JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES
NATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH SURVEY 2019-20
Malnutrition in
kids worsens in
key states 2015-19
Sanitation, access to water, fuel better,
but increase in child stunting, wasting
UDIT MISRA
& NUSHAIBA IQBAL
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
SEVERAL STATES across the
country have reversed course
and recorded worsening levels
of child malnutrition despite
dramatic improvements in san-
itation and better access to fuel
and drinking water.
Thisisoneof thestartlingrev-
elationsinthefirst-phasedataof
the National Family Health
Survey (NFHS) 2019-20 — re-
leased by the Union Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare on
December12—andmarksashift
since the last NFHS in 2015-16.
The latest data pertains to 17
states — including Maharashtra,
Bihar, and West Bengal — and
five Union Territories (including
J&K) and, crucially, captures the
state of health in these states be-
foretheCovidpandemic.Phase2
of the survey, which will cover
other states such as Uttar
Pradesh, Punjab and Madhya
SHARP REVERSALS IN CHILD HEALTH
Proportionofstuntedchildrenunder5years
AndhraPradesh
Telangana
Assam
Bihar
Gujarat
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
WestBengal
Jammu&Kashmir
‘There isn’t any
uniformity in
mandis across
states, then how can
you have one Act for
the entire country?’
BHUPESH BAGHEL
CHIEF MINISTER, CHHATTISGARH
PAGE 12
EXPERT EXPLAINS
Lt Gen Girish Kumar
&Nitin Joshi
From The Indian Express panel
of specialists, exclusive insight
HOW TO MEASURE
A MOUNTAIN
EXPLAINED, PAGE 13
PAGE 1
ANCHOR
Team India’s big unknown: 13 in Covid bubble for six months
VISHAL MENON
& SRIRAM VEERA
NEW DELHI, MUMBAI,
DECEMBER 13
BY THE time the India-Australia
Test series gets over in the third
week of January, at least 13
Indian players would have spent
close to six months inside a
Covid bio-bubble, confined
mainlyto their hotelrooms with
stringent curbs on movement
and contact.
This is “uncharted territory”,
warn mind gurus working with
elite cricketers, and authorities
aren't doing enough to “under-
Pradesh, was delayed due to the
pandemic and its results are ex-
pected to be made available in
May 2021.
Data from the first phase
showsthatseveralstateshaveei-
therwitnessedmeagreimprove-
ments or sustained reversals on
child (under 5 years of age) mal-
nutrition parameters such as
child stunting; child wasting;
share of children underweight
and child mortality rate.
These four are key metrics
andtheirdataareusedinseveral
global indices such as the Global
Hunger Index.
Child wasting reflects acute
undernutritionandreferstochil-
dren having low weight for their
height. India has always had a
highlevelof childwastingbutin-
stead of reducing it, several
states such as Telangana, Kerala,
Bihar, and Assam as well as the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
RELATED REPORT
PAGE 10
31.2% 31.4%
33.1% 28%
35.3% 36.4%
42.9% 48.3%
39% 38.5%
35.4% 36.2%
23.4% 19.7%
35.2% 34.4%
33.8% 32.5%
26.9% 27.4%
■ 2019-20 ■ 2015-16
Bengal: BJP worker found dead, party
blames TMC for 2nd ‘killing’ in 24 hrs
SWEETY KUMARI
KOLKATA, DECEMBER 13
A DAY after a BJP worker was at-
tacked with sharp weapons and
killed in West Bengal's North 24
Parganas, another party worker
was found dead in a pond in East
Bardhaman, triggering heated
protests on Sunday.
The body of Sukhdev
Pramanik was found in
Purbasthali on the day police in
North 24 Parganas said they had
arrested three persons “with
criminal backgrounds” in con-
Over 50% vehicles on road uninsured: report
GEORGE MATHEW
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 13
MORETHANhalf thevehicleson
the road in India are running
without any insurance cover — a
mandatory provision under the
Motor Vehicles Act.
Nearly 57 per cent of the total
vehicles on the road were unin-
sured as of March 2019, up from
54percentinMarch2018,accord-
ing to the Insurance Information
BureauofIndia'sannualreportre-
leased on December 7.
The Insurance Information
stand the psychological impact”.
Since the run-up to the IPL,
when teams started assembling
in the UAE in August, Ajinkya
Rahane, Jasprit Bumrah,
Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran
Ashwin, K LRahul, Umesh Yadav
and Mohammad Shami are
among those who have re-
mained in the bubble. The oth-
ersincludebowlersMohammed
Siraj and Navdeep Saini, wicket-
keepers Wriddhiman Saha and
Rishabh Pant, and batsmen
Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill.
TheseareallTestplayerswho
were also part of the IPL. Those
who play in the shorter formats
have returned from Australia
DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
THE VACCINE VANS ROLL OUT
A truck loaded with the Covid-19 vaccine leaves the Pfizer Global Supply manufacturing
plant in Portage, Michigan, on Sunday. The first shipments of the vaccine were sent to
distribution centres in the United States. AP
EXPRESS INTERVIEW: MANOJ SINHA
Kashmir, Jammu our two eyes,
can’t favour one over other: L-G
‘Give me a single
example of
outsider having
bought land since
Aug 5, 2019’
P VAIDYANATHAN IYER
JAMMU, DECEMBER 13
KASHMIR AND Jammu are the
“twoeyes”of theUnionTerritory
of J&K,andgoingahead,forover-
all progress, both have to work
together without one being
favoured over the other, said
Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant
Governor of J&K.
“Samaan bhav sey dono ke
vikas ke liye humein kaam karna
haiaurdonomilkehiisUTkoaage
badha sakti hai (We have towork
J P Nadda’s convoy was
attacked on Dec 10. File
nection with the killing on
Saturday of Saikat Bhawal, who
headed a BJP local polling booth
level committee in Halishahar.
Bureau (IIB), set up by insurance
regulator IRDAI, is yet to finalise
its March 2020 report.
The bulk of uninsured vehi-
cles are two-wheelers, with the
numbers being as high as 66 per
cent. “There were 15 states
whichhaduninsuredvehiclesto
the extent of more than 60 per
cent,” said the report. In most
cases, the renewals are not done
after the first year.
Indiaisoneof thelargestauto
markets in the world with over
20millionvehiclessoldannually.
It is also among the countries
with thehighestnumberof road
while skipper Virat Kohli will
join the side after the first Test.
“Without naming the sport,
I can say Australia has already
facedsuchquarantine situations
where athletes have issues of
anxiety attacks...The quarantine
canplayhavocwithplayerswith
performance-related issues or
forthosewhohavefamilymem-
bers with health issues. This is
uncharted territory — and we
don’thaveenoughexperienceto
confidently say we have it under
control or what potential prob-
lems await us,” says Cricket
Australia’sconsultantsportspsy-
chiatrist Dr Ranjit Menon, who
is also chief psychiatrist for
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
REPORT,PAGE14
J&K L-G Manoj Sinha
GOVT & POLITICS
J&K DDC POLLS: 51%
TURNOUT IN PHASE-6
PAGE 7
towards the development of
these two regions equally, and
it’s only when both work to-
gether that they can take the UT
forward),” said Sinha in an inter-
view to The Indian Express. “I
The BJP, which has blamed
the TMC for Bhawal's murder,
claimed that Pramanik was
killed by workers of the ruling
party after he took part in
protestsagainsttheattackonBJP
president J P Nadda's motorcade
in Kolkata. The TMC has rejected
the charges.
The flare-up comes at a time
when the BJP-led Centre and the
TMC government are locked in a
new tussle after stones were
pelted by alleged Trinamool
men at Nadda’s motorcade. The
state government has rejected a
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
E
E X P L A I NE D
No safety
● net
NO INSURANCE means no
compensation in case of
an accident. Despite the
mandatory third-party ve-
hicle insurance policy, the
number of uninsured ve-
hicles remains high. Two-
wheelers mostly fall out of
the insurance net at the
time of the first renewal.
Indian Test players like Mohammad Shami and Jasprit
Bumrah have been in a bio-bubble since August. AP
think if the administration’s in-
tentions are clear, and the gov-
ernment is not favouring one
over the other, then there will be
no opposition.”
The L-G spoke on a range of
issues from the annulment of
the Roshni Act and its unravel-
ing to the fear of demographic
change in the Valley following
therepealof landlaws,thetime-
line for Assembly elections and
restoration of 4G services, and
the ‘Gupkar Gang’ jibe by the
Union Home Minister Amit
Shah. The full interview will be
published Tuesday.
Sinha, who took oath on
August7,andhasvisitedall10dis-
trictsinKashmir,andsix(of10)in
Jammu,overthelastfourmonths,
said there were “some people”
who have “vested interests” in
differentiating Jammu from
Kashmir on the lines of “region,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
DISSENTAND
THECITY
BY FAHAD ZUBERI
PAGE 8
GOVT & POLITICS
BJP DUMPS ALLY,
PICKS NEW ONE TO
RULE BODO COUNCIL
PAGE 5
accidents and fatalities. “In this
grim scenario, it is a double
whammy when more than half
the vehicles in the country are
uninsured,” IIB said.
According to IIB, of the over
23.12 crore vehicles on the road
in India as of March 31, 2019,
nearly 57 per cent were unin-
sured; in 2017-18, 54 per cent of
thenearly21.11crorevehicleson
the road were uninsured.
“The uninsured vehicles
largely comprise two-wheelers,
andthisisquiteobviousasnearly
75 per cent of the total vehicles
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
`6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
FARMER PROTESTS: SHAH MEETS TOMAR
Govt alleges hand of
‘tukde tukde’ gang,
keeps talks door open
One-day hunger
strike by protesting
farmers today;
MoS says date of
next talks soon
SANTOSH SINGH
& HARIKISHAN SHARMA
PATNA, NEW DELHI,
DECEMBER 13
WITH TALKS deadlocked and
farmers announcing a hunger-
strike on Monday, more voices
in the Government came out
Sunday to allege that riding the
protests were ideological forces
opposed to the government and
the “nation’s progress and in-
tegrity”. At the same time, the
negotiation door was kept open
with Union Minister of State for
Agriculture Kailash Choudhary
telling PTI that the government
would soon "decide a date" and
call farmer leaders for the sixth
round of talks.
In an address to farmers in
Bihar, Union Law Minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad invoked the
“tukde tukde gang”, warning of
“sternaction".And,inthecapital,
Union Agriculture Minister
Narendra Singh Tomar said that
those opposed to the farm Bills
were the same cast of “Leftist”
characters opposed to the abro-
gationof Article370,thenewcit-
izenship law (CAA) and the Ram
temple.
Speaking at Tekbigha village
in Bakhtiarpur where the Bihar
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
UDDHAV: CALLING
FOOD PROVIDERS
ANTI-NATIONALS NOT
OUR CULTURE PAGE 6
Pragya: Brahmins don’t Republic TV
take offence when caste CEO held in
called, why do ‘shudras’ TRP case
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
BHOPAL, DECEMBER 13
MALEGAONBLASTcaseaccused
and BJP's Bhopal Member of
Parliament (MP) Pragya Singh
Thakur told a gathering in
Madhya Pradesh's Sehore on
Saturday that shudras “feel bad”
when they are called shudras
due to “ignorance” about the so-
cial system.
Addressing a gathering of
the Kshatriya Mahasabha,
Thakur said that society has
been divided into four cate-
gories in “our dharmashastra
(social treatise)”.
“Kshatriya ko kshatriya keh
do, bura nahin lagta. Brahmin ko
brahmin keh do, bura nahin lagta.
Vaishya ko Vaishya keh do, bura
nahin lagta. Shudra ko shudra keh
do, bura lag jata hai. Kaaran kya
hai? Kyunki na-samjhi, samajh
nahi paate,” she said.
(“If you call a kshatriya a
kshatriya, they don't feel bad;
call a brahmin a brahmin, they
Australian Football League (AFL)
andworks withAustralian Open
tennis.
Sports psychologist Paddy
Upton, who was coach Gary
Kirsten's assistant when India
won the 2011 World Cup, says
"players spend time overthink-
ing about upcoming games in
the hotel rooms, leaving them
mentally exhausted". "The
longertheplayersareinbubbles,
the more a uniquesetof dynam-
ics will unfold, and new needs
will arise. I’m not hearing a
whole lot of cricket authorities
whoareundertakingresearchto
understandwhatthepsycholog-
icalimpactwillbeonplayersand
New Delhi
One-year-old Mehar Kaur with her family at the Singhu
border on Saturday night. Praveen Khanna
Ugrahan rights rally hurt
cause, admit 32 groups,
underline repeal demand
RAAKHI JAGGA
LUDHIANA, DECEMBER 13
WITHUNIONministersattribut-
ing ideological opposition to the
farmprotestsandequatingsome
of them with "Left and Naxal el-
ements," as many as 32 farmer
unions passed a resolution
Saturday making it clear that
their only issue is the repeal of
farm laws and nothing else.
Carefully calibrating their
distancing from the Bharatiya
Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), the
joint resolution said: “The func-
tion organised by BKU (Ekta
Ugrahan) has no relation with
the farmers' struggle. Their ac-
tion has harmed the farmers’
struggle.” BKU (Ekta Ugrahan)
and the Kisan Mazdoor
Sangharsh Committee (KMSC)
‘Bring law
to control
population
for anti-
nationals’
don’t feel bad; call a vaishya a
vaishya,theydon’tfeelbad.Butif
you call a shudra a shudra, they
feel bad. Why is this so? Because
of ignorance, they are unable to
understand.”)
In other contentious re-
marks,Thakur saidthata “lawto
control population growth
should be for those who indulge
in anti-national activities...it
doesn’t apply for those who live
for the nation”.
Shealsosaidthat“reservation
should be on the basis of eco-
nomicbackgroundtobenefitthe
poor,enablingthemtoliveabet-
ter life not on caste lines”.
Addressing women at the gath-
ering,shesaid:“Today’skshatriya
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
beingactivearoundpreventative
measures," he says.
BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal
says the board is in “regular
touch”withthesupportstaff and
“takingfeedbackabouttheplay-
ers' mental state”. “It's a chal-
lenging time as we are playing
back-to-backcricketunderabio-
bubble. We have told the selec-
tors and support staff that if any
player feels mental fatigue or
needs a break, they should let us
know.Theplayers'mentalhealth
is paramount to us,” says
Dhumal.
Currently based in Sydney,
the Indian contingent has been
allowedtomovearoundabitbut
REPORT,PAGE4
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
are not part of this group of 32.
The BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) had
on December 10 — to mark
Human Rights Day — waved
posters of activists including
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 13
THE MUMBAI Police's Crime
Branch on Sunday arrested
Republic TV's Chief Executive
Officer Vikas Khanchandani in
the Television Rating Points ma-
nipulation case, taking the total
number of arrests to 13.
The Mumbai metropolitan
magistratecourtlaterremanded
Khanchandani in police custody
for two days.
A senior police official said
Khanchandani's statement was
recorded twice and his role was
identified during the interroga-
tionof the channel's distribution
head Ghanshyam Singh, who
was arrested earlier.
Theinvestigatorsallegedthat
Khanchandaniwas part of an in-
ternalWhatsAppgroupinwhich
discussions on Logical Channel
Number(LCN)wouldtakeplace.
LCN is an identification number
assignedtoaTVchannel,andthe
allegations against Republic TV
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
the danger of more stringent
curbs lurks at the first sign of
trouble. With the South Africa-
England series getting cancelled
last week after a few players
tested positive, no one is taking
chances. Last month, Pakistan's
tour to New Zealand barely sur-
vived after several visiting team
players tested positive.
It's not just the Indian play-
ers. Other in-demand interna-
tional cricketers — England's Jos
Buttler and Jofra Archer along
with West Indian Jason Holder
— have been confined to the
bubble for longer.
Australian sports, Menon
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
FROM PAGE ONE
Manoj Sinha
religion, caste, colour or area.”
L-G Sinha sought to allay
fears expressed by mainstream
political leaders that Assembly
elections would be put on the
back burner, particularly after
the ongoing District
Development Council (DDC)
polls.HesaidAssemblyelections
are held in states which have
DDCs.“Assemblyfunctionisdif-
ferent from that of DDC or
Parliament.So,whereisthecon-
tradiction?” he said.
There was no reason to fear,
Sinha said. The Prime Minister
has talked about Assembly elec-
tions from the ramparts of Red
Fort on August 15; the Home
Minister has said it on the floor
of Parliament,hepointedout.“Is
mein kisi ko aapatti nahi hai
(Nobody has an objection to
this).AndthePrimeMinisterhas
saidonAugust15,thatwhenthe
Delimitation Commission com-
pletes its work, Assembly elec-
tions will be held,” he said.
Responding to a question on
fearsof ademographicchangein
the Valley, especially after the re-
peal of certain land laws and
amendmentsinsomeothers,the
Lt Governor said in J&K, 90 per
cent of land is agricultural.
“Nobody from outside J&K can
buyagriculturalland.Evenwithin
J&K, only agriculturists can buy
such land,” he said.
Whiletheamendmenttocer-
tainlawshasenabledoutsidersto
buy land in the UT, Sinha said
therewasnotreatmentfor“imag-
ined” fears.
“Give me a single example of
any outsider having bought land
here.SinceAugust5,2019,tellme
asinglename.Ichallengeanyone
tonameonepersonfromoutside
whohasboughtlandhere.Thisis
baseless,” he said.
Asked about Shah’s tweet re-
ferring to mainstream political
parties — which formed an al-
lianceaheadoftheDDCelections
— as ‘Gupkar Gang,’ Sinha said:
“As a leader of a party, he has
every right to issue a political
statement. If leaders in a political
partycangivecertainstatements,
thenothersalsohavethefreedom
to speak their
mind...Constitutional post hum
hold kar rahein hain, humko is se
matlab nahi (I hold a
Constitutional post, and I am not
concerned about it)."
Bengal
move by the Union Home
MinistrytosummontoDelhithe
three IPS officers who were re-
sponsible for providing security
to the BJP chief.
In Purbasthali, police sources
saidthatPramanik,whowasfrom
Chandpara, had been missing
since Friday. “Today, a body was
recovered from a pond. It has
been sent for postmortem. The
actual cause of death can only be
ascertained after postmortem,”
said an official.
The incident triggered
protests with local residents
blockingaroadfor2-3hoursand
burningtyres.Theypreventedpo-
licefromtakingPramanik'sbody
from the spot. The situation was
resolved after police assured the
protesters that a “proper investi-
gation” will be conducted.
Burdwan police said that no
written complaint has been re-
ceivedfromPramanik'sfamilyso
far. They said that injury marks
werefoundundertheeyesof the
deceased, and that the body has
been sent to Burdwan Medical
College for autopsy.
Senior BJP leader Mukul Roy
called for President's Rule and
tweeted that Pramanik “was
killed brutally by TMC's crimi-
nals”.“Anotherday,anothermur-
der.Deathofdemocracy.Deathof
conscience for TMC,” Roy wrote.
TMC leader and Minister
FirhadHakimrespondedthathis
party“doesn'tbelieveinviolence
and the politics of murder”.
In North 24 Parganas, the
three persons arrested in the
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killingofBhawalhavebeeniden-
tifiedasSomnathGanguly,Abhijit
DasandBabai.Bhawalwasnewly
married and had been actively
takingpartinadoor-to-doorcam-
paign by the BJP.
Policedidnotdisclosethepo-
litical affiliation of the accused.
ButtheBJPclaimedthatthosear-
rested were close aides of TMC
leaders. The TMC, however,
claimedthatthemurderwasthe
result of a power struggle within
the BJP.
“Four people were named in
the police complaint. Three of
themwerearrestedinthemorn-
ingandchargedwithmurder,at-
tempt to murder, assault and
criminal conspiracy. They were
produced before court and re-
mandedtojudicialcustodyfor14
days,” said an official.
On Sunday, BJP supporters
took out a protest rally in Bizpur,
Barrackpore and Halishahar, de-
manding a “fair probe” into the
killing.Theyalsogheraoedthepo-
lice station in Bizpur, where the
FIR has been lodged, leading to a
minor clash between policemen
and protesters.
BJP leader Mukul Roy's son
and party leader Subhrangshu
Roy,andtheparty'sorganisational
chiefUmashankarSingh,reached
the spot where police have been
deployed in large numbers. “It
was a planned murder. All those
whohavebeenarrestedareclose
aides of TMC leaders,”
Subhrangshu Roy alleged.
“This has become the TMC’s
policy in the run-up to the
Assembly polls,” said Bengal BJP
president Dilip Ghosh. BJP MP
ArjunSingh,whovisitedthosein-
juredintheattack,said:“Thepeo-
ple will give an answer to the
hooliganism of TMC.”
However, TMC Minister
Hakim rejected the allegations.
“TMC doesn't believe in murder
politicsandhasnolinkstothisin-
cident,” he said.
“Itisafightbetweennewand
oldBJPleaders.Thisincidentisthe
falloutofanolddispute.TheTMC
has nothing to do with it," said
JyotipriyaMullick,theparty'sdis-
trict head in North 24 Paraganas.
Vehicles on road
in India consist of two-wheelers.
Inthisclass,over60percentofthe
vehicles remain uninsured,
whereas cars are largely insured,
with the uninsured numbers
quite low at around 10 per cent,”
the report said.
About 52 per cent vehicles
don'trenewtheirinsuranceafter
thefirstyear–mostlytwo-wheel-
ersfalloutof theinsurancenetat
thetimeofthefirstrenewalofthe
insurance policy.
According to the Motor
Vehicles Act, 2019, it is manda-
toryforallvehiclestobeinsured
with third-party vehicle insur-
ancepolicy.Third-partyorliabil-
ityinsurancecoversthelegallia-
bility arising due to death or
disability of third party loss or
damage to their property.
“When an uninsured vehicle
meets with an accident, the in-
jured or relatives of dead peo-
ple don’t get any compensation.
There is no compensation for
damaged vehicles,” said an
official.
Industry sources said IIB,
headed by IRDAI Chairman
Subhash Khuntia, should come
outwithupdateddataeveryyear.
“If IIB releases data without any
time lag, it will help the govern-
mentandinsurancefirmstotake
appropriate steps and pro-
grammes,”saidanofficialofanin-
surance company.
Motor was the biggest line of
businessinthegeneralinsurance
industry with nearly 40 per cent
share of the gross underwritten
premium, at Rs 64,522.35 crore
with a growth rate of 9 per cent
for FY 2018-19. Interestingly, six
states -- Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka,
Gujarat and Delhi -- contributed
nearly50percentofthetotalpoli-
cies and claims, IIB said.
The total number of third
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
IN PHOTOS
partyclaimsreportedwasaround
3.25 lakh for the current FY.
Overall, Tamil Nadu, Kerala,
Karnataka,Maharashtra,Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh together contributed
two-third of the total third party
claims in FY 2018-19. In Kerala,
nearly86percentofthetotalthird
party claims was for injuries,
whereas in Bihar, nearly 80 per
cent was for deaths.
Thehighestaveragefordeath
claims was in Kerala, at Rs
12,13,671,andthelowestinBihar,
at Rs 6,14,306. Generally, the
Union Territories and the south-
ern states have a high average as
compared to others. The average
deathclaiminFY2018-19wasRs
9,01,207, and injury claim was Rs
2,51,094.
Pragya Thakur
needs to understand their duties
andproducemoreandmorechil-
dren to induct them into the
Armed Forces so that they can
fight for the nation and
strengthen its security.”
On the ongoing farmers’
protests, she said: “Those who
have been protesting in the
name of farmers are anti-na-
tionals.Theyarenotfarmers,but
Congressmen and Leftists in the
garb of farmers and raising their
voices against the country and
spreading misinformation, the
way they did during the
Shaheen Bagh protest (in Delhi
against the CAA).”
On Sunday, Thakur was un-
available for comment but her
office said she was invited to the
event to commemorate the
foundation day of Kshatriya
Mahasabha. However, the na-
tional working president of
Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya
Mahasabha, Surendra Singh
Tomar,saidtheorganisationwas
not behind the event.
“The establishment day will
becommemoratedonDecember
27andagatheringwillbeheldin
Gwalior,"Tomarsaid,addingthat
the organisation has about 2.5
lakh members in Madhya
Pradeshoutof17.5lakhacrossthe
country.
Speaking on condition of
anonymity, Mahasabha office-
bearerssaidtheeventthatThakur
attended was “organised by her
own people”.
Thakur has had to apologise
twice in the recent past for her
controversialremarks.Intherun-
up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elec-
tions, she apologised for her re-
marks on the death of former
Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant
Karkare, who was killed in the
26/11attacks.Thakurwasthefirst
to be arrested in the Malegaon
case on October 23, 2008, within
amonthof theblastaftertheATS
investigation led by Karkare.
In November 2019, she came
under fire for her remarks prais-
ing Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin
Nathuram Godse, which forced
the BJP to remove her from the
consultative committee on de-
fence.Shehadtoapologisetwice
in Lok Sabha after an angry
Oppositionrejectedherfirstapol-
ogy.
Republic TV
arethatitallegedlyuseddualLCN,
whichallowedittoshowupinthe
genre of ‘kids channels’, apart
from the 'news channels' cate-
gory, thus showing up at two
places.Investigatorshaveclaimed
that Khanchandani knew about
theseallegedLCNmanipulations.
Police informed the court on
Sunday that Khanchandani did
not submit his phone for inves-
tigations.
The Special Investigation
Team (SIT) of the Mumbai Police
told court that it wished to inter-
rogate Khanchandani to under-
stand alleged payments made to
multi-system operators and ca-
bleoperatorstoboostTRPratings.
Late on Sunday, the News
Broadcasters'Federationissueda
statementthatsaid,"Vikas’antic-
ipatory bail petition is scheduled
to be heard by the court and the
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
NO TRADE-OFF REQUIRED BETWEEN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENT
PROTECTION: EU AMBASSADOR TO INDIA
"Wecanachievegrowthandjobsbyinvestingingreentechnologiesandinnovation.That'stheonlywayto
havesustainablegrowth,UgoAstutoAmbassadoroftheEuropeanUnion(EU)toIndiasaid.
J&K: SEASON’S FIRST
SNOWFALL
Thick sheets of snow
covered Srinagar on
Saturday
Govt alleges hand of ‘tukde tukde’ gang
BJPlaunchedastatewide'Kisan
Chaupal Sammelan (farmers'
conference)' in support of the
new laws, Prasad said, "They
wanted us to promise MSP in
writing, when we agreed, they
started talking about repealing
the laws... Let me make it clear
that the Government of India
and Prime Minister Narendra
Modirespectfarmersandfarm-
ers too respect the PM. Lekin
agar kisan andolan ki aad me
Bharatkotodnewalelog,tukde-
tukde log peechhe hokar an-
dolan ke kandhe se goli cha-
layenge to unke khilaf sakht
karyawahi ki jayegi. Yeh bhi
baaat saaf hai isme, koi
samjhauta nahi karenge (But if
in the guise of the farmers'
protest, those breaking up the
country, the tukde-tukde peo-
plefirefromtheshouldersofthe
movement, we will take strict
action against them. This is
clear...therewillbenocompro-
mise)."
Referring to human rights
activists lodged in jails, Prasad
said, "Who are these people
whowanttobreakthecountry?
Now demands are being raised
to free those so-called intellec-
tualswhoareinjailforindulging
in rioting in Delhi and
Maharashtra. Police have filed
chargesheets, they are not able
to obtain bail from the court as
trials are underway. Now these
peoplehavetakenrefugeunder
Malnutrition in children worsens in many key states
UT of J&K have witnessed
an increase.
Others like
Maharashtra and West
Bengalhavebeenstagnant
on this.
When it comes to the
proportionofunderweight
children, again, several big
states, Gujarat,
Maharashtra,WestBengal,
Telangana, Assam and
Kerala, have seen an in-
crease.
Butthemostsurprising
reversalshavehappenedin
child stunting, which re-
flects chronic undernutri-
tion, and refers to the per-
centage of children who
have low height for their
age.
Stunting, more than any
other factor, is likely to have
long-lasting adverse effects on
the cognitive and physical de-
velopment of a child.
Telangana, Gujarat, Kerala,
Maharashtra, and West Bengal
— all saw increased levels of
child stunting.
According to Purnima
Menon,aseniorresearchfellow
at the International Food Policy
ResearchInstitute,thereversals
in child stunting are “hugely
troubling”.
“One has not seen stunting
increasesinmostof theworld,”
she said. “Normally, we do not
arrest and remand is highly dis-
turbing.NBFhereinreiteratesand
urgestheGovernmentofIndiato
immediatelysetupanindepend-
ent and neutral national agency
toinvestigateintoanyallegations
of professional misconduct by
journalists, executives, and own-
ers of media companies, in order
to prevent selective harassment
by the State Authority and to en-
sure the Freedom of Press."
The TRP manipulation scam
came to light in October after an
officialofHansaResearchGroup-
- the company tasked with in-
stalling barometers to record
viewership--lodgedacomplaint
with the Mumbai Police, follow-
ing which the owner of Fakt
MarathiandBoxCinemawerear-
rested.
farmersmovementfortheirin-
terest but we will not allow
them to succeed in their goal."
These remarks come in the
wake of some farmer groups
distancingthemselvesfromone
of the key groups, Bharatiya
Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan),
whosemembers,onDecember
10, waved posters of jailed ac-
tivists arrested in the Bhima
Koregaon case and demanded
their release.
“First they called us
Khalistani, then they called us
Pakistani, now we are called
Naxals…the same people harp
ontheimportanceofdialogue,”
the group’s leader Joginder
Singh Ugrahan had told The
Indian Express.
Prasad'sremarksechothose
of Union Minister Piyush Goyal
who alleged that the protests
werebeinghijackedbythehard
Left and Maoist elements.
Incidentally, on December
11,inaninterviewtoTheIndian
Express, Prasad had struck a
more conciliatory note. “The
wayoutwillbe,democracyisul-
timatelydialogue.Democracyis
ultimately persuasion.
Democracyisultimatelyreach-
ingout.ThePrimeMinistervery
beautifully put it yesterday in a
different context—kuchh
kahiye, kuchh suniye. This
kahiyesuniye(discussion)isgo-
ing for (the) last 20 years.”
InNewDelhiSunday,Tomar,
SHARP REVERSALS IN CHILD HEALTH
Wasted
children
2019-20*
AndhraPradesh 16.1%
Telangana 21.7%
Assam 21.7%
Bihar 22.9%
Gujarat 25.1%
Karnataka 19.5%
Kerala 15.8%
Maharashtra 25.6%
WestBengal 20.3%
J&K 19%
*Data are for children under 5; #per 1,000 live births
see stunting levels increasing
becauseallthethingsthataffect
childgrowthtendtoimproveas
stable democracies and
economies move ahead.”
Infant Mortality Rate — that
is, the number of deaths per
1000livebirthsforchildrenun-
der the age of 1 — and Under 5
Mortality Rate data, too, is
mostly stagnant.
Aashish Gupta, a researcher
affiliated with the University of
Pennsylvania,saidthatbetween
NFHS-3(2005-05)and4(2015-
16),therewasprogressonmor-
tality reduction.
"Under 5 mortality was ob-
servedtobe74deathsper1,000
Lastweek,theSupremeCourt
turned down a plea by ARG
Outlier Media Private Limited,
which owns Republic Media
Network, seeking protection for
thegroupanditsemployeesfrom
the cases filed against them in
Maharashtra.
Team India
says, have sought to manage the
bubble in different ways. “With
AFL, we have had a bubble going
onforfivemonths.Itwaswithina
hubinQueensland.Wetookover
a few resorts, put the players in
specific hubs and got their fami-
liesintotheperformancehub(af-
ter quarantining separately for
two weeks). You can have provi-
sion of intermingling with other
players, have access to limited
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
TECH
SMARTPHONE USAGE
RISES: STUDY
The average time spent
on smartphones
continues to rise
who has held talks with the
farmers, too, echoed Goyal and
Prasad. “There are some forces
in the country which oppose
any good work that can con-
tributetoIndia’sprogress…they
alwaystrytomisleadthecoun-
try,” Tomar said after meeting a
group of farm leaders from
Uttarakhand who had ex-
pressed their support for the
farm laws.
“You remember, when the
Bill to repeal Article 370 from
Kashmir was brought, there
weresuchLeftistelementswho
were opposing its removal.
When the Citizenship
Amendment Bill came… they
opposed it. When the agrarian
reform Bills came, these were
alsoopposed.Whentheissueof
Ramtemplecameup,itwasalso
opposed. There are some peo-
plewhojusthavetoopposeand
ithasbecometheirintentionto
weaken the country,” Tomar
said.
OnDecember11,Tomarhad
asked protesting farmers to be
vigilant against the misuse of
theirplatformbywhathecalled
"anti-social" as well as "Leftist
and Maoist elements".
Tomar’sremarkscameafter
a meeting in Delhi on Sunday
with Union Home Minister
Amit Shah and attended by BJP
leaders from Punjab, including
stateunitchief AshwaniKumar
Sharma and organisation gen-
Wasted Underweight Underweight IMR
children children children
2015-16* 2019-20* 2015-16*
17.2% 29.6% 31.9%
18% 31.8% 28.4%
17% 32.8% 29.8%
20.8% 41% 43.9%
26.4% 39.7% 39.3%
26.1% 32.9% 35.2%
15.7% 19.7% 16.1%
25.6% 36.1% 36%
20.3% 32.2% 31.6%
12.2% 21% 16.6%
birthsinNFHS-3,and50deaths
per1,000birthsinNFHS-4,ade-
clineofabout33%over10years.
NFHS-5 and NFHS-4 are about
five years apart, but we are see-
ing very little progress in many
states. In Maharashtra, the un-
der-5 mortality rate is basically
the same in NFHS-4 and 5, and
in Bihar, it reduced by just 3%
over five years," he said.
Menonsaidthatover60per
cent of child mortality is ex-
plained by poor nutrition. In
otherwords,childmalnutrition
is the central problem.
The NFHS-5 data captures
dataduringthefirstfiveyearsof
the Modi government. Menon
bubble extensions like going out
for meals and have a prescribed
set of contacts they can engage
with. There are different ways to
minimise damage,” Menon says.
Thenormforcricketinpartic-
ular,asseeninIPLandotherbilat-
eral series, is to limit interactions
oftheteamtoacommonroomor
gym and not allow it to linger in
individual rooms. But Upton is
concerned about life within the
bubble. “TV games, social media
and some Internet pursuits are
designed to be addictive. The
longer players do this, the more
the chemical stress levels within
theirbodyandtheneedforstim-
ulation.Andwhenthatisnotmet,
things like depression await,” he
says.
Apropermedicalsupportsys-
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
The latest clash
between the Centre
and West Bengal govt
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
In today’s episode, we’re looking at a clash
between the central government and the
West Bengal government following an
attack on the BJP president’s convoy
eral secretary (Chandigarh and
Punjab) Dinesh Kumar.
After that meeting, Kumar
told The Indian Express: “We
gaveourfeedbackaboutthesit-
uation in Punjab. Majority of
farmers in the state are busy
with their farming activities.”
Kumar, too, alleged that the
farmerswerebeing“misled”by
political parties.
“The Congress party started
this movement but now they
have lost control over it. The
farmers' movement has gone
intothehandsofNaxalites,Left,
and Khalistanis. Therefore, the
issuehasbecomesensitive.The
protesting farmers should not
allow anyone to push Punjab
back to its days of unrest,”
Kumar said.
Asked about the possibility
of another round of talks, he
said,“Thegovernmentisalways
ready for talks but protesting
farmersneedtounderstandthat
they should send a smaller
groupofrepresentativessothat
a consensus can emerge.”
At Delhi's Singhu border,
farmer unions reiterated their
demandforarepealofthethree
laws. Speaking to reporters,
farmer leader Gurnam Singh
Chaduni said heads of all
protesting farmer unions will
observeaone-dayhungerstrike
onMonday.Dharnaswillalsobe
staged at all district headquar-
ters, he said.
IMR
2019-20# 2015-16#
30.3 34.9
26.4 27.7
31.9 47.6
46.8 48.1
31.2 34.2
25.4 26.9
4.4 5.6
23.2 23.7
22 27.5
16.3 32.4
said that researchers would
have to look at more granular
datatoarriveatwhysuchrever-
sals have happened. There are
several factors at play. For in-
stance, if income levels decline,
it can worsen malnutrition.
According to the Ministry,
thecontentsofNFHS-5aresim-
ilartoNFHS-4toallowcompar-
isons over time.
The NFHS-5, however, in-
cludessomenewtopics,suchas
preschool education, disability,
access to a toilet facility, death
registration, bathing practices
during menstruation, and
methods and reasons for
abortion.
tem within the team is key, says
Menon. “They have to look at
mentalfatiguelevels,behavioural
changes -- players can turn dis-
tant, irritated. In AFL we had 18
clubs,andappswithwellnesssur-
veys conducted daily, consultant
mental-health professionals on
daily calls with players and the
team's medical staff. Continuous
professional monitoring is
neededandsymptomsidentified
early;else,thiscanblowupinour
faces,” Menon says.
Kohli,whowasinabubblefor
closeto80daysintherun-upand
during the IPL, had issued an ap-
peal days before the Twenty20
tournamentendedonNovember
10. Keep cricket tours short, he
had said.
Upton, who has coached
Rajasthan Royals and been in-
volved with international teams
likeIndiaandSouthAfrica,echoes
thesuggestion.“Shortertoursare
one option, another option is ro-
tating players, especially those
who have had extended periods
in bio-bubbles. For players who
don’t have avenues to release
mental and emotional stress,
which is probably most players,
what eventually happens is the
stress manifests in physical dis-
ease. Injury, illness and unex-
plained flaring-up of old injuries
are most commonly associated
with the physical manifestation
of mental and emotional stress
that are suppressed,” he says.
Ugrahan rally
Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon
Gonsalves and Varavara Rao, and
demandedtheirreleasefromjail.
This prompted several Union
ministersincludingPiyushGoyal,
Ravi Shankar Prasad and
Narendra Singh Tomar over the
last two days to state that "Leftist
and Maoist elements" have infil-
trated the protests seeking to de-
rail the government’s "reformist
farm laws."
ButaSinghBurjgill,President,
BKU (Dakaunda), who presided
overthemeetingofthe32farmer
organisations on December 11,
said, “Human rights is a big issue
for us as well but here this joint
struggle is only against the laws
formed by the Central govern-
ment i..e the three farm laws, the
Ordinance related to environ-
mentandtheproposedElectricity
Bill, 2020.”
TheIndianExpressspokewith
leaders of at least two dozen
farmer organisations over the
weekendandtheconsensuswas
clear:theirdemandthatthethree
farm laws be repealed and the
government start "with a clean
slate." When asked about the
Government'sproposedamend-
ments,theysaidthatthesecould
be overturned later. At the heart
of their protest is the demand to
legalise Minimum Support Price
in the farm laws, a provision that
nogovernmenthasfollowedand
which, the government said, has
several distortionary effects.
Whencontacted,RulduSingh
Mansa, President, Punjab Kisan
Union,who is partof the joint fo-
rum said, “I believe the ongoing
farm struggle has become a
movement,andourfocusshould
be only on farm laws, Electricity
Bill and the Ordinance on envi-
ronment.Ifonefarmerunionhas
organisedaprogram,itisitsindi-
vidualandpersonaldecision.”He,
however, said if the government
triedtotargettheUgrahangroup,
the Punjab Kisan Union will sup-
port them.
Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu,
President of Kisan Sangharsh
Committee, Punjab said, “All our
32 farmer organisations have
nothingtodowithit.ButIbelieve
that the ongoing struggle should
be only about farm laws.”
Stating that the function or-
ganised by Joginder Singh
Ugrahan-led BKU (Ekta
Ugrahan) had hurt the cause of
farmers, Harmeet Singh,
President of BKU (Qadian), said,
“Our union has only one issue,
and that is farm laws. Our 32
farm unions have clarified that
their struggle is only about farm
laws and nothing else.”
Rajinder Singh, General
Secretary,KrantikariKisanUnion,
also supported the resolution
passed by the joint forum. “This
agitationisonlyforfarmlaws,the
electricity bill and the Ordinance
on environment,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sukhdev Singh
Kokri Kalan, General Secretary of
BKU (Ugrahan) said: “We don't
want to comment on any state-
mentgivenbyanyofthefarmor-
ganisations.WeorganiseHuman
Rights Day every year and this
yearitwasnodifferent.Ourmain
issue,too,isfarmlawsandwehad
connectedthehumanrightsissue
withfarmlawsaseveryonehasa
democratic right to protest and
put across his or her view point.”
 3 THE CITY WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020

Complaint of WERE GOING TO PROTEST OUTSIDE SHAH, L-G HOMES Woman, kids held hostage at
CCTV at CM
home being Heading to protest, Chadha, Sainik Farms, Rs 10 L looted
broken
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
Atishi and others detained way they reacted, it seems like
MAHENDER SINGH
MANRAL
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13

SIX ARMED assailants allegedly

MEMBERS OF the BJP allegedly
broke a CCTV camera placed
outside Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal’s residence in Civil
Lines, where a protest has been
underway for the last week.
A video clip of a woman pro-
tester smashing a CCTV camera
against the wall was shared by
party sources Sunday evening.
BothAAPandBJPleadershave
filedcomplaintswithpolice,with
BJPleaderscallingtheinstallation
ofthecameraa“breachofprivacy”.
DCP (North) Anto Alphonse
said, "We have received com-
plaints from both the sides. The
probe is on."
BJP leaders — both men and
women — have been camping
outside Kejriwal’s house for the
lastweek.OfficialssaidnewCCTV
cameras were being installed.
Mayor of North MCD Jai
Prakash said, “How can you
placeaCCTVcamerarightwhere
the women councillors sleep?
This is a matter of the woman’s
privacy. The women objected to
thecamera being placed anddid
not let it be installed,” he said.
AAP leaders, however, said
the cameras were for security.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
AAM AADMI Party MLAs and
members, who had planned to
protest outside the houses of
Home Minister Amit Shah and
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal
on Sunday, weredetainedbythe
police.AAP’s protest was against
allegedcorruptionamountingto
Rs 2,500 crore in the NorthDelhi
Municipal Corporation.
Rajinder Nagar MLA Raghav
Chadha was detained soon after
steppingoutof hishome.Hewas
going to protest outside Shah’s
house, while Kalkaji MLA Atishi
was detained from outside the
L-G House.
AAP’s allegation is that the
North Corporation waived off Rs
2,500croreinrentovertheyears
that the South Delhi Municipal
Corporation owed to it, despite
struggling to pay staff for several
months. The corporations have
refuted the allegation. Mayors of
the three municipal corpora-
tions,meanwhile,continuetheir
protestoutsidetheCMhousefor
the seventh day.
Atishi, along with six AAP
MLA Atishi being detained by police outside Lieutenant
Governor Anil Baijal’s residence on Sunday. Twitter
councillors, arrived at the L-G’s
residence at Civil Lines in the
morning, but was unable to
reach the gates due to police
barricades.
When the group was not al-
lowed to proceed, they raised
slogans demanding a CBI in-
quiry. Shortly after, she and the
rest of the group were dragged
awayfromtheareabypoliceand
detained at Mukherjee Nagar
police station before being re-
leased within the next hour.
After being released, Atishi
told The Indian Express, “We had
gone to meet the L-G, who we
havewrittento,butwewereun-
able to get an appointment.
Instead of meeting us, there was
heavy police deployment, and
we were detained. The question
is, who is the L-G trying to pro-
tect? Workers and doctors are
not being paid salaries, as that
money has gone into the pocket
of the BJP.”
“This is probably the largest
scaminDelhi’shistory—andwe
wantaCBIinquiryintoit.Butthe
the scam extends all the way to
the top level of leadership,” she
claimed.
Along with Chadha, Burari
MLA Sanjeev Jha, Kirari MLA
Rituraj Jha and Kondli MLA
Kuldeep Kumar were also de-
tained.
“ThemomentIsteppedoutof
my house, Delhi Police officers
made me sit in their car and took
me to Rajinder Nagar police sta-
tion. The detention was com-
pletelyillegal...Therewasnopro-
vision to detain us; when we
askedwhywearebeingdetained,
theysaiditisbecauseSection144
isinplace,whichpreventsassem-
blyof morethanfourpeople.But
only four of us were going to
protest,” said Chadha.
On Saturday, he had sought
permission for the protest,
which was denied by police.
DCP (Central) Sanjay Bhatia
said, "We detained Raghav
Chadha when he was going for
protest without permission. We
released him after two hours."
DCP (North) Anto Alphonse
said, "We had detained Atishi
and her supporters. They were
released after two hours."
broke into a farmhouse owned
by a chartered accountant in
South Delhi’s Sainik Farms and
heldtheCA,hertwochildrenand
domestic help hostage at gun-
pointforaround45minutes,be-
fore fleeing with cash and jew-
ellery worth around Rs 10 lakh.
Accordingtopolice,fiveofthe
men, including the CA’s former
driver,havebeendetained.Police
saidthedriverhadprovidedinfor-
mation on the family and money
kept at the house to the accused.
According to police, the inci-
dent took place at 4.45 pm on
December 9 when the com-
plainant, Pooja Garg, was at
homealongwithherson,daugh-
ter and help. Her husband owns
an electronics showroom in
Laxmi Nagar.
“One of the assailants posed
as a courier boy and knocked on
the door. The domestic help
came out but was overpowered.
Six men, wearing helmets and
white gloves, then barged into
the house and held the family
hostage at gunpoint,” said a sen-
ior police officer.
The complainant has alleged
the men robbed cash and jew-
ellery worth Rs 10 lakh. “The ac-
cusedfoundCCTVcamerasinthe
lobbyandbalcony.Theytookthe
camera’s digital video recorder,
which stores all its data, and
managed to escape after threat-
ening the family of dire conse-
quences,” an officer said.
Police said the complainant
came out and spotted the men
fleeing on two-wheelers and a
red motorbike. “She informed
police about the incident and an
FIR of dacoity was registered at
Neb Sarai police station. Several
teams were formed which
started working on dump data
and looking into CCTVs,” the of-
ficer said.
According to the police, one
of the teams scanned over 150
CCTVs and found the red motor-
bike and the two-wheelers.
“Theytracedtherouteof themo-
torbike to Zakir Nagar in Okhla.
Police then scanned other cam-
eras and found where one of the
accused lives. On reaching his
home, the team found the bike
parked outside,” said the officer.
A raid was conducted when
one of the accused, identified as
Arman Malik (30), came out to
meethisrelativeinNizamuddin.
Policesaidhewasdetainedalong
withhisassociateMohdShakeel.

Mayors, BJP councillors to

work from outside CM’s house
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
With their sit-in outside CM Arvind
Kejriwal’s house entering the seventh day,
mayors and councillors of the three MCDs
havenowdecidedtoworkfromtheprotest
site starting Monday.
North MCD Mayor Jai Prakash said as
the CM is not listening to their demands,
they will now clear pending files at the
protestsite.“Wewouldevenwantpeopleto
come here with their grievances,” he said.
The BJP-ruled MCDs and AAP-ruled
Delhi government are at loggerheads over
the issue of funds. While the MCDs have
accused the Delhi government of not pay-
ing Rs 13,000 crore due to them, the gov-
ernment has maintained it does not owe
any dues and corruption in the civic bod-
iesisbehindtheirpoorfinancialcondition.
OnFriday,HealthMinisterSatyendarJain
hadallegedthattheNorthMCDhadmisap-
propriated around Rs 2,400 crore funds
givenbytheSouthMCD—aclaimtheNorth
MCD mayor had denied. The Delhi govern-
ment has ordered a probe into the issue.
Leader of the house, South MCD,
Narendra Chawla said the protest will con-
tinue as no one from the government has
responded. “We don’t want the people to
suffer, so from Monday , the mayor’s office
will function from the site.”

New Delhi

4 THE CITY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
Night at the protest: Pehredars keep vigil, langars give relief
AMIL BHATNAGAR
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
A LITTLE after 7 pm, a thick fog
creeps in and the air becomes
colder. Near the main stage, vol-
unteers begin to roll up carpets,
removehalogenlights,andstack
up chairs. The farmers, many
wrappedinthickshawls,begina
slow walk towards their tractor
trolleys. The day has come to an
endatDelhi’sSinghuborder.And
thenighthascometolife—from
buzzing langars serving food till
midnighttogroupsguardingthe
tractortrolleystillthefirstround
of tea is served around 6 am.
Singhu,inDelhi’snorth,marks
thecapital’sborderwithSonepat
in Haryana. And over the past 17
days, this is one of the three key
border points that have become
the epicentre of the farmers’
protests against the Centre’s new
agriculture laws. Thousands of
farmers,mainlyfromPunjab,have
set up camp here with parked
trucks and trolleys extending up
to 10 km on the GT Highway.
“Severalpeoplehaveaskedus
astowhatwewilldoifitrains.We
BRIEFLY
Manheldfor
stealingfrom
90-year-old
New Delhi: A 34-year-old
man was arrested for al-
legedly stealing two dia-
mondringsandcashfrom
a 90-year-old man’s
house in Greater Kailash.
Police said the elderly
manisbedriddenandhad
hiredthreepeopletolook
after him. The accused,
Deepak Chaudhary, has
been working as a nurse
at the man’s house for 10
years. DCP (South) Atul
Kumar Thakur said, “We
came to know of the inci-
dent after a beat officer
went to meet senior citi-
zens in the area. During
the visit, the elderly man
said two diamond rings
and Rs 1.2 lakh was miss-
ing.”Policefiledacaseand
questioned the nurses.
Deepak confessed to
stealing the items a week
ago, said police.
Banksales
managerdies
inaccident
New Delhi: Amandiedaf-
ter his car rammed into
another car in West
Delhi’s Vikaspuri late
Saturday, said police. The
victim, Ankur Chanana,
worked as a sales man-
ageratHDFCbankinMoti
Nagar. Police said the ac-
cident took place near
Keshopur Mandi flyover
at 3 am, when Chanana’s
Honda City car hit a
Verna. Deepak Purohit,
DCP (West), said, “Four
men were in the Verna
took Chanana to DDU
hospitalwherehewasde-
clared dead on arrival.
Theythencametothepo-
lice station and told us
about the incident.” ENS
Open book exam: Students told Teachers, doctors, engineers join protest: ‘We
to email answers as last resort have one thing in common, we’re farmers first’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
AFTER FEEDBACK that students
havebeenfacingproblemsinup-
loadingtheiranswersheetstoits
online exam portal, the Delhi
University administration sent
emails to 1.5 lakh students
Sundaytoinformthemofoptions
availableincaseofdifficulties,and
instructedthemtonotemailtheir
answer sheets exceptas a last re-
sort.Thenewcycleopenbookex-
aminations began Saturday. As
The Indian Express had reported,
many students faced difficulties
in uploading and sending their
answer sheets via the portal.
Even though the guidelines
statethat“answersheetssubmit-
ted other than on the OBE portal
shall not be entertained under
any circumstances”, many re-
sorted to email after facing diffi-
cultieswiththeportal.Thenodal
arefarmers.Forus,rainsareasign
of prosperity. We welcome the
rain. It is already cold and we are
braving it. A bit of rain will not
harmus,”saysSwaranSingh,a70-
year-old farmer who has stayed
put here over the last fortnight.
It’s7.30pmandSinghisseated
on the highway divider, his legs
crossed, barely 50 metres from a
policebarricade.HeisfromRopar
and is accompanied by dozens of
farmers from the area. For them,
thebedisamattressinsideasmall
cloth tent on the divider.
For others, the night is still
young.Nearby,alargescreenhas
been stuck to the side of a trac-
tor.From7pmonwards,amovie,
primarily on Sikh culture and
history, is played for two hours.
The screen is connected to a lap-
top and the movie is streamed
through the internet. Every now
andthen,thedialoguesareover-
shadowed by chants of “Jo Bole
So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal”.
Between8pmand10pm,vol-
unteers mop the main stage area
andplaceplasticbottlesandother
litter in disposable bags. Others
dock speakers and audio equip-
mentinboxesorcoverthemwith
33 COVID DEATHS, 1,984 CASES ON SUNDAY
Capital crosses
somber milestone
of 10,000 deaths
MALLICA JOSHI
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
NINE MONTHS after it recorded
its first Covid death, the city’s toll
touched 10,000 as 33 more peo-
ple were reported dead Sunday.
Thefirstpersontohavediedof
thediseaseinDelhiwasa69-year-
old woman from Janakpuri, who
contracted the disease from her
son,whohadreturnedfromanin-
ternational trip and had fallen ill.
From over 8,000 cases in one day
to 2,000 in a day, the rate of in-
crease in Covid cases has slowed
down considerably over the past
month but the city’s death rate
continues to be a point of worry.
The city’s 10-day average
case fatality ratio on Sunday
stood at 2.32% — over twice as
high as it was a month ago at
1.07%. The city’s overall case fa-
tality ratio stood at 1.56% on
Sunday, marginally higher than
the national average of 1.45%.
On Sunday, 1,984 fresh cases
were reported and 2,539 people
recovered.Thenumberofpatients
under home isolation dipped to
9,964 from a high of over 40,000
earlier. There are over 16,700 ac-
tivecasesinthecityatpresentand
more than 72 lakh Covid tests
have been conducted so far.
“While the total number of
cases has come down signifi-
cantly over the past month,
deaths as against cases continue
tobehigh.Theseissueshavebeen
discussedinmeetingsaswell.We
have been informed by doctors
that a reduction in death rate is
expected in another week. A lot
officer at College of Vocational
Studies said they received such
emailsfromaround500students.
OnSunday,studentsreceived
a notification from the Dean
Examination via email, stating
that the administration received
reports of students facing diffi-
cultiesinuploadingtheiranswer
sheetstotheportal.Itsaid,“Inor-
der to mitigate hardships faced
by such students, it has been al-
lowed that in cases where stu-
dents find problem in uploading
answer sheet on OBE portal... for
justifiable reasons, even after
completion of five hours, the an-
swer script can be submitted
through email to nodal officers”.
As per the guidelines, stu-
dents have four hours to down-
loadthequestionpaper,writethe
examanduploadandsubmitan-
swersheets.Inthisroundof OBE,
students have also been given an
additional 60 minutes to submit
answersheets,providedtheycan
ANAND VIHAR
Very Poor
308
AQI
PM: 2.5
500
0-50 Good
AtSinghuborder,Saturdaynight —oneof the3keyborderpointsthathavebecometheepicentreof theprotests. Praveen Khanna
plastic sheets. After the lights go aslongasthereisspace.Wegetup
out,theproteststageturnsintoan in the morning, keep our mat-
open lodge with rows of beds. tresses and blankets aside, and
“The stage is open on all sides prepare the stage for speeches
and it is windy but we have no during the day,” says Harinder
problems. We have our blankets Singh, a farmer who has been as-
andanyoneisinvitedtosleephere signed to manage the stage.
CORONAVIRUS IN THE CAPITAL
TOTAL CASES Total Vacant
HOSPITAL BEDS 18,807 14,462
6,07,454 VENTILATORS 1,525 643
Daily cases Recoveries Deaths Tests
Dec 12 1,935 3,191 47 73,413
Dec 13 1,984 2,539 33 72,335
Total 16,785* 5,80,655 10,014 72,22,903
*Total active cases
Tackling
fatalityrate
While the rate of increase
inCovidcasesinDelhihas Over 72 lakh tests have been
slowed down consider- conducted so far. Amit Mehra
ably over the past month,
the city’s death rate con-
tinues to be a point of duction in deaths as well,” said a
worry. To tackle this, hos- seniorDelhigovernmentofficial.
pitals have been directed Thehighestcasefatalityratio
to follow best practices touched in Delhi was around
set,suchastimelyadmin- 3.5% in June. Between July and
istration of oxygen and early November, the death rate
close tracking of people declined, with only a few minor
under home isolation. spikes seen. Calls and messages
to Delhi Health Minister
Satyendar Jain regarding the fa-
of people who fell severely ill in tality ratio went unanswered.
the end of November — many Sources said hospitals have
who reached hospitals late — beendirectedtofollowbestprac-
died.Atthetime,thepressureon ticesset,suchastimelyadminis-
the system was also immense. trationof oxygenandclosetrack-
Now that the number of cases is ing of people in home isolation,
reducing, we are expecting a re- to make sure the death rate dips.
furnish evidence before a review
committee of technical difficul-
ties in submitting in four hours. ASHNA BUTANI
The notification also said this NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
was to be a last resort and that
“emails sent prior to completion SEVERALTEACHERS,lawyersand
of five hours shall not be ac- engineers joined the farmers at
cepted”.Studentswhoareunable Singhuborderovertheweekend,
to submit answer sheets in five adding to the growing numbers
hourswillhavetotake4-5photos at the protest site. From different
of the portal at different times to districts in Punjab and Haryana,
prove they were unsuccessful in theyhadonethingincommon—
doingso,andsendtheemailin10 theysaidtheyareallfarmersfirst.
minutesofthelapseofthe5-hour Arrivingatthesiteinfourtem-
period, along with the photos. pos at 11.30 am on Sunday was a
Dean Examinations D S group of 50 engineers from five
Rawat said while the goal is that districts in Punjab. Said Kulwant
no student is left behind due to Singh Gill (56), a civil engineer
technicaldifficulties,theuniver- fromLudhiana,“Wehavetakena
sityistryingtominimisesubmis- holiday on Monday. We will stop
sionsthroughmail:“Wewantto working,if needed. But weare all
discourageuseof mailasitslows sons of farmers, even those of us
down the process of sorting and who are not, are here in solidar-
evaluation, and can lead to delay ity.”Hesaidhiswifeandtwochil-
indeclaringresults...Butif allelse dren, who live in Canada, will be
fails,theoptionwillbeopensub- participating in a rally in solidar-
ject to the conditions.” ity with farmers in Toronto.
SIRIFORT
Very Poor
311
AQI
PM: 2.5
0 500
51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate
AttheGuruLangar,managed
by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara
Management Committee, din-
ner is servedfrom 8pm till 12.30
am. After 11 pm, a steel flask
with a tap is used to serve tea
along with dinner. On Saturday
Will join farmers Stopped at Rewari,
in their fast today, 300 protesters say
says Kejriwal ready to stay there
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
DELHI CHIEF Minister Arvind
Kejriwal Sunday said he will join
farmers in their fast on Monday,
and appealed to AAP supporters
and members to join in as well.
Earlier in the day, farmer
unions at Singhu border an-
nounced that they will observe
afastbetween8amand5pm on
Monday, whilefarmersin differ-
ent districts will also hold
protests.
Kejriwal said: “So many ex-
servicemen,sportspersons,doc-
tors, lawyers, traders have been
supporting the protests in some
way or other — are they all anti-
national?”
“BJP is mistaking the farm-
ers’ movement as a small move-
ment comprising of only a few
people, which is wrong. Every
person in this country under-
stands the intricacies of these
laws and wants them to be re-
pealed,” he added.
The AamAadmiParty, which
is the primary opposition in
Punjab, has come out in support
of the farmers, with arrange-
ments for water at the Singhu
border being made by the Delhi
government and AAP MLAs
spending nights at the protest
site. Last week, Kejriwal and
other cabinet members had also
visited Singhu border to express
support for the farmers.
“I will also fast tomorrow in
the support of our farmers. I
want to appeal to supporters
and volunteers of AAP to also
fast in support of farmers...
Thousands of ex-servicemen
and ex-Armymen, who fought
for the country by risking their
own lives, are sitting with the
farmers on the borders.
Thousands of Armymen are
praying for the farmers from
their homes. I want to ask the
Hundreds of teachers from Patiala, Sangrur, Mohali and
Amritsar reached the border over the weekend. Ashna Butani
ManjinderSingh,chairmanof
theCouncilofDiplomaEngineers,
Punjab, added, “We all have one
thingincommon—wearefarm-
ersfirst.Afterthat,westudiedand
went into different professions.
That is why we collectively de-
cided to leave for the protests.”
Simultaneously, hundreds of
teachers from Punjab’s Patiala,
Sangrur, Mohali and Amritsar
SHADIPUR
Poor
209
AQI
PM: 10
0 500
201-300 Poor 301-400 Very Poor
evening, soan papdi was served
as “prasad”. “Even if someone is
hungry at 2 am, they can simply
wake someone up and will be
given food,” says a volunteer.
By midnight, shadows come
tolifeundertheflickeringstreet-
I will also fast tomorrow
in the support of our
farmers... Thousands of
ex-servicemen and ex-
Armymen, who fought for
the country by risking
their own lives, are sitting
with the farmers on the
borders... I want to ask
the BJP, are they anti-
national? Many national
and international players
who have brought laurels
for the nation are sitting
on the borders in support
of the farmers. Are they
anti-national?...”
ARVIND KEJRIWAL, DELHI CM
BJP, are they anti-national?
Many national and interna-
tional players who have
brought laurels for the nation
are sitting on the borders in
support of the farmers. Are they
anti-national? I personally
know a few singers and
Bollywood celebrities, who
come from farmers’ families
and are supporting the farmers,
are they anti-national? Many
doctors who are supporting the
farmers, are they anti-na-
tional?” Kejriwal said.
reached the spot in a bus, two
trolleys and other private vehi-
cles on Saturday and Sunday.
Gurmeet Singh (45), who
teaches mathematics to stu-
dents of classes IX-XII in a school
in Gurdaspur, reached the bor-
der Saturday morning with five
others from his district. He said,
“I have been going to school
every day as students from sen-
New Delhi
IGI AIRPORT (T3)
Poor
236
AQI
PM: 2.5 500
0
401-500 Severe
lights.Thesearemenwithtorch-
lights and sticks, standing in the
narrow space between the trac-
tors, taking turns to guard the
area till morning. There are
about 500 of these volunteers in
Singhu, all wearing uniforms
that say “pehredar”. Their job is
to regulate movement, “prevent
entry of anti-social elements”,
and ensure there is no violence.
“We designate areas among
ourselves.Forexample,thereare
3-4 people to monitor an area of
about 200 metres. This goes on
till the last tractor in the line. It is
possiblethatsomeonecancome
andstealthingsandcarryoutac-
tivities that can defame the
protest,” says Jagtar Singh, who
has been posted barely 200 me-
tres from the barricade.
Eventhoughthefarmershail
fromdifferentregionsof Punjab,
theyshareasenseof community.
Till 1.30 am, groups exchange
mattresses and blankets, as and
whentheneedarises.If someone
requires extra material, it is pro-
vided from a tractor trolley with
the understanding that it will be
returned the following day.
Ataround4.30am,thenight’s
SAKSHI DAYAL
GURGAON, DECEMBER 13
AROUND 300 protesters from
Rajasthan and South Haryana
were stopped from crossing the
Haryana-Rajasthan border at
Rewari on the Delhi-Jaipur ex-
pressway Sunday afternoon, as
they were trying to make their
way to the national capital to
join the farmers’ protest. Leaders
of the protesting group said they
would hold their demonstration
at the border if they are not al-
lowed to cross into Haryana.
They began their march
around 1 pm from Rajasthan's
Shahjahanpur towards Delhi —
around900kmaway.Leaderssaid
people had gathered from South
Haryana and Rajasthan at two
points — those from Alwar and
South Haryana at Shahjahanpur
and those from other parts of
RajasthanatKotputli.Theymetat
Shahjahanpur and marched to-
wards Haryana for a few kilome-
tres before they were stopped by
Haryana Police.
“We had deployed around
600 personnel, including per-
sonnel from Rapid Action Force,
at the border to prevent the
farmers from entering Haryana.
We will not permit them to
They were stopped from crossing the Haryana-Rajasthan
border at Rewari Sunday afternoon. Abhinav Saha
ior classes are attending classes.
Hence, I will stay till Sunday
evening and go back in time for
school on Monday. I plan on
coming here next week as well.”
The teachers, who are part of
the Elementary Teachers’Union,
Punjab, said they have not come
to teach or educate anyone, but
simplytostandbehindthefarm-
ers in their fight.
Carrying his laptop,
Amreetpal Singh (45), a govern-
ment school teacher from Tarn
Taran, took leave from work to
join his parents at the protest
site. “Myparents didn’twantme
to come because of the crowd
and they fear that I will lose my
job if I protest. But I didn’t want
to stay in Punjab while they are
strugglinghere. Ialso don’t want
my students to suffer...,” he said,
adding that he usesthe laptopas
a board and his phone to teach
from 9 am to 12 pm every day.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
S K Y WA T C H
FORECAST: Dec 14
Mainlyclearsky.
Densetoverydense
forinthemorning
MAX: 21 MIN: 9
2.2°Cbelownormal 0.4°Cabovenormal
watch ends and men working in
the langars begin preparations
forbreakfast.Outside,tableswith
plasticbasketsfullof toothpaste,
toothbrushes, soaps, washing
bars and shampoo pouches are
set up. Most of these items have
been donated by civil society
groups while the rest have been
sourced by the farmers.
By 7 am, the loudspeaker
comes to life with a morning
prayer. Several people are
seated, eyes closed in medita-
tion. Many others make a bee-
line for tea, which is served
along with biscuits, rusks, and
bread. Volunteers wipe the
night’s dew from the equipment
covers and the stage is set up
again. Many make video calls to
their families back home before
the day gets noisier and busier.
“This is our life now. We have
developedasystem,wearefeed-
ing ourselves and keeping trou-
ble out. The government must
understand that we will not give
up because our fight is genuine.
This is history in the making,”
says Gurtej Singh, a “pehredar”.
Then, he starts clearing the re-
mainsof abonfirefromthenight.
move towards Delhi,” said
Rewari Superintendent of Police
Abhishek Jorwal.
Farmers then sat down on
the carriageway meant for vehi-
cles travelling from Jaipur to-
wards Delhi and said they are
prepared to spend the coming
days at the spot unless the gov-
ernment meets their demands.
“We are not intending to
moveforcefullytowardsDelhior
fightinanyway.We havesettled
downhere.Wehavemadeplans
tomanageourration,thepeople
who have come have come with
supplies, and the local people
from villages nearby have also
been preparing for the past few
days to provide for the protest-
ers.Weintendtopeacefullycon-
tinue our demonstration,” said
Salamuddin, president of the
Mewat Vikas Sabha.
Swaraj India national presi-
dent Yogendra Yadav, who was
part of the group, said, "We have
not come here to close the
Rajasthan-Haryana border. We
want to go to Delhi, to make a
government that is not being
able to hear us listen to us...”
Social activist Medha Patkar
alsosaidtheprotesters“havenot
blocked the road”, stating, “this
road has been blocked by the
Haryana government”.
A group of 250 lawyers from
Haryana’s Kurukshetra, Panipat,
Rohtak,KarnalandPanchkuladis-
tricts also arrived in a bus and a
few private vehicles. Advocate
Dilwar Singh (29) said his uncle
and brother have been at the
protest since it started, and his
familygrowswheat,potato,peas.
He said, “We will keep coming
here to support the movement.”
Meanwhile, at the Ghazipur
site, five youngsters, who said
they are students, were turned
awaybyfarmersSunday.Thestu-
dents — four women and a man
— tried to enter the site from un-
derneath the Delhi-Meerut
Expresswaywheretherearebar-
ricades. Narendra Choudhary, a
farmer from the Bharatiya Kisan
Union's Ghaziabad chapter, said,
“A few of us farmers and police
stoppedthemfromentering.We
have no issues if they want to
come as farmers...”
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

5 GOVT & POLITICS

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020

India’s global
rise will invite
Assam: BJP dumps its ally, picks Maharashtra: BJP
seeks Ordinance

new one to govern Bodoland council

stating OBC
reservation will
attempts to limit remain intact

E
had posted on social media after

it: Jaishankar
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
INDIA'S RISE in the global order
will invite reactions that may in-
cludeattemptstodilutethecoun-
try's influence and limit its inter-
ests, External Affairs Minister S
Jaishankar said on Sunday.
Delivering the second
Manohar Parrikar Memorial
Lecture, Jaishankar said as India
expands its global interests and
reach, there is an even more
compelling case to focus on its
hard power.
The External Affairs Minister
saidnationalsecuritychallenges
for a "rising" India will be differ-
ent from the ones it faced earlier
and emphasised on greater con-
vergence between foreign and
military policies.
In a reference to Pakistan,
Jaishankar said a longstanding
politicalrivalryistodayexpressed
assustainedcross-borderterror-
ism by "a neighbour" even as he
enumerated security challenges
ABHISHEK SAHA
GUWAHATI, DECEMBER 13
THE BJP has allied with the
United People’s Party Liberal
(UPPL) and the Gana Suraksha
Party (GSP) to form the ruling al-
S lianceintheBodolandTerritorial
Jaishankar Council (BTC), the results of
whose polls were declared on
Sunday.
jorstatesthatstillhaveunsettled Promod Boro, a former pres-
borders to the extent that we do. identof AllBodoStudents’Union
Ofequalrelevanceistheveryvery wholeadstheUPPLnow,willbe-
unique challenge that we face of come the next Chief Executive
years of intense terrorism in- Member (CEM) of the BTC. “I
flicted on us by a neighbour. We hope that under the new CEM
alsocannotdisregardattemptsto Promod Boro’s leadership, the
undermineournationalintegrity BTC will work for the develop-
and unity," he said. ment of all communities
"And over and above these through cooperation,” Assam
exceptionalfactors,there arethe Chief Minister Sarbananda
daily security challenges of long Sonowal said.
bordersandlargeseaspaces.The BTC is an autonomous, self-
thinkingandplanningof apolity governing body under Sixth
that operates in such an uncer- Schedule of the Constitution.
tain environment naturally There have been two Bodo ac-
should give primacy to hard se- cords earlier -- the second led to
curity," he said. BTC’s formation in 2003. In the
Jaishankar said the era of 2015 BTC elections, the BPF won
"unconstrained military con- 20 seats and came to power, and
flicts" may be long gone, but the the BJP won only one seat.
reality of limited wars and coer- Elections to the 40-member
cive diplomacy was still very
UPPL supporters celebrate at Kathalbari in Assam’s Baksa
district on Sunday.
BTC were held on December 7
and 10.
The UPPL won 12 seats, the
BJP nine, the GSP one, and the
Congressone.The BPF—which is
the BJP’s ally in the state govern-
ment—won 17 seats. The BJP did
not ally with the BPF, against
which it had campaigned vocif-
erously, but went with the UPPL.
There are three ministers from
the BPF in Sonowal's Cabinet.
Dasarath Deka
In a Cabinet meeting held on
Sunday, none of the three were
present.
“With the love and support
of the people of BTC, our party
has got the single largest major-
ity with 17 seats out of 40. Since
we are in alliance with the BJP in
central as well as the state, our
party is hopeful that the BJP will
support us in forming the gov-
ernment. Our party is commit-
E X P L A I NE D
Shifts and
gains ahead
● of state polls
Sunday’s BTC polls results
are the harbinger of politi-
calshiftsaheadof thestate
polls next year. The BJP
went after the BPF during
thecampaignanddecided
todumpitaftertheresults,
althoughthelatterdidwin
17 seats. It remains to be
seen if this marks the be-
ginning of the end of BPF
chief Hagrama Mohilary.
HowtheUPPL-BJPalliance
fares in the state polls is to
be seen. The results also
signalBJP’sarrivalinBTR—
from one seat last time to
ninenow.Thepartyseems
tohavebenefittedfromthe
Bodo accord to usher in
peaceanddevelopmentin
the strife-torn region.
ted to work for the growth and
prosperity of our region,”
Hagrama Mohilary, the BPF
supremo and former BTC CEM,
the results.
As the new alliance in the
BTC was announced on Sunday,
top BJP leaders, including Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
Home Minister Amit Shah, con-
gratulated the UPPL and called
the party an ally.
“NDA is committed to serv-
ing the people of the Northeast.
I congratulate our ally UPPL and
@BJP4Assam for securing a ma-
jority in the Assam BTC election,
and wish them the very best in
fulfilling people’s aspirations. I
thank the people for placing
their faith in the NDA,” PM Modi
tweeted.
This year’s BTC election
comes after the Centre signed a
landmark peace and develop-
ment accord with Bodo groups
in January, which was followed
by the laying down of arms by
over 1,600 cadres of the militant
outfitNationalDemocraticFront
of Bodoland. The accord and the
promise of its quick implemen-
tationgivestheBJPanadvantage
in the elections. As the leader of
the All Bodo Students’ Union
then, Promod Boro was a signa-
tory to the accord.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 13
THE BJP on Sunday demanded
an Ordinance declaring that
reservation sanctioned to the
OtherBackwardClass(OBC)cat-
egory will remain intact and not
touched to accommodate quota
for the Maratha community.
Speaking at the party's OBC
conclave on
Sunday,
Leader of
Opposition
in the state
Assembly,
Devendra
Fadnavis,
Devendra urged party
Fadnavis workers to
be ready for
a fight.
Saying OBCs constituted a
sizeablesupport base for theBJP,
Fadnavis said, “Any attempt by
the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress
government to dilute the exist-
ing OBC quota will be countered
by street agitation.”
“There are apprehensions
that a section is demanding ac-
commodationof Marathareser-
vation within the OBC quota...

Assam cabinet nod to repeal provisions for madrasas, Sanskrit tolls

emanatingfromlongbordersand
large maritime spaces.
"The world is a competitive
place and India's rise will evoke
its own reactionsand responses.
There will be attempts to dilute
ourinfluenceandlimitourinter-
ests.Someof thesecontestations
canbedirectlyinthesecuritydo-
main, others could be reflected
in economics, connectivity even
in societal context," he said.
Theminister,delvingintothe
broadspectrumof security chal-
lenges facing India, said the
country cannot disregard at-
tempts to undermine national
integrity and unity.
"Therearereallyveryfewma-
much a fact of life.
Speaking on India's growing
globalstature,Jaishankarsaidthe
country's relationship with the
world cannot be the same as
whenitsrankingwasmuchlower.
"Ourstakesintheworldhave
certainly become higher and
correspondingly so have the ex-
pectationsof us.SimplyputIndia
matters more and our world
view must process that in all its
aspects," he said. “On the big
global issues of our times,
whether we speak of climate
change or trade flows or health
concernsor data security, India's
positioning has more influence
on the eventual outcome.”
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
GUWAHATI, DECEMBER 13
THE ASSAM government on
Sunday approved a proposal to
repeal provisions for madrasas
and Sanskrit tolls (schools), a
Cabinet note said. Legislation to
this effect will be introduced in
the coming session of the
Assembly.
“Repeal of provisions of
madrasa and Sanskrit tolls. Act
will beintroducedinthecoming
session,” the note said. The de-
Himanta
Biswa
Sarma
tails of the move would be
clearlyknown afterthe details of
the legislation are out.
Assam’s Education Minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma told The
Indian Express in an Idea
Exchange session last month
thatthegovernmentintendedto
shut down around 600
madrasas in Assam.
“So, we have decided to
convert these institutes into
seats for general education.
Now, 600 madrasas will be
closed (down). In these
madrasas, we are going to im-
part modern education. This (is
not to) save any finance. We
will keep spending Rs 300 crore
because we are not going to
take anybody out of service…
The madrasa education is op-
posed by the students them-
selves,” the Education Minister
had said.
According to Sarma, in the
‘high madrasas’ in Assam a stu-
dent has the chanceto score 200
marks studying a subject based
on Islam and Quran.
“An opportunity was given
onlytoaclassof citizenstostudy
their holy scripture and then
score marks. So, my opposition
is because you have to establish
parity. Either you allow the
Bhagavad Gita or Bible so that
other students also score 200
marks, or remove the Quran,”
Sarma said.
He added, “I think introduc-
ing the Bible or Bhagavad Gita
will not be easy because Assam
has a composite culture and
there are many small religions.
So the best way to establish par-
ity is to remove the subject on
the Quran.”
Sarma had earlier told re-
porters in Guwahati that the
reins of the Sanskrit tolls will be
handed over to Kumar
Bhaskarvarma Sanskrit
University and they would be
turned into centres of academic
learning and research on Indian
culture.
The state government should
bring an ordinance stating OBC
quota will remain intact. It will
neitherbetamperednortouched
toaccommodateanyothercom-
munity,” he added.
“When the BJP-led govern-
ment was in power, we sanc-
tionedMarathareservationunder
a special clause. They were given
reservation under Socially and
Educational Backward Class
(SEBC). Although Supreme Court
has stayed the reservation, it has
notstruckdownthespecialclause
and the category. Therefore, the
government should pursue the
Maratha reservation case under
SEBC,” said Fadnavis.

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New Delhi
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

6 GOVT & POLITICS

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020

CHURCH LEADERS LIKELY TO MEET PM

BJP looks to
DELHI CONFIDENTIAL
grow Kerala base
with Christian
outreach drive
E

E X P L A I NE D
LIZ MATHEW Behind
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13 BJP’s push
for Christian
AFTERSUCCESSFULLYlaunching ● votes
VACCINE RIGHT the first leg of its campaign in
Telangana and beginning the THE BJP faces a peculiar
AS THE world prepares to administer the Covid-19 vaccine in ground work in Tamil Nadu, the situation in Kerala where
thecomingmonths,SupremeCourtjudgeIndiraBanerjeehas BJP now wants to embark on its over 40 per cent of the
saidthataccesstothevaccineisabasichumanright.Speaking ambitious electoral project in population consists of reli-
in a webinar on human rights, Justice Banerjee said that the Kerala – wooing the Christian gious minorities. With
government must ensure equitable distribution of the vac- community. While its attempts Hindu votes divided be-
cine and that the benefits of the vaccine cannot be confined inthepasthadnotyieldedmuch tween the CPI(M)-led LDF,
only to developed nations. results, the party now wants to Cong-led UDF, and the BJP,
capitalise the increasing disen- the saffron party can’t rely
chantment among the Christian solely on Hindu consoli-

WORD OF CAUTION IN REMEMBRANCE, 19 YEARS ON leaders over the growing influ-

enceof MuslimsintheCongress-
led UDF in Kerala.
dation and needs to woo
either one of the two
largest minority groups—
SOCIAL MEDIA has been a platform for many leaders to ex- Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays homage to those who died in the 2001 Parliament attack, at Parliament House on Sources said Church leaders Muslim and Christians—
press their difference of opinion. But it gets interesting when Sunday. PTI are expected to meet Prime to win elections. The latter
itisbetweenleadersof thesameideology.Recently,oneof the Minister Narendra Modi soon seems to be an easier
BJP national spokespersons was ticked off by a Sangh leader with their grievances, including choice for the BJP after
on democracy. BJP’s national spokesperson on economic af- concernsaboutMuslimstudents failing to attract Muslim
UDDHAV SLAMS CENTRE’S HANDLING OF FARM PROTESTS SC may hear plea

‘Not our culture to term

fairs Gopal Krishna Agarwal tweeted one of his articles, say- availing over 80 per cent of the votes, and a section of
ing, “lack of reforms hurting India, mobocracy in the garb of minority scholarships and the Christian leadership now
democracy making reforms difficult”. Ashwani Mahajan, na- to remove farmers “increasing number of Christian voicing concerns such as
tionalco-convenerof SwadeshiJagaranManch,theeconomic girls lured by Muslim boys” in ‘love jihad’ and possibililty
wing of the RSS, then gave him a piece of advise. “I think BJP from Delhi’s theKeralaversionof “lovejihad”. of demographic change.

food providers terrorists’

shouldavoidusingthesewords.Despitehavingallgoodinten- The Church leaders’ keen-
tions, it may create confusion about BJP’s belief in democracy. borders on Dec 16 ness in exploring the BJP’s sup-
Govtneedstodevelopcapacitytotakestakeholdersviewsbe- port in these issues was evident 40 per cent of the scholarship,
forebringinginnewlegislations&publicdebateonreformsis in the presence of Cardinal butitgetsonlyhalf of it.Theyfeel
alsoaprerequisite,”hesaid,quote-tweetingAgarwal.Manyin EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE George Alencherry, Major justice is denied,” said a BJP
the BJP privately agreed with Mahajan as it came in the back- yougoingtoputtheminjailonly NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13 Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar leader from Kerala.
drop of BJP leaders publicly reaffirming their trust and com- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE because they do not agree to Catholic Church, at a function on The leaders have also cited a
mitment to democracy after Niti Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s MUMBAI, DECEMBER 13 your point of view? That is how THESUPREMECOURTislikelyto Friday in Raj Bhavan in study to convey their concerns
“too-much-democracy” remark. Maharashtra theCentreseemstobebehaving. hear on December 16 a law stu- Thiruvananthapuram, where over a possible decline in the
ACCUSING IT of governing the CM Uddhav If somebodyspeaksfortheright- dent’s plea seeking direction to GovernorArif MohammadKhan community populations.
REFERENCE POINT country in “Tughlaqi style”,
Maharashtra Chief Minister
Thackeray ful demands of the farmers and
labourers, then they are labelled
immediately remove the farm-
erswhoareprotestingonDelhi’s
handed him a copy of ‘Justice for
All, Prejudice to None’ -- a book
Accordingtothestudybyprofes-
sorKCZachariahoftheCentrefor
ATAtimethereareseveralquestionsoverproceduresandprece- Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday anti-nationals.” borders and shift them to a des- written by Mizoram Governor Development Studies, by 2050,
dencesonthefunctioningof Parliamentandstandingcommit- took on the Centre over its han- He was speaking to media- “The BJP has said that ignated place in view of the and former BJP Kerala unit pres- Muslims will form 35 per cent of
tees,anewbookwrittenwithapractitioner’sperspectiveiscom- dling of the farmers' protest persons in Mumbai on the eve Maharashtra is under Covid-19 pandemic and hard- ident S Sreedharan Pillai on var- the state's population while the
ing out. The book, written by Ravindra Garimella, Consultant, while stating that it is not in “our of the two-day Winter Session Emergency because some peo- ships to commuters. ious communities in Mizoram Christians will be reduced tohalf
LokSabhaSecretariat,alsotellsfascinatingstoriesontherituals culture to call the food providers of the Maharashtra Legislative ple were put in jail. However, According to the cause list, and Kerala. of the Muslim population.
andconventionsinthelowerhouse.SpeakerOmBirlahaswrit- of our country anti-nationals Assembly that starts on what the Centre is doing is a sin which shows the court's list of In November, Pillai was in- The Church and a section of
ten the foreword for it. Garimella’s 30 years of experience as a and terrorists”. Monday. that is worse than Emergency... business, the plea by Rishabh vited by the Church leaders for a community leaders in Kerala, so
parliamentary officer appears to have helped him to deal with Maintainingthatthecountry Taking exception to the pro- where it is calling farmers, who Sharma will be considered by a dinner meeting to discuss the far lenient towards the
thetopicswithin-depthanalysisandinstitutionalmemory.Inthe could not be run through unrea- testers being called anti-nation- are protesting for their rightful benchof Chief Justiceof IndiaSA “complaints” from the commu- Congress-led UDF in their polit-
absenceofmanybooksonthepracticesandprecedencesinpar- sonable diktats, Uddhav told re- als, he said: “It is not in our cul- demands, anti-nationals,” Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna nity over a series of issues, and ical choices, have been uneasy
liamentary functioning, this book could become a reference porters: “The BJP claims there is ture to call the food providers of Thackeray added. and V Ramasubramaian. sources said he had then agreed over the increasing influence of
source, said officials at the Lok Sabha Secretariat. an undeclared Emergency in our country anti-nationals and On the implementation of In his plea, Sharma said that to convey the grievances to the theIndianUnionMuslimLeague
Maharashtra. If that is so, then terrorists. The Centre has been the new farm laws in “because of the ongoing protest Prime Minister. According to in the Congress-led UDF. Even
thiscountryisatpresentundera importingonionsandsugarfrom Maharashtra,Thackeraysaidthe at the Delhi borders, the roads sources, the Church leaders are theCPI-M-ledLDF'srecentmove

Cong pulls ahead declared Emergency. The farm-

ers are protesting for their right-
ful demands. But rather than
Pakistan.Iwanttoaskwhetherit
now wants to import farmers
from Pakistan or start doling out
state government would not
take any decision that will go
against farmers’ interests.
have been blocked by the pro-
testers and closed border points,
which have affected vehicular
expected to submit a memoran-
dum to the Prime Minister seek-
inghisinterventioninthe“injus-
to implement 10 per cent reser-
vation in government jobs for
theeconomicallyweakersection

of BJP in Rajasthan
holding dialogues and under- certificatesonwhoarePakistanis On Opposition’s allegations traffic and people who are trav- tice” meted out to the Christian (EWS) among forward commu-
standing their plight, they have and who are not. Governing this of thegovernmentnotdoingany eling to and from Delhi to get community in the state. nities was seen as an attempt to
to protest in the cold wave and countryinthisTughlaqistylewill workandpeoplebeingunhappy, medical treatment in reputed “The church leaders have al- woo the Christians away from

urban body polls

watercannonsarebeingusedon notbetoleratedbythecitizensof Thackeray said, “The Opposition government/private hospitals ready conveyed to the BJP lead- the Congress -- church leaders
them. What is happening re- this country.” was busy trying to find an auspi- situated in Delhi are also af- ership its resentment over the had publicly lauded the move,
flects the inconsideration of the “If farmers feel that these cioustimeformygovernmentto fected”. distribution of the scholarships advantageoustothecommunity.
government.” laws are not in their interest, are collapse.” The plea said the protesters for the minority students. Going FULLREPORTON
state president Govind Singh are“blockingtheroadsforallthe by the population, it should get www.indianexpress.com
HAMZA KHAN Dotasra said the results indicate emergency/medical services”
JAIPUR, DECEMBER 13

FOLLOWING THE setback in

Panchayati Raj polls, the
CongressinRajasthanonSunday
managedagoodperformancein
the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)
elections with wins in 619
wards.
In the results declared
Sunday for 1,775 wards of 50
ULBs in 12 districts, Congress
won619wards,comparedtothe
BJP’s 548.
BJP also fell behind
Independents, who won 596
wards. Other parties in the fray
included the Bahujan Samaj
Party (7), Communist Party of
India (2), CPI [Marxist] (2) and
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP)
(1).
In the recent Panchayati Raj
polls, BJP had managed to elect
ZilaPramukhsin12ZilaParishad
while Congress managed just
five Zila Pramukhs.
Addressing a press confer-
ence Sunday evening, Congress
that the BJP is growing “away”
fromtheurbanelectorate,falling
way behind Independent votes.
He said that of the total 50
ULBs — 43 Nagar Palika and 7
Nagar Parishad — “Congress has
won a majority in 17 and as far
as Independents are concerned,
most of them are Congress-
backed” and claimed that
Congress will be successful in
forming a Board in over 30 of the
50 ULBs which went to polls.
Asked about the high num-
berof Independentswinningthe
polls, Dotasra said that “with
Congress being the ruling party,
every second candidate was
hopeful of a party ticket and in
its absence, they contested as an
Independent.”
He said that as part of
Congress’ strategy, it fielded
Independents in several places
— rather than distributing sym-
bols—suchasinBharatpur,“and
this strategy succeeded”.
BJP leaders did not comment
on the losses.
Punjab’s Prisons DIG resigns in
support of protesting farmers
RAAKHI JAGGA
LUDHIANA, DECEMBER 13
DEPUTY INSPECTOR General
(Prisons) Lakhminder Singh
Jakharhasresignedfromhispost
expressing solidarity with the
protesting farmers.
The 56-year-old officer was
suspended in May this year
while serving as Amritsar DIG
(Prisons) on corruption charges.
He was reinstated two
months back and posted in
Chandigarh.
ADGP (Jails) Parveen Kumar
SinhatoldTheIndianExpress,"He
has submitted his resignation to
D K Tiwari, Principal Secretary
Home,departmentofjails.Acopy
has also been marked to me.”
Lakhminder
Singh
Jakhar
Jail Minister Sukjinder Singh
Randhawasaid:“Wewilltakele-
gal opinion from our legal re-
membrancer whether to accept
his resignation as inquiry is still
going on against him."
Sources said although he was
reinstated,theinquiryintobribery
charges has still not been closed
by the department. There is an-
otherinquirypendingagainsthim
regarding submission of an affi-
davit in the High Court.
Jakhar said: “I had submitted
my resignation on Saturday. I
have completed all the formali-
ties. Therefore, I don't think that
there will be any hassle in ac-
cepting my resignation.”
In his resignation letter
which was submitted on
December 12, the DIG wrote, “I...
would like to inform you of my
consideredandintrospectivede-
cision to stand with my farmer
brothers who are peacefully
protesting against the Farm
Ordinances, 2020 which are
detrimental to interest of farm-
ers and their future generations
He told The Indian Express: “I
am a farmer first and later a po-
lice officer. Whatever position I
have got today, it is because my
father worked as a farmer in the
fields and he made me study.
Hence, I owe everything I have
to farming." PTIINPUTS
required in the national capital
for those affected by the virus.
US: Khalistan
supporters deface
Gandhi statue
Washington: A group of
Khalistani separatists defaced
Mahatma Gandhi’s statue out-
side the Indian embassy here in
the US during a demonstration
bySikh-Americanyouthsinsup-
port of farmers protesting
against the new farm laws.
Hundreds of Sikhs from dif-
ferent states on Saturday took
out a car rally to the Indian em-
bassyindowntownWashington
DC. However, their peaceful
protest was hijacked by sepa-
ratists carrying Khalistani flags
with anti-India posters and ban-
ners. Brandishing kirpans, they
jumped on the statue of
Mahatma Gandhi and pasted a
poster over it. PTI
Gujarat ex-minister
held in Rs 14-cr scam
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, DECEMBER 13
FORMER HOME Minister of
Gujarat and former chairman of
Gujarat Cooperative Milk
MarketingFederation(GCMMF),
VipulChaudhary,wasarrestedby
theGujaratPoliceCIDonSunday
for his alleged involvement in a
bonus scam of Rs 14.80 crore.
The arrest of Chaudhary
comes weeks before the
Mehsana Dudhsagar Dairy elec-
tions on January 5, 2021.
According to police, the former
GCMMFchief hadallegedlycon-
spiredwithMehsanaDudhsagar
union officials to siphon off
money from bonus fund.
GCMMFmarketsitsproducts
Ex-home
minister
Vipul
Chaudhary.
under the brand name ‘Amul’.
Chaudhary was also former
chief of Dudhsagardairywhenin
2014, he was sacked from both
GCMMFandDudhsagardairyfol-
lowingcorruptionchargesincon-
nection with Rs 22-crore cattle
fodder scam.
“An FIR was filed recently at
Gandhinagar CID crime police
station. We held Chaudhary on
Saturday night from
Gandhinagar and he has been
arrestedtoday(Sunday),”saidan
officer.

Amid new farm laws, pandemic, Madhya Pradesh mandis take a hit
IRAM SIDDIQUE
BHOPAL, DECEMBER 13
THE KRISHI Upaj mandi at
Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh lies
deserted, except for the move-
ment of trucks coming in to buy
fertilisers.
This mandi is one of the 47 in
the state that have seen no busi-
ness since September, while an-
other 143 have seen their rev-
enues drop by 40 to 50 percent
in October and an overall drop in
business by 20 per cent after the
Centre’s three farm laws came
into effect.
Oneof the100‘D’grademan-
dis with a yearly revenue of less
than a crore, the Shahdol mandi
generated a revenue of about Rs
80 lakh in 2019 and paid nearly
Rs 39 lakh to the state govern-
ment as tax.
Governed under MP Krishi
Upaj Mandi Adhiniyam, 1972,
the 259 mandis of the state gen-
erated about Rs 1,246 crore of
revenue in 2019 and paid Rs 413
crore as tax.
In September, the average
drop in business at mandis
across the state, as compared to
2019, was about 14.74 per cent;
in October, it slipped to 20.4 per
cent. All six divisions, barring
Ujjain,witnessedadropinfarm-
ers coming in -- varying from 4
per cent in Indore to 71 per cent
in Rewa.
Sandeep Yadav, Managing
Director of the state Mandi
Board, said mandis have
recorded a drop in business of
about 20 to 25 per cent as a
chunk of business has started
taking place outside mandis. He
said the exact drop in revenue
would be difficult to ascertain as
of now. “The farm laws are one
of the reasons. But there are
other contributing factors, such
as Covid-19 and low production
of soyabean that usually comes
into the mandis during this sea-
son,” he said.
Despite the drop in business,
the revenue generated between
April and October shows a sur-
The Shahdol Mandi in Madhya Pradesh. Barring movement plusof 0.17percentascompared
of a few trucks, the mandi is mostly deserted. Express to the corresponding period in
2019, according to the Mandi
Boarddata. Yadavattributedthis
tohighprocurementof wheatby
the Food Corporation of India.
The revenues of mandis are
expected to take a hit also due to
a reduction in mandi tax for
tradersfrom1.5percenttoabout
0.5percentthatcameintoeffect
from November.
According to Bhanu Pratap
Singh, zilla president of Bhartiya
Kisan Sangh, the government
did not procure maize, MSP for
which was fixed at Rs 1,850 per
quintal, forcing farmers to sell
outside. “Maize was cultivated
on around 5,000 hectares in
Shahdol. When the government
did not procure, farmers had to
sell it to traders who did not pay
more than Rs 800 per quintal.
The farm Acts have only hurt the
interest of farmers in Shahdol.”
At the mandi, salaries of 12
employees are being paid from
the surplus revenue generated
earlier. An official said, “We will
only be able to pay employees
for two more months.”
B B Faujdar, coordinator of
SanyuktaSangharshMorchaMP
Board Bhopal, an association of
mandi board employees, has
written tothestate government,
demandingthatthenearly9,000
employees be absorbed by the
state government.
Faujdar said, “If the govern-
mentdoesnotpay heedtofarm-
ers’ demands, we will join their
agitation.”
The drop in business is also
worrying traders who have set
up warehouses and process
plants within mandi premises.
Gopaldas Agarwal, general
secretary of Mahasangh, a board
of about 48,000 traders in the
state, said, “Mandi hai toh kisan
surakshithai,aurkisansurakshit
haitohvyaparibhi.If farmersare
not protected, how will traders
do business? If the government
does not pay heed to the farm-
ers’ demands, we will be com-
pelled to join their agitation.”
State Agriculture Minister
KamalPatelsaid,“Thelawsmight
notbeperfectandwearereadyto
sort out the issues. The farmers
havetoconvinceus.Thelawshave
beenimplementedastheyarefor
the betterment of farmers.”

New Delhi

7 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
BRIEFLY
The shikara capsized
when it was nearing
the bank of the lake
in the last leg of the
rally. Express
J&K
Shikaracarrying
BJPworkers
capsizes
Srinagar: A shikara, carry-
ingBJPworkersandmedi-
apersons, capsized in the
DalLakeonSundayduring
campaign for the ongoing
District Development
Council elections, officials
saidhere.Theshikaracap-
sized when it was closing
on the bank of the lake in
thelastlegof therally.The
BJP workers and journal-
istswererescuedbylocals,
State Disaster Response
Force (SDRF) personnel
and police. The shikara
rally was led by Union
minister Anurag Thakur,
who is the BJP’s in-charge
for DDC elections. PTI
HARYANA
Undertreatment
forCovid,AnilVij
shiftedtoRohtak
Chandigarh: Haryana
Health Minister Anil Vij,
who had tested positive
for Covid-19 on
December 5, was shifted
to the Post Graduate
Institute of Medical
Sciences in Rohtak after
hecomplainedof discom-
fort Saturday night.
Ambala Civil Surgeon Dr
Kuldeep Singh said, “a
team of doctors at the
Rohtak hospital was reg-
ularlymonitoringhiscon-
dition”. Vij was the first
volunteerinHaryanawho
got one shot of the two-
dose trial of the Covid-19
indigenous vaccine
Covaxin.Itwasnotclearif
hereceivedtheplaceboor
the vaccine. ENS
ODISHA
2Maoistskilled
ingunfightin
Malkangiri
Bhubaneswar: Two
Maoists, including a
woman, were killed in an
exchange of fire between
security personnel and
Maoists in Odisha’s
Malkangiri district on
Sunday, police said.
Acting on a tip-off, a team
of Special Operation
Group personnel
launched a combing op-
eration in Gajalmamudi
area, a remote part of the
district, earlier in the day,
DGPAbhaytoldreporters
here. Maoists fired at the
security personnel, who
thenretaliatedkillingtwo
of the rebels on the spot,
he said. SOG personnel
recovered 2 guns from
the spot. PTI
CHHATTISGARH
CoBRAofficer
injuredinIED
blastinSukma
Sukma: An officer of the
CRPF’s elite CoBRA unit
was injured on Sunday
when an IED planted by
Maoistsexplodedwhileit
was being defused by se-
curity personnel in
Chhattisgarh's Sukma
district, a police official
said. The incident took
place between Pallodi
and Kistaram villages
around 10.40 am when a
teamof 208thbattalionof
the CoBRA (Commando
Battalion for Resolute
Action) was out on a
demining operation,
Inspector General of
Police (Bastar range)
Sundarraj P said. PTI
Voters queue up at a polling booth in Ganderbal district. Shuaib Masoodi
51.5% voting in 6th phase
of DDC elections in J&K
BASHAARAT MASOOD
SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 13
THE SIXTH phase of the District
Development Council (DDC)
elections — for 14 seats in
Kashmir and 17 in Jammu —
recorded51.5percentpollingon
Sunday. The voting pattern was
almost the same as the previous
five phases, with moderate
turnoutinotherpartsof Kashmir
making up for low turnout in
southKashmirdistricts,andhigh
turnoutinJammudivisionpush-
ing up the overall polling per-
centage.
Despite a near total boycott
in the south Kashmir districts of
Shopian and Pulwama, moder-
ate polling in other parts of the
valley pushed up the voter
turnout to 32.5 per cent in
Kashmir. As voters turned out in
large numbers in Jammu, 68.5
percentpollingwasrecordingin
the region, said the UT's Election
Commissioner K K Sharma. He
said 76.7 per cent polling took
place in Poonch district’s
Balakotearea,whichsawintense
mortar shelling by Pakistani
troops Saturday night.
In Shopian district, where
two seats went to polls, people
stayed away from the polling
booths again on Sunday. By the
end of the day, 4.6 per cent vot-
ers exercised their right in the
district. In the neighbouring
Pulwama district, the turnout
wasslightlybetterat8.1percent.
TheothertwosouthKashmir
districts–KulgamandAnantnag
– recorded moderate turnout. In
Ram Lalla and other
idols in Ayodhya get
heater and blanket
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 13
WITH THE mercury dropping in
the state, priests and authorities
in Ayodhya are taking care to en-
sure the comfort of the “Ram
Lalla” idol, and the idols of the
deity's brothers in a makeshift
temple in the town. They have
installed a blower heater in the
temple, and covered the deities
with a blanket.
While this is the second time
since the Babri Mosque demoli-
tionthatsuchanarrangementhas
been made, this year the process
was much easier following the
Supreme Court’s decision in the
Ayodhya dispute last November.
No paperwork and permissions
were required this time.
Last year, similar arrange-
ments were made after local
Hindu religious leaders, along
with some Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) members, made
a request to the Ayodhya
Commissioner. Before the court
decision, the commissioner was
the receiver of the temple.
“We have installed a blower
heaterinthemakeshifttempleto
ensurethatthetemperatureisun-
dercontrolandourdeitiesdonot
sufferinthiscold.Alongwiththat,
thedeitieshavebeengivenwarm
clothes and have been covered in
a blanket. Earlier we thought of
making a fireplace too but as the
makeshift temple is made of
woodandglass,itwillnotbesafe.
Thearrangementsmadewillcon-
tinue till the winter is here and
Anantnag, where Achabal and
Breng constituencies went to
polls,alittle lessthan25percent
voters turned out to vote.
Kulgam district – only one DDC
seat went to polls there –
recorded a voter turnout of 37.7
per cent.
In Baramulla district, where
two seats, Baramulla and
Rohama, went to polls, 34.5 per
cent vote was recorded.
“Generally, we stand for boycott
here but this time I have come
out to vote to keep the BJP away
and to show that the people of
the valley oppose the decisions
the BJP government took last
year,” said Abdul Rashid, a voter
from Rohama village. “This time
I have voted for the (People’s)
Alliance. I have voted because I
want to give them one last
chance to represent the true as-
pirations of the people of
Kashmir.”
The voter turnout in
BandiporeandKupwaradistricts
of northKashmirstoodhigher at
47.6 and a little over 51 per cent
respectively. Budgam district of
central Kashmir also saw mod-
erate turnout – 30 per cent. The
other central Kashmir district of
Ganderbal recorded the highest
voter turnout in the valley at
58.54 per cent.
In Jammu division, border
Rajouri district recorded a little
over74percentpolling,followed
by Reasi (74.02%), Udhampur
(72.04%), Ramban (71.3%),
Samba (70.01%),Jammu(66.3%),
Doda(62.9%)andKathua60.9%).
WITHINPUTSFROM
ENS,JAMMU
meanwhile, we will keep think-
ing of any other way we can en-
suremorecomforttothedeities,”
theRamLallatemple’schiefpriest,
Mahant Satyendra Das, told The
Indian Express.
He pointed out that the tem-
plealreadyhadanair-conditioner
to keep the deities “comfortable”
insummer.Similararrangements
for both the seasons exist in al-
most every major place of wor-
ship in the temple town.
The makeshift temple, situ-
ated around a few hundred me-
tres from the Ram
Janambhoomi site, has the
deities of “Ram Lalla”, and his
brothers Bharat, Lakshman and
Shatrughan along with deity
Hanuman and Bhagwan
Shaligram, who is represented
by an oval black stone. While the
four brothers are on one plat-
form, Hanuman and Bhagwan
Shaligram are on two separate
platforms. The construction of a
Ram temple is expected to start
on December 15.
Local VHP leader and
spokesperson Sharad Sharma
said this year no permissions
were sought from local authori-
ties, unlike last year. “Last year
we had met the Ayodhya
Commissioner back in October
and told him that ‘Ram Lalla’,
who is the symbol of our faith, is
shivering in the cold and
arrangements should be made
to keep his room warmer. We
hadaskedpermissionforaroom
heater and blankets. We were
granted the permission back
then,” he added.
BALLOT PAPER PHOTO
SURFACES ON SOCIAL
MEDIA; 3 SUSPENDED
Jammu: Two government
school teachers and a non-
teachingemployeewhowere
all part of polling staff were
suspendedfromdutySunday
afteraballotpaperfortheon-
going District Development
Council elections was found
postedonsocialmedianearly
12 hours ahead of polling in
Balakot area.
According to the order, is-
sued by Poonch District
Panchayat Election Officer
RahulYadav,thosesuspended
include Gulzar Ahmed, a
teacheratgovernmenthigher
secondaryschoolatGunhalin
Surankote;AsifIqbal,ateacher
at the government middle
school in Harni and
Mohammad Yousuf, a junior
assistantatHighSchoolKalai.
According to sources, on
Saturday,pollingmaterialwas
distributed among staff at
Balakot constituency where
polling was held Sunday.
However,onSaturdayevening
a photograph of the ballot pa-
perwasfoundonsocialmedia.
Following this, Yadav
sought a report in the matter
from Balakote’s Returning
Officer.FollowingtheRO’sre-
port, Yadav suspended all
three polling staff and or-
dered the District Education
Planning Officer to inquire
into the matter. ENS
Partnership
to improve
nutrition
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
THE BILL and Melinda Gates
Foundation has partnered with
the Anil Agarwal Foundation
to support the Union Women
and Child Development
Ministry in achieving the
United Nations Sustainable
Development Goal-2, which
aims to end all forms of
hunger and malnutrition by
the year 2030.
During a virtual meeting
on Wednesday, Gates and
Agarwal concurred that the
“future of children and women
will be made more secure by
eradicating poverty at the
grassroots level”, according to
a media release.
Project Nand Ghar, an Anil
Agarwal Foundation initiative,
in coordination with the
Women and Child
Development ministry, is
“transforming the anganwadi
ecosystem by modernising in-
frastructure and focusing on
services for eradicating child
malnutrition”, among others.
In partnership, the two or-
ganisations, along with the
ministry, will “jointly fund the
transformation of Anganwadis
and strengthen nutrition inter-
ventions” in Uttar Pradesh.
Welcoming the initiative,
WCD Minister Smriti Irani said:
“The partnership of BMGF and
Anil Agarwal Foundation to
ameliorate malnutrition will
surely have a lasting impact
and further strengthen PM
Narendra Modi’s vision of
Suposhit Bharat.”
TwoLeTmilitantskilled
aftergunfightinPoonch
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, DECEMBER 13
THE POLICE and security forces
killed two Lashkar-e-Taiba mili-
tants and captured anotherafter
a gunbattle in Jammu and
Kashmir's Poonch district on
Sunday.
All three had allegedly
crossed over into Poonch, in
Jammu division, from Pakistan-
occupied Kashmir three days
ago, said official sources, adding
that they were on their way to
South Kashmir's Shopian dis-
trict.The militants were trapped
in a joint cordon-and-search op-
eration in Duran Poshana area
along the Mughal Road, which
connects Poonch with Shopian.
Inspector-General of Police
for Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh,
saidtheslainLeTmenhavebeen
identified as Sajid and Bilal. Both
are Pakistani citizens, he added.
The captured militant is a lo-
cal resident, said a source. His
identity is not yet known.
Two AK-47 rifles, an under-
barrel grenade launcher and a
satellite phone were seized after
the gunbattle.
The police had been on the
militants' trail since Friday after
receiving information of their
ingress. Along with security
forces, they attempted to launch
Army jawan dies during cordon and
search operation in J&K’s Shopian
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 13
AN ARMY jawan died during a
cordon and search operation
in Shopian district of Jammu
and Kashmir, a defence
spokesman said on Sunday.
Rifleman Abdul Majed Dar,
a resident of Anantnag district
in Jammu and Kashmir, was
part of a cordon and search op-
eration in Zainapora area of
Shopian district on Saturday,
defence spokesman Colonel
BhaBha atomIc research centre
Opening Date: 15.12.2020 advertIsement no. 01/2020(nrB) Closing Date: 31.01.2021
onLIne aPPLIcatIons are InvIted for stIPendIarY traInees cateGorY - I & II/
dIrect recrUItment for traInInG In nrB, tarapur and Kalpakkam.
Stipendiary Trainee Category-I(Group-B) Total No. of posts : 50 ( SC-03, ST-08, OBC-14, EWS-02 & UR-23)
Post
Discipline
No. SC ST OBC EWS UR Total
1.1 Mechanical 01
1.2 Electrical 00
1.3
1.4
1.5
Chemical
Civil
Electronics
00
02
00
1.6 Instrumentation 00 01 02
1.7 Chemistry 00 01 01
*Acquired Diploma 3 years after SSC or 2 years after HSC.witha minimum of 60% marks in aggregate in Diploma.
Stipendiary Trainee Category-II (Group-C) Total No. of posts : 106 (SC-01,ST-08, OBC-29, EWS-07 &UR-61)
Post
Trade
No
2.1 Plant Operator
2.2 A/C Mechanic
2.3 Fitter
2.4 Welder
2.5 Electrician
2.6 Electronic Mechanic
2.7 Machinist
2.8 Instrument Mechanic
2.9 Welder (GMAW & GTAW)
2.10 Mechanic Diesel
2.11 Machinist Grinder
2.12 Laboratory Assistant
Total 01 08 29
Direct Recruitment (Group-C posts):Total No. of posts: 04 (UR-03 and PWD-01)
Post Name of the
No Post
DR/01 Technician/C
(Boiler Operator)
DR/02 Technician/B 00 00
(Painter)
TOTAL
**DR/02 post is identified for person with disability –Hearing Handicapped (HH) [Partially Deaf (PD)]. ‘Hearing Impairment’ means
loss of 60 decibels or more in the better ear in the conversational range of frequencies.
For detailed advertisement visit our website www.barc.gov.in and www.recruit.barc.gov.in.Online Applications received from
www.recruit.barc.gov.in alone will be accepted. Any other source of application will be treated as invalid.
THE FACILITY FOR ONLINE APPLICATION WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM 15.12.2020 UP TO 31.01.2021.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Army chief holds
talks with Saudi
generals on
boosting defence
cooperation
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
RIYADH, DECEMBER 13
INDIAN ARMY chief General
M M Naravane on Sunday met
topSaudigeneralsanddiscussed
issues of common interest and
ways to enhance bilateral de-
fence cooperation during his
visit to the Gulf kingdom.
GeneralNaravane,whoarrived
inSaudiArabiaonthesecondlegof
his two-nation visit that included
Security personnel during the operation in Poonch district
the United Arab Emirates, is the
first-everheadoftheIndianArmy
on Sunday. PTI to travel to the two strategically
importantGulf countries.
“COAS discussed issues of bi-
an operation the same day but disturb the ongoing District lateraldefencecooperationwith
were thwarted by snowfall. Development Council (DDC) General Fahd Bin Abdullah
“On Sunday afternoon, an- polls. Mohammed Al-Mutir,
other move was made which re- The Director General of Commander Royal Saudi Land
sulted in the contact,” a source Police (DGP) complimented the Forces," the Indian Army’s
said. joint team of police and army Additional Directorate General
Theoperationcameamidthe that gunned down the two infil- of Public Information said in a
sixth phase of polling for DDC trating Pakistani terrorists and tweet on Sunday.
electionsinJammuandKashmir. captured another. He also received a guard of
“Another attempt (was honour at the headquarters of
Another attempt by made) by Pakistan to send in the Royal Saudi Land Forces.
Pak to disturb ongoing
polls: DGP
LeT-JeM terrorists to Kashmir to
disturb the ongoing democratic
Saudi Chief of General Staff,
General Fayyadh bin Hamid Al-
process of grassroots level elec- Ruwaili, received General
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir tions,” Singh told PTI. Naravane at his office on
Police chief Dilbag Singh on He said that it shows Sunday, state-run Saudi Press
Sunday said Pakistan made an- Pakistan's desperation due to agency reported.
other attempt to push LeT and huge participation of people in “Duringthemeeting,theydis-
JeM terrorists into Kashmir to the ongoing elections. PTI cussedissuesofcommoninterest
in addition to means of enhanc-
ing bilateral cooperation,” it said.
Earlier,GeneralNaravanevis-
itedtheUAEwherehediscussed
bilateraldefencecooperationand
issuesof mutualinterestwiththe
UAE’s Commander of the Land
Forces, Major General Saleh
cility,” he said. However, the Mohammed Saleh Al Ameri.
The deceased jawan 44-year-old jawan succumbed
was identified as to injuries.
A solemn ceremony was CHANGE OF NAME OF SCHOOL
Rifleman Abdul Majed organised at Army's The name of Delhi International School
Dar, a resident of Badamibagh cantonment here situated at Pocket B-5 Sector-03, Rohini,
on Sunday to pay tribute Delhi-110085 has been changed to
Anantnag district to Dar. MRG SCHOOL with the prior approval of
Lt Gen B S Raju, Chinar DOE, Govt. Of NCT, Delhi vide Letter
Rajesh Kalia said. Corps Commander, led all No. - F.1(1)DNWB/PB/2020/633
“Due to undulating terrain, ranks in paying homage to the dated 11/12/2020. The school shall
rifleman Dar slipped and fell gallant soldier on behalf of the henceforth be called/known as
from a height. He was rescued nation. Rifleman Dar had MRG SCHOOL, Pocket B-5, Sector-03,
by his team, provided imme- joined the Army in 2004. He is Rohini, Delhi-110085 for all purposes.
diate first aid and evacuated to survived by his wife and two Contact No.:-
the nearest Army medical fa- sons. Manager of the School
011-45120264/45133625
MRG SCHOOL
Government of IndIa
nUcLear recYcLe Board
No. of Posts
Educational /Technical Qualification
02 03 01 06 13
Diploma* in Mechanical Engineering
01 02 00 03 06
Diploma* in Electrical Engineering
01
02
00
02
03
01
00
01
00
04
05
02
07
Diploma* in Chemical Engineering
13
Diploma* in Civil Engineering
03
Diploma* in Electronics / Electronics & Communication Engineering
00 01 04
Diploma* in Electronics & Instrumentation / Instrumentation Engineering/
Instrumentation Technology/Instrumentation & Control Engineering
Minimum 60% marks in B.Sc.
00 02 04
(Chemistry as principal and Physics and Mathematics as subsidiary subjects)
No. of Posts
Educational /Technical Qualification
SC ST OBC EWS UR Total
HSc in Science stream (with Physics, Chemistry and Maths
00 03 02 03 07 15
subjects) with a minimum 60% marks in aggregate.
00 00 01 00 00 01 For Posts 2.2 to 2.11
SSC (with Science and Maths) with a minimum 60% marks in
00 04 12 04 25 45
aggregate PLUS trade certificate in A/C Mechanic/ Fitter/ Welder
00 00 02 00 03 05 / Electrician/ Electronic Mechanic / Machinist /
00 01 02 00 03 06 Instrument Mechanic/ Welder (GMAW & GTAW) /
00 00 04 00 07 11 Mechanical Diesel/Machinist Grinder
00 00 01 00 02 03 The candidates should meet requirements as regards Trade
00 00 05 00 08 13 Certificate as given in the detailed advertisement published on
00 00 00 00 01 01 www.barc.gov.in or www.recruit.barc.gov.in website :
00 00 00 00 03 03
00 00 00 00 02 02
HSC in Science stream (with Physics, Chemistry and Maths
subjects) with a minimum 60% marks in aggregate
OR
01 00 00 00 00 01
SSC (with Science and Maths) with a minimum 60 % marks in
aggregate PLUS trade certificate in Laboratory Assistant.
The candidates should meet requirements as regards Trade
Certificate as given in the detailed advertisement published on
www.barc.gov.in or www.recruit.barc.gov.in website :
07 61 106
No. of Posts
Educational /Technical Qualification
SC ST OBC EWS PWD UR Total
00 00 00 00 00 03 03 SSC + I Class Boiler Attendant’s Certificate issued by the Competent
Authority.
00 00 01** 00 01 SSC (with Science and Maths) with a minimum 60 % marks in
[HH aggregate PLUS trade certificate in Painter.
(PD)]
The candidates should meet requirements as regards Trade
Certificate as given in the detailed advertisement published on
www.barc.gov.in or www.recruit.barc.gov.in website
00 00 00 01 03 04
New Delhi

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
FOUNDED BY
Dissent and the City
§
§
RAMNATH GOENKA
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
COUNTING WORKERS IN Fahad Zuberi
A database of migrant and unorganised sector workers should
IN HIS BOOK India After Gandhi, historian
serve as the basis of a new social security architecture
M
RamachandraGuhaillustratesthelandscape
of Rajpath in the New Delhi of the 1970s. He
IGRANTLABOURERS,ABANDONEDbyemployersandthestate,un- describesthelawnsof Rajpathasa“villageof
dertaking an arduous journey home, in many cases walking hun- tents” — tents belonging to people who
dreds of kilometres on the highways, became the defining image of wouldcometoNewDelhifromvariousparts
the national lockdown during the pandemic. The exodus from the of the country to protest about their issues.
cities exposed the gaping holes in the safety net. The Inter-State The lawns were hardly ever empty. As Guha
notes, the lawns were vacated in the early
Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, required all establishments who hired inter-state migrants
Ninetiesbecausethegovernmentconsidered
to be registered, as well as all contractors who recruited these workers to be licensed. a display of protest at the central location in
Proper implementation of this law would have ensured that information on inter-state the country as defamatory in front of the
migrants would have been readily available to aid the state machinery in its relief efforts. world. Following this displacement, Jantar
However, no such detailed records were maintained, and information on the number of Mantar became the gathering spot for pro-
migrants, and their whereabouts, was unavailable to both central and state governments. testorsandRajpathwassanitisedof thecom-
Toaddressthisglaringfailure,inawelcomemove,thegovernmenthasnowdecidedtocre- plaints of India’s citizens.
It is important to note the significance
ate a database of migrant workers.
of this extinct landscape of Delhi. Rajpath,
Asreportedinthispaper,thelabourministrywillbuildanewdatabaseofmigrantwork- the central space for the nation, was also a
ers,aswellasthoseintheinformaleconomy,whichithopeswillbeupandrunningbyMay- space for dissent. The tents at the lawns of
June next year. The plan entails tapping into existing databases of government schemes Rajpath were representative of the people’s
such as MGNREGA, and the one nation-one ration card to create a unique registration of equal claim over India’s capital and the gov-
migrantworkers.Detailsof thoseworkingthegigeconomy,andotherunorganisedworke- ernment’s acceptance of its critical citizens.
Citizens occupied the most visible place in
rs not covered by such schemes, are likely to be added separately. While the issue of dupli-
the country — not for short sit-ins, but elab-
cation is bound to arise, the use of the Aadhaar platform could help address the problem. orate demonstrations at the venue of our
However, several questions will need to be addressed. So far, the conversations have national parades.
centredlargelyaroundinter-statemigrants,sidesteppingtheissueof intra-statemigrants. Displacedfromthelawns,wesawseveral
But as the lockdowns affected the mobility of both, the scope of the database will need protests at the Ramlila Maidan and Jantar
to be expanded to include both sets of migrants. Migration itself is a very fluid concept. Mantar.AnnaHazare’santi-corruptionmove-
The extent of migration in the country depends on the definition employed. For instance,
ment found its place at the Maidan. They
pitched shamianas and created a high plat-
the definitions used by the NSS and the Census are different. Considering that the crisis form for performances. Baba Ramdev occu-
has affected both long-term and circular migrants, a comprehensive definition will need piedthegroundin2011withelaboratetents.
to be worked out. Merging the existing databases at the state level may be problematic Jantar Mantar was the seat for the One Rank
as the softwares and structures of data storage may be different. There is also the issue of One Pension movement by the retired army
veterans and for activists raising the issue of
registration and updation. Will the registration of migrants be voluntary? And will the
database track migration flows? Governments will also have to examine the issue of Delhi’s air pollution in 2016. In October 2017,
ironically, the National Green Tribunal or-
portability of benefits across states. Merely creating a database of workers will not be
dered all protests to be stopped at Jantar
enough. This Aadhaar-linked database should be the first step towards creating a social Mantarasthecharadewas“toonoisy”forthe
security architecture for workers in the unorganised sector. peaceful green region.
The displacement has been pushed fur-
ther away. As the protesting farmers started
LAÏCITÉ VS EGALITÉ
marching towards the capital in November,
thegovernmentstoppedthemattheborders
of Delhi. Water cannons were used, farmers
were beaten by the police, shelled with tear
France's proposed law to deal with 'enemy within' could be gas, and trenches were dug on the roads to
counterproductive, undermine country's founding principles preventprotestingcitizensfromenteringthe
S
INCE 2015, 260 people have been killed in terrorist attacks perpetrated by
Islamist extremists in France; this October alone, the beheading of teacher
Samuel Paty and an attack in Nice shook the country. But the legislation un-
veiledbytheFrenchgovernmentlastweek—tocombatwhatPrimeMinister
Jean Castexhas called“theenemywithin”and PresidentEmmanuel Macron
terms as “Islamist separatism” — could be counterproductive. First, by targeting them
specifically, it may well reinforce the alienation and sense of persecution that many
Muslims in France feel, which in turn can only exacerbate the problem of radicalisation.
Second, it is a legal blunt instrument to deal with the deeper challenge of the conflict be-
tween laïcité (the French notion of secularism), égalité (equality) and liberté (freedom),
in post-colonial and multi-cultural France. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd
Dealing with radicalisation in the era of mass media and the internet is a complex
challenge. A law to “reinforce republican principles”, though, risks being seen as identi- THE ALL INDIA Majlis-E-Ittehadul
fyingMuslims, not extremism,as the problem.It proposes to curbhome schooling,oblige Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin
Owaisi is poised to become a national leader
religious and community associations to sign declarations of allegiance to the “values of
of the Muslim community. Apart from
the republic” and impose strict controls on their funding, allowing the police greater im- Hyderabad, his electoral base has now
punity when dealing with a particular community and curbing “hate speech” of the kind spread to Maharashtra and Bihar, where the
that preceded Paty's murder. In trying to protect the right to free speech, and the right to AIMIM has won both assembly and munic-
life, of the majority, the French government risks diluting basic, founding principles of ipal seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,
the republic — equality before law, and the notion that the individual citizen is the rights- AIMIM won a seat in Maharashtra, apart
bearer, not the community to which she/he belongs. from Hyderabad. The rise of AIMIM is in the
backdrop of the RSS and the BJP’s politics,
Laïcité, as it has evolved in law and practice since the early 20th century, is the com-
which has been steadily isolating the
plete expulsion of religion and religious symbols from public life. The hijab and the Sikh Muslim community in India. According to
turban are just two symbols that have conflicted with the idea in practice. Now, this no- the 2011 census, Muslims constitute 14.2 per
tion of secularism is being enshrined in an extreme legal form. A cynical reason being cent of the Indian population. In certain ur-
given for this is that a politically-besieged Macron — his popularity has yet to recover ban pockets, AIMIM could win seats on its
from the Yellow Vest protests and the defections from his party — is moving to the right, own, if the Muslims vote as a bloc.
Asaduddin’s father, Salahuddin Owaisi
trying to unite a country grieving over victims of terror behind him. For France and its
(1931-2008), was also an MP, representing
government, there may be a lesson in the experiences of other countries with stringent Hyderabad constituency, but he was not a
laws to target terrorism — these have often been used in a heavy-handed manner against modernMuslimleaderwithanationalimage.
minorities and dissidents. The way forward was articulated by Macron himself in the af- ButAsaduddinOwaisiiseducatedinEngland,
termath of Paty's killing. By failing to address the marginalisation of some French citi- andtrainedasabarrister,withadeepconvic-
tion that democracy is a necessary political
zens, he said, the state suffered “from its own form of separatism”. Addressing that gap
system for Muslim well-being in India. He
is a vital part of dealing with the problem of radicalisation.
brokeawayfromtheUPAin2012,whichgave
aboosttohisnationalambitions.Italsoturned
him into a Muslim face that the BJP/RSS has
Freeze Frame E P Unny constantly attacked and targetted.
AIMIM’s spread has serious implications
for the BJP and Congress. His success in carv-
ing out a Muslim constituency will benefit
the BJP and bleed the Congress. If Muslims
moveawayfromtheCongress,theBJP’swin-
ning possibilities in every state will increase.
To pit people’s protest against infrastructure is to
diminish urban life and democracy
From the barricades of
French revolution to the
Arab Spring at Tahrir
Square, central spaces of the
city have been the sites of
protest. It is not for nothing
that the expression for
revolution is ‘taking to the
streets’ because by allotting a
designated place to protest,
the state dictates visibility —
it calibrates the degree of
being noticed and thereby
has the power to vanish the
cause from the nation’s eyes
and consciousness.
OWAISI PROMISE & ITS LIMITS
What AIMIM leader’s rise means for caste-based and Muslim politics
The old slogan of
SC/ST/OBC minority unity
is also likely to go for a toss.
Though he talks about Dalit-
Muslim unity, Owaisi has no
language to address the
Shudras or OBCs. The RSS-
BJP combine wants to
expand their base in a state
like Telangana by militantly
opposing Owaisi. They made
inroads into Hyderabad city
by mainly mobilising OBCs
against Muslims, as is clear
in the recent municipal
elections — a politics that
they will now take to rural
Telangana.
DECEMBER 14, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO
MIGS FROM SOVIETS
THE SOVIET UNION has reported to have
agreed to supply India MIG-25 reconnais-
sance aircraft. The number of aircrafts to
be purchased by the airforce has been kept
a secret. MIG-25 is considered a very so-
phisticated aircraft with a capacity to fly at
very high altitudes. The Airforce will be re-
ceiving two versions of the aircraft —
trainer and reconnaissance. The MIG-25 is
capable of flying at 2,900 kilometres per
hour. It has achieved a maximum height of
35,000 metres in 4 minutes, 11 seconds.
According to the defence ministry, the de-
livery schedule of the planes is being
worked out and the aircraft is expected
shortly.
WORDLY WISE
Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.
— EDMUND BURKE
capitalof thecountryandhavingtheirvoices
heard.Quitemetaphoricalof theneglectthat
Indianurbanityhasexercisedtowardsitsru-
ral regions. The farmers, consequently, sat at
theborderandnowsleepundertheirtrucks,
insidetractortrolleys,andontheroads.Notin
tentspitchedalongRajpath,orundershami-
anas at the Ramlila Maidan.
The Shaheen Bagh movement, interest-
ingly, was a significant deviation from this
trend. The protestors sat where they lived —
the Muslim ghettos of Okhla. The infrastruc-
ture required to sustain protests was gener-
ated in the same ghettos and visibility was
availed by sitting at the main spinal road of
the neighbourhood. The protestors, disillu-
sioned by the government, did not acknowl-
edge the citadel of Indian politics to protest,
the politicians were asked to come to
Shaheen Bagh. The subaltern of contempo-
rary India, protesting the CAA and NRC,
claimed its own segregated pocket of the
metropolis as the site of dissent and visibil-
ity. The power structures of politics and me-
dia came to Okhla, the subaltern did not go
to Lutyen’s Delhi.
Several arguments are peddled in order
to generate public consent for the displace-
ment of protests away from the city.
Infrastructure—thephysicalaspectof thecity
—istheforemost.TheviolentpreludetoDelhi
riots of 2020, as reflected in Kapil Mishra’s
speechinFebruary,demonisedShaheenBagh
forobstructingtraffic.The“ultimatum”given
to the police was to “get the roads cleared”
lest the pro-CAA crowd take to the streets.
Conveniencetothepublicandtransportwas
privileged over people exercising their con-
stitutional right to protest. Protest was per-
ceived as a disruption of public life, not the
continuation of the (critical) publicness, an
element of chaos, not peaceful association,
an act of destruction, not one of constructive
dialogue. We see a similar pattern with the
ongoingfarmers’protests.Thefarmersitting
at the border is “blocking the highway”. If he
entersthecity,hewilldisrupturbanlife.And
therefore, must be kept out.
A city, however, contains layers that de-
fine urbanity. There is the infrastructure —
Some of the regional parties like the
Samajwadi Party and the RJD also stand to
lose. So Owaisi’s rise as a visibly Muslim
leader is as much BJP’s need as the AIMIM’s.
However, this may have another impli-
cation for Muslim life in India. Since a large
chunk of the Muslim populace is concen-
trated in urban areas, their political organi-
sational mobilities will increase and a reli-
gious-ideological leadership will emerge. By
and large, Muslim masses are also unhappy
with secularism, which traps them in a ma-
jority-minority discourse in which their
Muslim identity is lost.
The old slogan of SC/ST/OBC minority
unity is also likely to go for a toss now.
Though he talks about Dalit-Muslim unity,
Owaisi has no language to address the
Shudras or OBCs. The RSS-BJP combine
wants to expand their base in a state like
Telangana by militantly opposing Owaisi.
They made inroads in the Hyderabad city by
mainly mobilising OBCs against Muslims, as
is clear in the recent municipal elections — a
politics that they will now take to rural
Telangana. Since AIMIM has a history of ask-
ing for an independent Nizam state (what
they called South Pakistan during Kasim
Razvi’s Razakar movement in the 1940s),
Hindutva forces conveniently labelled the
old city as Pakistan and Owaisi its Jinnah.
In many cities with a significant Muslim
population, as in Hyderabad, the
Shudra/OBC population have no intimate
relations with Muslims. The OBCs are meat-
MISSILES AND ROCKETS
INDIA HAS DEVELOPED enough capacity to
develop ballistic missiles if the need be. That
space scientists have begun to gear them-
selves up for this eventuality is indicated by
thefactthatresearchanddevelopmentwork
related to re-entry technology has already
been initiated. It has also established a fair
degree of competence in the design fabrica-
tion and operation of small liquid propellant
rockets. This information was given by the
ISRO head Satish Dhawan at a press confer-
ence in Bangalore.
PRESSURE ON URS
THERE WAS A demand at the meeting of the
CongressWorkingCommitteethattheparty
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
roads, power lines, and buildings in their
physicality. There is the political construct —
laws, citizen politics, addresses, and munici-
pal wards. There is the socio-economic con-
struct — workplaces, places of gathering, re-
ligious institutions and markets. Many such
layers come together to create a city and to
ignore all but the infrastructure is to deny
right to the city, and to diminish and destroy
the constructs that make us city dwellers.
Today, we see urbanity of dissent pitched
against the infrastructural city.
The fundamentalsof urbanity are, in fact,
the opposite. Cities have been harbingers of
civilisation. The urban is the place of libera-
tion.Itfeaturesinstitutionsthataresupposed
to impart ideas of enlightenment. The poli-
tics of the nation is embedded in the city. It
promisesopportunitiespreciselybecauseitis
premised on breaking the networks that op-
pressapersonduetotheiridentityof birth—
it promises social mobility. It promises visi-
bility, and most importantly, cities are places
of free expression.
It is, therefore, indispensable that the
various layers of the city interact. From the
barricades of French revolution to the Arab
Spring at Tahrir Square, central spaces of the
city have been the sites of protest. It is not
for nothing that the expression for revolu-
tion is “taking to the streets” because by al-
lotting a designated place to protest, the
state dictates visibility — it calibrates the de-
gree of being noticed and thereby has the
power to vanish the cause from the nation’s
eyes and consciousness.
BetweenthelawnsofRajpathandthebar-
ricadedbordersof Delhitoday,weseethecity
becomingincreasinglyhostiletodissent.The
statewantstokeeptheprotestorsoutandthe
generalpublicacceptstherhetoricof disrup-
tion with ease. A city must incorporate dis-
agreement, acknowledge the politics of ur-
ban life, and most importantly, a democracy
must lend its ears to criticism. We must fos-
ter and exercise urbanity of dissent.
Zuberi is an academic and writer based in
Ahmedabad. He writes about politics, culture,
architecture and city studies
eaters, but many do not consume beef. The
RSS/BJP networks want to use these differ-
ences and organise Shudra/OBC masses
against Muslims. Owaisi’s entry into caste
language is recent and his more militant
brother treats all OBCs as Hindus.
In fact, no Muslim leader and intellectual
has studied the fault line of caste adequately.
Their focus has always been the Hindu-
Muslim divide. Their understanding of caste
contradictions is limited to Alberuni’s Al-
Hind. But India has had too long a history of
caste oppression from the days of the Vedic
civilisation, which predated the beginning
of Muslim rule in the 11th century.
TheHindutvanationalismforgedbyRSS-
BJP has challenged the idea of secularism,
under which Muslim leaders had a place.
Under Owaisi, the AIMIM, too, speaks a
Muslim nationalist language. Since Owaisi’s
ancestors refused to leave Hyderabad for
Pakistan,theAIMIMleadersusetheirIndian-
Muslimnationalismasa weaponagainstthe
BJP-RSS’s attempt to brand Muslims as for-
eign or Pakistani. That is also why Muslims
across India may gravitate towards him. But
the RSS mode of targeting Muslims as the
permanent enemy, and Owaisi’s attempts to
organise Muslims electorally, may lead to a
national disorientation and gradual disaster.
The author is a political theorist, with an
upcoming new book The Shudras — Vision
for a New Path co-edited with Karthik Raja
Karuppusamy (Penguin)
chief Devraj Urs should step down in favour
of a younger leader. The demand was made
by K Gopal who said that Urs had failed as a
leader. Urs responded that he was willing to
step down any moment. Some other mem-
bers said that they had nothing personal
against Urs but the party secretariat was not
functioning properly.
AWARD FOR WARD
BARBARA WARD, BRITISH economist and
one of the strongest advocates of the Third
World, is the Jawaharlal Nehru award laure-
ate for 1980. Ward, who is ailingwithcancer,
said thatshe wasdelightedat theannounce-
ment. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1
lakh and a citation.

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
THE IDEAS PAGE
Dance like Astad
Astad Deboo could break free of the stage, and do a tandav on the Great Wall of China. He could shock
tradition, and yet remain open to collaborations. He was a citizen of the world, and he brought it home
Ramu Ramanathan
WE WERE TO meet in Navsari in 2019. I was
pottering about in Dandi-Bardoli. Astad
Deboo had to attend a wedding: “My sec-
ond cousin’s daughter who is also getting
married to my second cousin. One from my
father’s side and the other one from my
mother’s side.” Astad hadn’t been to Navsari,
his birthplace, in ages. It is my “home”, the
modern Marco Polo used to say with a
chuckle. His father worked with the Tatas.
And so, he was initiated into dance educa-
tion at the age of six in the steel town of
Jamshedpur. The teacher taught Kathak, so
that’s what Astad learnt.
In the Sixties, he shifted to Mumbai. He
attendedaMurrayLouisperformance,which
was touring India. Louis’s technique and at-
tentiontophysicalityimpressedhim.Itques-
tionedthebasicsof dance.Aftertheperform-
ance, Astad returned home and stood before
his favourite mirror, and stretched his body
like the American dancers.
After graduating from the University of
Bombay, Astad travelled across Europe to
nurture “the seed of dance that had been
planted”. He dabbled in his share of mis-
chief. He ate a posh meal in a restaurant and
ran away without paying his cheque, per-
formed a 30-minute show on Tehran TV for
a bit of finance. At the drop of the hat, he
would dance in people’s homes, pubs and
streets. He continued to do that even later.
I’ve seen him dance at the St Xavier’s col-
lege courtyard, CST railway station and in
the NGMA in Mumbai.
These were not gimmicks. He said, “I’m
weary of prosceniums. Of the traditional
stagewhichreducesallformationstofrontal
viewing.” And so, he performed at
Champaner (on 40-feet-high fort walls) and
Chandigarh (in a pool of water). And, of
course, the “Astad tandava mudra” on top of
the Great Wall of China. In today’s times, it
would be an Insta moment. He said it was a
simpleshow.“Afriendandmehadaportable
music system, a few props and my costume.
Wewouldwalk.Identifyaperformance-site.
Readyourselvesandperform.Thiswentfora
fewhours.Theaudienceswerereceptiveand
the feedback was super.”
In all this, the question that popped up
in my head was: Will the real Astad Deboo
please stand up? Theatre director Sunil
Shanbag, who has collaborated with Astad,
said, “In Indian mythology we have
Trishanku, a character who is forever sus-
pended between two worlds, not fully ac-
cepted in either. India, on one hand, and the
West, on the other. It was a cause of some
anxiety.”
IusedtomeetAstadathishometowatch
dance videos from across the world. It was
my PhD dissertation in dance. Delicious in-
sightsabouthowthemastersrehearsedfora
show. Be it Pina Bausch or William Forsythe.
Equally precious, the stories about cutting-
edge work in East Europe and Brazil and
Indonesia.Heusedtosay,“Dancechoreogra-
phy is like composing music. Any artist that
exactlyknowswhatisgoingtohappenonthe
stage is not creating much.”
Once I asked him about his approach. He
Dhiraj Nayyar
INDIAHASGRANDambition.Butdoesithave
the appetite for risk necessary to convert am-
bitionintoachievement?Usually,itisthegov-
ernment in general, and the bureaucracy in
particular, that are criticised for risk aversion.
However,wemustalsoaskourselveswhether
weare,infact,statusquoists,whowouldrather
takesmall,incrementalstepstoreachourdes-
tination than sprint off the beaten track? Are
we able to visualise the future 10 years on or
are we in a state of chronic myopia? Will we
ever give our democratic governance system
the licence to operate at the highest common
denominatorratherthanthelowestcommon
multiple, our bane for so long?
Popular reaction to two recent govern-
mentpolicyproposalsisrevealing.Thefirstre-
lates to the three farm bills legislated by the
government recently, which are in the early
stages of implementation. The second, still in
the realm of ideas, is a proposal by RBI to let
corporates/industry own banks.
Thenewfarmlawshavebroughtthefarm-
ers of Punjab (and perhaps a scattering from
some other parts of north India) to the streets
of Delhi and a large section of the commen-
tariat—allimportantandrepresentativestake-
holders—totheirdefence.Whateverthefinal
outcome,thevolumeof protesttellsussome-
thing:Thatsomeofusareafraidofchangeand
unable to see what may be good for all of us a
decade from now.
replied, “In my work of dance, I try to take
partsof ourexistingvocabularyof Indianclas-
sical dance and combine it with other forms.
But such a thing is viewed with scepticism.”
But when Astad began his dance perform-
ances, he chose story-like narratives. He cre-
ated an audience for his work in India. Much
later, he introduced the “abstract” element
andexperimentedwithmusic,withpuppets,
with various themes. He would point to an
aha moment in a video and say, “Our biggest
tragedyiswehavenotrealisedthefullpoten-
tial of the human body.”
In2001,Irequestedhimtochoreographa
play I directed: Angst Angst Coonth Coonth
Boom Bam Dhandal Dhamal Kaput. The play
was triggered by a line from a Jose Saramago
novel. There is a traffic jam which mutates
into a permanent jam — and the bottleneck
transforms itself into a municipality of four-
wheelers.WeusedtorehearseattheMumbai
University Kalina campus. One morning,
Astadarrived.Isaid,“Wewilldoarunthrough
soyouknowwhatwearetryingtodo.”Okay,
he said. We began. Halfway through the re-
hearsal, Astad had dozed off. The actors
started chuckling. To be fair to Astad, he had
culminated a 17-city tour and landed in
Mumbai at 3 am.
Momentary pause. Astad started work-
ing with the actors. Basic improvs and rudi-
mentary hip hop and cha-cha-cha. The team
realisedtwothings,danceisexhausting,very
exhausting. And just like the brain has intel-
ligence,thephysicalbodyhasanintelligence
which we are cavalier about.
After the rehearsal, we walked to the
station. And that’s the other thing I remem-
ber: Astad was the ultimate flaneur. He
loved to say, “Walking is something money
can’t buy”. As we were waiting for the train
on the platform, he gave me one of those
life lessons. “You see all this chaos. All the
hustle-bustle. The trains coming and going.”
I nodded. “Remember one thing, structure
is freedom.”
He collaborated and joined hands, with
theatre directors, musicians and painters.
There was a certain degree of openness.
Once, I got a call from a strange foreign num-
We, the naysayers
Onfarmandbankingreform,itispeople,notgovernment,whoarerisk-averse
Whatdothelawsproposetodo?First,they
end the monopoly of APMC mandis where
farmershadtocompulsorilyselltheirproduce.
Second, they end limits on stock-keeping (of-
tenmistakenforhoarding)andallowcontract
farmingbytheprivatesector.Whatisthefear?
That farmers will no longer get a remunera-
tive price for their produce as a result of these
changes.WhatistherealityofIndianfarming?
Farmers don’t get a remunerative price for
theirproducts,withtheexceptionof aminor-
ity whose produce, mostly wheat and rice, is
covered by the Minimum Support Price pol-
icy. Most farmers toil on tiny, suboptimal
acreageandhavenobargainingpowervis-vis
theAPMCmiddlemen.Choiceinbuyersgives
themsomeleewaytobargainforabetterprice.
Indeed, even those who get MSP are suf-
fering — from a fast depletion of the water
table (because water-intensive rice is being
cultivated in water-scarce regions), exces-
sive use of pesticides/fertilisers (analyse the
high prevalence of cancer in rural parts of
Punjab) and a higher cost of other foods like
vegetables and fruits (which are in short sup-
ply since everyone who can is planting MSP
crops). Indeed, every year, a lot of wheat and
rice rots in the Food Corporation of India’s
limited warehouses. Surely, this is not a sce-
nario which is worth preserving, even for the
farmers of Punjab.
Inanycase,thefuturewillbeverydifferent.
After graduating from the
University of Bombay, Astad
travelled across Europe to
nurture ‘the seed of dance
that had been planted’. At
the drop of the hat, he would
dance in people’s homes,
pubs and streets. He
continued to do that even
later. I’ve seen him dance at
the St Xavier’s college
courtyard, CST railway
station and in the NGMA in
Mumbai. These were not
gimmicks. He said, ‘I’m
weary of prosceniums. Of
the traditional stage which
reduces all formations to
frontal viewing.’ And so, he
performed at Champaner
(on 40-feet-high fort walls)
and Chandigarh (in a pool of
water). And, of course, the
‘Astad tandava mudra’ on
top of the Great Wall of
China.
Even at moderate growth rates, India is going
tobecomeincreasinglyprosperousor,atleast,
less poor and the growth in demand for non-
cerealfoods,likevegetables,fruitsandproteins
will outstrip demand for cereals. The govern-
mentwillhavetobalancetheinterestsoffarm-
ers and consumers: A remunerative price for
farmers cannot be at the expense of rampant
foodinflationfortheconsumer.Withthepres-
entsystem,thesecontradictionsanddemand-
supply imbalances, already evident, will only
growuntiltheybecomeunsustainable.Policy
mustthinkatleasttwodecadesaheadoftime.
Thefarmreformsarealready10yearslate.No
change is without risk but there are only two
choices:Journeyonwithanunfitsystem(sta-
tus quo) or be ambitious (reform). For once, a
governmenthaschosenthelatter,butavocif-
erous section wants the former.
On the second policy issue of large indus-
trial houses/corporates getting banking li-
cences,aninternalcommitteeofRBIhasfloated
what seems like a trial balloon. What is being
proposed?Topermitprivatesectorbusinesses
in the real economy to apply for banking li-
cencesandrunbankssubjecttoamorerobust
regulatory regime and some limits on the
quantumofownership.Themajorityreaction,
of economists and former central bankers —
no doubt key stakeholders — has been indig-
nant.Theyarguethatifanindustryhouseowns
banks, it will channel lending from that bank
C R Sasikumar
ber. It was Astad. What do you know about
Hamlet’s father? Absolutely nothing, I
replied. Call disconnected. Later I learnt,
Astad was working with the Korean theatre
director Hyoung-Taek Limb. He had to play
Hamlet’s father, the ghost, as well as the
head of the clowns. Other than Shakespeare,
Astad worked with texts by Bulleh Shah,
Tagore and Manto.
Here, I must mention his collaboration
(and friendship) with the Gundecha broth-
ers. Until then, Hindustani classical was not
an integral part of Astad’s conceptualisation.
As he said, “I had neither context nor refer-
ence point. Furthermore, I was not keen to
use it, merely because the sitar or the tabla
was the in-thing. I found the alaaps too long;
andthetraditionalistsweremortifiedwhen-
ever I chopped bits.”
Astad heard a recital by the Gundecha
brothers in Bhopal. The Dhrupad gayaki was
stirring. He introduced himself, and
broached the possibility of working to-
gether. Soon enough, he was invited to per-
form at the Khajuraho Dance Festival. On
Satyadev Dubey’s advice, he performed
Muktibodh’s Lakdi Ka Ravana. Stanzas from
the poem were read out. The Gundecha
brothers sang. And Astad danced.
I recall this show vividly. The backstage
teamhadbeenconvertedintoBlackCatswith
AK-47s.Astadmadeadramaticentry,getting
off alal-batti-toppedofficialcar,andstrutted
inwiththecustomaryfanfareoneassociates
with a minister. On stage, he oozed self-im-
portanceandvanity,butthenstarteddisrob-
ing an assortment of garments, which sym-
bolisedthetiersinoursociety.Andintheend:
Stillness. That’s all I remember. The exhaus-
tion, the pain, the helplessness. Maybe this
world is another planet’s hell.
He had no place he could call his home/He
wasacitizenoftheworld/Hehadnoaddress/He
wasavisitoronthisplanet/Hewasmerelypass-
ingthrough/Inthehopethathewouldbefriend
someone, anyone/On this trip/And
dance!/Causethat’stheonlythingheknewtodo
The writer is a playwright, who lives in
Kharvel village in south Gujarat
to its own business at the expense of better,
more efficient fund allocation. What is the re-
alityofIndianbanking?ItisrackedbyNPAsbe-
cause banks which are not owned, controlled
ormanagedbyindustryhousesgaveoutlarge
loans to corporates/industry which, in several
cases, used them inefficiently or with malfea-
sance. The current banking system is hardly
worth preserving as is.
The future, whether we envisage a $5 tril-
lion economy or $10 trillion economy, cannot
bebuiltonthecontoursofthecurrentbanking
system. Even when fully repaired, and rid of
current NPAs, it is simply too small to finance
an economy of that size. The banking system
needs to be five to 10 times larger. Industry
housesarethemostobvioussourceofdomes-
tic capital to build such banks. And, perhaps,
whentheyownbanksdirectly,itwillbemuch
easier for regulators to track any lending to
connected entities than it is for them to track
theunofficialconnectedness,whichhasledto
the NPA problem. The point is that too many
people have rushed to say no without giving
the idea a chance.
As a collective, we may yet prefer the cau-
tious, slow trudge to prosperity, but then let
us begin to share the blame with the govern-
mentmachineryforanexplicitpreferencefor
being risk-averse.
The author is chief economist, Vedanta Ltd
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“Astonishingly, even the increasing number of hospitalisations, distressing
social media debate and the overall gloom engendered by COVID-19 have failed
to register as a national crisis for our leaders.”
Who’s afraid
of women?
Political campaigns against inter-community
relationships are a way to redirect anxieties over
large-scale structural disruptions
Rama Srinivasan
PATRIARCHYREPRESENTSAnaturalorderfor
a society defined by it. A social system that
placesmen,womenandothergendersinhi-
erarchies learns to perceive the plurality of
gendersasunnaturalandviewswomenwith
suspicion. Since people have only been so-
cialised to see this hierarchy as natural, they
remain attuned to the possibility of it crum-
blinganymomentandfearanypotentialsign
ofanarchy.Lackofcontroloverwomen’ssex-
ualityisanexampleofsuchanarchythatcon-
cerns not only the women’s so-called
guardiansbutthesocietyatlarge.Recentpo-
litical campaigns geared towards restricting
intimate relationships across communities,
evenasafictionalplotforjewelleryadvertise-
ments,revealhowdeepthefearof women’s
choices runs. The dominant sections, in par-
ticular, believe that societies — as they know
it—willcollapseif womendon’tstayintheir
pre-designated place and if the plurality of
gender and sexual expressions somehow
findsrepresentationinpopularculture.
Patriarchalsocietiesseemtoperpetually
find themselves in a precarious position,
where the line between order and disorder
is dangerously blurred. Dominant sections
believetheyarealmostalwaysunderthreat
thesedays,especiallyaftertheyhavestressed
their supremacy on a given issue. The re-
moval of Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy,
the amendment to the citizenship law and
the inauguration of the Ram temple have
beenfollowedbybitterlamentsonhowvul-
nerable they actually are.
Thisisprimarilyaconsequenceof struc-
turalchangestheBJPgovernmenthasintro-
duced in the recent past. Demonetisation,
GST and the farm laws all bring with them
moreuncertaintiesandreinforceourinabil-
itytomakesenseof theworldandourplace
in it. The status quo, including the so-called
natural order, has been disrupted by a gov-
ernment which has not shared its vision for
the future, if one exists at all.
Sociologist Shiv Visvanathan predicted,
backin2014,thatthislackofvisionorcoher-
ent policy will eventually become a matter
of huge concern. In a newspaper article in
2014 he asserted: “The electoral Hinduism
of the BJP might placate a majority but does
not solve the question of democratic polity.
Ithidesthedullnessofthoughtinamachismo
offronts.”HeexpressedthebeliefthatPrime
Minister Narendra Modi would not be able
to cling to “yesterday’s news” as he and his
supporters step into the future. And yet, this
ispreciselywhathashappened—amajoritar-
ianpolityconstantlyfindsrefugein“outdated
history”, as Visvanathan put it, and hides its
presumable lack of vision with an over-the-
top machismo.
For Modi’s supporters in the majority
community, the disorder introduced by the
government must have been more difficult
to process than it is for marginalised com-
munities.Thechaosof thelastfewyears,the
constantchurn,ifnotoutrightprecarity,and
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
OPPOSITION NEEDED
THISREFERSTOthearticle,'Democracy's
distantspring'(IE,December11).Itdraws
attention to the fact that both the CAA
and farmers' protests have taken place
without the participation of opposition
parties. While this may be because the
rudderlessoppositionlackstheappetite
for political theatre, the protesters have
alsostrivedtokeepthematarm'slength.
This suits the current ruling class who
don't like to be seen as yielding even an
inchtotheiropponents.Democracycan
thrive only if the rulers are willing to lis-
tentotheopposingviewsinParliament.
K Sahasranaman, Mumbai
TWO-WAY PROCESS
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,'Don’tclose
thedoor'(IE,December11).Afteritspro-
longedintransigence,thecentralgovern-
ment has relaxed its stand on the farm
laws, meeting all the material demands
of thefarmers.Negotiationisatwoway-
process conducted in a spirit of give and
take.Ifthefarmerssticktotheoriginalde-
mand for the repeal of the laws and
threatentoblocktrains,itwillamountto
blackmail and a loss of public sympathy
for theircase.
Y G Chouksey, Pune
SET EXAMPLE
THIS REFERS TO the report, 'There is
spacefordifferencesbutthereshouldn’t
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— DAWN
the decline in standards of living, especially
post-lockdown,hasfoundexpressioninold
fearsandexistentialthreats.If thedominant
order in Indian society, represented by the
male upper-caste Hindu, today finds itself
threatened,womenandmarginalisedcom-
munities must somehow be the culprits.
TheverysuccessoftheModigovernment
liesinoverturningtheseeminglyobviousas-
sumption many held that he would not be
abletokeeppeoplehookedtothe past even
as his policies wreak havoc in the present.
His governance machinery, that today in-
cludes the erstwhile autonomous institu-
tions,aswellasthemedia,havesuccessfully
redirectedangertooldcivilisationalfears,es-
peciallythosesurroundingthepotentialan-
archyfuelledbywomenandtheirsexuality.
In the early 1950s, when the Special
MarriageBillwasbeingdebatedintheIndian
Parliament, similar civilisational fears had
surfacedamongstourearlylawmakers.The
fearswerepredominatelyrepresentedinthe
discussions on age of consent and divorce
withcommentsrangingfromthemildlyap-
prehensive — Kishen Chand’s claim that
women between 18 and 22 are emotional
and “high-strung” (Rajya Sabha Debates
1954, September 22, pg 3046) and Tajamul
Husain’s contention that older parents
would be better capable of reproducing
strong and brave Indians “who can defend
the country in times of need” (Council of
States Debates, 1954, May 5, pg 5209) — to
those of outright contempt — S Mahanty’s
allegation that the women in Parliament
“haveloweredmarriagetothemorassofsex”
under the pretext of equality of rights and
status(Councilof StatesDebates1954,April
29, pg 4,616).
Eventhosewhopassionatelyadvocated
for women’s equality were not able to shed
their unease about sexual freedoms. The
then law minister, CC Biswas, argued:
“Supposetwoyoungpersonshavemadeup
theirmindstomarryandyouplaceallthese
obstaclesintheirway.Certainveryundesir-
able consequences may follow (Council of
States Debates, 1954, April 29, pg 4565).”
Women’s sexuality, according to the early
parliamentarians, carried both the respon-
sibility to reproduce the race and the power
tobringcivilisationsdowniftheirreproduc-
tive abilities are left ungoverned. As
American family therapist, Terence Hill,
wrote: “Psychological patriarchy is a dance
of contempt, a perverse form of connection
that replaces true intimacy with complex,
covertlayersof dominanceandsubmission,
collusion and manipulation.”
Those pushing forward ordinances that
aimtooverturntherightsguaranteedbythe
Special Marriage Act carry the patriarchal
baggage borne by the lawmakers. But their
moves also reflect a lack of courage to work
against one’s own patriarchal impulses for
the sake of a better future — a courage
shown by the lawmakers in the 1950s.
Instead, society looks back to its past or at
whowomenchoosetomarryorkissforthe
sourceof itsproblemswhen,inreality,these
are engendered by large-scale structural
transformations introduced by the current
government.
Srinivasan is a Marie Curie postdoctoral
Fellow at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and
author of Courting Desire: Litigating for
Love in North India
IDEAS
ONLINE
ONLY IN THE EXPRESS
● CLIPPING WINGS OF NGOS:
PRIYANKA PATHAK AND
ASHISH BHARADWAJ
● BILATERALISM VERSUS
MULTILATERALISM:
S SHAJI
www.indianexpress.com
be a disconnect: PM' (IE, December 11).
Narendra Modi’s words uttered on the
eve of the foundation-stone ceremony
for a new Parliament building are very
palatable but they start tasting bitter
whentheyarenotfollowedinletterand
spirit by his own government. This is
what is happening at Delhi’s borders
where farmers have been protesting
peacefully for many days. Instead of
finding a solution to their misgivings
about them, his government is resort-
ingtoawarof attrition,increasingtheir
disconnect with it by the day. As an ex-
ample is better than a precept, the gov-
ernment must follow what its own PM
propounds.
Tarsem Singh, Mahilpur
 10 EXPRESS NETWORK
Case under anti-conversion
law: Labourer arrested in
Bijnor for ‘kidnapping’ girl
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 13
IN ANOTHER case registered
under Uttar Pradesh’s new
anti-conversion law, the Bijnor
police have arrested a 22-year-
old labourer for allegedly kid-
napping a girl from near her
residence in the Kotwali area
on December 7. According to
the police, they have rescued
the girl and conducted a med-
ical examination.
This is the seventh case
lodged under the anti-conver-
sion law since it came into ef-
fect on November 29. Apart
from the Uttar Pradesh
Prohibition of Unlawful
Conversion of Religion
Ordinance, 2020, Afzal has
been charged with kidnapping.
“We have arrested Afzal, a
daily-wage labourer, and pro-
duced in a local court in Bijnor,
which sent him to judicial cus-
tody. The girl is staying with her
aunt after a medical examina-
tion. The girl’s statement to the
RFP. No. GCSC/MF/2020-21/144
Gujarat Council of Science City
Science City Road, Ahmedabad - 380060
Phone: 91-79 29703122 Mail: mail-gcsc@gujarat.gov.in
Web: www.scity.gujarat.gov.in
GCSC invites Request for Proposal (RFP) for Renovation and Up-
gradation of Existing Musical Fountain at Science City, Ahmedabad.
Details of the above mentioned RFP can be downloaded from
www.dst.gujarat.gov.in/,
www.gujcost.gujarat.gov.in/. and www.nprocure.com. Interested
Parties may read and download RFP documents. Last date for the
submission of the RFP is 02/01/2021 up to 3.00 pm.
Executive Director
RFP. No. GCSC/IMAX/2020-21/145
Gujarat Council of Science City
Science City Road, Ahmedabad - 380060
Phone: 91-79 29703122 Mail: mail-gcsc@gujarat.gov.in
Web: www.scity.gujarat.gov.in
GCSC invites Request for Proposal (RFP) for Renovation and
Up-gradation of IMAX Theatre at Science City, Ahmedabad.
Details of the above mentioned RFP can be downloaded from
www.dst.gujarat.gov.in/,
www.gujcost.gujarat.gov.in/. and www.nprocure.com. Interested
Parties may read and download RFP documents. Last date for the
submission of the RFP is 02/01/2021 up to 3.00 pm.
Executive Director
The SHO said that on
December 8 the girl’s
father lodged a
complaint of abducting
his daughter. Two days
later, the police found
the girl in Bijnor
magistrate is yet to be exam-
ined,” said the City Kotwali sta-
tion house officer (SHO).
The girl’s father, who is also
a labourer, is from Bijnor.
He shifted to Chandigarh
along with his family some
time ago. The family recently
returned to Bijnor to attend a
relative’s wedding, according to
the police.
The SHO said that on
December 8 the girl’s father
lodged the complaint against
Afzal, accusing him of abduct-
ing his daughter.
Two days later, the police
found the girl in Bijnor. Afzal
was arrested Friday.
www.scity.gujarat.gov.in,
14/12/2020
No.INF/ABD/1063/2020
www.scity.gujarat.gov.in,
14/12/2020
No.INF/ABD/1064/2020
DAYS AFTER UP ANTI-CONVERSION LAW ARREST
22-yr-old pregnant woman
in protection home fine, no
miscarriage, says official
MANISH SAHU
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 13
MORADABAD DISTRICT admin-
istration on Sunday denied me-
dia reports that claimed that a
22-year-old woman, who has
been kept in a protection home
after a Muslim youth accompa-
nying her to register their mar-
riage was arrested in Kanth un-
derthenewanti-conversionlaw,
had suffered miscarriage. They
termed the reports “fake news”.
The woman was admitted to
the women’s district hospital on
Friday after she complained of
stomach ache and was dis-
charged on Sunday morning. In
the afternoon, after she com-
plained of stomach ache again,
she was re-admitted to the hos-
pital, said officials.
Pinki, who is three-month
pregnant, told police earlier that
Classifieds Maharajganj: Teen detained
PERSONAL for murder of six-year-old
I, Sheenu Sharma D/o Mr.
Shailender Sharma, R/o House
No-190, Tajpur Pahari, near
Hanuman Mandir,Badarpur,
New Delhi-110044; state that
Sheenu Sharma and Shinu
Sharma are the name of same
person and I will be known as
Sheenu Sharma for all future
purposes vide affidavit dated
12-December-2020
0040557621-1
I, Rohit S/O, Santosh Jha R/o
Rz26p/129,12b,indra Park,
Palam Colony, New Delhi
110045 have changed my name
to Rohit Santosh Jha for all
purposes. 0040557619-10
I, P M Devi Bhaskaran,W/o P M
Bhaskaran,R/o K-7 Top
Floor,Jungpura Extension,New
Delhi-110014,& Devi Bhaskaran
are same person.
0040557631-3
I, Kripan Moulik, S/o Shri
Debabish Moulick, R/o RZG-
94/B, Mahavir Enclave, New
Delhi-110045 have changed my
name to Sahil Moulick for all
purposes.
0040557618-1
I P. Jimy .s. Joy S/O, P. S. Joy R/o
A2/75, First Floor, Janakpuri,
New Delhi-110058 have
changed my name to Jimy Joy
for all purposes.
0040557610-1
PROPERTY
COMMERCIAL PLOT for sale,
suitable for showroom, good
location, urgent basis, Lal
quater Krishna Nagar, main
market, contact: 9871959666
0040557608-2
PUBLIC NOTICE
PUBLIC NOTICE
Subject: Transfer of ownership in
respect of H No. 237-P 2nd floor,
sector-31, Faridabad, Haryana in
respect of 100% share on the basis
of Sale Deed.
Whereas Smt. Sarla Devi W/o
Sh.Mahavir Prasad, R/o Ward
No.2,Nakanpur Punhana, Distt.
Mewat, Haryana have bought Plot
No. 237-P, Sector-31, Faridabad,
Haryana vide Sale Deed No. 640 dt.
08-04-2008 registered at Sub
Registrar office, Faridabad. Smt.
Sarla Devi, W/o Sh. Mahavir Prasad
executes GPA in favour of
Sh.Suresh Kumar, S/o Sh.Dayal
Chand, R/o H.No. 811, Sec-16,
Faridabad, Harayana vide GPA
registered in the O/o Sub Registrar,
Thanesar, Kurukshetra, Haryana at
S.No. 562, dt. 28.10.2010. Sh.
Suresh Kumar S/o Sh. Dayal Chand
have constructed residential floors
on the said property and executes
sale deed No. 9937, dt. 07.11.2013
registered in the O/o Sub Registrar,
Faridabad for 2nd floor with full rights
of roof in f/o Sh. Sunil Kumar S/o Sh.
Manohar Lal and Smt. Jyoti Guglani
w/o Sh. Sunil Kumar, R/o 209-A,
Vinoba Puri, Lajpat Nagar-2, New
Delhi.
Sh. Sunil Kumar & Smt. Jyoti
Guglani, R/o 209 A, Vinoba Puri,
Lajpat Nagar-II, New Delhi intend to
apply for the transfer of the said floor
in their favour. If any person is
having objection against the transfer
of the above said floor, he/they can
submit objections in writing to the
Estate Officer, HSVP, Faridabad
along with supporting documents
within 30 days from the date of
publication of this notice. Otherwise
the Estate Officer may sanction
mutation of the property as per
HSVP policy and may not entertain
subsequent claim if any.
Applicant: SUNIL KUMAR AND
JYOTI GUGLANI
Parkash Chand
Enrolment No.D-9065/2019
''IMPORTANT''
Whilst care is taken prior to
acceptance of advertising
copy, it is not possible to verify
its contents. The Indian
Express (P) Limited cannot be
held responsible for such
contents, nor for any loss or
damage incurred as a result of
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associations or individuals
advertising in its newspapers
or Publications. We therefore
recommend that readers
make necessary inquiries
before sending any monies or
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with advertisers or otherwise
acting on an advertisement in
any manner whatsoever.
she married Rashid in July this
year and was going to get their
marriageregisteredonDecember
5, when Rashid and his brother
were arrested under the new
anti-conversion law on a com-
plaint filed by her mother.
Though more than a week has
passed since she was moved to a
government-runwomenprotec-
tionhomeinMoradabad,thepo-
liceareyettogetPinki’sstatement
recorded before a magistrate.
“The medical report stated
she is three months pregnant.
On Friday, the woman com-
plained of severe stomach pain
and was taken to Mahila District
Hospital. She was admitted
there. Today around 11 am, the
womanwasdischargedfromthe
hospital... She was readmittedto
the hospital around 2 pm after
she again complained of stom-
achache,”saidDistrictProbation
Officer (Moradabad) Rajesh
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 13
CLAIMINGTOsolveacaseof kid-
napping of a six-year-old boy in
Maharajganj, police on Sunday
said that they have detained a
Class IX student who had al-
legedlykilledtheboyandburied
the body in a field.
Police have exhumed a body
andsentitforautopsy.According
to police, the victim and the al-
leged killer are related and their
houses are nearby.
“The boy (Class IX student)
has said he was unhappy with
the victim's family as they used
to make remarks about him. To
teachthemalesson,heallegedly
´fbd»fÀf °fIY³feIYe ÀfZ½ffEa ¸fb£¹ff»f¹f CXØfSX ´fiQZVf, »fJ³fDY
8½ffa °f»f MXf½fSX, ´fbd»fÀf ¸fb£¹ff»f¹f, A¸fSX VfWXeQ ´f±f, ¦fû¸f°fe³f¦fSX d½fÀ°ffSX »fJ³fDY-226002
Lett. No.: TS-MOD-89/2020
Online E-bids of the following instrument for Forensic Science Laboratory, Agra U.P are invited from
eligible and registered Firms/Manufacurers/Authorized dealers by Superintendent of Police, SCRB UP,
Lucknow. This Re-tender is in continuation of E-tender No. TS-MOD-89/2020.
Tender No. Name of the Instrument Qty. EMD (in Rs.) Tender Cost with 18% GST (in Rs.)
1. TS-MOD- Thermo mixer with
89/2020 thermo blocks
Bid documents are available on the website http://etender.up.nic.in, http://eprocure.gov.in and
http://uppolice.gov.in from 18-12-2020 to 04-01-2021. E-Bids can be uploaded up to 04-01-2021 at
12.00 noon. Technical bids will be opened on 04-11-2020 at 12.30 Hrs.
All informations regarding E-Tender are available on website http://etender.up.nic.in,
http://eprocure.gov.in and http://uppolice.gov.in.
UPID NO.157753 DATE-10.12.2020
WWW.upgov.nic.in
Chandra Gupta.
Late Sunday evening, Gupta
said she was fine. He said “fake
news of girl’s miscarriage is be-
ing circulated on social media”.
“I have written a letter to the
magistrate on whose direction
the woman was sent to the pro-
tection home. I have briefed the
magistrateaboutherhealthcon-
dition and also about her preg-
nancy.Oncethestatementof the
woman is recorded, it would be
up to her where she wanted to
go,”Guptasaid.Hesaidthemed-
ical report said she was aged 22.
When asked about the delay
in getting her statement
recorded before the magistrate,
ASP (Moradabad) Vidya Sagar
Mishra said due to “busy sched-
ule”, the statement could not be
recorded. “We will get her state-
ment recorded before the mag-
istrate soon,” said Mishra.
INPUTSFROMASADREHMAN
killedthesix-year-oldandburied
the body," said the local SHO.
Residents of the area
protested against the detention
of the Class IX student, accusing
police of falsely framing him.
TheSHO said the ClassIXboy
confessed to the crime and
based on his inputs, they located
the body. Residents withdrew
their agitation after the police
showed them evidence against
the boy, said the SHO.
“He will be produced before
a Juvenile Justice Board,” the
SHO added.
On Wednesday, the mother
of the six-year-old had filed a
complaint with police, stating
that her son had gone missing
whileplayingoutsidethehouse.
Dated- December, 08, 2020
Re E-Tender Notice
01 9,500.00 1800.00
Sd/-
(Anil Kumar Singh)
Superintendent of Police,
SCRB. UP. Lucknow
(Chairman- Purchase Committee)
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
NFHS data shows
urban-rural, gender
gaps in Internet use
KAUNAIN SHERIFF M
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
THERE IS an urban-rural gap as
well as gender divide with re-
spect to the use of Internet in 22
states and union territories, ac-
cording to data collected by the
fifth National Family Health
Survey (NFHS).
Onanaverage,lessthan3out
of 10 women in rural India and 4
out of 10 women in urban India
ever used the Internet, accord-
ing to the survey.
In 2019, for the first time, the On an average, less than 3 out of 10 women in rural India and
NFHS-5, which collects data on 4 out of 10 women in urban India ever used the Internet,
key indicators on population according to the survey. File
health, family planning and nu-
trition, sought details on two
specificindicators:Percentageof (50.8%), Meghalaya (57.8%), than50percentof menwhohad
women and men who have ever Mizoram (83.8%), Nagaland everusedtheinternet.Theworst-
used the Internet. (66.5%), Sikkim (90%), J&K (55%), performing states in urban India
An analysis of thedata by The Ladakh (66.5%), and for men were Bihar (58.4%),
Indian Express reveals a telling Lakshwadeep (61.80%). Meghalaya (59.2%), West Bengal
pattern on the key indicator on The five states reporting the (64.6%), Andhra Pradesh (65.1%)
the use of the Internet in the
country. First, only an average of
lowest percentage of women,
whoeverusedtheInternetinur-
and Assam (67.4%).
In rural India, only eight
42.6 per cent of women ever ban India were Andhra Pradesh statesreportedmorethan50per
used the Internet as against an (33.9%), Bihar (38.4%), Tripura centmen,whohadeverusedthe
average of 62.16 per cent among (36.6%), Telangana (43.9%) and Internet: Goa (76.6%), Himachal
the men; second, in urban India, Gujarat (48.9%). Pradesh (65.1%), Karnataka
an average 56.81 per cent The percentage of women, (55.6%), Kerala (74.2%), Manipur
women ever used the Internet who ever used the Internet, sig- (68.2%), Mizoram (63.9%),
compared to an average 73.76 nificantly dropped in rural India. Nagaland (55.2%) and Sikkim
per cent among the men; and Only three states and one union (69.5%).Thefiveworst-perform-
third, a dismal 33.94 per cent territory reported more than 50 ing states in urban India for men
women in rural India ever used per cent women, who had used were Assam (37.8%), West
the Internet as against 55.6 per theInternet–Goa(68.3%),Kerala Bengal (38.3%), Meghalaya
cent among men. (57.5%), Sikkim (68.1%), and (38.5%), Bihar (39.4%) and
The data from the 22 states Ladakh (54%). Andhra Pradesh (41.5%).
and union territories was col- The five states reporting the The NFHS-5, provides an in-
lectedfrom3.07lakhhouseholds. lowest percentage of women, dicator, for tracking 30
In urban India, 10 states and whoeverusedtheInternetinru- Sustainable Development Goals
three union territories reported ral India, were: West Bengal that the country aims to achieve
more than 50 per cent women (14%), Andhra Pradesh (15.4%), by 2030. In the phase 1, the sur-
who had ever used the Internet: Telangana (15.8%), Tripura vey provided data on 131 key in-
Goa (78.1%), Himachal Pradesh (17.7%) and Bihar (17%). dicatorsfrom22statesandunion
(78.9%), Kerala (64.9%), In urban India, Tripura (47%) territories, with special empha-
Maharashtra (54.3%), Manipur istheonlystatethatreportedless sis on maternal and child health.
In the works, a copyright
society to help movie
e-mail: tshq@up.nic.in
writers get royalties
Period of Work
According to
Conditions
teringamount,whileitsbeingruninacin-
EKTAA MALIK ema,shallnotpayanyroyaltytothewriter.
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13 It’sonlyinthesecondrun,whenitappears
on satellite TV, or OTT, if there is a remake,
IT IS about time that the rights of the writ- or an adaptation that the writers will be
ersarerecognised,saysveteranHindifilm paid a royalty,” says Rajabali.
writerAnjumRajabali,ashetakesthenec- The creation of the copyright society
essary steps to form the first-ever copy- has led to some resistance by the big stu-
right society in India – the Screenwriters dios, producers and OTT platforms, many
Rights Association of India (SRAI). of whicharemultinationalcompanies.“In
Rajabalihascometogetherwithfellow thespiritof co-operation,Ihavewrittento
writers like Juhi Chaturvedi, Saket everyoneandhaveextendedaninvitation
Chaudhary, Zaman Habib, Rajesh Dubey tocome,sitonthetable,andhaveadiscus-
andproducerVipulAmrutlalShahandoth- sion.Wecanresolvethis.Whatwearedo-
ers tocreate thecopyrightsociety.Theap- ing is not because of greed, we are even
plication for the copyright society is cur- readytonegotiatethetariffs,”saysRajabali.
rently with the Registrar of Copyrights, Vinod Ranganath, EC member of the
who has announced on their website that Screen Writers Association, echoes
if there are any comments or objections Rajabali’s sentiments and affirms that it is
fromstakeholders,theycanraisethemun- high time that the writers got their due.
til December 27. “We are the largest film producing in-
“ThecopyrightamendmentBillwasin- dustryintheworld,andwedon’thaveany-
troduced in Parliament in 2012 and was thing like this in place. There are about 90
unanimously passed. The copyright rules countries that have about 200 copyright
were modified, and it called for a creation societiesoperatinginthem,evencountries
of a copyright society and that the said so- suchasColumbia,ChinaandPoland,”says
ciety should be managed jointly by writ- Ranganath, who has written shows such
ers and producers. What the law also did as Swabhimaan.
was to add that under no circumstances “The irony is, film music gets royalty.
should a writer sign away his right to roy- MusicroyaltyinIndiaisprimarilyfilmmu-
alty,andnoproducershouldbeabletobuy sic.FMmusicstationsrunonlyonfilmmu-
itoff,”saysRajabali,whohaswrittenfilms sic.Thereisabreakoutpopalbum,sure,but
likeGhulam,TheLegendofBhagatSinghand itisnotthesameliketheWest,wherenon-
China Gate. film music is huge. If we are happy to pay
“ The copyright society is essentially a royaltyforasong,butwhydon’twepaythe
company. We had been struggling to put writerwhomadeitallpossible?Whatpeo-
together the copyright society. We had ple forget is, that the film music is part of a
givenanapplicationtotheregistrarofcom- largerstorywrittenbyanauthor.Thatsong
panies in 2016, but it kept getting stalled. is only coming to you, because there was a
Thebigplayersareslightlyhesitant,asthey writerwhowroteafilmwiththatsituation,
think they will have to shell out more, but withthosecharacters,andthosecharacters
the amended Act clearly says that when then go about singing those songs. That is
thefilmevenwhenitearnsanearth-shat- our storytelling pattern,” he says.
BHU to start ‘Kashi Studies’
postgraduate course from July
sculpture art of Kashi always attract and
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE mesmerize the world,” a statement is-
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 13 sued by the government said.
The first session of the course under
THE UTTAR Pradesh government on theFacultyof SocialScienceswillbeginin
Sunday announced that Banaras Hindu July next year, the government said.
University (BHU) will start a postgradu- Deanof SocialSciencesFaculty(BHU)
atecourse“KashiStudies”thatwill“teach Kaushal Kishor Mishra said a committee
students about the city (Varanasi also will prepare a course structure by
calledKashi)–oneof oldestintheworld”. December 30. “The course structure will
“StudentsfromIndiaandabroadwho be presented in front of the academic
have an interest in understanding the council in January,” said Mishra.
mystery of Kashi can take admission in “Studentswilllearnabouttheculture,
the course... The course will teach stu- history,religiousimportance, waysof liv-
dents about the city which is one of the ing, assets of Kashi. Students will get a
oldest in the world and is a symbol of life, chance to understand the works of
and used to be known for its streets... The Tulsidas, Kabir, Premchand, Gautam
religious culture, musical tradition and Buddha, Ravidas...,” the statement said.
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020 EXPRESS NETWORK 11
BJP chief Nadda
tests positive for TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE
Ascasesdrop,expertssayspread AMID CIVIC POLLS
UDF, BJP move
286 CASES:
maybemorethanwhatisknown
Covid; goes into ACTIVE CASES: 3,56,546 poll panel over
98,57,029 DEATHS: 143,019
home isolation CM assurance
DAYS SINCE
PANDEMIC
BEGAN TESTS: 15,37,11,833 | RECOVERIES: 9,357,464

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
BJP PRESIDENT J P Nadda has
testedpositiveforthenovelcoro-
navirus and has gone into home
isolationontheadviceof doctors.
In a tweet, he said he had under-
gone a test after
showing symp-
toms of Covid-
19, and was
found to be
positive.
“My condi-
J P Nadda tion is alright
and I am fol-
lowing all in-
structions after going for home
isolation on the advice of doc-
tors. I request everyone who got
in touch with me in the last few
days to isolate themselves and
undergo test,” he said. The BJP
chief had been maintaining an
active schedule and had visited
several states.
West Bengal CM Mamata
Banerjee wished Nadda a
speedy recovery. “Heard about
BJP National President Shri JP
Nadda testing positive for
COVID-19.Wishinghimaspeedy
recovery and good health. My
prayers are with him and his
family...” she tweeted.
BENGAL
Santiniketan Poush Mela to
CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS
inIndia.Inmid-October,thiscom- driven,” he said.
of free Covid
30,254 391 33,136 10,14,434
AMITABH SINHA
PUNE, DECEMBER 13
mitteereleasedthefindingsof its
modelling exercise, and had said
Agarwal also offers a possible
explanation forthe lownumbers
vaccine
theepidemichadalready‘peaked’ inBihar,andtherecentthirdwave
WITH NEW infections of Covid- in India, and was likely to run its in Delhi. “Our model shows that PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
19havingseeminglystablisedfor course by February next year. the disease prevalence in Bihar THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
overamonthnow,expertsbelieve ShahidJameel,avirologistand hasreachedashighas65percent. DECEMBER 13
that a larger share of Indian pop- director of Trivedi School of Infact,foreveryconfirmedcaseof
ulationmayhavealreadybeenin- Biosciences at the Ashoka infection,theremightbe300that ADAYaheadof thefinalphaseof
STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASES fectedbythevirusthanwhatsero University,agreesthatitispossible are unreported. This ratio is the localbodypollsinKerala,theop-
ACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK surveys have been indicating. theactualprevalenceofdiseaseis highest in Bihar. Now, if that is position UDF and BJP on Sunday
Uttarakhand 7,166 1,162 For over a month-and-a-half muchhigherthanwhatthesero- true, it would be able to explain moved the State Election
N/A - - now, reported cases of the infec- At a screening centre in surveyshavebeenabletocapture. whyBiharisreportingonlyabout Commission against Chief
N/A - - tion have dropped to below Hyderabad on Sunday. PTI “The last national sero survey 500 cases a day,” he said. Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's an-
50,000 a day. During this time, showed that the actual disease In Delhi, Agarwal said, the nouncement of free Covid-19
STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLINING there have been festivals, elec- prevalencecouldbe15to16times modelshowedthatforeverycon- vaccine, saying it violated the
ACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK tions,farmers’protests,andrelax- thepopulationthanwecurrently higher than the confirmed cases. firmed case, about 40 cases went model code of conduct.
Maharashtra 73,542 9,307 ations in restrictions. know of, may be even more than With 10 million confirmed cases unreported. “Around the time The ruling CPI(M)-led LDF
Delhi 17,373 9,305 All this was feared to result in half the population of the entire now, it would mean that about thatDelhihadbeenreportingvery dismissed the charge as “child-
Karnataka 18,254 6,705 asurgeininfections.But thenum- country,mightalreadyhavebeen 150to160millionmighthaveac- high numbers a few weeks ago, ish” and said Vijayan was only
bers have been on the decline, infected. “In fact, the predictions tually been infected. But it is pos- we found that this ratio had answering a question from re-
STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES slowly but steadily. For the last ofacomputermodelthatwehave siblethattheoutbreakhasmoved changed to about one in 20. And porters and also that its mani-
ONDEC12 TOTAL two weeks, the daily detection of developedactuallytellsusthis.As faster than we have been able to what we discovered during this festo included the free vaccine
Kerala 5,949 6,64,632 new cases has remained firmly of Saturday, this model has been record.Becauseofthat,itcouldbe timeisthatDelhihadchangedits assurance.
Maharashtra 4,259 18,76,699 below 40,000. The largest num- suggesting that close to 55 per that instead of 150 to 160 million testingstrategy.Ithadmadetest- Vijayan had on Saturday said
ber of cases are still coming from cent of Indian population might people, 400 or 500 million have ing free of cost, and removed re- Covid-19 vaccine will be made
West Bengal 2,710 5,19,215
Kerala and Maharashtra, each re- have been infected," said been infected. I think it is a good strictionsonwhocouldbetested. available free of cost to all in
STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS portingabout4,000to5,000cases Manindra Agarwal of IIT Kanpur. timetocallforanotherbroadsero Asaresult,alotofpeoplewhofelt Kerala. “No one will be charged
ONDEC12 TOTAL a day, while a state like Bihar, “Now,noneoftheserosurveysare survey,” Jameel said. even mild symptoms got them- for the vaccine. This is the stand
Maharashtra 83 49,235 where the numbers were ex- capturingsuchlargenumbersfor “Anotherpossibilityforwhich selvestested.Andthatledtoarise of the government,” he told re-
Delhi 47 9,981 pectedtoriseduetoelectionsand diseaseprevalence.Andwedon’t again we do not have any evi- in the number of reported cases. porters in Kannur.
Chhath,hasbeenreportingbarely know what could be the reason” denceisthatthevirusmighthave Thethird wave in Delhi was not a Elections to the local bodies
West Bengal 44 9,010
500 to 600 cases a day. Agarwalwaspartofagovern- lostsomeofitsvirulencebecause real increase in the spread of the in the state are being held in
DataasonDecember12,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical Expertssaythattheonlylogi- ment-appointedcommitteethat of this increasing number of ex- disease,butmorelikelyjustacon- three phases, with the four
Researchandstategovernments.Often,thenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays
aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive cal way to explain this could be had developed a ‘supermodel’ to posures. This does happen with sequence of a change in testing northern districts going for vot-
that a much higher proportion of map the trajectory of the disease viruses, but is usually vaccine- policy,” he said. ingonMondayinthefinalphase.
Thefirstandsecondphaseswere
held on December 8 and 10 re-
Arrested CFI man got funds, spectively. Counting of votes
polled in the elections, being
held months ahead of the as-

be called off due to Covid
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
KOLKATA, DECEMBER 13
THE ANNUAL ‘Poush Mela’, a
heritage cultural event attract-
ing lakhs of travellers to West
Bengal’sSantiniketan,willnotbe
heldthisyearduetoCovid-19re-
strictions, an official said.
The over-a-century-old
handicraft, handloom, art and
music festival, is usually held in
December-end.
“We are not sure about get-
ting the nod from the local ad-
ministrationinviewoftheCovid-
19 situation. Most students, an
integral part of Poush Mela, are
not coming to the campus.
“Keeping all these factors in
mind, we had to take this un-
pleasant decision for public
health safety,” said a member of
Visva-Bharati University’s exec-
utive council. The decision was
taken at a high-level meeting of
the executive council.
NobellaureateRabindranath
Tagore's father Maharshi
Debendranath Tagore had first
organised the fair in 1894 and
Visva-Bharati, the university
founded by the bard, started or-
ganising it from 1951.
The 'Poush Utsav', including
prayers and singing of devo-
tional songs in the varsity cam-
pus,will,however,takeplace(on
December 23 this year), he said.
asked to go to Hathras, says ED
SHAJU PHILIP
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
DECEMBER 13
PROBINGINTOanallegedmoney
laundering angle relating to a
2013 training camp in Kerala, the
Enforcement Directorate on
Sunday said Campus Front of
India(CFI)nationalgeneralsecre-
tary K A Rauf Sharif had trans-
ferred funds to CFI treasurer
AteequrRahman“withadirective
to go to Hathras (Uttar Pradesh)
with a delegation”.
Ateequrisoneof thefourper-
sons,includingjournalistSiddique
BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya at Visva-Bharati University Kappan, who was arrested by UP
in Bengal’s Birbhum district on Sunday. PTI Police while they were on their
way to Hathras, where a Dalit
womanwasallegedlygang-raped
andmurdered.Thepolicehadsaid
theyweregoingtoHathrastodis-
rupt social harmony.
CFI is the student wing of
Popular Front of India (PFI) and
Siddique Kappan had worked
with its now defunct Malayalam
daily.
Rauf was apprehended from
Thiruvananthapuram airport on
Saturday. The ED had issued sev-
eral summons to him in the past
twomonths,butheneverturned
up.Infact,hetriedtoflyoutofthe
countryaftersendingane-mailto
theinvestigatingofficer,sayinghe
would appear before the agency.
Rauf was presented before a
court in Kochi, which remanded
him in judicial custody. In the re-
mand report, ED said the agency
hascomeacrosshugeremittance
into multiple accounts of Rauf,
particularly in the current year.
The training camp, allegedly
led by PFI, was busted in 2013 by
Kerala Police in Kannur and later
the NIA took over the probe. In
2018,theEDregisteredacaseun-
der sections 3 and 4 of PMLA and
has been probing since then into
the money laundering angle.
The ED said Rauf had trans-
ferred money to Ateequr several
timesforconductingeventsofthe
organisation. “He received huge
amounts of foreign remittance
duringlockdownalthoughhehas
beenawayfromhisworkplacein
Oman...Thenature ofthesetrans-
actions are suspicious,” it said.
sembly polls likely in April-May
2021, wouldbe on December 16.
Congress-ledUDFconvener's
MMHassansaidthefrontmoved
theSECastheChiefMinister'san-
nouncement was a violation of
the model code, given that four
districts are going to the polls on
Monday. “There was no urgency
tomakesuchanannouncement,”
he told reporters.
Senior Congress leader K C
Joseph filed an online complaint
with the SEC.
Union Minister of State and
BJP leader V Muraleedharan
claimed desperation was “driv-
ing the Communists in Kerala”.
BJPstatechief KSurendran,in
his complaint, alleged that the
Chief Minister was trying to woo
voters through such announce-
ments and that it was a violation
of the model code.

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 4301
ACROSS
1 Totals include fifty in squalid
accommodation (5)
8 One showing enthusiasm and
unusual verve for the dance (8)
9 A number grow sick, get
benefit (5)
10 Vet’s idea to provide a
tranquilliser (8)
11 Prepares to publish new diets
(5)
12 Youth in stable employment?
(3)
16 At last I have something for a
salad (6)
17 Have a lofty aim? (6)
18 Ten cents is pointlessly stupid
(3)
23 Pop’s executors? (5)
24 This sort of clue is included in
the French game (8)
25 Sounds of relief of audible
dimensions (5)
26 Rows about stray dogs (8)
27 Lead a request for silence on
the meadow (5)
SolutionsCrossword4300:Across:1Anticlimax,6Acre,10Naked,11Metronome,12
Flatiron,13Misty,15Elapsed,17Monarch,19Peerage,21Stopsin,22Radii,24Aversion,
27Novelette,28Alibi,29Earn,30Icingsugar.Down:1Awns,2Takeleave,3Cadet,4
Immured,5Antonym,7Crops,8Everything,9Commando,14Temperance,16Spaniels,
18Restoring,20Elastic,21Shebeen,23Dover,25Stays,26Pier.
JUMBLED WORDS
DAY TODAY
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20)
Some kind of past
financial
misunderstanding
could be preying on
your mind. You are probably in
something of a bind, for the Sun
urges you to take a gamble,
while simultaneously stacking
the odds against you. Play it safe
until you have worked out all
the risks.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
You may be
enthusiastic about
imminent domestic
changes, but
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson partners might be completely
bemused as to your real
intentions. At the heart of the
matter, lies your need for
emotional commitment, and
your willingness to come up
with the goods and fulfil
DOWN promises you have made in the
2 Sweetheart who finds past.
romance finished (5,3)
3 Claim for support GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)
(8) Personal events over
4 Servant going to a dance the next few days
(6) could give you a
5 One sort of wood that’s completely different
without flaws (5) slant on a private issue. Your
6 Pest possibly slain in the perspective will be challenged
garden (5) by partners whose behaviour is
7 Prized inventor of dynamite defying all expectations. Mind
(5) you, perhaps it's about time
12 Showed the way out of a little that your preconceptions
difficulty (3)
13 Mother checks the water (3)
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong were challenged.
CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
14 It proves wildly frolicsome
You don't need to
(8)
interpret others’
15 Prepares for spring (8)
unreliability as a sign
19 New rents I introduce (6)
that you’re being let
20 Groovy musical pipe
down. After all, they might not
(5)
even be thinking about you!
21 The team’s points amount to
You should try to see the larger
20 (5)
pattern and you’ll realise that
22 Tinned beef like this is poison
changes in your plans will
(5)
open up welcome,
fresh opportunities.
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23)
The Moon’s presence
in your chart induces
a compassionate
note, and others may
be struck by the depths of your
emotions. All that is required of
DifficultyLevel5s
you is the determination and
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4321
BY PETER VIDAL
LIBRA (Sept 24 - Oct 23)
Although it is in
your nature to give
others a
considerable
amount of leeway - too much
some would say, you may soon
be about to draw the line.
Professional colleagues and
employers should realise that
they cannot get off scot-free,
but that they have to fulfil
their commitments.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 22)
There’s a little
celestial tension,
although not too
much. There are
bound to be a lot of bruised
egos around, but other people
are not your responsibility. If
you allow them to blame you,
or become dependent on you,
you will do neither them nor
yourself any favours.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 - Dec 22)
You might have to
take a step back, but
there is no need to
sacrifice your
beliefs or principles, although
you should accept some
restraints. It’s all a matter of
where to draw the line. The
question is whether you can
abandon an arrangement
without letting
someone down.
CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
If you haven’t
managed to force
others to honour
their financial
obligations, it may be too late.
However, within a few days, a
welcome window of
opportunity may appear via a
social connection. It might, in
fact, be a rival who comes up
with the best advice.
AQUARIUS (Jan 21 - Feb 19)
Sometimes wishes
really can come
true. If you continue
to believe that this
is a period of truly unique
opportunities for
advancement in both personal

confidence to show your and professional affairs, you

Instructions feelings in public. That will, in some strange way,
Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, shouldn’t be too much of attract certain very
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 a problem. benevolent offers.
SUDOKU 4322

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe
Setallthingsintheirownpeculiarplace,andknowthat___isthegreatest___-JohnDryden VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sept 23) PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
nineverticalcolumns,in You’re passing Mars and Jupiter are
(5,..,5)
eachoftheninehorizontal through one of your combining to stiffen
CSAEE EHMRCO rowsandineachofthe perfectionist phases. your resolve. You
nineboxes. You may set yourself have been too
new, higher standards and goals tolerant, kind and
and, in typical fashion, attempt accommodating, and you may
EORRR OSTYDG DifficultyLevel
to beat your own personal best. now play a rougher, tougher
If you wish, you may turn your game. At work, you may even
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; attention to private matters have a chance to go back and
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; which have been left on the question agreements which
grace - John Dryden 5s=VeryHard;6s= shelf for far too long. Delay were never in your
Answer: Set all things in their own peculiar place, and know that order is the greatest Genius no longer. best interests.
SOLUTION: CEASE, ERROR, CHROME, STODGY
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

12 IDEA EXCHANGE
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020

Newsmakers in the Newsroom

‘
‘
BHUPESH BAGHEL, CHIEF MINISTER, CHHATTISGARH

There isn’t any uniformity in mandis across states,

then how can you have one Act for the entire country?
TheChhattisgarhCMsaysthefarmers’protestisdifferentfromthe2011anti-corruptionmovement,assertsthestate’smeasureswillconstrainNaxalismsoon, and
criticisesthe23partyleaders whowentpublicwiththeirconcernsregardingtheCongress.ThesessionwasmoderatedbyDeputyAssociateEditorManojCG

MANOJ C G : Does the Opposition see most number of paramilitary forces. senior leaders?
the farmers’ protest as the NDA When I became CM, I made it clear that The 23 leaders (who wrote the letter)
government’s Anna Hazare moment? we must first win the trust of the local have been giving us lessons in discipline
The anti-corruption movement was people in the areas we are fighting the so far, that all controversial matters must
the beginning of a change in public Naxals. be raised in internal forums, that we
perception about the UPA Secondly, we need more develop-

‘
should talk to senior leaders about them

‘
government. ment in the area. We need to make through proper channels. What has hap-
That was a different kind of move- arrangements for pened to them now?
ment which was aimed at ending corrup- healthcare, educa- To those asking
tion and bringing in the Lokpal Bill. It has tion, employment. If a party is not in power, questions, I want to
been over seven years since the move- The third aspect is ask a counter-ques-
ment, but neither corruption has ended
WHY ensuring security. these things happen... In tion: Who stopped
nor do we have a Lokpal. It was organised BHUPESH BAGHEL Through these three you from going to

by the RSS; people were not as connected
to it as it was projected.
The present movement is by farmers,
and it is against the black laws imple-
mented by the government. They are be-
ing referred to as farm laws, but they are
just capitalist laws. The farmer will get
no benefit from them. The farmers are on
the streets because their livelihoods, their
families, their future, everything is at
stake. As a political party, we have sup-
ported their fight.
MANOJ C G: But in its 2019 manifesto
the Congress party had also spoken
about APMC reforms, creating new
markets etc.
I have been hearing what the BJP lead-
ers and ministers are saying. Of the 22
points (raised by farmers), they are only
talking about two... If you look at the NDA
government’s tenure... They imple-
mented demonetisation, 125 people lost
their lives. Then the Goods and Services
Tax was imposed, and so many people
went bankrupt and some took their own
lives. This year, during the lockdown,
crores of people came out on the streets.
So this is the difference between policies
of the NDA and the UPA governments. We
formulate and implement policies based
on experience and after examining things
in detail.
As far as the manifesto is concerned,
we took it to the public and we were re-
jected. We did not win the mandate. So
whose manifesto should we talk about?
The BJP is in power, we should ask
them about their manifesto...
This government is doing
everything to promote privatisa-
tion. You (changed) the
Essential Commodities Act.
What happened? Onions that
were being sold for Rs 10-20
(per kg), their prices went up
to Rs 70-80, and even Rs 150
in Tamil Nadu. Today, the
farmers are protesting, to-
morrow when there is no
control over prices of
commodities, all con-
sumers will protest...
In the coming days,
the situation for farmers
is going to be very diffi-
cult because of the new
mandi laws. They will
not get the right price for
their produce.
MANOJ C G: What amendments
would you bring to the laws? Also, the
protests seem to be limited to Punjab
and Haryana. Even in Chhattisgarh,
we haven’t seen farmers come out to
protest.
Firstly, our people could not join the Agriculture is a state subject, but you did-
protests physically (at the Delhi border) n’t take the opinion of states and brought
because of the distance. Secondly, the
purchase of paddy began in the state on
December 1. In (Punjab, Haryana) paddy
T
wo years ago, Baghel
gave the Congress its
most decisive victory
in a state election, winning 68
out of Chhattisgarh’s 90 seats.
He is among the CMs to pass
an Act in the Assembly to
counter the Centre’s farm laws
in October this year.
HARIKISHAN SHARMA: The
government has suggested a slew of
modifications to the new laws. Which
of these are farmers and the
Opposition willing to accept?
What I know is that the farmers want
an answer in ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The government
must do that. When the farmers have
made it clear that they will not accept
modifications, then why make them?
in these laws. If they (the Centre) had
reached out to the states, the current sit-
uation could have been avoided.
in your godowns. You have supplies for
the next three years and there is no space
to store more. So the farmers have pro-
duced the crops and done their job. Now,
should they be punished for it? That
would be wrong.
AVISHEK DASTIDAR: The Central
government has a Road Requirement
Plan (RRP) to ensure connectivity in
Maoist-affected areas. The
programme is now complete in 90
per cent of the country. A total of 400
km of roads remain to be built, of
which 350 km are in Chhattisgarh.
the Opposition, and will not allow
Opposition leaders to speak from
their stage. There was a similar
situation at the time of the anti-
Citizenship (Amendment) Act
protests too. Isn’t this in some way a
failure of the Opposition that the
common man doesn’t want the
Opposition to speak for it?
These are two different issues. On the
issue of farmers, both the farmers’ unions
and political parties have spoken out. If
you say that political parties haven’t done leaders. Why were the names of big lead-
their bit... Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh ers removed? If an incident occurs in
governments have opposed the laws in
measures, we have Chhattisgarh, BJP is out of Bihar during the
managed to reduce power for two years. Its
Naxal activity in the
region... Despite the situation is same (as
pandemic, we en-
sured that mahua Congress at national level) tions. Aren’t you
flowers, tendu leaves
are bought from the
locals. This has
helped increase trust. About 105 schools
were shut in Sukma district for over 13
years, we started those. People are get-
ting treatment through the
Mukhyamantri Haat Bazaar Clinic
Yojana... So with these steps, in the com-
ing days, the Naxals will be very con-
strained.
DEEPTIMAN TIWARY: You have
questioned the NIA investigation into
the 2013 Darbha Ghati attack on
Congress leaders...
The fight against Naxals and disagree-
ment on issues are two different matters.
In the Minpa attack (in March 2020)
where 17 security personnel were killed...
They were all part of the state police. At
the time, at a distance of 500m the CRPF
were sitting, but they did not give sup-
Illustration: Suvajit Dey
port because they did not get orders. So
we registered our complaint with the
Home Ministry.
As far as the NIA is concerned, in July
2014 the chargesheet (in the Darbha
Valley incident) was submitted. By that
time, the NDA government had come to
power... We asked the NIA, that if this at-
tack was part of a political conspiracy,
why was that investigation not done?
Then, the FIR in the police station here (in
Chhattisgarh) had names of big Naxal
Hotel Taj (the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai),
elections? But once
the results came out,
you promptly ap-
peared to give reac-
ashamed? The party
made you a Member
of Parliament, min-
ister, gave you an identity, and when the
time came to stand by the party, you are
busy giving advice. It is unfortunate.
The lessons that these leaders taught
us are also applicable to them. They
should have raised the issues in internal
party forums. The Congress is the most
democratic party. There have been sev-
eral CWC meetings, and all these issues
have been discussed. Ghulam Nabi Azad,
Mukul Wasnik, they were all there. I was
there too. They all got an opportunity to
speak. So once they have spoken there,
what was the need to speak outside?
P VAIDYANATHAN IYER: But they are
all senior leaders and ministers.
Should their concerns be ignored?
We are all tied by a certain discipline.
There are limits to it. The way you behave
with your family and children, can you
behave the same way on the streets?
Everyone must function within limits,
there is a certain beauty about it. By
speaking outside, you are revealing the
party’s weaknesses.
If they had spoken internally, it would
have strengthened the party. There
would have been reforms. These are peo-
ple who have been ministers for decades.
Who has brought them up to this level?
So all I am saying is that they must talk
internally. And the party has internal
democracy. That is why, even after every-
thing, their views are being heard... This
shows the magnanimity of the leader-
ship too.
MANOJ C G: After every election
defeat, the Congress seems to
follow a familiar script — some
leaders call for introspection,
others contest it, and so on.
However, after one-two weeks
things return to normal.
How long will this go on
for?
When a party is not
in power, such things
happen. When the UPA government was
in power, similar things would happen in
the BJP too. In Chhattisgarh, the BJP was in
power for 15 years, and now it has been
out of power for two years. What is the
party’s situation in the state? Same (as
the Congress at the national level). So
such things happen when parties are out
of power and journalists have a field day.
There is always scope for improve-
ment within the party. The Congress has
always accepted change and suggestions
for improvement. The Congress has
played a crucial role in taking the country

‘ ‘
‘ ‘
is harvested in September and October. As far as the mandi Act is concerned, The Centre has cited lack of the Vidhan Sabha. The Congress party has people from Pakistan are named in the forward and the party will have the same
Wheat has already it is not the same in cooperation from the state for the always opposed FIR. Then why were role in the future too.
been sown. the entire country. It delay. When will the project be them (the farm names of Naxal lead-
In Chhattisgarh, is different in Punjab completed in the state? laws), and Rahul ers removed? Why MANOJ C G: When you became CM
the farmers have just We took our manifesto and Haryana, differ- I have met (Minister for Road Gandhi has also spo- Farmers don’t want political won’t we be suspi- two years ago, there were talks of
completed their (talking about APMC ent in Rajasthan, dif- Transport & Highways) Nitin Gadkari and ken about this often. parties as they don’t want to cious?... It has been splitting the tenure between you and
paddy harvest, and ferent in Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the Now, if the farmers seven years since the another colleague. Was there such a
now they are selling reforms) to the public and Chhattisgarh, Bihar issue. I have proposed that the pro- are saying that they tilt towards any. But we attack, and the cul- proposal?
it. About 11 lakh doesn’t have it... It is gramme under which roads are being don’t want political prits are yet to be Chhattisgarh does not have a coalition
tonnes of paddy has were rejected... The BJP is based on the situa- built in LWE (Left Wing Extremism) ar- parties to get in- back them. I am happy even punished. The between two parties. We have a major-
been purchased so in power, ask them about tion in each state. eas needs some improvements because volved, then that’s non-political organisations Centre is taking the ity in the state. If the party high command
far. About 94 per Now if you want to the (contractors) in these parts take the fine because they incident lightly, it is tells me to resign, I will resign right away.
cent of the farmers their manifesto... implement one Act tenders but fail to work on the ground. don’t want to tilt to- are fighting the same fight obvious for us to But there was no such (proposal to divide
in Chhattisgarh are across the country, That is not something that has happened wards any one polit- question it. the Chief Minister’s tenure between two
selling their produce why don’t you im- now, things have been getting delayed ical party. But we leaders).
at MSP in the state. plement the Punjab for15 years. have supported MANOJ C G: From
That is why I say that the Chhattisgarh model, Haryana model, Chhattisgarh I have proposed that instead of build- them. I am happy that even non-political panchayat elections in Rajasthan to KAUSHIK DAS GUPTA: The Congress
model should be implemented across the model?... But the fact is that there isn’t ing long stretches of roads, we must fo- organisations are fighting the same fight municipal elections in Hyderabad, seems to be lacking grassroots
country. any uniformity in mandis across states, cus on building small stretches. In J&K as us. the Congress seems to be struggling connect, whether it was the anti-CAA
then how can you have one Act for the en- you have given permission for precast, to revive itself. What is the way protest or this farmers’ protest. Why
GARGI VERMA: You mentioned the tire country? steel bridges, but you are not giving per- DEEPTIMAN TIWARY: The Central forward for the party? is that?
Chhattisgarh model. Can you tell us mission for it in LWE-affected areas. So security forces have often Political ups and downs will always What we need to understand is that
how it is different from provisions LIZ MATHEW: Apart from the mandi many of our jawans have lost their lives complained about not getting come and go. When people want, they there are several organisations that raise
suggested by the Central issue, experts have also pointed out trying to protect roads and bridges. If we enough support from state police in bring you to power, and when they want, issues connected to the common man. As
government? that reforms are needed to ensure get permission for steel bridges, then a Maoist-affected areas, including in they drop you. This is a matter of time. far as farmers’ issues are concerned, the
Under the (Central government’s diversification of our crops to ensure bridge that would take six months to be Chhattisgarh. Why do you think we When the time comes, the Congress will Congress has raised the issues. The farm-
laws), a private mandi can be opened better trade etc. Isn’t that important built will only take a week. We will have have not been successful in handling come to power too. I am optimistic that ers’ protest is being led by 32 organisa-
outside the main mandi. We have pro- as well? to give less security and things will move the Naxalism issue in the state? the Congress party will do better in the tions and we are supporting them from
posed a ‘deemed mandi’, which will en- Different states grow different crops. faster. Recently, when the CRPF DG visited coming days. the outside. If they ask us for direct sup-
compass the entire mandi, and which The government can work to promote Amit Shahji said send me a proposal the state, he said that we have good syn- port, we will provide that. If you go with-
will also bring the private players under that by setting up food processing plants and I will discuss it with other depart- ergy with the state police... Now, if the MANOJ C G: Your own party leaders out invitation, then we saw what hap-
its ambit. We introduced the Bill so that etc. For example, Chhattisgarh has a vari- ments. The meeting was positive. It state police alone could solve the issue, wrote a letter seeking internal pened with (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind
our farmers are not cheated. But the ety of crops that have high demand inter- would be wrong to claim that the state then what was the need to bring in reforms and sweeping changes Kejriwal. He was forced to say that I have
Governor is yet to sign the Bill. nationally as well. We need a cargo plane government is not providing support. Central forces? About 15-20 years ago, within the Congress. The letter was come here as a ‘sevadar (for your service)’.
(Chhattisgarh passed the Krishi Upaj at the airport, but the Centre is not pro- the paramilitary forces were brought in written in August and there is still no We don’t want that. We don’t want to go
Mandi Act to counter the Centre’s farm viding that. VANDITA MISHRA: The farmer unions because the state police could not handle response. Why is the party not paying there (at the farmers’ protest site) to get
laws in October). Secondly, you have surplus foodgrains have said that they have no links with it on its own. After J&K, Bastar has the heed to suggestions by its own mocked.

New Delhi
 E EXPLAINED
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

13
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com

CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD EXPLAINED SCI-TECH

Coronavirus in donated
eye tissue, concerns over
transmission via transplant
COVID-19 CAN reach and affect the
eyes, two new studies have found.
One study, in the US, has reported the
discovery of the novel coronavirus in
conjunctival swabs and tears of in-
fected patients, raising concerns that
the infection could be transmitted
during eye transplantation. In the UK,
researchers have reported sore eyes
How to measure a mountain
In a new measurement, China and Nepal have announced Mount Everest is 86 cm taller than the 8,848 m
accepted globally so far. How was the original height calculated by Survey of India? What does the revision
ment:“There’s noevidence tosuggest
Covid-19 can be transmitted from a
mean? Two of the seniormost officials of Survey of India explain in an interview to AMITABH SINHA
corneal transplant, but our data as-
sures us that a screening process to
determinewho’spositiveforthevirus
and who isn’t is important to make MEASUREMENT WITH ANGLES
sure we do everything in case there is
a potential risk of transmission. When direct
The findings show that before measurement Angle of

EXPERTS EXPLAIN
as a symptom of Covid-19. The two transplantation,itisimportanttocarry of height is not Elevation
studiesareindependentof eachother. out postmortem nasopharyngeal b
possible, a

HEIGHT
swab testing for detecting Covid-19. a
Virus in eye tissue surveyor
The US study, published in the Sore eyes as symptom
Lt Gen Girish Kumar
resorts to
journal The Ocular Surface, analysed The UK study, published in the &Nitin Joshi trigonometry Height
the prevalence of the journal BMJ Open of Eye d d Height of Eye
virus in human post- Ophthalmology, was con- From The Indian Express panel
mortem ocular tissues. It ducted by researchers at of specialists, exclusive insight
found that the virus can Anglia Ruskin University.
infiltrate corneal tissue It found that sore eyes
(the outer layer of the can be a symptom of First, how is the height of any mountain
eye) that could be used Covid-19. measured?
for transplantation, rais- PAPER The researchers Thebasicprinciplethatwasusedearlieris
ingconcernsthatthedis-
ease could be transmit- CLIP asked Covid-19 patients
to complete a question-
very simple, and uses only trigonometry
whichmostof usarefamiliarwith,oratleast
tedto a healthyrecipient. naire about their symp- canrecall.Therearethreesidesandthreean-
In fact, the research NEW RESEARCH toms, and how those gles in any triangle. If we know any three of
looked at 132 ocular tis- compared to before they these quantities, provided one of them is a
sues from 33 donors that were in- tested positive. Sore eyes was found side,alltheotherscanbecalculated.Inaright-
tendedforsurgeryinseveralUSstates. to be significantly more common angled triangle, one of the angles is already
Among the donors, 13% were positive when the participants had Covid-19 known, so if we know any other angle and
for Covid-19, determined later. — 16% reported it as a Covid-19 symp- one of the sides, the others can be found out.
Covid-19 patients hold much of tom, while just 5% reported having This principle can be applied for measuring
thevirusintheupperrespiratorytract. had the condition beforehand. the height of any object that does not offer
The researchers suggest that there is Lead author Shahina Pardhan said the convenience of dropping a measuring
astrongpossibilitythattheviruscould in a statement released by Anglia tape from top to bottom, or if you can’t climb
contaminate the outer layers of the Ruskin University: “This study is im- to the top to use sophisticated instruments. To measure the height of a tree or building, a surveyor observes it from a known distance, measures the angle of elevation
eye via respiratory droplets after portant because it helps us under- Let’ssay,wehavetomeasuretheheightof with simple instruments, and calculates the height using trigonometry. To measure a faraway mountain, the distance to
coughing, sneezing or hand-to-eye stand more about how Covid-19 can apole,orabuilding.Wecanmarkanyarbitrary which is not known, two observations from two points result in two imaginary triangles; trigonometry will once again give
contact. infect the conjunctiva and how this point on the ground some distance from the the height. The Survey of India measured Mount Everest in the days before GPS. Photograph: Reuters
About the possibility of transmis- then allows the virus to spread building.Thiscanbeourpointof observation.
sion via transplantation, lead re- through the body.” Wenowneedtwothings—thedistanceofthe
searcherShahzad Miansaidinastate- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE buildingfromthepointofobservation,andthe canbeobservedfromrelativelyclosedistances, high peaks. So we have to fall back on the height of Mount Everest was not easy.
angle of elevation that the top of the building thiscangivequiteprecisemeasurements.But sametriangulationtechniquetomeasurethe
makes with the point of observation on the for Mount Everest and other high mountains, heights. But there is another problem. The Nepal and China have said they have
INDIA ACTIVE CASES 356,546 ground.Thedistanceisnotdifficulttoget.The there are some other complications. density of air reduces as we go higher. This measured Mount Everest to be 86 cm
angle of elevation is the angle that an imagi- Theseagainarisefromthefactthatwedo variation in air density causes the bending of higher than the 8,848 m that it was
narylinewouldmakeifitwasjoiningthepoint not know where thebase of the mountainis. light rays, a phenomenon known as refrac- known to be. What would that mean?
500,000 of observation on the ground to the top of the In other words, where exactly does the tion. Due to the difference in heights of the The 8,848-metre (or 29,028-foot) meas-
building. There are simple instruments with mountain meet flat ground surface. Or, observation point and the mountain peak, urement was done by the Survey of India in
416,082
thehelpof whichthisanglecanbemeasured. whether the point of ob- refractionresultsinaner- 1954 and it has been globally accepted since
So, if the distance from the point of ob- servation and the base of ror in measuring the ver- then. The measurement was carried out in
356,546 servation to the building is d and the angle themountainatthesame tical angle. This needs to the days when there was no GPS or other

400,000
of elevation is E, then the height of the build- horizontal level. THE EXPERTS be corrected. Estimating modern sophisticated instruments. This
ing would be d × tan(E). The Earth’s surface is the refraction correction shows how accurate they were even during
not uniformly even at LT GEN (RETD) GIRISH is a challenge in itself. that time.
Can it be that simple for measuring a every place. Because of KUMAR is the Surveyor In recent years, several attempts have
mountain? this, we measure heights General of India, and Doesn’t technology been made to re-measure Everest, and some
LAST 10 DAYS The principle is the same, and ultimately, from mean sea level. This NITIN JOSHI is Deputy offer easier solutions? of themhavebeenproducedresultsthatvary
Dec 3 Dec 12 we use thesamemethod, but there area few is done through a Surveyor General, Survey These days GPS is from the accepted height by a few feet. But
300,000 complications. The main problem is that painstaking process of India. widelyusedtodetermine these have been explained in terms of geo-
though you know the top, the base of the calledhigh-precisionlev- The responsibility of the coordinates and heights, logical processes that might be altering the
Note: The Dec 12 figure in this graph is based on the government update on Dec 13 mountainisnotknown. Thequestionisfrom elling. Starting from the Survey of India is to even of mountains. But, height of Everest. The accuracy of the 1954
which surface you are measuring the height. coastline, we calculate prepare authoritative GPS gives precise coordi- result has never been questioned.
Generally, for practical purposes the heights stepbystepthedifference maps, and its work nates of the top of a Most scientists now believe that the
INDIA TOTAL CASES WORLD TOTAL CASES are measured above mean sea level (MSL). inheight,usingspecialin- involves carrying out mountain relative to an heightof MountEverestisincreasingatavery
9,857,029 69,788,140 Moreover,weneedtofindthedistancetothe struments.Thisishowwe extensive land surveys ellipsoid which is an slow rate. This is because of the northward
Source:MinistryofHealth&Family Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity, mountain.Itseemseasytoday,buttherewere know the height of any and mapping imaginary surface math- movementof theIndiantectonicplatethatis
Welfare,updatedat11pmonDec13 updatedat11pmonDec11 no GPS or satellite images in the 1950s. So, city from mean sea level. topographical features. ematically modelled to pushing the surface up. It is this very move-
howtofindthedistanceof amountainwhere But there is one addi- Starting in 1952, the represent Earth. This sur- ment that created the great Himalayan
you cannot physically go? Till that time no- tional problem to be con- Survey of India facediffersfrommeansea mountains in the first place. It is this same
body had even climbed the Mount Everest. tended with — gravity. undertook an exercise to level. Similarly, overhead processthatmakesthisregionpronetoearth-
Wecangetaroundthisproblembymeas- Gravity is different at dif- measure the height of flying planes equipped quakes. A big earthquake, like the one that
uring the angles of elevation from two dif- ferent places. What that Mount Everest (then with laser beams (LiDAR) happened in Nepal in 2015, can alter the
ferent points of observation in the same line means that even sea level known as Peak XV). That canalsobeusedtogetthe heightsof mountains.Sucheventshavehap-
of view. The distances between these differ- cannot be considered to exercise measured the coordinates. pened in the past. In fact, it was this earth-
ent points of observations can be measured. be uniform at all places. height at 8,848 m (29,028 But these methods, quake that had prompted the decision to re-
We will now be dealing with two different In the case of Mount feet), which remained the including GPS, do not measure Everest to see whether there had
triangles, but with a common arm, and two Everest, for example, the globally accepted take gravity into consid- been any impact.
different angles of elevation. Again, by fol- concentration of such a standard, until now. eration. So, the informa- A86-cmrisewouldnotbesurprising.Itis
lowing simple rules of high-school huge mass would mean tion obtained through very possible that the height has increased
trigonometry,theheightof themountaincan that the sea level would GPS or laser beams is in all these years. But, at the same time, 86
be calculated, fairly precisely. In fact, this is get pulled upwards due to gravity. So, the lo- then fed into another modelthat accountfor cm in a height of 8,848 metres is a very small
how we used to do it before the advent of cal gravity is also measured to calculate the gravity to make the calculation complete. length. The detailed results of the Nepali and
GPS,satellites andothermoderntechniques. local sea level. Nowadays sophisticated Considering that during 1952-1954, Chinese efforts at measuring Everest are still
portablegravitometersareavailablethatcan when neither GPS and satellite techniques to be published in a journal. The real signifi-
How accurate is this? be carried even to mountain peaks. were available nor the sophisticated cance of this measurement would become
For small hills and mountains, whose top But the levelling cannot be extended to gravimeters, the task of determining the evident only after that.

Before Mamata, when Jaya refused to send IPS officers to Centre

SHYAMLALYADAV
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER13
IN THE Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal
government’s refusal to send three IPS offi-
cersoncentraldeputation,thereisanechoof
a similar refusal by then Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2001.
In the current instance, the Centre has
asked for the three IPS officers to be sent on
deputationwiththeGovernmentofIndiafol-
lowinganattackonBJPpresidentJPNadda’s
motorcadeoutsideKolkata;
these officers were in
charge of security. In its re- T OTAL
fusal,theWestBengalgov-
ernment has cited a shortage of IPS officers
(The Indian Express, December 13).
The Tamil Nadu parallel
JayalalithaatookoathasChiefMinisteron
May 13, 2001. On the night of June 29-30,
Tamil Nadu police’s CB-CID raided former
ChiefMinisterMKarunanidhi’shomeandar-
rested him along with his DMK colleagues
Murasoli Maran and T R Baalu, then minis-
ters in the NDA government of A B Vajpayee.
It resulted in the removal of Governor
Fathima Beevi, as the Centre was not happy
with her report. Then Law Minister Arun
Jaitleysaidthereportdid“notreflectthetrue
situation in Tamil Nadu today" and that the
Governorhad“whollyfailedtodischargeher
constitutional obligations”.
Three IPS officers were identified as in-
volved in the raid: then Chennai Police
Commissioner K Muthukaruppan, Joint
Commissioner Sebastian George, and
Deputy Commissioner Christopher Nelson.
Considered close to Jayalalithaa, all of them
have since retired. After retirement, Nelson
wasappointedasMember
R ECALL of the State Planning
Commission, and later as
the state Information
Commissioner.
InWestBengal,theofficerstheCentrehas
sought on central deputation are Rajeev
Mishra (Additional Director General, South
Bengal), Praveen Tripathi (Deputy Inspector
General, Presidency Range) and Bholanath
Pandey (SP, Diamond Harbour).
Asishappeningnow,theHomeMinistry,
thenunderLalKrishnaAdvani,hadaskedthe
Tamil Nadu government to relieve the three
officersforcentraldeputation.Jaitleyhadsaid
the Centre had “overriding powers” in the
Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi in 2012. Express Archive
transferofIPSofficers.Thedecisionwastaken
in a meeting of the Union Cabinet, and
Attorney General Soli Sorabjee was asked to
cut short a London trip to attend it.
Jayalalithaa then, like Mamata Banerjee
now,refusedtosparethoseofficers.Shewrote
to other Chief Ministers for their support to
protect the rights of the states. She wrote
about the "disturbing trend" in the manage-
ment of the state cadres of All India Services
and Centre-State relations. While declining
the Centre’s demand she had said, like
Mamata said on Saturday, that there was al-
ready a dearth of good officers in the state,
which needed those officers.
What the rules say
For the premier civil services — IAS, IPS
and Indian Forest Service — officers of the
state cadre are allotted by the Centre from a
pool of officers. From time to time, a certain
number of officers are sent on central depu-
tation.TheHomeMinistryistheauthorityin
control of IPS cadre, the Department of
PersonnelandTrainingfortheIAScadre,and
the Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change for IFS cadre.
Muthukaruppan told The Indian Express
on Sunday, “I cannot comment on what the
central government can do against the West
Bengal officers, but we approached CAT
(Central Administrative Tribunal) which
stayed the Home Ministry order. None of us
triedforcentraldeputationsince2001.There
was no other action by the central govern-
ment against us.”
TheCentrecantakenoactionagainstcivil
service officials who are posted under the
state government. Rule 7 of the All India
Services(DisciplineandAppeal)Rules,1969,
statesthatthe“Authoritytoinstituteproceed-
ings and to impose penalty” will be the state
government if the officer is “serving in con-
nection with the affairs of a State, or is de-
putedforserviceunderanycompany,associ-
ation or body of individuals, whether
incorporated or not, which is wholly or sub-
stantially owned or controlled by the
Governmentof aState,orinalocalauthority
set up by an Act of the Legislature of that
State.” For any action to be taken on an offi-
cer of the All India Services (IAS, IPS, IFS), the
state and the Centre both need to agree.
Rule 6(1) of the Indian Police Service
(Cadre) Rules, 1954 says about deputation:
“incaseofanydisagreement,themattershall
be decided by the central Government and
the state government or state governments
concerned shall give effect to the decision of
the Central Government.”
Under the Home Ministry’s deputation
policy for IPS officers, “if an officer on offer is
selectedforaCentralpostinganddoesnotre-
port either on his own or at the instance of
theStateGovernment,hewouldbedebarred
for consideration for a post under the
GovernmentofIndiaforaperiodoffiveyears.
Officers, who have already been debarred,
should not be offered before the debarment
period is over.” Being debarred from central
deputation, however, hardly bothers an offi-
cial if they prefer to work in their state.
Another episode, in February last year,
was a pointer to the Centre’s limitations in
acting against All India Service officers. The
Home Ministry had written to then Chief
Secretary Malay Kumar De calling for action
againstfiveofficers,includingDGPVirendra,
for allegedly taking part in a dharna organ-
isedbytheTrinamoolCongress.Thestategov-
ernment, however, said no officer had taken
part in the dharna.

New Delhi

14 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
A graphic simulation
shows the capsule on
its way back to Earth
CHINA
Capsulewith
Moonrocksstarts
returntoEarth
A CHINESE space capsule
bringing back the first
Moon rocks in more than
four decades started its
three-day return to Earth
on Sunday. The Chang’e 5
lunar probe, which had
beenorbitingtheMoonfor
about a week, fired up four
engines for about 22 min-
utes to move out of the
moon’s orbit, the China
National Space
Administrationsaidinaso-
cial media post. The craft’s
lander touched down on
the Moon earlier this
month. It collected about 2
kg of samples. The return
capsule is expected to land
in northern China in the
InnerMongoliaregionafter
separating from the rest of
the spacecraft and floating
down on parachutes. AP
AUSTRALIA
Afterfires,
countrygets
readyforfloods
JUST DAYS after bushfires
threatened an Australian
World Heritage site, thou-
sands were bracing for
floods on the subtropical
east coast on Sunday, with
beaches closed and the au-
thorities urging people to
sandbag their homes. With
asmuchas475millimetres
of rain in the previous 24
hours, the Bureau of
Meteorology issued a “se-
vere weather warning” for
the border area between
New South Wales and
Queensland states, a heav-
ily populated area that in-
cludestheQueenslandstate
capital Brisbane. REUTERS
MALAYSIA
Recordhaulof
crystalmethworth
$26.2mnseized
MALAYSIA’S MARITIME
agency said on Sunday it
had seized more than two
tonnes of crystal metham-
phetamine worth 105.9
million ringgit ($26.2 mil-
lion) from a boat off the
country’s west coast, its
largest-ever haul of the
drug. The discovery came
when authorities encoun-
tered a recreational boat
moving suspiciously off
Penang island, they said. A
chase ensued when the
boat’s lone occupant re-
fusedorderstostop.Hewas
later arrested. REUTERS
ARMED WITH A HANDGUN AND DISGUISES, MIRIAM RODRÍGUEZ WAS A ONE-WOMAN DETECTIVE SQUAD
A mother stalked her daughter’s killers across Mexico, one by one
AZAM AHMED
SAN FERNANDO, DECEMBER 13
MIRIAM RODRÍGUEZ clutched a
pistolinherpurseassheranpast
the morning crowds on the
bridge to Texas. She stopped
every few minutes to catch her
breath and study the photo of
her next target: the florist.
She had been hunting him
forayear,stalkinghimonline,in-
terrogating the criminals he
worked with, even befriending
unwittingrelativesfortipsonhis
whereabouts. Now she finally
had one — a widow called to tell
her that he was peddling flow-
ers on the border.
Eversince2014,shehadbeen
tracking the people responsible
forthekidnappingandmurderof
her 20-year-old daughter, Karen.
Half of them were already in
Historic US vaccine campaign against
Covid-19 begins with first shipments
Doses shipped across US on trucks and planes in packages cooled using dry ice
LISA BAERTLEIN
DECEMBER 13
THE FIRST shipments of Covid-
19 vaccine left on trucks and
planes early on Sunday, kicking
off ahistoricefforttostopa surg-
ing pandemic that is claiming
more than 2,400 lives a day in
the United States.
Mask-wearing workers at a
Pfizer factory in Michigan began
packing the first shipments of
the vaccine developed with
German partner BioNTech SE in
dry ice shortly after 6.30 am (lo-
cal time) on Sunday.
Trucks carrying pallets of
boxed,refrigeratedvaccinebegan
rollingawayfromtheKalamazoo
facility at 8.29 am, escorted by
body armour-clad security offi-
cers in a pickup truck and a SUV.
The shots then were loaded onto
FedEx and United Parcel Service
planes that will whisk the pre-
cious cargo across the country.
UShospitalsarepreparingfor
the first shots to go into arms on
Monday, but it will take months
before most Americans can get
a Covid-19 vaccine. Healthcare
workers and elderly residents of
long-termcarehomesarefirstin
line to receive the inoculations
of a two-dose regimen given
about three weeks apart.
Morethan100millionpeople,
orabout30%oftheUSpopulation,
couldbeimmunisedbytheendof
March,USOperationWarpSpeed
chief adviser Dr Moncef Slaoui
said in an interview with Fox
UK, EU scrap
deadline, say
talks to continue
on post-Brexit
trade agreement
RAF CASERT
& JILL LAWLESS
BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 13
THROWING OVERBOARD a self-
imposeddeadline,theEuropean
Union and Britain said Sunday
they will “go the extra mile” to
clinch a post-Brexit trade agree-
ment that would avert New
Year’s chaos and cost for cross-
border commerce.
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson and European
Commission President Ursula
von der Leyen had set Sunday as
thedecisivemomentforabreak-
through or breakdown in dead-
locked negotiations. But they
stepped back from the brink,
saying there was too much at
stake not to make a final push.
“Despitetheexhaustionafter
almostayearof negotiationsand
despite the fact that deadlines
have been missed over and over,
we both think it is responsible at
this point in time to go the extra
mile,” von der Leyen said.
“Where there’s life, there’s
hope. We’re going to keep talk-
ing to see what we can do,”
Johnson said.
In less than three weeks, the
UKwillleavetheEU’ssinglemar-
ket and customs union. AP
prison, not because authorities
hadcrackedthecase,butbecause
she had pursued them on her
own,withameticulousabandon.
She cut her hair, dyed it and
disguised herself as a pollster, a
health worker and an election
official to get their names and
addresses. She invented excuses
to meet their families, unsus-
pecting grandmothers and
cousins who gave her details,
howeversmall.Shewroteevery-
thing down and stuffed it into
her black computer bag, build-
ing her investigation and track-
ing them down, one by one.
She knew their habits,
friends,hometowns,childhoods.
She knew the florist had sold
flowersonthestreetbefore join-
ingtheZetacartelandgettingin-
volvedinher daughter’s kidnap-
ping.Nowhewason therunand
back to what he knew, selling
Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the
Pfizer Global Supply manufacturing plant in Portage, Michigan, on Sunday. Reuters
News Sunday.
Thatwouldstillleavethecoun-
tryfarshortofherdimmunitythat
would halt virus transmission, so
masks and social distancing will
be needed for months to control
therampagingoutbreak.
Healthofficialswillalso have
to overcome widespread hesi-
tancy about the new vaccines,
with many Americans con-
cerned the record speed at
whichtheyweredevelopedmay
have compromised safety. Only
61% of US respondents said they
are open to getting inoculated, a
Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
Parents pray for hundreds of students
kidnapped in Nigeria’s Katsina state
REUTERS
KANKARA, DECEMBER 13
PARENTS CONVERGED on a sec-
ondary school in Nigeria’s
northwestern Katsina state on
Sunday, begging authorities to
save hundreds of boys abducted
by gunmen.
More than 300 students
from the all-boys Government
Science school in Kankara taken
Friday night remained missing
on Sunday.
“We will not rest until wesee
theendof this,”statespokesman
Abdul Labaran told Reuters.
Labaran said military and in-
Pak Opp alliance holds final rally, announces
long march to force Imran Khan to resign
M ZULQERNAIN
LAHORE, DECEMBER 13
PAKISTAN’SOPPOSITIONalliance
onSundayhelditsfinalanti-gov-
ernmentrallyinLahoredespitea
ban on the gathering of more
than 300 people owing to an in-
crease in Covid-19 cases across
the country, with top coalition
leadersannouncingalongmarch
to Islamabad to force Prime
roses to make ends meet.
Without showering, she
threw a trench coat over her pa-
jamas, a baseball cap over her
fire engine-red hair and a gun in
her purse, heading for the bor-
der to find the florist. On the
bridge, she scoured the vendors
for flower carts, but that day he
was selling sunglasses instead.
When she finally found him, she
got too excited, and too close. He
recognised her and ran.
Hesprintedalongthenarrow
pedestrian pass, hoping to get
away. Rodríguez, 56 at the time,
grabbed him by the shirt and
wrestled him to the rails. She
jammed her gun into his back.
“If you move, I’ll shoot you,”
she told him, according to fam-
ily members involved in her
scramble to capture the florist
that day. She held him there for
nearly an hour, awaiting police
“It is, however, critical that
mostof theAmericanpeoplede-
cide and accept to take the vac-
cine,” Slaoui said. “We are very
concerned by the hesitancy that
we see.”
The massive logistical effort
is further complicated by the
need to transport and store the
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at mi-
nus 70 Celsius, requiring enor-
mous quantities of dry ice or
specialised ultra-cold freezers.
Workers clapped and whis-
tled as the first boxes headed to
the trucks. The long-awaited
moment comes as the US death
In a classroom at a school in Kankara district, Katsina state,
Nigeria, after it was attacked by armed bandits. Reuters
telligence chiefs were in
Kankara to lead the rescue.
While 321 students were miss-
OppositionleadersMaryam
NawazSharif,Maulana Fazal-
ur-Rehmanand Bilawal
BhuttoattheLahorerally. AP
Miriam Rodríguez’s son Luis at the site where his sister’s
remains were found in San Fernando, Mexico. NYT
to make the arrest.
Inthreeyears,Rodríguezcap-
turednearlyeverylivingmember
ofthecrewthathadabductedher
daughter for ransom, a rogues’
gallery of criminals who tried to
start new lives — as a born-again
Christian,ataxidriver,acarsales-
man, a babysitter.
toll was approaching 300,000
and infections and hospitalisa-
tions set daily records. Some
modelsprojectthatdeathscould
reach 500,000 before vaccines
become widely available in the
spring and summer.
Slaoui said the US hopes to
haveabout40milliondosesofvac-
cine distributed by the end of
December, which he said would
includevaccinesbybothPfizerand
Moderna.AnoutsideFDAadvisory
panelisscheduledtoconsiderthe
Moderna vaccine on Thursday,
with emergency use expected to
begrantedshortlyafter. REUTERS
ing, he said some could have
gone home to other states.
All state schools in Katsina
Minister Imran Khan to resign.
Addressing the rally held at
Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan via
video link, Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz
Sharifonceagainlashedoutatthe
armed forces, accusing them of
beinginvolvedinpoliticalmatters.
“Stop political engineering
factories in agencies,” said the
three-time former PM.
Pakistan's powerful Army
has denied meddling in politics.
In all, she was instrumental in
taking down 10 people, a mad
campaignforjusticethatmadeher
famous, but vulnerable. No one
challengedorganizedcrime,never
mindputitsmembersinprison.
OnMother’sDay,2017,weeks
aftershehadchaseddownoneof
her last targets, she was shot in
Bahrain clears
Chinese vaccine
Dubai:BahrainsaidSundayitap-
provedtheuseof aChinesecoro-
navirus vaccine, following its
earlier approval of a vaccine
made by Pfizer and its German
partner BioNTech. Separately,
Kuwait has granted emergency
use for the Pfizer vaccine.
Bahrain’sstate-runnews agency
said the Sinopharm vaccine
would be available in the island
kingdom off the coast of Saudi
Arabia in the Persian Gulf. It of-
feredfewdetailsthoughonstudy
resultsof thevaccine,inlinewith
the United Arab Emirates, which
lastweekannouncedthevaccine
was 86% effective. The Emirati
statement provided few details
but marked the first public re-
lease of information on the effi-
cacy of the shot. AP
PAKINCREASESFUNDS
FORVACCINETO$250MN
Islamabad: Pakistan has in-
creased the funds allocated for
purchasing Covid-19 vaccine to
$250 million fromthe earlier ap-
proved amount of $150 million.
Ithasalsosignednon-disclosure
agreements with various multi-
national companies under
which the recipient country will
not make details of the vaccine
public, the Dawn reported.
Authorities said they hoped the
delivery of the vaccine would
start by the end of the first quar-
ter of next year. PTI
were ordered to close because
officialsdidnotknowtheattack-
ers’motives,theeducationcom-
missioner said.
Abubakar Lawal came from
Zaria, a city 120 kilometres
south of Kanara. Two of his
three sons at the school were
among the missing.
“From yesterday I was here,
praying that the almighty Allah
shouldrescueourpeople,”hesaid
outsidethedustyschoolgrounds.
Attacks by armed gangs,
widely known as bandits, are
common throughout north-
western Nigeria. The groups at-
tackcivilians,stealingorkidnap-
pingthemforransom. REUTERS
HisdaughterandPML-NVice
President Maryam Nawaz
launched a frontal attack on ISI
and judiciary for ousting her fa-
therandimposing“ineptandin-
competent” PM on the country.
Maryam urged supporters to
answer the call for a march to
Islamabad. Maulana Fazlur
Rehman, the head of the
Opposition alliance, said the
marchwilltakeplacelateJanuary
or early February. PTI
front of her home and killed.
For many in the northern city
of San Fernando, her story repre-
sentssomuchofwhatiswrongin
Mexico — and so remarkable
about its people, their persever-
anceinthefaceofgovernmentin-
difference. The country is so torn
apart by violence and impunity
that a grieving mother had to
solve the disappearance of her
daughterlargelyonherown,and
died violently because of it.
Her stunning campaign
changedSanFernando,forawhile
at least. People took heart at her
fight,andfoundindignationinher
death. The city placed a bronze
plaque honouring her in the cen-
tral plaza. Her son, Luis, took over
thegroupshehadstarted,acollec-
tive of the many local families
whose loved ones had disap-
peared. Authorities pledged to
capture herkillers.San Fernando
New Delhi
PROTESTS AGAINST U.S. ELECTION RESULTS
Supporters of Trump, including members of the far-right
group Proud Boys, at a rally in Washington on Saturday. AP
4 stabbed, 1 shot at as
Trump supporters
and opponents clash
HAILEY FUCHS, PRANSHU
VERMA & NICHOLAS
BOGEL-BURROUGHS
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 13
INCENSED BY a Supreme Court
ruling that further dashed US
PresidentDonaldTrump’shopes
of invalidating his November
electoraldefeat,thousandsof his
supporters marched
Washington and several state
in
capitalsSaturdaytoprotestwhat
they contended, against all evi-
dence, was a stolen election.
In some places, angry con-
frontations between protesters
and counterprotesters escalated
intoviolence.Therewereseveral
scuffles in the national capital,
where at least four people were
stabbed,andthepolicedeclareda
riot in Olympia, Washington,
where one person was shot.
InvideosofaclashinOlympia
thatwerepostedonsocialmedia,
a single gunshot can be heard as
black-clad counterprotesters
move toward members of the
pro-Trump group. After the gun-
shot, one of the counterprotest-
ers is seen falling to the ground,
and others call for help.
Chris Loftis, a spokesman for
theWashingtonStatePatrol,said
two people were in custody in
connection with theepisode but
that specific details about the
shooting were not yet clear, in-
cluding the condition of the per-
son who was shot.
State and federal courts have
rejected dozens of lawsuits by
Trump’s allies seeking to chal-
lengetheelectionresults,butthe
pointed refusal by the Supreme
Court on Friday to hear a case
filed by the attorney general of
Texas loomed the largest yet. By
Charley Pride, the first Black
country music superstar, dies
MARK KENNEDY
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 13
CHARLEY PRIDE, one of country
music’s first Black superstars
whose rich baritone on such hits
as Kiss an Angel Good Morning
helped sell millions of records
and made him the first Black
member of the Country Music
Hallof Fame,hasdied.Hewas86.
Pride died Saturday in Dallas
of complications from Covid-19,
accordingtoJeremyWestbyofthe
public relations firm 2911 Media.
Pride released dozens of
albums and sold more than
25 million records during a ca-
reer that began in the mid-
grew quiet for a time, as if spent
by its own tragic history.
That is, until July of this year,
when a 14-year-old boy, Luciano
Leal Garza, was snatched off the
streets—themostpublickidnap-
for-ransomcasesinceRodríguez’s
crusade to find her daughter.
Rodríguez’s son, Luis, 36,
could not help but see the paral-
lels,andweptwhenheheardthe
news.Luciano was kidnapped in
one of the family’s own trucks,
just like Rodríguez’s daughter
had been. Luciano’s family paid
two ransoms for their son, just
as Rodríguez’s family had in its
fruitless attempt to free Karen.
It was all happening again.
Townspeople marched, de-
manding justice for Luciano.
Brigadessearchedmileaftermile
of barren scrubland for signs of
him. His mother, Anabel Garza,
charismaticandfearless,became
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Continued fraud
claims cause worry
MORETHANamonthafter
JoeBidenwasdeclaredthe
winnerof theNov3election,
Trumphasdoubleddownon
claimsthatvotingwas
marredbywidespreadfraud.
Theseclaimsweredismissed
byelectionauthoritiesfrom
bothpartiesanddozensof
judges.Inthebiggestblowsto
Trump,theconservative-ma-
joritySupremeCourttwice
rejectedhisclaims,andhis
ownA-Ghassaidthereisno
proof of fraud.Despitethis,
thePresidentandallieshave
continuedtopushtheclaims,
raisingconcernsthatthis
couldleadtoincreasedfrus-
trationamongTrumpsup-
porters,leadingtoincidents
of violenceandalackof confi-
denceindemocraticinstitu-
tionsthatcouldresultin
widespreadunrest.
foreclosing one of the last legal
avenues Trump had to poten-
tially block Biden from succeed-
ing him on Inauguration Day, it
leftmanyof hispartisanscasting
angrily about for answers.
One of Trump’s former na-
tional security advisers, Michael
Flynn, whom Trump pardoned
in November, told Trump sup-
porters not to “get bent out of
shape” by the latest setback, as-
suring them that there were still
ways to fight back. NYT
Charley Pride was 86
1960s. Hits besides Kiss an
Angel Good Morning in 1971 in-
cluded Is Anybody Goin’ to San
Antone, Burgers and Fries,
Mountain of Love, and Someone
Loves You Honey.
He had three Grammy
Awards, more than 30 No. 1 hits
between 1969 and 1984. AP
aspokespersonforthestaggering
number of missing people in
Mexico — more than 70,000 na-
tionwide — and the unrelenting
tide of loss in a country where
homicides have nearly doubled
in the last five years alone.
Butthefightwasverydifferent
thistime.Rodríguez,whosedeter-
mination to find her daughter of-
fered a guiding light for the cam-
paign to save Luciano years later,
was also a warning of what
awaited anyone who pushed too
hard.UnlikeRodríguez’srelentless
pursuit of her daughter’s killers,
Luciano’s parents did not seek to
punishthepowerfulcartel.“Look,
we all want to do what Miriam
did,”saidtheteenager’sfather,also
named Luciano, on the three-
monthanniversaryofhisson’sdis-
appearance. “But look at how
thingsendedforher.Dead.”
“That’s our fear,” he said. NYT

15 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
AMIDSLOWRECOVERYINSTOCKPRICESOFGOVERNMENT-OWNEDCOMPANIES
State-ownedcosplangreaterinvestor
outreach to boost market valuation
SUNNYVERMA&
SANDEEPSINGH
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER13
THEGOVERNMENThasrenewed
itsfocusonimprovingthemarket
capitalisation of state-owned
companiesandbanksinlinewith
the profitability and other finan-
cial parameters.
Sources said state-owned
companiesareincreasingtheirin-
teractions with institutional in-
vestorstolookatwaystostudythe
reasons for lag in their perform-
anceandhowitcanbeimproved.
Even as consumption-focused
government-owned companies
suchasIRCTC,IGL,MGLhavedone
wellonstockexchanges,mostare
lagging their private sector coun-
terparts across sectors.
Given that equity benchmark
indices have made lifetime highs
after crashing in March due to
sudden shock of Covid-19 pan-
demicontheeconomy,therecov-
eryinstockpricesofgovernment-
owned companies has been less
than impressive, with foreign
How Indian cos
Govt seeks stakeholder views on
adhere to diversity defining ‘basic pay’, ‘allowances’
requirements
KARUNJIT SINGH
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
THE NASDAQ stock exchange in
the US may soon require all
companies listed on the bourse
to include at least one female
board member as well as one
member from a racial minority
group or from the LGBTQ com-
munity on their board of direc-
tors. There also are in place di-
versity requirements from
Indian companies and their
compliance with these rules.
What are the diversity
requirements that Indian
companies need to meet?
All public com-
panies which are
listed on stock ex-
changesandcompa-
nies with either a
paid-up capital of Rs
100 crore or annual
turnoveroverRs300
crore are required to
have at least one woman board
member under the Companies
Act.TheSecuritiesandExchange
Board of India (Sebi) further re-
quires, since April 1, 2020, that
thetop1000listedcompaniesby
market capitalisation have a
woman board member who is
also an independent director.
What is the level of
compliance on diversity
requirements by Indian
companies?
According to data compiled
by Institutional Investor
Advisory Services (IiAS), 17 per
cent of directors in the Nifty 500
companies were women, as of
the end of the last fiscal, with 44
per cent of Nifty 500 companies
having two or more women di-
rectors. The report by IiAS noted
that only 3 per cent of Nifty 500
companies had no women di-
rectors. Experts noted that other
BRIEFLY
24X7RTGS
begins
New Delhi: The Real Time
Gross Settlement System
(RTGS)forhigh-valuetrans-
actions became available
round-the-clockfrom00:30
hours Monday onwards,
makingIndiaoneof thefew
countriesintheworldtoop-
erate the system 24X7.
‘GDPcould
shrinkby10%’
NewDelhi:Thecurrentmac-
roeconomic situation is
“very uncertain” and the
GDPcouldcontractcloserto
10percentinthecurrentfis-
cal, former chief statistician
PronabSensaidSunday. PTI
FPI HOLDING IN PSU STOCKS ON THE WANE
■ConcernsoverPSUstocks
overthelastyearhaveledto
foreignportfolioinvestors
(FPIs)lowertheirholdings,as
theypumpedinanetof `1.56
lakhcroreintoequitiesin
April-November,butdidnot
paymuchattentiontostate-
ownedcompanies
portfolio investors continuing to
prefer private companies. Low
valuationisaconcernforthegov-
ernment as it has a heavy disin-
vestment pipeline.
“Thisissuehasbeendiscussed
a number of times. We are very
clearthatcompanieshavetowork
on whether in terms of investor
outreach or other issues to im-
provetheirmarketcapitalisation.
In terms of business volumes,
manyofthegovernmentcompa-
niesareleadersintheirrespective
sectors, but do not command the
kind of valuation we would like
them to have based on key pa-
than some public sector enter-
prises (PSEs) which have lagged
on the appointment of inde-
pendent directors, all major
companies were in compliance
with thediversity requirements.
A number of PSEs have also
sought exemption from the re-
quirement that any company
without a non-executive chair-
man include at least 50 per cent
independent directors on their
board of directors as the power
of appointment of directors for
PSEslieswiththenodalministry
in the central government.
“Except PSUs, there has been
a general increasein compliance
with regulations mandating
gender diversity on the board of
directors,”saidAnkit
Singhi, partner at
law firm Corporate
Professionals,
adding that Sebi had
become more strict
with regulations re-
lated to diversity in
rectors.
appointment of di-
An expert who did not wish
to be quoted said that a signifi-
cant number of companies had
appointed relatives of promot-
ers as directors to fulfil the re-
quirement of a woman director
and that such directors were un-
likely to show the level of inde-
pendenceexpectedfromadirec-
tor. The person, however, added
that large multinational compa-
nies were leading the way in fol-
lowing the diversity regulations
in letter and spirit by appointing
qualified independent women
directors to their boards.
An expert who did not wish
to be named pointed out that di-
versity requirement mandating
a member of the LGBTQ com-
munity on the board of directors
was not necessary, noting that
“sexual orientation should not
be an issue in appointments to
the board of directors.”
Public capex may rise to `7.5 lakh cr in DHFL: Fraudulent
second half of FY21, 80% higher than H1 transactions worth
PRASANTASAHU
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER13
THE CENTRE, states and central
public sector enterprises (CPSEs)
among them will likely spend Rs
7.5 lakh crore on capital invest-
mentsinthesecondhalfofthisfis-
cal, up 80 per cent over such
expenditure in the first half, ac-
cordingtoananalysisbasedonof-
ficialprojectionsandinformation
gathered from different sources.
Overall spending, including
revenue expenditure by the
Centre and states will, however,
rise only 15 per cent or there-
abouts on-year to over Rs33lakh
croreinH2.Theexpectedsurgein
public capex in H2 would mean
■Shareholdingdata
availableatBSEshowsthatin
caseof ONGC,whiletheFPI
holdingfellfrom8.65%in
December2019to7.69%in
September2020,IndianOil
CorporationsawtheFPI
holdingfallfrom7.64%to
6.07%inthesameperiod
rameters,” a senior government
official said.
Whiletheoverallmarketswit-
nessed a sharp rise, the state-
owned companies lagged in per-
formance at the stock markets.
They have, however, caught up
between November and
December. While the Sensex
jumped by 34 per cent between
April and October, and the mid-
and small-cap indices at the BSE
rose 41 per cent and 55 per cent,
respectively, the BSE PSU index
was up by just 2.2 per cent.
However,betweenNovember
and December, they outperfor-
DRAFT RULES FOR CODE ON WAGES
AANCHALMAGAZINE
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER13
THEGOVERNMENTmayconsider
tweaking the definition of basic
pay and allowances in the draft
rules for Code on Wages, taking
into account the concerns raised
by industry and employers that
the new definition is likely to re-
sult in lower take-home salaries
for employees.
TheLabourMinistryhasasked
somecompaniestoformallycom-
municatetheissueinresponseto
thedraftruleswhichwereputout
earlierforpublicfeedback.“Some
companies have approached the
ministry on this matter. We have
asked them to formally respond
to the draft rules. So during the
rulemaking itself, we’ll take the
concerns into consideration be-
cause the rules are yet to be fi-
nalised,”aseniorLabourMinistry
official told The Indian Express.
IntheCodeonWages,thegov-
AMID COVID-19
‘Air travel demand in Nov sees
recovery over a month ago’
Recovery in domestic air travel demand continued in
November, with passengers rising 19% month-on-month
to around 62 lakh in November, rating agency ICRA said
Why is it important: Even as domestic flights witness a
sustained recovery, currently, only flights under special
arrangements, such as air bubble pacts and the Vande
Bharat Mission, are being operated on overseas routes
Overallspending,
includingrevenue
expenditurebyCentre
andstateswill, however,
riseonlyabout15%
on-yeartoover`33lakh
croreinH2FY21
that a recovery in fixed invest-
ment rate that was visible in Q2
willgainfurthersteaminthesec-
ond half of FY21, giving a strong
supporttogrosscapitalformation.
Fixed investments, for long in
thedoldrums,improvedtoreport
just7.3percentdeclineon-yearin
Q2,comparedwitharecordfallof
med the Sensex and mid- and
small-capindices.WhileinNove-
mber the BSE PSU index rose 16
percentagainsttheSensexriseof
11percent,theindexhasrisen10
per cent in December as against
the Sensex gain of 4.4 per cent.
Aseniorfundmanagerwitha
leading mutual fund said that in-
vestorshavemovedtowardsPSU
stocks over the last few weeks as
theyofferedalotofvaluebecause
of attractive valuation.
“Institutional investors are look-
ing for value pick at this time
when the overall market has re-
coveredsignificantly.Agoodqual-
itycompanyavailableatrelatively
lower valuation is attracting in-
vestors as of now,” he said.
With economic activity re-
turningtonormalcyandavaccine
against coronavirus looking
within reach, equities are ex-
pectedtoremainapreferredclass
ofinvestmentamidalowerinter-
estrateenvironmentandsurplus
liquidityindomesticandinterna-
tional markets.
“Some investment bankers
have raised issues of low public
ernmenthascomeoutwithanew
definition of wages, putting a cap
onallowancesat50percentofto-
talcompensation,implyingbasic
pay will have to be 50 per cent or
more. Usually, companies struc-
turesalarieswithahigherpropor-
tionof allowancesthanbasicpay.
Thenewdefinitionofwagesis
expected to result in higher gra-
tuity and provident fund (PF) de-
ductions as they are linked to the
levelofbasicpay,whichinturn,is
expected to result in lower take-
home salaries.
However, officials said that
since PF contribution is manda-
toryonlytillRs15,000salarylevel,
the PF contribution above that
thresholdwillnotbeimpactedby
the new definition of wages.
“AboveRs15,000isvoluntary,
we have mandated till Rs 15,000
only.Itisuptothecompaniesand
employeestochangethepercent-
age of provident fund contribu-
tion.Notagainstthelawiftheem-
ployer doesn’t depositbeyond Rs
47percentseeninQ1;ofcoursea
favourable base (-3.9 per cent)
aided the pick-up.
Chief Economic Adviser
KrishnamurthySubramanianhad
said the sharp narrowing of the
contraction in gross fixed capital
formationinQ2fromarecordde-
cline in Q1 was an “encouraging
sign”,andnotedtheimprovement
wasdespiteaslideingovernment
spending in the second quarter.
As is known, the economy
hasn’t received much govern-
ment spending support in Q2 —
governmentconsumptionexpen-
diture fell 22 per cent on year.
However, there have since been
signs of improvement with the
Centre’s Budget spending rising
9.5percenton-yearinOctober,af-
float being one reason behind
state-ownedfirmsnotbeingable
to attract enough institutional
flows.Weareworkingontheseis-
sues and a number of offers for
sale (OFS) are being lined up to
raisereceiptsaswellastoenhance
publicfloat,”thegovernmentoffi-
cial added.
There have been some con-
cerns over the performance of
PSU stocks over the last one year
andthatledtoFPIsreducingtheir
holdings in several companies.
EvenasFPIspumpedinanetofRs
1.56 lakh crore into equities be-
tween April 1 and November,
state-owned companies did not
get much attention.
Shareholdingdataavailableat
BSE shows that in case of ONGC,
while the FPI holding declined
from 8.65 per cent in December
2019to7.69percentinSeptember
2020, Indian Oil Corporation saw
the FPI holding fall from 7.64 per
cent to 6.07 per cent in the same
period.Even,incaseofSBI,FPIsre-
duced their holding from 10.98
percentinDecember2019to7.75
per cent in September 2020.
15,000. So, the new definition of
wageswillbeanissueonlyforthe
gratuity component,” said a gov-
ernment official.
Atpresent,employerandem-
ployee can make voluntary PF
contributions on actual wages in
casethemonthlysalaryoftheem-
ployeeisoverRs15,000andtheir
PF contribution can be capped at
12 per cent of Rs 15,000, which is
mandated by the government.
Theofficialsaidthatwhatever
changehappens,willbeprospec-
tive. “It won’t affect previous
salaries. Once we do it for next
year,employerswillautomatically
adjust their salary structure ac-
cordingly. Then the companies
will adjust their compensation
structure accordingly taking into
accounthighergratuity.But,we’ll
be taking note of their concerns,”
the official added. The govern-
ment had floated draft rules for
Code on Wages in July. The four
new labour codes are likely to
come into effect from April 1.
IMPROVEMENT IN CAPACITY DEPLOYMENT BY
DOMESTIC AIRLINES IN LAST THREE MONTHS:
59%
Nov
52% Fall in domestic air
passenger volume in
November over the
corresponding month last year
83% Fall in international
passenger traffic this
November over year-ago month
Low fuel prices expected: Prolonged shutdown
of manufacturing activities and the pandemic
impact on global economic activity will keep
crude oil prices, and thus ATF prices, low
tera26percentfallinSeptember;
also,budgetarycapexwasup130
per cent on-year in the month, at
Rs 31,519 crore.
However, states’ capital ex-
penditure, or capex — estimated
tohavefallensharplybyabout40
per cent on-year to Rs 1.2 lakh
crore in H1FY21 — may remain
subdued in H2FY21 as well,
mainly due to their revenue con-
straints. For the current fiscal as a
whole,states’capexperformance
may turn out to be one of the
worst in recent years, with likely
achievement of about Rs 3 lakh
crore,or46percent,ofthebudget
targetofRs6.5lakhcrore.Itcapex
was about Rs 5 lakh crore, or 42
per cent of public capex, (Centre,
states and CPSEs) in FY20. FE
Market Watch
FPIS STOCK UP ON EQUITIES
New Delhi: Excess liquidity, attractive valuations and weakness in
the US dollar propelled foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to flock
to the Indian stock market in a big way with the highest-ever net
inflow of Rs 1.4 lakh core in 2020. PTI
INTERVIEW: VICE-PRESIDENT OF ENGINEERING & MD, McAFEE INDIA
‘Once back to normal, there’ll
be lowering of digital guard ...
the behaviour has to change’
AS THE world continues to work
from home amid the Covid-19
pandemic, cloud and data secu-
rity will continue to remain im-
portant for both companies and
individuals. The digitisation that
would normally take up to five
years has taken place at an un-
precedented speed during the
pandemic-induced lockdown.
However, there are chances that
once things are back to normal,
the focus on cyber and cloud se-
curity may dip a little compared
to now, VENKAT KRISHNAPUR,
vice-president of engineering
and managing director of
McAfee India, said in an interac-
tion with AASHISH ARYAN.
Edited Excerpts:
One of the collateral benefits
of the current work from
home scenario is that there
has been an exponential
increase in the use of digital
services. Is there a
corresponding increase in
awareness of digital security?
The needs have significantly
increased in terms of the digiti-
sationandthevirtualisationthat
one would have normally seen
after the pandemic. We have a
lot of data to support that. Some
of thespam-basedCovid-related
URLs(uniformresourcelocator),
which were in single digit in
February, that goes up to more
than40,000-50,000bynowover
these months. The whole threat
landscapejustchangedinfavour
of the bad actors in cybersecu-
rity due to the whole work,
school and everything from
home scenario.
Corporates, small and med-
ium-sized enterprises were not
prepared for this kind of remote
working,whichwasneverheard
of before. The needs of the peo-
ple and everything associated it
with becamedigital.There is the
wholeexplosionof misinforma-
tionontheinternettoday,which
makes it much more important
to have the right kind of cyber-
security solutions. You need to
make sure the endpoints are
protected, the data, device and
person need to be secured.
Will this pandemic trigger a
behaviour change as far as
cybersecurity is concerned?
Or will it be one of those
periods when people will
implement short-term
solutions?
52%: 46%:
Oct Sep
2,065: Flights departing as on
December 7, against 416 on
May 25 when flights resumed
1,806: Average daily
departures last month,
significantly below 3,080 in
November 2019
Source:
Icra/PTI
`1,058 crore flagged
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER13
CRISIS-RIDDEN NON-BANKING
finance company DHFL on
Sunday said fraudulent transac-
tionsofRs1,058.32crorebywayof
undervaluation,fraudandprefer-
entialtreatmenttocertainentities
havebeendetectedbytransaction
auditor Grant Thornton (GT). The
company is undergoing resolu-
tionprocessundertheInsolvency
and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
The company, which is now
beingrununderanadministrator,
hadengagedGrantThorntonear-
lier this year to conduct an inves-
New Delhi
Venkat Krishnapur
The kind of digitisation that
has happened during the pan-
demic would have taken almost
five years in our view. That’s the
scalethathashappenedbecause
of the one-of-a-kind unique
event.Whenyoulookatthedata
today, there is a significant
amount of surge in digital secu-
rity services and their needs.
Chances are that once we get
back to normal, there is going to
be that lowering of the guard, so
to speak, potentially that is pos-
sible. The reality is this is not
something that we expect, even
with the vaccination, that it will
go away in a month or two. It is
possible to live into this kind of
situationrightthrough2021and
beyond 2021 into 2022 as well.
We are talking of at least two
years where people will con-
tinue to remain working where
this kind of digitisation has hap-
pened. There is that awakening
in terms of how much digitisa-
tion can help people. I think the
immediate threat is not going
away. We are in for a long haul.
The behaviour has to change
becausedigitisationhasbrought
something new, people have
tasted something new, of the
possibility of infinite things to
happen. Therefore, the security
needs will continue to be there.
During the pandemic and
once the race for vaccine got
underway, there were a lot of
state-orchestrated or
individual cyberattacks on
companies, especially in the
pharma and the logistics
sectors. How do you see this
trend panning out?
This is not new. What we
have seen today is a certain in-
stanceof whathasbeenhappen-
ing for many, many years. The
GSTR-3B return form
to be auto-populated
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
BUSINESSESWILLnowgetcom-
plete auto-populated monthly
sales return form GSTR-3B, GST
Network said on Sunday. “For
ease of taxpayers, now the sys-
tem will auto populate GSTR-3B
(monthly) on the basis of details
filed in GSTR-1 and auto-drafted
ITC statement GSTR-2B from
November 2020 tax period on-
wards,” Goods and Services Tax
Network (GSTN) said.
Based on the supplies return
GSTR-1filedbybusinesses,GSTN
willauto-populatetheliabilities,
whileinputtaxcredit(ITC)would
be populated from system-
tigation into the affairs of the
mortgage lender.
Theadministratorofthecom-
pany received additional report
from professional agency (Grant
Thornton), indicating that there
arecertaintransactionswhichare
undervalued,fraudulentandpref-
erentialinnature,DewanHousing
Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL)
said in a regulatory filing.
Basisthisreport,DHFLsaidthe
administrator has filed three ap-
plications before the Mumbai
bench of the National Company
Law Tribunal (NCLT), adding this
is the company’s fourth filing
basedonthereportsubmittedby
the auditor.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Iraniannuclearreactorswereat-
tacked by a cyber state as early
as2010,whichhackedtheircon-
trol system. The nuclear pro-
gram was impacted. We have
been seeing state-driven cyber
attacks for a long time. The at-
tack on pharma companies is
one example of that.
Some countries have armies
of people specifically devoted to
determining where you have
these gaps and vulnerabilities
that could be exploited. The at-
tack on pharma companies is to
gain more knowledge from
other countries and companies
in the current situation.
Would it be fair to say that
companies were under- or
unprepared to face these
kinds of cyber-attacks?
If companiesdidnothavethe
right cybersecurity or risk miti-
gation measures in place,
chances are there could have
been a lot of data loss. To a large
degree, all these big companies
are prepared for these kinds of
attacks. Because it is also related
totheirintellectualproperty(IP).
SoIPissocriticalinthissituation.
I think there could have been
an element of unpreparedness
as we rushed to create cyberse-
curity, but most of these big
companies are aware of the kind
of consequences that can actu-
ally result from getting exposed,
eveninnormalconditions.Itwill
get better as we understand the
natureof theseattacks.Itisacat-
and-mouse game.
Where does India stand
globally as far as
cybersecurity preparedness
is concerned?
The cybersecurity services
industryspendinIndiaisaround
$4.3 billion, and we expect it to
grow to $7.6 billion by 2022. We
are almost doubling. When you
look at cybersecurity market in
India, it is growing twice as fast
astheglobalmarket.Fromacon-
sumer business point of view,
over the last few months, the
numberof newcustomers,India
is the second-largest country in
terms of downloading our prod-
ucts and services.
The number of attacks on
cloud-based services has in-
creased by 630 per cent since
March. Companies would be
naive not to invest in cybersecu-
rity in this kind of environment.
drafted statement GSTR-2B.
“If the total liability of a par-
ticular period is negative on ac-
count of debit/credit notes, the
same will be auto-populated as
zero liability,” GSTN said.
WhilebusinessesfileGSTR-1
of aparticularmonthbythe11th
day of the subsequent month,
GSTR-3B is filed in a staggered
mannerbetween20th-24thday
of the succeeding month.
Furthermore, the facility of
communication between tax-
payers has been enabled on the
GST portal.
EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain
said GSTN has enabled the facil-
ityforsuppliersandrecipientsto
communicate with one another
over the online portal itself.
IFSCA: Bullion
exchange
norms notified
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER13
THE INTERNATIONAL Financial
ServicesCentresAuthority(IFSCA)
onSundaysaidithasnotifiedbul-
lionexchangeregulations,paving
the way for setting up the entire
ecosystemforbulliontrading,in-
cludingbullion exchange, depos-
itory, clearing house and vaults.
IFSCAhasbeenentrustedwith
the responsibility of operational-
izationofthisexchange,anofficial
statement said. “In this regard,
International Financial Services
Centres Authority (Bullion
Exchange)Regulations2020were
approved by the Authority in its
meeting held on October
27,2020,” the statement added.
 16 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
Farmers’
protest impacts
BCCI domestic
schedule
DEVENDRA PANDEY
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 13
INDIAN CRICKET’S domestic season during
thepandemicwillfinallybeginwiththeSyed
MushtaqAliT20tournamentfromJanuary10
with the final to be played on January 31. The
Indian Express understands that the ongoing
farmers’agitationandthecoldweatheratthis
timeof theyeararetwoof thereasonsfornot
holding the tournament in North India.
"There are always fog issues in January
and travelling could be hampered. Many
games were affected due to bad light in the
past. Since we have less time, we don’t
want to take risks, especially during these
pandemic times. We also don’t know what
will be the situation with regards to the
farmers’ agitation. If things continue like
this, players’ mobility could be an issue,” a
BCCI official said.
The Indian cricket board has informed
the member associations that all teams
should report to their respective hubs by
January 2. The BCCI will have six bio-secure
hubs, with the 38 teams divided into groups,
and the BCCI will announce the venues in
the coming days. It is understood that the
board won’t have any Elite or Plate groups
for the T20 tourney; instead the teams will
be divided into groups.
TheBCCIwillaskthestateunitstogetthe
Covid-19 tests done before the teams reach
the hubs. The teams are likely to go into a
seven-dayquarantineandtheBCCIisintalks
with its medical team and a few experts to
help them set up a secure bio-bubble.
In the mail to state units, BCCI secretary
JayShahwrote,“Ihadsoughtyourresponses
on the possibilities of organising domestic
cricket this season. The members of BCCI are
integraltoitandtheBCCIwouldnotbeasuc-
cess without the efforts that the members
put in at the grass-root level. After having
gone through your responses and in accor-
dance with the feedback received, I am
pleased to inform you that the BCCI is plan-
ning to start the domestic season 2020-21
with the scheduling of the T20 tournament
for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.”
Shah added that the board will seek fur-
therfeedbackonorganisingtheotherdomes-
tic tournaments and that a decision will be
taken after the group stage of the Syed
Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The BCCI will ask
whetherthestateunitswishtohosttheVijay
Hazare Trophy or the Ranji Trophy.
Meanwhile,BCCIhasalsoextendedthedead-
line for inter-state transfers and registration
of guest players to December 20.
Pondicherry eager to host
international matches
Cricket Association of Pondicherry (CAP)
has written to BCCI president Sourav
Ganguly requestingthat Puducherry becon-
sideredtohostinternationalgamesinthefu-
ture.TheCAPwas includedintotheBCCIfold
twoyearsagoaftertheadoptionof theLodha
Committee recommendations that led to
many new teams taking part in the various
BCCI tournaments.
“CAP has built a beautiful stadium and
in all, we have six stadiums with flood-
lights. We are hosting domestic games for
the last few years. We have requested BCCI
to consider us to host international games
or any World Cup games in future. It will
help smaller venues like us to grow fur-
ther," a CAP spokesperson said. In the mail
to Ganguly, P Damodaran, who will repre-
sent CAP at the BCCI Annual General Body
meeting on December 24, expressed the
same sentiment.
LIFE COURSE
At the US Women’s Open, love brews between a golfer and caddie
KAREN KROUSE
HOUSTON, DECEMBER 13
THE HONEYMOON began, as so many do for
golf-obsessednewlyweds,with18holes.The
skies were blue, the sun was warm and the
Spanish moss hung from the oak trees like
nature’stinsel,drapingthescenein tranquil-
ity. What better way to officially launch a
shared lifetime of come-what-mays than as
competitorsatthe75thU.S.Women’sOpen?
For Alena Sharp, 39, a soft-spoken
Canadian,andherU.S.-borncaddie andwife,
SarahBowman,lifeinthecumuluscloudthat
is2020hascomewithapowerfulrayof light.
Sharp’s first-round four-over 75 at
Champions Club’s Cypress Creek course was
the couple’s first competitive appearance
since they were married in the backyard of
their Arizona home November 23.
The ceremony was officiated by their
therapist. As part of their vows, exchanged
infrontof ninewitnessesandmorethan100
virtual guests from around the world, Sharp
commended Bowman’s positivity and her
personality, which she said “shines bright all
R.N.I. No.506/57. Printed and Published by R.C. Malhotra on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited and Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, A-8, Sector-7, Noida - 201301 and Published at The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 & 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002.
Editorial office: The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 & 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: 0120-6651500. Advertising office: The Indian Express (P) Limited, B1/B, Sector - 10, Noida - 201301. Phone: 0120-6651291. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor: Raj
Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor (Delhi): Rakesh Sinha ** **Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act. Copyright: 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.
[ Tracing the rise of talented game changers who are primed for their time in the sun during this Australian summer
Where there’s Will, there’s a way
Having battled mental demons, 22-year-old Australian batting whiz Pucovski looks ready to shine on the big stage
SANDIPG
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER13
SOMETHINGWASwrong.WillPucovskicould
sense it. The feeling had been stalking him.
Butthistime,heknewhowtoconfrontthe
impending storm. He enrolled in an online
workshoponbreathingbyreputedmindguru
Max Strong for 150 Australian dollars. Later,
he'dsaythiswasthebest150dollarshe'dever
spentinhislife.“It’sjustsoothing,andyoufeel
unbelievably peaceful,” he tells former crick-
eterandfootieplayerGuyWalkerinapodcast
calledAthlete’sDiaries,wheresportsmenopen
up on their mental struggles.
Pucovski’sstruggleswithwhathecalls‘the
voices in his head’ have been well-storied. It
forcedthe22-year-oldintotakingintermittent
breaksfromthegame,eventhoughheseemed
utterlycomfortableinthemiddleoftheground
strokingacricketball.Itprolongedhiswaitfor
the Baggy Green. He’s learned to live with the
voices, without them pushing him into dark
alleys.“It’saboutbuildingupyourself-aware-
ness,gettingagaugeforyourtriggers.It’sabout
accepting how you are,” he explains of equip-
ping himself with tools to deal with triggers.
Beforeacceptancewasdefiance,hopinghe
might relax with age and maturity and when
he thought it was not a man-thing to confess
his psychological breakdowns. But the longer
heneglectedit,thedeeperitdugintohismind.
The breaking point
Thenhegottoapointwhereinhejustbroke
down. Strangely, it coincided with his record-
breaking 243, the youngest Australian first-
classdoublecenturionsinceRickyPonting,ear-
marking him as a future Baggy Greener.
He calls it the false innings, because he'd
neverfeltsomuchinthezone,butatthesame
timethisdetachedtoaninnings.“Ifeltsopure
from a mental point of view, when I was bat-
ting, to be real. I could deal objectively when
facing every ball. Like, now the ball is there, I
shouldplaythatshot.Ifeltroboticinthatsense.
Itwasalmostemotionlesswhereyouprobably
didn'tthinkaboutwhatif Iplayedabadshot,”
he admits. But when he reached the hotel, he
brokedownandbegancrying.Hehadn'tcried
in almost eight years before lying flat on the
bed in turgid coldness.
Itwasthenthathedecidedtoopenuplook-
ing for answers. Was it performance anxiety?
Or pressure to be perfect? Or due to repeated
episodes of concussions?
It surely wasn’t failure-triggered anxiety,
for he was plundering runs. A classic case of
not failure or setback alone going onto unset-
tle a sportsman’s mind. Success, too, could.
His mind was in a whirl.
Hesoughttheservicesof sportspsycholo-
gistEmmaMurray,whotoldhimthat“alotof
stuff the mind tells us is not actually true.” He
thenreadthebest-sellingself-helpbookFour
Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal
Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz. It would help
himtoshutoutthenegativevoicesinhishead.
Refreshed and realigned, he returned to
cricket, reacquainted with the business of
stacking up big hundreds, and is now on the
brinkofmakinghisTestdebutsometimedur-
ing the India series. “I’ve stopped worrying; I
havestartedtoenjoymycricketevenmore.I'll
haveafewdaysorevenaweekortwo,where
I'mstillstruggling,butIknowhowtodealwith
this.Iknow,I'mallowedtofeellow.AndIknow
I can get through it,” he says. It’s the last line
that’sturningouttobethemostimportantline
of his career. A line that was difficult to reach.
On the second day of the warm-up game
the time.” And Bowman complimented
Sharp’s grit, determination and resiliency.
For a union sealed in the middle of a pan-
demic, there are worse qualities to bring to
the table than positivity and resiliency.
Bowman said: “People always talk about
meeting someone that makes you want to
be better in every way, and I always thought
that was so stupid, but then I met Alena. And
I can’t believe I’m saying it, but it’s real. She
honestly makes me feel that way.”
From Sharp came a barely audible,
“Thank you.”Sharp and Bowman met in the
faceoff circle at a Chandler, Arizona, ice rink
in 2013. They were opposing centers in a
women’s recreational hockey league game.
“She’dalwayswinthem,”saidSharp,who
exacted her revenge with some well-exe-
cuted forechecks.“She laid me out a few
times,” Bowman said.
Sharpplayedhockeyasachildandturned
to it as an adult to escape her overactive golf
mind and its constant churn of negative
thoughts. Bowman, 44, a one-time compet-
itive skier from Pittsburgh, was looking for
an escape from her work at a neuro-oncol-
ogy lab where she was laying the foundation
Will Pucovski struggles with what he calls ‘the voices in his head’ and that has
forced him to take intermittent breaks from the game.
“I’ve stopped worrying; I have
started to enjoy my cricket even
more. I'll have a few days or even
a week or two, where I'm still
struggling, but I know how to
deal with this. I know, I'm
allowed to feel low. And I know I
can get through it,” Will
Pucovski says. It’s the last line
that’s turning out to be the most
important line of his career. A
line that was difficult to reach.
betweenAustraliaAandIndians,Pucovskisuf-
feredanotherboutofconcussion.Theninthof
his life and the second inflicted by a bowler. It
wasnotaballwithblindingpacebutitclimbed
up at an awkward height.
Hehadenoughtimetopullorpullouttoo.
Instead, he was stuck in a dilemma, and in
that fleeting second of indecision, the ball
pinged his helmet. It was not different from
thefirsttimehegotbangedonthehelmet,by
Sean Abbott in a Shield game. Abbott is not
an express quick, and Pucovski had enough
time to duck or pull. Still, the micro-second
hesitation was enough for him to miss the
ball. Both times, he eventually ducked but
was a fraction late. The first time he got con-
cussed was during a footie game, when the
knees of an opponent sunk into his head. His
cricket coach and physics teacher of the
Brighton Grammar School Gary McPhee
clearly remembers that incident.
“He spent weeks lying on the couch in a
darkened room with severe headaches and
other symptoms and for a talented and social
boywholikednothingbetterthangettingout
and playing with his mates, this was a huge
blow.Italsoaffectedhislastyearof secondary
school,” McPhee tells this newspaper.
Buthemadeaquickrecovery,andbounced
backstrongly.“Oneof thefirstthingsInoticed
was his composure, his mental toughness. It
was his composure, determination, and ma-
turity that allowed him to debut at only 12
years of age. Obviously, he had the technique
andvarietyofshotstomatchhismentalattrib-
utes. He was always confident, without being
overconfident or big-headed. He was a quick
learner too,” he says.
We said that if the working
arrangement ever affects our
relationship, I will find
another caddie.”
ALENA SHARP
LPGA GOLFER
— or so she thought — for a doctorate in psy-
chology.AwarethatSharpwas a professional
athlete, Bowman initially misread her shy-
ness as arrogance. “I thought she was full of
herself,” said Bowman, who realized how
badlyshe had misread Sharp when they met
for a mountain bike ride.
“We spent the entire time laughing,”
Bowman said.Their friendship deepened in
2014 after Sharp found herself in between
caddies. On a whim, she asked Bowman if
she’d fill in at a local event on the Symetra
tour, the LPGA’s minor league circuit.
Bowman recovered from an inauspicious
start, leaving a crumb-like trail of clubs that
spilledoutof thebagassheproceededdown
thefirstfairway,tohelpSharptoatwo-stroke
victory.
Vol LXXXIX No. 29 Regd.No. DL-21046/03-05
The Indian Express ®
KIWIS INCH CLOSER TO WIN AGAINST WINDIES
New Zealand was in touching distance of an innings win and series sweep over the West
Indies on Sunday when bad light stopped play on the third day of the second cricket test.
The West Indies were 244-6 in their second innings at stumps ,drawn early because of the
light,still trailing New Zealand by 85 runs after being forced to follow on 329 behind.
SHORT STORIES
Reuters
Cricket in the blood
The youngest ever first XI cricketer of the
Brighton Grammar School in Melbourne, he
was also the brightest. “When I was told by a
colleaguethatWillcouldplayinourFirstteam
whilestillonlyaYear7studentIthought“we’ll
see”.Asmalltousledhairedboycametotrain-
ingbuthandledallof theseniorbowlerswith
ease,hehadsomuchtimeandhisshotselec-
tion was always appropriate. Quietly spoken
and polite, he immediately won the respect
of the older players,” he says.
It helped he was born in a cricket-mad
family. His father Jan was a fast-bowling all-
rounder for local club Caulfield Cricket Club,
and Jan brought him a cricketing gear when
he was just four. The edges of the over-sized
pads had to be chopped with a football shin
guard fitted underneath for extraprotection.
Bossing dad’s colleagues
Tagging along with his father to nets, he
was hitting his father and his colleagues all
over the park by 10. “As a ten-year-old Will
and Jan would head off early morning to
spend the day playing cricket. Will was per-
formingwellinthejuniorsandlookedagood
prospect, but he was slaying them in the se-
nior’s team. At just ten years of age, he
boasted a healthy average of 50.4. Jan also
produced a few entertaining cameos that
season but he was clearly outshone by Will’s
performances,” says Bryan Harper, his child-
hood coach and father of New South Wales
cricketer Sam. Ironically, Sam too has a his-
toryof concussions,andtheywerecalledthe
concussion brothers.
Strolling up the cricketing pyramid, he
made transitions look easy and on the back
of three hundreds in five innings in the do-
mesticU-19series,hewaspickedforVictoria.
He fitted in seamlessly, stroking a hundred
in his fourth first-class match, a double hun-
dred in his seventh, a second-innings half-
century in the final against NSW to set up a
titletriumph.Hisconversionrateof onehun-
dred in every six innings, of which three
ended in double hundreds, are stupendous
feats. And enough proof for selectors to rush
him into international cricket. Yet, it’s his
mind that flinched.
But McPhee has seen enough of him to
aver that his ward will ride the recent storm.
“He has been through a lot and he has bat-
tled manfully through it. He will come back
stronger,” he emphasises. So hopes an en-
tire nation.
They already were dating, but within
months they became partners profession-
ally,too,butonlyaftertheymadeapact.“We
saidthatif theworkingarrangementeveraf-
fects our relationship, I’ll find another cad-
die,” Sharp said.
Globe-trotting lovebirds
Theyhavehadnoregrets.Theyhavetrav-
eledtheworldtogetherandbeenOlympians
together. They represented Canada at the
2016GamesinRiodeJaneiroandarelooking
forward to competing in the delayed Tokyo
Games next summer.
Bowman’s greenness as a caddie when
she started out forced Sharp to take owner-
ship of her game and trust her instincts.
Bowmanwasaquickstudy,progressinglick-
ety-split from not being able to watch when
Sharp putted because she was so invested in
the outcome to reading the greens for her.
The 99th-ranked Sharp, who joined the
LPGA in 2005, has 14 career top-10 finishes.
She is still searching for her breakthrough
victory, though not for any lack of physical
skills. Her talent has never been called into
question, except by Sharp, who is quick to
End of the day, Starc at
twilight is unplayable
Aus buoyed as pacer with 42 pink ball wkts in 7 Tests set to rejoin for series opener
Australia may be struggling to put two
fit and in-form openers on the park for
the Adelaide Test, but the same
can’t be said about their bowling
attack. With Mitchell Starc set to
rejoin the squad ahead of the
first Test, the home team will be
buoyed by the prospect of the
left-arm speedster adding to his
impressive haul with the pink
ball.“He’s obviously a huge part
of our team and attack. Everyone knows
his numbers with the pink ball,” Josh
Booster shot
Starc struggled for rhythm in the white-ball
games against India. The “compassionate
leave” may have come at an opportune time
for him in that regard. Returning for the pink-
ball game would also bring back happy
memories for the pacer, who has scalped 42
Conditions right up his alley
IncontrasttohispacepartnersHazlewood&
PatCummins,bothof whomareconsistency
personified,Starcisrelativelystreaky.Hecan
beunimpressivethroughmostof amatch–
strayingonbothsidesof thewicket,strug-
glingwithhislength,andgoingatahigh
economyrate-beforesomethingclicksand
wicketscomeinabunch.Thiscanbeparticu-
larlytrueinthetwilightzone,whenthepink
ballisknowntodoalotmoreundertheinflu-
enceof thefloodlights.Thiscouldbedueto
thenaturallightfadingawayandtheartificial
lightyettotakefulleffect.Itcouldmakethe
pinkballabitdifficulttopickfromthe
bowler’shand.Theextrahelponofferinthe
conditions,combinedwithStarc’sleft-
armer’sangle–whetherfromoverthewick-
etsorroundthem–canbeanawkward
propositionformostbatsmen.
Pitch and ball
Thetrackforaday-nightgamehasmore
grassthanonefindsfordaymatches,andthe
pinkballisalsogivenanextracoatof lacquer
forittolasttheusualperiod.Thismakescon-
ditionsallthemoreseamer-friendly.Thered
ball,andthewhiteoneaswell,usuallystops
deviatingmuchafter15or20overs.Allied
withtheconsistentpaceandbouncein
Australianpitches,thisoftenmakesthese
tracksthebestonestobatonif someoneget
BEN AND JACK MAKE INDIANS SWEAT
SYDNEY: THE INDIAN cricket team will
head into the first day-night Test against
Australia with a lot of optimism and
happy selection dilemmas, having man-
aged to tick most of the boxes before
drawing the three-day pink-ball dress re-
hearsal against Australia A .Australia A
gave a better account of themselves on an
eased out third day track, despite being
doubtherself.That’swhereBowmanisather
best.NooneisbetteratreadingSharp’smind
and recasting the negative thoughts.
“We can say things to each other that I
would never say to another caddie,” Sharp
said. “I can tell her, ‘I just don’t trust myself
right now.’ Or ‘I’m not confident.’ I feel like I
can be totally vulnerable out there.”
Aftersevenyearsof dating,thecouplede-
cided to get married and planned their wed-
ding in three short weeks, their sense of ur-
gencyspurredbytheseatingontheSupreme
Court in late October of Justice Amy Coney
Barrett, a conservative who alarmed LGBTQ
advocatesat herconfirmationhearingwhen
shedeclinedtosaywhetherthecourt’sland-
mark ruling in 2015 allowingsame-sexmar-
riage was correctly decided.
“Her nomination was really the driving
force,” Sharp said.
Barrett’s use of the term “sexual prefer-
ence” during her confirmation hearings par-
ticularly pricked the ears of Bowman, who
has never considered her sexual orientation
a matter of choice. As a young adult she said
shecontemplatedkillingherself,sogreatwas
her struggle to accept her identity. NYT
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
AP
]
Hazlewood said about his partner in
crime, who had missed a couple of
Twenty20 Internationals
against India due to a family
illness. If Starc starts in im-
pressive fashion in Adelaide,
that could set the stage for a
good series for him. Not for
nothing did former Aussie
captain Steve Waugh name
Starc as the “x-factor” who
could be decisive in the destination of
the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
wickets in just seven day-night Tests at an av-
erage less than 20. In 13 bowling innings
with the pink ball, Starc has returned with
less than 3 wickets on just four occasions. He
has one 6-wicket haul & two other instances
when he has claimed 5 victims in an innings.
throughthetoughstartandissetonareason-
ablescore.Butthepinkballkeepsthebowlers
interestedformuchlonger,andbatsmen
can’ttakemuchforgranted.Evenif thebat-
tingteamseemsincontrol,thefieldingside
canoftenlookforwardtotheeveningto
bounceback.Starcisoftenahandfulinthis
period.Hehasbeenonrecordsayingthatthe
pinkballbehavesmorelikethewhiteone
thanitsredcounterpart.Hence,it’slittlesur-
prisethatthehighestwicket-takerof thepast
two50-overWorldCupsisthemostdanger-
ousbowlerwithit.
Easier on the body
Withsuchhelpforthebowlers,it’shardlya
surprisethatmostpink-ballTestsdon’tgothe
distance.Withwicketsfallingfrequently,
seamersarenotoftenrequiredtobowllong
spells.Withabodythathashaditsshareof
creaks&strainsinrecenttimes,that’sanother
reasonforStarctothriveinday-nightTests.
Pink ball thoroughbred
TheAdelaideTestagainstIndiawillbeStarc’s
eighthwiththepinkball.India,overall,has
playedjustone.Bumrah,ShamiandNavdeep
Sainishowedinthewarm-upgamein
Sydneythattheycanneverthelessbeahand-
fulwhenconditionsalignintheirfavour.But
experiencehastocountforsomethingand
there’snobodywithmoreof thatinthisfor-
matthanStarc. TUSHARBHADURI
reduced to 25 for 3, ending on 305 for 4
riding on Ben McDermott and Jack
Wildermuth's centuries.
BRIEF SCORES: Australia A 108 (Saini 3-
19, Shami 3-29) & 307 for 4 (Wildermuth
111*, McDermott 107*, Carey 57) drew
withIndians194(Bumrah55,Wildermuth
3-14) & 386 for 4 (Vihari 104*, Pant 103*,
Gill, 65, Agarwal 61) PTI
Sarah Bowman, (L), and LPGA golfer
Alena Sharp on their wedding day. NYT