGI app, he added.

The Goa Assembly elections are due in Februarynext year

Goa CEC asks banks to monitor cash transfersMove comes ahead of State poll in 2022

Press Trust of India

Panaji

A special bench of the National Green Tribunal has directed Hindalco IndustriesLimited and Raipur EnergenLimited (REL) to pay ₹�10crore interim compensationfor violating environmentalclearance (EC) norms on thefunctioning of the opencastmine in Sambalpur district.

The coal mine falls in anarea designated as criticallypolluted industrial cluster,having a score of more than70 that requires extra mitigation measures for operatingany polluting activity.

As per EC conditions,preparation of progressivemine closure plan based onthe quantum of coal extracted from the mining area wasrequired and overburdengenerated was required to bebackfi�lled. The entire miningarea was required to be backfi�lled up to the ground level.

However, the companiesallegedly violated the condition and dumped the over

burden on agriculturalfi�elds, adversely aff�ectingland fertility and resulting insoil contamination. Besides,the companies built an earthen bund by encroachingprivate land.

The NGT directed Hindalco to deposit an interimcompensation of ₹�7.5 croreand ₹�2.5 crore for REL tomeet the assessed compensation and cost of remediation. It further directed thatcompensation for past violations and cost of remediationshould be worked out andrestoration plan prepared bya sixmember expert committee.

NGT directs Hindalco,REL to pay ₹�10 crore They violated environmental norms

Satyasundar Barik

BHUBANESWAR

I, TANU Khanna have lost my Noccertificate of water and electrici-ty and demand letter of shop no10, C−7, Keshav Puram, Delhi−110035.

EDUCATIONAL

PUBLIC NOTICE

PERSONAL

LOST & FOUND

GENERAL

SITUATION VACANT

PUBLIC NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

TENDERS

The Madras High Court onThursday refused to entertain an application fi�led byIPS offi�cer G. Sampath Kumar to reject the plaint in acivil suit, preferred by cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni in2014, seeking ₹�100 crore indamages for having linkedhis name with allegations ofbetting and match fi�xing inthe Indian Premier League(IPL).

Justice N. Seshasayee saidhe would not entertain theapplication when the suitwas ripe for fi�nal hearing.The judge was of the viewthat entertaining such an application in 2021 with respectto a suit pending since 2014

would amount to draggingthe proceedings for at leasttwo more decades. He saidthe IPS offi�cer ought to havetaken out the applicationmuch earlier.

Further, pointing out thatthe applicant had alreadyfi�led his written statement inthe suit fi�led against him, ZeeMedia Corporation Limited,

its then Editor Sudhir Chaudhary and News Nation Network Private Limited, thejudge said the present application was aimed at sabotaging the commencement oftrial in the civil suit by examining the witnesses.

He said the court owes aresponsibility to the peopleof the country, and it couldnot permit a defendant in thesuit to abuse the process bytaking out such applicationsafter seven years of fi�ling ofsuit. However, the judge permitted the offi�cer to fi�le anadditional written statementsince senior counsel P.R. Raman, representing Mr. Dhoni, had no objection to it.

In an affi�davit fi�led alongwith his application to reject

the plaint, the IPS offi�cer saidthe suit had been fi�ledagainst him, too, on the assumption that it was he whohad leaked information regarding the investigation intothe IPL betting scam to themedia. Such allegations, levelled on the basis of assumptions, were not suffi�cient to prefer a suit fordamages, he said.

‘Victim of rumours’

Stating that he had only discharged his duty as a policeoffi�cer, the applicant said thepolice department was empowered to initiate disciplinary action against him if itwas proved that he had divulged probe details to thirdparties.

Madras HC refuses to entertainapplication against Dhoni’s suit Court says it can’t entertain IPS offi�cer’s application for rejection after seven years

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI

A United Arab Emiratesbased fi�nance company hasfi�led a cheating complaintbefore a magistrate’s courthere against the makers ofthe upcoming Bollywoodfi�lm 83.

Future Resource FZE hasmoved the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate’s court,seeking action against themakers of the fi�lm under

IPC Sections 406 (criminalbreach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminalconspiracy) of the IPC.

Among others, the complaint named Vibri Mediaand its directors. The complaint, fi�led through advocate Rizwan Siddiquee,claimed that the accusedproduced the fi�lm 83 andmade plans to cheat thecomplainant of its rights inthe fi�lm.

Cheating complaint fi�ledagainst producers of 83Press Trust of India

Mumbai

CMYK

M ND-NDE

STATESEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI


Alappuzha district was puton alert on Thursday after anoutbreak of bird fl�u was confi�rmed at Kunnumma South(Ward 10) in the Thakazhygram panchayat.

District Collector A. Alexander said the H5N1 subtypeof the Infl�uenza A virus wasreported in ducks. Mr. Alexander, who chaired a meeting to take stock of the situation, said steps had beeninitiated to check the spreadof the disease.

Joseph Cherian, a duckfarmer from Purakkad, whowas raising around 13,500ducks close to the outerbund of a paddy fi�eld in Thakazhy with an eye on theChristmas season, lost morethan 10,000 birds in the pasttwo weeks.

Following the mass deathof ducks, the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD)last week sent samples of

carcasses to the National Institute of High Security Animal Disease (NIHSAD), Bhopal, for analyses, whichtested positive for avian infl�uenza. AHD offi�cials saidthat between 8,000 and10,000 ducks belonging tofi�ve farmers within a onekmradius of the infected area

were culled by rapid response teams as part of thecontainment measures. Thecarcasses were disposed ofas per norms.

Sale bannedThe Collector has issued anorder banning movementand sale of duck, chicken,

quail and other domesticbirds, their eggs, meat andwaste (manure) in 12 localbodies (within the nine kmradius of the hotspot) ofChampakulam, Nedumudi,Muttar, Edathua, Veeyapuram, Karuvatta, Thrikkunnappuzha, Thakazhy, Purakkad, Ambalappuzha South,

Ambalappuzha North, andHaripad Municipality.

Besides, the place in Ward10 of the Thakazhy gramapanchayat where the diseasewas confi�rmed has been declared a containment zone.The movement of peopleand vehicles to and from theplace has been banned.

Mr. Alexander directedthe Assistant Conservator ofForests to monitor migratorybirds for avian infl�uenza.

Apart from Thakazhy,duck mortality has been reported from Nedumudi inAlappuzha and Vechoor andKallara in Kottayam districtin recent days. The AHD hassent samples from theseplaces for analyses.

Earlier this year, avian fl�ucaused by the H5N8 strain ofthe Infl�uenza A virus was detected from six places in Kuttanad, and Kainakary inAlappuzha district andNeendoor in Kottayamdistrict.

Bird fl�u triggers alert in Alappuzha 8,000 to 10,000 ducks were culled by rapid response teams after the outbreak was confi�rmed

STAFF REPORTER

ALAPPUZHA

High alert: A rapid response team of the Animal Husbandry Department prepares to cull ducksat bird fl�uhit Kunnumma in Thakazhy, Alappuzha, on Thursday. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Coal production in the Governmentowned SingareniCollieries Company Limited’s (SCCL) 45 coal mineslocated across six districts inTelangana came to a halt asthe workers struck workfrom the fi�rst shift on Thursday morning.

It marks day one of thethreeday strike called byfi�ve central trade unions andthe TRSaffi�liated TelanganaBoggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS).

The 72hour strike wascalled by the Joint Action

Committee ( JAC) of all themajor trade unions of theSCCL, affi�liated to the IN

TUC, the AITUC, the CITU,the HMS and the BMS, besides the TBGKS, settingaside ideological affi�liationsto protest the Centre’s decision to auction four coalblocks in Telangana for commercial mining.

The SCCL, the only Stateowned coal mining company in south India, with amanpower of around43,000, suff�ered an estimated production loss of a littleover 1.50 lakh tonnes on thefi�rst day of the strike, informed sources said. TheSCCL management tried toavert the strike, but in vain.

Singareni coal production hitas workers go on 3day strikeUnions protest Centre’s move to auction four coal blocks


PEDDAPALLI

SCCL trade union leadersparticipating in the strike at a coal mine at Yellandu.

Observing orally that thedialogues in the Malayalamfi�lm Churuli are “atrocious innature”, the Kerala HighCourt on Thursday admitteda writ petition seeking a directive to remove the moviefrom the OTT platformimmediately.

According to the petitioner, the fi�lm was replete withfi�lthy and off�ensive wordsthat outraged the modestyof women and children.

The movie was accessibleto everyone, including children and teenagers, as ithad been released on theOTT platform. Though the

fi�lm was capable of invokinga sense of curiosity and mystery in the minds of the audience, it had an overdoseof foul language, the petitioner said.

HC admits plea to stopOTT show of Churuli

Dialogues in fi�lm atrocious, says court


Kochi

A still from the Malayalammovie Churuli.

Kerala moves SC againstwater release from damNEW DELHI

The Kerala Government has

moved the Supreme Court

seeking a direction to Tamil

Nadu not to release a huge

quantity of water in the early

hours from the 126yearold

Mullaperiyar dam, saying it

causes heavy damage to the

people living downstream of

the dam. A Bench of Justices

A.M. Khanwilkar and C.T.

Ravikumar is scheduled to

hear on Friday the pleas

which have raised issues

about the dam on the Periyar

river in Idukki district.

IN BRIEF

Tiger on prowl causespanic in Wayanad villageKALPETTA

Panic gripped residents of

Kurukkanmoola, near

Mananthavady, under the

North Wayanad Forest

Division after eight domestic

animals were killed by an

alleged tiger on the prowl in

12 days. The villagers under

the aegis of an allparty

action council took out a

protest march and staged a

dharna in front of the North

Wayanad Divisional Forest

Office at Mananthavady on

Thursday along with the

carcass of the calf, which was

reportedly killed by the tiger.

Splash of colours: Artists painting graffi�ti on the wall of a defunct movie theatre as part of the Vypeen Folklore Festival, which is under way at various venues across the island in Kerala’s Kochi. * THULASI KAKKAT

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Theatre as canvas

Members of the ChamundiBetta Ulisi Samiti launched asignature campaign in thecity on Thursday to musterpublic support to help savethe Chamundi Hills and itsenvironment.

This is part of an ongoingcampaign to urge the Karnataka Government to stopnew projects, some ofwhich are inimical to the environment and erode thegreen cover.

The campaigners havedecided to reach out toschools and colleges andmeet people in residentialareas so that the movementto save the hills will gaintraction.

The response was warmand enthusiastic from a section of the public, thoughmany were unaware of thedevelopments pertaining tothe Chamundi Hills, said

Bhamy V. Shenoy, one of theactivists.

The legal options will beexplored in the days aheadbut garnering public support is a must, say samitimembers.

The immediate triggeringpoint for the campaign isthe slew of developmentworks that are slated tocome up atop the hills,some of which have beenplanned without taking thestakeholders — the people ofMysuru — into confi�dence.

The Chamundi Hills witnessed a series of landslipsin October and Novemberdue to erosion by runoff�water. This has been attributed to loss of green coverand despite such ecologicalhavoc, the authorities arehellbent on implementingthe scheme which will ruinthe environment of the region, according to thesamiti.

Campaign launched tosave Chamundi Hills‘New projects are eroding green cover’


MYSURU

The tragic chopper crash atCoonoor in Tamil Nadu, inwhich Chief of Defence Staff�General Bipin Rawat and 12others were killed, hasbrought back to the residents of Sakleshpur memories of a 30yearold accidentinvolving an aircraft of theIndian Navy. It was eventually a local resident whohelped the forces in tracingthe remains of the chopper.

The aircraft, on a sortiefrom Mangaluru to Bengaluru, had crashed in the forests of the Western Ghats atAramane Gudda in Sakleshpur taluk in 1991.

Kishor Kumar of Hongda

halla told The Hindu that hewas in high school when theincident occurred.

“There was a heavy movement of trucks carrying personnel to search for the remains of the chopper. A fewhelicopters fl�ew in the placeat low altitudes as part of thesearch operation. Despitetheir eff�orts, the armed personnel could not trace thechopper in the forests,” Mr.Kumar said.

Finally, Puttasome Gowda, a resident of Vanagur, accidentally found some partsof the aircraft.

Atul Kumar Tiwari, now asenior IAS offi�cer, in a Facebook post in 2017, narratedthe trekking expedition he

took along with other offi�cers to reach the spot. “Mr.Gowda went hunting forwild boars in the hills andfound something shining(chopper blades) on a steepcliff�,” he recalled.

Based on Mr. Gowda’s information, the offi�cers’ teamtrekked in Aramane Gudda,amid thick grass, for twodays in October 1992. “Weneeded ropes to go downand fetch the black box,” theoffi�cer wrote in the post.

A senior offi�cer of the Indian Navy travelled from Panaji to Sakleshpur and handed over a cheque for₹�10,000 to Mr. Gowda, recognising his role in tracingthe remains of the chopper.

Back then, a local resident had helped recover black box

Sathish G.T.

Hassan

Coonoor tragedy brings backmemories of Sakleshpur crash

With 94.57% of the 4.89crore eligible populationhaving been jabbed with thefi�rst dose of the COVID19vaccine till Thursday, Karnataka has moved up to thefi�rst position among largerStates in terms of fi�rst dose.

Karnataka, which stood inthe third position in the fi�rstdose administration till aweek ago, is now followed byGujarat and Madhya Pradeshwhere 94.46% and 93.83% ofthe target population hasbeen covered with one dose,according to data from CoWIN.

From 21,013 average vaccinations per day in Januarywhen COVID19 vaccination

was rolled out, the State’sdaily average vaccinationsshot up to 4,83,144 in September, the highest. September also saw 1,40,11,162 dosesadministered, the highest sofar. While a total of 91,15,528doses were administered inNovember, over 53% of thisnumber have been administered in the last nine daysalone this month. In fact,

vaccinations have picked upsince November 26, following growing concern overOmicron, the new variant.

Good show by KodaguSo far, three districts — Bengaluru Urban, Gadag and Vijayapura — have achieved100% coverage in terms offi�rst dose administration.While Kodagu has covered

99% of the target populationwith the fi�rst dose, 12 otherdistricts including Chikkaballapur, Belagavi, Davangere, Udupi, Ballari and Uttara Kannada have achievedcoverage of 95% and above.

With the State having administered 3,31,06,589 second doses as on Thursday,67.6% of the eligible 4.89crore population has been

fully vaccinated so far.Arundhathi Chandrashe

kar, State Mission Director,National Health Mission, saidthe focus was now on seconddose. “As on December 9,nearly 46,000 people whohave taken their fi�rst doseare due for second dose. Wehave been prioritising people who come for seconddoses,” she said.

Karnataka tops in fi�rst dose vaccine coverage 3 districts record100% coverage in fi�rst dose

Jab count: Students holding forms meant for vaccinationdetails of parents, at a school in Bengaluru. * SUDHAKARA JAIN

Afshan Yasmeen

Bengaluru

Telangana has successfullyadministered over 4 croreCOVID vaccine doses sofar, with about 2.63 lakh ofthe targetted 2.78 lakhpopulation taking the fi�rstdose, which is about 94%,

and 51% for the seconddose with 14.1 lakh of thetargetted 2.78 lakh takingthe second dose.

About 35,47,400Covishield and 5,63,500Covaxin doses or over 41lakh doses are stillavailable in the State.

4 crore doses administered inTelangana; 41 lakh shots availableSpecial Correspondent

HYDERABAD

Two Sabarimala pilgrimsfrom A.P. die in accidentIDUKKI

Two Sabarimala pilgrims from

Andhra Pradesh were killed

when a bus rammed a parked

van from behind at

Amaravathi in the

Peruvanthanam police station

limits in Idukki on Thursday

afternoon. The deceased have

been identified as Kurnool

residents Narayana Naidu, 44,

and Ishwar, 42. The bodies

were sent for autopsy at the

Kanjirappally taluk hospital,

the police said. Three injured

pilgrims have been admitted

to Medical Trust Hospital at

Mundakkayam.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

With just a day to go for Legislative Council polls inMaharashtra, the Congresson Thursday announced itssupport to Independentcandidate Mangesh Deshmukh in Nagpur instead ofthe offi�cial party candidateRavindra Bhoyar.

An statement issued bythe Maharashtra unit ofCongress said Mr. Bhoyarhas expressed inability tocontest polls, followingwhich it has decided to extend support to Mr. Deshmukh. Mr. Bhoyar, a veteranBJP leader, had joined theCongress just a day beforefi�ling of nomination papersfor the Council election.

There was resentment over this and several Congressleaders had, over the pasttwo weeks, been expressingdispleasure over the functioning of Mr. Bhoyar.

The term of eight sittingMLCs is set to expire in January, 2022. However, with regard to local authorities’constituencies election, theECI has laid down the guidelines that if at least 75% ofthe local authorities in theconstituency are functioning, and in addition at least75% of the electors are available, then electorate is treated as available for electingMLC.

Based on this, only fi�veout of seven local authorities fulfi�l the criteria leadingto election on only six seats,instead of eight.

The seven local authorities include, Mumbai (Ramdas Kadam of Shiv Sena andBhai Jagtap of Congress),Kolhapur (Satej Patil of Congress), DhulecumNandurbar (Amrishbhai Patel, CongressturnedBJP),AkolacumBuldhanacum

Washim (Gopikishan Bajoriya of Shiv Sena), Nagpur(Girish Vyas of BJP), Solapur(Prashant Paricharak, Independent) and Ahmednagar(Arunkaka Jagtap of NCP).

As per the ECI, electionswill not be held in Solapurand Ahmednagar. The dateof poll is December 10 andresult will be declared onDecember 14.

Candidates in four out ofsix Council seats have already been declared electedunopposed.

The two seats in Mumbaihave already gone to SunilShinde of Shiv Sena and Rajhans Singh of BJP, while theCongress and BJP retainedKolhapur and NandurbarDhule seats respectively.Election will now be held forNagpur and Akola Councilseats.

Congress dumps offi�cialcandidate on eve ofCouncil poll in NagpurDeclares support for Independent

Staff Reporter

Mumbai

A day after all political parties demanded a stay onelection process until reservation for OBCs in localbody polls is resumed,Maharashtra Governmenton Thursday said it alsoholds similar view.

“State Government isfi�rm on the stand that either the elections should beheld on all seats or no election should be held,” saidMaharashtra Deputy ChiefMinister Ajit Pawar.

Mr. Pawar said that Supreme Court has notscrapped the State Government ordinance, butstayed elections on OBCreserved seats only.

MaharashtraGovt. seeksstay on polls

Staff Reporter

Mumbai

The Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday submitted before the Madras HighCourt the entire fi�le relatedto an inquiry conducted byan Internal ComplaintsCommittee (ICC) against suspended special DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP) Rajesh Das.

The committee had foundprima facie material to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him for allegedly making sexual advancestowards a woman IPS offi�cer.

Justice V. Parthiban hadcalled for the fi�les to look atthe procedure adopted bythe ICC before recommending disciplinary proceedings.

Accordingly, AdvocateGeneral R. Shunmugasundaram submitted three volumes of documents and saidthe question of allowing the

suspended DGP to crossexamine witnesses did notrise, since no punishmenthad been imposed on himon the basis of the ICC inquiry report. He said the SexualHarassment of Women atWorkplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Actof 2013, and the All IndiaServices (Discipline and Appeal) Rules of 1969 permitted the ICC itself to conductdisciplinary proceedings.

Therefore, the government had asked the ICC,headed by IAS offi�cer Jayashree Raghunandan, to hold adisciplinary inquiry againstthe suspended DGP and submit a detailed report.

“The disciplinary inquiryis under way. The petitionerherein will be given an opportunity to inspect the relevant documents, in consonance with the guidelinesissued by the Government ofIndia,” the AG said.

T.N. Govt. submits fi�leon ICC inquiry to HCIt had called for action against exDGP

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


EDITORIAL

CDS Gen. Bipin RawatThe passing of India’s fi�rstChief of Defence Staff�,General Bipin Rawat, MrsRawat and the Armyentourage is a terribleshock. The nation has lost amaster strategist and adynamic military leader. For a country that has hadto confront the reality ofcrossborder terrorism, theGeneral was thatinspirational leader whoinfused new life into theArmed Forces. B. Suresh Kumar,

Coimbatore

■ The passing of Gen. Rawatis a blow to India’s defenceforces. He was a greatreformer and moderniser of

the Indian military. Hischemistry with the NarendraModi dispensation wasexcellent. I hope that theinquiry uncovers the truth.Vithal Deshpande,

Secunderabad

■ India has lost a greatsoldier and a pioneeringstrategist. Though it maytake some time for the nextCDS to be decided, having asuccessor will be a move thatwould not only help sustainand reinforce India’s plans tounify the capabilities of itsarmed wings but also sendout a signal of resolve to foesand friends. That would be afi�tting tribute.R. Narayanan,

Navi Mumbai

■ At a time when the countryneeded his valuable serviceswith serious threats at theborders, we have lost adedicated and valiant soldierpar excellence. May theuntiring and dedicated workGen. Rawat and the otherdeparted soldiers had donefor the safety and wellbeingof India be a guide point tofellow soldiers and everycitizen to become morenationoriented.Tharcius S. Fernando,

Chennai

■ As an airman dischargedfrom the Indian Air Forceback in August 1962, I feltpain over the loss. TheGeneral had an eagle’s eye.During a Guard of Honour

presented to him, he noticedsomething amiss in theuniform worn by a soldier.When the poor soldier wassummoned later, the Generalonly had a suppressed smile.He asked the soldier to tiethe laces of his bootproperly.Mani Nataraajan,

Chennai

■ Gen.Rawat was a soldierwhose commitment andcontributions to ensuring themodernisation of the Armywill be remembered for long.The nation has lost a frontranking General who wonadmiration for his strategicand dynamic leadership.Niranjan Sahoo,

Bhubaneswar, Odisha

contrary to its words.Raveendra Babu,

Hyderabad

ReplacedThe unexpected removal ofVirat Kohli as India’s ODIcaptain for the upcomingseries against South Africa isunfair. He has been thebiggest motivational force forhis team mates. His‘positively aggressive’character has beeninstrumental in boostingtheir confi�dence levels. Hisleadership would have beencrucial for Team Indiaagainst a strong South Africa.A. Mohan,

Chennai

U.S. boycottThe U.S.’s diplomatic boycottof the Beijing WinterOlympics by projecting itselfto be championing the idealsof democracy and humanrights and by accusing Chinaof posing a grave threat tothese ideals has to be readthis way. It is nothing but a desperateattempt to muster supportinternationally in order toperpetuate its supremacyacross the world in thebackdrop of the growingeconomic power of Chinaand its hegemonic ambitionsbecoming a thorn in the fl�eshof the U.S. The rhetoric ofthe U.S. on democracy andworld peace sounds hollowas its actions are always

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

Sanjay Kumar

If one is to go by the number ofpolitical parties contesting elections in Uttar Pradesh, it may

be seen to be a multicorneredcontest. But the way alliances havebeen formed, the Assembly elections to be held next year seem tobe headed for a clear bipolar contest — between the Samajwadi Party (SP) on the one hand and theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on theother hand. Having formed alliances with various smaller regional parties, the SP has beenable to create a strong perceptionof being the only challenger to theBJP.

The BJP remains a formidableforce being the ruling party, having registered three formidablevictories in the State, i.e. the 2014and 2019 Lok Sabha elections andthe 2017 Assembly elections.There seems to be some unhappiness with the Yogi Adityanath government, but I do not get a senseof there being strong antiincumbency against the ruling BJP government, which may be requiredto defeat this government. The BJPhas also managed to form allianceswith smaller regional partieswhich would only help the partyin consolidating its support base.The stepping back by farmers interms of slowly withdrawing theiragitation may help in mellowingdown Jat anger against the BJP in

western U.P., a region that had voted for the BJP in large numbers inthe earlier election.

The other contenders for power, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)and Congress, seem to be gettingmarginalised as except for theircore supporters, other voters maynot vote for either of these partiesas it would be seen as their votegetting wasted. Evidence from surveys conducted by the Centre forthe Study of Developing Societies(CSDS) suggest that nearly a quarter of noncommitted voters votefor the party which they think iswinning an election as they do notwant to waste their vote. Since theBSP and the Congress are seen asparties out of the electoral contest, it would be diffi�cult for theseparties to attract votes beyondtheir core supporters.

The SP’s planWith the election clearly becoming a bipolar one, these are thequestions that are being asked:Has the SP established a lead overthe BJP? Is the BJP still fi�rmly holding ground? Will U.P. now be aneckandneck contest? It wouldcertainly be diffi�cult to say how theU.P. election is pitched at this moment, but various political developments in the State give one aclear picture. When compared tothe 2017 Assembly elections, thesupport base of the SP is on therise, while the BJP seems to be vulnerable given some unhappinesswith the government among various sections of voters.

It is important to note that theSP has formed an alliance with theRashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the AamAdami Party (AAP), Om Prakash

Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bhartiya SamajParty (SBSP) and Krishna Patel’sApna Dal (Kamerwaadi). This willhelp the SP in mobilising votes ofvarious Other Backward Classescastes besides the Yadavs who areits core supporters. An alliancewith the RLD would help in mobilising the Jat votes in its favour.

Since Jats and nonYadav OBCshad voted for the BJP in large numbers, this alliance may be able todent the nonYadav OBC and Jatsupport base of the BJP, as therewould be some shift among thesevoters. An alliance with Om Prakash Rajbhar will help the SP inmobilising the votes of Rajbharcommunity with its sizeable presence in about 20 Assembly constituencies of eastern Uttar Pradesh. An alliance with the ApnaDal (Kamerwaadi) will also bringsome Kurmi votes in its fold.

The SP is also in talks aboutforming an alliance with the Pragatisheel Samajwadi PartyLohiaheaded by Shiv Pal Yadav and Janwadi PartySocialist headed bySanjay Singh Chauhan.

Though there have been largecrowds in the various rallies of Akhilesh Yadav, crowds do not always turn into voters. There may

be strong supporters, but thereare also a sizeable number of“hired people”. The proportion ofsuch a “hired crowd” in electionrallies may diff�er from one party toanother. A study of rallies by theCSDS during the 2019 Lok Sabhaelection showed that 25% of thoseattending election rallies confi�rmed having been called orbrought to the rally by the partyconcerned based on some promise or other. The study also indicated that nearly a third of thoseparticipating in the rally might attend the rally of other parties aswell.

Past experimentsConcerns are being raised why theSP’s Akhilesh Yadav did not evenmake an attempt to form an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party or with Congress, or with boththese parties to consolidate his position. Would not an alliance withthe Congress or the BSP, or both,have helped the SP in mobilisinggreater support, rather than stitching up an alliance with smaller regional parties?

The experiment of contestingelections based on an alliance withthe Congress and the BSP hasfailed miserably in the past. TheSPCongress alliance managed towin only 54 Assembly seats (the SP47, the Congress 7) during the 2017Assembly election with a 28.1%vote share (the SP 21.83%, the Congress 6.25%). Similarly, the SPBSPalliance failed during the 2019 LokSabha election — the SP won only 5seats and polled 19.26% voteswhile the BSP won 10 Lok Sabhaseats, polling 17.96% votes. Goingwith an experiment which had

failed in the past would not havebeen a sensible strategy despitelooking strong on paper; voterswould not have trusted such an alliance. Perception plays an important role in Indian elections.

BJP’s outreachDespite its getting a number ofparties as allies, the SP must notethat the BJP too has managed tobuild similar alliances with variousother regional parties. The BJP’salliance is with the Apna Dal (Sonelal) led by Anupriya Patel, theNishad Party led by Sanjay Nishad,the Bharatiya Manav Samaj Partyled by Kewat Ramdhani Bind, theShoshit Samaj Party led by BabulalRajbhar, the Bharatiya SuheldevJanata Party led by Bhim Rajbhar,the Bharatiya Samata Samaj Partyled by Mahendra Prajapati, theManavhit Party led by Krishna Gopal Singh Kashyap, the PrithvirajJanshakti Party led by ChandanSingh Chauhan, and the MusaharAandolan Manch (also known asthe Gareeb party) led by Chandramani Vanvasi. These parties donot have a very large support basebut are popular among some marginal OBC castes and Dalits.

In a way, these alliances wouldhelp the BJP in counterbalancingthe SP’s alliance with smaller parties. Finally, the electoral contestin U.P. remains wide open with theBJP having a slight edge as farmersappear to be satisfi�ed with the Government’s move on repealing thefarm laws.

Sanjay Kumar is a professor at the Centre

for the Study of Developing Societies

(CSDS), Delhi and a political analyst. The

views expressed are personal

Getting a handle on the battle for Uttar PradeshThere are signs of the political fi�ght in the Assembly election becoming a bipolar contest between the SP and the BJP

PT

I

When someone in the family falls sick, all normalroutines and arrange

ments are aff�ected. And then, thedeeper problems that lay hiddenunder the momentum of routinelie exposed and revealed. Thesame applies to an epidemic. Theterm currently used is ‘pandemic’because it covers the whole world,but one cannot forget that even auniversal illness manifests itself inregionally specifi�c, local ways, exposing the problems to which societies had become accustomed.In our case, the pandemic has revealed the limits of our wherewithal to look after the collective needsof children during a calamity. Achild in the family has a radicallydiff�erent status from that accordedto children as a collective entity inour country. The pandemic has revealed that society and state institutions prefer to ignore the conditions under which the familycopes with the demands of childhood.

Peripheral concernChildren’s education and healthare two major domains in whichwelfare policies of the modernstate are expected to support andenhance the family’s role. In boththese domains, the policy framework refl�ects a minimalist stance,both in terms of fi�nancial investment and institutional strength. Inpolicies as well as in their execution, there is considerable diversity and disparity among the States.The overall picture suggests thatchildhood is of peripheral concern. Gains made in this context

have proved diffi�cult to sustain.

The pandemic’s deep eff�ectWhen the Right to Education(RTE) Act was promulgated over adecade ago, it seemed like a breakthrough. This perception wasgrounded in the structures andprocedures created under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan during the decade preceding the RTE. Thesestructures were not perfect, butthey marked a new beginning inthe direction of local autonomyand devolution of power. Thesefragile structures required nurturing on a longterm basis. Neglectand decay set in quite soon in regions where the system was weakto begin with, and then came COVID19. Several recent surveysshow that the pandemic has leftthe entire system ravaged. Evensomething as basic as a meal forthe youngest age group ceased.Teaching switched wholesale tothe online mode, leaving it to thefamily to cope with the demandshidden in this medium. A fl�at discourse pervaded the ethos, off�ering few choices or clues to enhance them.

India was unique in the fact thateven the very youngest age groupwas covered by online teaching.With the reopening of schools, theoutcomes of prolonged exposureto digital devices in confi�ned spaces have started to be revealed anddocumented. The vast majority ofchildren from lower socioeconomic backgrounds could not access online teaching for reasonstotally beyond their control. Andamong those who did have accessto online lessons, rates of comprehension and progress were quitelow.

Studies show that academiclosses are compounded by emotional problems. A survey carriedout by the Vipla Foundation hastraced the kinds of stress childrenexperienced at home. Exposure to

domestic violence, prolongedhours in front of TV, especiallyamong boys, and addiction to digital sources of entertainment areamong the various outcomes ofCOVID19 confi�nement.

A recovery planSystemic recovery will undoubtedly prove arduous. The time required for recovery will depend onimagination and resources. A signifi�cant beginning has been madein Tamil Nadu. A committeechaired by Professor R. Ramanujam has been asked to prepare athreeyear recovery plan and anew curriculum. A major problemthis committee will need to address is the addictive eff�ect of prolonged online teaching. Devicessuch as the smartphone inducesmall children into a seductivebond that may not be easy toshake off�. Restoring children’s innate desire to relate to the worldphysically and socially surrounding them will constitute a majorstep towards educational recovery. This will demand deaddictionfrom digital instruments.

The COVID experiment of exclusive dependence on digital machinery has resulted in a radicalexpansion of its market. It has alsopermitted digital activism to mutate into an ideological doctrine ofprogress. The Ramanujam committee may not fi�nd it easy to dealwith this doctrine. Its believers

and new recruits must be persuaded to listen to child psychologistsand teachers of young children.Their voices, feeble though theyare at present, off�er the best promise of healing our injured system.

It was not a strong and resilientsystem to begin with. Its key functionaries — the teachers — had littlesay in decisions and no autonomyto do their best. Distrust in theteacher cuts across the deep divisions that characterise the system.On one side of the divide are government schools of varioustypes, with diff�erential levels offunding but common norms of governance. On the other side areprivate schools ranging fromshoestring budget schools to thewellendowed, elite institutions.What sustains this straggling orderof institutional outfi�ts is the grandnational fantasy that even an inadequate system such as India’scan generate a suffi�cient numberof good doctors, judges, teachers,engineers, civil servants and so on.

Shifting of childrenNo description can capture the differential realities of experiencethat COVID19 imposed on thisvast range of institutions. Nor isthere a comprehensive study totell us how parents belonging todiff�erent socioeconomic classescoped with their anxieties. Wenow know that fi�nancial constraints have forced a considerableproportion of children studying inprivate schools to shift to government schools. What this shift implies for the children and for theschools they will now attend needsmore than speculation. Indeed,the shift itself remains a raw reality. In a recent webinar, ProfessorShantha Sinha, former head of theNational Commission for Protection of Child Rights, spoke aboutthe astonishing demand faced byparents who wanted to transfer

their children from a private to agovernment school. As many private schools run entirely on thestrength of the fees they collect,they had to close down during COVID19. The digital record of children’s enrolment maintained insome States continues to showtheir names in a private school.Seeking a transfer requires deletion from this record. Prof. Sinhasaid that many private schools inher region demand recovery of theCOVID19 period fee for grantingdeletion of the child’s name. Thisis just one instance of the hundreds of bitter experiential factswe will need to gather from everypart of the country in order to prepare a postCOVID19 recoveryplan of any credible and practicalvalue.

Insightful reportFor now, the best we can do is tobrowse through a new United Nations Educational, Scientifi�c andCultural Organization (UNESCO)report titled “No Teacher, NoClass” (https://bit.ly/31HJFKi), andheed its sane recommendations.Prepared by a team of scholars atthe Tata Institute of Social Sciences, this report tells us that India isfacing a shortfall of at least onemillion school teachers. The report makes several key recommendations. The fi�rst is: “Improvethe terms of employment of teachers in both public and privateschools.” Some of the other recommendations are: value theprofessional autonomy of teachers, build career pathways, and,above all, recruit more teachers. Ifsound, researchbased advice iswhat we need for rebuilding thesystem, it is available in this excellent report.

Krishna Kumar is a former Director of the

National Council of Educational Research

and Training (NCERT). He is the author of

‘Smaller Citizens’

Children and schooling in the postCOVID19 eraIndia will have to confront bitter facts if it wants to prepare a recovery plan of any credible and practical value

Krishna Kumar

GE

TT

Y IM

AG

ES

The RBI’s latest monetary policy action, of main

taining status quo on benchmark interest rates,

the policy stance, as well as the fullyear GDP

growth and infl�ation projections, stems largely from a

wariness of the risks posed by the Omicron variant of

the novel coronavirus. Announcing the bimonthly pol

icy, Governor Shaktikanta Das observed that ‘head

winds from global developments’ were the main risk to

the domestic outlook, which was now “somewhat

clouded by the Omicron variant of COVID19”. With the

key drivers of demand in the economy — private invest

ment and private consumption — still lacking meaning

ful momentum, the Monetary Policy Committee had

opted to continue with its growth supportive ‘accom

modative’ policy stance so as to enable a durable and

broadbased recovery, he said. While it may sound

churlish to question the MPC’s stand, given that the on

going recovery from last fi�scal’s record contraction is

still yet to register an acrosstheboard expansion from

prepandemic levels, the fact that one of the six mem

bers of the ratesetting panel has dissented on the pol

icy stance for a third consecutive time, cannot be ig

nored. Positing in October that the ‘upside risks to

longterm infl�ation and to infl�ation expectations had be

come more aggravated’, external member Jayanth Var

ma had at the time cautioned the committee against

falling into “a pattern of policy making in slow motion”

guided by an excessive desire to avoid surprises. And

while his specifi�c reasons for voting against the grain

this week are not immediately available, that the MPC is

for now prioritising growth over price stability is clear.

Governor Das, who acknowledged the criticality of

taming infl�ation when he asserted “price stability re

mains the cardinal principle for monetary policy as it

fosters growth and stability”, however, seems to be san

guine about the outlook for retail prices. Contending

that winter arrivals would help bring down vegetable

prices, which had spiked in October contributing to a

marginal quickening in headline CPI infl�ation that

month, Mr. Das has banked on optimism in asserting

that the ‘slack in the economy’ may limit the pass

through of costpush pressures that have kept core re

tail infl�ation persistently high for 17 months. The RBI’s

November round of ‘Infl�ation Expectations Survey of

Households’ shows that households expect infl�ation to

accelerate in the near and medium term. The median

infl�ation expectation of respondents polled in an exten

sion survey earlier this month, in order to factor in both

a possible Omicron impact and the softening in fuel

prices in the wake of the cut in excise duty, projects the

threemonths ahead rate at 10.8% and the oneyear

ahead reading at 10.9%. And though the RBI has begun

to slowly tighten the liquidity spigot it opened in the

wake of the pandemic last year, a more robust response

to ward off� price pressures will become imperative

sooner rather than later. For a delay risks undermining

precisely what Mr. Das said was the RBI’s motto at this

juncture, ensuring “a soft landing that is well timed”.

Omicron shadowRBI may need to act to ward off� price

pressures sooner rather than later

India has lost a capable and experienced military

leader in the tragic death of the country’s fi�rst Chief

of Defence Staff� (CDS), General Bipin Rawat, in a hel

icopter crash near Coonoor in the Nilgiris on Wednes

day. His wife, Madhulika, and 11 others also perished

when the Indian Air Force’s Mi17V5 helicopter came

down in a heavily wooded area. Defence Minister Raj

nath Singh has announced in Parliament that a triser

vice inquiry, headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh,

Air Offi�cer CommandinginChief, Training Command,

of the IAF, will take place into the incident. The IAF

chief, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari, has already vi

sited the crash site; the cockpit voice and fl�ight data re

corders have been recovered, which would give investi

gators insights into how the crash occurred. It is

imperative that the inquiry be done both thoroughly

and speedily. Without speculating on the cause, it

needs to be stressed that speedy course corrections in

training or hardware are imperative given that these

Mi17VF choppers are being used to ferry top military

leaders across the length and breadth of the country.

Gen. Rawat had not even completed two years as

CDS when the Coonoor tragedy happened. After com

pleting his tenure as Army Chief on December 31, 2019,

he slipped into his new role as CDS the very next day.

Many of his plans to give India genuine triservice oper

ational capabilities are still to be realised. In such a sit

uation, the Government should not lose time in ap

pointing his successor to ensure that the plans on the

drawing board do not suff�er. An aggressive China and a

still belligerent Pakistan defi�ne India’s security chal

lenges. The situation along the Line of Actual Control

(LAC) continues to be tense with Indian and Chinese

troops staring down each other. Gen. Rawat, known to

have been proximate to the ruling establishment, had

never minced words while speaking about the challeng

es facing the country and had waded into political con

troversies. Though the concept of having a CDS was re

commended by a Group of Ministers in 2000 after the

Kargil war, it took another 20 years for one to be ap

pointed. The CDS, who functions as Principal Military

Adviser to the Defence Minister, is expected to work in

tandem with the three service chiefs who continue to

operate in their respective domains — a role and func

tion that is still in the making. To ensure that the new

CDS and the service chiefs function as a team, the Go

vernment would do well to keep in mind the principle

of seniority while choosing Gen. Rawat’s successor.

A tragic lossIndia must realise Gen. Rawat’s plans for

genuine triservice operational capabilities

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


OPED

A feature of the Prince’s reception at Lucknow appears to have been the ample supplyof motor lorries to convey spectators at Government expense. Innumerable vehicles ofthat sort were plying, it is said, with the inscription “Come and see the Prince, conveyance free,” and the Associated Presswires down that the device was a tremendous success in gathering up a decent crowdto line the Prince’s route. This informationmay not perhaps be credited at face value bya public to whom the ways of our news agency are not inscrutable but the point worthnoting is that Government had to improvisethis novel expedient to attract its citizens.Between this and the method of the volunteers there is but as much distinction as between temptation and persuasion, and yetthe blame is apportioned with a rigorousonesidedness.

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO DEC. 10, 1921

Welcoming the Prince

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

DATA POINT

A recent meeting of RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat with a select group ofjournalists in Delhi raised a few eyebrows. What should be the desirableterms of engagement between journalists and their interlocutors is arather complicated question. The fallof journalistic standards is a reality ofour times, and too much proximitybetween journalists and the peoplethey write on — politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats, etc. — is one reason for this. But the increasing tendency to look for sinisterconspiracies in such meetings is silly.It is like looking for a scam in everygovernment decision. True, if the invitees at a select briefi�ng are vettedbased on their willingness to be pliable in the past, then the meeting is nolonger a credible exercise. That said,my complaint about Mr. Bhagwat’smeeting with journalists is not thatsome people participated in it, butthat I was not invited! Let me explain.

The RSS is the most infl�uential organisation in the country today. Itsviews shape not only our present andfuture, but also our notion of thepast. I have striven hard to meet leaders of the RSS and been occasionallysuccessful. But with Mr. Bhagwat,never. Once, I tried to meet the former chief K.S. Sudarshan without anappointment at the RSS offi�ce in Delhi, but was rebuff�ed by a stern elderlyman who lashed out at me for my ignorance about the culture of theSangh. I tried to reason that I wantedto overcome my ignorance, but it didnot cut much ice. To make up for thislimited access, I listen to the numerous speeches that Mr. Bhagwat andhis colleagues give.

A journalist has no commitment tothe person he meets or interviews.Again, it is sad that actors across sectors and political parties try to predetermine the agenda and outcome oftheir meetings with journalists andvet questions before interviews. Thisis truer for fi�lms and business thanpolitics. Journalists who are competing for a scoop often give in. This hasled to the understanding now that if

you are meeting someone, that oughtto be an act of compromise in itself.The absolute requirement of separation between paid advertisement andeditorial content is also beingstretched by grandstanders: whetherpaid advertisement is nationalisticand patriotic enough, whether theadvertisement is true or not, whether an ad is moral or not. But howdoes a platform distinguish betweenthe claim of an advertiser that karvachauth is a great tradition and another that proclaims the virtues of a soapor soft drink?

An attempt to understandI have met convicted murderers, lawevading scoundrels, kidnappers,fraudsters, and underground activists besides several prominent shapers of Indian politics over the years,and all that has helped me understand how they think and function.That is very essential to my own functioning as a journalist and hence, Iam relentless in pursuing meetings,even when people are not initiallywelcoming. Among the peoplewhom I have tried hard to meet buthave not been able to until now include Steve Bannon and Mayawati.The RSS chief is on top of the list ofthe people I would greatly valuemeeting, but alas!

The danger to journalism or democracy is not that journalists aremeeting political actors. The dangeris that they are not meeting enough,they are not being allowed to meet,or are being allowed meetings onlywith conditions. The moral policeamong the tribe need to take a deepbreath and relax.

[email protected]

Not a compromising positionThe danger to journalism is not that journalists meetpolitical actors; it is that they don’t meet them enough

Varghese K. George

NOTEBOOK

PIC

HU

MA

NI

K

New Delhi, Dec 9: It will be a week tomorrow since Pakistan started a fullscale warwith preemptive bombing raids on a dozenIndian airheads and intensive shelling allalong the border in the West and got it backin full measure on both the fronts. From India’s point of view, the war is proceeding very satisfactorily with very few setbacks orsurprises which had not been forseen — and,as expected, with a devastating impact onPakistan’s capacity to fi�ght simultaneouslyon both the fronts. According to Indian andforeign military experts here, the overall situation is good and it will get better in thenext few days before the fi�ghting on theground reaches its climax in the west withthe virtual conclusion of the fi�ghting in theeast. The present position in the easternfront is that except in Dacca the enemy resistance has crumbled and the trapped Pakistani army, now scattered all over Bangla Desh,is no longer an organised force under an integrated command, fi�ghting doggedly tohold its ground or falling back in a disciplined fashion to regroup itself and resumethe fl�ight. The trapped enemy troops areeither fl�eeing helterskelter or withdrawingin scattered groups to make a dash to the exit points to stage a Pakistanistyle Dunkirkdown the Bangla Desh river system, littleknowing that the Indian forces pursuingthem are already astride the Padma, theBrahmaputra and the Megna to block theirescape.

FIFTY YEARS AGO DECEMBER 10, 1971

Impact of a week’s war on Pakistan

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

FROM THE ARCHIVES

If conversations around boostershots to tackle COVID19 were loudearlier, the emergence of the newvariant, Omicron, has ensured thatthe clamour for booster shots hasreached a fever pitch. The HealthMinister stressed that India’s priority is to fully vaccinate all adults andnot administer booster shots eventhough adequate vaccines are available. He also said that any decisionon booster doses will be based solelyon scientifi�c recommendations. At arecent meeting, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation maintained that it was not recommending a booster dose for anysection of the population, prioritygroups included, in the absence ofevidence. In a conversation moderated by R. Prasad, ChandrakantLahariya and Satyajit Rath discusswhether booster doses are required,and when and to whom they shouldfi�rst be given when there is enoughevidence recommending their use.Edited excerpts:

What is the primary objectiveof a booster dose — to preventsymptomatic infection or toprevent moderate or severedisease and death?

Satyajit Rath: First, let me raisewhat I suspect is going to be an elephant in the room during this entirediscussion. Are we talking about thepurpose of vaccination with outcomes at the community level or arewe talking about the outcomes ofvaccination in terms of protection atthe individual level? This is going toremain a point during any discussion about booster shots. The evidence so far is that we are far moreeffi�ciently protected against severeillness, hospitalisation and death bybeing full vaccinated than infectionand transmission. The expectationfrom boosters is that they will proportionately increase protectionagainst infection and transmission.However, the evidence that boosterdoses do this is fragmentary.

Chandrakant Lahariya: I wouldapproach this in a diff�erent way. Weknow that boosters are being considered globally for a diff�erent set ofpopulations. And when we think ofthe purpose of boosters, we have togo back to the purpose of the CO

VID19 immunisation programme.The purpose is to reduce hospitalisation, severe disease and death.Now, that purpose can be achievedthrough administering full vaccination. So, the booster dose does nothave a separate purpose; it is intended to fulfi�l the overall objectiveof the COVID19 vaccination programme. We really do not knowwhether giving booster shots addsany value to the primary purpose ofthe immunisation programme.

How much do we know aboutthe eff�ectiveness of Covishieldand Covaxin in preventingsymptomatic infection andsevere disease? In the absenceof many studies on vaccineeff�ectiveness, what will be thebasis on which a decision onbooster doses will be taken?

CL: We know that there is evidenceindicating that while the antibodylevel goes down over a period oftime, protection against severe disease and hospitalisation remainsunchanged. So, unless we changethe purpose of the vaccination programme, which is to reduce symptomatic disease, the need for a booster shot is not going to be altered.

SR: In reallife eff�ectiveness studies,while one can debate endlessly onjust how much evidence is enoughevidence, I don’t have any diffi�cultyin accepting that both Covaxin andCovishield provide a signifi�cantmeasure of protection against severe illness and death. We don’t havereliable evidence about [protectionagainst] infection and transmissionand mild or asymptomatic disease.But none of that gives us evidencefor how to decide about a boosterdose. Because, if we are looking forprotection against hospitalisation,we already have a vaccination campaign that in the fi�rst place is notcomplete, and where vaccines havebeen administered, we have everyexpectation that they are going to beeff�ective. So I’m not certain of whatthe evidential or the tactical basisfor discussing a booster dose inclusion in a vaccination campaign is.

India has administered over1.26 billion doses, and thevaccination programme has

been going on for about 11months. At this point, shouldwe not have had severaleff�ectiveness studies looking atdiff�erent aspects which shouldhave helped us decide aboutbooster doses?

SR: Certainly. But even if we havedata about the eff�ectiveness of twodoses of Covishield or Covaxin inpreventing hospitalisation anddeath, how does that tell us whetherboosters will work or not? Even if itturns out that we don’t have reasonable protection in reallife circumstances against hospitalisation anddeath with two doses of the vaccine,that doesn’t automatically tell usthat the booster is going to work.

CL: We need to remember that vaccine eff�ectiveness remains unchanged over a period of timeagainst hospitalisation and death.But the bigger point when decidingabout a booster dose is: where is thecutoff� for saying that this much protection is enough and this is whatwe want to achieve? Second, howdo we decide what level of eff�ectivebenefi�t or protection we want toachieve through the booster? Finally, do we have data for these vaccines [used in India] or diff�erentvaccines that giving a booster shotwill result in improved protection?There is some data that a boostershot of the Pfi�zer vaccine producesimproved protection. But we don’thave that kind of data for other vaccines. So, all these studies should bedone, analysed and interpreted incombination with other factors. Only then can a decision be made.

Does the emergence of theOmicron variant make itnecessary to administer abooster dose?

SR: The emergence of the new variant makes the case for a global in

clusive primary vaccination campaign for COVID19 even morecompelling than it was. Does it separately make a specifi�c case for abooster dose programme morecompelling? I don’t think so, for allthe reasons discussed so far. You’regoing to have a little more transmission and hospitalisation, but protection against that [hospitalisation] islikely to be higher. For booster doses, evidence for protection isscarce. What Omicron does is makethe case for primary global inclusivevaccination more compelling ratherthan specifi�cally increasing thepressure to plan for boosters.

CL: We know that the ability of theavailable vaccines in reducing transmission is limited. We also knowthat based on available data, Omicron causes mostly mild disease.Currently licensed vaccines have aproven role in reducing severe disease, hospitalisation and death. So,there is defi�nitely a clear disconnectthat because of Omicron therewould be any additional advantagein reducing any kind of illness. Thefocus has to be on ensuring that everyone receives a primary scheduleof vaccination. There is no additional value in administering a boosterbecause of the Omicron variant.

Who do you think should be thefi�rst to get booster doses —immunocompromised people,people older than 60 years, orthose with comorbidities?

SR: We really don’t have good evi

dence. For example, there is evidence that booster doses increaseantibody levels. But do they increase antibody levels in specifi�callyimmunocompromised individualswho have not responded well orhave not responded for a long duration to the primary vaccine schedule? We don’t know.

Of course, if we had achievedproper universal primary immunisation coverage and if vaccine supplies were available and approved,it would be nice to have boostersavailable for identifi�ed categories ofparticularly vulnerable people. Butno conditionality — the supply conditionality, the primary vaccinationcampaign success conditionality, orthe conditionality of evidence forboosters working in these categories of people are being fulfi�lled.

CL: The need for a booster can beassessed based on the pattern ofbreakthrough infections or whichpopulation group over a period oftime is reporting more severe disease. These would also vary according to the type of vaccine used. So,we need more granular data on epidemiology, disease burden, andbreakthrough infections before weidentify age groups. This is also truefor vaccinespecifi�c data — protection, effi�cacy, eff�ectiveness, and duration of protection.

Next, we need to know about theperformance of booster doses. Weneed to know that the vaccines perform when booster doses are givento diff�erent sets of population. It isnot necessary that the protectionwill be similar in each age group,but we need to know that. We needto know what the optimal timing after the second dose should be — sixmonths, nine months or a year. Andwhether it should it be a homologous or heterologous booster dosebecause the majority of countriesare giving booster doses using either a diff�erent vaccine belonging tothe same platform or vaccines froma diff�erent platform. We need to explore whether booster doses shouldbe of the same amount of vaccine ora dosesparing formulation.

Another key factor is the duration between the completion of theprimary immunisation scheduleand the planned booster dose. So,by that standard, if you look at theIndian example, of course healthworkers and frontline workers whoreceived the vaccine long beforeanyone else might come in the cate

gory of people who should receive abooster dose before other groups.Also, the elderly. But the elderlymay require far more boosting.

I also want to bring the fi�nal andslightly related point which is relevant. There is an ongoing discussionand broader consensus that whilebooster doses require more thinking, an additional dose or third doseas part of the extended primary immunisation schedule for thoseadults of any age group who are immunocompromised or who couldnot develop the immune suffi�cientantibody after two shots of primaryschedule should be considered.

Should the focus not be onprimary vaccination of theglobal community, especially inAfrica where only a very smallpercentage of people have beenvaccinated? Should India notbe focused on distributingvaccines globally than onadministering booster dosesespecially when there is noevidence of benefi�t?

CL: There is enough evidence to saythat primary immunisation prevents severe disease, hospitalisationand death. That should be the corefocus no matter which part of theworld people are living in. Ensuringvaccine availability in diff�erent partsof the world should be the priorityof all countries. Of course, during apandemic, countries would want toprioritise their own population fi�rstand then share vaccines. I believethat now India can assure primaryimmunisation for the adult population and it has more vaccines. So,India’s priority should be to revivethe Vaccine Maitri initiative in an accelerated and sustained manner.This becomes especially importantas new variants are emerging mostlikely from settings where there islow vaccination coverage. Even ifnew variants are not emerging fromsuch settings, their impact would befar worse in those settings. So, if theworld wants to halt the pandemic,countries need to vaccinate theirown populations but also share vaccines with the rest of the world before considering booster doses. Andeven when evidence on boostersemerges, there is far greater evidence on the benefi�t of primary immunisation and that points to theimportance of sharing vaccines. India should defi�nitely share its vaccines and now is the time.

Does the Omicron variant make a case for booster doses?There is scarce evidence that boosters add value to themain purpose of the immunisation programme

Satyajit Rath, an immunologist,

was formerly with

the National

Institute of

Immunology

ChandrakantLahariya,physician

epidemiologist, is a

public policy and

health systems

expert

Scan the QR code tolisten to the fullinterview online

AP

<> The focus has to be on

ensuring that everyone

receives a primary

schedule of vaccination.

There is no additional

value in administering a

booster because of the

Omicron variant.

Chandrakant Lahariya

PARLEY

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

noon of December 8, 2021,with India’s fi�rst CDS, Gen.Bipin Rawat onboard,” hesaid. “The CDS would becremated with full militaryhonours.”

Mr. Singh said 13 of the 14persons onboard the helicopter had succumbed to injuries. Group Captain VarunSingh is on life support inthe Military Hospital at Wellington and all eff�orts are being made to save his life, Mr.Singh said, ending the statement by paying homage tothe deceased persons andexpressing condolences tothe bereaved families.

Close family members of allthe deceased personnelhave arrived in Delhi whoseassistance would also besought in the identifi�cationprocess. “Appropriate military funerals of all deceasedare being planned and coordinated in close consultation with close family members,” the offi�cial added.

The Defence Ministermade a statement in the Parliament on the fatal helicopter crash. “With profoundgrief and heavy heart, Istand to convey the unfortunate news of the crash of themilitary helicopter in the

India pays homage toCDS, wife, 11 others

Bitter loss: Kritika, left, and Tarini, daughters of Gen. BipinRawat, at Palam Airport onThursday. * SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Amid foggy weather conditions aff�ecting visibility, investigators of the IAF and theTamil Nadu police on Thursday fl�ew drones at the site ofthe Mi17V5 helicopter crashin Coonoor looking for evidence in the tragic incident.

Chief of the Defence Staff�General Bipin Rawat, hiswife and 11 defence personnel were killed in the crashon Wednesday afternoon.

According to police sources, the IAF’s Accident Investigation Board offi�cials earlier in the day visited the sitefor fi�eld investigation.

“Though we have registered a case and commencedinquiries with eyewitnessesand others, the IAF has theexpertise to go into the technical aspects like aircraft forensics. They have the experience in probing in thepast,” a senior police offi�certold The Hindu.

The Upper Coonoor police have registered a case under Section 174 (inquest intodeath) of the Code of Criminal Procedure to inquire intothe accident.

Firefi�ghters of the TamilNadu Fire & Rescue Servicesassisted the investigating offi�cials by cutting damagedtrees and clearing debris.The crash site nestled in avalley was cordoned off� bythe local police before theArmy had stepped in.

“Visibility has been poorwith intermittent mist in thearea since afternoon onThursday. Drones are beingdeployed for aerial visuals asand when the situation is improving,” a forest offi�cial,who was part of the rescueoperations, told The Hindu.

The VIP helicopter

crashed in between twomountains in a tea estate located some 100 metres below the village, forest offi�cials said adding that thelocal people were initiallytoo scared to run down to extinguish the fl�ames that hadengulfed the helicopter.

The steep road leading tothe village and the crash sitein a narrow oneway lane aremaking it tough for rescuevehicles to operate withease.

A senior police offi�cer saidthe postmortem went on tilllate on Wednesday night because some bodies were

charred beyond recognition.The offi�cer said the Coo

noor police inspector wasthe fi�rst to visit the crash siteand he alerted all otheragencies. The work of the Tamil Nadu police in the swiftrescue operation came in forappreciation by top defenceoffi�cers who conveyed it toChief Minister M.K. Stalinwhen he visited the DefenceServices Staff� College,Wellington.

Another senior police offi�cer involved in the investigation said the weather conditions in the Nilgirischanged often, aff�ecting visibility and aircraft operations. There were several instances when helicopterscarrying VVIPs from Coimbatore to Udhagamandalamreturned to base owing to inclement weather conditions.

However, it is possiblethat the pilot of the illfatedhelicopter had visibility issues and fl�ew at a lower altitude to stay below theclouds. “At times, it becomesdiffi�cult to judge the altitudewhile manoeuvring foggyweather conditions,” hesaid.

IAF, Tamil Nadu police beginprobe into helicopter crashDrones fl�own to gather evidence as foggy weather mars fi�rst day of investigation

S. Vijay Kumar

COONOOR

Eye in the sky: Aerial surveillance drones are being used togather evidence at the crash site near Coonoor. * M. PERIASAMY

The cockpit voice recorder(CVR) and the fl�ight data recorder (FDR) of the Mi17V5chopper of the Indian AirForce that crashed withChief of Defence Staff� BipinRawat, his wife MadhulikaRawat and 12 defence personnel on board at Katteryin the Nilgiris on Wednesday were recovered onThursday.

The CVR and FDR, popularly known as ‘black box’,were retrieved duringsearches conducted at thecrash site early on Thursday, a source said.

Examination of the twoboxes, painted in orange,will give insights into thecrash when the chopperwas heading to the DefenceServices Staff� College(DSSC), Wellington, fromthe Air Force Station, Sulur,near Coimbatore.

A retired Air Force offi�cersaid the CVR would havevoice recording from thecockpit. The FDR wouldhave the recording of various parameters of the aircraft.

A source said the two devices would be examined bythe IAF as part of its ongoing

inquiry into the choppercrash.

The Army has taken control over the entire area ofthe crash site and peoplefrom the locality and outsiders are not allowed to visitthe place.

The Chief of the Air Staff�,Air Chief Marshal V.R.Chaudhari, and senior offi�cers visited the crash site.

Meanwhile, a video of achopper disappearing intothe mist in the hills, purportedly shot by a touristfrom the Nilgiri MountainRailway track at Kattery, hasemerged as the last moments of the crashed IAFchopper. After the chopperdisappears into the mist, acrash is heard. Defence andpolice sources said the video would be analysed aspart of the investigation.

‘Black box’ recovered;Air chief visits crash siteArmy takes control of crash site

Wilson Thomas

Coimbatore

Army personnel gatheringevidence at the site ofcrash. * AFP

Group Captain Varun Singh,the lone survivor in the IAFMi17V5 helicopter crash,was airlifted to Bengaluru onThursday for intensivetreatment.

Mr. Singh, who suff�eredburns, had been admitted tothe Military Hospital, Wellington on Wednesday. OnThursday, he was taken in anambulance from Coonoor tothe Sulur Air Base in Coimbatore, from where he wasairlifted to Bengaluru fortreatment at the CommandHospital.

Group Captain VarunSingh, Directing Staff� at Defence Services Staff� College(DSSC), Wellington, had onWednesday visited Sulur toreceive General Rawat, whowas to address the collegestaff�.

Former Congress MLA Akhilesh Pratap Singh, who isthe lone survivor’s uncle,said, “If he has survivedsuch a tragedy, I believe Godwill be kind and he will recover soon.” The former lawmaker said he had been on a

‘padayatra’ in the rural areasof Rudrapur in Uttar Pradesh when a WhatsApp message in his family group lefthim stunned.

He said that doctors hadtold the family that the nextfew days were critical.

“My thoughts are with GpCapt Varun Singh who hassurvived the tragic choppercrash. I pray for his speedyrecovery and long life,” President Ram Nath Kovindtweeted on Thursday.

Group Captain VarunSingh was given the ShauryaChakra, India’s third highestpeacetime gallantry award,this August for exceptionalgallantry as a Wing Com

mander in October 2020when he was posted with aLight Combat Aircraft (LCA)squadron.

Stellar recordOn October 12, 2020, he wasfl�ying a Tejas aircraft on atest sortie when an emergency developed due to thefailure of cockpit pressurisation at high altitude but hemanaged to land the fi�ghterplane displaying extraordinary courage and skill, the citation said.

“Group Captain VarunSingh joined the Indian AirForce by clearing the National Defence Academy test andwas adjudged the best pilotof his batch,” said his uncle.

The fi�ghter pilot comesfrom a family of defence personnel.

His father K.P. Singh is aretired colonel of the Army,and his younger brother, Tanuj, is a serving naval offi�cer.

In Bengaluru, KarnatakaGovernor ThaawarchandGehlot and Chief MinisterBasavaraj Bommai visitedthe Command Hospital andenquired about the health ofthe group captain.

Lone survivor Varun Singhairlifted to Bengaluru hospitalDoctors tell family that the next few days are critical

Rohan Premkumar

Sandeep Phukan

Udhagamandalam/New Delhi

Group Captain Varun Singh

The Government refrainedfrom commenting on a Supreme Court notice issuedto it on a petition that seeksdirections to the respondents to take steps to remove anomalies on thegrounds of divorce, maintenance and alimony.

“The matter is sub jud-ice,” Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a written replyon December 3, referringto the matter that is pending at the top court.

He was responding to aquestion in the Lok Sabhaon whether the Government has taken note of theobservation made by theSupreme Court with regardto “enacting Uniform CivilCode” for all religions tobring uniformity in case ofdivorce and maintenance.

In another written response to a question, theLaw Minister said the Government is taking steps tohold consultation with major political parties andother stakeholders on theWomen’s Reservation Billto build consensus beforeit is brought to Parliament.

Govt. avoidscomment oncivil code


New Delhi

The Supreme Court has declined a plea for diplomaticimmunity raised by Aircelfounder C. Sivasankaran,who is facing money laundering charges.

Mr. Sivasankaran claimedhe was an ‘Ambassador atlarge’ for the Republic ofSeychelles and was protected from criminal prosecution under the ViennaConvention.

Solicitor General TusharMehta said this was a ployby Mr. Sivasankaran to wardoff� prosecution. He referredto a communication fromthe Seychelles Governmentthat Mr. Sivasankaran wasnot on offi�cial duty. Thecourt accepted Mr. Mehta’sarguments.

Lookout circularThe Madras High Court hadrefused to quash a lookoutcircular (LOC) issued againstMr. Sivasankaran by the Foreigner Regional Registration Offi�cer (FRRO), Bureauof Immigration, Ministry ofHome Aff�airs.

The LOC had prevented

him from travelling abroaddue to an ongoing inquiryby the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) intoallegations of having causeda loss of over ₹�600 crore toIDBI Bank.

The High Court hadpointed out that an Offi�ceMemorandum issued by theCentre in 2010, and amended in 2017, permitted theFRRO to prevent individualsfrom travelling abroad ifsuch departure had to becurbed in public interest.

The allegations includean IDBI Bank loan of₹�322.40 crore to the Finlandbased Win Wind Oy, inwhich the businessman’sson, S. Saravanan, was oneof the directors.

SC turns down pleafrom Aircel founderSivasankaran facing graft charges

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

C. Sivasankaran

The frequency of “very severe cyclonic storms” has increased in recent years overthe Arabian Sea. However,this has not measurably increased the threat to India'swestern coast, as most ofthese cyclones were makinglandfall in Oman and Yemen, Science Minister Jitender Singh told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

The number of cyclonesand stations reporting veryheavy and extremely heavyrainfall events have increased in recent years andan analysis of past data of cyclones over North IndianOcean (Bay of Bengal andArabian Sea) during the period from 1891 to 2020 indicates that the frequency of“very severe cyclonicstorms” has increased in thepast few years over the Arabian Sea.

A very severe cyclone isdefi�ned as one with windspeeds touching 220 kmph.It is the fourth highest category of cyclones, just below

“extremely severecyclones”.

Coastal vulnerabilityHowever, the eastern coastremained far more vulnerable to “extremely severe cyclones” than the westerncoast, but there was nevertheless “no signifi�canttrend” in the frequency ofextremely severe cyclonicstorms (ESCS).

“The increase in frequency of cyclones over the Arabian Sea has not posed a corresponding increase in thecoastal vulnerability alongthe west coast since most ofsuch cyclones forming overthe Arabian Sea were mak

ing landfall over the coastsof Oman, Yemen etc andhence the threat to Gujarat &Maharashtra coasts remainssame,” Mr. Singh said in hiswritten statement.

On an average, 60%80%of the cyclones developingover the North Indian Ocean(NIO), comprising the Bay ofBengal and the Arabian Sea,made landfall causing loss oflife and property. Lowlyingcoastal belts of West Bengal,Odisha, Andhra Pradesh andTamil Nadu and Puducherrywere more prone to the impact of these systems.

The number of deathsdue to cyclones has decreased signifi�cantly, as a result of the improvement inthe early warning skill of theIndia Meteorological Department (IMD) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences(MoES), and eff�ective mitigation measures and responseactions by the National Disaster Management Authority(NDMA) and Ministry ofHome Aff�airs (MHA). Stillthere is huge loss to property, his statement added.

More cyclones in Arabian Searecently, Minister tells RS‘This has not measurably increased threat to western coast’


NEW DELHI

Wind speeds touch 220kmph in very severecyclones.

Thousands of people linedthe roads showering fl�owerpetals and raising emotionalslogans as 13 ambulancescarrying the coffi�ns of Chiefof Defence Staff� General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 defence personnel made theirway from Coonoor to the Sulur Air Force Base on Thursday afternoon. “Bharat MataKi Jai”, “Veera Vanakkam,Veera Vanakkam” (Salute tothe brave) and “Jai Hind”,the crowd kept shoutingalong the over 50km routefrom Mettupalayam to Sulur.

The mortal remains wereairlifted to Delhi from Sulur.

All shops and businessesin the Nilgiris will remainclosed from 6 a.m to 6 p.m.on Friday as a mark of respect to the victims of the IAFMi17V5 helicopter crash.

Benjamin Soundararajan,a 76yearold veteran fromMettupalayam town in thefoothills of the Nilgiris, wasin deep sorrow since thenews of the crash on Wednesday afternoon.

His grief deepened uponlearning that not all veterans

were allowed to pay respectsat the Madras RegimentalCentre (MRC), Wellington.

With no option left, Mr.Soundararajan, who retiredas senior Havildar fromMRC, waited on the side ofthe road to pay homage.

“He is yet to recover fromthe shock. He did not have aproper meal after hearingabout the crash,” said thewar veteran’s son B. Samuel.

Senthil Kumar, anotherresident of Mettupalayam,said people waited from 10a.m. on the sides of the road.The convoy passed at 1.10p.m. While many held the

national fl�ag, a few brokedown.

Children pay tributeThe convoy later passedthrough Annur and Karumpathampatty towns, wheretoo people showered petalson it. Children saluted as theconvoy moved.

“I am unable to explain itin words. It was a very emotional moment as the vanscarrying the mortal remainspassed through my town after watching photos and videos of the crash in media,”said K.K. Mahalingam, a resident of Karumathampatty.

Thousands wait along roadsto bid an emotional farewellThey showered petals as the 13 ambulances passed by

Wilson Thomas

Coimbatore

People shower petals as ambulances with the bodies of thechopper crash victims are taken to Sulur. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

There were a few notes ofcaution as well. “Farmershave decided to suspendthis agitation for now, butthe movement will not end.The fi�ght for farmers’ rights,including MSP, will continue,” said senior Punjableader Balbir Singh Rajewal,who heads his own factionof the Bharatiya Kisan Union(BKU).

The Centre’s formal proposal, which was signed byAgriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal despite the factthat farm leaders said mostnegotiations on the document were held with theHome Ministry’s representatives, was received onThursday morning. It included the same fi�ve pointsin Wednesday’s draft, withmajor concessions on casewithdrawal and compensation. On the issue of MSP, itsaid a committee wouldhave a specifi�c mandate toensure all farmers get MSP,and promised that SKMleaders would be among therepresentatives. After discussing the proposal in anhourlong meeting at theSinghu border protest site,SKM leaders emerged to announce their unanimousacceptance.

However, they are yet totake a common decision onwhether to campaign

against the BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls inU.P. and Uttarakhand, aspreviously planned.

“On ‘Mission U.P.’ and‘Mission Uttarakhand’, wewill wait to take a decision.Election dates have not yetbeen announced, so wehave time. Let’s wait and seewhat is the situation by January 15 and then we willdecide,” said Mr. Tikait, whoheads a BKU faction in western U.P..

Atamjit Singh, nationalconvenor of a smaller BKUfaction based in the Moradabad area, said that the 87members of SKM’s U.P.branch would “keep faithwith U.P. voters” who havesupported 15 rallies againstthe BJP over the last threemonths. “Only 10% of cropsare sold at MSP rates. Wemust continue to fi�ght forfarmers to get the remaining90% also,” he said.

The Leftaffi�liated AIKSagreed, and hoped that theTikait faction will return tothe campaign trail onceelection dates are announced. “I cannot speakfor the SKM as a whole. Butas AIKS, we will certainlycontinue the fi�ght againstthe BJP, which has failed tosolve the problems of U.P.’sfarmers,” said AIKS president Ashok Dhawale.

Farmers declare victory,to vacate protest sites

Human rights lawyer andtrade unionist Sudha Bharadwaj was released onThursday from the Bycullajail after spending overthree years there in connection with the Bhima Koregaon caste violence caseof 2018.

The other coaccusedShoma Sen and Jyoti Jagtapare still in jail. Ms. Bharadwaj, 61, was arrested onAugust 28, 2018.

After repeatedly denying her default bail, medical bail and bail on merits,the Bombay High Courtgranted her bail on December 1.

The court held, “In ourview, all the requisite conditions to release Ms. Bharadwaj on default bailstood fully satisfi�ed.”

Sudha out onbail fromByculla jail


Mumbai

Tejashwi ties knot withchildhood friend in DelhiPATNA

Celebrations were back at the

RJD State headquarters here

on Thursday when news

broke that the party’s de

facto leader Tejashwi Yadav

has tied the knot with a

childhood friend at a

farmhouse in Delhi. The

32-years-old got hitched to

Rachel Iris about whom not

much is known barring the

fact that the couple have

known each other since

childhood.

IN BRIEF

2-year jail for 3 CPI(M)leaders in TripuraAGARTALA

A court on Thursday

sentenced three senior

CPI(M) leaders to two years in

jail in a case relating to

ransacking of a court building

in south Tripura in 2015.

Those sentenced include

Tapas Datta, former State

president of the DYFI;

Trilokesh Sinha and Badal

Debnath. The attackers had

also allegedly threatened

then district and sessions

judge Ruhidas Paul.

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


NEWS

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary,leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the LokSabha, said on Thursdaythat Union Home MinisterAmit Shah made a misleading statement in the LokSabha on Monday, sayingthe victims of the fi�ring inMon district of Nagalandon December 4 had beenshot as they tried to fl�ee onbeing asked to stop by thearmed forces.

Raising the issue at thestart of Zero Hour, Mr.Chowdhary said survivorsof the incident had statedthey had been directly shotwithout any order to stop.

Mr. Chowdhary notedthat Sonia Gandhi had constituted a delegation to visit Mon in Nagaland andshare the grief of familieswhose members werekilled in the fi�ring, but theywere not allowed to enterthe State.

Shah misledParliament,says Adhir


NEW DELHI

The Opposition parties suspended their sitin outsideParliament for a day to paytribute to General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 otherswho died in a helicoptercrash in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday.

Thursday was the ninthday of the protest against thesuspension of 12 of its RajyaSabha members for allegedmisconduct in the monsoonsession.

The decision to suspendthe protest for a day was taken in the morning meetingof fl�oor leaders of the partieschaired by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.

In the Rajya Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singhread out a statement detailing the helicopter crash. Deputy Chairman Harivanshread an obituary reference.But despite demands, he did

not allow any of the Opposition leaders to speak and theTrinamool Congress MPswalked out in protest.

The Congress and the other Opposition parties continued to be in the House.

Speaking to presspersonslater in the day, Mr. Khargedescribed the events in theHouse as unfortunate. “Wemay have our political diff�erences with the Governmentbut this was not a political issue. We wanted to express

our condolences and pay tributes to the country’s fi�rstChief of the Defence Staff�but the Opposition was notgiven the opportunity to doso. This is how the democracy is being run,” he said. Hewas accompanied by RJDleader Manoj K. Jha andT.K.S. Elangovan of theDMCK. As a mark of respect,Congress president SoniaGandhi directed her partynot to celebrate her birthday.

Not allowed to speak in Rajya Sabha, Trinamool walks out

Special correspondent

New Delhi

Joint fi�ght: Mallikarjun Kharge and other Opposition leadersoutside Parliament on Thursday. * PTI

Opposition suspends protestto mourn General Rawat

The IsakMuivah faction ofthe National Socialist Council of Nagaland, or NSCN(IM), has said the “IndoNaga”political talks will not bemeaningful under the shadow of the Armed Forces(Special Powers) Act, 1958.

The NSCN(IM) is the keyplayer in the peace processthat has been hanging fi�resince 1997, when the extremist group declared a ceasefi�re.

Several factions of the rival Khaplang group came onboard the peace processfrom 2001.

Referring to the December 4 killing of 14 civilians bythe armed forces at Oting village in Nagaland’s Mon district, the NSCN(IM) said ithad now been driven to thepoint of taking a stand on thedraconian AFSPA.

‘Licence to kill’“This notorious AFSPA hasgiven the Indian securityforces the licence to shootand kill anyone on mere suspicion... The Nagas have hadthe bitter taste of this act on

numerous occasions and ithas spilt enough blood.Blood and political talks cannot go together... No politicaltalks will be meaningful under the shadow of the AFSPA,” the outfi�t said.

“Let human dignity takecontrol and be made an integral part of the Naga politicalpeace process. Unfortunately, the Oting killing has become a threat to the Nagas’longing for Naga political solution.”

It said the Centre must immediately withdraw the AFSPA if it wanted to do justiceto the Naga people.

The NSCN(IM) said thesoldiers, “emboldened bythe Act beyond measure”,had been treating the Nagaslike subhumans without thefear of any scrutiny of courtof law.

‘Absolute fi�delity’“Therefore, this timearound, the Naga people expect that the judgment [ofthe special investigationteam probing the December4 incident] must be transparent and must be swiftly delivered. This is the only way toestablish absolute fi�delitybetween the Naga people

and the Government of India,” the statement said.

The outfi�t accused thearmed forces of strippingnaked the bodies of the 14victims and trying to wrapthem in military fatigues togive the impression that theywere militants. “They werecaught redhanded by thevillagers before they couldsucceed in their plan,” itsaid.

Political maturityIn a rebuttal to Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement inParliament on the December4 incident, it said that in a situation like this, Mr. Shah wasexpected to show politicalmaturity and statesmanshipto cool down the sociopolitical upheavals.

However, he added fuel tothe fi�re by standing behindthe para commandos, whichwas like rubbing salt into thewounds of the Nagas, theoutfi�t said.

The NSCN(IM) called theDecember 4 operation “a deliberate mission to kill andnothing to do with ‘credible’intelligence of the NSCNmovement in the area”.

No peace with AFSPA: NSCN(IM)Emboldened by ‘draconian’ law, soldiers are treating Nagas as sub-humans, it says


GUWAHATI

Upping the ante: NSCN(IM) cadres at the outfi�t’sheadquarters in Dimapur, in this fi�le photo. * RITU RAJ KONWAR

Congress MP Shashi Tharoorand Nishikant Dubey of theBJP had a verbal spat in theLok Sabha on Thursday overpersonal remarks.

It was reportedly made bythe latter during the debateon the Judges Salaries andConditions of Service Billpassed in the Lower Houseon Wednesday.

Ideological warfareThe spat occurred duringZero Hour in the Lok Sabha,when Mr. Tharoor objectedto comments made on himduring his speech on the Billin the House which wasbrought to his notice laterwhen he went through theproceedings verbatim laterin the day.

“It was said that I have a

pending case against me inthe court and so I should notparticipate in the discussion.The truth is that there is nocase pending against me buteven if there were, it cannotprevent any member fromparticipating in the discussion,” he said.

Mr. Tharoor has been discharged in the Sunanda

Pushkar death case thisyear. Speaker Om Birla remarked that debates on Billsshould stick to their subjectand nothing else.

Dubey’s claim Responding to Mr. Tharoorwithin the Zero Hour period,as it came to a close, Mr. Dubey said he had raised the issue precisely because theSpeaker had asked all MPs tostick to the subject.

“I raised a point of orderunder Rule 352,” he said,pointing that many Opposition MPs had been raisingcourtrelated issues pertaining to Chief Ministers of BJPruled States, Home Minister,BJP MPs of the Rajya Sabha.

“If you raise one accusatory fi�nger pointing here, fourwill point back at you,” Mr.Dubey said.

Tharoor, Nishikant Dubey

spar in Lok Sabha yet againDebates on Bills should stick to the subject, says Speaker


NEW DELHI

Shashi Tharoor

An apex body representingthe Konyak Naga community said the December 4killing of 14 civilians by thearmed forces was driven bythe desire for gallantry medals. The massacre happened at Oting village inNagaland’s Mon district,which is dominated byKonyaks.

“The Konyak community had reposed trust in theIndian Army and the Indian Union for almost 60years and maintainedpeace within the community. The community has also been yearning for a solution to the protracted Nagapolitical issue at the earliest,” the union said. But itregretted that the “hardearned trust” was destroyed by the armed forceswith the botched ambushleading to the death ofcivilians.

Mon killingswere formedals: Nagas


GUWAHATI

Ahead of the Uttar PradeshAssembly election in early2022, Harnath Singh Yadav,BJP MP, on Thursday calledfor the repeal of the Places ofWorship Act to construct aKrishna temple in Mathura.

He is the second BJP MPfrom Uttar Pradesh to makethis demand in the wintersession of Parliament. OnMonday, Balia MP RavindraKushwaha said if the farmlaws could be repealed, thislaw too could go. In UttarPradesh, the BJP has starteda campaign for the Krishnatemple. The Places of Worship Act was brought in bythe Narasimha Rao Government in 1991, which, while

keeping the Ram Temple dispute outside the purview ofthis law, froze the status ofplaces of worship as theywere on August 15, 1947.

Violation of rightDuring Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Yadav said thethen Government providedlegal cover to foreign invaders who captured the birth

place of Lord Krishna. Thelaw, he argued, violated theright to equality and life enshrined in the Constitution.His statement was met withloud protests from the Opposition benches. But the Chairdid not intervene and let Mr.Yadav continue. “This arbitrary, irrational and unconstitutional law impinges onthe rights of Hindus, Jains,

Sikhs and Buddhists,” hesaid. When the Oppositioncontinued to protest questioning how this was permitted, Deputy Chairman Harivansh said Chairman M.Venkaiah Naidu had approved this submission.

Later, RJD MP Manoj K.Jha told presspersons thatthe Opposition would write ajoint letter protesting againstallowing members to deliversuch divisive speeches.“Such issues, which have thepotential to damage the social fabric further, shouldnot be allowed during ZeroHour in Parliament. Weshould not forget the number of lives lost in the RamTempleBabri Masjid dispute,” Mr. Jha said.

BJP MP pitches for Mathura temple Ahead of U.P. polls, Harnath Singh Yadav calls for repeal of Places of Worship Act


New Delhi

Two years after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019(CAA) was passed by Parliament, the Union Home Ministry is yet to notify therules governing the Act. Thelegislation cannot be implemented without notifyingthe rules.

After the CAA was passed,83 persons were killed inprotests and riots from December 2019 to March 2020in Assam, Uttar Pradesh,Karnataka, Meghalaya andDelhi.

The CAA was passed bythe Lok Sabha on December9, 2019 and by the Rajya Sabha on December 11 and wasgiven assent to by the President on December 12. The

Ministry issued a notifi�cationlater that the provisions ofthe Act will come into forcefrom January 10, 2020.

The CAA provides citizenship on the basis of religionto six undocumented non

Muslim communities fromPakistan, Afghanistan andBangladesh who entered India on or before December31, 2014.

The Ministry had earlierwritten to the committees onsubordinate legislation ofboth Houses to grant extension of time up to January 9,2022 to frame the rules.

As per the Manual on Parliamentary Work, in case theMinistries/Departments arenot able to frame the ruleswithin the prescribed periodof six months after a law ispassed, “they should seekextension of time from theCommittee on SubordinateLegislation stating reasonsfor such extension” whichcannot be more than forthree months at a time.

The MHA did not respondto questions on the delay.

On Thursday, the Minority Aff�airs Ministry told theLok Sabha that “the constitutional and legal validity ofthe CAA has been challengedin the Hon’ble SupremeCourt of India” and the “thematter is sub judice.”

The Governments of Rajathan and Kerala have fi�ledpetitions under Article 131.

The Act has been opposedby many States too. The Central Government has received resolutions adoptedby the Assemblies of Meghalaya, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Punjabagainst the Act.

Rajathan and Kerala havefi�led petitions in the Supreme Court.

Two years on, CAA rules not notifi�edThe legislation cannot be implemented if the Government fails to do so

Citizens holding a placardduring a protest against CAAin New Delhi. * FILE PHOTO

Vijaita Singh

New Delhi

Amid strong objection fromthe Opposition, the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed twoBills allowing the Centre toextend the tenure of the Enforcement Directorate (ED)chief and the CBI Directorup to fi�ve years from the current two. The Bills replacethe ordinances brought inlast month. Congress members walked out in protestwhen the two Bills were putto voice vote in the LokSabha.

Several Opposition MPsquestioned the need to bringan ordinance days beforethe winter session of Parliament, and alleged that it was

done to grant extension toone offi�cer, ED chief S.K.Mishra.

Accusing the NarendraModi Government of ‘dismantling’ checks and balances, Manish Tewari of theCongress said the Government should not bring Bills

that further the perceptionthat the ED and the CBI werefrontal organisations to harass the Opposition.

Replying to the debate onthe Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill,2021 and the Delhi SpecialPolice Establishment(Amendment) Bill, 2021, Jitendra Singh, Minister ofState for the Department ofPersonnel and Training(DoPT), pointed out thatposts such as that of the CBIDirector is chosen by a highlevel panel that not only included the Prime Ministerand the Chief Justice of Indiabut also the Leader of theOpposition or the single largest Opposition party.

Bills to extend tenure ofED, CBI chiefs passed in LSCongress members walk out during voice voteSpecial Correspondent

New Delhi

Manish Tewari

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the National Institute of PharmaceuticalEducation and Research(Amendment) Bill, 2021,under which six more institutes of pharmaceuticaleducation and research,other than the one at Mohali, will be accorded thestatus of institute of national importance.

The Bill was clearedthrough a voice vote.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said,“During COVID19, we heldmeetings with pharmaceutical manufacturersand assured them of removing all bottlenecks toresearch and manufacturevaccines in record time.”

RS passespharmaeducation Bill


New Delhi

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

(set by Dreamer)

Wordplay is a FUNdamental right.

Have your fi�ll on our interactive site!

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

■ ACROSS

8 Unusual name saves unintelligent person from the east (6)

9 For the most part, Spanish city hosts free game of football (8)

10 Situation of South American wrestler near Brazilian city (8)

11 Encrypt conservative poem by nurse (6)

12 Chaotic mind will move like a wheel (8)

13 Adjust old payment incorporating interest, primarily (6)

14 Try to break bad items for selfinterest (7)

17 Greedy sister and husband adopt a mischievous child (7)

20 Rice dish made by father and girl (6)

22 Mixing hard rock with pop? It may not be kosher for some

people! (4,4)

25 Revises morning targets (6)

26 An increase in the wavelength of light found in space around

plastic shed (3,5)

27 Forsaken soldiers hiding in food shop adjacent to court (8)

28 Last piece of tofu added to very rare frozen dessert (6)

■ DOWN

1 Praising college instead of student? That’s harsh! (8)

2 Drunk son united with daughter outside bar (6)

3 A tax on certain goods entering a town in Romania during fi�rst

day of last quarter (6)

4 Insignifi�cant gunmen leaving base (7)

5 Mountain in America, say, endlessly emits rocks and unknown

source of oxygen and neon (4,4)

6 Cook around lunch time following Frenchman’s pranks (8)

7 Ground adjoining meeting place becomes wet (6)

15 Brilliant story — celebrated without a hint of objection (8)

16 Fur sale’s managed by people (8)

18 Safe cots, maybe! (44)

19 Talk about training and work (7)

21 Rent a room at the entrance for a band (6)

23 Essentially wrap food and vegetable (6)

24 Division of company wanting to expel head of sales (6)

SCAN TO PLAY

+ 13424SUDOKU

Solution to puzzle 13423 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Realisation is fi�rst hand experience of the Absolute Truth.The goal is not impossible to reach but the journey is longand arduous even for the determined seeker, say the sastras,pointed out Swamini Satyavratananda Saraswati in a discourse. The Gita shows the effi�cacy of the paths of karma,jnana and bhakti, each of which is useful to the aspirant.Worship of God through puja, japa, dhyana, etc, are advisedto be incorporated as one’s daily duties, as these are sure toinstil bhakti and jnana.

In addition, to reap the full benefi�ts of spiritual realisation, sravana, manana and nidhidyasa are to be practised.Sravana is listening to explanations on the scriptures anddiscourses on the Puranas and the Itihasas. It slowly makesuntold impact on the listener when at some point of timewhat is heard enters the heart and mind and stirs the spiritual seeking. In due course, sravana morphs into manana.The student goes over in his mind what has been heard andtries to reason out the validity of it. Every single spiritual effort is valuable and is reckoned as the sadhana for the individual. It is carried over to future births until perfection is attained. This is the reason behind the varied levels ofspiritual leanings in individuals. Some might have gainedprofi�ciency in sravana alone and will continue with mananawhile those who have mastered these practices begin withnidhidyasa in their next birth.

The Aitareya Upanishad speaks of Vamadeva who gainsrealisation even when in the womb. It shows that he had tobe born to complete whatever nidhidyasa was remaining.Among countless aspirants may be one strives to gain jnanaand even for him it may take many births for the jnana to become an inner awareness.

FAITH

Process of realisation

Demand still strong forCovishield doses: GAVINEW DELHI

Global vaccinesharing

network COVAX is still

seeing strong demand for

Indiamade doses of the

AstraZeneca COVID19 shot,

said one of its backers, the

Global Alliance for Vaccines

and Immunization (GAVI),

following comments from its

producer, the Serum Institute

of India (SII), that uptake had

slowed sharply. GAVI said

COVAX had allocated 40

million Covishield doses to

various countries after New

Delhi let the SII resume

supplies last month. REUTERS

IN BRIEF

‘322 people from abroaduntraceable in Bihar’PATNA

Even as Bihar is on high alert

for the Omicron variant, it

turns out that 322 of the

1,720 people who arrived in

the State from abroad have

switched off their phones.

Samples of only 305 have

been collected. “We managed

to speak to only 429 people,”

a senior Health Department

official told The Hindu. “Of

the 305 samples, 255 tested

negative. Reports of the

others are still awaited.” He

said the remaining people

could not be traced. Officials

appealed to people coming

from abroad to get tested.

The fi�vefold strategy of“test, track, treat, vaccinateand adherence to COVID19appropriate behaviour” washighlighted as the mainstayof the public health responsein managing the pandemic inthe country by Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan as hereviewed India’s preparedness for the Omicron variantand progress in vaccinationon Thursday.

The States were urged toenhance testing and focus onsurveillance to ensure earlyidentifi�cation of suspectedcases for prompt isolationand further clinical management. They were advised toensure the availability of RTPCR testing in all districts.

Districts reporting highercase positivity rates are tomonitor the case trajectoryon a regular basis andpromptly dispatch positivesamples to the mapped IN

SACOG (Indian SARSCoV2Genomics Consortium) labsfor whole genome sequencing.

At the meeting, closemonitoring of new emerging

hotspots/ clusters, breakthrough and reinfection cases, and prompt investigationof such events by rapid response teams were discussed.It was reemphasised that all

contacts of positive patientshave to be traced and testedas per protocol as quickly aspossible.

Based on information provided by international travellers from ‘at risk’ countries in the Air Suvidhaportal, districtwise monitoring of international passengers who have tested negative on arrival, with a focuson symptomatic cases, washighlighted.

In view of the winter season, the States were advisedto closely monitor prevalence of infl�uenzalike illness(ILI), severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and respiratory distress symptoms.

“In order to ensure that allhospital infrastructure is ready for any possible surge incases, States were advised toreview their readiness forproviding quality medicalcare,” said a release issuedby the Ministry.

The Health Secretary also

urged the States to maintainan adequate buff�er stock forthe eight critical drugs identifi�ed in the clinical treatment of COVID19; the guidelines for these were sharedwith States in July 2021.

Door-to-door campaignUnderscoring the critical importance of the vaccinationdrive, the States were advised to continue increasingthe pace and coverage of theCOVID19 nationwide vaccination drive with a focus onthe ongoing “Har Ghar Dastak (doortodoor)” campaign for ensuring full vaccination of all the eligiblepopulation, with regularmonitoring at the village anddistrict levels. In order tokeep rumours at bay and address issues of vaccine hesitancy, the States were askedto organise evidenceinformed awareness campaigns with regular mediabriefi�ngs.

States told to raise testing, surveillanceHealth Ministry reviews preparedness for tackling Omicron variant and progress in vaccination


NEW DELHI

Jab check: A bride looking for her vaccination certifi�cate toshow it to a health worker in Ahmedabad. * REUTERS

Full resumption of international fl�ights stands postponed at least till January 31,2022, according to an announcement by the Directorate General of Civil Aviationon Thursday.

Last week, days after announcing resumption of international fl�ights from December 15, the Governmentpostponed its decision indefi�nitely due to fresh concerns over the new COVID19 variant, Omicron. Anorder from the DGCA on December 1 said that a newdate would be announced in“due course of time”.

On Thursday, the DGCAsaid, “the competent authority has decided to extendsuspension of scheduledcommercial internationalpassenger services to/ fromIndia till 2359 hours IST of31st January, 2022”. It added

that international fl�ights under the airbubble agreement with 32 countrieswould continue as before.

In a relief for travellersfrom Singapore, they will nolonger be subjected to mandatory onarrival RTPCRtest and sevenday quarantine, after the governmentremoved the island citystate from its list of “atrisk”countries.

Singapore had announced that it was restarting fl�ight connectivity withIndia from November 29, after a gap of 20 months, andfully vaccinated Indian passengers could avail quarantinefree entry under its“Vaccinated Travel Lane”scheme. But later thatmonth, India put Singaporeon the list of atrisk countries requiring passengersarriving into the country toundergo additional healthsafety protocols.

International fl�ights toresume only after Jan. 31Singapore taken off� ‘atrisk’ nations’ list


NEW DELHI

Zero Hour in the Lok Sabhaon Thursday saw SpeakerOm Birla spontaneously deciding to allow as many women MPs as possible to raisetheir issues in the House.Out of a total of 62 speakersin the morning, 29 were women. Many asked to speakout of ballot and the issuesranged from when the Women’s Reservation Bill willbe revived, to the Dadra andNagar Haveli MP KalabenDelkar reminding the Houseof her late husband, MohanDelkar’s (who died by suicide in February last) eff�ortsto get an Assembly for theUnion Territory.

The ball was set rollingwhen DMK’s Kanimozhiraised the issue of the Wo

men’s Reservation Bill,pointing out that it had beena long time coming and thatthe government should seriously explore the matter.Soon after Mr. Birla said thatthe 33% reservation for women issue was a serious oneand asked as many women

MPs as were present andwilling to raise their issues inthe House.

Ms. Delkar was recentlyelected to the House in a bypoll. Before his death, Mohan Delkar had alleged harassment by the localadministration. She fought

on a Shiv Sena ticket, unlikeher husband who was an Independent. She remindedthe House about the sacrifi�ces made by her husband andthe struggle he waged for Dadra and Nagar Haveli to get aresponsive local government, a “full Assembly”.

Mr. Birla singled out BJDMP from Aska, Pramila Bisoyi, for praise as she raisedthe issue of challenges to employment for women duringCOVID19. Ms Bisoyi, whoruns many selfhelp groupsin Ganjam district, hadraised the issue of languagehesitancy with the Speakereight months ago, as she wasfl�uent only in Odia. Mr. Birlahad arranged for her to workwith an OdiatoHindi language translator to make herinterventions eff�ective.

Women MPs raise multiple issuesSpeaker spontaneously allows many legislators to speak during Zero Hour


NEW DELHI

Loud and clear: DMK MP Kanimozhi and the BJP’s ChandraniMurmu speaking in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. * PTI

The Supreme Court onThursday reserved for judgment an appeal by Zakia Jafri, wife of Congress leaderEhsan Jafri who was killed inthe 2002 Gujarat riots, forinvestigation into a “largerconspiracy” behind theviolence.

Appearing before a Benchled by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, senior advocate Kapil Sibal reiterated that the Special Investigation Team (SIT)did not conduct a thoroughprobe into evidence whichsuggested a larger conspiracy of complicity in the highest echelons of the State’spower structure.

Mr. Sibal, in his rejoinder,said the purpose of the pleawas not to target anybodybut only to seek a thoroughinvestigation into materialsindicating deeperinvolvement.

Senior advocate Mukul

Rohatgi, for the SIT, countered that the SupremeCourtappointed body haddone a thorough investigation. “An SIT appointed bythe Supreme Court investigated the cases... Now, whatdo they want? ScotlandYard?” Mr. Rohatgi asked.

He said entertaining theplea would mean putting theclock back by 20 years. Allegations of a “larger conspiracy” was baseless, Mr. Rohatgi said.

The SIT had given a cleanchit to then Chief MinisterNarendra Modi and 63 others, including senior offi�cials, saying there was “noprosecutable evidence”against them.

She sought probe into ‘larger conspiracy’ behind 2002 riots

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

SC reserves judgment on Zakia Jafri’s appeal

Ehsan Jafri was killed during the violence atGulberg Society in 2002.

As India lumbers on with theformulation of its nationalsuicide prevention strategy,in the works for some yearsnow, The Lancet has published a broad and comprehensive policy paper off�ering a range ofevidencebased solutionsacross sectors to reduce thevery high suicide rate in thecountry.

The paper titled ‘The national suicide preventionstrategy in India: contextand considerations for urgent action’ by Lakshmi Vijayakumar, Prabha S. Chan

dra, Munirathinam SureshKumar, Soumitra Pathare,Debanjan Banerjee, TanmoyGoswami and Rakhi Dandona, hopes to propel India’seff�orts to evolve a suicideprevention strategy as arounded policy involvingmultiple sectors and implementation.

“The suicide rate amongIndian girls and women continues to be twice the globalrate, though it has droppedin the last decade or so. Weare also losing a large number of young lives to suicide,which accounts for mostdeaths in the 1539 agegroup,” Dr. Vijayakumar

said. “This is unacceptablyhigh. Urgent action is required in India, one that willwork across sectors,” sheadded.

The paper records that India reports the highest number of suicide deaths in theworld. Hanging is the mostcommon method of suicide,followed by pesticides poisoning, medicine overdose,and selfimmolation. Depression and alcohol use disorders, and social and culturalfactors, appear to increasethe risk of suicide.

The authors say a “scaffolding approach across alldomains that is available and

accessible during vulnerablepoints over the life coursecould help individuals whomight not be able to copewithout help”.

Besides advocating shortand medium strategiesacross sectors, includingagriculture, the judiciary,media, education and women’s health, apart frommental health, the papercalls for the constitution of atask force for suicide prevention research to create a roadmap. There is also a need formore robust and realtimedata on suicides and attempted suicides, the papersays.

New paper off�ers ways to curb suicides‘Urgent action is required in India, one that will work across sectors’

Ramya Kannan

CHENNAI

Sports, COVID19 and farmers’ protest were among thetop topics that Indian userslooked for and talked abouton social media in 2021.

While Indian PremierLeague (IPL) and ICC T20World Cup fi�lled the topspots in the overall list of queries on Google search,‘#Covid19’ and ‘#FarmersProtest’ were the mosttweeted hashtags on Twitter. IPL, which had toppedthe trending query list lastyear as well, was followedby CoWIN, ICC T20 World

Cup, Euro Cup, Tokyo Olympics and COVID Vaccine inthe top trending query liston search engine Google.

2021 also witnessed astrong interest in regionalcinema, with Tamil fi�lm Jai

Bhim securing the top spoton the movies list.

On Twitter, Australiancricketer Pat Cummins’stweet about his donation toCOVID19 relief in India wasthe most retweeted tweet ofthe year in the country,while Indian cricketer ViratKohli’s tweet announcingthe birth of his daughter wasthe most liked tweet.

Sports topped India’sGoogle searches in 2021COVID19, farm protest most tweeted

Yuthika Bhargava

NEW DELHI

New roles: Actors Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal tied theknot at a luxury hotel in Sawai Madhopur on Thursday. Thewedding sparked media attention with a nocamera policyand supposed huge sums for streaming rights. * PTI

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Star couple

Pension report not basedon reliable data: MinisterNEW DELHI

Minister of State for Labour

and Employment Rameswar

Teli told the Rajya Sabha on

Thursday that a global

pension index that placed

India’s pension system

towards the bottom of the

list was “not based on reliable

comparable international

data”. The report, which came

out earlier this year, ranked

India 40 out of 43 countries

for its pension system. The

report did not recognise

every aspect of pension

system in a country, the

Ministry said to a query from

DMK MP M. Shanmugam.

CMYK

M ND-NDE

WORLDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI


U.S. President Joe Bidenkicked off� Day One of hisSummit for Democracy, calling on countries to make“concrete commitments” toreaffi�rm their democratic values. Over 100 countries havebeen invited, as well as civilsociety actors, members ofvarious parliaments and theprivate sector.

“Democracy doesn't happen by accident. We have torenew it with each generation,” Mr. Biden, sitting beside his Secretary of State Antony Blinken, told over 50world leaders who could beseen on a large screen.

“We have to stand for justice and the rule of law forfree speech, free assembly, afree press, freedom of religion, for all the inherent human rights of every individual,” the President said.

The purpose of the gathering was not to assert that anyof the participant countrieswere perfect democracies,Mr. Biden said, but “to lockarms and reaffi�rm our sharedcommitment to make our democracy better” and to shareideas and make “concretecommitments” on combating authoritarianism, fi�ghting corruption and promoting human rights – the threethemes of the summit.

Mr. Biden said he waslaunching the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, which, along with theU.S. Congress would commit$224 million toward variousdemocracy related projectsincluding transparency, fairelections and free and independent media.

(A White House factsheetreleased on Thursday saidthe Initiative would involve$424.2 million. The WhiteHouse clarifi�ed for The Hin-

du that this was the correctamount).

Calling a free and independent press the “ bedrock ofdemocracy”, Mr. Biden saidthe U.S. was launching a multilateral eff�ort to enhance independent media. He alsodescribed a recently announced defamation defencefund by the United States

Agency for International Development (USAID) to protect journalists from “nuisance lawsuits designed toprevent them from doingtheir work and vital workaround the world.”

While the Summit is likelyto see commitments, in addition to the launch of initiatives, plans to make thesecommitments binding appear not to be on the cards.Following the Summit, therewould be “a year of consultation, coordination and delivery” a senior administrationoffi�cial told reporters onMonday.

Last week U.S. offi�cials hadtold reporters that therewould be a “ written, nonbinding code of conduct” onhuman rights parameters forthe export of technologiesthat could be used for

repression.Additionally, this week,

the U.S. released a strategyon countering corruption.

There is a second summitplanned for a year from now,where countries are expected to discuss progress ontheir commitments. However, the monitoring mechanism seems to rely on civil society actors holdinggovernments accountable,rather than there being anybinding mechanism thatemerges from thediscussions.

“And our hope is thatthrough the entirety of thisprocess, we can really have adialogue between participating governments and civil society, and that civil societywill hold all of us accountable,” one offi�cial said duringMonday’s briefi�ng call.

Another offi�cial said that coalitions like the Open Government Partnership (India isnot a member) or the Universal Periodic Review (a periodic review of human rights records of UN member states)could be leveraged formonitoring.

“ …We do intend to hostthis summit with humility,”one offi�cial said. “We see ourselves as a democracy notwith all of the answers, butwith openness and transparency about our eff�orts toovercome challenges athome…”

Earlier this week, theWhite House released another ‘fact sheet’ saying the Biden administration is strengthening democracy at home,with details of its work on theinfrastructure bill, BuildBack Better (not yet passed),voting rights, strengtheningunions and other themes Mr.Biden also mentioned duringhis Thursday launch speech.

Thursday’s agenda included two plenary sessions, onehosted by Mr. Biden and thesecond, by European Commission President Ursula vonder Leyen.

Prerecorded interventions by world leaders havebeen scheduled for Thursdayand Friday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention scheduled for Friday.

‘Democracy doesn’t happen by accident’At Democracy Summit, U.S. President asks for concrete commitments from participant countries

Sriram Lakshman

New initiative: U.S. President Joe Biden, left, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken speakingfrom the White House during the the opening of the Democracy Summit on Thursday. * AP

istan, Bangladesh, Bhutanand Sri Lanka were notamong about 100 countrieson the list.

When asked, Jennifer Larson admitted that limits onthe number of invitees onthe list had been “arbitrarilyplaced”.

She expressed hope thatother democratic countriesin the region would be invited to the next summit.

Pakistan’s decision not toattend comes on the back of

Prime Minister NarendraModi “commended” the U.S.for holding a summit for democracies that was inaugurated by U.S. President Bidenon Thursday, even as Pakistan Prime Minister ImranKhan has decided to skip it,making India one of onlythree South Asian nations attending the twoday event.

“PM Modi said the democratic spirit, including res

pect for rule of law and pluralistic ethos, is ingrained inIndians,” MEA sources said.

“The PM had spokenabout the need for democracy in global governance andfor technology companies to“contribute to preservingopen and democratic societies,” they added.

Mr. Modi is due to makehis “national statement” onFriday where all leaders areexpected to make specifi�ccommitments on promoting

democracy, on the lines ofthe climate change summit,offi�cials aware of the agendasaid.

“Certainly India is going tobe playing a prominent role.We would encourage thosewho weren’t [invited] towork on commitments to democracy,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jennifer Larson said.

While India, Pakistan, Nepal and the Maldives were invited to the summit, Afghan

severe criticism of the summit plans from China, whichhas not been invited, alongwith Russia, presumably asthey are Communist singleparty states.

“We remain in contactwith the U.S. on a range of issues and believe that we canengage on this subject at anopportune time in the future,“ the Pakistan MFA saidon Thursday, but did not givea specifi�c reason for missingthe summit.

Modi lauds U.S. for summit; Imran to give it a missSuhasini Haidar

NEW DELHI

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursdayappointed a former Navychief, previously accused ofabduction and conspiracy tomurder, as Governor of theNorth Western Province, delivering what victims’ families called “yet anotherblow” to their 12 yearlongfi�ght for justice.

Wasantha Karannagodarendered “a great service tothe Motherland during thehumanitarian operation asthe Commander of the Navy,” a statement from thePresident’s offi�ce said, of theman named 14th suspect in agruesome case now commonly referred to as “Navy11” case.

This is Mr. Rajapaksa’s second controversial appointment in recent months. InOctober, he chose a reactionary Buddhist monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara, earlierconvicted for contempt ofcourt, and accused of inciting violence against Muslims, to chair a panel on keylegal reforms.

In the years 2008 and2009, 11 youth — most ofthem in their late teens andcoming from Sinhala, Tamil,and Muslim families — wentmissing across in diff�erentsuburbs around Colombo.

With witness accountsand the body of evidencepointing to the apparent involvement of a team of navaloffi�cers, the Attorney General’s Department, in November 2019, indicted over a dozen highranking navaloffi�cers on charges of abducting and conspiring tomurder the 11 young men.

The list of suspects, ofhighranking naval offi�cers,included Mr. Karannagoda,who was Navy Commanderat the time of the abductions.

Activists and lawyers consider the case “emblematic”of the alleged criminal conduct of military during civilwar years. It also drew notice for the rare progressmade by way of evidencegathering and prosecutionin court.

However, in a puzzling Uturn this August, the AG’sDepartment said it had decided not to proceed withthe charges against the admiral.

Short-lived hopesAfter giving families somereason for hope by servingindictments — on 667 charges — in the highprofi�le case,the AG’s decision to spareone suspect alone of thegrave charges drew wide attention. Including from theUN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet, who expressed concern over developments in judicialproceedings “in a number ofemblematic human rightscases” in Sri Lanka.

From the families’ perspective, the AG’s decisiondelivered “a severe blow” tothe case. They challenged itat Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal, which subsequentlydismissed their petition ongrounds that the AG’s department had the discretionto drop charges against asuspect.

Even as hearings on theoriginal case are set to conti

nue – the charges against theother 13 offi�cers remain andthe admiral is yet to be acquitted – victims’ familiesare appalled at Thursday’sappointment.

‘Completely unfair’“This is completely unfair,”said Jenifer Weerasinghe,mother of Mohammed DilanJamaldeen, one of the 11 disappeared youth. “The admiral was the navy commanderwhen my son was abducted.He certainly knows whathappened to him and theothers. That is why he wasnamed a suspect. How couldthey give him a post likethis?” she asked, terming thedevelopment “another hugeblow”.

The President’s appointment of the admiral as Governor also adds to the list ofmilitary men given civilianpositions in recent years.

Since 2020, Mr. Rajapaksahas appointed at least 28serving or former militaryand intelligence personnelto key administrative posts,the UN Human Rights ChiefBachelet noted in a reportearly this year.

Mr. Karannagoda’s appointment is “a doublewhammy”, according to human rights lawyer BhavaniFonseka from the Colombbased NGO Centre for PolicyAlternatives. “It further entrenches impunity and militarisation,” she said.

He has been accused of abduction, murder conspiracy

Meera Srinivasan

COLOMBO

Wasantha Karannagoda, right, with Sri Lankan PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Controversial ex-Navy chief isGotabaya’s pick as Governor

Myanmar governmenttroops raided a small northwestern village, rounding upcivilians, binding their handsand then burning them alivein apparent retaliation for anattack on a military convoy,according to witnesses andother reports.

A video of the aftermathof Tuesday’s attack showedthe charred bodies of 11 victims, some believed to be

teenagers, lying in a circle inDone Taw village in Sagaingregion.

Outrage spread as thegraphic images were sharedon social media over whatappeared to be the latest ofincreasingly brutal militaryattacks in an attempt to putdown stiff�ening antigovernment resistance followingthe army takeover inFebruary.

Human Rights Watchcalled for the international

community to ensure thatcommanders who gave theorder are added to targetedsanctions lists, and morebroadly, eff�orts are steppedup to cut off� any source offunding to the military.

“Our contacts are sayingthese were just boys andyoung people who werecaught in the wrong place atthe wrong time,” a spokeswoman for the group, MannyMaung, said.

“This incident is quite bra

zen, and it happened in anarea that was meant to befound, and seen, to scare people,” she said.

The images could not beindependently verifi�ed, butan account by a person whosaid he was present whenthey were taken generallymatched descriptions of theincident carried by independent Myanmar media.

The government has denied that it had any troops inthe area.

Myanmar troops burn alive 11 civiliansPress Trust of India

Bangkok

Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader has discussed regional security with Qatar during hisfi�rst visit since the kingdomended a fouryear blockade,offi�cial media said.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrivedlate on Wednesday as part ofa Gulf tour, nearly a year after relations were restored

between the two nations inJanuary.

Saudi Arabia, the UnitedArab Emirates, Bahrain andEgypt cut ties with Doha over allegations it supportedextremists and was too closeto archrival Iran — allegations Doha denied.

During talks with Qatar’semir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the two sidesexchanged views on “eve

rything that would protectstability and security in theregion”, the Qatar NewsAgency said.

Prince Mohammed’s tourhad been overshadowed byFrance’s arrest of a man suspected of involvement in the2018 killing of Saudi Arabianjournalist Jamal Khashoggi.

However, it later turnedout to be a case of mistakenidentity.

Saudi prince discusses security withQatar on his fi�rst visit after blockadeAgence France-Presse

Doha

U.S. President Joe Biden willcall Ukraine’s leader onThursday in a show of support, after warning VladimirPutin of sanctions “likenone he’s ever seen” if Russian troops attack Ukraine.

After talking to Ukrainiancounterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr. Biden will callnine Eastern European NATO members, including Poland and the Baltic states, todiscuss the video conference he held with Mr.Putin.

Biden to call Ukraineleader amid Russia rowAgence France-Presse

Washington

The Serum Institute of India, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, let Africa downby pulling out of talks tosupply COVID19 vaccines,creating distrust that has affected demand, the head ofthe Africa Centres for Disease Control said onThursday.

John Nkengasong denounced recent commentsfrom Serum that uptake ofits COVID19 shots hadslowed because of low demand from Africa and vaccine hesitancy, saying thereal problem was that Serum had actedunprofessionally.

Serum did not immediately respond to a Reuters

request for comment.Mr. Nkengasong said Se

rum had engaged in discussions last year with the Africa Vaccine Acquisition TaskTeam (AVATT), and that atone point he had believed adeal was very close, butthen Serum abruptly endedthe talks.

Serum Institute let usdown, says Africa CDC‘Vaccine maker ended talks abruptly’

Reuters

NAIROBI

John Nkengasong

UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres will attendthe 2022 Beijing WinterOlympics, his spokesmansaid, after the United Statesannounced a diplomaticboycott.

The United States saidthat it would not send a diplomatic delegation in aprotest against rights abuses by China. Australia, Britain and Canada also announced diplomaticboycotts.

France has no plans tojoin the boycott, PresidentEmmanuel Macron said,calling such a move“insignifi�cant.”

China warned nationsthat they would “pay theprice” for boycotts.

UN chief toattend BeijingOlympics

Agence France-Presse

United Nations

Pfi�zer booster for peopleaged 16 and 17 in U.S.WASHINGTON

The U.S. Food and Drug

Administration expanded

authorisation of the

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID

booster for 16- and

17-year-olds, amid growing

concern over the Omicron

variants . AFP

ELSEWHERE

CMYK

M ND-NDE

BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU


NIFTY 50

PRICE CHANGE

Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 769.75. . . . . . . . . 8.35

Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3178.70. . . . . . . 70.20

Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 693.95. . . . . . . . -3.15

Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3341.00. . . . . . . . . 8.95

Bajaj Finserv. . . . . . . . . . .. 17596.60. . . . . . -25.05

Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7440.30. . . . . . . 78.80

Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 713.95. . . . . . . . -1.20

BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 393.75. . . . . . . . . 2.60

Britannia Ind . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3623.90. . . . . . . 48.15

Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 894.50. . . . . . . . -3.45

Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 152.65. . . . . . . . . 1.75

Divis Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 4576.95. . . . . . -28.00

Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 4594.25. . . . . . . 23.55

Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. . . . 2542.95. . . . . . . 37.40

Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1722.75. . . . . . . . . 6.50

HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1168.55. . . . . . . . -3.05

HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2842.05. . . . . . -10.95

HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1526.85. . . . . . -26.95

HDFC Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 683.15. . . . . . . . -3.25

Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 2520.95. . . . . . . 30.30

Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 455.65. . . . . . . . -1.80

Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2339.75. . . . . . . . -0.85

ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 755.00. . . . . . . . . 1.60

IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 946.40. . . . . . . . . 1.10

Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1763.45. . . . . . . 10.10

Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 119.70. . . . . . . . -0.70

ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 235.40. . . . . . . 10.45

JSW Steel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 674.10. . . . . . . . . 1.15

Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1916.35. . . . . . . . -4.10

L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1879.80. . . . . . . 54.75

M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 851.10. . . . . . . 10.35

Maruti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7421.75. . . . . . -13.15

Nestle India Ltd. . . . .. 19284.75. . . -194.35

NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 126.05. . . . . . . . -1.20

ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 147.35. . . . . . . . -1.05

PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 203.20. . . . . . . . -1.60

Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2456.45. . . . . . . 38.35

SBI Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1161.35. . . . . . . . -8.15

State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 488.65. . . . . . . . -2.90

Shree Cement . . . . . . . .. 26416.50. . . . . 263.65

Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 759.75. . . . . . . . . 2.20

Tata Consumer

Products Ltd. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 777.50. . . . . . . . . 5.35

Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 493.95. . . . . . . . . 0.05

Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1176.85. . . . . . . . . 3.85

TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3601.75. . . . . . -25.15

Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . 1611.20. . . . . . . . . 6.40

Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2373.15. . . . . . -32.40

UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 7433.85. . . . . . . . . 9.90

UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 742.20. . . . . . . 14.10

Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 643.20. . . . . . . . . 1.50

EXCHANGE RATES

Indicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on December 09

CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 75.32. . . . . . . 75.64

Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 85.22. . . . . . . 85.59

British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 99.33. . . . . . . 99.75

Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 66.33. . . . . . . 66.64

Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 11.86. . . . . . . 11.92

Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 81.70. . . . . . . 82.06

Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 55.19. . . . . . . 55.43

Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 59.42. . . . . . . 59.67

Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 17.85. . . . . . . 17.95

Australian Dollar . . . . . . .. . 53.90. . . . . . . 54.13

Source:Indian Bank

market watch

09-12-2021 % CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 58,807 ddddddddddddddd0.27

US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 75.60 ddddddddddddd-0.13

Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 47,156 ddddddddddddd-0.23

Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 75.25 ddddddddddddd-0.19

India’s retail infl�ation likelyaccelerated last month towards the upper limit of theRBI’s target range as fruitand vegetable prices rose, aReuters poll found.

The Reserve Bank of Indialeft interest rates on hold onWednesday but the centralbank said price pressuresmay persist in the nearterm.

The December 68 poll of39 economists forecast November consumer price infl�ation at 5.1%, faster thanOctober’s 4.48%. If realised,it would be within the RBI’starget band of 26% for a fi�fthconsecutive month. The CPIdata is due on December 13.

“Last month’s reductionin fuel taxes and a slightly favourable statistical basewere off�set by strong momentum in the prices of perishables,” said Yuvika Singhal, economist at QuantEco

Research.That was pushed further

“because of untimely rainsand the uptick in LPG (liquefi�ed petroleum gas) and kerosene prices”, she added.

Brent crude oil, India’s

biggest import, slid morethan 16% last month.

High infl�ation last year haskept this year’s price gainscompared with a year earliersubdued. But that is expected to wane as prices are setto rise for mobile phone billsand clothes, putting infl�ationback on a rising trend.

“The upcoming impactfrom the hike in telecom tariff�s, volatility in the price ofperishable goods and anyplausible supplychain disruptions from COVID’s latestvariant could negate the recent respite we had in fueland global commodity prices,” said Madhavi Arora, leadeconomist at Emkay GlobalFinancial Services.

‘India’s retail infl�ation likelyaccelerated in Nov. to 5.1%’Reuters Dec. 6-8 poll of 39 economists cites rising prices of vegetables, fruits

Reuters

BENGALURU

Feeling the pinch: Strong momentum in prices of perishablesfanned infl�ation last month, says Singhal. * THULASI KAKKAT

Capital markets regulatorSEBI on Thursday proposed a regulatory framework for algorithmic trading (algo trading) by retailinvestors to make suchtrading safe and preventmarket manipulations.

In market parlance, algotrading refers to any orderthat is generated using automated execution logic.

The algo trading systemautomatically monitors thelive stock prices and initiates an order when thegiven criteria are met.

In its consultation paper, SEBI has proposed a framework for algo tradingdone by retail investors, including the use of Application Programming Interface (API) access.

SEBI proposesrules for retailalgo trading

Press trust of india

new delhi

Coal stock at thermal powerplants improved to 20.98million tonnes (MT) on December 5, which is suffi�cientto run the plants for an average of 10 days, Power Minister R.K. Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.on Thursday.

The Central ElectricityAuthority (CEA) monitorsfuel stocks of 136 coalbasedthermal power plants withtotal generation capacity ofmore than 166 GW.

Coal stock available withpower plants monitored bythe CEA was 41.6 MT as onNovember 30, 2020, whichdeclined to 31.9 MT onMarch 31, he wrote. Also,with increased power generation and some interruption

in supply of coal by companies mainly due to heavyrains and increase in pricesof imported coal, stock atthe plants slumped to about11.4 MT as on September 30,2021, he said.

Subsequently, with the efforts of the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal, CEA,Coal India Ltd. and the Railways, coal stock had startedimproving, he added.

Coal at power units risesto 10-days cover: MinisterStocks at thermal plants rise to 21 MT

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

The National Association ofSoftware and Services Companies (Nasscom) has submitted recommendationsfor the upcoming Budget,including clarifi�cation onavailability of income tax relief in projects for whichstaff� WorkfromHome(WfH), reduction in compliance burden and certainty to taxpayers.

Nasscom said the industry had potential to growtwofold in revenue to $350billion by FY26, and favourable consideration to thesuggestions would helpreach the goal. It soughtclarifi�cation as to whetherWfH by employees of unitsin Special Economic Zones(SEZs) would not aff�ect eligi

bility for tax holiday available under to Sec. 10AA ofthe Income Tax Act (IT Act).

“Emerging from the pandemic, industry is implementing a hybrid workingmodel ... work will happenboth onsite and remotely asa matter of routine. Earlier,this was considered ‘temporary’... but now it will justbe a way of working.”

Nasscom also pitched forlowering the complianceburden, urging amendments to allow depreciationon goodwill from transactions that took place beforeApril 1, 2021.

‘Clarify tax relief rule forSEZ projects with WfH’Ease compliance burden: Nasscom

Yuthika Bhargava

NEW DELHI <> Nasscom said it

wanted impetus to

help the industry

achieve $350-bn

revenue by FY26

Paytm Payments Bank hasgained central bank approval to function as a scheduled payments bank,Paytm said, helping it to expand its fi�nancial servicesoperations.

As a scheduled payments bank, Paytm Payments can participate ingovernment and companies’ request for proposals,primary auctions, fi�xedrate and variable rate reposand reverse repos, alongwith participation in marginal standing facility.

It will also be eligible tobe a partner in governmentrun fi�nancial inclusion schemes. Shares of parent One 97Communications rose 2.6%on the BSE on Thursday.

Paytm bankgranted status upgrade

Reuters

New Delhi

TVS Motor Company hasstrengthened its presencein Central America by sealing a distribution partnership with Active Motors SA,an arm of Grupo Q, for Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Grupo Q is a leading distributor of motor vehiclesin Central America. ActiveMotors SA would supportTVS Motor with dedicatedsales, service, spares andcustomer relationshipmanagement.

As a part of this association, Active SA Motors willfacilitate the opening ofthree fl�agship outlets andabout 50 dealerships forthe Indian fi�rm in a phasedmanner across Nicaraguaand Costa Rica, as per astatement from TVS Motor.

TVS Motorboosts CentralAmerica reach


CHENNAI

Imports made up 86% of India’s gold supply between20162020, and inboundshipments continue to growdespite high import duty, asper a report by the WorldGold Council (WGC).

Since the fi�rst duty hike in2012, India has importedsome 6,581 tonnes of gold,averaging 730 tonnes per annum, as per WGC’s ‘BullionTrade in India’ report.

In 2020, India imported377 tonnes of gold bars anddore from over 30 countries,of which 55% came from justtwo countries — Switzerland(44%) and the UAE (11%).

One important changethat has taken place in In

dia’s gold market is thegrowth in gold dore imports.The increase refl�ects the government’s accommodativestance towards gold refi�ning,the report said.

In the last fi�ve years, golddore imports made up 30%of the total offi�cial imports ofthe yellow metal.

Duty benefi�ts led to a massive expansion of refi�ning ca

pacity in the country as thenumber of refi�neries grewfrom three in 2012 to 32 in2020. With lower duty ongold dore, its share of goldimports has increased from11% in 2014 to 29% in 2020.

“As the second largest global market, Indian gold demand is heavily dependenton bullion and dore imports.Looking at current markettrends, we expect gold imports to be stronger in 2022,as compared to this year.

“Bullion industry has developed over the last threedecades in India with a signifi�cant addition to organised refi�ning capacity and anLBMAaccredited refi�nery,”WGC regional CEO, India,Somasundaram P R said.

Imports made up 86% of goldsupply in 2016-20, says WGCInbound shipments likely to be stronger in 2022: Council

Press trust of india

mumbai

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories(DRL) has entered into apartnership with PrestigeBioPharma under which itwill get exclusive rights tosupply and commercialisethe Singapore fi�rm’s proposed trastuzumab biosimilar in select Latin American and Southeast Asiancountries.

Prestige BioPharma’strastuzumab (HD201) is aproposed biosimilar toRoche’s Herceptin.

It can be prescribed fortreatment of HER2 positivebreast and metastatic gastric cancer, the two companies said in a release.

The license agreementgrants Dr. Reddy’s exclusive rights to commercialise the proposed biosimilarin the select countries.

Dr. Reddy’s tosell Prestige’scancer drug


HYDERABAD

Net fl�ows into equity mutual funds rose to a fourmonth high of ₹�11,615 crorein November on a strongSIP book despite extremevolatility in markets.

This was also the ninthconsecutive monthly netinfl�ow, data with the Association of Mutual Funds inIndia showed on Thursday.

In comparison, equitymutual funds logged net infl�ows to the tune of ₹�5,215crore in October, ₹�8,677crore in September and₹� 8,666 crore in August.

November saw the highest monthly net infusionsince July, when equityoriented mutual funds witnessed net infl�ow of₹�25,002 crore. Equityschemes have been witnessing net infl�ows since inMarch this year.

Equity MFinfl�ows rise to4month high

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI

The government is planningto roll out a 5G test bed inearly January to enablesmall and medium enterprises and other industryplayers to test their solutions on a working platform,a top Department of Telecom offi�cial said onThursday.

To promote 5G indigenous technology, DoT hadin March 2018 approved amultiinstitute collaborativeproject to set up a 5G TestBed at a total cost of ₹�224crore. A test bed consists ofa specifi�c environment including hardware, software,operating system and network confi�guration to test aproduct or service.

“One more eff�ort that wehave taken in the recent

past is setting up a 5G testbed. We hope to roll out this5G test bed in early Januarywhich will enable SMEs andother parts of industries tocome and test their solutionon a working platform,”DoT Secretary K. Rajaramansaid at the India Mobile Congress. At present, the DoThas allocated spectrum toBharti Airtel, Reliance Jio,Vodafone Idea and MTNLfor 5G trials.

Govt. mulls 5G test bedroll-out in early January‘SMEs, industries can trial solutions’


NEW DELHI

HMD Global, which sells Nokia mobile phones, onThursday said it would begin exporting ‘Made in India’ products as it looks tointegrate ‘priority market’India in its global supplychain.

“India is one of our toppriority markets, not onlyfrom a consumer standpoint as it is the secondbiggest smartphone marketglobally but also as a country… We want to leverage India as a global supply chainhub,” HMD Global vicepresident (India and MENA)Sanmeet Singh Kochhar.

Mr. Kochhar added HMDwould start with exports forNokia 105, which is the topselling feature phone in India as well as globally. Thedevices will be exported

from HMD’s partner factoryin Sriperumbudur to theUnited Arab Emirates.

Though the featurephone market was declining, there were still stronguse cases for the devicesand demand was driven bylow entry cost, longer battery life, need for secondarydevices as well as by peoplewanting a ‘digital detox’, hepointed out. “Not just in India, feature phones are a bigmarket globally,” he said.

HMD to export Nokiaphones from India‘Feature phones still have use cases’


New Delhi

No authorised vendor forrooftop solar: MinistryNEW DELHI

The new and renewable

energy ministry said that no

vendor has been authorised

by it for the installation of

rooftop solar. The

clarification came after it

found some vendors claiming

they were authorised by the

Ministry of New & Renewable

Energy to instal rooftop solar

under gridconnected

rooftop solar scheme. PTI

IN BRIEF

Mahindra Manulifeunveils open-ended fundMUMBAI

Mahindra Manulife

Investment Management

Private Ltd. has unveiled

‘Mahindra Manulife Balanced

Advantage Yojana,’ an open

ended fund. “The scheme is

suitable for investors seeking

capital appreciation while

generating income over

medium to long term by

investing in equity and

equityrelated instruments

and debt and moneymarket

instruments,” the fi�rm said.

Prodapt to acquire U.K.’s SLR DynamicsCHENNAI

Digital transformation

services provider Prodapt

said it has acquired

U.K.based software

solutions fi�rm SLR Dynamics

for an undisclosed sum. This

acquisition will result in

protecting more than 100

jobs at SLR Dynamics. Over

the next three years, Prodapt

plans to grow the U.K. team

by adding 400500

employees with a plan to

invest £50 million, the

company said in a statement.

Bharat Bond ETFsubscribed 6.2 times NEW DELHI

The Finance Ministry on

Thursday said that the third

tranche of Bharat Bond ETF

was oversubscribed 6.2 times

against the base issue size of

₹�1,000 crore.

“Overwhelming response

seen in Bharat Bond ETF

2032 NFO. Total collection

over ₹�6,200 crore. Issue ...

subscribed more than 6.2x

against the base issue size of

₹�1,000 crore,” DIPAM

Secretary Tuhin Kanta

Pandey tweeted. pti

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


SPORT

The Ashes: First Test, day 3,Sony Six (SD & HD), 5.30 a.m.ISL: Star Sports 2 (SD & HD),7.30 p.m.Bundesliga: Sony Ten 2 (SD& HD), 1 a.m. (Saturday)Premier League: SS Select 1(SD & HD), 1.30 a.m.(Saturday)

TV PICKS

Travis Head blasted a rapidfi�re century to crush England hopes on the secondday of the opening AshesTest at the Gabba onThursday.

At the close of play Australia was 343 for seven, alead of 196 on England’s dismal fi�rstinnings total of 147.

Head was on 112 off� 95balls, alongside MitchellStarc (10).

Robinson’s two in two

England had threatened acomeback after tea when Ollie Robinson took two wickets off� consecutive balls, butHead’s aggressive inningsput paid to any hopes of amiracle recovery.

Head came to the creasewith Australia 189 for threeafter Steve Smith edgedMark Wood to ’keeper JosButtler just before tea.

He then watched DavidWarner (94) and CameronGreen depart to Robinson’saccurate seamers after thebreak.

But the 27yearold Headattacked from the outset andwas particularly harsh onspinners Jack Leach and JoeRoot.

He smashed two sixes and12 fours in his century, histhird overall and his fi�rstsince the Boxing Day Testagainst New Zealand in 2019.

Leach, one for 95 from 11overs, failed to assert anycontrol and with Ben Stokesalso struggling for fi�tness,skipper Root had to rely heavily on his threeman seamattack.

Warner rode his luck inthe fi�rst two sessions.

He was bowled off� a noball by Stokes before lunch,then dropped by Rory Burnsin the fi�rst over after thebreak, before Haseeb Hameed bungled a simple runout when Warner was on 60.

No-ball dramaWarner’s good fortune began in the opening sessionwhen Stokes bowled himwhen he was on 17, but theallrounder had oversteppedto give the Australian openera reprieve.

Television replays showedthat Stokes had also overstepped on the fi�rst threeballs of his over, but nothingwas called.

That led to suggestionsthat had he been called ear

lier, he would have adjustedhis runup and Warner’sprized wicket — off� Stokes’fourth delivery — may havestood.

Marnus Labuschagnecontributed 74 before slicingan attempted cut off� Leachto Wood at backward point.

Head’s rapidfi�re ton puts Australia in commandWarner rides his luck but falls short of a century; Labuschagne contributes 74 as the hosts lead by 196 runs

Cutting loose: Head hit 12 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 95ball 112. * AFP

THE ASHES


Brisbane

England — 1st innings: 147.

Australia — 1st innings: DavidWarner c Stokes b Robinson 94,Marcus Harris c Malan b Robinson 3, Marnus Labuschagne cWood b Leach 74, Steve Smith cButtler b Wood 12, Travis Head(batting) 112, Cameron Green bRobinson 0, Alex Carey c Pope bWoakes 12, Pat Cummins cHameed b Root 12, M. Starc(batting) 10; Extras (b4, lb4,nb4, w2): 14; Total (for sevenwkts. in 84 overs): 343.

Fall of wickets: 110, 2166, 3189, 4195, 5195, 6236, 7306.

England bowling: Woakes 207561, Robinson 188483,Wood 204571, Stokes 90500, Leach 110951, Root60291.

SCOREBOARD

Curry moves closer toalltime 3point recordLOS ANGELES

Golden State star Stephen

Curry drained six

threepointers to move

within 10 of breaking Ray

Allen’s (2,973) alltime NBA

record in the Warriors’

10494 victory over Portland

Trail Blazers on Wednesday.The results: Hornetts 106lost to 76ers 110; Cavaliers115 bt Bulls 92; Pistons 116lost to Wizards 119 (OT);Pacers 122 bt Knicks 102;Heat 113 bt Bucks 104;Raptors 109 lost to Thunder110; Rockets 114 bt Nets 104;Grizzlies 96 lost to Mavericks104; Timberwolves 104 lostto Jazz 136; Pelicans 114 lostto Nuggets 120 (OT);Warriors 104 bt Trail Blazers94; Kings 142 bt Magic 130;Clippers 114 bt Celtics 111. AFP

IN BRIEF

COVID19 ends India’sAsian CT campaignDONGHAE (SOUTH KOREA)

The Indian women’s hockey

team was on Thursday forced

out of the ongoing Asian

Champions Trophy after one

of its player tested positive

for COVID19, joining Malaysia

which was also compelled to

withdraw after being hit by

the dreaded virus here. A day

after the cancellation of its

matches against Korea and

China, an Asian Hockey

Federation source said that

the Indian team is no longer

competing in the event. PTI

Mauresmo namedFrench Open directorPARIS

Former women’s World No. 1

Amelie Mauresmo was on

Thursday named director of

the French Open, replacing

Guy Forget. Mauresmo will be

in place until at least 2024,

French tennis federation

president Gilles Moretton

said. Mauresmo is a twotime

Grand Slam winner

(Australian Open and

Wimbledon in 2006) and the

2004 Athens Olympics silver

medallist. AFP

Elite A: At Mumbai: Gujarat224/9 in 50 overs (Kathan Patel130 n.o.) lost to Odisha 225/7 in49.3 overs (Abhishek Raut 60n.o.).

Andhra 287/8 in 50 overs(C.R. Gnaneshwar 93, AmbatiRayudu 53, Pinninti Tapaswi 45n.o.) lost to Vidarbha 288/2 in41.4 overs (Atharva Taide 164n.o., Ganesh Satish 43, YashRathod 44 n.o.).At Thane: Himachal 250/8 in 50overs (Amit Kumar 49, Rishi Dhawan 44, Akash Vasisht 51 n.o.) btJammu & Kashmir 187 in 42.3overs.Elite B: At Thiruvananthapuram: Baroda 210 in 49.1 overs(Vishnu Solanki 94) lost to Mumbai 100/3 in 23 overs (YashasviJaiswal 41 n.o.). Mumbai wonby 13 runs (VJD method).

Karnataka 122 in 36.3 overs(Manish Pandey 40, M. Siddharth 4/23) lost to Tamil Nadu123/2 in 28 overs (B. Indrajith 51n.o.).

Bengal 264/8 in 50 overs(Shreevats Goswami 45, ShahbazAhmed 85 n.o.) lost to Pondicherry 132/2 in 30 overs (PavanDeshpande 62 n.o., Paras Dogra41 n.o.). Pondicherry won byeight runs (VJD method).Elite C: At Mohali: Hyderabad325/6 in 50 overs (Tilak Varma139, Chandan Sahani 87) bt Delhi246/9 in 50 overs (HimmatSingh 47).

Uttar Pradesh 239/7 in 50 overs (Rinku Singh 104) lost toJharkhand 242/2 in 46.1 overs(Nazim Siddiqui 116, UtkarshSingh 57 n.o.).At Chandigarh: Haryana 127 in38.4 overs (Chaitanya Bishnoi 41,Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4/14)lost to Saurashtra 131/5 in 27.1overs.Elite D: At Rajkot: Chhattisgarh275/7 in 50 overs (AmandeepKhare 82, Shashank Singh 63,Mukesh Choudhary 4/67) lost to

Maharashtra 276/2 in 47 overs(Ruturaj Gaikwad 154 n.o., YashNahar 52).

Madhya Pradesh 329/9 in 50overs (Abhishek Bhandari 49, Rajat Patidar 49, Venkatesh Iyer112, Shubham Sharma 82) bt Kerala 289 in 49.4 overs (RohanKunnummal 66, Sachin Baby 66,Puneet Datey 4/59).

Chandigarh 269/9 in 50 overs(Sarul Kanwar 97, Arjit Pannu 46,Ankit Kaushik 55) lost to Uttarakhand 270/7 in 49.2 overs (JayBista 68, Kamal Singh 59).

Elite E: At Ranchi: Rajasthan257/8 in 50 overs (Abhijeet Tomar 92, Samarpit Joshi 40) btGoa 173 in 42.3 overs (AdityaKaushik 53, Shubham Sharma 5/12).

Railways 250 in 48.3 overs(Mrunal Devdhar 45, MohammadSaif 60, Mayank Markande 4/40)lost to Punjab 252/7 in 49 overs(Anmolpreet Singh 54, GurkeeratMann 81, Sanvir Singh 46).

Assam 206 in 49.5 overs (Riyan Parag 58, Kunal Saikia 40)lost to Services 210/6 in 45.3 overs (Ravi Chauhan 47).

Plate: At Jaipur: Arunachal Pradesh 200 in 49.5 overs (Song Tacho 63, Nazeeb Saiyed 42) lost toNagaland 203/5 in 41.4 overs(Joshua Ozukum 40, ShrikantMundhe 49, Rongsen Jonathan67, Rajesh Bishnoi 4/35).

Meghalaya 273/6 in 50 overs(Chirag Khurana 117 n.o., PunitBisht 75) bt Bihar 272 in 50 overs(Sakibul Gani 94).

Mizoram 183/9 in 50 overs(Uday Kaul 42, Taruwar Kohli 69)lost to Sikkim 185/6 in 44.3 overs(Kranthi Kumar 63 n.o.).

Tripura 273/2 in 50 overs(Bishal Ghosh 119 n.o., Samit Gohel 46, K.B. Pawan 80 n.o.) btManipur 187/5 in 50 overs (Langlonyamba Meitan Keishangbam78 n.o.).

Friday is a rest day.

THURSDAY’S SCORES

The Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly onThursday said that once Virat Kohli refused to continue as India’s T20 captain,the selectors made up theirmind to hand over the ODIreins to Rohit Sharma asthe national team couldn’taff�ord “too much leadership” with two separatecaptains in the limitedovers format.

Decision accepted

The BCCI on Wednesdaynamed Rohit as ODI captain going into the 2023World Cup and Ganguly, inan interaction with PTI,opened up on the issue, asserting that the incumbentwas spoken to and duly accepted the decision.

“We had requested Viratnot to step down as T20captain, but he didn’t wantto continue.

“So, the selectors feltthat they cannot have twowhite ball captains in twowhiteball formats. That’stoo much of leadership,”

BCCI president and formerIndia skipper said.

Ganguly said the selectors felt that multiple leaders in the whiteball formatwould lead to confusionand that’s why the ChetanSharmaled committee suggested that it’s better tohave one leader.

Meanwhile, the BCCI onThursday thanked Kohli fordisplaying “grit, passionand determination” duringhis tenure.

“A leader who led theside with grit, passion & determination. Thank youCaptain @imVkohli,” theBoard tweeted”.

We couldn’t have hadtwo whiteballcaptains: Ganguly Press Trust of India

New Delhi

Ganguly and Kohli. * FILE PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK

C.H. Jhansi Lakshmi (64,70b, 9x4) and Yastika Bhatia (86, 102b, 10x4, 1x6)helped IndiaA score athreewicket win over IndiaD in the fi�nal of the BCCIsenior women’s ChallengerTrophy oneday cricketchampionship at the Mulapadu Cricket Complex hereon Thursday.

Chasing 220, IndiaA wasin a spot of bother at 30 fortwo as off�spinner KeerthyJames struck twice in the

seventh over.

Then Jhansi and Yastikaadded 95 for the third wicket. Leftarm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad impressedfor IndiaD, returning fi�gures of four for 36.

However in the fi�nal moments, Sushree Dibyadarshini’s sweep off� Rajeshwariand a straight six off� Saika,which was the winningboundary, saw IndiaAachieve the target in style.

Earlier, opener S. Meghana (45, 44b, 7x4), who wasdropped thrice, and a handy contribution fromAmanjot Kaur (55 n.o., 74b,

6x4) helped IndiaD post219 for eight in 50 overs after being asked to bat.

Meghana fi�nished thetournament with scores of60, 102, zero and 45.

At 91 for one in 16 overs,IndiaD looked good for abig score but the advent ofspinners put the brakes onthe scoring rate.

The scores (fi�nal):

IndiaD 219/8 in 50 overs (S.Meghana 45, Amanjot Kaur 55n.o., Disha Kasat 3/39) lost toIndiaA 224/7 in 45.4 overs(C.H. Jhansi Lakshmi 64, Yastika Bhatia 86, RajeshwariGayakwad 4/36).

IndiaA edges IndiaD, wins titleRides on Jhansi and Yastika’s knocks to chase down 219

CHALLENGER

Sports Bureau

VIJAYAWADA

Having the last laugh: IndiaA shone the brightest in the Challenger Trophy.

Sarel Erwee (97) and Zubayr Hamza (125 not out)fl�ayed the IndiaA bowlersas South AfricaA declaredat 311 for three in its secondinnings on the fourth andfi�nal day of the third ‘Test’here on Thursday.

Pursuing a target of 304,IndiaA fi�nished at 90 forthree when the match wascalled off�.

Prithvi Shaw made 38 off�34 balls with eight fours before falling to SenuranMuthusamy.

Abhimanyu Easwaran(19) and Devdutt Padikkal(15) were the other battersdismissed.

Hanuma Vihari (13) andIshan Kishan (0) were unbeaten as the contest ended in a draw.The scores: South AfricaA268 & 311/3 decl. in 86 overs(Sarel Erwee 97, Zubayr Hamza 125 n.o.) drew with IndiaA276 and 90/3 in 17 overs(Prithvi Shaw 38).

Third ‘Test’ends in a draw


BLOEMFONTEIN

IND-A IN SA

Nineteenyearold Tilak Varma staked his claim to beone of the soughtafterchoices at the IPL mega auction next year after hisknock of 139 off� 123 helpedHyderabad beat a strongDelhi by 79 runs onThursday.

With Lucknow and Ahmedabad becoming home tothe two newest IPL franchises, scouts from four teamswatched as Tilak sizzled withthe bat in the Vijay HazareTrophy Group C fi�xture. After a convincing victoryagainst Jharkhand in theopening fi�xture, Delhi skipper Pradeep Sangwan wonthe toss and insertedHyderabad.

Captain Tanmay Agarwalfell early in the innings. ButTilak, batting at No. 3,looked composed beforefl�exing his muscles.

Even though Delhi baggeda couple of quick wickets, Tilak partnered with ChandanSahani (87, 74b) to launch afi�ghtback. The former IndiaU19 player made the most ofthe good batting surface.

Despite a couple of halfchances, Tilak targetted Simarjeet Singh and KulwantKhejroliya, while ensuringthat the seasoned Sangwandid not make further inroads.

With fi�ne footwork and

solid defence, Tilak kept thescoreboard ticking. From 94for three in 22.5 overs, Hyderabad was cruising at 246 forthree in the 42nd over, withTilak and Sahani stitching asolid 152run partnership.

Though Khejroliya dismissed Sahani and BuddhiRahul in quick intervals, Tilak ensured the team was oncourse for a big total. By thetime Sangwan cleaned himup, Hyderabad had reachedthe 300run mark.

Delhi pinned its hopes onShikhar Dhawan (12, 11b),who looked promising witha couple of boundaries.

With Chetan Sharma —the chairman of the nationalselection committee — present at the venue, it was an

opportunity for Dhawan toprove a point ahead of India’s tour of South Africa.

But before he could getgoing, Dhawan was caughtat cover point by Sahani off�Kartikeya Kak.

A couple of overs later,Kak removed Dhruv Shorey,and Delhi was suddenly reeling at 29 for two. Eventhough last match centurionHimmat Singh (47, 65b)forged alliances with LalitYadav and Anuj Rawat, theeff�orts were not enough.

Pacers Kak and C.V. Milind claimed two wicketsapiece, while leftarmer Tanay Thyagrajan picked upthree to furrow the Delhi tailand keep Hyderabad unbeaten.

Tilak presents his credentialsHogs the limelight with a century as Hyderabad defeats Delhi

HAZARE TROPHY

Shayan Acharya

Chandigarh

Tilak Varma. Chandan Sahani.

Barcelona crashed out of theChampions League in thegroup stage for the fi�rst timein over 20 years with a 30defeat at the hands ofBayern Munich on Wednesday, as Benfi�ca, Lille and RedBull Salzburg all qualifi�ed forthe last 16.

Meanwhile, Chelsea missed out on fi�rst place in itsgroup to Juventus after conceding a late equaliser awayto Zenit Saint Petersburg,while snow in northern Italyforced the postponement ofAtalanta’s decisive gameagainst Villarreal.

Barcelona started the dayin second place in Group Ebut had to win away toBayern Munich to be sure ofgoing through, otherwise itrisked being overtaken byBenfi�ca.

Xavi Hernandez’s sidewas duly outclassed by an alreadyqualifi�ed Bayern,which made it six wins out ofsix in the group, with Thomas Muller’s 34thminuteheader crossing the line before Ronald Araujo couldclear.

Leroy Sane’s powerfulstrike doubled the lead before the break and Jamal Musiala made it 30 just afterthe hour. The Catalans wereknocked out as Benfi�ca beatDynamo Kiev 20 in Lisbonand took the second spot.

Barcelona last went out ofthe Champions League inthe group stage in 2000/01when a team featuring a 20yearold Xavi fi�nished thirdin its section behind AC Milan and Leeds United.

In contrast Lille isthrough to the ChampionsLeague knockout stages for

the fi�rst time in 15 years afterbeating Wolfsburg 31 in Germany to top Group G.

Salzburg also progressed,thanks to a 10 win overSevilla.The results: Group H: Juventus1 (Kean 18) bt Malmo 0; ZenitStPetersburg 3 (Claudinho 38,Azmoun 41, Ozdoev 90+4)drew with Chelsea 3 (Werner 2,85, Lukaku 62).Group E: Benfi�ca 2 (Yaremchuk16, Gilberto 22) bt DynamoKiev 0; Bayern Munich 3 (Muller 34, Sane 43, Musiala 62) btBarcelona 0.Group F: Manchester United 1(Greenwood 9) drew withYoung Boys 1 (Rieder 42); Atalanta vs Villarreal matchsnowed off�.Group G: RB Salzburg 1 (Okafor50) bt Sevilla 0; Wolfsburg 1(Steff�en 89) lost to Lille 3 (Yilmaz 11, David 72, Gomes 78).

Barca loses to Bayern, crashes outBenfi�ca, Lille and Salzburg reach the last 16 stage

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE


Paris

Heady stuff�: Muller nods home Bayern’s opener againstBarcelona. * AP

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Prequarterfi�nalists

B Group winners: ManchesterCity, Liverpool, Ajax, RealMadrid, Bayern Munich,Manchester United, Lille,Juventus.

B Runnersup: ParisSaintGermain, AtleticoMadrid, Sporting Lisbon,Inter Milan, Benefi�ca,Salzburg, Chelsea,Atalanta/Villarreal.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Mumbai City FC openedup a fourpoint lead at

the top of the ISL table witha 42 win over JamshedpurFC in Fatorda on Thursday.

The victory, MCFC’s thirdon the trot, saw it move to 12points while Jamshedpur remained second with eight.

Cracking start

The defending championgot off� to a cracking start asCassio Gabriel scored hisfi�rst ISL goal in the third minute. It was a goal that camefrom a classic trainingground routine as Ahmed Jahouh played short a cornerquickly to Cassio at the edgeof the box.

The Brazilian made roomfor himself and unleashed arightfooted drive from 30meters that sneaked pastJamshedpur ’keeper T.P.Rehenesh.

Cassio turned provider inthe 17th minute with a relentless burst of pace. Hechased down Eli Sabia intohis box and then dispossessed his countryman before squaring it for BipinSingh to tap the ball into anempty net.

Igor Angulo joined theparty seven minutes later ashe produced a classy fi�nish.It was another goal thatcame from MCFC’s highpress as Raynier Fernandeswon the ball in midfi�eld andplayed it to Cassio. The Brazilian crafted a fi�nelyweighted pass for Angulo,who worked the ball ontohis favoured left foot andcurled it past Rehenesh.

Jamshedpur had a fewchances in the opening period but struggled to convert.

The second half, though,was a diff�erent story. KomalThatal picked up Greg Stewart’s pass and scored inthe 48th minute to reducedthe margin for the Red Miners.

Sabia further reduced thedefi�cit in the 55th minutewhen he netted the thirdgoal of his ISL career.

Neither of those twostrikes mattered, though, assubstitute Ygor Catatuscored from an acute angleto make it 42 in the 70thminute.

The result: Mumbai City FC 4(Gabriel 3, Bipin 17, Angulo 24,Catatu 70) bt Jamshedpur FC 2(Komal 48, Sabia 55).

Today’s match: Odisha FC vsNorthEast United FC, 7.30 p.m.

MCFC eases past JFC

Takes a fourpoint lead at the top

ISL 2021

Sports Bureau

CMYK

M ND-NDE

SPORTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU


BENGALURU: Medora, who is infine fettle, may score an encorein Bangalore 1000 Guineas(1,600m), the chief event of theraces to be held here on Friday(Dec 10). There will be no false rails.

1 KRISHNA PLATE (Div. III),(1,200m), rated 00 to 25, 2.00

p.m.: 1. Areca Angel (4) H.M. Akshay 60.5, 2. San Bernardino (3)P. Siddaraju 58.5, 3. Quick Shots(7) Vishal Bunde 57, 4. RightlyNoble (9) Saddam H 57, 5. Stunning Beauty (5) L.A. Rozario 57.6. Florencia (10) Salman Khan56.5, 7. Top News (11) Tausif Khan56.5, 8. Ultimate Power (2)Chandrashekar 56, 9. Star Citizen(1) Likith Appu 55.5, 10. He’s TheOne (6) S. Saqlain 54 and 11.Prime Star (8) J.H. Arul 52. 1. RIGHTLY NOBLE,

2. ARECA ANGEL, 3. TOP NEWS

2 FRANKEL PLATE (1,400m),maiden 3yo only (Terms),

2.30: 1. Baba Voss (8) Mark 57, 2.Purple Legend (6) S. Saqlain 57,3. Siege Perilous (7) Dhanu Singh57, 4. Tactical Command (1) Darshan 57, 5. Ultimate General (5)Rayan Ahmed 57, 6. Demeter (3)B. Harish 55.5, 7. Only You (2)Neeraj 55.5 and 8. Pink Jasmine(4) Akshay Kumar 55.5.1. SIEGE PERILOUS,

2. ONLY YOU, 3. PINK JASMINE

3 KRISHNA PLATE (Div. II),(1,200m), rated 00 to 25,

3.00: 1. Commandpost (5) H.M.Akshay 61, 2. Nostradamus (9)Likith Appu 60.5, 3. Beautiful Oblivian (11) Vishal Bunde 58.5, 4.Chisox (1) J.H. Arul 58.5, 5. Embosom (4) Shreyas Singh 58, 6.Niche Hemp (8) L.A. Rozario 58,7. Tifanny (6) Tousif Khan 58, 8.Max Mueller (3) Chandrashekar57.5, 9. Orogenesis (2) IkramAhmed 57.5, 10. Glorious Logan(7) Salman Khan 57 and 11. SmileAround (10) S. Saqlain 57.1. CHISOX, 2. COMMANDPOST,

3. EMBOSOM

4 SEATTLE SLEW PLATE

(1,200m), maiden 3yo only(Terms), 3.30: 1. Evaldo (1) Akshay Kumar 57, 2. Flying Quest(3) Md. Akram 57, 3. Prince Abir(8) P.S. Chouhan 57, 4. SuperKind (5) Mark 57, 5. The OmegaMan (6) Naveen Kumar 57, 6.Analect (7) Darshan 55.5, 7. Muirfield (4) Antony Raj 55.5, 8. Perfect Justice (10) P. Sai Kumar 55.5,9. Star Of The Hills (2) Kiran Rai55.5 and 10. The Sense (9) VinodShinde 55.5.

1. EVALDO,

2. MUIRFIELD, 2. ANALECT

5 CHIEF MINISTER’S TROPHY

(1,600m), 3yo & over,(Terms), 4.00: 1. Point To Prove(1) S. John 60, 2. Automatic (3) A.Qureshi 59, 3. Pissarro (4) AkshayKumar 59, 4. Speedster (5) Yash57.5 and 5. Silvarius (2) AntonyRaj 54.5. 1. POINT TO PROVE, 2. SILVARIUS

6 BANGALORE 1000 GUINEAS

(1,600m), 3yo Indian Fillies(Terms) 4.30: 1. Allamanda (4)Neeraj 57, 2. Brunhild (5) DhanuSingh 57, 3. Eternal Blaze (8) C.S.Jodha 57, 4. Faith Of Success (1)Kiran Rai 57, 5. Kensington Court(2) Akshay Kumar 57, 6. Medora(6) P.S. Chouhan 57. 7. Moon’sBlessing (9) Suraj Narredu 57, 8.Pecanwood (3) Yash 57, 9. PrefectEmpress (7) A. Imran Khan 57and 10. Winmylove (10) AntonyRaj 57.1. MEDORA,

2. KENSINGTON COURT,

3. MOON’S BLESSING

7 CHITRADURGA PLATE

(1,400m), rated 40 to 65, 4yo & over, 5.00: 1. Peluche (9) A.Imran Khan 60, 2. Silver Dew (7)Kiran Rai 59.5, 3. Starry Wind (1)Md. Akram 57, 4. Frist Impression (8) Antony Raj 56, 5. Whizzo(2) Vinod Shinde 56, 6. Dr Logan(5) S. Shareef 55.5, 7. Royal Resolution (6) H.M. Akshay 54, 8. TheSovereign Orb (3) Akshay Kumar53.5 and 9. The Strength (4) AjeetKumar 51.5. 1. THE SOVEREIGN ORB,

2. FIRST IMPRESSION,

3. PELUCHE

8 KRISHNA PLATE (Div. I),(1,200m), rated 00 to 25,

5.30: 1. The Inheritor (9) L.A.Rozario 62.5, 2. Twilight Fame (2)P. Siddaraju 62, 3. Country’sJewel (8) H.M. Akshay 61.5, 4.Welcome Surprise (6) TousifKhan 61.5, 5. Impeccable (1)Vishal Bunde 61, 6. UltimateChoice (7) Saddam H 60.5, 7. Formidable Star (4) Salman Khan59.5, 8. Galactical (10) J.H. Arul59.5, 9. Zhu Zhu Zest (3) S.Saqlain 59.5 and 10. Sir Jersey (5)Shreyas Singh 58.5.1. IMPECCABLE, 2. GALACTICAL,

3. COUNTRY’S JEWEL

Days best: SIEGE PERILOUS

Double: THE SOVEREIGN ORB -

IMPECCABLE

Jackpot: 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8.Treble: 3, 4 & 5; (ii): 6, 7 & 8.

Medora may score encore

Chirag Duhan knocked outtop seed Woobin Shin ofKorea 63, 64 in the AryanPumps ITF Asian juniortennis quarterfi�nals at theDeccan Gymkhana here onThursday.

Second seed Nishant Dabas and Saheb Sodhi alsoreached the semifi�nals andwill play each other.

Chirag will next challenge Max Batyutenko ofKazakhstan, who stoppedAman Dahiya in three sets.

In the girls’ section,Shruti Ahlawat sustained

the Indian hopes as shebeat Zhanel Rustemova ofKazakhstan after losing thefi�rst set. The results (quarterfi�nals):

Boys: Chirag Duhan bt WoobinShin (Kor) 63, 64; Max Batyutenko (Kaz) bt Aman Dahiya64, 46, 62.

Saheb Sodhi bt Denim Yadav64, 62; Nishant Dabas bt Yuvan Nandal 76(4), 10(retired).

Girls: Hayu Kinoshita (Jpn) btAruzhan Sagandikova (Kaz)46, 64, 61; Shruti Ahlawatbt Zhanel Rustemova (Kaz) 57,64, 64.

Sara Saito (Jpn) bt Sandugash Kenzhibayeva (Kaz) 62,46, 64; YuYun Li (Tpe) btSuhitha Maruri 36, 64, 62.

Chirag ousts Woobin

Big scalp: Chirag Duhan in action. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

ASIAN TENNIS

Sports Bureau

PUNE

Ankur Mittal, the reigningdouble trap World champion, won the trap gold inthe 64th National shootingchampionship at the NewMoti Bagh Gun Club in Patiala on Thursday.

In a very competitive fi�eldof 221, the 29yearold Mittaltopped the ‘single barrel’ fi�nal with 43 to beat AdityaBhardwaj by three points.

Qualifi�cation topper Zoravar Singh Sandhu waspipped to the bronze by Rayyan Rizvi, while AakashKushwaha and Danish Ahmad fi�nished fi�fth and sixthrespectively.

A regular in the nationalteam, Prithviraj Tondaimanshot 115 and missed the fi�nalby one point. Olympian Kynan Chenai and Asian Gamessilver medallist Lakshay She

oran shot 114 and fi�nished10th and 11th respectively.

Former World championand multiple Asian and National champion ManavjitSandhu shot 109 and fi�nished 35th.

Former Asian championAnwer Sultan (109), the onlyIndian shooter to win anOlympic quota for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, alsoshot 109 for the 40th place.

Olympian and nationalcoach Mansher Singh andformer national championAnirudh Singh shot 108 andplaced 41st and 43rdrespectively.

The president of the National Rifl�e Association of India (NRAI), Raninder Singh,twotime silver medallist inthe national championship,shot 95 and placed 95th.

Athens Olympics silver

medallist in double trap, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathoreshot 93 for the 133rd spot.

In the junior section,another double trap shooter,19yearold Shapath Bhardwaj won the gold as hepipped Vivaan Kapoor 43 inthe shootoff� after the twowere tied on 41 in the fi�nal.

Meanwhile, in the 50metre rifl�e prone event inBhopal, Bandhvi Singh wonthe women’s and junior goldmedals with a score of 626.0.The results: At Patiala: Trap:Men: 1. Ankur Mittal 43 (117); 2.Aditya Bhardwaj 40 (117); 3.Rayan Rizvi 33 (116).

Juniors: 1. Shapath Bharadwaj41(4) 113; 2. Vivaan Kapoor 41(3) 113; 3. Aakash Kushwaha 30(117).

At Bhopal: 50m rifl�e prone:Women: 1. Bandhvi Singh626.0; 2. Surabhi Bhardwaj623.7; 3. Ankita Gupta 620.3.

Juniors: 1. Bandhvi 626.0; 2.Surabhi 623.7; 3. Ashi Chouksey 619.0.

Mittal beats Bhardwaj for trap goldSHOOTING

Medallists: Winner Ankur Mittal, centre, is fl�anked by AdityaBhardwaj and Rayyan Rizvi. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT


NEW DELHI

There is no stopping Manipur. The women from theNorthEast made it 21 out of26 at the National seniorfootball championship onThursday. They defeatedRailways in a fi�nal that failedto produce a goal in 120 minutes.

The players on either sidehad so forgotten how to putthe ball into the net, theystruggled to do it even fromthe penalty spot in theshootout. Railways struggled more, as it fi�nished runnerup for the second timein a row.

Poor shootingThe Railways women converted only one of theirkicks. That had more to dowith poor shooting, but

they were denied also bysome fi�ne work by the Manipur custodian Okram Roshini Devi, who emerged as herteam’s hero.

She didn’t have to doanything spectacular,though, to stop the last kickfrom Railways.

Suprava Samal’s kick wasgentle and straight at her;she gathered it after a bit of

a fumble. It took some time before

her teammates to realisethat the match was over andthe trophy was theirs.

They may have neededthe shootout to win their21st title — and they wererunnerup on four occasions — but this was a remarkable performance still, forthey were without many of

their main players, who areaway on national duty.

They had more reasons tocelebrate at the closing ceremony; Roshini was namedthe tournament’s best goalkeeper and captain IromPrameshwori Devi the mostvaluable player.The result (fi�nal): Manipur btRailways 21 on penalties (00in normal time).

Manipur claims 21st National titleBeats Railways 21 on penalties; fi�ne work by custodian Okram Roshini Devi

FOOTBALL

Unstoppable: The Manipur women celebrate their record victory. * K. RAGESH

P.K. Ajith Kumar

KOZHIKODE

The West Indies cricketteam arrived in Pakistanon Thursday for a visitwhich local offi�cials hopewill scotch bitter memoriesof a New Zealand tour

abandoned on securitygrounds.

On its fi�rst visit since2018, the West Indies willplay three Twenty20 andthree OneDay Internationals — all in Karachi — starting on Monday.

WI arrives in PakistanAgence France-Presse

Karachi

CMYK

S ND-NDE

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2021 follow us:

thehindu.com





The story so far: On December 6, the U.S.Government said it will not send any offi�cialrepresentation to the Winter Olympic Gamesin Beijing, due to start on February 4, 2022,announcing what is being called a“diplomatic boycott” of the games. Thedecision elicited a strong response fromChina, which slammed the move as a“political stunt” and said the Olympics“were not a stage for political posturing andmanipulation”. The spat over the WinterOlympics is the latest clash between the U.S.and China, adding to a long list of diff�erenceson trade, Taiwan, human rights and theSouth China Sea.

What does a ‘diplomatic boycott’ of thegames mean?A “diplomatic boycott” means no U.S. offi�cialwill be present at the Winter Olympics inBeijing. This stops short of a completeboycott, which would have meant thenonparticipation by U.S. athletes. As such,the absence of offi�cial representation will not

impact the games as much as an athleticboycott would have. Chinese offi�cials,meanwhile, pointed out that they had notinvited any U.S. offi�cial to attend theopening, saying their “political agenda wasdoomed to fail”.

What led to the U.S. boycott?White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki saidthe decision was taken because “U.S.diplomatic or offi�cial representation would

treat these games as business as usual”.These games, she argued, could not betreated as such because of China’s “humanrights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang”.This isn’t the fi�rst U.S. move aimed tohighlight Chinese actions in Xinjiang. InMarch, the U.S. Department of theTreasury’s Offi�ce of Foreign Assets Controlsanctioned two Chinese Governmentoffi�cials “in connection with serious humanrights abuses against ethnic minorities in theXinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region”,where hundreds of thousands of Uighurs, aMuslim minority, have been sent by Chineseauthorities to “reeducation” camps, anetwork of which were constructedbeginning in 2016 to house thousands ofdetainees. Beijing initially denied theexistence of the camps, but subsequentlyclaimed the centres were for “vocationaltraining”. Amid a growing outcry from theU.S. and the EU which also announcedsanctions, authorities said last year that mostof those in the camps had “graduated”. Thisweek, Beijing described U.S. allegations of“genocide” in Xinjiang as “the biggest lie ofthe century”.

Who else is ‘diplomatically boycotting’the games?So far, Australia, Canada, and New Zealandhave also announced that their offi�cials willnot be present at the games. None, however,has said their athletes will not attend, whichmeans the games themselves are unlikely tobe impacted. It remains to be seen if theboycott will gain traction beyond U.S. alliesand partners. Russian President VladimirPutin, meanwhile, has said he will travel toBeijing for the opening of the WinterOlympics, while China has been garneringsupport from countries in Asia, Africa andLatin America. A declaration following the

November 30 ChinaAfrica foreign ministers’summit, attended by foreign ministers ofChina and 53 African countries, said itbacked the games and “opposed thepoliticisation of sports”. Last month, theRussiaIndiaChina (RIC) foreign ministers inNew Delhi also voiced support for the gamesin the statement issued after the meeting.

How is China reacting to the boycott?On the one hand, Beijing has sought to playdown the impact saying the concernedcountries were not invited, while on theother, its Foreign Ministry threatened“countermeasures”, as yet unspecifi�ed.China’s media, meanwhile, has been largelyplaying down the reports of the boycotts,underlining how the authorities are goingallout to ensure the games are conductedwithout a hitch. Beyond the statementsdecrying “politicisation” of sports, there iscertainly a domestic political undercurrentto the games, which are meant to showcase,as with the Beijing Olympics in 2008, China’s

strength and reemergence to a domesticaudience, as well as enhance the reputationof the Communist Party and President XiJinping at home.

What will be the impact on U.S.-Chinarelations?In a virtual summit last month, the U.S. andChinese Presidents committed to“responsibly” manage their growingcompetition amid increasing confl�icts. At thesummit, President Joe Biden called for“common sense guardrails to ensure thatcompetition does not veer into confl�ict,”while Mr. Xi emphasised the “need to treateach other as equals” and warned against“drawing ideological lines”, calling on theU.S. “to meet its word of not seeking a ‘newCold War’”.

The exchange over the Winter Olympics,however, is yet another reminder of thechallenge both sides face in doing so, as aclash over ideology and political systemsadds to an already long list of diff�erences.

EXPLAINER

Why has the U.S. announced a ‘diplomatic boycott’ of theBeijing Winter Olympics? What has been China’s response?

The ‘diplomatic’ Olympic boycott

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

A “diplomatic boycott” means no U.S.

offi�cial will be present at the Winter

Olympics in Beijing.

THE GISTB On December 6, the U.S.Government said it will notsend any offi�cialrepresentation to the WinterOlympic Games in Beijingannouncing what is beingcalled a “diplomaticboycott” of the games. Thismeans that while U.S.athletes will participate inthe games, no U.S. offi�cialwill be present at theWinter Olympics in Beijing.

B White House PressSecretary Jen Psaki said thedecision was taken becausethese games, she argued,could not be treated as suchbecause of China’s “humanrights abuses and atrocitiesin Xinjiang”.

B Australia, Canada, andNew Zealand have alsoannounced that theiroffi�cials will not be presentat the games. RussianPresident Vladimir Putin,meanwhile, has said he willtravel to Beijing for theopening of the WinterOlympics. China has alsobeen garnering supportfrom countries in Asia,Africa and Latin America.

Ananth Krishnan

Gearing up: A woman fl�iesa ribbon near the logos ofthe Beijing 2022 Olympicand Paralympic Games in apark in Beijing, China onDecember 8, 2021. *

REUTERS

‘Letter and Spirit’ as a new column willfocus on explaining and understandingbasic Acts and Articles enshrined in ourConstitution. These columns will put intocontext diff�erent aspects of the Acts be ithistorical, legal, political etc. Today’scolumn discusses the ConstituentAssembly debates around Citizenship.

With the contentious farm lawsrepealed, the discussions turn to thesecond most politically and legallyresisted legislation of recent times, TheCitizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. Thevignettes of the citizenship question fi�ndits retrorefl�ection in the ConstituentAssembly debates which serve as theundeniable autobiography of India’s basiclaw.

The citizenship question had been oneof the most gruelling tasks confronted bythe drafting committee as admitted by DrB.R.Ambedkar, who moved a set ofconsolidated amendments to thecitizenship provisions of the originaldraft. He said that the task had given thedrafting committee “such a headache”and multiple “drafts were prepared” and“destroyed” before arriving at aconsensus, which may satisfy “mostpeople, if not all.”

The criticsThe prognosis of Dr. Ambedkar that thedraft may not satisfy all came true as thesecular and liberal provisions of theproposed draft and the offi�cialamendments were fi�ercely contested onthe fl�oor of the Constituent Assembly onreligious, ethnic and hypernationalisticconsiderations. While Article 5 of thedraft constitution (Article 5 of theConstitution of India) was criticised for itslack of exclusive and preferentialprovisions on religious lines regardingthe declaration as to who shall be thecitizen of India (as on the date of

commencement of the Constitution),Article 5A of the draft (Article 7 of theConstitution of India), was excoriated onthe ground that its proviso sought togrant citizenship rights to the migrants ofPakistan who had returned to Indiaunder a permit for resettlement grantedby Indian authorities.

Dr P.S.Deshmukh from the CentralProvinces and Berar proposed changes toArticle 5 of the draft by proposing toreplace the universally honoured “jussoli” principle by qualifying it with areligious appendage that “every personwho is a Hindu or a Sikh by religion andis not a citizen of any other State,wherever he resides shall be entitled tobe a citizen of India.” In the process, theadditional “domicile requirement” asconceived by Article 5 along with the “jussoli” principle was consigned to oblivion.

As the “jus soli” principle is premisedon the automatic grant of citizenshipbased on the place of birth provided theperson is domiciled in India, qualifying itwith religious identity, was in fact aproposal to ingrain religion into thebedrock of the Constitution. The concernof Dr. Deshmukh justifying the exclusionof people belonging to other religions, asechoed in his question, “Is it then wise

that we should throw open ourcitizenship so indiscriminately?”, foundfraternal support in Thakur DasBharghava from East Punjab whoexclaimed “Hindus and Sikhs have noother home but India”!. These viewswere also supported by Prof. Shibban LalSaksena of the United Provinces.

The assertion of Dr.Deshmukh that “bythe mere fact that he is a Hindu or a Sikh,he should get Indian citizenship becauseit is this one circumstance that makeshim disliked by others” fi�nds itsresonance today in the presumptive baseof the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Actthat only people belonging to some faithsare victims of persecution and violenceand the doors of the country can belegitimately shut to any other instance ofpersecution and ethnic violence.

Dr.Deshmukh found a steadfast ally inJaspat Roy Kapoor of the UnitedProvinces who expressed his strongopposition to the grant of citizenshiprights to the returnees by stating that“once a person has migrated to Pakistanand transferred his loyalty from India toPakistan, his migration is complete. Hehas defi�nitely made up his mind at thattime to kick this country and let it go toits own fate, and he went away to thenewly created Pakistan, where he wouldput in his best eff�orts to make it a free,progressive and prosperous state.”

The defendersThe wellreasoned response to Jaspat RoyKapoor by Brajeshwar Prasad, a memberfrom Bihar, highlighting the fact of panicdriven migration without certainintention to settle down in Pakistan wasleft unanswered with precision.R.K.Sidhva from C.P. and Berar retortedthat mentioning the name of somecommunities will make othercommunities feel that they were beingignored.

Jawaharalal Nehru’s response in

defence of the draft defi�nition andsecularism was unequivocal as heobserved that “we have only donesomething which every country doesexcept a very few misguided andbackward countries in the world. Let usnot refer to that word in the sense that wehave done something very mighty”,indicating how some people considerthemselves as being generous whileadverting to the idea of a secular state. Hedid not mince words when he stated that“you cannot have rules for Hindus, forMuslims and for Christians only. It isabsurd on the face of it”. Nehru alsoimpressed upon the possibility of thesecond wave of migration includingnonHindus and nonSikhs who were partof the fi�rst wave infl�ux. Hence, in hisview, foreclosing the doors fearing theinfl�ux of some may deprive others ofexercising their choice.

Brajeshwar Prasad went further instating that “I see no reason why aMuslim who is a citizen of this countryshould be deprived of his citizenship atthe commencement of this Constitution,especially when we are inviting Hinduswho have come to India from Pakistan tobecome citizens of this country. Peoplewho have never been in India but havealways lived in the Punjab and on thefrontier have come and become citizensof this State; why cannot a Muhammadanof the frontier be so when we have alwayssaid that we are one?”

Mahboob Ali Baig went one step aheadby calling the proposition ofDr.Deshmukh as “ ridiculous” as itcontemplated giving citizenship rightsonly to persons who are Hindus andSikhs. Mr.Baig sought to dissuade theConstituent Assembly from following inthe footsteps of those countries whichwere being condemned everywhere.

Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar too spokein support of the amendments proposedas well as supported by Dr.Ambedkar. He

was clear in his view that “we cannot onany racial or religious or other groundsmake a distinction between one kind ofpersons and another, or one sect ofpersons and another sect of personshaving regard to our commitments andthe formulation of our policy on variousoccasions.”

The denouementDr. Ambedkar’s sagacious rejoindersettled the dust of left out concerns andrendered clarity to the intent of the draftas well as the consolidated amendment.He highlighted that the principal thrust ofArticle 5A was to declare that personswho migrated to Pakistan after 1st ofMarch 1947 (Internal disturbancescommenced on this date) shall not beIndian citizens and the proviso providesexception to the general law.

While not bothering to reanswer whathad been negated by the deliberativewisdom of the Assembly, he declared thatsome migrants from Pakistan wereallowed to return on the basis of theagreements between both theGovernments and on the basis of anordinance promulgated.

The amendment No. 164 proposed byDr. Deshmukh modifying Article 5 tomake citizenship as a matter of right toHindus and Sikhs irrespective of theplace of residence was rejected. Otheramendments proposed by Dr. Deshmukh,Jaspat Roy Kapoor and Shibban LalSaksena were withdrawn with the leaveof the house as they were on the verge ofbeing defeated, whereas the consolidatedamendment moved by Dr. Ambedkar wasadopted leading to the fi�nalisation of theprovisions in the Constitution.

The Constituent Assembly debates oncitizenship showed that in the rousing ofsentiments of ethnicity and distrust,sagacity had an upper hand, leading tothe saner denouement of toleration.

History is known to set examples.

The Citizenship question in the Constituent AssemblyLETTER & SPIRIT

Abhilash M.R.

Power in Loss

74,433In ₹�cr, thelosses ofpowerdiscomsacross States

& UTs in India in 201920. This waslower than the ₹�86,700 cr in 2019 andhigher than the ₹�58,474 cr in losses in2018. The bulk of the losses were inTamil Nadu ₹�19,684 cr, ₹�17,962 cr,and ₹�12,541 cr in 2020, 2019 and 2018,respectively. Rajasthan's discoms alsosuffered a loss of ₹�12,277 cr in 2020.Discoms which are in the private sectormade a cumulative profit of ₹�471 crorein 2020. LOK SABHA Q & A

Accidental deaths

47,984The number ofpeople whodied due toroad accidentson National

Highways, including on expressways, in2020. In 2019, as many as 53,872persons died due to road accidents onNational Highways. The major causesof such accidents in 2020 were vehicledesign and condition, roadengineering, overspeeding, drunkendriving/ consumption of alcohol &drugs, driving on the wrong side of theroad, jumping the red light and use ofmobile phones. LOK SABHA Q & A

A huge fi�ne

1.28in $ billion, the fineimposed by Italy'santitrust regulator onAmazon for "abusing itsmarket dominance".

The regulator said Amazon used itsdominant position to favour its ownlogistical service to the detriment of itscompetitors. This is one of the largestfines imposed on an U.S. basedtechnology firm (the largest fine wasimposed by the EU on Google in 2018for engaging in anticompetitivebehaviour via the dominance of theAndroid operating system). Amazonhas said that it will appeal the fine.

Annus Horribilis

21The number of years afterwhich FC Barcelona failed tomake it out of the group stageof the UEFA ChampionsLeague, following the club's

03 defeat to Bayern Munich onWednesday. The team will now play inthe Europa League, the secondrungcontinental tournament. FCBarcelona's performance comes at atime when the club is saddled with alarge debt of nearly $1.6 billion dollarsforcing it to limit its buying in thetransfer market and to recruit talentfrom its youth and BarcelonaB teams.The club also lies 7th in the La Liga.

Space exploration

2The number of unmannedmissions to be launched by Indiain 2022 before the country's firsthuman spaceflight programme,'Gaganyaan', is scheduled to take

off by the end of next year. The Venusmission is planned for 2022, while theSolar Mission for 202223, said JitendraSingh who is the Minister of State,Science and Technology. Theseunmanned missions would beaccompanied by robots. The thirdmission to the moon, Chandrayaan3, isalso likely to be launched in 2022. ISROhas also planned a Space Stationmission for 2030.

THE GISTB The citizenship questionhad been one of the mostgruelling tasks confrontedby the drafting committeeas admitted by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. Thesedebates around citizenshipin the light of TheCitizenship (Amendment)Act, 2019 seem even morerelevant today.

B Critics of the proposedamendment like Dr.P.S.Deshmukh from theCentral Provinces and Berarsuggested changes toArticle 5 by proposing toqualify the universallyhonoured “jus soli” principlewith a religious appendage.These views were supportedby Prof. Shibban LalSaksena and Jaspat RoyKapoor of the UnitedProvinces.

B Defenders ofDr.Ambedkar’s proposedamendments like BrajeshwarPrasad, talked about thepanic driven migrationwithout certain intention tosettle down in Pakistan thathappened during thepartition. Mahboob Ali Baigwent one step ahead bycalling the proposition ofDr.Deshmukh as “ridiculous” as itcontemplated givingcitizenship rights only topersons who are Hindus andSikhs. Jawaharlal Nehru alsoextended his full support tothe proposed amendments.

compiled by the hindu data team

CMYK

S ND-NDE

friday, december 10, 2021

| II



and Sun Picturesproduced fi�lms; the reason whyAha sees a way in.

Koode (Malayalam), Olly Plus (Odia), Talkies(Tulu, Konkani, Kannada), Reel Drama(Assamese), Pitaara TV’s Chaupal (Punjabi), OhoGujarati and CityShor.TV (Gujarati) are just someof the vernacular brands that are grabbing

valuable market share. With some of these players already

experienced in fi�lm production, the goto strategyis to ensure original content is churned out asquickly as possible, with culturally drivenstorylines, relatable smalltown themes, and thecast populated with upcoming local names orYouTube/ TV stars who have been ignored by thelarger players and who the audiences alreadyidentifi�es with.

A classic case in point is the success ofacclaimed Malayalam drama, The Great IndianKitchen, which was rejected by the bigger sitesbefore fi�nding a home on Neestream, whichconsequently put the platform on the map.

Easy accessSubscriptions (monthly or annual) are cheaper by40% to 50% in comparison to the globalstreamers, and some of them, like Hoichoi, havemade it easier for potential user bases in ruralareas – (where the main mode of transaction iscash) to use physical currency, topup cards, oreven mobile balance – to sign up easily offl�ine.

As per Ormax Media's fi�ndings, only 25% ofIndia now has access to OTT platforms. Thatnumber is set to rapidly rise in coming years, asIndia is currently the world’s fastestgrowing OTT

The OTT proliferationMuch has been written about the streaming warsbetween global giants in India over the pasthalfdecade, but now the likes of Netfl�ix, AmazonPrime, Apple TV+, Disney+ Hotstar and others areless concerned about each other than they areabout the new entrants into the game: vernacularOTT platforms.

From the Allu Arjunbacked Aha (Telugu) andSVFowned Hoichoi (Bengali) to Neestream(Malayalam) and Planet Marathi (Marathi), thesehomegrown video apps have emerged to berelevant disruptors over the past two years,thanks to the lack of regional content oninternational platforms that focus mostly onEnglish, Hindi and foreignlanguage titles.

This has been augmented by the fact thatseveral senior citizens and members from themiddleaged demographic in India, who enjoymovies and shows in their native languages – asopposed to the more urban, millennial fandom ofthe Stranger Things and Ted Lasso variety – tookto streaming actively during the pandemic. Not tomention, a massive consumer base of NRIs inother countries like the U.S., the U.K., Australiaand West Asia who eagerly await more vernaculartitles.

The rise in vernacular OTTsAccording to the latest FICCIEY report, the shareof regional language consumption on OTTplatforms will cross 50% by 2025, going past evenHindi at 45%.

Hyderabadbased Aha, for instance, has blitzedthe market with successful hyperlocal contentsince its launch in March 2020, and now has auser base of around 1.7 million. Their focus onoriginal titles, as well as nonfi�ction shows (TeluguIdol is up next) has proven to be a hit, and thebrand is set to now enter the Tamil market inJanuary 2022. SunNXT remains the main player inTamil Nadu, but has not made any originals yet,with prominence given to its TV channel shows

market and is set to emerge as the world’ssixthlargest by 2024, according to PwC. Regionalstreamers will no doubt benefi�t heavily from this,as more people in nonurban areas get access tothe Internet.

But it’s not as if the global names are ignorantof this trend; rapid steps have already been takento learn from previous missteps. Netfl�ix learntthat the immense fandom of southern stars likeVijay, Ajith or Pawan Kalyan can even outstriptheir Bollywood counterparts, and acted quicklyto set up a dedicated Twitter handle for southIndian content and regional languagedubbedHollywood fi�lms and web series. Though theiroriginal productions last year like Navarasa(Tamil) and Pitta Kathalu (Telugu) weredisappointing, more projects have beencommissioned already, with Alist actors andmusic artistes as part of the fray.

If you can’t beat them, join themAmazon Prime, by far the most stacked inregional content among the big players, has tasteda lot of success of late (Soorarai Pottru, Drishyam2, Jai Bhim). And with a certifi�ed star like Suriyainking an exclusive deal with them, it is alreadypoised for the upcoming challenges. The platformalso recently launched its channel’s vertical,collaborating with eight other subscriptionbasedOTT video brands such as Eros Now, Hoichoi andmanoramaMAX at discounted rates. If you can’tbeat them…

Similarly, ZEE5, which also boasts of a decentregional library thanks to its content from variousZEE TV channels down south, could potentiallybolster its appeal if it joins hands with SonyLIV,after the merger between Sony Pictures NetworksIndia and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.

With over 40 video OTT apps (and counting)set to tussle for viewership in 2022, it will befascinating to see how the internationalbehemoths face off� against the homegrownupandcomers. One thing is for sure though: theviewer will always be the winner.

IN THE LIMELIGHT

The streaming wars just got much more interesting

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

As per Ormax Media's fi�ndings, only 25 per

cent of India now has access to OTT

platforms. That number is set to burgeon

in coming years, as India is currently the

world’s fastest growing OTT market.

THE GISTB There has been asignifi�cant rise in vernacularOTT platforms. Thesehomegrown video apps haveemerged to be relevantdisruptors, thanks to thelack of regional content oninternational platforms.

B Subscriptions (monthly orannual) are cheaper by 40to 50 per cent incomparison to the globalstreamers, and some havemade it easier for potentialuser bases in rural areas touse physical currency,topup cards, or evenmobile balance to sign upeasily offl�ine.

B Some platforms likeAmazon are merging withlocal OTTs in order to gaintraffi�c for their ownplatforms. The platformrecently launched itsvertical, collaborating witheight othersubscriptionbased OTTvideo brands such as ErosNow, Hoichoi andmanoramaMAX atdiscounted rates.

Gautam Sunder

The Union Cabinet on December 8, 2021 approved the implementation of the KenBetwariver interlinking project at a cost of ₹�44,605crore with the Centre funding ₹�39,317. Theproject involves transferring of water fromthe Ken river to the Betwa river through theconstruction of Daudhan dam and a canallinking the two rivers. In this piece datedApril 20, 2021, Sunny Sebastian breaks downhow the benefi�ts of the project do not seemcertain and are far outweighed by the costs tothe environment. Edited excerpts:

A river project which remained a pipedream for more than three decades after itwas fi�rst mooted may now become a reality.Last month, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradeshand the Centre signed a tripartite agreementto transfer “surplus” water from the Ken basin in M.P. to the “defi�cit” Betwa basin in U.P.The KenBetwa project is part of the nationalriver linking project which proposes to connect 14 Himalayan and 16 peninsular riverswith 30 canals and 3,000 reservoirs in orderto irrigate 87 million hectares of land. It hasthe status of a national project, as the Centrewill contribute 90% of the cost. It is India’sfi�rst river linking project and will take eightyears to complete. First mooted in the 1980s,the KenBetwa project was taken up seriouslyonly during former Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee’s regime. Since then, former UnionWater Resources Minister Uma Bharti hasbeen the torchbearer of the project. The project, the Government says, will enhance theirrigation potential of the waterstarved Bundelkhand region in U.P. and M.P., facilitategroundwater recharge and reduce the occurrence of fl�oods. According to the Memorandum of Agreement signed, the tobebuiltDaudhan dam is expected to irrigate nearly6,00,000 hectares in four districts in M.P.and 2,51,000 hectares in four districts in U.P.and provide drinking water supply to 41 lakhpeople in M.P. and 21 lakh in U.P.

Environmental concernsHowever, the excitement of planners and politicians about this project, which costs ₹�37,611crore (2018 fi�gure), is reportedly missing onthe ground. The people of the region who aregoing to be aff�ected by the project seem resigned to their fate. In public hearings held inthe past, they were divided on political linesand also worried about the loss of the ecosystem and displacement. The project was onthe drawing board for years mainly due to environmental concerns. Of the 12,500 hectaresof land to get submerged by the project, morethan 9,000 ha are categorised as forest land.The submergence area includes a criticallyimportant section of the Panna Tiger Reserve. The Reserve is considered as a shiningexample of conservation after it successfullyimproved the tiger and vulture populations.Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote toUnion Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar asking him not to implement the project.She said “around 40% of the area of the tigerreserve will be irretrievably damaged” if theproject is implemented. Also, the project maydestroy about 7.2 lakh trees. South Asia Network on Dams, River and People convenerHimanshu Thakkar fears that this will aff�ectrainfall in the already parched region.

Cost and benefi�tThe claims of Ken having surplus water maybe unrealistic as the river is not perennial — inthe past sometimes, it has slowed to a trickle.Another difficulty will be that the Ken fl�ows6070 feet lower than the Betwa and at least30% of the 103 MW power generated will beused for pumping the water up. The UnionMinistry and the National Water Development Agency, which is entrusted with theproject, have some issues to sort out. Theseinclude getting clearance from the CentralEmpowered Committee of the SupremeCourt, which had raised concerns about theproject. Thus, the benefi�ts do not seem certain and are far outweighed by the costs onthe environment. It is surprising that alternatives such as waterconservation and waterharvesting methods without building a damhaven’t been seriously considered in the region. Largescale solutions such as this arenot always viable and the best. Given the serious doubts about the benefi�ts, the KenBetwa project seems like a huge, costly mistake.

Sunny Sebastian is a former ViceChancellor and member, Rajasthan State Board forWildlife

FROM THE ARCHIVES

A huge, costlymistakeSunny Sebastian

A view of the Betwa river in Bundelkhandregion near Jhansi. * THE HINDU

Please send in your answers to the

[email protected]

Answers to the previous day’s daily quiz: 1.

variola major, 2. Syphilis, 3. Between 7 and 17

days, 4. It was on that date the WHO's

International Smallpox Assessment

Commission declared that the country was

free from the ageold scourge, 5. Somalia, 6.

USA (Atlanta) and Russia (Koltsovo), 7.

Edward Jenner

Early Birds: Mohammad Kiron Kareem|

Sriraam Kalingarayar| RahulSai Veyikandla|

Vivek Brahmane| Aysha M Fizal

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

THE DAILY QUIZ

1 Aside from Marie Curie, namethe only other person to have

won a Nobel in two diff�erentcategories.

2 What specifi�cally connectsthe Peace laureates Carl von

Ossietzky, Aung San Suu Kyi, andLiu Xiaobo?

3 Between 1901 and 2021, theNobel Prizes and the prize in

economic sciences have beenawarded 609 times. Whichcategory has the most laureates?

4 Name the last marriedcouple to be awarded the

coveted prize.

5 What is the contribution ofErik Lindberg, Gustav

Vigeland, and GunvorSvenssonLundqvist to thehistory of the Nobel Prize?

6 Apart from the handpainteddiploma and medal, what

else do the laureates receive?

7 Who in 1979 cancelled thescheduled celebratory

banquet and used the ‘savings’for feeding the poor?

F Identify the two laureates and what raredistinction have the two achieved?

* NOBELPRIZE.ORG

Compiled by: V.V. Ramanan

Test yourself on the Nobel Prizes that are traditionally given away on December 10, the death anniversary ofAlfred Nobel

For feedback and suggestions forText & Context, please write [email protected] with thesubject ‘Text & Context’

friday, december 10, 2021 DELHI - Sosin Classes

Documents

Transcript of friday, december 10, 2021 DELHI - Sosin Classes