GDP shrinks by 7.3% - E-learning Adda

CMYK

A ND-NDE

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India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by7.3% in 202021, as per provisional National Income estimates released by the National Statistical Offi��ce onMonday, marginally betterthan the 8% contraction inthe economy projected earlier. GDP growth in 201920,prior to the COVID19 pandemic, was 4%.

The Gross Value Added(GVA) in the economyshrank 6.2% in 202021, compared to a 4.1% rise in theprevious year. Only two sectors bucked the trend of negative GVA growth — agriculture, forestry and fi��shing,which rose 3.6%, and electricity, gas, water supply andother utility services (up1.9%).

Though this is the bleakest performance on recordfor the economy, the fourthquarter (Q4) of 202021helped moderate the damage, with a higherthanexpected growth of 1.6% inGDP. This marked the second quarter of positivegrowth after the country entered a technical recession in

the fi��rst half of the year. GDP had contracted

24.4% in AprilJune 2020,followed by a 7.4% shrinkagein the second quarter. It hadreturned to positive territoryin the September to December quarter with a marginal0.5% growth.

GVA for trade, hotels,transport, communicationand broadcastingrelatedservices saw the sharpest decline of 18.2%, followed byconstruction (8.6%), miningand quarrying (8.5%) andmanufacturing (7.2%).

Economists said thesenumbers would moderate

growth prospects for 202122through the base eff��ect, evenas the scourge of the virus ishurting activity again.

“With a lower contractionin GDP as well as GVA in202021, the sharp recoveryprojected for 202122 by anumber of agencies like theIMF at 12.5% and the RBI at10.5% may have to be moderated,” said D.K. Srivastava,chief policy advisor at EY India. “The combination of thesecond wave and the revisedbase eff��ect may imply a lower GDP growth for the Indianeconomy for 202122, may bein the range of 99.5%,” Mr.

Srivastava added. Chief Economic Advisor

to the Finance Ministry K.V.Subramanian said he doesn’texpect GDP forecasts to besignifi��cantly aff��ected.

“Whether growth will bein double digits or single digits, there is uncertainty.Some of the scientists aretalking about the possibilityof a third wave too. It wouldbe speculative to tell you exact numbers,” he said,stressing that vaccinationwas important for the healthof the people and economy.

GDP shrinks by 7.3%; Q4 uptickmoderates 202021 carnage Curbing new pandemic waves, lockdowns, vaccination pace hold key to recovery

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

The government on Mondayclaimed it will inoculate the“entire eligible population”by 2021end, only to be barraged with questions fromthe Supreme Court aboutthe effi��cacy of its policy,which allows the Centre toprocure just 50% of the vaccines while leaving theStates to buy their own.

The court also challengedthe diff��erential vaccine pricing policy, saying “thereneeds to be one price forvaccines across the nation”.

The virtual hearing, however, began on a positivenote with SolicitorGeneralTushar Mehta assuring that“on vaccination, as per ourestimate, from the domesticmarket and Sputnik V, we expect the entire eligible population to get vaccinated bythe end of this year”.

Mr. Mehta said the government was in talks withother manufacturers likePfi��zer. If the discussions succeed, the government wouldbe able to advance its deadline for completing the immunisation. He added thathe would fi��le an affi��davitwith the latest updates.

But the court highlightedthe diff��erence in vaccineprices between the Centreand the States. When theCentre can purchase vaccinein bulk for ₹��150 per dose, theStates have to pay ₹��300 to₹��600. Justice L. NageswaraRao, on the Bench, askedwhy even the two vaccines —Covaxin and Covishield —were diff��erentially priced.

“What is the rationale forthis dual pricing policy?Why is the Centre procuringat a lower price and why hasthe Centre fi��xed its vaccine

purchase at 50% and left theStates to their own devices?”Justice Bhat asked.

Justice D.Y. Chandrachudsaid some States and municipal corporations had goneahead and fl��oated their own“global tenders” to buy vaccines. “We want to know ifthe policy of the country isthat all States are on theirown to supply tenders,” heasked the Centre.

SC bats for ‘one price forvaccines across nation’Court raises doubts on Centre’s deadline for total coverage

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

COURT FLAGS DIGITAL DIVIDE

IN VACCINE ACCESS A PAGE 10

RELATED REPORTS A PAGE 10

A newborn rhino with its mother at the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Morigaon district of Assam on Monday. * RITU RAJ KONWAR

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Baby steps

Arunachal Pradesh ChiefMinister Pema Khandu hasasked the Centre to amend aservice condition thatrequires an eligiblecandidate to be of a certainheight to become an IPSoffi��cer.

He wrote to UnionMinister for Personnel,Grievances, DoNER andPensions Jitendra Singhseeking the amendmentafter the CentralAdministrative Tribunal(CAT) dismissed a petitionby an Arunachal Pradeshdoctor whose hope ofbecoming an IPS offi��cer fellshort by 2.5 cm.

Ojing Dameng, fromMilang village in the State’sUpper Siang districtbordering China, wasranked 644th in the CivilServices Examination of2017. Selected for the Indian

Revenue Service (IRS), he isposted in Kolkata.

Mr. Dameng was placedsecond in the provisional listof IPS offi��cers in theScheduled Tribes category.But a medical examinationconducted by the CentralStanding Medical Board(CSMB) found him unfi��t for

the IPS because he is 162.5cm tall, which is 2.5 cm lessthan the required minimumheight of 165 cm for malecandidates for the IPS.

He challenged the CSMB’sdecision at the CAT inAugust 2018. He argued thatcandidates belonging to theST category and races suchas Gorkha, Assamese,Kumaoni, Naga, Garhwali,etc., are entitled to arelaxation of 15 cm in theminimum height requiredfor the IPS.

But the CAT dismissed hispetition on May 27 pointingout that he did not belong tothe communities eligible forheight relaxation.

According to Mr. Khandu,the condition on heightwould deprive aspirants ofArunachal Pradesh.

“This service conditionwas framed in 1951 andapparently, not updated.Arunachal Pradesh came

into existence as a UnionTerritory in 1972 andattained statehood in 1987.You will appreciate thatwhen the All India ServicesAct was framed, thepresentday Arunachal wasunder Assam administrationand when the benefi��t wasextended to ‘Assamese’ inthe Act, the spirit wouldhave been to include thetribes of Arunachal too,” hewrote to Mr. Singh.

Mr. Dameng, who plansto challenge the CATdecision in a High Court,said it would be unfair for acertain category ofcandidates who clear theexams conducted by theUPSC and medical tests onlyto be stumped by the heightclause. “This needs to bedone, at least for the futuregenerations of people inArunachal Pradesh andothers places who are nottall enough,” he said.

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When height blocks doctor’s IPS dream

RAHUL KARMAKAR

GUWAHATI

Ojing Dameng from Arunachal Pradesh was declared unfi��t as he fell short by 2.5 cm

Ojing Dameng is at presentan IRS offi��cer in Kolkata.

The Kerala Assembly onMonday unanimouslypassed a resolution demanding the recall ofLakshadweep Administrator Praful Khoda Patel andthe withdrawal of the controversial orders issued byhim.

The House also expressed solidarity with thepeople of Lakshadweepwho have been protestingagainst the decisions of Mr.Patel and seeking urgentsteps to safeguard theirculture and livelihood.

The resolution is thefi��rst to be moved in the Assembly after the Left Democratic Front under ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayanreturned to power after theAssembly elections and thefi��rst of the 15th Assembly.

Kerala wantsLakshadweephead recalled


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM


MP MEETS AMIT SHAH A PAGE 9

In a day of dramatic developments, West BengalChief Secretary AlapanBandyopadhyay on Monday opted to retire after theState government refusedto release him to theCentre despite a letterfrom the appointmentscommittee of the Cabinet.He was later appointedChief Adviser to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee forthree years.

Earlier in the day, Ms.Banerjee wrote a fi��vepageletter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him torescind the order askingthe Chief Secretary to report to Delhi on Monday.

In the letter, she said the“Government of West Bengal cannot release and isnot releasing its ChiefSecretary”.

Bengal ChiefSecretarysteps down

Shiv Sahay Singh

Vijaita Singh

Kolkata/ Delhi

CONTINUED ONA PAGE 8

The Supreme Court on Monday said “it is time to defi��nethe limits of sedition” evenas it protected two Teluguchannels from any coerciveaction by the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddyled Andhra Pradesh government for theirreportage of the COVID19pandemic in the State.

A threejudge Bench ledby Justice D.Y. Chandrachudfl��agged indiscriminate useof the sedition law againstcritics, journalists, socialmedia users, activists and citizens for airing grievancesabout the governments’ COVID19 management, oreven for seeking help to gainmedical access, equipment,

drugs and oxygen cylinders. “We are of the view that

the ambit and parameters ofthe provisions of Sections124A (sedition), 153A and505 of the Indian PenalCode 1860 would require interpretation, particularly inthe context of the right ofthe electronic and print media to communicate news,information and the rights,even those that may be critical of the prevailing regimein any part of the nation,”the court noted in its order.

‘Muzzling the media’“This is muzzling the media,” Justice L. NageswaraRao, another judge on theBench along with Justice S.Ravindra Bhat, said about

the manner in which A.P.had tried to “silence” channels TV5 and ABN.

“It is time to defi��ne the limits of sedition,” JusticeChandrachud said.

The court issued notice tothe A.P. government and directed that “there shall be astay on the respondents [theState] adopting coerciveproceedings against the twoTV channels”.

Justice Chandrachudpointed out that the courthad categorically told theStates not to initiate penalaction against the critics ofCOVID19 managementmeasures in an April 30 order.

‘It’s time to defi��ne limits of sedition’SC grants relief to two Telugu channels from coercive action

Krishnadas Rajagopal

NEW DELHI


Positivity rate fallsbelow 1% in DelhiNEW DELHI

The test positivity rate of

COVID19 cases fell to

0.99% in Delhi, the lowest in

more than two months, said a

health bulletin released by

the government on Monday.

The city reported 648 new

cases over 24 hours, taking

the total to 14,26,240.

CITY A PAGE 3

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NEARBY

Family uses excavator toshift body for burialLUCKNOW

A family in Sant Kabir Nagar

of eastern U.P. used an earth

mover to transport the body

of a relative who had died

after testing positive for

COVID19 for burial. A video

of the incident was widely

shared on social media. The

victim’s son said his father

died at home after testing

positive at a hospital.

NEWS A PAGE 10

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CMYK

A ND-NDE

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DELHI THE HINDU

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CITY

Work resumes on the fi��fth Delhi Metro bridge over the Yamuna on Monday after the city government announced easing of some restrictions. The construction is part of the Majlis ParkMaujpur corridor. * R.V. MOORTHY

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Back on track

In the fi��rst week of April,33yearold Himanshu Nagiacontracted COVID19 withmild symptoms. Afterrecovering in two weeks, hedecided to extend support tothe needy at a time when thepandemic was raging.

Mr. Nagia, resident of EastDelhi’s Krishna Nagarworking at a Noidabased ITcompany, has two kids, wifeand a 60yearold motherliving with him in theirmultistorey residence.However, for 20odd days,the man almost stayed in hiscar which he had turned intoan emergency responsevehicle.

One can fi��nd water bottlecartons, medicines, twosmall oxygen cylinders,oxygen cans, thermometer

and oximeters, PPE kits andgloves among other essentialitems.

“The thought came to mewhen a neighbour called forhelp. He needed oxygencylinder for his sisterinlawand to arrange for the same,we went to Rajouri Gardengurudwara where I realisedthat there were so manypeople who were coming inrickshaws and autos. So Ithought I can try helpingthem using my vehicle,” hesaid, adding that he visited agurudwara in Geeta Colonywho was helping peoplewith oxygen at the time andtold them he would bewilling to help anyone withtransportation as noteveryone could aff��ord anambulance.

“I had just recovered fromCOVID19 and doctors said

that I would have enoughantibodies for the next threemonths so I made use of it”.

On April 26, Mr. Nagiareceived his fi��rst call to helptransporting a patient fromKrishna Nagar to Guru TegBahadur Hospital. Herecalled how he wore a PPEkit and created a cabin in hiscar as a precautionary

measure and helped theperson.

Helped 23 peopleIn the next few weeks tillMay 20, he helped 23 peoplewith transportation apartfrom helping people andalso learnt how to use theoxygen fl��ow meter which isused along with the oxygen

cylinder to set the fl��ow.For the last week and a

half, he hasn’t received anydesperate calls except forration but he continues tovisit Seemapuri cremationground to help with the lastrites of unclaimed bodies.

So far, while showingsome transaction receipts,he said that he has spentmore than ₹��2 lakh in theprocess, but has now startedto crowdsfund because hehas spent more than what hethought he could. “Last year,we didn’t go out anywhere,so I saved and used thatmoney for this work,” hesaid.

At work, he said that hisclients are usually from theU.S. and the U.K., therefore,he used to manage at nightand sometimes, only rarelyduring the day. “My offi��ce

has been supportive. Therewas an instance when I hadto drive a person and I had aclient call. I requested themfor 10 minutes silence,” hesaid.

Talking about keeping hisfamily safe, he said that hedidn’t come in direct contactwith his children or motherbecause they have nevercontracted the virus so far.The house if big enough tomaintain distance. “For 20days which were verydangerous, I used thewashroom in our parkingand now, when I go home, Ibathe in sanitiser and wear adouble mask even inside thehouse,” he said.

A colleague of Mr. Nagia’ssaid that he helped her at 10p.m. with oxygen cans whenshe was in dire need for herbrotherinlaw.

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Man decides to help needy soon after recovering from COVID-19

Hemani Bhandari

NEW DELHI

IT professional turns his car into emergency response vehicle, uses savings he kept for trips that he could not make last year

Himanshu Nagia; (right) his car loaded with essentials to helpthe needy. * HEMANI BHANDARI

The Delhi High Court onMonday rejected as ‘trash’the status report fi��led by thedrug controller on the issueof BJP MP Gautam Gambhirprocuring huge amount ofFabifl��u, used for treating COVID patients, when theywere in short supply in theCapital.

“This tendency of peopletrying to take advantage andthen trying to appear as saviour. This has to be denounced,” a Bench of JusticeVipin Sanghi and Justice Jasmeet Singh remarked pointing at the action of the former cricketer.

The High Court said thedrug controller has not doneany investigation on how “alarge consignment” of 2,343strips of Tab Fabifl��u was supplied to the Gautam Gambhir

Foundation, which is not amedical practitioner.

Questionable standIt termed as ‘questionable’the drug controller’s standthat the drug was not in shortsupply.

“You [drug controller] arewrong to say it was not inshort supply. You want us toshut our eyes. You can’t takeus for a ride. If you think weare so gullible, we are naïve,

we will give you back hard.You better do you job.”

While the drug controllerargued that the Tab Fabifl��uwas bought by the Foundation through one Dr. Manishof Garg Hospital, the courtasked how Mr. Gambhir wasable to purchase it just because Garg Hospital said it.

“Can anybody take a letterfrom a hospital and say give it[drug] to me... Here is a manwho is hoarding thousandsof strips of medicines. He isinterrupting the fl��ow of medicines,” the Bench said.

“You’ve not even bothered to see if it was legal tosupply drugs to the Foundation,” it told the drug controller. It directed the drugcontroller to submit a ‘better’ status report after takinginto account the factual contradictions and legalprovisions.

The court also said theformer cricketer has to be‘mindful’ of the action he hastaken. “Thousands of needypeople who could have gotthese medicines were unableto do so. Two hundred andeighty fi��ve strips were left.This shows that he procuredmore than what was required,” it said. “If it continues, we know how to dealwith it.”

The court also noted it wasnot satisfi��ed with the statusreport into allegations of procuring and hoarding medicaloxygen made against AAPMLA Praveen Kumar.

The court’s directioncame while hearing a petition seeking lodging of anFIR against politicians whoallegedly were able to procure COVID19 drugs in hugequantity. It will hear the caseagain on Thursday.

HC pulls up drug controller for‘trash’ report in Gambhir caseIt does not explain how 2,343 strips of medicine were supplied to his foundation: court

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

BJP MP Gautam Gambhir.

The High Court on Mondayquashed two separate orders issued last year by theDelhi government restraining private schools in the city from collection of annualcharges and developmentfees from students duringthe COVID19 pandemic.

Justice Jayant Nath saidthe orders “are prejudicialto the said schools andwould cause an unreasonable restriction in their functioning”.

The court directed thatthe amount payable by students would be paid in sixmonthly instalments fromJune 10 onwards.

The court’s directioncame on plea by the ActionCommittee of Unaided Recognised Private Schools, aregistered association withapproximately 450 privateunaided schools functioningin Delhi as its members.

The association had challenged the orders issued bythe Department of Education, Delhi government, onApril 18, 2020 and August28, 2020 in so far as it prevented private unaidedschools from collecting annual charges and development fees even beyond thelockdown period and deferring it till physical openingof the schools.

They argued that evenduring the pandemic, theschools were directed and

encouraged to take up online teaching and learningso that there was no discontinuity in imparting education to the children.

The annual charges relateto hostel running expenses,administrative and generalexpenses, rents, communication expenses, printingand stationery, electricityand water charges amongothers.

Development fees pertains to expenditure relatedto furniture, benches,chairs, wall panelling,green/black boards, computers, projectors and othersitems.

‘Rights curtailed’The association argued thatthe action of the Delhi government curtailed theirrights to fi��x their own fees.

The Delhi government,on the other hand, arguedthat the lockdown was stillin operation and, therefore,the two orders continued tobe in operation.

It argued that “on account of acute fi��nancialpressure and stress on thegeneral public owing to thepandemic and measures imposed to deal with it havingnot abated, in such a situation the attempt of the private school to burden the parents by seeking to recoveramounts presuming thatnormal physical functioninghas resumed is harsh, unfairand unjust”.

Court quashes twoDelhi govt. orders onprivate school fees ‘Directions were prejudicial to schools’

Soibam Rocky Singh

New Delhi

The Delhi High Court onMonday asked the Centreand Delhi government tocome out with a policy ondistribution of AmphotericinB, used for treatingblack fungus patients, dueto their current scarcity.

A Bench of Justice VipinSanghi and Justice JasmeetSingh remarked that the“cruel decision” of excluding certain age group orclass of people till the drugis in shortage could not beleft with the doctors andhas to be taken by the political leadership in consultation with experts.

The court asked if thereare two patients, one is 80yearold and other is 35yearold, and there is onlyone dose of medicine thenit should be given towhom.

It also remarked thatblack fungus was aff��ectingeveryone in all age groups.

‘Form policy to issue blackfungus drug’

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

The Delhi High Court onMonday said COVID19vaccine production by twocompanies in India is notenough and the Centreshould expedite the process of clearing samples ofPanacea Biotec, which hascollaborated with the Russian Direct InvestmentFund (RDIF) for manufacturing Sputnik V vaccinehere.

A Bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice NajmiWaziri asked the Centre toensure that in these extraordinary circumstanceswhen vaccines are urgently needed for saving lives,the untapped potential inthe country is not takenaway by foreigners.

The Bench questionedthe Centre for not processing Panacea’s case onpriority as it was producing the same productwhich has been producedby the Russian companyinitially and asked as towhat more was required tobe done in this regard.

It termed as “disturbing” the Centre’s reply,fi��led in the case, saying theauthorities were virtuallysaying they are not awareof what the fi��rm has beendoing and its relation withSputnik.

The Bench said theCentre’s offi��cers are required to show some sensitivity and urgency in thematter. The High Courtwill hear the case again onJune 2.

Vaccineproduction incountry notenough: HCStaff Reporter

New Delhi

A 32yearold man was alongwith his wife was arrestedfrom North Delhi for allegedly supplying drugs in the city, the police said onMonday.

The accused have beenidentifi��ed as Raj Kumar andMariyam (24), both residentsof Moti Nagar. On Saturday,the police received information that one Raj Kumar,along with his wife, was supplying heroin from Loni in

Ghaziabad to Moti Nagar in acar and would come via Wazirabad Old Yamuna Bridge,a senior offi��cer said.

“Thereafter, the police intercepted a car near Soorghat, Wazirabad, and apprehended the accused persons. One polybag containing 500 g heroin worth ₹��60lakh in international marketwas recovered from theirpossession,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (North)Anto Alphonse said.

Raj Kumar bought the re

covered heroin from one Israr of Fatehganj, Bareilly inUttar Pradesh and the accused were going to supplythe heroin in western Delhi,the police said.

He engaged his wife sothat they would not bestopped or apprehended,police said, adding that efforts are on to trace thesource of supply and the persons to whom the heroin wasto be supplied. Mariyam disclosed that her mother is also a drug peddler.

Couple held with heroin worth ₹��60 lakh STAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has dismissed aplea seeking review of anearlier order banning operations of coalfi��red brick kilnsin the National Capital Region beyond the month ofJune.

A Bench headed by NGTChairperson Justice AdarshKumar Goel observed that aparty cannot be permittedto reopen a case under thepretext of a review.

“Even the judgment givensubsequent to the decision

in a case can be no groundfor entertaining the review.Review lies only when thereis error apparent on the faceof the record and that fallibility is by the oversight ofthe court,” the Bench observed. It observed, “If aparty is aggrieved of a judgment, it must approach thehigher court.”

The observations camewhen the tribunal was hearing a plea by brick kiln owners who contended that operations should bepermitted during the monsoon months.

Allow activity during monsoon: owners

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

Tribunal dismisses plea toreview ban on brick kilns

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, on Monday saidthat it would be establishinga new department named,‘Department of EnergyScience and Engineering’ toexpand the scope and depthof activities being undertaken by the 45yearoldCentre for Energy Studies(CES).

The institute said that thenew department is expectedto provide the muchneededfocus and visibility to theteaching and research activities of the institute in the

fi��eld of energy to meet increasing energy requirements at aff��ordable price inan environmentally sustainable manner.

Besides continuing withthree existing MTech programmes, the new department would off��er a BTech inEnergy Engineering startingfrom academic session 20212022 with an intake of 40students qualifying JEE(Advanced).

K.A. Subramanian, Head,CES, said, “The BTech programme is designed to equipthe students with the necessary knowledge and skills .”

IITD to establish newdepartment of energyIt will focus on research activities


NEW DELHI

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI

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CITY

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. Group Editorial Officer: Krishna Prasad. 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. 129

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Timings

DELHI

TUESDAY, JUN. 01

RISE 05:24 SET 19:15

RISE 00:12 SET 11:12

WEDNESDAY, JUN. 02

RISE 05:24 SET 19:16

RISE 00:49 SET 12:10

THURSDAY, JUN. 03

RISE 05:24 SET 19:16

RISE 01:23 SET 13:07

Several people who are dueto get their second Covaxinshots are fi��nding it diffi��cult tobook slots due to a limitedsupply of the vaccine in thenational capital.

Effi��cacy of fi��rst doseMany of them have taken tosocial media to raise concerns over whether the fi��rstdose would be eff��ective if thesecond dose is not administered within the stipulatedperiod.

Sanoop Krishnan (32), anursing offi��cer at the LNJPhospital, said the due datefor his second dose was onMonday, but he did couldnot book the slot. “I had taken the vaccine on May 3. Later, I got a message that mydue date was May 31. I havebeen trying to book a slot forthe past two days, but nothing is available. The Centralgovernment should havepurchased the vaccines instead of asking States to buythemselves,” the nurse said.

Mr. Krishnan added thatas a healthcare worker, hewas hopeful of getting the second dose on time. But, hefeels, that the general publicwould face even more

diffi��culties.South Delhi resident Gee

tika Sengupta said the 42day period between the twodoses was already over andshe had still not managed tobook a slot.

“When I asked at the hospital where I took the fi��rstshot, they informed me thatvaccines were not available.I was told that several otherslike me are awaiting their second dose. The hospital saidthere was a possibility of vaccines being available afterJune 15, but there was noconfi��rmation on the same,”said Ms. Sengupta.

A 28yearold who tookthe fi��rst dose of Covaxin onMay 4 said: “I have been try

ing to book a slot for the pastone week but centres are notavailable. The governmentshould have kept a reservefor people who got the fi��rstdose of Covaxin.”

Delhi has been facing ashortage of vaccines. Freevaccinations drive for the 1844 age group — both Covaxinand Covishield — are not being conducted at government schools for over a weeknow, as per an offi��cialbulletin.

Taking to Twitter, severalpeople questioned the effi��cacy of the fi��rst dose if the second one was not administered within the specifi��edperiod.

Tagging Chief Minister Ar

vind Kejriwal on a tweet,Radhika Tongar, one suchTwitter user wrote: “How isone supposed to get (the) second Covaxin dose considering no slots are opening forit. And as far as I know, thewindow for it hasn’t been revised too. What happenswhen my 42 days get oversoon? [sic]”

Vikram Garg, anotherTwitter user wrote, “…Opening Cowin site fi��ve times aday for the last three days,every slot is booked in Delhi,Noida and Gurgaon. No slotavailable, neither free norpaid. No point in dose 1 ifdose 2 is not available. [sic]”

Atishi seeks more jabsMeanwhile, AAP leader Atishi on Monday said: “Vaccinations are happening forthe youth in Delhi only atprivate facilities at higherrates. There is no commitment from the Central government on vaccines foryouth. According to theCentre, the fi��rst instalmentwill come on June 10 and only 5.5 lakh vaccine doses forthe youth in the next month.We need 50 lakh more dosesfor them in Delhi. We appealto the Centre to give morevaccines.”

Few Covaxin slots available,getting a second dose a taskNo free vaccines in the city for 1844 age group for more than a week now

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

A woman gets vaccinated at a centre in Central Delhi onMonday. * V.V. KRISHNAN

The test positivity rate(TPR) of COVID19 cases fellto 0.99% in the city — thelowest in more than twomonths — according to ahealth bulletin released bythe Delhi government onMonday.

Earlier in the day, ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwalsaid COVID19 vaccine Sputnik will be given to Delhiprobably after June 20.

“Sputnik will probablyoff��er vaccines after June 20.Right now, they are importing the vaccines and theywill allot a section of theirimported vaccines to theDelhi government. Theywill start domestic production from August,” the ChiefMinister said.

On Monday, Mr. Kejriwalinaugurated a free walkinvaccination facility for journalists and their families atSarvodaya Bal Vidyalayanear ITO.

“This facility will vaccinate journalists and their families of both age groups —1845 years and above thoseabove 45 years — free ofcost. Vaccination is theneed of the hour to protectyourself from COVID. I appeal to all the journalists tocome here and get them

selves vaccinated for free,”Mr. Kejriwal said.

A TPR of 0.99% meansthat less than one personout of 100 people takingCOVID tests are positive forthe virus.

The last time the positivity was less than this was onMarch 19, when it was0.93%. The TPR was as highas 36% on April 22 and hasbeen coming down sincethen.

648 fresh casesThe city reported 648 newCOVID19 cases in 24 hours,taking the total cases to14,26,240. Also, 86 deaths

were reported, and the total number of deaths stoodat 24,237. A total of 65,240tests were done in a day, thebulletin said. Of the totalcases, 13,90,963 peoplehave recovered and thereare 11,040 active cases.

Also, out of the total24,852 hospital beds for COVID19, 80.7% of beds werevacant. At the peak of thesecond wave in April, only56% of beds were vacanton many days. The ChiefMinister also said the citycurrently has around 944cases of black fungus, including 300 at the Centralgovernmentrun hospitals.

CM says city may get Sputnik V fromJune 20; positivity rate dips below 1%Kejriwal inaugurates free vaccination for scribes, their kin

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

A man undergoes a COVID19 test in Azadpur on Monday.* SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Ramdev row: RDAs to

observe black ribbon stir

NEW DELHI

Residents Doctors’

Associations (RDAs) of city

hospitals on Monday said

they will observe a “black

ribbon protest” on Tuesday

against comments made by

Baba Ramdev. The Federation

of Resident Doctors’

Association said they were

ready to be a party in court

cases against Mr. Ramdev.

IN BRIEF

An FIR was registeredagainst Aam Admi Partycouncillor Ramesh Matialabased on a complaint by aparty worker.

The victim, in a video,said the incident tookplace on May 28 when Mr.Matiala allegedly asked twowomen associates to slapthe complainant in his presence because he objectedto the latter’s picture onthe banner during RTPCRtesting camp. The complainant said she worked hardto organise the testingcamp, which is why sheput her photo on the banner. The councillor allegedly got the banner torn andasked two women to slapthe complainant.

The victim then gave awritten complaint in Bindapur police station following which a case under Sections 323 (causing hurt),341 (wrongful restraint),509 (word, gesture or actintended to insult the modesty of a woman), and 506(threatening) of the IPCwas registered and probe isunder way.

FIR lodgedagainst AAPcouncillor

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday alleged that BJP leaders are“abusing” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to “hide” theirfailures.

“First they stopped oxygen for the people of Delhi.Now, Arvind Kejriwalji is saying that we need to vaccinateall Delhiites and they areabusing him,” Mr. Sisodiasaid in a video.

He said the Chief Ministerwants to vaccinate as manypeople as possible before apossible third wave. Delhi

has been facing a shortage ofvaccines and free vaccination of the 1844 age grouphas not been happening ingovernment schools for overa week now.

‘BJP holding elections’“To hide their own failuresin COVID management, BJPleaders keep on making falsestatements. When the nation was reeling with COVIDcases and needed immediate help, the BJP government was more interested inmanaging their image andconducting elections,” Mr.Sisodia said.

He said the Centre deniedoxygen supply to Delhi andMr. Kejriwal had to go tocourt to “fi��ght” for the same.

“Now, when Kejriwalji isasking for adequate vaccinesto inoculate all citizens, BJPleaders are again acting asobstructionists. BJP leaderscan continue to say whatever they want until all citizensof Delhi are not vaccinated,Kejriwalji will continue tofi��ght for vaccines for all. It isshameful that BJP is playingsuch petty politics when itsleaders should instead bevaccinating citizens in theirown States,” he added.

BJP leaders abusing Kejriwalto hide their failures: Sisodia Staff Reporter

New Delhi

The Delhi BJP on Mondaysaid questions need to beraised why Delhi’s healthcare facilities failed duringthe second COVID wave thatled to numerous deaths despite ₹��44.262 crore beingspent on the health sector.

The party also allegedthat the Delhi governmentwas discriminating amongCOVID warriors in terms ofgiving compensation ondeath in the line of duty andwas not revealing the exactfi��gures for the number of

deaths. State BJP president Adesh

Gupta at a press conferencesaid: “When people were dying in second COVID wave inabsence of medical facilities,Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his team was busythinking whom to blame forthis and how to save the saveface rather than controllingthe situation, which led tomany deaths.” Mr. Guptasaid according to data fromthe municipal corporations,in the last week of April, 700people were cremated or buried in on a day. But the State

government data stated thatnot more than 450 died. Headded that fi��gures revealthat between April 1 to May17 in all three corporations'crematoriums and cemeteries, there were 16,593 COVID victims whereas, duringthis period, the Kejriwal government released fi��gure ofonly 11,061 deaths.

LOP Ramvir Singh Bidhurisaid records show that thenumber of COVID warriorsis above 500 but the Delhigovernment has so far honoured only about a dozenof them.

BJP asks why ‘healthcare facilities faileddespite AAP govt. spending over ₹��40 cr.’Party alleges CM not revealing exact number of deaths


NEW DELHI The Aam Aadmi Party onMonday demanded theBJPgoverned municipalcorporation to pay salariesto all its employees andsaid the High Court has decided to auction propertiesof the civic bodies for thesame. “The HC has decidedto auction the properties ofthe civic bodies to pay salaries of its employees. TheDelhi BJP has looted the civic bodies for 15 years andnow it has no money to paysalaries...,” AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said.

AAP demandscivic bodies topay salaries

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

In wake of delays in examination schedules due tothe pandemic, the NationalStudents Union of India(NSUI) on Monday wrote tothe Union Minister of Statefor Personnel, Public Grievance and Pensions Jitendra Singh asking for age relaxation and extraattempts for students appearing in competitiveexams.

NSUI seeksage relaxationfor exams


NEW DELHI

The polls to elect Mayorsand Deputy Mayors of thethree corporations in Delhiare now slated to be heldon June 16 subject to theCOVID lockdown in the city, offi��cials said on Monday.

The decision has beentaken in view of the extension of the lockdown heretill June 7, East Delhi MayorNirmal Jain said. “The lastdate to fi��le nominationswas today [May 31] and thepolls were supposed to beheld on June 8. Now, thelast day to fi��le nominationshas been extended till June8 and the polls will takeplace on June 16,” he said.However, the dates are subject to lockdown situation,Mr. Jain said.

Mayoral pollsslated for June 16

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

1-3 Workers back at their jobs in small factories on the fi��rst day of the ‘unlock’ process at industrial areas across Delhi 4 Daily wage labourers wait to be hired atBhajanpura Chowk in Delhi on Monday. * PHOTOS BY: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA, SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR, R.V. MOORTHY

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Factories reopen

1

432

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NORTH & EAST

The StateLevel Core Teamon COVID19 Managementand Care in Rajasthan haseff��ectively handled the aggressive nature of secondwave of pandemic by managing the younger and paediatric population. But theadolescents, who have notbeen vaccinated so far, maybe aff��ected more in the subsequent waves, says Dr.Sudhir Bhandari, head ofthe Core Team and Principalof Sawai Man Singh Government Medical College,Jaipur.

The COVID19 pandemic has

put an unprecedented load

on health facilities and

stretched the infrastructure

in Rajasthan to its limits.

How can we ensure optimum

utilisation of the available

resources, including oxygen,

and convince the people to

make a judicious use of

facilities available?

■ The second wave of pandemic has been very aggressive with more and moreyounger population andchildren being aff��ected. Unlike the fi��rst wave, 60% to70% of the moderate to severe patients are oxygen dependent and require criticalcare. To meet out this situation, we have created COVID19 triage at our dedicated institutions, where wesegregated mild or asymptomatic for home quarantine,while the mild to moderateare admitted to providethem medical support.

We have also conductedsensitisation programmesfor doctors, paramedics andpublic at large for early reporting, optimal use of oxygen, proning and physiotherapy.

As the head of the StateLevel

Core Team on COVID19

Management and Care, what

was your remit and how

have you helped the State

government in identifying

the key areas where action

was needed?

■ Since the beginning of thefi��rst wave, we have beenworking intensely with ourcore team in various directions, such as building up infrastructure for COVID19patients, creating more oxygenated and ventilatedbeds and enhancing the capacity for RTPCR testing.We started with zero test atSawai Man Singh Hospitaland raised to 10,000 testsper day. We are now capableof conducting more thanone lakh RTPCR tests a dayin the entire State.

Our team was the fi��rst touse hydroxychloroquineand antiviral drugs Lopinavir and Ritonavir in the fi��rstthree Italian COVID19 patients. The core team headed by me has eff��ectively handled the aggressive nature ofthe pandemic’s second waveby managing the youngerand paediatric population.

You were the fi��rst person to

receive the COVID19 vaccine

dose in Rajasthan. Are there

still apprehensions among

the people about vaccination

and have you succeeded in

sending a clear message that

our indigenous vaccine is

safe?

■ I had the honour of being

the fi��rst person in Rajasthanto get vaccinated. Since wewere the fi��rst in many ways,such as using hydroxychloroquine and implementingthe COVID management protocols, I wanted to boost themorale of the whole medicalfraternity by taking the vaccine fi��rst and increase theacceptability by the public atlarge with the confi��dencethat the vaccines are safe.

There are reports that

people are contracting

infection even after getting

one or both the doses of

vaccine. Does it mean that

the vaccine does not provide

full protection and the

people should adhere to the

COVID appropriate

protocol?

■ It is true that even aftertwo doses, people are getting infection. The vaccination only protects from critical disease and ventilationand one might still contactasymptomatic or mild infection. Therefore, the compliance with the COVID appropriate behaviour,especially wearing the facemask and maintaining distance, is a must even aftervaccination.

What is the likelihood of a

third wave of the pandemic

hitting Rajasthan and the

country?

■ As per the epidemiologicalstudies, the third and fourthwaves of the pandemic arepredicted somewhere between September and December this year. They canalso merge with the secondwave. There is a possibilitythat the adolescents andchildren, who have not beenvaccinated, may be aff��ectedmore in the third wave, asthe middle age and elderlypopulation has been vaccinated to quite an extent.

INTERVIEW | SUDHIR BHANDARI

‘Aggressive nature of pandemic’ssecond wave handled eff��ectively’

Third, fourth waves predicted between Sept. and Dec.: expert

Mohammed Iqbal

PUBLIC NOTICE

G.SHANMUKHAM (66) Retired SeniorEngineer - Printing, The Hindu,Hyderabad passed away on30-05-2021. Address: Flat No: 317,3rd floor, Manju Ranga Towers, AnandBagh, Malkangiri, Hyderabad-500047.Mobile No: 9966442818

OBITUARY &

REMEMBRANCE

DEATH

DEATH

BIRTH CENTENARY

PUBLIC NOTICE

The police in eastern Assam’s Chairaideo districthave arrested two men onthe charge of raping a woman who was walking homefrom a hospital after recovering from COVID19. Thealleged incident happenedat 7:30 p.m. on May 27.

The Sapekhati ModelHospital, about 25 km fromher home in a tea garden,had released the womanand her teenage daughterafter both tested negative.

Both wanted to spend thenight at the hospital complex but the medical staff�� allegedly did not entertaintheir request. They also allegedly did not provide theduo with transport duringthe night curfew.

Daughter escapesThe two accused pouncedupon the duo when theywere about 4 km short oftheir home. The daughtermanaged to escape and inform the plantation workers.

“The victim has identifi��ed the two persons we arrested. They are being interrogated and would beproduced in the local courton Tuesday,” district Superintendent of Police Sudhakar Singh said.

The Congress slammedthe hospital authorities forfailing to provide an ambulance to ferry the womanand her daughter home.

Woman rapedafter recoveryfrom COVID

special correspondent

guwahati

The Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, Bhupinder Singh Hooda,said on Monday that cases ofCOVID19 have started to decrease but the State government should not lower itsguard and focus on streng

thening the healthcare system on priority for possiblethird wave.

Mr. Hooda said planningwill have to be done immediately to handle the postpandemic conditions as infl��ation, recession, povertyand unemployment are onthe rise.

“The unemployment ratein Haryana has reached35.1% and every third person of the State is unemployed. Therefore, the government should helppeople whose business hasbeen ruined during the pandemic,” he said during a virtual press conference.

Focus on third wave: Hooda to Haryana govt.special correspondent

Chandigarh

As factionalism in Punjabreached a crisis point, athreemember Congress committee started meeting lawmakers from the State to workout an amicable solution.

With Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and senior party leader Navjot Sidhu on a war path over the2015 sacrilege issue, Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi hastasked Opposition leader inthe Rajya Sabha, MallikarjunKharge, Congress general secretary incharge of PunjabHarish Rawat and senior leader J.P. Agarwal to broker

peace.“The meeting was for man

than [brainstorming]. It’s notabout any individual but Punjab and the Congress. Thesemeetings will take place overthree days and MLAs, MPsand senior leaders will sharetheir views on how to consolidate the position,” PunjabCongress chief Sunil Jakhartold reporters after he metthe panel.

For the past several weeks,Mr. Sidhu has been attackingthe Amarinder Singh government for failing to hold theprevious Parkash Singh Badalled Akali government responsible for the 2015 Kotkap

ura fi��ring incident followingthe desecration of the GuruGranth Sahib in Punjab’sFaridkot.

“Those who have given orders and killed unarmedSikhs will not be spared,” res

with the threememberpanel.

Apart from Mr. Sidhu, theChief Minister also faces challenge from former PunabCongress chief Partap SinghBajwa and Samsher SinghDullo.

Among those who met thepanel included Punjab Finance Minister ManpreetSingh Badal and MinistersTript Bajwa, Brahm Mohindra, O.P. Soni, Rana Sodhi,Sukhjinder Randhawa amongothers. The outcome of thesemeetings will be important asthe party is seeking to revampits Punjab unit before Assembly elections.

ponded Mr. Jakhar withoutnaming anyone.

‘Tacit support’Supporters of the Chief Minister argued that Mr. Sidhu’sopen rebellion cannot takeplace without the tacit support from the party high command since the cricketerturnedpolitician is known tobe close to former party chiefRahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka GandhiVadra.

Captain Singh’s loyalists also objected to Mr. Gandhi reportedly speaking to some ofthe Punjab MLAs through anaide ahead of their meeting

Cong. panel bids to quell Punjab factionalism Committee formed by Sonia meets MLAs in the wake of CMSidhu spat over 2015 sacrilege issue


New Delhi

CM Amarinder Singh

Amid an uncertainty abouttheir citizenship status, Pakistani Hindu migrants residing in Jodhpur districthave started getting COVID19 vaccination followingan intervention of the Rajasthan High Court. However,the migrants who do notpossess any of the prescribed identity documentswere still not getting thevaccine.

A Division Bench of theHigh Court ruled that theCentre’s standard operatingprocedure (SOP) on vaccination did not exclude the migrants from Pakistan. TheState government, which isyet to take a fi��nal decisionon the issue, has soughtsome time from the courtfor furnishing details aboutthe steps taken to implement the SOP.

The Medical and HealthDepartment organised vaccination camps in Kali Beri,

Alkausar Nagar and Anganwa localities on the outskirtsof Jodhpur city over theweekend.

Hindu Singh Sodha, president of Seemant Lok Sangathan, told The Hindu onMonday that the distinctionmade on the basis of identity documents had deprivedthese migrants of vaccineprotection. “The Union government has stated in thecourt that the vaccines willbe provided based on the information from the Stateabout the groups needinginoculation.”

The State governmentsubmitted to the court thatabout 25,000 Pakistani minority migrants were at present residing in various districts, including 7,500 inJodhpur.

The Bench also directedthe State government to ensure that ration material andfood packets were madeavailable to the needy Pakistani migrants.

Pakistani migrants get the

jab after HC intervention Rajasthan seeks time to give details


JAIPUR

The Bihar government onMonday extended the lockdown for a week, till June 8,in view of COVID19 infectionwith some relaxation for business activities.

“In view of corona infection, decision has been taken

to extend the lockdown for aweek till June 8. But some relaxation is being given for business activities. All shouldwear mask and maintain social distance,” tweeted ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar.

This is the fourth time theBihar government has extended lockdown since May5, 2021.

The shops will now beopen from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.across the State but all privateoffi��ces and other activities

will remain closed. Earlier,shops were allowed to openfrom 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.

During the lockdown period, there has been a sharpdecline in the number of infections.

‘Recovery rate 96.67%’“In last 24 hours, 4,130 infected people had recoveredfrom the disease in the State.The recovery rate in Bihar is96.67%”, tweeted Health Minister Mangal Pandey.

Shops to remainopen from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Amarnath Tewary

Patna

Bihar extends lockdown till June 8

The toll in the Aligarhhooch tragedy climbed to36 on Monday with 11 moredeaths being confi��rmed bythe district authorities.

Viscera samples of 35other people, who are suspected to have died afterconsuming spurious liquor,have been sent for examination, Chief Medical Offi��cerDr. B.P. Kalyani said.

U.P. hooch tollrises to 36

Press trust of india

Aligarh

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


SOUTH

Weather WatchRainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.00 Hrs)

Forecast for Tuesday: Heavy/very heavy rainfall likely at isolatedplaces over Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Telangana, Karnataka,Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal and Kerala. Thunderstorm withlightning/gusty winds likely at isolated places over Punjab, Delhi,Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, coastal Andhra Pradesh,Yanam, Marathwada, north interior Karnataka, Kerala and Mahe

city rain max min city rain max min

Agartala................—....34.0....27.7 Kozhikode....................—....32.5....24.0

Ahmedabad...........—....37.6....28.0 Kurnool ....................... 3....38.1....26.9

Aizawl...................—....28.1....19.0 Lucknow......................—....38.0....26.5

Allahabad..............—....38.4....26.5 Madurai .......................—....41.4....26.4

Bengaluru .............—....32.3....21.4 Mangaluru ...................—....31.2....23.8

Bhopal ..................—....39.7....21.2 Mumbai .......................—....32.0....27.2

Bhubaneswar.........—....37.1....29.0 Mysuru ........................—....33.0....21.2

Chandigarh ...........—....38.6....27.4 New Delhi ...................—....39.6....25.0

Chennai ................ 1....39.2....28.2 Patna ..........................—....35.0....25.8

Coimbatore ...........—....34.7....23.9 Port Blair................... 19....32.4....24.8

Dehradun ........... 0.6....34.6....24.0 Puducherry ..................—....38.7....25.7

Gangtok............. 0.3....22.0....17.3 Pune............................—....34.6....24.1

Goa.......................—....32.6....25.8 Raipur .........................—....42.5....29.0

Guwahati ............ 11....26.5....25.7 Ranchi ...................... 0.4....33.6....24.9

Hubballi ................—....30.0....22.0 Shillong..................... 16....19.1....17.3

Hyderabad ............—....38.4....27.0 Shimla.........................—....29.3....19.6

Imphal ..................—....31.3....20.6 Srinagar.................... 1.3....24.2....15.4

Jaipur ...................—....40.2....29.0 Thiruvananthapuram...... 0.4....32.7....25.2

Kochi .................... 2....31.4....25.0 Tiruchi.........................—....40.3....27.6

Kohima .................—....24.8....16.4 Vijayawada ..................—....38.8....29.6

Kolkata ............... 36....27.8....24.0 Visakhapatnam .......... 0.4....36.0....29.6

(Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius)

Pollutants in the air you are breathing Yesterday

CITIES SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE

In observation made at 4.00p.m., Ghaziabad, UttarPradesh recorded an overallair quality index (AQI) scoreof 192 indicating a moderatelevel of pollution. Incontrast, Gadag, Karnatakarecorded a healthy AQI scoreof 10

Ahmedabad..... 25 .38 24 ....59 ...79 ....*

Bengaluru ....... ..5 .37 73 ....27 ...32 ....*

Chennai .......... 78 ...6 34 ....26 ...31 ....*

Delhi .............. ..2 .19 16 ....61 .228 ....*

Hyderabad ...... ..3 .74 18 ....38 ...55 ....*

Kolkata........... 10 .19 28 ....47 ...60 ....*

Lucknow ......... 11 .69 91 ....96 .127 ....*

Mumbai .......... 41 .10 31 ....42 ...77 ....*

Pune............... ..— .32 64 ....55 ...48 ....*

Visakhapatnam 16 .41 27 ....62 .101 ....*

Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI)

SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system,

making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air

particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues

and monuments.

NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by

reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters.

CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to

critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause

dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death.

PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes,

nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced

lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature

death in people with heart or lung disease

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has attempted to enlistthe support of his counterparts in 11 States to jointlypersuade the Centre to procure and supply COVID19vaccines free of cost.

Mr. Vijayan has tweeted:“Wrote to 11 CMs in the spiritof cooperative federalism.Quite unfortunate the Centreabsolves itself of its duty toprocure vaccines, ensurefree universal vaccination.United eff��ort to jointly pursue our genuine demand isthe need of the hour so thatthe Centre acts immediately.”

In his letter dated May 29,Mr. Vijayan said the Uniongovernment had taken a

stance that States should resort to their own measures toprocure the COVID19 vaccine. It was the duty of theCentre to provide adequatedoses to the States. Foreignpharmaceutical companieswere unwilling to enter intoan agreement with the Statesfor supplying vaccines. Theysought to exploit the scarcesupply situation for fi��nancialgain.

Ramp up productionIndia’s public sector pharmaceutical companiesshould take up vaccine production to address the mismatch between demand andsupply. The Central government should ensure that intellectual property rightsand patent laws did not im

pede vaccine production, hesaid.

Mr. Vijayan said the Central government’s bid toplace the entire onus of procuring vaccines on States defi��ed the very basis of cooperative federalism. “The needof the hour is a united eff��ortfrom our side to put forth thegenuine demand that theCentre procure vaccineneeded by the States and distribute them free of cost.This will be more costeff��ec

tive as well.”Universal vaccination was

the surefi��re method to buildherd immunity. Mr Vijayansaid he had written to thePrime Minister earlier spelling out the merits of theCentre taking the lead in assessing the vaccine requirements of the States. TheCentre could then fl��oat a global tender for dosages as perthe States’ need, he said.

(He said he had enclosed acopy of his letter to the

Prime Minister in his communication to his equivalents in other States.)

Mr. Vijayan said vaccination should be free to ensurethat none shall be denied theprotection ‘due to lack of fi��nancial wherewithal.’ Theunprecedented ‘impact ofthe second surge’ hadcaused alarm. Experts havewarned of a third surge — thecountry required to preparefor such an eventuality, hesaid.

Push for free jabs, Pinarayi tells 11 CMs Kerala Chief Minister calls for unitedeff��ort so that Centre acts immediately


Thiruvananthapuram

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Mondaydeclined a plea for a directive to the Lakshadweep Administrator to give a further30 days for the people of theislands to submit their objections, comments, and suggestions on the draft Lakshadweep Town and CountryPlanning Regulation 2021.

However, the Bench comprising Justice A. Muhammed Mustaque and Justice Kauser Edappagath,asked petitioner Mohammed Sadique from Kavaratti to forward his suggestions and comments in twoweeks to the administratorwho should forward them tothe Union Home Ministry. Itwas for the Union Ministryto consider whether his sug

gestions and objectionsshould be accepted or not.

Disposing of the public interest petition, the Benchobserved that nothingwould prevent the Ministryfrom entertaining the petitioner’s suggestions and objections. It might not be

proper for the court to directthe Central government toaccept them. However, inany system of governance,the government would consider such suggestions thatmight ultimately enable it toform their decisions, thecourt said.

HC declines plea for more timefor Lakshadweep objectionsSpecial Correspondent

Kochi

LakshadweepAdministrator Praful KhodaPatel has forwarded thecontentious draft laws forapproval of the Ministry ofHome of Aff��airs to beimplemented in the UnionTerritory.

Exuding confi��dence thathe had secured the

mandate from the Centre togo ahead with developmentprojects, Mr. Patel said thatproposals would beimplemented after thePresident gave his assent tomake regulations of peace,progress and goodgovernment of the Unionterritory of Lakshadweepunder Article 240 of theConstitution.

Draft laws sent to MHASpecial Correspondent

Kozhikode

The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday permitted the usage of herbalpreparation being given toCOVID19 patients by B.Anandaiah, an Ayurvedicpractitioner of Krishnapatnam in Nellore district, bytaking into account the fi��ndings of the Central Councilfor Research in AyurvedicSciences, but kept on holdits decision on the eye dropsclaimed to be life saving forthose with dangerously lowlevels of oxygen.

While giving the greensignal to the herbal preparation, the Andhra Pradeshgovernment warned thatCOVID19 patients shouldnot stop taking the drugsprescribed by doctors in the

normal course. According to an offi��cial

release, the governmentwas yet to receive a conclusive proof of the effi��cacy ofthe eye drops, while it hadbeen established that theconcoction of ingredientssuch as honey, pepper,green camphor, nutmeg,black cumin, cinnamon andmedicinal herbs was notharmful, but may not beable to cure the coronavirusinfection.

Further, the governmentsaid people could use the“Anandaiah medicine” byvolition.

Commissioner of AYUSHV. Ramulu told mediapersons that the herbal concoction being distributed by Mr.Anandaiah was not an Ayurvedic medicine.

A.P. clears use of herbalmix by COVID patientsIt’s not Ayurvedic medicine: AYUSH

Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA

Karnataka to get shotsfrom manufacturersBENGALURU

Karnataka government has

decided to purchase vaccines

directly from manufacturers as

the two companies that had

submitted bids in response to

tenders for supply of vaccines

have not submitted the

required documents.

Congress isolatedSatheesan: K.K. ShailajaTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Former Health Minister K. K.

Shailaja on Monday said the

Congress party had alienated

Opposition Leader V. D.

Satheesan for openly

declaring that he would not

bow to pressure from caste-

based social organisations.

Ms. Shailaja was piloting the

motion of thanks to the

Governor’s policy address. By

some accounts, she was the

first woman legislator to

undertake the task.

IN BRIEF

New medical collegeswill save lives, says JaganGUNTUR

In tune with the National

Health Policy, the Andhra

Pradesh government had

decided to set up 16 new

colleges in rural areas, which

will provide tertiary medical

facilities. Chief Minister Y.S.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said the

colleges will save lives in rural

areas.

Priest, 24 others bookedfor lockdown violationsKOCHI

The Nedumbasserry police

booked 25 persons, including

a parish vicar, under the

Kerala Epidemic Disease

Ordinance on the charge of

congregating at a church in

violation of the lockdown

norms on Monday. The

congregation was held in

connection with the first

Communion of a parish

member at St. Joseph Church.

The priest also held a Mass

attended by many people.

‘Akhanda parayanam’organised at TirumalaTIRUMALA

The Tirumala Tirupati

Devasthanams (TTD) on

Monday organised a 16-hour-

long ‘Akhanda Sundarakanda

Parayanam’ at its Dharmagiri

Veda Vignana Peetam. Forty

scholars divided into four

groups performed the unique

task by reciting 2,821 slokas.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD



NORTH & WEST

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray on Monday warned over the increasing crowd on Mumbai roadssaying failing to control thiswould result in stricter restrictions in the city.

Speaking at the inauguration of multiple infrastructure works, Mr. Thackeraysaid, “I was really concernedwhen I saw crowd on thestreets of Mumbai today. Wehave not yet lifted lockdownrestrictions in Mumbai andMaharashtra as corona scareis not over yet.”

The Chief Minister addedthat the lockdown restrictions had already sloweddown various developmental works in the city and inthe State. “If crowding continues, then ongoing works

too will have to be stopped.If crowd continues on roadsof Mumbai then we will haveto impose stricter restrictions in the city,” he said.

Mr. Thackeray was presiding over the programmes including inauguration of theMetro line testing between

Dahanukarwadi and AareyMetro station and stonelaying ceremony of underground and elevated road onthe Western Express Highway (T1 and T2) and booklaunch of ‘Multiplicities’ andeinauguration of onesidearm of Rajnoli fl��yover to

wards Thane and Durgadifl��yover, organised by theMumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

Meanwhile, the inauguration of the Metro testing linewas mired in controversy after Leader of Opposition inthe Council Pravin Darekarclaimed that he was condemning the State government for not inviting formerChief Minister and Leader ofOpposition in the Assembly,Devendra Fadnavis, for theprogramme.

In a bid to claim credit, Mr.Fadnavis tweeted, “Very happy about the trial run of Metro line 2A &7. From sanctioning to fi��nance to speedy workduring our tenure made thispossible. Now, we hope tosee the regular metro running soon on these routes.#MumbaiMetroTrials.”

Failure to control crowd on roadswill lead to stricter curbs: UddhavCM says lockdown restrictions have already slowed down developmental works

Staff Reporter

Mumbai

Better connectivity: The trial run on the Metro Lines 2A and 7,ahead of its inauguration by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackerayat Kandivali in Mumbai on Monday. * EMMANUAL YOGINI

In its lowest singleday spikein nearly 80 days, Maharashtra reported 15,077 new COVID19 cases on Monday asopposed to 33,000 recoveries. The State’s active casetally dropped further toreach 2,53,367.

This is the State’s lowestsingleday surge since March11, when a little over 14,000cases had been recorded.However, it must be viewedin the context of far lowersamples being tested thanusual — lesser than two lakhas compared with the average daily fi��gure of 2.70 lakh.

A total of 500 deaths wereadded to the State’s progressive death toll, of which 184occurred in the last week. Of

the 184, as many as 133 wererecorded in the last 48 hourswhile 316 had been added inthe ongoing ‘reconciliation’process, as per the StateHealth Department.

The total death toll hasnow climbed to 95,344 withthe State’s case fatality raterising to 1.66%.

The State’s total caseshave touched 57,46,892while its cumulative recoveries have gone up to53,95,370 with the recoveryrate rising to 93.55%.

“Of a total 3,50,55,054laboratory samples testedthus far, 57,46,892 (with theaverage case positivity falling incrementally to 16.39%)have returned positive withover 1.94 lakh samples beingtested in the last 24 hours,”

State Surveillance Offi��cer Dr.Pradeep Awate said.

Pune reported a comparatively low spike of 1,083 newcases of which Pune city recorded just 180 new ones. Asper the State Health Department fi��gures, nine deathswere reported as the fatalitytoll rose to 12,507.

Mumbai recorded 666new cases to take its totalcase tally to 7,05,288 whilethe active count has declinedfurther to 24,850. As manyas 29 fatalities took the city’stoll to 14,826.

In western Maharashtra,Kolhapur topped the casesurge in the ‘sugar belt’ districts, registering more than1,800 new ones as its totaltally reached 1,14,163 ofwhom 18,557 are active.

With 15,077 cases, State records lowest daily surge in 80 days


Pune

Maharashtra’s active cases fall to 2.53 lakh

The Allahabad High Courthas granted bail to a manbooked under the new unlawful conversion law in Uttar Pradesh noting that thevictim, an adult, had gonewith him to a hotel room,where he allegedly rapedher, “on her own sweetwill”.

The court noted that thegirl and the accused “were ina relationship since long andshe used to spend time withthe applicant and used to travel with him and went to aroom of a hotel on her ownsweetwill”.

Last December, Sonu Rajpoot alias Zubair had beenbooked for rape, cheatingand criminal intimidationand also slapped with withSections 3/5 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful

Religion Conversion Act bythe Nauchandi police in Meerut district.

The lawyer of the accusedciting the FIR argued that thegirl had on her free will travelled with the man as theywere in a relationship andthe two used to spend timetogether.

The woman had allegedthat the man establishedphysical relationship withher “against her wishes”,which amounts to rape. Shealso alleged that she did notknow his religious identitytill she saw his real name inthe register of the hotel.

The man’s lawyer arguedthat there was some disputebetween the two relating totheir community and as suchtheir relationship could notmaterialise.

The accused side also ar

gued that while the allegedrape was reported to havehappened on November 28,2020, the woman lodged theFIR on December 29. A medical examination of the woman done on January 4,2020, showed no signs of useof force, they further argued.

The victim is a major andworking and as such was very well aware of worldly affairs, the counsel for the accused argued.

While granting bail to theman, Justice Samit Gopal onMay 27 noted, “Looking tothe facts and circumstancesof this case, the nature of evidence and also the absenceof any convincing material toindicate the possibility oftampering with the evidence, this court is of theview that the applicant maybe enlarged on bail.”

Victim, an adult, had gone to hotel room ‘on her own’: HC

Omar Rashid

LUCKNOW

Man accused of rape, unlawfulconversion gets bail in U.P.

The Rajasthan governmenton Monday modifi��ed the COVID19 lockdown to partiallyallow commercial activitiesfollowing a decline in thecases. The restrictions willbe eased at the places wherepositivity rate is less than10% and the use of medicaloxygen, ICU and ventilatorshas been reduced to lessthan 60%.

The new guidelines,which will be applicablefrom June 2, have divided alldistricts and village panchayats in the State intothree categories for gradually lifting the restrictions.Principal Home SecretaryAbhay Kumar said the activi

ties would be allowed basedon the people’s adherenceto the COVID appropriatebehaviour.

While the earlier restrictions on the opening ofshops, parks, malls, educational institutions, religiousplaces and wedding functions will continue, the intradistrict traffi��c will be allowed on the roads between5 a.m. and 12 noon. This permission will be extended tothe traffi��c between cities, villages and districts from June8.

Public transport, including the State roadways andprivate buses, will be allowed from June 10, forwhich separate orders willbe issued.

Rajasthan eases lockdownto allow commercial works Mohammed Iqbal

JAIPUR

The Delhi police on Mondaytook Olympic medallistSushil Kumar and his accomplice Ajay Sehrawat to Haridwar to recover mobilephones and other articles,however, they returnedemptyhanded, said a seniorpolice offi��cer.

The offi��cer said that afterMr. Kumar got to know thatSagar had succumbed to hisinjuries, he left the city. Hereached a yoga ashram andafter spending a day there,he left for Rishikesh. Whenthe Uttarakhand police in

tensifi��ed their search, he escaped to Punjab.

While evading arrest, Mr.Kumar never stayed in hotels. He always spent nightsat homes of his known contacts in the sports fi��eld, saidthe offi��cer. “He was taken to

locations where he stayedand where his mobile phonewas last traced. However, hedidn’t cooperate in recoveryof his mobile phone andclothes he was wearing during the brawl for DNA sampling,” said the offi��cer.

“We will also charge Sushil and other accomplices fordestruction of evidences because the DVR of CCTVs ofChhatrasal Stadium andSushil’s house was alsofound missing,” said theoffi��cer.

In the police custody, Mr.Kumar is following his wrestler’s routine.

Police take Sushil Kumar toHaridwar to recover phones‘He didn’t cooperate in recovery of his clothes for DNA sampling’

STAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI

Sushil Kumar. * FILE PHOTO

Six more bodies of suspected COVID19 victims werefound fl��oating in the Gangain Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh, an offi��cial saidon Monday.

SDM Fatehpur PramodJha said he was informedabout the bodies fl��oating inthe river on Sunday morning, following which asearch operation waslaunched.

The bodies were fl��oatingin the river on the banks towards Rae Bareli. “Six bodies were pulled out. Theywere pretty old,” he toldreporters.

Since the bodies couldnot be identifi��ed, their fi��nalrites were conducted by ateam of doctors at Bhitoraghat with full honours asper the Covid guidelines,he said.

(With PTI inputs)

6 more bodiesfound fl��oatingin the Ganga

Special correspondent

LUCKNOW

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


EDITORIAL

Denting federalismThe Prime Minister’s Offi��cerecalling the ChiefSecretary of West Bengalraises certain basicquestions aboutconstitutional governance.Under the federal structure,the Centre should, as far aspossible, help in theeff��ective functioning of thevarious States. Contrarilythe Centre’s action, makingit impossible for the ChiefMinister of West Bengal andthe Chief Secretary (he hassince joined the CM’s team)to eff��ectively tackleimportant issues such asCOVID19 and reliefmeasures after cyclone

Yaas, defi��es any respect fordemocracy. The Centre isnegating the electoralmandate of the people ofWest Bengal by creating allsorts of problems for theirelected government. This isa disguised form of usingArticle 356 of theConstitution. This was not the impressionthat Prime MinisterNarendra Modi gave whenhe came to address amemorial lecture before anaugust gathering — he wasthe Chief Minister ofGujarat — at the MadrasUniversity CentenaryAuditorium in October2013. Mr. Modi made many

promises linked to his beingelected to the main seat ofpower. One such promisethat one vividly remembersis that not everythingwould happen in Delhi. Hesaid that important nationaland international meetingswould be held in otherStates so that they wouldequally grow and in turnwould contribute tostrengthening federalism.Unfortunately, the converseis happening.N.G.R. Prasad,

Chennai

Course correctionThe current form ofexploitative capitalism

needs reorientation ratherthan upgradation to bringrelief to the people. It isfutile to expectgovernments to rein incapitalists as politicalpower is wielded bycapitalism through proxies

intellectual property rightscan bring about coursecorrection in this digitalage. Manohar Alembath,

Roanoke, Texas, U.S.

using money power. It iscounter movements such astrade unions which were acheck during the IndustrialAge. Only a wellinformedpopular movement,conscious of new tools ofexploitation such as

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

Rishab Bailey &

Vrinda Bhandari

Rule 4(2) of the InformationTechnology (IntermediaryGuidelines and Digital Media

Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (https://bit.ly/3c6uTyK) imposes an obligation on signifi��cant social media intermediaries providing a messaging function, to ensure traceabilityof the originator of information ontheir platforms. A failure to implement this obligation can lead to intermediaries being held responsible for illicit content on theirplatforms. These rules have recently come into eff��ect. Consequently, WhatsApp has fi��led a petition in the Delhi High Court(https://bit.ly/3fyRPIU) allegingthat the mandate for traceabilityviolates the privacy rights of Indian citizens, by rendering WhatsApp unable to provide encryptedservices.

In response, the Governmenthas, through a press release(https://bit.ly/3cop6ov), sought toquestion the substance and timingof WhatsApp’s petition. On scrutiny, however, it appears that theresponse is misconceived.

The Government primarily relies on the argument that: privacyis not an absolute right, and thatthe traceability obligation is proportionate, and suffi��ciently restricted. Notably, the new Rulesmandate traceability only in thecase of signifi��cant social media intermediaries that provide messaging services (i.e. those that meet a

user threshold of 50 lakh users,which WhatsApp does), subject toan order being passed by a courtor government agency and only inthe absence of any alternatives.

While it is indeed true that privacy is not an absolute right, theSupreme Court of India in the twoK.S. Puttaswamy decisions (of2017 and 2018) has clarifi��ed thatany restriction on this right mustbe necessary, proportionate andinclude safeguards against abuse.

On traceability as a featureHowever, as we argue in a recentpaper (https://bit.ly/3uwtmIJ), ageneral obligation to enable traceability as a systemic feature acrosscertain types of digital services isneither suitable nor proportionate. Additionally, the Rules lack effective safeguards in that they failto provide any system of independent oversight over tracing requests made by the executive. Thisallows government agencies theability to seek any messaging user’s identity, virtually at will. However, anonymity from the government can be important,particularly in contexts of journalistic source protection and forwhistleblowers. Therefore, deciding whether to remove anonymityrequires application of an independent judicial mind.

In applying the Puttaswamytests to the Rules, one must examine not just whether the weakening of encryption systems will leadto some law enforcement gains,but whether these are worth thecosts involved. Thus, one mustconsider the impacts of such ameasure on the general digitalecosystem in terms of the overallcybersecurity and privacy problems such an obligation couldcreate. There is near universal

consensus that mandating the presence of backdoors or weakeningencryption generally — which atraceability mandate would do —would compromise the privacyand security of all individuals at alltimes, despite no illegal activity ontheir part, and would create a presumption of criminality.

Other means existIn any event, the Government already has numerous alternativemeans of securing relevant information to investigate online offences including by accessing unencrypted data such as metadata,and other digital trails from intermediaries. Therefore, the presentRules attempt to shorten the investigative process, even though, aswe argue in our paper, law enforcement is not supposed to be anentirely frictionless process. Frictionless processes lacking suffi��cient checks will merely incentivise fi��shing expeditions bygovernment agencies.

Further, the surveillance powers of the Government are in anycase vast and overreaching, recognised even by the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee report of 2018(https://bit.ly/3iiB6M3). Importantly, the Government alreadyhas the ability to access encrypteddata under the IT Act. Notably,Section 69(3) of the InformationTechnology Act and Rules 17 and13 of the Information Technology

(Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules,2009 (https://bit.ly/3c83QTB) require intermediaries to assist withdecryption where they have thetechnical ability to do so, andwhere law enforcement has no alternatives. The newly notifi��edRules go well beyond current provisions in the law by seeking topunish relevant intermediaries forfailing to adequately weaken encryption systems.

The Government’s press releaseappears to be well aware that thisis in eff��ect what would happen ifthe traceability mandate were tobe imposed. However, it notes thatit is the responsibility of intermediaries to fi��nd an alternative method to protect user privacy, with orwithout the use of encryption.

Scrutiny is a mustThe press release also claims thatthe new Rules were introducedpursuant to consultation. However, this does not reveal the entirestory. The traceability related provision in the draft version of theRules released in 2018 faced significant opposition from numerousstakeholders, ranging from serviceproviders, academia, and civil society organisations. The newtraceability provisions are substantially similar, and carrying outa consultation merely to reject allthe views that go against state interests is far from best practice.Ideally, and given the substantivechanges made to the 2018 draft (including the addition of several entirely new parts such as those pertaining to regulation of digitalnews), the new Rules should alsohave been put through a period ofconsultation before being notifi��ed.. Ideally, the rules should also be

accompanied by an explanatorymemorandum explaining the rationale for regulation.

Of course, this entire discussionis notwithstanding the fact thatthe intermediary rules are not themanner or place to go about putting in place new substantive regulation to solve the myriad problems caused by the digitalecosystem. Indeed, the ability ofthe government to issue progressively more onerous obligationsunder the guise of “due diligence”requirements under Section 79 ofthe IT Act (which in essence, dealswith the issue of takedown of illegal content) must be subject to judicial scrutiny.

Overall, however, it is clear thatthe move by the Government ispart of a broader power playagainst foreignbased technologycompanies, and to generally bringthe digital ecosystem to heel.While, undoubtedly, there arenumerous problems in the digitalecosystem that are often exacerbated or indeed created by theway intermediaries function, illconsidered regulation of the sortrepresented by the new intermediary rules — which appear to havelittle basis in evidence or care forconsequences –— is not the wayforward. Indeed, the only truly democratic and relatively longtermsolution would be for legislativechange along multiple avenues, including in the form of revising andreforming the now antiquated ITAct, 2000.

Rishab Bailey is a technology policy

researcher at the National Institute of

Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi.

Vrinda Bhandari, a lawyer practising in

Delhi, was involved in challenging the

Intermediary Guideline Rules 2021 before

the Kerala High Court

Power play to bring the digital ecosystem to heel While there are problems in the system, ill-considered regulation such as the new IT Rules is not the way forward

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Ayear and counting into the

greatest health crisis theworld has faced in over a

century we can identify one overwhelming factor that separates thecountries that have done relativelywell from those that have beencomplete disasters: elected autocrats. By any measure the mostdismal performers in the democratic world have been the UnitedStates, Brazil and India. Despite itsvast wealth and resources and itslow population density, the U.S.has one of the highest per capitadeath tolls in the world. Brazil hastaken denialism to new levels andthe novel coronavirus pandemichas been allowed to range so fi��ercely that the country has become apetri dish for new mutations. India’s fi��rst wave numbers were relatively mild (even accounting forunderreporting) but the currentwave is probably the worst anddeadliest the world has seen.

The reactionsIn all three cases it did not have tobe this bad. Former U.S. PresidentDonald Trump took the pandemicas a personal aff��ront, initially refused to come to terms with thethreat and wilfully downplayedthe gravity of the pandemic. WhenWashington fi��nally decided to takeaction, the response was crippledby policy incoherence, partisan attacks on Democratic Governorsand open hostility to the scientifi��ccommunity.

Mr. Trump even provided a defi��nition of his autocratic writ declaring in April 2020 that “when so

mebody’s the President of theUnited States, the authority is total, and that’s the way it has got tobe.”

Brazil’s rightwing populist President, Jair Bolsonaro, who cameto offi��ce on a platform of beingtough on crime and the politicallycorrect, has been called the tropical Trump. He dismissed the pandemic as a “little cold”, boastedthat real men had nothing to worry about, attacked public healthoffi��cials as promoting a hoax andfi��red health ministers who defi��edhim. Measures to combat the pandemic that have been taken in Brazil have come from governors andmayors and have been met withfi��erce opposition and public mockery from Mr. Bolsonaro.

Narendra Modi was never anoutright COVID denier, and his government did take decisive measures, imposing a nationwidelockdown in March 2020. But having failed to consult with expertsor any of the Chief Ministers thatgovern India’s federal States, thewelfare consequences of the lockdown were severe as tens of millions of urban migrants wereforced into a mass exodus back totheir villages. The pandemic subsided for some time, but even asexperts warned of a second wavedriven by new variants, the government celebrated its nationaltriumph over the virus, dragged itsfeet on vaccinations and forgedahead with largescale electioncampaign events and religious festivals even as the second wavesurged. But of all the policy failures that have led to calls for thegovernment to resign, none ismore egregious or more revealingof Mr. Modi’s indiff��erence than theGovernment’s decision to staywithin its Budget allocations andcharge States for vaccines. At thecurrent rate, it will take theworld’s largest producer of vac

cines more than a year to vaccinate its population.

As elected autocrats, Mr.Trump, Mr. Bolsonaro and Mr. Modi have three things in common.

First, they came to power asclassic rightwing populists whobranded themselves as incarnations of the people and peddledtheir personal virtues of strengthand fortitude as substitutes for deliberation and policy making. Rulers powered by messianic faithhave little patience for experts andscience. All three have surroundedthemselves with yesmen andruled from the gut, peddling triumphalism (all three prematurelydeclared the pandemic vanquished), quack remedies (injecting disinfectants, the waters of theGanga) and sheer macho bombast,as when Mr. Trump and Mr. Bolsonaro took a lap for surviving infection even as they received the bestcare in the world.

The line of nationalismSecond, autocrats feed on polarisation. All three have championeda virtuous nationalism — rooted alternatively in evangelism in Braziland the U.S., or Hindutva in India— animated and weaponised bythe demonisation of the other.Ethnicised nationalism works bydemoting the “other” — Muslims,Blacks, immigrants, gays, secularists and all those who subscribeto ideals of civic nationalism — to

the status of the undeserving andthe morally defi��cient. Membershipin the community of the nation isessentialised. Mr. Trump demonised immigrants, channelledwhite supremacy and stoked fearsof Blacks invading suburbs. Mr.Bolsonaro routinely smears his opponents as banditos or communists and has a long track record ofmaking homophobic and misogynistic remarks. Mr. Modi has a longrecord of debasing India’s 200 million Muslims, and when reelectedin 2019, doubled down on his party’s platform of making India aHindutva project, fi��rst by turningKashmir (India’s only Muslim majority State) into a militarised colony of the central government andthen pursuing laws that are perceived by Muslims as accordingthem second class citizenship status. In diverse societies, ethnonationalism can only fuel social polarisation, and a polarised societyis a society that cannot mobilisethe trust and solidarity that responding to a pandemic calls for.

The pandemic itself was shamelessly used to infl��ame identities,with Mr. Trump denouncing the‘Kung Flu’, Mr. Modi’s minionsraising the spectre of ‘corona jihad’, and Mr. Bolsonaro hurlinghomophobic slurs at mask wearers. More than anything else, thisexplains why the most commonsensical public health measures —wearing masks, restricting socialinteraction, testing and gettingvaccinated — all became so politicised in the U.S., India and Brazil.

Third, once in power, the autocrats quickly personalised, centralised and insulated their power.All three have attacked the Constitution (literally in Mr. Trump’scase), demanded fealty from independent institutions, overriddenthe authority of expert institutions, tampered with data, assaulted the independence of the me

dia, and elevated loyalty to theleader as the highest principle ofservice. This autocratisation explains the dismal failures of governance. The core tasks of a government in times of a pandemic —coordination across levels of government, clear and consistentcommunication of basic policiesand health measures, support forfrontline workers and maybe,most importantly, rallying all citizens to stand together — have allbeen subverted by the autocrats’will to power.

A pushbackIn the U.S., India and Brazil, thistoxic combination of messianicpopulism, social polarisation, insularity and centralisation hasmade the pandemic that muchworse and poisoned the waters ofdemocracy. But democracies arenot just about their leaders.Throughout the crisis, healthcareworkers and civil society organisations have stepped up where theirleaders have failed, and democratic institutions have pushed back.Mr. Trump has been exposed bythe media and shown the exit bythe voters. The Brazilian Senatehas launched a very public investigation into Mr. Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic and his pollnumbers have plummeted. Mr.Modi has just been repudiated inStatelevel elections and the Indian Supreme Court has called outthe incoherence of the government’s vaccine policy. But to takecomfort in the hope that democracies will demand accountability,we must fi��rst remember, as thepandemic continues to ravage India and Brazil, that it is not onlythe virus, but also the hubris of autocrats, that kills.

Patrick Heller is Professor of Sociology

and International Aff��airs, Brown

University, U.S.

Elected autocrats, their pandemic responses In the U.S., India and Brazil, messianic populism, polarisation and insularity have made the pandemic that much worse

Patrick Heller

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At 23, Naomi Osaka has the tennis world at her

feet. With four Grand Slam titles and now ranked

second in the world, Osaka has tremendous

brand equity. She also speaks her mind beyond sport,

be it on racism or on her mixed lineage of being born to

a Haitian father and Japanese mother while growing up

in the United States. It looked as though the baton of

success had passed from the great Serena Williams to

Osaka. Yet, the Japanese star’s fresh halo suff��ered a

dent with her media boycott in the current French

Open at Paris. Shooting the messenger is a petulant at

tribute that crops up in politics, sport and the arts. Of

ten these are impulsive reactions to a bad day at work.

The odd tennis press conference was skipped in the

past with Serena and Novak Djokovic being guilty of

such violations. But what makes it worse for Osaka is

her premeditated stance revealed through her message

before the French Open: ‘I am not going to do any press

during Roland Garros.’ She also juxtaposed her cold

shoulder of the media with mentalhealth issues, hint

ing that journalists tend to exacerbate the fragile minds

of athletes, especially those who lost a match. In one

fell swoop, Osaka ignored nuance, dished out a lame ex

cuse and trivialised the serious issue of mental health.

In a universe where athletes prefer socialmedia

posts over media interactions, the offi��cial pressconfe

rence is the last remaining avenue for probing ques

tions that elicit insightful answers. Playerjournalist in

teractions are the only substitute for sourcebased

inferences that colour the narrative. Closer home, M.S.

Dhoni revealed his international retirement through In

stagram and lapsed into silence. Sports bodies have

sensed this diffi��dence and in the cricket World Cup or a

Grand Slam event, the postmatch pressconference is a

contractual obligation. In this era of clickbait hea

dlines, it is not that all Fourth Estate members are per

ceptive. There have been instances of the odd insensi

tive question but the athlete can always off��er a counter

or stick to a ‘nocomments’ response. Osaka deciding to

constantly pay a fi��ne for not honouring her media com

mitments at the French Open has set a terrible prece

dent and it is fi��tting that the consortium of Grand Slams

have hinted at harsher measures including ejecting her

from the tournament. Besides excellence on the turf,

commerce off�� the fi��eld equally drives sport. Corporate

sponsors, who get some play through advertorial mate

rial as background screen in pressconferences, are ob

viously aggrieved. Legends such as Rafael Nadal have al

so spoken about how sport evolves through the

symbiosis between athletes and the media. It is a pity

that Osaka has suddenly turned blind to this reality.

No commentsSome questions at post-match conferences are

insensitive, but a player boycott is no solution

Barely a day before the Information Technology

(Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Eth

ics Code) Rules 2021 came into force, WhatsApp

moved the Delhi High Court against the rules — specifi��

cally the one that mandates that a “signifi��cant social

media intermediary providing services primarily in the

nature of messaging shall enable the identifi��cation of

the fi��rst originator of the information on its computer

resource as may be required by a judicial order”. Given

the specifi��cation that a “signifi��cant social media inter

mediary” is one with more than 50 lakh registered us

ers, WhatsApp’s messenger service would clearly be af

fected. WhatsApp’s contention is that for compliance

and traceability, it would have to break its endtoend

encryption service that allows messages to be read only

by the sender and the receiver. Its argument is that the

encryption feature allows for privacy protections and

breaking it would mean a violation of privacy. The ques

tion to be asked is whether the traceability guidelines

(by breaking encryption) are vital to law enforcement in

cases of harmful content. A release by the Ministry of

Electronics and IT has said that the traceability mea

sure will be used by law enforcement as the “last re

sort” and will come by only in specifi��c situations, such

as “for the purposes of prevention, detection, investiga

tion, prosecution or punishment of an off��ence related

to the sovereignty and integrity of India... or child sex

ual abuse material, punishable with imprisonment....”

The assertion suggests that this requirement is in line

with the Puttaswamy judgment that clarifi��ed that any

restriction to the right of privacy must be necessary,

proportionate and include safeguards against abuse.

But the Government, as the law stands now, can al

ready seek access to encrypted data under Section 69

(3) of the IT Act, and Rules 17 and 13 of the 2009 Surveil

lance Rules that require intermediaries to assist with

decryption when they have the technical ability to do

so and when law enforcement has no other alternative.

Besides, it can still seek unencrypted data, metadata

and digital trails from intermediaries such as What

sApp. The trouble with enforcing traceability is that

without safeguards such as having any independent or

judicial oversight, government agencies could seek any

user’s identity on vague grounds and this could com

promise the anonymity of whistleblowers and journal

istic sources, who can claim to be acting in the public

interest. WhatsApp’s contention that “requiring mes

saging apps to ‘trace’ chats is the equivalent of asking us

to keep a fi��ngerprint of every single message sent... and

fundamentally undermines right to privacy” is, there

fore, not hyperbole. If anything, the Government needs

to revisit its position on traceability commitments of in

termediaries and instead revise the IT Act, 2000 in line

with existing global best practices besides legislating

the longpending Data Protection Bill.

Ending encryptionEnforcing traceability on popular messaging

apps will encroach into user privacy

corrections & clarifications:

In the story titled “When Nehru wanted globetrotter diplomats in print” (May 30, 2021), the nameof the person appointed to the post of Offi��cer on Special Duty (OSD) for promotion of Hindi in theworks of the ministry should have been given as Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and not Haribans RaiBachchan, as published. In the last paragraph of the same story, there was reference to Bahasa Indonesia. It should be Bahasa Indonesian.

A Profi��les page article titled “The chief investigator” (May 30, 2021) erroneously called Subodh Kumar Jaiswal as the second offi��cer from the Maharashtra cadre to head the CBI. He is actually the thirdIPS offi��cer from Maharashtra. John Lobo was the fi��rst. Mohan Ganesh Katre was the second.

It is the policy of The Hindu to correct signifi��cant errors as soon as possible. Please specify the edition (place of publication), date and

page. The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday); Fax:

+91-44-28552963; Email:[email protected]; Mail: Readers’ Editor, The Hindu, Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860 Anna Salai,

Chennai 600 002, India.

All communication must carry the full postal address and telephone number. No personal visits. The Terms of Reference for the Readers’

Editor are on www.thehindu.com

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


OPED

If India is not still to continue as a land of lostopportunities she may well command theworld’s papersupply in future. For, it wouldappear, according to expert opinion, thatthe failure of wood to supply the requirements of the paper industry has placed Indiaand Burma in a unique position of advantageas the sole suppliers of the proper substitutes in the raw materials required. The paperindustry by its very nature as “a pickerupof unconsidered trifl��es” is, as its historyshows, subjected to periodically recurringconditions of acuteness. During the past 100years, rag, textile wastes, straw and espartohave, each in its turn, failed to meet the everincreasing demands of the industry and thepresent crisis, we learn is among other causes, of economic and industrial dislocationresulting from the war, mainly due to thedearth of wood for providing pulp. A paperwas recently read in London before the Indian section of the Royal Society of Arts byMr. Willian Riatt, F.C.S., the Celluloid Expertto the Government of India, attached to theForest Research Institute, Dehra Dun.

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO JUNE 1, 1921

Indian paper industry(From an Editorial)

The horror of the gang rape of a 19yearold Dalit woman in Hathras in2020 is still fresh in our minds. Activists, academics and lawyers arguedthat the sexual violence took placeon account of the woman’s genderand caste and that the ScheduledCastes and the Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989(PoA Act) must be invoked.

On the heels of the Hathras crimecame a new judgment of the Supreme Court (Patan Jamal Vali v.State of Andhra Pradesh) addressingthe intersectionality of caste, genderand disability. In this case, the victimof sexual assault was a blind 22yearold Dalit woman. The trial court andthe High Court had convicted the accused for rape under Section 376 ofthe Indian Penal Code (IPC), and under Section 3(2)(v) of the PoA Act,and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court, in itsjudgment delivered by Justice D.Y.Chandrachud and Justice M.R. Shah,confi��rmed the conviction and thepunishment for rape under the IPCbut set aside the conviction underthe PoA Act. On the one hand, thisjudgment is a huge step forward asthe court used the opportunity tobring recognition to intersectionaldiscrimination faced by women onthe grounds of sex, caste and disability. However, by setting aside theconviction under the PoA Act, it islike many other previous judgmentsof the Supreme Court.

The intersectional approachLet us focus on the positive aspectsfi��rst. The Supreme Court, in a fi��rst,elaborated on the need for an intersectional approach, to take into account the multiple marginalities thatthe victim faced. It relied on wellknown intersectional theorists suchas Kimberlé Crenshaw who fi��rstcoined the term ‘intersectionality’and on the statement of the Combahee River Collective which addressedthe intersectional discriminationfaced by black women in the U.S. Using these sources, the court recognised that when the identity of a wo

man intersects with her caste, class,religion, disability and sexual orientation, she may face violence and discrimination due to two or moregrounds. It said we need to understand how multiple sources of oppression operated cumulatively toproduce a specifi��c experience of subordination for the blind Dalit woman. Placing special emphasis onmaking the criminal justice systemmore responsive to women with disabilities facing sexual assault, thecourt also laid down directions totrain judges, the police and prosecutors to be sensitised in such cases.

But despite using an intersectionallens, the court set aside convictionunder the PoA Act. The PoA Act wasenacted to address atrocities againstpersons from SC and ST communities and was amended in 2015 tospecifi��cally recognise more atrocitiesagainst Dalit and Adivasi women including sexual assault, sexual harassment and Devadasi dedication. Section 3(2)(v) states that if any personnot being an SC/ST member commitsany off��ence under the IPC punishable with imprisonment of 10 years ormore against a person on the groundthat such a person is from an SC/STcommunity, he shall be punishablewith imprisonment for life and withfi��ne. This was amended in 2015, tochange the phrase “on the groundthat such person is a member of SC/ST” to “knowing that such person is amember of SC/ST”.

In cases of sexual violence againstDalit and Adivasi women, courtshave almost consistently set asideconvictions under the PoA Act. In2006 in Ramdas and Others v. Stateof Maharashtra, where a Dalit minorgirl was raped, the Supreme Courtset aside the conviction under thePoA Act stating that the mere factthat the victim happened to be a woman who was member of an SC com

munity would not attract the PoAAct. In Dinesh Alias Buddha v. Stateof Rajasthan (2006), the SupremeCourt held: “It is not case of the prosecution that the rape was committed on the victim since she was amember of Scheduled Caste.” In Asharfi�� v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2017),the court held that the evidence andmaterials on record did not showthat the appellant had committedrape on the ground that the victimwas member of an SC community. In2019, in Khuman Singh v. State ofMadhya Pradesh, a case of murder,again the court held that the fact thatthe deceased was a member of an SCcommunity was not disputed butthere was no evidence to show thatthe off��ence was committed only onthat ground; conviction under thePoA Act was set aside. There are several precedents insisting on an unrealistic burden of proof. This issueneeds to be referred to a larger benchto take a diff��erent view.

Burden of proofIn all these judgments, the court heldthat there was no evidence to showthat the accused committed sexualassault on the ground that the victimwas member of an SC/ST community. One is tempted to ask: what kindof evidence would that be? Howwould the prosecution prove in anygiven case that the accused had sexually assaulted the victim becauseshe was Dalit/ Adivasi? The only evidence that can be led is that the victim was from an SC/ST communityand that the accused was aware ofthat. When a woman is from a marginalised caste and is disabled, she faces discrimination due to her sex,caste/tribe and disability, all of whichrender her vulnerable to sexual violence. This is what intersectionalitytheory requires us to recognise.

In the Patan Jamal Vali case, the

court using the intersectional lens recognises that evidence of discrimination or violence on a specifi��c groundmay be absent or diffi��cult to prove. Itagreed with the fi��nding of the sessions judge that the prosecution’scase would not fail merely becausethe victim’s mother did not mentionin her statement to the police thatthe off��ence was committed againsther daughter because she was froman SC community. It also confi��rmedthat it would be reasonable to presume that the accused knew the victim’s caste as he was known to thevictim’s family. Despite such anuanced understanding, the courtheld that there was no separate evidence led by the prosecution to showthat the accused committed the offence on the basis of the victim’scaste. It is unfortunate that intersectionality, which seeks to recognisethe multiple grounds of marginalisation faced by women, was used bythe court to state that it becomes diffi��cult to establish whether it wascaste, gender or disability that led tothe commission of the off��ence.

Why would this matter, one mightask, if the punishment of life imprisonment was upheld? It matters because the repeated setting aside ofconvictions under the PoA Act bolsters the allegations that the law ismisused and amounts to the erasureof castebased violence faced by women. Further, as stated in the recentParliamentary Standing CommitteeReport on Atrocities and Crimesagainst Women and Children, the“high acquittal rate motivates andboosts the confi��dence of dominantand powerful communities for continued perpetration”. This judgmentwas a missed opportunity for thecourt to use intersectionality touphold the conviction under the PoAAct or refer the matter to a largerbench if needed. We need to stophiding behind smokescreens of hypertechnicality of evidence and recognise castebased violence againstwomen when it stares us in the face.Else, our caste discrimination lawswill be rendered toothless. If intersectionality theory mattered in thiscase, it should have infl��uenced an interpretation of the PoA Act that refl��ects the lived experiences of women facing sexual violence.

Jayna Kothari is cofounder of Centre for Law

and Policy Research and Senior Advocate

who practices in the Supreme Court of India

By repeatedly setting aside convictions under the PoA Act, courts bolster allegations that the law is misused

Recognising caste-based violence against women

Jayna Kothari

PTI

The cycle of violence between the Israeliforces and the Palestinian public is neitherthe fi��rst nor likely to be the last of its kind.The Palestinians have been losing not onlytheir lives and livelihood but also the veryland for which this violence has been ragingfor over a century now. The territory in question is The Holy Land to the three religions ofAbrahamic monotheism, viz., Judaism,Christianity and Islam. One can’t be a Jew ora Christian or a Muslim and deny that it is thePromised Land of the Beni Israel branch ofthe descendants of Abraham. The AlAqsamosque in Quran is Solomon’s Templewhich was the fi��rst Qibla (direction ofprayer) of the Muslims. The Islamic claim onJerusalem comes only through its association with Judaism and Christianity.

A brief historyBritain renounced its Mandate over Palestinein 1948, paving the way for the United Nations to divide Palestine between the Jewsand Arabs, giving them about 55% and 45%of the land, respectively. The Jews, meanwhile, had declared the establishment of thestate of Israel for which they had been working for long. The Palestinians, who lackedthe resources to conceive of a state, failed toform a state of their own in the land allottedto them. Instead, a coalition of Arab countries invaded the nascent state of Israel to nipit in the bud. Israel not only defeated theArab armies, but also unleashed what thePalestinians call Nakba, an Arabic wordwhich means holocaust. Israel destroyedabout 600 Palestinian villages and expelledabout 80% of Arabs from its territory.

In 1967, in the SixDay War, Israel capturednot just more Palestinian land but alsoEgypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Syria’s GolanHeights. During the Yom Kippur War of 1973,the Arabs came to realise that Israel is hereto stay. But the Arab states, while washingtheir hands off�� Palestine, failed to impressthe same realisation upon their Palestinianbrethren, a sizeable number of whom remain committed to seeking a solutionthrough counterviolence. NonArab Muslimcountries, while being of no help to the Palestinians have been the greatest cheerleaders of the violent section of the struggle.

This vicious cycle of violence is not goingto end unless there is realism on both sides.The Hamas should know that Israel will notgive up on holding on to land it has held for

years, and Israel should understand that total subjugation, expulsion or even decimation of Palestinians will not make it any safer.Both the sides will have to seek a solutionthrough nonviolence. A solution based onthe common humanity of all stakeholders,one that is not riven by racial and religiousschisms, needs to be explored. Secularisation of the discourse is an inescapable prerequisite for any workable solution. This is especially more applicable for the weaker side.

Accommodation of allThe Indian model of democracy and secularism, which accommodates religious, ethnic, linguistic and other diversities, could bea viable model for the peaceful coexistenceof formerly antagonistic groups. The European model of the annihilation of natives inthe Americas and Australia, last tried on theJews in Nazi Germany, is not a solution whichwe can morally countenance and practicallyresort to. India, on the other hand, evolved aunique model of accommodating the victorsand the vanquished, without ever resortingto the latter’s decimation.

A modus vivendi has to evolve on the basisof hard realities, the fi��rst of which is thatneither the Jews nor the Palestinians are going to vanish into thin air. The Palestiniansmissed the bus to form a state in 1948, andhave missed many since then. Now, they aresparsely spread over the land in scores ofnoncontiguous pockets, making a cohesivestate unviable. The twostate solution can bepossible only if Israel frees the occupied territories and removes the Jewish settlementsfrom there, an unlikely scenario in the foreseeable future.

If the twostate solution is nowhere in theoffi��ng, a single state after the Indian model,i.e., a secular, democratic and pluralisticstate, may be the only feasible option. A nation state only for the Jews would be a relapse into the ghetto mode, with all its concomitant implications.

The Palestinian refugees have a right to return. That the altered demographics wouldimpinge on the religioracial character of Israel is not an argument which behoves amodern democratic state founded on common humanity with equal rights and opportunities for everyone. It is true that a nationstate belongs to the group which constituteditself into a nation. Therefore, the group’sethos would refl��ect in national life without itrubbing it in. A nation is an imagined community. As imagination expands, the foundations of the nation become deeper. For this,there could be no better model than India.Israel might not off��er the right model of confl��ict resolution for India, but India presents amodel of peaceful coexistence for Israel.

Najmul Hoda is an IPS offi��cer. Views are personal

The Indian model of coexistenceIsrael and Palestine will have to seek a solution through non-violence, and could take a leaf out of India’s book

Najmul Hoda

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DATA POINT

The experience of booking an appointment to get vaccinated in Indiahas been rewarding for some butfrustrating for most. The procedurefor a citizen to get vaccinated is to register on the CoWIN website or Aarogya Setu app and schedule an appointment at a preferred centre. Itsounds easy until you try it. Soon yourealise that no matter how fast youclick the confi��rm button, it’s not easyto get an appointment. That’s because vaccines are in short supply.And that is because the Governmentof India hasn’t placed enough orders.

People who have been trying to getan appointment fi��nd someone or theother in their social network who gotlucky with an appointment. That motivates them to keep trying. The system of getting vaccine appointmentshas become gamifi��ed with vaccination centres releasing alerts of slotopenings on social media. Thesealerts inform people about the openings of vaccination slots at any timeof the day or night. They keep peoplehooked on to the game of ‘fastest fi��nger fi��rst’ to book an appointment.

Vaccination and gamblingThe psychology behind why randomalerts and repeated log ins into thewebsite to try one’s luck at bookingan appointment works is the same aswhy people gamble money in casinosor buy lottery tickets. At a casino, people put money in the slot machineand press the button. People don’tknow if they’ll win. They can’t predict it. But they believe that the odds ofwinning increase the more they play.So, they keep gambling. Of course,most people lose more than they winbecause the odds are always in favourof the casino, which makes most ofthe money. In the case of trying theirluck at getting a vaccination appointment, people eagerly wait for alertsof slot openings, log in and press theconfi��rm button. People don’t know ifthey’ll ‘win’ an appointment. Theycan’t predict it. But people believethat the odds of ‘winning’ an appointment increase the more theylog in. So, people keep trying. Ofcourse, most people don’t ‘win’ appointments because the odds are notin their favour. The only diff��erence

between gambling at casinos andbooking vaccination appointments isthat in gambling, the casino winsmost of the time. But regarding vaccination, both the government and thepeople lose.

Active conditioningIn Ivan Pavlov’s experiment of classical conditioning, the dogs in the experiment would start drooling whenthey heard the sounds associatedwith food preparation. They woulddrool when the bell rang even thoughno food was present. After a while,the dogs would stop responding if nofood appeared after the bell wasrung. But psychologist B. F. Skinnerfound that rats and pigeons wouldcontinue doing the task much longerif they were rewarded occasionallyrather than every time. Both aretypes of conditioning, but Skinner’sconditioning was active, whereasPavlov’s was passive. The dog didn’thave to do anything conscious to getthe reward, whereas the rat and pigeon had to undertake a task. Makingthe animal take an explicit actionproduced a stronger, longer lastingeff��ect on behaviour.

Humans respond in similar waysas rats and pigeons when given an occasional reward for repetitive behaviour. Casinos give players the illusion of control by letting playersplace chips and play their cards. Giving them choices and making peopletake action makes them feel like theyhave some control, as opposed to giving purely luckbased unpredictablerewards. In case of vaccinations, thegovernment is giving people the illusion of control by encouraging people to log in and try their luck atbooking an appointment. Giving people the choice to take action towardsbooking an appointment makes people feel like they have some control,even though the odds are highlystacked against ‘winning’ an appointment. There is an element of surpriseor uncertainty, so people are neversure when the appointment willcome through. This is keeping people engaged. The question is, shouldthe government be operating vaccinations like a casino?

Anand Damani is behavioural scientist and

partner at Briefcase

Co-WIN, casinos and luck The psychology behind trying our luck at booking avaccine appointment is the same as in gambling

Anand Damani

Asian countries were today urged to overhaul their education systems to avoid the“dangers of the education gap” between theyoung and the grownup. This was thetheme of the keynote address delivered byMr. Rene Maheu, DirectorGeneral of UNESCO, at the opening session of the third regional conference of Ministers of Educationand those responsible for economic planning in Asia here this morning [Singapore,May 31]. Pointing out that over 62 per cent ofAsian population was under the age of 25,Mr. Maheu warned: “If your (Asian) countries wish to avoid the dangers of a generation gap, they will have to devise new waysof dealing with the problems that will giveyoung people both the means of participating in the reform of an educational systemon which their future depends and the hopeof fi��nding, forthwith, a place in a societywhere they can work to achieve their aspirations”. The conference in which 18 countriesare participating — 12 of which are represented by Education Ministers — was opened byPresident Benjamin Sheares of Singapore,who in his opening address, emphasised thegrowing link between education and economic planning.

FIFTY YEARS AGO JUNE 1, 1971

‘Generation gap’ in education systems

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

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CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

While restrictions acrossStates have had an impacton activity, the CEA said thesecond wave seems to havepeaked on May 8 and is onthe decline, so it is anticipated that lockdownlike curbswill reduce and eventuallybe removed, which will helpthe return of economic activity.

“The extent of recoveryin the performance of theinformal sectors in Q4FY2021 remains uncertain,and we continue to cautionthat trends in the same maynot get fully refl��ected in theGDP data, given the lack ofadequate proxies to evaluate the less formal sectors,” said Aditi Nayar, chiefeconomist at ICRA.

Localised lockdownsRecovery hopes will hingeon the duration for whichlocalised restrictions willpersist in coming monthsand whether an accelerated

pace of vaccine rollout canprevent a third Covid surge,she said.

“The economic outlookremains highly uncertain,and periodic material revisions to our growth forecasts may persist in FY2022,like last year. At present, weexpect real GDP to expandin the range of 8%9.5%,”Ms. Nayar.

More revisions possibleThe National Statistical Offi��ce attributed the improvement over its earlier growthestimates, to the improvedperformance of indicators,used in compilation of GVA,in the fourth quarter of202021, owing to the calibrated and steady openingof the economy.

The NSO also warned thatdata collection had been impacted as much as any otheractivity by the pandemic, soits estimates could undergosharp revisions.

India’s GDP shrinks by7.3% in 20202021

Justice Chandrachud referred to how, in an earliersuo motu hearing, he hadwondered whether seditioncharges would be launchedagainst a news channel thathad published a photograph of two personsthrowing the body of a COVID19 patient into a riverfrom a bridge in Uttar Pradesh. “I had this case [Andhra] in mind when I saidthat,” he said.

The court acknowledgedthe argument that the media was well within its rightsto air critical programmesabout a prevailing regimewithout attracting sedition.

TV5, represented by senior advocate Shyam Divanand advocates Vipin Nairand P.B. Suresh, and ABNAndhrajyothi argued thatthe sedition FIR againstthem was an “unfortunateassault”. The State had accused them of sedition forreporting news about thepandemic in an “unbiasedmanner”.

“Merely because the content of the news reported inan unbiased manner is critical of a government or notto its liking, it cannot besaid that the news outlet hascommitted an act of sedition or inciting hatred. Todo so would be directly contrary to the freedom ofPress,” ABN, represented byGuntur Pramod Kumar, saidin the petition.

TV5 said the “vague” FIRhad a chilling eff��ect on freespeech in the media.

Both channels urged theSupreme Court to initiatecontempt proceedingsagainst the senior offi��cialsof the State government forviolating the April 30 orderof the Supreme Court to“immediately cease any direct and indirect threats ofprosecution and arrest to citizens, who air theirgrievances”.

Here the Andhra government had “gone one stepahead” to penalise the media, the channels said.

It’s time to defi��ne limits ofsedition: Supreme Court

However, later in the day,the, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT)shot off�� a letter asking Mr.Bandyopadhyay to complywith the May 28 order andreport at its North Block offi��ce at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.This prompted Mr. Bandyopadhyay, who had been given a threemonth extensionfrom May 31, his originaldate of retirement, to opt forsuperannuation.

Since Mr. Bandyopadhyaychose to retire on Mondayand not avail the threemonth extension given tohim at the request of theState, it was not immediatelyclear what action the Centrewould initiate.

A senior offi��cial said oncondition of anonymity,“The Centre or the DoPT isnot the disciplinary authority for an offi��cer posted in the

State. They cannot initiatedisciplinary proceedingsagainst him.”

H. K. Dwivedi, who wasAdditional Chief Secretary(Home) will be the new ChiefSecretary and B.P. Gopalikathe Additional Chief Secretary (Home).

The developments concerning Mr. Bandyopadhyay,whom the Centre had askedto report to Delhi on May 31,had brought the CentreState ties to a new low. According to reports, theCentre had taken exceptionto him not being present atthe review meeting chairedby Prime Minister NarendraModi at the Kaliakunda airbase on cyclone ‘Yaas’ onMay 28.

The CM and Mr. Bandyopadhyay had met the PrimeMinister at the same venueon May 28.

West Bengal ChiefSecretary steps down

The Chief Minister, whomoved the resolution underRule 118 in the House, saidthe Administrator is takingmany measures to alienatethe peaceloving people ofthe island. “In the name ofdevelopment, even their livelihood is threatened.Even coconut trees arepainted with saff��ron colourin the name of beautifi��cation. This can’t be allowed atany cost,” he said.

“The attempt is to imposeand implement the saff��ronagenda and corporate interests in Lakshadweep. TheSangh Parivar is making the

island another laboratoryand people of the countrywill not allow that to happen,” the CM said.

Stating that steps are being taken to abolish all existing democratic institutionsand impose bureaucraticdomination, Mr. Vijayansaid the powers of the District Panchayat and the Village Island Panchayat havebeen transferred to the Administrator. The departments of Fisheries, Health,Education, Animal Husbandry and Agriculture are being removed from the purview of the Panchayat.

Recall Lakshadweephead: Kerala Assembly

The Delhi High Court onMonday dismissed a petitionseeking to halt the construction activities at the CentralVista Avenue Redevelopment Project in view of therecent surge in COVID19cases in the country.

A Bench of Chief JusticeD.N. Patel and Justice JyotiSingh remarked that therewas no reason for the courtto suspend the constructionactivities as the workerswere staying at the projectsite, and “COVID19 protocols are adhered to and COVID19 appropriate behaviour is being followed”.

“We are of the view thatthis is a motivated petitionpreferred by the petitionersand not a genuine public interest litigation [petition],”the court said while imposing a cost of ₹��1 lakh on petitioners Anya Malhotra, whoworks as a translator; andSohail Hashmi, a historianand documentaryfi��lmmaker.

‘Not an essential activity’ The petitioners had arguedthat the project was not anessential activity and hence,

it could be put on hold fornow during the pandemic.

The court noted that thework at the Central VistaAvenue Redevelopment waspart of the Central Vista Project and of vital public importance and the legality ofthe project had been upheldby Supreme Court.

“By no stretch of imagination, it can be said that Central Vista Project or CentralVista Avenue Redevelopment Project is not an essential project,” the court said,adding, “If this type of project is stopped by the court,the main project cannot becompleted within the stipulated time.” It noted that the

work at the Central VistaAvenue Redevelopment Project had to be completed byNovember 2021.

While the petitioners argued that the time limit beextended, the court said,“Such kind of argumentscannot be accepted by thiscourt, keeping in view thatthe construction activity ofthis essential project or of aproject of national importance cannot be stopped especially when the conditionsimposed by the order of theDDMA dated 19th April,2021...are not fl��outed orviolated.”

The HC remarked that several other agencies were un

dertaking construction projects in Delhi. “It is obviousthat petitioners have selectively chosen only one project which is of national importance, at a vital placewhere Republic Day celebrations are held in Delhi and isa part and parcel of the larger project, namely, CentralVista Project,” it stated.

‘Very selective’SolicitorGeneral TusharMehta had argued that thePIL raised in the case was“very selective”.

Senior advocate SidharthLuthra, for the petitioners,stated that his clients wereonly delivering a message ofhealth and safety for the people of Delhi and if the government could not see it,then it was a “sorry refl��ection” of its concern for thelives of the citizens.

Mr. Luthra had referred tothe ongoing project work asnot Central Vista, rather“central fortress of death”,comparing it to “Auschwitz”.

Mr. Mehta had expresseddispleasure with the comparison, saying one could criticise and be venomous aboutit, but such terms should notbe used in court.

Central Vista project essential,of public importance: Delhi HCCourt dismisses PIL plea against work, says COVID19 protocols are adhered to

Soibam Rocky Singh

NEW DELHI

Clearance given: Work in progress at the site of the CentralVista project in New Delhi on Monday. * SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Minister of State for Housingand Urban Aff��airs HardeepSingh Puri on Monday saidthe 60 retired civil servantswho recently endorsed anopen letter expressing concern over the Central Vistaproject were a disgrace tothe country. The letter wasnot based on facts and someof them needed to havetheir head examined beforesigning it, he stated at apress conference.

The letter, addressed toPrime Minister NarendraModi and the Urban Development Minister, said:“This project began, if reports are to be believed, because of a superstitious belief that the presentParliament building is ‘unlucky’, as well as with thethought of leaving a particular government and its leader’s impression on the architecture of Delhi...”

Mr. Puri said any civil servant with about 40 years ofexperience would not relyon reports that needed to be“believed”. Without namingone signatory, he said a retired offi��cial was the CabinetSecretary to the Government of India when the planto have a new Parliamentbuilding started taking

shape in 2012.The new building was be

ing constructed as the present one was cramped. Asthe freeze on parliamentaryseats and seat allocations toStates would be lifted in2026, the number of members in both the Houseswould increase, he noted.

There was an element ofmischief and wishful thinking (of those opposing theproject).

When they saw that theSupreme Court cleared it,they went to the Delhi HighCourt where also the government had now got theclearance and a cost of ₹��1lakh was imposed on the petitioner, he said.

On Monday, the DelhiHigh Court ruled that thepetition was motivated, andsaid the national project wasvital and essential.

Housing Minister trashesexcivil servants’ letter There is an element of mischief, he says


NEW DELHI

Hardeep Singh Puri

Around six crore subscribers of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) can now withdraw asecond nonrefundable COVID19 advance, the LabourMinistry announced onMonday. The initial provision for special withdrawalto meet fi��nancial needs during the pandemic was introduced in March 2020.

The advance will allowsubscribers to withdrawmoney equivalent to threemonths basic wages plusdearness allowance, or upto 75% of the amount standing to their credit in theirProvident Fund account,whichever is less. Memberscan apply for less amountsas well. Those who have already availed the fi��rst COVID19 advance are also freeto opt for a second advance.The provision and processfor withdrawal is the samefor both advances.

“The COVID19 advancehas been a great help to theEPF members during thepandemic, especially forthose having monthly wagesof less than ₹��15,000,” saidthe Ministry statement. “Ason date, EPFO has settled

more than 76.31 lakh COVID19 advance claims thereby disbursing a total of₹��18,698.15 crore.”

Given the urgent need ofmembers for fi��nancial support, especially with a mucormycosis epidemic duringthe second wave of the pandemic, EPFO said it wouldaccord top priority to COVID19 claims.

“EPFO is committed tosettling these claims withinthree days of their receipt.For this, EPFO has deployeda system driven autoclaimsettlement process in respect of all such memberswhose KYC requirement iscomplete in all respects,”said the statement. “Automode of settlement enablesEPFO to reduce the claimsettlement cycle to just 3days as against the statutoryrequirement to settle theclaims within 20 days.”

EPFO allows withdrawalof 2nd COVID advance Those who availed fi��rst also eligible


NEW DELHI

The government would takea decision to lift restrictionson use of liquid oxygen forindustrial purposes “as soonas possible”, an offi��cial said.

“We are talking to Stategovernments to fi��nd outwhat their needs for medicaloxygen are. After confi��rmation from them as well as theMinistry of Health and Family Welfare, whatever needsto be done to revive the continuous process industrieswe will do as soon as possible,” said Giridhar Aramane,Secretary, Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways,who is the convener of theEmpowered Group 4 thatoversees the country’s demand for medical oxygenand its logistics.

The current demand formedical oxygen was down to5,200 metric tonnes (MT) aday from a peak of 8,900 MTlast month. This was expected to drop further to 3,000MT in the next one week.

On April 22, the government issued an order banning the supply of liquid oxygen to industry in view of

increased demand for medical oxygen.

The Empowered Groupwas consulting medical professionals to assess the demand for medical oxygen forthe next wave.

‘Foreseeing scenarios’ “We are trying to foreseecertain scenarios in consultation with experts to determine how the oxygen situation can be improved in caseof any future fl��areup? Weare consulting medical professionals. In two weeks, weplan to do basic future planning. But we want to make it

clear that we can’t really foresee or predict what is going to happen,” Mr. Aramanesaid.

“Those who are blamingthe government in hindsighton O2 and other issues didnot warn us to be preparedfor four lakh cases. Theworst of projections were also not for more than a lakhof cases a day. All these people criticising the government should understandthat such fi��erce form of second wave couldn’t havebeen dealt with by any government like we did in sucha short time,” he added.

Decision soon on oxygenuse for industrial purposes On April 22, govt. banned liquid oxygen supply to industry

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI

Demand falls: The current demand for medical oxygen wasdown to 5,200 metric tonnes a day. * FILE PHOTO

Bollywood actor JuhiChawla has moved the Delhi High Court seeking ascientifi��c study on any adverse eff��ects of radiofrequency radiation emittedby cellular telecommunications using 5G technologyon ‘health, life, organ orlimb of adult or child, or tofl��ora and fauna’ before itsoffi��cial rollout in thecountry.

The petition, which willbe taken up on June 2, hassought a direction to thegovernment and theScience and EngineeringResearch Board (SERB) inparticular to certify thatdeployment of 5G technology for cellular communications posed no reasonable risk or hazard to thehealth of citizens.

Ms. Chawla, in her petition along with VeereshMalik and Teena Vachani,has also urged the authorities to rope in the IndianCouncil of Medical Research (ICMR), the CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB), and the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to conduct theirrespective study on thisissue.

Juhi Chawlamoves HC on5G technology

Staff reporter

New Delhi

The Delhi High Court onMonday said Twitter has tocomply with the new Information Technology Rules fordigital media if they have notbeen stayed by the court.

Justice Rekha Palli also issued notice to the Centreand Twitter on a plea by advocate Amit Acharya, seek

ing to appoint Resident Grievance Offi��cer under Rule 4 ofthe Information Technology(Intermediary Guidelines

and Digital Ethics Code)Rules 2021.

“They have to follow it[Rules], if it has not beenstayed,” the court said during the hearing.

The Central governmentstanding counsel said Twitter has not complied withthe Rules, but the social media platform claimed that ithas complied with them andappointed a resident grievance offi��cer.

Mr. Acharya, in his pleafi��led through advocatesAkash Vajpai and Manish Kumar, claimed that he wantedto raise grievance against

two alleged “off��ensive andobjectionable tweet” withthe resident grievanceoffi��cer.

‘Details not available’“However the Petitioner wasunable to fi��nd the contactdetails of the resident grievance offi��cer on the websiteof Twitter,” he said.

The petition said the Information Technology Rules2021 have come into eff��ectfrom February 25, 2021 andthe Centre had given threemonths’ time to every significant social media intermediary to comply with them.

Twitter has to comply with IT Rules: HCThe court issuesnotices to Uniongovt. and themicroblogging site

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Twitter claims it compliedwith the rules and appointeda resident grievance offi��cer.

The Defence Ministry onMonday notifi��ed the secondnegative import list — nowrenamed as the ‘positive indigenisation list’ — of 108items that can now be onlypurchased from indigenoussources. The new list takesthe total number on the listto 209. It is planned to beimplemented progressivelywith eff��ect from December2021 to December 2025, theDefence Ministry said.

“The second list lays special focus on weapons andsystems which are currentlyunder development/trialsand are likely to translate into fi��rm orders in the future.Like the fi��rst list, importsubstitution of ammunitionwhich is a recurring requirement has been given specialfocus,” a statement said.

The ‘second positive indigenisation list’ comprisescomplex systems, sensors,simulator, weapons and ammunitions like helicopters,next generation corvettes,

Air Borne Early Warningand Control (AEW&C) systems, tank engines, mediumpower radar for mountains,Medium Range Surface toAir Missile (MRSAM) weapon systems and manymore such items, it stated.

The second list has beenprepared after severalrounds of consultationswith government and private manufacturing industryconfederations to assess future capabilities of IndianIndustry which will be ableto meet requirements of thearmed forces, the statementsaid. “Not only does the listrecognise the potential of local defence industry, it willalso invigorate impetus todomestic Research and Development by attractingfresh investment into technology and manufacturingcapabilities,” it said.

The list also provides anexcellent opportunity for‘startups’ as also Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the statement said.

Defence Ministry notifi��es108 negative imports Items on ‘positive indigenisation list’


NEW DELHI

The Union government onMonday appointed J.B. Mohapatra as the interim chiefof the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for threemonths.

CBDT chairman P.C. Mody’s extended tenure ended

on May 31 and in his placeMr. Mohapatra, who wasmade a member of the apexpolicymaking body of income tax only last week, hasbeen asked to offi��ciate as thechairman for three monthsor till the appointment of theregular chairman.

Mr. Mody was given a

threemonth extension inFebruary, eff��ective fromMarch to May 31.

CBDT membersThe government recently appointed Anu J. Singh, Mr.Mohapatra and Anuja Sarangi as members of the body.All three are income tax

cadre offi��cials of the 1985batch of Indian Revenue Service.

On Monday, the Department of Revenue issued theorder directing Mr. Mohapatra to offi��ciate as the chairman of the board besidescarrying out his regular duties as a member.

Mohapatra to be interim chief of CBDT Only last week he was made member of the apex policymaking body of IT


AHMEDABAD

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


NEWS

The Union government onMonday sought time tillThursday from the SupremeCourt to take a “fi��nal decision” on whether the Class12 Board examinationsshould be cancelled due tothe COVID19 pandemic.

“The government willtake a fi��nal decision withinthe next few days… Give ustime till Thursday,” AttorneyGeneral K.K. Venugopalsubmitted.

A Bench of Justices A.M.Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari agreed, but statedthat the government had togive “good reasons” in caseit decided to depart from itspolicy in 2020 to cancel theconduct of the examinationsbecause of the pandemicand assess students on thebasis of their earlier marks.

“You take a decision… Butin case you depart from yourpolicy last year, you mustgive us a good reason whyyou are departing [from it],”Justice Khanwilkar said.

Mr. Venugopal tried to indicate that the pandemichad struck when the Boardexaminations were on lastyear. “Some students hadone paper left, some hadfour papers to do,” hesubmitted.

Justice Khanwilkar said,“There is a sanguine hopeexpressed by the petitionershere that the policy adoptedlast year — to cancel the examinations in the face of thepandemic — would be adopt

ed this year, too. So, if youare departing from your notifi��cation last year, youshould give us goodreasons.”

Last year, the SupremeCourt accepted a CentralBoard of Secondary Education (CBSE) scheme to assessthe marks of the cancelledpapers of Class 10 and 12 bytaking an average of bestperformances in the papersalready taken.

The court, on Monday,

was hearing a petition fi��ledby advocate Mamta Sharmato direct the authorities toforgo the examinations andconceive an objective methodology to declare the Class12 results within a specifi��ctime frame. “Issue a writ ofmandamus directing therespondents to cancel theexaminations of Class 12 anddevise an objective methodology to declare the resultwithin a specifi��c timeframe,” Ms. Sharma urged.

Class 12 exam: govt. saysdecision by ThursdaySC seeks ‘good reasons’ in case of departure from 2020 stand


NEW DELHI

Anxious wait: The SC was hearing a petition directing theauthorities to forgo the examinations . * SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra onMonday cautioned theCentre against conductingthe Board examinationsoffl��ine for Class 12 students.

Writing to Union MinisterRamesh Pokhriyal Nishank,

Ms. Vadra said many hadargued that this may triggera third wave and therewould be an emotional andpsychological cost. “It willbe a great injustice if they[students] are pushed intocircumstances thatendanger their lives,” shesaid.

Offl��ine exams may triggera third wave: PriyankaSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI

The BJP has kickstartedpreparations for the electioncycle in 2022, with the party’s general secretary (organisation), B.L. Santosh, travelling to Uttarakhand lastweekend and to Uttar Pradesh on Monday to hold organisational meetings.

Elections to several Assemblies, including of Punjab and later in the year, Gujarat, will take place nextyear.

The experience of the second wave of the COVID19pandemic and the perception of the BJP and governments led by it during thatperiod weighed heavily onthe meetings.

Sources confi��rmed to TheHindu that while in Lucknow, Mr. Santosh held meetings with State unit offi��cebearers. State Health Minister Jay Pratap Singh andHealth Education MinisterSuresh Khanna were present.

“The main focus of thesemeetings is, of course, tolook at ways by which the‘seva hi sanghathan’ pro

gramme of rural outreachduring COVID19 pandemicannounced by party president J.P. Nadda are carriedout. But yes, organisationalrestructuring may also bediscussed,” said a sourcewho did not confi��rm whether this could mean the replacement of the party’sState president, SwatantraDev Singh.

‘Unrest within party’“There is much unrest within the party, with severalMLAs having publicly written to Chief Minister Yogi Ad

ityanath on the many waysin which the administrationhad failed to respond to thepandemic and also the angeramong the people with theruling party. Stocktaking is,therefore, important,” thesource said.

“After the panchayatpolls, many zilla parishadsare yet to elect the heads ofthese districtlevel bodiesand, therefore, the party also needs to discuss how bestto get their candidates elected to that post in most districts, get in touch with independents, etc.,” an Uttar

Pradesh BJP offi��cebearersaid. The State governmentheaded by Mr. Adityanathwill be launching an intensive vaccination programmefrom June 1, and BJP workershave been asked to makesure that they are visible onthe ground to ensure its success.

In Uttarakhand, Mr. Santosh addressed the State’score committee, the fi��rsttime after Tirath Singh Rawat replaced TrivendraSingh Rawat as Chief Minister.

Here too, the emphasiswas on reaching out to ruralareas by party workers in order to help deal with thepandemic in its secondwave. The emphasis, saysources, was to bridge theperception divide that theBJP organisation was absentfrom the ground at a criticaltime.

Earlier in the week, RSSsecondincommand Dattatreya Hosabele visited U.P.,sources said, as part of a previously fi��nalised tour programme, but he held meetings at the organisationallevel as well.

BJP gets into battle mode for 2022 pollsOrganisational meets held in U.P., Uttarakhand; party gauges people’s perception

Focus groups: The experience of the second wave of theCOVID19 pandemic weighed heavily on the meetings. * PTI

Nistula Hebbar

NEW DELHI

Former Supreme Court Justice Arun Kumar Mishra islikely to be the new Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) after a highpoweredrecommendation committeeproposed his name on Monday, a source informed TheHindu.

Former Chief Justice ofthe Jammu and KashmirHigh Court, Mahesh MittalKumar, and former Directorof the Intelligence Bureau,Rajiv Jain, had also been recommended by the highpowered panel as members ofthe NHRC, but the offi��cialnotifi��cation is yet to be outuntil the fi��ling of this report.

The selection panel consisted of Prime Minister Na

rendra Modi; Home MinisterAmit Shah; Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh; Lok Sabha SpeakerOm Birla; and the Leader ofthe Opposition in the RajyaSabha, Mallikarjun Kharge.

Mr. Kharge is learnt tohave registered his dissentafter the committee didn’t

accept his suggestion to appoint a member from eitherthe Dalit, Adivasi or minoritycommunities. The Congressleader is learnt to have argued that since most complaints at the NHRC pertained to these sociallydisadvantaged groups, thereshould be at least one representative from these communities in the Commission.

When other memberspointed out that the concerned Act on the NHRC didnot make any specifi��c provisions about any group except a woman member, Mr.Kharge is learnt to havepointed out that there wasno specifi��c bar in appointments. He then suggestedthat the panel meet again ina week’s time with morenames from these communi

ties. He recorded his dissentwhen the committee decided to go ahead with the shortlisted names instead of looking for fresh names.

For over fi��ve months now,the NHRC has been withouta fulltime head after JusticeH.L. Dattu retired last December. A highlyplacedsource said while 12 nameswere shortlisted for the twovacancies, the shortlistedcandidates for the positionof Chairperson includedthree former Chief Justicesof India (CJIs).

As a sitting judge of thetop court, Justice Mishra,while addressing an international conference, had described Mr. Modi as an “internationally acclaimedvisionary who could thinkglobally and act locally”.

Justice Mishra likely to head NHRC Plea to include member from marginalised groups rejected by selection panel

The NHRC has been withouta fulltime head for over fi��vemonths now. * VIA TWITTER

Sandeep Phukan

New Delhi

Union Home Minister AmitShah has given an assurance that the new draftlaws for Lakshadweep thatare being opposed by theislanders will not be fi��nalised without consulting local representatives, its MPMohammed Faizal said onMonday.

Talking to presspersonsafter meeting Mr. Shahhere, Mr. Faizal said he apprised the Home Ministerof the strong opposition tothe draft laws proposed bythe new administrator, Praful Patel. He said he alsotold Mr. Shah about the widespread protests on theislands.

“He has assured us thatwhatever laws that are under the consideration, theywill be sent to Lakshadweep where local representatives in the districtpanchayat will be consulted,” Mr. Faizal said.

Mr. Faizal said Mr. Patelhad been pushing for thelaws — from a ban on cowslaughter to a twochildnorm for those wanting tocontest the gram panchayat elections, and allowing liquor to be servedat resorts on inhabited islands — that have upset theislanders. The majority ofthe residents in the islandswere Muslims.

Besides, people have apprehensions about thedraft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation (LDAR) and the draftLakshadweep Preventionof AntiSocial ActivitiesRegulation, Mr. Faizal said.

LakshadweepMP meetsAmit Shah


New Delhi

In a bid to extend relief tothe Maratha community inthe State, the tripartite MahaVikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra onMonday extended the benefi��ts of reservation for theEconomically Weaker Section (EWS) to the Sociallyand Economically Backward

Class (SEBC).Previously, the govern

ment had decided that theMaratha community couldnot take advantage of the10% EWS category as Maratha reservation was inforce in the State. The Supreme Court, however,scrapped the SEBC reservation in jobs and education,making it possible for the

State government to extendthe benefi��t of the EWS quotato the Marathas.

As per the government resolution, a person fulfi��llingthe criterion for EWS wouldbe eligible for 10% reservation in educational institutes, barring minority institutes.

This would also be applied for State government

recruitment. The resolutionsaid the reservation wouldbe above the existing reservation.

It also stated that the benefi��t would be available fromSeptember 9, 2020, whenthe apex court brought an interim stay on the reservation, to May 5, 2021, whenthe fi��nal verdict was announced.

Maratha community brought under EWS quota Staff Reporter

Mumbai

Almost a month after the results of the West Bengal Assembly election, the Statecommittee of the CPI(M) hascome out with an assessment on its humiliating defeat.

They pointed out that anumber of factors, the primary one being the steep polarisation between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP,led to its defeat.

The West Bengal StateCommittee of the CPI(M)met on May 29.

A total of 46 members ofthe committee participatedin the assessment, which de

scribed the reasons for theparty’s poor performance asboth “political andorganisational”.

“There has been sharppolarisation between the

Trinamool Congress and theBJP. This is probably themain reason for such results.Idealism, democracy and issues of lives and livelihood ofthe people have taken a backseat. It will be wrong to attribute the results of the Assembly polls to communalpolarisation,” an offi��cialstatement issued by the committee said.

‘Alternative government’“Our call for an alternativegovernment was rejected.We could not reach out tothe people with our views...People of the State did nothave confi��dence in our frontand policies,” the committee

said on May 30.Both the Trinamool Con

gress and the BJP resorted to“identity politics”, whichcould not be countered, itadded. The BJP’s aggressivecampaign also brought upthe issue of Bengali libertyand freedom to the fore.

“There was an antiestablishment feeling at the timethe results were declared,but the aggressive campaignresulted in antiBJP feelings.In such circumstances, people overlooked the issues ofcorruption and lawlessnessand chose the TrinamoolCongress as the main antiBJP force in the State,” thestatement said.

‘Political, organisational reasons for defeat’CPI(M) says major reason was polarisation between Trinamool Congress and BJP

A CPI(M) worker painting awall in Kolkata in Marchduring campaigning. * AP

Shiv Sahay Singh

Kolkata

The Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court has held that anextramarital relationshipof a mother by itself is noground to deny her the custody of her child in case ofmarital dispute.

The petitionermotherhad fi��led a habeas corpuswrit in the court for the release of her fouryearolddaughter who was allegedto be in the custody of thefather (estranged husbandof the petitioner). On May10, Justice AnupinderSingh Grewal, while allowing the custody to the petitionermother, said, “Evenassuming a woman is orhas been in an extramaritalrelationship, the same byitself cannot lead to theconclusion that she wouldnot be a good mother.”

HC: aff��air not areason to denychild’s custody


CHANDIGARH

A dynamite blast led to thefl��ooding of a coal mine inEast Jaintia Hills district inMeghalaya, trapping fi��ve labourers, offi��cials said onMonday.

The district policelaunched a search operationafter receiving informationfrom the police at Cachardistrict in southern Assamabout the possible death offi��ve to seven labourers in amine accident on May 30.One Karimul Bari, from Cachar, told the local policethat his neighbour wasamong the trapped.

East Jaintia Hills Superintendent of Police JagpalSingh Dhanoa said theyidentifi��ed the probable site

of the incident in the Sutngaarea on Monday morning.“According to eyewitnesses,fi��ve persons were trappedwhen water rushed into themine after a sudden explosion of dynamite,” he said.

Mr. Dhanoa said the operation was being led by the

State Disaster ResponseForce. Preliminary investigations revealed that themine’s sordar (manager), Nizam Ali, did not take any initiative to rescue the labourers. “Based on the accountof the survivors, an FIR hasbeen registered,” he said.

5 trapped in Meghalaya coalmine after dynamite blast Blast led to the fl��ooding of a coal mine at East Jaintia Hills


GUWAHATI

Dangerous work: Labourers loading coal taken out from amine in East Jaintia Hills district, Meghalaya. * RITU RAJ KONWAR

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

SUDOKU

Solution to puzzle 13261 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

When Kamsa was driving Devaki and Vasudeva to their palace, a voice was heard saying that Devaki’s eighth childwould slay Kamsa. At once Kamsa wanted to kill Devaki, butVasudeva stopped him and reasoned with him, said V.S. Karunakarachariar in a discourse. Vasudeva argued that it wasnot Devaki herself who was going to kill Kamsa. It was onlyher son. Vasudeva promised to give all his children to Kamsa. What could have been going on in Vasudeva’s mind whenhe made such a promise? There was always the possibilitythat Kamsa might die before the eighth child was born. Itwas also possible that Devaki might not have eight children.Moreover, why should the voice of an unseen person bebelieved?

Kamsa agreed, and the chariot began to move again. Howwas Vasudeva able to hold the attention of a man angryenough to kill? This was a Krishna leela too. We should respect our elders, and attribute our special talents, or good attributes to them. It is to emphasise this that this whole scenetook place. Later, Krishna was going to give a lecture to Arjuna on the battlefi��eld. Arjuna was a confused, unhappyman. And yet the Lord was able to get his attention.

People would have said Krishna could achieve this because He was son of Vasudeva, the man whose words couldward off�� Kamsa’s death threat. The last verse of the Bhagavad Gita says wherever Krishna and Arjuna are to be found,there will be prosperity and victory. But Ramanujacharya inhis commentary does not use the name Krishna, but saysVasudeva’s son. This was to stress the importance we haveto give to our forebears. Krishna arranged for the little drama after Devaki’s wedding to show world that people mustrecognise that their good qualities come from their elders.

FAITH

A drama before wedding + 13262(set by Hypatia)

Never go off�� the grid.

We are digital now. Come solve online!

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

■ ACROSS

1 One who doesn’t believe cashiers at bank robbery (5)

4 Bored from touring Basel (5)

11 Friend hugs hot sweetheart in movie show (7)

12 Half of standard French milk that’s recalled (7)

13 Nod off ignoring naughty innuendo in boredom (5)

14 Alienated participants in protest rang editor (9)

15 Spooner’s question on offspring — something dirty (10)

17 Joint auditor’s born in France (4)

19 A wide track is crooked (4)

21 What do screenwriters do — Fuss around? (4,1,5)

25 Pilot’s rifl��e? (45)

27 Criticise cook (5)

28 Greed — A weakness that engulfed a king (7)

29 Pick up huge contract (7)

30 Drive cattle (5)

31 Nibble starter of naan put in fi��re (5)

■ DOWN

2 Dated old fl��ame before time in court (7)

3 Minor, around one might wake you up (8)

5 Rope holds up dog biting artist (6)

6 A small amount, say 1,000 — signed off (7)

7 Approach Independent parliamentarian at border (6)

8 Made rare synthetic sugar (8)

9 Fight and knock son over (4)

10 Insult taking President for second oath (6)

16 Damn old box carrying drug (8)

18 Sort gene to produce hormone (8)

19 Like hot butter in retreat? (6)

20 Expecting to relinquish power for ruling (7)

22 The Spanish wine is cold and pliant (7)

23 Having treat in Gujarati’s house (6)

24 Support function (6)

26 Assistant cycling in thought (4)

SCAN TO PLAY

Acknowledging one’s error isnot a sign of weakness butthat of strength, SupremeCourt judge Justice D.Y.Chandrachud told the Uniongovernment on Monday.

“The ability to recognisethat I am wrong is not a signof weakness, but ofstrength,” Justice Chandrachud orally addressed SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehtaduring a virtual hearing.

Justice Chandrachud washeading a threejudge Special Bench hearing a suo mo-

tu case covering the variousfronts of the government’sCOVID19 management. TheBench questioned the government’s dual vaccinepricing policy between theCentre and the States, thevaccination coverage in ruralIndia, how it was almost impossible to get vaccinationslots on CoWin, the “digitaldivide” in the registrationprocess for vaccination in“Digital India” and how the

dead are “thrown” into rivers or buried in shallowgraves.

The court referred to a recent video footage and pictures of two men throwingthe body of a COVID19 patient from a bridge into a river in Uttar Pradesh.

“I don’t know whether acomplaint has been fi��ledagainst the news channel forsedition for publishing thephotograph…” Justice Chandrachud said.

This comment comesamid some States allegedlyregistering FIRs booking social media users and theelectronic media on sedition

charge. The top courtbanned States from takingpenal action in such cases inan order on April 30.

Justice Chandrachud saidthe government could notfi��ght the pandemic on a daytoday basis in an ad hocmanner. “You need your policy to anticipate changes.Your policy should also beenforceable on the ground.Your policy needs to beclearcut. If new issues comeup, your policy has to beamended… But fi��rst, thereshould be a degree of fl��exibility in you… It can’t be thatyou have made a policy andyou cannot change that,” Jus

tice Chandrachud said. Mr. Mehta agreed that no

policy was cast in stone. “Ifmatters change, the government will have to change,”he said.

Justice Chandrachud referred to how the ExternalAff��airs Minister had goneabroad for a dialogue on vaccines. “It shows the seriousness of the situation,” JusticeChandrachud said.

At one point, Mr. Mehtaexpressed his concern abouthaving to trouble JusticeChandrachud, who has justrecovered from COVID19.

“The interest of the nationcomes fi��rst, my healthcomes later,” Justice Chandrachud replied.

Justice Chandrachud, toset the record straight withthe Centre, said “We are notgoing to run the Central government or make policy foryou. This is a platform fordialogue across the spectrum… The idea is not to criticise but to strengthen thearms of the government”.

Policy should be clear, fl��exible: SCBench tells govt. that the pandemic cannot be fought in an ad hoc manner


NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the government to“please wake up and smellthe coff��ee” about the digitaldivide hampering vaccine access in the country.

A threejudge Bench ledby Justice D.Y. Chandrachudhighlighted the farfetchedness of an illiterate villager

from rural India crossing the“digital divide” to register forCOVID19 vaccination on theCoWin portal where slots disappear in the blink of an eye.Justice Chandrachud said thegovernment should be awareof the ground realities in‘Digital India’. Vaccinationpolicy today is entirely exclusionary of the rural areas, thecourt said.

One of the judges on theBench, Justice S. RavindraBhat said he had receiveddistress calls from across thecountry from people unableto register on CoWin. Thecourt asked why the marginalised section should not betreated on par with peoplehaving comorbities for earlyvaccination.

On the diff��erence in prices

for procurement betweenthe Centre and States, JusticeChandrachud said, “Article 1of the Constitution says Bharat is a Union of States. Whenthe Constitution says that,we will follow the federalrule. Then the Governmentof India has to wholly procure the vaccines and distribute them. Here, individualStates are left in a lurch…”

SC fl��ags digital divide in vaccine accessLegal Correspondent

New Delhi

More than 1.75 crore COVIDvaccine doses are still available with the States and Union Territories, the HealthMinistry claimed in a releaseon Monday, adding thatmore than 2.73 lakh(2,73,970) vaccine doses arein the pipeline and will bereceived by the States andUnion Territories within thenext three days.

“The Central governmenthas so far provided, boththrough the free of cost category and through directState procurement category,more than 23 crore vaccinedoses (23,11,68,480) toStates and Union Territories.Of this, the total consumption, including wastages is21,22,38,652 doses (as perdata available at 8 a.m. today),” it said.

Health Secretary RajeshBhushan also chaired a review meeting through videoconferencing with administrators from States and Union Territories on the progress of vaccination, on

Monday. At the meeting Mr.Bhushan noted that there isa substantial scope to accelerate the pace of vaccination

further amid reports fromseveral States of vaccineshortage. He said production was being scaled up.

1.75 crore vaccine doses areavailable with States: CentreSpecial Correspondent

NEW DELHI

A family in Sant Kabir Nagarof eastern Uttar Pradeshused an earthmover to transport the body of a relativewho had died after testingpositive for COVID19 for burial. A video of the incidentwas widely shared on socialmedia.

The COVID19 victim’sson said that his father diedat home in their village aftertesting positive in a hospital

in Gorakhpur.“We thought this how it is

being done everywhere. Wedid not have any information,” he told journalistswhen asked why they usedan earthmover to carry thebody and dump it in a pit.

Village pradhan Triyoganand Gautam said he had offered to take the body forcremation. “But when hisown children did not touch[the body], we withdrew,”he said.

COVID victim was from a village in U.P.


LUCKNOW

Hard choices: The earthmover that was used to carry thebody of the COVID-19 victim in Sant Kabir Nagar, U.P.

Family uses excavatorto shift body for burial

‘Govt. mismanagementhas made people poorer’NEW DELHI

Former Congress president

Rahul Gandhi on Monday

took a swipe at Prime

Minister Narendra Modi,

flagging a report that

lockdowns during the second

wave of COVID-19 had made

97% of Indians poorer. “One

man and his arrogance + One

virus and its mutants,” he

posted on Twitter.

IN BRIEF

25 cr. doses per month tobe available from AugustNEW DELHI

With the ramping up of

production, nearly 25 crore

‘Made in India’ vaccines for

COVID-19 are expected to be

available every month by

August. This would go a long

way in meeting the target of

vaccinating one crore people

daily, said N. K. Arora,

Chairman of the COVID-19

working group under the

National Technical Advisory

Group on Immunisation.

Vaccine fiasco leavesstudents fuming MUMBAI

Hundreds of students, who

thronged the HBT Medical

College and Dr. RN Cooper

Municipal General Hospital in

Mumbai on Monday after

Cabinet Minister Aaditya

Thackeray tweeted that free

walk-in vaccinations would be

available for students going

abroad, returned

disappointed as only 50 vials

were available. Dean of

Cooper Hospital, Dr. Pinakin

Gujjur, said chaos reigned

because of no registration.

At the current pace of vaccination, it could be eightmonths before every adultIndian gets at least one shotof vaccine, backoftheenvelope calculations from thegovernment’s portal CoWinsuggest. About 16.7 crorefi��rst doses have been administered till Monday.

The Centre expects to inoculate 94.4 crore adults, according to a note last weekby R.S. Sharma, Chairman ofthe technical committee thatoversees the portal. SeveralCabinet Ministers and policyadvisers, spearheading India’s COVID vaccinationcampaign, have claimed thatIndia will inoculate “all eligible” by December. Thesestatements do not specify ifthat refers to just all adults,or the number of dosesadministered.

Last week, India administered 30 lakh doses a day onconsecutive days — after over 45 days when fewer than20 lakh doses were given every day. Assuming that pacewere to continue, it wouldtake 256 days, or over eightmonths, to complete the targeted number of adults.

The recommended vaccination protocol is to administer two doses at least fourto 16 weeks apart dependingon the vaccine administered. Given that only 4.4crore second doses havebeen administered and the

daily pace of second doses —for most of last month — hasbeen about 10% of that of thefi��rst dose (on May 29, 27 lakhfi��rst doses were administered to 3 lakh second doses), it could theoretically beyears before all those over 18get their second doses.

Jabs for allDespite opening vaccinationfor all adults, there were fewer doses administered inMay — around six crore — asopposed to 7.7 crore dosesadministered in April.

The Health Ministry saidon Sunday that close to 8crore doses were available inMay (counting wastage andstocks with States) and that12 crore will be available inJune for the Centre, theStates and private hospitals.

India hit a highpoint ofadministering 45 lakh dosesa day on April 5 after whichthe pace has declined.

Experts say that India has

the capacity to administer100 lakh shots a day. Thatworks out to about 2530crore vaccines being supplied a month.

“Drawing on our capacityof at least a 1,50,000 support staff�� (auxiliary nursingmidwife), we have been ableto administer polio drops toat least 30 million childrenwithin days,” said SujathaRao, former Health Secretary. “However the problemwe face [with COVID vaccines] is that there isn’t certainty on the supply.”

Chandrakant Lahariya,epidemiologist and formerconsultant to the WorldHealth Organisation, saidthat until at least Octoberthere would be supply constraints. “It would be quitelikely that India would moveto a single shot vaccine administration policy. 100 lakha day is doable, but we alsohave to account for people’sreceptiveness in the future.”

Yearend deadline forfull vaccination tightGovt. target of covering 94 crore adults hit by shortage

Jacob Koshy

NEW DELHI

Monthly update: Around 6 crore doses were administered inMay compared to 7.7 crore in April. * A.M. FARUQUI

India recorded 1,22,964 newCOVID19 cases and 2,743new deaths till 9.35 p.m. onMonday. The country has sofar reported a total of2,81,69,970 cases and3,31,871 deaths.

Tamil Nadu reported27,936 new infections, followed by Karnataka (16,604)and Maharashtra (15,077).Maharashtra recorded 500new casualties on the day,followed by Tamil Nadu(478) and Karnataka (411).Maharashtra’s fatalities include backlog deaths whichwere missed in the previousreports. The fi��gures do notinclude cases and deathsfrom Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh,Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tripura and Ladakh.The data are sourced fromthe respective States’ healthbulletins.

Only 16.83 lakh sampleswere tested in the country

on Sunday (the results forwhich were made availableon Monday), which is nearly3.81 lakh fewer tests thanthose conducted on Saturday. It is also 2.45 lakh lesstests than those conductedon the previous Sunday(May 23). India’s average daily test positivity rate (positive cases identifi��ed for every 100 tests) continues todecline. It was 9% on May 30

compared to 12.7% recordeda week before.

About 10.18 lakh vaccinedoses were administered inthe country in the 24 hoursending 7 a.m. on Monday,which is 20.18 lakh dosesfewer than that of the previous 24 hours. However, itis around 75,000 more doses than what was recordedduring the same period aweek ago.

Daily test positivity rate dipsto 9% from 12.7% a week ago16.83 lakh samples were analysed in the country on Sunday


Chennai

India can be looking atinitiating trials forinterchangeability ofdiff��erent COVID19 vaccinesfor use to enhance theeffi��ciency of vaccines andoff��er longer protection, saida senior health offi��cial onMonday.

Speaking about thepossibility of a mixed doseregime trial, NITI Aayogmember (Health) V.K. Paulsaid: “There is growingscientifi��c interest in thematter worldwide andIndia too should look into it.This is a biologicalplausibility and if proveneff��ective it could go a long

way in enhancing fastercoverage and acting as abetter booster dose that canbe off��ered for use.”

N.K. Arora, chairpersonof the Working Group of theNational Technical AdvisoryGroup on Immunisation,said vaccines were nevermixed.

“Doses of diff��erentvaccine brands areadministered as separatedoses to complete theschedule. Purpose isimproved immuneeff��ectiveness, safety andprogrammatic convenience.This is also calledinterchangeability. There isno talk of single dose forany vaccine,” he said.

‘India can look at plan forvaccine interchangeability’Bindu Shajan Perappadan

New Delhi

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THE HINDU DELHI


China will for the fi��rst timeallow couples to have a thirdchild, the country’s government said on Monday, in afurther relaxation of familyplanning rules fi��ve years after a “twochild policy” largely failed to boost birthrates. The announcementfollowed a meeting of the 25member Politburo, chairedby China’s President andCommunist Party of ChinaGeneral Secretary Xi Jinping,“to hear reports on majorpolicy measures to activelyaddress the ageing of population during the 14th FiveYear Plan period (20212025)”, State media said.

The change comes lessthan three weeks after therelease of China’s onceinadecade population censusthat painted an alarming picture of declining births. TheNational Bureau of Statisticssaid on May 11 that 12 millionbabies were born last year,the lowest number since1961, a time when Mao’s China was in the midst of a fouryear famine, and down from17.86 million in 2016.

The census said China’spopulation was 1.41 billion in2020, an increase of 72 mil

lion since the last census in2010, refl��ecting a 5.38%growth in this period and a0.53% annual growth. Forecasts say the populationcould peak in the next couple of years and most likelyby 2025, when India will become the world’s most populous country.

Dire situation

Some Chinese demographers said the announcement on Monday, coming sosoon after the census, suggested the situation could bemore dire than the offi��cialnumbers indicated. “Maybeit’s because the real population data is too scary,” YiFuxian, a demographer, told

the South China MorningPost (SCMP). “Even if theyhave not published it, itprobably frightened the decision makers.”

The census recorded 264million in the age group of60 and over, up 5.44% since2010 and accounting for18.70% of the population.Those in the 1559 age groupwere 894 million persons,down by 6.79% since 2010and accounting for 63.35% ofthe population. China’sworkforce in the 1559 agebracket peaked at 925 million in 2011, according to theMinistry of Human Resources and Social Security saidpreviously. That number wasdown to 894 million in this

census and would drop to700 million by 2050.

Huang Wenzheng, a fellow at the Center for Chinaand Globalisation, in Beijing,told offi��cial broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN) following therelease of the census that theageing crisis “might be thebiggest challenge the Chinese nation faces in the nextcentury.” It is, however, unclear if the new announcement may address the problem, at least if the past fi��veyears are any indication. China introduced a “two childpolicy” in 2016, but the wideconsensus is that it failed tohave the desired impact.Surveys carried out by Chinese media attributed fi��nancial pressures as one mainreason. A 2015 survey by thegovernment said 70% of respondents attributed fi��nancial reasons for choosing tonot have many children.

An online poll on Mondayof 31,000 respondents conducted by the offi��cial Xinhuanews agency found 28,000“would not consider at all”having three children, while1,600 said they would, theSCMP reported. The poll wassubsequently removed, thenewspaper said.

As births decline, China to allowcouples to have third child Decision comes after the ‘twochild policy’ largely failed to boost birth rates

Ananth Krishnan

Fun time: A woman playing with her child at Wukesongshopping district in Beijing. * AFP

The U.S. spied on top politicians in Europe, includingGerman Chancellor AngelaMerkel, from 2012 to 2014with the help of Danish intelligence, Danish and European media reported onSunday.

Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR)said the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had eavesdropped on Danish Internetcables to spy on top politicians and highranking offi��cials in Germany, Sweden,Norway and France.

The NSA had taken advantage of a surveillance collaboration with Denmark’s military intelligence unit FE todo so, it said.

Denmark’s Defence Ministry has not responded toAFP’s requests for acomment.

Defence Minister TrineBramsen, who took over thedefence portfolio in June2019, was informed of thespying in August 2020, according to DR. She told thebroadcaster that “systematiceavesdropping of close alliesis unacceptable”.

It was not clear whetherDenmark authorised theU.S. to use its surveillance

system to spy on its neighbours. DR revealed the information following an investigation it led together withSwedish broadcaster SVT,Norway’s NRK, Germany’sNDR, WDR and SuddeutscheZeitung, and France’s LeMonde.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, thenForeign Minister FrankWalter Steinmeier and thenOppositionleader Peer Steinbruck wereamong those the NSA hadspied on, DR said.

The NSA was able to access SMS text messages, telephone calls, and Internettraffi��c, including searches,chats and messaging services, DR said. The spying wasdetailed in a secret, internalFE working group report codenamed “Operation Dunhammer” and presented to

FE top management in May2015, DR said.

DR said its informationcame from nine diff��erentsources who had access toclassifi��ed FE information,and said their revelationswere independently confi��rmed by several sources.

Neither the FE nor its director at the time, Lars Findsen, commented immediately on the revelations.

Snowden aff��air

The U.S. spying, if confi��rmed, was going on duringand after the 2013 Snowdenaff��air, which erupted whenformer NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealedthousands of classifi��ed documents exposing the vast U.S.surveillance put in place after the September 11, 2001attacks.

Among other things, thatdocuments showed the U.S.government was spying onits own citizens and carryingout widespread tappingworldwide, including ofChancellor Angela Merkel’smobile phone.

In November 2020, DR reported that the U.S. hadused the Danish cables tospy on Danish and Europeandefence industries from2012 to 2015.

U.S. spied on Merkel, Europeanallies with Danish help: mediaNSA eavesdropped on Internet cables from 2012 to 2014

Agence France-Presse

Copenhagen

Angela Merkel

A Pakistani television station on Monday removed aprominent journalist ashost of a popular talk showafter he criticised the country’s powerful military.

The development comesjust days after the journalist, Hamid Mir, made a fi��ery speech at a rally in support of a fellow reporter,Asad Ali Toor, who wasbeaten up by three unidentifi��ed men in his apartmentin Islamabad. Mr. Toor later told the police his attackers claimed that theywere from the ISI.

Geo News TV did notcomment on the changesregarding its “Capital Talk”programme, in which Mr.Mir would debate currentevents in the country. Mr.Mir tweeted it was nothingnew. “I was banned twicein the past,” said Mr. Mir,who had in the past beenfi��red by Geo News.

Pak. talk showhost slamsArmy, ousted

Associated Press

Islamabad

Iran’s Foreign Ministry saidon Monday that the Islamicrepublic is continuing talkswith regional rival SaudiArabia in a “good atmosphere,” in the hope of reachinga “commonunderstanding”.

Media reports last monthrevealed that Iranian andSaudi offi��cials met in Baghdad in April, their fi��rst highlevel meeting since Riyadhcut diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2016.

“Talks are still continuingin a good atmosphere,” Ministry spokesman SaeedKhatibzadeh said at a pressconference. “We hope thesetalks can achieve a commonunderstanding betweenIran and Saudi Arabia,” headded.

Ties between the twocountries were cut in 2016after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomaticmissions following the kingdom’s execution of a revered Shia cleric.

The talks in Baghdad, facilitated by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa alKadhemi,remained secret until the Fi-nancial Times reported thata fi��rst meeting was held onApril 9.

Mr. Khatibzadeh confi��rmed the talks on May 10,saying their purpose was“both bilateral and regional”, but stressed it was “toosoon” to disclose any details. “Deescalation and (establishing) ties between twogreat Islamic countries inthe Persian Gulf region is tothe benefi��t of both nations,”he said at the time.

Saudi talks under way in‘good atmosphere’: Iran ‘Aim to reach common understanding’


Tehran

Israeli Opposition leaderYair Lapid on Monday saidmany obstacles remain before a diverse coalition canbe built to oust veteranPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu but voiced hopeit will achieve the “greatergoal”.

Mr. Lapid, a secular centrist, has been locked intalks with the rightwing nationalist Naftali Bennett onthe terms of a “change alliance” that also hinges onan array of other partiesahead of a Wednesday midnight deadline.

Former TV anchor Mr. Lapid’s chances of success rose

when tech millionaire Mr.Bennett, despite their ideological diff��erences, said onSunday he would join a “national unity government” inwhich the two men wouldtake turns to serve aspremier.

Israel’s latest political turmoil comes more than twomonths after Israel’s fourthinconclusive election in lessthan two years and couldtopple the rightwing leaderknown as Bibi who has ruledfor a total of 15 years. It also

follows Israel’s bloody 11dayconfl��ict with Islamist groupHamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza that endedwith a May 21 ceasefi��re.

A viable antiNetanyahucoalition would still need thesupport of other parties andlawmakers to gain a majorityof 61 seats in the 120member Knesset, Israel’s legislature. But while Mr. Lapidwarned of remaining hurdles, he also sought to strikea cautiously upbeat note.

“We’ll have to overcomethem together,” he toldmembers of his Yesh Atid(There is a Future) party.“That’s our fi��rst test — to seeif we can fi��nd smart compromises in the coming days toachieve the greater goal.”

Mr. Netanyahu warned onSunday that a leftwing government would be “dangerous to the state of Israel”.

‘Many obstacles’ remain in bidto oust Netanyahu, says LapidHe, however,hopes to achieve‘greater goal’Agence France-Presse

Jerusalem

Yair Lapid

The Bangladesh policehave arrested a notoriouspoacher wanted for 20years and believed to havekilled around 70 endangered Bengal tigers.

Local police chief SaidurRahman said Habib Talukder — nicknamed “TigerHabib” — lived next to theforest and would fl��ee whenever offi��cers raided thearea. “Acting on a tipoff��,we fi��nally succeeded andsent him to jail,” he said.

Talukder’s huntingground was the vast Sunderbans mangrove forestregion straddling India andBangladesh.

“He’s a dangerous manwho could fi��ght alone withMama (tiger) inside the forest,” said local honey hunter Abdus Salam.

Tiger poacherwanted for 20years arrested


Dhaka

Singapore will start vaccinating schoolchildrenagainst the coronavirussoon, the Prime Ministersaid on Monday, after offi��cials warned that newstrains were aff��ectingyoungsters more.

The citystate, with a population of 5.7 million, recently tightened curbs following a slight uptick incases, after months of reporting barely any local cases. This included closingschools amid signs that newvariants, such as the onefi��rst detected in India, wereaff��ecting children in greaternumbers.

In a televised speech,Prime Minister Lee HsienLoong announced thatschool students aged 12 and

over will be the next groupto be inoculated. Health regulators approved the Pfi��zer/BioNTech vaccine for 12 to15yearolds this month. Itwas previously only allowedfor those aged 16 and above.

“In this latest outbreak,we have seen more cases ofchildren getting infected, inschools and tuitioncentres,” Mr. Lee said. “Thechildren were not seriouslyill, but parents are naturallyworried. Therefore, we willtake advantage of the Juneholidays to vaccinatestudents.”

The city’s more than4,00,000 students can startbooking vaccinations fromTuesday, with the fi��rst slotsavailable on Thursday, offi��cials said. After schoolchildren, offi��cials will inoculateadults 39 years and younger.

Singapore to vaccinateschoolchildren soonPfi��zer vaccine to be administered


Singapore

Democrats in the Texas legislature used a dramaticwalkout late on Sunday totorpedo Republican plansfor a restrictive voting Billthat President Joe Biden haddecried as voter suppressionand an “assault ondemocracy”.

The law would — amongother changes — make mailin voting more diffi��cult by requiring voters to give extra

information, bar local offi��cials from sending absenteeballot applications toanyone who did not requestone, and end afterhoursand drivethrough voting.

Supporters say Senate Bill7 is designed to make votingmore secure, but critics sayit aims to make it more cumbersome for ethnicminorityvoters, who tend to vote Democrat. “Republicans cameinto the legislative sessionhellbent on passing legisla

tion that would rig our democracy for their team,” Democrat state representativeJessica Gonzalez tweeted after the walkout. “Tonight,Texas Dems drew a line inthe sand and made it clearthat we will fi��ght day andnight, every tactic availableto us, for your right to vote.”

The Bill could yet make itinto law. Texas GovernorGreg Abbott said he wouldcall a special session to get itthrough the legislature.

Democrat walk-out scuppersBill for Texas vote overhaulBiden had decried it as an attempt at voter suppression


Austin

Several thousand Rohingyastaged “unruly” protests onMonday against living conditions on a cycloneprone island off�� Bangladesh wherethey were moved from vastcamps on the mainland, thepolice said.

Since December, Bangladesh has shifted 18,000 outof a planned 1,00,000 refugees to the lowlying silt island of Bhashan Char fromthe Cox’s Bazar region,where around 8,50,000 people live in squalid and

cramped conditions.Monday’s protest in

volved up to 4,000 people,the police said, and coincided with an inspection visitby offi��cials from the UnitedNations refugee agency. Aninternational rights activistsaid several protesters wereinjured in police action.

A UNHCR spokespersonsaid the delegation was ableto meet with a large group ofrefugees and to listen to thevarious issues that theyraised, which the delegationwill further discuss with theBangladesh authorities.

Thousands of Rohingyaprotest at Bhashan CharThey complain about living conditions


Dhaka

Sri Lanka questions crew of burning shipNEGOMBO

Sri Lankan investigators

began questioning the crew

of a burning cargo ship on

Monday, as the Singapore-

registered MV X-Press Pearl

smouldered for a 12th

straight day in one of the

island’s worst-ever marine

ecological disasters.

Detectives interviewed the

vessel’s skipper and chief

engineer — both Russians —

and its chief officer, an

Indian, the police said. AFP

ELSEWHERE

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BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU


NIFTY 50

PRICE CHANGE

Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 769.55. . . . . . . . -6.60

Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2977.50. . . . . . . 36.80

Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 750.70. . . . . . . 10.85

Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 4192.80. . . . . . . . -6.70

Bajaj Finserv. . . . . . . . . . .. 11806.30. . . . . . . 93.10

Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 5627.95. . . . . . . 17.20

Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 534.90. . . . . . . 11.30

BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 472.00. . . . . . . . . 0.50

Britannia Ind . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3447.85. . . . . . . 24.40

Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 949.35. . . . . . . 15.00

Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 147.70. . . . . . . . . 0.80

Divis Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 4194.00. . . . . . . 73.75

Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 5309.15. . . . . 114.60

Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. . . . 2676.15. . . . . . . 37.70

Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1471.20. . . . . . . . . 5.75

HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 945.20. . . . . . . . . 2.65

HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2552.85. . . . . . . 11.50

HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1515.85. . . . . . . 12.40

HDFC Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 665.90. . . . . . . . -3.05

Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3007.50. . . . . . . 15.95

Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 394.25. . . . . . . . . 6.50

Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2340.05. . . . . . . 18.35

ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 662.75. . . . . . . 19.70

IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1013.00. . . . . . . . -6.35

Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1393.75. . . . . . -11.30

Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 109.25. . . . . . . . -0.60

ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 216.60. . . . . . . . . 3.70

JSW Steel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 710.90. . . . . . . 21.10

Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1807.70. . . . . . . . . 6.95

L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1467.70. . . . . . -10.40

M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 807.95. . . . . . -37.90

Maruti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7086.30. . . . . 116.30

Nestle India Ltd. . . . .. 17695.55. . . . . 186.15

NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 110.50. . . . . . . . . 1.55

ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 113.65. . . . . . . . . 1.30

PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 225.65. . . . . . . . . 0.20

Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2160.30. . . . . . . 65.50

SBI Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 975.65. . . . . . . . -1.20

State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 424.35. . . . . . . . . 2.30

Shree Cement . . . . . . . .. 27578.00. . . . . . -77.10

Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 668.30. . . . . . . . -1.45

Tata Consumer

Products Ltd. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 663.85. . . . . . . . . 8.90

Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 318.75. . . . . . . . . 0.00

Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1125.65. . . . . . . 22.15

TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3159.15. . . . . . . 15.55

Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . 1021.65. . . . . . . . -4.60

Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1596.25. . . . . . . 19.25

UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 6708.00. . . . . 109.50

UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 815.10. . . . . . . . . 3.40

Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 539.05. . . . . . . . . 0.35

EXCHANGE RATESIndicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on May 31

CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 72.41. . . . . . . 72.73

Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 88.25. . . . . . . 88.66

British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .102.62. . . . 103.11

Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 66.00. . . . . . . 66.32

Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 11.36. . . . . . . 11.41

Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 80.37. . . . . . . 80.74

Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 54.73. . . . . . . 54.99

Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 59.97. . . . . . . 60.26

Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 17.55. . . . . . . 17.64

Source:Indian Bank

market watch

31-05-2021 % CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddddd51937 ddddddddddddddd1.00

US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 72.62 ddddddddddddd-0.23

Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd48608 ddddddddddddddd1.45

Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 69.54 ddddddddddddd-0.28

The economic impact of thesecond wave of the COVID19pandemic may not be verylarge at this point but curbing the pandemic throughswift vaccination and strictCOVID19 protocols is imperative to revive economic activity, Chief Economic Adviser K.V. Subramanian said onMonday.

“Vaccination is importantfor the health of the peopleas well as the health of theeconomy… The economicimpact is inextricably linkedto the overall pandemic itself. The economy had recovered very well by March butthen the second wave hasmoderated the momentum,”he said during a briefi��ng onthe state of the economy.

While the spate of lockdowns across States is begin

ning to hurt the economy,the second wave of the COVID19 pandemic has peakedin early May and the restrictions imposed so far havebeen ‘asynchronous and he

terogenous’ and hence thedecline is not likely to be asbad as last year, the CEAsaid.

“There has been an internal assessment on the costs

of the restrictions... Whetheror not it (growth) will be indouble digits or single digits,there is uncertainty. Some ofthe scientists are talkingabout the possibility of athird wave – we don’t knowwhen it will be and what willbe the impact. It would bespeculative to tell you exactnumbers,” Mr. Subramaniansaid, terming the EconomicSurvey and Budget’s GDPgrowth estimates for 202122(11% and about 10.5%, respectively) as ‘conservative’.

‘Immense uncertainty’“The caveat with everythingrelated to the pandemic, isthat estimates are subject toimmense uncertainty giventhat the trajectory of thepandemic has been hard topredict even for epidemiologists,” Mr. Subramanianpointed out.

He said he expected manufacturing to do well thisyear, and noncontactintensive services will also see anenhanced demand due tothe feedback eff��ects frommanufacturing.

“For contactsensitive services sectors to come back...,will depend on the path ofthe vaccination itself,” hesaid.

‘Impact of restrictions’Referring to the moderationin several indicators over thepast month, the Chief Economic Adviser said: “Clearly,the restrictions imposed bythe States have had some impact, but as the wave seemsto be on the decline, we doanticipate that these restrictions will progressively reduce and later be removed,which may help in bringingback economic activity.”

‘Vaccination key to health of economy’Economic impact due to spate of lockdowns across States not likely to be as bad as last year, says CEA


NEW DELHI

Vial of hope: The CEA says he expects the manufacturingsector to do well this year. * MURALI KUMAR K

India recorded a fi��scal defi��cit of 9.2% of GDP in 202021, narrower than the revised estimate of 9.5%, asper data from the ControllerGeneral of Accounts (CGA)and offi��cial GDP fi��gures released on Monday.

Total revenue receiptswere about ₹��88,000 crorehigher than estimated, driven largely by higher exciseand customs collections,while total expenditure was₹��61,000 crore more thanthe revised estimate, according to CARE Ratingschief economist Madan Sabnavis. The CGA projectedthe revenue defi��cit at 7.42%of GDP, which had been assumed at ₹��194.82 lakh crorein the Union Budget.

Budget 202021, presented before the COVID19 lockdowns, had set a fi��scal defi��cit target of 3.5% of GDP.

The slightly betterthanexpected fi��scal performance doesn’t necessarilybode well for this year’s fi��scal pressures, the ReserveBank of India’s signifi��cantlyhigherthananticipated dividend of ₹��99,000oddcrore notwithstanding,opine economists. The government has set a target toreduce the fi��scal defi��cit thisyear to 6.8%.

Mr. Sabnavis pointed outthat the higherthanestimated expenditure in 202021 was actually driven byhigher revenue expenditureof ₹��75,000 crore.

“Interestingly, capex wascut by ₹��14,000 crore. Expenditure control will beimportant for FY22, as pressures will be there on tax revenue due to lockdowns,while nontax receipts willbe higher due to RBI transfer of ₹��99,000 crore thisyear,” he said.

ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar attributed the spurt

in revenue spending to therelease of food subsidies,but higherthananticipatedtax revenues helped curtailthe defi��cit to ₹��18.2 lakhcrore from the estimated₹��18.5 lakh crore.

‘Relief for bond market’“This will come as a relief tothe bond market… At thisstage, there is a modest riskthat the GoI’s fi��scal defi��cit inFY22 will be higher thanbudgeted (₹��15.1 lakh crore),especially on account ofshortfalls in disinvestmentreceipts, and higherthanbudgeted expenditure. Accordingly, the space for a fi��scal stimulus appears to be limited and would need to becarefully targeted,” she said.

The second wave of COVID19, Ms. Nayar said,could delay some marqueedisinvestment plans, posingthe biggest risk to budgetedreceipts this year.

While tax receipts wouldbe aff��ected due to the anticipation of a prolonged second wave impact on sentiment, the Centre may haveto keep spending to prop updemand via a combinationof free foodgrains, cashtransfers and higherMGNREGA outlays, she said.

“An eventual cut in cesses on fuels, which woulddampen excise collections,can't be ruled out, given recordhigh retail fuel prices,”she said, adding that theCentre would also need tohasten vaccine availability.

Fiscal defi��cit narrowerthan forecast at 9.2%Customs, excise receipts lift revenue


NEW DELHI

The board of One97 Communications, the parentfi��rm of Paytm, has given inprinciple approval for the$3billion (almost ₹��22,000crore) initial public off��er(IPO), sources said.

“The board has given inprinciple approval for theIPO,” a source said.

“The company expectsto raise about ₹��21,000₹��22,000 crore,” the sourcesaid, adding it was eyeingOctoberDecember quarterfor the IPO.

As per a note by investment research fi��rm Bernstein, Paytm was on trackto break even in 1218months and the revenuebase may double by FY23to $1 billion.

It’s biggest shareholdersinclude Alibaba’s AntGroup (29.7%) and Softbank Vision Fund (19.6%).

Board agreesto Paytm’s $3bn IPO plan


NEW DELHI

Pluto Investments S.a.r.l.,an affi��liated entity of CarlyleAsia Partners IV, LP and Carlyle Asia Partners V, LP willinvest up to ₹��3,185 crore inPNB Housing Finance Ltd.

The fi��rm would make apreferential allotment ofequity shares and warrantsat ₹��390 per share.

This follows an approvalby PNB Housing Finance’sboard to raise of up to₹��4,000 crore from investorsled by a group of entities affi��liated with The CarlyleGroup Inc.

Existing shareholdersPNB Housing Finance, fundsmanaged by Ares SSG andGeneral Atlantic are alsoparticipating. PNB will continue to be the promoterand a key stakeholder inPNB Housing Finance.

The proposed transac

tion will trigger an open off��er by Pluto InvestmentsS.a.r.l. for the purchase ofup to 26% stake in PNBHousing Finance from public shareholders.

Salisbury Investments,the family investment vehicle of exHDFC Bank CEOand MD Aditya Puri, wouldalso invest. “The key objective of raising capital is toaugment capital adequacy,reduce gearing and accelerate growth,” PNB HousingFinance said in a fi��ling.

Carlyle to invest ₹��3,185 cr.in PNB Housing FinanceDeal to trigger open off��er for 26% stake


MUMBAI

The output of eight core sectors jumped by 56.1% inApril mainly due to a lowbase eff��ect and uptick inproduction of natural gas,refi��nery products, steel, cement and electricity, offi��cialdata showed on Monday.

The eight infrastructuresectors of coal, crude oil,natural gas, refi��nery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity hadcontracted by 37.9% in April2020 due to the national COVID19 lockdown.

Production of naturalgas, refi��nery products, steel,cement and electricityjumped by 25%, 30.9%,400%, 548.8% and 38.7% inApril, as against () 19.9%, ()

24.2%, () 82.8%, () 85.2%and () 22.9% in April 2020.

“The improvement wasfairly broadbased, with anexpected spike in thegrowth of cement and steelproduction, although bothlagged our projections suggesting some impact of theregional lockdowns on activity,” said ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar.

April core sector outputjumps 56.1%, base buoysCement, steel hint at lockdown impact


New Delhi

Aurobindo Pharma hasposted a 7% drop in consolidated net profi��t to ₹��801.2crore for the quarter endedMarch on the back of lowerrevenue from operations.

Total revenue from operations dipped 2.5% to₹��6,001.5 crore. For FY21,net profi��t surged to₹��5,333.8 crore. Excludingexceptional items (net oftax), the net profi��t rose10.5%. Since the Natrol unitwas divested in FY21, theprofi��t was not comparable.

Total revenue from operations in FY21 rose 7.3%to ₹��24,774.6 crore.

The company ended thefi��scal with a steady growthin a dynamic environmentaff��ected by the pandemic,said N. Govindarajan, MD.

Aurobindo Q4net slips 7% onlower revenue


HYDERABAD

TVS Motor opens ‘3S’showroom in Baghdad CHENNAI

TVS Motor Companyannounced the opening of a3S (sales, service and sparessupport) showroom inBaghdad with its distributionpartner Ritaj InternationalGeneral Trade LLC. Theshowroom will host a widerange of two-wheelers,three-wheelers, spare partsand a service facility, it said.

IN BRIEF

Ex-Myntra CEO’s MensaBrands raises $50 mn BENGALURU

Mensa Brands, established byformer Myntra CEO AnanthNarayanan, has raised $50million in a combination ofdebt and equity. The Series Around was led by AccelPartners and NorwestVenture Partners. Angelinvestors including MukeshBansal, Kunal Shah and RahulMehta were also part of it.Mensa, which aims to createa technology-led ‘House ofBrands’ for e-commerce, hasthe mandate to acquire over50 brands across categories,including home and apparel,in the next three years.

The worsening conditionsand muted nearterm expectations due to the secondwave of COVID19 have led toa “sharp deterioration” inoverall business confi��denceamong companies, a surveyby the Federation of IndianChambers of Commerce &Industry (FICCI) shows.

Participating fi��rms in the‘Business Confi��dence Survey’ “unanimously felt thatthe government must, fi��rstand foremost, focus on controlling COVID cases” andthat only a massive vaccination drive could decouple India’s economy from anotherpandemicinduced shock.

Also, they stressed on theneed for another fi��scal package, focussed on addressingthe demand side, along withemploymentbased incentives to avert any job losses.

The ‘Overall BusinessConfi��dence Index’ nosedived to 51.5 after reportinga decadal high value of 74.2in the previous round of thesurvey released in March2021, the industry body said.

About 70% participantsreported weak demand conditions as a bothering factor

in the current survey compared with 56% in the previous round. The corresponding number last yearwas 77%.

“With household incomebeing severely impacted andpast savings already drawndown during the fi��rst waveof infections, demand conditions are expected to remainweak for longer this timearound.”

It added that since a muchlarger proportion of thepopulation has been impacted in the current wave, therehad been permanent impairment to income for manyhouseholds which had facedjob losses or had lost breadwinners to COVID19.

Sharp deterioration in overallbusiness confi��dence: FICCISurvey respondents seek fi��scal package to spur demand


NEW DELHI <> Demand

conditions are

expected to

remain weak for

longer this time

Nonfood bank credit grewat 5.7% in April as against6.7% in the yearagomonth, RBI data showed.

The growth in advancesto agriculture and allied activities accelerated to 11.3%in April as compared with a4.7% growth in April 2020,the data on Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit –April 2021, released by theRBI on Monday, showed.

Credit growth to industry decelerated to 0.4% inApril from 1.7%. However,credit to medium industries registered a robustgrowth of 43.8% in April ascompared to a contractionof 6.4% a year ago. Personal loans registered an accelerated growth of 12.6%in April compared to 12.3%.

‘Nonfoodbank creditgrowth slows’PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

MUMBAI

Intel Corp‘s CEO said onMonday it could take severalyears for a global shortageof semiconductors to be resolved, a problem that hasshuttered some auto production lines and is also being felt in other areas, including consumerelectronics.

Pat Gelsinger told a virtual session of the Computex tradeshow in Taipei thatthe workandstudyfromhome trend during the COVID19 pandemic had led toa “cycle of explosive growthin semiconductors” that hasplaced huge strain on globalsupply chains.

“But while the industryhas taken steps to addressnearterm constraints it

could still take a couple ofyears for the ecosystem toaddress shortages of foundry capacity, substrates andcomponents.”

Intel announced a $20billion plan in March to expand its advanced chip manufacturing capacity, building two factories in Arizonaand opening its plants tooutside customers.

‘Chip supply shortagescould last several years’WFH triggered explosive growth: Intel

Reuters

TAIPEI

World No. 2 Naomi Osakaannounced her with

drawal from the FrenchOpen late on Monday.

The decision comes in thewake of the Grand SlamBoard threatening to defaulther if she continued to dodgeher media responsibilities.

"The best thing for thetournament, the otherplayers and my wellbeing isthat I withdraw," Osaka saidin a statement. "I never wanted to be a distraction and Iaccept my timing was not

ideal and my message couldhave been clearer.

"I have suff��ered long boutsof depression since the USOpen in 2018. Though thetennis press has always beenkind, I am not a natural public speaker.

"In Paris I was alreadyfeeling vulnerable. So Ithought it was better to skippress conferences. I do feelthe rules are quite outdatedin parts. [But] I am going totake some time away andwhen the time is right, Iwant to discuss ways we canmake things better."

Sports Bureau

Osaka withdraws from French Open

Stepping away: Osaka said she was pulling out so that theother players could concentrate on tennis. * GETTY IMAGES

CMYK

A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU DELHI


She may be the reigningFrench Open champion, butIga Swiatek said she had to"write some small topics" ofconversation down beforepractising with Rafael Nadalahead of her title defencethis week.

The Pole, who celebratedher 20th birthday with a 60,75 win over good friend KajaJuvan in the fi��rst round onMonday, practised with 13time Roland Garros winnerNadal for the fi��rst time.

"It was great. It wasn't a

surprise because I had toprepare," said Swiatek.

"Write some small topics,not to have awkward silence.But Rafa is really, reallygreat. He's a really nice guy.Even though I am pretty introverted, it was really funfor me.

"Obviously I got to feel hisforehand, which was great,and his topspin.

"That was a whole new experience for me. It gave me alot of positive energy. It wasreally a huge inspiration forme."


Paris

Unusual prep: Swiatek said she had to ‘write some small topics’of conversation down before practising with Nadal. * REUTERS

Swiatek starstruck before meeting Nadal

The International CricketCouncil Board is set to discuss on Tuesday the venueand fi��nalise the dates for theT20 World Cup, scheduledto be played inOctoberNovember.

UAE on stand-byAlthough the tournamentwas allotted to India, the recent surge in COVID19 casesin India has meant the ICCwill push the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) to move the tournament to the United ArabEmirates (UAE), the designated alternative venue forthe tournament.

The BCCI at a special general meeting on Saturday decided to seek a monthlongextension from ICC to fi��nalise the venue. Interestingly,the meeting resolved to res

chedule the remaining Indian Premier League in theUAE just before the T20World Cup.

While the BCCI will tryand justify the deadline extension with the COVID19cases on a decline and thetax exemption issue stillpending with the government, it will be interesting tosee whether the ICC agrees

to wait till its annual conference in July before makingthe call.

A BCCI contingent, led bysecretary Jay Shah, hasreached Dubai to discusswith the ICC and UAE offi��cials the issues regarding theT20 World Cup and the IPL.

Interestingly, the ICCBoard is also likely to discussthe possibility of postponing

the second cycle of theWorld Test Championship bytwo years. India is set to faceNew Zealand in the inaugural WTC fi��nal in Southampton from June 18.

Break for WTC?However, with the international calendar having become way too tight due tothe pandemic and the majority of members preferring toprioritise T20 leagues, theWTC may be forced to take atwoyear break, until theODI World Cup in 2023, before initiating the secondWTC cycle.

Since the ODI SuperLeague is in limbo due to COVID19 and three limitedovers world events to be heldin the next two years, theICC Board is likely to adhereto the members’ demands topush the next WTC cycleback by two years.

Crucial ICC Board meet to be held today T20 World Cup venue and dates may be fi��nalised

Amol Karhadkar

MUMBAI

BCCI secretary Jay Shah and treasurer Arun Dhumal are inDubai for the ICC Board meeting. * FILE PHOTOS

‘No NOC for Shakib,Mustafi��zur to play in IPL’DHAKA

Bangladesh players Shakib Al

Hasan, in pic, and Mustafizur

Rahman will not be given the

No Objection Certificate

(NOC) to play in the

remaining games of IPL, BCB

president Nazmul Hassan

said on Monday. PTI

IN BRIEF

Shahidi replaces Afghanas Afghanistan captainKABUL

The Afghanistan Cricket

Board has stripped Asghar

Afghan of the national team

captaincy, blaming him for

losing the Test against

Zimbabwe in March at Abu

Dhabi. Left-handed batsman

Hashmatullah Shahidi was

appointed new Test and ODI

captain while Rahmat Shah

will be Shahidi’s deputy in

both formats. Leg-spinner

Rashid Khan was named

vice-captain for T20Is. AP

Sanjeet shocked Rio Olympics silver medallist VassiliyLevit to win the 91kg title inthe Asian boxing championships here on Monday.

Sanjeet upset the Kazakhlegend, a fi��vetime Asian medallist, 41 to bag India’s lonegold medal in the men’s section.

Worlds silver medallistAmit Panghal (52kg) andformer Worlds bronze medallist Shiva Thapa (64kg)picked up silver medals aftersuff��ering narrow losses.

Sanjeet made good use ofhis left jabs and mixed thebody blows well to scoreagainst the experienced Kazakh who peppered the Indian with welldirected headshots.

In a battle of the southpaws, defending championPanghal was unlucky to loseto World and Olympic champion Zoirov Shakhobidin ofUzbekistan. Panghal lost 32despite dominating in thelast two rounds.

Protest not acceptedZoirov attacked and took thefi��rst round. Panghal executed some fi��ne left shots in the

second and made light of ableeding right eyebrow toland fi��ne combinations inthe fi��nal round only to meetwith disappointment.

India contested the decision of the second round ofthe 52kg bout, but the jurydid not accept the protest.

In an evenlycontestedfi��ght, Thapa fell to AsianGames silver medallist Baatarsukh Chinzorig of Mongolia 32.

The results (fi��nals): 52kg: AmitPanghal lost to Zoirov Shakho-bidin (Uzb) 3-2; 64kg: ShivaThapa lost to Baatarsukh Chin-zorig (Mgl) 3-2; 91kg: Sanjeetbt Vassiliy Levit (Kaz) 4-1.

Superb Sanjeet wins 91kg goldAmit Panghal dethroned; Shiva Thapa also gets silver

Sports Bureau

DUBAI

ASIAN BOXING

In the form of a heartfeltnote, India's star batter Jemimah Rodrigues has thankedthe previous generation ofwomen cricketers who laidthe foundation for the teamthat it has become today.

Jemimah wrote the noteafter the unveiling of theteam's white jersey for India'supcoming tour of England.

The jerseys were handedout to the team in Mumbai,where the players are currently in quarantine.

The 20yearold said during the event head coach Ramesh Powar showed thesquad the legacy of the Indian women's cricket team.

"So today (coach) Ramesh(Powar) sir called us for ateam meeting and showed usthe history we have of women's cricket in India — fromwhere it fi��rst started to whereit has reached today... Theone's who were before us

that made it possible for us tobe a part of what we are today," Jemimah said in an Instagram post.

"The one's who did it without the recognition they deserved, the one's whobrought women's cricket inIndia."

Jemimah also said veterancricketers Jhulan Goswami

and Mithali Raj shared theirexperiences of being part ofthe squad for a long time.

"Then the two legends ofIndian women's cricketMithu di and Jhulu di cameup and shared with the entire team what cricket hasmeant to them and what it'slike being a part of this Legacy."

Jemimah pens a heartfeltnote to women cricketersPress Trust of India

Mumbai

Epiphany: Jemimah Rodrigues thanked the previousgeneration of women cricketers who laid the foundation forthe team that it has become today. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The unexpected threeweek gap gave India’s topcricketers muchneededrest and the hotel quarantine period has been wellutilised to address the fi��tness areas which otherwise go untouched duringa season, team’s strengthand conditioning (S&C)coach Sohum Desai said onMonday.

Desai, along with NewZealand’s Nick Webb, arethe two S&C coaches of themen’s team and are incharge of getting the sideinto peak fi��tness before theWorld Test Championshipfi��nal in Southampton fromJune 18. “Nick and I feelthat we have benefi��ted bythe gap we got for the boysto take rest. They have hada long year,” said Desai.

The Indian team will depart for the UK on Tuesdaynight.

Quarantinewell utilised,says Desai

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI

Hugs, tears of joy and reliefmarked the occasion asAustralia's IPL contingentcomprising players, support staff�� and commentators on Monday reunitedwith their family membersafter serving a 14day hotelquarantine here.

The 38 Australians landed in the country twoweeks ago after a stopoverin Maldives due to travelban from India.

The highlight of the daywas fast bowler Pat Cummins reuniting with hispregnant partner BeckyBoston, a video of whichwas uploaded on Twitter .

Besides Cummins, SteveSmith, Glenn Maxwell andDavid Warner were amongthose who fi��nally embraced their loved ones after nearly eight weeksaway from home.

Aussie IPLplayers reunitewith familiesPress Trust of India

Sydney

Roger Federer marked hisreturn to the French Openwith a straight sets victoryover Uzbekistan qualifi��er Denis Istomin on Monday.

The 39yearold Federer,champion in Paris in 2009but playing the event for only the second time since2015, won 62, 64, 63.

Federer, who skipped the2020 tournament, was playing just his fourth match ofthe year and fi��rst at a Slamsince losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Opensemifi��nals last year.

Defending champion IgaSwiatek picked up on Monday right where she left off��last year in winning the title:running yet another opponent this way and that on thered clay in a takenoprisoners straightsets victory.

Her best friend on the tennis circuit, Kaja Juvan, wasthe victim on Court PhilippeChatrier this time as Swiatekemphatically kicked off�� hercampaign to become the

fi��rst woman since Justine Henin in 2007 to defend theFrench Open title.

Playing on her 20th birthday, Swiatek treated herselfto a 60, 75 victory — hereighth straightsets win in arow at Roland Garros, havingalso not dropped a set inwinning the trophy last yearas an unseeded 19yearold.

“She didn't give me anybirthday gifts,” Swiatek saidof the partner with whomshe won a gold medal in doubles at the Youth Olympics in2018.

But Swiatek wasn't in thegiftgiving mood, either. Shesecured the win with asnapped crosscourt backhand at the net, on her

fourth match point, that Juvan hit wide.

They hugged each otherwarmly at the net, best buddies once again.

Playing ballSwiatek then gamely playedball, waving her hands likean orchestra conductor, asoncourt interviewer MarionBartoli led the crowd,thinned by coronavirus restrictions, in a somewhatsquawky rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

Rising Italian star JannikSinner saved match point ina 61, 46, 67(4), 75, 64 winover Frenchman PierreHugues Herbert.

Perseverance paysAnd Daniil Medvedev provedthat perseverance pays, fi��nally winning a French Openmatch on his fi��fth attempt.The secondseeded Russianbeat Alexander Bublik 63,63, 75, after four previousfi��rstround losses on the Parisian clay.

Sinner was on the verge ofa shock exit against Herbert.But the Frenchman could

not seize his chance, shanking a shot wide at 45, 3040in the fourth set.

That proved to be a turning point as Sinner fi��nallyheld, broke, and sealed theset. Herbert’s missed backhand volley then gave Sinneran early break in the decider

and the Italian prevailedwith his deepgroundstrokes.

It was just the secondmeeting between the pair.Sinner had dropped onlyfour games the last time theymet, in a bestofthreesetmatch.

Federer eases into round two, Swiatek has a happy birthdayThe Swiss great makes a winning return to Grand Slam tennis after 16 months away; Medvedev fi��nally wins a match at Roland Garros on his fi��fth attempt

ROLAND-GARROS


Paris

<> I feel two ways. My

wish and hope and

dream is that I can play it.

But it needs to make sense

for me, my team, my family,

my country. I’m still waiting

to see how things are going

to develop in the next

couple of weeks and month

Roger Federer

on his Tokyo 2020 Olympics participation

First round: Men: 8-Roger Fe-derer (Sui) bt Denis Istomin(Uzb) 6-2, 6-4, 6-3; 31-John Is-ner (USA) bt Sam Querrey (USA)7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4; 18-Jannik Sin-ner (Ita) bt Pierre-Hugues Her-bert (Fra) 6-1, 4-6, 6-7(4), 7-5,6-4; 2-Daniil Medvedev (Rus) btAlexander Bublik (Kaz) 6-3, 6-3,7-5; 15-Casper Ruud (Nor) btBenoit Paire (Fra) 5-7, 6-2, 6-1,7-6 (4); 32-Reilly Opelka (USA)bt Andrej Martin (Svk) 6-3, 6-2,6-4; Lloyd Harris (RSA) bt 26-Lorenzo Sonego (Ita) 7-5, 6-4,6-4.

Women: 4-Sofia Kenin (USA) btJelena Ostapenko (Lat) 6-4,4-6, 6-3; Tamara Zidansek (Slo)bt 6-Bianca Andreescu (Can) 6-7(1), 7-6(2), 9-7; 8-Iga Swiatek(Pol) bt Kaja Juvan (Slo) 6-0,7-5; 14-Elise Mertens (Bel) btStorm Sanders (Aus) 6-4, 6-1;Polona Hercog (Slo) bt 16-Kiki

Bertens (Ned) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4; 20-Marketa Vondrousova (Cze) btKaia Kanepi (Est) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0;Sorana Cirstea (Rou) bt 19-Jo-hanna Konta (GBr) 7-6(5), 6-2;10-Belinda Bencic (Sui) bt NadiaPodoroska (Arg) 6-0, 6-3.Sunday’s results: Men: 6-Alex-ander Zverev (Ger) bt OscarOtte (Ger) 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2,6-0; Botic van de Zandschulp(Ned) bt 19-Hubert Hurkacz(Pol) 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-2,6-4; 5-Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre)bt Jeremy Chardy (Fra) 7-6(6),6-3, 6-1.

IMPORTANT RESULTS

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Fallen seeds

B Men: 19-Hurkacz, 26-Sonego.

B Women: 6-Andreescu,16-Bertens, 19-Konta

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

CMYK

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DELHI THE HINDU


RolandGarros: SS Select 2(SD & HD), 2.30 p.m.; SS Select 1 (SD & HD), 3.30 p.m.

TV PICKS

Hockley confi��rmed CEOof Cricket AustraliaMELBOURNE

Cricket Australia on Monday

confirmed Nick Hockley as

chief executive officer almost

a year on an interim basis.

During this time he oversaw

the highprofile tour by India

amid the COVID19

pandemic. He was also in

charge of successfully

conducting domestic

competitions in the complex

situation which badly

affected CA's original cricket

calendar. PTI

IN BRIEF

Shubhankar Sharma hasreason to celebrateFORSO (DENMARK)

Shubhankar Sharma

registered his first top10

finish on the European Tour in

18 months with a tied eighth

at the Made in HimmerLand

event here. Shubhankar had

an aggregate of fourunder

68. His last top10 on the

European Tour was in

November 2019, when he was

T7 at the Turkish Airlines

Open. Austria's Bernd

Wiesberger defended the title

he won in 2019. PTI

Kokrak holds off�� Spieth,captures Schwab crownWASHINGTON

Jason Kokrak held off Jordan

Spieth down the final holes to

win the USPGA Tour Charles

Schwab Challenge by two

strokes. The American fired a

level par 70 in Sunday's final

round to finish on 14under

266. England's Ian Poulter

shared third on 270 with

Colombian Sebastian Munoz

and Americans Charley

Hoffman and Patton Kizzire.AFP

Ally Ewing wins LPGAMatchPlay titleLOS ANGELES

American Ally Ewing earned

her second Tour win at the

LPGA MatchPlay

championship on Sunday,

outlasting former Major

winner Sophia Popov to take

the final 2&1 in Las Vegas.

Ewing earlier beat Thailand's

Ariya Jutanugarn 3&2 in the

semifinals. AFP

“Old Siraj is a story of thepast, you will see a new Sirajfor sure,” said the confi��dentIndia pacer, all set to embarkon his maiden England tourwith the Indian seniors teamnext month.

“Yes, I am more confi��dentand mature now. Worked alot on my line and length besides trying to improve myallround skills as a bowler,”Siraj said in a chat with TheHindu.

“It is a great feeling to bepart of this Indian teamwhich can beat the best ontheir home soil. Personally, Iam enjoying the kind ofcompetition I face for a slotin such a formidable outfi��t,”he said.

Invaluable tips“The best part is that all theseniors are so good andopen to giving invaluabletips. This is helping me learna lot about the art of pace

bowling,” the 27yearoldsaid.

“It is defi��nitely a hugechallenge to come out of abiobubble during a longquarantine and play the biggames straight away. Butagain, we have to be readyfor these kinds of things,”

said Siraj, who has picked 16wickets in fi��ve Tests so far.

“Obviously the last Australian tour (where he spearheaded the inexperiencedpace attack with aplomb toplay a key role in India’s series win) was the defi��ningmoment of my career which

resulted in a completechange in my attitude towards bowling,” he recalledproudly.

“Honestly, I don’t knowwhether I will be there in theeleven or not for the WTC fi��nal, but I am determined tobowl as well as possible in

the runup to that big game,”he said.

“Of course, if I get achance to play, that will bethe ultimate experience forme and a dream come true,”the vastly improved pacersaid.

Focusing on batting

“Defi��nitely, there is a conscious eff��ort to improve mybatting too as sometimes acrucial 2030 runs from thetailenders can be decisive,”he said.

“Yes, having Virat bhai asIndia captain is a huge plusfor me. Playing under himfor four IPL seasons for RCB,he trusts me, understandsmy bowling and knows howto get the best out of me,” Siraj said.

Asked what his big goalwas, “To be a permanentmember of the Indian teamfor a long, long time.

“I know what kind ofstruggle I had gone throughafter a bad 2019 IPL seasonto push myself back intocontention,” Siraj said.

‘Oz tour was defi��ning moment of my career’ Having Virat bhai as India captain is a huge plus for me, says India fast bowler Siraj

V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD

Stepping up: Mohammed Siraj spearheaded the inexperienced Indian pace attack withconfi��dence on the last Aussie tour. * FILE PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

CRICKET

The South AmericanFootball Confederation(CONMEBOL) said onMonday it would move nextmonth’s Copa America toBrazil, after original hostnation Argentina pulled outat the last minute due to asurge in COVID19 cases.

The decision means theoldest internationaltournament in the worldwill kick off�� as planned onJune 13, with the fi��nal onJuly 10.

“The 2021 Copa Americawill be played in Brazil!”CONMEBOL said in astatement. “The start andfi��nish dates are confi��rmed.The host cities and thematches will be revealed byCONMEBOL in the cominghours.”

The announcement

comes less than 24 hoursafter Argentina said itsCOVID19 outbreak meant itcould not longer host anddespite the fact that Brazilis still fi��ghting its own battlewith the coronavirus.

More than 450,000people have died fromCOVID19 in Brazil. Brazilhas routinely reported thecontinent’s highest casenumbers and deaths, andranks second highest in theworld for both dailyreported cases and deathsat present.

Jointhost plan gone

This year’s Copa Americawas to be the fi��rst featuringjoint hosts, but Colombiawas removed as cohost onMay 20 after a wave ofprotests demanding socialand economic changespread across the country.

CONMEBOL hopedArgentina could then hostall 28 games or share themwith South Americanneighbours.

Brazil set to host Copa America Argentina ruledout after a rise inCOVID19 cases REUTERS

Sao Paulo

China’s COVID19 travel restrictions mean World Cupqualifying matches scheduled for the eastern city ofSuzhou this week will likelybe relocated to the UnitedArab Emirates.

The Chinese Football Association issued a statementon Monday saying the outbreak of infections in theMaldives and Syria meantboth national teams wouldhave to undergo strict quarantine after arriving in China, and couldn’t play asscheduled.

The Asian Football Confederation later issued astatement confi��rming amove from China, withoutsaying where the nextmatches would be held.

“The Asian Football Confederation decided to movethe remaining centralizedGroup A matches from China to a neutral venue, whichwill be decided and announced in the coming

days.” The decision wasmade due to the mountingchallenges faced by severalparticipating teams in travelling to China

The AFC is now workingin close partnership withthe Chinese Football Association and potential neutral venues, as well as theparticipating teams to arrange for the safe passageand wellbeing of all stakeholders while reiterating itscommitment towards ensuring the successful completion of the Asianqualifi��ers.

Maldives and Syria werescheduled to play GroupAgames in Suzhou in the second round of Asian qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.

“Under the suggestion ofthe Asian Football Confederation, the CFA agreed tomove the remaining GroupA matches of the FIFA 2022World Cup Asian qualifi��ersto Dubai,” the CFA statement said.

The AFC has not announced a new schedule ofmatches.

Asian WC qualifi��ers to move to Dubai

FOOTBALL

Associated Press

Beijing

Chris Paul overcame an injured shoulder and JaeCrowder busted out of aplayoff�� slump as PhoenixSuns took a 10092 victoryover Los Angeles Lakers,who lost Anthony Davis toanother injury.

Paul had 18 points andnine assists, while Crowderdelivered 17 points as half adozen players fi��nished indouble fi��gures for the Suns,who clawed their way levelat 22 in the Western Conference playoff�� series againstthe reigning NBA champion.

Paul had to plead withthe coaching staff�� to get intothe game, but the move paidoff�� as he had his best gameof the fi��rstround series afterinjuring his shoulder ingame one.

Crowder also had his bestgame so far, his 17 points thesame number he scored ingames two and three combined.

LeBron James scored ateamhigh 25 points and had

12 rebounds for the Lakers,who had to play half thegame without eighttimeNBA AllStar Davis.

Hawks rip Knicks

Trae Young scored 27 pointsto lead Atlanta Hawks to a11396 victory over visitingNew York on Sunday, pushing the Knicks to the brinkof elimination in the EasternConference.

John Collins added 22points, while Italy’s DaniloGallinari scored 21 off�� thebench and Clint Capela added 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Hawks.

Also, Kevin Durant andKyrie Irving combined for 81points as Brooklyn Netsrouted host Boston Celtics141126.

Durant had 42 and Irvingscored 39 as the Nets seizedcontrol in the second quarter to lead the series 31.The results:

EC: Hawks 113 bt Knicks 96.Hawks lead 3-1; Nets 141 btCeltics 126. Nets lead 3-1.

WC: Suns 100 bt Lakers 92. Se-

ries level 2-2; Clippers 106 btMavericks 81. Series level 2-2.

Suns claw their wayback to level series

NBA PLAYOFFS


Los Angeles

Fighter: Despite a shoulder injury, Chris Paul came up with afi��ne performance that lifted Suns over Lakers. * AP

ATK Mohun Bagan hasroped in the services of goalkeeper Amrinder Singh afterhe sought his release fromthe Indian Super League(ISL) champion Mumbai CityFC. Amrinder has signed afi��ve year contract with theKolkata club, it was announced on Monday.

The footballer from Mahilpur, Punjab, played forATK in 2015 on loan from theerstwhile ILeague clubPune FC. He returns to thecity for his second stint under Spanish head coach Antonio Lopez Habas.

Amrinder is the fi��rstchoice goalkeeper in the National team and is currently

in Doha preparing for India’supcoming World Cup/ AsianCup Qualifi��ers.

Amrinder, who won thegolden gloves in 2016 whilehelping Bengaluru FC become the ILeague champion, said he was looking torepeat his previous success

in his new assignment.

“Even though I played inKolkata before, it was for avery short time. This is goingto be a new chapter in myfootball career. Winning allthe trophies for Mumbai lastyear was a memorable eventin my life.

“I want the same successin the green and maroon jersey next season,” Amrindersaid in a statement issued byATKMB.

“There are three reasonsbehind coming to Kolkata.They are a huge number ofATKMB supporters, the football philosophy of coach Habas and the principal ownerof the team Sanjiv Goenkaand the glorious history offootball of this City.”

Amrinder signs deal with ATKMBSpecial Correspondent

KOLKATA

Amrinder Singh. * FILE PHOTO

Fivetime World chess champion Viswanathan Anand onMonday said that the careerspan of chess players has become shorter than earliertimes because of the high level of hard work arising outof intense competition.

“The physicality of yourlife is coming into the sport.The level of physical tensionand physical level is muchhigher now.

“So nowadays, it is fi��tness, fi��tness and fi��tness,”Anand said on ‘DRS WithAsh’, a show by India cricketer R. Ashwin on Youtube.

“This hard work is veryenergy intense and therefore, career spans are shortening. This is unquestionable,” he added.

Asked about playingagainst younger players,Anand said he would try tobring unfamiliar situationsto them by using his vast

experience.

“Younger players, youcould drop them in any situation and they would justcalculate better. And howthese two strategies clashed?Computers changed that,because it has shortened thetime, you need to have experience,” he said.

Fischer’s infl��uence

Anand said the legendaryBobby Fischer was one ofthe reasons many began tolook chess as a career.

“In the 1970s and 80s,probably like many sports,chess was just starting to become like a career. The biggest reason was BobbyFischer.

“It was already a careerfor people in Soviet Union orthe East Block, but that concept didn’t exist anywhereelse.

“But after Fischer, thosedoors started to open foreverybody,” said Anand.

Anand recalled that in India of the 1970s and 80s,

chess was not a careeroption.

Asked if chess players aresuper intelligent, Anandsaid, “Chess players are fairly intelligent. You can seethese players, even if theyquit chess and go and do something else also, they do itquite well.”

He also said playing chesshelps a person in otherways, like improving memory and concentration.

Renowned for his faststyle of play, Anand said hewas the world’s best rapidplayer till he was about 40before the new generationtook over.

“The generation after thatis quite hard to competewith. I’ve had one or twoglorious moments like theWorld Rapid Championshipin 2017 which I won. When Iwon that nobody could expect it and least of all, Ididn’t expect it!”

‘Career spans of chess players getting shorter’ Anand attributes it to high level of hard work arising out of intense competitionPress Trust of India

CHENNAI

Animated discussion: Viswanathan Anand spoke candidly onR. Ashwin’s Youtube show. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Barcelona has signed SergioAguero on a deal until 2023,the Catalan giant announced on Monday.

In a statement, Barcelona said Aguero, who arrivesafter a decade at Manchester City, has a buyoutclause “set at €100 million”.

The 32yearold leavesCity as its alltime recordscorer with 260 goals, andwith the most goals scoredfor a single club in PremierLeague history — 184 in 275appearances.

His departure for Barcelona had been long in theoffi��ng.

Barcelonasigns Aguerountil 2023

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

BARCELONA

Sergio Aguero. * REUTERS

Rising Indian talents DiyaChitale and Swastika Ghoshfi��nished runnerup to Russians Natalia Malinina andElizabet Abraamian in theWTT Youth Star Contenderin Tunis (Tunisia) onSunday.

The girls exceeded expectations in under19 singles,too. They reached the semifi��nals and lost in fi��ve sets.

The results (involving Indians):

Girls u19 (semifi��nals): VladaVoronina (Rus) bt Diya Chitale118, 711, 611, 118, 117; EceHarac (Tur) bt Swastika Ghosh811, 114, 911, 113, 116(quarterfi��nals): Diya bt VeraVolkava (Blr) 119, 118, 119;Swastika bt Natalia Malinina 1210, 115, 611. 118

Doubles: Final: Natalia Malinina & Elizabet Abraamian (Rus)bt Diya Chitale & SwastikaGhosh 113, 117, 116. Semifi��nals: Diya & Swatika bt Lina Zaderova (Cze) & Hana Arapovic(Cro) 811, 117, 116, 611, 119.

DiyaSwastika pair fi��nishes runnerup TABLE TENNIS


New Delhi

Diya and Swastika... animpressive run.

* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat and Manu Bhaker shot identical scores of291 out of 300 in the precision stage of 25m sports pistol in the MQS section of theEuropean shooting championship in Osijek, Croatia,on Monday.

Rahi had a series of 99, 97and 95, while Manu had 97,99 and 95.

Former World and Olympic champion Olena Kostevych of Ukraine shot 296along with two others, Vitalina Batsarashkina of Russiaand Zorana Arunovic of Serbia, to lead in the mainevent.

The rapid fi��re section willbe conducted on Tuesday.

Rahi and Manu matcheach other’s scores

SHOOTING


NEW DELHI

Veteran India dragfl��ickerV.R. Raghunath thinks thatthe current team is betterprepared for the Olympicsthan the side which fi��nishedeighth in the previous edition in Rio de Janerio.

India had lost to Belgiumin the quarterfi��nals in the2016 Summer Games. Raghunath is not in the list ofOlympic probables thistime.

“The Canada matchwhich we drew cost us in2016. That result put us in adiff��erent qualifi��cation

group. But I feel the currentbatch of players can handlethe Olympics a lot better.

“The same batch ofplayers have been aroundfor seveneight years now,they are in touch with European players. They can perform much better than Rio,”said Raghunath in a Hockey

India release.

At the Olympics, it is allabout winning those closegames, said Raghunath, whois currently the vicepresident of Karnataka HockeyAssociation.

“It comes down to one ortwo matches and how youget your rhythm right in thearena. I have seen teamskeeping it simple and playing with a free mind. I’d tellthe players not to thinkmuch about the occasion.

The former Asian Gameschampion was full of praisefor current vicecaptain Harmanpreet Singh, who tookover dragfl��ick duties fromRaghunath.

Current team better prepared forOlympics, says Raghunath

HOCKEY


Bengaluru

V.R. Raghunath. * FILE PHOTO

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