tuesday, september 14, 2021 DELHI - Sosin Classes

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tuesday, september 14, 2021 DELHI

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DELHI THE HINDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021J2EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CMYK

M ND-NDE

tuesday, september 14, 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:

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Newly elected Gujarat

CM Bhupendra Patel

takes oath

page 9

Govt. places funding

curbs on 10 more

international NGOs

page 9

Taliban breaking

promises, including on

women’s rights, says UN

page 12

Medvedev wins maiden

Major, ends Djokovic's

Grand Slam quest

page 13

The Supreme Court on Monday decided to pass interimorders after the governmentrefused to respond, througha “detailed” affi�davit, to allegations that it used Israelibased Pegasus software tospy on citizens.

The government saidsuch an affi�davit in the topcourt would be too publicand compromise nationalsecurity.

The petitioners demanded that either the Cabinet Secretary fi�le an affi�davit or thecourt itself form a committee, led by a sitting judge, toprobe the snoopingcontroversy.

A Bench of Chief Justice ofIndia (CJI) N.V. Ramana andJustices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said there cannotbe any “beating around thebush” on the issue.

The CJI said the court hadgiven the government a fairopportunity to fi�le a detailedaffi�davit in order to get aclear idea of its stand in thePegasus case. “We thoughtthe government would fi�le acounteraffi�davit… Now wewill pass our interim orders,” he remarked.

However, after reservingorders, the court told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta,for the government, that hecould mention the case if

there were any secondthoughts in the next fewdays before the pronouncement of the order.

Unbelievable, says Sibal Senior advocate Kapil Sibal,appearing for senior journalists N. Ram and Sashi Kumar,said the government’s refusal to fi�le a detailed affi�davitwas “unbelievable”.

Mr. Mehta reasoned that apublic discourse on whethera particular software wasused or not would alert terrorists. He urged the court toallow the government toform a committee of “domain experts” who wouldlook into the allegations of

snooping orchestratedagainst citizens, includingjournalists, activists, Ministers, and parliamentarians,among others. He assuredthe court that the committeemembers would have “norelationship” with the government, and would placetheir report before the Supreme Court.

“The committee reportwill have to withstand theSupreme Court’s judicialscrutiny… I am not averse toan enquiry. The governmenttakes individuals’ plea ofviolation of their privacy seriously,” Mr. Mehta said.

SC to pass interimorders in Pegasus caseGovt. refuses to fi�le ‘detailed’ affi�davit on spying charges

Krishnadas Rajagopal

NEW DELHI

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

The United States is to collaborate with India to worktowards installing 450 GW ofrenewable energy by 2030.

“We look forward to partnering with India in bringingfi�nance, technology and other elements needed toachieve it,” said John Kerry,U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, on Monday.

Currently, India’s installedpower capacity is projectedto be 476 GW by 202122, andis expected to rise to at least

817 GW by 2030.Mr. Kerry is on an offi�cial

visit to India from September 1214, and is meeting Ministers and industrialists to

“raise global climate ambition and speed India’s cleanenergy transition,” according to a communique fromthe U.S. State Department.

Mr. Kerry was speaking ata public function following ameeting with Union Environment Minister BhupenderYadav at the launch of theClimate Action and FinanceMobilization Dialogue(CAFMD). This was one ofthe main tracks of the U.S.India Agenda 2030 Partnership that President Joe Bidenand Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at theLeaders Summit on Climatein April 2021. Mr. Kerry saidMonday’s dialogue wouldserve as a “powerful avenue”for U.S.India collaboration,and would be based on threepillars.

India, U.S. to tie up on green energy U.S. climate envoyin Delhi, will helpwith funds & tech

Joint fi�ght: Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav with U.S. special envoy John Kerry in New Delhi. * SANDEEP SAXENA

Jacob Koshy

NEW DELHI


India’s retail infl�ation cooledto 5.3% in August from 5.6%in July, thanks to food priceinfl�ation falling to 3.11% fromnearly 4% in July, and the ef

fect of a high base last August.

This marks the secondmonth of marginal moderation in the Consumer PriceIndex (CPI), keeping retailinfl�ation below the central

bank’s upper tolerancethreshold of 6% after hitting6.3% in May and June thisyear. The Reserve Bank of India is expected to continuewith its accommodative monetary policy stance, with

the headline infl�ation number edging lower.

However, economistswarned that infl�ationaryrisks persist.

Infl�ation dips marginally to 5.3% in AugustSpecial Correspondent

NEW DELHI


Twelve days after the lastsession of the Joint EntranceExamination ( JEEMain) washeld, results are yet to be declared, forcing the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)to once again postpone registrations for their entrancetest JEE (Advanced), whichwere due to begin on Monday. The top 2.5 lakh rankedstudents from JEE (Main) areeligible to write JEE (Advanced), which is scheduledto be held on October 3.

“The results will be declared tomorrow or latest byWednesday,” said HigherEducation Secretary AmitKhare, who did not comment on the reasons for thedelay.

Senior offi�cials at the National Testing Agency andthe Education Ministry insisted that it was not relatedto the Central Bureau of Investigation’s ongoing probeinto an alleged cheating

scandal at a JEEMain examination centre in Sonipat, Haryana. One senior offi�cialsaid COVID19 infectionamong key personnel contributed to the delay.

The JEE (Main) is not justan entrance test for admission to the National Institutes of Technology and other central and Stateengineering colleges, but isalso used as the eligibilitytest for IIT aspirants. Thisyear, four sessions of JEE(Main) were held, with students allowed to attempt theexam as often as they liked,with their best score to beused for ranking purposes.

IITs put off� JEE (Advanced) registrationsHit by delayedannouncement ofJEE (Main) resultsSpecial Correspondent

NEW DELHI


The Enforcement Directorate has summoned AamAadmi Party’s national secretary Pankaj Gupta inconnection with an allegedmoney laundering case.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal claimed it was beingdone at the behest of theBJP due to “AAP’s growingpopularity”.

“In Delhi they tried todefeat us with IT Dept, CBI,Delhi Police but we won 62seats. As we grow in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Guj we get an ED notice! Thepeople of India want honestpolitics these tactics of BJPwill never succeed, theywill make us stronger (sic),”Mr. Kejriwal tweeted.

The ED has summonedMr. Gupta next week for recording his statement inconnection with a moneylaundering case involvingSukhpal Singh Khaira, former Leader of Oppositionin the Punjab Assembly.

Mr. Khaira is beingprobed for his alleged linkswith some suspects in adrugs smuggling case. During the searches againsthim earlier this year, the EDfound some papers indicating that funds to the tune of$1 lakh had been raised inthe United States purportedly for AAP.

AAP national spokesperson Raghav Chadha lashedout at the BJP saying theparty could not “electorallyassassinate” AAP, so it istrying “character assassination” now.

ED summonsAAP nationalsecretary; partyhits out at BJPStaff Reporter

New Delhi

Priyanka to be face ofCong. in U.P.: KhurshidGHAZIABAD

Hinting at the Congress’s road

map in Uttar Pradesh, senior

party leader Salman Khurshid

said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

would be the face of the party

for the upcoming Assembly

election in the State, and that

the party would not forge any

alliance. “We have entered

into this battle with the face

of Priyanka Gandhi (Vadra).

She is working day and night.

She will declare the face of

the CM if she wants to.”

NEWS A PAGE 9

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Civil society demandsrelease of Umar KhalidNEW DELHI

At a public meeting held at

the Press Club of India on

Monday to mark a year of

activist Umar Khalid’s arrest

in connection with the Delhi

riots, several civil society

members demanded his

release from “unjust impri-

sonment” and said the gove-

rnment was “targeting public

spirited activists and youth”

through the Delhi police.

CITY A PAGE 2

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NEARBY

CMYK

M ND-NDE

Two minor boys died and anelderly man is undergoingtreatment after a triplestorey building collapsed innorth Delhi’s Sabzi Mandi onMonday morning. Rescue operation was under way at thetime of fi�ling the report and afew labourers were fearedtrapped in the building.

Delhi Fire Service chiefAtul Garg informed that theyreceived a call at 11.50 a.m.,after which seven fi�re tenders were pressed into service. Given the impact of thecollapse and fearing peopletrapped under the debris,National Disaster ResponseForce, District Disaster Management Authority, Delhi Civil Defence and Central Industrial Security Force alsoreached with district policeand fi�re department.

The deceased childrenhave been identifi�ed asbrothers Soumya (12) andPrashant (7), residents ofRoshanara Road, and the injured has been identifi�ed asRamji Das Aneja (60), a resident of Malka Ganj and owner of a paan shop.

FIR registeredDeputy Commissioner of Police (North) Anto Alphonse —who was at the spot till therescue operation was underway — said that an FIR undersection 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 288 (negligent conductwith respect to pulling downor repairing buildings ) and34 (common intention) of the

Indian Penal Code has beenregistered to investigate theincident.

On the ground fl�oor of thebuilding were two shops –one selling dairy products including milk, cheese andsweets, and another, a paanand currency notes exchangeshop. The three fl�oors abovethe shop were rooms of threehouses behind the lane.

Locals said the shop onthe ground fl�oor was sold bythe owner to another shopkeeper in the lane about amonth ago and the new owner had begun repair and renovation about three daysago. Labourers working inside the shop were fearedtrapped under the debris.

An eyewitness, who identifi�ed himself as Amit Chaud

hary and runs a footwearshop close to the building,said he was at his shop whenthe incident happened.“Right outside the milk shop,a rickshaw was standing andtwo boys were sitting inside.Their parents had gone to agrocery shop. They were justcrossing the area andstopped on the way. Labourers were working inside theshop. Suddenly, the entirebuilding collapsed and Ramuncle, who was about to stepout of his shop, also got stuckunder the debris. He was thefi�rst person who was rescued. He was severely injured and rushed to the hospital,” he said.

The two children werefound hours after, around 2p.m., he said. They were

rushed to the hospital, wherethey were later declareddead.

Late by secondsThe injured Mr. Aneja’s nephew Sandeep – who hadcome to pick a few belongings from the debris – said hehad met his uncle who toldhim that he was getting readyto leave the shop when theincident occurred.

“He got late by a few seconds, he told me. He wasjust leaving for market to buysome articles,” Mr. Sandeepsaid. Mr. Aneja had lost hiswife to COVID19 threemonths ago and his son overa year ago to dengue. Hetakes care of his daughterinlaw and grandson,” Mr. Sandeep said.

Himantica Aneja, a resident of the collapsed building, said her family had beenasking the new owner of theshop to stop using the drilling machine. “We kept asking him to consult an expertbut he kept dodging us andsaid that it’s alright. The incident has happened becauseof his negligence,” she said.

Praveen, a resident of thearea, said that most buildingsin the locality are nearly 100years old and do not haveconcrete iron roofs and foundation. “This area is historicbut the buildings are now dilapidated. They demand attention of offi�cials,” he said.

Police said that the shop’sowner has not been foundyet but his family is beingquestioned.

‘Was not dangerous’Meanwhile, the North DelhiMunicipal Corporation hadcarried out a survey ofdangerous buildings beforemonsoon, but had found theaforementioned building notdangerous. “However, thesaid property was not identifi�ed as dangerous as it wasapparently not found indangerous condition duringthe survey,” a North bodystatement stated.

However, a thorough survey of the areas will be conducted again in the next 48hours especially, of the buildings which have been alreadyidentifi�ed as dangerous.Those buildings which arefound at imminent risk afterthe survey will be vacated bythe corporation.

Building collapse leaves 2 dead, 1 injuredThe toll could be higher as labourers are feared trapped under debris; rescue operations under way

Hemani Bhandari

NEW DELHI

Rescue work in progress at a building collapse site in north Delhi’s Sabzi Mandi on Monday.* SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

At a public meeting held atthe Press Club of India inNew Delhi on Monday tomark a year of student leader Umar Khalid’s arrest inconnection with the northeast Delhi riots, several civilsociety members, includingactivists, journalists andparliamentarians, raisedquestions over whether thecitizens have the right to oppose the government and itspolicies under the rulingdispensation.

The speakers demandedhis release from “unjust imprisonment” and said thegovernment had targetedthe “public spirited activistsand youth” through the investigation by the Delhipolice.

Stating that Mr. Khalid is“one of the brightest andmost uncontaminatedminds of this age,” Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha said, “In these diffi�cult times, you will not fi�ndheroes in fi�lms but behindbars for speaking againstthe government.”

“The government,” he alleged, “could not deal withShaheen Bagh, hence it resorted to demonising it.”

Senior advocate PrashantBhushan said, “It is nearlytwo years since the antiCAA protests began. It wasan exemplary protest wherepolitical parties were not involved and it were the wo

men and the public spiritedyouth who came forward.The Constitution was beingexplained to the childrenand the preamble was beingread out. The protest wasagainst a law which, by several factors, was against theConstitution as it is a discriminatory law.”

Stating that there wererecorded evidences of people carrying out violence,Mr. Bhushan said, “Despitevideos, the country’s fi�nestpublic spirited activists andMuslims were targeted. It isa conspiracy to frame innocent people and allow theguilty to go scotfree underthe garb of aninvestigation.”

Syeda Hameed, formermember of the PlanningCommission, said, “UmarKhalid’s only crime was thathe was upholding the Constitution and was raising hisvoice against the CAANRCNPR. He stood by those women, children and ‘dadis’who had never stepped outearlier. Shaheen Bagh was a

courageous movementwhich spread to other partsof the world as well. Theprotest had become a fountainhead of ‘Inquilaab’.”

‘Remove UAPA’The victims were made conspirators, said Zafarul IslamKhan, former Chairpersonof the Delhi Minorities Commission.

“There should be a highlevel judicial inquiry, whichstill has not happened. Several of the FIRs wereclubbed together so thatproper investigation doesnot happen. Local victimsare also not being helpedmuch even though theywere the ones most aff�ected. We need to ensure blacklaws such as the UAPA areremoved, else this pattern isbound to continue,” he said.

Siddharth Vardarajan,the founding editor of TheWire, said, “The manner inwhich law enforcement isworking in Delhi, the actualconspirators of communalism are actually being givena free pass.”

Other speakers includedsenior journalist BharatBhushan and farmer leaderJasbeer Kaur.

‘Do citizens have rights to oppose present govt., policies?’

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

Umar Khalid *

Civil society demands release ofUmar Khalid from ‘unjust arrest’

<> Umar Khalid’s only

crime was that he

was raising his

voice against the

CAA-NRC-NPR

Syeda Hameed

Planning Commission ex-member

IITDelhi’s Department ofDesign will be introducinga new course Bachelor ofDesign (B.Des.) from theacademic session 202223,the institute said on Monday. The Board of Governors has approved the fouryear programme, whichwill have 20 seats to startwith and will be open tostudents of allspecialisations.

Director of IITDelhi, V.Ramgopal Rao, said this isfor the fi�rst time that IITDelhi would be admittingundergraduate students forthe B.Des programme frombackgrounds other thanPhysics, Chemistry andMathematics. “We expectthat the students who graduate with a B.Des. degreefrom IITDelhi would take

up leadership positions inindustry, academia, government, consulting, andentrepreneurship over aperiod of time,” Mr. Raosaid.

Bridging gapHe added that the B.Des.programme and other programmes in design, whichare in pipeline at IITDelhi,will bridge the huge demandsupply gap of qualitydesign professionals,which our country needs to

excel as a creativeeconomy.

P.V. Madhusudhan Rao,Head of Department of Design, IITDelhi said that theprogramme is designed toproduce industryreadyand socially conscious design professionals for addressing some of the grandchallenges facing oursociety/country.

The institute said thatthe students for the B.Des.programme will be admitted based on Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design ranksfor which registration hasbegun. IITDelhi has beenrunning a Master of Design(M.Des.) programme since1994 and also has a PhDprogramme in place withmore than 35 researchscholars presently enrolled.

In a fi�rst, IIT to admit students fromnonscience stream for UG course Premier institute to start Bachelor of Design programme

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court onMonday called for a status report from the prison authority on the steps taken to ensure safety and security ofwitnesses in the alleged murder of gangster Ankit Gujjarinside Tihar jail.

Justice Mukta Gupta, wholast week transferred the investigation in the case to theCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI), directed that allwitnesses be kept in a cellmonitored by CCTV.

The High Court alsosought the medical report oftwo witnesses who were allegedly not receiving propertreatment in spite of suff�ering “grievous injuries” in thesame incident of assault.

During the hearing, CBIcounsel said the investigatingagency has registered an FIRinto the case. The 29yearold was found dead inside hiscell in Tihar jail on August 4.

Witnesses’ petitionThe court’s direction camewhile hearing a petition byfi�ve witnesses in the caseseeking directions to ensuretheir safety and security aswell as to restrain the author

ities from “threatening/coercing/injuring them witha view to prevent them fromseeking justice for themselves and the deceasedinmate”.

“The petitioners are all inmates of Delhi Prisons andare eyewitnesses to the murder of one Ankit Gujjar [deceased], by respondent no.1offi�cials, inside Central Jailno.3 on 03.08.2021,” the petition reads.

“The sequence of eventsclearly demonstrates the existence of an imminentthreat to the lives of the petitioners on account that theyare eyewitnesses to a gruesome and brutal murder inside the jail premises by infl�uential and powerful jailoffi�cials, at the behest of thehighest rung authorities ofthe administration,” theysaid.

HC seeks status report onprotection of witnesses inTihar custodial death case‘They should be kept in a cell with CCTV’

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

A 42yearold man, whotried to end his life by jumping off� the Andrews Ganjfl�yover in south Delhi, wassaved after police intervened on Sunday.

Police said that the man,who is from Almora in Uttarakhand, has been living inDelhi for nearly four years.He had come to the fl�yoverafter drinking with a friendon Sunday evening.

Around 6 p.m., when Kotla Mubarak Pur StationHouse Offi�cer (SHO) VinayKumar Tyagi was patrollingthe area, he received an information about the man.He immediately alerted other staff�ers. The SHO spottedthe man, who was shoutingthat he was disappointedwith his life and wanted todie.

The SHO deployed policepersonnel near the fl�yoverand another team with netunder the fl�yover as he triedto engage the man in talks.Meanwhile, two offi�cialsgrabbed him and he was rescued. He was counselledand later handed over to hisacquaintance, police said.

Suicide prevention hel-pline: Sanjivini, Society forMental Health, 011-40769002, Monday-Saturday(10 a.m.-7.30 p.m.)

Alert policesave man fromending life

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

A High Power Committee(HPC), set up to decongestjails during the COVID19pandemic, has clarifi�ed thatoff�ences like dacoity, robbery and kidnapping forransom are not covered under its criteria for grantinginterim bail to prisoners.

The HPC clarfi�ed, “merely because specifi�ed off�ences — like off�ence under Section 302 (murder) IPC, thattoo with a riderwas included in the class or category ofcases recommended forgrant of interim bail, it doesnot mean that off�ences likedocoity, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, etc. werealso included”.

“Such cases were consciously kept out,” the HPC,headed by High Court JudgeJustice Vipin Sanghi, said.

The HPC was constitutedlast year on the direction of

the Supreme Court to decongest jails to prevent thespread of COVID. “The object was only to releasesome of the prisoners, andnot all the prisoners, on areasonable classifi�cation arrived at on the basis of orders passed by the SupremeCourt, intending to implement the same in letter andspirit,” the HPC said.

“It is, however, reiteratedthat those inmates whosecases are not covered in thecriteria laid down by thiscommittee can still fi�le application seeking bail beforethe court concerned which,if fi�led, may be consideredby the courts on merits,” theHPC said.

It further said that “noprisoner irrespective of thecategory or class of off�encethat he/she may be involvedin, can seek or claim that he/she be released from prison,as a matter of right”.

HPC: dacoity, robbery notcovered for interim bailPanel was formed to decongest jails

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

The case registered in relation to the alleged violation ofCOVID19 protocols at Nizamuddin Markaz (centre) —where the Tablighi Jamaatcongregation was held inMarch last year amid COVID19 pandemic — is seriousand has “cross borders implications”, the Centre told theHigh Court which on Mondayremarked that the premisescan’t be kept locked forever.

Justice Mukta Gupta, whowas hearing the Delhi WaqfBoard’s plea to reopen thecentre which has remainedshut since March 31 last year,questioned the Centre as tohow long it intended to keepthe Nizamuddin centre

locked, saying it can’t be“kept forever”.

Counsel for the Centrestated that a legal action to reopen the centre can only beinitiated by the lessee of theproperty and a resident ofthe premises has already fi�leda plea to handover the residential portion of the centre,which is pending fi�nal adjudication before another judgeof the High Court.

However, the judge said“some persons were in possession of the property. Dueto the pandemic, an FIR wasregistered.. [and] you takepossession as case property.It has to be handed over. Itcan’t be that the property iskept forever [subject to courtorders”

Nizamuddin centre can’t bekept locked forever: HCPress Trust of India

New Delhi

After a Delhi court questionedthe police over a wronglyclubbed FIR based on multiple complaints of alleged rioting during the 2020 communal violence, it decided tosegregate and fi�le separatechargesheets in the casesinvolved.

Additional Sessions JudgeVinod Yadav had asked thepolice why fi�ve incidents of alleged rioting, theft, and arsonwhich took place at three different blocks C, D, and E ofDelhi’s Bhajanpura area ondiff�erent dates were clubbedin a single FIR andchargesheet.

In a status report submittedon September 10, the Bhajanpura SHO replied that complaints of rioting that tookplace in D and E blocks “willbe investigated separately andin all these three incidentsseparate chargesheets will befi�led”. The court agreed.

Besides, in the other twocomplaints related to the alleged rioting at C block, thecourt has agreed to considerthe chargesheet already submitted in the case.

In this case, two accused —Neeraj and Manish — were arrested based on two complaints fi�led by the shopkeepers who alleged that theirshops were allegedly lootedand vandalised by the riotousmob during the communalviolence.

While framing the charges,the sessions judge revoked thearson charges against the accused, noting that the shopkeepers did not allege thecommission of off�ence andthat there is no CCTV footage.

“A fi�netoothcomb analysisof the complaints and statements reveals that none ofthem has identifi�ed the ac

cused persons to be part ofthe riotous mob which hadvandalised their shops,” ASJYadav said in an order datedSeptember 10.

He noted that there are noallegations by the complaintsregarding the commission ofarson in their shops and assuch ingredients of Section436 IPC [mischief by fi�re or explosive substance] are not atall made out.

“Even from the photographs fi�led on record, no incident of committing mischiefby fi�re or explosive substanceis borne out,” he said, addingthat there is no CCTV footageor video clip of the incidenton record.

The court also noted thatthe complaints of diff�erentdates were clubbed together.While one complainant alleged that the alleged crimetook place on February 24,while the others claimed thatit happened on February 25.“Whether these complaints ofdiff�erent dates could havebeen clubbed by the investigating agency in one FIR is aquestion which will be seenduring the course of the trial,”the judge said.

Delhi riots: police to fi�le separatechargesheets after court objection Five incidents were clubbed in a single FIR and chargesheet

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

A scene from Bhajanpuraduring north-east Delhiriots. * FILE PHOTO

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DELHI THE HINDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 20212EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CITY

CMYK

M ND-NDE

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. 218

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, Director/s, Employees of this newspaper/company be held responsible/liable inany manner whatsoever for any claimsand/or damages for advertisements inthis newspaper.


THE HINDU DELHI

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 3EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CITY

Gahlot lays foundationfor EV charging plazaNEW DELHI

Transport Minister Kailash

Gahlot on Monday laid the

foundation stone for the first

public EV charging plaza at

Nehru Place DTC bus

terminal, in addition to

inaugurating a public

charging station. The

EVcharging plaza will be

completed within a month,

the government stated.

IN BRIEF

Timings

DELHI

TUESDAY, SEP. 14

RISE 06:06 SET 18:28

RISE 13:40 SET 00:00

WEDNESDAY, SEP. 15

RISE 06:06 SET 18:26

RISE 14:41 SET 00:02

THURSDAY, SEP. 16

RISE 06:07 SET 18:25

RISE 15:38 SET 01:03

Terming the biodecomposer technique a “smashingsuccess” at curbing stubbleburning in the Capital, ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal onMonday appealed to theCentre to ask the neighbouring States to use the same toprevent pollution.

The biodecomposer technique utilised by the Delhigovernment last winter hadturned out to be highly eff�ective in dealing with agricultural stubble, he said. Mr. Kejriwal claimed the farmerswere “very happy” and theneighbouring States shouldalso implement the technique with winter aroundthe corner and the city’s airquality expected to deteriorate during the months ofOctober and November.

Even as the Chief Ministerannounced he would meetUnion Minister for Environment, Forests and ClimateChange Bhupender Yadav toseek his intervention regard

ing the same, the Delhi BJPaccused Mr. Kejriwal of utilising the technique only to garner publicity at the cost ofthe taxpayers’ money.

“ From October 10 onwards, we will start witnessing rising pollution levels tillthe end of November. A bigreason behind this is thesmoke that is generated dueto stubble burning in Delhi’sneighbouring States,” Mr.Kejriwal said during a digitalbriefi�ng.

End blame game“Till now, all the governments used to blame eachother on this issue. State governments would accuse theCentre of not releasingfunds, the Centre wouldclaim that the States are doing nothing. But no one’s going to earn anything out ofthis blame game,” he said.

In October, Mr. Kejriwalexplained, farmers harvesttheir paddy crop. When theycut the crop to harvest it,they leave a signifi�cant por

tion of the lower stem behind. This leftover part iscalled stubble or ‘Paraali’.

Post the harvest season, afarmer barely has 2025 daysto sow the next crop ofwheat. During this time, thefarmers need to get rid of thestubble to clear their fi�elds.The most convenient method to do this is to burn thestubble, he added.

“Till now, all the governments did was to target the

farmers. They’d penalise thefarmers burning stubble. Butwhat did the governmentsactually do? The entire problem is a mistake of the governments,” Mr. Kejriwalalleged.

The Delhi government,however, had found a solution to the problem in the Pusa Institute’s biodecomposer which was bothcosteff�ective and had proven highly eff�ective, Mr. Kej

vernments have to do is toadopt the biodecomposermethod. All that the Centreneeds to do is to mandate theStates to use this solution,”Mr. Kejriwal said.

“I appeal to the Centre tointervene and ask the Statesto implement it. This is howall of us will get freedomfrom pollution. I will meetwith the Union EnvironmentMinister with this report andurge him to take up the solution,” he said.

Delhi BJP spokespersonHarish Khurana, citing anRTI response on the biodecomposer technique, allegedcorruption in the processwhich was undertaken lastyear.

“According to the RTI response, the cost of the decomposer solution was just₹�75,780 while ₹�22,84,150 wasspent on spraying it; only 310farmers reaped the socalledbenefi�ts of the initiative onwhich crores were spent onpublicity,” Mr. Khurana alleged.

tremely happy with the performance of the biodecomposer. I reiterate, WAPCOS isa company of the Centrewhich has independently investigated the solution,” headded.

Less time takenAccording to fi�ndings of theWAPCOS audit, Mr. Kejriwalsaid, 90% of the farmers saidthat the stubble decomposedwithin 1520 days, whereas itwould previoulsy take 4050days. The soil needed to beploughed 67 times earlier,after using the spray the soilneeds to be ploughed onlyonce or twice.

The organic carbon, nitrogen, bacterial and fungalcontent in the soil increasedafter using the biodecomposer and the stubble essentially ended up becoming amanure for the soil, he said.

“Just like how the farmersand the people of Delhi arehappy with this solution, thesame can happen in otherStates. All that the State go

riwal said.According to him, the go

vernment had sprayed thesolution on 1,935 acres ofland in 39 villages.

“The Delhi governmentapproached the Commissionfor Air Quality Managementwith the solution. The Delhigovernment got WAPCOS — aPSU of the Jal Shakti Ministryof the Centre — to do an auditof our solution. WAPCOSconducted a fullfl�edged investigation. They surveyed79 farmers in 15 villagesspread across four districts,”he said.

“After completing the process they have very clearlystated that farmers are ex

Centre should direct States to use biodecomposer: CMAudit shows technique eff�ective in stubble management, farmers happy with solution, says Kejriwal; BJP alleges corruption in the process


New Delhi

A farmer sprinkles the biodecomposer solution on the fi�eldsat Hiranki village. * FILE PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

<> Over 90% of the

farmers said that

the stubble

decomposed

within 15-20 days,

whereas it would

previously take

40-50 days

Arvind Kejriwal

Chief Minister

A worker travels on top of a vegetable truck near Ghazipur sabzi mandi in Delhi on Monday. * R.V. MOORTHY

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Fully loaded

The Delhi government willprovide fi�nancial assistanceup to ₹�50,000 and a rebateof 10% on water bills to instal rooftop rainwater harvesting systems, authoritiessaid on Monday.

Nod from architectAlso, a certifi�cate from theDelhi Jal Board (DJB) is nolonger needed for rainwaterharvesting systems and thepeople can instead take acertifi�cate from any architect registered with theCouncil of Architecture.

The government has also

extended the last date forcompulsory implementation of the rooftop Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) system to December 31.

The DJB had earlier issued guidelines mandatingowners of existing and newproperties measuring 100square metres and above toinstal RWH structures.

Conserve rainwater“The government is working to ensure that the waterreceived through rain isconserved as much as possible,” an offi�cial statementsaid.

“To increase the ground

water levels and effi�cientlyutilise the rainwater, the government has adopted several measures. The adoption of the Dungarpurmodel of rainwater harvesting (RWH) is one of them.This model is also known asthe INLINE Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) system. Thismodel is costeff�ective andis being implemented in thetribaldominated Dungarpur district of Rajasthan,”the offi�cial statement added.

In this method, the rainwater is directed to a borewell, instead of a regularrainwaterharvesting pit.

10% rebate on water bills; certifi�cate from DJB not needed

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Govt. to provide ₹�50K aid forrooftop rainwater harvesting

At least 158 cases of denguehave been reported in thenational capital this year,according to a civic reportreleased on Monday.

The number of denguecases for January 1September 11 period is also thehighest this year since 2019,when the count had stoodat 171 in that same duration.

Over 70 cases were reported in August, which isabout 45% of the total cases. At least 34 cases havebeen recorded in the fi�rst 11days of September.

City reports158 denguecases so far

Press Trust of India

New DelhiThe Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) on Monday allegedcorruption in clearing oflandfi�lls by BJPgovernedmunicipal corporations andadded that if the garbage iscleaned at the current rate,then the landfi�lls will not beremoved even after 100years.

Target of 25%AAP chief spokespersonSaurabh Bharadwaj saidthat the landfi�lls in the citywere supposed to be reduced by 25% till now.

“Bhalswa had a deadline

of April 2021. Okhla of October 2021. Similarly, Ghazipur, too was supposed to bereduced by 25%. A Delhi

Pollution Control Committee report states that thework is going on very slowly,” Mr. Bharadwaj said.

Waste generation“North Corporation generates 4,500 metric tonnes ofwaste. Of this, 25002600tonnes of garbage go toBhalswa every day. In thelast two years, 19 lakh metric tonnes of garbage havecome, and 18.5 lakh metrictonnes is being processed atBhalswa. More garbage iscoming there than what canbe processed. At this rate,this garbage won’t be processed in the next 100

years,” he added. The AAP leader said that

the BJPgovernment corporations are “looting” themoney of Delhi governmentin the name of clearingthese “mountains ofgarbage”.

“The BJP is looting themoney given by the Delhigovernment by payingmore as rent for trommelmachines than what theycost. According to theDPCC, the environment isbeing harmed by about₹�500 crore because of thethree garbage mountains ofthe municipal corporations,” Mr. Bharadwaj said.

‘If garbage is cleaned at current rate, then it will not be removed even after 100 yrs’

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

BJP looting money in name of clearing landfi�lls: AAP

Garbage at Bhalswa landfi�llin Delhi. * FILE PHOTO

The BJP on Monday demanded that Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal fulfi�l his promise of disbursing theamount due towards sixmonths’ rent of 9 lakh citizens residing in the Capital.

Delhi BJP president AdeshGupta said Mr. Kejriwal had,during the fi�rst wave of COVID19 infection, promisedthat if a tenant was not ableto pay rent due to fi�nancialreasons, the Delhi government would pay the landlord concerned.

‘Unfulfi�lled promises’“Whatever promises theChief Minister had madeduring the pandemic remainunfulfi�lled so far. Even COVID19 warriors like doctors,safai workers, paramedicalstaff�, police personnel whowere promised ₹�1 crore each

have not been given anything. More than 100 doctorsdied in Delhi alone in theline of duty,” Mr. Guptaalleged.

Leader of the Oppositionin the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said therewere about 9 lakh people living in Delhi on rent all ofwhom “feel betrayed” by theChief Minister.

“In spite of the courtmandated period of six

weeks, two weeks have already lapsed but not a singletenant has been given money by the State governmenttill date,” Mr. Bidhuri alleged.

“The petitioners evenwrote a letter to Mr. Kejriwalon August 29 and they eventried to contact him onphone so that they wouldknow how many tenantshave been given money sofar, but to no avail,” the BJPleader added.

Kejriwal had promised to pay if tenants failed to do so


New Delhi <> In spite of the

court-mandated

period of six

weeks, two weeks

have already

lapsed but not a

single tenant has

been given money

till date

Ramvir Singh Bidhuri

Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly

Pandemic crisis: BJP demands thatAAP govt. disburse rent amount

More than 62,000 benefi�ciaries were administered COVID19 vaccine doses in theMillennium City in a megadrive on Monday, taking thecumulative numbers of doses in the district to over 26lakh.

The doses were administered at 230 sites across thedistrict.

Immunisation Offi�cer M.P.Singh said 24,468 benefi�ciaries in the 1845 age groupwere administered the fi�rst

dose and 26,817 were giventhe second dose. Similarly,5,177 benefi�ciaries above 45years were given the fi�rstdose and 4,598 were administered the second dose.

Four health workers andone frontline worker weregiven the fi�rst dose, whereas246 health workers and 1,119were given the second dose.

Mr. Singh said no prior registration was required forthe vaccination and the benefi�ciaries were administered the doses on “fi�rstcomefi�rstserve” basis. The

benefi�ciaries were kept under 30minute mandatoryobservation as per the protocol before they were allowedto leave.

More than 1.83 crore doses have been administeredin Haryana so far.

Meanwhile, no death dueto COVID19 was recorded inthe State on Sunday, whilefi�ve new cases were reported. Of the new cases, threewere reported from Gurugram, while one each wasfrom Karnal and Yamunanagar districts.

Jabs administered at 230 sites; no prior registration needed


GURUGRAM

62,000 benefi�ciaries get vaccinedoses in Gurguram mega drive

The Aam Aadmi Party haselected a new Political Affairs Committee (PAC), thetopmost nationallevelbody of the party, sourcessaid.

Delhi MLAs RaghavChadha, Rakhi Birla andDelhi Minister Imran Hussain are the new entries tothe PAC.

The National Executive(NE) was elected by theNational Council on Saturday and the PAC was elected by the NE on Sunday.

11member panelThe party did not offi�ciallyrelease a list or statementon the new PAC.

The other members ofthe 11member PAC are Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, GopalRai, Atishi, N.D. Gupta,Durgesh Pathak and Pankaj Gupta.

Mr. Chadha, Mr. Hussain, and Ms. Birla are nowpart of both, the PAC andthe National Executive.

AAP electsnew politicalaff�airscommittee

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

The Delhi High Court onMonday asked the Centreand the National DisasterManagement Authority(NDMA) to respond to a petition fi�led by a woman seeking ex gratia for her mother’s death due to COVID19.

Justice Rekha Palli askedthe authorities to submittheir replies before the nextdate of hearing on November 18.

The woman said hermother Bimla Devi complained of fever and otherproblems and was admittedto the Saroj Medical Institute

here on April 28 after her RTPCR report came positive.

The plea said Devi wasdischarged in a critical condition by the hospital andthe family could not arrangebed in any other hospital asthere was shortage during

the second wave of COVID19.

The patient died at herhome on May 3. The womanclaimed that she could notget the death certifi�cate ofher mother from the Municipal Corporation offi�ce as herbrother was not cooperatingin the process.

The petition said it wasnot only a statutory obligation under the Disaster Management Act to provide exgratia assistance on accountof loss of life but it was theconstitutional obligation also since it aff�ected the rightto life guaranteed under theConstitution.

Woman seeks compensation for

mother’s death due to COVID19HC asks Centre, NDMA to submit replies before Nov. 18

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

The Capital reported nonew COVID19 death in 24hours for the sixth consecutive day and the totalnumber of deaths stood at25,083, as per a bulletin released by the Delhi government on Monday.

Also, 17 new cases werereported, taking the totalcases to 14,38,250. A totalof 40,399 tests were donein a day and that test positivity rate was 0.04%. Ofthe total cases, 14,12,790people have recovered andthere are only 377 activecases. The low number ofcases can also be attributed to fewer tests conductedthe previous day.

No COVID19deaths forsixth day

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NORTH & EAST

Senior Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) leader Satish ChandraMisra on Monday ruled out“200%” any postpoll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, asserting that hisparty would form a government with a clearcutmajority.

The BSP would also nottie up with any other party,the close confi�dant of partysupremo Mayawati, said.

“We will neither form analliance with any other party nor take support. Wewould prefer to sit in the Opposition,” the BSP generalsecretary said.

“The BSP is forming itsgovernment in 2022 with afull majority. In case of anyother scenario arising afterthe elections, we will nevergo with the BJP and this is200 per cent fi�nal,” he said.

Mr. Misra’s assertioncame amid a growing perception that the BSP couldagain join hands with theBJP if the 2022 Assemblyelections throw a hungHouse. The BSP has in thepast formed governments inthe country’s most populous State both with the BJPand the Samajwadi Party(SP).

In 1993, it tied up with theSP, whose Mulayam SinghYadavheaded the government. In 1995, it pulled outand Mayawati became CMwith the BJP’s support for afew months.

In 1997 and in 2002, theBSP again formed the government in coalition withthe BJP. In 2007, relying on aDalitBrahmin combination,the party formed the government on its own, winning 206 seats in the 403member assembly.

Winning formulaThe BSP is once again tryingto revive this winning “DalitBrahmin” combination,holding a series of ‘Brahminsammelans’ across the State.Dalits constitute an estimated 20% of the population of Uttar Pradesh andthe Brahmins are said toform 13%.

“The BSP started thetrend and all the parties arenow aiming to rope in theBrahmins and going all outto woo them,” Mr. Misra, theBSP’s Brahmin face, said, referring to similar “sammelans” held by the BJP andthe SP.

“But 80% of the Brahminsare with us. Only thoseBrahmins who are offi�cebearers of any party or arethemselves contesting theelections are not with theBSP, and all these parties arefi�ghting for them throughthe outreach programmes,”he said.

‘BSP in sweep polls’Mr. Misra claimed that notjust the Brahmins but members of all other castes andreligious groups who have afi�rsthand experience of theMayawati government aresupporting the party thistime.

He said the party is all setto surpass its showing in the2007 elections.

In an apparent referenceto All India MajliseIttehadulMuslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Mr.Misra claimed there is atrend of leaders comingfrom other States at electiontime to target Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.

It’s 200% fi�nal, says close confi�dant of party chief Mayawati

Press trust of india

Lucknow

BSP leader Satish Misra

BSP will not go with BJP toform govt. in U.P., says Misra

A former Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) leader and aformer leader of the IndianNational Lok Dal (INLD)joined the Haryana Congress on Monday in the presence of All India CongressCommittee State inchargeVivek Bansal and PradeshCongress chief Kumari Selja.

Those who joined the party are industrialist AshokGoel Mangaliwala, formerBJP leader Pawan Beniwaland former INLD leaderKanwarjit Singh.

While Mr. Beniwal wasBJP’s candidate from Ellanabad constituency in the lastAssembly polls who unsuccessfully contested againstINLD’s Abhay Chautala, Mr.Singh is the son of formerCongress MP Tara Singh.

Welcoming all the threeleaders, Ms Selja said the BJPat the Centre as well as inHaryana is “antifarmer andantilabourer”.

“There are leaders whounderstand that the Congress is the only viable option to the BJP which hasproved to be a failure in allspheres of governance in Haryana,” she said.

Mr. Bansal claimed thatthe winds are blowing in favour of the Congress andagainst the BJP in Haryana.

Former BJP, INLD leadersjoin Congress in HaryanaBJP antifarmer and antilabourer: Selja


New Delhi

Cong. leader Kumari Selja

The Odisha governmenthas suddenly discontinueda special scheme ‘Ashirvad’for children, who were losing their parents to COVID19, barely three andhalf months after itslaunch.

The State governmenthad on June 20 announced₹�2,500 a month for children, who lost both theirparents, in the pandemic .

The comprehensivepackage was meant for orphans while benefi�ciarieswere divided into three categories — children havinglost parents and one ofearning parents.

Now, the governmentsaid children losing parents after September 15would no more be coveredunder scheme.

Scheme forCOVID orphanswithdrawn

Staff Reporter

Bhubaneswar

Taking a lead over its political rivals in the runup tonext year’s Assembly polls,the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) has announced namesof 64 candidates for the 117member House.

On Monday, party president and Lok Sabha MPSukhbir Singh Badal, whowill contest from Jalalabad,released the names of 64 party candidates. The longer listcomes days after the partyannounced the names of 22candidates.

According to the partystatement, former Agriculture Minister Tota Singh willcontest from Dharmot.Former Education MinisterDr. Daljit Singh Cheema willcontest from Ropar. The other senior leaders on the candidate list include JanmejaSingh Sekhon from Zira, Maheshinder Singh Grewal fromLudhiana West, SikanderSingh Maluka from RampuraPhul, Jagmeet Brar fromMaur, Sharanjit Singh Dhillonfrom Sahnewal and GulzarSingh Ranike from Attari (SC)constituency.

The SAD and the Bahujan

Samaj Party (BSP) have inkedan electoral alliance for the2022 polls, with former contesting 97 seats and the latter20.

‘Cong. betrayed people’“We have been raising the issues surrounding public interest and antipeople stanceof the ruling governmentduring the last four and halfyears. Already our partycadre are on the ground andhave been working hard toconvey to the masses aboutbetrayals committed by theruling Congress government.In this chain, taking a lead wehave formally announcednames of 64 candidates,”said Dr. Daljit Cheema.

The SAD earlier had an alliance with the BJP but parted ways with the NDA overthe farm laws issue.

Akali Dal namescandidates forAssembly pollsList of 64 released by party chief special correspondent

Chandigarh

SAD chief Sukhbir Badal

EDUCATIONAL

DEATHDEATH ANNIVERSARIES

OBITUARY & REMEMBRANCE

EDUCATIONAL

PUBLIC NOTICE

Chief Minister AmarinderSingh on Monday urgedfarmers’ unions not to holdprotests across Punjabagainst the farm reform lawsas the demonstrations werenot in the “economic interest of the State” and advisedthe protesters to shift theirsitin venues to Delhi’s borders or in Haryana.

‘In solidarity’He said the Punjab government and its people had already expressed solidaritywith the farmers against thefarm laws and argued thatthe ongoing protests at 113places in the State were considerably hampering its economic development.

“I want to tell farmerbrothers that it is your Punjab, your villages, your people. We should not disturbour Punjab. You do whatever you want to do at Delhi(borders), put pressure onthem [the Centre] and makethem agree,” said CaptainAmarinder.

He accused the Shiromani Akali Dal of “doublecrossing” the farmers on theissue of the farm laws.

The Chief Minister saidthe laws were drafted withthe consent of the Akali Dalwith its MP Harsimrat Kaur

Badal as the Union Minister.He alleged that even formerChief Minister ParkashSingh Badal had argued infavour of these laws but theparty changed its tune completely when the movebackfi�red.

He said the Congress wasthe only party that protested against the contentiouslaws from day one.

“The Congress government called an allpartymeeting and then held consultations with the farm unions. Later, the governmentconvened a special sessionof the Punjab Vidhan Sabhaand passed Bills aimed atcountering these farmlaws,” he said while addressing a gathering at an event tolay the foundation stone ofPAU College of Agricultureat Ballowal Saunkhri in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagardistrict.

The Chief Minister saidthe Constitution has beenamended 127 times since1950. “So why not one moretime to repeal the farm lawsfor providing succour to thefarmers who have been sitting at the Singhu and Tikriborders,” he asked.

In Hoshiarpur, Capt.Amarinder appealed to therepresentatives of variousfarmers’ unions to sparePunjab from their protestsand mount pressure on theCentre from the Delhi borders or Haryana instead.

Reacting to Captain Amarinder’s statement, HaryanaHome Minister Anil Vij accused him of instigating thefarmers.

“It is a very irresponsiblestatement of Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh totell farmers that do whatever you want in Haryana or atDelhi borders but do not doit in Punjab,” Mr. Vij said in atweet. “This proves thatAmarinder Singh has donethe work of instigating farmers,” he added.

(With inputs from PTI)

Spare Punjab, move protests toDelhi: Amarinder to farmersChief Minister alleges Akali Dal ‘double crossed’ agriculturists

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHANDIGARH <> The Constitution

has been amended

127 times since

1950. So why not

one more time to

repeal the farm

laws...

Amarinder Singh *

CMYK

M ND-NDE

SOUTHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI


Weather WatchRainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.00 Hrs)

Forecast for Tuesday: Heavy/very heavy rainfall likely at isolatedplaces over Gujarat, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattis-garh, Madhya Pradesh, north central Maharashtra, Vidarbha,north Konkan, coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry,Karaikal and Kerala. Thunderstorm with lightning likely at isol-ated places over Bihar, Jharkhand, Marathwada and Telangana

city rain max min city rain max min

Agartala................—....34.2....26.8 Kozhikode.................. 41....29.8....24.0

Ahmedabad...........—....33.1....25.6 Kurnool .......................—....33.3....25.3

Aizawl...................—....29.0....19.2 Lucknow......................—....36.2....27.7

Allahabad..............—....35.3....26.8 Madurai .......................—....39.2....25.7

Bengaluru .......... 0.1....28.2....20.9 Mangaluru .............. 10.1....27.9....24.2

Bhopal ............... 3.4....29.3....24.4 Mumbai ..................... 39....28.2....24.8

Bhubaneswar.... 32.1....25.6....23.2 Mysuru ........................ 4....28.9....21.0

Chandigarh ......... 17....34.5....24.6 New Delhi ................... 2....33.4....26.5

Chennai ................—....35.3....27.0 Patna ........................ 31....34.2....24.8

Coimbatore ...........—....29.8....22.8 Port Blair................... 15....29.9....25.0

Dehradun ..............—....33.9....24.0 Puducherry ..................—....36.2....24.6

Gangtok............. 1.6....23.6....17.1 Pune............................ 5....28.0....22.0

Goa..................... 12....29.0....25.2 Raipur ...................... 9.2........ —....25.0

Guwahati ..............—....36.9....27.2 Ranchi ....................... 29....25.6....23.0

Hubballi ................—....26.0....22.0 Shillong.......................—....26.7....17.6

Hyderabad ............—....30.6....24.2 Shimla......................... 8....25.8....17.5

Imphal ..................—....28.8....20.4 Srinagar.......................—....29.1....15.0

Jaipur ................... 2....32.9....25.4 Thiruvananthapuram....... 32....30.4....22.2

Kochi .................. 37....28.4....24.0 Tiruchi.........................—....36.5....27.0

Kohima .................—....30.2....18.4 Vijayawada .................. 9....34.6....25.8

Kolkata ................. 2....30.8....26.9 Visakhapatnam ............. 4....31.4....25.8

(Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius)

Pollutants in the air you are breathing Yesterday

CITIES SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE

In observation made at4.00 p.m., Aurangabad,Maharashtra recorded anoverall air quality index(AQI) score of 373indicating an unhealthylevel of pollution. Incontrast, Shillong,Meghalaya recorded ahealthy AQI of 15

Ahmedabad..... ...6 119 .53 ... 50 ...54 ....*

Bengaluru ....... .12 .24 114 .....— ...56 ....*

Chennai .......... .22 .18 .36 ... 39 ...47 ....*

Delhi .............. .21 ...— .66 . 122 .110 ....*

Hyderabad ...... ...5 .66 .21 ... 14 ...20 ....*

Kolkata........... .13 .20 .19 ... 31 ...49 ....*

Lucknow ......... ...5 .34 .76 ... 75 ...97 ....*

Mumbai .......... .12 .10 ...— ... 68 .103 ....*

Pune............... 133 182 109 . 114 ...85 ....*

Visakhapatnam .21 .42 .43 ... 32 ...63 ....*

Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI)

SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system,

making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air

particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues

and monuments.

NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by

reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters.

CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to

critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause

dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death.

PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes,

nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced

lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature

death in people with heart or lung disease

Days after Pala Bishop MarJoseph Kallarangatt set off� acontroversy with his remarks about jihad by way oflove and narcotics, the issuecontinued to boil over onMonday with more supportpouring in for the prelate.

Addressing mediapersonshere on Monday, Kerala BJPpresident K. Surendran saidthe party would not stand asmute spectator to attemptsto intimidate the bishop. Healso highlighted the need forsociety to debate on thesubject.

“What the bishop has saidis a relevant issue and theBJP does not want to cash inon it politically. At the sametime, we will not stand as silent spectators if a few goonsfrom Erattupetta stage protest in Pala and issue threatsto the bishop,” he said.

Asserting that there were

ample evidence for the existence of narcotic jihad, he accused the United DemocraticFront and the Left Democratic Front for fi�nding fault withthe bishop to appeaseextremists.

During the day, a delegation from the BJP comprisingsenior leaders P.K. KrishnaDas and A.N. Radhakrishnanvisited Mar Joseph Kallarangatt at the Bishop’s House at

Pala. Meanwhile, the NairService Society (NSS) cameup with a statement expressing concern over the forcedconversion of girls.

“That the terrorist activityof forced religious conversion of girls using the weapon of love or other means isindeed a matter of concern.The State and Union governments have the responsibility to fi�nd out and quell such

elements,” read the statement issued by G. Sukumaran Nair, general secretary ofthe organisation.

Earlier in the day, the Dee-pika daily, mouthpiece of thechurch, published an articleby Metropolitan ArchbishopMar Joseph Perumthottam insupport of the Pala bishop.

“There are a few elementswho are defrauding womenby pretending love and in the

cover of married life to abusethem for other purposes. Itcould be narcotics traffi�cking, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, or even prostitution.

“No matter if it is love jihad or narcotic jihad, enslaving to such elements onone’s own or by force orfraud is dangerous to any family or any community,”noted the Archbishop.

More support pours in for Pala BishopKerala BJP,MetropolitanArchbishopexpress solidaritySTAFF REPORTER

KOTTAYAM

Sharing their views: BJP leaders with Pala Bishop Mar JosephKallarangatt in Pala on Monday.

Senior Congress leader andformer Union Minister Oscar Fernandes, who was aconfi�dant of the Gandhi family, passed away afternearly a twomonth unsuccessful battle for life at aprivate hospital here. Hewas 80.

An MP since 1980 — sixtimes as a Lok Sabha member and twice as a Rajya Sabha member — Mr. Fernandeswas admitted to the Yenepoya Hospital here on July19 for treatment of a bloodclot in the brain. The injury

occurred after a fall duringhis routine workout at homein Udupi the previous day.He was operated on July 27for removal of the clot andwas undergoing regulardialysis.

Oscar Fernandespasses away at 80

Oscar Fernandes


Mangaluru

Jumbos arrive in Mysurufor Dasara festivitiesMYSURU

Elephants participating in

this year’s low-key Dasara

festivities arrived in Mysuru

on Monday after the

traditional and colourful

‘Gajapayana’ was flagged off

at Veeranahosahalli on the

outskirts of Nagarahole, near

Hunsur, earlier in the day.

IN BRIEF

TTD to sell incense sticksmade from used flowers TIRUMALA

The Tirumala Tirupati

Devasthanams (TTD) on

Monday ventured into the

manufacturing and sale of

‘agarbattis’ (incense sticks)

made from the flowers used

in the daily rituals of deities

at various temples under its

purview. Four sales counters

have been opened near the

laddu counters adjacent to

the Lord Venkateswara

temple in Tirumala. The

incense sticks will be

available in seven brands for

devotees.

Political sparring over PalaBishop Mar JosephKallarangatt’s controversialsermon on ‘narcotic jihad’intensifi�ed on Monday.

In an open letter toKerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan, Leader ofthe Opposition V.D.Satheesan expressed deepworry over, what hetermed, a wellentrenched

“covert and overt” bid todestroy communal amity inthe State.

Without directlyreferring to the prelate’sspeech about an activeIslamist plot to entrapCatholic and nonMuslimyouth with addictivenarcotic drugs, Mr.Satheesan demanded that aprobe be ordered into the“attempt to stoke upcommunal enmity”.

Bid to destroy communalamity, says Satheesan Special Correspondent

Thiruvananthapuram

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD


THE HINDU DELHI


After witnessing a case surgein the last few days, Maharashtra rallied again on Monday as recoveries outweighed cases with the Staterecording 3,233 patient discharges against 2,740 newCOVID19 infections.

The active case tally hasdipped to 49,880. However,the drop must be viewed inthe context of a decliningsample testing rate, with a little over one lakh samples being tested in the last 24 hoursagainst the daily average oftwo lakh.

As many as 27 deaths tookthe cumulative fatalities to1,38,169. The case fatalityrate remains constant at2.12%.

The total cases now standat 65,00,617 while the State’scumulative recoveries haverisen to 63,09,021 with therecovery rate at 97.05%.

“Of a total 5,60,88,114 laboratory samples tested thusfar, 65,00,617 (with the average case positivity falling incrementally to 11.59%) havereturned positive with 1.08lakh samples being tested inthe last 24 hours,” State Surveillance Offi�cer Dr. PradeepAwate said.

Pune reported 549 newcases, taking its total case tally to 11,26,799 while sevendeaths pushed the toll to18,806. As per district authorities, the active cases haveexceeded 8,200.

Mumbai recorded 345new cases to take its total tally to 7,35,400 while the ac

tive count declined to 5,033.Six deaths took the city’s fatality toll to 16,028.

Ahmednagar registered600 new cases and twodeaths, taking its total casesto 3,19,687 of whom 6,625are active. The district’sdeath toll went up to 6,672.

Satara added 177 new cases and 10 deaths, taking thetotal case tally to 2,44,158 ofwhom 4,919 are active, whilethe death toll climbed to6,156.

Neighbouring Sanglilogged 191 new cases and twodeaths. The total tally standsat 2,05,547 with the activecases rising to 1,826 while itsdeath toll stands at 5,533.

Kolhapur saw its lowestsurge in months, reportingjust 28 new cases and nodeaths, pushing its total cases to 2,05,538. The activecases stand at 1,246 while thedeath toll remains constantat 5,822.

Maharashtra’s active tally dropsas recoveries surpass new casesFewer samples tested compared to daily average; 27 more succumb to COVID19

Staff Reporter

Pune

A health worker conducts rapid antigen test on a passengerarriving from Gujarat, at Dadar railway station in Mumbai onMonday. * EMMANUAL YOGINI

Of the 24 families from Taliye village in Raigad district,who were aff�ected by a landslide, 12 have received ‘container homes’ as temporaryaccommodation. This followed several attempts byformer Collector NidhiChaudhari and present Collector Mahendra Kalyankarto make such homes available through corporate socialresponsibility activity.

Each container has akitchen, table, and toilet.The district administration

provided water connections, and landowners Yogiraj Chaudhari, SundarabaiMane, Lakmabai Mane andKrishnabai Pande made theland available free of cost toplace the containers.

“Another 12 containerswill be procured and installed soon. Our eff�orts tomake permanent homes areon,” Mr. Kalyankar said.

Around 17 hectares arebeing procured by the administration for the rehabilitation. On July 22, followingheavy rain, 84 people losttheir lives in a landslide.

12 landslideaff�ected families inRaigad get ‘container homes’Raina Assainar

Navi Mumbai

A teen girl and a womanwere killed in Nagpur aftertheir speeding car rammedinto a house along Amravati Road, the police said onMonday.

An Ambazari police station offi�cial said the incident occurred on Sundaynight and identifi�ed the deceased as Bhavna Yadav(18) and Rashi Yadav (22) .

A case under IPC andMotor Vehicles Act hasbeen registered for causingdeath by negligence andrash driving, he said.

Car rams intohouse, 2 deadPress Trust of India

Nagpur



WEST

The Tamil Nadu Assemblyon Monday passed a Billseeking to ‘dispense’ withthe requirement for candidates to qualify in the National EligibilitycumEntrance Test (NEET) foradmission to undergraduatemedical courses in the State.

The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill,2021, further sought to provide admission to thesecourses on the basis of themarks obtained in the qualifying examination [Class XIImarks in Tamil Nadu]

through “normalisationmethods”, as done before2017.

[Two similar legislationpassed in the Assembly during the erstwhile AIADMKregime did not receive Presidential assent.]

The Bill, moved by ChiefMinister M.K. Stalin, contended that admission tomedical courses was traceable to entry 25 of List III,Schedule VII of the Constitution, and the State was “competent to regulate” the samefor the underprivileged social groups.

While the principal Opposition party, the AIADMK, ex

tended its support to the government in passing the Bill,BJP members staged a walkout.

“It [NEET] festers inequality as it favours the rich andthe more privileged class ofsociety, who are able to afford special coaching apartfrom pursuing Class XII. Itvirtually barricades the underprivileged social groupsfrom medical and dentaleducation,” the Bill contended. It argued that NEET wasagainst the equality clauseenshrined in theConstitution.

After the UG course, students from the affl�uent class

do not serve in rural areas,and often pursue postgraduate courses abroad, it said,adding that the number ofserving doctors in the Statewas declining. It also termed‘spurious’ the suggestionthat NEET improved thestandard of medical education. “The standard of medical education is maintainedduring the UG course by following the syllabus and curriculum prescribed by theNational Medical Commission and through exams conducted by the university.Students who are not able topass the university examsare not awarded degrees.”

T.N. Assembly passes Bill against NEET AIADMK extends support to government while BJP members stage a walkoutSpecial Correspondent

CHENNAI

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)leader Kirit Somaiya onMonday accused senior NCPleader and Maharashtra Rural Development MinisterHasan Mushrif and his relatives of being involved in a₹�127 crore money laundering scam.

Minutes after Mr. Somaiya’s allegations, Mr. Mushrif,an influential leader fromKolhapur, said he would fi�lea ₹�100crore defamation suitagainst the BJP leader at theKolhapur district court within the next fortnight.

“Mr. Mushrif and his family, including his son, havecreated companies which inturn have had transactionswith Kolkatabased shellcompanies. Their fi�nancialtransactions shown in theirbank accounts received income from those companieswhich did not exist,” allegedthe former BJP MP, who is also the vicepresident of the

party’s Maharashtra unit.

Complaint and documentsMr. Somaiya, who has beentargeting senior leaders inthe Uddhav ThackerayledMaha Vikas Aghadi government with alleged scam exposes, said he had alreadyfi�led a complaint and submitted documents with IncomeTax authorities in Mumbaiand was in the process of giving documents to the Enforcement Directorate.

Last week, the BJP leaderhad threatened that hewould be fi�ring a salvo at asenior Minister in the Thackeray Cabinet, without naming Mr. Mushrif.

Dismissing Mr. Somaiya’sallegations as “utterly baseless” and “without anyshred of evidence”, Mr.Mushrif claimed that the BJPleader was woefully uninformed and was uttering illinformed allegations at thebehest of BJP State presidentChandrakant Patil.

“Two years ago, the EDhad raided my house and myproperties in Kolhapur.Their searches yielded nothing…the BJP should be careful as Mr. Somaiya is sullyingthe party’s reputation by hisphoney allegations. He cannot even read the name ofmy sugar factory correctly,”said Mr. Mushrif.

Remarking that he hadhad an unblemished reputation throughout his politicalcareer, the NCP leader saidthe BJP was playing theselow political games as theyhad no standing inKolhapur.

“Within two weeks, I willbe fi�ling a ₹�100crore defamation suit against Mr. Somaiya. He can lodge whatever case with whicheveragency he wishes…it doesnot bother me in the least,”Mr. Mushrif said. In July2019, the Income Tax Department had raided Mr.Mushrif ’s residence and factory premises in Kolhapur.

Hasan Mushrif threatens to fi�le ₹�100 crore defamation suit

Shoumojit Banerjee

Pune

Kirit Somaiya accuses Minister of₹�127 cr. money laundering scam

The Bombay High Court on Monday asked the Maharashtra government to fi�le an affi�davit onCOVID19 immunisation for mentally ill, homeless people.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and JusticeG.S. Kulkarni asked the Stateabout how many mentally ill havebeen identifi�ed and registered.The court directed the State andthe Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation to fi�le an affi�davit onthis in three weeks.

Additional Solicitor General

Anil Singh told the court that theCentre has issued the standardoperating procedure for vaccinating the homeless and mentally ill.He said around 21,000 urbanhomeless people have been registered across the country andaround 8,000 have beenvaccinated.

Additional government pleader Gita Shastri said in Maharashtra, 1,761 mentally ill have beenvaccinated.

Greater riskReferring to the affi�davit fi�led bythe State, the court said, “The affi�

davit is silent on the number ofmentally ill people who werehomeless, without legal guardians and not in a position to givetheir consent for vaccination.Such people posed a greater riskof spreading the virus.”

PIL on vaccinationThe Bench added, “Every citizen,no matter in which condition,needs to be taken care of by theState.”

The court was hearing a publicinterest litigation concerning thevaccination for homeless mentally ill people.

Have you vaccinated the homeless: HCIt asks Maharashtra govt. for details on identifi�cation, coverage


Mumbai

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


EDITORIAL

Change in GujaratThe selection of fi�rsttimeMLA Bhupendra Patel asthe next Chief Minister ofGujarat causes littlesurprise to a discerningpolitical observer (Page 1,September 13). Given hispolitical clout with the BJPhigh command and thesupport from the dominantPatidar community, hiselevation has become a faitaccompli. However, it isunfortunate that the castesyndrome still prevailsdespite vociferous claims bythe political class to create acasteless and an egalitariansociety. Will he prove to bea gamechanger in 2022?P.K. Varadarajan,

Chennai

Farewell write-upThe column, “From theReaders’ Editor – Not

dropping the vase” (OpEdpage, September 13), was afi�nely crafted farewellmessage from Mr. A.S.Panneerselvan. He hasbeen a visible yet nuancedlink between readers andthe editorial team, bringingin all the clarity of how anews desk functions in thedaily. I have always lookedforward to his columnevery Monday. Mr.Panneerselvan has notdropped the vase. He haspreserved it.Nirmala Narayanan,

Bengaluru

■ As a corrective force, theRE held the fl�ag high, and atthe same time took pains toset right the genuinemisgivings of many a learnedreader. To go through hisweekly columns was anedifying experience. To use

the analogy of the vase, Iwould say that he held thevase with grace and ease.Ayyasseri Raveendranath,

Aranmula, Kerala

■ Mr. Panneerselvan’s swansong has all the right tunes.While articulating measuredsatisfaction about a job welldone, he has left the fi�naljudgment about hisperformance to the readers.It is unrealistic to expect aninternal ombudsman to havean arm’slength relationshipwith the newspaper in letterand spirit. What matters isthe perception that the RE isresponsive to readers’queries, feedback andcomplaints. I am sure hemight have received a fairshare of uncharitable and adhominem remarks fromdisgruntled readers. Heresponded to criticism that

was communicated in a civillanguage by identifi�ablereaders. He cited mycomplaint about The Hindu’scoverage of the pandemic’ssecond wave verbatim, evenif it was couched in a harshand highly emotional tone.My verdict is Mr.Panneerselvan did not dropthe vase while sidesteppingpitfalls inherent in his job.V.N. Mukundarajan,

Thiruvananthapuram

Raducanu’s winWhat an impressive victoryfor 18yearold EmmaRaducanu in the U.S. Openwomen’s title. She rocked thecourt making the match of ateenager versus anotherteenager very interesting.Both players were full ofenergy and enthusiasm andhad a powerful spirit. Age isclearly no barrier in success

seats in the CRPF, 100 in theBSF, 66 in the SSB, 28 in theITBP, and 28 in the CISF.The fi�nal result wasannounced by the UPSC onFebruary 5 this year, but theselected candidates of theCentral Armed Police Forces(CAPF) 2019 examinationhave yet to receive theirjoining letters. Theauthorities concerned havenot communicated to thecandidates the reasons forsuch an inordinate delay.Over two years later, theUPSC CAPF 2019 processawaits its logical conclusion,resulting in despair andconfusion for many youngminds who are enthusiasticabout serving the countrythrough the CAPFs. R. Ravi,

New Delhi

(‘Sport’ page, September 13).Kirti Wadhawan,

Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

Delay in CAPF letterThe Union Public ServiceCommission (UPSC) selectscandidates every year for theCentral Armed Police Forces(CAPF) AssistantCommandant (Group A) —this is for the Border SecurityForce (BSF), Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF), IndoTibetan Border Police (ITBP),Central Industrial SecurityForce (CISF) and SashastraSeema Bal (SSB) — on thebasis of a written exam,physical effi�ciency test,medical standard test andinterview. In 2019, the UPSChad notifi�ed the CAPF Asst.Commandant recruitmenton April 24, 2019 to fi�ll up330 vacancies in all theCAPFs. The breakup was 108

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

Mariam Priya Alexander &

Timucin Taner

As of early September 2021,the COVID19 pandemiccaused by the SARSCoV2

virus has aff�ected over 200 millionpeople and led to 4.4 milliondeaths worldwide. In India alone,3,30,00,000 COVID19 cases and4,42,000 COVID19 related deathshave been reported to date. Whilemost infections are mild with respiratory symptoms, a severe formof the disease is seen in olderadults and people with chronicheart, kidney and lung diseases,diabetes or other conditions thatrender the immune system weak.COVID19 damages many organsincluding the lungs, heart and kidneys.

Commonly seen complicationKidney injury as a complication ofCOVID19 is more commonly seenin hospitalised patients. While thereported prevalence of kidney injury was 7% in a study of 2,650 patients admitted to a large hospitalin southern India, a recent largestudy in the United States reportedkidney injury in as many as 46% of3,993 hospitalised patients, ofwhom 19% required dialysis. Patients with COVID19 kidney injuryalso have increased duration of

hospitalisation, with increasedhealthcare costs. Unfortunately,there are many more deaths inthose who have acute kidneyinjury.

Understanding the microscopicchanges in kidneys after infectionwith the SARSCoV2 virus is important and has been the focus ofextensive research. Researchers,especially pathologists, across theglobe have been unifi�ed in theirobservations of COVID19 kidneyinjury — i.e., acute tubular injury(injury of the transporting channels in the kidney) is the hallmarkof kidney pathology. Thrombi orblood clots, as seen in the lungsand heart, may also be seen in thekidney. Infl�ammation (infl�ux ofwhite blood cells) in the kidneyhas also been described by researchers. The kidney injury ismore commonly seen in kidneysthat already have chronic injury,such as that seen in diabetes orsevere blood vessel diseases.

The exact process in which theSARSCoV2 virus brings on thekidney injury has been studied tovarying detail by diff�erent centres.The fi�rst question asked is: doesthe virus directly damage the kidney? Many centres across theglobe have used a very special microscope called the electron microscope to look for evidence of virus in the kidney. The initialstudies that emerged from Chinaand the United States seemed toidentify structures within kidneycells that looked like viral particles. This seemed to be logical, given that the kidney has a high con

centration of ACE2, which is thekey protein structure on a cell thatthe SARSCoV2 virus attaches to.This step is critical for the virus toenter the cell. However, as moreresearch was done, it becameclear that what was once thoughtto be viral particles in cells were,in fact, increased numbers of vesicles (structures in the cell that areused in sending important signals)and were mere viral mimics. Evenspecifi�c staining techniques to detect very small amounts of viralproteins failed to show virus in thekidneys. All of this suggested thatdirect viral injury was not themain method of kidney injury. Ifnot, then how was the SARSCoV2virus injuring the kidney?

Changes after infectionThe main focus of our own research was to understand howSARSCoV2 causes kidney injuryand how the proteins and geneschange in kidneys after COVID19infection. This study from MayoClinic, recently published in TheMayo Clinic Proceedings (https://mayocl.in/3C52bsy), points to astrong immune response (immune

response is the way the body fi�ghtsagainst substances it sees as foreign or harmful) in the kidneys.The immune response was seen inall parts of the kidney tissue, including the small blood vesselsand in the glomerulus (fi�lteringunit of the kidney). This was mostly seen in those with severe casesof COVID19. We were able to showtwo pathways of immune response to the kidneys; Innate immunity, which is the nonspecifi�cresponse you are born with, tofi�ght harmful organisms. In COVID19 kidneys, we found a rich infi�ltrate of white blood cells (calledmacrophages) in the kidneys.Adaptive immune response,which is the body’s acquired immune response to the SARSCoV2virus, was evident by an increasein specifi�c type of immune (T cells)in the kidney tissue. This wasshown using stateoftheart techniques, including transcriptomic,proteomics and masscytometry.

Like sepsis-associated injurySeveral experts in the fi�eld hadbeen suggesting that the kidney injury in severe COVID19 behaves similar to kidney injury from sepsis,which is the body’s extreme response to an infection. In our study,we were able to compare the fi�ndings in COVID19 kidney injurywith kidneys from individuals withknown sepsis, and indeed, foundthat the immune response in thetwo were very similar. This fi�ndingperhaps emphasises the need tomanage COVID19 patients in thesame way as patients with sepsis.

The observations from our tissueproteins analysis and ultrastructural analysis points also to mitochondria, (which is the powerhouse of the cell) bearing the fi�nalinsult of the SARSCoV2. Whilethis fi�nding is unique to COVID19kidney injury, it lends importantinsight into potential treatmentstrategies that could be used inmanaging COVID19.

Key takeawaysIn conclusion, this Mayo Clinic study is important in that it emphasises a few important facts. First,there is a great need for researchers to capitalise on the patient specimens collected during the pandemic and gather and store datafor current and future use. Data archived for future studies will potentially provide valuable information in the event of anotherpandemic. Second, it will allowthe study of COVID19 associatedtissue injury in diff�erent populations. Third, by using stateoftheart technology tools, we were ableto analyse the body’s immune response to the virus, and how thisresponse might be injuring kidneys. Taken together, the severekidney injury seen in COVID19further supports the need for widespread vaccination to protecteveryone from this viral infection.

Dr. Mariam Priya Alexander is Associate

Professor of Pathology, Mayo Clinic,

Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.

Dr. Timucin Taner is Associate Professor,

Transplant Surgeon and Immunologist,

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.

COVID-19, kidney injury and need for a vaccine shotA Mayo Clinic study into the body’s immune response to the virus supports the need for widespread vaccination

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As children return to theclassroom after an unprecedentedly long gap, many

among their teachers realise thatteaching will be tougher. Andthere are others who assume thatit will be business as usual. In fact,they have already started teachingfrom the point ‘where we left it’,meaning where they were in theironline classes. Teachers who stickto the syllabus no matter whathappens in the outside world, liketo identify themselves as teachersof this or that subject. They seetheir role purely in terms of theknowledge they enable children toacquire. They view the purpose ofeducation in terms of success inexaminations and, consequently,in life. With a sense of purpose sofi�rmly held in their minds, suchteachers stay clear of the personallife of children, especially its emotional aspect. We can understandhow such teachers defi�ne learning— in terms of the prescribed syllabus as articulated in the textbook.There is no harm in acknowledging that teachers of this sort formthe majority in the profession.

Though in a minority, there areother teachers who realise thateducation is more than aboutcompleting the syllabus to preparechildren to face examinations.These teachers know that theirsuccess as teachers depends onhow they relate to children, nomatter what subject they teach.For this reason, they worry abouttheir children’s emotional wellbeing. When a child is not feelingwell, such teachers ask what is

wrong. They recognise individualdiff�erences and engage with children as persons with specifi�c habits of mind and behaviour. Forsuch teachers, the world outsidethe school matters because itmakes an impact on children,their spirit and enthusiasm forwhat they are being taught in theclassroom. For teachers of thiskind, the long gap caused by thenovel coronavirus pandemic intheir daily routine interaction withchildren has made it problematicto resume teaching. They knowthat 17 months without teaching ina physical classroom has made astrange impact on themselves aswell as on the children they teach.

Gap impactSeveral obvious reasons can be cited. One that has been widely discussed comes under a poorly conceptualised title: ‘learning loss’. Ifsmall children cannot read at thelevel they had attained before thepandemic struck, this can hardlybe described as a loss. The terminology of loss and gain seems natural in our times, but it is unsuitable for discussing children andtheir development at school.When they are small, children donot easily retain for long what theyhad picked up unless it is put todaily use. This is just as true of thefacility in reading as in intellectualcapacities to comprehend, analyseand judge. However, the facilityonce acquired returns when itsneed is created again — under circumstances that are not threatening. And that is where our systemic conditions pose a problem.

These conditions encourageteachers to be impatient andshorttempered. It is not easy forpeople who have never worked ina school in our country to graspthe nature of the stress teacherschronically face and absorb. It isso general that it cannot be attri

buted to any one source, such as aprincipal or parents. The pressureto perform is a factor of the ethosand the ethos does not distinguishbetween smaller and older children. From the day a child entersschool, he or she comes under thispressure. A minority of teachersrealise that it is unsuitable forgrowth in the primary years, butthese teachers have little infl�uenceon others. The wider social cultureand government norms relentlessly push the child from the fi�rstmonth at school towards higher levels of performance.

One suspects that this pressurewill shape the classrooms mostchildren return to after the COVID19 gap. Many among them willfi�nd it diffi�cult to join in at a higherlevel of effi�ciency in solving problems in math or language thanthey can feel comfortable with.This will be seen as a sign of weakness and the usual remedies willbe applied to suppress such signs.The remedies endemic to our system are increased drill, coachedcollective answerparroting andharder preparation for tests. Eachone of these remedies will becounterproductive for the child’sdevelopment when classes resume and regain the dreaded fullsteam.

Among teachers I have placedin the second category above, i.e.,those who try to relate to childrenindividually and not just teach

them, there will be some who canreasonably guess the kind ofpsychological problems childrenmight be facing as a result of thelong COVID19 closure of schools.The total withdrawal of a space sointimately linked to childhoodmust necessarily have been hardto endure for a lot of children.These would include children whomight not have greatly enjoyedtheir daily chores at school andthe curriculum, as well as manychildren who might have taken online in their stride, despite the relentless stress it brought them.

Impact of the online modeDigital learning is known to bringwith it certain addictive behaviours that may persist at schooland take new and disturbing mutations. When children return toschool, they may well feel off�balance, experiencing the uncannysense of deprivation that hits themind after an ordeal is over. Forteachers to assume that such children will simply carry on with theremaining syllabus will be quitewrong, although this will not become obvious till later.

Online teaching had extremelylimited reach in most regions, andeven more limited value for its receivers. The idea that teachingsimply switched to online modewas little more than a myth. Thatthere was nothing else that couldhave been done was anothermyth. Why schools were the absolutely last priority for reopening,lower than shopping malls, sayssomething about the importanceattached to education. In severalother countries, every attemptwas made to help schools function, after periodic closure. Norwere primary teachers in othercountries given other duties, atairports and vaccination centres.Why midday meals were stoppedalong with teaching is hard to ex

plain. Nor is it possible to calculatethe loss incurred by hunger. No estimate has yet been made of thenumber of children who have leftschool altogether.

Now that schools have at last reopened, the educationally betteroff� States, for example, in theSouth, need to recognise two newpriorities. Both concern aspects ofchildren’s psychological comfortgenerally ignored in our system. Ifgiven some attention, it will enhance both children’s and teachers’ readjustment after the longgap they have endured withouteach others’ company.

Space for these prioritiesThe fi�rst of these two priorities is aspace for the arts: music, painting,theatre and dance. Aesthetic experience has great healing powers,especially when it is not too focused on performance or ceremonial purpose. If State governmentsand private schools can devote resources and time to this otherwisemarginalised area, they will makethe resumption of routine life atschool more nourishing. The other priority for school resumptionis the reorganisation of this year’scurriculum. The ‘where we left it’approach will not do for any stageof school education. A linear syllabus coverage approach does notserve children well even in normaltimes. The postCOVID19 situation is far too complex to respondto the wooden pedagogy stuck tothe chapters of the prescribedtextbook. A team of subjectspecialists and teachers must sit together to look at the syllabus designed for every grade level anddeliberate on ways to reorganise itfor this unusual academic session.

Krishna Kumar is a former Director of the

National Council of Educational Research

and Training (NCERT). He is the author of

the book, ‘Smaller Citizens’

Returning to school 17 months laterThe post-COVID-19 situation is complex and the ‘where we left it’ approach will not do for any stage of school education

Krishna Kumar

AP

Daniil Medvedev’s stunning straightsets victory

over World No.1 Novak Djokovic brought the

curtains down on one of the most eventful edi

tions of the US Open in recent memory. In the leadup,

the script was laid out perfectly — of Djokovic trying to

become the fi�rst man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all

four Majors of the year and securing a record 21st Grand

Slam title to take him past Roger Federer and Rafael Na

dal in the alltime tally. But Medvedev fl�ipped that nar

rative with an astonishing display of power and creativ

ity to secure his maiden Major trophy in his third fi�nal.

The 25yearold appeared the better player coming into

the match. But to beat someone so skilled at turning

pursuits of history and recordbreaking feats into prime

driving forces should count among the greatest of

achievements. Medvedev is an unconventional counter

puncher, in that he has a blistering serve. On Sunday,

the Russian ensured that one of the greatest returners

of the modern era could not lay as much as a racquet on

many serves, and remarkably, left the master of lateral

baseline movement doubting his own patented game.

The physical and emotional toll of the past fortnight

was evident in the way Djokovic wept towards the end,

with the only solace to be had from the notoriously fi�ck

le New York crowd fi�nally warming up to him.

Things might have seemed straightforward for Djo

kovic. Nadal and Federer were absent and he had bea

ten a rising star for each of his last three Majors, includ

ing Medvedev in a lopsided contest in Australia. But to

overcome three of them in succession — here Matteo

Berrettini, the Wimbledon fi�nalist, Alexander Zverev,

who beat Djokovic en route to the Tokyo Olympics gold,

and Medvedev — proved beyond him. This is the kind of

challenge that also awaits Federer and Nadal — more ad

vanced in their careers than Djokovic — as they plot

their return amidst growing evidence that the next gen

eration is ready to contend. The women’s game, more

amiable to the young and the fl�edgling, still managed to

surprise as 18yearold British qualifi�er Emma Raduca

nu triumphed over an equally unheralded Canadian

teenager, Leylah Fernandez. For Raducanu, whose only

previous appearance at a Slam was at Wimbledon 2021

where she capitalised on a wild card and reached the

fourth round, to go three full weeks without losing a set

was astounding. Fernandez should hold her head high

too, for she beat two former champions in Naomi Osaka

and Angelique Kerber, and two topfi�ve players in Elina

Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka, all in threesetters. Ra

ducanu’s technically solid game and Fernandez’s lefty

fl�air can only be worthy additions to the fascinating mix

of playing styles that adorns women’s tennis.

The fi�rst timeThe US Open saw new champions as Djokovic

failed to keep his date with history

Relations between the world’s two biggest powers,

the U.S. and China, have been in free fall over the

past fi�ve years amid the trade war launched by

the Trump administration. Ties have remained strained

despite the change in administration in Washington,

with meetings between top offi�cials, in Alaska and then

in Tianjin, marked by their rancour. It is this perilous

state of ties that likely prompted U.S. President Joe Bi

den to call his counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday, the fi�rst

time they spoke since a conversation in February not

long after Mr. Biden’s inauguration. While Mr. Biden

wanted “to ensure competition does not veer into con

fl�ict”, Mr. Xi agreed both sides needed to “get the rela

tionship right”, but underlined the repeated Chinese

view that the troubles were “due to the U.S. policy on

China”. Part of the Biden administration’s stated broad

er approach of competing with China where required

but cooperating where possible, the U.S. has sought

Chinese cooperation in Afghanistan after its disastrous

exit, which has been celebrated by the state media in

China, and also on climate change, which is a priority

for this administration. At the same time, both sides

have clashed on issues including human rights in Xin

jiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South China Sea actions, and

the contentious inquiry into the origins of COVID19.

The Chinese side, for its part, has made clear it seeks

concessions on some of the thorny issues before it will

agree to discuss working together on others. In the July

talks in Tianjin, Chinese offi�cials presented two “lists”

of demands to the U.S., including unconditionally re

voking visa restrictions on Communist Party members

and withdrawing an extradition request for Meng

Wanzhou, the chief fi�nancial offi�cer of tech fi�rm Huawei

who is on trial in Canada. The Chinese side has also de

manded the U.S. change its stance on the COVID19 in

quiry, where Washington has led calls for a more tran

sparent investigation. The Chinese Foreign Minister

likened U.S. calls for cooperation on climate change as

seeking “an oasis” surrounded by desert. The “oasis”,

he argued, would “sooner or later be desertifi�ed”. With

the U.S. unlikely to agree to China’s preconditions, the

state of relations is likely to endure. If the Chinese argu

ment that it is unrealistic to insulate points of discord

from a broader relationship is not entirely unreasona

ble, it is notable that Beijing’s offi�cials have rejected that

precise argument with regard to the strained relations

with India, which has said cooperation on trade and

other fronts cannot continue while the LAC remains in

crisis. On the contrary, Beijing has hit out at New Delhi

for “wavering and backpedalling” in its China policy,

demanding that it keep the border “in an appropriate

position”. If cooperating while in confl�ict appears an

unreasonable proposition for China when it comes to

ties with the U.S., it is unfathomable how it expects In

dia to take a very diff�erent stand on bilateral relations.

Talking amid confl�ictChina and the U.S. must engage each other

without expecting quick results on all issues

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


OPED

Mahatma Gandhi and party will arrive in Madras tomorrow and it is needless to predictthat he will be received with the heartinessand enthusiasm that have made of his peregrinations in the country triumphal progresses. The problems that await him in Madras are so complicated and urgent that itwere well for the public to keep them in theforefront and to discuss in advance the prosand cons of their solution. It is of course amatter of common knowledge that the Mahatma arrives here in order to provide thedriving force, or at best to reinforce it as onlyhe can, necessary for the prosecution of theintensive campaign which the Congress hasdecreed. It is also a fact less well known butunfortunately too true that there is a perceptible slackening of eff�ort when the Mahatmahas come and gone.

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO SEPT. 14, 1921

Mahatma Gandhi’s visit(From an Editorial)

As a normative idea and an institutional arrangement which supportsthe recognition and provision of anexpansive ‘selfrule’ for territoriallyconcentrated minority groups,asymmetric federalism has recentlyreceived bad press in India. The dissolution of Article 370 in 2019 whichgave Jammu and Kashmir a specialconstitutional status, and intermittent attempts to dilute and dissolvethe omnibus Article 371 which,among others, gives expansive constitutional powers to Nagas over landand resources (Article 371A), and toManipur’s Hill Areas Committee (Article 371C) over tribal identity, culture, development and local administration, are exemplars.

Driven by the argument that giving distinctive constitutional statusto territorially concentrated minorities fosters centrifugal tendencieswhich over time inhibit national/State integration, development, andpeace, antagonists of asymmetricfederalism increasingly ralliedaround the majoritarian idea of amonolith, homogenous nation.

On close scrutiny, however, thisargument is neither novel nor new.Charles Tarlton, the American political scientist who developed the ideaof asymmetric federalism in themid1960s, was mindful about itsdestabilising potential, if not properly harnessed. In fact, the unsuccessful experience of east European communist states to ‘hold together’ in the1990s spawned deep suspicion aboutasymmetric federalism.

An integrationist approachIndeed, the argument that asymmetric federalism fosters subversive institutions, political instability andbreakup of States had also informedthe minds of some of the foundingfathers of the nation, when they participated in India’s Constituent Assembly debates. For some, the question of envisioning distinctive rightsand asymmetric constitutional provisions is considered inconsequentialgiven that India has become a ‘homogenous Hindu nation’ after Partition.

Such a majoritarian standpoint sitsuneasy with the idea of ‘autonomous’ district councils proposed bythe Gopinath Bordoloi Committee, asubcommittee of the Constituent Assembly which sought to accommodate the distinctive identity, cultureand way of life of tribal groups in theNortheast by envisioning ‘selfrule’.

While members like Jaipal Singhand B.R. Ambedkar recognised tribaldistinctiveness and underscored theneed for separate institutional accommodation, Kuladhar Chaliha, aprominent member from Assam, forexample, broached an integrationistapproach when he openly advocatedassimilation of tribal groups. This approach is also informed by a deepsuspicion over the ability of tribalgroups to selfgovern and institute asemblance of ‘law and order’ given —to wit Chaliha — their practice of“summary justice”. Chaliha reinforced his integrationist push by contending that tribal “selfrule” wouldleverage “tribalstan” or “communistan” and would be inimical to India’sterritorial integrity and security.

This integrationist approach hasbeen conveniently invoked to delegitimise continuing demand for constitutional asymmetry in Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh and in various otherplaces in Northeast India. This integrationist approach resonates powerfully in two recent attempts byManipur’s government to (i) stall theintroduction and passage of the Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Council (Amendment) Bill, 2021,and (ii) induct nine Assembly members from the valley areas into theHill Areas Committee.

While the Manipur government’sstandpoint that the Bill is a “sensitive” matter requiring legal vetting

by the Department of Law and Advocate General of the State is plausibleand can hardly be contested, theSpeaker’s order of September 1 to induct nine Assembly members fromthe valley areas is seen by Lorho S.Pfoze, the lone MP representing Outer Manipur constituency, as a “malicious” and “direct assault” on theHill Areas Committee and the constitutional protection accorded to theHill Areas of Manipur under Article371C. Clearly, in his overenthusiasticdrive to cave in to the growing pressure from powerful valleybased civilsociety organisations (CSOs), whichactively mobilised to ramp up majoritarian support for dissolution oflongstanding constitutional asymmetry enjoyed by the hill people, theSpeaker was too clever by half in applying his mind as it amounts totransgression of a domain exclusively reserved for the President of Indiaunder the Manipur Legislative Assembly (Hill Areas Committee) Order, 1972. The Speaker dragged hisfeet until he was compelled to rescind the order on September 8 afterChief Minister Biren Singh was greeted with black fl�ags and widespreadcall for boycott of his pet politicalproject, ‘Go to the hills’, by varioustribal CSOs during his tour toChurachandpur.

Interestingly, this project is increasingly seen by these CSOs as a camoufl�age of the majoritarian state’sattempt to transgress and snatchaway tribal lands by stealth throughlegal manipulation and sacralisationprojects. The recent attempts to declare areas around Chivu in the IndoMyanmar border as a protected siteand sacralise it by replacing one ofthe three controversial monolithswith that of Thangjing (a Meitei god

dess), invoke the Forest Reserve Act,sacralise Koubru hills as a lai-pham(deityplace) and encourage ching-kaba (hillclimbing) to eff�ectuate thisare clear pointers.

A double-edged swordAlthough the timing chosen by theHill Areas Committee to recommend, introduce and pass the Bill isquestionable, it marks a calculatedmove to use this as a doubleedgedsword to simultaneously set apaceelectoral agenda for the upcomingAssembly elections in early 2022 andreclaim its agency to fortify statelevel constitutional asymmetry. The attempt to increase membership of thesix district councils to 31 memberseach and secure more powers to thecouncils by giving more developmental mandate are welcome. Yet, the reservation of onefourth of the seats tosocioeconomically backward communities may complicate delimitation of constituencies. Earmarkingmerely three nominated membersfor unrepresented tribes/women isalso simply not enough.

If history is any guide, the task ofreclaiming the Hill Areas Committee’s agency is not going to be easy asits 20odd members often leveragetribe/party loyalty over commitmentto protect constitutional asymmetryand common tribals’ cause. How theHill Areas Committee and various tribal groups strategically navigatetheir politics to off�set the majoritarian impulse to manipulate the legaland political process to dilute/dissolve extant constitutional asymmetry remains to be seen. A recent revelation by a tribal MLA in theAssembly that the hill areas attractedbarely ₹�419 crore (1.91%) out of the₹�21,900 crore budgetary expenditure of Manipur from 201718 to 202021 has unmasked Mr. Singh’s sincerity to ‘Go to the hills’. The lack of sincere commitment to promote tribaldevelopment, identity and culturethat Article 371C seeks to bridgecould not have come out starker. Recognising and institutionally accommodating tribal distinctiveness notjust as a matter of political convenience, but as a valuable and enduring good will be key to promote theState’s integrity, stability and peacein the long run.

Kham Khan Suan Hausing is Professor and

Head of the Department of Political Science,

University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad

Institutionally accommodating tribal distinctiveness as an enduring good will promote the State’s integrity

In Manipur, a case for asymmetric federalism

Kham Khan Suan Hausing

File photo of women waiting to cast their votes in Tengnoupal constituency inChandel district of Manipur. * RITU RAJ KONWAR

On August 14, 2021, the Tamil Nadu government appointed 24 trained archakas(priests) in temples across the State whichcome under the control of the Departmentof Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE). On the same day, posts forodhuvar, poosari, mahout, garland stringersand an umbrella carrier were also fi�lled. Inthe weeks since, a series of writ petitionshave been fi�led before the Madras HighCourt assailing these appointments.

State and templeThe Tamil Nadu HR&CE Act, 1959, is the governing law on the administration of Hindutemples and religious institutions. In 1971,Section 55 of the HR&CE Act was amendedto abolish hereditary priesthood. In 2006,the amendment provided for appointmentof suffi�ciently trained Hindus irrespective oftheir caste as archakas to Hindu temples bythe government. Challenges to both amendments were taken to the Supreme Court,which upheld the law, as amended.

Nevertheless, calls to whittle down thescope and authority of the HR&CE Act havenot diminished. In recent years, there hasbeen a campaign seeking to “liberate temples” from the “clutches of government”.Building on this, the BJP’s manifesto for theTamil Nadu Assembly elections in 2021 evenincluded a proposal to hand over administration of Hindu temples to a “separate boardconsisting of Hindu scholars and saints”.

The constitutional courts have had plentyof opportunities to consider the various challenges made to the HR&CE Act. In Sesham-mal v. Union (1972), the Supreme Court observed that the amendment to the HR&CEAct abolishing hereditary priesthood did notmean that the government intended to bringabout any “change in the rituals and ceremonies”. Similarly, in Adi Saiva Sivachariyargalv. Govt. of Tamil Nadu (2015), it observedthat “the constitutional legitimacy, naturally,must supersede all religious beliefs or practices”. The Court further went on to statethat appointments should be tested on acasebycase basis and any appointment thatis not in line with the Agamas will be againstthe constitutional freedoms enshrined under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court has recognised thatthe arguments using Agamas have beencommonly used in petitions fi�led against any

perceived government interference in thematters of temple administration. It has consistently held that any contention of violation of Agamas must be tested on a casebycase basis. This is to say that no relief can begranted based on a bald averment that an executive decision or order has infringed Aga-mas or essential religious practices.

Evolving jurisprudenceNevertheless, the evolution of rightsbasedjurisprudence over the last three years is ofrelevance. In Indian Young Lawyers’ Asso-ciation v. State of Kerala (the Sabarimalacase) and Joseph Shine v. Union of India(2018), the Supreme Court reiterated theneed to eliminate “historical discriminationwhich has pervaded certain identities”’,“systemic discrimination against disadvantaged groups”, and rejected stereotypicalnotions used to justify such discrimination.

In all these cases, the Court prioritisedjudicial balancing of various constitutionalrights. In the Sabarimala case, it held that “inthe constitutional order of priorities, the individual right to the freedom of religion wasnot intended to prevail over but was subjectto the overriding constitutional postulates ofequality, liberty and personal freedoms recognised in the other provisions of Part III”.It went on to further clarify that “though ourConstitution protects religious freedom andconsequent rights and practices essential toreligion, this Court will be guided by the pursuit to uphold the values of the Constitution,based in dignity, liberty and equality.”

The constitutional courts will now becalled upon to build on the gains of the Sabarimala case when it comes to administrationof temples, insofar as it concerns mattersthat are not essentially religious. While doingso, they would be guided by principles ofconstitutional morality and substantiveequality. The Supreme Court, in NavtejSingh Johar v. Union of India (2018), interpreted Article 15 as being wide, progressiveand intersectional. The Court explained theintersectional nature of sex discrimination.Today, while most of the debate is aroundwhether men from all caste groups can become archakas, we have failed to recognisethe gender bias inherent in these discussions. Therefore, the present cases beforethe Madras High Court provide us with theopportunity to ask why women and transpersons should not be appointed as archa-kas. At once, caste orthodoxy and patriarchyentrenched within the realm of the HR&CEAct can be eliminated and supplanted with avision of a just, equal and dignifi�ed society.

Manuraj Shunmugasundaram is DMK Spokesperson &

Advocate, Madras High Court. This article was written

with research inputs from Haripriya Venkatakrishnan

Archakas of all hues Caste orthodoxy and patriarchy entrenched within the realmof the HR&CE Act can be eliminated together

Manuraj Shunmugasundaram

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DATA POINT

The US Open this year was supposedto be the unfurling of Novak Djokovic’s immortality, chasing a CalendarGrand Slam and a recordbreaking21st title. Tennis cognoscenti arguedabout just how washed out it wouldbe as crowds returned to nil star power — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Venus Williamswere all absent for the fi�rst time in 25years.

But the enduring storyline is of theemergence of fresh, charismatic talent on the women’s side unleashinga distinctive sort of chaos. Only thistime, chaos led to hope and reassurance for the future.

The women’s Next GenSince 2017, the men’s tour has tirelessly marketed its ‘#NextGen’ campaign, a yearend event created toshowcase its young crop. Finally, aleader has emerged from the pack inDaniil Medvedev, who defeated Djokovic in resounding fashion, signalling a real generational shift in men’stennis that has been several yearscoming now.

But the WTA doesn’t really need asplashy tournament or hashtaggedextravaganza to build hype for itsyoung players. They tend to go outand do it on their own. Exhibit A: theemphatic, defi�nitive and astonishingexploits of teenagers Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez at the USOpen. In a closely fought fi�nal, Raducanu emerged victorious. It felt likethe earth shifted a bit under NewYork.

In tennis, critical acclaim is cyclical, often spurred by the defeats of legends. Federer’s early popularitycame on the back of his win againstPete Sampras. It has, therefore, become something of a cardinal rulethat the Next Gen must play and beatthe veterans, instead of coming to thetop after they have naturally faded.

This is why Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu’s title wins over Serenain 2018 and 2019 matter. A few yearsago, one way to understand women’stennis was to divide players into twogroups: Serena Williams and everyone else. But not anymore. For fansof Serena and casual watchers of the

sport, the wins might appear to deprive the world of history. But it isreally a revelation, much like the recent triumphs of Raducanu and Fernandez. Their wins off�er a sense ofcontentment: women’s tennis afterSerena will not be starved of superlative star power.

Collapsing constructsBut the same could not be imaginedof the men’s tour after the Big Three,until recently. For more than a decade, they have shut door after dooron young starsinwaiting who havetried to claim Grand Slam glory. In2020, Dominic Thiem, often dubbedthe eternal Prince Charles of men’stennis, fi�nally managed to breakdown the walls of the Big Three hierarchy — but without beating a singlemember of them. It felt exciting, promising and disappointing all at once.With Medvedev’s win, however, itseemed the sun had well and trulybegun to set on the empire.

Then again, this US Open showedwhat it would be like if we chose notto focus on constructs like ‘Big Three’or ‘William Sisters’. These ideas insubtle ways direct how we thinkabout tennis. Certain names shinebrighter in draws wherever they’replaced. Tournaments become lessabout pitting a variety of talent fromacross the world against one anotherand more about microbattles between a select few. These ideas needto lose their validity, because they nolonger subscribe to what we can expect from a tournament. The 2021 USOpen, in that regard, was a muchneeded infl�ection point.

It is the start of a fresh decade, andthe depth of the women’s fi�eld is suchthat a player you haven’t heard of today can win a Major in the next twoyears. Some would argue that this isthe problem with women’s tennis: itis too unpredictable. But this is thechaos that is inherent to the sport,and we need more of it. We need thisnew grammar to capture the men’stour, too. There are countless opportunities to seize and openings to exploit. It is uncertain and confusing,but it is also thrilling because it is fullof possibility.

[email protected]

Contentment in chaos Some argue that women’s tennis is too unpredictable,but that is what makes it thrilling

Preethi Ramamoorthy

Lagos, Sept. 13: A Cambridgeeducated Nigerian judge and a visiting American civilrights leader met at a diplomatic receptionin Lagos not long ago, and their conversation turned to the race problem in the United States. The black American told of brutaltreatment he had received at the hands ofAlabama policemen, and moving to unbutton his shirt, he off�ered to show the scarsthat they had left on his back. But the Nigerian stopped him saying, “I am simply not interested.” He later explained. “That youngAmerican assumed that he and I had somespecial common bond. But all we really havein common is that we both have black skin,and that’s evidently more important to himthan it is to me.” The incident refl�ects whatsome regard as a new estrangement between American [blacks], many of whomlook to Africa for their cultural heritage, andblack Africans who are in charge here after acentury of colonial domination. A black manwho advises the black President of a countryin southern Africa recalled a meeting withAmerican [blacks]. “The Americans weretalking about racism, and about burningdown buildings in Detroit. Well, we sympathise, but now we’re in charge of ourcountry, we’re trying to develop it, and weneed all the buildings we have.” As touristsand as diplomats, as businessmen and evenas potential settlers, American blacks arestill streaming to Africa, but often it turnsout not what to be they expected.

FIFTY YEARS AGO SEPTEMBER 14, 1971

Reception of American blacks in Africa

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

“It has to be gone into, itmust be gone into… It is thefeeling of the governmentthat such an issue cannot beplaced on affi�davit. It has tobe gone through by a committee. It concerns nationalsecurity,” Mr. Mehta said.

The government couldnot aff�ord to “sensationalise” such an “important” issue, he stated. He objectedto assertions by petitionersthat the “government is denying protection to its owncitizens” or is “assaultingdemocracy”.

Concern about privacyJustice Kant said the courtwas equally concernedabout national security, butit cannot turn a deaf ear toconcerns about privacyraised by citizens.

“We just wanted you toclarify whether their privacy was violated or not.Whether surveillance, ifdone at all, was after lawfulpermission. Was the interception done by any agencyunlawfully? Should the government not be concernedif any “outside agency” hadviolated our citizens’ privacy?” Justice Kant asked thelaw offi�cer.

“We are not interested inmatters concerning national

security. Our only concern,in the face of allegationsmade by petitioners aboutuse of some softwareagainst citizens, is knowingwhether any governmentagency has used any method of interception otherthan in accordance withlaw,” Chief Justice Ramanatold Mr. Mehta.

At one point, the CJIquestioned the practicalitybehind the government’s insistence on refusing to discuss the Pegasus allegationsin open court, saying thateven if an expert committeewas formed, its work andthe report would eventuallybecome public.

Mr. Sibal referred to a2019 parliamentary response of the governmenttaking note of the use of Pegasus. “Why did they nottake action against the useof Pegasus… because theywere using it. The government is committed to protecting the rights of citizens,including their privacy,” hesubmitted. He urged thecourt to have the allegationsinvestigated by a sittingjudge. Senior advocateShyam Divan, for a petitioner, said the Cabinet Secretary should have fi�led a detailed affi�davit.

SC to pass interimorders in Pegasus case

One would be a “climate action pillar” which wouldhave joint proposals lookingat ways in emissions couldbe reduced in the next decade. The second pillarwould be setting out a roadmap to achieving the450GW in transportation,buildings and industry. Thefi�nal pillar, or the ''FinancePillar” would involve collaborating on attracting fi�nanceto deploy 450 GW of renewable energy and demonstrate at scale clean energytechnologies. Six banks inthe U.S., Mr. Kerry said,have already committed to“investing” $4.5 trillion inthe next decade towardsclean energy.

Following his meeting,Mr. Yadav tweeted: “CAFMDwill provide both countries

an opportunity to renewcollaborations on climatechange while addressing fi�nancing aspects and deliverclimate fi�nances primarilyas grants and concessionalfi�nance as envisaged underthe Paris Agreement.”

A key mission of Mr. Kerry is to build global supportfor ‘Net Zero’, or carbonneutrality, which is whenmore carbon is sucked outfrom the atmosphere or prevented from being emittedthan what a country emitsand is critical to ensuringthat the planet doesn’t heatup an additional half a degree by 2100. “We have toreach a net zero global standard by 2050. This is not amatter of politics or ideology but one of arithmetic andphysics,” said Mr. Kerry.

India, U.S. to tie up on green energy

The fourth session, initiallyscheduled to be held in May,was delayed because of COVID19, and then delayedagain to allow a greater gapfrom the third session. Thelast session for B.E./B.Techaspirants was completed onSeptember 1, and the provisional answer keys releasedon September 6. The fi�nalresults and the allIndiaranking was expected to bereleased by September 10,in time for the JEE (Advanced) registrations to begin the next day.

As the JEE (Main) results

were delayed, JEE (Advanced) registrations wereinitially postponed to September 13. Faced with further delays, a Monday eveningnotice to candidates on theJEE (Advanced) websitesimply asked them to “keepvisiting for updates onregistration”.

The CBI has arrested 11people in connection withan alleged scam where students were charged up to₹�15 lakh for help in solvingthe JEE (Main) through remote access to computers ata Sonipat centre.

IITs put off� registrationsfor JEE (Advanced)

These could dampen thefervour for festive spendingas infl�ation in health (7.8%),transport and communication (10.2%), fuel and light(almost 13%), remains high.They attributed the downward movement in infl�ationlargely to the base eff�ect —CPI infl�ation was at 6.7% inAugust 2020, with the Consumer Food Price Index rising 9.05%.

The pace of price rise inprotein sources and oils remained a concern, eventhough overall food and beverages infl�ation stood at3.8% this August. After moderating last month, oils andfats infl�ation zoomed to33%, while infl�ation in eggs,meat and fi�sh and pulses hit16.3%, 9.2% and 8.8%, respectively, as per the Nation

al Statistical Offi�ce (NSO). “On the whole, the com

fort level from the lower CPIinfl�ation is not commensurate with the level of decline. For the next twomonths, infl�ation will trenddownwards as the base effect will provide this support,” said CARE Ratingschief economist Madan Sabnavis, adding that the dip infood infl�ation was “moredue to the fall in vegetableinfl�ation which has movedto 11.7%”.

“Infl�ation for clothingand footwear fi�rmed up to6.8% in August 2021, whichmay be a signal of a demandrecovery,” said ICRA chiefeconomist Aditi Nayar, estimating that coreCPI infl�ation eased to 5.5% in August2021 from 5.7% in July.

Infl�ation dips marginallyto 5.3% in August

The Central Public WorksDepartment has reduced theestimated cost of construction and maintenance ofthree buildings of the Common Central Secretariat, forwhich bids were to beopened this week but hasbeen postponed till September 28, according to tenderdocuments.

On September 11, theCPWD issued a further modifi�ed tender and extendedthe last date of submission ofbids and opening of bidsfrom September 17 to 28, theseventh extension since thetender was fl�oated.

10 buildingsAs part of the larger CentralVista redevelopment project, the CPWD has proposedconstruction of 10 buildingsfor the Common Central Secretariat to house all Union

Ministries. So far, the CPWDhas invited bids for the construction of the fi�rst threebuildings at the site of the Indira Gandhi National Centrefor the Arts campus.

The estimated cost of construction and maintenancefor fi�ve years was reducedfrom ₹�3,408 crore to ₹�3,254crore. A CPWD offi�cial saidthe estimated cost was lo

wered due to technical reasons.

The offi�cial said the lastdate for bids had been postponed again due to “administrative reasons”.

Estimated cost of 3 CentralSecretariat buildings lowered Technical reasons led to cut; last date of submission of bids extended


NEW DELHI

Changing face: The site of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project, near the Parliament House,in New Delhi. * SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

In a doubleedged statement, Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanathhas said that prior to his government’s formation in2017, the ration meant forthe poor would get “digested” by those who utter abbajaan.

This led to a reaction onsocial media with several users condemning his wordsand accusing him of makingcommunal references.

In several parts of thecountry, Muslims use thephrase abba jaan to refer totheir fathers or as an endearment. However, in therecent context in the State’spolitics, it also appears to bean attack on Mr. Adityanath’s rival and president ofthe Samajwadi Party (SP),Akhilesh Yadav, and his father, Mulayam Singh.

At an offi�cial function inKushinagar on Sunday, Mr.Adityanath, while taking aswipe at the alleged “ap

peasement” by previous governments, said that nowthe BJP did not look atanyone’s face before providing them benefi�ts such astoilets or foodgrains.

“Are you getting ration?Did you get this ration priorto 2017? Back then, thosewho say abba jaan woulddigest all the ration. Kushinagar’s ration will end up inNepal and Bangladesh. If today anyone tries to swallowthe ration of the poor, thatperson will land in jail,” hesaid.

The SP ruled Uttar Pradesh from 2012 to 2017. Recently, in an interview to atelevision channel, whenasked about the work donein the State since 2017, Mr.Adityanath took a swipe atMr. Yadav’s father and referred to the fi�ring on ‘karsevaks’ in 1990 under histenure.

“His abba jaan would sayhe would not allow even abird to fl�y [around the mosque enclosure],” he said.

Adityanath makes abba jaan jibe againSeen as a swipe at Akhilesh, Mulayam


Lucknow

Farooq Khan, Adviser to J&KLieutenant Governor ManojSinha, on Monday describedthe large participation of people at a police offi�cer’s funeral in the Valley as a sign ofthe “changing times”, andsaid “people will teach theselfstyled mujahids a lessonsoon”.

Hundreds of residentsparticipated in the funeral ofsubinspector Arshid AshrafMir, who was shot dead by amilitant near the Khanyarpolice station in Srinagar onSunday.

Mir was buried at his native place at Kalmona inHandwara of north Kashmiron Sunday evening.

“The situation is chang

ing. People’s participation isan indication that peoplewill now teach a lesson tothese cowards, who themselves call selfstyled muja-hids. These cowards will begfor their mercy,” Mr. Khan, aformer police offi�cer, said.

Kashmir has witnessedgrowing attacks on police patrols this year, with fi�ve policemen killed in four hitandrun cases in Srinagar.

Apni Party president SyedMohammd Altaf Bukharisaid the violence in all its ma

nifestations has severely impacted peace, progress andgood governance in J&K.

“The impact of armed violence negatively infl�uencesdevelopment, peace andgood governance, often bycreating a climate of impunity, corruption and by undermining public institutions,”he said.

Mr. Buhkari appealed tothe youth to shun the path ofviolence and contribute inthe promotion of peace andstability in the region.

“The young police offi�cer,who was yet to be confi�rmed, was killed in coldblood. The incident didn’tinfl�ict miseries to his familyalone but added to the already agonising situation inKashmir,” he added.

Huge turnout at policeman’s funeral Adviser to J&K Lieutenant Governor says militants losing support among people

Last tributes: Policemen paying homage to their colleague,killed in a militant attack in Srinagar on Sunday. * PTI


Srinagar

Panic gripped the outskirtsof Srinagar on Mondaymorning when a CRPF patrol spotted and seized a bagfull of hand grenades placedon the national highway.

“During a routine roadopening exercise along National Highway 44, troopersrecovered six Chinese grenades from a sandbag,which was placed on the divider of the road. The alertness of the troops avertedan incident on the busyhighway,” CRPF spokesmanAbhiram said.

Due to the rush on thehighway, the grenades werenot defused on the spot.“They were handed over to

the police for disposal,” hestated.

The grenades wereplaced at a location in theBemina area where theCRPF would deploy its quickreaction team during theday, offi�cials said. Securitywas heightened on thehighway.

The grenades’ recoverycomes two days after militants executed twin attacksin the capital. A grenade attack was carried out on apolice picket in Chanaporaon September 11 and a policeman was shot dead thenext day in Khanyar area.

An antimilitancy operation entered the second dayon Monday in the Pir Panjalvalley’s Rajouri district.

6 Chinese grenadesrecovered in SrinagarThey were handed over to the police


Srinagar

NIA asked to respond to Teltumbde pleaMUMBAI

The Bombay High Court on

Monday granted three weeks

to the National Investigation

Agency, probing the Bhima

Koregaon caste violence case,

to file its reply on a plea by

accused Anand Teltumbde,

who has challenged the NIA

court rejecting his bail. A

Division Bench of Justices S.S.

Shinde and N.J. Jamadar was

hearing a plea by Mr. Teltum

bde challenging an order

passed by Special NIA court

judge D.E. Kothalikar on July

12 rejecting his default bail.

The West Bengal government on Monday accused acommittee appointed by theNational Human RightsCommission (NHRC) to lookinto “postpoll violence” inthe State of “apparent bias”.

The accusation was madeby the State in the SupremeCourt during the hearing ofits appeal challenging a fi�vejudge Bench judgment of theCalcutta High Court transferring the investigation of thecases, involving murder andrape, to the CBI. The HighCourt, on August 19, had directed the State to immediately pay compensation tothe victims of the crime.

The High Court’s judgment was based on the fi�ndings of the NHRC committeeon July 12.

West Bengal argued thatthe members of the committee were either “members ofthe Bharatiya Janata Party orwere closely associated”with it.

It named two members,Atif Rasheed and Rajulben L.Desai, in this regard. Senioradvocate Kapil Sibal, forWest Bengal, orally referredto another member, RajivJain, during the hearingthough the State’s petitiondid not refer to him.

“Can you imagine thesepeople have been appointedto collect the data? Is this aBJP investigation committee,” Mr. Sibal asked thecourt.

But the Bench of JusticesVineet Saran and AniruddhaBose asked whether a person’s political past could betreated as conclusive proofof bias.

The court scheduled thecase for further hearing onSeptember 20.

“The inclusion of the aforesaid members in the committee indeed gave rise to areasonable likelihood of biasand vitiated the independence of the entire committee, especially given their admitted leadership positionwithin the committee andtheir rank when comparedto others,” the petition said.

Postpoll violence: Bengalgovt. says NHRC panel biased‘Members either belong to BJP or are associated with it’

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

Speaker of West Bengal Assembly Biman Banerjee onMonday issued summons tooffi�cials of the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) and CentralBureau of Investigation(CBI) to appear in the StateAssembly on September 22.

The offi�cers have beensummoned to explain whythe Speaker was not informed when the agenciesfi�led chargesheets againstelected representatives ofthe State Assembly.

Recently the Central investigation agencies hadfi�led chargesheets againstMinisters Firhad Hakim,Subrata Mukherjee and Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra in the Naradasting videos case. The CBIhad arrested four politicalheavyweights, including thetwo Ministers, the TMC MLA

and former TMC MinisterSovan Chatterjee in the Narada case in May 2021. Theaccused were granted bailby the Calcutta High Court.

Meanwhile, CBI offi�cialson Monday questioned StateIndustry Minister ParthaChatterjee in connectionwith chit fund case involving the ICore group. Threemembers of the CBI met theMinister at his offi�ce. Alongwith Narada sting tapes theCBI and ED are also probingthe chit fund case in theState.

Speaking to journalists later, Mr. Chatterjee said thathe tried to answer the questions of the CBI to best of hisknowledge. The CBI hadsent summons to Mr. Chatterjee to appear before theagency, but the Ministerwrote back suggesting thatthe offi�cers can come to hisresidence.

Bengal Speaker issuessummons to CBI, ED State’s Industry Minister questioned

Shiv Sahay Singh

Kolkata

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)candidate Priyanka Tibrewaland Left Front candidate Srijib Biswas on Monday fi�ledtheir nominations for theBhabanipur Assembly byelection in West Bengal. Mr.Biswas is contesting on CPI(M) ticket.

The two candidates are upagainst Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who fi�led herpapers on September 10.The Chief Minister also tookpart in the campaign andspoke to voters in the Ekbalpur area.

Ms. Tibrewal was accompanied by Leader of the Op

position in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari and BJP LokSabha member Arjun Singh.Mr. Adhikari, who contestedagainst the Chief Minister in

Nandigram and defeated herby a margin of 1,956 votes,urged the voters to elect Ms.Tibrewal.

Later in the day, the BJP

wrote to the Election Commission of India demandingfree and fair elections to theSamserganj, Jangipur andBhabanipur Assembly seats.It sought deployment of theCentral Armed Police Forces(CAPF) at all polling booths.It urged the ECI to transferoffi�cers posted for more thanthree years, and said no offi�cer of the State governmentshould be employed on polling duty since the employees’ union had openlypledged its support to Ms.Banerjee.

In the 2021 Assembly election, Trinamool candidateSovandeb Chattopadhyaywon the seat by a margin of

nearly 27,000 votes. He resigned paving the way forMs. Banerjee to contest thebyelection. Ms. Banerjee represented the constituencyin 2011 and 2016.

During the day, the Calcutta High Court heard a publicinterest litigation petitionchallenging the byelection.

A Division Bench led byActing Chief Justice RajeshBindal asked why the petition was fi�led long after theECI’s announcement.

The matter will come upfor hearing again on September 20.

The bypolls to the threeseats are scheduled to beheld on September 30.

BJP, Left candidates fi�le papers in Bhabanipur BJP demands deployment of Central Armed Police Forces at all polling booths for the byelection

Ready for battle: BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal withOpposition leader Suvendu Adhikari after fi�ling papers. * PTI

Special correspondent

Kolkata

Collegium recommendselevation of 3 HC judgesNEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Collegium

led by Chief Justice of India

N.V. Ramana has on

September 9 recommended

to the government

appointment of three

Additional Judges of the

Gauhati High Court as

Permanent Judges of the

High Court. The three judges

are Justices Soumitra Saikia,

Parthivjyoti Saikia and S.

Hukato Swu. This follows the

recent recommendation of 68

names to various High Courts.

IN BRIEF

Adhikari asks Speakerto disqualify 2 MLAs KOLKATA

Leader of the Opposition in

West Bengal Assembly

Suvendu Adhikari on Monday

wrote to Speaker Biman

Banerjee demanding

disqualification of two MLAs,

Biswajit Das and Tanmoy

Ghosh, who recently crossed

over to the TMC after having

won the State elections on

BJP tickets. “Both are free to

join any party but they have

to resign as BJP MLAs. Let’s

see what measures the

Speaker takes. We will then

decide on our next course of

action,” he said.

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


NEWS

Bhupendra Patel was onMonday sworn in as the 17thChief Minister of Gujarat atthe Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar, a day after he was unanimously elected the leader ofthe BJP Legislature Party.

Immediately after he wassworn in by GovernorAcharya Devvrat, Mr. Pateltook charge at the Chief Minister’s Offi�ce and held ameeting with the top bureaucrats to review the fl�ood situation in Jamnagar and Rajkot in the Saurashtra region.

The Chief Minister directed the offi�cials to ensure thatpeople living in the lowlyingareas are shifted to saferlocations.

Earlier Union Home Minister Amit Shah and his Ca

binet colleagues MansukhMandaviya, N.S. Tomar, Pralhad Joshi, Parshottam Rupala and Bhupender Yadav attended the swearinginceremony, which lasted onlya few minutes as only theChief Minister took the oathof offi�ce and secrecy.

The Chief Ministers of

Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana were alsopresent.

There will be anotherfunction to administer theoath to the Cabinet membersafter the names are decidedby the party.

According to sources, Mr.Shah, Mr. Patel and other

leaders will decide thenames to be included in theCabinet, as many seniorleaders and members of theoutgoing Cabinet are likely tobe dropped to bring in newfaces and infuse dynamismin the administration.

Deputy CMThere is yet no clarity on thecontinuation of the post ofDeputy Chief Minister.

“We don’t know yetwhether there will be a newDeputy Chief Minister or justCabinet Ministers,” a partyleader said.

There is also no clarity onwhether Nitin Patel, the outgoing Deputy Chief Minister,will be a part of the new Cabinet.

On Monday, he brokedown before mediapersons

after he was overlooked butsubsequently stated that hehad no issues with the partyand that he was a disciplinedworker of the BJP.

He also denied reportsthat he was unhappy withthe top leadership’s decisionto pick Mr. Bhupendra Patel,a fi�rsttime legislator andprotege of Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, asthe successor to VijayRupani.

In the Cabinet, the party islikely to give larger representation to legislators from Saurashtra and north Gujarat,where the BJP expects to improve its prospects in thenext Assembly election.

The State BJP’s parliamentary board is likely to meeton Tuesday to fi�nalise thenames for the new Cabinet.

Bhupendra Patel takes over as Gujarat CMUnion Ministers, Chief Ministers of BJPruled States attend function; Cabinet members yet to be decided

Mahesh Langa

Ahmedabad

Hinting at the Congress’sroad map in Uttar Pradesh,senior party leader SalmanKhurshid said on Sundaythat Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would be the face ofthe party for the upcomingAssembly election in theState, and that the partywould not forge anyalliance.

Speaking to reporters inAgra, Mr. Khurshid said,“We have entered into thisbattle with the face of Priyanka Gandhi (Vadra). Sheis working day and night.She is our face. Beyondthat, she will declare theface of the Chief Minister ifshe wants to.”

The former Cabinet Minister said that there wasno point in forging an alliance if the party wouldnot get the number of seatsthat it asked for.

Mr. Khurshid, alongwith national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, wasin Agra to hold meetingswith local leaders regarding the party’s election manifesto.

“Some of the importantissues that we have comeacross include the poorstate of farmers, lack ofemployment and thecrumbling health infrastructure that has been exposed during the pandemic,” he said.

Priyanka to beface of Cong. inU.P.: KhurshidSpecial Correspondent

Ghaziabad

BJP MP and Bihar Ministerfor Environment, Forestand Climate Change NeerajKumar Singh on Mondaysaid Lok Janshakti Partyleader and MP Chirag Paswan was a part of the National Democratic Alliance(NDA), and would remain soin future.

“Chirag Paswan is a partof the NDA, and I think hewill remain so in future aswell,” Mr. Singh said, a dayafter Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar stayed awayfrom an event organised inPatna by Mr. Chirag Paswanon the fi�rst death anniversary of his father Ram VilasPaswan. A large number oflocal BJP leaders and legisla

tors, including Rajya Sabhamember and former DeputyChief Minister Sushil KumarModi, was present at theevent. Union Minister andestranged uncle of Mr. Chirag Paswan, Pashupati Kumar Paras, was also present.

Mr. Singh’s statementfuelled speculation about apossible reunion in the family and in the party. “Everyone who has been keenlyfollowing politics in Biharmust be aware that LJPmeans Ram Vilas Paswan,and now it’s Chirag Paswan,with whom his caste votebank can easily be identifi�edwith, instead of Mr. Parasand other party MPs. Politics is always pregnant withpossibilities,” a senior BJPleader told The Hindu.

Chirag Paswan is part ofNDA, says BJP MinisterHe will remain so in future, says Singh

Amarnath Tewary

Patna

Five years after it cancelledthe registration of international nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Greenpeace to receive foreignfunds, the government hasmoved to restrict the funding for a group of 10 American, Australian and European NGOs dealing withenvironmental, climatechange and child labourissues.

An internal Reserve Bankof India note, dated July 1,2021, which was sent to allbanks, said the governmenthad specifi�ed a number of foreign entities to be placed onthe “Prior Reference Catego

ry” (PRC list) using the stringent Foreign ContributionRegulation Act 2010, whichwas tightened in September2020, making both banksand chartered accountantsaccountable for any unauthorised funds that comethrough.

The NGOs are the European Climate Foundation;the U.S.based Omidyar Network International, Humanity United and Stardust Foundation; the AustraliabasedWalk Free Foundation andMinderoo Foundation; theU.K.based Children’s Investment Fund Foundation,Freedom Fund and LaudesFoundation, and the U.K./UAEbased Legatum Fund.

They add to the more than80 international voluntaryagencies now on the PRC listof the government.

“The RBI has instructedthat any fund fl�ow from the(specifi�ed) donor agencies toany NGO/Voluntary organisation/ persons in Indiashould be brought to the Ministry of Home Aff�airs so thatthe funds are allowed to becredited to the recipients only after clearance/ prior permission from the MHA’s Foreigners Division of theFCRA wing,” the notice sentout recently by a privatebank to its branches, whichThe Hindu obtained a copyof, said. The RBI did not respond to a request for a com

ment, but offi�cials confi�rmedinformally that the note hadbeen sent out, in line withprevious such circulars sentto banks warning them ofNGOs banned or suspendedfrom acquiring or disbursingforeign funds.

Signifi�cantly all the NGOson the latest list work on climate change and environmental projects and/or childrights and slavery projects,subjects where the government has been sensitive tointernational criticism.

Focus on coalWhen asked why so manyenvironmental NGOs are onthe list, given the government’s stated international

commitments on fi�ghting climate change, an offi�cial saidthat despite India’s record incomplying with the Parisagreement, “global pressures are intensifying on India to raise the NationallyDetermined Contributions”.

“In order to create noisein the media, several proclimate NGOs are focusing onadvocacy against coal, whichis considered a violation ofFCRA provisions,” the offi�cial added.

In 2017, the Ministry ofHome Aff�airs (MHA) had alsoobjected strongly to the International Labour Organisation’s Global Slavery Index,“questioning the credibilityof data” which had ranked

India 53rd of 167 countrieswhere “modern slavery”was prevalent, and as thecountry with highest number of people in forced labour, according to a reply inParliament.

The index is part of theAustralian Walk Free Foundation’s annual survey that isused by other NGOs workingin the fi�eld. Both the WalkFree Foundation, and itsfounding agency MinderooFoundation did not respondto emails from The Hindu requesting a response.

The MHA too declined tocomment on the PCR listing,which is not made public,although the governmenthas released numbers of

NGOs under the scanner ofsecurity agencies.

According to the MHA responses in Parliament, between 2016 a and 2020, thegovernment cancelled theFCRA licences of more than6,600 NGOs and suspendedthose of about 264.

A U.K.based NGO Commonwealth Human RightsInitiative (CHRI) has now taken the government to courtfor suspending its FCRA licence, and won temporaryrelief in the Delhi High Courtin allowing it to access 25%of its funds. A fi�nal order isexpected in October.

(With inputs from VikasDhoot and Devesh K. Pan-dey)

Govt. curbs funding for 10 climate change, child labour NGOsRBI note says U.S., Australian, and European entities would be placed on PRC list for foreign contributions as per the Union Home Ministry

Suhasini Haidar

NEW DELHI

The Congress will have tochoose from several hopefuls for a Rajya Sabha seatfrom Maharashtra andanother from Tamil Naduthat ally DMK had promisedthem, though the latter hasso far not offi�cially conveyedwhether they will concedethe seat now or in June 2022,when fi�ve Upper House seatsfrom the State go to the pollsout of 20 countrywide.

The vacancy in Maharashtra arose on the Congress’sRajeev Satav’s death, and hiswife is among the claimantsfor the secure seat.

Five Rajya Sabha seats willgot to the polls on October 4— two from Tamil Nadu andone each from Maharashtra,West Bengal and Assam. InTamil Nadu, the two seatsfell vacant following the resignation of AIADMK MPsK.P. Munusamy and R. Vaithilingam, after being electedto the Assembly. For Mr.

Vaithilingam’s seat, only an11month tenure is left.

During the seatsharingdiscussions ahead of the lastAssembly election betweenthe DMK and the Congress, atentative agreement wasreached between the two ona Rajya Sabha seat.

A section of the Congressis hopeful that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will push forsenior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, consideringthe latter’s warm relationship with the late M. Karunanidhi. Mr. Azad retired onFebruary 15 last after serving28 years in the House.

Sources in both the DMKand the Congress said that incase the DMK concedes theseat to the Congress, it won’tdictate terms and will gowith whoever the Congresschooses.

“It is unlikely they willpress for Mr. Azad’s nomination if the Congress is not onboard with it. They usuallybelieve in writing a blank

cheque,” a senior DMK leader said. Former Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi hasbeen pushing for a generational change in the party’sUpper House team and issaid to favour Praveen Chakravarty, chairperson of theData Analytics departmentof the party, for the TamilNadu seat.

Mr. Chakravarty, a Tamil,has been a critical memberof Mr. Gandhi’s team and also close to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Former IAS offi�cer S. Sasikanth Senthil, who quit thecivil services last year citinga “totalitarian attack on thecountry” and joined theCongress in November, is also in the list of contenders.

Tamil Nadu State Congress president K.S. Alagiri isalso hoping that he will beawarded for delivering victory in both the Lok Sabha andAssembly elections wherehe did not seek ticket forhimself.

Congress eyes Rajya Sabhaseats in Maharashtra, T.N.DMK has not made anything offi�cial on tentative poll pact

Sobhana K. Nair

New Delhi

Inderjeet Singh, grandson offormer President Giani ZailSingh, joined the BJP onMonday in the presence ofUnion Minister HardeepSingh Puri.

Welcoming him, BJP general secretary and Punjabunit incharge DushyantGautam said this showedthat the party held a specialplace in the hearts of the people of Punjab.

After joining the BJP at theparty’s headquarters in NewDelhi, Mr. Inderjeet Singhsaid he had “fulfi�lled” hisgrandfather’s wishes.

“The Congress did not behave properly with my

grandfather. I campaignedfor the BJP during the MadanLal Khurana days in Delhi.My grandfather wanted meto join the BJP. He had introduced me to late Atal BihariVajpayee and Lal Krishna

Advani,” he said. Mr. Singhhails from the RamgarhiaSikh community, whichcomes under the OBC category. The community has asubstantial presence in theDoaba and Majha belts ofPunjab.

The BJP has parted wayswith one its oldest allies, theShiromani Akali Dal (SAD),after the latter walked out ofthe NDA over the three contentious farm laws The SADhas been part of the protestsasking for the repeal of thethree laws.

Mr. Singh’s entry is an attempt to broadbase the BJP’sappeal among Sikhs in theState especially those on themargins of the community.

Zail Singh’s grandson joins BJP,says fulfi�lled grandfather’s wishCongress did not behave properly with him: Inderjeet Singh


NEW DELHI

Inderjeet Singh, left, beingwelcomed by Union MinisterHardeep Singh Puri. * PTI

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said on Mondaythat he has advised the media panellists and spokespersons of the BJP to increase their activity aheadof the 2022 Assembly polls.He also told them to update themselves and issuestatements daily.

‘Gear up for2022 U.P. polls’


LUCKNOW

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

(set by Dr. X)

Never go off� the grid.

We are digital now. Come solve online.

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

■ ACROSS

1 Inform about trouble with power converter’s core in part of

vehicle (8)

5 Gone in a second, stolen by criminal (6)

10 Beat slippery character smuggling unknown drug (5)

11 Most miserable friend seeks bit of therapy (9)

12 Thinks about models in fi�lm (5,4)

13 Creep in party, suppressing liberal (5)

14 Some praise a mercurial bowler (6)

15 Goodnatured female crushed by a lie (7)

18 Editor harassed model in American city (7)

20 Pay for fi�ne readymade clothes (6)

22 Cave is right inside volcanic mount, going west (5)

24 Piece of cake given by owner in bar leaves wife happy (27)

25 Remains enthralled by heavenly body, most attractive (9)

26 Listens to husband expressing new desires (5)

27 Bear in river swamp (6)

28 Move to have payment distributed proportionately in America (8)

■ DOWN

1 Wild time for fellow getting threecard sequence of same suit (6)

2 Nasty workers involved in troubling client (9)

3 What a kabaddi player might do to deceive playfully? (4,8,3)

4 Father fi�nished hollow muffin (7)

6 Likeminded people’s efforts to control Republican oaf after he

lost (5,2,1,7)

7 Editor inspires chaps to improve (5)

8 Chained revolutionary after smashing teeth (8)

9 Famous song a girl composed about love (6)

16 Most powerful star consuming fresh dope endlessly (9)

17 Commercial vehicle reviewed last month is stateoftheart (8)

19 Painful time, isolating millions, about to conclude (6)

20 Delivering a concoction of tea and bread for panellist (7)

21 Forced spider out (6)

23 Onset of melanoma in dog’s tongue (5)

SCAN TO PLAY

+ 13351SUDOKU

Solution to puzzle 13350 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The main postulate of the Advaita philosophy is the beliefthat liberation is automatic in the process of establishingoneself fi�rmly and instinctively with the self. Self knowledgeconfers the perception that the self is not the jiva. The self isnot in the category of any object, person or place in theworld that can be described and perceived in normal terms.It has to be recognised as already abiding in all beings.

The unique quality of the text Ashtavakra Gita is the manner in which the Advaita stance is unfolded by the preceptorAshtavakra to the disciple Janaka, pointed out Sri R. Rajagopala Sarma in a discourse. Herein both are knowers of theAbsolute Self, but they represent diff�erent ashrams, that is,the preceptor is a sanyasi who has renounced the world andJanaka, in spite of his realised state, is a king who activelyparticipates in the conduct of his kingdom Mithila.

As a preceptor, Ashtavakra knows the level of realisationattained by Janaka. Yet to make the world understand theexceptional quality of Janaka’s spiritual attainment, he poses very sharp questions meant to test the disciple. Are younot a Vairagya Sampanna, one who has renounced theworld? Are you not already poised with the knowledge ofthe Advaita standpoint that the Self is Supreme and withouta second, Ekameva Advitiyam? Then why are you still holding on to kingship and getting involved in worldly matterssuch as accumulation of wealth, state administration, lawand order, etc, even if it is for the sake of protecting the kingdom? Does this not show clearly that you are still deluded bythe pulls of the world? Janaka’s reply reinforces the fact thatatma jnana is not the sole prerogative of sanyasa ashramaand that many of our forebears have continued to remain inthe world of senses with a renunciate’s frame of mind.

FAITH

Test for disciple Janaka

An expert review publishedin medical journal The Lan-

cet has recommended thatbooster doses for the generalpopulation are not appropriate at this stage of the COVID19 pandemic, weighingin on the global debate thatcalls for caution in administering booster doses.

An international group ofscientists, including those atthe World Health Organisation and the U.S. Food andDrug Administration agency,concluded that even for theDelta variant, vaccine effi�cacy against severe COVID is sohigh at this stage that boosters would not be appropriate, and not required. Thereview summarises the currently available evidencefrom studies published in

peerreviewed journals andpreprint servers.

“The message that boosting might soon be needed, ifnot justifi�ed by robust dataand analysis, could adverselyaff�ect confi�dence in vaccinesand undermine messagingabout the value of primaryvaccination,” the paperstates.

Further, it goes on to explain: there could be risks ifboosters are widely introduced too soon, or too frequently, especially with vaccines that can haveimmunemediated sideeffects. If unnecessary boosting causes signifi�cant adverse reactions, there couldbe implications for vaccineacceptance that go beyondCOVID19 vaccines.

A consistent fi�nding fromthe observational studies isthat vaccines remain highlyeff�ective against severe disease, including that from allthe main viral variants, a release states. Averaging the

results reported from the observational studies, vaccination had 95% effi�cacy againstsevere disease both from theDelta variant and from theAlpha variant, and over 80%effi�cacy at protecting againstany infection from these variants, the release adds.

The authors note thateven if antibody levels in vaccinated individuals wane, itdid not necessarily mean reduction in the effi�cacy of vac

cines against severe disease.This could be because protection against severe disease is mediated not only byantibody responses, but alsoby longlived memory responses and cellmediatedimmunity.

Variantspecifi�c boostersThe ability of vaccines to elicit an antibody responseagainst current variants indicates that these variantshave not yet evolved to thepoint at which they are likelyto escape the memory immune response induced bythe vaccines. Even if newvariants that can escape thecurrent vaccines do evolve,they are most likely to do sofrom strains that have already become widely prevalent,and it makes sense to useboosters that have beenspecifi�cally made to attackpotential new variants.

“The limited supply ofthese vaccines will save themost lives if made available

to people who are at appreciable risk of serious diseaseand have not yet receivedany vaccine. Even if somegain can ultimately be obtained from boosting, it willnot outweigh the benefi�ts ofproviding initial protectionto the unvaccinated. If vaccines are deployed wherethey would do the mostgood, they could hasten theend of the pandemic by inhibiting further evolution ofvariants,” says lead authorAnaMaria HenaoRestrepoof the WHO.

“Although the idea offurther reducing the numberof COVID19 cases by enhancing immunity in vaccinated people is appealing,any decision to do so shouldbe evidencebased and consider the benefi�ts and risksfor individuals and society.These highstakes decisionsshould be based on robustevidence,” added SoumyaSwaminathan, WHO ChiefScientist, and co author.

Booster shots not required now: studyIt will dent vaccineacceptance, saysLancet reviewRamya Kannan

CHENNAI

Vaccine effi�cacy for severeCOVID is high even for Deltavariants, the study says.

A team of eight persons withdisabilities created a newworld record for the “largestnumber of people withdisabilities” to scale theworld’s highest battlefi�eld,Siachen Glacier, by scalingup to the Kumar Post at analtitude of 15,632 ft. Theteam with disabilities wastrained and led by CLAWGlobal, a team of SpecialForces veterans who had leftthe service due todisabilities.

“The expedition teamclimbed a total distance of60 km atop the spine of theSiachen Glacier over aperiod of fi�ve days fromSeptember 7 to fi�nally reachKumar Post on September11,” said Major Arun PrakashAmbathy (retd) of CLAWGlobal. The expedition wasactively supportedthroughout by the Army, hesaid.

Stating that the team

ascended 4,000 ft graduallywhile scaling the Glacier,Major Ambathy said theroute involved crossingseveral deep crevasses, icyglacial water streams,hardice stretches andundulating rocky moraines.“This not only tested thephysical endurance and

mental stamina, but also theicecraft skills of theparticipants, in use of iceaxe, crampons, laddercrossing and rope skills,” hesaid.

On the challenges facedby the team, Major Ambathysaid the extremely rough,rocky and undulating

terrain along the morainesof the glacier made theclimb particularlychallenging for the visuallyimpaired and the legamputees. “They displayedphenomenal grit despite thechallenges,” he said addingthat the participants withhand amputation had toconstantly work on theirbalance, managing the ropeand work on adaptations foremergency rescueprocedures.

This is the land worldrecord expedition part of“Operation Blue FreedomTriple World Records” beingundertaken by CLAWGlobal. CLAW Global was setup in January 2019 by MajorVivek Jacob (retd), a ParaSpecial Forces offi�cer, whohad to hang up his bootsfollowing a combat skydiveinjury after 14 years ofservice in the Army, withthe aim of teaching life skillsto adventurers and peoplewith disabilities.

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Braving all odds for a trek to Siachen

Dinakar Peri

NEW DELHI

A team of disabled persons creates history by scaling the world’s highest battlefi�eld

Resilience unlimited: The team climbed a total distance of 60km atop the spine of the Siachen Glacier. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Congress on Mondayquestioned the Central government’s proposal to reduce its stake in the Container Corporation of India(CONCOR), a public sectorundertaking (PSU) under theIndian Railways, saying thatthe PSU had been consistently earning profi�ts in the past10 years.

At a press conference at

the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters,party spokesperson GouravVallabh charged the Railways with changing theterms of leasing its land toCONCOR in a way that wouldput the company at a fi�nancial disadvantage and eventually aff�ect its market value.

“The Modi governmenthas given its nod to sell30.8% out of its 54.8% holding in CONCOR and manage

ment control to strategicbuyers. CONCOR has over60 Inland Container Depotsand 24 are situated on railway land,” Mr. Vallabh toldreporters. He pointed outthat the company hadearned a net profi�t of ₹� 503crore.

“Once decided for disinvestment, why the government is considering changing land licensing fees (LLF)from the existing 6% to

2%3% and lease period from5 years to 35 years? It is ofmore signifi�cance when Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone says ‘acquiringCONCOR will be a breeze’,”he stated.

“How can the Railwayland acquired from farmersat concessional rates behanded over to a private party for commercial use in abackdoor arrangement,” headded.

Cong. questions CONCOR divestmentContainer Corporation of India has been earning profi�ts in past 10 years, it says


New Delhi

Advanced Enzyme Technologies Ltd. (AETL) has said itssystemic enzyme and probiotic supplements — ImmunoSEB and ProbioSEB CSC3— have passed the randomised controlled clinicaltrials in terms of effi�cacy toresolve postCOVID19 fatigue symptoms.

“With an aim to evaluatethe effi�cacy and safety of thehealth supplements, ImmunoSEB [systemic enzymecomplex] and ProbioSEBCSC3 [probiotic complex] inpatients suff�ering from COVID19 induced fatigue, arandomised, multicentric,double blind and placebocontrolled trial was conducted in 200 patients suff�eringfrom post COVID19 fatigue

symptoms,” said Dr. AbhijitK. Rathi, Principal Scientist,AETL.

“The randomised clinicaltrial was conducted on 200patients who did not have anactive SARSCoV2 infection,as determined by a negative

COVID19 test, with a complaint of post COVID19 fatigue,” he stated.

Patients were required tohave a positive COVID19 testat any time in the past andthe trial was conductedacross three centres in India— Swasthya Hospital, Bhopal; Samvedna Hospital, Varanasi; and Chirayu MedicalCollege & Hospital, Bhopal —by investigators for 14 days.

“According to the clinicalresearch paper published bythe Switzerlandbased Medi-

cines journal on August 30,2021, the treatment effi�cacywas compared using theChalder Fatigue Scale(CFQ11) for 14 days. The supplemental treatment resulted in resolution of fatigue ina greater percentage in patients,” he observed.

Supplements for COVIDfatigue pass clinical trialsStudy was conducted on 200 patients across three centres


MUMBAI

Patients were required tohave a positive COVID19test at any time in the past.

The Supreme Court on Monday said the governmentshould consider certifyingCOVID19 as a reason fordeath in case of patientswho chose to take their ownlives.

A Bench led by JusticeM.R. Shah urged the government, while perusing thenew guidelines issued by theHealth Ministry which hassimplifi�ed the process of issuing death certifi�cates forthe pandemic patients, to becompassionate.

The guidelines excludedeaths caused by poisoning,suicide, homicide and accident even if the deceasedwas positive.

The court also sought details of the implementationof the guidelines by theStates.

It asked the governmentabout the formation of agrievance redressal mechanism in connection with thepolicy and also how the go

vernment was going to dealwith death certifi�cateswhich had already been issued to families of COVIDpatients.

Earlier judgementIn a judgment in June, thecourt had directed thatdeath certifi�cates of patientsshould show the “exactcause of death”.

The court had reasonedthat by not issuing the correct/accurate death certifi�cates mentioning the correctcause of death, that is CO

VID19, even the other citizens would be misled andthe correct fi�gure of deathswould not be known.

On Monday, the court alsoasked about compliance bythe National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)to its June 30 judgment onframing uniform guidelinesfor payment of ex gratia tothe families of COVID patients who had died.

The court had pulled upthe NDMA for “failing to perform its duty” to recommend ex gratia.

Be compassionate in issuingCOVID death certifi�cates: SC Govt. norms exclude deaths caused by poisoning, suicide

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The court had earlier directed that death certifi�cates ofpatients should show the “exact cause of death”. * FILE PHOTO

The Supreme Court on Monday said the legislature hasso far been reluctant to introduce “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” as aground for divorce becausemarriage is considered “sacramental” and is supposedto be an “eternal union oftwo people” under the Hindu law.

“Society at large does not

accept divorce, given theheightened importance ofmarriage as a social institution in India. Or at least, it isfar more diffi�cult for womento retain social acceptanceafter divorce. This coupledwith law’s failure to guarantee fi�nancial security to women in the event of a breakdown of marriage is stated tobe the reason for the legislature’s reluctance to introduce irretrievable break

down as a ground fordivorce,” a Bench of JusticesS.K. Kaul and Hrishikesh Royobserved in a judgment.

The court also noted thatrepeated allegations and litigation against a spouseamount to cruelty which is aground for divorce.

The judgment came in acase in which the wife left onthe wedding day itself. Thecourt said that she had goneon to initiate complaints and

allegations against her estranged spouse. “This conduct shows disintegration ofmarital unity and thus disintegration of the marriage. Infact, there was no initial integration itself which wouldallow disintegration afterwards,” the court said.

The court dissolved themarriage on both thegrounds of irretrievablebreakdown of marriage andcruelty.

SC calls for reforms in grounds for divorceLegal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onMonday confi�rmed a Madras High Court judgmentwhich upheld a fi�scal formula included in the Central Goods and Service TaxRules to execute refund ofunutilised Input Tax Credit(ITC) accumulated on account of input services.

The Supreme CourtBench led, by Justice D.Y.Chandrachud, passed thejudgment in the face of twocontradicting judgments ofGujarat and Madras HighCourts on the validity ofRule 89(5) of the CentralGoods and Service TaxRules, 2017.

Rule 89(5) provides aformula for the refund ofITC, in “a case of refund onaccount of inverted dutystructure”.

The Bench said thoughthe formula suff�ers from“inequities”, it did not deserve to be struck down.“We strongly urge the GSTCouncil to reconsider theformula and take a policydecision ,” the court said.

SC upholdsrefund ofunutilised ITC

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

CMYK

M ND-NDE

BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI


NIFTY 50

PRICE CHANGE

Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 745.10. . . . . . . . -4.60

Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3367.05. . . . . . . 20.70

Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 788.35. . . . . . . . -1.80

Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3699.55. . . . . . . . -1.05

Bajaj Finserv. . . . . . . . . . .. 16938.20. . . . . 187.70

Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7445.55. . . . . . . 14.90

Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 693.30. . . . . . . . . 7.15

BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 498.10. . . . . . . . . 6.95

Britannia Ind . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 4093.85. . . . . . . 23.05

Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 950.45. . . . . . . . . 1.15

Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 154.60. . . . . . . . . 5.95

Divis Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 5085.20. . . . . . . 30.30

Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 4931.40. . . . . . . 19.35

Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. . . . 2805.00. . . . . . -13.20

Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1606.35. . . . . . . . . 8.45

HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1208.40. . . . . . . . . 9.85

HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2849.80. . . . . . . 19.70

HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1555.55. . . . . . -13.05

HDFC Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 734.90. . . . . . . . -2.45

Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 2789.80. . . . . . . . -6.90

Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 478.35. . . . . . . 14.80

Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2786.35. . . . . . -24.30

ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 707.40. . . . . . -12.85

IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 996.30. . . . . . . . -3.20

Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1691.90. . . . . . . . . 0.30

Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 114.00. . . . . . . . . 1.20

ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 214.15. . . . . . . . . 1.50

JSW Steel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 694.40. . . . . . . . . 5.45

Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1840.05. . . . . . . 22.20

L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1671.70. . . . . . . . . 1.65

M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 745.55. . . . . . . . -5.20

Maruti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 6873.70. . . . . . . 71.45

Nestle India Ltd. . . . .. 20452.25. . . . . . . . -4.95

NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 115.00. . . . . . . . . 0.45

ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 123.05. . . . . . . . . 0.90

PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 173.90. . . . . . . . . 0.40

Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2371.55. . . . . . -54.05

SBI Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1165.15. . . . . . . . -8.05

State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 432.85. . . . . . . . . 0.55

Shree Cement . . . . . . . .. 30663.35. . . . . . . . -8.00

Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 780.30. . . . . . . . . 4.00

Tata Consumer

Products Ltd. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 882.10. . . . . . . . . 6.50

Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 301.20. . . . . . . . . 2.25

Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1463.45. . . . . . . 16.45

TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3845.35. . . . . . . 53.95

Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . 1429.50. . . . . . . . -3.75

Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2030.65. . . . . . . . -3.65

UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 7944.45. . . . . . . . . 4.80

UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 756.00. . . . . . . . -1.90

Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 670.75. . . . . . . . . 8.40

EXCHANGE RATES

Indicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on September 13

CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 73.47. . . . . . . 73.79

Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 86.52. . . . . . . 86.90

British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .101.56. . . . 102.00

Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 66.72. . . . . . . 67.01

Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 11.38. . . . . . . 11.43

Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 79.54. . . . . . . 79.89

Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 54.69. . . . . . . 54.93

Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 57.92. . . . . . . 58.20

Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 17.70. . . . . . . 17.78

Source:Indian Bank

market watch

13-09-2021 % CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 58,178 ddddddddddddd-0.22

US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 73.68 ddddddddddddd-0.24

Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 45,952 ddddddddddddddd0.00

Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 73.39 dddddddddddddddddd ---

The Supreme Court on Monday held that the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT) cannot permit withdrawals or modifi�cations of asuccessful resolution plan,once it has been submittedto it after due compliancewith the procedural requirements and timelines, solelyat the behest of the resolution applicant.

This would only createanother tier of negotiationswholly unregulated by theInsolvency and BankruptcyCode (IBC), the apex courtobserved.

“Since the 330 days outer

limit of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Proceedings (CIRP) under Section 12(3) of the IBC, including judicial proceedings, can beextended only in exceptional circumstances, this openended process for furthernegotiations or a withdrawal, would have a deleterious impact on the corporate debtor, its creditors,and the economy at large asthe liquidation value depletes with the passage oftime,” a Bench of JusticesD.Y. Chandrachud and M.R.Shah observed in a 190pagejudgment.

The court said the NCLTcannot read too much into

its residual powers underthe IBC and create procedural remedies which havesubstantive outcomes on theprocess of insolvency.

The judgment pertainedto the NCLT’s decision to allow Ebix Singapore PrivateLimited to withdraw its resolution plan submitted forEducomp Solutions.

The National CompaniesLaw Appellate Tribunal had,however, reversed the NCLTorder, saying the latter didnot have jurisdiction to permit such withdrawal.

The correctness of theNCLAT decision had comeup in appeal before the Supreme Court.

‘Such a move will create negotiations unregulated by IBC’

Krishnadas Rajagopal

NEW DELHI

NCLT can’t allow tweaks in asuccessful resolution plan: SC

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Monday saidthat the trust between government and industry iscritical for leveraging opportunities thrown up by theCOVID19 pandemic.

She also gave the assurance that the proposed development fi�nance institution, the National Bank forInfrastructure Financing andDevelopment, would become functional ‘soon’. Shewas addressing members ofthe Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII) here.

This trust is also refl�ectedin the government’s actions,

she said. Elaborating on thegovernment’s strategy forhandling the pandemic, theMinister said that on the onehand the focus was on ramping up vaccination as that

was the biggest protectionagainst the pandemic, whileon the other hand, the government was working onramping up health infrastructure, including in the

tier 2 and tier 3 cities, by supporting the private sector.

Liquidity is no longer amajor concern, she said,while pointing out that theBankNBFCMFI channel hadbeen declogged. From October 15, there would be aspecial drive to reach creditto those who need it, the Finance Minister said.

Parliament had earlierthis year passed a Bill to setup a ₹�20,000 crore DFI witha view to mobilise ₹�111 lakhcrore required for funding ofthe ambitious national infrastructure pipeline, whichhas more than 7,000 greenfi�eld and brownfi�eldprojects.

Centreindustry trust criticalduring pandemic: SitharamanGovt. focus is on ramping up vaccination, boosting health infrastructure, says FM

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

CHENNAI

In progress: The proposed development fi�nance institutionwould become functional ‘soon’, says the Minister. * N. RAJESH

The asset under management of the nonbanking fi�nancial company segmentdeclined in Q1 of 202122 onlower disbursements andportfolio rundown, ICRARatings said in a report.

After witnessing an uptick in Q3 and Q4 FY21, disbursements for NBFCs andhousing fi�nance companies declined again in Q1FY22. “Given this subdueddisbursements and portfolio rundown in the absenceof any moratorium like inQ1 FY21, the [AUM] forNBFCsegment shrunk inQ1 FY2022, while HFCs’AUM remained fl�at,” it said.

‘NBFC assetsdip on fall indisbursals’


MUMBAI

Jalan Kalrock Consortium,the successful resolution applicant of Jet Airways, announced on Monday that thegrounded carrier would resume domestic fl�ying operations in the fi�rst quarter ofnext year.

The process of reviving JetAirways was on track, withthe existing Air OperatorCertifi�cate (AOC) already under process for revalidation,the consortium said.

“The consortium is working closely with the relevantauthorities and airport coordinators on slot allocation,required airport infrastructure, and night parking,” thenew owners said in astatement.

“We received the NCLT

approval in June 2021, andsince then we have beenworking closely with all concerned authorities to get theairline back in the skies,”said Murari Lal Jalan, leadmember of the consortiumand the proposed nonexecutive chairman of Jet Air

ways. “Jet Airways 2.0 aimsat restarting domestic operations by Q12022, and shorthaul international operations by Q3/Q4 2022,” Mr. Jalan said.

“Our plan is to have morethan 50 aircraft in 3 yearsand over 100 in 5 years,

which also fi�ts perfectly wellwith the shortterm andlongterm business plan ofthe consortium,” he added.

The revival plan for JetAirways is being implemented as approved by NCLT andall the creditors would besettled as per the plan in thecoming months, the consortium said in a statement.

Captain Gaur, the new Accountable Manager and acting CEO said the airlinewould start with domesticoperations on an all narrowbody aircraft fl�eet leasedfrom major global aircraftlessors. Already more than150 fulltime employees hadbeen hired on payroll andthe plan was to onboardanother 1,000 employees inthe next 6 months across categories, he said.

Jet to resume local fl�ights in Q1 of 2022Airline to deploy all narrowbody aircraft fl�eet leased from major global lessors

More hands: The airline plans to onboard 1,000 employees in the next 6 months across categories. * PRASHANT WAYDANDE


Mumbai

A Kotak Mahindra Bank armon Monday announced a₹�1,000crore investment into a thirdparty logistics(3PL) business promoted bythe Southbased TVS family.

Kotak Special SituationsFund (KSSF) has invested₹�200 crore in TVS SupplyChain Solutions and has provided ₹�800crore fi�nance toT.S. Rajam Rubbers PrivateLtd. through a nonconvertible debentures route.

The loan will help TVSSCS promoter R. Dinesh acquire Canadian pension

fund CDPQ’s stake in TVSSCS, according to an offi�cialstatement.

“The investments willhelp the TVS family consolidate their holdings in TVSSCS,” it said.

“We are delighted to support the TVS group and R.Dinesh in consolidating theirownership in a valuable andhighgrowth, technologyledbusiness,” Srini Sriniwasan,

managing director at KSSF’sparent Kotak Investment Advisors, said.

‘Growth-oriented focus’

KSSF’s chief executive Eshwar Karra said the investment was in line with thefund’s objective of participating in growthorientedbusinesses.

The fund is registered asan alternate investmentfund with regulator SEBIand currently manages $1billion with a mandate to invest in special situations,credit and distressed spacein the domestic arena.

Kotak fund invests ₹�200 cr. inTVS Supply Chain Solutions KSSF also lends ₹�800 cr. to help promoter buy CDPQ stake


MUMBAI <> The investments are

intended to help the

TVS family

consolidate

holdings in TVS SCS

Vedanta Resources Ltd.(VRL) on Monday announced that the companyhad reduced its net debt by$300 million in the fi�rsthalf of this fi�scal and expects to further reduce itby $500 million in the second half of FY22.

With the entire debt repayment at Volcan, thepledge on all the equityshares of VRL had been released, the company said.

Volcan Investments is aninvestment arm of miningmagnate Anil Agarwal.

Shares of VRL’s subsidiary Vedanta Ltd. rose 2.2%to ₹�308.40.

Vedanta cutsnet debt by $300 mn in H1


NEW DELHI

Insurance regulator IRDAIhas extended the timelinesfor insurers to sell and renew shortterm COVIDspecifi�c health insurancepolicies by another sixmonths till March 31.

The partial modifi�cationof an earlier circular, inwhich it had set September30 as last date for sale andrenewal of Corona Kavachand Corona Rakshak, isbound to come as a relief forboth existing and prospective policyholders given thelurking threat of anotherwave of the pandemic.

Introduced last year by

insurers on the directions ofIRDAI, customer responseto the COVIDspecifi�c healthcovers has been encouraging. The mounting claims,in the face of a number ofpeople hospitalised for COVID19, however, led to reports of insurers keen on atariff� revision.

All other terms and conditions remain valid as specifi�ed under the respectiveguidelines, the regulatorsaid. Separately, IRDAI alsoextended till March 31 exemptions granted to generalinsurers for obtaining wetsignature on applications aswell as issuing hard copiesof the policy documents.

New deadline for COVIDpolicies is Mar. 31: IRDAIHard copy exemptions also get time


HYDERABAD

API Holdings Ltd., the parent fi�rm of digital healthcare brand PharmEasy hasannounced the appointment of fi�ve independent directors to strengthen thecomposition of its board.

These directors includeVineeta Rai, IAS (Retd.),former Revenue Secretaryof India; Subramanian Somasundaram, exCFO of Titan Company; RamakantSharma, founder and COO,Livspace; Dr. Jaydeep Tank,Gynaecologist, and Deepak

Vaidya, who has decades ofexperience in the fi�elds ofpharmaceuticals, microfi�nance, healthcare and private equity. The companysaid it would hire more than200 engineers for its soontobeopened developmentcentres in Hyderabad, Puneand NCR.

“Ahead of the opening ofthe new centres, PharmEasy will provide opportunities for inquisitive technology professionals, with afl�exible work model,” Abhinav Yajurvedi, CTO, PharmEasy, said in a statement.

PharmEasy parent namesindependent directorsCompany plans to hire 200 engineers


MUMBAI

The Supreme Court on Monday held that judicial delayshould not be a reason leading to the failure of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code(IBC) regime like the way itdid in the days before theCode came into existence.

“We urge the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT) and the NationalCompany Appellate Law Tribunal (NCLAT) to be sensitive to the eff�ect of such delays on the insolvencyresolution process and becognisant that adjournments hamper the effi�cacyof the judicial process,” aBench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah appealed.

The judgment is signifi�cant as NCLT and NCLAT are

among the key tribunalsstruggling with a burgeoningbacklog only matched bytheir increasing vacancies.The NCLT and the NCLATshould endeavour to strictlyadhere to the timelines stipulated under the IBC, it said.

“Judicial delay was one ofthe major reasons for the failure of the insolvency regime that was in eff�ect priorto the IBC. We cannot let thepresent insolvency regimemeet the same fate,” JusticeChandrachud observed.

The Bench observed that

‘long delays’ in approving resolution plans under the IBCby the NCLT aff�ect theirimplementation.

“These delays, if systemicand frequent, will have anundeniable impact on thecommercial assessment thatthe parties undertake duringthe course of the negotiation,” the Bench highlighted.

The court drew attentionto a report fi�led by the Ministry of Corporate Aff�airs’Standing Committee on Finance on the implementation of IBC.

The report had noted thata delay in the resolution process with more than 71% cases pending for over 180 dayswas in deviation of the original objective and timelinefor corporate insolvency resolution process envisagedby the IBC.

Clear pending resolution plans at once: SC to NCLT, NCLATKrishnadas Rajagopal

NEW DELHI

‘Don’t let judicial delays fail IBC’

Measures reportedly beingmulled by the governmentto ease telecom industry’sstress and fundraising maygive Vodafone Idea themuchneeded breather, butstructural issues undermining the sector can be fi�xedonly with a ‘sizeable’ tariff�increases for 4G prepaidcustomers, as per a note byEdelweiss.

It observed that as Vodafone Idea’s large liabilitiesare falling due, and giventhe impending launch of Jio

Phone Next (whose rollouttimeline has now beenpushed to before Diwali),“the sooner the governmentmeasures as well as tariff�hikes are rolled out, the better.” A moratorium on AGRand spectrum payments arereportedly among key reliefmeasures being lined up.

‘Sizeable tariff� increasemust for Vodafone Idea’‘Policy aid, fundraising only a breather’


NEW DELHI

Kinetic Engineering Ltd.said it had transformed itselfinto an auto componentsfi�rm making mainly gearboxes and EV parts.

The company, which hadearlier been making losses,had been in the profi�t zonefor the last two quarters,said managing director Ajinkya Firodia.

In its former avatar, itused to make the Lunabrand of mopeds and the Kinetic Honda scooter. It hadoutstanding debt of ₹�250crore that it has now repaid.

It has come out with an

Electric Vehicle (EV) kit forthe manufacture of EVthreewheelers that are indemand, following incentives provided by the government, the company said.

Since the government isencouraging EV suppliesfrom domestic sources, thecompany is expecting major

demand for EV kits, “We arecelebrating 50 years... ourcompany has now convertedinto an auto component manufacture,” Mr. Firodia said.

“We have developed acomplete EV kit that is 100%Indian. We are supplying theaxle and gear box, and havesourced the motor and controller from domestic thirdparties,” he said. Demand inIndia for EV threewheelersis about 20,000, sourcedmostly from China.

The fi�rm is expecting ₹�40crore of business from thisbusiness and and will soonintroduce a kit for EV twowheeler assembly, he said.

Company targeting threewheeler makers, says MD Firodia

Lalatendu Mishra

MUMBAI

Kinetic forays into EV kit business

India should take crediblesteps to return to the pathof fi�scal rectitude once theCOVID pandemic is over,15th Finance CommissionChairman N.K. Singh saidon Monday.

Stating that the country’s current debt profi�le isneither worrisome norcomforting, he said peoplehave to be mindful of thedebt situation while seeking more fi�scal stimulus.

Addressing a seminar,he said, “If you look at thetotal fi�scal stimulus of thegovernment which is upwards of 1213%, when people advocate greater fi�scalstimulus, I think we needto be careful.”

Return tofi�scal rectitudea must: Singh


NEW DELHI

As it seeks to enhance engagement with stakeholders, the National Financial Reporting Authority(NFRA) will set up a singlestakeholders’ advisorygroup as well as a researchcell to support the groupwhile onsite inspection isnot a priority for the almost threeyearold watchdog at this stage.

Besides, NFRA — an independent regulator foraccounting and auditing inIndia — is of the view thatintroduction of a ‘settlement mechanism’ for casesis only one aspect of manychanges that need to bebrought about in the law toproperly defi�ne its remit.

NFRA for singlestakeholders’advisory body PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI

Testifying before a U.S.House of RepresentativesCommittee, Secretary ofState Antony Blinken defended the Biden administration’s decision to withdrawU.S. troops from Afghanistanafter two decades, as well asthe actual withdrawal process in the last weeks of August, characterised by chaosand violence focused aroundKabul’s airport.

Mr. Blinken, in his opening remarks, which he delivered via videolink to theHouse Foreign Aff�airs Committee (HFAC) on Monday af

ternoon, suggested that President Joe Biden hadinherited a bad deal on Afghanistan from his predecessor, Donald Trump, that thealternative to withdrawalwould have cost lives, andthat the withdrawal wascoordinated with America’spartners.

He said the Trump administration had pressed the(former) Afghan governmentto release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including “top warcommanders” and had reduced U.S. troop strength to2,500. This put the Talibanin their strongest positionsince September 2001 and

the U.S. had its smallesttroop level since the invasion, Mr. Blinken said.

Mr. Biden had a choicebetween ending the war orescalating it — which wouldhave come at the cost of casualties and resulted in a“stalemate”, according toMr. Blinken.

“There’s no evidence thatstaying longer would havemade the Afghan securityforces or the Afghan government any more resilient orselfsustaining,” he said.

“Even the most pessimistic assessments did not predict that government forces inKabul would collapse while

U.S. forces remained,” hetold U.S. lawmakers.

Mr. Blinken also said hewas in “ constant contact”with U.S. allies and partners“to hear their views and factor them” into U.S. thinkingon withdrawal.

“I want to acknowledgethe more than two dozencountries that have helpedwith the relocation eff�ort —some serving as transit hubs,some welcoming Afghan evacuees for longer periods oftime, “ he said.

Among the current activities of the State Departmentwere eff�orts to help evacuateany remaining Americans,

Afghans and citizens ofpartner countries who wanted to leave Afghanistan, Mr.Blinken said.

The U.S. was also focusedon counterterrorism, as perthe Secretary, who said theTaliban had committed toprevent terrorist groupsfrom using Afghanistan as asafe haven. ( This has beenIndia’s central concern withthe unfolding situation in Afghanistan). “That does notmean we will rely on them[the Taliban],” he said, adding that the U.S. would remain vigilant and maintainrobust counterterrorismcapabilities in the region.

Blinken defends Afghan withdrawal before Congress He also defended the pullout process in the last weeks of August, characterised by chaos and violence

Sriram Lakshman

Washington

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulershave contradicted publicpromises on rights, including by ordering women tostay at home, blocking teenage girls from school andholding housetohousesearches for former foes, aUnited Nations offi�cial saidon Monday.

High Commissioner forHuman Rights Michelle Bachelet said Afghanistan wasin a “new and perilousphase” since the militant Islamist group seized powerlast month, with many women and members of ethnic

and religious communitiesdeeply worried.

“In contradiction to assurances that the Talibanwould uphold women’s

rights, over the past threeweeks, women have insteadbeen progressively excludedfrom the public sphere,” shetold the Human Rights Coun

cil in Geneva.Ms. Bachelet expressed

dismay at the composition ofthe Taliban government,noting the absence of women and its dominance byethnic Pashtun.

In some places, girls over12 were barred from schoolwhile women were told tostay at home, she said, inthrowbacks to the Taliban’soppressive rule between19962001 prior to a U.S.ledinvasion that toppled them.

Ms. Bachelet pointed toother broken pledges ongranting amnesty to formercivil servants and security offi�cers linked to the previous

government and prohibitinghousetohouse searches.

The United Nations has received multiple allegations ofsearches for those whoworked with U.S. companiesand security forces whilesome UN staff� have reportedincreasing attacks andthreats, she added.

Credible allegations of reprisal killings of some formerAfghan military membershave also been received, shesaid.

“I reiterate my appeal tothis Council to take bold andvigorous action, commensurate with the gravity of thiscrisis,” she said.

Taliban breaking promises: UN offi�cial‘Afghanistan is in a perilous phase; there are credible allegations of reprisal killings, says Michelle Bachelet

Reuters

Geneva

Qatari Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman AlThani,left, and Afghan PM Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund. * AFP

The UN human rights chiefon Monday said she looksforward to “concrete actions” from the Sri Lankangovernment on its promises,while urging members of theUN Human Rights Council tocontinue paying “close attention” to the island nation,whose rights record remainsin international focus after adecade since its civil warended.

High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet was referringto President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s remarks in June,when he told a domestic panel probing allegations ofrights abuse that that his government was “committedto work with the UN to ensure accountability” and will

implement “necessary institutional reforms”, evidentlydeparting from his earlierposition that Sri Lankawould pull out of UN mechanisms.

Delivering an oral updateon the human rights situation in Sri Lanka at the 48thsession of the Human RightsCouncil in Geneva, Ms. Bachelet sought “credible progress” in advancing reconciliation, accountability andhuman rights in the country.Her statement on Monday isa followup on her scathingreport in January this year,where she noted that SriLanka was “on an alarmingpath towards recurrence ofgrave human rights violations”. Her report informedthe debate in March thisyear, before the Council

adopted a resolution on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and humanrights in Sri Lanka’, with 22of the 47 memberstates voting in its favour. India hadabstained.

In her update to the Council, the High Commissionerobserved that the current social, economic and governance challenges faced by

and families of the disappeared” has not only continued, but “broadened” to awider spectrum of students,academics, medical professionals and religious leaderscritical of government policies, she said: “Severalpeaceful protests and commemorations have been metwith excessive use of forceand the arrest or detentionof demonstrators in quarantine centres.”

Responding to the HighCommissioner’s statementin a tweet, the Tamil National Alliance, the main grouping representing waraff�ected Tamils in the north andeast in Parliament, said: “Wewelcome the HC’s concernsand appeal to the MemberStates to refl�ect this at thediscussion and follow up.”

Sri Lanka indicate “the corrosive impact that militarisation and the lack of accountability continue to have onfundamental rights, civicspace, democratic institutions, social cohesion andsustainable development.”

She spoke of Sri Lanka’sdraconian terrorism law, thePrevention of Terrorism Act,which activists want repealed, pointing to the prolonged detention of lawyerHejaaz Hizbullah, for 16months now, and of AhnafJazeem, a poet, detainedwithout charge since May2020.

TNA welcomes concernsObserving that “surveillance, intimidation and judicial harassment of humanrights defenders, journalists

HRC chief calls for ‘close attention’ on Sri Lanka She seeks ‘credible progress’ in advancing reconciliation, accountability and human rights in the nation

Meera Srinivasan

Michelle Bachelet

Britain’s chief medical offi�cers said on Monday thatchildren aged 12 to 15should be vaccinatedagainst coronavirus, despite a ruling by the government’s vaccine advisersthat the step would haveonly marginal healthbenefi�ts.

Chief Medical Offi�cerChris Whitty and his counterparts in Scotland, Walesand Northern Ireland saidthat the age group shouldbe given a single dose ofthe Pfi�zerBioNTech vaccine. They have yet to decide on whether to give thestudents a second dose.The government has saidit’s highly likely to followthe recommendation.

U.K. may givenod to jabs for12 year olds

Associated Press

London

CMYK

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DELHI THE HINDU


WORLD

Ousted Myanmar leaderAung San Suu Kyi skippedthe resumption of her coronavirusdelayed trial in a junta court because she felt ill,her lawyer said on Monday.

Ms. Suu Kyi was deposedby the military in a Februarycoup that sparked a massuprising. The junta launcheda brutal crackdown to suppress opposition, and itsforces have killed more than1,000 civilians since, according to a local monitoringgroup.

Cut off� from the world except for brief meetings withher legal team and court appearances, Ms. Suu Kyi, 76,faces a raft of charges thatcould see her jailed for morethan a decade.

Her trial on charges sheviolated coronavirus restrictions during elections herparty won last year, and forillegally importing walkietalkies, was due to resume onMonday after a twomonthpause.

But Ms. Suu Kyi returnedhome after a prehearingmeeting with her legal team

as she had “car sickness”,her lawyer Min Min Soe said.

“She hasn’t gone anywhere by car in the last twomonths. That’s why she feltcar sickness today... She saidshe needs to go back home totake a proper rest.”

“We are really worriedabout her health,” Ms. MinMin Soe added.

The lawyer said she understood that a doctor andnurse were on call at thecompound where Ms. SuuKyi is being held under housearrest.

Two prosecution witness

es failed to appear at Ms. SuuKyi’s last hearing in July afterbecoming infected with thecoronavirus as Myanmar battled a third COVID19 wave.

The country’s virus response has been hampered bya mass civil disobediencecampaign that has seen thousands of doctors, volunteersand civil servants stop workto protest against themilitary.

Ms. Suu Kyi and her staff�have been fully vaccinatedagainst COVID19 since beingtaken into military custody,her lawyer said in July.

Journalists are barredfrom the proceedings againstMs. Suu Kyi, who also facescharges of sedition, accepting illegal payments of goldand violating a colonialerasecrecy law. She was also hitwith new anticorruptioncharges, Ms. Min Min Soesaid on Monday, althoughthe trial dates had not yetbeen set.

The junta has defended itspower grab by alleging massive fraud during the 2020elections that Ms. Suu Kyi’sNational League for Democracy won by a landslide.

‘Unwell’ Suu Kyi skips Myanmar trial hearingShe returned home after a prehearing meeting with her legal team due to car sickness, says lawyer

Agence France-Presse

Yangon

Barely a month in offi�ce, Malaysia’s new leader has wonopposition support to shoreup his fragile government inexchange for a slew of reforms as Parliament reopened on Monday.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob signed an unprecedented cooperation pactin Parliament with the mainOpposition bloc led by Anwar Ibrahim, in a move toprevent any bid to undermine his rule ahead of general elections due in twoyears.

The “political stabilityand transformation” pactwill give Mr. Ismail the backing of 88 lawmakers in Anwar’s bloc, in addition to 114that support him in the 222member house.

Mr. Ismail said in a statement that the pact will leadto bipartisan cooperationand political reforms thatwill bolster governance,fi�ght the COVID19 crisis,and help to revive theeconomy.

“The government is confi�dent that this memorandum of understanding willnot only help cast aside allpolitical diff�erences but alsoensure the country’s recovery is holistic and inclusive,”

Mr. Ismail said. Offi�cials said further de

tails of the agreement willbe unveiled soon.

New lawsThe pact came after Mr. Ismail last week off�ered reforms, including new lawsto prevent party defectionsand limiting the Prime Minister’s tenure to 10 years.He also pledged to immediately lower the minimumvoting age from 21 to 18, ensure bipartisan agreementon any new Bill and get opposition input on the country’s economic recovery. Healso made it so the role ofOpposition leader gets thesame remuneration and privileges as a Cabinet Minister.

Malaysia has recordedclose to two million COVID19 infections, with morethan 20,000 deaths.

Malaysian PM signs keypact with opposition MPsHe off�ers to carry out major reforms

Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR

Ismail Sabri Yaakob

An Israeli defence contractoron Monday unveiled a remotecontrolled armed robot it says can patrol battlezones, track infi�ltrators andopen fi�re. The unmannedvehicle is the latest additionto the world of drone technology, which is rapidlyreshaping the modernbattlefi�eld.

Proponents say such semiautonomous machines allowarmies to protect their sol

diers, while critics fear thismarks another dangerousstep toward robots makinglifeordeath decisions.

The fourwheeldrive robot presented on Mondaywas developed by the stateowned Israel Aerospace Industries’ “REX MKII.”

It is operated by an electronic tablet and can beequipped with two machineguns, cameras and sensors,said Rani Avni, deputy headof the company’s autonomous systems division. The

robot can gather intelligence for ground troops,carry injured soldiers andsupplies in and out of battle,and strike nearby targets.

It is the most advanced ofmore than half a dozen unmanned vehicles developedby Aerospace Industries’subsidiary, ELTA Systems,over the past 15 years.

The Israeli military is currently using a smaller but similar vehicle, called the Jaguar, to patrol the borderwith the Gaza Strip.

Israeli fi�rm unveils armed robot to patrol bordersCritics fear this marks another dangerous step toward robots making lifeordeath decisions

Associated Press

Lod

Ahead of California poll,Biden hits campaign trail WASHINGTON

U.S. President Joe Biden

kicked off a visit to scorched

western States on Monday to

hammer home his case on

climate change and big public

investments, as well as to

campaign in California’s recall

election. He will be there to

support Governor Gavin

Newsom, who is facing a

referendum that could cost

him his job. Before hitting the

Golden State, Mr. Biden

departed for Boise, Idaho,

where he will visit the federal

firefighting coordination

centre. AFP

ELSEWHERE

Gunmen free 240 from Nigeria prisonABUJA

Heavily armed gunmen

stormed a jail in Nigeria’s

central Kogi State overnight,

freeing scores of inmates, a

prison spokesman said on

Monday. It was unclear who

the gunmen were but central

and northwest Nigeria have

been terrorised by criminal

gangs for years. In a separate

incident, a military base in

northwest Zamfara state was

attacked at the weekend.

Gunmen killed 12 Nigerian

security forces in that attack,

two security sources said on

Monday. AFP

Fighting machines: The unmanned vehicle REX MKII near thecentral Israeli city of Lod, in this fi�le photo. * AP

Climate change could pushmore than 200 million people to leave their homes inthe next three decades andcreate migration hot spotsunless urgent action is takento reduce global emissionsand bridge the developmentgap, a World Bank report hasfound.

The second part of theGroundswell report published on Monday examined how the impacts ofslowonset climate change,such as water scarcity, decreasing crop productivityand rising sea levels, couldlead to millions of what it describes as “climate migrants” by 2050 under threediff�erent scenarios with varying degrees of climate action and development.

Under the most pessimistic scenario, with a high levelof emissions and unequaldevelopment, the report forecasts up to 216 million people moving within theirown countries across the sixregions analysed. Those regions are Latin America;North Africa; SubSaharanAfrica; Eastern Europe andCentral Asia; South Asia; andEast Asia and the Pacifi�c.

In the most climatefriendly scenario, with a lowlevel of emissions and inclusive, sustainable development, the world could stillsee 44 million people beingforced to leave their homes.

The fi�ndings “reaffi�rm thepotency of climate to inducemigration within countries,”said Viviane Wei Chen Clement, a senior climatechange specialist at theWorld Bank and one of thereport’s authors.

Most vulnerable regionIn the worstcase scenario,SubSaharan Africa — themost vulnerable region dueto desertifi�cation, fragilecoastlines and the population’s dependence on agriculture — would see the mostmigrants, with up to 86 million people moving withinnational borders.

North Africa, however, ispredicted to have the largestproportion of climate migrants, with 19 million people moving, equivalent toroughly 9% of its population,due mainly to increased water scarcity in northeasternTunisia, northwestern Algeria, western and southernMorocco, and the central Atlas foothills, the report said.

In South Asia, Bangladeshis particularly aff�ected byfl�ooding and crop failures,accounting for almost half ofthe predicted climate migrants, with 19.9 million people, including an increasingnumber of women, movingby 2050 under the pessimistic scenario.

“This is our humanitarianreality right now and we areconcerned this is going to beeven worse, where vulnerability is more acute,” saidProf. Maarten van Aalst, director of the InternationalRed Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, who wasn’t involved with the report.

Many scientists say theworld is no longer on trackto the worstcase scenariofor emissions. But even under a more moderate scenario, Mr. van Aalst said manyimpacts are occurring fasterthan expected, “includingthe extremes we are experiencing, as well as potentialimplications for migrationand displacement.”

In most optimistic scenario, 44 mn would still be displaced

Associated Press

Barcelona

Alarming situation: A fl�oodaff�ected family on a boat inMorigaon district of Assam, in this fi�le photo. * AP

Climate change could cause216 mn to migrate: World Bank

North Korea said on Monday that it successfully tested newly developed longrange cruise missiles overthe weekend, the fi�rstknown testing activity inmonths, underscoring howthe country continues to expand its military capabilitiesamid a stalemate in nuclearnegotiations with the UnitedStates.

The staterun KoreanCentral News Agency reported that the missilesshowed they can hit targets1,500 Km away on Saturdayand Sunday. State media published photos of a projectile being fi�red from alauncher truck and whatlooked like a missile travel

ing in the air. The North hailed its new

missiles as a “strategic weapon of great signifi�cance” —wording that implies theywere developed with the intent to arm them with nuclear warheads.

North Korea says it needsnuclear weapons in order todeter what it claims is hostility from the U.S. and SouthKorea — and has long attempted to use the threat ofsuch an arsenal to extracteconomic aid or otherwiseapply pressure. The Northand ally China faced off�against South Korea andU.S.led UN forces in the195053 Korean War, a confl�ict that ended in an armistice that has yet to be replaced with a peace treaty.

North Korea tests new‘longrange cruise missile’‘They can hit targets 1,500 km away’

Associated Press

Seoul

CMYK

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THE HINDU DELHI


Daniil Medvedev shatteredNovak Djokovic’s Grand Slamdream with a straightset victory in the US Open fi�nal hereon Sunday, denying theWorld No. 1 a recordbreaking21st Major men’s singles title.

Dominant

Russia’s secondranked Medvedev dominated Djokovic64, 64, 64 to prevent thefi�rst calendaryear GrandSlam since 1969 and keepDjokovic level with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal atopthe career Slam title list.

“Sorry for you fans and Novak because we all know whathe was going for,” Medvedevsaid. “What you have accomplished in your career... forme, you are the greatest tennis player in history.”

Medvedev captured hisfi�rst Grand Slam title in histhird Slam fi�nal, a rematch ofFebruary’s Australian Openfi�nal, won in straight sets bythe 34yearold Serbian tolaunch his Slam quest.

“Congratulations to Daniil.Amazing match,” Djokovicsaid. “If there’s anyone thatdeserves a Grand Slam titleright now, it’s you.”

Djokovic’s bid to sweep theUS, French and AustralianOpens and Wimbledon in the

same year for the fi�rst timesince Rod Laver did it 52years ago collapsed at the lasthurdle, with the 83yearoldAussie legend Laver among23,700 watching at ArthurAshe Stadium.

Djokovic missed out on hisfourth US Open title and willenter 2022 tied with ‘BigThree’ rivals Roger Federerand Rafael Nadal, both absentwith injuries, on an alltimerecord 20 men’s Slam titles.

A tearful Djokovic paid tribute to the crowd that roaredsupport for him even whenall seemed lost down two setsand two breaks.

“Even though I have notwon the match, my heart isfi�lled with joy and I’m thehappiest man alive becauseyou guys have made me feelspecial on the court,” Djokov

ic said. “You guys touch mysoul. I’ve never felt like this inNew York.”

Djokovic saw his 27matchSlam win streak halted threeshy of the record he set in2015 and 2016 when he wonfour consecutive Slams, ending with the 2016 FrenchOpen. Medvedev, 25, becamethe third Russian man to wina Grand Slam title after Yevgeny Kafelnikov at the 1996French Open and 1999 Australian Open and Marat Safi�nat the 2000 US Open and2005 Australian Open.


New York

U.S. OPEN

Finals: Men: 2Medvedev (Rus)bt 1Djokovic (Srb) 64, 64,64.Women: Doubles: 14Stosur &Shuai (Aus/Chn) bt 11Gauff� &McNally (USA) 63, 36, 63.

THE RESULTS

When Mahak Jain won thegirls’ title in the Road toWimbledon UK under14tennis championship in2015, Emma Raducanu hadgiven a hint of her future bywinning a doubles quarterfi�nal against the Indian 62,60.

Raducanu, about 12 then,had partnered Andre Lukosiute to beat Mahak and herpartner Mathilde Sreeves.

Queried about Indianplayers dominating the tournament, British coach DanBloxham had mentionedthen that English playerswere “working doublyhard”.

The 18yearold Raducanuhas taken the quickest steps,as a qualifi�er ranked 150, to aGrand Slam title in NewYork. Her best title beforethis was the $25,000 tournament she won in Pune in De

cember 2019.In January 2018, Raduca

nu had won the ITF grade3junior tournament in Chandigarh, and followed that

with the grade2 title inDelhi.

Vaidehi Chaudhari had agood match against Raducanu in Delhi, but retired at46, 24 owing to a sprainedankle

“I remember Emma beingvery energetic and gettingevery ball back. She was very quick on court. I feel veryproud to have played a goodmatch against her,” recalledVaidehi, who trains withcoach Jignesh Raval inAhmedabad.

“Emma was on a missionthen. She was winning a series of junior titles at thattime. She was on fi�re,” recalled Raval.

Conceding that Raducanu’s incredible success haslent a lot of clarity to theright approach, Raval saidthat he would make a seriesof videos to educate playersand parents about, “what todo, and what not to do”.

Raducanu and her Indian sojournShe won a couple of junior events here a few years back

Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI

Raducanu. * FILE PHOTO

Dwarshuis in for Woakesin DC squadDUBAI

Uncapped Australian leftarm

pacer Ben Dwarshuis was on

Monday named as Chris

Woakes’ replacement in the

Delhi Capitals squad for the

second half of the Indian

Premier League. The

27yearold has picked up 12

and 100 wickets from seven

and 82 ListA and T20

matches so far. PTI

IN BRIEF

The Indian Davis Cup team,spearheaded by PrajneshGunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan, has assembled in strength in Helsinki for the Davis Cup WorldGroup fi�rst round tie againstFinland.

The players arrived fromdiff�erent places, and Ramkumar was the last to reach after he had won the Challenger doubles title in France onSaturday.

Asian Games gold medallists Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will play the doubles rubber in the tiescheduled for September 17and 18.

Saketh Myneni stepped into support the team after Sumit Nagal had opted out ofthe tie.

The team has been train

ing at the Smash TennisCentre ever since the playersreached Helsinki. The venuefor the tie, Espoo MetroAreena, is a icehockey stadium, which will have a temporary tennis court, which isexpected to be ready forpractice from Tuesday.

The team is also scheduled to get into a bubble onTuesday, after which it willbe restricted movementfrom hotel to venue for the

whole team, which has RohitRajpal as the captain andZeeshan Ali as the coach.

AITA president Anil Jainand secretarygeneral AnilDhupar have strengthenedthe team with their presence. Gaurang Shukla andYash Pandey are the physios.

The Indian AmbassadorRaveesh Kumar hosted a dinner for the Indian team onSunday, with the numberrestricted to 25 as per the

rules. With the emphasis onvaccination, people are notrequired to sport masks.

With the whole Indianteam vaccinated, the members have been exemptedfrom going through any COVID19 test. They will onlyhave the temperature checkon a daily basis.

Despite rains and a coldweather over the weekend,the team has been trainingindoors without any hitch.

India takes on Finland in fi�rst round tieThe players assemble in Helsinki from diff�erent places

Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI

DAVIS CUP

Here we come: The Indian Davis Cup team, along with coach and support staff�, strikes a poseafter arriving in Helsinki. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Former India captain andhead coach Anil Kumble feltthat analytics and data intelligence in the sport is goingto play a bigger role goingforward especially in theshorter formats of the gamelike T20 and The Hundred.

“I think the shorter thegame, the sort of infl�uencethat data will have will bemore and more. The dependence on data is far more inputting together a squad,strategies and matchups.

And we keep talking aboutmatchups and that's howyou build a strategy around

teams, so that will be thedriving factor,” said Kumble.

India’s highest Test wickettaker was speaking at a panel discussion on BuildingCompetitive Advantagethrough Sports Analyticsand Data Intelligence, organised by Great Lakes Instituteof Management, Chennai,with Deakin UniversitySouth Asia.

The 50yearold who iscurrently the head coach ofIPL side Punjab Kings, alsoadded that players will needto adapt to new technologies

and data if they don’t want tobe left behind.

“I know that we are stillsort of having that debate over, is this too much technology in sport or should I just goback to my own belief of ‘Ijust watch the ball and hitthe ball’?

“Yes, that's a simple way.But then I think, if you don'tsort of adapt to technologythat's coming in and use thattechnology for the good ofthe game, I think people willbe left behind,” he added.

Technology will play a bigger role: Kumble S. Dipak Ragav

Chennai

Anil Kumble. * FILE PHOTO

India and Royal ChallengersBangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli stated that COVID19 has thrown the cricket schedule out of gear, andthat “anything can happen”.

Kohli arrived in UAE forthe second leg of the IPL afew days earlier thatplanned, after the fi�fth Testbetween India and Englandwas called off�. The fi�nal Testat Manchester took the hitafter members of the Indiancontingent, including head

coach Ravi Shastri, testedpositive for COVID19.

“It is unfortunate that wehad to end up here (in UAE)early, but with COVID19,

things are very uncertain.Anything can happen at anytime.

Hopefully we will be ableto maintain a good, strong,and secure environment,and have a quality IPL,” Kohli said in a RCB Bold Diaries

video.Kohli and pacer Mo

hammed Siraj both ofwhom travelled from Manchester to Dubai via a chartered fl�ight will serve a quarantine period of six daysbefore joining the RCBsquad for training.

‘Unfortunate to end up here early’Ashwin Achal

Bengaluru

Kohli. * FILE PHOTO

Making amends for its failure to fi�nish the job in

the second set, India scripteda commanding 51 victory inthe blitz tiebreaker againstUkraine to enter the semifi�nals of the FIDE Online ChessOlympiad on Monday.

After India comfortablywon the fi�rst set 42, Ukrainerallied from 0.52.5 in the second to win the last threegames, involving Vidit Gujrathi, R. Vaishali and K. Humpy, in that order.

In the tiebreaker, playedunder the timecontrol ofthree minutes for each playerand a twosecond incrementper move, India dominated ingreat style after resting Viswanathan Anand and P. Harikrishna on the top two boards.

Nihal Sarin, benefi�ciary of

a 12minute advantage on theclock after Platon Galperin reported late in the fi�rst set,won against the same rivalwhen the Ukrainian’s internetconnection dropped.

Soon, Vidit drew with Vassily Ivanchuk and Harikascored her third victory of theday by destroying NataliyaBuska with a fi�ne display oftactics. Vaishali returned towinning ways before Humpydrew to complete India’striumph.

Anand relieved

“Relived”, was how Ananddescribed the feeling after thematch, before adding, “Obviously disappointed not toscore in the second game,which would have clinched it(for India). When I made thedraw, I thought we hadclinched it anyway.

“I looked at the three (ongoing) games and thought onat least two, we were safe.Then a dramatic turnaroundhappened after which Indiadid extremely well in theblitz.”

Harika’s return to formwas great news for India. Recovering from viral duringthe league phase duringwhich she was involved inthree draws, Harika pro

duced a scintillating performance by winning against inform Nataliya Buska and Natalia Zhukova.The results (quarterfi�nals):

Set I: Ukraine lost to India 24(Vassily Ivanchuk drew with Viswanathan Anand; Kirill Shevchenko drew with P. Harikrishna;Iulija Osmak drew with K. Humpy; Nataliya Buska lost to D. Harika; Platon Galperin lost to Nihal Sarin; Mariia Berdnyk drewwith R. Vaishali).

Set II: India lost to Ukraine 2.53.5 (Anand drew with Ivanchuk;Vidit lost to Kirill Shevchenko;Humpy lost to Osmak; Harika btNatalia Zhukova; R. Praggnanandhaa bt Galperin; Vaishalilost to Berdnyk).

Blitz tiebreaker: Ukraine lost toIndia 15 (Ivanchuk drew with Vidit; Shevchenko lost to B. Adhiban; Osmak drew with Humpy;Buksa lost to Harika; Galperinlost to Sarin; Berdnyk lost toVaishali).

India gets past Ukraine, enters semifi�nalsRAKESH RAO

D. Harika. * FILE PHOTO

Real Madrid returned to theSantiago Bernabeu after 560days and Karim Benzemaensured it was a happy homecoming as his hattrick inspired a 52 fi�ghtback againstCelta Vigo on Sunday.

Liverpool’s teenage midfi�elder Harvey Elliott said hehad been overwhelmed bythe “love and support” hehas received since dislocating his ankle in Sunday’s 30win at Leeds.

Elliott sustained the gruesome injury after a challengeby Leeds defender PascalStruijk, who was sent off� after a VAR review.The results: LaLiga: Cadiz 0lost to Real Sociedad 2 (Oyar

zabal 71, 84pen); Real Madrid5 (Benzema 24, 46, 87pen,Vinicius Junior 55, Camavinga72) bt Celta Vigo 2 (Lorenzo 4,Cervi 31).

Bundesliga: Borussia M’Gladbach 3 (Stindl 35, 69, Zakaria72) bt Arminia Bielefeld 1 (Oku

gawa 45+2).

Serie A: Roma 2 (Cristante 37,El Shaarawy 90+1) bt Sassuolo1 (Djuricic 57); AC Milan 2 (Leao45, Ibrahimovic 67) bt Lazio 0.

Premier League: Leeds 0 lostto Liverpool 3 (Salah 20, Fabinho 50, Mane 90).


Madrid

Hattrick hero: Karim Benzema converts from the spot forReal Madrid’s fi�fth goal and his third. * AFP

Real sails on Benzema hattrickEURO LEAGUES

Pakistan appointsHayden, Philander ascoaches LAHORE

Former Australia Test opener

Matthew Hayden and

exSouth Africa pacer Vernon

Philander have been

appointed as coaches of the

Pakistan team for the

upcoming ICC T20 World Cup

in the UAE, the board

announced on Monday. PTI

Root pips Bumrah toICC monthly awardDUBAI

England captain Joe Root

pipped India’s Jasprit Bumrah

and Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi

to claim the ICC’s

PlayeroftheMonth award

for August. Ireland allrounder

Eimear Richardson picked up

the women’s award. PTI

Taylor bids adieu tointernational cricketBELFAST

Former Zimbabwe skipper

and wicketkeeper batsman

Brendan Taylor has decided

to retire from international

cricket and will play his last

match on Monday against

Ireland. ANI

Ramiz is PCB chairmanLAHORE

Former captain Ramiz Raja

was on Monday unanimously

elected chairman of the

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)

for a threeyear term,

succeeding Ehsan Mani who

stepped down last month.

Ramiz said resumption of

bilateral assignments with

India is “impossible right now”

and he is “not in a hurry” for it

either as his focus is solely on

his country’s domestic circuit

at this point. PTI

Clinical Medvedev dashes Djokovic’s Grand Slam dreamRussian picks up his fi�rst Major title, salutes rival as the ‘greatest ever’; the Serb’s bid to emulate Laver collapses at the fi�nal hurdle

CMYK

M ND-NDE

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DELHI THE HINDU


Sri Lanka vs South Africa:3rd T20I, Sony Ten 2 (SD &HD), 7 p.m.

Champions League: SonyTen 1, 2, 3 & Sony Six (SD &HD), 10.15 p.m. & 12.30 a.m.(Wednesday)

TV PICKS

Paine to undergoneck surgeryBRISBANE

Australia Test captain Tim

Paine is set to undergo

surgery on his neck in a bid to

be fit for the Ashes series in

December. Cricket Australia

said on Monday the

36yearold wicketkeeper

would undergo surgery this

week for a pinched nerve in

his neck and was likely to be

back at training in October.

Australia is scheduled to host

the Ashes from December 8.AP

IN BRIEF

Asian volley: Qatar’sturn to beat IndiaCHIBA

Qatar beat India 2522, 2514,

2520 in the Asian men’s

volleyball championship here

on Monday. For India, Jerom

Vinith was topscorer with 19

points. After a second

successive defeat, India’s

chances of making the

quarterfinals appear bleak as

it takes on World No. 10

Japan, bronze medallist at

the last edition in 2019, on

Tuesday.

Winner disqualifi�ed forwearing wrong shoesVIENNA

Ethiopia’s Derara Hurisa was

disqualified for wearing the

wrong shoes after winning

the Vienna Marathon on

Sunday. The 24yearold

Hurisa was told he had been

disqualified because the soles

of his shoes were 1cm thicker

than the maximum 4cm

allowed. Leonard Langat of

Kenya, who had originally

finished second (2:9:25s) —

was declared winner. AP

Shubhankar grabs top10fi�nish at BMW meetWENTWORTH (UK)

Shubhankar Sharma fired a

sixunder 66, his best of the

week, to finish tied ninth at

the 2021 BMW PGA

Championship, here on

Sunday. As a result

Shubhankar has risen 26

places in the Race to Dubai

rankings to 78th. American

Billy Horschel emerged

winner. PTI

The AFI is likely to focus only on events which are likelyto bring medals in nextyear’s CommonwealthGames in Birmingham whilea fullstrength team couldgo for the Asian Games inHangzhou.

“We are trying to identifythe people who will participate in which competition.There are certain eventswhere we have good chances of winning medals in theCommonwealth Games,they (athletes who are goodin these events) will only besent only for this,” said LalitK. Bhanot, the chairman ofAFI’s Planning Committee,on Monday evening.

“But defi�nitely we will gowith full strength to theAsian Games. And thosewho qualify, we will sendthem to the World championships (in the US).”

The three majors will beheld within the space ofsome two months from July

15, next year.But AFI president Adille

Sumariwalla made it clearthat there will be a lastmeet, before the Worlds andthe Olympics, where athletes will have to provethemselves even if theymake the qualifi�cation cutearlier.

Final trial“We have seen that the qualifi�cation period for theOlympics and Worlds is a very long one. So, athleteshave sometimes qualifi�edeven a year before. Now, wehave taken a decision thatthere will be one fi�nal trial(most probably a championship) where they will have toperform even if they had already qualifi�ed,” said Sumariwalla. “If they are close tothe qualifying performance,it’s fi�ne, otherwise those people will be dropped.”

The AFI also made it clearagain than noncampers willnot be picked for relayteams.

CWG — only athleteswith medalwinningpotential to be sentFullstrength likely for Asian Games


KOCHI

They all broke national records this year but the slumpin their performance at theTokyo Olympics has forcedthe Athletics Federation ofIndia to change the coachesof long jumper M. Sreeshankar, shot putter TajinderpalSingh Toor and javelin thrower Annu Rani.

“Sreeshankar’s coach, hisfather (former internationalS. Murali), had given in writing that if he did not performat the Olympics, if he did notcross 8m, he will stop coaching him and he will listen tous and we can get him another coach, foreign coach orwhatever. The fi�rst action hasalready been taken, we havechanged his coach,” said AFIpresident Adille Sumariwallaafter the federation’s executive council meeting in Jaipuron Monday evening.

“Annu’s and ShivpalSingh’s coach Uwe Hohn(former world record holder)is also being sent home andwe are looking for a foreigncoach for Toor.” Two new javelin coaches will beappointed.

However, the fate of Russian Galina Bukharina, therelays and quartermilerscoach, is not clear. For years,the AFI had been harpingthat the women’s 4x400mrelay team had the potentialto win an Olympic medal.This time, however, Indiacould not qualify for theOlympics with many of theleading quartermilersinjured.

“We are evaluating thereasons: what happened inthe women’s, the injuries,the causes... but don’t forgetthe men broke the Asian record, so the 400m coach hasone good and one bad... wehave to evaluate, there is nolove for anybody, if you don’tperform, you perish,” said

Sumariwalla.Despite the many set

backs, this has also been India’s bestever Olympics withjavelin thrower Neeraj Chopra bringing the country itsfi�rst athletics gold. And withthree medals coming in theunder20 Worlds in Nairobi,the AFI has decided to focuson the juniors in a big way.

Foreign coaches will bebrought for the juniors in select events like the 400m, javelin throw, long jump, triplejump and race walking. Theywill have more competitionstoo.

The AFI president also revealed that Tata Steel will bethe host of the National Openchampionships for the nextfi�ve years in Jamshedpur.

AFI takes tough measuresSreeshankar, Tajinder and Annu to have new coaches

ATHLETICS

Stan Rayan

KOCHI

Sreeshankar. Annu Rani.

Last year’s fi�nalist ATKMohun Bagan will lock hornswith Kerala Blasters FC inthe opening match of theHeroIndian Super League202122 season, at the PJNStadium, Fatorda, Goa, onNovember 19.

The organisers said onMonday, the initial schedule— featuring 55 matches — willrun until January 9, 2022.The remaining fi�xtures willbe announced in December.

Three venues in Goa —PJN, Athletic Stadium, Bam

bolim, and Tilak Maidan Stadium — will host 115 matchesthis season.

Late kickoff�The league has introduced a9.30 p.m. kickoff� for the second match of the doubleheaders on Saturdays fromNovember 27. The othermatches will have a 7.30p.m. start.

SC East Bengal, anotherKolkata giant that overcameinternal issues to enter theleague at the last minute,will play its fi�rst matchagainst Jamshedpur FC at Ti

lak Maidan on November 21.

The fi�rst Kolkata derby,between ATKMB and SCEB,will be at the Tilak Maidan at7.30 p.m. on November 27.ATKMB’s fi�xtures: Nov. 19: vsBlasters; Nov. 27: SCEB; Dec. 1:MCFC; Dec. 6: JFC; Dec. 11:CFC; Dec. 16: BFC; Dec. 21:NEUFC; Dec. 29: FC Goa; Jan. 5:HFC; Jan. 8: OFC (all matchesat 7.30 p.m.).

SCEB’s schedule: Nov. 21: JFC;Nov. 27: ATKMB; Nov. 30: OFC;Dec. 3: CFC; Dec. 7: FC Goa;Dec. 12: Blasters; Dec. 17:NEUFC; Dec. 23: HFC; Jan. 4:BFC; Jan. 7: MCFC (all matchesat 7.30 p.m.).

ATKMB takes on Blasters in openerGoa to host entire Indian Super League at three venues

Y.B. Sarangi

KOLKATA

Sergio Busquets said onMonday he was still in a“state of shock” after LionelMessi’s departure as Barcelona prepares to start its fi�rstChampions League withoutthe Argentinian since 2003.

Barca faces Bayern Munich at Camp Nou in Group Eon Tuesday — the fi�rst timeafter the 82 thrashing lastyear — and will begin thecompetition as outsiders following a traumatic summertransfer window.

“I felt like everyone else, Iwas in a state of shock,” Busquets said in a press conference.

Meanwhile, Bayern coachJulian Nagelsmann saidthings were changing at Barcelona and added thatplayers like midfi�elders Pedriand Frenkie De Jong and forward Memphis Depay wouldget opportunities to shine.

Managing game timeManchester United managerOle Gunnar Solskjaer said hewill carefully manage Cristiano Ronaldo’s playing time.

United returns to action in

Tuesday’s match againstSwiss club Young Boys andSolskjaer said he would notrule out resting Ronaldo.

Massimiliano Allegri is theman who has taken Juventusclosest to its dream of Champions League glory in recentseasons, but he begins thisseason’s European campaign in the midst of a dreadful start to the domesticseason.

Juventus kicks off� at Mal

mo, a relatively soft start toGroup H which before theNapoli defeat Allegri calledthe “most important” gameof a group which also contains current European

champion Chelsea.He should have most of

his fi�rst choice XI back forthe trip to Sweden, withJuve’s South American internationals ready to play.

A Messiless Barca faces BayernSolskjaer may rest Ronaldo for Young Boys trip; Juve’s Allegri faces a tough task

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

In a good mood: While Bayern will not take Barca lightly, a strike force of Kingsley Coman,middle, and Robert Lewandowski should be expected to shade the contest. * AFP

Agencies

Madrid

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Tuesday’s fi�xtures

B Sevilla vs Salzburg, Young Boys vs Man. United (10.15 p.m.).

B Lille vs Wolfsburg, Villarreal vs Atalanta, Chelsea vs Zenit,Malmo vs Juventus, Barcelona vs Bayern, Dynamo Kiev vsBenfi�ca (12.30 a.m. Wednesday).

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Muhammed Nemil and JorgeOrtiz Mendoza scored a goalapiece as FC Goa defeatedSudeva Delhi FC 21 to record its second consecutivevictory in Group B and become the third team to assure itself of a place in thequarterfi�nals of the 130thDurand Cup football tournament here on Monday.

As rain lashed the city

throughout the day, theplayers found the conditionsdiffi�cult and witnessed a fi�nish under the fl�oodlights atthe Salt Lake Stadium.

In the closing stages of thefi�rst half, midfi�elder Nemilscored through a powerfulleftfooter from outside thebox to put the Goan teamahead.

Sudeva tried to catch upafter the change of ends butcould not succeed.

Goa doubled its lead inthe 80th minute as Mendoza

shot from outside the area tobeat keeper Legend Singh,who replaced fi�rstchoicecustodian Sachin Jha due toan injury.

Sudeva, which suff�ered itssecond successive loss, reduced the margin throughWilliam Pauliankhum’s penalty conversion in injurytime.

The result: Group B: FC Goa 2(Muhammed Nemil 45+2, JorgeOrtiz Mendoza 80) bt SudevaDelhi FC 1 (William Pauliankhum 90+8pen).

FC Goa books quarterfi�nal spotDURAND CUP


KOLKATA

CHENNAI: Team MRF Tyressecured a double podiumfi�nish in the Italian GravelRally Championship (CIRT)at the Rally dei Nuraghi e delVermentino. The fi�fth roundof the CIRT saw seven stagesand 68.08km of competitiveaction in which the team ofPaolo Andreucci and RudyBriani fi�nished second intheir Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evowhile the team of Simone

Campedelli and Gianfrancesco Rappa, in their VWPolo GTi R5 came homethird.

The team of Tamara Molinaro and Piercarlo Capolongo in their Citroen C3 Rally2meanwhile clinched the Female Championship withone round to spare after securing a top ten fi�nish in therally and fourth position inthe under25 category.

Double podium fi�nishfor Team MRF Tyres

Tough fi�ght: Paolo Andreucci and Rudy Briani on the podiumwith their secondplace trophy. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Lewis Hamilton has praisedthe halo device for keepinghim safe following the dramatic crash at the ItalianGrand Prix on Sunday thatsaw Max Verstappen’s RedBull launched over Hamilton’s Mercedes.

Speaking to the media after the incident, Hamilton

praised the job that the halo had done in protectinghim — while revealing thathe would seek specialistmedical help for pain in hisneck as a result of thecrash.

“Honestly, I feel very fortunate today,” said Hamilton, as per formula1.com.

“Thank God for the halo.”

Hamilton praiseshalo for ‘saving’ himANI

Monza

Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen will return to FormulaOne action for the RussianGP at Sochi scheduled fromSeptember 24 to 26.

Raikkonen was sidelinedfor the Dutch and ItalianGPs after he tested positivefor COVID19, earlier thismonth. One of the Alfa Romeo’s reserve drivers — Robert Kubica — replaced Raikkonen for both races.

The 41yearold Finn posted an Instagram messagewhich read: “I am all good.See you at the next GP.”

Raikkonen now has amaximum of eight races remaining in his Formula 1 ca

reer as he has already announced his retirement atthe end of the season. TheFinn, who won the world title in 2007, will be 42 at theend of the season.

Raikkonen confi�rmsreturn to F1 action

Kimi Raikkonen. * AFP

ANI

Bern

Red Bull’s championshipleader Max Verstappen washanded a threeplace gridpenalty for his role in thefrightening crash with LewisHamilton in Sunday’s ItalianGrand Prix, the stewards atMonza announced.

The Dutch driver was“predominantly to blame”for the incident that wipedhim and his Mercedes rivalout of the race won by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, astatement read.

The penalty will be applied at the Russian GP.

Verstappen, who leadsHamilton by fi�ve points, hadtried to muscle past Hamilton who had just rejoined

the track after a pitstop.But Verstappen’s car,

pushed onto the kerb at theTurn One chicane, ended upwith its back wheel rollingover the top of his rival’sMercedes, narrowly missingHamilton’s head.

Both drivers then slid intothe gravel and were forcedto retire.

In the stewards’ verdictafter interviewing both drivers, although Hamilton’s lineforced Verstappen onto thekerb, the Red Bull man hadattempted the manoeuvretoo late for him to have “theright to racing room”.

Red Bull’s Verstappen handedthreeplace grid penalty For his role in the frightening crash with Hamilton

Verstappen. * GETTY IMAGES


Monza

Riyaz Akbar Ali of Air Indiaand reigning world champion S. Appoorwa of LICwon the men’s and women’stitle respectively in the Indian online carrom challenge, organised by the AllIndia Carrom Federation(AICF).

In the fi�nal, Riyaz scored

25 points in clearing theeight boards, as against 31points of Mohd. Arif, whohad been brilliant in theChampions league.

In the women’s title clash,Appoorwa had 49 points asagainst 60 of former worldchampion Rashmi Kumari ofPSPB, in emergingvictorious.

Josef Meyer, president, International Carrom Federation, had announced a cashprize of ₹�25,000 to the two

champions. The runnersupwill get ₹�15,000 each, whilethe third place would fetch₹�5,000.

There were also specialcash prizes for the universalslam and white slamperformances.

Mohd. Ghufran and Aakanksha Kadam were presented ₹�5,000 each as special choice of the ICFpresident for their exemplary fare in the online challenge.

Riyaz, Appoorwa emerge champions


NEW DELHI

CARROM

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