saturday, october 9, 2021 DELHI - Sosin Classes

CMYK

J ND-NDE

saturday, october 9, 2021 DELHI

City Edition

16 pages O ₹�10.00

Printed at . Chennai . Coimbatore . Bengaluru . Hyderabad . Madurai . Noida . Visakhapatnam . Thiruvananthapuram . Kochi . Vijayawada . Mangaluru . Tiruchirapalli . Kolkata . Hubballi . Mohali . Malappuram . Mumbai . Tirupati . lucknow . cuttack . patna

follow us:

thehindu.com

facebook.com/thehindu

twitter.com/the_hindu

instagram.com/the_hindu

CMYK

J ND-NDE

DELHI THE HINDU

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2021J2EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Lighting up the sky: Jaguar fi�ghter jets put up a spectacular show during a parade to mark the 89th Indian Air Force Day atHindon airbase in Ghaziabad on Friday. * R.V. MOORTHY (REPORT ON PAGE 10)

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Dazzling display

The digital divide caused byonline classes will defeat thefundamental right of everychild to education, the Supreme Court warned on Friday. The court rued how theright to education nowhinged on who could aff�ord“gadgets” for online classesand who could not.

Little children whose parents are too poor to aff�ordlaptops, tablets or an “optimum” Internet package athome for online classes during the pandemic havedropped out of school andeven run the danger of beingdrawn into child labour orworse, child traffi�cking, thecourt said.

“During the course of thepandemic, as schools increasingly turned to onlineeducation to avoid exposingthe young children to thepandemic, the digital divideproduced stark consequences… Children belonging tothe Economically WeakerSections [EWS]/Disadvantaged Groups [DG] had tosuff�er the consequence ofnot having to fully pursue

their education or worse stilldrop out because of the lackof access to Internet andcomputers,” a threejudgeBench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, Vikram Nath andB.V. Nagarathna noted in anorder.

‘Give access to facilities’The court said even thoughschools are now reopeninggradually due to the receding curve of the pandemic,the “need to provide adequate computerbased equipment together with access toonline facilities for childrenis of utmost importance”.

The court was hearing apetition fi�led by privateschool managements challenging a Delhi High Courtorder of September 2020,directing them to providetheir 25% quota EWS/DGstudents online facilities freeof cost. The High Court hadsaid the schools could getreimbursement from thegovernment.

‘Cannot evade duty’The Delhi government hadearlier appealed to the Supreme Court against theHigh Court order, saying ithad no resources to reimburse the schools for the online gadgets. Though the Supreme Court had stayed theHigh Court order in February 2021, the Bench led byJustice Chandrachud saidboth the Centre and Statessuch as Delhi could not bowout of their responsibilitiestowards children.

The Bench asked the Delhi government to come outwith a plan to eff�ectuate the‘salutary object’ upheld inthe High Court decision. Thecourt said the Centre shouldjoin in the consultation.

SC fl�ags consequencesof growing digital divideCourt asks Centre, Delhi govt. to hold consultation

Krishnadas Rajagopal

NEW DELHI

Skewed: Only a few studentshave been able to accessonline classes. * FILE PHOTO

‘Vested interests’

behind protests against

farm laws: Murugan

page 8

Journalists from

Philippines, Russia win

Nobel Prize for Peace

page 11

RBI suspends GSAP,

keeps interest rates

unchanged

page 12

Bharat helps RCB shock

DC; MI eliminated,

KKR qualifi�es

page 13

After 68 years, Air India is allset to return to the Tata fold.Tata Sons subsidiary TalacePvt. Ltd. emerged as the winning bidder for the debtladen national carrier after quoting an enterprise value of₹�18,000 crore. The government will take a hit of₹�28,844 crore.

The Tatas will own a 100%stake in Air India, as also100% in its international lowcost arm Air India Expressand 50% in the ground handling joint venture, Air IndiaSATS. Apart from 141 aircraftand access to a network of173 destinations, including55 international ones, Tataswill also have the ownershipof iconic brands such as AirIndia, Indian Airlines andthe Maharajah.

Handover by Dec.The Group of Ministers ledby Home Minister Amit Shahapproved the winning bidder in its meeting on October 4. The government aimsto complete the transactionby December 2021, when itwill transfer its shares and

hand over the airline to thenew buyer.

“Talace quoted an enterprise value of ₹�18,000 crore.Of this, ₹�15,300 crore is thedebt component of Air Indiato be taken on by the winner,and the remaining ₹�2,700crore will be cash paid to thegovernment,” DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandeysaid at a press briefi�ng.

“Tata will have the opportunity of regaining the imageand reputation it enjoyed inearlier years. Mr. JRD Tatawould have been overjoyedif he was in our midst today,”Ratan Tata, Tata Group’sChairman Emeritus, said.

He added that it would

take “considerable eff�ort” torebuild Air India, though atthe same time “it will provide a very strong market opportunity to the TataGroup’s presence in the aviation industry”. Tata Sonsowns 84% share in Air Asia,which has a market share of5.2%, and 51% stake in Vistara, which has a market shareof 8.3%. Together with AirIndia’s market share of13.2%, Tatas could be in control of 26.7% market share,and be the second biggestplayer after IndiGo.

The second bidder, a consortium led by Ajay Singh,had quoted an enterprise value of ₹�15,100 crore. The re

serve price fi�xed by the government before openingthe bids on September 28was ₹�12,906 crore.

The government will absorb the balance debt of₹�46,262 crore, which will betransferred to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up byit — Air India Assets HoldingLtd. When adjusted againstnoncore assets such as landand buildings worth ₹�14,718crore that will also be parkedin the SPV and the cashamount of ₹�2,700 crore fromTatas, the net liability on thegovernment comes to₹�28,844 crore.

After 68 years, Tatas win back Air India with ₹�18,000 cr. bidIt will take ‘considerable eff�ort’ to rebuild the debtladen airline, says Ratan Tata

JAGRITI CHANDRA

NEW DELHI

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

Scores of Kashmiri Panditsabstained from work withmany going on a 10dayleave in the Valley on Friday, in the wake of the targeted killings of two community members andseven other civilians in thepast week. Widespreadprotests were held in J&Kagainst the killings.

The J&K administrationand the regional politicalparties appealed to Panditsnot to consider any idea ofmigration. Relief Commissioner A.K. Pandita assured them of “providingfull security”.

The District Commissioners have asked the Pandits living in designated enclaves of the Valley torestrict their movementsfor the now, and avoid travelling to volatile pockets.

“I am frightened... Weare shifting some of our family members to Jammufor the time being,” a Kashmiri Pandit teacher said.

Several schools, especially those located in volatile pockets, have off�eredPandit employees 10 daysof leave, an offi�cial said.

PanicstrickenPandits go onleave in Valley

Peerzada Ashiq

Srinagar

Some Chinese soldiers of alarge patrol were detainedfor a few hours by the Indian Army after a minorfaceoff� near Yangtse in theTawang sector of ArunachalPradesh last week, according to offi�cial sources.

“Some Chinese soldierswere detained for a fewhours and let off� after the issue was resolved at theground level as per established protocols betweenthe two countries,” an offi�cial source said.

Faceoff�s occurred because of the diff�ering areasof perception due to the demarcated boundary, and asboth sides undertook patrolling activities up to theirline of perception, anothersource said.

“The faceoff� occurred aspatrols of both sides cameface to face, which lasted fora few hours, and was resolved by local commanders,” a source noted.

“There has been no damage to our defences,” one ofthem observed. The Armyhas not responded to questions on the incident.

The latest faceoff� oc

curred as the two sides areset to hold the 13th round ofCorps Commander talks fordisengagement and deescalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in easternLadakh. The two sides haveso far undertaken disengagement from the PangongTso and Gogra areas.

Defence sources said thatwhenever patrols of bothsides physically met, the situation was managed according to established protocols and mechanismsagreed upon by both sides.“Physical engagement canlast for a few hours prior todisengaging as per mutualunderstanding,” one of thesources cited above said.

Chinese soldiers detained, let off� later

Dinakar Peri

NEW DELHI

The standoff� comes aheadof Corps Commanderleveltalks on LAC in Ladakh. * AFP

India, China patrolsface off� in Tawang

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

A suicide bomber attacked amosque in Afghanistan’snortheastern Kunduz province on Friday, killing 46people and wounding morethan 140, the staterun Bakhtar news agency said.

Video footage showed bodies surrounded by debrisinside the mosque that isused by people from the minority Shia community.

The Islamic StateKhorasan group claimed responsibility for the attack. Theyhave repeatedly targetedShias in a bid to stir up sectarian violence in Sunnimajority Afghanistan.

In a statement releasedon its Telegram channels,the jihadist group said thatan IS suicide bomber “detonated an explosive vestamid a crowd” of Shiite worshippers who had gatheredinside the mosque.

IS said the “perpetratorof the attack was an UyghurMuslim”.

The blast follows severalattacks, including one at amosque in Kabul, in recentweeks, also claimed by thethe Islamic State.

Suicide bombattack kills 46 inAfghan mosqueReuters

KABUL

BLOODIEST ASSAULT A PAGE 11

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

CMYK

M ND-NDE

saturday, october 9, 2021 Delhi

City Edition

16 pages O ₹�10.00

Printed at . Chennai . Coimbatore . Bengaluru . Hyderabad . Madurai . Noida . Visakhapatnam . Thiruvananthapuram . Kochi . Vijayawada . Mangaluru . Tiruchirapalli . Kolkata . Hubballi . Mohali . Malappuram . Mumbai . Tirupati . lucknow . cuttack . patna

follow us:

thehindu.com

facebook.com/thehindu

twitter.com/the_hindu

instagram.com/the_hindu

Twitter war strains tiesbetween Cong., KishorNEW DELHI

The Congress and election

strategist Prashant Kishor’s

public sparring over the

party’s prospects of political

revival triggered a war of

words between Chhattisgarh

Chief Minister Bhupesh

Baghel and the TMC.

NEWSA PAGE 9DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

IN BRIEF

Commuting to school a risky path for kidsNEW DELHI

Over 500 million children

below 18 years face a

high degree of risk while

commuting to and

from school due to poor

road planning, limited

enforcement and poor traffi�c

behaviour across 14 Indian

cities, according to a study.

STATES A PAGE 4DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Unvaccinated govt. staff�can’t work from Oct. 16NEW DELHI

Delhi government employees

who have not received even

a single dose of vaccine will

not be allowed to work from

October 16, stated an order.

CITY A PAGE 2DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Supreme Court on Friday said the Uttar PradeshGovernment’s resolve to seriously investigate the Lakhimpur Kheri violence anddeaths, including allegationsof murder against a UnionMinister’s son, seemed justall talk and no action.

“Your seriousness is onlyin words and not in your actions,” Chief Justice of India(CJI) N.V. Ramana addressedthe government.

Justice Hima Kohli toldthe State, “There is an oldadage which rings true inthis situation — the proof ofthe pudding is in the eat

ing...” The State is represented by senior advocate HarishSalve and State AdditionalAdvocateGeneral GarimaParshad.

Justice Surya Kant told theState, “It is a case of brutalmurder of eight persons, lawmust take its course againstall the accused.” The courtstated that it was dissatisfi�edwith the government’s statusreport on the investigation.

CJI Ramana pointed outhow even a special investigation team formed by theState was made of “local”police offi�cers, inspectors,Superintendents and a DIG.

The court asked if theState has yet made a request

to the CBI to take over thecase. Mr. Salve replied in thenegative.

After a pause, the court itself went on to expressdoubts about transferringthe case to the CBI. “The CBIis not a solution for reason ofthe persons involved...,”Chief Justice Ramana toldMr. Salve. The “persons involved” may have been a reference to the case’s link to aCentral Minister. Mr. Salvebegan his submissions, saying a “young man”, ostensibly Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra,was being “targeted”.

Resolve only in words, not in action, says CJI Ramana


NEW DELHI

SC dissatisfi�ed with U.P.’s statusreport on probe into violence

A special Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) court inPanchkula on Friday convicted the Sirsabased DeraSacha Sauda’s chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim, and fourothers in a case of murderof former Dera functionaryRanjit Singh in 2002. CBIcourt judge Sushil Garg pronounced the conviction.

CBI counsel H.P.S. Vermatold press persons that thecourt made the convictionunder Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminalconspiracy) of the IndianPenal Code. The other accused in the case are Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, AvtarSingh and Sabdil. One moreaccused passed away a yearago. The quantum of punishment would be announced on October 12.

Ranjit was shot dead atthe behest of Gurmeet reportedly for his suspectedrole in the circulation of ananonymous letter, whichnarrated how women werebeing sexually exploited bythe sect head at the Deraheadquarters.

The Dera chief was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment in 2017on two counts of rape.

Ram Rahim,four othersconvictedSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHANDIGARH

The war of words betweenthe Opposition and the government continues onwhether there were COVID19 deaths due to oxygen shortage in the secondwave of the pandemic.

Pursuing his privilegemotion against Minister ofState for Health BharatiPravin Pawar, Rajya Sabhamember and Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal, in a letter to ChairmanM. Venkaiah Naidu, pointed out that the Centre never “categorically asked theStates for reporting deathsdue to oxygen shortage”.

‘Centre didn’task for oxygendeaths data’

Special Correspondent

New Delhi

DETAILS A PAGE 10

CMYK

M ND-NDE

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 20212EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CITY

Timings

DELHI

SATURDAY, OCT. 09

RISE 06:19 SET 17:58

RISE 09:13 SET 20:11

SUNDAY, OCT. 10

RISE 06:19 SET 17:57

RISE 10:23 SET 21:01

MONDAY, OCT. 11

RISE 06:20 SET 17:56

RISE 11:32 SET 21:56

0DISCLAIMER: Readers are requested toverify and make appropriate enquiries tosatisfy themselves about the veracity ofan advertisement before responding toany published in this newspaper. THGPUBLISHING PVT LTD., the Publisher &Owner of this newspaper, does not vouchfor the authenticity of any advertisementor advertiser or for any of the advertiser’sproducts and/or services. In no event canthe Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Dir-ector/s, Employees of this newspaper/company be held responsible/liable inany manner whatsoever for any claimsand/or damages for advertisements inthis newspaper.

Cab driver stabbedto death; 1 arrestedNEW DELHI

A 30-year-old cab driver was

stabbed to death on

Thursday evening allegedly

by two of his acquaintances

following a quarrel over

taking a lift in Bharat Nagar,

the police said, adding that

one accused has been held.

DCP (North-West) said the

deceased has been identified

as Vipin Kumar.

IN BRIEF

With a looming threat of apossible third wave, socialdistancing norms and limited seating capacity, musicians and venue owners inthe city are a worried bunch.Although live music is upand running, COVID19 restrictions come as a roadblock for many.

For 28yearold ZeeshaanNabi, member of a citybased band ‘Ramooz’, subsequent lockdowns have resulted in multiple live showsbeing cancelled. “Inmid2019, the band hadmoved to Kashmir to recordits fi�rst studio album. However, they were stuck in theValley due to restrictions im

posed post the abrogation ofprovisions of Article 370. Wereturned to Delhi in November that year but managed toplay only a couple shows,with limited capacity, afterthe fi�rst and second lockdowns were lifted. This hasaff�ected the creative process

of the band, especially dueto the fi�nancial constraintsthat the lockdowns havebrought along,” said Mr.Nabi.

The band is now nearingcompletion of its fi�rst studioalbum. However, it faces adilemma due to the restrictions imposed on live performance gatherings.

Sharing the same conundrum is 26yearold AhmadHagroo, a citybased singersongwriter, who has beenstruggling to secure live gigs.This has further resulted infi�nancial constraints for Mr.Hagroo who now runs acloud kitchen from his residence to make ends meet.

“I have been performingsince 2018 in and around

Delhi. I was earning well until the pandemic hit and everything has changed sincethen. I had to turn to othersources of income and haverecently started a cloudkitchen. The idea is to alsoinvite people to dinein withme on weekends and enjoy aperformance alongside,”said Mr. Hagroo.

Prior to the pandemic, independent music scenario inthe city and other parts ofthe country witnessed a regular fl�ow of events with liveperformances on a weeklybasis. However, since thepandemic, the situation forartistes and venue ownersremains dire. Venue ownersin the city have also voicedtheir concerns.

Live music takes a hit amid pandemicAs lockdowns impact live shows, fi�nancial constraints push artistes to try other options

Singer Ahmad Hagroo nowruns a cloud kitchen to makeends meet. * SANDEEP SAXENA

Muneef Khan

New Delhi

A Delhi court on Friday convicted Ansal brothers —Sushil and Gopal Ansal — ina case related to evidencetampering in the Uphaar fi�retragedy case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma passedthe order, holding both thebrothers, two of their employees, and a former courtstaff�, Dinesh Chand Sharma,guilty under IPC Sections201 (tampering of evidence), 120B and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant).

Further, the court askedfor the fi�nancial records of

the convicts in order to pronounce the quantum of thesentence. The order on thesentence is likely to be announced on Monday.

In the chargesheet fi�ledbefore the court, the policehad said Sushil Ansal hadmisled the authorities byclaiming that he had notbeen convicted in any criminal case in order to get hispassport renewed.

Senior Advocate VikasPahwa, who representedthe Association of Victims ofUphaar Tragedy, had arguedon Thursday that the Ansalbrothers had conspired anddestroyed evidence collected by the CBI in the case.

Uphaar fi�re tragedy: courtconvicts Ansal brothers

STAFF REPORTER

New Delhi

‘Both of them had tampered with evidence’

An FIR has been registeredwith the Delhi Police CyberCell by the Delhi Metro after a

fake website imitating theDMRC’s offi�cial web page wascreated, which provided employment opportunities to applicants and extorted money

from them. DMRC said the fake website

— https://dmrccareer.in — isoff�ering fake employment opportunities to respondents.

STAFF REPORTER

New Delhi

FIR registered after fake DMRC website comes to fore

Several students’ organisations staged protests on theDelhi University campus,which is yet to fully open afterthe COVID19 lockdown,against the admission policybeing followed by the university. While some groups werein support of the policy, others alleged “unreasonableadmissions”.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), thestudent wing of the RSS, demanded that the university’sadmission process be stoppedimmediately and the authorities act upon the “unreasonable hike in cutoff�s to do infl�ated scores”. The group soughtthat the university devise amechanism of “moderationand normalisation” of marksfor all State boards of thecountry

The protests started afterseveral candidates with perfect score from Kerala board

sought admission to the university, fi�lling seats at manycolleges that released a cutoff�score of 100%.

Countering the argumentsof ABVP, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) said according to details shared bythe university, only 5% of thetotal admissions after the fi�rstcutoff�s constituted studentsfrom the Kerala board. “The

good performance of Keralastudent is due to their hardwork as well as the constanteff�ort by the State government to provide access toeducation even during thepandemic,” said Utkarsh,vicepresident, SFIDelhi.

The protesters condemnedthe statement by a professorat Kirori Mal College, RakeshPandey — a member of RSSaf

fi�liated NDTF — who, they alleged, has been instigating regionalism against studentsfrom Kerala by terming goodscores “marks jihad”.

The All India Students’ Association and the NationalStudents’ Union of India alsoprotested outside the KiroriMal College. While AISA demanded the suspension ofMr. Pandey, the NSUI said

they had met the principal ofKirori Mal College and handed over a memorandum demanding strict action againstthe professor. NSUI’s nationalsecretary Nitish Gaur said thestudents from Kerala boardhad worked hard to get 100%marks and were beingdragged into a conspiracy being propagated by rightwingprofessors.

Protests, counter protests rock DU campusABVP calls a halt to admission process; SFI, AISA, NSUI come out in support of Kerala board students


NEW DELHI

Up in arms: ABVP activists protesting against the admissionpolicy at Delhi University on Friday. * SANDEEP SAXENA

Professor Yogesh Singh tookcharge as theViceChancellor of DelhiUniversity on Friday andsaid that he would take allstakeholders of theuniversity into accountwhile charting the wayforward for the university.

Mr. Singh said it would bepremature to comment on

the admission policy of theuniversity that some groupsare protesting against as hehad just stepped in and wasyet to meet the students andthe faculty. “If some reformsare needed in the policy, Iwill take suggestions fromdeans and pincipals of various colleges and students toarrive at it. We are open toall suggestions and will bringabout changes if needed.”

New VC takes chargeSpecial Correspondent

NEW DELHI

To control pollution in thecity, the Delhi governmentis aiming to increase inspections in all 28 industrial areas by four timescompared to last winter, anoffi�cial said.

Following the directionsof the erstwhile EPCA (Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority), the government hasbeen working to controlpolluting activities in industrial areas since August last.“We have formed 30 teamsof engineers for inspections in industrial areas.The drive will go on for fourmonths,” an offi�cial said.

‘Fourfold rise ininspections inindustrial areas’

Nikhil M Babu

New DELHI

Delhi government employees, including teachersand frontline workers, whohave not received even asingle dose of COVID19 vaccine will not be allowed towork from October 16, stated an order issued on Friday. Such employees will betreated as “on leave” tillthey take the vaccine.

“The aforesaid government employees/frontlineworkers/healthcare workers/teachers and other staff�working in schools/colleges, who do not get vaccinated [at least fi�rst dose] by15.10.2021 shall not be allowed to attend their respective offi�ces/healthcareinstitutions/educational institutions with eff�ect from16.10.2021 till they have obtained the fi�rst dose vaccination,” an order issued byChief Secretary Vijay Dev

said. The order also said theCentre “may consider issuing similar directions” to itsemployees working inDelhi.

The heads of departments have been directedto verify through the Aarogya Setu app or governmentcertifi�cate that employeesare vaccinated, it stated.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority during ameeting on September 29,had decided to ensure 100%vaccination of all government workers, the order said.

When contacted, a district offi�cial said they havereceived the order and informed the employeesabout it.

“Last month, we surveyed our offi�ces and about25 employees had not takeneven one dose. Then weasked them to take the vaccine and only three or fourare left...,” the offi�cial said.

No offi�ce for unvaccinatedgovt. workers from Oct. 16They’ll be treated ‘on leave’ till fi�rst dose

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Woman alleges gangrape; case registeredNEW DELHI

A woman alleged that she had

been gang-raped by two men

in a flat in east Delhi’s New

Ashok Nagar area on October

6, the police said, adding that

a case has been registered.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2021 3EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CITY

Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai-600002. Group Editorial Officer: Krishna Prasad. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 ● RNI No. UPENG/2012/49940 ● ISSN 0971 - 751X ● Vol. 11 ● No. 240

Before the pandemic struck,9yearold Anamika was usedto eating kadhi-chawal, aloo-puri or sambar-chawal forlunch every day as part of thegovernment’s midday mealscheme at her Municipal Corporation of Delhi school inR.K. Puram. Since schoolsclosed last March, however,regular meals have been hardto come by at her home in thenearby slum area of MotilalNehru Camp.

Anamika’s mother Prematrekked to the school severaltimes, asking about the dryration which had been promised in lieu of the middaymeals, but received nothingfor her daughter, who studiesin Class V, or her son Arav,who studies in Class II, untilJuly 2021, 15 months afterschools were shut.

Their story is not unique.The Delhi government didnot lift any foodgrains allocat

ed for the scheme for an entire quarter during the pandemic, aff�ecting 16 lakhstudents in more than 3,000schools, according to dataprovided by Central and Stategovernments. The MunicipalCorporation of DelhiNorth,which runs 721 primaryschools with over three lakhstudents, did not lift foodgrains for nine months lastyear, according to the minutes of a meeting held onJune 29, 2021, between State

and Central education department offi�cials to considerthe annual plan and budgetfor the midday meal scheme.

According to the minutes,School Education SecretaryAnita Karwal expressed“shock” and “deep concernfor the children who were deprived of the benefi�t for threequarters of 202021” andwarned the Delhi government that “this is a clear violation of the directions of theSupreme Court of India and

amounts to contempt”. Sheobserved “a sheer lack ofmanagement and coordination issue among all the implementing agencies”.

Cash transfer

Delhi government representatives informed the Centrethat “after closure of schoolsdue to pandemic, cost offoodgrains and cooking costwas transferred in the bankaccount of the benefi�ciaries[as a food security allowance]and later, dry ration kits weredistributed. In North MCDthough, tender of the suppliers had expired but still thedry ration kit was preparedwith the help of KendriyaBhandar and distributed insome schools, however, foodgrain could not be lifted,” according to the minutes.

Data provided by the DelhiDirectorate of Education inresponse to an RTI requestfi�led by activist Anjali Bhardwaj in January 2021 shows

needed pulses and vegetables, prepare the food at centralised kitchens and distribute to the schools,”explained a senior Ministryoffi�cial. “During the pandemic, this system collapsed. Butit is highly irresponsible thatthey have not managed tocreate an alternate systemeven after one year.”

“There are also structuralproblems within the Delhischool system. The AAP government runs schools mostly for upper primary students[Class VIVIII], while mostprimary schools are run bythe MCDs which are run bythe BJP. But irrespective ofthe political diff�erencesamong themselves, they havebeen utterly callous towardsthe children, and deprivedthem of their rights at a diffi�cult time,” said the offi�cial.

The Delhi government spokesperson did not off�er acomment despite multiplecalls and messages.

that no foodgrains allocatedfor the midday meal schemewere lifted during April toJune 2020. Another RTIshows that instead, a food security allowance of ₹�5.22 perday for primary students and₹�7.83 for upper primary wastransferred to children. FromJuly to September 2020, Delhi picked up the full 10,454tonnes of grains, but thatdropped again to a defi�cit2,913 tonnes for the next twoquarters, the RTI showed.

Education Ministry offi�cials say that despite extensions to allow the Delhi government to pick up thegrains it failed to lift last year,it has not yet done so. “One ofthe problems in Delhi is thatthey do not have a system ofschoolwise preparation ofmidday meals as in manyStates. Instead, it is all outsourced to contractors whodirectly pick up the allocatedgrains from the Food Corporation of India godowns, add

When ration ran dry for Delhi schoolchildren State government failed to pick up any mid-day meal grains for three months and North MCD for nine months last year

Priscilla Jebaraj

NEW DELHI

Mid-day ordeal: People in large numbers waiting for freeration at a govt. school in Vishwas Nagar, Delhi. * FILE PHOTO

Vehicle owners in the city have started to queue up to get Pollution Under Control (PUC) certifi�cates. Thiscomes after the Transport Department gradually stepped up enforcement against vehicles without PUCsand those causing visible pollution,in the runup to winter.

Not having a valid PUC attracts afi�ne of ₹�10,000, six months imprisonment or both.

According to the Transport Department, an average number of10,000 PUCs were issued on a dailybasis between August 10 and September 1 this year. This numberjumped to a daily average of 15,000

per day between September 2 and 18following news reports related topollution.

“We have 56 dedicated enforcement teams which have been deployed to check PUCs of visibly polluting and overloaded vehicles. Thedepartment also started sendingtext messages to vehicle ownerswithout valid PUCs to get them renewed,” said Ashish Kundra, Secretary and Commissioner, Transport.“As many as 12 lakh messages for renewal were sent to vehicle ownersyesterday. In addition to continuingto send reminders, we will be intensifying our drive against invalidPUCs and polluting vehicles over thecoming days,” Mr. Kundra added.

Rush for PUCs as TransportDept. starts anti-pollution drive 12 lakh text messages sent to vehicle owners

Jatin Anand

New Delhi

FACULTY REQUIRED for horticulture/HDO 9717658872

I , Laxmi w/o Shiva Lal Chundali R/OWZ 118-D Gali No.2 Sadhnagar,PalamColony, New Delhi-45 .have changedmy name to Laxmi Chundali videaffidavit dt.13.09.21 sworn to beforenotary.

I, Anuja D/o Shiv Lal Chundali R/o WZ118-D Gali No.2 Sadhnagar,PalamColony,New Delhi-45 have changedmy name to Anuja Chundali videaffidavit dt. 13.09.2021 sworn to beforenotary.

I,Shiva Lal Chundali S/O Late ManiRam R/o WZ 118-D Gali No.2Sadhnagar,Palam Colony, New Delhi45 have changed my name to Shiv LalChundali vide affidavit dt. 13.09.2021sworn to before notary.

I,Shiva Lal Chundali R/o WZ 118-DGali No.2 Sadhnagar,Palam Colony,New Delhi-45 have changed my minordaughter's name from Akriti to AkritiChundali vide affidavit dt. 13.09.2021sworn to before notary.

I,Shiva Lal Chundali R/o WZ 118-DGali No.2 Sadhnagar,Palam Colony,New Delhi-45 have changed my minordaughter's name from Apana to ApanaChundali vide affidavit dt. 13.09.2021sworn to before notary.

EDUCATIONAL

PERSONAL

CHANGE OF NAME

PERSONAL

EDUCATIONAL

LEGAL NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

SITUATION VACANT

GENERAL

CHANGE OF NAME

OBITUARY & REMEMBRANCEOBITUARY & REMEMBRANCE

DEATH

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


STATES

Numbering over 500 millionaccording to the Census2011, children below 18 yearsof age face a high degree ofrisk while commuting to andfrom school due to poor roadplanning, limited enforcement and poor traffi�c behaviour across 14 Indian cities,according to a study.

The pandemic had addedanother layer of danger tothese existing factors forschool students and therewas a need for safety policiesfor students at both the national and State level, the report observed.

The study, titled ‘NationalStudy on Safe Commute toSchool’, and carried out bythe SaveLIFE Foundationand MercedesBenz Research and Development India (MBRDI) to highlight gapsin road safety for children,posited that although millions of students travel toschool everyday, manyschools do not provide theoption of schoolaffi�liatedtransport.

Heavy tollThis, even as over 30 children below the age of 18 diedin road crashes every day, orover 11,000 in total duringthe year 2019, according todata from the Ministry ofRoad Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The Ministry’s data stated that 11,168deaths of children aged below 18 years were recordedin 2019, registering an increase of 7.4% compared to2018.

The study, conducted after the outbreak of the pandemic, analysed responsesfrom 11,845 respondents including 5,711 children of

Classes VI to XII and 6,134parents with children inClasses I to XII across 14cities.

The cities surveyed include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi,Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Kanpur,Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai,Patna, Pune, and Vijayawada.

No optionAlmost half – that is 48% or1,817 of 3,787 respondentssurveyed – said they did nothave the option of schoolaffi�liated transportation;school buses were being utilised by a little over 33% or3,948 of the total number of11,845 respondents.

The number of respondents utilising school vansand choosing to walk toschool – 1,374 and 1,332 outof the total 11,845 respondents – constituted 12% and11% of the total, respectivelyadding up to the same percentage as those usingschool buses.

The largest number of respondents who, or whose

children, commute to schoolby walking were found inMumbai and Bengaluru. Asmany as 47% of the respondents commuting to schoolon a cycle stated that thereare no separate cycle pathsfor their mobility implyingthat they have to move alongwith motorised traffi�c, whichpotentially exposes them toa greater risk of road traffi�cinjury. This proportion is especially high in Vijayawada(87%), Patna (72%), and Delhi (63%).

The maximum respondents to fl�ag the nonavailability of transportation facilities to and from school werefrom Ahmedabad followedby Chennai and Delhi.

Lack of transportationA citywise analysis revealedthat in Delhi 59%, Ahmedabad 76%, Chennai 61%,Mumbai 53%, Pune 51%, andVijayawada 56%, a majorityof the children did not haveany transportation facility intheir school, followed by47% in Jaipur and 46% inBengaluru.

When respondents whocommute by walking wereasked whether there wereany alternate modes of transport, more than twothirdor 67% of the respondentsreported that there was noalternative available forthem to commute to schoolother than walking.

On the other hand, almosthalf – around 47% or 2,579 ofthe 5,489 respondents usingschool transport – admittedthat their school vehicleswere not equipped with seatbelts, as many 30% of thechildren surveyed said theywitnessed a crash duringtheir commute to school and6% of them were involved ina road crash or a nearmisssituation during their commute to and from school.

When asked about the impact of the crash, most parents across cities (74%) reported that their child didnot have any injury – the percentage being highest forBengaluru (100%) and lowestfor Chennai (33%). It was also revealed that 4% of the parents in Chennai and 5% of

the parents in Jaipur statedthat their child had died dueto the road crash.

The report was in favourof policies for ensuring safeschool transport at both thenational and the State levelto issue guidelines forschools, parents and roadauthorities to follow, so thatrisks to road safety are mitigated during school commute.

As the pandemic stilllooms large, the policiesshould be inclusive of thesanitisation and social distancing requirements to prevent the risk of contractingCOVID. The policies shouldalso contain guidelines for allmodes of commute, the report stated.

Safety policy“As of date, over 25 Statesand Union Territories haveannounced the reopening ofschools. While there is a vaccine for COVID, the vaccinefor child deaths on our roadsis really our collective action,” said SaveLIFE Foundation Founder & CEO, PiyushTewari.

“Our fi�ndings through thisreport have once again emphasised that the right tosafe commute to school is asimportant as the right toeducation itself. A comprehensive national and Stateschool transport safety policy can ensure that,” he added.

Manu Saale, Managing Director and CEO, MBRDI said,“The fi�ndings from this study show unequivocally therising need for road safety inthe country. We hope thatthis study will help all stakeholders further extend ourvision of zero casualties to allmodes of road transport.”

Commuting to school a risky path for kidsStudy points to poor road planning, limited enforcement and poor traffi�c behaviour across 14 cities

Jatin Anand

New Delhi

Dewan Zainul Abedin AliKhan of the Ajmer Sharifdargah on Friday condemned the killing of civilians in Srinagar, saying it isterrorists’ design to derailKashmir’s development.

“The time has come forall of us to uproot the remaining terrorists in Kashmir and support the eff�ortsof the Government of Indiato create a new and an equalKashmir,” Mr. Khan said .

Dewan fl�aysSrinagar killings

Press Trust of India

Jaipur

Intensifying the attackagainst Narcotics ControlBureau (NCB), senior leader of Nationalist CongressParty (NCP) and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malikon Friday said that the antidrug agency let go of twopersons after the raid andone of them was the brotherinlaw of a highprofi�leBJP leader.

“NCB offi�cer SameerWankhede while speakingto media had said that theagency has arrested 8 to 10individuals. How can theoffi�cer incharge of suchhighprofi�le raid be so elusive? Didn’t he know howmany people were arrested? The agency had arrested 10 out of which twowere let go,” said Mr. Malik.

The Minister said that hewill be exposing the nameof the BJP leader in a pressconference on Saturday. “Iwill be presenting damningfacts on Saturday and NCBwill have to answer all theclaims,” he said.

‘BJP leader’skin among 2let off� by NCB’

Staff Reporter

Mumbai

As Income Tax Departmentraids on fi�rms owned byMaharashtra Deputy ChiefMinister Ajit Pawar’s relatives and aides continuedfor the second successiveday on Friday, both Mr. Pawar and his uncle, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)chief Sharad Pawar mockedthe BJP Government at theCentre by remarking thatthey were not worried bythe “guests at their home”.

Teams of IT authoritieshave been raiding businesses, including sugar factories, and searching thehouses of Mr. Ajit Pawar’ssisters in Kolhapur andPune, as well as the Mumbaioffi�ce of his son Parth Pawar. The raids have been onfor nearly 30 hours.

Speaking in Solapur at a

rally of NCP workers and offi�cebearers, Mr. Sharad Pawar took a jibe at the ModiGovernment at the Centre,stating: “I heard that theCentre sent some guests [ITauthorities] yesterday toAjit Pawar’s place [fi�rmslinked to the Deputy ChiefMinister’s kin]…but we arenever worried about suchguests.”

The NCP supremo reminded his party workersof the time in 2019 when,just ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly election thatyear, he had received a notice from the EnforcementDirectorate (ED).

Mr. Sharad Pawar hadbeen named in a moneylaundering case by the EDin connection with the multicrore Maharashtra StateCooperative Bank (MSCB)scam.

Not worried about ‘guests’at home: Sharad PawarNCP chief comments on IT raids

special correspondent

PUNE

“I am giving a special pushfor ethanol as a fuel,” Minister for Road Transport andHighways Nitin Gadkari saidon Friday.

“With 100% use of 20%blend of bio ethanol we willbe able to save ₹�30,000crore on import of fossilfuel. Further, the use of ethanol blended petrol decreases emissions of carbonmonoxide, hydrocarbonsand nitrogen oxides by40%,” Mr. Gadkari said at aFICCI event on alternativefuels.

The government haslaunched the Ethanol 20programme under which itaims to achieve 20% ethanol blending in petrol by2025.

“Currently, the ethanoleconomy is ₹�20,000 crore

which I am targeting to raiseto more than ₹�2 lakh crore.We are taking inspirationfrom countries like Brazilwhich have been using ethanol in their transport industry for more than 60 years.They have a compulsoryblend of 27% ethanol in petrol,” he added.

Flex vehiclesMr. Gadkari also reiteratedthat the government wasplanning to introduce fl�exvehicles soon. Such vehicleswould be able to operate on100% bio ethanol or 100%petrol.

The Minister said that thegovernment has allowedthe production of ethanolfrom surplus and damagedfood grains such as rice,corn in addition to sugarcane which will give additional income to farmers.

Special push for ethanolas a fuel, says Gadkari‘₹�30,000 crore will be saved on import’

special correspondent

New Delhi

CMYK

M ND-NDE

STATESEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI


Teenager accidentallyshot at by father diesMANGALURU

The 16yearold boy, who was

hit by a bullet when his father

Rajesh Prabhu opened fire at

two of his employees on

October 5, died at a hospital

on Friday. His father was

arrested on Thursday. Mr.

Prabhu and his son had gone

to his firm, Vaishnavi X’press

Cargo Private Limited, on

learning that the two workers

had had a heated exchange of

words with Mr. Prabhu’s wife

over payment of ₹�4,000. Mr.

Prabhu then opened fire from

his licenced pistol at them.

Youth arrested for sellingchild pornography videosHYDERABAD

A youth from Telangana’s

Karimnagar district was

arrested on Thursday for

allegedly circulating child

pornography videos on social

media to make money. The

accused, Vangala Madhukar

Reddy, 23, works in a tech

firm. The Women Safety Wing

received credible information

while cyber patrolling that

Mr. Reddy was circulating

such videos and a special

probe team was formed.

The police said Mr. Reddy

downloaded the videos and

sold them via Telegram App.

The Supreme Court on Friday revived a disproportionate assets case against Andhra Pradesh EducationMinister Adimulapu Sureshand his wife while holdingthat the CBI need not alwaysconduct a preliminary inquiry before registering an FIRagainst public servants incorruption cases.

A threejudge Bench ledby Justice D.Y. Chandrachudset aside a decision of the Telangana High Court in February 2020 to quash the corruption/disproportionateassets case against Mr. Suresh and his wife, T.H. Viajayalakshmi, an Income TaxCommissioner.

The High Court had reasoned that the CBI hadstraightaway fi�led the FIRwithout bothering to conduct a preliminary inquiryinto the couple’s “knownsources of income” like income tax returns, electionaffi�davits or information submitted to the Governmentunder the Central Civil Services Rules. The High Courthad found the corruptioncharges “prima facie unsustainable” after going throughthese sources of income onits own.

Diff�ering with the HighCourt, Justice Chandrachud,in a 64page judgment, heldthat a preliminary inquiry isnot mandatory before registering an FIR against a public

servant for corruption if theCBI felt that the informationit has received discloses acognisable off�ence.

“We hold that since the institution of a preliminary inquiry in cases of corruptionis not made mandatory before the registration of anFIR under the Code of Crimi

nal procedure, the Prevention of Corruption Act oreven the CBI Manual, for thiscourt to issue a direction tothat eff�ect will be tantamount to stepping into thelegislative domain. Hence,we hold that in case the information received by theCBI, through a complaint ora ‘source information’, discloses the commission of acognisable off�ence, it can directly register a Regular Caseinstead of conducting a preliminary enquiry, where theoffi�cer is satisfi�ed that the information discloses the commission of a cognisable offence,” the top court held.

The court did not, however, take away the value ofconducting a preliminary en

quiry in an appropriate case.“The need for a preliminaryenquiry will depend on thefacts and circumstances ofeach case. Even when it isconducted, the scope of apreliminary enquiry is not toascertain the veracity of theinformation, but only whether it reveals the commissionof a cognisable off�ence,” Justice Chandrachud noted.

An accused cannot demand preliminary enquiryas a “matter of right”, thecourt explained. “A preliminary enquiry is valuable incorruption cases not to vesta right in the accused but toensure that there is no abuseof the process of law in orderto target public servants,”the court said.

SC revives assets case against A.P. MinisterPreliminary probe not always mandatory in corruption cases against public servants, says Bench


NEW DELHI

Adimulapu Suresh

The Belagavi police have arrested 10 persons on charges of murdering Arbaz Mulla, a 25yearold fromKhanapur here in Karnataka, allegedly over his interfaith relationship with a girl.Investigation has revealedthat the parents of the girlhad paid money to kill theman, said the police.

Apart from Eerappa Kumbar, 54, and Susheela Eerappa Kumbar, 42, the girl’s parents, the arrested includePundalik, alias Maharaj Nagappa Mutagekar.

The youth’s body withstab wounds was found on arailway track on September28. His mother, NajeemaSheikh, complained to therailway police, saying thather son was killed for his relationship with a girl from

her neighbourhood in Khanapur. She suspected the involvement of three persons,including the girl’s father,the police said.

Rightwing outfi�t linksThe parents agreed to pay₹�5 lakh to get “the boy out ofthe way”. They paid₹�50,000 as an advanceamount to Mutagekar, saidthe police.

Mutagekar is a taluk president of Sri Ram SenaHindustan, a rightwing outfi�tactive in Belagavi district.Except the parents andanother accused QutbuddinAllabaksh Bepari, all theother accused are followersor members of the organisation. However, a senior police offi�cer said there was noevidence, as of now, to linkthe off�ence to the affi�liationof the members.

Son killed for interfaith aff�air: mother


Belagavi

Girl’s parents among 8held for man’s murder

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Fridayquashed the preventive detention of Swapna Suresh, accused in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case,under the Conservation ofForeign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act, 1974.

The Bench comprising Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Mohammed NiasC.P. passed the verdict on apetition fi�led by Kumari Prabha, mother of Swapna, seeking to produce the detenuenow in the Women’s Prisonand Correctional Home, Attakulangara, Thiruvananthapuram, challenging thepreventive detention order.

Despite the High Court verdict, Ms. Suresh will continue

to be in jail as she is yet to getbail in a case fi�led by the National Investigation Agency(NIA) against her.

The NIA, the ED and theCustoms conducted separateinvestigations into the seizureof gold worth ₹�15 crore fromthe diplomatic baggage of theUAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July5, 2020.

The Customs had invoked

provisions of the COFEPOSAagainst her later.

The court, however, dismissed the petition fi�led bythe mother of P.S. Sarith,another accused, against thepreventive detention order.

Upholding the detentionorder passed against Sarith,the court observed that thedetention was not ordered onthe mere ground that he waslikely to be released on bailbut also on the ground thatthe detaining authority wassatisfi�ed the detenue was likely to indulge in the same activity if he was released onbail.

Counsel for Ms. Sureshcontended that the order ofthe NIA Special Court rejecting the bail plea of Ms. Sureshwas not placed by the Customs before the detainingauthority.

HC quashes detention ofSwapna under COFEPOSANo relief for coaccused as court upholds his detention


KOCHI

Swapna Suresh

Telangana Assemblypitches for caste censusHYDERABAD

The Telangana Assembly on

Friday adopted a resolution

urging the Central

Government to conduct

castewise census of all the

Backward Classes while

holding the general census

2021. The resolution was

moved by Chief Minister

K. Chandrasekhar Rao and

adopted by voice vote

subsequently. In order to

take up various welfare

measures for the poorer

sections, it was necessary to

maintain accurate statistics,

the Chief MInister said.

IN BRIEF

The Dalit or Mazhabi Sikhsof the Harijan Colony adjoining Iewduh, the commercial hub of Meghalayacapital Shillong, would bechallenging the government’s bid to take possession of their land after evicting them.

After a Cabinet meetingon Thursday, Chief MinisterConrad K. Sangma said thegovernment was set to takepossession of the HarijanColony land within a weekby following “due procedures”. The employees ofthe Shillong Municipal

Board residing at the Harijan Colony would be relocated to the staff� quarters onthe premises of the board’stemporary offi�ce in anotherarea of the city, he stated.

The 2acre Harijan Colony, also known as PunjabiLane or Sweepers’ Lane, hasabout 350 families living intwostorey hovels fl�anking a300metre lane. Only a fewfamilies have members asemployees of the municipalboard.

The Harijan Colony wasat the centre of a confl�ict following a quarrel betweensome locality women and abus driver on May 31, 2018.

Dalit Sikhs to challengeeviction move in Shillong SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI

Putting up a united faceahead of byelections to twoAssembly seats, RajasthanChief Minister Ashok Gehlotand his former deputy Sachin Pilot travelled togetherin a helicopter and addressed rallies at Vallabhnagar and Dhariawad after theCongress candidates fi�ledtheir nomination papers onFriday.

AICC general secretaryAjay Maken and PradeshCongress president GovindSingh Dotasra fl�ew with thetwo leaders, who have beenat loggerheads for more thana year over a power sharingarrangement in the State. Mr.Maken later posted a pictureof the Congress leaders sitting inside the helicopter onhis twitter account, taggingboth Mr. Gehlot and Mr.Pilot.

The two leaders, leadingrival camps in the State Congress, travelled togetherbarely a week after Mr. Gehlot sent across a sharp mes

sage to his opponents by affi�rming that he was going tostay in politics for the next 15to 20 years. On Thursday, Mr.Pilot said at a function in Jaipur, that he would be activefor 50 years.

Tonk MLA Mr. Pilot drovethe car from the helipad atVallabhnagar to the venue ofthe election rally, with theChief Minister accompanyinghim on the front seat. WhileMr. Gehlot has put at rest allspeculations about a changeof guard in Rajasthan afterthe turmoil in Punjab, the focus on ensuring Congress'victory in the bypolls has indicated that the internalstrife in the party might havereduced.

Party candidates PreetiShaktawat in Udaipur's Vallabhnagar and Nagraj Meenain Pratapgarh's Dhariawadfi�led their nominations before the rallies started.

Speakers at the ralliessought to convey a messagethat the party was not onlyunited, but also capable oftaking on the BJP.

Ahead of bypolls, Rajasthan

Cong. puts up united face Gehlot, Pilot address rallies together


JAIPUR

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


EDITORIAL

Terror againIt is unfortunate thatterrorism is showing itsugly head again in theValley, with civilians astargets (Page 1, October 8).After making Jammu andKashmir a Union Territory,the Centre seems to haveslowed down in its initiativeto instil confi�dence amongthe people and localleaders, and developinclusiveness ingovernment programmesand policies in the Valley.The allparty meet with thePrime Minister seemedpromising, but there do notseem to be steps after this. D. Sethuraman,

Chennai

■ The targeted killings ofKashmir’s religious

minorities revive the horrifi�cmemories of theorchestrated expulsion of thePandits from the Valley inthe 1990s. Pakistan’s hiddenhand in the murders ispalpably visible. What isshocking is the inability andunwillingness of India’spolitical class to condemnthe targeting of minorities. V.N. Mukundarajan,

Thiruvananthapuram

Microfi�nance, inclusionI write this as the CEO of theMicrofi�nance InstitutionsNetwork (MFIN). While it isgood to have diff�erentperspectives, the article,“RBI microfi�nance proposalsthat are antipoor” (Editorialpage, October 6, 2021) is notentirely factually correct.One thing which stands out

is the writer’s fear thatprivate fi�nanciers willprofi�teer and interest rateswill go northward; there iseven an erroneous exampleas an illustration. MFIscharge interest rate on adeclining principal basis andthe example given iserroneous as interest amountcannot be the same for 24months; it will decline eachmonth. NBFCMFIs (only onwhom interest rateprescription applies) makeup for a mere 32% of marketshare. And the interest ratesof major institutions are inthe range of 19% to 21%, witha cost of funds of ~12%.Anybody familiar withfi�nance knows that interestrate is a function of cost offunds, transaction cost andrisk cost is well understood.

And NBFCMFIs in India havethe lowest transaction costwhen compared globally,while delivering doorstepservices.On the writer’s fear of ratederegulation and rates goingup, besides the point of only32% of market having cap,the example of banks inIndia comes to mind. Havethe rates gone beyond theroof or actually fallen,postderegulation in 1991,including private banks? Thefacts are there to see. Suchthings can happen underoligopolistic conditions butnot in India where themicrofi�nance market isfi�ercely competitive withnearly 200 lenders (banks,NBFCs and NBFCMFIs) andwhich will be complementedby the RBI and SRO

last fi�ve years due toextraneous reasons such asCOVID19. It is now wellaccepted by Indian policythat any institution (public orprivate) needs to besustainable and not subsidydriven. Both public andprivate institutions have arole in meeting the challengeof exclusion, but sustainably.Alok Misra,

New Delhi

oversight. Global researchshows that caps only createmarket ineffi�ciencies andoften defeat the policyobjective of universalinclusion. To illustrate, in amargincappedenvironment, institutionswill shy away from farfl�ungareas as operational costs goup — which need the servicesthe most. On the writer’spoint of “private” and“profi�t”, MFIs have suff�eredlosses for three years in the

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

To read more lettersonline, scan the QR code

Soham D. Bhaduri

The country has witnessedthe menace of two COVID19waves and stares at a third.

While COVID19 has been presented as an overarching public healthcalamity, the infl�uence of medicaldoctors in the health policy response to COVID19 has been particularly profound. This is symptomatic of our longstandingtendency to confound medicinewith public health which permeates even the highest policymaking echelons.

If anything, both the scope andconsequence of medicine in theoverall health of the population issignifi�cantly limited. COVID19 entails that this fact leaves the libraries and academia, and manifestsas tangible policy measures thathelp consolidate public health inthe country.

Distinct specialty, stagnationIn the 1950s, a global consensusand a concomitant national consensus on the importance of sociallyoriented physicians in popu

lation health resulted in theestablishment of community medicine as a distinct medical specialty, both at the undergraduate andpostgraduate levels. Vast swathesof the community medicine curriculum are devoted to tackling major public health challengesthrough a plethora of vertical disease control programmes whichhave always driven the nationalpublic health discourse. The larger medical curriculum has remained more or less stagnantsince postIndependence.

Similarly, hardly any attempthas been made to reform the community medicine curriculum,from one that primarily providestechnical inputs to technocratichealth programmes — to onewhich can also take on the largerquestions related to health policyand health systems, and inculcatecritical thinking along lines thatare divergent from clinicalmedicine.

Multidisciplinary scienceSome experts have advocated theestablishment of public health departments in medical schools, inspired by the COVID19 pandemic.Community medicine, while frequently equated with publichealth, fails to embrace multiplefacets of the multidisciplinary assemblage of competencies that is

public health. Juxtapose the community medicine curriculum withthat of any of the few bastions ofsociallyoriented public healthcourses, and the distinction becomes readily apparent. But proponents of community medicinehave not been in denial of this essential distinction — eventually,community medicine is a medicalspecialty while public health is amultidisciplinary science. Sincepublic health is a multidisciplinaryscience, why do we emphasise instilling public health competencies in medicine, and not so muchfor other allied fi�elds such as engineering or anthropology?

The pragmatic answer is thatmedical doctors, de facto, are likely to continue to be the most infl�uential players in public healthpolicy at least in the foreseeablefuture. This makes it imperativethat medical doctors imbibe multi

disciplinary public health thinkingright since their formative days.Recent medical curricular reformsin India have laid a stress on inculcating clinical empathy, early clinical exposure, and at least ritualistically, on greater communityexposure.

The Cuban exampleHowever, none of these confersthe competencies necessary tocritically assess the larger publichealth and health systems landscape of the country. For a medical curriculum to be steeped inclinical medicine and not inculcate a broader public health orientation is least desirable wherehealth policy is largely shaped bydoctors. At the postgraduate level,reemphasising multidisciplinarypublic health principles would beequally important to ensure thatwe create not just communitymedicine technocrats but alsowellrounded advocates of healthsystem reform. While healthcarereform is a complex process withnumerous interacting elements,the role of formative medical education in it is quite often underrated. Countries such as Cuba demonstrate how a medicalcurriculum attuned to publichealth can strongly infl�uence thewhole philosophy of healthcareprovision in a country.

Despite the considerable overlap between them, the nonsubstitutability of community medicine and public health cannot beignored, at least in the current Indian context. Community medicine will always defend its exclusivity as being a fundamentallymedical specialty meant only fordoctors, and public health courseswill rightfully need to be open tostudents from diverse backgrounds.

Looking aheadA middle ground can be struck byupgrading community medicineto ‘community medicine and public health’ both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Thiswill involve revamping the community medicine curriculumthrough incorporation of or emphasising those areas of publichealth which are presently left outor underemphasised, such as social health, health policy andhealth systems. At the same time,representation of experts otherthan doctors and from fi�elds alliedto public health will be essential inthe refurbished ‘community medicine and public health’departments.

Dr. Soham D. Bhaduri is a physician,

health policy expert, and chief editor of

‘The Indian Practitioner’

Infusing public health into Indian medical educationA middle ground is to upgrade community medicine to ‘community medicine and public health’ in the curriculum

GE

TT

Y IM

AG

ES/I

ST

OC

KP

HO

TO

Events coinciding with the jubilee of India’s Independence draw attention to the

federal structure of India’s Constitution, which is a democratic imperative of multicultural India,where the constituent units of thesovereign state are based on language, against competing identities such as caste, tribe or religion.This builtin structural potentialfor confl�ict within and among theunits, and that between them andthe sovereign state, need imaginative federal craftmanship and sensitive political management. Theability of the Indian Constitutionto keep its wideranging diversitywithin one sovereign state, with aformal democratic framework isnoteworthy. Possibly, with universal adult suff�rage and free institutions of justice and governance it isnearly impossible to polarise itswideranging diversity within anysingle divisive identity, even Hindutva; so that, despite its operational fl�aws, the democratic structure and national integrity aredialectically interlinked. But itsoperational fault lines are increasingly denting liberal institutions,undermining the federal democratic structure as recent eventshave underscored.

Some fault linesFirst, the tempestuous Parliamentsession, where the Rajya SabhaChairperson broke down (in August 2021), unable to conduct proceedings despite the use of marshals; yet, the House passed arecord number of Bills amidst a record number of adjournments. Second, crossborder police fi�ring byone constituent State againstanother, infl�icting fatalities, whichalso resulted in retaliatory actionin the form of an embargo ongoods trade and travel links with

its landlocked neighbour.Such unfamiliar events of feder

al democracy are recurrent in India, except their present manifestintensity. Legislative disruptionwas described by a Union Law Minister (while in Opposition) as a‘legitimate democratic right, andduty’. In the 1960s, the Troikaaround Lohia claimed its right toenter Parliament on the Janata’sshoulders to exit on the Marshals;posters with labels such as ‘CIAAgent’ were displayed during debates; ‘suitcases’ were transferredpublicly to save the government;occasionally, “Honorable Members” emerged from debates withinjuries. This time, in the “federalchamber”, “Honorable Members”and Marshals are in physical contact — both claiming ‘casualties’ —offi�cial papers vandalised andchairpersons immobilised. EveninterState confl�ict has assumed anew dimension.

Key changesSuch empirical realities have ledscholars to conceptualise India’s“Postcolonial democracy”, andfederalism, diff�erently from theirliberal rolemodels. Rajni Kothari’s“one party dominance” model ofthe “Congress system” has nowbeen replaced by the Bharatiya Janata Party; Myrdall’s “soft state” isreincarnated in the Pegasus erawith fake videos and new instruments of mass distraction andcoercion. Galbraith’s “functioninganarchy”, now has greater criminalisation in India’s democracy,which includes over 30% legislators with criminal records, andcourtrooms turning into gang warzones; it is now more anarchic, butstill functioning, bypassing any“Dangerous Decade” or a “1984”.

Federal theorist K.C. Wheareanalyses India’s “centralized statewith some federal features” as“quasifederal”. He underscoresthe structural faultlines of Indianfederalism not simply as operational. So, while many democraticdistortions are amenable to mitigation by institutional professionalism, Indian federalism, to be democratically federal, needsinstitutional amendment despite

being a “basic structure”.Wheare’s argument meritsconsideration.

Many defi�citsDemocratic federalism presupposes institutions to ensure equalitybetween and among the units andthe Centre so that they coordinatewith each other, and are subordinate to the sovereign constitution— their disputes adjudicated by anindependent judiciary with impeccable professional and moral credibility. But India’s federal structureis constitutionally hamstrung bydefi�cits on all these counts, andoperationally impaired by the institutional dents in the overall democratic process. Like popularvoting behaviour, institutional preferences are based either on ethnic or kinship network, or like antiincumbency, as the perceivedlesser evil, on individual rolemodels: T.N. Seshan for the ElectionCommission of India, J.F. Ribeirofor the police or Justices Chandrachud or Nariman for the judiciary.

India’s federal structure, underpinned on the colonial ‘1935 Act’which initiated ‘provincial autonomy’, attempted democratising itby: renaming “Provinces” to autonomous “States”; transferring all“Reserved Powers” to popular governance; constitutionally dividing powers between the two tiers;inserting federalism in the Preamble, and Parts 3 and 4 containingcitizens’ “Fundamental Rights”and “Directive Principles”; butnothing about States’ rights, noteven their territorial boundaries.This has enabled the Centre to unilaterally alter State boundariesand create new States. The IndianConstitution itself has been

amended 105 times in 70 yearscompared with 27 times in over250 years in the United States.

With ‘nationbuilding” as priority, the constitutional division ofpower and resources remains heavily skewed in favour of theCentre; along with “Residual”,“Concurrent” and “Implied” powers, it compromises on the elementary federal principle ofequality among them, operationally reinforced by extraconstitutional accretion. While the judiciary is empowered to adjudicate ontheir confl�icts, with higher judicialappointments (an estimated 41%lying vacant), promotion andtransfers becoming a central prerogative, their operations are becoming increasingly controversial.

Structural confl�ictsThe story is not diff�erent for the“all India services”, including theState cadres. What is operationallymost distorted is the role of Governors: appointed by the Centre, it ispolitical patronage, transformingthis constitutional authority of afederal “link” to one of a central“agent” in the States. Thus, thecritical instruments of national governance have been either assigned or appropriated by theCentre, with the States left withpolitically controversial subjectssuch as law and order and land reforms. Thus, most of India’s federal confl�icts are structural, reinforced by operational abuses.

Yet, there is no federal chamberto politically resolve confl�icts. TheRajya Sabha indirectly representsthe States whose legislators electit, but continue even after the electors are outvoted or dismissed;with no residential qualifi�cation,this House is a major source of political and fi�nancial patronage forall political parties, at the cost ofthe people of the State they “represent”.

Possibly, this explains its continuity. Constituting roughly halfthe Lok Sabha, proportionately, itreinforces the representative defi�cit of Parliament, which, throughthe Westminster system of ‘winnertakeall’, continues to electmajority parties and governments

with a minority of electoral votes.The second chamber is not empowered to neutralise the demographic weight of the populousStates with larger representationin the popular chamber; it cannotveto its legislations, unlike the U.S.Senate. It can only delay, which explains the disruptions. Joint sessions to resolve their diff�erencesare as predicable and comical asthe “voice votes” in the Houses.India’s bicameral legislature, without ensuring a Federal Chamber,lives up to the usual criticism:“when the second chamber agreeswith the fi�rst, it is superfl�uous,when it disagrees, it is pernicious”.

Historically, party compositionsdecide when they agree or disagree. Whenever any party with amassive majority in any state fi�ndsitself marginalised in the centrallegislature, it disrupts proceedings, just as popular issues not refl�ected in legislative proceedingsprovoke undemocratic expressions and reciprocal repression.Such examples abound in India’s“quasi federal” democracy tillnow.

Lessons to learnEmpirical and scholarly evidencesuggest Wheare’s prefi�x about federalism arguably applies to otherconstitutional goals (largely operationally), while the federal fl�awsare structural, reinforcing confl�icts and violence, endemic in thedistorted democratic process. It isa threat to national security by incubating regional cultural challenges to national sovereignty, andreciprocal repression. We mightlearn from the mistakes of neighbouring Sri Lanka and Pakistanrather than be condemned to relive them. India’s national securitydeserves a functional democraticfederal alternative to its dysfunctional “quasifederal” structure,which is neither federal nor democratic but a constitutional “basicstructure”.

Aswini K. Ray is a former Professor of

Comparative Politics and International

Relations, Jawaharlal Nehru University,

New Delhi

Refl�ections on the ‘quasifederal’ democracyDespite a basic structure, Indian federalism needs institutional amendment to be democratically federal

Aswini K. Ray

V.V

. K

RIS

HN

AN

This year’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry is for an effi�

cient, “precise, cheap, fast and environmentally

friendly” way to develop new molecules using a

simple yet novel concept of catalysis — asymmetric or

ganocatalysis. It was awarded to German scientist Ben

jamin List of the Max Planck Institute and Scotland

born scientist David W.C. MacMillan of Princeton Un

iversity who independently developed the new way of

catalysis in 2000. They came up with “a truly elegant

tool for making molecules — simpler than one could ev

er imagine”. Since then, the process they evolved has

led to a “gold rush” in the catalysis fi�eld. The multitudes

of new organocatalysts developed have helped drive a

variety of chemical reactions, in turn accelerating phar

maceutical drug research. The asymmetric organocata

lysts have allowed researchers to effi�ciently produce

new molecules with complete certainty of the 3D

orientation or handedness. Molecules naturally present

and those synthesised can exist in two forms — right

handed and lefthanded, and their properties very of

ten vary depending on their handedness. In the 1950

60s, thalidomide was widely used to treat nausea in

pregnant women, but caused severe birth defects. It be

came clear that the righthanded molecule was highly

toxic. But asymmetric organocatalysts allowed the pro

duction of molecules of the desired mirror image form.

While using other catalysts that require isolation and

purifi�cation of each intermediate product — leading to

loss of substance at every stage — asymmetric organoca

talysts allow several steps in molecule production to

continue without interruption, minimising waste.

In 2001, the three scientists who fi�rst developed

asymmetric catalysts won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

But such catalysts often use heavy metals, making them

expensive and environmentally harmful. There were

other challenges too — a high sensitivity to oxygen and

water. This meant that industrial use made the process

expensive. Many enzyme catalysts too are asymmetric

and are not sensitive to oxygen and water. But they are

very often much larger than the actual target medicine

and can take a longer time to do their job. Instead of us

ing enzymes which normally contain hundreds of ami

no acids, this year’s laureates developed a carbon

based catalyst made from a single, circular amino acid.

Since these catalysts are asymmetric, only molecules of

a single handedness are produced. If Benjamin List

used a single amino acid proline to perform a certain

bondforming chemical reaction, W.C. MacMillan de

monstrated that many modifi�ed amino acids could

asymmetrically produce another bondforming reac

tion. The circularshaped amino acid the laureates used

ensured that only one mirror image of the molecule

could be produced. This year’s Prize underlines the of

tenignored message — great discoveries can come even

from simple ideas which are often overlooked.

Simple, but brilliantGreat discoveries can come from simple

ideas which are often overlooked

The killings of seven civilians in Srinagar in six days

mark a grim turn in the situation in the Kashmir

Valley. This vicious, mindless violence against

commoners, owned up by a group that calls itself the

Resistance Front — believed to be a shadow organisa

tion of the Pakistanbased LeT — is yet another remin

der of the pathological hatred transnational radical Isla

mism inspires. The victims include local Muslims who

were branded traitors, but the targeting of the Hindu

Pandit and Sikh minority communities is unmistakable.

Srinagar’s prominent Kashmiri Pandit chemist, Makhan

Lal Bindroo, whose decision to stay on through the vio

lent 1990s was seen as a positive omen by the displaced

community, was gunned down. The killers used epith

ets such as ‘RSS stooge’, ‘police informer’ and ‘traitor’

for the victims. Majid Ahmad Gojri and Mohammad

Shafi� Dar were killed on October 2. On October 7, a Sikh

principal and a Kashmir Pandit who had returned to

the Valley after taking up a job under the Prime Minis

ter’s special job package for migrant Pandits, were

gunned down. Islamist terrorists have sought an ethnic

cleansing of the Valley for long. The Pandits had to

leave in large numbers in 1990 following violence. After

1994, attacks on minorities became episodic, but not

without periodical outrages such as the Wandhama

massacre, when 23 Pandits were shot dead in January

1998 and the Chittisinghpura massacre, in which 35

Sikhs were killed in Anantnag in March 2000.

The wave of violence is taking place against the back

drop of an uptick in tourist infl�ow to the Valley and the

Centre’s push to promote a raft of development

schemes. The administration is also encouraging the

Pandits to return. A nineweeklong outreach of the

Centre in J&K where Union Ministers are visiting remote

districts, including those closer to the LoC, is under

way. Union Home Minister Amit Shah could make a visit

later this month. Strict directives were issued to unfurl

the national fl�ag in all government buildings, including

schools, on August 15. There is also a higher level of in

tolerance by the administration, which does not spare

even the political activities of mainstream parties.

There is an aggressive drive too to punish government

staff� suspected to be separatist sympathisers. Civilians

are soft targets for the terrorists in this milieu. Accord

ing to police fi�gures, J&K saw 28 civilian killings, sur

passing the 22 casualties of security personnel so far

this year. Of the 28 killings, four were local Hindus, one

Sikh, two nonlocal Hindu labourers and 21 local Mus

lims; 23 were political workers, with most from the BJP.

No society can tolerate such violence. But while pursu

ing terrorists, the administration should also engage

with political parties and civil society organisations.

Grim turnWhile pursuing terrorists, the administration

should also engage with civil society in J&K

corrections & clarifications:

A clarifi�cation: With reference to the report titled “People paidfor treatment despite PMJAY” (some editions, October 6, 2021), amail from the Public Health Foundation of India said: “... the report incorrectly states that the study was technically supportedand guided by the Public Health Foundation of India. ... The technical team of the foundation has neither contributed in the manner reported nor has it been associated with the study.”

The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300;

E-mail:[email protected]

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


GROUND ZERO

At around 8 a.m. on September 22,about a dozen daily wage earners,mostly women, sat under a neem

tree in Nandavanampatti village in Dindigul district of southern Tamil Nadu.They had eaten their morning portionof pazhaya saatham (gruel made of leftover rice soaked in water overnight)with shallots and were getting ready todesilt a tank under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). A 69yearoldwoman, Nirmala Devi, was directing thelabourers to quickly get to work withoutwasting time.

A short while later, when Nirmala Devi — heavy, with a wide forehead, a nosepin and glasses — sat alone in the shade,four men armed with long knives rodetowards her on two motorcycles. Theydismounted the vehicles, strode menacingly towards her, grabbed her by herhair and assaulted her with the sharpedged weapons. As the helpless farmworkers watched the crime in horrorfrom afar, one of the masked men beheaded Nirmala Devi, who had by thencollapsed in a pool of blood. The murderers picked up her head and droveaway.

Aghast at this savagery, the workersfl�ed to safety. For well over 30 minutes,Nirmala Devi’s torso lay there, the smellof death lingering in the sticky air. Thevillage fell into a shocked silence. Itwore a deserted look until senior policeoffi�cers and an ambulance arrived at thescene of the crime.

Armed police personnel were quicklydeployed in the village. The police immediately launched a search operation.Special teams assisted by sniff�er dogsspread out in diff�erent directions insearch of the assailants and the victim’shead. About an hour later, Nirmala Devi’s head was found at the doorstep ofChidambaram Pasupathi’s house. Chidambaram Pasupathi alias PasupathiPandian, the founderleader of a Scheduled Caste outfi�t, Devendrakula Vellalar Kootamaippu, had also been brutallymurdered, on January 10, 2012.

It did not take long for the police tojoin the dots and link her killing to abloody revenge game that has beenplaying out in southern Tamil Nadu fordecades. Nirmala Devi was named as accused number fi�ve in the murder of Pasupathi Pandian — a gangster of medium build with a head full of hair and astriking orange beard. Between 2013and 2019, four of the 18 persons namedas the accused in the case were killed byPasupathi Pandian’s supporters in diff�erent parts of southern Tamil Nadu. Nirmala Devi was the fi�fth.

A dynamic, dependable womanWhat is curious is that Nirmala Devi belonged to a Scheduled Caste, as didthose who orchestrated her beheading.The widow of Perumal, a farm worker,

Nirmala Devi had been living alone inNandavanampatti for over a decade.Her elder son, aged about 45, is in thedefence service and her younger son,about 40 years old, lives in anothervillage.

Like any other Scheduled Caste inhabitant of Nandavanampatti, NirmalaDevi also depended on farm work forsustenance. The villagers described heras an active, dynamic woman. A formerPanchayat ward councillor, she wouldtravel everywhere on a twowheeler.She would visit the Dindigul Collectorate to help people in her village applyfor and receive pension and get otherassistance from the government, saidvillagers.

Days after her killing, the tension wasstill palpable in Nandavanampatti,where Dalits and members of othercommunities live. The villagers seemedsuspicious of strangers and refused toshare their personal details, includingtheir names.

“She would help us in times of need.It is horrible that her killers beheadedher and took away her head [as a trophy],” said one of Nirmala Devi’s neighbours, a woman, who was unable to

come to terms with her death. One villager said Nirmala Devi’s death had lefta void in the village. She could be depended on during any emergency, hesaid.

Villagers said Nirmala Devi wouldmobilise workers from hamlets to doMGNREGS work. She would then get acommission from these workers fromtheir earnings. She was called a mesthri– a supervisor or a person who coordinates with workers for a job. She wouldalso lend money to villagers as softloans. The interest she earned from thishelped her live comfortably, they said.

Just a few hours before she was murdered, Nirmala Devi had listed thenames of people who wanted to workunder the rural employment scheme, apolice offi�cer said. These interested villagers had provided their thumb impressions or signatures on a piece ofpaper, to serve as proof of their workingfor wages. They will now be cited as prosecution witnesses in her murder trial,the offi�cer said.

Tit-for-tat killings The accused in Pasupathi Pandian’smurder are supporters of Subash Pannaiyar, a Nadar, an intermediate caste inTamil Nadu. The rivalry between Pasupathi Pandian and Subash Pannaiyardates back to the early 1990s, to Thoothukudi district, located about 210 kilometres south of Nandavanampatti village in Dindigul.

Pannaiyars are traditionally landlords. Over two decades ago, SubashPannaiyar’s grandfather, Sivasubramanian Nadar alias Sivasubramanian Pannaiyar, was an infl�uential landlord inMoolakkarai in Thoothukudi. He ownedhundreds of cultivable acres of land inthe coastal district and enjoyed the following of the Nadar community.

It was a property dispute involving Sivasubramanian Pannaiyar and a bankmanager named Rajagopal that led tothe fi�rst clash between the Pannaiyarsand Pasupathi Pandian. Pasupathi Pan

dian, who was already facing criminalcharges then, intervened on behalf ofRajagopal. The matter reached a fl�ashpoint when the senior Pannaiyar’s son,Asupathi Pannaiyar, was killed in January 1993. Following his father Asupathi’sdeath, Subash Pannaiyar took over aslandlord. He and his fi�rst cousin, N. Venkatesa Pannaiyar, the founder of thecaste outfi�t Akhila India Nadar Pathukappu Peravai, sought to take revengeon Pasupathi Pandian, but they wereunsuccessful. Soon after surviving theattack by the Pannaiyars, PasupathiPandian and his supporters murderedSubash’s grandfather SivasubramanianPannaiyar in 1990. They later killed twowitnesses to this murder.

In 2003, Venkatesa Pannaiyar wasshot dead by the police in an ‘encounter’ in Chennai, triggering a massivepolitical row. His death led to angeramong many Nadars. This promptedthen Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi to fi�eld Venkatesa Pannaiyar’s wife Radhika Selvi in the2004 Lok Sabha election. Selvi went onto become Union Minister of State forHome in May 2007 in the ManmohanSingh government.

According to the police, PasupathiPandian fl�ed Thoothukudi district in2006 after the Pannaiyar gang killed hiswife Jascinta Pandian, an advocate. Shewas accompanying Pasupathi Pandian,who was on his way to Thoothukudialong with his accomplices to appearbefore a court in connection with a caseagainst him, when a bomb was hurled atthe car. The gangster promptly took refuge in Dindigul after his wife’s killing.There he met Nirmala Devi, who alsobelonged to a Scheduled Caste.

Nirmala Devi and a few others helpedPasupathi Pandian identify a housingplot in M.N. Nagar, Nandavanampatti,where he built a house. Pasupathi Pandian’s patronage saw Nirmala Devi’s fortunes improve. Thanks to this acquaintance, Nirmala Devi managed to build amodest house for herself. Others who

helped the Devendrakula Vellalar Kootamaippu founder also prospered.

In Dindigul, Pasupathi Pandian wasalways surrounded by his supporters.“Whenever he travelled, he was surrounded by his men who were alwaysarmed,” said a retired police offi�cer,who had served in the district till 2015.However, on the night of January 10,2012, Pasupathi Pandian’s men left himto go elsewhere on work. The gang leader met a gory end when armed men arrived at his house and slit his throat.

Soon after the police began their investigation into the murder of PasupathiPandian, Subash Pannaiyar and 17 others were named as the accused in theFirst Information Report. Nirmala Deviallegedly took money from the Pannaiyar gang to pass on information to themon Pasupathi Pandian’s movements,which led to his death. Though castebonds are strong in rural Tamil Nadu, insome cases such as this, currency helpsforge a deeper bond.

Pasupathi Pandian’s supporters havebeen thirsting for revenge since hisdeath, said the police. They have beencarefully planning and meticulouslyeliminating their targets, as Nirmala Devi’s killing suggests. Subash Pannaiyarmiraculously escaped an attempt on hislife in March 2016 when country bombswere hurled at him by a gang of at least50 members during a visit to his farm.At that time, Arumugasamy, a supporterof Subash Pannaiyar, was beheaded,and his head was placed under a roadside banner carrying Pasupathi Pandian’s photo, on the ThoothukudiTirunelveli highway.

The police have arrested three persons in connection with Nirmala Devi’smurder. Five others have surrenderedbefore a judicial magistrate court in Tiruchi, 100 km from Dindigul.

The cycle of revenge murdersLeading psychiatrist C. Ramasubramanian explained that a lack of closure andthe inability to accept the sudden and

planned death of a loved one leads to athirst for revenge. When a person represses their anger, it is often impossible for them to deal with that emotion,he said. “Having seen or heard aboutthe manner in which their loved onesdied really aff�ects the person,” he said.Even if the accused get arrested, itdoesn’t provide closure for the aff�ectedfamilies if the murder was gruesome, hesaid. “And the act of revenge passes onsometime even to the next generationand beyond.”

The police in southern Tamil Naduhave been updating their records tonote down the multiple lives that havebeen claimed on either side of this gangrivalry. The confl�ict assumed a caste angle over the years between sections ofthe Nadars and the Devendrakula Vellalars. On many occasions, it balloonedinto a lawandorder problem with supporters of these gangs taking to thestreets and damaging public property.But unlike the other caste confl�icts insouthern Tamil Nadu, which are fannedby political parties representing onecommunity or the other, this confl�ictbetween the Nadars and the Devendrakula Vellalars has largely played out dueto the intense rivalry between the twogangs.

The police have been rattled by Nirmala Devi’s murder and the string of unrelated killings that came on its heels.DirectorGeneral of Police C. SylendraBabu has asked all district police andcommissionerates to form special teamsto deal with rowdy elements and gangsters. He asked them to follow murdercases as old as 10 years and preparefresh dossiers on gangsters likely to beinvolved in retaliation. The details ofsuch gangsters, with their photographs,will be uploaded in a special app, hesaid. The police force launched ‘Operation Disarm’ to conduct storming operations at castesensitive locations acrossthe State. They did not lose sight of thefact that the gruesome crimes tookplace just as the State was preparing forits twophase rural local body polls innine districts, including two in thesouth. The second phase of polling isscheduled on Saturday. They arrested3,325 suspects wanted in various murder cases and seized hundreds of lethalweapons including fi�rearms. The offi�cers have also been asked to closely follow murder cases pending in courts andwork towards the conviction of perpetrators.

The police are unsure whether Nirmala Devi is the last victim of this gangrivalry between the Pannaiyar and Pandian clans. A retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, who had served insouthern districts, said that her murdermay not be the last in this bloody saga.In some instances, the revenge murderis executed decades later, he said. “Revenge murders,” he said, “rarely cease.”

(Clockwise from top): Devendrakula Vellalar Kootamaippu founder Pasupathi Pandian’s funeral rally in Dindigul on January 11, 2012; Policemen inspect the spot where Nirmala Devi was murdered in Nandavanampatti village, Dindigul, on September 22, 2021;Pasupathi Pandian mourns the death of his wife Jascinta, outside the General Hospital, in 2006. * KARTHIKEYAN G.

An eye for an eye in southern Tamil NaduThe rivalry between the gangs of Pasupathi Pandian and the Pannaiyars has spanned decades and claimed several lives in gruesome attacks, the latest being NirmalaDevi’s in September. L. Srikrishna, S. Vijay Kumar & P. Sudakar report on the internecine feud that poses a perennial law-and-order problem in the State

N.

RA

JE

SH

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

“The taxpayers have put in₹�1,10,277 crore in Air Indiasince 200910, which includes ₹�54,584crore cashsupport and ₹�55,692 croreas guarantee support forloans,” Mr. Pandey said.

“There are no underlyingassets as such. This is allloss being funded throughthe debt guaranteed by thegovernment. AI has a loss of₹�20 crore a day,” Mr. Pandey said on the government’s decision to sell theairline for ₹�18,000 crore.

“The government has addressed all the concerns ofemployees. The winningbidder will retain all employees for a period of oneyear. In the second year, ifanyone has to be removed,they will be off�ered the Voluntary RetirementScheme. They will be pro

vided gratuity and provident fund as per the applicable law of the land. Thepostretirement medical benefi�ts of those who have retired and those who will beretiring will also be takencare of by the government,”Secretary, Ministry of CivilAviation, Rajiv Bansal said.

Air India and Air IndiaExpress have a total of13,484 permanentemployees.

“It is a great day for Indian aviation. The sale ofAir India is one of the biggest reforms in the aviationsector. It is a winwin for all,though there is a long roadahead for rebuilding Air India which will require verylong term and patient capital. Its turnaround will taketime,” said Kapil Kaul of CAPA India.

Tatas win back Air Indiawith ₹�18,000 crore bid

that through talks, the twosides would be able toreach a consensus on howdisengagement could takeplace and all the frictionpoints got resolved. At thesame time, he said thatChina had deployed troopsin considerable numbersall across eastern Ladakhand northern fronts rightup to the Eastern Command.

“Defi�nitely, there hasbeen an increase in theirdeployment in the forwardareas, which remains amatter of concern forus,”he noted, adding thatIndia was well poised tomeet “any eventuality.”

The Chinese have beenundertaking such transgressions along the LAC. InAugust, over 100 Chinesetroops transgressed 45 kminto Indian territory at Barahoti in Uttarakhand andreturned after few hours.

Asked about the detentionof Chinese soldiers by theIndian Army, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian replied, “Iam not aware of the relevant information.”

Peace and tranquillity inthese areas of diff�eringperceptions had been possible due to adherence tothe existing agreementsand protocols between thetwo countries, the sourceadded. However, the eff�ectiveness of these protocolshas now come into question after the standoff� ineastern Ladakh last yearfollowing ingress by Chinese troops into Indian territory at multiple locations, which is still underway.

Last week, during a visitto the forward areas ofeastern Ladakh, Armychief Gen. Manoj Naravaneexpressed the confi�dence

India, China patrols face off� in Tawang

Sanjay Tickoo, who headsthe Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), a bodyrepresenting the voices ofthose who did not migratefrom the Valley in the 1990s,said, “Neither those whostayed back since the 1990sor those who returned tothe Valley are feelingsecure.”

Hundreds of Sikhs, including the relatives of thedeceased principal Supinder Kaur, carried the mortalremains on a stretcher andmarched on the city’sstreets for swift actionagainst the perpetrators ofthe crime. They also held asitin in front of the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar.

Jammu and Kahmir’s regional parties made a collective appeal to the Panditsnot to consider migration.The BJP and several Jammubased parties also organisedstreet protests against thekillings in Jammu and demanded protection for theminorities.

National Conference (NC)vicepresident Omar Abdullah, who visited the victim’sfamily, said, “We can’t let

the perpetrators of theseterror attacks succeed intheir evil designs. The overwhelmingly majority of usdon’t want you to go. It isour prime responsibility, especially of the majoritycommunity, of the Valley tosafeguard the lives ofminorities.”

Gupkar alliance meetsMeanwhile, NC presidentFarooq Abdullah chaired ameeting of the Gupkar alliance, an amalgam of regional parties, which was attended by PeoplesDemocratic Party chiefMehbooba Mufti too.

Gupkar alliance spokesman M.Y. Tarigami said theonus to create a conducivesecurity environment laywith the Centre. “We as responsible political partieswill play our role to reducethe levels of suspicion andfear,” he said.

Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also condemned the killings. He reiterated that the Hurriyat wasfor “a just resolutionthrough peaceful means ofthe Kashmir confl�ict”.

Panicstricken Panditsgo on leave in Valley

Mr. Ashish is accused ofshooting dead a farmerwhile trying to escape agitated farmers after vehiclesin the Minister’s convoyrammed into them. Mr.Salve said a notice had beenissued to Mr. Ashish, askinghim to appear before thepolice by 11 a.m. “tomorrow”. “If the person doesnot come, the rigour of lawwill take its course,” he said.

The CJI asked sharply,“Isit the same way you treatother accused too? Likesending notices, etc.”

He told Mr. Salve, “It is anextremely serious issue, youare not proceeding in theway you should be... Imagine, what is the messagewe are sending out? In normal circumstances, a case ofSection 302 IPC will be registered. The police will goout and arrest that person”.

The senior lawyer urgedthe court to give some moretime to the State to repairthe shortfalls in the investigation.

The Bench posted thecase for October 20.

SC dissatisfi�ed withU.P.’s status report

The Union Government isconsidering increasing theunit cost of deepsea fi�shingvessels under the Palk Bayscheme to make it more attractive to fi�sherfolk, L. Murugan, Union Minister ofState for Fisheries, AnimalHusbandry, Dairying and Information and Broadcasting,said here on Friday.

In an interaction with senior journalists of The HinduGroup on Friday, the UnionMinister, who was accompanied by K. Annamalai, president of the Tamil Nadu unitof the BJP, conceded that theoriginal unit cost of ₹�80 lakhwas “inadequate” [to meetthe requirements of the fi�sherfolk]. This was why the Union Ministry asked CochinShipyard Ltd., a companyfully owned by the Union Government, to work out therevised cost.

“They [the Cochin Shipyard] have given their opinion. Now, the unit cost maytouch ₹�1.3 crore. Once thetechnical nod comes, we will

go ahead,” the Union Minister explained.

He was responding to aquestion whether the Centrewould bring the Palk Bayscheme under the PradhanMantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), wherein the

unit cost of deepsea fi�shingvessels had been fi�xed at ₹�1.2crore.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July2017, the Palk Bay scheme,being fi�nanced by the Unionand the State Governmentswith benefi�ciary participation, envisaged the provisionof 2,000 vessels in threeyears to the fi�shermen of theState and motivate them toabandon bottom trawling.The current year’s PolicyNote of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare Department of

the Tamil Nadu governmentsaid that 42 deepsea fi�shingvessels had been launchedwith 43 more in various stages of construction.

Marine Fisheries BillAs for the proposed MarineFisheries Bill, Mr. Murugantermed the opposition to it“politically motivated”, andsaid the legislation wouldnot “in any way aff�ect ourfi�shermen in any place”. Ithad been mooted in the absence of any law to regulatefi�shing activity taking place

beyond 12 nautical milesfrom the shore. Up to 12 nm,the State laws were in place.

“The new legislation willprotect our fi�shermen ifthere is any [illegal] activityby a foreign fi�shing vessel,”Mr. Murugan said.

As for the proposed penalty, he said the fi�shermen hadto register themselves as partof the legislation, as otherwise there would be a fi�ne of₹�1,000. “In fact, State laws inTamil Nadu and Kerala havehigher amounts of fi�ne,” theUnion Minister said.

Regarding promotion ofseaweed farming, he said Tamil Nadu would get a specialeconomic park as a pilot project. The foundation stonefor the park project was likely to be laid during the thirdweek of November. Fisherwomen would be among thebenefi�ciaries of this programme. The Kisan CreditCard would also be extendedto the fi�sherfolk. Under thePMMSY, fi�ve fi�shing harbourswould be modernised as perinternational standards andthe idea was to encourage exports of fi�sh products.

Answering a question onthe issues concerning administration of temples by theHindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department in Tamil Nadu, the Union Minister urged the Stategovernment to implementthe directions given by aBench of the Madras HighCourt in this regard. He alsowanted the government toensure that income generated from temples be used forproper maintenance of thetemples concerned.

Palk Bay scheme will be given a fi�llip: MuruganUnion Minister says the unit cost of deepsea fi�shing vessels will be raised, making it more attractive to fi�sherfolk

T. RAMAKRISHNAN

CHENNAI

Charting a course: Union Minister of State for FisheriesL. Murugan, right, and BJP State president K. Annamalai at The Hindu offi�ce on Friday. * RAGU R.

<> Marine Fisheries Bill

will protect our

fi�shermen if there is

any [illegal] activity

by a foreign fi�shing

vessel

L. Murugan

Union Minister

Prime Minister NarendraModi spoke to new JapanesePrime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday evening, intheir fi�rst conversation sincethe latter took charge thisweek, committing to strengthen bilateral relations andopposing the use of militaryand economic force in theIndoPacifi�c region throughthe Quad with the U.S. andAustralia.

“The leaders discussedthe increasing alignment ofperspectives, and robustcooperation, between Indiaand Japan in the IndoPacific region. They reviewed theprogress of cooperation under the Quad framework inthis regard,” said a Ministryof External Aff�airs statement, which gave details ofthe talks that lasted about 25minutes. It stated that Mr.Modi invited Mr. Kishida tovisit India for a summit.

A statement issued by theJapanese Ministry of Foreign Aff�airs noted, “Bothleaders shared their strongopposition to any unilateralattempt to change the statusquo by force and to economic coercion, while confi�rming that the two countrieswould deepen cooperationon economic security suchas through resilience of supply chains”.

The statements are significant as tensions have beenrising in the South ChinaSea over a record number ofChinese jets being fl�own into Taiwan’s Air DefenceIdentifi�cation Zone (ADIZ)in the past week, after recent military exercises involving the U.S., Japan, theU.K. and other allies in theregion. On Tuesday, Mr.Kishida, who was earlierknown for a moderate foreign policy line and now taken a tough posture oncountering China, spoke toPresident Joe Biden andAustralian Prime MinisterScott Morrison.

Mr. Modi and Mr. Kishidadiscussed plans for celebrating the 70th anniversary ofthe establishment of diplomatic relations between thetwo nations next year, andpromote cooperation on“green technology, digital,healthcare, enhancing connectivity”.

Modi, Kishida commit tostrengthening relations They also review progress under Quad

Suhasini Haidar

New Delhi

Fumio Kishida

The BJP had left no stoneunturned to defame theMaha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)government in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena said, aday after the Income Tax (IT) Department conductedmarathon raids on severalfi�rms and offi�ces owned byrelatives and persons closeto Deputy Chief Ministerand senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaderAjit Pawar.

In an editorial in itsmouthpiece Saamana, theSena said the Union Government had fl�agrantlymisused agencies such asthe Enforcement Directorate (ED), the IT Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)in a bid to defame the MVAleadership. On Thursday,IT authorities raided several businesses and offi�ces,including sugar factories inPune, Satara, Ahmednagar, Nandurbar and Kolhapur among other places inMaharashtra. The IT Department later claimed tohave detected ₹�1,050 crorein alleged illicit transactions.

Union Govt. is misusingagencies: Sena

Staff reporter

PUNE

The J&K police suspect thatmore than three fresh militant recruits may have carried out the recent targetedkillings of seven civilians, including the Principal and ateacher of a governmentschool, in the past one week,in the capital and inBandipora.

Sources said the policewere also investigating reports that the militants segregated teachers on the basis of their religion at theGovernment Boys Higher Secondary School, Iddgah San

gam, before killing the Principal and the teacher fromminority communities.

Initial police investigationsuggested the militants, justtwo or three of them, walkedinto the premises of theschool, headed for the roomof the Principal, and confi�scated the mobile phones ofthe staff� members before segregating them.

“In all such cases, terrorists have been using pistols.These acts are committed bynewly recruited militants orthose who are about to jointhe militant ranks,” Inspector General of Police Vijay

Kumar said.Mr. Kumar said the police

were working hard to identify “parttime, hybrid militants”.

“We have received severalleads and are working on it.We appeal to the general public, especially minoritycommunities, not to panic,”he added.

Meanwhile, security hasbeen beefed up outside business establishments ownedby minority communitymembers and areas in whichnonlocal labourers stay inthe Valley “as a precautionary measure”.

Fresh militant recruits hadrole in targeted killings: policePublic, especially minority communities, told not to panic

Peerzada Ashiq

Srinagar

Outpouring of grief: People carrying the body of the slain school principal Supinder Kour inSrinagar on Friday. * NISSAR AHMAD

After a court refused himbail in a drug seizure case,Aryan Khan, Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son,was sent to the ArthurRoad prison here onFriday.

Along with him, fi�ve other men arrested in the casetoo were sent to the samejail. Two women, includingmodel Munmun Dhamecha, were sent to Bycullawomen’s prison, a policeoffi�cial said.

They are likely to spendthe weekend in the quarantine cells of the two prisonsas the Sessions Court,where they will need to fi�leappeal for bail, would notbe working on October 9,the second Saturday of themonth, police sourcessaid. The Narcotics ControlBureau has arrested 18 persons so far after raiding acruise ship off� the Mumbaicoast and allegedly recovering narcotic drugs.

Incidentally, the court’sorder rejecting bail toAryan Khan came on hismother Gauri Khan’s 51stbirthday.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh, appearing for the NCB, opposed the bail pleas,arguing that the Magistratehad no jurisdiction to hearthe applications.

Aryan Khansent to ArthurRoad prison


Mumbai

Union Minister of State L.Murugan on Friday said“vested interests” in parts ofa few northern States werebehind the protests againstthe farm laws of the Centre.

Replying to a question onthe protests, Mr. Murugan,in an interaction with seniorjournalists of The Hindu

Group, said the protestswere “only in parts ofwestern Uttar Pradesh,Punjab and Haryana”. “Doyou see any agitation inTamil Nadu, AndhraPradesh, Karnataka,Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan? The answer is‘no.’ In such a vast country,most people have accepted[the laws],” he said.

‘Farm protests by vested interests’ Special Correspondent

CHENNAI

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Condemning the incidentsof violence in Jammu andKashmir, former Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi onThursday said terrorism hadnot stopped because of theremoval of Article 370 ordemonetisation.

In a tweet, soon after twogovernment teachers (a Sikhand a Pandit) were shotdead by militants in the Eidgah area of Srinagar, Mr.Gandhi charged the UnionGovernment with failing toprovide security to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Incidents of violence areincreasing in Kashmir. Terrorism has neither stoppeddue to demonetisation norafter the removal of Article370. The Central Government has completely failedto provide security,” Mr.Gandhi said in a tweet.

“We strongly condemnthe attacks on our Kashmiribrothers and sisters,” he added .

The killing of the teacherstook the number of civiliansshot dead in the last fi�vedays in the Kashmir Valley

to seven, including fourfrom the minorities.

On Tuesday, the KashmirValley witnessed three targeted civilian killings in 90minutes, which included aprominent Kashmiri Panditbusinessman Makhan LalBindroo, who owned a wellknown pharmacy in Srinagar, and a golgappa andbhelpuri seller from Bihar.

“The Modi governmentgarners votes by promisingto protect the Kashmiri Pandits, but has failed to provide them security. Whenwill the pseudonationalistBJP government be able tocontrol Pakistanbacked extremism?” asked Congresschief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

Rahul condemns incidents of violence


New Delhi

Rahul Gandhi

‘Govt. has failed toprotect J&K people’

The Centre on Friday recommended 31 candidatesfrom private sector and public sector undertakings forappointment at senior andmidlevel positions in various Union Ministries under the “lateral entry” programme on a “contractbasis”. The most number ofsuch appointments — six —are to the Ministry ofFinance.

Reservation or castebased quotas do not applyto these recruitments. Asper norms, the posts of JointSecretary, Director, and Deputy Secretary are fi�lled byoffi�cers belonging to the AllIndia Service ‘Group A’ services, which includes the Indian Administrative Service(IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). A JointSecretary is the third highest ranking offi�cer in thegovernment.

A press statement issuedby the Department of Personnel and Training(DoP&T) said that it had requested the Union Public

Service Commission (UPSC)“to select suitable personsto join the Government atthe level of Joint Secretary/Director/ Deputy Secretaryin various Ministries/ Departments of the Government of India on contract/deputation basis.” The request was made onDecember 12, 2020 and February 12, 2021.

The UPSC launched online recruitment applications in February andMarch.

“In response, a total of295 applications for Joint Secretary, 1,247 applicationsfor Director, and 489 applications for Deputy Secretary posts were received,”the DoPT said.

Based on the online application forms, the UPSCshortlisted 231 candidatesfor the interviews. The interviews were conductedfrom September 27 to October 8, and 31 candidateswere recommended.

The last such appointments were made in 2019,when nine candidates wereselected.

Two resigned later.

Six of them will join Finance Ministry


New Delhi

31 selected forlateral entry posts

The Congress WorkingCommittee (CWC) is likelyto meet next week to discuss an organisational restructuring and give shapeto changes in the partystructure.

Sources told The Hindu

that the meeting was likelyto place within the auspicious period of Navaratrithat ends on October 15.

CWC likely to meet next week


New Delhi

The West Bengal government has put the police onalert in view of the Durga Puja festivities in the State, citing terror threats.

Issuing a set of guidelines,Chief Secretary H.K. Dwivedi asked offi�cials to ensurethat communal harmony ismaintained in the State. Allpuja panels were asked toengage an adequate numberof volunteers in the pandals.

WB police puton alert amidterror threat

press trust of india

Kolkata

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


NEWS

Protesting farm unions haveissued a call for farmers togather again in strength at Tikonia in Uttar Pradesh onOctober 12, the “antim ar-daas” day when the last riteswould be conducted for thefarmers who died at Lakhimpur Kheri last Sunday. Fromthere, the ashes of the victims would be taken to all thedistricts of Uttar Pradesh, tothe gurdwaras of Punjab,and to all the States, tospread the message that “theBJP government was terrorising farmers”, according toleaders of the Samyukt KisanMorcha (SKM), which heldits general body meeting atthe Singhu border on Friday.

“There was immense anger not just that such an incident has happened, but thatthe government is protectingthe accused for so long,” saidJagmohan Singh, general secretary of the Dakaunda fac

tion of the Bharatiya KisanUnion (BKU), assessing themood of those who attendedthe meeting.

If the prime accused, Ashish Mishra, was not arrestedand his father, Minister ofState for Home Aff�airs AjayMishra, not removed fromthe Union Council of Ministers by October 11, the SKMvowed to intensify its protestwith a nationwide “rail roko”between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.on October 18, followed by amahapanchayat in Lucknow

on October 24 along the linesof the mass gathering in Muzaff�arnagar last month. OnDasara, farm unions plannedto burn effi�gies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath.

In a statement, the SKMrejected the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and thejudicial inquiry set up by theUttar Pradesh Government,noting that the SupremeCourt had also said it was notsatisfi�ed. It also agreed with

the court that an investigation by the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) would notbe a solution either, and “demanded an impartial investigation that will report directly to the Supreme Court”,welcoming the court’s orderasking the police to keep allevidence intact.

‘Shaheed Kisan Diwas’

Declaring October 12 “Shaheed Kisan Diwas”, the platform of unions protestingagainst the three farm reform laws appealed to farmers across Uttar Pradesh andthe country to make theirway to Tikonia on that day.“There would have been atleast 20,000 people gathered in Tikonia last Sunday.At that time, the anger couldhave sparked off� a riot between Hindus and PunjabiSikhs, who [the latter] aremajor landowners in thearea, so [BKU leader] RakeshTikait played a key role in

preventing that and dispersing the crowd,” said All IndiaKisan Sabha general secretary Hannan Mollah, whowas part of the SKM’s corecommittee, alleging a conspiracy to provoke communal violence by Mr. Mishraand other BJP leaders. “Now,a big crowd will build upagain, but the leaders will ensure that the anger is channelled into peaceful protest,”he added, estimating that15,00020,000 people wouldgather. Senior Punjab farmleader Balbir Singh Rajewalsaid he was on his way toLakhimpur Kheri on Friday,and other leaders planned toarrive over the weekend.

Mr. Mollah and other leaders confi�rmed the plans for a“kalash yatra” to dispersethe ashes of the victimsacross the country over 10days. “We want the messageto go out as far as possiblethat the BJP is now activelykilling farmers,” he added.

SKM calls for farmers’ protest on Oct. 12If demands are not met, ‘rail roko’ on Oct. 18 and Lucknow rally on Oct. 24, say protest leaders

Priscilla Jebaraj

NEW DELHI

The Congress and electionstrategist Prashant Kishor’spublic sparring over thegrand old party’s (GOP)prospects of political revivaltriggered a war of words between Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel andthe Trinamool Congress.

In a tweet, the Trinamooldirectly attacked formerCongress chief Rahul Gandhifor his defeat in Amethi,without naming him.

“Rich words coming froma fi�rsttime CM. Punchingabove your weight doesn’tbring honour to you, Mr.@bhupeshbaghel. What ashoddy attempt to please thehigh command! By the way,is @INCIndia going to try toerase the historical defeat atAmethi through yet anotherTwitter Trend?” the Trinamool said on Twitter.

This was in response toMr. Baghel’s tweet that said,“People looking for a ‘national’ alternative based onpoaching INC [Indian National Congress] functionaries who can’t win even theirown seats is in for a big disappointment. Unfortunately, to become a national al

ternative deeprooted andconcerted eff�orts are neededand there are no quickfi�xsolutions.”

The Twitter war was fi�rsttriggered by Mr. Kishor, whosaid those who were hopingfor quick revival of the GOPon the basis of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident would bedisappointed.

Hitting back, Congresschief spokesperson RandeepSurjewala said, “It’s a gravesin if anyone views Lakhimpur Kheri in terms of political gain or loss. I wouldn’tlike comment [on] a consultant’s remarks.”

Mr. Baghel’s tweet and Mr.Surjewala’s comments werea direct response to Mr. Kishor’s tweet earlier in the day.

“People looking for aquick, spontaneous revival

of GOP led opposition basedon #LakhimpurKheri incident are setting themselvesup for a big disappointment.Unfortunately there are noquick fi�x solutions to thedeeprooted problems andstructural weakness of GOP,”Mr. Kishor had tweeted onFriday.

His tweet is signifi�cant asit comes in the midst of speculation that the election strategist could be joining theCongress as part of the“GOP’s revival plan”.

Mr. Kishor is now theprincipal political adviser toMamata Banerjeeled Trinamool Congress.

Though he didn’t nameany leader in his tweet, theobvious reference is to thebuzz that Congress generalsecretary Priyanka GandhiVadra’s arrest in Sitapur, bordering Lakhimpur Kheri district, created in the media.

But beyond the immediate context, Mr. Kishor’stweet indicates a falling outwith the Congress. Sourcestold The Hindu that the Congress was divided over hisparallel induction as a general secretary and as a member of the Congress WorkingCommittee.

Twitter war strains tiesbetween Congress, KishorSpat triggers war of words between Baghel and Trinamool

Sandeep Phukan

New Delhi

Prashant Kishor

Chief Economic Adviser(CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian has decided to return to academia at the completion of his threeyeartenure in early December.

“Being provided the opportunity to contribute during a period of tremendousuncertainty and epochalchange has been the lucky icing on the cake. So, while being conscious of the enormous privilege bestowed onme, I will happily return backto serving the country as a researcher after fulfi�lling mythreeyear commitment,” hesaid in a statement on Friday.

An Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT), Kanpur,and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta,alumnus, Mr. Subramanianwas a Professor at the IndianSchool of Business before hisappointment as the CEA in

December 2018. The CEA’spost had been vacant at thetime for a few months afterhis predecessor Arvind Subramanian left citing “personal reasons”.

‘Keen listener’

The CEA thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being a “keen listener” with anintuitive understanding ofeconomic policy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanfor allowing the EconomicSurveys he presented to befreespirited, and offi�cialsacross Ministries for being receptive to his ideas by supporting as well as challengingthem. “In close to three de

cades of my professional life,I am yet to encounter a moreinspiring leader than theHon’ble Prime Minister, ShriNarendra Modiji. His intuitive understanding of economic policy combines withan unmistakeable determination to use the same to elevate the lives of common citizens,” the CEA said.

“The momentous changein India’s economic thinkingpost the pandemic – inter aliaembracing ethical wealthcreation by empowering theprivate sector and economicrecovery driven by government capital expenditure –bears testimony to his leadership,” he added.

Subramanian to return to academicsWill return to serving as a researcher after fulfi�lling threeyear commitment: CEA

Krishnamurthy Subramanian


NEW DELHI

Reacting to The Hindu’s report on the delay in the formation of ParliamentaryStanding Committees (PSC),the Parliamentary Aff�airs Ministry, in a clarifi�cation, hasattacked the Opposition forits low attendance in themeetings, specifi�cally pointing at the TrinamoolCongress.

The Ministry, in a statement here, said the “15day

delay was due to the discussions that were going onwhether to nominate MPswho have not attended evenone meeting of the committees in the previous term andalso whether they should berenominated to the samecommittees”.

Specifi�cally, pointing outthe Trinamool’s dismal record in participation in thePSCs, the Ministry said theparty’s leader in the RajyaSabha, Derek O’Brien, had

attended only two of the 27meetings of the Committeeof Transport, Tourism andCulture, of which he is amember. Mr. O’Brien headedthis committee in the lastLok Sabha and in 2019,based on the Trinamool’s reduced strength, the partywas given only one committee to chair — Food, Consumer Aff�airs and Public Distribution. The Ministry said:“This is a very dismal performance of a leader of his [Mr.

O’Brien’s] stature. Further,AITC’s (Trinamool) DeputyLeader and Chief Whip inRajya Sabha and 2 othermembers of AITC attendedno sittings of DRSCs [Departmentrelated Standing Committee] during 202021. Furthermore, averageattendance of AITC Members in committee meetingsis approximately 23%. Thisshows their seriousness towards Parliament and its instruments.”

‘Low attendance in parliamentary panel meets’Sobhana K. Nair

New Delhi

On the fi�rst death anniversary of former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Defence Minister RajnathSingh, Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) patriarch Lalu Prasadand former Congress president Rahul Gandhi paidtheir tributes at 12 Janpathhere on Friday.

Mr. Singh’s visit assumessignifi�cance in the context ofthe recent split in the LokJanshakti Party (LJP) into

factions supported by RamVilas’s son, Chirag Paswan,and his brother, PashupatiNath Paras. Since the split,the lingering question waswhether Mr. Paswan waspart of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or not.The Janata Dal (United), theNDA’s ally in Bihar, had beeninsistent on not allowing Mr.Paswan in any of the NDAdeliberations as he hadfought the Bihar Assemblyelection alone and againstthe JD(U). Mr. Yadav’s visit

was equally important as theRJD patriarch had on severaloccasions called Mr. Paswanto join the RJDled ‘Mahagathbandhan’ against theBJPJD(U) alliance.

Mr. Paras, meanwhile,had organised another function to mark the fi�rst deathanniversary of his brother inPatna. The function was attended by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJDleader Tej Pratap Yadav. Alsopresent was senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain.

Rajnath, Lalu pay tribute to Paswan Special Correspondent

New Delhi

Ashish Mishra, son of UnionMinister of State for HomeAff�airs Ajay Mishra, did notturn up for questioning inLakhimpur Kheri despitethe summons issued to himby the police in connectionwith the Tikonia incident, inwhich he is accused ofmurder.

Mr. Ajay told presspersons in Lucknow that Mr.Ashish, alias Monu, did notgo to the police as he was unwell. Responding to questions on whether his son wasabsconding, Mr. Ajay saidMr. Ashish had not goneanywhere, but was in theirShahpur Kothi residence.

The Union Minister saidhis son would report to thepolice on the next date givenby them. Mr. Ajay also saidMr. Ashish had informed the

police that he was willing toprovide them with evidenceand his statement.

New notice

Police in Lakhimpur Kheripasted a new notice outsidethe Mishras’ residence summoning Mr. Ashish to appearat the Crime Branch offi�ce inPolice Lines at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Legal action would

be taken if he did not turnup, said the notice.

The Uttar Pradesh policehad on Thursday arrestedtwo persons and issued summons to Mr. Ashish for questioning in connection withthe Lakhimpur Kheri incident, in which eight persons, including four farmers, were killed. Amiddemands for Mr. Ashish’s arrest in the murder case, thepolice issued him summonsto appear at the Reserve Police Lines in Lakhimpur Kheri at 10 a.m. on Friday.

Mr. Ajay maintained thathis son was not at the site ofthe incident or in any of thecars that mowed down thefarmers. Mr. Ashish was intheir ancestral village, Banveerpur, attending the annual wrestling event organised by their family, said theUnion Minister.

Ashish skips police questioning,Union Minister says he is unwell ‘He will report to the police on the next date given by them’

Omar Rashid

LUCKNOW

A policeman pasting a noticeoutside Minister Ajay KumarMishra’s residence. * PTI

Cong. reiterates demandto dismiss Union MinisterNEW DELHI

The Congress on Friday said a

commission of two sitting

judges should be set up to

ensure that the farmers killed

in the Lakhimpur Kheri

violence get justice within 30

days. The party reiterated its

demand for the dismissal of

Union Minister of State for

Home Affairs Ajay Mishra,

and the arrest of his son

Ashish Mishra. Congress chief

spokesperson Randeep

Surjewala said, “It has

become clear that the

Narendra Modi and Yogi

Adityanath governments are

standing with criminals.”

IN BRIEF

‘Will take part inMaharashtra bandh’ MUMBAI

Three days after the three

ruling parties in Maharashtra

— the Congress, the

Nationalist Congress Party

and the Shiv Sena — called for

a State bandh on October 11

against the killings of farmers

at Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar

Pradesh, the Samyukt

Shetkari Kamgar Morcha

(SSKM) on Friday endorsed

the call for a “Maharashtra

bandh” The SSKM held a

press conference in Mumbai

to announce its support for

the move.

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

(set by Vidwan)

Display keystrokes of genius.

Type your answers in our online grids:

@ https://qrgo.page.link/jjpTn

■ ACROSS

7 It could be little stiff in German stores (6)

8 Spoken originally, it ranks about 3rd oldest language in the world

(8)

9 Street fellow, tender at heart, becomes a fall guy (5,3)

10 Hesitatingly claim ownership for fur (6)

11 He is sex worker? Not sure (8)

12 Daily routine of cold prostitutes without work (6)

13 Playing well and not opening? Local guy has so much to offer (11)

18 Most certain way to restrict abusive user (6)

20 Origin of pessimism for example is discounted (8)

22 Some American choreography show host (6)

23 Summary: 6 balls and 6 extras (wides) at start (8)

24 Trump’s gone! Excellent! (8)

25 Easy to deal with the Italian on the inside (6)

■ DOWN

1 Very cold season, no work, no breaks for winemaker (7)

2 Medieval city, next to Iran, revolutionised farming (8)

3 Part of Ukraine, essentially annexed after an unlawful act (6)

4 Piece of meat turned, cooked over copper (8)

5 AlHakim boasted, holding hands on hips (6)

6 She is engaged in face waxing procedure essentially (7)

8 Holierthanthou musician’s ‘no’ to remixes (13)

14 Spooner’s fi�ght, scrape results in spasm (8)

15 Interview West Indian cricketing legend with a voice, one nowhere

to be seen (4,4)

16 Spectacular kind of physics (7)

17 Moor’s heart is fi�lled with tension and torment — that’s a tragedy

(7)

19 Heart of Goethian codes — empty morals (6)

21 Shuffling of feet! That’s how you start a golf game! (3,3)

SCAN TO PLAY

+ 13373SUDOKU

Solution to puzzle 13372 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Parvathi, Ambika, Tripurasundari, Kamakshi, Visalakshi,Durga, Adi Parasakthi — many are the names Lord Siva’sConsort is known by, said M.A. Manickavelu, in a discourse.Lalitha Sahasranama gives us thousand names of the Goddess. Each devotee may have a favourite name by which headdresses Her and prays to Her. No matter by what nameHer devotees call out to Her, She is always there for them.She even helps when we have not explicitly asked Her for assistance, for She knows our needs.

There is a story about an old woman who went to havedarshan of the Goddess in Kanyakumari. It was dark, andshe did not know the way. Ambika came in the form of a little girl bearing a lamp, and guided the old woman. Kambanwho wrote Kamba Ramayanam and Ottakoothar who wroteThakka Yaga parani, would write at night. Ambika wouldhold a lamp, in whose light they would write.

The Nayanmar Sundarar married Sangili Nachiar in Thiruvottriyur with Lord Siva as witness. Sundarar promisedSangili that he would never be separated from her. But hewanted to have darshan of the deity of Thiruvarur — Tyagarajaswami. So he broke his promise to her, and as a result helost his eyesight. But his bhakti towards Lord Siva and his attachment to the Lord were legendary. Neither the Lord norHis consort would let him down. He had been punished fornot keeping his word to Sangili Nachiar, but he was not totally forsaken by the Lord or the Goddess. From Thiruvottriyurto Thiruvenpakkam, near Kanchipuram, the Goddess ofThiruvenpakkam, known as Minnal Oli Ambikai, guidedSundarar. He regained vision in his left eye in the Ekambareswara temple in Kanchi, and then proceeded to Thiruvarur, where he got back his vision in the other eye too.

FAITH

Always there for bhakthas

The prompt actions in response to developments ineastern Ladakh were a testament to the Indian Air Force’s combat readiness, theChief of the Air Staff�, AirChief Marshal (ACM) V.R.Chaudhari, said on Friday.

Three units that were deployed on the front duringthe standoff� with China lastyear and had also participated in the Balakot air strike onFebruary 26, 2019, were presented unit citations on theoccasion of 89th Air ForceDay. The units include afi�ghter squadron, a helicopter unit and a surfacetoairnissile (SAM) squadron.

“When I look at the security scenario we face today, Iam acutely conscious that Ihave assumed command at acrucial time. We must demonstrate to the nation thatexternal forces will not be allowed to violate our territory,” ACM Chaudhari said addressing the ranks at the AirForce Day parade. “Our efforts in completing all COVIDrelated tasks were also amajor achievement in support of the national eff�orts,”he added.

Coinciding with the celebrations of the 75th year ofIndependence, 75 aircraftand helicopters took part inthe Air Force Day parade andfl�ypast with several formations showcasing some ofthe key air operations of the1971 Liberation War of

Bangladesh.The No. 47 Squadron,

equipped with upgradedMiG29 fi�ghters, was deployed for a defence role after the Balakot air strike. It

fl�ew extensively and maintained a constant vigil to ensure that there were no misadventures by adversaries,the IAF said.

The citation said, “In May

2020, the squadron was deployed for air defence as wellas airtoground operationsin the northern sector andcarried out extensive operations at high altitude.”

The squadron also undertook the fi�rst overseas deployment by a MiG29 UPGaircraft when it participatedin Exercise Eastern Bridge Vwith the Royal Oman Air

Force, the citation said.Thesquadron was formed on December 18, 1959.

The second unit citationwent to the 116 HelicopterUnit, formed on August 1,1967. It is now equipped withthe the indigenous AdvancedLight Helicopter Mark IV(ALH Mk IV) Rudra. After Balakot, the unit was deployedat the forward bases of theSouth Western Air CommandArea of Responsibility (AOR)to counter threats of slowmoving aerial platforms, thecitation said.

Day and night operationsIn May 2020, after the Galwan skirmish, the unit wasdeployed for off�ensive operations at a highaltitude airfi�eld in the Ladakh area. “Theunit quickly established thefi�rstever highaltitude attackhelicopter detachment in theregion and executed dayandnight operations, includingair to ground weapons delivery at high altitudes,” the citation read.

The third unit citation wasgiven to 2255 Squadron Detachment Air Force, a frontline OSAAKM, SAMguidedweapon squadron in theKashmir AOR. “The squadron was mobilised for airdefence activation in Ladakhin response to the Galwanstandoff� in the last week ofJune 2020. Since then, thesquadron has undertaken various innovations to sustainserviceability and reliabilityof its equipment,” it said.

Prompt action proved IAF’s combat readiness: IAF chiefThree units that were deployed on the front during the standoff� with China get citations on 89th Air Force Day

Flying high: (Clockwise from left) Rafale fi�ghter planes, C17 Globemaster followed by Hawk aircraft, Sarang Advance LightHelicopters and the Surya Kiran aerobatics team at the 89th Air Force Day parade at Hindon Air Base on Friday. * R.V. MOORTHY

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI

The war of words betweenthe Opposition and the government continues onwhether there were COVID19 deaths due to oxygenshortage in the second waveof pandemic. Pursuing hisprivilege motion against Minister of State for HealthBharati Pravin Pawar, RajyaSabha member and Congress general secretary K.C.Venugopal, in a letter toChairman M. Venkaiah Naidu, pointed out that theCentre never “categoricallyasked the States for reporting COVID19 deaths due tooxygen shortage”.

Mr. Venugopal had moveda notice of breach of privilege against Ms. Pawar in July during the monsoon session on her written reply to aparliamentary question thatthere were “no deaths dueto oxygen shortage reportedby the States during the second wave of COVID19”.

In her response to Mr. Venugopal’s notice, Ms. Pawar,on September 10, in a letter

to Mr. Naidu stated that shewas “factually correct” andno “false statement hadbeen laid on the table of theHouse”.

Mr. Venugopal said Ms.Pawar’s response was “misleading” since the “Centrenever categorically askedthe States for reporting COVID19 deaths due to oxygenshortage”. He also pointedout a comment by RajasthanHealth Minister Raghu Sharma that appeared in the media saying the same thing.

The Minister, though, hassaid that MPs had relied on

media reports as evidenceand had not placed on record details of deaths reported by any State due to shortage of oxygen.

“The Minister hasclaimed and refuted a serious breach of privilege onthe pretext ‘that the Members of Parliament have relied on media reports as evidence’. However, theMinister has not refused thereports quoted,” Mr. Venugopal noted.

The Minister, in her response, has said that theStates were asked to send inreports according to globallyaccepted WHO and ICMRguidelines. But in her reply,she does not clearly answerthe question on whetherthese guidelines also included questions on oxygenshortage.

Hitting out at the government, Mr. Venugopal observed that instead of takingsuo motu cognisance of theincidents, the Minister was“deliberating misleading”and was “convolutedly trying to fi�nd an alibi”.

Centre didn’t specifi�cally askfor oxygen deaths data: Cong.K.C. Venugopal writes to Rajya Sabha Chairman


New Delhi

Many hospitals ran out ofoxygen supplies during thesecond wave of COVID19.

Giloy or guduchi (Tinospo-ra cordifolia), a herb usedin Ayurveda, is safe to usebut similarlooking plantsin circulation such as Ti-nospora crispa can beharmful, according to theMinistry of Ayush.

Giloy is a climbing shruband an essential herb in Ayurvedic medicine. All itsparts are thought to havehealth benefi�ts. Peoplehave long used it to treat awide range of ailmentssuch as fever, infections,diarrhoea and diabetes.

In a statement, the Ministry said it had recentlynoticed safety concerns onuse of giloy that were published in social media andin some scientifi�c journals.

The Ministry noted in anadvisory that there were agood number of studiespublished in peerreviewed indexed journals tosubstantiate the safety andeffi�cacy of giloy. It explained that giloy’s hepatoprotective properties werewellestablished. It wasknown for its immense therapeutic applications.

Giloy is safe to use, saysAyush Ministry


NEW DELHI

In a decisive step towardsthe prepandemic routine,the Supreme Court hasmade physical hearings thenorm twice a week.

“In view of the encouraging response from the Barand with a view to further facilitate hearing throughphysical mode, all the matters listed on Wednesdayand Thursday, as nonmiscellaneous days, would beheard only in the physicalpresence of the counsel/parties in courtrooms,” a courtcircular said.

The court released itsmodifi�ed standard operatingprocedure (SOP) after takingsuggestions from the Bar andexperts’ advice to make access to the courtrooms lesscumbersome.

Chief Justice of India (CJI)N.V. Ramana recently informed senior advocates

that the court was workingon striking a balance between lawyers’ access tocourts and their safety andgood health at the workplace. He had said the courtwas apprehensive about howcrowded courtrooms wouldpotentially expose lawyersand staff� to infection.

15-minute break In the modifi�ed rules, thecourt stated that there wouldbe a 15minute break at thediscretion of the Bench during physical hearings. Thecourtrooms have to be vacated during this interval in order to sanitise them.

Lawyers would be called

in for one case after the other. They could wait at the Barlounges in the building fortheir cases to be called. Thisstep had been added toavoid crowds in thecorridors.

Working capacityThe court, however, added arider to the physical hearings on nonmiscellaneousdays, saying a Bench couldtake a call to revert to virtualmode if it found that thenumber of lawyers in a particular case exceeded theworking capacity of thecourtroom as per the COVID19 norms.

The circular said caseslisted on Tuesday, as a nonmiscellaneous day, would also be heard in physicalmode. However, on prior application by the advocateonrecord (AOR) for the party,appearance through video/teleconferencing modewould also be facilitated.

Cases on Mondays andFridays, which are miscellaneous days, would continueto be heard virtually for thepresent.

Supreme Court to conductphysical hearings twice a weekSOP released afterfeedback fromlawyers, experts

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Friday prima facie did not approve of hybrid court hearings, which is acombination of physicaland virtual mode of courtproceedings, as a permanent feature.

A Bench led by JusticesL. Nageswara Rao and B.R.Gavai said hybrid optionswould have lawyers arguefrom exotic spots aroundthe world while judges sitin courtrooms. “We wantcourts to be opened up tothe public... For the pasttwo months we have madephysical hearings optionaland we have not seen oneadvocate in court on mostof the days,” Justice Raosaid. The court was hearing a plea fi�led by the National Federation of Societies For Fast Justice.

Hybridsessions can’tbe forever: SC

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

A reduction in the area under paddy cultivation in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, as well as a shift awayfrom paddy varieties thattake long to mature, couldsee a reduction in stubbleburning this year, theCentreconstituted Commission for Air Quality Management said in a statement onFriday.

The total paddy area inHaryana, Punjab and theeight NCR (National CapitalRegion) districts of UttarPradesh has reduced by7.72% during the currentyear as compared to lastyear. Similarly, total paddystraw generation from thenonbasmati variety of riceis likely to be reduced by12.42% during the currentyear as compared to the previous year. It’s the nonbasmati variety of rice, whosestalk remains, that is usuallyburnt off� by farmers aheadof sowing wheat.

The Commission said:“Both Central and State Governments of Haryana, Punjab and U.P. have been taking measures to diversifycrops as well as to reducethe use of PUSA44 varietyof paddy. Burning of paddystraw from the nonbasmativariety of crops is the primeconcern. Crop diversifi�cation and moving away fromPUSA44 variety with shortduration High Yielding Va

rieties are part of the framework and action plan forcontrol of stubble burning.”

Data from Haryana, Punjab and U.P. suggests totalpaddy straw generation islikely to come down by 1.31million tonnes (from 20.05million tonnes in 2020 to18.74 million tonnes in 2021)in Punjab; by 0.8 milliontonnes (from 7.6 milliontonnes in 2020 to 6.8 million tonnes in 2021) in Haryana; and by 0.09 milliontonnes (from 0.75 milliontonnes in 2020 to 0.67 million tonnes in 2021) in theeight NCR districts of U.P.this year.

The total quantity ofstraw generated by the respective States was 28.4 million tonnes in 2020, whichis now expected to comedown to 26.21 milliontonnes in 2021. The decrease in nonbasmati variety is expected to be evenhigher.

Air quality panel expectsreduced stubble burningIt will be aided by dip in paddy crop

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI

A farmer engaged in stubbleburning in Karnal district ofHaryana. * FILE PHOTO

CMYK

M ND-NDE

WORLDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI


Journalists Maria Ressa ofthe Philippines and DmitryMuratov of Russia won the2021 Nobel Peace Prize onFriday for their fi�ght for freedom of expression in countries where reporters havefaced persistent attacks, harassment and even murder.

“Free, independent andfactbased journalism servesto protect against abuse ofpower, lies and war propaganda,” said Berit ReissAndersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee,explaining why the prizewent to two journalists.

“Without freedom of expression and freedom of thepress, it will be diffi�cult tosuccessfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament and a better worldorder to succeed in ourtime,” she said.

The Nobel committee noted that Ms. Ressa in 2012 cofounded Rappler, a newswebsite that has focusedcritical attention on President Rodrigo Duterte’s “controversial, murderous antidrug campaign” in thePhilippines.

She and Rappler “have also documented how socialmedia is being used tospread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public discourse”.

Mr. Muratov was one ofthe founders in 1993 of theindependent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta,which the Nobel committeecalled “the most independent newspaper in Russia today, with a fundamentallycritical attitude towardspower”.

“The newspaper’s factbased journalism and professional integrity have

made it an important sourceof information on censurable aspects of Russian society rarely mentioned by othermedia,” it added.

Ms. Ressa, the fi�rst Filipino to win the peace prizeand the fi�rst woman to behonoured this year with anaward by the Nobel committee, was convicted last yearof libel and sentenced to jailin a decision seen as a majorblow to press globalfreedom.

She said she hopes theaward will bolster investigative journalism “that willhold power to account.”

Relentless campaign “This relentless campaign ofharassment and intimidation against me and my fellow journalists in the Philippines is a stark example of aglobal trend that journalistsand freedom of the pressfacing increasingly adverseconditions,” she told The As-sociated Press.

She also pointed to socialmedia giants like Facebookas a serious threat to democracy, saying “they actuallyprioritised the spread of lieslaced with anger and hateover facts.”

“I didn’t think that what

we are going through wouldget that attention. But thefact that it did also showsyou how important the battles we face are, right?” shesaid. “This is going to bewhat our elections are goingto be like next year. It is abattle for facts. When you’rein a battle for facts, journalism is activism.”

Government scrutinyMr. Muratov said he woulduse his win to help independent journalists who havefaced growing pressure fromthe authorities, includingthose whose organisationswere declared “foreignagents” — a designation thatthreatens to bring more government scrutiny.

“We will use it to shore upRussian journalism that hasfaced repressions,” he saidin comments carried by aRussian messaging appchannel. “We will try to helpthe people who have beendesignated as agents, havefaced persecution and havebeen forced out of thecountry.”

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 17media workers were killed inthe Philippines in the last decade and 23 in Russia.

Committee hails the winners’ fi�ght for press freedom

Associated Press

MANILA

Fresh laurels: Dmitry Muratov, left, and Maria Ressa, whowon the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. * AP

Journalists from Philippines,Russia win Peace Nobel

A suicide bomb attack onworshippers at a Shia mosque in the Afghan city ofKunduz killed at least 46 people on Friday, in the bloodiest assault since the Taliban government wasformed. Scores more victimsfrom the minority community were wounded.

The Islamic StateKhorasan (ISK) group claimed responsibility for the attack.They have repeatedly targeted Shias in a bid to stir upsectarian violence in Sunnimajority Afghanistan.

In a statement released onits Telegram channels, the jihadist group said that an ISsuicide bomber “detonatedan explosive vest amid acrowd” of Shiite worshipperswho had gathered inside themosque.

In a second statement, ISsaid the “perpetrator of theattack was an Uyghur Muslim”, a minority that the “Taliban had vowed to expel”from Afghanistan.

A medical source at theKunduz Provincial Hospital

said that 35 dead and morethan 55 wounded had beentaken there, while DoctorsWithout Borders (MSF) hospital said 20 were dead andscores more wounded.

Matiullah Rohani, directorof culture and information inKunduz for Afghanistan’snew Taliban government,confi�rmed that the deadly incident was a suicide attackand that 46 people had diedand 143 were wounded.

Taliban spokesman Zabi

hullah Mujahid had earliersaid “an explosion tookplace in a mosque of our Shiacompatriots” in Kunduz.

Blast timingResidents of Kunduz, thecapital of a province of thesame name, said the blast hita Shia mosque during Fridayprayers, the most importantof the week for Muslims.

An international aid worker at the MSF hospital in thecity said there were fears the

death toll could rise evenfurther.

“Hundreds of people aregathered at the main gate ofthe hospital and crying fortheir relatives but armed Taliban guys are trying to prevent gatherings in caseanother explosion isplanned,” he said.

“Many of our neighbourshave been killed and wounded. A 16yearold neighbourwas killed. They couldn’tfi�nd half of his body. Another

neighbour who was 24 waskilled as well,” a residentsaid.

Another video showedmen shepherding people, including women and children, away from the scene.Frightened crowds throngedthe streets.

Important locationKunduz’s location makes it akey transit point for economic and trade exchanges withTajikistan. It was the scene offi�erce battles as the Talibanfought their way back intopower this year.

Often targeted by Sunniextremists who view them asheretics, Shia Muslims havesuff�ered some of Afghanistan’s most violent assaults.

Shias make up roughly20% of the Afghan population. Many of them are Hazara, an ethnic group that hasbeen heavily persecuted inAfghanistan for decades.

The United Nations in Afghanistan said it was “deeplyconcerned by reports of veryhigh casualties”, calling it a“part of a disturbing patternof violence”.

IS claims suicide attack in KunduzAt least 46 killed and dozens injured in a blast masterminded by IS at a Shia mosque in Afghanistan

Agence France-Presse

Kunduz

Mangled remains: A man fi�lming inside the mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan, after the explosionon Friday. * REUTERS

U.S. special operations forces have been quietly trainingTaiwanese troops formonths, a move which China warned on Friday couldcause “serious harm” to relations between Washingtonand Beijing.

A contingent of around 20special operations and conventional forces has beenconducting the training forless than a year, the Penta

gon offi�cial, who declined tobe identifi�ed, said on Thursday, adding that some of thetrainers rotate in and out.

‘High sensitivity’Beijing opposes selfruledTaiwan — which it views asits own territory to be seizedone day, by force if necessary — having any offi�cial diplomatic exchanges and hasaggressively tried to dissuade politicians from visiting in recent years.

China reacted angrily tothe report on Friday, withthe foreign ministry warningthat the U.S. should recognise the “high sensitivity” ofthe Taiwan situation and“serious harm” of itsactions.

Taiwan's Defense Ministrydeclined to comment, butPentagon spokesman JohnSupple said that generallyspeaking, U.S. support forTaiwan’s military is gaugedon its defense needs.

‘U.S. special forces quietlytraining Taiwanese troops’Agence France-Presse

Washington

Poland’s top court on Thursday said that some EU treatyarticles were “incompatible”with the Polish Constitutionin a landmark ruling thatcould threaten the country’sEU funding and even put inquestion its membership ofthe bloc.

The ruling is the latesttwist in a long standoff� between Poland and the EU over controversial judicial reforms introduced byPoland’s governing rightwing Law and Justice (PiS)party.

In her ruling, Constitutional Court president JuliaPrzylebska listed several EUtreaty articles that she saidwere incompatible and alsosaid that the EU institutions“act beyond the scope oftheir competences” in thetreaties.

“Shame!”, “Traitors!” and

“Welcome to Belarus!”shouted a group of around30 protesters outside thecourt after hearing the ruling, some of whom wavedEuropean Union fl�ags.

“They’re taking us out ofthe European Union!” saidAnna Labus, a pensionerwho was in tears.

But government spokesman Piotr Muller welcomedthe ruling, saying that it con

fi�rmed “the primacy of constitutional law over othersources of law”. He added,however, that the ruling“does not aff�ect any areaswhere the EU has competences delegated in the treaties” such as competitionrules, trade and consumerprotection.

The dispute with Brusselshas focused in particular ona new system for disciplining judges which the EU saysis a serious threat to the independence of the judiciaryin Poland.

But there are other bonesof contention, including theappointment of judges andthe transfer of judges between diff�erent courts or divisions of the same court.

Poland has said that thereforms are needed to rootout corruption and has ignored an interim order fromthe EU court to suspend thejudge disciplining system.

Some EU rules go againstConstitution: Poland top court‘Brussels body acting beyond scope of competences’


Warsaw

People protesting againstthe new ruling in front of theTribunal building.

U.S. nuclear submarinedamaged in collisionWASHINGTON

A U.S. nuclear submarine

was damaged after hitting

an unidentified object while

operating underwater in

Asia, the U.S. Navy said on

Thursday. It said there were

no lifethreatening injuries,

but USNI News, a site

specialising in navy news

reported that about a

dozen sailors were hurt

“with moderate to minor

injuries”. AFP

ELSEWHERE

China orders mines to ramp up coal productionBEIJING

Chinese authorities have

ordered dozens of coal mines

to expand production amid a

nationwide energy crunch,

state media reported on

Friday. Dozens of mines were

instructed to increase their

capacity by more than 98

million tonnes in a notice not

released to the public, the

state media reported. AFP

United States and Pakistanioffi�cials are meeting on Friday amid a worsening relationship between the twocountries as each nationsearches for a way forwardin Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

Pakistan has been pressing for greater engagementwith the allmale, allTalibanCabinet in Kabul even as itshies away from any unilateral formal recognition. The

South Asian country hasurged Washington to releasebillions of dollars to the Taliban so that Afghanistan’snew rulers can pay salariesand avoid an economicmeltdown.

U.S. Deputy Secretary ofState Wendy Sherman ismeeting with the country'sArmy chief, Gen. QamarJaved Bajwa. Ms. Shermanalso met Foreign MinisterShah Mahmood Qureshiand is to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan.

U.S., Pak. offi�cials holdtalks on AfghanistanAssociated Press

Islamabad

In his fi�rst policy speech,new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida promisedon Friday to strengthen thecountry’s response to the coronavirus pandemic in caseof another resurgence andrevive its battered economywhile bolstering defencesagainst threats from Chinaand North Korea.

Mr. Kishida also spoke onFriday by telephone withChinese President Xi Jinpingand raised concerns aboutChina’s escalating activitiesin disputed maritime territories and human rights problems in Hong Kong and the

Xinjiang region, he said.Tasked with the crucial

mission of rallying publicsupport for the governingparty ahead of national elections expected October 31,Mr. Kishida promised to pur

sue politics of “trust and empathy”. He was elected byParliament and sworn inMonday as Japan’s 100thPrime Minister, succeedingYoshihide Suga, who left after only a year in offi�ce. Mr.Suga’s perceived highhanded approach in dealing withthe coronavirus and insistence on holding the TokyoOlympics despite rising cases angered the public andhurt the governing LiberalDemocrats.

“I will devote my bodyand soul to overcome the national crisis together withthe people to pioneer a newera so we can pass a bountiful Japan to the next genera

tion,” Mr. Kishida said. He promised to be more

attentive to public concernsand needs, and prepare virus measures based on “aworstcase scenario”.

That includes taking advantage of a drop in infections to improve crisis management before the weatherturns cold, approving drugsfor treatment of COVID19 bythe end of December and thedigitalisation of vaccine certifi�cates, Mr. Kishida said.

“I’m determined to defend our land, territorialseas and air space, and thepeople’s lives and assets, nomatter what,” Mr. Kishidaadded.

Kishida vows to lead with ‘trust’I’m determined to defend our land, territorial seas and air space, says Japan’s PM

Fumio Kishida

Associated Press

Tokyo

Google will ban digital adspromoting false climatechange claims from appearing next to other content, hoping to limit revenue for climate changedeniers and stop thespread of misinformationon its platforms.

The company said onThursday in a blog postthat the new policy will also apply to YouTube,which last week announced a sweeping crackdown of vaccine misinformation.

The restrictions “willprohibit ads for contentthat contradicts wellestablished scientifi�c consensus around climatechange,” the blog post said.

Google toban climatedenial ads

Associated Press

London

The United Nations voicedalarm on Friday at Myanmar’s military junta deploying heavy weapons andtroops to particular townships, fearing for the civilianpopulation.

The Offi�ce of the UN HighCommissioner for HumanRights said the deploymentof two highranking commanders represented a worrying escalation in thesituation.

“Alarming reports indicate that there has been substantial deployment of heavy weapons and troops bythe Myanmar military overthe past few weeks,” spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasanitold reporters in Geneva.

The deployments havebeen to Kanpetlet and Hakha townships in Chin State;Kani and Monywa townships in the central Sagaingregion; and Gangaw township in Magway region, shesaid.

The internet has alsobeen shut down, she added.

Myanmar has been miredin crisis since the army ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's government in February,sparking mass protests anda bloody crackdown.

“We are gravely concerned by these developments, particularly giventhe intensifying attacks bythe military that we havedocumented over the pastmonth in these areas,” Ms.Shamdasani said.

Myanmar military’sactions alarm UNTroops deployed in townships


GenevaBangladesh wants to sendmore than 80,000 Rohingya refugees to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal after sealing an agreementfor the United Nations toprovide help, offi�cials saidon Friday.

Some 19,000 of the Muslim refugees have alreadyrelocated to Bhashan Charisland, offi�cials said. Bangladesh refugee commissioner Shah Rezwan Hayatsaid that more would goonce the monsoon stormsend in November.

On top of the inhospitable weather, the island is60 kilometres from themainland and some Rohingya groups say people wereforced to go there.

Rohingyarefugees to besent to island


Cox’s Bazar

CMYK

M ND-NDE

BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU


NIFTY 50

PRICE CHANGE

Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 739.90. . . . . . . . . 3.75

Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3306.90. . . . . . . 16.05

Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 781.95. . . . . . . . . 4.85

Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3815.55. . . . . . -13.00

Bajaj Finserv. . . . . . . . . . .. 17549.45. . . . . . . 79.20

Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7732.20. . . . . . -15.70

Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 695.50. . . . . . . . . 3.00

BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 449.45. . . . . . . . . 0.25

Britannia Ind . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3883.30. . . . . . -17.30

Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 917.10. . . . . . . . . 1.05

Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 188.45. . . . . . . . -2.25

Divis Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 5071.30. . . . . . -26.55

Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 4849.20. . . . . . -41.90

Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. . . . 2817.95. . . . . . . . -3.00

Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1598.80. . . . . . . . . 6.80

HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1322.15. . . . . . . 15.85

HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2720.65. . . . . . . . -6.35

HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1602.65. . . . . . . . -7.85

HDFC Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 722.10. . . . . . . . -3.25

Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 2842.10. . . . . . . . . 0.45

Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 473.65. . . . . . . . -3.85

Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2640.05. . . . . . -29.35

ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 703.40. . . . . . . . . 1.20

IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1174.40. . . . . . . . . 7.70

Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1723.85. . . . . . . 32.85

Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 131.80. . . . . . . . -0.45

ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 231.70. . . . . . . . -1.25

JSW Steel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 665.85. . . . . . . . -0.70

Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1936.35. . . . . . -16.10

L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1726.90. . . . . . . 14.45

M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 877.80. . . . . . . . -0.45

Maruti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7430.00. . . . . . -62.50

Nestle India Ltd. . . . .. 18986.45. . . . . . -59.20

NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 141.10. . . . . . . . -1.70

ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 160.95. . . . . . . . . 0.55

PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 187.70. . . . . . . . -0.60

Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2671.25. . . . . . . 98.85

SBI Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1196.45. . . . . . -18.60

State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 458.00. . . . . . . . . 0.10

Shree Cement . . . . . . . .. 27757.15. . . -302.20

Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 821.40. . . . . . . . -1.85

Tata Consumer

Products Ltd. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 818.75. . . . . . . . -5.80

Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 382.95. . . . . . . . . 6.45

Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1301.15. . . . . . . 11.95

TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3935.65. . . . . . . 42.75

Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . 1439.95. . . . . . . 22.75

Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2358.20. . . . . . -17.15

UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 7335.75. . . . . . -18.85

UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 738.00. . . . . . . 10.50

Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 661.15. . . . . . . 18.20

EXCHANGE RATES

Indicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on October 08

CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 74.79. . . . . . . 75.11

Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 86.42. . . . . . . 86.79

British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .101.92. . . . 102.36

Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 66.91. . . . . . . 67.20

Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 11.60. . . . . . . 11.65

Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 80.47. . . . . . . 80.86

Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 55.15. . . . . . . 55.39

Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 59.62. . . . . . . 59.88

Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 17.89. . . . . . . 17.98

Source:Indian Bank

market watch

08-10-2021 % CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 60,059 ddddddddddddddd0.64

US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 74.99 ddddddddddddd-0.26

Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 45,959 ddddddddddddd-0.11

Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 83.26 ddddddddddddddd1.38


SPORTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Friday said it washalting its bond buying under the GSec AcquisitionProgramme (GSAP) for now,with Governor ShaktikantaDas stressing that the measure had succeeded in ensuring adequate liquidity andstabilising fi�nancial markets.

“Coupled with other liquidity measures, it facilitated congenial and orderly fi�nancing conditions and aconducive environment forthe recovery,” Mr. Das saidafter announcing the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision to keep interest ratesunchanged and retain an ‘accommodative’ policy stance.

“The total liquidity injected into the system during thefi�rst six months of the current fi�nancial year throughopen market operations(OMOs), including GSAP,

was ₹�2.37 lakh crore, asagainst an injection of ₹�3.1lakh crore over the full fi�nancial year 202021,” he noted.

“Given the existing liquidity overhang, the absence of aneed for additional borrowing for GST compensationand the expected expansionof liquidity in the system asGovernment spending in

creases in line with budgetestimates, the need for undertaking further GSAP operations at this juncture doesnot arise,” Mr. Das added.

The RBI, however, remained ready to undertakeGSAP as and when warranted by liquidity conditions,and would also continue tofl�exibly conduct other liquid

ity management operationsincluding Operation Twist(OT) and regular open market operations (OMOs).

Stating that the growth impulses seemed to be strengthening, supported by ebbing of infections, the robustpace of vaccination, expected record kharif foodgrainsproduction, the government’s focus on capital expenditure and buoyant external demand, Mr. Das saidthe infl�ation trajectory wasalso turning out to be morefavourable than anticipated.

Lowers infl�ation outlookThe RBI retained its growthforecast for this fi�scal at 9.5%and cut its projection for average infl�ation for the fullyear to 5.3%, from 5.7% earlier, even as it fl�agged core infl�ation that ‘remains sticky’.Elevated global crude oil andother commodity pricescombined with an acute

shortage of key industrialcomponents and high logistics costs, were adding to input cost pressures, it added.

“Headline infl�ation continues to be signifi�cantly infl�uenced by very high infl�ation in select items such asedible oils, petrol and diesel,LPG and medicines,” the RBIGovernor said.

‘Rate hike by FY22end’“Like many other centralbanks, the RBI is signalling agradual move towards ‘normalising’ its monetary policyas the economy emergesfrom the shadow of the second wave,” Crisil Researchsaid in a report.

“We expect this normalisation to continue in thecoming months and a hike inthe repo rate by 25 basispoints by fi�scal 2022end, assuming strengthening economic recovery and elevatedinfl�ation risks,” it added.

RBI suspends GSAP, holds interest ratesGovernor Das cites strengthening growth impulses, ample liquidity for decision to halt bond buying


MUMBAI

Reaching for reset: The RBI is signalling a gradual movetowards ‘normalising’ policy, says Crisil Research. * AFP

RBI Deputy Governor M. Rajeshwar Rao on Friday saidthe central bank is examining whether deposit acceptance by Google and Amazon is within the prescribedlaws and regulations, at atime when concerns aboutbig tech fi�rms’ play in the fi�nancial space are at aheightened level.

Both Google Pay andAmazon have announcedpartnerships with lenders toaccept deposits in the country through their mobilephone apps.

“We are examining the issue regarding the regulatoryimplications, having regardto the applicable laws and

the regulations that are prescribed for the thing. So, weare examining it,” Mr. Raotold reporters.

In its last fi�nancial stability report in June this year,the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) had warned against allowing bigtechnology companies into the fi�nancial services sector.

‘Google, Amazon depositacceptance under review’Studying regulatory issues: RBI’s Rao


mumbai

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal hascalled for a renegotiation ofthe IndiaASEAN free tradeagreement (FTA), to preventits misuse by ‘third parties’and remove trade restrictions as well as nontariff�barriers that he said hadhurt Indian exports disproportionately since the pactwas operationalised in 2010.

“It is unfortunate that inthe recent past, we had todeal with several restrictivebarriers on our exports inthe ASEAN region, particularly in the agriculture andauto sectors,” Mr. Goyal saidat a session with ASEANtrade and fi�nance ministers

hosted by CII on Friday.” The focus needed to be

on new rules to eliminatemisuse ‘by third parties outside ASEAN’, the ministersaid, hinting at China. Bothsides also needed to bringdown nontariff� barriers toboost confi�dence, he added.

Goyal pushes for a resetof IndiaASEAN FTA‘Must prevent misuse by third parties’


NEW DELHI

Piyush Goyal

In a bid to promote digitaltransactions, the ReserveBank proposed to increasethe per transaction limitthrough Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) from₹�2 lakh to ₹�5 lakh.

IMPS is an importantpayment system providing24x7 instant domesticfunds transfer facility andis accessible through various channels such as Internet and mobile banking.

The increase in limit willlead to further a rise in digital payments and providean additional facility tocustomers for making digital payments beyond ₹�2lakh, said RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das.

Reserve Bankraises IMPSlimit to ₹�5 lakh

Press trust of india

mumbai

The NCLT on Friday admitted the insolvency pleasmoved by banking sectorregulator RBI against twoSREI group fi�rms and appointed an administrator,according to sources.

A twomember KolkataBench admitted two separate petitions fi�led by theRBI for initiation of Corporate Insolvency ResolutionProcess against two nonbanking fi�nancial fi�rms —SREI Infrastructure Finance and SREI Equipment Finance Ltd.

The NCLT also appointed Rajneesh Sharma as theadministrator to run thefi�rms, sources said. Thetwo entities owe more than₹�30,000 crore to lenders.

NCLT admitsplea againsttwo SREI fi�rms


New Delhi

North Indian states have suffered electricity cuts andface further outages because of a lack of coal, ananalysis of government dataand interviews with residents found, contradictinggovernment assurancesthere is enough power.

The shortages in India —the world’s largest coal consumer after China — followwidespread outages in China,which has shut factoriesand schools to manage thecrisis.

Over half of India’s 135coalfi�red power plants,which in total supply about70% of India’s electricity,have fuel stocks of less thanthree days, data from the

federal grid operatorshowed. The Power Ministry did not immediately respond to a request forcomment.

On Wednesday, a sectionof the media quoted PowerMinister R. K. Singh as saying, “There is nowhere thatwe have not been able tosupply the quantity of power demanded.”

States suff�er power cutsas coal stocks shrink50% units left with below 3day stocks

Reuters

Chennai

NCLT tells Zee to reply toInvesco plea by Oct. 22MUMBAI

The National Company Law

Tribunal (NCLT) gave Zee

Entertainment Enterprises

time till October 22 to file its

reply to a plea by its minority

shareholder Invesco, after

appellate body NCLAT

ordered it to give the media

major reasonable opportunity

to do the same. PTI

IN BRIEF

Dr. Agarwals plans todouble hospital countCHENNAI

Dr. Agarwals Eye Hospital

Ltd. plans to more than

double its panIndia and

global footprint to 250

hospitals over the next three

years, said chairman Dr. Amar

Agarwal. He added that the

hospital chain aimed to

invest ₹�1,000 crore to help

fund these plans. “Currently,

we have 100 centres in India,

with the acquisition of

Mumbaibased Aditya Jyot

Eye hospital in an allcash

deal,” he said.

The government aims tohave EV sales accounting for30% of private cars, 70% forcommercial vehicles and80% for two and threewheelers by 2030 as there isan immediate need to decarbonise the transport sector,Union Minister Nitin Gadkarisaid on Friday.

Mr. Gadkari further said ifelectric vehicles expand to40% in the twowheeler andcar segments and close to100% for buses by 2030, India would be able to cutcrude oil consumption by156 million tonnes, worth₹�3.5 lakh crore.

“There is an immediateneed to decarbonise thetransport sector and make itsustainable from the economy, ecology, and environ

mental point of view, hesaid, addressing an event organised by FICCI virtually.

“The government intendsto have EV sales penetrationof 30% for private cars, 70%for commercial vehicles,

40% for buses and 80% fortwo and threewheelers by2030,” he added. The RoadTransport and Highways Minister pointed out that in theEV mission, NITI Aayog hasinspired 25 States to come

up with EV policies, out ofwhich 15 have already announced State EV policy.

Mr. Gadkari said it was hisdream to make India’s automobile sector number one inthe world in the next fi�veyears. The Minister also asserted that there was noshortage of lithium ion,which is used in making batteries for EVs, in India.

He said a potential pilotproject is being planned toinstall an electric highwaybetween DelhiMumbai expressways which will facilitate the movement of heavyduty trucks and passengerbuses on electricity.

To fulfi�l everyday transport needs of a large population, he said his Ministry isfocusing on the development of effi�cient and aff�ordable public transport systems.

‘Aim to have 30% of 2030 car sales as EVs’ Widespread adoption of EVs can cut oil imports by ₹�3.5 lakh cr., says Gadkari


new delhi

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said he hadasked U.S.based Tesla several times to manufactureits iconic electric vehicles inIndia, while assuring that allsupport will be provided bythe government to the company. Addressing the ‘India

Today Conclave 2021’, Mr.Gadkari further said electriccars manufactured by TataMotors were no less goodthan those made by Tesla.“I have told Tesla... ‘don’tsell electric cars in Indiawhich your company hasmanufactured in China. Youshould manufacture electric cars in India’,” he said.

‘Have asked Tesla to makeelectric cars in India’Press trust of india

New Delhi

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Tata Consultancy ServicesLtd. reported secondquarter profi�t that beat estimateson Friday, boosted bygrowth in its key bankingand fi�nancial services segment and strong demandfor digital services duringthe COVID19 pandemic.

The country’s largest information technology exporter is the fi�rst amongpeers to report earnings forthe quarter, with investorslooking at the bellwether togauge the outlook for thesector that has had a stellarrun in the past one year.

The Mumbaibased company’s consolidated net profi�t rose 29% to ₹�96.24 billionin the three months endedSeptember 30, from ₹�74.75billion a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected a profi�t of ₹�96.01 billion,according to Refi�nitiv data.

Consolidated revenuefrom operations jumped16.8% to ₹�468.67 billion,with the banking and fi�nance industriesfocusedunit posting a 14.3% rise.

TCS and rivals Infosys,Wipro and HCL Technologies have won large contracts over the last one yearfrom businesses investing inservices including cloudcomputing, digital paymentinfrastructure, cryptoplatforms and cybersecurity.

Big ticket deal wins TCS said it added fi�ve morecustomers in the $100millionplus range in the quarter compared with a yearearlier, bringing the total to54. The company also reappointed Rajesh Gopinathanas its chief executive offi�cerand managing director forfi�ve years.

Mr. Gopinathan said thestrong and sustained de

mand environment was a‘onceinadecade opportunity’ to position the company as the preferredgrowth and transformationpartner for its customers.

“We are using the growthtailwind to invest in strengthening relevant capabilitiesand building out a comprehensive portfolio of off�erings that caters to a broaderset of stakeholders in the enterprise across business cycles, strengthening ourbrand, and making our business more resilient.

“We believe this is themost sustainable pathway tocreate longerterm value forall our stakeholders,” theCEO added.

The company also announced an interim dividend of ₹�7 per share.

“Strong growth and disciplined execution helped usovercome headwinds fromcurrency and supplyside infl�ation and deliver expanded margins,” said Chief Financial Offi�cer SamirSeksaria.

“Our industryleadingprofi�tability and strong cashconversion give us the wherewithal to make the... investments needed to buildout the business of the future,” he added.

The IT services companyadded a net of 19,690 people, taking its total headcount to 5,28,748 people.

(With PTI inputs)

TCS Q2 net rises 29% to₹�96.2 bn on COVIDleddigitisation demandProfi�t tops estimates on BFSI boost

Reuters

Bengaluru

Vijayveer Sidhu and RhythmSangwan helped India to yetanother gold as they won therapid fi�re mixed team eventin the junior World Championships here.

Thailand, the only othercountry in the event, won silver after losing 91 in the goldmedal match, while the second Indian team tookbronze.

Thailand topped the second stage of qualifi�cationwith 376, six points ahead ofIndia.

Anish Bhanwala and Tejaswani, who made the No.1team for India, took bronzeafter fi�nishing fourth in thesecond stage of qualifi�cation.

The women’s rifl�e 3position team of Nischal, Prasiddhi Mahant and AyushiPodder lost the gold by threepoints to USA after havingbeen consistently on top inthe fi�rst and second stages ofqualifi�cation.

The men’s 50metre rifl�e

3position team of SanskarHavelia, Sartaj Singh Tiwanaand Aishwary Pratap SinghTomar missed qualifying forthe medal match by onepoint.

India stayed on top of themedals table with 10 gold,eight silver and four bronze.

USA followed with six gold,eight silver and six bronze.

The results:

Men: 50m rifl�e 3position: 1.Hungary 46 (864) 1291, 2.France 44 (860) 1298, 3. USA46 (860) 1306; 5. India (Sanskar Havelia, Sartaj Singh Tiwana, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar) 859 (1291).

Women: 50m rifl�e 3position: 1. USA 47 (878) 1315, 2. India (Nischal, Prasiddhi Mahant,Ayushi Podder) 43 (876) 1287,3. Germany 46 (873) 1309.

Mixed team 25m rapid fi�repistol: 1. India2 (Vijayveer Sidhu, Rhythm Sangwan) 9 (370)564, 2. Thailand 1 (376) 554, 3.India1 (Tejaswani, Anish Bhanwala) 10 (358) 571.

Mixed team trap: 1. Spain 41(139), 2. Italy 35 (145), 3. Germany 40 (131); 11. India2 (KirtiGupta, Bakhtyaruddin Malek)127; 12. India1 114 (Aadya Tripathi, Vivaan Kapoor) 114.

VijayveerRhythm combine strikes goldIndia also picks up a silver and bronze to stay on top of the table

SHOOTING

Sports Bureau

LIMA

Bang on target: Rhythm and Vijayveer who tasted success inthe rapid fi�re mixed team event. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports) grabbed pole in theNovice (Stock 165cc) category at the third round of theMRF MMSC FMSCI Nationalmotorcycle racing championships here on Friday.

The 19yearold, whoheads the championship inthe novice category, overcame a shaky start in thequalifying session when hewent off� the track on the outlap, but gathered himself topost the fastest lap of two minutes, 08.098secs.

TVS Racing’s Deepak Ravikumar (01:52.567) and JaganKumar (01:52.627) wereamong the quickest riders inthe free practice session inthe premier Prostock 301400cc category.

The results (Qualifying:best laps): National Championship: Novice (Stock 165cc): 1.Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports,Chennai) (02m, 08.098s); 2.Kayan Zubin Patel (Sparks Racing, Mumbai) (02:08.545); 3.Allwin Xavier (Sparks Racing,Thrissur) (02:08.772).

OneMake Championshiporganised by MMSC: TVS Open(RR 310): 1. Navaneeth Kumar(Puducherry) (01:56.178); 2.Aditya Rao (Bengaluru)

(01:56.461); 3. Amarnath Menon (Calicut) (01:56.526).

Girls (Apache RTR 200): 1.Rakshita Dave (Chennai)(02:14.505); 2. Adlin Seles(Chennai) (02:14.561); 3. Renuka Gajendran (Bengaluru)(02:15.094).

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – Novice (CBR 150): 1.Prakash Kamat (Bokaroy)(02:09.673); 2. Ikshan Shanbhag (Satara) (02:09.920); 3. Vivek Gaurav (Patna) (02:11.478).

Alwin takes pole in Novice categoryMOTORSPORTS

Sports Reporter

Chennai

Powering through: Alwin overcame a shaky start in thequalifying session to post the fastest lap. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Jaison Jordon Vaz scoredan injurytime equaliser asFC Bengaluru United(FCBU) drew 33 againstMadan Maharaj RC in the ILeague Qualifi�ers on Friday.

Madan Maharaj, whichlet a 20 lead slip, thoughtit had won the game whenJiten Murmu put his side32 ahead with barely minutes left. But substituteJaison volleyed home withhis left foot with secondsremaining on the clock tosecure FCBU’s seconddraw in as many matches.

The result: FCBU 3 (SanjuPradhan 69, D. Arun Kumar81, Jaison Jordon Vaz 90+4)drew with Madan Maharaj RC3 (Shubham Bhowmick 13, 52,Jiten Murmu 90+3).

Jaison isFCBU’s saviourSports Reporter

BENGALURU

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


SPORT

Ishan Kishan (84, 32b, 11x4,4x6) and Suryakumar Ya

dav (82, 40b, 13x4, 3x6)smashed their fastest fi�fties —in 16 and 24 balls, respectively — in the Indian PremierLeague to set up Mumbai Indians’ 42run win againstSunrisers Hyderabad in theirlast league game.

However, the win wasn’tenough to keep its title campaign alive as Mumbai Indians failed to make it to theplayoff�s. Kolkata Knight Riders qualifi�ed as the fourthteam on net run rate.

MI knew that it was virtually a mission impossible toprogress as it had to bat fi�rstand win by at least 170 runs.While Rohit Sharma won thetoss to achieve the fi�rst objective, Ishan and Suryakumar’swhirlwind knocks ensuredMumbai piled up 235 fornine, the highest total of IPL2021.

Near-impossible task However, despite the torridseason SRH has had, restricting it to below 64 was a nearimpossible task for MI. OnceJason Roy and Abhishek Sharma got off� to a quick start, thewriting was on the wall forMI.

The Sunrisers’ start wasnowhere close to the openingfl�urry by Ishan, with Rohitawestruck at the other end.The PowerPlay saw 14 foursand two sixes, with Rohitcontributing only three ofthem.

While Ishan, who ensuredthat his fi�fty versus RajasthanRoyals three nights ago

wasn’t a fl�uke, dominated thefi�rst half of the innings withaudacious strokeplay, Suryakumar took over the mantlein the latter half.

Despite the loss, Sunrisersalso entered the recordbooks. Manish Pandey (69n.o., 41b, 7x4, 2x6) becamethe fi�rst cricketer to have captained an IPL team after having played 100plus games.

He also showed acumen asa leader by placing Jason Roybang behind the umpire for

Kieron Pollard and saw thebatsman hitting straight tohim.

Mohammad Nabi then became the fi�rst fi�elder in theIPL to take fi�ve catches.

MI fails to make it despite Ishan and Suryakumar’s blitzkriegHit their fastest fi�fties in the IPL as Rohit’s men rattle up 235 and emerge victorious by 42 runs against SRH; KKR becomes the fourth team to qualify

Sports Bureau

Top shows: Kishan and Suryakumar tore apart the Sunrisers attack before Neesham put the skids on the chase. * SPORTZPICS/IPL

IPL 2021

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Five and fi�ve

B This is the fi�fth timefi�vetime champion MI hasfailed to progress beyondthe league stage (2008,’09, ’16, ’18, ’21)

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Bolstered by Jemimah Rodrigues’ return to form, India will look to come out allguns blazing in the secondwomen’s T20 Internationalagainst Australia on Saturday after rain played spoilsport in the opening gamehere.

Criticised for regular failures and after losing herplace in the 50over side, Jemimah made a sensationalcomeback with an unbeaten49 off� 36 balls in the fi�rstT20I.

Smriti Mandhana andShafali Verma have been ingood form, having played pivotal roles in the drawn Testand given India a rollickingstart in the fi�rst T20.

Harmanpreet Kaur alsojoined the team in the fi�rstgame after missing the ODIleg and the Day/Night Testowing to a thumb injury. Herpresence makes India a formidable batting unit.

Thursday’s game waswashed out and Harmanpreet & Co. will look to winthe next two T20s to end thetour on a high. It’s also a fi�ne

opportunity for the youngduo of Yastika Bhatia and Richa Ghosh to shine in themiddle order.

Veteran seamer ShikhaPandey will bear the onus ofgetting early wickets.

Australia, on the otherhand, boasts of a number ofquality allrounders. CaptainMeg Lanning has plenty ofoptions and will hope theyoung stars will deliver.

The hosts also have plenty of experience in EllysePerry, Alyssa Healy, AshleighGardner and Beth Mooney.The teams (from):

India: Harmanpreet Kaur(Capt.), Smriti Mandhana (Vice

Capt.), Shafali Verma, JemimahRodrigues, Deepti Sharma,Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia,Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh,Pooja Vastrakar, RajeshwariGayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol,Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadavand Renuka Singh.

Australia: Meg Lanning (Capt.),Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown,Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey,Hannah Darlington, AshleighGardner, Alyssa Healy, TahliaMcGrath, Sophie Molineux,Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano,Annabel Sutherland, TaylaVlaeminck and GeorgiaWareham.

Match starts at 1.40 p.m. IST.

India looks to fi�re on all cylinders


Carrara

Up for the challenge: Rodrigues’ return to form and Yastika’sgrowing talent augurs well for India. * TWITTER/BCCIWOMEN

INDIA IN AUS

A young Madhya Pradeshside pipped an accomplished Jharkhand outfi�t 54via shootoff� to claim its maiden recurve women’s teamtitle at the 40th NTPC National archery championships here on Friday.

Madhya Pradesh, consisting of Amey Rai, VitashaThakur and Soniya Thakur,shot closer to the centre in a2828 shootoff� score line after tying 44 with the host,comprising India team regulars Komalika Bari and Ankita Bhakat and Dipti Kumari,in the fi�nal.

Tense victories via shootoff�s over Punjab (54, 2624)in the quarterfi�nals and Rajasthan (54, 2625) in thesemifi�nals prepared theMadhya Pradesh archers —who are products of theMadhya Pradesh ArcheryAcademy in Jabalpur — tohold their nerve in the mostcrucial moment of the fi�nal.

“It is a proud moment forus. All these girls are between 16 and 20 years of ageand have proved themselvesat junior level events. This is

their fi�rst big win at the elitelevel,” said M.P. coach Richpal Singh Salaria.

Haryana, consisting ofAkash Malik, Sachin Guptaand Basant Kumar, defeateda talented Maharashtra side,including World youthchampionships team goldwinner Parth Salunkhe,Yashdeep Bhoge and OmVithalkar, 51 in the fi�nal totake the recurve men’s teamcrown.

In the individual rankinground, Jayanta Talukdar, returning to a competition after recovering from COVID19, scored 680 points to

bag the top spot amongmen. B. Dhiraj (678) and Salunkhe (673) took the second and third spots respectively. Atanu Das (660) was13th.

Deepika Kumari gathered665 points to emerge as thetopranked woman. She wasfollowed by Komalika (655)and Simranjeet Kaur (649).

Recurve Team results: Men: Final: Haryana bt Maharashtra51; Third place: Jharkhand btRajasthan 60.

Women: Final: Madhya Pradeshbt Jharkhand 54 (28*28);Third place: Rajasthan bt Maharashtra 53.

M.P. and Haryana triumph

Y.B. Sarangi

JAMSHEDPUR

ARCHERY

We did it! The Madhya Pradesh team celebrates its maidenrecurve title. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

DELHI CAPITALSPrithvi Shaw c Garton b Chahal48 (31b, 4x4, 2x6), ShikharDhawan c Christian b Harshal 43(35b, 3x4, 2x6), Rishabh Pant cBharat b Christian 10 (8b, 1x4),Shreyas Iyer c Christian b Siraj18 (18b, 1x4), Shimron Hetmyerc Kohli b Siraj 29 (22b, 2x4,2x6), Ripal Patel (not out) 7 (7b,1x4); Extras (lb3, w5, nb1): 9;Total (for fi�ve wkts. in 20 overs): 164.

FALL OF WICKETS188 (Dhawan, 10.1 overs), 2101 (Shaw, 11.2), 3108 (Pant,12.4), 4143 (Shreyas, 17.4), 5164 (Hetmyer, 19.6).

RCB BOWLINGMaxwell 30290, Siraj 40252, Garton 30200, Chahal40341, Harshal 40341,Christian 20191.

ROYAL CHALLENGERSVirat Kohli c Rabada b Nortje 4(8b), Devdutt Padikkal c Ashwinb Nortje 0 (1b), K.S. Bharat (notout) 78 (52b, 3x4, 4x6), AB de

Villiers c Shreyas b Axar 26(26b, 2x4, 1x6), Glenn Maxwell(not out) 51 (33b, 8x4); Extras(lb2, w5): 7; Total (for threewkts. in 20 overs): 166.

FALL OF WICKETS13 (Padikkal, 0.5), 26 (Kohli,2.1), 355 (de Villiers, 9.3).

CAPITALS BOWLINGNortje 40242, Avesh 40310, Axar 40391, Rabada 40370, Ashwin 10110, Ripal30220.

Toss: RCB; MoM: Bharat.

RCB won by seven wickets off�the fi�nal delivery.

SCOREBOARD

Srikar Bharat sealed a lastball thriller with a six as

Royal Challengers Bangalorebeat Delhi Capitals by sevenwickets in an IPL encounterin Dubai on Friday.

With 19 needed from 12,Anrich Nortje bowled a sensational 19th over, going forjust four. RCB needed 15 off�Avesh Khan's fi�nal over andBharat took RCB over the linewith an unbeaten 52ball 78.He was ably supported byGlenn Maxwell, who got hisfourth fi�fty in fi�ve innings.

The RCB chase got off� tothe worst possible start whenNortje removed Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli early.With RCB 11 for two afterthree overs, AB de Villierswas promoted to No. 4. Butthe South African couldn'tmake the most of the move,falling for a runaball 26 to

Axar Patel and leaving RCB104 to get from the last 10.

With the asking rate climbing past 11, Maxwell wasdropped twice, by ShreyasIyer and R. Ashwin, off� Axar.Meanwhile, No. 3 Bharatreached his 50 off� 37 as RCBbrought the equation downto 46 in 24 balls. Maxwell andBharat scored 15 and 12 off�Rabada and Khan in the 17thand 18th overs. It was a timely assault.

Earlier, Kohli won the tossand inserted Delhi. Maxwellgot the new ball, probably toget the better of lefthanderShikhar Dhawan. But themove did not reap the desired results as Dhawan took15 off� his eight balls. Maxwell's three overs in the PowerPlay went for 29.

The DC openers did not letthe tempo drop after the PowerPlay, going after Yuzvendra Chahal and collecting 20

off� his fi�rst two overs. RCB'swait for a breakthrough ended in the 11th over when Harshal Patel had Shikhar Dhawan caught. Harshal is nowtwo wickets short of the highest tally for an edition — 32 byDwayne Bravo (2013).

At the other end, Shaw felltwo short of his fi�fty, caughtoff� Chahal. Rishabh Pant followed suit, caught behind off�Dan Christian.

Shimron Hetmyer andShreyas took 16 off� the 15thover — bowled by Christian —with two fours and a maximum to give the innings a necessary impetus.

However, RCB kept up thepressure as Mohammed Sirajremoved Shreyas for an 18ball 18. Hetmyer’s 22ball 29took his team to a fi�ghtingscore but it wasn't enough inthe end on a night when DCwas left to rue squanderedchances and sloppy fi�elding.

With six needed off� the fi�nal delivery, Avesh bowls a wide before the RCB batter settles the issue; DC loses its way in the last fi�ve overs of its innings

Sports Bureau

Bharat smashes a last-ball six as Royal Challengers leave Capitals stunned

Incredible fi�nish: Bharat is gungho after sealing it with a stunning shot. * SPORTZPICS/IPL

MUMBAI INDIANSRohit Sharma c Nabi b Rashid 18(13b, 3x4), Ishan Kishan c Saha bUmran 84 (32b, 11x4, 4x6),Hardik Pandya c Roy b Holder 10(8b, 1x6), Kieron Pollard c Roy bAbhishek 13 (12b, 1x4), Suryakumar Yadav c Nabi b Holder 82(40b, 13x4, 3x6), James Neesham c Nabi b Abhishek 0 (1b),Krunal Pandya c Nabi b Rashid 9(7b, 1x4), Nathan CoulterNile cNabi b Holder 3 (3b), PiyushChawla c Samad b Holder 0 (2b),Jasprit Bumrah (not out) 5 (2b,1x4), Trent Boult (not out) 0(0b); Extras (b1, lb1, w9): 11;Total (for nine wkts. in 20overs): 235.

FALL OF WICKETS180 (Rohit, 5.3 overs), 2113(Hardik, 8.3), 3124 (Ishan, 9.1),4151 (Pollard, 12.5), 5151 (Neesham, 12.6), 6184 (Krunal,15.3), 7206 (CoulterNile, 17.2),8230 (Chawla, 19.1), 9230(Suryakumar, 19.4).

SUNRISERS BOWLINGNabi 30330, Kaul 40560,Holder 40524, Umran 40481, Rashid 40402, Abhishek 1042.

SUNRISERS HYDERABADJason Roy c Krunal b Boult 34(21b, 6x4), Abhishek Sharma cCoulterNile b Neesham 33 (16b,4x4, 1x6), Manish Pandey (not

out) 69 (41b, 7x4, 2x6), Mohammad Nabi c Pollard bChawla 3 (4b), Abdul Samad cPollard b Neesham 2 (3b),Priyam Garg c Hardik b Bumrah29 (21b, 2x4, 1x6), Jason Holderc Boult b CoulterNile 1 (2b),Rashid Khan c & b Bumrah 9 (5b,2x4), Wriddhiman Saha c & bCoulterNile 2 (5b), SiddarthKaul (not out) 1 (3b); Extras(lb2, w7, nb1): 10; Total (foreight wkts. in 20 overs): 193.

FALL OF WICKETS164 (Roy, 5.2), 279 (Abhishek,6.6), 397 (Nabi, 8.3), 4100(Samad, 9.1), 5156 (Garg, 15.1),6166 (Holder, 16.1), 7177(Rashid, 17.2), 8182 (Saha,18.4).

MUMBAI INDIANS BOWLINGBoult 40301, Bumrah 40392, Chawla 40381, CoulterNile 40402, Neesham 30282, Krunal 10160.Toss: MI; MoM: Ishan.

MI won by 42 runs.

SCOREBOARD

England confi�rmed it will goto Australia for the Ashesseries in December after itsoffi�cials gave a conditionalapproval for the tour onFriday.

England cast doubt onthe sevenweek tour whilenegotiating for easier healthand travel restrictions inthe pandemic, especiallyfor visiting family members.

However, on Friday, theEngland and Wales CricketBoard said “excellent

progress” had been made intalks with Cricket Australia.

“To facilitate furtherprogress and allow a squadto be selected, the ECBboard has met and given itsapproval for the tour to goahead,” it said in astatement.

“This decision is subjectto several critical conditionsbeing met before we travel.We look forward to theongoing assistance fromCricket Australia inresolving these matters inthe coming days.”

England gets conditionalapproval for AshesASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON

Former skipper SarfarazAhmed made a surprise return in three changes to Pakistan's World Cup squad,selectors said on Friday.

The 34yearold Sarfarazwas not in the 15man squadannounced last month, butall 16 teams competing in theevent had October 10 as the

deadline to make anychanges.

"After reviewing playerperformances and in consultation with the team management, we have decided toinclude Haider Ali, FakharZaman and Sarfaraz in thesquad for the T20 World Cup2021," Pakistan's chief selector Mohammad Wasim wasquoted as saying in a release.

Sarfaraz in WC squadAgence France-Presse

Karachi

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


SPORT

Badminton: Thomas & UberCup: Star Sports 3, 12.30 p.m.Australia Women vs IndiaWomen: 2nd T20I, Sony Ten3 & Sony Six (SD & HD), 2.10p.m.F1: Turkish GP: (Qualifying),SS Select 2 (SD & HD), 5.30p.m.European WC Qualifiers:Sony Six (SD & HD), 6.30p.m., 9.30 p.m.; Sony Ten 2 &Sony Six (SD & HD), 12.30a.m. (Sunday).

TV PICKS

Sania Mirza and ShuaiZhang of China went downfi�ghting 46, 63, [1513] tothe third seeds from Japan,Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara in the doubles fi�rstround of the $8,150,470WTA tennis tournamenthere.

The pair collected 10WTA points and $16,870.The results: $8,150,470 WTA,Indian Wells, USA: First round:Shuko Aoyama & Ena Shibahara(Jpn) bt Shuai Zhang (Chn) &Sania Mirza 4-6, 6-3, [15-13].

$25,000 ITF men, Setubal,Portugal: Quarterfi�nals: PedroAraujo & Fabio Coelho (Por) btAnirudh Chandrasekar & VijaySundar Prashanth 5-7, 6-0,[10-8].

$15,000 ITF, Monastir, Tunisia:Men: Semifi�nals: Grigoriy Lo-makin (Kaz) & Niki Poonacha btKazuki Nishiwaki & Kosuke Og-ura (Jpn) 7-6(4), 4-6, [10-7].

Women: Doubles: Semifi�nals:Ma YeXin & Ni Ma Zhuoma(Chn) bt Sharmada Balu & Sra-vya Shivani 7-6(4), 4-6, [10-4];Quarterfi�nals: Sharmada &

Sravya bt Yasmine Mansouri(Fra) & Federica Rossi (Ita) 6-2,4-6, [10-8].

$15,000 ITF, Sharm El Sheikh,Egypt: Men: Quarterfi�nals:Petr Hajek (Cze) bt SD PrajwalDev 7-5, 6-2.

Women: Doubles: Semifi�nals:Rebeka Stolmar (Hun) & Ash-mitha Easwaramurthi bt LiZongyu & Wang Jiaqi (Chn)6-4, 6-4.

$15,000 ITF men, Doha, Qatar:Second round: Dominik Boeh-ler (GEr) bt Bharath Kumaran6-1, 6-0. Doubles: Quarterfi�nals: Patrik Niklas-Salminen(Fin) & Saketh Myneni bt Mou-sa Shanan Zayed (Qat) & Sha-baaz Khan 6-2, 6-4; Hanwen Li(Chn) & Beibit Zhukayev (Kaz)bt Liro Vasa (Fin) & Dev Javia6-2, 6-3.

$25,000 ITF women, Loule,Portugal: Quarterfi�nals: Mari-na Bassols Ribera & OlgaParres Azcoitia (Esp) bt AkvileParazinskaite (Ltu) & SathwikaSama 6-3, 6-0; Francisca Jorge& Matilde Jorge (Por) bt GannaPoznikhirenko (Ukr) & Prartha-na Thombare 4-6, 6-0, [10-7].

$25,000 ITF women, Redding,USA: Second round: Y. Pranjalabt Maria Kozyreva (Rus) 6-1,6-3.

Sania and Shuai lose atough fi�rst round

INDIANS ABROAD

Sports Bureau

Indian Wells

When it mattered, Viraj Madappa held his nerve andholed the birdieputt tocarve out a memorable onestroke victory over fellowovernight leader and practicepartner Khalin Joshi inthe ₹�70lakh Tata Steel PGTIMP Cup golf tournament atthe Delhi Golf Club coursehere on Friday.

The thrilling win wasworth ₹�11,31,550 for Madappa who moved to the thirdplace on the Order of Merit,behind leader KarandeepKochar and S.Chikkarangappa.

Joshi, who started the daywith an ‘eagle’ and led forthe better part of the fi�nalround, received ₹�7,81,550.

Rashid Khan, playing agroup ahead of the fi�nalgroup, shared the lead withKhalin at 14under after thelatter’s bogey on the 14thhole.

Soon thereafter, Rashiddropped his fi�rst stroke of

the day on the 15th followedby a doublebogey on the fi�nal hole and eventually tookthe third place that fetchedhim ₹�4,38,550.

For the second successiveround, Madappa stole Joshi’sthunder. After Joshi brokeaway with an ‘eagle’ on the515yard par5 opening holeand found pars on the rest ofthe holes on the front nine,he was wary of Rashid’s birdie blitz. All this while, Madappa had two bogeys andtwo birdies on the fi�rst nine.

The drama unfold on the

back nine, leader Joshi (15)and Madappa (13) birdiedthe 10th hole. Then cameJoshi’s fi�rst bogey, on the13th and Madappa’s parclosed the gap betweenthem.

The turning point provedto the par5 14th hole wherethe lead changed hands asMadappa’s birdie coincidedwith Joshi’s second successive bogey.

In fact, both hit the bushes but Madappa was lucky toget a freedrop since hisstance was on the cartpath.

On the last two holes, Madappa and Joshi found a bogey and a birdie that meantthe title was decided withouta playoff�.

Final scores: 274: Viraj Madap-pa (71, 67, 66, 70); 275: KhalinJoshi (69, 66, 69, 71); 277:Rashid Khan (67, 73, 68, 69);279: Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (69,75, 66, 69); 280: M. Dharma(71, 68, 70, 71), Angad Cheema(71, 68, 67, 74); 281: KartikSharma (70, 68, 69, 74); 282:Manu Gandas (67, 70, 73, 73);283: S. Chikkarangappa (67, 70,73, 73) and N. Thangaraja (70,67, 71. 75).

Madappa pips Joshi at the postHolds his nerve to carve out a memorable onestroke victory

GOLF


NEW DELHI

Triumphant: Viraj Madappa receiving the winner’s cheque in the TATA Steel PGTI MP Cup golftournament. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Top seed Daksh Prasad setup a title clash with secondseed Rushil Khosla in the under16 boys’ event of the National subjunior tennischampionship at the DLTAComplex here on Friday.

It was as much a test of endurance for the players as atest of skill, as the successfulplayers had to play both thequarterfi�nals and semifi�nalsthe same day.

In the under16 girls’event, Sonal Patil beat Mad

hurima Sawant 75, 60 in thesemifi�nals after outplayingRiya Sachdeva for the loss ofthree games in thequarterfi�nals.

In the fi�nal, Sonal willchallenge second seed Suhitha Maruri who hasdropped only 14 games in allin four rounds.

The results: Under16: Boys:Semifi�nals: Daksh Prasad btNavya Verma 6-3, 3-6, 6-3;Rushil Khosla bt Suresh Keer-thivassan 6-1, 6-2; Quarterfi�nals: Daksh bt Jaishnav Shinde6-3, 7-6(9); Navya bt TejasAhuja 6-2, 3-6, 6-2; Suresh btRethin 7-5, 6-4; Rushil bt Tarun6-3, 6-2.

Girls: Semifi�nals: Sonal Patil bt

Madhurima Sawant 7-5, 6-0;Suhitha Maruri bt Ruma Gaikai-wari 6-4, 6-1; Quarterfi�nals:Sonal bt Riya 6-3, 6-0; Madhu-rima bt Apurva 6-3, 6-2; Rumabt Saumya Ronde 6-4, 6-1; Su-hitha bt Tamanna Takoria 6-1,6-0.

Under14: Boys: Semifi�nals:Rayan Sajjid bt Sehaj Singh Pa-war 6-1, 6-1; Quarterfi�nals:Rayan bt Siddhant Sharma 6-2,6-3; Sehaj bt Samprit Sharma6-1, 6-2; Tejas bt Dhruv Sach-deva 7-6(8), 7-6(2); Venkat btKriish Tyagi 6-3, 6-2.

Girls: Semifi�nals: Mahika Khan-na bt Ikaraju Kanumuri 6-2, 7-5;Harithashree Venkatesh bt SreeTanvi Dasari 6-3, 6-4; Quarterfi�nals: Ikaraju bt Riya Sachdeva2-6, 6-1, 7-5; Mahika bt Maaya

Rajesh 6-4, 6-3; Harithashreebt Saijayani Banerjee 4-6, 6-3,6-4; Sree Tanvi bt Nemha Kis-potta 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Daksh Prasad to meet Rushil Khosla in fi�nalSonal Patil to take on Suhitha Maruri in the girls’ summit clash

TENNIS

Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI

Daksh..busy day on thecourt. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Ankit hits unbeaten tonAnkit Partap Singh’sunbeaten 114 and Ishant’sfourwicket haul helpedHemant Ratan Academy btCricket Institute of India byfi�ve wickets in the 2nd D.Force tournament.The scores: Cricket Institute of

India 189 in 35.2 overs (Anurag

Sanjay 38, Ishant 4/36) lost to

H. R. Academy 190/5 in 28.5

overs (Ankit Partap Singh 114

n.o.).

Soni, Awana hithalfcenturiesHalfcenturies from KaranSoni and Krisharth Awanalaid the foundation of NewBalaji Academy’s 94runvictory over West DelhiAcademy in the 1st BirmaDevi memorial (u13)

daynight tournament.The scores: New Balaji

Academy 229/4 in 30 overs

(Karan Soni 79, Krisharth Awana

51) bt West Delhi Academy 135

in 28 overs (Dhanya Nakra 50,

Krishanrth 3/20).

Gulshan Yadav to the foreGulshan Yadav (49) guidedArihant Mount Club to aneasy fi�vewicket victory overV.S. Academy in the RatanLal Saini (u16) tournament.The scores: V.S. Academy 108

in 30 overs (Ankit Pandey 38)

lost to Arihant Mount Club

109/5 in 22.5 overs (Gulshan

Yadav 49, Dikshant 31).

Digvesh strikesDigvesh (4/27) helped DelhiColts Club beat Youth ClubDelhi by 120 runs in the 1stA. S. memorial tournament.

The scores: Delhi Colts Club

263 in 38 overs (Abhay

Chauhan 55, Raj Gupta 45,

Hitesh Mehra 3/48) bt Youth

Club Delhi 143 in 30.2 overs

(Hitesh Mehra 64, Aditya

Dubey 41, Digvesh 4/27).

Daksh excelsDaksh scored 65 and tooktwo wickets to guideSportify Cricket to a 72runvictory over MaheshAcademy in the PushAcademy (u13) league.

In another match, AnkushSingh (4/35 and 43) was thestar of Bhagwati Academy’stwowicket win overRajnish Gautam Academy.The scores: Sportify Cricket

219 in 38.2 overs (Daksh 65,

Aditya Goenka 45, Dhruv

Sharma 3/17) bt Mahesh

Academy 147 in 35.4 overs.

Rajnish Gautam Academy

166/7 in 40 overs (Sarthak

Mahlawat 33, Ankush Singh

4/35) lost to Bhagwati

Academy 168/8 in 37.3 overs

(Ankush Singh 43, Aryan Suri

36).

Sahil, Abhishek show thewaySahil Sharma (55 n.o.) andAbhishek (42) showed theway as Uday Bhan Club beatSt. Angel Academy by sevenwickets in the Swastik Cuptournament.The scores: St. Angel

Academy 170/9 in 40 overs

(Vinay Kumar 51, Manan

Bhardwaj 3/14) lost to Uday

Bhan Club 172/3 in 17 overs

(Sahil Sharma 55 n. o.,

Abhishek Kaushik 42).

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

\ DELHI ROUND-UP \

France rallies to makeNations League fi�nalTURIN

World champion Francerecovered from two goalsdown to beat Belgium 32 ina thrilling Nations Leaguesemifi�nal on Thursday witha last minute strike fromTheo Hernandez securing aplace in Sunday’sshowpiece match againstSpain. The result: Belgium 2

(Carrasco 37, Lukaku 40) lost

to France 3 (Benzema 62,

Mbappe 69-pen, T. Hernandez

90).

Sarthak wins boys’ title;double joy for JananiJHAJJAR

Sarthak Sharma and JananiRamesh won the boys andgirls titles in the AITANational series under18tennis tournament at theJoygaon Academy onFriday.The results (fi�nals):

Boys: Sarthak Sharma bt

Vineeth Mutyala 6-4, 3-6, 6-3;

Doubles: Ansh Kundu &

Tushar Mittal bt Adith

Amarnath & Vineeth Mutyala

7-5, 6-1.

Girls: Janani Ramesh bt

Hannah Nagpal 6-3, 6-4;

Doubles: Janani Ramesh &

Shrichandrakala Tentu bt Kristi

Boro & Hannah Nagpal 6-2,

6-3.

Hamilton sizzles after grid penaltyISTANBUL

Reigning Formula Onechampion Lewis Hamiltonwas fastest in both ofFriday’s practice sessionsfor the Turkish GP but hasto take a 10place gridpenalty for using too manyengine parts. Ferrari'sCharles Leclerc ended theday second ahead ofHamiton’s Mercedesteammate Valtteri Bottas.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

\ SHORT TAKES \

saturday, october 9, 2021 DELHI - Sosin Classes

Documents

Transcript of saturday, october 9, 2021 DELHI - Sosin Classes