Releaseourreport,it addressesfarmerissue

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

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2021, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `5.00/EX-KOLKATA `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN)WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ProtestersarguewithaTalibansoldierduringananti-Pakistandemonstration inKabulonTuesday.WANAviaReuters

ANANDMOHANJNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

DURINGHIS six years in prison,he had a recurring dream: hewould fly, but fall to the groundwhen he saw his worriedwife.Then, he says, hewould catch abus home. And that was whenhewouldwakeup to reality, in-sidehiscellatTiharjail,awaitingtrial inaPOCSOcase.Released lastmonth, after a

city court held that he was“falsely framed” because of hisDalit identify, the 55-year-oldman — he did not want to be

named— says the dreams havestopped.“I always used to fly in my

dreams.Thestrangethingisthat

now that I have been released, Ihave stopped flying in mydreams. I want to fly again, onemore time,”hesays.

The case against him wasregisteredonthecomplaintof amanwho accused himof sexu-ally assaulting fourminor girls.Theprosecutionaccusedhimofbeing a “serial sexual” offender.HewasarrestedonMay18,2015,when the alleged incident tookplace.OnAugust7,aDelhicourtac-

quitted him, observing that hehadbeen“falsely frameddue toprejudicial disposition of theparents towards the accused,who belongs to the Dalit com-munity”. He was released thesamenight.The complainantwas found

tohavefiledafalsecaseafterthe55-year-old objected to his dogdefecating outside his house in

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1ANCHOR

The55-year-oldwasacquitted inaPOCSO case lastmonth

‘I was framed for being a Dalit, 6 yearsof my life were taken away from me’

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

THEEDITORIALPAGE

THENEWBRAHMINISMBY PRATAPBHANUMEHTA

PAGE8

SHETKARISANGHATANAPRESIDENT’SLETTER

Claimsreporthasn’tgotSCattention;

colleagueGulatibackshis feelings

Farmersheadtowardsthemini-SecretariatatKarnal inHaryanaonTuesday.PraveenKhanna

HARIKISHANSHARMA&PARTHASARATHIBISWASNEWDELHI, PUNE,

SEPTEMBER7

A MEMBER of the SupremeCourt-appointed committee onthe three farm laws that trig-gered farmer protests last yearhas urged the Chief Justice ofIndiatoreleasethepanel’sreportin the public domain and for-ward it to theCentre.Shetkari Sanghatana presi-

dent Anil J Ghanwat, in a letterdated September 1 to the CJI,saidthecommittee’sreport“hasaddressed all apprehensions ofthe farmers” and its “recom-mendationswillpavethewaytoresolvetheongoingfarmers’ag-itation”.

“As a member of theCommittee, especially repre-sentingthefarmers’community,Iampainedthattheissueraisedby the farmers aren’t yet re-solved and the agitation is con-tinuing. I feel that thereporthasnot beengivenanyattentionbytheHon’bleSupremeCourt,”hisletter stated.“Iamhumblypleadingtothe

Hon’bleSupremeCourttokindlyreleasethereportforimplemen-tation of its recommendationsfor peaceful resolution of thestalemate to the farmers’ satis-factionat theearliest,”hesaid.Recalling that the Supreme

Court “suspended the imple-mentation of three farm lawsandconstitutedaCommittee toreportontheselaws”onJanuary12 this year, Ghanwat said the

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Farmers onKhattar turf,reach Karnalfor sit-in

SUKHBIRSIWACHKARNAL,SEPTEMBER7

AFTERTALKSwith the adminis-trationfailed,thousandsof farm-ers started agheraoof themini-Secretariat in Karnal, theconstituency of Haryana ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattar,Tuesday evening, managing toreach it crossing six heavilymannedpolicebarricades.Farmer leaders had called a

mahapanchayat in Karnal toprotestagainsttheAugust28po-lice crackdown on protesters,whowere agitating against the

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

SUNNYVERMANEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

PUBLICSECTORbanksareexpe-riencingasharpsurgeinthepro-portion of Mudra loans turninginto non-performing assets(NPAs) following the impact ofCovid on incomes and repay-mentcapacityof borrowers, ac-cordingtobankersandananaly-sis of available data fromstate-levelbankers'committees.TheproportionoftheseNPAs

are estimated to have shot upmore than three times as ofJune-end2021overthe2019-20fiscal year, bankers said. “GrossNPAs in theMudra loan book isestimated to have reachedaround 20 per cent at June-end2021, fromaround 6per cent atMarch-end 2020 with manystatesshowingrisingdistressonthisbook,”a seniorbankerwith

apublic sectorbanksaid.In a key state like

Maharashtra, for instance, SBI’sNPAonMudra loans is at59percentasonJune-end2021.CanaraBankreportedanNPAashighas114.35 per cent in Jharkhand ason June30,2021.Under the PradhanMantri

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Release our report, itaddresses farmer issue:SC panelmember to CJI

Pak hand: Haqqanis in, so is Talibwho brought the Buddhas down

SHUBHAJITROY&NIRUPAMASUBRAMANIANNEWDELHI,MUMBAI,

SEPTEMBER7

UNVEILING THEIR interim gov-ernment which had thePakistani stamp all over, theTalibanTuesdayannouncedthatMullah Mohammad HassanAkhund, the hardliner chief ofthe decision-making RehbariShuraandthemanwhoorderedthe destruction of the BamiyanBuddhasin2001,willbethenewPrimeMinisterofAfghanistan.Mullah Hassan edged out

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar,headof the Talibanpolitical of-fice in Qatar capital Doha, forthe top post, ending the raceand the war within for power-sharing, three days afterPakistanISIchief LtGeneralFaizHameed reached Kabul to de-

cide government formation.Rawalpindi’s imprint was

visibleasleadersof theHaqqaniNetwork terror outfit and theKandahar-based Taliban groupdominated the new cabinetwhile the Doha-based Talibangroup, which had been negoti-ating with the internationalcommunityandhadestablishedcontacts with New Delhi, ap-peared tohavebeensidelined.TheassessmentinDelhiwas

that at least 20 of the 33 in thenew cabinet were from theKandahar-based Taliban groupandtheHaqqaniNetwork.As expected, no woman

foundaplaceinthecabinet,andthere were very few non-Pashtuns--only threeoutof33.Thisbeliedexpectationsinsomequarters of the internationalcommunitythattheywillbe“in-clusive”and“representative”.FromNewDelhi’sperspective,

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

MUDRANPAs IN KEYSTATES (%)

JUNEEND2021 2020

Maharashtra 22.00 14.94

Jharkhand 9.29 8.53

Gujarat* 6.64 4.54

Chhattisgarh* 9.80 12.55

Source: State-LevelBankers’

Committees *Dataason

March-end

RUSSIANNSA INDELHI, AFGHANISTANONTABLE PAGE 2

KEY FIGURES IN THENEWTALIBANGOVERNMENTPAGE12

THECHOICEof thenewPMandthe inductionoftheHaqqanis in the in-terimAfghangovern-mentcarries the imprintof Pakistan.The ISI chiefreachedKabul threedayago toensure itsproxiesgetplumposts. For India,theHaqqanisgettinggovernmentberths isbadnews.

IslamabadImprintE●E

XPLAIN

ED

Covid stress on smallunits: Mudra loanNPAs up in PSU banks

HassanAkhundPMinnewAfghanGovt,Dohagroupout in thecold

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

THE SUPREME Court Tuesdaydeferred to September 13hear-ingonpetitionsseekinganinde-pendent probe into charges ofunauthorisedsurveillanceusingthePegasussoftware.Athree-judgeBenchheaded

byChief JusticeNVRamanaad-journed the hearing afterSolicitor General TusharMehtasought a fewmoredays to “findout”if thegovernmentintendedto file anyadditional affidavit inthematter.As soon as the matter was

taken up Tuesday, Mehta toldthe Bench, also comprisingJustices Surya Kant and A SBopanna,that“thereissomedif-ficulty regarding that affidavit...Pleaseconsideraccommodatingmetill thedayafter”.

Atthelasthearing,onAugust17, the government had filed abrief affidavit “unequivocally”denying all allegationsmadebythe petitioners and stating that“withaviewtodispelanywrongnarrative spread by certainvestedinterestsandwithanob-ject of examining the issuesraised”, it would set up “aCommitteeofExpertsinthefieldwhichwill go into all aspects ofthe issue”.The government had also

told the Court that day that thematterhadnationalsecurityim-plicationsduetowhichitdidnotwant toput thedetails inapub-lic affidavit butwould reveal allaspects to the committee, of in-dependentexperts,whichcouldthen submit its report to theCourt.The Bench had however is-

sued a pre-admission notice toCONTINUEDONPAGE2

SC gives govt moretime to decide onPegasus affidavit

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,SEPTEMBER7

THEWEST Bengal governmenton Tuesday announced that forthesecondstraightyearitwouldprovide Rs 50,000 financial aidto every Durga Puja committeein the state tomake up for thedwindling sponsorshipmoney,and the extra expenditure in-curred because of the Covid-19pandemic. Thecommitteeswillbe provided electricity at a 50percentdiscount.At a meeting of Durga Puja

organisers held here, ChiefMinisterMamata Banerjee saidheradministrationwouldnotis-sue any special guidelines forthis year's Durga Puja celebra-tions, adding that the Covid-19guidelinessetlastyearshouldbestrictly followedthis timetoo.Askedwhetherthenightcur-

fewwould be lifted during thecelebrations next month,Banerjeesaidthedecisionwouldbe taken after the upcomingelectionsinthreeAssemblyseatsin thestate.“There are certain rules due

to the by-elections. We havetaken permission before

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Mamata dolesout sops forPuja committeesfor second year

CMMamataBanerjeeduringaneventinKolkataTuesday.CMO

Kolkata

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2021

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MuzaffarnagarMahapanchayat,NipahVirus inKerala,andTalibanAmilBhatnagar joins thepodcast todiscusstheKisanMahapanchayatheld inMuzaffarnagaranditspolitical significanceaheadof theUPpolls

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Mamata govtorganising this programmesince it will be too late to an-nouncepuja protocols after theby-polls,” said Banerjee, who islikelytocontesttheby-pollfromBhabanipur insouthKolkata.Earlier in theday, theBJPac-

cused the chief minister of vio-latingthemodelcodeofconduct(MCC) by participating in theprogramme. “We have re-quested the ElectionCommission to take actionagainstBhabanipurby-pollcan-didateMamataBanerjeeforvio-lating theMCC by announcingcash rewards for Durga Pujaclubs despite the declaration ofthe by-polls date and the pollguidelines being in place. Wehave also demanded that sheshould be restrained frompar-ticipating in the by-poll for vio-lating theMCC,” saidBJP leaderShishirBajoria.Meanwhile, Mamata

Banerjee asked Puja organiserstoensurethatvisitorswearfacemasksatall timesandusehandsanitisers before entering pan-dals (marquees).ShealsoaskedPujacommit-

tees to distribute masks andsanitisers at the pandals. “Theorganiserscandistributemasksandsanitisers intheclosevicin-ityof thepandalforpeoplewhomight have reached withoutthese,"thechiefministeradded.Lastyear,DurgaPujacelebra-

tionswere held in a restrainedand staggered manner acrossthestateafter theCalcuttaHighCourtlaiddownguidelinesamidthepandemic.Thestategovern-mentthenaccordinglydirectedall organisers toensure that thepandals are spacious and openfromallsides,withseparateen-tryandexitpoints forvisitors.Thistimetoo,visitorswillnot

beallowedinthepandalswith-out face masks and the use ofhandsanitiser,and, ifnecessary,organisers have to make ade-quatearrangements forthedis-tributionofmasksnearpandalsamongvisitorswithoutmasks.Last year, rituals such as

pushpanjali, sindoor khela, andthe distribution of prasadwerealsoorganisedinsmallgroupsinaccordancewithsocial-distanc-ingnorms.Peoplewereencour-agedtobringflowersfromhomefor pushpanjali and to avoidcrowding, arrangements weremade so that people could visitpandals from the day of Tritiya,three days prior to the start ofthe five-day festival.Sources in the state admin-

istration said this year too theadministrationmightallowpeo-

ple tovisit pandals fromTritiya,whichwill beonaSaturday.

(WITHPTI INPUTS)

Farm panelcommittee was given twomonths tosubmit its report.“The Committee, after con-

sulting a largenumber of farm-ers...stakeholders,submitteditsreportbeforethestipulatedtimeon 19th March 2021. TheCommittee incorporated theopinions and suggestions of allthestakeholderswiththeaimofmaximumbenefitstothefarm-ers,”hestated in the letter.Speaking to The Indian

ExpressTuesday,Ghanwat said:“I literally wish frommy heartthattheagitationshouldstop…Thisisanissuewhichaffectsthecountry’seconomyandlawandorder. Therefore, the SupremeCourtshouldhearthismatterassoonaspossible.”“Farmershavebeenprotest-

ing for the last ninemonths. Ithas been fivemonths sincewesubmittedthereport.Yetnoac-tion has been taken tomake itpublic. Our consultationswereexhaustiveandonce this reportismade public, the next courseof actionwill be taken,”hesaid.“Jo kuch bhi desh ke liye sahi

hoga, Supreme Court ko lagega,

woh order ho jaaye ya govern-

mentjokadamlenachahele, lekin

aise thande bakse mein daalkar

kyanikalnewalahai…dardhota

hai aise kisano ko baarish mein

bheegtedekhtehuai. Isliyehumne

aagrah kiya hai. Aise hi raha toh

kai saal guzar sakte hain

(Supreme Court should orderwhateveritthinksisrightforthecountry, or the governmentshouldtakestepitwantstotake.There is no point in keeping it(the report) in cold storage. It ispainful to see the farmers get-tingwet in the rain. That’s whytherequest.If itremainslikethis,manyyearscanpass),”hesaid.In January this year, the

Supreme Court constituted thecommittee, saying “a commit-teeofexpertsinthefieldofagri-culturetonegotiatebetweenthefarmers’ bodies and theGovernmentof Indiamaycreateacongenialatmosphereandim-provethetrust...of thefarmers”.Apart from Ghanwat, the

othermembers of the commit-teeareAshokGulati,agriculturaleconomistandformerchairmanof the Commission forAgricultural Costs and Prices;and Dr Pramod Kumar Joshi,agriculturaleconomist,Directorfor South Asia, InternationalFoodPolicyResearch Institute.Bhupinder SinghMann, na-

tional president of Bhartiya

Kisan Union, had also beennamedasamemberofthecom-mitteebutherecusedhimself.ReachedoverGhanwat’slet-

ter, Gulati said it is the preroga-tive of the Supreme Court onwhentomakethereportpublic.“It isuptotheHon’blebench

of the SC to see how theywanttomakeuseof it,howandwhenthey want to share it with thefarmers and the Government. Ileave this issue to their bestjudgment,”Gulati said. “Havingsaid this, I do respect and sup-port the feelings of Shri AnilGhanwat, farmers’ representa-tive in thecommittee,”hesaid.Dr PK Joshi did not respond

toa textmessage.Asked if the lathicharge on

farmers in Karnal in Haryanamade him write the letter,Ghanwatsaidno. “Themajorityfarmers havenot read the laws,butareeggedonbyleaders,”hesaid. He replied in the affirma-tive to a query on whether hehad consulted Gulati and Joshibeforewriting the letter. “Theyareprofessionalpeople, so theyhavenottakenanysteponmak-ing the reportpublic,”hesaid.

Karnal marchthree farm laws, at Bastara tollplazainKarnal.Theyproceededtothemini-Secretariatafter thegovernment refused to accedeto theirdemands.Asnightdescended,thepro-

testers settled in, with langarsbeingheldbygurdwarasnearby.The farmer leaders said thegheraowillcontinuetilltheirde-mandsaremet.LateonTuesday,theadministrationextendedthesuspension of mobile Internetservices in Karnal for anotherday.Tuesday's rally in Karnal

came two days after the hugemahapanchayat in UttarPradesh's Muzaffarnagar byfarmers against the new laws.The Samyukta Kisan Morcha(SKM), that is spearheading theprotestagainstthelaws,claimedovertwolakhfarmerswerepartof theKarnalmahapanchayat.For the Haryana rally, the

farmer leaders had put forththree demands -- Rs 25 lakhcompensation to a farmerwhoallegedly died of injuries sus-tained in the August 28 lath-icharge at Bastara (the govern-menthasdeniedanydeath);Rs2 lakh each to those who sus-tained injuries in the lath-icharge; and the registration ofa criminal case against KarnalSDM Ayush Sinha and policepersonnel behind the lath-icharge.But the district administra-

tionturneddownthedemands,seeking a month to probe ifSinha'sremarks--saying"breakthe heads" of thosewhomadetheirwaypast a blockade -- ac-tually led to the lathicharge.Sinhahassincebeentransferredout.Thefarmers,whohadgath-ered at Karnal's Anaj Mandi,then proceeded to the mini-Secretariat, covering the 5 kmdistanceon foot.The forces deployed water

cannons at the last barricadenearthecomplex,butthefarm-ersjumpedoverit.Therewasnootherseriousconfrontationwithpolicealong theway.Three rounds of talks took

placebetweenthefarmers'del-egationandthedistrictadminis-tration before the sit-in began.Senior SKM leaders, includingthe BKU's Rakesh Tikait,YogendraYadav,GurnamSinghChaduni, Balbir Singh Rajewaland Darshan Pal, were part ofthe11-memberfarmers'delega-tion. Karnal DeputyCommissioner N K Yadav andseniorpoliceofficerswerepres-enton theother side.Announcing in the evening

thatthetalkshadfailed,Rajewalsaid farmerswill not break anybarricadesorindulgeinanylawand order disruption but con-tinue with their decision togherao the mini-Secretariat.Farmerleaders, includingYadavandTikait,werebrieflydetained."The Khattar government

shouldagreetoourdemandsorelsearrestus.WearereadytofillHaryana jails," Tikait tweeted.Karnal Dy Commissioner

Yadav said "every effort wasmade to satisfy the protesters",including holding talks withthemfor threehours.Agovern-ment spokesperson said Yadav,IGPMamtaSingh,SPGangaramPuniaandotherofficersarecon-tinuingtalkswiththeprotesters.Farmersstartedmakingtheir

waytoKarnalTuesdaymorning,fromacrossHaryanaandneigh-bouring states. The administra-tionhadimposedSection144toprevent gatherings and re-stricted Internet and SMS serv-icesinKarnalandseveralneigh-bouring districts. To stop thefarmers,whowereintheirtrac-tors-trolleys,policeparkedtrucktrailers,buttheprotestersmadetheirwaypastall.Earlier in theday, theKarnal

district administration issued awarning that intelligence re-ports indicated that some ele-ments armed with lathis andiron rods had entered the AnajMandi gathering, and had ig-noredappealsof farmerleadersto leave. Tikait, Yadav and

Chaduni also kept issuing ap-peals to the gathering not to al-low anybody to carry anyweapon while marching to-wards the mini-Secretariat.However,alargenumberofpro-testerswereseencarryinglathis.While Haryana Home

MinisterAnilVijappealedtothefarmers to protest peacefully,Agriculture Minister J P Dalalsaid there was no need for theagitation. He also accusedChaduni of taking "extortionmoneyfromtheCongresstocre-ate continuous chaos inHaryana".In a press release, the SKM

saiditwasalreadypreparingforits September27BharatBandh,withmeetingsacross thecoun-try. ItalsoannouncedameetingonWednesdayinLucknow,andprotestsagainstthePunjabgov-ernment over "frivolous"charges fromThursday.

SC on PegasustheCentre, and sought toknowif thegovernmentwantedtofileany furtheraffidavit.As the SG soughtmore time

on Tuesday, the Bench pointedout, “You already filed an affi-davit.” Mehta responded, “Yes,but on (the) last occasion, YourLordships had inquired if wewouldliketofile(a)furtheraffi-davit.Forsomereason,someof-ficersweren’tthere...anditcouldnotbe foundout.”TheCourt ishearingaclutch

of petitions filed followingme-diareportsthatphonesof somejournalists, human rights ac-tivists etcwere accessed unau-thorisedly using the Pegasussoftware developed by theIsraeli formNSOGroup.

Mudra loanMudra Yojana (PMMY), banksprovide collateral-free loans upto Rs 10 lakh to non-farmsmall/micro enterprises for in-come generating activities. TheriseinNPAscomesalongsideanincreaseindisbursementunderthe scheme -- fromRs3.11 lakhcrore in 2018-19 toRs 3.29 lakhcrore in2019-20.The available data from key

states reflect thestress:■Publicsectorbanks’Mudra

loanNPAs inMaharashtra havejumpedtoashighas32percentat June-end 2021, from 26 percentat June-end2020.InMaharashtra, gross NPAs

forall lenders,state-owned,pri-vate and small finance banks,shot up to 22 per cent at June-end2021from14.94percentatJune-end 2020. OutstandingMudra loans in Maharashtra

were Rs 24,850 crore and totalNPAsatRs5,521crore.AfterSBI,thehighestpropor-

tion of NPAs among public sec-tor banks in the state has beenrecorded by Punjab NationalBankat44percent, IndianBankat 33 per cent and Bank ofMaharashtra at 31 per cent atJune-end2021.

■ In Jharkhand, the grossNPAofCanaraBankwasashighas114.35percentasonJune30,2021. The lender’sMudra loansunderNPAatRs183.63croreex-ceededtheoutstandingamountof loansatRs160.58crore.Out of total Mudra loans of

Rs 11,357.14 crore, Rs 1,055.53crore or 9.29 per cent haveturnedintoNPAsasonJune-end2021. Indian Bank’s NPA inJharkhandwasat36.20percent,PunjabNationalBank’sat28.69per cent and SBI's at 19.88 percentason June30,2021.Among private sector

lenders, HDFC Bank’s Mudraloan NPA in Jharkhand was at26.21percent, followedbyIDFCFirstBankat24.93percent --ofHDFCBank’soutstandingMudraloansofRs208.69crore,Rs54.70crorehas turned intoNPAasonJune-end2021.

■ InChhattisgarh,forwhichdataisavailabletillMarch31,theNPAsonMudraloansstoodatRs442.56 crore or 9.8 per cent ofdisbursements totalling Rs4,518.01 crore as onMarch 31,2021,ascomparedtoNPAsofRs320.12croreor12.55percentofdisbursements of Rs 2551.24croreasonMarch31,2020.A similar trend is seen in

otherstatessuchasGujaratandUttar Pradesh. Bankers say thatMudra loan NPAs, which hadshownadecentrecoveryrateinthe initial years of the scheme,have been rising steadilywiththe stress building up signifi-cantly in the last 18months.“It’s obvious that jobs and

incomes of people have beenhit at the bottom of the pyra-mid, which is the target audi-ence ofMudra loans,” a publicsector banker said.The amount of Mudra loan

NPAs was Rs 7,277.31 crorewithdisbursements atRs2.46lakhcrore in2017-18. This roseto Rs 11,483.42 crore with adisbursement of Rs 3.11 lakhcrore in 2018-19. And in 2019-20, banks recorded an NPAamount of Rs 18,835.77 crorewithdisbursementsof Rs3.29lakhcrore.TheRBIhasbeencautioning

banks on the scheme, askingthem to assess borrowers’ re-paymentcapacity.“Weareactu-ally stuck between two ex-

tremes. If we don’t giveMudraloans, we are asked why thesanctionsarelow.Whenwegiveloans, we are askedwhy NPAsarerising,”anotherbankersaid.

Dalit framedOuterDelhidistrict.The court, in its order, said

the “parents of the victim girlsindulgedinthesinisteractof tu-toringtheirdaughters inamostbrazen and shamelessmannerandmerelybecauseaccusationsor charges against the accusedaregrave,severeordespicable”.In a rare instance, it also or-

deredthestatetopayacompen-sationofRs1lakhtotheaccusedwithin twomonths, saying thiswas a “symbolic amount andwithout prejudice to his legalrightsandcontentions.”When the judgeannounced

the verdict, the 55-year-oldbrokedown.Amonthafterhisrelease,he

is still trying to get used to hisfreedom. He has been vacci-nated, but doesn't want to stepout.“Everything has changed.

Everyonewears amask, peoplethink twice before going out. Ispentanevenharsherlockdowninjail.Tobehonest, Iamnotinaright frameofmind,”hesays.Hesaysforthefirstfewyears

in prison, hewas angry. TakingoutacopyoftheBible,hesays:“Ibarelyunderstandwhatiswrit-ten. But I nowknowGod isone.I forgive themfor thecase. I feelnoangeranymore.IwasframedforbeingaDalit andsixyearsofmy lifewere taken fromme.”Hiswife, 58,worksasa rag-

picker, earning Rs 100 on agood day. His 30-year-old songets Rs 12,000 per month,working 12-hour shifts at adenim factory. They have adebt of Rs 5 lakh.Six years ago, the 55-year-

oldworkedasasecurityguard.“Hehadaspring inhis stepandworkedovertime,” sayshis for-mer employer, a senior bankmanager who testified on hisbehalf in court.Now,he isafraidof crossing

the road, and he often forgetshis way home. “I have forgot-tenhowtousea smartphone...I have lost my appetite. I amexhausted all the time. I can'twork,” he says.In Tihar, he learnt how to

paint. His favourite subjectswere politicians, Hindu gods,bank-related ads, and portraitsof actorDeepikaPadukone.“Thiskeptmesane,”hesays.He hopes to visit his ailing

motherinRajasthan.“Shekeepscallingme, crying. I don't have

moneyforthetrip.NordoIhavethestrength,”hesays.

New Taliban PMSirajuddin Haqqani as theInteriorMinister is a key signalthat Pakistan’s ISI has hand-picked the cabinet.Haqqani, head of the

Haqqani Network and son ofthewarlordJalaluddinHaqqani,is responsible for the terror at-tack on the Indian Embassy inKabul in2008andotherattacksagainst Indian interests. AsInterior Minister, Haqqani’smandate will include not justlawandorder,butalsoappoint-ments of provincial governors.A designated global terror-

ist, theUSDepartment of Stateofferedarewardof uptoUSD5millionfor information leadingto the arrest of SirajuddinHaqqani. He was allegedly in-volvedintheplanningof theas-sassination attempt onPresident Hamid Karzai in2008, the FBI said on its web-site.Mullah Mohammad

Hassan, the new PrimeMinister, isontheUNterror list.He was among the Talibanfounders. He worked for 20years as head of Rehbari Shuraor leadership council and re-mained close to MullahHaibatullah Akhundzada, thecurrent supreme leader.He had served as Deputy

Prime Minister during theTaliban’s first government inAfghanistanfrom1996to2001.AfterMullahHassan,Mullah

Baradarwill be the first deputyPM (or head of government),and Abdul Salam Hanafi, anUzbek, the seconddeputyPM.Mullah Baradar, a co-

founderof theTaliban in1994,was captured in a February2010 Pakistani operation inKarachi after he was found tohave opened communicationwith Karzai. He was releasedin 2018 at the behest of theUSadministration and becamethe face of the negotiations inDoha.Hewasalso the firstTaliban

leader to directly communi-catewithaUSPresidentwhenhe had a conversation withDonald Trump. Having signedthe Doha agreement, he wasexpected to become the nextpolitical leaderof Afghanistan,but Pakistan’s ISI, scuttled hischances.Mullah Yaqoob, son of

Taliban founder MullahMohammad Omar, has beennamedDefenceMinister.

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

FROMPAGEONE

AFGHANISTANONTABLE

Russian NSA in Delhi for ‘high-level’ talks

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

TWO WEEKS after PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andRussian President VladimirPutin agreed to form a perma-nent bilateral channel for con-sultations on Afghanistan,Russia's National SecurityAdvisor Nikolay Patrushev isvisiting India for “high-level”discussions.BesideshiscounterpartAjit

Doval,Patrushev isexpectedtomeet External AffairsMinisterS Jaishankar and the PrimeMinister. In April, RussianForeignMinisterSergeyLavrovvisited Delhi but did notmeetthePrimeMinister.The Ministry of External

AffairssaidPatrushev'svisit for“High Level India-Russia Inter-GovernmentalConsultationsonAfghanistan from 7-8September2021”followsanin-vitation fromDoval.At South Block, this visit is

being seen as a signal fromMoscow,whichhasemergedas

akeyplayer in theAfghanistansituation after the Taliban cap-tured power and the US com-pletedachaoticexit.Besides, India and Russia

willbeparticipatingintwoim-portant virtual summits overthenext10days--BRICS(Brazil,Russia, India, China, SouthAfrica) and ShanghaiCooperationOrganisation(SCO)-- where Afghanistan is ex-pectedtodominatetheconver-sation.On September 9,Modiwill

host the BRICS summit, whichis expected to be attended byPutin. This will be followed bytheSCOsummitonSeptember16-17,whenModiisonceagainexpected to encounter theRussian leader. ChinesePresident Xi Jinping is likely toattend both the summitswithhis country too emerging as akey player in Afghanistan be-causeofPakistan’sactiveroleinhelping theTaliban.TheMEAsaid the consulta-

tionsinvolvingtheRussianNSA“are a follow-up to the tele-phone conversation” between

Modi and Putin on August 24.“Thetwoleadershadexpressedthe view that itwas importantforthetwostrategicpartnerstowork together and instructedtheir senior officials to remainintouchonAfghanistan,”itsaid.On Friday, Putin had ex-

pressed hope that the Talibanwillbehaveina"civilised"man-ner in Afghanistan so that theglobal community canmain-taindiplomatictieswithKabul."Russia is not interested in thedisintegrationofAfghanistan.Ifthishappens,thentherewillbenoone to talk to,"Putin said.In Kabul, the Russian

Ambassador hadmetwith theTaliban several days after thetakeover and said Moscowwouldmaintain its embassy inthecountry.On August 30, the United

NationsSecurityCouncil,underIndia’spresidency,hadadopteda resolution that gave de factorecognition to the Taliban as astate actor in Afghanistan. Theresolutionwasadoptedwith13members, including India, vot-ing in favour andnone against.

ButRussiahadabstainedalongwithanotherotherpermanentand veto-wielding memberChina.Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s

envoy to the UN, had said theresolution wasn’t specificenoughaboutterrorthreats,didnot speak of the “brain drain”effectofevacuation,anddidnotaddress the economic and hu-manitarian consequences ofWashington freezing theAfghan government’s US ac-counts.On August 24, after the

Modi-Putincall,Russiasaidthatthey“expressedintentiontoen-hancecooperationoncounter-ingthedisseminationoftheter-rorist ideology and the drugthreatemanating fromthe ter-ritoryofAfghanistan”.Lateronthesameday,Doval

chaired a meeting of NSAs ofBRICS countries, where India“raised the issue of cross-bor-der terrorism and activities ofgroups such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammedwhich enjoy state support andthreatenpeaceandsecurity”.

Antilia scare: ‘Waze feared ID cardwas in SUV, came back to site’SADAFMODAK&MOHAMEDTHAVERMUMBAI, SEPTEMBER7

THE NATIONAL InvestigationAgency’s chargesheet in thebomb scare outside industrialistMukesh Ambani’s house ad-dresses a key question that hadpuzzledinvestigatorsprobingthecase:whydid themainaccused,dismissedMumbai Police APISachinWaze,returntothescenetwohoursafterallegedlyparkingan SUV therewith gelatin sticksandathreat letter inside?He allegedly feared he had

forgotten his police ID in theparkedvehicle, accordingto thestatementof aprosecutionwit-ness.The key witness is a Crime

Intelligence Unit colleague ofWazewhowas tailing the SUVdrivenbytheaccusedinanothervehicle and has since claimedthat hewasmisled into believ-ingitwasanofficialassignment.CCTVfootageshowsthatthe

SUVwas parked at 2.10 am onCarmichael Road in SouthMumbai outside the Ambaniresidence on February 25. Itshows a personwearing a longkurta,with a facemask, return-ing to the spot at 4.30 am andpeering inside theSUV.According to the statement,

the two leftWaze's residence inThaneinaScorpioandanInnovaaround 1.10 am. After crossingthe toll booth atMulund,Wazeswitched places with the col-league to drive the Innova inChembur. The statement saysthat when the colleague askedWazeabouttheirdestination,hewastoldthatitwasa“secret”CIUoperation.After they reached

CarmichaelRoad,thestatementsays,“WazesatintheScorpioforaround5minutesandthereafterhecameoutfromtheleftsideoftheScorpioandwalkedtowardstheInnovaparkedbymebehindtheScorpio”.When they started driving

back in the Innova and reached

Byculla,Wazetoldthecolleaguethat he could not find hisMumbaiPoliceidentitycard.“Heasked me to look for it in thedashboardoftheInnova.Butthecard could not be found,” thestatement read.At 3.40 am, when the duo

reachedWaze's residence, themainaccusedtoldthecolleaguetowaitwhilehesearchedforthecardinside.Wazesoonreturnedand told the colleague that hehadmostprobablyforgottenthecard in the Scorpio. Thechargesheet does not clarify ifWazeeventually foundthecardor not. However, statements ofBomb Detection and DisposalSquad (BDDS) and traffic policeofficials suggest thatWazewasanxious once the alarm wasraised. A traffic policeman saidhe had seen Waze in plainclothesaroundtheSUV,inspect-ingthevehicle,tryingtoopenitsdoors even as the security headof Antilia was saying that itshouldnotbe touched.According to the statements

of BDDS officials, the operationto detect and dispose of thethreat was conducted fromaround4pmtill 9pm.“While wewere inspecting

thevehicle,Wazewasconstantlycoming close to it.Hewas look-ing into the car and outside it.When the dog squad indicatedthepresenceof explosives, con-sideringthegravityof thesitua-tion,we asked himwhyhewascoming close to the suspectedvehicle and putting the lives ofour personnel in danger?" saysoneof thestatements.According to a statement by

another BDDS official, recordedbytheAnti-TerroristSquad(ATS)threedaysbeforeWaze's arrest,all the security personnel andothers stood at a fair distancefrom the SUV but Waze wascausing a "disturbance" in theiroperation. The NIA has also an-nexed statements of thosewhowereamongthefirst tospot theexplosives-ladenvehicle.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Kolkata


THELEFTFrontonTuesdayques-tioned the decision of theElection Commission to hold aby-poll inoneAssemblyseatonSeptember 30, and demandedthat by-elections also be con-ductedinfourotherconstituen-cies in the state at the earliest.Those four seats are Deganga(North 24 Parganas district),Khardah (North 24 Parganas),Santipur (Nadia), andDinhata(CoochBehar).On September 30, a by-poll

will be held in Bhabanipur inKolkata, where CM MamataBanerjee is the candidate. Shehastowintheelectiontoholdonto her position. Jangipur andSamserganjinMurshidabaddis-

trictwillalsovotethatdaysincethe elections therewere coun-termanded earlier this yearwhentherestofstatevoted.“Howcould the chief secre-

tarysurmiseinhissubmissiontothepoll panel that bynot elect-ingonepersonalitycouldleadtoa constitutional crisiswhen therulingpartyhas its ownmajor-ity to run the government?”asked the Front.With213 seatsin its bag, the TMC could havechosen its leader fromamongthe electedMLAs, the Left said,addingthattherulingparty’sleg-islators had failed to makethatchoice.TheLeftFrontannouncedits

supportforanall-IndiastrikeonSeptember27calledbyfarmers’groupss demanding the repealof threeagrarian lawspassed inParliamentlastyear.

ATRIMITRAKOLKATA,SEPTEMBER7

“BHABANIPURWANTSher owndaughter". This is oneof the slo-gans inpoll banners that startedcropping up across the con-stituencysoonafteraftertheoffi-cial announcement ofMamataBanerjeeastheTMCcandidateintheBhabanipurbypoll, slated forSeptember30.The TMC's student wing,

TrinamoolChhatra Parishad, hasalsolaunchedafull-fledgedcam-paignfortheirpartychiefandareputtinguppoll graffiti in severalpartsofBhabanipur.ATMCsupportersaid, “She is

our leader and the leader of ourstate...Wewant her towin by a

recordmargin.We, students forwhom Mamata Banerjee hasdone so much, will campaigndoor-to-door. She will winBhabanipur andwewant to see

herinDelhiin2024."Studentshavealsolinedupfor

various types of campaigns fortheir“didi”,includingstreetplaysandsongs.

According to TMC sources,Mamata Banerjeewill start hercampaign in Bhabanipur by ad-dressing a workers' meet atAhindraManchaonWednesday.SheislikelytofilehernominationpapersonFridayandtheparty ismaking plans accordingly. Itsdoor-to-door drivewould beginin around a week's time, thesourcesadded.On Monday, the Election

Commission of India publishedthenotification regardingbypollin three seats in West Bengal.Accordingly,thestategovernmentclosed "Duare Sarkar"(Government at doorstep)scheme inMurshidabaddistrictandBhabanipurconstituencyar-eas. Apart fromBhabanipur, by-pollwill beheld in Samshergunj

and Jangipur constituencies,whichareinMurshidabaddistrict.Mamata lost to the BJP's

SuvenduAdhikari inNandigramin theAssemblypolls earlier thisyear and needs to be elected asMLAwithinsixmonthstoremainintheChiefMinister'spost.Meanwhile, according toBJP

sources,theparty'sBengalunit is

unhappy with the ElectionCommission'sdecisiontoholdby-pollsinthestate.TheBJPwashop-ing that amid theCovid-19pan-demic situation, the poll panelmayconductthebypollsafter thesix-month period so Mamatawould have had to relinquishher seat and face majorembarrassment.

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2021

WESTBENGAL


Happy birthday to you

Udita Chandra (JUI).

Sd/- REGISTRAR

P.O.: EC Burla, Dist.: Sambalpur, Odisha-768018

VEERSURENDRASAIUNIVERSITYOFTECHNOLOGY,BURLA

Advt. No. VSSUT/CDCE/2055/2021 Date: 07.09.2021

ADMISSIONNOTICE

Ph. D Programme – 2021 under ADF (AICTE)

Applications are invited from eligible candidates (visit websiteof AICTE for detail) for Ph. D. programme-2021 under ADFscheme supported by AICTE to the Departments of (1) CivilEngg., (2) Electrical Engg., (3) Electronics and Tele-comm. Engg.,(4) Mechanical Engg. and (5) Production Engg. of VSSUT, Burla.Application forms can be downloaded from the University websiteand can get detail of information and important dates from thewebsite: www.vssut.ac.in . The last date of received ofapplication form is 25.09.2021.

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME

GREENDELHI

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT

6th Level, ‘C’Wing, Delhi SecretariatI.P.Estate, New Delhi-110002

KEY FEATURES

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

DIP/Shabdarth/D/0071/21-22

Letter No. BOB/ZOSARB/2021-22/ 761 Date: 06.08.2021M/s Mainak Rice Mill, Village / PO: Bhandardihi, PS / Dist. Purba Burdwan-713426Mr. Mihirkanti Hazra, Mrs. Mousumi Hazra, Mr. Samrat Hazra, Mr. Uday Chand Chowdhury (Director / Partner/ Proprietor/Borrower/ Guarantor),Mala Rani Chowdhury (Mala Rani Chowdhury),Dear Sir,Re: Declaration of your account M/s Mainak Rice Mill and its Directors/ Partners/ Proprietor/ Guarantors as Wilful Defaultersand Opportunity for Representation there against.We refer to our show cause notice no. BOB/ZOSARB/2021-22/682 dated 01.06.2021 for declaring M/s Mainak Rice Mill and itsdirectors / partners/proprietor/guarantors as wilful defaulters on the following grounds:The borrower has defaulted in meeting its payment / repayment obligations to the lender and has not utilised the finance from the lenderfor the specific purposes for which finance was availed of but has diverted the funds for other purposes.As you are aware that our branch had sent the show cause notice referred above by registered post/speed post/ courier on 02.06.2021,which you have received on 24.06.2021. Even after receipt of the above referred show cause notices, we have not received anyrepresentation or response from you.In the light of the aforesaid facts and circumstances and pursuing the documents on record the Committee of Executives on WilfulDefaulters (COE) of bank has decided to declare the Company / firm / borrower and its Directors / partners / proprietor / Guarantors as‘Wilful Defaulters’ on the grounds mentioned in the show cause notice, after concluding that in terms of RBI guidelines and to complyprinciples of natural justice, if you, desire, you may send your further submission / representation, if any, for consideration by the ReviewCommittee on Wilful Defaulters within 15 days from the date of receipt of this letter as to why your account and you be not classified byBank as a Wilful Defaulter. The Committee reserves the right to give or not to give the personal hearing to decide about classifying aswilful defaulter in case your submission is received.Please note that, in case your further submission / representation against the intention of Bank to declare you as a Wilful Defaulter is notreceived within -15- days from the date of receipt of this letter, it will be deemed that you have nothing to submit and the Bank willproceed further and classify your account as wilful defaulter. Bank reserves the Right to publish the name and photograph of WilfulDefaulter in News Paper and will initiate the necessary recovery action as per extant guidelines issued by Reserve Bank of India.This communication is issued as per the directions of the Committee of Executives on Wilful Defaulters (COE).This is for your information.Yours faithfully,Chief Manager

Village/PO: Bhandardihi, PS/Dist. Purba Burdwan-713426Village Kamarkita, PS/Dist. Purba Burdwan-713426

21A, Sadananda Road, 2nd Floor, Kolkata - 700 026Tel. No. 033-2419 6434/ 6224 / E-mail: [email protected]

ZONAL STRESSED ASSET RECOVERY BRANCH, KOLKATA


WESTBENGALBJPpresidentDilipGhoshonTuesdaymadeaU-turnfromhisstatementthedaybefore,sayinghis party isn’t opposed toinstitutions such as the ElectionCommission andwill announcethenameof its candidate for theBhabanipurAssemblybypoll inadayortwo.Bypolls for Bhabanipur and

twootherAssembly seats in thestatearetobeheldonSeptember30.OnMonday,thestateBJPchief

had criticised thepoll panel say-ingthattherewassomethingfishyin its bypoll announcement,claiming that the EC seems tohave taken the responsibility toensureMamataBanerjeeremainschiefminister.“TheElectionCommissionhas

decided to hold the bypolls onSeptember30.Wehadassumedthatitwouldbeheldlater.Butwemust abide by the EC order.Wedon’topposeindependentconsti-tutionalbodiesliketheEC,unlikethe Trinamool,” Ghosh said onTuesday.The ruling Trinamool

CongresshasalreadynamedChiefMinisterMamataBanerjee as itscandidate from her homeAssemblysegment.Shehastogetelected to the Assembly byNovember5tostayonasCM.OnMonday, Ghoshhad also

madeitclearthatBJPMLAandtheLeader of theOpposition in theAssembly,SuvenduAdhikariwillnotcontestfromBhabanipur.TheBJP,meanwhile,slammed

theMamata Banerjee govern-ment for suffering regular set-

backsincourt.In a jolt for the state govern-

ment,theCalcuttaHighCourt,lastmonth, ordered aCBI probe intoallegationsofpostpollviolence.OnMonday, it restrained the

statepolicefromtakinganycoer-cive action against SuvenduAdhikariincasesfiledagainsthim.The Trinamool, on Tuesday,moved the division bench chal-lengingtheorder.Takingadig at Trinamool all-

Indiageneral secretaryAbhishekBanerjee,whowasquestionedonMonday for aboutninehoursbytheEnforcementDirectorateinanalleged coal smuggling case,Ghosh said, “After his interroga-tion, he got angry and vowed todefeat the BJP everywhere.Weunderstandhisangerandfrustra-tion. He should remember thatthe Trinamool doesn’t have anypresenceoutsideWestBengal.Beit Tripura or elsewhere in thecountry, ithasnopresence.”AlsoonTuesday,aBJPdelega-

tion, led by state vice-presidentPratapBanerjeeandMPJyotirmoySinghMahato,lodgedacomplaintagainst Chief MinisterMamataBanerjeeforviolatingmodelcodeofconduct(MCC).Inalettertothestate’schiefelectoralofficer(CEO),thedelegationsaidthatBanerjeeviolatedtheMCCbyattendingagovernment programme atNetaji Indoor Stadium onTuesday and announcingcashdoles forDurgapuja com-mittees.According to theBJP, the in-

tentbehind theannouncementwastoinfluenceclubswhichplayanimportantrole intheelectoralprocess.TheyalsourgedtheECtotakestepsagainstherandstopherfromcontestingthebypoll.

BJP set to namecandidate in a dayor two: Dilip Ghosh

Left Front questions ECdecision to hold bypoll


CBI TEAMS on Tuesday con-ducted a search at TrinamoolleaderLalanGhosh’s residenceinBirbhumdistrictaspartof itsinvestigation intoanalleged in-cident of post-poll violence.Thesleuths tookawaya few

documents and phones fromhishouseatGopalnagarvillagein the Ilambazar police stationarea. The case in question per-tains to BJP worker GourabSarkar, who was allegedlydragged out of his house andbeaten to death after theAssemblypoll resultswerede-clared on May 2. His brotherwasalso injured inthe incident.Meanwhile, the DIG of the

state’sAnti-CorruptionBranch,Akhilesh Kumar Singh, arrivedin Delhi. He was vested withtheadditional responsibilityofsupervising the probe into al-leged post-poll violence in thestate.The agency held a meeting

in the national capital onTuesday to discuss develop-ments related to its investiga-tions into alleged post-poll vi-olence cases.According to sources, apart

from taking an update on theprogress of investigations, sofar, theCBIalsowantedtoknowif the officers probing the al-leged cases were facing anyhurdles in the job.Over the last eleven days,

the agency filed asmany as 34cases in alleged post-poll vio-lence incidents and even ar-resteda few. Ithasalready filedtwo chargesheets in two sepa-rate cases.

CBI searchesTMC leader’sresidence

POST-POLLVIOLENCE

BHABANIPURBYPOLL

WantMamata towin by recordmargin:TMC

TMCleaderSovandebChattopadhyaypaintsgraffiti insupportofCMMamataBanerjeeonTuesday.Express

Kolkata:Takingasternviewoftheharassmentfacedbyaretiredpri-mary school teacher to get hismonetaryduesforoverayearaf-ter his superannuation, theCalcuttaHighCourt on Tuesdayordered stoppage of salaries oftwoofficialsofDakshinDinajpurdistricteducationadministration.PetitionerDhrubajyotiSarkar,

aprimaryschoolteacherwhore-tiredinFebruary2020,prayedfor

releaseof allhispensionaryben-efits alongwith accrued interestof 18 per cent on delayedpayment.“Thesalaryofthechairmanof

theDPSC(DistrictPrimarySchoolCouncil), DakshinDinajpur andDistrict Inspector of Schools(Primary),DakshinDinajpurshallremain stoppeduntil further or-der,”JusticeAbhijitGangopadhyaydirected.PTI

HC stops salary of officials for delayin clearing school teacher’s pension

Kolkata

WESTBENGAL4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM


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ENGINEER, PHULBANI (R&B) CIRCLE, PHULBANIEmail: [email protected]

1ST Corrigendum to Invitation For Bids(IFB)/ Tender Call Notice Vide Bid

Identification No.SE-(R&B)-PLB-06/2021-22 vide No. 1129 dtd. 27.08.2021.

No - /163 //Dated 02.9.2021The following changes are made in respect of the above Bid Identification

No.SE-(R&B)-PLB-06/2021-22.

The other terms & conditions stipulated in the Original tender call notice vide

the above Bid Identification No. SE-(R&B)-PLB-06/2021-22 remain

unchanged.

Sd/-

Chief Construction Engineer

Phulbani (R&B) Circle, Phulbani

OIPR- 34129/11/0007/2122

B-375

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VfbdðX ´fÂfd¶fWfS IÈ d¿f d½fV½fd½fôf»f¹f, Àf¶füS IZ kkd½fÄff´f³f Àfa£¹ff-01/2020 dQ³ffaI 21.01.2020 Aa°f¦fÊ°fÀfWf¹fI ´fif²¹ff´fI -ÀfW-I ³fe¹f ½f`Äffd³fI ´fQ IZ Essential Qualification A³fb»f¦³fI -1ll Details of Discipline wise relevant subject/Degree required” ¸fZÔ orequivalent as evidenced by their research work ªfûOÞ I S ´fPÞf ªff¹fÜ A³¹fd½f½fS¯f ´fc½fÊ I e °fSW ¹f±ff½f°f SWZ¦feÜAf½fZQI d½fÀ°fÈ°f d½f½fS¯f d½fV½fd½fôf»f¹f IZ website (www.bausabour.ac.in) ´fSdQ³ffaI 18.09.2021 ÀfZ QZ£f ÀfI °fZ W`ÔÜi. The last date for submission of online

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Online tenders are invited by the Superintending Engineer (AM) Guntur from the

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INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERscoming from seven countrieswill have toundergoRT-PCR forCovid on arrival in India, irre-spective of negative Covid testreportbeforeboardingorvacci-nation status, as per a Unionhealth ministry directive. Themove is on the lines of similarnorms in place for passengersfrom/transiting through theUKorBrazil.Thenewlyaddedcoun-triesareNewZealand,Mauritius,

Zimbabwe, Botswana, China,BangladeshandSouthAfrica.A meeting was held in

SwasthaBhabantodaytodecidethe new protocols for interna-tional travellers.The Covid testing will be a

paid service at the airport itself,or the passenger(s) would be

sent to CNCI for testing, if freeservice is sought.The Covid-19 toll in West

Bengalroseto18,522onTuesdaywith7morepeoplesuccumbingtothedisease,abulletinreleasedby the state health departmentsaid.With601freshcasesof infec-

tionregisteredindifferentpartsof the state, the tallywentup to15,53,177, it said.The discharge rate inWest

Bengal rose to 98.27 per centwith 687more people recover-ing from the disease in the last24hours.

The percentage of positivecases out of the samples testedstoodat1.67percent, it said.The number of active cases

went down to 8387 from 8480onMonday.Atotalof1,15,26,268patients

have recuperated from the dis-ease thus far. Of the 7 deathsrecorded on Tuesday, NadiaHooghlyandNorth24Paraganasrecorded two deaths whileSouth 24 Paraganas recorded 1death, thebulletin said.Asmany as 17,27,2409 sam-

pleshavebeentestedinthestateso far, thebulletin said.

RT-PCR test now must for passengersarriving from seven more countries

WestBengalon

Tuesdayrecorded 601

freshCovidcasesand

sevenmoredeaths

Kolkata

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Kachharipara, Sarat Biswas Road (Near LIC), BasirhatDist. North 24 Parganas, West Bengal-743411

Date : 07.09.2021Place: Basirhat

Authorised OfficerBank of Baroda

Description of the Mortgage Immovable Property

Whereas The undersigned being the authorized Officer of the Bank of Baroda under theSecuritization and Reconstruction of Financial assets and Enforcement of SecurityInterest Act, 2002 (54 of 2002) and in exercise of the powers conferred under section13(12) read with the rule 3 of the Security Interest(Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued ademand notice dated 05-04-2021 calling upon the borrower A/c. M/s. New Parbati GlassFittings, Prop. Sri Kamalesh Das, at Gopal Chandra Dutta Road, Sainpala, Near AsitMajumder House, P.S. Basirhat, District – North 24 Parganas - 743411, Guarantor-cum-mortgager: Smt. Kakali Das, W/o.Sri Kamalesh Das at Gopal Chandra DuttaRoad, Sainpala, Near Asit Majumder House, P.S. Basirhat, District – North 24Parganas-743411 (A/c. Nos. 34860500000024 & 34860600001072) to repay theamount as mentioned in the notice being Rs.39,90,751.25 (Rupees Thirty Nine LakhNinety Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty One & Paisa Twenty Five only) as on31-03-2021 plus interest within 60 day(s) form the date of receipt of the said notice.The borrower having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to theBorrower/Guarantor and the public in general that the undersigned has taken Possessionof the property described herein below in exercise of powers conferred on him / her undersection 13(4) of the said Act, read with rule 8 of the said Rules on this the 7th day ofSeptember of the Year 2021.The Borrower / Guarantor in particular and the public in general is hereby cautioned not todeal with the property and any dealings with the property will be subject to the charge oftheBank of Baroda, Basirhat Branch, for an amount of Rs.39,90,751.25 (Rupees ThirtyNine Lakh Ninety Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty One & Paisa Twenty Five only) andfurther interest, incidental expenses, costs & charges etc. thereon.The borrower’s attention is invited to provisions of sub-section (8) of section13 of the Act,in respect of time available, to redeem the secured assets.

All that piece & parcel of land & building measuring an area 6 Decimal more or less,at Mouza – Basirhat, J.L. No. 43, Touza No. 850, C.S. Khatian No. 2170, R.S.Khatian No. 3344, Own Khatian No. 9170/1, R.S. & L.R. Dag No. 3704 situated atBasirhat, Ward No. 8 under Basirhat Municipality, P.O. & P.S. Basirhat, District –North 24 Parganas. Being Deed No. I – 7494 for the year 2015. A.D.S.R.O.Basirhat.Property stands in the name of Smt. Kakali Das, W/o. Sri Kamalesh Das.The property is butted and bounded by:- North by: Gopal Chandra Dutta Road,South by: Property of Bimal Ghosh, East by: Property of Bijay Ray & ors, West by:Property of Gurucharan Ghosh.

POSSESSION NOTICE

Appendix IV, Rule 8(1)

(for Immovable Property/ies)

Avani Heights (1st Floor)59A, Chowringhee Road, Kolkata - 700 020

Notice is hereby given to the under noted Locker Hirers that as you have defaulted inpayment of the Locker rental despite our reminders and notices it has been decided by theBank to break open the lockers on the date mentioned below.You are hereby requested to pay your due rent before above mentioned date, otherwisenotified to be present on that day, time and venue. If you fail to be present at the branch onthat day and time as stated, the locker will be opened in usual manner without yourpresence as per Bank's norms at your risk and responsibilities.

Sr.No.

Name & Address of LockerHolders including Joint Holders

AM 04-03-2017/

OverdueSince Date/

Overdue RentAmount

LockerType

LockerNo.

2086

LOCKER BREAK OPEN NOTICE

1.

REGIONAL OFFICE: KMR 2

SHIVAJI BASU RAY,10/B MUKHERJEE PARA LANE CAL 26

CHARU MARKET BRANCH: 2 Russa Road (East), 2nd Lane, (Chinmoy

Chattopadhyay Sarani), Kolkata 700033, Break open time:14.09.2021 at 11:00 A.M

Rs.17995/-

1554 MADURDAHA,P.O-EKTP,KOLKATACM 05.04.2018 /11272. A 2 SERVICES

Rs.25488/-

Date: 08.09.2021, Place: Kolkata Branch Manager, Bank of Baroda


AWOMANand her 13-year-oldsonwerefoundmurderedintheirflat in the Parnasree locality insouth Kolkata’s Behala area onMondaynight, the police said onTuesday, adding that theywerequestioning the woman’shusband.Officials said SusmitaMondal

(47) andher sonTamojitMondal,aClass8studentataprivateschool,were found with their throatsslashed. Thepolice said theyhadregisteredamurdercase,andsentthe bodies for autopsy. Susmita’shusbandTapanMondal, a privatebankemployee,wasdetained forquestioning after her father ac-cusedhimofthemurders.“Theincidenttookplaceinaflat

onthesecondfloorofastandalonebuildingonGopalMishraRoad inthe Parnasreepolice station area.The victims were taken toVidyasagarStateGeneralHospitalwheretheyweredeclareddead.Acase has been registered atParnasreepolicestationundersec-tions302(murder),394(voluntar-ilycausinghurtincommittingrob-bery)and34(actsdonebyseveralpersonsinfurtheranceofcommonintention) of the Indian PenalCode.,”saidanofficer.A forensic teamvisitedtheflat

andcollectedsamples.Primafacie,thepolicesuspectthatthevictimsknew the killer as therewere novisible signsof forcedentry in theflat. The forensic team also col-lectedsamplesfromthebathroomas it is suspected that bloodstainswere scrubbedoff fromthe sceneofcrime.Thepolice said Tapanwas the

firstpersonat thecrimescene.Hetold the police that on returningfromworkaround8.30pm,hesawthat the door of his second-floorapartment was closed but notlocked from inside. Sensing trou-ble,hereportedlyraisedanalarm.While he claimed to have nottouched the bodies or tamperedwith the crime scene, the policesaid they found bloodstains on aringofhisthatisnowbeingexam-ined.The police said they were

alerted about thedoublemurderlateMondaynight through a callon the100emergencynumber. Alocalpoliceteamrushedtothespotand found Susmita’s 69-year-oldfather Rupam Kumar Chattarajwhoallegedthathisdaughterandgrandsonhadbeenmurderedbyhisson-in-law.LocalTrinamoolMLAandstate

ministerParthaChatterjee assuredaswiftprobe.“Ihavespokentothepoliceandaskedthemtoconducta swift and fair investigation intothecase,”hesaid.

PARTHAPAULKOLKATA,SEPTEMBER7

THEDOORS of schools inWestBengal are still closeddue to theCovid-19pandemicbuttherearesomeopen spaces that havebe-come centres of learning in andaroundKolkata.Thriceaweek, inthreediffer-

ent batches, a group of 10 to 12studentsgatheronabylaneintheDhakuria area, adjacent to Lakepolice station in south Kolkata.The students, mostly aged be-tween3 to 12 years, are greetedwarmly by their teacher PiyaliBiswas as they arrive for theirclasses.Ensuringthatthechildrenaremaskedupandmaintainingsocial distance, shegets down towork.Herclasses,spanningthreehours, coverarangeof subjects¬frombasic alphabets andnum-berstosketchingandpainting.“The students come from a

verypoorbackground.Theyshowexemplary focus and concentra-tionwhile learning their lessons.Whatweare trying todo is pro-vide learningsupport to themsothat they can joinmainstreamschoolswhen the situation im-proves,”Piyalisaid.However, these learning

spaces do not comewith chairsand tables as the children areseatedonplastic rugs,with theirschool bags by their sides.Occasionally, when it rains, thestudentsandteachersruntotakecoveratanearbyshelter.The initiative is a part of

KolkataPolice’s‘NabaDisha’(NewDirection) programmeaspart of

whichseveralNGOsareengagedinimpartingeducationtochildrenbelonging tomarginalised sec-tionsof the society. The teachershavebeenrecruitedbytheNGOs.The project was started in

1999withanaimtoaddress lackofeducation,lackofasupportsys-tem in the form of coachingclasses andpropernutritionandrecreational facilities forchildrenfromslumsandcolonies.Piyalisaiditwouldbereward-

ingforhertoseemostofherstu-dents emerge fromthe shadowsof illiteracy on September 8,which is observed as WorldLiteracyDay.Theteachersandvol-unteersattheselearningfacilitiessaid that the parents ofmost ofthese children are daily wageearners or domestic helpswhocannot afford smartphones forchildrentoaccessvirtuallearning.Atanotherunnamedfacilityin

Rajarhat’s Kashinathpur village,whichcomeswithintheambitofPatharghata gram panchayat,

BikashMukherjee teaches stu-dents in an open field under ashed covered with asbestossheets. “At least ten of our stu-dents are enrolled in state-runschools.However, as the schoolsare closed, they come here tocatchupontheirlessons,”Bikashsaid.Like Piyali, Bikash said that

mostofhisstudentscannotafforddevicestologinforonlineclasses.Topreventcrowding,the48-year-oldrepresentativeof a localNGOhasmadearrangementsforthemtocomeinsmallbatches.Heholdsthree classes everyweek, witheach group comprising 20 stu-dents. “I hope the childrengoonto achieve full literacy. Once theschoolsreopen, thoseenrolledinthem should not feel that theylagged behind as their parentscouldnot afford a smartphone,”Bikash said, emphasising on theimportanceofliteracyandeduca-tion among the most margin-alisedsectionsof thesociety.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAKOLKATA,SEPTEMBER7

THEWEST Bengal governmentonTuesdayfiledanappealintheCalcutta High Court against anorder of a single bench that di-rected the police not to take co-ercive action against BJP MLASuvenduAdhikari inthreecrim-inalcases.A state government lawyer

mentioned thematter before adivision bench presided byJustice Subrata Talukdar. Thestate’s appealmay be listed forhearing before the bench onWednesday, said a lawyer asso-ciatedwiththematter.On Monday, Justice

RajasekharMantha stayed pro-ceedings against Adhikari, theLeader of the Opposition in thestateAssembly,inthreecases,in-cluding one filed in Kanthi inPurbaMedinipur district on thealleged suicide of one of hisbodyguards in 2018. Two of theother caseswere registered thisyear—onefiledinMarchincon-nectionwith a political clash inNandigram (also in PurbaMedinipur), and thesecondoneregistered inKanthi in June.TheHighCourtpassedtheor-

derafterSuvenduapproacheditseeking relief frompolice probein six FIRs registered in four po-licestationsacrossthestate.The

BJP legislator, who has beennamed in three of those cases,petitionedthecourttoeitherdis-missthecasesorhandthemoverto the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI). He allegedthatallthecaseswerepoliticallymotivated, and added that hedoesnot trust thestatepolice.Directing theWest Bengal

governmentto furnish informa-tionregardingfurtherFIRsregis-tered against Adhikari, the sin-gle-judge bench said the statewouldhavetoobtainthecourt’spermission before arresting theBJPMLA or taking any coerciveactionagainsthim.Justice Mantha directed

Adhikari to cooperatewith theinvestigatingofficers in connec-tionwithtwocasesinwhichtheinvestigationwill continue. Thejudgemade it clear that the in-vestigatorswould,asfaraspossi-ble,accommodateAdhikari,ifhewas required to give any state-ment,fromaplaceandtimecon-venient to him, considering hispublicresponsibilities.Hepostedthematter for hearing after sixweeks.

TMC govt appeals againstHC order granting reliefto Suvendu Adhikari

LeaderofOppositionSuvenduAdhikari


A MAN from Karnataka’sDakshina Kannada district hasbeenarrestedbyKolkataPolicefor allegedly using the pictureof a 24-year-old woman on adating website without herconsent.The police arrested Sanjay

Ballery of the village ofNoojibalthila in Mangalore onMonday. “OneSanjayBalleryofNoojibalthila, Puttur taluka,DakshinaKannadadistrict, hasbeenarrested,andwasbroughtto Kolkata on transit remand,”anofficial said onTuesday.The Kolkata Police said the

complainant,amedicalstudent,approacheditsofficialsaftersherecently started receiving vul-gar phone calls at night. Soon,thewoman came to know thata profilewith her name, photo,and phone number had beencreated on the dating website.Shethenapproachedthepoliceand filed the complaint.ThepolicetrackedtheIPad-

dress of the accused, and alsofiled a case under IPC sections292 (sale of obscene object),500 (defamation), 506 (crimi-nal intimidation),507(criminalintimidation by anonymouscommunication), 509 (word,gesture, act intended to insultthemodestyof awoman).Afterbeing arrested, Ballery wastaken to a local court inKarnataka that granted thepolice transit remand.

‘Karnataka manheld for creatingwoman’s profileon dating sitewithout consent’

BRIDGINGDIGITALDIVIDE

Woman andteenage sonfound dead

For young learners, openspaces turn into schools

Aclass inprogress intheDhakuriaarea,adjacent toLakepolicestation, insouthKolkataonTuesday. ParthaPaul

HUSBANDDETAINED

Kolkata

Comparedtooriginalstrain,Deltais8timesmorelikelytoinfectthosevaccinated,and6timesmorelikelytore-infectthoserecovered,findsstudybasedondatafromIndia.Yet,vaccinesareimportant,expertsstress.

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

TOTALVACCINATED IN INDIA (at least one dose)

53,47,15,823

DOSESONSEPT6:1,15,21,014

SEPT5: 28,72,241 (1STDOSE:18,34,867;2ND:10,37,374)

■Firstdose ■Seconddose

COVISHIELD

87.9%COVAXIN

12%TOTALDOSES

69,90,62,776

(Sputnik V’s 7,92,544dosesnot represented in pie)

INDIAACTIVECASES 3,92,864

INDIATOTALCASES3,30,58,843Source:Ministry of Health& FamilyWelfare, updated at 11 pmonSeptember 7

Aug28 Sept6LAST 10 DAYS (daily)

7


@ieExplained

#ExpressExplained

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

explained, pleasewrite to [email protected]

NIHALKOSHIENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

WHEN GERMANY'S Markus Rehmwongold in the long jumpwith 8.18metres atthe Tokyo Paralympics last week, he wasdisappointed.Rehm,goingbythemoniker‘Blade Jumper’, waswell short of his paraworld recordof 8.62mset in June.AmericanMikePowell'sworldrecordof

8.95m and his compatriot Bob Beamon'sOlympicrecordof8.90marestillsomedis-tanceaway forRehm.Yethispersonalbestis still good enough for gold at everyOlympic Games since 1992. But the 33-year-oldhasbeenstoppedfromcompetingat two Olympic Games. He takes off withhisrightprostheticleg,whichisdeemedtogive him an advantage, although his leg isamputatedbelowtheknee.

Bettering able-bodied jumpersIn the final (T64 class), Rehm jumped

83cm more than the silver medallist,France's Dimitri Pavade. Yet it is the com-parisonwith able-bodied Olympic cham-pions thatmakeshisefforts standout.His best jump of 8.18m at the

Paralympicswouldhaveplacedhim joint-fourthat theTokyoOlympics.In June, at the Para Athletics European

ChampionshipsinBydgoszcz,Poland,hesettheworld recordof 8.62m.Thiswasbetter

thangoldmedalwinnersof thepast sevenOlympics: Miltiadis Tentoglou (8.41m,Tokyo), Jeff Henderson (8.38m, Rio); GregRutherford(8.31m;London);Irvin Saladino(8.34m, Beijing); Dwight Phillips (8.59m,Athens);IvanPedroso(8.55m,Sydney);CarlLewis (8.29m; Atlanta). However, Rehm'sbidtocompete intheOlympicsGameshassufferedsetbacks in thepast.

NoOlympic entryIn 2014, the German Athletics

Federation (DLV) excludedRehmfromthesquad for the European AthleticsChampionships in Zurich althoughhehadwonthe long jump(8.24m)at thenationalchampionships. DLV president ClemensProkopsaidbackthenthatthedecisionfol-lowedbiometricmeasurementsdoneatthenationals in Ulm,which showed the pros-thesismaygivehimanunfairadvantagebe-causeof a ‘catapult effect’.“There is significant doubt that jumps

withalegprosthesisandanatural jointarecomparable,"Prokopwasquotedassayingby theAssociatedPress.Two years later, he could not compete

intheRioOlympicsafterastudytofindoutif his prosthetic blade gave him an advan-tagewas inconclusive.One of the researchers, Professor

Wolfgang Potthast of the Institute ofBiomechanics and Orthopaedics at theGermanSportUniversityCologne, said the

prosthesis gave Rehm a less efficient starton the runwaybutamoreefficient jump.“We saw disadvantages in the run-up

forathleteswithamputationsof the lowerthighthatwecoulddeterminewereduetothe prosthesis. But in themovement tech-

niques, we noted an advantage due to theimproved jump efficiency. These are twocompletelydifferentmovements andcan-not be offset," Reuters quoted Potthast assaying.JustbeforetheOlympics,Rehmdecided

tojoinaWorldAthletics(thencalledIAAF)workinggrouptostudytheuseofprosthe-sesandputasidehisattempttoparticipateagainstable-bodiedathletesattheGames.Hewasalsounable toparticipateat the

TokyoOlympicsbecauseofanexistingrule

ofWorldAthletics.

World Athletics ruleTheamendedRule6.3.4dealswithme-

chanical aids that are considered assis-tance. "Theuseof anymechanical aid, un-lessonthebalanceofprobabilities, theuseof an aidwould not provide themwith anoverallcompetitiveadvantageoveranath-letenotusingsuchaid."Theearlierruleputtheburdenofproofonanathlete,butitwasremoved in the amended rules followingcriticism by the Court of Arbitration forSport.

Different kinds of bladesRehm,who competes in the 100m, the

4x100m relay and long jump, uses differ-entkindsof blades.The three-time Paralympics goldwin-

ner in the long jumpwears a carbon fibreblade prosthesis after awakeboarding ac-cidentwhenhewasa teenager.The stiffness of the blade he uses for

sprints is less than that of the oneused forjumping. He told the sportsmedical jour-nal Aspetar: “The jump take-off requiresmore stiffness. If you tried to jump off asprintbladeitwouldflextoomuchandcol-lapse. Jumping is always a compromisethough,becauseyouneed tobe faston therun-upandtotakeoffwell,soyoumustfinda compromise between the different stiff-nessneeded for the twoparts.”

Note:TheSept6 figures in thesegraphsarebasedonthegovernmentupdatesonSept7

ANURADHAMASCARENHASPUNE,SEPTEMBER7

INApossibleexplanationfortherapidspreadof the Delta variant of SARS-CoV2 virus, astudy published in the journalNature hasfoundthisparticularvariant tohaveamuchhigherability to infect, andtoevade the im-muneresponsegainedthroughpreviousin-fectionsorvaccines.TheDeltavariant,ortheB.1.617.2lineage,

firstdiscoveredinMaharashtra, isdominantnot just in India but also in several othercountries. According to theWorld HealthOrganization, theDeltavariant isnowpres-ent inat least170countries.TheNaturestudy,carriedoutbyaninter-

nationalteamofresearchersincludingfromseveral Indian institutions, is based on datacollected from India till the end of May. Itsresultswere first reported in Junewhenthepre-printversionwasmadeavailable,beforepeer review.

Whatarethekeyfindings?The study found that the Delta variant

was6 times less sensitive to serumneutral-isingantibodiesfromrecoveredindividuals,and8timeslesssensitivetovaccine-inducedantibodiescomparedtotheoriginalWuhanstrainof thevirus.Inotherwords,comparedtotheoriginal

virus, the Delta variant was 8 timesmorelikely to cause breakthrough infectionsamongvaccinatedpeople,and6timesmorelikelytore-infectpeoplewhohaverecoveredfromprevious infections. Thevaccines con-sidered for the studywere thosedevelopedby AstraZeneca and Oxford University, andPfizerandBioNTech.Additionally,thestudyreportedahigher

“replicationandspikemediatedentry”intheDelta variant,meaning it hadagreater abil-ity to infect andmultiplywithin thehumanbody, compared to theB.1.617.1 lineage.The study also looked at 130 cases of

breakthrough infections among fully vacci-natedhealthcareworkersatthreeDelhihos-pitals, and foundreducedvaccineeffective-

nessagainst theDeltavariant.“Theresultsof thestudyshowthatDelta

variant does spread faster and reduces pro-tection gained from previous infections orvaccines,” said Anurag Agrawal, director oftheDelhi-basedCSIR-InstituteofGenomicsandIntegrativeBiology,andajointauthorofthestudy.“However,thegoodnewsisthatvaccina-

tiondoesleadtoreducedseverityof thedis-ease,andsodoespreviousinfection,”hesaid.

Whatotherevidence isavailableontheeffectivenessof vaccinesagainstDelta?Recently,theWorldHealthOrganization

citedfourstudies—twointheUnitedStates,one in theUK, and the other one inQatar—thathavepresentedsimilarevidence for re-duced effectiveness of vaccines against theDeltavariant.The UK study, for example, showed re-

ducedeffectivenessof theAstraZenecavac-cine in aperiodwhen theDelta variantwasthemostdominantinthecountry,comparedto when the Alpha variant was dominantthere.

Howimportantarevaccines, then?Vineeta Bal, an immunologist with the

Indian Institute of Science Education andResearch(IISER)inPune,pointedoutthatthestudymustnotleadpeopletobelievethatvac-cineswerenotuseful.ShepointedoutthattheNaturestudywascarriedoutoninvitrosam-ples, inalaboratoryenvironment.“Alldataemergingfrominvitrostudiesare

surrogateevaluations in lieuofwhatactuallyhappensinsidethebody.Thelimitationisthatneutralisingantibodies(whichweretestedinthe study) donot provide the entire answer.Immuneprotection isofferedbyneutralisingantibodies aswell as the T-cell responses. Invaccinatedorpreviouslyinfectedindividuals,bothantibodiesandT-cellscontributetopro-tection. This studydoes not showdata onT-cells, thus leaving amajor componentof im-muneresponseoutofconsideration,”shesaid.Bal said the results of the studywerenot

surprising,however.“Currently, themajorityof infectionsare

being caused by Delta variant, and it is nosurprisethatitisthecommonestvirusfoundinre-infectioncasesorincasespostvaccina-

tion,” shesaid.“Novaccinationprovides100%protection.

Breakthroughinfectionsarenotunusualorun-heardof.However,theincidenceofseveredis-ease,andhospitalisationwouldbesignificantlylowerthanin thevaccinatedgroupscomparedto theunvaccinated, or uninfected, groups,”shesaid.Anu Raghunathan, a scientist at the

NationalChemicalLaboratoryinPune,saidthestudysimplymeansthatlargeramountsofan-tibodieswouldberequiredtoblocktheDeltavariant.“Vaccinesarestilleffective.TheDeltavari-

antisjustlesssensitivetoneutralisingantibod-ies. Itmeansthatitwouldrequirefivetoeighttimesmoreantibodiestoelicit thesamekindimmuneresponseasagainsttheoriginalvirusduring the firstwave toblock theDelta vari-ant,”shesaid.

Whatisthewayforwardindealingwithnewervariants?TheoriginalWuhanvirusmutatedintothe

successivelymore dangerous Alpha, Beta,KappaandDeltavariants.Theviruswill likelycontinue tomutate intonewer forms. But allmutationsneednotnecessarilymeantheyaremoreharmful.Expertssaytheonlyeffectivewaytoslow

downtheemergenceofnewvariants istore-duce the spreadof infections throughmeas-ures likevaccination,orobservanceofCovid-appropriatebehaviour.“Like this study, there is a criticalneed for

continuoussurveillanceoftheeffectivenessofantibody response against newvariants, andto keep assessingwhether booster vaccinedosesarerequired,orwhethervaccinesthem-selvesneed tobeupdated. Simultaneously, agenomicsurveillanceofnewvariantshastobecontinued,”Raghunathansaid.“Thiswillhelpusinimprovingourvaccines

andproducingnewer,moreeffectiveones. Inthecurrentcontext,itispossiblethatwemightrequire additional booster shots of vaccines.Additionally,wemustensurethatwhennewerandmoreeffectivevaccinesarrivethemarket,theyaremadeaccessibletoeveryoneataquickpace,”shesaid.

SIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

E EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2021

4,50,000

2,25,000

0

3,92,8643,68,558

NANOENGINEERS HAVE developedCovid-19 vaccine candidates fromplantsorbacteria.Theyarealsofridge-free—theydonotneedtobe stored at extremelylow temperatures. Thevaccines are still in theearly stage of develop-ment, the University ofCalifornia,SanDiegosaidinapress release.In mice, the vaccine

candidatestriggeredhighproduction of neutralis-ing antibodies againstSARS-CoV-2, the re-searchers have reported in a paperpublished in the Journal of theAmericanChemical Society.

The researchers created two vac-cine candidates. One ismade from aplant virus, called cowpea mosaic

virus. The other is madefrom a bacterial virus, orbacteriophage, called Qbeta.Theresearchersusedcowpea plants and E colibacteria to growmillionsofcopiesof theplantvirusand bacteriophage, re-spectively, in the form ofball-shaped nanoparti-cles. The researchers har-vested these nanoparti-cles and then attached a

small piece of the SARS-CoV-2 spikeprotein to thesurface.

Source:UC, SanDiego

Aug28 Sept6LAST 10 DAYS

53,35,740

Fridge-free vaccine candidatesmade from plants & bacteria

PAPER

CLIPNEWRESEARCH

How vaccines fare with Delta

In June, at the ParaAthletics EuropeanChampionships in

Bydgoszcz, Poland, Germany’sMarkusRehm set the world record of

8.62metres. This was better than goldmedal winners of the past

sevenOlympics. A better jump towin gold at the SummerGameswas

last recorded in 1992 at Barcelona byCarl Lewis (8.67metres).

REHM VS OLYMP IC GAMES WINNERS

8.95m

MPowellWorld

record

8.59m

DPhillipsAthens,

2004

8.41m

MTentoglouTokyo,

2020

8.34m

I SaladinoBeijing,

2008

8.50m

CLewisAtlanta,

1996

8.62m

MRehmPara record

8.55m

IPedrosoSydney,2000

8.38m

JHendersonRio,2016

8.31m

GRutherfordLondon,2012

9m8m

83,34,026

31,86,988

15,05,944

1,20,00,000

60,00,000

0

THISWORDMEANS: POLLENCALENDAR

PARULCHANDIGARH,SEPTEMBER7

BY STUDYING airborne pollen and its sea-sonal variations for about two years, re-searchersfromthePostGraduateInstituteofMedical Education and Research (PGIMER)andPanjabUniversity have created apollencalendar for Chandigarh. The calendar, pre-paredasanefforttopreventpollen-bornedis-ease, isdescribedinastudypublishedinthejournalAtmosphericEnvironment.Dr Ravindra Khaiwal, Additional

Professor of Environmental Health,Department of CommunityMedicine andSchoolofPublicHealth,PGIMER,theleadin-vestigator of the study, spoke to The IndianExpress to explain the pollen calendar andits role. Excerpts fromthe interview:

What isapollencalendar?Pollen calendars represent the time dy-

namics of airborne pollen present in a par-ticulargeographical area. Theyyield readilyaccessible visual details about various air-bornepollenpresentthroughouttheyearinasinglepicture.Although the concept is not essentially

new,thismajorenvironmentalconcernhadnotbeenaddressedforIndiancities.Europe,theUKand theUSareusing regional pollencalendars to prevent and diagnose allergicrhinitis/hayfeverandpredictthetimingandseverityof thepollenseason.

Whyis it importanttostudypollen?Pollengrainsaremalebiologicalstructures

withtheprimaryroleoffertilisation,butwheninhaledbyhumans,theymaystraintherespi-ratorysystemandcauseallergies.Pollensus-pended in the air can causewidespreadup-perrespiratorytractandnasobronchialallergywithmanifestationssuchasasthma,seasonalrhinitis,andbronchial irritation.About 20-30% of the population suffers

fromallergic rhinitis/hay fever in India, andapproximately15%developasthma.Pollen is considered a major outdoor

airborne allergen responsible for allergicrhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis inhumans.

Howwillapollencalendarbenefitpeople?Thestudyhighlightsthevariabilityofcru-

cialpollentypes indifferentseasons.Springandautumnaretwoseasonswhenairbornepollendominates.The findings will enhance the under-

standing of pollen seasons. A pollen calen-darprovidesaclearunderstandingforclini-cians, as well as people with allergies toidentify the potential allergy triggers andhelp to limit their exposure during highpollen loadseason.Earlyadvisoriescanbepreparedanddis-

seminatedthroughmediachannelstocitizenssothattheycanuseprotectivegearduringthe

periodwhen the concentration of allergicpollenishigh.Peoplecanaccessthepollencal-endarthroughtheCare4CleanAirwebsite.

Whatcanbedonetoreducesuchallergens?It is important to involve experts while

designing parks. We should try to planttrees/shrubs that release no or little pollen.Trees such as palms, nettle, safeda, whitemulberry (shahtoot), congress grass, pine,haveahigh incidenceof pollen.Plantmonoecious plants (male and fe-

male flowers on the same plant). Hibiscus,lily and holly are examples of such plants.Cucumbers and squashes are alsomonoe-cious. Select plants with low tomoderatepollenproduction.Non-allergic or entomophilous plant

speciesshouldbechosentoprovideanaller-gen-free atmosphere. Examples of suchplants include rose, jasmine, salvia,bougainvillea, raatki raniandsunflower.

Tracking airborne pollen to prevent allergy

Why ‘Blade Jumper’ outdoesOlympicwinners but can’t competewith them

Germany'sMarkusRehmtakesoff inthe long jump intheParalympicGames inTokyo.OISviaAP

VaccinationatNairHospital,Mumbai.Expertshavestressedthat thestudymustnot leadpeople tobelievevaccinesarenotuseful. PTI

Kolkata

8


MAPPING DISTRESSLabourForceSurveydataunderlinescontinuingstraininlabour

market, lackof jobcreationinnon-agrisectors

THEPERIODICLABOURForceSurvey(2019-20)pointstowardsthesteadybuild

upofdistressinthelabourmarketinIndia.AsthesurveypertainstotheJuly2019

toJune2020period,itcapturesboththeeconomicslowdownpriortoCovid,and

theperiodafterthenationallockdownwasimposedtorestrictthespreadofthe

pandemic.Thesurveydatashowsanincreaseinthelabourforceparticipationinagriculture

duringthisperiod.This,assomehaveargued, impliesthatduringthisperiodofstress,agri-

culture emergedas an “employer of last resort”. Equally significant is thatmuchof the in-

creaseinthewomen’s labourforceparticipationrecordedbythesurveyduringthisperiod

wasinthecategoryofunpaidfamilyworkers,andnotinmoreproductiveformsofemploy-

ment.Theseareworryingdevelopments.

ThePLFSdatashowsthattheshareofthelabourforceengagedinagricultureroseto45.6

percent in2019-20,upfrom42.5percent in2018-19—anabruptreversalof thedecades-

longdeclineinthelabourforceparticipationinagriculture.Thissuggeststhatthemovement

of labour out of agriculture,whichhadgatheredpacepost 2004-05, seems tohavebeen

stymiedbytheeconomicslowdown.Thereversemigrationof labourfromcitiestovillages

wouldhaveonlyincreasedthepressureonagriculturetoabsorbtheworkers.Theriseinthe

femalelabourforceparticipationisalsoproblematic.Undernormalcircumstances,consid-

ering the lowratesof female labour forceparticipation in India— forwomenaged15and

aboveitstoodat24.5percentin2018-19—ariseinparticipationwouldbeapositivedevel-

opment.However,muchoftheincreaseobservedin2019-20wasintheformofunpaidfam-

ilywork.Infact,accordingtothesurvey,theemploymentrateforunpaidworkersinhouse-

holdenterprisesinruralandurbanareasincreasedto15.9percentin2019-20,from13.3per

centin2018-19.Inthecaseof femaleworkers, it increasedfrom30.9percentto35percent

overtheperiod.This,assomeeconomistshavesaid,isindicativeofrisingunderemployment.

In themonths thereafter, as Covid infections ebbedand flowed, andas restrictions on

economicactivitieshavebeentightenedandloosenedinresponse, theemploymentsitua-

tionchangedaccordingly.However,dataonworkdemandedbyhouseholdsunderMGNREGA

indicatesthatthestressinthelabourmarketremainshigherthaninpre-Covidtimes.What

thesenumbersalsoreflectisthefailureoftheeconomyinnotbeingabletocreateenoughnon-

agriculturaljobs(eveninpre-Covidtimes)toabsorbboththoseshiftingoutofagriculture,and

themillionsenteringthelabourforceeachyear.Worryingly,eventhejobsthatarebeingcre-

atedtendtobelargelyinformalinnature.

NOT ENOUGH RAIN

Agricultureactedasshock-absorber foreconomy,especially

post-Covid lockdown. Itmaynotplaythatroleagainthisyear

THESOUTHWESTMONSOONhasn’t turnedoutgreat thisyear,unlike in2019

and2020.Rainfall intheseason(June-September)hassofarbeen7.9percent

belowthehistoricalaverageforthecountry.Butmorethantheaggregatefig-

ure, it’s the temporal distribution that has raised questionmarks. A three-

weeklongdryspellfromaroundJune20resultedinfarmersmissingthemainkharifsow-

ingwindowbetweenmid-Juneandmid-July.ThemonsoondidrevivefromJuly12-13and

sodidplantings.ButAugustrecorded24percentrainfalldeficiency.EveniftheSeptember

rainsmatchthe IndiaMeteorologicalDepartment’s “above-normal”prediction, itwould

primarilybenefit the rabi seasoncrop.Andwithcurrentwater levels inmajor reservoirs

lower thanayear ago,notmuchhopeshouldbeplacedonabumper rabiharvest offset-

tingthe likelykharif losses.

The farmsector grew4.3per cent in2019-20and3.6per cent in2020-21,more than

theoverall GDP, at 4per cent andminus7.3 per cent, respectively. Agriculture acted as a

shock-absorber for theeconomy,especially in thepost-Covid lockdownperiod.Thegov-

ernment’slatestPeriodicLabourForceSurveydataforJuly2019-June2020showsthepro-

portionofthoseengagedinfarmingactivityincreasingto45.6percent,from42.5percent

in2018-19.Asareport inthisnewspaperhaspointedout, thismarksareversalof thehis-

torical trendof agriculture’s declining share in total employment. 2019-20 and2020-21

were both crisis years for the Indian economy,which registered a sharp slide in growth

evenpreCovidandthenwentintocontraction.Whilethatledtojoblossesacrossmostsec-

tors—be itmanufacturing, construction,hotels, tourism, transportor retail trade—agri-

culturecouldabsorbsomeof the labourthatgotshed.Andthat, in turn,wasmadepossi-

blebytheback-to-backgoodmonsoons.

Themonsoon’sperformancemakesarepeatoftheabovestoryunlikelythisyear.According

totheCentreforMonitoringIndianEconomy,agriculturalemployment,whichaveraged124

millionduringMay-July, fell to 116million inAugust. That clearlyhas todowith the fields

notreceivingrainwhenrequired.Simplyput,agriculturecannotplaysaviourthistime.With

theworst of Covidhopefully behindus, other engines of the economyhave to start firing.

Indiahastoresumeandgobeyonditsnormalgrowthtrajectory,whereinjobsarecreatedmore

inmanufacturing,constructionandservices.Agriculture’sownfutureliesinbecomingmore

productiveandaddingvalueoutsidethefarms.

MIX IT LIKE BUMRAH

The fastest Indianpacer toreach100wicketspractisesanart

that isasoriginalas it isdevastating

ALOOKOFincredulitydescendedonJonnyBairstowwhenadevilishreverse-

swingingyorkerpulverisedhis stumps.Evenslow-motionreplayswould-

n’thavesolvedthepuzzleforhimlater.ThetruthisthatJaspritBumrahde-

cidedtodowhathedoes—unleashaspellofgreatnesstobecomethefastest

Indianpacer toreach100wickets, in24Tests,one less thanithadtakenKapilDev.

It’sinterestingthathebrokeDev’srecord.Itwouldbedifficulttofindtwomoredifferent

bowlers.Devwasallclassicalswing,smoothandathletic inhisrun-up,his lefthandbreak-

ingoutofthecloudofhand-movementsatreleaselikeasynchronisedswimmer.Bumrahis

anti-classical, shuffles to thecrease likeareticentkidpushedout to thepodium,hisbewil-

deringlynon-bendingbowlingarmcutsarcsthatinterestbiomechanicsexperts.Butoncethe

ball issetinmotion, itcausesdevastationunparalleledinIndianbowlinghistory.

Hisart issooriginalthatitparadoxicallyseemsasif itwasdesignedatalab.Asifallre-

tiredbowlersgot together forachai-pe-charcha,andeachput ina featurerequest for the

idealbowler.Anactionthat’shardtoread,angleshardtodecipher,releasepositionsrarely

seenbefore.Hebowlsfuriouslegcutters,slowoffbreaksfromroundthestumps,slowdip-

pingyorkers that drop like aerial bombsonbatsmen’s feet, viciously late-swingingpacy

yorkers that give no intimation, bouncerswhich are identified late by the batsmenonly

whentheybegintorearupsharply,nipbackers thataren’t fingercutacross theseamlike

mostbutsomehowhetwistshiswristsinawkwardanglesandbackspinstheballfromhell.

Camerashaverecordedhowhereleasestheballlaterthanmostbowlers,extendingthearm

further thanmost, reducing the reaction timeof thebatsmen.Merely a collectionof de-

liveriesanduniquenessof action,however,doesn’tmakeagreatbowler. Itneeds the im-

mense cricketing intelligence of Bumrah tomix it all up and serve thedeadliest cocktail

knowntothebatsmenof today.

The New Brahminism

Pratap BhanuMehta

Aditi Pradhan andAvaneendraKhare

Brahminwelfareschemesinstitutedbysouthernstatescannotpassanyconstitutionalsmell test

A HEAVIER HANDTougherexciselawinMPissetupformisuse,makesmarginalisedmorevulnerable

BOTHSECULARISMANDsocial justice havebecomefarcicalideas.Ifyouwanttoseeanewandvividdemonstrationofthis,studythenewBrahminwelfareschemesinstitutedbysouth-ern states. Thewebsites of the TelanganaBrahmin Samkshema Parishad, orandhrabrahmin.ap.gov.in, or the KarnatakaStateBrahminDevelopmentBoardhaveataletotell.Eachofthemhascreatedorsupporteda separateundertaking forBrahminwelfare.Each of them has a similar template:Scholarships,supportforoverseaseducation,funds for starting enterprises, support forBrahmin self-help groups,money for coach-ing, and a range of other benefits. The stateoughttohelpthepoorofallcommunities.Buttheway inwhich theproposed schemes areframedisagrotesqueperversionofconstitu-tionalvalues.Theyareareactionaryreversiontotheworstaspectsof caste.The Andhra Pradesh government has a

VedaVyasa Scheme forVedic Education. Letus, for amoment, put aside the question ofwhether there is a secularpedagogical argu-ment for the state supporting Vedic educa-tion. Butwho is eligible for this education?StudentsshouldbelongtotheBrahmincom-munity by birth. Similarly, the parallelschemesinTelanganaandKarnatakarequireBrahmin caste certificates to be eligible fortheirschemes.Canyouthinkofanythingmoregrotesque than the idea that in the21st cen-turythestateprovidessupporttoaprofessionwhose eligibility is determined by birth? IfVedic education is an unalloyed good,whyshoulditnotbeopentoall,subjecttoconductrules?How can the state discriminate, andconfineittoBrahminsidentifiedbybirth?Thiscannotpassanyconstitutionalsmell test.The semiotics get worse. The brahmin-

parishad.telangana.gov.inannouncesproudlythat“BRAHMINstandsforBroadandBrilliantin Thinking, Righteous and Religious inLivelihood, Adroit and Adventurous inPersonality,HonestyandHumanityinQuality,Modesty and Morality in Character,InnovationandIndustry inPerformanceandNobilityandNovelty inApproach.”Theformavailable for issuing a Brahmin caste certifi-cateinTelanganaasksforGothramdetails,asif the statewere some pandit in Haridwar.

Thereis,ofcourse,acolossalirony,orperhapsdeep historical ignorance, in the AndhraSchemebeingnamedafterVedaVyasa.VedaVyasawouldnothavecountedasaBrahmineligible under this scheme. At least theMahabharataisabitmoreembarrassedaboutdesignatingBrahminhoodbybirthratherthanbyconduct.Buthereisamodernsecularstategoingwithcastebirthrightall theway.No one can deny the fact that some

Brahmins are impoverished and need help.Butwhymake a scheme available on castebasis?Forexample,thereisaproposedBEST(Brahmin Entrepreneurship of Telangana)schemewhichprovidesentrepreneurialsup-port to thosewith income of less than Rs 2lakh.Worthygoal.ButpresumablyArticle14wouldrequire thatanyonewhose incomeislessthanRs2lakhshouldbeeligible for this,especially if there is no additional basis forclassification based ondiscrimination.Whyallocate funding for IAS coaching, self-helpgroupformation,orfundingforoverseased-ucation, based on being a Brahmin?Karnatakastateisnowgivingfinancialincen-tivesforbridesforBrahmins,whoareappar-entlyfindingitdifficulttofindthem.ThisisagrossperversionofbothVedicandconstitu-tionalvalues.Theargumentwillbethatif“Dalit”canbe

used as the basis of classification, why not“Brahmin”?Butthisisexactlytheperversionof the social justice discourse thatwas set inmotion postMandal,where the question ofdeeply entrenchedhistorical discriminationwasconfusedwithbackwardnessandpovertyingeneral.Noonecandenythepervasivere-ality of caste in India. But it does not followthat,exceptinthecaseofDalitsorsimilarex-ceptionalcases,addressingbackwardnessbythe state requires using caste as a criteria.Almost all of the goods that are sought to beprovided in these schemes to help the poorand backward— preferential admissions,scholarships, incomesupport, housing, edu-cation,health,loans—cancoverallthosewhoneedtobecoveredwithout invokingcaste.Butthinkoftheregressionthisrepresents

inpolitics.Recognisingcastetoovercomedis-criminationwasonething.Butentrenchingitasacompulsoryidentity,certifiedbythestate,

and reproducing birth-based entitlementsareaperversionof social justice.Politicsandpublic policy is being reduced to jati-basedmobilisation in themost absurdway. Dalitswerepooronaccountof theircaste,whichiswhy caste was recognised. Now the statewantstoensurethatallwhoarepoorareper-manentlystampedwiththeircastebyanof-ficial seal. Do you have income below Rs 2lakh?PleasegetaBrahmincertificatetoavailbenefits. Can’t find a bride?Well, if you areBrahmin,wecanhelp.Karnataka,AndhraandTelangana are supposedly India’smorepro-gressive states. Theydowell inpublic goodsprovision and incorporation of Dalits. But itlooksasifchiefministers,acrosspoliticalpar-ties, see themselvesasoldHindumonarchs,lording over a caste order and distributingbenefits by caste. There is no emancipatoryvisionhereofovercomingcaste.ThatLohiaiteidea, that you have to go through caste toovercomeit,isturningouttobeapieceofso-ciologicalwishful thinking.Butalsothinkofsecularism.Ironically,just

as subsidies forHaj pilgrimageswere rolledback, you have themassive erosion of secu-larism.TherewereanomaliesinIndiansecu-larism that need to be corrected. But weshouldunderstandthis.Thosemostexercisedaboutpseudo-secularism,arenotconcernedabout secularism; they use it as a pretext tostigmatise and targetminorities, while theerosionof secularismgoesunabated.Thefreeforallthatisensuingforreconfig-

uringcaste-basedbenefits,thedemandsoflo-cal domicile reservation, are signs of pes-simismabout the economy.Muchheatwillbegeneratedabouthowtodistributethecur-rent and shrinkingpie of jobs and resourcesalong jati lines.Butnooneisgettingseriouslyupsetabout the fact that thepie isnotgrow-ing as fast aswe need it to. The benefits forBrahminsmayseemlikea reductioadabsur-dumofourpolitics,alittlefarce.Butbehinditisagreattragedy,ofanationwithdiminishingprospectsforeveryone,encouragingthemtoreachintothenarrowest-mindedconceptionsof identityandcallingitsocial justice.

Thewriter iscontributingeditor,

TheIndianExpress

LASTMONTH,theMadhyaPradeshassemblypassedanamendmenttoSection49-AoftheMadhyaPradeshExciseAct1915, enhancingthe possible sentence for its violation to thedeath penalty. Section 49-A of the Act pre-scribes the penalty for offences related toliquorthatisunfitforhumanconsumptionor“spurious”. It is already themost serious of-fenceundertheAct,withthepossibilityoflifeimprisonment for repeat offenders. Theamendmentfollowsrecentdeathscausedbyspurious liquor inMandsaurandIndore;theStatement of Objects and Reasons of theamendment declares that the penalty hasbeen increased to “deter people from in-dulginginthis illegalactivity”.However, a recent report, “Drunk on

Power:AStudyof ExcisePolicing inMadhyaPradesh”, by the Criminal Justice and PoliceAccountabilityProjectfoundthatSection49-A is the Act’smost sporadically policed of-fence. Themajority of excise arrests weremadeunderthebailableSection34(1)(47.41percentoftotalexcisearrests).Arrestsunderthe non-bailable Sections 34(2) and 49-Awere recorded at 6.08per cent and0.78percentrespectively.Thereportfoundmorethanhalfofallac-

cused belonged to oppressedDalit, AdivasiandBahujancommunities.Vimukta(deno-tified tribes) communities such as theKanjars and Kuchbandhiyas, previouslycriminalisedunderthecolonial-eraCriminalTribesAct1871,werearrestedindispropor-tionatenumbers.

According to theSupremeCourt'sguide-lines inArnesh Kumar v State of Bihar, theremustbeanecessityofarrestforabailableof-fence,elsethepolicecanissueanoticeofap-pearance under Section 41-A.However, lessthanone-fifthoftheaccusedwereissuedthisnotice, even though that option could havebeenusedbythepoliceinover90percentofthe FIRs. Excessive arrests for low-level bail-ableoffencesandwoefulunderutilisationofSection41-Anotices raises serious concernsaboutboththeimplementationoftheArneshKumarguidelinesandthewidespreadabuseofpolicediscretion.Therearetwowaysinwhichonemayob-

tain bail from thepolice—either by execut-ingapersonalbond,promising topayasumon failing to appear before the competentcourt;or,byhavingsomebodydepositthebailamount. The first option,where nomoneyneeds to be paid upfront, is less onerous ontheaccusedandyet,waspursued inonly30per cent of FIRs. By default, the police optedfor the latter option, and the bail amountsrangedfromRs2,000toRs10,000.Whenanaccused isunable toobtainbail fromthepo-lice, or the offence is non-bailable, they ap-proach the courts andbail amounts rise fur-therstill—Rs10,000atthedistrictcourts,andRs50,000attheHighCourt.Throughout this process, the courts and

the policemechanically set bail amountswithout regard to the accused’s capacity topay. More often than not, these are back-breaking sums for the accused, most of

whomhail fromoppressedcastes andmar-ginalised communities. Arbitrary bailamountsandexpensessuchaslawyers’ feesandbribesfurtherpushtheaccusedandtheirfamilies into insurmountable inter-genera-tionalpoverty.Thisisespeciallypronouncedfor thosewhoget implicated incasesmulti-ple times, because of which they are desig-nated“habitual criminals”andaskedto fur-nish sequentiallyhigherbail amounts. Suchrepeatedlyaccusedpersonsareoverwhelm-inglylikelytobelongtooppressedcastes;forinstance,inthereport,64percentofallsuch“recurrent”accusedpersons in theFIRsam-ple belonged to SC andST communities, in-cludingtheVimuktacommunities.Therefore, given the casteist and classist

natureofexcisepolicing,itisclearthatinflat-ing the penalty under Section 49-Awouldrender these oppressed communitiesmorevulnerable. Previous research on the deathpenaltyhasconcludedthatitdoesnothaveadeterrent effect and that it has a dispropor-tionate impact on socially andeconomicallymarginalisedcommunities.Thus,apprehen-sionmust replace enthusiasm in assessingthisrecentmovebytheMPassembly,andtherealities of excise policing in the statemustprompt serious reflectiononwhatpurposesthelaw, infact, serves.

PradhanandKharehaveco-authoredthe

report ‘DrunkonPower:AStudyofExcise

PolicinginMadhyaPradesh’alongwithother

membersof theCPAProject

The argument will be that if‘Dalit’ can be used as thebasis of classification, whynot ‘Brahmin’? But this isexactly the perversion of thesocial justice discourse thatwas set in motion postMandal, where the questionof deeply entrenchedhistorical discriminationwas confused withbackwardness and poverty ingeneral. No one can deny thepervasive reality of caste inIndia. But it does not followthat, except in the case ofDalits or similar exceptionalcases, addressingbackwardness by the staterequires using caste as acriteria. Almost all of thegoods that are sought to beprovided in these schemes tohelp the poor and backward— preferential admissions,scholarships, incomesupport, housing, education,health, loans — can cover allthose who need to be coveredwithout invoking caste.

A recent report, ‘Drunk onPower: A Study of ExcisePolicing in Madhya Pradesh’,by the Criminal Justice andPolice Accountability Projectfound more than half of allaccused belonged tooppressed Dalit, Adivasi andBahujan communities.‘Vimukta’ (denotified tribes)communities such as theKanjars and Kuchbandhiyas,previously criminalisedunder the colonial-eraCriminal Tribes Act 1871,were arrested indisproportionate numbers.

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

§ §


WORDLYWISE

‘‘Fast bowling is anart, like spin bowling.’’—

KAPIL DEVTHEEDITORIALPAGE

FM EXONERATED

THE SPEAKER BALRAM Jakhar ruled in theLok Sabha that by informing the House onSeptember2thatMrsGandhihadnot inau-gurated the Maharashtra PratibhaPratishthan, the Finance Minister RVenkataraman had not misled the house,and, therefore, had not committed anybreachofprivilege.DisallowinganumberofprivilegemotionsbyGeorgeFernandes(LD),Atal Bihari Vajpayee (BJP), Jyotirmoy Basu(CPM), Maniram Bagri (DSF), andMadhuDandavate (Janata Dal), Jakhar said that hehad accepted Venkataraman’s explanationthat the photograph published in variousnewspapersandsubmittedasdocumentary

evidence by the Oppositionwas of the PMsigning a document bearing the captionPratibha PratishthanMaharashtra, and nottheIndiraPratibhaPratishthan.Thefactthatseveral newspapers and publications hadgiven awrong caption cannot alter the factthatthedocumentsignedbythePMreferredonly toPratibhaPratishthanMaharashtra.

AFGHAN PROBLEM

THE AFGHANGOVERNMENTwill adopt aflexibleapproachtoadialoguewithIranandPakistan to find a solution to the Afghanproblem. Mrs Gandhi told visitingAfghanistan foreign minister, ShahMohammedDost that the solutionwasbe-

ingdelayedbecause countries in the regionwerenot takinga long-termview.

AKALIS COURT ARREST

ABOUT2,000AKALIScourtedarrestinDelhiat theendof theirpeacefulmarchtoprotestagainstthegovernment’sinterferenceintheaffairsoftheirreligionandinsupportoftheirdemand formoreautonomytostates.

DELHI BANK DACOITY

FIVE ARMED DACOITS entered the SouthExtensionBranchoftheCanaraBankinDelhiandescapedwithRs6 lakh incash.They in-juredsixemployees.

SEPTEMBER 8, 1981, FORTYYEARSAGO

Kolkata


WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“With schools closed, and hardly anyone expecting online lessons to achievethe same results, it was clear that children were losing out on a preciousentitlement.” —THEGUARDIANTHE IDEASPAGE


The bottomline for the CCPis the realisation that ed-tech,if unchecked, could easilybecome in quick time a hugeprivate capacity withinChinese society that wouldparallel the CCP in havinginformation on thepsychological andbehavioural profile of futureparty members — the partywould lose its sole ability toshape the intimate life-worlds of its ruling elites.

AMONG THE CHILDREN of Partitionrefugees,thememoryofdisplacementisnolonger sharp. For the rest of uswhowereluckyenoughtobebornafterPartition, it isan inheritedmemory. It has been fadingawayasallmemorydoesifaninvestmentisnotmadetokeepitalive.History,ofcourse,isadifferentmatter.Itisthejobofhistoriansto help society to copewith the burden ofthepastbyturningitintoknowledge.InthecaseofPartition,manyhistorianshavedoneexcellentwork.Letmementionfourwhosework has transformed our understandingofPartition.ThereturnofPartitiontocontemporary

political business is not altogether unex-pected. Infact,Partitionhadnevergoneoutof political relevance in any of the threecountries whose legacy lies in Partition.Published in the mid-1990s, IndiaPartitioned, edited by the late MushirulHasan,broughttogetherthecreativeexpres-sion ofmemories fromall three countries.One of the excerptswas fromanearly for-gottennovel,TheHeartDivided,byMumtazShahNawaz.Althoughit isfiction,thebookopensupanewperspectiveonthelivedre-alityofday-to-daylifebeforePartition.Then,in1998,cameUrvashiButalia’sTheOtherSideofSilence. Itunwrappedaparcel lyingatthebackofindependentIndia’smemorycloset.It contained the orally recordedmemoriesofcommonpeople.ItopenedanewchapterinthestudyofPartition,presentingamirrorfromwhichtheimagesofgreathistoricalfig-ureshadbeenremoved.SuchetaMahajan’sIndependenceandPartition(2000)madethemirrorofhistorywideranddeeper,impart-ingitthecapacitytocapturesociologicalnu-ancesacrosscommunities.Thiskindofattemptachieveditscrown-

ing success in Niti Nair’s ChangingHomelands. Thismicro-study of localma-noeuvresbridgesthegapbetweenhighpol-itics andground-level life. Itmakes one re-alisethedeepertruthabouthistoricaleventsthat Tolstoy had captured in hisWar andPeace.Aneventalwayscarriesaninterplayofthe lifeof themassesandhowweremem-berthehistoricalfiguresconcernedwiththatevent. Itneedsthemeticulous, localisedin-quiryofthekindthatNairhasdoneinPunjabtorecognisethatthereisnosimpleexplana-tion of Partition. Nor is there a simplewayto remember it, one should add. Societiesthatprefermemoryoverhistorytendtore-mainpermanently injured.Withsomuchscholarlyinsightavailable,

noonecaninnocentlymaintainthatpeoplewentmad. Historians have demonstratedthat people canbemobilised formadness.ShakespearehasshownthisinJuliusCaesar,in the scene where Antony persuades acrowdtogoafterBrutusandhiscolleagues.Twentiethcenturyhistoryshowshowpeo-plecanbemobilisedforsustainableinsanity.That is what happened in Germany.HowsoeverterribletheviolenceofPartition,itsubsidedaftersometime.Buttheconsol-

idationofidentitiesthathadledtoPartitioncould not be stopped by electoral democ-racy. Theexperienceof Partition is a fadingfamilymemory,butasahistorical fact itre-mains chargedwith potential emotionalvalue.WhenSAARCwasmootedin1985,itcre-

atedthehopethattrade,culturalactivityandintellectual exchangewould gradually di-minish thepolitical legacies of Partitionbynourishing a regional fraternity. Thedreamisstill relevant,butSAARChasremainedin-capable of responding to theunabated riseof identity-based aggression andviolence.Alongwith this, a remarkabledegreeof in-difference to others’woeshas grown. ThatwasmanifestedintheparalysisofsympathytotheviolencefacedbythecommonpublicofMyanmarsincethebeginningofthisyear.NowwhenAfghanistan is going through aconvulsion,asimilarspectator-likeattitudeisinevidenceamongotherSouthAsiancoun-tries,barringonethathasaknownvestedin-terestintheAfghantransition.Numerous declarationsweremade in

theearlyyearsof SAARC.Oneof themcre-ated the hope that the school curriculumin thedifferent countrieswouldbeexam-inedbyajointteam.Hadthatexercisebeendone, a seedling of hopemight have ger-minated, that the childrenwould not ac-quireaprejudicedviewofothers.Nothingcontributes to enmities among nationsmore than the perpetuating of amindsetthat acquires comfort from hostility to-wardsothers.Socialisationintoprejudicedviewsmaintainscontinuitiesofhatredandenmity, ofwar.TheideaofaSouthAsianconsortiumhas

frayedovertheyears.Asaterm,“SouthAsia”isnowmainlyheard inweather reportsoninternational channels. Thehope that a re-gionalperspectivewouldgraduallyencour-ageregionalconsciousnessandidentityhasreceded.Wecanviewthisastherecedingofaneducatedimaginationinourregion.Itof-feredtheonlysustainableproposaltomuteandreplaceconflictsinheritedfromthepastwith the help of a larger frame of regionalinterests.The children growing up in our part of

theworld, irrespective of the country theylivein,needexplanatoryhelpfromadultsastowhythere issomuchturmoilallaround.Socialisationof themindisalongandcom-plicatedprocess.Ushering theyoungmindinto a culture of peace demands some re-ductionof thelongbacklogof turmoil.Three quarters of a century after

Partition,SouthAsiansarenoclosertocon-signing itsmultiple fallouts to history. Theidea of SouthAsia is relatively young, andSAARC’sattempttopromoteithasnotbeenagreatsuccesssofar.Butthatisnoreasontoabandontheattempt.Afterall, it is theonlyhopewecancurrentlyentertain,especiallyafter the tumultuous events that have en-gulfedMyanmarandAfghanistan.MyanmarfirstappliedforSAARCmembership13yearsago.Afghanistanbecame theeighthmem-ber of SAARC in 2007. It feels strange thatSouthAsia’s sole forumforcollectivedelib-erationhasmaintainedsilenceoveratumul-tuousturmoilknowntoeverychild.

Thewriter,a formerdirectorofNCERT, is the

authorofBattleforPeaceandPrejudiceandPride:SchoolHistoriesof theFreedom

StruggleinIndiaandPakistan

maptheuser’sabilities,challengesandlearn-ingcurve.Andsecond,themoreworrying,theed-tech companynowpotentially possessesthecapacity tomodify, steer,nudgeandeveninflectthebehaviourof itsusers.Thebottomline for theCCP is the realisa-

tion that ed-tech, if unchecked, could easilybecomeinquicktimeahugeprivatecapacitywithinChinesesocietythatwouldparalleltheCCPinhavinginformationonthepsychologi-cal and behavioural profile of future partymembers—thepartywouldloseitssoleabil-itytoshapetheintimatelife-worldsof itsrul-ingelites.There are good reasons, therefore, to be-

lieve that the July crackdownon the ed-techindustryinChinawasadeeplyinformedpolit-icaldecisionratherthanalogisticalorhuman-itarianresponse.TheCCP intends tocultivateChina’srulingandadministrativeelitesprima-rily throughpublic assets. The private sectorand its incredible digital capacities, it seems,arebeingcontainedandeffortsarenowontoblockit fromnetworkingintoChina’spower-fulanddelicatelypoisedpoliticalrealm.ThecurrentIndiangoverningdispensation

appears to bemoving in the opposite direc-tion. If onegoesbytheNewEducationPolicy,theeffortistoamplifyanalreadyongoingmo-mentum for privatising India’s existing edu-cationalcapacities.Thereisalsoasimilarmar-ket-inspired enthusiasmby the governmentforembracingboththenoveltyandtheaggres-sivepitchof therapidlygrowinged-techsec-torwithinIndia.Atheart, thesteadyweaken-ing anddismantling of public education andassets seems todrawuponadeeperpoliticalcommitment to corporatise India’s adminis-trative and ruling elites. At thepace atwhichpublicgoodsarebeingeviscerated,India,itap-pears, will no longer have bureaucrats pro-ducedbyitspubliceducationsystem.Andovertime,itcouldlosetheabilitytocheckprivatein-terestsandmarketswithanymeaningfulpub-lic capacity. China, in contrast, seems deter-minedtoensurethatitspoliticalinfrastructurewill stay beholden to public assets. The ele-phant and the dragon are clearly going theirseparatewaysandtheirrespectiveresponsestoeducationisthedividingline.

Thewriter isprofessorat theGraduateSchool

ofAsianandAfricanAreaStudies,

KyotoUniversity

REAL WORRYTHIS REFERS TO the editorial,‘Reputation and harm’ (IE, September7). The comments on the piece onInfosysinPanchajanyaunwittinglyraiseanotherquestion. Inademocracy,doesPanchajanyahavearight toaskaques-tionof theITgiant?Theaskedquestionmaybe thestupidestbut thatdoesnotdisallow the asking of it. Infosys doesnotneedacertificateofpatriotismfromanybody. Actually, it should bemoreworriedaboutthefactthatPanchajanyaisalsoquestioningitsprofessionalabil-itieswhilequestioning itspatriotism.

HNBhagwat,Chiplun

THIS REFERS TO the reports, ‘An Ovalwin after 50 years’ and ‘Flat track bul-lies’ (IE,September7).Historywascre-ated at the Oval cricket ground onMondaywhen India emerged victori-ous in the fourth test match againstEngland. Bouncing back of the Indiansquad after an innings defeat in thethird Test, is really a testimony to thebowlingandbattingcapabilitiesof theIndian 11.With such a display of all-round performance, the Indian teamhasonceagainprovedthatit isthebesttest team in theworld as it can comebackfromwherever it is left inthepre-viousgame,against anyopponentandunder any situationwhatsoever, withvictoriesnotonlyinhomegroundsbuton foreignsoil too.

SanjayChopra,Mohali

NOBLE PROFESSION

THISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Teachinganewworld’(IE,September6). Intheon-going discussions dominated by thecurriculum, pedagogy, digital learningand objectives of National EducationPolicy, it is a timely reminder thatteachers,thepivotofanyeducationsys-tem,arehumanbeingsof greatmerit.They are incomparable influencers.They identify and nurture nationbuilders,areendowedwithrareattrib-utes which are at a discount now butwhich elevate them and their profes-sion to unique heights. Such teachersdeserve thegratitudeof their studentsandsociety.

YGChouksey,Pune

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

ONAUGUST19,TheWashingtonPosthumouristGeneWeingartenpublished ‘You can’tmakemeeatthesefoods’.Amonghislistofinediblesare hazelnuts, blue cheese, cookedpeppers,balsamic vinegar, andpizzawithmore thantwo toppings.Most ofWeingarten’s listingcouldhavebeen ignoredas trivial, but his in-clusion of “Indian food” as awhole categoryprovokedincensedresponses.Thefactthatheassumed Indian cuisine is based on a singlespicecalledcurrysaysmuch.Itrevealsatleasttwo things about the state of American foodcommentary.First, thatWeingartenisamongthecommentatorswhocannolongerpulltheirweight in aworldmore familiarwithwiderconceptionsofgoodtaste.Second,spicescon-tinue to haunt the Western imagination:Initiallywithparoxysmsofdesire,drivingthemtoa search for their source, thenwithdisdainonce exotic spices from the East were de-thronedaroundthe17thcenturywithreducedpriceandstatus.Wehave a lovely piece of evidenceof ro-

bust Indo-Mediterranean trade in pepper,spikenardandmalabathrumca.150CEintheMuziris Papyrus. From theMiddle Ages,wehavemore evidence of European travellerssniffing theirwayback toSouthAsia, seekingthesourcesoffragrantcomestibles.Spiceswereessential torebalancethehumoursaccordingto the contemporary theory onhealth. Theycombined themagic of theGarden of Eden

with the curative superfoods of the time.Frankincense, camphor andmyrrhprovidedthe aromaof sanctity inhaledat church serv-ices. Intheearly15thcentury,thelong,unrulylogisticalchain,coupledwithelitedemandandprofiteering,raisedtheVenetianpriceofsomespicesto100timesthatpaidintheMoluccas.Every fashion cycle creates its own limits.

Wheneveryone iswearingmini-skirts,maxisbecomethenextbigthing;anythinglesswouldbe indistinguishable fromday-before-yester-day’s trend.Bythe17thcentury, theEuropeanappetiteforspicesandaromaticspeaked.WithspicessoaccessibleinEurope,theelitesstartedpulling away. French countesses travellingontheperipheries of Poland andSpain could beheardcomplainingabouttheunpleasantreekofsaffronandcinnamonintheirfoods.The17th-centuryFrenchwriterNicolasdeBonnefonsas-serted the new orthodoxy: “Cabbage soupshouldtasteof cabbage, leeksof leeks, turnipsofturnips.”Therejectionofspicesandvinegar-basedsaucesformorebutter-andcream-basedherbed onesmarked the shiftwithin Frenchgastronomy towards anewessentialism, thesinequanonofEuropeanhautecuisine.ThisalsomovedeliteEuropeantastesaway

fromthoseofelitesinArab,Persian,andSouthAsian courts,whowould continue to prefercomplex, aromatic and sweet-and-sour culi-naryconstructions.Here,elevationwasnotintheuseof spicesper se,but in theselectionof

prohibitive ones—saffron as opposed to thecheaperturmerictolendavibrantcolour—andlabour-intensive techniques: Rice dishes be-jewelledwithpomegranateseeds,stuffedandlayeredbreads, hand-squeezed sherbets, andfinely-groundkoftas andkebabs, as found intheNi’matnamaof the sultans ofManduandKar-name (TheManual), the 16th-centuryPersian cookbook compiled by HajiMohammadAliBavarciBaqdadi.Thelayeredaromaticconstructionsofthese

courtcuisines,wherecamphor,ambergris,car-damomandcloveruled,wouldfilterdownso-cietal strata to create versions of perfumedbiryanis, pilafs, kebabs, and stews thatwouldeventually findhomes in restaurants every-where,includingmigrantenclavesintheNewWorld. By then, “spiciness”wouldbe seenbyEuro-Americancommentatorsasametonymforthefoodofpoormigrants—as“ethnicfood,”nothautecuisine—inthewakeofmassmigra-tion from theMediterranean region and theOttomanperiphery. Even Sicilianswould bescornedfortheirgarlickyfood,saidtoincreasecravingsforalcohol.Oliveoilwasdismissedasgreasy and spicy deep into the 20th centuryuntil the upwardmobility of Italians them-selvesbegan.In the book The Ethnic Restaurateur, I de-

scribe how thehierarchy of taste changes asclassandracerelationsaretransformed.French,Japanese,NewAmerican, and Italian top the

listthatAmericancustomersarewillingtopaywellfor,whileIndian,Chinese,andThairoundout thebottom. Thus, it is not surprising thattheWorld’s Top50 restaurant lists aredomi-natedby French, Italian,NewAmerican, andJapaneserestaurantswhileweseealmostnonefrommainland China, sub-Saharan Africa,SouthAsia or theArabworld, home tomorethanhalf of theworld’s populationandmorevarieties of cuisine, including court cuisines,than elsewhere. In fact,Western critics oftenuseJapaneseinstancesofnaturalismthatpar-allelEuropeanhautecuisineprinciplestoclaimuniversalapprobationfortheirnarrowconceptof good food.WhenWeingarten condemns“garbagesushi”butnotsushi,norJapanesefoodas awhole, it stands in sharp contrast to hiswholesale condemnation of all Indian food,conforming to theprevailinghierarchywhileavoidingthechargeofwhitesupremacy.NorthAmericanpalatesareundergoingthe

next great transformation in taste but thattransformation looks fractious, generationalandgendered. Far fromsettinghimself apart,Weingarten ’s inability to distinguish spices,evenhisdescriptionofcurryasaspice,reflectsthedyingnormwithinEuro-Americanhierar-chy with predictable, ill-informedunoriginality.

ThewriterisaprofessorofFoodStudiesat

NewYorkUniversity

Scornforspicesshowshowrace,classstillshapeWesternideasofhautecuisine

Tastes like power playIDEAS

ONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

● THEDUTYOFDEMOCRATICINSTITUTIONS:ANSHUSALUJA

●ARITHMETIC ISN’TENOUGHFOROPPOSITIONUNITY:RUPAKKUMAR

www.indianexpress.com

InChina,clampdownoned-techspeaksofCCPdesiretocontrol traininggroundsof country’s rulingelite.India’sNEP, incontrast,amplifiesmomentumforprivatisingexistingeducationalcapacities

The idea ofSouth Asia

Itneedstotakeoff.BecausethreequartersofacenturyafterPartition,SouthAsiansarenocloserto

consigningitsmultiplefalloutstohistory

KrishnaKumar

RohanD’Souza

The Party wants its pupils back

IFTHEREISonesectorthatsumsupthepost-pandemic times, it would be education. Inmanycountries, thewell-offandmuchof themiddle class quickly discovered that onlineschooling could be almost seamless, if theypossessed a stable internet connection.“Sociallydistanced”learningwithrepurposedhome screens gotmainstreamed so quicklythatpreviousworriesaboutmissingtheearlymorningschoolbusfeltso20thcentury.Theexplosioninonlineteachingforschool

children, however, proved to be a side showcomparedtothehugepandemic-causedeco-nomicbounceforeducationaltechnology(ed-tech)companies—thenewlearningplatformsthatcombineinformationtechnology(IT)toolswith educational practices. The chief callingcard of ed-tech is its ability to curate cus-tomisedlearningbydeployingartificial intel-ligence, teaching analytics, cloud computingand learning apps. Personalised learningthrough digital devices,moreover, radicallyflips the classroomenvironment. Unlike the“traditionalstudent”inateacher-synchronisedclassroom,theuserinthelearningplatformisnowenabled by IT tools to set the pace andtimefor interactions.China,withitsalmost240millionschool-

going children straddling the spectrumbe-tweenkindergartenandthepre-college12thgrade, became a natural destination for theearlyed-techstartupsandinnovators.In2018,over 50per cent of the global investments ined-techstartupswasfunnelledintoChina.Asthepandemicbegantosweepacrosstheglobe,over $10 billion in 2020hotfooted itsway tothe Chinese ed-tech industry— about two-thirds of theworld's total venture capital in-vestments intheed-techsector.India,with itsmuch talked about demo-

graphic dividend,witnessed a similar Covid-19ed-techbonanzaofsortsbyattractingcloseto $1.4 billion investments byOctober 2020.Industry trackers, in fact, foresee the strongpossibility of a near tripling in India’s overalled-tech growthwithin the next five years.Reportedly, from January 2020 to barelyhalfway through2021 itself, three Indianed-tech startups —Unacademy, Eruditus andUpGrad— have already become unicorns,whileByju’sisnowadecacorn.Instartupparl-ance, a companyvaluedat above$1billion isaunicornwhileacompanyvaluedabove$10billionisadecacorn.WhileAsia’sbiggesttwo,demographically

speaking, seemed all set for a competitivescramble over ed-tech investment and ven-ture funding, the road for the race suddenlybroke into a fork. Or as Finshots, the onlinenewsletter,putit:“Thereddragon”decidedtohit the“kill-switch”onChina’sentireed-techindustry.OnJuly24,thecentralcommitteeofthe Chinese Communist Party (CCP) issuedguidelinesthatrequiredprivatetutoringcom-panies to register as non-profits, banned ex-tracurricular tutoring fromgoing public andmade itobligatory forall tutoringagencies tohaveregulatoryapproval.Theregulationsalsosoughtlimitationson

extracurricular programmes for students,curbs on teaching school subjects duringweekends and public holidays, and the pro-hibitingof tutoringforchildrenbelowsix.Share prices of China’s “for-profit educa-

tion”sectorwentintoatailspin.Blisteringsell-offs followed from companies such asKoolearn Technology Holding Ltd, NewOriental Education&TechnologyGroup andUS-listed stocks such asGaotu Techedu andTALEducationGroup.Thisunprecedentedcrackdownstillawaits

anexplanation.Thusfar,thesuggestionisthattheCCPwasdrivenbytheneedtostanchthegrowingsocialinequalitystokedbytheratraceculture,whichtheprivatetutoringmarketwasfomenting.Second,someargue,wasthegov-ernment’s benign desire to stop the brutaloverworkingofyoungchildrenbyover-aspir-ingparents.Someevenlinktheregulationstothe government’s design to encourage fami-lies tohavemorebabies, nowthat educationwas back to being public and cheap. Thoughsuch good intentions might indeed havespurred the anti-ed-tech regulations, theyshedlittlelightonhowcriticaleducationisforthecontinueddominanceof theCCP.TheCCP’smembership,asofJune5,stands

at95.15million—about7per centof China’s1.4billionpeople.Admissiontothepartyisex-tremely competitive. In2014, theacceptanceratewas on aparwith that of the Ivy Leagueuniversities in theUS—of 22million appli-cants, only 2 million were accepted. TheChinese university ecosystemhas over thedecades emerged as the primary recruitinggroundsfortheParty—onaverage,universitystudentscomprise40percentofthenewpartymembers.Manygoontoholdtoppositionsingovernment,military,education,state-ownedenterprises,healthcareandbanking.Theuniversities, inturn,drawtheiraspir-

ing candidates from the vast network of pri-mary,tertiaryandsecondaryschoolsthatdotthecountry.Theverysameschool-goingchil-drenwho, prior to the crackdownof July 24,wouldhavemadeup thepotential user baseof theed-techindustry.Whileed-techteach-ingmodulesclaimtospruceupskillsandfine-tunevariedlearningabilities,itsraftofITtoolsaretrainedtocollectmassiveamountsofper-sonalandsensitivedata.Ed-techishardwiredto extract from its users what the politicalphilosopherandtheoristShoshanaZuboffcallsthe“behaviouralsurplus”—thedataexhaustleft behindbyeveryuser in thewakeof theirdigital interactions. This digital trail empow-erstheplatformintwoways.Oncepossessedof the behaviour surplus, it can exhaustively

CRSasikumar

KrishnenduRay

Kolkata


GOVT&POLITICS


DELHICONFIDENTIAL

WARMGESTUREAT THEwedding reception of Unionminister Pralhad Joshi’sdaughter Arpita on Tuesday, PrimeMinister NarendraModimade a short appearance duringwhich he gave the family apleasantsurprisewithawarmgesture.Onreachingthevenue,thePrimeMinistermetthebrideandbridegroomandstartedtalkingtothem,withhisbacktothephotographersandvideo-grapherswhowere keen to grab a goodmoment.When thefamily requested for a photo, the PrimeMinister pulled inJoshi’syoungerdaughter,whowasotherwisenotprominentlyvisible, andmade her stand in the front. He left the venue in15minutes.

CALLING OUTCUSTOMERS FACING issueswith their telecomcompanies iscommon.TurnsoutIndia'sPrincipalEconomicAdviserSanjeevSanyalisalsonotimmunetoit.SanyaltooktoTwitteronTuesdayto complain abouthis experiencewith the telecomcompanyfromwhichherecentlyportedout.Hetermedit“harrasment”.Butunlikeotherusers, Sanyal saidhewould firstgetasenseoftheproblemandwhetherit isacommonissuefacedbyall,be-foretakingthecomplainttotelecomregulatorTRAI.

GLOBAL ROLECOMPTROLLERANDAuditorGeneralof IndiaGCMurmuhasbeen elected as the chairman of the Assembly of AsianOrganization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) from2024-2027.ThiscomesatatimewhenIndia isset tohost the16thAssembly of ASOSAI in 2024.Murmu, as the chairman,will be the Chief Executive of ASOSAI and represent it in itsdealingswithnational and international organisations. CAGofficialssaidduringMurmu’sthree-yeartenure, Indiawill fo-cus on areas of environment audit and leveraging emergingtechnologies such as Big Data,Machine Learning and artifi-cial intelligence foraudit.

AVANEESHMISHRALUCKNOW,SEPTEMBER7

AMIDSTBLOWINGofconchshellsandslogansofJaiShriRam,JaiSiyaRamandHarHarMahadev, theBSP Tuesday concluded the firstphaseof itsmeetings targetedatthe Brahmin vote ahead of theUttarPradeshAssemblyelections.Addressing a ‘Vichar

Sangoshthi (symposium)’ at theBSP headquarters here tomarktheconclusionof itsmonth-long‘PrabuddhaVarga Sammelans’,party chiefMayawatimadease-ries of promises to the Brahmincommunityandcalleduponit tojoin handswithDalits and rallybehind theBSP. The Sammelanswere kickedoff by theBSP fromAyodhyaonJuly23.UnlikeBSPconventionsofthe

past,asizeablenumberofpeoplein saffron robeswere present atthemeeting.Mayawatiwaspre-sentedatrishulandasmallstatue

ofLordGanesha.TheBSPhadformedagovern-

mentonitsownin2007,winning206seatsinthe403-memberUPAssembly, largely on account ofhersuccessfulsocialengineering,forging Dalit-Brahmin unity.However, the Brahmins hadde-sertedtheBSPsoonafter,withthe

party finishing third in the2009LokSabhapolls.“If the Brahmin community

emulatesDalitsanddoesn’tfallforanyallurement, thennoforcecanstopus fromformingamajoritygovernment, just like in 2007,”Mayawati said Tuesday, addingthat theBSPbelieves in ‘Sarvjan

Hitay,SarvjanSukhay(everyone'swell-being,everyone'shappiness)'.Mayawati describedDalits as

“mazboot chattan (solid rock)”whoalways stoodby their partyand hoped other communitiessupportingtheBJPwouldalsodothesame.She also accused Samajwadi

Party(SP)andBJPgovernmentsinthestateofhavinga“casteist,nar-row and capitalist” mentality,leadingtooppressionofthepoor,labourers, farmers, small busi-nessmen,Dalits, Backwards andtheBrahmins—ortheprabuddha(enlightened), as all parties arecalling theBrahmins in the raceforthecommunity'svote.Estimated tonumberaround

11%of the total voters inUP, theBrahmins are seenas estrangedfrom the BJP under the YogiAdityanath government.AdityanathisaThakur,theotherin-fluentialuppercastecommunityinthestate. FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

KANCHANVASDEVCHANDIGARH,SEPTEMBER7

CAPT AMARINDER Singh is aman who dons several hats —political leader, chief minister,Maharaja of an erstwhile royalestate,author,militaryhistorian.OnWednesday,hewillplaychefto prepare a feast fit forOlympians.Earlier, while hosting the

Tokyo Olympicmedal winnersfromPunjab, theCMhadprom-ised to cook for them. On

Wednesday,hewillhostthemathisfarmhouse—MohinderBagh—inMohali.“From Patiala cuisine to pu-

lao, lamb, chicken, aloo& Zardarice, CM@capt_amarinder willprepareeachof thesedelicacieshimself to keep his promise toPunjabOlympicmedalwinners(&Neeraj Chopra) at the dinnerhe’s hosting for them tomor-row!,”saidRaveenThukral,CM'smediaadvisor ina tweet.State Congress chief Navjot

SinghSidhu,isnotaninviteebutthecricketer-turnedpolitician's

closeaideandPPCCgeneralsec-retary in-charge Pargat Singh, aformer hockey Olympian, hasbeen invited for thedinner.Amid the ongoing factional

war in theCongress,Amarinderhas beenmeetingMLAs at hisresidence and trying to get allthosewhorebelledagainsthim,on his side. Pargat Singh’s pres-ence, if hechooses toattendthedinner,will also send a politicalmessage.On the dinner, Thukral said,

“Itisapromisethatheiskeeping.Hewillbespendinga lotof time

oncooking.TherewillberecipesfromerstwhilePatialaroyalfam-ily’s traditionalcookbook.”About 30-40 Olympians

from Punjab and Olympic goldmedalwinning javelin throwerNeerajChopraareexpectedtobepresentat thedinner.TheCM,whoalsohasagreen

thumb, is known for offering aculinarytreattohisfriends.RajyaSabha members Partap SinghBajwa often reminisces aboutthe ‘dal-bukhara’ Amarinder’sused to cook for him during hislatter's first stint as CM from

2002to2007.Amarinder’s promise to the

Punjab players had come at thestate-level function to honourthemonAugust12.Pointing toKamalpreet Kaur

— the first Indian woman tobreachthe65mbarrier indiscusthrow — the CM had said in alighterveinthathissportsminis-ter toldhimthat shewas fondofgood food. Then he told the 11members of the Bronzemedalwinning Indianmen’s hockeyteam,includingcaptainManpreetSingh, “Mainu khud nu khane da

shauq nahi par khana banaun da

shauqhai(Idon'tliketoeatmuchbutIlovetocook).Youallgivemeadateandtime, Iwillpersonallycook food in honour of whatevery singleplayerhas achievedattheTokyoOlympics.Itwillbeamemorable occasion forme aswellasyouall...whateverwecando for you,wewill do,” the chiefministerhadsaid.While the members of the

hockey team fromPunjabweregiven a cash award of Rs 2.51crore each, Neeraj Chopra hadgiven the functionamissdue to

high fever. All the players werealsogiven25kgofalmondseachapart fromthecashprizes.“It’s a big honour for us.

Winning the bronzemedal andcaptaining the Indian hockeyteam at Tokyo Olympics hasbeenlikeadreamforallofusandto see the CMof the state invit-ing every player to dinnercooked by him in our honour isone of the biggest rewards forevery single player,” ManpreetSinghhadsaidearlier.

(WITHINPUTSFROMNITINSHARMA)

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIARAIPUR,SEPTEMBER7

THERAIPURPolicehavearrestedChhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel’s father NandKumar Baghel from Delhi in acase registered against him forallegedlymakingderogatoryre-marks against a community, anofficial saidhereonTuesday.Afterbeingbroughtfromthe

national capital, Nand KumarBaghel was produced in a localcourtwhich sent him to jail un-der judicial remand for 15days,hesaid.TheCMhadstronglydis-approved of the objectionableremarks allegedlymade by his86-year-old father and assertednobody isabove law.“NandKumarBaghelwasar-

restedandbrought fromDelhi toRaipur on Tuesday,” RaipurAdditional Superintendent ofPolice TarkeshwarPatel said.Hewas produced in the court ofJudicial Magistrate First Class(JMFC) JanakKumarHidkowhosenthimto15-dayjudicialcustody,headded.Accordingtopolice,theoctogenariandidnotapplyforbail.ThecaseagainstNandKumar

Baghelwas lodged on SaturdaynightattheDDNagarpolicesta-tion in Raipur on a complaintfiledbythe‘SarvBrahminSamaj’

againsthim.Hewaschargedun-der IPC Sections 153-A and505(1)(b), policehadsaid.The outfit, in its complaint,

alleged that the CM’s father re-centlymade a controversial ap-peal to people to boycottBrahmins by terming them as“foreigners”, and asked peopleto not let them enter in theirvillages. The organisation alsoaccusedNand Kumar Baghel ofasking people to “evict”Brahmins fromthecountry.Accordingtothepolice,Nand

Kumar Baghel reportedlymadetheremarkswhileaddressinganevent in Uttar Pradesh recently.Afteracontroversyeruptedovertheallegedremarksofhisfather,the chief minister had said hewaspainedandassertednobodywas above law and police willtakeappropriateaction.“Nobodyis above law undermy govern-menteven if he is thechiefmin-ister's86-year-old father.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAMMU,SEPTEMBER7

FOR TIME-BOUND redressal ofgrievances related to distresssale of immovable propertiesowned by Kashmiri migrants,Lieutenant Governor ManojSinha Tuesday launched an on-line portal for them to submittheir complaints.Applicationsfiledonthepor-

talwill be disposed of in a fixedtime frame under the PublicServicesGuaranteeAct,2011,bytheRevenueauthorities.The competent authority

(deputy commissioner) wouldbe required to undertake sur-vey/fieldverificationofmigrantproperties and update all regis-ters within a period of 15 daysandsubmitcompliancereporttothe Divisional Commissioner,Kashmir.Speakingontheoccasion,the

Lt Governor said this initiativewill “putanend”totheplightofmigrants, including Hindus,Sikhs andMuslims, adding, "Ihavemetnumerousdelegationsfrom across religions in the last13months and they unequivo-cally support the return of mi-grants."Sinha added, “It is the re-

sponsibilityofthepresenttorec-tify themistakesof thepast.”“During the trial run of the

portal, we received 854 griev-ances. It clearly shows a largenumber of migrant familieswereawaiting justice.”

New Delhi: LJP leader ChiragPaswanonTuesday said that hislate father RamVilas Paswan'sbustathisresidencehereforoverthreedecades is a symbol of theparty's lovefortheleaderandre-jectedspeculationthatitsignifieditsattempttokeepthehouseun-deritscontrol.“As of now the government

haspermittedmetostayhere.Thebustisasymboloftheparty'slovefor the late leader and will beshiftedwhenever an alternativearrangementisprovided.Thebustshould never be seen as an at-temptonmyparttoencroachtheproperty,"hesaid.The Urban Development

Ministryhadissuedaninitialno-tice forvacatingthe Janpathresi-dencesoonaftertheformerUnionminister'sdeathbutthefamilyhasbeenallowedtostaytherefornowafter Chirag took up thematterwith senior government func-tionaries,sourcessaid.Theresidence,wherePaswan

stayed for over 32 years till hisdeathlastyear,hasbeenallottedtoUnionministerAshwiniVaishnaw.OnTuesday, Chirag also said

that he has invited top nationalleaders,includingPrimeMinisterNarendraModi, HomeMinisterAmit Shah and Congress presi-dentSoniaGandhi,foraneventinPatna on September 12 tomarkthe first death anniversaryof hisfather. Theevent assumespoliti-cal significance at a timewhenChiragisembroiledinabitterdis-putewithhisuncle,Unionminis-ter Pashupati Kumar Paras. HealsowenttoParas'residenceheretogivehimaninvite. PTI

New Delhi: Pitching for a thirdfront, the INLDonTuesday saidpartyleaderOmPrakashChautalawill bring together SP patriarchMulayamSinghYadav,BiharChiefMinister and JD(U) chief NitishKumar, former PM H D DeveGowdaofJD(S)andSADsupremoParkashSinghBadalononestageonSeptember25, birth anniver-saryofformerDeputyPMDeviLal.NCP leader Sharad Pawar,

WestBengal CMandTMCpresi-dentMamataBanerjee,NationalConference leader FarooqAbdullah andRLD leader JayantChowdhury have also been in-vitedfora"huge"politicalrallyontheoccasioninHaryana'sJindandtheir confirmation is awaited,INLD leaderAbhayChautala toldPTI.HesaidMulayam,Nitish,DeveGowdaandBadalhaveconfirmedtheirattendance.InPatna,aseniorJD(U)leader

toldTheIndianExpress:"AlthoughNitish Kumar has not yet con-firmedhis participation, hemaydoitsoon.WehavegreatrespectfortheformerdeputyPM,andourCM has already met formerHaryanaCMOPChoutala.”NitishhadmetChautala inGurgaononAugust1, calling it a courtesycallgiventheir longpoliticalties.Abhay Chautala said, “Many

like-mindedleadersfromnon-BJPand non-Congress partieswillcome together onone stage andwill raise issues close to thepeo-ple, especially farmers' issues.”INLDspokespersonRakeshSihagsaidOPChautalahas"personallymet"DeveGowdaandMulayamandinvitedthemfortherally.

PTI&ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

INAsteptohelpplugoperationalneeds of the armed forces,DefenceMinister Rajnath SinghonTuesdayreleasednewrulestoenhance the delegation of rev-enueprocurementpowersfortheArmy,NavyandAir Force.Underthenewrules,criticalequipment,suchasair-to-airrefuellersfortheAirForce,canbehiredforshortpe-riodsascomparedtopurchasesora long-term lease,which arenotonly considerably expensivebutalsotakealongtime.While the Vice Chief of the

Air Force will have powerscapped at Rs 200 crore, com-manderswillhavepowerstillRs100crore for suchhiring.Financial powers have also

been delegated to new officersamong the services, dependingonrequirements.The armed forces acquire

capital assets according to theDefence Acquisition Procedure(DAP) 2020, which was intro-duced last September. Alongwith buying equipment from

Indian or international players,DAP2020hadalso introducedachapteronleasingofequipmentfor a limited time. Hiring forshorter-durations, under thenew powers, will allow theforces toplug immediategaps.Singh released the order on

Delegation of Financial Powersto Defence Services (DFPDS),2021, which “aims to empowerfield formations; focusonoper-ational preparedness; promoteease of doing business and en-hance jointness among theServices”, the DefenceMinistrysaid inastatement.The lastDFPDSwasreleased

in2016.FULLREPORTON


BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,SEPTEMBER7

THE SEPARATIST conglomerateHurriyat Conference has ap-pointed jailed leader MasaratAlamasitsnewchairman,inplaceof the deceased Syed Ali ShahGeelani.Lastyear,anailingGeelanihad

announcedhisdissociation fromtheHurriyatthroughacontestedvideo statement. However, theHurriyat,thathadelectedGeelani

asitslifetimechairman,didn'tac-ceptitandrefrainedfromnaminghissuccessortillhisdeath.TheHurriyat said a consulta-

tiveexerciseconducted“usingdif-ferentmediumstoavoidarrests”hadledtotheselectionofAlamasinterimchairman, andaperma-

nent structurewould be set upthroughelections “when the sit-uationimproves”.Alamwould be assisted by

two vice-chairmen, ShabirAhmadShahandGhulamAhmadGulzar. LikeAlam, Shah is facingprobe by the NationalInvestigationAgency(NIA)andisimprisoned.“GhulamAhmedGulzarwill

continuerunningtheaffairsofAllPartiesHurriyatConferencewithregular guidelines from theChairman,”theHurriyatsaid.

BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,SEPTEMBER7

FORMER CHIEF minister andPeoplesDemocraticParty(PDP)presidentMehboobaMuftiwasTuesday stopped frommovingoutofherhome,evenasthead-ministration eased restrictionsin place across the Valley sinceseparatist leader Syed Ali ShahGeelani'sdeathlastWednesday.Police deniedMufti's claims

ofhousearrest,however,sayingshewasnotallowedtoleavedueto thesecurity situation.Mufti, who wanted to visit

Kulgam in south Kashmir,tweeted,"GoIexpressesconcernfor the rights of Afghan peoplebutwilfully denies the same toKashmiris... I have been placedunder house arrest today be-cause according to (the) admin

the situation is far fromnormalin Kashmir. This exposed theirfake claims of normalcy." Shealso posted two pictures show-ingapolicevehicleblocking theentrance toher residence.Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar

said Mufti was "stopped" butwas not under house arrest.

"(Thiswasdone)on the requestof SSP, Kulgam, due to the pres-entsecurityscenarioandlackofforce for a Road Opening Partyonthis longroute."ThePDPchief toldTheIndian

Expressthatshedidnothaveanypolitical engagement and hadplannedapersonalvisit.

Lamb, pulao, zarda on menu as Punjab CM cooks for Olympians today

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

THE BJP may have regainedpowerinMadhyaPradeshontheback of defections in Congress,but theelectoral setbackof 2018got the party into deep thinkingafterwhich it identified certainkey issues – including shrinkingsupport base among tribals andDalits in the state – that neededtobeaddressedaheadofthenextelections.According to party leaders, it

wasfeltthattheerodingsupportbase among Scheduled Tribesand Scheduled Castes could belargely attributed to poor repre-sentation of these communitiesinorganisationposts,lackofsen-sitivity towards their concerns

andalullintheorganisation'sex-pansionandconsolidationefforts.Effortstowinbacklostground

picked speed over the past fourmonths during which theMadhya Pradesh unit of the BJP,undersupervisionofcentrallead-ership, held a series of brain-stormingsessionsto identify theareaswhereithadslackeneddur-ing the party's 15-year uninter-ruptedrule inthecentralstate.Later thismonth, theparty is

expected to launch a “JanajatiyaAbhiyaan” or tribal campaign torevive its popularity among theindigenous community. UnionHomeMinister and senior BJPleader Amit Shah's visit toJabalpuronSeptember18,duringwhich he is expected to launchthecampaign,will provide freshenergy to the cadre towork on

this front,partyleaderssaid.In the 2018 elections, theBJP

sufferedconsiderablelossesinitssupport base in the SC and STcommunities.Ofthe82reservedseats, itwon34–18SCand16STseats.Thiswasdownfromthe59reservedseatsitwonin2013elec-tions–31STand28SCseats.In theBJP's schemeof things,

central India, where former BJPpresident Kushabhau Thakrebuilttheorganisation,isitsmain-stayandnowthepartyleadershiphasrealiseditneedstorebuildtheorganisation, infuse fresh bloodandstrengthentheprocessofex-pansion and consolidation of itssupportbase.InordertomaintainMadhya Pradesh as the anchorstateof BJP's cultural, nationalistandpoliticalproject,partycadresin the state have been asked to

pullup their socks to roll out thenewplan, said party leaders fa-miliarwiththedevelopments.Senior BJP leader P

Muralidhar Rao, in charge ofMadhyaPradesh,agreedthatthepartyisfocusingontheSCandSTcommunities. “Theparty's influ-ence among SCs and STs has togainfurtherinordertoremaintheparty of dominance and a partyof governance. There will be aguideline onwhich a roadmaphastobeconstructed.Ultimately,mobilisationofthesesectionswillbe central point for future pro-grammesofboththegovernmentand for the party,” Rao told TheIndianExpress.Sourcessaidthelearningfrom

Madhya Pradesh would besharedwith other stateswheretheBJPhastoconsolidateitselec-

toralbase.“Thepartyhasconcludedthat

our support base and influenceamong the tribals andDalits inthestatehastobeexpanded.TheBJP, in the past, benefited fromsplittingofanti-incumbentvotesamongsmallerpartiessuchastheBSP andGondwanaGanatantraParty... Butwe have found theirsupportamongDalitsandtribalsiscomingdown,”saidaseniorBJPleader.The BJP's inability in ade-

quately sharing the powerwiththe Dalits and tribals has alsobeenidentifiedasareasonforitsinability to expand supportamongthesecommunitiesinthepasttwodecades.“Ourmobilisa-tionpoweralsohascomedown.That'smainlybecausethereisnodivisionofpowerbeyondalevel.

Soweneed to start from there,”theleadersaid.In the blueprint the BJP has

preparedforthestate,enhancingrepresentationofmultiple com-munities is a significant point.“Sensitisingthepartycadreaboutour new stand of giving morespace to the tribals andDalits intheorganisationandappropriat-ing their local heros and propa-gating their messages will begivenpriorities,”asourcesaid.Not just theorganisation, the

BJP government in the state alsowill playa roleby takinguppro-grammes for empowerment ofthesecommunitiesandaddress-ingtheireducationandhealthis-sues. It is expected to announceschemes thatwould givemoreshare of the forest rights to thetribals.

WithRamslogans,BSPwrapsupfirstphaseofBrahminmeets

As curbs eased in Valley, Muftistopped from leaving home

Portal fortime-bound actionon J&K migrantproperties

Masarat Alam is Hurriyat chairman

Father’s bust athouse symbol oflove, will neverencroach: Chirag

Chautala pitches3rd front, invitesnon-Cong Oppnleaders for rally

UnitewithDalits:Mayawati inLucknow.Vishal Srivastav

2018 in mind, BJP looks to win back SC, ST support in MP

OutsideMehboobaMufti’shouse inSrinagar.ANI

PhototweetedbyCMAmarinderSingh’smediaadviserRaveenThukral.

SucceedsSyedAliShahGeelani

Rajnath unveils newrules to reform financialpowers of armed forces

RajnathSingh PTI

Chhattisgarh CM’sfather held for ‘boycottBrahmins’ appeal

NandKumarBaghel,BhupeshBaghel

Twitter/JoshiPralhad

Kolkata

11SENSEX: 58,279.48 ▼ 17.43 (-0.03%) NIFTY: 17,362.10 ▼ 15.70 (-0.09%) NIKKEI: 29,916.14 ▲ 256.25 HANG SENG: 26,353.63 ▲ 190.00 FTSE: 7,171.97 ▼ 15.21 DAX: 15,910.58 ▼ 21.54


ECONOMY


GOLD`46,417

RUPEE`73.42

OIL$70.54

SILVER`63,612

Note:Gold,silverratesatDelhispotmarket;goldper10g,silverper1kg;Crudeoil(Indianbasket)asonSeptember6,2021

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

AASHISHARYAN&SUNNYVERMANEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

THEUNIONCabinetonWednes-day is likely to takeup fordiscus-sionsandapprovalareliefpackagefor the telecomsector, sources inknowofthedevelopmenttoldTheIndianExpress.Amongthereliefmeasuresbe-

ingdiscussed, there is the likeli-hoodthatareductioninthespec-trum usage charges (SUC) andlicence fees could be cleared.Currently, telecom serviceproviderspayaround3-5percentofadjustedgrossrevenue(AGR)asSUC,whiletheypayaround8percentoftheAGRaslicencefee.“There is some scope in the

SUCbeing reduced to3per centflat, and the licence fee beinghalved.It isunderconsideration,”

agovernmentofficialsaid.Apart from these, the pay-

ments for spectrumpurchases,whichhadbeendeferredforuptotwoyears(2020-21and2021-22)in2019isalsolikelytobeextendedforuptomaximumperiodof fiveyears,whilethespectrumholdingperiod,whichiscurrently20years,maybeextendedbeyondthat,theofficialssaid.Amongthethreepri-vateplayers, bothVodafone Idea(Vi) andBharti Airtel have been

seekingsomesortof relief forthesectorfromthegovernmentintheformofreductionintheleviespaidby telcos, namely license feeandspectrumusagecharges,aswellassomewaiveron the reductionofthe interest rates for dues to bepaid to the Department ofTelecommunications(DoT).The two companies have

sought these reliefs especially af-tertheSupremeCourt’sjudgmentonAGR, inwhich theapex courthadsaidthatthedefinitionofAGRput forthby theDoTwascorrect,andthattelcoswouldhavetopaytheduesofthepast20years.FollowingtheSupremeCourt’s

judgment on AGR, the formernon-executive chairmananddi-rector of Vi, KumarMangalamBirla, had said that his companywouldhaveto“shutshop”ifnore-liefwasforthcomingfromthegov-ernment. Birla’s comments had

thencomenearlyafortnightaftertheglobal CEOof VodafoneNickReadmadesimilarcomments.ReadhadonNovember12that

yearsaidthefirm’sfutureinIndiawas doubtful and the companycouldbeheadedfor liquidation iftherewasno relief fromthepay-mentofAGRdues.Hehadaddedtheglobalarmwouldnotcommitanymore equity for India as thecountry “effectively contributedzerovaluetothecompany’sshareprice”.InJune,Birlahad,inalettertotheCentralgovernment,offeredto“handover”his27percentstakeinthecompanytoanypublicsec-tor, government, or domestic fi-nancialentityortoanyotherfirmthatthegovernmentmaythinkfit,to keep Vi going. Earlier thismonth,Birla,alongwithReadhadalso met Telecom MinisterAshwiniVaishnawanddiscussedthehealthofthesector.

PAYMENTSFORSPECTRUMPURCHASESMAYBEEXTENDEDFORUPTO5YEARS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

THE INTEREST rate tobepro-vided by the Employees’Provident FundOrganisation(EPFO)forfinancialyear2020-21 is still awaiting approvalfrom the FinanceMinistry, asenior labourministryofficialsaid. “Theproposal hadbeensenttotheFinanceMinistryforapproval. It’s yet tobe ratifiedby them,” theofficial toldTheIndianExpress.TheFund’sCentralBoardof

Trustees (CBT) had inMarchrecommended retaining 8.5percentinterestratefor2020-21. This rate, the sameas lastyear’s, is thelowestofferedbyEPFOineightyears.The recommended inter-

estrateforFY21isbynormrat-ifiedby theFinanceMinistry,followingwhich it is notifiedby the LabourMinistry. TheFinance Ministry has beennudging the EPFO to reducethe rate to a sub-8 per centlevelinlinewiththeoverallin-terestratescenario.Meanwhile, the EPFO is

workingupon implementingtheBudgetproposalfortaxinginterest incomeoncontribu-tionsmadetotheEPFbeyondRs2.5 lakh (forprivate sectoremployees)andRs5 lakh(forgovernment sector employ-ees). “TheEPFOisworkingonthe separationof taxable and

non-taxable contributions intheaccountsofthesubscribers.It is to be done for about 1.2lakhaccountsandnottheen-tireactive5croreaccounts,soitwill not be amajor issue toseparateforthosesubscribers,”theofficialsaid.The tax department had

recentlynotified rules to im-plement the Budget an-nouncement.TheBudgetpro-posal had noted that thegovernment has found in-stanceswheresomeemploy-ees are contributing hugeamounts to these funds andare getting the benefit of taxexemptionatallstages—con-tribution, interest accumula-tionandwithdrawal.Withanaimtoexcludehighnet-worthindividuals (HNIs) from thebenefit of high tax-free inter-est incomeontheir largecon-tributions, the governmenthad proposed to impose athresholdlimitfortaxexemp-tion.Thiswillbeapplicableforall contributions beginningApril 1, 2021. The taxdepart-ment had recently notifiedrulestoimplementtheBudgetannouncement.

POLICYWATCH

PROVIDENT FUND

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,SEPTEMBER7

THE SECURITIES and ExchangeBoard of India (Sebi) has intro-ducedanoptionalT+1settlementcycle— trade settlement in oneday—ondomesticexchanges.Currently,tradesontheIndian

stockexchangesaresettledintwoworkingdaysafterthetransactionis done (T+2).However, Sebi hasput the onus on the stock ex-changes todecidewhether they

wanttoopt fortheshortersettle-ment cycle for any of the listedscrips. Thiswill be after giving aone-month prior notice to allstakeholders,includingthepublic.AfteroptingforT+1,thebourse

willhavetomandatorilycontinuewith the same for minimum 6months. Thereafter, in case thebourse intends to switchback toT+2,itwilldosobygiving1-monthadvancenoticetothemarket.Anysubsequent switch (fromT+1 toT+2orviceversa)willbesubjecttominimumandnoticeperiods.

Stocks: Sebi allowsT+1 settlement cycle

Mumbai:Vi chairmanHimanshuKapaniahas said the company ishopefulthat“thegovernmentwillprovide thenecessary support toaddressallstructuralissues”facedbythesector.“Thecompany...ishopefulthat

thegovernmentwillsupportitsef-fortstogeneratereasonablereturnsontheirmassiveinvestments,”hesaidinhisshareholdersnoteintheAnnualReport.“Thecompanybe-lieves thegovernmentrecognisesthecriticalityofthesectorandtheimportanceof retaininghealthycompetitionamongprivatesectoroperators.”ENS

Hopeful ofgovt support:Vi chairman

INTERVIEWWITHCEO,NTECHLAB

RUSSIANFACIALrecognitiontech-nologyproviderNtechLab,whichrecently announced a contractwith Indian Railways toimplement its technology at 30stations across Gujarat andMaharashtra, sees Indiaasoneoftheprioritymarketsforvideosur-veillance and facial recognitiontechnology. NtechLab’s CEOANDREI TELENKOV, in an inter-viewwithPRANAVMUKUL,talksabouttheexpandingusecasesandhowIndia is leveraging the tech-nology.Editedexcerpts:

HowdoyouseeIndiaasamarket?WedefinitelyseeIndiaasone

of thekeymarkets, aspartof ourinternational expansion.WearealreadypresentinIndia,andhaveseveral use cases of ourproduct,but theonewemadepublicwastheonewith IndianRailways. Intermsofsize,populationandhowwellwecancooperatewithpart-nershere,Indiaisknowninterna-tionallyforverygoodexpertiseinengineeringandIT.Wearehope-ful thatourportfolioof usecaseswill grow— through expansionwithcurrentclients—andhope-fullywe can enter different seg-ments like smart city, retail, andbanking. India is definitely a toppriority for us, and this yearwehavehireddedicatedpeoplewhowillworkexclusivelywithIndia.

WhatarethevarioususecasespossibleinIndia?Weseeahugenumberofsce-

narios anduse cases that canbeset up. In Russia, we have aMoscowSafe city,whichwebe-lieve is the largestprojectworld-wide if you don’t count China.Moscowhas 1,70,000 camerasand we do not do only facialrecognitionbut different kindofvideo analytics. Of course it’sabout faces, that is how westarted, but now we have ex-panded into different technolo-gies.Wecandetectpeoplebysil-houettes, we can detect andrecognisecarsevenwithnonum-berplates.Wecanimplementsmartso-

lutionsonvideocameras.Wealsocan recogniseweapons inpolicecases, if someone is using aweapon in front of the camera.Thenumberof cases is growing,

growing and growing and wehope that we will implementthese inothermarkets aswell—India being aprioritymarket. Ofcourse, lawenforcement is akeyscenariobuttherearemanyothercasesforexample,citiesusevideoanalytics to analyse the flowofpeople—howmanypeople areonthestreet,howmanyarewait-ingforabus,etc.

ArethereanyIndia-specificchallengesthatyoufaced?In terms of technical chal-

lenges, therewasavery interest-ing challenge for ourR&D team.Indiawasaveryhardcaseintermsofnumberoffaces.TheclientwasIndianRailways,whichisarguablytheworld’s busiest railways. Insomegeographies,whenyoudoaproject of this kind, the averagevideowill have 10 faces, but inIndia, in one frame, the averagenumberoffaceswas50.Thatwasahuge technical challenge tode-tectandrecogniseallthosefaces.

Is it possible for clients touseyour technologybeyond

the statedpurpose?Absolutely, it is verypossible.

Weoften comeacross this case.ManyofourclientsinRussia,theystartwithablacklist—thatarethepeople theydon’twant to see intheirestablishment.Thesepeoplearesuspectedto

becriminalsbylawenforcement,ourclientsuseour technology toget alerts about these people iftheyenterthepremises.Afterthefirststep,theywillcontinuetouseoursystemfordifferentscenarios,otherusecases.Asacompany,weare very open towhat the clientputs in front of us andwecheckwhether their problem can besolvedwithvideoanalytics.

Canaclient,forexampleIndianRailways,expanditsreferencedatabasethatitusesforfacialrecognition?Thisdependsonthestructure

ofthecontract.Sometimesweareflexible,wherewecangiveunlim-itedlicence,whichwillbeunlim-itedintermsofnumberoffacesitcan recognise. But it varies fromcontract to contract. Technically,it is verypossible.Wecanadd toand go through databases veryfast. For example, one of ourclients,whichisaninternetcom-pany,hasadatabaseof1.5billionfaces andwe can search a facethroughthishugedatabaseinlessthan0.3seconds.

DoesacompanylikeNtechLabbuildsafeguardssotheclientsdon’tuseittoviolateprivacyofcitizens?It isreallyuptotheclienthow

theyuse it. Fromourexperience,themajorityof theclients arees-tablishedinstitutions,whichhavetheircompliancesystemsinplace.Fromwhatweknow, the clientsareverycarefulbecausethisisverysensitive information.Wedon’tgettheaccesstothedatabase,wejust provide the technology andthe know-how but we cannotcommentoneachclientbecausewearetechnologyproviders.Forexample, IndianRailways

is a reputable client and this hasextremelylowchanceofhappen-ing.Wedon’tknowhowthesys-temisusedprecisely,weprovidethe technology and it’s up to theclient to compile adatabase andcheckonthisdatabase.

‘India key market for facialrecognition tech; hope togrow smart city use cases’

It is reallyup to the client

howtheyuse it (the

technology).Fromour

experience, themajority

of clients are established

institutions,whichhave

their compliance

systems inplace”

ANDREITELENKOV

■Currently, telecomserviceproviderspay3-5%ofadjustedgrossrevenue(AGR)asspectrumusagechargesandaround8%ofAGRaslicencefee

CURRENT RULES

Cabinet likelytotakeuptelecomreliefpackagetoday;cutsinSUC, licencefee

EPF rate awaits nod;contributions beingsorted for taxation

TheFund’sCentral

BoardofTrustees,in

March,recommended

retaining8.5%interest

ratefor2020-21

PUSHKALAARIPAKANEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

BRITAIN’SCAIRNEnergypledgedto return up to $700million toshareholders through a specialdividendandasharebuybackthisyear,asitsignalledalong-runningbillion dollar tax dispute withIndiamaybenearinganend.Cairn,whichhasmajoropera-

tionsinthecountry,saidTuesdayitwas considering entering intostatutoryundertakingswith thegovernmentafterchangestoaret-rospective tax lawat theheart ofthe row. Lastmonth, thegovern-ment proposed scrapping the2012lawandsaiditwouldrefundcompanies. Cairnwas awardeddamages of over $1.2 billion lastyearinaDutchcourtrulingwhichwaschallengedbyNewDelhi.“The Indian government is

very focusedon resolving this asquicklyaspossibleandthey’retar-getingcompletionwithinthenextfewweeks,”CairnchiefexecutiveSimonThomsonsaid. REUTERS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,SEPTEMBER7

THERESERVEBankof India(RBI)hasdirectedthatnoentityormer-chant,otherthancardissuersandcardnetworks, should store carddetails—or card-on-file (CoF)—fromJanuary1,2022.Simultaneo-usly, it has also extended tokeni-sationofCoFbycardissuers.“With effect from January 1,

2022,noentity in thecard trans-action or payment chain, otherthanthecardissuersandcardnet-works, should store the actualcard data. Any such data storedpreviouslywillbepurged,”theRBIsaid in a circular. It had earlierbarred storage of data inMarch2020, but extended thedeadlinetoDecember31,2021.

Tokenisationreferstoreplace-ment of actual card detailswithan alternate code called the “to-ken”,whichwill be unique for acombination of card, token re-questoranddevice. Itreducesthefrauds thatoccurbysharingcarddetailslikecardnumberandCVV.Thetokenisusedtoperformcardtransactions incontactlessmodeat point-of-sale terminals, quickresponseandcodepayments.ACoF transaction is a trans-

actionwhere a cardholder hasauthorised amerchant to storethe cardholder’s Mastercard or

Visa payment details. The card-holder then authorises thatsamemerchant to bill the card-holder’s stored Mastercard orVisaaccount.E-commerce companies and

airlines and supermarket chainsnormallystorecarddetailsintheirsystem,thecentralbanksaid.TheReserveBankhaspermit-

ted card issuers to offer card to-kenisationservicesastokenserv-iceproviders(TSPs).ThefacilityoftokenisationwillbeofferedbytheTSPsonly for the cards issuedbyoraffiliatedtothem.

Cairn CEO:Govt focusedon resolvingtax dispute innext few weeks

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

THECOMMONServices Centres(CSC),aspecialpurposevehicleoftheMinistry of Electronics andInformationTechnology (MeitY),have received ap-provals to manageandoperatePassportSeva Kendra (PSK)kiosksinruralareas.

WhyhaveCSCsbeenallowedtomanageandoperatePSKs?The CSCs have an extensive

networkofvillage-levelentrepre-neurs (VLEs)who runandoper-ate over 2.5 lakh centres acrossIndia.Most of these centres arepresenteitherinruralorsemi-ur-banareas,whereinternetconnec-tivityisnotalwaysthefastest.In sucha scenario, CSCshave

managed to create a niche forthemselves by offering servicessuch as registering people for

voterIDcard,AadhaarCard,help-ingthempaytheirelectricityandotherbillsontime,aswellaspro-videbasicbankingservices.With such an extensive net-

work,thegovernmentwill finditeasier touseCSCs todo thebulk

of thework such ascollection of docu-ments, photographsandotherdetailsnec-essary for the pass-port process aswellas the initialnon-po-liceverification.

WillCSCsbeallowedtoconductotherbiometricverificationinfuture?Biometricverificationforpass-

ports is a very complex processwhich requires storing suchdatainvery secure systems. Since theCSCsdonothaveverysecuresys-tems in their premises, it is un-likelythattheywillbeallowedtoconduct suchbiometric verifica-tionontheirown.

Fullreporton


How CSC networkmay help expandpassport services

BRIEFLYE-assessmentNewDelhi:Electronic reco-rdssubmittedviaregisteredtaxpayeraccountonI-Tpor-talshallbedeemedtobeau-thenticatedby taxpayer byelectronicverificationcode.

AmazonpactNewDelhi:AmazonIndiahasinkedapactwithGujarat tobooste-commerceexports.Itwill onboardMSMEs onAmazonGlobalSelling.

‘PVretailsales’NewDelhi:FADAsaidpasse-ngervehicle(PV)retailsalesinAugustrose39%y-o-y.PTI

TANGEDCOpactNewDelhi: TANGEDCOhasinked apactwith IREDA toreceiveadvisoryservicesonrenewable energy, policyandregulatoryanalysis,andtechnologyadoption. ENS

Oilslides2%Alberta:Oilpricesfellover2%onconcernsaboutdemandintheUSandAsia.REUTERS

AMIDCOVID-19

‘Average salary hikemay rise to 9.4% in 2022’Salary increment in Indian organisations is projected to grow from an average of 8.8%

this year to an estimated average of 9.4% in 2022, an Aon survey said

Projected salary increases: Indicating financialhealth andbuoyancy in the economy, average salaryincreaseprojectionshave steadily risen from

6.1%in 2020

8.8%in 2021

9.4%in 2022

98.9%Companiesintendtogive

salaryhikes in2022,against97.5%in2021,withmostbusinessesoptimisticof2022

Source: Aon/PTI

TheRBIhasalsoextendedtokenisation—i.e.

replacementofactualcarddetailswithalternate

codecalled‘token’—ofcard-on-filebycardissuers

Merchants, companies can’tstore card data from Jan 1: RBI

GUVNL invites e-tender for purchase of 500 MW RTCpower for the period 01-10-2021 to 31-12-2021 at GETCOperiphery (interconnection point of Gujarat STU with CTU)as per Ministry of Power (MoP), Govt. of India Guidelinesdated 30th March-2016. RFP will be available atwww.mstcecommerce.com from 08-09-2021. Bid has tobe submitted online through DEEP portal of MoP. All termsand conditions shall be as per RFP.

E-TENDER NOTICE

Sardar Patel Vidyut Bhavan, Race Course, Vadodara 390007Phone: 0265-2334751 www.guvnl.com

GUJARAT URJA VIKAS NIGAM LIMITED

Date:08-09-2021 General Manager (Commerce)

SREE CHITRA TIRUNAL INSTITUTE FOR

MEDICAL SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY,

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM–695011, KERALA

(An Institute of National Importance under Department

of Science & Technology, Government of India).

PHONE: (91) 0471 2524 640/136/536

Sealed Tenders are invited for “The supply of medicines to the

Hospital wing of the Institute for the year 2021-22.” Please visit

website for more details: www.sctimst.ac.in/tenders/

Date: 07/09/2021 (sd/-) Director

Kolkata


CANADA

TrudeauhitbygraveloncampaigntrailOttawa: Canadian LiberalPrime Minister JustinTrudeau was hit by ahandful of gravel onMonday, television im-agesshow,ashemadehisway to his campaign buspast a crowd shoutingtheiroppositiontoCovid-19vaccines.ACTVcameracapturedwhatlookstobewhite gravel hittingTrudeau and one of hisbodyguards ashewalkedtoward his campaign busin London, Ontario.Trudeauplayeddowntheincidentonhisplanelater,saying hemay have beenhit on the shoulder, andonce he had pumpkinseeds thrown at him, ac-cording to a video postedonTwitterbyGlobalNewsTV reporter AbigailBimman. REUTERS

JustinTrudeau

TOPOFTHEWORLD

NORTHKOREA

Generalelevatedtorulingparty’spresidiumSeoul:NorthKoreahasel-evated a general longseenasarisingstar inthecountry's powerfulmili-taryandamajorplayerinitsmissileprogrammetoa position in the presid-ium of the rulingWorkers' Party of Korea(WPK) politburo, statemedia reported onTuesday. Pak Jong Chonwill also serve as secre-tary of theWPK CentralCommittee, KCNA newsagency said. Analysts at-tributedhisriseinparttohis role in North Korea'sshort-rangemissile de-velopment. Pak appearsto have replaced RiPyong-chol, anotherpowerful general, on thepresidium,SouthKorea'sYonhap news agency re-ported. REUTERS

PAKISTAN

YouTuberassaultcase:Copsrelease155suspectsLahore: Police have re-leased 155 suspects, ar-restedfor theirallegedin-volvement in the sexualassault of a YouTuber girlon Pakistan’sIndependence Day atLahore’sMinar-i-Pakistan,after the victimcouldnotrecognise themduringanidentification parade, aPunjab government offi-cial said. “The identifica-tionparadeof161arrestedsuspectswasconductedattheCamp Jail Lahoredur-ingthelastfewdaysunderthe supervision of a judi-cial magistrate. The girland her teammembers(could) identify only sixsuspects afterwhich thepolice told themagistratethat155suspectswerenomorerequired,”theofficialsaid. PTI

GUINEA

JuntareplacesprovincialgovernorsConakry:Thesoldierswhoseized power in Guineaover the weekend haveconsolidated theirtakeoverwiththeinstalla-tionofmilitaryprovincialgovernors,Guineanmediareported on Tuesday.Coup leader MamadyDoumbouya has prom-isedatransitionalgovern-ment of national unityanda“newera forgover-nance and economicdevelopment”.REUTERS

Talibanfire inair toscatterdemonstatorsasprotestersraiseanti-Pakistanslogans

AGENCIESPESHAWAR,KABUL,SEPT7

ADAYafter theTalibansaidthatthey have seized Panjshir, thelastprovinceofAfghanistannotundertheircontrol,hundredsofmenandwomenmarchedinthestreets of Kabul on Tuesday toprotest against the Taliban andwhat theycalled interference inAfghanistan's affairs by neigh-bouringPakistan.Theprotestors,shoutingslo-

ganssuchas“Longlivetheresist-ance”, and “Death to Pakistan”,claimed that Pakistani jets hadconductedairstrikesinPanjshir.Butasthecrowdsgrew,with

thewomen joinedbyhundredsof men, protesters were metwith blows from rifle butts andhitwithsticks,accordingtowit-nesses.Thenshotsrangout.Thecrowdscatteredandforthesec-ondtimeinlessthanaweek,theTaliban used force to crush apeacefuldemonstration.Tolo TV, a leading Afghan

broadcaster, said that one of itscameramen covering theprotestswasbrieflydetainedbytheTaliban.Thelargegatheringwasover.

A shortwhile later, when someof themale protesters gatheredin a small group and startedshoutingpro-resistanceslogans,theTalibanchased themaway.The demonstrators gath-

ered after AhmadMasoud, theco-leaderof theresistancefrontin Panjshir province, in a voiceclip called on people ofAfghanistan to resurrectagainst the Taliban.“The Islamic government is

shooting at our poor people,”one panic-stricken woman onthe street says over sounds ofgunfire in an Iranian televisionnews video clip. “These people(Taliban) are very unjust, andtheyarenothumanatall.”Rezai, 26, one of the coordi-

natorsandorganizersof the lat-est protest, only gave her firstnameforfearof retribution.Shesaid the demonstrationwas or-ganized in close coordination

withnational resistance forces.“The Taliban have no

achievements since they tookpower except for killing peopleandspreadingterror.Soitwasanutterly self-motivated protest,andwejustcoordinatedand in-vitedpeople toparticipate,” shesaid.Since coming to power last

month,theTalibanhassoughttorebranditselfasmoremoderate,invitingwomen to join thegov-ernmentandsayingthatwomenwillbeallowedtoworkandgirlswill beallowedtobeeducated.Butthegrouphasyettocod-

ify any new laws or offerspecificsonhowitplans togov-ern.Earlysigns fromaroundthecountry have not been promis-ing, includingtheTalibanwarn-ing women to stay home untiltherankandfileofTalibanfight-erscanbetaughthownottohurtthem.The protests on Tuesday

weretheseconddemonstrationinvolvingwomeninthenation'scapital in less than aweek, andit was also the second to becrushedviolently.Theprotestshavecomeeven

as theTalibancement theirmil-itary grip on the country. Theyhavesaidtheywantto integratemembers of the former Afghanarmyintothenation'snewsecu-rity forces.

WomenwavetheAfghannationalflagduringademonstrationnearthePakistanembassyinKabul.AsigninPersianontherightreads, ‘PakistanPakistanGetoutfromAfghanistan’ ;(right)TalibanfighterswalktowardsAfghansshoutingslogans.AP/PTI

Women lead Kabul protests againstTaliban, slamPakistan interference

Apoliceofficer in theUSstateofNewJerseyreceivesadoseof theCovid-19vaccine.AP/file

THENEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK,SEPTEMBER7

MORETHAN40millioncasesofthe coronavirus have beenrecordedintheUnitedStates,ac-cording to a New York Timesdatabase.The total number of known

infections,morethanthepopu-lation of California, the nation'smost populous state, is a testa-ment to the spread of the coro-navirus, especially lately thehighlycontagiousDeltavariant,and the United States' patch-workefforts to rein it in.Vaccines are effective inpre-

ventingseverediseaseanddeath,but47percentof Americansarenotfullyvaccinated,allowingtheDeltavariantmore thanenoughopportunity to inflict sufferingand disrupt daily life. Health of-ficials say that most of the pa-tientswhoarebeinghospitalizedanddyingarenotvaccinated,andthatitisthoseunvaccinatedpeo-plewho are driving the currentsurge and burdening the healthcaresystem.Overthepastweek,newvirus

cases have averagedmore than161,000aday,asof Sunday.Newdeathsareup to1,385aday, andhospitalizations are averagingmore than 103,000 a day. Thosenumbers,whileveryhigh,remainlowerthanlastwinter'speaks.BeforeJuly4,PresidentBiden

said he hoped for "a summer offreedom."Instead,theDeltavari-ant became the dominant form

of the virus, ravaging unvacci-nated populations and fillingICUs insomestates.In an appearance last

Wednesday, Gov Brad Little ofIdaho, a Republican, pleadedwithpeopletogetvaccinated:"Iwish everyone could have seenwhatIsawintheICUlastnight."Gov Jim Justice of West

VirginiasaidatanewsconferenceonMonday that the virus hadfloodedmanyofhisstate'shospi-tals and closed schools there.“We've got a really big time, bigtimesituationinWestVirginia,asitisallacrossthisnation,"saidMr.Justice,aRepublican.After reading a list of people

whodiedinhisstatefromcausesrelated to the disease sinceFriday,Mr. Justice pleadedwiththeunvaccinatedpeopleofWestVirginiatogetinoculated."We'vegot to get vaccinated for all, notjust for you but for everybody -we'vegottodothis,"hesaid."Wecanstopa lotof this terrible, ter-rible, terriblecarnage."NoUSstatehasmorethan70

percentofitspopulationfullyvac-cinated,accordingtofederaldata,andwhile the average pace ofvaccinations tickedupward thissummer,itremainsfarlowerthanwhenitpeakedinthespring.Cases in the United States

make up nearly a fifth of theknown global total, more than221million cases as of Tuesday,according to data from theCenter for Systems Science andEngineering at Johns HopkinsUniversity.

US surpasses40 mn knownCovid-19 cases

THENEWYORKTIMESMELBOURNE,SEPTEMBER7

PRIMEMINISTERScottMorrisondefended traveling to his homestate forAustralianFather'sDayover theweekend, prompting abacklashinacountrywheremil-lionsofpeoplehavebeenunableto see loved ones because ofstrictmeasuresagainstCovid-19.Mr. Morrison, speaking to

Sky News, said he understoodwhypeoplewerefrustrated,butthat he had acted within therules when he traveled to NewSouthWalestoseehisfamily.Headdedthatheneededtogetbacktothecapitalonofficialbusinessandthatpoliticianswerenotre-quiredtoquarantinefor14days.Morethanhalfofthenation's

populationisunderlockdownasstatesexperienceprolongedout-breaksof theDeltavariant.Individual states inAustralia

have set different guidelines,with Queensland and SouthAustraliaimposingharshborderrestrictions on travelers fromNewSouthWalesandCanberra,the capital. Australians have re-

portedbeingrejectedforexemp-tionstoattendfuneralsandvisitdying relatives inother states.On Sunday, which was

Father's Day inAustralia, peoplegatheredoneithersideofaplas-tic barricade at the border be-tween New South Wales andQueenslandtoseefamily.Australians on Twitter criti-

cized Mr. Morrison's actions,with comments like "One rulefor all the other dads separatedbyborder closures andone rulefor the Prime Minister," and"Whatadisgraceof a leader."In 2019,Mr. Morrison faced

harsh backlash for going on afamily trip to Hawaii whileAustralia suffered recordwild-fires.Mr.Morrison cut his vaca-tion short soon after the newsbroke.

ScottMorrison

Australians slam PM over tripto see family during lockdown

CHRISBUCKLEY,ALEXANDRASTEVENSON&CAOLINEWYORK,SEPTEMBER7

FOUR DECADES ago, DengXiaoping declared that Chinawould “let somepeopleget richfirst” initsraceforgrowth.Now,Xi Jinping has put China's ty-coonsonnoticethatit istimeforthemtosharemorewealthwiththe restof thecountry.Mr. Xi says the Communist

Partywillpursue“commonpros-perity,” pressingbusinesses andentrepreneurstohelpnarrowthestubbornwealth gap that couldholdback the country's rise anderode public confidence in theleadership. Supporters sayChina'snextphaseofgrowthde-mandstheshift.“A powerful China should

alsobeafairandjustChina,”YaoYang, a professor of economicsat Peking University who en-dorsestheshift inpriorities,said

by email. “China is one of theworst countries in terms of re-distribution, despite being a so-cialist country. Public spendingis overly concentrated in cities,elite schoolsandsoon.”Officialsarepledgingtomake

schooling, housing and healthcare less costly andmore evenlyavailableoutsidebigcities,andtolift incomes forworkers,helpingmorepeoplesecureaplaceinthemiddleclass.The“commonpros-perity”campaignhasconvergedwith a crackdownon the coun-try's tech giants to curb theirdominance.Facingscrutiny,someofChina'sbiggestbillionaires,likeJackMa, have linedup topledgebillionsofdollarstocharity.The pledges hold out the

prospect, endorsed byMr. Xi inameetinglastmonth,thatChinais now affluent enough to shiftcloser totheCommunistParty'slongstanding ideal of wealthsharing. For Mr. Xi, theCommunist Party's long-termauthority is at stake.

Now that economic growthis moderating, many youngChinesefeelthatupwardmobil-ity is diminishing.Well-payingwhite-collar jobs canbehard tofind. Techworkers complain ofpunishinglylonghours.Familiesfeel they can't afford to havemorechildren,addingtoaloom-ingdemographiccrisis.Fornow,

Mr.Xifaceslittleopposition,butlonger term that could turn ifsuchgrievancespileup.“Achieving common pros-

perityisnotjustaneconomicis-sue; it's amajorpoliticalmatterbearing on the party's founda-tionforrule,”Mr.XitoldofficialsinJanuary.“Wecannotletanun-bridgeablegulfappearbetween

therichandthepoor.”The party is keen to show

that it is listening to the com-plaintsasMr.Xilaystheground-workforalikelythirdtermastheparty's general secretarybegin-ning next year. Mr. Xi wants tostave off any doubts about hisclaim to another term by argu-ingthatthepartycandeliverso-cialprogresswhilerivalsliketheUS stagnate in inequality, saidChristopherK.Johnson,aformerUnited States government ana-lystof Chinesepolitics.“While there's noopposition

that'sgoingtostophim,he'sgottodeliver a report card,” saidMr.Johnson,nowthepresidentoftheadvisory firm China StrategiesGroup.“Xiseesdoingsomethingon income inequality and thewealthgapinChinaasvitalinthisstruggleofglobalnarrativeswiththeUSandtheWest ingeneral.”To China's leaders, the new

emphasis targets economicneedsaswell. Thecountry's top1percentownnearly31percent

of thecountry'swealth, accord-ing to Credit Suisse ResearchInstitute, up from21 percent in2000.By spreading wealth more

evenly, the Communist Partysays,more Chinesewould havethespendingpowertodrivetheeconomyandreduceChina'sre-liance onWestern capital andknow-how,creatingthefounda-tion foranewstageof growth.While the party's power is

formidable,somechangesunderdiscussionhave thepotential totouchrawnerves.Therealtestofhow farMr. Xi wants to reverseeconomicinequalitywouldbeifthegovernmentpushedthroughmeasures such as introducingproperty and inheritance taxesaimedat the rich.Suchmoves could be chal-

lenging because many of theelitehave links to theparty, andanger could flare amongmanyChinese people who haveboughtuphousingastheirmaininvestment. NYT

Warning of income gap, Xi tells China’s tycoons to share wealth

Xi Jinping is layingthegroundworkfora likely thirdtermastheCommunistParty'sgeneral secretarynextyear. File

ASSOCIATEDPRESSBANGKOK,SEPTEMBER7

THEMAINundergroundgroupco-ordinating resistance toMyanmar'smilitarygovernmentissuedasweepingcallforanation-wideuprisingonTuesday,raisingtheprospectofspiralingunrest.The National Unity

Government,whichviewsitselfas a shadow government, wasestablishedbyelectedlegislatorswho were barred from takingtheir seats when the militaryseizedpower inFebruary.Thegroup’sactingpresident

DuwaLashiLadeclaredwhathecalleda“stateofemergency”andcalledforrevolt“ineveryvillage,townandcityintheentirecoun-tryat thesametime.”Avideoof

his speech was posted onFacebook.Some 1,000 civilians have

beenkilled inthesevenmonthsofclashesthatfollowedthearmytakeover.A spokesman for the ruling

militarydownplayedthecall for

renewedprotests.Maj.Gen.ZawMinTunblamedexilemediaforexaggerating the opposition'sstrength, in a statement postedontheTelegramappbystatetel-evisionMRTV.Thecall foranuprisingcame

aweek ahead of the conveningoftheUNGeneralAssembly.TheNational Unity Government ishopingtohavetheassemblyfor-mally recognizeKyawMoeTun,who supports the oppositiongroup, asMyanmar's legitimateenvoytotheworldbody.Hehadbeen the official representativeof the government previously,but switched his loyalty to theresistance inFebruary.ZawMinTunalso suggested

thecallforanuprisingwastimedtocoincidewiththeUNGeneralAssembly'sopening.

SeniorGeneralMinAungHlaing, commander-in-chief ofMyanmar'smilitary

Myanmar opposition calls fornational uprising against junta

US’S FIRST WORKING FIRST LADY

JILLBIDENHEADSBACKTOCLASSROOM

After months of teaching writing and English to community college students in boxes ona computer screen, US First Lady Jill Biden was set to resume teaching in person Tuesdayfrom a classroom at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has worked since2009. She is the first first lady to leave the White House and log hours at a full-time job.12

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,SEPTEMBER 8,2021

THEWORLD

AGENCIESSEPTEMBER7

THE TALIBAN on Tuesday an-nounced key actingministerialpositions. Here are some of themainappointments:

■MohammadHassanAkhundActing PrimeMinisterAkhundisthelongtimehead

of Taliban’s powerful decision-making body Rehbari Shura, orleadership council. Hewas firstthe foreign minister and thendeputy primeminister duringtheTaliban'slastrulefrom1996-2001.Akhundderivesmuchof his

prestige from his proximity tothe movement's first leader,MullahMohammadOmar.

■Abdul GhaniBaradarActingDyPMBaradar was

once a closefriendofMullahOmar,whogave

him his nom de guerre,“Baradar” or “brother”. Heservedasdeputydefenceminis-ter when the Taliban last ruledAfghanistan.

■ Amir KhanMuttaqiActing ForeignMinisterMuttaqi

servedasministerofcultureandinformationduringthepreviousTaliban government, as well asminister of education. Muttaqiwas later sent to Qatar andwasappointed a member of thepeacecommissionandnegotia-tion team that held talks withtheUnitedStates.

■MullahYaqoobActingDefenceMinisterSon of the Taliban's founder

MullahOmar,Yaqoobhadorigi-nally sought to succeed his fa-ther in 2015. He stormed out ofthe council meeting that ap-pointed his father's successor,MullahAkhtarMansour,butwaseventually reconciled.Still inhis early30s, hecom-

mandstheloyaltyofasectionof

themovement inKandahar be-cause of the prestige of his fa-ther'sname.

■ SirajuddinHaqqaniActing InteriorMinisterHead of the

influential Haqqani network,SirajuddinHaqqanisucceededasits leader following the death ofhis father Jalaluddin in2018.InitiallybackedbytheUnited

Statesasoneofthemosteffectiveanti-Sovietmilitia in the 1980s,thesemi-autonomousgroupwasblamedforsomeofthedeadliestattacksoncoalitionforces.

■ SherMohammadAbbasStanekzaiDy ForeignMinisterThefaceof thetalkswiththe

US in Qatar, Stanekzai was thedeputy foreignminister duringthepreviousTalibanregimeandis an alumnus of the IndianMilitary Academy, Dehradun inthe1980s.

Return of the old guard: Keyfigures in the new Taliban govt

El Salvadorbecomes firstcountry to adoptBitcoin as legaltender, hits snags

REUTERSSANSALVADOR,SEPTEMBER7

EL SALVADOR on Tuesday be-came the first country to adoptbitcoinas legal tender,althoughit suffered teething problemswhen the government had tounplug a digital wallet to copewithdemand.PresidentNayibBukele,who

pushedforadoptionofthecryp-tocurrency, called for help fromusers who had already down-loaded thegovernment-backedapp, to test if it was nowwork-ingproperly."Couldyouplease try to reg-

ister and post in the commentsif there are any errors or if thewhole processworks fine?" thepresidentwroteonTwitter.Bukelesaidusingbitcoinwill

helpSalvadoranssave$400mil-lion a year on commissions forremittances,whilegivingaccessto financial services to thosewithnobankaccount.However, the poorest may

struggletoaccessthetechnologyneededtomakebitcoinwork inElSalvador,wherenearlyhalfthepopulation has no internet andmanymore only have sporadicaccess.Otherssaythemovemayfuel

moneylaunderingandfinancialinstability. It has alreadymud-died the outlook formore than$1 billion in financing that ElSalvador is seeking from theInternationalMonetaryFund.Earlier on Tuesday,

Salvadoranstryingtodownloadthe Chivo digital wallet, whichthe government has promoted,promising$30ofbitcoinforeachuser,founditwasunavailableonpopularappstores.ThenBukeletweeted that the governmenthadtemporarilyunpluggedit, inorder toconnectmoreservers.

Kolkata

After a 19-year-old national-level runner filed a sexual harassmentcomplaint against Chennai-based athletics coachPNagarajan inMay,sevenmorewomen athletes, among them India internationals, cameforwardwithsimilarallegationsagainstthe59-year-old,TheIndianExpresshadreported.Allthecomplainants,someofthemlongretired,hadtrainedasjuniors

withNagarajan,andtheabuseissaidtohavehappenedoverseveralyears.Nagarajaniscreditedwithmentoringseveralnationalmedallistsover

threedecades.ThecoachisfacingchargesundertheIPCandProtectionOfChildrenfromSexualOffences(POCSO)Act.Thevictimsgavestatementstoamagistrate.Lastmonth, thepolice filedachargesheet.The IndianExpressspoketotwovictimswhoareadultsnow.

NIHALKOSHIENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

ASKINGTHEMto come for personal coach-ing,isolatingthemfromtherestof thegroupandthentouchingtheminappropriatelydur-ingmassage when nobodywas around ishowtwoformerinternationalathletesrecallsome of the sexual abuse by coach PNagarajanwhentheywere teenagers.One athlete, a national junior record

holder in her time, said being an introvertshewasafraid to talkback to thecoach. Theother athlete tried to commit suicide as ateenagerandhadnervousbreakdowns.Nowinherlate30s,she

saysshehasstruggledwithintimacy,formingrelation-ships and found it hard totrustoldermenever since.TheIndianExpressspoke

to the two athletes sepa-rately. Theywere coachedbyNagarajanduringdiffer-enttimeperiods.Theyhavebothgiven their statementtoamagistrate.If the athletes at-

tempted to leave early be-fore amassage session bythe coach, they would ei-ther get the cold shoulderforthenextfewdaysorhewouldstartachar-acter-assassination campaign against themin theacademy.“I broke the Under-16 national record.

That is when the sexual abuse started. Heusedtosay ‘youhavetostaybackafterprac-ticesoyoucantrainmore’. If Ihadkneepain,hewouldsay‘Iwillrelievethepain’.Heusedtotouchmyprivateparts, Ifeltreallyuncom-fortable. Ididnot tellmymotheras itwouldaffect her. The first time it happened, I was15,”allegedtheathletewhowascoachedbyNagarajan forover10years.The athlete didn’t knowhow to say ‘no’

becauseshewasafraidof thecoach.Shehadinitiallylookeduptohimbecauseofhistrack

recordof producingchampions.“Heusedtotellme‘Iwillhelpyoustretch’,

and he started to put his hands onme. Hewouldmakemesitonhislap.Hetoldmethat‘Iamlikeafather’.At thatageIdidnotknowhowtoreact.Nowtheyareteachingchildrenwhatisa‘goodtouch’anda‘badtouch’butatthat time I never knew. I used to run awayfromthegroundattheendof training. Iwasafraid toeventalkback tohim.”Thisathletejoinedtheclubwhenshewas

10 years old and alleges the sexual abusestartedafewyearslaterandwentonforfouryears.“The abuse increased year-by-year. He

toldme to be intimate like a husband andwife are. My parents, be-cause I was doing well insports, thoughthewaslikeaGod.WhenI toldmypar-ents about him, he toldthem, ‘your daughter’s be-haviour is not good. She istalking to boys’. If you toldmy parents about theirdaughtertalkingtoaboy, itwouldbeabig issue. Inmyfamilyevenhavingafriendwhowas a boywas unac-ceptable,” theathlete said.The coach also limited

her interactions with theoutside world andmoni-

toredwhoshespoke to.“He did not allowme to talk to theme-

dia. I did not have amobile phone, sowho-ever calledhad to talk throughmy fatherorthroughhim.”

Threat to tarnish nameThe first time the athlete gathered

couragetoconfrontthecoach,hethreatenedhewould tarnishher reputation.“I went and told Nagarajan, ‘if you con-

tinue the sexual abuse, Iwill report it to themedia’. At that time Iwas performingwell.Hethreatenedmesaying‘Iwillalsotellpeo-ple that you are also cooperating’. I startedcrying.”

Eventually,whenshedecidedtoleavetheclub, thecoachasked for forgiveness.“That time he fell and touchedmy feet.

He hit himself with a slipper and I also hithimwiththesameslipper.Afterthatthesex-ual abuse stopped (in2011). I thought that Iwastheonlyonebeingabusedbythecoach.”Theallegationsagainstthecoachfirstap-

pearedinatweetonMay26carryinganony-mous testimoniesof theallegedvictims.Soon after the tweets were published,

Nagarajancalledthisparticularathletetotellhertodefendhimif thescandalblewup.Shehadn’t seen the tweets before the coachbrought it to her notice. Once she put thephonedown, shedecided tospeakup.“Ihadnoplantogetbackathimbecause

he is so influential. If I stood alone againsthim,hewouldmakemenothing. I had toldmy parents about this earlier but they didnotbelieveit initially.Whenthis issuecameout (allegation of sexual abuse against the

coach)myparentswereworried if I wouldgotalk tomediaorpolice. Imagine,mypar-ents are afraid though the abusehappened15yearsback.”The second athlete this paper spoke to

saysshewas in7thgradewhenshejoinedaschool where Nagarajan coached.Within ayear, shebecameavictimof sexual abuse.“WhenIwasin8thgrade,Nagarajansaid

‘Iwantyoutoimproveyourlongjumptech-nique so could you come an hour beforeeverybody’.Soifeverybodygotthereat4pm,Iwouldget there at 3. Soone such time, thesexual abusestartedwhen Iwasalonewithhim. I didn’t knowwhat tomakeof it, Iwasashamed,IwasshockedandIcouldnotevenprocess it,” theathlete says.Toavoidbeingalonewith the coach, the

athletewouldaskafriendtoalsocomeearly.Theywouldplaybasketball andwait till theother athletes came to the ground. But shesays, thecoachfoundawaytoget timewithheralone.“Once I startedavoidinghim,he toldmy

parents thathewouldtakemetotheYMCAfor special fitness tests. He tookme to hisroomintheYMCA.Hesaidthere is thisnewmassage technique inWestern countrieswhichhelpsyourecoverfast.Whenthishap-pened I was devastated. I thought that thiswould happen only in school. It continuedtill 12th grade. It was not only the sexualabuse it was also verbal andmental abuse.Because of the abuse I have had problemswith intimacy, with forming relationships,and in trustingoldermen.”Thecoachfounditeasierwhenhemoved

the academy from the school to amedicalcollegeground.“As it was at a medical school, nobody

cametousethegrounds.Hecouldcontinuewith the physical abuse. Despite all this Iwent to represent India at the Asia level. Iwouldhavenervousbreakdowns.Mymomthought Iwas upset because Iwasworkinghard. Ihad tried tocommit suicide.”Thisathletealsothoughtshewastheonly

onebeingabusedbutheardofsimilarexperi-encesfromothersoncesheleft theacademy.

SPORT 13WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM


‘It was not only sexual abuse, it wasalso verbal and mental abuse’

Getty Images/ Image is for representationpurposeonly

TheIndianExpressreportdated July9,2021

Despite all this I went to

represent India at theAsia

level. I would have nervous

breakdowns.Mymom

thought I was upset because I

was working hard. I had tried

to commit suicide.”

He used to tell me ‘I will help

you stretch’, and he started to

put his hands onme.He

wouldmakeme sit on his lap.

He toldme that ‘I am like a

father’. At that age I did not

know how to react.

New Delhi: Boxers will compete in headguards during the men's NationalChampionship scheduled to start onSeptember15andthegold-medallists fromthe event will qualify for the WorldChampionships to be held next month inBelgrade,Serbia.TheNationals,whichcouldnotbeheldlastyearbecauseoftheCOVID-19pandemic, will be staged at the InspireInstitute of Sports inBellary, Karnataka andthe top two in each categorywillmake au-tomatic cut for thenational camp."The gold-medallistswill qualify for the

WorldChampionships.TheNationalswillbefollowedbyanOpenChampionshipandthetoptwofromtherewill alsobeaddedtothecamp,"BoxingFederationof IndiaSecretaryGeneralHemantaKalitasaidafteranexecu-tivecommitteemeetingof theBFI."Head guards will be back as was pro-

posed becausewe don't want to riskmajorcutsgiventheverylittletimeinhandfortheworldchampionships,"headded.The world event will be held from

October 26 and it would be the first majorinternationalcompetitiveoutingforthebox-ersaftertheTokyoOlympics.Men'samateurboxing did awaywith head guards in 2013whentheAIBAmedicalcommission,afteraresearchstudy,concludedthatremovingthegear "may reduce the already small risk ofacutebrain injury inamateurboxing."The country's Olympic-returned boxers

willalsohavetocompeteandclaimgoldattheNationals to be eligible for the global show-piece. Amit Panghal (52kg),Manish kaushik(63kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), AshishChaudhary (75kg) andSatishKumar (+91kg)had competedat the TokyoGames.Of these,Vikasiscurrentlyoutofaction,nursingashoul-derinjurythatneededtobeoperatedon."The Olympians have to compete and

win gold at Nationals to be eligible for theworldchampionship.Thereisnoexemption.The dates and venue for the Open champi-onshipwill beannounced later,"headded."ImmediatelyaftertheNationals,wewill

havetrialboutsonSeptember22and23be-tween this year's bronzewinners and lastedition's topthreetodecideadditionalbox-ers for thenational camp,"Kalita said.TheNationalChampionshipwillbecom-

peted in the newweight categories intro-duced by the International BoxingAssociation in July. The revisedweightdivi-sions formen,afterbeingincreasedfrom10to 13, are 48kg, 51kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg,63.5kg, 67kg, 71kg, 75kg, 80kg, 86kg, 92kg,and+92kg.The AIBA events and Olympic competi-

tionsdonotfeatureheadguardsbutnationalassociations are free to conduct their tour-namentswithorwithout thegear.PTI

Boxers tocompete withhead guards atNationals

CROSSWORD4529

ACROSS1 Amanof stone(6)4 Noisyprotestmayfollowjailbreak(6)

9 Dashoff forcoal(7)

10 Rush into theboat (5)11 Marknewsheetsandpillowcases (5)

12 GaveaMafiaboss thewrongdate (7)

13 Labour leadermaygive thepassword(4,7)

18 Igot intobed inanobstinatemood(7)

20 Notwhat landladiesshoulddotoboarders (5)

22 Abirdand itsdam(5)

23 Onemayhear it fromaLiberaloraConservative(7)

24 Airingsomelaundry ingoodweather(6)

25 Search foronedrinkafteranother (6)

DOWN1 Jarpossibly lost in theoutskirtsof Jacksonville(6)

2 Showdisdain forbadpunsaboutaking(5)

3 Devoured-duringthe flight?(5,2)

5 Sailorcomesup inavesselofthecity (5)

6 He looksafteradogonahill(7)

7 Givesupthestrugglewithcrops (6)

8 Exhausted likeaparachutistabout to jump?(5,2,4)

14 Aroute less likely tobe flooded(7)

15 Clearlynot thewaytopeace(7)

16 Agoverningbodyonaship(6)

17 One involved inreplay (6)19 Sawnoclearprofit return(5)

21 Playschemes(5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Youhave bynomeanspassed thepoint of no return,and there is plenty

of time left inwhich youmaytake an important decision,especially one concerningyour domestic interests. It'spossible, though, that eventsmay soon gently forceyour hand.

TAURUS(Apr.21-May21)Yourheart saysonething,yourwalletanother.Abusinesstripmaytakesecond

place toaromantic flutter.Youdon'toften leavevitalbusinessontheshelf,butyoushouldnowhavethechanceto takeabreak.There iseverythingtobegainedfromventureswhicharenowgettingunderway.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Selflessness isnexttosaintliness, andonewaytoexploitcurrentplanetary

alignments is toget involved inacharitableactivity.Certainly,youhavemuchtogain fromputtingothers firstanddevelopingthecaring,kindandcompassionatesideofyournature.

CANCER(June22- July23)Familyresponsibilitiesareontheagenda.Turnyourattentionto

broader issues, includingworkandbusiness,becauseasolutionwhichtakesall thesefactors intoaccountwillbebestforyourhomelife.Givemorespacetochildrenandyoungerrelations, theyneedyoursupport.

LEO(July24-Aug.23)Seriousnewsmayrequire aquick tripaway. Youmaycome toa long-

awaiteddecisionandyourthoughtswill turn toways inwhichyoucan improveyourlife. Yet, you're just not sure ifpersonal affairs orwork shouldtakeprecedence.According totheMoon, home takesfirst place.

VIRGO(Aug.24-Sept.23)TheMoonlooksparticularly intensetoday,anddeepinsideyourpsyche

your imaginationstirs. Ifconcentratingonprofessionalaffairs,pleasepushforwardwithconfidence inyour future.If decorating,aimforcolourfulschemes. If shopping,gofor luxuries.

LIBRA(Sept.24-Oct.23)Mattersyouareworkingonnowwillundoubtedlyrequiremoreresearch.Your

ideasarepotentiallyprofitable,but itmaybebest to leave themtogestateuntilyou've laidsufficientgroundwork.Firmfoundationswillgiveyouasolidbasis foryouradventurous thoughts.

SCORPIO(Oct.24-Nov.22)Your hiddennomadic impulsesare starting to comeout, but youmaybe

obliged to restrain suchrestless feelings for themoment. In any case, routinechoreswill be less tediousthan you feared. Youmaybesurprisedwhen familymembers lend ahelpinghand.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov.23-Dec.22)Apleasingfinancialreportcouldstartthedayonahappynote,butwhatreally

mattersisyourinnerlife.Thisisapromisingtimeforromance,forsettlingfinalarrangementswithyoungstersandfortravelplans.Donotbedrawnintodeviousmanoeuvresanddisputes.

CAPRICORN(Dec.23- Jan.20)Therecouldbeheadaches in theshort term,andhassleswith

partnersmaymakeyouimaginethat theworld isgangingupagainstyou.Nothingcouldbe further fromthetruth. Instead,youmustacceptusefulandconstructiveguidance.Friends,evenpeopleyou'vemetrecently, couldhavethebestadvice.

AQUARIUS(Jan.21-Feb.19)Anumberof youractivitiesareabouttoreachasuccessfulconclusion,helped

byworkcarriedoutbyothersforyourbenefit. Itmustbepleasingtoknowthatcolleaguesaredeterminedtohelpyouout.Atwork,you'llfaceuptoshiftingresponsibilities.

PISCES(Feb.20-Mar20)Yourhomemaybethevenueforasocialgatheringwhichcouldhaveahelpful

spin-off inyourwork,perhapsthroughmeetinganunexpectedguestor forgingapotentiallyusefulcontact.TheMoon's somewhat intensealignmentssuggestamysteryofsorts, thoughyoumightnotbesureexactlywhat.

SUDOKU4588

DifficultyLevel1s

Instructions

TosolveaSudokupuzzle,

everydigitfrom1to9

mustappear ineachofthe

nineverticalcolumns, in

eachoftheninehorizontal

rowsandineachofthe

nineboxes.

DifficultyLevel

1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;

3s=Medium;4s=Hard;

5s=VeryHard;6s=

Genius SOLUTIONSUDOKU4587

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget

theanswerforthegivenquip.

Studycarefullythelawof___and___.-VernonHoward(5,.,6)

SOLUTION:TEPEE,AVAST,CHURCH,EFFIGYAnswer:Studycarefullythelawofcauseandeffect.-VernonHoward

PTEEE HHRCCU

AVAST EGIYFF

SolutionsCrossword4528:Across:1Lockjaw,5Gibes,8Admissionfree,9Trade,10Spanish,11Ingest,12Aligns,15Humdrum,17Opera,19Body-snatching,20Talon,21Tablets.Down:1Leant,2Campaignmedal,3Jesters,4Whimsy,5Genoa,6Burningdesire,7Seethes,11Inhabit,13Lioncub,14Impart,16Resin,18Aegis.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

Kolkata


SPORT


R.N.I.No.WBENG/2005/20789VOL.XVIINo.145PrintedbyV.SrinivasanandPublishedbyV.Srinivasanonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LtdandPrintedatSaraswatiPrintFactoryPvt.Ltd,789,Chowbhaga (West),Kolkata-700105andPublishedatThe IndianExpress (P) Ltd JLNo.29&30,N.H.-6,Mouza-Prasastha&Ankurhati, P.O. - Salap,P.S.-Domjur,Howrah-711409.Ph: (033)66043800Fax: (033)66043825&66043847.Chairmanof theBoard :ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor :RajKamal Jha,Editor :UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Kolkata):RakeshSinha*

(*Responsible for selectionof newsunder thePRBAct)Copyright :The IndianExpress (P) Limited.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner,electronicorotherwise,inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited.The IndianExpress®

SANDIPGNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

THREE-AND-a-halfyearsand101Testwick-etspast, themagic,mysteryandmystiqueofJaspritBumrah liveon.It was as though yesterday, under the

towering gaze of the TableMountain, on ablazing Cape Town afternoon, off his 66thball inTest cricket, Bumrahsnaffledhis firstTestwicket.VictimNo1:ABdeVilliers,withaball that tailed inwardlyoff theseamfromagoodlengthoutsidetheoff-stump,snakingandburstingthroughtheout-stretchedwil-lowof theSouthAfrican.Adervish grin spreadacrosshis face, his

armsopenedwide.It was yesterday, onMonday afternoon,

three-and-a-half years on, 1,341 days later,under the spinning gaze of London’sMillenniumWheel,besidetheRiverThames,Bumrahcompletedacenturyofwickets.VictimNo.100: Ollie Pope, symbolically,

andfittingly,blastedoutbyafastin-swingeroff a good length. A dervish grin spreadacrosshis face again, his armsopenedwideagain. Between thewickets de Villiers andPope — not a long time in Test cricket -Bumrahhasemergedastheforemostcross-formatbowlerintheworld,undisputedlythebest fast bowler India has produced, andcouldpotentiallyendupasoneof the finestin thegame’shistory.Betweenthenandnow,hehasfashioned

someof India’smostmemorablemomentsinTestcricket,wonhordesofadmirers,bap-tised critics into fans,made fraternal greatsdrooloverhisuncannyskills,andlegendarybatsmen admitting theywould rather facesomeothers thanBumrah.It’shardtothinkofamorecelebratedcrick-

etersincehewrappedtheTestwhitesaroundhim.Thecuriosityandnoveltyofhisunortho-doxactionhaveblurred,yetnotthewonder-ment and amusementwhenhe arches intohis jittery, eight-step run-upwith a ball, redorwhite or pink, shiny or ragged, in his stiffrightarm.Abuzzofanticipationbubbles,pos-sibilitiesbegintobrim, timefreezes,eyeballsconvergeintothealmostsix-footer.That’s perhaps themost glorious aspect

ofhim—1,341daysand101wicketsintoTestcricket, he still instils the belief in the audi-encethattheyhavenotseenhimfully,orun-derstoodhimreally.There is only somuch contortion a fast

bowler could do with the ball, but withBumrah, there is always a senseof themagi-cal, the unfathomable unfolding. Theyhaveseensomuch,yethecreatesabeliefthatthereissomuchmoretobeseen.Forbatsmen, justwhen they think they have understood thecraftofBumrah,hecomesupwithsomethingdifferent,burnsboththeiregoandmorale.

No. 1 by numbersInviolably,Bumrahat101isbothaboutmo-

ments andnumbers. Thebodyof statistics isincredible.Heisthefastest Indianfastbowlerto the century-wicketmark, registering therecord in a Test fewer thanKapil Dev, but amore revealing record is thatno Indianhas aloweraverage(22.45) toreachthemarkthanBumrah.Abreakdownofthese101wicketsismore

instructive. Hiswicket logbook feature notsomeofthecontemporarygreats,butarguablyall-timegreats. JoeRoot six times, deVilliersthree times (in just six duels), HashimAmla,Alastair Cook and KaneWilliamson twice

apiece.Only Steve Smith couldperhapsbragthatBumrahhasdismissedhimjustonce—itthoughcould turnout tobe thedefiningbat-tle of this era, like SachinTendulkar vs ShaneWarne andBrian Lara vsGlennMcGrath. Ineachof the countries hehas toured, Bumrahhasleftalastingimpression.InAustraliaandEngland,hehasbaulked

32wicketseach,at21.25and25.96;inSouthAfrica, he averages 25.21, inWest Indies, itplunges to a scarcely believable 9.83. NewZealand had been an exception— he aver-aged 31 in his only visit, but is likely to be amoredestructive force inhisnextvisit.Asstaggeringashisnumbershavebeen,

it has been about themoments too, a high-light reel that could occupy the wholeevening.Onecould list thebest,most iconicimages, but someone else could come upwithmoreandtheywouldn’tbewrong.TheShaunMarsh floater or the Jonny Bairstowpearler? The Faf du Plessis nip-backer orBairstowaway-seamer (in2018)?Ithasbeenaboutspells (fromhellor fast

bowling heaven?) too. Spells that not onlythrilled but killed games. The two-wicketburstatTheOvalonMondayafternoon—asfastandhostileasanyhehadbowled—willberememberedforages, justas5/7inNorthSound thathad thegodfathers of fast bowl-ingAndyRobertsandCurtlyAmbrosegush-ingpraises,thetwo-wicketrip-offeithersideof lunch in Melbourne 2018 with a softKookaburra on a dead pitch, or the three-wicket tilt inNottinghamin2018, changingthe tideof thematch in10balls.

At home in theworldThere is a sense of achievement thatwill

growwiththeyearsinjusthavingbeentherethedayBumrahdidthat.SufficetosaythatnoIndianfastbowler—infact,noIndianbowler—has shaped somany unforgettablemo-mentsoutsideAsia.InmatchesthatIndiahavewonoutsidethesubcontinent,hehaspicked55wicketsat15.81,includingfivewickethaulsin nine games. Kapil Dev couldmanage just16infourgamesat19.51,thoughitisanunfaircomparisonashewasoftenaone-manarmy.A better comparison is Zaheer Khan,

India’sbestbowler(beforeBumrah)thiscen-tury. The left-armer plucked 83 at 23.38 in18 games. But in less than one-fourth ofgames Zaheer played, Bumrah has pickedmore than half of hiswickets,without everbowling in Zimbabwe or Bangalore, whichaccount for 43 of Zaheer’s 83 wickets.Likewise, Ishant Sharma has an impressive82wickets at 23.07 in 23 games India haswon abroad, but apart from in England, hisnumbersare inferior to thoseof Bumrah.The stat-digging is not to belittle the

recordsofKapil,ZaheerorIshant—theywereincrediblematch-winners themselves. Butjust to show how far superior a bowlerBumrahis.Thefruitsof India’sresurgenceasaforceoutsideAsiashouldbesharedequallyamongthephalanxof their fastbowlers,butmoreequally toBumrah.Hehasbeenthedrivingforce,thetourde

force. Somuch so that the history of India’semergenceasanoverseasforceisthehistoryof Bumrahhimself. Bothbegan in2018.After conquering Johannesburg on that

tour, picking seven wickets in that game,India annexed Adelaide and Melbourne,North Sound and Kingston, London andNottingham, Melbourne and Brisbane.Barring Brisbane, he has enriched the folk-loreof eachof thesestoriedvenues.It’s been an eventful 101-wicket journey

for Bumrah. To think that hemight still becloser to the foothills than the peak of themountainofachievementshecouldscaleonlydizzies themind. Themoments andmemo-rieshehasprovidedare alreadywortha life-time’s.Theyonlyblazebrighter.AndlikewithSachinTendulkarandShaneWarne,BrianLaraandDaleSteyn,theaudiencewillnevertireofwatchingBumrah.Rather,themagic,mysteryandmystiquewillonlyblazebrighter.

Hall of famerMatch-winningspell atTheOval latestproofthatBumrah’s rise islinkedto India’semergenceoverseas

JASPRIT BUMRAH’s spell on Monday re-mindedme of Pakistan fast bowlers of ourtime.There’sasimilaritywithWasimAkram.Bumrah, too, hurries batsmen, not only intheir shots, but in their set-upaswell.When you start facing a fast bowler

froma young age, a certain set-up gets in-ternalised. You expect a fast bowler to runin from at least 25 yards. You set yourselfup accordingly. But when the likes ofAkram and Bumrah bowl (from a muchshorter run-up), a batsman’s routine interms of settling down, backing/adjustinghis technique,getsdisturbed. It’snotabouthaving difficulty in picking the line. It’sabouthavingasmallermarginof error, andless time.The basic features of Bumrah’s spell

were pace and control. He was brilliantlyaccurate, thanks to his balance. And hebowled at the perfect speed. When hemade the ball reverse, he extractedmaxi-mumadvantage.In reverse swing, the faster youare, the

more effective you become. You need140kphminimum tomove the ball late. Ifyou are bowling slower, air revolution ontheball startsearly, givingbatsmentimetopicktheswingandadjustaccordingly.Also,for reverse swing, youneed tobowl full, sothat the air revolution comes into effectlate.Bumrahbowledat therightpace,wellpast 140 kph, and full.Fast bowlers from the subcontinent

learn the art of reverse swing early, due tothe abrasive conditions in our part of theworld. Earlier, Indian fast bowlers didn’thave the pace to reverse the ball to opti-mumeffect.Bumrah is a complete bowler. He has a

fantastic bouncer, an excellent yorker, andevenwiththenewball,movestheballbothways. This is a difficult skill to master. Inconventionalswing,youhavetocontrol theseam. It’saverydifficultart.Incaseofreverse

swing, theballwillmove towards the shinysideandthedegreeof swingwillnotvary.Asafastbowler,heisdifferent,butnotim-

perfect.Infact,fromhisdeliverystridetoload-ingandrelease,heis101percentperfect.

Complete fast bowlerThebasicaspectof hisaction is therun-

up. You need the right momentumwhenhitting the crease. It’s no use running 40yards butwhen you are hitting the crease,yourmomentum is lost.WhenBumrahisabout tohit thecrease,

he isas fastasanyone.Hewalks,walksandwalks, andsuddenlypicksuppace, exactlywhat’s required.His last three steps before hitting the

crease are as fast and as strong as anyone.And those three steps are vital.The second-most important aspect is

the landing. A right-arm bowler lands onhis right footandthentransfershisweightto the left leg. So the left leg becomes im-portant as well, the timing of transferringtheweight to it.At the time of releasing the ball, the

most important thing ispowergeneration.Fora fastbowler,bodypower is20percent.The rest is ground force. At thepoint of re-lease,whatwe lookatabowler ishowwellhis foot is planted, from left heel to toe.If your foot isperfectlyplanted, youare

using the optimum ground force. Yourfront knee follows, and has to be ramrodstraight. Thisallows theground force togointoyour limbs. If yourkneecollapses, youare wasting energy. Bumrah does all thisperfectly.Whenhe isabout to release theball, his

arm and right shoulder are at 90 degrees.His rightarmisparallel tohis shoulderandhis front arm is tucking into his (left) ribs.Generating pace depends on howwell

you lockyour front arm into your ribs. Theradiusheuses from loading todelivery re-lease is copybook.Don’t look at howhe is approaching the

crease.Theendproductisperfect.Veryfewfastbowlers use their height sowell. Very fewtransferweightsosmoothly.From run-up to release, Bumrah’s en-

tireapproach iscompletely linear,usinghisenergy in a straight direction. It gives himmore power. Tome, he has the best actionin the business.

(As told toShamikChakrabarty)

JaspritBumrahhaspicked55wicketsat15.81 inmatches Indiahavewonoutsidethesubcontinent.

ODETOBUMRAH

JaspritBumrahbowledataperfect speedtogeneratereverseswing, saysAaqibJaved.HerehehasOlliePopebeatenbyanip-backer.

JOHANNESBURG(2018;5/54&2/57)

In the first innings, hedevouredFaf

duPlessis, ABdeVilliers andQuintondeKock, beforegettingHashimAmla

inhisnext. In the second innings, he

nailedABanddeKockagain.

NOTTINGHAM(2018,2/37&5/85):

Chasingan improbable521, JosButtlerwaskeepingEngland’s

survival hopes afloat,whenBumrah

stirredupa stormconsumingButtler

and JonnyBairstow in twoballs

before eviscerating the lowerorder.

ADELAIDE(2018,3/48,3/68):

Bumrahbroke thepartnership

betweenPeterHandscomband

TravisHead in the first innings,before snuffingout top-scorer Shaun

Marsh in the second innings.He then

ended the resistanceof TimPaine

andPatCummins,who,withNathan

Lyon,had raisedhopesof a victory.

MELBOURNE(2018,6/33&3/53):

Arguably thebestperformanceof his

career, the slower-ball yorker that

bamboozledShaunMarshbeing theiconicmoment.

NORTHSOUND(2019, 1/55&5/7):

Puredevastation inone spell of

unbridledhostility andcraft. Fourbatsmenwere cleanbowled, all

deliveries identically swinging into

the right-hander’s pads atpace.

KINGSTON(2019,6/27&1/31):

The spellwasmore terrifying, ashewas faster, sharper andextracted

moremovementoff ahelpful track.

He leftWest Indies teeteringat 5/22,

his opening spell reading6-1-10-5.

MELBOURNE(2020,4/56&2/54):

Heextractedopener JoeBurns, got

thewell-set TravisHeadandended

themerrywaysofNathanLyon in the

first innings. In the second,he snaredSteveSmith.

LORD’S(2021,0/79&3/33):

Bumrahprovided the first break,

RoryBurns, in the second innings

anddelivered themost importantone, JoeRootwithonedelivered from

wideoff the crease, angling into the

stumps, beforeholding the line.

OVAL(2021,2/67&2/27):

Thematch seemedmeandering

towards adrawwhenhebreathed

life into it in the spanof 10balls. Twoferocious in-swingers, changed the

destinyof thematch.

Fromthe strokeof 2018 to the secondhalf of 2021, Indiahavewon 10

Testmatches abroad. In9of them, JaspritBumrahdonned starring roles.

B U M R A H ’ S B I G G E S T H I T S

Like Akram, his shortrun-up disturbs batsman'sroutine, technique

ASSOCIATEDPRESSSEPTEMBER7

FOR11/2sets,includingoneparticularlycom-pellingandcompetitive24-pointgame,NovakDjokovic's fourth-roundopponentat theU.S.Open-JensonBrooksby,thelastAmericanleftinsingles,gavehimfitsamidaraucousatmos-phere at Arthur Ashe Stadium. That letDjokovic, above all, andeveryoneelse, knowthatBrooksby, a 20-year-oldwild-card entryfromCaliforniawhoisranked99thandneverbeforehadbeenonthissortofstage,belonged.And then, not surprisingly, Djokovic

showedwhy he iswho he is and howhe'smanagedtomovewithinthreevictoriesofthefirst calendar-yearGrandSlam inmen's ten-nis in 52years. Settling in and sendingmes-sages, to the fanswith roars and toBrooksbywith some staredowns, the No. 1-rankedDjokovicimprovedto25-0inmajorsthisyearbywinning1-6,6-3,6-2,6-2onMondaynight.He extendedhis pursuit of a trueGrand

Slamandarecord-breaking21stmajorcham-pionship,whilealsomakingthisthefirsttimein thehistory of theU.S. Open, an event thatdates to the1880s,withzeromenorwomen

from the host country in the quarterfinals."Wasagoodfinish.Itwasn'tagoodstart,"saidDjokovic,whohopestoaddafourthU.S.Opentitle toacollection that'sbeenboostedbyhisninthattheAustralianOpeninFebruary,sec-ond at the FrenchOpen in June and sixth atWimbledoninJuly.

HenextmeetsNo. 6MatteoBerrettini ofItalyinarematchofthefinalattheAll-EnglandClub. One key to Monday's turnaround:Djokovic broke in Brooksby's initial servicegameineachof thelastthreesets."Iwanted towear himdown," Djokovic

said,and itworked.Affectedbya lefthip that

bothered him earlier in the tournament,Brooksbywasvisitedbyatrainerafterthesec-ondsetandagainafterthethird.Still,forsome-onewho never had set foot on Ashe's bluecourtuntilabouttwohoursbeforethematch,when he got a chance to practice there,Brooksbyneverseemedoverwhelmed."We're going to see a lot of him in the fu-

ture," saidDjokovic,whowould be the firstman since Rod Laver in 1969 towin all fourSlamtrophies inoneyear."Imean,hehasthemeans.Now,obviouslya lotof thingshave tocometogether.Buthehasabitofanunortho-doxgame.Doesalotwiththefeet.He'ssmart.Heknowshowtowinpoints."KEYRESULTS:MensSingles(FourthRound)AlexanderZverev (4) bt Jannik Sinner (13) 6-4,6-4,7-6(7);LloydHarrisbtReillyOpelka(22)6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3;MatteoBerrettini (6) btOscarOtte6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2;NovakDjokovic(1) bt Jenson Brooksby 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2Womens Singles (Fourth Round) BelindaBencic (11) bt Iga Swiatek (7) 7-6 (12), 6-3;EmmaRaducanubt ShelbyRogers 6-2, 6-1;Karolina Pliskova (4) bt AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova (14) 7-5, 6-4;Maria Sakkari(17)btBiancaAndreescu(6)6-7(2),7-6(6),6-3.

NovakDjokovicnextmeetsNo.6MatteoBerrettiniof Italy inarematchof thefinalat theAll-EnglandClub.AP

Djokovic beats last American left at US OpenSriLankawin3rdODI,seriesagainstProteasColombo:Sri Lankawon a one-day inter-national series for the first time in 19monthswhenitsunkSouthAfricafor125runs on Tuesday in the thirdODI.BRIEFSCORES: Sri Lanka 203/9 in 50 overs(Charith Asalanka 47; KeshavMaharaj3/38, Tabraiz Shamsi 2/31, George Linde2/32) beat SouthAfrica125all out in 30overs (Heinrich Klaasen 22; MahesshTheekshana4/37)by78runs. AP

FCGoablankArmyGreeninDurandCupKolkata: FCGoa survived someanxiousmoments beforeprevailing2-0 againstregimental side Army Green at theSaltlakeStadiuminaDurandCupmatchhere on Tuesday. Goals from AlbertoNoguera Ripoll (35') and DevendraDhakuMurgaokar (59') sealed thedealfor the Gaurs as Army Green squan-deredmany opportunities. PTI

Practisingforshoot-offsworked:HarvinderNewDelhi: India's first Paralympicmedalwinner archerHarvinder Singh,whohadturnedhis farmat a Punjab village into apractice groundduring the lockdown, at-tributedhissuccesstolonghoursof train-ing, including "practice of tie shots andbreathingexercises."Ihavealsodoneprac-ticetocontrolmyemotionsandstaycalmin pressure situations," he said. Singh ishopinghismedalwill fetchhimajob. PTI

SuperLeagueprojectisstillalive:LaportaBarcelona:BarcapresidentJoanLaportain-sistedthattheSuperLeagueisstillalive,de-spite thewithdrawal of themajority offounding clubs.TheCatalans, RealMadridand Juventus are the only three clubs re-maining in the breakaway competition,whichwas announcedwith12 clubs.Theother nine havewithdrawn and signedagreementswithUEFA. REUTERS

BRIEFLY

Aaqib Javed

MERCEDESCONFIRMRUSSELL SIGNING

George Russell was confirmed as Lewis Hamilton's Formula One teammatefrom 2022 by Mercedes on Tuesday. The all-British lineup was speculated onfor months, and signalled on Monday by Valtteri Bottas' move fromMercedes to Alfa Romeo next year. AP

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