DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
ADITIRAJAVADODARA,MAY16
FIRSTCAMEthemetalballs, fiveof them, one after the other.Then came bits and pieces ofmetal, one that looked like a“ruler”.Across a clutch of villages in
centralGujarat, thesky is falling—literally.It started with three metal
balls that fell on Bhalej,Khambholaj and Rampura vil-lagesonThursdayevening.Theywere followed by fragments ofmetal, one of which apparently
fell on a sheep pen in a farm,killinga lamb.No one’s yet got a grip on
what’sbeenhappening.Gujaratofficials said an ISRO team hascollected samples but the pre-mier space organisation de-clinedcomment.The only possible clue so far
hascomefromanastronomerattheHarvardSmithsonianCenterfor Astrophysics who tweetedthis could possibly be debrisfrom the “re-entry of the thirdstage”ofaChineselaunchrocket.It was around 4.45 pm on
May 12 that the first chunk— alarge,blackballweighingaround
5kg— fell in Bhalej followed bytwomore in Khambholaj andRampura—all locatedwithin15km from each other in Ananddistrict.Evenasthe localpolicewere
called in, a similar ball fell inChaklasivillageinneighbouringKheda district, followed by an-other in Vadodara’s Savli talukaonMay 13. A day later, villagersfrom Kasor in Sojitra taluka ofAnandreportedthatafragment“resembling a ruler” fell on afarm, killing a lamb. And onMonday, the police received asimilar call fromKhodiyarpurain thesametaluka.
According to police, the ob-jects fell mostly in empty areas—someonheapsofmud.Andinall cases, they have begunprobes, roping in forensic ex-perts.On May 12, astronomer
Jonathan McDowell tweetedthatthedebriscouldpossiblybethe “re-entry of the third stagefrom the Chang Zheng 3B serialY86 launch rocket”. The rockethad lifted off on September 9,2021, carrying a 5,500-kg com-munication satellite to geosta-tionary transitorbit.Speaking to The Indian
Express, McDowell said hewas
identifying the debris based ontracking data, which showedthat this object was “the onlyreentry that day (May 12) thatwentanywherenear India”.He said “the predicted path
was a few 100 kmnorth of thevillages in question, but that’swithintheuncertainties for thisparticular object since its orbitwasmoreuncertainthanusual”.The orbit was rapidly changingduetoatmosphericdrag,whichmay cause a change in the pre-dictedground location,hesaid.AnandDistrictCollector,MY
Daxini, said: “We have sent allthe items, including themetal
spheresthatfell lastweek,tothePhysical Research Laboratory(PRL) of ISRO. They have col-lectedallthepartsandareexam-ining it.”When contacted, ISRO PRL
director Anil Bharadwaj said hewasoutof stationandwouldbeable to comment on Tuesday.ISRO Space Applications Centre(SAC) director Nilesh Desai wasnotavailable for comment.But in the villageswhere the
“debris” have fallen, local resi-dents have a lot to say — eventhoughpolicesuspecttherecouldbemoretoit thanspacedebris.
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PAGE1ANCHOR Skyfall in Gujarat, expert says likely debris of a Chinese rocket
JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932
THEWORLD
SRI LANKADOWNTOLASTDAYOFPETROL,SAYS ITSPMPUTINAPPEARSTOBACKOFFTHREATSASSWEDENDECIDESTOJOINNATO P12
VIDEOGRAPHYSURVEYCOMPLETED,REPORT INCOURTTODAY
ASADREHMANLUCKNOW,MAY16
RETURNINGTHEspotlighttotheKashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapimosquecontroversy,aVaranasicourtMondaydirectedthedistrictadministrationtosealthespotinthemosquecomplexwhereaShivlingwasclaimedtohavebeenfoundduringacourt-mandated videography survey
that just concluded.The Anjuman Intezamia
MasjidCommitteesaiditwould
challenge the order in theSupreme Court where it had
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Probe intoJ&K bus firelooks at use of‘sticky bomb’
DEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI,MAY16
THEINVESTIGATIONintothefirein a passenger bus near Katratown, in Jammu and Kashmir(J&K), onMay 13 that claimedfourlivesandleftover20injuredisveeringtowardsaterrorprobe,sources said.According to sources, cir-
cumstantial evidence suggeststhat the firewas an act of sabo-tageandtheuseofanIEDtotrig-geranexplosioninthebus’sfueltank cannot be ruled out.Investigating officials suspectthat a “stickybomb”,which canbestuck toavehicleusingmag-nets,wasused.Thebus,mostlycarryingpil-
grims, had just left for JammuwhenitcaughtfirenearKhanak,about 1.5 km fromKatra town.Katra is the base camp for pil-grimsgoing to theVaishnoDevishrine.Accordingtopreliminaryin-
vestigations, the fire started inthe engine of the bus, and soonengulfed the vehicle. The initialpolice probe termed it as a caseoftheenginecatchingfireduetoa technical fault. However,
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SC’s Ayodhya verdict faces Kashitest: Mosque plea hearing todaySurveyviolatesPlacesofWorshipAct, sayspetition
ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI,MAY16
THE SUPREMECourt is likely tohear Tuesday a plea by theCommittee of Management ofAnjuman Intezamia Masjid,Varanasi, challenging thevideography survey ordered byalocalcourtof theMaaShringarGauri Sthal in the KashiVishwanath temple-Gyanvapimosque complex. TheMuslim
bodycontendsthatit iscontraryto provisions of the Places ofWorshipAct(SpecialProvisions)Act1991.TheActstatesthatthenature
of all places of worship, exceptRam Janmabhoomi–BabriMasjid in Ayodhya, shall bemaintained as itwas onAugust15,1947andthatnosuitshall liein any courtwith respect to theconversionof thereligiouschar-acterofaplaceofworship,asex-istingonthatdate.Incidentally, the Act itself
is under challenge before thetopcourtwithatleasttwopend-ing petitions questioning its
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ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY16
THE CENTRE is taking a relookat the Pawan Hans disinvest-ment process on account thatAlmasGlobalOpportunityFund,one of the three entities part ofthe winning consortium, has acourt orderpassed against it bythe National Company LawTribunal (NCLT), governmentsources told The Indian Express.The government is studyingwhether the NCLT verdictamounts to an “adverse order”
— something that may lead todisqualificationof thebid,asperguidelines on strategic disin-vestment.The consortium entity that
placed andwon the bid for thestate-owned helicopter serviceproviderisStar9MobilityPvtLtd.Cayman Islands-based AlmasGlobalOpportunityFund,whichis managed by Dubai-basedAlmasCapitalowns49%ofStar9Mobility, with the remainingheld by Mumbai-based BigCharterPvtLtdandDelhi-basedMaharajaAviation.
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YUBARAJGHIMIRELUMBINI,MAY16
MARKINGHIS first official visitto thebirthplaceof theBuddha,PrimeMinister NarendraModion Monday marked BuddhaPurnima by laying the founda-tion stone of a centre forBuddhistcultureandheritageinNepal’sLumbini—thefirstsuchfacilitytobesetupbyIndiathere.Modilatersaidthetwocoun-
tries of “Buddha’s birth and en-lightenment together have anobligationtoworkfor theentirehumanity”—andsaid that rela-
tions between India and Nepalare “asancientas theoceanandasstableas theHimalayas”.“The growing and strength-
ening friendship between IndiaandNepalwillworkfortheben-efitof theentirehumanityamidthe kind of global situation thatisemergingtoday.Thedevotionto Lord Buddha binds us to-gether, andmakes usmembersof one family,”Modi said, refer-ring to Nepal and India as “thecountries of Buddha’s birth andenlightenment”.“The energy of the place,
where Lord Buddhawas born,CONTINUEDONPAGE2
HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI,MAY16
AMID THE veg/non-veg debatethat periodically convulses thecountry is a reality check:morepeople are eating non-vegetar-ian food than ever before, andthe proportion of Indian menwho do so has gone up sharplyin the six years between be-tween 2015-16 and 2019-21,shows an analysis by The IndianExpress of the National Family
HealthSurvey (NFHS)data.Data from the recently re-
leasedNFHS-5,whichwas con-
ductedin2019-21,showthattheproportion of men aged 15-49yearswhohaveneverconsumed
non-vegetarian food— listed as‘fish,chickenormeat’ inthesur-vey — stood at 16.6 per cent in2019-21. That’s a 5-percentage-pointdropfromthe21.6percentreported in the previous roundof the survey, NFHS-4, con-ducted in 2015-16. There is,however, a gender skew here:theproportionofwomen in thesame age group (15-49) whohave never consumed ‘fish,chicken or meat’ stood at 29.4per cent in 2019-21, only a
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HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI,MAY16
INDIA’S BAN onwheat exportsSaturday fuelled internationalprices by almost 6 per cent abushel(60poundsoronemillionkernelsor27.21kg)whenglobalmarkets opened Monday.Locally, prices dropped sharplyby4-8percentindifferentstates— Rs 200-250 a quintal inRajasthan, Rs 100-150 a quintalin Punjab, and about Rs 100 aquintal inUttarPradesh.With the February 24 inva-
sionofUkrainebyRussiaandthesupplydisruptionthatfollowed,globalwheatpricesjumpedover60 per cent in 2022; just RussiaandUkrainetogetheraccountforalmost a third of world wheatexports.TheunexpectedbanbyIndia,
which accounts for about 5 percent of world wheat exports,stokedpricesfurther. InChicago,futures rose 5.9 per cent to$12.47 abushel onMonday, the
highestintwomonths.Theclos-ingprice intheprevioustrading
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BUSINESS AS USUAL
BYUNNY
Export ban shakesworld markets,wheat prices up 6%
GOPALKATESHIYA&AVINASHNAIRRAJKOT,AHMEDABAD,MAY16
OUTSIDE,THEREareover4,000wheat-laden trucks stuck in aqueue tonowhere. Inside, thereare four ships, half loadedwithwheatandnoorder tosail.The snap announcement of
thebanonwheatexportshasledtochaosattheDeendayalportinGujarat'sKutchdistrict,withex-portersandtradersunsureofthefateof their cargo.According to officials, close
to 4 lakhmetric tonnes (MT) ofwheatstrandedoutsidetheport
belong to merchants fromMadhya Pradesh alone— somestill in trucks, some ingodownsalready overflowing withwheat. Among the held-upcargo is 60,000MT of wheat toEgypt — the first ever consign-ment thatwas to leave theportaftertheUkraine-Russiaconflictbegan.Last Friday, a day before the
ban was announced, the portwas hummingwith loading ac-tivity.
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Chaos in Kandla afterban: 4,000 wheat trucksin queue, 4 ships half-full
PrimeMinisterModiwithNepalcounterpartSherBahadurDeubaat theLumbini site thatmarksBuddha’sbirthplace.PTI
Securitypersonnelat thesite inVaranasiMonday.AnandSingh
BUDDHIST CULTURE CENTRE TOCOMEUP
India-Nepal ties are asstable as the Himalayas,says Modi in Lumbini
Masjidpanel saysobject ispartoffountain,willchallengesealingorder in topcourt
Varanasi court orders sealing of Gyanvapimosque spot after Shivling discovery claim
‘Metalballs’ fellonBhalej,KhambholajandRampuravillagesonThursdayevening
EXPRESSNETWORK
PLEA INMATHURACOURTFORSURVEYOFSHAHI IDGAHPAGE6
Year Daily Weekly Occasionally NeverWomen 2015-16 6.1 36.6 27.3 29.9
2019-21 5.9 39.3 25.4 29.4Men 2015-16 5.7 43.2 29.5 21.6
2019-21 8 49.3 26.1 16.6(figures in%) Source:NFHS-4andNFHS-5
15-49YRS:WHO IS EATINGNON-VEG, HOWMUCH
More men eating non-veg than before: NFHS data
NIRUPAMASUBRAMANIANNEWDELHI,MAY16
INDIAISexploringthepossibilityof reopening its embassy inAfghanistan soon, but withouttopleveldiplomaticrepresenta-tion, according tosources.The Indian Expresshas learnt
that a team of security officialsflew to Kabul in February to as-sess thegroundsituation.The plan for reopening does
notincludesendingdiplomatsatseniorlevels—theembassywilllikelyfunctiononlywithperson-nelforliaisonpurposesthatmay
extend to consular services, thesources said. Itwouldnotmeana recognition of the Talibanregime.Indiashutdownitsembassy
inKabul onAugust 17, twodaysafter the Taliban takeover ofAfghanistan. Since then, Delhihas debatedwhether that wastherightdecision.Somesectionsof the security establishmentandMinistry of External Affairshavemaintained that continu-ing there would have put thelivesof Indianpersonnel at risk,pointing to the1998 incident inwhichIraniandiplomatsatIran’sMazar-i-Sharif consulate were
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DOMESTICPRICESDROPSHARPLY
NCLT ruling in way, soGovt takes another lookat sale of Pawan Hans
WHILE IThasnotgrantedrecognition to theTalibanregime,Delhihasbeencalling foran inclusivegovernment inAfghanistan,one thaten-sures thatAfghansoil isnotused forany terrorac-tivity. Indiahasmuchatstake inAfghanistan,hav-ingparticipated ina rangeof developmentprojects.
MuchatstakeE●EX
PLAINED
Trucks loadedwithwheatatKandlaport. Express
RELATEDREPORTPAGE5
India looks at reopening missionin Kabul minus senior diplomats
INDIA’SWHEAT EXPORTS
Source: Government of India
Year WheatExport(lakhtonnes)
2020-21 21.552021-22 72.15
New Delhi
Gyanvapialreadymovedapleaagainstthevideography survey. It said theobject being described as aShivlingwaspartof thefountaininthewuzu(ablution)area.Civil Judge (Senior Division)
Ravi Kumar Diwakar, hearing apleabyfivewomenseekingper-mission fordailyprayers atMaaShringarGauriSthalontheouterwall of the mosque complex,said, "District Magistrate,Varanasi, is directed to immedi-ately seal the place where theShivlinghasbeenfound.Noper-son should be allowed to entertheplacewhichwillbesealed.""Theresponsibilityforthese-
curity and custodianship of theplacewhichwillbesealedwillbeconsidered personally ofVaranasi district magistrate,Varanasi police commissionerand the CRPF commandant,Varanasi," the judgesaid.Advocate Hari Shankar Jain,
representingthefivewomenpe-titioners, filed an applicationMonday, saying a "Shivling isfound inmasjid complex at theplace where wuzu khana isthere".A commission tasked by the
court to conduct a survey willsubmititsreportandfindingsonTuesday. It concluded its surveyMonday and officials said thefindingswere"confidential".According to thecourtorder,
the application filed by Jainstated that a Shivlingwas foundinside themosque complex bythe survey commission onMay16."This is very important evi-
dence. Hence, the CRPF com-mandant should be directed toseal it. Varanasi DistrictMagistrateshouldbedirectedtostop the entry ofMuslims. Only20Muslimsshouldbeallowedtopray at the mosque and theyshouldnotbeallowedtoperformwuzu (ablution)," the orderstated.SMYasin, general secretary
of the Anjuman IntezamiaMasjidCommittee,said,"Wewillchallenge today's order for seal-ing in the writ petition beingheard in the HonourableSupremeCourt. The structure ispart of the fountain in thewuzuarea. In all oldmosques, thereused to be a hauz (basin), and afountaininthecentre.Thisispartof the fountain, which they arecallingShivling.Wearesurprisedhow the court passed the orderin ahurry.Wewillmention it intheSupremeCourt."District Magistrate Kaushal
RajSharmasaid,"Thecourtcom-missionerhadgivendirectionstoallparties thatuntil thereport issubmittedincourtonMay17,noone should disclose what wasfoundinside.Butstill if someoneof theirownwillhasgivensomeinformation,thenitcan'tbever-ifiedbyanyone.Onlythecourtisthecustodianofthisinformation.If someone has told you some-thing, it is a personal thought. Ithasnothingtodowiththecourtcommission'saction."Police Commissioner Satish
Ganesh toldmediapersons thattheactionofthecourt-appointedcommission was completedMonday."Itwasdoneinanidealatmospherewhere no incidentof law and order happened.Wethank the people of Kashi fortheir cooperation."Heappealedto themedia to "notpayheed toanyunofficial statement".Soonafterthecourtorder,UP
Deputy Chief Minister KeshavPrasadMaurya,inaTwitterpost,said, "Nomatter howmuchyouhide'truth', itcomesoutonedaybecause 'truth is Shiv'. Baba ji kijai, har har Mahadev.#GyanvapiTruthNow.#Gyanvapitemple."Inanothertweet,hewrotein
Hindi, "On theoccasionof BudhPurnima, themanifestation ofBabaMahadev at Gyanvapi is amythological message toSanatanHindutradition."Meanwhile, the All India
MuslimPersonal LawBoard, re-spondingtothecourtorder,saidthe “Gyanvapi mosque inVaranasiisamosqueandwillre-mainone”.“Toconvertthemosqueintoa
temple, then it isnothingbutanattempt at a conspiracy to givebirth to communal hatred. Thisisagainstthehistoricalfacts,andagainstthelaw,”saidastatementissued by AIMPLB secretaryMaulana Khalid SaifullahRahmani.“In1937,thecourthadestab-
lished in the Din Mohd vs.Secretary of State case matterthatthepremisesisapropertyofMuslimWaqfandMuslimshavea right tooffernamaz there. Thecourt had also determined howmuch of the disputed land ismosque’s and temple’s…Then,theParliamentpassedthePacesofWorshipAct,1991whichsaysthatthestatusofreligiousplacesas in 1947will remain. Then in2019, the Supreme Court in theBabri mosquematter also said
clearly thatallplacesofworshipwill remain under this Act,” theAIMPLBsaid.
Mosque pleaConstitutional validity on theground that it bars judicial re-view,which is a basic feature ofthe Constitution, and abridgesthe right to religion of Hindus,Jains,BuddhistsandSikhs.AlthoughtheSCissuednotice
on one of them inMarch 2021,theCentre isyet to file its reply.The appeal by the Masjid
Committee, which challengestheApril21,2022AllahabadHighCourt ruling dismissing its peti-tion against the order of aVaranasi court ordering thevideographic survey of the dis-puted side, is listed Tuesday be-fore a Supreme Court bench ofJustices DYChandrachud and PSNarasimha.Significantly, a five-judge
Constitution bench of the thenChief Justice of India RanjanGogoiandJusticesSABobde,DYChandrachud, Ashok Bhushanand S Abdul Nazeer had, in theAyodhyajudgmentofNovember9, 2019, lauded the Places ofWorship Act as “a legislative in-strumentdesignedtoprotectthesecular features of the Indianpolity, which is one of the basicfeaturesof theConstitution”.Inthat5-0unanimousverdict
—on the title suit— in thewakeof the BabriMasjid demolition,theSupremeCourtruledthatthe2.77 acres of disputed land inAyodhyawould be handedovertoatrustfortheconstructionofaRamMandiranda5-acreplotal-lottedtotheSunniWaqfBoardatanalternatesite.TheMasjid Committee’s ap-
pealcontendsthatanearliersuitfiledin1991bysomedevoteesal-legingthattheGyanvapimosquewas built after demolishing atemple had been stayed by theHCandthepresentproceedingswhichwere instituted in 2021,were an attempt to get aroundthestay.It also said that theproceed-
ings are “an attempt to disturbthe communal peace and har-monyandincontraventiontothePlacesofWorshipAct”.The local court, said the
MosqueCommittee,shouldhavefirsthearditsapplicationseekingrejection of demand for beingbarred by the Act, before goingahead.Hearing a petition by five
Hinduwomen seeking round-the-year access to pray at “ashrine behind thewesternwallof themosque complex”, a civilcourt inVaranasi hadonApril 8,2022, appointed AdvocateCommissioner Ajay KumarMishratocarryoutaninspectionof the disputed site — and di-rectedhimto“preparevideogra-phy of the action” and submit areport.On April 21, the Allahabad
High Court dismissed a petitionfiled by themosque committeechallenging this local court’s or-der. On April 26, the Varanasicourtagainorderedvideographyof thedisputedsite.Thoughtheinspectionbegan,
it was halted after themosquecommitteefiledanapplicationinthecourt,allegingbias,andseek-ingreplacementofthecourt-ap-pointedAdvocateCommissioner.OnMay12,theVaranasicourtre-jected the prayer to changeAdvocateCommissionerMishraand ordered resumption of thevideo survey— even if itmeantgetting “locks opened/ broken”.The inspection report shouldbesubmittedonMay17, it said.Thetwopetitionschallenging
the Places ofWorship Act havebeen filed by Lucknow-basedtrust ‘Vishwa Bhadra PujariPurohitMahasangh’ alongwithsomefollowersofSanatanVedicReligion, andAdvocate AshwiniUpadhyay.OnMarch 12, 2021, a bench
headedbythethenChief Justiceof India SABobde issuednoticeonUpadhyay’s plea. The Centrehasnotfiledareplyandthemat-terhasnotcomeupforhearing.Upadhyay’spetitioncontends
that the Act “has created arbi-traryirrationalretrospectivecut-off date” and “has barred theremedies against illegal en-croachment on the places ofworship and pilgrimages andnowHindus, Jains, Buddhists,SikhscannotfilesuitorapproachHighCourtunderArticle226”.It said theAct is “unconstitu-
tional and beyond its(Parliament’s) law makingpower”as it has “frustrated” theprinciple of law ‘ubi jus ibiremedium (where there is aright,thereisaremedy),“thusvi-olatingtheconceptofjusticeandRule of Law, which is core ofArticle14”.Besides, Article 13(2) also
prohibitsStatefrommakinganylawwhichtakesawayorabridgesfundamental rights conferredunderPart-IIIoftheConstitutionandanylawmadeincontraven-tion to basic rights is void, it
pointedout.Thepetitionby theLucknow
trust has put forth similar argu-ments and questioned howanylaw can bar the right to seek ju-dicial reviewofagrievance.SoonaftertheLucknowtrust
approached the court in June2020, the Jamiat Ulema-I-Hindfiledanimpleadmentapplicationopposing it.Urging the court not to even
issue anotice claiming that that“will create fear in theminds oftheMuslim community,” it saidthatif thepetitionisentertained,“itwill open floodgatesof litiga-tion against countlessmosquesin the country and the religiousdividefromwhichthecountryisrecovering in the aftermath oftheAyodhyadisputewillonlybewidened”.
Modi in Nepalgives a different feeling. I washappytoseethattheMahabodhisapling I had gifted in 2014 forthisplace, isnowgrowing intoatree,”Modisaid.Hewasreferringto his first visit abroad after be-comingprimeministerwhenhehadgiftedasaplingbroughtfromBodhGaya.The PrimeMinisterwas ad-
dressing a gathering after thefoundation stone-laying cere-mony of the India InternationalCentre for Buddhist Culture andHeritage.Itisthefirstcentretobeestablishedby India in Lumbini,whereseveraloftheworld'sma-jor countries, including the USand China, have centres dedi-catedtoBuddhism.Reiterating a Ramayana ref-
erence he hadmade during hisprevious visit, Modi referred toIndia-Nepal ties and said LordRamwas incomplete withoutSita. “The teachings of theBuddhahaduniversal relevancewhich, assisted by technology,wouldenrichtheworld,”hesaid.Sharing the daiswithModi,
Deubaendorsedtheproposal tobuild a Buddhist circuit, linkingSarnath, Bodhgaya, Kushinagarand Lumbini. “The constructionof thecircuit,apartfrombindingthetwocountriesculturally,willpromote tourism,” Deuba saidwhile thankingModi for India’shelp in post-earthquake recon-structionanddevelopment.According to the Prime
Minister'sOffice,theIndiancen-trewill bea 'NetZero' compliantcomplex intermsofenergy,wa-ter andwaste handling, whichwill house prayer halls,medita-tion centers, library, exhibitionhall, cafeteria, offices and otheramenities.On Monday, Modi was ac-
companiedduring theday-longvisit, which included a stopoverat the seventh-century MayaDevi temple, byNepalesePrimeMinister Sher Bahadur Deubaand his wife Arzu Rana Deuba.Thetwoleadersalsoheldameet-ingtodiscussthe“fullrangeofbi-lateral relations".The twosidesalsosignedsix
MoUs, includingaDrAmbedkarChair for Buddhist Studies inLumbini Buddhist University;ICCR Chairs of Indian Studies inTribhuvan University andKathmandu University; and, ajoint master's degree pro-gramme between IIT-MadrasandKathmanduUniversity.There was also anMoU be-
tween Sutlej Jala VidyutNigam,a Himachal government sub-sidiary, and Nepal ElectricityAuthority for a 695MWArun-4power project under whichNepal will receive 152MW offree electricity under a sharingarrangement."Today's meeting with PM
@SherBDeubawasexcellent.Wediscussed the full range of rela-tions between India andNepal.KeyMoUs were signed whichwill diversify and deepen coop-eration,"Modi tweeted."PM@narendramodi holds
bilateral talks with PM@SherBDeuba in Lumbini.Opportunitytostrengthenongo-ingcooperationanddevelopnewareas in ourmultifaceted part-nership," Ministry of ExternalAffairs (MEA) spokespersonArindamBagchi tweeted at thestartof themeeting.This is Modi's fifth visit to
Nepal after becoming PrimeMinister. Monday's foundationceremony was conducted bymonksbelongingtothreemajorBuddhisttraditions--Theravada,Mahayana and Vajrayana. Thetwo prime ministers also un-veiledamodelof thecentre.AttheMayaDevitemple, the
twoleaderspaidtheirrespectsatthe marker stone inside thepremises, which is said to pin-point the birth spot of theBuddha. They also attended thepuja conducted according toBuddhist rituals and lit lampsnear the Ashoka Pillar adjacenttothetemple.Deubaalsohostedaluncheon
inhonourofModi. “Today'svisithas provided furthermomen-tumtothemultifacetedpartner-ship between the two countries
andadvancedcooperationinkeyareas, particularly in education,culture, energy and people topeopleexchanges,”theMEAsaid.“Thank you, Shree @naren-
dramodiJee,forvisitingLumbinion#BuddhaPurnimatoday.Ibe-lieve your special pilgrimage tothe Birthplace of Lord Buddhahas further strengthened ourfriendship and cultural ties,”Deubatweeted.
(WITHDIVYAAINNEWDELHI)
Mission in Kabulabducted by the Taliban duringits previous stint in power, andnever found.Others havemade the case
that shutting down themissionhas left India alone among re-gional countrieswith no repre-sentation in Kabul. OnMonday,as the Shanghai CooperationOrganisation's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure groupmet inDelhi, with Afghanistan top onthe agenda, host India was theonlycountryatthetablethathadnot yet reopened itsmission inKabul.ThisisakeyfactorforDelhiin
its consideration of a return toKabul. Asmany as 16 countrieshave reopened their embassiesthere,includingtheEUwhichhasasmallpresencetooverseeworkrelating to its humanitarian as-sistance. The view is that Indianeeds to do so too in its own in-terests.The Pakistan, Chinese and
RussianandIranianmissionsdidnot shutdownduring the chaosof the Taliban takeover. Thesecountriesseekeyrolesforthem-selves in Taliban-ruledAfghanistan,andbeganposition-ing themselves early. All fiveCentral Asian countries havediplomatic relations with theTalibanregime.TheUSsignedanagreement with Qatar in Aprilmakingitthe“protectingpower”for its interests. The UAE andSaudiArabiahavealsoreturned.Butnonehasyet recognised theTaliban as the government ofAfghanistan.Developmentsontheground
also seem to be influencing theview in Delhi that India needssomepresence inKabulquickly.Asidefromtheemergenceofvar-ious Taliban factions, and theHaqqani network working to-wards repairing their interna-tionalimage,ToloNewsreportedearlierthismonththataloyajirgawould be held, though no dateshaveyetbeenmentioned.
Pawan Hans saleOnApril29,agroupofminis-
ters, comprisingRoadTransport& Highways Minister NitinGadkari, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman and CivilAviationMinister JyotiradityaScindia, approved Star9Mobility's bid for sale of theCentre's51%stakeinPawanHansforRs211.14crore.However, nine days prior to
the approval on April 20, theKolkata bench of the NCLT hadpassed an order against AlmasGlobalOpportunityFundsayingthat the entitywas in "knowingandwilful contravention of theapprovedresolutionplan"."Wewill do legal examina-
tionoftheNCLTorderbeforepro-ceeding further. The letter ofaward (for the PawanHans dis-investment)hasnotbeenissuedyet,"aDepartmentofInvestmentand Public AssetManagement(DIPAM) official involved in thePawan Hans disinvestmentprocess toldThe IndianExpress.As per guidelines issued by
the DIPAM in September 2017,"anyconvictionbyaCourtofLawor indictment/adverse order bya regulatoryauthority that castsadoubtontheabilityof thebid-der tomanage the public sectorunit when it is disinvested, orwhich relates to a grave offencewould constitute disqualifica-tion".The resolution plan in ques-
tionpertains to aKolkata-basedpower distribution companyEMCLtdforwhichAlmasGlobalOpportunity Fundwasdeclaredthesuccessfulbidder.Butdespitehaving its resolution plan forEMC Ltd approved by theNCLT,the fund did not deposit themoney required for the resolu-tionprocess."The SRA (Successful
ResolutionApplicant)hasnotex-hibited any intention by takingsomeconcretestepsthatcanin-stilsomedegreeofconfidenceinthe earnestness of the SRA. It isplain for anyonewilling to seethat the SRA is not likely to partwiththefundsintheforeseeablefuture.TheSRAhastakentheen-tire process for a ride, andnoth-ingcanreallyexcuse thisaudac-ity.Theattitudeof theSRAreallywilltickeveryparameterthatcanbe applied to satisfy the 'know-ingandwilfulcontravention'testlaid down in section 74(3)46 ofthe Code on a reasonable con-struction," theNCLT noted in itsApril20order."TheSRAhasbeenpussyfoot-
ing around with regard to thepayments tobemadeunder theapproved Resolution Plan, formore than one-and-a-quarteryears. It is futile towait indefi-nitelyfortheSRAtofulfilitscom-mitments...Therepeatedexhor-tationsmade during the courseofhearingstotheSRAthroughitslearned senior counsel tomakeat least somepayments inordertoshowitsbonafides,&earnest-ness have gone completely un-heeded.Thereisnopointinchas-ing the chimera of the SRAfulfillingitscommitmentsundertheResolutionPlan," it said.The bankruptcy court had
also ordered action againstAlmasGlobalOpportunityFundand its officersunder Section74(3) readwith Section 236 of theInsolvency & Bankruptcy Code,2016. These sections stipulatethatthepartycanbeimprisonedfor aminimumof one year andmaximumof five years, in addi-tion to facing a maximumpenaltyofuptoRs1crore.
NFHS datamarginal dip from the 29.9 percentof2015-16.Thus, anoverwhelming83.4
percentofmenand70.6percentofwomeninthe15-49agegroupeat non-vegetarian food daily,weeklyoroccasionally. That fig-urestoodat78.4percentformenand 70 per cent for women inNHFS-4.The proportion of weekly
meateaterstoohasrisensharply:57.3 per centmen and 45.1 percentwomenreportedeatingfish,chicken ormeat at least once aweek during NHFS-5, higherthan the figures reported in2015-16:48.9per centmenand42.8percentwomen.Amongmen, thiscategoryof
non-vegetarian eaters is thehighest in Lakshadweep (98.4percent)andthelowest(14.1percent) in Rajasthan in 2019-21.Apart from Lakshadweep,Andaman & Nicobar Islands(96.1%), Goa (93.8%), Kerala(90.1%) and Puducherry (89.9%)account for the Top 5 states andUnion Territories where non-vegetarian food is eatenbymenat leastonceaweek.AlongwithRajasthan, Haryana (13.4%),Punjab(17%),Gujarat(17.9%)andHimachal Pradesh (21.1%) ac-countforthestatesatthebottomof this list.In the six-year period be-
tween2015-16and2019-21, theproportion of men who con-sumed fish, chicken ormeat atleast once in aweek increasedmost in Sikkim (from 49.1 percent to 76.8 per cent) and de-clinedmost in Tripura (94.8 percent to76.1percent).Among religious groups,
Christianmen andwomen ac-counted for the highest con-sumptionofnon-vegetarianfoodatleastonceaweek–80percentmen and 78% forwomen in the15-49agegroup.Thecorrespon-dingnumbersforotherreligiousgroups stood at: Hindu men:52.5%, women: 40.7%;Muslimmen:79.5%,women:70.2%;Sikhmen: 19.5%, women: 7.9%;Buddhist/Neo-Buddhist men:74.1%, women: 62.2%; and Jainmen14.9%,women:4.3%.TheNFHSfindingsshowthat
morepeopleconsumeeggsthan‘fish,chickenormeat’.While84.7per cent men reported eatingeggsdaily,weeklyoroccasionallyduring2019-21--over4percent-age points higher than the 80.3per cent reported in 2015-16 --thatnumberstoodat72percentforwomen,upfrom70.8percentin2015-16.Data also show that the pro-
portionofmenandwomencon-sumingaerateddrinkshascomedownovertheyears. In2019-21,86.4 per centmen and 84.3 percentwomen reported consum-ing aerated drinks, down from88.3 per cent formen and 83.5percentforwomensixyearsago.Thedataalsoshowthatthree
items–pulses/beans;fruits;andgreen, leafy vegetables —wereconsumeddaily,weeklyorocca-sionally by almost all men andwomenduring2019-20.Also,96.2percentofmenand
94.2 per cent of women con-sumedmilkandcurdeitherdaily,weeklyoroccasionally,whiletheproportionofthosewhoatefriedfood stood at 95.6 per cent forwomen and 92.6 per cent formen.The fifth round of the NFHS
wasconductedintwophasesbe-tweenJune17,2019,andApril30,2021, covering 707 districtsdrawnfrom29StatesandsevenUnionTerritories.
J&K bus firefollowing examination of thespot and the bus, security agen-ciessuspectedanIEDattackbyaterrorgroup."There is a hole near the fuel
tankswiththemetalsheetsbentinwards. Had it been an explo-sionduetoatechnicalglitchfrominside the engine, the metalsheetswould have turned out-wards near the hole. Also, sam-ples picked up from the clothesofoneofthevictimssuggeststheuseofsomekindofexplosive,al-though it is not clearwhat it is,"saidasecurityestablishmentof-ficial.Sources said the suspicion is
on the use of a "sticky bomb"."Thereisnomaterialevidencetoprove this, since by the time theforensic teams reached the site,the crime scene had been com-pletelywashedoutinanattempttodousethefire.Butcircumstan-tialevidencepointstothepossi-bility of a sticky bomb beingused," said an officer from theNational Investigation Agency(NIA)whichisconductingapar-allelprobe.The development casts a
shadowovertheAmarnathYatrawhich is scheduled to begin onJune30.Therehasbeenconsider-ableconcernwithinthegovern-ment over security for theAmarnath Yatra, whichwill beheld after twoyears. It comes inthebackdropof targetedkillingsofcivilians,particularlymigrants,in theValley."Katra has rarely been tar-
geted.But,of late,weseeincreas-ing attacks in Jammu targetingHindu-dominated areas. Therehave been six IED blasts inJammu this year alone. Therehavebeenincreasinginputsfromintelligence agencies about im-pending attacks inHindu areas.Manyhavebeenprevented,withmultiple IEDs being recoveredfrompopulatedareasandmanyoperatives being arrested in thepast few months," said a J&KPoliceofficer.While the Jammu and
Kashmir Freedom Fighters onSaturday claimed responsibilityfor the Katra bus fire, sourcesplayed this down, saying thelesser known group had earlierclaimedcredit forattackswhichwerelatertracedtoothergroups."Atthemoment,thesuspicionison operatives of the Jaish-e-Mohammed since they havebeen using IEDs for some time.Butthereisnoevidenceyet,"saidanofficer.Meanwhile, J&K Lieutenant-
Governor Manoj Sinha, whoreached Delhi late on Sundaynight, held a meeting withDefenceMinister Rajnath SinghonMonday.HewillmeetHomeMinisterAmitShahonTuesday.Accordingtosources,Shahis
scheduled to hold ameeting toreview the security in J&K andarrangements for theAmarnathYatrawithchiefsoftheBSF,CRPFand Intelligence Bureau onTuesday. Sinhawill attend thismeeting.
Skyfall in Gujarat“There was a huge sound
fromtheskyandblindinglight. Icould not see anything but al-most thenext instant, therewasa loud noise and I saw that ametalpiecehadfallenonalamb.Itwashotandkilledthelambin-stantly,” said Nathi Rabari inKasor'sBhemaliTalavdiarea.According to the localpolice,
when they reached the spot,Rabari told themthe lamb'scar-casswastakenawaybydogsandcouldnotbe found.“We have registered a note
case based on information re-
ceived from the owner of thehouse that a domestic animalwaskilledfromtheimpactofthefallingmetal fragment.Noothercasualtyhasbeenreportedfromany other place,” Anand SP AjitRajiaansaid.“Theyprimarilyappear tobe
objects made of high-densitymetal alloys used for rocketlaunch.Theywerealsoburntoutand had hints of vapourisation,which is what happens whentheywithstand high tempera-tures andmake theirway to theearth...theymostlyfellinmuddyareas,”Rajiaansaid.
(WITHSOHINIGHOSHINAHMEDABAD)
Wheat export bansession on May 13 — the dayIndia imposed the ban —was$11.77abushel.According to the Indian gov-
ernment’s Department ofCommerce portal, the countryexported 66.41 lakh tonnes ofwheat in the first 11 months(April2021toFebruary2022)offinancial year 2021-22 (1 tonneis 1,000 kgs or 2,204.6 pounds).Thisdataconformswith the lat-est US Department ofAgriculture’sMay 2022 report,which estimateswheat exportsfromIndiainthe12monthsfromJuly2021toJune2022at10mil-lionmetric tons (1 ton is 2,000pounds). The totalworldwheatexportsduringtheperiodarees-timated at 201.5millionmetrictons.Inthecurrentfinancialyear–
April 2022 toMarch 2023, theIndian government estimatesabout 45 lakhmetric tonnes ofwheat to have been contractedfor exports. Of this, 14.63 lakhmetric tonnes have been ex-ported inApril 2022 alone, sub-stantially higher than 2.43 lakhmetrictonnesinthesamemonthlast year. Besides, 95,167metrictonnes atta have been exportedin April this year, almost fourtimesmore than 25,566MT inApril2021.The Group of Seven (G-7)
countries too expressed disap-pointment on India’s decision.After ameeting of G-7 agricul-ture ministers in Germany,German Agriculture MinisterCemOzdemirsaidtheexportre-strictionwould “worsen thecri-sis”.“Ifeveryonestartstoimposeexport restrictions or to closemarkets, thatwouldworsenthecrisis,” Ozdemir said at a pressconference in Stuttgart onSaturday.India defended the decision.
Thebanwas“essentially inviewof the price rise”, Union FoodSecretary Sudhanshu Pandeysaid Saturday during a mediabriefing.Retailinflationhasbeenruling over 6 per cent for fourstraightmonthsincalendaryear2022, with the print for Aprilsoaring to 7.79 per cent, muchhigher than the upper band ofRBI inflation targetof 6percent.In the Consumer Price Index,wheat/ atta from PDS has aweight of 0.17 andwheat/ attafromother sourceshasaweightof2.56.Researchanalystssaidtheim-
pactof India’sexportbanwouldbefeltdisproportionatelybylowincomedevelopingcountries. Ina note after the ban, NomuraGlobalMarketsResearchpointedout that except India andAustralia,mostAsianeconomiesdepend on importedwheat fordomestic consumption and areat risk fromhigherwheatpricesglobally, even if they do not di-rectly import fromIndia.Bangladesh especially will
feel the brunt, Nomura noted.Indeed, Bangladesh was thebiggest buyer of Indianwheat,importing 38.04 lakh tonnes in2021-22. Sri Lanka (5.48 lakhtonnes),UAE (4.24 lakh tonnes),Indonesia(3.66lakhtonnes),thePhilippines (3.52 lakh tonnes)and Nepal (2.90 lakh tonnes)were the other big importers ofIndianwheat.Nomura further said the im-
pactonIndia’sdomesticfoodin-flationwouldbemuted.“Thisex-port ban is a pre-emptive stepand may prevent local wheat
prices from rising substantially;however, with domesticwheatproduction likely limited by theheatwave, local wheat pricesmay notmoderatematerially. IfIndia’swheatbanleadstohigherpriceofsubstituteslikerice,thenthere couldbeupwardpressureonother foodprices,” it said.Commerce Secretary BVR
Subrahmanyam said the banserves three purposes: i)main-taining the country’s food secu-rity, ii) helping those indistress;if countriesmake a specific re-quest, the Indian governmentwill takeacall, andiii) India’s re-liability as a supplier is beingmaintained by not reneging onany existing contract. “So, if wesaythatroughly1.6or1.7milliontonneshas goneout,weare stillprepared to allow another 2.5million(tonnes)togoif therearepriorbookvalidorderswithalet-ter of credit,” he said at theme-diabriefingonSaturday.
Chaos in KandlaOfficialsfromEgypt’sCentral
Administration of PlantQuarantinewere there to over-see theshipment.Andadelega-tion fromMadhya Pradesh hadreachedGandhidhamtownnearthe port to flag off a cereal con-signment to Egypt the nextevening.OnMonday, SanjayMehta,
chairman,DeendayalPortTrust,told The Indian Express: “Therewasalreadyalotofwheatinsidethe port. After the banwas im-posed,truckscarryingwheatareinlineoutside.Manyrepresenta-tions have come tous in this re-gard. Within the port, there isover1 lakhMTofwheat.”Theportreceiveswheatfrom
Punjab, UP andMP for exportmainly to themiddle-east andEuropean countries. “There areover32largegodownswithintheport.Manyof themare fullwithwheatconsignments.Therentalsofgodownorstoragechargesim-posed at the port have also shotup -- from Rs 10 per day pertonnetoRs25.There isnospaceand wheat is now lying in theopen,”saidanofficialatthefacil-ity, formerly known as theKandlaport.Thetransportbusinessisalso
indisarray.“It seems like there was no
planningbeforetheGovernmentcame upwith the notificationprohibiting wheat export.Transporters give truck driversand cleaners allowances andmoney for fuel estimating thetransportation time. But thou-sandsofdriversandcleanersarestuck as cargo from their trucksare not being offloaded. Vesselsare berthed at the port butCustomsisnotallowingloading,”said Teja Kangad, president,Gandhidham Chamber ofCommerceandIndustry.“About4,000truckscarrying
3.75 lakhMT of wheat left forKandla before the Governmentimposed the ban. These truckshavebeenstrandedforthelast7-8 days, unable to unload. Apartfrom this, we had sent somewheat earlier, which is lying ingodownsneartheport.TheseareconsignmentsbelongingtosmalltradersinMadhyaPradesh,”saidGopal Das Agarwal, president,Indore-basedSakalAnajDalhan-Tilhan Vyapari MahasanghSamiti, an association of grainmerchants inMP.According toDeendayal Port
Authority (DPA)officials,44,340MT of wheat sourced fromMPhas already been loaded on theLiberian-flagged vessel Mana,whichwastosetsailforEgyptonMay16.“Wearepleadingwiththeau-
thorities to allow us to load atleast 5,000MTmore so that thevessel achieves balance and isready to sail. Around500 trucksloadedwithourwheatarewait-ing in theport todischarge theircargoonthewharf, tobe loadedonthevessel.Infact,somewheatisalreadylyingonthewharfbutwe are not able to load that, ei-ther,” said sources associatedwiththeshipment.
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The e-Shram portal, which was launched with a far-reaching mandate of registering millions ofunorganised workers, is one such policy.
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27DEAD INMUNDKAFIRE
JIGNASASINHANEWDELHI,MAY16
THE FORENSIC ScienceLaboratoryinDelhihascollectedDNA samples from27 bodies—most of them charred beyondrecognition—sincetheMundkafire, and isnowintheprocessofmatchingthosewithbloodsam-plescollectedfromfamilymem-bers. So far, onlyeightoutof the27 bodies have been identifiedand the rest are not just “highlycharred”, but also have no jew-ellery or clothes that can helpwith identification.The fire broke out at a four-
storey commercial building inOuterDelhi’sMundkaonFriday,killing27persons,mostof themwomen. The next day, familieswere called to themortuary totryandidentifytheirlovedones.The eight — Tania Chauhan,Ranju Devi, Amit Jyani, KailashJyani, Drishti, Yashoda Devi,VishalandMohini—wereiden-
tified with the help of theirclothes or pieces of jewellerysuch as a bracelet, gold chain orearrings, said their families.“A total of 26 DNA samples
weretakenfrombloodrelatives.Foronemissingwoman,abloodrelative has not been found tillnow,” said DCP (Outer) Sameer
Sharma.Officials on Monday said
DNA testing and profiling cantakedaysorevenweeksbecauseof the number of the test sam-plesandthe lengthyprocedure.DeepaVerma,thedirectorat
FSL Rohini, said, “Seeing thegravityofthesituation,weexpe-dited the process and have al-ready collected all samples, in-cludingbloodsamplesof familymembers, for DNA testing. Theprocess could take some timebecause the biological tests aredone individually in labs andthenwehave tomatch theDNArecovered from the families.Also, some tests are repeated tore-confirmthereports.”Police said they submitted
samplesofall27bodies—includ-ingeventhoseidentified—tore-confirmandmakesuretherewasnomisidentification. In the caseofbodies insuchacondition,of-ficials say they first look for anyskinormusclegrafts.If thatisnotavailable, teethorbonesamples
arecollected.“It’s ideal if somepart of the
skinormuscle tissue is availablefor testing. It’s easier to performtestsonsuchsamples.Otherwise,wewillhavetolookforteethandbonetissuesforthetests.Thiscantake some time as extraction is-n’teasy,”saidanofficer.Labexpertssaidmanyof the
deceaseddon’thaveimmediatefamily members who can giveblood samples, which poses achallenge for DNA testing. “Inmany cases, we had to takeblood samples from uncles,auntsorcousins.TheDNAwon’tcompletelymatchbutmajorel-ements will. In such cases, were-run tests to confirm the re-sults,” said theofficer.DCP Sharma said police are
workingcloselywithforensicex-perts.“Wehavesentallsamplesin time and identified the gen-der of nearly a dozen bodies.Soon, DNA tests will be per-formed and results will comeout,”hesaid.
Many bodies ‘highly charred’,FSL has tough task at hand
Policesaid26DNAsamplesweretakenfrombloodrelatives. PraveenKhanna
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY16
■Asonwaitstoseehismother’sbodyasonly that canbringhimsomepeaceofmind.■ Two sisters still hope theirmother will return and cookthemdinner.■Ahusbanddoesnotknowifhiswife is aliveordead.Family members of many
feared dead in the fire whichbrokeoutata four-storeybuild-inginMundkaareyettofindclo-sure. This is because four dayslater, they are yet to receive theremains of their loved onespending a report from theForensic Science Laboratory(FSL).Of the27dead, eightbod-ieshavebeen identifiedso far.BhartiDevi(42)wasworking
in the canteen of the CCTV androutermanufacturing companyearning Rs 5,000-7,000 permonthforthepasttwoyears.Herson Suraj, in his early 20s, spentthedaypleadingwithofficers atMundka police station to expe-ditehismother’s forensic report.“They(authorities)saythatitwilltake 10-15days. Iwork at AIIMSand I knowreports canbeexpe-dited.We can get peace ofmindonly afterwe conduct her final
rites. How canwe spend dayswithoutanyanswers?”Surajsaid.MadhuDevi (29)waswork-
ingasapackerearningRs5,000-6,000 and had been employedforthepastthreeyears.Amotherof twogirls,shehadpromisedtocomehomefordinner.Her nephew, Vikram (20),
saidMadhu’s phonewas confis-catedbyheremployersanddur-inglunchtime,whenshewasal-lowed access to it, she brieflyspoketoherdaughters,whosaidtheywanted to eatMaggi noo-dles.“Shepromisedthemshewillcome back home and cook aproper dinner.MygrandmotherhasgivenhersamplefortheDNA
test.Allwecandoiswait,”hesaid.For Soni Kumari’s (35) hus-
bandManoj Thakur (39), theirlast call still haunts him. “Shecalledmecrying and saidbahutbhayanakaag lagihai (it isahor-rible fire). She said that twowomen had escaped with thehelpof arope... andshewastry-ing tosurvive,”Thakursaid.Sonihadbeenworkingatthe
officeforthepasttwoyearsearn-ing Rs 6,500. She had just got araiseofRs1,000twomonthsago.The family has deposited bloodsamplesinhopesofgettingbackthe body. “Thewomenwho es-caped say the rope she tried touseburntoff, that she felldown.
If she fell downwhat happenedtothebody?”Thakursaid.At Sanjay Gandhi hospital’s
mortuary, the familymembersofNarender(26)waitedinhopesof receiving a DNA test report.His job at the office, where heworked for two years, involvedassemblingvariouspartsusedinCCTV cameras. His family saidtheywantedhimtogetmarried.But hewanted to be financiallysecure first considering hewasnotpaidforthelasttwomonths,theyclaimed.His brother Gopal (26) is
scared of leaving themortuary:“Whatifheissuddenlyidentifiedandwearenothere to claimthebody? There are somany ques-tionsthatnooneiswillingtoan-swer.Howcanwehavepeaceofmindsittingathome?....”Outsidethecharredremains
of the building stood familymembersofParveenKumar(33).Theymanaged to spot his bike,nowbroken, at theentrance.Heused towork in themarketingsectionand is the fatherof threechildren, includingtwins.His relative Sandeep said,
“Werunfrompillartoposteverydayhoping fornewsof theDNAtest report. They promised tohand his body every day, thentheyaskus formore time.”
Manyfamilymembersareyettoreceivetheremainsof theirlovedones,pendingareport fromtheforensic lab.AbhinavSaha
For many families, an endless wait
ABHINAVRAJPUTNEWDELHI,MAY16
THE MUNDKA ward, where 27people died in a fire at an officecomplex,hadthepostof licensinginspector lyingvacant for10daysleadingup to the incident.Sushil Gautamwas posted as
inspectoronFriday, thesamedaythe fire broke out. His predeces-sor Sandeep Kumar KaushikwasrelievedonMay4, and fromthentillMay13, thepostwasvacant.Area councillor Anil Lakra
claimed that after the fire, orderswere issued inahurrybyauthor-ities toappointGautamaslicens-inginspector. “It is thedutyof thelicensinginspectortoseesuchvi-olations,whetherthecommercialestablishments operating in theareahavea licenceornot.”North Delhi Municipal
CorporationstandingcommitteechairpersonJogiRamJainsaidhewill get this looked into. A seniorofficialof theNorthMCDsaid:“Itis a smallwindowwhenthepostwasvacant; for therestof thepe-riod, therewerepeople inthepo-sition.”As reported by The Indian
Express, it has also come to lightearlier that theownerof thefour-storeycommercialbuildinggotafactory licence for the premises
under a self-assessment schemein2016.However, theNorthMCDcancelleditafter itwasfoundthatthebuildingdidnotmeetspecificcriteria.In2019,a liquorstorewasalso
openedonthegroundfloor,whichwas sealed by the monitoringcommittee formed by theSupremeCourt to act against ille-gal construction in the nationalcapital forviolations.SourcesintheNorthMCDsaid
that the owner closed the shopand paid a penalty, followingwhich the space was de-sealedin 2020.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY16
A 55-YEAR-OLDworker diedand two otherswere injuredafter a portion of a concreteslab of a sewer they werecleaning fell on them. PolicesaidtheincidenttookplaceonSunday evening near AugustKrantiMarg inSouthDelhi.The deceased, Ramesh
Kumar, lived near the PublicWorks Department officeand was hired on a contractbasis towork for the depart-ment. The other two labour-ers, Pankaj Singh (26) andJitender Mangal (35), werealso hired to clean the sewernearMoolchand flyover.Around 5.47 pm Sunday,
doctors at AIIMS TraumaCentrecalledpoliceaboutthethreemen.DCP (South) BenitaMary
Jaiker said, “We received anMLCandsentstaff tothehos-pital. Kumar died while hisassociates are undergoingtreatment. Theywere not fitto give a statement earlier.We conducted an enquiryand found that they werelabourersworkingunder thePWD and were hired forsewercleaning.Theyentered
the sewer in the afternoonbutduringtheprocess,apor-tion of the concrete slab fellon them.”TheDelhiFireServiceswas
called, and locals helped res-cue themen.A case under IPC sections
304A(causingdeathbyneg-ligence) and 337 (causinghurt by act endangering life)was registered against un-known persons. Police saidthey are looking for the con-tractororsupervisortoascer-tain their involvement in al-legednegligence.Meanwhile, Singh, who
sustained severe injuries onhisleg,allegedthattheyweretrapped inside forawhile.“Thecleaningworkstarted
aroundtwodaysago.Weweregetting paid around Rs 300-400 a day. On Sunday, westepped in to remove plasticfromthesewerbutaportionofthe lintel fell... and we gottrapped. We screamed forhelp. After 20-30 minutes,someone removed the con-creteandpulledusout,”heal-leged.“Theconcretefellonmyleg and it is badly injured. Ihope I get work after this...,”saidSingh.Police said they have in-
formed Kumar’s family wholive inGhaziabad.
Man cleaning sewerdies after concreteslab falls on him
Thebuildingownergotafactory licence in2016whichwas latercancelledbytheNorthMCD.AbhinavSaha
At time of fire, post oflicensing inspector inMundka was vacant
0-50 Good
ANANDVIHARVeryPoor
0 500
309AQIPM10
SHADIPURPoor
0 500
SIRIFORTVeryPoor
0 500 500
51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate 201-300 Poor 301-400 VeryPoor 401-500 Severe
IT0Poor
0
273AQIPM10
344AQIPM10
245AQIPM10
FORECAST:May17Partlycloudyskywithpossibilityofduststorm/thunderstorm
S K Y WA T C H
MAX: 410.8°Cabove normal
MIN:281.6°Cabovenormal
New Delhi
4THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022
THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
DJB RAISES ISSUEWITHHARYANA, ITSAYSSUPPLYBEINGMAINTAINED
Gurgaon: Employee at five-starhotel, live-in partner found dead
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY16
WATER PRODUCTION at theChandrawal, Wazirabad andOkhla water treatment plants(WTPs)hadfallenbyaround25%onMonday on account of de-pleting water levels in theYamuna, according to the DelhiJalBoard (DJB).A statement from the DJB
stated that the water level attheWazirabadpondhad fallento 669.40 ft, against a normallevel of around 674.50 ft. Thelevel at thepondhas fallen fur-ther from 671.80 ft onMay 12.The release of raw water fromHaryana had also reduced, ac-cording to the statement.Water supply is likely to be af-fected from Tuesday morningonwards till thepond level im-proves.The three WTPs together
producearound230MGD(mil-lion gallons per day)—90MGDfrom Chandrawal, 120 MGDfromWazirabad and 20 MGDfromOkhla—out of the total ofaround 921MGDof water as ofMarch 2021, according to theEconomicSurveyofDelhi.Adisruptioninproductionat
these three plants means thatsupplytoseveralpartsof thecitywill be disrupted. Supply islikelytobehitinareasundertheNew Delhi Municipal Council,Delhi Cantt, Patel Nagar, KarolBagh, Civil Lines, Paharganj,
Tughlakabad, Model Town,Punjabi Bagh, Burari, GreaterKailash, Kamla Nagar, ShaktiNagar, Prahladpur, JahangirpuriandMoolchand.“The river is dry and water
production at Chandrawal,WazirabadandOkhlahas fallenbyaround25%-30%.Thecurrentlevel of the Wazirabad pond,which is around 669 ft, is thelowest so far this year. Thewa-
ter being released fromHaryanais less,”aseniorofficialof theDJB said.“Thequantityofwaterbeing
releasedisless,bothdirectlyintothe river and through the othersources.Demandishigherinthesummer,andsupply isnowlowwiththeriverdryingup,”theof-ficial added.The DJB had written to the
Haryana IrrigationDepartment
onMay 12, requesting an addi-tional 150 cusecs ofwater tobereleased into the river. TheCarrierLinedChannel(CLC)andDelhi Sub-Branch (DSB) bringwater toDelhi fromHaryana.When the DJB wrote to the
Haryana Irrigation DepartmentonMay 3, it had noted that theflow in the CLCwas 563 cusecsagainst a required flow of 683cusecs. “We should be getting
683cusecs throughtheCLCand330 cusecs through the DSB,which is a total of around 1,013cusecs. Butwe are now gettingonlyaround950cusecs,” theof-ficial said.The DJB has written to the
Haryana Irrigation Departmentthrice fromApril30onwards. Inresponsetotherequestforaddi-tional water, the DJB was in-formed that the city’s share ofwater is being released fromHaryana, theofficial added.A senior official of the
HaryanaIrrigationDepartmentsaid that temporary fluctua-tions in the CLC and DSB couldbe likely, but the required sup-ply is being maintained. “Thefluctuation is only for a fewminutes before it is restored.The issue is that demand hasgrown in Delhi, but the sharedecided by the Upper YamunaRiver Board has remained thesame. We don’t supply waterdirectly throughtheriver routenow, we supply through theCLC andDSB,” he said.In 1994, a memorandum of
understanding was signedamong the states of Delhi,Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan, and HimachalPradeshonallocationof surfaceflowof the river to these states.In addition to the CLC and
DSB, the DJB depends on draw-ing120 cusecs fromthe river it-self, which it can no longer use,since the river ismostlydry, theofficial said.
MCD’s bulldozers will runover 63 lakh people: Kejriwal
FINISHING TOUCHESFinalworkunderwayat the1.36-km-longPragatiMaidanunderpass,which is tobe inauguratedbyMay-end.Thetunnel isbeingbuiltbeneathPragatiMaidan, starting fromPuranaQila till theRingRoad.AmitMehra
In some DU colleges, temporary switchto online classes for first-year students
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY16
TARGETINGTHEanti-encroach-ment drives held by the BJP-ledMCDs, Chief Minister ArvindKejriwalMonday said the civicbodywas planning to run bull-dozersover63lakhpeopleinthecity,makingitthe“biggestdem-olition in Independent India”.Kejriwalsaidhehadtoldlegisla-torsfromtheAAPtostandbythepeople, and protest against this“gundagardi (hooliganism)”.“In the last few weeks, we
have seen that theBJP-ledMCDisrunningbulldozersandit’sbe-ing said it will continue for thenext months. They’re sayingtheywill remove all encroach-ments,andillegalconstructionsinDelhi.Wearealsoagainsten-croachments, we don’t want il-legalconstructions,”hesaiddur-ingavirtualpressconference.“Inthelast75years,Delhihas
notbeenmadeinaplannedway.More than 80% of Delhi willcome under the bracket of ille-gal construction or encroach-ment. The question then arises,will 80% of Delhi be demol-ished?” saidKejriwal.The Chief Minister said he
held a meeting of his party’sMLAs onMonday: “I told themevenifwehavetogotojail,don’tbe scared. You need to stand bythe people. Running bulldozerslikethisisnotright.Doingdada-giri, gundagardi is not okay.Abusingyourpowerisnotokay.”“Why are you running bull-
dozers over people?Wewill fixDelhi. Likewe haveworked oneducation, health, water, andelectricity, similarly, wewill fixencroachments too. But to de-molishhomesandshopsbyrun-ningbulldozersoverthemisnotright,” saidKejriwal.TheAAPchief said therewas
also the question of how theseencroachmentswere being re-moved: “Papers are not beingshown, nobody is being given achance.Theyjusttakebulldozersand reach any colony, and startbreaking anybody’s home orshop.Thatman is standingwithpapers in his hand, screaming,pleading formercy and askingthat his papers be considered.But nobody is checking his pa-pers, only bulldozers are beingrun.This isnotright.”“Their plan is to break all
unauthorised colonies in Delhi
where around 50 lakh peoplestay. They also plan to breakdown all jhuggis (slums)wherearound 10 lakh people stay.Apartfromthis,theyhavemadea list of 3 lakhpropertieswherepeople have gone beyond themap, andaddedabalconyor anextra room. Bulldozerswill runover63 lakhpeople... This isnotright,” saidKejriwal.LashingoutattheBJP,hesaid
that before the elections, theyhad said they will give owner-ship rights to those staying inunauthorised colonies. “Beforetheelections, theysaidtheywillmake houses where there arejhuggis. Now after elections,they have come to demolishthem all,” he said, adding that“noonewouldtolerate”thelivesandlivelihoodsof63lakhbeingruined.“In the last 15 years, the BJP
hasruledtheMCD. Inthelast15years,theymademoreillegalen-croachmentsandbuildings,andthere are allegations they tookmoney for these. Now whentheir term is over — their termends onMay 18, it’s May 16 to-day, and only two days are left.Do they have the constitutionaland legal power to take such abigdecision?”hesaid.Kejriwal said elections
should be held and the newMCD should take the decision.“We give assurance to the peo-ple that wewill solve the issueof encroachments, regulariseunauthorisedcoloniesandmakethem clean... We are makinghousesforthoselivingin jhuggis.It’s taking time,” saidKejriwal.Hesaidthosewhohadmade
“alterations”totheirhomesandshopswould be given a chancetoclear it.
ANONNADUTTNEWDELHI,MAY16
THEREHAS been an increase inthenumberofpeopletakingthethird Covid precaution dose inDelhiafterthegovernmentmadeit available for free across agegroups,withthenumberofpre-cautiondosesadministeredoverthelastoneweekcrossingdosesoneandtwofor the first time.Therewere3,036precaution
doses administered till 7 pmonMonday, which accounted forover73%of totaldosesadminis-teredontheday.(Thenumberofshots administered is usually
loweronSundaysandholidays.)The city administered just
under 87,000 precaution dosesover the last seven days, ac-countingforoverhalfofalldosesadministered in Delhi over thisperiod. “There has definitelybeenan increase in thenumberof people taking the precautiondose and there are two reasonsfor it—one, it becameavailableto the younger group of thosebetween 18 and 45 years andtwo, the Delhi governmentmadeitfreeforall.Thenumbers,of course, increased drasticallyonce it was made free,” said asenior official from the NewDelhidistrict.
So far, 9.65 lakh precautiondoseshavebeenadministeredinDelhi since it was started at thebeginningoftheyear.This,how-ever, still accounts for a verysmall proportion, only 6.4%, ofDelhi’s total1.5croreadultpop-ulation. “Not all the people areeligibletogettheshotsyet.Therehas to be a minimum ninemonthsgapbetweentheseconddose and the precaution dose.Thenumberswill keep increas-ingasmoreandmorepeoplebe-come eligible to get the thirddose,” said an official from theWestdistrict.The precaution dose was
opened for doctors, frontline
workers,andthoseovertheageof 60yearswithco-morbiditieson January 10. It was later ex-tended to all above 60 years ofageonMarch16. Itwasopenedfurther for all adults, albeit onpayment, from April 10 on-wards.ByApril21,theDelhigov-ernment made the precautiondoses free.The highest number of vac-
cination,overthelastweek,wasamong thosebetween theagesof18to45years,accounting fornearly38%of thetotal shotsad-ministered. “The number ofshots has increased in this agegroup mainly because of theprecaution dose; vaccination
had reached a saturation pointamongthisgroupbecauseover90%ofadults inDelhihavebeenfully immunised,” said theoffi-cial from theWest district.The NewDelhi official said,
“The numbers have remainedlow in theyoungest population— thosebetween the ages of 12and14years.Vaccinationatgov-ernment schools has been suc-cessful, with nearly 90% of theeligible children in the schoolswhere camps are held gettingthe shot. However, the privateschools have been reluctant toorganise vaccination campseven though the district doeseverything.”
WTPSGETTINGWATERFROMYAMUNA*
(APPROX PRODUCTION )Chandrawal 90MGDWazirabad 120MGDOkhla 20MGDHaiderpur 200MGDNangloi 40MGDDwarka 50MGDBawana 20MGD(*fromWazirabadpondandWesternYamunaCanal)
■AccordingtotheEconomicSurveyofDelhi,theproductionasofMarch2021wasaround921MGD.Estimateddemandis1,380MGD,attherateof60gallonspercapitaperday■TheDJB’ssummeractionplanhopestoachievepeakproductionofaround998MGDthisyearAdriedupYamunainthecapital. PraveenKhanna
Yamuna runs dry,water supplyin capital to be hit from today
SUKRITABARUAHNEWDELHI,MAY16
MORETHANthreemonthsafterclasses went offline in DelhiUniversity, some colleges havemoved classes back online forfirst-year students as a ‘tempo-rarymeasure’whiletheyconductofflineclassesfortheirfourthandsixthsemesterstudents.Because of the delay in ad-
missions for the last two yearsowing to the pandemic, the ac-ademic calendar in Delhi
University has been upset. As aresult,whilesecond-andthird-yearstudentsarecurrentlywrit-ingtheirfourthandsixthsemes-ter examinations respectively,first-year students are only amonthintotheirsecondsemes-ter.Withcollegesinthemidstofconducting their first fully of-fline examinations since thestart of the pandemic, they areconducting examinations andclasses in their premises at thesame time, a circumstance thathasnotarisenbeforeastheaca-demic calendar for all three
years isnormally in sync.WhiletheUniversityhasnot
takenanydecisiononthesame,somecollegeshavetakenthede-cision at their ownend tomoveclasses for the second semesterstudentsonlinetilltheexamina-tions are completed. Offlineclasses had begun for all yearsthisFebruary.Stating that the college
wouldbeconductingofflineex-amination for its own studentsas well as a large number ofSchool of Open Learning stu-dents, Dyal Singh College had
notified that “considering theCovid-19 precautions and tomaintainthenecessaryenviron-ment and sanctity for smoothconductof examinations, itwasdecided unanimously in an ur-gentmeetingof all the Teacher-In-Charges, held on 6th May,2022 through Google meet,that the classes (Theory andTutorials/Practicals)ofsemesterII(first-year)studentsshouldbeconducted through onlinemode/means during the entireperiodofexaminationsfrom9thMay-7th June,2022.”
May9 May10 May11 May12 May13 May14 May15 May16
Source:CoWIN
34,099 31,141 18,246 26,273 16,811 41,025 5,720 4,148
3,517
3,005
14,367
13,13016,215
15,006
2,216
8,528
2,640
12,938
1,484 5,9399,388
4,142
15,80821,075
452 1,5733,695
246866 3,0367,502 10,695
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
■Dose1 ■Dose2■PrecautionDose ■ Total
OVER THE PAST8DAYS
CM: KashmiriPandits notsafe in Kashmireven todayEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY16
CHIEFMINISTERArvindKejriwalcondemned the police actionagainst Kashmiri Pandits whowere protesting against thekilling of Rahul Bhat (35) inKashmir’s Budgam district anddemanded that the officers re-sponsiblebesuspended.Demandingthatadequatese-
curityarrangementsbemadesothatKashmiriPandits,whowishto return to thevalley, cando so,Kejriwal said, “A fewdays ago, agovernment official, Rahul Bhat,was killed. Some terroristswenttohis office, askedhisnameandshothimdead.Itseemstheyhaddecidedthat theywantedto tar-get aKashmiri Pandit.OurArmytraced and killed two terroristswithin 24 hours. But thewholecountry is worried that whyKashmiri Pandits are not safe inKashmir even today. ManyKashmiriPandityouthweresenttoKashmirunderaspecialpack-age.Theywantedtoliveandworkthere peacefully... After this inci-dent, theyare scared. Theywereprotesting toexpress theirangerat the killing but they werestopped.Teargasshellswerefiredandalathichargewascarriedoutonprotesters...This isnotright.”Bhat, a revenue department
official at the tehsil office inChadoora, was killed onThursday. He was staying in agovernment accommodation atSheikhpora village in Budgamdistrict with his wife and six-year-olddaughter.Kejriwalhadcomeunderfire
fromtheBJPinMarchafterheal-leged that BJP leaders weremadetoputupthepostersofthefilm, ‘’The Kashmir Files, acrossthe country. He had called thefilm‘false’andhadsaidthefilm-makers had exploited thetragedy of the Kashmiri Panditexodustomintmoneyinsteadofhelping the community. TheDelhi government had refusedtomakethemovie free inDelhi,andhad instead asked the film-makers tomake it available forfreeonYouTube.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGURGAON,MAY16
AMANandawoman,bothaged28, were found dead inside arented house in Gurgaon’sSushant Lok onMonday. Policesaid no suicide notewas recov-ered, and inquest proceedingsunder CrPC Section 174 havebeen initiated.Police said they were still
probing if both had committedsuicide or the man had mur-dered the woman and thenkilled himself. Police said themanworked as a chef at a five-star hotel in Delhi, while thewomanworkedwitha foodde-liverychain inGurgaon.Police said the two, believed
tobeliving-intogether,hadbeenstaying there for the past 15months,andhail fromthesamelocality in Delhi. Themanwasmarried and his wife had goneto Bhutan, where she hailedfrom,during thepandemic. Shehadreturnedto India recently.
Police said the incidentwasreportedto themat11.30ambytheman’sbrother.Poonam Hooda, SHO,
Sushant Lokpolice station, said,“Prima facie, it is suspected thatthemankilledthewoman—ei-ther by strangulation or givingherapoisonoussubstance—andthen hanged himself. The exactcircumstanceswillbeknownaf-ter thepost-mortem.”Policesaidafter themandid
not report for work for twodays, his employer contactedhis family toenquire. “Thefam-ily tried contacting him on hisphone, but there was no re-sponse. The family was awarehe was staying in Gurgaon but
didnotknowtheexact addressor that he was living with awoman,” said a police officer,requesting anonymity.Police said his brother took
the address fromhis colleaguesand reached Gurgaon. “Hisbrothergot in throughthemaindoor after a neighbour enteredtheaccess code. Thedoor to thehouse was not locked. Hepushed the door and saw hisbrother hanging from a ceilingfan,whilethewomanwasfoundlyingonthebedintheroom.Hethenreportedtheincidenttopo-lice,” saidSHOHooda.Police said the bodies ap-
peared to have been there for awhile.“Theneighboursreportedthat they had seen the victimstwodaysago,” said theSHO.DCP(East)VirenderVij said,
“No suicide note has been re-coveredandtherespectivefam-ilies have not filed any com-plaint. The reason is yet to beascertained. The bodies havebeen sent to themortuary for apost-mortem.”
GurgaonPolicesaidthecouplehadbeenstaying inarentedhouse inSushantLokforthepast15months
CMsaidhetoldAAPMLAstostandbythepeople,even iftheyhavetogoto jail. PTI
CitingSCseditionorder,SharjeelmovesHCforbailNewDelhi: JNU PhD stu-dent Sharjeel Imam hasapproached the DelhiHigh Courtwith applica-tionsseekinginterimbailin two sedition casespendingagainsthimsince2019and2020, citing therecentSupremeCourtor-der on Section 124A IPC.Hearing a challengeagainst theprovision, theapex court on May 11stayed thepending trials,appeals and proceedingsunder124AIPC.
FireatsheltersnearnewParliamentBuildingNewDelhi:Afirebrokeoutin two-three temporaryshelter rooms near thenew Parliament HouseMonday afternoon. Fireofficials said labourersworking on the CentralVistaredevelopmentproj-ect lived there. They saidthey sent 5 fire tendersandtheblazewasdousedin an hour. No casualtieshavebeenreported.
Manwhodemolishedneighbour’swallgets45daysin jailNewDelhi:Observingthatthe“democraticfabric”ofsociety will suffer if re-spect for judiciary is un-dermined,theDelhiHighCourt has sentenced acontemnor to 45 days ofsimpleimprisonmentfordemolishing the bound-arywall of a property inBurariinviolationofcourtorders.TheboundarywallofthepropertybelongingtoNirmal Jindal in BurarivillagewasconstructedinDecember 2020 on thebasis of a court orderin a property disputecase. The contemnor,Shyam Sunder Tyagi, onJanuary3demolishedthewall.ENS
BRIEFLY
Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 9,581 9,443ICU BEDS 2,222 2,171
CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL
VACCINATIONS INLAST24HOURS5,776
NOIDAMay 15 May16
Cases 72 70Deaths 0 0GURGAONCases 241 166Deaths 0 0
PATIENTS INHOSPITAL: 135OXYGENSUPPORT 48VENTILATORSUPPORT 6
DELHI TOTALCASES19,00,735
Cases Recoveries Deaths TestsMay15 613 784 3 22,366May16 377 910 1 11,198Total 3,228* 18,71,311 26,196 3,82,35,766*Total active cases inDelhi
More people opting for third Covid dose since it was made free
New Delhi
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PUBLIC NOTICEIt is to bring to the notice of all concerned that S.Kuldip Singh, S. Swinder Singh, SardarGursharan Singh all S/o Sh. Mohan Singh(recorded lessee) R/o property No. III/5/51, Sy.No. 52/2 Shastri Bazar, Delhi Cantt haverequested to the office of Delhi CantonmentBoard for mutation & transfer of lease hold rightsin respect of property No. III/5/51 comprising ofSurvey No. 52/2 Shastri Bazar, Delhi Cantt, beinglegal heirs of the recorded lessee, to the extenedof the rights of the recorded lessee. Theownership of the land vests in Govt. of India,Ministry of Defence. If any person has objectionto the mutation of above property/transfer oflease hold rights in favour of above applications,may file his/her objections within 30 days of thepublication of this notice to the undersigned withdocumentary proof in support of his/her objection,failing which the matter shall be referred to thecompetent authorities for consideration andtaking appropriate decision as per law.
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DELHICONFIDENTIAL
TALENTED MR CMLASTWEEK,aParliamentarycommitteevisitingTripurawasinnewsoverallegedmisbehaviourofthesonofaleadingstateministerwith a fewmembers of thepanel at a local five-starhotel.Butthetripproducedsomememorablemoments, too.In fact, the state government had organised a cultural eventfortheMPsatthesamehotel.Theeventwasattendedbystateministers and seniorBJP leaders, includingManikSaha,whowentontotakeoathasthenewchiefministerfourdayslater.Saha, it is learnt, regaled thevisitingMPswithBengali songs."LittledidweknowthatafutureCMwassittinginourmidst,"quippedoneMP.
GOOD GESTURETHELAWDepartmentofKeralaUniversityhasreceivedado-nation—amulti-volumetreatiseonthelawofpatents,whichcostsfourtimesthedepartment’sbudgetforbooks.“ChisumonPatents”,authoredbyDonaldChisum,isa54-volumetrea-tisefirstpublishedin1978,andcostsmorethan$15,000(ap-proximately Rs 12 lakh). The donation came fromAttorneyGeneralof IndiaKKVenugopal.Venugopalalsohasacollec-tionofrarebooksonawiderangeofsubjects—fromreligionandmythology to travel — that he digitised two years ago,grantingaccess toeveryone throughawebsite..
LITTLE REPRESENTATIONWHILE THECongress has criticised theNDAgovernment attheCentreovertherecentkillingsofKashmiriPanditsbymil-itantsintheValley,thepartydidnotinviteanyCongressleaderfromthecommunitytotheChitanShivirinUdaipur.TheonlyrepresentativesfromJ&KwereTariqHameedKarra,whoisapermanent invitee to CWC, and state Congress presidentGhulamAhmedMir.GhulamNabiAzadwaspresentasaCWCmember, andVivekTankhaasaRajyaSabhaMP.Onegets tohear thatAICC in-chargeof J&K, Rajni Patil,wanted to inviteoneKashmiri Pandit leader andhad forwarded thenameofDeepikaSinghRajawat,whorepresentedthevictim's familyin Kathua rape case, but the proposal was not accepted.Rajawat recently joined theCongress.
Biological Eslashes price forits Covid vaccine
UttarPradeshChiefMinisterYogiAdityanathandGovernorAnandibenPatel welcomePrimeMinisterNarendraModi uponhisarrival inLucknowonMonday.Vishal Srivastav
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICETHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,MAY16
AFTERA streak of clasheswithpeople andOpposition partiesover the last several months,CPI(M)-led LDF government inKerala onMonday abandonedlaying of boundary stones usingcoercivemeasures for social im-pact assessment (SIA) survey forthe proposed semi-high-speedcorridor(Silverlineproject).Instead, Kerala Rail
Development CorporationLimited (KRDCL)was told tode-marcatetheboundariesusingGPSsurvey,erectstonesonlywithlandowners’ consent or fix the align-mentbymarkingonpermanentstructures.Thisisamajordeparturefrom
the earlier stand of the govern-ment,whichwasdetermined tofix boundary stonesusingpoliceforce. Inmanyplaces, theKRDCLofficialshadbyforcesteppedintoprivate properties to demarcatetheboundaries.InKannur,CPI(M)workers had flexed theirmuscleagainstlandownerswhoobjectedto erecting boundary stones intheirproperty.Experts inthecivil infrastruc-
ture sector had also pointed outthatboundarystonesneednotbeerectedforSIAsurvey.With hindsight, the govern-
menthasclimbeddownfromtheadamantstand.Thatshiftinstandcameatatimeabypollwassched-
uled at Thrikkakara Assemblyconstituency in Ernakulamdis-trict. Both ruling CPI(M) andOpposition Congress have de-claredthattheoutcomeoftheby-poll,whichwouldbeheldonMay31, is a referendumon the pro-posedproject,especiallysinceitsalignment passes through theconstituency.Infact,sincethebypollwasan-
nounced earlier thismonth, thegovernment had not venturedwiththeyellowstonesanywhereinKerala,letaloneatThrikkakara.The concern of the govern-
ment is tangible in thewordsofCPI(M)centralcommitteemem-ber and LDF convener E PJayarajan, who told themediathat the government did notwant to create tension over thesurvey. “The project would beimplemented, only the surveymethodhasbeenchanged.”However, Opposition Leader
VDSatheesan dubbed the gov-ernmentdecisionas a success oftheir protest. “The governmentshouldadmititsmistake.Allcasesregistered against innocentpeo-pleshouldbewithdrawn...’’BJPleaderandUnionMinister
of State for External Affairs VMuraleedharan, who has beenleadingpartyprotest against theproject, said: “The governmenthas recoiled from laying theboundarystonesrealisingthattheprojectwouldnotgetthefinalnodfromtheCentre...Thisisastrategicretreatof thegovernmentat thetimeof thebyelection.’’
SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABAD,MAY16
AMIDSTAwarofwordswiththeTeluguDesamPartyandtheJanaSena Party over farm issues,AndhraPradeshChiefMinisterYSJaganMohanReddyreleasedRs3,758 crore as the first tranchethis year of the financial assis-tance under the ‘YSR RythuBharosa’schemeforfarmers.Benefitting over 50 lakh
farmers in the state, thewelfareschemeoffersRs13,500peryearin three installments to eachfarmer,withRs6,000borneoutof the central government’s PMKisanSammanNidhi.Releasingthefirstinstallment
of Rs 5,500 per farmer, Reddysaiditshowedhisgovernment’scommitmenttofarmers'welfareasthepaymentwasmade“evenbeforetheKharif seasonstarts”.The remaining portion (Rs
2,000)will be disbursedby the
Centre byMay end, he added.TheCMsaidwhileanotherpay-mentwillbemade inOctober,Rs2,000will be credited into theiraccountsinJanuary.SlammingNaidu,hesaidTDP
leadersandallieshadno“moralright” to talk on farmer issues.CounteringReddy,TDPleader,NLokeshNaidu saidpeoplewerefedup: “TheCMisnot inaposi-tion to tellwhat hehas done tomeet the growing irrigationneedsof farmers...”
Jagan releases first tranche of farmwelfare scheme, lashes out at rivals
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY16
AFTERCOVAXINandCovishield,the Hyderabad-based vaccinemanufacturer Biological Edropped the prices of its Covid-19vaccinetoRs250perdose(in-cluding GST). After accountingfor Rs 150 to be charged by thehealth centres for their services,theenduserswillpayRs400perdose of Corbevax, the companysaid.Themarketprice(includingGSTandhospital charges) stoodat990perdose.“BE has lowered the price of
its vaccinewith the aimofmak-ingitmoreaffordableandhelpin-creasethereachtoprotectmaxi-mumnumberofchildrenagainstthe virus. The decision comeswithin weeks of Biological E.LimitedreceivedEmergencyUseAuthorization(EUA) forchildrenbetween 5 and 12 years of age,”thecompanysaidinastatement.This is the cost to people
when administered at privatecentres.Thevaccineisstillavail-able free of cost at governmentcentres through the Centre’svaccination programme. It iscurrently being used for chil-drenbetweentheagesof12and14years.
IRAMSIDDIQUEBHOPAL,MAY16
REELINGUNDER the impact of abanonwheatexportimposedbytheCentre,traders’associationsinMadhya Pradesh have called atwo-daybandhofmandis,duringwhichtradersacrossthestatewillnot participate in the auctioningprocessofwheat.This comes a day after
GopaldasAggarwal, president ofSakhalAnajDalhanTilhanVyapariMahasanghSamittee, stated in alettertoPrimeMinisterNarendraModi that around 7,000 trucksloadedwithwheathad linedupoutside theKandla andMumbaiportsoverthepast10days.Aggarwal pointed out that
from these 7,000 trucks, at least4,000 trucksbelonged to tradersfromMPwhohavebeenhitbadlybytheban.Madhya Pradesh is the only
statewherewheatproductionhasnot been affected by the heat-wave,whichhasleftfarmerswithshrivelledgrainsinotherstates.TheCentre,throughanotifica-
tion onMay13, hadbanned ex-portofwheat,movingallkindsofwheatfrom“free”to“prohibited”category. Ithasonlyallowedtwokinds of export: those grantedpermissionforexporttocountriestomeettheirfoodsecurityneeds,and contracted exports againstwhichirrevocableletterofcredits
wereissuedonorbeforeMay13.Aggarwal saidmany traders
whose trucks were stuck atKandlaportinGujaratweremeet-ingdemandsraisedbyexporters.“The traders hadno knowledgewhether theexporterconcernedhad the Letter of Credit,” he said.“Thissuddenbanwillbeacrush-ing blow to them.Wewant thegovernment tomake arrange-mentsforsuchtraders.”Adelegationof traders’ asso-
ciationheadedbyAggarwal,metstateAgricultureMinisterKamalPatelonMondayandraisedtheirdemands.NimishAggarwal,presidentof
traders' association at Ujjainmandi,said:“Notraderacrossthestatewillparticipateinauctioningfor the next twodays.Wewantfarmerstorealisethatthesuddenbanisacrushingblowtotraders,asaresultofwhichwecan'taffordto give themhigh rates.WewillfacelossestothetuneofnealyRs1lakhpertruck.”Farmers,meanwhile,arebrac-
ingforasteepdropinwheatratesoncemandis start operations.RatesdroppingmuchbelowMSPwill leave farmerswith little op-tions but to sell their produce tothestategovernmentatMSPofRs2,015.MukeshBangdwa,whohadsownwheatover20acres, is stillleftwith200quintals of the400quintalsfromhistotalproductionthis year. Bangdwahad sold200quintalsatRs2,125perquintalat
themandisoonafterharvest.Butafterthebanimposedbythegov-ernment, he said the rate is Rs1,850perquintalforthesametypeofwheat.“WheatwhichIsoldforRs 2,125was of relatively poorqualitywithhighmoisture con-tent.Ihadstockeduptheremain-ing200quintalsandgotitcleanedanddried,hopingtogetatleastRs2,500perquintalwith improvedqualitybutthatseemsimpossible.Iwillsufferalossofanywherebe-tweenRs75,000 andRs1.5 lakhduetotheban,”Bangdwasaid.AgricultureMinister Kamal
Patel said about 40 lakhmetrictonnesofwheatwereprocuredinthenameof exportsbutonly10-12 lakh metric tonnes havereachedtheportforexport.“Thisshows there is hoardingbymid-dlemen.It’snotacompletebanonwheat export; traders can con-tinuetosupplytocountries (thatneedtoimport)tomeettheirfoodsecuritydemandswithproperap-provalandletterofcredit,”hesaid.He also hinted at a possible
implementationofastocklimittoavoidhoarding.Farm leader Shiv Kumar
Sharma'Kakkaji'accusedthegov-ernmentofchangingitspolicytosuit privateplayers and said that“the government has twoyears'worth of stock and still hasbannedexport.”AnilYadav, statepresident, BhartiyaKisanUnion,accused the government of in-dulginginvotebankpolitics.
Hit bywheatexport ban,traderscallmandi strike
No police force, GPS todemarcate boundaries forK-Rail survey: Kerala govt
MAULSHREESETHLUCKNOW,MAY16
AS PRIME Minister NarendraModi made a stopover inLucknow onMondaywhile re-turning from Lumbini in Nepal,hemettheministersof theUttarPradeshgovernmentandheldafree-wheelingconversationwiththem,according tosources.A month into his second
term, Chief Minister YogiAdityanathwelcomedPMModiat his official residence inLucknow,where hewas joinedbyhisentirecouncilofministers.During his three and a half-
hour-long discussion with the
ministers,thePMgavethemles-sons in governance and timemanagement. Sources saidModi asked them to differenti-atebetween“karya”(work)and“karyakaram” (events and pro-grammes), tellingthemtofocuson “karya” first and then on“karyakaram”.“It was a very informal dis-
cussion.ThePrimeMinisterwasgiving us lessons on better gov-ernance. At first, theministerswere seated at a distance fromthe PMandCMAdityanath. Butafterhearrived,thePMaskedustopullourchairscloser.Thedis-cussion began and he asked usabout our experiences duringfieldvisits,” saidaminister.
Sources said the PrimeMinisteralsotoldtheministerstonot indulge themselves in trans-fer and postings of officers, andadvisedthemtodevelopabetterrelationship with officials byholdinginformaldiscussionsforabetterunderstandingof issues.Sources said while talking
aboutmanaging time properly,thePrimeMinisteradvisedthemtoreadaboutBenjaminFranklin.Later in the evening, the PM
tweeted: “Had an extensive in-teraction with the Council ofMinisters of the Uttar Pradeshgovernment. We discussed awiderangeofsubjectsrelatingtofurtheringgoodgovernanceand‘Easeof Living’ for thecitizens.”
PM to Yogi ministers: Managetime better, focus on ‘karya’ first
4,000WHEATTRUCKSSTUCKATPORTFROMMP
New Delhi
THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022
GOVT& POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
6
ARUNSHARMAJAMMU,MAY16
RAHULBHAT,whowasshotdeadbymilitants in BudgamonMay11, wasworking under a PrimeMinister employment packageformigrantKashmiri Pandits.Ofthetotal6,000postsprovidedforPandit migrants under thescheme,atotalof5,928arefilledup. Nomore than1,037 of themliveinsecureaccommodations.Theremainingarecompelled
to rent quarters outside the se-curezonesmeantforthem.Theyalsotravellongdistanceswithoutsecurity,onadailybasis,forwork.The Valley has been seeing
protestsbyKashmiriPanditsre-garding their security followingBhat's killing. A Revenue
Department employee, Bhatlivedinasecureaccommodationat Sheikhpora, Budgam –Kashmir's oldest and biggestsuch colony for Pandits — butwas shot at his office, somedis-tanceaway.Posts such as the one Bhat
heldwereannouncedin2008bythenPrimeMinisterManmohanSingh, with the aim of drawingPandit migrants back to theValleyandtheireventual returnand rehabilitation there. Thesalariesof theseofficialsweretocomefromtheMinistryofHomeAffairs. While initially 3,000posts were announced, 3,000morewere added later,with al-mostall getting filledup.Incidentally, while the
Narendra Modi governmentswearsbythecauseofKashmiri
Pandits,andsaysstepslikeabro-gationofArticle370areameansto ensure their reintegration intheValley, it hasnot introducedanyschemepersemeantforthecommunity.The2008jobpackagewasit-
selfpartofanearlierschemeforreturn and rehabilitation ofKashmiri Pandits formulated in2002-04, when the Atal BehariVajpayee-led NDA governmentwas in office at the Centre andMufti Mohammad Sayeedwasheadingacoalitiongovernmentwith the Congress in the erst-whileJammuandKashmirstate.As per the policy, eachmi-
grant Kashmiri Pandit familywanting to return to the Valleywas tobepaidRs7.5 lakh for re-building their houses. TheSheikhpora accommodation,
along with one at Vessu inKulgam,hadcomeupunderthisscheme. The familieswere alsopromisedfinancialassistanceforagricultural land if theywantedto do farming, says Relief andRehabilitation Commissioner
Ashok Pandita. However, thatparticular scheme had failed,with only three families optingforitandmovingtoSheikhpora.Later, after the PM employ-
ment packagewas announced,thesameaccommodationswere
roped in formigrantswho tookuptheofferedjobs,Panditasays.The72ofthe6,000poststhat
remainvacantunderthisschemeare entangled in litigation, headds. The Relief andRehabilitationCommissionisthenodalagencytakingcareoftheaf-fairsofmigrantKashmiriPanditsstayingacrossthecountry.Apartfromsafety,theprotest-
erswhohit thestreets followingBhat's killing also raised ques-tions regarding the low salariesthey are paid (which are in linewithwhattheothergovernmentstaff get), particularly given therisk.KashmiriPanditleaderKingC Bharti also questions the un-dertaking Pandits have to givethat theywillwork in theValleyand not seek posting outsideKashmir, accusing the govern-
mentof sendingpeopledesper-ate for jobs into risky positionsforsuchmeagreamounts.Pandita says thegovernment
is cognizantof theproblemsandat least 5,000morequarters arebeingreadiedforKashmiriPanditsin securezones “tohouseall em-ployees”. “This July,wewill handoversomeofthem.ByDecember,wewillhaveallthe6,700quartersready and accommodate all themigrantemployees.”In the interim, Pandita adds,
theywanttheauthoritiestopostthe Class IV employees toJammu.Atameetingwithpolit-icalparties inSrinagarSaturday,Lieutenant Governor ManojSinharuledoutsuchapossibility.On Monday, protests by
Kashmiri Pandits over Bhat'skillingcontinuedinGanderbaland
Anatnag districts. In Anantnag,protesterssetfiretoeffigiesdepict-ingthepresentgovernment.With Bhat's family accusing
the government of makingKashmiri Pandits “scapegoats”,J&KBJPvice-presidentYudvirSethiinsists that their security ispara-mount for theparty... “morethantakingthembacktotheValley”.A resident, whowas part of
the protests at Sheikhpora, saidthey feltcaged,withnofreedomtomovefreely,orwithoutfear."Attimes,thereseemsnopurposetothese gated colonies. Every day,we have tomove out for work,without any security. Our chil-drenhavetogotoschool.Wemaybe safe during the night, butwearevulnerableduringtheday.”
FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com
Less than one-fifth of Pandits under PM employment package live in secure areas
MANISHSAHULUCKNOW,MAY16
WHILEALLeyesareontheKashiVishwanath Temple-GyanvapiMosque complex in Varanasi, asimilar petition seeking videog-raphy of the Shahi IdgahMasjidadjacenttoKrishnajanmabhoomiwas recently moved in a localMathuracourt.Theapplicationseeksanad-
vocatecommissionerforassess-ment of the site “on the lines of(the) Gyanvapimosque”, to de-termine “existence of Hinduartefacts and ancient religiousinscriptions on the mosquepremises”.The applicationwas filed in
the court of Civil Judge (SeniorDivision), Mathura, a day afterthe Allahabad High Court di-rectedittodisposeofallcasesre-lated to the Shri KrishnaJanmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah
Masjid dispute within fourmonths.OnMay 12, while disposing
of a petition filed by BhagwanShri Krishna Virajman AndAnother, the High Court said:“The Civil Judge (SeniorDivision),Mathura, isdirectedtodecidetheaforesaidapplicationsexpeditiously,preferablywithinaperiodof fourmonthsfromthedateacertifiedcopyofthisorderisproducedbeforehim,andaftergivinganopportunityofhearingto theaffectedparties....”TheHighCourtalsostatedin
its order: “It is clarified that thecourt has not expressed anyopinion either regarding themaintainabilityofthecaseorthemeritsof claimmadebythepe-titioner.”Thenextday,May13, anap-
plicationwasmovedinthecourtof Civil Judge (Senior Division),Mathura, seeking appointmentof anadvocatecommissionerto
carryoutinspectionof theShahiIdgahMasjid.Petitioner Manish Yadav,
whohadearlierfiledanapplica-tion in the High Court for earlydisposal of petitions connectedwith thedisputedMathura site,told The Indian Express: “I re-questedtheMathuracourttoap-point a senior advocate, an ad-vocate commissioner, and get avideosurveydoneofShahiIdgah
immediately, because there arestillremainsofHindureligionin-side themosque. These are im-portantfacts,andtheOppositioncan removeordelete them. Thecourt is likely to take upmyap-plicationon July1.”Nationalpresidentofanout-
fit called the Narayani Sena,Yadav said he had moved thehigh court as petitions werepending, includingonesseeking
a survey of the site by theArcheological Survey of Indiaand a direction to stop any con-structionat thesite.Earlier, an advocate named
MahendraPratapSinghhadfiledan application in the same civilcourtseekingthatacommissionbe appointed to survey themosque.AdvocateTanveerKhan,who
is representing the Shahi IdgahMasjid, said theywerewaitingfor the July1hearingof the fourpetitionspendinginconnectionwith thedisputedsite.Meanwhile, the District
JudgeCourt,Mathura, islikelytosoonpronounceitsjudgmentonthemaintainabilityofacivilsuitseekingremovalof themosque,claiming itwasbuilt onKrishnaJanmabhoomi, thebirthplaceofLord Krishna. The suit was filedtwo years ago by the 'Deity andtheJanmasthan(birthplace)'and'next friend' Ranjana Agnihotri,
a Lucknowresident, andothers.The petitioners have also
soughtcancellationofacompro-mise decree between the gov-erningbodyof the temple com-plex and themanagement trustof themosquein1968.Thepeti-tionersclaimthattheagreementbetween the Shree KrishnaJanmasthan Seva Sangh,Mathura, and themosque trustwas“illegalandvoidabinitio(notlegallybinding)”asthelandwasvested in another trust, ShreeKrishnaJanmabhoomiTrust,andthe Seva Sanghwas not autho-risedtoacton itsbehalf.Advocate Tanveer Khan said
the civil court had rejected thispleain2020,afterwhichthepe-titioners had filed an appeal. “Iargued that the petitioners areneither the Shri KrishnaJanmabhoomi Trust nor ShriKrishna Janambhoomi SewaSangh, so their petition shouldberejected.”
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,MAY16
IN PREPARATION to theAssembly elections scheduledlater this year, the Gujarat BJPwill focus on seats where theparty lost or won with a thinmargininthepreviouselections.The decisionwas taken at a
two-day Chintan Shivir of theGujarat BJP that concluded at aprivate golf club on the Bavla-Nalsarovar road in AhmedabaddistrictonMonday.Union HomeMinister Amit
Shah, Gujarat CM BhupendraPatel and party state presidentCR Paatil attended the conclavealong with a select group ofaround 35-40 party leaders, in-cluding party general secretary(organisation) BL Santhosh,Gujarat co-incharge SudhirGuptaandparty'sgeneralsecre-tary (organisation) in GujaratRatnakar. Former CM VijayRupani and former Deputy CMNitinPatelwerealsopresent.Addressing a press confer-
ence after the Shivir, party gen-eral secretary PradipsinhVaghela said that themeetingwasorganisedtolayfoundationfor a “huge victory” in the 2022assembly elections and later in2024LokSabhaelections.
Withoutdivulgingthedetailsof thediscussions anddecisionstaken,Vaghelasaid,“Anunprece-dented victory is certain (in theassemblyelections) for theBJP.”Party sources said that the
GujaratBJPhasbeenquitewaryof the rise of the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) in the state and theincreased frequency of visits ofits national convener ArvindKejriwaltothestate.AskedifBJPconsiders AAP as a challenge inGujarat, Vaghela said that after2017elections,BJPhaswonnineassembly by-elections and allthe localbodies.“Our strength is the hard
work of our workers. And wehave full confidence in thepower of our workers. And so,we do not dwelve into estimat-inganyotheroppositionparty’spower,”Vaghela said.Education Minister and
spokespersonofGujaratgovern-ment Jitu Vaghani also ad-dressed the press conferenceand said detailed discussionswere held on earlier assemblyelections.Headdedthatdiscus-sionswere also held onmakingthepartystrongerinseatswhereit faredweak in checking “falsepropaganda”by theopposition.Bothleadersparriedquestions
onthenumberof seats thepartyistargetingforthecomingpolls.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY16
ITISTIMEtheCongressreconciledwith the reality that it no longerdominatestheOppositionspace,politicalpartiessaidMondayinasharpreactiontoCongressleaderRahulGandhi's statement, at theparty Chintan Shivir thedaybe-fore, that regional counterparts“lacktheideology”totakeontheBJPandRSS.Ata timewhenregionalpar-
tieshaveheldtheBJPbackinsev-eral states, even as theCongresshas failed, one of its own allies,the JMM, said: “It is RahulGandhi'sself-assessmentandheisentitledtohisopinion,butwhogave him the authority to com-ment on ideology?Howarewerunning the partywithout anyideology?”The JMMandCongress runa
coalition government inJharkhand. Party spokespersonSupriyoBhattacharyasaid: “Thefact remains that it is these re-gional parties on which theCongressisdependentforafightor a win, be it the JMM inJharkhandortheRJDinBihar.”The RJD, another Congress
ally,alsocalledRahul'sstatement“unfortunate”. Leaders of allyDMKpreferrednottocomment.The TMC and AAP, which
havedealttheBJPmorethanonedefeat, weremore blunt. TMCRajya SabhaMP Sushmita Devsaid: “We are not contestingevery seat, but the BJP is strongwherevertheCongressisthepri-mary opposition...in that sense,the BJP is happy to have theCongress as a national party,”Dev, who quit the Congress inAugust lastyear, said.FormerallySamajwadiParty
saiditwasworthponderingthat
if the Congresswas the alterna-tivetotheBJP,whywasn'titbeingseenasone.“Thefactisthatwith-out regional parties, no govern-ment is possible even at theCentre,” SP leader RajendraChaudhary said told The IndianExpress.National Conference vice-
president Omar Abdullah said:“At a timewhen the Congressneeds regional parties, it shouldnot attack them. It should focusonattackingtheBJP.”“What is national and re-
gional? For years, the Congresshasbeenajuniorpartnertopar-ties like theSP,DMK,"AAPRajyaSabhaMPSanjaySinghsaid.BJD spokesperson Lenin
Mohanty said: "The results thatregionalpartieshavebeenshow-ingintheirrespectivestatesisev-idence enoughof the efficacy oftheseparties.”FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com
Jaipur: Inhis firstpublic addressafter the three-day ChintanShivir in Udaipur, CongressleaderRahulGandhionMondayreiterated that it is a fight be-tween two ideologies with BJPworking to divide India whileCongress takeseveryonealong.“It isafightbetweentwoide-
ologies. On one hand, there isCongress ideology, which saysthat you have to take everyonealong,torespecteveryone,andtoprotect everyone’s history andculture.Ontheotherhand,BJPdi-videspeople,andcrushesandsti-fles;anditstiflesanderasesadiva-sis'historyandculture.ThisbattleisgoingoninIndia,”Rahulsaidatarally inBanswara,Rajasthan.“Wehelptheweak,theyhelp
the select big industrialists,” hesaid,adding,“BJPwantstocreatetwoIndias.Onefortherich,for2-3bigindustrialists,andotherforthepoor,adivasis,dalits, andthebackwards.We don’t want twoIndias, wewant a single nationwhere everyone gets an oppor-tunityto fulfil theirdream.”He said that BJP has de-
stroyed the economy with itspolicies. “BJP has attacked oureconomy. The PrimeMinisterimplemented demonetisation,and imposed the wrong GST.This destroyed our economy,whileUPAhadstrengthenedit,”hesaid.“You know the situation of
today’sIndia.Everyyouthknowsthat they can’t get employmentinIndia.Youallcanseethepricerise and it keeps on increasing,”hesaid. ENS
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,MAY16
HIS RISEmay have been quickenoughforhimtobeseenashisfather’spoliticalsuccessor,butBY Vijayendramay have to waitfora stint in theLegislature.Vijayendra’snamewasamong
the15discussedat theBJP’s corecommitteemeeting lastweekaspossiblecandidatesfortheJune3Legislative Council polls. Themeeting was chaired by BJPKarnataka inchargeArun Singh.Vijayendra’s father, formerCMBSYediyurappawasalsopresent.However, The Indian Express
has learnt, the stateunit is likelynot to deliberate further on hiscandidature as they expect thecentral leadershiptoreject it.SinceYediyurappa’sousterin
2021,Vijayendra, the vice-presi-dent of the BJP’s state unit, haswidely been seen as his father’spoliticalheir;withspeculationoflate he will stake claim to theLingayat strongman’s legacy. Hehas, however, never been givena ticketby theBJP.
ProposingVijayendra’snameas anMLC candidate is seen bymany as an effort byYediyurappaloyaliststobringhisson into the state cabinet. That,however,maynotexactlyproveto be a boon. A source told TheIndian Express: “Although thenamewas proposed itmay notbepressed for, given theparty’sstandon issues likeparivarvaad(dynastic politics) which hasbeen raised by PM Modi andothercentral leaders.”Another source saidmany in
theBJPalsofeargivingVijayendraanMLCberthandthenpossiblyaministry could create a newpowercentreinKarnatakaunit.
TORAAGARWALA,GUWAHATI,MAY16
DAYSAFTERaForeigners’Tribunal(FT) member wrote to theNationalRegisterofCitizens(NRC)Assam coordinator HD Sarmaaskinghimnot to interferewiththe functioning of the tribunalswhile insisting the finalNRChadalreadybeenpublished,thelatterdoubleddownonhisstance.SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress,
Sarma said he has not receivedthe letter yet andwill respondaccordinglywhenhedoes.He, however, reiterated his
stance that only the RegistrarGeneral of India’s officewas au-thorisedtopublishthe finalNRCand that it had not done so yet.“The FTs’ duty is to examine theevidence and then pass theiropinion, but sometimes if theyfind the name on theNRC thenthey declare the person as‘Indian’.Theyshouldlookatitin-dependently(ofNRC),”hesaid.InSeptember2021,anFTde-
clared aman Indian, while ob-servingthathisfamilymemberswerepartoftheNRC,whichitre-ferred toas the“finalNRC”.OnApril 18, Sarmahadwrit-
ten to the FTs in the state urgingthemnottorelyontheNRCtoad-judicatecitizenshipcasesas“thefinalNRCisyettobepublished”.“It may be noted here that
therearelargenumberoferrorsduetowrongdataentryander-roneous process adopted in theNRC updation which has been
mentioned in the lA filedby theundersigned before theSupremeCourtandthematterisyet tobeheard,”hewrote.On May 10, an FT member,
whodidnotwanttobeidentified,wrote to Sarma asking him towithdrawtheletterasit“amountsto interference inadministrationofjustice”.TheclaimthattheNRCwasnotfinal,theFTmembersaid,was in “direct contrastwith theavailablerecordsandordersoftheSupremeCourtwhichmayattractcontemptofcourt.”Thememberalso cited a 2019press commu-niqueby formerstatecoordina-tor Prateek Hajela which de-scribedtheNRCasthefinalNRC.
PleaseeksMathuramosquesurvey ‘onGyanvapi lines’
TheShriKrishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi IdgahMasjidcomplex inMathura. ExpressArchives
UnionHomeMinisterAmitShahduring theChintanShivirheldbyGujaratBJPatBavla,onMonday. Express
EVERSINCEitwaspub-lishedonAugust31,2019,Assam’sNRC—whichleftout19lakhpeople—hasbeeninlimbo. In2021,statecoordinatorHDSarmasubmittedanaffi-davit totheGauhatiHighCourt, referringtotheAugust31listasa ‘supple-mentary’ listandnotthe‘finalNRC’andsoughtare-verification.TheAssamgovernment, too,hasnotacceptedthelistas final,andiscurrentlypushingfora“corrected”NRC.
ThecuriouscaseofNRCE●EX
PLAINED
Assam coordinatoron NRC: Final listnot published yet
BYVijayendra
BJP’s ‘parivarvaad’ veto may thwartBSY son’s chance of becoming MLC
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY16
OPPOSINGANapplicationseek-inglivestreamingofproceedingsinthepetitionsseekinglegalisa-tion of same-sex marriages inIndia, the Centre has told theDelhi High Court that the pleawas “aimedat creationof adra-matic impression of the pro-ceedingsandtowinsympathy”.Thegovernmentalsosaidthat
neither there is violation of anyfundamentalrightinvolvedinthecasenor it is amatterof nationalimportance.MajorityoftheIndianpopulation is “not verymuchaf-
fected” by the case, it said. “Thepurposeof theapplicantappearstobemalafideasheistryingtogetunnecessarypublicity,”theCentresaidinitsreply.The court inNovember2021
had soughtCentre’s responseonthepleaforlivestreamingofpro-ceedingsinthecase.Atleasteightpetitionsarepending,seekingle-galisationofsame-sexmarriagesundertheHinduMarriageAct,theSpecialMarriageAct, theForeignMarriage Act, and a declarationthattheright to legal recognitionofasame-sexmarriageisthefun-damentalrightunderArticles14,15,19and21irrespectiveofaper-son’sgender, sexorsexualorien-
tation.SeniorAdvocateNeerajKishan
Kaul, representingpetitioners inone of the pleas, had submittedthattheissueconcernsabout7-8percentofthepopulationandlivestreamingshouldbepermitted.Seekingdismissalofthepeti-
tions seeking legalisation ofsame-sexmarriages, theCentrein February 2021 had arguedthat amarriage in India neces-sarily depends upon “age-oldcustoms, rituals, practices, cul-tural ethos and societal values”.Italsosaidthatthereexistsa“le-gitimate state interest” in limit-ing the recognition of marriagetopersonsofoppositesexesonly.
Centre to HC: Plea seeking live relay ofsame-sex case hearings for sympathy
RahulGandhioffersprayersatHariMandir inBeneshwarDham,alongwithRajasthanChiefMinisterAshokGehlot (right),nearBanswaraonMonday.PTI
How are we without any ideology,regional parties question Rahul
BJP is dividingIndia, Congresstaking everyonealong: Rahul
At own Chintan Shivir,Gujarat BJP resolves tofocus on weak, lost seats
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAGUWAHATI,MAY16
CHINA’S PEOPLE'S LiberationArmy (PLA) is engaged in infra-structurecapacityenhancementacross the international borderinArunachalPradesh,theIndianArmy’s EasternCommandchiefsaidMonday.GeneralOfficerCommanding-
in-ChiefoftheEasternCommand,LtGeneralRPKalita,however,saidtheIndiansideisalsocontinuouslyupgradingitsinfrastructureandca-pabilitiestodealwithanysituationthatmayarisealongtheborder.“Across the Line of Actual
Control(LAC)intheTibetregion,a lot of infrastructure develop-ment isgoingon.Theother sideis constantly upgrading theirroad, rail andair connectivityaswell as 5Gmobile network sothat theyare inabetterpositionto respond toa situationormo-bilise forces,” he said at a pressconference.TheChineseauthoritieshave
builtbordervillagesclose to theLAC that can be used for dualpurposes, LtGeneralKalita said.“Wearecontinuouslymoni-
toring thesituation.Wearealsoupgradingourinfrastructureandcapabilitiesaswellasthemech-
anism to handle the situation.Thesehaveputusinarobustpo-sition,”headded.Lt General Kalita, however,
denied any intrusion is takingplacealongtheborderwithChina.Therehas beenno case of intru-sion since the 1962 India-Chinawar,headded.LtGeneralKalitaalsosaid the
IndianArmyandotherstakehold-ers are analysing implications ofthe recent LandBorders Lawen-actedbyChinagivingmorepowertothePLAtoprotectthecountry’ssovereigntyandboundary.Meanwhile, LtGeneralKalita
saidinsurgentgroupsinNortheastIndiahave lost their “ideologicalmoorings” and are sustainingthroughextortionaswellasarmsanddrugssmuggling.“Atimewillcome when they will join themainstream,”headded.Expressingconcernover the
recruitmentbythebannedULFA(Independent)outfitinAssaminthepastoneyear,heappealedtothe youths not to join themili-tantgroup.Regarding theArmedForces
(SpecialPowers)Act (AFSPA), theArmyCommandersaidthatafterthelawwaswithdrawnfromvar-iouspartsof theNortheast, someforces have been “de-inducted”andshiftedtothenorthernareas.
China building infranear Arunachalborder, says Army
KashmiriPanditsprotestagainst thekillingofRahulBhat, inJammuonMonday. PTI
New Delhi
7THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022
EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
DGCA noticeto IndiGo for‘inappropriatehandling’
ANONNADUTT&SANTANUCHOWDHURYNEWDELHI, KOLKATA,MAY16
INWHATcouldbecomeanotherCentre-Stateflashpoint,theWestBengal governmenthas allottedseats to second- and third-yearmedical students fromUkraineevenasthecountry'sapexmed-ical education regulatormain-tainedthat it isnotallowed.Studentswhocompletetheir
educationinsuchamannercan-not apply for the screening testthateveryforeignmedicalgrad-uate has to take before practic-ing in India, officials from theNational Medical Commission(NMC) and theHealthMinistrytoldThe IndianExpress.On April 28, West Bengal
ChiefMinisterMamataBanerjeehadannouncedthathergovern-mentwould accommodate 412studentswhowereforcedtore-turn to the state from Ukrainefollowing the Russian invasion.ShealsolashedoutattheCentrefor "not taking any responsibil-ity" for thesestudents.Ofthe412returnees,172stu-
dents, whowere in second andthird year of theirmedical edu-cation inUkraine, have been al-lowedtoattendpracticalclassesatdifferentgovernmentmedicalcolleges in thestate.This announcement, Union
governmentofficials said, is notin line with the current guide-lines of NMC, which state thatforeign medical graduatesshould have completed theirtheoryandpracticalmedicaled-ucationanda12-month intern-shipat thesamecollege.NMCisIndia'sapexregulatory
authorityformedicaleducation.“Anydecisionaboutmedical
students from Ukraine has tocome from NMC. The currentguidelines are very clear. Thesestudents (from Bengal whochoosetoattendpracticalclassesingovernmentcolleges)willnotbe eligible for FMGE (ForeignMedical Graduates Exam)," an
NMCofficial said.A senior HealthMinistry of-
ficial agreed: “We have askedstatesnottomakeanyirrespon-sible comments about the situ-ationwithUkrainestudents.The(Union) government is lookingat ways to get the students ad-mitted to equivalent courses inotherEuropeancountries.”TheNMCofficial said Bengal
hadsoughtnopermissionforthis.Asked whether the an-
nouncementonaccommodatingmedical students fromUkrainewentagainsttheNMCguidelines,WestBengal'sdirectorofmedicaleducation (DME), DebasisBhattacharyya, argued, "Wefirst
increasedthenumberof seats inourmedicalcollegesandthende-cided to accommodate the stu-dents. So there should not be aproblem(inthemattendingprac-tical classes) oncewe have in-creasedthe(numberof)seats."On May 10, Bhattacharyya
hadpromised toget backon thespecifics of violation of NMCguidelines.Hehadnotrespondeduntil lateMondayevening.In addition to the 172 stu-
dentsinBengal,another135stu-dents in fourth and fifth yearhave been allotted "observingseats"ingovernmentcollegestocompletepractical training.DrRohanKrishnan,president
of the Federation of All IndiaMedical Association (FAIMA),said: “There isnothingcalledob-servingseatsinIndia.SometimesMBBSdoctorsworkundervariousspecialistsfortraininginthatpar-ticulararea,whichisreferredtoasobservership. But that certainlycannothappenforsomeonewhohasn'tevencompletedMBBS.”Nearly 18,000medical stu-
dentswere forced to leave theireducationmidwayandfleeafterRussiainvadedUkraine.NMCof-ficialshadearliertoldTheIndianExpressthattherewasnowayofincorporatingsuchalargenum-berofpeopleinIndia,whichhasaround90,000MBBSseatsavail-able for 2021, with around 16lakhapplicants."Apart from the students
fromUkraine, there are nearly65,000otherswhoare enrolledin countries such as China, thePhilippines, and Georgia whohaven't been able to receivepracticaleducationduetotravelrestrictions. We have to thinkabout those students, too," theHealthMinistryofficial said.Meanwhile,atthebehestofa
studentfromChina,theSupremeCourt has directed NMC to for-mulateapolicyoverthenexttwomonths togrant temporary reg-istrationtothosewhohavecom-pleted medical education inothercountriesbuthaven'tbeenabletodopractical training.
AMILBHATNAGARBULANDSHAHR,MAY16
FORTY-YEAR-OLDKAMLESHsitsunder the shade of a tree in thescorching sun looking at threeplastic tents on an unevenmuddygroundinBulandshahr'sAwasVikas2colony.Adjacenttoawatertank,theplothadnearlyeighthousesbelongingtodiffer-ent familymembers of Rohtas(45),Kamlesh'shusband.Everyfewminutes,Kamlesh
breaksdown, recallinghowshelost her husbandandher houseduring an anti-encroachmentdriveearlier thismonth.As per the family, and their
neighbours, Rohtaswas not al-lowed tomove out of the houseasthebulldozermovedinonMay2.Thedailywagersuccumbedtohis injuries10dayslater.
"When the wall collapsed,more than 50 people rushed toremove the debris from atophim.Wetookhimtothenearest
government hospital, and itasked us to take care of him athome.Henevergotupandeven-tually succumbed to his in-
juries,” a family member says,adding that Rohtas had beenhurton the legandspine.Officials deny this, saying
Rohtas had been ailing and thefamilycameupwiththeclaimofhis injuries later. The contractorwho carried out the demolitionandhisaideshavebeenbooked,for culpable homicide notamounting tomurder. No casehasbeenbroughtagainstanyof-ficial asof now."The contractor came and
told us 'Samadhi banane aayahoon(I amhere toprepareyourtomb)'. I told himmy husbandwas sleeping inside the houseand to give us a fewminutes towake him up. The driver didn'tlisten and ploughed into awall,which collapsed onto Rohtas,"says Kamlesh. The family sayssince the hospital didn't admithim, they don't have anymed-
icalpapers to show.TheextendedfamilyofRohtas
and his brothers say they havebeenlivingontheapproximately4,000sqftland,ineightseparatehalf-pucca huts for decades,much before the nearby AwasVikas2colonywasdeveloped."This is probably our sixth
generation livinghere.Wehaveseen the city comeup. They aresaying we don't belong here,wheninfactwehavebeenlivinghereforyears. If theyhaveanis-sue, they should discuss it withus.Gettingbulldozersisnosolu-tion," says one of the relatives,SumitKumarLodhi.Another relative, Deepak,
says the women of the familywent down on their knees be-fore the contractor, MohitChaudhary, whowas hired forthedemolition. "Hekept sayingwewill end up on pyres. They
evenbrokeanearbyhandpumpout of spite. In this heat, we aresleeping under a plastic sheet.Wehavebeenleftwithnothing.”Locals in the area back the
family, saying the bulldozerbroke awall andRohtas did notgetenoughtimetoescape.The Nagar Palika, which
ownsthe landwhere the familylived, says that far fromcausingany injuryordeath, thedemoli-tion exercise had been carriedoutamicably.Officials said some portions
of thehouseshadbeenbroughtdownonApril14,andtheactiononMay 2was carried out withthe family's consent. "In April,walls had been brought downandthedebriswasremoved.OnMay 2, the family themselvessaid we should get a bulldozerand bring down the remainingstructure," says Manoj Garg,
Chairman,NagarPalika.Healsoclaimsthatinthe'Jan
Sunwai' session held after thedemolition, the family nevertalked about a person being in-jured and rather insisted that aroute formovement be openedup. “The family never gave any-thing inwritingabout thedem-olition,”Gargsays.District administration offi-
cialsclaimRohtashadbeenailingandclaimsofinjurieswerewrong.Muzaffarnagar District
Magistrate Chandra BhushanSinghsaid: "Wehave filedanFIRand an investigation is takingplace.Asperinitialfact-finding,wewereinformedthatnopersonwasinjuredduringtheantiencroach-ment.Furtherdetailswillbeascer-tainedduringtheprobeandactionwillbetakenaccordingly.”Asthematterisunderprobe,
there is statusquoonthe land.
PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,MAY16
SAYINGTHAT the findings of itsthree-membercommittee"primafacie indicate inappropriatehan-dling of passengers" and "non-conformanceswiththeapplicableregulations", the DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation (DGCA)has issuedashowcausenotice toIndiGo fordenyingboarding toaspecially-abledchildattheRanchiairportonMay7."Theproceedingsofthecom-
mittee were partly held in theopenandpartlyincameraasperthe request of the affected fam-ily. The findings of the commit-teeprimafacieindicateinappro-priatehandlingofpassengersbythe IndiGo staff thereby result-ingincertainnon-conformanceswiththeapplicableregulations,"theDGCAsaidonMonday."Inviewofthis,ithasbeende-
cidedtoissueashowcausenoticetotheconcernedairlinethroughits authorised representative toexplain as to why suitable en-forcement action should not betaken against them for the non-conformances,"itsaid.TheDGCAhasgivenIndiGotimetillMay26torespondtotheshowcauseno-tice."Afterhearingtheirsubmis-sions, appropriate action as perlawwouldbetaken," itsaid."Wehave received the com-
munication fromDGCA on thematter andwill respond in duecourse,"IndiGosaidonMonday.OnMay7,anIndiGostafferde-
niedboardingtoaspecially-abledchild for a Ranchi-Hyderabadflight.Twodaysaftertheincident,the airline's CEO, RonojoyDutta,hadsaidthecompanywasof theview"thatwemadethebestpos-sible decisionunderdifficult cir-cumstances". "Throughout thecheck-inandboardingprocessourintent of coursewas to carry the
family.However, at theboardingarea the teenagerwas visibly inpanic,"hehadsaid.The national aviation safety
regulatorhadsetupathree-mem-ber team, comprisingmembersfromtheDGCA'sdepartmentsofairsafety,aircraftengineeringandlegal, to probe the incident. Thecommittee,which lookedat theairportvideofootage,andspoketopassengersandairportstaffaspartof itsprobe,has submitted its re-porttotheDGCA.The Indian Express reported
last week that the teamwouldlookintotheoperationalandle-gal aspects, including the appli-cability of the "regulations forcarriageofpersonswithdisabil-itiesandreducedmobility".Theregulationbeingreferred
to is part of the Civil AviationRequirements (CAR) (Section 3,Series 'M', Part I), which lays"regulations for carriage of per-sons with disabilities and re-ducedmobility by air to protectthemagainstdiscriminationandtoensurethattheyreceiveallas-sistanceduring their travel"."Noairlineshallrefusetocarry
personswithdisabilityorreducedmobility and their assistive aids/devices,escortsandguidedogsin-cluding their presence in thecabin, provided suchpersons ortheir representatives, at the timeof booking, inform the airline oftheirrequirement(s)," itstates.However, it also states that
"before refusing carriage to anypersonon thebasis of disability,theairlineshallspecifyinwritingthebasis of such refusal indicat-ingitsopinionthattransportationof suchpersonswould ormightbeinimicaltothesafetyofflight".This CAR defines a personwithdisability as "any individualwhohas aphysical ormental impair-ment"onapermanentortempo-rarybasisthatsubstantiallylimitsoneormoremajorlifeactivities.
RANCHIAIRPORTROWMAHARASHTRA
ActorbookedagainforFBpostonPawarPune:Yet another FIRhasbeenregisteredagainstac-tressKetaki Chitale for al-legedlymisusingthenameof Saint Tukaram in the“objectionable” post onNCP'sSharadPawaronherFacebookpage.NitinMore(57),anoffice-beareroftheSant Tukaram DehuSansthan, lodged FIR onSaturday. The postmen-tionswords“TukaMhane(says Tukaram)”. Moresaid “Tuka Mhane” wasthe“naammudra”(signa-ture)ofSaintTukaramandusing it in a defamatorypost hurt sentiments ofWarkaris. ENS
NEWDELHI
SJVNtodevelopRs4,900croreprojectinNepalNewDelhi: State-ownedSatluj Jal Vidyut Nigam(SJVN)Ltdwilldevelopan-otherhydropowerprojectArun-4 worth Rs 4,900crore inNepal. AMoU forthe 490-MWprojectwassigned inLumbini,Nepal,in the presence of PMNarendra Modi and hisNepalese counterpartSher BahadurDeuba, thecompany said in a state-ment on Monday. SJVNChairman andManagingDirectorNandLalSharmasaid itwill be company'sthird mega project inNepal.Theconstructionof900MWArun-3projectisin progress and the 669-MWLowerArunprojectisat the survey and investi-gationstage,hesaid. PTI
KARNATAKA
Manfleeswithcaronpretextoftestdrive,heldBengaluru:Debt-ridden36-year-oldbusinessman,who stole a car tomain-tainhis“socialstatus”,hasbeen arrested after 100days of police hunt. MGVenkateshNaikofAmruthNagar in Bengaluru ap-proachedRavindra Elluri(47)afterthelatterplacedanadvertisementonOLXin January to sell hisMarutiBrezza.Venkateshsaid hewould take a testdrivebeforebuyingthecarandneverreturned.Ellurihad filed a cheating caseagainsthim. ENS
RAJASTHAN
RamgarhsanctuarynowatigerreserveNewDelhi: The RamgarhVishdhari Sanctuary inRajasthanwasnotified asIndia’s 52nd tiger reserveonMonday,EnvironmentMinister BhupenderYadav said. This isRajasthan'sfourthtigerre-serve afterRanthambore,SariskaandMukundra.“Itwillconservebiodiversityand bring in ecotourismand development to thearea,”Yadavtweeted. PTI
BRIEFLY
CALL OF FAITHDevoteeswait for their turntoofferprayersatamonastery inLehontheoccasionofBuddhaPurnimaonMonday.UNI
ONBOARD INBENGAL
YEAR NUMBEROFSTUDENTS WHATHASHAPPENED
Sixth 23 Internshipatgovernmentmedicalcolleges
Fourth 135 Observingseatsallottedsothat thestudentscanand Fifth continuetheirclassesonlinefromrespective
colleges inUkrainewhilereceivingpracticaltraining in India
Second 172 Havebeenallowedtoattendpractical classes inandThird governmentmedicalcolleges
First 78 ThosewhohavequalifiedNEETwereallowedtoundergocounselling for themanagementquotaseats inprivatemedicalcolleges.Collegeshavebeenrequestedtoofferconcessiononfees
Central officials raise red flag as Bengalallots medical seats to Ukraine returnees
Thecontractorwhocarriedout thedemolitionandhisaideshavebeenbooked.Express
Bengaluru:Arowhaseruptedaf-terphotosofyouthswithairgunsandtridentsfromaworkshopor-ganised recently by BajrangDalsurfacedonsocialmedia.Accordingtoinformation,116
activists fromacross Karnatakaparticipatedinthefreeworkshop—ShauryaPrashikshanaVarga—organisedbetweenMay5and11ataschoolinPonnampettownofcommunally-sensitive Kodagudistrict. Kodagu SPMAAiyappasaid, “BajarangDal andVishwaHinduParishadorganisethecampeveryyearandnopermissionwassought this year.Wegot toknowof theworkshoponly fromsocialmedia. No complaint has beenfiled. According to theArmsAct,airgunsdon't require licence, butwearelookingintothematter.”Kodagu Deputy Director of
Public InstructionVedhamurthysaid,“Nopermissionwassought.Usually workshops are held inschools and colleges, but not toteach shooting. An explanationhasbeensoughtfromtheauthor-ities.”BajrangDal'sregionalcon-venor Raghu Sakleshpur saidtherewasnoneedforpermissionasonlyairgunswereused. ENS
‘Death during demolition’: Kin say 50 of them tried to get man out of debris
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,MAY16
THEIMDonMondayannouncedthe onset of monsoon over theAndamanSea, sixdaysaheadofitsnormal schedule.Thisyear, theearlymonsoon
has been attributed to CycloneAsani, which brought inmois-ture over the region in plenty.Recently, the cross-equatorialflow too had picked up, aidingthe monsoon currents toprogressovertheAndamanSea.The IMD has said the
SouthwestmonsoononMondayadvanced into the south Bay ofBengal, most part of AndamanNicobar Islands and AndamanSea."Conditionsarefavourableforfurther advance of southwestmonsoonintosomemorepartsofsouth Bay of Bengal, entireAndamanSea&AndamanIslandsandsomepartsofeast-centralBayof Bengal duringnext 2-3days,”theIMDsaidinastatement.
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■Redlinesdenotenormalprogressofsouthwestmonsoon
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Monsoon reaches Andamans Row over BajrangDal using airgunsat workshop
Panaji:Withthestategovernmentseekinglegalopinionovertheim-plementationofthetripletestcri-teriamandatedby the SupremeCourtforOBCreservationinelec-tionwards,electionto186villagepanchayatsmaybedeferred,min-isterforPanchayatsaid.MauvinGodinho,stateminis-
terforPanchayat,said,“ThereisanSCrulingsayingwehavetofollowthe triple test. OBC seats have tobeidentified,(it)hastobedonebytheOBCCommission.Once theyundergothetriple test, thenonlythe (State)ECor thegovernmentcandeclaretheelection.” ENS
Goa panchayatpolls may bedeferred: minister
TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI,MAY16
INCESSANTRAINS since FridayhaveravagedpartsofAssam,trig-geringfloodsandlandslidesin20out of the state’s 35 districts.According toabulletin issuedbyAssam State DisasterManagementAuthority(ASDMA)onMonday,twopersonsdrownedinCachardistrict. FivepersonsinneighbouringArunachalPradeshwerekilledinalandslide.In Assam, 1,97,248 people
across652villagesin20districts(Bajali,Baksa,Biswanath,Cachar,Charaideo, Darrang, Dhemaji,Dibrugarh, Dima Hasao, Hojai,Kamrup, Karbi AnglongWest,Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli,Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur,Tamulpur, Udalguri) have beenaffectedbyfloodsandlandslides.DimaHasao,inparticular,has
beenravagedbyflashfloodsand
landslides at several places. OnMonday, connectivity to districtheadquarters Haflong wassnappedasamajorroadcavedinalongtheGuwahati-Haflonglink.“It has been raining relentlesslysinceMay 12. A cave-inwas re-portedinthemainhighwaythatlinks Guwahati Haflong, aswellas the other linking Haflong toSilchar,” said a district adminis-trationofficial.OnMonday,JogenMohan, state Revenue andDisasterManagementMinister,visitedDimaHasaototakestock
of thesituation.Earlier, afamilyofthreewasburiedaliveafteranRCCbuildingcollapsedinaland-slide inHaflong.OnMonday,severalcoachesof
the Guwahati-Silchar Express,whichhadbeen stationedat theNewHaflong station, derailed,owingtowater-loggingandland-slides, said an official from theNortheast FrontierRailways. Thetrain was stuck at the NewHaflong station, andpassengerswereevacuatedearlieronSunday.Apartfromthat,hugedamagestorailway tracks andbridges alongthe Lumding-Badarpur hill sec-tion of the Lumding divisionhavebeendamaged.Adistrictadministrationoffi-
cial said repairwork hadbegun,butthecontinuousrains,frequentpower cuts and lack of networkconnectivitystalledprogress.Meanwhile,fivepersonsdied
in landslides in neighbouringArunachalPradeshonSunday.
AwomanatGarukhundavillage,Assam,Monday. PTI
Rain: Five killed in Arunachallandslide, two drown in Assam
New Delhi
8WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
WALK THE CHINTANChintanShivir focussedonstructuralchangesinCongress
butignoredthekeyquestionof leadership
T HETHREE-DAYCHINTANShiviroftheCongressinUdaipurdidn'tofferanysur-prises. Itplottedapathtogiveayouthfulmakeover to thepartyandpromiseshavebeenmadethatticketswillberestrictedtoonepersoninafamily,withex-ceptions,ofcourse,thathelpmostexistingfamilies.Theseproposedstructural
changesintheorganisationarenecessaryfortheCongress,whichhasbeeninafreefallsincethe2014generalelection.Successiveelectoraldefeatshaveturnedmanyleadersrestive.TheemergenceoftheG-23,aninformalgroupofdissidents,hasputthespotlightontheleader-shiprecordoftheGandhifamily.TheUdaipurconclave,anadmissionofthecrisisintheparty,sawtheinvitedcrowdofseniorleaders,parliamentariansandlegislatorsdeliberatingonor-ganisationalandpolicyissues,butdecidedlysteeringclearofquestionsconcerningleader-ship.Acleartakeawayfromtheconclaveis thattheGandhiscontinuetoexercisetotalcon-trolovertheparty.TheG-23fellsilent.RahulGandhispokeatlengthinUdaipurandadmittedthatthepartyhaslostitsconnect
withthemasses.Thisplaintruth,self-evidenttomostpeople,hasmanifestedrepeatedlyintheparty's inability towin electionsbut seems tohave eluded theGandhis all thiswhile.RahulGandhiblamedapoorcommunicationstrategyforthedisconnectandpromisedare-vamp.However, the loss of touchwith themassesmaynotnecessarily be theoutcomeofstrategy.Theproblemalsolieswiththemessageandthemessenger.Despitebeingoutofof-fice at theCentre for over eight years, theCongress is yet to reinvent itself as apartyof theOpposition. Itspoliticshasbeenmorereactivethanaproactiveoneofsettingtheagendaorbuildingitsownnarrative.Theincapacitytoarticulateinacoherentmannerwhatthepartystands for is curious since there is nodearth of articulate leaders in that party.While theparty'smessageisincoherentandoftencontradictory,themessengerhasbeenafailureinam-plifyingitorbringingclaritytothemessage.RahulGandhi,thepartyfaceforsomeyears,willneedtoshouldermorethanalittleblameforthis.Thepartyhasnowannouncedtwocam-paigns—aBharatJodoYatraandRozgarDoYatra—torebuilditstieswiththepeople.Thein-stitutional arrangementsproposed–aSocial JusticeAdvisoryCouncil toupdate thepartychiefonissuespertinenttothebackwardclassesanddisadvantagedsocialgroups,aPublicInsight Committee to conduct surveys onvarious issues andgenerate feedback from thepublic, aNational Training Institute for ideological training, andanElectionManagementCommittee—willbetestedontheground.However, at a timewhenelectionshavealsobecomeabout leaders and their imageas
muchastheirmessage,aparty'sprospectswillbeshapedmorebythecommitmentandvi-sionof its leadershipthanbulletpointsfromitscommittees. Ideologicalclaritywouldhelp,buta leadershipthatcanwork24X7andremainaccessible isnecessaryto inspireworkersandrevivetheCongress.TheUdaipurconclavekickedthiscrucialcandowntheparty’sbumpy,lonelyroad.
DOUSE THE FIREMundkaaccidentdriveshometheneedtocreatesafeworking
conditionsinfactories,endthecultureof impunity
L ASTWEEK'SBLAZEatafactoryinouterDelhi'sMundkaareathatsnuffedoutatleast27lives,21of themwomen,addstothelonglistofavoidablefiretragediesthat showthe country's urbanisation story inpoor light. The failings thathavecome to light in the four days since the incident evoke a senseof deja vu: The
buildingdidnothaveanoobjectioncertificatefromthefiredepartment—moreworryingly,theownershadnotevenappliedforone—andithadonlyoneescaperoute.Themanufac-turingunit'slicencehadlapsed.ThoughtheNorthDelhiMunicipalityhadcancelledtheper-missionafteritwasfoundthatthebuildingdidnotmeettherequiredcriteria,theindustrialactivitieswentonwithimpunityevenafteraSupremeCourtmonitoringcommitteeraisedred flags. Suchomissions invite questions about themunicipality's enforcementmecha-nisms.It'salsoapparentthattheauthoritieshavenotlearntanylessonfromtheAnajMandifirethatkilledmorethan40peopleinDecember2019—aswellasseveralothermishapsdat-ingbacktotheUphaarCinemaTragedyof1997.LocalitiessuchasMundkaandAnajMandihavebecomeaprominent featureofDelhi's
economiclandscape—andthatofseveralotherpartsofthecountry—intheaftermathoflib-eralisation.Factoriesexistcheek-by-jowlwithwarehouses, shopssellingconstructionma-terials, banquethalls, andothermulti-floor establishments. Largelyunregulated, they aresourcesof livelihoodforasubstantialsectionof thecity'spopulation,manyofwhomliveatitsmargins.Atatimethepandemic-inducedeconomicdownturnhasshrunkhouseholdin-comesandtheabsenceof socialsecurityhasaggravatedthedifficultiesof theworkingandlower-middle classes,many suchmanufacturingunits offer hopeof a semblanceof relieffrompoverty.Theyalsoseemtobuckthepost-pandemictrendofalargenumberofwomenfallingoutofthelabourforce—asrevealedbytheCMIEdata.However,withemployersplay-ingshortshrifttobasicsafetycodes,theseworkplacesturnouttobenotonlyexploitative,theyalsoaddto thehardships facedbytheiremployees—andtheirdearones. Several families,forinstance, losttheirsolebreadwinnerinlastweek'sfiretragedy.Delhi'sLtGovernorAnilBaijalhasorderedamagisterial investigation intotheaccident.
Theprobemust,of course, fixaccountabilityatmultiple levels.Butmuchmoreneedstobedone.Forfartoolong,anetworkofcomplicityhasledtosafetycodesbeingfloutedandbuild-ingby-lawsbeinginfringed.It'stimesuchnetworksaretakenapart.
Yubaraj Ghimire
Withoutaccountabilityforemployers,improvingworkingconditions,tragedieslikeMundkafirewillrecur
BRIDGE TO THE BUDDHAPMModi’sLumbinivisitattemptstomakeupforDelhi’spastindifferencetoNepal
THEFIREatDelhi’sMundka,withadeathtollof27personssofar—amajorityofwhomarewomenworkers in informalmanufacturingunits—underscoresyetagaintheinvisibilitiesandinsecuritiesofinformalworkersinthecity.Thefactthattheantecedentsofthosewhodiedarestillunknownpointstotheinvisibilityandlackof identityof informalsectorworkers.Reportsonbuildingscatching fire leading
tofatalities, followedbydiscussionsonillegalconstructions andunplanned infrastructuraldevelopmentinurbancentres,havebecomeasomewhatrepetitivesubject.Witheverysuchmishap,reportsonhowthesebuildingsdonothaverequiredfireclearanceandno-objectioncertificates fromconcerned authorities sur-face.Yet,suchincidentskeeponrepeating;theharrowingstoriesofthosewholosttheirdearonesaremattersofpublicattentiononlyforafewdays,till theheadlinesshift.Incidentsofthissortarealsoopportunities
forpoliticalleaderstodisplaytheirconcernforthosewholosttheirdearoneswithcompen-sation and promises coming one after theother.Enquirycommissionsandassurancesoftighteningprocedures are all part of a largerscript,withnosubstantialchangeatthegroundlevel.Bynow,itisunderstoodthattherootcause
oftheMundkamishapisaseriouslapseinfol-lowingthenormsinconstructionasthewholebuildinghadonlyonestaircase.Whilethisac-cidentsharessimilaritieswithearlierincidents,thesiteandthevictimsthistimedeservespe-cialmention.Of the27who lost their lives tothismassivefire,21werewomenworkers,em-ployed ina company thatmanufacturedandassembledCCTVsandWiFirouters.Asperre-ports,themanufacturingunitatMundkaem-ployedabout100people,halfofthemwomen.Manyofthemareyoungwomenandthesoleor primary earners in their households. Thepredicamentofwomenworkersherehassim-ilarities to those in the garment units ofBangladesh— includingdisturbingparallelswiththevictimsof theRanaPlazacollapse.Therearethousandsofunregistered/infor-
malindustrialunitsincitieslikeDelhiwithoutanydataonthenumberofworkersemployed
andtheconditionsoftheiremployment.Theseworkplacesareknowntoviolateallnorms,in-cludingbasiclabourlaws.Informalityandpre-caritydefinesuchworkplaceswherethequal-ity of jobs is not a concern for thosewhoarelookingforemployment.Women’sworkpar-ticipation rates have declined sharply overtime,withDelhihavingoneofthelowest(14.5percent forage15andaboveascomparedto28.7per cent all-India in 2019-20). Thepan-demic has added towomen’s difficulties infinding jobs and suchworkplaces reveal theconditionsunderwhichwomenworkersgetemployed. Theprofile ofworkers shows thatmanyareyoung in their20sor30s—theagecategories that suffuse our discourse onwomen’s development andempowerment.They are forced to join the labourmarket inlow-paidandhighly-informaljobsbecauseoftheirmigrant statusandpooreconomiccon-ditions.Thereisoftenaclearseparationoftasksformen andwomen.Womenworkers aremostlyintopackingorarehelpers—categoriesthatarethelowestskilledasperthejobclassi-ficationsinsuchunits.Owing to the perception that workers
employed in packing or as helpers under-take jobs that do not require much skill,wages are kept very lowwhile the labourpool remainsmassive.With the pandemicand the resultant decline inwork opportu-nities and household income, women arecompelledto joinemploymenttocompen-sate for the lossof employmentordeclinedincomeofmalehouseholdmembers.Manyof theworkerswhodied joined the factoryafter thepandemic,pointing to thedesper-ationthatmanypoorhouseholdsarefacing.Working conditions, in general, are not of-tendefinedinsuchunitswithlowandvary-ingwages, longworking hours, absence ofany leave, includingmaternity leave and alack of other basic facilities. In a citywherelivingexpenseshavesoared,withamonthlywageofRs6,500-7,500,adignifiedlife isbe-yond imagination. It is important to notethat many women workers are often thesole earners or primary earners of theirhouseholds.Workingincontestedspacesin
dusty,shadyandstingyrooms,withoutanysafetyprecautions,glovesormasksisacom-monsceneinthesesweatshops.Basicwork-placerequirementssuchastheprovisionofdrinkingwaterandtoilet facilitiesareoftendenied toworkers.Exposure to such employment provides
limitedopportunitiesforpersonaloreconomicadvancement,withmonotonous repetitivework filling the day. The large turnover andwomen’swithdrawalfromthelabourmarketaresignsofextremelypoorworkingconditionsthatmanywomen cannot sustain for long.Absence of leave, includingmaternity leaveand longworkinghours, are important con-cerns forwomenworkerswho also have toshoulderthehouseworkandcareresponsibil-itiesof their families, forcingthemtoeventu-allyleavesuchworkplaces.Poorly ventilatedworkplaces, operating
fromdilapidatedbuildingsareaplenty in thecityandevenbybasicnormsof occupationalsafetyrequirements,theseworkplacesarenottobe“operational”.Suchworkplacesareoftenasourceofadditionalincomefortheenforce-mentmachinery,withemployersandthead-ministration leastbotheredabout the livesofworkers. There are anxieties about how thenewlabourcodeswilladdtothevulnerabilityofinformalworkers.TheOccupationalSafety,Health andWorkingConditions Code, 2020(OSHWC)would replaceexisting regulationssoonandthiswouldworsentheconditionsofinformalworkersasmanyofthesesmallunitswould be left to themselves to follow pre-scribed safety conditions and can go unac-countable.These sweatshops,which are part of our
understandingofeconomicdevelopmentaretraps forwomenworkers. The fact that it of-ferssomerespite frompovertyandalso fromcultural restrictionsonwomenalsoneeds tobeunderstood.Butwithoutanyaccountabil-ity of employers anda lackof politicalwill toimproveworkingconditions,wemightendupallowingmanymoresuchhorrificaccidents.
Thewriterisprofessor,CentreforWomen’sDevelopmentStudies,NewDelhi
FOR LONG, Lumbini and its people felt un-comfortable,evenangry,overtheprojectionof theBuddhaas Indian. Therewasalso thefeeling that itwasbeing treatedunfairly byIndian tour handlers. Package deals fortourists andpilgrims fromacross theworldwould only make a fleeting visit to theBuddha’s birth place, before being herdedback to Buddhist shrines in India, denyingNepal itsdueeconomicgain.Nearly eight years ago, PrimeMinister
NarendraModi tried to address this issuewhenhetoldNepal'sConstituentAssemblythat the Buddha was born in Nepal. OnBuddhaPoornimaonMonday,Modimadeatrip to Lumbini, becoming the first IndianPM to do so. He offered prayers at theMayadevi temple, believed to be theBuddha’s birthplace, in the company ofhighly-respected Buddhist masters, andthenlaidthefoundationfortheInternationalBuddhistConferenceandMeditationCentre.The trip, a month after Nepali Prime
Minister Sher BahadurDeubavisited India,is being projected as a "cultural visit" buttherearemanywhocall it India’s lateawak-eningfromadeepdiplomaticslumber.Delhihas been indifferent to the deep inroadsChina has been making in Nepal. Modilandedat anewly-built helipadclose to theMayadevi temple, avoiding the GautamBuddha International Airport, built with asoft loanfromChinaandco-incidentally in-auguratedbyhishostearlierinthemorningontheauspiciousday.China firstoffered tospend$3billion to
buildupLumbiniastheworldpeacecityun-der the aegis of its NGO — Asia PacificExchange and Foundation — co-optingMaoistleaderPrachandaasitsvicechairman.Chinahasalsobuilt amonastery in thecorearea of the Lumbini Development Project.China'soffertodevelopitastheWorldPeaceCentreandconstructarailwaylineconnect-ing Tibet and Kathmandu is as yet inabeyance,butnotcompletelygivenup.Theincreasedpresenceandinfluenceof
theUSand theEuropeanUnion, alongwithIndia, has become more pronounced inNepal's domestic politics — especially fol-lowing the political changes of 2005-06.China retaliatedwith amatching presenceandeconomic investments. Thishashadanimpacton internalpoliticsandpolicy-mak-ing in Nepal. But unlike its competitors,China'soutlookhaddepthandtook intoac-countmultipledimensions.Lumbini,thankslargely to China, has now become sort of amicrocosm of the competing internationalforces in thecountry.India first reacted to the Chinese pres-
enceinLumbinionNovember8,2011, inthewakeofenthusiasticpublicitybytheChineseabout theWorld City initiative. At a dinnertable,DrKaranSingh'sdiscomfortwaspalpa-ble. The senior Congress leaderwas then inNepal. “How far is Lumbini from the Indianborder?” he asked. “Not even 10 kmaway,”former King Gyanendra Shah had re-sponded. Singh, apparently under instruc-tionsfromthegovernmentinDelhi, toldthemedia the next day that India was keen to
undertake the project with the promise ofbestowing upon Lumbini the status it de-served.HowmuchModi’s visit to Lumbini will
makeup forDelhi's indifference is yet to begauged. The two sides agreed to develop aBuddhist circuit, linking shrines located inthe two countrieswith Lumbini occupyingaprimeposition. India alsoagreed to setupthe Dr B R Ambedkar Chair in LumbiniUniversity, with around 1,000 students, in-cluding fromChina, enrolled.Modi, bybefriendingDeuba, hasmade
an effective attempt to repair the damagein bilateral ties that took place between2016and2021whenheandhisthenNepalicounterpart K P Oli fell out. India not onlyrefused to welcome Nepal’s constitutionpromulgated in September 2015, but alsolaunched an economic blockade for 134days. Deuba, who is also the chairman ofthe Nepali Congress, recently acceptedModi’s invitation for his party and the BJPtoestablishfraternalrelations—somethingthe Chinese Communist Party tried withthe unified Communist party of Nepal.Modi’svisit toLumbiniandthelayingof themonastery’s foundation may give India afoothold and cultural space. But that pro-vides zero guarantee that it will be able tooutdo its competitors, including theWestand China, who are already deeply en-trenched inNepal.
Thewriter isa senior journalistbased inKathmandu
Exposure to suchemployment provideslimited opportunities forpersonal or economicadvancement, withmonotonous repetitive workfilling the day. The largeturnover and women’swithdrawal from the labourmarket are signs ofextremely poor workingconditions that manywomen cannot sustain forlong. Absence of leave,including maternity leaveand long working hours, areimportant concerns forwomen workers who alsohave to shoulder thehousework and careresponsibilities of theirfamilies, forcing them toeventually leave suchworkplaces.
The trip, a month afterNepali Prime Minister SherBahadur Deuba visitedIndia, is being projected as a‘cultural visit’ but there aremany who call it a India’s latewake up from a deepdiplomatic slumber. Delhihas been indifferent to thedeep inroads China has beenmaking in Nepal. Modilanded at a newly builthelipad close to theMayadevi temple, avoidingthe Gautam BuddhaInternational Airport, builtwith a soft loan from China.
FOUNDED BY
RAMNATH GOENKA
B E C A U S E T H E T R U T H I N V O L V E S U S A L L
§ §
THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022WORDLYWISE
Failure comes onlywhenwe forget ourideals andobjectives and principles.
—JawaharlalNehruTHEEDITORIALPAGE
PRELIMINARY TALKSA 30-MINUTE PRELIMINARY exchange ofviewsbetweentheleaderof theIndiandel-egation,EricGonsalves,andtheleaderof theChinesedelegation, FuHao, and theconcil-iatory speeches they made at the dinnerGonsalves hosted in honour of the visitorsset the tone for the tone for theSino-Indiantalks opening thenext day. BothGonsalvesandFu, intheircarefullypreparedspeecheswarmly expressed their governments’ de-sire to improve relations. And significantly,bothof themunderscored theunderstand-ing the two governments have already ar-rived at that the border dispute is the cen-tral issue the resolution of which isimportantforthenormalisationof relationsbetweenIndiaandChina.Theproblemsthat
India and China faced in today’s world canbebetterfacedif theydevisedabasis forco-operation and fully normal relations,Gonsalves said.
MINISTRY GUIDELINESTHEUNIONHOMEMinistryhasaskedmin-isters of state governments not to makestatements on communal disturbances intheirareas.TheHomeMinistryhasrecentlysent “exhaustiveguidelines”onpreventionandcontrolof communaldisturbancesandforpromotionofcommunalharmonytothestatesandunionterritoryadministration.”Ithas suggested that ministers should notcomment on any agitation likely to lead tocommunal dissatisfaction. Once distur-
bances start, ministers should not expresstheirviewsonthecauseof thedisturbancesandtheywaytheywerebeingdealtwithbe-cause this was bound to affect steps takenby the local administration.
MISSING CANDIDATESWESTBENGALCHIEFministerJyotiBasuhasasked police to intensify the search for thetwo election candidates and an agent whohave been missing since May 14. KashiKanto Moitra, a Janata candidate, GopalChandraSarkar,aCongress(J)nomineeandMoitra’s election agent, Shibu Choudhury,did not return home after election cam-paigns.PolicehavemeanwhilefoundthecarinwhichSarkarwas reportedly abducted.
MAY 17, 1982, FORTYYEARSAGO
1983 IN BADMINTONThomasCupwinistestimonytoIndiasriseasapowerinthesport.
Thechallengeistobuildonthistriumph
N OTTHEONE for hyperbole, PullelaGopichand, thenational coach and themanlargelyresponsibleforIndia’sriseasabadmintonpower,calledSunday’sThomasCuptriumphthecountry’sgreatestteamsportachievementoutsidecricket.VimalKumar,thesoft-spokenplayer-turned-coach,wasquicktopro-
claimthatthismomentcanbetoIndianbadmintonwhatthe1983WorldCupwastoIndiancricket.It’shardtodisputebothclaims.Thereareshadesof ’83in’22:Thestoriesofpersonalstrugglesandredemptions, theunderdogelement,andbeatingthemostsuccessfulnationinthetournament’shistory,14-timechampionsIndonesia,toreachthetop.Writinginthesepages,Gopichandrecalledhowduringhisplayingdays,Indialosttothe
likesofSriLankaandPakistan,andwerehappymerelybyqualifyingfortheThomasCup.Togoonandwinitthen—onlythesixthnationtodoso,showinghowcompetitivethetourna-ment is— is special. And this is no fluke. The title comeson thebackof years of relentlesshardworkandanoutcomeofasystemthathasconstantlychurnedoutplayerswho,ontheirday, couldupset thebest in theworld. That evenplayers likeBSai Praneeth, a 2019WorldChampionshipmedalist,couldnotevenmaketheteam,coupledwiththefactthatIndiahassevenplayersintheworld’stop50,pointstothedepthinmen’sbadmintonrightnow.Thechallengegoingaheadistobuildonthistriumphandnot let themomentumslip.
Badmintonisoneof thefewmasssportsthat’splayedalmostineverycornerof thecoun-try. So, even thoughHyderabadandBangalorewill continue to remain thehubs, it’s im-portanttoestablishacademiesthatcanspotandharnessplayersfromotherregionsinthecountry.Like1983, this title isn’taculminationof a journey. It shouldbethebeginningofanewchapter.
NeethaN
Capital fire
New Delhi
9THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY
‘‘Most Asian countries wish the US can contribute more to the region ratherthan engage in moves to weaken the region. Washington should listen toASEAN instead of indulging in a zero-sum game and regarding its relationswith ASEAN as playing a seesaw.’’ — GLOBALTIMES,CHINATHE IDEASPAGE
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Religion and culture aredeeply interconnected inSouth Asia. Developing allreligious pilgrimage sitesacross the region, andimproving the transborderaccess to them could notonly improve touristrevenues of all the SouthAsian nations, but could alsohave a calming effect on thetroubled political relationsbetween nations.
IT IS rare that the primeminister himselfconveys,inapendingproceedingbeforetheapexcourt,hisclearandunequivocalviewsaboutrespectinghumanrights,protectingcivil liberties and further respecting thefreedomsgranted to thepeopleof India. Itwasrefreshingtofindthecategoricalasser-tionbythePMinanaffidavit:“OneofIndia’sstrengths is the diverse thought streamsthatbeautifully flourished inourcountry.”Inthe75thyearofourIndependence,asournation is marking “Azadi ka AmritMahotsav”, PM Modi has appealed toIndianstoworkhardertoshedourcolonialbaggage,which includescolonial lawsandpractices.These arenot emptywordsonly for an
affidavit.Underhisleadership,nearly1,500old colonial-era laws have been scrapped.About25,000complianceruleswhichwerecreating hurdles, have been removed andmanyoffencesthatwereahindrancetode-velopment have been decriminalised.Therewas also in the affidavit a profoundstatementof great intent: “Lawsandcom-plianceswhichreekedofacolonialmindsethavenoplace in today’s India.”Withthisbackground,itwasconveyed,
thattheGovernmentof Indiahasdecidedtore-examine and reconsider the provisionsof Section 124A of the Indian Penal Codewhich deals with sedition. The history ofthe sedition law in India is inmanywaysunique. During the British Raj, it was partof the penal law from the very beginning.The British government in India not onlyframed the law, defining various offences,but alsomade sedition a very serious of-fence, punishablewith imprisonment forlifeandafine.Thedefinitionofseditionwasalittlevague,wherebyanyattempttobringhatredorcontemptorattempttoexcitedis-affection towards the government consti-tutedsedition.Disaffectionincludesdisloy-alty and feeling of enmity. Sedition wasdesigned to perpetuate the hold of theBritish on the people of India, and any at-tempt at disloyalty was enough for theoffence.Great leaders of the freedommove-
ment became the targets of the law. BalGangadharTilakwas the first person tobeconvicted of sedition in colonial India be-causetheBritishgovernmentthoughtthathiswritingsinhiscelebratedMarathinews-paper, Kesari, were causing disaffectionagainst theBritishRaj.Hewas imprisonedfor18months.EvenGandhiji, in1922,wassentencedtosixyearsforhisarticleinYoungIndiaonthechargeof“attemptingtoexcitedisaffection towards his majesty’sGovernment established by law in BritishIndia”. Many otherswere also prosecutedandconvicted.Significantly,duringthemakingof the
Constitution, December 1, 1948, K MMunshi moved an amendment in theConstituent Assembly proposing seditionbe dropped “as constituting a restrictiononright to freedomof speechandexpres-sion particularly in the context of thepainfulexperiencetopunishIndiansbytheBritish authorities for even innocuous ex-pressionsandcriticismofcolonialgovern-ment.”Article19(1)(a)(g)providesforvar-iousfreedomsincludingfreedomofspeechand expression while clause 19 (2) to (6)enumerates provisions for constitutingreasonable restrictions on the exercise ofsuch rights.Itmustbenotedthatinnoneofthesaid
clausesistheoffenceofseditionmentionedas grounds for “reasonable restriction”.Thereareexpressions like “interestof sov-ereignty and integrity of India”, and secu-rity of state public order but not sedition.Sedition simplymeans “deshdroh”. Yet, ithas continued in the IPC. There have beenjudgmentsfromvarioushighcourts inthisregard but a constitution bench of theSupreme Court delivered a judgment in1962 (KedarnathSinghvsTheStateofBihar)whereitheldthat“unlessaccompaniedbyincitement or call for violence criticism ofgovernmentcannotbe labelledSedition”.Therehasbeengenuinecriticismabout
why this colonial-era provision should bea part of our statute. The Congress party,whichclaimstobetheinheritorof thefree-dommovement, never tried to scrap thislawthoughitruledIndiafornearly60years.Certain freedoms are fundamental underourconstitutional scheme.Therehavebeencasesoframpantabuse
andthe latest isahilarious instance fromaparticular state where singing theHanuman Chalisa amounted to sedition.Surely, there is a need for a review of thelaw. India, inthe75thyearof its independ-ence, isstrongandstableenoughtodecideinafree,fairandobjectivemannerwhethertheoffenceofseditionisneededornot,andif so underwhat formwith strong guide-lines to prevent its misuse, and clearlyenunciatethecircumstancesinwhichitcanbeinvoked.ThePMhastrustedtheprocessbywhich somany old laws have been re-pealed, offencesdecriminalisedand thou-sandsof complianceburdensremoved.Allthis was done in a peacefulmannerwithdue consultation. This is the institutionalstrengthof India. I amquite sure the sameprocesswillentaila relookat thewhole is-sueofseditiontothesatisfactionofallcon-cernedwhere a healthy balance ismain-tained between respect for human rightsandcivil libertiesandthecompellingneedto fight terrorism, and separatism andwhoseclearagenda is tobreak India.I must concludewith aword of grati-
tudeforthePMfordemonstratingextraor-dinary leadership in amatter that has di-videdthecountryforthelastfewyears.Let’shopetheinnerstrengthof thecountrywillhelp us arrive at a healthy conclusion.Equally, the SupremeCourt has shown ju-dicial statesmanship by agreeingwith thegovernment's request to give time for thereviewandbypassingappropriateinterimprotections in themeantime.
Thewriter isaBJPMPand formerUnionLawMinister
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS — in Sri Lanka,Nepal, and Pakistan— underline the geo-graphicimperativethatbindsIndiatoitsneigh-bours in the Subcontinent. Together, theyshouldremindtheregion’sleadersthatwork-ingwiththelogicofgeographyhasbecomeanunavoidablenecessity amidst thedeepeningregional and global crises accentuated byRussia’swarinUkraine.Ashigheroilandfoodprices trigger infla-
tionandpopularunrestacrosstheregion,moreintensive regional cooperation is one of thetools formanaging thenewdangers. The lastfewweekshaveseensomepositive trends inthatdirectionaswellasenduringnegativepoli-ciesthatdefythelogicofgeography.Lastweek,theIndianHighCommissionin
Colombowasquicktoscotchwildspeculationthat the formerstrongmanprimeministerofSri LankaMahindaRajapaksawas fleeing toIndia.Wedon’t know ifMahindaRajapaka, atarget of thepeople’s outrage for the terriblemismanagement of the economy,was actu-allyplanningtotakeashortflightoutofLanka.Ifhedid,Indiawouldbethenaturalfirstdesti-nationgiventhegeographicproximity.Now put on the exit control list in
Colombo,Mahindamight not be travellingany time soon to India and pay his regularobeisance to his favourite deity, LordVenkateswaraintheTirumalahills.But Indiahashadalongtraditionofhostingpoliticalex-ilesfromtheregion.WhetheritwastheDalaiLama fromTibet or Prachanda fromNepal,Delhihaswelcomedleaders fromtheneigh-bourhoodtakingshelter inIndia.Thereisadangerousflipsidetothispositive
traditionintheSubcontinent.Indiahaspaidahighprice for thedecision in the early 1980stotrainandarmSriLankanTamilrebels.That,hopefully, isanexceptionratherthantheruleinIndia’semergingneighbourhoodpolicy.WhileIndia’smuscularmeddlinginthein-
ternalaffairsofSriLankadidnotsucceedinre-alising the Tamil demands, it unfortunatelycontributedtothedeepdistrustbetweenDelhiandtheSinhalanationalists.Asaconsequence,thegeographicimperativebecameacasualtyinColombo.But the current crisis in Sri Lanka raised
hopesfortranscendingtheinternalethnicdi-videintheislandnationandrebuildingpolit-ical confidencebetweenColomboandDelhi.Tobesure,positivesentimentsdrivenbycrisesdonotalwayslast.ButDelhi’sunstintingsup-port — both material and financial — forColomboduringthisunprecedentedeconomicandpoliticalcrisishasgeneratedmuchgood-will inSri Lanka.Thisoffersamajoropportu-nitytoreframeDelhi’stieswithColombo.IfIndia’srelationswithSriLankaunderline
theimportanceofcontinuoustendingofpolit-icalgeography,PrimeMinisterNarendraModi’svisitthisweektoLumbini,thebirthplaceofLordBuddhainNepal,highlightstheimmensepos-sibilitiesofculturalgeographyinreshapingtheSubcontinent’sregionalrelations.Theideaofa“Buddhistcircuit”connecting
thevariouspilgrimage sites across the India-Nepalborderhasbeenaroundforalongtime.Giventhemassivesizeof theglobalBuddhist
population—estimatedtobemorethan500million—andthewiderinternationalinterestinthehistoricsites, it issurprisinghowlongithas takenDelhi andKathmandu to come to-getherindevelopingtheBuddhistcircuit.That China has built a newairport near
LumbiniandModi isavoiding itpoints to theturbulenttriangulardynamicbetweenDelhi,Kathmandu, andBeijing. Evenmore conse-quential has been the deep discomfort of alargesectionofNepal’spoliticalclass—espe-cially the communists that havedominatedKathmanduinthelasttwodecades—withtheIndiarelationship.The return of theNepal Congress to the
helm and its readiness to deepen tieswithIndiahasalsoopenedthedoorforarecalibra-tion of Delhi’s ties with Kathmandu.Revitalisingthesharedculturalgeographyin-evitably involvesbettermanagementof eco-nomicgeography.ThelastfewyearshaveseentheModi government stepupon infrastruc-turedevelopmenton the Indian side andac-celeratetransbordertransportandenergycon-nectivityintheeasternsubcontinent.Religionandculture aredeeply intercon-
nected inSouthAsia.Developingall religiouspilgrimagesitesacrosstheregion,andimprov-ing the transborder access to themcouldnotonlyimprovetouristrevenuesofalltheSouthAsiannations, but could alsohave a calmingeffect on the troubledpolitical relations be-tweennations.Despitetheirfrozenbilateralpoliticalrela-
tionship,Delhi and Islamabadhadagreed toopentheKartarpurcorridorattheendof2019acrosstheirmilitarisedPunjabborder.Thecor-ridormakes it easier for Sikhpilgrims tovisittheshrineinKartarpurinPakistan,whereGuruNanak founded theSikh faith. There ismuchmore to be done on reconnecting theSubcontinent’ssacredgeographies—includingtheRamayanatrailandSufishrines.Whilepartsoftheregionarealigningtheir
policies with the geographic imperative,Pakistanwouldseemtobeanexception.Somewouldsay,Islamabad'spoliciesaredeliberatelyanti-geographic.Consider,forexample,there-cent controversy inPakistanover the routineappointment of a “trade officer” in its highcommissioninDelhi.Facing a barrage ofmedia criticism, the
newgovernmentledbyShehbazSharifhadtoclarifythatitwasnotplanningtoimprovetradetieswith India. Given thedepthof itsmacroeconomic crisis andmassive inflation, one
mighthave thought Pakistanwouldwant toexpand trade tieswith India in its owneco-nomicinterest.ButPakistan'spoliticsarehard-wiredagainstthelogicofgeography.Anattemptat limited trade liberalisation
with India after the two countries signed aceasefireagreementinFebruarylastyearwasoverruled at the last moment by PrimeMinister ImranKhan. TheMuslim League’sNawazSharifandthePakistanPeople’sParty’sAsif Ali Zardari—whoback thepresent gov-ernmentinIslamabad—have,inthepast,sup-portednormal traderelationswith India,butcouldnotgetthearmy’sconsent.While General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the
currentChiefofArmyStaff,hadcalledforare-setofrelationswithIndia,ImranKhanpulledtheplugontradeliberalisation.Hisargumentwas that Pakistan can’t tradewith India un-less Delhi reversed its 2019 constitutionalchangesinKashmir.NowImranisonthestreetscampaigning
againstthe“importedgovernment”(fromtheUSwhich, according to the former PM, con-spired to oust him from power). He couldchewthegovernmentupifitopensuptotradewith India. The army, long viewed as a deci-sive arbiter in Pakistan’s political andpolicydisputes,seemsdividedonhowbesttoman-agethecurrentcrisis.ThisleavesShehbazlittleroomforcreative
policymakingthatcaneasesomeofPakistan'scurrent economicproblems.Meanwhile, theyoungBilawalBhuttoZardari,whohas takenchargeofPakistan'sForeignOffice,istieddownbyhisbureaucracy’sstapleofKashmircliches.Delhi had little reason to believe that
Pakistan’s newgovernment canalter its self-defeatingpolicytowardsIndia.Butitmustcon-tinuetobetthatthegeographicimperativewilleventually prevail over Islamabad’s policies.PessimistsinDelhiwillsaytheword“eventu-ally”meansnothingforpolicy-makingtoday.Butoptimistswouldsay IndiamustcontinuetofindwaystoworkwithPakistan.Realistsmightwant toargue that current
trends in the Subcontinent point to India’sgrowingagencyinshapingitsneighbourhoodand that Pakistanwill not forever remain anexception. For Delhi, the policy question iswhetherIndiacandosomethingtohastentheinevitablechangeinPakistan.
ThewriterisSeniorFellow,AsiaSocietyPolicyInstitute,DelhiandacontributingeditoroninternationalaffairsforTheIndianExpress
On sedition, abeginning
LOSING THE WARTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, 'Blame itonPutin'(IE,May16).WithnoswiftendtotheRussia-UkraineWarasPutin,theaggressor,expected,alliancesarebeingdrawnandredrawn.Russia'saggressiveposturing ismaking the hitherto neu-tral nations like Sweden and Finlandworried for their safety. The twocoun-tries are thinking of joining NATO,whichmaynot strengthen the organi-sation, butwill, definitely, help in pro-jecting it, and, in consequence, theUS,as a force to be reckonedwith. Russiamay bewinning the battles in the on-goingcrisis, but it is losing thewar.
VijaiPant,Hempur
DATA QUALITYTHIS REFERS TO the article. 'Whatnumber hide' (IE, May 14 ). The avail-abilityof reliableandtransparentdatahas been a serious issue in India for along time.Well before the Covid datacontroversy, there were questionsraised over GDP calculation accuracy,expenditure survey data quality andothers. These disputes over the accu-racy of numbers arise largely on ac-count of a paucity of quality and reli-able information, which results inwidely differing estimates andmeas-urements. Unless a credible and con-sistent quality data infrastructure isbuilt, these unseemly debates willkeeprecurring,andworsestill, leadto
wrong inferences andpolicies.HemantContractor,Pune
KNEE-JERK RESPONSETHIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'Caughtwith chaff' (IE, May 16). Strangely un-aware of ground reality, Minister ofCommercePiyushGoyalcameupwithsweeping statements painting a rosypicture ofwheat output in the currentseason, despite indications to the con-trary. Now, taking food security as thereason,ablanketbanonwheatexportshasbeenhurriedlyimposed,adverselyaffecting not only the exporters andgraintradersbutalsothefarmers.Abet-ter solution could have been to gradu-ally cap the exports so that the globalsupplychaindoesnotgetabruptlydis-rupted.Suchknee-jerkreactionsspeakofagovernmentnotwillingtotakethearduous route of assuredlymanagingfarm production and hurting its ownimageasaglobal supplierof grains.
KamnaChhabra,Gurgaon
A GREAT WINTHIS REFERS TO the report, 'IndiaThomasCupchamps:Whowouldhavethought? The Team'(IE, May 16). Ourbadminton team’s winning of theThomasCupis inaclassbyitself. Itwasthe result of laudable teamwork andcoordination.
YGChouksey,Pune
LETTERS TO THEEDITOR
ONAPRIL28,theIndianComputerEmergencyResponseTeam(CERT-In) issued“directions”under Section 70-B(6) of the InformationTechnologyAct2000(ITAct)relatingtoinfor-mationsecuritypractices,procedure,preven-tion,responseandreportingofcyberincidents.Thesedirectionshavebroughtaboutawide-rangingexpansioninthescopeofobligationsof the above requirements compared to theInformationTechnology(TheIndianComputerEmergency Response TeamandManner ofperformingfunctionsandduties)Rules,2013(Rules).Amongtheactivitiesinwhichcompli-anceissoughtbyserviceproviders,intermedi-aries,datacentresandbodycorporatesarethesynchronisationofcomputerclockstothenet-worktimeprotocolsetattheNationalPhysicalLaboratory andNational Informatics Centre(NIC),mandatory reporting of all cyber inci-dentswithin six hours of noticing or beingbrought to their notice in theprescribed for-mat,designatingpointofcontactandnotifyingCERT-Inandundertakingtoperformsuchac-tionsforcybersecuritymitigationwhennoti-fiedbyCERT-IN,maintainingall logsofall ICTsystemsupto180dayswithinIndianjurisdic-tion and for data centres, virtual privatenet-workserviceproviders,cloudserviceprovidersandvirtual private serverproviders tomain-tain all records of their users andusage for aminimumoffiveyears.While theoverall thrust towardsa robust
cyber incident reportingandsecurity regimeis prudent, someof theprovisions in the ab-senceofclarificationfromCERT-Inhaveraisedconcernsamongstindustryobserversandcy-bersecurityexperts.Forsometimenow,CERT-INhasbeenstrugglingtogetinformationandincidentreportingfromserviceproviders, in-termediariesaswellasbodycorporatesaspertherulesanditsmandateundersection70B(4)of the ITAct.Thiswas impacting its responsi-bilityasacollector,analyseranddisseminatorof informationon cyber incidents aswell ascoordinating incident responses and emer-gencymeasures.So,ittookrecoursetothedi-rections,whichstrangelydonotdifferentiatebetweenthescalesandnatureoftheincident.Somecyber incidents are farmore commonandoccurregularly.Anorganisationmightre-ceivehundredsofphishingemailsandtheef-fort tonotify eachwoulddrastically increasetheir compliance cost. Itwould alsobe inter-estingtoknowwhatCERT-In’sstrategywillbefordealingwithcommonplacecyberincidentsanditsowncapacityenhancementintermsofhandlingthecompliancesought.Awindowof 60days has beenprovided
beforeimplementationof thesecompliancesbegins. Given the scale of the revamp, thismightbetooshortawindow.Thegovernmentmustlookattheconcernsthatarisefromsuchdirectionsandworkoutarealistic timescale.The ugly episode of the Twitter incident
around compliancewith the InformationTechnology (Intermediary Guidelines andDigitalMediaEthicsCode)Rules,2021,lastyearisastarkreminderof thepitfallsof rushingincomplianceswithoutfactoringinconcerns.Inthis case, therewill bemultiple companiesevenfromtheMSMEsectorthatwilltaketimetosetupsystemsforcompliances.Allcoveredentitiesalsohavetomandato-
rilyenablelogsandmaintainthemfor180dayswithintheIndianjurisdiction.Atpresent,mostentitiesmaintainlogsforaround30days,andinordertomaintainlogsfor180days, thead-ditional data storage device costwould behuge. Similarly, data centres, virtual privateserverproviders, cloudserviceprovidersandvirtualprivatenetworkserviceproviderswillneed to retainadditional information for fiveyears ormore after the cancellationorwith-drawalofregistration.Thevirtualassetindus-try toowill have tomaintain all KYC recordsanddetailsofallfinancialtransactionsforfiveyears.Thecompliancecost ineachcase isgo-ingtorisesubstantially.Manyoftheentitieswillhavetoshifttheir
servers geographically aswell as add excessstoragecapacity.Mostimportantly,therecruit-mentofadditionalmanpowerforcompliancemaytakefarlonger.Arealistictimelinewouldbesixmonths,whichwouldallowtheentitiestoeffectivelymigrate to thenewregime.Thepenaltyfornon-complianceisstiff (including
uptooneyearofimprisonmentandmonetaryfines).But it isalsounfair tocreateunrealisticdeadlinesforindustry.Thisisalsogoingtosignificantlyaffector-
ganisationsthathavemaintainedtheirserversoffshore,althoughthemoveisinlinewiththegovernment's stated objective of localisingdata storage. Butwhat cannot be denied areprivacy concerns.WithVPNs andvirtual as-setwalletsbeingaskedtostoreandshareKYCandtransactiondata,theseconcernsbecomeevident. VPNs have been successful for cor-poratesaswellasindividualsbecausetheyad-dressprivacyconcerns.Therehavebeenveryfewinstanceswherethesetunnelshavebeenusedforcriminalactivitiesandsupport fromthe providerswas not obtained by law en-forcement authorities. In theabsenceof leg-islativebackingfordataprotection,whichhasbeenontheanvilformorethantwoyears,thequestionis:Howwilltheuserhaveanysayonwhich information canbeheld back or howhis sensitive personal information is beingprotected?WhileCERT-Inhasbeenproactiveinrecog-
nisingthechangingfrontiersoftechnologyandtrying todealwithhithertounknowncyberthreats, it iswanting in termsof agradedap-proachtoensuringcompliance.
Thewriter isadefenceandcybersecurityanalyst
The cybersecurity burdenCERT-Indirectionsoncybersecuritycompliancearerushed
Bound by geographyCentrehasdonewell todisplay leadership
inamatter thathasdividedthecountry inrecentyears
DevelopmentsinSriLanka,NepalandPakistanunderlineneedforIndiatoreframeregionalties,workwithitsneighbourhood
Ravi ShankarPrasad
Subimal Bhattacharjee
CR Sasikumar
RAJA-MANDALAby CRajaMohan
New Delhi
EXPRESSNETWORK10 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022
Phone No.- 0761-2672230 FAX No.- 0761-2673732, E-mail: [email protected]
Memo No. 11/G/G-2/CE/2022-23 Date 06-05-2022
NOTICE INVITING TENDER (1st Call)NIT No. 12/G/CE/2022-23 Date : 06-05-2022
Online tenders on basis of Turn key contract for following works are invitied onportal http://www.mptenders.gov.in brief information to tender is given below:-
Tender document can be purchased online only from above website afterpaying required amount through credit card or intrerest banking. For detailedinformation of tender visit the above website.
Sd/-(D.S. Thakur)
Chief EngineerRani Avanti Bal Lodhi Sagar Project
Bargi Hills, Jabalpur
Notice Inviting TenderGovernment of Madhya Pradesh
Narmada Valley Development DepartmentOFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER
RANI AVANTI BAI LODHI SAGAR PROJECT BARGI HILLS, JABALPUR(M. P.)
IYûSXû³ff ÀfZ ¶f¨f³fZ IYe °fe³f ¶ff°fZÔZ¶fWbX°f ªføYSXe,
MXeIYf »f¦f½ff³ff, ¸ffÀIY ´fWX³f³ffAüSX A´f³ff³ff Qû ¦fªf QcSXeÜ
Description of work : Construction of Shakkar microirrigation project on turn keybasis including construction ofdam on Shakkar river and95839ha. pressurized pipemicro irrigation system upto2.5 ha. chak with duty 0.35Ips/ha in Narsinghpur andChhindwara district includingSCADA work as per detailscope of work.
Probable Amount of tender (In Rs. Crore) : Rs. 3824.40 CroreEarnest Money ( Rs. In Lakh) : Rs. 50.00 LakhsCost of Tender Document : Rs. 50000.00 (Non refundable)On Line Tender Document Sale Date : Dated 06-05-2022, 17:30 to
10-06-2022, 17:30On line Bid Submission Start/Closing date : Dated 06-05-2022, 17:30 to
10-06-2022, 17:30EMD & Technical Bid opening Date : Dated 13-06-2022, 10:30 Onward
G-12831/22
Online Bids (E-Auction) are invited on behalf of Defence Estates Officer, Agra Circle from the eligibleIndividuals/Agencies/Organization/Firms etc. for Awarding the Contract for the disposal of scrapmaterial (old disused material) at DEO Agra Circle. Terms of contract is ten days from date of issue ofwork order. Manual bids/offers will not be accepted. The interested contractors/firms may look up thewebsite (https://eauction.gov.in/eauction) No conditional tenders will be accepted. The Defence Estatesofficer reserves the right to cancel or withdraw the tender without any notice and the Defence Estatesofficer decision in the regard will be final. Terms/Conditions, eligibility criteria and connected details canbe seen in the website - (https://eauction.gov.in/eauction). Clarification needed, if any may be enquired/clarified in pre-bid meeting or from the office on any working day from technical section o/o DEO Agratelephonically 0562-2225457.
DEFENCE ESTATES OFFICER,AGRA CIRCLE,AGRA CANTT.
-sd-Defence Estates OfficerAgra Circle, Agra Cantt.
NOTICE INVITING E-AUCTION
Sl. No. Activityi) Date of Publication 17.05.2022 At 10:00 HRSii) Start Date and Time for downloading of auction documents
from http://eauction.gov.in/eAuction/app.
iv) Submission End date and timev) Technical Evaluation Start Date and timevi)vii)
The bidder may download the “Auction Document” and other terms and conditions as available onthe website ofhttps://eauction.gov.in/eauction.
Technical Evaluation End Date and timeAuction Start Date
Date Time in IST
E-auction for the disposal of scrap material (old disused material) at DEOAgra Circle
17.05.2022 At 10:00 HRS
Auction End Date
Submission Start date and timeiii)
viii)
17.05.2022 At 16:00 HRS06.06.2022 At 13:00 HRS06.06.2022 At 14:00 HRS07.06.2022 At 17:00 HRS08.06.2022 At 10:00 HRS08.06.2022 At 17:00 HRS
Government of Madhya PradeshOffice of the Engineer-in-Chief Water Resources Department,
Jal Sansadhan Bhawan, Tulsi Nagar, Bhopal (M.P.)Email Id: [email protected] Tel: 0755-2767635 Fax: 0755-2552406
N.I.T. No. 905/2022-23/E-in-C/e-tendering Bhopal, Dated 11.05.2022Bids for following works are invited on website https://www.mptenders.gov.in Last Date ofpurchase/ download of Bid Document and submission of bid is 31.05.2022, 17:30 hrs. Anyamendment/modification can be seen only on the website. Detailed N.I.T. and other details canbe viewed on above mentioned website.
S.No.
Tender No. Work District Amount(Lakhs)
1. 2022_WRD_202668
On Turnkey Basis:- Construction of Banyani stopdam, as per detailed scope of work but not limitedto that.
Shivpuri 346.26
2. 2022_WRD_202669
On Turnkey Basis:- Construction of Khadoy stopdam, as per detailed scope of work but not limitedto that.
Shivpuri 336.36
3. 2022_WRD_202671
On Turnkey Basis:- Construction of Nichroli StopDam, as per detailed scope of work but not limitedto that.
Shivpuri 273.12
4. 2022_WRD_202674
On Turnkey Basis:- Construction of Fulipurra StopDam, as per detailed scope of work but not limitedto that.
Shivpuri 243.88
IYûSXû³ff ÀfZ ¶f¨f³fZ IYe °fe³f ¶ff°fZÔZ ¶fWbX°f ªføYSXe,MXeIYf »f¦f½ff³ff, ¸ffÀIY ´fWX³f³ff AüSX A´f³ff³ff Qû ¦fªf QcSXeÜ G-12832/22
Sd/-Chief Engineer (Procurement)
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH,MAY16
FIVEMENwere feared drowned in the YamunariveratYamunanagarastheyreportedly jumpedinto the water to save their lives after being at-tackedby a rival grouponSunday evening.The Haryana Police was conducting search
operationswith thehelp of divers.The police identified the missing youths as
Sunny, Suleman, Allaudin, Sahil and Nikhil, allaged between 19-21 and natives of Jagadhari.Their fiveotherfriendsescapedwhentheallegedattack happened. The car, in which they hadcome to the river bank for swimming, was alsobadly damaged by the assailants, also hailingfrom Jagadhari, the police added.Thetwogroupsof youngmenhadamurder-
ous clash two years ago. “Allaudin and otherswereattackedby the rival groupwithweapons,bricks and stones. To save their lives, theywentdeeper into the river and are suspected to bedrowned. Despite all the efforts beingmade bypolice, theyhavenotbeenable to findanyof thebodies yet," said Ibrahim,Allaudin's uncle.Deputy Superintendent of Police Subhash,
who is supervising the rescue operation, said:“We got information that a few young mendrownedintheYamunariver.Whenwereachedthespot,welearnt that itwasacaseof anolden-mity and theywere attacked by the rival group.We are investigating thematter. The search op-eration is still going on.”
In bid to flee attack byrival group, 5 men feareddrowned in Yamuna
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY16
MONEYHAS a pervasive influ-enceonpeople,aDelhicourthassaid, using lyrics of a BobDylansonginitsdetailedorderdenyingbailtoNSE’sformermanagingdi-rectorChitraRamkrishnaandfor-mer group operating officerAnand Subramanian in a 2018caseofboursemanipulation.“BobDylanoncesaid ‘money
doesn’t talk, it swears’,which isasongof1964album‘It’sAlrightMaI'mOnlyBleeding’”Special JudgeSanjeevAggarwalwroteinthe42-pageorder.“...meansthatmoneynot onlyhas influence, but it hasgreat influence, even aperverseinfluenceonpeople.”The judge said Ramakrishna
primafacieappearedtohavebeenrunning the affairs of the NSE“akintothatofaprivateclub”.Spelling out the reasons for
denying bail, the court said thatsincetheduohadheldapolepo-sitionattheNSE,theirchancesoftamperingwithevidenceandin-fluencingwitnesses cannot beruledout.While commenting on the
country’sleadingstockexchange,thejudgesaidthefinancialworld,including Foreign InstitutionalInvestors(FIIs), “arewaitingwithbated breath for the NSE to re-deemitself,sothattheycanflytothis country for investment in
droves,whichisatpresent,abril-liantdestinationforinvestment.”“WithregardtoaffairsofNSE
at therelevant time, itwouldnotbeoutof place toobservehereinthat there comes a time in a life-time of an institution, where itfinds itself at crossroads, then itshouldtakeapathwhichisarightpath to restore its glory, ratherthanburyingtheskeletons,whichmay later turn into Frankensteinmonsters,”courtsaid.The 2018 case pertains to
charges of preferential access tothe trading system to somebro-kersthroughtheco-locationfacil-ity,wherebrokers canbuy “rackspace” for their servers at NSE,earlyloginand“darkfibre”,whichcan allow a trader split-secondfasteraccesstothedatafeedoftheexchange. Even a split-secondedge is considered capable ofbringinghugegainstoatrader.According to the Securities
andExchangeBoardofIndia,sev-eral key decisions taken byRamkrishnaduringhertenureasNSE'sMDandCEO from2013 to2016, including Subramanian’sappointment,wereguidedbyanunidentified yogi “whomay belargelydwellingintheHimalayanRanges”.Ramkrishnaisallegedtohavesharedconfidentialinforma-tion about the boursewith the“HimalayanYogi”.TheCBIhastoldthecourt the
“HimalayanYogi”was nonebutSubramanianhimself.
LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI,MAY16
AMIDFOREIGNdignitaries flag-ging someunpleasant happen-ings in India, BJP President J PNadda onMonday said that thegovernmentshelmedbythepartyattheCentreandinstateswillfol-lowthe“sabkasaath,sabkavikas”theme,whiletheelectionswillbefought ondevelopmental activi-ties andwelfare programmesoftheNarendraModigovernment.Nadda,whowas interacting
with heads of missions of 14countriesattheBJPheadquartersonMondayaspartof thesecondlegofthe'KnowBJP'initiative,toldthedignitaries that theUniformCivil Codewasnoton theparty'selection agenda even as “somestatesareexploring”theprospectsofalegislationonit.“The event (Know BJP) is
aimedattomaketheexternalau-dienceawareofBJP'shistory,pro-grammes, struggle and successstories... Thedignitarieshaveap-preciated the initiative. Therewere suggestions for party-to-
partyinteractionstowhichNaddaji agreed,” Vijay Chauthaiwale,convenor of BJP's Overseas Cell,toldTheIndianExpress.“TherewerequestionsonBJP's
ideology, its functioning, legisla-tive agenda, its relationwith theRSSandtheparty'sprogrammes.Nadda insisted that his partyworks on 'sabka saath, sabkavikas'slogan,which,hesaid,isthemodern day elaboration of theparty'sfundamentalideaofanty-odaya,”saidasource.Someofthedignitaries hadquestions on the
reported incidents of communalclashes, towhichNaddamain-tained that the “partywants de-velopmentandwelfareofall.”Envoys of US, Australia,
Canada,Israel,Denmark,Bhutan,Fiji, Indonesia, New Zealand,Philippines, Sri Lanka, Kenya,Suriname and DominicanRepublic attended the eventhostedbytheBJP'sOverseasCell.In his address, Nadda said
the day marked the 8th an-niversary of the BJP first com-ing to power in 2014.
BJPpresident JPNaddaat thepartyheadquarters inNewDelhionMonday.PTI
Bengaluru: Amid the Gyanvapimosque row in Varanasi,mem-bers of a forumnamedafter PMNarendraModihaveapproachedtheMandyadistrict administra-tion in Karnataka, seeking per-mission for Hindus to offerprayersatamosque,whichtheyclaimedstandsover the ruinsofaHanumantemple.Builtaround1782duringthe
ruleofTipuSultan, JamiaMasjidinSrirangapatnaisaheritagesitebeing maintained byArchaeologicalSurveyof India.Italso runs aMadrassa. NarendraModi VicharManch state secre-taryCTManjunath,whowaspartof the delegation, met theMandyaDeputy Commissionerandsubmittedamemorandum,seeking permission to allowHindustoofferprayers there.“Documentary evidence of
Tipu Sultanwriting to a ruler inPersia, admittingthat therewasa Hanuman temple before themosque was built; along withHinduinscriptionsonthepillarsandwallssupportourstand.Werequesttheadministrationtoal-low Hindus to offer prayers atthemosque.” ENS
KNOWBJP EVENT
Nadda to envoys: UCC not onpoll agenda, development is
2018NSEMANIPULATIONCASE
In order against bail, aDylan refrain: moneydoesn’t talk… it swears
Now, demand forletting Hindus topray at mosquein Karnataka
DIVYAANEWDELHI,MAY16
JUSTSIXdaysago,asthecontro-versy over the 22 locked roomsinthebasementof theTajMahalwas raging — inside the court-room and outside — theArchaeological Survey of India(ASI) released some photo-graphsof thesecells.On May 12, the Lucknow
bench of the Allahabad HighCourt had rejected a petitionseeking a fact-finding inquiryinto the “history” of the TajMahal and also opening of thedoors of its “22 rooms” to see“the truth,whatever it is”.Thewritpetitionwasfiledin
theLucknowbenchbyRajneeshSingh, media in-charge of theBJP’s Ayodhya unit, contendingthat the Taj Mahal was a ShivaTempleknownasTejoMahalaya,asking for the government to
constitute a fact-finding com-mittee to publish the “real his-tory”of themonument.After the court order, ASI of-
ficialshadmaintainedthatthereisnosecret inthoserooms, theyarejustpartof thestructure,andarenot unique to the TajMahal.“Theworkofmaintenanceofun-dergroundcellsontheriversidewas takenup.Decayed anddis-integrated lime plaster was re-movedandreplacedbylayingoflimeplasterandtraditionallimeprocessing before application,”said accompanying text, whilefour photographs of the base-ment cells, “before and after”conversation, were publishedalongside in the organisation’snewsletter.EvenasASIofficialsinsistthe
“Januarynewsletterhasbeen inthepublicdomaineversince”, itwasreleasedbytheagencyonitswebsite onMay 5 and tweetedon itsofficialhandleonMay9.
Ahead of court order onTaj, ASI released photosof underground cells
PhotographsofTajMahal’sundergroundcellsasshared intheASInewsletter. CourtesyASI
New Delhi
ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION among bothmenandwomenishigherinruralIndiathanin urban India, theNational FamilyHealthSurvey-5 (NFHS-5), 2019-21 has found.Overall,1%ofwomenaged15andoverdrinkalcohol, compared to 19% of men in thesameagegroup.Thisbreaksupinto1.6%(ru-ral) and 0.6% (urban) amongwomen, and19.9%and16.5%respectivelyamongmen.Ofall states,ArunachalPradeshhasthe
highest proportionof bothmen (53%) andwomen (24%)who drink alcohol. Amongwomen,Arunachal Pradesh is followedbySikkim(16%);amongmen,it isfollowedbyTelangana (43%). Besides Arunachal andTelangana, alcohol consumption amongmen is higher (40% and above) in upperBrahmaputra region of Assam, districts inJharkhand and Bastar region ofChhattisgarh, and the Chhota Nagpur re-gionof JharkhandandOdisha.The level of alcohol consumption
among men is 30-40% in parts ofChhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Manipur,Meghalaya, Tripura, and a few districts ofOdisha. It is below 30% in the remainingparts of India, and the lowest inLakshadweep(0.4%).Alcohol consumption ismorecommon
among those from the Scheduled Tribesthanfromanyothercaste/tribegroups;thisis true of bothwomen (6% consumptionamongSTs)andmen(33%).Amongreligiousgroups, the proportion of menwho drinkalcoholishigheramongthosebelongingto“other religions” (47%) than among thosebelongingtotheHindu(20%),Muslim(5%),Christian(28%),Sikh(23.5%),Buddhist/Neo-Buddhist (24.5%)andJain(5.9%)religions.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
TELLINGNUMBERS
Urban0.6%
Rural1.6%
Arunachal
Telangana
Sikkim
A&NIslands
Manipur
Goa
Chhattisgarh
52.6%
43.4%
39.9%
38.8%
37.2%
36.8%
34.7%
ALL-INDIA1.3%
WOMEN
Urban16.5%
Rural19.9%
ALL-INDIA18.7%
MEN
%of population aged 15and over who currentlydrink alcohol, as reported
Lowestconsumption:Lakshadweep0.4%,Gujarat5.8%,J&K8.7%,Rajasthan11.0%,Maharashtra13.9%,UP14.5%
Arunachal
Sikkim
Assam
Telangana
Jharkhand
A&NIslands
Chhattisgarh
24.2%
16.2%
7.3%
6.7%
6.1%
5.0%
4.9%
Lowestconsumption:Kerala0.2%,J&K0.2%.In9states/UTs,alcoholconsumptionamongwomenis0.3%.
Source:NFHS-5
ArmyhasfloatedanRFI forsuchvehicles.Whatprotectiondotheyprovide,andwherewill theybedeployed?
PROTECTEDMOBILITYVEHICLES
THEARMY last floated a request for infor-mation(RFI)topurchaseProtectedMobilityVehicles (PMV) for high-altitude areasabove4,000m,and fordeserts andplains.After getting responses, it is expected tofloat a request for proposal (RFP) inNovember, followedbytrials.PURPOSE: The PMV is awheeled ar-
moured personnel carrier. It providestroops protection frommine blasts andsuddenattackswithsmall arms.WHATARMYWANTS:TheRFI speci-
fies that the RMVs should be able to carrytenpersonnel inadditiontothedriverandco-driverwitheachpersoncarryingacom-bat load of not less than 30 kg. The PMVsshould have ballistic protection and pro-vide protection from grenade andmineblasts.Theyshouldhaveamaximumspeedof 90 kph on road and 40 kph on cross-country terrain, and be able to operate intemperaturerangeof40°Cto–15°Cinhigh-altitudeareas, andbeable to ford inwaterat a depth of 1,000mm, it said. The Armywants theRMVs tohave aweaponmountto enable a 7.62mm Light Machine Gun(LMG)tobefitted,and11firingports—fiveoneither sideandoneat the rear.
WHERE IT’SMADE: India has the ca-pabilityofproducingPMVs.Lastmonth,theTata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL)handed over the first Infantry ProtectedMobility Vehicle (IPMV) to then Chief ofArmy Staff, GenMMNaravane. TASL, thefirst Indianprivatesectorcompanytopro-ducesuchcarriers,hasdevelopedtheIPMVincollaborationwith theDRDO.TheseareproducedattheTASL’sPuneestablishment.
MANAMANSINGHCHHINA
THISWORDMEANS
AnInfantryProtectedMobilityVehicle jointlydevelopedbyTASLandDRDO. IndianArmy
ANANTHAKRISHNANG.NEWDELHI,MAY16
THESUPREMECourtwillonTuesdayhearachallenge to the order of a civil court inVaranasidirectingavideographic surveyoftheMaa Shringar Gauri Sthal in the KashiVishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosquecomplex.The principal contention of the
Committee of Management of AnjumanIntezamiaMasjid, theorganisation thathasfiled the appeal, is that the order of theVaranasi court — which was upheld byAllahabadHighCourtonApril21—is“clearlyinterdicted” by The Places of Worship(SpecialProvisions)Act, 1991.
What is thePlacesofWorshipAct,andwhatare itsprovisions?The long title describes it as “An Act to
prohibit conversionof anyplaceofworshipandtoprovideforthemaintenanceofthere-ligiouscharacterofanyplaceofworshipasitexistedonthe15thdayofAugust,1947,andformattersconnectedtherewithorinciden-tal thereto.”Section3of theAct bars the conversion,
infullorpart,ofaplaceofworshipofanyre-ligiousdenominationintoaplaceofworshipof a different religious denomination— oreven a different segment of the same reli-giousdenomination.Section 4(1) declares that the religious
character of a place of worship “shall con-tinuetobethesameasitexisted”onAugust15, 1947. Section 4(2) says any suit or legalproceedingwith respect to the conversionofthereligiouscharacterofanyplaceofwor-shipexistingonAugust15,1947,pendingbe-foreanycourt,shallabate—andnofreshsuitor legalproceedings shall be instituted.Theprovisotothissubsectionsavessuits,
appealsandlegalproceedingsthatarepend-ingonthedateofcommencementoftheAct,if they pertain to the conversion of the reli-gious character of a place of worship afterthecut-off date.Section5stipulatesthattheActshallnot
applytotheRamjanmabhoomi-BabriMasjidcase, and to any suit, appeal or proceedingrelating to it.AtleasttwopetitionschallengingtheAct
— filed by Lucknow-based Vishwa Bhadra
PujariPurohitMahasanghandsomefollow-ers of SanatanVedic Religion, and advocateAshwiniUpadhyay—arependingbeforetheSupremeCourt.Thelawhasbeenchallengedon the ground that it bars judicial review,which is a basic feature of the Constitution,imposes an “arbitrary irrational retrospec-tivecutoffdate”,andabridgestherighttore-ligionofHindus, Jains,BuddhistsandSikhs.The court issued notice on Upadhyay’s
petition inMarch2021,but theCentre isyetto file its reply.
Underwhatcircumstanceswasthe1991lawenacted,andhowdidthegovernment justify it?TheActwasbroughtbytheCongressgov-
ernment of PrimeMinister P VNarasimhaRao at a timewhen the Ram templemove-mentwas at its peak. The BabriMasjidwasstill standing, but LKAdvani’s rath yatra, hisarrest inBihar,andthefiringonkarsevaks inUttarPradeshhadraisedcommunaltensions.MovingtheBillinParliament,thenHome
Minister S B Chavan said: “It is considerednecessary to adopt thesemeasures in viewofthecontroversiesarisingfromtimetotimewith regard to conversion of places of wor-shipwhichtendtovitiatethecommunalat-mosphere... Adoption of this Bill will effec-
tively prevent any new controversies fromarising in respectof conversionof anyplaceofworship...”
WhathastheBJPsaidaboutthePlacesofWorshipActandtheKashiVishwanathtemple-Gyanvapimosquedispute?ThemainoppositionBJPopposedtheBill.
ThenMPUma Bharti said “maintenance ofstatus quo as in 1947 in respect of religiousplaces is like closing eyes similar to that ofpigeons against advancement of cats.This...willmeanpreservationof tensionsforthecominggenerations”.ShereferredtotheKashiVishwanathtemple-Gyanvapimosquedispute:“WasnottheintentionofAurangzebbehind leaving remnants of the temple (hedestroyed)at thesiteofmosque, tokeepre-minding Hindus of their historical fate andtoremindcominggenerationsofMuslimsoftheirpastgloryandpower?”During the movement for the Ram
TempleinAyodhya,theVHP-BJPoftenspokeof “liberating” the temples at Varanasi andMathuraaswell.Apopularsloganofthetimewas, “Ayodhya toh bas jhaanki hai, KashiMathurabaakihai(Ayodhyaisjustapreview,Kashi andMathuraareyet tocome).”After the Supreme Court’s unanimous
2019 verdict giving the disputed land in
AyodhyatoHindus,however,theRSSsoughtto distance itself fromdemands for similarmovements in Varanasi and Mathura.Ayodhyawasan“exception”, it said.Respondingtospecificquestionsontheis-
sue,RSSchiefMohanBhagwattoldreporters:“TheSanghisnotassociatedwithanymove-ment, it is associatedwith humandevelop-ment. Because of a historical backdrop, theSangh got associated with this(Ramjanmabhoomi)movementasanorgan-isation.Itisanexception.Nowwewillagainbeassociatedwithhumandevelopmentandthismovementwillnotremainofconcerntous.”
WhatdidtheSupremeCourtsayaboutthePlacesofWorshipAct in itsAyodhyajudgment?Theconstitutionalvalidityofthe1991Act
wasnotunderchallenge,norhaditbeenex-amined before the Supreme Court Benchthat heard the Ramjanmaboomi-BabriMasjidtitlesuit.Evenso,thecourt,whiledis-agreeingwithcertainconclusionsdrawnbythe Allahabad High Court about the Act,madespecificobservations in its support.“Inproviding a guarantee for thepreser-
vation of the religious character of places ofpublicworshipas theyexistedon15August1947andagainst theconversionof placesofpublicworship,Parliamentdeterminedthatindependencefromcolonialrulefurnishesaconstitutionalbasisforhealingtheinjusticesof the past by providing the confidence toevery religious community that theirplacesof worshipwill be preserved and that theircharacterwillnotbealtered,” thecourtsaid."The law addresses itself to the State as
muchas to every citizen of thenation... TheState, has by enacting the law, enforced aconstitutional commitment and opera-tionaliseditsconstitutionalobligationstoup-holdtheequalityofallreligionsandsecular-ismwhich is a part of the basic features oftheConstitution. The Places ofWorshipActimposesanon-derogableobligationtowardsenforcing our commitment to secularismunder the Indian Constitution. The law ishence a legislative instrument designed toprotect the secular features of the Indianpolity, which is one of the basic features oftheConstitution...ThePlacesofWorshipActis...alegislativeinterventionwhichpreservesnon-retrogression as an essential feature ofour secularvalues.”
11WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
NIRUPAMASUBRAMANIANNEWDELHI,MAY16
BILAWAL BHUTTO ZARDARI, ForeignMinisterofPakistaninthenew“unitygov-ernment” of Prime Minister ShehbazSharif, is scheduledMonday to leave on avisit totheUnitedStates. It isexpectedthatthe visit will repair ties between the twocountries, which have been in limbo forover ayear, andwhich reacheda lowwithformerPrimeMinister ImranKhan’saccu-sationsthat theBidenAdministrationwasbehindhisouster.
Pakistan and USGiven themilitary-security establish-
ment’s stakes in Pakistan’s foreign rela-tions, the spadework for the33-year-old’sfirst solo official visit abroad as ForeignMinisterwasdoneby ISIDirector-GeneralLt General Nadeem Anjum, who was inWashington last week and heldmeetingswith US National Security Adviser JakeSullivanandCIAheadWilliam JBurns.The two visits are the first high-level
contact between the two sides since last
September,whenPakistan’sthenNationalSecurityAdviserMoeedYusufandISIchiefFaizHameedgotacoldreceptionwhilevis-itingWashington following Imran Khan'srhetoric, especially his description of UStroops’ departure from Afghanistan asAfghans“breakingtheshacklesof slavery”.Anurgent reset in the ties is important
fromPakistan’spointofview.Themilitary-securityestablishmenthasdeephistoricaltieswith its counterparts in theUS. Itdoesnot want to lose this. Also, repairing tieswith theUScouldhelpPakistan regain in-fluence over the Taliban inAfghanistan asits interlocutorwith theWest.The new civilian regime needs assis-
tancefromWestern-ledlendersas it looksto repair a crumbling economy. Pakistanhas now seen thatmoney is no longer ontap from the Gulf countries. The Chinesetoo have been reluctant to lend anymoretoPakistanforfearthat itwillnotbeabletorepay, reportedlyrefusinga$6-bn loanforaCPECpowerproject recently.For the US, the new government in
Islamabad provides an opportunity to getback into a region that it exited in August2021afterhandingoverAfghanistantothe
Taliban. Concern has grown that IS-K isnowestablishedinthemixof terrorgroupsoperating in Afghanistan, and the term“Afpak” is back in vogue in the US.Pakistan’sholdover theTalibanwasnevercomplete,andislesssonow.ButtheUSbe-lieves that Pakistan could still provide es-sentialhelptostabilise thecountry,whichin turnwouldhelp theUS secure its inter-ests at a timewhenWashington’s focus isonUkraine.Afterfouryearswithoutone,the
US named an Ambassador inIslamabad in February this year.Pakistan’s controversial appointee,Sardar Masood Khan, tookcharge only a couple ofmonths agowhen the BidenAdministration greenlightedtheappointmentaftera four-monthwait.
Coming of ageBhutto is travelling to NewYork at the
invitation of Secretary of State AnthonyBlinkenforaforeignministers’meetingonworldfoodsecuritybeinghostedbytheUSandUNinthecontextof thewarinUkraine,but the two are expected to hold bilateral
discussionson the sidelines.While the Pakistan establishment ex-
pects the young Oxford-educated foreignminister to make an impression inWashington, the visit is also an opportu-nity for Bhutto, who has to lead thePakistanPeople’sParty(PPP)intoageneralelectionwithinmonths, todemonstratetoboth the jiyalas (as loyal PPPworkers arecalled) and the sceptics that he canwear
the mantle of Benazir Bhutto andZulfikarAli Bhutto.Ever since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
turnedhisstintsas foreignminister(to President Ayub Khan, and later,
from1971to1977)intograndinternationaltheatretunedtodomesticpoliticalconstituen-cies, the ForeignMinistry is
whereambitiouspoliticianshavehopedtogrow as they cut their teeth on Pakistan’strickycivil-militaryequations.Bhutto’s charge as Foreign Minister
comes at a time when Pakistan’s diplo-macy,notjustwiththeUS,butwiththeen-tireWesternworld, is indisarray.ImranKhan’s ill-timedvisit toMoscow
on the day Russian President Vladimir
Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, hishectoring of Islamabad-based Europeandiplomats, his ire atUAEandSaudiArabiafornotbackinghis condemnationof IndiaoverKashmir,andhisproposal foranalter-native Islamic alliance with Turkey andMalaysia,haveallrupturedoldfriendships—andleft theworldopenforBhuttotoputhis stampon, even if under the tutelageofthemilitary-civilianestablishment.Keeping the Kashmir issue alive is an
acidtestforeveryPakistanipolitician,espe-cially foreignministers.Bhuttohasmadeakickstart by presenting a “policy state-ment” in Parliament against thedelimita-tionawardinJ&Kasonethatwouldenabledemographic change, and presenting ajoint resolution against India’s “efforts tounderminetheinternationallyrecogniseddisputed status” of J&K. He has also writ-ten to theUNSecurityCouncil.Interestingly, the statements came af-
ter Pakistan decided to fill a long vacantpost in the Pakistan High Commission inDelhi for adiplomatdealingwith trade is-sues.Thistriggeredcriticismonsocialme-dia, compelling Pakistan to clarify thattherewasnochange in tradepolicy
The China equationEven as it gets on with resetting ties
withtheUS,PakistaniskeennottogiveanywrongsignalstoChina.Bhuttohaspledgednot to allow anyone to harm Pakistan’s“iron-clad friendship” with China, andpromisedthatthosebehindthesuicideat-tack at Karachi University, which killedthreeChinesenationalsandtheirPakistaniassistant,wouldbebrought tobook.According toa report inDawn, quoting
a statement from the Prime Minister’sOffice, PM Sharif held a “comprehensive”telephone call with Chinese Premier LiKeqiang onMonday during which he af-firmed thegovernment’s “firmresolve” tofast-track China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC) projects. “He also reiter-atedthatPakistanattachedthehighestim-portancetothesafety,securityandprotec-tion of all Chinese nationals working inPakistanoneconomicprojectsandinstitu-tions...,”Dawn said.Somereportssuggestthatimmediately
afterreturningfromhisUStrip,Bhuttowilltravel to Beijing on the invitation ofWangYi, with whom he has already held a vir-tualmeeting.
The Places of Worship ActSIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER
Today,theSupremeCourtwillhearanappealagainstthevideosurveyofVaranasi’sGyanvapimosque.AMuslimbodysaysthesurveyviolatesa1991law.Whatisthis law,andwhathastheSCsaidaboutitearlier?
ANJUAGNIHOTRICHABAJALANDHARMAY16
THECENTREonSundayrelaxedtheFairandAverage Quality (FAQ) norms for wheat intheongoingrabimarketingseasoninPunjab,Haryana,andChandigarhbyafactorofthree,raising the permissible limit of “shrivelledandbrokengrains” to18% fromtheexisting6%.UnseasonalheatinMarch,whentherabicropgoes through itsgrain-fillingstage,hasled to shrivelling,making thegrainunfit forprocurementaspertheusualqualitynorms.
Procurement normsEveryyear,beforeprocurementbeginsin
thisregioninApril, theStorageandResearchdivisionof theDepartmentof Food&PublicDistribution in the Union Ministry ofConsumerAffairs,Food&PublicDistribution,notifies specifications to ensure the qualityof theprocuredwheat.Thisyear,wheatcon-
tainingupto0.75%foreignmatter,2% dam-aged grain, 4% slightly damaged grain, 6%shrivelled and broken grain, and 12%mois-turewascleared forprocurement.The specifications are implemented at
thetimeofprocurementbypersonnel fromthe quality control wing of the FoodCorporationof India (FCI).
Grain that looks goodFAQwheat is fully developed, and has a
properlustre.Themainvarietiesaregoldenorpaleyellow, thegrain isnotdark, and itdoesnot have any streaks. It is properly dry, andmeetsallnutritionalconditions,thevaluesofwhicharetested inthe lab incaseofdoubt.“Ifalaymantakesahandfulofwheatand
findsthegrainisshinyandbeautiful, itwouldusuallymeanthatthewheatmeetsFAQ,”anFCI quality control inspector said. The QCwingconductsphysicalandchemicalanaly-sesduringtheprocurementprocess,andonthestoredcrop, the inspector said.
Previous relaxationsThe government has in the past relaxed
normsformoisturecontentandlossof lustrefollowingheavyrainduringtheharvestingsea-son,when ripe cropswere flattened, and thegrain turned blackish. This is the first time,however,thatsuchamajorrelaxationhasbeen
allowed for shrivelledgrain, FCI officials said.Theycouldnotrecallapreviousrelaxationforshrivelledgrainofmorethanperhaps1-2%.
Is thewheat bad?The relaxationof procurementparame-
ters to “reduce the hardship of farmers andavoiddistress saleofwheat”doesnotmeanthequalityof thegrainisbad.“Thegrainsaresmaller insize,butthereisnolossofquality.ThequalitycontrolwingsofbothFCIandthegovernmenthavecarriedoutseveraltestsonthe shrivelled grain, and found onlyweightloss,notalossofquality,”aseniorFCIofficersaid, adding that this wheat will now becalled “Under Relaxed Specifications (URS)wheat” insteadof FAQ.Several senior scientists at Punjab
Agricultural University, Ludhiana, also saidthe shrivelling has caused only loss of yieldandlowermillingrecovery,notdeteriorationof quality or nutritional value, and the pro-teincontentof thegrain remains intact.
Fair & average quality wheat: norms, relaxation
WhatBilawal’s US visitmeans for Pakistan’s relationswith theWest
@ieExplained#ExpressExplainedIf there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould likeexplained, pleasewrite to [email protected] EXPLAINED
THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022
TheGyanvapimosque inVaranasi. In theforegroundis the shikharof theKashiVishwanathtemple.RenukaPuri/ExpressArchive
SCHOLARSHIPTest for GS Program Target 2023
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EVERYDAY AGRICULTURE
IN FACT
Alcohol consumption in India:trends across states, age groups
FAQspecifies texture, colourandcontentofwheatgrain. ExpressArchive
New Delhi
12THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022
THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
FRANCE
MACRONPICKSELISABETHBORNEASPMFrench President Emmanuel Macron picked Labour Minister Elisabeth Borne as hisnew prime minister on Monday as he prepares for legislative elections in June -onlythe second time in 30 years that a woman has got the job. Earlier in the day, PrimeMinister Jean Castex handed in his resignation, paving the way for a cabinet over-haul after Macron's re-election in April.
USA
Bidenacts todeploy troopstoSomaliaWashington:President JoeBiden signed an order onMonday to redeployhun-dreds of US troops toSomalia to counter theIslamic extremist rebelgroupal-Shabab.UStroopswill be repositioned fromelsewhereinAfricatotrainandprovideothersupportto Somali forces in theirfight against al-Shabab,which is considered thelargest andwealthiest af-filiate of the al-Qaida ex-tremist organisation. Thedecision to station forcesagain in Somalia, ratherthan rotate them in andout, is intended “tomax-imisethesafetyandeffec-tiveness of our forces andenable them to providemore efficient support toour partners,” NationalSecurity Councilspokesperson AdrienneWatson said in announc-ingtheredeployment.AP
USPresidentJoeBiden.
TOPOFTHEWORLD
LEBANON
Earlyresults:HezbollahseeselectionlossesBeirut:Lebanon’smilitantHezbollah group and itsallies appear to have suf-feredlosses inthisweek-end’sparliamentaryelec-tions with preliminaryresultsMonday showingtheirstrongestopponentspicking up more seatsand some of their tradi-tionalpartnersroutedoutof thelegislature.Despitethe apparent setback,Hezbollah and its mainShia ally, the Amal groupof Parliament SpeakerNabih Berri, are likely toretain the 27 seats allo-catedtothesect.Itwasnotclear, however, whethertheIran-backedgroupanditsallieswouldhangontothe majority they haveheldsince2018. AP
UK
4meninfectedwithmonkeypoxinLondonLondon:Britishhealthau-thorities say they haveidentified four “rare andunusual” cases of thedis-easemonkeypox amongmenwhoappear to havebeen infected in Londonandhadnohistoryoftravelto the African countrieswhere the smallpox-likedisease is endemic. In astatement Monday, theUK's Health SecurityAgency said an investiga-tion had begun into howthemenbecame infectedandwhethertheyhadanylinks to each other. Threeof themenare in Londonand one is in northeastEngland.Lastweek,Britainreported three earliercasesofmonkeypox. AP
NEPAL
Inafirst,BritisherscalesEverestfor16thtimeKathmandu:KentonCool,a 48-year-old British na-tional, has scaled theworld's highest peakMountEverestforthe16thtime, becoming the firstnon-Nepalese to do so, amedia report said onMonday. Cool, who hailsfrom Gloucestershire, acounty in South WestEngland, reached the topofMount Everest for the16thtimeearlyonSundaymorning,TheGuardianre-ported, citing the insta-grampageofCool. PTI
NICKPERRYWELLINGTON,MAY16
NEW ZEALAND’S governmentsaid onMonday itwill help payfor lower-income families toscrap their old gas guzzlers andreplace themwith cleaner hy-brid or electric cars as part of asweepingplan to reducegreen-housegasemissions.Thegovernmentsaid itplans
to spend 569 million NewZealanddollars($357million)onthe trial programmeas part of alargerplanthatincludessubsidiesfor businesses to reduce emis-sions,aswitchtoanentirelygreenbus fleet by 2035 and curbside
food-waste collection formosthomesbytheendof thedecade.“Thisisalandmarkdayinour
transition toa lowemissions fu-ture,” Prime Minister JacindaArdern said in a statement.“We’veallseentherecentreportson sea level rise and its impactright here in New Zealand.Wecannotleavetheissueofclimatechangeuntil it’s too late to fix.”Theplanrepresentsastepto-
ward the pledges the nationmade under the 2016 ParisAgreement on climate changeandNewZealand’sstatedgoalofachievingnet-zerocarbonemis-sionsby2050.Ardern,whowas scheduled
to launch theplan but cancelled
aftertestingpositiveforCovid-19latelastweek,saideverycommu-nityandsectorhadarole toplayandthatreducingrelianceonfos-silfuelswouldhelpshieldhouse-holdsfromvolatilepricehikes.The plan also sets a target of
reducing total car travel by 20%over the next 13 years by offer-ingbettertransportationoptionsincitiesaswell as improvedop-tions for cyclists andwalkers.Theprogrammeswillbepaid
forfroma 4.5billionNewZealanddollar($2.8billion)climateemer-gency response fund. Officialssaid over time,money collectedfrompolluterswouldpayfortheprogrammes rather than taxesfromhouseholds.
Themost significant emis-sions reductions for the periodendingDecember 31, 2025willcomeintheenergy,industrialandtransport sectors, governmentdocuments said, adding everysectorwillhave toplaya role.But theplan remained short
onsomedetails,includingforthegas guzzler replacement planwhich the government saidwouldbefinalisedoverthecom-ing months. And some criticssaid it continued togiveaneasyridetothenation’shugeagricul-ture industry, which createsabout half of the nation’s totalgreenhousegasemissionsbutisalso vital to the economyas thenation’sbiggestexportearner.
“Some of the policies an-nounced, like the cash-for-clunkers system, are proven tobedogsandhavebeentriedandfailed overseas,” said DavidSeymour, leader of the libertar-ianACTParty.Seymoursaidcon-sumersshouldbeabletochoosehow they reduce emissionsthroughthemarket-basedemis-sions tradingscheme.According to Reuters report,
the new Emissions ReductionPlan "delivers the greatest op-portunitywe've had in decadesto address climate change butalso move to a high wage, lowemissions economy that pro-videsgreatereconomicsecuritybycreatingjobs,”Ardernsaid.AP
PLAN REPRESENTS STEP TOWARD COUNTRY’S GOAL OF ACHIEVING NET-ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS BY 2050
New Zealand to help pay for cleaner cars to reduce emissions
Anelectricvehiclechargingstationandcarshareparking inAuckland.AP
REUTERS&APCOLOMBO,MAY16
SRI LANKA’S newprimeminis-tersaidonMondaythecrisis-hitnationwas down to its last dayofpetrol,asthecountry’spowerminister toldcitizensnot to jointhelengthyfuelqueuesthathavegalvanised weeks of anti-gov-ernmentprotests.RanilWickremesinghesaidin
his first televised address to thenation the country urgentlyneeded$75millioninforeignex-change to pay for essential im-ports. “At themoment,weonlyhavepetrolstocksforasingleday.Thenextcoupleofmonthswillbethemostdifficultonesofourlives,”he said. “Wemust prepare our-selvestomakesomesacrificesandfacethechallengesofthisperiod.”Twoshipmentsofpetroland
two of diesel using an Indiancredit linecouldproviderelief inthenextfewdays,headded,butthecountryisalsofacingashort-ageof 14essentialmedicines.“Request the public not to
queue up or top up in the nextthreedaysuntilthe1,190fuelsta-tion deliveries have been com-pleted,”PowerMinisterKanchana
WijesekerasaidonMonday.Wickremesinghesaid“Ihave
no desire to hide the truth andto lie to the public. Althoughthese facts are unpleasant andterrifying, this is the true situa-tion. For a short period, our fu-turewill be evenmore difficultthan the tough times that wehavepassed.”“Wewill facecon-siderablechallengesandadver-sity. However, this period willnotbelong,”hesaid,addingthatcountries with which he hasspoken have pledged to help inthenext fewmonths.
Peoplewait inaqueuetobuypetrolataclosedfuel station inColomboonMonday.Reuters
Putin appears to back off threatsas Sweden decides to join NATO
ERDOGANOPPOSESNORDICMOVE,MACRONSHOWSSUPPORT
A residentnext toa floodedareaafterUkrainianmilitaryforcesopenedadamtofloodanresidentialareatostopadvanceofRussianforces toKyivonSunday.Reuters
AGENCIESSTOCKHOLM/KYIV,MAY16
VLADIMIR PUTIN appeared toclimb down on Monday fromRussia’s objections to SwedenandFinlandjoiningNATO,sayingMoscowhadnoissueswiththementering theUS-ledmilitary al-liancetheynowaimtojoininre-actiontohis invasionofUkraine.Though the Russian leader
saidMoscowwould take actionif NATO were to move moretroopsorhardwareontotheter-ritoryofitsnewmembers-stepsFinland and Sweden have bothalreadyruledout-hesaidNATO'sexpansionitselfwasnotathreat.“Asfarasexpansiongoes, in-
cluding newmembers FinlandandSweden,Russiahasnoprob-lems with these states - none.And so in this sense there is noimmediatethreattoRussiafroman expansion to include thesecountries,”Putin said.The comments came after
Sweden onMonday decided tojoin Finland in seeking NATOmembership.“Russiahassaidthatthatitwilltakecountermeasuresif we joinNATO,” she said. “Wecannotruleout thatSwedenwillbeexposedto,forinstance,disin-formationandattemptstointim-idateanddivideus,”thePMsaid.Putin, however, had stated
that, “The expansionofmilitaryinfrastructure into this territorywouldcertainlyprovokeourre-sponse. What that (response)willbe-wewillseewhatthreatsarecreatedforus.”“Problemsarebeingcreatedfornoreasonatall.Weshall reactaccordingly.”Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan said on Monday thatSwedishandFinnishdelegationsshould not bother coming toAnkara to convince it to approvetheir NATO bid. PresidentEmmanuelMacronofFrancewel-comedFinlandandSweden’sde-cisiontoapplyforNATOmember-ship, saying in a statement thattheir accessionwould reinforcesecurityfor“Europeasawhole.”
REUTERSRUSKALOZOVA,MAY16
UKRAINIAN TROOPS havepushedRussianforcesbackfromthenortheastern city of KharkivandsomehaveadvancedasfarastheborderwithRussia,UkrainianofficialssaidonMonday.The developments, if con-
firmed, would signal a furthershift inmomentum in favour ofUkraine.AndinanothersetbackforPutin,McDonald's Corp , theworld's largest fast food chain,said itwas pulling out of Russiabecause of the conflict. Theworld's largest burger chain,which owns about 84% of itsnearly850restaurantsinRussia,will take a related non-cashcharge of up to $1.4 billion fol-lowing its sale.On the battlefields near
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largestcity, interiorministryad-viser Vadym Denisenko said
Ukrainian troopsweremount-ing a counter-offensive. “It cannolongerbestopped...Thankstothis,wecango to the rearof theRussiangroupof forces,”hesaid.Ukraine's defence ministry
said on Monday the 227thBattalion of the 127th BrigadeofUkraine'sTerritorialDefenceForces had reached the borderwith Russia. The governor ofthe Luhansk region inDonbas,Serhiy Gaidai, said the situa-tion “remains difficult”, withRussian forces trying tocapturethe town of Sieverodonetsk.Russia said onMonday that
it had agreed to evacuatewounded Ukrainian soldiersfromthebunkersbelowthebe-sieged Azovstal steel works inMariupol to a medical facilityin theRussian-controlled townofNovoazovsk. "Anagreementhas been reached on the re-moval of the wounded," theMoscowdefenceministry saidin a statement.
MCDONALD’SRETREATSFROMMOSCOW
EU to offerKyiv newloans to plugurgent needsFRANCESCOGUARASCIOBRUSSELS,MAY16
THE EUROPEANCommission isset to propose onWednesday anewpackage of financial aid toUkraine, including new loans toprovide immediate liquidity toKyiv and commitments for thelong-termfinancingofthecoun-try'sreconstruction,officialssaid.Thesizeof theshort-termfi-
nancial support is stillbeingde-fined but two officials familiarwiththediscussionstoldReuterstheyexpectedittoroughlycoverUkraine'sfinancialneedsfortwomonths, largely through loans.Athirdofficialsaidthemoney
wouldcomefromtheEUbudgetand fromEU governments, dis-missingearliertalkthatthefundscould be raised in the marketwith the issuanceof jointbondsbackedbytheEUbudget.The InternationalMonetary
Fund (IMF) estimated in Aprilthat Ukraine needed around $5billion dollars a month for atleast threemonths to plug theimmediate financial shortfallcausedbyRussia's invasion.The Fund’s chief, Kristalina
Georgieva, has called for thissupport to come in the form ofgrants rather than loans.The scale of EU supportwill
depend also on howmuch G7countries are willing to con-tribute. A meeting of financeministers of theGroupof Sevenmajoreconomiesisscheduledinthesecondhalfof thisweek,justafter the Commission is ex-pected tounveil itsproposals.A spokesperson for the EU
declinedtocommentonthenewpackage. REUTERS
N Korea’s Kimorders military tostabilise supplyof Covid drugsSeoul: Leader Kim Jong Un hasordered North Korea’smilitaryto stabilise distribution ofCovid-19medicine in the capi-tal,Pyongyang,statemediasaid.Drugs procured by the state
were not reaching peoplequickly, Kim told an emergencypolitburo meeting on Sunday,beforevisitingpharmaciesnearthecapital'sTaedongRiver,statenewsagencyKCNAsaid.Kimordered immediate de-
ploymentofthe“powerfulforces”of the army’smedical corps to“stabilisethesupplyofmedicinesinPyongyangCity”, itadded.Amongshortcomingswerea
lack of adequate drug storage,salespeople unequipped withthepropersanitaryclothingandhygiene falling short of stan-dards,Kimsaid.Hecriticisedthe“irresponsible” work attitude,organisation and execution bythecabinetandthepublichealthsector, it added. REUTERS
POLICESAYWOULD-BE BOMBERARRESTED
ASIFSHAHZADISLAMABAD,MAY16
PAKISTANI POLICE arrested awould-be suicide bomberwhoplannedtoblowherself upneara convoy of Chinese nationalsalong the China PakistanEconomicCorridor(CPEC),apo-lice statement said.Monday’s arrest came two
weeks after a woman suicidebomber blew herself up on auniversitycampusinthesouth-ern port city of Karachi, killingthree Chinese teachers andtheir Pakistani driver Police ar-rested the militant in south-western Balochistan provincethat borders Afghanistan andIran, the statement said.Shebelongstotheseparatist
Baloch Liberation Army (BLA),whichhasstartedusingwomenmilitants as suicide bombers,policesaid,anewphenomenonfor counter-terrorism policewho are more used to dealingwith such attacks by Islamistmilitants. “Thewomanwanted
to target a convoy of Chinesenationals,” police said, addingthe attackwas planned along aroute of China PakistanEconomic-Corridor (CPEC).Police recovered explosives
anddetonatorsfromthewomanand investigated her, revealingher plans to target Chinese na-tionals. No other evidencewasproducedtosupport theiraccu-sation. REUTERS
Imran’s securitybeefed up after‘assassination’plot claimsIslamabad:ThePakistangovern-mentonMondaybeefedupsecu-rity for former PM ImranKhan,two days after he claimed thattherewas a plot to assassinatehim,accordingtoamediareport.Khan claimed on Saturday
thata“conspiracy”toassassinatehim was being hatched inPakistanandabroad,warningthatif anything happens to him, thepeoplewill come toknowabouttheperpetrators throughavideomessagehehasrecentlyrecordedandplacedinasafeplace.At Khan’s residence in Bani
Gala, 94securityofficerswill bedeployed,ofwhich,22menwillbe from the Islamabad policeand 72 from the FrontierConstabulary, the report said,quotingthespokespersonof theinteriorministry. PTI
Pak: Foiled suicide attack againstChinese nationals along CPEC
Shehbaz assuresmore security forChinese citizens
Islamabad:PrimeMinisterShehbazSharifonMondayassuredChinathathisgov-ernment is determined totake all necessary meas-ures for the enhanced se-curityandsafetyofChinesenationals in Pakistan andaffirmedhis“firmresolve”tofasttrackprojectsunderthe$60billionCPEC.PTI
Russian forces fall backin northeast Ukraine
INHISADDRESS,thePMsaidthecountry’sfinancialhealthissopoorthatthegovernmenthasbeenforcedtoprintmoneytopaythesalaries.Hesaidabout$75billionisneededurgentlytohelpprovidepeoplewithessentialitems,butthecountry’streasuryisstrugglingtofindeven$1billion.
Crisis innationE●EX
PLAINED
Theeclipsewasvisible fora largeportionof theworld, includingthose intheUS,muchofEuropeandAfrica,andpartsof thePacific. ‘Bloodmoon’happenswhentheEarth’smoonis inatotal lunareclipse.Anassociateastronomerat theHaydenPlanetariuminNewYorkestimatedthat2.7billionpeoplecouldcatchat leastpartof theeclipse, includingviewers inDresden,Germany,wherethemooncouldbeseensetting behindthedomeof theKunstakedmieonMonday. AP
CORONAVIRUS CASES arespreading at an alarming rateacrosstheUS,particularlyintheNortheast and theMidwest, asthecountry’sdeathtollnearstheonemillionmark.An average of over 90,000
newcasesarenowbeing identi-fied eachday in theUS, a 60 percent increase from twoweeksago.AndinmuchoftheNortheastandMidwest,dailynew-casere-portshavealreadysurpassedthepeakoflastsummer’sDeltasurge.Hospitalisations are increas-
ing across the country, thoughmoreslowlythannewcases.Thenumber of patientswith coron-avirusinAmericanhospitalssur-passed21,000overthepastweek,but still a 23 per cent rise fromtwoweeks ago. Health officialsacrosstheMidwestarebeginningtowarnhigh-riskpeopletoonceagainwearmasksindoorsandtoget booster shots, as counties inseveralstatesmovetohigher-riskCovid-19communitylevels.NYT
US deaths fromCovid hit 1 mn
BLOOD MOON DAZZLES NIGHT SKIES
Sri Lanka downto last day ofpetrol, says PMIn first televisedaddress,hesaysnationneeds$75millionforextopayforimports
New Delhi
13SENSEX: 52,973.84 ▲ 180.22 (0.34%) NIFTY: 15,842.30 ▲ 60.15 (0.38%) NIKKEI: 26,547.05 ▲ 119.40 HANG SENG: 19,950.21 ▲ 51.44 FTSE: 7,410.64 ▼ 7.51 DAX: 13,926.59 ▼ 101.34
THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022
ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Note:Rupee figureasof Fridaysince forexmarketwasshutonMondayonaccountofBuddhaPurnima; internationalmarketdatatill1900IST
GOLD`49,754
RUPEE` 77.44/USD
OIL$104.29
SILVER`59,452
Note:Gold, silverratesatDelhi spotmarket,goldper10g, silverper1kg;Crudeoil (Indianbasket)asofMay12
GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,MAY16
INAsurprisemove,theinsur-anceregulatorhasrelaxedthedisclosurerequirementsoffor-eign reinsurance branches(FRBs)andLloyd’sIndiaaspartof “rationalisationof compli-ance”standards.TheregulatorsaidFRBsand
Lloyd’s India are now ex-emptedfromdisclosingfinan-cial details andunderwritingperformance throughNL40format.However,accordingtoexperts, the latestmeasureswill leadtoopaqueness inthefunctioning of reinsurancebranchesinIndia.Irdai saidFRBsandLloyd’s
Indianeednotpublishthehalfyearlyandannualrevenueac-count,profit&lossaccount,bal-ancesheetandanalyticalratiosasmandated inthecaptionedcircular in the newspapers.“However, theymaycontinuetopublisha trueandaccurateabstractof thevariousreturnsforthepurposeofpublicityonavoluntarybasispursuant toprovisionsofSection25of theInsuranceAct, 1938,” it said.FRBsandLloyd’sIndiaprovidereinsurancesupport to thedi-rect insurersand the insurersdoconducttheirduediligenceon the FRBs while enteringreinsurance contracts withthem,Irdaisaid.“Thenecessaryinformationonfinancialsisalsomadeavailablethroughpublicdisclosureson the respectivewebsite of the FRBs.Reinsurancebusiness is B2Bsegmentandthepolicyholdersdonotdealwith the reinsur-ers,” it said inacircular to theCEOsofinsurancecompanies.“Transparency is equally
important.Discontinuingup-loadingNL40appears tobearetrograde step in this era oftransparency.Whether theFRBs in India have providedany significant advantage tothemarketascomparedtotheservices renderedby interna-tional reinsurerswhodonothaveabranchIndiaisamatterthat requires frank studyandanalysis,” said former IrdaiWhole-time Member KKSrinivasan.Traditionally,theFRBsand
Lloyd’s India donot invest inequity instruments and theymainly invest in government
securities anddebtmarkets.Basedontheinvestmentexpo-suresofthebranchesofforeignreinsurers and Llyod’s India,Irdaihasgrantedexemptiontoentities, whose investmentpolicydoesnotpermit thein-vestment in equity, from theapplicationofcommonstew-ardship code, disclosure re-quirementsandreturns.Theentities,whoseinvest-
mentpolicyallowsequity in-vestmentbuthavenotmadeany investment inequity, thecodeisapplicable.However,aNIL returnwill bea sufficientcomplianceforthesame,Irdaisaid. “Other entities have tocomplywiththeprescribedre-quirements.”Irdai has dispensedwith
theFormNL40ondisclosureofunderwritingperformancebutadvisedinsurerstofilethesaidformattotheAuthority.“In any case FRBs don’t
bring inanysignificant FDI intoIndiaunlikejointventurein-suranceor reinsurance com-paniesincorporatedinIndia.IftheUkrainewarescalates,thethreat of FRBs clampingup ifIndia does not yield to thepressure of joining Americaand the western powersagainst Russia, is quite high.The role played by FRBs andthe extent of ourmarket de-pendence on them requiresstudyandmorecriticalmoni-toring,”Srinivasansaid.“NL40gives someimpor-
tant ratios line of businesswise.ForFRBspreparationanduploading of NL 40 in theirwebsite is simpleandeasy. Inthiseraofdisclosureandtrans-parencyexemptingFRBsfromuploadingNL40seemsahastystep,”hesaid.“The Authority has re-
ceivedrepresentationsontherationalizationof compliancerequirementsof FRBsas theyarenot directly dealingwiththeretailcustomers,”Irdaisaid.
SECTORWATCHINSURANCE
Holcim CEO rules out capitalgains tax on sale proceedsRAJESHKURUPMUMBAI,MAY16
HOLCIM CEO Jan Jenisch onMondaysaidthecompany’s$10.5-billionsaleof itsstakesinAmbujaCements and ACC to the AdaniGroupwill not attract anycapitalgainstax.“Accordingtoouranaly-sis,itisatax-freetransaction...thereisnocapitalgainsoranyothertaxforthistransaction.Idon’tknowifanycomplicationarises,butweas-sumethatwewillget this6.4bil-lion (Swiss francs) as net pro-ceeds,”Jenischsaidinananalysts’callonMonday.Taxexperts saidHolcimmay
nothavetopaycapitalgainstaxforthebulk,ifnotall,ofthe$10.5-bil-
lionproceeds from the sale as itwill sell the shares in the Indiancompanies to theAdani family’soffshore special purposevehicle(SPV) throughaMauritius-incor-poratedentity.Thiswilllikelygivethe Swiss company the cover ofIndia’s tax treatywith the islandnation. The India-Mauritiusdou-bletaxationavoidanceagreement(DTAA)was revisedbilaterally inMay 2016 to remove the taxwaiversprospectively,makeitonaparwithotherDTAAsandcheckits rampantusefor taxavoidancein India.However, a carve-out isstill available for investmentsmadepriortoApril1,2017.HolcimacquiredthecementassetsinIndia17yearsago.Holcimanditssubsidiariesex-
ecutedthesharepurchaseagree-mentwithAdani’sSPVEndeavourTradeandInvestmentsforthesaleof its shareholding inMauritius-based Holderind Investments,which in turnholds63.19%stakeinAmbujaCements. TheHolcimentity also agreed to sell 54.53%stake inACC, ofwhich50.05% isheld throughAmbuja Cements.Capitalgainsfromthesaleofthesestakes to theoverseas SPVwon’tbetaxedinIndia.However,itisnotclear if the sale of 4.5% stakewillalsoberoutedthroughHoldreindInvestments or anyother entitybased in either Mauritius orSingapore. The benefit is nowavailable only for investors fromthesetwocountries,subjecttothecut-offdateofApril1,2017. FE
LIC to listtoday: GMPin negativeENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY16
SHARES OF Life InsuranceCorporation(LIC)willbelistedonthe stockexchangesonTuesday,slatedtobethecountry’s largest,amid worries about marketvolatilityandlistingperformanceof thecorporation.Despitegloomysentiment,the
offer got better-than-expectedsubscriptions figures. “Unofficialgreymarket premium (GMP) istradingdownintothenegativeter-ritorymainly on theback of de-pressedglobalmarketswhicharein the bearish zone sinceRussia–Ukraine war,” saidPrashanth Tapse, vice president(research),MehtaEquitiesLtd.“Everythingdependsonmar-
ketconditions…marketdiscountindicates that the stockmay belistedatamoderatetodiscountedprice.However,weexpectalistingwith a7per centdiscount to a3per cent premium,” said RaviSinghal,vicechairman,GCLsecu-ritiesLtd. Full report on
www.indianexpress.com
AANCHALMAGAZINENEWDELHI,MAY16
ASRETAILinflationsurgedtoan8-yearhighof7.79percentinApril,individualstatesrecordedadiver-genttrendwithsouthernstatesofKerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karna-taka,TamilNadu,alongsidePunjabandDelhi, seeing a perceptiblylower-than-nationallevelinflationrate,whilestatessuchasMadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra, WestBengal,Telangana,Haryana,UttarPradesh,GujaratandAssamtrend-ingmostlyabovethenationallevel.Retail inflationhas persisted
abovetheReserveBankof India’s(RBI’s) inflation target for thefourthstraightmonth,withpricelevels rising to an8-year highof8.38percentinruralareasinAprilwhileurbaninflationwasata18-month high of 7.09 per cent.Incidentally, a number of statesrecordinghigherinflationrateoverthenational levelaredisplayingahigher inflation trend in rural ar-easasagainsttheurbanareas.Consumer Price Index (CPI)-
basedinflationdataforthelast11months showsKeralaas theonlystate that has consistently re-mainedbelowtheall-India infla-tion level, while Telangana,Madhya Pradesh, Haryana andJammu&Kashmir have stayedabove the national level all
throughout. States/UT such asAndhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Karnataka, Punjab and Delhi,which had remained above thenational inflation level in at leastfiveoutof the lastelevenmonthshavenowtrendedbelowthena-tionallevelatleastforthelastthreemonths. States such as WestBengal, Assam, Jharkhand,Rajasthanwhichhad remainedbelow the all-India inflation tillDecember2021havenowpickeduppacetoriseabovethenationallevelinthelastthreemonths(fourmonthsforJharkhand).Possible reasons include the
cushion of subsidies routedthrough the public distributionsystemacross income levels insomeof thesouthernstates.Also,stateswith lower urbanisationrates endup spendingmore onfood and fuel,while thosewithmoreurbanareasendupspend-ingahighershareonservices.Thedisaggregateddatareveals
thatmost of these states,whichhave ahigher inflation rate overthenationallevel,aredisplayingahigher inflation trend in rural ar-eas as against the urban areas.WestBengalhasseendouble-digitrural inflation over the last twomonthswhile rural inflation inAssamhas also topped the na-tional level over the last threemonthsevenasurbaninflationre-mains below thenational level.
Madhya Pradesh, Telangana,Haryana, Gujarat,Maharashtraand Jammu&Kashmir toohaverecordedahigherruralthanurbaninflationinlast3monthsatleast.Inflation rates for April-May
2021werenotconsidered, as the
governmentonlyprovidedstate-wiseindicesandnotinflationratessinceall-Indiaindicesforthesetwomonthswere imputed in 2020due to the Covid-19 pandemic.Amongstates,thehighestweightinCPIisofMaharashtra(13.18per
cent), followedbyUttar Pradesh(12.37percent),TamilNadu(7.25per cent) andWest Bengal (7.09percent).“Thefirstsetofshockstoinflation have beenbroadly feltthrough foodand fuel. Typically,poorerpartshaveahigherpropor-tionate spendingon food.About60-80percentof thetotalspend-inginstateswithlessurbanareasor lower incomeswould be onfood,fuel,healthandeducation.Atthemargin, therecouldalsohavebeen logistics-related shocks.SouthernIndia,whichhasahigherper capita income than the na-tional averagecouldbespendingmoreonservices,”RahulBajoria,chiefeconomist,Barclays,said.The decision to not reduce
ValueAddedTaxon fuel in someofthesestatescouldalsobeanad-ditionalfactorforhigherfuelinfla-tion.Services,asperthelatestCPIdata, have gained sharplywithmiscellaneousgoodsandservicesjumping to a115-monthhighof8.03per cent inApril andhouse-holdgoodsandservicesrisingtoa105-monthhighof7.97percent.There couldalsobe thecush-
ionofsubsidiesroutedthroughthepublic distribution systemseenacrossincomelevelsinsomeofthesouthernstates,especiallyonfooditems that constituteabig chunkofCPIinflationweightage.“Statessuch as Kerala and Tamil Naduhavea strongpublicdistribution
system,wherein subsidised foodmaybehelping cushion the im-pact of higher food prices,”DevendraKumarPant,chiefecon-omist,IndiaRatings,said.“Itemswhichhaveprice sen-
sitivitiestosubstitutesaregainingsuchasgheepricesthathavebeenmovingup,withupwardmove-mentinpricesofcookingoil.Also,chickenpriceshavegainedasfeed-stockpriceshavegoneupgloballyandafterasupply-scarewasseeninAndhra Pradesh,which is thehubformeat,poultryandpiscicul-ture.Fruitpricesalsogainedto8.4percentinAprilasagainstourex-pectation of 7.4 per cent,whichcouldbeseenasaresultoftheheatwave,”Bajoriasaid.Wheat,proteinitems(chicken
inparticular),milk,lemon,cookedmeal, chillies, refinedoil, potato,chillies, kerosene, firewood, goldandLPGarecontributingtoover-all inflationinasubstantiveman-ner,anSBIResearchreportsaid.“Kerosene has seen a sharp
spike, almost 35-40 per centmonth-on-month increase.Hou-seholduse is limitedandmainlyusedforindustrialpurposes.Therehas been a massive drop inkeroseneconsumptionoverlast10yearsbutsinceit isnotsubsidisedinmostparts,anypricemovementgetsreflectedsubstantiallyininfla-tion,”Bajoriasaid. Full report on
www.indianexpress.com
BROADLY,SOUTHERNSTATES,EXCEPTTELANGANA,SEELOWER-THAN-NATIONALLEVELRATE
2
4
6
8
10
Karnataka
West Bengal
MadhyaPradesh
Telangana
AllIndia
Kerala
TamilNadu
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
Higher-than-national level inApril 2022 (in decreasing order)
Lower-than-nationallevel in April 2022(in increasing order)
HOW IT PANSOUT
Ruralpinchesmoreinhighinflationstates
SALMANSHBENGALURU,MAY16
ZILINGO’S CO-FOUNDERAnkitiBose, who was recently sus-pended fromherposition at theB2Be-commerce start-up, is ex-ploring recompensing the com-pany’s entire outstanding debtworth$40million.Thiswouldpro-vide herwith an option to gainmoreequityinthefirm,twopeo-pleawareofthediscussionssaid.However, according to an in-
vestorinaventuredebtfirmbasedinAsia, Bose’s endeavour to ac-quiremoresharesinthecompanycould bemet with a pushbackfrom the board, and eventuallyleadtoalegaltussleifthewarrantsweretobesoldtoher.SourcessaidBosehadalready
reachedouttoVardePartnersandIndiesCapitalwithatermsheettopayback theentirepending loanamount. Varde and Indies pro-videda$40millionloantoZilingounderherleadershipinJuly2021,whichisvalidtillJuly2023.FE
Bose proposes to repayZilingo’s $40-mn debt
FOREIGNREINSURANCEbranches(FRBs)andLloyd’sIndiadonotinvestinequityinstrumentsandtheymainlyinvestingovernmentsecuri-tiesanddebtmarkets.
WheredotheyinvestE●EX
PLAINED
Disclosure normseased for foreignreinsurancebranches, Lloyd’s
Terra backerto compensatesome usersHong Kong: Luna FoundationGuard (LFG), a Singapore-basednon-profit organisation de-signed tomaintain TerraUSD’sprice, saidMonday it spent thebulkof its reserves trying tode-fenditsdollarpeglastweekandwouldusewhat little remainedtocompensate someuserswhohad lostout.The token’s crash last week
sent cryptocurrencies crashing,asbitcointradedbelow$30,000onMonday. REUTERS
Adani makes open offer for 26%each in Ambuja Cements, ACCMumbai:AdanigrouponMondaymadeanopenoffertoacquirea26per cent stake each in AmbujaCements andACCLtd frompub-licshareholdersafterannouncinga $10.5-billion deal to acquireHolcim’sIndiabusiness.Through itsMauritius-based
subsidiary Endeavour Trade andInvestment, the grouphasmadeanopenofferatRs385persharefor Ambuja Cements Ltd andRs
2,300pershareforACCLtd.For Ambuja Cements, the
openoffertoitspublicsharehold-ers is for acquiring up to 51.63croreequityshares, representing26percentoftheexpandedsharecapital,aggregatingtoatotalcon-sideration of Rs 19,879.57 crore.While for ACC, the offer is to ac-quireupto4.89croresharesheldbypublicshareholders,represent-ing 26per cent of the expanded
sharecapital,aggregatingtoato-tal considerationof Rs 11,259.97crore. Thiswould be “subject tothereceiptoftheRequiredStatut-oryApproval,”Adanigroupsaid.Theopenofferhasbeentrigg-
ered after the execution of thesharepurchaseagreementbetw-een Adani group andHolcim tobuycontrollingstakeinthelatter’sIndiabusiness. Fullreporton
www.indianexpress.com
ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY16
ADITYABIRLACapitalLtd(ABCL)onMonday saidAjay Srinivasanhasdecided to stepdownasMDandCEOofthecompanyashehad“expressedhisdesiretotakeonanewrolewithinthegroup”.According to amedia report,
serious allegations of corruptionandmismanagement, includingfront-runningandinsidertrading,havebeen levelledby awhistle-blower against ABCL andAdityaBirlaSunLifeAMC.Inanexchangefiling, ABCL said, “The companyreceivedacomplaintinwhichcer-tainallegationsweremadeaboutAdityaBirla SunLifeAMCand itsemployees.AspertheAdityaBirlagroup policy, an independentCommitteewasformedtoinves-tigatetheallegations.”“The committee did not find
anymeritintheallegations.Therewas no allegationwhatsoever,madeagainstAjaySrinivasan,bythe said employee,” a companyspokespersonsaid.“In so far as Srinivasan step-
pingdownisconcerned,itisclar-ifiedthathehadexpressedhisde-sire to takeonanewrolewithinthegroup, afterhaving servedaschiefexecutiveforover14years,”thepersonsaid,adding,“Arole isbeingcraftedatthegrouplevelinconsultationwithhim.”“A story has appeared, this
morning,basedoninsinuationsofvested interests. These insinua-tions/ allegations are bereft offacts,” the company said. TheboardofABCLrecentlyappointedVishakhaMulyeasthenextCEO.ABCL is theholdingcompany
for the financial services busi-nesses of theAditya Birla group.ItsoverallAUMacrossassetman-agement,lifeinsuranceandhealthinsurancebusinessesgrew16percenton-year toRs3,72,423croreasofDecember2021.OnMonday, ABCL fell 5 per
centtoRs95.05whileAdityaBirlaSunLifeAMCdove7.44per centtoRs452.30ontheBSE.ABCL further stated, “There
have beenno employee exits atAditya Birla Capital and AdityaBirla SunLifeAMC, as a fallout ofthesemaliciousallegations.GirishPatil left the company topursuebetter prospects outside thegroup.VineetMaloomovedinter-nallywithinAdityaBirlaGroup,inlinewiththegroup’spolicyofca-reerprogression.”“Thereferenceinthearticleas-
sociating his new rolewith theAMCbusiness is not correct andmischievous.Further,itisalsonotcorrect asmentioned in thearti-cle that Girish Patil is related toMaheshPatil.GirishPatilandMa-heshPatil arenot related to eachotherinanymanner,” itadded.
Fullreportonwww.indianexpress.com
GOLDIMPORTSINFY22 rose33.34%to$46.14billioninFY22to837tonnes,or:
1.5timesabovepandemiclowinFY21
Goldimportsinpandemic-hitFY21wereonlyworth$34.62billion
FY22tradedeficitroseto$192.41billion,asagainst$102.62billioninFY21,duetosurgeininwardgoldshipments
GolddemandinFY23GolddemandinFY23Source:UBSSecurities India/PTI
12%morethanpre-pandemicaverageofFY16-20
Gold demandmay risemore thanprojected ashouseholdsmay snapup themetal as a hedge againstspiralling inflation, aUBS Securities India report said
ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY16
THECONFEDERATIONof IndianIndustry (CII)onMondaysaidanimmediatemeasuretoeaseinfla-tion could be tomoderate taxesonfuelproducts,whichconstitutea large share of the retail pumppricesofpetrolanddiesel.“CIIwould encourageCentre
andstategovernmentstocollab-orateinreducingtheseduties,”CIIpresident Sanjiv Bajaj said. TheReserve Bank decision to raisebenchmarkinterestratesandthelikelihoodofagoodmonsoonwillhelp incontaining inflation,Bajajsaid,addressinghismaidenpressconferenceaftertakingoverastheindustrybody’schief.“I dobelieve thatwearenow
in anera of higher interest rates.Thiswillhelpusinbringingdowninflation,atleastapartofthatgo-ingforward,”hesaid,addingthatvariousfactorscombinedwiththehopeofastrongmonsoon“shouldputusinabetterplace”bythesec-ondhalfoftheyearforpolicymak-ers todecidewhere inflationandinterestratesmove.Bajaj said the rise of inflation
has two aspects—demand andsupply side. “RBI has alreadystartedthecycleoftakinginterestratesupandweshouldexpectin-terestratestocontinuemovingup
inthecomingyear.Wewouldex-pectfromtheRBIacleardirectiontohowtheyaregoing toaddressinterest rates. Hopefully in thenextmonetarypolicy reviewweshouldbeabletohearfromthemsomethingtothatextent,”hesaid.“Globalheadwindsandinfla-
tionwill have to be counteredwith robust policy reforms, bothdomestic andexternal sector re-forms, to unlock the growthpo-tentialof theeconomy.“CIIexpectstheGDPgrowthin
arangeof7.4-8.2percentin2022-23, with the outlook criticallyhingingonthetrajectoryofglobalcrudeoilprices.“Globalheadwindsandinfla-
tionwill have to be counteredwith robust policy reforms, bothdomestic andexternal sector re-forms, to unlock the growthpo-tentialof theeconomy,”hesaid.
Fullreportonwww.indianexpress.com
Era of higher interestrates; encourage cutin duties on fuel: CII
CIIpresidentSanjivBajaj File
‘Spiraling inflationmay boost golddemand among households as a hedge’
TOTAKEUPNEWROLEWITHINGROUP,SAYSCO
Srinivasan quits as MDof Aditya Birla Capital
BRIEFLYSolarglassdutyNewDelhi: TheCommerceMinistry’sinvestigationarmDirectorateGeneralofTradeRemedies (DGTR) recom-mended continuation ofanti-dumping duty onChinese solar glass, alsoknown as ‘textured tem-peredcoatedandun-coatedglass’, fortwoyears.
AnnualreportsNewDelhi:TheSecuritiesandExchangeBoardof Indiahasrelaxedcompliancerulesforentitieswithlistednon-con-vertible securities fromdis-patchingphysical copiesofannual report todebentureholderstillDecember-end.
BoEmemberLondon:UK-basedacademicDr SwatiDhingrahas beennamed the first Indian-ori-ginwomantobeappointedexternal member of theBank of England's interestrate-settingpanel.PTI
PGCILdealNewDelhi:PowerGridCorp-orationof India Ltd (PGCIL)hasacquiredtheprojectspe-cial purposevehicle (SPV) -KhetriNarela TransmissionLtdafteremergingsuccess-ful in the Tariff BasedCompetitiveBidding(TBCB)bythegovernment. ENS
AjaySrinivasanhassteppeddownamidreportedwhistle-blowerallegationsofcorruption. viacompany
New Delhi
CLASSIFIEDS&TENDERS14 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022
(Paban Terang)Chief Engineer, (EAP) PWRD
Assam, Fatasil Ambari, Guwahati-25Janasanyog/CF/564/22
GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM, PUBLIC WORKS ROADS DEPARTMENTOFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER (EAP)
ARR&TI COMPLEX FATASIL AMBARI GUWAHATI-25 ASSAM Email: [email protected] No.: CE/APART/49/2022/15 Dated: 16.05.2022
REQUEST FOR BIDS (RFB)E-PROCUREMENT NOTICE
(Two-Envelope Bidding Process with e-Procurement) The Government of Assam through Government of India has received financing from the World Bank towards the cost ofthe APART Project and intends to apply part of the proceeds to the eligible payment under the contract. Bids are invited online from the eligible bidders from India for thefollowing works as detailed in the table below.
TABLE
Shri Rohini Chandra Roy, SFA (Vety)
17.05.2010
Sashastra Seema Bal fondly remembers and cher-
ishes the valiant act of brave heart Shri Rohini
Chandra Roy, SFA (Vety) who made supreme sac-
rifice of his life on the line of duty for Nation. Shri
Rohini Chandra Roy, SFA (Vety) was deployed at
E coy, Dronapal of 41st Battalion, SSB in
Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. Shri Rohini Chandra Roy, SFA (Vety)
attained martyrdom in an IED blast triggered by the Naxals on
Dantewada-Sukma highway Chhattisgarh on 17.05.2010.
We salute the supreme sacrifice of the brave soldier.
SASHASTRA SEEMA BAL
ClassifiedsPPEERRSSOONNAALL
IItt is forGeneral information thatI,AMRIKSINGHS/o-MOHANSINGH,R/o:WZ-502, Second-Floor,Gali.No-26, Shiv-Nagar,Janakpuri,New-Delhi -110058,Declare thatNameofMyMother hasbeenwrongly-writtenasBEERKAUR inmyEducational-DocumentsClass-10th.TheactualNameofMyMother is RAGHBIRKAURRespectivelywhichmaybeamendedaccordingly.
0040613952-7
II,,YYaasshhiikkaa,,DD//OOsanjay,R/Oshubhamsareeemporium,mainbazar,baniyawara, Faridabad,Haryana-121004,HaveChangedMyNameToYashikaGargpermanently. 0040613952-2
II,,WWAAKKIILL AHMED,S/OHAJRATALIRESIDENT-333,VILLAGE-BADHMALIK,SONIPAT,HARYANAHAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOVAKILAHAMED. 0040613949-6
II,,VViinnaayy Sugla S/o LateNiranjanLal SuglaR/oE-54, Sector-40,Noida, G.B.Nagar(U.P.) havechangedmyname fromVinaySugla toVinayKumar Sugla forall futurepurposes.
0040613945-1
II,,SSiiddhhaarrtt S/OMukeshSharmaR/O.D10,shanti kunjvasant kunj near church-road,newdelhi-110070,HaveChangedmyname toSidharthbhardwaj. 0040613949-5
II,,SSaattoo Saho,S/oHari Sahu,R/o-108/48, SilverOanApts.DLF-1,Gurgaon-122002,havechangedmynameSatoSaho toSantoshSahu,for all,FuturePurposes. 0040613949-4
II,,RRaajjuu aliasRadhikaAggarwal,D/oDilbaghSinghW/O JatinAggarwal R/OHouseNo-5075,Parkar Residency,Near-ParkarMall, Sector 62,Kundli(55) ,SonipatHaryana-131028,haveChangedMyNameToRadhikaAggarwal.
0040613954-10
II,,RRaajjiinnddeerr Singh,S/OFoujaSingh,R/O-Village -Jalalpur,Hoshiarpur,Punjab-144202,inform that bymistakemy father namehasbeenwronglywritten inmy ‘CISFSERVICERECORDS’ as FazalSingh insteadof Fouja Singh.
0040613951-4
II,,PPrraanneeyyAneja,S/oHarishAneja,R/o.B-34 Soami-Nagar,NewDelhi-110017,Havechangemydaughter nameGunnyAneja ToGunniAneja,for all purposes.
0040613954-4
II,,IInnddrraaDevVashist S/O,RamNiwasSharmaR/O,A-69,KewalPark EXTNAdarsh-NagarDelhi-110033,have changedmynameto InderDev. 0040613949-1
II,,PPoooojjaa Rani D/o-OmPrakashR/o-FlatNo.149, Block-C4H,NearKadimiMarket, JanakpuriC-4,WestDelhi, Delhi-110058have changedmyname toPooja for,all futurepurposes.
0040613891-1
II,,PPaannkkaajj Adlakha,S/o-MunshiLal Adlakha,R/o.Flat.No.CTB-003,Tower-BGround-FloorDLF-Crest Phase-5,Gurgaon.122011,have changedmySon’s name,fromSamarAdlakha toSamarthAdlakha.
0040613954-5
II,,OOmmPrakashGosain S/o Late ShDurgaDassR/o-53,NewTphase-II,UttamNagar,NewDelhi-110059,declare thatmywife’s actual-name isRashpalKaur asper 10th-CertificateandAdhar-card,butwronglyher namementionedasRachhpal Kaur in someof thedocuments. Rashpal Kaur andRachhpal Kaur is bothoneandthe sameperson. I amgivingaffidavit-Dt.14-May-2022.
0040613949-10
II,,NNaarreesshhKumarAggarwal,S/o-Shri KishanAggarwal,R/o-B-34,Sector-30,Noida, G.B.Nagar,U.P.-201301,havechangedmyname toNareshAggarwal for all futurepurposes. 0040613951-6
II,,NNAAZZMMAAAIJAZSHAMSIW/OAIJAZAHMAD,R/O-390/6,STREET.NO.6, ZAKIR-NAGAR,JAMIA-NAGAR,NEW-DELHI 110025,CHANGEDMYNAMENAZMAAIJAZSHAMSITONAJMA.A.SHAMSI,PERMANANTY. 0040613949-7
II,,NNAAZZIISSHHW/OATIQURREHMAN,R/O3542WARDXIKUCHATARACHAND,DARYAGANJ,NEWDELHI-110002,HAVETOCHANGEDMYNAMETONAZISHATIQ. 0040613954-7
II,,JJaannvveedd S/O-Prabhudayal,H.no.b-277,gali.no-10,RajeevGandhi road swroop-nager,Delhi,libaspur.northwest delhi-110042,HaveChangedMyName to janveddiwakar. 0040613949-2
II,,JJAASSWWIINNDDEERRSINGH,S/oGURCHARANSINGH isJASWINDERSINGHPRUTHI andmyson’s name isHARMEETSINGHPRUTHI. House. No.58/365,Flat.No-A-1, UGF,Near-Dr Jagpal-Health-Centre,Sultan-Pur, South-Delhi,Delhi-110030 .0040613949-3
II,,GGeeeettaaManak,D/oSurenderSinghGrover,R/o-B-24 plot.no-4, golf-View’ApartmentsSector-19B,Dwarka,Delhi110075,HaveChangedmyname toGeetaGrover,for allpurposes. 0040613954-2
II BhaveshSaraogi s/o ShivBhagwanSaraogi r/oD-323,Vivek vihar,Delhi-110095have changedmyname toBHAVESHKUMARSARAOGI.
0040613951-1
II,,GGUULLSSHHAANNVERMAS/oCHANDERBHANR/o-RZ-70AGALINo.9,KAMALPARK,PALAMCOLONY,DELHI-110045,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOGULSHANKUMAR
0040613952-1
II,,DDhhaarrmmeennddrraaHKumar,S/o-HaridayShankarGupta,R/o-D-276,D-Block,GaneshNagar,PandavNagar, Complex,Delhi-110092,have changedmyname toDharmendraKumarfor all purposes. 0040613951-5
II,,DDeevvaannaannddMani S/o-DineshMani Tripathi,R/o 1801,Tower-G1,Supertech ECOVillage-1,Noida,Uttar Pradesh-201301,have changedmynameDevanandMani Tripathi,Permanently. 0040613954-9
II,,AAyyuusshh S/o-ArjunSinghresiding-H.No.-H-20, GaliNo.19,ParwanaRoad,Jagatpuri,KrishnaNagar,Delhi,have changedmynametoAyushRathore,for allpurposes. 0040613954-1
II,,AAppaarrnnaaKaushik,D/oSharvanKaushikR/o.B-61,ShivMandir-RoadSwaroopNagar,NewDelhi-110042,Have changedmyname,fromAparna toAparnaKaushik,for all,futurepurposes
0040613954-8
II,,AAmmiitt Chaudhari S/o-BrahamPal SinghR/o.A-225,Block-ABaaghwali-Colony, Shastri-Nagar,Ghaziabad,UttarPradesh-201002,have changedmyNameAmit Chaudhary,forall purposes. 0040613954-3
II,,AAbbhhiinnaavv S/o-RajeshKumarPoonia,R/oP-80/2 SMQ,13BRD,AF,NewPintoPark,Delhi-110010,changedmynamIAbhinav,S/oRajeshKumarPoonia,R/oP-80/2 SMQ13BRD,AF, NewPinto-Park,Delhi-110010,changedmyname toAbhinavPooniae toAbhinavPoonia. 0040613952-3
II,,AATTIIQQURREHMAN,S/OATAURREHMANQURESHI,R/O-3542WARDXIKUCHATARACHANDDARYAGANJ,NEWDELHI-110002,HAVETOCHANGEDMYNAMETOATIQURREHMANQURESHI. 0040613954-6
II,,AANNJJAANNPUTATUNDA,S/OADHIRKUMARPUTATUNDA,R/o,FLAT.NO-11,FIRST-FLOOR,JAIPURIA-ENCLAVE,KAUSHAMBI,GHAZIABAD,UP-201010 changedmyname toANJANKUMARPUTATUNDA,Permanently. 0040613949-8
II,, TarunPaul Sethi s/oYashPaulSethi r/oPU-110,VishakhaEnclave,Pitampura,Delhi-110034have changedmynametoTARUNPALSETHI.
0040613951-3
II,, TalibAhmedS/o.HabibAhmadR/o. 69, Shahpur JatVillage, Andrewsganj, SouthDelhi - 49 have changedmyname toTalibAhmad
0040613927-1
II,, SamiQureshi S/oMohdShahidR/o 2060, NaherKhanStreetKuchaChelanDaryaGanj,Delhi-110002have changedmyname fromMohdSami to SamiQureshi for all futurepurposes.
0040613889-1
II,, Pushkar S/oSushil KumarR/oHouseNo.-63, Sector-10B,VasundharaGhaziabad (U.P)201012have changedmynametoPushkarKumar for all futurepurposes 0040613898-1
II,, Prashant Bhardwaj S/oKaushal KishoreR/oA-33,34FlatNo-10ParyavaranComplexMehrauli, SouthDelhi-110030have changedmyname fromPrasant Pandey toPrashantBhardwaj for all futurepurposes. 0040613901-1
II,, ParveenKumar S/oSitaRamR/o-48G.F ExecutiveHomeZOmaxe-City,Bahadurgarh,JhajjarHaryana, have changemyname toParveenAggarwal
0040613905-1
II,, Nikhil S/o Sushil KumarR/o1506, Sector-16A, EktaKunj,Vasundhara, Ghaziabad (U.P)201012have changedmynametoNikhil Kumar for all futurepurposes. 0040613900-1
II,, KhajanChandraaliasKhajanChandraPant, S/oBrijMohanPant, R/oB-22, GarjiyaApartments, AbhayKhand-3,Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, UP-201014, have changedmynametoKhajanPant for all futurepurposes. 0070785579-1
II,, DEVENDERYADAV, S/oYOGRAJYADAV, R/oPOST-WAZIRPUR,DHANAWAS (119), GURGAON,HARYANA-122505, havechangedmyminor Son’s namefromKUNAL, aged14 years toKUNALYADAV forever.
0070785542-1
II,, AshishMishra, S/o SatishKumarMishra, R/oB1-704, TulipPurple, Sector-69, Gurgaon,Haryana-122001, have changedmyminorDaughter’s namefromKHUSHIMISHRA, aged 13years to TANYAKHUSHIMISHRA forever. 0070785541-1
II,, AsadKhan, S/o Jamil Husain,R/o- E-T 18 102, RPSSavana,Faridabad-121002, havechangedmyname toAsadHusain. 0070785582-1
II Satyavir Singh s/oDayaRamr/oHouseNo.1849/A,Sector-13,Huda,Bhiwani,Haryana-127021have changedmynametoSATYAVIRSINGHSANGWAN.
0040613951-2
II KrishnamurtysastryAnnapurnaW/O, BViswanathanR/o 132-a, DdaFlats,dg2Vikaspuri, NewDelhi -110018have changedmynametoKrishnamurtyAnnapurnafor all purposes. 0040613946-1
II GulnaazBanoD/O,MaqsoodKhanChouhanR/oHouseNo-4/231, FlatNo 402, ShivajiNagar, NearKhandsaRoad,Gurgoan 122001have changedmyname toGulnaazKhan forall purposes. 0040613947-1
II,,PPaarrvveezzAkthar S/oBashirAhmedR/oG-1/264, DalMillRoad,UttamNagar, Delhi-110059,changedname toParvezAkhtar. 0040613949-9
I,MOHAMMADMASUDLASKAR,MOHDMASUDLASKARANDMDMASUDLASKARS/OMOHAMMEDMUJIBARRAHMANR/O53-ADDAFLATSNEARBULANDMASJID SHASTRI PARKDELHI-110053HAVECHANGEMYNAMETOMOHAMMEDMASUDLASKAR. 0040608620
I, KamlaRaniW/oNarenderMohanR/o FlatNo-220-C, JantaFlats, PaschimVihar Extn. Delhi-110063hereby solemnly informthatKamlaRani andChhayaMohanbothareoneand thesameperson. 0040613874
IIGurcharanSinghS/oSh.MohanSinghR/oQU-251C,NorthPitampura, Delhi-110088have lostmyOriginal DDAPossession Letter in thenameofMadanLal S/oKishan Lal FileNo.NOL019(432)85/PT/HBM/NPdated 19.10.1985 ofQU-251C,NorthPitampura, Delhi-110088.Findersmaycontact ataboveaddress.
0040613890-1
II SureshKumarBhatia S/oSh.S.L.BhatiaR/o FlatNo. C-18,SuvidhaCGHS, PlotNo.25,Sector-13, Rohini, Delhi-110085have lostmyOriginalAllotment Letter issuedbySuvidhaCGHSLtd.of abovesaidproperty. Findersmaycontact at aboveaddress.
0040613890-2
II,, Dr. UmberAgarwal, S/oDr. B.K.Agarwal, R/o 88-S, Sector-7,JasolaVihar, NewDelhi, havelostmyoriginal possessionletter, allotment letter, andoffice order (name transferletter), ofmyPlotNo.13/9,Sector-13, Vasundhara,Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, ifanyoneuses themthen itwillbe considered illegal, Finderplease inform/contact:-9811152551. 0070785578-1
II,,CChheettaann SwaroopKanodia S/oShri KeshavDevKanodiaR/o-A-213,Kewal Park,Azadpur,Delhi-33,have lostHandingOverPossessionandSitePossessionSlippapers(F.16(12548)/2012/RHN)of PlotNo.733,Block&PocketC-5,Sector-34,Rohini,Delhi-42.FinderContact-9205341655
0040613952-9
II,,NNeeeerruu Puri D/oSh.PurshotamLal Satija R/oAO-28,ShalimarBaghDelhi-110088have lostmy70Shares,Certificatebearing.No.6691,DistinctiveNo.4013098 to 4013167,of C&SElectric Ltd.FinderContact-9868504238. 0040613952-8
LLoosstt 5Chains ofOriginal Sale-Deedsof Property.No.A-52,Rajouri Garden,NewDelhi-110027 in favour of last 2 chainsnameof Shrimati SubashKumari, Smt.Saroj Talwar&Shri AshokKumarTalwar andSecondChain Shrimati SitaDevi&Shrimati KailashKumari,foundermaycontactAtul Talwar,S/oSh.MadanLalTalwarR/o 185,Sukhdev-Vihar,NewDelhi.M-9711002154.
0040613952-10
LLoosstt all original Documents ofmyOfficeNo.103, AnsalChamber-II, 6, Bhikaji CamaPlace, NewDelhi. FindermayContact-RameshKumarSharmaat abovenotedaddress. 0040613897-1
PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known that my clients (1) Suraj PalNagar S/o Shankar Lal Nagar (2)Rambeti W/o Suraj Pal Nagar R/o Plotno. 5, Sainik Enclave Ansari chowkSector-5 near Hanuman mandir, murtiwall gali, Mohan garden Uttam NagarNew Delhi -110059 have disowned andsevered all their relations with theirson's Akash Nagar and his wife MonikaKumari, debarred them from theirmoveable and immovable properties/assets and their personal life. Anybodydealing with them in civil and criminalmatter shall be doing at his/her/theirown risk, cost and responsibility.
ABHAY RAJ VERMA(Advocate)
Enrl.No.D-366/2011
PUBLIC NOTICENotified to the public that our clients Mr. RaviKumar Son of Late Sh. Tek Chand Mangal &Miss Vidya Mangla and Miss Veena Manglaboth Daughters of Late Sh. Tek ChandMangal All R/o Apt. 0405, IREO GRANDARCH, Tower B, Sector-58, Gurugram-122011, have got no connection ofwhatsoever nature with their brother Mr.Subhash Chand Mangal R/O 14/9, SubhashNagar, Delhi-27, and his family mambers i.e.his wife Mrs. Vimla Mangla, elder son AnkurMangla, younger son Amrit Mangla & his wifeMrs. Rajshree Verma, Our aforesaid clients &their family mebmers have severed all theirrelations, connections of whatsoever naturewith their aforesaid brother Subhash ChandMangal & his aforesaid family members for allpurposes. Any person dealing with them shalldo so on his own risks and consequences.
Sd/-(R.D. Vats)
AdvocateEnrl. No. 423/83
Ch. No. 668, Western Wing,Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi-110054
PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to all that my client Shri RajKumar Mishra S/o Shri Shivkant Mishra,Aged-53 years and Smt. Indu Devi W/oShri Raj Kumar Mishra aged 50 years, bothR/o A-2/1799, J.J. Colony, MadanpurKhadar, Sarita Vihar, South Delhi, Delhi-110076, due to some unavoidablecircumstances & daily harassment hassevered all his relations and disown /debartheir son namely Deepak Kumar Mishraand daughter-in-law namely Durga, fromall my client's moveable and immoveableproperties/ assets with effect from16.05.2022 and all moveable andimmoveable properties/ assets which myclient inherits in future from his ancestorsand parents through the law of inheritance.My client has no relation with the above-named persons in any manner whatsoever.Anyone dealing with him/her, shall bedoing at his/her/their own risks/costs/consequences and my client shallnot be responsible for their son namelyDeepak Kumar Mishra and daughter-in-lawnamely Durga (his/her/ their) acts, deedsand dealings or caused to be done withpublic at large in any manner whatsoever.
Sd/-Ashwini Kumar (Advocate)
Enrollment no D/3670/16
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WXÀ°ff/-EÀf.IZY.Óff (Ad²f½f¢°ff)
Enrl. No. D-1522/01
PUBLIC NOTICENotified that my client jyoti Dhawan, w/oR.K. Dhawan, resident of House No.9,Block-8, Spring Field Colony, Sector- 31-32, Faridabad, Haryana-121001, hassevere relation from her son VarunDhawan his wife Ruchika Kakkar and theirson Manav Dhawan. Due to his cruel andharassing behavior towards my abovenamed client. Now she has no domesticrelations with him and has disowned himfrom all movable & immovable properties.Any person dealing with him will do at hisown cost & risk and my client should notbe responsible for them, if any.
Sd/-SAURABH GUPTA
ADVOCATE(Enrl No.D/369/2011)
LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD
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MMUULLTTIIPPLLEEVVAACCAANNCCIIEESSFFiinnaanncceeCompanyRequiredManager,AccountantKnowing(Tally/G.S.T), ComputerOperator#8882507112,8595783037 0040613258-3
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This is to inform the Public at largethat Sh. Rakesh Sherawat S/o Sh.B.S. Sherawat is the “Title Holder”in possession of “DDA Built UpFreehold Property Bearing Flat No.L-1B, Ground Floor, Category-Janta,Malviya Nagar, Residential Scheme,Saket, New Delhi”, hereinafterreferred to as ‘Schedule Property’vide Conveyance Deed dated13.03.2020, registered as Regn.No.2881, Book 1, Vol. No. 7597, pp-188-192 on 19.03.2020 in the Officeof Sub. Registrar-VII, New Delhi.That the original documents w.r.t.the Schedule Property, (i) AllotmentLetter dated 24.11.1977, (ii) Offerto possession Letter dated 15.02.78,(iii) NOC for water and electricitydated 15.02.78 and (v) PossessionSlip all issued by DDA in favour ofSh. Nand Kishore (Original Allottee)have been lost/ misplaced and areuntraceable, hence unavailable forverification in original, in lieu ofwhich Information Report dated13.05.2022 is filed with Delhi Policebearing LR No. 399157/2022. Thisnotice is issued to Public at Largei.e. any Person(s), Financial Institu-tion(s), Bank(s), HUFs etc., havingany knowledge, custody or possess-ion of the lost/ misplaced/ untracea-ble documents as mentioned hereinabove or otherwise having any claimright, title, interest, possession inthe Schedule Property, by way ofOwnership, Succession, Inheritance,Sale, Mortgage, Exchange, Charge.Lien, Gift, Trust, Encumbrance etc,or objection to the sale of theSchedule Property, may comeforward with supporting documents,to be delivered to the undersignedwithin 15 days from the date of thisPublication, post expiration of which, any claim (s) or objection (s), ifraised or received, shall be treatedas null & void and such claims orobjection shall be treated as waived,and the Title Holder shall be treatedas waived, and the Title Holder shallproceed to sell the ScheduleProperty as per presently intended.
PUBLIC NOTICE
G.A. Khan (Advocate)
Ch. no. 171, Chamber Block IIDelhi High Court, New Delhi-03
Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance ofadvertising copy, it is not possible to verify itscontants. The Indian Express (P) Limited cannotbe held responsible for such contents, nor for anyloss or damage incurred as a result oftransactions with companies, associations orindividuals adversing in its newspapers orPublications. We therefore recommend thatreaders make necessary inquiries before sendingany monies or entering into any agreements withadvertisers or otherwise acting on anadvertisement in any manner whatsoever.
“IMPORTANT”
New Delhi
SPORT/CALENDAR 15WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY17,2022
WORLDBOXINGCHAMPIONSHIP
NITINSHARMACHANDIGARH,MAY16
AS A youngster, ManishaMounwould ac-companyherelderbrother to thevolleyballground at the RKSD College Stadium inKaithalwithouttellingfather KrishanMoun.Whileher fatheronlyknewaboutherprac-tising judo at the venue apart fromplayingvolleyball,ManishawouldbetrainingunderboxingcoachRajinderSingh.Itwasaroundthis timethatKrishansuf-
fered the first of his heart attacks and thefarmer-cum-tractormechanichadtoworryabout themedical expenses apart from theneedsof his threechildren.Those tough times were recalled on
Mondaywhen24-year-oldManishasecuredhermaidenworldchampionshipmedalwitha 4:1 split decision win over Mongolia’sNamuunMankhor in the 57 Kg category atthe IBA Women’s World BoxingChampionship in Istanbul, Turkey.“Our familywantedManisha to go out-
side so she would often accompany herbrothertothevolleyballstadium.ButwedidnotknowthatshewasapproachedbycoachRajinder Singh, who got her enrolled intoboxing.Whenshebecamedistrictchampionwithin twoyears,wegot toknowaboutherfeat, and Ipraisedher in frontof allmyrela-tives and neighbours. So far, she has wonmorethan40medalsbutthisone,whatevercolour she brings home, will be special forus. She toldme that amedal in Turkeywillbe no less than anOlympics for us and I amglad that she has proved herself,” an emo-tionalKrishan toldThe IndianExpress.While her father owned a 1.5-acre farm
apart fromworkingasatractormechanic intheir village, Manisha’s interest in boxingmeantthatthefamilyhadtolookforfundstosupporthertraining.WhileayoungManishawould often bring some prizemoney fromlocal boxing tournaments tomother UshaRani, the family faced a tough time in thoseyearswhen Krishan suffered his first heartattack and spentmore than amonth at thePGIMER in Chandigarh. “Shewas a child atthattimeandwouldnotunderstandmycon-dition. Shewould tell us that she is going totraining but would always ask hermotheraboutmyhealth.Whateverprizemoneyshewon,shewouldgivetohermother,”remem-bersKrishan.Coach Gurmeeet Singh, a trainee of
Rajinder Singh, who has been trainingManisha since 2014 remembers her earlydaysinboxing.“Is ladkimainzunoonhaikuchseekhneka(Thisgirlhasthepassiontolearn).At that time,wehad fewer femaleboxersattheacademyandwouldtrainherwithboys.It also meant that she would take part incross-countryrunseveryweekinwhichshewould finish in the top three in the 21-kmcountryrun.Ithelpedherbuildstaminaandshemaintains the habit of running cross-country events even now. She has alwaysbeen a fan of 2006 Commonwealth GameschampionAkhilKumarandherleftpunchisjust like Akhil with a bit of an open guard,”saysSingh.
Steady progressA silver at the junior Haryana boxing
championshipsin2013wasfollowedbysuc-cessiveAllIndiaInter-Universitytitlesin2016and 2017 beforeManishawon three inter-national medals in 2018. It was the yearwhen shewouldwin the trials for the 2018World Championships in Delhi, where shewouldreachthequarter-finalsbeforelosingto 2016world championship silvermedal-list Stoyko Petrova of Bulgaria. During hercampaign,Manishawould scorewins overtwo-time world championship medallist
ChristinaCruzofUSAand2017worldcham-pion Dina Zhalaman of Kazakhstan. Shewould win a bronze at the Asian BoxingChampionships in2019.Thencamethesetbackofanelbowinjury
in2019before shedecided to shift to the57Kg category, where she would competeagainst the likes of former world youthchampion Sakshi Chaudhary, formerworldmedallist Sonia Lather and Sonia Chahal.“Shewouldstarthercareer in the50kgcat-egoryandonceshefeltconfident, shechose54Kgasherbestweight. The2018Nationalssilvermedal gave her confidence ahead oftheworld championship trials in 2018 andshecouldhavewonamedalinDelhi.Sheof-ten watches videos of her bouts againstChristina and Dina andwould observe hermistakesduringtherehabilitationperiodaf-terherelbowinjury.WhenshewasdroppedfromtheTOPSschemerecently,shewasabitdisappointedasherfamily’sfinancialcondi-tionisnotthatgoodbutthismedalwillhope-fully ensure that she gets back into thescheme,” says coach Satvir Kaur, who hasbeen in several national camps withManisha.The pugilist will now face Irma Testa of
ItalyintheWorldChampionshipsemi-finalsandherfatherwillbewatchingtheboutwiththe family at their village. “Sometimes, Iwouldspendextrahoursat thetractorshopto earnmoremoney even thoughManishawouldoftenaskmetocomehomeearly.Butthenwehadloanstorepay.Shealwayshandsherprizemoneytomeorhermothertillnowbutforusthebiggestprizeishermedals.Theonly thing she is fond of while at home iscleaningthehouseandmakingspaceforhermedals. Thismedal will be the brightest ofall of hermedals till date,”her father says.
FamilycametoknowaboutManisha’sboxingtalentonlyafter shegotgoldatdistrictmeet
Manisha,24, securedhermaidenworldchampionshipmedal inthe57kgclass.
TigerWoodswillbe teeingoff inhissecondMajorchampionshipsof theyear.
Woods back in spotlight,Mickelson still in shadowsREUTERSTULSA (USA),MAY16
TIGERWOODSwillbebackintheglobalgolfspotlightwhenthePGAChampionshipgetsunderway this week but defending cham-pion PhilMickelson, his great rival and theplayer he has been tethered to throughoutmuchof his career,willnot.WoodsandMickelsonaretogolfwhatRogerFedererandRafaNadalaretotennis,athletesin the twilight of their careers but still themost compelling figures in their sport andguaranteedratingsgrabbers.The PGA Championship, which begins onThursday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, had all themakingsofoneof thosespecialsportingoc-casionswhenold rivals collide.Afternearly losinghisright leg inacarcrash15months ago,Woodsmade his return tocompetitionat theMasters inApril andwilltakethenextstepinhisextraordinarycome-backatSouthernHillsCountryClub.Mickelson,whohaskept a lowprofile sincehis controversial comments about a Saudi-backedglobalgolfcircuit,hasnotplayedany-where since February but looked like hemight return in Tulsa when his name ap-pearedonthe field list.ButMickelson,whobecamegolf'soldestma-jorwinner last yearwhen hewon the PGAChampionship just shy of his 51st birthday,saidonFridayhewouldnotplay, becomingjust the third PGA champion not to defendhistitleafterWoodsin2008andBenHoganin1949,bothofwhombowedoutduetoin-jury. TherewillbeplentyofotherstorylinesandgreatgolfplayedatSouthernHills,mostof it from a pack of hard-charging twenty-somethings, includingMasters championandworldnumberoneScottieScheffler,butWoods is unlikely to be pushed from the
spotlight.The46-year-oldwonthePGAChampionshipthe last time itwasstagedatSouthernHills,hoistingtheWanamakertrophyforafourthtime in2007.WhileWoods always plays towin, few ex-pecthimtoadd tohis tallyof 15majors thisweek.WoodsworkedthegolfworldintoafrenzyattheMasterswhenhecardedaone-underpar71inhisfirstroundofcompetitivegolf sincehishorror car crash.Hewouldmake the cut but four rounds onAugustaNational'sundulatinglayoutprovedtoo much as the 15-times major winnerclosed with six-over 78s on Saturday andSunday,hisworst-everscoresattheMasters.Woodswill hogmuch of the spotlight butwillnotcarry thesamepressureas the likesof world number one Scheffler and JordanSpieth,whohasanopportunitytocompletethecareerGrandSlam.Spiethmissed the cut at theMasters for thefirst time in his career but has been golf'shottestplayersince,winningatHiltonHeadIslandandfinishingsecondathisPGAtune-up.If the28-year-oldcantriumphatthePGAChampionship, where his best result wasrunner-up in 2015, he would join GeneSarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, JackNicklaus andWoods in golf's elite club ofGrand Slamwinners. The pressure is alsobuildingonScheffler,whoheads toa layouthehas toutedashis favourite course.Whenthe year began Schefflerwas still chasing afirstPGATourwin.Henowhasfour,aGreenJacket, theworldnumberoneranking.AwinatthePGAwouldsaddlehimwithtalkofarareGrandSlamsweepingallfourmajorsinasingleseason. "For Jordantowintheca-reerGrandSlamatstill ayoungage,he’sgotto throttle that back," said twice US OpenchampionCurtisStrange
WhileManishawouldoftenbringsomeprizemoneyfromlocal tournaments tomotherUshaRani, thefamily facedtoughtimeswhenherfathersufferedaheartattack.
Nikhat, Parveenalso advance tosemi-finals,secure medalsPRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,MAY16
NIKHATZAREEN(52kg),Manisha(57kg)andParveen(63kg)continuedtheir stellar runatthe IBA Women's World BoxingChampionshipsinIstanbulonMondaybyad-vancingtothesemifinalsbutfiveotherIndiansbowedoutaftersufferingquarterfinal losses.Confirmingtheir firstWorldChampionshipsmedalswithaplaceinthesemifinals,Nikhatout-punchedEngland'sCharley-SianDavison5-0while young Parveen got the better offShoira Zulkaynarova of Tajikistanwith anidenticalmargin.Manisha, on the other hand, dispatched
Mongolia's NamuunMonkhor in a hard-foughtquarterfinalbya4-1splitdecision.However, it was the end of the road for
Nitu(48kg),seasonedcampaignerPoojaRani(81kg),Anamika(50kg), Jaismine(60kg)andNandini(+81kg).Continuingherstellarrunfromthepres-
tigiousStrandjaMemorialtournamentwhereshewon the gold earlier this year, NikhathandedIndiaitsfirstmedalatthisyear'stour-namentwithanimpressivevictory."Myopponentwas taller thanmetoday,
somy strategywas to block her right handwhich is her strength. I amdelighted to giveIndiathefirstmedal,hopeIcanwinthegold,"Nikhatsaidafterthebout.The former juniorworld championwill
next square off against CarolineDeAlmeidaof Brazil, who thrashed the 2018CommonwealthGames silverwinner CarlyMcNaulof Irelandbyunanimousdecision.In the fourth Indian bout of the day,
Parveeninitiallyseemedhesitanttoattackandlookedoutofdepthbutasthesecondstickedaway and coachBhaskar Bhatt and the sup-port staff encouragedher to go forward andattack from the sideline, theHaryana boxergainedconfidence tonotchupamemorablewin. Shewill be up against Ireland's AmyBroadhurst in the semifinal. Anamika andJaisminefellshortofsecuringmedalsontheirdebutappearanceattheworldeventafteren-during 0-5 and 1-4 losses respectively.Anamika lost to RioOlympic bronzemedal-list Colombia's Ingrit Valencia and Jaisminesuccumbed to Rashida Ellis of USA.Nandiniwashanded a0-5 loss byMorocco's KhadijaMardiin inheropeningbout.
Famous victory for the secretive boxer
CROSSWORD4742
ACROSS1 Gameforanoldschoolget-together(5,5)
6 Itemsgivenforstorageinabank(4)
10 Lieaboutshowingtruegrit(5)11 Theyworkwithawill(9)12 Instrumentputsoldmaninconfusion(8)
13 UnusualRomandwellinghouse(5)
15 It’snearbreakingupandshowingdistress(2,5)
17 HideatonetimefoundinCalifornia(7)
19 They’retoldtogotoblazes(7)21 WineforcedonsomeIrishmen(7)
22 Onewhogetsuppartof thestairs(5)
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27 Afterwork,quietormusicistimely(9)
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5 Cocainedistilledfromthesea(7)7 Lendbeautytopartofaheadornament(5)
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25 AdealwithAmericaforplant(5)26 Placeappointedforapicket(4)
ARIES (Mar21 -Apr 20)Please don't sitaround thinkinghowunfair life canbe.Mars, the planet
of excess energy, has passedon, and that imaginative andawkward squad,Uranus,Neptune andPluto,will nowleave you inpeace for a littlelonger.Meawhile, Saturnwillcontinue to keep you inyour place.
TAURUS (Apr 21 -May21)The Sun is stillmaintaining yoursocial profile,reminding you that
it is important to get otherpeople to see that yourwayofdoing things is best.With acharm like yours, howcanyoufail?Only bynot taking care ofevery single detail, that's how.
GEMINI (May22 - June21)The first thing to sayis that there is ashortage of epoch-makingplanetary
aspects at themoment. Theresult is that youmaybegin tosee yourself asmore in controlof your life than youhave beenfor quite some time. If youdo,that's a sign that youmaycomeunstuck very soon.
CANCER (June22 - July 23)There's one thingyouwantmore thananything else inyour life, and
recently it has seemed thatyouhave been about toachieve it. However, if youhave fallen at the last hurdle,can youwait for another twomonths?Currentdevelopmentsmayopenyoureyes to the broader picture.
LEO (July 24 -Aug23)Don't back awayfromproblems atwork. People in allareas of your life are
waiting for you tomakeyourself clear anddemonstrate that you are ableto copewith any amount ofpractical difficulty. People youlivewith could get intense,so don't let anythingsurprise you.
VIRGO (Aug24 - Sep23)You seem tobequite preoccupiedwithpersonnelchanges on the
work front. Seeing as thatradical signAquarius isinvolved, youmaybeconcerned to increase yourindependence and sense ofpersonal responsibility. And itmeans youmayhave to strikeout on your own.
LIBRA (Sep24 -Oct 23)A series of powerfulplanetary aspectshas beenkeepingyour personal
affairs in a state of flux.However, Venus, the planet oflove is bringinghelp fromnearat hand. And that helpmaybemorepractical than you think.In themeantime, sort out cashquestionswhile you can.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 -Nov23)If you are absolutelydetermined toassert yourauthority, there
seems to be little to stand inyourway. TheMoon combineswith the Sun to strengthen analready solid personalposition,much to your relief.The best advice is to take acreative approach, but keepother people on your side.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov24-Dec22)The Sun andMercury are castingtheir benevolentrays over your
family affairs. You are nevercertain about yourfoundations—emotional andotherwise. Yet, really, youhavelittle toworry about. Probablythe best area to focus on is theeffect your publiccommitments have onyourprivate affairs.
CAPRICORN (Dec23 - Jan20)Have you realisedthat the obstacleyou faced lastweekwas ahurdle to leap
over, not a brickwall to stopyour progress? Bynow, youmust bewell on yourway toestablishing your life on anentirely fresh footing. Today'sVenusian alignments shouldhelp balance your emotions.
AQUARIUS (Jan21- Feb19)Thismaywell be achallenging andupsetting time, butgraceful Venuswill
bring support and sympathyfromclose friends. The bestthing you canbe told is thatyour fears andworries areillusory. And thebest thingyou cando iswait until youhave a clearer picture.
PISCES (Feb20 -Mar20)Pisceanshave areputation for beingtoo sensitive byhalf.The onlyway to get
themost out of your currentsituation is to lay yourself onthe line and learn to acceptcriticism in the spirit inwhichit ismeant. In otherwords,theremaybe somethinggenuine for you to learn.
SUDOKU4837
DifficultyLevel5sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.
DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S
OLU
TIONSUDOKU4836
Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Ifmencouldonlyknoweachother,theywouldneither___nor__-ElbertHubbard(7,.,4)
SOLUTION:ENEMA,IDIOT,DELETE,HAZILYAnswer:Ifmencouldonlyknoweachother,theywouldneitheridolizenorhate-ElbertHubbard
MNAEE EEEDLT
DTIIO AILYHZ
SolutionsCrossword4741:Across:1Tanning,5Which,8Stringent,9Car,10Each,12Unchaste,14Callow,15Harass,17Nominate,18Stir,21Out,22Reeledoff,24Mused,25Melange.Down:1Taste,2Nor,3Inns,4Greens,5Watchman,6Incessant,7Harness,11Cellmates,13Cornered,14Conform,16Stream,19Rifle,20Seal,23Own.
JUMBLEDWORDS
OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis
CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson
MARVIN byTomArmstrong
DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL
New Delhi
VolXCNo.160 Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05 R.N.I.No.506/57. PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.MalhotraonbehalfofTheIndianExpress(P)LimitedandPrintedatTheIndianExpress(P)LimitedPress,A-8,Sector-7,Noida-201301andDBCorpLtd,DainikBhaskarVillageUnanTola,NearDanapurCantt,ShivylyaRoad,PostKhagaul,Shahpur,Patna(Bihar)andPublishedatTheIndianExpress(P)Limited,MezzanineFloor,ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg,NewDelhi110002.Editorialoffice:TheIndianExpress(P)Limited,MezzanineFloor,ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg,NewDelhi-110002.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingoffice:TheIndianExpress(P)Limited,B1/B,Sector-10,Noida-201301.Phone:01206651291.ChairmanoftheBoard:ViveckGoenka,ChiefEditor:RajKamalJha,Editor:UnniRajenShanker,Editor(Delhi):RakeshSinha****
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20MAY2022 06:00PM
Inflation:Howbad is it for you,
and India’s growth story?
AssociatePartner
In the growth-inflation trade-off, the focus has clearly shifted to reining in prices.
A fortnight ago, the RBI hiked the key policy rate by 40 basis points, the first in four years.
Given the worries about domestic food prices, India has already banned wheat exports.
With the Russia-Ukraine war still unravelling, fuel prices may remain elevated.
Tough measures like more interest rate hikes and liquidity absorption in coming months will killwhatever little demand India is seeing now.
Is stagflation - low growth, high inflation - looming large?
In conversationwith
Anil SasiNational Business Editor
The Indian Express
NeelkanthMishraPart-time Member Economic Advisory Council to
PM and Co-Head of Equity Strategy,Asia Pacific and India Equity Strategist,Securities Research, Credit Suisse
Shock, anger and grudging respect for Indian shuttlersWatchingtheunheraldedteamlift theThomasCup,badmintonpowerhouses Indonesians,MalaysiansandDaneswonderwhatwentwrong for theirmen
SHIVANINAIKMAY16
INDIA’STHOMASCupvictorysentsomeseis-micwavesthroughSouth-EastAsianpower-houses and European big daddies of bad-minton. India can chuckle a tad andwink abitthisweek,orhavetheproverbiallastlaugh.But therewas a hint of a scoff and grudgingrespectasMalaysia,DenmarkandIndonesiacame to termswith being handed losses bythefirst-timefinalists in the2022edition.Herearesomesnatchesofthefalloutthat
erupted in two proud shuttle nations fromthe straits, and the Scandinavian behemothboastingofOlympicchampViktorAxelsen.
Taufik lets it ripIndonesian legend and universal
favouriteTaufikHidayat, couldn’tholdbackanalmightyrantwhenhetookto Instagramtoposthis thoughtsunderavideoof aglumlooking team clutching their silvers onthe podium.The2000&2002ThomasCupchamphad
foundascapegoat in the singles coach -withtheclassicgripe:Whereisthecoach!?Hispost read (translated): “TeamThomas
Cup.Thankyoufor reachingthebestpossiblepositionofafinal.Surely,theyaredisappointedwiththisdefeat,butonethingistobenotedal-ways:it’samental,physicalbattle...andwhereis the Indonesianmen’s singles coach?DoesIndonesianothaveabetterandmorequalifiedcoach?Howlongdoyouwantthistolast,PBSI?”Addressing the federation, Indonesia’s lastOlympicsingleschampiontoreintotheincum-bent, after Anthony Ginting and JonatanChristiehadlosttheirmatches.Thissoonturnedintoa‘Who’swiser?’scrap
asasocialmediafollowercomparedhisbruis-ing tone to themorerestrainedreaction fromMalaysianLeeChongWei,whobasicallyurgedpatiencewhiletheMalaysiansrebuilttheirside.Notunlike India andPakistanwhoboth loseandthensnipeateachotherwhileathirdcoun-trywinsat cricket, IndonesianandMalaysianfansstartedventingagainsteachother,much
likethefamousrivalryofthe1970s.
Indonesiacoachunder fireIndonesia’ssinglescoachIrwansyahdidcop
criticismthedayafter,thoughmovingimagesofhimconsolingGintingandChristie,andhiseffortstohelpmakethefinalsseemedtohaveearnedhima longer rope.DetikSportquotedhimassaying,“Theplayersinthefuturewillbegivenmoreopportunitiestoappearininterna-tionalchampionships.Thisispartoftheregen-erationprocess.”DoublescoachHerryImanhadamorerous-
ingdefenceof his troops: “Wehave toacceptthisdefeataspartof thelearningprocess.Lastyearwewon,wearehappy.Thistimewelost,sowehavetoacceptit,”DetikquotedthecoachnicknamedtheFireDragon.“Defeatshouldnotmakeusdissolveinsadness.Butwemustriseagaintolooktothefuture.Whatevertheresult,Indiadeservetobecongratulated,”saidHerry.
TheKingmournsLiem Swie King, a contemporary of
PrakashPadukonewithmanystoriedbattles,lamentedthelosstoIndia, inwhatwasadis-
believingtone.Detikquotedhimwondering:“Three Indonesian playerswere ranked be-lowAnthonyGinting&Co. In fact, based onthe track recordof the two countries’meet-ings, Indonesiawas supposed to have beenquitedominating.Butthatadvantagewasnotutilised by the defending champions. Yes, itmustbeevaluatedwhywelost.Theperform-anceuntilthefinalwasextraordinary.Ididn’tthinkthatIwouldlosetoIndia!”the1976,’79and’84ThomasCupchampexclaimed.“Yes,that’s right, India is also good, I just didn’tthink itwas...with thishistory, that theycan
win in the Thomas Cup. Physically(Indonesianplayersmust)improve(because)everytimetheyplaythreegames,theylosealot,”saidLiem.“(So)youcan’tjusthaveskills,itmustbecompleteplay,”hestressed.
Nasty nicknameChiragShetty,whowasathornintheflesh
of Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin SanjayaSukamuljo, foundhimself on the dartboardof Indonesiannetizens,afterhispumped-upfacewascapturedinaphotograph,staringatthe soleMinion.Manning the netwith ag-gressiveenergy,Shettyhadclearlyrattledthefanciedpairingasitwilted-orsoIndonesianfanswereconvinced.His swivel serve came in formore carp-
ing: they nicknamed him ‘Kang Delay’, theservedelayer.A loss indoubles foracountrythat boasts three pairings in the Top 10, in-cludingNos.1and2,wasawhiplashondazedIndonesianfaces.Kevinhadearlierremarkedabout those tensemoments: “In the secondgame,whentheywereleading19-13,Indiansplayed like they had nothing to lose. Theyweresohardtoputdown.”
Malaysia in soul-searchingmodeLeeChongWeididask foraccountability
though,speakingtoStraitsTimes.Butfirstwasa compliment for Kidambi Srikanth andHSPrannoy,whohandedMalaysia a3-2 loss inthe quarters. “I don’t thinkwewould havestood a chance even if we fielded Daren(Liew).Srikanthwasoozingwithconfidence,hewas untouchable. Neither (Ng) Tze YongorDarencouldbeathim.“JunHaofaredpoorlyagainstamore-ex-
periencedPrannoy.TowintheThomasCup,it takes a collective effort from everyone inthe team.Wecertainlyneedto improveour
singlesdepthifwewanttochallengeforthetitle.Havingbeenthesinglescoachingdirec-tor for a few years now, (Wong) ChoongHann has to be held accountable and ex-plain,” Lee toldST.He proceeded to suggest an Indian style
trial: “Perhaps, it’s timewe looked intohav-ingaselectiontrialforthemen’ssinglesinor-dertomakeitfairtoall,especiallywithmanyindependent players outside the nationalteam.”Malaysia’steameventspecialistChongWei Feng added to ST: “India developed ahuge pool of singles players, you got to givethem credit. They have five singles in theworld top 30 andmore than 10 in the top100.”
Boe hero; Hoi on backfootDenmark’s only bright spot in the finals
wasIndia’sdoublescoachMathiasBoe,whotold TV2 Sport: “I have to find my danceshoes and see if I can show them how tomake a quiet and calm charming Viennesewaltz.”ClearlytheDanecouldn’tmatchstepwith thewild Bhangra and freestylemovesof Chirag&Co.Elsewhere,nationalcoachJakobHøi,was
left defending his decision to field RasmusGemke ahead of seasoned HK Vittinghus.“We’vebeenindreamland,andwhenyouare,and it’s bursting, it’s hard to get up again.Respect for theboysonandoff the field, butwewere not good enough today,” he wasquoted by TV2 Sport, adding that India hadnegotiatedconditionsbetter.“No,Idonotre-gretanything,”hestressed.Gemke spoke of feeling wretched as
IndiansrushedontothecourttohugPrannoy.“It was hard to stand in there when theIndiansstormedontothefield,andIknewitwasover,”hesaid.
ABHISHEKPUROHITMUMBAI, MAY 16
Shardul Thakur’s four strikes first broughtDelhi Capitals back into the game and thencut short a late fightbackbyPunjabKings todeliveracrucial17-runwinthattookhisteamtofourthpositiononthetable,with14pointsandthefourth-bestnetrun-rateso far.
Marsh carries DC againIn DC’s previous match at the same
ground four nights ago against RajasthanRoyals,MitchellMarshhadpoweredsevensixes in a match-winning 89 off 62. Thatknock, though,hadcomein thechasewiththeball comingonbetter than ithad in thefirst innings. Against PK, Marsh had tocome in the secondball of thematch afterDavidWarner’s golden duck.With a 6-3 field set to protect the
shorter boundary, Marsh still took on thelonger sidewhen the bowling became toopredictable, seeking to force thebiggerhit.He first lofted Kagiso Rabada over the far-thercow-cornerrope.Laterwhenthespin-ners too continued to bowl wider to thelongeroff side,he rockedback,waitedandmade sure he beat the sweeper with hiscut. And whenMarsh gets the power andtimingright, thesizeof theboundaryrarelymatters.Marsh can get tied downby spin,but to his credit, he didn’t let the dot ballspileup, running23singles, andhence,did-n’t have to take large risks to break free.He had his couple of moments of good
fortune, though. A mishit off ArshdeepSingh just cleared a jumping long-on, andanother off the left-armer tickled into thewide long-off boundary despite a valiantdash-and-dive to attempt to catch it fromShikharDhawan.Howdifficult it could be, and howwell
Marsh had played, was evident when hefailed to clear deep midwicket on theshortersideoff aRabadaslotdelivery inthe19thover.SoshortMarshhadfallenthatthefielder had to run in to complete the catch.Marsh’s exitmeantDC took just tenoff
the last twoovers,but they’dstillmanagedto set a competitive target of 160.Panic after powerplayCourtesy swift bursts from Sarfaraz
Khan - opening for the first time in the IPL- and Jonny Bairstow, the powerplay hadgone almost equivalent for both sides. DChad scored 59 for 2, PK were on 53 for1with three deliveries remaining in their
powerplay. However, Shardul Thakur firstsent back Bhanuka Rajapaksa; two ballslater, he bowled one that was close to cut,but Shikhar Dhawan tried to and wentcaught behind.Threeballs later, theDCspinners struck
with their tricks.Onadrypitchwhere turnwas available, Axar Patel foxed MayankAgarwalwithastraighterone; the linewason the stumps,MayankAgarwal stillwentfor a late steer andhadhis stumps rattled.In the next over, Kuldeep Yadav slid it
straight past an advancing LiamLivingstonetohavehimstumpedbya longway.
Thakur intervenes decisivelyAt 61 for 5, the bulk of the PK batting
was gonebut the asking ratewasn’t steep,and wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma wouldtake his side closewith a 34-ball 44.With39neededoff the last threeovers,
RovmanPowellmadeacritical saveon thestraight boundary.He leaped to catchwhatwas an other-
wise certain six from Jitesh and hurled itback in time as he went over the rope tokeep the damage to just a single.Jitesh went for another six in the over
but this time, Thakur had got the knuckleball right, andWarnersurgedforwardfromlong-off to take a sharp, low catch.PK would go down swinging. Now
Rabada mowed Thakur over the shorterdeep-midwicket rope. Next ball, Thakursent the wide bouncer wider towards thelonger side, andRabadaswatted it straightto long-off. Down to 131 for 9 after 18, PKwere finally out of the game.
BRIEF SCORES: Delhi Capitals 159 for 7(Marsh63, Sarfaraz32, Livingstone3-27)beat Punjab Kings 142 for 9 (Jitesh 44,Thakur4-36,Axar2-14,Kuldeep2-14) by17 runs
SYNOPSIS: Mitchell Marsh steers hisside to a competitive score, and ShardulThakur's slower ones hold off a fightingPK to takeDC toNo 4 in the table
Late charge by Delhi Capitalstakes them to the top four
Road gets toughfor BangaloreSHAMIKCHAKRABARTY
ONE PLAYOFF spot is officially taken byGujarat Titans. The next two positions areRajasthanRoyalsandLucknowSuperGiants’to lose. Battle is intense for theone remain-ingplace.
RAJASTHANROYALSM:13,PTS:16,NRR:0.304Awinagainst LSGhaveall but secureda
playoff place for Royals. Only two moreteamscannowgetto16points.Oneofthem,RCB,haveanegativenet runrate.
LUCKNOWSUPERGIANTSM:13,PTS:16,NRR:0.262Successive losses by big margins have
pulled Super Giants’ net run rate down to0.262from0.703.Andyet,KLRahul’stroopssitprettybecauseoftheirfarsuperiornetrunrate.
DELHICAPITALSM:13,PTS:14,NRR:0.255Onthe faceof it,DCnoware inastraight
fight with RCB. If theywin their last gameagainst Mumbai Indians, they will bethrough,thankstotheirveryimpressivenetrun rate. If they lose and RCBwin againstTitans,DCwill beknockedout.
ROYALCHALLENGERSBANGALOREM:13,PTS:14,NRR:-0.323Despite being on 14 points, the final
groupleaguefixtureisawin-or-bustforRCB.Still, theywillnotgetthereifDCsecureavic-tory.Intheplayoffsscrap,RCBhavetheworstnet runrateamongall theaspirants.
KOLKATAKNIGHTRIDERSM:13,PTS:12,NRR:0.160KKRwillhavetohopethatnootherteam
reaches16points.
PUNJABKINGSM:13,PTS:12,NRR:-0.043DefeattoDCsortofputpaidtotheirplay-
offshopes.PunjabKings’ chancenowlies inDC,RCBandKKRlosingtheirrespectivefinalleague fixtures,while theybeatingSRH.
SUNRISERSHYDERABADM:12,PTS:10,NRR:-0.270Sunrisersarehopingagainsthopethatno
other team gets to 16 points and theywinmassiveagainstMIandPunjabKings.Forex-ample, even if theybeat the twoby30 runseach,theywon’thaveapositivenetrunrate.
As Indianssavouredthehistoricwin, IndonesianandMalaysianfansstartedventingagainsteachother,muchlikethefamousrivalryof the1970s. AP
IPL TABLE
TEAM M W L PT NRRGT 13 10 3 20 0.391
RR 13 8 5 16 0.304
LSG 13 8 5 16 0.262
DC 13 7 6 14 -0.255
RCB 13 7 6 14 -0.323
KKR 13 6 7 12 0.160
PK 13 6 7 12 0.043
SRH 12 5 7 10 -0.270
CSK 13 4 9 8 -0.206
MI 12 3 9 6 -0.613
ChiragShetty,whowasathorninthefleshofMohammadAhsanandKevinSanjayaSukamuljo, foundhimselfonthedartboardofIndonesiannetizens,afterhispumped-upfacewascapturedinaphotograph,staringat thesoleMinion.
New Delhi