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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

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THEEDITORIAL PAGE

SECESSIONOFTHESUCCESSFULBY SANJAYABARUPAGE12

Days afterKarnatakaHouse ruckus,Dy Chairmanfound dead

DARSHANDEVAIAHBPCHIKMAGALUR,DECEMBER29

TWOWEEKSafterhewascaughtin themiddle of a ruckus in theKarnatakaLegislativeCouncil,JDSleader andDeputy ChairmanoftheHouse, S L DharmeGowda,was found dead on the railwaytracksinKarnataka’sChikmagalurdistrictearlyTuesdaymorning.He

is suspected tohave died bysuicide.On

December 15,as the BJP andCongressclashed overwho wouldcontrolthe75-memberUpper House,Gowda, who

was ushered to the chairman’sseat by BJP members, waspushedoffhischair.According to the railwaypo-

lice,theJDSlegislatorwasfounddead on the tracks near hishometownGunasagarainKadurtaluk of Chikmagalur district.Local police said they found asuicidenotenearhisbody.According to police, on

Mondayevening,Gowda,accom-paniedbyhis driver, had left hisfarmhouse in Sakkarayapattana

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Unproventherapiescantriggermutation:Govt;5%positivesamplestobesequenced

KAUNAINSHERIFFM&SREENIVASJANYALANEWDELHI,HYDERABADDECEMBER29

THEVACCINESdevelopedagainstthenovel coronaviruswould re-maineffectivedespitetheemer-gence of the new,more conta-gious strain in the UnitedKingdom,India’stopgovernmentmedicalexpertssaidonTuesday.However, they cautioned

thatinjudicioususeofunproventherapies against Covid-19puts“immunepressure”onthevirus,whichcan lead tomutations.ThegovernmentonTuesday

announced that at least six per-sonswhohavereturnedrecentlyfrom theUnited Kingdomhavebeen foundpositive for thenew“variant under investigation”,which is being called VUI-202012/01.Threeofthepositivesamples

were detected at the NationalInstitute of Mental Health andNeurosciences (NIMHANS),Bengaluru, twoattheCentre for

Cellular andMolecular Biology(CCMB), Hyderabad, and one attheNationalInstituteofVirology(NIV), Pune.ThePunesample is

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NIA: PDP’s Para paidRs 10 lakh to Hizbulvia Davinder SinghPara’s lawyerdeclinescomment;bailpleasaysbeingframedtosettlepoliticalscores

DEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

JAMMU & Kashmir PeoplesDemocraticPartyleaderWaheedUr Rehman Para allegedly paidRs 10 lakh to terror outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideentoensureitssup-portaheadofthe2019LokSabhapolls, an investigation by theNational Investigation Agency(NIA) issaidtohavefound.The Central agency arrested

Para inNovember, just aheadofthe District DevelopmentCouncil (DDC) polls in J&K, in

connectionwith its probe intosuspended DySP DavinderSingh’s linkswith theHizbul.

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IAF chief says Chinese airassets fully deployed, flagsdeepening Sino-Pak tiesKRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

UNDERLINING THAT under-standingChina is “ourmost im-portant national security chal-lenge”andcautioningagainstits“possible game plan” and the“deepening and evolving Sino-Pak relationship”, Air ChiefMarshal R K S Bhadauria saidTuesday that the Chinese have“fully deployed” their air assets

tosupport troopsalongtheLineofActualControl inLadakh.The IAF chief, speaking at an

event organised by theVivekananda International

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SRIRAMVEERAMUMBAI,DECEMBER29

MOHAMMEDSIRAJ,the26-year-oldwholosthisfatherlastmonth,wasmovedto tears in thedress-ing room as the Indian playerstoastedhissplendidperformanceinhisdebutTestattheMelbourneCricket Ground, the setting for“one of the great comebacks inthe history of the game”, in thewordsofcoachRaviShastri.India,whowereblownaway

fortheirlowestscoreinTesthis-tory aweek ago inAdelaide, re-bounded spectacularlywith aneight-wicketwinoverAustralia,ledbyacharacter-defininghun-dredbystand-incaptainAjinkyaRahane. It was a triumphachieved in theabsenceof ViratKohli, Mohammed Shami, andRohitSharma,anddespitelosingfast bowlerUmeshYadav in themiddleof thegame.The celebrationwasmuted

—somelaughterandquietbeers— until the Sirajmoment cameup. “We were celebrating hisperformance on debut, and the

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IN LETTERTOCENTRE, FARMERUNIONSLISTFOUR-POINTAGENDA

PMappealsagainstdamageto infra,sayskeep itawayfrompolitics

Disquiet in Punjab govt over cell towervandalism, police seek to control damage

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, LUCKNOW,DECEMBER29

AHEAD OF the resumption oftalks with the CentreWednesday, farmer unions,protesting at the gates of Delhiagainstthenewfarmlaws,wroteto the government saying thediscussioncanonlybeonafour-point agenda includingmodali-ties of repealing the laws andproviding a legal guarantee onminimumsupportprice.In a letter to SanjayAgarwal,

Secretary, Department ofAgriculture, Cooperation andFarmersWelfare, the SamyuktKisanMorcha, representing 40farmer unions, listed the twoother items on the agenda asamendmentstothe‘CommissionOrdinance for Air QualityManagement in the National

Capital Region andadjoining ar-eas, 2020’, and theprocedure forwithdrawalofthedraft'ElectricityAmendmentBill2020'.Formally accepting the gov-

ernment’sinvitationtothetalks,theMorchasaid, “It isnecessary

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ANJUAGNIHOTRICHABA,RAAKHIJAGGA&AASHISHARYANJALANDHAR,LUDHIANA,NEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

AMIDGROWINGconcernoverin-cidentsofaround2,000cellphone

towers of Reliance Jio Infocommbeing vandalised, allegedly byprotestingfarmergroups,thestatepolicehavefannedoutacrosstheaffecteddistrictstorestorepowersupplytothesetowers.OnTuesday,adayafterheis-

sued a stern warning to thosevandalising mobile towers,

Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinderSinghtoldTheIndianExpress, “I have directed policetotakeactionagainstthosevan-dalisingthemobiletowers.Iwillnot allowanyone to take law intheirhands.Thesituationisun-dercontrolnow.”

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Farmers in Madhya Pradesh duped bytraders, lens on key clauses in farm lawsIRAMSIDDIQUEBHOPAL,DECEMBER29

CITINGTHEnewlyenactedfarmlaws,KhojaTraders,atraderfirmin Dewas owned by brothersPavan Khoja and Suresh Khoja,duped 22 farmers inHarda dis-

trict of their 2,581 quintals oflentil and gram produceworthnearlyRs2crore.The 22 farmers first tried to

locate the trader by knocking atDewasmandi since the Khojabrothers had shown them thetrading licenceregisteredbythemandi.Buttheyrealisedthatthe

duo had cancelled the registra-tionwithinthreemonthsofitbe-ingissuedbythemandilastyear.Theywenttotheresidenceof

the Khojas in Khategaon tehsilbut couldnot find them.Finally,thefarmersfiledanFIRwiththeKhategaon police and also

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Talks today, farmers to Govt:Will onlydiscuss repeal,MSP legal guarantee

WHILEIT ispossible thatamutantof theUKorSouthAfricakindcanemerge inIndiaaswell, there isnoimmediatecause forworryas longaseffectivesurveil-lanceandgenomese-quencing iscarriedout todetect thenewstrainearly.ProfKVijayRaghavan,PrincipalScientificAdvisortotheGovernmentofIndia,hasalsosaidthat thevaccinesbeingdevelopedwillworkagainst thismu-tantstrainaswell.

Nocauseforworry

SLDharmeGowda

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,DECEMBER29

“ALLOFyoukilledmyfather,sir…Allofyoukilledmyparents.Nowyousay Ican’tevenburythem?”criesthedistressedyoungmaninthe maroon shirt, as he fero-ciously slams a garden hoe intothe ground. Apolice officer triestoreasonwithhim,tellinghimto

stopdigging.A fewpeoplestandaroundwatchingsilently.The viral video has shaken

theconscienceof thepublicandtriggeredwidespreadprotestsinKerala. It shows 23-year-oldRahulRajtryingtodigagraveforhis father, aDalitmanwhodiedonMonday after aweek of bat-tling serious burn injuries.Rahul’smother,whowasaliveatthe time, died hours afterward.Like her husband, she too hadsufferedgrievousburns.Rahul’sfather,PongilRajan,45,

andhismentally-challengedwifeAmbili, 36, of Athiyannnor pan-

chayat in Thiruvananthapuramdistrict, accidentally set them-

selves on fire on December 22while resisting attempts by thepolicetoevictthemfromthethreecents of disputed landonwhichtheyhadbuilttheirsmallhome.In his dying declaration to a

localmagistrate, Rajan said thathehaddousedhiswifeandhim-self with petrol to bluff the po-liceintobackingoff.“Ihadlitthelighter only to keep the policeaway. I had no plans to endmylife. But a police officer swattedattheburninglighter,whichfellon us and engulfed us both inflames,”hesaid.In his statement, Rajan said

that “he was shattered by thethoughtthathisfamilywouldbedeprived of a roof over theirhead. Deeply upset over thatthought, I tookmywife out andheld her close, and then putpetrol on both of us. I hadthoughtthepolicewouldretreatfromtheir attempt toevictus.”Thecouplehaderectedanas-

bestos-roofshedataDalitcolonywhere they livedwith their twosons, Rahul and Ranjith. Awoman named Vasantha hadobjected to the shed, claimingthat sheownedthe land,which

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PAGE1ANCHOR

Thecouplewiththeir sons

All of you killed my parents...now you won’t letme bury them: son’s grief, anger shake a state

WaheedUrRehmanParawasarrested inNovember

AjinkyaRahaneandShubmanGill celebrateafterwinningthe India-AustraliaTest inMelbourneonTuesday.AP

AirChiefMarshalRKSBhadauria

Behind police raid on Pracha, trailof a riot victim and a riot accusedKAUNAINSHERIFFM&SOFIAHSANNEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

SHARIFMalik,whoseallegationsform the basis of Delhi Police’scontroversialsearchofadvocateMehmood Pracha’s home lastweek,wasaccusedofriotingandattempt tomurder in the Delhiriots.Butamonthago,policetoldthecourtthatMalik’sarrestwas-n’t required.OnNovember 24,Malik se-

curedpre-arrestbailinthreeFIRs

connected to the riots filed atDayalpurpolicestation,withlittleoppositionfromtheprosecution.Police, in a report submitted

to a Delhi court in August, saidthat Pracha “called” riot victimIrshadAli,whoseshophadbeenset on fire during the riots, and

told him that Malik was “wit-ness”totheincidentandifheat-tached Malik’s complaint, itwouldmakeAli’scase“stronger”.AlideniesPrachacalledhim,

and has told The Indian Expressthathewent tomeethimonhisown.Ali’s case itself is fraught, ac-

cordingtothesequenceofeventsbasedonpoliceandcourtrecordsaccessedbyThe IndianExpress.Indeed, the court put on

recordthedefence’squestioningof the fairness and impartiality

CONTINUEDONPAGE14

MehmoodPracha

6 with UK strainin India; expertssay vaccine willremain effective

PrimeMinisterNarendraModi inaugurates thededicatedfreightcorridorviavideoconference. PTI

WORLD

DESIGNERPIERRECARDIN DIES AT98PAGE16

OFFICER TO FACEMILITARYCOURT INSHOPIANCASE PAGE 8

Adelaide hurt fuels resolve,India make history at MCG

New Delhi

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What’skilling India’selephants?NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

Indiahas theworld’s largestpopulationofwildAsianelephants. Italsohasacolossalhuman-animalconflictproblem.Indiahastheworld’s largestpopulationofwildAsianelephants. Italsohasacolossal.

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IndianExpress★★★★★■4.6

Talks todayto conductourdiscussionaccording to thisagendatofindarationalsolutiontorelevantissues.”Surjit Singh Phool of BKU (Krantikari)

said themeeting agenda they had sent tothegovernmentwasveryclear. “In its letterto us, the government acknowledged ouragenda,butdidnotspecificallymentionre-pealing the laws. Their letter lacks clarity,butwebelievethattheiractofaskingusforthe agendawas a welcome step. Now, weexpect something new from them, some-thing that is in the direction of finding thebestway to repeal the laws,”he said.While all 40 leaders invited by the gov-

ernmentwillgoforthetalks,onlyfive lead-ers,Phoolsaid,wouldputforwardtheviewsof the farmers. Jagmohan Singh, BKU(Dakaunda)general secretary, said farmershavepostponedtheirtractormarch,sched-uled forWednesday, toThursday.“If the talks are fruitful, therewill be no

need for thismarch andwewill spend theNew Year with our families.We are at thetable to discuss issues. That is what theSupremeCourt alsowanted,”he said.Meanwhile, PrimeMinister Narendra

Modi,referringtothetargetingof infrastruc-ture during demonstrations and move-ments, said this amounts to hurting thecountry, its “poor and common people”.Whileexercisingdemocraticrights,hesaid,“we should never forget our obligation tothenation”.Inaugurating the New Bhaupur-New

Khurja section and the operation controlcentre of the Eastern Dedicated Freight

Corridor, thePMsaiddedicatedfreightcor-ridorswillallowfarmproducetoreachdes-tinations faster andbenefit everyone, fromindustry to businesses, farmers to con-sumers.Inanaddressviaavideolink,Modisaid:

“Ourpastexperiencetellsusthatthedevel-opment of the country’s infrastructureshouldbekept away frompolitics.”

Farmers dupedsubmitted awritten complaint to the Sub-DivisionalMagistrateof Khategaon.Theincidentassumessignificancesince

it touches upon two critical aspects of TheFarmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce(Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 —registration of traders in private marketsanddispute resolution.In awritten and signed complaint sub-

mitted to theSDMonDecember26, the22farmerssaid,“PavanandSureshKhojacameto us on different days and purchased ourproduceshowingtheirregisteredlicenseas-suring us thatmoneywill be credited intoour account. But when that didn't hap-pened, we approached the KhategaonMandi and realised they are no longer reg-istered.Wewould request you to help getus themoneyof ourproduce.”When contacted, Dewas District

Collector Chandramauli Shukla said, “Wehave formed special teamswith help fromthe police to track the trader and get thefarmers their dues. We hope to track him(Khoja) soon.”KanhaiyaPatel, oneof the farmers from

Harda district who was also cheated saidthat at least 100-150more farmers spread

across four districts of Hoshangabad,Sehore,HardaandDewas,havebeenduped.It is only after the cheque issued to the

farmersbythetraderbouncedthattheyre-alised the fraud. Anand Jat, a farmer fromAlanpurvillageinHardadistrict, saidPavanKhoja approached himwith a proposal topurchase theproduceandtoldhimthataf-tertheenactmentof thefarmlaws,thegov-ernment hadmandated traders to directlydealwith the farmers.KhojaofferedRs700morethantherun-

ningmandirate,andgavehimacheque.Hesoldabout90quintalof lentilsworthnearlyRs5.5 lakh, but the chequebounced.The latest case in Harda — the con-

stituencyofCabinetministerofAgricultureKamal Patel— is the eight such reported inMadhya Pradesh since the farm laws cameinto force.Dewas District Collector Shukla said

since the farmers were spread over manydistricts, he would coordinate with othersin theprobe.

Disquiet in PunjabWhile the CM said “only 4-5 cases of

vandalisationhavecometolight inthepast24hours”,sourcessaidthegovernmenthastakenseriousnoteof theincidents.“Thereisa lotofdisquiet inthegovernmentoverthisdisruption, particularly in light of the con-tinued stalemate between the Centre andthe protesting farmers. No one in the statewantsthesituationtogetoutofhand,”saida seniorofficial.Thoughcompanysourcessaidthatapart

from around 2,000 towers, several basetransceiverstationsandfibreopticcables in

the state have also been vandalised, seniorpoliceofficersmaintainedthatinmostcasestherewas littledamage to the towers,withthevandals,allegedlylocalyouthsupportedby gram panchayatmembers, only target-ingpower supply lines to the towers.Policeareyet toregisteranyFIR inthese

cases despite videos and photographsshowing youngsters climbing up the tow-ers.Bhupinderjit Virk, Senior

SuperintendentofPoliceofBathinda,wherepower supply to 60 towers were snapped,saidnoFIRhasbeenregisteredasonlyelec-tricity lines were cut. "There was no dam-agereported(tothetowers).Hence,wehavenot lodged any FIR. Power supply to 29outof 60 towers has been restored, and ourteams are counselling villagers against in-dulging in suchacts.’’Sources said that on Tuesday, senior Jio

executivesmetgovernmentandpoliceoffi-cials in the state to seek protection for thetower sites as well as other telecom infra-structure.With power supply to Jio's towers dis-

rupted, theimmediateimpact is likelytobefeltonvoicecallsoriginatingfromandland-ingon the telco'snetwork.

6 with UK strainfrom a man from Chennai, officials inMaharashtra said.“All thesepersonshavebeenkeptinsin-

gle-roomisolationindesignatedhealthcarefacilities by respective state governments.Their closecontactshavealsobeenputun-der quarantine. Comprehensive contacttracing has been initiated for co-travellers,family contacts, and others. Genome se-quencing on other specimens is going on,”theHealthMinistry said.Around 33,000 passengers had landed

in various Indian airports from the UK be-tween November 25 and December 23,whenflightstoandfromthatcountrywerestopped. “All these passengers are beingtracked and subjected by states to RT-PCRtests. So far, only114havebeen foundposi-tive [for all variants of the virus],” theMinistry said.All samples fromUKreturnees that test

positive inRT-PCRtestswillbeputthroughgenome sequencing, Union HealthSecretary Rajesh Bhushan told reporters.Also,aspartofextensivesurveillance,5percentofpositivesamplesinthegeneralpop-

ulationof thecountrywillalsobesubjectedtogenomesequencing, Bhushansaid.ProfKVijayRaghavan,PrincipalScientific

Advisor to Government of India, said thatbesides testing and sequencing of samplesfrom international travellers, the IndianSARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (IN-SACOG) will also carry out sequencing ofsamples fromthosebeingadmittedtohos-pitals.“Wearenotonlysequencingthesam-plesbychoosingrepresentativesamplesbutwewillalsotestthesamples inlaboratoriestoseewhetherinfectivityhasincreasedanddofieldstudies tosee if the transmissionofanyvarianthas increased,”he said.Prof Raghavan, however, stressed that

vaccines would work against the newstrainsaswell. “Vaccines stimulateour im-mune system to produce a wide range ofprotectiveantibodies.Sothechangesinthevariants are not sufficient tomake the vac-cines ineffective, which is a positive reas-surance,”he said.Prof Balram Bhargava, DG, Indian

Council of Medical Research, emphasisedthat physicians should only use therapiesthat show benefits. “The question ariseswhy should these variations occur? Thesevariations occur because of immune pres-sure on the virus. This immune pressuremayberelatedtotheenvironment,thehost,treatment, or other modalities,” he said.“Therefore, it is important from the scien-tificcommunity’sperspectivethatwedon'tput too much immune pressure on thevirus.Wehavetomaintainthejudicioususeof therapies which are going to benefit; ifthebenefit isnotestablished,weshouldnotuse them,”Prof Bhargava said.TheHealthSecretarysaidatthebriefing

that52percentofcasesinIndiawereinthe18-44agegroup;however,mortalityanaly-ses showthat55percentof deathswere inthe60years andaboveagegroup.

(WITHANURADHAMASCARENHASINPUNE)

PDP leader ParaPara, whowon the polls from his con-

stituency inPulwama, is in jail.Whencontacted,Para’s lawyerTNRaina

declined to comment on this specific NIAclaim.ButinhisbailapplicationfiledbeforetheNIA special court in Jammuearlier thismonth,ParadeniedallallegationsofHizbullinks and suggested he was being framed“for settlingpolitical scoreswith apolitical

party”.Sources said the money was al-

legedly delivered to Hizbul operativeSyed Mushtaq Naveed alias NaveedBabu throughDavinder Singh.Davinder Singh was arrested on

January 11, travelling in his Hyundaii10 carwithNaveedBabu,Hizbul dis-trict commander for Shopian andGanderbal; and Hizbul operative RafiAhmedDar.Sourcessaidthat inFebruary2019,

whenNaveedBabuandMirwerestay-ing inahideout allegedlyprovidedbyDavinder Singh in Jammu, Mir al-legedly called Para over Signal for fi-nancial assistance tohelpHizbul.“Mir and Para have known each

otherforalongtime.MirtoldParathatRs 10 lakhwas required for purchaseof five AK-47 rifles for Hizbul. ParaagreedbutputaconditionthatHizbulwouldnotcreateanytroubleaheadofthepollsandthattheoutfitwouldtakecare of his workers in Pulwama. Healso sought Hizbul’s support for thepolls,” anNIAofficer said.Followingthis,thejobofcoordinat-

ing the deal was given to DavinderSinghwhocalledParaonhisphoneonFebruary18,2019,NIAsourcessaid.Healso received calls from Para duringthisperiod.InMarch that year, Para allegedly

sentamanwithRs10lakhinanenve-lope to Srinagar airport where Singhwas then posted. “Singh received themoneyandaskedoneofhisassistantstoputthesameinatiffinboxandkeepit in his car. It was later delivered toNaveedBabu,” theofficer said.Inhisbailapplication,Parasaidthat

NIAhasnothingbutconfessionalstate-ments of accused – and these cannotbe consideredas evidence.

Adelaideworld knows what he has beenthroughwhenhestruggledtoholdhistears. Rahane and a couple of othershuggedhim,andsathimdown. Itwasan emotional and lovelymoment forthewholeteam,really,”asourceintheteamsaid.Siraj’s father, an autorickshaw

driver, was a big supporter of hiscricket, and saw the cricketing rise ofhis son as the family’s fortuneschangeddue tohis IPL stint.

India’s stunning turnaroundhadbeguneven as the team’s worst ignominy waswindingdowninthefirstTest.Nosoul-stir-ring speeches were made in the dressingroomafter thedefeat. Therewerenoangryrants. No post mortemwas undertaken.“The coaching groupdecided that itwouldbepointless.Allofusknewwhathappened.Everyonewas hurting. Nothing needed tobesaid,”thesourcesaid. Instead,Shastritoldtheplayers togo to their rooms, try to cleartheirheads,staycalm,andcomeforameet-ing thenextmorning.The head coach said that itwas accept-

able to lose the series 0-4, but going downwithout a fight wasn’t. The Australianbowlers were class operators, and India’sbatsmenneededtodosomethingdifferentto counter them.Bharat Arun, the bowling coach, asked

thebowlerstoforcetheAustralianbatsmento score on one side of the wicket and tomake themworkhard for their runs.Regular skipperKohlihadachat, andso

didRahane later, it is learnt.When theyhitthe nets next, the batsmen started toworkwiththethrowdowns.Angleswerecreatedand lengths bowled by Australians atAdelaidewerehit.

Dy Chairman deadvillage inhis car.Whenhedidn’t return forlong, his family launched a search for him.Policefoundhisbodyneartherailwaytracksthe followingmorning.

IAF chiefFoundation, said while the strength of theChinesearmypresenceintheregioniswellknown, its air force “deployment has beenvery strong” and “we have taken every ac-tionthatwearerequiredtotakeandcatertosuch situations”.The Chinese, he said, also “have a large

presence in the second tier, and largepres-ence of radars and surface-to-air missiles,and surface-to-surface missiles in the re-connable area”.Asked about the capabilities of Indian

forces to meet such a challenge, Air ChiefMarshalBhadauriasaid,“Whetherwehaveenoughtoday?Wehaveenough.Otherwise,youwouldhavehadadifferent situation inthenorth.”“Thewayall three forceshaveactivated

and deployed, there is no need to worrywhether have enough to do our bit to holdthe situation and to ensurewe do not loseterritoryorsovereignty.Soonthatissue,weshouldnothaveanydoubt.”On Pakistan, the IAF chief said it is “in-

creasinglybecomingapawninChinesepol-icy” and is under the China-PakistanEconomicCorridordebt.

Son’s griefshe had purchased 16 years ago. After a le-gal battle at a local civil court, Vasanthagota favourableverdict.Two months ago, the court ordered

Rajan to vacate the land, but he refused.Subsequently, the court designated an ad-vocate’s commission to look into the issue.Basedonthecommission’sreport, thecourtagainpassedanorder toevict the family.OnDecember22, thepolicecametothe

family’s home. By then, however, the cou-plehadobtainedastayontheevictionorderfromthe localmunsiff court. Thishadhap-penedonthesameday—however,accord-ingtothefamily, theyhadnotuntil thengota copyof theorder to showthepolice.“When the police camewith the court

authorities to evict us,my father told themabout the stay obtained from the court onthatveryday. Itwasonlyamatterofgettingthe copy of the order,” Rahul, the couple’selder son, said.AfterRajansuccumbedtohis injurieson

Monday,thesonsinsistedthatheshouldbeburiedon the land forwhichhehad foughtanddied.SoRahulstartedtodighimself,butthe police intervened. Subsequently, how-ever, Rajanwas buried on the premises asperhiswish.As the police action and the Dalit cou-

ple’sdeathtriggeredanuproarandprotests,ChiefMinisterPinarayiVIjayanonTuesdaysaid the governmentwould step in to helpthe orphaned sons. “The government willtakeup theirprotectionandmeet their ed-ucational expenses. Theywill be providedwithahouse,”heannounced.DGP Loknath Behera asked

Thiruvananthapuram Rural SP B Ashokanto look into the incident, including policelapses inhandling theeviction.However, thewomanwho initiated the

legalbattleagainsttheDalitcouplesaidshewouldnotrelent.“Iboughttheland16yearsago. The people of the colonywere againstme. Ihavebeenfightingalone. Iwon’t leavethe land. I want to prove that it belongs tome,’’ she said.

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AttheSinghuborder; (below)theprotest siteatGhazipur.

ASHNABUTANINEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

AMONG THOSE arriving at theGhazipur border to join theprotestagainst thefarmlawsisasizable group of small farmers,mostly fromUttar Pradesh andsome from Uttarakhand.Speaking to The Indian Express,manysaidtheyarebeingpaidlessthantheMinimumSupportPrice(MSP) for their crops, or, in thecase of sugarcane farmers,haven’tbeenpaidatallforayears.Farmers from all back-

groundsinsistedthatsmallfarm-ers, who own two acres or less,willbehithardestbythe laws.Ram Chand (43), from

Pilibhit’s Dhakia Natha village,hasbeenforcedtosellhisyieldatapricemuchlowerthantheMSPfor as long as he can remember.He said, “I have 5 bighas of land(a little less than an acre), inwhich I alternate between sow-ing gehu (wheat), dhan (paddy)andganna (sugarcane).”His foremost concern, how-

ever, was that he has not beenpaid for his sugarcane crop fortwoyears.He andother farmersatthebordersaidtheyareoncon-tract with the Sahkari Ganna

VikasSamiti,whichpaysthemRs325foraquintalofsugarcane.TheFRP(fairandremunerativeprice)forsugarcaneis285perquintal.Chand, who has been at the

borderfor10days,said,“Iamstillwaitingforthependingamount.Ihadtotakea loanofRs1.5 lakhlast year for my son's weddingand for farming. This is the con-ditionwhenit(farming)isunderthegovernment.Imaginethesit-uationifcorporatescomeinandthere isnoMSP inplace...”Farmersarguedthatinsucha

situation,theycannotgotocourtunder thenew lawsbut have toapproach theSDM.Non-payment of sugarcane

dueswas a concern echoed byfarmersfromUttarakhandaswell.

Mandeep Narwal (32), fromBazpur,saidhehasnotbeenpaidforsugarcanefortwoyears:“Sinceit is the only crop that I grow, Imanagetoget800quintalofsug-arcaneinayear.ButIhavenotre-ceivedarupeefromit;Iamman-aging the household by takingloansfromlocal institutions.”Asked if he can grow some-

thing else instead of sugarcane,hesaid,“Whatelsecanwegrow?The situation is no better forfarmerswhogrowdhaneither.”While theMSP for paddy is

Rs1,868perquintal,notasinglefarmer at the protest site saidtheyreceivedoverRs1,200.PremanandMahajan, an ex-

MLAfromUdhamSinghNagarinUttarakhand, who reached the

site onMonday, said, “I got Rs1,200 for dhan this year, despitehaving some influence in myarea.Soyoucanimaginehowitisfor smaller farmers. This iswhywewant awritten notice fromthe government regardingMSP,statingthat itwillbe followed.”FarmerssaidifMSPaswellas

middlemen are removed, theywillbepaidmuchlessthanwhatthey are getting now. Puran Lal(38),fromUP’sPilibhit,explainedhowheisleftwithonlyRs500bytheendoftheyear:“Lastseason,I got 4 quintal of dhan, whichamountedtoaroundRs4,000.Ofthat, I spent Rs 2,000 to grow abatch of gehu. After payinglabourers, I am leftwith Rs 500for sixmonths... if someone fallssick in the family, I can’t do any-thing about it. Four of my chil-dren study in a governmentschool.Theygetamealaday,butthere isnoteachingthere.”He said that if MSPwas as-

sured, hewouldhavebeen leftwith Rs 2,000 in hand, whichhewould spendonsendinghischildren to a private school: “Idon’twant themtoendup likeme... but my eldest son, aged12, helpswith farming. That isthe only way to cut down onlabour costs.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

AAP WILL install free WiFihotspotsattheSinghuborderforthe convenience of protestingfarmers, party leader andMLARaghavChadhasaidTuesday.Hesaid itwas the initiativeof ChiefMinisterArvindKejriwal.“Any person needs three

thingstolivealifeofdignity:roti(food), kapda (clothes),makaan(home). But in today’s time, afourth thing has been added,which is internet. Our farmerbrothers and sisters came toDelhi borders, and have been

fighting for their rights for thepast one month,” he said at apressconference.“Sewadar Arvind Kejriwal

gavesewaofblankets,langar,toi-lets andwater, and nowhewillstartanothersewaof freeWiFiatSinghuborder,” saidChadha.He said the party had re-

ceiveddemandsfromfarmersatSinghuastherearenetworkcon-nectivity issues.ChadhasaidtheradiusofoneWiFihotspotwouldbe100metres,whichwill coveranareaof31,000square feet."ThesefarmersattheSinghu

border, who have been sittingmiles away from their homesandfields,onlyhaveonewishaf-tersundown—thattheybeabletomakeavideocalltotheirfam-ilies tospeaktotheirwives,age-ingmothersandchildren.Dueto

the low signal strength, ourfarmerbrothersandsisterswerenotabletospeaktotheirfamilies.“Theproblemsandinconven-

iencesthatthesefarmersarefac-ingduetothethreeblacklaws, ifweareabletoreducethisevenalittle bit, wewill consider our-selves successful. Theywill alsobeabletoseetheliesandpropa-ganda of theModi government,and gave thema befitting replyonsocialmedia,”Chadhasaid.Asked by reporters why

hotspots were not being in-stalled at Tikri border, he saidKejriwal and AAP would try“their level best” to do so if re-questscamefromfarmersthere.

Singhu border to get free WiFi hotspots sofarmers can video call families back home

ASTHASAXENANEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

MOVINGA step closer towardsthe Covid-19 vaccination pro-gramme,trainingof3,800health-careworkers—whowillbeplay-ing a crucial role in carrying outthe immunisationprocess inthecapital—concludedonTuesday.As announced by Chief

Minister Arvind Kejriwal, thegovernment will vaccinate 51lakh people in the first phase.Thecitywillneed1.2croredosestocoverprioritycategoriescom-prising healthcareworkers, po-lice, civil defence volunteers,thoseagedabove50andpeopleaged below 50with associatedco-morbiditiessuchasdiabetes,heart ailments, amongothers.TheIndianExpressspoketofive

healthcareworkerswhoattendedthe‘Trainingoftrainers’(TOT)ses-sionandwillnowimparttrainingtothoseinthenextlevel.

Dr SunilSinghal (49)President,East Delhibranch ofIndianMedicalAssociation“It was an

extensivetrainingsessiononhan-dling,storageandmanagementofthevaccine,onceitarrivesinDelhi.Wewill nowbe imparting train-ing todistrict- and local-level of-ficials,whowillbepartoftheim-munisation programme, inJanuary.Wewere informed thatvaccinationisexpectedtostartbythethirdweekofJanuary,”hesaid.

DrRitikaBakshi (30)Senior resident, departmentof community medicine,MaulanaAzadMedicalCollege“During the training pro-

gramme, we were informedaboutseveralvaccinecandidatesthat are in the fray and whatlevel the vaccination process isat. Itwasafullday-training,withdetailsonCovidcasesacrossthecountry andabrief backgroundon what measures have beentaken so far.Wewere told howeverything related to the vacci-nation processwill be operatedthroughtheCo-WINmobileapp.It was an extremely enrichingexperience,” shesaid.

DrAshwaniGoyal (58)Member, Delhi MedicalCouncil“Duringthesession,wewere

apprisedof thecoldchainmain-

tenance andhow benefici-aries will bepre-regis-tered.Thevac-cination areawillbedividedinto threerooms — awaitingarea,avaccinationroomand an observation room.Training was also provided onhow unused vials have to bekeptandwhatarethemeasuresthat need to be taken for eachbeneficiary. We have been in-formedthathealthcareworkerswill be provided pre-filled sy-ringes that will automaticallyget locked,”he said.

Dr WarishaMariam(30)Senior resi-dent, depart-mentof com-munitymedicine,MAMC“I was

given a huge opportunity to bea part of the training pro-gramme. It was an insightfulsessiononhowthegovernment,at the central and state level, isdoingmicroplanning inacom-prehensive manner. To vacci-nate 51 lakh individuals is acommendabletask,wearegladtobeapart of it,” she said.

DrVeenaVerma(48)District immunisationofficer“Wehavestartedtrainingof

officers at thedistrict level andare sharing experiences fromour session. During our train-ing programme, we havelearnteverythingaboutCovid-19 and the vaccination drive,”she said.

3,800HEALTHCAREWORKERSTRAINED

‘No respitefrom coldwave tillNew Year’EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

ACOLDwaveonTuesdaybroughtminimumtemperaturedownto2.6 degrees Celsius at SouthDelhi’sAyanagar,aspertheIMD.At Lodhi Road, minimum ornight-timetemperaturefellto2.7degrees Celsius, while theSafdarjungobservatory,whichisrepresentativeofDelhi,recorded3.6degreesCelsius,theIMDsaid.Thecoldwave isexpectedto

continue until January 1, as peran IMD forecast. KuldeepSrivastava, head of IMD’s re-gional meteorological centre,said,“Wehavecoldwindsblow-ingfromtheWesternHimalayanregion towards the plains ofNorthwest India, wheremanyplaceshaverecordedacoldwaveand also severe cold wave insomepockets.”Maximumorday-time tem-

peraturealsodippedonTuesdayto 16.1 degrees Celsius atSouthwestDelhi’s Jaffarpur, 16.2degreesatPalamand17.7degreesat Ayanagar. At Safdarjung, themaximumtemperaturewas18.1degrees Celsius, lower than20.9degreesrecordedonMonday.Delhi has recorded six cold

wavedayssofarthismonthandmoreareexpectedoverthenexttwodays.Acoldwaveisdeclaredwhen theminimum tempera-ture falls below 4 degreesCelsius, Srivastavasaid.

ABHINAVRAJPUTNEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

BJP LEADERS fromDelhi’s civicbodies have, over the past fewmonths, reached out to theCentreforfinancialassistancesotheycanpaysalariestostaffwhohaven’tbeenpaidinmonths.Butwith no money coming theirway, the BJP-ruledMCDs havecomeunderattackfromtheAAP.AAP’s MCD in-charge

DurgeshPathakTuesdaysaidtheBJP’s top brass has lost all hopein theMCDs. “They asked for fi-nancial assistance from theCentre but were not providedanymoney,”hesaid.In October, North MCD

Mayor Jai Prakash had metUnionMoS Anurag Thakur, fol-lowed by ameeting lastmonthwith Union Minister HardeepSinghPuri todiscuss the issue.The political wing of the

SouthMCDhas also sought theCentre’shelptoresolvetheissue,with a formermayorwriting toHomeMinister Amit Shah and

seeking his intervention. In theletter, he wrote that the localbody of Delhi (Union Territory)shouldbetreatedonparwithlo-calbodiesof other statesandbeincludedintheambitof the15thFinanceCommissionsothatit iseligibleforreceivinggrantsfromthecentral government.Senior leaders intheBJPsaid

several civic body leaders haveconveyedtothestateleadershipthatif thepresentconditionper-sists and the Centre doesn’t in-tervene, a negative perceptionwill hurt their chances in the2022municipal elections.NorthMCDMayor Prakash

confirmed that hemet Puri andtold him that arrangementsshould be made so that fundscome directly to MCDs as theDelhigovernmenthasallegedlynot paid Rs 13,000 crore due tothecorporations.The present financial crisis,

meanwhile, has once again ledtoMCDemployeesissuinganul-timatum that they will stage astrike from January 7 at the L-Ghouse if salariesarenotpaid.

DCW, police rescueex-MLA’s daughterfrom family home

No funds from Centre,MCDs find themselveswith backs to the wall

RaghavChadhasaid itwastheCM’s initiative

GajendraYadav

PremNathPandey

At Ghazipur, small farmers fromoutside Punjab say MSP just a dream

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

THE DELHI Commission forWomen(DCW)andDelhiPolicerescued a 44-year-old womanfrom her residence in PaschimViharonMondaynight,aftershewrote to the Delhi governmentalleging that her father, formerminister and MLA Raj KumarChauhan,hasheldhercaptiveattheir home. She alleged herbrother and father beat her upmercilessly.ADCWofficialsaid,“Theletter

was addressed to the ChiefMinisterandwasforwardedtoustwodaysago.Weactedonit im-mediately.”Chauhan,whowasaminister during Sheila Dikshit’stime,didnotrespondtocallsandtextsseekingacomment.The woman told the team

thatshegotmarried in1999andhas two daughters, but is sepa-ratedfromherhusband.Withherhusband married to anotherwoman,shehadbeenlivingwithherparents for thepast10years.

A divorce case is pending beforea court in Chandigarh, but herfamily did notwant her to get adivorce over “prestige issues”,saidDCWofficials.The woman told DCW her

brother had beaten her up andthreatened to kill her. After shewas rescued, shewas taken toPaschim Vihar police station,where her statement and thoseof her daughterswere recorded.She said shedidnotwant to livewithherparentsandwasshiftedtoashelterhome,officialssaid.DCP (Outer) Dr A Koan said,

“Alocalenquiryrevealedshewaslivingwith her two daughters,aged 20 and 13, on a separatefloor in her father’s house.Allegations levelledbythecom-plainant were denied by herdaughters.” However, the DCWsaidthefactthatshewasbeatenup was confirmed by her 13-year-olddaughter.TheDCWsaid it haswritten

to police, askingwhy only aDDentry has been registered in thematter.Police,however,saidfur-therenquiryisunderway.

City prepares for Covid shot,those at frontlines say ready

Amural spottedatNewFriendsColony.AmitMehra

TOTAL CASES

6,24,118Total Vacant

HOSPITAL BEDS 18,718 16,405VENTILATORS 1,525 943

Dailycases Recoveries Deaths TestsDec 28 564 959 21 57,463Dec 29 703 850 28 84,889Total 6,122* 6,074,94 10,502 84,93,400

*Total active cases

CORONAVIRUS IN THECAPITAL

0-50 Good

ANANDVIHARPoor

0 500

286AQIPM:2.5

SIRIFORTVeryPoor

0 500

SHADIPURPoor

0 500 500

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

DWARKA- SECTOR8Poor

0

281AQIPM:2.5

227AQIPM:10

301AQIPM:2.5

FORECAST: Dec30Mainlyclearsky.Shallowtomoderatefoginmorning.Coldwaveinpockets

S K Y WA T C H

MAX:182.5°Cbelownormal

MIN:43°Cbelownormal

New Delhi

LAUNCHEDUNDERMID-DAYMEALSCHEME

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

CHIEFMINISTERArvindKejriwalandDeputy CMManish SisodiaTuesday flaggedoff anewinitia-tive to distribute dry ration kitsunderthemid-daymealschemeto8lakhstudentsfromDelhigov-ernment schools, which shallcontinue till schools remainclosed. The schemewas flaggedoffatSKVNo.3atMandawali,andkitsweredistributedtoparentsof52studentsasastart."The last ninemonths have

beenhardandwedon’tseeitim-proving in the near future.Theworst affectedhavebeen schoolchildren.Healthandnutritionofmany children were compro-misedas,dueto the lockdown,apoorman found ithard toearn,"saidKejriwaltoteachersandpar-entsgatheredat theschool. SaidSisodia,"Duetothelockdown,thedamage done to education canperhaps not be compensatedlater.Wewishforschoolstoopen;hopefully things will improveonce the vaccine comes.Manydaily wage earners could notearn, and this negatively im-pactedtheirchildrenaswell.We

thought of wiring six-months'worth ofmid-daymeal schememoney to parents' accounts, butdecided that giving ration of thesameamountwouldbebetter."Thedry ration kit comprised

10.425kgofwheatandriceeach,7.713 kg of pulses and 2 litres ofoil.TheAkshayaPatranon-profitorganisation also distributed anadditional kit comprising sta-tionery, soap, sanitary napkins,biscuitsandotheritems. Thekitscost thegovernmentRs4.09perdayforaprimarystudentsandRs6.14perdayforanupperprimarystudent, as per DoE. NeeruKanchanfromtheDoE,whoisin-charge of the mid-day mealscheme, told The Indian Express,

"In normal times, the govern-mentisbilledRs4.48perprimarystudent(classI-V)perday,andRs6.71 per upper primary student(classVI-XII)perday."Anju (35), a single mother

fromMadhuViharwhosedaugh-ter Sakshi (12) is in Class IV,wasone of the first recipients of therationkits.“Whenmyhusband,amechanic, died inMay, findingmoneytorunthehouseholdwashard, althoughmy parents didhelp," she said. Though she hastakenacourseincosmeticssoshecanfindajobatabeautyparlour,shesaidshecontinuestostruggletofindemployment:“Iamtryingtofindanyjob,Iwilldoanything.Buttherearejustnojobs.”

8 lakh studentswillget dry ration kits: CM

Turned down bywoman, man killsher 15-year-old sonMAHENDERSINGHMANRALNEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy was al-legedly kidnapped by fourmenfromhis home inOuter Delhi'sNihal Vihar andmurdered, afterthevictim'smotherendedarela-tionshipwithoneoftheaccused.The incident took place onDecember22.Policesaidtwooftheaccused

have been arrested - AnkitPrajapati (31),whoworks for anonline food delivery company,andKapilSingh(23),whorunsaneatery in Palwal. Singh's elderbrother,PradeepSinghaliasSonu,istheallegedmastermind,andheand his associate MahendraKumarareontherun,policesaid.“Kapil toldpolicehisbrother,

who is alreadymarried,met thevictim'smother two years ago.The twowere in a relationshipanddecidedtogetmarried.KapilsaidtheirparentsdidnotapproveasPradeepwasalreadymarried.While the boy's mother askedPradeep to divorce his wife, hepressured her to be with himwithoutgettingmarried.Shebe-gan avoiding him andmarriedsomeoneelse threemonthsago.Angered by her decision, he de-

cided to take revenge. He al-legedlycalledhersononthepre-textof takinghimsomewhereinKumar's car and killed him,” anofficer said. Police said theteenagerwasadopted,andhisfa-therdiedtwoyearsago.Saidaseniorpoliceofficer,“On

December 22, the victim'smother received a call demand-ing Rs 50 lakh for her son’s re-lease.SheinformedpoliceandanFIRwasfiled.Thecaller'slocationwas traced to Faridabad.” AtFaridabad, police found the ac-cusedlefttheboybehindandes-caped. “They had strangled thevictim.Doctors said theboywaskilled a few hours after hewaskidnapped,"saidtheofficer.“A carwas spotted near the

victim's residence, whichwastracedtoKumar.Policealsofoundthenumber fromwhichtheran-somcallsweremadewas issuedon a forged ID to Pradeep,” asource said. Pradeep'shideout inChhatarpurwas raided, but hewasn'tthere.Policethencheckedhisbrother'sphonelocationdur-ing the incident. “It came to lightthat Kapilwas presentwith hisbrotherduringthecrime,andhadgonehomeafterthepoliceraidedat Faridabad. Hewas taken intocustody,andonhisinstance,Ankitwasdetained,"theofficersaid.

DIVYAANEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

THEDELHI arm of London’s fa-mous Madame Tussauds waxmuseum was “temporarilyclosed”eversincethelockdownwas announced onMarch 20.Now, the attraction, housed atConnaught Place’s RegalBuilding,willnotreopenatall,asits holding company, MerlinEntertainments India, has de-cided toshut shop.“Merlin Entertainments can

confirmitwillpermanentlycloseMadame Tussauds Delhi inConnaught Place,” Anshul Jain,generalmanager and director,MerlinEntertainmentsIndia,said.

Even though the companyhadannouncedaninvestmentof10millionEurosinIndiawhenitlaunched Madame TussaudsDelhi in November 2017, it hadreceived a tepid response fromvisitors.Manythoughttheticketpriceof Rs760wasadampener,and the outlet kept on pilinglosses. The premises has nowbeen vacated and the 120-oddwaxmodelspackedoff.Jain put the lukewarm re-

sponse for the centralDelhi out-letonthelocation.“Eventhoughitwasaprimelocation,werealisedinduecoursethattherewerealotofissues—encroachmentbyille-galstreetvendors,hawkers,park-ingissues,CP’sOuterCirclebeingano-stoppagezone,andtheplace

beingovercrowdedandunsafeforvisiting familieswith small chil-dren,”hetoldTheIndianExpress.The companyhad invested a

substantial sum indesigning theCPoutletandworkedoutaunique60:40model,wherein60%figureswerebasedonlocalpersonalities

and the restwere selected fromamong themuseum’s interna-tional galleries. “Generally, wework on a 40:60model, but theIndianmarket is different,” JainhadtoldTheIndianExpress.The opening gallery had

Bollywood actor Salman Khanpullingacyclerickshaw,whereinvisitors couldperchon thevehi-cle andget photographed. TherewasactorRanbirKapoorstandingshouldertoshoulderwithgrand-fatherRajKapoor,whowasinhisiconicAwarahoonstyle.Alsofea-turedamong50Indianandinter-national celebritieswere come-dianKapilSharma,actorsHrithikRoshan, Kareena Kapoor andNicole Kidman,musicians ZakirHussain andAsha Bhonsle, pop

starsBeyonceandLadyGaga,andsportspersonsUsainBolt,MilkhaSingh and Sachin Tendulkar. Italso brought Prime MinisterNarendraModi,MahatmaGandhiandSardar Patel under one roof,along with freedom fighterBhagat Singh and formerPresidentAPJAbdulKalam.JaintoldTheIndianExpressthat

theyare “certainly looking toex-ploreotheroptionsintheNCR”forthe attraction to reopen. “Publicbehaviourwill change after thepandemic. Peoplewould like tovisit places that aremore venti-latedandwhereallsafetyhygieneprotocols couldbe followed,” hesaid, adding that they are cur-rently exploringoptions athigh-endmalls inNoidaorGurgaon.

Wax museum feels Delhi heat, Madame Tussauds shuts

Atthe launchof thescheme,Tuesday.PremNathPandey

LaunchedinNovember2017,MadameTussaudsDelhireceivedatepidresponse fromvisitors.Archive

Delhi Transport Infrastructure DevelopmentCorporation Ltd.

An Enterprises of Govt. of NCT of Delhi.ISBT Anand Vihar Delhi-110092

NOTICE INVITING TENDERThe Executive Engineer, DTIDC invite tenders on behalf of MD, DTIDCLtd. for the following works through e-procurement solution only.1.NIT No. : 47/2020-21Tender ID No. : 2020_DTIDC_197729_1Name of work : Maintenance of ISBT Anand ViharSH : Deployment of computer Operator

for operation of RFID System atISBT Anand Vihar.

Estimated Cost : Rs. 51,05,854/-Earnest Money : Rs. 2,55,300/-Time Allowed : 365 DaysLast date of receipt of Tenders : 04/01/2021The Tender forms and other detail can be obtained from the website:https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in/

Sd/-Executive Engineer

DTIDC Ltd. ISBTDIP/Shabdarth/0518/20-21 Anand Vihar, Delhi

Delhi Transport Infrastructure DevelopmentCorporation Ltd.

An Enterprises of Govt. of NCT of Delhi.ISBT Kashmere Gate Delhi-110006

NOTICE INVITING TENDERThe Executive Engineer, DTIDC invite tenders on behalf of MD, DTIDCLtd. for the following works through e-procurement solution only.1.NIT No. : 48/2020-21Tender ID No. : 2020_DTIDC_197748_1Name of work : PURCHASE OF DESKTOP

COMPUTERS, PRINTERS ANDUPS

Estimated Cost : Rs. 19,06,000/-Earnest Money : Rs. 38,120/-Time Allowed : 28 DaysLast date of receipt of Tenders : 06/01/2021The Tender forms and other details can be obtained from the website:https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in/

Sd/-Executive Engineer (Elect)

DTIDC Ltd. ISBTDIP/Shabdarth/0519/20-21 Kashmere Gate, Delhi

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE MARKETING COMMITTEE(Market Of National Importanece)

New Office Complex, NFM- Ph.-II, Sarai Pipal Thalla,Azadpur, Delhi-33

NOTICE OF E-TENDERINGItem rate e-tenders are invited for the under mentioned works on behalfof Secretary, Agricultural produce Marketing Committee, Azadpur andopened online in the office of Secretary, APMC, Azadpur.

Date of release of tender through e-procurement solution: 22/12/2020S.No, 1 to 4 details can be seen at websitehttps://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in and s.no. 5 can beseen website www.delagrimarket.nic.in andwww.apmcazadpurdelhi.com.

Sd/-Executive Engineer,

DIP/Shabdarth/0522/20-21 APMC, AZADPUR

S.No.

Tender ID Name of Work EstimatedCost/

Earnestmoney

(In Rupees)

Last Date/Time of

Receipt ofTenders

1 2020_DAMB_197751_1

Re-Construction of BoundaryWall from Shed No.2 to ShedNo.3 along Railway Line, MNIAzadpur.

1,83,79,011/-3,68,000/-

To beUploadedtender on

04.01.2021upto 1300Hrs.

2 2020_DAMB_197755_1

Renovation of Officers personnelToilet Blocks (9 Nos.) at all floorsof office building (MNI), Azadpur

16,76,465/-33600/-

05.01.2021upto 1300Hrs.

3 2020_DAMB_193609_5

Hiring of two small crane installedon TATA-407 or equivalent forNSM and NFM APMC, Azadpur

14,40,000/-28800/-

06.01.2021upto 1300Hrs.

4 2020_DAMB_197762_1

OPERATION andMAINTNENANCE OFBOOSTER PUMPSSUBMERSIBLE PUMPS ANDMAINTENANCE OF WATERSUPPLY SYSTEM IN NSM, NFMPHASE-I and II, AZADPUR

29,03,620/-58100/-

07.01.2021upto 1300Hrs.

5 103-DAMB-2020-0002

Sale out the New Rear CoolingPackage loader 2DXL.

06.01.2021submitted

upto 2.30PM

SOUTHERN RAILWAY(CONSTRUCTION ORGANISATION)

E-TENDER NOTICE No.04/DCE/CN/SA/2020 (OT)

DATED 24.12.202005/DCE/CN/SA/2020 (OT)

DATED 24.12.2020The Depu t y Ch i e f Eng i nee r,Construction, Southern Railway,Salem - 636 005 invites e-tender forthe following work as per NoticeInviting tender (NIT) in our portalw w w . i r e p s . g o v . i n . T h etenderers/contractors intending toapply for the tender needs to gete n r o l l e d i n t h e p o r t a lwww.ireps.gov.in. and only onlinetenders will be accepted. The cost ofthe tender form and the EarnestMoney Deposit (EMD) should bemade through onl ine paymentgateway available in the website bythe way of multiple bank’s net bankingand credit card.Sl.No.1: Name of the work : Doublingof Track between Omalur andMetturdam- Proposed Construction ofFoot Over Bridges at Omalur &Mecheri road and Passenger PlatformShelters at omalur.A p p r o x i m a t e C a s h v a l u e :₹1,61,79,634.44/-. Earnest MoneyDeposit : ₹ 2,30,900/-. Cost of TenderForm: ₹0.00/-. Period of Completionin month(s): SIX. Closing Date @15:00hrs: 18.01.2021.Sl .No.2: Name of the work :Proposed new BG Line betweenChinnasalem and Kallakurichi -Housekeeping and maintenance ofof ce, ORH/Camp Of ce under thecontrol of Deputy Chief Engineer,Construction, Salem for period of Oneyear.A p p r o x i m a t e C a s h v a l u e :₹7,59,230.00/-. Earnest MoneyDeposit : ₹15,200.00/-. Cost ofTender Form : ₹ 0.00/-. Period ofCompletion in month(s) : TWELVE.Closing Date & Time @ 15.00 hrs:18.01.2021.For Further details refer to websiteportal www.ireps.gov.in or contactOf ce of the Deputy Chief Engineer,Construction, Salem - 636 005.

Deputy Chief Engineer,Construction, Salem - 636 005.

Follow us on : twitter.com/GMSRailway

Delhi Agricultural Marketing Board(Govt. of NCT of Delhi)

9, Institutional Area, Pankha Road, Janakpuri, New Delhi-110058Tel:- 28522085, 28525232 Fax:- 011-28522085,

Email:- ambdl@nic.in, Website:- www.delagrimarket.nic.in

NOTICE INVITING E-TENDERThe following item rate e-tender invited through e-tendering on behalf of competent authority:

(i) To be opened online in the office of Secretary, APMC Keshopur(ii) Technical Bid opening at 15:30 Hrs. on 14.01.2021.(iii) Terms and Conditions and details can be seen at website

https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.inSd/-

DIP/Shabdarth/0517/20-21 Secretary, APMC Keshopur

S.No

Name of work Estimatedcost

Earnestmoney

Time ofcompln.

Last Date & Timeof receipt of

tenders through e-procurement

Tender IDno/NIT No.

1 Engagement of Sanitationagency for Cleaning,Sweeping, Scavenging ofLanes, Bye-lanes,Footpath, Roads of APMC,Keshopur (F & V MarketKeshopur) Collection ofGarbage from these Spotsand Dumping /Disposal ofGarbage to Dhallao/ MCDSanitary Landfill Sites orauthorized land fill site ofAPMC/MCD

Rs1,00,90,692/-

Rs.2,01,900/-

12months

14.01.2021Up to 15.00 Hrs.

2020_DAMB_197769_1

CorrigendumOwing to administrative reasons,the date and time of submission ofbid and opening of bid in respect offollowing work is hereby extendedas below:Name of work: SITC of 2x500 kVAindoor dry type substation atMeghdood Bhawan, New Delhi.;NIT No.: 55/ EE /PED/ ND/ NIT/2020-21 dated 18.12.2020. Lastdate and time of submission ofbid is extended to 08.01.2021upto 15.00 hours. Date and timeof opening of bid: 08.01.2021upto 15.30 hours. All other termsand conditions of NIT shall remainsame. Bid forms and other detailscan be obtained from the websitehttps://dopcivil.euniwizarde.com

Sd/-Eexutive Engineer (E), PostalElectrical Division, New Delhi

DEPARTMENT OFPOSTS

NOTICE INVITINGe-TENDER

THECITY4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

SHIVAMPATELNEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

THE DELHI Jal Board (DJB) saidwater supply to parts of north,central and south Delhi wouldbedisruptedonWednesdayfol-lowingaspike inammonia lev-els in theYamuna. Blaming theHaryanagovernmentforreleas-ing industrial effluents into theYamuna “despite repeated re-minders”, DJB vice-chairmanandAAPleaderRaghavChadhaTuesday asked the CentralPollutionControl Board (CPCB)and the Upper Yamuna RiverBoard(UYRB)tolookintotheis-sue and sternly deal with thestate’s “irresponsible behav-iour”.Haryana State

Pollution ControlBoard (HSPCB)membersecretarySNarayanansaidtheyhave increased vigi-lance and are carry-ing out inspectionsof all industrialunits: “Nomajor violation hasbeennoted so far.Wehavedis-cussed our position with DJBand theCPCB.”The impact of increasing

pollution in the Yamuna is be-ingnotedinfrequentdisruptiontoDelhi’swater supply.The most recent spike was

notedonMondayandTuesday,when ammonia levels shot upto7.3partspermillion(ppm)atthe Wazirabad pond area —whereDJBdrawswater from—against its acceptable limit of0.5 ppm.

Whathappenswhenammonia levels increase?When the concentration

rises beyond the DJB’s treat-ment capacity of 0.9 ppm, wa-terproductionat3outof 9wa-ter treatment plants —Wazirabad, Chandrawal andOkhla — have to be stopped orreduced,which impactssupplytopartsof thecity.The issue isalong-standing one betweenHaryanaandDelhi,withDJBof-ficials stating that the spike inammonia levelshasbeenmorefrequent this year.

Why isHaryanablamed?TheYamunaflowsintoDelhi

fromHaryanaandthestatehasindustrialunits inSonipat,close

to Delhi’s northern border.Ammonia is used as an indus-trialchemical intheproductionof fertilisers, plastics anddyes.A specific area where both

Haryana and Delhi agree on isthemixingof twodrains carry-ing drinkingwater and sewageor industrial waste, or both, inSonipat.Drainnumber8bringspotablewater tothecapitalanddrain number 6 carries waste-water.Thetwodrainsoftenmixdue to overflow or damage tothewall that separates them.Haryana’s irrigationdepart-

ment is expected to start a ten-dering process to build a con-duit pipeline and prevent themixing of two drains, officialssaid.Haryana government offi-

cials also state thatthe issue is beingraised frequently byDelhi because itwantsmorewatertobe released into theYamunatomeet thecity’sgrowingwaterdemand.

Chadha, however, said thecity at present receives “muchless than the share ofwaterwedeserve”.

What is the solution?Officials in Haryana and in

the DJB state that the Boardshould increase its capacity totreatammonia levels inthewa-ter.In a recent meeting, Water

Minister Satyendar Jain has di-rected that ozone-based unitsto treat ammonia levels up to4ppm should be installed atChandrawal and WazirabadWTPs.The laying of a conduit

pipelinetoseparatedrainnum-ber 8 and 6 would also reducepollution of potable water.However, it is not clear whenthiswouldbe completed.The National Green

Tribunal-appointed YamunaMonitoringCommitteehasalsosaidapprovals tobuild thecon-duit should be fast tracked.The panel had also recom-

mended to the Ministry of JalShakti earlier this year to re-work the 1994water sharing pact betweenUttarakhand, HimachalPradesh,Haryana,DelhiandUPto revive the river by releasingmore freshwater into it.

Yamuna ammoniaup, Delhi blamesHaryana for laxity

BRIEFLYTwoheldforkillingmanNewDelhi:Twomen, in-cludingaDTCbusconduc-tor, were arrested forallegedlykillinga40-year-oldwhotheysuspectedathief in Sonia Vihar. Thethirdaccusedisontherun.Police said on the inter-vening night of Friday-Saturday, the accusedweredrinking intheircaratMilanGarden. At11pm,theysawthevictimroam-ingaroundadairynearby,owned by one of the ac-cused, and suspected hewasathief.Theybeathimup,saidpolice.

‘EnsureRFIDcomplianceat13tollplazasfromJan1’NewDelhi: Commissionfor Air QualityManagement asked theSouth MCDto ensurecompliance of RadioFrequency Identificationsystems at 13 toll plazasfrom January 1. An envi-ronmentministry state-ment Tuesday said thesystemwasnotbeingfullyimplemented at the tollssinceAugust14.ENS

New Delhi

ADVERTORIAL

Why do you think corporates have aresponsibility to help society?In today’s world,businesses like every otherstakeholder have a responsibility towardsthe society. Social responsibility today is nolonger a ‘nice to have’ agenda, rather it is anintegral part of the way of business is con-ducted.I also feel that in the process of nationbuilding, the government needs whole-hearted engagement and support from cor-porates - in the form of doing responsiblebusiness and for giving back to the society,especially in and around their areas of oper-ations.

At ReNew, social responsibility is in ourDNA.We are in a responsible business areaand generate clean energy and therebyhelp the country mitigate its carbon foot-print. We also actively give back to ourcommunities. Our aim is to contribute tonation building not only through our busi-ness activities but also through social re-sponsibility.Whether it is equipping schoolsto generate clean energy to power educa-tion or build the next generation of sports-people by training the youth or empoweringwomen through self- help groups, ReNewbelieves in strengthening the society andenriching the lives of the citizens of thiscountry through its various social initia-tives.

How would you characterise the cul-ture of giving at ReNew Power?Our social responsibility journey began in2011 with our inception. We started smallwith community welfare activities aroundour sites and eventually streamlined our ini-tiatives in line with the UN SDGs. Over theyears we have developed a culture of indi-vidual social responsibility where employ-ees at ReNew through volunteering activi-ties engage with the communities across ourareas of operations. One such programmewhich we run during the winter season isGift Warmth.

What is Gift Warmth? How was thisconceptualized?Gift Warmth is an annual CSR initiative atReNew Power. As the earth’s climatechanges due to carbon emissions from fossilfuels,many parts of the world are seeing ex-treme climatic conditions and unseasonalweather patterns. The Gift Warmth cam-paign is an attempt to help those, who areimpacted the most by these extreme climaticchanges. It is a humble bid to bring about alittle comfort to those suffering from harshand long winters, mostly in northern andcentral parts of India.Our aim is that ‘no onein India should suffer due to cold weather’and towards this, we distribute blankets to

the needy individuals who do not have themeans to fight the cold. We have been do-ing this for over 5 years at ReNew Power.

The idea germinated in the year 2015when we were looking to do something forengaging our employees and giving back.During that period,we read reports that peo-ple on the streets of Delhi were dying due tocold and this is when this initiative was con-ceptualised. It started as an employee en-gagement activity and has now emerged asour annual flagship programme.

Is this a pan India Initiative? How doyou identify areas for distribution?Yes, it is a pan India initiative.We started off inDelhi NCR and gradually moved to geogra-phies which are low on HDI and are alsocold.We zeroed down on areas in Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh,and Gujarat,some of themsurrounding our areas of operations,and arenow focussing on covering districts, blocks,and villages in these identified states. Weclosely work with the district administrationto identify vulnerable populations in the dis-tricts and then organize distribution drivesthrough our employees.

How has Gift Warmth evolved overthe years?The initiative began in 2015 when we dis-tributed 5000 blankets on the streets ofDelhi NCR.This was solely done through dis-tribution drives by our employees. Over thepast 5 years,we not only have scaled up ourefforts and distributed over 90,000 blankets,but we have also increased the scope of ourgeographies by targeting cold regions in Ra-jasthan, MP, UP, Haryana, and Gujarat. This

year our target is to distribute 50,000 blan-kets. We not only aim to help them combatthe harsh winters but also create awarenessin the society towards the climate emer-gency the world is facing.

How do you visualize this in the nextfew years? Are there any majorstakeholders that you are partneringwith?Our aim is to touch 1 million lives over thenext 5 years starting this year. Our idea isto scale up this initiative through a collabo-rative approach with other members of theIndia Inc., the government, and other phil-anthropic organizations. Our programmewas in fact appreciated by the erstwhileSecretary to the Honourable President ofIndia, Mr. Sanjay Kothari. His guidance toscale up the initiative has inspired us togrow the ‘Gift Warmth’ campaign in scaleand involve multiple stakeholders throughan organized collaborative effort.We thankhim whole-heartedly. I would like to inviteothers to join hands with us and experiencethis joy of giving.

Given that Gift Warmth addresses anissue which is climate related, whatdo you think about the climatechange situation in India?The world today is at the brink of a climateemergency which if not addressed now willhave catastrophic effects in the future.Overthe last few years, we have seen extremeweather calamities in India, be it in theform of floods or extreme cold and heat.Wehave seen that winters are getting harsherevery year and Gift Warmth aims to equipthe vulnerable on the streets combat theseextremely cold days.Through this initiative,we are also engaging with a range of stake-holders to create awareness around the cli-mate change issue both globally and na-tionally.

How can one become a part of thisinitiative?Anyone who wishes to join this campaigncan donate by logging on to www.icharity.in.I would urge everyone to contribute as muchas one can and help us reach out to manymore needy individuals.

Clean energy major ReNew Power’s blanket donation drivegathers steam as cold wave grips Northern India

Highlights from the 6th Edition of the Gift Warmth blanket donation drive conducted by ReNew Power in MP,Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi – NCR. ReNew Power through its employees is distributing 50,000 blankets thiswinter to the needy

Ms Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Chief Sustainability Officer, ReNew Power and Founding Chair, ReNew Foundation

5THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

GOVT&POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

YOUTH CONNECTAT21,AryaRajendranhasfoundadmirersfromacrossthebor-der.InneighbouringSriLanka,NamalRajapaksa–sonofPrimeMinisterMahinda Rajapaksa – congratulated her for beingelectedthemayorof ThiruvananthapuramMunicipalCouncil.Namal,who is the Sports andYouth affairsMinister in the SriLankanCabinet,said,“Nodoubtyoursuccessstorywillpavewayandinspiremoreyoungsters,particularlywomen,tofollowyourpath.”NamalhimselfwaselectedanMPin2010attheageof24.

ANNIVERSARY PLANSASINDIAandBangladeshplantojointlycommemoratethe50thanniversaryofthe1971LiberationWar,theCongresstoohasbe-gunparalleleffortstocelebratetheevent.Congresschief SoniaGandhihassetupapanelheadedbyformerDefenceMinisterAKAntonytoplantheparty’sactivities tomarktheanniversary.TheCongressdoesnotwanttoletgooftheoccasionsincesplit-tingof Pakistanbythe IndiraGandhigovernmenthadbeen itscountertotheBJP’snationalismplank.ThecommitteeincludesPunjabCMAmarinderSingh,MeiraKumarandPrithvirajChavanamongothers.

PLAYING MEDIATOREYESONChristianvotesinKerala,theBJPseemstobeworkinghard on every posssible opportunity. On Tuesday,MizoramGovernor and former BJP state chief P S Sreedharan Pillaibrought the twowarring factions of Jacobite andOrthodoxchurchinKeralatomeetPMNarendraModi.Accordingtorep-resentativesofbothfactions,thePMgavethemapatienthear-ing.While one side complained that their right toworship isbeing denied, the other side highlighted the 2017 SupremeCourt verdict that stated that there could not be a division orseparationofchurcheswithinthechurch.TheorderhadgivenanupperhandtotheOrthodoxfactionover thechurch's tem-poral properties, but the Jacobite factionwants the state’s in-tervention to circumvent it. It remains to be seen if the BJP orPMwouldbeabletoresolvethedecades-longdispute.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBHOPAL,DECEMBER29

THEMADHYAPradesh Cabinetcleared the Freedomof ReligionOrdinance, 2020at avirtual spe-cial meeting on Tuesday. TheOrdinance,whichstipulatesajailterm of up to 10 years and apenaltyofRs1lakhforforcedre-ligiousconversion,willcomeintoeffectafteritreceivestheapprovalofGovernorAnandibenPatel.Soonafter theCabinetmeet-

ing, Home Minister NarottamMishratoldreporters:“Tostopourdaughters from getting fooled,cheated, and lured into gettingtheirreligionconverted,alawhasbeenmade and approved as anOrdinance and sent toGovernorAnandiben Patel. Itwill soonbeapprovedandbecomelaw.”TheOrdinancewas brought

afteraspecialthree-daysessionofthe Assemblywas called off inview of the pandemic. TheCabinetalsoclearedanOrdinancestipulating life imprisonment for

adulteration of medicines andfood items. A fakeplasma racketwas unearthed in Gwalior re-cently, and therewere reports ofpossibleadulterationintheCovid-19immunisationprogramme.The Freedom of Religion

Ordinance seeks to sustain thefreedomof religionasassured intheConstitution by ensuringnoindividualoranorganisationusesallurement,misrepresentation,useofthreat,forceorundueinflu-ence,coercion,marriageorsomefraudulentmeans to carry outconversion.The Ordinance has put the

burdenofproofontheaccused.Itdoesnotidentifyaperson’sreturntotheirfather’sreligionatthetimeof theirbirthasconversion.Casescanbedealtonlybypo-

lice personnel of ranknot lowerthan thatof a Sub-Inspector, andonlyparentsandsiblingsoftheaf-fected individual can file a com-plaintdirectly. In caseaguardianoracustodianwantstoregisteranoffence, theymust approach aSessionsCourtauthorisedtodealwith the matter, for an order.Those identified as frequent of-fenderscanfacejailtermsoffiveto10years.For those carryingout forced

conversions, theOrdinance stip-ulates jail terms of one to fiveyears,withafineofRs25,000.Thepenaltyincaseofuseof“misrep-resentation” or “impersonation”for religious conversionwill behigher,includingajailtermof3-10yearsandafineofRs50,000.The Ordinance states that

forcedmarriages done for pur-posesofreligiousconversionwillbe declarednull andvoidby theconcerned family court empow-eredtoannulsuchmarriages.Butchildren born out of suchmar-riagewill not be illegitimate andwill have rights in father’s prop-

erty,while thewomanwouldbeassuredmaintenance.Thematterofmaintenancewill be dealt asperSection125of theCrPC.TheOrdinanceenvisagesajail

termof 2-10years in case aper-sonbeingconvertedisaminor,orbelongs to a ScheduledCaste orScheduledTribe,withapenaltyofRs 50,000. Those carrying outmass conversionswill face a jailtermof3-5years,withapenaltyofRs 1 lakh. Repeat offenderswillfaceajailtermof5-10years.Like in theUPOrdinance, or-

ganisationsorpriestscarryingoutconversions have to inform thedistrictadministration60daysinadvance,failingwhichtheorgan-isation can have its registrationcancelledandthepriestorfacilita-torcanfaceajailterm.ButtheMPOrdinance stipulates a higherpenalty (of Rs 50,000, and 3-5years’ jail term)insuchcases.WiththenewOrdinancecom-

ingintoforce,the52-year-oldTheMadhya Pradesh DharmaSwatantraAdhiniyam,1968,willberepealed.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

AGROUPof 104 retiredbureau-crats have written to UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath,expressing“deepdis-approval”andconcernat theuseofthe“anti-lovejihad”lawandcit-ingspecificcasesof itsuse.Demandingwithdrawalofthe

illegal ordinance, and suitablecompensation for those bookedunder it, the letter states: “It hasbecomepainfullyevidentthat, in

recent years, UP, once knownasthe cradle of theGanga-Jamunacivilisation, has become the epi-centreofthepoliticsofhate,divi-sion andbigotry and that the in-stitutionsofgovernancearenowsteepedincommunalpoison...”Amongthesignatoriesarere-

tired bureaucrats such as ShivShankar Menon, WajahatHabibullah, TKANair, K SujathaRao, andA SDulat – theywrotethattheyhave“nopoliticalaffilia-tionbut share a commitment totheideaof IndiaasdefinedinourConstitution”.

Citing the caseof an arrest inMoradabad, the letter states thatthepoliceremainedmutespecta-torsasvigilantes“harassedthein-nocentcoupleandcalledittheef-fective murder of an unbornchild”.Thebureaucratswrotethatthis

wasonlyoneofaseriesof“heinousatrocities” committed againstyoung Indians “who are simplyseekingtolivetheirlivesasfreecit-izens of a free country”. Theywrote:“Theseatrocities,regardlessoftheindignationofallIndiansde-voted to theruleof law, continue

unabated.Theanti-conversionor-dinanceofyourStateisbeingusedas a stick to victimise especiallythoseIndianmenwhoareMuslimandwomenwhodaretoexercisetheirfreedomofchoice.”Stating that UP has nowbe-

cometheepicentreofthepoliticsof hate, division andbigotry, theretiredbureaucratswrote:“Whatisworseisthatyourlawenforce-mentmachinery,with theactivebacking of your government, isplaying a role reminiscent of thesecret police in authoritarianregimes...”

LALMANIVERMADEHRADUN,DECEMBER29

UTTARAKHAND POLICE onTuesdaybooked fourpeople forallegedlyviolatingprovisionsofthe Uttarakhand Freedom ofReligion Act, 2018, after it wasfound that a woman had con-verted to Islam tomarry amanin September this yearwithoutfollowingprovisionsof the law.Thewomanandherhusband

have been booked in the casealongwiththelatter'suncleandaqaziwhoperformedtheconver-sionandsolemnisedthe'nikah'.This is seen as the first case

undertheUttarakhandFreedomofReligionActsincethelawwasenacted in2018.The FIR has been lodged at

Patel Nagar police station ofDehradun against the woman,herhusbandSamirAli,hisuncleShaukeen, andqaziMufti SalimAhmed.According to police officers,

the issue come to light earlierthisyearwhenSamirmovedtheNainital High Courtwith a pleaseeking protection for himself.ThecourtdirectedtheDehradundistrictmagistrate (DM) tocon-duct an investigation. CircleOfficer (Sadar)AnujKumarwasassignedtheprobe.Asperapolicerelease,Samir

hadmet the woman at tuitionclasses in Dehradun around ayearandhalfago–atthetimehewas 21 and the woman 19.Accordingtopolice,theydecidedtomarry this yearwithmutualconsensus, and approachedMufti SalimAhmedwho, asperpoliceprobe,performedconver-sion of the woman and issuedheracertificateofhernewname

without allegedly completingdueprocess.The same day – on

September29–theqazi solem-nisedtheirnikahinthepresenceof Samir’s uncle, Shaukeen, ac-cording toprobe.Circle Officer Anuj Kumar

said: “It was found that Samir,the woman, the qazi andShaukeen have violated theDharma SwatantrataAdhiniyam, 2018 (UttarakhandFreedomofReligionAct).Onthisground, a case has been regis-teredagainst them.”Kumar said the nikah was

performedwithout knowledgeof thewoman'sparents.Atpres-ent, she is living with her hus-band, theCOsaid.The FIRhasbeen lodgedun-

der Sections 3, 8 and 12 ofUttarakhand Freedom ofReligionAct.Section3ofthelawrelatesto

prohibition of religious conver-sionbymisrepresentation,force,fraud,undueinfluence,coercion,allurementormarriage.Section8provides that theonewhode-sires to convert should give adeclaration at least onemonthin advance to the DM abouthis/her wish to convert at freewillandwithoutanyforce,coer-cion, undue influence or allure-ment. The religious priest whoperforms the conversion cere-mony is required by law to giveonemonth’s notice to the DM,who in turn is required to get apolice inquiry doneon the “realintention,purposeandcause”ofthat proposed religion conver-sion, the lawsays.Section 12 relates to people

deemedinvolvedincommittingthe offence by doing the act, oraidingothers.

ShivrajSinghChouhan

MPCabinet clears Ordinanceto stop forced conversions

104 ex-bureaucrats write to Yogi: UP isnow epicentre of politics of hate, bigotry

FIRSTCASEUNDERNEWLAWINUTTARAKHAND

3 months after Hinduwoman converted tomarry, couple amongfour people booked

New Delhi

New Delhi

GOVT&POLITICS 7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

HARYANA STATE CHILD PROTECTION SOCIETYWOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

Bays No. 15-20, Pocket-II, Sector-4, Panchkula,Phone No. 0172-2580359

ADVERTISEMENTApplications are invited to fill up posts of Chairperson, Child Welfare

Committee & Member Child Welfare Committee/Juvenile Justice Board asper provisions under Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act,2015 and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules,2016 as per following Qualification, Terms and Condition:

Honorarium: Member of the Juvenile Justice Board, Chairperson andMember of Child Welfare Committee shall be paid as persitting which shall include Sitting Allowance, TravelAllowance and any other Allowance, as the StateGovernment may prescribe.

TERMS & CONDITIONS:1. Applicant must have a domicile of Haryana2. Applicant will maintain his/her headquarter as the presence is required even at

odd hours or on short notice and the appointment will be cancelled if headquar-ter is not maintained.

3. Applicant shall have to submit a Self-declaration/Affidavit on the following pointswith application form, All conditions from (i) to (vii) of the following point must befulfilled.

i. He/she does not previous conviction record.ii. He/she has not been involved in any immoral act or in the Act or Child abuse or

employment of Child Labour.iii. He/she is not holding such other full time occupation that does not allow him/her

to give necessary time and attention to the work.iv. He/she will give details about his/her Previous/Present post tenure in any District

of Juvenile Justice Board and Child Welfare Committee.v. No enquiry is pending against him/her in any Agency/Court.vi. The applicant should not have any past record of violation of Human Rights or Child

Rights.vii. The applicant should not have been removed or dismissed from service of the

Central Government or a State Government or an Undertaking or Corporationowned or controlled by the Central Government or a State Government.

4. Willing candidates may send/submit their application form on the prescribed formaton or before 29.01.2021 till 5.00 P.M. along-with supporting documents i.e.Educational Qualification and Experience Certificate etc. in the office of concernedDistrict Programme Officer- Women and Child Development of respective District.

5. Direct application received at Headquarter of WCD, will be rejected.6. Department has reserved the right to reject the incomplete application form with-

out any prior notice of the candidate.7. Incomplete Application form in any manner will be rejected.8. Prescribed Application Performa may be downloaded from the departmental web-

site www.wcdhry.gov.in. Member SecretaryHaryana State Child Protection Society

Women and Child Development Department,Haryana, Panchkula.

Sr. Name of Post District wise NumberNo. of Posts

1. Chairperson (Child welfare Committee) Ambala

2. Member (Child Welfare Committee) Bhiwani-1 Post & Rohtak-2 Posts

3. Member (Juvenile Justice Board) Faridabad- 1 Post (Reserved forFemale) & Sirsa- 1 Post

Minimum seven years experience of working with Children in thefield of Education, Health, or Welfare Activities, or should be apracticing professional with a Degree in Child Psychology orPsychiatry or Sociology or in the field of law.

Not less than 35 years on the date of Advertisement.

Seven years of experience of working with Children in the field ofEducation, Health, or Welfare Activities, or should be a practicingprofessional with a Degree in Child Psychology or Psychiatry orSocial Work or Sociology or Human Development or in the fieldof law or a retired Judicial Officer.

Above the age of 35 years on the date of advertisement.

Three Years

Qualification of JJBMember

Age of JJB Member:

Qualification ofChairperson/ Memberof CWC

Age of CWCChairperson & Member

Tenure:

1133/4/HRY

HARYANA ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSIONBays No. 33-36, Sector-4, Panchkula-134109

Telephone No. 0172-2582531; Fax No. 0172-2572359Website: http://herc.gov.in

PUBLIC NOTICEInviting Objections/Comments/Suggestions on the Petitionfiled by M/s. L R Energy Pvt. Ltd. under Section 62 of theElectricity Act, 2003 and all other enabling provisions of

the Act read with the relevant provisions of HaryanaElectricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions

for determination of Tariff from Renewable EnergySources, Renewable Purchase Obligation and RenewableEnergy Certificate) Regulations, 2017 for determination of

Project Specific Tariff of 20 MWp (AC) Solar PV PowerPlant located at Tosham, Dt. Bhiwani, Haryana.

(HERC/PRO-70 of 2020).The aforementioned petition can be downloaded, free of cost,

from the HERC website. All interested parties may submit tencopies of their objections along with supporting documents, ifany, to the Secretary, HERC, Bays No. 33-36, Sector-4,Panchkula-134112 along with an Affidavit and Soft Copy of thesame at E-mail ID: secretary.herc@gov.in and dir-trf.herc@gov.in, on or before 25.01.2021. A copy of theComments/Objections may be directly sent to the Petitioner (E-maiI ID: ceo@lrenergy.in). The objections should carry fullname, complete Postal Address and Phone Number/E-mailAddress, if any, of the person sending the objection.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission will holdpublic hearing in respect of above case on 09.02.2021 throughvirtual Court. The link along with its code, will be E-mailed to thestakeholders filing written comments, separately.

Sd/-Director/Tariff,

HERC, Panchkula.1140/4/HRY

ATRIMITRABOLPUR,DECEMBER29

CHIEF MINISTER MamataBanerjee on Tuesday invokedRabindranath Tagore in herspeechatapublicmeetinghereinBirbhumdistrict,andhitoutattheBJPsayingthatthelandofTagorewouldneverallowhatepoliticstotriumphoversecularism.The Trinamool Congress

(TMC)chief attendedafour-kilo-metreroadshowbeforeaddress-ingtherallyinwhichsheaccusedthesaffronpartyofenablingcom-munal politics at Visva-Bharati,whichwasfoundedbyTagore.Shealso targeted Visva-BharatiUniversity(VBU)Vice-ChancellorBidyutChakrabarty,callinghima“BJPman”.Alleging that theOpposition

party had defamed bothSantiniketan, the Bolpur neigh-bourhoodwhereVisva-Bharatiislocated, and Nobel laureateAmartya Sen, Banerjee said,“Those who do not respectMahatmaGandhiandothericonsofthecountryaretalkingofbuild-ing ‘Sonar Bangla [GoldenBengal]’.RabindranathTagoreal-readycreated ‘SonarBangla’ sev-eraldecadesago,allweneedtodois to protect the place from thecommunalonslaughtof theBJP.”Lastweek, theVBUadminis-

trationwrotetothestategovern-ment, alleging thatAmartya Senwasamong the illegaloccupantsoflanditowns.Senhasdeniedtheallegations, andBanerjeehas re-

peatedlydefendedtheNobellau-reate, sayinghe isbeing targetedsincehe is ideologically opposedtotheBJP.“I feel badwhen I see efforts

areontopursuecommunalpoli-ticsatVisva-Bharati.TheV-CthereisaBJPman,heistryingtotarnishtheheritageof this institutionbypractising communal politics,”Banerjeealleged.Reiterating that the BJP is a

party of “outsiders”, she said,“They are blackmailingus in thenameof agencies. Iwould like totell themtoday,wewill not bowourheadsbeforethosewhokilledGandhi ji and insultedRabindranathTagore.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,DECEMBER29

BJP’SLOKSabhaMPfromBharuchandtriballeaderMansukhVasavaTuesdayresignedfromtheparty.InalettertoGujaratBJPpresidentC R Paatil, Vasava stated hewillsubmit his resignation as aMemberofParliamenttotheLokSabhaSpeakerduringtheupcom-ingBudgetSession.TheBJPleader,whoisslatedto

meet senior BJP leaders at hisRajpipla residenceWednesday,said, “I have resigneddue tomyage-relatedhealth issues. I havebeen nursing some back andspine issues thatarealso trigger-ingmigraines.Ihavetoldthepartypreviouslythatitisdifficultformetoundertakeextensivetravellingin the constituency, especiallywithsomanyimportantelectionscomingupatthetalukapanchay-atsanddistrictlevel.Theresigna-tionispurelyformypersonalrea-sons and I do not intend towithdraw it... I have no grousewith either theparty or thegov-ernment.”Hisresignationcomesdaysaf-

ter hewrote to PrimeMinisterNarendraModiseekingthewith-drawal of a Ministry ofEnvironment,ForestandClimateChange(MoEFCC)notificationde-claring 121 villages inNarmadadistrictasaneco-sensitivezoneto“mitigate the protests” by tribalcommunities.Vasava,whohasraisedseveral

tribal issues inthepast,however,saidtheissueoftheeco-sensitivezone should not be associatedwithhisresignation.Meanwhile, senior BJP func-

tionaries,sourcessaid,haverushedtorequestVasavatoreconsiderhisdecision.Paatiltoldreportersthatthepartywashopefulofasolutionsoon. “In the letter sent tome,Vasava onlymentioned that hewill quit as an MP during thebudget session. He is unhappyover some issuesand Idiscussedthemwith ChiefMinister VijayRupanithismorning…Wearetry-ing to convinceVasava and I amconfidentof a solutionon this is-suesoon,”Paatilsaid.Asix-termMP,Vasavahadear-

lier extendedhis support to theongoingoppositionof the tribalstoMay5,2016,MoEFCCnotifica-tion.

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

WITHINCREASEDcommitmentsand budgetary constraints, theNavyhasbeenlookingatvariousoptionssuchasrationalisationofrequirements and internationalcooperation to cope with thechallenges,aseniorofficerof theforcetoldTheIndianExpress.Costreductioniscrucial,hesaid,withthe Covid-19 pandemic hurtingthe economy across sectors, in-cludingdefence.“TheNavyhasrationalisedits

requirements, reduced plans,”the officer told The IndianExpress, although he assertedthat“nobodycancomeandbullyIndiaanymore”.Although the Navy's capital

outlay increasedfromRs23,156crore in 2019-20 to Rs 26,688crore in 2020-21, the situationarisingoutof thepandemicmayforcechanges.Witheffectsof thepandemic

expected to remain for sometime, the officer said rationalis-

ingrequirementsisimportanttodealwith thedownsizingof thebudget.Forexample,hesaid,theNavyhasrevisedsomenumbersinkeyacquisitionprojects.It has cut down the require-

ment of 10 P8i surveillance air-craft to six. For minesweepervessels, the requirement wasslashedfromtheearlier24to12.Andnow, thenumbermight befurther reduced to eight, al-though a proposal is yet to besubmitted. Similarly, LandingPlatformDocks, which are am-phibiouswarfare ships, the re-quirement is being rationalisedfromtheoriginalfourtotwo,theofficer said.Healsocitedtheinductionof

unarmedversionofSeaGuardianPredator drones from anAmerican firm in November.While the three services have ajoint demand for 30 such HighAltitudeLongEndurancedrones,the Navy has taken two dronesfor surveillance on lease to plugthecriticalgaps.“The Navywill do cost-ben-

efitanalysisforleasingforevery-

thing, and is willing to explorethe option for everything,” theofficer said.Anotherprojectthathasseen

reduction in the numbers is fordeck-based fighter jets. In 2017,the Navy had floated a RequestforInformationfor57fighterjetsfrominternationalmanufactur-ers,buttheofficersaidit is likelytoberevised to34now.The induction cycle will be

timedinsuchaway,hesaid,that

by the time the current fleet ofMig29kstartsfadingout,thegapwill bemetby indigenouslyde-signedTwin-EngineDeckBasedFighteraircraftbeingdevelopedby Hindustan AeronauticsLimited. The officer said, “TheNavy is fully committed to sup-porting the HAL for the Twin-EngineDeckBasedAircraft.”He said international coop-

erationalso reduces costs alongwith improving ownmainte-

nanceandhumanresource.“Insteadofhaving10ships,as-

setsofothercountriescanpartic-ipatetogether[inamission].”Co-operation with like-mindedcountriesisessential,hesaid.“Wetendtoeconomise,tryandgetthemostbangforthebuckfrompart-nerships, sharing informationwithothernations,”hesaid.Theofficersaidinternational

cooperation helps build mar-itimedomainawareness.Givingthe example of the Navy'sInformation Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR),which came into existence twoyearsago,hesaidthereareNavalofficers fromothernations too.“DuetotheIFC-IOR,wehave

informationavailablefromvari-ous sources, to develop a com-prehensive picture. The sea isopentoall,yourfriends,youren-emies, your neutrals. Now, howdo you knowwho is an enemy,whoisafriend.Whatwearedo-ingiscreatingmaritimedomainawareness,”hesaid.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,DECEMBER29

A TRINAMOOL Congress (TMC)youthleaderwasshotdeadininHowrahdistrict’s Shalimar areaonTuesdayafternoon,followingwhich local people vandalisedseveral shops and buses, andtorchedmotorcycles,policesaid.RapidActionForce(RAF)per-

sonnel were deployed to bringthesituationundercontrol.Sourcessaidunidentifiedas-

sailantsshotDharmendraSingh,acting president of TrinamoolYouth Congress in Howrah’sWard 39 at point-blank rangewhile he was returning fromShalimaronabike.Thegunmanmanoeuvred close to his bikeand shot Singh near ShalimarGate Number 3 area and spedoff. Aperson ridingpillionwithSinghwas injured in the attack,police said.Singhwas taken to hospital

withmultiple injuries, and suc-cumbed soon. Local residentswentonarampage inprotest.StateministerArupRoy,who

visited the hospital, said: “Hewasour co-worker, hewas shotfrompoint-blankrange.Hesuc-cumbed to his injuries. The po-lice have been asked to start aninquiry to find out those in-volved. Anyone found involvedwill faceaction.”

Howrah: TMC youth leader shotdead, RAF deployed after violence

WestBengalCMMamataBanerjeewithaportraitofRabindranathTagoreduringarally inSantiniketan,Birbhum.ParthaPaul

Mamata takesonVisva-BharatiV-C,BJPpolitics

E●EXPLAINED

TheIORchallengeWITH CHINA investing heavily to become a larger globalpower, and India placed on themajor economicmaritimehighway in the Indian Ocean fromwhere amajor share ofChina’stradepassesthrough,theIndianNavy’scommitmentin the Indian Ocean Region is expected to increase.Withbudgetconstraintsandthreatsonbotheasternandwesternfronts, theNavyhas rationalised its requirements and is fo-cusingoninternationalcooperationtopluginformationgapsformaritime domain awareness, keeping upwith its com-batcapabilities.

ARUNJANARDHANANCHENNAI,DECEMBER29

ACTOR RAJINIKANTH, whosemuchawaitedannouncementofapoliticalpartywastobemadeonDecember31, issuedastatementonTuesdayand clarified that hewill not joinpolitics, or formtheparty,inviewofill-healthandtheprevailingpandemicsituation.Rajinikanth’s statement re-

leased on socialmedia said thatdifferentpeoplemayreactdiffer-entlyifhecontinuestosaythathewouldenterpoliticsbutata laterstage. “For that reason, with aheavyheart, letmemake it clearthatIamunabletoformapoliticalparty andenter politics. Nobodycanunderstandmypain inmak-ing this decision,” he said in thestatement.Theactor’spoliticalentryhas

been a rumour since 1996, andRajinikanth himself made theannouncement in December2017. Amid speculations in re-cent months that he mightchangetheplanduetoCovid-19,in viewof his vulnerable healthstatus,Rajinikanthhad,earlierinDecember, announced that hewould launch the party inJanuary2021.Thedateforthelaunchwasto

beannouncedonDecember31.Two days ago, after

Rajinikanth,71,wasbrieflyhospi-talised forminor fluctuations inbloodpressure,thehospitalissuedanunusualbulletinwhichnotonlyrevealedhishealthstatusbutalsorevealeddetailsofmedicaladvicegiven.Besidesdescribingindetailthedoctors'advises,suchascom-pleterestforoneweek,thebulletinstated that the actor had beencounselled to avoid any activitythatincreasestheriskofcontract-ingCovid-19, triggering rumoursinpoliticalcirclesthatitwasaprel-udetohisplanstowithdrawfromtheannouncementoftheparty.In his statement onTuesday,

Rajinikanth also stated that hewas taking immunosuppressantmedicines–seenasawaytocom-municate how vulnerable hishealth is. He thanked everyonewho stood behind his prepara-tions for the party launch andpromised that hewould servepeople withoutgettingintoelec-toralpolitics.

Rajinikanth abortsplan to enter politics,cites health reasons

‘Nobodycanunderstandmypain inmakingthisdecision’

Bharuch MPquits BJP, set toresign from LS

NewDelhi: Settingupof aNational MaritimeSecurityCoordinatorisbe-ing considered at the topechelonsofthesecurityes-tablishment, seniorNavyofficials told The IndianExpress. Thiswillbe inad-dition toNavy’s proposal,whichisbeingconsideredbytheCabinetCommitteeon Security, to form aNational MaritimeDomainAwarenessCenter—amulti-agencyforumofthe Navy, Coast Guard,Intelligence agencies andstatemarinepolice forcesamongothersforstrongerintegration formaritimesecurity.ENS

Plan formaritimesecuritycoordinator

Cash squeeze in mind, Navy looks at ways to cut costs

MotorbikessetonfireonTuesdayevening inprotest.Policesaidacasehasbeenlodgedandinvestigation isonto findoutwhoshotTMCyouth leaderDharmendraSingh. Express

INVOKINGTAGORE INSANTINIKETAN

New Delhi

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

302DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:10,224,303TESTS: 169,801,749 | RECOVERIES: 9,807,569

ACTIVE CASES:268,581DEATHS: 148,153

DEC28CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS16,432 252 24,900 983,695

STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASESACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK

Kerala 64,098 3,536Sikkim 625 171Puducherry 357 25

STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLININGACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK

WestBengal 13,161 3,742Chhattisgarh 12,962 3,098Delhi 6,297 2,958

STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASESONDEC28 TOTAL

Kerala 3,047 743,564Maharashtra 2,498 1,922,048Chhattisgarh 1,188 276,337

STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHSONDEC28 TOTAL

Maharashtra 52 50,440WestBengal 27 9,625Chhattisgarh 26 3,319DataasonDecember28,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedicalResearchandstategovernments.Oftenthenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays

aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive

PAYING TRIBUTEMumbaiPolicepersonnelcarryachadar fromMahimpolicestationtoMahimdargahtopaytributetoMakhdumAliMahimiontheoccasionofhisUrsordeathanniversary.MahimdargahisdedicatedtoMahimiandMumbaiPolice lays thefirstchadar.AmitChakravarty

ELGAARPARISHADCASE

IRAMSIDDIQUEBHOPAL,DECEMBER29

CLASHESERUPTED inaMuslim-dominated village in Indore dis-trict when members of right-wingHindugroups,participatingin a rally to collect donations forconstruction of Ram Temple,stoppedinfrontofamosqueandchanted slogans Tuesday. Untillate night, policewere trying tobringthesituationundercontrol.This comes three days after

similar clashes erupted inMuslim-dominatedBegumBaghneighbourhoodofUjjainwhenarallybeingtakenoutbyBharatiyaJanataYuvaMorchachantedslo-gans, leadingtostonepelting.Respondingtoquestionsona

demolitiondrivebeingcarriedoutinUjjainatthehomeofaMuslim

resident, who was allegedlycaught on camerapelting stonesduring the clashes, MadhyaPradeshHomeMinisterNarottamMishrasaidonTuesday:“Jahansepatharaaenge,wahinsetohnikalejaaenge(Thedirectionfromwherethestonescome,thatdecidestheeviction).” Tuesday’s clash tookplaceinChandankhedivillageun-der Gautampura police stationwhentherallyofaround200peo-ple stoppedoutside themosqueand chanted slogans. Senior po-lice officials said this resulted inheatedexchangesbetweenmem-bersofthetwocommunitieslead-ingtostonepelting.Some local residents claimed

thatthoseparticipatingintherallychantedHanumanChalisa out-side themosquewhile prayerswerebeingofferedinside.Thesit-uationturnedviolentwhensome

ofthem–holdingsaffronflagsandchanting“JaiShriRam”slogans–climbed atop themosque andtried to damage the minaret.VideosoftheincidentshowedtheHinduoutfitmembersalsotryingtoburndownahouse anddam-agingseveralvehicles.YogeshDeshmukh, Inspector

General of Police, Indore,“Twenty-fourpeople,mostlyfromthevillage,havebeenroundedupbased on video evidence. Therewillbemorearrestsonbothsidesandpeoplewhoclimbedatopthemosquewill be identified andbookedunderrelevantsections.”Senior officials, including

CollectorManish Singh and SSPHarinarayanChariMishra,wereatthespottill latenight, tryingtodefusethesituation.Meanwhile, in the Ujjain

stone-peltingincident,policehavebookedeightmorepeople.Atotalof15peoplehavebeen

arrested,ofwhomfivehavebeenbookedofunderNationalSecurityAct and 10 others have beenbookedforattempttomurderandrioting.Allthe15arrestedareres-idents of BegumBagh. No onefromamong thosewho tookout

therallyhasbeenarrestedsofar.Superintendent of Police

Satyendra Kumar Shukla saidthree or four peoplewere seenpeltingstonesandtheyareintheprocess of being identified. “Thehousethatwasdemolishedbytherevenuedepartmentwasofanin-dividual who had resorted tostonepelting,”saidShukla.Adelegationof fiveCongress

MLAsheadedbyformerministerSajjan Singh Verma met ChiefSecretary Iqbal SinghBains andDGPVivek Johri anddemandedanimpartialprobeintotheUjjainclash.CongressMLAArifMasoodsaid: “If theAssembly session iscancelled because of Covid-19,how is it that permission isgrantedtocarryoutrallies.Andifthesepeopledidnothavepermis-sion, how is it that no actionhasbeentakenagainstthem.”

DEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

BACKWARDCASTES, Dalits andtribals constitute almost 67 percent of India’s population, buttheir representation in policeforces inthecountry isonlyat51percent.Thelatestdataonpoliceorganisations released by theBureau of Police Research andDevelopment (BPR&D) showsthat only Scheduled Tribes havebetter representation in policeforcesincomparisontotheirshareinpopulationwhileallotherback-wardclassesfarepoorly.According to thedata, 14per

centofallpositions(fromconsta-ble to deputy superintendent ofpolice) inpolice forcesacross thecountry were represented byDalits at the end of 2019.According toCensus2011,Dalitsmakeup16.6 per cent of India’spopulation.Tribals,whoform8.6percent

ofthepopulation,have12percentrepresentationinthepoliceforces,placing themat a comparativelybetterposition.TheOther BackwardClasses

(OBCs) faretheworstontherep-resentationfront.Thedatashowsagainst a41percent share in thepopulation,OBCsconstituteonly25 per cent of the police forces,causingadeficitof almost40percentinrepresentation.Notably, the goal of propor-

tionate representation has re-mainedunfulfilleddespiteallstategovernmentsproviding reserva-tiontothesecategories.Whilewomentoocontinueto

berepresentedpoorly, their situ-ationhas improvedconsiderablyoverthepastfiveyears.Since2014,when the actual strength ofwomen inpolice forces stood ataround1.11 lakh, their represen-

tationhasalmostdoubledto2.15lakh. In fact, over 2018, thestrength of women in policeforcesincreasedby16percentin2019.However,atstill10percentoftheactualstrengthofthepoliceinthecountry,womenhavealongwaytogoinclaimingarepresen-tationproportionatetotheirpop-ulationshare,whichis48percent.It is also reflected inwomen

populationperwomanpolicera-tio,whichstandsat3,026nation-ally. At thenational level, the ac-tual strengthofwomanpolice inotherdepartmentssuchastrafficpoliceis5,979.Inspecialbranchesdealingwith intelligence collec-tion,itis3,632,whileinspecialpo-liceunitsdealingwithinsurgency,extremismandterrorismamongothers, it isapoor516.Thedata also shows that po-

lice-population ratio (numberofpolice personnel per one lakhofpopulation) declined in 2019.From198 in 2018, it dropped to195in2019.WhileAndamanandNicobarIslandshavethebestpo-lice-population ratio at 816,Jharkhand (45) and Bihar (55)have the worst. Odisha (67),Assam(68),AndhraPradesh(85),Gujarat (87), Uttarakhand (95)andWest Bengal (97) arepart ofthebottom10states.Among larger states, Jammu

andKashmir (399) and Punjab(236)havethebestpolice-popu-lationratio.TheUNmandatedpo-lice-populationrationisover220.

Five Jharkhandarchers to getassistance fromstate govtRanchi: The Jharkhand govern-mentonTuesdayannouncedfi-nancial assistanceof Rs2.5 lakheachtofourstatearchersandRs2.7 lakh to a fifth archer as itlaunchedanewsportspolicy tomark its firstyear inoffice.National level players

Krishna Pingua (16), JagarnathGagrai (18), Asmita Biruli (20)and Gunaram Purty (23) havebeenofferedRs2.5 lakh.“Wecannowcompeteatthe

internationallevelaswecanbuyequipment. One day we willbring home medals from theOlympics,” said Pingua, whowon bronze at the Khelo IndiaArchery Championship in 2017and gold at the 64th NationalSchool Championship ArcheryChampionship in2019.The government also an-

nouncedassistanceofRs2.7lakhto 18-year-old Komolika Bari,who won a gold medal in theWorld Youth ArcheryChampionship, 2018. She hasalso been selected for the nextOlympicgamesand is currentlytraining inMaharashtra.“Till now she plays on a

rented bow, now shewill haveour own…I hope the govern-mentalsogivesherajob,”herfa-ther said. ABHISHEKANGAD

ESHAROYNEWDELHI, DECEMBER29

TILL SEVERAL years ago, theKolarLeaf-NosedBatwasfoundinonlytwocavesinthevillageofHanumanahalli in Kolar districtof Karnataka. For reasons thatare still unknown, the bat be-camelocallyextinctinoneofthetwo caves. And now, theKarnataka Forest Department,alongwiththeBatConservationIndiaTrust, isonawarfootingtosave the remaining bats, whichareendemictothearea,fromex-tinction.TheBatConservationSociety,

which has been entrustedwithdrawingupaconservationplan,

hasalsobeenawardedagranttoconductfurtherresearchonthisspeciesof bats.Additional Principal Chief

Conservator of Forests in theKarnataka Government, Vijay

Mohan Raj, says that it was in2014,afterastudyconductedbyOsmania University, that thestate government first came toknow of the bats becoming ex-tinctinoneofthecaves.Thegov-ernment immediately notifiedthe30acresaroundthecavesasprotectedarea.“TheKolar Leaf-NosedBat is

exclusive to Karnataka andweareveryproudof thisfact.Therehas been a lot of focus on theconservation of larger animalslike the tiger, but in Karnataka,we have consistently chosensmaller, lesser-known speciesandmadethemflagshipspeciesfor conservation and createdawareness around them,’’ saidRaj,addingthatwiththeareabe-

ing notified, any developmentwork here, including construc-tion of new infrastructure, willneed the permission of theNationalBoard forWildlife.“We know very little about

thisbat–whatecologyitthrivesin,what its diet is, its behaviourandwhatwould happen to it ifthecroppingpatternchanges inthe area inwhich it resides,’’ headded.“Bats are one of the least

studiedmammals in the coun-try,thoughthereare130speciesinIndia.Theyareveryadaptablecreatures and therefore canoften be found near humanhabitationor even inurban set-tlements, which makes themvulnerable.Theyalsohaveabad

imageinthepubliceye,ascarri-ers of diseases. But the truth is,bats are absolutely vital for theecology as they are pollinators,theirmaindietbeingnectar.Theplants that bloom at night areentirely dependent on bats andmoths for pollination. Bats alsohelpininsectcontrolandthere-fore, help in the protection ofcrops,’’ said RajeshPuttaswamaiah of the BatConservation India Trust.Since the Covid-19 pan-

demic,andtheunverifiedassoci-ationwithbats, therehavebeenincidents in theWestern Ghatsand in states such as Rajasthanand Odisha, where bats havebeenattackedorkilled.Thereare fivespeciesof bats

that live in the caves ofHanumanahalli, of which theKolarLeaf-NosedBat is justone.According to recent estimates,there are just 150 Kolar Leaf-NosedBats left in thesecaves.“There has been very little

on-groundmonitoringhappen-ingso far.Wehavestartedade-tailedstudyof thesebats.Apartfrom the caves themselves andthe nearby areas, we have toidentify and conserve the bats’foraging area. We are runningan intensive awareness cam-paign in the nearby communi-ties and they have come to un-derstand the threat to thespeciesandhavestartedguard-ingthisareafromencroachers,’’he adds.

NUMBERS DOWN TO JUST 150

TheKolarLeaf-NosedBat

NIRUPAMASUBRAMANIANMUMBAI,DECEMBER29

THEARMYisintheprocessoftak-ing over proceedings against aRashtriya Rifles officer in theShopianfakeencountercasefroma civilian court where achargesheethasbeenfiledagainsthim, The Indian Express haslearnt.TheArmyhasdecidedthatthe

officer, anArmyCaptain,will betried in a courtmartial. A JuniorCommissionedOfficer is also tostandtrial in thecase in themili-tarycourt.Policehavefiledachargesheet

intheShopianChiefMagistrate'sCourt against CaptainBhoopendraSingh,whowentbythe operational alias MajorBasheerKhan, and twocivilians,Tabish Nazir and Bilal AhmedLone.TheJCOisnotnamedinthischargesheet.While thepolice arrested the

twocivilians,theycouldnotarresttheofficer“forproceduresunderAFSPA”. An Army source saidCaptain Singh and the JCOwereplacedunder arrest by theArmysoon after evidence emerged ofwrongdoing, and theyare in thecustodyofmilitarypolice.The chargesheet accuses

Captain Singh and the two civil-ians of staging the July 18 en-counteratAmshiporainShopiandistrict and setting up the evi-dence, later destroying this evi-dence,and“purposefullyproject-ingfalseinformation”aspartofacriminalconspiracytoclaimRs20lakh reward money, which isgivencarryingoutsuccessfulen-counters.“As per procedure, the court

asks the Army in such caseswhether theArmywants tocon-ductthetrialoritcanproceedasacivilian trial. TheArmyhas indi-cated that they will be takingover,” a source told The IndianExpress. The courtwrote to theArmy to choosebetweena civil-ianormilitarytrialonDecember27 when the chargesheet wasfiled.“Wehavetogiveourconsentinwriting,andthatisinprocess,”

aseniorArmyofficialsaid.Theprecedentforatransferof

any case involving anArmyoffi-cerfromaciviliancourttothemil-itary court camewith the 2012SupremeCourt judgment in thePathribal case following the CBIindictment of five officers. TheSupremeCourtruledthatnocog-nizancecouldbetakenofanyof-fence committed by a soldier inthecourseofofficialdutywithoutprior sanction from the govern-ment.TheSupremeCourt alsogave

theArmy theoptionof choosingthe“venue”ofthetrialbetweenacivilianoramilitarymilitary.TheArmy had invoked the ArmedForcesSpecialPowersActtoarguethatthemencouldnotstandtrialinaciviliancourt.The two civilians

chargesheetedintheShopiancasecannotbe triedbytheArmy,andtheirtrialwillgoaheadinthedis-trictcourt, thesourcesaid.TheArmyhaspaved theway

for a court martial against theCaptain and the JCO. A Court ofInquiry,which recorded the evi-dence, and a Summary ofEvidence, a process that collectsevidenceadmissible inamilitarycourt, have already been com-pleted. The police chargesheetagainsttheCaptainislikelytobe-comepart of the proceedings inthemilitarycourt.The Summary of Evidence

findings,whichbroadlyreflectthefindings of the police, are nowwiththeJudgeAdvocateGeneralbranch of the Army for “valida-tion”. A second officer said theArmywascommittedtoensuringjustice in the case. “It is a critical

case,andwehaveactedwithgreatspeedas soonevidencecameupin a preliminary inquiry thatsomethingwas amiss about thisencounter.OnAugust 11, aCourtofInquirywasordered.Normally,aCourtofInquirygets90days,butinthiscase,becauseoftheimpor-tanceofthiscase,everythingwaswrapped up in 30 days, afterwhichtheSummaryofEvidenceprocess began immediately,” hesaid.Healso said thatunrelated to

the trial of theCaptain, theArmywasplanningtoinvestigateifoth-ersintheunitwereinanywayre-sponsiblefortheAmshiporainci-dent.“Whensomethinggoeswell,everyoneup thehierarchy takescredit. When something goeswrong,everyoneupthehierarchygets the stick. That is theArmy'sinternal accountability, and thatwillgoonandisnot linkedtothetrial,”thisofficersaid.AdayaftertheAmshiporaen-

counter, the Commander of 12SectorRR, BrigadierAjayKatoch,heldapressconferenceonJuly19to announce that three terroristshadbeenkilled intheencounter,givingdetailedaccountofthe“en-counter”.Hesaidtheofficerandtwosol-

diers accompanying him cameunderheavy fire, they retaliated,and police and CRPFwere alsorushedtothespot.Healsosaidthe“search party” came under firefromahouseand“intheensuingaction, threeterroristswereneu-tralised”.Onthebodiesoftheterrorists

recovered by the search team,Katoch said arms, ammunitionand IEDmaterialwere found.Hepraised J&KPolice forpreventingstonepeltingbyvillagers.The story came apart after a

family in Rajouri filed amissingperson's complaint early inAugust about three of its familymembers–ImtiyazAhmed,AbrarAhmed andMohd Ibrar –whohad travelled toKashmir to lookforworkandhadnotbeenincon-tact since July 16. Fromphoto-graphsonsocialmediaof theen-counter, they had identified thebodiesasthoseofthethreemiss-ingfamilymembers.

SHOPIANENCOUNTER

Armyset to takeoverproceedingsagainstCapt fromciviliancourt

Policepersonnel takethebodies thatwereexhumedinBaramulla.Express file

Avehiclebeingoverturnedduringtheclash. Screengrab

Accordingtodata,14percentof allpositionsinpolice forcesacrossthecountrywererepresentedbyDalitsat theendof2019

OBCs constitute 25% ofpolice; STs get betterrepresentation: Data

Conservation plan on table to save bat species in Kolar caves

SADAFMODAKMUMBAI,DECEMBER29

THREE ACCUSED in the ElgaarParishadcasesaidtheywerebe-ing denied access to books overthe past fewmonths in jail. Inseparate applicationsmade be-forethespecialcourtonTuesday,Delhi University associate pro-fessorHanyBabuandacademi-cian GautamNavlakha said forthepastfourmonths,bookssentto them by family memberswerenotacceptedbyauthoritiesof Taloja jail andwere returned.The two have also said they

did not get access to newspa-pers for the past six monthsstating that it is a violation oftheir right to remain informed.Lawyer SudhaBharadwaj,whois lodged in Byculla women’sjail, also made a similar plea.While she is being providednewspapers, she too said theprison library does not haveenough books and those fromoutside arenot being allowed.Theapplicationsmadebythe

three state that as writers andacademicians, they had spent alifetimereading,studyingbooks

andtextsandthedenialofbookscouldnotbearbitrary.Referringtothestate’sprisonmanual,theyhave sought permission to ac-cess five books a month fromoutsidewithapleafordirectionstojailauthoritiestoacceptbookssentbytheirfamilyandlawyers.KaustubhKurlekar,Talojajail

superintendent, said, “We arenot denying books to prisonersfrom outside or those in our li-brary...Wearein processof tak-ing a decision on delivery ofnewspapers...”Byculla jail superintendent

SadanandGaikwadalsodeniedthat a court order was soughtwhen Bharadwaj approachedhim. He added that newspa-pers were being provided toprisoners.“In view of Rule 13 of the

MaharashtraPrisonManual, it iswithintheprovinceofthesuper-intendentofprisontoallowsuchactivities. Hence, the advocatefor the applicant is called uponto place on record an affidavitstatingthatshehadapproachedthe prison authorities and thatthe same had refused to acceptthe books," the court said onTuesday.

Navlakha, Babu: Bookssent by family returnedby jail authorities

MOHAMEDTHAVERMUMBAI,DECEMBER29

CELEBRITY CAR designer andfounder of ‘DC’ design, DilipChhabria (68),whowasarrestedon Monday, had allegedly ob-tainedmultiple loans fromnon-banking financial companies(NBFC) to purchase ‘DC Avanti’carsmanufactured by his ownbrandbeforesellingthemtocus-tomers.Further, the police said that

Chabbriahadregisteredsameve-hicles twice,at timesthrice,withregional transport offices (RTOs)ofvariousstates.Hethenusedtheregistration numbers to obtainmore loans, the police added,whileclaimingthatthescamrunsintooverRs30crore.Joint Commissioner of Police

(Crime)Milind Bharambe said,

“Nearly 90 DC Avanti vehiclesmanufacturedbyDilip ChhabriaDesignsPrivateLimitedwereusedforfraudulentfinancing.Multipleloans averagingRs 42 lakh eachwere availed on these cars. Thecompanywouldposeascustomerfor its ownmanufactured cars,whichwerelatersoldtoothercus-tomers...”He added that the incident

came to light after thepolice re-ceived a tip-off that aDCAvantiwith a fake registrationnumberhad been seen outside the TajMahal hotel inMumbai. Thepo-licelaidatrapandfoundthevehi-cleoutsidethehotelonthenightof December18.While thevehi-

clewasregistered inTamilNadu,itschassisandmachinenumberswere also found tobe registeredwith the Haryana RTO under aseparatenumber.“Thecarowner,whohails fromTamilNadu, hadcome to know about this...Curiously,theregistrationaddresswas of the Haryana branch ofChhabria’s company,” saidAssistantInspectorSachinVaze.Thepolicehaveseizedtheve-

hicleandtheTamilNaduresidenthasbeenmadeacomplainant inthecase.VazesaidtheyalsofoundthatChhabriahadregisteredsev-eral cars inmultiple places andavailed loans from NBFCs likeBMWFinancialServices.Headded:“Insomecases,the

NBFC had authorised the loanevenbefore a vehiclewas regis-tered...” AnemailsenttoBMWfi-nancialservicesdidnotyieldare-sponse.

CardesignerDilipChhabria

Chhabria held: Police say multipleregistrations, loans taken on 90 cars

Clashes break out in Indore village as rally byHindu outfits chants slogans outside mosque

New Delhi

HEMANT SORENCHIEF MINISTER, JHARKHAND

Information & Public Relations Department, Government of Jharkhand

TOURISMMajor initiatives have been taken to rejuvenate thestate's hidden natural beauty into a world-class touristdestination.

Employment opportunities through community basedtourism

Focused events on Eco-Tourism being planned in 2021

MoU signed with ITDC to take back complete ownership ofHotel Ashoka, Ranchi

Launch of new Tourism Policy 2020

SPORTSA new Sports Policy is being prepared focusing on welfareof sportspersons and grassroots development of sports

24 District Sports Officers were appointed to ensuredevelopment and implementation of sporting activitiesacross the state

Direct recruitment of 38 eligible sportspersons in theState Government.

INDUSTRY68 industrial units have been established across thestate.

4,062 jobs added with total investmentsworth Rs. 579.79 Cr

Investments worth Rs. 4,951.86 Cr in pipeline with com-mitted 4,860 jobs.

Rs. 164.85 Cr has been invested in the textile sector with2,550 jobs

Rs. 120.21 Cr has been invested in the Autocomponent sector.

Abua Raaj Ka

Shuruaat AnekSAAL

A Year Completed, Fulfthe Promises Committed

illing

PR

No.

2384

21TheIndianExpressD

ELHI

New Delhi

PR

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238

419

The Indian Express D

ELHI

New Delhi

12WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

TOWARDS JUSTICEArmytakeswelcomefirst step in fakeencountercase in

Shopian.Processmustbecompleted,andtheguiltypunished

THEPOLICE CHARGESHEET in a civilian court against an army captain of62RashtriyaRiflesandtwociviliansinthefakeencountercaseinShopianinJulythisyearhasgivenadisturbingaccountofthekillingofthreeinno-centmenallegedly by the officer andhis accomplices and the elaborateconspiracyhatchedtoshowthevictimsasterrorists.Thethreemen,who

belongedtothesamefamilyinavillageinRajouridistrictof Jammudivision,theyoungestjust16yearsold,hadtrekkedtoKashmiroverthemountainsto lookforwork.Theywerepickedup fromtheir rented roominavillage inKulgam, and taken toAmshiporavillageinShopian,wheretheywereallegedlyshotincoldblood.Themotiveappearstohavebeengreed—toclaimaRs20 lakhrewardgivenbythesecurity forces for information leadingtothecaptureorkillingofterrorists.Aspartof theplan,weaponswereplantedonthevic-tims,policeandCRPFreinforcementswerecalledin,whichthrewarealcordonaroundtheencounter site. The incident, and itsdistressingdetails, call for sober introspectionaboutthe reasons for the sense of impunity of an officer allegedly gone rogue. In a place likeKashmir, the soldier’s jobposesadifficult challengeeveryday, but that impunity comes,in large part, from the protection granted under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act,whichthearmyhas invokedrepeatedlytoprotect itsownincasessuchasthisone.Inthiscase,commendably,thearmyhasactedpromptlyafterprimafacieevidenceof

wrongdoingemerged.Thearmyfollowedupthepreliminaryprobewitha formalcourtof inquiry, followedbysummaryofevidenceproceedings,allofwhichareunderstoodtopavethewaytoacourtmartial.Themilitary’sfindingssofarhavebeenreportedtobethesameas thosecontained in thepolicechargesheet. In thepast, thearmyhasbeenat thispoint,butmostly,ithasbeenunabletotakethetoughcallrequiredtogofurther—the2018courtmartialinwhichthreeofficers, includingamajorandtwocolonels,andfoursoldiers,were sentenced to life imprisonment for a fake encounter of Assam student leaders inFebruary1994,wasarareinstance.Thearmyhasrefusedconsentforprosecutionincasesof fake encounters, custodial killing and rape— Pathribal 2000, Ganderbal 2007, andMachil2010.Whereithasconducteditsowncourtmartial,sentencedsoldiershavebeenable toget theverdictoverturnedbyciviliancourts.TheAmshiporafakeencountercaseisthefirst timethatthearmyhasacknowledged

atthepreliminarystagethat“powersvestedundertheAFSPA1990wereexceeded”andthatthe“dosanddon’tsof theChiefof theArmyStaff [COAS]asapprovedbytheSupremeCourt have been contravened”. This is awelcome sign. The armymust now go furtherandensure that justice isdone, andseen tobedone.

POWERING UPGovernmentwillneedto incentiviseshift toelectricvehicles.Widespreadadoptionwill requiresupporting infrastructure

THE ELECTRIC VEHICLESmarket in India appears to be gaining traction.CompanieshavenotonlystartedtomanufactureelectricscootersandbikesinstateslikeUttarPradesh,buthavealsobeguntoresearchforalternativesto lithium-ionbatteries,whicharemostly imported fromChina. EVmajorTeslaisexpectedtolaunchitsIndiaoperationsearlynextyear,signallingthe

market’sattractiveness.Induecourseoftime,withmoremoneyflowingintoresearch,Indiacouldemergeasthenumberonemanufacturerofelectricvehicleslikecars,bikes,andtrac-tors, saidNitinGadkari,Minister of Road Transport andHighways, at the Indian ExpressIdea Exchangeprogramme. These arewelcomedevelopments, and signal the long-termattractivenessof theEVmarketsegmentinIndia.Thearguments in favourof ashift towardselectricvehiclesarestraightforward, arising

largelyasa response to thechallengesof pollutionandenergy security. Indiahas21of theworld’s30citieswiththeworstairpollutionasperdata fromIQAirAirVisual’s2019WorldAirQualityReport.Andmuchof thepollutionloadcanbetracedtovehicularemissions.Assuch, theadoptionof electricvehicleswill reduceoverallemissionsandalsohelpmeet thetargetsundertheParisagreement.Suchashiftwouldalsohelplowerthecountry’sdepend-enceonoil imports.ANITIAayogreporthadearlierpeggedthesavingsintheoil importbillatRs1.2lakhcrore(assumingcrudeat$70perlitre).Consideringsuchashiftwillleadtoenor-moussocio-economicandenvironmentalbenefits, aprudentapproachwouldbetochan-nelinvestmenttowardsfacilitatingtheshiftofvariousmodesofpublictransport,two-wheel-ersandtaxistoelectricvehicles.Coveringthesemodesoftransportitselfwouldincludenearly80percentofvehiclesonIndianroadsaspertheNITIAayogstudy.Thisapproach,asananaly-sisbyTERIsuggests,wouldhelpreducepollution,loweroilimports,andcutcarbonemissionsandroadcongestion.Argumentsinfavourofsubsidisingtheshiftforpremiumfour-wheelercarsignorethattheyaccountforonly2percentof totalvehiclesalesinIndia.However, there is the issueof creatingthecharginginfrastructureatthescalerequired

tofacilitateitslarge-scaleadoption.Affordableandconvenientchargingwill,afterall,increasethesegment’sattractivenessforconsumers.IntheUS,forinstance,President-electJoeBidenhas pledged to build 5,00,000newEV charging stations. However,while public fundingmaywell be required to incentivise bothmanufacturers and consumers to shift, govern-mentsshouldbeagnosticbetweenvariousEVtechnologies.

DECEMBER 29Asthenewyearapproaches,

India’s cricket teamturnsacorner

NEITHERPAROCHIALISMNOR jingoism is needed to appreciate India’ssecondTesttriumphagainstAustralia.Theywereblownawayfortheirlowestscoreinhistoryjustaweekago,ashockednationbearingmutewitness.Theywerehitbynumerousjoltstothebattingline-upandsuf-feredacrucialblowwhentheylostMohammadShami.It’s inthiscon-

textthatthis teamwithastand-incaptainturnedinastand-outperformancetoachieveawondrousresult.Whydoesthisteammovefromoneextremetoanother?Forty-fiveminutesofdoing-

nothing in Adelaide, 45minutes of doing-too-much atManchester in theWorld Cup.Thatquestionalsorevealswhysomuchisexpectedfromthisteam.If thebatsmengettheiract together, theyhavethebowlerstomakethis teamagenuineworldbeater,especiallyonceHardik Pandya completeshis bowling rehab to tusslewithRavindra Jadeja for theallrounderspot,orevenpushthethirdseamer,forthatmatter.Thevictorywasatriumphof tactics too. Fromthe five-bowlers strategy to thewayAjinkyaRahaneusedRAshwinand thepacers. It comesdown to theuseof left-handedbatsmen, apet themewith theheadcoachRavi Shastri. Jadeja andRishabhPant changed the tempoof thegame in thefirstinnings,encouragingRahanealsotoopenoutmore.Thedebutants,SirajandShubmanGill, showedtheyhave thegametoblossomat this level.At thesametime,victoryshouldnotblurreality.TheIndiancricketteamisnot invin-

cible,or ready forworldconquest. This, in fact,was India’s firstTestwin—outof fourat-tempts—thisyear.ButafterDecember29, there isnowaboldhopethat theywill turnanewleaf in thenewyear.

Secession of the successful

Sanjaya Baru

Overseas Indianscheergovernment’sagenda forIndia’satmanirbharta,without investing in it

EVENASTHEyearendswithrenewedcallsfromPrimeMinisterNarendraModi for anAtmanirbharBharat, India'sbestandbright-est are busy making plans for emigration.Thisnewspaper reported thisweek the re-sults of its investigation of the academicchoices of school-leaving toppers (IndianExpress, December 27-28-29) that showedmorethanhalfof thefirstrankers inClass10and Class 12 examinations (conducted bythe Central Board of Secondary EducationandtheCouncil for IndianSchoolCertificateExaminations) during the two decades of1996-2015 hadmigrated andwere study-ingoremployedoverseas,mostly intheUS.The toppersare the tipof an icebergof stu-dentmigration.More recent data, post-2015, suggest

that the trend of out-migration of Indiantalentandwealthhasaccelerated.Datacol-lectedby thiswriter fromacoupleof high-profile private schools in New Delhi showthat while around the turn of the centuryabout 20 per cent of their high school stu-dentswentabroadforgraduatestudies, thenumber shot up to close to 50 per cent by2010and to70per cent in2019. If theCBSEand ISC toppers are India's brightest,manyof the school-leavers from private schoolslike thesebelong to India'swealthiest.Apart from the CBSE and ISC students,

there is now a growing number ofInternational Baccalaureate (IB) studentswho, in fact, study and prepare only to beable to pursue higher education overseas.Since the 1980s, as many as 176 “worldschools”havecomeupacross India thatof-fer IB certificates that help qualify Indianchildrenforgraduateeducationabroad.Thefee charged by IB world schools can rangefrom around Rs 75,000 per month to Rs1,50,000 amonth.Whilethelargestnumbersstillgotothe

United States of America, other populardestinations include Britain, Canada,Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.Dubai, closer home, has emerged as ama-jor educational hub for Indian students.Other destinations include China, Russia,Taiwan, France, Germany, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines andMalaysia.

Asaconsequenceof therisingnumbersofboththebrightandthewealthystudentsgoingoverseasforhighereducation, thean-nual total outward remittances under theReserve Bank of India's liberalised remit-tances scheme (LRS) for “studies abroad”has increased more than threefold, fromUS$ 1.54 billion in 2016-17 toUS$ 4.99 bil-lion in2019-20.Totaloutwardremittancesunder LRS have increased exponentiallyover thepast fiveyears, fromUS$1.3billionin 2014-15 to US$ 18.75 in 2019-20. This“flight of financial capital” signals not justa “flightof humancapital”but in fact a “se-cession of the successful”, as I argue inmyforthcomingbookon India's power elite.India's wealthy have gone overseas for

schoolandcollegeeducationforaverylongtime.Afterall, evena leaderof thenationalmovement likeMotilal Nehru sent his sonJawaharlal toHarrow school in Britain andmany eminent Indians of the Raj were ed-ucated in the United Kingdom. Even afterIndependence,overseaseducationhashaditsattractions for thosewhocouldafford it,or thosewhowere fortunate towin schol-arships.With time, theUSbecame the sin-gle most important destination. However,all of this constituteda tricklecompared totherising floodofout-migration fromboththemiddle and theupper classes.The Indian Express report shows that an

overwhelming number of the CBSE and ISCtoppersgoingoverseashaveanon-metropol-itanbackground. It isone thing for suchchil-dren,frommodestsocialandeconomicback-grounds and with excellent academiccredentials,toseekeducationalopportunitiesoverseas; it is quite anotherwhenwealthyfamilies frombigcitiessendtheirchildrentoschools that in fact equip them for furtherstudiesandlifeoverseas.Theformermayrep-resent“aspirationalIndia”,butthelattercon-stitutesthe“secessionof thesuccessful”.Economists are able to quantify the

flightof financecapital,but therearenore-liableestimatesof the flightofhumancap-ital. In an early recognition of the problemof “brain drain” for developing economies,trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati pro-posed, way back in the 1970s, the imposi-

tion of a brain drain tax. Despite the verysmall numbers of the emigrating talent inthe1970s, thesocial class theyrepresentedmanaged to nix the Bhagwati proposal.Today, given themuch largernumbersandthesocialandeconomicdiversityof theem-igratingmillions, nopoliticalparty is likelytohavethecourageto introducesuchatax.Both PrimeMinisterManmohan Singh

and Prime Minister Modi have investedhopebysuggestingthatout-migrationdoesnot necessarily constitute a “brain drain”,but could help create a “brain bank” onwhich India can draw for its owndevelop-ment. However, the data suggests that anincreasingnumberofnon-resident Indians(NRIs) have become “not-returning”Indians, andarecontributingmore to theirhost countries than to their homecountry.Foramajorityof them,opportunitiesfor

workand thequalityof life overseas, espe-cially in English-speaking nations, have anobvious attraction. However, there is nowanemergingcategoryof Indiansmigratingout and opting to stay out of India becausetheyfeel theirmotherlandnolongerwantsthem. This sense of alienation, especiallyamongminorities, is a disturbing trend.An equally worrying trend is the in-

creasing number of India's super richwhohave chosen to live abroad andwork fromabroad. Indian laws permit an annual out-wardremittanceofuptoUS$2,50,000.Thelawalsopermits business persons to func-tionfromoverseasasnon-residententities.Thenext generationof top Indianbusinessfamilies is increasingly opting for this dualstatusofowningandmanagingbusiness inIndiawhile living overseas.While thousands of overseas Indians

have cheered Prime Minister Modi at hisrallies inNewYork,Houston,London,Dubaiand Singapore, few among them seem tohave bought into his “atmanirbharta”agenda. They are quite willing to cheerModi'splans for India'satmanirbharta,butprefer to invest intheirownatmanirbhartaoverseas.

Thewriter is formerMediaAdvisor to PrimeMinister of India

Both Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and PrimeMinister Modi have investedhope by suggesting that out-migration does notnecessarily constitute a ‘braindrain’, but could help create a‘brain bank’ on which Indiacan draw for its owndevelopment. However, thedata suggests that anincreasing number of non-resident Indians (NRIs) havebecome ‘not-returning’Indians, and are contributingmore to their host countriesthan to their home country.For a majority of them,opportunities for work andthe quality of life overseas,especially in English-speakingnations, have an obviousattraction. However, there isnow an emerging category ofIndians migrating out andopting to stay out of Indiabecause they feel theirmotherland no longer wantsthem.

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,DECEMBER30,2020WORDLYWISE

I tend to think that cricket is the greatestthing thatGod ever created on earth.

— HAROLD PINTERTHEEDITORIALPAGE

Apoorvanand

LOOKING THE OTHER WAYIt’s disingenuous to separate the leader fromhis followers

ITWASQUITEdismayingtoreadtheappeal,made editorially, by The Indian Express(‘Messagemuch needed’, IE, December 24)tothePrimeMinister’sfollowerstopayheedtohis affirmationof the first principleof therepublicof Indiathatallcitizensof thecoun-tryareequal in theeyesof thestate,nomat-terwhat their identity. It would havemademoresenseif thenewspaperhadaskeditselfhowmany times in the past six years has itbeencompelledtopleadwiththefollowerstolistentotheir leader.Whyis it thattheyhavegottenmoreandmorebrazenintheirassaultonminorities,especiallyMuslims,aftereachsuchappeal?AndwhyisitthatthePMkeepsfollowinghate-mongersonsocialmedia?It could have been an occasion to hold

thePMaccountabletohiswords, toaskhimwhy Indiahasbecomeoneof themost vio-lentcountries for itsMuslims.Whyis it thatheisenactinglawsliketheCAAandtheanti-tripletalaqlawwhichputMuslimsinanun-equal position as compared to theirco-citizens?TheeditorialexpressesthankstothePM

for striking a “note of inclusiveness and ac-commodation, at the end of a year that be-gan with unprecedented nationwideprotests against a citizenship law thatwaswidely seen as discriminating against thecountry’slargestminority,andthathas,mostrecently, seena troubling criminalisationof

inter-faithmarriage inUttar Pradesh.”Whydid theeditorial fail tonote that thePMwasspeakingatthecampusatatimewhenitwasmarking the first anniversary of violencewhich left its students bloodied by the UPpolice? An incident inwhich the universityauthorities failed their students. The leastoneexpectedwasamentionof thisatrocity.Thatofpolicebreakingintothehostels—thesame hostels the PM spoke about in hisspeech—andcrackingdownonstudents.I, alongwithmany,hadvisitedthecam-

pus just after the violence andmet the in-juredstudents.Wecouldfeel theangerandfrustrationamongsttheyoungstudentstheprimeministerwaslaudinginhisspeechfortheir “shero shayari”, “hansi-mazak” andtheir “andaz”. Indoing this, hewasevokingstereotypesaboutMuslims— sheroshayari,andaz, tehzeeb.The students of the AMU, however, did

notfitthebill.Theychosetotalkplainprose:“We reject the politics of exclusion and in-equality and refuse to live as second-classcitizens inourownland”.Andtheypaid forthissimpleprosewiththeirblood.Suchcru-elty could not have been possible withoutthe PM exhorting his people that the pro-testerscouldbe“identifiedbytheirclothes”.That’s why the speech to the campus wasdisingenuous and insulting.A university isknown for the independence of theminds

of its members. The university authoritiesignored all protestations by its alumni andpresentstudentbody,whowereopposedtothePM’spresence.Thestudentsandteach-erswouldtellyouthattheAMUhasnowbe-comeafavouriteplaygroundof thelocalBJPleaders, who target any dissenting voice --theauthoritiesmerelyobeytheirorders,us-ing overt and covert threats to their facultyandstudents.The students of theAMUhave facedar-

rests andare fighting criminal charges. Thethreat of violence against them is a reality.Theircrime:Theychosetospeakoutagainsta discriminatory act. The politics of domi-nance demands that the violatedwelcomethe onewho has brutalised them. He feelsbad when reminded of the violence andwants to be seen as inclusive and accom-modative. It is badmanners to refuse himsalutationsforhiskindness.Thedomestica-tion ofMuslims is the objective of thepoli-ticsof themanwhohasbeenapplaudedbythemediaforhisopen-heartedness.Tosep-arate him, the leader, from his followers isnothonest.India needs to be a questioning nation,

anationwhichrespects independentyoungminds,notinciteshatredorviolenceagainstthemorputs themin jails.

Thewriter teachesHindiatDelhiUniversity

Such cruelty could not havebeen possible without thePM exhorting his peoplethat the protesters could be‘identified by their clothes’.That’s why the speech to thecampus was disingenuousand insulting.A university isknown for the independenceof the minds of its members.The university authoritiesignored all protestations byits alumni and presentstudent body, who wereopposed to the PM’spresence.

ASSAM IN TURMOILLIFE IN ALMOST the entire BrahmaputraValleyandthedistrictsofKarbiAnglongandNorthCacharhillswasparalysedbythe34-hour Assam bandh. The bandh has beencalledby theAASUandtheAAGSP.Work inalmost all government offices was at astandstillasemployeesstayedaway,accord-ing to reports. However, in the state secre-tariat,950of the2000employeeswerepres-ent, according to Assam Chief SecretaryRamesh Chandra. The attendance at theNortheast Frontier railway headquarterswas around 75 per cent. In Gauhati, a fewshops were open. Only six state-ownedbusesoperated.All vehicular trafficwasoffthe road.

BJP CHURNTHEDELEGATES AT BJP’s national conven-tionweresharplydividedovertheuseof theterm,“GandhianSocialism”.Severalof themwanted the term “socialism” deleted fromthe party’s credo. Chief amongst the objec-tors was Vijaya Raje Scindia. The delegateswereparticipatingindiscussionsontheeco-nomicpolicystatementmovedbyRajasthanChief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in contrast,wanted anin-depthdiscussiononthematter.

GANG OF FOUR TRIALSHOUTING, “I AM prepared to die,” thewidowofMaoTseTungdisruptedher trialagain and was dragged out of court. Jing

Qiang, 67, was hauled out of the court bybailiffs. The state-run Xinhua also quotedthe prosecutor general as criticising Maofornotapprehending Jingat thetimeofheralleged crimes. The defendants, the Gangof Four led by Jing, are on trial for the infa-mous purges of 1966.

AFGHAN IMPASSEPAKISTANFOREIGNMINISTERAghaShahisaid his government is ready to open talkson resolving the Afghan problem but thatwould, innoway,meanarecognitionof thecurrent regime inKabul. Totalwithdrawalof the Soviet troops is a pre-condition forrecognising the Babrak Karmalgovernment.

DECEMBER 30, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

New Delhi

13THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY“Boris Johnson has a range of political skills, but international diplomacy isnot among them. His greatest asset is a campaigning charisma with limitedcultural range.” —THEGUARDIANTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Given these basic facts, howdo we dispel the fears ofagitating farmers? First, thegovernment should be readyto give in writing that theexisting system of APMCmarkets and MSP willcontinue and bestrengthened. Second, thegovernment can also give inwriting that the contract willbe for the produce, not theland. Third, farmers can takedisputes to district courts, ifthey like. Fourth, to add tothese written assurances, thegovernment can also committo creating a fund of Rs25,000 crores under the PriceStabilisation Scheme, whichcan be used to supportmarket prices of specifiedcommodities that take a dipof more than 10 per centbelow MSP.

A year offracturedmemoryPandemichaspushedbackprocessofwealthgeneration,of shiftingpeoplefrompovertyto

somekindofcomfortandsecurity

HOWAREWEgoingtocollectivelyremem-bertheyear2020?Itwasayearofunprece-dented andunanticipated crisis. Itwasnotaneconomiccrisis, even though itdidhaveaneconomicdimension. Itwasa crisis thatthreatened the collectivemedical healthoftheentirehumanity.Whenwasthelasttimetheentireworld

wasgrippedbyacrisisof suchmagnitude?TheWorldWar II comes tomind. Itwas aglobalcrisiswhichgrippedallofhumanity.Itwasapoliticalcrisisbroughtaboutbytheex-pansionist drives of thepolitical leaders ofEurope.Over50millionpeoplediedon thebattlefrontsandinthegenocides.Manydis-appearedandcouldneverbetraced.Europeand the rest of theworld experiencedun-precedentedviolenceandbrutality.ButtheWaralsoturnedouttobeagreat

democratisingexperience forEurope. It es-tablishedresponsibleandaccountablegov-ernments.Ithelpedtobridgetheclassdividebybringingdifferentclassesclosertoonean-other.Ittriggeredaphaseofeconomicafflu-ence. Interestingly, themaximumbenefitsof the post-War pe-riodwent to thevan-quished in theWar—Japan andGermany.TheWarwasfollowedby decolonisation inAsia and Africa. Theworldasawholeben-efitted as the realthreat of a Fascisttakeoverof theworldwas averted. Abetterfuture burst forthfrom beneath thethickcrustof theWar.Howdoesthecurrentcrisisfareincomparison?Unfortunately, the picture beneath the

surfaceisasgloomyanddepressingasitap-pearsonthesurface.Thereis,however,asil-verlining.Becauseoftheglobalnatureofthecrisis,allnationstateshavecomecloser.Afterenvironment and terrorism, thepandemichasbecomethethirdmajorissuewhichcanbetackledonlythroughglobalcooperation.Buthavingblurredthenationalbarriers,

thecurrentcrisisappearstohavesharpenedtheclassbarriers.Theexperienceofthecur-rentcrisis,unlikethatof theWorldWar,hasbeenverydifferentacrosstheclassdivideinIndia. For theupper crust of the10-15mil-lion(orso)ofthelabour-extracting,decision-making, institution-heading elitewith se-cure salaries and accessible resources, theexperience of the crisiswas nothingmorethananinconvenience,albeitahugeone,oratbestanethicaldilemma.Itwasakindofatrade-offbetweencomfortandsafety.Lettingthedomestichelpcomefromoutsideanddoalltheworkbroughtaboutcomfortattheex-penseof safety.Keepingthemoutwaspos-siblysafe,butitbroughtthenuisanceofhav-ing todoall thedomesticwork.Apart fromthis,theavailabilityofprovisions,onlinesup-plies, TV, Internet andWi-fi ensured thatthere was no existential crisis for the

Indianelite.Notsoforthelargemajorityontheother

sideoftheclassdivide.Forthem—unorgan-ised labour, domestic help, dailywagers,street hawkers,migrant labours, nomadicpeople, rickshawpullers, urbanpoor— thepandemicwasnothingshortofalife-chang-ingexperience.Forthoselivingbelowtheso-cialequator,thecrisisdestroyedtheirwholeuniverse. Thosewhowerehoping tobreakoutofthepovertygridhavehadtheirdreamsshattered.Theyhadplayedtheirpartinrun-ning a systemwhich let themdownbadly.The crisismayhavebeengeneric anduni-form,buttheconcreteexperienceofthecri-siswasnot.Itwasunevenanddifferentiated,particularlyalongthelineofclass.It was partly for the differentiated na-

tureof theexperiencethatthecrisisendedup reinforcing prejudices. Muslimswereparticularly at the receiving end of it andwerestigmatisedasthevillainsof thepan-demic. The crisis, instead of creating newsolidarities as such events often do, onlyended up reinforcing the stereotypes andsocial prejudices. Thewhole society tookanotherstepbackwards.Then therewas thegleeof the environ-

mentalist—thefeeloffreshairwithoutpol-lution,cleanrivers,peacocksdancingonthestreet,happyjungleandthecontentedenvi-ronment.Finally,wehadfoundthesolutiontothehugeenvironmentalproblem.Ifallhu-manactivitiescanbestalled,andall thehu-mans locked in,pollutioncanbepreventedandwecanachievethepristinepurityoftheworld.Viewedfromthevantagepointofthe

vastmajority in India,thisgleewasinverybadtaste.Povertycontinuesto be our greatest pol-luter.The pandemic

clearlyhadamedical, asocio-economicandanepidemiologicaldimen-sion.Thethreeranpar-allel to one anotherwithout anymeetingpoint. They suggestedthreedifferentprescrip-

tions. Themedical prescrip-tionwassociety-neutralandhuman-blind:Whatever canbedone to flatten the curve,should be done. The epidemiological per-spectivetookacertainamountofhumanlossfor granted andworked towardsminimis-ingtheloss.Itisthesocio-economicperspec-tivethatshouldhaveplayedagreaterroleinthe formulation of the policy. Thatmighthavegone someway towardspreventing along-termcatastrophe. In the end, the realcrisis of 2020wasnot somuchwhat hap-pened,butwhatithasledto,andwillleadto.Therealcrisisstartsnow.Atransitionsociety,withaprecariousgrip

on resources and economic development,cannot afford to lose time in itsmarch to-wardsaffluence.Theprocessofwealthgen-eration, poverty reduction, and of peoplegraduallyshiftingfrompovertytosomekindof comfort and securityhadbeengoingonfor the last three decades. That has beenpushedbackbythepandemic.Thatistherealbadnewsof2020.Thereisgoingtobenocollectiveremem-

beringoftheyearandthepandemic.Itwillbea fracturedmemorydividedacross the im-penetrableclassbarrier.

ThewriterisahistorianattheAmbedkarUniversityDelhi

ONEHOPESTHATthe talksbetweentheag-itating farmers and the government lead toanamicablesolutionsoon.Butif farmerlead-ers stick to demanding a repeal of the farmlaws,thenIamafraidthestalemateislikelytocontinue.Insuchachargedenvironment,ra-tionality oftenbecomesvictim to anger andhatred,which does not serve anyone’s pur-pose, includingthefarmers’.Nevertheless,letmespelloutsomebasic

facts about Indian agriculture, whichmayhelp negotiators on both sides,with a com-monobjectiveofbenefittingthelargerinter-estof the farmingcommunity.AmajorstudythatweatICRIERconducted

withOECDshowedthatovertheperiod2000-01to2016-17, Indianagriculturewas implic-itly taxedtothetuneof almost14percentofitsvalue.Thiswasprimarilyduetorestrictivetradeandmarketingpolicies,rangingfromex-portcontrolsandstockinglimitstotherestric-tivemandisystem.Thewaytoimprovefarm-ers’pricerealisation,therefore,wastoliberateagriculture from these various controls. Thefarm laws under discussion are intended todopreciselythat.Interestingly,thishasbeenalong-standing demand of one of the tallestfarmerleaders,thelateSharadJoshi,sincethe1991 reforms. But somehow, a fearhasbeencreatedthatthesefarmlawswillrobfarmersof APMCmarkets,MSP, and theymay evenlose their lands to big corporate housesthrough contract farming. These fears, gen-uine or imaginary, have been blown out ofproportionforpoliticalreasons.ThereisnodoubtthatAPMCmarketsand

MSPwillfacecompetitionfromprivatemar-kets and out-of-APMCmandi transactions.Butwill thishurt the farmersorplay in theirfavour?Opinions differ. I believe itwill helpthefarmersatlarge,especiallysmallandmar-ginal ones. The creation of an additional10,000FarmerProducerOrganisations(FPOs)and the promised Agri-infrastructure FundofRsone lakhcrorewill aid thisprocess.ButmanyamongtheagitatingfarmersfearlosingtheMSPforwheatandpaddythattheygetinPunjab-Haryana.What is the reality about MSP? The

NSSO’s Situation Assessment Survey (70thround) revealed that in 2012-13, only 6 percentoffarmerssoldtheirproduceatMSP.Andof course, amajority of themwere from thePunjab-Haryana belt. After that, there is nosuchsurveyavailableinthecountry.Inrecentresearchwithmycolleague,RitikaJuneja,weworkedoutthevalueofagri-produce(paddy,wheat, pulses, oilseeds and cotton) boughtbygovernmentagenciesatMSP for theyear2018-19,andhowmuchthatconstitutesasapercentageofthetotalvalueofagri-produce.Interestingly, the number again comes toabout6percent.So, in all these years since theMSPwas

givenbirth to in1965 throughanewly-con-stitutedAgriculturalPricesCommission(nowrenamed as Commission for AgriculturalCostsandPrices,whichIhadtheprivilegetochair during 2011-14) and the Food

Corporationof India (FCI), only 6per cent offarmersandbroadly,6percentofthevalueofagri-producehasbenefittedfromthissystem.And remember, theMSP andAPMC systemprimarily helps thosewho have large sur-pluses,mainlythelargefarmers.So,ifonere-ally wants to help the small andmarginalfarmers,therightapproachisthroughFPOsatthe village level and not in APMCmandis.And,about86percentof Indian farmersaresmallandmarginal(lessthan2ha),operatingroughly47percentofthetotaloperatedareain thecountry.So, thosewhoarearguing forAPMCmandisandMSParebasicallyarguingforthose6percentoffarmersor6percentofthevalueof agri-produce.Giventhesebasicfacts,howdowedispel

the fearsof agitating farmers?First, thegov-ernment should be ready to give inwritingthattheexistingsystemofAPMCmarketsandMSP will continue and be strengthened.Second,thegovernmentcanalsogiveinwrit-ing that thecontractwill be for theproduce,nottheland.Third,farmerscantakedisputestodistrictcourts,if theylike.Fourth,toaddtothesewritten assurances, the governmentcan also commit to creating a fund of Rs25,000 crores under the Price StabilisationScheme,whichcanbeusedtosupportmar-ketpricesofspecifiedcommoditiesthattakea dip of more than 10 per cent belowMSP.ThisisakintoNAFED'soperationstosupportmarket prices of pulses and oilseeds, or theCotton Corporation of India (CCI) for cottonprices, and can be extended to maize,

sorghum,pearlmillet, etc.Onemajor question in this approach is

howtodealwiththelosseswhenthesegov-ernment-procuredstocksareunloadedinthemarket, as theywill invariably incur losses.Andifstockskeeppilingup,asisthecasewithwheatandricetoday,howdowecorrectthisimbalance in demand and supply? In thatcase,eitherlimitthesizeofprocurementorgofor price deficiency payments to thosewhobuy“putoptions”atMSPforspecifiedquan-tities at the time of sowing. An expert com-mitteewill have to be set up to look into itsoperationalguidelines.Afurtherpositivestepwillbetoannounceadiversificationpackagefor thePunjab-Haryanabelt.Imustalsosay that repealing these farm

lawswouldbelikerobbingmorethan90percentoffarmers—whonevergainedfromtheMSP system andwho are largely small andmarginal — of their rights. And asking formakingMSPastatutorybindingevenontheprivatesectorwill turnouttobeanti-farmerasmuchof theprivatetradewillshunsuchasystem,leadingtochaos.Itwillbeworsethanrepealingthese laws.Finally,onemustrememberthatfarmers

alwayswantahigherpricefortheirproduce,buthigherfoodpricescanalsobringpainstopoor consumers. The art of policymaking istobalancetheinterestofproducersandcon-sumerswithinreasonablefinancialresources.

Gulati is InfosysChairProfessor forAgricultureat ICRIER

NECESSARY ALLIANCETHIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'Squeezein Bengal' (IE, December 29). WestBengal'sgroundrealitiesrequiretheLeftand the Congress to join hands to takeonthe twin threatsof theBJPandTMC.As amatter of fact, there is very little todistinguish the two.Much like the BJP,thereisnolowtowhichtheTMCwouldnotstooptotoclingtopower.TheTMC,too, has been engaging in politicalmo-bilisationalongreligious lines.MamataBanerjee and theBJPhave togetherpo-larised the electorate along communallines, a phenomenonnever beforewit-nessedinBengal.Bengalpoliticsisindes-perateneedtoberidoftheamoralinflu-ences that have infiltrated it in thepastonedecadeor so. Thatalonemakes thealliance of the Left and the Congress anecessity.

SusobhanSarkar,Kolkata

EDUCATION WOESTHIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'Systemschallenge'(IE,December29).USuniver-sities are flushwithendowment funds,which are essentially private in nature.Thisfinancialindependencegivesthemthe liberty to not only design courses,choose faculty, interactwith other pri-vate entities for R&Dbutmost impor-tantly,itenablesthemtokeeppoliticiansand bureaucrats out. India needs to al-

lowprivatecapital tocomeinabigwayinthefieldofeducation.

HNBhagwat,Chiplun

THIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'Systemschallenge'(IE,December29). It isanex-cellent precis of themaladies plaguingour educational system and how ill-suited it is to prepare our students tomeetthechallengesofthefuture.Itsup-plementsabrilliant investigativeseries,which is tracking the school toppers ofthe last twodecades. Iwish the educa-torswould listen to the voices of these86yesteryeartoppers.

KSahasranaman,Mumbai

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

IDISAGREEWITHTheIndianExpress'sedito-rialonthematterof lawsoninter-faithmar-riages and conversion (‘Strike one’, IE,December 1). The last couple of monthshaveseenmanyhighcourts frowninguponthe state’s interference in interfaith mar-riages, being matters of personal choices.Alongside, several BJP-ruled states framedlawstoregulatesuchmarriagesandanyas-sociated conversions. Are these pieces oflegislation legally and logically viable? Toanswer this question, the matter must beviewed through two prisms: One, conver-sionof abridebeforeoraftermarriage;andtwo, an interfaith marriage withoutconversion.An interfaithmarriagewhere the bride

convertshas threekeyelements:One,agirlhas toconvertbecauseshehastoalignwiththe religion and “culture” of the boy. Doesthisnot reekofmalechauvinismandpatri-archy,whichfeministsacrosstheglobehavewagedwar against? They try to rationalisethis by using disingenuous sophistry, thatwomen haveminds of their own and thus,canmaketheirowndecisions.Yes, theycan.Women are not being subject to criticismhere. Nor are women in traditional house-holds, who eat only after their husbandsand/or touchtheir feetand/oraregenerallyobsequious to them, either out of religiousbelief, love or devotion.We treat such hus-bandsandthepatriarchysurroundingthem

ascriminal.Doesn'tamanwhoexpectsthathis wife should convert to his religion suf-fer from the samemalaise?Second, when a man has even a slight

expectation of conversion, does it not ex-hibithisdiscomfort, forwhateverreasons, tolive with a person of another faith? This isbigotry.Third, conversion ispredicateduponan

abominablenotionof theother faithbeing inferiorand thus, comes from acommunity-level su-premacist attitude. Onefails to understand howthe liberals reconcilethese facts and do notdeem the practicecommunal.I firmly endorse B R

Ambedkar and believethat to dismantle socie-tal divides such as caste,religion, raceandethnic-ity,moreandmore inter-communitymarriagesmust takeplaceandare largely accepted by society.Consequently, should an interfaith mar-riage, sans conversion, be welcome? As aprinciple,yes.However, is thereligionof thebriderelevant? Ideally,notatall. The factofa girl being fromone community in amar-riage and the groom being from another

should be coincidental. But it is not. That iswhat causes the inter-community schism.Due to a clear ban on the marriage of

Muslim women to men of other faiths intheir scriptures, andamajority of the com-munity adhering to themandwomenhav-ingbeensteepedinthereligionsincechild-hood, in interfaith marriages involvingMuslims, the girls mostly come from non-

Muslim communities.Girls fromnon-Muslimcommunitiesareraisedinamore liberalmilieu,faith consciousness notbeingthat importantforthem,especially innon-spiritual matters. Thus,thoughmarriage is fun-damentallyanactof in-dividual choice, at themacro and communi-ties’ levels, marriagesinvolving Muslimmenare viewed by othercommunities as delib-

erate attempts to lure and deceivewomenfrom other communities, while restrictingtheir own women frommarrying outsidethecommunity.Anhonest liberal and fem-inist intellectual shall seethisorganicmen-tal restraint onaMuslimgirl as being com-pletely devoid of her “agency”.How are we to deal with these issues?

We need laws regulating conversion. Oneperson converting another is a political actunder the garb of exercising religious free-dom. However, any person’s informed de-cision to embrace another faith out of theirfreewill,untaintedbyextraneous factors, isand shouldbewelcomedasa fundamentalright. Conversely, if the conversion is forother reasons, including as a preconditionfororconsequenceofmarriage, it shouldbeoutlawed.Toensure that thisdoesnothap-pen,amarriagebeforeandaftertwoyearsofconversion should be void, irrespective ofthe original religionof the convert.In today’s era, religion ought to have no

roleinsocial,politicalandeconomicspheresandshouldrelateonlytospiritualaspects. Itshouldbepronounced irrelevant inmaritalunions. All religious communities shouldraise theirchildrenwithasenseof the irrel-evanceof religion indealingandcommuni-catingwith fellowcitizens, includingwhilechoosing life partners. But, if a religiouscommunity deems it impossible to afforditswomenfolktheagencytoselectpartnersof theirchoice, for religiouscompulsionsorotherwise, for thesakeof communalamity,it should forbid itsmen from forging an al-liance with women of other faiths as well.Honest inter-communitydialoguewillworkwonders.

Thewriter is a senior lawyer based inDelhi

Outragemissesthepoint:Nocommunityisentitledtobeclose-minded

Double standard on conversionJagvir Singh IDEAS

ONLINEONLY IN THE EXPRESS

●●LEARNINGINAPOSTPANDEMICWORLD:

PUJATRISAL

●● BREAKINGTHEIMPASSEINFARMPROTESTS:

KABEERSRIVASTAVA

www.indianexpress.com

SalilMisra

CR Sasikumar

MSP-APMCsystembenefitsaminorityof farmers.Tohelpsmallandmarginal farmers,rightapproach is throughFarmerProducerOrganisations,notAPMCmandis

Facts from the field

FROM PLATE TO PLOUGH

byAshokGulati

A column inwhichweinvite readers to tellus why, when theydiffer with the

editorial postions ornews coverage of ‘The

Indian Express’

DEAREDITOR,IDISAGREE

AN EXPRESS IDEA SERIES

COVIDSHADOW,NEWYEAR

LIGHT

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK14 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

NOTTCE INVITING e-TENDER (Re-Tender)College of Agriculture, Tripura invites electronic Bids through e-Procurement Portal of Government of Tripura(https://tripuratenders.gov.in) from reputed organizations forSUPPLY OF HONEY BEE BOXES AND NUCLEUS HIVES underNBB funded project “Integrated Beekeeping Development Centre/Centre of Excellence” at College of Agriculture, Tripura,Lembucherra, West Tripura. Detailed tender notice, schedulesand tender documents can be obtained fromhttps://tripuratenders.gov.in. Last Date of submission of thee-Tender: 15/01/2021, 2:30 PM.

Sd/-(Dr. D. Sen)

Principal In-chargeCollege of Agriculture, Tripura

ICA-C-2581-20 Lembucherra, West Tripura

Bid Identification no. 15P/Store/45/2020/21943 Dated 28.12.2020

Government of Uttarakhand“e” procurement e-tender Notice

1. Name of the Work: Supply of Dual test kit for HIV and Syphilis Screening for theGovernment Hospital in Uttarakhand as per details given in tender notice onhttps://uktenders.gov.in portal.

2. Date and time of availability of bid documents in the portal: 31.12.2020 at 3:00 PM3. Last Date and Time for receipt of bids in the portal: 13.01.2021 at 3:00 PM.4. Name and Address of the Officer Inviting the Bid: Director General, MH & FW

Uttarakhand, Dehradun.5. Details of subsequent addendum/corrigendum/cancellation etc. may be obtaining from

the website https;//uktenders.gov.in6. Portal Registration: The contractor/bidder intending to participate in the bid is required

to register in the portal using his/her active personal/official email id as his/her Login idand attach his/her valid digital signature certificate (DSC) to his/her unique login id.

For any other queries the bidders are asked to contact through e-mailcmsd.uk@gmail.com Sd/-

Director GeneralMedical Health & FW

Uttarakhand, Dehradun

Office of The Director General, Medical Health & F.W.,Danda Lakhound, Sahastradhara Road, P.O. Gujrada, Dehradun, Uttarakhand

e-mail: dghealth.uttarakhand@gmail.com, Phone no. 0135-2608736, Fax no. 0135-260874

For and on behalf of State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited,sealed tenders are invited under “Two Cover System” for the followingwork fromClass-I Statelevel Civil Contractors registered in TN - State/Central or Quasi Government Organisationshaving experience in similar nature of works. Tenders will be received upto 3.00 PM on19.01.2021 and the same will be opened on the same day at 3.30 PM.

DIPR/5041/TENDER/2020

STATE INDUSTRIES PROMOTION CORPORATION OF TAMILNADU LIMITED19-A, RUKMANI LAKSHMIPATHY ROAD, EGMORE, CHENNAI - 600 008.

CIN U74999TN1971SGC005967

SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, SIPCOT, ChENNaI-8

Tender Notice NIT.No.110/CW/DO/T.No.114/2020-21 Dt.:28.12.2020

Name of Work Approx. valueof work EMD

A)Construction of Solid Waste Disposal Centre at SIPCOTIndustrial Complex, Thoothukudi.B) Providing Arrangements in the Solid Waste DisposalCentre such as Construction of PCC Compound Wall,Pipe Culvert and Construction of Steel Truss includingFormation of Road at SIPCOT Industrial Growth CentreGangaikondan.

Rs.505.50Lakhs

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Rs.2,62,750/-*

* in the form of Demand Draft drawn in favour of SIPCOT Ltd., payable at Chennai.(In the Tenderer ‘s Name only)The tender Schedule can be Downloaded at free of cost from the website:www.tenders.tn.gov.in

Loan ‘scam’:J&K HCgrants bail toHilal Rather

ThefarmersweremarchingtowardsRajBhavanwhentheywere lathicharged. PTI

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPATNA,DECEMBER29

OVERHALF-A-DOZEN farmerssufferedminorinjurieswhenpo-lice lathicharged themnearDakBungalow crossing in Patna onTuesday.Over2,000farmers,un-dertheaegisofAllIndiaFarmersStruggle Coordination commit-tee,weremarching towards RajBhavan to submit theirmemo-randumof demandswhen theywere lathicharged. The farmers,however, were not allowed toreachRajBhavan.Leftpartiesarealsobackingthefarmers.All India KisanMahasabha's

state secretary Ramadhar Singhsaid farmers had come to PatnafromPurnea, Araria, Gopalganj,East Champaran and Siwan ontheirownandtheirprotestwouldonlyintensifyinthecomingdays.Amajorsegmentofthesefarmersareshare-croppers,headded.Singh said Bihar farmers are

in complete solidarity withfarmers protesting along theDelhi-Haryana borders. “Wewant roll back of all the threefarmlaws.Bihargovernmentdidawaywith themandi system in2006butdidnotprovideanyal-ternative system.Most farmershave to sell their paddymuchbelowMSP,”Singhalleged.

ARUNSHARMAJAMMU,DECEMBER29

THE JAMMUandKashmir HighCourtonTuesdaygrantedbailtoHilal Rather, son of former J&KfinanceministerARRather,whohad been in jail for the past 10months in connection with analleged Rs 177-crore J&K Bankloanscam.Ordering his release on bail

subject to his furnishing a per-sonalbondofRs5lakhalongwithtwosuretiesofthesameamount,Justice Javed Iqbal Wani afterhearing both the sides observedthat“deprivationoflibertytanta-mounttopunishment”.“Prison hell destroys the

manifestation of feelings andsensibility of a person,’’ JusticeWani observed, adding that thepetitionerhasbeen languishinginjailformore10monthsandhecannotbestoppedfromprepar-ing his defence, which is of anessence in a criminal trial. Thediscretionforgrantofbailhastobe exercised on thewell-estab-lished propositions and princi-pleslaiddownfromtimetotimebytheapexcourt,thejudgesaid.Whilegrantingbail,thecourt

alsoorderedthepetitionertoco-operate with the investigatingagency as and when required,withoutfail.Hewill facetrialbe-fore the trial court without failandwillpresenthimselfbeforeitas andwhenasked todo so, theorder said.Hilal Ratherwas arrestedby

the Anti Corruption Bureau oncharges of misappropriation ofcroresof rupeesgrantedas loanbyJammuandKashmirBankforconstruction of his ambitiousParadiseAvenuetownshipproj-ect at Narwal Bala in Jammu in2012.

Farmers lathi-chargedin Patna, several injured

Raid on PrachaoftheDelhiPoliceinthiscase.Consider:MARCH4,2020:OnFebruary

24,IrshadAlicomplainedtopolicethat his rentedmattress shopatMoongaNagarwasransackedandsetablazebyamob,resultinginalossofRs17-18lakhtohimandRs10 lakh to store-owner RekhaGarg.Delhi Police named several

people,includingcouncillorTahirHussain, formermember of theAamAadmiParty;Gulfam;MohdAbid;ArshadQayyum;Shahdab;ShahAlam;RiyasatAliandRashidSaifiasaccusedinthiscase.AUGUST 7-8: During the

hearingofbailpleasoftwooftheseaccused, Abid andQayumm—bothrepresentedbylawyerJavedAli—Additional Sessions JudgeVinodYadavwas told about twosubsequentcomplaintsbyIrshadAliinMayandJuly.Inthese,IrshadAliallegedthat

policehad falsely implicated theaccused in thecaseand that “thepersonswho lootedhis shoparenotMuslims”.AUGUST10:LawyerJavedAli

includedIrshadAli’scomplaintsinthe bail application of Abid andQayyum.ThecourtaskedtheDCP(North-East) to file a report onthesecomplaintsbyIrshadAli.AUGUST22:TheDelhiPolice

fileditsreportincourtthatIrshadAli had nownamed three resi-dents—Deepak, Navneet aliasNanu, and Mintu — but whencalledbeforeACP (Gokalpuri), hesaidheknewthemonlybyname

anddidnot identify them in thevideo.Police said that IrshadAli told

themthatPracha--whowas ini-tially representing another ac-cusedGulfaminthesamecase--called him tohis office and toldhim that he has an eyewitness,namely SharifMalik. And that ifIrshadAli attachesMalik’s com-plainttohisown,Ali’scasewouldbecomestronger.Intheirreportsubmittedtothe

court on August 22, the policemadetwokeyallegations:One, the statementbyMalik,

himselfwanted in a similar caseregisteredatDayalpurpolice sta-tion,thathe“witnessedthewholeincident”ofriotingwas“false,con-coctedand fabricated”byPrachaandsenttovariousofficesbyhimthroughhisemailID.Two,IrshadAli’sJulyaffidavit-

- confirming on oath the com-plaintsattachedwerehis--whichwas part of Abid andQayyum’sbail petition,was foundattestedbyNotary Public Sanjay Saxena,whohaddiedthreeyearsago.Saxena’swifeSangeetaSaxena

issaidtohavetoldthepolicethatshehasnoknowledgeofanydoc-umentattestedbyherhusband’sstamp.ASJ Yadav, in his order on

August22,saidthemattershouldbeinvestigatedeitherbytheCrimeBranchor Special Cell andaskedtheDelhiPoliceCommissionertopassappropriatedirections.TheSpecial Cell registeredan

FIR on August 22 alleging falsecomplaint,falseevidenceandfor-gery.

AUGUST27:ASJ Yadav saidthatDelhi Police Commissionerhimself had informed the courtthat an FIR had been registeredandthat“progressofinvestigationshall be submitted” before thecourt“asandwhendirected”.NOVEMBER24:DelhiPolice

didn'topposetheanticipatorybailpleasfiledbySharifMalikinanri-otingandattempttomurdercase,and twosimilar cases registeredbyDayalpurpolicestation.ThePublicProsecutorsubmit-

tedthat“theapplicanthas joinedtheinvestigationandforthepres-ent, he is not required to be ar-restedinthematter.However,itisrequestedthattheapplicantmaybedirectedtocontinuetojointheinvestigation,”thecourtsaidwhilegrantingpre-arrest bail to Sharifon separatebut similar orders inthethreecases.DECEMBER3:TheDelhiHigh

Court grantedbail toRiyasatAli,whohadalsobeennamedas anaccusedintheIrshadstorelootingcase. It said that thepresence ofRiyasat Ali “is not establishedthrough CCTV footages/at thespot”. “... however,without com-mentingonthemeritsofthepros-ecutioncase,Iamoftheviewthatthepetitionerdeservesbail,” thecourt said. Similarly, ShahAlam,and Mohd Rehan were alsogranted bail. On December 9,GulfamwasgrantedbailbyaDelhicourt.DECEMBER17:Qayyumand

Abidweregrantedbailongroundsofparity.TheSessionsCourtofASJYadavput on record three argu-mentsmadebythedefenceonthe

handlingof thecaseby theDelhiPolice.Thatbothhadbeen“falselyim-

plicated”bythepolice;thatinves-tigation in thematter “has notbeen conducted in an impartialandfairmanner”;andthatpersons“belongingtoaparticularcommu-nityhavebeenfalselyropedinbytheinvestigatingagency”.“Thereisnoelectronicevidence

availableagainsttheapplicants,ei-ther in the form of any CCTVfootage(s) or their CDR location,whichcouldprimafacieshowtheirpresenceat thesceneof crimeonthe date of incident,” the courtnotedonthedefenceargument.DECEMBER24:TheSpecial

Cell,issuinganoticetoPracha,said:“One complaint… by SharifMalik…respecttoarsonandriot-ing…wasdraftedunderyour in-struction on your computer inyourofficeandgot signatureandthumbimpression…inyourofficeitself…Malikhasdeniedhavingsentanyofthecopy…butseveralsuch complaints have been re-ceived in police station bearingnameof…Malik.”“Investigationconductedsofar

has provided reasonable sub-stanceintheallegations,soanor-derofsearchandseizurehasbeenobtained… for recovery andseizure of incriminating docu-ments fromyourofficeandcom-puters,”thepolicesaid.Asked about Malik being

grantedbail exactly amonthbe-fore the searches, Ved PrakashSurya,DCPNortheast, said: “WeneverarrestedSharif.He filed foranticipatorybailandwasgranted

the sameby the court.Wedon'tthink there's any connection toPrachahere.”A senior police officer from

NorthEastdistrict said, "Grantingbailistheprerogativeofthecourt.Theremighthavebeencomplaintsagainsttheaccusedandduetoin-sufficient evidence,Malikwasgrantedbail.Thepolicearenotin-volvedhere.Also, thedistrictpo-lice gave a report to the court.Subsequentsearchesandinvesti-gationisdonebySpecialCell.Thebails aren't linked to the SpecialCellinvestigation."Followingthesearches,police

saidwhile advocate JavedAli co-operated,itfacedoppositiondur-ingthesearchesatPracha’soffice.Inhis computers, the Special

Cellclaimed,itwaslookingfor“in-criminatingdocuments,allegedlydraftedbyhim/onhisinstructionsmaybe”whilereferringtoMalik'scomplaint and the Section 160CrPC reply given topolice in thenameoforbehalfofcomplainantIrshadAli.Inthisreply,IrshadAliissaidto

have spoken in favour of the ac-cusedpersons.Policehavenowfiledanother

FIRagainstPrachaforallegedlyob-structingtheinvestigationduringthesearchoperation.Pracharepresentsatleastthree

accused in the “larger conspiracycase”intheDelhiriotsand manyother accused in riot cases regis-teredbypolice.Hehas called thesearchesanattackondueprocess,legalprofessionandConstitutionof India.

WITHJIGNASASINHA

FROMPAGEONE

New Delhi

THANKS TO the Covid-19 epidemic, 2020broughtrareattentiononscience,particularlyon thehealth sciences.Not onlydid subjectslike public health, themechanismof spreadofviraldiseases,orthestateofcountry’sscien-tificresearchbecomepartofmainstreamdis-cussions, a large number of people evenbe-came aware of issues like the intricacies ofvaccinedevelopment,orthedifficultiesinclin-ical trialsofdrugsandvaccines.Science,andthetoolsithasgifted,wasthe

primaryweapon to bedeployed in the fightagainst the pandemic,whether it related tocarrying out of diagnostic tests, or clinicalmanagementofmoreseriouspatientstopre-ventdeaths, or the search for effectivedrugsandvaccines.

Not as bad as fearedIndia hasn’t fared as badly asmany had

fearedat thestartof theoutbreak.This isnottobelittlethenearly1.5lakhdeathsthathavebeenattributedtothedisease,orthemillionswhoselivelihoodhasbeenaffected.But,con-sidering India’s population and density, thedisregard for public hygiene, and the ricketypublichealthinfrastructure,muchworsehadbeenpredicted.Partof itcouldbeattributedtosheerluck,

atleastuntilwefullyunderstandthebiologi-cal reasons behind the steadydecline in thenumberofcasesinthelastthreemonths.ThisdeclinehassurvivedstateAssemblyandlocalbodyelections,acrowdedfestivalseason,anda gradual lifting of all restrictions onmove-mentandassemblyofpeople,andseemsirre-versible now. This, whenmost othermajorcountriesarestrugglingtocopewithasecondorthirdwave.Relativelyspeaking,thediseasehas beenmuch less severe in India, and hascausedmuchfewerdeathsonanaverage.Buttheinterventionsmadetoreducethe

impactofthepandemichaveworkedaswell,someof thesemoreeffectively than theoth-ers. Therewas a lot that did not go right, butmostof these related toadministrativedeci-sions,orthelackofeffectivecommunication.Forexample,mostscientistsnowbelieve,thatthe lockdown, though essential, could havebeen implemented in a betterway, and theproblemofmigrantsstarting towalkbacktotheir villages should have been anticipated.Similarly, themessaging from the IndianCouncil of Medical Research, or theHealthMinistry lefta lottobedesired.It is thelessons learnt fromthiscrisis that

wecouldseeguidingourscienceandtechnol-ogypolicyinthecomingyears,notjustintherealmofhealthsector, butscienceingeneral.

Inherent scientific capacitiesAfter the initialperiodof confusion, India

could benefit from the fairly robust scienceandtechnologyinfrastructureandnetworkithasbuiltovertheyears.Nothingexemplifiedthisbetterthantherampingupofnumberofdiagnostic tests thatwere carried out to de-tectcoronavirusinfections.Itstartedwithjustone laboratory in Pune, but very soonmorethan1,500 laboratories, government aswellas private, had begun testing samples. At itspeak, Indiawastesting14to15lakhsampleseveryday.

Noothercountry, includingsome in thedeveloped world, could boast such wide-spreadtestingnetwork.Increasingthenum-ber of people being tested contributed in amajor way to restricting the spread of thedisease.Another examplewas theway inwhich

the initial problemof lack of adequate test-ing kits, reagents and chemicals, andmed-icalequipment likePPEsuitsandevensani-tisers,was overcome.Most of theseused tobe imported, not because India could notmanufacturethemdomestically,butproba-bly it wasmore cost-effective to get it fromabroad.But thesupplybecameincreasinglyuncertainduetotravelrestrictions,andbur-geoning global de-mand. In a matter ofweeks, Indian compa-nies in collaborationwith research institu-tions began producingthese at home. New,moreeconomical,diag-nostictestsweredevel-opedanddeployed.PPEkits was no longer inshort supply. Similarwas the case withequipmentlikeventila-tors and oxygenmeters. The private indus-try,especiallysmallstart-ups,contributedinabigway to filling thedemandgap.Onerelativelyunappreciatedfacthasbeen

theutilisationofprimaryhealthcarenetwork,andASHAandanganwadiworkers,incontacttracingandawarenessefforts. Insomecases,morethan100contactsofaninfectedpersonwere traced, tested and isolated. It showedthatwhile the primary healthcare networkmight beweak, andnot empowered, itwasnotentirelybroken.

VaccinedevelopmentVaccines are another areawhere India's

existingcapacitiesareabigasset, andcanbeleveraged effectively. Notwithstandingwhodevelops the vaccine, India is going to be animportant player in themanufacturing anddistributionof thesevaccines,becauseof theproduction capacities that have been builtover the years. Thatwould alsomean that

Indiawouldalsogetearlyaccesstothesevac-cines, with the government not having tospend large sums ofmoney like theUnitedStatesorsomeEuropeancountrieshadtodotopre-bookthevaccines.Wearealreadyseeingthisunroll.Thefirst

vaccineis likelytobecomeavailablenot laterthan a fewweeks fromnow. Early logisticalplanning for transport, storage anddistribu-tionalreadyhavingbeenfinalisedwoulden-surequickdeployment.

Looking aheadAneventasdisruptiveastheCovid-19pan-

demic invariablyturnsouttobeablessing indisguiseformakingsystemicimprovements,

ifthoseincommandarewilling to imbibe thelessons that haveemerged.Herearesomeofthethingsthatwearelikely to see happeninginthescienceandtech-nology, andhealth, sec-tors in the comingmonthsandyears.

ATMANIRBHARBHARAT: If anything,the experience of this

pandemic hasmade the governmentmoreconvincedoftheneedforself-reliance,atleastinthestrategicsectors.Andthatwouldincludethescienceandtechnologysectoraswell.Thefact that Indiawas not evenproducing rela-tivelysimplethingslikeventilatorshadcomeas a shock to the government authorities atthestartoftheoutbreak.Goingforward,thereis likelytobegreaterencouragementfor lab-oratories and industry to support domesticmanufacturing of components and instru-ments.Scientistsandindustryexpectrelevantpolicychangesinthecomingyear.

PROMOTINGSTAR-UPCULTURE:Thisisrelatedtotheatmanirbharpush.Thepresentgovernment hadbeenpromising support tostart-up ventures long before the outbreak.But the pandemic also showedhow impor-tantthisis.Itwasthesestart-upsthatfilledthesupplygapsinmedicalequipmentandinstru-ments. Themost reliable informationman-

agementsystems,providingcrucialdataaboutthe epidemic,were set up and runbyyoungentrepreneurs,studentsandresearchers.During the pandemic itself, the govern-

mentannouncedamajorpushforprivatepar-ticipation in the space sector, for example.Abouthalf adozennewspace-relatedenter-prises have sprung up in the last two years,someofwhich evenhad a special audiencewiththePrimeMinisteracoupleofweeksago.Asimilarpushisexpectedforstart-upsinthehealthsectoraswell.

STRENGTHENINGCOLLABORATION:Collaboration between government, acade-mia and industry is again aprocess thatwasinitiatedbefore thepandemicbut is likely togainmomentum. Related to this is this gov-ernment’s belief that there is need to give a‘direction’toscientificresearch,atleasttothescientificoutput, thatcomesoutof our labo-ratories and industry. This obviously upsetsthosewho believe that basic researchmustnot be constrained in anyway. But the gov-ernment has been insisting that several sci-entificfacilitiescouldbemuchmoreproduc-tiveiftheyaligntheirresearchtowardsfindingtechnologysolutionstothecountry’sneeds.Thespaceforinstitutionalisedcollabora-

tionbetweenthegovernment, industryandthe scientific community is already beingcreatedinseveralnewmissions,ortechnol-ogy hubs, that are being set up. Inmost ofthesemissions, or hubs, it is the industry orthe academia that is playing the lead role,while the government tries to facilitate anenablingenvironment.

STRONGER HEALTH SYSTEM: Thedreadful aspect of the pandemic is that itmightnotbethelastone.Inthelastfewyears,wehave seen outbreaks of several viral dis-eases.Thankfully,theyneverbecameaswide-spreadasthecurrentone.Butthatisnoguar-antee that a future onewould not bemoreinfectious, or deadly. The current pandemicshouldpromptastrengtheningof thepublichealthinfrastructure.Afewstatesarealreadyworking on creating, or augmenting, a dedi-cated surveillanceworkforce that candetectsimilaroutbreaks in future,andhelpcontainitatanearlystage.Greaterempowermentofprimaryhealthcarestaff isalsoexpected.Also, while the ICMR, essentially a re-

searchorganization,wasputintheforefrontof the fight against the epidemic, theIntegratedDiseaseSurveillanceProgramme(IDSP), setup in2004 forprecisely thispur-pose,waspushed in thebackground.Aswerampupourpreparednesstodealwithsim-ilar epidemics in future, scientists say itwould bemore effective to empower theIDSP,ratherthanburdenICMRwithajobthatisnot its coreexpertise.

VACCINERESEARCH:Thoughtheexist-ing vaccinemanufacturing capacity is com-inginhandy,Indiahasbeenfoundwantingindevelopment of its own vaccine. As of now,thereareonlytwoIndiancandidates instagethreeclinicaltrials.Acountrythesize,andsci-entific capability of India, should have beenoneof the front-runners invaccine research.Butthathastraditionallybeenoneoftheweakpoints,whichsomeresearchinstitutionsnowwanttoaddress.NEWSCIENCEPOLICY:AnewScience,

Technology,andInnovationPolicyisinthefi-nal stages of preparation, and is likely to beunveiledinthenextthreetofourmonths.ItisexpectedtodotothesciencesectorwhattheNationalEducationPolicy,releasedearlierthisyear,seekstodoforeducation.Notunexpect-edly,itislikelytobeheavilyinfluencedbythelessonslearntduringthepandemic.

TOMORROW:GOVERNMENT&POLITICS

TheCovid-19pandemichasbroughtrareattentiontoscience,particularlyaspectsrelatedtohealthcare,andIndia’sresponsehasunderlineditsexistingscientificcapabilities. In2021,thecountrycanlookforwardtoimprovementsinvaccineresearch,amongotherscientificachievements

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

WHENMASKScoverasignificantpartof the face, howwell can people un-derstandthe facialexpressionsof thepeoplewearing them? Children canstill understand, to an extent, the ex-pressionsonmaskedfaces,accordingtoanewstudypublishedinPLOSOne.“We now have this

situation where adultsandkidshaveto interactall the timewith peoplewhose faces are partlycovered, and a lot ofadults are wondering ifthat’sgoingtobeaprob-lem for children’s emo-tionaldevelopment,”re-searcher Ashley Rubasaid in a statement onthe research releasedbytheUniversityofWisconsin–Madison.Psychologists at UW–Madison

showedmorethan80children,ages7to13, photosof faces thatwereunob-structed,coveredbyasurgicalmask,orwearing sunglasses. The faces dis-played sadness, anger or fear. Fromalistofsixlabels,thechildrenwereaskedtoassignanemotiontoeachface.When the faceswere uncovered,

the childrenwere correct as often as66%. This waswell above the proba-

bility(about17%)ofguessingonecor-rect emotion from the six options.Withamaskintheway,theycorrectlyidentified sadness about 28% of thetime, anger 27% of the time, and fear18%of the time.“Not surprisingly, it was tougher

with parts of the facescovered. But evenwith amask covering the noseandmouth,thekidswereable to identify theseemotions at a rate betterthanchance,”Rubasaid.Sunglasses made

angerandfeardifficult toidentify, suggesting theeyes and eyebrows areimportant to those facialexpressions. Fear, often

confusedwithsurprise,wasalso thetrickiest for children to spot behindamask.Thefaceswererevealedtothechil-

dren slowly, with scrambled pixelsfalling into theirproperplaceover14stages. This was to simulate thewayreal-world interactionsmay requirepiecing things together fromoddan-glesor fleetingglimpses.

Source:UniversityofWisconsin–Madison

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

15WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AVISHEKGDASTIDARNEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi inaugu-rateda351-kmsectionbetweenKhurjaandBhaupur in Uttar Pradesh for commercialoperationsoftheDedicatedFreightCorridor(DFC) onTuesday.He alsodedicated to thenationastate-of-the-artOperationControlCentre inPrayagraj.Thetotal2,843-kmproject—billedasthe

largestrail infrastructurebeingbuiltininde-pendentIndia—hasbeeninthemakingsince2006withlittlemovementontheground.Itisfinallyreadytotakeoff,albeit inphases.

WhatistheDFC?TheDFC consists of two arms. The sec-

tion launched on Tuesday is part of the1,839-km Eastern DFC that starts atSohnewal(Ludhiana)inPunjabandendsatDankuni inWest Bengal. The other arm isthe around 1,500-kmWestern DFC fromDadri inUttar Pradesh to JNPT inMumbai,touchingallmajorportsalongtheway.The 351-km section stretches between

Khurja, the12thstopafterSohnewal in theNorth,toNewBhaupur,nearKanpur.Other

stretchesareSohnewaltoKhurja(365km),Bhaupur to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay(Mughalsarai) (400 km), then to SonnagarinWest Bengal (137 km), then toDankuniviaGomohin Jharkhand(538km).There is also a section under construc-

tion betweenDadri andKhurja to connecttheEasternandWesternarms.

Whyisit important?Around 70% of the freight trains cur-

rently running on the Indian Railway net-workare slated toshift to the freight corri-dors, leaving the paths open for morepassenger trains.BuiltatacostofRs5,750crorethrougha

loan fromWorld Bank (which is funding amajority of the EDFC; theWDFC is beingfunded by the Japan InternationalCooperation Agency), the new stations inthis section are Bhaupur, Kanchausi,Achalda,Ekdil,Bhadan,Makhanpur,Tundla,Hathras,DaudkanandKhurja. This sectionpasses through Kanpur Dehat, Auraiya,Etawah, Firozabad, Hathras, Aligarh andBulandshahrdistricts inUttarPradesh.Thisislikebuildinganentirerailwaynet-

work from scratch, independent of IndianRailways. All the installations are new.

Including the stations, and that’s why thenames of amajority of its stations are pre-fixedwith‘New’,suchasNewBhaupur,NewKhurjaetc.Tracks on DFC are designed to carry

heavierloadsthanmostof IndianRailways.DFCwill get track access charge from theparent Indian Railways, and also generateitsownfreightbusiness.

Whattrainswillusethenewsection?Freighttrainsplyingonthissectionfrom

now onwill help decongest the existingKanpur-Delhimain line of IndianRailways,whichcurrentlyhandlestrainsat150%of its

linecapacity.Thissectioncurrentlyhasover50 passenger trains and around 60 goodstrainsjostlingforpathsdaily.ThenewsectionmeansontheIndianRailwaymainline,morepassengertrainscanbepumpedinandthosetrainscan,inturn,achievebetterpunctuality.Foodgrainandfertilisersfromthenorth-

ernregionaretransportedtotheeasternandNortheastregions.FromEastandNortheast,coal, ironore, jute andpetroleumproductsare transportedNorthandWest.

Whatelsewillchange?There are certain firsts for this section.

Forinstance,68existinglevelcrossingshave

beeneliminatedtoaugmentspeed,theonlymajorsectiononIndianRailwaysthatisfreefromanypermanentortemporaryspeedre-strictions. This inawaysets thebar for restof theDFC toalsomakestretches free fromspeedrestrictions,or“cautions”as theyaretermedinRailways.Freighttrainsusuallysufferfromunpre-

dictable running times and low speeds ofaround25kmperhour.Butonthisnewsec-tiontheycanrunat50-60kph.This sectionwill also catch the freight

traffic originating fromkey centres suchasKanpurDehat, Aurayia, Etawah, Firozabad,Hathras, Aligarh and Bulandshahr. The ex-isting industrial areas of Aligarh, Khuja,Firozabad, Agra and Bhaupurwill becomemajor growth centres of the area, theDedicated Freight Corridor Corporationprojects in itsbusinessdevelopmentplan.Theseareasareagriculturehubsproduc-

ing potato, paddy andmaize. “The agricul-tural producewill get a pan-Indiamarketbecauseof cheaperand fasterDFCconnec-tivity,” a spokesperson for theDFCCIL toldThe IndianExpress.NewMakhanpur (Firozabad) andNew

Daudkhan(Aligarh)willbeopenedascom-monuserterminalsaimedatlocalfarmersin

sendingtheirproducetothelargermarkets.

Whatabouttherestof theDFC?Moresectionswillkeepgettingcommis-

sionedinthecomingmonths.There is61%progress in theBhaupur to

DeenDayalUpadhyay section, and180kmof the 402 km will be complete byDecember21,yearwhile22kmwillbedoneby June 2022. Thereafter the stretch toSonnagar will see 100 km completed byMarchnextyear.The401-kmKhurjatoSanhewalsection

hashadonly39%progress.ItwillbedonebyJune2022.A46-kmlinkbetweenKhurja (Eastern)

andDadri(Western)willbereadybyMarch2021. By December 2021, Kanpur-KhurjaareawillgetconnectedtothewesternportsofKandla,Mundra,andPipava,viathe127-kmDadri-Rewari section in theWesternarm,itstargetadvancedbyseveralmonths.IntheWesternDFC,thesectionbetween

Rewari (Haryana) andMadar (Rajasthan)has been completed. The subsequent sec-tions are up to Palanpur in Gujarat (to bedone in the next threemonths), then toMakarpura (byMarch 2022) and finally toJNPT(June2022).

@ieExplained#ExpressExplainedIf there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould likeexplained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINED

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

THENEWINNEWYEAR

2021HEALTH & SCIENCE

Illustration: SuvajitDey

Study: Kids can identifyemotions on masked faces

Sadness,angerandfear.AshleyRuba,UW—Madison

Amitabh Sinha

Lessons from a pandemic

SCIENCEEDITOR

INDIAACTIVECASES 268,581

WORLDTOTALCASES81,508,329

Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonDec29

INDIATOTALCASES10,224,303

Source:MinistryofHealth&FamilyWelfare,updatedat11pmonDec29

Note: TheDec28 figure in this graph is basedon thegovernmentupdateonDec29

Dec19 Dec28LAST 10 DAYS

268,581

305,344

350,000

300,000

250,000

NewKhurjaNewDaudkhanNewHathrasNewTundlaNewMakhanpurNewBhadanNewEkdilNewAchaldaNewKanchausiNewBhaupur

Sahnewal

Dankuni

Dadri

JNPT

WesternDFC

EasternDFC

SECTIONOPENEDBYPM

NewGomoh

NewSonnagar

NewSasaram

NewMughalsarai

New Kanpur

NewSirhind

NewKoderma

NewKhurja

NewBhaupur

NewKhana

WhyDedicated Freight Corridormatters— for Railways, the country

New Delhi

16THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

UNITEDSTATES

Traffickingcase:BritishsocialitedeniedbailNew York: AUS judge onMonday denied bail toGhislaineMaxwell, citingtherisktheBritishsocialitemight flee from chargessheassistedinthelatefin-ancierJeffreyEpstein’straf-ficking of girls. USDistrictJudge Alison Nathan inManhattan said federalprosecutorspersuadedherthat Maxwell “poses aflightrisk”despiteherpro-posed $28.5million bailpackage, and should re-main jailed because “noconditionsof release”rea-sonablyassuredshewouldappear in court.Maxwell,59, has pleadednot guiltyto helping Epstein recruitand groomgirls as youngas14yearsoldforsexinthemid-1990s, andnotguiltytoperjury fordenyingherinvolvementunderoath.

REUTERS

GhislaineMaxwell

TOPOFTHEWORLD

ETHIOPIA

Journalistheld,noreasongivenbypolice,saykinNairobi:AReuterscamera-man,KumerraGemechu,was arrested in AddisAbaba on Thursday andwillbekeptincustodyforat least two weeks, hisfamilysaid.NoreasonwasprovidedtothefamilyforThursday’sarrest,andpo-lice did not respond toReuters requests forcom-ment. Kumerra, 38, hasworked for Reuters as afreelance cameraman fora decade. At a brief courthearing on Friday,whereno lawyerwas present, ajudge ordered Kumerra’sdetention fora further14daystogivepolicetimetoinvestigate, the familysaid. REUTERS

CROATIA

1killedas6.4magnitudequakestrikesZagreb:Anearthquakeofmagnitude6.4struckcen-tralCroatiaTuesday,killingachild,injuringmanypeo-ple,officials said.Rescuerstried to pull people fromthe rubble of collapsedbuildings, TV footageshowed, and armyweresent in to help. PrimeMinister Adrej Plenkovicsaid: “Wehave informa-tionthatonegirlwaskilled.Wehavenootherinforma-tion...” In neighbouringSlovenia, the STA newsagency said the sole nu-clearpowerplant,whichis100kmfromtheepicentre,was shut down as a pre-caution. REUTERS

Protesters takepart inarallyagainst thedissolutionofParliament inKathmanduonTuesday.Reuters

SHIRISHBPRADHANKATHMANDU,DECEMBER29

CHAIRMANOFtherulingNepalCommunist Party's rival factionMadhav Kumar Nepal said onTuesdaythatthepartycouldstillbe united if PrimeMinister K PSharmaOliwaswillingtoaccepthis mistakes, as thousands ofprotestersmarchedthroughthestreets of Kathmandu againstthedissolutionof Parliament.Madhav Nepal made the

comments while addressing amassiveprotestrallyorganisedbyhisfactioninKathmandu,whichwas attended by former PMsPushpaKamalDahal‘Prachanda’andJhalaNathKhanal.“We are ready to forget

everythingifOliacceptshismis-takes,”MadhavNepal said.He also accused Oli of prac-

ticinganti-democraticactivitiesbymakingdecisionsagainsttheConstitution and the generalpublic.“Allthepoliticalparties,intel-

lectuals, teachers, students andpublic are on the streets againsttheunconstitutionalmoveoftheOli-led government. The lowerHouse will soon be revived,”MadhavNepalwasquotedassay-ingbyMyRepublicanewspaper.Nepal plunged into a politi-

cal crisis on December 20 afterOli, known for his pro-Beijingleanings,inasurprisemove,rec-ommendeddissolving the 275-memberHouse, amidst a tussleforpowerwithPrachanda.Acting on the PM’s recom-

mendation,PresidentBidyaDeviBhandari dissolved the Housethe same day and announcedfresh elections on April 30 andMay 10, sparking protests froma largesectionof theNCP ledbyPrachanda,alsoaco-chairof therulingparty.Nepal's Supreme Court on

Friday issued a show-cause no-tice to the Oli-led government,askingittosubmitawrittenclar-ification over its decision toabruptlydissolveParliament.

China delegation holdstalkswith opp leadersGuoYezhou, a vice-minister

oftheCommunistPartyofChina,onTuesdaymetthemainoppo-sitionNepaliCongresschiefSherBahadur Deuba and discussedthelatestpoliticaldevelopmentsinthecountryfollowingthedis-solutionof ParliamentbyPrimeMinisterKPSharmaOli.Themeetingalso focusedon

relations between Nepal andChina, The Kathmandu PostquotedshadowforeignministerNarayanKhadkaas saying. PTI

REUTERSWASHINGTON,DECEMBER29

THEUS Senatewas set to grap-pleonTuesdaywithwhether toincreasepaymentstoAmericansreeling from the Covid-19 pan-demic and override PresidentDonald Trump’s veto of a $740billiondefensebill.Democrats, with help from

Trump’sTwitterfeed,arepushingforavoteontheadditionalmoney,a step they believe could givethemanadvantageintwoGeorgiarunoff elections nextweek thatwill determinewhichparty con-trolstheSenateunderJoeBiden.Thebill facesa toughpath in

theRepublican-ledSenate,withmany Republicans pointing tohundredsofbillionsofdollarsinaddedcostsof Covid-19relief.A combined $892 billion bi-

partisancoronavirusreliefpack-ageand$1.4trillionspendingbillthat Trump signed into law onSunday contains $600 chequesforpeoplehithardfinanciallybythepandemic. TheDemocratic-ledHouseofRepresentativesonMonday approved the increaseindirectpayments to$2000.Separately, the House on

Monday voted to override

Trump’svetoof thedefensepol-icy bill by 322-87. If the Senateseconds the House action, itwould be the first veto overrideof Trump’s presidency, whichendson January20.ASenatevoteonthedefense

bill veto had been expected onWednesday but could be de-layed until theweekend by po-liticalwranglingoverthestimu-lusmoney.WiththeNewYear’sDayhol-

iday and anewCongress due tobesworn inSunday, lawmakershaveonlyashort timetoact.

REUTERSWILMINGTON,WASHINGTON,DECEMBER29

PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE Bidensaid on Monday many ofAmerica’ssecurityagencieshadbeen “hollowed out” underPresidentDonaldTrumpandthelack of information being pro-vided to his transition team bytheoutgoingadministrationwasan“irresponsibility.”“We’ve encountered road-

blocks fromthepolitical leader-ship at the Department ofDefense and the Office ofManagement and Budget,”Biden said after ameetingwithhis foreign policy team. “Rightnowwe just aren’t getting all ofthe information that we needfrom the outgoing administra-tion in key national security ar-eas. It’s nothing short, in myview,of irresponsibility.”After Biden beat Trump in

the November 3 election, theDemocrat’s team only beganmeetingwithadministrationof-ficials in lateNovember tocoor-dinate thehandover.

Trump,aRepublican,hasre-fused to concede defeat andhisadministration only authorizedcooperation with Biden onNovember23.Bidentakesofficeon January20.Earlier this month, Biden’s

team said they hadmet resist-ancetorequestsforinformationfromsomePentagonofficials.ThePentagonpushedback.Inastatement,actingDefense

SecretaryChristopherMillersaid

thePentagonhadconducted164interviewswithover400officialsand providedmore than 5,000pagesofdocuments.But Biden reiterated his

team’s concerns on Monday.Whenhetakesoffice,hewill in-heritawiderangeof foreignpol-icy and national security chal-lenges, includingChina,IranandNorthKorea,aswellasthecoro-naviruspandemic ragingacrosstheglobe.

Constructionfor theupcomingpresidential inaugurationceremonyoutsidetheUSCapitolBuilding.Reuters

RohingyarefugeesdisembarkaNavyvesselas theyarriveat theBhasanChar island.Reuters

REUTERSBHASANCHAR,DECEMBER29

ASABangladeshinaval shipan-chored off a remote Bay ofBengal island, some of theRohingya Muslim refugeesaboard clapped in anticipationof starting a new life on a pieceof land that did not even existtwodecadesago.Carryingpoultryandsacksof

belongings, they are part of asecond group of about 1,800Rohingya that Bangladeshmoved on Tuesday fromcramped refugee camps on themainlandtothelow-lyingislanddespite opposition from rightsgroups.“Welcome to Bhasan Char,”

read a banner as the refugees

walkedoffthejettyontheisland.Navy trucks and tractor trailerstook them tomultiple rows ofconcretehouseswiththeirpink-ish-redpainted tin roofs.The Bangladesh navy took

the1,804Rohingyatothe islandin five ships, with the refugeessitting onwooden benches ondeck, some clutching ducks, pi-geons and chickens in bamboobaskets andwearingorange lifevests and masks against thecoronavirus.Bangladesh says it has spent

morethan$350millionofitsownmoney to ready housing andotherinfrastructuretovoluntarilymovesome100,000Rohingyatotheislandinanefforttoeaseover-crowding in camps near theMyanmar border, even thoughrightsgroupssaidmanywerebe-

ingcoercedorpaid tomove.Thegovernmentdeniesthecharges.“Mashallah! Wonderful

place,” oneman, a father of six,exclaimed. “We are so happywith the accommodation. Thechildrenaresoexcitedtoseetheplayground,”hesaid,butadded:“Wejustprayfloodsdon’tkillus.”“There’s so much suffering

and conflict in the camp,” an-otherman said, referring to hisold refugee-camphome.The government said earlier

thismonththatthehousingwasbuilt on concrete foundationwhich couldwithstand naturaldisasters,notingitwithstoodcy-clone Amphan in May whichkilledmore than 100 people inBangladeshandeastern India.A middle-aged man who

reached Bhasan Char with his

wife and three children onTuesdaysaidhiscampleaderhadconvinced him that theywerebetteroffrelocatingthanstayingback in the dilapidated sheltersonthemainlandwhereonemil-lionof themlivecheekby jowl.Thegovernmentsaysthere-

location is voluntary but somerefugees from the first grouphave spoken about being co-erced to go. The human rightsgroup Amnesty Internationalalsoexpressedconcern.“The island is completely

safe,” Foreign Minister AbdulMomentoldReuters in thecap-ital,Dhaka.“The Rohingya people who

have shifted there are veryhappy with the arrangement.Some evil groups are spreadingnegativepropaganda,”hesaid.

RUTHLAFERLANEWYORK,DECEMBER29

PIERRE CARDIN, the visionarydesigner and licensing pioneerwho invented the business offashionas it is conducted today,hasdied inFrance.Hewas98.His deathwas confirmedon

TuesdaybytheFrenchAcademyof Fine Arts. He died at theAmerican Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, just outside Paris, hisfamilysaid,accordingtoAgenceFrance-Presse.“Fashion is not enough,”Mr.

Cardin once told EugeniaSheppard, the American news-paper columnist and fashioncritic. “I don’t want to be just adesigner.”He never was just that. He

clothedthefamous—artists,po-

litical luminaries, tastemakersandmembersofthehautebour-geoisie—buthewasalsoamer-chant to themasseswith an in-ternational brand, his nameaffixedtoanoutpouringofprod-ucts, none too exalted or toohumble toescapehisavideye.Therewere bubble dresses

andbathtowels,aviatorjumpsuitsandautomobiles, fragrances andashtrays,evenpicklejars.Plantinghis flag on the Ruedu FaubourgSaint-Honoré in Paris, he pro-ceededtoturnthecountry’sfash-ionestablishmentonitshead,re-producing fashions for mass,ready-to-wearconsumption.In a career of more than

three-quarters of a century,Mr.Cardin remained a futurist. “Hehad this wonderful embrace oftechnologyandwasinlovewiththe notion of progress,” said

Andrew Bolton, the head cura-tor at the Costume Institute oftheMetropolitanMuseumofArtinNewYork.In1958,Mr. Cardinputmod-

elsincrashhelmetsmatchedwithtiny skirts andcolored stockings.Hedressedmen, andwomen, inspacesuits. In 1969, NASA com-missionedhimtocreateaninter-pretation of a spacesuit, a signalinspirationinhislaterwork.“Thedresses I prefer,” he said at thetime, “are those I invent for a lifethatdoesnotyetexist.”Mr. Cardin drew inspiration

fromeverywhere,beitthepago-das he visited in China, Op Artpaintingorautomotivedesign.“I’malwaysinspiredbysome-

thingoutside,notbythebodyit-self,” he told TheNewYork Timesin 1985. Clothing, he said, wasmeant“togivethebodyitsshape,

thewayaglassgivesshapetothewaterpouredintoit.”Yet hismen’s ready-to-wear

designs,introducedin1960,were

decidedlymore faithful to thebody’s outlines. Built on narrowshoulders, high armholes and afittedwaist, theywere stream-

linedandsomewhat severe,dis-pensing in some caseswith tra-ditionalcollarsinfavorofthesim-ple bandedNehru, a namesakeadaptation of the styleworn bytheIndianprimeminister.Those suits were slow to

catch on in the United States —until the Beatles appeared inknockoff versions on the EdSullivantelevisionshowin1966.Nehru-maniaensued.Mr.Cardinhadlaidthefoun-

dations for a global empire bythe late 1950s. At a timewhenFrance was fashion’s uncon-tested epicenter, hewas bring-inghisdesignstoMoscow,TokyoandBeijing,doingmoretoerodeinternational boundaries thananydesignerof theday.He conceived of himself

aboveall asaprolific ideasman,relishinghisroleastheoverseer

of a realm that encompassedclothing accessories, furniture,household products and fra-grances sold through some800licenseesinmorethan140coun-trieson fivecontinents.“I washwithmy own soap,”

heonceboasted.“Iwearmyownperfume,gotobedwithmyownsheets,havemyownfoodprod-ucts. I liveonme.”Chocolates, pens, cigarettes,

fryingpans,alarmclocksandcas-sette tapes—all bore the Cardinlogo, as did shoes, lingerie,blouses, neckwear,wallets, beltsand,more recently, an Androidtablet. By the mid-1980s, Mr.Cardinstoodatthehelmofamar-ketingorganizationandnetworkof licenseespayinghimroyaltiesof5to12percent. “Iwasbornanartiste,”hetoldTheTimesin1987,“but Iamabusinessman.”

Not content to preside overan omnipresent global brand,Mr. Cardin turnedhis rapaciousattentiontotheatersandmotels,media and even restaurants, in1981 buyingMaxim’s, once theworld’smostfamousrestaurant,a landmark of the belle époqueontheRueRoyale inParis.He neither boasted of his

protean ambitions nor apolo-gized for them. “I don’t playcards, I don’t smoke, I don’tdrink, Idon’t likesports,”hetoldMs.Bender.“Ijustwork.It’smar-velous. It amusesme.”Unlikemanydesignerstoday,

whose businesses are operatedby global conglomerates, Mr.Cardinhadnopartners. “I’mthefinancier,thebankerandthecre-ator,” he said. “I’ve always donewhat I wanted because I’veneverhadaboss.” NYT

Pierre Cardin, designer to the famous and merchant to masses, dies at 98

Bangladesh sends more Rohingya to island

Madhav Nepal: Willforget everything ifOli accepts mistake

Biden says Trump aides setting‘roadblocks’ for transition team

THENATIONALDefenseAuthorizationAct(NDAA),whichautho-rises$740billion inspendingandoutlinesPentagonpolicy, typicallypasseswithstrongbipar-tisansupportas it fundstheUS'ssecurityportfo-lio. Ithasbeensignedintolaweveryyear fornearlysixconsecutivedecades.

What is theNDAA?E●EX

PLAINED

FashiondesignerPierreCardinat the inaugurationof thePierreCardinMuseuminParis in2014..AP file

ADITIKHANNALONDON,DECEMBER29

FUGITIVE DIAMONDmerchantNiravModi appeared via vide-olink for a routine 28-day re-mandhearingonTuesdaybeforeWestminsterMagistrates'CourtinLondon,wherehewasfurtherremanded in custody untilJanuary 7 to conclude hearingsinhisextraditioncase.Nirav,49,wantedinconnec-

tionwith the estimated $2-bil-lion PNB scamcase, has been inWandsworth Prison in Londonsince his arrest last year follow-ing India's extraditionrequest.The final hearings in the ex-

traditioncasearescheduledovertwo days, on January 7 and 8,when District Judge SamuelGoozeeisscheduledtohearclos-ing arguments from both sidesbeforehehandsdownhis judg-menta fewweeks later.At the last full hearing in the

caseinNovember,JudgeGoozeeheard the arguments for andagainst the admissibility of cer-tain witness statements pro-vided by the CBI and ED andruledthattheevidencetoestab-

lish a prima facie case of fraudandmoney laundering againstthe fugitive diamantaire isbroadlyadmissible.Heconcludedthatheconsid-

eredhimself"bound"bythepre-viousUKcourtrulingsintheex-traditioncaseofVijayMallya.The Crown Prosecution

Service(CPS),arguingonbehalfofthe Indian authorities, hadstressedthattheevidence,includ-ing witness statements underSection161ofIndia’sCrPC,meetstherequiredthresholdfortheUKcourttodeterminewhetherModihas a case to answer before theIndianjudicialsystem.ThatMallyahasa case toan-

swer in India in his fraud andmoney laundering case hascleared various levels of the UKjudicial system and is currentlyundergoinga"confidential"legalissuebeforeUKHomeSecretaryPritiPatelcanconsidersigningoffonhisextradition. PTI

Russia’s jailservice tellsNavalny toappear or faceimprisonment

ASSOCIATEDPRESSMOSCOW,DECEMBER29

RUSSIA’SFEDERALpenitentiaryservice has given top Kremlincritic Alexei Navalny one day toreporttoitsofficeorfaceimpris-onment if he comes back toRussiaafter thedeadline.Navalny is convalescing in

Germany after his August poi-soningwithanerveagent,whichhe has blamed on the Kremlin.Russianauthoritieshavedeniedtheir involvement.The Federal Penitentiary

Service issued a statement onMondaysayingthatanarticlebydoctorsfromBerlin’sCharitehos-pital and published inmedicaljournalTheLancet indicatedthatNavalnyhas fullyrecuperated.The prison service de-

manded that Navalny report toitsofficeinlinewiththetermsofa31/2-yearsuspendedsentencehereceivedfora2014conviction.If he misses the deadline, hecould be imprisoned, the state-ment said.Navalny’s lawyer, Vadim

Kobzev,tweetedthattheagencytold thepolitician to showupatitsofficeonTuesdaymorning.Navalny,whopreviouslysaid

that he planned to return toRussia once he fully recovered,scoffed at the demand, sayingthat the Federal PenitentiaryService’s reference to thearticlein The Lancet amounted to thegovernment accepting he waspoisoned.“That means that the state

hasofficiallyrecognizedthepoi-soning,”he tweeted.“Andwhere is the criminal

case then?”

NiravhasbeeninaUKprisonsincehisarrestlastyear

Nirav Modi’s remandextended till Jan 7

Senatetoalsowrangleover$2,000stimuluschequeamidDemocratpush

USHouse votes to override Trump’sveto of defense Bill, over to Senate

New Delhi

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

ATANUCHAKRABORTY, formerEconomic Affairs Secretary, islikely to be thenext chairmanofHDFCBank.Accordingtosourcesclose to the development, thebankhaswritten to theReserveBankof India (RBI) recommend-ingthenameofChakraborty.Once approved by RBI,

Chakraborty—a1985batch IASofficeroftheGujaratCadre—maytakeover as thepart-time chair-manofHDFCBankinJanuary.Thetenure of its current part-timechairpersonShyamalaGopinathwillendonJanuary1.While HDFCBankdeclinedto

comment, Chakraborty, told TheIndianExpresssaid,“Idonotwishtocommentonthismatterasitisa communication between twodifferent entities, the bank andRBI. Iwouldliketosaythat Ihavenotthoughtaboutitandasofnowthereisnojobonmymind.”WhileChakraborty retired as

theEconomicAffairsSecretaryinApril, theofficememorandumofDepartment of Personnel andTraining states that anyGroupA

retiredofficial is required to seekthe government’s approval if hetakesacommercialemploymentwithinoneyearof retirement.Whenasked about the same

he said, “I haven’t thought aboutany job as of nowbut there arecertainstandardrulesforcivilser-vantsandIwouldfollowthem.”Earlier, onMonday, the bank

informedthestockexchangesthat“the Board of Directors of HDFCBankLtd(“theBank”)atitsmeet-ingheldtoday,hasrecommendedtheappointmentofthePart-TimeChairpersonof theBankandhassubmitteditsrecommendationtotheReserveBankof India for ap-proval under Section 35Bof theBankingRegulationAct,1949.”

17SENSEX: 47,613.08 ▲ 259.33 NIFTY: 13,932.60 ▲ 59.40 NIKKEI: 27,568.15 ▲ 714.12 HANG SENG: 26,568.49 ▲ 253.86 FTSE: 6,640.72 ▲ 138.61 DAX: 13,824.19 ▲ 33.90

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD`49,610

RUPEE`73.42

OIL$51.06

SILVER`68,156

Note:Gold, silverratesatDelhi spotmarket;goldper10g, silverper1kg;Brentcrudeasof0000IST

Internationalmarketdatatill1930IST

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

INAmovethatisbeingpeggedasthe first step in consolidation ofTataGroup’s aviation portfolio,TataSonswillpurchase32.67percent stake inAirAsia India fromMalaysianAirAsiaGroupBhd,tak-ingitsholdinginthejoint-ventureairlineupto83.67percent.Inafil-ing to the Malaysian stock ex-changes, theAirAsiaGroup saidthat the deal, which is worth$37.66million,willseeitsshareintheIndianbudgetairlinegodownto16.33percent.Asofdate,AirAsiahelda49per

cent stake inAirAsia India,whileTataSonsheld51per cent. Inad-

ditiontothis,TataSonsalsoowns51percentstakeinfull-serviceair-lineVistara, the restofwhich it isownedbySingaporeAirlines.TataSonsalsoplacedanexpressionofinterest in theongoingdisinvest-mentprocessofAir India. InJune,AirAsiahadapproached theTataGrouptosellitsstake,asmandatedbythetermsof thejoint-venture,accordingtowhichTataSonshasthefirstrighttobuyoutthestake.TheMalaysian company, led byTony Fernandes, had stoppedfundingtheIndianventurefollow-ingtheCovid19-ledslumpinavi-ation businesses. InNovember,AirAsia said itwas reviewing itsIndiaandJapanbusinesses.Elaboratingontherationaleof

sellingasignificantpartofitsstake

inAirAsia India to Tata Sons, theMalaysianfirmsaidinthestockex-changefiling:“Sincethestartofthepandemic, the aviation industryhasbeenoneofthehardesthitin-dustries.Airlinesaroundtheworld

have cancelled flights andgroundedplanesandAirAsiaIndiaisnoexception.Duetothis,thedi-rectors expect further capital re-quirements forAirAsia India. AsIndia is a non-core market forAirAsia(beinganon-ASEANcoun-try),thecompanywillcontinuetoregularly re-assess its businessstrategiesanddisposeofnon-coreinvestments”.“This transactionwill reduce

cashburnof the company in theshort termand allowAirAsia toconcentrateonrecoveryofitskeyASEAN markets in Malaysia,Thailand, Indonesia and thePhilippines in the long run,” itadded.TheairlinegroupexiteditsJapanbusinessearlierthisyear.TataSonsdidnotofferacom-

mentonthedevelopment.ThedealvaluesAirAsiaIndiaat

$115.27million.For themonthofNovember,theairlinehad6.6percentmarket share in India’s do-mesticair traffic,while thecoun-try’slargestairlineIndiGohad53.9percentshare.AirAsiaIndia’srev-enues fell 69 per cent in theSeptember-quarter. While itslossesfortheJune-quarterweren’tdisclosed, in the January-Marchperiod for 2020, its losses deep-ened to Rs332crore, fromRs15crorea yearago.PointingoutthattheIndiaven-

turehasbeena loss-makingone,AirAsia said: “The shareof lossesovertheyearshaveresultedinthecarryingvalueof the investmentatthedateoftransactiontobenil.”

JSHL to mergewith JindalStainless to form‘India’s largeststainless steel co’

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

JINDAL STAINLESS (Hisar) Ltd(JSHL) onTuesday said its boardhas approved the company’smergerintothecountry’slargeststainless steel maker JindalStainlessLtd(JSL).Havingatotalmeltingcapac-

ity of 0.8million tonne per an-num(MTPA),Hisar-basedJSHListhe largest specialty stainlesssteelproducerinIndiawithadi-versified value-added productportfolio.InaBSEfiling,thecom-pany said its “board has consid-ered and approved...amalgama-tion of JSHL (the amalgamatingcompany into and with JindalStainlessLtd”.Inajointstatement,thecom-

panies claimed themergerwillcreate amegastainless steel en-tity thatwill be among the top-10 stainless steel companies intheworld and the largest stain-less steel company in India. Asper the proposed structure, themobilitybusinessof JSLLifestyleLtd, a subsidiary of JSHL,wouldbemergedinto JSL.WITHPTI

CBI chargesheets Parekh AluminexKHUSHBOONARAYANMUMBAI,DECEMBER29

THE CENTRAL Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) on Tuesdayfiled a chargesheet againstMumbai-basedlistedfirmParekhAluminex Ltd and23 others in-cludingitsdirectorsandcharteredaccountantforallegedlycausingalossofoverRs297croretoIndianOverseasBank.ParekhAluminex has come

under the scanner of multiple

probe agencies such as theEconomicOffencesWing (EOW)of Mumbai police, theEnforcementDirectorate (ED) fordefaulting on loans of aboutRs2,500crore toaconsortiumof22banks includingStateBankofIndia (Rs 255 crore), IDBI Bank(Rs40crore),DenaBank (Rs183crore ), andCorporationBank(Rs60crore).TheCBIchargesheethasallegedthatthefirmhassiphonedmoney by “submitting fake &forgedpurchaseinvoices/lettersofcredit(LCs).Thecompany,theCBI

hasalleged,obtainedloansagainst“false and fabricated balancesheetswithinflatedsales”.Asperthe chargesheet, thedirectors ofParekh Aluminex allegedly“floated”shellcompaniestocircu-latetheloanproceeds“undertheguiseof LC transactionswithoutdoinganyactual business”. “Thecompanyalso submitted the al-leged falsebills and received theLCproceedsanddivertedthepro-ceeds to real estatebusiness. Thehugeamountswereallegedlydi-vertedtovariousrealtors,”saidCBI.

TATAS’HOLDINGINJVTORISETO83.67%,AIRASIAGROUP’STOGODOWNTO16.33%

Office of the Executive Engineer,VJNL,

UBP Division No. 3, Ajjampura-577 547

Ph No-08261-245686 E-mail id-eeubp3.1@gmail.com

CIN No: U41000KA2016SG097260

VISVESVARAYA JALA NIGAM LIMITED(A Government of Karnataka Enterprises)

NO:EE/VJNL/UBP/D-03/Ajjampura/PB-1/Tender notificatn/

2020-21/791 dated: 29-12-2020

Sd/- Executive Engineer, VJNL, UBP Division No.3,

Ajjampura.

SHORT TERM TENDER NOTIFICATION (TWO-COVER

SYSTEM) (THROUGH “e-Procurement” ONLY)

Sl. No. 1. Name of work : Providing 11KV power supply to

11 no zonal pumping stations coming under Package 2 of

Tarikere Lift Irrigation Scheme. (I No: VJNL/2020-21/EL/

2020-21/WORK_ INDENT 1552) App. amount put to tender

(Rs. In Lakhs) : 1686.10 EMD (Rs. In Lakh) : 16.87

Category of the Agency : KPTCL super grade license

contractors and KPWD Class I contractor Time Limit. : 06

Months (Including monsoon)

Further details and information about electronic tendering can

be had from https://eproc.karnataka.gov.in/e-procurement

Calendar of Events

Sl.No. 1. The contractor can access to the e-tender document,

i.e. the tender schedules, bid documents and other documents,

in the web site http://eproc. karnataka.gov.in on payment of

transaction fee (nonrefundable) from : 04.01.2021, after 11.30

hours Sl.No. 2. Last date & time for tender queries/

clarifications : 15.01.2021 upto 17.00 hours Sl.No. 3. Pre bid

meeting will be held at o/o the Chief Engineer, VJNL, UBP

Zone, Chitradurga. : 18.01.2021 at 11.30 hours Sl.No. 4. The

last date for submission of completed tender documents

(Cover-1 & cover-2) through e-portal. : 25.01.2021 upto 16.00

hours Sl.No. 5. Date & time of opening of Technical Bid

(Cover -1) by Executive Engineer, V.J.N.L, UBP, Division No.3,

Ajjampura. : 27.01.2020 at 11.00 hours

■ In June, AirAsiahadapproached theTatagroup to sell its stake,asmandatedby thetermsof the joint-venture, according towhichTata Sonshasthe first right tobuyout the stake.

AIRASIAAPPROACHEDTATAGROUP INJUNE

TataSons tobuy32.67%stakeinAirAsia India for$37.66million

GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,DECEMBER29

THERESERVEBankof India (RBI)on Tuesday said commercialbanksmanagedtolowertheirbadloans, or non-performing assets(NPAs), largely driven by loanwrite-offsandwarnedthattheas-setqualityof thebankingsystemmay deteriorate sharply in thecomingmonthsduetotheuncer-taintyinducedbyCovidpandemic.Commercial banks in India

managed to bring down theirNPAsto7.5percentofadvancesasof September2020 from8.2percent inMarch 2020 and 9.1 percent in March last year. BankswroteoffarecordRs237,876crorein fiscal 2019-20, enabling thebankstoshowlowerNPAs,theRBIsaid in its ‘Report on trend andprogressofbankinginIndia2019-20’. Thecentralbankhaswarnedthat themodestNPA ratio of 7.5per cent at end-September2020“veils the strongundercurrentofslippage”.TheaccretiontoNPAsasper the Reserve Bank’s IncomeRecognition and Asset Classi-fication(IRAC)normswouldhavebeenhigher intheabsenceof the

assetqualitystandstillprovidedasaCovid-19reliefmeasure.TheRBIhadallowedsixmonthsmorato-riumon loan repaymentsdue totheCovid impact. “Given theun-certaintyinducedbyCovidanditsreal economic impact, the assetqualityofthebankingsystemmaydeteriorate sharply, going for-ward,”theRBIreportsaid.Inabsolute terms, grossNPAs

declined to Rs 899,803 crore inMarch2020fromRs936,474croreinMarch2019. “NPAsolder thanfour years require 100 per centprovisioningand,therefore,banksmayprefertowritethemoff.Inad-dition,banksvoluntarilywrite-offNPAsinordertocleanuptheirbal-ancesheets,availtaxbenefitsandoptimisetheuseofcapital,”theRBIsaid.“Atthesametime,borrowersofwritten-off loansremain liableforrepayment,”itsaid.PSUbankswroteoff loansworthRs178,305crore in 2019-20while privatebankshadwrittenoff Rs 53,949crore,theRBIreportsaid.Banking

sources said very little is knownaboutthe identityof theborrow-ersandtheamountwrittenoff inthecaseof individual borrowers.Whilebanksclaimthattherecov-erymeasurescontinueevenafterloansarewrittenoff, sourcessaidnotmorethan15-20percentisre-coveredand thewrite-off figureseveryyearare rising,much fasterthan recoveries and recapitalisa-tion.What’s disturbingbankingobserversisthatbanksmadeaddi-tionsof Rs378,228crore toNPAsinMarchOn theother hand, re-ductioninNPAswasmuchloweratRs155,905croreduringtheyear.The central bank’s reporthas

warnedthatanincreaseinthere-structuredadvances ratio to0.43per cent at end-September2020from0.36 inMarch2020maybe“indicativeof incipientstress”.The RBI said the rapid credit

growthduring2005-12,coupledwithabsenceof strongcreditap-praisalandmonitoringstandardsandwilful defaults are responsi-bleforsizeableassetimpairmentsin subsequent years. “Largebor-rowalaccounts (exposureofRs5croreandabove)constituted79.8percentofNPAsand53.7percentof total loans at end September2020,” it said, adding: “Theshareof special mention accounts(SMA-0) saw a sharp rise inSeptember2020”.

Full report onwww.indianexpress.com

TheReserveBankof India.File

`3,87,400crborrowedinthefirstninemonthsofFY20

`95,400crFall inredemptionsduringthefirstthreequartersfrom`1,06,800crofFY20

64.1% rise innet issuance

duringthefirstthreequartersofFY21toRs4,60,400crorefromRs2,80,600croreinFY20

Over65%oftheseRs5.55lakhcroreborrowinghavebeenlappedupbyjustfivetopborrowingstateswithMaharashtraborrowingRs39,500croremore,KarnatakaRs25,900croremore,TamilNaduRs16,600croremore,AndhraanadditionalRs15,300croreandTelanganadrawingdownRs13,400croremoreduringthesemonths

Source: Icra/PTI

At Rs 5,55,900 crore, states have snapped up 43.5 per centmore debt in the first ninemonths of the fiscal, as per Icra

‘States’ borrowing 43.5%morein first 9months of this fiscal’

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

AS THE rollout of Covid-19 vac-cine nears, the Civil AviationMinistry has sounded out air-lines, airports and ground han-dlers to start preparing for thetransportationwithaspecial fo-cus on temperature regulation,Civil Aviation Secretary PradeepSingh Kharola said Tuesday,adding that theexactguidelinesto be followed by these stake-holderswill be issued closer tothedateof transportation.“All themainstakeholders—

airports,airlinesandgroundhan-dlers — have been alerted andaskedtodrawtheirplans.Theex-actSOPswillbeformulatedwiththe Ministry of Health andDepartmentofPharmaceuticalswhen we know the exact re-quirements of the vaccine —what precautions have to betaken, how it has to be trans-portedandwhatothermeasuresare required. That has to be fac-tored in and itwill bedonenear

tothedateoftransportationanddetails SOPswill be laid down,”Kharolasaid.At the same event, Civil

AviationMinisterHardeepSinghPurisaidthatIndiaexpectstobe-gin administering the Covid19vaccine in Januaryandby July, itexpects administering the vac-cineto30crorebeneficiaries.Meanwhile,Puriaddedheex-

pectsthatthetemporarysuspen-sion on the UK-India flights,which has been in place since11.59pmDecember22,couldbe“slightlyextended”.

AviationMin asks airlines, airports toprepare for vaccine transportation

Deadline forAI physicalbids closesENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

THEFINALdeadline for submis-sionof physical bids forAir Indiadisinvestment closed Tuesdaywith US-based Interups with-drawingfromtheracebynotsub-mittingaphysicalbid,sourcessaid.ApartfromInterups,TataSonsanda consortiumof Air India’s em-ployeeshadsubmittedanexpres-sionof interest.Next,theDepartmentofInves-

tmentandPublicAssetManage-mentandthetransactionadvisorforthedisinvestmentprocesswillinformthequalifiedinterestedbid-dersonJanuary5,afterwhichtheprocesstoplacefinancialbidswillbegin. Thegovernment this yearkickedoffprocesstodivest100percentstakeinAirIndia.

CivilAviationMinisterHardeepSinghPuri.via@HardeepSPuri

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

THE EMPLOYEES’ ProvidentFundOrganisation (EPFO) islearnt to have got clearancefromtheFinanceMinistryforinterestraterecommendationof8.5percent forFY20andisexpectedtocreditittosubscri-bers innext fewdays. The re-tirementfundbodyislookingatcreditingtheinterestrateinonegoof 8.5percent insteadof a split of 8.15per cent and0.35percentproposedearlier,aseniorofficialsaid.“Officials of both labour

and financeministries heldmeetingsthisweekregardingtheinterestrateproposal.TheFinanceMinistry has raisedsomeconcerns regarding theriskyinvestments,forwhichithas soughtmore details, buthasgivenitsnodfortheinter-est rateproposal,” theofficialsaid, adding that it shouldbecreditedinafewdays.Queriessent by The Indian Express tothe Finance Ministry wentunanswered.The Central Board of

Trustees of the EPFO had inSeptember recommendedsplittingpaymentoftheinter-estrateof8.5percentrecom-mended for financial year2019-20intotwoparts,citing“exceptional circumstancesarisingoutofCovid-19”.

TheEPFOhad then said itwill credit 8.15per cent to itsover six crore subscribers fortheyearimmediatelyandgivethe remaining 0.35 per cent,whichislinkedtoitsequityin-vestments,“beforeDecember31”.This, ithadsaid,wassub-jecttoredemptionof itsunitsinvested in exchange-tradedfundsorETFs.The FinanceMinistryhad

questionedthe2018-2019in-terest rate of 8.65per cent aswell,besidestheEPFO’sexpo-suretoIL&FSandsimilarriskyentities. It has beennudgingtheEPFOtoreducetheratetosub-8 per cent level in linewith the overall interest ratescenario. Small savings ratesrangefrom4.0-7.6percent.

PROVIDENT FUNDFINANCIALYEAR 2019-20

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

THEDISRUPTIONintelecomserv-icesofferedbyReliance Jio Infoc-omm continued inPunjab as protestinggroupscutpowercon-nection to additionaltowers owned by theoperatorandcontinuedto block the repair ofvandalisedtowers.

Whathasbeenvandalised?Ofthe9,000towersitesthatJio

has in the state, power supply toroughly1,800hadbeeneithercut

off or been disconnected byprotestinggroupsasofTuesday.

HowdoesthisimpactJioservicesinthestate?With power supply to Jio’s

towers being discon-nected, the immediateimpactislikelytobefelton calls and internetdataspeedintheregion.Onanaverage,amobilecell phone tower canprovideconnectivity to

usersupto75kmaway.However,for themobile signal tobestrongenough,multiple tower sites areinstalled in a region so that themaximumdistancebetweenacell

site and amobile phone is keptlimitedbetween25-35km.Jiohasaround14million subscribers inthe state. With about 1,800 ofthesetowersbeingvandalised,theloadoftherestofsubscribersofthecompanyislikelytoshiftontotheothertowersinthevicinityofthattower. This, in turn,may impactthequalityofcallsandtheinternetdata speed in the region. The im-pactisalsolikelytobefeltonserv-icesof otherproviders sincecallslandingonandoriginating fromJio’snetworksmayfacecongestiondueto lessernumberof cell sites.Apart from voice calls, the lownumberof cell sites is likelytohitinternetspeeds.

■TheEPFOislookingatcreditingtheinterestrateinonegoof8.5%insteadofasplitof8.15%and0.35%proposedearlier,aseniorofficialsaid■ Thecreditingoftheamounttothesubscribersisexpectedtobedoneinthenextfewdays

TOBECREDITEDINONEGO

Finance Ministrygives nod for 8.5%EPF interest rate Jio towers vandalised in Punjab:

Calls likely to face congestion

Former DEA SecretaryChakraborty likely to beHDFC Bank chairman

FormerEconomicAffairsSecretaryAtanuChakraborty

Warnsof sharpdeterioration inassetquality

RBI says write-offs helpedbanks lower bad loans

BRIEFLY15thtrancheofelectoralbondsNewDelhi:Thegovernmenton Tuesday approved the15th tranche of electoralbondswhichwill be openfor sale between January 1andJanuary10.StateBankofIndia is theonly authorisedbanktoissuethebonds.PTI

MobilitycardforAirport lineMumbai:DelhiMetroAirp-ort Express Linewill acceptcommonmobilitycard.ENS

737MAXbackinUSskiesMiami:American AirlinesbroughtbacktheBoeing737MAXtoskiesonTuesday.AP

SebifinesNDTV`5crNewDelhi: Sebi slapped aRs5crorepenaltyonNDTVfor failure todiscloseprice-sensitiveinformationaboutVCPL loanagreements. Thecompanysaid itwill appealagainsttheruling.PTI

New Delhi

CLASSIFIEDS&TENDERS18 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

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GOVERNMENT OF UNION TERRITORY JAMMU & KASHMIR

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEERMECHANICAL HOSPITAL AND CENTRAL HEATING DIVISION SRINAGAR

(Telefax: 0194-2496089, E-mail ID: xenmhchdk@yahoo.in)GIST OF E-TENDER

NIT No: MHCHD/TS/2020-21/235/e-TenderingDated: 28.12.2020

E-tenders are invited from Original Equipment Manufacturers or their Authorized dealers/Representatives for the below mentioned work:

1. Downloading of Bids: The NIT Consisting of qualifying information, eligibility criteria,specifications, Bill of quantities (B.O.Q), Set of terms and conditions of contract andother details can be seen from the departmental website www.jktenders.gov.in from28.12.2020 (18.00 hrs) and can be downloaded from 28.12.2020 (18.00 hrs).

2. Uploading: The bidders shall deposit their bids in electronic format on the above website 29.12.2020(10.00 hrs) to 07.01.2021 (16:00 hrs) in two (02) covers.

3. Opening of Bids: The bids received upto due date and time shall be opened on08.01.2021 at 14.00 hrs or any date convenient to the department in the office ofExecutive Engineer, MHCHD, Srinagar

Sd/-Executive Engineer,

MHCHD, Srinagar

Name of Work Est. Cost Cost of Earnest Time of Position(Rs. in T/Doc. Money Completion of AAA/Lacs) (in Rupees) (Lacs of Rs.) (in Days) Fund

1 2 3 4 5 624.00 1000 0.48 30 Available

withintending

Department

Supply, Installation, Testing,Commissioning of Air Compressors ofCapacity 275 CFM, Screw type alongwith maintenance for Three years atGovt. Chest Disease Hospital, Srinagar.

No: MHCHD/TS/ 8120-24Date: 28.12.2020DIPK-11024

DIPR/5016/Tender/2020

Sl.No

Tender InvitingAuthority

Specification No. &Name of Work / Material

Due Date & Timefor submission

1 CE/MECH/Mines

Mines-01, Selection of MineDeveloper and Operator forDevelopment and Operation ofChandrabila Coal Block (10 MTPA)Angul District of Odisha

24.02.2021Up to

14.00 Hours

NOTICE INVITING TENDERS (e-TeNDerINg proceSS)TAMIL NADU geNerATIoN AND DISTrIbUTIoN corporATIoN LTD.

cHIeF eNgINeer/MecHANIcAL/Mines

The tender Specification can be downloaded from TANGEDCO website,www.tangedco.gov.in, www.tenders.tn.gov.in, at free of cost.https://tntenders.gov.in/nicgep/app

GOVERNMENT OF ARUNACHAL PRADESHDEPARTMENT OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT &

ENTREPRENEURSHIPUDYOG SADAN, C-SECTOR-ITANAGAR-791111.

NO.SDE/ITI/RFP/604/2020 Dtd: 28/12/2020Request for Proposal

Arunachal Pradesh Skill Development Mission under the aegis ofDepartment of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship,Government of Arunachal Pradesh invites “Request forProposal for Selection of Private Agencies to operate & runthree (03) Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in ArunachalPradesh under PPP”2. The Bidder must furnish details /documents as per the

prescribed format.3. The hard copy of the RFP document should be submitted on or

before 21st Jan 2021 by 5:30 P.M. inside a sealed envelopemarked as “Proposal for Selection of Private Agencies tooperate & run three Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) inArunachal Pradesh under PPP” along with a Non RefundableProcessing Fees of INR 5000.00 (INR Five Thousand only) inthe form of Demand Draft to the Director, Department of SkillDevelopment & Entrepreneurship, Government of ArunachalPradesh, ‘C’ Sector, Udyog Sadan, ltanagar, ArunachalPradesh-791111.The envelope shall clearly indicate the nameand address of the bidder (Private Agency).

4. The soft copy of the proposal should be sent through mail tosdarunachal@gmail.com latest by 19.01.2021, 5:30 P.M.

5. RFP Format and other documents can be downloaded from thewebsite: http://skillarunachal.nic.in

Any incomplete RFP or RFP received after 5:30 P.M of19th January 2021 shall be summarily rejected. The REP can bewithdrawn/cancelled by the Government at any time withoutassigning any reason.

Sd/-(Subu Tabin)

DirectorSkill Dev. & Entrepreneurship

Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, ltanagar.DIPR No./ARN-14789-92

PPEERRSSOONNAALL

ClassifiedsII,,hhiitthheerrttoo knownasSummadKumarPoonia S/o Late ShriSheoraj Singh residingatC-112A, Gali,No.11, Khajuri KhasColony, BadarpurKhadar,Sabhapur, North EastDelhi-110094, have changedmynameandshall hereafter beknownasSamvedSingh.

0040558941-1

II Gokinapalli VenkannasonofSh.Muthaiah resident ofQ.No.B5-5/4, DoorNo.117,Thungabhadra,GowthaminagarColony,AswapuramMandal,Bhadradri KothagudemDistrict, Telangana inform thatmynamehasbeenwronglywrittenas GOKINAPALLIVENKATESWARLU inmyservice records. Theactualnameofmine isGOKINAPALLIVENKANNA,whichmay beamendedaccordingly.

0040558963-1

II,,hhiitthheerrttoo knownasDalchand,S/oSarwanKumar,Residingat 17/106TrilokPuri,NewDelhi-110091,have changedmynameandshall hereafter beknownasDivyanshChawla.

0040558978-1

II,,VVaaiibbhhaavvYadav,S/oKomalSinghYadav,R/O-372/H-3,Camero-ComplexSubroto-Park,NewDelhi-110010,HaveChangedMyName,FromVaibhavYadavToVaibhavSinghYadavVide-AffidavitDated-29/12/2020,BeforeNCT-Delhi. 0040558971-9

II,,TTaarriinnddeerr Singh,S/oRajinderSinghNarulaHouse.No.3,Block-L,PratapNagar,Delhi-110007,HaveChangedMyName toTarinderSinghNarula,forAll,FuturePurposes. 0040558973-2

II,,SSuummiittSinghRawat,S/o,Birendrasingh,R/o,B-126,B-Block BharatViharKakrola,Delhi-110078,havedeclarethat,nameofmineand,myfatherhas,beenwrongly-writtenasSumitSinghandBirenderSinghRawatin,my.Aadhar-card.no.215006335136.Theactualname,ofmine,andmy,fatherareSumitSinghRawatandBirendraSingh. 0040558971-5

II,,SSoonniiaaMaria,D/oAshokKumar,W/oNiraj Kumar,R/oFlat.No.202,SahyogApartments,plot.no.53,Sector-56, Gurgaon(Haryana)-122011,have changedmyname to Sonia Shah.For allfuturepurposes. 0040558973-1

II,,SSoonniiaaGuptaW/oAshishGupta,R/o Flat.No-10, Prime-MinisterHousingSociety,Vikaspuri,Delhi-110018,HaveChangedMyNameToSoniaMahajan, ForAll Purposes. 0040558973-8

II,,SSoommddeevv S/o Lal Singh,R/oLohanaRewari (Haryana)-123411,have changedmyMinor Son’s name fromMukultoMukul Yadav. 0040558971-7

II,,SShhaalleennddeerr Kumar,S/oShivSwaroopSaxena,R/oRZF-31A/111,Gali.No.-21 Sadh-Nagar-2,Palam-Colony,PalamVillage, Delhi-110045,havechangedmyname toShalenderKumar Saxena.

0040558976-6

II,,SSaammsshhaaddAli,S/oKhurshaidAli,R/oVillage-Himmatpur,Garhmukteshwar,Hapur,UttarPradesh,have changedmyname toShamshadAli.

0040558978-2

II,,RRiisshhaabbChhetri S/o,MamrajChhetryR/o-WZ-114-A,Todapur, IARI, Delhi-12,informthat RishabhandRishabChhetri both areoneand sameperson. 0040558976-2

II,, RRaajjeesshhKumarBindra, S/oSh.F.C. BindraR/oH.No.6/20,Shivaji Nagar, Gurugram,Haryana,have changedmyname toRajeshBindra for allfuturepurposes.

0040558978-7

II,,SSuukkhhbbiirr Kumar Jindal S/ORamRichpal R/O512/22, Prabhu-NagarNearGopiMandiSonipatHaryana-131001,changedmynametoSukhbir Jindal. 0040558973-4

II,,RRUUBBII D/ORIYAZKHANH.NO-427, NEAR-BADIMASJID,MANDOLI-VILLAGE,DELHI-110093. have changedmyname toRUBI KHAN.

0040558978-4

II,,RRAAJJEESSHHARORAS/OKISHANLALR/OG-14/28,SECTOR-15,ROHINI,DELHI-110089.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETORAJESHKUMAR.FORFUTUREPURPOSES.

0040558971-8

II,,PPrreeeettii D/oGhore Lal GuptaR/o,H/no.B-17,Gali.no.-13,OmNagar,Meethpur,Extn.,Jaitpur,Delhi-110044,have changedmyname toPreeti Gupta for,allpurposes.

0040558971-6

II,,PPoooonnaammGoel,w/oSandeepGoel,R/o-124, Flat.No-3,UGF,Khasra.No-293, 60-FutaRoad,Chattarpur, Delhi-110074,havechangedmyname toPoonamGupta, permanently.

0040558977-7

II,,PPaawwaannKumar S/oOmPrakashDhiman,R/oRZ-16,StreetNo.14, Tughlakabad-Extn.NewDelhi-110019,haveChangedmyname toPawanKumarDhiman.

0040558976-4

II,,MMOOHHIINNDDEERRPAULCHOPRAS/OJHANDARAMCHOPRA,R/O J-5/74RAJOURIGARDENNEAR-NEHRUMARKET,DELHI-110027,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOMOHINDERPALCHOPRA. 0040558977-1

II,,MMAARRGGHHOOOOBBULHAQUE,S/OMISBAHUDDINADD-5412,REHMAN STREETCHANDNICHOWKDELHI-110006,CHANGEDmyname toMARGHOOBULHAQ,permanently. 0040558971-1

II,,KKhhuusshhbboooobanerjee,D/osubhashVijaybanerjee,W/ojitesh kumarR/o-F-24,G/F,gali.no.9, subhashchowk,laxmi-Nagar,Delhi-110092,Have changedmyname tokhusbubanerjee.

0040558971-2

II,,JJyyoottii Tanejaw/oSanjayKawraR/o.H.No.A-14, Duggal Colony,Khanpur, Devli-Road,NewDelhi-110062,have changedmyname to Jyoti Kawra,permanently. 0040558977-9

II,,IInnddeerraajj Singh,S/o SukhRam,R/o 619-20/2, Gupta-MasterGali, Devli,NewDelhi-110062,have changedmyname to Indraj SinghVerma.

0040558977-6

II,,IImmrraannKhan,S/oMohammadHanif R/o-621A/21, ZakirNagar, Jamia-Nagar,Okhla,Delhi-110025.havechangedmyname toMohdImran. 0040558976-3

II,,GGeeeettaaDevi D/oSh.Khimram,R/o-34/9,Kishangarh,Vasant-Kunj, ND-70,have changedmyname,fromGeeta toGeetaDevi for,all purposes.

0040558977-2

II,,GGOOVVIINNDDS/O JAGDISHUPADHAYAYR/OHOUSE.NO.50BHARATCOLONYOLD-FARIDABAD,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOGOVINDUPADHAYAYPERMANENT.

0040558971-3

II,,DDIILLPPRREEEETTKAURGILLD/oPARKASHSINGHGILLR/o-79RADHEYSHYAMPARKDELHI-110051,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETODILPREETKAUR.

0040558973-5

II,,DDEEEEPPTTHHII NAIRNEGI,R/oFLAT.NO-701, ETERNIAMAHAGUNMAPLE, SECTOR-50,NOIDA,GAUTAMBUDH-NAGAR,U.P-201301,Changedmy minor SONnameABHIMANYUDAS toABHIMANYUNEGI.

0040558973-3

II,,BBhhoolliiW/OPremSinghR/O.H.No-212, Dhakka-VillageNearG.T.B-Nagar,Delhi-110009,changedmynametoKanta.

0040558977-5

II,,AArruunnaaMalhotraW/oParveenChanderMalhotra,R/oG-15/2A (G.F.) Rajouri-GardenNewDelhi,have changedmyname toArunPrabhaMalhotra. 0040558977-8

II,,RRaajjaannKumar S/OPremSinghR/O.H.No-212,DhakkaVillageNearG.T.B-NagarDelhi-110009.changedmynametoRajanSingh. 0040558977-4

II,,AAmmrreeeennD/o JalaluddinAliHasanR/o.H.No.30, StreetNo.3, Aram-Park, Shastri-Nagar, Delhi-110031,havechangedmyname toAmreenHasan. 0040558976-5

II,,AAbbhhiisshheekk Beghel,S/oPhoolSingh,R/oH.No.3754,Gali.No.102,B-BlockApexRoad,Sant-Nagar,Burari,Delhi-84,have changedmyname toAbhishekBaghel.

0040558973-6

II,,AAaarrttii Virmani,W/OAkshayBhasinR/O-11/30,GeetaColony,Park SideDelhi-110031,HaveChangedMyNameToArti Vermani ForAll,FuturePurposes.

0040558971-4

II,,AARRUUNNKUMARCHOUHAN,S/OSUWALALCHOUHAN.R/O-370,FLAT.NO.1,TOWER-A,VILLAGE-CHATTARPURTIVOLINEWDELHI-110074.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOARUNCHAUHAN, PARAMANENTLY.

0040558973-7

II,, Zubada,W/oShamshadAli,R/oVillageHimmatpur,Garhmukteshwar, Hapur,UttarPradesh,have changedmyname toZubedaBegum.

0040558978-3

II,, SABARABEGUM,W/O.AKBARALI,ADD-118,STREETNO,1ARAM-PARKSHASTRINAGARDELHI-110031, changedmyname toSABRABEGUM,permanently. 0040558976-7

II,, Rahul Kumar,F/o-AyraChoudhary,R/o-Flat.No.2151,Sector-D,Pocket-2, Vasant-Kunj, ND-70,have changedmyminor daughter’s name,fromAayraChoudhary toAyraChoudhary for,all purposes.

0040558977-3

II,,Manoj Kumar Sethia Jain aliasManoj Sethia, S/oGaneshMalSethiaR/o-D-180,Ground/Floor, VivekVihar,Phase-I, Delhi-110095,have changedmyname toManoj Kumar Sethiafor,all Purposes.ConfirmThat,aboveall namesbelongs-to samePerson.

0040558942-2

II,, Kapil Digani R/oC1403BptpFreedompark Life Sector 57Gurgaonhavechangedmyminor daughter’s name fromKaavyaDigani toKavyaDiganifor all purposes.

0040558946-1

II,, JYOTSNASHARMAW/OMr.JAINENDERSHARMAR/OFLATNO-640, G FLOOR,METROVIEWAPARTMENT,DWARKASECTOR-13, SOUTHWESTDELHI, DELHI-110078 INDIA. IHAVECHANGEDMYNAMEFROMJYOTSNATO JYOTSNASHARMAFORALLPURPOSES

0040558936-1

II,, JAINENDERSHARMAS/OMr.KAMAL JEETSINGHR/OFLATNO640, G FLOOR,METROVIEWAPARTMENT,DWARKASECTOR-13, SOUTHWESTDELHI, DELHI-110078 INDIA. IHAVECHANGEDMYNAMEFROMJAINENDERTOJAINENDERSHARMAFORALLPURPOSES. 0040558937-1

II,, DiwankarYadavS/oDharmenderYadavR/oH.No.27,MBRoad, Saidulajab,Delhi-110030have changedmyname toDiwankarr Yadavpermanently. 0040558976-1

II,, AshokMehraS/oShri KrishanMehraR/OE-11, Dakshini Puri,Dr. AmbedkarNagar, NewDelhi-62, dohereby solemnlyaffirmon21/12/2020 thatAshokMehraandAshokKumar is the sameperson.Declaredasper theaffidavitNo. IN-DL20056437183212Sswornbefore thenotary. Now IhavedeclaredmycorrectnameAshokMehra for allfuturepurposes. That it ismytrueandcorrect statement.

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PPUUBBLLIICCNNOOTTIICCEE

LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD

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New Delhi

Rahane brings on Ashwin earlyTHEGAME-definingmoment came in the11th over of the first inningswithAjinkyaRahane’s move and RavichandranAshwin’s stirring response. It showedRahane had nailed two things right: Thereading of the conditions and his respectfor Ashwin’s skills. For a team that hasbungled on reading the pitch in the past(harkback toLord’s2018whenrainmeantthe toss and team-announcement waspushed to Day 2 and they still went withtwo spinners), this was refreshing. Thefaith inAshwinwasalsono less significant.The off-spinnermight be the joint fastestto 350Testwickets but byhis ownadmis-sion,hehas felt “hurt”withquestionsoverhis overseas performances. Rahane'smoves cracked both puzzles in a swoop.

Ashwin’s responseAshwin,of course,wasmore thanready tohave a go. Speculation over his commit-ment in England in 2018 had really hurthim. “I am a proper street dog. If you pushme down, shoot me, kill me with a knife,stabme, I will still wake up for a fight,” hehad told Cricbuzz earlier this year. He is amanwithwide interestsbeyondthegamewhoin therecentpast, seemstohaverein-vented himself as a brand in the Tamil-speakingworldwith his YouTube shows.Above everything else, though, he is a

spinner who takes great pride in his art;he hadmeticulously prepared for this se-ries, from chalking out plans for individ-ual batsmen to the amount of over-spinneeded on his deliveries. He stubbed outAustralia’s counter-attacking plans bytaking out Matthew Wade before deliv-ering the sucker punch by dismissingSteve Smith. Fromthenon, Australiawere

on the back foot.

Jadeja rises to the challengeSanjay Manjrekar had called him a ‘bits-and-pieces cricketer’. Thatwas during theWorld Cup in England last year. Cominginto the Melbourne Test, Ravindra Jadejahad a long-form batting average of 53.57over the last two-and-a-half years. TheIndianteammanagementknewhisqualityas a batsman and included him as ViratKohli’s replacement. And if there was anydoubt about Jadeja’s ability to handle theshort ball in Australia, the left-handerquelled it at thestrokeof teaonthesecondday. Mitchell Starc made one rear off alength and Jadeja, on his toes, dropped itdownalmostathis feet. Itwasa fascinatingpiece of cricket; something any top-orderbatsman would have been proud of.Jadeja’s 57 and his 121-run partnershipwithRahane took thegameaway fromthehosts.

Pant, beyond the numbersOnthesecondday,with Indiaon116/4andthe game delicately poised, formerAustralia fast bowler Merv Hughes wasaskedontheABCGrandstandcommentaryabout which team had the edge at thatpoint. “Australiaareonewicketaway fromacommandingposition, India are 25min-utes away from a commanding position,”Hughes replied. The game indeed startedtochange in thenexthalf anhour, after thedrinks break to be precise.Rishabh Pant took on Australia’s best

bowler on the day, Pat Cummins, collect-ing back-to-back twos and a couple offours. It wrested the initiative for India. Atthepost-matchpressconference, the Indiahead coach Ravi Shastri spoke about thevalue of Pant’s cameo, going beyond thearid numbers – 29 off 40 balls. Behind thestumps,Pantwasa livewire,beltingoutad-vice to the bowlers and occasionally get-ting under the skin of Aussie batsmen, es-peciallyWade.ENS

Acomebackof suchproportionsas seenover the last fourdays inMelbournecan’tbeattributed toone reason. Therewere several instancesduring India’s victorywhendifferent individuals in the teamtook itupon themselves tomakeadifference.

SPORT/CALENDAR 19WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

CROSSWORD4315

ACROSS1 Industrialoutgoing(6)4 All theactorsor just thestar(6)

9 The impressions theygivearen’tupright (7)

10 Onewhohasnoplace inaship (5)

11 Something lifted fromacarolatChristmas (5)

12 Morethanmaster thesubject? (7)

13 Flexiblebinderusedextensively inoffices (7,4)

18 Reliablewaytostopbleeding(7)

20 ACaledoniantitleof course(5)

22 Shudderat someof thecabhorses (5)

23 Anyevil simplyexpressed(7)

24 Womenhavemanyoddideas! (6)

25 Alodge instateof disrepairandancient (3-3)

DOWN1 Theonlywordthat isananagramof itself (6)

2 Cooka jointofmeat,usingtherightoven(5)

3 Theycan’tgostraightonboard(7)

5 Behaveawkwardlywhenyouget thebillputup(3,2)

6 Possibly trainedtogo in forpartexchange(5,2)

7 Themeal’saboutgone(6)

8 Perhapsnothing isassurprising (11)

14 Leadon?(7)15 What the losergets ispunishment (7)

16 Ashiptakingtrouble inattack(6)

17 Keptgoing-ordidn’t (6)19 Outstanding featureabouttheKingofNorway?(5)

21 It is sung inchurch, Ibelieve(5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)This isaday fordiplomacy, forsharingyourfeelings,plansand

anygoodfortunewithpartners.Thisdoesn't justmeanspreadingyournet to includeclose friends,butalsopayingattentiontopeople,perhapsatwork,whocoulddowithsomeemotional support.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)‘Keepbusy and stayactive' should beyourmotto over thenext twodays. The

Moon's angle to your sign isone of thosewhichmaynotbring drama, but canpush youstep by step to anewandmuchmore successful state ofbeing. Youmight evenhearsomething thatmakes you situp and takenotice of anold friend.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Youmaygothroughthedaywithaspringinyourstep,youngatheartand

confident that it is indeedpossible toshrugoffmostcaresandwoes. Itmightbedifficult toalter theattitudesof a lifetime,butyoureallyshouldgive ityourbest shot.

CANCER(June22- July23)It's timetoconsiderexactlywhat todoaboutputtingadeep-seated

ambition intopractice.There'snoneedforaction justyet,but itwilldoyougoodtosortyourideasoutandcheckthe facts.Andthenyouneedtoreassurealovedonewhois feelingespecially insecure.

LEO(July24-Aug23)It'sdecisiontime,but thechoicesyou'llmakewillprobablybequite

unimportant.Youcanthereforeafford totake iteasy, justaslong, that is, asyourcommunicationskillsarefunctioningontopform.What Imean is,youneedtokeepfamilymembers informedofyourmovements.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)You should pay verycareful attention tothe financialsituation. On a

purelymundane level it's afine day for pickingupbargains, butwhat could bemore significant iswhat otherpeople decide about yourmonetary future—and thatmaybeout of your hands.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)TheMoonisnowalignedwithyoursign, soyoucanfinallyaffordto

dictate thepace.Youractionswillbedeterminedbyyourrapidlychangingmoods, sootherpeoplemaybebewilderedorperplexedwhenyoualteryour ideas.Perhapstheyshouldbemore flexible.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Youhave learnedalotmoreaboutself-preservation lately,probablydueto

Saturn's slowtransit throughyourchart.Amomentary lackofconfidencewillbeovercomewithrenewedeffortanddetermination.And if youdoface insurmountableobstacles,itmightbetimetopauseforbreath.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Youwill finallyconvinceotherpeople thatyoudoneedtheirhelpand

support.Atworkyoumayconcentrateonthe long-termpicture, anddon't let trivialdetailsobscureyourvision.Andyoushouldgetonwithpracticalimprovementsathome—afteramomentary lapse.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Yourmainboneofcontentionrelates tocareerorprofessional

interests,butwiththeMoonsoactiveyoucanprobablymakeasuccessoutofplayingthediplomat.Realise that it is lessimportant topushyourowninterests thantogetotherpeople toagree.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Long-distancedevelopmentsseemtobethemostimportant, and it'sa

suitablemoment toget in touchwith familymembersoverseas.The legal situationmayalsoneedsomeattention, socheckuponyourrights.But thatalsomeansyouhavetobeawareofyourresponsibilities.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Nobodyseemstobeable to lightenyourburdenat themoment.WithMars

soactive,onlyyoucantake thenecessarysteps tosecureanindependent future, andthatmeansnot relyingexcessivelyonpartners foremotionalsupport. Standonyourowntwofeetandyourconfidencewillclimbsharply.

SUDOKU4338

DifficultyLevel1sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4337

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Ifyouwantyourlifetobemorerewarding,youhavetochangethe_______-Oprah(3,3,5)

SOLUTION:PIANO,BLUNT,HEYDAY,WALKERAnswer:Ifyouwantyourlifetobemorerewarding,youhavetochangethewayyouthink-Oprah

NPAIO ADEHYY

BLNTU AELRKW

SolutionsCrossword4314:Across: :1Rotator,5Capri,8Silentprotest,9Satyr,10Evening,11Spoils,12Easier,15Usedcar,17Tiara,19Prepossessing,20Rifle,21Sternum.Down:1Roses,2Talktooneself,3Tendril,4Ripped,5Close,6Precipitation,7Integer,11Scupper,13Artiste,14Crises,16Choke,18Algum.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

All square at the GIndiakeepshadowsofdoubtatbaytoget the jobdone insecondTest; level series1-1

SANDIPGDECEMBER29

PULLINGNATHANLyonforasingle,offafum-ble,AjinkyaRahanecompletedoneof India’smostmemorablemoments in Test cricket.Thecelebrationswerebizarrelyunderstated,therewerenohugsorhigh-fives,no leapingor punching in the air. India made theMelbournevictory lookutterlyhumdrum.Thescorecardwouldagree—whatwasthe

fourth-dayfussallabout.Thevisitorsbaggedthe four remainingAustralianwickets for67runsandtheneclipsedthetargetof70in15.5overs,tradingjusttwowicketsintheprocess.Easy as a Sunday evening stroll, youwouldthink,butthereweretimesinthegamewhenit seemedmore a stagger and stutter than astroll.Maybe,theanxietywasmerelyanillu-sion of themind, subconsciously spun afterwhathadtranspiredinAdelaideninedaysago.This is not the Australia of the old. But

still, theywouldchannelthespiritof theOldAustralia. Afterall,70 isalmost36doubled.After all, the Indian batting line-up hascracksandcrevices.AndAustralia’sbowlersare capable of producing magic. And thestrip could crack up and consume the visi-tors. That’s what Australia could conjure,that’s what Australia has conjured in thepast. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starcbounding into the ground with the quietmenaceofprofessionalassassins,TimPainescreamingwords of encouragement, so fe-rociously thatheseemedtobereadying foranACCADACCAaudition.Thedoubt-riddenmindcanmakeevery-

thing look tenser andharder than it actuallyis.SoMayankAgarwalseemedtosweatevenbefore he had faced a ball, Shubman Gilllooked lost and nervous. To aggravate theworst fears, India lost Agarwal andCheteshwarPujarainthespaceofsevenballs.Agarwal strove todrivewithhishandsawayfromhisbodytoaStarcdelivery thatslantedacrosshim.Itwasastandardleft-armseamer’sdelivery.Butthestrokewasallnervesandun-certainty. Sowas Pujara, pushingwith hardhandsataCumminslength-ballonthefourth-stumptrajectoryandthick-edgingtogully.At2/16, the contest ceased to be one-sided.Australian fielders turned on their volume;their bowlers turned on their aggro and thecrowd joined in the chorus,making all sortsofblaséreferencestothe36ers.CumminsflungashortballatRahane.The

Indian skipper pulled it emphatically for aboundary, suggesting hewas blow-tradingmood. An angered Cummins banged in an-other short ball that struck his lower ab-domen. Themessage from Cummins wasclear:theywouldfighttillthelastdropoftheblood.TheresponsefromRahanewasclearer:hewouldout-fight them.

Unlikeduringhisepicfirstinningsknock,hewas disinclined to churn an innings out.Rather,hewouldjustplayallhisstrokes,evenit those entail risks. Thiswas a supremeun-derstandingof thesituation.Thetargetnotadauntingone,afewboundariescouldallbutwin the game for his team. So he and Gilllaunchedawatchfulassault,withoutembrac-ingoutrightrisk.Theyattemptednothingsillyor outrageous,maintained their poise, butruthlessly punished even remotely looseballs.Asmidgeonof roomsufficed forGill toback cut Starc for an airborne boundary. Inthe same over, he slapped him for anotherfour. If India’s first inningswasbuiltbrickbybrick,thisonewasdroppingslabs,composedboundarybyboundary.Cummins, though, kept persisting. He

tried to set Rahane up by pushing himbackwithshortballsbeforeslippinginoff-cutterstotraponthecrease.Italmostworkedbutfora chunky inside edge. But it did not deterRahane from leaning into a drive for threeruns in the same over. Starc and Cumminsmadeway for JoshHazlewood andNathanLyon, but Rahane andGill did not alter theirapproachandsteeredIndiapastthefinishlinewith judiciousbutassertivebatting.In the end, the fears looked utterlymis-

placed.Justasitwasinthefirsthouroftheday,whenCameronGreen andCummins raisedfaint comeback hopeswith unprecedentedresistance.Again,fearsseemedhollow.GreenisplayinghissecondTest,Cumminsisatbesta handy than an influential batsman. Bothseemedtopilethanpeelawaytheruns.Yet, India are uncannily accustomed to

seeinglower-orderbatsmensnatchthegameaway from them. Therewere some sweatysigns too—like edges evading fielders andstumps,marginal decisions going the bats-men’sway. It could be (mis)construed thattaking Jasprit Bumrah off the attack afterthreewasa signof restlessness. Sowasa re-viewAshwinpersuadedRahanetotake.Andthe deeper the partnership progressed thesounder thebattingseemed.Then in the fifth ball of the 16th over

India bowled in the morning, they finallydislodged Cummins, a fiendish Bumrahshort-ball doing the trick. India heaved asigh of relief. But Green was still batting

there, swelling inmoraleandlookingeverybit themonster all-rounder hewas toutedto be. Another brief passage of resistancefollowedbeforeMohammedSiraj tookoutGreen with a short ball, soon after he wassumptuously on-driven.Calmwasrestored,butwastheretension

in the first place?Orwas it a trick themindplayed?HeadcoachRaviShastriemphasisedthattheywerenotfrazzledatanypoint.“Ourapproachwas like this: ‘thinkas if youwanttotake10wickets,notfour’.Wetoldourselvestobepreparedtobepatientevenif theybat-tedasession.Bepreparedtochasedowneven150 if needed.What you saw todaywas anexhibition of discipline, accuracy and pa-tience,”heelaborated.Butitwasnotuntilthatsingleoffthemis-

fieldedpullstrokethatthenervesstoppedtojangle.Orwas it justan illusion?

SCORECARD

AUSTRALIA1STINNINGS 195INDIA1ST INNINGS 326AUSTRALIA2NDINNINGS 200MWade lbwJadeja 40(137b,3x4)JBurnscPantbYadav 4(10b)MLabuschagnecRahanebAshwin28(49b,1x4)SSmithbBumrah 8(30b)THeadcAgarwalbSiraj 17(46b)CGreencJadejabSiraj 45(146b,5x4)TPainecPantbJadeja 1(9b)PCumminscAgarwalbBumrah22(103b,1x4)MStarcnotout 14(56b)NLyoncPantbSiraj 3(15b)JHazlewoodbAshwin 10(21b)■Extras (nb3, lb5) 8■FoW:1-4(JoeBurns,3.1ov),2-42(MarnusLabuschagne,17.5ov),3-71(StevenSmith,32.2ov),4-98(MatthewWade,43.6ov),5-98(TravisHead,46.1ov),6-99(TimPaine,47.4ov),7-156(PatCummins,82.5ov),8-177(CameronGreen,90.6ov),9-185(NathanLyon,96.4ov),10-200(JoshHazlewood,103.1ov)■Bowling:JBumrah27-6-54-2,UYadav3.3-0-5-1,MSiraj21.3-4-37-3,RAshwin37.1-6-71-2,RJadeja14-5-28-2

INDIA2NDINNINGS 70/2MAgarwalcPainebStarc 5(15b)SGillnotout 35(36b,7x4)CPujaracGreenbCummins 3(4b)ARahanenotout 27(40b,3x4)■FoW:1-16(MayankAgarwal,4.2ov),2-19(CheteshwarPujara,5.1ov).■Bowling:MStarc4-0-20-1,PCummins5-0-22-1,JHazlewood3-1-14-0,NLyon2.5-0-5-0,MLabuschagne1-0-9-0■ Indiawinby8wickets.

AUSTRALIA VS INDIA2ND TEST,MCG

Toss: Australia, chose to bat

AjinkyaRahane’s (left) inspirational leadershipprovidedIndia thetemplate fortheresounding8-wicketwinoverAustralia. AP

SCGTOHOSTTHIRDTESTCricketAustraliahasdecidedtoretainSydneyasthevenuefor thethirdTestagainst India,endingspeculationthat thegamecouldmovetoMelbournebecauseofstringentCOVID-19borderrestrictionsthatwouldhaveaffectedtheplayers'movement forthefourthmatch inBrisbane.ThethirdTest is tobeheldfromJanuary7. PTI

Amatch inmoments

RahanebroughtAshwininthe11thoverof the first innings. AP

RishabhPantwasa livewirebehindthestumps.AP

New Delhi

VolLXXXIXNo.43Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05R.N.I.No.506/57. PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P)LimitedandPrintedatTheIndianExpress (P)LimitedPress,A-8,Sector-7,Noida-201301andPublishedatThe IndianExpress (P)Limited,MezzanineFloor,ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg, NewDelhi-110002.Editorialoffice: The IndianExpress (P)Limited,MezzanineFloor,ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg, NewDelhi-110002.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingoffice: The IndianExpress (P)Limited,B1/B,Sector-10,Noida-201301.Phone:0120-6651291.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha,Editor:UnniRajenShanker,Editor (Delhi):RakeshSinha** **Responsible forselectionofNewsunderthePRBAct.Copyright: The IndianExpress (P)Limited.All rightsreserved.Reproduction inanymanner,electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,

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20THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER30,2020

SPORT AUSTRALIADOCKED4WTCPOINTSFORSLOWOVER-RATEAustralia were fined 40 per cent of its match fee and penalised four ICC World Test Championship pointsfor maintaining a slow over-rate against India in the second Test, which concluded at MCG.PTI

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Away from the bio-bubbles put in place by those with deep pockets, sport had its lockdown tales of angst, uncertainty andapprehension. THE INDIANEXPRESS talks

to those whomissed out on their break-out year or had to delay their retirement.

2020 THE LOSTYEAR

‘Olympics postponement a jolt,but Saurabh will bounce back’

In rampaging formwhen2020started,Olympic postponementposedaspeedbumptoshootersApurviChandelaandSaurabhChaudharyaiming forTokyoglory.Butnothing insurmountable for themonkishduo,believecoaches

MIHIRVASAVDANEWDELHI,DECEMBER29

ONMARCH24,momentsafterthenewsbrokethat theTokyoOlympicshadbeenpostponed,Saurabh Chaudhary disappeared into themakeshiftshootingrangeinsidehishomeanddidnot stepout forhours. Chaudharybarelyspeaks (“heutters24words in24hours,”hiscoachAmitSheoranjokes)andneverdisplaysanykindofemotions.Butinthatminute,some-thinginsidehimsnapped.“Bada jhatka laga (Itwasabigblow),”Sheoransays.Inanormal,non-Covidworld,the18-year-

oldwouldhavehadhissightsetontheOlympicpodiumexactly fourmonthsafter theGameswere rescheduled. July 24, 2020, had all themakingsof potentiallybeinga landmarkdayinIndia’sOlympichistory.Afteranembarrassingtwo-medalhaulatthe

RioGames, anunprecedentedseven Indianswouldhavebeeninmedalcontention in foureventsontheopeningdayinTokyo.Allusualin-dicatorstodeterminesuccess–formguide, fit-nessandpreparation–pointedfavourablyto-wardstheIndianarchers,shootersandthesoleweightlifterincontention,MirabaiChanu.Thefocus,though,wasfirmlyonChaudhary

andrifleshooterApurviChandela.Bothofthemhadbeeninscarcely-believable formthrough2018and2019,andwereprimedtoachievebig-gerthingsin2020.ChandelawonsevenWorldCupmedals,in-

cludingtwoindividualandonemixedteamgold,in2018and2019.Sheseta10mairrifleworldrecord,climbedtothetopoftheworldrankings

inherpeteventandwasshootingscoresinqual-ifyingthatwouldcomfortablytakeher intoanOlympicfinal.Chaudhary,ontheotherhand,hashardlyput

afootwrongsincehearrivedontheworldshoot-ingscenein2018,whenhebecametheyoungestIndianshootertowinanAsianGamesgoldmedalin10mairpistol. LikeChandela,he, too,domi-natedthe2019seasonbywinningtwoWorldCupgolds,setaworldrecordandtoppedtherank-ingchart.Both,ChandelaandChaudhary,havealsoimpressedinthemixedteamevents,whichwilldebutinTokyo,withpartnersDeepakKumarandManuBhakerrespectively.“Fromthatper-spective,”nationalpistolcoachSamareshJungsays,“wecansaythisyearwasanopportunitylostbecauseofthekindofformtheywerein.Butyoucanalsosaytheygotmoretimetoprepareandgetevenbetter.Earlier, timewasjustflying.Nowtheyhavegotabreakandsomerest.”Jungalsounderlinestheanomaliesofshoot-

ing.“Sometimes,everythingthathappensattherangedefies logic.YoumaydominateanentireOlympiccycleandnaileverytrainingsessionbutstill,thatwouldnottranslatetoamedal,”hesays.Todrivehomehispoint,Jungcitestheexamplesof Germany rifle shooter SonjaPfeilschifter,SerbiangreatRajmondDebevecandIndia’sVijayKumar.Pfeilschifter,49,medalledateveryWorld

Championshipbetween1994and2010,includ-ingthreegoldmedals(onein1994,twoin1998).Sheheldseveralworldrecords,wonsixWorldCup gold medals and ruled the EuropeanChampionships. “But she has been to fiveOlympicsandcouldnotwinonemedal,” Jungsays.“DebevecwonamedalattheOlympicsathisfourthattempt.Butthen,therehavebeenpeo-ple likeVijayaswell.Hewasnowhereontheworldscene,goestohisfirstOlympics(in2012)andgetsasilvermedal.”Chandelaunderstandsthispeculiarity toowell,having finished34th

overallattheRioGames.The‘failure’,shehasad-mitted,helpedhermatureandpushedbyworld-classshootersathomelikecurrentworldnumber1ElavenilValarivanand fellowTokyomedalhopefulAnjumMoudgil,Chandela isnowtheleaderofaworld-beatingIndianrifleteam.Chandela’scoachRakeshManpatsaysthey

haveusedthisperiodtofine-tunehertechnique.During the lockdown, Manpat monitoredChandela’spracticefromBengalurubyplacingasimulatoronthebarrelofherrifle,whichtrans-mittedallthedatafromthetrainingsessions.Chaudhary,whodominated2019alongwith

teammateAbhishekVerma, isabettershooternowcomparedtothestartof2020,hiscoachat-tests. “Hewas living likeaprisoner insidehisshootingrangeathomeforthemajorityof thisyear.Evenhisfamilymembersmaintainedadis-tancefromhimtomakesurehedidnotgetsick.Sotheonlythinghehasdoneispractise,”Sheoransays.“Hisaveragescoreshaveimprovedbyacou-pleofpoints.Henowshoots588routinely, thekindof score thatautomaticallymakeshimamedalcontender.”Thequestion,though,isifthestatusquowill

remainthesamewhentheshootersreturntocompetitivemodeattheselectiontrials,whichbegininNewDelhionJanuary5.“NobodycouldpredictthattheOlympicswouldgetpostponed.Nobodycanpredictwhatwillhappeninthenextsixmonths,” saysManpat.Chaudhary’scoachSheoran,though, isnotshyofmakingapredic-tion.“Saurabh’smindsetislikeayogi,heisquicktoovercomedisappointmentanddoesn’tfocusonmaterialgoals.Andbecauseofthis,Iamcon-fidenthewillbouncebackin2021andremainamedalhopelikehewasthisyear.”

ApurviChandelaandSaurabhChaudharyhavebeeninsensational formandwerepoisedtoachievebigger things in2020. File

Why India’s MCG victory is themost significant ‘away win’ yetSHAMIKCHAKRABARTYKOLKATA,DECEMBER29

GIVENTHEbackdrop and theodds that theIndianteamfacedcomingintothesecondTestinMelbourne, thishas tobe India’s finestTestvictoryever.Thehumiliationof36/9atAdelaide,Virat Kolhi on paternity leave, injury toMohammad Shami before the game andUmeshYadavduringtheTest—therewaswaytoomuchgoingagainstIndia.Nevereverhasan Indian tourpartybeen

pushedinacornerlikethisorwrittenoff.Butinadramaticturnaround,Indiadidn’tjustbounceback towin theTestand level theseries, theygavethefansalottolookforwardtointhefinalweekoftheyear.Rahane’scaptaincy,stunningdebutsbypacerMohammadSirajandopenerShubhnamGillbeing thepositivesof thishis-toricTest.ReadhighlightsoftheTest

Whatwasthebackdrop?Thebackdropposedseriouschallenges.The

majorityoftheplayersintheteamlefthomeinAugusttoenterintothebio-bubbleoftheirre-spectiveIndianPremierLeague(IPL)franchises.ThishasbeenanabnormalyearthatsawCovid-19ravagelivesandlivelihoods.FromtheIPLbio-bubbletheIndiancricketersmovedto the Indian team bio-bubble,servedtheirquarantineinAustraliawithout a singlebreachand thentook to the field toplayahigh-in-tensityseries.Foroverfourmonthsnow,theplayershavebeenontheroad,underCovid-safetyrestrictions.

Whatweretheodds?ComingintothesecondTest,theoddswere

heavily stackedagainst the Indian team.Theywere carrying the ghost of the 36 all out inAdelaide– India’s lowest-everTest total. Theteam’s regularcaptain, also thebestbatsman,ViratKohli, decided to returnhomeonpater-nityleave. Theteam’sgunbowlerMohammedShamiwasruledoutoftheseriesduetoanarmfracture. Indiawere alreadymissing RohitSharmaandIshantSharma.OnthethirddayofthesecondTest,UmeshYadav left the fieldaf-tersustainingacalf injury,reducingthesidetofour fitbowlers. Indiaalsohadthebaggageofbeingcleansweptinthetwo-TestseriesinNewZealandearlierthisyear.AttheMCG,theystared

atthepossibilityoffinishing2020withoutasin-gleTestwin.

Doesthiswinhavecompetitors?Quite a few. Thewin in the second Test

againsttheWestIndiesatPortofSpaininMarch1971that secured India’s first-everTest seriestriumphintheCaribbean.ThevictoryattheOvalinthethirdTestagainstEnglandinAugust1971,whichgaveIndiatheirfirst-everTestseriessuc-cess inEngland.Theglorious runchase in thethirdTestagainsttheWestIndiesatPortofSpaininApril1976thatsawIndiascoreathenworldrecord406/4inthefourthinningstopulloffanimprobablewin. Thevictory in the thirdTestagainstAustraliaat theMCGinFebruary1981,whereIndiabundledoutabattingline-upboast-ingofGregChappell,DougWalters,KimHughesandAllanBorderfor83inthefourthinningstosquare theseries. Thewins in the firstandthethird Test against Pakistan at Multan andRawalpindirespectivelyin2004.Bouncingbackfromadefeat atPerth towin the thirdTest atMelbourne inDecember2018,whichwouldeventuallytakeIndiatotheirfirst-everTestse-rieswinDownUnder.

Whyis this ‘awaywin’unique?Thepreviouswinswereachievedwithfull-strengthsides.Here, tostartwith, Indiawere severely depleted. Then, to getblownawayfor36. Itwasn’teasy.SunilGavaskar inhisbookSunnyDaysdocu-mentedhowIndia’s tourof England in1974haddescendedintochaosafterthevisitorswerebowledoutfor42atLord’s.

Rahane’steamembracedredemptioninstead.

How significantwas Rahane’scontribution?

Asacaptain, frombowlingchangestofieldplacements, thestand-in skipperwasalwaysaheadofthegame.Asabatsman,Rahane’scen-tury in the first inningswasthedifferencebe-tweenthetwosides.“Ibelievethatthishundredisgoingtobeoneof themost importanthun-dredsinthehistoryofIndiancricket,”GavaskartoldSevenNetwork,beforeadding:“Importantbecauseit’sshowingcharacter,sendingames-sagetotheoppositionthatafterbeingdismissedfor36inthepreviousgame,tocomebackinthismanner,thisIndianteamisnotgoingtojustliedownandbewalkedallover.”

New Delhi