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

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

New Delhi

CLASSIFIEDS&TENDERS2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

No. F. 21(13)/ND(737)Rental Photocopier Machine/Prov.Br./2021-23/003663264/Dated: 23.12.2021

Tender Id No.: 2021_CJT_213399_1e-TENDER NOTICE

For and on behalf of the President of India, e-tender (online tender) is invited for the sup-plying & installation of Photocopier Machines on rental/contract basis required to install atvarious places of Central Jails of Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli, Delhi for the period of twoyears from the date of issue of rate contract (extendable upto three months). The NITalongwith terms and conditions, Annexures and detailed specifications has been uploadedat Govt. Procurement website. All the tenderers should apply online before the Last Dateand Time.Estimated cost : Rs. 27 LakhsDate of release of tender through : 28.12.2021e-procurement solutionLast date / Time of receipt of tenders : 17.01.2022 at 11:30 A.M.through e-procurement solutionDate of opening of online : 17.01.2022 at 12:00 NoonPre-qualification bidsDate of opening of online : 17.01.2022 at 3:00 PMFinancial Bid (Tentative Date)Further information can be seen at: https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in

Sd/-DIP/ SHABDARTH/0525/21-22 Superintendent-II: PHQ

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF PRISONSPRISONS HEAD QUARTERS: NEAR LAJWANTI GARDEN CHOWK

JANAKPURI: NEW DELHIindianexpress.com

The Indian Express.For the Indian Intelligent.

I arrive at a conclusionnot an assumption.Inform your opinionwith

detailed analysis.

ClassifiedsPPEERRSSOONNAALL

LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD

IIKaramvir RanaS/oAttar SinghRanaR/oHouseNo. 31ChoupalKSamneZindpurAlipur, NorthWestDelhi-110036HaveChangedMyNameToKaramvir

0040597280-1

IIBulbul D/o-Manish JainR/o-66,Sector-7, Panchkula(Haryana)-134109 havechangedmyname toSnigdhaJain for all purposes.

0040597220-1

IIAniket Saini S/ORajkumarR/O,H.No-9, Kewal ParkAzadpurDelhi-110033have changedmyname toAniket. 0040597240-4

IIAadishS/o-Ajay JainR/o-1247-48, Sector-12, Panipat,(Haryana) have changedmyname toSanyamJain for allpurposes. 0040597222-1

IItt is for general-informationthat IMilie SrivastavaD/o-LateRajinderKumar residing-AN-67-C, ShalimarBagh, Delhi-110088declare-that nameof-minehas-beenwrongly-writtenMile Srivastava inmyIncomeTaxDepartment,Ministry of Finance,Govt ofIndia-ServiceBook&OtherDocuments.Theactual-nameof-mine isMilie Srivastavarespectivelywhichmaybeamendedaccordingly.

0040597257-1

II,,YYOOGGIINNDDRRAAVERMAS/O-ISHWARDAYALVERMA,R/O-G-28/164 SECTOR-3,ROHINIDELHI-110085,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOYOGENDRAVERMA,FORALL,FUTUREPURPOSES. 0040597240-9

II,,VViirrmmaattiiDevi,aliasVirmatiMatiW/o-Mahender SinghR/o-687,MainChowk,PoothKhurd,Delhi-110039,have changedmyname toBeermati.

0040597260-2

II,,SSuurreesshh Singh,S/o JamanSingh,R/oH-152 ground-floorMohan-GardenUttamNagar,Delhi-110059,have changedmynametoSureshSinghNegi.

0040597248-1

II,,SSuujjaattaaRani Kaushal, D/O JiwatRamVerma,R/OG-JU,113-d,GreenApartment,Pitampura,Delhi-110034, have changedmyname toSujataKaushal.

0040597260-4

II,,SShhyyaamm Sunder S/o Late Sh.attar SinghR/oG-327, GroundFloor, PreetVihar, Delhi-110092,have changedmynametoShyamChoudhary.

0040597260-7

II,,SSaannsskkrriittiiD/O,Shiv LalMeenaR/oShiv LalMeenaVillage&post PrithvipuraDistt AlwarStateRajasthanPinCode301406have changedmynametoSanskriti Ghusinga for allpurposes. 0040597252-8

II,,SSaannjjaayyKUimar s/o JaiBhagwan r/oHNO.2358GALI-KAKWANPUNJABI-BASTIGHANTA-GHARMALKAGANJDELHI-110007,have changedname toSanjay kumar.

0040597248-4

II,,SSHHRREESSHHTTHHKUMARS/O.RADHEKRISHNAMANDAL,H.NO.C-2/41NEARPOSTOFFICENAND-NAGRI,DELHI-110093, Changedmyname to SHRESHTHAKUMAR,permanently.

0040597248-10

II,,SSHHIIVVEENNDDRRAA SINGHPRESENTLY,RESIDINGAT,13A/1NWCAIR-FORCESTATION,NEWDELHI-110003,HAVECHANGEDMYSON’SNAME,FROMPRANAYSINGHTOADVIT SINGH,VIDE-AFFIDAVIT,DATED-27-12-21.

0040597252-6

II,,RRoohhiittKumarS/oChandramaSinghR/o-A-365, Gali-8,KhaddaColony, Jaitpur Extn.,Part-2,Badarpur, Delhi-110044,havechangedmyname toRohitKumar Singh. 0040597260-9

II,,RRiicchhaaRathoreW/o-AnandShrivastava,D/oSh.JatendraSinghRathore,R/oA-104,C-54/A, Royal-Towers,Sector-61,Noida,Gautam-BudhNagar,U.P-201301,have changedmynameafter-marriage toRichaShrivastava,for all,futurepurpose. 0040597240-3

II,,hhiitthheerrttoo knownas Jayayuddin,S/oMohdMusharratHussain,R/o E-361,Gali No-1, Shri Ram-Colony,E-Block, Khajoori Khas,North EastDelhi,Delhi-110094,have changedmynameandshall hereafter be knownasZiyauddin. 0040597252-7

II,,RReekkhhaa SharmaW/oChanderShekharR/o.WZ-93, streetno.27,SantGarh,TilakNagar,Delhi-110018,have changedmyname toBhawnaSharma.

0040597260-5

II,,RRaajjKumar,S/oTaggaRam,R/oH.No-525,Arjun-Nagar,Gurgaon-122001, have changedmynameRaj Kumar Sachdeva, forall purpose. 0040597288-2

II,,RRIITTUUBALAMEHRA,W/ORAJESHKUMARR/O.A-15, BROTHERHOODAPARTMENTSVIKASPURl, H.BLOCKNEW-DELHI-110018,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETORITUMEHRA.

0040597248-2

II,,RRAAJJUU S/O-NAGENDERCHOUDHARY residingatA-532,FIRST-FLOOR,GALINO-15,MAHAVIR-ENCLAVEPART-2,NEWDELHI-110059,havechangedmyname toRAJUCHOUDHARY. 0040597260-1

II,,PPoooojjaaD/o-BhudevSingh,R/oH-1/42, Budh-Vihar,Phase-1,Delhi-110086,have changedmyname,FromRekhaToPooja,forall purposes. 0040597288-1

II,,Smt. BanitaGoel R/o-E-2/82,Sector-16, Rohini, Delhi, informthat inmydaughter (YashwiGoel)'s, school record's,mynameVanitaGoel iswrongly-written insteadof BanitaGoel,bothnamesbelong to the sameperson. 0040597155-2

II,,PPiinnkkiiKumaralias Pinki Devi,w/oSanjay kumar r/o.HNo.2358GALI KAKWAN-CHOWKCLOCKTOWERSUBZI-MANDIMALKAGANJDELHI-110007,have changedname toPINKI.

0040597248-3

II,,PPaayyaallMurshed,W/O-JamalMurshed,R/O-TowerA-1,NiralaAspire,GH-3,GreaterNoidaWest,Sec-16,Pin-201318,informthat Payal JMurshedandPayalJannatMurshedare sameperson.Payal JMurshed&Payal JannatMurshed is nowknownasPayalMurshed.

0040597260-10

II,,PPaarrmmooddKumarRatta aliasPramodKumar,S/oDevRaj,R/oGH-13/1065, Paschim-Vihar,Sunder-Vihar,Delhi-110087,have changedmyname toPramodKumarRatta.

0040597248-9

II,,NNOOOORRAAIINNAHMAD,S/O IRFANAHMADR/O-N.91/D,ABULFAZAL-ENCLAVEPART-1,JAMIA-NAGARN.DELHI-110025INMY10TH-CERTIFICATEMYDATE-OF-BIRTHANDMYMOTHER-NAMEWRONGLY-MENTION-13/07/1997ANDMOTHER-NAMESAMEENAKHATOONBUTMY-CORRRECTDATE-OF-BIRTH IS-13/05/1997ANDCORRECT-MOTHERNAMEIS SAMINAKHATUN.

0040597288-4

II,,MMoohhiinnddeerr SinghS/oUdhyanSinghGusain,R/o-1041, Phase-1,Model-Town, Bathinda,Punjab-151001,have changedmyname toMahinder SinghGusain. 0040597288-8

II,,MMeeeennaaKumariW/oShyamChoudharyR/oG-327, GoundFloor, PreetVihar, Delhi-110092,have changedmynametoMeenaChoudhary.

0040597260-8

II,,MMaallaaKishoreBatraW/OKishoreMotiramBatra,R/oP-2APrincetonestateDLFPhase-5,sector-54,NathupurGurgaon-122002,have changedmynametoMalaBatra. 0040597240-2

II,,MMSSBBAAHHKHAN,S/O IMRANAHMAD,R/OC-122,OKHLA-VIHAR JAMIA-NAGARN-DELHI-110025,INMY-10THMARKSHEETMYANDMYFATHER-NAMEWRONGLYMENTION-MISBAHAND IMRANKHANCORRECT-NAMEAREMISBAHKHANAND IMRANAHMAD. 0040597288-3

II,,MMOOHHNNIIMALHOTRA,W/OPARVEENKUMARKHATRI,R/OE-2/905,HASTRINAGAR,DELHI-52,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMEMOHNIMALHOTRATOMONIKAKHATRI. 0040597248-5

II,,KKmm..LLeeeellaawwaattiiD/oRamBhawanSinghSengar,W/oManishSingh,R/o Flat.No.182,GF,Sector-57,Gurugram(Haryana)-122004,havechangedmyname to LeelaSingh. 0040597248-7

II,,KKhhuusshhbbooooD/oShyamChoudharyR/oG-327, GroundFloor, PreetVihar, Delhi-110092,have changedmynametoKhushbooChoudhary.

0040597260-6

II,,JJaagg jeevanS/oKailashR/oH.No.B-1/729,Gali No-24, LalMandir, HarshVihar,Delhi-110093,inform thatmycorrectname is Jag jeevanbutmynamementioned inmysomedocuments Jag jeewanwhichiswrong,Jag jeevanand Jagjeewanboth is the sameperson. 0040597260-11

II,,HHAARRIISSHHKUMAR. S/ORAMJI LALKAUSHIK. ADDRESS-K-4/7B, 8A,MOHANGARDEN,UTTAMNAGAR,DWARKA,DELHI-110059,Changedmyname toHARISHKUMARKAUSHIK.Permanently. 0040597240-8

II,,GGeeeettaannjjaalliiD/o-PramodkumarR/o-H.no.711/26,BaldevNagar,Gurgaon,have changedmy,name fromGeetanjaliChadha toGeetanjali,for all,futurepurposes. 40597240-10

II,,GGIIRRIISSHHKHANIJOS/OHARISHCHANDRR/O-64 SURYANIKETANDELHI-110092,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOGIRISHKUMAR. 0040597248-6

II,,FFaarrhhaatt JahanLodhi R/o-A-35,S/F,GhafoorNagar,JamiaNagar,NewDelhi-110025,inform that inmydaughter(ZainabGulzar), school recordmy,nameFarhat Jahan iswrongly-written insteadofFarhat JahanLodhi,bothname,are sameperson.

0040597240-11

II,,FFAAUUZZAANNKHAN,S/OATTURREHMANKHAN,R/O.481-B, first-floor,Street.no.21. Zakir-nagar,newdelhi-110025,havechangedmyMinor Sonname,fromARYAN toARYANKHAN,for all purposes. 0040597240-1

II,,SushilaDahiyaW/o.SunilKumarR/o.Flat.No-6, Type-4,GuruGobindSinghHospital,RaghubirNagar, Delhi-110027.have changedmyname toSushila Permanently.

0040597244-1

II,,BBhhaawwaannii Shankar,S/oManoharLal,H.No.43,Rajdham-Colony,Tantura-Road,Nawada,NH-2,Mathura,U.P.,have changedmySon’s name,fromVikashKumarSharma toVikashKumaraccording tohismatriculation-certificateadhar-card, andother-verifieddocument,for all futurepurposes. 0040597288-5

II,,AArrcchhaannaaRaoW/O-NeerajKumarMalik R/O,G-14/68,FirstFloor,Sector-15,Rohini Delhi-110089,have changedmynametoSimranMalik. 40597240-7

II,,VijayKumarDhawan , S/oShriBadri Nath, R/oWardNo.10,GohanaHoliMohallaGohanaDistt. Sonepat (Haryana), dodeclare thatVijayKumarDhawanandVijayDhawan isoneandsameperson.

0040597258-1

II,,Shiv LalMeenaR/oShiv LalMeenaVillage&PostPrithvipuraTehMalakheraDistt Alwar StateRajasthanPinCode 301406havechangedmyminor son’s name fromSanskar to SanskarGhusingafor all purposes. 0040597252-9

II,,Shishir KumarNarwal, S/oRanjeevNarwal, R/o E-202,AjnaraDaffodil, Sector-137,Noida,U.P., I have changedmynameShishir K. Narwal for allpurposes. 0070766759-1

II,,Rajveer Singh, S/oRamdasBaghel, R/o 5/186-B, Dakshin-puri, New-Delhi 110062, havechanged thenameofmyminorchild aged 15 years fromBablutoVipin. 0070766722-1

II,,Rabbi Jyoti W/oParamjeetSinghAjmani R/o 704OrangeSVPGulmoharResidency,AhinsaKhand-5, Indirapuram,Ghaziabad have changedmyname toRabbi Jyot KaurAjmani for all purposes

0040597262-1

II,,hitherto knownasHemlataKharbW/o Narender Rathee,R/o FlatNo-B2/503, SunnyValleyCGHS, PlotNo-27, Sector12, Dwarka, Delhi-110075, havechangedmynameandshallhereafter be knownasHemlataRathee. It is certified that Ihave compliedwith other legalrequirements in thiscorrection. 0070766761-1

II,,OmPrakashVermaS/oSwagatVermaR/oShyambandh, Burnpur,Asansol (WB) 71332havechangedmyname fromOmanaVerma toOmPrakashVermafor all futurepurposes.

0040597212-1

II,,MuktaSuyal,W/oShriMukeshGoyal, R/o 79-D, Pocket-A,DilshadGarden, Delhi-110095,dohereby solemnly affirm&declare thatmybothNameMuktaSuyal andMuktaare thesameandoneperson, in futureKrishangGoyal’sMotherNamewill be knownasMukta SuyalvideAffidavit dated 24.12.2021.

0040597225-1

II,,MukeshGoyal, S/o Shri SidhKaranGoyal, R/o 79-D, Pocket-A, DilshadGarden, Delhi-110095, dohereby solemnlyaffirm&declare thatmybothNameMukeshGoyal andMukeshare the sameandoneperson, in futureKrishangGoyal’s FatherNamewill beknownasMukeshGoyal videAffidavit dated 24.12.2021.

0040597230-1

II,,MdAkhil S/oKhalil Ahmad,R/o197, D-block,Mangolpuri,Delhi-110083,have changedmynametoAkil Ahmad,for all purposes.

0040597260-3

II,,Manoj Bhardwaj S/oO.P.SharmaR/o 1-A, Block-D-4, LIGUdyogVihar, Sector-82, Noida,U.P. have changedmyminorson’s name fromAtharvaBhardwaj toAtharvBhardwaj.

0040597264-1

II,,MahendraPal Singh, S/oSatyaPal Singh, R/oB-57, PatelGardenUGF, DwarkaMod,Kakrola, Delhi-110078, havechangedmyname toMahender Pal Singh.

0070766764-1

II,, LokeshKumar, S/oAshokSingh, R/oHouseNo-116,Phase-2, PremNagar, NearRaoMaanSinghDharmshala,Najafgarh, Delhi-110043, thatnameofmy father hasbeenwronglywrittenasAshokKumar inmyDriving LicenceDL-0420120229808. Theactualnameofmy father isAshokSingh. 0070766745-1

II,,HreedayaGuptaS/oMr.RajeshGuptaR/o 1103, Tower-1, OrangeCounty, AhinsaKhand-1, IndirapuramGhaziabad, UP-201014HavechangedmynameHridayaGupta toHreedayaGupta forall futurepurposes.

0040597180-1

II,,Dev, S/oHari Singh, R/oH-3/22,UpperGroundFloor, FlatNo-UG-02, KhNo-83/20/1,MahavirEnclave, Delhi-110045, havechangedmyname toDevSingh. 0070766758-1

II,,DeepakKumar/DeepakKumarNakraS/oDilbaghRai,R/oH.No-212/28, Gali No-1 Jyoti-ParkGurgaonHaryana 122001,Have changedmyName toDeepakNakra,for all purposes.

0040597248-8

II,,AyushMishra sonof Ex-SgtDineshKumarMishra residentof FlatNoG-602, Tower-G KWSrishti Raj Nagar ExtensionGhaziabadUttar Pradesh,201017havechangedmynamefromAyushMishra toAayushMishra videaffidavit dated24/12/2021 atAdditional CityMagistrate (First) CourtGhaziabad (U.P.) 0040597207-1

II,,AjayKumar S/oSh. BrijmohanSharmaR/oRZC-7/4, Gali No. 22SadhNagar-2, PalamColony,NewDelhi-110045 havechangedmynameAjaySharma toAjayKumar for allfuturepurposes. 40597211-1

IISantoshKumarPal S/O,SattidinR/o 59/108 SandeepEnclave ,vijayNagarGhaziabad201001have changedmynametoSantoshPal for all purposes.

0040597278-1

IIRajnishKumar S/O,AtmaRamAwasthi R/o J 1201, VvipAddressesRaj NagarExtension, Ghaziabad - 201017havechangedmyname toRajnishKumarAwasthi for allpurposes. 0040597273-1

II,,GGeeeettaaDevi,W/oDadanPrasad,have lostmyproperty-OriginalPapers of PropertyNo-XV8226/1,2nd-floorGali.No-5Multani-DhandaPahar-Ganj,NewDelhi-110055,Propertyreg.No-7545book.no-1 vol no-13778,finderCont.M.no-8376968160,9810628767.

0040597252-10

II,,PPRRAADDEEEEPPKumar S/oSNSrivastava, doherebydeclarethatmyallotment letter dated4March 2002 inNameofPradeepKumarof propertyaddress flat no.105, OrientalApartment, C-58/26 hasbeenmisplaced/lost.

0120013461-1

II SuneetaW/O Jugal KishorR/O,RZG-354, Gali.No-03,Raj NagarPart-2,Delhi-110077,havechangedmyname toSunitaDevi. 0040597240-6

II Rajkumar Saini S/OLaxmanSaini R/O,H.No-9, Kewal ParkAzadpurDelhi-110033havechangedmyname toRajkumar. 0040597240-5

II SanjaySatyapal Jethi S/O, LtShri Satyapal Jethi R/oA-691aSatyasheel Sushant Lok-1ABlockGurugram122002havechangedmyname toSanjayJethi for all purposes.

0040597282-1

II RajeshKumar S/oSh. KashmiriLal R/o 23/7, RailwayColony,Sadar Bazar, KishanGanj,Gulabi Bagh,MalkaGanj, NorthDelhi, Delhi-110007havechanged thenameofmyminorson fromSaranshaliasSaranshChoudhary to SaranshChoudhary for all purposes.

0040597216-1

II RANBIRSINGHKUSHVAHaliasRANBIRSINGHaliasRANVEERSINGHS/o Late ShSahdevSinghR/oof K22 Sai Kalpana3rd Floor South Extension IINewDelhi 49 have changedmyname fromRANBIRSINGHKUSHVAHaliasRANBIRSINGHaliasRANVEERSINGH toRANBIRSINGHKUSHVAH for allpurpose 0040597179-1

II NisarMohammadS/o LalMohammadR/oEE-2535, 36, EE-Block, Jahangir Puri, Delhi-110033 have changedmynametoNisarAhmed 0040597275-1

PUBLIC NOTICE

Ram Pervesh (Advocate)

Kindly publish the below mentionedsubject in your publication on behalf of myclient Narender Kumar S/o Shri Asha RamResident of 28 Village Mukhmelpur Delhi.It is declared in general public that myclient disown/debarred his Rajesh and hisWife Saroj, Dinesh Kumar and his WifeSatyawati and Lokesh Kumar and his WifeSanam, due to their irresponsible behaviorand non fulfill their moral duties towardsmy client. My client dissolve all the relationand business with above named persons.After this notice the above namedpersons will lost all their right withthe moveable and immovableproperties of my client, if anyperson will have any dealing andconcerned with them in any mannerhe/she will be responsible for theconsequences of the same.

Ph.- 9711083095

Off. No. 9, Shiva Market Alipur Delhi-36

PUBLIC NOTICENotice is hereby given to public atlarge that my client S. GURDEEPSINGH S/O S. HARNEK SINGH R/O C-11, COTTAGE ROAD, ADARSHNAGAR, AZAD PUR MANDI, NEWDELHI-110033 has severed all hisrelations from his son S. AMANPREETSINGH, his wife SMT. KIRANDEEPKAUR, their daughter KUMARISAHAJLEEN KAUR (aged 03 years)and their associates, disowned anddebarred all of them from all hismovable and immovable propertieswith immediate effect because ofharassment, torture, cruelty, atrocitiescommitted by them against my client.Any person dealing with them shall bedoing so at their own risk, cost andconsequences. My client shall not beresponsible in any manner for thesame.

A.K.Verma (Advocate)Off: 319, S.R.II, District Centre,

Janak Puri, New Delhi-58

“It is to inform to the public at large that Mr.Pradip Jain and Mr. Pranav Jain acquiredProperty no. 1, Block No. J-5, also as J-5/1,measuring 139.36 Sq. Yards, situated in D.L.FColony Krishan Nagar, Ghondli, Shahdara,Delhi vide Three Relinquishment Deeds dt.18.10.1999, 05.01.2000 & 19.03.2004 afterthat Mr. Pradip Jain released his half sharevide Release Deed dt. 18.10.2018 in favourof Mr. Pranav Jain ( Pranav Kumar Jain), dulyRegd. as doc. No. 9130 and now Mr. PranavJain ( Pranav Kumar Jain) is the undisputedowner of the above said property. Any person/ firm / institution / company having any claimor right in respect of the said Property by wayof inheritance, share, sale, agreement, lease,license, gift, possession, legal heirs, partnersor encumbrance howsoever or otherwise ishereby required to intimate in writing to theundersigned within 07 days from the date ofpublication of this notice of his/her/their shareor claim, if any, with all supporting documentsat belowmentioned address.After expiration ofnotice period, the claims, if any, of such personshall be treated null and void and also treatedas waived and not binding on our client.

Ajay Kumar Giri, Advocate“H.No. 26/161, Basement, Vikram Vihar,

Lajpat Nagar 4, New Delhi 110024”

PUBLIC NOTICE

“It is to inform to the public at largethat Mr. Mangal Dass acquired DoubleStorey Property No. 19, measuring41.1/2 Sq.Yards, KhasraNo. 118/127/2,128/1, 129/1, 130 to 134, village SaraiPeepal Thala, Sanjay Nagar, Part-I,Delhi vide Regd. GPA dt. 25.06.1998executed by Mr. Naresh Kumar BansalandATS&Will dt. 25.06.1998 executedby Mrs. Asha Bansal and now Mr.Mangal Dass is the undisputed ownerof the above said property. Any person/ firm / institution / company havingany claim or right in respect of the saidProperty by way of inheritance, share,sale, agreement, lease, license, gift,possession, legal heirs, partners orencumbrance howsoever or otherwiseis hereby required to intimate in writingto the undersigned within 07 days fromthe date of publication of this noticeof his/her/their share or claim, if any,with all supporting documents at belowmentioned address. After expirationof notice period, the claims, if any, ofsuch person shall be treated null andvoid and also treated as waived and notbinding on our client.

Ajay Kumar Giri, Advocate“H.No. 26/161, Basement, Vikram Vihar,

Lajpat Nagar 4, New Delhi 110024”

PUBLIC NOTICE

''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.

New Delhi

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

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

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

5G services to berolled out next year,in major cities first

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

FIFTH GENERATION wirelesstechnology(5G),whichwillallowfaster andmore responsivenessInternetservices,willberolledoutin the fourmetros andother bigcities next year, theDepartmentofTelecommunications(DoT)saidonMonday.5Gspectrumauctionswillbe

heldaheadoftherollout.Datesareyettobedecided,buttheDoThadinSeptembersoughtrecommen-dations from the telecomsectorregulatorTRAIonvariousaspectsincluding thereserveprice,bandplan,blocksize,andthequantumofspectrumtobeauctioned."The process of assignment

of frequencies to TSPs (telecomserviceproviders)wouldbe ini-tiated at the earliest possible,"theDoTsaid inastatement."Withregardtorolloutof5G

services, Telecom ServiceProviders (TSPs) —M/s BhartiAirtel, M/s Reliance Jio and

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

MissionariesofCharity:Won’toperateanyforeigncontributionaccounttillresolution

ANONNADUTTNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

ASMANYas52of the63casesofinfectionwiththeOmicronvari-antofthecoronavirusdetectedinDelhionMondayareinindividu-alswhohavereportednohistoryof international travel or contactwithaninternationaltraveller,of-ficialsfromtheDelhigovernmenttoldTheIndianExpress."District surveillance teams

will now trace these cases andre-confirmwhether they haveanyhistoryof travelorhistoryofcoming in contactwith any for-

eign travellers," a senior healthdepartmentofficial said."Weneedtobesure.Wewill

cometoknowinaday,"theoffi-cial said.

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5GWILLaffordcon-sumersa richerexperi-enceontheirphonesandotherdevices. Theywill beable tostreamvideoswithmultiplecameraanglesduringsportsmatches, orplayimmersivevideogamesusingVRheadsetsorotheraccessories.

Richeronlineexperience

BJP stunned, AAP scores bigwin in Chandigarh civic polls

AAPcandidateDamanpreetSingh,whodefeatedsittingMayorRaviKantSharma(BJP) intheChandigarhcivicpollsonMonday. JasbirMalhi RELATEDREPORT,PAGE8

HINAROHTAKICHANDIGARH,DECEMBER27

IN Amassive boost for the AamAadmi Party ahead of theAssembly elections in Punjab, itwon 14 of the 35 municipalwards in Chandigarh, a city ad-ministeredbytheCentre,resultsfor which were declared onMonday. The BJP, which had

swept the last ChandigarhMunicipalCorporationpollswin-ning21of26wards(oneofthemin alliancewith the Akali Dal),endedsecond,with12wards.The Congress won eight

wardsandtheAkaliDal1.The number of wards went

up from 26 last time to 35 nowafterdelimitation.WhileAAPneedsthesupport

of 19 corporators to elect its

mayor, the BJP needs 18 as theChandigarhMP,whohas an ex-officio vote in the corporation,belongs to theBJP.AAPmanaged to trump the

BJP despite fielding first-timersandrunningalow-keycampaign.OnlytwobignamesturnedoutforAAP,Delhi ChiefMinisterArvindKejriwalandMPBhagwantMaan,puttinginbriefappearances.

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

DEEPTIMANTIWARY&SWEETYKUMARINEWDELHI, KOLKATA,DECEMBER27

HOURS AFTER West BengalChiefMinisterMamataBanerjeetweeted that the “UnionMinistryfrozeallbankaccounts”of Missionaries of Charity, theiconic Kolkata-based organisa-tion founded byMother Teresa,theMinistryofHomeAffairssaidit “refused” to renew theNGO'sregistration under the ForeignContribution Regulation Act(FCRA) on December 25 basedon“adverse inputs”.The Ministry and

Missionaries of Charity said inseparate statements, however,

thattheorganisation'saccountswere not frozen by theGovernment. The charity said ithadaskeditscentres“nottoop-erateanyof theFCaccountsun-til thematter is resolved”.The HomeMinistry did not

specify what the “adverse in-puts”were.Missionaries of Charitywas

officiallyestablishedonOctober7, 1950, byMother Teresa whowas awarded the Nobel Peace

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SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

INANunusualinterventiondaysafter a ‘Dharam Sansad’ held inHaridwar saw a series of hatespeechestargetingMuslimsandcalling for violence and assassi-nation, Pakistan's foreignmin-istry Monday summoned themost senior Indian diplomat atthe High Commission inIslamabadandaskedhimtocon-vey their “seriousconcerns”.

In an official statement, thePakistanministrysaid:“Today,theIndianCharged’Affaireswassum-monedtotheMinistryofForeignAffairs, Islamabad and asked toconvey the Government ofPakistan’sseriousconcernstotheGovernment of India over thewidely reported open calls byHindutvaproponentsforcarryingoutgenocideof IndianMuslims.”India's charge d'affaires M

Suresh Kumarwas summonedby the Pakistani officials onMondayafternoon.

While critical statements byforeignministries are common,summoningof Indiandiplomatsabout incidents related tomi-norities in India is rare. In fact, itis usually India that has in thepastissuedseveralcriticalstate-ments on atrocities againstHindus and Sikhs in Pakistan,andsummonedPakistan’sdiplo-mats—most recently inAugusttoprotest the attack onaHindutempleinRahimYarKhanregionof ruralPunjab inPakistan.

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RITUSARINNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

EVEN AS West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata BanerjeetweetedMonday about the al-leged freezing of accounts ofMother Teresa'sMissionaries ofCharity in Kolkata, the recentmoratorium on foreign dona-tions to another prominent or-ganisation, CommonwealthHumanRights Initiative (CHRI),has once again raised questionmarksonthepowersofsuspen-sionunderkeyprovisionsof theForeignContributionRegulation

Act (FCRA)2010.The CHRI had its Foreign

Contributions (FC) suspendedaroundsixmonthsagofollowingwhich thewell-known civil lib-erties groupmovedDelhi HighCourt.Now,asecondsuspensionorderhasbeenissued.AccordingtoprovisionsofSection13intheAct,thesuspensionlasts180dayseach time and, the order in theCHRI case states, the action is“pending cancellation” of theNGO’sFCRAregistration.Speaking to The Indian

Express, CHRI Director SanjoyHazarika said: “The suspension

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Home often invokesSec 13 of FCRA to stallNGOs’ foreign funds

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA,DECEMBER27

IT'S THE “hush-hush”weddingthat no one can stop talkingabout in Bihar. Twenty days af-terTejashwiYadavtiedtheknotwith his school sweetheartRachelGodinho—a.k.a.Rajshree—themarriageisthemessageinthe state's caste-driven politics.And as his rivals read betweenthe lines, the young RJD presi-dent's honeymoon may havejustgotextended.The speculation over the in-

ter-caste, inter-religious, mar-

riagestartedsoonafterphotosofthe ceremony first trickled out.Few knew about thewedding,despiteitbeinghostedinafarm-

houseinDelhi,wheresecretslikethesehaveveryshortlives,orim-portantlymuchabout thebride.RJD leaders admitted theywere

themselves clueless, while theparty handlewas late tweetingitsblessingstothecouple.Theof-ficialwordwasthatthefunctionwas hurriedly organised due toRJD supremo and Tejashwi's fa-therLaluPrasad's failinghealth.The wedding marked the

first timeoneof LaluPrasadandRabri Devi's children hadmar-riedoutsidecasteorreligion.Allof Tejashwi's seven sisters gotmarried to fellowYadavs.LJP (Ram Vilas) president

ChiragPaswan,Tejashwi'sdirectrivalinage,ambition,andances-try,saidthattherewas"noneedto have been so secretive aboutthe marriage". And, that hewould himself "go to town”whenhegotmarried.

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PAGE1ANCHOR

TejashwiYadav,hiswifeRachelGodinhoinPatna. PTI file

When Tejashwi Yadav wed RachelGodinho: The knots of a Bihar wedding

SHOTSFORCHILDREN,VULNERABLEGROUPS

‘Precautionarydose’39weeksafter second jab,sayguidelines

KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

AHEADOFtheJanuary10rolloutof Covid-19 shots for teens, theUnion HealthMinistry has an-nounced that Bharat Biotech'sCovaxinwillbetheonlyvaccinethatwill be administered to eli-giblerecipients intheagegroupof 15-18years.Theministryalsoannounced

onMondaythatthethreeprioritygroups of healthcareworkers,frontlineworkers,andindividualsolder than 60 can receive theirthird"precautionarydose"39we-eksaftergettingtheirsecondjab."Asamatterofabundantpre-

caution, for those Health CareWorkers (HCWs) & Front LineWorkers (FLWs) who have re-ceived two doses, another doseof Covid-19 vaccine would beprovidedfromJanuary10,2022.The prioritisation and sequenc-ingofthisprecautiondosewouldbebasedon thecompletionof 9months, i.e. 39weeks, from thedateofadministrationofseconddose," theministrysaid.The decisions to vaccinate

adolescents and administer aprecautionary dose to vulnera-blegroupsweretakeninviewofthe recent global surge of

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Covaxinonly vaccine for15-18, canbookslotsonCowin fromJan1:Govt

AtaCovidCareCentre inNewDelhionMonday.AmitMehra

SEVERALSTATES INTHEU.S. SEERECORDCOVID NUMBERSASOMICRONSURGESSOMALI PRESIDENTSUSPENDSPM INLATESTPOWERMOVEPAGE 14

WORLD

Pakistan summons top Indian diplomatover hate speeches at ‘Dharam Sansad’

Banerjeeraised issueinatweet

Delhi,Mumbai,Chandigarh,Kolkataamongfirst in line;processsoon:Govt

EXPRESSNETWORK

ECREVIEWSCOVIDSITUATION INPOLL-BOUNDSTATESCENTRE ISSUESADVISORY TOSTATESPAGE8

Delhi Omicron count142, no travel historyin 52 out of latest 63

GOVT&POLITICS

BJP, AMARINDER,DHINDSA TIE UP FORPUNJABPOLLSHEALTH INDEX:KERALABEST, UTTARPRADESH ISWORSTPAGES7, 11

SHOCKED,SAYSMAMATABANERJEE

Centre ‘refuses’ torenew Mother Teresacharity’s FCRA status,cites ‘adverse inputs’

New Delhi

THESECONDPAGE4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

FROMPAGEONECovaxincoronavirus infections, detectionofthenewOmicronvariantofthevirus, scientific evidence, globalpractices,"andtheinputs/sugges-tionsof‘Covid-19WorkingGroupof National Technical AdvisoryGrouponImmunization(NTAGI)’aswell as of ‘StandingTechnicalScientific Committee (STSC)’ ofNTAGI",theministrysaid.Childrenbornin2007andear-

liershallbeeligibletoreceivethevaccine, the ministry said."...Vaccinationof children in theage-group of 15-18 years to bestarted fromJanuary3,2022. Forsuchbeneficiaries,thevaccinationoptionwouldbe 'Covaxin' only,"theguidelines said. Beneficiariescanregisteronlinethroughanex-istingaccountonCo-WIN,oraftercreatinganewaccountthroughauniquemobilenumber.Childrencanbookaslotusingtheirparents'existingCo-WINaccounts.DrRSSharma,CEO,National

HealthAuthority (NHA),whichhasdesigned theCo-WIN infra-structure, toldThe IndianExpressthatbookingof slots for childrenwillopenfromJanuary1."Thestu-dentscanusetheninedocumentsthat are already listed (for adultvaccination). Additionally, theycanalsousetheirstudentidentitycards,"Sharmasaid.Thehealthministry's guide-

linessaidchildrencouldberegis-teredonsitebytheverifier/vacci-nator in facilitated registrationmode;appointmentscanalsobebookedonlineoronsite(walk-in).For theprecautionarydoses,

the Co-WIN system will sendSMSes tobeneficiarieswhen thedosebecomesdue. Theprecau-tionarydosewillbeadministeredontheadviceofadoctorbasedonthe comorbidity, the guidelinesstate.Sharmasaidthebeneficiarywillhavetocarrythecertificateofcomorbidity to the vaccinationcentre. "Thebeneficiarywillonlybeaskediftheyhavecomorbidityornot.Theywilljustneedtocarryittothevaccinationcentre.Thereisnoneedtouploadanythingbe-fore booking the slot on theCo-WINplatform,"hesaid.For the precautionary dose,

registration and appointmentservicescanbeaccessedthroughboth online and onsitemodes."Thedetails of administrationoftheprecautiondosewill be suit-ably reflected in thevaccinationcertificates,”theguidelinesstate.Whileall citizens irrespective

of incomewill beentitled to freevaccination in the new phase,"thosewhohavetheabilitytopayareencouragedtouseprivatehos-pital’s vaccination centres", ac-cordingtotheguidelines.

Delhi OmicronThe Indian Express had re-

ported lastweek that all butoneofthe34OmicroncasestreatedatDelhi government's LokNayakhospitalwere fully vaccinated.

Also, thebulkof thesecases--31outof34--hadahistoryofforeigntravelorcontact.Theupendingofthis ratio in cases thatwere de-tectedonMonday--only11outof63haveaknownhistoryofforeigntravel or contact -- couldpoten-tiallyindicateawidercommunityspreadofthenewvariant.The highly transmissible

Omicron variant is known toevade existing immunity fromvaccination, leading to morebreakthrough infections, thoughnot necessarily to a higher inci-denceofseveredisease.Atotal142cases of Omicron infectionhavebeendetectedinDelhisofar."Fornearly four months now, eversincethenumberofdailycasesfelltomanageable levels, we havebeensequencingallpositivesam-pleswithaCTvalueoflessthan25.The cases of Omicronwere de-tected in thisprocessof genomesequencing," thehealthdepart-mentofficialsaid.Sequencingmapsouttheen-

tire viral genomeandascribes afamily to it. Thepositive samplesfromDelhi are sequencedat theNational Centre for DiseaseControl,andtwostatelaboratoriesattheInstituteofLiverandBiliarySciencesandLokNayakhospital.CT value or cycle threshold

valueisthenumberofamplifica-tioncycles that apatient samplehastogothroughinanRT-PCRtesttodetect thevirus.The lower theCT value, the higher is the viralload.ThethresholdofCTvaluelessthan25ensuresthatthesampleisgood enough to be fully se-quenced.Anotherofficialsaid,"Initially,

all cases of Omicronwerebeingdetected only in internationaltravellers; slowly, during the lastweek,wearereportingcasesfromthe community too. Today, 52casesweredetectedinthegeneralsamples." Theofficial recalled aspecificcase inwhichanindivid-ualwhowastestedfrequentlyre-turnedapositive result. "Hehadnosymptomsatall.Therewasnohistoryoftravel.Butwhenthese-quencingresultcameback,hewasfound tohave theOmicronvari-ant,"theofficialsaid.

AAP big winThe BJP in contrast roped in

Unionministersaswellasseveralofitschiefministerstocanvassforitsnominees,andsoughtvotesinthe name of Prime MinisterNarendraModi.However,manyof its bigwigs endedup losing toAAPfirst-timers.SittingBJPMayorRavi Kant Sharma lost to AAP'sDamanpreetSinghfromWard17by 828 votes. Other former BJPmayorsanditssittingcouncillorsalsolosttoAAPnewcomers.In sevenwards, the victory

marginwas less than200votes.TheBJP scraped through in twowards by amargin of 9 and 90votes,while in three, it lost by amarginof lessthan100votes.TheCongress,whichhopedto

have gained someground afterAmarinder Singh's exitwith itschoiceof Charanjit SinghChanniasCM,willbedisappointed.Intermsofvoteshare,AAPgot

40%, compared to the BJP's 34%andtheCongress's23%. Itmeansthe BJP vote share fell bymorethan half from2016 (77%). TheCongress gainedby8% from lasttime.TheAkalisgot3%votes thistime,down1%from2016.Thetallyalsoshowedthatpar-

tiesfailedtogaugethesilentmoodinfavourofchange.TheBJP,inpar-ticular,mayhavemiscalculatedbycenteringitscampaignaroundthethemeofHindutva,with Jai ShriRam slogans and references toAyodhya temple peppering itscampaign. Till theveryend, sen-iorleaderswereupbeat,assertingthattherulingpartyattheCentrealways had an edge in theChandigarh civic poll elections.The BJP even had packets ofsweetsreadyinoffices.TheBJPmight have also un-

derestimatedtheangeragainst itover the farmers' agitation.Chandigarh sawrobust supportfor farmers,withMatkaChowkemerging as an epicentre forprotests.ThenewChandigarhcor-poration limits include13morevillages,andthesupportforfarm-erswasevengreater in the ruralareas. ThewomenandSCvotersalsoappear tohave turnedawayfromtheBJP.Ofthe7SCwards,theBJPwononly1.Ofthe12wardsre-servedforwomen,theBJPwon2.ArvindKejriwal said thecivic

poll resultswere “a sign of thecoming change in Punjab”.“PeopleofChandigarhtodayhavechosenthehonestpoliticsofAAP,rejectingcorruptpolitics.”MannsaidtheLtGovernor,MP,

Mayor were all from the BJP.“However,thepeoplevotedforthenew faces fielded by us... ThechangewillbeevenstarkerwhenitcomestothePunjabelections.”AskedwhetherAAPwould seekthehelpoftheCongresstoelectitsMayor,Mannsaidtheywouldfirsttalktotheircorporators.AAP leader Raghav Chadha

said itwas the "winof Kejriwal'smodel of Delhi governance”,adding:"Chandigarhabhi jhaankihai...Punjababhibaakihai (This isjust aglimpse. Themain showisyettostart).”Thepollingpercent-agethistimewas60.73,highestin25years.

Charity’s FCRAPrizein1979“forbringinghelptosufferinghumanity”.Incidentally,onDecember12,

theorganisationwasbookedun-der the Gujarat Freedom ofReligionAct, 2003, for allegedly“hurtingHindu religious senti-ments” and “luring towardsChristianityyounggirls”atashel-terhomeitrunsinVadodara.Ithasrejectedthecharge.OnMonday,Missionaries of

Charitysaidinitsstatement:“Weappreciate the concern of our

well-wishers and extend ourheartiest greetings forChristmasandtheNewYear.Wewouldliketo clarify that the FCRA registra-tionoftheMissionariesofCharityhasbeenneither suspendednorcancelled.”The statement said: “Further,

there isno freezeorderedby theMinistryofHomeAffairsonanyofourbankaccounts.Wehavebeeninformed thatourFCRArenewalapplication has not been ap-proved.Therefore,asameasuretoensure there isno lapse,wehaveaskedour centresnot tooperateanyof the FC accounts until thematterisresolved.”Earlier,ChiefMinisterBanerjee

posted on Twitter: “Shocked tohear that on Christmas, UnionMinistryfrozeallbankaccountsofMother Teresa’sMissionaries ofCharityinIndia!Their22,000pa-tients&employeeshavebeenleftwithoutfood&medicines.Whilethelawisparamount,humanitar-ianeffortsmustnotbe compro-mised.”Thetweettriggeredaslewofreactions.TMCMPDerekO'Brienposted

onTwitter: “After a filthyhit jobonMotherTeresa’sMissionariesof CharityonDecember25,nowMHAdoingwhatitdoesbest:spindoctoring&acoverup...”In another tweet with the

NGO's statement attached, hewrote: “First theGovernmentofIndiaintimidates.Forweeks,rightthrough to December 25. Andthen theypileon thepressure toextract this. Shameon theMHAanditsshamelessdamagecontroltactics.” “This is indeedshocking.When Mother Teresa wins aNobelPrize, Indiarejoices.Whenherorganisation serves thepoor&destitute, thegovtcutsoff theirfunding. Disgraceful,” CongressMPShashiTharoortweeted.CPI(M)WestBengalsecretary

SurjyaKantaMishraalso took toTwitter and tagged themoveas“shockingnews”.Expressing “shock”,Angelina

Mantosh Jasnani, president,Catholic Association of Bengal,asked theHomeMinistry to findawaytoensurethatthepoordon’tsufferandatthesametime,alltherequirednormsof the FCRAaremet.Later,theHomeMinistrysaidina statement that theorganisa-tion's “renewalof FCRAregistra-tion...was refusedonDecember25, 2021, fornotmeeting theeli-gibility conditions under FCRA2010 and Foreign ContributionRegulationRules(FCRR)2011”.“Norequest/revisionapplica-

tion has been received fromMissionariesofCharity(MoC)forreviewofthisrefusalofrenewal,”it said. It said that the organisa-tion's registrationwasvaliduptoOctober31,2021.“Thevaliditywassubsequently extended uptoDecember 31, 2021, alongwithotherFCRAassociationswhosere-newal applicationwerependingrenewal,”theMinistrysaid.“However,while considering

theMoC's renewal application,some adverse inputswere no-ticed.Inconsiderationofthesein-putsonrecord,therenewalappli-cationofMoCwasnotapproved...MHAdidnotfreezeanyaccountsofMoC.StateBankofIndiahasin-formed thatMoC itself senta re-questtoSBItofreezeitsaccounts,”itsaid.According to annual reports

submitted by Missionaries ofCharitytotheMinistry,itreceivedRs425.86croreoverthepast fiveyearsinforeigndonations.Records showthat in the last

15years,theorganisationreceivedoverRs1,099 crore from foreignsources. The latest declarationavailable,for2020-21,showsthatit received Rs 75.19 crore fromabroadbetweenApril 2020andMarch2021.In theVadodara case, the FIR

lodged at Makarpura PoliceStationagainst theNGO isbasedonacomplaintfromDistrictSocialDefenceOfficerMayankTrivediwhosaid thathehadvisited theHome for Girls run byMissionariesofCharityintheareaonDecember 9, alongwith thechairman of the district's ChildWelfareCommittee.TheFIR states thatduringhis

visit, Trivedi allegedly found thatgirlswerebeing “forced” to readChristian religious texts andpar-ticipateinprayers,withtheinten-tion of “steering them intoChristianity”.Duringtherecentwinterses-

sion of Parliament, BJP MPNishikant Dubey had accusedMissionaries of Charity of in-dulging in religious conversionsand illegally sendingchildren foradoptionabroad.InJuly2018,thepoliceinJharkhand,thenruledbythe BJP, had arrested awomanemployee, Anima Indwar, and anun, SisterConsalia, for allegedlytraffickingchildrenborninacen-trerunbyMissionariesofCharity.The police had then recom-mendedaCBIenquiryandaskedforinvestigationsintoFCRAviola-tions,ifany,bytheNGO.

(WITHSHYAMLALYADAV)

Sec 13 of FCRAof fundingis likedeprivinganor-ganisationofoxygen.CHRIhas25years of developmentalwork inareas like police and prison re-formsandRTIforwhichithasen-gagedwithandcontinuestodosowith stakeholders in theGovernmentaswellasindepend-entauthoritieslikeNHRC,CIC,etc.,evenaswechallengethesuspen-sion.”AscrutinyofrecentFCRAor-ders shows that the suspensionrouteisbeingincreasinglyusedbytheUnionHomeMinistry'sFCRAMonitoring Cell despite a 2013DelhiHCorder thatquashed thesuspension of another well-knowncivillibertiesgroup,IndianSocialActionForum(INSAF).TheCHRI’scaseisthattheydid

not receiveashowcauseprior tosuspension and that the 2013JusticeVK Jain judgement in theINSAFcase states that “such rea-sons (the alleged irregularities)cannotbegivenbywayof extra-neousevidenceatalaterstage.Inthe absenceof reasons, itwouldnotbepossible for theorganiza-tiontochallengethesuspension”.What is significant is that the

suspensionofCHRI’s registrationcomesafteraslewofcancellationsorsuspensionsofFCRAlicensesofprominentcivillibertyandhumanrightsgroups,includingAmnestyInternational, The LawyersCollective,Greenpeace IndiaandTheFordFoundation.TheHomeMinistryhassofar

granted FCRA licenses to over20,000 organisations. InMarch2020, theGovernment informedLokSabha thatover a three-yearperiod,thelicensesof6,676organ-isationswerecancelled.Nofiguresweregivenforsuspensions.WithseveralprominentFCRA

licensees challenging theMHA’sorders--andmanygettingrelief--thereappearstobeapatternforthese suspensionorders,whichmayormaynot be followedbycancellation.A September 2021RTI reply

received by FCRA researcherVenkateshNayakshowsthat inanearly two-year period, 20 sus-pensionorderswere issuedandthatnocancellationsweredone.Fiveofthese20ordersaresecondsuspensionnoticestothesameor-ganisation.Inseveralcases,there-cent suspensionorders reveal anidentical ground for theGovernment’s actionand, often,fewspecifics.Considerthis:

■Insixsuspensionorders,thestatedgroundsare thepurchaseofrealestate/landbytheorganisa-tionandinvestmentsinfixedde-posits.Inothers,itisthenon-util-isation of funds ormixingupofdomestic and foreign contribu-tions inaccountsprovided to theFCRAauthorities.

■ In two cases, the statedgroundsareutilisationof foreigncontributionforreligiousconver-sions and construction ofmosques,which are prohibitedunderprovisionsoftheFCRAAct.Inonecase, itwasachargesheetfiled for alleged sexual abusebytheSecretary andAdministratoroftheorganization.

■ Significantly, only four ofthesesuspensionordersmentiontheissuanceofapriorshowcausenotice,requiredunderprovisionsofFCRA’sSection13.InthecaseofCHRI,theHome

Ministryhas cited “multiplevio-lations”,which include technicalprovisions such as utilisation offunds not filled in prescribedformsandnon-intimationoftwobankaccountswhereforeigncon-tributionshavebeendeposited.The allegedviolations are beingdescribed as “minor technicali-ties” and “procedural require-ments”byCHRIlawyers.Says senior Supreme Court

lawyerChanderUdaySingh,whoisrepresentingCHRIinDelhiHighCourt: “The suspensionclause isthedeathknell fororganisationsandisakintousingasledgeham-mertosquatafly.Itisliketellingacompanyyouhave to stop func-tioningbutit isdoneinaveryca-sualmannerwhen, for instance,accountsarefrozenasafirstresort,insteadofbeingthelastresort.”AgainstCHRI,theMinistryhas

also invokedSection14(d)of theFCRAAct,which states that the

FCRAcertificatecouldbecancelledfor violating “any” rule orprovi-sionoftheAct.AscrutinyshowsthatSection

14(d)hasalsobeeninvokedintwoother recent suspension caseswhere theallegationsareappar-entlyofamoreseriousnature:re-ligious conversion. The firstwasforMewat Trust for EducationalWelfare, an NGO located inFaridabad, and the other for AlHasanEducational andWelfareFoundationinLucknow.

5G servicesM/sVodafoneIdea--haveestab-lished5GtrialssitesinGurugram,Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai,Chandigarh, Delhi, Jamnagar,Ahmedabad,Chennai,Hyderabad,Lucknow, Pune, Gandhinagarcities.Thesemetrosandbigcitieswouldbethefirstplacesforlaunchof5Gservicesinthecountrynextyear,"thestatementsaid.Allthreeprivatetelecomplay-

ers,RelianceJioInfocomm,BhartiAirtel, andVodafone Idea, havebeenurging theDoT to layout aclearroadmapforspectrumallo-cationand5Gfrequencybands,sotheyareabletoplantherolloutofservicesaccordingly."Themost important thing

needednowisclarityonthereg-ulatoryside.Itislicensingofspec-trumtomake it available and tomake it availableon fair andrea-sonableterms.Whatthatexactlyis, has tobedeterminedbyeachcountry. Therehas beendiscus-sion onwhether the spectrumpricesaretoocostly. Ithinkmanythingscanbedonetoensurethatthere ismoney tobuild coveragefor the Indian people,”MagnusEwerbring, chief technologyoffi-cerforAsiaPacificatEricssontoldTheIndianExpressinaninterviewrecently."As soon as that (regulatory

clarity)happens, 5Gwill goveryquickly. The smartphones areready,theoperatorsareready.Weneed clarity onwhat frequencybandsandothertermsandcondi-tions,"Ewerbringhadsaid.The government has recog-

nised spectrum bands of fre-quency526-698MHz,700MHz,800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz,2100MHz,2300MHz,2500MHz,3300-3670MHzand24.25-28.5GHz forpublic aswell asprivate5Gnetworks.Whilepublic5Gnetworkswill

serve telecomusers at large, pri-vate5Gnetworkswillbeusedforcaptive applications in theIndustry4.0 concept,whichhasbeenbilledasamajoruse-caseof5Gnetworks.Industry 4.0will see sectors

suchasmanufacturingandlogis-tics adopt 5Gnetworks to auto-mate their processes, given thesignificantly higher speeds andlowerlatencieswiththenextgen-erationoftelephony.

Tejashwi YadavJD(U)leadersweremorecircum-spect, though not Bihar ChiefMinisterNitishKumarwho,whileextendinghiswishes to thecou-ple,tookasubtledigsayinghehadgottoknowofthewedding“fromthemedia".JD(U) spokespersonNeeraj

Kumarcalled it “apersonalmat-ter of Tejashwi”. “Such thingsshouldnotbeseenfromtheprismofpolitics.”JD(U)allyBJP,notafanofminc-

ingwords, largely refrained fromcommenting till MLC andPanchayat RajMinister SamratChoudharybrokehissilenceoverthisweekend.WiththeRJDinsis-tentthattheCentrerevealthedataoncastecensus,Choudharysaid:“Tejashwi should no longer de-mandacastecensusashemarrieda girl outside his caste and reli-gion...Will Tejashwinowtell uswhichcommunityhebelongsto,thatofhisparentsorhiswife?"Choudhary then dragged in

themarriageof SamajwadiPartyleaderAkhileshYadav,a friendoftheRJDandafellowproponentofthe caste census.Akhilesh'swifeDimple is a Thakur. "Since the'princes'ofbothUPandBiharhavemarried out of their caste, theyshould stopworrying about thecastecensus,”hesaid.Lately, Tejashwihas not just

brokenhissilenceonthewedding,but also taken to ensuring thatGodinhoisbyhissideashemakespublicappearancesandmeetsRJDleadersandpartyworkers. "I be-lieveinaninclusivesociety.Whenmyparentsaskedif Ihaveagirlinmind to getmarried, I said 'yes'.ThisishowIgotmarried,”hesaidrecently.Nevertheless,Godinho isun-

failingly presented as RajshreeYadavat these appearances andmeetings,sportingasari,sindoorandweddingbangles.Wordhasbeenputout that she is learningtospeakinaBihariaccent.A Goan Christian, Godinho

workedbriefly forBarclaysBankin Londonafter graduation. Thefamily belongs to Rewari inHaryanaandherfatherwasaprin-cipal in aChandigarh school andnow lives inDelhi. GodinhoandTejashwiweretogetheratDPS,RKPuram, andstayed in touchafterleavingschool.In a conversation with re-

porters lastweek,Godinhosaid:"I findTejashwi intelligent.He isan intellectual.” Asked by a re-porter, she said shehadno ideaTejashwiwould become such abigpoliticianatsuchayoungagewhen they were in school to-gether.Mother-in-lawRabri Devi is

alsoby their side at thesepublicappearances. This is after herbrother Aniruddh Prasad aliasSadhuYadavslammedLaluoverthe "clandestine"marriage, andtook a swipe at Tejashwi's elderbrother Tej PratapYadav's failedmarriage.Their relationshipmight be

strainedbutTejPratapquicklyroseto Tejashwi's defence,warningSadhuto“keepquiet”.Senior RJD leaders like

ShivanandTewarihavedefendedTejashwi, calling themarriage a"personalmatter". RJDnationalspokespersonSubodhMehtatoldThe Indian Express: "Tejashwijihas alreadymadehis standveryclearonhismarriage.HeechoesthissentimentofinclusivitywhenhesaystheRJDisapartyofAtoZ.Hehas a vision for the youngofBihar.”

Pak summonsAttheHaridwarevent,which

washeldfromDecember17to19,the controversial YatiNarsinghanand, the priest ofDasna temple inGhaziabadwhois facingseveral FIRs inUP, calledfor a “war againstMuslims” andurged “Hindus to take upweapons” to ensure a “Muslimdidn’tbecomethePrimeMinisterin2029.”FormerDelhi BJP spokesper-

son Ashwini Upadhyay wasamong thosewhohadattendedtheevent.Followingnationwideoutrage,

three persons were booked inconnection with the hatespeeches.SwamiDharamdasandSadhvi Annapurna, alongwithWaseemRizvi,whohadassumedthe name of Jitendra NarayanSingh Tyagi after converting toHinduism,werenamedintheFIRlodgedlastThursday.TheFIRhasbeenlodgedunder

Section153Aof the IPC(promot-ing enmity between differentgroups on grounds of religion,race,placeofbirth,residence,lan-guage).ThePakistanForeignministry

said itwas“impressedupon”theIndianGovernment that itwas“highlyreprehensible”thatthosewhocalledforethniccleansingattheeventhave“neitherexpressedanyregretnortheIndiangovern-ment has condemned or takenanyactionagainstthemsofar”.Thestatementalsosaiditwas

conveyed to the Indian side thatthe reportedhate speecheshavebeenviewedwith“graveconcernbycivil societyandcross-sectionof the people of Pakistan andaroundtheworld”.Claimingthata“toxicnarrative

againstminorities, particularlyMuslims...has becomeanorm”,PakistansaiditexpectsIndiatoin-vestigatethesehatespeechesandtakemeasures to stop such inci-dentsfromrecurringinfuture.

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

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Juvenile killed over abuse on social media

Armed robbers loot Rs 50 lakh indaytime heist, yet to be arrested

MAHENDERSINGHMANRALNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

A17-YEAR-OLDboywasstabbedtodeath, allegedlybyagroupofjuvenilesandalocalcriminal,af-ter the victim abused the latteron Instagram. An FIR has beenregisteredatUttamNagarpolicestation,andthreejuvenileshavebeenapprehended.Ahunt isontonab theothers.Policesaidthevictim,Mohd

Shaukat,stayedwithhisparents

and three sisters. “The incidenttook place Sunday eveningwhen his friend informed hisfamily that he had been foundinanunconsciouscondition.Hewas taken to DDU hospital,wherehewasdeclareddeadonarrival. Doctors told police hehad eight wounds and wasstabbed with an ice pick.Doctorsalsofoundinjurymarksonhis face,” a seniorpoliceoffi-cer said.The victim’s sister told The

IndianExpress thatheworkedata factory and was on leave on

Sunday. “He left around3pmtomeetafriendbutdidnotreturn.The accused kidnapped mybrother froma localmarketandtook him to a flat, where theykilled him.We got to know hehad posted a reel on Instagraminwhich he had abused a localcriminal. They got angry at thisandkilledhim,” shealleged.AdditionalDCP(Dwarkadis-

trict) Vikram Singh said, “WelodgedanFIR,andconductedthevictim'spost-mortemexamina-tion onMonday. Initial investi-gation has revealed that he had

posted a video on social mediaandhadsomeheatedargumentswith the locals. On Sunday, hewaspickedupbythemandtheykilledhim.Oneof theaccusedisa localcriminalof theareaandaproposal for his externment ispending. We are looking forhim.”OnMonday afternoon, the

victim's familymembers gath-ered outside the police stationand demanded strict actionagainst theaccused.“Wewant immediate arrest

of all theaccused,especially the

localcriminal,andharshpunish-ment for all involved,” the vic-tim’s sister said.Duringinvestigation,thevic-

tim's friends told police that hewould post reels on Instagramandhaduploadedrecentlywitha photo of the local criminal,whichhad incensedhim.“Local criminals started

threatening him of dire conse-quences after they got to knowaboutthis.Thevictim’sfriendwaspresent whenhewas abductedfrom themarket by a group offive-sixjuveniles,”anofficersaid.

SCHOOLSPREPAREFORVACCINEPUSH

SUKRITABARUAHNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

AGAINSTTHEbackdropofrisingCovid cases, the Delhi govern-ment is unlikely to take a deci-sion to reopen schools for pri-mary students, it is learnt.On December 17, the

Commission for Air QualityManagement (CAQM) had ad-vised state governments in theNCR and theDelhi governmentto take an immediate decisionto resume physical classes forclassesVIonwardsandcolleges,afteraperiodofairpollutionin-duced closure. Schools re-openedforthesegradesthenextday.The CAQMhad also advised

the government to take a deci-sion to resume physical classesfor students up to class V fromDecember27,afterdulyconsid-ering the air quality index andthewinter vacation schedule.However,asenioreducation

department official told TheIndian Express it is unlikely thatsuch a step is going to be takenby thegovernment.This comesamida sharp in-

crease in the number of Covidcases in the city over the lastweek in response to which thegovernment has put in place anightcurfewandisconsideringissuing the “yellow alert” of itsGraded Response Action Plan(GRAP).On Monday, the city re-

ported 331 new cases with apositivity rateof 0.68%.OnMonday,thegovernment

notifiedthatwinterbreakwillbeobserved in pre-primary andprimarygradesofschoolsrunbyit from January 1 to 15. Duringthis period, no offline or online

activities will be conducted forthese grades, though theDirectoratehasissuedwinterva-cationassignmentsforchildren.In themeantime, with chil-

dren aged 15-18 eligible forCovidvaccination fromJanuary3, schools areworking towardsensuringtheirstudentsregisterfor it.“Theannouncement is very

exciting and all our efforts aregoinginthedirectionofwinningthe confidence of parents in it.Weareplanningwebinarswithdoctorsforparents,andhaveal-ready contacted a hospital andhaverequestedthemtoconductvaccination on our premises it-self. That’s the only thing that

can lead to somekind of stabil-ity in schooling.Whenwe hadreopened last week we wereseeing75%attendanceandnowit has dropped to 25%,” saidMount Abu Public School prin-cipal JyotiArora.“I addressed students of

classes X, XI and XII in smallgroups today to create aware-ness on the vaccine and I foundthat the studentswere very re-ceptive to it. If required,wewillcall a PTM to convince parentsaswell. Iwill try toarrange foravaccination centre for the stu-dents in our school,” saidAwadhesh Jha, principal ofSarvodaya Vidyalaya, RohiniSector8.

Cases spike, schoolsunlikely to resumefor primary classes

Govtschoolswillobservewinterbreakforpre-primaryandprimarygrades fromJanuary1to15.Archive

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER28

TWOBIKE-BORNEassailantsal-legedly stopped themotorcycleof twopersonsandrobbedabagcontaining Rs 50 lakh, afteropening fire in the air on

Monday.TheincidenttookplaceinWestDelhi’sTilakNagarwhenthevictims,HarvinderSinghandLucky Mehra, were crossing aflyover.“A PCR call was received at

1.39 pm regarding the armedrobbery.Nobodywas injured inthe incident. CCTV cameras in-

stalled in and near the vicinityarebeingscannedandeffortsarebeingmade to nab the culpritsand establish the sequence ofevents,” said Additional DCP(West)PrashantGautam.Acasehas been registered in themat-ter and further investigation isunderway,police said.

New Delhi

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

WITNESSINGANincreaseinthenumber of omicron and Covidcases in the city, the Delhi gov-ernment has officially an-nounced a night curfew be-tween 11 pmand 5 am startingMonday.However, governmentofficials engaged in emergencyservices, healthworkers, advo-cates, judgesandmediapersonswill be exempt, and can travelduring the night curfewwith avalidIDproof,theDelhiDisasterManagementAuthority(DDMA)hassaid.Peoplewillalsobeallowedto

go to neighbourhood shops onfoot topurchase essential itemssuch as food, fruits and vegeta-bles, dairy products andmedi-cine. Further, pregnantwomenand patients will be allowed totravelduring thecurfewtoavailmedical care. Persons comingfromorgoingtoairports,railwaystations and bus terminals willalsobeallowedtotravelonpro-duction of valid tickets, said theDDMA.TheDDMAfurthersaidthere

will be no restriction on inter-state and intrastatemovement,transportation of essential andnon-essentialgoods,andnosep-arate permission or e-passwillberequiredforsuchmovements.

However, commercial andprivateestablishmentsinvolvedinessentialactivitieswillhavetoprovide a valid ID and proof ofdocument for interstatemove-ment.TheDDMAhasalsodirected

alldistrictauthoritiesconcernedtoensurestrictcompliancewiththeorderandadequatelyinformandsensitise field functionariesabout these instructions.Theauthority said that strict

actionwillbetakenifanypersonis found violating the DDMAguidelinesandnightcurfewun-der IPC section 188 and otherprovisionsofsections51to60ofthe Disaster Management Act,2005andapplicable laws.

ANONNADUTTNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

SIXMOREdeathsduetodenguefrom October and NovemberwereaddedtotheofficialtollonMonday, taking the total num-berofdeathsthisyearto23.Thisisthehighestofficialtollaftertheoutbreakin2015,whichaffectednearly 16,000people and killed60.All sixdeaths reportedwerein children aged between eightmonthsand15years, accordingto information provided by theMunicipalCorporationsofDelhi.This includes an eight-

month-old boy from Kirari,seven-year-old boy from PremNagar, an eight-year-old girlfromDakshinpuri,a10-year-oldboy from Tri-Nagar, a 13-year-old boy from OmVihar exten-sion,anda15-year-oldboyfromMehrauli. Three of the deaths

happened in the last ten days ofOctober and the other threethroughNovember.Infact,fifteenof the 23 persons who died ofdenguethisyearwerechildren.The deaths get added to the

officialtollonlyafterareviewbyan expert death audit commit-tee finds that the infectionwas

the primary cause of death andthat it was acquired in Delhi it-self.Theactualnumberofdeathsreported from city hospitals islikelytobehigherasseveralper-sons from the National CapitalRegionaswellastheneighbour-ingstatescometoDelhifortreat-ment.

“Other than the 23 deathsfromDelhi, therewere 24 fromneighbouring states as well.Because Delhi is amedical hubmany people travel here to gettreatmentespeciallywhentheyarevery sick. Therearenomoredeathsthathappenedafterthis;there was a delay in confirma-tion because the reports andcase files from the hospitalscame in very late,” said a seniorofficial fromthecorporation.Therewere131newcasesof

the infection added to theweeklybulletinonMonday,tak-ingthetotalnumberofcasesthisyearto9,545.Thenumberof in-fections isalso thehighest sincethe 2015outbreak. To be sure, apart of the increase in thenum-ber of cases this year can be at-tributed to the government inOctober making it mandatoryforallhospitals,nursinghomes,standaloneclinics,anddiagnos-

tic centres to report cases ofdengue and other vector-bornedisease such as malaria andchikungunya under theEpidemicDiseasesAct.Thisisclearfromthefactthat

amajority of the caseswere re-ported in November this year –6,739 of the total cases. In com-parison, even during the out-break year of 2015, only 841cases were reported inNovember.Officials from themunicipal

corporationsalsopointedtothedelayed rains this year formorecases being seen in November.“There has been an increase inreporting of cases as well asdeaths this year because of thenotification,” an MCD officialsaid. Usually, the highest num-bers are seen in September andOctober, with the number ofcases going down as tempera-turedips.

Daily tally past 300, positivityrate lingers above 0.5% in cityEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

WITH 331 new Covid cases re-portedinthecapitalonMonday,the daily tally has shot past the300-markforthefirsttimesinceearly June, according to thehealth bulletin data released bytheDelhigovernment.Thisisthehighestnumberof

casesinadaysinceJune6,when381Covidcaseswere reported.Thecapitalalsorecordedan-

otherdeathduetotheinfection,taking the total toll to 25,106since the first death was re-ported on March 13 last year.Deathsduetotheviral infectionhave been reported for threeconsecutivedaysnow,with fivedeaths recorded over the lastsevendays. Onlyonedeathwas

recorded during the precedingweek, thedata shows.Along with the increase in

thenumberofcases,thepositiv-ity rate — the proportion of thetotal samples that return posi-tive — also shot up to 0.68% onMonday.As the positivity rate re-

mainedabove0.5%for twocon-secutivedays,thefirstlevelofre-strictions as per thegovernment’s Graded ActionResponsePlanwouldkick in.At this level, cinemas, ban-

quet halls, auditoriums, spas,gyms,entertainmentparks,andyoga centres will be shut. Allshops andmalls with non-es-sential serviceswill openasperthe odd-even formula from 10am to 8 pm. Delhi’s positivityratewas stagnant at below0.1%since mid-July and started in-

creasing during the last twoweeks.To be sure, fewer tests were

conductedinthecityonSundayasreportedinMonday’sbulletin.There were over 48,500 testsconducted as compared to theweeklyaverageof over56,400.The number of active cases

hasgoneupto1,289onMonday,with 266 of them admitted tohospitals across thecity.The current surge is likely

driven by the omicron variantthatisknowntocauseinfectionseveninthevaccinated. Delhihasso far reported 142 cases of thenewomicronvariantofthecoro-navirus, adding63newcases ina day. This is the highest num-berofomicroncasesreportedbyany state or union territory atpresent;Maharashtra is a closesecondwith141cases.

2,500DETAINED, LATERALLOWEDTOGO

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

BJPMPfromWestDelhiParveshVerma has demanded thatDecember 26, the day GuruGobind Singh’s four sons weremartyred, be observed asChildren’s Day, instead ofNovember14."The rightful owner of

Children's Day is the fourSahibzadeofGuruGobindSinghji who sacrificed his life at ayoungagetoprotectthereligion.Tribute to Sahibzada ZorawarSingh ji and Sahibzada FatehSingh ji on their sacrifice day(sic),"Vermatweeted.Hesaidthathehadraisedthe

issueearliertoo,andwouldonceagain write to the PrimeMinister’soffice in this regard.The development comes

against the backdrop of thePunjabassemblypolls.On November 14, the birth

anniversary of former PMJawaharlalNehrubeingobserved

as Children’s Day, he said: "Thatwayweall love children. Butweknowitwasalldonesothatpoli-tics in the name of one familycouldberunaslongaspossible.”GuruGobindSingh’sfoursons

– Sahibzada Ajit Singh (18),Sahibzada Jujhar Singh (14),SahibzadaZorawarSingh(9)andSahibzadaFatehSingh(7)–weremartyred during Aurangzeb'sreign.Vermahadmadeasimilardemand in 2018 when he hadsaid: "November 14 can be at-tributed as 'Uncle Day' or'Chacha Diwas' instead ofChildren's Day as JawaharlalNehru was fondly known asChachaNehru.”"I don't find anyone better

than the four children of GuruGobind Singh, the 'ChaarSahibzaade' who martyredthemselves,sowhydon'twecel-ebrate their martyrdom day asChildren'sDay,"Vermasaid.2019, Delhi BJP president

ManojTiwarihadmadeasimilardemand with Prime MinisterNarendraModi.

UGC ‘not releasingsufficient grant’, DU tohike development fundcharges for studentsEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

DELHIUNIVERSITYhasdecidedto increase the UniversityDevelopment Fund (UDF)charged to students, citing thegovernmentmandate for self-sufficiencyandreductionofcap-ital grants by the UniversityGrantsCommission (UGC).Thiswasarecommendation

made by an 11-memberUniversity Development FundCommittee comprising thenPro-Vice-Chancellor P C JoshiandRegistrarVikasGupta.The committee had been

taskedwith considering the al-location of funds for activitieslike construction of new build-ingsandprocurementof labora-toryequipment.“Atpresent, theuniversity is

receiving only Rs 600 per stu-dent per year as UniversityDevelopmentFundcontributionwhichwas implemented in theacademic year 2012-2013.

Keeping in view the fund re-quirement, as well as govern-ment mandate for self-suffi-ciency and reduction of capitalgrantsbyUGCaswellforthecre-ation of ICT (information andcommunications)enabledinfra-structure, the UDF amountshould be revised to Rs 900 perstudent per year,” the commit-tee recommended.The ExecutiveCouncilof the

universityhadacceptedtherec-ommendationof an increasebyRs300inthe UDF amountdur-ing its Executive Council meet-ing thatwas held onDecember17.Itobserved: “TheUGCisnot

releasingsufficientcapitalgrantto the University for lab equip-ment or other equipment forthe last three to four years andin the current financial year al-located a sum of Rs 1.25 croreonly. With this very smallamount, the university is notable to purchase even a singlelab equipment for the depart-ments.”

Exempt from night curfew: Healthworkers, emergency services

Officialshaveblameddelayedrain for thecasespike.Archive

Shift Children’s Day toDec 26: BJP MP Verma

Of 23 dengue deaths this year, 15 were children

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGURGAON,DECEMBER27

THEMUNICIPAL Corporation ofGurugramMondaypassedares-olutiontohikeparkmaintenancerates fromRs3persquaremetretoRs4 in itsHouseMeeting.Thecommissioneralsodirectedoffi-cials to forma committee com-prising horticulture experts andcouncillorstooverseetheworkofward committees and RWAs inmaintenanceofparks.In the last housemeeting, a

sub-committee had beenformedtodiscusstheissueof in-creasingparkmaintenanceratesandinitsreport,ithadfloatedtheRs4figure.MukeshKumarAhuja,the MCG commissioner, said,“Those RWAs orward commit-tees who are not maintainingparksproperly,workwillbewith-drawn from them. A committeewillbeconstitutedtoinvestigateandwillsubmitreportin15days.”Severalcouncillorsopposedpay-ment of Rs 2 crore everymonthbythecorporationasFaridabad’stippingchargeforgarbagefees.Mahesh Dayma, councillor,

ward 30, raised the issue of en-croachments:“Banjaramarketinsector 56 is a heavy encroach-mentzone.Thiscausesunneces-sarytrafficduringrushhourandcausesnuisanceforpeople...”

At Gurgaon civicbody meeting,officials focus onimproving parks

6THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 13,418 13,121ICU BEDS 2,766 2,729

Cases Recoveries Deaths TestsDec26 290 120 1 52,947Dec27 331 144 1 48,589Total 1289* 14,17,288 25,106 3,24,47,831

CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL *T

otalactivecases

TOTAL CASES

14,43,683VACCINATIONS INLAST24HOURS

32,116

ManarrestedfordefraudingretiredsoldierofRs6lakhNew Delhi: A man hasbeen arrested by the ITcelloftheNoidapoliceforallegedlydefraudingare-tired army personnel ofnearlyRs6 lakhbyhack-ing phone and gainingaccess to his bank ac-counts. The accused hasbeenidentifiedasChetanPrakash, a resident ofBikaner,saidpolice.“Themain accused has beenarrested, his accomplicewillalsobeapprehended.Wearefindingoutdetailsof more such cases. Wealso appeal that peopleshouldn’t open suspi-cious linksorprovide in-formation to unknowncallers,” said RanvijaySingh, the assistantdeputy commissioner ofpolice, Gautam BuddhNagar. ENS

FireatfactoryinMangolpuriNew Delhi: A fire brokeout at a footwear factoryin Outer Delhi’sMangolpuri area onMonday morning andspread to adjoining unit,officials said. “We re-ceivedacallaboutthefirearound 9.05 am andrushed four fire tendersimmediately. Since thefire also spread to an ad-joiningfactory,intotal,20fire tenders have beendeployed at the spot,"said Atul Garg, Director,Delhi Fire Service.No in-juryorcasualtyhasbeenreported so far, the offi-cialsofDelhi FireServicesaid.PTI

BRIEFLY

ARANYASHANKARNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

THE INTERNAL ComplaintsCommittee (ICC) of JawaharlalNehruUniversityhasdecidedtoholdmonthly counselling ses-sionsforstudents,tomakethemaware of the ‘Dos andDon’ts’ ofsexualharassment.In an announcement on the

universitywebsite, the ICC saidthefirstsuchsession,scheduledfor January 17, is being held “tomake the students (both boysandgirls)awareaboutwhatcon-sistsof sexualharassment”. TheICC said although such coun-sellingwas held during the ori-entation program, students“needtorefreshtheirknowledgeabout thesame”.The announcement also

statessuchsessionsarerequired

as“girls (are)supposedtoknowhowtodrawatangible line (be-tween them and their malefriends) to avoid any such ha-rassments (sic)”.Asked what was meant by

this, ICCPresidingOfficerPunamKumari told The Indian Express:“We get several complaintswhere sexual harassment casestake place between men andwomenwho are close friends.Theytoucheachother,hugeach

other. But themomentwomenfeelthattheydon’tfeelcomfort-ableaboutthis,theyshouldstatethis clearly to theirmale friend.Till the time they don’t speak,andif theykeepittothemselves,then it doesn’t work. If he con-tinuestodoitdespitebeingtold,then the ICC is there.”“It is importantforbothboys

andgirlstoknowwherethelinehas to be drawn… Girls alsoneed to say it before themattergoesoutofhandif theydon’tlike(being touched or hugged).These things have to be con-veyed clearly. Otherwise howwill the person knowwhat youwant? These are small thingswhich wewill tell them aboutalongwithall the rulesandreg-ulationsof ICC,” saidKumari.The ICC announcement fur-

ther states: “ICC (has) comeacrossanumberof caseswhere

sexual harassment takes placeamong close friends. Boys gen-erally cross (sometimes adver-tently,sometimesinadvertently)the thin line between friend-ship’s bantering and sexual ha-rassment.”The ICC said such sessions

wouldkeepstudents“abreastofwhat is sexualharassment”and“what could be the prospectiverepercussions if found guilty ofsexualharassment”.TheICCsaidthatthroughsuch

acounsellingsession, the“num-ber of sexual harassment caseswill be reduced for sure”, and itwould “dissipate any confusionrelatedtosexualharassment”.For this, the ICC has floated

anonlineGoogle form, andsaidthatthecounsellingsessionwillbe held if 20 ormore forms arereceived fromstudentswhoareinterested.

‘Girls should know how to draw line’: JNUICC plans sessions on sexual harassment

ICCsaidsuchsessionswouldkeepstudents‘abreastofwhat issexualharassment’and‘whatcouldbetherepercussions if foundguilty’

ANONNADUTTNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

RESIDENT DOCTORS fromDelhi’smajor government hos-pitals,protestingrepeateddelaysinNEET-PGcounselling,Mondayalleged that theywere beaten,draggedanddetainedbythepo-lice during their march to theSupremeCourt.Inresponse,DelhiPolicereg-

istered an FIR under sections ofrioting, causing obstruction indutyanddamagingpublicprop-ertyagainst thedoctors.TheFIRwas lodged at IP Estate policestation after a complaint wasfiledbyapolicepersonnel.On theeleventhdayof com-

plete withdrawal from all rou-tineandemergencyservices,thedoctors decided to return theirwhite coats to authorities astheir demands were not beingheard.The delays in counselling

have been due to a clutch ofcases pending in the SupremeCourt over the recently intro-duced quota for the economi-callyweakersections.Around50doctors, includingthepresidentof the Federation of ResidentDoctors’ Association (FORDA)that is leading the strike, weredetainednear ITO.“There is no respect left for

Covidwarriors.Weare shockedand in disbelief at what hap-pened today. Bothmale and fe-male doctors were dragged ontheroad.Severalpeoplewerein-jured,somehadlacerationsfrombeing dragged, others got hitagainst the barricades, and stillother received injuries to theirhand when the bus door wasclosed on it,” alleged Dr AnujAggarwal, general secretary oftheresidentdoctors’associationof Safdarjung hospital whereFORDA president Dr ManishKumar also works. Dr SunilDuchania, vice-president,FORDA, said thatall thepersonswere later released.Additional DCP (Central dis-

trict) Rohit Meena said, "Theycametoprotestandtriedtostopthe trafficmovement.We triedto stop them and they thenstarted marching towards theSupreme Court. We againstopped them after discussingwiththem.Sevenpoliceperson-

nel receivedminor injuries andtheyhavedamagedtwobusesaswell.Wearetakinglegalopinionbefore lodging any FIR againstthem."After the incident, doctors

from across the city and otherstates who had joined theprotest came together atSafdarjunghospital onMondayeveningandburnt aneffigyof aPPE-clad doctor. The doctorsthen decided to march to the

health minister’s residence atnight. The doctors began theirprotest exactly onemonth agowithawithdrawalfromout-pa-tient clinics; itwas slowly esca-lated to withdrawal from allwork by resident doctors whoare the backbone of services atmedical collegehospitals.The strike was halted for a

week and resumed onDecember17.Sincethen,doctorshave symbolically returned

“thalis, diyas, and flowers” thatwere showered on them in re-spect for their services duringthe previous waves of Covid.“Resident doctors, the so called“CoronaWarriors”, protestingpeacefully to expediteNEET-PGCounselling in Delhi were bru-tally thrashed, dragged and de-tained by cops. There will becomplete shutdown of allhealthcareinstitutionstodayon-wards!” said FORDA in a state-

ment.Thedoctorsexpecttheirsen-

iors and consultants to join thestrike; adecisionon the same isyettocome.“Weexpectthecon-sultants will be joining ourprotest,theirGBM(generalbodymeeting) is happening,” saidDrDuchania. Dr Aggarwal added,“The violence has brought to-gethereveryonefromacrossthecountry. Earlier some werepitching in with somework inthehospitals,butnowtherewillbeacompleteshutdownofserv-ices.”Later in the evening, police

said they had detained protest-ers at Sarojini Nagar police sta-tion and allowed them to con-duct a peaceful march. DCP(SouthWest) Gaurav Sharmasaid, "Theyweremarching andwe have stopped them peace-fully."Over 2,500 resident doctors

were detained at the SarojiniNagar police stationwhile theywere marching towards theUnion Health Minister's resi-dence.Withnospacewithinthepolice station, they stood out-side. Inadditiontoslogans, theyalsosang thenationalanthem.In a tweet, Congress leader

Rahul Gandhi said, “Showeringflowerswas just for show, in re-ality injusticewas being show-ered. I amwith the Covidwar-riors in their protest against theCentral government.”Congress leader Priyanka

Gandhitweeted,"Duringcoronatheseyoungdoctorsstayedawayfromtheirfamiliestosupportallthecitizensof thecountry.NowitistimeforthecountrytostandinsupportofthedoctorstowaketheNarendraModigovernment,who used police force and didnot listen to their demands.There isnoneedfor falsePR, thedoctors need their right and re-spect.”

Duringtheprotestbyprotestingdoctors (top);morethan2,500residentdoctorsweredetainedatSarojiniNagarpolicestation.Express

“Showering flowerswasjust for show, in realityinjusticewasbeingshowered. I amwith theCovidwarriors in theirprotest against theCentral government.”

RAHULGANDHICONGRESSLEADER

Striking doctors run into policewall

New Delhi

GOVT&POLITICS 7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

THE BJPwill lead a three-partycoalitionwithformerchiefmin-ister Amarinder Singh's PunjabLokCongressandSukhdevSinghDhindsa’s SAD (Sanyukt) inPunjab,whereamulti-corneredelectoralbattle is expected.Theannouncementcameaf-

ter Singh andDhindsamet BJPpresidentJPNadda,UnionHomeMinisterAmitShahandJalShaktiMinister Gajendra SinghShekhawat, who is in charge ofthe party’s electioneering inPunjab,atShah’sresidenceinthenationalcapitalonMonday.Addressing themedia later,

Shekhawat said, “Today, it isbe-ingofficiallyannouncedthattheBJP,AmarinderSingh’spartyandSukhdev Dhindsa's party willjointly contest the upcomingAssemblypolls inPunjab.”A joint committee will be

formedcomprising two leadersfrom each party to finalise theseat-sharing arrangements,Shekhawatsaid.“Therewillbeacommitteeconsistingof leadersfrom(the)threepartiesandtheywillsitanddiscusstheseat-shar-ing (formula). Theywill submitadraft to theBJP central leader-ship on seat-sharing formula,”he toldThe IndianExpress.The alliancewill also have a

commonmanifesto, it was in-formed. Askedwhether the al-liancewill have a chiefministe-rial candidate, Shekhawat saidsuchdecisionswillbetakenlater.

Shekhawat said the party isoptimistic given thepolitical at-mosphereinPunjab.“TheonlyrayofhopeforthepeopleofPunjabisBJP,becausethereishugeinfight-ing in theCongress and the stateis paying for it— the recentblastinLudhiana(courtcomplex)isanexample.Peoplehavenotforgot-tentheeraofdrugsandmafiaun-dertheAkaliDal,”hesaid.BJP leaders also dismissed

AAP’s emergence in the state—the party haswonmost seats intheChandigarhcivicelections,ac-cordingtotheresultsannouncedonMonday. “Only BJP can savethe state,which is under a hugedebt...andhasoneof theslowestGDP growth, ranked 32nd,”Shekhawatsaid.“Thesituationisverycritical...itcanbesavedonlywith the help of the Centre, andpeoplehaverealisedthat.”

KIRANPARASHARBENGALURU,DECEMBER27

CONTROVERSIALBJPMPTejasviSuryaonMondayissuedastate-ment on Twitter “uncondition-ally”withdrawinghis recent re-marks that those who hadconverted to Islam andChristianity should be broughtbackintoHinduismfold,andthatthemuttsandtemplesshouldbesetannual targets for this.Suryatweeted,“Ataprogram

held in Udupi Sri KrishnaMutttwodaysago,Ispokeonthesub-ject of ‘HinduRevival inBharat’.Certain statements from myspeechhaveregrettablycreatedan avoidable controversy. Ithereforeunconditionallywith-drawthestatements.”Sources said Suryawas told

to issuethestatement in lightofthecomingGoaelections,whereChristiansformasizeablechunkof thepopulation.The BJP had finished behind

the Congress in the lastAssembly elections in Goa butmanaged to form the govern-ment. This time, apart from theCongress, the BJP is facing aresurgent AAP and the newbieTrinamoolCongress.

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI,DECEMBER27

CONTINUING HIS criticismagainsttheBJP-ledgovernments,partyMPVarun Gandhi took astrongexceptiontoimpositionofnightcurfewinviewofsharprisein Covid-19 caseswhile not re-strictingpublic rallies in thepollbound states. Heurged theYogiAdityanath government in UP,whichhas brought back a state-wide night curfew between 11pmand5 am fromSaturday, to“honestlydecide”itspriorities.“Imposingcurfewinthenight

andcalling lakhsofpeople inral-liesduringtheday–thisisbeyondcomprehension of the commonman,” he tweeted. “GivenUttarPradesh’s limitedhealthcaresys-tems,wehavetohonestlydecidewhether our priority is to stopspread of dreaded Omicron orshowelectoralpower,”hesaid.Varunsaidnightcurfewshave

“limited impact”. He told TheIndian Express: “Maxium trans-missionhappensduring thedayastherearelesserpeopleonroadduringthenight.MustpushtocutdownonsocialgatheringswhichcouldemergeasCovid19clusters.”Todrivehomehispoint,Varun

cited the Centre’s message toMaharashtra government lastyear.Hesaidthere’sneedforaho-listic strategy “as highlightedbytheCentre’snotetoMaharashtrainMarch2021—measures suchasnight curfews,weekend lock-downshavevery limited impacton containing or suppressingtransmission.”

NewDelhi:TheCentreeffectedasignificantbureaucraticreshuf-fle Monday, appointing ninesecretary-levelofficersinmulti-pleministriesanddepartments,andpromotingeightadditionalsecretariestospecialsecretariesbyupgrading theirposts.Among the key ministries

tohavegotnewsecretariesareJal Shakti, Environment,Housing,Petroleum,andSteel.TheDepartment of Consumer

Affairs, too, has got a newsec-retary. While 1987-batch IASofficer Sanjay Kumar Singh(Madhya Pradesh cadre) hasbeen appointed SteelSecretary, V Srinivas of theRajasthan Cadre (1989 batch)will be secretary for theDepartmentofAdministrativeReforms&PussblicGrievances(DARPG) and Department ofPensions&PensionersWelfare(DoPPW) .ENS

WHILEBJP, isolated aftertraditional ally SADwalkedout of NDA, istrying to get an edge inPunjabpolitics, itsmainthrustwouldbeonex-panding support base inPunjab. BJP has threeMLAs in the outgoingAssembly, andgivenSAD’s overwhelmingpresence earlier, thiswillbe the first time thepartywill go all outacross the state, and alsocontest amuchbiggershare of seats.

ExpandingsaffronfootprintE●EX

PLAINED

BJP to leadPunjaballiancewithCapt,Dhindsaparties

AmarinderSingh,GajendraSinghShekhawatandSukhdevSinghDhindsainNewDelhionMonday.PremNathPandey

SUKHBIRSIWACHMANDI, DECEMBER27

BATTING FOR raising themini-mumageofmarriageforwomento 21 years, Prime MinisterNarendraModiMondaysaidthatitwill give them sufficient timeto complete their studies andplanacareer.“We have decided that the

age of marriage of daughtersshould also be the same as theageatwhichsonsareallowedtomarry. Themarriage age beingraised to 21 years for daughterswill give themfull timetostudyand they will also be able tomake their career,” saidModi.Addressingapublicmeeting

at Himachal Pradesh’s Manditown, the PrimeMinister saidthegovernmentwasworkingongrantingrightstodaughtersthatareequaltothoseforsons.“Beta-beti ek saman (sons and daugh-tersareequal),” saidModi.The Prohibition of Child

Marriage (Amendment) Bill2021, whichwas introduced bythegovernmentintheLokSabhaandseekstoraisethelegalageofmarriage forwomen from18 to21 years, has been sent to aParliamentary StandingCommittee for scrutiny follow-ingobjectionsoftheOpposition.Duringhisvisit,Modilaidthe

foundation of the Shri RenukajiDam. The project, worth Rs6,700 crore, on the Giri river inSirmaur district, will generate200million units of energy in asurface power house with 40

MW installed capacity. The livestorage of the damwill be 498million(49.8crore)cubicmetres,which will fulfil about 40 percent of the drinking water re-quirement of Delhi.“A large arewill benefit from the project. Alargeportionof theincomegen-erated from this project will bespentondevelopmenthere,”thePrimeMinister said.Inanindirectreferencetohis

political opponents, Modiblamedthemforathree-decadelong delay in the Renukaji Damproject, which has now takenshape following cooperationbysix states - Himachal Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,Rajasthan, Uttarakhand andDelhi. The Centre claims itbrought together thesestates tomake theprojectpossible.

PrimeMinisterNarendraModi inMandi,HimachalPradesh,onMonday.Express

Govt working togrant equal rightsto daughters: PM

‘Curfew at night,lakhs of peopleat day rallies’:Varun questionsUP government

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

SAFFRON TILT?JAGANMOHANReddy’sYSRCPMPsseemedclosesttotheBJPin the just-concluded winter session of Parliament - theparty’s leaders even tried tomediate in order to break thestalemate in Rajya Sabha over suspension of 12 OppositionMPs. OnMonday, YSRCP leader Vijaysai Reddy surprisedeveryone,tweetingpicturesofhimselfwithRSSchiefMohanBhagwat. “It was an honour meeting Sarsanghchalak ofRashtriyaSwayamsevakSangh@DrMohanBhagwat Ji today27thDecember,2021atNarsapuram.Hadthewonderfulop-portunity of seekinghis blessings and listening tohiswordsofguidance,”Reddyposted.AndhrawatchersinBJP’scentralleadershipwerehappy,as itwillbeseenasgrowingproxim-ity between the twoparties, but it didn’t godownwellwiththeparty’s state leaders,whohavebeen trying toemergeasa formidable rival to the rulingYSRCP inAndhraPradesh.

RUNNING INTO HURDLETHEOMICRONstrainofcoronavirushasstoppedtheCentre’sambitious plans to re-introduce the cheetah in the country.The cheetah, extinct in India, was to be relocated this yearfrompartsofAfrica, inparticularSouthAfrica,whichstillhasahealthypopulationof thebigcat.TwoteamsfromNamibiaandSouthAfrica visited India earlier this year to train forestofficialshere incheetahmanagement,buta secondvisitbe-fore the animals’ final introduction had to be canceled asOmicronhas torn throughSouthAfrica.

PUSH THROUGH POSTINITSpushfornutritiousfoodunderthePoshanAbhiyanpro-gramme,theMinistryofWomenandChildDevelopmenthadundertaken a unique schemewith India Post, the country’snow-rarely-usedpostalservices.Theministryhasdistributed10.5lakh“vegetablekits”thisyearthroughtheNationalSeedsCorporation Limited, with India Post doing the distributionwork.Theministryselecteddignitariesaswellasspecifican-ganwadicentresfortheprogrammetopromotekitchengar-dens,hoping that theseedswill beplanted.

Tejasvi ‘withdraws’call to bringMuslims, Christiansback to Hinduism

Centre reshuffles top-level officers

Guwahati:Adayafter theCentreformedapaneltolookintowith-drawal of AFSPA fromNagaland,theKonyakNaga tribe said theywillcontinue“non-cooperation”withthearmedforces. ENS

WON’TCOOPERATE: KONYAKS

COALITIONTOHAVECOMMONMANIFESTO

New Delhi

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Haridwar meet:2 more booked inconnection withhate speeches

J&K admin signs realtyMoUs worth Rs 18,900 cr

VISHWASWAGHMODEMUMBAI,DECEMBER27

ADAYafterhereceivedadelega-tionofMahaVikasAghadi(MVA)ministers,whoapprisedhimthatthe governmentwouldhold theSpeaker’s election on Tuesday,Maharashtra Governor BhagatSinghKoshyarinixedtheplan.Congressleaders,however,in-

sisted that the election for theSpeaker’s postwouldbeheldonTuesday,which is the last dayofthewintersessionofthestateleg-islature. Sources in the govern-ment said that the decision onholding the election for theSpeaker post will be taken onTuesdaymorning after getting a

legalopinion.“WehavewrittentotheGovernortodaysayinggiveusdate for election. Also,we havesoughta legalopinionontheop-tionsavailabletothegovernmentin case theGovernor doesn’t re-spond.Theopinionwill comeonTuesdaymorning, and then thedecisionwill be taken accord-ingly,”acabinetministertoldTheIndianExpress. TheSpeaker’sposthasbeenvacantsinceFebruary.Sources said Koshyari has

communicated to the govern-ment ina letterhewasexamin-ing the constitutionality of theamendmentsmadebytherulescommittee of the state legisla-ture to conduct the electionthroughvoicevoteinsteadofthesecretballot.

MAHARASHTRASPEAKERELECTION

No nod from Governor,govt seeks legal opinion

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

Thecentralgovernmenthasap-proached the Supreme Courtover itsorderstayingelectiontoseats reserved forOBC categoryin local body polls in MadhyaPradesh, and said that any suchinterventionwillresultin"graveprejudice" to thecommunity.TheCentre,filinganimplead-

ment application to be madepart of court’s hearings regard-ing a petition on the local bodypolls in Madhya Pradesh, alsosaidthematterofreservationforOther Backward Classes has“pan-India ramification”.“Any intervention at this

stagewoulddeprive theperson

belonging to OBC Communityfor five long years which by nostretch of logic be said to be ashortperiodcausinggraveprej-udice to thebackwardclassciti-zens," the Centre said in its ap-plicationdatedDecember25.It added that the questions

raised“areofgreatpublicimpor-tanceandhasapan-India rami-fication on the issue of imple-mentation of OBC reservationsin the elections all throughoutthecountry”.The top court, on December

17,stayedlocalbodyelectionstoseats reserved forOBC categoryinMP, noting that the triple testlaid down by the court was notfulfilled by the state. It directedthat the local elections be heldonlyaftertheseatsarerenotified

asGeneralCategory.Thetripletestrequirementis

a three-pronged criteria set upbytheSCinpreviousjudgmentstomandateOBCreservation.Days before the MP ruling,

the apex court passed a similarorderforMaharashtra.Thecourtput on hold the elections to 27per cent seats reserved for theOBCcategoryinMaharashtralo-cal body polls and later officialsto renotify theseats.TheCentre filed its implead-

ment application as the apexcourtwashearingapleafiledbyManmohanNagar, president ofBhopal District Panchayat, inconnectionwith apetition filedby him before the MadhyaPradeshHighCourt on thepan-chayatelections.

OBC quota in local polls: Centre saysSC intervention will lead to prejudice

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

AMIDRISINGCovid-19casesandincreased detection of the newvariant,Omicron,theMinistryofHomeAffairs (MHA) has told allstates and Union territories to“observeallprecautions”,includ-ing “need-based local curbs/ re-strictions to control the crowdduringthefestiveseason”.TheMHA also issued statu-

tory orders under the DisasterManagementActforimplemen-tationofdirections issuedbytheMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare(MoHFW).“Thecountryhaswitnessedanoverall declineinactivecases.However,thenewvariant, Omicron, is reported tobeatleastthreetimesmoretrans-missible than the Delta VoC(Variant of Concern), and is pos-inganewchallengefortheCovidcontainmentmeasures. In thecountrieswithOmicron-drivensurge, the growth trajectory ofcaseshasbeenverysteep. Inourcountry,578Omicroncaseshavealready been reported in 19States/UTs,”HomeSecretaryAjayBhallasaidinalettertochiefsec-retariesofallstates.Saying that theMoHFWhad,

onDecember21, issuedanadvi-sorydetailingthe frameworkforcontainmentofCovid-19,hesaidthat with the emergence of

Omicron, there is need for“greater foresight, data analysis,dynamic decisionmaking, andstrict and prompt containmentactions at the local and districtlevels”.“State governments should

ensure that the health systemsare strengthened tomeet anychallengeposedbythenewvari-ant. Further, the state govern-ments/ UT administrationsshould ensure that oxygen sup-ply equipment are installed andarefullyfunctionalandthebufferstock of essential drugs shouldalso bemaintained,” the lettersaid.“Iwouldliketoreiteratethat

all the states/UTsmust observeall precautions, and not let theguard down... States may con-sider imposing need-based, lo-calcurbs/restrictions,tocontrolthecrowdduringthefestivesea-son,” it said.TheMHA also emphasised

the need for continued focus onthefive-foldstrategyoftest-track-treat-vaccinationandadherenceto Covid appropriate behaviour.“Thestateenforcementmachin-ery should strictly enforce thenorms of Covid appropriate be-haviour, i.e., wearing of facemasks andmaintaining safe so-cialdistancinginallpublicareas/gatherings,” it said. The Centrealso asked states to discourageanymisinformation.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,DECEMBER27

UNIONHEALTHSecretaryRajeshBhushanonMondayheldahigh-levelmeetingwith the fivepoll-bound states to review publichealthresponsemeasuresforcon-tainment andmanagement ofCovid-19andvaccinationstatusinthesestates.Monday’s meeting with

Uttarakhand,Goa,Manipur,UttarPradesh, and Punjab came justhours after the ElectionCommission of India (ECI) metBhushantoreviewtheCovid-19sit-uationaheadofAssemblyelectionsnextyear.Duringhismeetingwithofficialsof thefivestates,Bhushandirectedtheauthoritiestodrawup“district-wiseweeklyvaccinationimplementationplans”torampupvaccinecoverage.Inviewoftheemergenceofthe

Omicronvariant,Bhushanurgedthestatesto“exponentiallyincreasetesting... to ensure that infectedcasesare identifiedpromptly fortimelyinitiationofpublichealthre-sponsemeasures, and toensure

thatthereisnosuddenupsurgeinnumbers... stateauthoritieswerestronglyadvisedtoensurethatrec-ommendedCovid-appropriatebe-haviorisstrictlyfollowed.”ThemeetingwithECcamedays

afterAllahabadHighCourturgedthepollpanelandPrimeMinisterNarendraModi topostponeUttarPradeshAssemblypolls,giventhethreatposedbytheOmicronvari-ant.“TheCommissionwillproceedtoLucknowonTuesdayafternoonforascheduledpollpreparednessreviewmeetingthereandreturnontheafternoonofDecember30,”anECofficialsaid.“WhileUttarakhandandGoa

havereportedvaccinationcoveragefor first andseconddoseshigherthan the national average, UP,PunjabandManipurhavevaccina-tioncoveragenumbersbelowna-tionalaverage,”theministrystated.

Thiruvananthapuram:AsOmicroncasesrise,theKeralagovernmenthasannouncednightrestrictionsonmovement and assembly ofpeople in the state. The restric-tions,from10pmto5am,willbe-ginonDecember30and remaininforceforfourdays.ChiefMinisterPinarayiVijayan

chaired ahigh-levelmeeting onMonday and told officials to de-ploysectoralmagistratesatpublicplaces, including malls andbeaches where people are ex-pectedtogatherforNewYearcel-ebrations. ENS

KERALA IMPOSESNIGHTCURFEWFROMDEC30

New Delhi:The Ministry forWomenandChildDevelopmenthasopenedpostofficeaccountsfor 3,275 Covid orphans so farunder the ‘PM CARES forChildren’ scheme, it said in astatementMonday.Theschemewaslaunchedby

PMNarendraModi for financialassistance to childrenwho losttheir parents or guardians toCovid-19. The ministry said6,098applicationswerereceivedtill December 24, 2021, out ofwhich the district magistrateshadapproved3,481. ENS

GOVTOPENS ACCOUNTSFOR3KCOVID ORPHANS

AAPsupporterscelebrateonMondayafterpartycandidateManuwarwonfromWard29intheChandigarhMunicipalCorporationelection. Express

RAAKHIJAGGA&HINAROHTAKILUDHIANA/CHANDIGARH,DECEMBER27

AS CHANDIGARH voted in itsfavour, a confident AamAadmiParty was talking of winningPunjabon its own in the comingAssemblyelections. TheBJP’s ar-gument that civic andAssemblyelections couldn’t be compareddidn’t cutmuch ice given howmuchstarpowerithaddeployedto wrest back the ChandigarhMunicipalCorporation.AAP Punjab unit convenor

Harpal Singh Cheema said theChandigarhwinwould“buildanopinion in favour oftheparty among thepeople”.“Chandigarhis not different fromPunjab. Daily, thou-sandsofpeopletravelto Chandigarh.Theywill go back to theirhomesandcarry thedesireforchange.Wewill alsoworktosustain themo-mentum.”HesaidthatgiventhatitwasAAP's first contest for theChandigarhcorporation,thevotewas clearly for its plank of goodgovernance.Cheema said they didn’t see

this result as restricted to urbancentres,whereAAPmight havebiggertractionduetotheDelhief-fect. “The kisan aandolan gave agood reason for the people ofPunjab to self-introspect,”Cheemasaid.PunjabAAP chief Bhagwant

Mannsaidthepartydidnotneedtoseekoutallies,includingamong

thefarmerunions.“Wehavehadnotalks,”hesaid.While AAP had emerged as

the second biggest party in the2017Assemblyelections,winning20seats,10of itsMLAsgraduallyleftandjoinedtheCongress.AAPpromises included aDelhi-likemodel of governance, includingfree20,000litresofwatertoeveryfamily permonth. This hadhighappeal in a cityupsetwithhikedwater tariff rates (200 times lastyear). It also promised to rid thecorporationofcorruption.The BJP-led corporation’s

heftywaste collection charges,hikedpropertytaxratesandangstover parkingproblems in a fast-expandingcityalsohelpedAAP.

Putting up abravefaceaftertheparty’s tumblecompared to the2016civicpolls,BJPgeneral secretarySubash Sharmasaid: “Civic andAssembly pollsshouldn’t be

mixedup. In the last Chandigarhpolls, theBJPhadwon21wards,but in the PunjabAssembly,wewononlythreeseats.So,howarethey connected? ... at the statelevel,policy-making,governance,lotsof thingsmatter.”However, theBJPclearlymis-

judgedtheappealof itsHindutvapitch.Whatmight haveworkedagainst it is the farmer anger,whichdrewconsiderablesupportwithinthecity.Chandigarh’scor-poration limits this timehad13more villages. The turnoutwashigher intheruralbelts,andAAPwonbigthere.

CHANDIGARHCIVICELECTIONS

E●EXPLAINED

UnionHealthSecretaryRajeshBhushan

ARUNSHARMAJAMMU,DECEMBER27

THE JAMMU and Kashmir ad-ministrationMonday signed 39‘memorandums of understand-ing’ worth Rs 18,900 crorewithrealestateinvestorsfordevelop-inghousing,hospitalityandothercommercialprojectsintheUnionTerritory.Lieutenant GovernorManoj

Sinha spoke to the investors ofthe benefits — such as conces-sions in stamp duty — that areavailable under the UnionTerritory’snewindustrialpolicy.Healsoassuredthemofasingle-

window system for faster clear-ance. TheMoUswere signed atthe Jammu and Kashmir RealEstate Summit2021 in thepres-ence of Union Minister forHousing and Urban AffairsHardeepSinghPuri.NineteenoftheseMoUswere

related to the residential sector.Eightwere forcommercialproj-ects and four were for hospital-ity. There were three MoUs forinfrastructure, two for financeandthreefor thefilmandenter-tainment sector.Lt Governor said therewere

“hurdles”inbringinginvestmentto J&K earlier, but those walls“havenowstartedcrumbling”.

Health Secy meets EC,officers of poll-boundstates to check situation

MHA to states on Covid: Don’t let guarddown, put local curbs to control crowd

ENS&PTIDEHRADUN/NEWDELHI,DEC27

TWO MORE people werebooked in connection with al-legedhatespeechesata‘DharamSansad’inHaridwarrecently,po-lice saidonMonday.The names of Swami

Dharamdas and SadhviAnnapurna were added onSaturday in the FIR lodged afteravailable footage of the eventwas scanned,HaridwarKotwaliSHO Rakinder Singh said onMonday. Initially, onlyWaseemRizvi, who took the name ofJitendraNarayanSinghTyagiaf-ter converting from Islam toHinduism,wasnamedintheFIRlodged last week. OnMonday,dozens of people gathered out-sideUttarakhandSadaninDelhito demand action against thosewhomadehatespeechesagainsttheMuslimcommunity.

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

VIKRAMMISRI,whowasIndia’senvoy to China for almost threeyears till early this month, hasbeennamedthenextdeputyna-tional securityadviser.HewillsucceedPankajSaran,

former Indian envoy to RussiaandBangladesh,whodemitsof-ficeonDecember31.Misri was in Beijing during

one of the most challengingphases in India’s relationshipwith China, as a border stand-off has been ongoing for morethan 19months.A 1989-batch IFS officer,

Misriwillbringinhisforeignpol-icyexpertisetothepost,andwillreport to National SecurityAdviser (NSA) Ajit Doval. Theother two deputy NSAs areRajender Khanna and DattaPandsalgikar.Misri, 57, hasworked in the

PrimeMinister’s Office in thepast,withthreeprimeministers

— I K Gujral, Manmohan Singhandbriefly,NarendraModi.Acareerdiplomat,Misriwas

private secretary to primemin-ister Manmohan Singh fromOctober 2012 toMay 2014. Healso served as private secretarytoPrimeMinisterNarendraModifromMay2014to July2014.Hewas also under secretary

in the office of I K Gujral fromNovember 1996 to April 1997,whenGujralwasexternalaffairsminister. Later, he became pri-vatesecretarytoGujralwhenthelatter became primeminister,fromApril 1997 toMarch1998.

VikramMisrihasworkedinPMOwith3primeministers

Vikram Misri, ex-envoyto China, named dy NSA

‘King’ Mahendra: Medicine baron,JD(U)’s longest-serving RS MP diesSANTOSHSINGHPATNA,DECEMBER27

JD(U) RAJYA Sabha MPMahendraPrasad,betterknownasKingMahendra,hardlycameoff asapractisingpolitician.Yet,hewould often say that “if oneRajyaSabhaseat isvacant intheJD(U), itwould go to him”. Onemaycallithis“politicalswagger”,but itwasmainlybecauseofhisinfluenceinfinanciallysupport-ingaregionalparty like JD(U)asoneof itsprimefinancers.The owner of Aristo

Pharmaceuticals and MapraLaboratories Private Limited,Prasad was the richest BiharMPwith assets worth over Rs4,000 crore, according to his2018poll affidavit.Prasad, who died in a Delhi

hospital at the age of 81, is sur-vivedbyhiswife, twosonsandadaughter.He hailed fromGovindpur

village in Jehanabad, and

worked as a teacher before be-comingCongressLokSabhaMPfromJehanabad in1980.From the Congress, he

moved to the RJD and later tothe JD(U), and remained theparty’s longest-serving RajyaSabhamember from Bihar. Atthe timeof hisdeath, hewas inhisseventh-termasRajyaSabhaMP, having entered the UpperHouse in1985.Condoling his death, Prime

Minister Narendra Moditweeted:"Saddenedbythepass-

ing away of Rajya SabhaMPDrMahendraPrasadJi.HeservedinParliament formany years andwas at the forefront of severalcommunityserviceefforts.Heal-ways spoke for thewelfare ofBiharanditspeople.Condolencestohisfamily.OmShanti.”Bihar Chief Minister Nitish

KumartermedPrasad’sdeath“abig loss to society andpolitics”.“Mahendra Prasad’s death hascreatedabigvoid inpoliticsandsociety,”theCMsaid.Prasad had left his home at

the age of 24 after hewas un-able to find a job. He had a de-gree in Economics at the time.He worked as a teacher in aschoolnearhisvillagebutitwasBombay (nowMumbai) thatwasonhismind.Whenhe returnedhomeaf-

ter 16 years, hehad establishedhimselfasasuccessfulbusiness-man. When he started cam-paigningwithseveralcarsintow,peoplestartedaddressinghimas“KingMahendra”.

MAHENDRA PRASAD

1940-2021

LALMANIVERMALUCKNOW,DECEMBER27

AFTER TAKING feedback fromits cadre, the BJP has consti-tutedafour-membercommit-teetodrawtheparty’sstrategyand programmes aimed at at-tracting voters from theBrahmin community in UttarPradeshaheadof theAssemblyelections in the state.Sources in the party said

that feedback fromthegroundsuggested that the Oppositionpartieshavebeensuccessful toanextentinsendingoutames-sage that Brahmins inUPhavenot been getting due respectand representation in the YogiAdityanathgovernment.Brahminsconstitutearound

13percentof thepopulationin

UttarPradesh.Thecommitteecomprising

Rajya Sabha member ShivPratap Shukla, former Unionminister Mahesh Sharma, BJPyouth wing leader AbhijatMishraandLokSabhaMPfromGujarat, Ram Bhai Mokariya,was constitutedonSundayaf-ter Union ministerDharmendra Pradhan, who isalso the BJP’s in-charge for UPelections, held a meeting ofseniorpartyofficials inDelhi.“Wewillholdprogrammes

to remove misconceptionsthat are being spread by theOppositionpartiesthattheBJPis neglecting the (Brahmin)community. Outreach pro-grammes will be held,” ShivPratap Shukla, who will headthecommittee, toldThe IndianExpress.

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

INAbid to keep IndianworkersrelevantinthejobmarketofGulfnations, the government islaunching a programme to up-skill and re-skill overseaswork-erstocopewithrequirementsinthepost-pandemicscene.Under the new programme

— dubbed Tejas, or Training inEmirate Jobs& Skills— the gov-ernment has partnered withleadingemployers intheUAEto“train, certify and place 10,000Indian workers in a year”and“100,000 across the GCC [GulfCooperation Council] regionover thenext fiveyears”.Duringhisvisit toDubaiear-

lier this month, UnionMoS forSkill Development andEntrepreneurship RejeevChandrasekharhelddiscussionswithofficialsandtopemployersin UAE to finalise the pro-gramme,whichissetforanoffi-cial launchnextmonth.Chandrasekhar told The

Indian Express: “PrimeMinister

Narendra Modi has alwaysmaintained that expatriateIndians contribute significantlytoIndiawiththeirhardworkandarecriticalinthestrongrelation-ship that India haswithMiddleEast countries. Many of themhavebeendisruptedbythepan-demic and the PrimeMinisterhas directed Skill India to helpupskill and re-skill as manyIndians(aspossible,whoare)al-readyworkingthere,and(those)whoareseekingcareers there.”Chandrasekharsaidthegov-

ernmenthasalsodecidedtoex-tend the programme for thosewhohavereturnedtoIndiadur-ing the pandemic, thus givingthemanopportunitytoreturntotheiremployerswithnewskills.The internationalworkforce

mobilitymarketopportunityforIndia is estimated to be 3.6mil-lioninthenextfiveyears.Ofthis,2.6millionIndianscanbepoten-tially placed in GCC countriesacross sectors, and the remain-inginEurope,Australia,Canada,Japan, the Far East, Russia andMalaysia,aministryofficialsaid.With digital skills becoming

crucialforworkersatdifferentlev-els, itwill be a significant part oftheupskilling and re-skilling ef-forts, he said. “Oneof the criticalelementsofupskillingistoimportdigital skills anddigitally enableour youth for employment inIndiaandabroad.Infact,thePrimeMinister has alwaysmaintainedthateveryIndianwillneeddigitalskills in the post-Covidworld,”Chandrasekharsaid.

RajeevChandrasekhar

Eye on Gulf job market, govt to launchupskill project for overseas workers

BJP sets up panel to reachout to Brahmin voters in UP

PUNJAB

MajithiamovesHCforbailChandigarh: SAD leaderBikram Singh MajithiaMonday filed a petitionbefore the Punjab andHaryanaHighCourtseek-ing anticipatory bail. Hisbail plea had been dis-missedbyadistrictcourtin Mohali on December24. Majithia has beenbooked by the PunjabPolice for his alleged in-volvementinadrugcase.Seeking anticipatory bailbefore the HC, Majithia,throughhiscounsels,saidtheCongressgovernmenthasturnedtheissueintoapollplank. ENS

TELANGANA

StateCongresschiefdetainedHyderabad: TelanganaCongress chief ARevanthReddysaidhewasputun-derhousearrestinhisres-idenceMonday.Policede-tainedhimasReddycameoutof hishouse in JubileeHills to go to Erravalli vil-lage where CM KChandrashekar Raohas afarmhouse. Reddy hadSunday stated thatwhiletheCMwasdiscouragingfarmers from growingpaddy, hewas growing itin 150 acres at his farm-house. “I was going toErravallitoshowtoevery-onethattheCMisgrowingpaddywhilediscouragingfarmers,”hesaid. ENS

UTTARPRADESH

10arrestedforruckusLucknow: Ten personshavebeenarrestedforal-legedlyassaultingpeopleinside the premises ofSevaBharti,anRSS-affili-atedorganisation,thepo-lice said Monday. Raidsare on to trace others in-volved, said an officer.Police have been de-ployedinthearea,whichhas a mixed religiouspopulation. Police saidthatonSundayeveningagroup of people bargedinto the building andthrashed staff and stu-dents. Five personswereinjured. ENS

BRIEFLY

Amid anger, AAP’slocal card helped,BJP’s pitch soured

New Delhi

Jharkhand/ Jamtara

71-year-old Mirza Marandi

is a resident of Lodharia

village under Narayan-

pur block of Jamtara. He

struggled hard for almost

5 years to avail pension

benefits. It was only af-

ter the launch of Aapke

Adhikar, Aapki Sarkar-Aap-

ke Dwar campaign and

the camp organised in

Narodih Panchayat, his old

age pension got approved

on the spot..

Officials help in filling

up formsMirza got emotional when

the Block Development

Officer approached him ,

even filled his form while

providing approval for his

pension. When Mirza was

fillingup thepension form,

his hands were trembling.

At this sight, the BDO of

Narayanpur block rushed

to him and offered help.

Within 30 minutes his old

age pension got approved

and Mirza left the camp,

blessing officials and the

government.

AAPKE DWAR

45 Days33,33,230

23,75,286

An appeal put onhault for 5 years,recieves approvalin 30 minutes

Amrit Bahadur, a divyang receives

the benefit of pension scheme in

the wake of a midnight

Administration

swung into action

at the midnight

hour

Information & Public Relations Department, Govt. of Jharkhand

Ensuring Rights of Poor, Needy and Vulnerable

PR-NO-260461(IPRD2021-22)PAGE-9-THE INDIANEXPRESSDELHI New Delhi

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10 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK 11WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

BUSINESSANDeconomic newsusuallyfocusesonmacroissues,policymovements andIndiaInc.Seldomdowereadhard-hittingstories on how they impact thebluecollarworker.TheRamnathGoenkaAwardwinners gaveusa 360-degree viewon car ancil-laryunitworkerswholosetheirlimbs, pointing to the supplychainmismanagement by automajors, and the impact of theplastic economy on commonlives.Sumant Banerji of Business

Today is the printmediawinnerin the Business and EconomicJournalismcategorywhileAyushiJindalof IndiaTodayTVisthewin-ner inbroadcastmedia.Banerji’stwo-partstorydeals

with the lives of hundreds of

workersincompaniesthatmakeautomotivepartsintheGurgaon-Manesarindustrialbelt,wholost

theirlivesorlimbsonthejob.Thefirst part of the story focuses onthe problem— the faulty ma-chines andwhy they are so, theinjuries and the sheer numbersofthosemaimedforever.Thesec-ondpartlooksatthemajorcom-panies for whom the parts aremadeinthefirstplaceandwhat,if atall, theyaredoingabout it.

“Thebiggestchallengewhiledoing the story was the lack ofofficial data. The Governmentwas irreverent towards this is-sue; the bureaucrats and offi-cials wanted to sweep it underthe carpet. Companies also re-fusedtodivulgesuchdataorde-niedkeepinga trackof suchac-cidents. Therefore, getting in

touchwiththeaffectedworkerswasahurdlebecausetheyweremigrants; theywould return totheirvillages.WhenIspenttimeon the ground, I learnt of freshincidents and the affected peo-ple weremy first point of con-tact,” saidBanerji.Thereporterthengotintouch

with a fewNGOs. Safe-in-Indiacollatedalotofdataontheissue.Followingthestory, theHaryanaand Central Governments haveformedworking groups to helptheinjuredworkers.Jindal’sstoryexploredtheen-

tireeconomicsofsingle-useplas-tic—fromtherawmaterialtotheend product — and how a banwould impact the industry andthe environment. The reportagedocumented the fear of peopleinvolvedintheeconomyofplas-tic, the jobs that were lost andwhy the popularmaterial’s usewascriticised.

The story also explored theconsumers’ andmanufacturers’take on a single-use plastic banandwhat itwouldmean intheirlives. For some, it was a loss oflivelihoodandforothers,itturnedout to be just a matter of lifechoices.Said Jindal, “We could trace

where plastic ismanufactured,sold andusedbutwhere does itend? We followed a randomtruck carrying plasticwaste andendedupinahugedumpyardlo-cated on the outskirts of the na-tionalcapital. Itwastoughtoputoutthestoriesofthosewhowereengagedandinvestedintheplas-tic economy and the kind ofshockwavesasuddenbanwouldhavemade them suffer. At thetimeof filming the show, plasticseemedthedemonasmostpeo-plewerenotwillingtoownuptobeinginthebusinessofsellingorrecyclingit.”

Winners in biz, economic journalism shone light on human impact

SumantBanerji Ayushi Jindal

DEEPMUKHERJEEJAIPUR,DECEMBER27

WITH THE Congress-ruledChhattisgarhgovernment facingcontinuous resistance from itstribal people overmining in for-estareas,anotherCongress-ruledstateRajasthanhas claimed thatiftheBhupeshBaghel-ledgovern-mentdoesnotgrantclearancesformining the Parsa block, itmightsoonbestaringatapowercrisis.Afterhis letters toBagheldid

not result in desired progress,Rajasthan ChiefMinister AshokGehlot recently knocked at thedoorsofCongressPresidentSoniaGandhi.UrbanDevelopmentandHousing Minister ShantiDhariwalsaidGehlotwrotetotheCongress President to bring therelatedissuestohernotice.“Verylittlecoal isnowleft in

the coal mines allotted to us inChhattisgarh. For other coalmines are also allotted to us,somelocal formalitiesarestill inprocess. The Chief Minister hasspokenwith the Chief Ministerof Chhattisgarh over telephoneand has also written letters,”Rajasthan Power MinisterBhanwar Singh Bhati told TheIndianExpress,hopingforapos-itiveoutcome.“Atpresent,around9-10rakes

of coal are supplied toRajasthanevery day from the Parsa (East)andKete Basan (PEKB)mines inChhattisgarh for generatingpower. As per our estimates,wecanmine only around 1milliontonfromthisminenow.Thiscanlast onemonth at themost, tillJanuary,” a top official of theRajasthan government,whodidnotwishtobenamed,said.Rajasthanrequiresaround18

rakes of coal daily to meet itspower production capacity.WhilePEKBsupplies9-10rakes,the balance being supplied byCoal India. The PEKB coal blockis owned by state-ownedRajasthanRajyaVidyutUtpadanNigamLimited,theofficialMDO(MineDeveloper andOperator)isAdaniEnterprises.

Officials said Rajasthan hasmade repeated requests toChhattisgarhtograntclearancesforminingintheParsacoalblock,one of the three coal blocks –PEKB,Parsa,andKeteextension–in the state allotted to RRVUNL.Rajasthan hopes to be able tostart mining in the Parsa coalblockwhich has a capacity of 5milliontonperannum(MTA).Officials in Chhattisgarh

agreed that diversion and landacquisition processes are notcomplete. Theproposal is beingexamined by the state govern-ment, said forest officials. “Anappropriate decision will betakenaftertakingallaspectsun-der consideration,” said an offi-cial statement by theChhattisgarhForestDepartment.The October 14 application

for consent tooperate theParsacoal block is pending with theChhattisgarh EnvironmentConservationBoard(CECB),offi-cialrecordsoftheRajasthangov-ernmentshow.Thestateisyettogrant stage II forest clearanceneededtostartmining.Applications for permission

to cut trees in government andprivate landmade on April 12andAugust 13 this year are alsopending with the collectors ofSurguja and Surajpur inChhattisgarh.Soareassetverifi-cation and certification for vil-lages in theParsablock.The Union Ministry of

Environment, Forests andClimateChangehadgrantedthestage II forest clearance for theprojectonOctober21 thisyear.

(WITHINPUTSFROMGARGIVERMAINRAIPUR)

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

AISHWARYAMOHANTYBHUBANESWAR,DECEMBER27

AFTER FACING state-wideprotests from farmers over al-legedirregularitiesinpaddypro-curement, the Odisha govern-ment is trying to create adatabase of "genuine" paddycultivatorsbymappingcropareaandproductionthroughsatelliteimageryandmatchingitagainstexisting records.A pilot project has been

launchedinsevenofthestate's30districts— Sambalpur, Bargarh,Subarnapur, Bolangir, Nuapada,KalahandiandKoraput.“Wehadreceivedalotof fake

registrations under the onlinepaddyprocurement automationsystem. This, too, had led to con-fusionandcertainkindsofirregu-larities.Throughmapping,wewillbeabletoremovefakecultivators

andnot issue any tokens in theirnamesso that actual farmersareabletoparticipateinprocurementwithout hassle,” said FoodSupplies andConsumerWelfareMinisterRanendraPratapSwain.

Swainwasreferringtoanon-linetokensystemthathasdrawnthe ire of many farmers. Theyhad complained that their to-kens lapsed before they couldselltheirproduceintheprocure-mentcentresatMSP.Thisforcedthemtosell inopenmarketsbe-low theMSP. All this happenedin a year (2020-21) Odisha pro-duced surplus paddy. The gov-ernmentmaintainedthat ithadprocuredmorethanitscapacity.Thegovernmenthasropedin

the Odisha Space ApplicationCentre (ORSAC), astatebodyforspace tech applications, tomapthe crop areas through satellite.The images will be geo-refer-enced with survey maps and

records to identify landowners.Stateofficialssaidtheydiscov-

ered people in a few districtsshowingnon-agriculturallandsascultivable land. Through remotesensing,theyevenfoundoutthatthe registered land includedforests, residential plots, grazinglandandponds.Sofar,ORSAChasidentified over 26,000 ineligibleplots. For instance, through re-mote sensing in Koraput, 1,465namesweredeletedfromthereg-isteredfarmerslist.“Though at a preliminary

level ineligible farmers are re-moved, it is important that thefinal list is genuine aswell. Thisexercise will help us eliminateineligible farmers,” saidSwain.

Ranchi:JharkhandChiefMinisterHemant Soren onMonday saidhisgovernmentwasforcedtoen-actanti-moblynchinglegislationafterthe"Ravana"partycametopowerattheCentre,"ruiningthesocial fabric"of thecountry.The BJP,meanwhile, alleged

that Soren is heading a corruptgovernment and the “unconsti-tutional”anti-moblynchinglawwas passed in the Assembly inhaste,anditistheculminationofthe ruling dispensation's ap-peasementpolicies,PTIreported.Addressingajournalistathis

residence two days before hisgovernment completes twoyears,SorensaidtheCentre'sde-cision to raise the legal age ofmarriageforwomenisa“politi-cal”move. He also said his gov-ernment may conduct caste-basedcensus in thestate.OnBJP’sclaimthathisgovern-

ment is appeasingacommunity,Sorensaid:“Isawinareport thatpeople were taking an oath tomake India a Hindu Rashtra...What is this? Humne kaun semasjidbanadiyenamazpadhnekeliye(didwebuildanymosquesforofferingnamaaz). They (BJP) areconfusingpeople...” ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEHYDERABAD,DECEMBER27

AT LEAST sixMaoists, includingfour women, were killed in agunfightwith security forces inPesalapadu forest area border-ing Telangana’s BhadradriKothagudem in Chattisgarh’sSukmadistrictearlyonMondaymorning,officials said.The joint operation by the

twostateswascarriedoutbytheGreyhounds forces fromTelangana and assisted byChhattisgarh’s District ReserveGuards (DRG) and the CentralReservePolice Force (CRPF), theofficials said.

TheMaoists are believed tobe part of the Cherla AreaCommittee of the CommunistParty of India (Maoist). One oftheir senior leaders may beamongthedead,thepolicesaid,addingthatthedeceasedareyettobe identified.Bhardradri Kothagudem

Superintendent of Police SunilDutt said on Sunday the forceslaunchedanoperationaftertheyreceived a tip-off about a groupof Maoists camping in thePesalpadu area, around 400kmfrom Chhattisgarh's capitalRaipur.“The information was that

theywere preparing IEDs to at-tackpolice. A joint operationby

ChattisgarhforcesandTelanganaGreyhounds was taken up andtheencounterwiththegroupofMaoistsoccurredbetween6:30am to 7 am. At least sixMaoistshave died. They are yet to beidentified,”Dutt said.Bastar inspector-general P

Sundarrajtoosaidtheoperationwaslaunchedafterspecificintel-ligence. “Themain action waswith the Telangana forces andour men from CRPF and DRGprovided support in theKistaramarea,”hesaid.InApril thisyear, 22security

personnel lost their lives in anambush by Maoists at theSukma-Bijapur border inChhattisgarh.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,DECEMBER27

A KANPUR court on Mondaysent50-year-oldperfumetraderPeeyush Jain to 14days' judicialcustodyinconnectionwithataxevasioncase.GST authorities, who

launchedsearchesattheproper-ties linked to the Kanpur-basedtrader lastWednesday, claimedtohaverecoveredRs177.45croreunaccounted cash. “As per therecord provided by the GST au-thorities, Rs 177.45 crore in cashhas been recovered from hispremiseinKanpur,”saidgovern-

mentcounselNitikaSrivastava.While searches at Kanpur

premisesof Jainhaveconcluded,it is still on in Kannauj, saidFinanceMinistryinastatement.It said that about Rs 17 crore incash and23kgof goldhas beenrecovered from Jain’s Kannaujresidence, adding that furthercountingwasunderway.“Hugeunaccountedrawma-

terials used in themanufactureof perfumery compounds, in-cludingmorethan600kgofsan-dalwoodoil,werefoundhiddeninundergroundstorage,havingamarketvalueofaboutRs6crore.The evidence collected duringthe searches conducted in the

last five days is being investi-gated thoroughly tounravel thetaxevasion," it said.Actingonatip-off,officialsof

the Directorate General of GSTIntelligence of Ahmedabad unitreached Kanpur onWednesdayandbegansearchesatthefactoryof Trimurti Fragrance Pvt Ltd,whichmanufacturesShikharPanMasala and tobacco products,and the office and godowns ofGanpatiRoadCarriers.TheIndianExpresshadearlier

reported that Rs 150 crorewasseized inthesesearches.Jainwas arrested onSunday.

He has been booked under theCGSTAct.WITHENS,NEWDELHI

HARIKISHANSHARMAVARANASI, DECEMBER27

PRIME MINISTER NarendraModi is taking the country to-wards “RamRajya”byresolvingissues such as the Ayodhya dis-pute,whichwas“meaninglesslygoingon for500years”, accord-ingtoanUttarPradeshminister.Tourism, Culture and

Religious Affairs MinisterNeelkanthTiwari,whowasinau-gurating the first Kashi FilmFestival onMonday, said: “Kuchsamasyayen thi chaar-paanchdeshki,samaaptkarnahaikyonkidesh ko to hamko Ram Rajya kitaraf le jaanahai.Eksamasya500saal se chali aa rahi thi Ayodhya

wali, bina matlab ka… adara-neeya PradhanMantri ji ne uskosamapt kar diya. (There weresome four-five problems of thecountry,which had to be endedbecause we have to take thecountrytowardsRamRajya.Oneproblemwas going on for 500years in Ayodhya. It wasmean-ingless. Our respected PrimeMinister resolved it.)Tiwarialsomentionedtheab-

rogationofArticle370andaboli-tionoftripletalaqasexamplesofother issuesthatwereresolved.Tiwari said the Prime

Ministerhadlaunchedschemestoprovidehousing, toilets, elec-tricity, education and employ-menttoallpeople—allwiththevisionof a “RamRajya”.

ESHAROYNEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

KERALA REMAINED the bestperforming state inhealth indi-cators for a fourth consecutivetime, according to an index re-leased onMonday, which alsorankedUttarPradeshatthebot-tomoftherankingsalthoughthestatealsosawthemostprogress.‘The Healthy States,

ProgressiveIndia’report—com-piled by the Niti Aayog, UnionHealthMinistry and theWorldBank for a fourth edition be-tween2019-2020--surveyed19large states, eight small statesand seven Union Territories. ItdidnotincludeWestBengalandLadakh due to unavailability ofadequatedata.Among large states, Kerala

and Tamil Nadu topped the list,and Telangana emerged strongon the third position in healthoutcomesand incrementalper-formance. The state saw an im-provementfromthe4thpositionthe last time—indicating that ithasmade strides in improvingits health infrastructure by en-

suring universal immunisationofchildren,settingupfullyfunc-tionalFirstReferralUnits (FRUs)and all Primary Health Centres(PHCs)amongothers.Maharashtraretaineditsfifth

spot,andAndhraPradeshfourth,downfrom3rdinthe last index.UPwas ranked the lowest at

19, but it has seen major im-provementsin33healthindica-tors in recentyears.“UttarPradeshwiththelow-

estOverallReferenceYear(2019-20) Index Score ranked at thebottom (Rank 19) in OverallPerformance,however,itrankedat the top in terms ofIncremental Performance byregistering the highest incre-mental change from the BaseYear(2018-19)toReferenceYear(2019-20),” the report said.“UP’soverallhealthscorehas

gone up from25.06 to 30.57, animprovement of 20%points in ayear.Ithasimproveditsperform-ance on 33 of the 43 indicatorswith themost significant beingon the full immunisation cover-age,firsttrimesterANC(antenatalcare) registration and pregnantwomen receiving four ormore

ANCs,"saidaNitiAayogofficial.Amongsmallstates,Mizoram

emerged as the best performerandNagalandtheworst.Delhi and J&Kwere ranked

the lowest among UnionTerritories in overall perform-ance,buttoppedthelistinincre-mentalperformance.Bothhaveimproved by one spot from thelasteditionof thesurvey.The report also said that

among the large states, the gapbetween thebest and theworstperformersdeclinedthisyearascomparedtothe2018-19 index.Keralagotascoreof82.2and

UP,30.57--adifferenceof 51.63points,whichwasimprovementfromadifferenceof56.54pointsfromtheprevious index.The survey ranked states on

indicatorssuchasneonatalmor-tality rate, under-fivemortalityrate, sex ratio at birth,maternalmortality ratio,modern contra-ceptionprevalencerate, full im-munisation coverage, antenatalcare, identification and cure ofTB, etc. Keralawas thebest per-former in several categories, in-cluding neonatalmortality rateandunder-fivemortality rate.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

THE UNION government hasasked states to coordinatewithcentral agencies to formadedi-cated anti-narcotics task forceunderpolicechiefs,setupnarco-

canine squadsand employdrones for sur-veillance ofdrugcultivationamong othermeasures tocounter illicitdrug trade inthecountry.

ThedirectionsweremadebyUnionHomeMinisterAmitShahashechaired the thirdmeetingof theApex Level Committee ofNarco Coordination Center inNewDelhionMonday.“Modigovernmentconsiders

drug abuse as amajor threat tothe national securitywhich canonlybedealtwithoverallcoordi-nation," Shah said during themeeting, according to anMHAstatement.

6 Maoists killed in encounter onChhattisgarh-Telangana border

Kanpur trader sent to 14 days’custody; count now at Rs 177 cr

Kerala tops NITI list in healthindicators for 4th straight year

PM taking country towards‘Ram Rajya’: UP minister

Create taskforce againstdrugs: Shah

AshokGehlot;BhupeshBaghel

Aspower crisislooms, GehlotasksBaghel torushmining nod

E●EXPLAINED

Weedingout ‘fake’paddyfarmers

UNDER THE Aadhaar-linked online token systemwhichstarted in 2020, 14.97 lakh farmers registered themselves tosellpaddy.Aftergettingatoken,thefarmerisgivenamonthtosellpaddyataprocurementcentreatMSP. Manyregistrationsareremovedduetodocumentdiscrepancies.Butthroughre-motesensing,thestateplanstoweedoutthosewhohavepro-videdfalse landrecordsandarenotgenuinecultivators.

Ponds and forests shown as farm land, Odisha seekssatellite solution to find ‘genuine’ paddy cultivators

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBHOPAL,DECEMBER28

THE MADHYA Pradesh policeSundayarrestedthreepeople,in-cluding a Catholic churchpriestandapastor, inJhabuadistrictfor“luring tribal residents” toChristianity—byofferingfreeed-ucationandtreatmentinmission-ary-runschoolsandhospitals.An FIRwas registered based

on a complaint at Kalyanpurapolicestationinwhichthecom-plainant, identified as TetiyaBariya (26), stated that FatherJam Singh Dindore, pastorAnsingh Ninama and a personnamedManguMehtabBhuriyaallegedly triedtoconvert tribalstoChristianity.Kalyanpura police inspector

DineshRawatconfirmedthear-rest.“Basedonthecomplaint,anFIR for alleged conversionwasregistered. The police have re-coveredaBibleandapottoholdwater fromthespot,”hesaid.Tetiya Bariya, in his written

application, claimed: “OnDecember 26, at around 8 amFatherJamSinghDindorecalledme and Surti Bai (another vil-lager) to their prayer room andmadeussit inaweeklymeetingcalled for conversion. Theysprinkledwater on us and readtheBible tous.”Tetiya Bariya said that they

were asked to convert toChristianity, and in return, theirfamilywerepromisedfreetreat-ment at hospitals and childrenfreeeducationatmissionary-runhospitals andschools.He said that they refused to

accept the priest’s alleged offerand walked out of the prayerroom.Theysubsequentlycalledupthepoliceandinformedthemabout thematter,hesaid.A police teamvisited Father

Jam Singh Dindore’s house onSunday afternoon and detainedthe three. An FIRwas registeredagainstthemunderSections3,5and10(2)oftheMadhyaPradeshFreedomofReligionAct,2021.

MP: Catholicpriest, twoothers held over‘conversion bid’

TAXEVASIONCASE

AmitShah

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,DECEMBER27

THENUMBERofmigrantwork-ers arrested in connectionwiththe attack on police in Kochi onChristmas night rose to 150 onMondayevenastheiremployer,KITEX Garments, alleged thatpolicehavesingledoutinnocentworkers fromnorth and north-eastIndianstateswhileallowinglocalpeople togoscot-free.Police denied allegation of

targettinganyparticularsection.OnMonday, Ernakulam (ru-

ral) Additional SP Anuj Paliwal,who is leading the probe, said,“Wehaveso fararrestedat least150migrants. Among them, 24people, whowere arrested onSunday,wereremandedinjudi-cial custody.We are processingcharges against others andonlylater it canbe revealedwhetherthe rest of themwould attractnon-bailableoffenses.”Addressing the media in

Kochi,KITEXGarmentsMDSabu

MJacobsaidpolicehavearrested151 “innocent" people. “Of 164persons taken into custody,CCTV footage showed hat only13 personswere involved in vi-olence.Wehavehandedoveran-other10workers topolice.'”He said police have deliber-

ately taken into custody theother statemigrantworkers.Sabu, who has a feud with

CPI(M) and Congress after hischaritable outfit Twenty20wrestedpowerinfourlocalself-governingbodies inErnakulam,said, “Innocent workers weremade scapegoat because of po-liticalanimositytowardsmeandmyfirm.TheKeralagovernmentwould be answerable to northandnorth-easternstatesforhav-ing jailed their innocent work-ers...Tosettlescoreswithme,thegovernmentandpoliticalpartiesareexploiting thesituation.”AdditionalSPPaliwalsaidthe

arrests were based on CCTVfootage and other visuals. “Wehaven’t shown anddiscrimina-tion; probewill revealwhetherthearrestedareinnocent,”hesaid.

Jharkhand CMslams BJP, defendsanti-lynching law

KERALAVIOLENCE

150 held; KITEX saysmigrants singled out

New Delhi

12WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

WELCOME OUTREACHPanel toexplorewithdrawalofAFSPAinNagaland isastep in

therightdirection.Centremustbuildon it

THECENTRE’S DECISION to constitute a panel to considerwithdrawal of theArmedForcesSpecialPowersAct(AFSPA)fromNagalandisastepintherightdirection. Ever since six civilianswerekilled inabotchedArmyoperation inMon district on December 4, and eightmore in related violence thereafter,

civilandpoliticalsocietyinNagalandhavebeendemandingthattheCentrewithdrawtheAct.OnDecember20,theNagalandAssemblypassedaunanimousresolutionforrepeal-ing the Actwhile civil society organisations have ledmassive street protests across thestate. InNagaland, likeinmostpartsof theNortheastandJammuandKashmir, theAct isseen to provide immunity even to those security personnelwho target innocent civil-iansinthenameofcounter-terrorismoperations. Inanycase,thecolonial-eralaw,whichoverrides theauthority of civil administrationandaccords extraordinarypowers to thesecurityestablishment,mustnotbeenforced inperpetuity inanyregion.Insurgency in Nagaland is as old as Independent India. It has claimed hundreds of

livesandtransformeditintoagarrisonstate.TheArmywasentrustedwiththetaskofse-curingpeaceagainst insurgentswithbasesacross the internationalborder inMyanmar.TheAFSPAwasimposedtoprovidelegalprotectiontotheArmy,whichhadtooperateinawar-like situation againstwell-armedandwell-trainedguerrilla outfits inhostile ter-rain. The 1997 ceasefire signed between the government and the NSCN-IM, themostpowerfulof the insurgentoutfits,hasenabledaconversation towardsending the insur-gency. Subsequently, the 2015 Framework Agreement signed between the Centre andNSCN-IMraisedhopesofaresolution,includingonthequestionofNagasovereignty.Theevents of December 4-5, however, threatened to turn the clock back on the Naga talksandendangerthegainsof thepast twodecades.Thechallengenowistorevivethespiritof dialogueandpeace,with theonusontheCentre towinback thepeople’s trust.TheAFSPApanel,whichistosubmitareport in45days,willneedtokeepinmindthe

groundswell forpeace inNagaland, a result of theextraordinaryworkput inbycivil so-cietygroupssuchastheNagaMothersAssociation. Inrecenttimes, theCentrehaswith-drawnAFSPAfromlargepartsoftheNortheast—Tripura,Meghalaya,districtsinArunachalPradeshandAssam, for instance— in response to adecline inviolence. TheNaga insur-gency is a farmore complex phenomenon, of course, but a new generation, more in-vested in peace and prosperity, has come of age in Nagaland. Their future needs to beguardedfromtheviciouscycleofviolencethathaslaidpreviousgenerationstowaste:Thegovernmentneeds towalk theextramile toensure it.

THE NEW SEEDProtestingfarmers joiningpolitics is in linewithdemocracy’straditionof rebels turningstakeholders.But it’s fraughttoo

ANEWPOLITICALplayer isborn inPunjab, andas theoldyearmoves into thenew, it is goodnews. To be sure, the Samyukt SamajMorcha (SSM), led byBalbirSinghRajewal, isnotyetafull-fledgedparty. It isalsotruethatwhile itcontains22of the farmunions thatwerepartof theSamyuktKisanMorcha

whichsuccessfully ledtheyear-longagitationagainst theCentre’s farmlaws,manyof thelarge unions haveheld back from taking thepolitical plunge. There are unresolvedques-tions, ranging from the symbol the newmorchawill fight on, towhether or not, and onwhatterms,itwilljoinhandswithapoliticalparty.Andyet,theSSMisawelcomeadditionto the political-electoral fray. Because it sends out amessage that ismuch larger than itsagenda, andmoreheartening than amanifesto: That despite all its imperfections, India’sdemocracystillprovidesthespaceinwhichtheagitatorcanbecometheplayer.Thateventhoughitmaynotalwaysseemthatway,thelinesthatdividerebelsfromstakeholdersre-mainporousandpermeable—politicscan,anddoes,passthroughthem.Thefarmers’movementthatfinallyledtotheCentrerepealingthethreefarmlawshad

alreadydemonstrated thepower of the people’swill tomake anunresponsive govern-ment listen. It showed up the government’s attempts to paint all protest as anarchic.Through it all, themovement turned away politicians and parties from its stage. Now,havingwon a famous victory, the decision by the 22unions to embrace thatwhich themovementhadsofardisdainedatteststotheundimmedpromiseofelectoralpoliticsforall thosewhoaspire tobringenduringchange.While civil societyhas itsdistinctive roleand space, “politics” cannot be abadword in ademocracy that remakes and revitalisesitself throughthepolitical, oralwayshas thepossibility todoso.Of course, for the farmers’movement, still basking in its success, taking the political

plungeinPunjab’scrowdedfraywillalsoposeachallenge.TheAAPmadethebipolarcon-test intoa three-corneredone, theSSM’sentrycouldgive itanothershape,but there isnoassuranceofsuccess.Failurecouldjeopardisethemovement’shard-wongainsinspotlight-ing the concerns of the farmer. The upcoming assembly electionswill take place amid arampant cynicism and deepening distrust of mainstreampolitics and players. From aplateauedagriculturetodecliningindustry,fromjoblessnesstothedrugmenace,therearemanygatheringcrises,andfewanswers. It remainstobeseenwhethertheentryofanewplayeropensupthefield,oronlyendsupunderscoringthelimitsofpoliticalchoice.

THE ARCHBISHOP’S LESSONDesmondTutuprovidedamodel forconstructiveuseof

religious idiomsinpolitics. Inpolarisedtimes,hewillbemissed

W ITH THE DEATH of Archbishop Desmond Tutu — hewas 90— theworldhaslostamoralandspiritualvoice,onecloselyassociatedwiththe anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and the Truth andReconciliationCommissionthathasservedasamodeltoaddresshis-

torical conflicts and the resentments theyengender in society. It has also lost the last ofa generationof leaderswhoengagedwithpublic life not as apursuit of political power,butasamoralexerciseaimedatexpandingthedignityanddecencyofallhumanbeings.Archbishop Tutu’s contribution to and leadership of the anti-apartheidmovement

began soonafter theSecondWorldWarandcontinued till 1991. Perhapsbecauseof hisleadershipof theAnglicanchurchinSouthAfrica,Tutuwasnotjailedorexiled, likemanyothers—includingNelsonMandela—were.Fordecades,heheldamirroruptotheSouthAfrican government and urged the global community to domore to end apartheid. AsNorwegian PrimeMinister JonasGahr Store said of his Nobel Peace Prize,which he re-ceived in1986, “Neverhasapeaceprizebeenso fitting."But perhaps most importantly, at a time when the politics of many countries is

dominated by religious divisiveness, Archbishop Tutu’s spirituality was inseparablefromhis politicalmorality—amoralitywhichwas expansive and inclusivewhenhewas part of the struggle against a powerful state system, andwithout rancourwhenthat systemeventually camedown. LikeMKGandhi and, perhaps to a lesser extent,his friend theDalai Lama,Tutuprovidedamodel for theconstructive roleof religiousidioms inpolitics.Hewould,perhaps,bedisappointedby theslide indemocraticval-ues anddeclining respect for diversity in somanyparts of theworld today. Now, un-fortunately, there are few leaders of DesmondTutu’s stature to lead futureTruth andReconciliation Commissions.

The thin red line

SalmanKhurshid

SomitDasgupta

Courtsmustprotect freespeech,whilenot turningablindeyetocalls toviolence,asatHaridwar

SAYING IT SHARPLYPolicydocuments shouldbecrisp, conveyclear intent,not createambiguity

INTHEPASTfewdays,videoclipspostedonYouTube and shared on social media plat-forms show saffron-clad participants at aHindutvaconclaveinHaridwar,Uttarakhand,unselfconsciously advocating violenceagainst theMuslims of India as a cleansingexercise.Theline-upofbelligerentspeakersincluded Yati Narsinghanand, an extremistHindutva activist reported to be associatedwith BJP leaders inDelhi, Uttarakhand, andUttarPradesh.Heheldasimilarevent intheNationalCapitalRegion in January2020, re-pletewithgenocidalcalls,daysbeforenorth-eastDelhiwassweptbyferociouscommunalviolence.Anotherspeakerwastheaudaciouseditor of a Hindi channel that continues toreceivegovernmentadvertisingdespitead-verse comments about its programmes bythe Supreme Court. One of the speakersopenly advocated the assassination of for-merprimeministerManmohanSingh.In the faceof public outcry, the statepo-

liceregisteredanFIRunderSection153-Aofthe Indian Penal Code (the offence of pro-moting disharmony, enmity, or feelings ofhatred between different groups on thegrounds of religion) against one named in-dividual — ironically a recentMuslim con-vert toHinduismknownforhisprovocativecomments against Islam— and other un-namedpersons.FortheBJPgovernmentstilltrying to balance itself between supporterswhomade amockery of the law andNRC-CAA activists who stepped across the linethatdividesprotestfromdefianceof thelaw—or indeedweredragged into thenet tobetaughtalesson—thisepisodemustbecaus-ing considerable discomfiture. The projectthey hadhopedwould be one of gentle butsustainedosmosisofmindcontrolhasbeenreplacedbyactivitiesof indiscreetfollowers,who hurl invectives and issue gutturalthreatsof genocide.It isyetpossiblethatagenuineandaccu-

rate description of Hindutva being derived

fromHinduismexists but that is notwhat Ihad referred to in my book, Sunrise overAyodhya. Toclarify:Does theHaridwarcon-clave represent the Hindutva I question orMahatma Gandhi’s fast unto death againstcommunal violence? If the petitionerwhoapproached amagistrate against me trulyhasfaithinSanatanDharma,sheshouldhavejoinedmeinquestioningthosewhohurtherfaith foracynicalpowergame.The timorous action, or inaction if you

please, in this instance — indeed inmanysimilar, ifnotequallygrand,communalinci-dentsacrossthecountry—istobecontrastedwith the urgency shown by themagistratewhodirectedthepoliceofBakshiKaTalabtoregister an FIR againstme for the followingwords in my recently released book:“Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduismknowntosantsandsageswasbeingpushedaside by a robust version of Hindutva by allstandards, a political version similar to thejihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and BokoHaramof recentyears.”Clearly, the local police have no choice

buttocomplywiththeorder.However,onewonders what they will investigate whenthe Hon’ble magistrate has already pro-nouncedhisopinionwithoutindicatingthatit is buthisprime facie impression. It raisesinteresting questions. Two courts in Delhi,(theASJatPatialaHouseandtheHighCourtofDelhi)havingrejectedpetitionstobanthebookwiththeobservationthatthepetition-ers were free to write their own book andthe author’s freedom of expression couldnotbecurtailed,woulditbeappropriateforacourt inUPtoproceedtoprosecuteforthesamematerial?Whateverhappened to thecomity of courts and contempt of theHighCourt? But amore interesting conundrumarises as well. If I believe that the personadramatisof theHaridwarconclaverequiretobe prosecuted,whymust the samenot ap-ply inmycase?Understanding thedistinc-

tionmightbeuseful inthesetimeswhenle-gitimate words and acts are twisted andcontorted, even paintedwith the odiumofsedition. But the death threats and incen-tives offered atHaridwar, even to the com-mon ear, would go far beyond opinion andexpression of conscience protected by theConstitution. These are not just thoughtsthat do not qualify as crime having beenconvertedintospeechacts.Anypersonper-suaded to act upon themwould inevitablybe said to have acted in concert with thespeakers and instigatedby them.Myexpression inabook,muchofwhich

celebratesthephilosophicalpietyofSantanaDharma,whileunderscoring, in a few lines,the similarity between organisations thatdistort andmisuse religion — be it Islam,Christianity or Hinduism—would atworstbeanopinionthatotherscandisagreewith.Butthatwouldnotinjectintotheopinionthemensrea(mentalelement)that isanessen-tial ingredient of crime. Furthermore, ananalysisthatdescribesHindutvaasbeingdis-tinct from Hinduism, even by Justice J SVerma’sdefinitionofHinduismas“awayoflife”, is not an ingredient of 153 A. TheConstitutiondoesnotjustprotectrightopin-ion as opposed to the wrong opinion.Besides, just as there is a reasonable limit towhatcanbesaidaspartof freespeech,thereisalsoalimittowhatonemightbeoffendedby. “Touchme not” prickliness, making alldiscussion out of bounds, is not the law.Many liberal scholars of constitutional law,such as Ronald Dworkin, have even arguedforarighttooffendifwearetotakefreedomof speech seriously as a democratic right. Ifwetakerightsseriously,ourcourtswillhavetodrawtheredlinecarefullysoasnottoturnablindeyetodefianceof lawandyetnotsti-fledebateanddissent.

Thewriter isa seniorCongress leaderandformerexternalaffairsminister

INDIANSLIKETObeverbose.Weliketopackinasmuchaspossible lestwe realise later thatsomething has been left out that can createambiguity.Conveyingasmuchaspossiblewithminimumwords is anart and requires someamountof ingenuityandcommandover thelanguage.Ourpolicydocuments suffer fromthesamemalaise,atleastsomeofthem.Policydocuments should be pithy and crisp andshouldbeable toconveythedirectionwein-tendon taking. Thepolicy documents that IhaveinmindaretheNationalElectricityPolicy(NEP)and theTariff Policy (TP). Both theNEPand the TP emanate from Section 3 of theElectricityAct2003(henceforthEA2003)andare formulated after consulting the CentralElectricityAuthorityandstategovernments.Boththesedocumentsrunintopagesand

on several occasions, speak of issues thatstrictlydonot liewithin their respectivedo-mains, thus depriving themselves of clarityandsharpness.Moreover,thedocumentsarecomplex,not reader-friendlyanddifficult toassimilateandretain. In theTP,wehavesec-tions that actually shouldbe takenup in theNEP and vice-versa. A perusal of the TP re-veals that it iswaveringwhen dealingwiththe issue of competition since there are fartoomanycaveats. There isastrongcase thatboththesedocumentsnotbedealtwithsep-arately and bemerged into a single one forharmoniousconstruction.Let’sdealwiththeTPfirst.Thoughthepre-

ambleoftheEA2003speaksofcompetition,theTPhasseveralcaveatsandprovisoswhenit comes to competitive procurement ofpowerbydistributioncompanies.Itmentionsthat competitive procurement need not bedoneinthecaseofextensionprojects,beitinthepublic orprivate sector. Further, compe-

titioncanalsobebypassed if a stategovern-ment formulatesaspecificpolicy toseek in-vestments in thepowersectorwhereby tar-iff for35percentof thecapacitycanbefixedthrough the cost-plus route instead of bid-ding.Intheverynextsection,itismentionedthat for public sector projects, tariff may bedetermined on a cost-plus route on a case-to-casebasis.Theseunnecessarycaveatsandprovisosdistortapolicystatementanddilutethebasic intentofEA2003—competition.Howdifficult the policy can bewhen it

comes to implementation can be best seenwhenreadingthesectionrelatedtodetermi-nationof hydro tariffs. Thepolicy states thattariff forallhydroprojectscanbedeterminedon a cost-plus basis provided a two-stagetransparent process has been followed foridentifying thedeveloper (detailsof the twostagesarenotbeingelaboratedsincetheyareexhaustiveby themselves), theconcurrenceof theCEAhasbeenobtainedbeforeAugust2022,long-termpowerpurchaseagreementhasbeenfirmedupforat least60percentofthe capacity, and the award of contract forsupply of equipment and construction aredone through the international competitivebidding route. The project will have to becompletedinfouryearsunlessotherwisede-cidedby the regulatory commission. In caseofdelayattributabletothedeveloper,heshallnot be eligible for interest during construc-tion and finance cost. The entire process isthus very cumbersome and can cause con-siderable headache to the regulator apartfrombeingproneto litigation.Thebulkof theTPdocumentcanbesub-

stantially pruned by removing several sec-tionswhichactuallydonotaddanysubstancebut aim at only educating the consumer.

Space in a policy document is precious andshould not be wasted in this fashion. Ofcourse,educatingtheconsumerisnotimpor-tant.Butadifferentforumshouldbeusedforthispurpose.Moreover,portionsoftheTPac-tuallyspeakof issuesthathavenothingtodowithtariffsbutrelatetostandardsofperform-ance,suchasquality,continuityandreliabil-ityofpowersupply.There isalsothe issueofpresentationwhereportionsshouldberele-gatedtoannexestomakethedocumentmorereader-friendly.Turning to theNEP, the first thingwhich

comes tomind is should the NTP and NEPcontinueastwoseparatepolicies?Canmat-tersrelatedtotariff besegregatedwithelec-tricitypolicyingeneral?Theanswerisnoandit is precisely for this reason thatwe find in-ter-minglingofobjectivesinbothpolicystate-ments. Both policies speak of providingpoweratreasonablerates,ensuringcommer-cialviabilityofthesector,andprotectingcon-sumer interests. Thus, itwouldbeappropri-atetosubsumetheTPintotheNEPsincetariffisoneof theseveral issueswhich isamatterof electricitypolicy.Recently, the government had indicated

its intention toamend theEA2003andalsothe tariff policy and that being so, this is theappropriatetimetorevisevarioussectionsoftheEA2003forhavinganintegratedelectric-ity policywhichwill have tariff as one of itsconstituents. Further, it would be in the in-terestofstakeholderstohaveacrispandcon-cise policy that speaks of only policy andnothingelse.

Thewriter isSeniorVisitingFellow, ICRIERandformer,Member(Economic&

Commercial),CEA

The death threats andincentives offered atHaridwar, even to thecommon ear, would go farbeyond opinion andexpression of conscienceprotected by theConstitution. These are notjust thoughts that do notqualify as crime having beenconverted into speech acts.Any person persuaded to actupon them would inevitablybe said to have acted inconcert with the speakersand instigated by them.

The government hadindicated its intention toamend the EA 2003 and alsothe tariff policy and thatbeing so, this is theappropriate time to revisevarious sections of the EA2003 for having anintegrated electricity policywhich will have tariff as oneof its constituents. Further,it would be in the interest ofstakeholders to have a crispand concise policy whichspeaks of only policy andnothing else.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021WORDLYWISE

If you are neutral in situations of injustice,you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

— DESMOND TUTUTHEEDITORIALPAGE

NO WAR PACT

INDIAHASMADE it clear to Pakistan that ano-warpactbetweenthemcouldbeincon-tinuationand recognitionof all elements ofthe Simla Agreement. The two countriescould sign a no-war agreement providedPakistanaccepts thesevenprinciples stipu-latedbyIndiainanaidememoiretoPakistan.OneoftheimportantelementssuggestedbyIndiaforano-warpactisthatPakistanshouldreverttobilateralisminall issuesasprovidedfor in the Simla Pact. Also Pakistan shouldtakeallstepstoavertanarmsraceinthesub-continent.Adherencetonon-alignment,re-spectforeachother’sterritorialintegrityand

settlementofall issuesbilaterallywereotherkeypointsof India’smissive.Indiaisawaitingword from Pakistan about the dates of for-eignministerAghaShahi’s visit toDelhi.

ANTONY SUSPENDEDTHE CONGRESS (S) President Sharad Pawarhas suspended theKerala PradeshCongress(S)committee(KPCC-S)chiefAKAntony,thepartyworking committeemember VyalarRavi and their supporters from the primarymembership of the party for joining handswiththeCongress(I)toformaministerinthestate.Pawaralsosaidthathehadsuspendedthe entire KPCC (S). The decision on forma-

tionof anewKPCC(S)wouldbetakenat theworkingcommitteemeetingonJanuary7.

MARUTI’S EQUITYMARUTI HAS BEEN allowed to seek foreignequityparticipationofupto40percentof itsworkingcapital.This isadeparture fromthegovernment’s earlier decision to not allowforeign capital in carmanufacture. The gov-ernmentisbelievedtohavetoldMarutitogoaheadwith car manufacture and take upcommercial vehicles later. This sets at restspeculation on the productmix forMaruti.The board of directorswillmeet nextweekto finaliseproposals fora foreigntie-up.

DECEMBER 28, 1981, FORTYYEARSAGO

New Delhi

13THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“When directly confronted with the suffering of the vulnerable stranger, theonly ethical response is to offer food, drink, warmth and compassion — and tolisten to their story. Having learned this lesson seven decades ago, 21st-centuryEurope is in danger of forgetting it all over again.” —THEGUARDIANTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

The new year is likely to seegreater political volatility inPakistan. General Bajwa’ssecond term as army chiefends in November amidstsharpening civil-militarydifferences. Although ImranKhan’s political mandateruns until 2023, he might notsurvive 2022, thanks tomultiple crises afflictingPakistan and hisgovernment’s growingunpopularity. There is alsospeculation that NawazSharif might return fromexile early in the new yearand step up the politicalconfrontation with theImran Khan government.

THENATIONALFAMILYHealthSurvey-5re-portisamineofinformation,especiallyinthecontext of the growingpaucity of data. Theoverall picture it gives of society is a rathercomplexone.Thedeclineinthetotalfertilityrate(TFR)acrossallthestatesisapositivesign.TheTFRhasbeen fallingover theyears andhas now reached 2.0 at the national level,whichmeansthatIndia’spopulationwillde-crease soon—probablyby2047-48—afterreachingapeakofabout1.6billionpeople.In this article,wewould like to focuson

gender-related issues. Among the pointsmadebythesurveyinthisdomain,we’dliketoemphasiseonethathasbeenneglectedforalongtime:Theproportionof15-to24-year-oldwomenusingmenstrual care productshas increased across almost all states be-tween the fourth (2015-16) and the fifth(2019-2021)NFHS--although,itstillremainslow in states likeBihar (59per cent) and inAssamandGujarat(66percent).ThelargestincreasewasseeninBiharandWestBengal.Secondly,thesexratioquestionneedsto

bescrutinisedindetail.ThegoodnewsisthatIndiahasnow1,020womenforevery1,000men, against 991 for 1,000 in the 2015-16NFHS.Butalthoughthesexratioatbirth(SRB)showsanincreaseinthenumberof femalesascomparedtomales(from919in2015-16to929in2019-21),thedataremainsskewedto-wardsmalesasthisisstilllowerthanthenat-uralstandardof952femalebirthsper1,000malebirths.Inthreestates,theratioisbelow900 (Goa:838,Himachal Pradesh:875, andTelangana:894).While comparing thedatafromNFHS-4toNFHS-5,TamilNaduhasseenits SRB decline from 954 to 878, as hasChandigarh (from981 to 838), Jharkhand(from919 to899) andOdisha (932 to894).StateswithSRBinthe900sarealsoseeingadecline— for example,Meghalaya (from1,009 to 989), Nagaland (from953 to945),Maharashtra (from924 to 913) and Bihar(from934to908).Thus, the number of baby girls fails to

explainwhy there aremorewomen thanmeninIndia.Isittheeffectofthepandemic,whichhaspossiblyledtothedeathofmoremen?Orweremoremen away from theirhouseholdsduringthedatacollection?OnlythenextCensusof Indiawill tell.Also,notethatthemoreurbanisedthestate,theworsethesexratio.Thirdly, theNFHSshowsthat there isan

increaseingender-relatedviolenceinmanystates. The proportion ofmarriedwomen(between18and49years)whohavebeenavictimof spousal violencehas increased infivestates. InKarnataka, ithas jumpedfrom21percentto44percent.Asignificantnum-berofmarriedwomenfacespousalviolenceinBihar(40percent),Manipur(40percent),andTelangana(37percent).Lastbutnottheleast,womenlagbehind

menintheliteracyrate(71.5percentagainst84.4per cent formen). This is partly due tothenumberofyearsofschooling:Only41percent of women have 10 ormore years ofschooling, against 50.2 per cent formen.Correlatively, only 33per cent of 15- to 49-year-oldwomenuseinternet,against57percentamongmenof thesameage. Inspiteofan increase in thenumberofwomenown-ingahouseorland,thecountrystillstruggleswithadigitaldivide intermsofaccessibilitybetweenmenandwomen.We need to end with a word on

methodology. First, the NFHS takes onlycertain demographic categories into ac-count.This,particularly,stemsfromthedif-ference in questionnaires. The women’squestionnaire roughlyhas 1,140questionsand is 96 pages long, whereas themen’squestionnaire is 38 pages long with 843questions.Thereportadvises“readerstobecautiouswhileinterpretingandcomparingthe trends as some states andUnion terri-toriesmayhave smaller sample sizes”. Forexample, Andaman and Nicobar Islandsgathered information from 2,624 house-holds, 2,397 women, and 367 men;whereas Assam gathered its informationfrom 30,119 households, 34,979women,and 4,973men. In fact, each state/UT fact-sheetseparatelyremindsthereaders tobecautiouswhileinterpretingtrends.Further,the sex ratios in the factsheet arebasedondefactoenumeration—thenumberofmenandwomen present in the household onthelastnightof thesurvey.Thiscanbemis-leading because there is a possibility thatthe ruralmen andwomen could be awayfrom their households on the last night ofde factoenumeration.As a result of this, themicro-level dis-

parity in urban and rural dynamicsmightbe camouflaged bymigration. Last but notthe least, the surveywas conducted in twoparts.One,beforethepandemicandthesec-ondphasewas conducted around the sec-ondwaveofCovid-19inIndia.Thisincreasesthescepticismoverdatacollection,absenceofmeta-dataandthesystematicerrorsaris-ing thereof. It also points to a possibility ofactual issues being buried under the de-mandsof thepandemic.

JaffrelotisseniorresearchfellowatCERI-SciencesPo/CNRS,Paris;Chauhanisan

independentscholarfromKing’sCollege,London

THIS YEARHADbegunwith an unexpectedpositiveturninIndia’srelationswithPakistan—aceasefireagreementinFebruary.Butitdidnot take long for those hopes to be dashed.Could2022beanydifferent?Optimistscheerthefactthattheceasefire

has endureddespite the absenceof a formaldialogueandhopethatthenewyearwillturnout to bemore propitious for dialogue than2021.Pessimists insistPakistan’s Indiapolicyis immune to any positive change. Idealistswouldwant India and Pakistan tomark the75th anniversary of Independence andPartition bymaking a fresh bid for durablepeace in the subcontinent. Cynicswill pourcoldwateronsuchvisionsbysayingIndiaandPakistan are condemned to at least a “hun-dred-yearwar” in thesubcontinent.Realists,however, saychange is theeternal lawof theworld—forIndia,andPakistan,too,theques-tion is not “whether” theywill change theirapproach towards each other, but “when”.Significant changes are occurring in bothcountriesandinthelargerregionalandinter-national environment. These are bound tohavesomeimpactonIndia-Pakistanrelationsthathavebeenfrozenstiff for long.Six years ago thisweek,whenNarendra

ModilandedonshortnoticeinLahore,hevis-itedNawazSharifathisresidenceatRaiwind.Itwas ChristmasDay andNawaz Sharif wascelebrating a familywedding aswell as hisbirthday. The PM’s boldmove raised expec-tationsforanewchapterinIndia-Pakistanre-lations.Itfollowedameetingbetweenthetwoleaders in Ufa, Russia, on themargins of theShanghai Cooperation Organisation in July2015.Modi and Sharif agreed on a few con-cretestepsto initiateanewdialogue.Earlier,SharifhadcometoDelhitoattend

Modi’sswearing-inasIndia’sprimeministerinMay2014. Sharif’s decision did not pleaseRawalpindi.Delhi sawthe invitationasapo-litical gesture of goodwill to its South Asianneighbour and a commitment to put theneighbourhood first in India’s foreignpolicy.But the military establishment saw it asModi’s “imperial call” to the Delhi Durbar.ModiandSharif,electedwithstrongpopularmandates, seemed to get alongwell and ap-pearedeagertoadvancethebilateralrelation-ship.ThatModiandSharifmightshort-circuitthemilitary establishment inevitably pro-ducedabacklashwithinthedeepstate.Whether it was a reaction to Modi’s

Lahorevisitornot, amajor terrorattack tookplace against an Indian Air Force station inPathankot onNewYear’s day of 2016. In anunprecedented step, Modi invited thePakistani intelligence agencies to join theirIndiancounterparts ininvestigatingtheinci-dentandfindingthesource,buttherewasnotmuch enthusiasm in pursuing the terroristsbyPakistan’ssecurityestablishment.Within a fewmonths, there was a sec-

ond terror attack on the Indian Armybrigade headquarters at Uri in September2016.Thistime,Modifollowedthroughwiththe Indian army’s surgical strike on terrorcampsinPakistan.Asafreshchillenvelopedrelationswith India, thedeepstatebecameevenmorehostile toSharif,whocalled forarethink of Pakistan’s support for terror

groups and recasting relations with theneighbours. He was vilified as “Modi kayaar” and the campaignagainst Sharif con-tinueduntil hewas oustedbymid-2017.Imran Khan, who became the prime

minister in 2018, presided over a rapiddownturninbilateralrelations.Hugelypop-ularacrossthesubcontinentduringhiscrick-etingdays, ImranboastedthatheknewIndiabetter thananyone inPakistan.Hewascon-fident aboutmakingadealwithModi if theIndian PMwas re-elected in 2019. But heseemed to have little understanding of ei-ther the Indian position or the negotiatinghistorybetween the twonations.Aseriesof developments inearly2019—

thePulwamaterrorattack,theIndianairforceraidonBalakotinPakistanandDelhi’sconsti-tutional changes on Kashmir— produced anewdynamicforIndia-Pakistanrelations.Anoutraged Pakistanwent on an internationalcampaign to compel India to reverse thechanges inKashmir, but gotnowhere. ImranKhanhimselfwentberserkwithhispersonalvituperationagainstModi.ButIndiaandPakistansurprisedtheworld

inFebruarythisyearbyannouncinganagree-ment to renew the 2003 ceasefire thatwasobservedmore in breach in recent years.Although the agreementwas formalised bytheDirectorsGeneralofMilitaryOperationsinthetwoarmyheadquarters,itwasnegotiatedinthebackchannelbetweentheIndiansecu-rity establishment and the Pakistan armyleadership.Besidestheceasefire,thetwosidesalso agreed “to address each other’s core is-suesandconcernswhichhavethepropensitytodisturbpeace”.India’s escalatingmilitary confrontation

withChinaprovidedenoughreasontotryandstabilise thePakistan frontier. But India’s en-gagementwithPakistanwould,ofcourse,besubject to IslamabadaddressingDelhi’s coreconcernsoncross-border terrorism.Islamabad’s own case for a resetwas ar-

ticulated by Pakistan’s Army Chief GeneralQamar Javed Bajwa. He underlined the im-portance of Pakistan moving away fromgeopolitics to geoeconomics thatwill revi-talisethenation’seconomicdevelopment.Heargued that it is time for India and Pakistan“tobury thepast andmove forward”. ButhealsoinsistedontheimportanceofIndiacreat-

inga“conduciveenvironment”inKashmirfortheengagementtosucceed.While Kashmir remained at the top of

Pakistan’smind, it seemed open to revivingcommercialties.Itannouncedanintenttoim-port sugar and cotton from India, but theCommerceMinistry’s decisionwas ostenta-tiously reversed by PrimeMinister ImranKhan by declaring that “Pakistan can’t tradewith IndiawhenKashmirwasbleeding”.Althoughtheback-channelcontactscon-

tinue,Islamabadisstuckwiththeformalpre-conditions—reversing India’s constitutionalchangesinKashmir—ithassetforareneweddialoguewithDelhi. It isbynomeansclear ifPakistancandevelopanewinternalconsen-susonthetermsof engagementwithDelhi.The new year is likely to see greater po-

liticalvolatilityinPakistan.Gen.Bajwa’ssec-ond term as army chief ends in Novemberamidstsharpeningcivil-militarydifferences.Although Imran Khan’s political mandateruns until 2023, hemight not survive 2022,thanks tomultiple crises afflicting Pakistanandhisgovernment’sgrowingunpopularity.There is also speculation that Nawaz Sharifmightreturnfromexileearlyinthenewyearand stepup thepolitical confrontationwiththe ImranKhangovernment.India’spoliticalstabilityisnotinquestion

during the coming year, but there is intensehostility to any conversationwith Pakistanamongthegovernment’sideologicalbase.NottalkingtoPakistanhasfewdomesticpoliticalcosts to Delhi. In any case, it is Pakistan thatwillhavetoliftthepreconditionsforengage-mentwith India; if it does, Delhi should beready to pick up the threads from this year’sceasefireagreement.Looking beyond optimism, pessimism,

idealismandcynicism,realistsmightbetthatIndia and Pakistanwill justmuddle along in2022.Meanwhile, structural changes are al-tering, slowly but certainly, the internal andexternalcontextofthebilateralrelationshipaswell as the regional balance of power. Thatwillmake the traditional terms of the India-Pakistandebate lesssalientover time.

Thewriter isdirector, InstituteofSouthAsianStudies,NationalUniversityofSingaporeandacontributingeditoron

internationalaffairs forTheIndianExpress

The gendersnapshot

NFHS-5datarevealssmallstepstowardsprogress,andflagspersistinginequalities

CASTE REALITIESTHIS REFERS TO the article, ‘We areus and them’ (IE, December 27). It isreminiscent of a short story by thegreat satirist Harishankar Prasai,which pierces the veil of religiouspretensions and exposes the innercontradictions and superfluousnessof overt and ostentatious religiosity.Twomohallas have been celebratingand worshipping Lord Ganesha foryears. One is largely upper caste andthe other “lower” caste. At the end ofthe festival, on the day of immersionof idols, traditionally an upper-castechariot isused to lead theprocession.Once, due to logistics problems, thechariot got delayedwith the eventu-ality of falling behind the “lowercaste”one.Thiswasabit toomuch forthe former toaccept, sooneof theor-ganisers could not hold back and de-clared “Unke Ganesha ki aisi ki taisi,Humara Ganesha pahale jayega (Hellwith theirGanesha, ourGaneshawillgo first)”. This was an insult to LordGanesha by the so-called worship-pers, who instead of devotion weremore consumed by the hegemoniccasteist prejudice. The spiralling sta-tistics of Dalit atrocities perpetuatedby upper castes certainly can’t bepinned on Muslims. The bogey ofIslamophobia isnothingbutashrewdploy to obfuscate the caste fault linesamongHindus through the religiousindoctrination of “Hindutva”.

LRMurmu,Delhi

IT TAKES FOURTHIS REFERS TO the article, ‘In crisis,it takes three’, (IE,December27). Theauthor has rightly pointed out thatdialoguebetween scientists, bureau-crats and politicians is required forbetter handling of the crisis.However, there is another arm that

can help maintain checks and bal-ances — the judiciary. In the recentcaseofGauravK. Bansal Vs. UOI&Ors,directions have been issued by theapex court to grant assistance on ac-count of Covid-19under theDisasterManagement Act, 2005. It is the ju-diciary that enforced thedutyof pay-ment and came to the aid of the ag-grieved public. As such, in a crisis, ittakes all thebranches to step forwardandwork in sync.

Aerika Singh,Chandigarh

VACCINE OPACITYTHIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Thenext steps’ (IE, December 27). While90 per cent of adults have got onedose, there are 40 per cent of adultswhohavenotgot a secondshot.Withprivate hospitals claiming excessstocks, it is very likely that the eco-nomiceliteof Indiawillmopupavail-able stocks. Also unusual is that thetechnical clearance for vaccines is forthose 12 and above, but PMModi an-nouncedthesewillbe for thoseabove15 years. It is not clear if there is evi-dence that this groupof sub-adults ismore vulnerable. India’s health ad-ministrationshouldnot let itself be inthe thrall of political calculations.

S S Paul,Nadia

THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Thenextsteps’ (IE,December27).Thegov-ernment's decision to give boosterdose to health and frontline workersand the first Covaxindose to childrenin the bracket of 15-18 years is wel-come. But sooner the clarity onmix-ingof dosescomes,better itwouldbefor the sake of creating trust and re-moving fear from the minds of peo-ple. A deeper state-Centre engage-ment is also required.

Bal Govind,Noida

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

MUCHHAS BEENwritten on the trends ineconomic growth in 2021-22 relative to thepre-pandemicperiod.However,mostof thefiscal analysis has tended to focus on com-paringthecurrentyearwith2020-21,whichprovidesaninordinatelyrosypicture.Whencomparedtothepre-pandemicperiod,thereisacleardivergenceinthefiscaltrendsoftheGovernmentof India(GoI)andstategovern-ments. Further, across states, too, the usageof theways andmeans facilities offered bytheRBIhasvariedconsiderablythisyear,im-plyingthatstretchedliquidityisnotauniver-saltrend.Moreover,theendofGSTcompen-sation—thiswill acutely impact stateswithasubstantialstructuraldependenceonsuchflows—isapotentialsourceofgreater inter-statedivergence from2022-2023onwards.Onanencouragingnote,theCentre’s fis-

cal deficit stood at Rs 5.5 trillion in April-October 2021, down from the Rs 7.2 trillionpre-pandemic level (April-October 2019),with incremental revenues outpacing ex-penditure. Despite the likely revenue fore-gone from the excise and customs duty re-lief, we expect the Centre’s net revenuereceiptstoexceedthebudgetestimatebyRs1.7trillionledbyarobustperformanceofdi-recttaxesandGST,andasubstantialsurplustransfer fromtheRBI.At end-October, 52 per cent of the full

year’s expenditure budget had been com-pleted.ThesecondsupplementarydemandforgrantshasputforthasubstantialnetcashoutgoofRs3trillion.Weexpectaportionofthistobeabsorbedthroughsavingsinotherdemands,neutralisingtheimpactonthefis-caldeficit.Dismayingly, though,therealisa-tionof theproceedsof theBharatPetroleumCorporationLimiteddisinvestmentandLifeInsuranceCorporationIPOappears increas-ingly unlikely this year. In the absence ofsuchinflows,thefiscaldeficitmayprintatRs16.0-17 trillion, exceeding the budget esti-mateof Rs15.1 trillion.Incontrasttothecompressiondisplayed

by the GoI, the fiscal deficit of the 22 stategovernmentswhoseprovisional fiscal dataisavailable,widenedtoRs3.2 trillion in thefirst sevenmonthsof this year, up fromthepre-CovidlevelofRs2.3trillion.But,thiswasnot led by ameaningful jump in spending.The combined own tax and non-tax rev-enuesof the22stategovernmentsincreasedbyamere4.2percentcomparedtothepre-pandemic level.Worryingly,centraltransferstostatesfell

by Rs 0.9 trillion, with the decline split al-most equallybetweengrants and taxdevo-lution, leadingtoanexpansioninthestates’fiscal deficit. The fall in grants was partlystructural, with 40 per cent on account of

lowerGSTcompensationflows.Thereasonisstraightforward—till2019-20,theentireGSTcompensationwasfinancedbythecesscol-lections, whichwas recorded by the statesundergrantsfromtheCentre.However,since2020-21,aportionof theGSTcompensationisbeingfinancedthroughback-to-backloansfromtheCentre,whichentersstateaccountsasa financing item.Despite the healthy expansion in the

Centre’s tax revenues, themonthly patternof devolution to the stateswas such that itled to a decline in aggregate flows duringApril-October this year relative to the pre-pandemiclevel.Toaddressthisanomaly,theCentredoubled thedevolution to the statesto Rs 951 billion in November fromRs 475billioneach in theprevious fourmonths.After releasing the entire Rs 1.6 trillion

back-to-backGSTcompensation loantothestates till October, it released Rs 170 billionGST compensation grants to the states inNovember 2021 from the cess collections.The higher devolution of taxes, and addi-tionaltransferofcessshouldhavesupportedthe states’ cash flows in the third quarter ofthis year. This was visible in the aggregategrossmarketborrowingacrossall thestatestrailing their indicated level. Moreover, theusageofWaysandMeansAdvances(WMA)facilitiesbythestategovernments/UTsfrom

theRBIdeclinedto150daysinOctober2021from188 days in September. Nevertheless,somestatessuchasAndhraPradesh,Jammu&Kashmir,ManipurandTelanganahavere-peatedlyutilised theWMAfacility fromtheRBIformorethan25dayspermonth,insev-eralmonths inFY2022so far.At first glance, this seems to suggest a

sustaineddeterioration in thecash flowsofspecific states. However, it could also indi-cateaconsideredchangeinstrategytoavailof this relatively cheaper source of funds(cost is equivalent to the repo rate if out-standinguptothreemonths,beyondwhichtheraterisestorepoplus1percent),shrug-gingoff theerstwhilestigmaattachedwithutilising thiswindow.Looking ahead, we expect the pending

GSTcompensationforthepreviousandongo-ing year to be released by the Centre to thestatesnextyear,inadditiontothecompensa-tionforFebruary-March2021-22andthefirstquarterof2022-23—thefinalquarterof theoriginalcompensationperiod.Suchtransferswouldbooststates’cashflowsinthecomingyear.Thiswouldprovidethemwithasome-what softer landing after the compensationperiod ends, affording them a fewmoremonthstoadjust to thenewfiscal reality.

Thewriter is chief economist, ICRA

The cash crunch in statesRevenueshavegrownataslowerpace,leadingtoawideningoffiscaldeficit

IndiaandPakistanmaywelljustmuddlealongin2022.Butstructuralchangesarealteringtheinternalandexternalcontextof thebilateralrelationshipandregionalbalanceofpower

Old neighbours, new year

RAJA MANDALA

ByCRajaMohan

CR Sasikumar

Aditi Nayar

Christophe Jaffrelot&Trishali Chauhan

New Delhi

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

USADIRECTOR JEAN-MARCVALLÉEDEADAT58DirectorandproducerJean-MarcVallée,whowonanEmmyfordirectingthehitHBOseries‘BigLittleLies’andwhose2013drama‘DallasBuyersClub’earnedmultipleOscarnominations,hasdied.Hewas58.HisrepresentativeBumbleWardsaidSundaythatValléediedsuddenlyinhiscabinoutsideQuebecCity,Canada,overtheweekend.

REUTERS&NYTDECEMBER27

USPRESIDENT JoeBidenandhisWhiteHouseCovid-19 responseteammetwith the group repre-senting the country’s governorsonMondayas theOmicronvari-ant spread across US states thisholidayweek.The highly transmissible

Omicronvariantissendingdailycaseloadsinpartsof theUSsoar-ingtolevelshigherthanlastwin-ter’spandemicpeak.Delaware, Hawaii,

Massachusetts,NewJersey,NewYorkandPuertoRicoareamongthe areas that have reportedmore coronavirus cases in thepast week than in any otherseven-dayperiod,data show.Thenumberspointtotheease

withwhichOmicronisspreadingacrossthecountry,evenassomestudies from overseas suggestthat thevariantmightcause lesssevere illness. Expertswarn thatthesurgeofinfections,combinedwiththefactthattensofmillionsof Americans remain unvacci-nated, could still create a severestrain on the US health systemandleadtomanymoredeaths.

Risingcases snarledair traveloverChristmasweekendasflightcrewscontractedthevirus, caus-ing thousands of flight cancella-tions.USairlinescancelledabout800 flights onMonday,with thefourth straight day of cancella-tions reigniting concerns thatOmicroncouldhampertheecon-omyheadinginto2022.USCovid-19infectionsarein-

creasing, with 205,509 new in-fections reported on averageeachday,aReuterstallyshowed.DrAnthonyFauci, thetopUS

infectious disease official, onMonday urged people to avoidlarge New Year’s gatherings toreduce the Omicron-drivenspike incases.

REUTERSRAMATGAN(ISRAEL),DEC27

AN ISRAELI hospital adminis-tered fourth Covid-19 vaccinedosesonMondaytoatestgroup,asthecountryconsidersapprov-ing themeasure for vulnerablepopulationsinabidtooutpaceasurgeininfectionsfuelledbytheOmicronvariant.The Sheba Medical Centre

study in Ramat Gan outside TelAviv“willzeroinonefficacyofthevaccine inproducingantibodies,andsafety, inordertoascertainifafourthvaccineisneededingen-eral,” a spokesmansaid. The150subjectsareallmedicalstaff.A Health Ministry expert

panel last week recommended

thatIsraelbecomethefirstcoun-trytoofferafourthvaccinedosetothoseagedover60, thosesuf-fering from compromised im-mune systems, and medicalworkers.Theproposalwaswelcomed

bytheIsraeligovernment,whichhas struggledagainst aplateau-ingof turn-out forvaccines.

SOUTH AFRICA PAYS TRIBUTE TO DESMOND TUTU(Clockwisefromthetop)TheTableMountaininCapeTownislitupinpurpleonSundaynightinmemoryofArchbishopDesmondTutu;MournerspaytheirrespectsoutsideStGeorge’sCathedral inCapeTownonMonday;AwomaniscomfortedoutsidethehistoricalhomeofTutu, inSoweto, Johannesburg,onMonday.SouthAfricansrememberedtheanti-apartheidherowithcathedralbells, flowersandwarmwordsonMonday,adayafterhediedinaCapeTownnursinghomeaged90.AP,Reuters

ABDISHEIKH&FEISALOMARMOGADISHU,DECEMBER27

SOMALIA’S PRESIDENT said onMonday he had suspended thePrime Minister for suspectedcorruption, a move the PrimeMinisterdescribedasacoupat-tempt,escalatingapowerstrug-glebetweenthe two leaders.Theescalationof the raging,

months-long dispute raisedconcerns about the prospect ofrenewed clashes between fac-tionsinthesecurityforcesalliedtoeach side.President Mohamed

Abdullahi Mohamed accusedPrime Minister MohammedHussein Roble of stealing land

owned by the Somali NationalArmy and of interferingwith adefenceministry investigation.In response, Roble said the

movewasunconstitutionalandaimed at derailing an ongoingelection. He also ordered thesecurity forces to start takingorders from him, instead ofthe President.ThestepstakenbyMohamed

“were an open coup attemptagainstthegovernmentandthenationalconstitution”,Roblesaidinastatement.“The aim of the illegal,

crooked steps ... is to derail theelectionand illegally remain inoffice.” Somalia’s long electionprocess had begun onNovember 1, and has not yetbeenwrappedup. REUTERS

ADITIKHANNALONDON,DECEMBER27

AVIDEO has surfaced on socialmedia inwhich a fullymaskedman, identifying himself as anIndian Sikh, is seen declaringthat he wants to “assassinate”QueenElizabethII toavengethe1919JallianwalaBaghmassacre,prompting Scotland Yard tolaunchaprobe.In the video, shared on

Snapshot, the man identifieshimselfas“IndianSikh”JaswantSinghChail,accordingtoTheSunnewspaper. “I’msorry. I’msorry

for what I’ve done and what Iwilldo. Iwill attempttoassassi-nate Elizabeth, Queen of theRoyal Family,” themaskedmanpurportedly said in thevideo.This comes days after an in-

truder was arrested at theQueen’sWindsorCastle.The19-year-old intruder, who has notyet been named by theMetropolitan Police, is beingheldovermentalhealth issues.Scotland Yard officers were

investigating if the video waslinked to the intruder,whowasarmedwithacrossbowwhenhewas arrested atWindsor CastleonChristmasDay. PTI

TASSANEEVEJPONGSABANGKOK,DECEMBER27

A COURT in military-ruledMyanmarpostponeditsverdictsMondayontwochargesagainstousted leaderAung San SuuKyiin which she is accused of im-porting and possessingwalkie-talkieswithoutfollowingofficialprocedures,alegalofficialfamil-iarwith thecasesaid.The case is among many

broughtagainst the76-year-oldNobelPeacePrizelaureatesincethearmyseizedpoweronFeb1,oustingherelectedgovernmentand arresting topmembers ofherparty.The court gaveno reason for

delayingtheverdictsuntilJan.10,accordingtothelegalofficial,whoinsistedonanonymity for fear ofbeingpunishedbytheauthorities,whohaverestrictedthereleaseofinformationaboutSuuKyi’strials.SuuKyiwasconvictedonDec

6on twoother charges— incite-mentandbreachingCovidrestric-tions — and sentenced to fouryears’ imprisonment.Hourslater,theheadof themilitary govern-ment, Senior Gen Min AungHlaing,reduceditbyhalf.Sheisbe-ingheldby themilitaryat anun-known locationand state televi-sionreportedthatshewouldservehersentencethere. AP

Bidenmeets governorsasUSstates reportrecord newCovid cases

LiningupforCovid-19tests inQueens,NewYork.NYT

Beijing: Delta Air Lines saidMondaythatnewpandemic-re-latedcleaningrequirementsataShanghai airport were behindtheturningbackofarecentflightfrom Seattle inmidair, a movethat had prompted a protestfrom the Chinese Consulate inSanFrancisco.Anemailedstate-ment said thenewmandates atShanghai Pudong InternationalAirport“requiresignificantlyex-tendedgroundtimeandarenotoperationallyviable forDelta.”It wasn’t clear what the

rules are and what promptedthe change, but it comes asChina tightens itsalreadystrictCovid travel restrictions in theface of a growing outbreak inthe city of Xi’an. AP

Sydney:Australiareporteditsfirstconfirmed death from the newOmicron variant of Covid-19 onMonday amid its biggest dailysurge in infections, but the au-thorities refrained from impos-ingnewrestrictions sayinghos-pitalisationratesremainedlow.Thedeath,of amaninhis80s

withunderlyinghealthconditions,markedagrimmilestone for thecountrywhichhashadtoreversesomepartsof astagedreopeningafter nearly two years of lock-downs,duetothefreshoutbreak.Omicron spread in the coun-

tryjustasitliftedcurbsondomes-ticbordersandletAustraliansre-turnfromabroad. REUTERS

U.S. FLIGHTTOSHANGHAITURNEDBACK ‘BECAUSEOFCOVID-19RULES’

AUSTRALIA RECORDS ITSFIRSTOMICRONDEATH

Israel starts trial offourth vaccine dose

Amedicalworkergetsa4thvaccineshotonMondayatahospital inTelAviv.Reuters

UK police probes video of‘Indian Sikh’ saying hewants to assassinate Queen

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIACOLOMBO,DECEMBER27

SRILANKAhasmade itmanda-tory for foreigners to get aclearance from the DefenceMinistry if they wish to marrylocal residents, a move criti-cised by the Opposition andcivil society groups.Thenew lawwill come into

effect from January 1, 2022.Registrar General WMMB

Weerasekera, in a circulardated October 18, said the de-cision was taken due to na-tional security reasons.

According to the circular,relevantofficialshaddiscussed“the national security and is-sues can arise (sic) from themarriages between foreignersand Sri Lankans”.It said that a decision has

been made to register suchmarriages only throughadditionaldistrict registrarsaf-ter obtaining a “security clear-ance report” relates to the for-eign party.Thesecurityclearancereport

will certifywhether the foreignpartyhasbeenconvictedof anyoffenceinthelastsixmonths,ac-cording to thecircular.

In Lanka, Defence MinistryNOC must for foreignersmarrying local residents

Court postponesverdicts in 2ndSuu Kyi case

AungSanSuuKyi

OMICRONSURGE

THEESCALATIONoftheconflictbetweenSomalia’sPresidentandPMcouldhin-derthegovernment’sfightagainsttheAlQaeda-linkedinsurgentsoperatingoutofthecountry,expertssay.WesternpowersincludingtheUSandtheUKhavecalledforaswiftendtothepowerstruggleamidconcernthattheinsurgentscouldgrowstrongerandlaunchat-tacksagainstWesterninter-estsintheregion.

FearsoverinsurgencyE●EX

PLAINED

Somalia’s PM accuses President of‘coup’ bid after suspension of powers

BILLTROTTWASHINGTON,DECEMBER27

EOWILSON,anAmericannatu-ralist dubbed themodern dayDarwinwhose interest in antsledhimtoconclusionsabouthu-man nature being directed bygeneticsratherthanculture,diedon Sunday at the age of 92, hisfoundationsaid.Alongside British naturalist

DavidAttenborough,Wilsonwasconsidered one of the world’sleading authorities on naturalhistoryandconservation.“E O Wilson was called

‘Darwin’s natural heir’, andwasknownaffectionatelyas ‘theantman’ forhis pioneeringworkasan entomologist,” the founda-tionwrote. Itdidnotciteacauseof deathbut said a tribute tohislifewasplanned for2022.

In addition to groundbreak-ingwork inevolutionandento-mology,inhislateryearsWilsonspearheaded a campaign tounitethescientificandreligiouscommunities in an odd-couplepairinghefeltpresentedthebestchance topreserveEarth.

Wilson presented his viewsinover30books, twoofwhich-On Human Nature in 1979 andTheAnts in1991—wonPulitzerPrizes for non-fiction. Hiswrit-ing style was far more elegantthanmighthavebeenexpectedfromascientist.

Heevenventuredintofiction—althoughhestucktoatopicheknewalotabout—in2010withAnthill, a coming-of-age novelabout anAlabamaboy trying tosavemarshlands.AmongWilson’s most con-

troversial works was 1975’sSociobiology: The New Synthesisin which he wrote that all hu-manbehaviourwasaproductofgenetic predetermination, notlearnedexperiences.Bycomingout in favour of human natureover nurture, he set off afirestorm of criticism, with hisharshest opponents accusinghimof being racist andsexist.One protester threwwater

onWilsonwhile hewas speak-ing at a conference as otherschanted,“Wilson,you’reallwet.”It was,Wilson said later, amat-ter of pride for him that hewaswillingtopursuescientifictruth

despite suchattacks.He grewup a Bible-reading

Southern Baptist but fell awayfromreligionashestudiedevolu-tion.Wilsonwouldlaterdescribehimselfasa“provisionaldeist”—someonewhowaswilling“toac-cept the possibility that there issomekindof intelligentforcebe-yondourcurrentunderstanding”.Hemanagedtotiescienceand

religiontogetherinhis2006bookTheCreation:AnAppealtoSaveLifeon Earth, a series of letterswrit-ten to an imaginary Baptistpreacher inpursuitof anecolog-icalalliancetosavetheEarth.Ina2011commencementad-

dress at theUniversity of NorthCarolina,Wilsonarguedthathu-manityneeded tomakechangesin how itmanaged the planet.“We have Stone Age emotions,medievalinstitutionsandgod-liketechnology,”hesaid. REUTERS

E O Wilson, naturalist dubbed a modern-day Darwin, dies

AmongWilson’smostcontroversialworkswas1975’sSociobiology:TheNewSynthesis inwhichhewrotethatallhumanbehaviourwasaproductofgeneticpredetermination,notlearnedexperiences.Reuters

14THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

THEWORLD

REUTERSWARSAW,DECEMBER27

POLAND’S PRESIDENT vetoed amediabillthatcriticssaidaimedto silence a Discovery-ownednewschannelcriticalof thegov-ernment, citing worries aboutthe strain the lawwould put on

relationswiththeUnitedStates.The move allows NATO-

memberPolandtosidestepapo-tentially explosive row withWashingtonat a timeof height-ened tension in eastern EuropeamidwhatsomecountriesseeasincreasedRussianassertiveness.However, the move means

thataBillpassedinParliamentby

rulingnationalistsLawandJustice(PiS) has been blocked by aPresidentelectedastheirally.PresidentAndrzejDudasaid

Mondaythatif thelawcameintoforce it could violate a treatysignedwiththeUSoneconomicand trade relations. “Oneof theargumentsconsideredduringtheanalysesof thislawwastheissue

of an international agreementthatwasconcludedin1990... thistreatyspeaksabouttheprotectionof investments,”hesaid.TheBillwouldhavetightened

rulesaroundforeignownershipofmedia, specifically affecting theability of news channel TVN24,ownedbyUScompanyDiscoveryInc,tooperate. REUTERS

Polish President vetoes controversial media Bill

New Delhi

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

INDIATOTALDOSES 141,70,25,654(1st DOSE:83,64,96,550; 2nd:58,05,29,104)

DOSESONDECEMBER26,BYSTATE

*Excludingstates smaller thanDelhibypopulation(Census2011)

TOP5TamilNadu 12,55,195UttarPradesh 5,54,083Bihar 2,06,936Haryana 1,80,840Jharkhand 1,56,783

BOTTOM5*Kerala 2,806Punjab 11,419Assam 27,105Chhattisgarh 31,901Delhi 32,175

925fromDec25

Source:MinistryofHealth&FamilyWelfare;Dec26figuresupdatedonDec27

ACTIVECASES75,841

■Firstdose ■Seconddose

DOSESONDECEMBER2632,53,229DEC25 :36,46,021 (1STDOSE: 10,09,426; 2ND: 26,36,595)

UDITMISRANEWDELHI, DECEMBER27

BYOCTOBER 2020, official data confirmedthat the Indian economy had gone into atechnicalrecession.Butsincethen,thegrossdomestic product (GDP) has been clawingitsway back. As such, at the start of 2021, itwas hoped that India’s growth recoverywould start to gathermomentum. At thattime, the concerns about Covid-19had alsotaken a back seat. But a second Covidwaveupsetall calculations.Still,bytheendofthefinancialyear2021-

22, India’s GDP is expected to comeback tothepre-Covidlevel(Chart1).Giventhesever-ityof thesecondCovidwave,thatisamatterof relief.

K-shaped recoveryThe recovery has, however, altered the

shape and fabric of the Indian economy. Intechnicaljargon,thisisbecauseofaK-shapedrecovery.Insimpleterms,itmeansthatwhilesomesectors/sectionsof theeconomyhaveregisteredaveryfastrecovery,manyarestillstruggling.Theentitiesthathavedonewellarefirms

that were already in the formal sector andhadthefinancialwherewithaltosurvivetherepeatedlockdownsanddisruptions. Infact,manybig firms in the formaleconomyhaveactuallyincreasedtheirmarketshareduringtheCovid-19pandemicandthishascomeatthe cost of smaller, weaker firms thatweremostly in the informal sector.On the faceof it, thismight appear to be

aminor detail. But in India’s case, this shifthasmassiveramifications.That’sbecauseal-most 90% of all employment in India hap-pens in the informal sector. When themedium, small and micro enterprises(MSMEs)loseouttotheircounterpartsintheformal economy, it results in the sameGDPbeingproducedwith fewerpeople in jobs.

Unemployment concernsThat is what explains the odd nature of

the challenge facing the Indian economy in2022.While theGDP is expected to recoverbacktopre-Covidlevels—whichinitself im-plies two full yearswasted in terms of jobsthatwouldhaveotherwisebeencreated, in-comesthatwouldhavebeenearned,andex-penditures that would have beenmade—thesamecannotbesaidabouttotalemploy-ment in thecountry (Chart2).Not only was the total number of em-

ployedpeopleasofAugust2021lowerthantheAugust2019level, theAugust2019levelitselfwaslowerthantheAugust2016level—pointingtoastagnantemploymentsituationover thepastmanyyears.Forone,thismeansthatevenaneasingof

thesituationwillrequiretime,becausewearetalkingabouttensofmillionsofunemployedpeople.Two,itrequiresthegovernmenttoac-tivelyactinamannerthattriestoaddressthechangeof shift introducedbyCovid.Three, in the interim, such persistently

highlevelsofunemploymentcanposeachal-lengeforsocialcohesion.AswewitnessedinHaryanaandJharkhand, localsmaydemandlawstobarmigrants fromotherstates.

Private consumption slumpPrivate consumption expenditure is the

biggestengineofGDPgrowthin India. Itac-countsforover55%ofallGDP.If thiscompo-nent remains weak, sustained recovery inGDPwillnotbepossible.Toagreatextent, itis down because of job and income losses.But in part, it also has to do with peoplewantingtoholdbackforarainyday.What ifthere isanotherequally severe thirdwave?

Widening inequalitiesTheyearstartedwithanOxfamIndiare-

port that detailedhowCovidwaswideningexisting inequalities and it endedwith the

WorldInequalityReportpeggingIndiaasoneof theworstperformers.“Indiastandsoutasapoorandveryunequalcountry,withanaf-fluent elite,” stated theWIR.While the top10% and top 1% held respectively 57% and22%oftotalnationalincome,thebottom50%sharehadgonedownto13%.

Rising povertyWhatmakesthistrendevenmoreworri-

some is that higher inequalities now alsocomewith rising poverty levels. A study bySantoshMehrotraandJajatiParidahasfoundthat between 2012 and 2020, India wit-nessed an increase in the absolute numberof poor — the first such reversal in povertyalleviationsince Independence.

Persistently high inflationTypically, there tends to be silver lining

inphaseswhenaneconomyisfailingtocre-atemany jobs: The inflation rate stays low.But 2021 brought disappointment on thatfrontaswell.BetweenfastGDPgrowthinde-veloped countries, higher crude oil pricesandhighdomestic taxation,not tomentionsupplybottlenecksindifferentcommodities,bothretailandwholesaleinflationstayedtoohigh forcomfort.

What lies ahead in 2022If2020wastheyearwhenCovidhitIndia

and2021wastheyearwhenIndia’seconomyrecoveredfromthatshock,then2022shouldbetheyearthatwillprovideasnapshotoftheeconomyasit iscomingoutof theCovidim-pact. It can thenbe comparedwithhowthe

economywas in2019to figureoutwhathaschanged andwhat needs policy attention.Fivefactorsthatarelikelytoplayacrucialroleinhowtheeconomyshapesupin2022:OMICRON: The expectation that 2022

will be the first normal year after 2019com-pletely depends on the assumption that theOmicronvariant,whichisconsideredtobefarmore infectious than the deadlyDelta, doesnot lead to any substantial loss of life and/oreconomicdisruption.Butif itdoes,or if thereare other variants that emerge just like theydidinAprilandMay2021,thenallbetsareoff.If thathappens, concernsabout liveswill yetagaindominatethoseaboutlivelihoods.Alotmaydependagainonthepaceofvaccination—includingtheboosterdoses.UNION BUDGET: Presuming no new

Covid surges, the focus would shift to theUnionBudget,whichwill be announcedonFebruary 1. In times of such upheaval, theBudgetismorethanjustanaccountingexer-cise. Thegovernmentwouldbeexpected tolayoutitsplantotacklehighunemployment,highinflation,wideninginequalitiesandris-ingpoverty levels.Buta lotdependsonhowthegovernmentseestheeconomicsituation.Last year, for example, the government cutits Budget allocation for health by 10%.FormerChiefStatisticianof IndiaPronabSensaid, ”The government doesn’t seem to berecognising that (K-shaped recovery) at allinitspronouncements.”Sensaidthegovern-menthasbeenmisdiagnosingtheeconomyfor the past five years, especially since de-monetisation. “That iswhat has resulted informal sector firms increasing themarket

shareatthecostofMSMEs.”This,inturn,getsreflected in both higher tax collections andloweremployment levels,hesaid.ELECTIONS:Therepealof the threecon-

tentious farm lawswas another example ofhowpolicymaking canbe impactedbyelec-toralpressures.Inthatregard,2022isacriticalyear. Not only does it have seven stateAssembly elections, there is also the fact thattheBJPisinpowerinsixofthem.Considertwopolaropposites—onewhereBJPwinsallsevenandanotherwhere it loses in all— tounder-standhowtheseelectionsmayimpactthecen-tral government’s policy choices, especiallywithgeneralelectionsdueinearly2024.NPAs: Before Covid disrupted India’s

economy,high levels of non-performingas-sets(NPAs)wereoneofthebiggeststumblingblocks.DuringCovid,mandatoryassetqual-ity reviewshavebeensuspended.Butwhentheyarere-startedin2022,Sensaid,itisany-body’sguesshowhightheymayjump.EXTERNALFACTORS: Several key cen-

tralbanks,especiallytheUSFed,havestartedtighteningtheirmonetarypolicyinlightofthehighinflationinthedevelopedcountries.This,in turn,will force India’s RBI to raise interestrates as well. “To a great extentmonetarytighteninghasalreadyhappenedinIndia.Itisjustthatnooneistalkingaboutit.Lookatthe10-year government bondyields. Theyhavegonefrom5.7%to6.4%(sinceMay2020),”hepointsout.ForIndians,thesilverliningisthatasmonetarytighteninghappensintheWest,crudeoilpricesmaysimmerdown.

TOMORROW:COVID-19

15WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AASHISHARYAN&PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,DECEMBER27

THEDEPARTMENTof Telecommunications(DoT) said on Monday that Gurugram,Bengaluru, Kolkata,Mumbai, Chandigarh,Delhi, Jamnagar, Ahmadabad, Chennai,Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, and GandhiNagarwouldbeamong the first cities toget5Gservicesin2022.

Whywillthesecitiesbeamongthefirst?The three private telecom service

providers, Bharti Airtel, Reliance JioInfocomm, andVodafone Idea, have beenworkingwith telecomequipmentmakerssuchasEricssonandNokia, andconductingtrialsattestsitesinthesecities.Oneof the reasonswhy thebigger cities

were chosen for these trials is their telecom

servicespenetration,makingiteasiertocon-vincemorepeopletoupgradefrom4G.Also,industryexpertssaid,sincethecosts

for5Gservicesareinitiallygoingtobeonthehigherside,itwouldbewisetotesttheserv-ice in areaswheremore consumerswouldfind themaffordable. A third reason is thatcities provide all kinds of locations, such aswalledcomplexesandopenspaces, thataresuitablefortestingofvarious5Gbands.

Whatis5Gtechnology?5Gorfifthgenerationisthelatestupgrade

in long-termevolution (LTE)mobile broad-band networks. It mainlyworks in threebands—low-,mid-andhigh-frequency—allofwhichhavetheirusesaswellaslimitations.Whilethelow-bandspectrumhasshown

greatpromiseintermsofcoverage,themax-imumInternetspeedislimitedto100Mbps(megabitspersecond).Thismeansthatwhiletelcos canuse and install it for commercial

cellphoneuserswhomaynothave specificdemands for very high speed Internet, thelow-bandspectrummaynotbeoptimal forspecialisedneedsof industries.Themid-band spectrumoffers higher

speedsthanlow-band,buthaslimitationsintermsofcoverageareaandpenetrationofsig-nals. Telcos and companies that have takentheleadon5Ghaveindicatedthisbandmaybeusedbyindustriesandspecialisedfactoryunitsforbuildingcaptivenetworks.High-band offers the highest speed

among the three, buthasextremely limitedcoverage and signal penetration strength.Speeds inthisspectrumhavebeentestedtobeashighas20Gbps (gigabits per second),while inmostcases, themaximumInternetdataspeedin4Ghasbeenrecordedat1Gbps.

WheredoesIndiastandintermsoftrialsandlaunch?Although the government has said the

auctionof 5Gspectrumwould takeplace inMarchorAprilnextyear,someexpertssayitcould bedelayedby at least onequarter astelecomserviceprovidersareyettocompletetheirtrialsandtestvariousaspects.That said, the Telecom Regulatory

Authorityof India(TRAI)isinthefinalstagesof stakeholder consultations, and is likely tosubmititsrecommendationstotheDoTearlynextyear.BhartiAirtelhasconductedtrialsinpart-

nershipwithEricssonformobilephonesal-readyinthemarket,Vihasconductedsomefor enterprise and business solutions, andRelianceJioInfocommhascompletedbuild-ing its indigenous 5Gnetwork and is nowconductingtrialsofconnecteddrones,speedtestandotheraspects. Inearly2019, Jiohadsaid it hadplans to launch an indigenouslybuilt5GnetworkasearlyasSeptember2020.

Areothercountriesandglobal

companiesaheadofIndia?Morethangovernments, global telecom

companies have started building 5G net-worksandrollingthemouttocustomersona trial basis. In theUS, companies such asAT&T, T-mobile, andVerizonhave taken thelead.While some suchasAT&Thad startedtestinganddeployingthetechnologyasearlyas2018,otherssuchasVerizonhavefollowedsuit, expanding their 5Gultra-wide broad-bandservicesto60citiesbytheendof2020.InChina, sometelcos suchasChinaUnicomhadstarted5Gtrials in2018,andhavesincerolledoutthecommercialservicesforusers.SouthKoreancompanySamsung,which

had started researching on 5G technologywaybackin2011,hastakentheleadwhenitcomes tobuilding thehardware for 5Gnet-worksforseveralcompanies.

Whatchangesforconsumers?Oneofthemajorchangeswillbeinterms

ofrichexperiencesontheirphonesandotherconnecteddevices.Forinstance,userswillbeable to streamvideoswithmultiple cameraangles during sportsmatches or evenplayimmersivevideogamesusingVRheadsetsorotheraccessories.This next-generation telecomnetwork

willalsoenableameshofconnectedInternetofThings(IoT)-enableddevicesandserviceswithzero-failrate,asinthecaseofconnectedcars.5Gcouldalsospawnhigh-speedmobilebroadband connectivity to replace existingbroadband services, especially in locationswhere these services are constrained, pro-videdthereisn’tahugepricedifferential.As far as commercial smartphones are

concerned,somenewerdevices inthemar-ketclaimtobe5G-ready.EquipmentmakerssuchasEricssonbelieve thatwithin5years,Indiawillhave500million5Gsubscriptions.

Inputs fromNandagopalRajan

Expected economic recovery,and factors it will depend on

India’sGDPisexpectedtoreturntopre-Covidlevelsbytheendof2021-22.Butsomesectorsarestrugglingmorethanothers,thenumberofunemployedremainshigh,andprivateconsumptionislow.

Where 5G rollout stands, and how itwill change user experience

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

Dec17 Dec26

80,00,000

40,00,000

0LAST 10 DAYS (daily)

9,47,37616,02,898

50,06,008 23,05,853

ECONOMY

NEWINTHENEWYEAR

2 0 2 2

CALENDAR2022JANUARY7:FirstAdvanceEstimatesofGDPfor thecurrentfinancial year. Thesewouldbecrucialbecause theywill formthebasis forall calculations in theUnionBudget

JANUARY31:FirstRevisedEstimates (FRE)ofGDPfor theprevious financial year (2020-21).Provisional estimates, announcedinMay2021,pegged theGDPtocontractby7.3% inFY21.TheFREwill providegreater clarity.

FEBRUARY1:UnionBudget.

FEBRUARY28:SecondAdvanceEstimatesof theGDPfor thecurrent financial year. Thiswill beanupdateontheFREannouncedon January7because itwouldhave theGDPgrowthestimatesofQ3of thecurrent financial year.

MAY31:Thegovernmentwillannounce (i)GDPestimatesofQ4of 2021-22; (ii) ProvisionalEstimatesofGDPfor the fullfinancial yearof 2021-22.

AUGUST31:ReleaseofGDPestimates forQ1of 2022-21.

NOVEMBER30:GDPestimatesforQ2of 2022-21.

MONTHLYRELEASES:Betweenthe10thand15thof eachmonth,thegovernment releasesupdatesof the Indexof IndustrialProduction,Retail InflationandWholesale Inflation

Illustration: Suvajit Dey

THEOMICRON variant of the coron-avirus continues to spread rapidlythroughEuropeandtheUnitedStates,withseveralplacesnotchinguprecordnumbers. The Washington Post re-ported that the seven-day averagenumber of cases in theUnited Stateshasnowcrossed2lakh,alevelthathadnot been reached since January thisyear,whentheseven-dayaveragehadcrossed2.,5 lakh.Omicron has already

been declared as themostdominant variant in theUnitedStates.Washingtonisreportingmore than 1,300cases everydayonanaver-age, while New York de-tectedover49,000casesonSunday, a new record, ac-cordingtoTheWashingtonPost.HospitalisationsintheUnitedStates

havenot been rising in the samepro-portion, strengthening the evidencethattheOmicronvariantwasnotcaus-ing severe disease in the vaccinatedpopulation at least. But only about 62percentofthepopulationintheUnitedStatesisfullyvaccinated,andhealthex-perts have been expressing concern

overthelargeproportionofthepopula-tion remaining unvaccinated, or onlypartiallyvaccinated.In theUnitedKingdom, newdata

showed that overone lakhcasesweredetectedonChristmasDayaswell,SkyNews reported.Official numbershavenotbeenreleasedforthelastcoupleofdays because of the Christmas break,but before that theUKhaddiscovered

overonelakhcasesadayforat least four consecutivedays.Thedailycountofcaseshad crossed the one lakhmarkinFranceaswell,anewrecord.TheUK,however,hassaiditwasnotimposinganyfreshrestrictionsfortheNewYear,accordingtoSkyNews.It said the country’sHealth

MinisterSajidJavidhadaskedpeopletoremain cautious and take all precau-tions.HedidnotruleoutrestrictionsinJanuary,though.Meanwhile, Israel began giving

fourthdosesofthevaccinetoitscitizensonMonday, the first country to do so.The fourthdosehasbeen startedonlyforhealthcareworkersasofnow.

AMITABHSINHA

Over 2 lakh cases/day in US,4th dose for Israel health staff

O M I C R O NT R A C K E R

Ahealthworker inRamatGan,Israel, getsafourthdoseonMonday.AP

RECOVERYATAPRICE

AbsoluteGDP is expected to clawback topre-Covid levels, but itmayhappenwith fewerpeople employedandpeople spending less onaggregate

GDP(Rs lakh crore)

2019-20 2020-21

*Forecast FiguresasofAugusteachyear

**Privatefinalconsumptionexpenditure, forfirsthalfofeachfiscal.Source:MoSPI,ExpressResearch,CMIE

2021-22

146

135

148*

PFCE**(Rs lakh crore)

2019-20 2020-21 2021-22

40 33 37

2019 2020 2021

404 372 394

TOTAL EMPLOYED(million)

CHART 1 CHART2 CHART3

New Delhi

Rajasthan State Road Development And Construction Corporation Ltd., JAIPURNo. NIT/2021-22/17876-83 Date: 27.12.2021A»´fIYf»fe³f BÊ-d³fd½fQf Àfc¨f³ff Àfa£¹ff 269/2021-22d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fÊ IZ d»fE ¹fû¦¹f E½fa A³fb·f½fe C°´ffQ³fI °ffÊAûÔ/Ad²fIÈ °f Af´fcd°fÊI °ffÊAûÔ ÀfZ d³f²ffÊdS°f ´fi´fÂf ¸fZÔ BÊ-MZ³OdSa¦f ´fidIi ¹ff WZ°fb Afg³f»ffB³fd³fd½fQf¹fZÔ Af¸fadÂf°f I e ªff°fe W`Ô:-

d³fd½fQf ÀfZ Àfa¶fad²f°f Àf¸fÀ°f d½f½fS¯f E½fa ÀfaVfû²f³f ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in, http://sppp.rajasthan.nic.in °f±ffhttp://roads.rajasthan.gov.in/rsrdc ´fS QZJf ªff ÀfI °ff W`Ü B¨LbI Àfa½fZQI ûÔ I û A´f³fZ dOdªfM»f WÀ°ffÃfS IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ ½fZ¶fÀffBÊMhttp://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS SdªfÀMOÊ I S½ff³ff Af½fV¹fI W`Ü

¸fWXf´fi¶fa²fIY

IYf¹fÊ IYf d½f½fSX¯f A³fb¸ffd³f°f »ff¦f°f (÷Y.)

Rate contract for supply of Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) as per ISI Mark at various sitesin Rajasthan. UBN RRC2122WLOB00501

980.00Lakh

Afg³f»ffBʳf d³fd½fQf ´fi´fÂf OfC³f»fûO I S³fZ I e A½fd²f dQ³ffaI 27.12.2021 ÀfZ 05.01.2022 Àff¹fa 6.00 ¶fªfZ °fI

BEFORE DEBTS RECOVERY TRIBUNAL-III, DELHIth

4 Floor, Jeevan Tara Building, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001Notice under Section 19(4) of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act.1993 read with Rule 12 & 13 of the Debts Recovery Tribunal (Procedure Rules) 1993).

In the matter of OA NO. 93/2020

PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK Vs M/S SHUBH SAMRIDHI TRADEX PVT LTD & ORS

Applicant DefendantsD-1 M/S SHUBH SAMRIDHI TRADEX PVT LTD. HAVING ITS REGISGTERED OFFICEAT: 207,

PLOT NO.13, VARDHMAN TIMES, PLAZA ROAD NO. 44, RANI BAGH, PITAMPURA, NEWDELHI-110034

D-2 SH MAHESH CHANDER S/O SH KAILASH CHANDER C-149, VIJAY VIHAR, PHASE-2,ROHINI, SECTOR-7, DELHI-110085

D-3 SH JAGDISH PRASAD S/O SH PRATAP SINGH HASANPUR MANSOORI KHEKADA,BAGHPAT, KHEKRA, UTTAR PRADESH -250101

D-4 SH PREM CHAND GARG S/O SH HARNARAINAGGARWA.LA-8, BHAGWAN DAS NAGAR, EAST PUNJABI BAGH, DELHI-110026 ALSO AT: (1) B-5BHAGWANDASSNAGAR,DELHI-110026. (2) B-16BHAGWANDASSNAGAR.DELHI-110026.(3)B-6BHAGWANDASSNAGAR,OPPOSITEHARYANAPOWERHOUSE,DELHI-110026.

Whereas the above named applicant has instituted a case against you and whereas it has beenshown to the satisfaction of the Tribunal that it is not possible to serve you in ordinary way.Therefore, this notice is given by advertisement directing you to make appearance in this Tribunal18.01.2022 at 10.30A.M.Take notice that in case of your failure to appear on the above mentioned day before this Tribunal,the case will be heard and decided in your absence.Due to ongoing Pandemic situation, all the matters will be taken up through VideoConferencing and for that purpose:-(i) All theAdvocates/Litigants shall download the Cisco Webex application/Software;(ii) Meeting ID and Password for the next date of hearing qua cases to be taken by

Registrar/Recovery Officer-l/ and Recovery Officer-II shall be available one day prior to thenext date at DRTOfficial Portal i.e. drt.gov.in under the Public Notice Head.

(iii) In any exigency qua that, theAdvocates/Letigants can contact the concerned official at Ph. No011-23748469.

Given under my hand and seal of the Tribunal on this 14th day of December 2021.By Order of the Tribunal

OFFICE OF THE ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF (CIVIL), ODISHA NIRMAN

SOUDHA, UNIT-V,BHUBANESWAR

INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)File No. B-II-Rev/-A.E.-Jajpur-100/2018(Pt.) Ltr. No. 48976 Dt. 21st Dec. 2021

Invitation for BidsBid Identification No. OSD C.E. (B) - 27/ 2021-22

Sd/-OSD Chief Engineer (Buildings)

Odisha, BhubaneswarOIPR - 34117/11/0096/2122

B-905

1. The OSD Chief Engineer (Buildings) Odisha, Bhubaneswar, on behalf ofGovernor of Odisha, invites percentage rate bids in double cover systemin ONLINE MODE only, for the work “Site Development for Constructionof Prasasan Bhawan at Jajpur in the District of Jajpur for the year2021-22 (Balance Work)” amounting to Rs. 16,00,00,000/- (Approximate)as detailed below.

2. Nature of work : Site Development for Building works.

3. No. of work: 01 No.

4. Bid Cost. R. 10,000/-

5. Class of Contractor: Super Class

6. Availability of BidDocuments in the website

From dt. 29.12.2021 to 17.00 Hours to dt.15.01.2022

7. Date of Opening of Bid Dt. 17.01.2022 at 11:30 AM.

8. The Bidders have to participate in ONLINE bidding only. Further detailscan be seen from the website: https://tendersodisha.gov.in. Anyaddendum / corrigendum/ cancellation of tender can also be seen in thesaid website only.

CORRIGENDUMReference this Institute's advertisement No.01/2021-(FC)-Contract forfilling up 85 posts of Asstt. Professor of various discipline at the AIIMS,New Delhi, displayed on Institute's web site on 08.11.2021, it is notifiedthat a corrigendum for amendment in qualification for the post ofAnatomy (at SI.No.12), addition of 01 more post (UR) of Asstt. Prof. ofOphthalmology (Dr. RPC) and withdrawal of 07 posts of variousdisciplines may kindly be seen on Institute's web site www.aiims.eduunder the head “Notice” & “Recruitment” respectively. Please visitInstitute's web site regularly for any further information in this regard.

Sd/-SR. ADMN. OFFICER (FACULTY CELL)

davp 17112/11/0034/2122

ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCESANSARI NAGAR, NEW DELHI-110608.

Public Auction NoticeDebts Recovery Tribunal

A, B & F Wings, Karpuri Thakur Sadan, Ashiana Digha Road, Patna – 800 025Indian Bank, SAM Branch, District-Patna

VsM/s Dobhi Agro Industries & Others

(In R.P. Case No. 16/2020 arising out of Certificate No. O.A. Case No. 505/2019)E-AUCTION SALE NOTICE

As per order dated 07/12/2021, under mentioned property will be sold by public online e-Auction on thedate and time mentioned herein for recovery of Rs.4,55,44,087/- + Interest/cost and other expenses fromM/s Dobhi Agro Industries & Others, the sum is recoverable together with interest, cost, charges, as per thecertificate. The auction sale will be by way of online e-Auction.Description of Property:

Dated : 22/12/2021

Details of e-auction agency:Company Name/address:- M/s E-procurement Technologies Limited, Auction Tiger, B–704, Wall Street–II,Opp. Orient Club, Near Gujarat College, Ellis Bridge, Ahmedabad-380006, Gujarat, India.Contact No. 079-68136880/68136837, Mobile No.–9265562821/18 & 9374519754.Website Add: https://drt.auctiontiger.nete-mail Address: chintan.batt@auctiontiger.netContact Person–Mr. Chintan Bhatt Mobile No. 9978591888Facilitation Agency: (i) Office of Recovery Officer, A, B & F Wings, 2nd Floor, Karpuri Thakur Sadan,Ashiyana Digha Road, Patna-25 and (ii) Indian Bank, SAM Branch, Patna. Contact person : Mr. MritunjayPrasad Singh, Chief Manager, Mobile No. 8017007632 and Mr. Subir Kumar Dey, Senior Manager (Law),Mobile No. 09163997332, E-mail ID-r676@indianbank.co.inFacilitation for property inspection- Mr. Mritunjay Prasad Singh, Chief Manager, Mobile No. 8017007632and Mr. Subir Kumar Dey, Senior Manager (Law), Mobile No. 09163997332, E-mail ID-r676@indianbank.co.inACCOUNT DETAIL FOR ONLINE MONEY TRANSFER

TERMS & CONDITIONS OF SALE:-1. The property shall be sold “as is where is basis”.2. The intending bidders should register the participation with the service provider well in advance and getuser ID and password for participating in E-auction. It can be procured only when the requisite Earnest MoneyDeposit be paid by prescribed mode.3. To take part in Auction, each bidder shall deposit Earnest Money (EMD) @ of 10% of the ReservePrice which shall be paid by electronic transfer to the concerned Bank’s EMDAccount or through DD/pay order drawn in favour of Recovery Officer, DRT., Patna alongwith copy of PAN card, Address proofand Identity proof with E-mail ID, Mobile No. of bidder. The Envelop containing EMD along with detailsof documents should be superscribed R.P. No.16/2020 and in case of the company copy of resolutionby the Board members of the company or any other decument confirming representation/attorney ofthe company should reach on or before 4.00 P.M. of 27/01/2022 in the office of Recovery Officer, DRT.,Patna or should credit the amount in respective Bank’s/Financial Instution’s account. EMD receivedthereafter shall not be considered.4. The successful bidder shall have to pay 25% of the sale proceeds (including EMD) on the next working dayof sale through the mode as stated above.5. The purchaser shall deposit the balance 75% of the sale proceeds before the undersinged on or before 15thday from the date of sale of the Property, exclusive of such day, or if the 15th day be Sunday or other holiday,then on the first office day after the 15th day alongwith the poundage fee @ 2% upto Rs.1,000/- and @ 1% onthe excess of such gross amount over Rs.1,000/- by prescribed mode as stated above.6. In case of default of payment within the prescribed period, the property shall be resold, after the issue offresh proclamation of sale. The deposit, after defraying the expenses of the sale, may, if the undersignedthinks fit, be forfeited to the Government and the defaulting purchaser shall forfeit all claims to the property orto any part of the sum for which it may subsequently be sold.7. The Recovery Officer has the absolute right to accept or reject any bid or bids or to postpone or cancel thee-auction without assigning any reasons.8. EMD of unsuccessful bidder shall be returned the same day of auction by DRT/Bank by credit to theaccount of bidder mention in bid form.9. Prospective bidder may avail online training from service provider.10. Prospective bidders are advised to go through the website for details terms & conditions of sale beforesubmitting their bids or contact Branch Manager of the concerned Branch.

Description of Property ReservePrice EMD Date and time of

AuctionAll that piece and parcel of land andhypothecated plants, machineries and buildingsthereon in the name of certificate debtor no.1 M/s Dobhi Agro Industries vide Sale DeedNo.10095 dated 26.06.2015 situated at Village-Kushabija, Thana-Dobhi, District-Gaya, ThanaNo.812, East of Gurudwara, Sub Division andRegistry-Sherghati under Khata No.441, Old-42and Plot No.2284 and Old-381 area measuring74¾ decimals. Bounded and butted as follows-North: Umesh Keshari, South: Umesh Keshari;East: Umesh Keshari; and West: Road.

Rs. 4,10,00,000/-(Rupees FourCrores and TenLacs Only)

Rs. 41,00,000/-(Rupees FortyOne Lacs Only)on or before

27/01/2022 upto4.00 P.M.

29/01/2022between 12:30 P.M.to 4.00 P.M. with autoextension clause incase of bid in last5 minutes beforeclosing, if required.The amount by whichthe biddings are tobe increased shall beRs. 50,000/-

ACCOUNT NO. & NAME NAME IFSC CODE50410525645

The Authorised Officer, ARMB, PatnaIndian Bank, SAM Branch, Patna IDIB000P611

(Nandan Kumar)Recovery Officer

Whereas, the undersigned being the authorized officer of the IDBI Bank Ltd., Motihari, Bihar under theSecuritization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (54 of2002) and in exercise of the powers conferred under section 13 (12) read with rule 3 of the Security Interest(Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued a demand notice on the date mentioned against the accounts calling uponthe borrower/guarantor/mortgagor to repay the amount as mentioned against the account within 60 days fromthe date of receipt of the said notice. The borrower/guarantor/mortgagor having failed to repay the amount,notice is hereby issued to the borrower/guarantor/mortgagor and in the public in general that the undersignedhas taken possession of the property described herein below in exercise of powers conferred on him undersub-section (4) of section 13 of Act read with rule 8 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 onthe dates mentioned against the accounts. The borrower/guarantor/mortgagor in particular and the public ingeneral are hereby cautioned not to deal with the property and any dealing with the property will be subject tothe charge of IDBI Bank Ltd., Motihari, Bihar, for the amounts mentioned below plus applicable interest andcosts/charge thereon.The borrower’s attention is invited to provisions of sub-section(8) of section 13 of theAct, in respect of time available, to redeem the secured assets.

Place : MotihariDate : 22.12.2021

Sd/- Authorized OfficerIDBI Bank Ltd.

Sl.No.

A) Name of theborrower

B) Name of themortgagor/guarantor

1) Date of DemandNotice

2) Date of Possession3) Claim amount asper Demand Notice

Description of the Property

1. A) Champarn AgroAgency (Prop. NavalKishore Pandey) ChhotaBariyarpur, MotihariB) Smt. Uma Pandey(Mortgagor cumGuarantor), ChhotaBariyarpur, Motihari.

1) 27.09.20212) 22.12.20213) `32,23,198.30(Rupees Thirty two lakhtwenty three thousandone hundred ninety eightand paise thirty only) andinterest thereon.

All that part and parcel of the property admeasuring7 ½ dhur situated at Village-Chhotabariyarpur, PS.Chhatauni, PS. No.196, Ward No.14(Old) 38(New),Khata No.531, Plot No.980, Motihari, Dist.-EastChamparan Motihari, Bihar. Bounded: On the Northby: Kauslya Devi, On the South by: Jhuma Singh, Onthe East by: 9ft Road, On the West by: Manju Devi.Together with all buildings and structures thereonand all plant and machinery attached to the earth orpermanentlyfastenedtoanythingattachedtotheearth.

IDBI Bank Ltd., Lohia Niwas,Raja Bazar, Court Road,Motihari, Bihar-845401CIN: L65190MH2004GOI148838

Appendix IV [(Rule 8(1)]POSSESSION NOTICE(For Immovable property)

Whereas, the undersigned being the authorized officer of the IDBI Bank Ltd., Hajipur, Bihar under theSecuritization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (54 of2002) and in exercise of the powers conferred under section 13 (12) read with rule 3 of the Security Interest(Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued a demand notice on the date mentioned against the accounts calling uponthe borrower/guarantor/mortgagor to repay the amount as mentioned against the account within 60 days fromthe date of receipt of the said notice. The borrower/guarantor/mortgagor having failed to repay the amount,notice is hereby issued to the borrower/guarantor/mortgagor and in the public in general that the undersignedhas taken possession of the property described herein below in exercise of powers conferred on him undersub-section (4) of section 13 of Act read with rule 8 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 onthe dates mentioned against the accounts. The borrower/guarantor/mortgagor in particular and the public ingeneral are hereby cautioned not to deal with the property and any dealing with the property will be subject tothe charge of IDBI Bank Ltd., Hajipur, Bihar, for the amounts mentioned below plus applicable interest andcosts/charge thereon.The borrower’s attention is invited to provisions of sub-section(8) of section 13 of theAct, in respect of time available, to redeem the secured assets.

Place : HajipurDate : 23.12.2021

Sd/- Authorized OfficerIDBI Bank Ltd.

Sl.No.

A) Name of theborrower/mortgagor

B) Name of theco-borrower

1) Date of DemandNotice

2) Date of Possession3) Claim amount asper Demand Notice

Description of the Property

1. A) Shri Ranjay Kumar(Mortgagor), S/o RampritSingh At Dighi Kala East,Girja Store, Hajipur,Vaishali 844102B) Smt Reena Singh,W/o Shri Ranjay Kumar,At Dighi Kala East,Girja Store, Hajipur,Vaishali 844102

1) 27.09.20212) 23.12.20213) `14,75,664.05(Rupees Fourteen LakhSeventy Five ThousandSix Hundred Sixty Fourand Paise Five only)as on 30-04-2021 andinterest thereon.

All that part and parcel of the immovable property underSale Deed No-7182 dated 25-07-1986, admeasuring12 Dhur, situated at At–Dighi Kala East, Khata No-1226, Khesra No–567, Thana No.105, PS–Sadar,Dist– Vaishali, Bihar. Bounded: On the North by: ShashiKumar, Arun Kumar & Pratima Devi, On the South by:Hariar Singh, On the East by : Mahesh Prasad Singhand Others, On the West by : PWD Road. Togetherwith all buildings and structures thereon and all plantand machinery attached to the earth or permanentlyfastened to anything attached to the earth.

IDBI Bank Ltd., Ist Floor,Shiv Bhawan, Dak Banglow Road,

Hajipur, Pin-844101 Bihar

Appendix IV [(Rule 8(1)]POSSESSION NOTICE(For Immovable property)CIN: L65190MH2004GOI148838

Whereas, the undersigned being the authorized officer of the IDBI Bank Ltd., Bagaha-2, Bihar under theSecuritization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (54 of2002) and in exercise of the powers conferred under section 13 (12) read with rule 3 of the Security Interest(Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued a demand notice on the date mentioned against the accounts calling uponthe borrower/guarantor/mortgagor to repay the amount as mentioned against the account within 60 days fromthe date of receipt of the said notice. The borrower/guarantor/mortgagor having failed to repay the amount,notice is hereby issued to the borrower/guarantor/mortgagor and in the public in general that the undersignedhas taken possession of the property described herein below in exercise of powers conferred on him undersub-section (4) of section 13 of Act read with rule 8 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 onthe dates mentioned against the accounts. The borrower/guarantor/mortgagor in particular and the public ingeneral are hereby cautioned not to deal with the property and any dealing with the property will be subjectto the charge of IDBI Bank Ltd., Bagaha-2, Bihar, for the amounts mentioned below plus applicable interestand costs/charge thereon.The borrower’s attention is invited to provisions of sub-section(8) of section 13 ofthe Act, in respect of time available, to redeem the secured assets.

Place : BagahaDate : 22.12.2021

Sd/- Authorized OfficerIDBI Bank Ltd.

Sl.No.

A) Name of theborrower

B) Name of themortgagor/guarantor

1) Date of DemandNotice

2) Date of Possession3) Claim amount asper Demand Notice

Description of the Property

1. A) M/s Krishak AgroAgencyPartner: 1. JawedAli Akhtar & 2. FaridaBanoB) Farida Bano(Partner &Mortgagor)

1) 17.09.20212) 22.12.20213) `19,25,468.00(Rupees Nineteen lakhtwenty five thousandfour hundred sixtyeight only) and interestthereon.

All that part and parcel of the property admeasuring 5.11Dec, Thana No.248, Tauji No.-951, Khata No.24, KhesraNo.39/3, Bagaha, W. Champaran. Bounded: On the Northby: Soling Road, On the South by: Indrashan Sah &Rajendra Sah, On the East by: Nij Purchaser & SunainaDevi, On the West by: Nij Purchaser & Indrashan Sah.Together with all buildings and structures thereonand all plant and machinery attached to the earth orpermanently fastened to anything attached to the earth.

IDBI Bank Ltd., Bhargavi Complex, Near BusStand, Dumwalla Rly Station Road, Bagaha-2,

Paschim Chamapran-845105, BiharCIN: L65190MH2004GOI148838

Appendix IV [(Rule 8(1)]POSSESSION NOTICE(For Immovable property)

16 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

New Delhi

17SENSEX: 57,420.24 ▲ 295.93 (0.52%) NIFTY: 17,086.25 ▲ 82.50 (0.49%) NIKKEI: 28,676.46 ▼ 106.13 HANG SENG: 23,223.76 ▲ 30.12 FTSE: 7,372.10 ▼ 1.24 DAX: 15,777.05 ▲ 20.74

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

GOLD`47,175

RUPEE`75.00

OIL$74.60

SILVER`60,710

Note:Gold,silverratesatDelhispotmarket,goldper10g,silverper1kg;Crudeoil (Indianbasket)asofDecember24

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,DECEMBER27

THERESERVEBankof India(RBI)onMondaysaidRBLBankiswellcapitalised and the privatelender’s financial positionof thebank“remainssatisfactory”.Thecentralbankclarifiedthat

the appointment of AdditionalDirectorinprivatebanksisunder-takenunder Section36ABof theBankingRegulationAct, 1949 asandwhen it is felt that theboardneeds closer support in regula-tory/supervisorymatters.“As such, there is noneed for

depositors andother stakehold-ers to react to the speculative re-ports.Thebank’s financialhealthremainsstable,”theRBIsaid.OnMonday,RBLBankshares

fell18.32percenttoRs140.90onthe BSE, following the recentchangesinthemanagement.

According to the RBI, as perhalf-yearly audited results as onSeptember30,2021,thebankhasmaintainedacomfortablecapitaladequacy ratio of 16.33per centand provision coverage ratio of76.6per cent. “The liquidity cov-

erageratio(LCR)ofthebankis153percentasonDecember24,2021asagainstregulatoryrequirementof100percent,” itsaid.RBLBank’snewinterimman-

aging director and CEO RajeevAhujaonSundayclaimedthatthe

bank and itsmanagement havethe full support of the ReserveBank after the central bank ap-pointeditsnomineeontheboardand long-term MD and CEOVishwavir Ahuja proceeded onleavesixmonthsaheadoftheendofhistenure.The exit of Vishwavir Ahuja

cameafter theRBI on Friday ap-pointed Yogesh K Dayal, ChiefGeneral Manager, RBI, as anAdditionalDirector on theboardof RBL Bank for a period of twoyearstillDecember23,2023ortillfurther orders,whichever is ear-lier. Theboard appointedRajeevAhuja, currently the ExecutiveDirector, as interimMDandCEOofthebankwithimmediateeffect.The RBI clarification on

Monday follows“speculation re-lating to theRBLBank in certainquarterswhichappearstobearis-ingfromrecenteventssurround-ingthebank”.

INSURANCEAMIDRECENTCHANGES INLENDER’SMANAGEMENT

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,DECEMBER27

TATASONSChairmanNatarajanChandrasekaran has said thegroup’s strategy aheadwill bebased on four themes—digital,new energy, supply chain re-silienceandhealth.“Our companies are already

adaptingtothesechanges,andwearewitnessingstrongerperform-ance,” Chandrasekaran said in alettertotheemployees.“Ournew

pilotsandbusinesses, from5GtoTataNeuandTataElectronics,are

poisedtobenefit fromthese fourthemesgoingforward,”hesaid.“Butallambitionsarecontin-

gent on amore immediate con-cern: learningto livewithcoron-avirus,” he said. “Businesses andsocietymustadapttoitbyprepar-ing as bestwe can for newout-breaks andvariants.Weare see-ing this nowwith the spread ofOmicron.”“Iamoptimisticaboutwhatwecandonext intheyearsahead. Recent success has givenourgroupagreatplatformtobuildon. I amexcited by the heights I

knowwecanreach,notjustfinan-cially,butalso intermsof thedif-ferencewecanmaketocommu-nities,” he said. “Wecan set newstandardsintechnology,sustain-ability, and skills development,”hesaid.“Thankstoour3Sstrategy,wearebecoming simpler and fi-nancially stronger thanwehavebeeninalongtime.Wehavealsomade goodprogress addressingourcarbonfootprintandposition-ingourcompaniestobenefitfromrevolutionarynewtechnologies,”Chandrasekaransaid.

REUTERSCHENNAI,DECEMBER27

THEFOXCONN iPhone factory atthecentreofamassfood-poison-ing incidentwill extendaweek-long closure by an extra threedays, a seniorTamilNaduofficialtoldReuters.The factory, which employs

some17,000people,hadbeendueto resume some operations on

Mondaybut is nowexpected torestart production with 1,000workersonThursday, theofficialsaid,addingthatthestategovern-menthadconductedinspectionsofworkers’hostels.Lastweek,protestseruptedaf-

termore than 250womenwhoworkat theplant and live inoneofthehostelshadtobetreatedforfoodpoisoning.Someof thepro-testorswere roundedupby thepolicebutlaterreleased.

The incident has thrown aspotlight on living conditions forthe workers — most of themwomen—who reside inhostelsnear the factorywhich is locatedinChennai.TheTaiwanesecontractman-

ufacturer forApple Incandotherbigtechnamesaswellas11of itscontractors including thosewhoprovide food and living facilitieswere summoned for ameeting,saidtheofficial.

NewDelhi:GooglehasfiledawritinKarnatakaHighCourt seekingmoretimetoreplytoCCI’squeriespertaining to a probe into PlayStorerules.GooglesaiditrespectstheCompetitionCommissionofIndia’s(CCI)investigativeprocessand “will continue to engage co-operativelyandconstructively intheinterestofafairinvestigation”.“We have filed a writ in

KarnatakaHighCourt regardingthe interim relief application intheGooglePlayprobebytheCCI,seeking tomove forward in linewith established due processprinciples,”GooglespokespersonsaidinanemailonMonday.A source aware of the com-

pany’spositiononthemattersaidthat Google has extended thetimelinefordevelopersinIndiatointegratewith Play’s billing sys-tem to October 31, 2022. Thesource also saidGoogle believesthisvoluntaryextensionofdead-lineextinguishestheneedforthe‘interim injunctive relief’ sought

byADIF (Allianceof Digital IndiaFoundation). Hence, the insis-tenceonextremelytighttimelinesisconcerningasthereisnocauseforunduehaste,thesourceadded.Google has alsomade some

other‘procedural’requeststotheCCIwith regard to identityof thecomplainants (whichwill help itrespondadequately to the com-plaint)aswellastheinclusionofajudicial member in the probepanel. In the absence of any ur-gency, Google believes the CCIshouldobservedueprocessintheinterestofafairandthoroughin-vestigation,thesourcesaid. PTI

■Googlemadesome‘procedural’ requeststoCCIregardingidentityof thecomplainants

‘PROCEDURAL’REQUESTSMADE

GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,DECEMBER27

INSURANCECOMPANIES settled29.72 per cent of the amountclaimedbypeopleandentitiesaf-fected by cyclones and floods in2020-21, even as the number ofclaimsdeclinedduringtheyear.While insurers got 34,304

claims for Rs 2,559 crore in cy-clonesandfloodsin2020-21,theysettled27,576claimsforRs760.68crore.Asmanyas3,428claimsforRs1,705crorearestillpendingbe-fore insurers, according to theAnnual Report of the InsuranceRegulatory and DevelopmentAuthorityof India(Irdai).In theprevious year, insurers

received 1,40,804 claims for Rs3,399.61croreduetocyclonesandfloodswithcycloneFanireportingmaximumclaims of Rs 1,190.59crore. In2020-21, themaximumnumberof claimsat14,575werefromdamagescausedbycycloneAmphan. Insurers settled 11,512claims forRs470.94 crore,while1,693claimsforRs1,235.77croreareyettobecleared.AftertheTelanganafloodslast

year, 7,041 claims for Rs 329.83crorewere reportedbut insurerssettled only 5,510 claims for Rs151.30crore, Irdaisaid.Further,insurancecompanies

settled only 2.84 per cent of theamount claimeddue to cyclonesTauktaeandYaasinthequartertoJune 2021. As on June 30, 2021,claimamountingtoRs1,351crorewerereportedby18,194claimantsduetocyclonesTauktaeandYaasand of this, claims totalling Rs38.40croreweresettled to6,671claimants. “Disposal of pendingclaims at various stages is beingmonitoredby theAuthority reg-ularly,”theregulatorsaid.In2021,cyclonesTauktaeand

Yaascaused losses toproperty insome parts of the country. Theyear 2020 sawtheoccurrenceofseveral natural catastrophiceventsinvariousparts.While inMay 2020, cyclone

Amphan created havoc WestBengal and Odisha, cycloneNisarga had a similar impact inMaharashtra, Gujarat andotherneighbouringstatesinJune2020.Therewerefloods inthestatesofTelangana, Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka andMaharashtra in

October2020.InNovember2020,cycloneNivarcausedlosstoprop-ertyinsomepartsof thecountry.“The Authority issues guid-

ancetotheindustryduringcatas-trophes, keeping the interests ofpolicyholders affected, in view,”Irdaisaid.Accordingtotheinsur-ancewatchdog, in respect of themajority of the cases, claims areoutstandingduetoreinstatementof property not having takenplace. It further said, “There arealso some instances of the re-quired documents not havingbeen submitted by the insuredduetolockdown.However,onac-countpaymentshavebeenmadeinseveral instances.”During 2021-22 too, Irdai is-

sued guidance to insurers to at-tend to the claims arising out oftheaboveeventspromptly,itsaid.

FY21 cyclone, floodclaims: Less than athird settled, mostcaused by AmphanAdditionaldirector

appointmentspooksmarkets

THESTOCKofRBLBankcrashingonMondayhighlightstheperceivedrisksinthelender.Whilethebank’snewheadRajeevAhujaonSundayclaimedthatthebankanditsmanagementhavethefullsupportof theRBI,bankunionsexpressedconcerns.TheRBIhasappointedanadditionaldirectoronthebank’sboardusingpowersunderSection36ABoftheBankingRegulationAct,1949.Thisisperceivedasnegativebythemarketsandstakeholders.

RBI:HealthofRBLBank ‘stable’;sharesstill fall 18%onrejig fear

Investment via P-notes dropto `94,826 crore in NovInvestments in capital market through participatorynotes (P-notes) fell to `94,826 crore till November-end,according to Sebi data

`1,02,553crorewas the valueof P-note investments indomesticmarkets—equity,debt and hybrid securities –byOctober-end,a43-month high

VolatileP-note flows havebeen seen over the last fourmonths in linewith the

volatility of the global andIndianmarkets

Highest level of P-noteinvestment in domesticmarketswas reported duringMarch2018, to the tune of`1,06,403crore

OF THE TOTAL INVESTMENT IN NOVEMBER:

`84,915crorein equities

`9,605crorein debt

`306crorein hybrid securities

Source: Sebi/PTI

CCIPROBE INTOPLAYSTORERULES

Google moves HC,seeks time to respond

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI,DECEMBER27

NON-POWERSECTORconsumersof coal are likely to face lowsup-plyofthedryfuelthroughJanuaryastheCentreissettocontinuepri-oritisingsupplytothepowersec-tor.Non-powersectorconsumersof coal such as aluminium, steeland cement producers haveraised the issue of lowcoal sup-pliesfromCoalIndiaLtd(CIL)asaresultoftheCentralgovernment’smovetoprioritisesupplyforther-malpowerplantssinceJuly.Aluminium,steelandcement

producersthatusedomesticcoaltopowertheirplantshavevoicedconcernsthatlowsuppliestothesectorare raising input costs andthatinthecaseofaluminiumpro-ducers,alossofpowerforadura-tionassmallas twohourswouldleadtoprolongedshutdowns.Manyplantsarenowpurchas-

ingmore expensivepower fromthegridandusingablendofmore

expensive imported coal to keeptheirplantsrunning,accordingtoindustrysources.”Wehaveissuedrevised coal stockingnorms (forthermalpowerplants).Weneedtohave58milliontonnes(ofcoalstock) by the end of March.

Gradually,thingswillimproveandbytheendofJanuaryitshouldim-prove (for non-coal consumersalso),” said a governmentofficialwhodidnotwishtobequoted.The180thermalpowerplants

monitored on a daily basis cur-rentlyhaveatotalof 23.3milliontonnes (MT)of coal stockagainstnormativerequirementsofabout59.1MTofcoal.Theofficialquotedabove said that trends indicatedthat thermal power plantsmaynotbeabletoaccumulatenorma-tivestocklevelsbyMarch2022.Low coal stocks at thermal

power plants had forcedmanystates includingUttar Pradesh,Rajasthan andPunjab to imposeloadsheddinginOctober,asstatesrushed topowerexchangespay-ingthree-fourtimesnormalratesforpowerduetoinadequatesup-ply. TheCentrehas since revisedstocking norms upwards to re-quire thermalplants tomaintainhigher stocks betweenFebruaryandJunepriortothemonsoonpe-riodwhencoalstockstendtofall.

Non-powersectorconsumers,whohadwitnessedaslightrecov-ery in coal supply from CIL inNovember, have raised the issuethat supplies to themhavebeencurtailedagaininDecember.The Railway Board had in-

structedthatcoalsuppliestother-malpowerplants(TPPs)bepriori-tised through December in anoticetoallzonalrailways.“Inor-der tomeet the coal demand sothatstockisbuiltupinTPPs,ithasbeendecidedtoaccordhigherpri-ority in loadingof coal for PowerHousesi.e.plantsofCentral/StatePowerutilitiesandIPPs)fromGo-odsshedsforanotherperiodstart-ingfrom04.12.2021to31.12.2021,”saidtheRailwayBoardnotice.Expertsnotedthatnon-power

coalconsumersneedabout45-50rakesof coalperdayandthatthesupplyhadfallentoonly27rakesperday inOctober. Supply to thenon-power sector increased to33-34rakesperdayinNovember,buthassincefallenagain,accord-ingtoindustrysources.

NCHANDRASEKARANChairman, Tata Sons File

All ambitions contingent on learning tolive with coronavirus: Tata Sons chairman

Mumbai:WithCovidleadingto more health insuranceclaims, stand-alone healthinsurersposteda rise inun-derwritinglossesin2020-21atRs2,374croreascomparedto underwriting loss of Rs651 crore in 2019-20, Irdaisaid. Private sector insurersreported an increase in un-derwritinglossesatRs4,053crore in FY21as against un-derwriting loss of Rs 3,647crore in FY20. The under-writing lossesof specialisedinsurersdecreasedtoRs115crorein2020-21fromRs680crorein2019-20. ENS

Underwritinglosses of healthinsurers rise

DamagescausedbyAmphaninHowrah.14,575claimswerearesultofAmphan. File

‘Foxconn extends plant closure,workers’ hostels inspected’ REUTERS

NEWYORK,DECEMBER27

OILPRICESrosearound3percentonMondayduetohopesthattheOmicroncoronavirusvariantwillhave a limited impact on globaldemandin2022,evenassurgingcasescausedflightcancellations.Brent crude rose$2.55, or3.4

percent,to$78.69abarrelby1727GMT.USWestTexasIntermediate(WTI)cruderose$1.85,or2.5percent, to $75.64. The USmarketwasclosedFridayforaholiday.

Oil,whichfellover10percentonNovember26whenreportsofa new variant first appeared,gained lastweekafter early datasuggested that Omicron couldcauseamilderlevelof illness.Britain’sgovernmentwillnot

introducenewCovid-19 restric-tions for Englandbefore the endof 2021, its healthminister, SajidJavid,saidonMonday.Morethan1,300flightswerecancelledbyUSairlinesonSundayasCovid-19re-duced the number of availablecrewswhile several cruise shipshadtocancelstops.

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,DECEMBER27

THEPANDEMIC-LEDboomindemand for gigworkers hashad two significant implica-tionsonthecontractuallabourecosystem— first, it has cre-atednewbusinessmodels tocater to the growing require-mentforon-demandstaffing,and consequently it hasonceagainputthespotlightonthelabour codes that recognisegigworkersandprovide forauniversal minimum wage,whichareyettobeenforced.The surge in demand for

gigworkers,particularlyintheshared services and logisticssegments, intheaftermathofthepandemicledtomushroo-mingof jobdiscoveryplatfo-rmsspecifically targetingthisarea.Bengaluru-basedstartupGigforcelaunchedlastyearasa B2B company offering on-demand staffing services tocompaniesinthelogisticsseg-ment. The startup providesthese services to companiesincludingDelhivery, Grofers,Grab, Flipkart, EcomExpress,Park+, and Shadowfax. Thestartup,operatinginover100cities,isplanningtoexpandtotheprofessional services seg-ment to offer on-demandstaffing solutions to compa-niesneedingskilledlabourersintheappliancerepairspace.InAugust2020,Googlean-

nouncedtheIndialaunchofitsKormoJobsapptoconnectjobseekerswithopportunitiesinindustries like on-demandbusinesses,retailandhospital-ity. Theplatformwas initiallypiloted in Bangladesh, thenexpandedtoIndonesiawherejob-seekers reported that“findingentry-levelandpart-timejobsisconfusinganddif-ficult, especially when youdon’thavemuchinthewayofworkexperience,professionalcontactsorresources”.Accordingtoindustryesti-

mates, India’s gigworkforcecomprises15millionworkersemployed across industriessuchassoftware,sharedserv-icesandprofessionalservices.This number is expected togrow toaround24million inthenear-mediumtermandto90millioninthelongterm,asperareportearlierthisyearbytheBostonConsultingGroup.SpeakingtoTheIndianExp-

ress, Gigforce co-founder andCEOChiragMittal said, “Wesawa lotof peoplecoming togigbecausetheylosttheirjobsor businesses because ofCovid-19. In our research,wefound thereweremanypeo-plewhoweren’t just having

jobsbutalso thosewhowererunning small businesses—somebody had a shop, etc.These businesses got disrup-ted because of Covid-19 andthesepeoplewerelookingforanincomesourcetosustain”.“A lot of people turned to

gigworkasaresult.Theysawitasashort-termapproach—that they’llwork in this for ayear or two andwhen nor-malcyreturns,theycangoandstart somebusiness,” he said,addingthatoneoftheprimaryreasons even thosewith full-timeemploymentwerelook-ingatgigworkforincomewasthecontroltheyhadovertheirjobs.However,asthenumberofgigworkershasgrownovertheyears,especiallywithcon-sumerinternetcompanieslikeZomato, Swiggy, Uber, Ola,UrbanCompany,etc,thewor-kers have increasingly com-plainedoffallintheirincomes.Lastmonth,around10,000

food delivery workers inHyderabad threatened tostrike,whileinGurgaon,beau-ticians and salonworkers af-filiatedwithUrbanCompanyhavebeenprotestingoutsidethe company’s office againstproposed policy changes intheapp,claimingitwouldim-pacttheirearnings.Thishasbroughtspotlight

totheyet-to-be-enforcedlab-ourcodesclearedbyParliame-ntin2019and2020.TheCodeonWages, 2019, provides foruniversalminimumwageandfloorwage across organisedandunorganised sectors, in-cludinggigworkers.TheCodeonSocialSecurity,2020,recog-nisesgigworkersasanewoc-cupationalcategory.Itdefinesgigworker as a personwhoperformsworkorparticipatesin work arrangement andearnsfromsuchactivities,out-side of the traditional em-ployer-employeerelationship.Mittalsaid, “It isactuallya

first step ingettingbetter rig-htsforgigworkers.Whenthenewlabourcodeisrolledout,itwillbeagoodfirststepinac-knowledginggigworkersandplatformworkersandtowardsenactingrulesforthem.”

SECTORWATCHCONTRACTUALLABOUR

ADelhiveryemployee inNewDelhi. File

High demand, workcontrol pulled ingig workers; nowfocus turns to rights

As Centre prioritises thermal plant stocks,non-power sectors’ coal supply to stay low

AcoalblockinWestBengal.Coalstockingnormshavebeenrevisedforthermalplantstomaintainhigherstockspriortomonsoons. File

Oil up 3% as Omicron fears ease

TravelersatDenverInternationalAirport.Despiteflightcancellations,impactofOmicrononoildemandisexpectedtobelimited. Reuters

BRIEFLYGoDaddystakeBengaluru:Activist investorStarboardValueLPhasbou-ghta6.5%stakeinwebserv-ices firmGoDaddy Inc forabout$800million,asperaUSSECfiling. REUTERS

UnionBankMDNewDelhi:TheBanksBoardBureauhas invitedapplica-tionsforpostofMDandCEOofUnionBankof India for athree-yearterm.

AxisBankDyMDNewDelhi: TheRBI has ap-proved re-designation ofRajiv Anand as deputyMDofAxisBank,thelendersaid.

GodfreyPhillipsNewDelhi:CigarettemakerGodfreyPhillipsannouncedappointment of SharadAggarwalasCEO.

CairnOilCOONewDelhi:CairnOil &GasnamedMartynSmith chiefoperatingofficer(COO). PTI

`/$ (Inverted scale)

74.80

75.20

75.60

76.00

76.40

74.99 75

Dec2, Dec27,2021 2021

At 75, rupeehits nearly4-week high

NewDelhi:Fortheeighthconsec-utive session, the rupeeappreci-ated by 3 paise on Monday toreachanearfour-weekhighof75against theUSdollar,onthebackof a firm trend indomestic equi-tiesandrisingappetite forriskierassets. However, a strongAmericandollaroverseasandfirmcrude oil prices limited the do-mesticunit’srise.Meanwhile, the Sensex rose

nearly296points,or0.52percent,toreach57,420.24followinggainsinIT,financialsandpharmastocksamid a largely positive trend inglobalmarkets. TheNifty gained82.50 points or 0.49 per cent tocloseat17,086.25.WITHPTI

New Delhi

CALENDAR18 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

CROSSWORD4623

ACROSS1 Imitateone inoperahittinganote (5)

8 He isengaged inoutdoorpursuits (8)

9 Asci-fiwriter’s resources(5)

10Back-slappingsailors?(8)

11Aircraft tool (5)12Anactof duplicity? (3)16There’sachange in theOldTestament (6)

17Weslidaroundbefore findingcontrols (6)

18Foreigncurrencyneeded inmanyenterprises (3)

23Nellie isbackbut I’mwantinganother (5)

24Rashbutnotsodestructive it’ssaid (8)

25Tinnedbeef like this ispoison(5)

26It’sBob’s turntobeobstinate(8)

27Partswithsomebreadwehear(5)

DOWN2 TheUtopianhashisowncollectionofnotions (8)

3 Ahot linearrangedfor theopera (8)

4 Foreignoffice(6)

5 Taleof one’spastoryouth(5)

6 There’s scope foradoctorwithsexappeal (5)

7 Aromaticplant fromSiena(5)

12Barrenplain (3)13Havewonredress(3)

14Boringtask for theaffluent(4-2-2)

15Asmalldeposit secures(8)

19Possibly runandseetomakecertain (6)

20Acrowdof journalists(5)

21Watch forahelpful lad(5)

22Golfingsuit? (5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Whenfriends fallout,you'realwaystheonewhoseemstogetupset.Your

planetary influencesarebecomingkinderandsomethingwillhappentorestoreyour faith inhumannature.You'llbeexperiencingsocial changessoon,andyoumaybesurprisedtobeprovedwrongonamajormatter.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Itmaybesomeweeksbeforeyouareable tomaketotalsenseof apartner's

behaviour. In themeantime,youarequite justified inpushingaheadwithyourownplans.But, andthis isaverybigbut indeed,neverpromoteyourpersonal interestsat someoneelse'sexpense.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Somuchofwhathasbeengoingonhasbeenhiddenfromview,so it'shardly

surprising thatyou'renot fullyincommandof thesituation.Butbeprepared fora friendtoblurtout the truth.And,whentheydo,besure tohaveyourstoryready.Andkeepsmiling.

CANCER(June22- July23)Quiet contemplationandsolitudeareadvisable if at allpossible, all the

moresobecauseyouneed timetoput recentevents intoperspective. Trynot to takeontoomanynewcommitments,otherwiseyou'll soon find thatsomethinghas togive.

LEO(July24-Aug23)If possible,putprofessionalcrisesonholdandtakeadvantageof

opportunities to improveyourdomestic situationandfamilyrelationships.Excellentprospectswill comeyourway ifamoveofhomeordomesticimprovementsareplanned.Trynot tobeoverwhelmedbytoomuchinformation, though.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Youwerebornunderasensitivesign,andyou'llbemightilyrelievedtohear that

theplanetsareabout toceasehasslingyouandyour friends.Expectyourresponsibilitiesatworktomultiplydaily, andavoidover-committingyourselfuntilyou'reclearaboutalltheoptions.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)TheMoon'shelpfulinfluencewill assistyou inyourefforts toget a relationship

backon the rails. Youmust takethe initiative. If you're stillfeeling stressedat theweekend, it couldbebecauseyouarenotallowingyourself toletup.Relaxwheneveryoucan.

SCORPIO(Oct24 -Nov23)There's still a greatdealonyourplateandrecent familychangesare settling

down.Don'tbe toounkind if apartner seems tohavecompletelymissed thepoint.After all, it'snot longago thatyouwerealsoguiltyof amisunderstanding.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov24-Dec22)There'sdefinitelysomethingbotheringyouat themoment, you're just

not surewhat it is. There's anairofmystery, andskeletonswhichhavebeen in thecupboard for too longarethreatening tocomeout.And,when theydo, youwill have toimprovise, and fast.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Routinechoresarepilingupandneedtobe tackledwithoutdelay. This

is aprocessyoumustbeawareof if youare tomake themostof yourmany talents andavoidbeingdistractedby trivia.Professional challengesarelooming,butyou'll soonbeabletobreak freewithonebound.

AQUARIUS (Jan21-Feb19)Listen topeoplewhoare inaposition tohelpyou, especiallytoadviseyouon

certaindecisionswhichwillhave tobe takenquite soon. Infact, it's clear that a familymemberhasbeenpartlyresponsible foryourpresent,peculiarpredicament.Maybetheycanshowyouthewayout.

PISCES (Feb20-Mar20)After recentdifficultiesanddelaysyoumaynothaveyetwokenup

to the fact thatyou're closer toachievingamajorambitionthanseemed likelya shortwhileago.Newswhichyouhavebeen longing forwillarrivebefore long, sopleasehangon in there.

SUDOKU4698

DifficultyLevel5sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4697

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Therewasneveragood__,orabad___.-BenjaminFranklin(3,.,5)

SOLUTION:VERGE,MAGMA/GAMMA,RECOUP,WIMPLEAnswer:Therewasneveragoodwar,orabadpeace.-BenjaminFranklin

GRVEE CROUPE

GMMAA EILMPW

SolutionsCrossword4622:Across:1 Gostraight,6Sham,10Bored,11Aspersion,12Innotime,13Exile,15Profuse,17Siamese,19Session,21Alluded,22Rogue,24Motorist,27Parasites,28Aisle,29Enow,30Agreements.Down: 1Goby,2Strenuous,3Radio,4Imagine,5Hyphens,7Haiti,8Monteverdi,9Freefall,14Apostrophe,16Universe,18Eldestson,20Nametag,21Artiste,23Garbo,25Realm,26Beds.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

SHORT PRESS NIT No. 16/WB-I/2021-22

PRESS NIT No. 17/WB-I/2021-22

Further details in this regard can be seen at https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in

ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER)Advt. No. J.S.V. 899(2021-22)

Sd/-EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (WB)-I

SI.No

Name of Work EsitmatedContract

Value (ECV)/Amount put

to tender

EarnestMoney(EMD)

Tender Fee Date of Release oftender in

E-procurementSolution & Tender ID

No.

Last Date/ Time of receiptof tender

E-procurement Solution

01 Construction of 15 MGD effluent pumping sta-tion at Pappankalan STP Phase-II underEE(WB)-I (Civil Work) (Reinvited)

Rs.54,79,156/-

Exempted R 1000/- 25.12.20212021_DJB_213533_1

05.1.2022 At 03:00 PM

SI.No

Name of Work EsitmatedContract

Value (ECV)/Amount put

to tender

EarnestMoney(EMD)

Tender Fee Date of Release oftender in

E-procurement Solution& Tender ID No.

Last Date/ Time ofreceipt of tender

E-procurement Solution

01 Appointment of consultant for the consultancywork in installation of RO plants and Alliedworks at different locations in Delhi.

Item Rate Exempted R 1500/- 25.12.20212021_DJB_213541_1

14.1.2022 At 03:00 PM

“STOP CORONA, WEAR FACE MASK, FOLLOW PHYSICAL DISTANCING, MAINTAIN HAND HYGIENE”

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (WB)-IDELHI JAL BOARD: GOVT. OF N.C.T. OF DELHI

ROOM NO. 31, B-BUILDING, JHANDEWALAN, NEW DELHI-110005.Phone: 09558007601 Email Id: djbwaterbody@gmail.com

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in6499/HRY

NAME OFBOARD/

CORP./AUTH

HAFEDPANCHKULA

NAME OF WORK NOTICE TENDER

HAFED INVITED SHORT TERM E-TEN-DER FOR PURCHASE OF KACHCHIGHANI MUSTARD OIL (LOOSE) APPROX.400 MT/ MUSTARD SEED APPROX. 2000MT FOR HAFED OIL MILL, REWARI ANDNARNAUL. THE DETAILS ARE AVAIL-ABLE ON HTTPS://ETENDERS.HRY.NIC.INAND WWW.HAFED.GOV.IN

OPENING DATECLOSING DATE

(TIME)

CLOSINGDATE

03.01.2022

AMOUNT/EMD(APPROX.) IN

RUPEES

Rs. 1000/- perMT for KachchiGhani MustardOil & Rs. 500/-

Per MT forMustard Seed

WEBSITE OFTHE BOARDCORP./AUTH

www.hafed.gov.in

NODALOFFICER/CONTACT

DETAILS/EMAIL

01722585912hafed@hry.nic.in

SR.NO.

1.

Sr.No.

1.

NAME OFDEPARTMENT

IRRIGATION &WATER

RESOURCESDEPARTMENT

HARYANABHIWANI

OLDREFERENCE/

NIT NO.

6004-19/34MT

13.12.2021

WEBSITEOF THE

DEPARTMENT

hid.gov.in

NODAL OFFI-CER/ CONTACTDETAILS/EMAIL

98123-64411xenmech-

bhiwani@gmail.com

NATURE OF CORRIGENDUM

TENDERS WERE INVITED VIDE THIS OFFICE LETTER NO. 6004-19/34MT DT. 13.12.2021AND TO BE OPENED ON DT. 04.01.2022 AT 02:00 PM. THE WORK “SUPPLY, ERECTIONAND COMMISSIONING OF VARIOUS ELECTROMECHANICAL EQUIPMENTS LIKE VTPUMPS, ELECTRIC MOTORS, LTDB PANEL AND OTHER ALLIED MATERIAL AT PUMPHOUSE NO. 3 SIWANI CANAL” AT SR. NO. 3 IN ABOVE MENTIONED NIT HAVING TEN-DER ID NO. 2021_HRY_200175_3. IT IS FURTHER INTIMATED THAT AMOUNT OF EMDMAY BE CONSIDERED 335400 INSTEAD OF 354400 MENTIONED INADVERTENTLY IN

NIT. THE OTHER TERMS & CONDITIONS OF TENDER WILL BE REMAINED SAME.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in6508/HRY

³f¦fS d³f¦f¸f, ¶fSm»fe õfSf ³f¦fS d³f¦f¸f IZ ´fc½fÊ ´fÂffaI 187/ E³f.AfBÊ.Me./ ´f¹ffÊ.Ad·f./ 2020-21 dQ³ffaI 25 ³f½f¸¶fS, 2021 IZ õfSfÀf±fSf´fbS dÀ±f°f EÀf.O¶»fc.E¸f. ´»ffaM À±f»f ´fS ´fiÀfaÀI S¯f Àfa¹faÂf À±ff´f³f E½fa ´»ffaM IZ Àfa¨ff»f³f (BÀf Àfa¶fa²f ¸fZÔ Procurement,Construction, Operation & Maintenance of SWM Plant (500 TPD) at Sathrapur) I f¹fÊ WZ°fb BÊ-d³fd½fQfAf¸fadÂf°f I e ¦fBÊ ±feÜ C¢°f IZ Ii ¸f ¸fZÔ ´fb³f: BÊ-d³fd½fQf WZ°fb ³f¦fS Af¹fb¢°f ¸fWûQ¹f õfSf dQ³ffaI 27 dQÀf¸¶fS, 2021 BÊ-d³fd½fQf CØfS´fiQZVf I e BÊ-´fi¢¹fûS¸fZ³M I e ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM http://etender.up.nic.in ´fS QZJf ªff ÀfI °ff W`Ü VffÀf³ffQZVf Àfa.-4848/³fü-5-2018-470 Àff/2018 ³f¦fS d½fI fÀf A³fb·ff¦f-5 »fJ³fD dQ³ffaI 10 dQÀf¸¶fS, 2018 IZ Ii ¸f ¸fZÔ d³fd½fQf Vfb»I +GST Afg³f»ffBʳfAfS.Me.ªfe.EÀf. IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ E-TENDER BNN/NAGAR NIGAM BAREILLY IZ ³ff¸f ÀfZ ³f¦fS d³f¦f¸f I û¿f ¸fZÔ³f¦fS d³f¦f¸f ¶fSm»fe IZ Jf°ff Àfa.-3647000100980707 °f±ff AfBÊ.ER .EÀf.Àfe. I ûO-PUNB0364700 ´faªff¶f ³fZVf³f»f ¶f`ÔI ¸fZÔªf¸ff dI ¹ff ªff³ff Ad³f½ff¹fÊ Wû¦ffÜ dªfÀfI e ÀI` ³f I f´fe MZ¯OS A´f»fûO I S³fe Wû¦feÜ ªf¸ff³f°f SfdVf ¶fe.ªfe./ ER .Oe.AfS. IZ ¸ff²¹f¸fÀfZ ³f¦fS Af¹fb¢°f, ³f¦fS d³f¦f¸f ¶fSm»fe IZ ³ff¸f ¶f³²fI Wû¦feÜ dªfÀfI e ÀI` ³f I fg´fe MZ¯OS A´f»fûO I S°fZ Àf¸f¹f A´f»fûO I S³fe Wû¦fe,A³¹f Vf°fZË E½fa d½f½fS¯f d³f¸³f½f°fÐ C¢°f ½fZ¶fÀffBM ´fS QZJe ªff ÀfI °fe W`Ü BÊ-d³fd½fQfEa d³f¸³ff³fbÀffS Af¸fadÂf°f I e ªff°fe W`ÔÜ

dI Àfe ´fdS½f°fʳf, ÀfaVfû²f³f ½f Ad°fdS¢°f Àfc¨f³ffAûÔ IZ d»f¹fZ C¢°f ½fZ¶fÀffBM ´fS QZJe ªff ÀfI °fe W`ÜWXÀ°ff./-

´f¹ffʽfSX¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff³f¦fSX d³f¦f¸f, ¶fSmX»fe

IYf¹ffÊ»f¹f ´f¹ffʽfSX¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff, ³f¦fSX d³f¦f¸f, ¶fSmX»feÜ´fb³f: BÊ-d³fd½fQf Af¸f³Âf¯f Àfc¨f³ff

´fÂffaIY 221 ´f¹ffÊ.Ad·f./2021-22 dQ³ffaIY: 27 dQÀf¸¶fSX 2021

Sr. No. Critical dates and time

1 upload/publishing of the NIT Document date & time 28 Dec. 2021 (15:00 hrs)

2 BID starting date & time 30 Dec. 2021 (12:00 hrs)

3 Pre BID meeting & Technical Presentation 06 Jan. 2022 (12:00 hrs)

4 Bid Closing date & time 11 Jan. 2022 (15:00 hrs)

5 Technical Bid Opening date & time 12 Jan. 2022 (12:00 hrs)

6 Financial BID opening date & time after Technical Evaluation

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

19COVIDCLOUDOVER SPORTSWORLD■ Almost all NBA teams are dealing with at least one known case ofvirus-related issues now .■ Tennis player Andrey Rublev became the 5th player to test positive afterplaying at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi .■ In the past seven days, a record 103 EPL players and staff tested positive.

‘BIGBURDENONUS’1.ASHUTOSHGUPTA(26,DELHI)SWIMMINGCOACHCircumstancesof death:After testingposi-tive for Covid-19 during the secondwave,Gupta passed awaywhilewaiting to get ad-missionintoaNewDelhihospital.Survivedby:Parents,wife,brother,sister■Gupta,aswimmingcoachatagovernment-run facility in Central Delhi, was themainearner in the family.His father, 57,worksasasecurityguardataprivate firmwhilebrotherjuggleshistimebetweenhisstudiesandpart-timejob.Aidreceived:Rs50,000fromDelhigovt.What the familywants: "After hedied,wehavehadproblemspayingevenourhouserentin time. There is an immenseburdenonus,"saysAnkit,Ashutosh'sbrother.

■■■

‘DAYANDAHALFTOFINDBED’2.CSHANMUGAM(80,BENGALURU)NATIONALWATERPOLOPLAYERCircumstancesof death:DevelopedhealthcomplicationsaftertestingpositiveforCovid-19.Survivedby:Wife,daughterandthreesons■Whilethefamily isn’t inneedofanyfinan-cialhelp,theyfeelthatthebronzemedal-win-ning 1982 Asian Games water polo teamshouldhavereceivedbettertreatment.Aidreceived:NoneWhatthefamilywants:"Wespentone-and-a-halfdaystofindahospitalbedforhimsincetheyweregivingprioritytothoseagedbelow45 years. He served the country, hewas aPresidentAwardeeforhisservicesyetthegov-ernmentwasblindtoeverything.Hadthegov-ernmenthelpeduswhenhewas ill, perhapsmyfatherwouldhavebeenalive today,” sayssonMadhiAlagan.

■■■

‘CANTLETDATAGOWASTE’3.BABOOLALGOVERDHANJOSHI(67,SEHORE,MP)HOCKEYSTATISTICIANCircumstancesofdeath:Covid-19complica-tions.Survivedby:Wifeandtwosons.■ Boththesonsareemployedandthefamilyisfinanciallysecure.Aidreceived:None.What the familywants:The family sits onawealth of hockey data; the sons aren’t surehowtopreserve their father’s legacy. “He in-vestedhisentirelifeforthis,wecan’tletitgotowaste,”sayssonShravan.

■■■

‘NOSUPPORTFROMBCCI,DDCA’4.KRISHANKUMARTIWARI(52,DELHI)BCCISCORERCircumstancesofdeath:AfterfailingtofindabedinNewDelhiduringtheCovid-19secondwave, Tiwari wasmoved to AIIMS Jhajjar,wherehepassedaway.Survivedby:Wife,twodaughtersandason.■ Aknownname inDelhi’s circles for overthree decades, Tiwari has covered 4 Tests, 5ODIs,60Ranjigamesandover50IPLties. Hisdeathhasresultedinthefamilyfacingafinan-cialcrisis.DaughterShubhangi,anLLBgradu-ate,lostherlawfirmjobduringCovid.Nowsheispractisingindependently.Aidreceived:NoneWhatthefamilywants:“IwasworkingforaDelhi-based lawyer,butduetoCovidandthelimitedlitigationcases.MyfatherworkedhardallhislifeforourownhousethatgotcompletedinOctober sowehave shifted there.No sup-portfromBCCIorDDCAsofar,”saysdaughterShubhangi.

■■■

‘WILLKEEPHOSTINGTOURNEY’5.PRAMODSOOD(62,DELHI)DDCAMEMBER,TOURNAMENTORGANISER.Circumstancesofdeath:Passedawayfollow-ing a heart attackwhile undergoing Covidtreatmentatahospital inNewDelhi.Survivedby:Mother,wifeandtwosons.■ The family isn’t facinga financial crisis butthe sons’ aren’t sure if they can continueor-ganisingthetournamentthattheirfatherhadsupportedforthelastthreedecades.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants: "AslongasIamalive,the tradition startedbymy father of hostingthe cricket tournament thathas churnedoutover50first-classcricketerswillcontinue,"sayssonJatin.

■■■

‘CLEARLOANAMOUNTOF7LAKH’6.JAGDISHLAD(34,MUMBAI)INTERNATIONALBODYBUILDERCircumstancesofdeath:Covid-19complica-tions impacting bloodpressure and oxygenlevels.Survived by: Parents, wife, daughter andyoungerbrotherSantosh.■UnabletoaffordtheRs19,000rent,thefam-ilyhasmovedtotheparents’homeatKundal,Sangli.

Aidreceived:AlocalpoliticiangaveRs60,000andBodybuildingfederationalsosupported.Whatthefamilywants:Withthegymscloseddue to the pandemic, 34-year-old Lad hadswitchedtocoachinghisbodybuildingtraineesonline.Santosh,28,whoisalsoafitnesstrainer,isoutofwork."Abhitohmaingharpehihun.Bhaihadseveralstudents.Hehadall thecon-tacts, the clients." The family's pressingneedis to somehow clear the remaining loanamountofRs7lakhonthehouseinKundal.

■■■

‘HOPESONRESUMESEFFORTS’7.MSNAZAR(60,CHENNAI)BASKETBALLCOACHCircumstancesofdeath:Aftergettingadmit-ted to hospital, it took 5 days for a CT scan.Following pneumonia and organ failure, hepassedaway.Survivedby:Wife,daughterandson.■AreputedcoachNazarhelpedTNstateteamwinsilvermedal atnationals, hewasalso in-volved in thedistrict-level administrationofthe sport.While the family carefully savedmoney all their lives, Nazar's son is a CivilServicesaspirant.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants:ThefamilyhopesthatNazar’ssonclearsIAS."It'sbeenchallengingtomotivatehimtotryICSagainafterhisfather'sdemise.He'sabrightboy,butthishasbroughtthewholefamilyalotofgrief.Ijusthopehere-sumeshisefforts toclear theexams,”Nazar'sbrotherNissar,says.

■■■

‘RUDDERLESSWITHOUT HIM’8.DATTATRAYDUDAM(60,MUMBAI)MALLAKHAMBCHAMPION&COACHCircumstancesofdeath:AdmittedtotheICU,Dudamwasonaventilatorfor3days.Survivedby:Wifeand twodaughters.■ OneofDudam’sdaughtersworksasamal-lakhambcoach,theotherisagraphicdesigner.HeworkedforRailways,sothefamilywill re-ceivepension.He is credited to shape45-50smallgroundsacrossthecityformallakhambtraining.Though,heneverchargedafee.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants:"Asafamilywebarelymadeendsmeet.HeworshippedMallakhambandbelievednoonewhowishes to learn theskill shouldfinditdifficult to learnbecauseofa fee. He put together a robust system andequipmentforplayers infarsuburbsremainsanincompletedreamofhis.Wearequiterud-

derlesswithouthim,"saysdaughterDeepali.

■■■

‘NOMINATEDTWICE,NODRONA’9.BALACHANDRANNAIR,(71,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM)BADMINTONCOACHCircumstanceof death: Fivedays after test-ingpositive,hisconditiondeterioratedrapidlyandhepassedawaySurvivedby:Wifeandtwodaughters.■NairalsoworkedforthestatesportscouncilandwaslaterappointedasSAIcoach.Hemen-toredthelikesofVDijuandVimalKumar.Hewas especially effective coaching juniors onoverseas tours.Both thedaughtersarework-ing.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants:TwicenominatedforDronacharyaAward,hemissedoutonbothoc-casions. "He lived and slept badminton.Hedidn'thaveanytimeforanythingelsethrough-outhislife,"saysdaughterPrijaChandraV.Thefamilyfeelshiscontributiontothegamemustbeacknowledged.

■■■

‘NOPOSITIVEREPORT,NOBED’10.KAMLAKARZENDE(68,PUNE)NATIONAL-LEVELCYCLISTANDCOACHCircumstancesofdeath:Despitehisdippingoxygenlevel,Zendewasrefusedadmissiontotwohospitalsashedidn’thaveaCovidtestre-port.Hewouldgetahospitalbedlateatnight.Hepassedawaynextmorning.Survivedby:Wife,son,daughter.SonPrashantisatechnicalfitterwithRailways.Aidreceived:None.What the familywants:Prashant says thatthehospitalisationcouldhavebeeneasierandshouldbetakencareofbythegeneralpublic.“Forone wholenight,westruggledtogetourfather admitted to a hospital due to variousreasons including a positive test report re-quiredlateatnight.Beforetheycouldtesthim,hedied.Suchthingsshouldnothappeninthecaseof apandemic. A race canbeheld inmyfather’smemory,”saysPrashant.

■■■

‘THERE ISFIGHTFORSURVIVAL’11.ANUPAMAPUNCHIMANDA(41,BENGALURU)FORMERINDIAJRPLAYERANDUMPIRECircumstancesofdeath:Aweekaftertesting

positive for Covid-19, shehad aheart-attackwhileinhomeisolationatBangalore.Survivedby: Husband.■AfterAnupama’sdeath,herhusbandlosthisjob.HehasnowmovedtohisvillageBethutocutdownonexpenses.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants:Anupama’shusbandMSMandannahasaheartconditionandneedsurgentfinancialhelpandajob.“ThereisafightforsurvivalandIdon’twanttoblameHockeyIndia or any government. But in such condi-tions,supportinanyformcouldhavebeenpro-vided,”hesays.

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‘WISHTHEREWASSUPPORT’12.TALWINDERSINGH (67,PATIALA)CURATOR,PANDOVESTADIUMINPATIALACircumstancesof death:Hepassedawayathospitalabout8daysaftertestingpositive.Survived by:Wife, son and daughter. SonworksasapoliceprosecutorinAustralia.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants:Asofnow,nopress-ing financial needbut son says things couldhave been better. “Whilemy father retiredseven years ago andmother shut downherbusinesstwentyyearsago,Ijustwanttosayitcouldhavebeenbetter if therewassupport,”saidSingh’ssonGarry.

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‘DAUGHTER'SSTUDIES INCOMPLETE’13.SURESHTHAKUR(56,CHANDIGARH)HOCKEYUMPIRECircumstancesof death:Testedpositive fortheCovid-19virus inApril, passedaway twoweekslater.Survivedby:Wifeanddaughter.Familylivesinarentedhouse,daughterisstillstudying.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants:Thakur’swifewillgetpensionfromthebankwhereherlatehusbandworked. “Myhusbandhadleftumpiringduetoaheartproblem.Educationofourdaughterapartfrombearingexpensesforrentandotherthings remains a need for us,” said Thakur’swifeSunitaThakur.

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‘LIVE INRENTEDHOME’14.VIRENDRASINGH(47,MEERUT)HOCKEYUMPIREANDMANAGERCircumstancesof death:Hadcardiac arrest

followingCovidcomplications.Survivedby:Wife,sonanddaughter.■ Singh worked as a Deputy Chief TicketInspectorwithNorthernRailways.Wifestrug-glingtomanagethestudiesandupbringingofpre-teenchildren.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants:Urgent financial aidneededasthefamilystaysonrent.“Mysonistenyearsoldwhilemydaughteriseightyearsold.Apartfromthat,myhusband’sparentsalsostaywithus.Wehavetoseethatbothmychil-drengeteducation.Wearestayinginarentedhomeandthesavingstooarenotthatbig,”saidSingh’swifeNeetuSingh.

■■■

‘NEED FUNDS FOR SCHOOL’15.NARENDERSHARMA(49,MEERUT)WEIGHTLIFTINGREFEREECircumstancesof death:After testingposi-tive forCovid-19virus,Sharmaandhis fatherdiedonthesameday.Survivedby:Mother,wife,daughterandson.■ Singh,whowas the vice president of UPWeightliftingAssociation, owneda school inavillagenearMeerut.Withtheschoolshutduetopandemic-forcedlockdown,thefamilythathastwopre-teenschoolgoingchildrenstrug-glestomakeendsmeet.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants:Wifeneedsfundstorestart the school. Apart from that, thewifeneedsmonetaryhelpfortheeducationoftheirtwo children. “I lostmyhusbandand father-in-lawonthesameday. Boththepillarsofourfamilyaregonenowandwearestill inastateofshock.Whilethereisaneedtofundtheed-ucationofmychildren, Ialsoworryabouttheschool,whichmyhusbandand I run in a vil-lagenearMeerut,”saidSharma’swifeArchanaSharma.

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‘WAITINGFORJOB’16.AJAYRASTOGI (58,MUMBAI)BILLIARDSANDSNOOKERREFEREECircumstanceofdeath:Diedinhospital.Hadarailwaysjob.Survivedby:Hisfather,wifeandtwosonsandadaughter-in-law.■Atthetimeofhisdeath,Rastogiwastheonlyworkingmemberof the family.His elder sonworkedforThomasCookinthetourismindus-try,andyoungersonworkedforCars24.Bothlost their jobs due to the first lockdownandhave struggled to findwork since. Presently,

the family survivesonRastogi’s father’s pen-sion, but the family is yet to clear off a homeloan.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants:“We’restilltryingformyeldersontogetarailwaysjobbecauseAjaywasstillworking,hehadn’tretired.(Theylosttheir jobswhen the pandemic started), butnothing has happened till now,” sayswifeSeema.

■■■

‘WASSOLEEARNEROFFAMILY’17.KUNALLONKAR(33,NAGPUR)FORMERVIDARBHACRICKETERCircumstancesofdeath:Afterbeinginhospi-talforaweek,hepassedaway.Survivedby:Parents,wifeandson.■ Lonkarhadgivenupcricketandwaswork-ing in a real estate company.He alsoused totakecareof theuncle’s farmhouse.His coachSameerDeshpandesaidhewasthesoleearnerof thefamily.Aidreceived:NoneWhat the familywants: “Hewas the soleearnerofthefamily,heevenhadasmallchild.Itwillbeverytoughforthefamily.Itwillbego-ingtobeverytoughtimesaheadforhisfamily,”sayscoachDeshpande.

■■■

‘THISHASPUSHEDUSBACK’18.VILASBANDIWADEKAR(63,MUMBAI)FORMERMUMBAIUMPIRECircumstancesofdeath:Developedfeveraf-ter vaccination. Admitted to hospital as thefever didn’t subside. Passed away followingCovid-19complications.Survivedby: Daughter.■ KnownasBandySir inMumbai cricketingcircles, he conducted variousumpire examsforMCAforthepasttwodecades.DaughteriscurrentlyworkinginThomasCook.Aid received:Mumbai Cricket Associationgave50,000rupeesafterhegotinfected.Whatthefamilywants: "Hewasanearningmember and thevoidhaspushedusback fi-nancially,"saysdaughter .

■■■

‘LOSTBROTHER,FATHER’19 & 20. SUBHASH (73) & INDRAJITKANULKAR(40)-MUMBAIREPRESENTEDMUMBAIASJUNIORSCircumstancesofdeath:Aftertheentirefam-ilygotinfectedbythevirus,Subhashhadtobeadmittedtohospital.AweeklatersonIndrajittoowas admitted. Covid complications re-sultedintheirdeath.Survivedby:Mother,wifeandason■ Apopularmaidaan cricketer fromthe80sSubhash'ssonIndrajitplayedforCCI.Indrajit'swifeisBMCauditor.Aidreceived:NoWhatfamilywants:"It'shardtosayatthemo-ment. Suddenly losing twoof our dear onesandnotevengettingachancetosaygood-byehasbeenapainfulexperience.Onthe12thdayofmy father's ritual, I lostmybrother, it hasbeen a terrifying experience," daughter ofSubhash'sNehasaid.

■■■

‘PASSEDAWAY INAMBULANCE’21.JOHNALPHONSO(71,MUMBAI)FOOTBALLCOACHCircumstancesof death:After testingposi-tiveforCovid-19,Alphonsogotahospitalbedwith great difficulty.With his oxygen levelssinking,heneededtobemovedtoICU.“Aftertrying to find beds inmultiple hospitals, hepassedawayintheambulance.Thedeathcer-tificate said that hehad aheart attack,” saysAlphonso’swife.Survivedby:Wife,sonanddaughter.■ Alphonso'swife, a teacherwho retired in2018, iscurrentlyreceivingherpension.Aidreceived:None.Whatthefamilywants:“Iknowmyhusbanddied. It’s impossible to gethimback. But thispandemicreallyneedstoend,”saidAlphonso’swife.

■■■

‘SISTER’SWEDDINGAWORRY’22.VAZIRKHAN(61,HYDERABAD)STATEFOOTBALLERCircumstancesofdeath:Khancomplainedofstomachandchestpain.AtestshowedthathehadCovid,diedafter21daysSurvivedby:Wife,sonandthreedaughters.■Vazir's son is pursuing his B. Comdegree.FamilyexpectspensionandgratuityfromSBI,whereKhanworked.The family is relyingontheiruncletohelpoutwithfinancialmatters.Aidreceived: None.What the familywants: “Ourbiggestworryismysister’sweddingandwhere themoneyfor it will come from,” said Vazir’s son. Headded that his hopewas that the extendedfamilymemberswill help them financiallywhentheneedarises.

(Nitin Sharma,MihirVasavda,Shahid Judge, ShashankNair, DevendraPandey, ShivaniNaik, GauravBhatt)

YEARENDER 2 0 2 1

Virus stopped LifeSport loomedlargeontheir legendall their life. ThenCovidstrucksnatchingawayprecious livesandleavingentire familiesgrievingandwithoutasafetynetorearningmembers. Someof thetragic tales:

The Pandemic year locked them in quarantines but athletes around the world found resilience to call time on people-pleasing and discovered theirmoral voice to sayNO.Gymnast Simone Biles, tennis starNaomiOsaka andVirat Kohli spoke theirminds and defied convention. The year also saw athletes discover the full potential of socialmedia - not just the big names but even the hitherto unknowns from smalltowns became stars in their own right. There were also some breakthrough performances that will stand the test of time. The hockey captain who reawakened a country’s nostalgic pride, aMumbai-bornNewZealand cricketer returned to his roots to create history, a badminton star who finally learnt how tomarry art with commerce, and themanwho launched his gold-plated javelin to quench a nation’s thirst.

23.KIRANDEO(42)MUMBAIUMPIRECircumstances of death: Lost taste andsubsequentlyhadbreathingproblems.Survivedby:Wife,daughterandson

■ Thefamily'sincomedependedonDeoof-ficiating games. Because of the lockdowntherewasnocricketsothefamilyhadbeenfacingtoughtimessincelastyearwhenthepandemicbegan.Kiran’swifeVidyahadalso

losther jobasreceptionistatacricketclub.Aid received:MCA gave aid of Rs 50,000.FormerMCAmanagingcommitteemem-berGaneshIyerinitiativeof ‘LendingHand’gaveaidof Rs1,85,000.

What the familywants: “I’mdesperatelylookingforajobnow.Ididreceivehelpbutthiswon’t last long. If youcan findany jobfor me then please let me know,” Vidyastated.

‘IF YOU CAN FIND ANY JOB, THEN PLEASE LET ME KNOW’

SPORT

Photo/PradipDas

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SPORT 20WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,DECEMBER28,2021

Amid virus scare, Englandface an uphill task ahead

ASSOCIATEDPRESSMELBOURNE,DECEMBER27

ONANextraordinary of cricket both on andoff thefield,EnglandfacedanuphillbattletosavethethirdtestagainstAustraliaandwithittheAshes.BeforeplayevenbeganMonday,CricketAustraliacalledforcalmafteraCOVID-19scareinvolvingtwomembersofEngland'ssupportstaffresultedinadelaytothestartofthe second day of play at the MelbourneCricketGround.Australiawasbowledoutfor267asthehomesidegrabbedafirst-inningsadvantageof82runs,beforeEnglandreached31-4initssecondinningsatstumpsMonday.EnglandseamerJamesAndersongaveamas-terful display, claiming the keywickets ofMarcusHarris(76)andSteveSmith(16)inhistallyof4-33off23overs.ButEngland'sbattersweresoonunderattackagain.MitchellStarc(2-11)dismissedZakCrawley,caughtbehindfor 5, andDawidMalan, leg beforewithoutscoring, in consecutivedeliveries in the fifthover.DebutantScottBoland(2-1)delightedhis

homecrowdof42,626roaringfansbyremov-ing opener Haseeb Hameed for 7 and JackLeachwithout scoring in the penultimateoveroftheday. WithBenStokesandJoeRootat the crease, England had lost fourwicketsafter just12oversandstill requiringanother51runstomakeAustraliabatagain.

Day of dramaEarlier,CricketAustralia'schiefexecutive

NickHockleysaysthereisnoneedtochangecurrent plans, which include staging thefourth and fifth tests in Sydney andHobart,respectively. “We just need to remain calmand get the facts,” Hockley said. “Every oneneeds to follow themedical advice. On thatbasis,wekeepgoing. “Ourprotocolsarede-signedforabsolutely thissetof events.”Inadayof earlydrama,CricketAustralia

releasedastatementconfirmingtheCOVID-19outbreakwithintheEnglandcamp,whichdelayed the team's arrival at theMCG andcauseda30-minutedelaytothestartofplay.“CricketAustraliahasbeeninformedthattwomembersof theEnglandcricket team'ssup-port staff and two of their familymembershave returned a positive COVID-19 Rapid

Antigen Test,” the statement said. “The af-fectedindividualsarecurrentlyisolating.Theentire playing group and all other supportstaff have undertaken Rapid Antigen Teststhismorningandallhavetestednegative.TheEnglandcricketteamwillalsohavePCRteststoday,andbothteamswilltakeextraprecau-tionsthroughoutplay.”The Australian SevenNetwork's televi-

sioncoverageofthematchwasalsoaffected.Amemberof thebroadcaststaff testedposi-tivetothevirus,forcingcommentatorstoiso-late as the network called in a fresh team.AustraliacaptainPatCumminswasunabletoplayinthesecondtestafterbecomingaclosecontactofaCOVID-19case. Sincethestartofthe pandemic in 2020, England's tours ofSouthAfrica andSri Lankawere abandonedmid-tour due to COVID concerns. Australialeadsthefive-matchseries2-0,whichmeansEngland needs towin all three remainingmatchestoregaintheAshes.Meanwhile, England fast bowler James

Andersonisurgingofficialstocontinuewiththe Ashes series against Australia despite aCOVID-19 drama which unfolded at the

team'shotelonMondayanddelayedthestartof theseconddayof thethirdtest.“We actually got on the bus to come to

thegroundattheusualtimeandthengottoldtogetoffthebusbecausewefoundoutaboutacoupleofpositives(cases),”Andersonsaid.England's players were then tested andwaited about 45minutes before the sched-uled 10.30 a.m. start before heading to theground. “We're all having tests now,”Andersonsaidaftertaking4-33inAustralia'sfirstinnings. “We'llhavetowaitandseewhatthe results are. As long as the group that ishereatthegroundtodayarenegative, Idon'tseewhywecan'tcarryon.AsfarasI'maware,thewhole playing group feels fine,” addedAndersonafter the final sessiononMonday.

BRIEFSCORES:England1stinnings185allout and 2nd innings 31/4 (Joe Root 12 bat-ting, Haseeb Hameed 7; Scott Boland 2/1,MitchellStarc2/11)vsAustralia1st innings267 (Marcus Harris 76, DavidWarner 38,Travis Head 27; James Anderson 4/33, OllieRobinson 2/64,MarkWood 2/71). Englandtrailby51runs.

ACovid-19scaresawtheseconddayofthethirdTestof theAshesbeingdelayedbeforeAustraliaclaimedcontrolof theTestmatchatMelbourne

CENTURION: THE INDIAN teamwill lookto reset its first innings targetafter thesec-ond day's play in the opening Test againstSouthAfrica had to be called off without aball being bowled due to heavy and per-sistent rainsincemorninghereonMonday.What started as adrizzle thismorningbe-came a steady downpour in the afternoonand with 90 overs lost in the game, ViratKohli's men, sitting pretty at 272 for 3 af-ter day one, will now have to quicken upthe proceedings in the remaining threedayswithahighprobabilityofwinningthematch.Twice, the rain stopped and umpires

decided on inspection but on both occa-sions just before they were to step out,heavens opened up once again."Unfortunately, due to the largevolumeofrain today at Centurion, play has beencalled off for the day," BCCI stated on its

twitterhandlewithapictureof thegroundcompletely soaked. There was too muchwater on the covers and with literally nosunshine, there was very little chance forthe ground to dry up and some overs ofplay to be possible.At the end of the opening day's play,

Indiawere stronglyplacedat272 for threein 90 overs. KL Rahul was going strong at122 not out off 248 balls, duringwhich hehit 17 boundaries and one six. Giving himcompany at the other end was AjinkyaRahane, on40off 81balls,with thehelpofeight hits to the fence. Opener MayankAgarwalmade60off 123deliveriesbeforebeing dismissed by Lungi Ngidi. SkipperVirat Kohlimade 35 off 94 balls.

BRIEF SCORES: India: 272 for 3 (KL Rahul122 batting; Mayank Agarwal 60, AjinkyaRahane40batting; LungiNgidi3/45). PTI

As rain plays spoilsport on secondday, India look to realign targets

Heavyandpersistentrain forcedthesecondday’splay intheopeningTestbetweenIndiaandSouthAfrica tobecalledoff. Reuters

Englandplayersrunoutontothefieldat thestartof theseconddayof theircrickettestmatchagainstAustraliaatMCG inMelbourne. AP

U-19 Asia Cup : Ind beat Afg

Dubai: Amatch-winning 65-run seventhwicketstandbetweenRajBawaandKaushalTambe ensured a fighting four-wicket vic-tory for India over a gritty Afghanistan astheyenteredthesemi-finalof theU-19AsiaCup. Bawa (43 not out) and Tambe (35 notout) joined forcedwhen Indiawere in trou-ble at 197 for six but they kept calm to takethe 'Boys in Blue' to their required 260-runtargetwith10balls to spare.This was after in-form opener HarnoorPannu (65) and his partner AngkrishRaghuvanshi (35) added 104 for the open-ingstand.However, themiddleordercavedinwith skipper Yash Dull (26) andNishantSindhu(19) failing toconvert starts. —PTI

Sturridge ordered topay

London:Daniel Sturridge, an English foot-ballstar,hasbeenorderedtopay$30,000toa Los Angelesmanwho found the player’smissingdog in2019andwhowent to courtto recoup a rewardhe said hehadbeende-nied for thePomeranian’s return.After announcing that his Los Angeles

home had been broken into, Mr. Sturridgesaidinavideoatthetimethathewould“paywhatever”togethismissingdogback,offer-ing “20 Gs, 30 Gs, whatever” as a rewardwithoutspecifying thecurrency.Shortlyaf-terthatvideowasposted,FosterWashingtonof LosAngeles found thedog, Lucci, and re-turnedhim to Sturridge, according to courtrecords. —PTI

REUTERSDECEMBER27

ARECORD103positiveCOVID-19caseswerefoundamongplayersandstaff inthePremierLeague over the pastweek, the league saidonMonday following a raft of fixture post-ponementsduring thebusy festiveperiod.“The League can today confirm that be-

tweenMonday20DecemberandSunday26December, 15,186 COVID-19 testswere ad-ministeredonplayersandclubstaff.Ofthese,there were 103 new positive cases,” theleague said in a statement. The figure hassteadily increased in recentweekswith 42casesbetweenDec.6-12and90testingpos-itive between Dec. 13-19. The PremierLeague has had 15 games postponed so farduetoCOVID-19outbreaksatvariousclubs.Watford, who have had three games calledoffsofar,saidtheyhadwelcomedbackplay-erswhowerepreviouslyisolatingbutaddedmorehadtestedpositiveaheadofTuesday'shome game against West Ham United.Watfordmanager Claudio Ranieri said hewouldhavetobringinsomeUnder-23play-ers as they held their first "normal trainingsession" sinceDecember10.“It's difficult to say ifweare ready (and)

100%.When youmeet your players for onetrainingsession, it'sverydifficulttodothis,”Ranieritoldreporters.“Therearesomeplay-erswhodidn'tmakesometrainingsessions...Ithinktheseplayersdon'thave(whatittakesto play) 90 minutes.” WolverhamptonWanderers, who had Tuesday's trip toArsenal postponed, said they had six con-firmed cases in the first team. “We hopesomeofthoseplayerswillbewellenoughtoreturn for our game against ManchesterUnited on 3rd January," Wolves said in astatement. “Our operations team havearrangedadeepcleanoftheSirJackHaywardTrainingGroundtotrytopreventfurtherin-fection."

Klopp vents his frustrationLiverpoolmanagerJurgenKloppbecame

thelatestPremierLeaguemanagertoexpresshisfrustrationatbeingallowedtomakeonlythree substitutions in amatchwhenmanysquads are being hit hard by coronaviruscases..England'stopdivisionisoneofthefewleagues to decide against using five substi-tutions formatches.Thatmeasurewasintroduced toenable

teams to cope better with the congestedschedulewhen soccer resumed followingasuspension due to Covid-19, and has beenretainedonapermanentbasisbymostofthecountries. AP

103 Covid casesdetected inPremier League

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