DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `4.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

According to you,everything is good:SC pulls up Gujaratover hospital fireThecourt tooksuomotucognisanceof fivedeaths inRajkot fireonNov27

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER1

THESUPREMECourtonTuesdayraisedquestionsovertheGujaratgovernment’saffidavit inamat-ter related to incidents of fire atCovid-designated hospitals inRajkot and Ahmedabad. Thecourt,whichhadtakensuomotucognisance of five deaths in theRajkotfireonNovember27,said“everything is good” accordingto thestate’s response.“Wehave seen your counter

affidavit.YourstandiscontrarytoyourownChiefElectricalEngineer,who says there are issueswithwiring.Accordingtoyourcounter,everything is good,” JusticeMRShah,sharingabenchwithJusticesAshok Bhushan andR SubhashReddy,toldthestategovernment’scounsel.JusticeShahsaidfactscan-not be suppressed and need tocomeoutinthecorrectfashion.Appearing for the Centre,

Solicitor General TusharMehtapointed out that a committeeheaded by retired High CourtjudgeJusticeDAMehtawasen-quiring into the fire inRajkot.

“But what aboutAhmedabad,”askedJusticeShah.EightCovidpatientsadmitted

to theShreyHospital inAhmed-abadwerekilledwhenablazeen-gulfedits ICUonAugust6.The bench asked Solicitor

GeneralTusharMehtatolookintothereportandensurethatabetteraffidavit is filedintheapexcourt.Mehta told the benchhewouldlookintothereportandtalktothestategovernmentonthis.Thebenchwillhearthemat-

teragainonDecember3.Meanwhile,theSGinformed

thebench that theUnionHomeMinistryhasfiledanaffidavitex-plaining the steps taken by theCentre in response to the firetragedies.Theaffidavit said thatthe Centre has taken “seriouscognisance” of the Rajkot andAhmedabadincidentsandothersuch incidents indifferentpartsof thecountry.

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CHAIRMAN, TWODIRECTORSOFRAJKOTHOSPITALGETBAILPAGE 4

BJP MP Abhay Bhardwaj diesduring treatment for Covid-19EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGANDHINAGAR,DECEMBER1

BJP MP in Rajya Sabha fromGujaratAbhayBhardwajdiedatahospitalinChennaionTuesdaywhileundergoingtreatmentforCovid-19.Hewas66.Bhardwajwaselectedtothe

Rajya Sabha in June and withhisdemise, secondRajyaSabhaseat from Gujarat has fell va-cant. Lastmonth, CongressMPAhmed Patel had died during

Covid-19 treatment.Bhardwaj had tested Covid-

19 positive on August 31. Afterremainingunder treatmentat agovernment Covid-19 hospitalfor 40 days, he was airlifted to

MGMHospital inChennai.Bhardwaj is survivedbywife

Alka, daughters Ashka andAmruta,sonAnshandagrandson.Sonofateachercouple,Bhardwajhadbeenassociatedwith theBJPsinceitsJanSanghdays.He was also the nephew of

BJP veteran and former RajyaSabhamemberChimanShukla.Hewas also a prominent figurein the Rajkot unit of RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS).Bhardwaj was also considered

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BhardwajwasaRajyaSabhaMP

Case after Rs 5.25 cr found missingfrom daily collection account of SoUEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,DECEMBER1

THE NARMADA District policebooked staff ofWriter BusinessServices Private Limited, a cashmanagement company, for theallegedtheftofRs5.25croreper-taining to the daily cash collec-tionfromtheStatueofUnityanditsalliedprojects.Thecomplaint,filed by the manager of aVadodarabranchofHDFCbank,states that the money was al-legedly siphoned off during theperiod between October 2018andMarch2020.The Kevadia police station,

which has registered the com-plaint, has started an investiga-

tion into the financial transac-tionsof SoU.The complaint filed late on

MondaystatesthatthebankhasengagedWriter Business for of-fering doorstep cash collectionfacility to the Statue of Unity,whichhadofflineticketcountersbefore the Covid-19 lockdownfor entry to various projects ofthe tourist spot as well as theregularparkingcharges.An official of SoU said, "The

HDFC bank has been providingservices for the cash collecteddaily by the SoU administrationatvariouscountersforofflinetick-eting and parking fees, and de-positing it in the Statue of Unitybank account in its Vadodara

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

ThecasewasfiledagainstWriterBusiness,aprivatefirmengagedbythebankforofferingdoorstepcashcollectionfacilitytotheStatueofUnity. FIle

NEXTROUNDTOMORROW,GOVTEXPLORESWAYOUT

HARIKISHANSHARMA&LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI, DECEMBER1

MOVINGTOresolvethestandoffwith farmers protesting at thegatesofDelhiagainstnewlyen-acted farm laws, the Centreopened talks Tuesday withfarmer representatives who,whilenotwarminguptoitssug-gestionof forminga committeeto look into their demands,agreedtocontinuethedialogue.Following themeeting that

lasted three-and-half hours inVigyan Bhavan in New Delhi,Union Agriculture MinisterNarendraSinghTomar,who ledthe talkswith the farmers, toldreporters: “The meeting wasgood, and we have decided tohold the next round of talks onDecember3.Wewantedasmallgroup tobe constituted, but thefarmer leaderswantedthetalkstobeheldwitheveryone.Wedonothaveaproblemwith it.”Tomar, Railway Minister

Piyush Goyal and Minister ofState (Commerce and Industry)SomPrakashspoketorepresen-tativesof35farmerunionswho

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Farmer leaderswithCabinetministersatVigyanBhawaninDelhiTuesday. TashiTobgyal

Farmer unions begin talkswith Centre; sayno to panel, agree to revertwith objectionsWeproposedapanel,butunionssaidtalktoall,saysAgricultureMinisterTomar

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,DECEMBER1

AS CANADIAN PrimeMinisterJustinTrudeaucameout insup-port of the protesting farmers,India responded sharply onTuesday against “ill-informedcomments” on the “internal af-fairsof ademocratic country”.Speaking to Canadian-Sikh

community leadersatanonlineevent on the occasion ofGurpurab, Trudeau said: “Iwould be remiss if I didn’t start

byrecognisingthenewscomingfrom India about the protest byfarmers. The situation is con-cerning.Weareallveryworriedabout family and friends. Weknowthat’sarealityformanyofyou.Letmeremindyou,Canada

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‘Situation isconcerning’

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

SPORTSPERSONSTORETURNAWARDS INPROTESTPAGE 12

NAVALVERSIONOFBRAHMOSTESTED P10

SCREJECTSCHANDAKOCHHARAPPEAL P 11

SMITANAIRPANAJI, DECEMBER1

INGOA,where campaigning forthe 2022 polls is set to kick offnextyear,thefirstelectionprom-ise has beenmade: “impositionof compulsorysiestahour”.Speakingatapressmeet,Goa

ForwardPartyleaderandformerBJPallyVijaiSardesaisaidthat ifmade chief minister, he wouldensureacompulsorysiestahouranytimebetween2and4pm.Itwasanoff-the-cuffremark,

but Sardesai, whose party hasbeen aggressive about its pushfor ‘Goanidentity’, later toldTheIndian Express that hewas seri-ous about the need to preserve“sussegad”—thattypicallyGoancharacteristic that lies some-where between being laidbackand indolent.“Sussegad isderivedfromthe

Portuguese word sossegado,whichmeansarelaxed,carefree,chilled-out attitude that’s asso-ciatedwithGoa.Thewordsossegmeanspeace.Andmindyou, anafternoonnapisanintegralpartof sussegad. It isclinicallyproventhat a short napor siesta boostsyourmemory,improvesjobper-formance, lifts yourmood and

makesyoumorealert,”hesays.The siesta hour is sacro-

sanct formostGoans—anyat-temptat anyof kindof engage-ment between the afternoon

hours is considered withoutgrace and lacking in concern.Most shopspull downshuttersandprofessionalappointmentsdon’t get done, with the gen-

eral consensus being thatlunch should be followed bysiesta,before returning toworkaround 4 pm.Whilemanyassociatetheaf-

ternoon nap with laziness,Sardesai wouldn’t hear of it.“Instead of being part of the ratrace, Goans like to take it easy,which should not bemistakenforlaziness.Eventhoughwearesussegad,westillmeetourdead-lines. It is the culture of Goa.Everyone needs to learn fromthisandrespect this,”headds.Hesays theneedtopreserve

sussegad is tied to the fightagainst bigger changes sweep-ingacross thestate.

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PAGE1ANCHOR

Much ahead of elections, a promise: Vote forGoa Forward Party, get compulsory siesta hour

Illustration: SuvajitDey

Trudeau backs protest;‘ill-informed’, says India

SUKHBIRSIWACHCHANDIGARH,DECEMBER1

WITHMOST of the 10 JJPMLAscoming out in support of theprotesting farmers, the BJP allyinHaryanaTuesdaybackedtheirdemand for assured MSP forcrops. JJP chief Ajay SinghChautala, the father of HaryanaDeputyChiefMinisterDushyantChautala,saidtheCentreshouldconsiderinclusionofMSPsinthefarmlaws."Whatistheproblemin writing one line?" Ajay

Chautala said.Dushyant's younger brother

and JJP leader Digvijay said theJJPwoulddecideits"futurestrat-egy" depending on talks be-tween farmersandtheCentre.The farmersaredemanding

that either the MSP guaranteebe weaved into the currentfarm laws or a separate lawbe introduced to ensure thesame. On Tuesday, several JJPMLAs, some of whom havebeen backing the farmers'objections to the new

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Haryana ally JJP suggests:Why not add a line on MSP

HARISHDAMODARANNEWDELHI, DECEMBER1

MOSTNEGOTIATIONSstartfrommaximalistpositions. It isn’tanydifferent in the currentstandoff between theCentre and farmerunions over the threeagriculturalreformleg-islations.The farmer body

representatives, mostly fromPunjab and Haryana, are de-manding a complete repeal of

the“kalakanoon(blacklaws)”. Ifthatisn'tenough,theyalsowantthe minimum support price(MSP) for crops to bemade anentitlement, with the full forceof lawrather thanamerepolicy

announcement.The NarendraModi

government, on theother hand, has ruledoutanyrollback,orevenputtingonhold the im-plementation of the

new laws. For it, these Acts,which relate to dismantling the

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Rabi sowing over, farmershave time on their side

E●EXPLAIN

ED

EXPRESSNETWORK

KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, DECEMBER1

UNDERLINING THAT severalchecks are in place to track ad-versereactionsreported inclin-ical trials for the Covid vaccinecandidate being developed bySerum Institute of India (SII),theCentre Tuesday said its ini-tial assessment “didnotneces-sitate stoppage” after aChennai-basedtrialparticipantsought compensation of Rs 5crore from the Pune companyfor suffering a “severe adversereaction”.Initsfirstpublicremarksover

thenotice, thegovernmentalsosaid that it hasno role toplay insuch claims filed anywhere inthecountry.“ICMRhasnoroleinendorsingornotendorsingale-gal claim filed anywhere in thecountry,”UnionHealthSecretaryRajeshBhushansaid.

ICMR chief Dr BalramBhargava said the initial assess-ment conducted by the regula-tor on the basis of documentssent to itby independentmoni-toring bodies “did not necessi-tate stoppageof these trials”.ICMR and SII are the Indian

partnersofthevaccinebeingde-veloped by Oxford UniversityandAstraZeneca.OnSunday,SIIhadsaidthetrialparticipant’sal-legation was “malicious”, hismedical condition was notlinked to the vaccine trial, andthatitwouldseekdamagesofRs100crore.“What is important to re-

member is that adverse eventsdooccurwithdrugs,vaccines,oranyotherhealth intervention. It

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

AtSerumInstitute of IndiaonMonday.Reuters

NOTSPOKENOFVACCINATING ENTIRECOUNTRY: GOVTP 11

Centre says no needto stop vaccine trial

ADVERSEREACTIONCLAIMFROMCHENNAI

Ahmedabad

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

Case after Rs 5.25cr missing fromdaily collectionaccount of SoUbranch.Thereceiptofthecashre-ceived is issued to the SoU ad-ministration and it is periodi-cally reconciled with the cashdepositentriesmadeinthebankaccount."During the reconciliation

carriedoutwith theHDFCaftertheeasingofCovid-19curbs,theauditorsof SoUnoticedthat thereceiptssubmittedbyexecutivesofWriter Business on behalf ofthebankdidnotmatchwiththeactualentries into theaccount."Anamountof Rs5.25 crore

was missing although the re-ceiptsinourrecordshowedthattheagentof theHDFCbankhadbeen handed over the amount.The agents provide SoUwith areceipt on the letterhead ofHDFC.Theissuewasraisedwiththebank,whichproactively ini-tiatedaprobe, theofficial said."Narmada District Collector

DAShah,whoisalsotheCEOoftheStatueofUnitysaidthat fol-lowing the discovery of the al-leged theft, a committee wasformedwhichincludedofficialsof the district administration,HDFC bank, Statue of Unity aswellas theagentofHDFCbank.Shah said, "For collectionof

cash from the SoU administra-tionandfor itsdepositioninthebank Account, HDFC bank hasengaged Writer SafeguardPrivate Limited. This is purelytheir internalarrangementandSoU Administration has noth-ingtodowith it. So,HDFCbankis solely responsible for thistransaction process. The com-mitteemetandscrutinised therecords and it was establishedthat the cash was indeedhanded over to the bank. So, aspertheagreement,thebankhascredited theamount to theSoUaccountbyalongwiththeinter-est,whiletheywill resolvetheirdisputewiththeiragentontheirown."Vani Doodhat, Deputy

Superintendent of Police,Kevadia,said,"TheSoUhaspro-videduswithahugenumberofdaily receipts and transactionslips, whichwe are examining.We will call in the staff of theagency to question them afteridentifying the employeeswhohandled themoney during thesaidperiod.""Staff of Writers Business

Services Private Ltd.", men-tioned as the accused in thecomplaint,hasbeenbookedun-der Indian Penal Code Sections406 (punishment for criminalbreach of trust) 407 (criminalbreach of trust by carrier), 408(criminalbreachoftrustbyclerkorservant),409(criminalbreachof trust by public servant, or bybanker,merchantoragent),420(cheating and dishonestly in-ducingdeliveryofproperty),418(cheatingwith knowledge thatwrongfullossmayensuetoper-sonwhose interest offender is

boundtoprotect),120(B)(crim-inal conspiracy).

SC pulls upGujarat overhospital fireItsaidthat“toensurethatad-

equate safetymeasures are putin place by the respective stategovernmentsaspertheapplica-ble rules and guidelines, and toensure that such incidents donot happen again”, the Centralgovernment,throughtheHomeSecretary, Ministry of HomeAffairs has, in a letter datedNovember 30, written to allChief Secretaries of the Statesand Union Territories, raising“seriousconcernfornon-adher-enceof the fire safetymeasuresbytheauthorities intherespec-tiveStates/UTs”.Theaffidavitalsosaidthaton

November 28, the DirectorateGeneral (Fire Services, CivilDefence & Home Guards),MinistryofHomeAffairs,wrotetoall theChief Secretariesseek-ingastatusreportbyDecember4on the implementationof firesafetyguidelines.States and UTs have also

been asked to send byDecember 4 the status of theNOCs issued to hospitals andnursing Homes and their re-newals. They have also beenaskedtosubmitanactiontakenreport on enquiries into inci-dents of fires in hospitals andnursing homes during the lastfiveyears.The Centre said it “is con-

stantly monitoring the Covidand healthcare infrastructuresituation in thecountry”.The Centre also directed

StatesandUTstocarryoutregu-larinspectionandre-inspectionof the hospitals and nursinghomes“toensurestrictcompli-ance of the implementation offire safety measures as stipu-latedinvariousActandCodesei-therbyfireofficersorthirdpartyfire safetyauditors”.

BJP MP AbhayBhardwaj diesduring CovidtreatmentveryclosetoChiefMinisterVijayRupani.Bhardwaj hadworked as an

active member of AkhilBharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP),thestudentwingofRSS,andheld thepostof itsnationalexecutivemember.Hisassocia-tionwithRupaniwassincetheirABVPdays.A former bureaucrat, who

wasatthehelminRajkotduringthat time, described BhardwajasapeerofRupaniinABVPwhowasknownasoneof its“aggres-sivemembers”.A number of dignitaries in-

cluding Prime MinisterNarendraModi, Chief MinisterVijayRupani,GovernorAcharyaDevvrataandGujaratBJPchiefCRPaatilexpressedgriefoverthe

deathof Bhardwaj.“Rajya Sabha MP from

Gujarat, Shri Abhay BharadwajJi was a distinguished lawyerandremainedattheforefrontofservingsociety. It issadwehavelostabrightandinsightfulmind,passionateaboutnationaldevel-opment. Condolences to hisfamily and friends. OmShanti,”thePrimeMinister tweeted.UnionHomeMinister Amit

Shahalso took toTwitter tocon-dolethedeath.Rupani called Bhardwaj’s

death as personal loss and alsoloss to the state of Gujarat.“Abhaybhai was a very goodlawyer.Withanaggressivelead-ership,hewascommittedtothecountry,dharma,cultureandso-ciety…His journey has beenfromagrassrootslevelworkertoaRajyaSabhaMP,”Rupani said.GovernorAcharyaDevavrata

said that Bhardwaj’s death hascreated a void in the public lifeof Gujarat that cannot be filledup.A lawyer by profession,

Bhardwajwasaleadingcriminallawyer.Hewasadefence coun-sel in the 2002Gulberg Societymassacre case inwhich69per-sonsincludingformerCongressMPEhsan Jafriwerekilled.The state government had

also appointed Bhardwaj as aspecial public prosecutor (SPP)in a case of alleged misuse ofpowers by retired IAS officerPradip Sharma during the lat-ter’stenureascollectorofRajkotdistrict. Hewas also appointedanSPPintheallegedillegalmin-ingcaseinvolvingCongressMLABhagwan Barad and allegedmurdercaseofformerBJPleaderJayantiBhanushali.He was also a prominent

voicefromSaurashtrademand-ing a bench of Gujarat HighCourt inRajkot.Apart from politics,

Bhardwaj also acted in somefilms including the Raj Babbar-starrer 1990 film Agneekaal inwhich he played the role of ajudge.

Rabi sowingover, farmershave time ontheir sidemonopoly of APMCmandis insale and purchase of crops, en-ablingcontractfarminganddo-ing awaywith stockholding re-strictionsinfoodstuffs,representa statement of its commitmenttoeconomic reforms.From a bargaining stand-

point, the farmers are probablybetterplacedat themoment. InPunjab and Haryana, not onlyhas harvesting of kharif paddybeencompleted,evensowingofwheatforthenewrabiseasonisvirtuallyover.Mostfarmershavealso done their first round ofureaapplicationand irrigation.It means they have time to

spare for agitation. Punjab andHaryanafarmersgenerallyplanttheir wheat before mid-November.Thisleewayinwheatmay not be available for sugar-cane growers in western UttarPradesh.This"freetime”issomething

that the government may nothave fully anticipated. The tim-ingof thecapital siegeandabil-itytostayputforatleastthenextfewweeks could well work totheprotesters’ advantage.Incidentally, government

agencieshaveprocuredarecord202.77lakhtonnes(lt)ofpaddyfromPunjabthistime,asagainst162.33ltin2019-20.Thegovern-mentmayhaveundertakenthisunprecedented purchase fromthestate--theMSPvalueworksout to Rs 38,283 crore -- to dis-pelapprehensionaboutthenewlaws undermining the existingopen-ended procurement andAPMCmandi system.Theworst-case scenario for

theCentrewouldbeif thefarm-ers force it to concede to their

maximalist demands. Thatwouldincludenotjustrevokingorputtingonholdits farmlaws,but also making MSP a legalright. In other words, far frommoving forward, this wouldamount to a reversal beyondeventhepre-reformsituation.WhileMSPisdeclaredfor23

crops, there are limits to its en-forcement whether throughgovernment procurement orforcing others, such as privatetraders, processors, organisedretailersandexporters, topay.

Justin Trudeaubacks protest;India says‘ill-informed’will always be there to defendtherightsofpeacefulprotesters.Webelieve in theprocess of di-alogue. We’ve reached outthroughmultiplemeans to theIndian authorities to highlightour concerns. This is amomentfor all of us topull together.”Healsotweetedavideooftheinter-action.The Ministry of External

Affairs' official spokespersonAnurag Srivastava, withoutnamingTrudeau,said:“Wehaveseen some ill-informed com-ments by Canadian leaders re-lating to farmers in India. Suchcommentsareunwarranted,es-peciallywhenpertaining to theinternal affairs of a democraticcountry.”While Trudeau is the first

head of a country to speak outontheprotests,heisnottheonlyforeign politician to do so. Atleast a dozenmembers of par-liament from the UK, Australia,Canada and a Republican Partyfunctionary from the US havealsovoicedtheirsupportforthefarmers.“Thereportsofpeacefulpro-

testersbeingbrutalizedin Indiaare troubling... Healthy democ-racies allow peaceful protest,”Canadian Defence MinisterHarjit SinghSajjan tweeted.WhileIndiaandCanadahave

astrongbilateralrelationship, it

has witnessed ups and downsover the last few years as theCanadianleadershiphastriedtowootheSikhdiaspora.SomeOppositionMPsinthe

Britishparliamentalsotweetedtheir support for the farmers. “IstandwithfarmersofthePunjabandotherpartsof India, includ-ing our family and friends,"TanmanjeetSinghDhesi,LabourMP from Slough and shadowRailMinister, tweeted.John McDonnel, another

LabourMP,wrote: "This sort ofoppressive behaviour againstpeaceful protesters... tarnishesthe reputation of India”. PreetKaur Gill, a Labour MP fromBirminghamEdgbaston,tweeted:"ShockingscenesfromDelhi."In Australia, Rob Mitchell,

Labour MP from McEwen inVictoria, spoke in the country’sParliament in support of thefarmers. "I urge the Indian gov-ernment to show restraint," hesaid.In the US, lawyer and

Republican Party functionaryHarmeetKDhillontweeted:“Asthe Punjab-born descendant offarmers,myheart breaks to seePunjabifarmersassaulted...Hearthem,meetwith them, & com-promise, PMModi.”The Sikh diaspora is widely

present in Canada, UK andAustralia, and some have deepinfluenceinthepoliticalsystem.

Haryana ally JJP:Why not add aline on MSPfarm laws from the start, cameout in their support.Regretting that "annadata"

are sitting on the roads, AjayChautala said, "There are state-ments by the (Union)Agriculture Minister and thePrimeMinister himself thatwewill continue MSPs. Then itshould be added (in the docu-ment).What is the problem inwriting one line?... Wewant asolutionasearlyaspossible.”With 10 MLAs in the 90-

member Assembly, the JJP --JannayakJanataParty--isajun-

ior alliance partner in theManohar Lal Khattar-led gov-ernment.AnIndependentlegis-lator, Sombir Sangwan, onTuesday withdrew support tothestategovernment.While Dushyant is yet to

comment on the ongoingfarmer agitation, Digvijay saidTuesday that the JJP was keep-ing a close watch on the out-come of themeeting betweenfarmers and the government.The JJP's otherminister, AnoopDhanak, Minister of State,Labour & Employment, said:“MSP of crops should be given,whichisbeinggiventofarmers."The party's Barwala MLA,

JogiRamSihag,whohasbeenatthe forefront in supporting thefarmers,saiditwaswrongtosaythat only those from Punjabwereprotesting.“Haryanafarm-ersareasactive... If theagitationcontinues, the participation ofHaryana farmers is likely to begreaterthanofPunjabfarmers,”Sihag said, underlining thatfarmers"hadnotallowedpoliti-cisation"of theagitation.InOctober,Sihaghadrefused

to accept the post of HaryanaHousingBoardChairmanontheissueof thenewfarmlaws, say-ing, “Till the laws are amendedand there is guarantee forMSPon crops, I believe I should notaccept anyofficeof profit in thegovernment. I am the son of afarmer first andanMLAlater."The party's NarwanaMLA,

Ram Niwas Surjakhera, andTohana MLA Devender SinghBabli also supported the farm-ers. “They are fighting for theright cause. There is full partici-pationofHaryanafarmersintheagitation. Even frommy con-stituency, farmers are going tojoin the agitation. They are fac-ing problems in Narwanamandi.Paymentshavenotbeenmadefor theirpaddyduetothedelay in lifting of the produce,"Surjakherasaid.Babli said: “The farmers are

fighting for their rights. TheConstitutionhasgiventhemtheright to struggle in a peacefulmanner. Being the son of afarmer, I request Modiji and

Khattarjitofulfilltheirdemands,whichever canbemet, by com-ing forwardwith a largeheart."While admitting that the issuewas "more prominent" inPunjab, he said, "Some farmersfromHaryanahavealsopartici-pated, wherever the govern-ment couldnot succeed in con-vincing them or the farmerscouldnotunderstandthelaws."Guhla MLA Ishwar Singh

said, “There should have beenawareness before introducingthe laws. This situation wouldnot have emerged then. A solu-tionwillcomeoutofadialogue."While of the remaining JJP

MLAs, Naina (legislator fromBadhra) is Ajay Chautala’swife,RamKaranKala(Shahabad)hadjoined a farmer protest inKurukshetraonSeptember20.DigvijayChautalasaidhere-

spects the sentiments of theIndependent MLA who with-drew support to the govern-ment. “It is a good thing thatSangwanhasstoodbythefarm-ers,” he said. Asked about BJPleaders’ charge that the farmeragitation was "politics of theOpposition",Digvijay said, “Theheadof theBJPhashimself saidthat this is not political but anagitationof farmers.”AmitShahrecentlysaidthathenevercalledit apoliticalprotest.

Centre says noneed to stopvaccine trialis the role of the regulator, aftercollatingalldata, toascertainorrefutewhether there is a causallink to the event and the inter-vention. So that causal link,whetherithastobeascertainedorrefuted,hastobedonebytheDCGI (DrugsControllerGeneralof India)...This isdonepurelyonascientificbasisandtheassess-ment is done with objectivelybasedcriteria,”Bhargavasaid.TheHealthSecretarysaidthe

first of severalmeasures put inplace formonitoring the trial isthe “prior informed consentform” listing possible adverseevents. “Second, these vaccine

trials are multi-centric andmulti-site;thesubjectsaregiventhevaccineundermedicalcare,they aremonitored. Every sitehasan institutional ethics com-mittee,whichisindependentofthe sponsors and government.Whenever there is an adverseevent, the ethics committeegives its findings...to theregula-torwithin30days,”hesaid.BhushansaidtheDataSafety

andMonitoring Board (DSMB),“that is independentof thegov-ernment and the vaccineman-ufacturer” and consists of do-main knowledge experts, “alsomonitors the clinical trial on aday-to-daybasis”.“Theycanalsorecommend if they decide totemporarilyhaltthetrialorcon-ductan investigation,”hesaid.“Four... the rules state that

whenever there is an adverseevent, a Form-5 has to be filledbytheChief Investigatorandthereport is submitted to the regu-lator,” he said. The ethics com-mitteeandtheDSMBalsoexam-inethereporttofindout“if thereis one-to-one correlation be-tweentheadverseeventandthevaccination. Only after the reg-ulator examines all of these re-ports... itgivesago-aheadforthetrials,”hesaid.“In the present case, Serum

Institute’svaccinetrial’sclubbedphase 2/3 and phase 3 permis-sionhasbeengivenbasedonex-aminationofthesedocuments...The adverse event being re-ferred to in case of the vaccinedeveloped by Oxford-Serumhappened in October. All thesefive processes, please don’t as-sume, have not been compliedwith,”Bhushansaid.Askedif thegovernmenten-

dorses themove by SII to claimRs 100 crore in damages, theHealth Secretary said: “In nor-mal circumstances, vaccine de-velopment usually takes 8-10years.Butgiventhesizeandtheimpactof thepandemic,wearetryingtocrashthattimelineinto16-18months...when you havethiscontext,thereisapotential-ity that commercial interestwould dictate certain strategicactions on part of commercialentities.Governmentsofthedayhavenothing todowith it.”

Vote forGoa ForwardParty, getcompulsorysiesta hour“Sussegad doesn’tmeanwe

arenotpro-activewhenitcomesto contentious social and envi-ronmentissues.Lookatthestatetoday... Iamnotagainstconnec-tivity.Butwhatisrailconnectiv-ityandwhoare trains for?”Goa today is seeingworkon

at least three big-ticket infra-structure projects -- electricity,railway and road-widening --withdeadlines set for2022.“Ifaguyiscomingbytrainto

Goa and the train suddenlyslows down at the Ghats, whatthe big deal? Let it slow down,no.YouarecomingtoGoa,afterall... All this is basically to turnGoa intoacorridor.Thisdoesn’tsuitourwayof living,”headds.Political commentator

Cleofat Coutinho Almeida saysthis is probably the first timesussegad has come up on a po-litical platform, and thatSardesai’s promise can’t betakenseriously in today’sage.However,Sardesai,whowas

in the NDA government andwho has struck strident posi-tions in the past against “out-siders” in the state, says, “Ourmarkets are slowly being takenover by Marwari traders whowork even on Sundays. Theymaymake a tourist happy, butfrankly,noone ishappy.”Meanwhile, Sardesai isn’t

losinganysleep:hetakesacom-pulsorysiestaforatleast30min-uteseveryday.

FROMPAGEONE

Centre, farmer unions agree to continue talkshavebeencamping for the lastsixdaysatDelhi’sborders.Later,Tomaralsometwest-

ernUPfarmerleaders,includingBKU leader Rakesh Tikait, atKrishi Bhavan. These farmerleaderswerenotpresentat theVigyanBhawanmeeting.“Tikait fromtheBKUcalled

me. They alsowork for farm-ers…They camehere anddis-cussedissuesregardingtheActsandotherneedsof the agricul-ture sector.We asked them togive us their issues inwriting.Wewill also consider these,"Tomarsaid.Following themeeting at

VigyanBhavan, farmer leadersexpressed the hope that theirdemandswouldbeconsideredand the issues resolved soon.TheMinistryofAgriculture,inastatement,said,“Variousissuesrelated to Farm Reform Actswere discussed at length andtalkswereheld in a cordial at-mosphere.”“During the deliberations,

the Union Agriculture andFarmersWelfareMinister pro-posed to constitute an expertcommittee to put forth the is-suesof farmers so as to resolvethemwithmutual consentbutthe representative of theFarmersUnion suggested thatall the representativeswill at-tend further round of discus-sionswith theGovernment toresolve thematter amicably,”theMinistrysaid.Itislearntthattheministers

conveyed tounion representa-tivesthatitwouldbedifficulttohold talkswith 35 people, sotheyshouldprovidenamesof5-

10peoplewithwhomdiscus-sionscouldbeheld.Butthiswasnotacceptabletotherepresen-tatives.“During the interaction, it

has been suggested by theGovernmenttotherepresenta-tivesof FarmersUnion to iden-tifythespecificissuesrelatedtoFarm Reform Acts and sharewith the Government on02.12.2020 for consideration.These issueswill be discussedduring the fourth round ofmeeting to be held on03.12.2020,”theMinistrysaid–two rounds of talkswere heldbeforethefarmersfromPunjabandHaryanashowedupontheborders of Delhi, and the talksTuesdaywasthethirdround.“It was assured that the

Government of India is alwayscommittedtoprotecttheinter-est of farmers and is alwaysopenfordiscussionsforfarmers’welfare,”thestatementsaid.Emergingfromthemeeting,

BharatiyaKisanUnion(Punjab)general secretary JagmohanSinghsaid,“Themeetingwasal-right…Wetold themtherearemanyprovisions in these newBillswhichareagainstfarmers...theyproposedthatacommitteebe set up... the attitude of gov-ernments always is to set upcommittees and commissions,and the deliberations are un-ending...weoutrightlyrejectedtheproposal.”“Then they (government)

said give us your objections inwriting.We saidwe have al-ready given adetailedmemo-randum. But they said give usyourspecificobjectionstothese

three laws, the proposed elec-tricityBillandtheordinanceonpollution...whytheyarewrong...giveus a rejoinder. They askedus to submit it tomorrow, andwewillmeetagainthedayafter.We said there’s no need for acommittee,”hesaid.“They said it is possible to

finda solution thedayafter to-morrow,orelsewewillhavetosit again.Wesaidweare readyfordiscussions.EvenParliamentruns for twomonths... agricul-tureisthebackboneofthecoun-try...wecansitanddiscuss…butthe agitationwill continue... infact,itwillbestrengthened…tillourdemandsaremet,”hesaid.Jamhoori Kisan Sabhagen-

eralsecretary(Punjab)KulwantSingh Sandhu said, “First, theywanted to talk only to farmerunions of Punjab butwe toldthem that this is an all-Indiaprotest and farmer representa-tives from across the countrywillparticipateinthetalks.Theyproposed formation of a com-mittee,wedidnotagree.Wewillcontinueourprotest.”Major Singh Punnawal,

Punjabgeneral secretaryof theAll India Kisan Sabha, said,“Governmentaskedustocreateasmallcommittee,withrepre-sentativesofthegovernmentaswell.We said creating a com-mitteemeansputtingtheissueinto cold storage. The discus-sionswill happenwith every-one, andwewill all come, butonlyafewofuswillspeak.”WiththeMinimumSupport

Price(MSP)beingthemaincon-cernofthefarmers,thegovern-ment, sources said, could con-

sidermaking it binding in law,notthroughanamendmentbutvia an executive order whileframingrulesforthelaws.“It shouldnotbeanissueas

both the government and thepartyarecommittedtoMSP,”aBJP leader said. “Anyway, talksmeansgive-and-takefrombothsides.Weare sure the farmersare also aware of that,” theleadersaid.Sources said both the gov-

ernmentand the rulingBJParekeen to find a solution, but arein nomood to withdraw thefarmlaws.Thegovernment's standon

the laws,which it says benefitfarmers, was made clear byPrimeMinisterNarendraModiinhisMannKiBaataddresslastSunday.Reassuring farmers on the

benefits of the farm laws, thePrimeMinister said thatwiththelatestreformsintheagricul-ture sector, farmers have gotnewopportunities.OnMonday,ataprogrammeinVaranasi,hesaidthegovernmenthadnoin-tention todeceive farmers andthelawsprovidethemnewop-tionsandlegalprotection.BJP leaders have been at-

tacking theOppositionpartiesfor“misleading”farmersonthenew laws. But theBJPdoesnotwanttheissuetolingerbecauseitcoulddentitsimageasapartythat protects the interests offarmers,amongwhomitenjoysconsiderablesupport.Thepartyalsodoesnotwant theproteststospreadtootherstates.

WITHMANOJCGAND

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WRITEBACK

RESPONDINGTOareportinTheIndianExpress titled“ECreadytoal-low postal ballots for NRIs, Govt can bypass Parliament (Dec 1)”, aspokesperson for theElectionCommissionof India senta rejoinderTuesday:“It is completely incorrect toaver thatEChas in their communi-

cationtoSecretary,Ministryof LawandJustice,Govt.of Indiaeithertried to insinuate and/or suggest that Govt. can bypass Parliament.ThesupremacyofParliamentinlegislativemattersistoowell-knowntoallthestakeholders.Thesamecanbechallengedonlyinacourtoflaw,becausetheentireedificeofourparliamentarysystemisbasedon the system of checks and balances. The... communication of EConly sent a preliminary note on the possible additional options toexpedite theprocess,of followingElectronicallyTransmittedPostalBallots (ETPBS) formofvotingfor Indians livingoverseas,whichhasbeenpending formore thanadecade.”The Indian Express replies: The report, which accurately sum-

marisestheEC’scommunicationtotheLawMinistry,explainedthattoextendthefacilityofpostalballotstooverseasvoters, thegovern-ment onlyneeds to amend theConduct of ElectionRules 1961, and“doesn’t require Parliament’s nod.” The headline was meant toconvey that.

Ahmedabad

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

GUJARAT

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ResidentsofEktaNagar inVadodaraholdaprotestonTuesdayagainst theevictionnotice issuedtothembytheVadodaraMunicipalCorporation.BhupendraRana

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER1

The Gujarat Prison andCorrectional Department hasbagged the prestigious ‘SKOCHGoldAward for CovidResponse’for 2020 for introducing digitalgovernance in theprison systemacross the state amid theCovid-19pandemic.SKOCHGroup is a think-tank

organisationbasedinNewDelhi,dealingwiththecountry’ssocio-economicissues,andsince2003ithas been awarding SKOCHawardsinthefieldsofgovernance,finance,banking,technology,cor-porate citizenship, economics,andinclusivegrowth.In an online event held on

Mondayon theoccasionof 68thSKOCH summit, the AdditionalDirector General of Police andDirector General of Prison andCorrectional AdministrationDrKLNRaowasawardedtheSKOCHGoldAward therebymaking theGujarat Prisons and correctionaldepartment the first prison de-partment in India to be givenSKOCHaward.According to Rao, the award

hasbeengiventoGujaratprisonsdepartmentthisyearforintroduc-ing “e-prisonmanagement sys-tem”inthestate-basedprisons.“E-prisons is a prison digital

management systemwhichhasvarious features including as-sembling data of every inmatefromthestartingof theiradmis-sion,theirbiometricdataandhis-tory. The e-prison system alsoconsists of amobile applicationwhich is available with the su-perintendent of each prisonthroughwhich they can checkthe history ticket of any inmatewhenever required,” said KLNRaoatthevideoconferencesum-mitonMonday.“In the e-prison system,we

also introduced the e-mulakatsystemduring the lockdownpe-riod throughwhich the inmatescould interactwith their familymembersthroughvideocalling,”addedRao.

Prisons dept getsSKOCH goldaward forCovid response

Theawardwasgiven

for introducing

‘e-prisonmanagement

system’ instate jails

PROTEST OVER RESIDENCE

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT,DECEMBER1

FIVEMENallegedlykidnappedadriver, beat himupandparadedhim naked on the streets ofKhambhlia town in DevbhumiDwarka district on Tuesday forpurportedly posting videosagainstthefamilymembersoftheaccused on socialmedia. Policehavearrestedallthefiveaccused.Khambhalia police said

ChanduRudaj (38), a driver,wasallegedly kidnapped by the fivemen from a paan shop nearSharda Cinema in the town in acar.Theaccused,policesaid,tookRudaj to ViramdadRoad on theoutskirts of the town and theybeat himup. Themen allegedlyalso strippedRudaj andparadedhiminthetownaround10.30amonTuesday,policesaid.Theaccusedalsoshotavideo

of themparading Rudaj naked

and later circulated it on socialmedia,policesaid.Theyalsodam-aged the victim’s phone and is-sued himdeath threats. A pur-ported video of the incidentshowedtwooftheaccusedenter-ing Khambhalia police stationholdingRudajbyhishands.Based onRudaj’s complaint,

theKhambhaliapolicefiledacaseagainstBharabhaiBhojaniandhisbrothers Kirit, Pratap andKana,andcousinMansinh.Theaccusedwerebookedunder IPCSections365(kidnapping),342(wrongfulconfinement), 323 (voluntarilycausinghurt),204(destructionofevidence), 427 (mischief causingdamage to the amount of fifty),355(assaultorcriminalforcewithintent todishonourperson, oth-erwise than on grave provoca-tion), 506 (2) (criminal intimida-tion),120-B(criminalconspiracy),and InformationTechnologyAct66E(violationofprivacy).Sandeep Siingh, Deputy

InspectorGeneral(DIG)ofRajkotrange, said theaccusedwereup-setwith somevideos posted bythe victim on the socialmedia.“RudajhadpostedvideosabusingfamilymembersoftheaccusedonFacebook. The five men kid-nappedhimand took them to anearby village,where they beathim,removedhisclothesandshothisvideos.Theaccusedthentriedtouploadthosevideosonthevic-tim’sFacebookpagebutcouldnot.Therefore,theybroughthimbacktothetown,paradedhimnaked...twoof thembrought him to thepolicestation,”Singhsaid.Singhsaidthelocalpolicede-

tainedBharabhaiandDhanabhai,whobroughtthevictimtothepo-licestation.“Duringquestioning,itemerged that three otherswerealsoinvolvedinthecrime.All thefive accusedhavebeenarrested.Four of themare siblingswhileoneistheircousin,”Singhadded.TheDIGsaidtheprobeasbeen

handedtotheLocalCrimeBranchofDevbhumiDwarkapolice.TheofficersaidRudaj isadis-

tant relative of the accused. “Tillsometimeago,thevictimusedtoworkaschaufferofBharabhai.ButhostilitiesgrewafterRudajmade‘objectionable’commentsonthesocialmedia,”theDIGsaid.Inhiscomplaint,Rudaj,aresi-

dent of Dharanagar in Kham-bhaliya,statedhehaduploadedavideoonFacebookMondaylevel-lingallegationsagainstthefiveac-cused. Charan no Choro, aFacebookpage runbyRudaj, haspurported videos showing himmakingallegationsonliquorsale,gamblingandbettingactivities.PolicesaidafterRudajwaskid-

napped, his wife and motherrushedtoKhambhaliapolicesta-tion.“Theystatedthathewaskid-napped in ablack car. Before thecarwas traced toViramdad, thetwoaccusedbroughthim backtothetown,”apolicesourcesaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER1

AMID INCREASING Covid casesin the state, GujaratTechnological University (GTU)—thelargesttechnicaluniversityin the state— has put its examsonhold, indefinitely.Rulingouttheoptionofonline

exams, the University also an-nounced to commence its newsemesterfromDecember3.GTUwas among the fewuniversitiesthathadconductedonlineexamsfor its finalsemesterstudents.Thedecisionwas taken at an

onlinemeeting of all the deansanddean associates onTuesday.GTUhad announced offline ex-ams for all semesters from

December 10.More than 4 lakhstudentsofover480technicalin-stitutesaffiliatedtotheGTUweretotaketheirexams.“Keepingthepresentsituation

inmind, itwasunanimouslyde-cidedthatitwouldbeimpossibletoconductexams...puttingtheseonholdwas theonlyoption... noone knowswhen the situationwillgetbetter. So,itwasbettertostartthenewsemestertosavestu-dents’ time,” said GTU Vice-Chancellor,ProfNavinSheth.Shethaddedthedecisionwas

takenwellinadvancetohelpstu-dentsfromoutsideGujarataswellasfromabroadplanaccordingly.

The dates for the examswould be announced later de-pendingonthesituation,GTUau-thoritiessaid.Onnotgoingfortheonlineex-

ams, Prof Sheth said, “All deansanddean associates agreed thatonline exams for such a hugenumberof students isnotanop-tion. For the previous academicsession, itwas a different situa-tion andwas held only for finalyearstudents.”GTUfacedalotoftechnicalis-

sues during its online exams forfinalyearstudentsthatforcedtheuniversity to conduct the examsfourtimes.

KHAMBHALIATOWN INDEVBHUMIDWARKA

5held afterman ‘kidnapped,beaten up andparadednaked’

Ahmedabad:Retireddistrictcourtjudge JusticeMehulGandhi hasbeen appointed asmember ofGujarat Electricity RegulatoryCommission(GERC)onTuesday.Hewas administeredoath at

the chief minister's office atGandhinagar in presence of CMVijayRupani.JusticeGandhi'sap-pointment will fill the post of“member judicial” in the GERCwhich currently has only Chair-manAnandKumarandsecretaryRoopwantSingh.Thepostofasec-ondmemberisvacant.ENS

Retired districtcourt judge isGERC member

Ahmedabad: Late on Tues-day, the Gujarat Universityput its exams scheduledfromDecember7and18onhold.Revisedschedulewillbe declared on the univer-sity's website, the an-nouncement on its officialTwitterhandle stated.ENS

GU EXAMSONHOLD

GTU exams on hold; new semester from Dec 3

Ahmedabad

GUJARAT4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER1

THESTATEgovernment claimedthatitfounditselfinthepositionofPrinceHamlet in Shakespeare’splayandreferredtothesoliloquy,“Tobe,ornottobe...”, sayingitwasnotinapositiontotakeadecisionor frame amodality on the pro-posaltoimposecommunityserv-iceatCovidcarecentresforthoserepeatedlycaughtwithoutwear-ingmasks.The state government’s sub-

missioncameinrelationtoasuomotu public interest litigationconcerningCovid-19issuesattheGujaratHighCourtTuesday.An advocate appearing as

party-in-personhadearlier pro-posedthatapart frompenalisingthose found moving withoutmasks, they should be sent forcommunityserviceatCovidcen-tres to create an effective deter-rence.ThematterwastakenupbythedivisionbenchofChiefJusticeVikram Nath and Justice JBPardiwala.Advocate General Kamal

Trivedi, appearing for the stategovernment,acknowledgeddur-ingthehearingthatthoughtheis-sueofpeoplerepeatedlyfloutingthe rule forwearingmasks re-quires to be addressed, the gov-ernment isunsureof how“post-implementation” of such a rule

wouldbetakencareofbythegov-ernment.Hesaid,“positionofthegovernmentmy lord, is just likethat of the Prince Hamlet inShakespeare’splay...”“The anxiety is not about the

implementationbutthepost-im-plementation...tobeverycandid,toshareanexample,supposefourpeople were found withoutmasks... to give thema challanand ask them to go for commu-nity service and then to see to itthat each of themwent for thecommunity service, to keep atrack thereafter... government isseeinghowthiscanbeeffectivelyimplemented...,” Trivedi submit-ted.“We have to identify places

where these people can be sentfor community service... weshouldhavetheaddressesofeachof them who is not wearing amask....We need to have somekindofmachinerytoseethattheywent forcommunityservice...to-daymostofourstaffisengagedinvariedkindsofservices.Toputad-ditional staff for detectingwhetherthedecisionisbeingim-plementedornot,willbeamam-mothjob...,”theAGadded.The court held that the “cru-

cialtime”totakeadecisioninthisregard is “now”. “If todayyouarenotwilling to take this call, thenapparently, after oneweek youmay not even consider this as-pect,”theChief Justiceobserved.

JusticePardiwalaaddedthatifthesituationcanbecontrolledatthis point, “the state may findgoodresultswithin thenext twotothreeweeks”,andsaidtherehastobe“anagency”toensurethatadefaulter renders communityservice at the designated spot.“Thewholeideainmindistocre-atedeterrence,”JusticePardiwalasaid.The government counsel

addedthatthesituationhasbeenimproving in the last threedays.“Since last three days we arewatching a marginal declinethrough... supply of oxygen, re-ceiptofcallsfor108(ambulance),104 (home isolation follow-up),bed occupancy, usage ofRemdesivir injection... Hopefullyby next Monday, the positionshouldgreatlyimprove...wehavestarted stricter implementation(ofmaskrule),postingpoliceper-sonnel at every four crossroads.People are educated and re-quested if they are found notwearing masks,” submittedTrivedi.TheAG, however, added that

atthispointoftime,twomeasures—nightcurfewaswellassurveil-lance and implementation ofmakingpeoplewearmasks—ap-peartobeworkingwell.ThecourtreserveditsorderforWednesday,addingifitissuesanydirectionsinthisregard,itwillrequiretobeim-plemented“immediately”.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER1

A FREELANCE journalist fromKashmir,whowasona four-dayvisit toGujarat, has alleged thathoursafterhecheckedintoaho-tel, hewasmade to sign a state-ment by the local police inBhavnagar. The journalist, HaziqQadri, put this out in a series oftweetsonNovember29.When contacted, Qadri told

thispaperthathewasbasedoutofNewDelhi,andhadcheckedintoNilambagh Palace hotel inBhavnagar on the evening ofNovember25withacolleaguetoworkonastory.“Police personnel in civilian

clothescametousandtookustothehotellobbytoanofficerinuni-formwho introducedhimself asSafinHasan,BhavnagarAssistantSuperintendentofPolice,”hesaid.Qadri says hewas on an as-

signmentonthestoryofastudentenrolled at Bhavnagarmedicalcollege. “Veryhonestly,wewerescared, so we complied withwhatever they (the police) en-quiredabout,withoutaskinganyquestions.Theymadeussignthestatement andnocopywaspro-vided.Neither didweask for it”,Qadrisaid.WhenTheIndianExpresscon-

tacted, Safin Hasan, ASPBhavnagar, said “Itwas part of aroutinefortnightlycheckingcon-ductedbyourSOGinthehotelsofBhavnagar.Incidentally,Ialsohap-pened to be there at the timewhen SOGarrived at the hotel.Wetookastatementfromthesaidjournalists seeking three things:wherehavetheycomefrom,whatwastheirassignmentandwherearetheyheadedfromBhavnagar.It is a routine procedure under-takenbySOGwhenevertheycon-ductacheckatthecitybasedho-tels for peoplewho have comefromother states.Wehave con-ducted similar exercises in thepastforothervisitorsaswell.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER1

GUJARATREPORTED1,477newCovid-19 casesonTuesday, tak-ing the total count to 2,11,538.Among those to test positive inAhmedabad city were fire andemergency service chiefMehrnosh Dastoor and hisdeputyMithunMistry.Asmanyas15patientssuccumbedtotheinfection in theday,while1.547othersweredischarged.As confirmed by Additional

Chief Fire Officer Rajesh Bhatt,Dastoor is in home isolation atpresent. Bhatt also confirmedthatMistry,hiswifeanddaugh-ter, had tested positive Tuesdayevening andwere in home iso-lationwhile test resultsof otherfamily members of Mistry areawaited.Dastoor'swifetoohastested

positiveandisinhomeisolation.Ahmedabad city added 311

new cases, and 12 newmicrocontainment zones includingdeclaring 113 households in asingle society in Chandlodia asrestrictedarea.A total of 10 patients suc-

cumbed to the infection inAhmedabad.The district has seen 77

Covid-19 deaths in a week, ac-cording toofficialdata.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER1

THEGUJARAT government hasdecidedtocapthecostofRT-PCRtests todiagnoseCovid-19atpri-vate laboratories across the stateat Rs 800 and Rs 1,100, DeputyChief Minister Nitin Patel an-nouncedonTuesday.Addressingmediapersons at

theinaugurationofaCovidhospi-talinAhmedabad,Patel,whoalsoholdsthehealthportfolio,saidthe

decisionwas taken at the chiefministerial level due to an in-crease in Covid cases over thepastweek.Thecostof RT-PCR tests in38

privatelaboratoriesacrossGujarat,willbeRs800ifapersonvisitsthetestcentretogetthesampletakenandRs1,100ifadiagnosticianhastocollectthesamplefromhome.Thecapping is effective start-

ingTuesday,asperacircularissuedbyadditional director atGujarat

healthdepartment,DinkarRaval.Asperacappingintroducedin

September,RT-PCRtestsatprivatelaboratorieswouldcostRs1,500ifsampleistakenatthetestingcen-treandRs2,000iftakenattheres-idenceofthepatient.ThefirstrateslashcameinJuly

when the state governmentcapped the prices at Rs 2,500-3,000, priortowhichRT-PCRtestsused to costRs4,500at aprivatelaboratory.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER1

DEPUTY CHIEF Minister andstateHealthMinisterNitinPatelonTuesdayinauguratedthenewbuilding of Institute of KidneyDiseases&ResearchCentre (IK-DRC) inAhmedabadcity.The 418-bedded facility, lo-

cated nearly 500metres fromtheMedicity campus, will be adedicated Covid-19 hospital.“The new building equippedwith 336 isolation beds, all ofwhichareequippedwithoxygensupply line, and 82 ICU bedswithventilators,”Patel said.Following a surge of infec-

tions in Ahmedabad city, the1200-bed civil hospital, the UNMehta Institute of Cardiology&ResearchCentre(UNMICRC),theGujarat Cancer ResearchInstitute (GCRI) and the IKDRCon the Medicity campus havebeendedicatedtoCovid-19fight.“Of the nearly 1,700 beds in

the four hospitals (atMedicity),currentlyabout500-600areva-cant. With the addition of 418beds (at the IKDRC’s newbuild-ing),nowtherearearound1,000beds available for Covid-19 pa-tients,”Patel said.Headded thatmost of these

beds are, however, non-criticalor isolationunits. “Atotalof205ICUbedsarevacantatMedicity,”hesaid.TheDeputy CMadded, “The

Ahmedabad MunicipalCorporationhas issuedboththefire no-objection certificate(NoC)andbuildinguse(BU)per-mit.”AsmanyasthreehospitalsinGujaratbecamesitesof fireac-cidents since August, drawingthe ire of Supreme Court onTuesday.According to Patel 80 PM

CARESventilatorswere “gifted”by the Centre to Gujarat, which

arrived in Ahmedabad threedaysago.“Ofthese,56havebeendeployedat thenewbuildingofIKDRC,”hesaid.ThenewIKDRCbuildingalso

has a 20,000-litre oxygen tankandwilldeploy26specialists,60MBBS doctors, 175 nurses and

350classthreeandfouremploy-ees, saidPatel.Meanwhile, a Medicity

source said, only two floors ofthe total nine at IKDRC’s newbuilding have become opera-tional and patients will be ad-mitted at a phasedmanner and

only under pressing circum-stancesasa“back-upmeasure”.PankajKumar,theAdditional

Chief Secretary of revenue de-partment, said “more than15,000 government hospitalbeds” have been allocated forCovid-19 treatment acrossGujarat,whichhasapopulationof over sixcrores.

TOTAL VACANT

1,200-bedfacility 1,200 539

GCRI 145 23

IKDRC 135 62

NewIKDRCbuilding 418 418

UNMICRC 179 5

Data: AsprovidedbyGujaratHealthMinisterNitinPatel

COVID-19BEDSATMEDICITY

RT-PCR test cost at pvt labs cut to Rs 800

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT,DECEMBER1

ADAY after theywere arrestedfor their allegednegligence thatledtothefireinUdayShivanandCovidHospital onNovember27thatkilledfiveCovid-19patients,the chairman and twodirectorsof the company,which runs thehospital, were granted bail by alocal court onTuesday. The firmalso runs two other hospitals inthecity.The Malaviyanagar police

producedDrPrakashModha,hissonDrVishalModhaandDrTejasKaramta in the court of addi-tionalseniorciviljudgeLDWaghonTuesday.DrPrakashModha, a leading

neurosurgeon inthecity, andDrTejas Karamta, a leading inten-sive care specialist, are on theboard of directors of Gokul LifeCare Private Limited (GLCPL),which runs the GokulSuperspecialty Hospital onVidyanagar Main Road. TheGLCPL also runs the UdayShivanand Covid Hospital nearAnand Bungalow Chowk inMavdiarea.“Wepleadedtograntuscus-

todyof the accused for fivedaysas we wanted to interrogatethem about the reason behindchoosingthebuildingbelongingtoShivanandMissionforsettingup theUday CovidHospital andrelatedmatters. However, thecourt did not grant our applica-tion,” Manoharsinh Jadeja,deputy commissioner of police(zone-II) of Rajkot city, who isheading the a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) of theRajkotcitypoliceprobingthefireincident,toldTheIndianExpress.On September 15 this year,

the GLCPL opened the UdayShivanandCovidHopsital inonepartof thethree-storeybuildingof ShivanandMission GeneralandMultiSpecialtyHospitalnearAnand Bungalow Chowk inMavdi area. The Uday hospitalused to treat only Covid-19 pa-tients.A fire in the intensive care

unit (ICU) of the Uday hospital

earlyonNovember27,killedfiveof the 11 patients undergoingtreatment there. Alongwith thethree directors, theMalaviyanagar police alsobooked Dr TejasMotivaras andDrDigvijaysinhJadejaunder IPCSections304A(causingdeathsbynegligence) and 114 (abettorpresentwhenoffenceiscommit-ted), afterMalaviyangar policeinspector KN Bhukan, in his in-

vestiga-tions, found violations of firesafetynormsat thehospital.GLCPL chairmanDr Prakash

Modhaand twoof the sixdirec-torsof thecompany—DrVishalandDrKaramta—werearrestedbypoliceat8.30pmonMonday.DrModha’sadvocatesaidthe

policehadnogroundstoseekthecustodyofhisthreeclients. “Thealleged case against them has

beenregisteredunderIPCsection304A,whichisabailableoffence,hencepoliceapplicationseekingremandwas notmaintainable...thepolicecontentionthatinves-tigation would not progresswithout their custodial interro-gationwasalsonotmaintainable.Therefore,thecourtfirstrejectedthe police application seekingtheir custody and then grantedourpleaforbail,”saidAnilDesai,

DrModha’s lawyer.The 57-bedUdayCovid hos-

pitalhad33patientsundertreat-ment at the time of the fire.Firefighters and hospital staffmanagedtorescuetheotherpa-tients before shifting them toother GLCPL hospitals onVidyanagarMain Road and onKuvadvaRoad.GLCPL had taken over

Dhakan Hospital on KuvadvaRaod last year and converted itinto its second superspecialtyhospitalinthecity.ChiefMinisterVijay Rupani had formally inau-gurated the hospital onMay 19,2019.Dr Prakash Modha’s

wifeChandrikaben, UtapalModha, Dr Motivaras and DrDigvijaysinhJadejaarealsodirec-torsintheGLCPLandtheSITchiefsaidthattheywereinvestigatingif they had any role in the func-tioningof thehospital.Accordingtopolice,DrVishal

Modha had applied for permis-siontosetuptheCovidhospital,while Dr Karamtawas involvedin treating Covid-19 patientsthereaswellasintheday-to-dayoperationsof thehospital.“If there ismaterial evidence

against the other directors, weshall takeactionagainstthemaswell,” said Jadeja.However, the SIT chief said

that thecauseof thefirewasstillunder investigation. “FootagerecordedbyCCTVcamera in theICUshowsasmall firestarting inacornerandthenflaringupsud-denly, coveringentire ICU. Therewereatleast40medicalandelec-trical equipment in the ICU.Therefore,wewillbeinapositionto comment about the source ofthe fire only after reports ofForensicScienceLaboratory(FSL)and electrical inspectors are re-ceived,”saidJadeja.Hoursafterthetragedy,Chief

Minister Vijay Rupani assignedAKRakesh, additional chief sec-retary(Panchayat,RuralHousingandRuralDevelopment),tocon-ductaninquiryintotheincident.The ACS said that the fire couldhave started fromhumidifier ofa ventilator or due to an electricshort-circuit.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,DECEMBER1

CHIEFMINISTER Vijay Rupanivirtually inaugurated develop-mentworksworthRs344croreof the Vadodara MunicipalCorporation (VMC) on Tuesday,daysbeforethefive-yeartermofthe incumbent elected board

comes toanend.Rupani, who addressed the

gatheringcomprisingmostlyBJP-elected representatives of theVMCandofficials, saidGujarat isreadying a plan to ensure quickand effective distribution ofCovid-19vaccines.Thestategov-ernment,theCMsaid,hadnotal-loweddevelopmentworkstobeaffected due to the pandemic.

“The state government has car-riedoutdevelopmentworksofRs15,000 crore despite the pan-demic. The VMChas seenmas-sivedevelopment in the last fiveyears andwill continue to seemoredevelopment,”hesaid.Rupani inaugurated the

SmartCityCentralTransportHubbuilt at a cost of Rs 11.28 croreamongotherprojects.

CM launches VMC projects worth Rs 344 cr

AHMEDABADOnAugust 6, a fire in the

ICU on the fourth floor ofShrey Covid Hospital inNavrangpura, Ahmedabad,killedeightpatients, includingthreewomen.The 50-bed hospital was

designatedasaCovid-19hos-pital in May and had 49 pa-tients.Theotherpatientswereshifted to the AMC-run SVPHospitalonAshramRoad.ThefacilitywaslaterdenotifiedasaCovidhospital.CCTVfootageshowedthat

the fire started in one of theventilators in the ICU. Initialprobe by police and fire de-partment revealed that thehospital had only one entryand exit and no ventilationfor ICU.On August 10, an FIRwas

lodgedatNavrangpurapolicestationagainstBharatMahant,trustee and administrator ofShrey Hospital, under IndianPenal Code (IPC) sections304A for causing death bynegligence, 336 for negligentorrashacttoendangerhumanlife, 337 for causing hurt to apersonbydoingrashornegli-gent act that endangers hu-man life and 338 for causinggrievoushurtbyactendanger-inghuman life.On August 12, Mahant

was arrested and on August25, twootheradministrationstaff of the hospital — BabuAhir andMaheshOdedara—were arrested.

The government an-nouncedRs4lakhtothekinofeach of the deceased and setup an inquiry led by two bu-reaucrats—SangitaSinghandMukeshPuri.Aninquirycom-missionheadedby justiceKAPuj was to file its report inthreemonths,which is yet tobesubmitted.All three accused are out

onbailandpoliceareyettofilethe chargesheet, as per PBDesai, in-charge officer ofNavrangpurapolice station.

VADODARA

On September 8, a firebroke out in the ICU of theCovid-19 facility in SSGHospital, runbytheVadodaraMunicipalCorporation,and39patientshadanarrowescape.Deputy Municipal

Commissioner SK Patel, who

ledtheprobecommittee,con-firmed to this paper that thefirebeganinaDhaman-1ven-tilator, manufactured by aRajkot firm, but the report ofthe Forensic ScienceLaboratory (FSL) is awaited toconcludethereport.Nopolicecomplaintwas filed.

SURAT

OnNovember 18, Tristarhospital in Surat saw a fire intheserverroomthatspreadtothe top floors of the building.Thehospitalusedtobeaded-icated Covid facility till amonthbefore the fire. No ca-sualties were reported as 16patients whowere undergo-ing treatmentwere immedi-ately shifted to a nearbybranch of the same hospital.Nopolicecomplaintwasfiled.

RECENT FIRE INCIDENTS INGUJARATHOSPITALS

AfterthefireatShreyHospital,Ahmedabad, inAugust.File

Marketswitnessed lowfootfallaftershopsopenedinVadodaraonTuesday. BhupendraRana

NO TAKERS

Newcases:

1,477

Cumulativedeaths:

4,029

Cumulativedischarge:

1,92,368

Totalcases:

2,11,538

Places Confirmed Deaths Newcases

Ahmedabad 49,056 2,070 332

Amreli 3,314 28 28

Anand 1,908 16 16

Aravalli 981 24 7

Banaskantha 3,963 35 29

Bharuch 3,399 18 13

Bhavnagar 5,320 70 19

Botad 939 7 2

ChhotaUdepur 789 4 5

Dahod 2,400 7 18

Dang 130

DevbhoomiDwarka 919 5 4

Gandhinagar 6,714 101 64

GirSomnath 2,075 22 7

Jamnagar 9,270 35 36

Junagadh 4,316 32 22

Kheda 2,190 16 48

Kutch 3,194 33 23

Mahisagar 1,701 13 21

Mehsana 5,447 34 67

Morbi 2,645 20 21

Narmada 1,673 1 11

Navsari 1,475 7 5

Panchmahal 3,445 22 21

Patan 3,612 50 14

Porbandar 999 4 2

Rajkot 17,281 181 160

Sabarkantha 2,267 12 19

Surat 43,956 901 264

Surendranagar 2,940 13 40

Tapi 966 6 4

Vadodara 20,073 233 181

Valsad 1,293 8 2

Otherstates 148 3

CASE TRACKER

Healthcarestaff collect swabsamples forCovid-19testatacentrealongSGHighwayonTuesday.NirmalHarindran

PROPOSALTOSENDDEFAULTERSFORCOVIDSERVICE

Govt toHC:Ourpositiononmaskplan is just likethatofPrinceHamlet

1,477NEWCASES

Ahmedabadfire chief anddeputy testCovid positive

AFTERARRESTFORFIRE IN ICUTHATKILLED5PATIENTSONNOV27

Chairman, 2 directors of Rajkot hospital get bail

ThecostofRT-PCR

tests in38private labs

instatewillbeRs1,100

if adiagnostician

hastocollect the

samplefromhome

Nitin Patel inaugurates new Covid facilitywith 336 isolation, 82 ICU beds at IKDRC

Withtheadditionof418beds(at the

IKDRC’snewbuilding),nowtherearearound1,000bedsavailable forCovid-19patients”

—NITINPATEL

DEPUTYCHIEFMINISTER

Made to signstatement by copsin Bhavnagar,says Kashmirijournalist

ASPSAYSPARTOFROUTINECHECKING

Journalist saidhewas

onanassignmenton

thestoryof astudent

enrolledatBhavnagar

medicalcollege

Ahmedabad

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

OFFICE OF THE MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT,SMS HOSPITAL, JAIPUR

(Swai Ram Singh Road Tonk Road, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302004)No.F-10()/Contract/smsh/2020/10681 Dated:- 24.11.2020

NOTICE INVITING BID(NIB No. 10681 dated 24.11.20)

Bids for the Supply of Shirting Polly Cloth 90 C.M. (in different Colour) & CashmentCloth 90 C.M. (Cotton in difierent Colour) etc. Two years rate contract are invitedfrom interested bidders up to 17.12.2020 on 04 PM. Other particular of bid may bevisited on the procurement portal (http://sppp.rajasthan.gov.in orhttp://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in.) for the state.UBN No. MCJ2021GLRC00138

Sd/-DIPR/C/9313/2020 P Medical Superintendent

ONLINE TENDERINGRoad & Building Department

TENDER NOTICE No. 10 of 2020-21Executive Engineer, Devbhoomi Dwarka (R&B) Division, Khambhalia, PhoneNo. 02833-234719 has invited online tenders from contractors registered inR&B Department, NWRWS & K Department for 2 works. The Estimated Costof the work is between Rs. 23.85 Lakh to Rs. 124.60 Lakh. Tender documentsare available for Work No. 1 upto Dt. 21/12/2020 & Work No. 2 upto Dt.15/12/2020 on https://rnb.nprocure.com. For more details visit on givenwebsite. For Detailed Tender Notice visit www.statetenders.com

Mahiti/Jam/549/2020

''IMPORTANT''Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertisingcopy, it isnotpossible toverifyits contents. The IndianExpress (P) Limited cannot beheld responsible for suchcontents, nor for any loss ordamage incurredasaresultoftransactions with companies,associations or individualsadvertising in its newspapersor Publications. We thereforerecommend that readersmake necessary inquiriesbefore sending any monies orentering into any agreementswith advertisers or otherwiseacting on an advertisement inany manner whatsoever.

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your

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PERSONAL

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II,, MonilYogeshkumar VoraR/o 7, JalsabarSociety,Dharmnagar,Sabarmati,Ahmedabad - 380005have changed myminor daughter’sname from Reeya toReyaa for all pur-poses.

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Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance ofadvertising copy, it is not possible to verify itscontents. The Indian Express (P) Limited cannotbe held responsible for such contents, nor forany loss or damage incurred as a result oftransactions with companies, associations orindividuals advertising in its newspapers orPublications. We therefore recommend thatreaders make necessary inquiries beforesending any monies or entering into anyagreements with advertisers or otherwise actingon an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

‘‘ IMPORTANT ’’

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6

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MEND AND REPAIRCentre’s taxcollectionspickeduppace inOctober. It should

increase its spending, impartapositive impulse toeconomy

MIRRORINGTHETRENDinthebroadereconomy,thefiscalpositionof

thecentralgovernmentisbeginningtoshowsignsof improvement.

DatareleasedbytheControllerGeneralofAccountsshowsthatafter

contractinginthefirsthalfofthisfinancialyear,theCentre’sgrosstax

collections turnedmarkedly positive in themonth of October. The

improvementincollectionswasquitebroad-based,drivenbyhigherindirecttaxesandper-

sonal income taxes.However, despite this, theCentre’s gross tax collections at the endof

OctoberstoodatRs8.75lakhcrore,Rs1.76lakhcrorelowerthanlastyear’scollections.

Attheaggregatelevel,theCentre’sgrosstaxcollectionsgrewbyahealthy17percentin

October.Muchof this improvementcanbetracedtohigherindirecttaxcollections,which

grewby23.6 per cent inOctober,with revenue fromcentral GST, excise and customs all

showinghealthy growth, as consumption activity pickedup.Over theApril-October pe-

riod, indirect taxesweredownonly6.5percentcomparedto lastyear.Underdirect taxes,

revenuefrompersonalincometaxesmaintaineditsupwardtrajectory,growingata16.6per

cent inOctober,up from2.6percent lastmonth,whilecorporate taxcollectionscontinue

tocontract, thoughthepaceofdeclinehaseasedconsiderably inrecentmonths.Thegov-

ernment’s proceeds fromdisinvestment aswell as fromnon-tax sources continue to re-

mainamajorsourceof concern.AsagainstadisinvestmenttargetofRs2.1 lakhcrore, col-

lections in the first sevenmonths have been only Rs 6,178 crore,while non-tax revenue

collectionshaveremainedatlessthanathirdof thebudgetedtarget,asagainst72percent

lastyear.But,despite the improvement in its taxreceipts, theCentrehasnowcutbacktax

devolutiontostatestoRs37,233crore inOctober, fromRs41,965crore inSeptember—in-

dicativeofthesevereadjustmentlikelytobemadetothebudgetedshareofstatesinthedi-

visibletaxpoolonaccountof loweroverall taxcollections.

The GDP data released by the National Statistical Office revealed that government

spendingactuallydeclinedinthesecondquarterof thecurrentfinancialyear, imparting

acontractionaryimpulsetotheeconomy.WhilethistrendreversedinOctober,withcen-

tralgovernmentspendinggrowingby9.5percent,totalcentralgovernmentspendingin

thefirstsevenmonthsoftheyearremainedatalmostthesamelevelaslastyear.Thus,de-

spite the announcement of various relief packages, there has not been any significant

pick-upinpublicspending.Merelymeetingitsbudgetedexpendituretargetwouldnow

implyanincreaseinspendingof33.7percentovertheNovembertoMarchperiod,which

would impartapositive impulse to theeconomy.

Answering farmers’ knock

IN HER NAME

Girls inanUttarakhanddistrict findtheirnamesontheir

houses. It isaclaimworthnurturing

WHAT’SINAname?Patriarchyteachesawoman,earlyon,toset-

tleforaslendergripontheprimaryblockofidentity—hername.

It changeswithmarriage, as severalwomentakeon theirhus-

band’s familynametomarkthetransition fromonesocialunit

toanother.Somecommunitiesareknowntogofurtherandre-

nameanewbrideentirely.InIndia,itistiedwiththepersistentculturalbelief,affirmedby

rituals,myths,musicandcinema,thatgirlsareparayadhan,destinedtobewrenchedaway

fromtheirtiesandrightsintheirmaternalhome,tocedethespacetheyonceownedinit.

Andso,thepushbythedistrictadministrationofUttarakhand’sPauriGarhwaltoencour-

age families to put upnameplates bearing their daughters’ nameon their houses is a re-

freshingstep. Indoingso, thegovernmenthopes tocreateawarenessaboutgender rights

andwomen’srighttoownproperty. Indeed,that Indianhomesstruggletomakespacefor

women’snamesisanindicationofaharsheconomiclogic—thatmarriageisaninstitution

meantfortheaggrandisementofmalepropertyandfamilywealth,notwomen’sfinancial

health.Progressivechangesinlawhavenotbeenenoughtodentthatlogic.Evenifwomen

havetheright toclaimashare intheirparents’property, there is littlesocial legitimacyfor

suchanassertion.But,asstudieshaveshown,theownershipofpropertymakesaspectac-

ulardifferencetowomen’sresilience,bringingdownlevelsofdomesticviolenceandpoverty.

Theadministrationof PauriGarhwal, alsostrugglingwitha fallingchildsexratio—a

warningthatfemaleworthhasbeenfoundwantingbyaruthlesssocialcalculus—hopes

to prod families to see their future in girl children. A nameplate on the doormight not

lead toanewerhomewithin,but it is surelyanaspirationworthseeding for the future.

AshokGulati

Centremustcarefullyconsideroptions,dothegroundwork, close thecommunicationgap

FARMERSHAVEPROTESTEDagainst there-centlyenacted farmlawsbyconvergingonDelhi’s highways connected toneighbour-ing states. The agitation is primarily led byPunjab farmers, although some othergroupshavealso joined. Ibelieveeverycit-izenhas the right toprotest peacefully. Butblocking highways reveals their intentionis to create chaos and disruption, whichmaygoout of hand.Here, letme also say that I feel there is a

gross communication failure on the part ofthe central government to explain to farm-erswhattheselawsare,andhowtheyarein-tendedtobenefitthem.Thiscommunicationgapwasfullyexploitedbysomepoliticalpar-tiesandsocialactivists,whothemselvesarefacinganexistentialistthreatandbelievethatthe NarendraModi government can do nogood for this country. Amassivemisinfor-mationcampaignwaslaunched,sayingthattheselawsareasell-outtocorporatehouses,will abolish the MSP system, dismantleAPMCmandis, and even capture farmers’lands.Nothingcanbefurtherfromthetruth.Neither do the laws say anything about

it,noristheMSP/APMCsystemgoingtodis-appearwiththeselaws.Yes,whatwouldcer-tainlycomeunderpressureisthehighcom-missionof arhtias,mandi fees and cess thatstates collect,whichaccount for asmuchas8.5percentovertheMSPinPunjab,amount-ing to roughly Rs 4,500 to 5,000 crore eachyear.Asubstantial chunkof this isneverau-ditedbytheComptrollerandAuditorGeneral(CAG)of India.Whatarethepolicyoptionsnowthatthe

farmers have dug in their heels? Punjabfarmerleaders, includingtwomajorpoliticalparties, demandrepealof these laws. I don’tthink thatwould be in the larger interest ofthe country’s peasantry, as repealingwouldmeanbringingbackcontrols, licenceraj andtheresultant rent-seeking.Remembermilk,poultry, fishery, etc. don’t go through themandisystemandtheirgrowthratesare3to5 times higher than that of wheat and rice.Overall, almost 90 per cent of the agri-pro-duce issoldtotheprivatesector.

Another demand is making the MSPstatutoryandlegallybindingevenonthepri-vatesector, implyingthatanyonebuyingbe-lowMSPcouldfaceprison.Letmesaythatitis not the first time that such ademandhasbeen raised. It came up several times evenduring the time of the UPA government in2004-13, and it was rejected every time. Iconsiderthisimpracticalasthereare23com-moditiesforwhichMSPsareannounced,butinactualpracticeonlywheat and riceenjoyMSPs in anymeaningful manner, and thattoo only in 6-7 states. Punjab is the biggestgainerasits95-98percentofmarketarrivalsofwheatandpaddyareprocuredatMSPbystate agencies on behalf of the FoodCorporation of India (FCI). The FCI is over-loadedwithgrainstocks thataremorethan2.5 times thebuffer stocknorms, indicatingmassive economic inefficiency in the grainmanagementsystem,costingthetax-payersthousandsofcroreswithoutservinganypur-pose,andthat, too,atatimewhenthecoun-trydesperatelyneedsfundstotackleCOVID-19 at home and China on its borders. Iconsider this policy option impractical be-causeif thegovernmentcannotcopeupwithexcess production of justwheat and rice inanymeaningfulway,thinkofhowitwillhan-dle23commoditiesunderMSP.Incaseof excessproduction, theprivate

sectorwillnotcomeforwardtobuyatMSP,and the government will not have thewherewithal to buy all and stock themwithout anyviable outlet. Itwillmassivelydistort markets, make Indian agriculturenon-competitiveandstockingof thesewillbefinanciallyunsustainable.Andthen,whyonly 23 commodities, why not 40? Thistype of state socialism is a sure path to fi-nancial disaster.ThethirdpolicyoptionistousethePrice

Stabilisation Scheme to give a lift tomarketprices by pro-actively buying a part of thesurpluswhenevermarket prices crash, saymore than20per cent belowMSP. It canbedone directly by NAFED-type agencies thatare already active in the case of pulses andoilseeds, or use Commodity Derivatives

Exchangeswhere farmers can buy “put op-tions” at MSP before they even sow theircrops,andif themarketpricesat thetimeofharvest turn out to be belowMSP, govern-mentcancompensatethempartlyforlowermarketprices. I consider ita feasibleoption,and it cankick in immediately.The fourth option is to totally decen-

tralise theMSP,procurement, stocking,andpublic distribution system (PDS). Sincemany states and activists are saying thatagriculturalmarketingisastatesubjectand,throughthese laws, theCentre is tramplingover their jurisdiction, thenwhyevenhaveacentralMSP?SinceMSPandprocurementexist basically to support farmers for sup-plyinggrains to theFCI to feed into thePDS,let thewholemoneyonso-called foodsub-sidy be allocated to states on the basis oftheir share in all-India poverty/proportionof vulnerable population, all-India wheatand riceproduction, all-Indiaprocurementofwheat and rice, etc.Awell thought-out formula isneededto

allocate, say, Rs 1,00,000 crore of food sub-sidy. And then let the states decide whatshould be the stateMSP and let themhan-dle procurement and stocking costs. Thedeficit states can invite tenders for supply-ingthemrequiredquantitiesor,evenbetter,theymayintroducecashtransfersinthePDSsystem.Iwouldgoastepfurtherandincludeanother Rs 1,00,000 crore of fertiliser sub-sidy and free up fertiliser prices from anycontrols. Still further, even include anotherRs1,00,000,say,ofMNREGA.LettheFinanceCommissionwork out a formula for distri-bution of this Rs 3,00,000 crore amongststatesbasedonsometangibleperformanceindicators.AndtheCentreshouldgetoff fromMSP,PDS, fertiliser subsidy, andMNREGA.Thiswouldbetruedecentralisation,and

can be accomplished provided enoughgroundworkisdonewellinadvance.Butwillthisbeacceptable to farmer leaders/oppos-ingstates/activists?Only timewill tell.

Gulati is InfosysChairprofessor foragriculture

Since many states and

activists are saying that

agricultural marketing is a

state subject and, through

these laws, the Centre is

trampling over their

jurisdiction, then why

even have a central MSP?

Since MSP and procurement

exist basically to support

farmers for supplying grains

to the FCI to feed into the

PDS, let the whole money

on so-called food subsidy be

allocated to states on the

basis of their share in

all-India poverty/proportion

of vulnerable population,

all-India wheat and rice

production, all-India

procurement of wheat

and rice, etc.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

B E C A U S E T H E T R U T H I N V O L V E S U S A L L

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

WORDLYWISE

The important thing to knowabout an

assassination is notwho fired the shot, but

who paid for the bullet. — ERIC AMBLERTHEEDITORIALPAGE

NDayasindhu

ENGINEER AND BUILDERLeaders likeFCKohli laid the foundation for India’s ITboom

F C KOHLI, the long-time CEO of TataConsultancy Services (TCS) who passedawaylastweek,playedapivotalrole innur-turing information technology (IT) in India.With his Queen’s University andMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology(MIT)electrical engineering pedigree, he couldhave emigrated to a developed country.However, he chose to join the Tata ElectricCompany in theearly1950s.Kohliwas,firstandforemost,anengineer.

Hekeptabreastof the latest inelectricalandelectronics engineering throughout his life,andsoughtoutlike-mindedengineerstoen-sure that thediscipline isput to thebestuseforthecountry.OnesuchelectricalengineerfromMumbai in the early 1950s was P KKelkar,whowent on to become the first di-rector of the Indian Institute of Technology,Kanpur. Kelkar and Kohli played an impor-tantroleinensuringthatIIT-KanpurobtainedanIBM1620computerwithaidfromtheUSAin 1963— themachine became thenucleusforIndia’s firstcomputercentreinaneduca-tionalinstitution.AsapartoftheIIT-Kanpur’sinterviewboard, Kohli also recruited youngfacultytoteachcomputerprogramming,whowentontobecomedoyensof computer sci-enceeducation in India.Kohli was a hands-on engineer and

among the earliest participants to learn thefundamentalsofcomputersandFortranpro-gramminginacomputertrainingcourseof-fered by IIT-Kanpur. He started the processofcomputerisationinTataElectricCompanywiththematerialmanagementfunction,and

ensured that company personnel weretrained on computers.When Tata ElectricCompany installed aWestinghouse com-puterinthelate1960s, itwasamongthefewin theworld at the time to use a computerforefficientlycontrolling thepowergrid.In1968,theexecutiveleadersinTataSons,

includingJRDTata,wantedKohlitojointheirnewdivision,TataConsultancyServices(TCS),which had a “large” IT consulting practiceconsistingofafewprofessionals.Notsurpris-ingly,oneofhisfirstdecisionsatTCSwastore-cruit almost the entire class of IIT-Kanpur’sMTech electrical engineering department,withspecialisation incomputerscience.How have the bets Kohli placed in the

1960s turned out today? According toNasscom, India’s IT and IT-enabled servicessectorhasannualrevenuesofabout$191bil-lion and employs over fourmillion profes-sionals. One can trace this growth back to afewhundredprofessionals inTCSandotherIndian IT companies in the late1960s. Fromahandfulofstudentsgraduatingwithaspe-cialisation in computer science in the late1960s, India grants close to 2,00,000 com-puterscienceandrelateddegreestoday.TheIndian ITand IT-enabledsectorhasnotonlyearned valuable foreign exchange for thecountry,butalsoprovidedqualityjobstocol-lege educated youth, including first-gener-ationgraduates.While servingon theglobalboardof the

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers) — one of the world’s foremostprofessional bodies — he zeroed in on

Burroughs,aleadingUScomputermanufac-turer,forajointventurewithTatastosellandserviceBurroughscomputersinIndia.Soon,TCSbeganwritingsoftwareforBurroughs—oneof itsfirstoffshore-basedsoftwareserv-icesproject.Afewyearslater,Kohliandothersenior Indiantechnocratsdeclinedaplantomerge TCS with the Tata Burroughs jointventure, as they believed that TCS, an all-Indianentity,hadtobenurtured independ-ently. TCS now has an annual revenue ofabout$22billionandemploysover4,53,000professionals.WhileKohlibelieved inkeepingTCS in-

dependent, he was also welcoming of thebest global companies when he believedthat their technology would be useful forIndia. A change in policy in the late 1970sled to IBM, the largest US computer com-pany that operated in India through a fullyowned subsidiary, to shut shop in India.Kohli played a role in IBM re-entering thecountry in the early 1990s as a Tata jointventure, Tata Information Systems. Today,IBM operates independently with a largepresence in India, as do over a thousand ITandR&Dsubsidiariesofmultinational cor-porations.It is thanks to IT leaders like Kohli that

IndiaearneditsplaceasaglobalITleader.Hewill continue to inspire generations of pro-fessionalstoleveragetechnologyforthebet-termentof Indiaandtheworld.

Thewriter is co-founderandCEOof itihaasaResearchandDigital.Viewsarepersonal.

Kohli was a hands-on

engineer and among the

earliest to learn the

fundamentals of computers

and Fortran programming.

He started the process of

computerisation in Tata

Electric Company. In 1968,

he joined Tata Consultancy

Services (TCS), which had a

‘large’ IT consulting practice

consisting of a few

professionals. One of his

first decisions at TCS was to

recruit almost the entire

class of IIT-Kanpur’s MTech

electrical engineering,

with specialisation in

computer science.

BIHAR BLINDINGSADISSATISFIED OPPOSITION in the RajyaSabha todaystagedawalkouton the issueofblindingundertrials inBihardespitethePrimeMinister’sassuranceexpressingher“verydeepagony”andtheHomeMinister’sstatement owning responsibility forwhathappened. The government’s assurancethat itwouldorder anenquirybyan inde-pendent agency and the announcementthatthePrimeMinisterhaddecidedtogiveex-gratia relief of Rs 15,000 to each of thevictims did not satisfy the Opposition,whichthoughtthatthegruesomecasede-served amore substantive response fromthegovernment. Thewalkout cameat theend of a three-hour debate on what the

Opposition described as a barbaric attackby the police. The DMK and a few inde-pendentsdidnot join thewalkout.

COURT STEPS INTHESUPREMECOURTtodaydirected twoof its officers to visit the Bhagalpur jail inBihar and give a first-hand report of theeye puncture incidents alleged by the 15undertrials.Chief JusticeYVChandrachudand Justice Chinnappa Reddy, who stud-iedthereportof thedoctorwhoexaminedeight of them, said “the incident wouldshock the conscience of humanity. This isa flagrant violation of Articles 19 and 21”.Meanwhile, a committee of threeophthalmologists has said that the eye-

sight of six canbe saved.

PROTESTS ON SATISEVERAL HUNDRED RESIDENTS of thewalledcitywatchedwithcuriosityathree-hour confrontation between a dozen ar-ticulatedemonstratorsandareligiouspro-cession in honour of Sati at the paradegrounds.Thedemonstrators representingorganisationssuchas theStreeSangharshSamiti, Legal Aid Cell for Women(Congress-I), and National Federation ofIndianWomen protested in front of theshamiana of Rani Sati Sarva Sangha. Twohundred-oddmen, women and childrenof the Sangha shouted counter-slogansand chanted “hymns” to Sati.

DECEMBER 2, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

RIPPLE OF UNCERTAINTY

Assassinationof Iraniannuclearscientist threatensrenewalof

nucleardealwithUS, couldescalateconflict in region

UNLIKEQASEMSOLEIMANI, the Iranian general in charge of theQuds

ForceoftheRevolutionaryGuardkilledbyaUSdronestrikeinJanuary,

Mohsen Fakhrizadehwas not a household namewithin Iran orwell

knownoutside it. But Fakhrizadeh iswidely regarded as a key figure

in Iran’s nuclearweapons programmeandhis assassination late last

month— forwhichnoonehasyet claimed responsibility—will have seriousgeopoliti-

cal implications inWest Asia and beyond. That hewas accompanied by several body-

guards to the last, evenwhenhewaskilled in anambushattackona rural roadoutside

Tehran, attests tohowseriously Iran tookhis security.

Fakhrizadeh’sassassination,comingsoonafterSoleimani’skilling,hasledtospeculation

abouttheperpetrators’motives.IranhashintedthatIsraelandSaudiArabiaarebehindthe

attackandhasvowedrevenge.Atthesametime,thegovernmenthasattemptedtodown-

playFakhrizadeh’s importance,andgiventhenatureof theambushonIraniansoil, seems

towanttodiscouragespeculationthattheassassinsmayhavehadhelpfromlocalsonthe

ground.Theofficial responsehasbeentwo-fold:PresidentHassanRouhaniappears tobe

counsellingpatience,arguingfor“revenge”atatimeandplaceofIran’schoosing,whilethe

IRGCseemstofavourimmediateretaliation.Whatisimmediatelyinthespotlight,though,

is the Irannuclear dealwhichDonald Trumppulled out of and a Joe BidenWhiteHouse

will likely consider rejoining. For both Israel and Saudi Arabia— Iran’s rival in theGreat

GameinWestAsiaandNorthAfrica—sucharapprochementwouldbedetrimentaltotheir

interests. Thus far, since the Iran-Iraqwar, Tehranhasconducteda sortof coldwar, acting

largelythroughproxiessuchastheHouthirebelsinYemen,ratherthanengaginginadirect

conflict.AretaliationtotheFakhrizadehassassinationcouldchangethedynamicsofthiscon-

flictfortheworseand, inthebargain,scupperanymeaningfulrenewalof thenucleardeal.

Therearemanywithin theUSestablishmentandtheDemocraticpartywhostrongly

support IsraelandwantBidentoseekgreaterconcessionsfromIranwhilere-negotiating

thedeal. Suchamovecouldpayoff, or result instrengtheningmoreradical forceswithin

Iran.Ontheotherhand,BenjaminNetanyahu’scoalitiongovernmentseemstobeonthe

vergeof collapse,andthereareprotestorsonthestreetsof Jerusalemdemandinghisres-

ignation.BetweenIranandIsrael, then,thenextfewweeksauguratimeofuncertaintyin

theregion.NewDelhihasthusfarmanagedtomaintainstrongtiesacrosstheMiddleEast.

This isa timetowaitandwatch,whilecontinuingthepolicyofbipartisanfriendship.

Ahmedabad

7THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“The fact is that China-Australia relations remained warm in the past. But now,

Canberra implements a wolf-style policy toward China and has become the most

savage accomplice of US suppression of China.” — GLOBALTIMES,CHINATHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

The demand for MSP as a

legal right is not well placed.

If private players decide that

they will not buy at MSP and

rather import agricultural

produce, and FCI decides to

not procure farm produce for

various reasons, where will

the farmer sell? Punjab’s

amendments to farm Acts —

making MSP mandatory for

wheat and paddy and any

purchase punishable with

imprisonment or fine if

farmer is forced to sell at

below MSP — are ill-advised

as this law will discourage

private buyers from buying.

Further, how can it be proved

that a farmer has been forced

to sell her produce at below

MSP if a farmer desperate to

sell ends up consenting to

sell at below MSP? It is

difficult to enforce such a

law. Private agricultural

market cannot be run

through such diktats.

All the smokeMoreAmericansnowagree,withgoodscientificreason,thatmarijuanashouldbelegal. Indiamustjoinothercountriesindecriminalisingitsuse

AMIDST THE DIN of the US electionswhich has left a polarised nation evenmoredivided,manyhaveoverlooked thefact thatAmericansdidunitearoundoneissue — getting stoned. Alongside thepresidential election, the question ofwhethermarijuana,which is available invarious forms in India (ganja, charas andbhang), should be legalised for recre-ationalormedicinalusewaspresentedtovoters in a number of states. Even if folksinNewJerseyandArizonadisagreedwiththose inMontanaandSouthDakotaas towho they preferred to be the President,theyallagreedthatgettingwastedshouldbe legal. Since 2012, when Colorado be-came the first state to approve the recre-ational use of marijuana, two-thirds ofAmericanstatesnowallowitsuseforme-dicinalpurposes, including15just for fun.AndAmericans,whowereimprisonedfortoking, can look forward toBiden’spresi-dency, not only because it promises de-criminalising the use of marijuana butalso the rubbingout of past convictions.Foracountrywhich,onlyafewdecades

ago, had launched its infamous “war ondrugs”,imprisoningmillionsofyoungpeo-ple(mostoften,blackmen)forusingdrugs,the remarkablemarch towards legalisingthemost commonlyuseddrugof all is re-flected in thedramatic shift in public atti-tudes towardsmarijuanawith over two-thirds of adults now supporting itslegalisation,upfromjustabout10percent50yearsago.Overthisperiod,attitudesto-wardsmarijuanahavealso softenedglob-ally,withCanadaandUruguaynowoffer-ing nationwidemarijuana stores, whileseveralothershavedecriminaliseditsuse.This transformation is foundedupona

substantialbodyof sciencedemonstratingthat the harms associatedwithmarijuanausewere greatly overestimated and that,likeall substanceswhichaffectourmentalhealth, society should respond to its usethroughprogressivepublic healthpolicies—inshort,aswithalcohol,ratherthanban-ning themand criminalising users, to im-plementarangeofstrategiestocontroltheiruseand reduce theharmsassociatedwiththem.Thesestrategiesincludehealthedu-cation, age restrictions, taxation, limitingthe dose of the active ingredients and ac-cess to counselling for thosewhowish tostop. Indoing so, you rootout thecriminalmafias,emptyjailsofyoungpeoplewhoseonly crimewas tohaveabit of fun, freeupprecious police time to go after the realcrooks and generate a new source of in-comefor thestate.These dramatic changes in attitudes

standinstarkcontrasttotheexuberantef-forts by India’s Narcotics Control Board toinvestigate, interrogate and arrest peoplewith small amounts of marijuana. If theykeepthisup,theyaregoingtoneedawholelot more officers to chase the 30million

peopleinthecountrywhoowneduptous-ingmarijuana in 2019 to the governmentof India. Given that admitting to such be-haviour inastate-sponsoredsurveycouldleadtoprisonor,morelikely,beingextortedinto paying a bribe, even this substantialfiguremustbeviewedasaconservativees-timate.WhiletheNCBhasassumedthepa-triotic task of defending India’smoral pu-rityfromharmfulforeigninfluences,itmaybenefit from a history lesson:Marijuanahas a long and colourful history of use inIndia, dating back at least twomillenniaandthelawscriminalisingitsusewereim-posedby foreigners.First, itwastheBritishwhotriedtoban

thesubstanceonseveraloccasions, finallygiving upwhen its own commission de-claredthatthat“themoderateuseof thesedrugs is the rule” and that even amongstthe “exceptional” excessive users “the in-juryisnotclearlymarked”andthat“theef-fectonsocietyisrarelyappreciable”.Theseastuteobservationshavewithstoodthetestof time,withhundredsof studiesover thepastcenturyconfirmingtheseconclusions.India continued to resist foreign pres-

sure after independencewhen, in 1961, itopposed the inclusion ofmarijuana in theConventiononNarcoticDrugs,citingitsrolein its social and religious customs. The in-ternationalcommunityallowedIndiaare-prieveontwoconditions—thatthegovern-mentwouldnotexportmarijuanaandthatit would be ultimately criminalised in 25years.AndthusIndia’sownNarcoticDrugsandPsychotropicSubstancesActwascon-ceived in 1985which,while criminalisingmarijuana, continued to permit the use ofbhang(equivalenttobanningcigarettes,butallowingbeedis).Thereisnodoubtthatmarijuanausehas

itsrisks,asdoallothersubstanceswhichaf-fectthebrain.Onehastobeparticularlycon-cerned that, with legalisation inwealthycountries,newerhybridstrainsofmarijuanawhichcontainmuchhigherconcentrationsoftheactiveingredient(THC)arebeginningtoswampthemarket.Thereisevidencethatthesemore potent forms of the drug aredangerous for youngpeoplewith vulnera-bilities to developmental health disordersand this iswhy strict regulationsmust bepartofanypolicytolegalisemarijuana.Onlylegalisation offers the opportunity for im-plementing effective harmminimisationpoliciesforthevast,criminalisedsystemsofproductionandsaleareoutsidethescopeofanyregulation.Reassuringly, thewinds of change are

blowing as amotley crew of politicians,like-mindedcops,anassortmentofsadhusand civil society groups, such as theGreatLegalisationMovement (a fittingly trippyname!), join a chorus to demand legisla-tive reforms. And if science and commonsensearen’tsufficient,invokingourancientscripturesandrejectingcolonialprejudicesmaybeaneffectiveargumentforourtimes.It surely can’t be long before millionsaround this country can lustily singDummarodumortheiconiclyricsofBobMarley,thetalismanofmarijuanaaficionadosfromKingstontoCandolim,“Ifeelsohigh,Ieventouchthesky,sohereIcomeagain”. Iknowmany of youwill be humming the rest ofthis song.

Thewriter is thePershingSquareProfessorofGlobalHealthatHarvardMedical School

WHATWASSEENasalocalisedPunjab-spe-cificprotest against the twonew(farmpro-duce trade and commerce and contractfarming) andoneamended (essential com-modities)unionActsaboutagriculturalmar-ketshasbecomeanationalevent,withnewfarmergroupsandnational-level farmeral-liancesjoiningtheprotestsonthebordersofDelhi.Thegovernmentclaimsthat the farmActs are for the benefit of farmers and thatfarmershavenotunderstood thesame.Thefarmersaredemandingarepealof thethreeActs, though ECA amendment is not a newAct, and making MSP a legal right of thefarmer. There isnodoubt that there is someconfusion among farmers about some as-pectsof thenewActs. Forexample, thewayproduction agreement is defined has led tofear among farmersabout contract farmingbeingmoreaboutcorporatefarmingthoughtheActclearlysaysthat farmerlandcan’tbeleased,mortgagedorboughtbythecontract-ingagency.Butitisimportanttoexaminethemeritsandfeasibilityof thetwodemandsofprotesting farmers.The Farmer Produce Trade and

Commerce(PromotionandFacilitation)Act,popularly known as APMCmandi bypassAct, creates a new “trade area” outside theAPMCmarket yards/sub-yards where anybuyerwith a Permanent Account Number(PAN) can buy directly from farmer sellersandthestategovernmentcan’t imposeanytaxes on such a transaction. Therefore, it isexpectedthatthiswouldlowerbuyingcostsfor buyers and that would automaticallymeanhigherprices for farmers.Butbuyersbuying at lower cost does not necessarilymeantheywouldpassonthecostsavedonprocurementtosellingfarmers.Theclaimisalsomade that now farmerswould have achoice of channels. This is somewhatmis-placedas themajority of the farmproduceacross India (with the exception of stateslike Punjab and Haryana) does not gothroughAPMCs. Anybodywith a PAN cardallowed to buy agricultural produce couldmean a free-for-all situation, which is notdesirable.Contract farming, as practised in India

acrosscropsandregionsformanyyears,hasshown thatmarginal and small farmers aregenerally excluded. Theproblems they faceinclude highly one-sided (pro-contractingagency)contracts,delayedpayments,unduerejectionsandoutrightcheatingbesidespoorenforcementof contract farmingregulationbythestategovernments.Therefore,arobustcontractfarmingregulationwasneeded.TheFarmers (Empowerment and Protection)Agreement on Price Assurance and FarmServices Act has defined FPOs (farmer pro-ducer organisations) as farmers, which re-stricts them to the supply side, when thereishardlyanyFPOinfarmproduction,andig-norestheirroleascontractfarmingagencies.Further, the contract farming Act does notprovideforremedieswhencompaniescan-celcontractsorthereisdelayintakingdeliv-eryof produce.Anotherproblematicaspectof theAct is

that it says the sponsorwould also pay, be-

sidestheminimumguaranteedprice,apre-miumorbonuswhichwillbelinkedtoAPMCore-tradingprice.Thisgoesagainsttheveryconcept of contract farming. The contractprice should be left to the contracting par-tiestodecide.Further, if theunderstandingisthatmandisarenotdiscoveringpriceswell,then why peg the contract price to suchmandiprice?Thegovernmentmustgobacktothe2003ModelAPMCAct,whichalsohadmodelcontractagreementwithmandatoryandoptionalprovisions inacontract.In the2003ModelAPMCAct, theAPMC

was supposed to resolve the disputes. Thiswas a better system because the farmerknew and was familiar with the system.Further,whenalicenceisgiventoatraderorcommission agent, there is a counterpartyrisk assurance. Inmajor agricultural states,APMCs aremulti-stakeholder elected bod-ies. Only Punjab has not had an election toAPMCs in the last40years. In thenewtradearea,thereisnomechanismtoprovidecoun-terparty risk.The apprehension aboutMSP and pro-

curement going away comes fromActs be-ing linked to some previous policy docu-ments like the Shanta Kumar Committeereport and the CACP reports suggesting re-duced procurement and an end to open-endedprocurement fromstates likePunjabto cut downcosts of FCI. It is feared that FCIitself may start procuring directly from thenewtradeareatocutdownbuyingcostslikemarket fees and arhtiya commission. It ismore about the changes in the “social con-tract” between the state’s farmers and theUnion government that is the root cause ofthisapprehension.ThedemandforlegalbackingtoMSPalso

arisesfromthefactthatthegovernmenthasbeenannouncingMSPfor23crops,butpro-curementis limitedtoafewcropsandafewstates and farmers end up selling at belowMSP.Also,CACPinoneof itsreportsin2017-18 (kharif) suggested that “to instil confi-dence among farmers for procurement oftheir produce, a legislation conferring on

farmers ‘the right to sell at MSP’ may bebroughtout.”ButthedemandforMSPasalegalrightis

notwellplaced.Ifprivateplayersdecidethattheywill not buy atMSP and rather importagriculturalproduce, andFCIdecides tonotprocure farm produce for various reasons,wherewillthefarmersell?Punjab’samend-ments to farmActs—makingMSPmanda-tory forwheatandpaddyandanypurchasepunishable with imprisonment or fine iffarmer is forced to sell at belowMSP— areill-advisedasthislawwilldiscourageprivatebuyers frombuying. Further, how can it beproved that a farmerhasbeen forced to sellher produce at belowMSP if a farmer des-perate to sell ends up consenting to sell atbelowMSP? It is difficult to enforce such alaw. Private agriculturalmarkets cannot berunthroughsuchdiktats.Currently, selling in the privatemarket

is the last option for farmers where publicprocurementdoesnot takeplace. Bycreat-ing stringent rules (fine or imprisonment),the government may create a situationwhere farmerswould not be able to sell atall. Maharashtra attempted this legality in2018initsAPMCActbuthadtoreverseitaf-terprotestsby traders. It is important to re-alise that MSP is a political or administra-tive promise or decision made by thegovernment to farmers.Why should a pri-vate player be tied to it and be penalised?On the other hand, when the governmentis trying to liberalise and open themarkettoencourageprivatebuyers, thenitcan’t,atthesametime,mandateatwhatprice theyshouldbuy.For small andmarginal farmers, APMC

mandi is the last resort channel of sale. IfAPMCsarereducedinimportance,theywilllose rather than gain unlessmore of themareorganised intoFPOsandbecomeattrac-tive toprivateagencies forcontract farmingordirectpurchase.

Thewriter isaprofessorat IIMAhmedabad.Viewsarepersonal

WAIT AND SEE

THISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Akilling&thenewMiddleEast’ (IE,December1).The geopolitical rivalry between themajoractors inWestAsiahasahistoricgenesis but the present state of politi-cal polarisation in the region has beenorchestratedbytheoutgoingadminis-tration of US President Donald Trumpand his close advisor and confidant,Jared Kushner. The transition team ofJoeBidenhasalreadysignalledareviewof major US policies overseas, and theMiddleEast is sureto figure in its listofpriorities.ThepoliticaleliteintheSouthAsian regionshoulddesist fromjump-ingthegun,invitingforeignconflictsintheregionisnotgoingtoserveanyone’sinterest.

SudipKumarDey,Kolkata

LOYALTY NEEDED

THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘KarnatakaMLC,whodefectedtoBJP,can’tbemademinister’(IE,December1).AnMLAwhohas defected from the earlier govern-mentcannotbemadeaministerduetosome technicality.Defections fromoneparty toanotherarenotanewpractice.The whole system needs a revamp.Drasticelectoralreformsaretheneedofthehour.Inordertosafeguardtheinter-estsof allpoliticalparties, itwouldonlybefair tosuggest thatthecandidatesberequiredtofileanaffidavitorsomekindofabondthattheywouldoweallegianceto their party for the entire term, ifelected. Thiswould stopourpoliticians

fromgettinggreedyandluredbyprom-isesfromtheopposition.Perhaps,thatistoomuchtoexpect?

MelvilleXD’Souza,Mumbai

A TRESPASS

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Strikeone’(IE,December1). In2018, theSupremeCourtaffirmedinthecaseofHadiya(for-merlyAkhila) andShafin Jahan thatnoonehada right to interfere in themar-riage of consenting adults. By register-ingitsfirstcaseunderthenewanti-con-versionlaw,basedonacomplaintfromthefatherof ayoungwoman, theUttarPradeshgovernmenthastrespassedonan inalienable right guaranteed by theConstitution.

SSPaul,Nadia

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

WHENMYCHRISTIANcousindescribedthecommunionbreadassweetandmeltingonthetongue,myeldersistersandIbecamede-terminedtogetatasteof itduringamasswewere attending. Just before our turn, theschoolmatronmagicallyappearedandgen-tly took us aside — communion bread itseems, isnot for theunbaptised.Growing up in a household with

Christianity and Islam flowing freely, wewereexposedtoaninterminglingofculturesthat can onlymake one’s childhood richer.Sometimes it led to faux pas like the one atthechurch,or thisother time,whenmysis-ter, thoroughly confused aboutwhose sideof relativeswas visiting, exclaimed, “AdaabAmma”,toanoldconservativeChristianrel-ativeofmymother.Thatinnocentconfusionled to immense awkwardness but gave thefamily ananecdote to laughat forever. And,of course, our quest for the sacramentalbread is still on.My parents had an inter-faithmarriage

in1970,whenitwasdifficultbutnotagainstany lawsof the state. They faced their shareofoppositionfromtheirrespectivefamilies,but none enough to deter the two,who re-mainedhappilymarried for39years tillmydadpassedaway in2009.While growing up, we often called our-

selveshalf-Muslimandhalf-Christian,butintruth, wewere always just a bunch of kids,whohad the luxury to say that theyknewalittle bit more than the others about a sec-ond religion. In our liberal home, we evenhadthelibertytocriticisebothreligions.Myfather, aphysics lecturer,hadalwaysplaceddeep emphasis on education first and thentheology,ifanyatall.WecelebratedEidwithasmuch fervour as Christmas and Easter. Iremembersinginghymnswithcarolsingerson foggyDecember evenings just as vividlyaswewouldsingNauhasonsultrysummerMuharramnightswithourcousins.In2011,myowninter-faithmarriagemet

little to no resistance from either of ourMuslim/Hindu families. Questions aboutfood,oddly toppedthe listof concerns fromsomerelatives.While IamavegetarianShiaMuslim (yes we exist), my husband is abiryani-loving, fish-hating Hindu BengalifromDelhi.He’sthetypewhowouldappre-ciate shami kebab, only if the recipe didn’thaveanychanadal in it. I’mtheboringnon-foodiewho unabashedly admits that bain-gan dishes are her favourite food item—muchtomymother-in-law’sconsternation.My husband and I met while doing a

Master’s inmass communication in Delhi.Love happened, as they say.What specific

alchemymadeithappenisamysterywearestillunravelling;beingrule-breakersproba-blyhadalottodowithit.Wedatedforeightyearsbeforewehadourthreemarriagecer-emonies, tomake assorted gods happy, in-cluding theonesgoverning the land.Thenikah ceremonysawfull attendance

fromthein-laws’side.Curiosityforadifferentculture and the famous Lucknow cuisineweretopreasonsforthehighturnout.Cometothinkofit,weshouldhavewalkedtheaisletohonourtheChristiansidetoo.I remember howa guest had remarked,

“howMuslim I looked” on the day of thenikahandhowBengali I lookedonthedayoftheBengali shaadi.Tome,however, I lookedlike any other bride, neither Muslim norBengali. Just ahappybride!My husband and I are two fiercely

independent individuals, and religionhardly features in our daily lives.We havemutual respect for our communities andculturalbackgrounds,unless,of course, theconversation is around thebest golgappasin the country.Whilemy vote undeniablygoes to Lucknow, he sticks strong withBengaliMarket.WearenowraisingoursoncalledDylan

Jafri Roy (whose namewill surely keep allthose hemeets over the years fascinated).

Ourson inheritsanevenricherculture thanme, insomanyways!Andyet Ihopehegetstobe Indianbeforeanythingelse.What is itabout inter-faithrelationships

thatmakespeoplescepticalorunsureaboutamatch?What is it about another’s culturethatmakes people feel the need to protecttheirs?Inanidealworld,itwouldbenoone’sbusinesswhomawoman should choose tomarry.Womenareleadinginallfields,surelythey are capable of finding their own suit-ableboys.Atwhatstagedidthestatefeeltheneedtostep in?I feel uneasybreakingdownpeople into

theirreligiousidentityortoevenfurtherdis-sect them and divide them into castes andclasses. Not fitting into any one box is thebiggest legacyof amixedcosmopolitanup-bringing. The liberty to choose, to celebrateandacceptisundeniable.Why,eventhefree-dom to criticise and question one’s cultureis perhaps the biggest boon of this amalga-mation. In a country that seems tobeat thebrinkof losingthisfreedomtoproposednewlaws,my only prayer is that the Dylan JafriRoys and the Meera Pamela Jafris (mymother)oftheworldincreasetheirtribe.Thetribe that stems fromloveand lovealone.

Thewriter isacinematographer

Libertyof inter-faithcouplesmustbecelebrated,not reviled

Our tribe of loveIDEAS

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Sow the seeds of trust

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Nusrat Jafri

DemandforMSPasa legal right isnotwell-advised.But farmers’ apprehensionsabout roleofmandisandtermsofprocurementundernewlawsneedtobeaddressed

Ahmedabad

CALENDAR8 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

CROSSWORD4291

ACROSS1 Meanasan infuriatedwasp(6)

4 Spiced foodmadebySarah,aFrenchfriend(6)

9 Adrinkandabiscuit(7)

10 Turnacornerand limit relapseinpart (5)

11 AncientBritish tribeornicenewone(5)

12 Aunit isorderedtosomewhere inNorthAfrica (7)

13 Ahill townwhereprogress islimited(5-2,4)

18 Whatconfusespicturescomingacross (7)

20 Permissiontosetout(5)

22 Names landmarksoreyesoreswehear (5)

23 Commentonwhatyousee?(7)

24 Theshortansweraboutforeigncapital (6)

25 Hehasastable job(6)

DOWN1 Aformof acceptanceorresignation(2,2,2)

2 Accustomonetoasequenceover theEast (5)

3 Freshgarbthat is left foranarchangel (7)

5 Theyurgethepublic tobuythenamedproduct (5)

6 Aperformer inadifficultpartis tense (7)

7 Whocometh inplayor incinemaproduction?(6)

8 Ordergivenbyteachers (11)14 Removeall traces(7)

15 Booksat rummagesales(7)

16 Sheturnsagatecrasherover toUS intelligence (6)

17 Unusually remotespacetraveller (6)

19 Notacrimetobecoollycarriedout (5)

21 Timeforabad liar tokeepquiet? (5)

ARIES (Mar21 -Apr20)Plenty is stillhappeningon thedomestic front,although some

plansmay run intodelays.Lookon thebright side, foryou’ll have a chance to standstill, take stock, andguardagainst futuremistakes andmisunderstandings. Besides,there are a fewmoredaysbefore youneed tomakeupyourmind.

TAURUS (Apr21 -May21)Wheneverthepaceslowsdown,takethechancetorethinkyourplansinthelight

of freshinformation. Ifotherpeopleshouldseemparticularlycriticalorargumentative,don’ttakeoffence,buttrytoseethecoreof truthintheireverystatement.

GEMINI (May22 - June21)You’re slowlybuildingup to abreakwith thepastthatmayhave

dramatic consequences foryourpersonal life. Youneed tofreeyourself fromstaleattitudes, perhaps evendabbling in lifestyle changes.Remember, itmaybeyouwhoneeds to adapt, notpartners.

CANCER (June22 - July23)As thedayprogresses, theaccentmay shiftfromconcernover

specific details to amoregeneral lookatnewpossibilities. You’re in aplanningphase, so thinkaboutthe future and look closely atall theoptions that areopen toyou. The last thingyouwant todonow is throwawayall thatyou’veworked for.

LEO (July24 -Aug23)You’renowcomingto theendof a longperiodwhenmoneywasunder the

microscope.Whether youhavetakenchancesornot is yourbusiness, but fromnowonyourdecisionsmaybemorerestricted. But,with lesschoice, your lifewill becomesimpler andmore relaxed.

VIRGO(Aug24 - Sep23)As Jupiter pulls intoanewregionof yourchart, it’s becomingincreasingly likely

that you’ll have tobemuchmoredetermined in future.Theveryworst thingyoucando is to takeyour advantagesfor granted. In fact,complacency couldbeyourundoing. Stay alert.

LIBRA (Sep24 -Oct23)You’re going tohaveto take someverytoughdecisions, afewofwhichwill

concernwork, others, personalaffairs.Make sureyouarewellprepared, and that youhaveallthe facts at your fingertips.Plus, try to tieupall loose endswhile you still have the chance.

SCORPIO (Oct24 -Nov23)Youcanbegin tolook forward to aperiodof relativeemotional

fulfilment. This is notuponyouquite yet, but youcan start tomakeplans, sure in theknowledge that otherswillsoonbeparticularlysusceptible to your charms. It isgood tobepopular.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Your chart isbrimmingwithenergy, indicatingthatmuchofwhat

you turn your hand to atpresent is designed to enhanceyour standing in thecommunity. There arefriendswhoare prepared tohelp, if only youwould ask. Ifyoudon’t say anything,you can’t complain ifyou’re ignored.

CAPRICORN(Dec23 - Jan20)There areways andmeans to enhanceyour general senseof self-esteem. Start

by aiming forpromotionatwork, andalso takeon socialresponsibilities. If youquestionyour currentmethodsofachievingyour goals, you’llrealisehowyoucandoverymuchbetter.

AQUARIUS (Jan21-Feb19)The road to interestandexcitement liesfar afield. This istherefore an

excellentmoment to reviveforeign contacts andinvestigate anoverseasjourney. If you’repursuingambitions inhigher education,or just investigating anewinterest, press aheadwith confidence.

PISCES (Feb20 -Mar20)Youmaybegettingall steamedupabout thewayotherpeoplehave treated

you, or about their failure tofulfil their promises.Onethingyoucannotdo is gobackto thepast, so concentrateon creating the future. Youmayalreadyhaveagoodsenseof howevents aredue topanout.

SUDOKU4310

DifficultyLevel5s

Instructions

TosolveaSudokupuzzle,

everydigitfrom1to9

mustappear ineachofthe

nineverticalcolumns, in

eachoftheninehorizontal

rowsandineachofthe

nineboxes.

DifficultyLevel

1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;

3s=Medium;4s=Hard;

5s=VeryHard;6s=

Genius SOLUTIONSUDOKU4309

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget

theanswerforthegivenquip.

Inordertolivefreeandhappilyyoumust____boredom.Itisnotalwaysaneasy____.-Richard

Bach(9,..,9)(samewordtwice)

SOLUTION:OPERA,NISEI,CASINO,FICKLEAnswer:Inordertolivefreeandhappilyyoumustsacrificeboredom.Itisnotalwaysaneasysacrifice.-RichardBach

OPAER AINOCS

ENSII EIKLCF

SolutionsCrossword4290:Across:1Western,5Mover,8Consequential,9Spent,

10Extreme,11Offday,12Status,15Younger,17Threw,19Shot inthedark,20

Yards,21Desists.Down:1Wicks,2Senseofhumour,3Electra,4Neuter,5Manet,6

Veiledthreats,7Rollers,11Odyssey,13Tethers,14Grated,16Grins,18Wakes.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

GUJARAT WATER SUPPLY & SEWERAGE BOARD''for complaints regarding rural drinking water supply,please contact too-free helpline No. 1916 of GWSSB''

TENDER NOTICE No. 16/2020-21Executive Engineer, P.H.W. Dn., No. 1, Amreli, GWSSB, ShivajiChhtralaya, Jasoda Nagar, Behind S.T. Division, Latho Road, Amreliinvites tender for Design, and Construction of RCC HGLR, Pump House,Pipeline Work at Kotadaprha HW Dist. Amreli. Tender ID No. 436610 byE-Tendering. Online tender with Two Bid System from Registered con-tractors for above mentioned works. The detail information are availableon website https:gwssb.nprocure.com & information Dept. websitewww.statetender.com. Last date for online submission Dt. 17/12/2020till 18.00 Hours.Any further change/amendments of changes afterwards shallbe published online.

INF/AMR/247/20-21

MARTYRS OF CISF ON 02ND DECEMBER

CISF proudly remembers thesupreme sacrifice of thesebrave-hearts.On this day, theylaid down their lives at the altarof duty while fighting with themilitants. Their courage andbravery would remain an abid-ing source of inspiration for theforce. The force will remaineternally indebted to them fortheir noblest deeds.

SALUTE THE SOLDIER

INSP./EXE P.M. REDDY

BHEPDOYANG

02-12-1995

SI/EXE JAIBHAGWAN

BHEPDOYANG

02-12-1995

SI/EXE PUNAMKUMARBHEP

DOYANG02-12-1995

HC/GD A. K.RAJAKBHEP

DOYANG02-12-1995

CT/GDHARPALSINGH

SJVNL JHAKRI02-12-2009f

CT/GDRAGHVENDRA

BHEPDOYANG

02-12-1995

CT/GD B. K.MADAPPA

BHEPDOYANG

02-12-1995

CT/GD OMPRAKASH

BHEPDOYANG

02-12-1995

CT/GD R.SINGHBHEP

DOYANG02-12-1995

NAIK P.SUDARSHANAN

BHEPDOYANG

02-12-1995

Oice of the Executive Engineer, Project Division,R.R. Nagara Zone, BBMP Oice Building, 2nd Floor,Neharu Road, BEML Layout, Bengaluru-560 098

Tenders on item rate basis are invited by the Executive

Engineer (Project Division) on behalf of Commissioner,

BBMP for the work mentioned below under the Karnataka

Transparency in Public Procurement Rules 2000 in

prescribed format from the registered Goods Supplier

of BBMP or equivalent registration with CPWD / KPWD /

Railways / MES or any State Government Organizations.

No.: BBMP/EE/Proj/RRN/TEN/15/2020-21 Date: 01.12.2020

Calendar of Events: (1) Documents can be downloaded

from e-Procurement website from: 08.12.2020 onwards.

(2) Pre-bid meeting at the Oice of Oice of Chief Engineer,

RR Nagara Zone, Ideal Homes: 14.12.2020 at 4:00 p.m.

(3) Last date for submission of Tender document:

22.12.2020 upto 4:00 p.m. (4) Opening of Technical Bid:

23.12.2020 at 11:00 a.m. (5) Opening of Financial Bid:

Will be Intimated to the Technically Qualiied Contractors.

In the event of the speciied date of tender opening

being declared a holiday for the employer, the tenders

will be opened at the appointed time and location on

the next working day. Further details may be obtained

from the above oice, during oice hours or website

https://eproc.karnataka.gov.in

Sl.

No.Name of the Work

Amount put toTender (Rs. in

Lakhs)

EMD(in Rs.)

1

Providing Medicalequipments to maternityHospital in Yeshwanthapuraat Ward No. 37.

591.00 8,87,000/-

Short term tender notification(Two Cover System) (Through GOK e-Procurement Portal only)

Sd/- Executive Engineer, Project Division,

R.R. Nagara Zone, BBMP

Regd Office: PSEB Head Office, The Mall, Patiala - 147001CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813, Website: www.pspcl.in

E-Tender Enquiry No. 297/P-1/EMP-W-11759 Dt. 23.11.20Tender ID: 2020 POWER 56594 1Scope of Work: To engage Transporter for delivery of LDO toGGSSTP. RoparEMD: @2% of tender value.Date & time upto which tender shall be received 01.01.2021 upto11.00 A.M.Date & time of opening of tender 08.01.2021 upto 11:30 A.M.

Tender specification can only be downloaded from PSPCLwebsite & https://eproc.punjab.gov.in & no hard copy of the samewill be issued by this office.NOTE:1. In case any difficulty regarding uploading of the tender the prospec-

tive bidders are requested to get clarification from this office and ore-procurement System Government of Punjab. Contact No. +91-(172)- 2970284/63. lt is also requested to get their digital signaturewell in time so as to submit tenders through e-tendering only.

2. It is informed that In case tender process is not completed due toany reason, no corrigendum will be published in newspapers.Details regarding corrigendum may be seen on website.eproc.punjab.gov.in

Sd/-SE/Head Quarters,

GGSSTP, Roopnagar.RTP-52/2020111231/Pb

National Health MissionOdisha State Health &Family Welfare Society

Health & FW Department, Govt. of OdishaAnnex Building of SIH & FW, Nayapalli, Unit-8,

Bhubaneswar- 751012Advt. No:- 23/20 Date: 01.12.2020Request for Proposal (RFP) for Operation & Management

of Urban Primary Health Center (UPHC) in partnershipmode under NHM.

Odisha State Health & Family Welfare Society invites application as perthe prescribed RFP document from credible entities registered underSociety Registration Act/ Indian Trust Act/ Company Act./ Institutions likeMedical Colleges/Hospitals run under Govt./ Public Sector/Pvt. Sectorfor operation & management of one Urban Primary Health Center(UPHC) at Burla in Sambalpur district in partnership mode.Sealed proposals as per the prescribed RFP document are invited frominterested eligible bidders for “Operation and Management of UPHC” atBurla in Sambalpur district. The eligibility criteria and detailedrequirements for “Operation & Management of UPHC” and the formatsfor submission of proposals are set forth in the RFP document whichcan be downloaded from the website: www.nhmodisha.gov.in.Interested bidders fulfilling the eligibility criteria may submit theirproposal with EMD & documents as set forth in this RFP in a sealedenvelope clearly super scribing the name of the UPHC on the envelopto the CDM&PHO, Sambalpur on or before the last date for submissionof application mentioned in the RFP.Proposal(s) complete in all respect should reach the District by SpeedPost/Registered Post/Courier only on or before 21/12/2020. Theproposal(s) shall be opened in the concerned district on the date andtime mentioned in the RFP. Incomplete applications/applicationsreceived in an open envelop/applications received after the due date/applications of the blacklisted NGOs and Trusts will be summarilyrejected. The authority reserves the right for cancellation of the selection/ modification of the selection guideline without assigning any reasonthereof. No personal inquiry shall be entertained.

Sd/-Mission Director, NHM &

Member Secretary, OSH&FW SocietyOIPR-10084/11/0016/2021

E-386

FOREST DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONOF MAHARASHTRA

(Govt. of Maharashtra Enterprise)

CIN : U45200MH1974SGC017206

OFFICE OF THE DIVISIONAL MANAGER, GOREWADA PROJECT, NAGPUR

Regd. Office:- Hindustan Lever Godown Square, Fetri, Mahurzari Road, Nagpur-441501

Email- dmgorewada@gmail.com Ph.No. 0712-2667477, 2667411, 2667484

GST NO. 27AAACF2982K1ZD

CONSTRUCTION OF CEMENT CONCRETE ROADDivisional Manager, Gorewada Project, FDCM Ltd., Nagpur invites proposal

from firms/companies to participate in the competitive biding process to

“Construction of Cement Concrete Road for Pickup and Drop Station and

other related works” at Gorewada International Zoo, Nagpur.

For the detailed E-tender document, interested bidders should visits website:

www.mahatenders.gov.in

Tender Submission would be online and the deadline to submit the proposal is

25/12/2020 (upto 03:00 pm).

Sr. Tender No. Name of Tender Tender Fee EMD

No. with GST (Rs.)

18% (Rs.)

1 FDCM/DM/GP/I.S./ 1180/- 1,05,580/-

2020-21/1157,

Dt. 28.11.2020

Sd/-

(Pramodkumar Panchbhai)

Divisional Manager

Gorewada Project, Nagpur

TENDER NOTICE

“Construction of Cement

Concrete Road for Pickup

and Drop Station and other

related works” at Gorewada

International Zoo, Nagpur.

GOVERNMENT OF ODISHAOFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING

ENGINEER, CENTRAL CIRCLE (R&b)NIRMAN SOUDHA, PHASE-II, 2ND FLOOR,

BHUBANESWARMail i.d. seccbbsr@gmail.com

E-Procurement Tender Call Notice No. 3 of 2020-21No. 2777 (Estg.) Bhubaneswar the 26th November, 2020

The Superintending Engineer, Central Circle (R&B) Bhubaneswaron behalf of the Governor of Odisha invites percentage rate bidsfor One number of Composite Building work and one number roadwork to be received in online bidding, double cover system forconstruction work as detailed in: https://tendersorissa.gov.inThe details of bid documents will be available in the above websitefrom 5.00 PM of 06.12.2020 to 5:00 PM of 20.12.202. The biddersmust possess compatible Digital Signature Certificate of Class IIor III. Bids received online shall be opened at 11:00 AM of21.12.2020 in the Office of the Superintending Engineer, CentralCircle (R&B) Bhubaneswar. Further details can be seen from thee-procurement portal www.tendersorissa.gov.in.Addendum/Corrigendum, if required, will be available only in theWebsite.

Sd/- Er. G.C. SahuSuperintending Engineer

Central Circle (R&B) BhubaneswarOIPR-34005/11/0006/2021

B-471

Office of the Executive Engineer,Chambal Project Division, Kota

E-mail:- cpdivisionkota@gmail.com Phone No. :- 0141-2327211No:- Tender/2020-21 / 2393-2410 Date:- 25.11.2020

E-Tender No. 14/2020-21On behalf of Governor of Rajasthan E-NIT no. EE/CP/14 of 2020-21 is invitedfrom eligible bidder for “Renovation/Modernisation of Hostel No.1, HostelNo.2, Smart Class Room, Seminar Hall, Soil Testing Lab, Toilet Blocks,Park Space and Mess etc. at IMTI Kota (Raj.) under National HydrologyProject”. Interested bidders can participate in tendering undere-procurement procedure. Other details are available on following website01) http:/water.rajasthan.gov.in02) http:/sppp.raj.nic.in03) http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in

Sd/-(Neeraj Agarwal)

Executive EngineerDIPR/C/9270/2020 Chambal Project Division Kota

NIB Code: WRD2021A0425UBN No. : WRD2021WSOB01696

STEM WATER DISTRI. & INFRA CO. PVT. LTD.E-Tender Notice No. 2 (1st Extention) for 2020-21

E-EOI are invited by STEM Water Dist. & Infra. Co. Pvt. Ltd., Thane.

For the following work :

Name of Work : Supplying, Lowering, laying 1850 mm Dia. (OD)pipeline for shifting work and provision of 1850 mm Dia. (OD) PipeDuct for future expansion of pipeline due to across the Kalyan RingRoad of 45 m. R.O.W. at Adharwadi, Kalyan Estimated Cost Rs.1,38,55,272/-. The details can be viewed and downloaded online

directly from STEM's web site https://stem.abcprocure.com.

Sd/-

Managing Director

No. Tender Activity Date Time

1 Document downloaded start date 03.12.2020 12.00

2 Document Downloaded Date 17.12.2020 15.00

3 Bid Submission end date 17.12.2020 15.00

4 Opening of Envelope No. I 17.12.2020 15.00

5 Opening of Envelope No. II 21.12.2020 15.00

Ahmedabad

KAMAALSAIYEDSURAT,DECEMBER1

TEXTILE BUSINESSMAN TejasPatel (45) was at the SuratMunicipalCorporation’scommu-nity hall in Paal area Tuesday toattendawedding,whenamobilevanandthebustlearounditcaug-ht his eye. Health departmentstaffinpersonalprotectiveequip-ment (PPE) coveralls stood out-sidethevenuetotesteachinviteebeforetheysteppedintothehall.A resident of Surat’s Adajan

area,Patelwastheretoattendthewedding of his friend RajeshSherdiwala’s daughter andwascaughtoffguardwhenhewasre-quested to take a rapid antigentest(RAT)forcoronavirus.Unsure,Patel initially denied to take thetest.Later,Sherdiwalaconvincedhimtoundergothetest.Asthemarriageseasoncom-

mencedamidthepandemic, theSMC’s health department hasrolledoutaninitiativetoconductCovid-19 tests outsideweddingvenuestopreventthegatheringsfrom turning intomass spread-ers. Dhanvantri Rath or specialCovid-19 patrol vans, equippedwith doctors and paramedical

staff,havebeendeployedoutsideweddingvenuesacrossthecityasa part of the initiative sinceMonday,civicofficialssaid.Sherdiwala said that all his

guests,includingPatel,hadtestednegativeandwereallowedtoat-tend the function. “Safety of ourguestswasthepriority,sowehadarrangedformasksandsanitiserbottlesatthevenueanddeployedtwopersonsatthehall’sentrancetohanditovertoeachpersonen-tering. TheSMC’shealthdepart-

ment officials later set up aDhanvantriRathandtestedeachattendee,includingthebrideandthegroom,freeofcharge.Wehadto explain to someof the gueststhatthetestswereforthesafetyofinvitees,”hesaid.Thestategovernmenthasre-

cently capped the number ofguestsatweddingsto100.Socialdistancingandwearingmasksatalltimeareamustatsuchevents,thegovernmentnotificationsaid.The civic body’s drive, Dr

Ketan Garasiya, themunicipalhealthofficeratRanderzone,saidwaslaunchedMondayandrapidantigentestswereconductedoneveryone present at aweddingvenue,includingtheeventorgan-isers, theirfamily, invitees,cater-ers,andphotographers.“OnMonday, Covid-19 tests

were conducted on190personsatsixcommunityhallsandmar-riagehallsintheRanderzoneandnopositivecaseswerenoted.OnTuesday, 140 tests were con-ductedatothermarriagehalls inRander zone and no positivecaseswere detected.Weare en-suring that everyone includingcaterers,photographers,andmu-sicians, un-dergo thetestsmanda-torily as theyattend differ-entmarriageevents andmight be-come super-spreaders,”Garasiya said.Thedrivewillcontinue tilltheendof themarriagesea-son,headded.

ApartfromRAT,thecivicteamalso perform thermal, oxygen-mapping, and pulse-oximetertests at theweddingvenues, thecivic official said. “We have de-cided that if a young person istested positive but is asympto-matic,he/shewillbequarantinedat their home. In case an elderlypersontestspositive,he/shewillbe referred to SMIMER or NCHhospitals based on their healthcondition,”Garasiyaadded.TheciviccorporationTuesday

conducted653antigentestsinallthe eight municipal zones inSurat. Those covered under thedrive include 308 caterers, 131staff of mandap decorators and

electricians, 34 photographers,and108others.Nopositivecaseswere detected, officials said. OnMonday, 191 antigen testswereconductedandnopositive caseswerefound.ACovid-19flyingsquadofthe

SMC,meanwhile, had slapped apenaltyofRs5,000onaweddingorganised at JaykishanWadi, anopenplot, onMonday after offi-cialsnotedviolationinsocial-dis-tancingnorms.Currently, Surat city has 505

activecases. So far, Surat cityhasrecorded a total of 32,158 casesand760fatalities.At least30,014people have recovered -- 93.33percentrecoveryrate.

GUJARAT 9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

Gujarat Council on Science and Technology (GUJCOST)Dept. of Science & Technology, Government of Gujarat

Block B, 7th Floor, M. S. Building, Nr. Pathikashram,

Sector-11, Gandhinagar-382011

E-mail: info-gujcost@gujarat.gov.in

Website: www.gujcost.gujarat.gov.in

This refers to the advertisement published in newspaper and web-

site on 10th November, 2020 for the supply of equipment and device

for Do it Yourself Kits. The last Date of Bid submission is extended

till 7th December, 2020 and the tender will be opened on 14th

December, 2020

The Other terms and condition of tender notice will remain the same.

Date: 01/12/2020 Advisor & Member SecretaryINF/1379/20-21 GUJCOST

Extension of Bid Submission date for supply of

Do it Yourself Kit

Shah Alloys LimitedRegd Office: 5/1, Shreeji House, B/h M. J. Library, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad - 380 006

Corporate office: Corporate House, Sola- Kalol Road, Santej, Ta. Kalol,Dist. Gandhinagar – 382 721

Tel: 02764-661100, Fax: 02764 - 661111 CIN: L27100GJ1990PLC014698Website: www.shahalloys.com Email ID: sal.investor@shahalloys.com

NOTICE is hereby given that in compliance with General Circular No. 14/2020 dated April 8, 2020; CircularNo. 17/2020 dated April 13, 2020 and Circular No. 20/2020 dated May 5, 2020 issued by Ministry ofCorporate Affairs read with Circular number SEBI/HO/CFD/CMD1/CIR/P/2020/79 issued by the Securities andExchange Board of India (SEBI) on 12th May, 2020 ("Circulars") and in compliance with all other applicablelaws, the 30th Annual General Meeting ("AGM") of the Members of the Company will be held through VideoConferencing ("VC")/Other Audio Visual Means ("OAVM") on Wednesday, 23rd December, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.IST, to transact the Ordinary and Special Businesses, as set out in the Notice of the Meeting. Members canattend and participate in the AGM through VC/OAVM facility only.

In accordance with the aforesaid Circulars, Notice of the AGM and the Annual Report 2019-20 have been sentby electronic mode to those Members whose e-mail addresses are registered with the Registrar & Share TransferAgent of the Company/Depository Participants. The said Notice of AGM and Annual Report 2019-20 is alsoavailable on the Company's website at www.shahalloys.com, website of the Stock Exchanges i.e. BSELimited and National Stock Exchange of India Limited at www.bseindia.com and www.nseindia.comrespectively and will also available on the website of CDSL at www.evotingindia.com.

Members holding shares in dematerialized mode and whose e-mail addresses are not registered arerequested to register their e-mail addresses with their relevant Depository Participants. Members holdingshares in physical mode are requested to demat their holdings/ furnish their e-mail address by writing to theCompany with details of folio number alongwith self-attested copy of PAN Card at cs@shahalloys.com

Members will have an opportunity to cast their vote remotely on the business as set forth in the Notice ofthe AGM through electronic voting system. The manner of remote e-voting, to attend/participate in theAGM through VC/OVAM and e-voting during the AGM for members holding shares in dematerialized mode,physical mode and for shareholders who have not registered their email addresses is provided in the Noticeto the members.

In accordance with the aforesaid Circulars and pursuant to Section 108 of the Companies Act, 2013 readwith Rule 20 of Companies (Management and Administration) Rules, 2014 and Regulation 44 of SEBI(LODR) Regulations, 2015, members are provided with the facility to cast their vote electronically throughremote e-voting on all resolutions set forth in the notice of AGM; to participate in the AGM throughVC/OAVM and e-voting during the AGM. In this regard, the Company has appointed Central DepositoryServices (India) Limited ("CDSL") to provide the above mentioned facilities.

All the Members are informed that:

a. The voting rights shall be in proportion to the shares held by members as on Wednesday, 16th December,2020 (being cut off date) and shareholders holding shares either in physical form or dematerialize form ason the cut-off date may cast their vote by remote e-voting as well as e-voting system during the AGM. Anyperson who becomes a member of the Company after dispatch of the Notice of meeting and holds sharesas on the cut-off date, are requested to follow the instruction mentioned under heading "INSTRUCTION FORE-VOTING" mentioned in notice of AGM, for obtaining the user ID and password which is also available atthe help section of https://www.evotingindia.com. However, if such person is already registered withCDSL for e-voting, then the existing user ID and password can be used for casting their vote.

b. The facility for e-voting system shall also be made available during the AGM to those Members, who shallbe present in the AGM through VC/OAVM facility and had not cast their votes on the resolutions throughremote e-voting and are otherwise not barred from doing so, shall be eligible to vote through e-votingsystem during the AGM.

c. The Members who have cast their vote by remote e-voting prior to the AGM may also attend/participatethe AGM through VC/OVAM but shall not be entitled to cast their vote again..

d. The remote e-Voting period commences on Sunday, 20th December, 2020 (10:00 a.m.) and ends onTuesday, 22nd December, 2020 (05:00 p.m.) and during this period, shareholders holding shares either inphysical form or dematerialize form as on the cut-off date may cast their vote by remote e-voting. Theremote e-voting module shall be disabled by CDSL for voting thereafter. Once the vote on a resolution iscast by member, the member shall not be allowed to change it subsequently..

e. In case of any queries, you may refer the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Members and remotee-voting user manual for Members available at the help section of https://www.evotingindia.com.Contact details for grievances connected with services provided by CDSL for participating in AGMthrough VC/OAVM, remote e-Voting & e-voting during the AGM:

All grievances connected with the facility for voting by electronic means may be addressed to Mr. RakeshDalvi, Manager, (CDSL,) Central Depository Services (India) Limited, A Wing, 25th Floor, MarathonFuturex, Mafatlal Mill Compounds, N M Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (East), Mumbai - 400013 or send anemail to helpdesk.evoting@cdslindia.com or call 1800225533.

By the Order of the Boardfor Shah Alloys Ltd.Sd/-Vinay MishraCompany Secretary

NOTICE

DATE : 01.12.2020

PLACE : SANTEJ

SAL STEEL LIMITEDRegd Office: 5/1, Shreeji House, B/h M. J. Library, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad - 380 006

Corporate office: Corporate House, Sola- Kalol Road, Santej, Ta. Kalol,Dist: Gandhinagar – 382 721

Tel: 02764-661100, Fax: 02764 - 661111 CIN: L27100GJ1990PLC014698Website: www.salsteel.co.in Email ID: sal.investor@salsteel.co.in

NOTICE is hereby given that in compliance with General Circular No. 14/2020 dated April 8, 2020; CircularNo. 17/2020 dated April 13, 2020 and Circular No. 20/2020 dated May 5, 2020 issued by Ministry ofCorporate Affairs read with Circular number SEBI/HO/CFD/CMD1/CIR/P/2020/79 issued by the Securities andExchange Board of India (SEBI) on 12th May, 2020 ("Circulars") and in compliance with all other applicablelaws, the 17th Annual General Meeting ("AGM") of the Members of the Company will be held through VideoConferencing ("VC")/Other Audio Visual Means ("OAVM") on Wednesday, 23rd December, 2020 at 01:00 P.M.IST, to transact the Ordinary and Special Businesses, as set out in the Notice of the Meeting. Members canattend and participate in the AGM through VC/OAVM facility only.

In accordance with the aforesaid Circulars, Notice of the AGM and the Annual Report 2019-20 have been sentby electronic mode to those Members whose e-mail addresses are registered with the Registrar & ShareTransfer Agent of the Company/Depository Participants. The said Notice of AGM and Annual Report 2019-20is also available on the Company's website at www.salsteel.co.in, website of the Stock Exchanges i.e. BSELimited and National Stock Exchange of India Limited at www.bseindia.com and www.nseindia.comrespectively and will also available on the website of NSDL at www.evoting.nsdl.com.

Members holding shares in dematerialized mode and whose e-mail addresses are not registered arerequested to register their e-mail addresses with their relevant Depository Participants. Members holdingshares in physical mode are requested to demat their holdings/ furnish their e-mail address by writing tothe Company with details of folio number alongwith self-attested copy of PAN Card at cs@salsteel.co.in

Members will have an opportunity to cast their vote remotely on the business as set forth in the Notice ofthe AGM through electronic voting system. The manner of remote e-voting, to attend/participate in theAGM through VC/OVAM and e-voting during the AGM for members holding shares in dematerialized mode,physical mode and for shareholders who have not registered their email addresses is provided in the Noticeto the members.

In accordance with the aforesaid Circulars and pursuant to Section 108 of the Companies Act, 2013 readwith Rule 20 of Companies (Management and Administration) Rules, 2014 and Regulation 44 of SEBI(LODR) Regulations, 2015, members are provided with the facility to cast their vote electronically throughremote e-voting on all resolutions set forth in the notice of AGM; to participate in the AGM throughVC/OAVM and e-voting during the AGM. In this regard, the Company has appointed National SecuritiesDepository Limited ("NSDL") to provide the above mentioned facilities.

All the Members are informed that:

a. The voting rights shall be in proportion to the shares held by members as on Friday, 18th December, 2020(being cut off date) and shareholders holding shares either in physical form or dematerialize form as on thecut-off date may cast their vote by remote e-voting as well as e-voting system during the AGM. Any personwho becomes a member of the Company after dispatch of the Notice of meeting and holds shares as on thecut-off date, are requested to follow the instruction mentioned under heading "THE INSTRUCTIONS FORMEMBERS FOR VOTING ELECTRONICALLY" mentioned in notice of AGM, for obtaining the user ID andpassword which is also available at the help section of https://www.evoting.nsdl.com. However, ifsuch person is already registered with NSDL for e-voting, then the existing user ID and password can beused for casting their vote.

b. The facility for e-voting system shall also be made available during the AGM to those Members, who shallbe present in the AGM through VC/OAVM facility and had not cast their votes on the resolutions throughremote e-voting and are otherwise not barred from doing so, shall be eligible to vote through e-votingsystem during the AGM.

c. The Members who have cast their vote by remote e-voting prior to the AGM may also attend/participatethe AGM through VC/OVAM but shall not be entitled to cast their vote again.

d. The remote e-Voting period commences on Sunday, 20th December, 2020 (10:00 a.m.) and ends onTuesday, 22nd December, 2020 (05:00 p.m.) and during this period, shareholders holding shares either inphysical form or dematerialize form as on the cut-off date may cast their vote by remote e-voting. Theremote e-voting module shall be disabled by NSDL for voting thereafter. Once the vote on a resolution iscast by member, the member shall not be allowed to change it subsequently.

e. In case of any queries, you may refer the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Members and remotee-voting user manual for Members available at the help section of https://www.evoting.nsdl.com. Contactdetails for grievances connected with services provided by NSDL for participating in AGM throughVC/OAVM, remote e-Voting & e-voting during the AGM:

f. In case of any queries, you may refer the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Shareholders ande-voting user manual for Shareholders available at the download section of www.evoting.nsdl.comor call on toll free no.: 1800-222-990 or send a request at evoting@nsdl.co.in

BY THE ORDER OF THE BOARDFOR SAL STEEL LTD.SD/-MR. MANISH DAULANICOMPANY SECRETARY

NOTICE

DATE : 01.12.2020

PLACE : SANTEJ

It is hereby inform to General Public that GIDC is inviting online applications from interestedindustrial entrepreneurs for available Plots (Chemical) in its Dahej Industrial Estate from02.12.2020 to 08.12.2020.

1. Dahej Industrial Estate : Ankleshwar Region

Interested parties who desire to set up industrial unit may file their "Online Application"through GIDC's website. After applying online, applicant needs to send prescribed documentseither personally or through RPAD in such a manner so as to reach to office of RegionalManager, Ankleshwar, Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation within 30 daysfrom date of application during office working hours.

Address of Regional Office, Ankleshwar will be available through our Website or visit below link.https://gidc.gujarat.gov.in/Contactus.html#Regional

GUJARAT INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION(A Govt. of Gujarat Undertaking)

Block No-3,4,5, First Floor. Udhyogbhavan, Sector-11, Gandhinagar–382011

Phone: +91-7923250632, 34 to 37; Fax +91-79-23250587

Website : www.gidc.gujarat.gov.in

Dt: 01.12.2020, Gandhinagar

Sd/-(M. Thennarasan)

Vice Chairman and Managing Director, GIDC, Gandhinagar

VAIBHAVJHAAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER1

AWEEK after amanwasmur-dered outside a restaurant atInfocityareaofGandhinagarfol-lowing a ruckus between twogroups,variousrestaurantown-ers in the area have claimed thepolicehavebeenforcingthemtoshutshopat9pmeveryday,evenasnonight curfewhasbeenan-nounced for the state capitalamid coronavirus pandemic,therebymakingtheeateriessuf-fer losses.Around 5 amonNovember

25,KetansinhGohil, a residentofRandesaninGandhinagar,wasal-legedly beaten up and thenstabbedtodeathbyagroupofsixmen outside The LockdownUnlock Food restaurant nearRelianceChokdi (intersection) atInfocityareaofGandhinagar.Gohilwaskilled inanalleged

fight between twogroupswhenone of his friends allegedly fol-lowed theother group inhis carafter they left ApnaAddaeatery,locatedadjacenttoTheLockdownUnlock Food restaurant, around4.30 am.While The LockdownUnlock Foodwas closed at thetimeof the incident, ApnaAddawas still open, the FIR filed atInfocitypolicestationstates.Policehave arrested fivepersons in thecasetillnow.After the incident, dozens of

restaurant andeatery owners atBhaijipura, Reliance Chokdi,KudasanandSargasanareashaveallegedthattheyarebeingforcedtoshuttheirshopsafter9pmevenas there was no directive for anightcurfewinGandhinagar,un-likeAhmedabad,Rajkot,SuratandVadodara that are witnessingnightlycurfewsbetween9pmto6am.“Forthepastweek,assoonas

theclockhits9pm,PoliceControlRoom Vans start playing theirhootersaskingrestaurantownerstoshuttheirshopsandcustomerstovacate.Weareincurringheavy

lossesdue to this unofficial lock-downasthebulkofourcustomersarrivepost8.30pm.Wecan’tjustaskour customers to stopeatingand leave the premises. Eventhoughthere isnocleardirectivefrom the state government, thecollectororthesuperintendentofpolice,weareforcedtoobserveacurfew,”AlpeshPatel,ownerof apaan parlour and Galaxy DosaShopatBhaijipura,said.“We arewilling to observe a

curfew and cooperatewith theauthoritiesbut there shouldbeacleardirectiveonthecurfewtim-ings.Wehavebeensufferinghe-avylossesforthepastweekasmystaff have toprepare food from7pmand it all goes towaste.Wehavenever remained openpast10.45pmandfollowedallguide-lines till now. Already our busi-nesses have been hit due to thelockdownandnowthisunofficialcurfewismakingussuffermore,”Pratik,ownerofSuDharnirestau-rantatBhaijipura,said.Manu Jain, the owner of

Terracotta Restaurant nearReliance Intersection, said afterthemurder,policehavebeenen-suringthatallrestaurantsareshutbefore 9 pm. “LikeAhmedabad,wedon’thaveany formalassoci-ation to lodge a complaintwiththehigherauthorities,”hesaid.Gandhinagar Collector, Dr

Kuldeep Arya, said, “The policecan’taskcustomerstoleavewhilethey are eating.Wehave not is-sued any guidelines for restau-rantsandshopstobeshutafter9pm.Evenifpolicearedoingthisasa preventivemeasure after themurder, it cannot continue fordays.Wewill look intothegriev-ancesof therestaurantowners.”WhileSPGandhinagarMayur

Chavdawasunavailableforcom-ments, police sources said theclampdownhadbegunafter themurderasApnaAddaeaterywasopen till 4.30 amwithout a li-cence. Apolice official at Infocitypolice station said, “Wehaveen-suredthatApnaAddaisnotopenafter9pm.”

Facing lossaspolice forceustocloseby9pm:Eateryowners

AFTERGANDHINAGARMURDER

SMC rolls out drive to test guests outside wedding venuesTOCHECKSPIKE INCOVID-19CASES

TheSuratcivicbodyhealthofficialscarryouthealthcheckupoutsidePaalcommunityhall.HanifMalek

Ahmedabad

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER1

THE AHMEDABAD MunicipalCorporation (AMC) task forcecommittee thatmet onTuesdayhassoughtdataofallhealthcareworkerswithinaweekaspartofpreparations to provide theCovid-19 vaccine to them in thefirstphase,.The preparatory “sensitisa-

tion”meeting for a database ofhealth careworkerswas organ-isedto“avoidpanic”oncethevac-cinearrives,officialssaid.Also,forasmoothdatacollec-

tion and avoid overlapping oromitting of beneficiaries, theAMC has asked private healthcareinstitutestoformward-levelcommitteesorteams.“Withthedevelopmentwork

of three vaccines in the finalstages, as per the instructions ofthe central government, AMC ispreparingadatabaseof frontlinewarriorswho are all the healthcareworkers at government aswell as private health care facili-ties in the city,” said AMC’sMedicalOfficerDrBhavinSolankiwhochairedthemeet.Already, the data of nearly

70,000healthcareworkersofallgovernment hospitals in

Ahmedabad have been collatedincludingafeeprivatehealthcareinstitutes designated as Covidhospitals. However, AMC is ex-pectinganestimatedover4lakhbeneficiariesof thevaccine in itsfirstphaseinthecity.“The data of all health care

workersaresoughttoavoidpanicatalaterstageforwhichthissen-sitisationmeeting was organ-ised,”DrSolankiadded.Dr Jigar Shah, joint secretary

of Ahmedabad Hospitals andNursing Homes Association(AHNA)statedthatsincephaseIIItrialisunderwayandsomecom-panies have already applied foranemergencyuseauthorisationso theymay come upwith thevaccinesoonfollowingwhichcol-lection of data has already beeninitiated.Representatives of

Ahmedabad Hospitals andNursing Homes Association

(AHNA), AhmedabadMedicalAssociation (AMA), IndianInstitute of Public HealthGandhinagar (IIPH), PaediatricsAssociation of Ahmedabad,World health Organisation(WHO)consultantsattendedthemeetingonTuesday.“Themeeting focussed pri-

marilyondatacollectionofhealthcareworkersincludingtheiriden-titycardstoavoidanydelayinthevaccinationprocesssinceithasitsown shelf life. Theremight bearound8 lakhhealth carework-ers in Ahmedabad,” stated DrShah adding that nearly 2,300hospitals are in Ahmedabadwhiletherewouldbemanymoreindividualclinicstoo.The AHNA has assured its

servicesasavaccinatorifthegov-ernment approves or anyother kind of service related tovaccination. “Thedatacollectionis a good step in preparation forthevaccinationinadvanceother-wisethegovernmentusuallyre-acts late for any given situation.Butthetimeframegiventousforthatis less.Frontlinewarriorsin-cludingdoctors, all hospital staffandparamedicswould be givenvaccinationinthefirstphaseandAMAalone has 7,000membersincluding doctors,” said AMApresidentDrKiritGadhavi.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,DECEMBER1

ANOFFENCEhasbeenregisteredagainstformerBJPlegislatorKantiGamit’s son Jitubhai under theDisasterManagement Act andEpidemicAct for theallegedvio-lationofsocial-distancingnormsat the engagement ceremonyofthe latter’s daughter, Tapi policesaidTuesday.Aviralvideoofthepurported

ceremonyshowedseveralpeopledancing in an open ground atDoswada village on Mondaywithoutmaintainingphysicaldis-tancingandsansmasks.Assistant Sub Inspector

SureshPankaj at Songadhpolicestation lodged a complaintagainstJitubhaiGamit,Doswadavillage sarpanch and others un-der IPC Sections 188 (for

Disobedience to order dulypromulgated bypublic servant),269(negligentactlikelytospreadinfectionofdiseasedangeroustolife)and270(malignantactlikelytospreadinfectionofdiseasedan-gerous to life), and relevant sec-tionsof theGramPanchayatAct,DisasterManagement Act andEpidemicDiseasesAct.The police complaint states

that the engagement ceremonyJitubhai’sdaughterwasorganisedonopengroundatDoswadavil-

lageonMonday.A largenumberof people, it stated, attended theceremonyanddancedonDJmu-sictunes,andnoCovid-19guide-lineswerefollowed.Theorganis-ersoftheeventhadnottakenanypolice permission for the pro-gramme,thecomplaintstated.Sujata Majumdar, the

Superintendent of Police of Tapidistrict, said, “Afterwe receivedsuchvideos,whichwentviralonthesocialmedia,wegot it cross-verified and laterwe registeredan offence against the event or-ganisers JitubhaiGamitandoth-ers.We have sent our teams toDoswadavillage to findoutwhowere other organisers and fromwhere such a large number ofpeoplehadcome.Theyhavenottaken any police permission forthisevent.”On Tuesday, Kanti Gamit ac-

cepted that they had “not taken

anypermissionfromthepoliceorfromcollectoroffice” for thecer-emony. “I made mistake andapologiseforit...Iamnotdenyingthattherewaspublic.Manypeo-plehadcomeduetothepopular-ityofourfamilyinSongadharea,”hetoldreporters.“Sincemy father times, we

usetoorganiseTulsiVivaheveryyearwherein people are invitedand food is distributed. OnMonday, Tulsi Vivahwas organ-ised at Doswada village alongwiththismygranddaughter’sen-gagement ceremony...Wemadearrangementsofover2,000peo-ple as large a number of peoplewould turn up and floodlightswere also installed,” the BJPleadersaid.AformerBJPMLAfromNizar

seat (2012) in Songadh taluka,Gamit isalsooneof thedirectorsinSumulDairy.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT,DECEMBER1

A45-YEAR-OLDmigrantworkerfacingtrialinanattempttomur-dercaseallegedlydiedbysuicideinside the lockup of Shapar-Veraval police station early onTuesday. A case of accidentaldeathhasbeenregisteredbythepolice in thematter.Police said Arjun Chamar, a

native of Champaran district inBihar,wasfoundhanginginsidealockupatShapar-Veravalpolicestation around 8.30 am onTuesday. The 45-year-old manwas facing a trial in an attempttomurder case filed in Shapar-Veraval in 1998 and had laterbeengrantedbail.Thecourthadissuedanarrestwarrantagainsthim recently after Chamarfailed to attend court hearingsrepeatedly.“Hewas detained by Rajkot

Rural police’s parole-furloughsquadonMondayandwegothiscustodyat7pmonMonday.Weweretoproducehimincourtaf-ter conducting a Covid-19 test.However,hewasfoundhangingin the lockupTuesdaymorning.Apparently, hediedby suicide,”KuldipsinhGohil,policesub-in-spectorof Shapar-Veraval, said.

10THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

EXPRESSNETWORK

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BASHAARATMASOOD,NAVEEDIQBAL,ARUNSHARMAZAINAGEER(SOPORE),

JOURIAN,DECEMBER1

AFTERANencouragingfirstphaseof the District DevelopmentCouncil (DDC)polls, theKashmirDivisionsawadipinvoterturnoutin two districts in south —Anantnag and Shopian— in thesecondphase.PollingpercentageinPulwamawas8.67percent,thelowest, justlikeinPhaseI.Compared with the 41 per

cent turnout in theValley in thefirst phase, the ElectionCommission said only a third oftotalvoterscast theirvotes inthesecond phase. In Jammu, theturnoutwas significantly higherat65.54percent,placingtheover-all poll percentage of theUnion territory at 48.62percent.Over 1.35 voters in

Kashmirdivisionand2.41lakhvoters in Jammudi-vision cast their ballot toselect representatives for25and18constituencies,respectively,inthesecondphaseof theDDCpolls.Dooru village of

Zaingeer constituency inBaramulla district — the nativeplaceofHurriyatChairmanSyedAli ShahGeelani—markedade-parture from thepast bypolling11 votes. “We always boycottedpolls here, but this timewehavecomeouttovotebecausewehaveto keep the BJP away fromKashmir,”said37-yearoldvillagerFirdousAhmad. “Ihavevoted forthe(People's)Alliancecandidate.

Iknow,theyhavealwaysditchedus in the past but this time it ischoosingbetweenthegreatereviland the lesser evil,” he said.NeartheLineofControlinvil-

lages inAkhnoorandKhoursub-divisions in Jammudistrict, peo-ple lined up at polling stations

undeterredbyPakistanimortar shelling andsmall arms fire. Pollingcontinuedbeyond theofficial 2 pm closingwith many still inqueuesatsomepollingstations in BhalwalBrahmana inAkhnoorandSeriPallaiinKhoursub-division’s Battalarea.On Friday last, two

soldierswere killed in Pakistanifiring along the LoC in theBattalarea,whileaPakistanidronehaddroppedweapons includingtwoAK47rifles,apistolandammuni-tion in Akhnoor sub-division’sSohalKhudarea.Showkat Ali, 34, a Bakerwal

who alongwith his family andherdmovedtohighlandpasturesinPoonchduringsummerandre-

turned toDhokKhalsa inwinter,said hewas voting for develop-ment on the ground. “WhetherArticle 370 is thereornotmakesnodifference tous.Theadminis-tration remained the same andbarredourentryintoforestenclo-sureswherewehadbeen takingour herd since generations,’’ hesaid.Thepollswereconductedun-

der an unprecedented securitycoveraspolice,paramilitaryforcesandarmyweredeployedinhugenumbersacrosstheconstituency.No untoward incident was re-portedfromanyplaceduringtheday. In Dangerpora, also inBaramulla’s Zaingeer con-stituency, there was a steadytrickle of voters. During the lastthreeAssemblystints,thelegisla-tor representing theSopore con-stituencywas fromDangerporaand villagers in neighbouringShivavillagecomplainedtheMLAdidn’tpaymuchattentiontotheirarea.“In past,wedidnot vote and

werecompletelyneglected.Lookat the roads. They are in badshape,”saidIshtiyaq,whorefused

togivehissecondname.“Weboy-cotted the Panchayat electionsandlookatwhoisrepresentingus-theyareall illiterate.WealwaysstoodforAzadi(freedom)andwewould continue to…but itwasnecessarytovotetogetridofillit-eraterepresentatives,”hesaid.Bravingchill,menandwomen

turnedoutinlargenumbersatthepollingstations,waitedpatientlyin long queues in the twin con-stituenciesofBandiporeinNorthKashmir, recording a 69.66 percentvoterturnout.In contrast, most voters in

South Kashmir's Pulwama,Anantnag and Shopian stayedaway from the polling booths.These threedistricts registered alowturnout:8.67per cent, 16.09per cent and 17.28 per cent, re-spectively.Addressing the press at the

end of the second phase, StateElection Commissioner K KSharma announced thatwithinKashmir,Bandiporareportedthehighest voting percentage, andPulwamathelowest.Meanwhile,in Jammu, Poonch reported thehighest voting average of 75.07percentandtheruralareasoftheJammudistrictrecordednearly70percentvoterturnout.Responding to questions

about complaints frompoliticalparties regarding restrictionsplaced on their candidates,Sharma said, “I have receivedthese complaints andwe havesoughtwritten reports from thepolice.We are not stopping anycandidate but to secure them invulnerable areas, candidates arebeing requested to share theirtimetablestoprotectthem.Policeescortisbeingprovidedtothem.”

Voting inKulgamonTuesday. ShuaibMasoodi

DDCPHASE2

South Kashmir pulls downValley turnout to 33%

DECISION2020J&K

DISTRICT,LOCAL POLLS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,DECEMBER1

THE NAVAL version of theBrahMosmissilewassuccessfullytest fired on Tuesdaymorningfrom the IndianNavy’s Rajput-class destroyer INSRanvijay, hit-ting a decommissioned targetship in theBayof Bengal, as partof a series of tests of the super-soniccruisemissile.OnNovember 24, the Indian

ArmyhadsuccessfullylaunchedBrahMos from Car NicobarIslands in a 'top-attack' configu-ration hitting a target in BayBengal. The launchwas first in aseries of launches of the variousversions of themissile over thefollowing days in a display ofIndia's tactical cruise missiletriad.TheNovember24testwasfollowed by two tests the nextday - one by the Army and an-otherby IAF.IndianNavy tweeted, “Indian

Navyhonesitscombatreadiness.Brahmos AShM (Anti ShipMissile)launchedbyINSRanvijaystrikes the target ship at maxrangewithpinpoint accuracy inBayofBengal.”TheMinistry of Defence said

the testwas conducted at 9 amandthemissileperformed“highlycomplex manoeuvres and hitbull’seyeof thetarget."

GUJARAT

Offence against former BJP leader’s son for‘violating’ social distancing norms at function

KantiGamitaccepted

that theyhad ‘not

takenanypermission

fromthepoliceor

fromcollectoroffice’

for theceremony

ThecrowdatBJP leaderKantiGamit’sgranddaughter’sengagementceremonyatSongadhtaluka inTapionMonday. Express

COVID-19VACCINE

AMC task force starts datacollection of health workers

SHAPAR-VERAVAL

45-yr-old migrantworker ‘dies bysuicide’ insidepolice lockup

Thedataofnearly

70,000healthcare

workersof all

governmenthospitals

inAhmedabadhave

beencollatedsofar

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER1

STATINGTHATa“publicofficeina democracy” has to face criti-cism,theBombayHighCourtonTuesday said “ultimately, thepeoplehavetofindabalancebe-tweentherightsof theentireso-cietyand individual rights”.Thecourtalsoobserved that

“if wedonot allow the youngergeneration to express, howwillthey know that what they areexpressing is rightorwrong”.Thedivisionbenchof Justices

S S Shinde andM S Karnikwashearing a plea filed by SunainaHoley (38), aNaviMumbai resi-dent who was booked by theMumbai and Palghar police forallegedlymaking offensive re-marks on social media againstChief Minister UddhavThackeray and his son AadityaThackeray in July thisyear.Holeysoughtinterimprotec-

tionfromarrestandquashingofall FIRs and charges levelledagainsther.TheMumbaiandPalgharpo-

lice had filed three FIRs againstHoley, after several persons, in-cluding Yuva Sena memberRohanChavan,filedpolicecom-plaintsagainsther.She was booked under

Sections 505 (statements con-ducing to public mischief) and153A (promoting enmity be-tween different groups) of the

Indian Penal Code and provi-sions of the IT Act.OnOctober30,thecourthad

directedHoley toappearbeforethe police and cooperate withtheinvestigation.“Thejobofpo-lice officers is difficult duringthese times. Sometimes theyhavemore than 12-hour shifts.Thentheyhavetodobandobastfor morchas and processions.Withalltheseodds,theMumbaiPoliceisconsideredasoneofthebest in theworld after ScotlandYard,” JusticeShindehadsaid.On Tuesday, advocate

AbhinavChandrachud,whorep-resented Holey, submitted thatthe state cannot curtail the fun-damental right to speech, andshewasmerely expressing heropinionwhencriticisingthegov-ernment'spolicy.“True,butwealsohavetoen-

sure that the fundamental rightof one person does not causeharm to another person,” the

benchsaid.WhenChandrachudshowed

the court a video clip of Holey,which she had posted onTwitter,thecourtaskedthegov-ernment lawyer: “Will you actagainst every personwho sayssomething on Twitter and howmanyactionswill you take?”Additionalpublicprosecutor

J PYagnik told thecourt that thepolicewere trying to investigatetheintentionbehindthepostsaf-ter a complaintwas registered.When the court indicated thatprimafacie,itwasnotinclinedtoagree with him, he submittedthat theaccusedmustnotbe letoff completely, and there had tobesomerestraintonHoley’spart.The bench then noted: “A

publicoffice inademocracyhasto hear criticismday in and dayout.Ultimately, thepeoplehaveto find a balance between therights of the entire society andindividualrights.We,thejudgeshavebeenaskednottowatchTV,Twitter, and we do not knowanything.Wecometothecourtswith a fresh mind. We haveadoptedademocraticstructure.”It added, "However, the

younger generation will findsomething to write on (socialmedia). If we do not allow theyounger generation to express,howwill they know that whatthey are expressing is right orwrong?”The court will continue to

hear thepleaonDecember3.

Public office has to face criticism,allow youth to express: Bombay HC

APURVAVISHWANATHBENGALURU,DECEMBER1

SHIFTING theburdenof proof ofalawfulreligiousconversionfromtheconvertedtohis/herpartner;defining “allurement” in sweep-ingterms;disregardingagencyoftheperson converting; differentjail termsdependingongender;legitimising the intrusion of thestate and third parties in thechoice of who an individualwishes tomarry– thenewUttar

Pradesh “love jihad law” raisesseveralquestionsofConstitutionalpropriety.TheUttarPradeshProhibition

of Unlawful Conversion ofReligionOrdinance,2020,prom-ulgatedlastweek, inthenameofseeking to end conversionthroughunlawfulmeans,specifi-callyprohibitsanyconversionformarriage,evenifitiswiththecon-sentoftheindividualexceptwhenprior sanction is obtained fromthestate.Section3oftheOrdinance,be-

ing seen as a template bymanyBJP-ruledstates,prohibitsanyun-lawfulconversionandconversiongenerallyformarriage.ItsSection6specifiesthat“anymarriagethattakesplaceforthesolepurposeofunlawful conversion” or “vice-versa”will be “deemednull and

void” by a family court unless aprior sanction to convert andmarryisreceivedfromthedistrictmagistrate.“Thereisnolegalbasisforprohibitingconversions,evensolely formarriage,” said JaynaKothari, senior advocate and co-founder of Centre for Law andPolicy Research, a Bengaluru-based legal advocacy group. “Byinvolvingthestate,thepoliceandthefamilyoftheindividualsseek-ing tomarry, the lawattempts toonlystopallinter-faithmarriages.”Apartfromthepersonseeking

to convert, even the individualpresiding over the conversion isrequired tomake an applicationunderthelawtothedistrictmag-istrate. Themagistrate, throughthepolice,will then look intothe“real intention”, “purpose” and“cause of theproposed religious

conversion.” The UP law has asweeping definition of what itcalls“allurement”--oneoftheun-lawfulaspectsofconversion.Fromthepromiseof “anygift”,“gratifi-cation”to“betterlifestyle”and“di-vine displeasure or otherwise”,the termencapsulatesanybene-fitexpectedfromconversion.While“anygift”couldinclude

evennon-material gifts like a re-ligious text, thepromiseof abet-ter lifestyle are future eventswhichmay ormay not happenbutcouldstillbeusedtodeclareaconversionunlawful.If themagistrate is not satis-

fied, then criminal actionunderSection11oftheordinancecanbeinitiated against persons who“caused” theconversion. This in-cludesthosewhocommittedtheoffence, omitted to act andpre-

vent the offence and thosewhoaid,abet,counselorprocurepeo-pleforcommittingtheoffence.However,Section12ofthelaw

placestheburdenofprovingthatan individual lawfully convertedonpeoplewho“caused”or“facil-itated”theconversionandnotonthe individual. Thismeans thateven if awoman,whohas con-verted fromone religion to an-other,saysthatshehadconsentedtotheconversion,thiswillnotbesufficient. The individual’s part-ner, who is deemed to have“caused”theconversion,willhavetoprove the real intentionof theconversion.This reverse burdenof proof,

legalexpertssay,underminestheagencyof theindividualconvert-ing fromone religion to anotherbydisregardingtheirconsent.The

lawalso allowsparents, siblings,oranyotherpersonrelatedtotheindividual converted -- bybloodormarriage -- toquestion the le-galityof theconversion.“Right to convert to another

religion is a fundamental right.This lawstrikesattheheartof it,”said Ashwini Obulesh, womenandchildrightsadvocateandco-founderof Dhwani Legal Trust, anon-profit legalaidsociety.The lawdoesnot apply to in-

ter-faith marriages under theSpecialMarriageAct,wherebothindividuals can retain their reli-giousidentitiesbutappliessolelytointer-faithmarriageswhereei-therthehusbandorthewifeseekstoconverttoadifferentreligiontomarryunderpersonallaws.The Special Marriage Act,

whichalsorequiresaone-month

notice to the state stating inten-tiontomarryisdeemedproblem-atictocoupleswhoseektomarryagainstwishes of the family orcommunity at large. During thenotice period, themagistrate in-vites objections to theproposedmarriage,which could be chal-lengingtocouples.Conversion and marriage

through religious laws is one ofthelegalroutesinter-faithcouplesoften take to avoid this one-monthnoticetothestate,evenatthe risk of losing their rights un-derpersonallaw,likeinheritance.Thenewlaw,however,barssuchmarriages and introducesmorerestrictions to be allowed tomarry. “In the SpecialMarriageAct,publicdocumentationofde-tails of theprospectivebrideandgroomand itsdisplayduring the

noticeperiodisitselfcurrentlyun-derchallengebeforetheSupremeCourt as it is detrimental to thesafetyofthecouple.Thislawtakesitonestepfurtherandrequiresthepolicetobesatisfiedoftheirinten-tions,”Obuleshsaid.The offence under the ordi-

nanceisnon-bailableandcogniz-ablewhichmeans that an arrestcanbemadewithoutawarrant.Aminimum punishment of oneyearwhichcanbeextendeduptofiveyearsisprescribedandrepeatoffences can carry double themaximum sentence. Men areawardedahigherpunishment ifconvictedof causing conversionofawoman,minororapersonbe-longing to Scheduled Caste orTribe,theminimumsentenceisoftwoyearswhichcanextendupto10years.

Shiftsburdenofproof,keeps‘allurement’wideopen

In name of conversion, UP ‘love jihad’ law targets inter-faith unions

Indian Navysuccessfullytest-fires navalversion ofBrahMos missileSunainaHoley was

bookedbytheMumbai

andPalgharpolice for

allegedlymaking

offensiveremarkson

socialmediaagainst

ChiefMinisterUddhav

Thackerayandhisson

AadityaThackeray

Ahmedabad

11THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

EXPRESSNETWORK

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAMMU,DECEMBER1

A BSF sub -inspectorwas killedonTuesdayinunprovokedfiringfrom across the Line of Control(LoC) in Rajouri district ofJammuandKashmir (J&K).Identifyingthedeceasedoffi-

cer as Sub-Inspector PaotinsatGuite,anofficialBSFspokesper-son said hewas posted at a for-warddefencelocationinRajourisector.The incident came on a day

whentheforceiscelebratingit's56thRaisingDay.Hewas killed during a con-

spicuousactofbraveryinnotonly

retaliatingtoenemyfire,butalsosavedthelivesofmanyofhiscol-leagues, thespokespersonsaid.

Inspector General of BSF forJammufrontiers,NSJamwalsaidSI Guitewas a “gallant and sin-cereborderman”.The BSF retaliated strongly

andeffectivelyonPakistanArmyposts,theIGsaid,addingthatthesacrifice of the Bordermanwillnotgo invain.SI Guite will be cremated

withfullstatehonoursinhisna-tivevillage,saidaPROfortheBSF.Guite is the fourth soldier to

be killed in unprovoked cease-fireviolationsoverthelastweek.Those killed include SubedarSwatantra Singh in Poonch andNaik Prem Bahadur Khatri andrifleman Sukhbir Singh both inRajouri.

BSF sub-inspector killed infiring across LoC in Rajouri

BSFSub-InspectorPaotinsatGuite

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER1

THEDELHI High Court Tuesdayasked the National CrimeRecords Bureau (NCRB) to in-form it about any decision re-garding the demand for inclu-sionof transgenderpersonsasaseparate third gender in its an-nual reportonprisonstatistics.Inresponsetoa submission

that the matter was pendingbefore a committee, the courtasked the counsel represent-ingNCRB to seek instructions.“How longwill it take,” the di-vision bench of Chief Justice

D.N. Patel and Justice PrateekJalan asked as it observed thatprima facie the prayers were“very pertinent and reason-able”.The courtwas hearing a PIL

seekingadirection toNCRB forrecognition and classificationof transgender persons as aseparate third gender in theirannual publication of ‘PrisonStatistics, India’.Ithasbeenarguedintheplea

thatitfindsitsbasisinaSupremeCourt ruling“wherein ithasun-equivocally given legal recogni-tion to the transgenders, in ad-dition todeclaring their right toself-determinationof gender”.

HC seeks NCRB reply oncategory for transgenderpersons in report

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER1

THE SPECIAL court conductingtrial into the 2008 Malegaonblast case on Tuesday directedthe National Investigation Age-ncy(NIA)tosummonwitnesseswhileaskingallsevenaccusedtoappearbeforeitonThursday,thenextdateof hearing.

The trial, which began lastyear,wasstalledafter theprevi-ous judge hearing the case re-tired in February. Pending noti-fication from the Uniongovernment to appoint a newjudge, the lockdown was im-posed inMarch.On Tuesday, Special Judge P

RSitre told theprosecution andthedefence that trial should re-sume and the NIA should sum-

monwitnesses.Special Public Prosecutor

AvinashRasal,appearingforNIA,saidthatsincemostwitnessesinthecasearefromMalegaonnearNashik or outside Mumbai, itmay be difficult to summonthemtoappearbeforethecourtamidtheCovid-19pandemic.Healso sought time for the NIA tocontactwitnesses.The court, meanwhile, said

that all accused in the case –Pragya Singh Thakur, PrasadPurohit, Sameer Kulkarni, AjayRahirkar, Sudhakar DharDwivedi,RameshUpadhyayandSudhakar Chaturvedi – shouldappearbefore itonThursday.So far, 140 witnesses have

been examined by the prosecu-tion,mostof themvictimsof theblast,whohavesufferedinjuries.Six persons had lost their lives

while over 100were injured intheblastonSeptember29,2008.Lastyear,thecourthadsaidthatitwouldnotgrantexemptionfromappearancetoanyaccusedunlessacogentreasonisprovided.Meanwhile, the NIA on

Tuesdayfiledareplytoanappli-cationfiledbythekinofavictimseeking that the trial be expe-dited andevidencebe recordedbysummoningwitnesses.

MALEGAONCASE

Court directs NIA to summon witnesses, asks all accused to appear

BARBRIBERYSCANDAL

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MUMBAI,DEC1

THESUPREMECourtTuesdayde-clinedtointerferewithaBombayHighCourt order upholding theJanuary2019decisionoftheICICIBanktoterminate theservicesofChandaKochharas itsManagingDirectorandCEO.The bench of Justices Sanjay

KishanKaul,DineshMaheshwariandHrishikesh Roy told SeniorAdvocateMukul Rohatgi, repre-sentingKochharwhohad comeinappeal,“Wearenotinclinedtointerferewith theHighCourtor-der. This fallswithin the realmofprivatebankandemployee.”KochharhadmovedtheHigh

Court,contendingthatthetermi-nation was communicatedmonthsafterICICIBankapprovedher voluntary resignation inOctober 2018. Termination fromservice,shesaid,wastherefore“il-legal, untenable andunsustain-ableinlaw”.In January2019, theboardof

ICICIBank,afterconsideringanin-vestigation conductedby retiredSupremeCourt judge, JusticeBNSrikrishna, sackedKochhar anddecided toclawbackall bonusesgiventohersince2009whenshetookchargeof thetoppost.The ICICI Bank and Chanda

Kochhar cameunder regulatory

scrutiny afterThe IndianExpress first reportedonMarch29,2018thatVideoconGroup promoter VenugopalDhootprovided crores of rupeesto a firmhehad set upwith herspouse,DeepakKochhar,andtworelatives, six months after theVideocon Group got Rs 3,250crore as loan from ICICI Bank in2012. InDecember 2017, theCBIhad registered apreliminary en-quiry (PE) intothesanctioningoftheloan.In January 2019, the CBI

bookedtheKochhars,Dhootandothers and saidChandaKochharhad “dishonestly” granted loansto thetuneofhundredsof croresof rupees to theVideoconGroup“incontraventionofrulesandpol-icy ... byabusingherofficialposi-tion”. InSeptember this year, theEnforcementDirectoratearrestedDeepak Kochhar in connectionwith its probe into an allegedmoney laundering case. The EDregistered a case based on theJanuary2019CBIFIR.OnTuesday,aspecialcourt in

Mumbai, rejected thebail appli-cationofDeepakKochhar.Oneofthe groundshe cited for grant of

bailwasthattheadjudicatingau-thorityunder thePMLAhadsaidlast month that the assets ofKochharandhiswife,attachedbytheED,didnotqualifyasproceedsofcrime.TheEDhadopposed thebail

application, stating thatKochharwas “misleading” the court bylinkingtwoseparateproceedings.Itsaidtheadjudicatingauthority’sdecision, which it would chal-lenge before the appropriate fo-rum,wasseparatefromthecrim-inalchargesthatDeepakKochharwasfacingbeforethePMLAcourt.IntheSupremeCourt,Rohatgi,

appearing for Chanda Kochhar,said theBombayHighCourt dis-missedherpetitiononthegroundofmaintainability.He said the bank had con-

vertedherretirement fromserv-ice into termination.He said thiswasdonewithouttheapprovaloftheReserveBankof India.“Thebankrecalledmyearlier

resignationandconverted it intotermination... Thiswaswrongasitwasagainstthenorms,”RohatgisaidonbehalfofChandaKochhar.“Whethertheterminationcan

be donewithout approving theresignationisaquestion...Youcan-not convert resignation into ter-mination.There isnoquestionofterminationastherewasnopre-viousapprovalaspertheclause,”hesaid.

ChandaKochhar

274DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:94,62,809TESTS: 14,13,49,298 | RECOVERIES: 88,89,585

ACTIVE CASES:4,35,603DEATHS: 1,37,621

NOV30CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS

31,118 482 41,985 9,69,322

STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASESACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK

Maharashtra 90,557 8,655

Rajasthan 28,653 4,537

MadhyaPradesh 14,771 2,435

STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLININGACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK

Andhra 7,840 5,554

Delhi 32,885 4,444

Chhattisgarh 19,635 2,291

STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASESONNOV30 TOTAL

Maharashtra 3,837 18,23,896

Delhi 3,726 5,70,374

Kerala 3,382 6,02,983

STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHSONNOV30 TOTAL

Delhi 108 9,174

Maharashtra 81 48,217

WestBengal 48 8,424

DataasonNovember30,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical

Researchandstategovernments.Oftenthenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays

aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive

Prioritytovaccinatecriticalmassofpopulation,breakchain

Govt hasn’t spoken ofvaccinating entirecountry: Health Secy

KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, DECEMBER1

WITH THE country expected towitness its largest vaccinationdrive – against Covid-19—nextyear, thecentralgovernmentonTuesday said its prioritywill beto first vaccinate a criticalmassof thepopulationandbreak thechain of transmission of thevirus, indicating that the entirepopulationmay not bemanda-torilyvaccinated.During the weekly briefing

on the pandemic, UnionHealthSecretary Rajesh Bhushan reit-eratedthatthe“governmenthasnot spoken about vaccinatingthe entire country”. “Importantto get factual information onthese (onvaccinating the entirepopulation),”Bhushansaid.DG ICMR Dr Balram

Bhargava said the decisionwilllargelydependondataontheef-ficacyof thevaccinecandidates.“Thequestionwoulddependontheefficacyof thevaccine;thereis a range, itmay be 60per centefficacy in someone or 70 percent in another,” he said. “Thesecondissueisthatourpurposeis to break the chain of virustransmission. If we are able tovaccinate a criticalmassof peo-ple and break the transmission,wemight not have to vaccinatetheentirepopulation.”“Also,theroleofmasksisim-

portant and that will continueeven after the vaccination be-cause we are starting with asmall population at a time.

Therefore,maskwillcontinuetobe used to help break the chainof viral transmission,”Bhargavasaid.Bhushansaidthenationalex-

pert group on vaccine adminis-trationisalsodiscussingwhetherthe population that has alreadyrecoveredfromtheinfectionwillhavetobevaccinated.“Thisisoneofthemandatesthenationalex-pert group on vaccine adminis-tration(toexamineif thepeoplewhohavedevelopedantibodiesagainst the virus should be vac-cinated).Othercountriesarealsoexamining it. No final decisionhasbeentaken...”Bhushansaid.Bhargava, however, pointed

out that currently, the WorldHealth Organization’smandateduringtheconductofclinicaltri-als istovaccinatewithoutascer-taining if the volunteer has de-veloped antibodies againstthevirus.“There are two issues linked

inthis(onvaccinatingthosewhohave antibodies). One, if some-one has antibodies and if yougivethevaccine,canyoudevelopany vaccine-associated adversereaction; second, ifwemeasuretheantibodies,canweavoidvac-cine to that person, and there-fore,canwespareourvaccines,”hesaid.“Regardingthefirstone,there is enough data to showthat adverse reaction does nothappen. However, there is dis-cussion still going internation-ally.TheWHOhasclearlystatedin all its Solidarity vaccine trialsthat we don't need tomeasuretheantibodies,evenfindoutthatperson had Covid-19, and goaheadandgive it (vaccine).Thatis inthemandateofWHOatthemoment.”Meanwhile, Bhushan said

theHealthMinistryhaswrittento all states to set up an expertgroup to study themarket anddetermine testing rates.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER1

PUTTINGUPpostersorothersig-nages outside homes of Covid-positive people may end upmaking the occupants beingtreated as “untouchables”, theSupreme Court observed onTuesdayevenas theCentre saidit had not authorised any suchpractice.The remarks came from a

bench of Justices AshokBhushan, R SubhashReddy andM R Shahwhile hearing a pleaagainst different state govern-ments for posters being put upoutside homes of coronaviruspatients staying in isolation.“Hard reality is different.

Thesepeoplearetreatedlikeun-touchables,” Justice Shah saidwhen Solicitor General TusharMehtapointedoutthatalthough

the Centre had not prescribedthis,somestateswerefollowingit on their own, perhaps to pre-vent inadvertentcontact.Mehtaalso referred toanaf-

fidavit filed by the UnionMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare in this regard.Theaffidavitstates,“thecen-

tral government, through theMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare (MoHFW) has alreadycommunicatedtotheAdditionalChief Secretaries/PrincipalSecretaries/Secretaries(Health)of all States and UTs (UnionTerritories) pointing it out thattheMoFHWGuidelines do notcontainanyinstructionsorguid-ance regarding affixing ofpostersorothersignageoutsidethe residences of those foundCovidpositive.”The bench asked the peti-

tioner,KushKalra, to respondtothe Centre’s affidavit and fixed

thematter for hearing next onThursday.Kalra had earliermoved the

Delhi High Court, seeking thatguidelinesbeframedtodoawaywiththepracticeofpastingsuchposters. He contended that theidentities of Covid-19 patientsbeing made public, and beingput up on social media groups,etc, is “leadingtostigmatisationanddrawingof unnecessary at-tention”. This, in turn, results inthese people “shying away anddeliberatelychoosingnottotestthemselves”, the petitionerstated.Responding to the plea, the

Delhi government had told theHC that officials have been toldnot to paste posters outside thehomesof coronaviruspatients.Hearing the matter on

November5,theapexcourthadasked the Centrewhy it cannotcomeupwithguidelinesonthis.

Kerala CPMdisapproves ofIsaac’s criticismof Vigilance raid

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,DEC1

THECPI(M)-LEDLDFgovernmentinKeralaonTuesdayobtainedtheSpeaker’s sanction to register aVigilance case against Leader ofOpposition in the Assembly,Congress’s RameshChennithala,in thebarbriberycaseunder theprevious Congress-led govern-ment.Thedevelopment comesbe-

foreKeralagoes tothe localbodypollsnextweek.ChennithalasaidtheSpeaker’s

actionispoliticallymotivatedandtaken at the behest of ChiefMinisterPinarayiVijayan.The government had last

monthdecidedtorevivethecaseagainst Chennithala and twoother Congress leaders — bothministers in the previous UDFterm — after bar baron BijuRamesh’s recent claim that theowners’associationhadallegedlypaidthembribetogetbarhotelli-cencefeereduced.He also alleged that Kerala

Congress (M) leader JoseKMani,nowwiththeLDF,hadofferedRs10crore towithdrawthebriberycharge against his late father, KMani, who was the then state

Financeminister.Following Ramesh’s allega-

tions, theVigilance conducted aquick verification report andap-proached Speaker PSreeramakrishnan, seeking hissanctiontoregisteracaseagainstChennithala,whowasalegislatoratthetimeoftheallegedincident.The Vigilance Department hassoughttheGovernor’ssanctiontoregistercasesagainstformermin-istersandCongressleadersKBabuand V S Sivakumar based onRamesh’sallegations.OnTuesday, the Speaker also

gavesanctionfor Vigilancetoreg-ister a case against IUML legisla-tor KM Shaji on charges of al-legedlytakingabribeofRs25lakhforallocatingabatchofclassXIIagovernmentaidedhighersecond-ary school during the previousgovernment.Chennithalasaid,“TheCPI(M)

has threatened to register casesagainst adozenUDF leaders, butwearenotgoingtostopexposingthe corruption in the govern-ment.”

Kerala govt gets Speakernod to file Vigilance caseagainst Chennithala

RameshChennithala

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,DEC1

THECPI(M) state secretariat onTuesday disapproved of partycentral committeemember andstate FinanceMinister ThomasIsaac's public criticism of theVigilance Department's raid atstate-run NBFC Kerala StateFinancialEnterprises(KSFE).Questioning thepropriety of

the raid on Saturday, Isaac hadsaid,“Idon’tknowwhoselunaticideawasthisraid.’’TheVigilanceDepartment is

under Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan. On Tuesday, the partystate secretariat said in a state-ment,“Thechiefministerhimselfhasmadeitclearthatit(raid)wasaroutineexamination.Certainre-actionsonVigilanceraidsatKSFEhad led towrong interpretationandcampaign.Thosestatementshavebeenreactionsofcertainper-sonswhohavebeenprovokedbytheapparentbidtodefameanin-stitutionlikeKSFE.Butsuchpub-lic statements shouldhavebeenavoided.’’ Isaac also faced heatfromthreeCabinetcolleaguesforspeakingagainsttheVigilanceac-tion.

FULLREPORTON

www.indianexpress.com

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,DECEMBER1

VOTING for the graduates’ andteachers’ constituency seatswent off smoothly in the fivedistricts of Pune Division onTuesday. Theelection– the firstin the state since the Covid-19pandemichit thecountry–willdecide the fate of two seats intheLegislativeCouncil,oneeachfrom the graduates’ and teach-ers’ constituencies.Despite the restrictions in

place,andhealthconcernsduetothe pandemic, the voting per-centagesawaconsiderablejumpcompared to the percentagerecordedduringthelastelectionsixyearsago,saidofficials.By theendof pollingat5pm

in Pune district, 44.87 per centregistered voters in graduates’constituency and58.43per centinteachers’constituencyhadcasttheir votes. The voting percent-ages in Pune district, during thelast election held six years ago,were only 21.93 per cent in thegraduates’ constituency and50.31 per cent in the teachers’constituency,saidofficials.This year, enthusiasmabout

the Legislative Council elections

wasmuch higher with candi-dates andpolitical parties usingnovel methods to reach out tovoters, and senior party leadersholding rallies in support of thecandidates. Themain electoralfightinbothseatsisbetweencan-didates of Maha Vikas Aghadi(the ruling alliance), and theop-positionBJP.TheMVAhasnominatedArun

Lad for the graduates’ con-stituency and Jayant Asgaonkarfor the teachers’ constituency,againstBJP’sSangramDeshmukhand Jitendra Pawar, respectively,for the two constituencies. TheMNShasnominatedRupali Patiland the AAP nominated Amol

Pawar in the graduates’ con-stituency.Vacanciesintheseconstituen-

cieswerecreateddue to the res-ignation of BJP state unit chiefChandrakantPatil,whowontheLegislative Assembly electionsfromPunecity’sKothrudlastyear,fromthegraduates’constituency.ThetenureofDattatrayaSawant,whowasrepresentingtheteach-ers’ constituency, ended in Julythis year. “The voting took placesmoothly and the credit for thisgoes to the polling station staffandhealthdepartmentstaff,whoensured safe votingwas strictlyfollowed,” said Pune DistrictCollectorRajeshDeshmukh.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,DECEMBER1

CPMLEADERMohammedYusufTarigami onTuesdaymoved theSupremeCourtagainstthecentralnotificationallowingpeoplefromotherpartsof the country tobuylandinJammuandKashmir.In his application, Tarigami,

whohasalreadyfiledawritpeti-tionchallengingtheabrogationofArticle370,whichgrantedspecialstatustoJ&K,andthestate'sreor-ganisation into the UnionTerritories of J&K and Ladakh,urgedthecourttostaythecentralnotification dated October 26,2020tillhispetitionisdecided.In his plea, Tarigami con-

tended that the government’spower tomake such lawscomesfrom the “Jammu andKashmirReorganisationAct,2019whichinitself is unconstitutional” andhencethenotificationisalsowith-outforceof law.Thepleasaidtheamendment

to the Jammu and KashmirDevelopment Act, 1970, madethrough thenotification,will al-lowanynon-residenttobuyagri-culturallandandtouseitfornon-agricultural/commercialpurposewith the permission of the gov-ernment.

Hesubmittedthatagricultureandallied sectors continue tobethepredominantsourceof liveli-hoodformorethan70percentofJ&K’s population and contributenearly 50 per cent to GrossDomestic State Product.“However, over the past twodecades, agricultural land inJammu and Kashmir has beenshirkingasaresultofdiversionofagricultural landforrapidurban-isation. It has also come to lightthatagriculturalfocushasgradu-ally shifted from cultivation offoodgrains,”hesaid.“The present amendment

will only create a situationwhere the said change in landuse for commercial purposes isaccelerated thereby forcing thepeople of Kashmir to shift fromagriculture. Gradually, JammuandKashmirwillhavetorelyonotherstatesforitsfooddemandsas agriculturewill no longer bepreferred, which is not in thebest interests of the people ofJammu and Kashmir,” Tarigamisaid inhisplea.

Covidtestingata locality inThane.Deepak Joshi

Posters causing Covid patients tobe treated like untouchables: SC

Voting inprogress for thegraduatesandteachersconstituencyelectionsataschool inPune.AshishKale

Polling for 2 Legislative Council seats:Pune district sees higher voter turnout

CHANDAKOCHHARSACKING

SCdeclines to interferewith BombayHC order

MohammedYusufTarigami

Tarigami moves SCagainst order on landpurchase in J&K

Ahmedabad

12THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

GOVT&POLITICS

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

INVITED FOR LANGAR

INTUESDAY’Smeetingwithprotestingfarmers,theministerswerekeentoseethatsomeprogresswasmadeintheireffortsto end the stalemate. After the discussions, whichwent formorethanthreehours,UnionministersNarendraSinghTomarandPiyushGoyal invited the farmer leaders to join them foracupof tea.However, thefarmerleadersrefusedandinsteadinvited theministers to join them at langars organised forfarmerscampedonDelhi'sborders.Thefarmers' leaderssaidtheministerscouldbetreatedwith jalebis there, and left thevenuewithouthaving tea.

MOMENTOUS MEETING

DECEMBER4will be a significant day for Chirag Paswan– itwillbethefirsttimeheattendsanall-partymeeting,calledbythe PrimeMinister, as the leader of LJP in Lok Sabha.Whatmakes itmore interesting is thespeculationonwhat thedy-namicwillbe.Whilemanystill insist that theLJP's fightwiththe JD(U) during the recent Bihar Assembly electionswas aBJP ploy, the Rajya Sabha seat his father had is set to have aBJP nominee. Andwith no seats in Bihar Assembly, Chiragmight return toaParliamentwhich treatshimdifferently.

ARUNJANARDHANANCHENNAI, DECEMBER1

THE TAMIL Nadu governmenton Tuesday announced that ithasdecidedtosetupacommis-sion to examine and suggestmethodologies to conduct acaste-based survey in the state,the first such exercise after the1950s and a long-pending de-mand of different political par-tiesandcommunitygroups.The announcement came

amidprotestsbythePMK,anallyof theNDAandAIADMK,whichhasbeendemanding20percentreservation in government jobsandeducationinthestatefortheVanniyars – a powerful MostBackwardClass (MBC)commu-nity fromnorthTamilNadu.

According to the party, thecommunity accounts for 25percent of the state population butitsrepresentationingovernmentjobs is less than 8 per cent. Theparty has also been demanding

to know the current share ofeach community in terms ofgovernmentjobsandeducation.Currently,TamilNaduhas69

per cent reservation, including20 per cent forMBCs, the list of

whichhas108communities.The government's an-

nouncement to set up the com-mission for caste-based surveyisbeingseenasamovetodousethe quota protests, which thePMK is trying to bring toChennai, just sixmonths aheadof thestateassemblypolls.OnTuesday, at least300peo-

plewere taken into custody onChennaibordersasthePMKmadeefforts toorganiseprotests in thecity. With security at all entrypointsbeingtightened,PMKwork-ers resortedtopelting trainswithstonesafterbeingdeniedpermis-siontoenterChennaicitylimits.PMK leader Anbumani

Ramadoss also met ChiefMinister Edappadi KPalaniswami and reiterated thequotademand.

ABHISHEKSAHAGUWAHATI,DECEMBER1

NAGALANDGOVERNORRNRavi,whoisalsotheCentre’sinterlocu-tor for the ongoingNaga peacetalks,hasruledoutthepossibilityofaseparateflagandconstitutionfor theNagas—amajor bone ofcontentionbetweenthemostin-fluential Naga outfit NSCN(I-M)andtheCentralgovernment.Inhisspeechontheeveof the

58thStatehoodDayofNagaland,Ravisaid,“TheIndianNationalFlagandConstitutionare theprideofthe people of India. TheGovernmentof Indiaisabsolutelyclearthatthereisandthereshallbeonly one National Flag andConstitutioninIndia.Anyonetalk-inganythingcontrary ispeddlingpreposterous lies. Theyare tryingtoconfuseandmisleadthepeople.”ChiefMinisterNeiphiuRio, in

a statement issued on the occa-sion,saidaseven-pointresolutionwasunanimouslyadoptedtourgetheNagapoliticalgroupsto“hon-our and respect theCovenant ofReconciliation”and“maintainthesanctity of non-violence in letterandspiritforasharedNagafutureasmembersof oneNaga family”after a consultativemeeting onOctober 15with the representa-tivesof“alltribalhohos,civilsoci-etyorganisations,politicalparties,ex-parliamentariansandvariouspublic leadersontheNagapoliti-cal issue”.TheNSCN(I-M)hasheldonto

itsdemandof aseparate flagandconstitution,whereas theNNPG— an umbrella body of sevenother insurgent groups ofNagalandintalkswiththeCentre— and civil society groups havemaintained that they are agree-abletoasolutionwithoutthesep-arateflagandconstitution.The IndianExpresshadearlier

reportedthattheNSCN(I-M)lead-ershipwascalledtoDelhitocon-tinue dialogue with seniorIntelligence Bureau officials fol-lowingostensibledeteriorationofrelations betweenRavi and theNSCN(I-M).“Nagapolitical issue belongs

to the Naga people,” saidGovernorRavi inhis speech. “Nosingleentityshouldclaimthesolefranchiseoverit..beingdisrespect-fultotheprimarystakeholdersisan insult to the people ofNagaland.Anyattempttointimi-dateor threaten themwill invitethewrath of the people and fullmightof thelawsof theland.”In an editorial in itsmouth-

pieceNagalimVoicereleasedonTuesdayevening,theNSCN(I-M)pointedtotheactiontakenbytheAssamRiflesagainsttheoutfitatthe“prodding”oftheMinistryofHome Affairs and the Centrespeaking in“ambivalent” terms.“It is highly unbecoming for theMHAtocompoundtheproblemcreating fictionbetweenARandNSCNwhile thetalk fora lastingNaga solution is going on. TheGovernmentof Indiastill speak-ing in ambivalent terms in thematter of ceasefire coverage isbecomingthebiggestobstacleinbuilding trust… the situationwas aggravated by the AR’s dis-playofdefiancewhenitassertedthattheywilltargetNSCNcampsin Manipur and ArunachalPradesh.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,DECEMBER1

WITH AN eye on the 2021Assembly elections, theMamataBanerjeegovernmentonTuesdaylaunched its massive ‘DuareSarkar’(governmentatdoorsteps)outreach programme to ensurepeople receive thebenefits of 11state-runwelfare schemes. TheOpposition,however,toreintothestateadministration,withtheBJPaccusingtheTrinamoolCongress(TMC)ofstartingitselectioncam-paignwithpublicmoney.Peoplewereseenqueuingup

inatleast20,000campssetupinalltheblocks,panchayatsandmu-nicipalwardsinthestate.Thecampaignaimstohighlight

adozengovernmentprogrammes—KhadyaSathi, SwasthyaSathi,caste certificates, Sikshashree, JaiJohar,TaposiliBandhu,Kanyashree,Rupashree,Aikyashree,MGNREGS,andKrishakBandhu—andseeksto reach out to thosewhohavebeenleftout,accordingtoaseniorofficialMunicipal Affairs minister

FirhadHakimsaid,“Thisisarevo-lutionary step takenbyour gov-ernment to ensurenoone is leftout.All thosewhoareeligible fortheschemeswillgetthebenefits.”Thecampswill functionfrom

10amto4pmeveryday.Theout-

reachwill be organised in fourphases,endingonJanuary30.State BJP president Dilip

Ghoshsaid, “Theyareusingpub-licmoney for their electioncam-paign. After 10 years, if the stategovernmenthastolaunchacam-paign to ensure everybody getsthebenefits, then theTMC lead-ers shouldbeashamedof them-selves.”

‘Govt at doorsteps’drive launched inBengal, BJP says publicfunds used to campaign

ATRIMITRAKOLKATA,DECEMBER1

THE TRINAMOOL Congress onTuesdayeveningclaimedtohave“sortedout”all issueswithrebelparty leader Suvendu Adhikarifollowingameetingbetweentheformerminister and some sen-iorparty leaders.TMC veteran and Lok Sabha

MP Sougata Roy, and partyMPsSudip Bandopadhyay andAvishekBanerjee,besidespoliti-cal strategist Prashant Kishor,werepresentinthemeetingwithAdhikari.“All issues have been sorted

out.Hopefully,tomorrowhewillmakeastatementandclarifyhisstand,”Roysaidafterward.Adhikari, who resigned as a

stateministeronFriday,however,didnotmakeacomment;hedidnotreplytomessagessentonhisphoneeither.Askedforhisreac-tion, his father, TMC MP SisirAdhikari, said, “If it is true, I amhappy.”According to veteran leader

Roy, themeeting took place inNorth Kolkata and lastedmorethan two hours. “WemetwithSuvendu at around 6pm. Itwasheld in a very cordial atmos-phere. Suvenduhassomereser-vationon some issues...but he isverymuchwithus.”Roy said, “Therewas a need

for ameeting to sort out all is-sues.... You cannot say a chapterhasendedatanypointof timeinpolitics,butIamhopefulthatto-morrow Suvendu will hold apressconferenceandwillclarifyhisstand.”AcloseaidesaidAdhikari re-

turned home in Kanthi, PurbaMedinipur, soonafter themeet-ing. “In Kanthi, hewill talkwith

hisfamilyandothercloseassoci-ates.Hewillprobablyannouncehis stand after that,” this aidesaid.After Adhikari's resignation

fromtheCabinetlastweek,therewasspeculation thatwould jointheBJP.AfterTuesday'smeeting,LokSabhaMPandBJPstatepres-identDilipGhoshsaid,“Thisisaninternalmatterof theTMC.Iwillnot say anything on this. But Ihavespokenabout thesuffocat-ingsituationwithinTMC,soany-onewhowantstocomewithus,includingSuvenduAdhikari,willbewelcomeinourparty.”Adhikariwasseenasdistanc-

inghimself fromtheTMCforthepastseveralmonths–hewasor-ganising programmeswithoutthe party banner, and an outfitcalled‘DadarAnugami(Brother’sFollowers)’wasplaced indiffer-entplaces.Adhikari, whowasMinister

inChargeofTransport,Irrigationand Water Resources, wasknowntohaveexpressedhisdis-appointmentattheparty foros-tensiblynotgivinghimtheposi-tion he deserved, unlike otherseniormembers. The differencebecamepubliconNovember10,whenTMCheldaseparatemeet-ing tomark ‘NandigramDay' atNandigram,whileAdhikariheldarallyatTekhaliMore.

NITINSHARMACHANDIGARH,DECEMBER1

FOR THE last two days, formerIndian basketball player andArjunaawardwinner,SajjaSinghCheema,hasbeencontactingfel-low Arjuna and Padma award-winning sportspersons inPunjab to make them rally insupport of protesting farmersand return their awards to thePresident.Cheemahas got the support

ofmorethan30formerOlympicandcontinentalmedalwinners,including Gurmail Singh andSurinder Singh Sodhi —mem-bers of 1980MoscowOlympicgold medal winning Indianhockey team . The group nowplans towrite to President RamNath Kovind onWednesday toseekanappointment.

“I and my three brothers,Balkar Singh Cheema, KuldeepSingh Cheema and GurmeetSinghCheema,haverepresentedIndia in basketball and all of uscouldachievenationalandinter-national glory due to the effortsof our father Surjit Singh, whoowned20acresof landinvillageDabulian near Kapurthala. Afarmerprovidesfoodnotonlythecountry, but also to players andweallarewiththeminthisfight.The laws reek of somethingbadforthefarmers,”said63-year-oldCheema,whospoketoTheIndianExpress fromtheprivatewardofa Jalandharhospital.“I had suffered from Covid-

19 lastmonth... I have just comeout of ICU and I hope that I willrecover in time to join all theplayersinreturningtheawards...sofar,morethan30playershavejoinedour initiative..”

HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI,DECEMBER1

DESCRIBINGTHEthreenewfarmlaws as a “disaster” for farmers,former Unionminister and na-tional president of Rashtriya LokDal (RLD)Ajit Singh onTuesdaysaidhispartywillholdprotestsatdistrictheadquartersacrossUttarPradeshonWednesday.“By bringing the new farm

laws, the governmentwants tohandover the trade in farmpro-duce to big capitalists... Thiswillbeadisaster for the farmers.Ourpartyopposestheselaws.Wewillholdprotestsagainsttheselawsatdistrict headquarters in UP onWednesday,” Singh told TheIndianExpressoverphone.“Theyhavepractically ended

MSPinsomestates. For instance,(APMC)mandisweredismantledbytheNitishKumarGovernmentinBiharin2006.ThereisnoMSP-basedprocurementinthestate.InUPalso,MSP-basedprocurementisnottakingplaceproperly,”saidSingh,whoservedasAgricultureMinisterintheVajpayee-ledNDAgovernment between2001 and2003.HesaidMSPofpaddyinUPis

aroundRs1,900perquintalbutinthe absence of proper procure-ment, farmers are forced to selltheir cropat aroundRs1,100perquintal.WhenaskedwhywesternUP

farmers are not protestingagainstthethreefarmlawswhilethose in Punjab have beenprotesting since the promulga-tion of the ordinances in June,Singhsaid,“Punjabhasawell-es-tablished network of (APMC)mandis. For every 4-5 villages,thereisamandi.However,west-ernUPdoesnothavesuchanet-work. This is the reason thatfarmers are not so organised inthispartof thecountry.”

IRAMSIDDIQUEBHOPAL,DECEMBER1

FARMERSACROSS52districts ofMadhyaPradeshare all set tohittheroadstoparticipateinachakkajaamonDecember 3 to protestagainst the three farmBills andseek assurance on aMinimumSupport Price (MSP). Sporadicprotestsheld indifferentpartsofthe state are set to intensifywithmeetingscalledatvillagelevelstomobilise farmers after talks re-mainedinconclusiveonTuesday.Theprotesterswillalsomark

December 3 as “anti-corporateday” against the farm Bills andthe 36th anniversary of theBhopalGasTragedy.DrSunilam,atwo-termMLA

fromMultai inMadhyaPradeshandamemberofworkingcom-mittee of All India KisanSangharsh CoordinationCommittee (AIKSCC) underwhich250farmersorganisationhave come together, said, “Wewillbeholdingananti-corporateday to highlight what happenswhen free hand is given to cor-porates like the Union Carbidewhichwentscott free.Thepres-surewillonly intensifyuntilourdemands aremet and the threefarmlawsare repealed."The protestwill receive sup-

portfromemployeesofthemandiboard,many ofwhomhave notbeenpaidtheirdueswithpaucityof funds. FULLREPORTON

www.indianexpress.com

ProtestersattheDelhi-HaryanaborderonTuesday.AP

Kolkata: Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee onTuesday accused theCentre of using centralagenciestobulldozeIndia’sfederalstructure,andques-tionedtheBJP-ledgovern-mentaboutthePM-CARESFund.“Youareraisingques-tionsabout theRs25,000relief we have given tothose affected duringCycloneAmphan,butwhataboutthelakhsandcroresofmoneydonated toPM-CARES Fund?Wherehasthemoneygone,”Banerjeesaidat apress conferenceafterastateCabinetmeet-ing. ENS

Mamata targetsCentre overPM-CARES

‘New farm laws will be disaster’:RLD plans protests across UP

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEHYDERABAD,DECEMBER1

AFTERAhigh-decibel campaignby the BJP and TRS, theGreaterHyderabadMunicipalCorporation(GHMC) elections on Tuesdayrecorded just over 35 per centpolling,leavingallpartiesjittery.Thepollingpercentissignif-

icantlylowerthan42.20percent

in 2010 and 45.29 per centrecorded in2016.Turnoutwas 35.80 per cent

until5pmandthefinalpollper-centagewouldbereleasedaftercompilation.Fearof thepandemicaswell

as a general lack of interestseemstohaveaffectedvoting.Atsome polling booths, therewasnot a single voter until 4 pm.Someskirmisheswerereported

at some places betweenwork-ersofTRSandBJP,andthosebe-longing to the TRS and theCongress, but polling in generalremainedpeaceful.Repoll was ordered inward

number 26 owing to a symbolmix-up involving the two Leftparties—CPIandCPI(M),PTIre-ported, quoting officials. Ballotpapers were used in all 150wards.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER1

ON A day Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinisterYogiAdityanathbeganhis visit toMumbai,with aplantowooBollywoodandother in-dustries to set up base in hisstate, Chief Minister UddhavThackeray on Tuesday declaredthatnoindustrycanbetakenoutof Maharashtra and the state’s“magnetic power” may attractindustries fromother states.“Somepeoplearecomingtoday

andwillmeetyouurgingyou tocome(forinvestment)totheirstate.Buttheyarenotawareofourmag-neticpower.ItissopowerfulthatnoindustriesfromMaharashtrawillgototheirstate.Instead,theindustriesfrom other states may come toMaharashtra,”saidThackerayatanevent of the IMC Chamber ofCommerceandIndustry.Meanwhile, state BJP presi-

dentChandrakantPatilsaidtherewas no question of shiftingBollywoodoutsideMumbai. “Asfar as the UP CM’s visit is con-cerned, itmust be to hold delib-erationswithfilmindustry lead-ers to study and seek their helpfor settingupanalternative filmcity inUP.

GOVTSPEAKINGINAMBIVALENTTERMS:NAGAOUTFIT

Naga talks: Ravi hitsout at NSCN (I-M) overdemand for separateflag, constitution

E●EXPLAIN

ED

Strategicmoveaheadofpolls

WITHSIXmonthstogofor theassemblypolls, thegovern-ment’smovetosetupthecommission isastrategiconeastheentireprocess– fromsettingupof thecommissiontothesurvey–wouldtakemuchmoretimethanthatandmayhelp itducktheheat.Thereareviewsinthegovern-mentthatanyfavourablemovefor thePMKwould leadtoachaoticsituationrightnowasothersociallyandpoliticallypowerfulcommunities, suchasThevarsandGoundars, too,wouldcomeupwithsimilarquotademands.

30 medal-winnersback farmers, readyto return their awards

PMK demand getting shriller, TN govtannounces panel for caste-based survey

After noisy campaign, GHMCpolls record only 35% polling

SecurityofficerspatrolduringtheHyderabadcivicelectionsonTuesday.AP

Issues sortedaftermeeting,claims TMC;Suvendu silent

Ata ‘DuareSarkar’ campinsouthKolkata,Tuesday.ParthaPaul

Yogi in Mumbai,Uddhav saysno industrywill go out ofMaharashtra

SuvenduAdhikari,PrashantKishor

GovernorRNRavi

MP farmers tomark Dec 3 as‘anti-corporateday’, intensifyagitation

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAIPUR,DECEMBER1

THE CHHATTISGARH govern-mentonTuesdaybeganprocure-ment of paddy at theminimumsupportpriceforregisteredfarm-ers. Around 21.30 lakh farmershave registered to sell paddy tothegovernmentthisyear.Onthefirstday,thestategov-

ernment managed to procure98.9 metric tonnes of paddyfromover30,000farmers,across2,305 procurement centres in

thestate.The Congress-led govern-

mentisbuyingpaddyatsupportprice for the third time sincecoming topower. “In twoyears,theareaunderpaddycultivationhas increased from 19.36 lakhhectare to 22.68 lakh hectareandthenumberof farmerssell-ing paddy has increased from12.6lakhto18.38lakh.Lastyear,around94percentfarmerssoldtothegovernmentasopposedto92.6percent in2018-19,”anof-ficial statement from the stategovernment read.

Chhattisgarh begins paddyprocurement at MSP

Ahmedabad

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

A MASS screening programme ofmore than 10 millionWuhan resi-dents identified 300 asymptomaticcases, but nonewere infectious. Theresults are published in the journalNatureCommunications.The mass testing project took

place over twoweeks at the end ofMay—after the city’s stringent lock-downwas lifted in April. The studyfoundno‘viable’virusintheasympto-matic cases, and theclosecontactsofthesepositiveasymptomaticcasesdidnot test positive. The researchers,however,cautionedthattheirfindingsdo not show that theviruscannotbetransmit-tedbyasymptomaticcar-riers. What this means,instead,isthatstrictnon-pharmaceutical inter-ventions such as mask-wearing, handwashing,social distancing andlockdown have helpedreduce the virulence ofCovid-19.The studywas led by

researchers at theHuazhong University of Science andTechnology(HUST) inWuhan,China,in collaborationwith researchers atthe Norwich Medical School,Universityof EastAnglia,UK.Wuhanwasthemostseriouslyaf-

fectedcityinChina.Afterstringentin-terventions and lockdownmeasuresfrom January 23, the city’s lockdownwasliftedonApril8.Themassscreen-ingwas carried out betweenMay 14and June 1, to assess the post-lock-downriskof Covid-19.The300asymptomaticcaseswere

found among people aged between10and89.Theasymptomaticpositiverate was the lowest in children and

teens aged under 17, and the highestamong people aged over 60. Furtherswabtestingof1,174closecontactsofthese 300 asymptomatic positivecaseswereallnegative.What the findings showed, in ef-

fect,wasthattheinfectionprevalencewasverylow5-8weeksaftertheendof lockdown.Theresearcherssaidthisconfirms that transmissionof Covid-19 can be successfully controlled bywell implemented interventions, in-cludingmaskwearing,handhygiene,socialdistancing,contracttracing,andlockdownrestrictions.

But while the casesidentifiedinWuhanwereasymptomatic, there isplenty of evidence else-whereshowingthatpeo-ple infectedwith Covid-19 may be temporarilyasymptomaticandinfec-tious before going on todevelopsymptoms.Also,the asymptomatic casesinWuhanwereidentifiedafter a very stringentlockdown—by then, the

epidemic had been already broughtundercontrol.Again, antibody testing showed

thatalmosttwo-thirdsof theasymp-tomatic cases had previously hadCovid-19. Because the risk of peoplebeing infectedwas greatly reduced,when people are exposed to a lowdose of virus, they may tend to beasymptomaticasaresultof theirownimmunity.Therefore,theresearchersstressed, it would be problematic toapply the results of this research tocountrieswhere Covid-19 outbreakshave not been successfully broughtundercontrol.

Source:Universityof EastAnglia

PAPER

CLIPNEWRESEARCH

Mass screening findsover 300 asymptomaticcases in Wuhan

INDIAACTIVECASES 435,603

WORLDTOTALCASES63,522,286

Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,

updatedat11pmonDec1

INDIATOTALCASES9,462,809

Source:MinistryofHealth&Family

Welfare,updatedat11pmonDec1

Note: TheNov30 figure in this graph isbasedon thegovernmentupdateonDec1

Nov21 Nov30LAST 10 DAYS

500,000

450,000

400,000

435,603440,962

AMITABHSINHA&PRABHARAGHAVANPUNE,NEWDELHI,DECEMBER1

ONMONDAY,USdrugmakerModernasaiditwasapplyingforemergencyuseauthorisationfor its Covid-19 vaccine. A fewdays earlier,Pfizer applied for emergencyuse authorisa-tionforthevaccineithasdevelopedincollab-oration with BioNTech. In India, SerumInstituteofIndia,whichistriallingaversionoftheAstraZeneca-Oxfordvaccine,hassaiditex-pects to seek emergency use authorisationwithinthenexttwoweeks.

Whatisemergencyuseauthorisation?Vaccinesandmedicines,andevendiagnos-

tic tests andmedical devices, require the ap-provalofaregulatoryauthoritybeforetheycanbe administered. In India, the regulatory au-thority is theCentralDrugs StandardControlOrganisation(CDSCO).For vaccines andmedicines, approval is

grantedafteranassessmentoftheirsafetyandeffectiveness,basedondatafromtrials.Infact,approvalfromtheregulatorisrequiredateverystageof thesetrials.This isa longprocess,de-signedtoensurethatamedicineorvaccineisabsolutely safe and effective. The fastest ap-provalforanyvaccineuntilnow—themumpsvaccineinthe1960s—tookaboutfour-and-a-halfyearsafteritwasdeveloped.In emergency situations, like the current

one, regulatoryauthorities around theworldhavedevelopedmechanismstograntinterimapprovalsifthereissufficientevidencetosug-gestamedicalproductissafeandeffective.Finalapprovalisgrantedonlyaftercompletionofthetrialsandanalysisoffulldata;untilthen,emer-gencyuseauthorisation(EUA)allowsthemed-icineorthevaccinetobeusedonthepublic.

WhencanEUAbegranted?In the US, the Food and Drug

Administration(FDA)grantsanEUAonlyafterit hasbeendetermined that the “knownandpotential benefits outweigh the knownandpotential risks of the vaccine” (ormedicine).ThismeansthatanEUAapplicationcanbecon-sideredonlyaftersufficientefficacydatafromphase3trialshadbeengenerated.AnEUAcan-notbegrantedsolelyonthebasisofdatafromphase1or phase 2 trials, although these tooneedtoshowtheproductissafe.ForCovid-19vaccines, the FDAhas speci-

fied that itwould consider anapplication forEUAonlyifphase3datashoweditwasatleast

50% effective in preventing thedisease. Thisdataneededtobegeneratedfrom“wellover”3,000 trial participants, “representing ahighproportionofparticipants”enrolled.Thesepar-ticipantsneededtobefollowedupforanyse-riousadverseeffectsforatleastonemonthaf-teralldosageshadbeengiven.

What is theprocessofgettinganemergencyuseauthorisationinIndia?ExpertsandactivistssayIndia’sdrugregu-

lationsdonothaveprovisionsforanEUA,andtheprocessforreceivingoneisnotclearlyde-fined or consistent. Despite this, CDSCOhasbeengrantingemergencyorrestrictedemer-gencyapprovalstoCovid-19drugsduringthispandemic— for remdesivir and favipiravir inJune,anditolizumabinJuly.“Westilldon’tknowthestorybehindthese

approvals—wehaven’t seen the clinical trialdatapublishedanywhereandwehaven’tseenthe protocols that were followed for eachdrug,” said Murali Neelakantan, lawyer andformer global general counsel for Cipla andGlenmarkPharmaceuticals.“TheUSFDAregulationsareclearaboutthe

conditions andprocess for receiving anEUA.In India, I’ve gone through the entire legisla-tiontryingtofindanyclausethathasaremotechanceofbeingusedforeitheremergencyorrestricteduseandstillhaven’t foundanypro-visionthatallowsithere,”hesaid.

He also observed that someof the drugsthat have received restricted emergency ap-provalsinIndia,likeitolizumab,werenotsub-sequently included in thecountry’sCovid-19ClinicalManagementGuidelines. :So,whatwasthebasisforthe‘approval’andwhyisthatnot good enough for it to be included in thetreatmentprotocol?”hesaid.

HowwillaCovid-19vaccinegetanEUAinIndia,then?Thatremainstobeclearlyspeltout.Asen-

iorgovernmentofficialearliertoldTheIndianExpressthatanycompanyseekingtolaunchavaccine approved elsewherewould have toconductlocaltrialstoproveitissafeandeffec-tiveontheIndianpopulation.InthecaseoftheAstraZeneca-Oxfordcan-

didate (AZD1222), Serum Instituteof India isconductingtrialsof itsversion,Covishield,onaround 1,600 participants in India. BharatBiotech iscurrentlyconductingphase3trialsof itsvaccine,Covaxin,andhassaid itwillnotbeapproachingCDSCOforanEUA. DrReddy’sLaboratories(DRL)ishopingtostartphase2/3trialsoftheRussianSputnikVvaccine;itisun-clearwhetheritplanstoseekanEUA.SIICEOAdarPoonawallahassaidthecom-

panyplanstoapplyforEUAintwoweeks,buthas not specified theprocess. Hehad earlierhintedatSIIapproachingCDSCOforsuchap-proval only after AZD1222 received EUA in

countriesliketheUK.In the last twoweeks, AstraZeneca and

OxfordUniversityhavepublishedinterimfind-ingsoftheirvaccine’sefficacy,addingitwillbeput these together fora scientific journal andapproachregulatorsaroundtheworldforEUAsorpermissiontoconductadditionaltrials.ItispossiblethatSIIwillpushforanEUAtomarketthevaccineinIndiasooner,onthebasisof theresultsof itssmall-scale trials in India,aswellasthelargerdatasetfromtheglobaltrials.

HowoftenhasEUAbeengranted?EUA is a relatively recent phenomenon.

According to JoshuaSharfstein, vicedean forPublic Health Practice and CommunityEngagementattheJohnsHopkinsBloombergSchoolofPublicHealth,theFDAgranteditsfirstEUA for thecivilianpopulation in2009. Inaninterviewpublishedontheschoolwebsite inOctober,SharfsteinsaidthefirstEUAallowedtheuseof Tamifludrug for infantsandyoungchildrenforthetreatmentofH1N1infection.Sincethen,EUAshavebeengrantedforsev-

eralmedicines, diagnostics, and equipmentlike ventilators or evenPPEs, but never for avaccine. AnEUAcanbegrantedonly in ade-clared public health emergency; previousEUAs came during the spread of the Ebolavirus,ZikavirusandMERScoronavirus.Remdesivir or faviparir, which received

EUA for treatment of Covid-19, including inIndia,areexistingdrugsapprovedforotherail-ments. They could not be administered toCovid-19patientswithoutextensivetrials,butbecausetheyshowedpromiseinlimitedtest-ing, in specified conditions, theywere there-fore “repurposed” for Covid-19 patientsthroughEUAs.

IsthereariskinusingaproductthathasonlybeengrantedanEUA?AccordingtotheUSFDA,thepublichasto

be informed that a product has only beengranted anEUAandnot full approval. In thecaseof aCovid-19vaccine, for example, peo-plehavetobeinformedabouttheknownandpotentialbenefitsandrisks,andthe“extenttowhich suchbenefits or risks are unknown”,andthattheyhavearighttorefusethevaccine.There has been an ongoing debate over

whetherpeoplehavetheoptionofrefusingtotake thevaccine. Incidentally, nocountryhasmadevaccination compulsory for its people.Initially, all vaccines are likely tobedeployedonemergencyuse authorisations only. Finalapprovalfromrespectiveauthoritiesmaytakeseveralmonths,oryears.

13WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,DECEMBER1

THE JAMMU&Kashmir administrationhasrecently released a series of lists of allegedbeneficiariesof theRoshniActof 2001,nowscrapped,whichgaveownershiprightstotheunauthorisedoccupantsofstatelandagainstpaymentofapremium.Politicalleadersandbureaucratshavebeenamongthosenamed.ThetransfersarebeingprobedbytheCBI.Followinga recentorderby the Jammu

&Kashmir High Court, the administrationhasannulledtheAct(itwasearlierrepealedprospectively)anddecidedtoretrievelandtransferred under the Roshni scheme.Right-wing groups in Jammu have de-scribed the scheme as being aimed atchanging the demography of Jammu re-gion, while mainstream political partieshave accused thegovernmentof being se-lectiveagainstMuslims.

WhatwastheRoshniAct?Formally the JammuandKashmir State

Land(VestingofOwnershiptotheOccupants)Act,2001,itwaspassedbythethenNationalConference government led by FarooqAbdullahtogiveownershiptopeopleinpos-sessionof state land,with a cut-off of 1990,andagainstapaymentasdeterminedbythegovernment. Since the aimwas to generateresourcesforhydroelectricpowerprojects,itwascalledRoshni(Light)Act.In2005,thePDP-Congresscoalitiongov-

ernment led byMuftiMohammadSayeedamended the Act to relax the cut-off yearfrom1990to2004.Inalateramendment,theGhulamNabiAzadgovernmentset thepre-miumat25%of themarketrateandthecut-off date at 2007. Thegovernment gave freeownershiprightsonagriculturallandtofarm-ersoccupying it,whoonlyneededtopayRs100perkanalof landasdocumentationfee.

Howmuchwastransferredandhow

muchdidthegovernmentearn?AtthetimeitpassedtheAct, thegovern-

mentexpected to transfer theownershipof20.46lakhkanals(1.02lakhhectares)ofstateland—16.02lakhkanalsinJammuregionand4.44lakhkanalsinKashmir.ThegovernmentsetaspeculativetargetofRs25,000crore.However,transferofownershipwasap-

provedforonly6.04lakhkanals—5.71lakhkanals in Jammu and 33,392 kanals inKashmir.Andonly3.48lakhkanalslandwasactually transferred. The government re-viseditstargettoRs317.55crore,andearnedonly Rs 76.46 crore—Rs 54.05 crore fromKashmir (target Rs 123.49 crore) and Rs22.40 crore from Jammu region (target Rs194.06crore).Ownership of 3 lakh kanals (17,500

hectares) hasbeenvested in Jammuregionas against 33,000 kanals in Kashmir. InKashmir,most of this landhadbeen leasedouttobusinesshousesandforresidentialpur-poses, insomecasesforalmost100years.

Whyhasitbeencontroversial?In its 2014 report, the CAG termed the

schemeaRs-25,000-crorescam.Itflaggedir-regularities and said arbitrary reductionofpricesbyastandingcommitteewasdonetobenefitpoliticiansandinfluentialpeople.Shortly after the government had ap-

proved the Act, the then State VigilanceOrganisation filed anFIR against somepeo-plewhodidn’t satisfy the criteria butman-aged to vest ownership of land under thescheme. Aprominentcasecametobeknownas theGulmarg land scam, inwhich severaltopbureaucratsareaccusedofillegallytrans-ferring land of theGulmargDevelopmentAuthoritytoprivateparties.Oneof themainaccusedinthiscase,IASofficerBaseerAhmadKhan, was appointed Adviser to the LtGovernorofJ&KinMarchthisyear.Noactionwastakenagainsttopbureaucrats insimilarcases in Jammu region. Apetitionwas alsofiled in theHighCourt tocheckviolationsoftheActbasedonthe17FIRs.

WhenwastheActscrapped?InOctober2018,thenGovernorSatyaPal

MalikrepealedtheRoshniActprospectively.“AllpendingproceedingsundertheActshallstand cancelled immediately... any actiontakenunder theprovisions of the repealedActshallnotbeinvalid,”hisorderread.InSeptember2019,Malikorderedaprobe

by the stateAnti-CorruptionBureau into alldealingsundertheRoshniScheme.Followingthis, another petitionwas filed in theHighCourtseekingtransferoftheprobetotheCBI.

Whatdidthecourtsay?InOctober this year, theHighCourt de-

claredtheRoshniAct“illegal,unconstitutionalandunsustainable”andheldallotmentsun-der theAct as void ab initio. It orderedaCBIprobe into transferof ownership, soughtac-tionagainstbureaucrats involved,andaskedthegovernmenttomakepublicthenamesofprominentpeopleallottedland.Inlistsofben-eficiariesmadepublic sofar, namesof politi-

cians, bureaucrats and businessmenwereenumeratedwithparents’names,residence,job profile and affiliation. For others, onlynamesandparents’nameswerespecified.

WhydidgroupsinJammucampaignagainsttheRoshniAct?Someright-wingsgroupsinJammuhave

allegedtheRoshniActwasmeanttochangethe demography of the Hindu-majorityJammudistrict. “The court observationhasprovedthattherewasademographicchange.Thirty thousandcases of land transferwerereportedinthestategovernmentorder,outofwhichover25,000caseswere fromJammuandonly4,500fromKashmir,”saidpetitionerand lawyerAnkur Sharma,whoheads thegroupIkJuttJammu.Government figures show that owner-

ship rightshavebeen transferred for44,912kanals in Jammudistrict—which ismorethan the land transferred in the entireKashmirValley.

What’s emergency use approvalSIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

Pfizerhasappliedforemergencyuseauthorisationof itsvaccine;ModernaandSerumInstituteof Indiatooplantoapplytotherespectiveauthorities.Whatistheprocess ,andhowisitdifferentfromfullapproval?

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,DECEMBER1

EVERY YEAR, the Brahmaputra floods vastareasinIndia’sNortheast,particularlyAssam,and continues its trail of destruction inBangladesh, fromwhere it finally flows intothe Bay of Bengal. For years, scientists havebeen lookingwithconcernat theriver’spo-tentialforcatastrophicfloodinginthefuture,especiallyastheclimatewarms. It turnsoutthatthispotentialhasbeenunderestimatedso far — even without accounting for awarmingclimate.This is theconclusionof anew study published in the journalNatureCommunications.

What’s differentExistingprojectionsof theBrahmaputra

flooding are based on observations of rain-fall patterns. Discharge records of the river,however, date back only to the 1950s inBangladesh,whichthenewstudyanalysed.Thestudyisbasedonanexaminationsof

tree rings, which showed rainfall patternsgoingbacksevencenturies—longbeforedis-charge recordswerecompiled.

Theringsshowedthatthepost-1950spe-riodwas actually oneof thedriest since the1300s. There have beenmuchwetter peri-ods inthepast.Projecting fromall thosepe-riods, the researchers concluded that de-structive floods probably will comemorefrequently than thought.If one projects frommodern discharge

records, the researchers said, onewould beunderestimating the danger by 24% to 38%.“If the instruments say we should expectflooding toward the end of the century tocomeabouteveryfour-and-a-halfyears,weare sayingwe should really expect floodingto come about every three years,” lead au-thorMukund Palat Rao said in a statementissuedbyColumbiaUniversity, fromwhereherecentlyearnedhisPhD.

What tree rings showTree rings growwider in yearswhen soil

moistureishigh.Indirectly,widerringsreflectmorerainfallandhigherriverrunoff.Thestudylookedatringsofancienttrees

sampledat28sitesinTibet,Myanmar,Nepaland Bhutan, at sites close enough to be af-fected by the sameweather systems as theBrahmaputra watershed. Analysing the

rings,thescientistsbuilta696-yearchronol-ogy (1309to2004).They then compared the ringswith his-

torical records going back to the 1780s, itturned out that the widest rings lined upneatlywithknownmajor floodyears. Thus,theyextrapolated theyearly riverdischargein thecenturiesprecedingmodernrecords.

The findingsFrom a river-flow gauge in northern

Bangladesh, records showed amedian dis-chargesome41,000cubicmetrespersecondfrom 1956 to 1986, and 43,000 cum from1987to2004.The tree rings, in contrast, showed that

1956-1986was in only the 13th percentileforriverdischarge,and1987-2004wasinthe22nd. The rings did show some other rela-tively dry times, in the 1400s, 1600s and1800s. But they also showverywetperiodsof extreme flooding forwhich therewasnocomparable period during 1956-2004. Theworst spell lasted from about 1560-1600,1750-1800, and1830-1860.

The takeawaysTheresearcherssaidtheirfindingsmean

that using the discharge recordwould un-derestimate future floodhazardby24-38%,without factoring in climate warming —whichwouldonly increasethefrequencyoffuture flooding.Highertemperaturesdrivemoreevapo-

ration of ocean waters, and in this regionthatwaterendsupasmonsoonrainfall.Thatis why scientists believe that warming cli-mate will intensify the monsoon rains incoming decades, and in turn increase sea-sonal flooding.“Highdischargeswill continue tobeas-

sociatedwithanincreasedlikelihoodoffloodhazard in the future,” the study authorswrote. They suggested that this could becounteracted to some extent by “potentialchangesinpolicy, landuse,orinfrastructurethatmayameliorate floodrisk”.As it is, the river,which originates in the

Tibetan Himalayas, already floods areasalong its course.While flooding inAssam iswidelyreportedeveryyear—nopermanentsolutionhasbeen foundyet—low-lyingar-eas of Bangladesh too are hit very hard. In1998, 70% of Bangladeshwent underwater,while serious floods also came in 2007 and2010, the researchersnoted.

In tree rings, warning of Brahmaputra floods

J&K’s Roshni Act: who it helped own land, andwhy it’s been scrapped

@ieExplained

#ExpressExplained

If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould like

explained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

VialsofCovishieldvaccine insideavisual inspectionmachineat theSerumInstituteof India,Pune.Reuters

Ahmedabad

14THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

THEWORLD

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

UNITEDSTATES

AjitPaitostep

downasFCC

chaironJan20

Washington: Ajit Pai hasannounced his intent tostep down as the chair-man of the FederalCommunicationsComm-ission on January 20, thedayJoeBidentakesoathasthe46thUSPresident.Paiis the highest rankingIndian-American officialin theTrumpadministra-tion.“Ithasbeenthehon-ourofalifetimetoserveatthe Federal Communica-tionsCommission,includ-ingasChairmanoftheFCCover the past four years,”Pai,47,saidinastatementon Monday. He alsothankedPresidentDonaldTrump for givinghim theopportunity to lead theagency in 2017, to formerPresident BarackObamafor appointing him as acommissioner in 2012,and to Senate MajorityLeaderMcConnellandtheSenate for twiceconfirm-inghim. PTI

AjitPai

TOPOFTHEWORLD

SRILANKA

Topcourt junks

Muslimpleas

againstCovid

cremationsColombo: Sri Lanka'sSupreme Court onTuesday dismissed peti-tionsfiledbymembersoftheMuslim communityagainstthegovernment'sregulation that makescremations mandatoryfor Covid-related deaths.Some 12 petitioners hadchallenged regulation,claiming it impinged onthefundamentalrightsofthe nation’s 9 per centMuslim minority.According to the JohnsHopkins University data,Sri Lanka has reported23,987 cases and 118deaths. PTI

CHINA

Spacecraft

successfully

landsonmoon

Beijing:Chinasuccessfullylandedaspacecraftonthemoon’s surface onTuesdayinahistoricmis-siontoretrieve lunarsur-face samples, Chinesestate media reported.China launched itsChang’e-5 probe onNovember 24. The un-crewedmission, namedafterthemythicalChinesegoddess of the moon,aims to collect lunarma-terial to help scientistslearn more about themoon’sorigins.REUTERS

WORLD’S LONELIEST ELEPHANT FINDS A FRIEND

Kaavan,dubbedthe“world’s loneliestelephant”,madecontactwithanotherofhis species for the first timeineightyearsafter languishingalone inaPakistanzooforyears.TheAsianelephanthasbeenmovedtoasanctuary inOddarMeanchey,Cambodia thathousesotherpachydermsafteraworldwidecampaignforhimtoberescued. FourPawsviaAP

ASSOCIATEDPRESSTEHRAN,DECEMBER1

IRAN'SPARLIAMENTonTuesdayadvanced a bill that would endUNinspectionsof itsnuclear fa-cilities and require the govern-ment to boost its uranium en-richmentifEuropeansignatoriesto the 2015 nuclear deal do notproviderelief fromoilandbank-ingsanctions.The vote to debate the bill,

which would need to pasthroughseveralotherstagesbe-fore becoming law,was a showof defiance after the killing of aprominent Iranian nuclear sci-entist lastmonth.The official IRNA news

agency said 251 lawmakers inthe 290-seat chamber voted infavor, after whichmany beganchanting“DeathtoAmerica”and“Death to Israel”.ThebillwouldgiveEuropean

countries threemonths to easesanctions on Iran's key oil andgas sector, and to restore its ac-cesstotheinternationalbankingsystem. The US imposed crip-pling sanctions on Iran afterPresidentDonaldTrumpunilat-erally withdrew from the nu-clearagreement,triggeringase-ries of escalations between thetwosides.Thebillwouldhaveauthori-

ties resume enriching uraniumto 20%, which is below thethreshold needed for nuclearweaponsbuthigherthanthatre-quired for civilian applications.It would also commission newcentrifuges at nuclear facilitiesatNatanz and theundergroundFordosite.The bill would require an-

otherparliamentaryvotetopass,as well as approval by theGuardian Council, a constitu-tionalwatchdog.The bill was first tabled in

parliamentinAugustbutgainednewmomentumafterthekillingof Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, whoheadedaprogrammethatIsraelandtheWesthaveallegedwasamilitaryoperationlookingatthefeasibility of building a nuclearweapon.The International Atomic

EnergyAgency says that “struc-tured programme” ended in2003. US intelligence agenciesconcurredwiththatassessmentina2007report.Israel insists Iran still main-

tainstheambitionofdevelopingnuclear weapons, pointing toTehran's ballistic missile pro-gram and research into othertechnologies. Iran longhasmaintained that its nuclearprogramme is for peaceful pur-poses.Iran has blamed

Fakhrizadeh's killing on Israel,which has longwaged a covertwaragainstTehrananditsprox-ies in the region. Israeli officialshave declined to comment onthe killing, and no one hasclaimedresponsibility.Some Iranian officials have

suggestedthattheInternationalAtomic Energy Agency, whichhas been regularly inspectingIran'snuclear facilities in recentyears as part of the 2015 agree-ment,mayhavebeenasourceofintelligence for Fakhrizadeh'skillers.Iran began publicly exceed-

ing uranium enrichment levelssetbythenuclearagreementaf-ter the US restored sanctions. Itcurrentlyenrichesagrowingura-niumstockpileupto4.5%purity.That's still far below

weapons-grade levels of 90%,though experts warn Iran nowhas enough low-enriched ura-niumtoreprocessintofuelforatleast two atomic bombs if itchose topursue them.

ProtestersburnpicturesofUSPresident-elect JoeBidenandUSPresidentDonaldTrumpduringademonstration.Reuters

REUTERSWASHINGTON,DECEMBER1

SAUDIARABIAagreedonMondayto let Israeli airliners cross its air-space en route to theUAE aftertalksbetweenSaudiofficials andWhiteHousesenioradviserJaredKushner, a senior Trumpadmin-istrationofficialsaid.KushnerandMiddleEasten-

voys Avi Berkowitz and BrianHookraisedtheissueshortlyaf-ter they arrived in Saudi Arabiafor talks. “Wewere able to rec-onciletheissue,”theofficialsaid.The agreement was ham-

mered out hours before Israel’sfirstcommercialflighttotheUAEwas planned Tuesday. The Israirflightwasatriskofbeingcanceledwithnooverflightagreement.The direct flights are an off-

shoot of normalization dealsIsrael reachedthisyearwiththeUAE,BahrainandSudan.“This should resolve any is-

sues that should occur withIsraeli carriers taking peoplefrom Israel to theUAE and backandtoBahrain,”theofficialsaid.Kushner and his teamwere

to meet Saudi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman laterthisweek, aswell as theemir ofKuwait.

REUTERSKATHMANDU,DECEMBER1

FOURWOMENwearingprotec-tivegearlift thebodyofacoron-avirus victim at the Pashupaticrematorium inNepal’s capital,Kathmandu, andhand itover tocrematory workers - a sceneunimaginable in the conserva-tivecountry in recentyears.Women touching a dead

body is still a cultural taboo inNepal. But rights for womenhave improvedsincethemajor-ity-Hindu country emergedfrom a decade-long conflict in2006 and abolished its cen-turies-oldfeudalmonarchytwoyears later.Thewomencarryingcorpses

in Kathmandu, all soldiers, are

beingdeployedforthefirsttimeas the nation of 30million peo-pletriestomanagethebodiesofCOVID-19 victims amid thegrowingpandemic.“I feel privileged and happy

forbeinggivenachancetodothework thatwasdoneonly by themales so far,” said one of thewomen, a 25-year-old corporalnamed Rachana, who asked tobe identified by just one name.“Society ischanging ... IhavenotbeentomyfamilysinceIstartedmynewduty,butmyfriendsarehappy. They thankme and say,‘You have performed a difficulttask carefully andmaintainedyourpersonalsafety.Thankyou’.I feelhappy.”On their first day on the job

lastmonth, the fourmoved sixbodies from a hospital to a cre-

matorium.Nepal Army spokesman

Shantosh B. Poudyal said the95,000-strongforcewasputting

women soldiers in new roles,part of a programme to em-power them.“Womenwere deployed in

combat duty, hospitals, ord-nance, engineers and disastersbefore.This is thefirst timetheyaremanaging the bodies fromhospitalsandtransportingthemto the crematorium,” Poudyaltold Reuters. “You can say it isbreaking the borders… break-ing theglass ceiling.”Nepal’s army is responsible

formanagingthebodiesofcoro-navirus victims across the na-tion.The pandemic has killed

1,508people in thecountryandinfected233,452since theviruswasfirstdetectedinJanuary,ac-cording toofficialdata.Healthworkers say thepan-

demicwill onlyworsen aswin-tersets inand limitedhealth in-frastructure, including criticalcarebeds, is stretched.

Outside the Pashupati cre-mation house, wailing relativesthrewmarigoldsandvermillionpowderoveranironfenceontoawhiteshroudcoveringthebodyof a58-year-oldman.Threeotherbodies,withtags

bearing their names and agespinned to the bags, laid on thegroundnexttoawhitehearseascrematoryworkersworkedpastthemidnight.“It ismy duty to remove the

dead bodies and I am proud ofwhat I am doing,” said KrishnaKumari, another soldier in thegroup.The 37-year-old sergeant

added: “Thework is physicallydemanding ... and we haveprovedthatwomenarecapableofdoingdifficulttasksduringthepandemic.”

FemalesoldierswearingPPEliftastretcherwiththebodyofacoronavirusvictimatacrematoriuminKathmandu.Reuters

Nepal’s female soldiers break taboos to tackle Covid crisis

ADITIKHANNALONDON,DECEMBER1

THE UK'S new post-Brexitpoints-basedvisaandimmigra-tion system, described by thegovernmentas“simple,effectiveand flexible”, opened for appli-cations fromTuesday.TheUKHomeOfficesaidap-

plicants for the new SkilledWorker Visa can now apply towork and live in the UK fromJanuary1,2021,whentheBrexittransition period ends to bringEuropean Union (EU)migrantsin line with non-EU countries,suchas India.Underthenewpoints-based

immigration system unveiled

earlier, points will be awardedfora jobofferat theappropriateskill level, knowledgeof Englishand being paid a minimumsalary.“This governmentpromised

to end freemovement, to takeback control of our borders andtointroduceanewpoints-basedimmigration system. Today, wehavedeliveredonthatpromise,”saidHomeSecretaryPriti Patel.“This simple, effective and

flexible systemwill ensure em-ployers can recruit the skilledworkers they need, whilst alsoencouraging employers to trainandinvestintheUK'sworkforce.We are also opening routes forthosewho have an exceptionaltalentorshowexceptionalprom-

ise in the fields of engineering,science,techorculture,”shesaid.Peoplewillnormallyneedto

be paid at least 25,600 poundsper year unless the “going rate”forthatjobinthewidereconomyishigher.Applicationsaremadeonline,andaspartofthis,peoplewill need to prove their identityandprovidetheirdocuments.“Once someone outside the

UK has gone through all thesesteps, theywill usuallyget ade-cisionwithin threeweeks,” theHomeOffice said.Applicantswill need tohave

enoughmoney to cover the ap-plicationfeewillrangebetween610 pounds to 1,408 pounds,plus a healthcare surcharge(usually 624 pounds per year)

and be able to support them-selves(usuallybyhavingatleast1,270poundsavailable).TheSkilledWorkervisa lasts

for up to five years before itneedstobeextended.Alongsidetheworkvisa,anumberofotherroutesarealsonowopenforap-plications, including GlobalTalent Visa, for peoplewho canshowtheyhaveexceptional tal-entorexceptionalpromiseinthefields of science, engineering,humanities, medicine, digitaltechnologyorartsandculture.TheStudentRouteandChild

Student Route under the newsystem opened earlier, inOctober,toeligibleinternationalstudents for the next academicyear.PTI

UK’s new points-based visa system opens

Iran’s Parliamentadvances bill to stopnuclear inspections

THENEWYORKTIMESBERLIN,DECEMBER1

ATLEASTtwopeoplewerekilledand several others seriously in-juredinthecityofTrierinsouth-western Germany on Tuesday,when an SUV sped down apedestrianstreet inthecitycen-ter, thepolicesaid.The police said they had ar-

rested the driver, a 51-year-oldmanfromthesurroundingarea,andconfiscatedhisvehicle.Theyurgedpeopletoavoidtheareatoallowrescueworkerstoattendtothe injured.“We have at least two dead

and asmany as 15 severely in-jured,andwearetryingtogetanoverview of the situation,”Wolfram Leibe, the mayor ofTrier, told the regional publicbroadcaster, SWR. “Our priorityrightnowis tosave lives.”Itwasnot immediately clear

howthedriverwasabletoenterthepedestrianzone inTrier.Such pedestrian areas are

foundinmanyGermancities,andsecurity at entrances was in-creased after a 24-year-oldTunisian drove a truck into aChristmas market in Berlin inDecember2016,killing12people.Pictures from the scene on

Tuesday showeddozens of am-bulances andpolice cars parkedonthestreetsof centralTrier.

Two killed,several injuredas car ploughsinto pedestriansin German city

S Arabia to allowcommercialIsraeli planes tocross its airspace,says US official

ASSOCIATEDPRESSBAKU,DECEMBER1

AZERBAIJANON Tuesday com-pleted reclaiming territoryceded by Armenia under aRussia-brokeredpeacedealthatended sixweeks of fierce fight-ingoverNagorno-Karabakh.Azerbaijani President Ilham

Aliyev hailed the restoration ofcontrol over the areas as a his-toricachievement.“Weall livedwithonedream

andnowwefulfilledit,”Aliyevsaidin an address to thenation. “Wewona victory on the battlefieldandonthepoliticalarena,andthatvictory opens a newera for ourcountry. Itwillbeaneraofdevel-opment,securityandprogress.”Nagorno-Karabakh lies

within Azerbaijan but has beenunder the control of ethnicArmenian forces backed by

Armenia since a separatist warthereendedin1994.ThatwarleftnotonlyNagorno-Karabakhitselfbut largechunksof surroundinglands inArmenianhands.In 44 days of heavy fighting

thatbeganonSeptember27,theAzerbaijani military routedArmenian forces and wedgeddeep into Nagorno-Karabakh,forcing Armenia to accept aRussia-brokeredpeacedealthattookeffectNovember10.TheLachinregion,whichlies

betweenNagorno-KarabakhandArmenia,wasthelastofthethreeareas on the rim of Nagorno-Karabakh to be surrendered byArmenianforcesTuesday.The peace agreement was

celebrated as a victory inAzerbaijan, but sparked massprotests inArmenia,with thou-sandstakingtothestreetstode-mandtheousterofthecountry'sprimeminister.

Azerbaijan fully reclaimsdisputed lands aroundNagorno-Karabakh

Covid-19 vaccine sprint asPfizer-BioNTech, Modernaseek emergency EU approval

REUTERSFRANKFURT,DECEMBER1

MODERNA AND Pfizer-BioNTech are in a tight race tolaunch their COVID-19vaccinesin Europe after both applied foremergency EU approval onTuesday, though therewas un-certaintyoverwhetherarolloutcouldbegin thisyear.The applications to the

European Medicines Agency(EMA)cameadayafterModernasought emergency use for itsshot in the United States andmore than a week after PfizerandBioNTechdid thesame.US drugmaker Pfizer and its

German development partnerBioNTechsaidtheirvaccinecouldbe launched in the EuropeanUnionasearlyas thismonth.“We can start to deliver

within a few hours (of an ap-proval),” said Sierk Poetting,head of operations and financeatBioNTech.“We have been stocking up.

Andeverythingthat is therecanreallybedistributedwithinafewhours.”The EMA clouded the time-

line, however, when it said itwould complete its review forthat vaccine byDecember 29 atthelatest,andforModerna’sshotbyJanuary12.Itaddeditssched-

ulemay be subject to change asitsevaluationproceeds.The European Commission,

the EU executive body, said itwouldlikelygiveitsfinalauthor-ization for a vaccine’s rolloutdaysafterarecommendationbytheEMA.Both Moderna and Pfizer-

BioNTechhavereportedprelim-inary findingsofmore than90%effectiveness in trials of theirvaccines.The EMA said on Tuesday it

had started a rolling review ofJohnson & Johnson’s vaccinecandidate after preliminary re-sults showed it triggered pro-duction of antibodies and im-munecells against thevirus.

Nepal ruling party fails tosettle dispute betweenOli, Prachanda factions

YUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU,DECEMBER1

THE NEPAL Communist Party(NCP) onTuesday failed to settlethe dispute between PrimeMinisterKPSharmaOliandadis-sidentgroupthatwantshimtore-signfromhispost,addingfurtherwoesforthebeleagueredregime.Thedissidents,ledbyNCPco-

chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal'Prachanda', commandthesup-port of at least five out of ninemembers of the central secre-tariat.Initially,Oliscoredawinover

Prachanda's faction, forcing theparty to shift the secretariatmeeting to his residence, citinga threat tohis life.However, Prachanda's fac-

tionrefusedtowithdrawareso-lutionsubmittedtwoweeksago,alleging corruption and an au-thoritarian style of functioning,andrefusedtotenderanuncon-ditionalapologyforthemeetingtoproceed further.

Oliinsistedthatnousefulpur-posewouldbeservedbycontinu-ingwith themeeting, but wasoverruledbyamajorityofthecen-tralsecretariatmembers.The talks are to continue

Wednesday,anNCPspokesmansaid.Sources said that if the cen-

tral secretariat fails to come toany conclusionWednesday, itwillbereferredtotheparty's43-memberstandingcommittee.They said that Oli faces two

difficult choices: to either go bythemajorityandquitatleastoneof the two posts he holds, or tosplit the NCP before the issuegoestothestandingcommittee.

KPSharmaOliandPushpaKamalDahal 'Prachanda'

Acoronaviruspatient in the ICUatOsloUniversityHospitalRikshospitalet.NTBviaReuters

Covid-19hadinfectedpeopleintheUSinDecember2019,afewweeksbeforeitwasoffi-cially identified inChinaandabout amonth earlier thanhealth authorities found thefirst US case, as per a CDCstudypublishedMonday.The findings strengthen

thetheorythattheviruswasspreadingaroundtheworldwell before authorities be-cameawareof it.

COVID-19PRESENTINUS INDEC2019,SAYSCDCSTUDY

Ahmedabad

15SENSEX: 44,655.44 ▲ 505.72 NIFTY: 13,109.05 ▲ 140.10 NIKKEI: 26,787.54 ▲ 353.92 HANG SENG: 26,567.68 ▲ 226.19 FTSE: 6,390.41 ▲ 124.22 DAX: 13,418.18 ▲ 127.02

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

ECONOMY

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD

`48,273

RUPEE

`73.68

OIL

$47.44

SILVER

`59,380Note:Gold, silverratesatDelhi spotmarket;goldper10g, silverper1kg;Brentcrudeasof2330IST

Internationalmarketdata till1900IST

BRIEFLY

FlipkartFY20

lossnarrowsNewDelhi:FlipkartIndiahasnarrowed its FY20 losses toRs 3,150.6 crore, as againstthepreviousfinancialyear.

BHELindustrial

systemsheadNew Delhi: Bharat HeavyElectricals Ltd (BHEL) hasappointed RenukaGera asits Director (IndustrialSystems&Products). PTI

ITmigrationat

UnionBankMumbai:UnionBankofInd-ia has achieved IT integra-tionofallbranchesoferstw-hileCorporationBank. ENS

COLLECTIONRISES1.4%TO`1,04,963CR,BUTGROWTHSLOWS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER1

CONTINUINGTOpostayear-on-yearincreaseforthethirdmonthin a row since the slump in col-lection in April, the Goods andServices Tax (GST)mop-up rose1.4 per cent to Rs 1,04,963 crorein November (for sales inOctober). The collectionswerehigher than Rs 1,03,491 crorerecordedinNovember2019,butbelow Rs 1,05,155 crore inOctober2020.GST collections, which had

slumped to a record low ofRs32,172crore inApril, after thegovernment imposed a nation-wide lockdown to curb thespread of the coronavirus, hasbeen picking up thereafter andhas remained above Rs 1 lakhcroremark for two consecutivemonthsnow.Analysts,however,noted that growth in tax collec-tion is uneven among states asmanystateshaverecordedade-cline incollections.Growth in GST collections,

however,sloweddownto1.4percent year-on-year inNovemberascomparedto10percentand4

per cent expansion in OctoberandSeptember, respectively. “Inlinewith the recent trend of re-covery in theGST revenues, therevenues for the month ofNovember2020are1.4per centhigher than theGSTrevenues inthesamemonthlastyear.Duringthemonth, revenues from im-port of goods was 4.9 per centhigher and the revenues fromdomestic transaction (includingimport of services) are 0.5 per

cent higher that the revenuesfrom these sources during thesamemonth last year,” the fi-nanceministry said in a state-mentTuesday.“The trend of improved col-

lections threemonths in a rowpoints to stability returning ineconomic activities across thecountry and it is expected thatthis trend is sustainable in thecomingmonths.However,thereis a decline in collections in keystates such asMaharashtra, U P,Delhi, Karnataka, Telenganawhichcouldindicatethatthere-vival in economic activities hasnot been uniform across thecountry as Gujarat, A P, TamilNadu,WestBengal,Odishahaverecorded increase in collectionsduringthesameperiod,”saidMSMani, senior director, DeloitteIndiaOf Rs 1,04,963 crore in

November, Rs 19,189 crore isCentralGST;Rs25,540croreStateGST; Rs 51,992 crore IntegratedGST (including Rs 22,078 crorecollected on import of goods),and,Rs8,242croreCess, includ-ing Rs 809 crore on import ofgoods, the statement said. A to-tal of 82 lakh GSTR-3B returns

were filed for the month ofNovemberupto30thNovember2020.The government settled Rs

22,293 crore to CGST and Rs16,286 crore to SGST from IGSTas regular settlement. After this,the total revenue earned byCentreisRs41,482croreasCGSTandbystatesisRs41,826croreasSGST, theMinistrysaid.GSTrev-enueshavebeenhigherthanRs1lakh crore in 8 out of the 12monthsof2019-20fiscal,butcol-lections this have been severelyimpacted due to the Covid-19pandemic and the economiccontraction thereafter. For sixmonths,GSTmopupwasmuchbelowRs1lakhcroremark.“As expected, GST collection

forNovemberhasalsocrossedRs1lakhcroremark,thoughthein-crease of 1.4 per cent overNovember 2019 ismuch lowerthan comparative numbers forthe lastmonth. The trend con-tinuestoreinforcethebelief thateconomyisrecoveringfast.Nowthat the festival season is over,onewouldhavetoseeifDecem-ber collection is also buoyant,”saidPratikJain,partner&leader,IndirectTax,PwCIndia.

GROWTHINtaxcollec-tionsisunevenamongstatesasmanystateshaverecordedadeclineincol-lections.ThegrowthrateforGSTmop-upsloweddownto1.4percentyear-on-year inNovember,comparedto10percentand4percentexpansioninOctoberandSeptember, respectively.

GrowthunevenE●E

XPLAIN

ED

GSTmop-upabove`1 lakhcrfor2ndstraightmonth inNov

Covid effect: Ed-techfirms corner $1.95 bnfunds so far this yearPRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,DECEMBER1

ACCELERATEDADOPTIONoftech-nologyproducts intheeducationsector anda robustdemandsce-narioduetothepandemichasledtothe“ed-tech”segment in India–mainly controlled by startupslikeByju’s,Unacademy,Vedantu,Toppretc– raisinga record$1.95billion fromprivate equity andventure capitalist (PE/VC) fundsthisyear.Theamount,raisedsincethebeginningof theyeartilldate,is31percenthigherthanthecom-binedfundingof$1.48billioncol-lectedintheprecedingfiveyears.Thosetrackingthesectorsaid

investor interest ined-techcom-panies has beenmainly due toCovid-19,which forced schoolsand colleges to shut down andpromptedpeopletoupgradetheirskillsforashrinkingjobmarket.According to data sourced

fromVentureIntelligence,eightofthetop10deals,ofover$100mil-lion, in thesegmenthappened in2020.Theseincludetworoundsoffundingof$300millioneachintoByju’s—firstinJanuaryledbyTigerGlobal and the second in JunebySilverLake,DSTGlobalandothers.US-basedTigerGlobalalsobet

onUnacademy lastweek, invest-inganundisclosedamountinthestartup alongwith investmentfirmDragoneerInvestmentGroup,taking the online learning plat-form’s valuationup to$2billion.TigerGlobal fundedVedantu,an-othered-techcompanyinIndia.“Theopportunity to improve

lives throughonlineeducation isenormousbecauseofitssheerac-cessibility. TheUnacademyteamhas innovated rapidly to build aleadingplatformthatistakinged-ucation to the farthest cornersofIndia.Weareveryexcitedtopart-nerwithUnacademyandlookfor-ward to seeing it scale further,”Scott Shleifer, partner at TigerGlobal,hadsaidinastatement.Tiger Global is not the only

marquee investor in India’s ed-techsegment,whichhasseenbignamessuchasFacebook,Softbank,Naspers, General Atlantic andSurge (Sequoia Capital’s early-stagestartupinvestmentvehicle).“InIndia,educationhasbeena

non-profitactivity...itisonlywhenthedigitaleconomypickedup,thedigitalsolutions--whichcouldgodirectlytotheparents--happenedtobreakthemyththateducationcannot scaleup. The revenueop-portunitiesforeachofthesestart-ups is significant,” Sunil KGoyal,managingdirectorandfundman-agerof YourNestVentureCapital,toldTheIndianExpress.Accordingtoarecentreportby

Inc42Plus,India’sed-techmarketsize is estimated to grownearlyfour-foldover thenext fiveyears,from the current $2.8 billion to$10.4billionin2025.Lastweek,Mumbai-basedaf-

ter-school online learning plat-formToppr reporteddoublingofitsrevenuesinthelast12months,alongwitha125percentgrowthinsubscribersforliveclasseseachmonthand100percentgrowthinthefreeuserengagementmonth-on-month.ThecompanyisfundedbySAIFPartners,HelionVenturePartners and Fidelity GrowthPartners,amongothers.Goyal pointed out that cur-

rently themoneybeing investedin ed-tech startups is going intobrandbuildingand reachingoutto“decisionmakersinthefamily”.“The content development andcontentcollationislikeashortpe-riodoftwo,two-and-a-halfyears.Once that is done, it is all aboutreachafterthat.Itisalsoaboutget-tingthebestcustomerservicepeo-ple,bestteachers,gettingmultiplefront-endsalespeople,”hesaid.Notably,many of the larger

fundraisesbyed-tech firmshavefollowedextravagantmarketingcampaigns. For example, Byju’sraised $150million in July 2019,andduringthesamemonth,itwasselected as the sponsor for theIndian cricket team’s jersey.Similarly,whileUnacademywasoneof theofficial partnersof theIndianPremierLeague,Byju’swassaid tobe in the race for the titlesponsorship. Evenas firms in theed-tech segment have reeled inrecord investments, PE/VC fundshave turned away fromnoned-techfirmsintheeducationsector.After raising $115million in

2018 and $522million in 2019,non ed-tech companies raisedonly$41millionfromsevendealsthisyearsofar.

PV sales growth sustains onpent-up demand, festive high

‘Toyota Bidadiunit strike mayspread to otherindustries’EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,DECEMBER1

ALABOURunion strike and lockoutattheToyotaKirloskarMotors(TKM)at Bidadi near Bengaluru,which has now gone on for 23days, has thepotential to spreadtootherindustriesintheregionifnot resolved, the KarnatakaEmployersAssociationhassaidinalettertothestatechiefsecretary.The two carmanufacturing

plants at the TKM’S Bidadi unithadgoneintoaninitiallockdownonNovember10 after theunioncalledastrikeoversuspensionofanemployeedueto“breachofdis-cipline andunacceptablebehav-iourwithinthefactorypremises”.Following interventionof the

LabourDepartmentoftheKarna-takagovernment,whichprohib-itedthestrikeandthelockout,thefactory attempted to return tonormalcyfromNovember20butanotherlockoutwasdeclaredonNovember23over failureof em-ployeestoobeyfactoryrules.The unaffiliated Toyota

Kirloskar Motors EmployeesUnionhas said that theworkerswenton strikeover an “unscein-tific increase inworkload” im-posed at the factory fromNovember9,with the aimof in-creasingtheproductionspeedofcarsatthetwoplants,whichem-ploy6,500workers.InalettertotheChiefSecretary

ofKarnataka,thepresidentoftheKarnatakaEmployersAssociationBCPrabhakarcalledformeasuresto end the strike and lock out atToyota,includingarrestsofunionleadersandimpositionofcurfewin theBidadi region, to allow thereturnofworkerstothefactory.The Toyota Bidadi factory,

spread over 432 acre, employsaround6,500peopleandcanpro-duceupto3.10lakhvehicles.Thetwoplants atBidadiproduce theInnova, the Fortuner, the ToyataYarisandtheCamryHybrid.

Q2 GDP data,vaccine hopespropel Sensexcloser to 45K

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,DECEMBER1

THESENSEXonTuesday surgedfurther and inched closer to the45,000-level,aidedbyencourag-ingsecondquarterGDPdataandpositiveglobalcuesdrivenbytheprospectforavaccine-driveneco-nomic recovery. The Sensex ral-lied506points to44,655.44 andtheNSENifty index gained 140pointsat13,109.05astherallyfu-elledbyforeignportfolioinvestorsgatheredmomentum.Meanwhile,therupeesurged

37paise tosettleat73.68againsttheUSdollaronTuesday,buoyedby foreign fund inflows into do-mesticequities. ENSWITHPTI

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER1

BARRING INDUSTRY leaderMarutiSuzukiIndiaLtd(MSIL),allothermajorautomobilemanufac-turersgainedfromthefestiveandpent-updemandandannouncedgrowthindomesticpassengerve-hiclesalesinNovember.WhileMSILannouncedsaleof

1,35,775unitsof passengervehi-cles (PVs) inNovember,witness-inga2.4percentdipinsalesoverthat in the correspondingperiodlastyear,HyundaiMotorIndiaLtd—thesecondlargestcarmanufac-turer—announceda9.4percentriseinsalesinlastmonth.Othermajor players like Tata

Motors,Mahindra &Mahindra(M&M), ToyotaKirloskarMotors(TKM), andHonda Cars too an-nouncedgrowthindomesticsales

inNovember.While TataMotorswitnesseda108percentriseinPVsalesat21,641units,M&Msawa24percentgrowthinsales(18,212units) over the year-ago period.Honda and TKM announcedgrowthinsalesby54percentand2.4percent,respectively.While the broader industry

continues towitness growth insales on year-on-year basis, al-mostallmanufacturerswitnessedadeclineinmonth-on-month(m-o-m) sales for the first time in

sevenmonths.Eversincethean-nouncement of lockdown inMarch,allmanufacturershavere-ported a growth inm-o-msalesforthelastsixmonths.WhileMSIL announced a 17

percent fall insalesoverOctober2020,Hyundai andHonda sawadip inm-o-m sales by 13.8 percentand7.8percent,respectively.M&MandTKMtoosawtheirsalesfallby2.2percentand31percent,respectively,overthatinOctober.ThedeclineinNovembersales

over that in October, despiteDiwali falling inNovember, hasraisedquestionsoverthesustain-abilityofdemandrevival.“Given strong rural growth

andsignsofimprovementineco-nomicactivities,wearehopefultoseethispositivemomentumcon-tinuepostthefestiveseason,”saidVeejayRamNakra,CEO,automo-tivedivision,M&M.

PANDEMIC IMPACT

‘States’ debt likely to soar 36%

this year, reach decadal high’Pandemic-hit states could see a record 36% jump inindebtedness to `68 lakh crore this fiscal, a decadal high,as their revenue is seen plunging 15%, a Crisil report said

90%Shareofaggregate

grossstatedomestic

productaccountedforbythe

top18states, includingGoaand

excludingDelhi, onwhose

financesthe report isbased

6%:Expectedrevenuedeficitthatstatesmayface,upfrom

1.5%inFY20

2.7%:Possiblecapitaloutlaythis fiscal, fallingfrom3.8%

8.7%:Likelygross fiscaldeficit,risingfrom5.3%in2019-20

2-4%:Contraction ineconomicoutputofstates inFY21

Keyreasonsforshrinkingeconomicoutput:■Fallinggoodsandservicestax

(GST)collections

■Sticky revenueexpenditureof

thestatessince lateMarch

Whyis it important:All therevenuesourcesofstateswill

takeahit,withalmost65%of

thedeclineattributable toafall

instateGSTcollections,and

GSTcompensation

paymentsandtaxdevolutions

tothestatesfromtheCentre’s

owntaxpool.Theytogether

formnearly50%ofstates’

revenuereceipts

Source:Crisil/PTI

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI,DECEMBER1

THENEWunifiednatural gaspipeline tariff regulationsno-tified by the PetroleumandNaturalGasRegulatoryBoard(PNGRB)may lead toa rise intariff for amajority of userssuch as steel and fertiliserplants,whichcouldresultinanupwardrevisioninthegovern-ment’ssubsidyspendonurea.The tariff regimenotified

by the current two-memberPNGRBwill likely face legalchallengesduetotheimpactofthe new norms on existingagreementsbetween suppli-ers andconsumersof naturalgas, including commercialagreementsinkedbypipelinedevelopersafterbaggingproj-ectsthroughacompetitivebid-dingprocess,accordingtomul-tiple industry players whospoketoTheIndianExpress.The regulations mark a

shift fromtheexistingsystemwhich charges consumersbasedonthedistancefromthesourceofgasandthenumberofpipelinesusedtoaproposalinvolving a unified gas tariffsystem,withonetariff forgastransportedwithin 300 kmandanothertariffforgastrans-portedbeyond300kmfromthe sourceof thenatural gas.Themovehas facedcriticismfromasectionofstakeholdersas onewhichwould lead toconsumersclosertosourcesofgas ending up subsidisingthoselocatedfurtheraway.Themove,whichPNGRB

said is aimedat reducing thecost of gas transportation forconsumersfurtherawayfromsourcesofgas,effectivelyseekstolevyaweightedaveragetar-iffof14pipelines—clubbedasthenational gas grid— to itsusers,eveniftheyuseonlyoneof these pipelines. Anothercomplication stems fromthefact that four of these 14pipelines have beenhandedoutafteratariff-basedcompet-itivebiddingprocess,withtheresult that forced changes tothe tariff structurenoweffec-tively raises questionmarksoverthesanctityofthebiddingprocess,multiplestakeholdersindicated. There is also the is-sueofthelackofclarityofset-tlementmattersowingto“thecomplexrevenuesettlement”to the pipeline operators,whichtheregulatorhaslefttobethrashedoutbytheserviceprovidersthemselves.Most stakeholders—as is

indicative fromamajority ofthe100-oddstakeholderswhosent intheircommentstothePNGRBonthedraftregulation— have expressed the viewthatthenewtariffswouldleadto higher costs of gas trans-portationforindustrieslocatednearthesourcesofgas,includ-

ingLNGterminalsonthewestcoastofIndia.Fertiliserproduc-ers and power plants areamongkeyusersofnaturalgaslocatedclosetoinjectionpointsof natural gas. The FertilizerMinistryhasalsoincommentsonthedraftregulationsnotedthatan increase in the landedcostofnaturalgaswouldlikelyleadtoanincrease inthesub-sidy burden of the govern-ment.“... anyupwardrevisioninpipelinetariffwillleadtoanincrease in thedeliveredcostofgastotheureamanufactur-ingunitsresultinginincreasedsubsidyburdenonthegovern-ment,”saidtheUnionFertilizerMinistry in its comments ontheregulations.TheFertiliserAssociationof

India noted in its commentsthat the new systemwouldlikely raise the cost of plantsproducing15milliontonnesofureaperannumbyoverRs400crore.National Fertilizers Ltdnoted that under the newregimeexisting customers inthe second zonewould alsocross-subsidisecostumersutil-ising higher tariff pipelines.Sincethenewnormsaresettobe revenue-neutral forpipelines, any rise involumeson higher tariff pipelineswouldhavetobebornebytheentiresystem,expertsnoted.Agovernmentofficialsaid

the PetroleumMinistrywascurrentlystudyingtheregula-tionsandhadnotreceivedanyrepresentationsbyindustryre-garding thenewregulations.Theofficialdidnotethattherewere significant legal issuesthatcouldariseduetothenewregulations including the is-suesof thesanctityofexistingcontracts and the biddingprocessforbidoutpipelines.Industrysourcesnotedthat

itwas likely that thenewreg-ulationswouldbechallengedbyindustryplayersnegativelyaffected by the new tariffregime. Experts also said thatindustryplayersseeking legalremediesagainstthenewtar-iff systemmayraise the issuethatthepostofmember(legal)on theboardhasbeenvacantsinceMarch30.TheSupremeCourt recentlysuspendedthefunctioning of the CentralElectricityRegulatoryCommi-ssionuntilitappointsamem-ber(legal).Anemailedrequestfor comments to PNGRB ontheseissueswasunanswered.

POLICYWATCH

NATURALGASPIPELINETARIFFS

Tariffriselikelyformost;couldtriggerupwardrevisioningovt’sureaspend

Existing pacts understress, industrysays will mountlegal challenge

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,DECEMBER1

THENATION’Smanufacturingsector lost momentum inNovember with the latestPurchasingManagers’Index(PMI)declining fromtheOctober level,IHSMarkitsurveysaid.Whileposting56.3inNovem-

ber, the seasonally adjusted IHSMarkit India ManufacturingPurchasingManagers’Index(PMI)highlighted a strong improve-ment inbusiness conditions, theheadlinenumberwasdownfrom58.9inOctobertoathree-monthlow. “All threebroadareasof themanufacturingindustryrecordedexpansion, with growth led byconsumer goodswhichwas theonly sector to see a stronger rate

of increase,” itsaid.PollyannaDe Lima, econom-

icsassociatedirectoratIHSMarkit,said: “The Indianmanufacturingsectorremainedontherightpathtorecovery,withstronggrowthofneworders.”

Eye on high retailinflation, RBI maymaintain status quo

MICHELLECHAPMANNEWYORK,DECEMBER1

THENASDAQ stock exchange isseekingUS authority to requiremorediversity inboardroomsofNasdaq-listed companies or forthose companies to explainwhythey cannot. It is the firstmajorbourse topursue sucha require-ment. TheproposalfiledwiththeUS Securities and ExchangeCommission on Tuesday, if ap-provedwouldrequireallcompa-nieslistedontheexchangetopub-licly disclose consistenttransparent diversity statisticsabouttheirboardofdirectors .ItwouldrequiremostNasdaq-

listed companies to have or ex-plainwhytheydon’thaveatleasttwo diverse directors. This in-

cludeshavingoneboardmemberwhoself-identifiesasfemaleandonewho self-identifies as eitheranunderrepresentedminorityorLGBTQ. Foreign companies andsmaller reporting companieswouldhaveadditionalflexibility.Corporate boards are over-

whelminglywhiteandmale.Asperthe2018BoardDivers-

ity Census from theAlliance for

BoardDiversity and consultingfirmDeloitte,womenheldjust22of Fortune 500 seats in 2018 asagainst20ayearearlierand16percent in2010.Whitemenheld66of Fortune 500 board seats in2018.Blacksheldnearly9ofseatsin2018asagainstnearly8in2010.“We’re taking the leadership

herebecausetherehasbeensolit-tleactiononthis frontandwedothinkitsanimportantthingforusto do to create amore inclusivecapitalistsocietyandwethinkthisisastepforward,”saidCEOAdenaFriedmanonCNBC.Friedman,thefirstwoman to lead amajor USbourse,wasnamedCEOin2016.Companies that donotmeet

thediversityrequirementwillnotbedelistedfromNasdaq,shesaid,butwill have to outline the ob-structionstodoingso. AP

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,DECEMBER1

WITHRETAILinflationremainingpersistently above its comfortlevel, theReserveBankof India islikely tokeep thebenchmark in-terestratesunchangedwhentheMonetary Policy Committee(MPC)unveils its nextmonetarypolicyreviewonDecember4.Bankers and rating agencies

saidtheMPCisexpectedtofactorinitsdecision-makingthenascentsigns of improvement in thedo-mesticeconomywhilealsorecog-nisingthefragilenatureofthisre-covery and the underlyingdownsiderisks,includingretailin-flationwhichwas at 7.6per cent

inOctoberandthepersistinghighnumberofCovidcases.Shanti Ekambaram, group

president–consumer banking,KotakMahindraBank,said,“WithinflationcontinuingtotrendwellaboveRBI’smedium-termtargetof4percent,thereislimitedroomforaratecutintheupcomingpol-icy. All in all, expect theMPC tomaintain a status quo on rateswithanaccommodativebias.”“Weexpect the RBI to retain

the policy rate at 4 per cent andcontinuewith the accommoda-tive policy stance despite thebuildupininflationarypressures,”CareRatings said. Retail inflationhasbeeninchingupwardsinrec-entmonthsandrosetoa9-monthhighof7.6percentinOctober.

■Posting56.3 inNovember, theseasonally adjustedIHSMarkit IndiaManufacturingPurchasingManagers’Indexhighlightedastrong improvementinbusiness conditions

IMPROVEMENT INBIZ CONDITIONS

‘Pace of manufacturingactivity slows in Nov,PMI hits 3-month low’

■TherulewouldrequiremostNasdaq-listedcompaniestohaveorexplainwhytheydon’thaveatleasttwodiversedirectors

NEED FORAT LEAST2DIVERSEDIRECTORS

Nasdaq proposes boarddiversity rule for listed cos

Thenewnormshave

facedcriticismfrom

stakeholdersthatit

wouldleadto

consumerscloserto

sourcesofgasending

upsubsidisingthose

locatedfurtheraway

However,almostall

manufacturers

witnessedadecline in

month-on-monthsales

for thefirst timein

sevenmonths

Ahmedabad

16THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER2,2020

SPORT

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

“It’s very simple.Maxwell hit a couple of(switch-hit) shots andWarner did (Sunday)night. All you'vegot to say is that if thebatsmanchanges the order of his handsor his feet (as thebowler runs in), then it's an illegal shot.”

IANCHAPPELLONTHESWTICH-HIT

SHAMIKCHAKRABARTYKOLKATA,DECEMBER1

AWICKEDleftfoot,closecontrolanddribbling,an intuitivepositional sense, that grandabil-ity to zip forth adefence splittingpasswhilecausingpulse-racingexcitementinthestands.KrishanuDeyhaditall.Andwithadiminutiveframeandsuddenacceleration, Indiaquicklyfoundforhimfootball'smoststratosphericad-jective-IndianMaradona.AstributespouredinfortheArgentineleg-

end, theNew York Times drewup a list lastweek of players from far flung football out-posts,whoremindedspectatorsoftheriffingmagic of DiegoMaradona. India had fallenheader-and-heels for its own ‘Maradona’ inthe1980sandearly ‘90s.TheKolkatanwithasumptuousleftfootwasnominatedbyNYTasIndia'sclaimanttotheexaltedcomparison.LookingforDiego'ssuccessorshasbeena

favouritepastime forpundits and fans alikesinceMaradona'smarchtothethesummitofworld football in the 1986World Cup atMexico. FromRomania’s GheorgheHagi toJapan’s Hidetoshi Nakata, the worlddrummed up anticipatory excitement overmany‘newMaradonas’acrosstheglobeandacrossgenerations.Dey died young, in 2003 at 41 years of

age. His top-flight career in Calcutta clubfootball and thenational teamspanned12-odd years. His rise in Indian football coin-cided in fact with Maradona’s magic inMexico. Overzealous East Bengal fans puthim on a higher pedestal then, calling

Maradona ‘Argentina'ar Krishanu’ (theKrishanuofArgentina).Atleastuntiltheearly‘90s,fanaticismwas

akeycomponentofCalcuttafootball.Thatwasa reasonwhymidfielderGoutamSarkar be-came ‘chhoto Beckenbauer’ (littleBeckenbauer) andMaradona, ‘Argentina'arKrishanu’.Modern-dayfans,grownuponanoverdoseof internationalandEuropeanclubfootball,wouldof coursehaveahearty laugh

atthenaiveteofsomeoftheiroldercolleagues.Dey was the ‘prince charming’ of the

Calcuttamaidan in the 1980s. He arguablyhadthebest-ever left foot in Indianfootball,which brought in the ‘Indian Maradona’moniker. As his contemporaries would at-test,Dey’s football thrivedonaestheticism.

Fantastic control“Krishanu had fantastic close control.

Dribblingwas the very essence of his gameandhecoulddoitbothways, insideandout-side. Healsohadaverygoodperipheral vi-sion, which helped him supply excellentthrough balls and quality final passes,”MohunBaganlegendSubrataBhattacharya,anArjunaawardee, toldTheIndianExpress.Bhattacharyamother-hennedDey,when

the latter joined Bagan in 1982. He laterplayed against him several times after DeymovedtoEastBengalin1985.Amongallthedefenders, Bhattacharyawas themost suc-cessfulinneutralisingtheotherwiseunstop-pableDey.“I knew his game inside out, which

helpedme.Thetrickwastoclosehimdownwith a player who would go with power,whileyouwaitedforthesecondball.See,wearetalkingaboutIndianfootballhereandthecontext is important. Krishanu’s style andrhythm, inCalcutta club football and Indianfootball, had been similar toMaradona andhence hewas called the ‘IndianMaradona’,Bhattacharyasaid.He put things in perspective: “Even in

Europeand/orLatinAmerica, at thehighestlevel, themajority of the ‘newMaradonas’

found it difficult against double-covering –someone closing them down, while theother defender/midfielder waiting for thesecond ball. Only the original Maradonacouldturnthefirstmarker,skippastthesec-ond,nutmegthe thirdonaregularbasis.”In the early ‘90s, Dutch giants PSV

Eindhoven,managedbyBobbyRobsonandboasting of some world stars, came toCalcutta for the Tata Super Soccer series.Therewasamoment in the firsthalf duringtheirgameatSaltLakeStadium–Deytookaballfacinghisowngoalandontheturn,wentpastfouroppositionplayerswholookedper-plexed. After that, the Eindhoven playersstartedtomarkthe‘IndianMaradona’closelyandstubbedhimwith theirphysicality.DidphysicalitymakeDeyuncomfortable?“That would be an oversimplification,”

Bhattacharyaobserved.“Tostartwith,youdon’texpectanIndian

footballer to match the physicality of theEuropeanplayersandshine.Geneticallytheyare stronger than themost fromour part oftheworld. Also,we never had their groom-ing. Back then,wedidn’t evenhave thecon-ceptof strengthandconditioningcoach.Wehadvery little ideaabout sports scienceandinjurymanagement. India football was stillamateur–playershadtogetajobapartfromplaying football. Many defenders here re-sortedtoroughfootballtostopKrishanu.Butit wasn’t that he got intimidated. He couldtakeakick,”headded.As Bhattacharya recalled, in his pomp,

Dey’sdribblingwasindeedsomeheadyedgeof theseat stuff.

Like in other corners of the world, India too had its ‘Maradona’

Hamiltontests

positiveforCovid-19

Sakhir:TheMercedes-AMGPetronasF1 Team says seven-time worldchampionLewisHamiltonhastestedpositive for COVID-19 andwill missthe Sakhir Grand Prix thisweekend.The team issued a statement sayingHamiltonwastestedthreetimeslastweek and returned a negative resulteach time, the last on Sunday after-noon at the Bahrain InternationalCircuitwherehewontheGrandPrix."But he up wokeMondaymorningwith mild symptoms and was in-formed at the same time that a con-tact prior to arrival in Bahrain hadsubsequently tested positive," theteam said. "Lewis, therefore, took afurther test and returned a positiveresult.Thishassincebeenconfirmedby a retest." Hamilton is in isolationinaccordancewiththehealthproto-cols inBahrain.REUTERS

Morecasesdetected

atNewcastleLondon: Newcastle United playershavebeentold tostayawayfromthetraining ground after an outbreak ofCOVID-19 at the club, Sky Sports re-ported on Tuesday. Five individualsat the club have tested positive forCOVID-19 so far, three prior toNewcastle's 2-0 win over CrystalPalace lastweek and twomore overthe weekend.Sky Sports saidNewcastle's training ground wasclosed on Monday and is set to beclosedonTuesdayaswellas theyas-sess the situation.REUTERS

TennisplayerPerez

bannedforfixingMadrid:SpanishtennisplayerEnriqueLopez Perez has been banned fromthe sport for eight years for his in-volvement inmatch-fixing activitiesinthreeseparateinstancesin2017,theTennis Integrity Unit (TIU) said. The29-year-oldPerez,whoreachedaca-reer-high singles ranking of 154 in2018wasalsofined$25,000."Thedis-ciplinarycasewasheardbyanti-cor-ruption hearing officer RichardMcLaren on 5 November 2020," theTIUsaidinastatement."HefoundthatEnrique Lopez Perez breached therules of the Tennis Anti-corruptionProgramme three times at tourna-ments in 2017, with two furtherchargesunproven.REUTERS

BRIEFLY

LewisHamiltonhadmildsymptomsonMondayandwasinformedthata ‘contact’prior tohisarrival inBahrainhadalsotestedpositive. File

KrishanuDeyhada lethal left foot too.Hepassedawayat41. EastBengalClub

ADiego in every nation

GHEORGHEHAGI(ROMANIA)

The ‘Maradonaof theCarpathians’.Made124internationalappearances.

ANDREASHERZOG(AUSTRIA)

The ‘Maradonaof theAlps’played103timesforAustria, includingtwoWorldCups,wontheUefaCupwithBayernMunichandwasafree-kickspecialist.

HIDETOSHINAKATA(JAPAN)

The ‘Maradonaof theOrient’,NakatawontheSerieAtitle forRomain2001.PlayedinthreeWorldCups.

RYANBELAL(SAUDI ARABIA)

The ‘Maradonaof theDesert’ earnedthesobriquetafterhescoredwithahandballin theSaudi league.

HAYDENTINTO(TRINIDADANDTOBAGO)

Aclassicalviolinist,hewascalledthe‘CaribbeanMaradona’ forhisskill.

SAEEDAL-OWAIRAN(SAUDI ARABIA)

Hewascalledthe ‘Maradonaof theArabs’ forhis famousgoalagainstBelgiumatthe

1994WorldCup.

ALIKARIMI(IRAN)

Hisdribblinghadearnedhimthe ‘AsianMaradona’moniker.

ALEXLOPEZ(HONDURAS)

Hebecamethe ‘HonduranMaradona’after the2012Olympics.

GEORGIKINKLADZE(GEORGIA)

TheMaradonaof theCaucasus,hisdribblingmadehimacultheroatManchesterCity.

ROBERTOMERINO(PERU)

Showedearlypromiseandwasdubbedthe ‘Maradonaof theAndes’.Didn’tquiteliveuptohispromise.

ENS

Argentinaunderstandablyhashadmany ‘newMaradonas’. But themonikertranscendedgeographicboundariesandplaying levels.

Why is football considering concussion subsSHASHANKNAIRNEWDELHI,DECEMBER1

ASICKENINGclashofheadsbetweenArsenaldefender David Luiz andWolverhamptonWanderers forwardRaul Jimenez–with thelatterneedingsurgeryafterafracturedskull-haspromptedcallsforarethinkonhowfoot-balldealswithsuchincidents.

Whathappened?In the fifthminuteof thePremier League

gameonSunday, the twoplayers jumped intheairasGunnerswingerWilliandeliveredacorner, resulting in a clash of heads.WhileJimenezwas stretchered off, Luiz continuedtoplay.ItwasthisdecisionbyArsenalthatin-citedoutburstoverfootball’sconcussionrules.Luizendedupwithsevenstitchestotheheadandwas eventually substituted at half timeaftercontinuingtobleedunderhisbandage.

Whatisthecurrentconcussionrule?ThecurrentFifaprotocolsstatethatmed-

ical professionals on the fieldmust look outformandatory concussion symptoms like

“clear or suspected central nervous system(brain)impairment,apotentialcervicalspineinjuryorskull fracture”.In 2018, Fifa cameupwith three concus-

sion-related rules. The first stated that playcould be stopped for up to threeminutes toassess if aplayerwasconcussed. The secondruleaimedtogiveteamphysicianspowerovertheplayer or teammanagement indecidingwhetheraplayercouldcontinueonthepitch.And the third allowed a secondteamphysiciantohavevideoac-cesstotheinjurysoastomakeanoff-the-pitchdecision.

Whydon’t existing guidelineswork?Headway is an organisation

that helps people rebuild theirlives after a brain injury andhasbeenvocalinitscampaignaboutfootball’scon-cussionprotocols.Headway’sdeputychiefex-ecutive LukeGriggs said that oneof the rea-sonsthecurrentprotocolsaren’teffectiveisthepressurephysios areputunder. “Concussionisnotoriouslydifficulttodiagnoseduetoitsof-ten-hiddensymptomsthatcanbedelayedin

their presentation. The challenge for physiosandteamdoctorsisexacerbatedbythelackoftimecurrentlyaffordedtotheminfootball,andthefactthatassessmentsareconductedonthepitchundertheglareofplayers,coaches,man-agersand,innormalcircumstances,thousandsof fans,”GriggstoldTheIndianExpress.

Whatisthenewrulebeingconsidered?Thenewconcussionrulescurrentlybeing

mulledwould allow a team tomake a permanent substitutionin case of a concussion as diag-nosed by the team physio, ac-cording to a report in TheGuardian. But this comeswitharisk since the prospect of a per-manent substitutionmaymakeplayers and teammanagementreluctant to be completely hon-

estabouttheirsymptoms.

Isfootballbehindinitsconcussion-relatedrules?Yes. Cricket has introduced ‘like-for-like’

substitutes,with thediscretionof thematchreferee. Batsmenare supposed towearneck

guards but they are yet to bemademanda-tory.Inothersportslikerugby,the‘If indoubt,take themout’philosophy isadheredto.TheNFLintroducedaconcussionprotocolin2009thattheycontinuetotweakasandwhennewstudiesemerge.UndertheMaddenrule,if,af-teranexaminationonthesidelines,theplayerissuspectedtobeconcussed,heistobetakento the locker room for further inspection. Ifphysios detect concussion, players aren’t al-lowedtoplay.

Areother formsofbrain-related issuesas-sociatedwithfootball?Studieshavecorrelatedconcussionswith

dementiawithaUniversity of California SanFrancisco(UCSF)studyshowingthatconcus-sionalmostdoublesthechancesofdementiain senior citizens. England andManchesterUnitedlegendBobbyCharltonhasbeendiag-nosedwithdementiaandheadinginfootballhascomeunderthescannerbecauseofrecentevents. A study conducted byUniversity ofGlasgow showed that former professionalfootballershadanapproximatelythree-and-a-half timeshigher rateof deathdue toneu-rodegenerativediseases.

WolverhamptonWanderers forwardRaul Jimenez(L)andArsenaldefenderDavidLuizclashduringthegameonSunday. Jimenezfracturedhisskull.

SANDIPGDECEMBER1

ASTRANGEcaginessseemstohaveclutchedJasprit Bumrah andMohammed Shami inthisseries.Shami’sreputationoferraticism,glorious oneday and sloppy thenext, is thedefiningthreadofhiscareer.ButBumrahhasshowna staggering ability toblend into theconditions and formats. With the ease offlickingaswitch,hechangeshisavatars,tools,thoughtpatterns, andeven instincts.Thisyear,though,hasbeenanaberration,

asit’swithmostthings.InNewZealandearlyin 2020 and Australia now, Bumrah hasstruggledwithhis lengths.In his alacrity to fix themalaise, he has

messeduphislines.Tonailboth,hehaslim-itedhis variations, using thoseas anobliga-tionthanasgenuineweapons.Sotheoff-cut-ters, slower deliveries and such-likevariationshavebeenusedsparinglyasifhe’sbereftof self-belief.Bumrahbetraystheim-pression that he is bowlingwithin himselfandnotquiteenjoyingthewholeprocess.Hesmiles less often, his eyes don’t glow assparklingly as they used to, and the spunkseems to have deserted him a touch.Something seems to shackle him, which’sstrangegiven thathehadasplendid IPL.Bumrahhas grabbedonly threewickets

ineightODIsthisyear,eachscalpcostinghim146runsand152balls.His economy rate is still a laudable 5.76

butabovehiscareerrateof4.66.Eveninthetwo Tests in New Zealand, hewas not any-wherenearhisusualstandards. Itcouldjustbe a lean patch every athlete endures, onlythatBumrah’ssocentraltoIndia’saspirationsinthistourthattheycan’taffordhimtohaveapoorseries,orevenanaverageone.Bumrahat his absolute peak iswhat Indiawants onthistour,especiallyastheywouldbewithoutskipperViratKohliforthreeof thefourTests.KL Rahul offeredwords of comfort after

thesecondODI:“It isabouttimeachampionplayer like that will come back and deliverand getwickets for us. You also have to un-derstandthat inNewZealandandAustralia,

thewicketsaresogoodtobaton.Youwillseetop bowlers not gettingwickets (once in awhile). So that is acceptable.”Maybe, it’s just amatterof a single spell.

Like batsmen frequently vouch for the onestrokethatsuddenlybringstheirtouchback,they need that one searing spell to revivetheir self-belief. Ormaybe a brilliant deliv-erycoulddo the trick.Alengthyspellupfrontcouldcatalysethe

turnaround. Now that DavidWarner, thetempo-setter, is ruled out due to injury,Shami and Bumrah could breathe morefreely.Separatingthesuper-prolificWarner-AaronFinchpair,whichaveragesashadeun-der 100 against India, has been as tough asdenyingSteveSmithback-to-backhundreds.It’salmosthalf thejobdone. ForFinchisnotexactlythemostfluentofstarters.Andwho-

ever Australia choose to pair himwith —MatthewWade, Marcus Labuschagne orAlex Carey— theywould consume time tobed into their new role. It presents Bumrahand Shami the ideal opportunity to attackfull-throttleandsettle intoa rhythm.

Backing SainiEqually important ishowNavdeepSaini

is dealt with. Still cutting his teeth at thislevel,heshouldnotbeallowedtobroodoverthe twin failures in Sydney, where hewasconcertedlytargetedbytheAustralianbats-men.Benchinghimcouldfurtherdemoralisehim. Having identified him as a potentialpace spearhead in the future, he shouldnotbe let to drift, his confidence should not beleft towane. The temptation to replacehimisunderstandable,withoptionslikeShardul

Thakur and TNatarajan lurking. But havinginvestedinhim,there’snoharminpersistingwithhiminadeadrubber.Like it happened with Kuldeep Yadav,

whooffers the teammanagement an alter-native to replace an underwhelmingYuzvendra Chahal. But Yadav is woefullyshort of game time — hewas last spottedbowling on October 18, in an IPL gameagainst Sunrisers Hyderabad. It was one ofhis better performances this year, his threeovers conceding 18 runs. He could fare noworse than conceding 160 in 19 overs asChahalhasinthisseries. Ifhedustsupsomeoldmagic, he could push his case for Testmatches too.Someof India’spreviousbowlingattacks

have looked inept themoment theirnameswerelistedinthesquad.Butthepresentcrew

features arguably twoof the finest seamersever,BumrahandShami.Saini, too, istoutedasthefutureof India’sfastbowling. Itwouldbeacryingshameiftheyleavethistourwith-out match-influencing performances.Winning the third ODIwould be the step-ping stone. The ODI seriesmight be unsal-vageable,buttherearestilltheT20sandTestmatches tobeconquered.So dead rubber though the third ODI is,

thereisalotridingforIndia.A)Avoidacleansweep,B)Enabletheprimarybowlerstore-gain the elusive rhythm, C) Show resilienceanddoggedness. Of the threeconcerns, thesecond assumes the foremost priority.Precisely,becausethenucleuswouldremainmuchthesamethroughtheseries.

High-scoring venueButManukaOval,withitshistoricallyflat

surfacesandhighscores,doesn’tseemtobethemostidealvenuefororchestratingaturn-around. The totals in the last fourODIshereread 378, 262, 348, 323, 411, 210, 372, 289.Someof the Indiansplayerswould remem-berthelasttimetheywerehere.Thepursuitof348lookedimminentbeforetheylostninewickets for 46 runs, eventually falling shortby23runs.Arepeatcouldbedisastrousthistimearound.Unless they arrest the losing streak, the

adversemomentumwill be toohot to han-dle or reverse, and Australia are ruthless infloggingadeadhorse. It’s often theplightofvisitorsDownUnder.Theyrarelyrecoverfromearlyknockouts.

SobythetimetheTestserieswinksin,whichis a littlemore than a fortnight away, theirmorale will be in pure shambles. In a nut-shell, though the thirdODI is adead rubber,thereismuchatstakefortheIndianteam.Asmuch as it’s about restoring pride or savingface, it is aboutarrestinga losingstreak thatcansoonoverwhelmthem.It’s like the continent itself, it grows on

you themore days you spend there. And inBumrah’s hands are the keys to spare TeamIndia this fate.

3rdODI:LiveonSonynetwork,9.10am

Searching for the magic spellIf JaspritBumrahandMohammedShamireboundinthedeadrubber, itwillhelp in thebiggerbattlesahead

JaspritBumrahhastakenjust threewickets ineightODIs thisyear,eachscalpcostinghim146runsand152balls.File

Ahmedabad

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(*Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act) Copyright : The Indian Express Private Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. The Indian Express®