DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
HOW SCHOOL
REOPENS
BY RUKMINI BANERJI
PAGE 8
WORLD
TRUMP AND BIDEN
SPAR FROM AFAR
AT TOWN HALLS
TIME TO PREPARE
FOR NO-TRADE DEAL
BREXIT: UK PM
PAGE 14
Lockdown hardship, job loss:
cracks in Nitish home citadel
KalyanBighahasgained,buteconomicdistressaworry
DIPANKAR GHOSE
HARNAUT(NALANDA),
OCTOBER 16
THE ROAD is smooth, black-
topped, white markers in the
middlethatspeakof arecentcoat
of paint. The fields are green on
eitherside.Attheentrancetothe
village, there is an ITI, and then a
referral hospital. One signpost
even boasts of a shooting range.
Kalyan Bigha, in the district
of Nalanda,bearsthesignsof ad-
ministrative attention, of being
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s
village. Its residents say that un-
tilnow,withthevillageseeingso
much work, there has been una-
nimity among residents, cutting
across caste, throwing their
weight behind Kumar in polls.
But this time, cracks are appear-
ing in that edifice.
The larger Harnaut assembly
constituencyisasclosetoaNitish
Kumar bastion as they come. It
was from here that he won his
first assembly election in 1985,
on his third attempt, and then
again in 1995. For the past three
terms,therehasbeenaJDUMLA,
Harinarayan Singh, who is con-
testing the elections again, in a
Malegaon blast accused
joins JD(U) in UP, says
‘wish to work for society’
CHANDAN HAYGUNDE
PUNE, OCTOBER 16
RAMESH UPADHYAY, an ac-
cused in the 2008 Malegaon
bomb blast case, has joined the
Janata Dal (United) in Uttar
Pradesh and has been ap-
pointed state convenor of its ex-
servicemen cell.
His appointment letter was
issued by UP JD(U) chief Anoop
Singh Patel on October 12.
Upadhyay, a retired army
major, had been arrested along
with Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and
LtColPrasadShrikantPurohitby
the Maharashtra ATS for his al-
leged role in the 2008 Malegaon
case. He was, however, released
on bail in 2017. Trial in the case
is on before a special NIA court
PAGE 1
ANCHOR In Covid cloud, silver lining for Indian football: Aussie league stars
MIHIR VASAVDA
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
LASTOCTOBER,Britishfootballer
Gary Hooper became the "best-
ever signing" of Wellington
Phoenix, a club from New
Zealand that plays in Australia’s
A-League. With nearly 200 goals
in the premier leagues of
England and Scotland as well as
the Champions League, Hooper
was the highest-paid player on
the club's roster.
Then, the pandemic struck.
Today, the 32-year-old centre
forwardispartoftheIndianSuper
League (ISL) side Kerala Blasters
LAC NEGOTIATIONS ON SIMULTANEOUS WITHDRAWAL
China insists Indians vacate Chushul
heights, India says clear Pangong north
Indian troops
crossed LAC at 7
places to occupy
dominating
positions: sources
RAVISH TIWARI
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
CHINA’S INSISTENCE on India
vacating its advanced positions
on the south bank of Pangong
Tso as a precursor to discussions
onDelhi’sdemandforstatusquo
ante of April has emerged as the
A group of villagers talk politics in Kalyan Bigha, in Harnaut
Assembly constituency of Bihar. Dipankar Ghose
seat that goes to the polls in the
secondphaseonNovember3.On
Thursday morning, right next to
the blacktopped road, and close
to a temple, a group of six elders
of the village sit and discuss pol-
itics. They are all Kurmi, but be-
lieve “only a fool would vote for
anyone else” but Nitish Kumar.
“What has he not done for this
village?Thereisaroad,abiggov-
ernment school, an ITI, a hospi-
tal. We remember the days
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
GIRIRAJ CALLS CONG
CANDIDATE ‘JINNAH
SYMPATHISER’
PAGE 10
Ramesh
Upadhyay
in Mumbai.
Upadhyay, a resident of Pune
and a native of Ballia in UP, had
contested the 2019 Lok Sabha
elections from his native con-
stituency as an Independent
candidate. Earlier, in 2012, he
had contested the UP Assembly
elections from Bairia in Ballia
district on a Hindu Mahasabha
ticket, after seeking permission
from the court.
Speaking to The Indian
Express, Upadhyay said,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
FC, who will pay him Rs 1.5 crore
for eight months’ service.
Hooper isn’t the only player
fromDownUnderwhohasbeen
lured to the ISL, which will be
held in a bio-secure environ-
ment in Goa starting next
month. As A-League clubs deal
with pandemic-induced finan-
cial distress, the ISL teams have
been able to sign players who, in
pre-Covid times, would be be-
yond their budgets.
“There is a lot of financial un-
certaintythere(A-League)atthe
moment and players want to
know when they will be getting
paidandthattheywillbereceiv-
ing their full salary,” striker Joel
Leh
No
PANGONGTSO
rth
Ba
So
nk
ut
Chushul
SPANGGURGAP
RezangLa
RechinLa
new sticking point in efforts to
resolve the military standoff
along the Line of Actual Control
in Ladakh, highly placed govern-
ment sources said Friday.
SourcessaidDelhiisinsisting
DECISION:
2020 BIHAR
POVERTY IS ONLY
CASTE... I THINK OF ALL
OF BIHAR’S 12 CR: CHIRAG
CHIRAG ONLY A VOTE
KATUA: BJP
PAGE 11
FULL COVERAGE, VISIT
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
EXPRESS NETWORK
SC PICKS LOKUR FOR
PANEL ON CROP
BURNING, SG SAYS
‘RESERVATIONS’ P 7
Chianese, who has joined
Hyderabad FC from Perth Glory,
tells The Indian Express.
Chianese and Hooper are
part of an impressive ensemble,
which will be headlined by
Englishman Adam Le Fondre.
Regarded as a club legend at
Sydney FC, with a wealth of
Premier League experience, Le
Fondre is set to join City Football
Group-owned Mumbai City on
loanbecauseof aproposedwage
cut at Sydney.
Earlier this month, Liverpool
legend Robbie Fowler was
named the manager of SC East
Bengal following his Covid-
forced exit from Brisbane Roar.
SINCE 1932
INDIA
CHINA
Ladakh
hB
an
k
Jammuand
Kashmir
on simultaneous withdrawal of
forces from the Pangong north
bank — where Chinese troops
have crossed the point which
India says marks the LAC — and
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
MIGRANT GODDESS
The idol of Durga at Barisha Club in Behala, south Kolkata,
depicts her as a migrant mother in an ordinary sari and
without jewellery, carrying her child in her arms, with her
other children by her side. Artist Rintu Das said he was
inspired by the suffering of migrant labourers who were
forced to walk to their villages after the lockdown. Partha Paul
US-CBI operation blows lid off call centre fraud
AASHISH ARYAN
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
INDIAN AND US investigators
workingtogetherhavebustedan
alleged call centre racket that
had targeted elderly Americans
for nine years, the backend op-
erations of which were handled
by at least six private companies
in Delhi, the NCR cities of Noida,
Gurgaon, and Faridabad, Jaipur,
and Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh.
Victims in the US would see
false messages about a malware
Hyderabad FC’s Joel Chianese in Goa. Hyderabad FC
Jaishankar: Galwan clash
profoundly disturbed ties..
had deep public impact
SHUBHAJIT ROY
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
DELIVERING HIS sharpest com-
ments yet on China since the
Moscow meeting last month
with Chinese State Councillor
and Foreign Minister Wang Yi,
External Affairs Minister S
JaishankarFridaysaidtheborder
stand-off in eastern Ladakh is a
infection pop up on their com-
puters, which would nudge
them to a toll-free number. The
userswouldbeconnectedtocall
centresinIndia,whereoperators
would request remote access to
the computer to “fix the prob-
lem”. After a false diagnosis of a
non-existent problem, the vic-
tims would be asked for “hun-
dreds of dollars for unnecessary
services and software”.
In a coordinated move in-
volving the US Department of
Justice (DoJ), the Central Bureau
Of Investigation (CBI) on Friday
‘(Troops at
border)
critical
security
challenge’
“very sharp departure” with a
“very deep public” and “very
major political” impact.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Journalist, three
CFI men held on
way to Hathras
named in another
sedition case
MANISH SAHU
LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 16
DAYS after Mathura police ar-
restedajournalistfromKeralaand
three members of the Campus
Front of India (CFI) on charges of
Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act, among others, while they
wereonwaytomeettheHathras
victim's family, Hathras police
have now named them in a case
lodged a day earlier on sedition
and other serious charges.
The case registered at
ChandpapolicestationofHathras
onOctober4relateswithalleged
conspiracytoinstigateriotsalong
caste lines and defame the state
government over the alleged
rape,andmurder,of the19-year-
old Dalit woman.
According to Hathras police,
theirinvestigationfoundthatthe
four arrested from Mathura –
journalist Siddique Kappan (41),
and CFI members Atiq-ur-
Rahman (25), Masood Ahmed
(26) and Alam (26) – were al-
legedly involved in the earlier
case. The four are at present
lodged in Mathura jail.
The CFI is the students' wing
of the radical Popular Front of
India.
Hathras Superintendent of
Police Vineet Jaiswal said a local
courthasissuedwarrantB(war-
rant for production) against all
four, asking them to appear be-
fore the court.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
RELATED REPORTS
PAGE 4
raidedseverallocationsinthesix
towns and cities where the call
centresattheheartof thealleged
“technical support fraud” were
based. A federal court in the US
had earlier issued a temporary
restraining order against an
American individual and five in-
ternational entities that are be-
lieved to be linked to the fraud.
CBI officers said the compa-
nies under investigation include
New Delhi-based Softwill
Infotech Pvt Ltd; Noida-based
Benovellient Technologies Pvt
Ltd; Gurgaon-based Saburi
Newcastle Jets defender James
Donachie has joined Asian
Champions League-bound FC
Goa on loan while midfielder
Brad Inman has moved from
Brisbane Roar to ATK Mohun
Bagan, where he will join Roy
Krishna, named the best player
of the A-League for the 2018-19
season.
Add to the mix the continu-
ing influx of players who have
the experience of playing in the
second and third tier of Spanish
football, and the ISL can boast of
having arguably the most stellar
line-up of foreigners in a year
when several leagues across the
world are reeling because of the
`5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Solidarity findings
‘unpromising’, trial
shows remdesivir,
HCQ do not help
WHO-led research in 30 countries
pours cold water on Covid therapy
KAUNAIN SHERIFF M
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
THE LARGE, multi-nation
'Solidarity' clinical trial coordi-
nated by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) to find an
effective treatment for the novel
coronavirus infection has con-
cludedthatfourcommonlyused
re-purposed drugs have little or
noeffectonpatientsadmitted in
hospital with Covid-19.
The trial, carried out in 405
hospitals in 30 countries includ-
ing India, looked at four drugs or
their combinations — remde-
sivir, developed originally to
treat Ebola; anti-malaria drug
HCQ; ritonavir/lopinavir, li-
censed for treatment of HIV; and
interferon beta 1a, used to treat
multiple sclerosis.
“No study drug definitely re-
ducedmortality(inunventilated
patients or any other subgroup
of entry characteristics), initia-
tion of ventilation or hospitali-
sation duration,” the research
paper, which is yet to be peer-
reviewed, said.
OnJuly6,WHOhadaccepted
Six months after
security withdrawn,
Shaurya Chakra
awardee shot dead
KAMALDEEP SINGH BRAR
AMRITSAR, OCTOBER 16
A SHAURYA Chakra awardee,
who had taken on militants at
the height of insurgency in
Punjab in the 1990s, was shot
dead at his house in Bhikhiwind,
in Tarn Taran district, on Friday
morning,sixmonthsafterhisse-
curity cover was withdrawn.
Police said 'Comrade'
Balwinder Singh, 62, a former
CPI(M) member, was on the
ground floor of his house when
two men arrived on a bike and
shot Singh six times at point-
blankrange.Policesaidtheattack-
ers fled on their bike while Singh
collapsed and died on the spot.
ThefamilyallegedSingh'sse-
curity was withdrawn despite
their complaints to police about
threats that they had been re-
Global Services Pvt Ltd; and
Jaipur-basedInnovanaThinklabs
and Systweak Software.
The raids led to the recovery
of digital evidence of fraud, in-
criminating documents, details
of several bank accounts and
fixed deposits worth Rs 190
crore, other than Rs 25 lakh in
cash and gold worth Rs 55 lakh,
CBI said in a statement.
According to the complaint
filed by the DoJ’s Consumer
Protection Branch and the US
Attorney’s Office for the
SouthernDistrictof Florida,a59-
financial slump.
“Intermsof thequalityof for-
eign players, this is the best seen
in Indian football,” says Mandar
Tamhane, the chief executive of
formerISLchampionsBengaluru
FC. “When we are interacting
with prospective players, they
wanttocometoIndiamaybebe-
cause they know and are aware
of howgoodtheleagueisgetting
and obviously there is good
money too. These are all good
players who have played at a
very good level and done ex-
ceedingly well.”
Chianese says the pandemic
isjustonepartof thereasonwhy
a lot of players are looking at
A cause for
concern
REMDESIVIR AND hy-
droxychloroquine are
part of the standard
treatment regimen in
India. The conclusion of
the WHO-led trial —
which has been con-
tested by the developers
of remdesivir — that no
drug or combination re-
duces mortality or need
for ventilation presents a
new cause for concern in
the search for effective
therapeutic interven-
tions before a vaccine
can become available.
the recommendation of the
Solidarity Trial’s International
Steering Committee to
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Balwinder Singh Sandhu
ceiving.
When asked why Singh's se-
curity was withdrawn and not
reinstateddespitecomplaintsby
the family, Tarn Taran SSP
Dhruman H Nimbale said, “We
are looking into the matter.”
Police sources admitted no
FIR was registered on the basis
of the family's complaints.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
year-old California resident
named Michael Brian Cotter
“knowinglyprovidedUSsupport
for India-based accomplices”
who used to defraud elderly US
citizens by making them believe
that their computers had been
infected by viruses or malware.
Thefivecompaniesnamedby
the DoJ include Singapore regis-
tered Global Digital Concierge,
formerly known as Tech Live
Connect; Nevada-registered
SenseiVenturesInc.andNELabs
Inc;NewYork-registeredKevisoft
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
India. The salaries of players in
the A-League were already get-
tingslashedowingtoareduction
in broadcast fee, which is the
largest source of revenue for the
league and the clubs.
Ontheotherhand,theteams
intheISL--itwasstartedin2014
and took over from the I-League
as India's top division last year -
- haven’t relied on TV revenue
since the broadcaster, Star
Sports, is the co-owner of the
league along with Reliance
Sports. Instead, most of the
teams are funded by corporates,
who dole out anything between
Rs 50 lakh and Rs 3.5 crore a year
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Lucknow
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
FROM PAGE ONE
Sedition case
The court issued the order on
thebasisofareportfiledbyinves-
tigatingofficerof thecaselodged
by Chandpa police. “We have
served production warrant of all
four persons to Mathura jail au-
thorities. The case is related to
conspiracy to instigate riots,”
Chandpa SHO Laxman Singh, in-
vestigatingofficerinthecase,said.
Meanwhile, Muzaffarnagar
police have booked Atiq-ur-
Rahmaninacaseofviolencethat
occurred during the anti-CAA
protestsinKotwaliareaofthedis-
trict in December last year.
Rahman is resident of
Muzaffarnagar.
Both developments took
place over Thursday and Friday.
OnOctober5,Mathurapolice
detained the four men at Maant
toll plaza. A day later, they were
bookedforallegedlybeingpartof
largeconspiracybehindtheirvisit
toHathras.Theywerebookedun-
der charges including UAPA, and
IPC 124-A (sedition), 153-A (pro-
motingenmitybetweendifferent
groupsongroundofreligion,race,
etc) and 295-A (deliberate and
malicious acts intended to out-
rage religious feelings).
A case was lodged against
them at Maant police station in
Mathura.
Inthemeantime,Hathraspo-
lice, while probing into a case
lodged against unidentified per-
sons at Chandpa police station,
found alleged role of Kappan,
Atiq-ur-Rahman,MasoodAhmed
and Alam in the case. The FIR in
Hathras has invoked charges un-
der IPC Sections 153-A, 124-A,
153-B (imputations, assertions
prejudicial to national integra-
tion) and 420 (cheating).
At the same time,
Muzaffarnagarpolicealsomoved
court and obtained production
warrant against Rehman in the
case of violence during anti-CAA
protests last year.
Inspector Vijay Kumar Singh,
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who is part of the SIT probing
cases filed during anti-CAA
protests in Muzaffarnagar, said:
“While probing into the violence
on December 20 (last year) in
Kotwali area, we found Atiq-ur-
Rehman was present at the spot
andhadarrangedfundingforthe
violence. The case is lodged on
various charges, including at-
tempt to murder. We were look-
ing for Rahman in the case and
then learnt about his arrest (by
Mathura police).”
“We moved a court in
Muzaffarnagar and obtained his
production warrant in the case.
The warrant has been served in
jail,” he added.
Ajailofficialsaid,“Wehavere-
ceived production warrant of
both cases against the accused.”
The police said 50 cases were
filed in all in Muzaffarnagar dur-
ing the anti-CAA protests in dif-
ferent police stations of the dis-
trict., Seventy-eight people have
so far been arrested in this con-
nection, a police official said.
Nitish citadel
before he became Chief Minister
when we had to carry our ailing
oncharpaisthroughthefieldsbe-
cause there was no road. Snakes
would bite us, and even 4 km
away in Harnaut, there was no
guaranteethepatientwouldlive.
This development, is it not for
everyone? The whole village of
Kalyan Bigha always votes for
Nitish Kumar,” Umesh Kumar
said.
And yet, this preference for
NitishKumardoesn’tquitemean
there’s happiness over govern-
ment policies in the last six
months. In Kalyan Bigha, Umesh
Kumar says, there has not been a
singlecaseofCovid-19D,andthat
has led to disenchantment with
the lockdown and other meas-
ures to prevent its spread. Not a
single person in the village is
wearing a mask, nor is there any
social distancing.
“Agar gaon mein, jaan pe-
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
EXPLAINED
hchan mein kisi ko hua hi nahi,
toh kaise maan le Corona hai? (If
no one in the village has tested
positive, how do we believe
there’sCorona?).Andthisgovern-
ment locked down the country.
Our children in the cities had to
return because there was no
money, and the condition is still
bad,” Kumar said.
There is another reason for
angerbubblingatthesurface.The
coming days will bring both
Durga Puja and Chhath, and the
decisionnottoallow“melas”dur-
ing this period is not being re-
ceived well. “If we are going
throughacrisis,peopleshouldbe
allowedtocongregateandprayto
God. These are our biggest festi-
vals. The mela would mean this
templebehindyouwouldbefull.
There would be lights in the vil-
lage and food stalls, and other
small shops. Everything is now
gone,” said another elder.
Asked if they hold anyone re-
sponsible, there is silence.
“Everyone here will vote Nitish
Kumar. He has changed our vil-
lageandtheconstituency.Thatis
youranswer,”UmeshKumarsaid.
Not everyone. Two hundred
metres away, Pawan Paswan is
filling water at the area hand-
pump.Untilafewmonthsago,he
was a daily wage labourer at
Mithapur in Patna, 60 km away.
When work stopped, he came
home.“Ithasneverbeenthisbad
for the poor. Even in the village,
there’s work in their parts,” he
points to the elders, who are all
Kurmi. “We always voted for
Nitish Kumar in the village, but
thistime,thePaswansaretalking
about voting for the LJP. Even the
Dalits may not vote for Nitish
Kumar. He might win this seat,
but he does not have our vote,”
Paswan said.
About 10 km away, another
group of elders, mostly from the
Scheduled Castes, sit by a road in
Telmarvillage.IfKalyanBighahas
pucca homes, the houses in the
bastiof Telmararecheekbyjowl,
their thatched roofs in urgent
need of repair, open drains flow-
ing to one side.
Heretoo,NareshRavidassays
that some might still vote for
NitishKumarbecauseitishisseat,
but in the last five years, “Kumar
had stopped working for the
poor.”“Roadbanaya,lekinroadpe
toh gaadi chalti hai na? Humein
kyamila?(Hehasbuiltroads,but
cars run on roads. What did we
get?),” he said.
The economic distress from
thelockdownisaprevalentfactor
everywhere in Bihar, and in
Telmar, there is much conversa-
tion around it.
“Everything has stopped,
pricesofvegetableshavegoneup.
Potatoes are at Rs 80 a kilo. Can a
poormanbuythat?Theysaythey
gave five kilos of ration and 1 kilo
ofdal.Ihave9peopleinmyhouse,
but only 5 people got it. Tell me,
how long will it last then? Nitish
Kumar has given textbooks, but
the teacher in our school doesn’t
come.Icanpromiseyou,aClass9
student cannot write her own
name,” Ravidas said.
There are also allegations of
how caste has entered adminis-
trative decisions in Telmar, and
that has angered the Scheduled
Castes. “If the upper castes or the
Kurmis want a community hall,
theygetit.Foryears,wehavebeen
asking for one. We need it the
most. Our homes are small and
ramshackle, there is no room for
anything.Buttheydon’t.Ifsome-
thing is built in the village, it is on
theirside,neveronours.Thegov-
ernment promised 3 decimals of
land to the landless. Not many
people have got it. These last five
years have not been good,”
Ravidas said.
Trial findings
discontinue the HCQ and
lopinavir/
ritonavir arms of the trial.
Theaimof thetrialwastode-
terminewhetherthefourre-pur-
poseddrugscould moderatelyaf-
fect in-hospital mortality and
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
ARUNACHAL RAIN SNAKE: A DISCOVERY 15 YEARS IN THE MAKING
TheSmithophisarunachalensisissorarethatsinceitsfirstcollectionin1935,onlyfiveotherspecimenshave
beenregisteredandmultiplesurveysintheLowerDibangValleyregioninArunachalPradeshyieldedonlyone
sighting
WHY FB RESTRICTED A
BIDEN ARTICLE
Twitter prevented
people from sharing
the link to the article
China insists Indians vacate Chushul heights
advanced Indian positions on
the south bank to mutually
agreed locations.
Asourceintherulingestab-
lishment, familiar with devel-
opments on the Ladakh fron-
tier, said India crossed the LAC
at“sevenplaces”tocounterthe
Chinese transgressions.
“We have crossed over at
seven places. Why do you
think China is still at the nego-
tiating table?” the source said.
The Chinese demand
comes in the backdrop of
Indian troops occupying ad-
vanced positions, beyond its
patrolling points, in the
Chushul sub-sector towards
the end of August.
These positions on the
southern bank of Pangong Tso
allow Indians to dominate the
region because they not only
overlook the Spanggur Gap,
but also the Chinese garrison
at Moldo.
Jaishankar: Ties disturbed after Galwan
Stressing that the Galwan
incident on June 15, when 20
Indian soldiers and an unspec-
ified number of Chinese sol-
diers were killed in violent
clashes, has left the bilateral
relationship “profoundly dis-
turbed”, Jaishankar said the
massing of troops at the bor-
der has created a “very critical
security challenge”.
The Union Minister under-
lined that he has not got any
“reasonable explanation” from
his Chinese counterpart on
China's behaviour along the
Line of Actual Control (LAC) in
eastern Ladakh.
Jaishankar also pointed to
divergences with Beijing on
“political issues” and “the re-
lationship with Pakistan”. He
said China has been “unsym-
pathetic” to India on major
trade issues like market access
and “negative” on a “lot of in-
ternational issues like the
Nuclear Suppliers Group”.
Jaishankar, who is usually
very calibrated in his remarks,
made these comments in an
hour-long discussion on his
book, "The India Way:
Strategies for an Uncertain
World", with former
Australian Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd, under the aegis of
Asia Society.
Rudd is the President of
Asia Society Policy Institute, a
think tank with offices in the
whether any effects differed be-
tweenmoderateandseverecases
of the disease.
Of the more than 11,000 par-
ticipants in the trial, 2,750 were
givenremdesivir;954HCQ;1,411
only lopinavir-ritonavir; and
2,063 interferon. A total 4,088
were not given any drug.
Eightpercentofstudypartic-
ipantswerealreadyventilated,25
percenthaddiabetes,and81per
cent were below the age of 70
years.“Nostudydrughadanydef-
inite effect on mortality, either
overallorinanysubgroupdefined
by age or ventilation at entry (or
otherentrycharacteristics,orge-
ographicregion,orcorticosteroid
use),” the study said.
Also, it said, “...no study drug
appreciably reduced initiation of
ventilation in those not already
ventilated”.
The researchers said the trial
is still recruiting about 2,000 pa-
tientspermonth,whowillbeas-
sessedforfurthertreatments,in-
cludingimmune-modulatorsand
specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 mono-
clonal antibodies.
The study said that narrower
confidence intervals would be
helpful, particularly for remde-
RESEARCH
“In their latest talks, they
(the Chinese) wanted India to
vacatesouthernbankpositions
first.Indiademandedthatboth
banks should be vacated by
both sides simultaneously to
mutually agreed positions,”
the source said.
This assessment of the
Indianestablishment,afterthe
seventh round of talks be-
tween Indian and Chinese
Corps Commanders last
Monday, underlines the mili-
tary standoff which began
early May.
The Indian political estab-
lishment, however, remains
wary of Beijing’s commitment
despite the dialogues that
Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh and External Affairs
Minister S Jaishankar had with
their Chinese counterparts in
Moscow.
“The talks between
Defence Ministers and Foreign
US, Hong Kong and Australia
among other places.
The Minister’s comments
reflect the sense of frustration
in New Delhi over the lack of
progress with China after
seven rounds of military talks,
six rounds of diplomatic talks,
and at least three separate bi-
lateral meetings at the level of
NSA Ajit Doval, Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh and
Jaishankar with their Chinese
counterparts over the last five
months.
In response to questions by
Rudd, Jaishankar was candid.
“What happened this year, of
course, was a very sharp de-
parture. Now it's not just a
sharp departure from the con-
versation, it's a sharp depar-
ture over a course of the rela-
tionship over 30 years...and
the massing of a large amount
of Chinese forces on the bor-
der was, you know, clearly
contrary to all of this [agree-
ments since 1993],” he said.
“And when you had fric-
tion points, which was a large
number of troops at different
points, very close to each
other... then something tragic,
like what happened on the
15th of June, happened. And to
underline the enormity of
that, it was the first military ca-
sualty we had after 1975. So, it
has obviously had a very deep
public impact, very major po-
sivir,whichispartof thenational
clinical management protocol in
India. “For each of these four re-
purposednon-specificantivirals,
several thousand patients have
nowbeenrandomisedinvarious
trials. The unpromising overall
findingsfromtheregimenstested
sufficetorefuteearlyhopes,based
on smaller or non-randomized
studies,thatanywillsubstantially
reduce inpatient mortality, initi-
ation of ventilation, or hospitali-
sation duration,” the study said.
The death rate ratio (active vs
controlgroup)forremdesivirwas
0.95 – 301 deaths in the active
group of 2,743 against 303 in the
control group of 2,708. In the hy-
droxychloroquinearm,thedeath
rate ratio was 1.19 (104 deaths
werereportedintheactivegroup
of947patientsasagainst84inthe
control group of 906); in the
lopinavir arm, the death rate ra-
tiowas1(148deathsintheactive
group of 1,399, as against 146 in
thecontrolgroupof1,372);andin
theinterferonarm,thedeathrate
ratio was 1.16 (243 deaths in the
active group of 2,050; 216 in the
control group of 2,050).
Indiacontributedonetenthof
the participants in the trial, the
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020
WHY INDIA IS SPECIAL
TO ARMENIANS
It is here that the
community acquired
significant prosperity
Ministersof bothsideswereon
similar lines. Beijing only says
that it wants peace and tran-
quillity at the border between
the two countries. But this is
what India also wants. They
(the Chinese) don’t, however,
explain the reason for their
troop build-up,” the source
said.
“Kuchh bhi ho sakta hai.
Vishwas nahin hota hai China
par. We are prepared for any
eventuality,” the source said,
pointing out that enough sup-
plies for the winter have been
madeavailabletoIndianforces
to mirror the Chinese build-up
at the Ladakh frontier.
A joint statement after the
seventh round of talks last
Monday stated: “Both sides
agreed to maintain dialogue
and communication through
military and diplomatic chan-
nels, and arrive at a mutually
acceptable solution for disen-
litical impact. And it has left
the relationship profoundly
disturbed,” he said.
Asked about the reason be-
hind the massing of troops,
Jaishankar said: “I haven’t
frankly got any reasonable ex-
planation from them on this
matter. So, there are today [a]
very large number of troops
with weapons concentrated
on that segment, the border,
and that is obviously a very
critical security challenge that
we face.”
Rudd said China's activities
-- from the LAC to the South
China Sea to Sino-Australian
relationships -- suggest that it
is part of a “simultaneous pat-
tern of Chinese policy as-
sertiveness”. “It seems to make
a central political point, Covid
has weakened us and no one
should assume that we've
been weakened,” he said, re-
ferring to China's viewpoint.
To this, Jaishankar said: “I
am, if not agnostic, at least
silent on this issue. But what I
would say is, look, maybe
what you say is true, maybe it's
not true, I mean let's leave that
aside.”
He said the two neighbour-
ing countries built a relation-
ship painstakingly, and have
“issues of difference”. “I'm not
suggesting to you that every-
thing was wonderful. There
were, you know, there were
Indian Council of Medical
Research(ICMR)saidinarelease.
TheIndianeffortwasledbyICMR-
National AIDS Research Institute
(NARI), Pune, with Dr Sheela
Godbole at the helm. The trial
comprised26activelyrandomis-
ing sites with 937 participants in
India, ICMR said.
Awardee shot
"We have formed four teams
to arrest the accused. We are
working on all angles. We have
CCTVfootageandwillsoonarrest
theculprits.Acaseof murderhas
been registered," the SSP added.
Punjab Chief Minister
AmarinderSinghhasorderedthe
constitution of a Special
Investigation Team (SIT) headed
by Ferozepur DIG Hardial Mann
to probe the attack.
Singh,aformerCPI(M)mem-
berwhojoinedtheRevolutionary
MarxistPartyofIndiain2009,and
hisfamilyhadfacednumerousat-
tacksduringPunjab'sdaysofmil-
itancy. The 42 FIRs registered for
attacks on Singh and his family
are a testimony to the constant
threats they faced.
One of the deadliest attacks
was on September 30, 1990,
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
The signals in Apple’s
iPhone 12 event
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
In the latest episode of tech podcast ‘Our
Own Devices’, we discuss everything big
and mini about the Apple Event 2020 and
what makes the iPhone 12 series special.
gagementasearlyaspossible.”
Itdidnotmentionthepointsof
negotiation by either side.
Given the complex and
tricky nature of the negotia-
tions,thetwosideshavemain-
tained confidentiality on de-
tails and positions during the
talks.
“Discussions are on; what
is going on is something confi-
dential between us and the
Chinese,” External Affairs
Minister Jaishankar said in re-
sponse to a question on the
Sino-Indian talks at a gather-
ing of the Bloomberg India
Economic Forum Thursday.
“There is not very much that I
am in a position to say in pub-
lic. I certainly do not want to
prejudge it,” he said.
Withtemperaturesdipping
inLadakh,troopsonbothsides
are bracing for extended de-
ployment during the harsh
winter months.
political issues of difference...
there are issues on their rela-
tionship with Pakistan. There
were major trade issues, the
market access issues, they
[are] unsympathetic to us, if
not negative on a lot of inter-
national issues like Nuclear
Suppliers Group, etc,” he said.
“So there are a whole set of
issues. We've been engaging
and talking to them over many
years, including at the summit
meetings...open discussions
on each other's interests,”
Jaishankar said.
Early September,
Jaishankar and Wang adopted
a five-point approach to re-
solve the crisis along the LAC
and agreed that their troops
“should continue their dia-
logue, quickly disengage,
maintain proper distance and
ease tensions”.
After the joint statement,
the Corps Commanders met
twice but there has been no
progress towards disengage-
ment, de-escalation and
restoring status quo ante.
In the meantime, India
has engaged with the Quad
grouping at the Foreign
Ministers’ level after which
US Deputy Secretary of State
Stephen E Biegun visited
India and set the stage for the
Indo-US 2+2 ministerial
meeting likely on October 26
and 27.
whenaround200terroristsledby
Parmjit Singh Panjwar, head of
Khalistan Commando Force, had
laid siege to the family's house in
Bhikhiwind village and attacked
themcontinuouslyforfivehours,
including with rocket launchers.
ThecitationwiththeShaurya
Chakra, the gallantry award con-
ferred in April 1993 by the Union
government on Singh and three
othermembersofhisfamily,had,
whilereferringtothisattack,said:
"In this well-planned attack by
terrorists, the approach road of
thehousewasblockedbyspread-
ingundergroundminessothatno
help from police could reach
them."
Along with Singh, his wife
JagdishKaur,alsoaCPMmember,
elderbrotherRanjitSinghandsis-
ter-in-law Balraj Kaur, received
ShauryaChakrasfromthenpres-
ident Shankar Dyal Sharma.
The citation also read,
“BalwinderSinghSandhuandhis
brother Ranjit Singh Sandhu are
opposedtotheactivitiesofterror-
ists. They were on the hit lists of
terrorists. Terrorists so far have
made16attemptstowipeoutthe
Sandhu family within about 11
months.”
After peace returned to the
state,SinghshiftedtoBhikhiwind
town, while his elder brother
stayed behind in the village.
In Bhikhiwind, Singh set up a
school on the ground floor of his
house while the family lived up-
stairs.Hewasinthisschoolwhen
the attack happened.
"Itisaterroristattack,wedon't
have any enmity with anyone,”
saidJagdishKaur,sayingthefam-
ily has been worried ever since
policewithdrewSingh'ssecurity.
Balwinder is survived by his
wife and three children,
Gagandeep Singh, Arshdeep
Singh and Prandeep Kaur.
Blast accused
“Membersof theJD(U)inUPhad
approachedme.Afterdiscussions,
I decided to work for the party... I
donotplantocontestelectionsas
of now. I am currently residing in
Pune, but will travel to UP for
party work.”
Upadhyay said he believes in
the JD(U) leadership and its idea
of“samajiknyaykesathvikas(de-
velopment along with social jus-
tice)”. Asked about the terror
charges against him, Upadhyay
said,“Iaminnocent.Iamanation-
alist, and a patriotic and secular
person.Iwasfalselyimplicatedin
the Malegaon bomb blast case... I
am waiting for my acquittal. I
wish to work for society. JD(U) is
sincerely working for the devel-
opment of poor and downtrod-
den” Hari Shankar Patel, General
Secretary of the JD(U) in UP, said,
“Major Upadhyay has contested
elections from UP twice in the
past.OurdistrictchieffromBallia
knew Upadhyay and asked him
to join the party. We respect the
courtsandlaw.Upadhyayhasnot
been held guilty by the court."
SadhviPragyaThakur,alsoan
accused in the 2008 Malegaon
case, had contested and won the
2019 Lok Sabha election on a BJP
ticket from Bhopal.
US-CBI op
LLC, and United Kingdom-regis-
tered Kevisoft UK. Cotter, the DoJ
said,usedthesecompaniestofa-
cilitate the fraud being perpe-
trated by call centres in India.
In 2018, 21 members of an
India-based fraud and money
laundering ring, who had posed
asofficersoftheUStaxtaskforce,
theInternalRevenueService,and
the US Citizenship and
Immigration Services, were ar-
rested and sent to jail.
The alleged kingpin, Illinois-
based Mitesh Kumar Patel, was
sentenced to 240 months in
prison,followedbythreeyearsof
“supervisedrelease”;anotherac-
cusedinthefraudwassentenced
to 188 months in prison. These
men were the managers of a
company that oversaw the day-
to-day operations of a crew of
“runners” that liquidated and
laundered the fraud proceeds
generatedbycallcentresinIndia.
In 2016, the DoJ had uncov-
ered another scam, in which as
manyas15,000victimswerede-
frauded of sums between
$12,000 to $136,000.
The massive Indian Business
Process Management and
BusinessProcessOutsourcingin-
dustry has an estimated annual
revenueofmorethan$28billion.
Industry body Nasscom did not
respondtoemailsandcallsseek-
ing comments on the frauds by
call centres based in India.
Indian football
to a foreign player.
In Asian football, India is still
behindChina,Japan,SouthKorea,
Thailand and the Gulf states in
terms of player wages, but
Chianesesaystheplayers"under-
standthereisalsoafinancialgain
movingtotheISLcomparedtothe
game in Australia at this mo-
ment". “Sometimes it just takes
one (player) to make the move
andothersfollow,orperhapsthe
ISLclubshaveshowngreatinter-
estintheAustraliangameandthe
way we are as players,” he says.
Lucknow
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

3 UTTAR PRADESH
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020

BALLIA SHOOTING Mathura court admits appeal against

BJP MLA backs accused: ‘fired in self-defence’

Fivearrested,includingtwobrothersof themainaccused;10teamsformed
AVANEESH MISHRA
LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 16
A DAY after a 45-year-old farmer
wasshotdeadinpresenceofsen-
ior government officials and po-
lice during the allotment of a ra-
tion shop at Durjanpur village in
Ballia district, local BJP MLA
Surendra Singh on Friday came
out in support of the main ac-
cused,sayingthathis“closeasso-
ciate” Dhirendra Singh “opened
fire in self-defence as it was a kill
or get killed situation for him”.
Police have arrested five per-
sons, including two brothers of
Dhirendra Singh — Devendra
and Narendra. “The main ac-
cused, Dhirendra Singh, is ab-
sconding. We have formed 10
police teams to nab him,” ADG
(Varanasi Zone) Braj Bhushan
told The Indian Express.
The controversial BJP MLA,
CB-CID
should
probe:
Surendra
Singh
known for making outrageous
remarks,accusedthedistrictad-
ministration of acting in a parti-
san manner and asked Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath to or-
der a CB-CID investigation into
the incident.
“The incident at Durjanpur is
unfortunate and sad. But I also
condemntheone-sidedactionof
the administration. The admin-
istration is killing justice. Six
womenwereinjuredandadmit-
ted to hospital, and another per-
sonhasbeenreferredtoVaranasi
but no one is seeing their pain. It
istruethattheshootingincident
is wrong, but if Dhirendra Singh
had not fired a shot, no less than
a dozen members of his family
would have died,” said the BJP
MLA,whorepresentsBairiaseat.
ADG Bhushan, however, said
that there were no report of any
other person injured in
Thursday’s incident.
According to the MLA, there
was a clash between two groups
over the allotment of the ration
shop. While one group backed
village pradhan Krishna Yadav, a
Samajwadi Party member, the
other supported Dhirendra
Singh, the MLA said. “The sup-
porters of Yadav were the ones
who attacked first with canes
and sticks. When Jai Prakash at-
tackedDhirendra,heshothimin
self-defence,” the MLA added.
“It is sad that even though
even I am in power, the adminis-
tration is not telling the truth to
the higher officials,” the BJP MLA
added. Acknowledging that
DhirendraSinghisa“devotedBJP
workerwhohasextensivelycam-
paigned for the party in the
Assembly and Lok Sabha elec-
tions”,theMLAsaid,“Heisnotjust
my supporter but also of the BJP.
Healsowasthedistrictpresident
of BJP Purva Sainik Prakoshtha.”
BJP’s Ballia district president
Jai Prakash Sahu has, however,
denied the MLA's claim that
Dhirendra is a BJP worker. “He is
neither with the party nor does
heholdanypartypost,”Sahusaid.
Demanding a CB-CID probe,
the MLA said, “Even though
Hindutva is my mission, politics
is not my profession... I say this
with an open heart. It doesn’t
matter if I ever get to do politics
in life or not, it doesn’t matter if
I become an MLA again, but that
Icouldnotdefendaself-respect-
ing and cultured person like
DhirendraSingh,thenthereisno
meaning of being an MLA.”
Policemen had let off
accused: victim’s brother
Lucknow: The brother of the
45-year-oldfarmer,whowasshot
during Thursday's fracas during
theallotment of a ration shop at
a Ballia village, has alleged that
the police let off main accused
Dhirendra Singh after he
opened fire.
Thevictim'sbrother,TejBihari
Pal,saidthatintheelectionforthe
allotment of a ration shop, there
weretwocandidates–Shailendra
Dhobi, supported by Dhirendra
Singh,andMunnaPaswanbacked
by his brother Jai Prakash Pal.
“Dhirendra had brought
women from other villages to
vote. When the SDM asked for
their Aadhaar card, Dhirendra
started an argument with the
SDM,whogavethem15minutes
tobringtheIDcards.Astheyfailed
to produce their Aadhaar cards,
the official cancelled the election
andpeoplestartedtoleave.Amid
this, a quarrel started and
Dhirendra shot my brother and
startedrunning.Hewascaughtby
a sub-inspector and constables,
buttheylaterlethimgo,”saidPal.
ADG Braj Bhushan said they
are probing the allegations. “We
will try to find out these things.
Therewasalotofcrowdandithas
beenclaimedthatthecrowdfreed
the accused,” Bhushan said.
Taking cognizance of the
matter, Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath had ordered suspen-
sion of all the police personnel
and officials, including Sub-
Divisional Magistrate (SDM)
Suresh Kumar Pal and Circle
Officer Chandrakesh Singh, who
were present at the spot.
—AVANEESHMISHRA
order dismissing plea against mosque
Mathura: A local court in
Mathura Friday admitted an
appeal filed against an order
dismissing a suit that was filed
to remove a mosque situated
adjacent to the Lord Krishna
temple complex. The appeal
was filed after Additional
District Judge, Mathura, Chhaya
Sharma dismissed the suit on
September 30.
“On Friday, District Judge
Sadhna Rani (Thakur) admitted
the appeal and ordered for
issuing of notices to opposite
parties,” said District
Government Counsel, Mathura,
Shivram Singh.
The civil suit was filed seek-
ing direction to remove Idgah
mosque as that “every inch of
land” measuring 13.37 acres,
“of Katra Keshav Dev (as the
place is known historically) is
sacred for devotees of Lord
Shree Krishna and (the Hindu
community)”, said advocate
Hari Shankar Jain, petitioner
Ranjana Agnihotri’s lawyer. The
court fixed next date
as November 18.
The petitioner also claimed
that mosque was allegedly built
after a part of a Hindu shrine
was razed on orders of Mughal
emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th
century.
ENS

BJP leader SECURITY

shot dead in DRILL
Firozabad
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 16 A member of the bomb
squad during a mock drill at
A 45-YEAR-OLD BJP leader was Charbagh railway station in
shot dead by unidentified per- Lucknow on Friday. Police
sons while he was at his grocery have scaled up security
store at Nagla Beech village in ahead of the festive season.
Firozabad on Friday, police said. Vishal Srivastav
They identified the victim as
DayaShankarGuptaandsaidthe
motivebehindthecrimewasyet

CM hands over appointment letters

to be ascertained.
AdditionalSuperintendentof
Police, Rural, Rajesh Kumar said

to 31,277 assistant school teachers

thesuspectsopenedfireonDaya
Shankar when he was at his
storenearhisresidenceandthen
fled on foot. Hearing gunshots,
local residents reached the spot
and took him to a hospital in
Agra where doctors declared
Daya Shankar dead on arrival.
Local residents then blocked a
road in the area and demanded
action against the culprits. The
police were still trying to per-
suadethemtocalloff theprotest
till late evening on Friday.
BJP's Firozabad district gen-
eral secretary Rajeev Gupta
said Daya Shankar was vice-
president of the party's Nagla
Beech unit.
BRIEFLY
Threekilled
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 16
CHIEF MINISTER Yogi Adityanath on
Friday handed over appointment let-
ters to 31,277 assistant teachers se-
lected by the Uttar Pradesh Basic
Education Board (UPBEB), which had
listed 69,000 vacancies in 2019.
Addressing the teachers online,
the Chief Minister claimed that
within 100 days drinking water sup-
ply would be ensured at every pri-
mary school in the state, and a work
plan was ready.
He encouraged the teachers to use
modern technologies in classes, and
promised that his administration was
committed to appointing teachers in
primary schools as per the norms.
You have participated in enough
protest programmes, now devote
yourself to teaching children:
CM Yogi Adityanath to teachers
from the court, he added.
Adityanath told the teachers that
they were expected to utilise stu-
dents’ full capacity and help establish
a model school wherever they have
been appointed.
GOVT APPROVES SPL
FESTIVAL PACKAGE,
CASH PAYMENTS
TO ITS EMPLOYEES
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh
government on Friday ap-
proved benefits of special fes-
tival package and advance
payments, special cash pack-
age (in lieu of LTC) schemes
announced by the Centre to
state government employees.
The decision to this effect
was taken at a cabinet meet-
ing chaired by Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath.
“Keeping in view the broad

afterbeing
Adityanath told the teachers that it While handing over the appoint- objectives of the special festi-
was time to concentrate on teaching ment letters to five teachers from val package for central govern-

hitbytruck after their agitation for the appoint-

Ghazipur: Three persons,
including a 16-year-old
girl, were killed and four
othersinjuredonFridayaf-
ter being hit by a truck
while waiting for con-
veyance in Ghazipur dis-
trict, police said. The vic-
tims were waiting on the
roadside in the Jamaniya
Kotwalipolicestationarea
when the accident took
placeinthemorning,they
said. Jyoti Devi (58), Mira
Devi(35)andKiran,allbe-
longing to Tajpur
Manjhariya village, were
waiting for conveyance to
reach the banks of the
Gangafortakingaholydip,
police said. Four others
have been admitted to
hospital, they said. PTI
ment letters. He said there was no
shortcut to success and no alternative
to hard work.
“You have participated in enough
protest programmes, now devote
yourself to teaching children,” said
the Chief Minister, adding, “You also
play an important role building the
nation and its future.”
Adityanath claimed that a lot had
changed in the fundamental structure
and quality of education in the state
during the tenure of his government.
He said the number of students in ba-
sic schools had increased more than
50 lakh.
The Chief Minister told the newly
appointed teachers that his adminis-
tration had initiated the process of
filling the 69,000 vacancies but met
some hurdles.
The appointments were being
made as per the directions of the
court, and the remaining vacancies
would be filled as soon as the
Government gets further directions
Lucknow, Adityanath said the state
government was determined to pro-
vide employment to the youth.
To ensure this, vacancies in the de-
partments such as education were
being filled on a merit basis, main-
taining full transparency with the
help of technology, the Chief Minister
added.
A government spokesperson said
that while 5,948 teachers were ap-
pointed in the 2017-’18 academic ses-
sion, 46,319 teachers were appointed
in the following session. With the lat-
est appointments, 83,544 teachers
have been appointed so far by the
government, according to the
spokesperson.
“Basic infrastructural facilities in
the basic schools will be provided
timely under the ‘Operation Kayalap’
and all efforts are being made for the
inclusive education of out-of-school
and ‘Divyang’ children as well so that
not a single child is left behind,” Chief
Minister Adityanath said in his
address.
ment employees and the
scheme for making advance
payments for it, the state gov-
ernment has approved pro-
posal to implement it for state
government employees also,"
an official statement issued
here said.
“This facility will be given
to all employees of the state
government and will remain
in force till 31 March 2021.
Under this scheme, an ad-
vance special festival package
of Rs 10,000 will be sanctioned
by the Head of the Office to the
government employees con-
cerned before any important
festival, which will be interest
free. With the implementation
of the scheme, the state
government will incur an ex-
penditure of about Rs one
thousand crore rupees,” the
statement said. PTI

Farmers’ welfare govt’s top priority: CM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
LUCKNOW,OCTOBER16
AMID WIDESPREAD protests against
the three central farm laws in Punjab
and Haryana, Uttar Pradesh Chief
MinisterYogiAdityanathonFridayem-
phasisedthatfarmers'welfareandthe
growthofagriculturesectorinthestate
are his government's top priorities.
Adityanath was speaking at the inau-
gural session of India International
Food and Agricultural Week.
Enlisting a slew of "pro-farmer
measures" taken by the UP govern-
ment,hesaidhisgovernmentensured
that crop procurement went on with-
out any disruption due to the coron-
avirus lockdown. The CM said while
theCovid-19pandemichasaffectedall
sectors across the world, the “agricul-
ture sector had lent speed to our
economy”.
Healsohighlightedthepotentialof
agriculture-based products of Uttar
Pradeshintheinternationalmarket,in-
cluding “kala namak” rice, which has
got geographical indication (GI) tag,
mangoesandvegetablesfromeastern
UP. He said there is great potential for
exportof “kalanamak”ricefromeast-
ern Uttar Pradesh, especially in region
surrounding Sidharthanagar,
Gorakhpur, Deoria etc.
Pointing out that vegetables from
eastern Uttar Pradesh region, sur-
rounding Varanasi, were exported to
Gulf countries, he said the state gov-
ernment was in the process of estab-
lishingtwomorepackhousesforman-
goes in Amroha and Varanasi, along
with the ones in Lucknow and
Saharanpur.
EmphasisingthatinUttarPradesh,
thestatewiththelargestpopulationin
the country, he said the economy de-
pends on agriculture and the state
playsaleadingroleinproductionofnot
just foodgrains but also sugar,
vegetables and milk.
Adityanathsaidaround92percent
of farmers in the state belong to the
smallormarginalisedfarmerscategory
andthatthenewpoliciesoftheCentre
as well as formation of Farmers
Produce Organisations would assist
suchfarmersingettingbetterpricefor
their produce.
Elaboratingontheinitiativestaken
by the state government to promote
agriculture sector in the state and in-
crease the income of the farmers, he
said that this year, the state govern-
ment opened nearly 6,000 procure-
ment centres for purchase of wheat
and bought around 36 lakh metric
tonnes (mt) of wheat from the
farmers, apart from 39,000 mt
of gram.
He also informed industrialists
about the initiative of the state gov-
ernment to give the status of
“mandi” to cold storage units with
capacity of more than 4000 mt and
foodprocessingunitsthatcanprocess
10tonnesdaily.TheCMalsoinformed
that the state government was taking
thehelpofresearchinstitutionsinthis
field. —WITHPTI

Lucknow
 4 UTTAR PRADESH WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020

Jailed for rape, ex-MLA Sengar casts BARABANKI RAPE-MURDER 16-year-old

a long shadow on BJP in Bangarmau Police arrest Dalit girl

‘raped’, minor

MAULSHREE SETH TRACKING ELECTION 19-year-old among 2 held

AVANEESH MISHRA

relative of girl
Constituency:
LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 16 BANGARMAU LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 16
WHO WON THE LAST District:
OVER A year has passed since A 16-YEAR-OLD Dalit girl was al-
THREE ELECTIONS UNNAO
Kuldeep Singh Sengar was con- legedly raped by two boys, in-
victed of raping a woman and 2017 cluding a minor, while she was
sentenced to life imprisonment, Kuldeep Singh Sengar (BJP) Lucknow returning from Jalaun district
buttheshadowof theformerBJP 2012 the accused. On the basis of dig- hospital, where her mother was
MLA’s ignominy still hangs on Badlu Khan (SP) AVANEESH MISHRA ital evidence and ground infor- admitted, in the early hours of
the party at Bangarmau
2007
LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 16 mation,wearrestedtheaccused. Thursday.Boththeaccusedhave
Assembly seat where a by-elec- He has confessed to the crime been caught.
Kuldeep Singh Sengar (SP)
tion will be held next month. A DAY after a Dalit girl was raped and has given us other details of “According to the girl's fam-
Sengar had won from and strangled in a village in the incident. We are verifying ily, her father took her mother to
Bangarmau constituency in state and represented Whilemanythoughtthatthe Barabanki, the police on Friday the information provided by the district hospital for treat-
Unnao district in 2017 on a BJP Kuldeep Singh Sengar is serving life in jail for rape & murder. Bangarmau six times between SPwouldfieldBablooKhan,con- arrested a 19-year-old distant him,” said Additional SP Ram ment around 11 pm on
ticket by defeating Samajwadi 1962 to 1991. sidering the presence of a signif- relative of the victim in connec- Sevak Gautam who is holding Wednesday. He had asked his
Party’s Badlu Khan by over Moreover, by fielding a icant population of Muslim vot- tion with the case. the charge of SP in Barabanki at three children to stay in the
28,000 votes. With his convic- Bangarmau for the BJP in 2017, Brahmincandidate,theCongress ersintheconstituency, itinstead Police claimed that the ac- present. house. An hour and a half later,
tion in the rape and murder the party does not have tradi- CONSTITUENCY has tried to upend the race. nominated an OBC candidate cused, who hails from the same “In connection with the con- whentheydidnotreturn,thegirl
cases, the seat fell vacant, and
now the BJP has fielded Shrikant
tional voters in the constituency.
Sengar had won from
WATCH “The seat has a significant
number of minority and OBC
SureshKumarPal,whohascases
pending against him in Kanpur.
village as the victim, has con-
fessed to raping and killing the
fusion over the age of the victim,
on Friday evening we received a
decided to go to the hospital
which is nearly a km from her
Katiyar, who has been heading Bangarmau in 2007 as well on a votesalongwithBrahminvoters, “The cases against me are of girl. few documents and based on house. As she walked to the hos-
theparty’sUnnaodistrictunitfor Samajwadi Party candidate. The who all are looking to the land dispute and there are just Clearing the confusion over those, it is proved that her age pital, she got scared of darkness
the past four years till recently. seat has been won by the Congress. Youths who are feel- two cases pending,” Suresh the age of the victim, the police wasbelow18years.Thus,weare and started returning home. On
Sengar’s wife, Sangeeta, who Congress, Samajwadi Party and ing cheated by the BJP govern- KumarPalclarifies.“Somepeople confirmedthatshewasbelow18 adding the relevant sections of the way back, there is a Forest
is an active BJP worker, was also theBSPinthepastdependingon ment is also looking to the are trying to link me wrongly and booked the accused under the POCSO Act against the ac- Department guesthouse where
a strong contender for the party the caste equations and other Congress. Along with the issues withanotherSureshPal,”hesays. the Protection of Children from cused. Under the UP Rani the two accused were squatting
ticket. However, the ruling BJP factors largely. DECISION of unemploymentandneglectof Like the SP, the Bahujan Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Lakshmi Bai Mahila Samman on the deserted road. They
chose Katiyar, making it clear As Katiyar campaigns for the 2020 farmers by the BJP government, Samaj Party has chosen an OBC along with relevant IPC sections. Kosh and other schemes, finan- forced the girl, who resisted and
that it wants to stay clear of bypoll,hesteersclearawayfrom BYPOLL thefocusof mycampaignwillbe face, who also comes from Pal The police had initially filed a cial assistance of around Rs 10 tried to hit them with a brick.
Sengar’s image, especially when Sengar's past and instead to highlight the failure of community. “BSP’s campaign is murder case against an uniden- lakh in total will be given to the However, they beat her up with
theYogiAdityanathgovernment chooses to talk about the “devel- Katiyar tells The Indian Express. Adityanath'sgovernmenttopro- very clear. The BJP government tified person. Later, after the victim's family,” he added. theirbeltsandoverpoweredher.
is facing heat over the cases of opment projects”. But the Opposition is not re- tectwomenandgirls,”saysAarti has failed on all the fronts, in- postmortem report confirmed The girl had left for a farm to They sexually assaulted her and
crimes against women in the “TheOppositionhasnoother lenting. Bajpai, who is also the vice-pres- cluding law and order. Crimes sexualassault,thechargeof rape harvest crop around 4 pm on around 3 am they let her go. The
wake of the Hathras incident. issue to raise against us that is The Congress candidate, identof theparty'swomenwing against women have increased underIPCsection376wasadded Wednesday and when she did next day, she narrated the inci-
Also,inKatiyar’snomination, why they are banking on lies. No Aarti Bajpai, has made the issue in UP. in the state. Youths are unem- to the FIR. notreturnby5:30pm,herfather dent to her mother and then a
the BJP opted for a Kurmi (Other othergovernmentinthepasthas of womensafetyandlawandor- Bajpai had unsuccessfully ployedandfarmersaretroubled. Family members of the vic- started searching for her. complaint was filed at the local
Backward Class) leader instead done so much for women secu- der its main poll theme in this contested from Bangarmau as No one is secure – neither tim had on Thursday claimed According to him, her lifeless police station,” Jalaun SP Yash
of someone from Sengar’s caste rity as much as the BJP govern- bypoll. The catchlines of her the Congress candidate in 2007 women nor any citizen in the that they told the police that she body was found in the farm Veer Singh told The Indian
– Thakur (upper caste) — with ment led by Yogi Adityanath has campaign are “mahilaon ke sam- and 2012 Assembly elections. In present government... Be it was 17 years old, but the police around 1.5 km from their resi- Express.
the hope that he would be able done.Forus,themainfocusisde- man mein, mahila hai maidan 2012 Assembly polls, the Dalits, OBC, Muslims or hadsaidthatintheirverbalcom- dence. Her hands were tied be- According to police, they
to help the party regain the seat, velopment, which everyone can mein”(forthehonourof women, Congresswasinalliancewiththe Brahmins, all are feeling inse- plaint,thefamilyhadsaidthegirl hind her head using her shirt, wereabletocrackthecaseasone
which has a dominant popula- see. While the previous govern- a woman contestant) , and “neta Samajwadi Party, and the seat cure, and we are exposing the was slightly above 18 years. and her clothes were rolled of the accused had called the
tion of OBCs and Muslims, fol- ments gave one expressway, our nahi, beti chunein” (elect a was allotted to the latter. government on all these fronts,” “After registering the FIR, we down till her feet, the father had other's name, which the girl re-
lowed by Brahmins. government is giving four ex- daughter, not a leader). The other two Opposition BSP candidate Mahesh Prasad formed three teams to identify told police. membered. “We soon searched
EventhoughSengarhadwon pressways. Bundelkhand ex- Bajpai, who is the daughter parties – Samajwadi Party (SP) says as he refers to the recent everyone with that name on
pressway, which will of veteran Congress leader and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) – cases of rape and murder in the Facebook, and the girl identified
CX0 ´fi0 ´ffUSX MÑf³Àfd¸fVf³f IYfSX´fûSXZVf³f d»f0 pass through Unnao, Gopinath Dixit, is also the only havealsofieldedOBCcandidates state – from a Dalit woman be- 9-YR-OLD BANDA RAPE VICTIM CRITICAL, one of the accused from his
I f¹ffÊ»f¹f A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f
¸f¯O»f ¦fû¯Of BÊ-MXZ³OXdSXÔ¦f d³fdUQf Àfc¨f³ff
will bring develop-
ment to the entire
woman candidate in the fray.
Her father, Gopinath Dixit, had
to dig into the OBC votebank of
the constituency, creating hur-
ing allegedly gangraped in
Hathras to the murder of a REFERRED TO KANPUR HOSPITAL Facebook profile. We arrested
him from the railway station.
A³fb·fUe R ¸fûÊÔ/NZIZ QfSûÔ ÀfZ d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fÊ WZ°fb Àfe»f¶f³Q Bundelkhandregion,” served as home minister of the dles to the BJP's strategy. Brahmin trader in Mahoba. The other accused was also ar-
d³fdUQf¹fZÔ Qû ·ff¦fûÔ ¸fZÔ dQ³ffÔI 02.11.2020 I û 14.00 ¶fþZ Banda: A nine-year-old girl, The 22-year-old accused rested soon,” the SP added.
°fI Af¸fd³Âf°f I e þf°fe W`Ü (1) BÊ-d³fdUQf ÀfÔ£¹ff whowasrapedallegedlybyher allegedly raped the girl on AccordingtothelocalStation
46/BÊ0MXe0Àfe0(¦fû¯OXf)/2020-21: dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f J¯O, neighbourinBandadistricttwo Wednesday when she was HouseOfficer,oneof theaccused
daysago,hasbeenreferredtoa alone in her home in the vil- is an e-rickshaw driver who fre-
¦fû¯Of IZ A³°f¦fÊ°f dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f C´fJ¯O-¶f»fSf¸f´fbS IZ
Kanpurhospitalfortreatment, lage. The incident came to quently ferried the girl.
dUd·f³³f ´ffSZ¿f¯f »ffB³fûÔ IZ þ¸´fSûÔ I e ¨fZdIÔ ¦f MfBMd³fÔ¦f °f±ff
officialssaid.Earlier,thegirlwas light when the mother of the The SP said that as per the
AfÔdVfI ø ´f ÀfZ Ãfd°f¦fiÀ°f þ¸´fSûÔ I û ¶fQ»f³fZ Àf¸¶f³²fe
admittedtoagovernmenthos- girl returned home late medical report of the girl, sexual
I f¹fÊÜ ²fSûWS SfdVf ø 0 2000.00 d³fdUQf ·ff¦f-1 Jb»f³fZ
pital in Banda where her con- evening after which a case violence and rape cannot be
I e d°fd±f 02.11.2020 I û 15:00 ¶fþZ, d³fdUQf ´fi´fÂf ¸fc»¹f
dition was critical. was lodged, the SHO of the ruled out. The vaginal swab has
÷ 0 236.00 (I S ÀfdW°f)Ü (2) BÊ-d³fdUQf ÀfÔ£¹ff
“The girl, who continued police station concerned said. been preserved, he added.
47/BÊ0MXe0Àfe0(¦fû¯OXf)/2020-21: dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f J¯O,
tobeinaseriousconditionbe- Inspector General (Banda) The FIR against the two ac-
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cause of excessive bleeding, K Satyanarain visited the fam- cused has been registered under
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has been admitted to the ily of the victim and directed IPC sections 376 D (gangrape),
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Kanpur hospital for better the deployment of additional Protection of Children from
÷ 0 2000.00 d³fdUQf ·ff¦f-1 Jb»f³fZ I e d°fd±f
treatment,” the district hospi- force in the village, the SHO SexualOffences(POCSO)Actand
02.11.2020 I û 15:00 ¶fþZ, d³fdUQf ´fi´fÂf ¸fc»¹f ÷ 0
tal spokesperson said. added. PTI the SC/ST (Prevention of
236.00 (I S ÀfdW°f)Ü (3) BÊ-d³fdUQf ÀfÔ£¹ff
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48/BÊ0MXe0Àfe0(¦fû¯OXf)/2020-21: dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f J¯O,
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SûI ³fZ Àf¸¶f³²fe I f¹fÊÜ ²fSûWS Sfd¿f ÷ 0 2000.00 d³fdUQf
·ff¦f-1 Jb»f³fZ I e d°fd±f 02.11.2020 I û 15:00 ¶fþZ,
Covid cases close to 4.5 lakh,
d³fdUQf ´fi´fÂf ¸fc»¹f ÷ 0 236.00 (I S ÀfdW°f)Ü (4) BÊ-
d³fdUQf ÀfÔ£¹ff 49/BÊ0MXe0Àfe0(¦fû¯OXf)/2020-21:
over 6,500 have died till now
dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f J¯O, ¶fWSfB¨f IZ A³°f¦fÊ°f 220 IZ 0Ue0
C´fIZ ³Qi, ¶fWSfB¨f ´fS 01 AQQ 33 IZ 0Ue0 ¸fZdOI »f SITUATION VACANT
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE STATE COUNT
I fg»fZþ k¶fZl IZ d³f¸ffʯf Àf¸¶f³²fe I f¹fÊÜ ²fSûWS SfdVf ÷ 0 FoodnNutrition industry LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 16
2000.00 d³fdUQf ·ff¦f-1 Jb»f³fZ I e d°fd±f 02.11.2020 expanding in india looking for
TOTAL CASES
I û 15:00 ¶fþZ, d³fdUQf ´fi´fÂf ¸fc»¹f ø 0 236.00 (I S
ÀfdW°f)Ü (5) BÊ-d³fdUQf ÀfÔ£¹ff
wellness coaches working
part/full time for more info
WhatsApp 9616227463
THE COVID-19 count of Uttar
Pradeshreachedcloseto4.50lakh
449935
50/BÊ0MXe0Àfe0(¦fû¯OXf)/2020-21: dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f J¯O,
0050170346-1 with an addition of 2,610 new INCREASE DEATHS
¶fWSfB¨f IZ A³°f¦fÊ°f 220 IZ 0Ue0 C´fIZ ³Qi, ¶fWSfB¨f ´fS
01 AQQ 33 IZ 0Ue0 °fZþUf´fbS k¶fZl IZ d³f¸ffʯf Àf¸¶f³²fe
cases in the last 24 hours. Out of 2610 6589
LOST & FOUND the total 4,49,935 cases, 4,08,083 408083RECOVERED
I f¹fÊÜ ²fSûWS SfdVf ÷ 0 2000.00 d³fdUQf ·ff¦f-1 Jb»f³fZ people have recovered and 6,589
I e d°fd±f 02.11.2020 I û 15:00 ¶fþZ, d³fdUQf ´fi´fÂf ¸fc»¹f Original Allotment letter &
havedied.Atleast49patientsdied 1,26,79,576 SAMPLES
÷ 0 236.00 (I S ÀfdW°f)Ü d³fdUQf ´fi´fÂf Vfb»I (³ff³f Possession letter of House no- C-
2123, Indiranagar, Lucknow inthelast24hours.Thestatenow TESTED TILL OCT 15
dSR ³OZd¶f»f) EUÔ BÊ0E¸f0Oe0 Ad²f¿ffÀfe Ad·f¹f³°ff, dUôb°f favouring Shri Gopal Ji Srivastava has 35,263 active cases.
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AfBÊER EÀfÀfe I ûO-PUNB0018100) deaths each. The fresh cases in- VajpayeeMedicalCollege,which
It is notified for the information
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Vaibhav Dayal Address: Mirja
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ÀI` ¯O I f´fe, þfSeI °ffÊ ¶f`ÔI IZ I ³R S¸fZVf³f ¸fZ»f I e ´fid°f Yogi Adityanath laid the founda- care,” he added.
·fe d³fdUQf ´fi´fÂfûÔ IZ Àff±f B»fZ¢MÑ fd³fI »fe ÀffR U ´fN³fe¹f PUBLIC NOTICE
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5,146 cow shelters set up
I Sub Som Nath Dwivedi
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d³fdUQf IZ ·ff¦f-1 ¸fZÔ °fI ³feI e d¶fO (´f`³f I fOÊ, Dwivedi, Vill-Narendra

in state since 2019: Govt

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I S³ff Ad³fUf¹fÊ W`Ü ²fSûWS SfdVf/d³fdUQf Vfb»I þ¸ff ³f Wû³fZ declare that my father's
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transactions with companies,
ÀUeI fS ³fWe I e þf¹fZa¦feÜ IÈ ´f¹ff dUÀ°fÈ°f þf³fI fSe, associations or individuals
OfC³f»fûO, A³¹f ÀfÔVfû²f³fûÔ E½fa d³fdUQf ´fiÀ°fb°f I S³fZ IZ advertising in its newspapers
dQ³ffÔI °fI d½fÀ°ffS AfdQ IZ Àf¸¶f³²f ¸fZÔ IÈ ´f¹ff or Publications. We therefore
recommend that readers
www.etender.up.nic.in I e UZ¶fÀffBÊM ´fS »ffg¦fAf³f make necessary inquiries
I SZÔÜ kkSf¿MÑ dW°f ¸fZÔ d¶fþ»fe ¶f¨ff¹fZÔll A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff before sending any monies or
dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f ¸f¯O»f ¦fû¯Of ÀfÔ£¹ff- entering into any agreements
1895/dU0´ff0¸f0/¦fû¯Of/BÊ-MZ¯OS ³fÔ0-46 ÀfZ 50/2020- with advertisers or otherwise
acting on an advertisement in
21 Dt: 16.10.2020 any manner whatsoever.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 16
THE UP government said on
Fridaythatsincetheinceptionof
its policy for conservation and
shelter of stray cattle from
January 2, 2019, 5,146 cow shel-
terswereestablishedinthestate,
giving shelter to 5.19 lakh cattle.
A government spokesperson
informed that for identification
of these cattle, the government
has undertaken the project of
UID ear tagging.
“In the 2018-19 fiscal, so far
Rs 380 crore has been given to
district magistrates across the
state for the upkeep of these cat-
tle, whereas 9.80 lakh quintal
fodder has been preserved in
these shelters for cattle,” the
spokesperson said.
He added that under the “se-
hbhagita scheme”, 32,242 farm-
ers have been given 62,314 cat-
tle, whereas 519 malnourished
families were provided cattle
from the sheltersl. Under the
scheme, the government gives
Rs 30 a day, that is Rs 900 per
month to the farmer for upkeep
of each cattle. To converttempo-
rary cow shelters into perma-
nent shelters and make them
self-sufficient, Rs 1.20 have been
spent on each of 109 cow shel-
ters in the state. There are 78
more such permanent and self-
sufficient cow shelters, which
are under construction.
Meanwhile, in each of seven
districts of Bundelkhand region
of Uttar Pradesh 35 new animal
shelter homes have been con-
structed with the investment of
Rs 30 lakh each.
In order to make these shel-
ter homes self sufficient, labour
force is being provided under
MGNREGA, while there are 1019
cow shelters, which are manu-
facturing their own fertilisers
from cow dung. In addition,
other alternative product man-
ufacturing from the by-products
are also been promoted.

Lucknow
Lucknow

6 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020
KERALA ACTOR SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE
‘Won’t get fair trial
here’: Prosecution
seeks court change
SHAJU PHILIP
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
OCTOBER 16
THE PROSECUTION arguing the
casepertainingtoabductionand
sexual assault of a Malayalam
woman actor has demanded a
change of the trial court.
Special prosecutor A Suresan
on Friday informed the court of
CBI Special Judge Honey M
Varghese that the prosecution
wantstoapproachthehighcourt
to seek transfer of the trial to an-
other court. In a written submis-
sion, the prosecution said it did
not want to conduct the trial in
the present court to protect the
interest of justice.
“The prosecution as well as
the victim will not get fair trial
and justice from this court,’’ said
the submission made in the trial
court as per Section 309 of CrPC.
The high court had earlier
SC reminder: Stay
by any court will
expire in six months
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
THE SUPREME Court Thursday
sent out a stern reminder that a
stay granted by any court in the
countryautomaticallyexpiresin
six months unless extended for
good reason. The top court cited
one of its earlier orders to but-
tress the point.
A bench of Justices R F
Nariman, Navin Sinha and and K
MJosephwashearingamatterin
which the Additional Chief
JudicialMagistrateofPune—inan
order dated December 4, 2019—
asked a complainant to move a
HighCourtforresumptionoftrial
as it had been stayed by the HC.
But the top court pointed to
its 2013 judgement (Asian
Resurfacing of Road Agency Pvt.
Ltd. & Anr. vs. Central Bureau of
Investigation) where it had said:
“...In cases where stay is granted
in future, the same will end on
expiry of six months from the
date of such order unless similar
extension is granted by a speak-
ing order. The speaking order
must show that the case was of
such exceptional nature that
SC notice to AG on MP
HC’s ‘rakhi-tying’ order
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
THE SUPREME Court Friday is-
sued notice to the Attorney
General on a plea seeking stay on
aMadhyaPradeshHighCourtor-
der that asked a molestation-ac-
cused to get a “rakhi” tied on his
hand by the alleged victim.
The High Court ruling was
one of the conditions for bail for
the accused man.
A bench of Justices A M
KhanwilkarandBRGavaisought
the A-G’s assistance on an appeal
filedbyninewomenlawyerswho
Mumbai Police will probe Oberoi
drug link if NCB doesn’t: Minister
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, OCTOBER 16
STATE HOME Minister Anil
Deshmukh on Friday said if
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)
did not investigate actor Vivek
Oberoi in connection with a nar-
cotics case being investigated in
Bangalore, the Mumbai Police
would conduct the probe.
Deshmukh's comment came
a day after Bengaluru Police
searched the actor's residence to
look for Aditya Alva, Oberoi's
brother-in-law named as an ac-
cused in the alleged "sandal-
wood"drugcaseunderinvestiga-
tion in the Karnataka capital.
Alvaisthesonof lateminister
Jeevaraj Alva and is among 12 ac-
cused in the sandalwood drug
transferred the trial into the case
to a woman judge as per a plea
by the woman actor.
FilmactorDileepisoneof the
accused in the case. The prose-
cution, in its charge sheet, had
stated that Dileep had conspired
to abduct and assault the
woman actor and assigned the
task to a gang. The incident took
place in 2017. During the trial, a
few prosecution witnesses from
the film industry turned hostile.
The prosecution said the vic-
tim in this case represents the
Indian society at large, and any
kindof damagetotheimageand
trust of the system in the minds
of the public at large will do con-
siderableharmtotheentirejudi-
cial system.
It said the court’s remarks on
theprosecution,whichthepros-
ecutorfeltas“tarnishinghishon-
est and sincere professional ca-
reer’’, had prompted it to seek
transfer of the trial.
continuing the stay was more
important than having the trial
finalized. The trial Court where
order of stay of civil or criminal
proceedingsisproduced,mayfix
a date not beyond six months of
the order of stay so that on ex-
piry of period of stay, proceed-
ingscancommenceunlessorder
of extensionof stayisproduced”.
Expressing its displeasure,
the SC bench said: “We must re-
mindtheMagistratesalloverthe
country that in our pyramidical
structureundertheConstitution
of India, the Supreme Court is at
the Apex, and the High Courts,
though not subordinate admin-
istratively, are certainly subordi-
nate judicially. This kind of or-
ders fly in the face of para 35 of
our judgment.”
“Whatever stay has been
granted by any court including
theHighCourtautomaticallyex-
pires within a period of six
months, and unless extension is
granted for good reason, as per
our judgment, within the next
six months, the trial Court is, on
the expiry of the first period of
six months, to set a date for the
trial and go ahead with the
same,” it said.
said“itreflectsthetrivializationof
a heinous crime through a sim-
plistic stereotypical solution”.
TheHC,initsJuly30order,had
askedtheaccusedandhiswifeto
visit the home of the alleged vic-
tim “with Rakhi thread / band on
03rd August, 2020 at 11:00 am
withaboxofsweetsandrequest”
her“totietheRakhibandtohim”.
The court had also directed
him to give Rs 11,000 to her “as a
customary ritual usually offered
by the brothers to sisters”.
Theaccusedhadallegedlyen-
tered the house of the victim and
caughtholdofherhand“attempt-
ing to outrage her modesty”.
scandal. Addressing reporters on
Friday,Deshmukhsaid,"Congress
leader Sachin Sawant had ap-
proached me in August with an
application to check the links of
Vivek Oberoi, BJP's star cam-
paigner,andSandeepSsingh,who
is close to former CM Devendra
Fadnavis in connection with a
drug case. The information was
passed onto NCB but no action
was taken."
Headded,"NowtheBangalore
Policealsosearchedtheresidence
of Oberoi in connection with a
drugcase.IftheNCBdoesnottake
any action in the next four to five
days, we will ask the Mumbai
Police to investigate the matter."
AseniorNCBofficialsaid,"Ido
notrememberanysuchinforma-
tion being sent to NCB and will
have to check our records. The
OPENING DAY
Kerala’s Sabarimala shrine opened on Friday for the first time since March. It has instituted
curbs like a cap on devotee (250 a day) and first-come-first-serve-online booking. ANI
REPORT OVER ‘VIOLENCE’ AT TANISHQ SHOWROOM IN GANDHIDHAM
FIR on NDTV on complaint
of man who ‘entered’ store
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, OCTOBER 16
THE KUTCH DISTRICT police has
registered an FIR against news
channel NDTV following a com-
plaintbyoneofthemenwhohad
allegedly entered a Tanishq
showroom in Gandhidham on
Mondayeveninganddemanded
anapologyfortheadvertisement
thatdepictedaninterfaithfamily.
The FIR was lodged on
Thursday, a day after Gujarat
Minister of State for Home
PradeepsinhJadejatweetedthat
a case be lodged against those
spreading "fake news", with ref-
erence to an NDTV report about
an “attack on the Tanishq show-
room in Gandhidham”.
Thechannelhasbeenbooked
under IPC Sections 153A (pro-
moting enmity between differ-
MUMBAI POLICE SHOW CAUSE NOTICE
Arnab gives ACP
hearing a miss, sends
laywer with response
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, OCTOBER 16
MANAGING DIRECTOR and edi-
tor-in-chief of RepublicTVArnab
Goswami, who was asked to
present himself before the
MumbaiPoliceat4pmonFriday
afteritinitiatedchapterproceed-
ings against him, skipped the
hearing and submitted his say
through his lawyer Abad Ponda
who refuted the allegations.
Assistant Commissioner of
Police Sudhir Jambavdekar con-
firmed the development and
said, “We exempted him from
appearing before us on Friday,
and they are expected to file a
plea for exemption in future on
which we will take a call.”
Police said it will go through
the response and, accordingly,
take a decision. On October 10,
police had issued a show-cause
notice to Goswami asking him
why he should not be made to
sign a bond of "good behaviour"
with Mumbai Police.
The notice was in reference
to two FIRs registered against
himearlierthisyearforallegedly
state has enough agencies who
could be asked to investigate the
matter and does not have to de-
pend on NCB."
Earlier in the day, Sawant, in a
seriesoftweets,attackedtheNCB
for not initiating a probe against
Oberoi and Ssingh. "I had de-
manded with NCB to investigate
the BJP Drug connection in bolly-
wood. In my questions to NCB I
had specifically mentioned the
name of Aditya Alva found in
Sandalwood drug racket who is
brother in law of Vivek Oberoi
whoispartnerofSandeepSsingh.
But NCB didn't pay heed."
Inanothertweet,hesaid,"But
nowBengaluruPolicehaveraided
house of Vivek Oberoi who is not
only co-producer of Narendra
Modi biopic but also played role
of Modi ji."
entgroups)and505(statements
conducing to public mischief).
The channel had stated in a
report on Wednesday that the
store had received “threats”.
Police patrolling and surveil-
lance was intensified at the
Tanishqshowroomafteragroup
of men entered it on Monday
evening, protesting the adver-
tisement by Tanishq. The com-
pany later withdrew the ad.
The complainant in the FIR,
registeredatAdivisionpolicesta-
tionof GandhidhamonThursday
night, is Ramesh Maitra, a local
businessman who was part of a
group that entered the show-
room on Monday evening.
A senior police officer in
Gandhidham told The Indian
Express, “The complainant had
approached us with a complaint
stating that the news channel
had reported fake news with in-
showing content on his channel
that could cause enmity be-
tween different communities,
police said.
The notice states that a show
airedonRepublicchannelonApril
14 regarding migrants crowding
outside Bandra railway station
had content that could cause en-
mity between two groups. This
led to an FIR against Goswami at
Pydhonie police station.
It said that apart from this, in
ashowonRepublicBharattitled,
'Poochta Hai Bharat', telecast on
April 24 there was a debate on
thePalgharlynchings.According
to the notice, during the debate,
comments were made that
could cause animosity between
communities. Accordingly, an
FIR was registered against
Goswami at NM Joshi Marg po-
lice station. The notice also said
there was a high probability that
Goswami would continue to put
out such content that could lead
to law and order problems.
Accordingly, he was asked to ap-
pear before the ACP on Friday
along with a surety.
Ponda did not respond to
calls or messages.
Rajput death: NCB arrests 1
more accused in drugs case
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, OCTOBER 16
THE NARCOTICS Control Bureau
(NCB) on Friday arrested one
more person, Jay Madhok, in the
drug case the agency is probing
inconnectionwithactorSushant
Singh Rajput’s death.
The NCB has so far arrested
23 people, including actor Rhea
Chakraborty, in the case.
Chakrabortywasgrantedbailon
October 7.
Madhok, a management
graduate who works in the
banking sector, has been ar-
rested for allegedly consuming
and selling narcotics, police said.
“Madhok procured narcotics
forconsumptionaswellastosell
it to his friends. He was in touch
with some of the accused al-
tent to spread anarchy in the so-
ciety. Taking cognizance, we
have lodged an FIR with the ac-
cusedas'NDTVchannel'.Further
investigation is going on."
Thepolicehavenotmadethe
FIR public, citing “sensitivity”,
butsourcessaidthecomplainant
stated that only two persons, in-
cluding himself, had gone to the
showroom on Monday evening
to have a “polite conversation”,
and that no violence unfolded.
On Wednesday, Prakash
Gupta, manager of the Tanishq
showroom in Gandhidham, had
told The Indian Express that a
group of six or seven people had
“barged into the showroom” on
Monday evening and demanded
apology. The group then wrote a
letter stating that the showroom
wasapologisingtotheHinducom-
munityandpasteditontheshow-
room'sglassdoorbeforeleaving.
ED attaches
Rs 122 crore of
assets of Deccan
Chronicle, its
ex-promoters Researchers use smell to flag Centre sends
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
THEENFORCEMENTDirectorate
has provisionally attached im-
movable assets belonging to
Deccan Chronical Holdings Ltd
(DCHL) and its former promot-
ers in connection with a case of
money laundering. These assets
are worth Rs 122.15 crore, the
agency said in a statement.
Thecase,inwhichDCHL’sfor-
mer promoters T Venkatram
Reddy and T Vinayakravi Reddy
have been accused, relates to an
bank loan fraud of Rs 8,180 crore
allegedlycommittedbythegroup.
AccordingtoED,attachedas-
sets include 14 properties lo-
cated in New Delhi, Hyderabad,
Gurgaon, Chennai, and
Bengaluru, among other loca-
tions. ED said none of the assets
are covered under the National
Company Law Tribunal process.
This is the second attach-
ment in this case—the value of
the total attachments are now
close to Rs 264.56 crore.
Investigations under PMLA
wereinitiatedbyEDagainstDCHL
and its management in 2015.
ready arrested in the case, like
Kshitij Prasad. They were all part
of the same group. We are trying
to find out who else was in-
volved,” a senior official said.
On Thursday, NCB had ar-
rested two more persons in con-
nection with the FIR.
Mumbai cops arrest
Delhi man for posts
Mumbai police has arrested
Delhi resident Vibhor Anand for
allegedly posting false allega-
tionsintheSushantSinghRajput
case on social media. An FIR was
registered against Anand for al-
legedly defaming several people
and casting aspersions on the
Mumbai police probe, and its of-
ficers.
A crime branch officer said,
“We arrested Anand from Delhi
last night.” ENS
India may get Covid
vaccine by March,
says Serum official
ANURADHA
MASCARENHAS
PUNE, OTOBER 16
INDIAMAYgetaCovid-19vaccine
by March 2021, provided regula-
tors give signals fast, “as multiple
manufacturersareworkingonit”,
accordingtoDrSureshJadhav,ex-
ecutive director of the Serum
Institute of India, which is testing
the Oxford -AstraZeneca vaccine
candidate in the country.
HetoldTheIndianExpressthat
Indiaisheadingfasttowardsvac-
cine development, as two manu-
facturers are already in phase-3
trial and one in the phase-2 trial,
and more players are joining the
race.
Statingthatthereare“upsand
downs in any vaccine clinical
trial”, Dr Soumya Swaminathan,
chiefscientistattheWorldHealth
Organization, also said a vaccine
againstCovid-19shouldbeready
bythesecondquarterofnextyear.
She told The Indian Express, “By
January 2021 we should be able
to see results, and by the second
quarter of 2021 the vaccine
against SARS-CoV-2 should be
ready.”
DrSwaminathan,however,re-
iteratedtheWHO’sstanceagainst
allowing the virus to spread
unchecked to reach herd immu-
nity,emphasisingthattheconcept
should be discussed only within
the context of a vaccine. She told
TheIndianExpressthatoncethere
is a vaccine one can aim to have
herd immunity – as there will be
aneedtovaccinateatleast70per
cent people and have them pro-
tected to break the transmission.
Addressing the India Vaccine
Accessibilitye-Summit,DrJadhav
said, “We can produce 700-800
million vaccine doses every year
once things are streamlined.
Although 55 per cent of the pop-
ulationisbelow50yearsofage,as
peravailabilityofvaccineshealth-
care workers should get the vac-
asymptomatic Covid cases
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
PUNE, OCTOBER 16
RESEARCHERSFROMBJMedical
College and Indian Institute of
Science Education and Research
inPunehavereportedthatbyac-
curately measuring the ability to
smell, one could detect an
asymptomatic Covid-19 infec-
tion. The findings were pub-
lished on Friday in a paper in
EClinicalMedicine, published by
The Lancet.
Identifying and isolating
asymptomaticpatientshasbeen
an important strategy to slow
the spread of Covid-19.
As new information about
thediseasebegantoemerge,the
loss of sense of smell (referred to
as anosmia) began to be re-
ported among some patients.
Dr Nixon Abraham, whose
Hyderabad sees slow return to
normalcy; 4 of family still missing
SREENIVAS JANYALA
HYDERABAD, OCTOBER 16
TWO DAYS after eight members
of a family in Hyderabad were
swept away in a flash flood, four
still remain untraceable, even
though police and disaster man-
agement agencies widened
search operations.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad
slowly returned to normalcy as
flood waters receded. A few ar-
eas, however, still remain inun-
dated and power supply was
patchy.
Eight members of
Mohammed Abdul Taher
Qureshi’s family were swept
awaybyfloodwatersthatsurged
through the city after incessant
rain that began on Tuesday
evening. A funeral was held for
four members whose bodies
were recovered Thursday. One
body,whichresembledQureshi’s
brother Saddam Quddus, was
found by police in a water body
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE
228 CASES: RECOVERED: 64,53,779
73,70,468 DEATHS: 1,12,161
DAYS SINCE
PANDEMIC
BEGAN TESTS: 9,22,54,927| DOUBLING RATE: 77.10**
KEYSTATES TOTAL SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING
TOWATCH CASES 24HOURS GROWTH* TIME**
■ Maharashtra 15,64,615 10,226 0.66% 108.59
■ Karnataka 7,43,848 8,477 1.30% 55.21
■ Andhra 7,71,503 4,038 0.60% 119.44
■ Tamil Nadu 6,74,802 4,410 0.74% 97.54
7,789 2.98%
■ Kerala 3,17,929 24.16
* Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last 7 days ** Calculated over 7-day growth
CASE FATALITY RATIO POSITIVITY RATE DAILY IN, DAILY OUT
7 DAYS EARLIER: 7 DAYS EARLIER: DETECTED TODAY
1.54 8.16 63,371
NOW: NOW: RECOVERED TODAY:
1.52 7.99 70,338
Deaths as a ratio of
positive cases (in %);
indicator of progress
in averting deaths
Positives against
number tested
(in %); indicator of
the spread of disease
Becoming sick vs
recovering; more
recoveries for 14 days
may signal the peak
DataasonOctober15,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers
includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive
cines first, then people over 60 professional, consultant vaccine
years with comorbidities, fol- and public affairs consultant,
lowedbytherestofthepopulace.” SoutheastAsia,said,“Provensuc-
As far as Serum is concerned, cess factors of H1N1 and Ebola
he said, “We will be ready with have turned out guiding princi-
60-70milliondosagesofvaccines ples in vaccine development.”
by December 2020, but that will On herd immunity, Dr
come in the market in 2021 after Swaminathan said: “It is not a
the clearance of licencing. good idea to try to achieve herd
Thereafter,wewillproducemore immunitybylettingtheinfection
and more dosages, with the gov- run wild in the population. We
ernment's permission.” needtotalkintermsof avaccine;
At the same event, Prof Bejon
Kumar Misra, international con-
weneedtovaccinateenoughpeo-
ple – with a vaccine one can
sumer policy expert, said it is im-
portant that the vaccine is thor-
oughly tested before rollout.
achieve immunity and herd im-
munitysafely.Throughnaturalin-
fection it can be achieved, but it
Samir Deb, pharmaceutical will be at a great human cost.”
teams to states
with case surge
work at IISER is centered on un-
derstanding neural circuits me-
diating olfactory-driven—the EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
sense of smell—behaviours, NEW DELHI. OCTOBER 16
problems associated with
smellingabilitiesof Covid-19pa- THE CENTRE Friday deputed
tients presented an urgent as- teams to Kerala, Karnataka,
pect to explore. Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and
With PhD student Anindya
Bhattacharjee and collaborators
West Bengal— the states report-
ing a surge in Covid-19 cases.
from BJ Medical College and
Sassoon General Hospitals in
Pune, the team set out to test if
“The teams will support the
State efforts towards strength-
eningcontainment,surveillance,
anosmia (total loss of sense of testing,infectionpreventionand
smell) / hyposmia (reduction in control measures, and efficient
the ability to smell) could be an clinical management of the pos-
indicatorof Covid-19infectionin itive cases. The Central teams
individuals who tested positive shall also guide in effectively
forthevirusbutshowednoother managingthechallengesrelated
typicalsymptomsof thedisease. totimelydiagnosis...,”theHealth
The team says it can analyse Ministry said in a statement.
both sensory and cognitive as- Kerala and Karnataka cur-
pects of olfaction. rently account for for 11.8 per
FULLREPORTON cent and 14.1 per cent of the to-
www.indianexpress.com tal active cases in the country.
A family wades through a Hyderabad street on Friday. PTI
near Nagole on the outskirts of Meanwhile, Municipal
Hyderabad, but officials refused Administration and Urban
to confirm the identity. DevelopmentMinisterKTRama
Police in Hyderabad, Rao visited rain-affected areas.
Cyberabad and Rachakonda Greater Hyderabad Municipal
Police Commissionerates said Corporationofficialsalsodistrib-
they weresearching for 24 miss- uted ration kits.
ingpeople.Officialestimatessay GHMC mayor B Ram Mohan
50 people died in flash floods. they are evacuating those
Telangana Chief Minister K stranded in areas where the rain
Chandrasekhar Rao has an- waterhasstagnated.CMRaohas
nounced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh sought Rs 1,350 crore from the
tothekinof thosewhoperished. Centre as immediate aid.
Lucknow

7 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020
BRIEFLY
Shashi Tharoor
DELHI
Defamation
case:HCstays
proceedings
againstTharoor
NewDelhi:TheDelhiHigh
Court on Friday stayed
proceedings against
Congress MP Shashi
Tharoor in a defamation
case filed against him by
a Delhi BJP leader for the
former’s statement on
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. The case relates to
Tharoor’s claim in
October 2018 that an un-
named RSS leader had al-
legedly told a journalist
that Modi was like a
“scorpion sitting on a
Shivling”. Delhi BJP vice-
president Rajiv Babbar, in
hiscomplaint saidhewas
aggrieved of the state-
ment made by Tharoor.
The single bench of
JusticeSureshKumarKait
also issued notice to the
complainant, and fixed
the case for next hearing
on December 9. ENS
CHHATTISGARH
2sportscentres
getSAInodfor
expansion
Raipur: Chhattisgarh has
received the go-ahead to
increase the existing facil-
ities at two state-based
sports training institutes
from the Sports Authority
of India (SAI) under the
Khelo India Scheme gov-
ernment officials said. A
hockeyacademyinRaipur
andan"excellencecenter"
in Bilaspur have been ap-
proved by the SAIand will
soon come into existence,
thestategovernmentsaid.
“We are already in the
process of finalising train-
ers and adding on better
facilities in the two cen-
ters,” a state government
official said. ENS
MADHYA PRADESH
Man’shead
recoveredin
Bengaluru
Betul: The head of a man
whose torso was recov-
ered from the railway
tracks near Betul in
Madhya Pradesh around
twoweeksback,waslater
found nearly 1,300 km
away in Bengaluru, as it
had got entangled in the
engine of Rajdhani ex-
presstrain,apoliceofficial
said on Friday. The man's
body, whose head and
some other parts were
missing, was found on
October 3 on the Machna
bridge near Betul by the
Government Railway
Police (GRP), he said. PTI
NGOs move SC
against CM-led
board overseeing
char dhams
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
TWONGOshaveapproachedthe
SupremeCourtagainstadecision
to entrust the administration of
the four ‘dhams’ in Uttarakhand
—Kedarnath,Badrinath,Gangotri
and Yamunotri — to a board
headed by the Chief Minister.
The groups, People For
Dharma and Indic Collective
Trust, challenged an
Uttarakhand High Court judge-
ment upholding the law made
by the BJP government in the
state in that regard.
TheHCjudgementhadcome
on a petition by BJP leader
Subramanian Swamy.
Phone-tapping case: HC stays any
coercive action against Pilot aide
HAMZA KHAN
JAIPUR, OCTOBER 16
THE RAJASTHAN High Court on
Fridaystayedanycoerciveaction
by the state police against
Congress leader Sachin Pilot's
mediamanager LokendraSingh,
who was booked along with a
journalist over allegations that
phones of MLAs were being
tapped during the recent politi-
cal crisis in the state.
Singh had moved the High
Court last week seeking quash-
ingof the FIRlodgedagainst him
on October 1.
The FIR also named Aaj Tak’s
Jaipur-based editor Sharat
Kumar.
In the FIR, they were accused
of spreading “misleading and
fake news” regarding tapping of
phones of MLAs sequestered at
a hotel in Jaisalmer in August.
On August 7, the Pilot camp
Protest over Hathras woman’s death: Bhim Army,
Azad Samaj Party members booked by Jaipur Police
DEEP MUKHERJEE
JAIPUR, OCTOBER 16
THEJAIPURpolicehaveregistered
anFIRagainstofficebearersofthe
Bhim Army and the Azad Samaj
Party,amongotheroutfits,fortak-
ing out a march in violation of
Covid-19 norms and prohibitory
ordersunderSection144 CrPCon
September29,officialssaidFriday.
Themarchwastodemandjustice
for the Hathras victim.
The FIR, registered on
September 29, says that the ac-
cused, along with 60-70 others,
assembled at Statue Circle on
September29,startedsloganeer-
ing and took out a candle march.
“WehaveregisteredtheFIRaf-
ter they violated the section 144
CPM tries to use KC(M) faction’s
UDF exit to turn tables on Oppn
SHAJU PHILIP
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
OCTOBER 16
AT A time when the Opposition
has stepped up its attack on the
LDF government in Kerala over a
slew of controversies, the ruling
CPM is trying to turn the tables
by projecting that the Kerala
Congress (M) faction’s decision
toleavetheUDFhasexposedthe
cracks in the Opposition.
The KC(M) faction led by
Rajya Sabha member Jose K
Mani recently announced the
decision to sever ties with the
Congress-led UDF and cooper-
ate with the LDF.
The development came at a
time when the CPM-led govern-
ment is facing grave allegations
with regard to the gold smug-
glingcaseandkickbacksinvolved
in a housing project funded by
Emirates Red Crescent.
The Opposition has de-
manded Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan’s resignation after his
principal secretary M sort. Congress in Kerala is work-
Sivasankar’snamecroppedupin
VARSITY COULD LOSE 69% RESERVATION, MAY LEAD TO RISE IN FEES, SAYS GOVERNMENT
TN govt to reject eminence status offered for Anna University
ARUN JANARDHANAN
CHENNAI, OCTOBER 16
THE TAMIL Nadu government
on Friday said it will not accept
the Institute of Eminence (IoE)
statusofferedtoAnnaUniversity,
asitwouldaffectthe69-percent
reservation in the state-run var-
sity, brought in by former chief
minister late J Jayalalithaa “after
a long battle”.
StateHigherEducationMinis-
ter K P Anbalagan said if Anna
University,thestate'sTamilNadu's
largest technical university, gets
theIoErecognition,itwillhaveto
stop the reservation system, and
the process could also lead to in-
crease in the fee structure.
The IoE is a recognition for
the country's higher education
institutions from the University
Grants Commission.
had accused Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot of tapping the
phones of at least six MLAs be-
longing to his camp, who were
staying at Suryagarh Hotel in
Jaisalmer, with the help of the
police. It had also shared a docu-
ment purportedly showing a list
of calls made to the MLAs.
The police accuse Singh and
Sharat Kumar of cooking up the
report. Kumar has maintained
that by the time it was telecast
on Aaj Tak, it had already been
reportedbymanyothernational
and regional channels in the
morning and afternoon.
On Friday, Singh's laywer S S
Hora said, “The court has said no
coercive action will be taken
against Lokendra. We argued
that the offence is simply not
made out. Under IPC 505 (1)
[whoever publishes any state-
ment, rumour or report] you
can’t have an FIR, because it is
non-cognizable(offence).Under
The protest march on September 29 had culminated at
Statue Circle in Jaipur. Ritansh Pandey
and carried out with the march.
They didn't have permission to
carry out the march at Statue
Circle,” said station house officer,
AshokNagarPoliceStation,Shree
Mohan Meena.
“Wehavealsoidentifiedmore
the investigation into the gold
smuggling case and the housing
projectkickbacks.Sivasankarhas
since been suspended.
OnFriday,JosemetCPMstate
secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan,
seeking an entry into the LDF
aheadof thelocalbodyelections,
likely to be held in December.
After the meeting, Balakrishnan
told the media the Jose-led fac-
tion’sdecisiontoquitUDFcomes
at a time when the front is
protestingagainsttherulingfront.
“It is from that political front,
a prominent party has come for-
ward to cooperate with the LDF.
The decision of KC(M) is a set-
backforUDFagitationsdemand-
ing resignation of CM... They
can’t even keep an ally within
the fold,’’ he said.
Balakrishnan said the
Congress high command had
failed to resolve the crisis in the
UDF. “In the past, the Congress
high command intervened to
settle issues in UDF. But now the
high command has lost the ca-
pability to solve a crisis of this
ing as a B team of BJP...,’’ said
Asked about the reservation
issue, Anna University V-C M K
Surappa told The Indian Express
that the Union Education min-
istry has already clarified that
the existing structure of the uni-
versity, including reservations,
will not be changed or affected if
the IoE recognition is accepted.
Giving an indication of the
tension between the two sides,
state Law Minister C Ve
Shanmugam had on Thursday
said, while reacting to Surappa
writing to the Centre directly on
the IoE status issue, that the V-C
lacks discipline.
The minister also questioned
the propriety in a V-C of a state
varsity sending a letter directly
to the Centre explaining the ca-
pacity of a state institution to
raise funds.
Reminding Surappa that he
cannot override other authori-
505 (2) [statements creating or
promoting enmity, hatred or ill-
will between classes], you can
fileanFIR,butnooffenceismade
out.”
While IPC Section 505 (2) re-
quires that a statement should
lead to enmity, and thus makes
for an offence, Hora said that
“between August 7 and till date,
there has been no offence, no in-
citement – hence it falls com-
pletely short”.
“Second, I said that the same
news was carried by News 18
earlier…[the FIR] is a method of
curbing freedom of speech and
it cannot be permitted,” he said.
Besides staying any coercive
action, the bench of Justice
GoverdhanBardharalsodirected
the police to put up the case di-
ary during the next hearing.
Apart from IPC Sections 505
(1) and (2), the FIR has invoked
Section 120B (criminal conspir-
acy), along with Section 76 of IT
people who were part of the
march on the basis of photo and
videoordinance,”saidsubinspec-
torMukesh,theinvestigatingoffi-
cer in the case.
The office-bearers named in
the FIR hit out against the
Balakrishnan.
The CPM leader said the LDF
would soon take a decision on
Jose faction entry into the front.
“Jose is cooperating with LDF
without conditions. Discussions
about seats to be allocated are
unwarrantedanduntimely,’’said
Balakrishnan on the issue of
seat-sharing for the 2021 state
polls.
Behind the CPM’s reluctance
to talk about seat-sharing is the
Pala constituency, a KC(M) bas-
tion currently held by the NCP,
anLDFconstituent.ThePalacon-
stituency is special to Jose K
Mani as his father and KC(M)
founder, the late K M Mani, rep-
resented the seat from the time
it was formed till his death, win-
ning 13 elections on the trot.
The NCP state leadership,
which met in Kochi on Friday,
has, however, made it clear that
it would not surrender Pala.
NCP state president T P
Peethambaran told the media
that his party would contest in
all four seats, including Pala. “No
other party can raise a claim on
these seats,” he said.
The IoE is a recognition for the country’s higher education
institutions from the UGC. File
tiesabovehim,Shanmugamsaid
theV-Cshouldn’thavecontacted
the Centre bypassing state au-
thorities. He said the state gov-
ernment has already sought an
explanation from Surappa for
writing the letter.
Act. Under the latter, an elec-
tronic device linked to any vio-
lation under the Act “shall be li-
able to confiscation”.
On the court's direction,
Singh said, “This is a relief – in-
deed, justice. We were not con-
spirators, and the story had al-
ready been broadcast on
national and regional channels.
The police agencies’ claims that
we are conspirators, or that we
produced it, are incorrect.”
Singh said that once a report
is telecast on news channels
whether “I am sharing it with
friends – not even publishing it
– or shared it in any official ca-
pacity...how can we beconspira-
tors?”
The People’s Union for Civil
Liberties had earlier called the
police action “vindictiveness of
the Rajasthan Government led
by CM Ashok Gehlot”, and asked
it to “come clean on the issue of
phone tapping”.
Congress-ledgovernmentaccus-
ing it of “double standards”.
“The fact that an FIR has been
registeredagainstusforaskingfor
justice for the Hathras victim
showsthedoublestandardof the
Congress government. This ex-
poses the Congress' pretense of
standing up for Dalits,” said Anil
Dhenwal, state president, Azad
Samaj Party. “Top leaders of the
CongresstoohavevisitedHathras
to meet the victim's family and
also protested over the issue. But
at the same time, they are regis-
teringFIRsagainstusforcarrying
out a peaceful march... Even the
BJPgovernmentinUPhaveregis-
tered cases against the Azad
Samaj Party. It shows that the
Congress and the BJP are the
same,” Dhenwal said.
Journalist, 2
others allege
assault by
policeman
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
AROUND 40 people, including
student activists and the family
of a girl found dead at her em-
ployer'sresidenceearlyOctober,
protested outside Model Town
police station Friday. While the
familyof thegirl,adomestichelp,
alleges she was raped and mur-
deredbyheremployer,policesay
she committed suicide and have
initiated inquest proceedings.
AhanJoshuaPenkar(24),are-
porter with The Caravan maga-
zine who was covering the
protest, alleged that around 3.15
pm, he was detained and later
beaten up by ACP Ajay Kumar. A
22-year-oldDelhiUniversitystu-
dent,RavinderSingh,alsoalleged
he was kicked and slapped by
Kumar, and his turban came off.
AnotherDUstudent,RajveerKaur
(25), alleged police "detained 10
people,.
Shanmugam also expressed
the concern that 69-per cent
reservation in the varsity will be
disrupted if IoE recognition is
accepted.
Senior officers of the state
higher education department,
SC picks Lokur for panel
on crop burning, S-G
says ‘some reservations’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
AMID RISING instances of stub-
ble burning in neighbouring
states adding to pollution in the
national capital, the Supreme
Court Friday appointed Justice
(retired) Madan B Lokur to act as
a one-man monitoring commit-
tee to check the menace.
While appointing Lokur to
head the committee, the bench
headed by Chief Justice of India S
A Bobde, and with Justices A S
Bopanna and V Rama subrama-
ian,clarifiedthatitsordersandthe
setting up of the committee “are
notintendedtodilutethepowers,
functionsandtheauthorityofany
authorities such as EPCA
(EnvironmentalPollutionControl
Authority), already created”.
The idea behind appointing
acommitteewastofacilitateand
coordinate the activities of dif-
ferentauthorities, thecourtsaid.
“We are only concerned that
citizens of Delhi NCR are able to
breathe fresh clean air... while
the court is shut (for Dussehra
holidays). We don’t want any-
thing to happen during these
ED seizes DMK MP assets
over FEMA ‘violations’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
THEENFORCEMENTDirectorate
(ED) on Friday issued orders to
seize financial assets belonging
to DMK MP Gautham Sigamani
tothetuneof Rs8.6crore.Theor-
ders were issued under Section
37A of the Foreign Exchange
Management Act (FEMA) for al-
legedly acquiringforeign securi-
ties illegally and not repatriating
foreignexchangeearnedabroad.
AccordingtoED,Sigamanial-
legedlyacquiredforeignsecurity
withoutRBIapproval.Duringthe
course of investigation, ED has
claimed thatitwas revealed that
in March 2008, Sigamani made
overseas investment of
$100,000 (Rs 41.57 lakh then) in
acquiring2.45lakhsharesof M/s
PT Excel Megindo, Jakarta and
$55,000 (Rs 22.86 lakh then) in
M/sUniversalBusinessVentures,
ED attaches assets of wife
of NSCN (K) military chief
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
THE ED has provisionally at-
tached assets to the tune of Rs
4.23 crore of the wife of NSCN
(K)’s military leader Nikki Sumi.
The assets are in the name of
Shelly N Sumi who had been ar-
restedbytheAssamRiflesin2017.
TheEDcaseisbasedonanNIA
FIR against Shelly Sumi. The NIA
probe had found that at the time
of her arrest Shelly had planned
to travel to GHQ Taga, (HQ of
NSCN-K) Myanmar, to handover
E
E X P L A I NE D
Genesis of
● the tussle
THE DISAGREEMENT
over the IoE status
started after Anna
University V-C M K
Surappa wrote to the
Centre in August last year
to get the IoE tag for the
university without con-
sulting the minister or
the higher education de-
partment. Other con-
cerns such as an IoE sta-
tus would take away 69
per cent reservation in
the university, as also the
state government’s con-
trol over it, further led to
the present crisis.
Justice Madan B Lokur
nine days,” the CJI said.
The order came on a petition
filed by two students, Aditya
Dubey and Aman Banka, who
had sought directions from the
court to put an end to stubble
burning.
The court went ahead with
Lokur'sappointmentevenasthe
Centre expressed “some reser-
vations” on this.
“Therearesomereservations
with which we do not want to
trouble My Lords. I will have to
file an application...”, said
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta,
who appeared before the bench,
just as it was about to rise.
CJI Bobde, however, re-
marked that the court had not
UAE without RBI approval. This,
ED has said, was in contraven-
tion of Section 4 of FEMA.
Sigamani,EDhassaid,failedto
repatriateprofitsamountingtoRs
7.05 crore earned by him from
UniversalBusinessVenturesinthe
periodof2008-09to2012-13and
continued to hold the same
abroad till date. He also failed to
repatriate the 6.04 lakh Dirhams
lying in the bank account of
UniversalBusinessVenturesason
December31,2012andcontinues
to hold the same abroad till date.
“As per the provisions of sec-
tion 37A of FEMA, if any foreign
exchange,foreignsecurityorany
immovable property situated
outside India is suspected to
have been held in contravention
of Section 4 of FEMA, ED is em-
powered to seize value equiva-
lentsituatedwithinIndiaof such
foreign exchange, foreign secu-
rity or immovable property,” ED
said in a statement.
anamountofRs.18.47lakhtoher
husband Nikki Sumi. An amount
of Rs. 27.90 lakh was also seized
by NIA during the course of
searchconductedatthepremises
ofShellySumiandherassociates.
“InvestigationunderPMLAre-
vealedthatNSCN-K,aproscribed
terroristorganizationindulgedin
collectingfundsfromgovernment
employees, businessmen etc. by
extortion and illegal means and
Shelly Sumi and her associates
wereinvolvedincriminalconspir-
acy to transfer funds to NSCN(K)
via Indo-Myanmar border,”ED
said in a statement.
however,saidpolitically,thegov-
ernmentworriesthatcertainpro-
visions related to the IoE status
may impact not only reservation
in the university but also affect
powers of the state government,
as the Centre's financial stake in
thestate-rununiversitywouldgo
up with this recognition.
Sources close to V-C Surappa
said this “apprehension” seems
to have made the state govern-
ment put up objections. “There
were no procedural issues in the
V-C writing directly to the
Centre. The university would
have got an annual funding of Rs
200 crore if the recognition was
accepted,” a source said.
Aformerdirectorof IIT-Ropar
and an honorary professor at
IISc, Bangalore, Surappa, who
comes from Karnataka, was ap-
pointed Anna University V-C af-
ter three shortlisted candidates,
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
given Justice Lokur any extrodi-
nary power or jurisdiction.
Urging the court to post the
matter for Monday and not pass
orders now, the SG said, "we are
only requesting to be heard."
But the CJI said the court had
already passed the order.
The court also said different
authorities created by the
states/Centre shall :also be free,
to carry on their own activities,
withoutfeelingmutedbytheap-
pointment of the Committee”.
The court asked the Chief
Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana,
Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to assist
Justice Lokur “and enable phys-
ical surveillance of fields where
stubble is likely to be burnt and
devise additional means and
methods for preventing the
burning of stubble”.
The SC-appointed EPCA shall
also report to the committee,
which will submit a fortnightly
report or as and when required,
the court said, adding that “it
would be fitting, if services of
National Cadet Corps, NSS and
BharatScoutsandGuides,wher-
ever available, are deployed for
assisting in the monitoring of
stubble burning...”
Editors Guild
criticises Prasar
Bharati cancelling
PTI subscription,
journalist arrest
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
THE EDITORS Guild of India
Friday said it was dismayed and
concerned over the “vindictive
manner” in which governments
and their agencies have acted
against the media recently.
The guild’s statement comes
in the wake of the national pub-
lic broadcaster, Prasar Bharati,
ending subscriptions with news
agenciesPressTrustof India(PTI)
and United News of India (UNI)
this week.
The Guild also referred to a
television journalist’s recent ar-
rest in Odisha on charges of cir-
culating an obscene video,
which OTV, his employer, has al-
leged is a ploy to target the jour-
nalist for his work exposing the
BJD government.
“The Guildbelieves that such
actions threaten as well as un-
dermine the independent func-
tioning of the media organisa-
tions. These should be
withdrawn forthwith,” says a
statement.
The national broadcaster has
justified its decision to end its
subscriptionwithUNIandPTIon
the grounds of commercial con-
siderations. However, the devel-
opment comes months after
PrasarBhartithreatenedtoscrap
its subscription over PTI inter-
viewingtheChineseambassador
to India on the border face-off.
A senior government official
had told The Indian Express that
Prasar Bharati’s contracts with
the two new agencies ended in
2006.
including him, were personally
interviewed by Governor
Banwarilal Purohit in 2018. His
appointment sparked a contro-
versy in the state for multiple
reasons, including the fact that
he is a non-Tamil to head a state
university. But many academics
were also hopeful and cited that
appointment of V-Cs have been
political decisions in Tamil Nadu
for nearly two decades, and sev-
eral V-Cs who headed state uni-
versities in the recent past were
accused of corruption and irreg-
ularities.
Surappa told The Indian
Express that Anna University
would have become the first
stateuniversityinIndiatogetthe
IoE status had it been accepted
bythestategovernment.Hesaid
most of other institutions in the
country with the same recogni-
tion are central universities.
Lucknow
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020
WORDLY WISE

THE EDITORIAL PAGE Unless you are willing to compromise,

society cannot live together.
— ALAN GREENSPAN

FOUNDED BY
How school reopens
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
That is our test and opportunity — to define new
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
normal, rebuild foundational skills

A HALF STEP Rukmini Banerji

Centre’s decision to borrow to compensate states is welcome. THE GOVERNMENT HAD stipulated October home. Parents, especially those who do not Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, call this
15asthedateafterwhichreopeningofschools have much education, have often not been phenomenon“teachingtothetopoftheclass”.
More clarity is needed on modalities, remaining GST shortfall

A
couldbeconsideredinagradedmanner.Ade-
tailed set of recommendations and points to
FTER MONTHS OF uncertainty, and a near breakdown of the consen- consider in the reopening decision has been
sual nature of decision-making in the GST Council, the Centre, on provided, which places safety and security of
Thursday, acceded to the states’ request, announcing that it will borrow children and teachers as the highest priority.
Rs 1.1 lakh crore to lend to states to compensate them for the shortfall in Unlike our usual academic documents, con-
their GST revenues. This is indeed a welcome development, as not lis- cern with children’s social and emotional
well-being features prominently.
tening to states’ concerns, and not honouring its commitment to protect their revenues,
All of India, not only children, teachers
wouldhavesetabadprecedentandfurtherstrainedCentre-staterelations.Operationally, or parents, but family members and com-
this mechanism is preferable and arguably more convenient as compared to all the states munities, everyone wants “every child in
rushing to the bond market. Further, the Centre’s borrowing attracts a lower interest rate school” eventually. Everyone wants this to
as compared to that of states, and as a result, the loans to the states will be at a uniform happen safely. Once children start going to
rate, avoiding interest rate differentials across states. school regularly, it will herald a return of
Yet, several questions remain unanswered. First, the modalities of the transaction are “normalcy” in a way that no other event can.
But designing the process of school-reopen-
yet to be clearly enunciated. Presumably, the transaction will be routed through the pub-
ing well could provide new opportunities
lic account of India. The accounting treatment could also be along the lines of states’ loans that can be tested in the next few months to
from multilateral agencies which are routed through the Centre. However, whichever see if they have the potential to become en-
way it is treated, it will lead to a rise in general government debt. Second, while the Centre during features of our school system.
has agreed to borrow Rs 1.1 lakh crore, what happens to the remaining shortfall — as- First,schoolsystemsareoftencentralised
and hierarchical. Many key decisions related
suming that the total GST revenue shortfall remains at Rs 3 lakh crore and that collec-
to the functioning of the school are taken at
tions through the compensation cess stand at Rs 65,000 crore? Will the state govern-
a level that is far from ground realities. Yet,
ments settle for being compensated only for losses arising on account of implementation in today’s context, local conditions and com-
issues and forgo the loss in GST revenues arising out of an “act of god”? Third, if as the munity perceptions are going to play a deci-
Centre has said, this mechanism will not impact its fiscal deficit, then why not borrow sive role in when and how schools can open.
the entire expected shortfall of Rs 2.35 lakh crore? If the repayment of the loan is not an Thecurrentsituationprovidesavaluableop-
obligation of the Centre, and will be met from proceeds from future compensation cess portunity for local inputs to be absorbed. If
done well, the process of school reopening
collections, then why the reluctance to borrow the full amount?
can bring the community closer together.
ConsideringthatthegrandbargainstruckbetweentheCentreandthestatesforpushing Localsupportcangoa long way,well beyond
throughGSTwaspremisedontheCentreassuringstatesofa14percentgrowthintheirGST the crisis, in bringing in new resources and
revenues,thecontroversyoverthelastfewmonthsshouldhavebeenavoided.TheCentre’s investment into schools.
approach,ineffectplacingtheentireburdenof thelossinGSTrevenuesonstates,wasnotin Second, in anormalyear, schoolsopenall
thespiritofcooperativefederalismthattheNDAgovernmentprofessescommitmentto.This at once. On a given day, gates are unlocked,
doors open and children and teachers arrive
half-step now taken by the Centre must be built upon to bridge the mistrust between the
all at once. But this year is different. In many
two. But it is also imcumbent upon the states to show some flexibility, in the spirit of coop-
states, villages and cities, teachers have been
eration, given the sweeping distress in the economy. The GST Council should thus now ap- going to school already. As we think about a
proachtheissueof compensatingstatesfortheirremaininglossesinaconciliatorymanner.
gradual phased plan to bring children back,
it is possible to visualise a “warming up” pe-
riod, to enable children and families to get
Teachers can set up individual
meetings with parents in
rotation, to find out how the
family has been coping and to
suggest ‘school readiness’
activities that can be done at
home. Parents, especially
those who do not have much
education, have often not
been involved in their child’s
school life. During this period
of school closure, parents
have had to take the
responsibility of children’s
learning through whatever
was possible at home. Their
efforts and initiatives need to
be recognised and celebrated
by schools and teachers.
involvedintheirchild’sschoollife.Duringthis
period of school closure, parents have had to
take the responsibility of children’s learning
through whatever was possible at home.
Theireffortsandinitiativesneedtoberecog-
nised and celebrated by schools and teach-
ers.Gradualschoolre-openingcanbeagood
time for parents and teachers to interact and
form a closer relationship.
Third, once teachers agree and parents
consent,childrencanbegintoreturntoschool
byrotation.Activitiescanbeplannedinaway
thatteacherscanreconnectmeaningfully,one
by one, with children. If children come in ro-
tation, whether by grade or within the same
class, there will be fewer children at any one
time in school. This means that teachers can
give more individual attention to each child.
Finding out how the child has been, how the
child’sfamilyhascopedinthiscrisis,isasim-
portant as finding out whether the child has
had any “learning loss”.
Available data from years of the ASER
(Annual Status of Education Report) indicate
that at least in rural areas, for many children,
basicskillsof readingandarithmeticarewor-
ryingly low. The ASER figures, which are
widelyquoted,statethatevenafterfiveyears
of schooling, of the children in Standard V, al-
most50percentcouldnotreadasimpleshort
story(atClassIIlevelof difficulty)ordoasim-
pletwo-digitnumericalsubtractionproblem
withborrowing(askillexpectedfromClassII
level children). After six months or more of
school closure, children who were just learn-
ing to read or getting the hang of arithmetic
operations may have forgotten how to do so.
Teachers need to quickly understand the
child’slevelandsuggestactivities.If activities
are simple and explained clearly, parents can
do similar activities with children at home.
Starting as early as Standard I, curriculum
expectationsmoveatafastpace.Teachersare
The ASER data clearly shows that in Standard
V, only 20-30 per cent children gain from
teaching at the class level. Clearly, something
needs to be done to help all other children
“catch up”. This “catch up” was needed even
before COVID. But now may be the best time
to get this done.
Reading and basic arithmetic are key
building blocks for the foundation of any
child’s educational journey. Pratham’s ASER
reports for the last 15 years have pointed to
the need across India to build these foun-
dational skills. The National Education
Policy 2020 also underlines the importance
of foundational skills that must be built in
primary school.
For over two decades, Pratham has
evolvedanapproachcalled“Teaching-at-the-
Right-Level”.Inthismodel,childrenwhohave
reached Standard III or higher but have not
learned to read or do arithmetic operations
arehelpedtoacquiretheseskillsinashortpe-
riodof timewithoutusingtoomanyextrare-
sources. The approach has been tried and
testedbycommunitiesandgovernmentsand
found to be effective.
Onceschoolsareproperlyopenandatten-
dance has stabilised, the government must
takeonafocussed100-dayprogrammewhen
atleastinprimaryschools,weputasidegrade-
wise curriculum and focus entirely on re-
buildingfoundationalskills.Thegoalmustbe
to ensure that all children, in Standard III and
higher, are able to read fluently and do basic
arithmeticwithconfidence.Positiveenergyis
unleashed by children’s progress; it is vital in
rebuilding. Learning to read is very visible.
Childrenenjoytheirownprogress.Children’s
progress gives teachers and parents the con-
fidenceof beingabletotogethertakethenext
steps in the educational journey of the child.
Instead of being a crisis, COVID can turn
out to be a boon, if we do the right things

CITY AND THE DELUGE

“ready” for school.
Teachers can set up individual meetings
with parents in rotation, to find out how the
familyhasbeencopingandtosuggest“school
Untimely, excessive rainfall, as in Hyderabad and Pune, is here readiness” activities that can be done at
Gradual school re-opening
can be a good time for parents
and teachers to interact and
form a closer relationship.
expected to teach from textbooks prescribed for children and with families, as we re-
fortheclass.Andso,if achildisnotatthelevel open schools.
of the class textbook, instruction, however
good,goesoverherheadandthechildgetsleft The writer is CEO Pratham
behind. Nobel prize winning professors, Education Foundation

to stay. It’s time to plan for vagaries of weather, build resilience

A
T LEAST 80 people have lost their lives in floods in Telangana,
Maharashtra and Karnataka in the past 72 hours. The maximum casu-
alties were caused by overflowing nallahs, incidents of wall or building
collapse and electrocution in Hyderabad and Pune. This grim story has
been repeating itself with worrying frequency in urban India for at least
10years.Puneisfacingthefuryof torrentialrainsforthesecondconsecutiveyear.Chennai
RETREAT OF FREEDOM
faced a crippling flood five years ago, Guwahati gets submerged almost every year. Patna, The women of Afghanistan stand to lose the most if the Taliban return to power
Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai have their monsoon travails and Hyderabad received its
heaviestSeptemberrainfallinmorethan100yearslastyear.OnWednesday,asTelangana’s
capital recorded its highest 24-hour rainfall for October in more than a century, its nearly Khaled Ahmed
100-year-old drainage system was caught unprepared. As in most flooding incidents in
the country, the only semblance of resilience shown by Hyderabad’s authorities was in AS THE AMERICANS leave Afghanistan after 2003,fewerthan10percentof girlswereen- women suffered most of what was coming:
two decades of non-victory, the Taliban have rolledinprimaryschools;by2017,thatnum- “More than 4,00,000 Afghans fled the vio-
relief and rescue. But it’s time that Indian cities plan for the vagaries of weather, develop
madeclearthattheywillnotaccepttheinterim ber had grown to 33 per cent. Female enrol- lence of the Communist-led Tarakai and
systems that help them deal with hazards such as floods or excessive heat. truce of “talks” with the Afghan government. ment in secondary education grew from six Amin government, crossing over into
AsIndiancitieshaveexpanded,theyhavewrestedareasthatwereoncemajordrainage Why should they talk to a government that is per cent in 2003 to 39 per cent in 2017. Thus, Pakistan.Thenumbersprogressivelyswelled
points.Atthesametime,stormwaterdrainsinmostIndiancitiesremainlockedindecades- doomed?Theendgameisobvioustoallthose 3.5 million Afghan girls were in school with after the Soviet invasion on Christmas Eve in
old networks and are most often clogged. This means excessive rainfall gets trapped sitting on the fence in Kabul, like Gulbuddin 1,00,000 studying in universities. 1979. By the end of 1980, there were more
within city boundaries. Climate vagaries of the last two decades have exacerbated the Hekmatyar, who has recently announced his Male sadism directed at women is ex- than four million Afghan refugees in
decisiontoleavehis“agreed”coexistencewith emplified in the Afghan Pakhtun male. It is Pakistan.”
problem. This year, Mumbai received 80 per cent of its August rainfall in the first five days
the government of two clashing leaders — being imitated these days in Pakistan. What Pakistan may be preparing itself for the
of the month, parts of the city that have rarely been flooded were under water. More than Pakhtun President Ashraf Ghani and Tajik ex- chance is there that women will be spared next Afghan deluge by “Islamising” itself
one IPCC report has pointed to the climate vulnerability of coastal areas such as Mumbai Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah — and be punishment for having accepted “freedom” through an anti-Shia orgy. This is more likely
and Chennai. It’s unfortunate that recent technology-enabled initiatives — the Smart readytotalkpower-sharingwiththeemerging under the “slavery” imposed by the thantheAfghanrefugees,mostlywomenand
Cities Project, for example — have very little by way of bolstering climate adaptability. In alternative of the Taliban. Americans? Seventy-five per cent of them children, going to Europe through Turkey.
fact,accordingtoa2018reportbytheCentreforResearchontheEpidemiologyof Disasters The Taliban ruled Afghanistan with reli- live in villages where the war has not ceased Europehasalreadyalerteditsbordersagainst
at the University of Louvain School of Public Health, Brussels and the NGO SEEDS, more gious hubris that only an illiterate society can Taliban ruled Afghanistan even as the Taliban negotiate with the an Afghan deluge when the Americans leave
than 55 per cent of India’s smart cities are prone to floods.
stomach. After the Soviets left, they imposed with religious hubris that Americans in Doha. andtheAshraf Ghanigovernmentiskickedin
Islam on Afghanistan and brutalised the pop- only an illiterate society can Next door, Pakistan is going to revamp its thebuttbytheTaliban—tosaynothingabout
According to estimates, more people will live in urban centres in India compared to the ulation,especiallywomen,andbalefullyinflu- education and create something the Taliban Islamic State (normal) and Islamic State
ruralonesby2050.It’simperativethatwhileplanningforhouses,roads,hospitalsandother enced the Islamic state-in-chrysalis,Pakistan, stomach. After the Soviets will love, and banish the evil of English- (Khorasan)andnumerousothermilitiasfrom
infrastructure,policymakersrespectanarea’shydrology.Thesolutionscouldvaryaccording into an imitative misdemeanour. Under the left, they imposed Islam on medium schools “run for the rich”. What is Central Asia dreaming of Afghanistan as a
tolocalconditionsandclimateadaptabilitycouldbeanadroitmixofnaturalandtechnolog- Taliban,womencouldnotcomeoutunlessac- Afghanistan and brutalised more,Pakistanhassignalledtheendofthefalse utopiainwhichwomenhavetobetamedfur-
companiedbyamaleguardianandtherewas truce against the Shia, with Pakistan Tehreek- ther according to sharia.
ical means — sensors in drains that warn of floods, tried in Buenos Aires and some US cities the population, especially
no question of getting any kind of education. e-Insaf’s (PTI) Chaudhry Shujaat Husain and Pakistanisputtingupawire-fenceonthe
forexample.ThefloodsinHyderabadandPuneareawarningthatthereisnotimetowaste. women, and balefully
The Taliban prohibited women from holding Parvez Elahi introducing a bill in the Punjab Durand Line while the Taliban — Afghan and
jobs. Except, of course, when they helped in influenced the Islamic state- Assembly mandating reverence of the Sunni Pakistani — take potshots at the soldiers as-
poppy cultivation and opium harvesting. in-chrysalis, Pakistan, into saintlypersonalitiestraditionallytraducedby signed to erect the fence. Yet, when the del-

ARTIST OF DESIGN
The post-Taliban constitution in 2004
gave Afghan women all kinds of rights that
significantlyimproved theirsocio-economic
condition. The regime constructed 3,135
Bhanu Athaiya’s work helped highlight the functional health facilities by 2018, giving 87
percentof Afghanpeopleaccesstoamedical
role costume design plays in cinema
an imitative misdemeanour.
Under the Taliban, women
simply could not come out
unless accompanied by a
male guardian and there
theShia.InKarachi,thecampaignforthe“cor-
rection” of the Shias has actually started. This
will inspire the Taliban when they rule in
Afghanistanonceagain,withaneyecockedat
the Shia community of Central Afghanistan,
the Hazara.
ugeof refugeescomes,fleeingtheexemplary
bravery of the Islamic soldiers, it will be the
children and women who will suffer most.
The women of Pakistan are already suffering
assaults in the cities where the muezzin du-
tifully calls out from the minarets.

B
facility within two hours distance — at least AmnestyInternationalhadoncecounted
in theory. The Taliban attacked the facilities, was no question of getting the number of Afghans who had to leave The writer is consulting editor,
Y 1983, WHEN Bhanu Athaiya — who passed away on Thursday at 91 — making road travel increasingly unsafe. In any kind of education. Afghanistan during 40 years of war — and Newsweek Pakistan
won the Oscar for best costume design for Gandhi, she already had a body
of work behind her that included some of the classics of Indian cinema —
Guru Dutt’s Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam and Pyaasa and Guide, to name a few.

OCTOBER 17, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO

But it was her rise to international prominence that brought into the spot-
light the role of a costume designer in creating a world on-screen that is authentic, or
subtle and grand, deploying research and detail, as much as the imagination.
Athaiya was the first woman to be invited to be part of the Bombay Progressive ASSAM TALKS FAIL. Guwahati or any other city in Assam. But IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS
Artists Group and was part of their seminal exhibition in 1953. She turned to costume THE CURRENT ROUND of talks between Union Home Minister Giani Zail Singh said A DEAL WAS said to be in the works to se-
design and fashion to make a living, but her approach to her craft continued to bear AASU and AAGSP and the government that the next round will be held after pujas, cure the release of US hostages in Iran in re-
the impression of her training in art. The costumes in Gandhi and Lagaan, for example, failed and both sides were not sure when “and naturally in Delhi”. turn for US spare parts for its American
they would be resumed. The bone of con- made arsenal. Five US aircrafts were report-
were remarkable for their attention to detail, the play of consonance and contrast, to
ensure that the period in which the film is set is paid homage to, while still reflecting
tention remains the cut-off date for the en- SIRIMAVO EXPELLED edly ready to leave for Tehran according to
try of foreigners. While the Assam leaders SIRIMAVO BANDARANAIKE, SRI Lanka’s a TV channel. The US state department has,
the character of those who wore them. said the talks had flopped because of the first woman Prime Minister, one time a however, denied these reports.
It is difficult to imagine in 2020 that costume designers were once unknown entities: government’s failure to see reason, a gov- leader of the non-aligned movement and
The biggest names in fashion are now also found in films. But for a long time, the process ernment spokesperson said that the pres- leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, was NO PRAYERS AT IDGAH
of film-making was thought to be centred around stars, or, at best, seen as the realisation ent round had remained inconclusive stripped of her civic rights by Parliament ULEMAS OF MORADABAD have decided not
of the director’s vision. Athaiya’s work and the recognition it eventually received were though both sides had understood each and expelled from the assembly where she to congregate at the locaI Idgah for Id-ul-
other better and narrowed down the differ- had sat for 20 continuous years, 12 of them Zuha prayers. Instead, they would pray in
instrumental in changing that perception. Cinema is not made by a set of technicians
ences. Assam leaders who came to the con- as Prime Minister. A resolution passed by the local mosques according to a leaflet cir-
bringingtofruitionanauteur’svision;itisacollaborationof artistsworkingtowardsacom- ference hall rather agitated said that the Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa was culated by them on the eve of the Prime
mon goal. With every fabric she chose and shaped, Bhanu Athaiya proved that point. next round, if any, will have to be held in passed by a two-thirds majority. Minister’s visit to the city.

Lucknow

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020
THE IDEAS PAGE
The real population worry
Theskewedsexratiocouldupsetthegainsfromafallingfertilityrate.Thereisanurgentneedtoreachyoung
peoplebothforreproductivehealtheducation andservicesaswellastocultivategender equitynorms
C Rangarajan and
J K Satia
RECENTLY, THERE HAS BEEN discussion in
the media on India’s population future
prompted by release of the Sample
Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report
(2018) and global population projections
made by the Institute of Health Metrics and
Evaluation (IHME), US.
Fertility has been declining in India for
some time now. SRS report estimated the
Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the number of chil-
drenamotherwouldhaveatthecurrentpat-
tern of fertility during her lifetime, as 2.2 in
the year 2018. Fertility is likely to continue to
decline and it is estimated that replacement
TFR of 2.1 would soon be, if not already,
reached for India as a whole. As fertility de-
clines, so does the population growth rate.
This report estimated the natural annual
population growth rate to be 1.38 per cent in
2018. With India’s estimated population of
137 crore, this means that net 1.9 crore per-
sons would have been added that year.
A comparison of 2011 and 2018 SRS sta-
tistical reportsshows that TFRdeclined from
2.4to2.2duringthisperiod.Fertilitydeclined
inallmajorstates.In2011,10states hada fer-
tility rate below the replacement rate. This
increased to 14 states (including two new
newly carved states — Telangana and
Uttarakhand). The annual natural popula-
tion growth rate also declined from 1.47 to
1.38 per cent during this period.
Many people believe that thepopulation
would stabilise or begin to reduce in a few
years once replacement fertility is reached.
This is not so because of the population mo-
mentum effect, a result of more people en-
tering the reproductive age group of 15-49
years due to the past high-level of fertility.
For instance, the replacement fertility level
was reached in Kerala around 1990, but its
annual population growth rate was 0.7 per
cent in 2018, nearly 30 years later. The UN
Population Division has estimated that
India’s population would possibly peak at
161 crore around 2061 at the medium-fer-
tility variant, and will be lower by about 10
per cent at the low fertility variant. Recently,
IHME estimated that it will peak at 160 crore
in 2048. Needless to add that estimates so
faroutintimehaveconsiderableuncertainty.
Some of this momentum effect can be miti-
gatedif youngpeopledelaychildbearingand
space their children.
The six states with higher than national
fertility rate (and their TFR) in 2018 are Bihar
(3.2), Uttar Pradesh (2.9) Madhya Pradesh
(2.7), Rajasthan (2.5), Jharkhand (2.5) and
Chhattisgarh (2.4) (Table 1). Fertility largely
dependsuponsocialsettingandprogramme
strength. Female education is a key indica-
tor for social setting. Broadly, higher the fe-
male education level, lower the fertility. For
instance, illiterate women in the reproduc-
tiveagegroupof 15-49yearshavehigherfer-
tilitythanliteratewomeninalmostallstates.
Kalraj Mishra
THE NATIONAL EDUCATION Policy (NEP) is
basedonwide-rangingconsultations,includ-
ingreportsoftheTSRSubramanian(2016)and
K Kasturirangan (2019) committees, deliber-
ations in 676 districts, 6,600 blocks, 2.5 lakh
grampanchayatsanddiscussionwithteachers
and the common man. It is thus important in
morewaysthanone.Itisonlythethirdeduca-
tion policy promulgated by the Centre — the
other two being the policies enunciated by
Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi in 1968 and
RajivGandhiin1986.Butatamorefundamen-
tallevel,theNEPisimportantforseveralquan-
titative, and more importantly, qualitative
changes across the development spectrum.
Theserangefrompre-schooltohighereduca-
tionwiththrustonpracticalityandskilldevel-
opment; breaking the stereotypical divide of
arts, commerce and science streams in high
school;reorganisingschoolingyears;making
theeducationsystemmoreinclusive;permis-
sion to foreign universities to establish
branches in India; and thrust on Indian and
ancientlanguages.Thereisarefreshingmove
fromperiodic“inspections”toself-assessment
andvoluntarydeclarationwithtransparency,
quality standards and positive public percep-
tion being the keywords. A single, lean struc-
ture with four verticals for standards-setting,
funding,accreditationandregulationwillpro-
vide “light but tight” oversight.
Othertransformativechangesrelatetoed-
ucation in the local language or mother
tongueatleastuptothefifthgradeandif pos-
sible,eighthandbeyond;universalaccessand
earlychildhoodeducation;curriculumchange
leadingtolearningoutcomes(LOs)andcom-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“That the government is diligently laying the foundation for the large-scale
digital surveillance of citizens is deeply unsettling. What is more disturbing is
the secrecy with which all of this is being done, with even the tech companies
complaining that they have been left in the dark.” — DAWN
Finding common
ground
Coronavirus has shown us that there are new
ways of improving our ties. India and Spain
must build a stronger relationship
In the educational field, the launching
of the Delhi-based Instituto Cervantes in
2007markedaturningpointforIndiansin-
terestedinlearningSpanish.Thisofficialin-
stitution, dedicated to promoting our lan-
TABLE 1: TOTAL FERTILITY RATE guage and culture has allowed thousands
of Indians to learn Spanish every year, be-
■ Illiteratewomeninagegroup15-49years,2018,(%) ■ NFHS Unmetneed2015-16(%) ■ TFR2018 coming one of the most important centres
in the world. In addition to that, several
■ NFHSContraceptiveprevalence2015-16(%) ■ NFHSTotaldemandforFP2015-16(%) José Ramón MoUs signed between Indian Universities
100 3.5 Barañano and the Spanish Agency for International
Cooperation and Development (AECID),
80 3.0 have helped introduce the learning of
60 2.5 THEREISNOgreaterhonourforadiplomat Spanish into the Indian academic system,
than to celebrate his National Day in the thus strengthening the educational coop-
40 2.0 country he is serving, especially when you eration between our countries. In this re-
20 1.5 have been given the privilege of represent- spect,theseexchangeprogrammesshould
ingyournationinIndia.Foranambassador, continuetoexpandinordertoimproveour
0 1.25 theNationalDayisaperfectoccasiontoun- mutual understanding and our citizens´
derline the state of relations between the professional possibilities. The Spanish lan-
Uttarakhand
India
AndhraPradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Delhi
Gujarat
Haryana
HimachalPradesh
Jammu&Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
MadhyaPradesh
Maharashtra
Odisha
Punjab
Rajasthan
TamilNadu
Telangana
UttarPradesh
WestBengal
countries,andtothinkaboutwhathasbeen guage gives access to a market that spans
done so far and what can be improved in 20 million square kilometres and reaches
the future. more than 500 million people.
This year, our National Day, October 12, Allowmetogobackto2016,asthatyear
took place in trying circumstances caused markedaturningpointinourculturalrela-
by the pandemic. The whole world is fac- tions, when Madrid held the IIFA awards.
Source: Data on TFR and Illiterate women is from SSR Statistical Report 2018. Data on unmet need and contraceptive prevalence is from NFHS 2015-16.
ing a great political, economic, social and Theeyesof millionsof Indiancitizenswere
humanitarianchallenge.Iwouldliketopay staring at the capital of Spain, proving the
C R Sasikumar
tributetothevictimsof thecoronavirusand great potential of cultural cooperation be-
acknowledge the bravery and strength tween the two countries. This event took
The percentage of illiterate women in the re- strengthened in these states. shown by all the sanitary professionals place five years after the production of
productive age group declined from 31.5 in Themosttroublingstatisticsinthereport around the world, who have worked day blockbuster Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara — a
2011 to 13.0 per cent in 2018 as the cohort of are for sex ratio at birth. Biologically normal and night to protect us. filmthatintroducedSpainintoeveryIndian
older women with high illiteracy exited and sex ratio at birth is 1,050 males to 1,000 fe- October 12 reminds us that Spain be- home. These are only two examples of the
younger women with a high proportion of malesor950femalesto1,000males.TheSRS longs to a great community comprising great impact that Spain and India can have
themliterateenteredthisagegroup.Theper- reports show that sex ratio at birth in India, more than 500 million people who share a in each other’s countries.
centage of illiterate women in this age group measured as the number of females per commonlanguageandhistory,strongeco- In the economic field, before the pan-
was higher than 15 per cent in all the high- 1,000 males, declined marginally from 906 nomic ties and even family linkage. These demic, exchanges between India and Spain
fertilitystates, which comprise nearly 40 per in 2011 to 899 in 2018. There is considerable common features between Spain and the were improving, but still have not reached
cent of India’s population. As the literacy of The most troubling statistics son preference in all states, except possibly Ibero-American countries led to the cre- their real potential. Economic flows signifi-
women in the reproductive age group is im- in the report is for sex ratio in Kerala and Chhattisgarh. The UNFPA State ation of the Ibero-American Summit in cantlyincreasedatthebeginningofthecen-
proving rapidly, we can be sanguine about of World Population 2020 estimated the sex 1991.Todaythisbodyincludes22European tury and will continue to do so if we man-
continued fertility reduction.
at birth. Biologically normal ratio at birth in India as 910, lower than all and American Spanish-and-Portuguese- agetodealefficientlyinthepost-pandemic
Programme strength is indicated by the sex ratio at birth is 1,050 the countries in the world except China. This speaking countries, whose leaders meet scenario.Spanishcompaniescanoffergreat
unmet need for contraception, which has males to 1,000 females or is a cause for concern because this adverse every two years to discuss issues of inter- expertise acquired throughout the world
several components. The most important 950 females to 1,000 males. ratioresultsinagrossimbalanceinthenum- national agenda, focusing on social cohe- over the last decades. To give only two ex-
of them is the proportion of married berof menandwomenanditsinevitableim- sion, education and culture. amples — in the infrastructure field, Spain
women who are neither pregnant nor
The SRS reports show that pact on marriage systems as well as other Our diplomatic relations with India has many renowned companies that have
amenorrhoeic and do not desire a child in sex ratio at birth in India, harms to women. started in 1956, but we have developed a contributed to developing ports, airports,
the next two years or ever but are not prac- measured as the number of Thus, much more attention is needed on deeper relationship more recently. Both roadsandotherfacilitiesallovertheplanet,
tising contraception. The National Family females per 1,000 males, this issue. Increasing female education and countrieshavestrengthenedtheirfriendship and in the field of alternative energy, Spain
Health Survey (2015-16) provides us esti- economic prosperity help to improve the ra- with an intense institutional agenda at the has built strong capabilities that represent
mates for the unmet need at 12.9 per cent declined marginally from tio. It is hoped that a balanced sex ratio at highestlevel.Justafewdaysaftermyarrival anotherkeysectorwithcleareconomicand
and contraceptive prevalence of 53.5 per 906 in 2011 to 899 in 2018. birth could be realised over time, although in India in 2017, His Majesty King Felipe VI commercial potential.
cent for India. Together, this puts the total There is considerable son this does not seem to be happening during andtheformerPresidentoftheGovernment Next year, India and Spain will celebrate
demand for contraception at 66.4 per cent. preference in all states, the period 2011-18. In view of the complex- of Spain Mariano Rajoy received Prime 65yearsof diplomaticrelations.Iwillnotbe
Bihar, with the highest fertility rate, also ity of son preference resulting in gender-bi- Minister Narendra Modi during his official heretocelebrateitwithmyIndianfriendsas
has the highest unmet need at 21.1 per cent except possibly in Kerala and ased sex selection, government actions need visit.PrimeMinisterModiandthePresident my tenure in India is coming to an end. I am
and the lowest contraceptive prevalence Chhattisgarh. UNFPA State to be supplemented by improving women’s of the Government of Spain Pedro Sánchez sure that India and Spain will fully recover
rate of 24.1 per cent among all the major of World Population 2020 status in the society. also held talks on the sidelines of the G20 from this pandemic and resume all neces-
states. Although female education levels In conclusion, there is an urgent need to SummitinArgentinainDecember2018,and sary contacts to maintain and reinforce our
estimated sex ratio at birth in
are improving in Bihar, fertility for women reach young people both for reproductive both leaders discussed the situation caused partnership. The coronavirus has shown us
with any education level is higher in 2018 India as 910, lower than all health education and services as well as to bythecurrentpandemicduringatelephone thattherearenewwaysofimprovingourpo-
compared to 2011. The programme is the countries in the world cultivategender equity norms.This could re- conversation in April. More recently, during litical, economic and cultural ties that we
somewhat stronger in UP as unmet need is except China. It is a cause of duce the effect of population momentum the sixth round of the India-Spain have to take advantage of in order to build a
18 per cent and contraceptive prevalence and accelerate progress towards reaching a Consultation Mechanism in July, the stronger relationship.
is 45.5 per cent. Strangely, fertility among
concern because this adverse more normal sex-ratio at birth. India’s pop- Secretary-West of the Indian Ministry of Duringthelastthreeyears,Ihaveworked
women with Class 10 or higher education ratio results in a gross ulation future depends on it. ExternalAffairsandtheSpanishSecretaryof closely with my colleagues from India and
in UP is greater in 2018 compared to 2011. imbalance in the number of State for Foreign Affairs met virtually to dis- other embassies. I am very thankful to all of
Programmes in these two states need to re- men and women and its Rangarajan is former Chairman, Prime cusstherelationsbetweenourcountriesand you.Ithasbeenagreathonourtoserveasthe
spond to this. Programme’s ability to reach Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and thedifferentareaswherecooperationcould Ambassador of Spain in India and end my
younger people and provide them with
inevitable impact on former Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Satia be enhanced. Spain is committed to diplomaticcareerinthisincrediblecountry.
good quality reproductive health educa- marriage systems as well as is Professor Emeritus, Indian Institute of strengtheningIndo-Spanishrelationsatthe
tion and services needs to be urgently other harms to women. Public Health, Gandhinagar highest levels and in different areas. The writer is ambassador of Spain to India
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
An eye on the future DOUBLE STANDARDS
THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘I’m the IDEAS
Withitsfocusonequityandcriticallearning,NEPaddressespresent,futurechallenges
ONLINE
Unborn Baby’ (IE, October 15). I am
someone approaching my seventies
and lived a life with no religion, caste
and language barriers. My elder sister ONLY IN THE EXPRESS
was a Muslim, my best friends include
petencies; stress on equity, gender, special ecosystem include high-quality universities asteacherabsenteeism.Theshiftfromprinted a Christian and a Sikh. The lady who ● ALL WOMEN ARE
needs and promotion of multilingualism. and colleges, multidisciplinary education, content-oriented teaching to experimental cooked for us and looked after my fa- WORKING WOMEN:
Also welcome is the focus on early child learningoptimisation,extensionof thegrad- learning and concept-oriented teaching re- ther till his last day was a Dalit, whom DIYA DUTTA
development, the endeavour to reduce the uate course from three to four years, multi- quires the implementation of NITI Aayog’s we called “Aatya”. But now I find the
dropout rate, putting in place different forms ple entry and exit points, college teachers’ SchoolEducationQualityIndex(SEQI’s)vision things are changing, and the change ● A CASEFOR
of assessment, the emphasis on essential education, replacement of the UGC, AICTE for teacher adequacy. It also requires trans- is not being brought in by Hindus, PEACEJOURNALISM:
learningandcriticalthinkingandthecentral- and NAAC, dispensing with the MPhil pro- parentsystemsformerit-basedselectionand who are always at the receiving end.
ity of the teacher and teacher education. The gramme and the proposed National deployment of teachers and online systems I have a question: Could this ad be
VIJAYDARDA
NEP will bring two crore out-of-school chil- Research Foundation. The key principles of forteachertransfers.Atthesametime,ittalks made with a Muslim girl coming to a
dren back into the mainstream. The policy the NEP relate to accessibility, equality, ac- of an enabling milieu for teachers — good Hindu family after marriage? The an- www.indianexpress.com
aims at a 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio countability, affordability, and quality of ed- salaries, and the ready availability of peda- swer us no. Because the purpose is al-
(GER)inschooleducationby2030and50GER ucation. The “fragmented” ecosystem of gogic tools. They are free to design curricula ways to show that Muslims are
in higher education by 2025 – it’s currently higher education will be integrated once and evolve assessment methods and imple- friendly and open minded. What hurts porting those very Hindutva forces
about 25 per cent. NEP’s vision of combining different institu- ment innovative pedagogies. me is that the way Hindu gods are they are supposed to be engaged in a
Universal access to education at all levels tions into multidisciplinary universities and The proof of the pudding is, however, in made a joke of in movies, in stand-up fight to the finish. Donning a Dalit card
canbeachievedbymultiplelearningpathways “higher education institution clusters” or the eating. The philosophy of access, equity, comedy, in advertisements, in car- by leaders will not deter the oppres-
involvingbothformalandnon-formaleduca- “knowledge hubs” is realised. By upgrading infrastructure, governance and learning has toons, everywhere. Hindus tolerate it, sors from saffronising the whole so-
tion modes, through a focus on achieving de- the digital infrastructure, emphasising on ultimately to be grounded in action to drive some even laugh with crowd. And I ciety. Their divided approach will only
sired learning outcomes across levels, recall- learning at your own pace and underlining India’sgrowth,modernisationandstructural have not seen anyone writing about denude the Dalit movement.
ing dropouts back to school, alternative and the importance of online courses, the NEP transformation.Thepolicyjustifiablyaimsto impropriety of such acts. Why call the Tarsem Singh, Mahilpur
innovative education centres. While “educa- attempts to bridge the digital divide. increase the spending on education from the reaction to this ad anti-women? What
tion is a public good”, NEP also suggests phil-
anthropic private participation.
India is gradually acquiring its place in
theworldof knowledge.NEP,ajudiciousmix
current3.2percentofGDPto6percentofthe
GDP.However,mobilisingfundscouldbedif-
is anti-women in opposing such an
ad? And it is not trolling as the article
LEARNING FOR JOBS
Some elements of the overarching of need-based policy, cutting-edge research ficultbecauseoftheresourcecrunch,lowtax- tries to portray it. THIS REFERS TO the article 'World of
UniversalAccesstoEarlyChildhoodCareand and best practices, constitutes an important to-GDPratio,kick-startingtheeconomy,strife Anil Patil, Pune exam warriors' (IE, October 16). The
Education (ECCE) framework relate to the elementof thecountry'sdevelopmentstrat- with neighbours and competing develop- role and pattern of any education sys-
NCERT’sNationalCurricularandPedagogical
Framework for Early Childhood Education
egy and facilitates the way for “one nation,
one curriculum” policy.
ment requirements. The policy’s success will
alsohingeonitsintegrationwiththegovern-
POOR ALLIES tem largely depends on the socio-eco-
nomic status of the society. In poorer
(NCPFECE). It also involves aligning NCPFECE The policy talks of solving mathematics ment’s other polices — the New Industrial THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘A broader societies, it is natural that education
withthelatestresearchonECCEandnational problems through a variety of innovative Policy, Digital India, Skill India, Atmanirbhar imagination’ (IE, October 16). Without that enables a student to grab a high-
and international best practices. The integra- methods,includingtheregularuseof puzzles Bharat and the “vocal for local” programme. exception, all Dalit parties are piggy- paying job is preferred over education
tionofvocationaleducationwithbasiceduca- and games. There is a provision to teach cod- It's crucial that such challenges are ad- backing on Ambedkar’s legacy for that may broaden his horizons.
tion in all institutions by identifying focus ar- ingatthemiddle-schoollevelandanempha- dressed.For,addressingtheimperativesofthe their so-called fight for equal treat- Science, therefore, gains over arts.In
eas based on skills gap analysis and mapping sis on mainstreaming Sanskrit to increase presentandexpectationsofthefuturewillde- ment for the downtrodden in the India, this dilemma is further compli-
of local opportunities will develop entrepre- “knowledgeof ancientIndiaanditscontribu- pend on the policy’s success. country. Unfortunately, when it cated by the weight of sheer numbers.
neurial competencies. tionstomodernIndia”.Ittalksof cappingfees comes to the crunch, they end up sup- H N Bhagwat, Chiplun
Innovations in the higher education andtriestoaddresspersistentproblemssuch The writer is Governor of Rajasthan
Lucknow
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

10 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020

17 BIOFORTIFIED CROP VARIETIES DEDICATED TO NATION Giriraj Singh calls

PM:Willsoondecideonrevising Congress candidate
minageofmarriageforwomen
DELHI CONFIDENTIAL
‘Jinnah sympathiser’

E
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
61.1% to 75.04%. It's also during PATNA, OCTOBER 16

HARIKISHAN SHARMA
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi
said Friday that the government
will take a decision soon on re-
vising the minimum age of mar-
riage for women once it receives
a report from the committee
constituted for this purpose.
NECESSARY STEPS Addressingavideoconference
afterreleasingacommemorative
UNION HEALTH Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is a worried man. coinofRs75denominationonthe
Over the coming months, the minister has said, the spread of 75th anniversary of the Food and
theCovid-19pandemicislikelytoworsen,primarilyduetotwo Agriculture Organisation (FAO),
reasons:thewintermonths,whenexpertsexpectthevirustobe thePrimeMinisteralsoreiterated
morevirulent,andthecomingfestivalseason.OnFriday,Vardhan thatgovernmentprocurementon
met heads of the Department of Science and Technology and the minimum support price will
the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research to discuss how continue.
physical distancing norms can be maintained during the “next On the age of marriage, Modi
fewcrucialmonths”,andwhetheritispossibletodevelopa“jan said: “Necessary discussion is
andolan” – or mass movement – to impose these. going on to decide what should
be the ideal age of marriage for
daughters. I also get letters from
NO POSITIVE, THIS suchconsciousdaughtersacross
the country who ask to decide it
SENIOR CONGRESS leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya quickly, and ask why the com-
Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad may not be able to campaign in mittee'sreporthasnotcomeyet.
Bihar, at least during the first phase of the Assembly elections. I assure all those daughters that
He tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday. Azad had cam- the government will take action
paignedextensivelyintheSeemanchalregionlasttime.Three on the report very soon.”
other senior Congress leaders -- Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vora On June 2 this year, the Union
and R P N Singh -- are recovering after having tested positive Ministry for Women and Child
forcoronavirus.FormerpartypresidentRahulGandhiislearnt Developmentsetupataskforceto
to have spoken with Azad and inquired about his health. examinethepossibilityofincreas-
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi at the video
conference on Friday. ANI
ingtheageofmarriageforwomen
from18to21asameasuretolower
Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)
and improve nutritional levels,
apartfromotherinitiatives.
In his speech, the PM also
listedgovernmentinitiativeslike
Jal Jeevan Mission, Mission
Indradhanush, Swachh Bharat
Mission and National Nutrition
Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan) for
the “nutrition and care” and
health of children and women.
“We have adopted an inte-
gratedandholisticapproach.We
started working on a multi-di-
mensional strategy by abolish-
ing the silos,” he said.
“Today, sanitation pads are
being provided to the poor sis-
ters and daughters of the coun-
tryforRe1.Oneeffectof allthese
EXPLAINED
What the law
● says on age
SECTION 5(III) of Hindu
Marriage Act, 1955, sets 18
years as the minimum age
for the bride and 21 for the
groom. Child marriages
can be declared void at the
request of the minor. In
Islam, marriage of a minor
who has attained puberty
is considered valid. The
Special Marriage Act,
1954, and Prohibition of
Child Marriage Act, 2006,
also prescribe 18 and 21
years as minimum age of
consent for marriage
for women and men,
respectively.
efforts is that for the first time in
thecountry,thegrossenrolment
ratio of daughters for education
has been much higher than
sons,” Modi said.
According to UNESCO, the
Gross Enrolment Ratio of (GER)
girls in secondary education in
India registered an increase be-
tween 2010 and 2014 — from
this period that the enrolment
gap between girls and boys nar-
rowed significantly and eventu-
allyledtogirlsovertakingboysin
secondaryeducation.Theenrol-
mentnumbersforgirls,however,
have plateaued ever since, hov-
ering between 74% and 75%. For
2019,theenrolmentratioforgirls
in secondary education stood at
74.52% and for boys at 73.14%.
Allaying concerns of farmers
about the new farm laws, the
Prime Minister reiterated that
thegovernmentwouldcontinue
to procure on the MSP.
“MSP and government pro-
curement are an important part
of the country's food security.
Therefore, it is very important
that it should be well-managed
scientifically and with good
management, it should con-
tinue, and we are committed to
this,” he said.
The Prime Minister also ded-
icated to the nation 17 recently
developedbiofortifiedvarietiesof
crops. He said common varieties
of some crops lacked some mi-
cronutrients and, therefore, bio-
fortifiedvarietiesweredeveloped
toovercometheseshortcomings.
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
BJP BEGUSARAI MP and Union
minister of state Giriraj Singh on
Friday accused the Congress of
fielding a "sympathiser" of
Mohammad Ali Jinnah from the
Jale seat in Darbhanga district, Giriraj Singh
and asked whether the
Mahagathbandhansupportsthe
ideology of the Pakistan leader. controversy had arisen during
Singh also supported recent re- Usmani'stermasheadof thestu-
marks of another Union minis- dents'unionwhenalocalBJPMP
terof statefromBihar,Nityanand had demanded removal of
Rai, a few days ago that Bihar Jinnah'sphotofromtheunionof-
would become "a shel- fice. The AMU had de-
ter for terrorists" if the fended the photo, point-
RJD was voted to ing out that Jinnah was
power. the founder member of
Talking to reporters theUniversityCourtand
at the BJP office here, grantedlifemembership
Singh said the Grand of its students' union.
Allianceshouldexplain
DECISION The Congress re-
its position on the can- 2020 sponded saying "it
didature of Maskoor
BIHAR would not allow the BJP
Usmani. "Let us know to digress from the core
if the Congress's Jale candidate, issue of development" and chal-
Usmani, supports Jinnah? Will lenged the Centre to take action
SharjeelImam(of Jehanabadori- against Usmani if he was guilty.
gin, who is in jail under the BiharCongressspokesperson
UAPA), will be the Grand Rajesh Rathore said, "We do not
Alliance's star campaigner?" attach importance to someone
FormerAMUStudents'Union who is foul-mouthed... Giriraj
president, Usmani, who belongs Singh has been keeping quiet for
to Darbhanga, had been booked the last six months during the
under sedition charges in 2019 pandemic... Our candidate is not

GOING CYBER
by the Civil Lines Police Station, a convict and sedition charges
Aligarh,forallegedlyraisinganti- against him were dropped. The

CYBERSECURITY BEING on South Block’s list of priorities, the

ForeignServiceInstitute,whichtrainsIndiandiplomats,hasin-
Cong back to Divide India dirty tricks: national slogans. The police had BJP is in government at the
later said it was considering Centre. It can expedite the case
dropping the charges. In 2018, a against our candidate (if it can)."
troduced a course in 'Cyber Security', being conducted by the
GujaratForensicSciencesUniversity.Asyoungdiplomatsheaded
to their postings, they have been asked to be extremely careful
Nadda on Chidambaram’s J&K remark
about cyberattacks being the new challenge in diplomacy.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
Chidambaram tweeted, “The
Congressalsoresolutelystandsfor
restorationofthestatusandrights
Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
and B R Ambedkar, assisted by N
Gopalaswamy Ayyangar and V P
authorised to take a decision on
such matters and not individual
leaders. Yes we are a democratic
Army draft policy for
rehab of local militants
ED files charges
ofthepeopleofJ&K.Thearbitrary Menon. Article 370 is the country and leaders can have
HOURS AFTER former home andunconstitutionaldecisionsof Constitutionalrecognitionof the their opinion. But the party’s

pending with govt, says

minister P Chidambaram said the Modi government of August terms of the Instrument of stance is decided by the CWC.”
the Congress resolutely stands 5, 2019 must be rescinded.” Accession between the State of Slamming the Congress,

in 2012 Bihar
for restoration of the status and Thestatementassumessignif- Jammu & Kashmir and India. It Naddasaid,“SinceCongresshasno

senior Army officer

rights of the people of Jammu icance as the Congress Working deserved to be honoured until it good governance agenda to talk
and Kashmir, BJP president J P Committee had in its meeting on wasamended,afterconsultation about,theyarebacktotheir‘Divide
Nadda on Friday lashed out at August 6 last year -- a day after with all sections of the people, India’dirtytricksbeforeBiharelec-

hooch tragedy
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
THEENFORCEMENTDirectorate
(ED)hasfiledaprosecutioncom-
plaint, which is the equivalent to
a chargesheet, against the ac-
cused in the 2012 Bihar hooch
tragedy case, in which 21 people
haddied. Ithasalsofiledaprayer
withaspecialcourtinPatnathat
the accused’s assets to the tune
of Rs 1.32 crore be confiscated.
Theagencyhadearlierprovi-
sionally attached these proper-
tiesinconnectionwithitsmoney
laundering probe against ac-
cused Sanjay Pratap Singh, his
wifeKiranDeviandhisassociate,
Srikumar Singh in a hooch
tragedy which caused death of
21 people in Ara, Nawada of
Bhojpur district in the state.
Theattachedpropertiesliable
for confiscation include 15
landed plots along with con-
structionontwoplotsheldinthe
nameof accusedSingh,hisasso-
ciates and balances in bank ac-
countsheldinthenameof Singh
and his unregistered firm, Maa
Construction.
The ED case is based on an
FIR registered by Bihar police
against Singh in 2012. “State
Police investigation revealed
that deceased persons had
consumed country liquor
which was doubted to be spu-
rious and manufactured/sold
by Sanjay Pratap Singh and his
NEET RESULTS OUT, TWO CANDIDATES GET 720/720
The agency had earlier
provisionally attached
these properties in
connection with its
money laundering
probe against accused
associates. The Hon’ble 1st ASJ,
Bhojpur, Ara vide judgement
dated24.07.2018held14accused
persons including Sanjay Pratap
Singh guilty of the offences un-
der IPC, Excise Act and SC/ST Act
andawardedsentenceof lifeim-
prisonment with fine of
Rs.25,000/-toeachaccusedper-
son,” the ED said in a statement.
It said its probe has revealed
that Singh has invested the
“Proceeds of Crime” generated
through illegal trade of country
liquor for acquiring immovable
properties in his and his wife’s
name.
“Intheyear2011,withinten-
tiontolegalizehistaintedincome
from country liquor, Sanjay
PratapSinghformedanunregis-
teredfirmnamelyBhojpurWine
Traders to launder Proceeds of
Crime. Investigation also re-
vealed that the accused used
the Proceeds of Crime into the
construction business namely
Maa Construction where ill-
gotten money was used for ac-
quisition of immovable prop-
erty,” ED said.
the Opposition party, accusing it
of deploying “Divide India dirty
tricks” ahead of Bihar elections.
While welcoming the “com-
ing together of mainstream re-
gionalpartiesofJ&Ktofightacon-
stitutional battle to restore the
rights of the people of Jammu,
Kashmir and Ladakh”,
Four minor
siblings killed
in Maharashtra
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, OCTOBER 16
FOUR MINOR siblings of a tribal
family were allegedly hacked to
death with an axe at a village in
Jalgaon district on Friday, police
said.
The children — Sangita (12),
Rahul(11),Anil(8)andSuman(3)
— lived with their parents,
Mehtab and Rumali Bai Bhilala
andelderbrotherSanjay(16),on
afarmatBorkhedaShivarvillage
in Raver taluka. Police said
Mehtab, Rumali and Sanjay had
travelled to MP on Thursday for
a funeral and had left the chil-
dren in the care of their landlord
Mushtaq Shaikh.
“On Friday, Shaikh went to
check on the children and found
the door closed... When he
steppedinside,hesawallthefour
children lying in a pool of blood
and an axe on the floor,” a police
official said.
Parliamentratifiedthemovetore-
voke Jammu and Kashmir’s spe-
cialstatusandbifurcateitintotwo
UnionTerritories—discussedthe
issue and slammed the govern-
ment, but was silent on restora-
tion of the special status.
“Article 370 was conceived
and crafted by Pandit Jawaharlal
ALTERNATE TRANSPORT
Commuters board a ferry to
cross Ulhas creek in
Mumbai on Friday. With
suburban train services
restricted and buses
frequently stranded on
potholed and congested
roads, officegoers from
and strictly in accordance with
the Constitution of India,” the
CWChadsaid,withoutdemand-
ing restoration of the special sta-
tus or revocation of the decision.
Asked to comment on
Chidambaram'sstatement,asen-
iorCongressfunctionarytoldThe
Indian Express, “Only the CWC is
Kalyan and Dombivali areas
in Mumbai have resorted to
a decade-old ferry service,
which operates between
Dombivali and Bhiwandi, to
cut down on travel time. As
businesses reopened after
the lockdown restrictions
tions. Shri Rahul Gandhi praises
Pakistan and Shri Chidambaram
saysCongresswantsArticle370to
return!Shameful!”
HisattackonRahulwasinre-
sponse to a tweet in which the
Congress leader said “even
Pakistan and Afghanistan han-
dled Covid better than India”.
were gradually rolled back,
many who stay far away
from business districts have
seen their daily commute
time double as they are not
yet allowed to access the
suburban trains.
Deepak Joshi
KRISHN KAUSHIK
SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 16
THE ARMY has prepared a pol-
icy for rehabilitation of Kashmiri
youth who had joined militancy
but are willing to surrender. It is
part of the Army’s focus on sur-
render of local militants, but it is
yet to receive the final word on
the draft policy, which has been
submitted to the Ministry of
Home Affairs.
Speakingtosomejournalists,
XVCorpsCommanderLtGeneral
B S Raju Friday said “the policy
has been made, it has been sent,
it has gone up the chain” but “it
has not yet come back”.
“The message I have given to
the population is irrespective of
the policy existing or not exist-
ing, we are ready to go on board
and we will do what is appropri-
ate. If the policy comes in, it will
give us more strength in offering
that as a viable option,” he said.
Rajusaid“thereisalreadyone
policy in place” for people “who
hadgoneacrosstoPakistan”and
were allowed to come back. But
the proposed policy, he said, “is
for people who have taken up
armswithinthevalley”.Rajusaid
hewashopefulthat“itwillmake
some difference”.
Gupkar alliance agenda
against India: J&K BJP
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, OCTOBER 16
He said “it (policy) has to be
approvedbytheHomeMinistry”
and“isbetweentheDefenceand
Home ministries” now.
“People who have already
joined, we are saying you can
come back. Mainly because you
heldagunandtookaphotodoes
not mean you have to die. So,
people who have got the
weapon have also come back.
And that is bigger success to us.”
The XV Corps Commander
said the Army “will be doing
more work on this issue of sur-
renders, because for us, getting
a man back is more important
than neutralising him…”.
“We hope to, through our ac-
tions, our reachout in a manner
where there should be little rea-
son for people to take up arms…
Therearealargenumberof com-
ponents that play a part in it, so
we are a very small part. This is
somethingIhavesharedwiththe
authorities here,” he said.
Speaking about the number
of militants, both domestic and
Pakistani, he said, north and
south Kashmir “put together
have around 200” at the mo-
ment “which was like 260 in the
beginningof theyear”.Heattrib-
uted the reduced numbers to
“close synergy” between all se-
curity agencies.
topushtheir“anti-Indiaagenda”.
A day after formation of a
joint alliance by NC, PDP and

Topper from Odisha says studied 15 hrs daily, balanced with gaming
AISHWARYA MOHANTY
BHUBANESWAR, OCTOBER 16
TWO CANDIDATES attained full
marks in medical entrance
exam NEET, results of which
were declared on Friday night,
according to National Testing
Agency (NTA) officials.
Odisha’s Soyeb Aftab and
Delhi’s Akansha Singh have
scored 720 out of 720 marks but
Aftab has been ranked first and
Singh second as per the NTA’s
tie-breaking policy, the officials
said.
According to officials, the tie-
breaking policy takes into ac-
count factors such as age, sub-
ject-wise marks and number of
Soyeb Aftab (second from right) with his family. Express
incorrect answers.
Aftab hails from Odisha’s
Rourkela district and his father
has a construction company.
Born in a business family, he said
his inspiration to become a doc-
tor is the fact that there are no
doctors in the family. “I knew I
could study hard and become a
doctor. I want to pursue cardiol-
ogy,” Soyeb said. The 18-year-
old said he spent 15 hours a day
studying, including four hours
of self-study apart from school
and coaching. “I made sure that
I spent some time watching
videos on YouTube and playing
games. That helps maintain a
balance. I ensured that during
study hours, my concentration
was on studies and nothing
else,” he said.
Aftab scored 96 per cent in
his Class XII board examina-
tions. He said he did not expect
to top the medical entrance ex-
amination with a perfect score.
Aftab had moved to Kota in
Rajasthan for a two-year coach-
ing programme. His mother and
10-year-old sister had also
moved with him. Soyebwantsto
pursuehisMBBSdegreefromAI-
IMSDelhi. Atotalof7,71,500can-
didates have qualified the exam
for which over 13.66 lakh candi-
dates had appeared.
The highest number of quali-
fyingcandidatesarefromTripura
(88,889)followedbyMaharashtra
(79,974).“Theresulthasbeende-
clared. I congratulate all candi-
dateswhohaveclearedtheexam
and wish them good luck for fu-
ture.IthankNTAforgivinganew
cohortofdoctorsthisyear.Exams
were conducted during ‘testing’
timesandthespiritofcooperative
federalism was also visible. I also
thank all the Chief Ministers for
the same,” Union Education
Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal
‘Nishank’ tweeted.
The NEET was conducted on
September13amidstrictprecau-
tionsinviewofthepandemic.The
examwasearlierpostponedtwice
duetothepandemicandthegov-
ernment decided to go ahead
with it, despite opposition by a
section,tomitigateanyfurtherac-
ademic loss.
National Testing Agency had
set in place strict standard oper-
ating procedures in view of the
pandemic, including measures
like reducing the number of can-
didatesperroomfromthe earlier
24 to 12.
CALLING THE Gupkar alliance an
“agenda of anti-national forces
thatwanttodestabilisethesitua-
tion” in the Valley, Jammu and
Kashmir BJP president Ravinder
Raina on Friday accused the NC
andPDPoffollowingdirectionsof
Pakistan and China to demand
restoration of Article 370, which
he said is next to impossible.
He warned these parties of
“seriousramifications”if theytry
Riotscases:Courtgrantsbailto2
New Delhi: A Delhi court has
grantedbailtotwopersonsintwo
cases related to the Northeast
Delhi riots, saying the com-
plainants in the cases were not
eyewitnesses to the incidents.
Additional Sessions Judge
other mainstream Kashmir-
based politicians – formally
named ‘People’s Alliance for
Gupkar Declaration’ – the BJP
convened a meeting of various
social and religious organisa-
tions to focus on political devel-
opments in Kashmir and forma-
tion of the alliance. At the
meeting, the participants called
foraunitedfightagainstthe“ne-
farious designs” of the NC-PDP-
led alliance.
Amitabh Rawat granted bail to
Mohd Sagir and Mehtab on fur-
nishing a bail bond of Rs 25,000
withonesuretyof likeamountin
each of the two cases related to
vandalism and torching of vehi-
cles during riots in Jafrabad. ENS
Lucknow
 11 DECISION
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020

2020
BIHAR
‘I ALWAYS THINK IN TERMS OF 12 CR PEOPLE OF BIHAR’ FOR MORE LOG ON TO
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‘Poverty is the only caste... Need ● KEY PLAYERS

to focus on overall development’

WHY TEJASHWI DIDN’T
CONCEDE SEATS TO ALLIES?

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CHIRAG PASWAN speaks to SANTOSH SINGH about his father’s advice to be a “sher ka bachcha” and PAPPUYADAV TEJASHWI YADAV IN BANKA, JAMUI;
THE ‘PATHIK’ MANOJ TIWARI IN BHOJPUR
focusing on state politics, calls Modi his ideal, and says differences with JD(U) have been growing for long
Youwillhitthepoliticalarenaforthefirst
timewithoutyourfather...
My father had put everything in place for
Chirag only a vote katua, HASHTAG POLITICS
mebeforeheleft. Hewouldoftentellme,‘Sher
kabachchajunglecheerkarapnaraastabanata
haiaurgidadmaarajatahai(Alion’scubmakes
should stop confusing: BJP ● Tejashwi Yadav releases new song Apna
hiswaythroughthejunglewhileatimidjackal with NDTV that he had discussed his plans Adhikaar
gets killed)’. I would prefer to be a lion’s son. LIZ MATHEW to put up candidates against the JD(U) with
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16 both Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP The RJD leader @yadavtejashwi
Yourfatherwasmoreinvolvedinnational president J P Nadda. He said when he spoke released a new video Hum to lekar
politics.Doyouplantofocusonstate? AS LOK JANSHAKTI PARTY chief Chirag to Shah about it, the latter was “silent”. rahenge apna adhikaar to attack
Definitely...Therehasbeentoomuchfocus Paswan continues reiterating hisadmiration Paswan had also challenged Kumar to con- Nitish Kumar government's
oncastepolitics(inBihar).Whatisthispolitics for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his test the Assembly elections, asking why he
“kushashan”, which gave “(police)
ofrechristeningDalittoMahadalit?Povertyis ties with the National Democratic Alliance had not participated in one since 2005
the only caste... It is good to work on ways to at the Centre, even while attacking the JD(U) (Kumar is an MLC). beatings for job demands,
improvepercapitaincomeofScheduledCaste and Nitish Kumar, the BJP Friday stepped up It has been suggested that the LJP has punishment instead of protection,
communities but there has to be more focus its efforts to distance itself from him. been attacking the JD(U) at the behest of the destitution instead of welfare”.
on overall development index. “ChiragPawanwantstocreateconfusion. BJP, as the latter tries to emerge as the sen-
In Bihar, the BJP, ior partner. A section 48KVIEWS,7.6KLIKES,1.5KRETWEETS,32KLIKES&3.8KSHARESON FBIN10HOURS
ButevenleaderssuchasJagjivanRamand JD(U), VIP of the BJP had
yourfathercouldnotshedcastetags?
Ialwaysthinkintermsofthe12crorepeo-
(Vikassheel Insaan
Party) and HAM
RALLY WATCH: PM MODI wanted the LJP as a
partner, given its 5 Praising the political entry of son @LuvSinha as Congress’ Bankipur (Patna) nominee,
ple of Bihar. I have taken inspiration from PM (Hindustani Awam TO ADDRESS 12 RALLIES per cent support actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) tweeted, “Bihari Babu's son” is
Narendra Modi. He addressed all 125 crore Morcha) are in the base, especially the “most deserving actor, filmmaker” who's “courageous, positive and energetic”.
Indiansduringthe2014LokSabhacampaign. NDA.Wedonothave among the Dalits in 794 LIKES, 135 RETWEETS IN 7 HOURS
I am proud to use Bihari before my name. My any alliance with the the state.
friends told me to say ‘Biharwasi (resident of LJP nor is it a part of 10 Speaking to The
Bihar)’, but I protested... ‘Bihari’ being used as the NDA. Chirag 8 Indian Express, BJP

Cong worry: Hasn’t won

a derogatory term, there has been enough of Paswan should not 5 4 12 state president
that. There is a need to take the entire state ‘I can’t be separate from BJP and PM. be confused nor Sanjay Jaiswal de-
along and focus on development. Want BJP-led LJP govt in Bihar.’ Express spread confusion,” 7 9 11 nied any truck with
BJPgeneral secretary 6 the LJP, saying the

45 of 70 seats in 20 years
What went wrong between the JD (U) in-charge of Bihar 3 BJP and JD(U) “enjoy
and LJP? WhatabouttalksthattheLJPhastheBJP’s Bhupender Yadav 1 2 warm ties” and have
The LJP and JD(U) have not been together supportinBihar? tweeted. a “deep understand-
since2005…TheJD(U)triedtodefeatusonall IhaveblindfaithinthePM.Icannotbesep- Yadav called ing”.Jaiswalalsosaid
our six seats (in 2019; the LJP won all)... I had arate from the BJP, PM. I have often told Amit Paswan’sremarkson OCTOBER23: NOVEMBER1: the BJP would ap-
seen my father calling the CM to Shahji to let me contest alone in Nitish Kumar — who 1.Sasaram 7.Chapra proach the Election MANOJCG
complain about it. We had taken Bihar... I want a double-engine, heads the NDA coali- 2.Gaya 8.EastChamparan Commission if the NEWDELHI,OCTOBER16
it up with the BJP’s top central BJP-led government in Bihar. tion in Bihar — “un- 3.Bhagalpur 9.Samastipur LJP used Modi’s
leadership too... Nitish Kumar fortunate.” “Chirag OCTOBER28: NOVEMBER3: name in the polls. ON PAPER, the apprehension among a sec-
does not trust anyone. He does THE EXPRESS Thereisalsospeculation has contested Lok 4.Darbhanga 10.WestChamparan However, party tion of the Congress of the RJD giving it a bad

INTERVIEW
nottrusteventheBJP.Itisthelack aboutyoubecomingaUnion Sabhaelectioninthis 5.Muzaffarpur 11.Saharsa sources admitted bargain in the 70 seats allotted to it as part of
oftrustthatmadetheBJPsaythat ministeraftertheBiharpolls. coalition... In 6.Patna 12.Forbesganj there is confusion theMahagathbandhan,seemstobejustified.
Nitish would be CM irrespective WITH My focus is Assembly polls. February, he was among BJP workers The constituencies the party is contesting
of which party wins more seats. CHIRAG praising the Nitish overtheexactnature from finally became evident Friday evening
He knows he is winning lesser PASWAN HowdoyouseetheBJPversus Kumargovernment... of the ties with the when it released its list at the end of some
number of seats than the BJP. LJP PRESIDENT LJPcontestonsomeseats? Now he is indulging in politics of lies for his LJP. Said a party leader: “His remarks will not hard-nosed negotiations with the RJD.
It is a friendly fight. We will personal interests.” only create confusion but also hurt our Of the 70 seats, the Congress has not won Bankipur candidate Luv Sinha with
Whatisthestorybehind contest only on five (such) seats. The BJP also fielded Union minister prospects.” 45 in the last two decades, with 12 won by ei- mother before filing nomination. ANI
NitishKumar’sclaimthattheJD(U)helped I had given a list of 38 seats to J P Naddaji and I Prakash Javadekar to take on Paswan. “We The JD(U) has made its displeasure evi- thertheBJPoritsallyJD(U).In18ofthe70,even
RamVilasPaswangettheRajyaSabha am happy most of those are with the JD(U)… want to make it clear that we have no rela- dentandhas been stressingthat theBJP clar- CongresspartnerRJDhasnotwonin20years.
seat? IwanttoseeaBJP-ledLJPgovernmentinBihar. tions with the LJP and we do not like this ify the matter unambiguously. Twenty-threeoftheseatsintheCongress’s faces include Mashkoor Ahmad Usmani, for-
I remember the Lok Sabha seat-sharing politics of spreading confusion,” he told the The BJP had earlier expelled nine of its sharearethoseithadwonlasttime.Ithashad merpresidentoftheAligarhMuslimUniversity
was announced inthe presence of the CM by HowdoyouseeTejashwiYadav? media in Delhi. Saying the NDA would win leaderswhoarecontestingagainst NDAcan- to cede four seats it won in 2015 to allies and Student’s Union, who had been a prominent
Amit Shah. On the day of my father's Rajya HeistheLeaderof theOppositionanddo- three-fourth majority in the state, Javadekar didates, some on the LJP ticket. The LJP re- hasgottwoseatsfromwheretheRJDhadwon. face in the anti-CAA-NRC protests early this
Sabha nomination, we got a call from the ing my job. My entire focus is on the CM and said, “The LJP is nothing but a vote katua leased its second list of 53 candidates on Congress sources accepted that some of year. Usmani has been fielded from the Jale
CM’s House saying he had no knowledge to ensure that he does not return to the post. (vote eater), and is not going to make Friday. On five seats, the LJP and BJP will fight theseseatswouldbeverydifficultforthemto seat in Dharbhanga district.
about the nomination. Myfather wenttothe any impact.” eachother,andChiragPaswanhassaidthese win,butaretakingheartfromthefactthatthe While nearly half of the Congress candi-
CM's House. The CM was trying to assert his WilltheLJPallywiththeBJPinBihar? The BJP leaders’ attack against Paswan would be “friendly contests” between the partyhassomegoodcandidatesthere.Forin- dates are from the general category — 11
supremacy. It was an insult to my father. Of course, yes. The JD(U) is on its way out. came a day after he claimed in an interview two parties. stance, it has fielded former JD(U) veteran Bhumihars, nine Brahmins and Rajputs each,
SharadYadav’sdaughterSubhashinifromthe and four Kayasths (33 in all) — the party has
JD(U) stronghold of Bihariganj seat in fieldedninecandidateswhoareOBCs,14who
I Hereby Declare COVID SHIELD IN BIHAR POLLS
Madhepura, while ex-LJP leader Kali Prasad
Pandey has been fielded from Kuchaikote
are Scheduled Castes and two who belong to
Extremely Backward Classes.
Assembly seat in Gopalganj. It is also banking The constituencies with sitting Congress
on former Bollywood star and ex-BJP leader MLAs where the party is not contesting this
ShatrughanSinha’ssonLuvtogetittractionin time are Bhorey, Bachhwara, Manjhi and
Bankipur,whichhasbeenwiththeBJPforlong. Gobindpur, which have gone to allies RJD and
The Congress had contested 41 Assembly thethreeLeftparties.TheRJDhasgivenittwo
TOTAL HANDSANITISER THREEPLY FACE HAND PPEKIT HANDHELDIR seatsin2015,whentheMahagathbandhanin- of its sitting seats, Raja Pakar and Sakra.
(100ML) MASK SHIELD GLOVES THERMOMETER cluded the JD(U), and won 27. In the 2019 Lok Of32ofthe38seatsintheCongress’sshare
StatePoliceforce 67,830 67,830 135,660 67,830 135,660 NA NA Sabhapollsthough,theCongresshadwonjust fromwhereithadnotcontestedlasttime,the
(perphase) (pairs) one seat, the Muslim-dominated Kishanganj, partyhasonlywonVaishali(2000)andHisua
CentralPolice NA 563,310 1,126,620 563,310 1,126,620 NA NA inBihar,withtherest39goingtotheBJP-JD(U)- (2005) in the last 20 years. Six of the 38 seats
force(tentative) (units) (pairs) LJPNDAcombine.ManyintheRJDhadargued cameintoexistenceafterdelimitationin2008,
JITANRAMMANJHI at the time that the party might have erred in andhavebeenwonbyeitherJD(U)orBJPsince.
Hindustani Awam Morcha, Imamganj Polling 766,994 766,994 4,601,964 766,994 2,300,982 639,162 106,527 giving too many seats (9) to the Congress. Nineteenamongthese38seatswerewon
MLA (re-contesting) Personnel (6unitseach, (3pairs (1perpollstation, ThosefromtheCongressengagedintalks by the JD(U) in 2015, when it contested in al-
3days) each) tobetransferred withtheRJDarguethatithasmanagedtoget liance with the RJD and Congress. Some of
phasetophase) a fair bargain. them, like Supaul, Maharajganj, Nalanda,
TOTAL ASSETS
(CANDIDATE & SPOUSE)
Voters 72,100,000 NA NA NA 72,100,000 NA NA The Congress list is also marked by a pref- Harnaut and Sultanganj, have been JD(U)
(singleuse) erence for young candidates — with the aver- strongholds for two decades.
` 44.38 LAKH PollingStations 106,527 ageage,sourcessaid,47.5.Asmanyas39ofthe Also,of the70seatswiththeCongress,the
70 candidates are below 50 years of age. BJP has not lost seven — Chanpatia, Raxaul,
ASSETSIN2015(26%DECREASE)
Source: Election Commission of India Thepartyhasfieldedsevenwomencandi- PatnaSahib,Lakhisarai,Purnia,Gayatownand
` 60 LAKH dates, and 12 Muslim nominees. Its Muslim Ramnagar — in 20 years.
MOVABLE ASSETS
` 32.38 LAKH
Assets 2015 2020
BIHAR OUTSIDE BIHAR MUMBAI

‘No help ahead of polls, what hope is there for next 5 yrs?’
Cashinhand 85,000 88,500
Bankbalance 33.52lakh 18.34lakh
Stocks&bonds NIL NIL
Otherinvestment NIL NIL
Jewellery 3.5lakh 4.6lakh idents of Mumbai, and over 29 lakh in being offered any help, how do we expect
Vehicle 7.2lakh 6.6lakh SADAFMODAK MaharashtrawereborninBihar.Thisdoesnot them to remember us for five years?”
Other 3lakh 1.95lakh MUMBAI,OCTOBER16 include the seasonal migrant workers who ForDas,42,hisstruggleintheearlydaysof
Total 48.07 lakh 32.38 lakh traveltothestateeveryyear.Sincetheun-lock- thelockdown,whenhewasstuckinMumbai
IMMOVABLEASSETS FOR THE past few months Gudiya Saha has down, 17 trains have been running between fortwomonths,cameasabigdisappointment.
been following the news on actor Sushant Bihar and Mumbai, including three daily. “We made so many calls to state helplines, to
` 12 LAKH SinghRajput’sdeath.“Butthatwillnotdecide Whilethereisnodataonmigrantworkersre- localleaderspleadingthattheymakearrange-
Assets 2015 2020 whom I vote for in the elections,” says the 36- turningfromBihar,officialssaidtheoccupancy ments for us to return home. No one helped
Agriland NIL NIL year-old who lives in Mumbai’s Versova area of the trains has been a 100 per cent. us.Wetookloanstoreachhome.Butthereisno
Non-agriland NIL NIL with her husband and three children. Evenasmigrantworkersarefindingithard work here either,” he says.
Commercial NIL NIL During the lockdown, says Saha, her elec- to make ends meet in Mumbai, those who “The situation that these workers found
Residential. 12lakh 12lakh trician husband, like many from the state in have returned to Bihar echo similar struggles. themselvesinduringthelockdownisboundto
Other NIL NIL the western suburbs of the city, found it very “Thereisnotevenasmallsui-dhaaga(nee- haveanimpactonthepolls.Manyworkersare
Total 12 lakh 12lakh difficulttoearnaliving.“Wehadtodependon dle-thread) factory set up by the government nowreturningtoMumbai,”saysCongressMLA
the ration being distributed. We have no sav- inBihartogiveusemployment.Tenofuswho from Bandra East Zeeshan Siddiqui whose
LIABILITIES ings left. For me that is a bigger concern than worked as daily wage labourers in Kherwadi family hails from Gopalganj in Bihar.
` 21,317 whom to vote for,” says Saha, sitting in her area of Mumbai have finally got tickets from SaysJD(U)leaderDeveshThakurwhoshut-
small home in a chawl that has migrant fami- an NGO to return to the city in November. We tlesbetweenMumbaiandBiharandhasbeen
(Govt dues) lies from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other dis- Migrant workers return to Mumbai after the lockdown was lifted. File havenooption.Whatwehavebeenthroughin organising Bihar Day celebrations in the city,
CRIMINAL CASES trictsofMaharashtra.Manyintheneighbour- Bihar will decide whom we vote for,” says “It was not possible to please everyone then.
6 pending, including 3 dealing hood work in the film industry. Gopal Das over the phone from Bhagalpur. NooneintheworldwaspreparedforCovid-19,
with violation of Model Code of But, she says, “I will go back to Patna to production unit, says he has managed to find linked to our reality,” says Brijkishore whose Adds his colleague, Manoj Kumar, “Even billions were affected.”
Conduct during elections in 2014 votesoon,”sheadds.Thefamilyhasbeenliv- workonlytwicesincethelockdown.“Wehave family of four is surviving on 20 kg ration in the quarantine centre (in Bihar) where we The JD(U) leader also insists that the
and 2015 ing in Mumbai for 10 years. beendependingonhelpfromsomeof theac- (wheat or rice) and financial assistance pro- were kept for two weeks, the treatment SushantSinghRajputcasewillnotbeanelec-
Herneighbour,BrijkishoreSaha,anativeof tors.Nopoliticianhasvisitedus.Whatisshown vided by a production firm to film workers. meted out to us was bad. It shows how little tionissue.“Itwasanunfortunateincident.The
Bihar’sVaishalidistrict,whoworkswithafilm onthenewsabout(aboutRajput’sdeath)isnot As per the 2011 Census, over two lakh res- we are cared for. If ahead of polls we are not police will decide what is true,” he added.

Lucknow
 12 CALENDAR WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 4252
ACROSS
1 A motion that takes the House
aback (6,4)
6 Record is within a couple of
figures (4)
10 Back rents suitably adjusted
(5)
11 Start badly but get a jewel;
that’s the plan (9)
12 Tubes of paste (8)
13 Inert form of chemical (5)
15 Tends to get upset about a
doctor in an extreme (7)
17 They’re fearfully ugly (7)
19 Withdraw with a slight injury
(7)
21 Show age in a symptom of
exhaustion (7)
22 Man-made fabric found in
many London stores (5)
24 Light baskets (8)
27 A table leg gets broken, but it’s
of no importance (9)
28 Island it would be hard to
con? (5)
29 Around midday set out the
food (4)
30 No charge against one who
kicks a robber (10)
SolutionsCrossword4251:Across:1Meeting,5Caleb,8Nightwear,9Nod,10Slip,
12Antelope,14Bridle,15Peanut,17Freehand,18Crop,21Ada,22Bonechina,24
Octet,25Sinuate.Down:1Mends,2Egg,3Iota,4Greens,5Cornered,6Landowner,
7Baddebt,11Itinerant,13Alphabet,14Buffalo,16Ananas,19Plane,20Icon,23Ida.
JUMBLED WORDS
DOWN
1 Point to a quiet word which is
binding (4)
2 Greek leader relaxed an order
(9)
3 Girl gets lad in trouble (5)
4 Complete the course and get
dead drunk (4,3)
5 Vehicle with some difference
in Wales (7)
7 Mint bar? (5)
8 Remunerate ace postmen
perhaps (10)
9 Do these orders refer to the
national anthem? (8)
14 Handsome individual and
competent (10)
16 Crushed oats into portion
served up repeatedly (8)
18 Breathe irregularly at what
should be regular (9)
20 He breaks into a politician’s
address (7)
21 Lead about a hundred into
deep trouble (7)
23 Faint illumination (5)
25 Painting is dry and firm
(5)
26 Lord, look at him (4)
DAY TODAY BY PETER VIDAL
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20) LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
The Sun is now There is an awful lot
highlighting to say for pressing
everything in your ahead with travel
life that is plans, although it’s
expensive, not to say not clear that you’ll be going on
downright extravagant. You’ll a physical journey. It might be
probably be much more a spiritual adventure which
concerned to save than spend, calls you. Also, you may make
though, and extracting your contact now with family
money could be like getting members who are overseas or
blood out of a stone. Happily, far away.
you have a sense that the
world is generally a rather SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
more friendly place. Business
opportunities flow
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21) thick and fast, but
As it happens, this is may be difficult to
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson a moment for spot, let alone grasp. This
traditional pursuits, could be a better day for
if only because leaving certain fantasies as
Saturn, symbol of all old- just that - dreams to be
fashioned things, is lurking in treasured but not
the background. There is a implemented. Plus, perhaps
shortage of profound a friend can provide
planetary influences at the he missing piece in an
moment, so you may happily emotional jigsaw.
enjoy being superficial.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) The Sun is
This is one of those inaugurating a new
rare periods when period of potential
partners or close and possible
companions achievement. This doesn’t
actually pay attention. You mean, by the way, that
may have to use a small everything will be easy, but
amount of emotional that even apparently trivial
blackmail, or make a tiny scene events will have a significance
but, one way or another, others which will not be immediately
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong should recognise that you
must now be noticed.
clear. To an extent, you have to
trust in the future.
CANCER (June 22 - July 23) CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
Things are generally Focus on everything
looking quite slack, in your life that is
which doesn’t going well. After all,
necessarily mean every cloud has a
that you’re not busy, only that silver lining. Cultivate patience
there is an increasing sense of and realise that now is the time
woolliness and uncertainty. If to be compassionate, caring,
you’re in a gambling mood and almost saintly. The
then you may take an more love you put out, the
emotional risk, but don’t play more you can expect back. It’s
with someone else’s feelings. simple, really.
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23) AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
Pleasantly social You may be
influences include a perfectly tuned in
slight chance of a to virtuous
difference of activities, perhaps
opinion, but no other signs of doing whatever you can to
DifficultyLevel3s
strain. It’s not the best day for
practical chores, although it’s a
help others out of a tricky
situation. When relaxing, you
Instructions great time to be irresponsible. might take your pleasures
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4264

Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, You must be prepared for the with a dash of decadence.
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 consequences, though. Most of all, you love a good
SUDOKU 4265

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe story, and you may be

Becalminarguing;forfiercenessmakes___afault,and___discourtesy.-GeorgeHerbert VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23) spinning someone a yarn.
nineverticalcolumns,in Special indications
(5,..,5))
eachoftheninehorizontal in parts of your PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
NUERR EINYTT rowsandineachofthe chart concerned When you’re in a
nineboxes. with money offer a tight spot you
strict warning against usually believe that
financial risks. You should something will turn
SYORR BELMHU DifficultyLevel only proceed if you are happy up and save the day. This is
not to receive any return other actually one of your most
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; than pure satisfaction or delightful characteristics and,
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; romantic contentment. In believe it or not, it is at times
discourtesy. - George Herbert 5s=VeryHard;6s= other words, don’t hope for like these that your faith pays
Answer: Answer: Be calm in arguing; for fierceness makes error a fault, and truth Genius cash prizes. off in some curious style.
SOLUTION: RERUN, SORRY, ENTITY, HUMBLE

SALUTE THE SOLDIER IYf¹ffÊ»f¹f A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff QdÃf¯ffa¨f»f

LATE LNK KAMAL KUMAR LIMBU
ON 17 OCT 2000 NO 9420331 LATE LNK KAMAL
KUMAR LIMBU OF 2/11 GR HAD MADE
SUPREME SACRIFICE DURING OP RAKSHAK
(J&K) IN OCT 2000.
COLONEL 11 GR & SIKKIM SCOUTS AND
ALL RANKS
Hav Sohan Singh, SM (21 Sep 1964-17 Oct 2004)
On this day we salute and pay homage to a gal-
lant soldier who laid down his life for the Nation
while protecting the Territorial Integrity of India,
in Jammu & Kashmir in the finest traditions of
the Indian Army.
May your Soul attain Moksha
Commanding Officer and All Ranks 3
GRENADIERS
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Head Office: Januganj, Balasore-756019
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part bidding system from eligible bidders, who comply with the terms & conditions and d³fd½fQf ¸fZÔ dQ³ffaI 27.10.2020 I û 14.00 ¶fªfZ °fI
specification laid down in the tender documents for the work “Operation & Maintenance ´fi´fÂf A´f»fûO dI ¹fZ ªff¹fZÔ¦fZ °f±ff 27.10.2020 I û
(O & M) Contract of 33/11KV Primary Sub-stations” of distribution divisions SED Soro
of Balasore Circle; BNED Bhadrak, BSED Bhadrak of Bhadrak Circle. 16.00 ¶fªfZ Àff½fʪfd³fI ø ´f ÀfZ £fû»fe ªff¹fZ¦feÜ BÊ -
Last date of submission of Tender: Dt 06.11.20 up to 3.00 PM, Date of opening of d³fd½fQf Àfa£¹ff 26/ EDC (F)/ 2020-21 dªfÀfIZ
Tender: Dt.06.11.20 at 3.30 PM. Jb»f³fZ I e d°fd±f 14.10.2020 I û Àf¸f¹f 16.00 ¶fªfZ
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GOVERNMENT OF ODISHA
OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER
O-475
RURAL WORKS CIRCLE: SUNDARGARH
E-Procurement Notice, Online - RWSESNG - 07 of 2020-21 Letter No. 2029 /Dtd. 15-10-2020
E-mail address- serw_sundargarh@yahoo.com
1. Type of the Work : Road with Bridge Work (DMF)
2. Total No. of works : 01 No. of Work (Percentage Rate Tender)
3. Estimated cost : Rs.835.57 Lakh
4. Class of contractor : ‘Special’ Class & 'Super' Class
5. Period of completion : Twenty-four Calendar Months
6. Cost of tender paper : The Bidder shall transfer online the cost of bid document for Rs.10,000/- towards cost of Bid through a process as mentioned under DTCN.
7. EMD Required : The Bidder shall transfer online the Earnest Money Deposit / Bid Security at the rate of 1% of the estimated cost put to tender as mentioned under DTCN. Exemption from EMD is
permissible as per codal provisions of Govt. of Odisha.
8. APS : Additional Performance Security shall be obtained from the Bidder when the bid amount is less than estimated cost put to tender. In such an event, only the successful bidder who has
quoted less bid price/rates than the estimated cost put to tender shall have to furnish the exact amount of differential cost i.e. estimated cost put to tender minus the quoted amount as
Additional Performance Security (APS) in shape of Term Deposit Receipt pledged in favour of the Divisional Officer / Bank Guarantee in favour of the Divisional Officer from any Nationalized
/ Scheduled Bank in India counter guaranteed by its local branch at Bhubaneswar within seven days of issue of Letter of Acceptance (LoA) by the Divisional Officer (by e-mail) to the
successful bidder, otherwise the bid of the successful bidder shall be cancelled and the Earnest Money Deposit / Bid Security shall be forfeited. Further, proceeding for blacklisting shall
be initiated against the bidder".
9. GST : Rate quoted by the Contractor shall be excluding GST. The GST as applicable for the work contract shall be payable to the contractor on each bill amount on production of tax invoice.

POOMPUHAR SHIPPING CORPORATION LIMITED 10. Other details:

The prevailing rate of GST on the gross amount of bill will be deducted from the contractor’s bill as tax deduction at source (TDS) as per rule.

(A Government of Tamilnadu Enterprise) Procurement Bid Identification Availability of Tender On-line for bidding Last Date & Time of Seeking Technical Bid Financial Bid
692, (Old No. 473), Anna Salai, IV Floor, Nandanam, Chennai - 600 035. Officer No. From To Tender Clarification Opening Opening
Ph: 2433 0505, 2433 0807; Fax: 2434 4593, 2433 5706 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E-mail : pscship@gmail.com / pscship@dataone.in Superintending Engineer, Rural RWSESNG-07 of 2020-21 21.10.2020 11.11.2020 10.11.2020 17.11.2020 Will be intimated
CIN : U63090TN1974PLC006596 Works Circle, Sundargarh 11:00 AM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 11:00 AM separately

GLOBAL TENDER Further details can be seen from the website www.tendersodisha.gov.in
No.PSC/OPNS/PMS/001/2020-21 N.B: Corrigendum if any may be seen in this website. www.tendersodisha.gov.in
Authority reserves the right to reject any or all the tenders without assigning any reasons thereof.
Notice inviting tender for Ship Performance Monitoring Superintending Engineer
Rural Works Circle, Sundargarh
Service for one year. OIPR-25133/11/0007/2021
Last date for Receipt : 15.00 hrs. on 16.11.2020
Tender opening : 15.30 hrs. on 16.11.2020
EMD : Rs.1,00,000 (for Indian Agencies)
: USD.1500 (for Foreign Agencies)
Value of Tender : Rs.68,99,000/-
Prospective bidders are advised to refer our website
www.tamilship.com / www.tntenders.gov.in for specific
transparent details. The condition / requirement mentioned
in the website shall be met out by the bidders. This
advertisement is invitation for bid only. The details given in
the website are comprehensive. Further, all communications
will be updated through our web site only.
DIPR/3863/Tender/2020 GENERAL MANAGER (OPNS)

Lucknow
 E EXPLAINED
13
CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD
Delhi overtakes Pune as city
with highest count, again
WITH ITS daily case count starting to
rise again, Delhi is back at the num-
ber one position among cities with
the highest number of coronavirus
cases in the country. On Thursday,
Delhi recorded almost 3,500 new
cases to take its count to 3.21 lakh. In
the process, it overtook Pune, which
hadbeencarryingthehighestburden
of infected people for the last one-
and-a-half months.
After reporting
more than 5,000 cases
adayonafewoccasions
in late August and early
September, Pune has
seen its daily numbers
decline in the last one
month. On the other
hand,Delhihadslowed CORONAVIRUS
down considerably in COUNT
June and July, then saw
its numbers rise sharply once again in
September, before entering another
phaseof decline.Butitsnumbershave
startedgoingupagaininthelastthree
days, when the daily new infections
have been more than 3,000.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru has been
growing at a very fast rate in the last
two weeks. On three occasions dur-
ingthisperiod,thecityreportedmore
than 5,000 cases in a day. Delhi has
never crossed the 4,500 mark.
Bengaluruhasbeendrivingtherisein
Karnataka,whichisthesecondfastest
INDIA ACTIVE CASES
950,000
907,883
850,000
LAST 10 DAYS
Oct 6
750,000
Note: The Oct 15 figure in this graph is based on the government update on Oct 16
INDIA TOTAL CASES
7,370,468
Source:MinistryofHealth&Family
Welfare,updatedat11pmonOct16
Anti-ulcer drug shows promise
in suppressing coronavirus
RESEARCHERS FROM
Hong Kong have re-
ported a novel antiviral
strategy for treatment of
Covid-19. They have
found that a class of ex-
isting drugs, which are PAPER
currently used in the
treatmentof other infec-
tious diseases, can sup-
CLIP
press replication of NEW RESEARCH
SARS-CoV-2 and relieve
Covid-19 symptoms in an animal for SARS-CoV-2 to replicate.
model. Their findings are published
in Nature Microbiology. reduces viral loads by over 1,000-fold
These are metallodrugs, which in SARS-CoV-2-infected cells. In a
consist of metal compounds. golden Syrian hamster, RBC was
Generally,metalcompoundsareused found to suppress SARS-CoV-2 repli-
asanti-microbialagents,buttheiran- cation and reduce viral loads by 100-
tiviral activities have rarely been ex- fold in both the upper and lower res-
plored,theresearcherssaid.Theirfind- piratory tracts, and to mitigate
ings now provide a new therapeutic virus-associated pneumonia.
option for treatment of Covid-19. SOURCE:HONGKONGUNIVERSITY
Tracking the weather system that gave Hyderabad its rainiest day ever
ANJALI MARAR
PUNE, OCTOBER 16
EARLIERTHISweek,threedaysof extremely
heavyrainfallledtomassivefloodsthatkilled
over70peopleinTelangana,AndhraPradesh
and Maharashtra. Hyderabad recorded its
rainiestdayin117years,floodingover20,000
houses. In Pune, Sangli and Solapur, nearly
20,000 people were evacuated.
This was caused by a weather that
formed in the Bay of Bengal, hit the east
coast and moved westward, weakening on
the way. On Friday, it re-emerged in the
Arabian Sea and is set to intensify further as
it moves farther into the sea.
The journey
OnOctober9,alowpressuresystemde-
veloped in the North Andaman Sea. During
itslandwardjourney,itintensifiedmultiple
times — first to form a well-marked low
pressurearea,thenadepression,andlatera
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020
growing state in the country right
now, after Kerala. On several occa-
sions in the last three weeks,
Karnataka has reported more than
10,000 cases a day.
With more than 2.97 lakh cases,
Bengaluru is set to hit the three-lakh
figure on Friday. On Thursday, it re-
portedalmost3,800cases.Atthisrate,
Bengaluru has the potential to even
overtake Pune and
Delhi in a couple of
weeks. It has been
steadily closing the gap
with these two cities in
thelastcoupleofweeks.
Both Kerala and
Karnataka are showing
signs of a slowdown in
cases after three weeks
of very rapid growth.
Althoughthetwostates
arestillthelargestcontributorsofcases
tothecountryafterMaharashtra,they
are both off their peaks that was
achievedafewdaysago.Theirgrowth
rates have also declined significantly,
though, again, they continue to be the
fastest growing states right now.
Karnataka hasso farrecorded7.44
lakhinfections,whileKerala,with3.18
lakh infections as on Thursday, looks
set to overtake Delhi on Friday, and
become the state with the sixth high-
est caseload in the country.
AMITABH SINHA
804,528
804,528
Oct 15
WORLD TOTAL CASES
39,081,143
Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,
updatedat11pmonOct16
The researchers
screened metallodrugs
and related compounds
including ranitidine bis-
muthcitrate(RBC),acom-
monly used anti-ulcer
drug which contains the
metalbismuth.Theyiden-
tifiedRBCasapotentanti-
SARS-CoV-2 agent. RBC
targets a protein called
Nsp13, which is essential
TheexperimentsshowedthatRBC
deep depression while at sea. Low pressure
area, depression and deep depression are
partof aclassificationbasedonwindspeed.
On October 13, the system crossed over
land near Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, as a
deep depression. As the system moved
west-north-westward, it brought ex-
tremely heavy rainfall all along Telangana
and some parts of Andhra Pradesh on
October 13 and 14. In the last 48 hours, the
system weakened into a well-marked low
pressure area, and moved along south
Madhya Maharashtra, causing widespread
heavyrainoverseveralareasofMaharashtra.
EarlyonFriday,thesystemleftthewestcoast.
Record rainfall
Hoursafterthedeepdepressionhitland,
both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana expe-
rienced extremely heavy rainfall. The 24-
hour rainfall ending 8.30 am on October 14
recorded at Hyderabad city was 191.8 mm.
This is the heaviest spell Hyderabad has
ever experienced in October. The previous
The Solidarity Trial dampener
Interim results of WHO’s Solidarity Trial show that none of the treatments studied could prove benefits
across parameters. What does it mean for the drugs that hopes were pinned on, especially remdesivir?
PRABHA RAGHAVAN &
ANURADHA MASCARENHAS
NEW DELHI, PUNE, OCTOBER 16
THEWORLDHealthOrganization(WHO)on
Thursdaymadeavailableinterimresultsfrom
the Solidarity Therapeutics Trial — a large-
scaleglobaltrialstudyingtheeffectivenessof
various repurposed therapies in Covid-19
treatment. The findings put a dampener on
expectations from these therapies — includ-
ing remdesivir, once seen as promising.
What is the Solidarity Trial?
The world’s “largest” multinational hu-
man trials on Covid-19 therapeutics, it was
initiated by WHO and its partners in March
to help find an effective treatment for Covid-
19. It covers four repurposed drugs or drug
combinations — remdesivir, hydroxychloro-
quine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon (in
combination with rotinavir and lopinavir).
The study spans over 400 hospitals in
more than 30 countries and looks into the
effectsof thesetreatmentsonvariousindica-
tors,includingtheirability to prevent deaths
and shorten hospital stays. The trial involved
more than 11,300 participants.
The main aim was to help determine
whether any of these repurposed therapies
could at least moderately affect in-hospital
mortality,andwhetheranyeffectsdifferedbe-
tween moderate and severe disease, said Dr
Shobha Godbole, national coordinator of the
SolidarityTrialinIndia.Theinitiativeincluded
26trialsinpartsofIndiawithahighburdenof
cases.AsofOctober15,937hospitalisedCovid
patients were participating, Dr Godbole said.
What have the trials found?
None of the drugs was able to prove ben-
efits across the parameters studied, espe-
cially in reducing mortality among hospi-
talised patients. The interim results, made
available on a pre-print server, said these
drugs had “little or no effect” on hospitalised
Covid-19 patients “as indicated by overall
mortality, initiation of ventilation and dura-
tion of hospital stay.”
Drugs like hyrdoxychloroquine and
lopinavir, in fact, had already been dropped
over the course of the last six months for not
showing much promise.
What are the findings on remdesivir?
“The mortality findings contain most of
therandomizedevidenceonRemdesivirand
QAnon: a conspiracy theory feeding violence
MEHRGILL
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
ON THURSDAY, YouTube announced that it
wouldtakeadditionalmeasurestoblockcon-
tent that promotes QAnon, a pro-Donald
Trump conspiracy theory or movement.
QAnonhasbeenunderthespotlightinre-
centtimes.InJuly,TwitterandTikTokblocked
some hashtags and removed some accounts
relatedtoit.InAugust,Facebookannounceda
ban on QAnon groups. Last year, the FBI said
fringe political conspiracy theories including
QAnonareadomesticthreatandlikelyto“mo-
tivatesomedomesticextremists,whollyorin
part, to engage in criminal or violent activity”.
So, what is QAnon?
Ittookshapearound2017whenananony-
mous user called “Q” or “Q Clearance Patriot”
startedpostingconspiracytheories.“Q”refers
to a security clearance given by the US
DepartmentofEnergyforaccesstotop-secret
information.Q,whoclaimstobeahigh-rank-
ing intelligence officer with access to sensi-
tiveinformationoftheTrumpadministration,
COAST TO COAST, THE JOURNEY
MUMBAI OCT 13,
Pune 11.30 pm; 20 knots (depression)
OCT 16, HYDERABAD
Solapur
8.30 am; Gulbarga
15 knots
(low
pressure
OCT 14,
area)
5:30 pm;
OCT 15, 15 knots
8.30 am; 15 knots (low pressure
(low pressure area) area)
record was 117.1 mm on October 6, 1903.
Many districts along the central and
western regions of Telangana received sur-
plusrain—150%to400%abovenormaldur-
ingthefirstfortnightthismonth.Hyderabad
SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER
Among the treatments in the trial, remdesivir is the most widely sought after. AP
Interferon, and are consistent with meta-
analyses of mortality in all major trials,” the
paperstated.Interferonwasdroppedfromthe
trial on Friday.
ThefindingsstruckanervewithAmerican
biopharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences,
whichdevelopedandpatentedremdesivir.In
astatement,itsaidtheemergingdata“appear
inconsistent”withthe“morerobust”evidence
from“multiple”otherstudiesonremdesivir’s
clinical benefits that have been published in
peer-reviewed journals. It said at least three
randomised, controlled clinical trials have
demonstrated remdesivir’s “benefits”.
Other experts have questioned the find-
ings of the trials cited by Gilead Sciences. Dr
SrinathReddy,presidentof thePublicHealth
Foundationof Indiaandamemberof theex-
ecutive group of the Solidarity Trial’s steer-
ing committee, referred to a trial on over
1,000 patients in the US. “The numbers were
relatively small for a clinical trial — and it
turnedoutthattheremdesivirgrouphadbet-
terprognosticindicatorsthanthecontrolarm.
So, in a sense, we can't say time to recovery
wasbecauseof remdesivirandnotduetothe
other factors.”
“Personal experiences are valuable.
However, that does not help to compare in
the clinical setting. The Solidarity Trial has
commented on the value of remdesivir in
hospitalised patients,” said Dr Soumya
Swaminathan, WHO Chief Scientist.
startedpostingontheplatform4chanin2017,
and now posts on 8kun, a website run by the
founders of 8chan (which was shut down af-
terthemassshootinginElPaso,Texasin2019
— the killers had posted hate content on
8chan). It is not clear if Q is a single user.
What is the conspiracy theory?
QAnon followers believe that the world is
beingrunbyacabalof paedophileswhowor-
shipSatanandthatoneof Trump’saimsasUS
President is to unmask the cabal and punish
them. According to the conspiracy theorists,
Trumpissecretlypreparingforadayofreckon-
ing,“TheStorm”,whenmembersofthe“deep
state” will be executed. This theory has been
gaining traction among some far-right voters
aheadoftheNovember3presidentialelection.
The conspiracy theorists believe that
DemocratssuchasHillaryClintonandBarack
Obama, and Hollywood actors Tom Hanks
and Oprah Winfrey, are part of a global child
sex-trafficking ring. This takes off from the
“Pizzagate”theory,longdebunked,whichcir-
culatedduringthe2016presidentialelection.
Far-right activists had claimed that Clinton,
whocontestedagainstTrump,wasrunninga
Warangal
Visakhapatnam OCT 11,
5:30 am;
20 knots
(depression)
Vijayawada
OCT 13,
8:30 am;
30 knots
(deep
depression)
district recorded 411% above normal.
Met officials noted that the rainfall was
not very high when compared to the rain-
fall that is received during the southwest
monsoon. However, when such spells are
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com
To what extent have these drugs been
used in India?
WhileIndiastoppeduseof combinations
like lopinavir/ritonavir early into the pan-
demic, remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine and
interferoncombinationsarestillused as part
of the Covid-19 treatment regimen based on
the severity of illness.
Remdesivir, especially, has been heavily
sought after. The size of India’s remdesivir
marketwaspeggedataroundRs121.29crore
in the 12 months ended September, in esti-
mates by pharmaceutical market research
firmAIOCDAwacsPharmaTrac.Thesecalcu-
lations were based on data available for only
four of the several remdesivir brands —
Desrem (Mylan), Remdac (Zydus Cadila),
Cipremi(Cipla)andCovifor(Hetero)—which
means the market may be even larger.
Withseveralnewbrandshittingthemar-
ket, sales have risen. PharmaTrac’s data
shows sales increasing nearly 96% between
July and September for these four brands.
How much of a blow are these findings
to those prescribing these drugs?
It depends on various governments, who
will take a call on whether the evidence is
convincing enough to remove these thera-
pies from their clinical management proto-
cols. Doctors who feel the drugs should be
partof treatmentmayalsotakeacallonhow
they will be used on a case-by-case basis.
childtraffickingracket fromthebasementof
a pizza parlour in Washington, DC.
Has Trump reacted to such ideas?
“I just don’t know about QAnon,” Trump
said at the NBC News Town Hall in Miami on
Thursday. Trump has, however, been known
to retweet posts from accounts that have
posted QAnon-related content. Critics have
also noted Trump’s failure to denounce the
movement and that he has said it is “very
strongly against paedophilia”.
What kind of people believe in QAnon?
SomeQAnonsupportersholdanti-Semitic
views. They include people who believe that
Covid-19 is a hoax and that vaccines are con-
trolled by Jewish people; deny the safety of
vaccines;questionthetruthaboutthe9/11at-
tacks; and believe in alien landings.
SomeQAnonsupportershavebeenimpli-
cated in crimes that they claimed were in-
spiredbytheirbeliefsinthemovement.These
include:amanarrestedin2018forplottingto
plantabombintheIllinoisCapitolRotundato
makeAmericansawareof “Pizzagate”;aman
arrestedthesameyearforusinganarmoured
recorded in so short a duration in October,
these are largely associated with low pres-
sure systems and result in urban flooding.
Why it was so severe
Normally, cyclones lose steam upon
makingtheirlandfall.Thisparticularsystem,
however,clockedalongeast-westtrackcut-
ting across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,
north-interiorKarnatakaandMaharashtra.
“All these states experienced above-
normal rain during the recent monsoon
season. As a result, the soil in these regions
hasretainedsignificantmoisturecontent…
The high moisture availability even on land
propagated this large embedded system all
along its path so far,” said Mrutyunjay
Mohapatra, Director General, India
Meteorological Department (IMD).
Inaddition,verticalwindshear—there-
sultof asignificantdifferenceinwindspeed
betweenhigherandloweratmosphericlev-
els — helped the system maintain its inten-
sity as a deep depression or a well-marked
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
“WhattheSolidarityTrialresultstellmeis
that hydroxychloroquine in toxic doses is
more or less out in hospitalised patients. As
far as lopinavir and ritonavir are concerned,
they’re already out. Interferon’s verdict is still
notoutandwewillhavetowaitformoredata,
because the body responds to any viral infec-
tion by making interferon,” said Dr Shashank
Joshi,DeanoftheIndianCollegeofPhysicians.
What about remdesivir?
“While the data on remdesivir is disap-
pointing, we don’t know if this will be its
death knell,” Dr Joshi said. “Remdesivir will
definitely be under pressure to perform, and
its indiscriminate use will stop, but it still
might have a place in individualised care.”
In any case, there appears to be less ex-
citementoverremdesivirthanearlier.“Idon’t
use remdesivir as much on my patients be-
cause, when there were issues of shortages
with the drug earlier on, I had been prescrib-
ing medication like favipiravir and
tocilizumab that also performedreallywell,”
said a Delhi-based doctor.
“Now,thereappearstobemorestringent
protocols,proceduresandalittlebitlessanx-
iety (about how to manage Covid-19) in the
lastabouttwomonthsorthreemonths,”said
Dr Om Srivastava, who practises in Mumbai.
“What the trial has concluded is that
there may not be any survival benefit by giv-
ingremdesivirandthatisaconclusionbased
on this interim data. I think we will still need
to wait and see,” said Dr Srivastava.
“I think that remdesivir works in a way
that, if you were able to give it at the right
time, then it will shorten the total amount of
virus shedding by about two days, some-
times,threedays.Ithinkthat’sahuge advan-
tage when you’ve got someone on an ICU
who is likely to go on a ventilator. So I don’t
think that remdesivir is redundant,” he said.
What now for Covid-19 therapeutics,
pending a vaccine?
The findings don’t necessarily impact the
use of other drugs and assisted therapies
that have been proven to help reduce deaths
and improve clinical outcomes, including
oxygen and steroids like dexamethasone,
according to experts. Newer therapies like
antibody cocktails may also be in focus as
part of the Solidarity Trial going forward.
“WearecontinuingwiththeSolidarityTrial
andlookingatimmunomodulatorslikerepur-
posed anti-cancer drugs and monoclonal an-
tibodies,” said Dr Swaminathan.
car to block traffic on a bridge in Nevada; a
woman arrested in Colorado for plotting an
armedraidtokidnapherchildwhosecustody
she had lost; and a man charged with mur-
deringamafiafigureinNewYorkin2019.The
man arrested in the New York case, who be-
lievedthemurdervictimwaspartofthe“deep
state”, displayed QAnon symbols during his
court hearing.
How widespread is it?
In a survey by the Pew Research Center in
February-March this year, 76% of US adult re-
spondents reported not knowing anything
about the conspiracy, 20% reported knowing
alittle,and3%reportedknowingalot(therest
had no answer).
Recentmediareportshavesaidthemove-
ment is gaining new followers globally, par-
ticularly in Germany, possibly due to anti-
Semitic beliefs among far-right Germans.
AreportinTheNewYorkTimessaidQAnon
has “already evolved from a fringe internet
subculture into a mass movement” in the US
andsomeof itstheoriesarenow“metastasiz-
ing”inEurope,includingtheNetherlands,the
Balkans and Britain.
low pressure area even on land, he said.
There are two seasons — March-May
and October-December — when cyclones
or depressions form in the North Indian
Ocean (the Arabian Sea and the Bay of
Bengal). The latter season witnesses four of
the five cyclones that form over this region
every year. Thus, the formation of the pres-
ent depression or low pressure system is
common, Mohapatra said.
In fact, stronger systems — Cyclones
Phailin(2013)andHudhud(2014)—formed
in the Bay of Bengal had made their landfall
in October, when the withdrawal of the
southwest monsoon was still in progress.
On its last legs
OnFriday,thewell-markedlowpressure
area lay over the east-central Arabian Sea,
off the Maharashtra coast. By Sunday, IMD
officials said, the system would strengthen
into a depression while continuing to head
westward.Fishermenhavebeenadvisedto
stay away from the Sea until October 19.
Lucknow

14 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
General Salvador
Cienfuegos
USA
Mexico’sformer
defenceminister
arrestedinUS
U.S.AUTHORITIESdetained
the defence minister for
Mexican ex-president
Enrique Pena Nieto at Los
AngelesairportThursdayon
a US Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) war-
rant, a DEA spokeswoman
said. As defence minister,
General Salvador
Cienfuegos was a powerful
figure in Mexico’s drug war
in which the Army battled
cartels across the country.
Several of Mexico’s former
top-ranking ‘drug war’ offi-
cials have been implicated
in narcotics. The high-level
arrestcomeslessthanthree
weeks before the US presi-
dential election. President
Trump has made clamping
down on cartel activity a
major policy objective, but
withlittleprogresssincehe
tookoffice. REUTERS
JAPAN
‘Govttorelease
Fukushima’s
contaminated
waterintosea’
NEARLYAdecadeafterthe
Fukushimanucleardisas-
ter, Japan’s government
hasdecidedtoreleaseover
onemilliontonnesofcon-
taminated water into the
sea,mediareportssaidon
Friday, with a formal an-
nouncement expected to
be made later this month.
Thedecisionisexpectedto
rankle neighbouring
countrieslikeSouthKorea,
which has already
steppedupradiationtests
of food from Japan, and
further devastate the
fishing industry in
Fukushima that has bat-
tled against such a move
for years. REUTERS
KYRGYZSTAN
Parliament
endsstateof
emergency
KYRGYZSTAN’SParliament
voted on Friday to end a
state of emergency im-
posed by its ousted presi-
dent, as interim PM Sadyr
Japarov,aKyrgyznational-
ist,tooktemporarycontrol
of thepresidencyof oneof
Russia’scloseallies.Former
President Sooronbai
Jeenbekov, who resigned
Thursday, ordered troops
to be deployed in Bishkek
last week after days of un-
rest triggered by an elec-
tioninwhichhisallieswere
accused of vote-buying.
Japarov, freed from prison
by supporters and quickly
elected PM by parliament,
also took over the interim
presidency. REUTERS
EUROPE
EUleadersaim
fordealinDecon
climatetarget
EUROPEANUNIONcoun-
tries edged closer to
agreement on a new cli-
mate target at a summit
onThursday,butdeferred
a deal on the emissions-
cutting goal to a meeting
inDecember.Theleaders’
discussion in Brussels
was their first on upgrad-
ing the existing EU target
of a 40% cut in green-
house gas emissions by
2030. The European
Commission has said the
blocneedsacutof atleast
55%by2030,against1990
levels, to achieve the goal
of net zero emissions by
2050. REUTERS
SEPARATE EVENTS DISPLAY CANDIDATES’ POSITIONS IN SHARP CONTRAST
A combative Trump, a deliberate
Biden spar from afar at town halls
RACE FOR
THE WHITE
HOUSE
THE NEW YORK TIMES
OCTOBER 16
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump
spokepositivelyaboutanextrem-
ist conspiracy-theory group, ex-
pressed scepticism about mask-
wearing, rebuked his own FBI
director and attacked the legiti-
macyofthe2020electioninatel-
evisedtownhallforumThursday,
veeringawayfromafocusedcam-
paign appeal. Instead, he further
stoked the country’s rifts as his
Democratic opponent, Joe Biden,
pushed a deliberate message an-
chored in concerns over public
health and political norms.
Trump’s defensive and com-
bative performance came on a
night that was supposed to fea-
ture a debate between him and
Biden, but that morphed into a
long-distance study in contrasts
on different television networks
after the President declined to
participate in a virtual debate.
On the issue of the pandemic,
Biden has made the full embrace
of strict public health guidelines
the centrepiece of his candidacy,
while Trump has continued to
defy even the recommendations
of hisowngovernment.
“When a President doesn’t
wearamaskormakesfunoffolks
like me when I was wearing a
mask for a long time, then, you
know,peoplesay,‘Well,itmustn’t
bethatimportant,’”Bidensaid.
In his most incendiary re-
marks,Trumprepeatedlydeclined
to disavow QAnon, a pro-Trump
internetcommunitythathasbeen
describedbylawenforcementasa
potential terrorism threat. The
President professed to have no
knowledge of the group, and as a
result could not disavow it, but
thendemonstratedknowledgeof
oneofitscoreconspiracytheories
involving paedophilia that is en-
tirelyfalse.“Iknownothingabout
it,”Trumpsaid.“Idoknowtheyare
very much against paedophilia.
Theyfightitveryhard.”
Will seek nod
for vaccine
in Nov third
week: Pfizer
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16
PHARMA GIANTPfizeronFriday
said that it would apply for
emergencyuseauthorisationfor
its vaccine candidate after the
“safety milestone” is achieved in
the third week of November.
Inanopenletter,Pfizerchair-
man Amber Bourla said the firm
is likely to submit the two-
month safety data on half of the
trial participants of its vaccine
candidate against Covid-19, that
is being co-developed by
German biotech firm BioNTech,
by the third week of November.
The Pfizer vaccine candidate
—BNT162b2 — is currently in
phase 3 human trials in the US. It
is made of a short segment of ge-
neticmaterial,whichprovidesin-
structionstohumancellstomake
harmlessversionsof atargetpro-
tein — in this case, the spike pro-
tein of SARS-CoV-2 — to activate
an immune response. Earlier, re-
leasingthephase1datainAugust,
the company had said that they
are “on track” to seek regulatory
reviewasearlyasinOctober2020.
“...The second requirement is
to prove that the vaccine is safe...
In the instance of Emergency Use
Authorization in the US for a po-
tential COVID-19 vaccine, FDA is
requiringthatcompaniesprovide
twomonthsof safety data on half
of the trial participants following
thefinaldoseofthevaccine.Based
onourcurrenttrialenrollmentand
dosing pace, we estimate we will
reach this milestone in the third
weekofNovember,”Bourlawrote.
TrumpandBidenat separatetownhallforumshostedbyNBCNewsinMiamiandABCNewsinPhiladelphiarespectively. Reuters, AP
‘YOU’RE THE PRESIDENT... NOT SOMEONE’S CRAZY UNCLE’: KEY MOMENTS
TRUMP PUSHED ON
CONSPIRACY THEORIES
■ Asked if he would disavow
QAnon conspiracy theories,
Trump said, “I just don’t
know about QAnon,” despite
having amplified claims by
its proponents just days ago.
■SavannahGuthrie,the
moderatorof theTrump
‘We most likely won’t have results on election night’
This year, the US saw an unprece-
dentednumberoflegislativebattles
about voting access — almost 200.
WithPresidentDonaldTrumphav-
ing already labelled the election
“rigged”andfilledwith“fraud”,there
has been a lot of debate around the
technicalities of the system and the
legitimacy of the process. A left-of-
centre elections advocacy group,
Campaign Legal Center (CLC), has
been at the forefront of state-level
votingaccesslegalbattles,alongside
other organisations such as the
AmericanCivilLibertiesUnion.CLC’s
communications manager COREY
GOLDSTONE spoke to KARISHMA
MEHROTRA about what to expect
thiselectionseason.
Are you bracing for a
prolonged election week or
month?
Yes.Wemostlikelywon’thave
the election results on election
night — and may not have them
foruptoafewweeksafterward—
as procedures are being followed
Pakistan Opposition starts countrywide
protests to oust Imran Khan government
MUBASHER BUKHARI
LAHORE, OCTOBER 16
SUPPORTERS OF Pakistan oppo-
sition parties were converging
on a stadium in the city of
Gujranwala on Friday to begin a
countrywide protest campaign
to oust Prime Minister Imran
Khan, who they accuse of being
installed by the military in a
rigged 2018 election.
Nine major opposition par-
ties formed a joint platform
called the Pakistan Democratic
Movement (PDM) last month to
begin a nationwide agitation
against the government.
KENOSHA STREETS TURNED DEADLY SOON AFTER A CALL TO ARMS
When armed vigilantes are summoned with a few keystrokes
NEIL MACFARQUHAR
OCTOBER 16
TAPPINGONhiscellphonewitha
sense of purpose, Kevin
Mathewson, a former wedding
photographerandonetimecityal-
derman in Kenosha, Wisconsin,
didnotslowdowntofixhistypos
as he dashed off an online appeal
to his neighbours. It was time, he
wroteonFacebookinlateAugust,
to“takeuparmstodefendoutCity
tonight from the evil thugs.”
One day earlier, hundreds of
residents had poured onto the
streets of Kenosha to protest the
police shooting of 29-year-old
JacobBlake.Disturbedbythesight
event,askedhimabouthis
retweetof adiscredited
theorythatBidenhad
membersof oneof theUS’
elitemilitaryunitskilledto
coverupthesupposedlyfaked
deathof OsamabinLaden.“I’ll
putitoutthere,”Trumpsaid
withashrug. “Idon’tget
that,”Guthriereplied.“You’re
thePresident.You’renot,like,
someone’scrazyuncle.”
Corey Goldstone
to ensure that every eligible
voter’sballotcounts.Abigreason
is that it takes election officials
longer to verify and count absen-
teeballotsthanvotescastbyelec-
tronicvotingmachinesbeforean-
nouncing a result.
Anotherfactor thatcouldpo-
tentially slow down the count-
ing of ballots would be an on-
slaught of post-Election Day
litigation that prevents states
from finalising the vote count
until the disputes are settled.
What are the top concerns on
Supporters of Pakistan Democratic Movement, an alliance
of political opposition parties, on their way to attend a rally
in Gujranwala on Friday. Reuters
Khan, who came to power on
ananti-graftplatform,saidhewas-
n’tafraidof theopposition’scam-
of buildings in flames when he
drove downtown, Mathewson
decided it was time for people to
arm themselves to protect their
houses and businesses.
To his surprise, some 4,000
people responded on Facebook.
Within minutes, the Kenosha
Guard had sprung to life.
Hiscalltoarmspropelledcivil-
ians bearing military-style rifles
onto the streets, where late that
nightagunmanscufflingwithpro-
testersshotthreeof them,twofa-
tally. The Kenosha Guard then
evaporatedasquicklyasitarose.
Long a divisive figure in
Kenosha, Mathewson, 36, who
sprinkles his sentences with
“Jeez!” and describes himself as
BIDEN ADDRESSES
COURT PACKING
■Biden did make one bit of
news: After avoiding the
question recently, he
signalled he would announce
before election if he supports
expanding the number of
seats on the Supreme Court.
But he said he wanted to wait
until after the Senate had
your mind this election?
Rejected ballots? In-person
voting?
The CLC is concerned about
variousattemptstolimitaccessto
theballotaroundthecountry.We
are also concerned about at-
temptsmadebypoliticianstoun-
dermine the legitimacy of the
electionandconvincepeoplethat
their votes won’t matter.
Thesignaturematchlawsthat
a majority of states use to verify
mail-in ballots could prevent
many people’s votes from count-
ing.Theselawsrequirestateelec-
tion officials to compare a voter’s
ballotsignaturewithanothergov-
ernmentrecordoftheirsignature.
Voters with disabilities, the eld-
erly,non-nativeEnglishspeakers,
and racial minorities are more
likelytohavetheirballotsrejected
due to signature match issues.
Toomanystateandlocalelec-
tion officials have kept limited
voting options in place or re-
stricted them even further de-
paign,whichhesaidwasaimedat
blackmailinghimtodropcorrup-
tioncasesagainsttheirleaders.
PeoplecarryingriflesoutsidetheKenoshaCountyCourthouse
onAugust25,thenighttwopeoplewerekilled. NYT
“chunky,” does not fit the typical
profileof arifle-totingwatchdog,
althoughhesaidhesupportedUS
President Trump on Second
Amendment grounds. The rise
and fall of his Kenosha Guard re-
acted on the nomination of
Amy Coney Barrett to replace
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
■ManyDemocratshave
calledforexpandingthe
SupremeCourtafter
Republicanschargedforward
withfillingthevacancyso
closetotheelection.ButBiden
has,inthepast,saidhedidnot
supporttheidea. NYT
spite the pandemic.
Yet the most concerning as-
pect of this election is how
President Trump and others
have repeatedly claimed that if
more voters use mail-in ballots
or if the election results do not
go in their favour, then the sys-
tem cannot be trusted.
Withalmost200ongoinglegal
battlesontheseissues,howdo
youfeeltheUSisfaringwhen
itcomestovotersuppression
andaccesstovoting
Votingrightsadvocatesarefac-
inganuphillbattleinthecourts.A
largepartofthisiswhoisrulingon
thesecases.Infederalcourtsacross
thecountry,morejudgeswhoare
hostile to voting rights have been
appointedinthelastthree-to-four
years.Still,mostcourtsarecontin-
uingtorejectargumentsmadeby
parties like the Trump campaign
aboutvoterfraud.
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
“We have come out for the
supremacy of the law,” said
Maryam Nawaz, the daughter
and political heir of former
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
speaking from atop an SUV that
was showered with rose petals
as she left for Gujranwala from
nearby Lahore.
“Ourstruggleisagainstinjus-
tice, unemployment and all-
time price hikes.”
The protest campaign comes
at a time when Pakistan is expe-
riencing an economic crisis,
with inflation touching double
digits and negative growth. The
next general election is sched-
uled for 2023. REUTERS
flectsthecurrentspiritof vigilan-
tismsurfacingacrossthecountry.
Organisationsthatopenlydis-
play weapons have existed for
decades,withcertainhot-button
issueslikeimmigrationorSecond
Man slits teacher’s
throat, shot dead
by police near Paris
TANGI SALAÜN &
GEERT DE CLERCQ
PARIS, OCTOBER 16
FRENCH POLICE on Friday shot
dead a man who minutes earlier
hadkilledamiddleschoolteacher
byslittinghisthroatinthestreetin
asuburbofParis,policesaidFriday.
Theteacherhadshownpupils
inhisclasscartoonsoftheProphet
Mohammad, which are consid-
ered by Muslims to be blasphe-
mous,accordingtoapolicesource.
The suspected attacker was
spotted by a police patrol while
carrying a knife a short distance
from the scene of the attack,
which took place in Conflans
UK PM: Trade talks
over, time to prepare
for a no-deal Brexit
EU leaders say talks will continue
GUY FAULCONBRIDGE
& WILLIAM JAMES
LONDON, OCTOBER 16
PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson
saidonFridayitwasnowtimeto
prepareforano-tradedealBrexit
unless the European Union fun-
damentally changed course,
bluntlytellingBrusselsthatthere
wasnopointintalkinganymore.
A tumultuous “no deal” fi-
nale to the United Kingdom’s
five-year Brexitcrisiswouldsow
chaos through the delicate sup-
ply chains that stretch across
Britain, the EU and beyond - just
as the economic hit from the
coronavirus pandemic worsens.
At what was supposed to be
the “Brexit summit” on
Thursday,theEUdeliveredanul-
timatum: it said it was con-
cerned by a lack of progress and
called on London to yield on key
sticking points or see a rupture
of ties with the bloc from Jan 1.
“I have concluded that we
should get ready for January 1
with arrangements that are
more like Australia’s based on
simple principles of global free
trade,” Johnson said.
“With high hearts and with
complete confidence, we will
prepare to embrace the alterna-
tive and we will prosper might-
ily as an independent free trad-
ing nation, controlling and
setting our own laws,” he added.
Johnson’s spokesman said
talks were now over and there
wasnopointintheEU’schief ne-
gotiator Michel Barnier coming
to London next week barring a
change in approach.
“The trade talks are over: the
Game of Brexit brinkmanship?
BORISJOHNSONhad
earliersetThursdayas
thedeadlinefortheUK
todecideonwhetherit
wouldcontinuetalks
foradealwiththeEU.Buton
thatday,theblocsaidtheUK
mustmakemoreconcessions,
anditappearsthatJohnsonis
stickingtohistimelineand
callingoff thetalks.However,it
hasbeenreportedthatEU
leadersanddiplomatsbelieve
adealisstillpossibleandthat
Amendmentrightsinspiringpeo-
plewhothinktheConstitutionis
under threat. Anti-immigrant
andIslamophobicsentimentsare
rife, and some militant groups,
liketheOathKeepersortheThree
Percenters, train together under
established hierarchies. Ever
since the 2017 white nationalist
marchinCharlottesville,Virginia,
armed groups have become fix-
tures at demonstrations around
the country, although member-
ship numbers remain opaque.
Withtheapproachingelection
ratcheting up tensions in recent
months, armed groups that as-
sembled via a few clicks on the
keyboardhavebecomebothmore
visible and more widespread.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Sainte-Honorine,asuburbnorth-
west of Paris. The police shot the
suspect dead, according to a po-
lice spokesman.
A police source said that wit-
nesses had heard the attacker
shout “Allahu Akbar”. The police
spokesmansaidthatinformation
was being checked. Another
sourcesaidthevictimwasdecap-
itated,butthiswasnotconfirmed.
Late last month, a man at-
tackedtwopeopleoutsideformer
offices of the magazine Charlie
Hebdo. That was the spot where
Islamist militants gunned down
employees of the magazine five
yearsagoinretaliationforthepub-
licationofcartoonsoftheProphet
Mohammad. REUTERS
I have concluded that we
should get ready for
January 1 with
arrangements that are
more like Australia’s
based on simple principles
of global free trade.”
BORIS JOHNSON
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER
EU have effectively ended them
by saying that they do not want
to change their negotiating posi-
tion,” Johnson’s spokesman said.
EU heads of government,
concludinga summitin Brussels
onFriday,rushedtosaythatthey
wanted a trade deal and that
talks would continue, though
not at any price.
Asked if he was walking
away from talks, Johnson said:
“Unless there is a fundamental
change of approach, we’re going
to go for the Australia solution.
And we should do it with great
confidence.”
A so-called “Australia deal”
means that the United Kingdom
would trade on World Trade
Organisation terms: as a coun-
try without an EU trade agree-
ment, like Australia, tariffs
would be imposed under WTO
rules, likely causing significant
price rises. REUTERS
Johnson’sstatementson
Fridayareaploytoforce
moreconcessionsoutof
theEU.Itiswidelyheld
thatano-dealBrexit
wouldbedetrimentaltoall
parties,butitwouldbeanes-
peciallybigblowtotheUK’s
economy.Thisiswhy,despite
therhetoric,Johnsonhasnot
completelyshutthedooron
talks,sayingthatif theEU
changeditsapproach,thena
dealwasstillpossible.
Some especially violent groups
wererootedinlongstandinganti-
government extremism, like the
14 men charged with various
crimes in Michigan this month.
They included six accused by the
FBIofplottingtokidnapGovernor
Gretchen Whitmer, whom the
suspects had labelled a “tyrant”.
Starting in April, demonstra-
tions against coronavirus lock-
downs prompted makeshift vigi-
lante groups to move offline and
intotherealworld.Thattricklebe-
come a torrent amid the nation-
wide protests after the police
killing of George Floyd — with
some armed groups claiming to
protect the protesters while oth-
erssoughttocheckthem. NYT
Lucknow

15 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020
SECTOR WATCH
ONLINE NEWS
Rules for 26% FDI in
digital media: Indian
CEO, security check
for foreign personnel
Govtsaysfocusisonfakenewsand
propaganda,policyputsnationfirst
KRISHNKAUSHIK
NEWDELHI,OCTOBER16
MORE THAN a year after an-
nouncinga26percentforeign
directinvestment(FDI)capun-
der the government approval
route in digital news, the gov-
ernmenthassaidthattheCEO
ofthecompanywouldhaveto
be an Indian citizen, and that
allforeignemployeesworking
for more than 60 days would
needsecurityclearance.
TherewasnoFDIpolicyfor
“news digital media sector”
earlier. FDI in print media is
cappedat26percent,andthat
inTVnewsis49percent.
The Commerce Ministry
said the government had de-
cided in September 2019 “to
liberalisetheFDIregimeforen-
tities engaged in the News
Digital Media Sector”, and ac-
cordingly,theseentities“have
been permitted FDI upto 26%
through the government ap-
provalroute”.
Thedigitalnewsmediaen-
tities looking for FDI would
havetoadheretothreecondi-
tions, the Ministry said: the
majorityofthedirectorsonthe
company’sboard,andtheCEO
ofthecompanywillhavetobe
Indiancitizensand,“theentity
shall be required to obtain se-
curity clearance of all foreign
personnellikelytobedeployed
formorethan60daysinayear
by way of appointment, con-
tract or consultancy or in any
other capacity for functioning
of the entity prior to their de-
ployment”.Shouldthegovern-
mentdenyorwithdrawsecu-
rity clearance, “the investee
entitywillensurethatthecon-
cerned person resigns or
BRIEFLY
UnionBankof
IndiaMD&CEO
isnewIBAchief
Mumbai:IndianBanks’Ass-
ociation (IBA) said Friday
UnionBankofIndiaMDand
CEORajkiranRaiGhasbeen
elected as the association’s
chairmanfor2020-21.State
Bank of India Chairman
Dinesh Kumar Khara was
named deputy chairman.
FinMinbegins
Budgetmaking
exercise
New Delhi: The Finance
MinistryonFridaykickedoff
the exercise to prepare the
annual Budget for 2021-22
amid the urgency to push
economicgrowthhitbythe
Covid-19 pandemic. PTI
Thyssenkrupp
armgetsLiberty
Steeloffer
New Delhi: Liberty Steel,
founded by Sanjeev Gupta,
said Friday said it had made
a non-binding offer for
Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit,
aimingtomovetowardscar-
bon-neutral production.
‘JKTyre,other
cosface
antitrustprobe’
NewDelhi:TheCompetition
CommissionofIndiaisinve-
stigatingJKTyre&Industries
Ltd after the Haryana gov-
ernment accused the com-
pany of bid rigging, and the
probehasbeenexpandedto
otherfirmslikeApolloTyres,
CEAT,MRF,andIndianunits
ofMichelinandContinental
AG, sources said. REUTERS
SENSEX: 39,982.98 ▲ 254.57 NIFTY: 11,762.45 ▲ 82.10 NIKKEI: 23,410.63 ▼ 96.60 HANG SENG: 24,386.79 ▲ 228.25 FTSE: 5,911.96 ▲ 79.44 DAX: 12,837.26 ▲ 133.51
his/herservicesareterminated
forthwith after receiving such
directives from the govern-
ment”,theMinistrynotesaid.
A senior government offi-
cial said the “security condi-
tions for majority of directors
and the CEO to be Indian citi-
zens,andsecurityclearanceof
foreign personnel were appli-
cable to the broadcast content
services sector”, that is, TV
news,inFDIalready.However,
sourcessaidtherewerenosuch
conditionsforprintmedia.The
official said the “threat of fake
news,propagandavehicles,for-
eigninfluenceandinterference
in India’s domestic affairs is
more real than ever, particu-
larly from our hostile neigh-
bours”.Thegovernment’s“pol-
icy prescription puts India’s
nationalinterestfirstandcurbs
thesethreats”,theofficialsaid.
The decision will be appli-
cable to the following cate-
gories of entities registered or
located in India: digital media
entities“streaming/uploading
news and current affairs on
websites, apps or other plat-
forms”; “news agency which
gathers, writes and distrib-
utes/transmits news, directly
or indirectly, to digital media
entitiesand/ornews aggrega-
tors”; and “news aggregator,
being an entity which, using
software of web application,
aggregatesnewscontentfrom
various sources, such as news
websites, blogs, podcasts,
video blogs, user submitted
links, etc in one location”. The
government has given a year
to digital media news entities
to align their shareholding
withtheserequirements.
Full report on
www.indianexpress.com
PV sales jump 17% in Diesel sales recover to LabourMin to meet entities employing
Sept qtr on demand above pre-Covid levels gig workers to understand challenges
for private vehicles in first half of October
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,OCTOBER16
HELPED BY demand for private
vehiclespost-lockdowninAugust
andSeptember,thepassengerve-
hicle and two-wheeler segment
eclipsedthedomesticsalesinJuly-
Septemberquarter,withPVsales
growing 17 per cent and two-
wheeler sales marginally up by
0.17percentoverthatinthesame
quarter last year.
On the other hand, in an indi-
cation of continued weakness in
industrial activity and its impact
onlogistics,thecommercialvehi-
cle and the three-wheeler seg-
mentreportedmuchweakersales
numberduringthequarter.While
themedium&heavycommercial
vehicles segment reported 48.8
percentdeclineinsalesduringthe
quarter, LCVs (-20 per cent) and
three-wheelers reported a 74.6
percentdeclineinsalesduringthe
Firm linked to Cox & Kings promoter under
lens, got loan against security by travel co’s arm intrusive powers of tax
KHUSHBOONARAYAN
MUMBAI,OCTOBER16
A$59.6million(Rs447crore)loan
extendedbyDeutscheBankAGto
a British Virgin Island (BVI) firm
linkedtoAjayAjitPeterKerkar,the
promoter of Cox & Kings Ltd, has
come under the scanner of
investigatingagenciesastheloan
was obtained in lieu of security
given by a Hong Kong arm of the
travel company, sources told The
Indian Express.
In 2016, Kerkar’s Castleman
ManagementLtdinBVIborrowed
$59.6millionfromDeutscheBank
AGagainstasecuritygivenbyCox
GST COMPENSATION ISSUE
Govtreachesouttostateson
borrowing;someseekclarity
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,OCTOBER16
A DAY after two letters went out
from the Centre to the states de-
tailingthenewnormsforborrow-
ing to meet the compensation
deficit under Goods and Services
Tax(GST),someopposition-ruled
states — while appreciating the
move — have expressed reserva-
tionsovertheestimatedpayouts.
StateslikeKeralaaskedforthe
wholecompensationdeficitofRs
2.35 lakh crore to be borrowed
thisyear,whileChhattisgarhques-
tioneditsayingthatarrangingfor
a part of the deficit without ac-
counting for the entire compen-
sation shortfall is incorrect.
Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman had on Thursday
writtentoallstates,includingop-
position-ruled ones, explaining
theprovisions,benefitsandthera-
tionaleof theborrowingscheme.
AMID COVID-19
‘M&A activities up 6% in
Sept quarter at $21.6 billion’
Recovering from the lows of the pandemic-hit June quarter,
deal street saw transaction value grow 5.9% on-year to $21.6
billion in the September quarter, a Mergermarket report said
33% Decline in merger and
acquisition (M&A)
deals, in volume terms; from 114
deals in the September 2019
quarter to 76 in Q2FY21
$20.44billion: Value of 114
M&A deals recorded in
September 2019 quarter
$9.46billion:Value of 37
domestic M&A deals in the
September quarter
Largestdomestictransactions
inSeptemberquarter:
■ $3.38billion: Acquisition of
Future Group’s retail &
wholesale businesses along
PROVIDING SOCIAL
SAFETY BENEFITS
TWO-WHEELER SALES
18.49lakh
■ In case of two-wheelers,
the industry sold 18.49 lakh
units in September, which
was 11.6 per cent more than
that in September 2019.
quarteroverthatinthecorrespon-
ding period last year.
According to data released by
Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers,thedomesticsales
acrossallcategoriesof vehiclesin
the quarter ended September
2020 stood at 55.96 lakh units,
down 0.98 per cent from that of
56.51lakhunitsinthecorrespon-
ding quarter last year. In case of
two-wheelers, the industry sold
18.49 lakh units in September,
which was 11.6 per cent more
than that in September 2019.
Curbs on coercive,
officers for recovery
and Kings Asia Pacific Travel Ltd,
in Hong Kong, a subsidiary of the
listed firm Cox & Kings.
Subsequently, Castleman de-
faultedontheloanrepayment.As
aresult,inJuly2019,thebanktook
possessionofthesecuritydeposit
of around Rs 450 crore given by
Cox and Kings Asia Pacific Travel.
Now, the arrested CFO of Cox
and Kings, Anil Khandelwal — in
a statement to the Economic
Offence Wing (EOW) of Mumbai
Police — has alleged that Kerkar’s
Castlemanineffect“siphoned”Rs
450crorefromCoxandKingsAsia
PacificTravel.Further,documents
showthatanotherBVIfirmlinked
to Kerkar, Coad Investment Ltd,
‘Re-establish
trust between
Centre, states’
New Delhi: After the Centre
agreedtoborrowRs1.10lakh
crore on behalf of states to
meettheGSTshortfall,Cong-
ress leader P Chidambaram
said Friday the Centre has
taken the “correct first step”
andshouldworktore-estab-
lish trust with states. PTI
She is also learnt to have spoken
withchiefministersofsomeofthe
opposition-ruled states enlisting
thebenefitsandtherationalebe-
hindoptingforborrowingforthe
compensation deficit.
In her letter, the FM said the
GovernmentofIndiahasaccepted
the legal opinion that the entire
amount(whetherduetoGSTim-
with logistics & warehousing
businesses by Reliance Retail
Ventures
■ $3 billion:Motherson Sumi’s
acquisition of Samvardhana
Motherson International in a
reverse takeover transaction
Source: Mergermarket/PTI
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,OCTOBER16
DIESEL SALES rose above pre-
Covidlevelsforthefirsttimesince
February in the first 15 days of
October, according to the sales
dataofstate-ownedoilmarketing
companies (OMCs).
Diesel sales by Indian Oil
Corporation, Bharat Petroleum
Corporation and Hindustan
PetroleumCorporationroseby8.8
percentto2,650ThousandMetric
Tonnes (TMT), while sales of
petrolgrewby1.6percentto982
TMTintheperiod.Dieselsalesor-
dinarily account for about 40 per
cent of total sales of petroleum
products in India. Petrol sales re-
coveredtoabovepre-Covidlevels
in September.
The sales of both diesel and
petrolcrashedbyover50percent
inAprilascoronavirus-relatedre-
strictions drastically reduced the
movement of people and goods.
too had applied for a loan from
Deutsche Bank against a security
given by Cox and Kings Asia
PacificTravel.
RecordsshowthatCastleman
Management is owned by The
Castle Cove Trust and Coad
Investment by The Welcome
Trust. Kerkar is the settlor of both
thesetrustsandhiswifeistheul-
timate beneficiary of the trusts.
“Intransactingwithitsclients,
DeutscheBankstrictlyadheresto
locallawsandregulations.Toyour
specificquery,youwillappreciate
that we are not in a position to
commentonindividualclientsor
specifictransactions,”saidaDeut-
scheBankspokesmaninanemail.
plementation or not) is payable
butthroughthecess,notConsoli-
dated Fund of India. She added
thattheCentrefacesseriousbud-
getary constraints and the fiscal
deficit will be “far in excess of
whatwasbudgeted”inthisfiscal.
Anotherletterwassentoutto
states from the state-public fi-
nancedivisionoftheExpenditure
Department, Finance Ministry,
asking for authorisation from the
state to permit interest and prin-
cipal repayment from the com-
pensation payable to the states.
The letter also detailed the
breakupoftheproposedborrow-
ing to meet the Rs 1.1 lakh crore
deficit under option 1, with
Karnataka and Maharashtra fac-
ing the highest shortfall of Rs
12,407 crore and Rs 11,977 crore,
respectively.
Punjab’sdeficitisestimatedto
be Rs 8,359 crore, Kerala faces a
shortfall of Rs 5,766 crore, while
that of Chhattisgarh stands at Rs
Govt notice to Flipkart,
Amazon over ‘country
of origin’ tag issues
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,OCTOBER16
THEGOVERNMENThaspulledup
Amazon and Flipkart for not dis-
playing the country of origin of
someoftheproductssoldontheir
platforms, threatening action
against the two if they do not ex-
plainthemselveswithin15days.
“Ithascometothenoticeofthe
Department of Consumer Affairs
thatsomeof thee-commerceen-
tities are not displaying the
mandatory declarations as re-
quiredundertheLegalMetrology
Rules,2011,”statedtheMinistryof
Consumer Affairs in notices sent
tothee-commercefirmsonFriday.
The Ministry has asked the
platformstorespondtoitsnotices
withdetailslikethenatureofown-
ership of the firm and copies of
Petrol sales bounced
back to above pre-Covid
levels in September
The recovery of diesel sales has
been slower than that of petrol
with an increasing number of
peoplepreferringpersonalmobil-
ity over public transport.
Anofficialatanoilmarketing
company said the growth in
diesel sales was likely due to a
pick-up in industrial activity be-
fore the festive season and the
restorationof somepublictrans-
port services.
“There is a lot of pent-up de-
mand for travel which may have
helpedboosttheconsumptionof
diesel,” the official noted.
Executives at OMCs had previ-
ously said they expected that
diesel consumption would re-
cover to pre-Covid levels in
November-December.
Kerkar, in an email, said
Khandewalandhisteamhavefal-
sified the accounts of the foriegn
subsidiaries of Cox and Kings.
Cox and Kings Asia Pacific
Travel had net assets of Rs 1,354
crore as of March 2017, the last
available financial records, the
company made a loss of Rs 4.54
crore in that financial year.
InApril,TheIndianExpress,ina
series of stories, reported that a
forensic audit found the travel
company undertook related-
party transactions worth
Rs 21,000 crore over four years
(2015-2019) to siphon off funds.
Full report on
www.indianexpress.com
GOLD
`51,704
Note: Gold, silver rates at Delhi spot market; gold per 10 g, silver per 1 kg; Brent crude as of 2330 IST
3,109 crore.
Kerala is of the view that the
issue should be discussed and it
needs to be decided how much
compensationshouldbedeferred.
The state’s Chief Minister is also
learnttohaverepliedtotheUnion
Finance Minister’s letter with the
same query as to why the entire
GST compensation shortfall of Rs
2.3lakhcrorecannotbeborrowed
tobepaidtostatesthisyearitself.
Chhattisgarh Commercial
Taxes Minister TS Singh Deo told
The Indian Express, “They (the
Centre)havetakenafigureof7per
cent revenue growth
assumption. This revenue short-
fall could be anything between 4
per cent to 10 per cent or any
amount up to 14 per cent (the
legally guaranteed rate for rev-
enuegrowthtoprovidecompen-
sation).Soifyoudon’ttakethefull
deficit into account, then you are
arrangingonlyapartofitwhichis
completely incorrect.”
partnership deeds or the memo-
randumof theirarticlesof associ-
ation. The development comes at
atimewhenthetwoplatformsare
startingtheirannualsales.
AmazonandFlipkartcouldnot
immediately be reached for
comment.
The Confederation of All India
Traders (CAIT) has asked the gov-
ernment to investigate “immedi-
ately” these festive sales. The
body’s secretary general Praveen
Khandelwal demanded “an im-
mediate ban on the e-commerce
portals till the time they comply
withsuchmandatoryobligation”.
In the backdrop of border
clashes between India and China
in June, the government began
pushing e-commerce firms to
work out a mechanism to display
the country of origin of the prod-
uctsdisplayedontheirplatform.
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,OCTOBER16
THE LABOUR Ministry will soon
hold a meeting with the entities
employinggigandplatformwork-
ers to understand the concerns
andchallengesfacedbythemasit
moves ahead with its rule-fram-
ing process for the new set of
labourcodes.
The government is discussing
waysinwhichitcanprovidesocial
security benefits to the gig and
platformworkers,whohavebeen
brought into the ambit of labour
laws for the first time, but lack a
uniformstandardofemployment,
officialssaid.
Labour Secretary Apurva
Chandrasaidtherecouldbesome
implementationissuesforprovid-
ing social security benefits for gig
and platform workers given that
theydonothavethetypicalfixed-
wagetermsof employment.
“I am calling a meeting with
entities of gig workers to under-
stand their challenges. There
would be some issues since their
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,OCTOBER16
THE CENTRAL Board of Direct
Taxes (CBDT), in an order under
Section119oftheIncome-taxAct,
hasrestrictedcoerciveorintrusive
powersofassessingofficersortax
recoveryofficers fortax recovery.
Thenewordernowallowsco-
ercive/intrusivemeasuresonlyaf-
ter exhaustion of other means of
recoveryandrestrictrecoverysur-
veys to the non-responsive/non-
traceable taxpayers.
RUPEE
`73.35
Centre borrowing
for states set to
flatten yield curve
RBI to conduct
first-ever OMO
purchase of SDLs
on October 22
GEORGEMATHEW
MUMBAI,OCTOBER16
WITH THE central government
agreeing to borrow Rs 1.1 lakh
crorefromthemarketandextend
itasloanstostategovernmentsin
lieuofGSTshortfall,thebondmar-
ket expects further flattening of
the yield curve and reduced un-
certaintiesatatimewhenthegov-
ernments and corporates are set
tomobilisearecordamountfrom
themarket.
The RBI has already assured
thattheborrowingprogrammeof
theCentreandstatesfortherestof
2020-21 will be completed in a
non-disruptive manner without
compromisingonpriceandfinan-
cial stability. A day later after the
governmentdecision,theReserve
BankonFridaysaiditwillconduct
OpenMarketOperations(OMOs)
in State Developments Loans for
thefirsttime.Theyieldonbench-
mark 10-year government bonds
closed at 5.93 per cent on Friday,
wellbelowthe6percentlevel.
The Rs 1.1 lakh crore borrow-
ingwouldnotincreasethecentral
government fiscal deficit and
wouldalsonotresultinanincrease
incombinedcentreandstategov-
ernmentissuanceforthisfiscal,ac-
cording to IFA Global Research.
The government was initially re-
luctanttoborrowfromthemarket
to meet the GST shortfall.
However, the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) favoured the central
government borrowing from the
marketastheinvestorsweremore
comfortablewiththeCentre’sbor-
rowing and interest rate on cen-
tre’ssecuritiesaremuchlower.
“Thisstepwillreducethesup-
ply of state bonds in H2 FY2021,
fromthelevelthatwasearlierbe-
inganticipated.Moreover,thecost
of such borrowings would go
down. In conjunction with the
plan to conduct OMO in SDL that
■Labour Secretary
Apurva Chandra said
there could be some
implementation
issues for providing
social security
benefits for gig and
platform workers,
given that they do
not have the typical
fixed-wage terms of
employment.
employment is not the typical
fixed-wageemployment.Thereis
a need to understand their con-
cerns,”hesaid.
Theprovisionsforgigandplat-
form workers need to be stream-
linedkeepinginmindthepossibil-
ity of simultaneous employment
oftheseworkersacrosstwoorgan-
isations,officialssaid.Forinstance,
some of these workers could be
workingfortwocabaggregatorsat
the same time, so social security
Surveys will now be allowed
only by Investigation and TDS
wingsof thetaxdepartment.The
orderalsoproposessettingupofa
two-member collegium of
Principal Chied Commissioner
andChief Commissionerrankof-
ficers for screening of survey for
cases other than TDS.
Shailesh Kumar, Partner,
Nangia & Co LLP said, “The de-
tailed guidelines issued by the
CBDT providing stringent condi-
tionsfortaxrecoveryproceedings
by Income Tax authorities are
much welcome.”
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
OIL SILVER
$42.92 `62,972
International market data till 1900 IST
E X P L A I NE D
Centralbank
assurance
● onborrowing
THE RBI has already as-
sured that the borrowing
programme of the Centre
and states for the rest of
2020-21 will be com-
pleted in a non-disrup-
tive manner without
compromising on price
and financial stability.
has been announced by the RBI,
such measures should help ease
SDL spreads,” said Jayanta Roy,
Senior Vice-President and Group
Head,ICRA.
SiddharthaSanyal,chiefecon-
omist and head–research,
Bandhan Bank, said, “Given the
persistingrevenueshortfallofcen-
tral and state governments, addi-
tional market borrowing is not a
major surprise. Thus, irrespective
of the market’s knee jerk reaction
on Friday, one feels that the cur-
rent set of announcements will
eventually help reducing uncer-
tainties and anchor market senti-
ment over the coming weeks, es-
pecially given the intelligent
selection of the maturity buckets
for the additional borrowing that
enjoystrongdemand.”
Sanyal said the current set of
announcements may also lead to
further flattening of the yield
curve, thereby inducing better
transmission of the RBI’s mone-
tary easing.” The RBI has decided
to conduct a purchase auction of
SDLsunderOMOforanaggregate
amount of Rs 10,000 crore on
October 22, keeping in view that
thisisthefirsteverOMOpurchase
ofSDLs.Dependingonmarketre-
sponse, the size of the auctions
may be enhanced in the subse-
quentauctions.
While unveiling the mone-
tarypolicyrecently,RBIGovernor
Shaktikanta Das said the RBI
stands ready to undertake fur-
thermeasuresasnecessarytoas-
sure market participants of ac-
cess to liquidity and easy
financing conditions.
benefitsneedtobedefinedtaking
noteofsuchtypesofemployment.
The government is aiming to
implement the four labour codes
fromApril1nextyear.TheLabour
Ministryhasbegunworktoframe
rules for the three codes, with an
aim to finalise the rules by
November and then put them in
public domain for consultations,
Chandrasaid.TheCentreisalsogo-
ingtoreachouttostatestohasten
theprocessforsettingrulesattheir
level in order to meet the April 1
deadline. Parliament last month
cleared new versions of three
labourcodes—IndustrialRelations
Code,CodeonSocialSecurityand
Occupational Safety, Health and
Working Conditions Code. The
government has proposed to in-
creasetheambitof socialsecurity
by including gig workers and in-
ter-statemigrant workers.
The Social Security Code pro-
poses a National Social Security
Board,whichshallrecommendto
theCentreforformulatingsuitable
schemes for different sections of
unorganisedworkers,gigworkers
andplatformworkers.
Hong Kong
bars Air India,
Vistara flights
till October 30
NewDelhi:HongKonghasbanned
Air India and Vistara flights from
October 17 to 30 after a few pas-
sengersontheirflightstestedpos-
itive for Covid-19 post arrival, a
seniorgovernmentofficialsaidon
Friday.
This is the third time that Air
IndiaflightsfromIndiahavebeen
bannedbytheHongKonggovern-
ment for bringing passengers
who tested positive for the infec-
tion after arrival.Vistara’s flights
arebeingbannedforthefirsttime
by the Hong Kong government
during the pandemic. PTI
Lucknow

16 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2020
BRIEFLY
Japantotestanti-virus
measuresatnear-full
baseballstadium
Tokyo: Yokohama Stadium will hold
three baseball games at around 80% ca-
pacitylaterthismonthasJapanlooksto
testitsCOVID-19countermeasuresatbig
events ahead of the rearranged Tokyo
Olympicsnextyear.Economicrevitaliza-
tionministerYasutoshiNishimura,who
heads Japan’s COVID-19 fight, told re-
porters late on Thursday that if the “ex-
periment”wasasuccessallprofessional
stadiumswouldbeallowedtoboostca-
pacity.TheYokohamaBaystars,whoplay
at the 34,000-capacity Yokohama
Stadium,whichwillalsobeusedduring
theOlympics,confirmedinastatement
thatthreegameswouldbeplayedatthe
venue with capacity set at around 80%.
As well as having their temperature
checkedanddisinfectantbeingavailable
throughoutthevenue,allfanshadtogive
their contact details to staff. Giants fans
haveevenchangedtheirpopularchants
to involve less yelling and movement
thatmayspreadthevirus. REUTERS
Raipurtohave
hockeyacademy
NewDelhi: Raipur,oneof thehostcities
fornextyear'sjuniorhockeyWorldCup,
willsoonhavearesidentialacademyfor
thesport.Besides,CentresofExcellence
centres for athletics, wrestling and
swimmingtoowillbesetupinBilaspur.
Announcing these developments, the
Chhattisgarh government on Friday
said that Raipur will also have a centre
forarcheryundertheSportsMinistry's
'One State One Game' initiative. This
comes at the back of Chief Minister
Bhupesh Baghel constituting
Chhattisgarh Sports Development
Authorityforthemaintenanceofsports
infrastructureandoperationofresiden-
tialsportsacademies.Thesecentreswill
receive aid from the state and central
governments. ENS
Md.Sporting backin
I-Leagueafter7years
Kalyani: Mohammedan Sporting on
Friday clinched an I-League berth after
sevenyearswitha2-0winovercityrivals
Bhawanipore FC in the qualifiers.
VanlalbiaaChhangte(28thminute)and
Gani Ahmmed Nigam (67th) struck on
eithersideofhalf-time.Withthreewins
onthetrot,theBlackPanthersnowhave
an unassailable lead of nine points over
their nearest rivals to seal the lone I-
League spot with a round to spare. On
October19,MohammedanSportingwill
face FC Bengaluru United, followed by
the match between ARA FC and
BhawaniporeFC. PTI
3Hoffenheimplayers
outofDortmundtie
Berlin: Hoffenheim on Friday said two
playershadtestedpositiveforCOVID-19
upontheirreturnfrominternationalduty
andathirdplayeralsowentintoquaran-
tine ahead of Saturday’s clash against
Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
The two unnamed players had just re-
turned from international duty and had
no contact with any Hoffenheim team-
mates or staff, the club said. “A further
Hoffenheim player is also in quarantine
duetoaCOVID-19caseinhisimmediate
family,” the club said in a statement.
HoffenheimarelevelwithDortmundon
sixpointsfromthreegames. REUTERS
BRAZIL’S TOP GOALSCORERS
Why Neymar isn’t considered a Brazilian great like Pele, Ronaldo yet
SANDIPG
OCTOBER16
WITH HIS hat-trick against Peru in the World
CupqualifieronWednesday,Neymartookhis
nationalteamgoaltallyto64.Hesurpassedhis
country's celebrated striker Ronaldo (62) and
isnowjust13goalsbehindthelegendaryPele.
Consideringthathe’sonly28,itwouldbesur-
prising if he doesn’t eclipse Pele in the immi-
nentfuture.However,forallhisskills,trickery
and numbers, he is not counted among the
greatest of all time, a rarefied space Pele and
Ronaldo inhabit.
Why is Neymar not counted among the
greats yet?
The nimble-footed Brazilian combines
European technicality and Brazilian flair in
his play. He is exceptional with both feet, has
a terrific header, scores from free-kicks and
can conjure a moment of magic from noth-
ing. Lionel Messi considers him his spiritual
successor and the future talisman at
Barcelona. But he has his flaws. The Brazilian
star has a tendency to squander straightfor-
ward chances. He is also prone to tumble
VOL. XIV No.393 Registration No. DL-26003/2001 R.N.I. No. UPENG/2001/5674. Printed and published by R. C. Malhotra on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited. Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, C-26, Amousi Industrial Area, Lucknow and publishedat 1/8,
Vivek Khand, Gomti Nagar, 9 Lucknow - 226010. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor: Raj Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor (Lucknow) : Rakesh Sinha* (*Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act) website: www.expressindia.com. The Indian
Express (P) Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited.The Indian Express®
Morgan’s reign off to disastrous start as Rohit & Co showcase their might
SYNOPSIS
KKR have a sluggish day with the
bat, Mumbai continue to boss
around in style
SRIRAM VEERA
OCTOBER 16
NOTHING WENT right for Kolkata Knight
Riders in Eoin Morgan’s first game as captain.
Thebattinglackedintentandtheusualsuspects
continuedtofail;DineshKarthik,whostepped
downfromcaptaincy,continuedhishorrorrun
withthebatandsodidAndreRussell.Mumbai
Indiansreachedthe149-runtargetfortheloss
of twowicketswithmorethanthreeoversre-
maining.
Sluggish KKR
Kolkata Knight Riders played like a team
whosecaptainhadsteppeddownmidseason,
on the morning of a game against the defend-
ingchampions.Thatchaosshowedinthebat-
ting until Pat Cummins stirred up some sem-
blanceofarevival,helpingthemtake49runsin
thelastfourovers.Beforehisarrival,theinnings
hadlackedintentandrevealedself-doubtsand
flaws. It started with a sensational catch from
SuryakumarYadavwhenhedivedtohisleftat
backward point to grab a slash from Rahul
Tripathi. Nitish Rana then gloved a bouncer,
ShubmanGilltamelyhittolong-on,andRussel
toowastakenoutbyabumper.Everyteamnow
targetsRusselwithashortoneathisbodyand
he hasn’t come up with an answer yet. His
propensity to stay legside of the ball, irrespec-
tiveof theline,hasalsoledtotrouble.
Karthik is the ninth captain to be changed
midseason in IPL but the first to go despite the
teambeinginthetopfourofthepointstable.In
thefirstsevengames,hehadscored108atjust
15.42 and that pressure showed. He tried to
nurdleandprodbeforegoingforapaddleshot
off leg-spinner Rahul Chahar and saw the ball
dribbleofftheedgeontohisstumps.Watching
himfromtheotherendwasthemanwhohas
replaced him. Morgan dropped anchor to try
andpreventtheteamfrombeingbowledout.
The game was meandering along when
Cumminsintervened.Hehasalreadyshowna
liking for Mumbai Indians – in their previous
meeting this season, he had slammed Jasprit
In tight quarterfinal loss, Srikanth shows game, glimpse of future
SHIVANI NAIK
OCTOBER 16
THE DENMARK Open is beautifully lacking
in any context whatsoever — just the way
Kidambi Srikanth would've wanted this re-
turn to be. Neither an Olympic spot at stake
for the future here, nor the painful piling on
of early exits from one week to next, to scar
his most recent past. Twice in their quarter-
final, Chou Tien Chen roared a guttural cry
right after a stiff rally where he was run
ragged, validating the strong challenge he
was posed by the Indian in imperious form
when on song.
Srikanth lost 22-20, 13-21, 16-21 in 62
minutesof thebestbadmintonhehasplayed
in recent times. Well rested, with not a hint
of pressure, moving well and confidently
backinghisattack,Srikanthofferedaglimpse
of what he could potentially play in the fu-
ture, rather than turning back some elusive
clock to go looking to mimic his dream sea-
son of 2017. So while this will still count as a
sub-par exit for the former World No 1
against the current World No 2, there was
On Wednesday,Neymartookhisinternationalgoaltallyto64,overtakingRonaldo’s62.Pele’sstillintheleadwith77.
down at the slightest of touches, forget a
tackle. So far he has failed to make an impact
on big games, like the quarterfinal against
Belgium in the World Cup or the UEFA
Champions League final against Bayern
Munich. This is the biggest hole in his CV and
also the reason he hasn't been as popular as
Ronaldo or Pele on terraces in Brazil.
Historically, Brazil judges its footballers not
by their club stature but with the number of
World Cups they have won.
Knights in the dark
Quinton de Kock scored an unbeaten 78 off 44 balls. BCCI
POINTS TABLE
Team Matches Won Lost NR Points
MI 8 6 2 0 12
DC 8 6 2 0 12
RCB 8 5 3 0 10
KKR 8 4 4 0 8 pulleditdown.RohitSharmawasseenlaugh-
SRH 8 3 5 0 6 ing, a mood that stayed through the chase. De
CSK 8 3 5 0 6 Kockunfurledalltheshotsthatwehavecome
RR 8 3 5 0 6 to associate with him: the heaves over mid-
KXIP 8 2 6 0 4 wicket, the feisty pulls, and the blasts through
Bumrahforfoursixesinanover.Hecustomised
his movements to the bowlers – shuffling to-
wardsoffagainstTrentBoulttogolegside,stay-
ing beside the line to Bumrah, and hitting
throughthelineagainstNathanCoulter-Nile.
In the last over, bowled by Coulter-Nile,
Morgantoojoinedin,hittingtwosixesasthey
scored 21 runs to take the total to 148/5 but it
wasn’tenoughtoeventestMumbai’smight.
enough in his game to get spectators to tune
in when he plays him next time.
The loss was down to a bunch of un-
forced errors that compounded the Guntur
man's inability to come back after trailing in
the middle set and the decider. But in all the
five sets (2 each in first two rounds & the
opener here) he won over the last three days,
the 27-year-old displayed a champion's ca-
pability to quickly switch gears at midgame,
and summon his class in the crucial finish
points.
The net is considered Srikanth's stomp-
ing ground — a litmus to check on how con-
fident he's feeling on the day. But it will al-
ways be Srikanth's attack from the midcourt
orbackthatcarriesthevenomenoughtofin-
ish the kill.
On Friday, he was gliding around mov-
ing well for added measure. At 7-6 in the
first, he hopped to the forecourt sending off
a forehand at the net, which Chou slapped to
the back. Running backwards and forced to
leave his patch, Srikanth would flick the
shuttle far back like a passing shot, unset-
tling Chou.
The Taipese 30-year-old's trap was to
How does he compare with Pele and
Ronaldo?
ApartfrombeingatrebleWorldCupwin-
ner,Pelehasabettergame-to-goalratiothan
Neymar. Pele’s scoring rate is 0.89 per game,
whileNeymar’sis0.62andRonaldo0.63.But
therearecaveats.WhatsetsRonaldoandPele
apart is their scoring sprees in World Cups.
Ronaldo has belted 15 in 19 games, Pele 12
in14andNeymarjustsixin10games.Inboth
World Cups, Neymar was relatively un-in-
Mumbai boss around in style
The only thing in the chase that was out of
order for Mumbai Indians was Quinton de
Kock’s pants. Half-way to the middle, he re-
alisedhehadwornthetrainingpantsinsteadof
thematchtrousers.Heturnedtowalkbackbut
decidedagainstit;justuntuckedhisjerseyand
theline.Sharmatoohadhismomentswiththe
bat,triggeringpurrsfromBrettLeeonair:“the
bestpullerinworldcricketrightnow”.
Mumbai even promoted Hardik Pandya
who has been playing as a specialist batsman,
andhesmackedafewtohastentheend.
BRIEF SCORES: Mumbai Indians 149/2 (Q
de Kock 78* off 44, R Sharma 35 off 36) beat
Kolkata Knight Riders 148/5 (P Cummins
53* off 36, E Morgan 39* off 28; R Chahar
2/18) by 8 wickets.
draw errors from Srikanth's backhand at the
net — messing with his territorial domi-
nance,drillingholesinhisstrength.Butthere
was little for Chou to do when Srikanth let
his stick smashes do the talking. Or when he
attacked the body to pin Chou back and then
with no perceptible change sent a smash
along the other flank moving from 19-20 to
winning next three points to claim the set,
22-20.
Chou held the upper hand in the longer
Reuters
E
fluential.Oneof theenduringimages
of the 2018 World Cup was the tat-
EXPLAINED
tered socks of Neymar, with deep
stud marks, after the quarterfinal
against Belgium. Then to his fault, he
hasatendencytofalldown,ordive,at
the slightest of touches while both
Ronaldo and Pele had robust runs and could
barge through defence lines. Neymar needs
to burn his crybaby image somehow to gain
the stature that Pele or Ronaldo enjoy.
ON THE TUBE
INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE
Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 3.30pm
Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings 7:30pm, Star Sports Network
Why did Karthik step down
in the middle of the season
SHAMIK CHAKRABARTY
OCTOBER 16
HOURS BEFORE their match against Mumbai
Indians, Dinesh Karthik stepped down as
Kolkata Knight Riders captain, handing over
thereinstoEoinMorgan.Asystemwithafoot-
ball-style strong manager and relatively low-
profile captain apparently hasn’t worked for
the franchise.
Why did Karthik step down?
AccordingtotheKKRpressrelease,Karthik
did it “with a view to focus on his batting and
contributing more to the team’s cause”. The
’keeper-batsmanhadscored108runsinseven
matches, with one half-century this season
(112 from eight after Friday’s knock).
E
WhyMorgan?
MorganledEnglandtotheirfirst-
EXPLAINED
everWorldCuptriumphlastyear.He
was a natural successor and the
team’s vice-captain. He is also the
team’ssecond-highestrun-getteraf-
terShubmanGill.Inaninterviewwith
the host broadcaster before Friday’s match,
Morganspokeaboutthe“shock”theteamhad,
as Karthik took the team into confidence the
night before.
WhydidKKRcontinuewithKarthikas
theircaptainafterfinishingfifthlast
term?
KKR rather brought in a change in their
coaching staff. Brendon McCullum replaced
JacquesKallisasheadcoach.“Thistimearound
we wanted a different profile, someone who
bringsfreshideasandnewenergy.Wearethe
youngestsideintheIPL.Wewantedsomeone
whohasprovenleadershipskills,abletowork
with young players and manage diversity,”
KnightRidersCEOVenkyMysoretoldthispa-
peraftertheappointmentwasmadelastyear.
Clearly,thefranchisewantedtoputMcCullum
right on top of their leadership pyramid.
Isaset-upfeaturingahigh-profilehead
coachandalow-profilecaptainthe
I thought, even when (Srikanth)
had the winning shot, he was
maybe a bit predictable. The
finishes at the net especially were
predictable. That's something he
could probably work on. He
could've put pressure (in the
second set). Physically, Srikanth
needs to be a bit better off to beat
the No 1, 2, 3 guys. But overall
happy with his progress.”
P GOPICHAND, NATIONAL COACH
rallies though, and physio Kiran
Challangundla had said earlier that Srikanth
was operating only at 80 per cent physically.
But rattled by how he had let slip the opener
from20-19,hewouldsprayhisreturnswide.
What really riled him up was 7-8 in the sec-
ond set — where Srikanth braking the pace
played a series of slow - soft - slow - soft
strokes and then suddenly snapped out of
the lullaby speed for a blitz kill.
After that every long rally that Chou eked
Didthethreestrikersplaythesamerole?
No.Pelehasdonnedvariousroles.Anout-
and-out striker, he also featured in the role of
the more creative No 10. At times he was also
the attacking tip of a diamond midfield.
Ronaldo was chiefly deployed as a no-non-
sense centre-forward, the near-extinct fox in
theboxtypes.Intelligent,instinctiveandintu-
itive, he was a product of the time when
Brazilianfootballwasbusyditchingtheideaof
romanticfootballandembracingpragmatism.
Inthatsense,Neymarisathrowback,hisgame
closer to Pele than Ronaldo.
Neymarisessentiallyaleft-winger,whose
primary duty is to feed the centre forward or
the striker, a role he accomplished efficiently
withBarcelona.Soheisn'tjustagoal-scorerbut
alsoagoal-creator.It’swhereheout-
shinesPeleandRonaldo.Neymarhas
made43assists,whichismarginally
betterthanPele(unofficially35)and
streets ahead of Ronaldo (12).
● Neymar plies his trade at a time
whenforwardsareexpectedtotrack
backanddefendorpress.Aforwardisexpected
tonotjustscoregoals,butcreatespaceandlay
onchancesforothers.Ronaldoneverhadtodo
it,whilePeledidsointermittently.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
flavourof theseason?
To some extent, yes. Kings XI Punjab have
Anil Kumble as head coach and a relatively
low-profileKLRahulascaptain.DelhiCapitals
have Ricky Ponting as head coach, mentoring
a relatively young and low-profile captain in
ShreyasIyer.Results,though,havebeendiffer-
ent.WhileDCaresittingprettywith12points
fromeightmatches,KXIPareatthefootof the
table;fourpointsfromeightmatches.
KKR have had a mixed season; eight
points from as many games.
WasKarthikunderpressure?
● Some external voices had called
for Karthik’s removal as captain.
“Genuinely feel @Eoin16 should lead the
side,(surly not*dk kolaimandaaaiii) World
Cup-winningcaptainshouldsurlyleadiplside.
I hope #kkr looks at this issue.nd win. they
need a leader who will lead from front like
Rohit, Dhoni or Virat..what a player,” fast
bowlerSreesanthhadtweetedafterKKR’sloss
to DC. KKR’s batting order – Karthik coming
aheadofMorgan,AndreRussellbattingtoolate
etc.–hasbeenquestionedbyfansandpundits
alike.
WasKarthikapopularcaptain?
Last year, Andre Russell, the team’s x-fac-
tor, publicly criticised on-field decision-mak-
ing.“Wehaveagoodteambutifyoumakebad
decisions,thenyouwillalwayslosegamesand
that’s what we have been doing,” Russell had
said. He wasn’t happy with his batting posi-
tion. Things barely changed in the first seven
matches this term. Only twice was the
Jamaican promoted up the order – at No. 4
against Rajasthan Royals and DC.
out, he would pump his fist, gnash his teeth
and roar his anger out. Srikanth erring in a
bunch of returns would allow Chou to level
back.
WhileChoubrokeawayat14-8inthede-
cider, after being made to work hard, he
could never shake off the fear that Srikanth
had it in him to pierce his best game with his
own attack. What saved him was Srikanth's
excessive reliance on the same stroke at the
net which Chou read rapidly and could
counter with his furious taps.
Coach Gopichand, while happy with
Srikanth's speed, movement and attack,
said, the shot selection could improve. "I
thought, even when he had the winning
shot, he was maybe a bit predictable. The
finishes at the net especially were pre-
dictable. That's something he could proba-
bly work on," he said.
The second set where Srikanth took his
foot off the pedal was the turning point. "He
could've put pressure then. A series of errors
took the pressure off Chou in the second
game. Physically, Srikanth needs to be a bit
better off to beat the No 1, 2, 3 guys. Butover-
all happy with his progress," he said.
But doesn't goal scoring depend on your
teammates?
Yes, it could also be argued that Neymar
doesn’t have the creative company that Pele
and Ronaldo enjoyed. The likes of Roberto
Firmino,PhilippeCoutinhoand GabrielJesus
are excellent accomplices but their quality
pales when you compare them to Ronaldo’s
peers like Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Juninho or
Kaka. Or Pele’s sidekicks, like Garrincha, Vava
or Jairzinho.
What does Neymar need to do to achieve
the stature of Pele and Ronaldo?
Nothing but win the World Cup and score
goals in the knockouts. He can take solace as
well as inspiration from Ronaldo’s book.
Condemned for his middling performance in
the1998final,hebouncedbacksuperblytoplot
Brazil’sfifth,andtodate,thelastWorldCupin
2002.
He was the sole goal-scorer in the edgy
semifinal against Turkey as well as the cagey
final against Germany. If Neymar could repli-
cate the Ronaldo of 2002, he could well be
stamped with footballing immortality by his
countrymen.Onlythenshallglossdwellonhis
magnificent numbers.
Lucknow