PAGES 14,15,16

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

eyeSUGAR

& SPICE & ALLTHINGS NICEChristmas is incomplete

without a laden table and theconviviality of family, friends

MUMBAI,LATECITY

DECEMBER19,202118PAGES,`5.00

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMD A I L Y F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N A G P U R , P U N E , V A D O D A R A

Course Details:Date: 20th JANUARY 2022Time: 11 AM TO 1:30 PMCentre: Old Rajinder Nagar

Detailed Brochure available on the website and atthe Old Rajinder Nagar office

Admissions Open From 1st January 2022

SRIRAM’s IAS Towers, 10-B, Pusa Road, Bada Bazaar Marg 01142437002, 9811489560

www.sriramsias.com

BEWARE OF FAKE INSTITUTES WITH SIMILAR NAMES. LOOKBEWARE OF FAKE INSTITUTES WITH SIMILAR NAMES. LOOKBEWARE OF FAKE INSTITUTES WITH SIMILAR NAMES. LOOKBEWARE OF FAKE INSTITUTES WITH SIMILAR NAMES. LOOK

FOR THE SRIRAM'S IAS LOGO BEFORE ENROLMENT.FOR THE SRIRAM'S IAS LOGO BEFORE ENROLMENT.FOR THE SRIRAM'S IAS LOGO BEFORE ENROLMENT.FOR THE SRIRAM'S IAS LOGO BEFORE ENROLMENT.

Prelim cum MainComprehensive and in- depthPersonal AttentionBuilding from BasicsSenior FacultyPrelim and Main Test Series Built-inStudy Material Specifically Authored for Civil ServicesExamPrevious Years’ Question Papers CoveredHindu Plus News and Views VideoDaily MCQ/Writing PracticeEMI Facility Available upto 18 Months

CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 2020OUR RESULT

120+ TOTAL SELECTIONS17 IN TOP 6025 IN TOP 100

IAS 2023IAS 2023

ASADREHMAN&DEEPTIMANTIWARYLUCKNOW,NEWDELHI,DECEMBER18

THE INCOME Tax DepartmentconductedsearchesSaturdayatthe houses of a SP leader andthreeothersconsideredclosetoSPpresidentAkhileshYadav.The searches, conducted at

differentplacesinUttarPradesh,drew an angry response fromthe SP and its leaders who ac-cusedtheI-Tdepartmentofact-ingatthebehestoftheBJPaheadoftheAssemblypollsinthestate.InNewDelhi, officials of the

I-T Department confirmed that

searcheswereunderway,butdidnotprovidedetails.SPnationalgeneralsecretary

and spokesperson Rajiv Rai’sCONTINUEDONPAGE2

PREMISESSEARCHEDACROSSUTTARPRADESH

DuringtheI-Traidatex-OSDJainendraYadav’sresidenceinLucknow.VishalSrivastav

RITIKACHOPRANEWDELHI, DECEMBER18

ACKNOWLEDGING THAT theChief Election Commissioner(CEC) had expressed “displeas-ure”overitsletteraboutameet-ingonthecommonelectoralroll,asreportedbyTheIndianExpressonDecember17, theMinistryofLaw and Justice, in a statementSaturday, said that itwas “clari-

fied” that the letter was for“Secretaryorarepresentativeofthe CEC familiar with the sub-ject” toattend themeeting.The statement of the Law

Ministry — the administrativeMinistry for the poll panel — isthe first official response afterThe IndianExpress reported thatChief Election Commissioner(CEC) Sushil Chandra and thetwo Election Commissioners,RajivKumar andAnupChandra

Pandey, despite expressingreservations, did join an online“interaction” calledby thePMOonNovember16.ThiswasadayaftertheECre-

ceived a letter from a LawMinistryofficialthatthePrincipalSecretary to PrimeMinister, P KMishra,will“chairameeting”onacommonelectoralrolland“ex-pectsCEC”tobepresent.TheLawMinistry statement

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

CEC expressed displeasure on letter…interaction informal, on reforms: Law

KAMALDEEPSINGHBRARAMRITSAR,DECEMBER18

A YOUTHwas beaten to deathSaturday at the Golden Templein Amritsar after being accusedof a sacrilegeattempt.Theman in his 20s, not yet

identified,wascaughtbystaffofthe Shiromani GurudwaraParbandhak Committee anddevoteesat theDarbarSahib.His body was later placed

outside the main gate of theSGPCheadquarters.Calling it amatter of “great

sorrow”, SGPC chief HarjinderSinghDhami said: “During therecitationofSodarRehraasSahib(evening prayers) today, amanjumpedover the safety grill andentered thesanctumsanctorumandpickedup the swordkept infrontofSriGuruGranthSahib,buthewas apprehended by the se-wadars onduty, anddieddue to

beatingbythesangat(devotees).”DCP Parminder Singh

Bhandal said: “Theunidentifiedmanwasthrashedbeforehewasbrought to the SGPC headquar-ters. It ismatterof investigation

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Youth beaten to deathafter alleged sacrilegebid at Golden Temple

Inpoll run-up, I-TsearchesfourclosetoAkhilesh

LALMANIVERMALUCKNOW,DECEMBER18

STEPPING UP his party’s cam-paign in poll-bound UttarPradeshwhere theBJPhopes toretain power, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi attackedOppositionpartiesSaturdayandpraised Chief Minister YogiAdityanath, saying “UP+Yogibahuthaiupyogi (veryuseful)”.He said the “double engine”

wasworkingforthedevelopmentCONTINUEDONPAGE2

PM attacks Opp,says ‘UP+Yogibahut hai upyogi’(very useful)

SACRILEGEATTEMPTShavebeenaveryemotiveissue inPunjabandtheSADpaidaheavypriceatthehustings in2017 for itsperceived failure toget tothebottomof such inci-dents.Now,as thestategears forAssemblyelec-tions,politicalpartieswillbehardpressed to takeastandonthis issue.

Polls&pressureE●EX

PLAINED

NOVEMBER16MEETING

LegislativeSecyclarified letterwas forECSecy: statement

Housesof SPspokesperson,ex-OSDsearched;AkhileshsaysBJPscared

SPORT PAGE18

SRIKANTHBEATSSEN,ENTERSWORLDFINAL

MCS/204/2020-22RNINO.MAHENG2002/21899

`̀ 82 per kilo

`̀ 110 per kilo

`̀ 135 per kilo

`̀ 70 per Dozen

18 students of NaviMumbai schooltest Covid positive

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER18

ASMANY as 18 students fromShetkari Shikshan SansthaSchool at Ghansoli in NaviMumbai have been diagnosedwithCovid-19– in the first caseofmass infectionamongschoolstudents in the state. The stu-dents were close contacts of aCovid-19 positive student fromClass11whose fatherhasan in-ternational travelhistory from

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021

Golden Templehowhedied.”Cutting across party lines,

leaders condemned the at-temptedsacrilegeandcalledforathoroughprobe.Punjab Chief Minister

CharanjitSinghChanni,theCMOsaid, “strongly condemned themost unfortunate and heinousact to attempt sacrilege of SriGuruGranth Sahib in the sanc-tumsanctorum”.It said the CM directed the

statepolice to thoroughlyprobethe entirematter to zero-in onthe“motive”and“conspirators”.Healsospoketo theSGPCpresi-dent and assured his govern-ment’sfullsupportandcoopera-tion to get to the bottomof thecase.The incident took place at

5.50 pm andwas captured oncamera because the RehraasSahib is telecast live by aprivatechannel.Later,theSGPCreleasedCCTVfootageof theincident.According to sources, the

youthwas first questioned in aroom inside theGolden Templepremises, and then taken on awheel chair to the SGPC head-quarters. All thiswhile, hewasbeingbeaten.Meanwhile,policealsoreachedthespot.Sources said police officers

and SGPC staff questioned theyouth but he did not reveal anyabouthimself.Hewasnotcarry-ing any identity card, sourcessaid.Meanwhile, some Sikh ac-

tivists and devotees sat on adharna, demanding custody oftheyouth.TheSGPClaterplacedhisbodyoutsideitsheadquarters.Itwasthesecondsacrilegeat-

tempt at the Golden Templewithinfourdays.Apersonthrewagutka(abookcontainingversesfrom the Gurbani) into thesarovar(holytank)oftheGoldenTempleWednesday.SGPCsewadarsapprehended

themanandhandedhimovertopolice. He was identified asRanbirSingh.Following this, SGPC chief

Dhamisaid:“Thisisnotastrayin-cident. It isaconspiracyhatchedto provoke the sentiments ofSikhsandvitiatetheatmosphereofPunjab.”Akal Takht Jathedar Giani

Harpreet Singh, in a statement,said: “History tells us that theSikhsnevertoleratedanykindofattack on Sri Harmandir Sahib,evenwhenpowerful foreign in-vaders did so. They always gavethemabefitting reply. Therearesomeagencieswhicharebehindthese incidents in the season ofelections.”“Ifanysuchincidenthappens

anywhere and the sangat pun-ishes the culprit on its own, thegovernmentortheculpritwillberesponsible for it. The govern-mentmustexposetheforcesbe-hind theseconspiraciesbecauseSikhswill not tolerate theseactsanymore,”hesaid.Punjab BJP president

Ashwani Sharma condemnedtheGoldenTemple incidentandslammed the Congress govern-mentoveritsallegedfailuretoactincasesofsacrilege.Hecalledfora probe into the Saturday inci-dent.

Inavideoaddress,ShiromaniAkaliDalpatronandformerChiefMinister Parkash Singh Badalsaid: “It’sunbelievable thatsucha painful and brazen crime iscommittedat ‘theholiest shrineofhumanity’byasingle individ-ual. The possibility of deep-rooted conspiracy cannot beruled out. This needs to beprobed.”Attempts at sacrilege have

been a sensitive issue in Punjab.Such incidentsduring theAkali-BJPruleledtotheroutoftheSADinthe2017Assemblypolls.Thematterhasbeengaining

traction in the last fewmonthswithCongress state chiefNavjotSingh Sidhu raising it to targetCaptainAmarinder Singh who,untilrecently,wasChiefMinister.Sidhuevenresignedbrieflyin

protestagainsttheappointmentof formerAdvocateGeneralAPSDeolbyChiefMinisterCharanjitSingh Channi, saying Deol hadrepresentedSumedhSinghSainiwhowasDGPduringtheallegedsacrilegeincidents.

PM attacks Oppofthestateandwelfareofitspeo-ple,buildingpuccahousesforthepoor and ensuring regular elec-tricity supply across the state:“Modi aur Yogi din raat kaamkarte hain aur karte rahenge”(Modi and Yogi work day andnightandwillcontinuedoingso).”Addressing a rally in

Shahjahanpur after laying thefoundation stoneof the594-kmGanga Expressway, stretchingfromMeerut to Prayagraj, thePrimeMinisterattackedthepre-viousSPgovernment, saying thelaw and order situation in thestate, before theYogiAdityanathgovernment tookcharge,was sobad that men carrying kattas(countrymade pistols) wouldthreatenpeopleonthestreetsaf-ter sunset and girls faced prob-lems ingoing toschoolsandcol-leges.“Due to that situation, there

was often news of exodus fromvillages. But in the last four-and-half years, theYogi governmenthasworkedveryhardtoimprovethe situation. Today,whenbull-dozers run over themafia andbring down illegal buildings, ithurts thosewhosheltered them(mafia),”hesaid.He cited the example of

SotiganjinMeerutwherescrapofvehicles stolen fromacross thecountrywastraded.Thepreviousgovernments, he said, did nothave the courage to act againstthose behind the trade, but the“dumdaar”(strong)Yogigovern-mentandthelocaladministrationshutitdown.“Thosewholikethecompany

of themafiawill speak the lan-guage of themafia. Butwewillglorifythosewhobuiltthisnationwith passion and sacrifice,” hesaid, adding that amartyrs’mu-seum was being built inShahjahanpur.Targeting rival parties,Modi

said: “Theyhaveproblemswiththe country’s heritage becausethey aremore concerned abouttheirvotebank.Theyhaveprob-lemswithdevelopmentbecauseitmakes the poor and ordinarypeople less dependent on themeachday.”

The PrimeMinister,who in-auguratedtheKashiVishwanathDhamCorridorinVaranasiearlierthisweek,said:“They(Oppositionparties)haveaproblemwiththebuildingofagranddhamofBabaVishwanath in Kashi, and alsowiththebuildingofagrandtem-pleofLordRaminAyodhya.Theyhave a problemwith theGangacleaning campaign. They raisequestions over Army actionagainstthemastersof terror,andhave put in the dockMade-in-India Corona vaccines,madebyIndianscientists,”hesaid.OntheGangaExpressway,the

PrimeMinistersaiddevelopmentalong theroadwillhelp increaseincomeoffarmersandopennewdoorsofprogressforUP.He said itwill be a source of

five boons for the state: savingpeople’stime;increasingconven-ienceforpeople;ensuringproperuse of resources; increasing thecapabilities of UP; andbringingall-roundprosperityinUP.Inhis address, ChiefMinister

Adityanath said the politics oflinking areas or regions throughexpresswaysstartedinthecoun-tryafter2014,andPrimeMinisterModihadhonouredissuesrelatedto farmers, labourers, youths,women,villagesandfaith.

Navi MumbaiQatar.TheNaviMumbaiMunicipal

Corporation (NMMC) has in-structed theschool administra-tiontoclosedowntheschooltillDecember26.Anticipatingariseincasesof

infectionfromthenewCovid-19variant --Omicron, theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation(BMC)onSaturdayissuedguidelinesaskingtheres-identstoavoidcrowdingatpub-lic places and functions such asweddings.Accordingtotheinformation

shared by Jaydeep Pawar,deputy commissioner, NMMC,aninternationalflierfromQatarwas tested for Covid-19 alongwith his family members, in-cludinghis childwhostudies inClass11.Althoughthepassengerwas

found negative in RT-PCR test,hisasymptomaticsonwasdiag-nosed with Covid-19. Later,upon testing nearly 921 schoolstudents, 18were found Covidpositive till Saturdayafternoon.“At first, we tested 38 of his

close contacts from his class.Next, we tested 374 students.Out of these, nine were foundCovid-19 positive. Then, again,wetestedanother509students.In total, 18 of them have beenidentifiedwith Covid-19,” saidPawar.Inadditiontothis,38staffers

have also been tested but nonewerediagnosedwithCovid-19.Due to the age limit on vac-

cination, none of the infectedstudents were immunisedagainstCovid-19.Theminorpa-tients are students of Class 8 to11.Allstudents,whoareasymp-tomatic, have been kept in anisolationward at CIDCO jumbocentre.“We have sanitised the

whole premises of the school.Wewill run tests onmore stu-dents to avoid any possible

transmission among others,”said Dr Ajay Gadade, health of-ficer,NMMC.Meanwhile,aheadofthefes-

tive season, MunicipalCommissioner Iqbal SinghChahal appealed to citizens toavoidcrowdingand followpro-tocols.TheBMChasalreadyde-ployed a flying squad in eachwardwithfivememberseachtokeep check on hotels, malls,restaurants,weddings andpar-ties.“Those who are violating

Covid-19 protocols, squads de-ployedatwardlevelwilltakeac-tionagainstthem.Thereshouldbe strict adherence to rules re-gardingattendanceatweddingsand other ceremonies,” saidChahal in a statement onSaturday.Aspertheguidelines, incon-

fined or enclosed spaces, occu-pancyup to50%of the capacityof the place will be allowed.

However, in open spaces, thelimit has been capped at 25%. Ifa gathering has to be heldwithmore than 1,000 people, priorpermissionof theLocalDisasterManagement Authority ismandatory.Meanwhile, inabidtospeed

up the vaccinations, the civicbody has warned establish-ments to ensure their employ-eesare fullyvaccinated.“Vaccination of all employ-

eesfunctioningatpublicplaces,establishmentsaswell as all at-tendees at events and cere-monies is mandatory.Appropriateactionwillbetakenagainst the establishment ifrules are found to be violated,”saidanofficial fromBMC.The BMC’s action came fol-

lowingrisinginstancesofviola-tionsofCovid-19protocolsinthecity.“It has been noticed that

rulesarebeingbrokenespecially

duringweddingsandothercer-emonies.Eminentpersonalities,celebrities who have an influ-enceonthesocietyalsoneedtobeawareoftheissuesandactac-cordingly. The administrationhasdecidedtotakestringentac-tion against those who floutCovid-19guidelines,”saidaBMCofficial.Chahal has also appealed to

citizens toget fullyvaccinated.

CECsaidthattheNovember16meet-ingwas to finalise the Cabinetnote on some long-pending re-forms and was held virtually.“The subsequent interactionwith the Chief ElectionCommissionerandtwoElectionCommissionerswasaninformalone andmeant for ironing outtwoorthreeaspectsforthefinalproposal,” thestatementsaid.The LawMinistry said that

theoriginalmeetingnoticefrom

the PMO dated November 12was addressed to the CabinetSecretary, Law Secretary andSecretary, LegislativeDepartment,andnottotheCEC.TheMinistry further said it

had sent a letter inviting repre-sentatives of the EC to the PMOmeetingsincethepollpanelhasthe “necessary expertise andmandate regarding Electoralroll.”According to the statement,

theLawMinistry'sletterwasad-dressedtoaSecretary-leveloffi-cer in the Commission and thatthe“finaloperativeparagraphofthe letter also requestedSecretary, Election Commissionof India toattendthemeeting.”However, the subject line of

theletterdatedNovember15,asreviewedbyTheIndianExpress,reads: “Video Conference onCommon Electoral Roll withPMO - interaction with CEC -reg.”

The letter states: “I am di-rected to enclose a Note dated12.11.2021 received from PMOand to state that PrincipalSecretary to PM will chair ameeting on Common ElectoralRoll on 16.11.2021 at 4 pmthroughvideo-conferencingandexpectsCECtobepresentduringtheconference.”TheLawMinistrysaidthataf-

terreceiptoftheletterbytheECI,“the Chief ElectionCommissioner spoke toSecretary, LegislativeDepartment expressing his dis-pleasure over the expression inthe middle part of the letterwhichgaveanimpressionthatitwas expected of the CEC to at-tend the meeting. Secretary,LegislativeDepartment,clarifiedthat the letterwas for SecretaryorarepresentativeoftheCECfa-miliarwiththesubjecttoattendthemeeting.”The Ministry further said:

"Thismeetingon16.11.2021wasa virtualmeeting and no physi-calmeetingwasorganizedinthePMO. The said virtual meetingwas attended by theOfficials ofGovernment of India and offi-cials of Election Commission ofIndia. After themeeting of offi-cials,certainissuesrequiredfur-therfine-tuning.Theseissuesin-clude the number of qualifyingdates for updation of electoralroll, some aspects of Aadhaarlinkageandrequisitionofprem-ises."After the officialmeeting, a

separate informal interactionwasheldvirtuallywiththeChiefElection Commissioner and thetwo Election Commissioners. Itmaybenotedthatthediscussionwasheld togetherwithall threeCommissionersofECI,andvirtu-ally."The Indian Express had

quotedaseniorECofficialashav-ingsaidthat the interactionwas“informal.”The LawMinistry said that

the November 16meetingwasheld to discuss the electoral re-forms in The Election Laws(Amendment)Bill2021thatwasrecently approvedby theUnionCabinet.The statement said that sev-

eralECproposalsregardingelec-toralreformshavebeenpending.“Chief Election

Commissioner (CEC) has ad-dressedseveralletters(February2011,May2013andJuly2020)totheLawMinister that thepend-ing reformsmay be consideredexpeditiously. LegislativeDepartmentisthenodaldepart-ment regardingmatters relatedtoElectionCommissionandreg-ular interaction takes place be-tween officials of ECI andLegislativedepartment…Previously,severalmeetings were held by theCabinet Secretary and the PMOregarding Common Electoralroll.”At least five former Chief

Election Commissioners (CECs)havetoldTheIndianExpress thatthe LawMinistry’s letter to theElection Commissionwas “un-acceptable”.Andthatthesubse-quent informal discussion be-tween the full Commission andthe PMO could erode the EC’simageof independence.

I-T searches target 4 close to Akhileshhousewas searchedby the I-TinMaudistrict. SP leaderssaidthe I-T searches also targetedthe premises of Manoj Yadavin Mainpuri and Agra,Jainendra Yadav ‘Neetu’ inLucknow’s Gomti Nagar area,andRahulBhasininLucknow’sMahanagararea.While Manoj Yadav and

Rahul Bhasin are consideredclose to Akhilesh Yadav,JainendraYadav‘Neetu’wasanOfficeronSpecialDutyduringthe2012-17ruleof theSPgov-ernment.Reacting to the searches,

Akhilesh Yadav said thesearches were being con-ducted to target Rai becausethe “BJP is scared” that “theyare going to lose the UP elec-tions”.AtapressconferenceinRae

Bareli aheadof hisVijayYatra,the SP chief said: “I have toldyou before too that since thedefeatofBJPhurtsthemmore,big leaders will come fromDelhi. So far, wewerewaitingfor Income Tax people tocome…I-Tpeoplehavecome.Inthecomingdays,EDandCBIwillcomewithotheragencies.Conspiracies will be spread,but the BJP will be removedfromUP.”“RajivRaiisaspokesperson

of ourparty.Heworkshard tostrengthentheparty.Whywashis house raided before theelections?If theyhadinforma-tion,theyshouldhavedonetheraid earlier. As the electionshave come close, this depart-ment has also come to fightelections inUP,”hesaid.He also spoke on “fake

cases”againstseniorSPleaderAzamKhan and those lodgedagainst farmer leaders duringtheir protest against the threefarmlaws.“This is not a new thing.

This is an old trick. The BJP isfollowing the path shown bythe Congress. Check theCongress’shistoryandyouwillsee they toousedsuch intimi-dation tactics,”hesaid.

Meanwhile, Rajiv Rai toldreporters:“They(I-T)cameforraids,andIsaidtheyshoulddoit…Theprocedure isongoing.They have told me they areholdingraidsinBengalurutoo,andathousesofpeopleknowntome. I would like to say thatif thisisnotpolitical,thenwhatis. I have not committed anycrime. I have a clean record,and I have no business in UP.Theyare lookingatmymobilephone.”“Iappealtomyworkersnot

todoanythinghere,sothey(I-T)canbookyouandlodgecases. Ihave nothing to hide and I amnot scared. I challenge themtodo raids at other placeswhere(UnionHomeMinister) AmitShah’speople live,”Raisaid.SP spokesperson Juhie

Singh said the searches werebeingdonebecause“theBJPisscaredafterseeingthecrowds”atAkhileshYadav’srallies.“Thesame thingwas done inWestBengal. Now, they are doing itinUP.But theywill losetheUPpolls like they lost the Bengalelections, no matter whattricks theyuse,” Singhsaid.In the past, Rai has been

credited for helping AkhileshYadavwin the2012Assemblypolls.In 2014, Rai (52) contested

the Lok Sabha elections fromGhosi but lost by 2.13 lakhvotes to BJP’s HarinarayanRajbhar. Rai came fourth, be-hindBSP’sDaraSinghChauhanandQuamiEktaDalleaderandstrongmanMukhtarAnsari.FromSurahivillageinBalia,

Rai is chairman of the AVKGroup of institutions inBengaluru.Afterbecomingthechairman, Rai helped thegroupgrowbyacquiringestab-lished schools, nursing andpharmacyschoolsandcollegesanddegreecolleges.Accordingtohiselectionaf-

fidavitfiledin2014,hehadim-movableassetsworthRs13.85crorewhilehisspousehadim-movable assets worth Rs 50lakh.Thetotalmoveableassets

ofthefamilywasworthRs2.20crore.While Jainendra Yadav

‘Neetu’wasOSDbetween2012and2017,ManojYadavischair-person of the RCL Group thatenters into contracts for gov-ernmentworks.Yadavisoneofthe highest tax payers inMainpuri district. Bhasin is aLucknow-basedbusinessman.Opposition parties, espe-

ciallyinthestatestheycontrol,have accused the BJP-led gov-ernment at the Centre of tar-geting them through law en-forcementagencies.Lastmonth,theEDarrested

Congress leader and formerPunjab MLA Sukhpal SinghKhaira in a 2015 drug smug-gling case. In September, EDalso summoned AAP nationalsecretaryPankajGuptaincon-nectionwith the case. Punjabisslatedtogotopollsearlynextyear.DaysbeforetheTamilNadu

polls in April this year, the I-Tsearched premises of DMKchief MK Stalin’s daughterSenthamarai in Chennai. TheDMKsaidthiswasdoneinpur-suitof “politicalobjectives”.Similarly, in the last week

of February, CBI summonedRujira Banerjee, wife ofMamata Banerji’s nephewAbhishek Banerjee, for ques-tioning in connection with acase of alleged corruption in acase of coal pilferage inWestBengal.ThestatewenttopollsonMarch2.In themiddle of theWest

Bengal elections, the NIA ar-restedChhatradharMahatoina2009casewhilehewascam-paigning for theTMC.In the run-up to theKerala

AssemblyelectionsinAprilthisyear, theNIA registeredanFIRofterrorfundinginconnectionwith a case of alleged goldsmugglingwhich had the of-fice of Chief Minister PinarayiVijayaninthecrosshairs.Threemonthsbeforethepolls,itevenfiledachargesheet inthecase.The ED arrested Vijayan’s

former principal secretary inthecase.ItalsoarrestedthesonofCPM’sKeralastatesecretaryKodiyeriBalakrishnaninasep-arate case of alleged moneylaundering.In July 2020, as the Ashok

Gehlot government inRajasthan faced a rebellionfrom Deputy Chief MinisterSachin Pilot, the ED searchedpremises linked to Gehlot’sbrotherAgraseninconnectionwith its probe into alleged di-version of fertilisers during2007-09. On July 22 that year,the ED conducted searches at13 places including inRajasthan, West Bengal,Gujarat and Delhi in connec-tionwith thecase.In 2017, Congress leader D

K Shivakumar had arrangedthe stay of 44 CongressMLAsfromGujaratinaKarnatakare-sort when senior Congressleader Ahmed Patel was con-testing for a Rajya Sabha seat.I-T searches were conductedagainsthimandachargesheetwasfiled.Thiswasfollowedbythe ED filing a case againstShivakumar in September2018 and arresting hima yearlater. Karnatakawent to pollsinearly2018.In March 2018, days after

being ousted from office fol-lowingAssemblypolls, formerNagaland Chief Minister T RZeliangwassummonedbytheNIAforquestioninginacaseofalleged terror funding. Theagency had summoned hisOSD and two office staff forquestioning just before theelections. Zeliang, who headsthe Nagaland People’s Front(NPF),ranthepreviousgovern-ment in Nagaland in alliancewiththeBJP.Butjustbeforetheelections in February, the BJPentered into an alliancewithNPF breakaway NationalistDemocratic Progressive Party(NDPP), led by Neiphiu Rio.Though NDPP secured lessseats than NPF, it formed thegovernment with help fromtheBJP.

FROMPAGEONE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

QuestionsViratKohli’spressconferenceraisedNEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

ViratKohliwasremovedasODIskipper.Headdressedsomeof thequestions,but thishasonly ledtomorespeculation.

3THINGSMorenewszeroads

IN TAIPEI, INDIAN FOODMAKES FORGOODBUSINESSSanaHashmi,avisitingfellowattheTaiwan-AsiaExchangeFoundation,saysthatthepopularityofBollywoodfilms,particularlythosestarringAamirKhan,mayjusthavecontributedtoincreasingcuriosityandawarenessof IndianfoodinTaiwan.

ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY

PUSHPATHERISEREVIEW

AlluArjunwalksawaywiththefilmwithhisstrongperformance

SNEAKPEEK INTOMOBILECLOUDFUTURE

BluestacksfounderRosenSharmaoneconomiesonthecloud

WEB

EXCLUSIVE

EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY

AppleCEOTimCookdefendsbilliondollardealwithGoogle

POINTYOURCAMERATOGOTOTHEAPPSTORE

VISUALSTORIES I DAILYBRIEFINGCUSTOMISEDNEWSEXPERIENCE

MAHENDERSINGHMANRALNEWDELHI,DECEMBER18

A47-YEAR-OLDDRDO scientisthas been arrested for the recentblast inside the Rohini districtcourtcomplex inDelhi,withpo-liceaccusinghimofplanting thebombtokillhisneighbour,anad-vocate.Delhi Police Commissioner

RakeshAsthanasaidtheyhad re-covered a robe of the kindwornbyadvocates,aswellasother“in-criminating” evidence from

BharatBhushanKataria,whohasbeenwiththeDRDOfor20years.Police said Kataria andAmit

Vashisht,his alleged target, livedin the same building in AshokVihartillthreeyearsago,andhadarunningdisputeoveruseof thecommon terrace. Initial investi-gation has shown that Vashishthad filed a criminal complaintagainst Kataria and, the day theblasthappened, thecourtwastohear framing of chargeswhich,Katariafeared,woulddestroyhiscareer.Marriedwith two children,

Katariawasalso theDRDO's liai-

son officerwith other agencies,officialssaid.“HeandVashishthavealong-

standingdispute,goingbackover10 years, and have filed over adozen civil and criminal casesagainsteachother,”DCP(SpecialCell) Rajiv Ranjan Singh said. Onthe day of the blast, he added,“Katariaplacedabag containingan IEDbehindVashishtand trig-geredtheIEDfromasafedistancewitharemote”.The low-intensity blast

causedminor injuries to aDelhiPolice Constable but not any fa-talitiesormuchdamage.Forensic

expertsandtheNationalSecurityGuard (NSG) found that the cir-cuit of the bomb kept in a tiffinhadnotbeenassembledproperly,due towhichonly thedetonatorwentoffandnotthehalfkilogramammoniumnitrate-basedexplo-sives.Singhsaidthefindingsalsoin-

dicatedthattheattackerhadusedeasily availablematerials to fab-ricate the IED. “Components ofthe IEDwere identified fromthedebris, and the bag inwhich theIEDwasplacedwas tracked to amedical equipment multina-tional company. Its distributors

wereexamined,”theDCPsaid.Asthana said they recovered

fromKataria'shouse“severalfilecovers, identical to thosewhichwerepresentintheIEDbag,sim-ilar screws that were used asshrapnelintheIED,andremnantsof a black adhesive tape used infabricatingtheIED”.A team led by ACP Ved

Prakashscannedmorethanhun-dredCCTVcamerasandcheckedarounda thousandvehicles thatentered the court complex theday of the blast. “Kataria’namecroppedup as a person of inter-est, andwe found that his case

was listed forhearingonthedayof the blast. His opposite party,AmitVashisht,was sitting in therow next to which the IED ex-ploded,”Singhsaid.CCTVfootageshowedKataria

entering the court complex at9.33amonDecember9wearingablackcoatandtrousers,resem-blinganadvocate's. “Hewascar-ryingabaginhishandandalap-topbagonhisback.Hewasseenenteringthecourt fromGateNo.7andconcealingthebagsoutsidea food outlet inside the courtpremises and leaving withinsome minutes from the same

gate. After fiveminutes, he en-teredfromGateNo.8andpickedthe two bags from outside theoutlet. Hewas seen in variouscameras inside themain courtbuilding and he left at around10.35amfromGateNo.8withthelaptopbagonhisback,butwith-outtheotherbag,”Singhsaid.Duringinterrogation,sources

said,Katariasaidthathemanagedto convince the security officialsthathedidn'twanttoputthebagcontaininghistiffin(inwhichthebomb was reportedly placed)throughtheX-raymachine.Investigations also showed

thatKataria'sbrother-in-lawwasDirector, Sales andMarketing, inamultinationalmedical equip-ment company,which had dis-tributedbagsidenticaltotheoneinwhich the IEDwas concealed.Singhsaidthebrother-in-lawhadgiventhebagstoseveralrelatives,includingKataria.TheDCP saidKataria carried

out the attack as hewas “highlyfrustrated due to theprotractedlegalbattle”withVashisht.“Itwascausingproblemsinhiscareeraswellasprolongedmentalharass-ment andmonetary loss to himandhis family.”

Delhi court blast: DRDO scientist arrested, police say neighbour was the target

3WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021

Celebrating Indias,Independence

THECITY

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER18

THEONGOINGriftbetweensen-ior Shiv Sena leader RamdasKadamand TransportMinisterAnil Parab cameout in the openonSaturdaywithKadamcallingParaba“traitor”andaccusinghimandanotherpartyminister,UdaySamant, of “colludingwith theNCPandattempting to finish offtheparty” inRatnagiri district oftheKonkanregion,consideredthecitadelof theparty.“Anil Parab is attempting to

give Shiv Sena’s local assemblyconstituency and municipalcouncil to the NCP (NationalistCongressParty).Withthehelpoftraitors from the Sena, Parab issidelining the local Sena legisla-tors and is trying to give it (theconstituency)toNCP. I’mnotthetraitor but Anil Parab is the trai-tor,” saidKadam.Yogesh,Kadam’sson,isalocal

Sena legislator fromDapoli as-semblyconstituencyinRatnagiri.

The election for theDapoli andMandangadmunicipalelectionisunderwayandthevotingwilltakeplaceonDecember21.Amid his falloutwith Parab,

the party did not re-nominateKadamtotheupperhouseof thestatelegislaturefromMumbailo-calauthoritiesconstituency.In October, a series of audio

clipsofconversationsthatKadamhadwithoneof his associatesal-legedlyrevealsthe“happinessex-pressedbyKadam”overtheactioninitiatedbyvariousauthoritiesontheallegedillegalconstructionsofParabinRatnagiriandMumbai.Therewere also allegations

thatKadamwasintouchwithBJPleader Kirit Somaiya, who hasbeenattackingMaharashtraVikasAghadi(MVA)leaders.Clarifyingon it, Kadam said that he hadneitherspokenagainstthepartynorwashewithSomaiya.On the allegations of Kadam,

Parab, however, said that hewouldnot liketocomment.“Thepartywilltakeappropriatecogni-sanceof theissue,”saidParab.

Mumbai:SHIVSENAworkersonSaturday held a protest outsidetheBJP’sofficeinNarimanPointin South Mumbai over the al-legeddesecrationofChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj’s statue inBengaluru.Sena activists raised slogans

andalsoput-upbannersagainstBJPandKarnatakaCMBasavarajBommai outside the party’s of-fice. Pandurang Sakpal, a Senafunctionarywholedtheprotest,said, “Bommai says that suchsmall things happen. So, isShivaji Maharaj’s insult a smallthing? It means that the BJP’slove for Shivaji Maharaj is fake.We are condemning Bommai’sstatementonthe incident.”Chief Minister Uddhav

Thackeray, in a statement, de-manded an immediate inter-vention of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in the issue tostop the “Kannada atrocities”and to instruct the Karnatakagovernment to take immediateactionagainst those involved inthe incident. ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER18

AHEADOF thewinter session ofthe state legislature, ChiefMinisterUddhav Thackeray vis-itedthestatelegislaturepremisesonFridayevening.This was Thackeray’s first

publicappearanceafterheunder-wentsurgerylastmonth.Sources said that Thackeray

alongwithParliamentaryAffairsMinisterAnil ParabandTourismMinister Aaditya Thackeray vis-itedthestatelegislaturepremisesafter office hours on Fridayevening.CMwasthere for15-20minutes in his chamber.Thackeray isexpected topartici-pateinthewintersession,whichwillcommenceonDecember22.Thevisitwasaimedatassess-

inghisphysicalmovement fromahealthperspective. Therehave

been some restrictions on hisphysicalmovementsafterheun-derwentcervicalspinesurgeryonNovember12,sourcessaid.Thackeray was discharged

on December 2 after spending22daysatHNRelianceHospitaland was advised to work fromhome for the next few days.Afterthesurgery,Thackerayhasneither made any public ap-pearancenorparticipatedinanypublic function.

Mumbai: A Chief MetropolitanMagistrate(CMM)courthereonSaturdaydismissedapleabyac-torKanganaRanautseekingper-mission towithdrawher crimi-nal complaint against lyricistJavedAkhtarforallegedextortionandrefer thesametoa “compe-tentmagistratecourt”otherthantheAndherimagistratecourt.The court at Esplanade had

earlier refused to entertain asimilarapplicationbyRanauttotransfer defamation case byAkhtarfiledagainstherlastyearfromAndheri court. An appealagainst the said orderwas filedinsessionscourtonFriday.Akhtar’scounselsaidthatthe

presenttransferapplicationwasmerely based on assumptionsandconjectures. ENS

RUPSACHAKRABORTYMUMBAI,DECEMBER18

EVENAStheannualwintergar-ment markets in Mumbai arebuzzingwithshoppers,theyaremissing the soul of the trade --theTibetans,amajorityofwhomhave stayed away this year forthe fearof Covid-19.Asagainstthepre-pandemic

years, when nearly 300 tradersfrom Tibet would visit theMaharashtracapital tosell theirwinter wear, barely 50 peoplehavesetup their stalls thisyear.Chilay Sangmo, 38, is one of

the20TibetanvendorswhohavesetuptheirstallsundertheParelBridge. Apprehensive aboutCovid-19, she has left both herchildren,aged2and4years,withher in-laws inHubli,Karnataka.Showing their photos to The

IndianExpress,shesaid,“Lastyear,wecouldn’tcometoMumbaidueto thepandemic.Wehad to sur-vivethroughfarming.Mostdays,

wewouldeatonlyfermentedrice.So, Iwillhavetosell thestocks togainsomefinancialstability.”Sincethe1970s,everywinter,

a group of Tibetan refugees likeSangmohavebeenmigrating toMumbai to sell sweaters andother garments made fromTibetanwool.Most of themarebasedinKarnataka.ChunkyDolakar,35,whohas

beenvisitingMumbaisince1987when shewas a toddler accom-panyingherparents,says:“Inmychildhood,Iwasin-chargeofen-suring that customers pay theamount. We used to look for-ward to these four months(NovembertoFebruary).”Expecting a lukewarm re-

sponsefromcustomersamidthepandemic, the traders have ob-

tained only 40% of their usualstock this time. Thedelayedon-set of winter in the city has fur-theraffected their sales.Before the pandemic, the

traders would make up to Rs10,000perdaywitha15percentprofitmargin.However,nowtheyare struggling tomake even Rs5,000daily,andtheprofitmarginhasgonebelow5percent.Another factor that has hit

theTibetansiscompetitionfromtradersfromRajasthanandUttarPradeshwho sell their ware atmuch lower costs, forcing themtoreduce theirpricesaswell.“TheTibetanwoolisproduced

from Changphel—a highlandsheep. Theyare richwith lanolinwhichmakesituniquecomparedtoindustrialartificialwool,whichischeap.The local traderscanaf-ford to sell a garment at Rs 200,whichwe can’t. But customersdon’tunderstandthedifference,”saidZhoigarDoma,amerchant.Anotherthingthatsoursthe

Mumbai experience for the

Tibetan traders is racial slursthat they are subject to regu-larly. “Withthestartof thepan-demic, thefrequencyof suchin-cidents has aggravated,” saidLhundup, who has set up hisstall near CST station.Mostofthetraders,though,ex-

pressedtheirgratitudetoMumbaipolice forcooperatingwith themthis year tohelp themearn theirlivelihood.“Mostyears,thepolicewouldevictusbuttheyhavebeenkind this year. They knowhowmuchwearedependent on thisbusinesstosurviveamidthepan-demic,”saidLhundup.The Tibetans depend on the

profits theymake inMumbai tocelebrate the TibetanNewYear,knownasLosar, inFebruary.“Last year, we didn’t have

moneytocelebrateLosar. So,wepromised our children thatwewould come backwith enoughmoney to celebrate this year’sLosar. I hopewewill be able tokeep that promise,” said RanaPratap,oneof thesellers.

Parab colluding withNCP in bid to finish offSena in Ratnagiri: Kadam

Sena protestsoutside BJP officeover ‘desecration’of Shivaji statue

Thackeray visits state legislature ahead of winter session

FIRST DAYMumbaiPolicepersonnelcarrychaddar toMahimDargahonSaturdayontheoccassionofUrsofMakhdoomAliMahim.GaneshShirsekar

Ranaut’s plea to transfer case againstAkhtar outside Andheri court rejected

ATibetantradersellingwinterwear inParel.GaneshShirsekar

Covid fears keep Tibetan traders away from winterwear markets

4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021

For 50 years you played a key rolein creating the IT networkingmarket and the surroundingchannel ecosystem in India. Couldyou trace your personal journeyin the IT industry?50 years ago, we used to have largesized mainframe computers, themost well-known of which wasIBM. Back then, the IBM India plantused to manufacture card-punchingmachines, namely the IBM 029 andIBM 129 models, at its Andheriplant in Mumbai. You might besurprised to know that back then weused to export these ‘Made in India’machines to Europe, Japan and 10-15other countries worldwide. We hadover 400 vendors supplying partsfrom all over India

I joined the IBM manufacturingplant in 1969. Initially, IBM usedto re-condition large mainframecomputers. Then around 1973,we started manufacturing IBMMachines by sourcing detailparts from all over India as wellas complicated importing fromIBM vendors outside India. Butdue to government policy, IBMclosed its operations in 1978. Thenin 1986, I started my own venturecalled Virtual Computers Pvt Ltd.,manufacturing personal computers(PCs) by sourcing detail parts

from Singapore. I used to assemblemotherboards and add-on cardsat the Mumbai factory. The dutydifference in detail parts importsand finished products import was ashigh as 60% initially. Hence, at thattime, many companies sprung up allover India, manufacturing PCs.

When networking products startedappearing in India, I convincedD-Link Taiwan, a multinationalcompany, to start manufacturingin India by taking advantage of theduty difference. In 1993, I shifted thefactory to Goa as we needed a largearea to use SMT lines. I formed a newcompany, Smartlink, and offered asmuch as 51% stake to D-Link Taiwan.In 1995, the name changed to D-LinkIndia from Smartlink. Unfortunately,the Taiwanese Chairman KenKao felt sick and moved to the US.The new management was moresceptical, and invested only 19%.After two years, they raised it to 40%.It was only when they realised thelatent potential that they raised thestake to 51%.

D-Link products were all activenetworking products. However,as I had lots of experience in thepassive range of products, I wantedto introduce SCS products. But KenKao was not comfortable using theD-Link brand for this, and asked

me to use my own brand. Thus theDigilink brand was conceived.

In 2005, D-Link Taiwan chose tobecome a brand products sales &marketing company. All R&D andmanufacturing operations ceased,and a new company called AlphaNetwork Ltd was formed. Sinceimport of detail parts from D-LinkTaiwan was also stopped, we inIndia started sourcing detail partsfrom China and Taiwan suppliers.This ensured a huge advantagein price. Meanwhile, our passiveproducts continued to be 100%manufactured here under theDigilink brand. Because we had alarge manufacturing base, we startedmanufacturing other products aswell. We entered into a JV withGigabyte and began manufacturingmotherboards. The business ofD-Link and Digilink became 50:50.

As the D-Link Taiwan parentcompany became a brand productstrading company worldwide, bothKen Kao and I felt it was better to splitthe business for future growth, withone company in manufacturing withme holding the majority stake withthe Digilink brand; and one producttrading company - the D-Link brandwith D-Link Taiwan holding themajority. So in 2008, D-Link Indiade-merged by changing its name

back to Smartlink and continuedmanufacturing Digilink SCSproducts and all other products usingSMT lines. All the stock of D-Linkbrand products were transferred toa newly formed products tradingcompany, D-Link India.

Business continued in Smartlinkvia manufacturing of Digilinkpassive brand products. Having6 SMT lines in active products,Smartlink introduced the Digisolbrand in 2009. Having a largemanufacturing base, Smartlinkalso introduced tablets andmotherboards. The SCS businessbecame No 1 in channel sales in Indiaas it had a large manufacturing basebesides having its own patents.

In 2011, Schneider Electric, arenowned French company in SCSproducts acquired the Digilink brandwith all manufacturing, sales &marketing operations. We continuedmanufacturing all kinds of activeproducts in the Digisol brand alongwith other products. As we partedoff the Digilink brand’s SCS businessto Schneider, D-Link India TradingCompany entered the SCS marketby importing finished products fromChina. In five years, the Digilinkbrand lost its channel business toD-Link. So we decided to enter thefray after a five-year hiatus. Instead

of getting China products andtrading, we chose to manufacture thelatest patented products by forminga joint venture with a companyhaving the latest patents. Then inthe fourth quarter of 2016, we re-entered the SCS products spaceagain by manufacturing highergrade patented products. A newmanufacturing company was formedby taking a foreign partner having alot of latest patents in SCS products.To simplify operations, Smartlinkbecame a Holding company withassets and cash. The business splitin three independent units offeringscope to expand – Digisol Systems(a brand products company);Telesmart SCS (for SCS products incopper and fiber having a foreigncompany as partner); and SynegraEMS (for all kinds of active productsmanufacturing, and with large spacefor SMT lines, soldering lines, andassembly lines). Digisol, our brandproducts company, sources productsfrom Synegra and Telesmart, as wellas worldwide suppliers.

Tell us about your passion forpassive product manufacturingAfter the JV with D-Link Taiwan,we started manufacturing activeproducts in India. But I was also inpassive products, having a JV withSapphire, the UK-based company.After introducing active products,I introduced passive products bymanufacturing under the D-Linkbrand, as had prior experience. KenKao was not happy to use the D-Linkbrand for passive products. As such,D-Link Taiwan is a multinationalwith more than 14 offices and withworldwide sales in more than 50countries in only active productseven today. Therefore, I introducedDigilink, my brand of SCS products.

Until the Government of Indiaannounced the second editionof production-linked incentives(PLI) schemes across 10 keysectors, Indian manufacturerswere losing out to traders whowere simply importing finishedproducts or SKD from countrieslike China. Your comments…We all know that Indianmanufacturing is nothing butimporting majority of detail partsfrom up countries, manufacturingsome parts locally, assembling &testing of products, and offeringafter-sales support to customers. Thecosts for test equipment in case ofsome products like fiber runs intocrores of rupees. It doesn’t benefitmanufacturers like us at all. Onsome products like switches, thebasic custom duty being 10% is netsaving. You’re better off importing asthe manufacturing cost is quite low.Once said that, the Government’s PLIscheme is fairly encouraging. Butonce manufacturing of large volumesstarts, and volume of consumption ofdetail parts increases, manufacturingof detail parts will happen in India

automatically, as large volume oflocal requirement helps detail partsmanufacturing. We too will startmanufacturing some detail partsinstead of importing.

Why did a reputed multinationalcompany like Schneider Electric,which acquired a successfulbrand like Digilink fail to impactthe market? What caused the fallof such a big multinational?After Schneider Electric acquiredthe Digilink brand in SCS products,manufacturing in India almost allproducts from components level,D-Link India’s new managementdecided to enter the passive productsline in India by importing from China(China produces outdated patents.It’s worth noting that once a patent is20 years old, anyone can manufactureit, even in India). Schneider, havingacquired our patents, continuedto manufacture here. Schneidercould not compete with D-Link’spricing, and exited from the networkconnectivity structured cablingbusiness (Digilink) in India.

Is that why you decided to re-enter the market after five years?Since I possessed expertise inmanufacturing, I decided to re-enter the passive products line bymanufacturing. As I had offeredmy products patent to SchneiderElectric while parting with theDigilink business, I decided to takea Taiwan ODM supplier as ourpartner, having many patents of SCSproducts in Taiwan. We establisheda new company, Telesmart SCS Ltd.,and invested in tooling, moulds,test equipment, etc., and startedmanufacturing in Goa.

To what extent (if any) hasthe PLI scheme helped Indianmanufacturers such as yourselfnegate the impact of importers.The PLI scheme will help allmanufacturers. Today, we are gettingmore enquiries to manufactureproducts and so we are expandingand getting the latest SMT lines totake care of detail parts of very smallsize. This is the best support we havereceived from the Government. Let’swait for a year or two years to see theresults.

The Government’s failure toimpose heavier import duty musthave been a mitigating factor inthe industry’s predicament…After the WTO agreement on ITproducts, importing became dutyfree, and it became difficult for theGovernment to impose duty. I feelat least the recent products suchas FTTH routers and WiFi mobilephones should have attracted duty inorder to encourage manufacturingin India. I must admit here that Ihave not gone through the details ofthe agreement.

Continued on next page...

NOBODY NEEDS ANExPLANATION as to whyIT networking productshave become an essentialfeature in today’s fast-

paced business landscape. Withthe advent of the internet andmanagement information systems(think computers, phones andsoftware), businesses have beenable to transform from small localoutfits to international householdnames. In order to keep up withcompetition as a result of internetcommercialisation, companies areincreasingly turning to informationtechnology, or hardware, softwareand telecommunications networks,to streamline services and boost

performance. In a developingcountry like India, it’s ever so morethe case.

Even so, consider this. The ITrevolution in India was signaled bythe arrival of computer networkingand the impact it made on manyaspects of our lives. It was part ofsomething bigger – electronic anddigital revolution that broughtus computers and a plethora ofcommunication facilities.

Recalls K.R. Naik, ExecutiveChairman, Smartlink HoldingsLtd., and Chairman & Founder,Digisol Systems, an IT industryveteran, who is largely consideredas the Father of India’s informationtechnology networking industry:

“Back in the 1970s, mainframecomputers in market weredeveloped by IBM-USA, ICL-UK,and maybe one or two Europeancompanies. India was nowhere.Personal computers (PCs) startedappearing in the 1980s, whencustom duties on import was ashigh as 100%.”

In order to encourage localmanufacturing of PCs, the IndianGovernment reduced detail partsimport duty below 40%, makingit attractive to manufacturer toassemble in India. Many companiesentered the fray, but duty differencein finished products and detail partsreduced every year. By 2003, due tothe WTO agreement, all finished

products in the IT sector becameDuty Free. This resulted in almostall manufacturing companiesclosing down.

“Despite suffering losses, mycompany Smartlink somehowmanaged to weather the storm,”says Naik. “No matter what, wecannot compete with cheap importsfrom China. But now that theGovernment is beginning to takea great deal of interest in makingIndia aatmanirbhar (self-reliant),by encouraging manufacturing inthe country and by implementingduties on finished products fromoverseas, we can hope for betterdays. It’s a step forward for theMake in India movement.

K.R. Naik, Executive Chairman, Smartlink Holdings Ltd., and Chairman &Founder, Digisol Systems, traces the story of IT networking products in the

country as well as his own story

www.digisol.com

XPONONU ROUTERS SWITCHING PRODUCTS STRUCTURED CABLING PRODUCTS*Made In India products are available in specific part code.

INTRODUCINGMADE IN INDIA PRODUCTS

ADVERTORIAL

Manufacturing & trading in india

ADVERTORIALit networking Products

HoPe on tHe Horizon The debate of manufacturing versus trading is one for the ages. Encouraging

the former, especially in the IT networkingthe former, especially in the IT networking products industry is a definitive step

forward for the Make in India movement.

Technicians at work at Smartlink’s Telesmart factory in Goa

Such A Long Journey

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021

K.R. Naik iK.R. Naik is widely regarded as the Father of India’s ITs widely regarded as the Father of India’s IT networking industry, and for good reason. Read on to

discover more about the man and the legend…

Meet the Master!

Kamlaksha Rama Naik,better known as k.R. Naik, is anindianindustrialengineer,andan

iT networking industry veteran withclose to five decades of experience.he is widely regarded as the Fatherof india’s iT networking industryfor playing a key role in creatingthe iT networking market and thesurrounding channel ecosystemin india. Over the years, he haspioneered several new businessesand distribution models as early as1990, when iT was a nascent industry,and the concept of an iT distributionchannel was just conceived.

he is credited for giving indiaits first indigenous iT networkingcompany – smartlink Network

for over three decades, Naik hasbeen instrumental in introducingglobal iT brands like Cisco, D-link,Foundry, lanner, and Gigabytein india, besides having hismanufacturing and R&D operations.

in 1993 he started a newmanufacturing unit in Goaunder smartlink. Then in 1995 heentered into a joint venture with amultinational – D-link Corporationand the name changed to ‘D-linkindia’, with a manufacturingfacility in Goa and a corporate officein mumbai.

Further, he introduced theDigilinkbrandof passivenetworking(structuredCablingsystems).Ridingon the back of a strong domesticgrowth curve in 2008, and a formaldemerger with the JV partner, hechanged the company name back tosmartlink and sharpened its focusfurther on its indian brand Digilinkand other businesses. in 2009, heintroduced the Digisol indian brandunder active networking products.

Naik was born in karwar,karnataka on 19th November 1947.he completed his schooling inkarwar and later shifted to mumbai.he is a mechanical engineerwith a P.G. Diploma in industrialEngineering and licentiate inPlastic Engineering. he did aBusiness management course fromthe Jamnalal Bajaj institute inmumbai, which was sponsored byiBm.

he began his iT career at iBm’smanufacturing plant in 1969 at

mumbai, starting as a mainframePeripheral assembly Engineer,and thereafter worked in variousdepartments, including productdesign and development. in 1977,he contributed significantly to thedevelopment of an indigenous lineprinter at the ‘Big Blue’ center.he worked to develop indigenouscomputer peripheral parts of plasticand metal until iBm closed itsindian operation in 1978. after iBmclosed down, he joined ORG systemltd. wherein he was one of the 6team members who developed thefirst indigenous line printers with aspeed of 1000+ lines per minute.

in 1984, Naik founded his owncompany, Virtual Computer Pvt.ltd., and was among the first toimport a wave-soldering machineto manufacture printed circuitboards of PCs. Then he formed thenew company smartlink in Goato expand manufacturing usingsmT lines in 1993, later, smartlinkhad a joint venture with D-linkCorporation Taiwan in 1995, andthe name changed to ‘D-link india’.When D-link parted ways as aseparate products trading company,his company name changed backto smartlink, and has remainedever since. Naik holds the positionof Executive Chairman in thecompany. he is also the Chairmanand Founder of his own brandcompany Digisol systems.

Naik is a former President ofthe manufacturers’ association forinformation Technology (maiT).

systems ltd., which has been alocal manufacturing success story

K.R. NAIKExecutive Chairman,Smartlink Holdings Ltd.Chairman & Founder,Digisol Systems

ADVERTORIAL

XPON ONU Wireless Routerwith 1 PON, 1 GE + 1 FE LAN Port& 1 FXS Port

DG-GR1321Cat6, UTP, Toolless DesignKeystone (100% RoHS Compliant)

DG-KS6UWH-A

Tool FreeTermination

Press FitTechnology

30 MicronsGold Plated Contact Pins

www.digisol.com

helpdesk@digisol.com

1800 209 3444DIGICARE

Made In India Products are also available in other categories:

Switching Category

Structured Cabling

DG-GS1512HPDG-GS1008DG

Available in:DG-GS1016D-ADG-GS1024DDG-GS1528

Available in: COPPER, FIBER & FTTH SOLUTIONS

Cat6 UTP Solderless Patch Panel Cat6 UTP Solid CablePatented Toolless Keystone

STRUCTURED CABLING | FTTH | SWITCHING | WIRELESS

*Made In India products are available in specific part code.

DG-GS1005

EMPOWERING INDIAWITHMADE IN INDIAIT NETWORKING SOLUTIONS

Manufacturing & trading in indiait networking Products

SMARTLINKHOLDINGS LTD.

smartlink is a BsE|NsE listedcompany with expertise of iTnetworking products marketing.Established in 1993 in Goa,it is a forerunner in the fieldof iT networking productsmanufacturing, having a largemanufacturing base in Goa.smartlink played an instrumentalrole in introducing the globaliT brand Cisco systems in indiathrough distribution, besideshaving joint ventures withleading brands like D-link (inNetworking Products), sapphireUk (in structured cablingproducts), Foundry (in high-endswitching), lanner (in industrialproducts), and Gigabyte (inmotherboards), by manufacturinglarge volume products at its GoaFactory. Nonetheless, followingthe WTO agreement, all thesepartner companies that were wellestablished in india lost theirmanufacturing benefits, and had topart ways with smartlink.

smartlink, however, had a largemanufacturing base and expertisein manufacturing all kinds of iTproducts. it continued introducinglocal brands in motherboards,tablets, and networking in theactive products line like routers,switching, Wi-Fi, and all kindsof products in copper and fiberin sCs. Recently, smartlink hasbecome a holdings company withassets and cash, by splitting alloperations into three independentunits and giving scope ofexpansion individually. The threecompanies – synegra, Telesmart,and Digisol – are independent ofeach other.www.smartlinkholdings.com

SYNEGRA EMS LTD.synegra is a 100% owned Ems/ODm products manufacturingcompany of smartlinkholdings limited. it has a largemanufacturing setup of smT lines,soldering lines, assembly & testinglines. it manufactures all kinds ofproducts – from PCB assemblieslike motherboards, add-on cards,the latest FTTh and WiFi products,telecom products, mobile phones,automotive electronic productsand defense applications products.synegra sources detail parts fromlocal suppliers as well as from well-known companies worldwide.

synegra offers locallymanufactured active range ofnetworking products by sourcingdetail parts from Taiwan andChina to Digisol systems, as madein india products.www.synegra.com

TELESMART SCS LTD.Telesmart is a subsidiary ofsmartlink holdings limitedwith a Taiwan partner havingseveral patents in sCs products incopper connecting parts with highbandwidth applications engaged inthe manufacturing of a wide rangeof structured cabling systems(sCs) products to supply Ems/ODm products to brand companies.as of now, it supplies the Digisolbrand to Digisol systems.

Telesmart also has assemblyand testing equipment in the fiberrange of products. Fiber productsare manufactured and suppliedto brand companies like Digisolsystems ltd. The company is alsolooking for contract manufacturingfor its fiber products.

Telesmart’s sCs productsportfolio includes end-to-endcabling solutions in copper fromCat 5e, Cat 6, Cat 6a, sTP, FTP, patchpanels, patch cords, and face plates.The fiber range includes all kindsof fiber patch cords, pig tails withperformance certificates, and liUs.www.telesmartscs.com

DIGISOL SYSTEMSLTD.

Digisol systems came intoexistence after smartlink’s JVwith the Taiwanese companyD-link ended in 2009. With a largemanufacturing base, an all-indiadistribution line, and two decadesof experience in manufacturing &marketing, it made perfect sense tointroduce a new local brand calledDigisol.

Today, Digisol is a trusted madein india iT networking brand forall large volume products in theactive range, including FTThand WiFi products, routers, andswitches. in the passive range, ithas copper and fiber products. itis a wholly owned subsidiary ofsmartlink holdings ltd.

Digisol systems is the onlyindia-based iT networking brandproducts company that has astrong pan-india presence, withsales representatives in 50 cities,10 branch offices, 45 distributors, 63service support centres, and over1,000 partners. Digisol’s endeavouris to consistently offer innovativefuture-ready products that aim tomeet consumer expectations in theiT networking space, by sourcinglocally from smartlink subsidiariessynegra Ems and Telesmart sCsor by sourcing low volume productsfrom worldwide.www.digisol.com

Understanding sMartlinkR

R

...Continued from previous page

Can you shed some light onDITT? Empowerment of the nextgeneration must be somethingyou feel deeply about…in a bid to empower our partners andsystem integrators across india, welaunched a certification and traininginstitution, DiTT - Digisol institute ofTechnical Training. The institutionaims to create value for all ournetwork engineers, channel partners,and isPs by consistently deliveringquality training programmes whichare always in sync with the marketdemands. DiTT comprises of 8+online training programmes thatcover industry-trending topics likeFTTh, structured cabling solutionsfor tomorrow, switching and wirelesssolutions, etc. it comprises both freeand paid training. The objective ofthese training programs is to enhancethe knowledge of our T2 partners onthe latest technological trends andto introduce them to a wide rangeof products that Digisol offers.Digisol has been on the forefrontof empowering partners, systemintegrators, and isPs/msOs acrossindia by conducting various training

programmes under DiTT. Evenduring the time of unprecedenteduncertainty, the company tookthe responsibility to empower allthe partners by conducting onlinetraining programmes.

Tell us about your recent productdevelopments and offerings inmanufacturing for your brandcompany Digisol?The demand for FTTh productshas grown enormously in recentyears considering the increasingdemand for high-speed internet.Our endeavour is to offer the best-in-class wireless products that offerhigh performance, connectivity,and are manufactured in india. Weintroduced our bestselling FTThproducts - DG-GR1321 & DG-GR6010XPON ONU routers as ‘manufactured

in india’ by assembling detail parts.DG-GR 1321 is designed to fulfil FTThand triple play service demands ofnetwork operators, while the DG-GR6010 ONU modem is designedto fulfil FTTh ultra-broadbandaccess request of home and sOhOusers. We are also launching ourbestselling switches that are madein india. We have introduced manymade in india products previouslyunder the passive networking rangeof products, and with the launch ofthese GEPON products, we aim tostrengthen our foothold and increaseour market share.

Such A Long JourneySmartlink House in Verna Industrial Estate

DG-GR6821AC Dual Band WiFi ONU

DG-FS1008DGDG-FS1008DG

www.digisol.com

THECITY6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021

ThankThank you Saint Jude,Mother Mary andSacred Heart of Jesusfor Favours andBlessings received.Continue to help us.M. D’Souza.

0070765551-1

ThankThank you Saint Judeand Sacred Heart ofJesus for Favours andBlessings received.Continue to help us.E D’Souza. 0070765550-1

THANKS GIVING

MYMY maiden name,Sulbha SadanandDhulap is changed toDeepika Deepak Sawantafter marriage as perAadhar Card.

0070765803-1

II have changed my namefrom NavinchandraManilal Mehta to NavinManilal Mehta as perAadhaar Card.

0070765751-1

II have changed my namefrom PratibhaGangaram Yeshirao toMrs. PratibhaNandkishor Nimje asper Govt. Gazette No.(M-21103107) issueDated November 11-17,2021. 0070765561-1

CHANGE OF NAME

PERSONAL

CourierCourier Services forNEWYEAR: Snacks,Spices, Clothes, OthersItems USA, Canada,Europe, Australia,Newzealand, UK, Dubai,Singapore, Hongkong-9769691025, 26822572.

0070763119-2

COURIER

SERVICES

Plot-44Plot-44Gunthanear PuneLoni, (Manjarituch,)near Reaver viewsProject, Solapur Road(on 1km) Tollnaka, R-zone, Two side roads1500/-Sq ft, Owner9921213785. 0090295860-1

PLOT FOR SALE

Flat for sale at AthashreePebbles(Senior CitizensScheme) at Bavdhan,Pune 411021. 1BHKadmeasuring 561.47 sqftbuiltup(436.21 sqft carpet)contact 9049008201

0090295804-1

OUT OF MUMBAI

☛DAHISADAHISARR (West),(West),NearNear RailwayRailway

Station -Station - 2BHK2BHK(1,(1,2211,00,,00,000000),), 1B1BHHKK(88,(88,00,00,000)000).. PPoossessesssisioonn::2023.2023. FoForr BookBookingingCoConntacttact:: DilDiliipp GuGujjaarr --9820311842.9820311842.

0070764688-2

BEYOND BORIVALI

MAHIMSMAHIMS BestDevelopment FinestLocation, AmazingViews 2, 3, 4 Bed, Club,Gym, Playarea, 2.4 cronwards. Visit for spe-cial Offers. 9820812491.

0070764704-1

☛DDADAR,ADAR, PrabhadeviShivajipark, Worli,

Matunga Mahim, Sion,Parel, Byculla, Office,Shop, Flats, godowns,buying/ selling/ rent-ing. Padmavati Estate-9820553072/9322296555.

0070735908-2

DADAR-ANDHERI

ACCOMMODATIONAVAILABLE

PROPERTY

100%100% Passing guarantee.“Khardikar Classes”. VIIfail...? Direct X. XI fail...?Direct XII. Dombivli- BA,B.Com., B.Sc.-9820627580, 9820904646.

0070745276-2

EDUCATIONAL

EDUCATION

VENCOBBVENCOBB Ex-FarmYesterday’s Price in PuneRs. 82/-. SuggestedRetail Price is Rs. 100/-.

0070753197-1

FRESHFRESH Chicken TradingBig birds 96/- kg., Smallbirds 98/- kg., TurbheNaka, Navi Mumbai.Mobile: 9769468897.

0070745632-1

AMIRAMIR Broiler, Small:Rs. 117/-, Big: Rs. 105/-.Contact: Phone:+91-8828895000/8080432388/ 022-25251901/ 022-23860517.

0070762556-1

S.K.S.K. Patel Small: 116/-,Big: 106/-. 8082040343/24460095/ 24459098. Tosubscribe to paper rate& purchase rate.9320460095/ 9930193010.

0070760487-1

N.E.C.C.N.E.C.C. Mumbai sug-gested price for 100Eggs in Mumbai on19/12/2021 Rs. 535/-(Five Hundred ThirtyFive) only.NECC 22834107.

0070765452-1

MEAMEA Mumbai EggsAssociation SuggestedSelling Rate in MumbaiRs. 510/- per 100 Eggs.Mobile: 9820057700/9820351822/ 7303390009.

0070751976-1

ZORABIAN Today’sZORABIAN Today’s Ex-Farm Live Broiler RateRs. 80/- Retail MarketRate Rs. 110/-. Mobile :8879050887/ 9372663242Office : 022-26604937/38/ 39. 0070760484-1

POULTRY

BUSINESS

AllianceAlliance invited fromofficers of All India /Central/StateServices/Doctors/Engineers/Lawyers/ManagementProfessionals ofKshatriya/Rajput com-munity for beautifulBhriguvanshi Kshatriya(Savarni gotra)girl,BA(Hons) philosophyfrom Miranda House,Delhi and pursuing Lawfrom Jaipur.28yrs/5.6ht.Father Sr.IAS(ACSrank) Rajasthan cadre.Interested persons maysend their biodata onemail:singh.weds2021@gmail.com 0110026651-1

RAJPUT

ForFor Handsome BrahminMba Boy 27, 6 Fts DoingBusiness At ChandigarhOnly High Status FamilyContact 7380200029

0050188893-1

BRAHMIN

BRIDES WANTED

SunniSunni Muslim khan girl30/5.2 B.Tech SBIEmployee settled inMumbai seeks alliancefrom Educated uppercaste boy. 9833838972

0070762016-1

GENERAL

D’dunD’dun based status JatSikh family looking fora decent well settledSikh/Hindu match fortheir daughter 82born,5-4,homely, vbeautiful, widely trav-eled. Boy must be fromsame status,uppercaste no bar.biodataand pics mail atnimratkaur911@gmail.com 0050188879-1

CASTE NO BAR

ProfessionallyProfessionally qualifiedmatch for Gujaratbased fair girl, 1994 /170 cm, Masters in CS(Canada), currentlyworking full-time inKitchener, Canada.WhatsApp+919426023737 (Father)

0050188584-1

BRAHMIN

GROOMS WANTED

MATRIMONIAL

''IMPORTANT''

Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertising copy, itis not possible to verify itscontents. The Indian Express (P.)Limited cannot be heldresponsible for such contents,nor for any loss or damageincurred as a result oftransactions with companies,associations or individualsadvertising in its newspapers orPublications. We thereforerecommend that readers makenecessary inquiries beforesending any monies or enteringinto any agreements withadvertisers or otherwise actingon an advertisement in anymanner whatsoever.

To place your adin Classifieds call:

Sanjeev:9967552226

Jitendra :9967966093

Steffi:9920288236

To place your adin Classifieds call:

Vinay Yadav:8451957053

Harsh Dwivedi:7021818976

TThhee IInnddiiaann EXPRESS

EDUCATION

19 DEC

On this day 5033984X Lnk Than BahadurThapa of 5/1 Gorkha Rifles made the supremesacrifice during 'OP CACTUS LILLY-1971'Eastern Sector in Dec 1971 in a true act ofvalour and courage. The brave soldier willalways be remembered for his enthusiasm. Tothis brave heart we pledge that we shall alwaysbe guided by his immortal spirit and make hisname proud.

CO AND ALL RANKS,

5/1 GORKHA RIFLES

LNK THAN

BAHADUR

THAPA

KARNATAKA FOREST DEPARTMENTOffice of The DeputyConservator of Forests,

Mysuru Division, Mysuru – 570008.Ph:0821- 2483853, Email:dcfmdm@gmail.comNo .A3 / S an d a l / e - a u c t i o n / CR - 1 2 / 2 0 2 1 - 2 2Date: 16.12.2021

BRIEFSALENOTIFICATIONIt is hereby notified for the general information of thepublic that the Sandal logs and pieces stored atGovernment SandalwoodDepot, Sandal Koti, Mysuru– 570 008. spent sandalwood powder located atJarakabande godown, Bengaluru division, Bengaluru.As mentioned below will be sold by e-tender-cum-auction mode through MSTC Ltd., on the online platform“www.mstcecommerce.com’’. The sale conductingauthority is Deputy Conservator of Forests, MysuruDivision, Mysuru. The e-tender-cum auction is subjectto terms and conditions uploaded on the websitewww.mstcecommerce.com. by e-tender-cum auctionNotice No:MSTC/BLR/Karnataka Forest Department /1/Aranya Bhavana, Ashokapuram /21-22/25511Date of e-tender-cum-auction: 13th January 2022.Mode:Online-www.mstcecommerce.com. Time: 11.00AM to 02.00 PM. Quantity of Material: 45 Lots ofApproximately 88.87 MT Sandal wood of Different kinds.Approximate value: Above Rs.6.00 Crores. Inspectionof logs by the bidders: 27.12.2021 to 12.01.2022 (Bothdates inclusive) 10:30 AM and 04:00 PM (On workingDays) at Government Sandalwood Depot, Sandal Koti,Mysuru – 570008. And Jarakabande godown, Bengalurudivision, Bengaluru-560015. Pre Bid Meeting: 6th

January 2022 at 4.30 PM at the office of The DeputyConservators of Forests, Mysuru Division, Mysuru.Conditions:1) Interested bidders should get themselvesRegistered with MSTC well in advance. 2) Intendedbidders are advised to inspect the material to theirsatisfaction. 3) The Quantity notified adjacent to eachclass kept for sale is approximate. 4) Every Registeredbidders shall pay an Earnest money deposit (EMD) ofRs.10,00,000/- (Ten Lakh only) for all lots/or any lot.5) The black listed bidders, defaulters, Minors, insolventpersons will not be Permitted to participate in the sale.6) Detailed Sale Conditions to be downloaded fromwww.mstcecommerce.com.

Sd/- DeputyConservator of Forests,Mysuru Division, Mysuru.DIPR/DDMYS/MCA/705/2020-21

ROURKELA SMART CITYLIMITED, Rourkela

Udit Nagar, Rourkela-769012,Email: rourkelascl@gmail.com

BID ID: - RSCL/3546/2021 DATE. 17.12.2021

NOTICE INVITING TENDER NATIONALCOMPETITIVE BIDDING

The Chief Executive Officer, RSCL invites bids from eligiblecontractors for the following projects:

Tender Fee is Rs. 7,100/- to be deposited with the bid which is Non-refundable. The complete BID documents can beviewed/downloaded from official portal of Rourkela MunicipalCorporation (https://www.rmc.nic.in or e-procurement portal ofOdisha https://tendersodisha.gov.in from 18.12.2021 to31.12.2021 (up to 17:00 Hrs. IST). Pre-Bid Meeting will be held on24.12.2021 at 12.30 A.M. in the Conference Hall of RSCL. Forqueries, intending bidder may contact General Manager-MIS videPhone No. 7008285260 and Email ID: rourkelascl@gmail.com.

Sd/-Chief Executive Officer

Rourkela Smart City LimitedOIPR-13080/11/0020/2122

C-1637

SL.No

Name of the Projects Estimated Cost ofthe Project Rs.

Lakhs.

1 Supply, Installation, Commissioning ofComputers and Other Peripherals for E-Sushrut Project

38.86

RUPSACHAKRABORTYMUMBAI,DECEMBER18

FORTHEsecondconsecutiveday,the statehas recordedeightnewcasesofthenewvariantOmicron,ofwhich four are fromMumbai,three are from Satara and onefromPuneMunicipalCorporation(PMC) area. Out of these, 28 pa-tientshavebeendischargedafteranegativeRT-PCRtestreport.Till date, a total of 48patients

infectedwithOmicronvirushavebeen reported in the state—18 inMumbai,10inPimpri-Chinchwad,six in Pune (Rural), three underPMC, three inSatara, twoeach inKalyan-Dombivali andOsmanabad,andoneeachinLatur,Buldhana,NagpurandVasai-Virar.Thethreepatients, including

an 8-year-old girl, identified inSataraareclosecontactsofapa-tientwithatravelhistorytoEastAfrica.Allarewithoutsymptomsand in isolation. Both the adultpatientsare fullyvaccinated.All the four new Omicron

patients detected in Mumbai

have been identified throughairport screening. Theyare res-identsof Chhattisgarh, Jalgaon,Kerala and London. Of them,threeare fullyvaccinatedwhileone is unvaccinated.A32-year-oldman,whohad

takenonedoseofPfizervaccine,alsotestedpositive forOmicron.Theman,aresidentofKerala,hadcame to Mumbai from SouthAfrica on December 6 andwasdetected positive for Covid-19followingwhichhissamplewassent for genome sequencing onDecember13.Theotherpatient,a31-year-oldresidentofJalgaon,came to Mumbai from SouthAfrica on December 6. Hewasdetected positive for Covid-19andlater,onDecember18, iden-tifiedwithOmicron.A 48-year-old resident of

Chhattisgarh flew toMumbaifromTanzania onDecember12.After getting detected withCovid-19, his samples sent forgenome sequencing found himOmicronpositive.Thefourthpa-tient,aged49,landedinMumbaifrom London on December 12.Hehasalsobeen identifiedwithOmicron following genome se-quencing.HehadtakenboththedosesoftheAstraZenecavaccine.All patients are asympto-

matic and admitted to SevenHillsHospital.Meanwhile,13pa-tients in the city have been dis-charged after negative RT-PCRtests. The Omicron variant hasbeen reported in 89 countriesandthenumberof cases isdou-blingin1.5tothreedaysinareaswith community transmission,theWHOsaidonSaturday.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER18

THEVASAIpolice onFriday reg-isteredacaseofcheating,forgeryandcriminalconspiracyagainstthreepersonsincludinganofficebearer of a prominent NGO forallegedlyforgingthesignatureofits founder trustee and siphon-ingoffmoneyfromthebankac-countof the foundation.The complainant in the case

is father Joseph Pereira, afounder trustee of the KripaFoundation and a PadmashreeAwardee. Set up in 1981, KripaFoundationworks inthe fieldofaddictiontreatmentforwhichithas been receiving grants fromtheMinistryofSocialJusticeandEmpowerment.Recently, a sum of Rs 2.8

crorewasissuedbytheministryforaspecialprojectthatwasun-dertakenbytheNGOrunbythecomplainant.Pereirahasallegedoneofthe

accused named in the FIR is anofficebearerwho,alongwiththecomplainant,holdsthechargeofvetting and signing all thecheques for disbursement ofpayments. Pereira is the princi-

palauthorisedsignatory,andtheofficebearernamedintheFIRissupposed to take him in confi-dence before taking any crucialdecision.“Duringthetimeofmyinter-

national travel, they forgedmysignature/utilizingandmisusingmy electronic signature in theirpossessionafterhavingpassedabogus and fabricated SpecialResolutionwithoutmy knowl-edgeof consentbyactingas theBoard of Trustee and creating abogusdocumentcalledaSpecialCircularResolutiondatedAugust23, 2019,” read the complaintfiledbyPereira.While the trust was operat-

ing its funds through two bankaccounts, thethreeaccusedcol-ludedwitheachotherandwenton to open a bank account in anational private bank with amalafide intention to cheat anddeceive Kripa Foundation andsiphonoff funds, itwasalleged.“Two other persons, whose

services have been outsourcedbytheNGO,weremadesignato-ries in the trust,” said Pereira,adding,“Weevencametoknowthat the three issued salaries toour staffers and took half of themoney in cash by misleadingthem.”Assoonastheincidentcame

to light, Pereira approachedBandra police station early thisyear. Later, when the police in-formed him that the incidenthadtakenplaceunderthe juris-diction of Vasai police station,another complaint applicationwassubmitted there.“Whentheydidnottakecog-

nisance (of the complaint), weapproached the court whichthendirectedVasaipolicestationto registeranFIR,” saidPereira.Anofficer fromtheVasaipo-

lice station said that an FIR hasbeen registered in the case andinvestigationsareon.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER18

EVENAS they have registered acase of criminal conspiracy andculpablehomicidenotamount-ing tomurder in the death of aseptuagenarian last year, theMatungapolicearecontemplat-ingtheirnextmoveaftertheac-cused,inherstatementtopolice,said the deceased had specifi-cally instructedher against tak-ing him to the hospital for thefear of getting infected fromCovid-19.YezdiarEdelBehram,77,had

died on October 8, 2020 after about of illness which saw hisoxygen levels plunging to dan-gerous levels of 40-45. It couldnot be confirmed if he was in-fectedwith Covid-19. Behram’sdaughter, Natasha Sethna, hadlodged a case against the care-taker,MangalGaikwad, andhersononWednesday.DeputyCommissionerofpo-

lice(zoneIV)VijayPatilsaid,“She(Gaikwad)saidthedeceasedhadaskedhertoavoidtakinghimtoanyhospital.”In her statement to police,

SethnahassaidthatGaikwaddidnotdeliberately takeBehramtohospital to “ensure that he diesand she gets to usurp all hispropertiesandassets.”“Evenifheistellinghertonot

admithimatanyhospital, itwasher responsibility to inform hisdaughter and ensure that he issafe.Butshe lefthimathometodieanditisvisiblethattherewasan intent behind this,” said an-otherofficer.The assistant to the doctor,

who had visited Behram onOctober 5, 2020, three days be-fore he died, had instructed thecaretakertotakehimtothehos-pital,accordingtohisstatement.“Hehasmaintained thathevis-ited them twice and toldGaikwadtotakehimtothehos-pital,” saidanofficer.Meanwhile, police claimed

that Gaikwad, who is currentlyresiding at Behram’s 1,500-sqfeet house at Parsi Colony inDadar(east),hadlegallymarriedthe 77-year-old, adding theyhavefoundthemarriagecertifi-cate at the registrar’s office inKhar.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER18

AMAGISTRATE court here onSaturdayrejectedacriminalap-plication filed by formerMumbai BJP youthwing presi-dentMohit Bharatiya (Kamboj)seekingtoregisteranFIRagainststate cabinetminister and NCPleader for alleged violation ofCovid-19norms.Advocate FaizMerchant ap-

pearingforBharatiyafiledapleaseeking an order of contemptagainstMalikforhavingallegedlyattracted a crowd outside thecourt on November 29 by in-dulging in a social media cam-paignurgingpoliticalworkerstogather inmassesnear thecourt.BharatiyaclaimedthatMalik

intendedto“obstructtheadmin-istrationof justice”andthesamewascontempt.Healsofiledacomplaintwith

Mumbaipoliceseekingregistra-tion of an FIR againstMalik un-der Sections 188 (Disobedienceto order of public servant), 269(negligentactlikelytospreadin-fection of disease dangerous tolife), 270 (malignant act leadingtospreadofdangerousinfection)of the IPC and Section 51 (pun-ishmentforobstructinganygov-ernmentofficer in thedischargeof his functions or refusing to

complywithdirectionsgiven)oftheDisasterManagementAct.The complaint claimed that

Malik’s agents andpartywork-ers gave effect to social mediapostsonTwitterandWhatsAppforwards inviting the public enmassetotheSewreeMagistrateCourtonNovember29at10am.Thiswas inresponsetothecog-nisance taken by the Sewreecourtof anotherdefamationre-lated complaint filed byBharatiya under IPC, the appli-cation said.After considering themate-

rial on record, Metropolitanmagistrate P IMokashi rejectedBharatiya’s criminal plea filedunderSection156(3)oftheCrPCand said that there are nogrounds todirect police to initi-atean investigation.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER18

YASMEENWANKHEDE,sisterofNarcotics Control Bureau(NCB)Zonal Director SameerWankhede on Saturday ap-proached amagistrate court inAndheri with a criminal com-plaint seeking action againstcabinetministerandNCPleaderNawabMalikforallegeddefam-atorystatementsagainsther.Wankhede objected to sev-

eral tweetsandtelevision inter-viewsofMalikandsaid that thesame contained scandalous al-legations against her, despiteknowingfullywellthatthesamewereuntrue.The complainant, through

advocateVivekPandey claimedthatMalikmade “false” claimsagainst herwith “deliberate at-tempt tomalign her image and

deputation”, andtomakeaper-ception thatWankhede threat-ens to extortmoney from peo-ple,which isnot true.The complaint added that

such statementsweremade byMaliktothreatenandcoercethecentral agency from “duly per-forming its duties by indulginginmakingseriousandfalsealle-gationsagainstthefamilymem-bers with an attempt to createobstructioninfreeandfairinves-tigationbeingcarriedoutbytheagency.”Yasmeen claimed that the

policedidnottakeanyactiononher complaints, therefore shewas prompted to move theMetropolitan magistrate atAndheriseekingissuanceofno-tice for offenses punishable un-derSections354D(stalking),500(defamation) and 509 (words,gestures insulting modesty ofwoman)under the IPC.

Mumbai: RBL Bank in the eight edition of its CSR initiative UMEED1000 Cyclothon has raised over Rs 5.20 crore. Over 15 cyclists, in-cluding59employeesof thebank,collectivelycoveredadistanceof1,14,289 km to raise themoney. The initiative was flagged off onDecember1 to raise funds for inclusiveeducation. ENS

Sameer Wankhede’s sister fileddefamation complaint against Malik

RBL Bank raises Rs 5 cr as CSR initiative

PARSICOLONYDEATH

Deceased hadinstructed againstbeing taken tohospital, caretakertells police

NawabMalik. File

Court rejects plea against Malik foralleged violation of Covid norms

8 more test positive for Omicron in state

ABMCworkercollectsswabsamplesof apassengeratDadarrailwaystationonSaturday.GaneshShirsekar

Recently,asumofRs2.8crorewas issuedbytheMinistryofSocial JusticeandEmpowermentforaspecialproject thatwasundertakenbytheNGO, runbyfatherJosephPereira,afoundertrustee

Case against 3 for forging signof Kripa Foundation foundertrustee, siphoning offmoney

RAKHIJAGGA&SUKHBIRSIWACHLUDHIANA,CHANDIGARH,DECEMBER18

HARYANA-BASED farmer leaderGurnam Singh Chaduni onSaturdaylaunchedhisownpolit-ical party, announcing that hewouldcontestall the117seats inthe coming Punjab Assemblyelections.One of themost prominent

faces in the farmeragitation thatwentonforayear,Chaduniprom-ised that his Sanyukt SangharshParty would be “secular”, andworkforallsectionsofsociety,un-like current political leaderswhomhe accused of “framingpoliciesinfavourofcapitalists”.Soon after Chaduni’s an-

nouncement,Punjab’s32farmerunionsheldameeting todiscussparticipation in the polls, butcould not reach a decision. TheBKU(Ugrahan), the largestof theunions,stayedaway,asithadan-nouncedearlier,sayingitwantedto focusonfarmer issuesanddidnotwantanythingtodowithpol-itics.The leader of the BKU

(Chaduni) and amember of theSamyukt KisanMorcha (SKM)which spearheaded the farmers’agitation, Chadunihasbeenask-ing farmer unions in Punjab tofight the polls. To a query onSaturday, he said he himselfwould not be contesting, norwouldhealignwithanyparty.The Punjab farmer unions

held theirmeeting atMullanpurin Ludhiana. Discussionswereheldonwhethertheyshouldforma joint political front, or separateoutfits,extendsupporttoaparty,orsteerclearofpolitics.However, the talks remained

inconclusive. ButaSinghBurjgill,presidentoftheBKU(Dakaunda),saidtheywouldmeetagainafterDecember20todecide.Balbir Singh Rajewal, presi-

dent of the BKU (Rajewal), onSaturdaydeniedrumoursthathehadbeenapproachedbyAAP.PremSinghBhangu,president

of theAll IndiaKisanMahasabhaFederation(Punjab),saidtheyex-pectChaduni to jointhemif theyfloat a political party. HarmeetSingh Kadian, president of theBKU (Kadian), said, “We don'twanttobepartofthepoliticalsys-tembutwearegettingmessagesfrommassesthatweshouldbe...”BKU (Ugrahan) leader

Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan toldTheSundayExpress:“Bybeingpartof the political systemyou can’tactasastrongpressuregroup.”Chaduni said he expects at

leastninefarmeroutfitsofPunjabtosupporthisplantojoinpolitics.

FULLREPORT ONwww.indianexpress.com

7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021 EXPRESSNETWORK

OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI,DECEMBER18

OBSERVING THAT “the societalvalues on treating parents andelderswith the highest respectare perishing on the account ofgreed for property andmoney,”the Bombay High Court onFridayrefusedtoquashanorderof theWelfareTribunal evictingthe son and grandson of an 89-year-old woman from the flatownedbyher inGhatkopar.The court directed the peti-

tionertovacatetheflatwithin10daysfromthedateof theorder.A single-judge bench of

Justice Girish S Kulkarni in theDecember 17 judgment ob-served,“Lookingatthiscase,onewouldsurelyperceivetheperish-inganddeteriorationofthefam-ilyandsocietalvaluesinherentinourculture,beliefs,idealsandtra-ditions that parents and eldersaretobetreatedwithhighestre-spect, loveandempathy.”Kulkarni added, “These val-

ues appear to have remainedeclipsed in the present case onaccountofgreedforpropertyandmoney.Itissodishearteningthatatsuchanoldagewhentheonly

expectation of a senior citizen,fromthenearanddearones,isofcare,concern,affectionandlove,instead,whathasbeenreturnedis harassment, wretchedness,sufferingandabuse.”Thebenchwashearingawrit

petition filed by the son andgrandsonof thewoman againstthe proceedings initiated byherunder the Maintenance andWelfare of Parents and SeniorCitizenAct,2007andchallengingthe Tribunal’s order on July 30,this year. The woman had ap-proachedtheTribunalinOctober2020claimingmaintenance.Thewoman in her plea said

that after her husband died inMarch 2017, her son, wife andgrandsonandgranddaughter-in-law left their own house andcame to stay with her inGhatkopar(East).Beforethat,shewaspeacefullyresidinginthesaidflatalongwithherhusband.“Once the four entered her

house, therewerecontinuousar-gumentsandviolenceasher sonpressurizedher to transfer all as-sets solely in his favour andnotgiveanyshare toher twodaugh-ters,whoalsohaveequalsharesinthe said estate. Theharassmentcausedbythepetitionerswassuch

thatshedesiredtoendherlife,”herlawyers, advocatesHiral ThakkarandVimalSanghvi,argued.Thewoman further claimed

that when she refused to suc-cumb to the pressures and per-sistenceofherson,hestartedbe-having violently, which causedhertoleaveherownflatandstaywith one of her daughters andson-in-law, in whom she hadcomplete faith that theywouldtakecareofher.However, since the son con-

tinuedtoharassher,shedecidedto go back to her own house sothat he would not disturb herdaughters’ families.Thebenchopinedthat“itwas

aclassiccasewherethepetition-ershaveleftnostoneunturnedtomakethelifeof thewomanaliv-inghell.” It added, “Howmuchasenior citizen, that toowho is attheageof89,shouldbeharassedforgreedforproperty?... ”The HC dismissed the pleas

andexpressedhopethat“wisersensewould prevail on the pe-titioners to show empathy andmercy towards the woman sothatshe isnot requiredtophys-ically visit any court as she didforthepresentproceedingsandtoil any further.”

HC refuses to quash orderevicting son & grandson from89-year-old woman’s house

UnionHomeMinisterAmitShahpresentingthe ICSINationalAwards forExcellence inCorporateGovernanceinMumbai. Twitter/AmitShah

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,DECEMBER18

AMID CONCERNS over humanrightsaswell as thehumanitar-ian situation in Afghanistan,New Delhi and Islamabad areengaging, eachon itsowntrack,with key partners in the regionandbeyondwithaconferenceineachcapital Sunday.External Affairs Minister S

Jaishankar will host the 3rdmeetingoftheIndia-CentralAsiaDialogue in NewDelhi Sunday.ForeignMinistersofKazakhstan,Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan,Turkmenistan and Uzbekistanwill participate. Their previousmeetingwasorganisedby Indiain October 2020 via video-con-ference. Three of these five,Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan andTajikistan, share a border withAfghanistan.In Islamabad on Sunday,

Pakistanwill host the 17th ex-traordinary session of theOrganisation of IslamicCooperation's (OIC) Council ofForeignMinisters,withPakistanForeign Minister ShahMahmood Qureshi saying hehopedtheywill“reachaconsen-susonmeasures to improve thesituation inAfghanistan”.

Significantly, ForeignMinisters of the five CentralAsian countries are alsomem-bers of the OIC grouping andthey will skip the meeting inIslamabadtoattendthedialogueinNewDelhi.Sunday’s conference here

will also set the stage for thepresence of the leaders of thesefiveCentralAsiannations at theRepublic Day celebrations nextmonth, Covid situation permit-ting: Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev; Uzbekistan’sShavkatMirziyoyev;Tajikistan’s

Emomali Rahmon;Turkmenistan’s GurbangulyBerdimuhamedow; andKyrgyzstan’sSadyr Japarov.Since2012,therehasbeenan

active engagement betweenIndiaandthesefiveCentralAsiancountries. India considers themas part of India’s “extendedneighbourhood”. Jaishankarvis-ited Kazakhstan, KyrgyzRepublic, Tajikistan andUzbekistan this year and metwith Foreign Minister ofTurkmenistan inOctober2021.At Sunday’s meeting, the

ministersareexpectedtodiscussfurther strengthening of rela-tions with India focusing ontrade,connectivityanddevelop-mentcooperation.Theywillalsoexchangeviewsonregionalandinternational issues of mutualinterest, theMEAsaid inastate-ment. ThefiveForeignMinistersareexpectedtopayajointcour-tesy call on Prime MinisterNarendraModi.Jaishankar, who met

Tajikistan’sSirojiddinMuhriddinon Saturday, said: “…As neigh-bours of Afghanistan, we havebeen very concerned at the de-velopments there. And the par-ticipation of the Secretary of(Tajikistan’s)SecurityCouncil inthe Regional Security Dialogue,whichwe hosted in November,issomethingwhichisdeeplyap-preciated.”Hepublicly thankedhim for Tajikistan’s support toIndia during the evacuation ofIndians--andsomemembersofminority communities -- fromAfghanistan in August andSeptember.Sunday’s meeting also fol-

lows theNovember 10 regionalsecuritydialogueonAfghanistanforwhich theNSAsof these fivecountries were in Delhi alongwiththosefromRussiaandIran.At thatmeeting, hosted byNSA

AjitDoval,allexpressedconcernat the current situation inAfghanistan.Incidentally, the same day,

Islamabad had hosted specialenvoys from US, China andRussiatodiscussthesituationinAfghanistan. This time, too,Pakistan’s Afghan diplomacy isinparallel.BesidesOICmembersand observers, the PakistanForeign Office said, the UN sys-tem, international financial in-stitutions, international and re-gional organisations andnon-OICmembers, includingP-5countries,EuropeanUnionandcountries like Japan, andGermanyhavealsobeeninvited.Taliban’s ForeignMinister AmirKhan Muttaqi arrived inIslamabad on Saturday for themeetingaswell.SourcessaidthatDelhi’sout-

reach is to the fiveCentralAsiancountrieswhohavedeepstakesin the stability of Afghanistanwhile Pakistan is trying to rallythesupportof Islamiccountriesin favourofAfghanistan.OIC Secretary General

Hissein Brahim Taha, who ar-rivedinPakistanonFriday,saiditwas high time to think howMuslim countries could helptheirAfghanbrethrenatthiscrit-ical juncture.

Five Central Asian ForeignMinistersto discuss Afghanistan at Delhi table

ExternalAffairsMinisterS JaishankarwithTajikistanForeignMinisterMSirojiddinMuhriddinonSaturday.PTI

Chaduni launches party, 32farm unions meet to talk polls

FarmleaderGurnamSinghChaduni (centre)withsupporters inChandigarh,Saturday. KamleshwarSingh

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,DECEMBER18

THE NARENDRAModi-led BJPgovernment is not punishingMoS Home Ajay Mishra Teni,whose carwas part of a convoythat mowed down farmers inLakhimpur Kheri in October,only to appease the Brahmin

community, AIMIM chiefAsaduddin Owaisi alleged onSaturday, urging Muslims inUttarPradeshto“unite” forpro-tecting theirowninterests.“I have only onemission in

this state. I have come to youwith folded hands...Muslims inUttar Pradeshmust strengthentheir leadership,” the AIMIMchief saidata rally inMeerut.

Muslims in UP must unite: Owaisi

8 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021

Vadodara Smart City Development LimitedE-TENDER NOTICE

www.vmc.gov.inVadodara Smart City Development Limited in C/o Vadodara Municipal Corporation Invites online E-Tendcrs fromregIstered Companies/Vendors/Dealers having registration in appropriate category either withVMC/Central/State/PWD/MES/ Semi Government.Name of Work: "Augmentation of Water Supply System under Smart City Mission in ABD area (Akota,Vadiwadiand Sayajibug Water Supply command area) of Vadodara City including refurbishment of existing and newdistribution network in part area, Designing & construction of ESRs and GSRs including all works of civil,electromechanical, instrumentation, SCADA, retrofitting of House service connection and other associatedworks including Comprehensive Operation and Maintenance for a period of 5 year’’Estimated E.M.D Tender fee Downloading online Last Date for online Submission Time limitCost (Rs) (Rs.) (Rs.) Tender Document of Tender Document76,10,00,000 1,52,20,000 30,000 22.12.2021 18.01.2022 36 MonthGENERAL INSTRUCTION : (1) The tender document for these works can be downloaded from website www.npro-cure.com (2) Completed tender document shall be submitted entire only on or before Dated 18.01.2022 up to 16:00Hrs. (3) Pre-Bid meetting will be held on Date : 03.01.2022, 11.00 A.M. at Conference hall, Khanderao market busild-ing, Rajmahal Road Vadodara (4) Technical bids Will be opened on Date 18.01.2022 at 17.00 Hrs (5) Conditional ten-der shall not be accepled. (6) Other Details of NIT shall be seen on website, (7) Hard copy of Technical bid, original-copy of Tender fee and EMD shall be submitted to Chief Excutive Officer (CEO). Vadodara Smart City DevelopmentLimited C/o Vadodara Municipal Corporation. Khanderao Market Building, Rajmahal Road. Vadodara 390209, By reg-ister post/speed post only on or before Dated 19.01.2022 at 16.00 Hrs. CEO reserves the right to accept or reject anyor all leaders without assigning any reason thereof. This Tender notice shall form a part of contract document.

Chief Executice Officer (CEO)PRO no 805/2021-22 Vadodara Smart City Devlopment Limited

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER, RWS&SDIVISION, BALASORE

Tel: 06782-262249, Fax: 262931, email: eerwss_bls@nic.in,eerwssbls@gmail.com

NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING THROUGH e-TenderingIdentification No. 42 Dt. 11.12.2021

The Executive Engineer, RWS&S Division, Balasore on behalf of theGovernor of Odisha invites bids from bidders of eligible class registered withthe Odisha State Government and bidders of equivalent Grade / Classregistered with Central Government / MES / Railways for the works detailedin the table below to be eventually drawn up to P1 contract with design andexecution of the following Piped Water Supply Projects.

O-1386

1. Nos. of Work : 46 Nos RPWS schemes in Balasore district (Clubbed-up)

2. Estimated cost : Rs. 227.63 lakhs to Rs. 351.08 lakhs

3. Period of completion : 330 days

4. Availability of biddocument in Portal

: Dt. 20.12.2021 at 10.00 hours to 29.12.2021 up to 17.00hours through online.

5. Seeking of Clarification : Dt. 20.12.2021 at 10.00 hours to Dt. 18.12.2021 up to15.00 hours

6. Date of opening of Bid : Dt. 31.12.2021 at 11.00 hours in the O/O EE, RWSSDivision, Balasore.

7. Name and address of theOfficer Inviting Tender

: Executive Engineer, RWS&S Division, Balasore

Bid Cost & Bid Security will be receipt through electronic payment byNEFT/RTGS.Further details can be seen from the e-Procurement Portal:http://tendersodisha.gov.in

Sd/- EXECUTIVE ENGINEER,RWS&S DIVISION, BALASORE.

OIPR/25013/11/0009/2122

World Bank financed

Assam Agribusiness & RuralTransformation Project (APART)

Assam Rural Infrastructure and AgriculturalServices (ARIAS) Society

(An Autonomous Body of the Government of Assam)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)For Hiring of Consulting Services for “Inputs ofNew Design and Value Addition in Handloom &

Participation/Organisation of Trade Fair and BuyerSeller Meet (BSM)” under the World Bank financed

APART projectRFP No. ARIAS/APART/830/2019/89,

The Government of Assam (GoA) through theGovernment of India has received a loan fromthe World Bank (WB) for implementation of theAPART. The ARIAS Society now intends toapply a portion of the loan for Hiring ofConsulting Services for “Inputs of NewDesign and Value Addition in Handloom &Participation/Organisation of Trade Fair andBuyer Seller Meet (BSM)”. Further detailsmay be seen in the detailed RFP for theassignment at the URL -http://www.arias.in/procurements.html.

Sd/-State Project Director,

Janasanyog/CF/2420/21 ARIAS Society

IYf¹ffÊ»f¹f A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff, Àff.d³f.dU.UÈ°f-¶ffOÞX¸fZSX

IiY¸ffÔIY : BÊ-d³fdUQf/2020-21/2155 dQ³ffaIY: 09.12.2021

BÊ-d³fdUQf Àfc¨f³ff ÀfÔ£¹ff : 05/2021-22SfþÀ±ff³f IZ Sfª¹f´ff»f ¸fWûQ¹f I e AûS ÀfZ ÀffUÊþd³fI d³f¸ffʯf dU·ff¦f UÈ°f ¶ffOÞ¸fZS IZ A²fe³fÀ±f dUd·f³³f I f¹fûÊÔ W Z°fbC´f¹fbö ßfZ¯fe ¸fZÔ ÀffUÊþd³fI d³f¸ffʯf dU·ff¦f SfþÀ±ff³f ¸fZÔ ´fÔþeIÈ °f ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ EUÔ Sfª¹f ÀfSI fS/IZ ³Qi ÀfSI fS IZ Ad²fIÈ °fÀfÔ¦fN³fûÔ/IZ ³Qie¹f »fûI d³f¸ffʯf dU·ff¦f/OfI EU¸fÐ QcS ÀfÔ¨ffS dU·ff¦f/SZ»UZ B°¹ffdQ ¸fZÔ ´fÔþeIÈ °f ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ/UZ ÀfÔUZQI þûI ³Àf»fMZ³Àfe ¸fZÔ A³fb·fU SJ°fZ Wû EUÔ ´fÔþeIÈ °f ³f Wû, þû dI SfþÀ±ff³f ÀfSI fS IZ C´f¹fbö ßfZ¯fe IZ ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ IZÀf¸fI Ãf Wû, ÀfZ I f¹fûÊÔ W Z°fb BÊ -MZ¯OdSÔ¦f IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ d³f²ffÊdS°f ´fi´fÂf ¸fZÔ ´fif~ I e þfUZÔ¦feÜd³fdUQf ÀfZ Àf¸¶fd³²f°f dUUS¯f UZ¶f ÀffBÊM www.dipronline.org Uhttp://www.pwd.rajasthan.gov.in/ U http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in,http://sppp.raj.nic.in ´fS QZJf þf ÀfI °ff W`Ü

WXÀ°ff/-(ÀfbSXZVf Vf¸ffÊ)

A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ffÀff.d³f.dU. UÈ°f-¶ffOÞX¸fZSX

d³fdUQf I e Ib »f »ff¦f°f : 861.00 »ffJ

Afg³f »ffBʳf d³fdUQf AfUZQ³f /OfC³f »fûO I S³fZ I e°ffSeJ

: 10 dQÀf¸¶fS 2021 10:00 ¶fþZ ÀfZ 30 dQÀf¸¶fS 2021,Àff¹fÔ 04:00 ¶fþZ °fI

Afg³f »ffBʳf d³fdUQf þ¸ff I Sf³fZ I e °ffSeJ : 10 dQÀf¸¶fS 2021 10:00 ¶fþZ ÀfZ 30 dQÀf¸¶fS 2021,Àff¹fÔ 04:00 ¶fþZ °fI

Afg³f »ffBʳf d³fdUQf Jû»f³fZ °ffSeJ : 31 dQÀf¸¶fS 2021, Qû´fWS 3:00 ¶fþZ

1 UBN No. PWD2122WSOB11884 2 UBN No. PWD2122WSOB11885

DIPR/C/12616/2021

PR 259707 Jharkhand Zoo Authority(21-22).D

Sd/-Member Secretary

Jharkhand Zoo AuthorityOrmanjhi, Ranchi

Bidders, who have applied in the earlier round of this bidding process are requested not to participate in thisround of bidding as all technically responsive bids during the earlier round remains valid for this round.

JHARKHAND ZOOJHARKHAND ZOO AUTHORITYAUTHORITYBHAGAWBHAGAWAN BIRSAAN BIRSA BIOLOGICAL PBIOLOGICAL PARK, ORMANJHI, RANCHIARK, ORMANJHI, RANCHI

Email Id- jharkhandzooauthority@gmail.com, Phone no. 9006216090Email Id- jharkhandzooauthority@gmail.com, Phone no. 9006216090

CorrigendumTender Notice No. 08/2021-22

The NIT Published Vide PR No. 259145 dated 14 December 2021 is being modified as under:ndNOTICE INVITING TENDERS (2 Call)

Bids are invited for Construction of Butterfly Conservatory, Pond and Entrance Gate forButterfly Park- Phase IIatBhagwan Birsa Biological Park Ormanjhi, Ranchi, from eligible andexperienced reputedCivil Contractors / Contracting firms.

1. (a) NAME OF WORK “Construction of Butterfly Conservatory, Pond, Entrance Gate for ButterflyPark- Phase II, Ormanjhi, Ranchi.”

1. (b) LOCATION: Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park, Jharkhand Zoo Authority, OrmanjhiRANCHI – 835219.

2. CLIENT MEMBER SECRETARY, Jharkhand Zoo Authority, OrmanjhiRANCHI – 835219.

3. Estimated PROJECT COST 2.00 Crores4. E.M.D Rs. 4 Lakhs6. Cost of the Bid Document Rs. 10000/-5. TIME OF COMPLETION SIX MONTHS6. Bid Submission Start date and Time 27.12.2021 (10:00 am)7. Pre Bid Meeting Date and Time 18.12.2021 (11:30 am)8. Bid Submission Deadline 30.12.2021 (11:00 am)9. Date and Time of Bid Opening 30.12.2021 (11:30 am)

10. AVAILABILITYOF TENDERDOCUMENT

Interested bidders may download the tender document from Tender Section ofthe official website of JZA i.e. https://birsazoojharkhand.in/

11. SUBMISSION OF TENDER and Placeof Opening of Bids

The tenders, complete in all respect, shall be submitted sealed with coverlabeled on top as “Construction of Butterfly Conservatory, Pond, EntranceGate for Butterfly Park- Phase II, Ormanjhi, Ranchi.”This cover shall also

include the demand draft towards the Earnest Money Deposit and cost of biddocument.

The tender shall be addressed to:Member Secretary

Jharkhand Zoo Authority, Ormanjhi RANCHI – 835219.

Government of RajasthanDIRECTORATE OF CIVIL AVIATION

State VIP Hangar, Sanganer Airport, Jaipur-302011Telefax: 0141-2550543 Email: dcarajasthan@gmail.com

Ref. No. F. 3(10)DCA/OPS/2020/ 2840 Dated: 16.12.2021

Notice Inviting BidE-Bid is invited for acquisition of twin Engine VFR and IFR capable Helicopter havingseating capacity of five passengers on short Term Contract basis for a minimum periodof 06 Months. Interested bidders may submit their bid online athttps://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in on or before 1200 hrs of 29.12.2021 under bid ID No.2021_CIVAV_251043_1. Bid documents may be seen and downloaded from(http://sppp.rajasthan.gov.in and https://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in).

Sd/-UBN- DCA 2122SLOB00017 (Rajendra Singh Shekhawat)DIPR/C/12862/2021 Director

IYf¹ffÊ»f¹f Ad°fdSXöY ¸fb£¹f Ad·f¹f³°ff, Àffqd³fqdUq Àf¸·ff¦f ·fSX°f´fbSXIY¸ffÔIY:- A¸fb¸f/·fSX°f/°f.Àf./2021-22/OXe-1916 dQ³ffÔIY: 09.12.2021d³fdUQf Àfc¨f³ff ÀfÔ£¹ff 14/ (´feE¸fþeEÀfUfBÊ dUØfe¹f ´fiû°ÀffWX³f)/2021-22

SfþÀ±ff³f IZ Sfª¹f´ff»f ¸fWûQ¹f I e AûS ÀfZ ´fi²ff³f¸f³Âfe ¦fif¸f ÀfOI ¹fûþ³ff (dUØfe¹f ´fiû°ÀffW³f) IZA³°f¦fÊ°f ³fUe³feI S¯f IZ d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fûÊÔ W Z°fb ¸f¹f ´ffg¨f Àff»f I e ¸fS¸¸f°f IZ d»fE ´fid°fVf°f QS IZA³fbÀffS Ib »f 05 ´f`IZ þû IZ d»fE C´f¹fbö ßfZ¯fe ¸fZÔ ÀffUÊþd³fI d³f¸ffʯf dU·ff¦f SfþÀ±ff³f ¸fZÔ ´fÔþeIÈ °fÀfÔUZQI ûÔ EUÔ Sfª¹f ÀfSI fS/IZ ³Qi ÀfSI fS IZ Ad²fIÈ °f ÀfÔ¦fN³fû/IZ ³Qie¹f »fûI d³f¸ffʯf dU·ff¦f/OfI EUÔQcS ÀfÔ¨ffS dU·ff¦f/SZ»fUZ B°¹ffdQ ¸fZÔ ´fÔþeIÈ °f ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ, þû dI SfþÀ±ff³f ÀfSI fS IZ C´f¹fbö ßfZ¯fe IZÀfÔUZQI ûÔ IZ Àf¸fI Ãf Wû, ÀfZ d³f²ffÊdS°f ´fi´fÂf ¸fZÔ BÊ-´fiû¢¹fcS¸fZ³M ´fidI ¹ff ÀfZ Afg³f »ffBʳf d³fdUQf¹fZÔ Af¸fÔdÂf°fI e þf°fe W`Ô Ü d³fdUQf ÀfZ ÀfÔ¶fÔd²f°f dUUS¯f UZ¶f ÀffBÊM www.dipr.rajasthan.gov.in Uwww.pwd.rajasthan.gov.in U www.pmgsytendersraj.gov.in ´fS QZJf þfÀfI °ff W`ÔÜ ´f`IZ þUfBÊþ ¹fc.¶fe.E³f. ÀfÔ£¹ff d³f¸³ff³fbÀffS W`ÔÜNIB Code- PWD2122A2393UBN No.

B¨LbI ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ I û A´f³fZ dOþeM»f WÀ°ffÃfS IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ ½fZ¶fÀffB ÊMwww.pmgsytendersraj.gov.in ´fS SdþÀMOÊ Wû³ff AfUV¹fI W`Ô Ü

WXÀ°ff/-(¸fZ§fSXf¸f ¸fe³ff)

Ad°fdSXöY ¸fb£¹f Ad·f¹f³°ff

PWD2122WSOB11870 PWD2122WSOB11871 PWD2122WSOB11872

PWD2122WSOB11873 PWD2122WSOB11874

DIPR/C/12631/2021

SXfªfÀ±ff³f IY¸fʨffSXe ¨f¹f³f ¶fûOÊXSXfª¹f IÈYd¿f ´fi¶fa²f ÀfaÀ±ff³f ´fdSXÀfSX, Qb¦ffÊ´fbSXf, ªf¹f´fbSX-302018, RYû³f- 0141-2552796

IiY¸ffaIY ´f 2(38)/RSSB/Accounts/VDO/Frisking/2021-22/3280 Date:- 10.12.2021

SHORT TERM E-TENDER NOTICEE-Tender (Rate contract) response invited from experienced agenciesto provide Frisking of candidates through HHMD on rental basisservices for VDO & Other examinations being conducted byRajasthan Staff Selection Board throughout the State.

Estimated cost of E-Tender (Rate contract) is Rupees 800 Lakhs onlyand last date of Bid submission is 20.12.2021 up to 03 P.M. Mode ofsubmission is online only.

Detailed E-Tender and terms and conditions of E-Tender can be seenon the Board website rsmssb.rajasthan.gov.in,https://sppp.rajasthan.gov.in and E-Proc.

Any information or clarification can be obtained from the Reception ofRSSB Campus in working hours of any working day or on telephoneno 01412552796

Sd/-UBN : SMB 2122SLOB00017 SecretaryDIPR/C/12716/2021 Rajasthan Staff Selection Board, Jaipur

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

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,DECEMBER18

LAL SALAAM, the debut novel ofUnionMinister forWomen andChildDevelopment Smriti Irani,was formally launched inDelhiSaturday. In a discussionwithjournalistVirSinghatthelaunch,hosted by the Jaipur LiteratureFestival, Irani spoke of leaving avery successful career in televi-siontoenterpolitics,livinglifeonherowntermsandhowasearlyas when she was 10 or 11, sheknew shewanted to do some-thingdifferent.“I recognised that the only

thingIwantedtodowaslivewith-out preconditions. I recognisedvery early that there are conse-quences for any decision I take.Butwhen I left home, I toldmyparents Iwould rather bear theconsequencesofmyownactionsthanyours,”shesaid.ThefaceofBalajiTelefilms’hit

seriesKyunkiSaasBhiKabhiBahuThi (2000-2008), Irani hadbeenmadeaminister byPMModi af-ter coming to power in 2014. “Istepped out to livemy life andthenhistoryhappened,”shesaid.Published by Wetland, Lal

Salaam revolves around aSuperintendent of Police postedinChhatisgarh’s Ambuja village,whoisinpursuitof justiceforthemurder of his friend and fellowpolice officer. Irani has said shedrew inspiration from theApril2010 Maoist ambush nearChintalnarvillageinChhatisgarh’sDantewadadistrict thatkilled76CRPFpersonnel.

SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABAD,DECEMBER18

THE TELANGANA HigherEducation Department is re-viewing the effectiveness of itsonline classes after more thanhalf the Intermediate students(Classes 11 and 12) failed thefirst-year or Class 11 exam, re-sultsforwhichweredeclaredonThursday.Thestudentsarenowin Class 12 or second year, hav-ing beenpromoted enmasse inAprilasthefinalexamcouldnotbeheld inApril due toCovid.Only 49% of the students

cleared the exam, held by theTelangana State Board ofIntermediate Education (TSBIE)between October 25 andNovember3.Students frompri-vateinstituteswithbetteraccessto the Internet and digital de-vices fared better compared tothoseingovernmentones.Manyintheseinstitutes,knownasjun-ior colleges, in rural areas failedinall thesubjects.

Thestudentswhohavefailedhave to clear the subjects theycouldnotpassin,alongwiththefinal exam for second-year orClass12 tobeheldnextyear.The Students Federation of

India has been holding protestssaying the students should notbe made to pay a price for thelackof effective teachingduringonlineclasses.Syed Omer Jaleel, Secretary,

TSBIE, told The Sunday Expressthat they will hold a review oftheironlineclassesprogramme.“Idonotthinkthereisanyprob-lemwiththecontent,butthereissomeproblemwithhowitisbe-ing grasped by students,” Jaleelsaid,addingthatapartfromtele-casting classes onDoordarshanand over the TSBIE YouTubechannel, teachers held Zoomclasseswithstudents.Oneof the students toldThe

SundayExpressthattheydidnotexpect the “harsh evaluation”.“Wewere given the impressionthat itwasenoughtoappear forthe exam and the Boardwould

give passmarks,” said the stu-dent, adding that he failed inPhysics,andthatallofhisfriendsfailedat leastonesubject.A total of 4,59,242 students

appearedfortheexam–4,09,911inthegeneralstreamand49,331in vocational. While 1,99,786students passed in the generalstream, 24,226 vocational stu-dents passed. Girls fared betterin both streams, with 56% oifthem passing. An official said:“1,15,538 students secured Agrade,which isagoodsign.”

Education Minister SabitaReddysaidtheyviewtheresultspositively. “In spiteof all thedif-ficultiesduetothepandemic,thestudentshavedonewell.Wewillreevaluateallthis.Manystudentswant to get their answer sheetsreverified, and I have directedthat the reverification fee be re-ducedby50%. Students canalsotaketheexamagain,”Reddysaid.T Nagaraj, Secretary of the

SFI, which is sitting on protestoutside the TSBIE headquartersinHyderabad, said: “Amajorityof the students who failed arefromgovernmentjuniorcollegesliving in rural areaswhodidnothave proper access to Internetand digital devices. Many com-plainedthatonlineclasseswerenotenough.Theysaidtheycouldnot focus during these classes,anddidnotgraspmuchofwhatwas taught. We were floodedwithcomplaintsfromhundredsof studentswhen theBoard an-nouncedtheexam.”Nagaraj saidmany students

also took the exam lightly, as

theyhadalreadybeenpromotedto thenext class.N Naryana, the president of

the Telangana Parents'Association, said they wantedthegovernmenttopassallthosewhohadfailed.“Wearesubmit-ting a memorandum to theEducation Minister that theyconduct reverification and givepassmarks.Otherwise, itwillaf-fect themorale of the studentsand theywill face theburdenofclearing the first-year backlogwith thesecond-yearexams.”TheTSBIE said its counsellors

havebeenapproachedbystudentstalkingaboutthecircumstancesoratmosphereattheirhomenotbe-ing conducive for online classes.Theyhavealsocomplainedaboutteachersnotintroducingsubjectsproperly andnot giving enoughopportunitiestocleardoubts.Aspartofthereviewexercise,

the EducationDepartmentwilllookattheneedtore-trainlectur-ers, tomonitor students' atten-dance, and to keep awatch onhowmuchtheyweregrasping.

THEEXAMSwere the firstserious test aftereduca-tional institutionsclosedonMarch25 lastyear. Theresults indicateaseriouslossof learningamongasectionof thestudents.

LossoflearningE●EX

PLAINED

Over50%fail Class 11 test, Telenganato revieweffectiveness of e-classes

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,DECEMBER18

SIXMOREcases of theOmicronvariantofcoronavirushavebeendetectedinKarnataka,takingthestate’s tallyto14onSaturday.Ofthese, one is a passenger fromthe UK, while five others havebeen detected in two educa-tional institutions in DakshinaKannadadistrict.In one institution in the

Bantwalregionofthedistrict,fourteenagestudentswithno imme-diaterecordof foreigntravelhavebeenfoundtohavebeeninfectedwith the Omicron variant. Asmanyas13students—outof the282primaryandsecondarycon-tactsofthefourgirlsinfectedwithOmicron—havetestedpositiveforCovid, theKarnatakadiseasesur-veillanceunitreported.Thestatehealthdepartment

saiditwasaclustercasewiththeinfectedteenagersisolatedinthehostel and all the positive sam-ples “sent for genome sequenc-ing”. Theteenagersareunvacci-

nated and symptomatic with“fever, lossof tasteandsmell,” itsaid.Thestudents,allaged13-14years, tested positive onNovember22before their sam-ples were sent for genome se-quencing tocheck forOmicron.The fifth case, emerging out

ofanothercluster, inthatofa19-year-oldstudentataMangalorecollege.Sheisdoublevaccinated,is “asymptomatic andher vitalsare stable,” the state health de-partment said.A sixth person reported to

have been infected by theOmicron variant is an 18-year-old, doublevaccinated, interna-tionaltravellerfromtheUKwhoarrived with a Covid negativetest report onDecember 10 buttestedpositive at theBengaluruairport. “She is asymptomaticand her vitals are stable,” thehealthdepartment said.“IfyoucompareittotheDelta

variant, Omicron seems to bespreadingmorerapidly.Wehaveto be cautious inpublic spaces,”Karnataka healthministerDr KSudhakarsaidonSaturday.

Six fresh cases takeKarnataka tally ofOmicron cases to 14

Over 20,000 staffin J&K protestdecision ofmerging statepower gridsARUNSHARMAJAMMU,DECEMBER18

FROM LINESMEN to engineers,around 20,000 employees ofJammu and Kashmir’s PowerTransmission and DistributionCorporationswentonanindefi-nitestrikeonSaturdaytoprotestagainst theadministration’sde-cision tomerge the JammuandKashmir divisions with thePowerGridCorporationof India.The strike began after two

roundsoftalksfailedtobreakthestalemate.Theprotesters—whosaid theywill ensure supply ofpower for essential services --areopposed to themergerwiththecentralgovernmententity. Itwas announced by the J&K ad-ministrationonDecember4.Protesterspointedoutthatin

2019, after the erstwhile statewas bifurcated into UnionTerritoriesofLadakh,andJammuand Kashmir, the J&K PowerDevelopment DepartmentwasdividedintoPowerTransmissionCorporation Ltd. and PowerDistributionCorporationLtd.forboth Kashmir and Jammudivi-sions.While thePTCLsmaintaintransmission lines above 33 KVintheirdivisions,thePDCLstakecare of transmission lines up to33KVandthegridstations,peo-pleawareof themattersaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,DECEMBER18

ASERIESofretaliatoryskirmishesover the last week betweenKannada andMarathi languagechauvinistsinBelagaviregionandparts of Karnataka andMaharashtraresultedinanattackonKarnatakapolice andgovern-mentvehiclesbyagroupof van-dalsinBelagaviaftermidnightonFriday, leading curfewbeing im-posedinBelagavicityonSaturdaytopreventfurtherincidents.AbustofarenownedKannada

warrior and freedom fighterSangolli Rayannawasdamaged,onepolicevehiclewasseton fireand several Karnataka govern-ment vehicleswere stoned in abrief spell of violence inBelagavicityearlySaturday.Noonewasre-portedinjured.Stating that “a few arrests”

havebeenmade,KarnatakaChiefMinister Basavaraj Bommai saidonSaturday,"OurDGPwillspeaktohiscounterpartinMaharashtraaboutsecurityforKannadigasandattacksonbusesandprivatevehi-cles fromKarnataka. OurHomeMinister will take up the issuewith hisMaharashtra counter-part. If necessary, Iwill speak totheMaharashtraCM.”Ontheallegeddesecrationofa

statue of Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj in Bengaluru earlier,Maharashtra Chief Minister

UddhavThackeray,inastatement,demanded immediate interven-tionof PrimeMinisterNarendraModiintheissuetostop“Kannadaatrocities”, and to instructKarnataka government to takeimmediate action against thoseinvolvedintheincident.Shiv Sena workers held a

protest outside theBJP’s office inMumbai’sNarimanPoint.The violence in Belagavi oc-

curredafterthewintersessionofKarnatakaAssembly—beingheldinBelagavi sinceDecember13—closedfortheweekendonFriday.On Saturday, the office of

Belagavicitypolicecommissionerstated in a release, “In view ofnight activities in Belagavi city,prohibitoryorder is imposedun-der section 144 CrPC fromSaturday8amtoSunday6pm,forBelagavipolicecommissionerateareawhich comprises Belagavitaluka.”Fourseparatecaseshavebeen

registered over the violence,whichwassimmeringbelowthesurfacesinceDecember13,whenMaharashtra Ekikaran Sangh(MES),a localpro-Marathipoliti-cal party, was prevented fromholdingaMahaMelavarallyout-sidetheAssemblyvenue.The rally has beenorganised

outsidethesamevenueinthepastby MES to seek unification ofMarathi areas of Belagavi withMaharashtra. OnDecember 13,Belagavi district administration

canceledpermissionfortherally,fearing clashes between pro-Marathi and pro-Kannada ac-tivists.Even after itwas cancelled a

fewMESactivistsgatheredatthevenueandwereinvolvedinacon-frontationwithKannadaactivistsfrom Karnataka NavanirmanaVedike.Thepro-Kannadaactivistsallegedly threwblack inkontwoMES leaders. Threepeoplewerearrestedovertheincident.A Shiv Sena leader, Vijay

Devani, from neighboringKolhapur inMaharashtra, whowas traveling to participate inMES’s rally, was sent back byBelagavi police on the groundsthattherallyhadbeencanceled.The MES, which has in the

past won seats in KarnatakaAssembly,subsequentlycalledfora Belagavi bandh onDecember14. The bandh call evoked onlypartial response inMaharashtrian-dominant areasof thecity.AKarnataka flagwas report-

edly burnt in protests held inKolhapuraroundthetimeoften-sion and this issuewas raised inKarnatakaAssemblybyJD(S)MLAMAnnadani,whomoveda cen-suremotion.ThecensuremotionwasadoptedbytheAssembly.Pro-Marathi activists subse-

quently allegedly damaged abustofKannadawarriorSangolliRayanna in Angol, southBelagavi, onFriday.

ThedebutnovelofUnionMinisterSmritiIrani,whichisbeingpublishedbyWeltand,waslaunchedinDelhiSaturday.Express

Curfew in Belagavi as policeattacked over desecration of bust

SOHINIGHOSHAHMEDABAD,DECEMBER18

JUSTICEGIRISHTNanavati,there-tired SupremeCourt judgewhoheaded the inquirycommissionsinto the1984anti-Sikh riots andthe 2002 Gujarat riots, passedawayathishomeinAhmedabadonSaturday.Hewas87.MaulikNanavati, his younger

sonwho is aGujaratHighCourtlawyer, saidNanavati had beensuffering from lung fibrosis anddiedfollowingaheartattack.In his inquiry report in the

2002riots,submittedintwoparts-- one in2008on theSabarmatiExpress fire; andanother in2014on the riots that followed,whichwasmadepublicin2019--JusticeNanavatigaveacleanchittothenGujarat chiefministerNarendra

Modi,andhiscouncilofministers.Terming JusticeNanavati as

“one of the finest judges” and a“great humanbeing”, AdvocateGeneral of GujaratKamalTrivedisaid, “Hewasamanwitha lot ofwarmth,notonlyforhisfamilybuteach and everyone, particularlythelargerfraternityoflawyers.Hewasverystraightforward.”SeniorGujaratHighCourtad-

vocate Yatin Oza saidNanavati“hadnobiasorfavoritism”.“Therewas nothingwhich could influ-ence him, and even under themostdifficult situations, hekepthisbalance.”Oneof the toughest episodes

ofNanavati'slifewasinvestigatingthe Gujarat riots. He was ap-pointedtoheadtheinquirycom-missionin2002.Trivedi said he “rendered a

great service” in theprobe. “The

NanavatiCommissionwentonfora very long time because, after2001, the state of Gujarat sawarollercoaster ride, andwhatwasright,whatwaswrong,was notknown tomanypeople... His re-port threw lighton the function-ingof thepolicedepartment, ap-proachofthestategovernmentas

well as the responsibilityof peo-pleatlarge.”Whenappointed tohead the

2002probe, JusticeNanavatiwasalready leadingaone-mancom-missionintothe1984riots.Hewaspicked in2000 to investigate theanti-Sikhviolence, threemonthsafterheretiredfromtheSupremeCourt, by theNDAgovernmentheadedbyABVajpayee,andsub-mittedhisreportin2005.Comparisonsweremadebe-

tweenthetwoprobes,particularlythefact thatwhile inthe1984in-vestigation,JusticeNanavatiexam-inedtwoformerprimeministersNarasimha Rao and I K Gujral,apart from several formerCongressministers, he did notsummonModiinthe2002probe.The terms of reference of theNanavati Commissionhadbeenexpanded in2004 to includeex-

amination of the role of the CMandhisCouncilofMinisters.Askedwhy the commission

hadnotexaminedModi,NanavatitoldTheIndianExpressin2014,af-tersubmittinghisfinalreport,thathedidnot findenough“justifica-tion”tosummonanybody.The commission concluded

thattherewasnoconspiracyinthepost-Godhrariots. "Theanger, to-getherwith hatred and resent-menttowardsMuslims,developedasaresultofpastevents...Theydonot appear tohave acted in thatmanner because of any induce-mentorinstigationbyothersorbe-causeofanyassuranceofbeliefthatpoliceorthegovernmentwillnottakeanyactionagainstthem...Themobs...werepreparedtodefylawandthepolicemen.Theywereouttopunish theMuslims forwhathappened toHindusatGodhra,”

thecommissionsaid.In the Sikh riot probe, Justice

Nanavaticlearlylinkedtheattackson Sikhs to the assassination ofthenPMIndiraGandhi.However,heclearedher successorandsonRajivGandhi,saying,“Thereisab-solutely no evidence suggestingthatShriRajivGandhioranyotherhigh rankingCongress(I) leaderhad suggested or organized at-tacksonSikhs.Whateveractsweredone, were done by the localCongress(I) leaders andworkers,and theyappear tohavedone sofortheirpersonalpoliticalreasons.Theydonotappear tohavedonesopurelyforpersonalreasons.”JusticeNanavati’sfatherwasa

practising lawyer at Jambusar,Bharuch,andhedidhisschoolingin theGujarat beforemoving toBombay forgraduationand thenlawstudies.Heenrolledasanad-

vocateat theBombayHighCourtin1958,andservedintheGujaratHighCourt,andasChief JusticeintheOrissa and KarnatakaHighCourts. JusticeNanavatiwas ap-pointed judge of the SupremeCourt inMarch1995, and retiredin2000.In his short stint of five-odd

months as the Karnataka ChiefJustice,JusticeNanavatileftan“in-deliblemark”,KarnatakaAdvocateGeneralPrabhulingNavadgi said.He recalledNanavati as “a strictdisciplinarian”. “Young lawyerstrembledtoenterhiscourtroom.”Mauliksaidthatinhislastdays,

“He (JusticeNanavati)was tryingtodetachhimself from the legalsystem, involvinghimself inphil-anthropic work.” Apart fromMaulik, JusticeNanavati is sur-vivedbyhiswifeandanotherad-vocateson,Dhaval.

GIRISH T NANAVATI

1935-2021

Head of panels that probed 1984 and 2002 riots, Justice Nanavati dead

I stepped out ofmy life andhistory happened,says Smriti Irani

PRO-MARATHA,KANNADAACTIVISTSFACEOFF

KERALA

CopdiesasboatcapsizesduringsearchformurderaccusedVarkala: A 27-year-oldpoliceconstabledrownedafter a country boat car-ryinghimandafewotherofficialscapsizedinback-waters here while look-ing for amurder case ac-cused on Saturday. Acircle inspector and an-other policeman, whowere on the boat, wererescuedbythelocals,po-lice said, while S Balu, aconstableattachedtotheSAP Battalion diedwhenthree-member policeteamwentforasearchina nearby area to nabOttakam Rajesh, one ofthe accused in amurderinPothenkode. PTI

CHANDIGARH

Cashexchangescam:ArmymanconvictedA General Court MartialatChandimandirmilitarystation has convicted aLieutenantColonelof theArmy Postal Service in acurrency exchange scamthat took place after thedemonetisationofRs500and Rs 1,000 notes in2016. The scam, whichtook place at 1 CentralBase Post Office in NewDelhi, involved a sum ofRs 2.47 crore. Lt ColSudhir Kumar Singh hasbeenfoundguiltyontwocharges of falsifying offi-cialdocumentsandmak-ing false statements. Hehas been sentenced to apunishmentof forfeitureof twoyearsofserviceforpensionarypurposes.Theverdictof thecourt-mar-tial and the punishment,whichhasbeenawardedwill nowhave to be con-firmed by the conveningauthority of the court-martial. ~ ENS

NEWDELHI

DRDOtestsnuclear-capableballisticmissileThe Defence Researchand DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) onSaturday successfullytested the new-genera-tionnuclear-capablebal-listic missile Agni Primefrom APJ Abdul KalamIsland off the coast ofOdisha.Thisisthesecondtime the surface-to-sur-face missile was testedthis year after June. Thegovernment said in astatement that varioustelemetry, radar, electro-opticalstationsanddownrange ships positionedalong the eastern coasttracked and monitoredthemissiletrajectoryandparameters.AgniPrimeisa new generation ad-vancedvariantoftheAgniclassofmissiles. ENS

BRIEFLY

SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABAD,DECEMBER18

THEMUSLIMshopkeepersoftheSri BhramarambaMallikarjunaSwamy Temple complex inKurnool district in AndhraPradesh have hailed theSupremeCourt’sorderdirectingthatpeople fromother faithsal-ready holding shop licences inthetemplepremisesmustnotbebarred fromparticipating in theauction for shops.Theauctioningprocessinthe

premisesof thistemple—popu-larlyknownastheSrisailamtem-ple — had been put off by thestategovernmentinAugust2019after some Hindu groups op-

posed participation of non-Hindus in it citing the APCharitable andHindu ReligiousInstitutionandEndowmentsAct,1987, which bars non-Hindusfromoperatingnear temples.An apex court bench of

JusticesDYChandrachudandBV

Nagarathnadirected that “noneofthetenants/shopholdersshallbe excluded fromparticipatingin the auction or from the grantof leasessolelyonthegroundoftheir religion”.ThedirectionwasgivenFriday

in two petitions—one filed by agroupof21Muslimshopkeepersof Srisailam, and another, a con-temptpetition, filedbyownerofa shop outside Kanaka DurgatempleatVijayawada.Thebenchcombinedbothpetitions.InJanuary2017,theSrisailam

temple administration hadtaken up widening of the twomainapproachroadstothetem-ple, for which at least 50 shopshad to be demolished. The ad-ministration had assured shop

owners that new shops wouldbe allocated to them nearby.Among the 50 shop owners are21Muslims.The temple administration

built the Sri LalithambikaShopping Complex for newshops,butwhentheauctionwastobeheldin2019,severalHindugroupsledbyBajrangDalandlo-cal BJPmember SrikanthReddyobjectedtoparticipationbynon-Hindus, citing theAPCharitableandHindu Religious InstitutionandEndowmentsAct,1987.While the state government

halted the auction,Minister forEndowments VellampalliSrinivasa transferred the tem-ple’s Executive Officer (EO) tocooldowntempers.

MANISHSAHULUCKNOW,DECEMBER18

TENSIONPREVAILEDatavillageinBareillyonSaturdayafterpeo-ple from two communitiesclashedoverallegedharassmentof a schoolgirl by threeyouths.After the incident, two com-

munities peltedeachotherwithstones andopened fire, said po-lice.Three youths— identified as

Majid, Sajid and Faheemwhowork as labourers — have beenbooked under charges of mo-lestationandrelevantsectionsofthePOCSOAct,saidapoliceoffi-cer. Police said theywere carry-

ingoutraidstotracetheaccused.In a second FIR, one

Himanshuandtwounidentifiedpersons have been booked ontheattempt tomurdercharge.Policesaidwhenthegirlwas

returningfromschool, thethreeyouths, intheir20s,passedlewdremarks and tried to get hold ofherhandnearherhouse.Thegirl’sparentsreachedthe

houseofoneoftheaccused,whodeniedtheallegation,policesaid.Afterinterventionofvillagers,thegirl’s family returned home. Ontheirway, the family spotted thethreeyouths.Seeingthecommo-tion,members of both commu-nities gathered there. The alter-cationsoonturnedugly.

Srisailamtemple

‘Harassment’ of girl sparkscommunal clash in Bareilly

SRISAILAMTEMPLE

Muslim shopkeepers of temple complex hail SC order

NAVJEEVANGOPALCHANDIGARH, DECEMBER 18

SIX YEARS after incidents ofsacrilegeandsubsequentpolicefiring at Behbal Kalan inFaridkot district where twoanti-sacrilege protesters werekilled in2015andwasapromi-nent factor which led to a hu-miliating defeat of erstwhileSAD-BJPalliance in2017Punjabelections, the sacrilege sagacame to centre stage in poll-boundPunjabagainafteramanwas beaten to death for an actof “desecration” in the holiestof Sikh shrines, Darbar Sahib(theGolden Temple).Inasetof threetweets,Chief

Minister Charanjit SinghChanni said “strongly con-demned themost unfortunateandheinousact toattemptsac-rilege of Sri GuruGranth Sahibin the sanctum sanctorum ofSri Harimandir Sahib duringthe path of Sri Rehras Sahib;strongly condemned the mostunfortunateandheinousact toattempt sacrilege of Sri GuruGranth Sahib; and called upSGPC president and assuredgovernment’s full support andcooperation toget into thebot-tomof the case".Akali Dal patron and five-

time chief minister ParkashSingh Badal described “theheinous attempt to commitsacrilege at Sachkhand ShriHarmandar Sahib as deeply

shocking and exceedinglypainful”.Hesaidthat“thewholecon-

spiracyneeds tobeprobed, ex-posed and those behind it begivenexemplarypunishment”.Badal’s son and SAD presi-

dent Sukhbir Singh Badal in awritten statement expressed“shock and disbelief at themost heinous outrage of theattempt to commit sacrilege atour highest and the holiestshrine Sachkhand ShriHarmandar Sahib”.Former chief minister Capt

Amarinder Singh tweeted,“Stronglycondemnthehorrificincidentof attemptedsacrilegeof Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji atDarbar Sahib. Govtmust get tothe bottom of what led thisman toact in suchadespicablemanner!”Punjab BJP chief Ashwani

Sharma said, “It is most con-demnable act. It should bethoroughly investigated.”Sharma also blamed theCongress government inPunjab for failing to takeactionin the past cases of sacrilege.DelhiChiefMinisterArvind

Kejriwal, who has been cam-paigning in Punjab, tweeted,“Peopleare inshock.Thiscouldbe a very big conspiracy. Themost strictpunishmentshouldbemeted out to the culprits.”Akali leader Virsa Singj

Valtoha said that as per infor-mation with him, the behav-iour of the man who commit-

ted desecration was “normal”in theCCTVfootageandhewas“alone”.Valtoha added that had the

mannotbeenoverpowered,hecould have committed “blas-phemy as he had entered thesanctumsanctorumandpickedup the sword of MaharajaRanjit Singh lyingnext toGuruGranth Sahib”.Deputy Chief Minister

Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa,who holds home portfolio,termedthe incident "verycon-demnable”.Randhawa said, “Had the

sacrilege accused not beenkilled, information about theconspiracy behind the act ofsacrilege could have been ex-tracted fromhimand the truthcome out." Theminister, how-ever, addedthatonsacrilege is-sue,members of Sikh commu-nity act on “emotions”.On the BJP allegations that

the Congress government had“failed” to take action in thepast cases of sacrilege,Randhawasaid the incidentonSaturday happened in GoldenTemple where the police werenot allowed to enter.This is the second incident

in about two monthswhensomeoneaccusedofdes-ecration was lynched. InOctober, during protestsover three farm laws, a man,Lakhbir Singh, was lynched atSinghuborder over allegationsof sacrilege.

Golden Temple lynching: Sacrilegereturns to Punjab centre stage

9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021 EXPRESSNETWORK

10THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Crude WatchOILPOSTSWEEKLYLOSSNew York: Oil prices fell on the week on Friday as surging Omicroncases raised fears that new restrictions may hit fuel demand. Onweekly basis, Brent crude futures settled down 2.6% at $73.52 abarrel, while US WTI crude fell 1.3% to reach $70.86. REUTERS

OVER430BIDSFOR11THCITYGASLICENSINGROUND

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER18

THE LATEST licensing round forsettingupofcitygasinfrastructresawasmuchasRs80,000croreofinvestmentbeingproposedfor61geographical areas (GAs) thatwere put on auction, includingJammu,Nagpur, Pathankot andMadurai,oilregulatorPNGRBsaid.Bids for the65GAsoffered in

the11th city gas licensing roundcame inonDecember15,Petrol-eumandNaturalGasRegulatoryBoard (PNGRB) said in a state-ment. Bidswere received for 61GAs, itadded.The65GAs,spreadover215districts in19statesandoneUnionTerritory,cover26percent of the country’s populationand33percentof itsarea.“Thisroundattractedanover-

whelming response from in-vestorswithmore than430bidsagainst61GAswithnosinglebidin theseGAs. The technical bidswould be opened betweenDecember17to22,”PNGRBsaid.“This initiativewouldhelp in

creatingarobustCGDinfrastruc-tureandplaya significant role in

transformingtoagas-basedecon-omy.ThiswouldbringinvestmentofmorethanRs80,000croreandgenerateemployment.”Atpresent, thereare228GAs

authorisedbyPNGRBin27statesandUTs covering approximately53per cent of the country’s geo-graphical areaand70per centofitspopulation.Inthelastcitygasdistribution

(CGD)biddinground,i.e.the10thround,50GAswereauthorisedforthedevelopmentofCGDnetwork.During2018and2019,PNGRB

gaveout licences to retail CNGtoautomobiles andpiped cookinggas tohouseholdkitchens in136GAs. This extended coverage of

the city gas network to 406dis-tricts and around70per cent ofthecountry’spopulation.The push for city gas expan-

sion is part of the government’splanforraisingtheshareofnatu-ralgasinthecountry’senergybas-ketto15percentby2030fromthecurrent6.3percent.The65GAstobebidoutinthe

11thCGDbidding round includeJammu,Udhampur, Samba andKathua districts in the UnionTerritoryof JammuandKashmir.Nagpur in Maharashtra,

Madurai in Tamil Nadu andRajasthan’s Bikaner and Churudistricts areamong theareasbe-ingofferedforbidding.

Nizamabad inTelangana, theNilgiris in Tamil Nadu, EastMedinipur inWest Bengal andPauriGarhwalinUttarakhandarealsoonthelist.Kurnool, Guntur and

Prakasam districts in AndhraPradesh, Assam’s Kokrajhar andDhubri districts, Darbhanga andMadhubani in Bihar andChhattisgarh’s RajnandgaonandKankerdistrictswillbeoffered.InHimachal Pradesh,Mandi,

Kullu,KinnaurandLahaul&Spitidistricts have been clubbed intooneGAforthebiddingandKangraandChambaintoanother.Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur,

Kerala’s Idukki and Kottayam,MadhyaPradesh’sHoshangabad,SagarandVidishadistricts,Jalgaonand Amravati inMaharashtra,KoraputinOdisha,PathankotandTarn Taran in Punjab andTiruvannamalaiinTamilNaduareothergeographicalareasbeingof-feredforbidding.While86GAs,madeupof174

districts,wereofferedforbiddingin the9th round that concludedinAugust2018,50GAs,compris-ing124districts,were offered inthe10throundin2019.WITHPTI

BRIEFLYAuctionbySebiNewDelhi:SebiwillauctioneightpropertiesofVishwa-mitra International Infranext month for a reservepriceofRs2.8crore, locatedinWestBengal. PTI

SpaceXsatellitesCalifornia:ASpaceX rocketcarried52Starlink internetsatellites into orbit fromCalifornia early Saturday.The two-stage Falcon 9rocketliftedoff fromcoastalVandenberg Space ForceBase at 4:41 amand arcedoverthePacific.

RiviansharesfallBengaluru: Rivian Auto-motive Inc shares skiddednearly15percentonFridaytohit a record lowafter theelectricvehiclemaker’sfirstresult as a listed companyhighlightedthechallengesitwaslikelytofaceinrampingupproductiontotakeonEVleader Tesla Inc. Rivian’ssharesslumpedto$92.62inearlytrading. REUTERS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER18

REPRESENTATIVESOFvariousso-cial sectors and tradeunions im-presseduponthegovernmentonSaturdaytofurtherbolsterhealthspending amid the unprece-dentedCovidcrisis, introduceanurbanemploymentprogrammeandenhanceoutlay for the ruraljobguaranteescheme.Aspartofthepre-Budgetcon-

sultation meeting, FinanceMinisterNirmala SitharamanonSaturdaymetexpertsfromsectorsincludinghealth,education,ruraldevelopment,andwaterandsan-itation.Someof thestakeholdersare learnt tohave suggested thatthe government keepup the fo-cus on creation of health infra-structureandtakestepstoensurethatthecountryisadequatelypre-pared to tackle any Covid-likehealthemergencyinfuture.In the previous Budget, the

governmenthadraisedoutlayforthe Department of Health &FamilyWelfare bynearly 10percentfromayearagotoRs78,866crore.Similarly, theallocationforhealth research and the AyushMinistrywasraisedby34percentand 28 per cent, respectively.Outlayfornutritionanddrinkingwater&sanitationwasenhancedby asmuch as 350per cent and253per cent, respectively, to Rs2,700croreandRs60,030crore.The health Budget also in-

cluded a Covid-related specialprovision involvinganallocationofRs35,000croretocovervacci-nationcosts.TheBharatiyaMazdoorSangh

(BMS) has submitted to theFinanceMinistry that an urbanemployment guarantee pro-grammebeintroducedwithade-quatefundallocation,giventhatalargenumberofmigrant labour-erswork in various cities acrossIndia. It alsowants theCentre tosubstantially raise allocation fortheMGNREGAschemeto “avoidspreadofpoverty”duringthepa-ndemic.Italsosuggestedthatsup-port under this rural job schemebeextendedfor200daysperfam-ilyperyear,against100daysnow.Urbanjoblessnessrateroseto

its11-weekhighof8.75percentintheweekendedNovember28,asper thedata compiledbyCentreforMonitoring IndianEconomy.The rate in towns and citieswas8.14percentinthepreviousweekand 9.2 per cent for the weekendedSeptember12,thehighestlevel inrecenttimes. FE

New Delhi: The government isworking on providing enablingenvironmentandmarketaccesstothegemsandjewellerysector,Commerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal said onSaturday.Speaking at the foundation

stone laying ceremony for amegacommonfacilitycentreatSantacruz Electronic ExportProcessing Zone Special Econo-micZonehere,theministersaid,“Weneed tomake this industrynot a $40 billion industry alonebut have a muchmuch biggerambition.Weonourpartwilldoeverything to reach those trulyoutstanding numbers that youhadshowntoraiseasthepoten-tialof thistrade.” ENS,WITHPTI

Goyal: Needgems, jewellerysector to havebigger ambition

DAVIDLAWDERWASHINGTON,DECEMBER18

THE INTERNATIONALMonetaryFund’sExecutiveBoardonFridaysaidithasformedasteeringgrouptoleadareviewtoimproveinsti-tutional safeguards ondata andgovernance after clearing IMFManaging Director KristalinaGeorgieva of wrongdoing in aWorldBankdata-riggingscandal.The IMFboardsaid inastate-

ment that it aims to present thereview by the next SpringMeetings in April 2022. The re-viewhas“theobjectiveofhelpingtoensurethestaff,Management,andExecutiveBoardmaintainthehighestpossiblestandardsaroundinternal governance, useof data,andaccountability.”Georgieva was accused in

September of putting “unduepressure” onWorldBank staff in2017,when shewas the lender’s

CEO, to alter data in its flagship“DoingBusiness” report toboostChina’sranking.The allegations, which

Georgieva stronglydenied,werecontainedintheinvestigationre-port of a law firm hired by theWorldBank’sboardtoprobedatairregularities in thenow-discon-

tinuedreportoncountrybusinessclimates.After saying ithadcon-ducted a thorough reviewof thematter, the IMFboardexpressedits confidence inGeorgieva andIMF staff in October, but said itwould consider additional stepsto“ensurethestrengthofinstitu-tionalsafeguards.”

US Treasury Secretary JanetYellenalsohadcalled for “proac-tive steps” to reinforce the IMF’scredibility. Georgieva told theReutersNext conference in earlyDecember that the Fund waslooking at all of its researchprocesses in order to ensure thedata integrity and using inde-pendentevaluationstofindareasforimprovements.The IMFboard saidonFriday

that thenewsteering groupwillworkwithIMFmanagementandtwostaffworkinggroupsfocusedon internal governance and en-suring staff voices are heard aswellasdataanalysisandintegrity.“Aspartof thiseffort, theBoard’ssteeringgroupandthestaffwork-inggroupswill take stockof cur-rent procedures and systems inplace, assess their effectiveness,and recommend improvementsasneededtoensurethatarrange-ments reflect best practices,” theIMFboardsaid. REUTERS

■Bids for65geographicalareas (GAs)offered inthe11thcitygas licensingroundcameinonDecember15,oil regulatorPetroleumandNaturalGasRegulatoryBoard(PNGRB)said.Of these,bidswerereceivedfor61GAs

■The65GAs, spreadover215districts in19statesandoneUnionTerritory, cover26%of India’spopulationand33%of itsarea. In thelastcitygasdistribution(CGD)biddinground,50GAswereauthorisedfordevelopingCGDnetwork

RECEIVEDONDECEMBER 15

DAVIDSHEPARDSONWASHINGTON,DECEMBER18

THE BIDEN administration onFridayrecommendedAlphabet’sGoogle and Facebook parentMeta Platforms get permissiontouseanunderseacablesystemtohandlegrowing internet traf-ficwithAsia.Theadministrationurgedthe

Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) to grant li-censesforthecompaniestosendand receivedataon theexisting8,000-mile Pacific Light CableNetwork.Theundersea fiber-optic ca-

ble system connects the UnitedStates, Taiwan, the PhilippinesandHongKong.Underseacablestransmit nearly all the world’sinternetdatatraffic.Metasoughtpermission to use thePhillipines-to-UnitedStatespor-tion,whileGooglehasasked forpermissiontoconnecttoTaiwan.The companies committed

toprotect theprivacy and secu-rityof Americans’ data, particu-larlyagainstChina’sintelligence

operations.TheplanbyGoogleandMeta

abandoned aprevious proposalto use the network’s cable toHong Kong,which is controlledby Beijing.Multiple US govern-ment agencies recommendedblocking thatplan in2020.The JusticeDepartment said

thenationalsecurityagreements

with Google and Meta wereneededgivenChina’s“sustainedefforts to acquire the sensitivepersonal data of millions of USpersons.”The Chinese Embassy in

WashingtonandGoogledidnotimmediatelycomment.Googlesaidin2020itneeded

the data connections to handlegrowingtrafficbetweenitsdatacentersinTaiwanandtheUnitedStates.A Meta spokesperson said

the “cable system increases in-ternet capacity” between theUnitedStatesandPhilippines“tohelppeople stayconnectedandsharecontent.”The cables are secure and

data is protected through ad-vancedencryption,itsaid.Underthe agreements, Google andMetamust conduct annual as-sessments of risk to sensitivedata, andtheyhavetobeable torestrictorstopdatatrafficonthecableswithin24hours.Around 300 subsea cables

form the backbone of the inter-net, carrying 99 per cent of theworld’sdata traffic. REUTERS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER18

THEGOVERNMENThasreceivedanundisclosednumberof finan-cial bids for sale of its stake inPawanHans,moving the disin-vestmentprocessoftheailinghel-icopteroperatortothelaststage.TuhinKantPandey,Secretary,

Department of Investment andPublic AssetManagement (DI-PAM),tweeted,"Thefinancialbidsfor PawanHans disinvestmenthavebeen receivedby the trans-action advisor. Theprocess nowmovestoaconcludingstage."He,however, did not disclose thenumberofbidders.TheCentre is selling itsentire

51percent stake inPawanHans.State-run Oil and Natural Gas

Corporation(ONGC),whichownstheremaining49percent,toohasoffereditscompleteshareholdinginthecompanyforsale.Established in 1985, Pawan

Hanshasafleetofover40helicop-tersandover900employees,lessthanhalf of themonpermanentroles. It provideshelicopter serv-ices for the exploration activitiesofONGCandtoIndia'snortheast.For 2019-20, the company

ported a net loss of Rs 28 crore,lowerthanRs69croreinthepre-viousyear.AsonMarch31,2020,its authorised capital stoodatRs560croreandpaid-upsharecap-italatRs557crore.In 2018, the governmenthad

invited bids to sell its stake inPawan Hans. However, theprocess was withdrawn afterONGCdecided to sell its 49 percent stake in the companyalongwiththegovernment's.In2019,asecondattemptwasmadetosellthe company but it failed to re-ceiveinvestorresponse.Last year, the government

sweetened the terms, reducingtheminimumnetworth for po-tentialbiddersandthelock-inpe-riodof investment andallowingthesuccessfulbiddertosellassetsafterayear.WITHPTI

Financial bids received forPawan Hans: DIPAM Secretary

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI,DECEMBER18

THE COMPETITIONCommissionofIndia(CCI)haswithdrawn its approval forAmazon’s investment inFuture Coupons Private Ltd(FCPL) that was granted in2019. The unprecedentedmoveby the regulator coulddeal a blow to Amazon’s at-temptstothwartatakeoveroftheFutureGroup’sretailassetsby Reliance Industries Ltd(RIL).TheCommission’sorderwill also impact the ongoinglitigation between AmazonandFutureGroup.

WhydidtheCCIwithdrawapprovalforAmazon’sinvestmentinFCPL?TheCCI, in itsorder, said it

has concluded that Amazon“misled” the reg-ulatoraboutitsin-tentions regard-ingitsinvestmentinFCPL.Theordernoted thatAmazon had“misled theCommission tobelieve, through false state-ments and material omis-sions, that the combinationand its purposewere the in-terest of Amazon in thebusi-nessofFCPL”andsuppressed“the purpose of establishingstrategicalignmentandpart-nership between AmazonGroupandFRL (FutureRetailLtd)aswellashavea ‘foot-in-the-door’ in the India retailsector.”Amazon’s investment in

FCPLgavetheformeracallop-tion on acquiring the pro-moter stake of FCPL, FutureRetailwithin3-10years.Amazonhasreliedonthis

aspect of the agreement inwinninga stayonanacquisi-tion the FutureGroup’s retailbusinesses by RIL from theSingapore InternationalArbitrationCentre(SIAC).TheCCIordersaidthat in-

ternalemailsfromAmazonre-vealed that the company in-tendedtoacquireFutureRetailonceforeigninvestmentlawsarerelaxedandnotjustthein-vestmentopportunityinFCPL.“Whenforeigninvestment

laws are relaxed and higherstakeor acquisitionofmulti-brand retail assets is permit-tedbeyond today’s possibili-ties, we would have afoot-in-the-door to acquiremore in this strategic asset,should we so desire at thetime,” read an internal emailbyAmazonregardingthedeal.TheCCI kept theapproval

it hadgranted for the invest-ment in abeyance and di-

rectedAmazontofile informationregarding the in-vestmentwithin60dayswhichtheCCIwill examineafresh.

HowdoesthisimpactthepotentialsaleofFutureGroup’sretailassetstoRIL?Amazonhadapproached

theSIACandwonastayontheproposed sale of the FutureGroup’s retail assets to RIL,whichwaslaterupheldbytheSupremeCourt. Amazonhadcited covenants in the FCPLshareholders agreement andsharesubscriptionagreementthatgaveit“specialandmate-rial rightsavailablewithFCPLwithrespecttoFRL’sbusinessanditsRetailAssets.”TheorderbytheCCIcould

easethepathforRILtoacquireFutureGroup’sretailassetsasit may void the investmentmadebyAmazoninFCPLanditsrightsunderthesharehold-ersagreementsandsharesub-scriptionagreement.Experts, however, noted

thattheorderwaslikelytobechallenged. Amazonhad ar-gued in submissions beforetheCCI that the regulator didnothave thepower to revokeapproval for a combinationundertheCompetitionAct.“CCI order suspending its

approval granted forAmazon’s strategic invest-mentsintheFutureGroupisawelcome, though belated,step, since the competitionconcerns ought tohavebeenexamined in the first place .However, its legalvaliditybe-forehighercourtswillhavetobe tested for sure,” saidMMSharma, headof competitionlaw practice at VaishAssociatesAdvocates.

REGULATORYWATCHCOMPETITIONCOMMISSION

■ Expertssaidtheorderwaslikelytobechallenged.AmazonhadarguedbeforetheCCIthattheregulatordidnothavethepowertorevokeapprovalforacombinationundertheCompetitionAct

■TheCCI,initsorder,saidithasconcludedthatAmazon“misled”theregulatoraboutitsintentionsregardingitsinvestmentinFutureCouponsPrivateLtd

AMAZONARGUMENT

PRE-BUDGETCONSULTATIONS

■Theunderseafiber-opticcablesystemconnects theUnitedStates,Taiwan,thePhilippinesandHongKong.Underseacables transmitnearlyall theworld’s internetdatatraffic.MetasoughtpermissiontousethePhillipines-to-UnitedStatesportion,whileGooglehasaskedforpermissiontoconnecttoTaiwan

FOR INTERNETDATA TRAFFIC

NewDelhi: For the third straightweek, thenation’s forex reservesrecorded a fall, this time by $77million to reach$635.828billionduring the week ended Dece-mber 10, as per RBI data. In thepreviousweekendedDecember3, the reserveshadslidby$1.783billionto$635.905billion.During the reportingweek,

thedipintheforeignexchange—orforex—kittywasonaccountofa decline in foreign currency as-sets (FCA), a vital component oftheoverallreserves.TheFCAdroppedby$321mil-

lion to $572.86billion, accordingtodata fromtheReserveBankofIndia(RBI)releasedFriday.

Expressedindollarterms,theforeign currency assets includethe effect of appreciation or de-preciationofnon-USunitsliketheeuro,poundsterlingandJapaneseyenheld in the foreignexchangereserves.Thevalueof thegoldreserves

roseby$291millionbyto$38.709billionduringthereportingweek.The special drawing rights

(SDRs) with the InternationalMonetaryFund(IMF)postedade-cline of $37 million to reach$19.089billion.Thecountry’sreserveposition

withtheIMFalsoincreasedby$10million to $5.17 billion, the RBIdatashowed.

Forex reserves stemdecline, down forthird straight week

Citygas infra: Investmentsof`80Kcr inpipelinefor61areasAmazon-Future

deal on hold: PostCCI order, legalchallenges await

`Factors investors evaluated tomakedirect startup investments:Qualitymanagement, Growth opportunity, Strongbusinessmoat

The PrivateMarket Monitor is a survey of over 100 family officesand UHNIs by trica in partnership with AZB&Partners and EY

CHANGINGFACE ofstartupecosystem,withthespateofIPOsandacquisitionshascreatedanewcategoryof firstgenerationhigh-net-worthindividuals (UHNIs) thatareproactivelyexploringthefamilyoffice routetomanagewealth

RAPIDEXPANSIONofUHNIsandfamilyofficescoupledwiththepositiveexitscenario forstartup investments inthe lastyearhas ledtoagrowingappetiteamong investors tomoreactivelymanagetheirprivatemarketportfolios

AMONGFAMILYOFFICES:■>83%haveanallocationtoprivatemarketswhich isover10%oftheiroverall assetdistribution■~50%preferredtheseedtoSeriesAstagetoenterastartup■~40%preferred latetopre-IPOtransactions

‘Family offices, UHNIs preferprivatemarket investments’Privatemarket investments have been the preferredalternative investment for family offices and UNHIs in2021, as per the PrivateMarketMonitor report

TOPSECTORSOFCHOICE:■ Fintech (82%)■Enterprise tech (71%)■Consumer tech (68%)■Healthcare (50%)■Agritech (35%)■Edtech (42%)

25%familyofficespreferreda

well-distributedportfolio

REVIEW TO BE PRESENTED BY NEXT SPRING MEETINGS IN APRIL 2022

IMF board forms group to review dataintegrity after World Bank scandal

IMFMDKristalinaGeorgievawasaccusedofputting“unduepressure”onWorldBankstaff in2017toalterdatainits‘DoingBusiness’reporttoboostChina’sranking. Reutersfile

Undersea data cable to Asia: USrecommends nod to Google, Meta

Social sector expertsmeet FM; seek job,health spend boost

FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharaman(right)duringavirtualpre-Budgetmeetwithrepresentativesofsocialsectorsandtradeunions,onSaturday. via@FinMinIndiaTwitterhandle

New Delhi: The FinanceMinistry on Saturday saidmorethan3.7croreincometaxreturns(ITRs)havebeenfiled so far for the financialyear2020-21. PTI

Over 3.7 cr ITRsfor FY21 filed

Establishedin1985,PawanHanshasafleetofover40helicoptersandover900employees,lessthanhalfofthemonpermanentroles

THESCALEisstriking.TheKashiVishwanath temple, with itsrefurbishedgoldendomeandflanking spires, stands in thenewly built sandstone court-

yard. The arches of the viewing gallery andshopping arcade — part of the 330-metreKashi Vishwanath corridor that stretchesfrom the temple complex to the Ganga’sLalita Ghat — are still adorned with themarigoldflowersthatwerestrungforthein-auguration of the Rs 800-crore KashiVishwanath Dhamproject, covering 5,000hectares. The architecture is splendid in itssymmetry.And in its isolation.Outside, the throbbingcity—with itsal-

leys anda temple at every turn, its tea stallssupplyingchaiandendlessgupshup—looksdistant. The adjacentGyanvapimosque ap-pears now visuallymuch smaller. This is anewVaranasi, anewproject.

■ ■ ■

EversincethecorridorwasinauguratedbyPrimeMinisterNarendraModionDecember13, thecityhasn’thadabreather.MinistersoftheYogiAdityanathCabinet, their families intow,have startedvisiting.Meanwhile, anen-tourageof 100mayors toucheddownfor theAllIndiaMayors’ConferenceonDecember17.Forafortnight,amusicalextravaganzawill

beheldeveryeveningattheDashashwamedhGhat,wherethesurgingmassesattheGangaaartishavebeenunprecedented.Phase1ofthenewlybuiltcorridor,50feet

wide, has been the talk of the temple town,thoughitwillbeawhilebefore it’sopenedtothepublic.OnaThursday afternoon, the red carpet

rolledout a couple of days ago for PMModihasbeenrolledbackin,whilethetemporarysteps,where labourers sat as the PMshow-eredthemwith flowerpetals, arebeingdis-mantled.With Phase 1 inaugurated, menandmachinesarebacktoworkingroundtheclock tocomplete therestof theproject.VaranasiCommissionerDeepakAgrawal

toldTheSundayExpress:“Thereisa330-me-tre distance between Lalita Ghat and thetemple. That has been redeveloped as a di-rect corridor between theGanga and KashiVishwanath temple. That’s Phase 1 of theproject,which thePMinaugurated."Thefirstphaseentailedamassiveexpan-

sionof thetemplecomplex—from3,500sqft to5 lakhsqft.Oneithersideof thecentralcourtyard, called the Mandir Chowk, arepublic conveniences, handicraft andsouve-nier shops. The larger Kashi VishwanathDhamcomplexalsohasa resthouse forpil-grims, a gallery featuring the “spiritual tra-ditions” of India, museums, a food court, a‘spiritualbookshop’, abookshopandahos-pice. Besides, thereareviewinggalleries forapanoramicviewof thecityandtheriver.Phase2of theprojectmovestotheother

end—theriverside—andwillfeatureamas-sive jetty station, and 82 sandstone stepsleading from the ghat to the corridor en-trance. There will also be escalators and arampforeasyaccess.Oncethisphaseiscom-plete, devotees can, purportedly like in an-cient times, takeadip in the river, andcarryholywater to the temple.Speakingafter inauguratingtheproject,

thePMsaid, “VishwanathDhamis a testa-ment to India’s cultureandancienthistory.It is a testament tohowour ancient valuesareguidingus towardsour future.”Hethenadded, “Whenyoucomehere, youwillnotonlysee faith.Youwill also feel thegloryofyourpasthere.Youwill seehowpracheenta(ancient) and naveenta (modern) comealive together.”Bimal Patel, Director, HCP Design, the

Ahmedabad-based firmthat is implement-ing the project, points out, “It is possible tocreate an architectural vocabulary that jux-

taposesthemodernwiththetraditional.ThekeylearningfromPhase1hasbeenthateveninadenseurbansetting,itispossibletobringabout a transformative change. And seem-inglyimpossiblelogisticalchallengescanbetackled in a straightforward manner if aproblem-solvingapproach isapplied.”The logistical challenges that Patel refers

to include razing of asmany as 300 smallbuildingsthatcameinthewayoftheproject.OutoftheRs800croreearmarkedfortheproj-ect,Rs450crorehasbeenspentonpurchaseand rehabilitation, says CommissionerAgrawal. Itwas not dealt like a “typical landacquisition”,hesays,butwasauniquemodelwhere deals were carried out individuallywiththeownersof theseproperties.So,formorethanayear,Agrawaladds,of-

ficials of the administration satwith houseandshopowners, tenants, evenencroachersorthosewhodidn’thavelanddeeds,andne-gotiated amutually agreeable price, whichwas paid and a proper ownership transferdeedwas executed. “We have been able toamicablysettle1,400peoplewithoutanylit-igation;everyonewasgivenaone-timereha-bilitation grant,” he says, adding that theprocess of rehabilitation is over. “We don’tneedtodealwithasinglepersonorpropertynow;onlytheconstructionpart ispending.”Patel adds, “In the second phase, the

sewagetreatmentplantinfrontofLalitaGhatwill be relocated... New facilitieswill be cre-atedforManikarnikaGhat,andacaféwillbeadded atop LalitaGhat. Therewill beno fur-therdemolitiononsiteforthisproject.”Around 22,000 people visit the temple

on a daily basis, which goes up to a lakh onfestivedays,Agrawalsays,adding,somethinghadtobedone.

■ ■ ■

Padampati Sharma, in his 50s, a veteransports journalistwho also describes himselfasasocialworker,sayshishouseatLahoriTolawasdemolishedtomakewayforthecorridor.Hewasamongthefirsttoprotest.Adayafter

officialsvisitedhisplace,hewroteaFacebookpostthreateningtocommitsuicideifthegov-ernmentputtheplanintoaction.“Wehadour ancestral house in the area.

Wegotnoevictionnotice.Officialssimplyvis-itedourplaceanddiscussedhowwecanhanditovertothem.”Sharmasayshefinallyrelentedwhenthe

officialsofferedadealhecouldn’trefuse.“WegotmorethanRs4croreforourhouse,whichwedividedamongallclaimants.Themoneyisuseful.Itwillhelpinsecuringthefutureofourchildren,”hesays.Henowliveswithhisfam-ily in an apartment complex around 4 kmfromthetemple.Buthemissesacertainwayof life thatde-

finedthecityanditscrampedneighbourhood.“Welivedinthatmohallaforgenerations...Theneighbourswereourfamily.Atthesmallestofproblems,200peoplewouldconvergetohelpeachother out,” he says, before adding, “Butwhathascomeupisalsosignificant.”HarvardUniversityprofessorDianaLEck

alsoexpressesacertainsenseof loss.Eck,au-thorofBanaras,CityofLight (AlfredKKnopf;1982),whowasa student at BanarasHinduUniversity in the late ’60s, says, “There arehundredsof temples, largeandsmall, someareinsidehomes...onthewayside.Andnoneis neglected. It is this density of the sacredthat isespecially important. InelevatingtheKashiVishvanathTempletothesupremepo-sitionand imagining that theGanga shouldbevisiblefromthecorridor, theplancreatesa fiction thathasneverbeenpartof thehis-toryofKashi.”Agrawal, however, counters, “We have

restoredseveralhistoric temples thatwerediscoveredwhen thebuildingswerebeingremoved.Also,wehavebuiltaDevDarshangallerywhereartefactsandreligiousobjectsdiscovered from the homes of people willbedisplayed.”At Kashi Tea Stall, in one of the cramped

lanes near Dashashwamedh Ghat, GauriShankar Yadav, a resident of Varanasi, is sip-pingchaiwithhistwofriends,bothpriestsatsmallertemplesnearby.Yadavclaimstohave

beenaCongressvoteroncebutnowbackstheBJPbecauseofModi’splansfor“Hinduregen-eration”. He ismore accommodating of thecorridoranditsplaceinVaranasi.“It’s likewemovefromdhoti to trousersandsari to jeanstosuitthetimes.Butandarhiandar (deepin-side),don’tweremainthesame?”

■ ■ ■

GateNo.4,themainentrypointtothetem-ple,isnearGodowliaChowk,banginthemid-dleofacrowdedbazaar.OnaThursdaymorn-ing,asdevoteesthrongthegateinthemidstofthemarket chaos, VijayGoswami, a residentof theneighbouringManikarnikaGhat area,who teaches at a local school, turns upwithfoldedhands.“Upar jao tomeramessage le jana, please

(Please pass on amessage fromme to thehigher-ups). The roads here are so crowdedthroughout the day...What if an ambulancehastopass?Theproblemisnot thedevotees,but thisunendingstreamofVIPvehicles,”hesays,beforedisappearingintothecrowds.Metresawayfromtheheavingmassofpeo-

pleatthegate,SabiurRahman,whosellstow-elstotouristsatDashashwamedhGhat,says,“Idon’tthinkthiscrowdisanythingnew.Thecityhasalwayshadvisitors.Basabsiyasataurhuku-matkekaaranmandir-masjidkibaatkuchzyadahone lagi hai (It’s just that there ismorecom-munaltalknowbecauseofpowerandpolitics)."Nirmala Devi, who sells flowers outside

thelaneleadingtotheoldentrance,says,“Wehave heard the corridor is good but haven’tseen it. But Idon’t think itwillmakeanydif-ference toour lives.Corridor is forVIPs.Yatrito isi puraane raaste se phool le kar jayenge(Pilgrimswill take this same old route andtakeflowers tooffer tothedeity).”Santosh Majhi, a boatman, is excited

abouttheproject—andtheprospectsfortheBJPasitpreparesforacrucialAssemblyelec-tion. “The temple complex can now house60,000-70,000people...Thesepeoplewouldotherwise have been crowding our roads.Thecityhaschangedsomuchinthelastfiveyears. IfYogijicomesbackin2022, itwillbe-come even better. And if Modiji returns in2024,Kashiwill becomeKyoto.”ClosetoLalitaGhat,amidthegrowlofJCBs

and other heavy equipment, tourists fromKolkataaretakingaleisurelyrideontheGanga.Atonepoint,theboatmandropshisoar,slowsdownandannounces:“ThisisthespotwhereModiji took a dip onMonday.” The groupshoutsout:“JaiSriRam!”

Additional reportingbyShinyVarghese

11THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021

SUNDAYSTORYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

The330-metreKashiVishwanathcorridorstretches fromthetemplecomplextoGanga’sLalitaGhat

TherefurbishedKashiVishwanathTemple inthenewlybuilt sandstonecourtyard

SHRIKASHIVISHWANATHMANDIRPARISARAshadedcolonnadethatsurroundsthetemple,providingpeoplewithshelterwithintheMandirParisar

GYANVAPIMASJID

MANDIRCHOWK

YATRISUVIDHAKENDRAAplace forpilgrimsto leavetheirfootwearandotherbelongings

VIEWINGGALLERYAnelevatedcourtyardatopaheritagestructure,whichoffersavistaof theRiverGanga

PUBLICSTAGEForculturalprogrammesandperformances

JETTYAdockingpoint for touristandpilgrimboats

LALITAGHAT

MANIKARNIKAGHAT

PILGRIMRESTHOUSERoomsanddormitoriesforusebypilgrims

MUMUKSHUBHAVANAhospice for theelderlyandinfirm

CITYMUSEUMWherevisitorscanappreciateacarefullycuratedexhibitionofhistoricphotographsandpaintingsof thecity

VARANASIGALLERYAnexhibitionof thespiritual traditionsof India

MULTIPURPOSEHALLAsharedspaceforculturalandcommunityactivities

KASHI VISHWANATHDHAMESTIMATEDCOSTOF

THEPROJECT:`800cr

`450cr: purchaseandrehabilitation

`339cr Phase1 `65crPhase2

Areacovered:5,000hectares Corridorwidth:50feetTemplecomplexexpandedfrom3,500sqft to5 lakhsqft

Ashe inauguratedtheRs800-croreKashiVishwanathDhamcorridor,PMModicalled it “thebridgebetweenthepastandfuture”.DIVYAAvisitsVaranasi, oneof theoldest livingcities in theworld,wherethecorridorhasshapednewlinks, thougha fewothershavesnapped.PhotographsbyRENUKAPURI

Eternal, with layers ofhistory, maze of politicsRAKESHSINHA

ONANOctobermorningin1990,hundredspackedthenarrowlanesofAyodhya,cheer-ingmenwho had scaled thewalls of thethen disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid siteandraced to thedomes, carry-ing a saffron flag. “Ayodhya toh sirf jhaankihai, KashiMathura baaki hai (Ayodhya is atrailer, Kashi andMathura still remain)”was their chant.To reporters onwhat had become the

‘Ayodhya beat’, Kashi andMathurawereports of call, the disputes there linked to amovementgatheringsteam,changingpoli-tics,andthecountry.TheBabriMasjid’sdays,youcouldtell,werenumbered.A little over 200kmaway, Vishwanath

Galibustledwithlife.Shopkeeperscalledouttopilgrims,andself-styledguidespromiseda touranddarshanofKashiVishwanath for“whateveryouthinkisright”.Aware of the events unfolding in

Ayodhya, a guidewould leadpilgrims to astatueofNandistaringinthedirectionoftheadjacentGyanvapimosque. “Nandi alwaysfacestheLord, sonowyouknowwherethereal garbhagriha (sanctumsanctorum) is,”theguidewouldsaytogaspsandnodsfromthosearoundhim.Kashi is timeless, more eternal than

Rome,andranksamongtheoldestcontin-uously inhabited cities of theworld. Linesthat separate fact and fiction, history andmyths,folkloreandtextsalwaysgetblurredhere.Sonooneblamedtheguides,orcon-testedtheiraccountsofhowthetempleatKashi came into being,was destroyed, re-built overcenturies.To thedevout, it is theholiest of places,

oneofthe12jyotirlingasiteswhereShivaap-pearedinhisinfiniteformasacolumnoflightwithnobeginningorend.Anotheraccount— and this findsmention in a petition onwhichaVaranasicourt,inAprilthisyear,or-deredanarchaeological surveyof theKashiVishwanathTemple-GyanvapiMosquecom-plex,laterstayedbytheAllahabadHighCourt—saysthetemplehasexistedsincetimeim-memorial, andKingVikramaditya recon-structedit2,050yearsago.Mostaccountssaythetemplewasrazed

ontheordersofMughalEmperorAurangzeband theGyanvapimosquewasbuilt at thesiteinthe17thcentury.Historian Audrey Truschke, in

Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth, too,notes: “Aurangzeb brought the bulk ofBenares’s Vishvanatha Temple down in1669. The temple had been built duringAkbar’s reign by RajaMan Singh, whosegreat-grandson, Jai Singh,many believedhadhelpedShivajiandhissonSambhajiflee

from the Mughal court in 1666... TheGyanvapi Masjid still stands today inBenareswith part of the ruined temple’swall incorporated intothebuilding.”The temple that is Kashi Viswanath to-

daywas built on an adjacent site in 1776-1780bytheHolkarruler,AhilyabaiofIndore.In 1991, as theAyodhya templemove-

ment pickedpace, theKashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapidisputeendedupinthecourtroom.Asuitsoughtrestorationofthetempleatthesitewhere the Gyanvapimosque stands.Fearful, Muslims filed petitions in theAllahabadHighCourtoverthemaintainabil-ityof thesuit.Itwas the year the PVNarasimhaRao

governmentbrought thePlacesofWorship(SpecialProvisions)Actwhichmandatesthatthenatureofallplacesofworship,excepttheone inAyodhya thatwas thenunder litiga-tion,willbemaintainedas itwasonAugust15, 1947, and that no encroachment of anysuchplacepriortothedatecanbechallengedincourts.TheActshieldedKashiandMathura,but

BabriMasjidwas torndownayear later. Toleaders of theRamtemplemovement, thelawwas a stumbling block. The SupremeCourt, in its November 2019 ruling on theRam Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid title suitwhichwent in favour of theHinduparties,called the Act “a legislative interventionwhichpreservesnon-retrogressionasanes-sential featureofoursecularvalues”.But thisMarch, nearly 30years after its

enactment, the SupremeCourt sought theCentre’s response on a PIL challenging theconstitutionalvalidityof theAct.Lessthanamonthlater,aVaranasicourt,

noting that “thematter indisputepertainstohave connectionwithourdeephistory”,ordered the Director General ofArchaeologicalSurveyofIndiato“getacom-prehensive archaeological physical survey”done of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-GyanvapiMosquecomplexand“findoutastowhetherthereligiousstructurestandingatpresentat thedisputedsite isasuperimpo-sition, alteration or addition or there is astructural overlappingof anykind,with orover,anyreligiousstructure”.The judge rejected the argument that

since“amosquehasbeenenteredatthedis-putedsiteintherevenuerecords,hencethesameisnotopenforchallenge”.InSeptember, theAllahabadHighCourt

steppedin.ItstayedtheVaranasicourtorder,sayingaHighCourt“caninterfereinordertokeepthetribunalsandCourtssubordinatetoit‘withintheboundsoftheirauthority’”and“theCourtbelowshouldwaitfortheverdictinthepetitionspendingbeforethisCourtandnot toproceed further in thematter till thetimeajudgmentisdelivered”.

ProjectVaranasi

historyHEADLINECHAKSHUROY

12 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021OPINION

FifthCOLUMNTAVLEENSINGHTwitter@tavleen_singh

THEWINTERSessionofParliamentcom-mencedonNovember29,2021.TheLokSabha is debating Bills, motions, etc.everyday.Discussiononseveralsubjectshastakenplace.ButtheRajyaSabhaisinturmoil. The issue that hangs as a darkcloudovertheRajyaSabhaisthesuspen-sion,onthefirstdayof thesession,of12membersof theHousebelongingtodif-ferentOppositionpartiesfortheremain-derof thesessionuntilDecember24.The entire Opposition is agitated,

somemore,someless.AlltheOppositionparties protested together,marched to-gether and addressed the media to-gether. InsidetheRajyaSabha,however,whilesomerefusedtoparticipateinanymanner, some asked questions duringQuestion Hour or made SpecialMentions. In the lobbies and in theCentralHall, thereareconflictingviews.Outside the House, the 12 suspendedmembers, sittingonadharnaat the footof Mahatma Gandhi’s statue, are in-censed.It isanunprecedentedsituation.

THE ORIGIN, THESURPRISE

The genesis of the dispute is whathappenedonthe lastdayof theprevioussession—August 11, 2021. According tothe Parliamentary Bulletin Part I of thatday,certainmembers“enteredthe‘well’oftheHouse,displayedplacards,shouted

slogansandpersistentlyandwilfullyob-structed the proceedings of theHouse.”TheBulletinlistedthenamesof33mem-bers.Noactionwastakenorhintedat.Whathappened— if true—wasun-

fortunate but not unprecedented. ArunJaitley,aformerLeaderoftheOpposition,had once declared that obstructing thebusiness of the Housewas a legitimateparliamentarytactic. Inanyevent,thein-cidenthadoccurredonthelastdayoftheprevious session and at 7.46 pm onAugust11theHousehadbeenadjournedsinediewithout takinganyaction.WhatstartedonNovember29wasa

new session. Theproceedings startedat11 am. After obituary references, theHouse was adjourned for an hour as amark of respect, it reconvened at 12.20pmandnormal businesswas resumed.Afterthelunchrecess,at2pm,theFarmLawsRepealBillwastakenupandpassedwithoutadiscussionat2.06pm(onthat,Ishallreservecomment).TheHousewasadjournedandre-assembledat3.08pm.Outof theblue, aministermovedamo-tion to suspend 12members for the re-mainingpart of the session, themotionwas adopted, members protested, buttheHousewasadjournedat3.21pm(ac-cording to the Parliamentary BulletinPart IdatedNovember29.)

CONTENTIOUS RULEOn the next day, the suspended

membersbeganadharna. It has contin-ued for threeweeks. Thegovernment isnotwillingtobudge;theChairmanisnotwillingtonudgethegovernmenttoyield.TheRule that applies to suspension

of amember is Rule 256 (see box). TheRule isclear.Theverbatimrecordof theRajya Sabha does not show that anymember was named on August 11. Itwas only when the Rajya Sabha re-as-sembled at 3.08 pm on November 29that the Minister of ParliamentaryAffairsmovedamotion to suspend the12members, and the Bulletin says themotionwas adopted. Therewas no at-tempt to put the motion to the Houseortakeavote.Oppositionmembersareunanimous that a vote was not taken.TheTreasuryBenchesdonotrefutethatposition.Several questionswere sought to be

raised in the House. Canmembers besuspended in a new session for allegeddisorderly conduct in the previous ses-sion?Canmembersbesuspendedwhennoneofthemwas‘named’onAugust11?Canmembersbesuspendedonamotionthatwas not voted uponby theHouse?While33memberswereaccusedofdis-orderly conduct,whywereonly12 sus-pended?WhywasMrElamaranKareem,who did not figure in the list of 33, sus-pended? These questions were not al-lowed to be raised in the House, andhencethereisnooptionbuttoraisethemin thepublicdomain.

DEMOCRACYDIMINISHEDOn December 16, the Opposition

moved amotion under the proviso toRule256(2),whichallowedamotion tobemoved“atanytime”toterminatethesuspension of the members. ThePresidingOfficerrejectedthemotionontechnical—andquestionable—grounds.If thosewhohave the right to speak

(the Opposition) are not allowed tospeak,andif thosewhohavethedutytohear (the government) plug their ears,democracy isdiminished.

RULE256SUSPENSIONOFMEMBER1. The Chairmanmay, if he deems it

necessary, name amemberwho disre-gardstheauthorityoftheChairorabusestherulesoftheCouncilbypersistentlyandwilfullyobstructingthebusinessthereof.2. If a member is so named by the

Chairman, he shall forthwith put thequestion on amotion beingmade, noamendment,adjournmentordebatebe-ing allowed, that themember (naminghim) be suspended from the service ofthe Council for a period not exceedingtheremainderof thesession:Provided that the Council may, at any

time,onamotionbeingmade,resolvethatsuch suspensionbe terminated.3. Amember suspended under this

ruleshall forthwithquit theprecinctsoftheCouncil.

Right to Speak, Duty to Hear

The Rule is clear. Theverbatim record of the Rajya

Sabha does not show thatany member was named on

August 11. It was only when itre-assembled on November29 that a motion was movedto suspend the 12 members.There was no attempt to putthe motion to the House ortake a vote. The Opposition

is unanimous that a vote wasnot taken. The Treasury

Benches do not refute that

AcrossTHEAISLE

PCHIDAMBARAMWebsite:pchidambaram.inTwitter@Pchidambaram_IN

VETTING SCRIBES?ThePress InformationBureauhasnotyetbeguntheprocesstorenewaccreditationof journalists for next year. Normally ac-credited correspondents are asked toap-ply for renewal of passes for the comingyearbyearlyNovember.Apparently,anex-ercise to revise press accreditation rulesandmake themmorecontemporaryandweed out “undeserving journalists” —which started under former Informationand Broadcasting minister PrakashJavadekar — is still underway. Journalistbodiesapprehendthat theright todefinewho is entitled to aPIB card andhaveac-cess to government offices smacks of anattempttocontrolthemediabycuttingoffthose hostile to the regime. The exampleset in drastically curbing the number ofnewspersons permitted to enterParliament during the sessions does notinspire confidence. Journalists now gainentry toParliament’s press galleryon thebasisof a lotterysystem,eventhoughtheCovidthreathasabatedandmost restric-tivemeasures in Parliament lifted.Withthe scrutiny of the list of accredited jour-nalistsstillon,2021PIBpassesmightstayvalid tillMarchnextyear.

WRONG DIVERSIONSonia Gandhi appointedDigvijaya SinghtoheadaStrategyCommitteetoconsiderhow best to highlight inflation, theCongress’skeycampaignplank.Sinceper-mission was denied to hold a rally inDelhi’s Ramlila Maidan, the venuewasshifted to Jaipur, where Ashok Gehlot isChief Minister. (A tactical mistake sincepeoplenormally blame the state admin-istration for rising prices.) However, theCongressbrainstrustdidnotbargainthatRahul Gandhi would completely divertfrom themain issue and launch into anearnestexplanationof thedifferencebe-tween Hinduism and Hindutva. His re-markswere toophilosophical for the av-eragelistenerandheplayedintotheBJP’shands since the rulingparty, fearing thatit isonaweakwicketonprices, iskeentoexploit the Hindutva card in UP. In the2019generalelections, too,Gandhidrewattention away from the issue of prices,focusinginsteadontheslogan“Chowkidarchorhai’’,whichdidnotgodownwellwithvoters. The de-facto Congress presidentoftenactsspontaneouslywithoutconsult-ing advisers. Incidentally, the Jaipur rallywasorganisedbyGehlot,whowas taken

abackwhenhisarchrivalSachinPilotgotthe maximum applause when Gandhimentionedhisname.

JUDICIAL INDISCRETIONInhisautobiography,formerChief JusticeRanjan Gogoi counters thosewho ques-tion the lack of transparency in judicialappointments by explaining that if thenegative information against a bypassedjudge was disclosed, it would cause“avoidable embarrassment”. However,Gogoi isnothimself coyaboutdisclosingconfidential notes on the basis of whichcertain Justices were denied SupremeCourtappointments.Healsoattempts tosettlescoreswithformercolleagueswhoaccused him of impropriety, by allegingthat Justices J Chelameswar andMadanLokur“barteredtransfersoftheirfavouritejudges fromonehigh court to another inthe collegiummeetings’’. He rakes up an11-year-old FIR implicitly concerning aformer SupremeCourt colleague to sug-gest “double standards’’!

PATERNAL PATA video of UP Chief Minister YogiAdityanath plodding on foot behindModi’scavalcadeinSaharanpurwasglee-fully tweeted byAkhilesh Yadav tomockthewaytheCMistreatedbyhispartyboss.AdityanathmaynothavebeenModi’sfirstchoiceasCM,butinthiscrucialAssemblyelection, thePMis, in fact,goingoutofhisway to demonstrate his regard forAdityanath,praisinghimandgettingpho-tographed with him regularly. At theVaranasi railway station, he put his armaround the ChiefMinister for the benefitofphotographers.

AI’S MANY SECRETSCaptain Shakti Lumba, whowas closelyassociated with Indian Airlines fordecades,hasmanysecrets toshare inhisbook The Old Bold Pilot, explaining whythe national carrier went downhill.Lumba recalls the power of the pilots’union. For instance, in 1992, then PMNarasimha Rao acceded to the union’sdemand that the minister concerned,Madhavrao Scindia, and the airlinesChairman and Managing Director besacked.TheauthorexplainshowtheCivilAviationMinistry circumvented the AirCorporation Act, which did not permitanyscheduledairlinebesidesthetwona-tional carriers, by turning a blind eye tothe so called air-taxi operators placinghoardings at the airport and at their of-fices displaying own flight timings andfare.Another interestinginsidertale isoftheminister whosewife was employedbyIndianAirlines,andwhousedthePMOtogethiswifemadeinchargeofAllianceAir’s in-flightdepartment.

THE UNION Cabinet has cleared a pro-posal to increase the minimum age ofmarriageforwomento21years.Thewell-intentionedmove,however,mayhaveun-intendedconsequences.Ifsocialproblemscouldbesolvedsoeasily, Indiawouldnotbeoneof themostmalnourishednationsin theworld, itswomenamongthemostanaemic, its sex ratio skewed.The proposal can be faulted on two

counts — one, that it does not focus onwhatreallymatters toensure it;andthatit ignores theharmsof such legislation.The minimum age of marriage has

been 18 years since 1978. Clearly law byitself has not solved the problem. About

23%ofgirlsinthe20to24agegroupweremarriedunder the ageof 18 asperNFHS5 (2019-21) — a steep fall from 47% inNFHS 3 (2005-06) and 27% in NFHS 4(2015-16). There is now substantial evi-dence that the two factorswhich led or-ganicallytothisisaccesstosecondaryed-ucationforgirlsandreductioninpoverty.Girlswith 12ormore years of educa-

tion,marryonanaverage fiveyears laterthan girls with no education. We haveseen that disruption in both these —schoolingofgirlsandaccesstolivelihoods—duringCovid led toearlymarriages.Our experience show that girls drop

outofschoolsforvariousreasons,suchasunavailability of secondary schools, lackof separate toilets in schools, no facilitiesformenstrualhygiene,andsexualharass-ment,making travelunsafe.

Reasons forearlymarriagesof girls inthecasestudiesOxfamIndiadocumentedrangefrompovertyandschooldrop-outs,toelopementorfearofelopementofgirls,andboys’familieswantingfreelabourforhousehold work. Patriarchal norms fo-cused on a girl’s chastity, come togetherwithpoverty,lackof incentivesforschool-ing and lack of income opportunities forgirls, tomakesure thatmarriageandun-paidcareworkareheronlydestiny.NFHS4datashowsthat63%ofgirlsgot

married before the age of 21. This is theproportion of marriages which will berendered illegal if the amendmentwerepassed. Criminalising only ensures thatthe phenomenon of early marriages isdrivenunderground,unlessthecausesareremoved. It alsoputs aquestionmarkonthe rights married girls are entitled to,

suchaspropertyrights,compensation,in-surance, if theywere tobewidowed.When18-year-oldscanvote,signcon-

tracts,work,thenwhyshouldtheynotde-cidewhentomarry?Infact,empoweringtheyoungwithinformation,sexualhealthservices,highereducationandlinkagestoincome can delay the age of marriagewithoutanycoercion.Thishashappenedglobally,withnochange in the law.Criminalisationofyouthsexualityhas

alreadywreakedhavoc in the livesof theyoung.Makingallsexundertheageof18years a crime only denies recognition ofyouthsexuality, contraception,maternalhealthcareandsafeabortion.Thereisampleevidencethat10-12%of

thosebelow18inmiddle-andlow-incomecountriesaresexuallyactive.Similar topolicingof youth sexuality,

policingofunder-agemarriagesisgettingmore andmore aggressive. Parents areknowntouselawssuchastheProhibitionof ChildMarriageAct (PCMA), 2006, andProtection of Children from SexualOffences (POCSO), 2012, to oppose self-chosenrelationshipsof youngpeople.The current PCMA law prohibits a

marriage under the age of 18, withoutmaking it void. However, state-levelamendments in Karnataka andHaryanaensure that under-18marriages becomevoidrightfromthebeginning.Whathap-pens to the rights of girlsmarried under18 in thesestates?Increasing the age of marriage to 21

yearsappears tobeonemorestep in thisslipperyslope.

Thewriter is LeadSpecialist,Gender Justice, atOxfamIndia

Under-age marriage: Policing no answersheSAIDAMITAPITREamita@oxfamindia.org

THE ONGOING Winter Session ofParliament startedonanexplosivenote.The Rajya Sabha suspended 12 of itsmembersfortheentiresession.Theirsus-pensionmeant that theseMPscouldnotparticipateinRajyaSabha’sdeliberationsor themeetings of parliamentary com-mittees. Since then, the suspendedMPshavebeenprotestinginfrontof thestatueof Mahatma Gandhi inside theParliamentcomplex.Forthelast29years,the 16-foot-tall bronze statue has beenthe site forMPs across ideologies to ex-press theirdisagreement.TheParliamentHousecomplexhas50

statues/busts of national figures. In1941,threebustsoftheIndianroyaltymadeittotheChamberofPrincesintheParliamentbuilding. These busts were of theMaharajaMadhavraoScindiaofGwalior,MaharajaBhupindraSinghofPatiala,andMaharajaRanjitsinghofNawannagar.Allthreewerethechamber’sfoundingmem-bers, and the latter twohad also been itspresiding officers. But it was only afterIndependencethattheplacementofstat-ues in the circular building came up forconsideration. The Parliament HousecomplexcomesunderthepurviewoftheSpeaker of Lok Sabha. In 1951, its firstSpeaker, G VMavalankar, set up a com-mittee to propose ascheme for decorating thenation’slegislature.Aspartof itsdiscussions,thecom-mittee considered placingthe statues of nationalleaders in the 50 ormoreniches on the ground andfirst floorof Parliament.Followingthecommit-

tee’s reports in1953,workstartedonpaintingmuralson the ground floor wallsofParliament. Itwasonlyadecade later that the firststatuewasunveiled in theParliament Estate — a 12-foot-tall statue of MotilalNehru. A bust of Gopal KrishnaGokhalewould follow in 1966, followed by an-other 12-foot-tall statue, of B RAmbedkar, in1967. In the1970s,astatueof Lala Lajpat Rai and a bust of SriAurobindowould be the only additionsto theParliament complex.After an 18-year lull, in 1993,

President Shankar Dayal Sharma un-veiled the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.The unveiling occured during the termof the minority government of P V

Narasimha Rao, who earlier in the yearhad survived a controversial trust vote.The Speaker of Lok Sabha, Shivraj Patil,revived the earlier plan of placing stat-

ues in Parliament. He an-nouncedthatacommitteeof seniorparliamentarianshadrecommendedthein-stallationof statuesof “thegreat sons and daughtersof India”. The first statue,hestated,wouldbethatofMahatmaGandhi.For a long time, there

hadbeendiscussionaboutinstalling a statue ofMahatma Gandhi at aprominent location inDelhi. In1965,politicalac-tivistsvandalisedthemar-blestatueofKingGeorgeVthat occupied the canopy

behind India Gate. After the authoritiesrelocated the vandalised statue toCoronationParkinnorthDelhi,theemptycanopywas considered a possible loca-tionforaGandhistatue.However,theplannevermaterialised and, in the Nineties,the ideagotboggeddownin litigation.Oneartistwhowasinthefrayformak-

ing theGandhistatueforthislocationwasRamVSutar.Aftertheplansforthestatueat the India Gate canopy did not fructify,the government approached him for

sculpting the Gandhi statue for theParliamentcomplex.Sutarhadstudiedatthe J JCollegeofArts,Mumbai, and inthe1950s,hadhelpedintherestorationworkat Ellora caves. He had extensive experi-ence in immortalisingMahatmaGandhiincopperandstone.OvertheyearshehadmadeGandhibuststhattheGovernmentof Indiahadgiftedtomorethan60coun-triesaroundtheworld.TheGandhi statue—of theMahatma

inameditativepose—wasgoingtobehisfirst creation inside theParliament com-plex. In numerous interviews, Sutar saidthatrecreatingthepeacefulexpressiononMahatmaGandhi’sfacewasanimmensechallenge.He isalso theartistwhomadethe statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel(StatueofUnity) inGujarat.Since the installation of the Gandhi

statue, 43more (14of themsculptedbySutar) have foundaplace inParliament.Over the years, deciding on the person-alitieswhosestatuesandportraitswouldbeplacedinParliamenthasrequiredpo-litical parties to arrive at a consensus. Itis their spirit of dialogueandaccommo-dation that has resulted in theParliament Estate being filled with theiconography of leaders from across theideological spectrum. And perhaps it isthe same spirit that parties need to tapinto to foster debate in the two Housesof Parliament.

Story behind the statueof protest in Parliament

ThesuspendedMPsholdinga ‘MockParliament’outsidetheHouseduringtheWinterSessionofParliament, inNewDelhiFriday.PraveenKhanna

THEPRIMEMinister’svisittoVaranasilastweekwas like a Bollywood film in slowmotion.Themelodrama,theexaggeratedcolours,thebrightlightsandreligiosityre-minded me of Ramanand Sagar’sRamayana. And itwas asmesmerizing. IfoundmyselfgluedtomyTVfromModi’smorning dip in the Ganga in a saffrontracksuit, to that late night stroll on theneon-lit platform of the railway stationwith Yogi Adityanath by his side. Everynews channel covered everymoment ofthetripasifnothingelsewashappeningintheworld. Channels of bhaktibentbegantheircoveragebeforehelandedinVaranasiwithbreathless,sycophanticcommentaryonthecorridortotheVishwanathMandirthathehadcometo inaugurate.So, what did I conclude at the end of

thisdayinwhichreligiositymixedseam-lessly with politics and hyper-national-ism?What did the people of Varanasimake of it? To get a sense of this I rang aMahantoftheVishvanathaMandirwhosefamily homewas requisitioned and torndown for the corridor. Two years ago,when wemet, he was angry about themeagre compensation his family got inexchange for a home thatwas centuriesold.Hewasnot a fanof the corridor, so itsurprisedmewhen he said, “Letme tellyouthat theyhavebuilt somethingwon-derful. But, also let me say that peopleheredonot like theway religion is beingmixedwith politics. This iswrong... peo-ple say that thiswill cost them the elec-tion.AkhileshYadavwillwin.”The political nature of this ostensibly

religiousprojecthasescapednobody,norhas the inauguration’s timing. AttentiontothiswasdrawnevenbytheTVreportersinBenareswhopassedoffpaeansinpraiseof Modi as journalism. The Chief Justicewas rightwhenhesaid lastweek that in-vestigativejournalismhaddisappearedinthe Indianmedia, but rarely has theme-diaturneditself intoapropagandatoolofthe government the way that it did onModi’svisitthatday.Havingdealtwithof-ficialsof thePress InformationBureaufora long, long time, I can tell you that noteventhey,whosejobisgovernmentprop-aganda, would have turned themselvesinto cheerleaders in the way that cele-brated anchors did in Varanasi. So, noquestionswereasked,notevenwhenthePrime Minister himself broughtAurangzeb up in his speech to remindeveryonewatchingofwhoitwaswhohaddestroyedtheVishwanathMandirandde-filed itbybuildingamosqueonits ruins.The Prime Minister has usually re-

frained fromdogwhistles. But, the elec-tions inUttarPradeshdrawcloserbythedayandpollsbypoliticalpartiesappeartoshow that Yogi is not as popular as hismassiveadvertisingcampaignindicates.So, the BJP needs to bring into play theirultimateweapon:creatinguglydivisionsbetween Hindus andMuslims. The LokSabha election in 2019 was a definingmoment for the BJP. It taught them thatitwaspossibletowinafullmajoritywith-out needing a single Muslim vote. ThisexplainswhyModinolongerhesitatestoremindHindusthatAurangzebdestroyedmany temples and that the wounds ofhistory must never be forgotten. Theproblemisthatwhensemi-literate,ahis-torical Hindus are reminded of thesewounds, themessage they take home isthat every living Indian Muslim is toblameforwhathappenedcenturiesago.And, that all Muslims are Pakistanis intheirheartsanddidnotleavein1947onlybecause they could not afford to. It isthesedivisionsthattheBJPhopestoplayon inUttar Pradesh.This brahmastra is needed because

people have not forgotten the total col-lapseofgovernanceduringCovid’sawfulsecond wave. Nor have they forgottenthatdespitetheChiefMinister’svauntedclaimsofhavingbroughtlawlessnessun-der control in this notoriously lawlessstate, it was not long ago that a teenagegirl was cremated without proper ritesbythepoliceinHathras, therebydestroy-ingevidenceofherrape.Thereareotherhorrors they find hard to forget.Expressways and airports are inaugu-rated almost daily these days in UP, butthepeoplewhose landandhomeswereappropriatedfortheseprojectscontinuetolive inextremepoverty. Inanexcellentreport on NDTV recently, reporterstalked to people whose land was ac-quired for the new Jewar airport. Theyfound them living in flimsy shacks andhalf-built houses because the compen-sation theywere given allowed them toaffordnomore.The truth is that not much has

changed in any real way in UP since the‘double-engine government’ came intoexistencein2017,anditisthisreasonwhyit is important to divide Hindus andMuslims for Yogi to win a second term.The damage this will do to the fabric ofthe state is incalculable, but for themo-ment therewill continue to be religiousevents lit with disco lights. In Varanasithat day they reflected off Modi as hecruised on the Ganga. Incidentally, thewaters of ourmost sacred river remainfilthy,asdomostof thestreetsofVaranasiwhosenamecomesfromtworivers thatusedtoonceexist.TheVarunahasalmostdisappearedandtheAssiriverisapitiabledrain. It is the erasure of such ugly reali-ties that is now being sought with reli-giosity andhyper-nationalism.

Give themcircuses

insideTRACKCOOMIKAPOOR

In 1951, the first LSSpeaker, G VMavalankar, set up apanel to propose ascheme fordecorating thenation’s legislature.The committeeconsidered placingstatues of nationalleaders in the nichesacross Parliament

13THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021

THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

USA

JuliusScott,groundbreakinghistorianoftheCaribbean,diesJULIUSSScott,whobecamesomethingof a cult figureamong scholars for hisgroundbreakingdisserta-tion on the 18th-centuryHaitian slave revolt,whichhecompletedasagraduatestudentbutwasrejectedbymainstreampublishersforthreedecades,diedonDec6 inAnnArbor,Michigan.He was 66. Inspired byFernandBraudel’scompos-ite history of theMediterranean, Scott pro-duced what PublishersWeekly called “a sweepingintercontinental disserta-tion on how slaves, freeBlacks, sailors, marketwomenandothers spreadword”aboutthesuccessfulHaitian Revolution andemancipation.Hismeticu-lous, imaginative researchrevealed a previouslyundiscovered18th-centuryintercontinentalcommuni-cationnetwork. NYT

JuliusScott in2018.NYT

TOPOFTHEWORLD

CHINA

OldestpersoninChinadiesat135CHINA’SOLDEST person,Alimihan Seyiti, has diedat the age of 135 inXinjiang UygurAutonomous Region, lo-cal authorities said onSaturday. Hailing fromKomuxerik township ofShule County in KashgarPrefecture, Seyiti wasbornonJune25,1886,ac-cording to the county’spublicity department. In2013, she topped the listof China’s oldest livingpersons issued by theChina Association ofGerontology andGeriatrics, Xinhua newsagencyreported. PTI

PHILIPPINES

Typhoondeathtollhits31A POWERFUL typhoonleft at least 31 peopledead, knocked downpower and communica-tions in entire provincesandwroughtwidespreaddestructionmostlyinthecentral Philippines, offi-cialssaidSaturday.Agov-ernor said her island hasbeen “leveled to theground”. Typhoon Raiblew away Friday nightinto the South China Seaafterrampagingthroughsouthern and central is-land provinces, wheremore than300,000peo-ple in itspathwereevac-uated to safety in ad-vance in a pre-emptivemove officials say mayhave saved a lot of lives.

AP

ADAMSATARIANO,NICKCUMMING-BRUCE&RICKGLADSTONEDECEMBER18

ITMAYhave seemed like anob-scureUNconclave,butameetingthisweekinGenevawasfollowedintentlybyexpertsinartificial in-telligence,militarystrategy,disar-mamentandhumanitarianlaw.The reason for the interest?

Killerrobots—drones,gunsandbombsthatdecideontheirown,withartificialbrains,whethertoattack and kill — and whatshould be done, if anything, toregulateorban them.Once the domain of science

fiction films like the TerminatorseriesandRoboCop, killerrobots,moretechnicallyknownasLethalAutonomousWeaponsSystems,havebeeninventedandtestedatan accelerated pacewith littleoversight.Someprototypeshaveevenbeenusedinactualconflicts.The evolution of thesema-

chinesisconsideredapotentiallyseismicevent inwarfare.This year, for the first time, a

majorityof the125nations thatbelong to an agreement calledthe Convention on CertainConventionalWeaponssaidtheywanted curbs on killer robots.Buttheywereopposedbymem-bers that are developing theseweapons, most notably the US

andRussia.The group’s conference con-

cluded Fridaywithonly a vaguestatementaboutconsideringpos-siblemeasures acceptable to all.The Campaign to Stop KillerRobots,adisarmamentgroup,saidtheoutcomefell“drasticallyshort”.

ConventiononCertainConventionalWeaponsSometimes known as the

Inhumane WeaponsConvention, it is a frameworkofrules that ban or restrictweapons considered to causeunnecessary, unjustifiable andindiscriminatesuffering,suchasincendiary explosives, blindinglasersandboobytrapsthatdon’t

distinguishbetweenfightersandcivilians. Theconventionhasnoprovisions forkiller robots.

What exactly arekiller robots?Opinions differ on an exact

definition, but they are widelyconsidered to beweapons thatmakedecisionswith little or nohuman involvement. Rapid im-provements in robotics, AI andimage recognition aremakingsucharmamentspossible.Thedrones theUnited States

has used extensively inAfghanistan, Iraq andelsewherearenotconsideredrobotsbecausethey are operated remotely bypeople,who choose targets anddecidewhethertoshoot.

The objectionsCritics argue it ismorally re-

pugnant toassign lethaldecisionmakingtomachines,regardlessoftechnologicalsophistication.How

does amachinedifferentiate anadultfromachild,afighterwithabazooka from a civilianwith abroom,ahostilecombatantfromawoundedorsurrenderingsoldier?“Fundamentally,autonomous

weapon systems raise ethicalconcernsforsocietyaboutsubsti-tutinghumandecisionsaboutlifeanddeathwith sensor, softwareandmachine processes,” PeterMaurer, president of theInternational Committee of theRedCross andanoutspokenop-ponent of killer robots, told theGenevaconference.

TheGeneva conferenceThe conferencewaswidely

consideredbydisarmamentex-

perts tobe thebestopportunitysofartodevisewaystoregulate,if not prohibit, the use of killerrobotsunder theconvention.It was the culmination of

years of discussions by a groupof expertswho had been askedto identify the challenges andpossibleapproachestoreducingthethreatsfromkillerrobots.Buttheexpertscouldnotevenreachagreementonbasicquestions.Some, like Russia, insist that

any decisions on limitsmust beunanimous—ineffectgivingop-ponents a veto. The US arguesthat existing international lawsare sufficient and that banningautonomousweapons technol-ogywouldbepremature. NYT

A UN CONFERENCE MADE LITTLE HEADWAY THIS WEEK ON LIMITING DEVELOPMENT, USE OF KILLER ROBOTS

Killer robots aren’t science fiction; a push to ban them is growing

Acombatroboticvehicleat theWhiteSandsMissileRangeinNewMexico in2008.AP

16 DIE IN BLAST ‘TRIGGERED BY GAS LEAK’ IN KARACHIAtthesiteoftheblastinKarachionSaturday.Atleast16peoplewerekilledand15othersinjuredwhenapowerfulblast,believedtohavebeentriggeredbyagasexplosioninacoveredsewagechannel,rippedthroughthebuildingofaprivatebank,policesaid.MostofthecasualtieswerecustomersandstaffpresentinsidetheHBLbankbranch,reportssaid.Reuters

KATHYGANNONISLAMABAD,DECEMBER18

PAKISTAN IS rallying Muslimcountries to help Afghanistanstave off an economic and hu-manitarian disaster while alsocajoling the neighboring coun-try’snewTalibanrulerstosoftentheir imageabroad.Severalforeignministersfrom

the57-memberOrganisationofIslamicCooperationaremeetinginIslamabadonSundaytoexplorewaystoaidAfghanistanwhilenav-igatingthedifficultpolitical reali-tiesofitsTaliban-rungovernment,Pakistan’stopdiplomatsaidFriday.ThenewTalibanadministra-

tion in Kabul has been sanc-tionedbytheinternationalcom-

munity,reelingfromthecollapseof the Afghanmilitary and theWestern-backedgovernmentinthe face of the insurgents’takeover inmid-August.TheOICmeetingisanengage-

ment thatdoesnotconstitutean

official recognitionof theTalibanregime, said Pakistan’s ForeignMinisterShahMahmoodQureshi.He said themessage to the

gathering on Sunday is: “Pleasedo not abandon Afghanistan.Please engage.Weare speaking

for the people of Afghanistan.We’renotspeakingof aparticu-lar group.We are talking aboutthepeopleofAfghanistan.”Qureshi saidmajorpowers—

includingtheUnitedStates,Russia,ChinaandtheEuropeanUnion—willsendtheirspecialrepresenta-tives onAfghanistan to theone-day summit. Afghanistan’sTaliban-appointed ForeignMinisterAmirKhanMuttaqiwillalsoattendtheconference.Afghanistanisfacingaloom-

ingeconomicmeltdownandhu-manitariancatastropheintheaf-termathof theTalibantakeover.Billions of dollars’ worth of thecountry’s assets abroad,mostlyin theUS, have been frozen andinternational funding to thecountryhasceased. AP

STEPHANIENEBEHAYGENEVA,DECEMBER18

THEOMICRONcoronavirusvari-anthasbeenreportedin89coun-tries and the number of cases isdoubling in1.5 to3days inareaswith community transmission,theWorld Health Organisation(WHO)saidonSaturday.Omicronisspreadingrapidly

in countries with high levels ofpopulation immunity, but it isunclear if this isduetothevirus'abilitytoevadeimmunity, itsin-herent increased transmissibil-ityoracombinationofboth, theWHOsaid inanupdate.The agency designated

OmicronavariantofconcernonNov.26,soonafteritwasfirstde-tected, and much is still notknown about it, including theseverityof the illness it causes.“There are still limited data

on the clinical severity ofOmicron,”theWHOsaid.“Moredata are needed to understandthe severity profile and howseverity is impactedbyvaccina-tionandpre-existingimmunity.”It added, “Thereare still lim-

itedavailabledata, andnopeer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine

efficacy or effectiveness to dateforOmicron”.TheWHOwarned thatwith

cases rising so rapidly, hospitalscouldbeoverwhelmed in someplaces. REUTERS

TOMHALS&MIKESCARCELLADECEMBER18

AUSappealscourtonFridayre-instatedanationwidevaccine-or-testing Covid-19 mandatefor largebusinesses,whichcov-ers 80millionAmericanwork-ers, prompting opponents torush to the Supreme Court toask it to intervene.The ruling by the 6th US

Circuit Court of Appeals inCincinnati lifted aNovember in-junctionthathadblockedtherulefromtheOccupationalSafetyandHealth Administration (OSHA),whichappliestobusinesseswithat least100workers.“Itisdifficulttoimaginewhat

moreOSHAcoulddoorrelyontojustify its finding that workersface a gravedanger in thework-place,” said theopinion. “It isnotappropriatetosecond-guessthatagencydetermination consider-ing the substantial evidence, in-cludingmanypeer-reviewedsci-entificstudies,onwhichitrelied.”US President Joe Biden un-

veiledinSeptemberregulationstoincreasetheadultvaccinationrateasawayof fightingthepan-demic, which has killed morethan 750,000 Americans andweighedontheeconomy.Therulingcoincideswithpub-

lic health officials bracing for a“tidalwave”of coronavirus infec-tionsintheUSastheOmicronvari-antspreadsworldwide.REUTERS

CLAREJIM&JAMESPOMFRETHONGKONG,DECEMBER18

HONGKONGofficials arework-ing toboost turnout inSunday'slegislativeelection,accordingtodiplomats and people familiarwith theeffort.Aspartof thoseactions, two

Chinese state-owned bankshave appealed to workers tovote, said two people familiarwith the matter and an emailseenbyReuters.After a major rewriting of

electoral law inMarch,with thegovernment saying that only“patriots” may administer thecity,HongKongisholdingitsfirstLegislativeCouncilelectionwiththe city’smain democratic par-ties fieldingnocandidates.Hong Kong’s leaders — and

China’s leadership in Beijing,which pledged tomaintain thefinancialhub’sautonomywhenBritain returned control of itscolony to China in 1997 — arekeentoensurethatthevotedoesnot appear to lack popular sup-portandfeara lowturnout, twodiplomats toldReuters.Senior officials have made

high-profile appeals to voters,and public transport operatorssaid they would provide freetransportationonelectionday.Authorities also have issued

warnings, including to interna-tionalmedia, that inciting aper-sonnottovoteortocastaninvalidvoteis illegal.The office of Hong Kong’s

leader, Chief Executive CarrieLam,andBeijing’sLiaisonOfficein the city did not respond toReuters requests for commenton efforts to mobilise voterturnout.Aheadoftheelection,thetwo

state-ownedlenderssentemailstostaffencouragingthemtovote,according two people withknowledgeof thematterandanemail reviewedbyReuters.

REUTERS

ADITIKHANNALONDON,DECEMBER18

THE UK government is report-edly drawing up plans onSaturday for a short two-weekcircuit breaker lockdown laterthis month, after Christmas, totry and keeppacewith the rap-idly spreading Omicron variantof Covid-19.Themeetings remain ongo-

ingasLondonMayorSadiqKhandeclared a “major incident” intheUKcapitalasCovidinfectionssurged and began impactingpublic services in the city. Heconfirmed that London re-mained the UK regionwith thelargest number of Covid cases,withover26,000dailyinfectionsrecordedonFriday.“Hospitaladmissionsaregoing

up,butalsostaff absencesarego-ingupbyamassivelevel,”hesaid.“So I’ve takenthedecision in

consultationwith our partnersto declare amajor incident to-day,”hesaid.Amajorincidentisanyemer-

gencywhichrequirestheimple-mentation of special arrange-ments by one or all of the city'semergency services, indicatingthat emergency services andhospitalscannotguaranteetheir

normal levelof response.AccordingtoTheTimes, draft

regulations are being preparedwhich would ban differenthouseholdsmeetingindoorsex-ceptforworkpurposesandpubsandrestaurantsbeinglimitedtooutdoor serviceonly.Meanwhile, The Financial

Times reported that BritishPrime Minister Boris Johnsonhasbeenpresentedwithanum-berofoptionsunderaso-calledPlanC,rangingfrom“mildguid-ance to nudge people, rightthrough to lockdown”.Leaked minutes from the

government’sScientificAdvisoryGroup for Emergencies (SAGE),

seenbytheBBC,revealscientistswarningministers that toughermeasuresneed tobebrought in“verysoon”totryandkeephos-pitalisationswithinmanageablelevels for the National HealthService (NHS).The reports of further lock-

down restrictions come as theUK recorded another highestdailytotalof93,045Covid-19in-fections on Friday, up 4,669 onthepreviousrecordof88,376setonThursday.While the Delta variant re-

mainsdominantinmostpartsofthe country, Omicronhas takenover in London and Scotlandamidamassivesurge. PTI

Omicron in89countries,casesdoubling in 1.5-3days inmanyareas:WHO

Atavaccinationcentre forchildren inLisbonasPortugalbegins inoculationagainstCovid for5to11year-olds.Reuters

NETHERLANDSSETFOR‘STRICT’LOCKDOWNTheHague:TheDutchgovern-mentisexpectedtoannounceon Saturday a “strict”Christmas lockdown thatwould seeeverythingbut es-sential storescloseamid fearsoverthespreadoftheOmicroncoronavirusvariant,Dutchme-diareported. REUTERS

PARISCANCELSNEWYEAR’SEVEFIREWORKSParis: Paris has cancelledplanned fireworks aswell asfestivities on the ChampsElyseesavenueonNewYear’sEve in linewithnewgovern-ment rules to prevent thespreadof theOmicroncoron-avirus variant, BFM TV re-portedonSaturday.REUTERS

Vaccine mandatefor businessesrevived in US,Supreme Courtfight looms

Pakistan seeks to rally Muslim countries tohelp Afghanistan avert humanitarian crisis

United Nations: The formerAfghangovernment’sambassa-dortotheUnitedNationshasre-signed after the country’s cur-rent Taliban rulers sought toreplacehimwiththeirownen-voy.GhulamIsaczaitoldtheUNon Thursday that he steppeddown the day before, UNspokespersonFarhanHaqsaid.

Afghanistan’s UN Missiontweetedthatanotherdiplomat,Naseer Faiq,would lead it as achargéd’affaires. The termcandenote someone filling in be-tween ambassadors. Themis-sion said it would continueworking“tosharetheconcernsandlegitimatedemandsofourfellowcitizensattheUN”. AP

Afghanistan’s envoy to UN resigns

VOTINGUNDERNEWRULESTODAY

Hong Kong officials seek to boostturnout in first ‘patriots’ election

TheChinesenationalemblemisseenonthewallasit replaces theHongKongemblemattheLegislativechamber,beforetheelection inHongKong.Reuters

Man gets 5 yearson US Capitol riotcharges, longestsentence so far

ALANFEUERDECEMBER18

A FLORIDAmanwho hurled afire extinguisher at police offi-cersduringsomeof themostfe-rociousfightingattheUSCapitolonJan6wassentencedonFridaytomorethanfiveyearsinprison,the longest term handed downso far to any of the more than700peoplechargedintheattack.Thedefendant,RobertPalmer,

madehisway to theCapitol thatday in a distinctive red-white-and-blue flag-styled jacket afterlistening to former presidentDonald Trump address a hugecrowd at the Ellipse, a park justsouth of the White House.Prosecutors say hemilled aboutinthecrowdoutsidethebuildingasviolenceincreasinglybrokeoutbetweenthepoliceandrioters.Byalittlebefore5pm,Palmer

foundhimself amid themost se-verefightingatthelowerwestter-race,where an almostmedievalformofhand-to-handcombathaderupted.There,prosecutorssay,hethrewawoodenplank-likespearat thepolice, sprayeda fireextin-guisheratofficersandthenhurledtheemptycanisteratthem. NYT

ANEWlawthatcameintoef-fectlastyearhasmadeitmandatoryforHongKong’sLegislativeCouncilcandidatestoundergoavettingprocesstoprovetheyare“patriots”.Thelawalsodecreasesthenum-berofcouncilmemberswhowillbedirectlyelected,leavingthemajorityofseatsforthosechosenbyapanelstackedwithBeijingloyalists.Thishasresultedincallsforaboycottoftheelectionbypro-democ-racyactivists,leadingtoworryinBeijingovertheturnout.

NewlawsparkscallforboycottE●EX

PLAINED

London declares ‘major incident’;UK may go into Covid lockdown

SadiqKhan, themayorof London,visitsavaccinationcentreinLondononSaturday.Reuters

T H E S U N D A Y E X P R E S S M A G A Z I N EDECEMBER 19, 2021 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 14

RECIPES FORLIFE

Abhijit Banerjee

VIEWS FROM THE TOP(Clockwise from top) All set for good times;

Nutty Himalayan Cookies at LandourBakehouse; the old settlement of Landour;

set for a silent night

eyePLUS

Feed the CakeNothing can match a mother’s discerning tastebuds, especially for dark, moist, spicy, fruityand boozy Christmas cakes

ALSO

’Tis the SeasonWhen unexpected culinary cheer arrives

at the doorstep of a writer aheadof Christmas

Ganesh Saili

“WHERE’STHEBaconHouse?”It does notmatterwhere youhappen to

be.Thearomaof theirChristmascakefullofcinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg, wafting inthe air, will drag you to the LandourBakehousethatvisitorsrefertoastheBakery,theBaconHouseoreventheBreadHouse.TothoseofustowhomLandourishome,

weseeitasourrevengeuponoursymbiotictwinMussoorie’sover-crowdedKemptyFallsor theMallRoad.“Onecoldwinter’seveningfiveyearsago,

Rakesh,whohadarationshop,calledMunshiMull Radhey Lal General & Provision Store(estd.1872), visitedus,” recalls entrepreneurSanjayNarang,whoalongwith hisgiftedsis-ter Rachna, had once set up one of Asia’sbiggest on-flight catering business. “Couldyourentourrationshop?”askedRakesh.“What on earth will we dowith ration

shop?”wonderedthebrotherandsister,ex-changing glances. “We could start a bakery.Butthere’sa limitonhowmuchflour,sugar,milk and baking powder one could sell!”Narangremembersthinking,andadds,witha laugh, “Or so I thought!”Rakeshagreed tolower the rent. In exchange, the siblings of-feredhimapercentageof theprofits.“Who could have predicted what was

waiting to happen?” reminisces Narang.Thoughrestorationdidtaketime,whatwiththeancientlime-coatedhessianceilingsag-gingunder theweightof ahundredyearsofdust,cobwebsandrat-droppings,everythingchanged when Rachna waved her magicwandtocreate theLandourBakehouse.Therestwasapieceof cake.Over a hundred years — from 1850 to

1950— themissionary community in Indialoved thehills andenjoyedagreat standardof living.Theycertainlydidnotundergoanyculinaryhardships,asanyonereadingtheserecipeswill realise. Landourhadan incredi-blemix of military doctors, nursing sisters,Landour Language School students, andWoodstock School parents and staff, whomet at the Landour Community Book Clubandexchanged international recipes.Whoknewthattheirrecipeswhenputto-

getherandspiral-boundwouldgoontobakeLandour a better place? First published in1930, the typescript of the recipeswere up-

dated, revised andpublished as The LandourCookbook, throughfiveeditions.LandourBakehouseisatributetothein-

genuity and effort of these pioneers. Manyof itsdesserts andpuddingshavebeenbor-rowedfromTheLandourCookbook .Sowhat’s

different?Youmightwonder. It’s thegrand-standviewof theHimalayamixedwith thescentof pine trees.Landour’smilkmenhavehada tradition

ofwateringtheirmilk.NormanVanRooy,anoldWoodstock alumnus, who grew up at

RedburnCottageinthe1960s, tellsme:“Mymother brought back a lactometer fromAmerica. The solidproof, shocked themilk-menthoughbriefly.Theysoon learnt toaddflourtoincreasethedensityofwateredmilk.”Nevertheless, we are grateful to our dood-

hwalas, for their milk of varying textures.Withouttheircontribution,half thesedisheswouldnothavebeenpossible.Ourlocalbakerswereacommonsightup

until the 1970s, carrying tin-trunks full ofbreads and confectionery; fudge, stick jaw,marzipan andmeringues, on their heads.Most of themcame fromGhogas, a tiny vil-lage40miles fromTehri; theirancestorsar-rived in Garhwal with the refugee prince,Sulaiman Shikoh, Dara Shikoh’s son in thesummerof 1658.As I write, Abha, the lady-of-the-house,

remindsme of the cookbook’smysteriouspowers, especially its tips on baking: “Forleavening with baking powder or soda at6,500 feet, reduce from four tablespoons tooneatsea level.Neverreducethesugar.Usethemaximumamountof eggsand increaseflourbyonetablespoonforeveryincreaseof1,500 feet.Likeme,youtoowill learnthat if youare

downie, eat a brownie! For life is too short!Eat all the cake youwant andwash it downwith the special coffee brewed at theLandourBakehouse.

TIPSFORLANDOUR’SCHRISTMASCAKE:Ideally,thepreparationforourtraditional

Christmascakesstartweeksbeforewithcakemixing, where you soak plenty of finely-choppeddriedfruitsandspicesinavarietyofalcohol. For the less adventurous, youmaysubstitute orange juice for a citrus flavour;pineapple for a tang of sunshine and applejuice for a tilt towards a neutral flavour. Ifyou’reusing fruit juice, youwill have tomi-crowave the soaked dried fruit. Remembertoaddalittledicedorangepeelrindtoavoidablandcake.Foragoodbatter,onemustnotuse toomuchbakingpowderasacake isnocakeunlessit’s fluffy.Togetthatdarkbrowncolour, use dark-brown sugar. For extramoistness,usebothoilandbutter.Beat italluptill it’s smooth.Bakeveryslowly inapre-heated oven. Usually, at 7,000 ft in the sky,thiscantakeuptothree-and-ahalfhoursbutthe result isworthwaiting for.

AuthorGaneshSaili lives inLandour.Bornandhome-growninthehills,hebelongstothose

selectfewwhosewordsare illustratedbytheirownpictures.Authoroftwodozenbooks,sometranslated into20languages,hisworkhasfound

recognitionworld-wide

Paromita Chakrabarti

Buffetorsit-downdinner?Sit-downdinner, absolutely!

Favouritedinnerguests?Peoplewho like to eat well, laugh a lot,

whoare indulgentof silliness.

AtypicalChristmasdinnerwouldhave?Khurdi (or Kolhapuri Pandhra Rassa),

Mutton biryani, beetroot pachadi, carrotkoshimbir,palongsaag (spinach)bhaja (stir-fried)with almonds and raisins, Bûches deNoël, Christmas fruit cake

Finickysolitarycookorcook-alongpartner?Neveralone

Favouritemealof theday?Dinner

Bakedorfried?Depends

Sweetorspicy?Savoury

Shorshe ilishorkoshamangsho?Shorshe ilish

PatishaptaorMadeleine?Patishapta

ChampagneorteabeforetheNobeldinner?Champagne

Theingredientthatyouare leastcomfortablewith?Pastry

Favouritekitchengadget?Mortarandpestle

Bengali foodorFrenchfood?Bengali food

Ahand-me-downadvicethat’s stoodyouingoodsteadinthekitchen?Frypeyajbata(onionpaste)wellatmedium

lowheat—tilltheoilleaksoutfromtheedges—beforeaddingwater.OurcookKeshto,wholivedwithusforever,taughtmethat.

Favourite foodwriter?I loveMarcella Hazan’s voice as a cook-

bookwriter—bothpassionateand laconic.

Favouritecook?Mychhotopishi(myfather’syoungestsis-

ter),whopassedonthisyear.

Favouritestreet food?Puchhka, the Kolkata-style golgappa,

withnotahintof sweet

Adishthatyouloveandtherestof thefamilydetests?

Various forms ofmukwaas and churan.The intensity of the flavours seems tobother them.

Arecipethatyounevergetright?AmbatwaranMarathistyle—Ineverquite

managegetthebalanceoftheflavoursquiteasperfectasmymaushisandmamisusedto.

If youcouldprepareameal for anyone,whowould it be for andwhatwouldyoumake?Ican’tanswerthatquestion—ameal isa

narrative,andtheguestisthecentralcharac-

ter.Forme,Iwouldmakearoastedmungdalkhichriwithcauliflowerandpeaswithsomefried baigan and onion fritters on the side,and eat it with a panoply of achars, fromsweetchhundotogreenchillies inmustard.

Christmas cakeThis is my favourite kind of Christmas

cake, a bunch of rum-soaked dried fruitsbarely held together by a few grains of al-mond flour. The downside is that it is a bitextravagant, but it is Christmas only once ayear (though then there is Durga Puja andDiwali, and birthdays, and any number ofotherexcuses togowild).

INGREDIENTS●200gmraisins●200gmorangeand lemonpeel●200gmdried figs●200gmdrieddates● 100 gm glâcecherries● 100 gm pittedprunes●250gmwalnuts● 1 cup of rum(orbrandy)● 1½ cups (roughly175 gm) almondflour●3tbspregularflour(maida)●1tspbakingpowder●¼tspgroundnutmeg(beverycareful,nut-meg can completely dominate the dish, soerron thesideof less rather thanmore)●¼tspgroundmace (javitri)●¼tspgroundcloves●1tspgrounddriedginger●1 tsp ground cinnamon (mywife doesn’tlovecinnamonindesserts, so Iskipthisone.Ingeneral,youshouldfeelfreetoskipanyorall of the spices. The rum and the fruits areenoughbythemselves)●Pinchof salt

● 150 gm (three-quarters of 200 gmpack-age)unsaltedbutter,softenedbyleavingout-side the fridge●¾cup (150gm)dark-brownsugar (or thesameamountofwhiteorlight-brownsugar)●5eggs●Morerum(brandy) to “feed” thecake

MethodStart this about aweek before you plan

to eat it. The day before you plan to bake,chop the dried fruits and nuts into raisin-sizedpieces (orcloseenough).Don’tbothercutting the raisins, of course. Pour the rumover it, coverand leave for12-24hours.Nextmorning, preheat the oven to 150

degrees Celsius and set the butter out tosoften. Mix together the flours, the bakingpowderandthespices(includingsalt).Drain

the fruits and mixinto the flour mix-ture. Creamthebut-terwiththesugartillit’s light enough toeasilyfalloffaspoonthat is facing down(use a beater or giveyourarmaworkout).Mixintheflourmix-ture, making surethat everything issmoothlyintegrated

(but no further). Pour in to 8x8 inch bakingtin(ora9x5inchloafpan)thatyouhavebut-tered and linedwith parchment paper (orsubstitute). Bake for two hours (or until atoothpickstuck into it comesoutclean.Let cool and invert pan to get it out. Peel

off the parchment, and invert on to a sheetof foil.Makeholesonthesurfaceof thecakewith a toothpick and pour 2-3 tbsp of rumoverit,makingsureitgetseverywhere.Covertightlywithfoilandleaveinacoolplace(butunless it is very hot, not the fridge). Repeatthe “feeding”with rum, every day until thedaybeforeyouwill serve it.

Table TalkEconomist and 2019 Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee,who recently released his cookbook, Cooking to Save

Your Life, does a rapid-fire on all things food

SUGAR & SPICE & ALL THINGS NICEChristmas is incomplete without a laden table and the conviviality of family and friends. In this special issue that celebrates the

upcoming festival, we bring together stories redolent of good times and the joy of shared meals. First up, how Landour has nurturedits legacy of community recipes through a bakery that feels like home

GETTYIMAGESCOURTESY:JUGGERNAUTBOOKS

GETTYIMAGES

PHOTOS:GANESHSAILI

DARK SECRETSThe citrusy tang andthe bitter edge of the

marmalade, thegentle heat of the

cloves and ginger, thefruit steeped in theneon-orange dodgywhisky — all comes

together brilliantly inthe Christmas Cake

SweetBeginningsThe shared heritage of two colonialcousins along India’s western coast

Damini Ralleigh

CHRISTMASWASthemostexcitingtimeof theyear,” saysCrescentiaFernandes(néeScolt),73.Itwaswhenherentire family—parentsandfoursiblings—wouldcongregateat theances-

tralScolthomeinErnakulam,Kerala.Evenin1955,whenher fatherrenovated it, thehousewasover250yearsold.Thedays leadinguptoChristmaswerespentdecoratingthehouseandsettingupthenativityscene,witheachchildentrustedwithatask.“All thechildrengatheredaroundahugeurli (around

brasscookingvessel) inwhichtheChristmas-Cakebatterwouldbepreparedusingabigwoodenspoon,madeandkeptespecially for thispurpose,” shesays,adding, “myparentsandoldersiblingswouldtaketurnsmixingthebatterwhile theyoungerones,mybrotherBennoandI,wouldholdtheurli inplace.Wewerethengiventhespoonto lickclean inreturnforourefforts”.SittinginherhouseinFarrukhnagar,Haryana,where

sheliveswithherhusband,sonand18rescueddogs,sherecallstheChristmasgiftingofconsuada—“alargetraywithsamplesofsweetsmadeespeciallyforthefestivesea-son”—toneighboursandfriends.“MysiblingsandIwouldtakebitsfromallthetraysthatcametoourhousetofigureoutwhichfamilymadethebestones,”shechuckles.Partof theconsuadawerewell-knownsweets like

neurio,doce,kulkulanddodol.CommonlyassociatedwithGoanCatholiccuisine, thesetreats—alsomadebyKerala’sAnglo-Indians—tracetheirdescent tothePortuguese,whodockedinCalicut (nowKozhikode) in1498beforeclaimingcontroloverGoa,anddrasticallychangedtheregion’s food.Alongwithpapaya,custardappleandredchillies, they introducedcookingmethodssuchassteamingandbaking—thuscontributingtotheKeralabreakfastessential,puttu(steamedricecakes)—andtheuseof vinegarandwineascooking ingredients.Amongtheconsuada treats is thenownearly-forgot-

tendessertbeveca,orbebink,asFernandescalls it. “NottobeconfusedwiththeGoanbebinca(alsoknownasbibik),which isbakedin layers,” shesays, “thoughthetwooftengobythesamenameinsomepartsofKeralaandGoa.”Unlikebebinca, theghee-and-coconut-milk-infusedundisputeddoyenneofGoandesserts,beveca ismadewithnendrapazham, an indigenousKeralabanana.“Manyofourdishes, thoughsimilar to theonesmadeinGoa,use localproducesuchasnendrapazham. This

makessomedishesthathavethesamenamecompletelydifferent fromoneanother,” sheexplains,whilecombin-ingthe ingredients ina largebowl.She, then,addsadashofnutmegto it.Theoriginal recipecalls forcarawayseedsbutsheprefersnutmeg’searthysweetness.Fernandes isofDutchandPortugueseancestryand

marriedaGoanwithPortugueseblood,withwhomsherantherestaurantBernardo’s for14years inDelhiandGurugram.Thisputsher inauniquepositiontocomparethe influenceof thePortugueseonthecuisinesof thetwostates. “Traditionally,kokum isn’tused inKerala,andkodumpuliwon’t find itswayintoGoanCatholicdishes,”shesays, “I’vebeentryingtochartout thesedifferencesandcompile theserecipes forabook.Especially thecui-sineof thePortugueseMalayalis,becausewe’resuchasmallcommunityandvery fewcookthesedishestoday.If theyaren’tdocumented, they’lldie.”Her facesuddenly lightsupwithunalloyedjoyasshe

remembersyetanother traditionthathas,withtime,fallenoutof favour—makingone’sownChristmastrin-kets. “We’dcutoutcrepepapertomakehollies, fill itwithcotton,put it throughawireandcover itwithclothbe-foredipping it intowax,”shesays. “Whohasthetimetodothisnow?”sheasks, shrugging, “it iswhat it is.”Asshecutsthebevecaintotinybits,onecan’thelpbut

likenit tothepandemic’smostpopular food—bananabread,orat leastagluten-freeversionof it.Thecrumb,thoughnottootender, is lightwiththesweetnessofba-nanasandcoconutintensifyingwitheachbite.Therecipecouldincorporateroughlychoppednutsandchocolatebut it’ssumptuousas it is. “BebinkexemplifiesthelostsimplicityofChristmas,”shesays,“Whymustyourgener-ationtinkerwitheverything?”Well, it iswhat it is.

Beveca or BebinkINGREDIENTS●250gmrice flour●3eggs,yolksandwhitesseparated●150gmsugar●150gmbutter●2½cupsoverripebananas,mashed●½cupcoconut,grated●1½cupthickcoconutmilk●¼bakingpowder●½tspgratednutmeg

MethodRoast therice flour lightlyandcool, addbakingpow-

derandnutmegandsift.Beat thebutterandsugar to-gether till thesugarmelts.Addeggyolksandbeatwell.Addthemashedbananas,groundcoconutandrice flouralternately tillwell-blended.Addthecoconutmilk.Themixtureshouldbeofdroppingconsistency. If it seemstoothick,addtheeggwhitesbeatenstiff. Pourthebatterintoabakingtin linedwithgrease-proofpaperandbakeinapreheatedovenat150degreesCelsius for30-35min-utesor till a toothpickcomesoutclean.Transferontoaservingdish, cool, cut intoslicesandserve.

DaminiRalleigh isaDelhi-basedfoodwriter

C H R I S T M A S S P E C I A L15EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 19, 2021

JOY TO THE WORLDDon’tconfuseKerala’sbeveca(pictured)withGoa’sbebinca

ABHINAVSAHA

ONEOFmy favourite childhoodmemoriesis a smell, a most haunting scent — thesweet, alcohol-laced fragrance of this in-credible fruitcake made by Shashi Gupta,who lived next door to our home in Delhi.EveryNovember,Auntywouldbeginsoak-ing dried and candied fruits in rum orbrandy to make kilos of fruitcakes, to begiven away to friends and neighbours asChristmas gifts. I wouldwatch Auntywith

raptattention,andsometimeswas luckytohelphermake the cakes.Robin, her son, and I were best friends.

Hiswas a homewith a Baniya father and aSyrianChristianmother fromKerala.Minehad a UP Kayastha father and a PunjabiBrahmanmother. Both mothers had cho-sen to be homemakers and did that withinimitable grace. We adored each other’smoms,andenjoyedtheircompany,watch-ing, learning, findingshelter—enjoyingde-licious foodandlearningabout familial loreand legend.WhenImovedtoNewYorkCity,assoon

asthetemperaturedroppedandthe leavesbegantofall, Idevelopedaninsatiablecrav-ing for Shashi Aunty’s fruitcake. The coldtemperature and equally cold way peoplein theUS liveandshare, for themostpart, asharp contrastwithhowwedo so in India,mademehomesick.Of course, Charlie andhis family tookme inas their own, andourfriends always opened hearth and home.But something was never quite the same.Despite the much richer festive look thatourChristmasdecorationsandcelebrationshad inNewYork (NY), Imissed thesimplerfeel of the Gupta household’s marking oftheholiday.I got Shashi Aunty to share her recipe

andwhenCharlie and Imoved to our farmin Upstate NY, Aunty’s fruitcake charmedneighbours and strangers alike. Now backinNewDelhi,CharlieandIstartsoakingthefruits in the fall so that comeholiday time,we can make delightfully decadent high-spirited fruitcakes to eat, give, and servethroughout the season.

Cognac-cured Fruitcakemakes three loavesINGREDIENTS●455gmmixeddriedand/orcandiedfruits●225gmmixed toastednuts● 420 ml cognac (brandy or rum can bealternatives)● 570 gm unsalted butter at roomtemperature●720gmall-purpose/plain flourplusextrafor dustingpan●¼tspeachcinnamon,cloves,ginger,nut-meg, all ground●1½ tspbakingpowder●½tsp salt●8 large eggs●1orange, zested and juiced●1 tbsp dark or Blackstrapmolasses/trea-cle●1 tbsporangemarmalade●¼tspeachalmondextract,orangeflowerwater, vanilla extract●1¼cups/250glight-ordark-brownsugar●1¼cups/250ggranulated sugar●3 tbsp superfine/caster sugar

MethodPlace the dried fruits, nuts, and 240ml

cognac in a bowl or resealable plastic bag.Set aside at room temperature for at leastoneweek ormore (continue to top off the

amount of cognac so the fruits continue tosweeten in their alcohol brine).Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius

(350degreesFahrenheit).Greasea loaf panwith 1 tbsp butter. Add 2 tbsp flour andshaketocoatthebottomandsides.Setaside.Whisk the flour, cinnamon, cloves, gin-

ger, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt to-gether in a largebowl and set aside.Whisktheeggswiththeorangejuiceandzest,mo-lasses/treacle,marmalade,andalmond,or-ange, andvanilla extracts, and set aside.Beat the remaining butter with the

brownsugarandgranulatedsugarinastandmixer (or in a large bowl if using a handmixer) on low speed until combined.Increasethespeedtomedium-highandbeatuntil light and creamy, for about twomin-utes.Reducethespeedtolow.Addone-thirdof theflourmixturefollowedbyhalf theeggmixture. Repeat, endingwith the last one-thirdof theflourmixture.Mixinthecognac-soaked fruit and nuts (leave any excess liq-uid behind), then scrape the batter into thepreparedpan.Place thepan intheovenandbake the cake for onehour. Rotate the cake,reduce theheat to150degreesCelsius (300degrees Fahrenheit), and continue to bakeuntilacaketester insertedintothecentreofthe cake comes out clean and the centre ofthecakeresistslightpressure.Checkthecakeoccasionally— if it looks like it is browningtoo quickly, loosely tent it with aluminumfoil.Removethecakefromtheovenandcoolthecakecompletely in thepan.Place three largepiecesofmuslin (large

enough to completely wrap around thecake; you can also use several layers ofcheesecloth instead) inabowlandpourtheremaining180mlcognacover it.Runapar-ing knife around the edges of each pan toloosen the cake. Turn the cake out on to aplate. Wrap the cognac-soaked muslinaroundthecakesoall surfacesandsidesarecovered. Sprinkle the cake’s top with su-perfine/caster sugar and wrap tightly incling filmfollowedbya layerof aluminiumfoil. Let the cake cure in the refrigerator fora week (or up to a year).

SuvirSaranSuvir Saran isachef, author, educator

andworld traveller

SLICEOFLIFE

In the richer, festive decorations and celebrations inNew York, one missed the simpler feel of

a Delhi-household Christmas

In Good Spirits

SUVIRSARAN

Vatsala Mamgain

INTHEdark ages,whenwewere chil-dren,withnoNetflixorindoorplumb-ing, Christmashadn’t yet become theDecember kiDiwali that it is today.However, a steadydiet of EnidBlyton,

trillingChristmascarolsnon-stopatschoolandtheoptimism forwhich I amworld-famous,meant that oneChristmas Eve, I hung somestockings onmyheadboardhoping for pres-entsfromSanta.OnChristmasmorning,Iwokeexcitedlytomymotherboxingmyears—“Isabed, that too, right next to your pillow, anyplacefordirtysocks?”sheyelled. Inherview,Goddess Saraswati (who lived in bedhead-boards and every book and piece of paper)wouldpakkafailmeinmyexamssinceI’dsul-liedherlivingspacewithfilthy,stinkysocks.WehadbetterluckwithotherChristmassy

things. Thenunsat school taughtus tomakepomanders—orangesstuddedwithclovestillnopeelwasvisible—tobeusedasnaturalaro-matic ornaments for the Christmas tree andthentobehungincupboards,suffusingthemwiththeircitrusyspicyaroma.Mawasnotatall impressed byhowmany cloves it took tostud an orange. She thought it was a giantwaste of money, but, eventually, became aconverttotheresults.But, theoneChristmastradition she adopted enthusiastically, andwithoutreservation,wasthemakingandeat-ingofChristmascake.Weall lovedplumcake— the fact that it

wassoaked inalcohol and, sometimes, flam-béedextravagantly—theblueflamelickingatthe edges of the cake, aswewatched gobs-macked—meantitwasalwaysaspectaclenotjustatreat.Andtheinherentboozinessandso-phisticationmade it doubly attractive to uschildren—weusedtoreelaboutafterconsum-ing it, pretending tobedrunk.Ma loved it somuchthatsheinventedarecipeforacakewecouldeateveryday,notjustatChristmas—herrum-and-raisin-cakerecipewonheraSumeetmixie.Andso,forme,aChristmascakewillal-waysbedearlybeloved—butsimplyaposherboozierversionofhereveryday“mixiecake”.Aswegrewolder,wetriedtointroduceher

tootherChristmascake/breadversions—thepanettonesandstollensof theworld, butMawashavingnoneofit.“Bekaar!”washersingle-word pronouncement on the wonderfulstollen my friend would get me everyChristmasfromGermany.“WhenIwantbread,Iwilleatbread,whenIwantChristmascake,itbetterbecake!”wereherfightingwords.Lastyear,everythingwasbittersweet, in-

cludingChristmas.Mawasbattling stage IVcolon cancer; itwas going tobeher last. Butwemanaged to arrange a Christmas caketaste-off for her to judge. So, there was apetha-rich plum cake from Bushy’s inAllahabad,Moddy’sdamp,darkversionfromtheNilgiris,theexcellentTheobromaoneandmy sister’s homemade version. She lovedthemallwithsomereservations(“Lovely,butnotenoughbrandyflavour”,“Excellenttaste,but thecakecouldbemoister”,etc.)—butof

course,tophonourswenttomysister’splumcake.Moist,spicy,fruity,boozy,dark—itwaseverythingMummyloved.Thisyear,formyChristmascake,Iwantedto

use this whisky I’d been gifted, FireballCinnamonWhisky,whichlookedlethalenoughtobeperfect inaplumcake.WhenI realised Ididn’thaveenoughof the fruit I needed, I de-cided to improvise by adding a fatwodgeofmarmaladeinwiththefruitandsteepingit inFireball.Thismarmalade,whichanauntmakesfromherhomegrownmandarins,issomethingthatIalwaysuseasamarinadeforroastchicken—that’softenbeenapartofChristmasespast—tohelpcarameliseandcrisptheskintotheper-fectburnishedcrackle.In the cake, too, itwasdivine. The citrusy

tangandthebitteredgeofthemarmalade,thegentleheat of the cloves andginger, the fruitsteepedintheneon-orangedodgywhisky—itall came together brilliantly.Mummy,whoepitomised culinary inventiveness, hatedwasteandenjoyedthecitrusyspicyaromaofthepomanderswemademanyChristmasesago,wouldhavelovedthiscake,too.

So,whereveryouare,HappyChristmas-Cake-eating,Ma.Andseason’sgreetings toyouall.

Christmas Cake(adapted fromNigella Lawson’s TraditionalChristmasCake recipe)INGREDIENTS● 200 gm each raisins, currants, dates,apricots, candiedorangepeel●200gmmarmalade●150gmchoppedwalnuts●400mlwhisky (thedodgier thebetter)●300gmbutter●180gmbrownsugar●2tsp lemonzest●5eggs●2tbsp treacle●300gmplain flour●150gmgroundalmonds● 1 tsp each clove, cinnamon, ginger,all ground

MethodSteep, at least overnight, all the fruit and

marmaladeinthewhisky.Preheattheovento150degreesCelsius.Creambutterandsugar,addineggsonebyone.Addthetreacle.Then,siftthedryingredientstogether,andmixthesoakedfruitalternatelywiththedryingredi-ents into the creamedmixture, combiningthoroughly.Foldinthechoppednuts.Putbat-ter into a lined tin and bake for two/threehours till a skewer inserted in themiddlecomesoutclean-ish.Whencakeisdone,add2-3tbspwhisky,wrapimmediatelyindoublefoilandkeepintin.Feedthecakeeveryweekwith a few teaspoons ofwhisky till ready toeat.The flavourmaturesover time,butkeepthecake inacooldarkspot.

VatsalaMamgain isaglutton,cook, runner,tree lover,shopperandreader

LONG TIMEAGO INMAMA’S

KITCHEN

Nothing can match a mother’s discerningtaste buds and Christmas cakes that must

be dark, moist, spicy, fruity and boozy

VATSALAMAMGAIN

GETTYIMAGES

ALL IS CALM,ALL IS BRIGHTEvery November,

Shashi Aunty wouldbegin soaking driedand candied fruits in

rum or brandy tomake kilos of

fruitcakes, to begiven away to friends

and neighbours asChristmas gifts

TASTE OFHOME

Unique flavourpairing made theghee-cardamom

cake astandout dessert

SECRET SANTAThe unconventional

pleasures of thewriterly life

C H R I S T M A S S P E C I A L 16EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 19, 2021

Aiona Misquita Goes

SMALL,FAT,caterpillar-shaped, littlebitsofvanilla-flavoureddoughdeep-friedtill theyarecrispontheoutsideandmeltingontheinside.That’showIlovemykulkuls.Theyhavebeenmyfavourite

ChristmassweeteversinceIcanremember.AllGoan,Mangalorean,Anglo-IndianandEast-Indian

householdshavethesecurlytreatsaspartof theirChristmassweetplatter.Theyarealsocalledkidiyo(meaning“worms”inKonkani),duetotheirshape.SomeaccountstracetheirorigintoEuropeanfriedpastrydough.Madebyentirefamiliestogether, thesearealmostalwaysthefirst togetdepleted.GrowingupinMumbai,kulkul-makingdaywasal-

waysset foraweekend,whenMumwouldhaveahigherchanceofgettingusall together.Thewholefamilygath-eredaroundthedinnertable.Thedoughwouldbepre-paredbymuminadvance.Assoonaslunchwasclearedaway,wewouldallgettogetherandbegin.Someonewouldpinchthedoughandrollouttinymarble-shapedballs,whileotherswouldworkonshapingthekulkuls.Theballofdoughwouldbeflattenedandthenlightlypresseduponthetinesofaforkornewcombs.Thesewouldthenberolledintothecaterpillar-shapedformsandtheedgewouldbesealedwiththeforkorcomb.Trayupontraywouldbefilledaswechatted, joked

andlaughedwithoneanotherwhileworking.We’dtrytoclaimtheprizeforthebest-shapedones!Carolswouldsoftlyplayinthebackgroundandmoreoftenthannot,ballsof rawdoughwouldbesecretlypoppedintothemouth.Mykidsdothistoo,now!Theentireprocesswouldtakeafewhoursandwe’dsometimesbreakfortea.Weknewtheendwasinsightoncemumwouldgetupfromthetableandbegintoheattheoil tofrythekulkuls.Flaggingspiritswouldsomehowreviveandthelastof thedoughmouldedintoshape!Timefortastingcameoncethefirstbatchemerged

fromthefryingpan,wasdrainedandcooledsufficiently!Andoh,theecstasyofpoppingawarm,pillowysoftkulkul intoyourmouth!It’s thestuffdreamsaremadeof!Oncecooled, thekulkulswouldbeputintoair-tight

containersandhiddenaway, tobeservedoncewegotbackfrommidnightmassalongwithhotcoffeeormulledwine.KulkulswouldalwaystakethecentrestageinourplatterofChristmassweetsorkuswaraswecall it inGoa

andofferedtoguestsandsenttofriendsandneighbours.Kulkul-makingisonetraditionI’venurturedinmy

children,aswell. InaworldwhereChristmasgoodiesareincreasinglygettingorderedfromcaterersandhomecooksandthemoretedious-to-makesweetsaredisap-pearingfromthekuswarplatter, I insist thatweallgetto-getherforadayofkulkulmaking.Therearegood-naturedgrumblesandsomedisappearingacts,buteveryoneagreesthat it isaworthycause. Istillusemymom’shand-writtenrecipethat Iamsharinghere:

KulkulINGREDIENTS●500gmflour●125gmmargarine(orunsaltedbutter)●2eggyolks●½acupofmilk(somerecipesusecoconutmilk)●½tspsalt●½cupofcastorsugar●2dropsofvanillaessence(optional)

MethodRubthemargarine/butter intotheflourandmixinthe

eggyolks.Addthesalt, sugarandpourinthemilkslowly.Kneadtillyougetasmoothpliabledough.Keepitcoveredwithawetcloth(toavoiddryingitout)pinchasmallmar-ble-sizedbitandrollbetweenyourpalmstillasmoothball is formed.Flattentheballandlightlypressagainstthebackofaforkorakulkulshaper(yes,yougetthesenow!)Roll itgently intoacurlandpresstheedgeof thedoughwiththeforktinesortheedgeof thekulkulshapertoseal.Heatoil, frythekulkuls inbatchestill theyaregoldenbrown.Drainonabsorbentpaperandletthemcoolbeforestoring.Somekulkulsget frosted,somesprinkledwithic-ingsugar(reducethesugar intherecipeinsuchcases)andsomeevengetcoloured(simplyaddfoodcolourtothedough).Butwhatevershapeorformtheytake, theyaredeliciousandaddictive.So,getyourfamilytogetherandwhipupabatch.Youwon’tregret it.

Bengaluru-basedAionaMisquitaGoesisafull-timemomtothreeteenagers.Shelovestocookandkeeptraditionsalive

When it comes to the curlyvanilla-dipped wonders, you can’tstop at one

TOGETHER WE FEASTKulkuls take centrestage in Christmas sweet platters

All I want forChristmas iskulkuls

Sanhita Dasgupta Sensarma

SCHOOLBREAKSmeantBhai and I exploredthevastMaharajaBirBikramCollegecampusin Tripura, cyclingwith our friends. The col-lege (nowMBBUniversity) campus situatedon a hillock namedCollege Tilla, flanked bytheHowrah on one side and a huge naturallake,wasfilledwithpurplelotus-shapla(wa-ter lilies).We lived in beautiful tin-roofedEnglish-stylebungalowsconstructedaroundthe1940s, for collegeprofessorsby thegreateducationistMaharaja Bir BikramKishoreManikyaDebbarmanofTripura.Eachbunga-lowhad large spaces around it. Our gardenoverlookedabeautifulslope,whereBabacutterraces for growingvegetables.Myparents,whoarefondofgardening,hada“name-itandyou-gotit”rangeofplants—cauliflower,peas,pumpkins, lemons,chillies,bananas,custardapple,mangoes, jamun,guava,andwhatnot.Christmas, calledBoroDin (GrandDay in

Bangla),wouldbetrulycelebratory.Morningtoearly afternoonwas spentwith friendsbythelakeside.Wewouldthenbepackedoff toGrandma’shome,toallowMaandBabatimeforthemselvesandsomepeacetoarrangetheChristmasdinnerandprepareforBhai’sbirth-dayparty the next day. Around sunset,Mejomamawouldarrangeaprojectorforscreeningmovies.Grandpa’sspotlesswhitedhotiwouldbecomethescreen.Movietimemeantcakes,pastries,puffs,chopsandBhai’sbirthdaycamewith bonus cakes and double the fun,withcousins and friends, sleepovers and feasting.Our housewould be the “it” place for socialgatherings. The food thatmyparents put onthetableisstilllegendary;nooneevermissedaninvitation.

Cakes at homewere almost always car-damom-gheebundt cakes, thatMamadeona stovetop sand oven. But bakingwas neverwithoutitschallenges.Unlikecooking,itisn’tforgiving. Precisemeasurements, tempera-ture and timings are three non-negotiables.Theelectricalsituationinthe’80swasmostlyunpredictable,withfrequentoutagesthroughthe day. So, anOTGhad zilch utility, unlikesandovensthatwerealwaysreliable.It was also the timewhen Tripura wit-

nessed a milk crisis. The newly-formedGomatiCooperativeMilkProducers’Union,though functional, wasn’t churning outenoughforlocalrequirements.Toovercomethe shortage, locals depended heavily onpowdered milk — Red Cow (Dutch) andAnchor(NewZealand). Inthepre-liberalisa-tion era, thesewould reach our grocers viaBangladesh, through an extremely porousinternationalborder.Given theunavailability of ingredients in

the tiny landlocked state,Mawisely substi-tutedwith available ingredients. For her fra-grant,moistcake,butterwassubstitutedwithghee, vanillawith cardamompowder,milkwithmilk powder and reconstitutedmilk,whilecountryeggswerethebasicingredients.It was never easy to find vanilla essence,chocolatepowder,butterorevengranulatedsugar in grocery stores.Mahad to grind thesugar on a stone slabwith amuller, becausethemixiewouldmake it too fine. Sugar sup-plywasregulatedthroughrationquotas.Eachfamilycouldonlygetaspertheirallotment.These geographical challenges led to in-

terestingoff-beatitemsonourtable.Onesuchwas savoury cakes,with every kind of veg-etable from our kitchen garden andGrandma’sweeklysupplyofmushroomsand

carrots.But,it’stheghee-cardamomcakethatwasunique toMa. Evennow,my friends re-member its unique flavour pairing.Cardamomand ghee, each have strong fra-grantnotesbutwhenblendedwithmilk,flourandeggscreateamellowyetpotentaroma.In sand ovens, these slow-cooked cakes

were quite the stunner.Mawould pour thebatter into the bundt pan linedwith paper,greasedwithghee.Oncethelidwasshutfirm,theovenwasplacedonaniron tawa levelledwithsand.BhaiandIwouldaffixourselvesatthekitchendoor.Wewerenotallowedtoen-terthekitchenbecausefoodusedtobecookedoverwoodfireandcoals.Wecouldbarelywait for thecake tocool.

Eatingwarmcakesonwintereveningswitha

glassofmilkarewhat childhooddreamsaremade of. Neat sliceswould be toasted on atawawitha touchof butter to crisp it up likebread. Itwouldbeourfavouritesnackforthenext few days. Nearly 40 years later, whenpandemiclockdownshavetestedouringenu-ity, I have fondly recalledmy growing-upyears,whereparentsandcookshadingenioussubstitutions to feed their families. Even to-day,Ma’sghee-cardamomcakehasthepowertoteleportmehome.

Ghee-Cardamom CakeINGREDIENTS●3cupsflour●1½cupsgranulatedsugar●3tspbakingpowder●4eggs●3 tbsp skimmedmilk to be reconstitutedwithhotwatertofor2½cupsmilk●1/2tspfreshfinegroundcardamomseeds●3-4tbspghee●Apinchof salt

MethodPreheatovento180degreesCelsius.Combineandshiftthedryingredientstogetherinamix-ingbowl.Combineghee (leavealittleasidetogreasethebakingpan),cooleddownreconsti-tutedmilk,andgranulatedsugarinabowl.Mixwell. Pourwet ingredients into thedry onesslowly, to avoid forming clumps. Add thebeaten eggs one at a time in a slow steadystreamtothemixandblenduntilwell-incor-porated. Pour the batter into a bundt pangreasedwithgheeand flour, tonomore thanthree-fourthfulltoavoidoverflowduringbak-ing. Bake for35-40mins. Insert a skewer, if itcomesoutclean,thecakeisdone.Takeitoutoftheovenimmediatelyandletitcool.

Sanhita,alsoreferredtoasShanaibyaselectfew,wasbredandlightlysautéedinAgartala,a

progressivebutquaintcitymarinatedinadeliciousconfluenceofcultures.Sheistheproudand

possessiveownerofover3.000food-relatedbooks&titles,andenjoysBailey’soncrushedice!Inorder

tofundheradventuresinthekitchen,shemoonlightsasacorporatelawyer

Devapriya Roy

IT ISwinter inDelhi, andweare livingthelifeofwriterlypovertythat Ihavealways idealised— bywhich ImeanthelifeofwriterlypovertyIhavereadabout inbooksandmagazines. (This,

Ishallhaveyouknow,isdistinctfromthelifeofwriterlypovertythathasbeeninsinuatedby well-meaning people back home inCalcutta: profound coughing, sheafs of un-published poems, liver disease, leaky roof,death, theend.)Our roof, to be sure, does have a leaky

patch.Butit isabarsati inDelhi,ariteofpas-sage, full of light, and if our parents find itprecarious, our friends find its weather-beaten charm decidedly edgy. Let’s face it,the barsatimight not be as well-known asthe Parisian garret in the history of letters,but it is no less atmospheric; even AmitavGhoshhad lived inone. (Or so I expound, tounsuspecting peoplewho have committedthemistakeof askingwhere I live.)We have just submitted the long-over-

duemanuscript of our joint travelmemoir.S has returned to his PhD and spends longhoursonintricatemath,andlongerhoursondefencetechnology.AndwhileIwriteaboutbooks and thewriting life for a provocativenewwebplatform, I spendmostofmytimereading, and dreaming, of all the booksweareyet towriteon the longnightswhenweshiver in our little parlour, tapping away atourkeyboards.Our eating habits are as eccentric as the

hourswekeep.Whenthebankaccountsarelean,astheyoftenare,weeatwhatwecallour“Delhimenu”—kadhi-chawal,rajma-chawal,tinda sabzi with parathas, chhole-chawal;somenightswerelyonsattuparathas,accom-paniedbyfieryaloochokha,fromaJNUdhaba,orcheapChinesetakeout.Whentheaccountsare less lean,wearepukkaBengalis: chickencurrywith potatoes andmaachher jhol andmutton kosha.When there arewindfalls, Iwalk determinedly to the local magazinestandandbuyanewissueofGoodFood Indiatocookfrom:seafoodpaella,thatremindsusofasaltydayinMonaco;fishcookedinparch-

mentpaper;Moplahmutton;redvelvetcakewithcream-cheesefrosting.Whenthewind-fall isoneofS’sarticlespublishedinaforeignjournal,wegotoCRParkandbuy ilish.Ourbarsatimighthaveatinybedroom—

basically nothing but our bed fits in, with adresserjammednexttothewindow—butitdoes have a large kitchen.Our octogenarianlandlady,SantoshAunty,likestojokethatitislargerthanherownkitchenonthefirstfloor.When we moved in, I’d had the shelvespainted red, shocking against the white-washedwalls, tomatch the crackedmosaicfloor,ourredsingle-doorKelvinatorandourtiny red OTG, inwhich said red velvet cakewasbaked.Itisacheerfulkitchen,withyellowcurtains,andifwedon’tcookasmuchasweshould,thedécorisatleastonpoint:oldwinebottleswithmoneyplantcurlingout,Frenchrecipesonpostcardsstuckonthefridgewithsassymagnets,yellowmeasuringcups.Andthisbringsusto2014,leanDecember.We don’t buy tickets to Calcutta, where

weusually spendChristmas break, eating afantastic amount of food.My father shareshisbirthdaywithJesus,sothepanoplyofgas-tronomicdelights flowsfromtwinfountsofinspiration: one, the goodies of Calcutta-Christmas,andtwo, thegoodiessourcedforhim by the extended clan— family, friendsand fans. (Myparentsare terriblypopular.)AsChristmasnears,Ibecomeinsufferably

grumpy.S,meanwhile,beginstosufferfromastrange hunger that simplywill not be sati-ated.Wefightforhoursovernothing,thenwemakeup lavishly.Wedance around the ter-raceatnight andsulk in corners in theafter-noons.Wepitcharticlesandgoonlongwalks,pausingtobuysecond-handbooks—anErmaBombeckformeoraRaviBatra forS—atthelocal newsagents.We enjoy the Christmaslights at KhanMarket and the hampers atModernBazaar, all froma stoic distance.Weareoutsiderstothemirthandjoy,andwefeelvery grown-up about it. Sometimes,we arebitter. Other times,we are giddily sanguineaboutourchoice:thelifeof themind.Eventually, we crumble and begin to

colour our dailyDelhimenuwith intense—andimpassioned—speculations.Wouldmymother’ssweetpulao—arecipepasseddown

frommygrandmother—bebetterwithherchicken-in-coconut-milk orwith themelt-in-your-mouth mutton invented by myyoungcousinRibhu?If itwasourlastdayonEarth, thenwouldwe choose the rabri thatmyfather-in-lawbringsformyfather’sbirth-day every year, or, would we choose theNizambiryaniinstead?Nahoum’smarzipanor rose cookies fromHoggMarket: whichweremoreauthentictoCalcutta’sChristmas?Thetemperatureplummets,thedaysare

hardandbrittleinthecold,mostdaysthefogpersists into theafternoon.OnChristmasday,myfriendAneelaBabar,

once of Rawalpindi, decides to do a MrsMarch.AsweHummelsareabout toeatoursadlittlechanabhaturas,orderedinfromthelocal halwai, Aneela sends over a pot of hotfragranthaleem.WethrowoutthechickpeaswhenitturnsoutthatfatroundbhaturaswithhaleemandadollopofbuttermakesthemostcharmingChristmasdishafterall.Later, on the phone, the parents sound

wistful. I assure them there is nothing toFOMO about, I shall acquire the recipe andmakeitforthebirthdaylunchinCalcuttanextyear.Wewillbethere.Of course,wewill.(Many thanks to Aneela Babar, writer,

raconteurandBollywood-encyclopaediaforsharing her recipe. One can only hope shehasn’tomittedhersecretingredient.Itis,inall

probability, playing theChandni soundtrackwhile thehaleemissimmering inthepot.)

Aneela’s Slow-cookedHaleemINGREDIENTS●100gmofmasoordal (split)●50gmof chanadal●50gmofbarleypearl●50gmofwhite rice (optional)●1tbspeachof gingerandgarlicpaste●Twomediumonions,oneforthebaseandtheother for tempering●1,500gmofboneless chicken●500gmof soupbones●Garammasala:Thisincludesyourdesiredmixofredchillipowder,turmeric,blackpep-per, corianderpowder, nigella seeds, cuminpowder, green cardamom, caraway andclove. Feel free to innovate.●Sprigof curry leaves, twobay leaves●100gmofwheatdaliya (shreddedwheat)●4tbsp lemon juice●Salt,totaste;chaatmasala,coriander,greenchilliesand juliennedginger forgarnish

MethodSoak the dal and barley pearls (and the

riceifyouareusingit)forthreetofourhours.Fry the ginger, garlic and onions till goldenbrown.Stir-frythemeatandboneswiththegarammasala,curryandbayleaves.Addsalt.Now, rinse the dal-and-barleymix and addthat to the pot, too. Add 10 cups of water,coverthepotandletitsimmer.Youwillhavetooccasionallycheckif itisnotstickingtothebottom.Twohours in,addthewheatdaliya.If themixture is thickeningand thewater isdryingup,youmayaddhalfacupofwateronoccasion. The aim is to let it simmer for fiveto six hours and constantly check on it andkeepstirring.Whenyouareexhaustedwiththeprocess, take itoff thestoveandremovethe bones. Now, fry the onions for temper-ing ina cupof oil. Add it to thehaleem, cov-ering the pot. Stir in a tablespoon of chaatmasala, return to stove and let it simmeragain for30minutes.Checkforsalt.Addthelemon juice. Garnish with coriander, splitgreenchilliesandginger juliennes.

Roy isaDelhi-basedwriter.HermostrecentbookisCatPeople,aneditedanthologywith

contributionsmostlyfromcat lovers,butalsoafewhaters.

Cake is a PlaceThe ghee-cardamom bundt is a fragrant memory and a

testimony to a mother’s genius

When the life of the mind is nourished by apot of fragrant, slow-cooked haleem

’TIS THESEASON

PHOTOS:NINAGOES

SANHITADASGUPTASENSARMA

GETTYIMAGES

’TIS THESEASON

17WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021 SPORT/CALENDAR

SRIRAMVEERADECEMBER18

NATHANLYONwashuncheddownundertheshower, absolutely numb. Even the tearswouldn’t come forhalf anhour. For themanwhosebiggestfearis“lettingpeopledown”andwhogetshigh-strungonmatchdays,especiallywhenhefeelsthematchhangsonhisperform-ance,hefelthehadlefttheteamdown.EnglandneededtwotowinatHeadingley

tolevelthe2019Ashesafterahair-raisinglast-wicketpartnershipbetweenBenStokes andJackLeachwhentheyhadamix-upoverasin-gle. JoshHazlewood lobbed theball towardsLyon, thebowler.Underpressure,withLeachinhis peripheral vision scrambling towardshim,Lyonwouldfumbleanddroptheball.ButLyon, thebestspinnerof thestockoff-

breakofourtimes,wouldstirhimselfuptotrylandinganothersucker-punchnextballbuttheumpire and absence of anymore referralswoulddenyhimandAustralia.Half an hour, headunder a towel, in the

dressing roomensuedbefore Lyon slumpedunder the shower inhishotel. Eventually, hispartnerEmmawoulddraghimout, andwillhimtogodowntohave somebeerswithhisteammates.“Shewasbrilliant.Shesaidit’sjusta game. Don’t put yourself downanddon’tmakeyourselfthinkthatyouletdownawholeAustralia,”LyonwouldtellNeroliMeadowsinher podcastOrdineroli Speaking. “It’s one ofthose thingswhere Iprobably careabout thegametoomuchbut I feel likethat’soneofmystrengths.”

Rising to theoccasionLyoncares.Hecouldn’tsleepthenightbe-

fore the finaldayof theEdgbastonTest in thesameAshes.HeknewAustralia’s triumph layinhis fingers.He tossedaroundbut couldn’tcatchawink.HehitupYouTubeandRainontheRoofandmemoriesofhischildhoodatYoung,the small townnearCanberra renowned forcherryorchardsandthenationalcherryfestival,soothed him to sleep. Next day, he spunAustraliatovictory.Hedidn’tletthemdown.Justashewould-

n’t onDayFourof the first Test in the currentAshes.Lyonhadsaton399wicketsfornearlyayear,andwasthwartedbyEngland’sbatsmenthroughoutthethirdday.Thenextmorning,hesnaredDawidMalanwith a loopyoff-breakfromaround the stumps. “It’s yet to sink in…beenahardtoil…Nodoubt I’ll getmyphoneandcallmyfamily,”hewouldsaylater.Notsurewhathisfatherwouldsaythistime.

WhenLyonhadcalledfromSriLankawiththenewsthathewouldbemakinghisTestdebut,thefatherwouldblurtout,“Oh,that’sgood.Youwill play one game!”And thenhungup thephone.“IhavesincefiguredoutthatDaddidn’tknowwhattosay’cosyougettooemotional,”

Lyonwouldlaughinthepodcast.“Iwasgonnaplayonegameandgetatracksuit.”Hehasdonebetterthanthat.Lyonhasseen

moredirtytracksuitsthanhecouldhaveimag-inedandmorememories thanhecouldhavebargainedfor.Somebad,mostgreat.

■ ■ ■

TheYouTubevideoofAdelaide2014,thelastday inparticularwhenhespunAustralia toafamous triumphagainst India, is somethingthat Lyon oftenwatches. “Whenever as re-quired.” At home, onhis phone, before abiggame,inthemidstofself-doubt,hewoulddialupthatandotherspellsofhis.Thatwas themostemotionalgameLyon

andCo.wouldhaveplayedasithadcomeonthe back of the death of Phil Hughes. TheAdelaide Oval would be emblazonedwith‘Remembering408’ on theoutfield, theTestcapnumberofHughesanditwaswheretheAussieswould congregate after the thrillingwin.Itwouldn’thaveoccurredwithoutLyon.M

VijayandViratKohliwerehellbentondraggingIndiatoanimprobablewin,adding185runsinthechaseof364.Thenastheclockstruck4:08pm-Lyonwould realise theHughes connec-

tionlater-hegotonetoripintonailVijayLBW.ThenRohitSharma,WriddhimanSaha,andfi-nallyKohlidepartedtoterminateresistance.Foramanwhohastaken400wickets,Lyon

says, foralongtime,heneverfelthebelongedintheteam.Andfeltburied inShaneWarne’sshadow.Healsodidn’thavethesupport fromthemeninpower,hesays.“Especiallyearlyon,Ifeltlikeeveryonewas

looking for anewspinnerand (I) never reallyhadthesupportofsomepeoplewhomattered.Ithinkitfeltliketheselectorswerealwayslook-ingforastrongleg-spinner…Itprobablytookme a littlewhile coming out of the strongshadowofWarne.Andtobehonest,Iamprob-ablystill intheshadow,”hesaidlastyear.

Frequent fall guyThestoryofLyon’srisehasbeenwelldocu-

mented:fromacurator’sapprenticetobowlingto his heroes like Ricky Ponting andMikeHussey in the 2010Ashes preparation andbreakingintotheteamlater.It’sthedoubtsthatfascinate.Therewasnohighinhimwhenhegrabbed

his200thTestwicketinSriLankain2016.Theserieswouldendina0-3lossandhewouldcopit inmediabriefingsfromcaptainSteveSmithandcoachDarrenLehmann.

“IfI’mbeinghonest,IprobablyfeltlikeIgothungout todrya littlebit,”hehadsaidabouttheseries.“Orthrownunderabusbyacoupleofcommentsinthemediabycertainpeople.”Fewmonthsdowntheline,afterastringofde-feats,hisspotwasindoubtbutaninjurytoSteveO’Keefegothimintothepink-ballTestagainstSouthAfrica,wherehisspell inthesecondin-nings turned thegameAustralia’sway. Soon,the250thwicketcameupinBangladesh.Theheavy chainof self-doubtwas finally

castasidewhenLyonrealisedhedidn’thavetoproveanythingtoanyone.“Idon’tneedtoprovetoeveryoneoutintheworldthatIdeservedtobehere.Ithinkthepennyreallydroppedwithinmyself inunderstanding thatmystockball isthebestintheworld.AndIbelievethatIcangetanyoneoutnomatterwhatsituationwe’rein.”

■ ■ ■

That stockball indeed is a thingof beauty.Thewholepackagereally.Theshortsteps, thelittlejog,thehoptogetthatrightthighhighanddownashe settles intoa classic side-onpos-ture,theshoulderandarmrevvingupandoverbeforetherelease.Lyoncockshisbowlingwristin,towardshimself,twofingerswrappedwideapartontheball,andhelets it ripupandoverwithalotofoverspinthatmakestheballdropandbounce.Onhis gooddays, thedrift awayfromtheright-handerisnoticeable.Hisstockballistheloopydrifteroutsideoff,

onalength,drawingthebatsmanforward,be-fore suddenlydropping, turning, andbounc-ing.Lyonlookstoupsetthebatsmen’sbalanceatthecreasewiththeweighteddrop,turnandbounce.

WebofdeceptionTheballshebowledtotakeoutRohittwice

in that 2014AdelaideTestwerequite some-thing. In the first innings, hehad luredRohitdownthetracklookingforthetypicalondrivewiththeturn.Butacoupleofskipsdown,Rohitrealised theballwasn’twherehe thought itwouldbe.Ithadstartedtodriftaway.Hisarmsbegantosearchforit,awayfromthebody,andhis‘shape’begantobeyankedaway.Hethrewinonelastattemptwithhiswristsbuttheballhaddropped, turned, andhecouldn’t controlhisdrive,andwaspouchedbyLyonhimself.Inthesecondinnings,Rohitwouldnotleave

the creasebut tried to stretch forward inde-fence.Aloopyrippingoff-breakonalengthout-sideoff drewhim forward. Theball gripped,kickedupoff the rough, crash-landedon theglovesandricochetedtobackwardshortleg.ThosedeliveriesarethesortLyonhascome

tobeknown forover theyears. The loop, therip, drift, overspin, and theunerringaccuracyballafterball,overafterover,havefetchedhimover400wickets.Clearly,Warne’sshadowhasreceded, and it’s thebatsmenwhoare grap-plingwithself-doubt.

Tale of many turns

Foramanwhohastaken400wickets,NathanLyonsays,foralongtime,heneverfelthebelongedintheteam.Reuters

SPORTLINE:Over a distinguished career, Lyon has battled setbacks to become a premier off-spinner

AGENCEFRANCE-PRESSEADELAIDE,DECEMBER18

ENGLANDWEREstaringdownthebarrelofanother chastening defeat Saturday, dis-missed for 236 then forced to watch asAustralia batted again and stretched theirlead in the day-night second Ashes Test atAdelaide.JoeRoot andDawidMalanhad survived

theopeningsessionofdaythreeunscathed,building a 128-run stand as they chasedAustralia’sfirst-innings473forninedeclared.But it all came crashing down after the

dinner breakwith both players removed inquick succession, Root for 62 andMalan for80, sparking a collapse that saw Englandslumpfrom150 for twoto236all out.Makingmattersworse,theydidsoagainst

asecond-stringattackwithPatCumminsandJoshHazlewoodbothmissing.Stand-inAustralian skipper Steve Smith

couldhaveenforcedthefollow-on,butchosetoresthisbowlersandsendintheopenerstoturn thescrewwith twodays left.Theynegotiatedsome75minutesforthe

loss of DavidWarner for 13, needlessly runout after a disastrousmix-upwithMarcusHarris,whoremainsunbeatenon21.NightwatchmanMichael Neser was on

twoasAustraliareached45forone,buildingtheir lead to282.Hostile pace fromMitchell Starc and

NathanLyon’sdangerousspindid thedam-agetoEngland,complementedbyCameronGreen,whobaggedRootforthesecondcon-secutivetime. Starc—whobecamethefirstbowler toclaim5wickets inday-nightTests—claimed4-37andLyon3-58.England crashed by ninewickets in the

firstTestatBrisbaneandif theygo2-0downin Adelaide the Ashes are as good as gone,needing towinall three remainingTests.Australia bowled repeatmaidens at the

start of the second session andRoot lookedincreasingly uncomfortable against Green,whowasstartingtofindmovementwiththepinkball.Havingpassed1,600Testrunsinacalen-

daryear—onlythefourthplayerinhistorytodoso—hepokedataGreendeliveryandgotan edge to Smith at slip, leaving him stillsearchingforanelusivefirst-evercenturyinAustralia.Malansoonfollowed,slashingataStarcthunderboltthattookanick,againintoSmith’s safe hands. Malan has now scorednine Test 50s but only converted one into acentury.“Weletitmeanderalittlebitthroughthe

firstsession,”Starcsaid,whileheapingpraiseonGreen.

“He’saserioustalentforayoungkid,he’sagreatadditiontoourbowlingattack,hewasextremely good in that session after thebreak.”OlliePopesurvivedabat-padreviewbut

only lasted twomore balls, charging downthe wicket to Lyon and edging toMarnusLabuschagneat short legon five.Jos Buttler fell without scoring to Starc

andEnglandtrudgedoff toteaon197forsix.Itdidn’ttakelongforAustraliatocleanup

the rest with Chris Woakes and OllieRobinson also undone by Lyon, andwhenBen Stokes was bowled by Green for 34, itwasall butover.Englandhadresumedat17 for twoafter

losingopenersRoryBurns(four)andHaseebHameed(six)toafiery40-minutespellfromStarc,NeserandJhyeRichardsonunderlightsonFridayevening.Root strodeouton five, alongsideMalan

onone.Theyhadperfectearlybattingcondi-tionsonaflatpitchandRootsettledquickly,slamming a well-timed drive for four toboosthis confidence.Starcwas hit for 11 off his first over and

thepairquicklybroughtuptheir50partner-ship.Malan completed his 50with a singleoff Neser, while Root hit Richardson to theboundary to reachhis52ndhalf-century.BRIEFSCORES:Australia473 for9decand45for1(Harris21*,Warner13)leadEngland236 (Malan 80, Root 62, Starc 4-37, Lyon 3-58)by282runs

Starc’s milestone inday-night Tests leavesAustralia in command

Withhis4 for37,MitchellStarcbecamethefirstbowler totake50wickets inday-nightTests.Reuters

Sunday December19Thisisatimetobeyourself.Youcanbecountedassensitive, imaginativeandunworldly. Inthefinalanalysisyourdreamsareoneofyourmostwonderfulassets,don't letanyonetakethemaway.

Monday December20Nowisamoment toreorganiseyourpersonalandprofessionalaffairs.Besmartandaskotherpeople for theiropinion first.

Tuesday December21Lifeisgood.It'stimetomakeacome-backand scotch all those nasty rumours thatyou are being lazy and self-indulgent.

Wednesday December22Ratherthanjustfeelingpulledindifferentdirections, look at individual situationsand realise that you can makeimprovements in one while leavinganother for later.

Thursday December23Ifyouarepreparedforanythingtohappen,this might be a good time to let otherpeople know exactly what you think oftheirbehaviour,especiallyifyouapprove.

Friday December10There'samajoradvantageinyourcurrentSun-Moon alignment. For a start you'vegot all angles covered, which is a way ofsayingthatif lifedoesn'tgoyourway,youhave lotsof otheroptions.

Saturday December11Yourstarsarestill sociablebutduringthecourseof thenextmonth,many changeswill take place. Youwill be cutting downoncommitments.

If it’s yourBirthday

SUDOKU4689

DifficultyLevel3sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4688

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Nomatterwhatpeopletellyou,wordsandideascan_________-RobinWilliams(6,3,5)

SOLUTION:EATER,TONAL,ORCHID,WEIGHTAnswer:Nomatterwhatpeopletellyou,wordsandideascanchangetheworld-RobinWilliams

TAEER IORCDH

TALON EITGHW

JUMBLEDWORDS

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Tuesday's lunaralignmentscallsomeof yourfinancialplans into

question.Bytheendof theweek, financialanddomesticschemescoulddovetailnicely, andyou'llbe inaconfidentmood,althoughthis isnotimetogivewaytocomplacency.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)YourSun-Moonpatternspoint toasuitable timetobringtoahead

matterswhichhavebeensimmeringbelowthesurfaceforsometime.Dowhatyoucantokeeppeoplehappy,andtry tosteerclearofloomingproblemsbeforeyouhit therocks.

GEMINI (May22- June21)You'veprobablyhearda lotabouthowluckyyouare tohave Jupiter so

positivelypositioned,butdon'tsendout invitations to thepartyjustyet.This isoneof thoseweekswheneveryonegoesmadandeverythinggoeswrong.However, suchperiodsofupheavalareessentialif youare tosmartenupyouract.

CANCER(June22- July23)Matterswhichseemtohaveapurelyprofessionalconnectionright

nowwill acquirean intenselypersonal significancebeforetheweek isout.Yourcaringandcompassionatequalitieswillbemuch indemandasfriends falloutandcometoyouforsupport.

LEO(July24-Aug23)Astrongaccentondomestic lifecouldseeyoudashingaroundoraltering

plans.Abreakthrough isontheway, sokeepyouroptionsopen.Hopefully theSunwill shednewlightonanoldsituationbeforeyoustumble intoapossibleblundersignifiedbyPlutonicenergies.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Youcanchoosewhichpathtotakethisweek.Try toshelve

boringtasksandconcentrateonmoreexcitingactivities.ImminentLunarmovementswillhighlighteducationalandtravelaffairs, advisingyouto takeall reasonableprecautions.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Lifeisenergeticandfun,andanadventurousattitudecouldpayoff.

However, ifyou'reunsureofyourground,youcouldgetinvolvedintheargumentswhichotherpeoplewillbeprovoking,oftenneedlessly.Whynotusethischancetodevelopyourskillsasapeacemaker.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)It’snotyettherighttimetodiscloseconfidentialinformation,orto

inquireintocertaindevelopmentsthatmaybenoneofyourbusiness.Socialarrangementsoverthenearfuturearelikelytobecomemorediscreet,andyoumayenjoysharingsecretplansandassignations.Mars,theplanetwhichindicatesyourenergylevels,hasbeencausingthepaceofeventstoslowdown.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec23)Theremaybetroublebrewinginyourcareer,butifyoutakecontrolof

developmentsandareabsolutelycertainofwhatyouwant,there’snoreasonwhythisshouldn’tbeasuccessfulperiod.Fromthelong-termpointofview,tryandconcentrateonexpandingyourhorizonsandstrivingharderfornobleaimsandambitions.

CAPRICORN(Dec.23-Jan.20)Progressislikelyonallfrontsthisweek.Yetpleaserememberthattherearepeople

aroundyouwhoareeasilyupsetorprovoked,andthey’llbemorelikelytoflyoff thehandlethanusual.Trytomakesurethateveryoneadoptsacommonsenseandbusiness-likeapproach,atleastwhenthey’reinyourpresence.

AQUARIUS(Jan.21-Feb.19)Thestarsaremovingfromtensiontoharmony.You’llbeontherightwave-

length,andinexactlytherightpositiontosortoutaspotofconfusionmid-week.Relyonyourintuitionifcalledupontoresolveknotty,practicalproblems.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Marsismakingwaves,whichcouldbeagoodthing.Theresultwillbeahostof

minorirritationsinaweekwhichwill, formostofyourfriendsandcolleagues,bequitestressful.Youarethereforetherightpersontocometotheaidofpartnerswhoarefeelingemotionallybattered.

YOURWEEKAHEADBRIDGE

West led the nine of clubs, taken by East's ace. East returned a spade,whichSouth ruffed. Justoneheart indummywouldhavebeennice. CanSouthcopewithNorth'sbeingheartless?

NORTH♠ K8❤Q 1095♦ K62♣9 763

WEST♠ A J 7 63❤642♦ A 108♣J 4

NORTH♠ K8 762❤None♦ KQ J 2♣K652

SOUTH♠ None❤A J 106542♦ A8 7♣Q J 10

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH1H❤

pass 1S♠ pass 2H❤pass 2NT pass 4H❤pass pass pass

SUNDAY CROSSWORD 2352QUICKCLUESACROSS9. Ruthlesscompetitivestruggle(3-4)10. Singing toabacking tape(7)11. Experiencespainoraches (7)12. Nine-sidedfigure (7)13. Gestureofdeferenceor respect(9)15. Packing-case (5)16. The____ : JesusChrist? (7)19. Firstmost (7)20. Wind instrumentsusuallyofsopranopitch(5)21. Slovenlyperson(9)25. Proddingorspurring intoaction(7)26. Opposing(7)28. Seniorpupil (7)29. Largebreedofdog(7)

DOWN1. Playedquickly (music) (6)2. Smother, suffocate (6)3. Karma(4)4. A formerBritishadmiral (6)5. Superficial, not lasting (4-4)6. Copyout inwriting (10)7. Dismalexpression?(4,4)8. Lowfat flesh (4,4)14. Tarnished intheshowroom(4-6)16. Temporaryexpedients (8)17. Desecrates,despoilsor ravishes(8)18. Banishordemote (8)22. Physical injury (6)23. ___ChandraChatterji : creatorofVandeMataram?(6)24. Disembark(3,3)27. Aswell as (4)

CRYPTICCLUESACROSS9. Ian's twice takenrightnationality (7)10. I'mgoingtoconvinceeverybodythey'll getbetter (7)11. InKarachi,BAchiefly involvedatypeof brazier (7)12. Refusing tosettle? (7)13. Skinpale,beingultra-conservative (4-5)15. Girl finallymadetowishtobeamiss (5)16. SweetvandalovercomingEuropeannation(7)19. Point topinkasmoresuitable fortowels? (7)

20. Mythicaldwarf holdsGeorgeinitially incheck(5)21. What's left inblackmaybeworn(9)25. Baseballplayerwho'sasuccessfuldetective? (7)26. Theheatof sincerity? (7)28. Goaroundwithaclergymandistributing love (7)29. Dance tooldhomerecording(3-4)

DOWN1. Adjustheighta fraction(6)2. Malicious toprecludetakinganeducationaldegree (6)3. Lastcharacter inahundredtoassist inmakingsomebrass (4)4. Chains itup,hidingat theoriginalplace (2,4)5. Place forbearding?(5,3)6. Kindofhatonthesmoker'shead, so tospeak(7-3)7. A little flowershe,albeitgrabbingeveryotherone in theEmirate! (3,5)8. Labelsdifficult toget ridof ? (8)14. It takes the fatherandmotherofamindtoproduce it ! (5-5)16. X-ratedcomplex forsoundcompany(4-4)

17. Noteagiven,oddlyenough(8)18. Tyreseentobegivenrepairs intherecentpast (8)22. Walkingwhere thecorn'sgrowing?(2,4)23. Peepandtossout raises (6)24. Anewparent isecstatic (6)27. Foreignernotstarting tosmell(4)

QUICKCLUESAcross: 1Lactic,5Coherent,9Disraeli,10Assets,11Imperilled,12Shod,13Baptised,16Dragon,17Coptic,19Attitude,21Knee,22Ingoodtime,25Disown,26Isolated,27Agreeing,28Elapse.Down: 2Axiom,3Torte,4Credits,5Chilled,6Hoarded,7Resistant,8Notsogood,14Abounding,15Titlerole,18Chianti,19Arguing,20Twosome,23Tiara,24Meets.CRYPTICCLUESAcross:1Smelts,5One'sword,9Scornful,10Exists,11Quidproquo,12Even,13Pretence,16Fealty,17Unable,19Latitude,21Livy,22Englishman,25Pinata,26Onlooker,27Unusable,28Dished.Down:2Macau,3Lurid,4Saffron,5Oblique,6Eyedoff,7Whitebait,8Retreated,14Rendition,15Tabbycats,18Ewelamb,19Leg-rope,20Trifled,23Hoots,24Adele.

Solutionsto2351

Westovercalled1SandafteraNegativeDoublebyNorthandaraiseto2SbyEast, South bid and finished the auctionwith3H.What shouldWestlead?TheSouthHand: S-Q104H-AKJ8D-974C-A102TheEastHand: S-952H-73D-QJ53C-KQ85Thebiggestdealwiththisopeningleadisnotto leadaspade. Leadingtheaceisterribleandunderleadingitisworse. Ihavewrittenabookonleadsandhaveanentirechapterdevotedtowhyleadingasuit likethisoneagainstasuitcontractisbad. Eventhoughyourpartnerhasraisedthesuit,leadingitisaseriouslybadidea.Sohavingrejectedaspadelead,youstillhavetofindsomething. Adiamondisrejectedforthesamereasonsasaspadeandaclubisrejectedbecauseleadingadoubletonintothebidder isalsoabadidea.This leavesyouwithatrumplead.Notabadchoice,actually. It issafeandmaydosomethinggoodforyoursideifdeclarerneedstoruffafewthingsindummy. South takes the lead in his handwith the ace, East playing theseven. ItisobviousthatEastdoesn'thaveanythinginheartssoyoucanbesurethatSouthhasthemissinghearthonours.AttricktwoSouth leadsaspadetowardthedummy.Doyoutakeitorduckit?Betterplaylow. ThekingwillwinbutonlyifSouthhasasingletonspadewillitcostyouatrick. SinceEastraisedto2Sandsoldoutto3H,itisunlikelythathehas five of them. In themeantime, it is possible that duckingwill keepSouthfromgettingasecondspadetrick.Youdidn'tthinkthatyourpartnerhadthequeenofspades,didyou?ItispossiblethatEastdoesnothavethequeenofspades. Heraised,buthedoesnotneedthequeenforthat. LookingatallfourhandsyoucanseethatSouthhasaspadeloser, twodiamondlosers,andtwoclublosers. Youwillget all of these tricks unless yougive declarer a place to put one of them.SinceSouthhasthreespadestothequeen,takingyouracewillprovidehimwithtwospadetricksandthatwillmeanadiamonddiscardfromdummyonthequeenofspades. Insteadoftwodiamondtricks,youwouldgetjustone.It is amazing howoften it is best for a defender not to take his acewhendeclarer leadstowarddummy'sking.

Dealer:South Vulnerable:None

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH1C♣

1S♠ dbl 2S♠ 3H❤pass pass pass

Dealer:South Vulnerable:None

Vol.XXNo.39 Printed for theproprietors, The IndianExpress (P) LtdbyMsVaidehiThakaratThe IndianExpressPress, PlotNo.EL-208,TTC IndustrialArea,Mahape,NaviMumbai -400710andpublished fromMafatlalCentre,7th floor,RamnathGoenkaMarg,NarimanPoint,Mumbai400021.Editorial&Administrativeoffices:MafatlalCentre,7th floor,RamnathGoenkaMarg,NarimanPoint,Mumbai400021.Phone:22022627/67440000. Fax:022-22835726.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha,Editor:UnniRajen

Shanker, Editor (Mumbai):NirupamaSubramanian.* (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct)Additional air surchargeof `1 .00-Goa.Copyright:The IndianExpress (P) Ltd.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited. The IndianExpress®

THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER19,2021

SPORT18RahultobeIndiavice-captainforSATestseriesNewDelhi:OpenerKLRahulhasbeennamedasthe Indianteam'svicecap-

tain for the up-coming three-Test seriesagainst SouthAfrica, startingDecember 26,BCCI secretaryJayShahsaidonSaturday.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma was madedeputytoViratKohlifortheseriesbuthewas ruled out due to a recurringleft-hamstringinjury.The29-year-oldRahul has played 40 Tests so far andhasscored2321runsatanaverageof35.16, with six centuries under hisbelt. Importantly, he is being lookedat as a long-term potential leader."The All-India Senior selection com-mittee has named KL Rahul as vice-captain for the upcoming 3-matchTest series against South Africa. KLRahul replacesRohitSharmaasvice-captain,whowasruledoutof theTestseries owing to a hamstring injury,"Shahsaid inastatement.

IPL’sLucknowfranchiseappointsGambhirasmentorNew Delhi: Former India openerGautamGambhirwasonSaturdayap-pointedmentor of the newLucknowfranchiseaheadofIPL2022.Thesouth-paw,who is also amember of parlia-ment,hadcaptainedKKRtotwoIPLti-tles during his playing days. "The firetowin a contest still burns bright in-sideme, thedesire to leaveawinner'slegacystillkicksme24x7. Iwillnotbecontesting foradressingroombut forthe spirit and soul of Uttar Pradesh,"Gambhir said in a statement. The 40-year-oldplayed58Tests,147ODIsand37T20Isfor India.

ATKMBpartwayswithcoachHabasKolkata: Former champions ATKMohunBaganonSaturdaypartedwayswith their most successful coach,AntonioLopezHabas, the firstheadtorollamidaforgettableoutingintheon-going Indian Super League. TheSpaniard,whowasthefirstmanagerinISL towinthetitle twice,hasbeenun-der pressure after their star-studdedside slipped to bottomhalf followingtheir four-matchwinless steak -- thelatest beinga3-3drawagainst anun-der-performingBengaluruFC. PTI

MurraydownsrustyNadal inAbuDhabiAbuDhabi:FormerworldnumberoneAndyMurrayeasedpastRafaNadal6-3, 7-5 in the Spaniard's comebackmatch at the World TennisChampionshipexhibitiontournamentinAbuDhabionFridaytosetupasum-mitclashwithRussia'sAndreyRublev.Morethanfiveyearsonfromtheirlastmeeting, both playersmade impres-sive starts but the Scot'smatch prac-tice told as he saved a break point inthethirdgameof thematchandthenbrokehimselftoclaimtheset."MeandRafa have played so many toughmatches over the years... both of ushavegonethroughinjurytroublesandit's just great tohave theopportunityto bewith him on court again," saidMurray. REUTERS

BRIEFLY

FormerWorldno1outwitsyounggunSen inathrillingcontest toreachtheWorldChampionships final inSpain

SHIVANINAIKDECEMBER18

“OUW.SLIPPED.How.He’sokkk...”On either side of the elegantly alarming

sighs fromcommentatorsMorten Frost andSteenPedersenduringLakshyaSen’squarter-finalagainstChineseZhaoJunPengcameabio-mechanical boggler for 35-year-old AbdulWahidsittinginthestandsbehindtheIndian.Thiswasat20-20inthedecider,andSen’s

trustedphysiotherapistandtrainerwasn’tre-allylookingattheshuttler’slittleskid,butmoreatthefateof theshuttleacrossthecourt.“I don’t knowhowhedid it, all credit to

Lakshya. Iwas just veryhappy itwent inside.You knowhow it is whenwe arewinningagainst aChinese shuttler... slight extraprideand joy,”Abdulwoulddescribe the scenesasSen became the second Indian to ensure aHuelvaWorldChampionshipmedal.In fact, Abdul knewexactly howSenhas

beenpullingoffsomeofthoseoutrageousre-trievesthroughouttheweek,withbody-bend-ingMatrixarchesondefenceandunrealcross-hitsfromseeminglyunbalancedpositions.ThisoneonFriday evening thoughwasdifferent:Senwasmovingdiagonallyfromtherightnetcorner to the left backpocket. And itwashisdecision toaudaciouslygodown-the-line in-steadof theexpectedcross-courtthatcausedthehavoc inhis torque - the shoulder acrossthe torso swinging back before cocking thewristinsuddensnap,andthefeetstillheadedforward.(Imaginehittingfastforward&pauseinonegoonvideo).Itisforthesakeofsuchelasticityonabad-

mintoncourt-routineagilityfortopshuttlers-wherethetophalfandthefeetaredoingtheirownequal-and-oppositethingswhileinmo-tion,thatphysiosarekeptbusy24x7.“Improvingagilityisendlessandalwaysan

ongoingprocessinbadminton.Whentheygo

fortournaments,it’snotlikeyouonlyplaythematch and the day is done. Everyminutemovement isworked on through the day,”Abdul says. “It’s themost high-impact sportI’veworkedin,andinjurieshappenbecauseoftheintensity.Myjobistokeephisbodyjointsin good shapeandcorrect posture,” adds theexpertfromCuttack.Abdul,thesonofasupervisorofatopho-

tel chain, had very little exposure to sportwheninschool,justsomecasualtabletennis.He’d pursue his Bachelor’s at Pune’s MARangoonwalaCollegeandMastersatDelhi’sGuru Gobind Singh College, after which hewould gain experience from stints in Delhitennis, basketball, football and evenwrestling.Badminton, though,wasadiffer-ent feather-game.“InPune,Ifirstinteractedwithbadminton

playerswhoplayedinter-universityandweremy friends. It was an eye-opener, the de-mandsofthatsport,”Abdulrecalls.He’sbeen

at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy(PPBA) since 2016, brought in by OlympicGoldQuest (OGQ), but this last oneyearhasbeen about accompanying Sen for top-tierevents. “Other sports are 3-4 months.Badmintontheyplayweekafterweek,everymonth. It’sverydemanding.”

All-actionplayerSenhasbeenvulnerabletoinjuryowingto

hisgame-style:he’safrogprancingaroundthecourtwithnocareforlimborstrife.ItisAbduland the strength and conditioning staff’s jobto give him the freedomto gohopping afterthe shuttle. “My first prioritywith himwasthree areas - anklemobility and strengthen-ing, hips and shoulder,” Abdul recalls.WheninBengaluru-theweeksweredividedamongthesethreefocusareas.Assorted injuries that cropped up - first

shoulder,latelytheback,woulddemandquickchangesinplanstopatchupthemangledtis-sues. But itwas inpre-hab thatAbdulwouldstart investingmoretime, toprevent injuries.“Weworked on activating the loosening ofjoints and correct posture. As a right-hander,youareworkingyourrightlegmoreasalead,andmuscleimbalancewilldevelopononesidebecauseofunilateralmovements.Plus,twistsandturns.So,weworkonposturetominimisethat,”hesays.TherearedailyhealthquestionnairesSen

fills, and his mood is accounted for, plusbreathing exerciseswoven intowarm-ups.“Wecheckifhe’scomfortable.Evenrecoverydepends onwhat’s availablewherewe are.Rightnow,it’scoldinSpain,soit’shydrother-apy in the pool. There’ll be ice-baths inwarmer climate or compression therapywhenthat’s required,”hesays.Even the running, skipping, cycling en-

duranceloadingisminutelychosen,soasnottooverworkthekneeandankle.Sen’sexplosivegameatthenet,andallthe

quick jumping and adjustments to pick theshuttlefromanyposition,meanevenhisland-ingonthecourtisbeingworkedupon,withaneyeonmaintainingalignment.“Lakshyaissu-per-agile on court and specific focuswill re-mainonthataspect,”Abduladds.Sen’s longmatches, like against Kenta

Nishimoto,arethebiggroundhogdayswhenthree-gamers comebunchedwithminimalrecovery. Badminton’s top echelons arewrackedbyinjuryduetoapunishingschedule,andSen’sbiggestchallengewillremainstayingfitwhileplayinginbigarenaswithslowshut-tles. Instinctively attacking, he’s bought intothenecessityofrallying.Butthatgame-style’salwaysawringeronthebody.“Longmatch days are hardwork for the

athlete.So,myresponsibility isalsotoensureninehours’ sleepwhichwe see as ‘recoverytime’, while the nutritionistworks on carbsloadingatdinner(it’sbeenchickenandpastaatthebuffetinSpain).Butasaphysio,itismyjobtoensurethatafterallthetiringexertions,theathletecanmaintainstrengthandgetthesoft tissuereleasethereafter,”heexplains.Abdul’s brief was clear: ensure Sen is al-

ways in with a chance in the third game.Against Zhao, the teamof coachDKSenandAbdul regroupedafterhigh-fivesandatwo-minute celebratory acknowledgement ofhow far Sen had come. “Having beaten aChinese player, we did a small jig. But thenimmediatelygotdowntorecovery.Therearetwomorematchestogo.Coaches likeVimal(Kumar) Sir have put trust inmewith elitetalent. Ihavetodomyjobwell,”hesays.Kidambi Srikanth has had his own bat-

tleswithinjuriesandemergedonthebrightside. “He’s a very good player, with greatskills, fitness and strokes,” Abdul avers.Breath-taking badminton demands the in-visiblesolidfitness,andAbdulreckonsSen’steamwill keep the Sen cruise-ship steady,working likepropellers.

SHIVANINAIKDECEMBER18

LOOKWITHIN, theysay, to find theburningembers of ambition. Kidambi Srikanth hadsearchedforthelastfewyearsandfoundnotevendyingflickersashiscareercareenedoffitsonce-promisingcourse.OnSaturday, theact of looking within acquired a larger di-mension, when Srikanth found the blazingfight staring him in the face with cool un-twinkling Lakshya Sen eyes. His youngercompatriotdrewoutthewinnerinhim,withchiselledstrikesandhammer-netshots,be-foreSrikanthwon17-21,21-14,21-18tobe-comethefirstIndianmantomaketheWorldChampionship finals.Therewasaroarintheend,amunificent

smilewithraisingofarmsandawarmhugatthe net, as the best person to celebrate thispath-breaking journeywith could be noneotherthanthemanfromacrossthecourt-afellowIndian,butmoreimportantly,afellowwarrioron thebadmintoncourt.Therewasnopretense toacoolhead,no

faking nonchalance. Srikanth left it all outthere,playinganauthenticbaregame,allhisbrillianceof strokesgleamingbutnohidingof thewartsandall.Ropes of clear nervousness had leashed

Srikanth intoabody-bindashe failed toex-presshimself intheopeninggame.Beingthesenior,moreexperienced shuttler, a formerWorldNo.1 toboot, thepressure tonot losewas on him. The older Indian looked flap-pable, jitteryandpronetoerrors.Therewerenine unforced errors in the opener, in fact.And no progressive discovery of perfectioneither -hekept spraying thesmashwide.Srikanthlackedsharpnesswhenhewent

for the lines.Buthekeptbackinghimself, ashetweezedoutwinnersfromSen’soctopuslikeall-reaching tentacles.Forced toplayoutof his comfort zoneof

blitzingattack,draggedintoascrap,Srikanthwas riddledwithmistakes. His confidenceshotisthethwacktapatthenet.Itstayedcoy.Instead,outcametheblisteringsmashfrommid-court.

Going for his shotsSen’s far fromamugindefence,andwas

retrieving an audacious number of returns.Whentheshuttlekeptcomingbackfromthemiddle, Srikanthwould go for the lines andbotch it up. But thenhewouldgetupagain,andstartfromscratch.Srikanthhastoomuchquality tobeoverpoweredbySen.OnSaturday,hefought.Onlyforthenext

point. There were long rallies he lost. Buttherewasalwaysa fresh ideabrewing tobetried.Senwastiring,butsowashe.Twogor-geousdown-the-linesmashes-thoseunfet-tered hits punctuated all these puddles ofpressure inwhich he splashed. Falling back8-11 in the opener, Srikanth let things driftin theopener.Hewould start the secondwith aggres-

sion and anger. There was a jaw-droppingbehind-the-backbackhandretrieve,andSenmatched him save-for-save. He can sleep-walkthroughhisnetgame-incidentallySenacesittoo-andthatwasdependable,butlifewasontheedgeinthebackcourt.4-8down,hewouldlevelat9-9andspendGame2get-tingSentomis-hitmorethanclaimhisownwinners,finallypocketingthesecondtoforcea decider. In the third, Senwas visibly tiredand Srikanth put the revs onhis smashes, alotof shoulderonthesteeplings.At7-9,Senplayed a casual flick parry - a no-look blindslash that showed the difference betweenfearless youth and pressured reputation.Srikanthwouldgetpastall that.At10-13 in thedecider though, Srikanth

had had enough. Hewould gleam out theswordandgoall-guns attack, rainingdownsmashes,manyacross,onestraightdown,tostamp his foot down. In the end, Sen didn'thave thegrowlinghunger inhis stomach todenySrikanth.

Sri can

KidambiSrikanthfoughtbackafter losingtheopeninggametobeatLakshyaSen17-21,21-14 ,21-17 . PTI

I couldn'twalk this golf course even right now,and it's flat. I don't have the endurance.My leg isnot quite right yet and it's going to take time. I'ma longwayaway fromplaying tournamentgolf.”

TIGERWOODS, 15-TIMEMAJORWINNER, HASNOTSETATIMEFRAMETORETURNTOTHEPGATOUR

It isAbdulWahidandthestrengthandconditioningstaff's jobtogive LakshyaSenthefreedomtogohoppingaftertheshuttle. Express

Meet the man who keeps Sen fit and strong

Anotheronebites thedust

London: The Premier League lost anothermatchtoaCOVID-19outbreakinasquadwhenAstonVilla'shomegameagainstBurnleywaspostponedaroundtwohoursbeforekickoffonSaturday. Villasaiditdidnothaveenoughplay-erstofieldateamfollowingmorepositivetestsinitssquadthatwerereportedearlySaturday.The league approvedVilla's request to post-pone thematch "based on the number ofCOVID-19 cases, injuries and illness." Fivematches scheduled for thisweekendhadal-readybeen calledoff becauseof coronavirusoutbreaksinsquadsamidaworseninghealthemergency inBritain as theomicronvariantspreads. The league said the remaining fourgames — Leeds-Arsenal on Saturday andNewcastle-ManchesterCity,Wolverhampton-ChelseaandTottenham-LiverpoolonSunday— "are currently scheduled to proceed asplanned."

NFL latest casualtyNewYork: TheNFLonFridaypostponedgamesforthefirsttimeallseasonduetoCOVID-19,theNBAunveiled tighter protocols and theNHLshutdownthree teams throughDec. 26, fur-ther clouding their plans to send theworld'stopplayerstotheBeijingOlympics.Themoves

bythethreeleaguescomeasthehighlyconta-giousOmicronvariantthreatenstointensifyanalreadyalarming surgeof COVID-19cases inNorthAmericaandalsoconjuredmemoriesofMarch2020whenprofessionalsportsground

toahalt.TheClevelandBrownswereoriginallyscheduled to host the Las Vegas Raiders onSaturdaybutwith twoquarterbacks amongtheirroughly20playersonthereserve/COVID-19list,willnowplaythegameonMonday.

Holidayshave towait

Beijing:BeijingcitysaidonSaturdayitisadvis-ingresidentsnottoleavetownduringamajorholidayseasoninearly2022,partofeffortstolimit coronavirus risks while the WinterOlympicsGamesarebeingheld.China'scapi-tal is keen "to ensure zero local infection, thesuccessful hosting of theWinter OlympicGamesandtheWinterParalympicGames,andthatthepublichavejoyful,peacefulandtran-quil holidays," it said in a statement. In addi-tiontoencouragingpeoplenottotakeunnec-essarytripsoutsidethecity, itwillalsocall forsomegatheringstobeheldonline,accordingtothestatement..

Durant inNBAsafetyprotocolNewYork:BrooklynNets star KevinDurant,theNBA's leading scorer, entered theNBA'shealthandsafetyprotocols.Hebecomestheeighthmemberof theNetsintheCOVIDpro-tocols, joining James Harden, LaMarcusAldridge,PaulMillsap,BruceBrown,DeAndre'Bembry,JamesJohnson&JevonCarter.Duranthas carried theNets to a 21-8 record and athree-game lead over theChicagoBulls andBucksintheNBA'sEasternConference.Ontheseason, he is averaging 29.7 points, 7.9 re-boundsand5.9assistspergame. AGENCIES

DISRUPTIONS

Covid plays spoilsportCovid cases indifferent sports across theworldareon the riseagain.While theEnglishPremier Leaguehas seen several postponementsdue toburgeoningcases,the effect seems tobeapparentacross thepondaswellwithAmerican sports feeling

thepinch.

StevenGerrard-managedAstonVillasaidtheydidnothaveenoughplayers to fieldateamforSaturday’smatch (L ).KevinDuranthasbecometheeighthmemberof theNets intheCOVIDprotocols. Agencies

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEDECEMBER18

BRIJ BHUSHANSharan Singh, a BJPMemberof Parliament andpresidentof theWrestlingFederationofIndia(WFI),wascaughtoncam-era slappingayounggrappler onstage during the Under-15NationalChampionshipinRanchi.The incident purportedly tookplace on Friday at Ranchi’sShaheed Ganpat Rai IndoorStadium after a wrestler fromUttar Pradeshwas disqualifiedfrom takingpart in the competi-tionafterbeingallegedlyfoundtobeoverage.Unhappywiththede-cision,thewrestlerlodgedacomplaintandde-mandedSingh’sintervention.Singh, a six-timeMP fromKaiserganj in

Uttar Pradesh, is a seasoned sports adminis-trator.ApartfromtheWrestlingFederationofIndia,whichhehasbeenheading for the lastnine years, he is also a vice-president of the

AsianWrestlingFederationandamemberofthegovernment’sMissionOlympicCell,whichidentifies athletes for the Target OlympicPodium Scheme, among his other assign-ments. Atwrestling tournaments across thecountry, Singhwields ahighdegreeof influ-enceonproceedingsandhashadthelastword

onallmattersinthesportinIndia.However, the 64-year-old

politician-cum-sports-adminis-trator chosenot to interferewiththedecisiontakenbythecompe-tition officials. He tried to pacifythewrestlerbutthosepresentsaythat an argument broke out be-tweenthetwo,afterwhichSinghlost his cool and slappedhimonstage.Somewrestlersandcoaches

demandedanapologyfromSinghbutthesit-uation was brought under control afterJharkhandWrestling Federation presidentBholaNathSinghsteppedin.Singhandofficialsfromthewrestlingfed-

erationdidnotrespondtophonecallsseekingcomments.

WFI chief slaps wrestler onstage ‘for being overage’