DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES SINCE 1932 `4.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Parties get ‘CAN’T BE MUTE SPECTATOR’

bonds worth
Rs 695 crore Clarifybasis,rationale
for state polls
ofdifferentialvaccine
pricing:SCtellsCentre
GEORGE MATHEW
MUMBAI, APRIL 27

WHENTHEELECTIONprocessin
four states and one Union
Territorywasinfullswingearlier
this month, State Bank of India
sold electoral bonds worth Rs
695.34croretodonorsof political
parties for funding of elections.
SBIsoldthebondsinthe16th
seriesfromApril1toApril10this
year.Of thetotalsales,asmuchas
Rs671crorecamethroughbonds
with a face value of Rs one crore,
Rs 23.70 crore bonds with a face
valueofRs10lakh,andRs64lakh
bonds with a face value of Rs one
lakh, SBI said in reply to the RTI
application filed by Commodore
Lokesh K Batra (Retd).
The process of elections for
the legislative Assemblies of
Kerala, Assam, West Bengal,
Completely false
narrative that it
didn't do enough,
says Govt affidavit
A chimney of one of the furnaces at the Kurukshetra crematorium at Jehangirpura in Surat melted and collapsed Tuesday
afternoon, even as a funeral was on. Trustee of the crematorium, Kamlesh Sailor, said, “Due to constant working under high EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
temperatures, the chimney melted and broke. We will allow it to cool down before taking up repairs. People were present on NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
the spot but no one was injured.” The furnace whose chimney collapsed is three years old. According to Sailor, 70 to 80
bodies, including of Covid patients, are cremated here on an average daily, which used to be 15 bodies a day earlier. Hanif Malek THE Supreme Court Tuesday
flagged differential vaccine pric-
ingduringasuomotuhearingon
issues regarding Covid-19 man-
HC pulls up Gujarat govt over Covid surge: agement,askingforaclarification
from the Centre on the issue,
evenasinanaffidavitthegovern-
People wait for vaccination, in Kolkata on Tuesday. Partha Paul

TamilNaduandPuducherry(un-
der the President’s rule) is cur-
rently underway. Voting for five
Assembly elections began on
March 27, with Assam going to
polls first and West Bengal con-
cluding it with its eighth phase
of voting on April 29.
According to SBI, political
partieshavealreadyencashedRs
695.34 crore bonds. Only two
bonds worth Rs 2,000 are yet to
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
INSIDE
EC BANS VICTORY
PROCESSIONS ON
MAY 2 PAGE 10
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
Your affidavit doesn’t reflect ground realities
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 27
HEARING A public interest liti-
gation taking suo motu cogni-
sance of Covid-19 upsurge in
Gujarat, a division bench of the
Gujarat High Court on Tuesday
lambastedthestategovernment
for not filing a proper response,
saying “your affidavit does not
reflect any of the ground reali-
ties... It is giving a rosy picture...”
Gujarat on Tuesday reported
14,352 new cases and 170
deaths. As Ahmedabad city re-
ported 5,669 new cases and 26
deaths, Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC) stated that a
Oxygen crisis: More than supply, lack of
tankers and plant location key challenges
total of 152 oxygen and ICU beds
were vacant across all its goven-
ment hospitals, AMC-run hospi-
tals, private hospitals and nurs-
ing homes. The civic body also
cautioned that “since the infec-
tion is at its peak, people should
not move out unless and until it
is absolutely necessary”.
The bench also pulled up the
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC), for follow-
ing a policy different from that
of the state government with re-
spect to admissions and treat-
ment in hospital strictly by the
108 ambulance service.
Urging the state government
to think of ways to break the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Night curfew in nine more
cities; malls, salons to close
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 27
WITHCOVIDsituationdeteriorat-
ing, the Gujarat government on
Tuesday added nine more cities
to the existing list of 20 cities
where an 8 pm to 6 am curfew is
in place. It has also decided to
closemalls,shoppingcomplexes,
salons and cinema halls in these
29 cities from April 28 to May 5.
Thecitiesaddedtothelistare
Himmatnagar,Palanpur,Navsari,
Valsad, Porbandar, Botad,
Viramgam, Chotta Udepur and
Veraval-Somnath.
The government has also or-
dered APMCs across the state to
shutoperationsandalsobanned
entry of people in places of wor-
ship, the government an-
nounced after a meeting of top
government officials with Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani.
In the evening, while speak-
ing on social media, Rupani said
thewaragainstCovidwasalmost
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
mentchallengedthe“completely
false narrative” that it had failed
to anticipate the second surge.
“The Union of India shall also
clarify in its affidavit the basis
and rationale adopted in regard
to the pricing of vaccines," a
Bench of Justices D Y
Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao
and S Ravindra Bhat said.
Pointing out that “different
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
INSIDE
KERALA HC ISSUES
NOTICES ON
VACCINATION POLICY
PAGE 9
In build-up to ceasefire thaw, NSA
Doval met ISI chief in UAE last year
What rate card does
not show: Govt help in
developing Covaxin
PRABHA RAGHAVAN &
ANIL SASI
NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
LAST YEAR, Bharat Biotech’s
chairman Krishna Ella said that
Indian vaccines, including his
Covaxin, developed with help
from the Government-run
Indian Council of Medical
Research, would cost less than a
water bottle, almost a fifth.
Yet,hisratecardSaturdayan-
nounced Rs 600/dose for states
and Rs 1,200 for private hospi-
tals.Notjustonpricing,thereare
also questions regarding Ella’s
claim on ICMR’s role.
On April 21, Ella told NDTV
Bharat Biotech had not received
any government funding for the
development of the vaccine.
CONTINUEDONPAGE2

E
lead-up to the February 25 joint Held last Friday, the interac-
NIRUPAMA statement from the militaries of tion was an “off-the-record”
SUBRAMANIAN the two neighbours agreeing to briefing on various issues, in-
EXPLAINED

DEEPTIMAN TIWARY &
HARIKISHAN SHARMA
NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
THE OXYGEN crisis during the
second Covid surge has been
precipitated by a shortage of
tankers and the daunting logis-
tics of transportation from dis-
THE EDITORIAL PAGE tant locations — not by a dearth
of LiquidMedicalOxygen(LMO),
which is available in sufficient
CENTRE’S VACCINE quantity, top officials and key in-
DARWINISM dustry players told The Indian
BY PRATAP BHANU MEHTA Express.
PAGE 6 Official figures show that on
April 24, various industries pro-
IAF has been airlifting containers from Singapore. PTI
duced 9,103 metric tonnes (MT)
of LMO against a previously ex-
isting capacity of 7,259 MT. On
the same day, the sale of LMO
stood at 7,017 MT.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi was informed
during a review meeting that
production has increased from
5,700MTperdayinAugust2020
to8,922MTonApril25thisyear.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
MUMBAI, APRIL 27 strict adherence to the 2003 cluding the Covid pandemic, but
Hurdleson ceasefire understanding. some details have begun trick-
NATIONAL SECURITY Adviser A This is one of the details to ling out.
● theway K Doval and Pakistan’s Inter emerge from a four-hour-long The Indian Express has con-
Services Intelligence (ISI) chief interactionPakistan’sArmychief firmed — from multiple sources
MOST OF the oxygen Lt.GenFaizHameedheldatleast General Qamar Javed Bajwa had aware of that interaction — that
plants are located in the onesecretmeetingintheUnited on April 23 with about 20 top queried by the journalists about
east, leading to long trans- ArabEmirateslatelastyearinthe journalists at an official iftar. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
portation hauls and a
turnaround time of at
least 6-7 days for each
tanker. Officials estimate
that at any given point,
there are only 200 tankers
in transit to meet a de-
mand of 3,500-4,000 MT.

In ‘no shortage’ UP, a 12-hr wait, Allahabad HC steps in:

heartbreak over a fallen cylinder judicial officers will track
AVANEESH MISHRA
KANPUR, APRIL 27
ANIL NIGAM, the Chief Medical
SuperintendentUrsulaHorsman
Memorial (UHM) Hospital in
Kanpur Nagar, has his fingers
crossed. Come Thursday, the
hospital is expected to get an
oxygen plant. “So far, by the
grace of God, we have never run
out of oxygen. But there were
times when a 15-minute delay
in cylinders would have caused
problems. Every hour we need
10-12 cylinders," Nigam says.
CONTINUEDONPAGE2
‘chaotic’ situation in UP
ASAD REHMAN
LUCKNOW, APRIL 27
NOTING THAT the overall situa-
tion in major cities of Uttar
Pradesh has become “very
chaotic” due to the Covid surge,
the Allahabad High Court
Tuesday issued orders for judi-
cial officers to be appointed as
nodal officers in nine worst-hit
districts who will report every
There are long lines outside oxygen supply and refilling weekend about the prevailing
stations in Kanpur. Avaneesh Mishra situation.
The court said that “those in
power must shun the attitude of
‘my way or no way’ and should
welcome suggestions from all
the quarters”.
Hearing a PIL on the pan-
demic, a bench of Justices
Siddhartha Varma and Ajit
Kumar said that the reports sub-
mitted by the nodal officers will
be placed before it during hear-
ings to ensure compliance of di-
rections issued by the court to
the state government.
“...the ghost of Corona is
marching on the roads and
CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Delhi magistrate, 32, loses battle to Covid;

held virtual hearing day after being discharged
PAGE 1
ANCHOR
ANAND MOHAN J
NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
HE WAS NOT just a “majestic
Magistrate”. A 6-feet avid crick-
eter, jovial and intelligent,
KamranKhan,allof 32,wasbold,
took quick decisions, and held
court with a gentle heart.
Metropolitan Magistrate
Kamran Khan wouldn’t listen to
lawyers at the Dwarka district
court who pleaded with him to
rest a day after he was dis-
chargedonApril15,havingbeen
hospitalisedforCovid-19.Heput
his foot down, and held court via
avirtuallink.Duringthehearing,
he granted bail to a man accused
in an Arms Act case.
This would be Khan's last
hearing as a Metropolitan
Magistrate—hisconditionwors-
ened soon after, and he was
shifted to the ICU at Delhi’s
VimhansHospitalonApril18.He
died early Tuesday morning.
Lawyers who attended his
court proceedings remember
him as a patient judge whose
courtroom seldom saw out-
Khan was discharged from
hospital on April 15
bursts.Hewouldratherhandout
advice than chide those present.
An avid cricketer who would
turn up for practice matches
with junior lawyers, Khan took
itinhisstridewhenhisteamlost
February’s judges versus advo-
cates match.
Khan,whocompletedhisLLB
(Bachelor of Law) from Delhi
University and LLM (Master of
Law) from Kurukshetra
University, was earlier posted at
a local court in Haryana after
graduatingfromDelhiUniversity.
He is the second judge from
Delhi to have died in this wave.
On April 20, 47-year-old Delhi
Family Courts Judge Kovai
Venugopal died due to Covid at
Lok Nayak Hospital.
Khan made his way to Delhi
after he was posted as a
MetropolitanMagistrateinSaket
district court, and in January this
year, was transferred to Dwarka
district court. He held court on
cases mostly related to Immoral
Traffic (Prevention Act), Delhi
MunicipalCorporationAct,Delhi
DevelopmentActandthosearis-
ing from Palam police station
and traffic circle of Mayapuri
Palam Airport.
Advocate Yash Thakur, who
CONTINUEDONPAGE2
Ahmedabad
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
FROM PAGE ONE
SC hearing
manufacturersarequotingdiffer-
ent prices”, Justice Bhat told
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta:
“There are powers under the
DrugsControlActandPatentsAct.
Thisisapandemicandanational
crisis. If this is not the time to in-
voke such powers, what is the
time?"
The Bench also clarified that
its hearing of Covid-19 matters
wouldnot"supplantorsubstitute
the process of hearings under-
taken by various High Courts to
deal with issues related to the
pandemic”,addingthatitcannot
be a "mute spectator" during "a
national crisis".
In its affidavit to the Court
Tuesday, the Centre listed the
steps taken by it to meet the
Covid-19challenge,enumerating
measurestoboostoxygensupply
on "a war footing" and ensuring
drugsupplies,andsaiditwasim-
plementing "innovative meas-
ures” with the “active and con-
stant supervision and direct
involvement of” Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Home
MinisterAmitShah."...rightfrom
the inception till present critical
times, the Central Government
has taken various steps in the
most professional manner to
equipthenationwitheverything
required in case of
continuance/surge in the pan-
demic”, the affidavit said, flaying
the “completely false narrative
that after the onset of Covid pan-
demic,duringitspeakimpactand
thereafterthenationdidnothing
andiscaughtunawareinthesec-
ond surge”.
At the hearing, the Court
asked the Centre to “clarify the
projectedrequirementofvaccine
asaresultofenhancementofcov-
erage" -- starting May 1, when
vaccinationopenstoallabovethe
age of 18 -- and to put in place
modalities to look into shortages
and deficit.
TheCourtaskedforsimilarde-
tailsonoxygen.Fixingthematter
for next hearing on April 30, the
Benchalsosoughttoknowdetails
regarding enhancement of criti-
calmedicalrequirements,includ-
ing Covid-19 beds, and essential
drugs.
On the petitions pending in
high courts, the Bench sought to
addressapprehensionsexpressed
bysomecornersofthelegalcom-
munityabouttheapexcourttak-
ing up the matter when High
Courts were better equipped to
deal with local issues. The “pur-
poseofthisCourtassumingjuris-
dictionsuomotuunderArticle32
isnottosupplantorsubstitutethe
process of hearings undertaken
by various High Courts”, the
Bench said.
The Bench noted that High
Courtswerebestsituatedtomake
assessment of ground realities in
each state.
Stressing that the Supreme
Court's intervention must be un-
derstood in the correct perspec-
tive,theBenchadded,“...duringa
nationalcrisis,theSupremeCourt
cannot be a mute spectator. The
roleoftheSupremeCourtiscom-
plimentary in nature. The issues
which travail state boundaries is
what this court will look into.”
Earlier, when the Supreme
Courthadtakenupthemattersuo
motu, it had said there could be
"someconfusion"and"diversion
of resources" with several courts
hearing the matter.
The Solicitor General said
Tuesdaythatthegovernmentwas
notagainsttheSupremeCourtor
a High Court hearing the matter.
“Wearenotquestioninganyone’s
jurisdiction."
The Bench also appointed
Senior Advocates Jaideep Bose
and Meenakshi Arora as amicus
curiae to assist it in the matter.
While Senior Advocate Harish
Salvehadbeenappointedasam-
icus curiae in the case earlier, he
had withdrawn following objec-
tions to his name.
DOWNLOADAPP
■ VISUAL STORIES
■ DAILY BRIEFING
■ PODCASTS
■ CUSTOMIZABLE
NEWS EXPERIENCE
Indian Express
★★★★★ ■4.6
SCANTHISQRCODETO
DOWNLOADTHEAPP
Rate card
“…Wenevertookanymoney
from the Government of India.
Even,includingourclinicaltrials...
we spent Rs 350 crore. We never
took money from the govern-
ment,” he said.
However, the Clinical Trial
RegistryofIndia(CTRI)listsICMR
as the source of “monetary and
material support” in Covaxin’s
Phase3trialsonover25,000par-
ticipants.
That’snotall.KeytoCovaxin’s
development was the role of the
ICMR’s National Institute of
Virology in Pune, which per-
formed the crucial task of isolat-
ing the SARS-CoV-2 strain. In ad-
dition to this, it also assisted in
some of the trials.
Government officials have
been listed as authors in clinical
trialsofthisvaccine.Theyinclude
ICMRDirectorGeneralDrBalram
Bhargava, NIV Director Dr Priya
Abraham and AIIMS head Dr
Randeep Guleria.
As of September 18, 2020,
ICMRhadspent“morethanRs25
crore”...“forundertakingworkre-
lated to development of vaccine
candidate(s) and pre-clinical
studies,” as per a Lok Sabha re-
sponse by the government.
However, it is unclear how much
of this was used for Covaxin, as
ICMR has also collaborated with
other companies for Covid-19
vaccines.
Thevaccinewasalsothesub-
jectofcontroversyearlierthisyear
when it received restricted use
permissiondespitenothavingen-
rolled enough participants on
timetogenerateinteriminforma-
tion on its efficacy.
The green light followed the
reversalwithin24hoursofanex-
pert committee's decision over
whether it wanted to recom-
mend the vaccine's approval.
Onereasonforthevaccine’sfi-
nal price being more than that of
Covishield -- the other Covid-19
vaccineinuseinIndia--isthepo-
tentiallyhigherexpensesofmak-
ing an inactivated vaccine at a
BiosafetyLevel(BSL)3facility,ac-
cording to experts.
“It is the need for production
of the live virus in a BSL-3 facility
followed by the inactivation and
testingforthecompleteinactiva-
tion that makes the vaccine ex-
pensive,”saidGagandeepKang,a
vaccineexpertwhoworkedwith
Bharat Biotech in testing India’s
firstindigenouslymaderotavirus
vaccine, Rotavac.
“That being said, Rs 600 is a
ridiculousprice,”sheadded,“fora
vaccinethatyou'regoingtosellin
tens of millions of doses to State
governments.” she said. “No vac-
cine costs that much.”
According to Bharat Biotech,
the firm will supply more than
50%ofitsproductiontotheCentre
at Rs 150 a dose. The higher rates
forstatesandprivatehospitalsare
necessitated to fund R&D for
othervaccines,thecompanysaid.
“We need (the) cash. There’s
no question about that," said Ella
in his interview to NDTV.
Detailsof theagreementsbe-
tween ICMR and Bharat Biotech
are opaque.
Expertshaveraisedquestions
abouttheownershipof theintel-
lectual property (IP) of this vac-
cine -- on the one hand, Bharat
Biotech has been signing agree-
ments for Covaxin with compa-
nieslikeOcugenintheUS.Andon
the other, the government has
brought in Maharashtra-funded
Haffkine Institute and
Hyderabad’s non-government
vaccine maker, Indian
Immunologicals, to ramp up its
capacity.
InordertohelpBharatBiotech
bring online its BSL 3 facility in
Bengaluru, the Department of
Biotechnologyannouncedagrant
of Rs 65 crore earlier this month.
Yet,thetermsofthedealarenotin
the public domain. On April 19,
theFinanceMinistryalsorelaxed
rulesthatwouldallowtheHealth
MinistrytopayBharatBiotechRs
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
EXPLAINED
Oxygen crisis: More than supply, lack of
tankers and plant location key challenges
Thedomesticproductionof
LMO is expected to cross 9,250
MTperdaybytheendof April,”
the PMO said.
Apart from specialised
manufacturerssuchasKolkata-
based Linde India and
Mumbai-basedInoxAir,which
produceliquidoxygenformed-
icalandindustrialuse,thesteel
industryandoilrefineriescon-
tribute significantly.
“Most of the plants are lo-
cated in eastern India, apart
from a couple in the west. This
means long distances and a lot
of turnaroundtime.Addtothis
the problem of states holding
up tankers,” a Linde executive
told The Indian Express.
“We have adequate avail-
ability of oxygen, but trans-
portationremainsachallenge,”
said Piyush Goyal, Additional
Secretary with the Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA).
Official sources said that
currently,almost50percentof
supplyisfromsteelcompanies.
The industry has a production
capacityof over60,000-70,000
1,500croreinadvancetoprocure
doses of Covaxin.
Detailed queries to Bharat
Biotech and ICMR remained
unanswered.
In response to queries, DBT
Secretary Renu Swarup said that
thedevelopmentofCovaxin“was
supported by ICMR.”
DBT is supporting the devel-
opment of other vaccine candi-
datesbyBharatBiotechsuchasits
single-doseintranasalvaccinefor
Covid-19anditsinactivatedrabies
vectorplatform-basedvaccine.In
this regard, DBT has provided
Bharat Biotech with funding, she
added.
DBT has funded “more than
15vaccinecandidates”duringthis
pandemic, she said.
Night curfew
won, before the second wave
struck and two lakh people got
infected in April 2021.
“Sometime ago, the situation
was a little different. We had al-
mostwonthewaragainstCovid.
The (active) cases had reduced.
But suddenly the situation de-
teriorated. The second wave is
more dangerous. The infections
spread fast. Everyday, 14,000
cases are being reported,” said
Rupani.
“From April 1 to April 26,
two lakh people have got in-
fected. Some people have died,”
he added without divulging the
death figures.
Adding that 92,000 of those
infected have recovered, the CM
said, “If we had not increased
the beds, injections and other
arrangements, so many people
would not have recovered and
returned home.”
During this curfew period,
pregnant women or a person
suffering from any ailment will
be permitted along with an at-
tendant. Passengers travelling
by train, bus or flight will also be
permitted, provided they show
their tickets. Those connected
with essential services and car-
rying identify cards, can move
during curfew hours.
During the daytime in these
29 urban centres, the govern-
ment has allowed Shops provid-
ing essential services and indus-
tries to function. However, the
government has asked all shops,
commercial establishments,
road-side kiosks, restaurants
(except take-away service),
shopping complexes, malls,
Gurjari Bazzars, cinema halls,
auditoriums, salons and beauty
parlours, to remain closed till
May 5. The government also or-
dered closure of schools and
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
WORLD’S TOP MILITARY SPENDERS AND WHAT DOES THE LATEST SIPRI REPORT SAY?
Initsreportontrendsinglobalmilitaryexpenditurein2020,theStockholmInternationalPeaceResearch
Institute(SIPRI)hasfoundthattheworld’stopmilitaryspenders–theUS,ChinaandIndia–sawtheirmilitary
spendinggoupcomparedto2019,evenduringapandemicyear.
LEGALACTIONAGAINST
ASTRAZENECA
Why has the EU initiated
legal action against the
drugmaker
tonnesof oxygeninthegaseous
form for use in integrated
plants.Thereare33suchplants
in the country, each with a ca-
pacity to liquefy 5-10 per cent
of production along with cor-
responding storage.
Theindustryhasalsomade
availableliquidoxygenfromits
storage tanks -- about 16,000
MT as on April 21, according to
an MHA affidavit in Supreme
Court.
At present, India has 1,224
oxygen tankers with a cumu-
lative capacity of 16,732 MT of
LMO. “This is grossly inade-
quate. The turnaround time
for tankers at the moment is
6-7 days. This means our daily
availability of tankers is one-
sixth of the total. If we only
take into account supply from
steel and refineries, you are
talking about meeting a de-
mand of 3,500-4,000 tonnes
with just about 200 tankers,”
a state nodal officer for oxygen
distribution told The Indian
Express.
Outliningthechallenge,the
coaching centres, gymnasiums,
swimming pools, water parks
and places of amusement.
The government has permit-
ted operations of shops selling
provisions, vegetables and
fruits, medical stores, milk par-
lours, bakeries and others sell-
ing food. In these 29 cities, the
government has allowed indus-
trial, finance, banking and con-
struction activities to continue
with Covid protocols, including
50 per cent staff attendance.
Home deliveries, post and
courier service, have also been
allowed. The public transport
buses have been asked to ply
with 50 per cent occupancy.
For weddings, only 50 per-
sons will be allowed after regis-
tration on Digital Gujarat portal.
For final rites, 20 persons can
take part. Sports events can be
organised without any audi-
ence.
Apart from these urban cen-
tres, the government has also
ordered all APMCs to close
down, except those dealing
with fruits and vegetables. All
places of worship have also
been asked to prevent entry of
people.
Rupani said the virus has
spread in villages during the
second wave and the heads of
the villages should test and iso-
late those found Covid positive.
He said this was important to
ensure people are isolated early
and they do not have to be hos-
pitalised.
Talking about the new re-
strictions and the extension of
night curfew to 29 cities in
Gujarat, the CM said, “We have
notimposedcurfewduringday-
time.Officesandindustrieshave
keptopen.Wehavekeptinmind
theneedsof dailywageearners.”
Rupani reiterated that at-
tempts to control Covid infec-
tions was akin to fighting a war
and officials on the field have
been given powers to take im-
mediate decisions.
“The supply of oxygen has
been increased... In March, the
requirement was 150 metric
tonne. Now the Government of
India has allowed a quota of
1,000 MT of oxygen, which we
are using. In one month, more
than five lakh Remdesivir injec-
tions have been made available
to people of Gujarat. More than
2 lakh doctors and medical staff
are working round-the-clock...
You can also see some short-
comings. In some places, there
is difficulty in getting a bed, oxy-
gen as well as medicines and in-
jections. The mortality rate has
TECH
official said cryogenic tankers
cost around Rs 50 lakh each.
“Why would a company buy
more tankers than it needs?
Once this wave is over, that in-
vestment will turn into losses.
So it's the Government’s re-
sponsibility,” the official said.
“The biggest bottleneck is
cryogenic containers. Tatas are
importing36cryogenicvessels
by this month-end,” said T V
Narendran, president-desig-
nate, CII.
Sources told The Indian
Express that the government is
alsoeyeingthemanufactureof
100 tankers by the IOCL
Cryogenics Plant in Nashik al-
thoughdeliverieswillonlytake
place within “4-6 months”.
According to the Union Health
Ministry, 20 cryogenic tankers
have been imported.
Munjal Mehta, director,
Shell-n-Tube Pvt Ltd, which
manufacturescryogenictanks,
said: “In the pre-Covid time, a
tankerhadtorefillmedicaloxy-
gen stock at a hospital once in
weekbutnowthathospitalre-
also risen,” he added.
NSA Doval
the backchannel process with
India,thePakistanArmychiefsaid
there had been a meeting be-
tweenLtGenHameedandDoval.
He also mentioned meetings
betweenthe“intelligencechiefs”
of the two countries. Due to the
pandemic, he said, these meet-
ings were held in “nearby coun-
tries”. The ISI chief, who is said to
beclosetoBajwa,wasnotpresent
attheinteraction,butseveraloth-
ers in the Army hierarchy were,
includingtheheadof militaryin-
telligence.
Bajwa said contact between
intelligence agencies of two un-
friendly nations was not excep-
tional or extraordinary and India
andPakistanwerenodifferentin
thisrespect.Hesoughttoportray
the meetings as part of a process
of such contactsfromthetimeof
the PML(N) government in late
2017 under Prime Minister
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
Thatyear,Dovalandhiscoun-
terpartinPakistan,LtGenNaseer
KhanJanjua,metmorethanonce
inathirdcountry.Explainingthat
this process was interrupted for
variousreasons,hesaiditgotlegs
again in December 2020.
Thatmonth,hesaid,Indiasent
afeelerfortalks.Heplayed down
theroleoftheUAE.Bajwatoldthe
journaliststhatthetwosideshad
agreedthatratherthan“Kashmir
first”,or“terrorismfirst”,allissues
would be addressed at the same
time, including trade. However,
there have been no further con-
tactsbetweenthetwosidessince
the ceasefire began on February
24-25, Bajwa said.
AskedaboutthePakistangov-
ernment’sU-turnontradeincot-
ton and sugar with India, with
Prime Minister Imran Khan de-
claring that this could happen
onlyafterstatusquoantewasre-
stored in Kashmir, Bajwa sug-
gested that the political leader-
ship may have had its own
compulsions but -- sooner than
later--allwouldseetherewasno
way towards peace other than
trade with neighbours.
He also told the journalists
that the reading down of Article
370 is not an issue of concern for
Pakistan as it had never recog-
nised this provision of the Indian
Constitution as one of any value
for the resolution of the the
Kashmir issue. Bajwa said that
more important from Pakistan’s
point of view, was restoration of
statehood, and that there should
be no demographic change in
Kashmir. He suggested India had
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021
ZOOM’S IMMERSIVE
VIEW FEATURE
What is Zoom’s new
Immersive View feature
and how does it work?
quires supply every day.”
Two weeks ago, the Centre
allowedindustrialoxygentobe
diverted for medical use with
the Railways starting an
Oxygen Express service. The
IAF has also been pressed into
service to airlift empty tankers
from as far as Dubai, Bangkok
and Singapore.
But the Railways’ efforts
have been stymied by the re-
quirement that the tankers
should be of a particular speci-
ficationtopassthroughtunnels
and under station canopies.
Since the first Oxygen Express
left for Visakhapatnam from
Mumbai on April 21, just 26
tankers carrying around 450
MT have been transported.
The government is, mean-
while,takingmeasuressuchas
converting nitrogen tankers to
carry oxygen. According to the
Department for Promotion of
Industry and Internal Trade,
there are 434 argon tankers
and765nitrogentankersinthe
country. Sources said about
50% would be converted.
givenassurancesonbothcounts.
Bajwa said the he had been
warned -- even by his children --
that he might not emerge “un-
scathed” from the Afghanistan
and the Indian processes.
According to one account of
the proceedings, he was asked if
institutionally, the Army was on
board this new strategic vision.
Bajwaretiresnextyearandques-
tionshavebeenraisedaboutwhat
would happen if he is succeeded
by a hawkish general. His reply
wasalongthelinesthatoutsiders
did not understand how much
the Pakistan Army had changed.
Allahabad HC
streets of the major cities of the
stateanditcanbeanybody’sfate,”
the court said. It observed that
thosewithresourceswillsurvive
and the rest, as “histories of past
pandemics tell us, may die for
want of healthcare”.
The court asked the District
Judges of Lucknow, Prayagraj,
Varanasi, Kanpur Nagar, Agra,
Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad, Gautam
Budh Nagar and Jhansi to nomi-
nate a judicial officer of the rank
of Civil Judge (senior division) or
above as nodal officer.
The court also issued notices
to the UP State Election
Commission,seekinganexplana-
tionbythenextdateofhearingon
May3“astowhyitfailedincheck-
ing non-compliance of Covid
guidelinesduringvariousphases
of the panchayat elections held
recently”.
Thecourtsaidithastakencog-
nizance of a news report pub-
lished in Hindi daily Amar Ujala
that 135 teachers, shiksha mitras
and investigators who were on
election duty had allegedly suc-
cumbed to Covid.
The court said that it is an
“open secret” that the govern-
mentbecamecomplacentbythe
end of 2020 and got more in-
volved in other activities, includ-
ing the panchayat elections.
“Posteritywouldneverforgiveus
if we remain oblivious to the real
public health issues,” it said.
In UP
In the past few days, Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath has
claimedonseveraloccasionsthat
there is no shortage of oxygen,
and on Monday, the state dis-
patched400cylinderstoMadhya
Pradesh.However,evenastheini-
tial panic with family members
running around for oxygen beds
has eased, here in Kanpur Nagar
district, the chaos has shifted to
oxygensupplystationsandmed-
ical stores.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Why TN has decided
to reopen Vedanta’s
Sterlite copper plant
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
Today on the 3 Things podcast, we talk
about what led the state to reopen the plant,
and how have people in Thoothukudi
reacted to it.
Technically,UHMisnotaded-
icated Covid facility, but as of
Monday afternoon, it had 35
Covid patients. Officials say peo-
ple arrive ailing to the hospital
holding area, test positive, and
can'tleaveintheabsenceofCovid
beds. Around seven-eight of his
employees have tested positive
whileastaff nursesuccumbedto
the virus on Sunday, Nigam says.
Medical Superintendent A K
Sharma says two-three patients
arewaitingtogetadmissionatall
times,andtheyhavetoturnaway
several knowing they can’t
arrange oxygen for all.
KanpurHalletHospitalhasset
aside eight wards in the holding
areaforCovidcases.Asoledoctor
on duty takes care of all the eight
wards, working around 16 hours
aday.Refusingtoidentifyhimself,
thedoctorsays,“Wehavearound
80 patients. Eight-nine are con-
firmed positive, reports for the
rest are awaited."
While oxygen is not an issue
here due to a centralised system,
the lack of beds means two pa-
tients have to share one bed, the
doctor says.
Rahul Kumar stands lost
nearby,withfatherBuddhilal,50,
succumbingtothediseasehalfan
hour earlier. “No private hospital
wasreadytotouchhim...Tillnow
I have not received his Covid re-
port,” he says.
Hallet Hospital Principal R B
Kamal, District CMO Anil Mishra
and District Magistrate Alok
Tiwari did not respond to calls.
Addressing a high-level
meeting Tuesday, Adityanath
said 61 proposals had been sent
bythestategovernmentforoxy-
gen plants under the PM-CARES
Fund, and that while 32 are al-
ready established, 39 are com-
ing up in as many hospitals. The
state government also claimed
to have increased the number of
oxygen tankers from 64 to 84. In
KanpurNagarspecifically,asper
a government statement, the
private sector has proposed to
set up 11 oxygen plants.
Around 5 km from Hallet
Hospital, under a hot sun still
beating down at 4-5 pm, a long
queue stands outside Babbar
Medical Oxygen supplier. Every
45-50 minutes, the main gate
opens and 24 people are let in. A
groan goes up as an ambulance
rushes through.
“We understand that there
arepatientsathospitalsandthey
need oxygen, but we too have
patients waiting at home,”
Avanish Shukla, in the line since
8 am, says. His mother tested
positive two days ago, and they
decided to treat her at home af-
ter trying over 10 hospitals.
While the state government
recently directed that no person
be provided medical oxygen
without a prescription, the au-
thorities say it is impossible to
dissuade people. “Checkingpre-
scriptions is impossible. We are
providing oxygen to 24 individ-
ualsandthenahospitaltruckal-
ternately. Time to time we get
calls from the Covid control
room asking for oxygen for a
criticalpatient...Sometimespeo-
plelieonthegroundtostophos-
pital trucks,” says Tehsildar
Alakh Shukla, deployed to man-
age things at the supplier's.
Just then, Mohammad
Ammar, 20, emerges with a
filled15-ltcylinder,havingstood
in the queue since he started his
Ramzan fast at around 5 am. As
he walks to an e-rickshaw, the
cylinder slips and falls. The noz-
zle breaks and the gas starts
leaking. As he cries for help, a
few standing nearby try to plug
the leak with their hands, but
the pressure is too high.
Someone rushes out from the
plant to fix the nozzle. But it's 5
minutes, and several litres of
precious oxygen lost, by then.
Magistrate
used to appear at Khan's court
every morning at 10 am, would
besurprisedtofindthejudgesit-
tingonhischairontimeforevery
hearing.“Heusedtodisposeofall
the day’s work and stay till the
court closed.”
Jai Singh Yadav, Secretary at
the Dwarka Bar Association, said
despite being a Magistrate, Khan
founditdifficulttofindahospital
bed.Hediscoveredhewassickin
April beginning and was admit-
ted to Max Hospital. “Senior
judges at the Dwarka district
courthadtointervenetofindhim
a bed. He recovered but his con-
dition deteriorated, and he was
admittedtotheICUunitwherehe
died,” Yadav said.
Khan was “of a judicious
mind, an intelligent judge”, said
YPSingh,PresidentoftheDwarka
Court Bar Association.
The information of Khan’s
deathstunnedDhirSinghKasana,
Secretary, Saket District Court.
“When he was at Saket court, he
usedtohelpouteventheaccused
persons who turned up without
sureties.”
AdvocateDKRai,whousedto
appear regularly at Khan's court,
described him as a “majestic
Magistrate”.“Heusedtoread10-
year-old files which were trans-
ferred to his court, and the facts
were on his fingertips,” Rai said.
Bonds
be encashed by the parties.
SBI's Kolkata Main branch is-
suedbondsworthRs176.19crore,
NewDelhiMainbranchRs167.50
crore, Chennai Main branch Rs
141.50 crore and Mumbai Main
branch Rs 91.50 crore.
SBI said bonds worth Rs
350.60crorewereencashedatthe
New Delhi Main branch, Rs 116
crorebondbytheBhubaneshwar
Main branch, Rs 106 crore bonds
byChennaiMainbranch,Rs63.50
crorebyHyderabadMainbranch
andRs55.44crorebytheKolkata
Main branch.
The Supreme Court had re-
cently refused to stay the sales
of electoral bonds ahead of the
Assemblyelections onaPILfiled
by the NGO pertaining to fund-
ing of political parties and al-
leged lack of transparency.
Electoral bonds are pur-
chasedanonymouslybydonors,
and are valid for 15 days from
the date of issue. A debt instru-
ment, these can be bought by
donors from a bank, and the po-
litical party can then encash the
bonds. These can be redeemed
onlybyaneligiblepoliticalparty
by depositing the same in its
designated bank account main-
tained with an authorised bank.
The bonds are issued by the
SBI in denominations of Rs
1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10
lakhandRs 1crore.Politicalpar-
ties registered under Section
29A of the Representation of the
People Act, 1951, which have se-
cured not less than 1 per cent of
thevotesinthelastgeneralelec-
tion to an Assembly or
Parliament, are eligible to open
currentaccountsforredemption
of electoral bonds.
"The information furnished
bythepurchasershallbetreated
confidential by State Bank of
India and shall not be disclosed
to any authority for any pur-
poses, except when demanded
by a competent court or upon
registration of criminal case by
any law enforcement agency,"
operating guidelines by the SBI
state.
The SBI sold electoral bonds
worth Rs 42.10 crore in the 15th
phase of sale from January 1 to
10, 2021. Bonds worth Rs 282
crore were sold by it in October
ahead of the Bihar Assembly
elections.
Donors, mainly corporate
houses and industrialists, gave
Rs 1,056.73 crore in 2018, Rs
5,071.99 crore in 2019 and Rs
363.96crorein2020,theSBIhad
said in a previous RTI reply to
TheIndianExpress.Thetotaldo-
nations through electoral bonds
have touched Rs 7,230 crore.
FULL REPORTS ON
www.indianexpress.com
Ahmedabad

3 GUJARAT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021
In April, Covid test positivity rate
peaked to 16% in Ahmedabad city
ICMR guidelines, recommendations of a Central team to maintain TPR of less than 5% ‘ignored’
’ mond trader, who had been in
RITUSHARMA&
SOHINIGHOSH
AHMEDABAD,APRIL27
THETESTpositivityrate(TPR)has
been spiralling above 22 per cent
in Ahmedabad city since March
last year, data accessed and
analysedbyTheIndianExpresshas
found. This is despite the Indian
Council of Medical Research’s
(ICMR)directiontomaintainTPR
– percentage of tested people
turning out to be positive for
Covid-19 infection – below five
per cent by “testing, tracking and
treating”asitwastheonlyproven
strategy to control the
transmission of the disease.
The monthly TPR in the city,
analysis of testing data main-
tained by AMC shows, had never
dipped below five per cent be-
tween March 2020 and January
this year. And the rate was the
highest in June and July last year
— above 22 and 21 per cent re-
spectively.
Daily TPR for April this year,
when the city witnessed a sharp
surgeininfectioncases,showeda
peak,touchingalmost16percent
on April 26. While the TPR has
beenrecordedabovefivepercent
sinceApril9,thenumberhasbeen
increasingbyabouttwopercent-
age points per day since April 16
when it was reported at 9.9 per
cent and reached nearly 16 per
cent just 10 days later.
Of the total 20,445 Covid-19
tests – both RT-PCR and RAT –
conducted across Ahmedabad
city,1,296peoplehadturnedpos-
itive on April 9. This jumped to
2,631 positive cases on April 15
when 23,177 RT-PCRs and RATs
were conducted in the city.
CM inaugurates
250-bed Covid
hospital at
Hazira steel plant
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
SURAT, APRIL 27
GUJARAT CHIEF Minister Vijay
Rupani on Tuesday virtually in-
augurated a 250-bed Covid hos-
pital set up by Arcelormittal and
Nippon steel (AM/NS) in their
plant at Hazira in Surat.
Inaugurating the facility via
video-conference, Rupani said,
“The state government has in-
creased the number of oxygen
bedsforCovidpatientsto92,000
from 41,000. In the present situ-
ation,itisnecessarythatthehos-
pitals should have an oxygen
supplyline.Thecompanyhasset
up the hospital near an oxygen
plant. We appreciate and wel-
come the step taken by the
AM/NS...”
The company has also been
supplying 185 MT liquid oxygen
to various hospitals in the state,
for which it has partnered with
INOX air liquid products.
The firm’s India CEO Dilip
Oommen saidthatthehospital’s
capacity will be increased to
1,000 beds soon. Oommen said,
“Ourcompanyisalwaysreadyto
support the state and central
governments... Our Hazira plant
is a gas-based plant and we can-
nottransportthisoxygen...Sowe
set up a temporary hospital
nearby the steel plant where
there will be sufficient supply of
oxygen.”
Addressing the function vir-
tually from Kazakhstan,
Arcelormittal executive chair-
man Laxmi Mittal said, “Prime
Minister Narendra Modi had
called a meeting of industrialists
and sought help in the fight
against coronavirus... We are
committedtoworkshoulder-to-
shoulder with the state govern-
ment and corona warriors.”
Surat district development
officer Hitesh Koya said, “We
have deployed three medical of-
ficers, six nurses, one store
keeper and one lab technician at
the hospital. Depending on the
number of patients, we will in-
crease the staff strength.”
AM/NS has been
supplying 185 MT
oxygen to various
hospitals in the state
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
PANCHMAHALS
MISSING COVID PATIENT’S BODY FOUND IN POND
Two days after a patient went missing from a private Covid-19 hospital, the fire department recovered
his body from a pond in Halol town of Panchmahals Tuesday. Pragnesh Bhatia of Paroli village in
Ghoghamba who was admitted to the facility on Sunday went missing the same night.
Man scolded
for being
Covid-positive trader
breaks home quarantine,
unemployed,
strangles father do social service; booked
to death; held the residential society president
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE who informed them that the di-
SURAT, APRIL 27 amond trader has been doing
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE social work at a Covid care cen-
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 27 A CASE was filed againist a dia- tre at Patidar Samaj Wadi.
The team led by junior engi-
DAY-WISE TEST POSITIVITY RATE A 22-YEAR-OLD man was
arrested in Ahmedabad’s
home quarantine after testing
positive for Covid-19 but was
neer Mukesh Tandel immedi-
ately reached the Covid centre
Percentage of total new Covid-19 cases daily divided Meghaninagar area Tuesday for found doing social work at a and took the diamond trader to
by total daily samples tested in AMC areas allegedly strangling his 65-year- Covid care centre at Katargam his residence. The officials then
old bed-ridden father to death, Patidar Samaj Wadi in Surat. lodged a complaint with
20 police said. The Surat Municipal Singhanpore police station
■ Testpositivityrate(in%) 15.48%
According to the police, Anil Corporation (SMC) health de- against him for violating Covid
15 Patni, a resident of Shanti Sagar partment has kept 44,130 peo- guidelines and home quaran-
11.35%
society in Meghaninagar, stran- ple in home isolation and has tine. He has been booked under
10
4.06% 15.10% gled Lakshman (65) to death al- been keeping a tab on them IPC sections 188 and 270 as well
5 legedlyinafitof rageafterthelat- through mobile tracker as well as the Epidemic Disease Act.
5.67% ter chided him for being as by conducting surprise Talking to The Indian
0 unemployed. checks at their homes. Express, Tandel said, “The dia-
1-Apr
3-Apr
5-Apr
7-Apr
9-Apr
11-Apr
13-Apr
15-Apr
17-Apr
19-Apr
21-Apr
23-Apr
The city has 48,072 active cases Tuesday. Nirmal Harindran Apolicecomplaintsubmitted During one such checks by mond trader, his wife and sister
by Lakshman’s elder son Ajay Katargam zone officials, the 55- were positive for Covid-19. All
said around 9 pm on Sunday, year-old diamond trader was three of them were kept under
Data: As submitted by the state government in an affidavit dated April and Vadodara, had also briefed 10 the city conducted a total of Lakshman had scolded Anil for found missing from his resi- home quarantine for 14 days.
26 to Gujarat High Court Gujarat Principal Secretary 25,452 tests, of which only 8,797 not contributing to the family’s dence at Krishna Residential During checking, we found him
(Health) Jayanti Ravi and Health (or 34.5 per cent) were RT-PCR earnings. The next morning, the Society at Amba away from home and filed a
Commissioner Jai Prakash and the remaining 16,655 were complainantsaid,Lakshmanwas Talavdi in Katargram on case.”
On Tuesday, Ahmedabad city lowingavisitof high-levelmulti- Shivahare on their observations. RAT. Just a day ago, the city had foundunconsciousinhisbed.He Monday evening. On Monday, 1,452 Covid pa-
had 48,072 active cases. It had disciplinary central government InalettertoJayantiRavi,dated recorded 9,103 RT-PCR tests. was declared dead when the The trader tested positive for tients were admitted in private
added 5,619 fresh cases till late team to Ahmedabad Municipal March30,Bhushanhadreiterated OnlyontwodaysApril16and family rushed him to a hospital. Covid-19 on April 20 along with and government hospitals in
Monday. “The positivity rate for Corporation and Vadodara “thestateshouldaimatachieving 12,thecitymaintainedanRT-PCR Apost-mortemlaterrevealed his wife and sister. However, Surat city that reported 23
Ahmedabad city is much higher Municipal Corporation areas had test positivity rate below five per test ratio of 59 per cent. Despite the cause of death to be asphyx- when officials reached their res- deaths. With the recovery rate
than what is being shown in the recommendedthestatetoensure centineachdistrictdulyfocusing repeatedwarnings,theRT-PCRra- iation due to pressure on neck, idence, he was not present at of 77.43 per cent, 1,369 patients
government data. The daily hos- anincreaseintesting(asperICMR onincreasingnumberoftests”.He tiomaintainedbyAMCremained police said. “After the post home and his wife and sister did were discharged from govern-
pitalisation rate is merely one of guidance) and to couple with a specificallyreferredtothefourdis- around 52 per cent on April 23. mortem report came Monday not reveal details to the teams. ment and private hospitals on
thereflectionstothis,”DrMukesh low confirmation percentage of tricts of Ahmedabad, Surat, evening, we started questioning The SMC officials then met Monday.
Maheshwari,co-ordinatorIndian less than 5 per cent by imposing Vadodara and Rajkot as “among TPR in state above 9% thefamilymemberswhotoldus
Medical Association (IMA) severe restrictions. 46districtsofconcern”wherethe The daily TPR in Gujarat has that the father had a fight with
Gujarat branch said. Dr Inaseparatecommunication, state’scaseloadwasashighas77 beenontherise.WhileonApril22 hisyoungestson,Anil.Duringin-
Maheshwari was also the vice- datedMarch19,Bhushanhadin- per cent. Ninety-seven per cent theTPRstoodataroundsevenper terrogation, Anil told us that
president of Ahmedabad formed Gujarat Chief Secretary deaths,thelettersaid,wasalsobe- cent, on April 25, when the state around 12.30 am on Monday
Association of Pathology and Anil Mukim: “The state needs to ing reported from these four dis- reported 14,296 new cases and night, when he was sleeping on
Microbiologyfortwoyearsbefore ensure that an increase in testing tricts. The communication also tested1.68lakhsamples,theover- the floor, his father allegedly hit
it was dissolved into Gujarat (asperICMRguidance)shouldbe stressed on maintaining at least all daily TPR stood at 8.5 per cent. him by throwing a blunt object
Association of Pathologists and coupled with a low confirmation 70 per cent RT-PCR tests. On April 26, when the state re- at his face and scolding him for
Microbiologists. percentage of less than five per AnICMRdirectivefor70:30ra- ported 14,340 cases and tested beingunemployed.Enraged,Anil
cent.Further,maintainingthera- tio of RT-PCRs and RATs also has 1.59 lakh samples, the TPR stood strangled his father to death. He
Recommendations tioofRT-PCRvis-a-vis(rapid)anti- not been maintained in at over nine per cent. The state’s has been arrested today,” an in-
‘overlooked’ gentestto70:30isthekey.Hence, Ahmedabadcity,despiterepeated share of RT-PCR tests has re- vestigating officer said.
the proportion of RT-PCR tests communicationsfromtheUnion mained less than 40 per cent of Anil has been booked under
A letter to Gujarat Chief need to be significantly in- health ministry. As per the state thetotal1.60lakh-oddtestsitcon- IPC302formurder,thepoliceof-
Secretary Anil Mukim, dated creased.” government’s own data, on April ducts each day. ficer added.
March 20, 2021, by the Secretary Thecentralgovernmentteam,
DepartmentofHealthandFamily after assessing the ground situa-
Welfare,GoI,RajeshBhushan,fol- tion in the cities of Ahmedabad
THE ENGLISH AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES UNIVERSITY
HYDERABAD - 500 007, (A Central University)
EMPLOYMENT NOTIFICATION FOR TEACHING RECRUITMENT NO. II/2021
The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad invites applications from
the eligible candidates for appointment to various faculty positions
(Professor: UR-04, OBC-03, ST-01 and EWS-01; Associate Professor: UR-02,
OBC-06, PWD-01 and EWS-01) at the University Campus, Hyderabad and its
Regional Campuses at Shillong and Lucknow. The application can be downloaded
from the University website www.efluniversity.ac.in.
The details of the Notification, eligibility criteria and guidelines for filling the SHILP GRAVURES LIMITED
Application form are placed on the University website for information.
The last date for receiving applications is 18.05.2021. Regd. Office: 778/6, Pramukh Industrial Estate, Sola-Santej Road,
Sd/-
Date: 26.04.2021 REGISTRAR I/c Village Rakanpur, Tal. Kalol, Dist. Gandhinagar, Gujarat – 382 722,
India, Ph.: 02764-286323/24. CIN: L27100GJ1993PLC020552
Website: www.shilpgravures.com Email: cs@shilpgravures.com
CORRIGENDUM TO THE NOTICE OF BOARD MEETING
THE ENGLISH AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES UNIVERSITY Pursuant to the provisions of Regulation 29 and Regulation 47 of the SEBI
HYDERABAD - 500 007, (A Central University)
(Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 and
EMPLOYMENT NOTIFICATION NO. I/2021
further in reference to our earlier notice dated 26th April, 2021, it is hereby
(BACKLOG RECRUITMENT FOR FACULTY POSITIONS)
The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad invites applications for informed that the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company which was
backlog vacancies from the eligible candidates in OBC, SC and ST categories for scheduled to be held on Saturday, 1st of May, 2021 to consider the Audited
appointment to various faculty positions (Professor: SC-02, ST-1 and OBC-02;
Associate Professor: SC-02, ST-04 and OBC-02; and Assistant Professor: OBC-
Financial Results (standalone and consolidated) for the quarter and year
01) in different departments at the University Campus, Hyderabad and its Regional ended 31st March, 2021 has been postponed due to unavoidable
Campuses at Shillong and Lucknow. The application can be downloaded from the circumstances which have arisen on account of the widespread pandemic. The
University website www.efluniversity.ac.in.
revised notice for the new date of Board Meeting will be intimated in due course.
The details of the Notification, eligibility criteria and guidelines for filling the
Application form are placed on the University website for information. The said Notice can be accessed from the Company’s website –
The last date for receiving applications is 18.05.2021. Sd/- www.shilpgravures.com and also be accessed on the Stock Exchange website
Date: 26.04.2021 REGISTRAR I/c – www.bseindia.com.
For, Shilp Gravures Limited
Place: Rakanpur Sd/-
Date: 27.04.2021 Mr. Bharat Patel
Company Secretary
Ahmedabad
 4 GUJARAT WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021

Bonded doctors,
third year MBBS Places
CASE TRACKER
Confirmed Deaths New cases Oxygen shortfall likely
by April 30 if more not
students called Ahmedabad 1,40,490 2,844 5,725
Amreli 6,155 48 188
for Covid duty Anand 4,568 23 124
after HC remark Aravalli 2,403 41 86

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
AHMEDABAD,APRIL27
HOURS AFTER the state govern-
ment sought directions from the
Gujarat High Court on deploying
medical students for Covid duty,
state health commissioner
Jaiprakash Shivahare directed
bonded doctors to render their
services,failingwhichproceedings
will be initiated under the
Epidemic Diseases Act.
Nearly 250 third year MBBS
students of BJMC and Hospital in
Ahmedabad, affiliated to
Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, have
alsobeenaskedtoreport“assoon
as possible” to duty at
Ahmedabad’s Dhanvantari Covid
Hospital, following an order from
thestatehealthcommissionerate.
Earlier in the day, Advocate
General Kamal Trivedi requested
theGujaratHCtointervenetode-
ploy 1,200 bonded doctors for
Covid duty. The bench refused to
interveneandremarkedthestate
government must also call for all
finalyearstudentsofmedicaland
alliedfieldstomeetitsmanpower
shortage.
OnApril25,viewingtheshort-
ageof medicalexpertsandhealth
staff, Shivahare had issued an
order asking bonded candidates
of government medical colleges
and GMERS colleges to report for
Covid duty on April 26.
Tuesday’s government order
came citing the state needs addi-
tionalmanpower,especiallysince
thestatewasincreasingthenum-
ber of beds. All bonded doctors of
governmentmedicalcollegesand
GMERScollegeshavetonowbeen
told to report for duty and that
allocated, AG tells HC
Banaskantha 8,361 84 224
Bharuch 7,213 50 175
Bhavnagar 11,954 130 357
Botad 1,669 24 53
Chhota Udepur 1,724 14 69
25, only 1,000 MT was allocated. furthering and furthering. As of Train coaches, converted into isolation wards last year, are
Dahod 5,851 15 216
SOHINIGHOSH During the course of submission, today, I am looking forward very unused in Vadodara railway yard. File
Dang 535 11 22 AHMEDABAD,APRIL27 Mehtasaidthisshortfallwasstilla positively and I am sure the cen-
DevbhoomiDwarka 10,828 26 40 “reasonable”amountof shortfall. tral government will take care of
Gandhinagar
Gir Somnath
13,922
3,872
150
27
325
126
A SHORTFALL of nearly 300 met-
rictonnes(MT)ofmedicaloxygen
However,foraprojecteddemand
of1,200MTasonApril30,900MT
this aspect... because allocation
now is in the hand of the central Railway isolation coaches
Jamnagar
Junagadh
22,199
9,004
158
68
697
261
is anticipated by April 30,
Advocate General Kamal Trivedi
informedtheGujaratHighCourt,
was allocated by the Centre,
whichwouldresultina“shortfall
of 300 MT”, Mehta said.
government and for the right
purpose...Centralgovernmentis
seeing to it that oxygen is re-
may be put to use soon
Kheda 5,756 24 157 which is hearing a public interest “From a five per cent deficit, sourced from all corners. In the Western Railways must be inte-
Kutch 7,561 57 177 litigation taking suo motu cog- wearegoingto25percentdeficit. meantime, we are trying to see EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE grated immediately with the
Mahisagar 4,299 34 166 nizanceofsurgeinCovid-19cases This will keep on increasing... It is that optimisation (of oxygen us- AHMEDABAD, APRIL 27 state governments in Gujarat,
in Gujarat, on Tuesday. clearthatwehaveenoughoxygen age) is taken care of.” Maharashtra and Madhya
Mehsana 14,361 75 469 The state government coun- (supply), it is the distribution Gujarat Chief Secretary Anil ALMOST A year after they were Pradesh and put to use.
Morbi 4,919 66 68 sel, however, submitted he was which is a problem... Therefore, Mukim, in an April 16 communi- set up, the isolation coaches pre- Instructions were also given re-
Narmada 3,745 2 58 “looking forward very posi- the Centre and the state needs to cation to the Department for pared by Western Railways in garding compliance of Covid
Navsari 3,680 8 128 tively” and was “sure the cen- work this out on how to distrib- Promotion of Industry and Gujarat cities might soon be oc- guidelines at railway stations
tralgovernment will take careof ute. Some states are not produc- Internal Trade, Government of cupied. andcompulsorythermalscreen-
Panchmahal 6,573 34 107
this aspect”. ing oxygen at all. We are produc- India, secretary Guruprasad According to officials, MP ing of passengers coming from
Patan 7,899 73 210 During the hearing Tuesday, ingenoughbutitisalogisticaland Mohapatra, had projected 1,500 NarhariAmin(Ahmedabad),MP other states,” read a statement
Porbandar 1,614 6 47 senior counsel Shalin Mehta distributionissue,whichthecourt MToxygen“shortage”,requesting RanjanbenBhatt(Vadodara),MP from the office of Narhari Amin.
Rajkot 42,405 420 534 highlighted there was a mis- can take care of,” Mehta said. that Gujarat be supported with Arvind Sawant (Mumbai South) The Indian Railways had in
Sabarkantha 5,172 64 106 match between the demand for Admitting that Mehta’s sub- the supply of extra medical oxy- and MP Pragya Singh Thakur 2020 prepared over 5,000 isola-
medical oxygen in Gujarat and missions were valid, the gen to meet its demand. (Bhopal) and representatives tioncoachesequippedwithoxy-
Surat 1,08,766 1,536 2,269
the supply plan chalked by the Advocate General said currently The division bench, on a part- from six divisions of Western gensupplyandotherfacilitiesfor
Surendranagar 5,570 66 262 Centre. Mehta, representing alloxygendistributionwasbeing ing note, also asked the central Railways — Ahmedabad, Covid patients across the coun-
Tapi 2,795 9 151 threepracticingadvocatesof the controlled by the Centre. “We government counsel, additional Vadodara, Ratlam, Bhavnagar, try. However, majority of these
Vadodara 48,220 455 631 Gujarat HC who had moved an (Gujarat) have been allocated SG Devang Vyas, to consider the Rajkot and Mumbai Central — coaches, including 60 in
Valsad 2,983 23 124 intervening application seeking 975 MT of oxygen (by Centre), communications being sent to took part in the meeting. Ahmedabad division, have been
thecourt’sdirectioninrelationto which is not (up to) our require- Centre by the state government. “Itwasdiscussedthattheiso- lying idle due to no communica-
Other states 148 3
supply of medical oxygen, said ment. Our requirement is going Meanwhile,thestategovern- lation coaches prepared by the tion from the state government.
Total New Cumulative Cumulative the gap will only broaden in the updaybyday...Inaletterof April ment said Tuesday that of the
cases: cases: discharge: deaths: coming days. 24, 2021, it was stated that as of eight pressure swing absorption
5,23,979 14,352 3,90,229 6,642 The central government, in a
communicationdatedApril16to
April30,2021,wewillbeshortof
oxygen by a quantity of 292 MT.
plants sanctioned for being set
up in Gujarat by the Centre, only
Woman assaulted after loot
Firstdose
takerstilldate
Fullyvaccinated Firstdose
tilldate
Fullyvaccinated
takerstoday today
chief secretaries of all states and
UnionTerritories,hadlaidoutthe
state-wisedailyallocationofoxy-
Our request (to the Centre) is to
please add 292 MT in allocated
quantity of 975 MT and we
threewasfunctionalsofar.While
the vendor of one of the plants
was blacklisted by the central
bid at jewellery store: Police
95,11,122 21,11,484 66,624 87,098 gensupplyplan.Asperthealloca- shouldbegivenatleast1,267MT government, the AG said, the re- The Indian Express, showed the
tion plan, for Gujarat’s projected of oxygen so that we may take maining three plants will be EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE womanwastiedtoapoleoutside
demand of 1,050 MT as on April care of requirement that is only functional by May 3. AHMEDABAD, APRIL 27 the store, crying for help, apolo-
gising for her act and a group of
Textile markets in Surat A 21-YEAR-OLD woman was al-
legedlyassaultedafterbeingtied
three to four men assaulting her.
The woman was rescued by

to remain shut till May 5

their bond amount shall not be
collected until further orders. In
case of non-compliance, munici-
pal commissioners and district
collectors have been empowered
to take action.
Meanwhile,the“urgent”com-
munication, sent to the third year
MBBS students of BJMC Tuesday,
was issued by its dean and states
the“aboveinstructionisasperdi-
rection by commissionerate of
health”inGandhinagar.MBBSstu-
dents were called for Covid duty
bythe AMClastyear,withmostof
them deployed on testing duty.
These students had appealed
againstitintheGujaratHC,which
refused to entertain it, recording
thatthelitigationhad“thoroughly
disappointed” the bench.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
SURAT, APRIL 27
THE 170 textile trading markets
in Surat, housing nearly 65,000
shops, most having trade net-
works across India, will remain
shut till May 5 to break the chain
of coronavirus infection, the
FederationofSuratTextileTraders
Association(FOSTTA)saidTuesd-
ayafterconsultingthepresidents
of various trade associations.
FOSTTA president Manoj
Agrawal said, “Due to the coron-
avirus, business has gone down.
Even we have to follow Covid-19
guidelinesontestingpeoplecom-
ing to the markets. So, we have
takenadecisiontokeepthemar-
ketsclosedforeightdaysstarting
Wednesday. By keeping shops
closed for a day or two days or
duringtheweekend,wedon’tfeel
thatitwillbehelpfultobreakthe
chain of infection. So, after con-
sulting with the presidents of all
othertextilemarkets,wedecided
tokeepshopsshutforeightdays.”
The civic corporation has
been informed about the deci-
sion, Agrawal said. The annou-
ncement comes on a day when
theSuratcityrecorded1,858new
Covid-19 cases and 23 deaths.
to a pole in a market in
Ahmedabad’s Naroda after she
wascaughttryingtopouraspray
onasalesmanatajewellerystore
inanallegedlootbid,policesaid.
Police have arrested the woman
butareyettoidentifytheaccused
who allegedly tied her to a pole
and tried to disrobe and assault
her.
According to police, the
woman,aresidentof Naroda,ar-
rived at Navkar Ornaments
Jewellery Store near Machli
Market around 12.30 pm. As per
CCTV footage, the woman
checked a few gold ornaments
showed by a salesman, before
taking out a spray and trying to
Dogs enjoy the cool spray released by an oxygen plant at Vadodara’s Gotri Hospital. Bhupendra Rana pour it on his face.
Another video, accessed by
NarodaPolicewholaterarrested
her for attempting to commit
robbery.
A second FIR was also lodged
against three to four unknown
men under various IPC sections
forwrongfulconfinement,useof
assault or criminal force on
woman to disrobe her, among
others.
Rajesh Ghadiya, Deputy
Commissionerof Police(Zone4),
Ahmedabad city, said, “Based on
the woman’s complaint, an FIR
hasbeenlodged.”PBKhambhala,
inspector at Naroda police sta-
tion, said, “We are in the process
of identifying the accused who
confined and assaulted the
woman. By Wednesday, we will
be able to nab them.”

Micro-containment zones see a dip
even as cases surge in Ahmedabad
RITU SHARMA
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 27
CONTRARY TO the continuous
exponentialsurgeinfreshCovid-
19 cases in Ahmedabad city in
April, the number of micro-con-
tainment zones earmarked by
the Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC) has seen a
steady decline.
Thenumberof areasdropped
from the list of micro-contain-
ment zones, in fact, has been
higher than the ones added
acrossthecitydailysinceApril17.
Against the 17 areas earmarked
as new micro-containment
zones on April 17, the civic body
removed 24 others from the list,
AMC data states. Interestingly,
the city had 442 such zones, the
highest so far, against 3,241 fresh
cases on the same day.
There has been a steady de-
cline in the number of total mi-
cro-containment zones in the
city. On April 24, AMC declared
only nine new micro-contain-
ment zones and removed 28 ar-
eas from the list, taking the total
number of such zones to 388 on
a day when the city recorded
5,617 new Covid-19 cases. On
Vadodara: Covid cases, deaths rise Critical care beds
in Ahmedabad
steeply in a week from April 21
micro-containment zone is de- ADITIRAJA
1,391. Similarly, 1,001 positive
cases were added from the age
age group . Of the total toll of 204
(out of 350) in this age group so
cut to 152 from
191 in 24 hours
Ahmedabad: Thenumberof crit-
MICRO-CONTAINMENT ZONES IN CITY clared on the basis of Covid-19
cases in proportion to the popu-
VADODARA,APRIL27 group of 21 to 30 years, of which
1,300areactivecases.Inthe 41to
far, 29 deaths took place since
April21whiletheagegroupof31
ical care beds across civic corpo-
ration-run, government and pri-
lation of that residential area. For THERISEinthenumberofCovid- 50 years group, 903 cases were to 40 has seen four and 41 to 50 vate hospitals and nursing
Newmicro Removedmicro Totalmicro Daywise
instance, for a smaller residential 19 cases and hospitalisation has addedwith1,298activecases,684 hasseen10 deathsinthepastone homes in Ahmedabad city has
containment containment containment freshcases
zones zones zonesincity incity society, three to five positive beensteepinVadodarainaweek were added in the 51 to 60 years week. Six persons have also died been reduced from 191 to 152
Covid-19 cases makes a case for from April 21 until Tuesday — agegroupwith1,085activecases. of Covid-19intheagegroupof 71 within 24 hours, data released
Apr17 17 24 442 3241 amicro-containmentzonewhile with 4,157 new cases. Asmanyas393caseswereadded to 80 since April 21 and seven by the Ahmedabad Municipal
Apr18 28 28 435 3641 for a larger one, the number According to the Vadodara in 61 to 70 years age group, while from 81 to 90 years of age. CorporationonTuesdayshowed.
Apr19 17 33 435 4207 might increase. Only a smaller MunicipalCorporation(VMC),the 442 were added to the age group Vadodara currently has Of these,51bedsarein186nurs-
section of a big residential soci- death toll has sharply risen over of 0 to 21 years. 1,0519 hospitalisations of which ing homes, 37 in four AMC-run
Apr20 22 24 419 4631
ety – a single floor, block or sec- the last week, with maximum On Tuesday, the VMC 1,115 patients are on ventilator hospitals, 36 at Asarwa Medicity
Apr21 29 37 417 4821 tion of a few houses from where deaths being recorded in the age recordedanewsingle-dayhighof beds while 1,374 people are in campus and Sola Civil Hospital
Apr22 18 26 409 5142 Covid-19 cases are reported, can group of 51 to 70 years. 767casestakingthetallyto41,593 ICU and 4,804 patients are on and 28 across 168 private hospi-
Apr23 16 29 401 5411 alsobedeclaredamicro-contain- From March 1 to April 1, de- while it declared nine more oxygen support. These include tals in the city.
ment zone. spitetherisingcases,thenumber Covid19deaths.Theofficialdeath positive and suspected Covid On Monday, of a total 8,211
Apr24 9 28 388 5617 A temporary blockage is put of positive cases was 4,034 while toll in Vadodara city and district cases from Vadodara district as critical care beds, 191 beds were
Apr25 9 22 369 5790 up by the AMC to restrict the 8,566 cases were added over 21 hasreached350—ariseof48ina well as outside. vacant -- an occupancy of nearly
Apr26 12 44 356 5619 movement of residents outs res- daysfromApril1.Fromtheofficial week.Mortalitiesthatdonotclas- Dr Sheetal Mistry, advisor to 98 per cent, it said. “It is further
idential societies declared as mi- toll of 241 on March 1 (since the sifyasCovid-19deathsduringthe administrationforCovid-19,says, repeated that as on today only
cro containment zones. outbreak of the pandemic last death audits are not counted. “At present, we are witnessing 152 oxygen (equipped) and ICU
Monday, too, the civic body ouscitiesof thestate.Thiswasaf- Civic officials or police per- year) to 251 on April 1, VMC However,crematoriumshave rapidhospitalisationfromstates beds are available in all the hos-
added 12 new micro-contain- ter the PM’s April 20 address, sonnel are also deputed outside recordedonly10officialCovid-19 beenwitnessingover120crema- of Maharashtra, Madhya pitals of Ahmedabad put to-
mentzonesandremoved44oth- wherehehadaskedstatestocon- each micro-containment zone to deaths in one month. Between tions in a day and burial grounds Pradesh, Rajasthan and we also gether for Covid treatment,” an
ers taking the total to 356 such sider lockdown as the last option ensure the guidelines are fol- April 1 and 21, over a period of over 20 burials. have a few patients from Bihar. AMC statement said.
zones. The city added 5,619 new andfocusoncreatingmicro-con- lowed. Shortage of staff, already three weeks, Vadodara declared An official of the health de- Wearewitnessinganinfluxfrom It added, “Large number of
cases on that day. tainment zones. overburdened with multiple 51 deaths but in a span of one partment says, “The mortality is 22 districts in the state... hospitals in Ahmedabad are
During an interaction with When contacted, Covid-relateddutiesandincreas- weekfromApril21to27,thecivic high because the number of pa- Vadodarahasbeenabletocreate floodedwithpatientsfromother
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ahmedabad Municipal ing resistance from residents body has declared 48 more tientsishighandalsoadmissions. an infrastructure to ensure we parts of Gujarat as well as other
on April 24, Chief Minister Vijay Corporation (AMC) Medical against such restrictions, mean- deaths,takingthetotaltollto350. Lot of patients come to hospitals areabletoadmitcloseto300pa- states. It is estimated that
Rupani had said the Gujarat gov- Officer (Health) Dr Bhavin while, have been cited as some Ofthe4,157casesaddedinone in a critical condition. Many have tients even in this peak.” presently around 800 patients
ernment was “focussing” on mi- Solanki told The Indian Express, reasons why the AMC has gone week from April 21, 1,042 were comorbiditiesthataretheprimary Dr Vrajesh Shah of Viroc hos- from outside Ahmedabad are
cro-containment zones and that “Wewilllookintothisandactac- slow on micro-containment from the age group of 31 to 40 causeof deathandnotCovid-19.” pital says, “Early diagnosis, treat- being treated in Ahmedabad
there were a total of 30,000 mi- cordingly.” zones, maintaining the total years, which also has the maxi- The maximum number of ment and admission can surely hospitals. As a result, most of the
cro-containment zones in vari- As per the AMC guidelines, a number around 350. mum number of active cases at deathshaveoccurredinthe51-70 helptocurbseveritiesof Covid...” hospitals are full.” ENS

HC pulls up Gujarat govt: Your affidavit doesn’t reflect ground realities
FROMPAGE1
chain, the bench of Chief Justice
Vikram Nath and Justice Bhargav
Kariasaidmunicipalcorporations
cannot follow a policy of admis-
sion only through 108. State gov-
ernment hospitals have permit-
ted patients to arrive by private
vehicles as well. An intervening
applicationwasfiledbyadvocate
Amit Panchal, seeking the AMC
policy be done away with.
Addressing advocate general
Kamal Trivedi, representing the
state,ChiefJusticeNathsaid,“You
saygovernmenthospitalsaread-
mitting patients who are coming
inprivatevehiclesalso.NowAMC
insists that only patients coming
in108ambulanceswillbeadmit-
ted...Why?Isthecorporationnot
underthesupervisionandcontrol
of the state... we also pointed out
that 108 must attend first to criti-
calpatients...Thereisnoresponse
to this in the affidavit...”
JusticeKariaalsopulledupthe
state over increasing queues of
ambulancesoutsidehospitals.“In
theApril15hearing,you(AG)had
said that you will reduce lines of
ambulance, that is also not hap-
pening. Till today there is a line of
40ambulancesathospitalsevery-
where and because of that 108 is
notreachingpatientsrequiringit.
And now you are saying you are
treatingpatientsintheambulance
itself... First you said you will re-
ducethequeueofambulancesbut
today you say the queue is in-
evitable. That is a totally contra-
dictory stand,” the bench said.
“What will happen on May 1
when patients are doubled? Are
you ready for it? All patients will
not be attended and they will be
allowedtodie.Thisisthewaythe
systemisworking?Thereisapro-
jectionofhalfamillionpatientsin
the next 15 days. What is your
preparation? Nothing... GMDC
hospitals cannot take care of
30,000patients...thisisonlyabout
Ahmedabad, what about the rest
of the state? We are not getting
any figures of the rest of the
state...,” it added.
“Questionis,ifapatientcomes
toahospital,therehastobeateam
ofdoctorsandtheyneedtoattend
tothepatient...Herethesituation
isthattheysay‘no,wewillnotat-
tendtoyoubecauseyouhavenot
come in 108’...,” the bench said.
Thestategovernmentargued
thatopeningupadmissiontopa-
tients arriving by private vehicles
wouldseehospitalbedsoccupied
rapidlyandwouldleadtoaqueue
of private vehicles outside hospi-
tals.Thebenchcontendedthatin
suchacase,hospitalsshouldcon-
sider putting up a board outside,
updating the bed occupancy.
Trivediemphasisedthatwhile
a“systemisinplace,resourcesare
overstretched”, however, the
bench refused to be convinced. It
said, “We are not saying the gov-
ernmentorcorporationisnotdo-
ing anything but the manner in
whichitisdoneisnotsatisfactory,
not transparent... If you have a
more practical, thoughtful and
meaningful system of working, it
wouldbedoingmuchbetter...and
these untimely deaths outside
hospitals for non-attendance by
doctors would not happen...”
“You can't sit on ivory tower
and decide we will solve this cri-
sis... you have to come down to
the ground level, see what is the
situation. Your affidavit does not
reflectanyofthegroundrealities
reported everyday everywhere.
It is giving a rosy picture as if
everything is fine and you’re do-
ing your best but what is the de-
mand, what is the supply, how
muchistheshortfall,fromwhere
youwillbringtheresources—we
don’t know,” the bench said.
It also pulled up the state on
the medical oxygen scarcity and
remarked, “In Rajkot people are
running from pillar to post, they
are not getting oxygen in any of
thehospitals...peoplearepaying
10 times for an oxygen cylinder...
why are bottlers are allowed to
give oxygen to private per-
sons?...Whatisthesystemdoing?
Everythingisonpaper,nothingis
ongroundreality...Doctorssayhe
(a patient) has not come in 108,
lethimdie...Everybodyhastobe
attendedto,whosoeveriscritical,
irrespective of which vehicle he
has come.”
Thecourtalsonotedthat“test-
ing numbers are the same, from
April12toApril27”.Severalinter-
vening parties, including senior
advocatePercyKavinarepresent-
ingGujaratHighCourtAdvocates’
Association (GHAA) and senior
advocate Shalin Mehta, submit-
ted that at this point, a govern-
ment-orderedlockdownappears
to be the only way to break the
chain of transmission.
After the AG highlighted that
certainmediaoutletstooktopub-
lishing contact details of bureau-
cratsstatingthatcitizensmaycall
on the said numbers for a bed in
case they find it difficult to find
one, the court said, “You also
need to take to task these news-
papersandmediachannelswho
are making all kinds of unneces-
sary negativity. The news chan-
nel which has floated out num-
bers of all senior IAS officers
saying they can help get a bed in
a hospital, is that justified... You
just need to pass an order and
close the channel, seal their of-
fice...Thegovernmentmustexer-
cise all its powers...”

Ahmedabad
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021 5
MADHYA PRADESH JAL NIGAM MARYADIT Gujarat Council of School Education GUJARAT WATER SUPPLY &
SEWERAGE BOARD
(A Govt. of Madhya Pradesh Undertaking) State Project Office, Samagra Shiksha
E-tender Tender Notice No.05 of 2021-22
'D' Wing, 2nd Floor, Vindhyachal Bhawan, Bhopal-462004 Sector - 17, Gandhinagar (Gujarat) Tender I.D No. 458742
Ph.: 0755-2579034, 2579874, Fax : 0755-2579873 Samagra Shiksha, Gujarat Council of School Education is Gujarat Water Supply & Sewerage Board, invite tender through E-ten-
www.mpjalnigam.mp.gov.in,E-mail: mpjalnigam@mp.gov.in hereby inviting agencies for “Selection of Project dering for the work of Under the M & R Programme Kapadwnaj-
CIN-U41000MP2012SGC028798 Management Consultancy (PMC) to ensure the implemen- Lasundra Reg. W.S.S. Ta. Kapadwanaj, Comprehensive Maintenance
NIT No. 02-08/Proc./MPJN/2021-22 Bhopal, Dated : 27.04.2021 tation and monitoring of activities under Gujarat Outcomes for Civil part for 2 years (24 months) of New and Old all civil structure,
Rising and Distribution pipeline Network with all associate components
NOTICE INVITING E-TENDER of Accelerate Learning (GOAL) School Education
etc. Complete Estmated cost Rs. 46.40 Lakh, Eligibility of Contractor
Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam (MPJN) invites online bids through e-tendering process for Excellence Program (SEEP)”. Schedule of RFP is as under :
“E-1” class Registered Contractors under irrigation / R & B Gujarat
following work from eligible reputed agencies : Date of Publishing of RFP 26.04.2021 State, Work Experienced, Solvancy & G.S.T. No. for details regarding
Last Date of Bid Submission 11.05.2021 tenders will available online on the website http://.www.gwssb.npro-
NIT District/ Name of MVS No. of PAC Duration EMD Document Remark
cure.com. Corrigendum will available online only. For further information
No. PIU Name Villages (Rs. (months) (Rs. Fee (Rs.) For more information, kindly visit www.nprocure.com please contact Office Of The Executive Engineer Public Health works
Cr.) Lakh) Sd/- Division, G.W.S.S.B Nadiad, Room No. 310, Sardar Bhavan. D - Block,
A. Supervision & Quality Control Consultant (SQC) State Project Director, Mill Road, Nadiad Phone No.: 0268 - 2560996. Last date for on line ten-
State Project Office, Samagra Shiksha ders submission is Dt.17/05/2021. Conditional bids will not be accept-
2. Shivpuri Madikheda 842 12.43 39 10.00 30,000 2nd Call
INF/111/21-22 Sector-17, Gandhinagar (Gujarat) ed. Competent authority of G.W.S.S.B reserve the right to reject the
3. Singrauli Waidhan-2 184 5.26 33 5.26 20,000 1st Call tender without giving all the reasons why it will not be able to accept all
or any of the bids. Griveances related to services of Gujarat Water
B. Third-Party Inspection Agency (TPIA)
SPORTS AUTHORITY OF ANDHRA PRADESH Supply & Sewerage Board for Rural drinking water supply can be
4. Guna Rajghat Dam 1,573 8.58 39 8.58 20,000 2nd Call lodged on toll free helpline number 1916. INFO/NAD/58/2021-22
IGMC STADIUM, LABBIPET, BANDAR ROAD, VIJAYAWADA
Gopikrishnan 354 33
Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh requires the following posts to work in Khelo
5. Singrauli Waidhan- 1 283 6.35 39 6.35 20,000 2nd Call India State Centre of Excellence, Dr.YSR Sports School, YSR District, Kadapa on MILITARY ENGINEER SERVICES
Waidhan- 2 184 33 contract basis for a period of 04 (four) years. Headquarters Chief Engineer
Gond Deosar 206 33 Sl. No Position Discipline/ Grade No.of Posts Pune Zone, Dakshin Kaman Marg, Pune- 411001
6. Gwalior Madikheda 842 5.20 39 5.20 20,000 2nd Call 1 High Perfomance Director 1
2 Head Coach Archery 1 AMENDED ADVERTISEMENT
7. Indore Nemawar 115 2.96 33 2.96 15,000 2nd Call
Rajond 74 27
3 Head Coach Athletics 1 (EARLIER PUBLISHED ON 12 FEB 2021)
4 Head Coach Weightlifting 1 1. Applications are invited in the prescribed format for permanent
8. Agar Malwa Agar Malwa 480 2.73 33 2.73 15,000 2nd Call 5 Young Professional 1 appointment to the posts of Draughtsman (D'Man) & Supervisor
Interested bidders can view/download/purchase the bid document online from M.P. Government 6 Physiotherapist Grade II 1 Barrack & Store (Supvr B/S) in the MES Department under the
E-Procurement Portal from 28.04.2021, 17:30 Hrs. Bidding process dates mentioned as 7 Physiotherapist Grade I 1 aegis of Ministry of Defence (Gol), for all India placements.
critical dates on M.P. Government E-Procurement Portal will be applicable.Corrigendum/ 8 Nutritionist 1 2. The total Nos of vacancies of D'Man and Supvr B/S to be read
Addendum in NIT, if any, would be published on portal only and not in newspapers. 9 Masseur (1 Male & 1 female) Grade II 2 as under:-
M.P. Government E-Procurement Portal : https://mptenders.gov.in 10 Strength & Conditioning Expert Lead 1 S.No. Name of Posts No. of vacancies Qualification
M.P. Madhyam/100649/2021 MANAGING DIRECTOR Please check eligibilty and engaging terms and conditions at our website: www.sports. (a) D'Man 114 As per detailed
ap.gov.in. The eligibile candidates may submit the applications on or before 07.05.2021 Advertisement
to the mail id: kisce.ap@gmail.com. For further details contact: 0866-2499699. (b) Supvr B/S 458 As per detailed
Sd/- Vice Chairman and Managing Director Advertisement
DIPR No.53PP/CL/ADVT/1/1/2021-22, Dt.27/04/2021
3. Last date for submission of online application has been
extended upto 17 May 2021 (Time 23.59 Hrs)
4 For distribution of vacancies with reservation and other
details please visit MES website i.e. www.mes.gov.in.
Detailed Advt has already been published in Employment
News wef 27 Mar 2021.

Classifieds
PERSONAL

Change of Name
I Have Changed My
Daughter’s Old name
“Tanvi Sanjay
Purohit”
to New name
“Trishala Sanjay
Purohit”
A-303, Sukrut-2,
Near Parimal Under
Bridge, Paldi,
Ahmedabad-380007.
''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
transactions with companies,
associations or individuals
advertising in its newspapers
or Publications. We therefore
recommend that readers
make necessary inquiries
before sending any monies or
entering into any agreements
with advertisers or otherwise
acting on an advertisement in
any manner whatsoever.

Online Tender Notice No.16 of 2020-21 Third Trial

The DPIU & Executive Engineer, Panchayat {R. & B.} Division, Gandhinagar, Dist. Gandhinagar Phone No. 079232-
56968 on behalf of Governor of Gujarat invites the percentage rate / item rate online bids for Construction/ Up-gra-
dation and Maintenance of Rural Roads under P.M.G.S.Y.-lll in Gandhinagar District {Year 2020-2021} from the eli-
gible and approved Contractors registered in Class "A" & Special Category: II & above as per on line E-Tendering
The Details Notice of which could be seen & Download from Dt.31.03.2021 on website
https://pmgsytendersguj.gov.in/nicgep/app. For Further particulars contact above stated office during office hours.
Tender Document Downloaded From 28.04.2021
Last Date & Time of Online Submission of tender 5.05.2021
Submission of Tender Fee, E.M.D. and other Documents 13.05.2021
Date, Time & Place of Pre Bid Conference 6.05.2021
Online Opening of Technical Bid 10.05.2021
Sr. No Package No. Name of Work Est. Cost {Rs. in Lacs} Tender Fee
1 GJ 0905P3 Fatepur-Sojaiya-Samau-harnahoda-MDR-12 476.09 6000.00
The tender document for these work are available only in website https://pmgsytendersguj.gov.in/nicgep/app Other
Details can be seen on Notice board of R. & B. (P)Division Office Gandhinagar
Sd/-
D.P.I.U. & Executive Engineer
Panchayat R. & B. Division
INF/115/21-22 Gandhinagar

MADHYA GUJARAT VIJ COMPANY LIMITED

O&M CIRCLE OFFICE, GOTRI ROAD, BARODA-390 021 Tel: 2355520/21 Fax 2313164
barodaom@gebmail.com - E&P Dept-GoG: http://guj-epd.gov.in
CIN U40102GJ2003SGC042907
Tender Notice (Sr.No.1 to 4 Date extend) (1) Tender ID No. 445551 for Hiring of Jeep (Closed
Body) 9 Seater, white color and ladder Van White Color, latest Model-2021 for Baroda O&M
division office and Various sub division offices under Baroda O&M Division (2) Tender ID No.
445552 for Hiring of Jeep (Closed Body) 9 Seater, white color and ladder Van White Color,
latest Model-2021 for Bodeli O&M division office and Various sub division offices under Bodeli
O&M Division (3) Tender ID No. 445559 for Hiring of Jeep (Closed Body) 9 Seater, white color
and ladder Van White Color, latest Model-2021 for Dabhoi O&M division office and Various sub
division offices under Dabhoi O&M Division (4) Tender ID No. 445561 for Hiring of Jeep (Closed
Body) 9 Seater, white color and ladder Van White Color, latest Model-2021 for Jambuva O&M
division office and Various sub division offices under Jambuva O&M Division (5) Tender ID
No.459064 for Fabrication works of various line materials (items) in Chhani store of Baroda
(O&M) Division (6) Tender Notice No.BD/11/2021 for Purchase of Duck Back, Bill Win or its
equivalent make Rain Coats for Line staffs & Other Eligible Employees of Baroda (O&M)
Division office & Baroda (O&M) Circle office (7) Tender Notice No.DBH/EXP/ADV/WEBTEN-
DER/21/331 for Providing Outdoor/Indoor and HT ABC joints work for various new UG+ HT
ABC works and maintenance work anywhere under Dabhoi (O&M) Division. Visit our web site
www.gseb.com, www.mgvcl.com & www.nprocure.com, Be in touch with web site till opening
of tender. S.E. (O&M). Baroda.

Ahmedabad
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

6
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021
WORDLY WISE

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

I think that if you go about making movies to
win Oscars, you're really going about it the
wrong way. — NICOLAS CAGE

FOUNDED BY
Vaccine Darwinism
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
Centre’s response mirrors politics in which strong
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
do what they can, weak suffer what they must

FIGHTING & FIDDLING Pratap Bhanu Mehta

To do right thing, Centre must take stock of what it did wrong.
IN THE FACE of India’s catastrophic pan- behalf of thepowerful:Majoritiesagainstmi- allocation problem. Now allocation will be
No outcome on May 2 can be alibi vis a vis national imperative demic, the tongue goes silent and the pens norities,stateagainstdissenters,andbigcap- based on whoever can lay their hands on the

A
fall dry. What can one say that is meaning-
NANGUISHEDHIGHCourtsaysthatperhapstheElectionCommissionshould ful? There is seldom any consoling story to
face murder charges. Another HC asks if Delhi should be handed over to the be told about grief or mass suffering. There
Centre, a third tells Gujarat to come clean on data, a fourth gives Karnataka a are brave journalists bearing witness. But
listofthingstodoimmediately.Stateafterstatefacesindictmentinthecourts what does bearing witness do in a culture of
butit'stheCentrewhere,amidclimbingdistress,theevidenceof fiddlingisstarker.Asmany official nationalism where the images of
deathoffendmorethandeathitself?Thereis
as11empoweredgroupsweresetupinMarch2020,asaspecificresponsetothepandemic,
an urgent need to fix several policies. But
when COVID cases crossed the 1,000 mark. Touted as empowered and autonomous, they what do policy proposals mean, when all
were to act as quick response teams, ensure coordination between the Centre and states on policy is about managing headlines, not
specific tasks: From quarantine facilities to availability of hospitals and essential medical achieving an objective? There is a need to fix
equipment.Today,withdailycasesclimbingoverthe3lakhmark,theseempoweredgroups accountability. But how does accountability
are conspicuous by how little they did with their power. Like others in charge, they seem to get fixed when so many institutional sinews
from federalism to bureaucracy have
have ignored or not responded effectively enough to the several red flags before the pan-
snapped? There is justifiable anger at the
demic’s fierce second surge tore through a creaking health infrastructure. Like others, these Prime Minister, whose self-obsessive cal-
groups stand guilty of wasting the nearly five-month lull in the public health emergency, lousness and abdication of leadership has
frommidSeptembertomidFebruary.Andthen,of failingtostepupagainwhenthesecond contributedimmeasurablytothecurrentcri-
wave rose like a wall within days — on April 4, India crossed a case load of 1 lakh cases daily sis. But in the case of this government, anger
seems misplaced. Anger presumes a leader
and by April 22, it had risen to 3,32,730 cases.
who is standing within the space of reason,
April 22 was a notable day for another reason. It was when Prime Minister Narendra
where the point of anger is to restore a cer-
Modi, till then visibly immersed in the West Bengal poll campaign, addressing crowded tain reciprocity between citizen and leader.
rallies attended by mostly maskless men and women, cancelled his election meetings
Anger is completely beside the point, when
scheduled for the next day to supervise the response to COVID’s second wave. And an youhaveanimperiousleader,whohascome
hour later the Election Commission banned road shows and public meetings of over 500. tomistakethehologramof hisownmendac-
On April 22, then, two dismal messages were sent out. One, that it took the case load to ityforreality.Inanycase,thescenesof suffer-
surge so completely out of control for the PM to pull himself away from the over-long ingmakeevenangeraluxury;therearemore
urgent tasks to be attended to.
electioncampaign.Andtwo,thatittookthePM’sdecisionfortheECtoact.Boththesemes-
Theonlyempoweringthoughtinthiscon-
sagesaccentuatethespirallingsenseof politicalandinstitutionalabandonmentinthepan- text has been the splendid work that profes-
demic’s second surge. sionals,frontlinegovernmentworkers,health
Of course, there was a larger sense of complacency — as a series of reports in this paper professionalsandvolunteersaredoingtocom-
hasrevealed,essentialemergencyinfrastructurecreatedinthestatesinresponsetothefirst pensate for massive state failure. The extraor-
dinarymobilisationof civicactionwhetherin
Covidwavewitheredawayorwasdismantledbythetimethesecondwavecame.Butmost
supplying oxygen or cremating the dead has
ofall,theCentremusttakestockofitsinattentionandfailures—becauseitwasinchargeand
been exemplary. These are, of course, some-
because it still is. To ask it to do so is not to peddle negativity. It is not to, as the new RSS times limited by class and geography, but it
sarkaryawah has said, to be part of “destructive and anti-Bharat forces”. Winning elections
would be churlish to deny the depth of com-
is important, but the BJP must know that no outcome on May 2 can provide it an alibi vis a mitmentofwhatwearewitnessing.Thiscivic
vis the national imperative. And the EC, now prodded into action by the high courts, must commitmenthashelpedmitigatesuffering.It
recognise that its reputation of integrity and independence will not endure on its own — it provides slivers of solidarity in a politics that
has long forgotten that word.
needs to work for it, especially in a crisis.
India has always been a tough place; the
callousness that comes with inequality is
deeply inscribed in our social structure.
To deflect attention we open
up vaccinations for all age
groups. But you have
exacerbated the problem: If
supplies are scarce, opening
it up to a free-for-all
accentuates the allocation
problem. Now allocation will
be based on whoever can lay
their hands on the vaccine,
not what is best suited to
combat the virus and reduce
health burdens. You then say
there will be differential
pricing. In essence, those
who can afford to get them at
private sector rates shall get
them more easily. The
argument is that they will
cross-subsidise. This is a
specious argument; if people
want to genuinely fund
cross-subsidies in health,
better to collect it as taxes
italagainstsmall.Thespectreof morerepres-
sion being unleashed to manage the
post-pandemic discontent cannot be ruled
out. The question is this: Will these rudi-
ments of publicsolidarityondisplay counter
deadlysocialDarwinismthatourofficialpol-
itics has become?
Perhaps,agoodtestcaseissomethingur-
gent: A reconsideration of our vaccine pol-
icy. The three basic ingredients of a vaccine
policy for a pandemic of this kind are clear.
Do whatever it takes to make sure there are
enoughsupplies(therightprocurementcon-
tract, capital subsidies, capacity expansion,
and, if need be, the suspension of intellec-
tual property rights). Centrally procure vac-
cines, but give states operational flexibility.
And distribute them free. This is essentially
what the United States did. And do all of this
as fast as possible, if we are to prevent new
mutants from arising.
Instead, what we got in vaccine policy is
a bizarre combination of ruthlessness and
managing the headlines. First, there is a
scarcity of vaccines and will be for a while
because we did not get our capacity expan-
sion and procurement contracts right. Then
you had the pandemic surge in some states,
which raised two questions: How much op-
erationalflexibilitycanbegiventothestates?
And how much does it make sense to reallo-
catevaccines tostatesordistrictswherethey
are most urgently needed? These questions
could have been easily resolved by a mod-
icum of trust building. But instead, we try to
coverupthescarcityandprioritisationques-
tion by managing the headline. We unleash
a Darwinian competition between states on
procurement. The demands of the states
could have been resolved in better ways.
Nowsomestateswillmakethevaccinesfree.
But there is a greater opportunity cost to the
states doing this. They have less resources
than the Centre. And there is high probabil-
ity that they will divert money from other
essential services.
vaccine, not what is best suited to combat
the virus and reduce health burdens. You
then say there will be differential pricing. In
essence, those who can afford to get them at
private sector rates shall get them more eas-
ily. The argument is that they will cross-sub-
sidise. This is a specious argument; if people
want to genuinely fund cross-subsidies in
health, better to collect it as taxes and create
public goods, not distribute vaccines as a
privileged good under scarcity.
In the meantime, our supply strategy is
still not clear. There are no reliable schedules
of production targets. You offer Serum
Institute of India what seems like an unsus-
tainable price, and slow their capacity ex-
pansion, by delaying whatever capital sub-
sidies were necessary. Bharat Biotech then
announces a price that is toohigh,and surely
the Prime Minister will step in to reduce the
price and claim credit. Meanwhile, you have
to wonder at this. India and South Africa
have, at the WTO, rightly called for a tempo-
rary suspensionof patents on COVID-19 vac-
cines. Why don’t we set an example and do
this ourselves with Bharat Biotech and take
awayitsproductionrights?Letanycompany
produce the vaccine. There are ways of do-
ing this that still allow the company to make
enough money and invest in R&D. It will also
be a better way of positioning Indian brands
and India globally than to try and position
yourself as a monopoly supplier. In any case,
some of the research is publicly funded and
should be treated as a public good.
In miniature, this is an illustration of how
vaccine policy is made. There is no logic of
incentives or cross-subsidies or a free mar-
ket in these decisions. There is no epidemio-
logical logic. This is ad hoc social Darwinism.
The strong do what they can, the weak suf-
fer what they must. A perfect metaphor for
our healthcare system. This is the moment
to convert private acts of kindness into de-
mands for a different public health culture.
We can start by demanding a reconsidera-

PUNISHING PROCESS
Politics was supposed to mitigate at least the
harshest edges of this inequality. Instead,
what we are seeing in the politics of the BJP
is the unleashing of an unvarnished social
As custodian of individual liberties, SC must prevent due Darwinism, a ruthless exercise of power on
process from becoming punishment. It must fast track cases
and create public goods, not Then, to deflect attention we open up
vaccinations for all age groups. The con-
distribute vaccines as a trolled media claps. But you have exacer-
privileged good under bated the problem: If supplies are scarce,
scarcity. openingituptoafree-for-allaccentuatesthe
tionof ourvaccinestrategy,andthenthinkof
larger political change.
The writer is contributing editor,
The Indian Express

E
LEVEN MPS FROM Kerala have petitioned the Chief Justice of India to expedite
hearing in the case against Siddique Kappan, a Delhi-based journalist, who is

NO COUNTRY FOR WOMEN

currentlyadmittedinahospitalinMathuraaftercontractingCOVID-19inprison.
Kappan was arrested by UP police in October last year, when he travelled to
Hathrastoreportontherapeof aDalitwomanandlaterchargedunderUAPAforhisalleged
association with the Popular Front of India, an Islamist outfit. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan has also written to his UP counterpart requesting better medical care for Kappan,
who suffers from co-morbidities. The pandemic could be an inflection point for gender norms in India
The disquieting reality is that Kappan’s case, wherein anindividual is charged under the
UAPA and denied bail for an extended period, is not exceptional. A large number of people,
particularlypoliticalworkersandcivilrightsactivistsandanumberof themyoungwomen,
Swati Narayan
have been booked by central and state agencies under the UAPA in recent years and left to
spendtimeinprisonswithoutbail,pendingclosureinthecasesformonthsandyears.A1967 INDIAISamongstthemostunequalcountries Indian women’s daily work is almost 10 sidethehome.Women’squotasalsoflourish
inthe worldtobeawoman.Thelatestannual times more than men on unpaid domestic from parliament to local governments.
law, the UAPA has been repeatedly amended to include stringent provisions in the name of
Global Gender Gap Index released by the chores as per the 2019 NSSO time-use sur- Bangladesh has also raced ahead as the only
fightingterrorism.A2019SupremeCourtrulinghasmadeitnearimpossibleforUAPAaccused WorldEconomicForumplacesIndia17thfrom vey. There is now a wealth of new data from country where women have reigned as
togetbail,shiftingtheonusofdisprovingchargesontheaccused.Thereisreasontofearthat thebottom,withAfghanistanbeingthelowest. the first phase of the 2019-20 National heads-of-state for longer than men.
theStatenowusestheActtosilencedissentandimprisonitscritics.Amongthosebookedin But unlike most nations in this dismal league, Family Health Survey. Preliminary popula- Rwanda is also one of the few develop-
recent years underUAPAanddeniedbailinclude rights activists,lawyers andacademicians in India discrimination starts in the embryo. tionweightedaveragesfrom17statesreveals ing countries which has surprisingly closed
imprisonedinthe2018BhimaKoregaon-ElgarParishadcase,studentsandyoutharrestedin Withthemisuseofultrasoundtechnologyfor that even before the pandemic, child mar- the gender gap, on several fronts. The turn-
sex-selective abortion, each year India eu- riages have marginally increased since the ing point was the 1994 horrific genocide and
anti-CAA protests, human rights defenders, RTI activists. According to the National Crime
phemistically has, as per UNFPA estimates, previoussurveyin2015-16.Whileeducation mass rapes, which altered the country’s de-
Records Bureau, 1,948 people were arrested in 2019 under the UAPA, up from 999 in 2016, more than 46 million “missing women”. is now more inclusive, with three-fourths of mographics. With quotas in the 2003
while convictions have been very low — in 2019, 34 persons were convicted, 16 people dis- But why has India’s rank slipped 28 In India, on the other hand, women literate, only 37 per cent complete Constitution, women now dominate two-
charged, and 92 acquitted. places in the last year? Despite a string of as a new generation of Class 10. Beyond the classroom too, oppor- thirds of parliamentary seats.
Hopefully, Justice N V Ramana, the new CJI who has an illustrious record of speaking up state elections, the share of women minis- dynamic women from Disha tunities for women often dry up. Less than a In India, on the other hand, as a new gen-
forcivilliberties,willlookcloselyatsuchcases.CasessuchasthatofKappan,orofthe84-year ters has declined sharply from 23 to 9 per third of Indian women earn an income. eration of dynamic women from Disha Ravi
cent. Further, Indian women’s labour force Ravi to Nodeep Kaur and Compounded with the lack of economic in- to Nodeep Kaur and Hidme Markam face ar-
oldJesuitpriestStanSwamydetainedintheElgarParishadcasesinceOctober2020,needto
participation has plummeted in the last Hidme Markam face arrest dependence,more thana quarterof married restandseditioncharges, thereislittle doubt
be fast-tracked so that due process itself does not become the punishment. decadetoamere21percent.Beforethepan- women also report spousal violence. that women are now inadvertently on the
and sedition charges, there is
demic, Indian boardrooms had only 15 per However, four out of every five women now frontlinesof apitchedbattleagainstthetoxic
little doubt that women are
cent of women, even as the #MeToo move- operate their own bank accounts, more than masculinityof muscularnationalismandex-
now inadvertently on the
#OSCARSSOSERIOUS
ment exposed the iceberg of sexual harass- two-thirds of young women use menstrual tractive corporate plunder. The women of
ment in the workplace. Now there are fewer frontlines of a pitched battle hygiene products, more than half of married Shaheen Bagh also embody this new wave
Indian women in the workforce than even against the toxic masculinity women use modern contraceptives and al- of intersectional feminist movements.
Saudi Arabia. Workplace crèches, though most half have a mobile phone, though less Every day, we are reminded in no uncer-
of muscular nationalism and
Academy Awards did well on diversity and inclusion. legally mandatory in all offices with more than a third have ever been on the internet. taintermsthatIndiaisnocountryforwomen
than 50 employees and MNREGA worksites, extractive corporate plunder. TheNationalCrimeRecordsBureauenumer- — within or outside the home. But could the
If only they had remembered to be fun are rare. Anganwadis, too, have yet to be ex- The women of Shaheen Bagh ated nearly 88 rapes daily in 2019, with Dalit crisis of the pandemic be an inflection point

A
panded into crèches. On the other hand, the also embody this new wave women in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh the for Indian gender norms?
T THIS YEAR’S Oscars, history arrived in white sneakers and pigtails. Chloé
East Asian growth “miracle” was associated most vulnerable.
Zhaobecamethefirst woman of colour — and the second woman — to win with large increases in working women.
of intersectional feminist WithinSouthAsia,however,83percentof The writer is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at
Best Director (Nomadland). The awards have been criticised in the past for Patriarchy is largely instilled at home. movements. post-conflict Nepali women now work out- the National Institute of Advanced Studies
mostly going to contenders who are white or male or both: Recall how
actor Issa Rae paused after she read out the Best Director nominees for 2020 and said,
“Congratulations to those men”. Rarely has a split second of silence been so heavy with
meaning.
So by awarding the trophy to a talented young Asian-American woman, the Academy APRIL 28, 1981, FORTY YEARS AGO
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose members vote on the winners, has done well.
Also noteworthy are supporting actor winners Daniel Kaluuya and Yuh-Jung Youn and WAR THREAT cause a setback to the process of normali- head for an underground test. He also said
JamikaWilsonandMiaNealwhoarenotonlythefirstblackwomentowininmakeupand PRIME MINISTER INDIRA Gandhi made it sation of relations between India and that the Pakistani site includes a horizontal
hairstyling,butare thefirsttoeverbenominated inthatcategory.Thisis a majorshift from known today to the members of parlia- Pakistan and also lead to an arms race on tunnel into a hillside in the Baluchistan
ment that she is smelling war in the situa- the subcontinent. mountains, some 64 kms from the
the notorious #OscarsSoWhite days of 2015 and 2016. That trenchant hashtag, in fact, has
tion developing as a result of the US arms Afghanistan border.
a lot to do with the changes visible now. After the 2016 fiasco, the Academy kicked off ini- supplies to Pakistan. She told the MPs con- N-TEST SITE
tiatives for a more diverse membership and greater inclusivity and representation in the sultative committee on Atomic Energy and THE US GOVERNMENT has evidence that HEAVY TAX DOSE
Best Picture category. Space Research that the government’s both India and Pakistan are doing “signifi- FINANCE MINISTER, R Venkataraman de-
But even the most inclusive event can only have a limited impact if there’s no one worry was that “such arms supply is creat- cant construction” at sites suitable for nu- clared today that he would not shrink from
to watch. A mere 9.85 million viewers tuned in to watch the Oscars this year, the low- ing a situation where everybody is drifting clear bomb threats, senator Alan Cranston imposing higher taxes if the failure to realise
est ever for the event. If the Academy wants its message of diversity and inclusion to towards war”. Ever since the US plans to of California said. The statement was the theRs800crorebearerbondssalemadesuch
supply sophisticated weapons came to be first public word that Pakistan may be anextremestepinevitable.Rulingoutanyex-
stick, it has to do more. Being boring is not an option, especially if there’s an important
known, the prime minister and her readying a test site. Cranston said that US tension of the time-limit for bond sales,
social message to be delivered. A low-key ceremony sans a wisecracking host may suit spokesman have been voicing concern at officials “have little doubt” that excavations Venkataraman said the government had de-
the sombre mood of the pandemic, but, frankly, we could all use some distraction. The the US decision. Their main plank for crit- undertaken by India in the Thar desert are cided to suspend bond sales after the expiry
frothier and more glamorous, the better. icism of the US decision has been that it will in preparation for burial of a nuclear war- of the last working day on April 30.

Ahmedabad

7
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021
THE IDEAS PAGE
In battle to breathe, next steps
Ineptitude and mismanagement by those who govern are as responsible for the second wave
as the virus itself. There is still much that can be done to weather this crisis
Farokh E Udwadia
THEPRESENTPANDEMIChasdevastatedour
poorcountryandanguisheditspeople.There
are two reasons for this debacle. The first is
the dreaded, deadly coronavirus, which has
perhaps mutated and become even more in-
fectious.Equallyresponsibleistheineptitude
andmismanagementof thosewhogovernus
and have the responsibility to safeguard our
health and welfare.
WhentheinfectionrateinIndiahadsignif-
icantly decreased last December and early
January of this year, our netas congratulated
themselves proclaiming to us and the world
their efficiency in controlling the virus. Could
they not realise that the second wave of infec-
tionwaswell-nighinevitable?Allcountriesin
Europe,theUK,theAmericas,andevendevel-
opedcountriesinAsiasuchasSouthKoreaand
Japan, suffered a second wave, some even a
thirdwave,andveryoftenthesecondwavewas
worse than the first. Had we anticipated this,
wecouldhavebuttressedourdefencesandin-
creased our resources.
Perhapsthepowersthatbefeltthatweare
God’s chosen country and this could not hap-
pentous.ButwearenotGod’schosencountry
for more than one reason. So, not only do we
have a disaster, but we are faced with a verita-
ble, continuing tsunami.
To make matters worse, we allowed the
KumbhMela,wherelakhsandlakhsof people
intermingled, spreading the virus, and then
returned home further spreading the virus.
The authorities in the northern states reas-
sured us that all those who returned would
be screened, tested, traced, isolated. Who are
they trying to fool? The gullible people of our
country, of course.
Asthevirusistearingthroughourcountry,
wewitnesselectionrallieswherethousandsof
people day after day, standing shoulder to
shoulder, without masks, listen to our netas
without masks, spitting out words (and per-
haps some coronaviruses) for over an hour.
More infections, more misery.
Also, note the poor planning of the vacci-
nation programme. Is it not elementary that
the supply of the vaccine should relate to the
demand?If indeedthiswereso,whyistherea
shortageof vaccinesinmanyvaccinationcen-
tres,withlongqueuesof peoplewaitinginthe
hot sun — more spread of infections, greater
misery. Again, how large-hearted we all are!
What largesse we possess to give vaccines to
neighbouring countries, forgetting the agony
of people in our own country, forgetting that
charity begins at home.
What, indeed, should we do now? As one
who has treated many ill patients over many
years, let me give the following suggestions.
First,treatment.Beg,borrow,steal,payeven
aransomtogetmoreoxygen,transportit,and
make it available to patients. This requires ex-
cellentlogisticplanning.Wearefightingawar,
and no war has ever been won without excel-
lent logistic support.
Second, there are only three drugs of im-
portance:Mostcrucialisoxygen(yes,oxygenis
adrug);Dexamethasoneadministeredtothose
requiringoxygen.Ifgivenwhentheoxygensat-
uration is satisfactory, the drug may well do
harm. Finally, blood thinners to prevent and
treat clotting within vessels.
Avijit Pathak
WITHTHEaggressivereturnof COVID-19,we
are experiencing heightened anxiety. And
amid this turmoil, we are also witnessing the
breakdown of “normalcy” in our education
system.Asboardexamsgetcancelledorpost-
poned around the country, students, parents
and teachers are at a loss. Possibly, many of
them,conditionedtobelievethateducationis
incomplete without standardised tests or ex-
ams, are worried that these young students,
apartfromthementalagonyofthepandemic,
willmisswhatthishyper-competitivesociety
needs: The willingness or the stamina to take
partinthisexamwar,acceptthelogicof grad-
ing, ranking and hierarchising, or the duality
of “success” and “failure”.
However, this breakdown of “normalcy”
should make us introspect and ask disturbing
questions: Can the ritualisation of standard-
ised tests and exams be regarded as the ulti-
matesubstanceofeducation?Oristheremore
in the life of a learner than the technique of
learningexam-strategy,orthecompetitiveurge
to be declared as a “topper”? Paradoxically, at
this moment of deep existential crisis, this
question has acquired significance. It is in this
context that three issues need to be raised.
To begin with, let it be stated clearly that
these standardised tests or exams are by no
means neutral. It doesn’t require much
politico-cultural insight to realise that a child
from a municipality school located in Delhi’s
Third,weneedcriticalcarefortheverysick
and more beds to treat more patients.
Nootherdrughasbeenproventobeeffec-
tive against the disease. The anxiety and ur-
gencytostockremdesevir,inmyopinion,isnot
warranted. This drug is no cure, it does not re-
ducemortality—itonlyshortensby5to6days
thedurationoftheillness.Useitifyouwill,but
let us transfer this anxiety and urgency to get-
ting more oxygen, please.
Vaccination is the key to victory against
the disease. It is important to plan the logis-
tics,projectdeadlinesandensuretheyaremet
and fix one price for the vaccine after negoti-
ations with the manufacturers. Different
prices will cause confusion. It is also neces-
sary to set up many, many vaccination cen-
tres and augment the supply of any vaccine
of provenuseandsafety.Allpeopleabovethe
age of 20 must be vaccinated
Set up wardens, police cars in every
crowdedplaceinallcitiestoensurethatmask-
ing and social distancing norms are observed.
Do not just fine, but jail for a few days, those
who ignore this directive. Discipline needs to
be enforced on an undisciplined people.
Major lockdowns are of no use but lock-
down enclaves within a city found to be rife
with infection and disease. Target people
within these enclaves for priority vaccination.
Test, trace, treat those within.
The television channels mouth platitudes.
Where words most abound good sense is sel-
dom found. There are, of course, a few excep-
tions to the above. I salute these.
Please reduce or stop the daily conclave of
Let's go out of syllabus
Pandemicisanopportunitytojunkanexam-centricapproachtoeducation
Trilokpurislum,andachildfromafancy“inter-
national”schoolinBengaluruarebynomeans
equal, even though both of them are required
to master the same texts, equate knowledge
withthesameofficialcurriculumirrespective
of diverse and asymmetrical socio-cultural
contexts,andwritethesameCBSEexam.With
a huge difference in their access to social/cul-
tural/economiccapital,theirperformancesare
bound to differ. And we cannot hide the story
of this perpetual reproduction of social in-
equalitythroughtheso-calledneutralanduni-
formexamssimplybecause,occasionally,the
childofarickshawpullerorstreetvendorgets
90 per cent, and her picture is published in
newspapers.Moreover,theabsurdityof these
“neutral” exams becomes clear as we look at
the digital divide in the country, and accept
thatthemuch-hyped“online”teaching/learn-
ing is a myth and has done injustice to those
who cannot afford it. Do these tests exist only
toeliminatepeople,choosetheselectfew,val-
orisetheir“successstories”and,inthenameof
“meritocracy”,sanctifythelogicofarecklessly
divided society?
Second,itisimportanttodeconstructour
schooledmind,andrealisethatthekindof ex-
ams we are familiar with is by no means the
substance of meaningful education. Instead,
the ritualisation and tyranny of exams cause
immense psychic anxiety, generate wide-
spread fear, and, above all, deprive the entire
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and his task force are
busy fighting the pandemic. I
would urge them not to just
look at the statistics given to
them, or just view the TV
channels for the news. I urge
the Prime Minister and a few
of his colleagues to spend at
least one day visiting the
hospitals in Delhi to directly
hear the dying gasps of
patients deprived of oxygen,
to see the despair of relatives
watching their loved ones
dying waiting for a bed,
waiting for oxygen that never
comes.
experienceof learning/unlearning/exploring
of a sense of joy, wonder and self-discovery.
Instead, they transform one into a clever
strategist;oneistrained(bycoachingcentres
as well as school teachers obsessed with the
examperformanceof theirstudents)tomas-
terthetechniqueof givingthe“right”answer.
Hence, every subject is reduced to a set of
exam riddles. Seldom does one find the time
and space to, say, read a story by Premchand
inone’sownrhythm,orlookatthesunsetand
explorethescientificreasonsfortheamazing
colour of the sky, or do things with one’s
hands, and feel the integration of the mental
and the physical. Instead, the one-sided em-
phasis on exam performance kills the very
spirit of learning as self-exploration.
Third,thisexam-centric educationbreeds
fear,envyandsuperiority/inferioritycomplex.
In a way, it legitimises hyper-competitiveness
asawayoflife;itisinherentlyagainstthespirit
of reciprocity, symmetry and cooperation.
Hence, its “successful” products — the bunch
of“toppers”and“goldmedallists”—tendtobe
egoistic. The art of relatedness, humility, the
ethos of sharing, and trust in the innate possi-
bility and uniqueness of every human soul —
we do not allow our children to develop these
qualities. Instead, schools orient them to be
warriors.Itwouldnotbeentirelywrongtosay
that the sort of exams we have taken for
grantedistheworstformofviolenceweinflict
C R Sasikumar
doctorswhogivethesameanswerstothesame
questions. There is surely a better way to up-
dateandeducatethepublic.Alookathowthe
BBC does this may give a few ideas.
PrimeMinisterNarendraModiandhistask
force are busy fighting the pandemic. I would
urgethemnottojustlookatthestatisticsgiven
to them, or just view the TV channels for the
news. I urge the Prime Minister and a few of
hiscolleaguestospendatleastonedayvisiting
thehospitalsinDelhitodirectlyhearthedying
gaspsofpatientsdeprivedofoxygen,toseethe
despair of relatives watching their loved ones
dyingwaitingforabed,waitingforoxygenthat
never comes.
Iamoldand,therefore,horsdecombat,but
I have trained many of those who are fighting
thediseaseatthefrontline,notjustinMumbai
but in other cities as well. I am anguished for
their safety, yet I know that they will do their
dutywithcourageandsacrifice.Allthosedoc-
torsandnursesfightingatthefrontlinesarethe
true heroes of our country.
Ohcry,mycountrycry,butIknowweshall
win and smile again. We need to fight as one;
weneedgreatqualitiesofbothheadandheart,
and we have them. We need God’s blessings;
weneedhishelp,rememberinghoweverthat
God helps those who help themselves.
The writer is emeritus professor in medicine,
Grant Medical College and the JJ Group of
Hospitals; consultant physician, director,
Intensive Care Unit, Breach Candy Hospital;
Consultant Physician, BD Petit Parsee
General Hospital, Mumbai
on the consciousness of young children.
Isn’tthisalsoatimewhenthecoronavirus
has compelled us to rethink our modes of liv-
ing,andhencetheverymeaningofeducation?
Feel the intensity of pain and agony we are
passing through. Feel the hollowness of what
our inflated egos take for granted — our supe-
riority, almost a sense of immortality. Feel the
traumaofmeaninglessnessaswearereduced
to numbers. Death becomes mere statistics,
andlivingisonlyasurvivalstrategywithmasks,
sanitisers and vaccines. Feel the all-pervading
fear and loneliness that surrounds our exis-
tencewhencrematoriumsarechaotic,andhos-
pitals are unmanageable. Education ought to
sensitise our children, make them humble
wanderers, activate their patience and en-
durance, cultivate the ethics of care, and pre-
pare them to pass through existence with the
songs of collective redemption. No harm will
bedoneifstandardisedtestsandexamsdonot
quantify their performance in algebra and
geometry. And we will not fall if television
channels do not get the opportunity to inter-
viewthe“toppers”amidthesuicidenarratives
of those who “fail”.
When do we realise that our children
need something truly challenging and life-
affirming rather than the neurosis of exam-
centric education?
Pathak is professor of sociology at JNU
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“India’s COVID-19 story did not have to be this horror show. But complacency,
denial, and an utter disregard for science and data pushed millions into a
crippling crisis.”
Diversity and
propriety
Supreme Court lacks gender diversity, a woman CJI
is long overdue. But this must not lead
to judges being superseded
Kailash Gambhir
WITHTHEretirementofJusticeRBanumathi
andtherecentretirementofanotherwomen
judge, Justice Indu Malhotra, one can hear
voices from the corridors of the Supreme
Court(SC)advocatingfortheappointmentof
more women judges to the apex court.
This debate is not new, but it has resur-
faced again after a judge of the Madhya
Pradesh High Court imposed a condition
whilegrantingbailtoamanaccusedof sex-
ual assault — that he should go to the resi-
dence of the victim and get a Rakhi tied to
hiswrist.Ninewomenlawyersapproached
the SC to challenge the order and while
hearingthispetition,theSChadissuedano-
ticetotheAttorneyGeneraltoseekhisviews
and suggestions on the issue. Among the
written submissions filed by the AG, one
was that improving the representation of
womeninthejudiciarycouldgoalongway
towardsattainingamorebalancedandem-
patheticapproachincasesinvolvingsexual
violence. The AG also brought up the fact
that there has never been a woman Chief
Justice of India (CJI).
This set the ball rolling on a discussion
about Indian having its first woman Chief
Justice, a milestone that should have been
achieved long ago. The then CJI S A Bobde,
whilehearingapetitionofawomenlawyers’
body seeking consideration for the appoint-
ment of meritorious women lawyers prac-
tising in SC and high courts, remarked that
the time has come for the first woman CJI.
Another SC judge and member of the col-
legium, Rohinton Fali Nariman, while deliv-
ering his speech during the 26th Justice
Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lecture, also
voiced the opinion that the time for our first
woman CJI is not very far off. Justice D Y
Chandrachud also raised his voice while de-
livering a farewell speech on the retirement
of Justice Indu Malhotra, saying that it is a
deeply worrying fact that with Justice
Malhotra’sretirementtheSupremeCourthas
only one female judge on the bench. He
added that “Instrumentally, having a more
diverse judiciary ensures [that] diversity of
perspectivesisfairlyconsidered,instilsahigh
degree of public confidence.”
I concur with the views of my esteemed
brother judges. It is now a reality that
presently,theSupremeCourtisleftwithonly
one woman judge, Justice Indira Banerjee,
who is also going to retire next year, after
which, the SC will be left without a woman
judge. The collegium failed to take timely
steps to elevate more women judges in the
SC. In the 71 years of history of the SC, there
have been only eight women judges — the
firstwasJusticeFathimaBeevi,whowasele-
vatedtothebenchafteralonggapof39years
from the date of establishment of the SC.
Thesituationisnotanydifferentindevel-
oped countries such as the US, UK, Ireland,
France and China. Expressing concern over
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
BIDEN’S DELAY
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘Failingthe
test’(IE,April27).Theinitialreluctanceof
theUSadministrationtolifttheembargo
on the export of essential vaccine raw
materials to India, in our hour of need,
hascostthemanufacturersvaluabletime.
Washington had to be prodded into de-
ployinganti-COVIDsupplies.Thiswould
strain the bilateral ties for good.
Varun Das, Zirakpur
A GREAT LOSS
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Song’s
end’ (IE, April 27). The passing away of
Pandit Rajan Mishra, who belonged to
the distinguished lineage known as the
Banaras Gharana, is saddening. Mishra,
alongwithhisbrotherSajanMishra,was
known for saying, “When we sing, we
areonesoulsingingeventhoughweare
in two bodies.”
S S Paul, Nadia
RAMZAN’S MESSAGE
THISREFERSTOthearticle,‘Thefirstfast’
(IE, April 27). The Ramzan fasting as a
form of prayer, besides fortifying hum-
bleness and thankfulness, is an institu-
tion that is fundamentally central to the
religious identity of Muslims. Also, this
prayerembodiestheelementsof justice
beyond fairness and exhorts the practi-
tioners of fasting to be impartial to the
truth, which continues to persist in this
neoliberal world of fake news and cor-
rupted notions in the wake of the pres-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— DAWN
the gender imbalance, the United Kingdom
Supreme Court President J Lord Robert John
in his speech at the International Judicial
Conference said: “The low proportion of
women judges on our highest courts is a
problem in my country and it is one which
wesharewithmanyothers.”Accordingtothe
data collected by Smashboard, a New Delhi
andParis-basedNGO,notonlyhasnowoman
everbeenappointedastheCJI,therepresen-
tation of women across different courts and
judicial bodies is also abysmally low.
Allthesefactspaintagrimpictureof the
representation of women in the judiciary.
There is no doubt that CJI Bobde has left a
legacy of not having recommended any
judge for elevation to the Supreme Court.
Although his tenure was overshadowed by
thepandemic,hehadmanyanopportunity
to have fruitful interactions with the mem-
bers of the collegium to arrive at a consen-
sus to recommend appointments. By pass-
ing the laudable order of setting timelines
for appointment of judges on April 20, just
before demitting office, his was a last-ditch
effort with good intentions.
Inthelastfewmeetingsofthecollegium,
there has been some talk of promoting
womentotheapexcourtandtheprominent
name that surfaced was that of Justice B V
NagarathaoftheKarnatakaHighCourt,who
was appointed as a judge of Karnataka High
CourtonFebruary2,2008,andwill retireon
October 29, 2024. If she is elevated to the
Supreme Court, she could become the first
womanCJIinFebruary2027.Sheispresently
thesenior-mostjudgeintheKarnatakaHigh
Court and is at Serial No. 33 in the all-India
seniority list of high court judges. Currently,
she is the only woman judge who can reach
the position of CJI. Another fact, which is no
lessimportant,isthatherelevationwilllead
to the supersession of 32 senior judges,
amongstthem,19arechiefjusticesandsome
of the seniormost are already in considera-
tiontoentertheSupremeCourt.Thereisalso
a senior woman judge, presently the Chief
JusticeofTelanganaHighCourt,whoisinline
to enter the Supreme Court.
Thissupersessioninabidtoseeawoman
in the highest judicial office cannot be over-
looked. Supersession itself is perceived as a
threattoanindependentjudiciary.Seniority
combinedwithmeritisthesacrosanctcrite-
ria for promotion in the judiciary. History is
replete with instances when meritorious
judgesweresuperseded.Howdemoralising
and frustrating this is, only the judge super-
sededknows.Letitnothappenagain.Justice
Nagaratha can become the first woman CJI
even without superseding so many senior
judges, though her tenure will be shorter.
HowCJINVRamanawillgiveleadership
totheSC andsecurethetrustof membersof
hiscollegiumtofillthebacklogof 411vacan-
cies across high courts and six vacancies in
the SC remains to be seen. Hopefully, under
his leadership, justice will be done to Justice
AkilKureshioverwhosenametherehasbeen
adeadlock.Andagreaternumberofwomen
intheSupremeCourteventuallyleadingtoa
womanCJI.Thiswouldbeagratifyingchange,
whichmaymarkthebeginningof anewera
of judicial appointments.
The writer is a former judge,
Delhi HighCourt
IDEAS
ONLINE
ONLY IN THE EXPRESS
● THE MAOIST
CHALLENGE:
VIVEKDESHPANDE
● THE CAUSE OF
LABOUR DISTRESS:
KRISHNA RAM
www.indianexpress.com
ent tsunami of coronavirus.
G Javaid Rasool, Lucknow
POLITICAL INTEREST
THIS REFERS TO the article, 'Dear Julio
Ribeiroji’(IE,April27).Primafacie,thefor-
merwell-knownIPSofficerJulioRibeiro
hasnovestedinterestinpointingoutfor-
mer Devendra Fadnavis’s malfeasance,
surely unbecoming of a former CM and
senior leader of the BJP. But the latter’s
conduct not only amounts to his taking
thelawintohisownhandsbutalsoindi-
cates his wish to use the opportunity to
please his political boss for the promo-
tionofhispoliticalcareer,whichhasbeen
on a low ebb for some time. Only in pol-
itics, the pot calls the kettle black.
Tarsem Singh Mahilpur
Ahmedabad
 8 CALENDAR WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 4415 DAY TODAY BY PETER VIDAL
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20) LIBRA (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23)
You are not alone in The prognostication
fearing, or perhaps for a successful
in hoping, that outcome of
social obligations domestic affairs is
will come unstuck. There is a good, even though frustration
feeling abroad that plans and a feeling of being pitted
which were once treated as against immovable objects are
sacrosanct should now be coming close to spoiling the
open to question after all. atmosphere. Don't use a
Actually, you've got more partner's lack of support as an
important things on your excuse not to succeed, or even
mind than merely engaging in to have a go in the first place.
small talk.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)
TAURUS (Apr. 21 - May 21) Therehonestlyseems
Professional tobelittlechanceof
ambitions seem to reachingan
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson be going into
reverse. It may be
agreementwith
relativesorpeopleyoulivewith.
necessary for you to reconsider Youmay findingitdifficultto
a number of important deals or makeupyourmindonapersonal
decisions that you thought matter.Thereason,though,may
were signed and sealed. How bethatthisisnotyettheright
wrong you were. Still, it is good timetosettleoutstanding
to have a second chance and an questions,youneedtowaituntil
ACROSS DOWN opportunity to duck out of a circumstanceshavechanged.
1 Withdrawn, being a little hurt 2 Trace misdirected supply commitment.
(9) (5) SAGITTARIUS(Nov.23-Dec.22)
8 Hesitantly stated a colour and 3 It has a certain current value GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) It's difficult to
was wrong (5) (6) The fact that certain establish what is
9 Object after tips turn out to be 4 Replace the cap on war doubts may creep in really happening in
one’s salary (7) memorial (8) to your beliefs is due your chart at the
10 A cloister is more confined 5 He gives his companions a to difficulties caused moment. This is partly because
without it (6) hand (6) by Mercury, ruler of thought it's unclear whether current
11 Humourless nonsense but it 6 Quietly agrees it could be and communication. Yet you events are prompted by other
could bring the house down some omen (7) must understand the people or are the result, direct
(3,3) 7 A girl getting into trouble for importance of being able to or indirect, of your own past
12 It’s OK; there’s no-one left hero-worship possibly question your preconceptions behaviour and indiscretions.
(3,5)
15 Shoved round in the wrong
(9)
11 Change of speed leads to
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong and priorities, even to abandon
your dreams. CAPRICORN (Dec. 23 - Jan. 20)
Youaremovingfrom
way and penalised (8) speed which is reckless (9) CANCER (June 22 - July 23) aperiodwhichseems
18 Game admission of defeat 13 Sweetheart is one entitled to Both you and a tohavebeenrather
(3,3) affection (8) partner are likely to depressingtoone
20 Ridicules cooks? 14 He is bad and worthless feel the effects of a whichisemotionallyinspiring.
(6) (7) changing economic However,muchdependsonhow
21 One’s kid supplies supple 16 Start to show to advantage climate. This may not be the faryouractionsandaspirations
leather (7) (3,3) time to act, but it is necessary to arerootedinwhatisrealistically
22 If the order is not the usual 17 His accounts may be all at sea check over all details, possible.If you'restillfollowing
he’ll help himself (5) (6) agreements and deals. At least anunfulfillablefantasy,then
23 Uninterrupted flow of traffic 19 The dailies held back this story you can count on a general timeisrunningout.
(4,5) (5) increase in prosperity over the
next seven months. AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19)
SolutionsCrossword4414:Across:1Lisping,4Papaw,7Thaw,8Greenfly,10 Mercuryiscausing
Properties,12Avenue,13Stated,15Pyromaniac,18Dripping,19Swab,20Event,21 LEO (July 24 - Aug. 23) someproblems.It's
Carryon.Down:1Litup,2Seapower,3Gyrate,4Presentday,5Puff,6Waylaid,9 Relationships are thrownaspannerin
Beautyspot,11Stairway,12Abridge,14Cognac,16Cabin,17Line. entering a brief theworks,causinga
frustrating phase, numberof planstocome
but you must give unstuck.Onewordof warningis
partners the time and space thattheeffectsmaynotbefeltfor
JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel5s
they need to come to an months,orevenyears,tocome.
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4454

accommodation worked out Sodon'tattempttofinaliseany

Instructions by themselves, free from personalagreementnow,atleast
Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, unwanted pressures. notuntilyou'veheardnext
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 If you trust them now, then week'sinspiringnews.
SUDOKU 4455

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe they will stick by you in

Itismucheasierto___afatherthanto__one.-KentNerburn(6,.,2) the future. PISCES (Feb. 20 - Mar 20)
nineverticalcolumns,in Listentoyour
eachoftheninehorizontal VIRGO (Aug. 24 - Sept. 23) conscienceandgive
WHERE ABERCM rowsandineachofthe The last thing you yourspiritual
nineboxes. want to do now is developmenta
force colleagues and chance.Don'tbepiousor
associates into pompous,butkeepaneyeopen
ROWEN BELOBB DifficultyLevel
agreements or compromises forallthoselittleincidentswhich
against their will. If you know revealtherealnatureof the
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; what's good for you, you will worldyoulivein.Thereisagreat
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; allow partners to have their say. dealtobesaidforgivingpartners
5s=VeryHard;6s= I know you think you're right. thebenefitof thedoubt,rather
Answer: It is much easier to become a father than to be one. - Kent Nerburn Genius And you probably are. thanmakinginstantjudgments.
SOLUTION: HEWER, OWNER, CAMBER, BOBBLE

GUJARAT STATE ELECTRICITY CORPORATION LTD.
Sikka Thermal Power Station,
At PO Sikka, Dist. Jamnagar-361141.
e-mail: cegstps.gsecl@gebmail.com Website: www.gsecl.in
CIN: U40100GJ1993SGC019988
E-Tender Notice No. 188
Online Tenders are invited for 1) Servicing / overhauling work
of High Pressure, Low Pressure & Butterfly Valves of various
auxiliaries at site during AOH/Shut down of Unit No. 3 & 4 at
Sikka TPS. 2) Work of maintenance of high mast towers at
Sikka TPS. 3) Work of “Online/offline cleaning /filtration” of
MOT oil used for TG lube oil of Unit No. 3 & 4 at Sikka TPS on
as & when required 4) Supply of Spiral target Nozzles for
Induced Draft Cooling Tower Model No. 1513-11(20'AT) of Unit
No. 3 & 4 at STPS. 5) Supply of various LED Lighting fixtures
for EMD-1 lighting dept. at STPS. 6) Supply of Non-clog type
submersible Slurry Pump at CHP-STPS.
Tender documents available on GSECL Website www.gsecl.in
& E&P Dept.GoG: http://guj-epd.gov.in (for view, download and
submission in hard). Party has to submit tender in online also
on web site www.nprocure.com. Vendor, Manufacturers,
Contractors are requested to locate the same from above web
site. Please be in touch with our above site for any future
Amendment / Corrigendum Chief Engineer (G), STPS.
''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
transactions with companies,
associations or individuals
advertising in its newspapers
or Publications. We therefore
recommend that readers
make necessary inquiries
before sending any monies or
entering into any agreements
with advertisers or otherwise
acting on an advertisement in
any manner whatsoever.
CIN-U40102GJ2003SGC042906
Circle Office: Palanpur.
www.ugvcl.com www.guj-epd.gov.in
TENDER NOTICE NO: Deesa-ll DO-03-04/2021-22
Tenders are invited, for Erection of HT, LT Line and TC works
for various scheme for Dhanera-I S/dn, Dhanera-II S/dn,
Lakhani S/dn, Panthawada S/dn, Tharad-I S/dn, Tharad-II,
Tharad REC-I S/dn, Tharad REC-II S/dn and Zerda S/dn under
Deesa-II DO.
The details of the tender can be viewed on www.ugvcl.com &
http://ugvcl.nprocure.com.
Addl. C. E. , UGVCL, CO, PALANPUR
**UGVCL Customer Care 24x7 Toll Free No. 1800 233 155 335 OR 19121**
''REGISTER YOUR MOBILE NUMBER TO GET THE INFORMATION OF BILL ISSUED & PAYMENT MADE”
Kothara Village Water and
Sanitation Committee
Taluka: Abdasa, District: Kachchh
Tender Notice No:-36, Year: 2020-21-3rd Attempt
Kothara VWSC invites e-tender from eligible agencies/
parties for implementation/execution of approved civil
works Estimated cost of Rs. 49.56 Lacs (e-tender
I.D.No.-458737) pertaining to in-village water supply
scheme under "Augmentation in tap connectivity in rural
area'' /JJM programme. The last date of submission of
bid for eligible bidders as per tender norms is
07/05/2021 up to 18:00 hrs. For further information the
interested bidders may contact the Adyaksh/Sarpanch
of Kothara Pani Samiti on + 91 99095 27068. All the
uploaded documents are to be sent/submitted to Unit
Manager, WASMO-Bhuj, Kachchh prescribed time limit
through RPAD/ Speed post only. Tender I.D. and name
of work should be clearly mention on envelop. If any
changes in this tender will be uploaded online through
concerned website. The tender submitted through
post/offline will not be considered. The authority to
accept/reject all the bids without giving any reason lies
with Kothara Pani Samiti.
Web Site: www.wasmo.nprocure.com
(DDI-KUTCH-75-2021)
GUJARAT WATER SUPPLY &
SEWERAGE BOARD
Tender Notice. No. 02 of 2021-22
Tender I.D No. 459008
Executive Engineer, Public Health Works Division,
Mamlatdar Office Compound, DEESA-385535,
District: Banaskantha. Phone No. 02744-220031
invites E-Tenderof civil work as under,
(1) Name of work:- Constructing RCC U/G Sump,
Supplying, Lowering, Laying & Jointing Connecting
main Pipeline & Supply, Installation, Testing &
Commissioning of Sub Mono Pumps With Associated
Mechanical and Electrical Equipment's, Instruments &
Accessories for New Head works at Baluntri Ta. Way
under BK-4, Ph 2B RWSS Taluka:- Wav Dist: -
Banaskantha. (2) Estimated Cost- Rs. 31.84 Lacs (3)
Eligibility of contractor:- Bidder having Registration
with PWD/R&B/GWSSB/lrrigation in "E-1" Class and
above, however the bidder will have to post qualify as
per Financial,& Technical criteria given in the bid doc-
uments.
(4) Last date of submission of tender:-17/05/2021 up
to 18.00 Hrs. GWSSB reserves the right to accept!
reject any or all tenders without assigning any reason.
For detail information & conditions, contact office
mentioned above during office hours and is binding to
all & website www.statetenders.gujarat.gov.in, &
www.Gwssb.org & www.gwssb.nprocure.com
"GWSSB Toll free Help line No. 1916 for Drinking
Water Supply for Rural Area''
DDI/PAL/37/2021-22

Ahmedabad

9 THE SECOND SURGE
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021
Pleas against
vaccination
policy: Kerala
HC notice to
Centre, state,
vaccine makers
SHAJU PHILIP
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
APRIL 27
ACTING UPON two petitions
challenging the Union
Government’sCovid-19vaccina-
tion policy, a division bench of
KeralaHighCourton Tuesdayis-
sued notices to the state, Centre,
the National Disaster
Management Authority and
both manufactures of coron-
avirus vaccines — Serum
Institute of India (SII) and
Bharath Biotech.
Thepetitionsweremovedby
IUML legislator M K Muneer
and All India Lawyers’ Union
state general secretary C P
Pramod, who challenged the
dual pricing of the vaccines.
The bench of justices Ashok
Menon and Murali
Purushothaman sought replies
from the respondents by May
4, but declined to allow an in-
terim stay on the vaccination
policy, as demanded by the pe-
titioners.
While serving the notices,
the court made it clear that no
orders would be passed since
the matter is under the consid-
eration of the apex court.
Challenging the dual pricing
of covid-19 vaccine, Muneer, in
his petition, argued that the
states and the Centre have the
same constitutional responsi-
bility to protect the health of
citizens.
Hence, there cannot be any
distinction between the state
and the centre.
PM Modi’s aunt
dies of Covid
in Ahmedabad
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 27
PRIME MINISTER Narendra
Modi’s aunt Narmadaben
Modi, who was undergoing
treatment for the coronavirus
infection for the past 10 days,
succumbed at Asarwa Civil
hospital in Ahmedabad
Tuesday. Narmadaben around
80 years old and lived with
her son in New Ranip area of
the city.
“Our aunt Narmadaben
was admitted at the civil hos-
pital after her condition dete-
riorated following coronavirus
infection. Her oxygen satura-
tion levels dropped while her
other vitals were fine. She did
not have any comorbidity, she
was very strong woman, both
mentally and physically,” said
Prahlad Modi, Prime Minister’s
younger brother, who also
stays in Ahmedabad.
Somabhai Modi, the eldest
of Modi's five siblings said
Narm-adaben breathed her last
while undergoing treatment
Tuesday. Somabhai and his
wife recently recovered from
the infection.
Narmadaben’s husband
Jagjivandas, younger brother of
the PM’s father Damodardas,
had died more than 25 years
ago. “Our uncle died when their
son was hardly six months old.
It was our aunt who raised her
children,” Prahlad said.
Study: Migrants who returned earned five-fold
KARISHMA MEHROTRA
RANCHI, APRIL 27
MIGRANT WORKERS who re-
turnedtocitiesforworkafterthe
first Covid lockdown earned
roughly five times as much as
those who stayed back, and last
year’s exodus affected women
more than men, according to a
Yale University survey that
tracked 5,000 migrants across
north and central India from
April 2020 to February 2021.
The survey, which will be re-
leasedonlineWednesday,shows
that only 45 per cent of female
migrantsreturnedtotheirurban
workplaces -- 40 per cent of
them earned no income across a
week in which they were
tracked in February 2021.
In comparison, 55 per cent of
men returned to their work-
places and only a quarter of
Does Gautam Gambhir
have license to deal in
Covid drugs, asks HC
SOFI AHSAN
NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
THE DELHI High Court on
TuesdayquestionedhowBJPMP
Gautam Gambhir is able to dis-
tribute medicines being used to
treatCovid-19andprocurethem
in large quantities.
“Are these not prescription
drugs? How is anybody able to
procure large quantities? Is he
holding a license to deal in these
drugs? Does this not require li-
cense or what,” asked the divi-
sion bench of Justices Vipin
Sanghi and Rekha Palli.
“We had thought it would
stop after that report. It is still
continuing,” said the court.
Senior advocate Rahul
Mehra, representing the Delhi
government, told the court that
it is “highly irresponsible” if it is
happening.
Advocate Rakesh Malhotra
hadearliertoldthecourtthatthe
“elected representative” is dis-
tributing ‘Fabiflu’ and referred to
his tweets.
“I do not know from where
heisgettingit,”Malhotratoldthe
courtwhenitwashearingtheis-
sue regarding unavailability of
A patient is taken into the Gotri Hospital in Vadodara. Bhupendra Rana
HARIDWAR ADMIN ANNOUNCES CORONA CURFEW
25,000 devotees, over 1,000
seers mark last shahi snan
LALMANIVERMA
DEHRADUN,APRIL27
THREE DAYS before the Kumbh
Mela in Haridwar comes to an
end,around1,350seersfromvar-
iousakharasand25,000devotees
bathed in Brahmkund at Har Ki
Pauriduringthelastshahisnanon
Tuesday--nearly1percentofthe
total attendance expected by the
authorities for the shahi snan on
April 27.
Hourslater,theHaridwardis-
trictadministrationannounceda
‘coronacurfew’inHaridwarinthe
evening. It will be effective from
April 28 to the morning of May 3.
After an appeal by Prime
MinisterNarendraModiandamid
criticism over violation of Covid
protocolsattheMela,theakharas
had agreed to mark a symbolic
Kumbh Mela to avoid any new
coronavirus infections.
IG Kumbh Mela, Sanjay
Gunjyal, told The Indian Express,
The survey tracked 5,000 migrants across north and central
India from April 2020 to February 2021. File
them had no income across the
same week in February, accord-
ingtothesurveyconductedover
phone by researchers from Yale
and the Inclusion Economics
India Centre at KREA University
with Bihar and Chhattisgarh as
“source states”.
Besides, the survey shows,
MP Gautam Gambhir
essential Covid-19 drugs.
The row over Gambhir’s de-
cision to provide free Covid-19
medication only to his con-
stituentsof EastDelhiwasraised
beforethecourtduringthehear-
ing last week too, during the
hearing of cases related to the
ongoing pandemic in Delhi.
Advocate Malhotra had told
the court, “This issue needs to be
addressed. Although he is doing
a good job, but when some pa-
tients of other areas are not get-
tingbutpatientsof EastDelhiare
getting it, it is an issue.”
Devotees gather for the last shahi snan, in Haridwar. PTI
“FollowingappealfromthePrime
Minister and constant review by
the Chief Minister, akharas coop-
erated in keeping the crowd low
today. There were meetings with
akharas daily over the last three
daysoncrowdmanagement.They
followed social distancing too.
EvenNagasadhusworemasks.”
Police personnel also partici-
patedinashahisnanandofficials
said it was “symbolic”. Before the
shahi snan Tuesday, Gunjyal vis-
itedeveryakharacamptoensure
attendance was restricted.
According to data shared by
male migrant workers who re-
turned to urban areas for work
hadmanagedtoearnupto90per
centof theirpre-pandemicearn-
ings. But the women who did so
earned up to 72 per cent of their
pre-pandemic income. On aver-
age,thiscametoRs2,355aweek,
or 85 per cent of pre-pandemic
‘86 LAKH MORE TO BE DISTRIBUTED OVER NEXT 3 DAYS’
Over 1 cr vaccine doses
left with states: Centre
KAUNAINSHERIFFM
NEWDELHI,APRIL27
WITHSTATEScomplainingofvac-
cine shortage, the Centre on
Tuesdayreleaseddatatosaymore
thanonecroredoses,tobeadmin-
istered to priority groups, were
available with states and 86 lakh
more would be distributed over
the next three days.
According to official data re-
leased by the Union Ministry of
HealthandFamilyWelfare,ofthe
1,00,47,157 doses still available
withthestates,themaximumare
with Uttar Pradesh (10.10 lakh
doses), Maharashtra (9.23 lakh
doses), Bihar (7.50 lakh doses),
Gujarat (6.09 lakh doses) and
Jharkhand (5.95 lakh doses).
These doses are to be adminis-
teredtofrontlineworkers,health-
careworkersandthoseabovethe
age of 45 years, with 86,40,000
doses to the states in the next
three days.
“Recentlysomemediareports
quoting some government offi-
cials from Maharashtra have
pointed out that the vaccines in
the police, around 85 seers from
NiranjaniandAnandakhadas,250
fromJuna,AgniandAhvaham;80
from Mahanirvani and Atal;
around600fromNirmohi,Nirvani
andDiganmbar,around230from
Bada Udaseen and Naya Udaseen
and100fromNirmalakharatook
partintheshahisnanTuesday.
Thefootfallofdevoteesduring
the first shahi snan on March 11
was32lakhandthefigurewasal-
most the same on the second
shahisnanonApril14.Attendance
camedownto13lakhonthethird
shahi snan on April 14.
earnings, the survey found.
Ontheotherhand,thesurvey
found, male migrant workers
who remained at home earned
only23percentof theirpre-pan-
demic income, and female mi-
grantworkersjust13percent.On
average, this came to Rs 451 per
week, or 18 per cent of pre-pan-
demicearnings,thesurveyfound.
Moreover, more than 40 per
cent of those who stayed home
were still concerned about run-
ningoutof foodaftertheharvest
season. More than 20 per cent
said they were eating less than
normal. The survey tracked mi-
grants from two source states
and spread across destinations
in all states and UTs in India.
With a second Covid wave
triggering fears of another mi-
grant exodus, the research urges
policyeffortstoretainworkersin
urbanareasandfocusonwomen.
“Those who remained at
Waiting for the vaccine, in Kolkata on Tuesday. Partha Paul
the State are finished thereby ad-
verselyimpactingthevaccination
driveinthestate.Itisclarifiedthat
the total COVID vaccine doses re-
ceivedbyMaharashtraason27th
April 2021 (at 8 am) are
1,58,62,470. Of this, the total con-
sumption including wastage
(0.22%) was 1,49,39,410. Balance
of 9,23,060 doses is still available
with the state for administration
of vaccine doses to the eligible
population groups. Furthermore,
3,00,000 dosesof COVID vaccine
are in the pipeline for delivery in
SC lets
Vedanta
operate TN
plant for
oxygen
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
THE Supreme Court Tuesday al-
lowed Vedanta Ltd to opera-
tionalise the oxygen plant at its
sterlite copper smelting facility
in Thoothukkudi in Tamil Nadu
to manufacture medical oxygen,
with the order standing till at
least July 31.
Allowingthecompany“toop-
eratetheoxygenplantasastand-
alone unit”, a Bench of Justices D
YChandrachud,LNageswaraRao
andSRavindraBhatclarifiedthat
“the order is passed only in view
of the national need for oxygen”
and “will not create any equities
in favour of Vedanta”.
On a request that the oxygen
produced at the plant must be
given to the state, Justice
Chandrachud said, “... (the) na-
tion stands together in this mo-
ment. At present, Tamil Nadu's
oxygendemandsaremet.Incase
of any future need, they (state)
can approach us for changes."
WhileTamilNaduhadearlier
opposed opening of the plant
due to local concerns regarding
environmental violations, at the
start of the hearing on Tuesday,
thestategovernmentsaidanall-
partymeetinghaddecidedtoal-
low it to produce oxygen in na-
tional interest.
The Court asked the Tamil
Nadu government to form an
oversight committee, including
district and police officials as
well as the District
EnvironmentalEngineer,tohold
talks with members of the local
community. The Ministry of
Environment and Forests will
form a separate panel, to which
the villagers can nominate
members. FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
home in rural areas were more
likely to report being unem-
ployed,reducingfoodconsump-
tion,mortgagingorsellingassets,
spendingdownsavings,andtak-
ing loans to make ends meet. To
the extent it is possible to help
those who returned to urban ar-
eas remain in cities through lo-
calized lockdowns, such as by
providing economic support
through employers and rations,
wecanprotectmigrantsfroman-
other costly return to rural areas
and enable a speedier economic
recovery,” the report states.
“The current Covid surge is-
n’t an additional crisis for India’s
migrantworkers,butthecontin-
uation of one that began with
last year’s nationwide lock-
down," said Charity Moore, di-
rector, South Asia Economics
Research at Yale University's
MacMillan Center, and a re-
searcher on the survey.
the next three days,” the health
ministry said.
The data further shows that
amongthetopfivestatestowhich
doses will be sent over the next
three days are: Uttar Pradesh (11
lakh), Bihar (7 lakh), Assam (6.5
lakh), Gujarat (5 lakh), and
Madhya Pradesh (4.8 lakh).
Over the next three days, five
stateswillreceivedosesintherange
of3-3.5lakhdoses:Maharashtra(3
lakh); Tamil Nadu (3 lakh doses);
Kerala(3.2lakh);Punjab(3.5lakh);
andDelhi(3.5lakh).
HC questions direct purchase of
remdesivir from pharma firms
OMKAR GOKHALE
MUMBAI, APRIL 27
THE BOMBAY High Court on
Tuesday sought to know from
the Centre as to why private in-
dividuals were getting Covid-19
drugs such as remdesivir di-
rectly from pharmaceutical
companies, while the compa-
nies are required to provide
their entire production to the
Centre, which enables distribu-
tion to the states.
A division bench of Chief
Justice Dipankar Datta and
Justice Girish S Kulkarni was
hearing a PIL filed by city-based
lawyer Sneha Marjadi alleging
improper management of
Covid-19 treatment in
Maharashtra and seeking direc-
tions pertaining to shortage of
remdesivir and oxygen supply
among others.
The court took serious note
of alleged distribution of over
10,000 vials of remdesivir by the
Ahmednagar MP by procuring it
from Delhi, and said that its
Aurangabad bench had already
takencognizanceof thesameon
Monday.
Lack of ICU beds in Bengaluru
alarming, says Karnataka HC
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU, APRIL 27
THELACKofavailabilityofasuffi-
cientnumberofbedsforcritically
ill Covid patients in Bengaluru is
an “alarming situation”, the
Karnataka High Court said
Tuesday while hearing a plea on
Covid-linked issues in the state.
A division bench headed by
Chief Justice Abhay Sreenivas
Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar
noted that there had only been a
“marginal increase” in availabil-
ity of beds in the city and that
they were insufficient for the
number of cases.
PIB Dy Director dies of Covid
DIVYAA
NEWDELHI,APRIL27
TWODAYSafterhewasadmitted
to GTB Hospital, Sanjay Kumar
Srivastava, deputy director with
thePressInformationBureauhan-
dlingmediaandcommunication
for the Ministry of Social Justice
and Empowerment, died of
Covid-related complications
Tuesday morning. He was 56.
He is survived by his wife and
son.
The Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting, under which
the PIB functions, said in a state-
ment that Srivastava was also as-
sociated with publicity work of
the Ministry of Tourism in addi-
tional capacity. “During his illus-
triouscareerofover34yearsinIIS
TRACKING THE SECOND SURGE
422 NEW CASES: 3,49,929
ACTIVE CASES: 29,70,545
DAYS SINCE
PANDEMIC
BEGAN TOTAL VACCINATION: 14,52,71,186
DAILY DEATHS
3,446
TOTAL DEATHS
2,01,340
TESTS TODAY: 20,11,506 | TOTAL TESTS: 28,29,91,383
WEEKLY POSITIVITY: 19.85% | OVERALL POSITIVITY: 6.36%
STATES REPORTING MOST CASES
STATE NEW
CASES
■ Maharashtra 66,358
■ Uttar Pradesh 32,921
■ Kerala 32,819
■ Karnataka 31,830
■ Delhi 24,149
STATES REPORTING MOST DEATHS
STATE TODAY’S
DEATHS
■ Maharashtra 942
■ Delhi 381
■ Uttar Pradesh 264
■ Jharkhand 255
■ Chhattisgarh 246
Note:DataasonApr27;vaccinationnumbersasofApr26.Deathsincludethosecausedbycomorbidities.
The plea before the
Aurangabad bench had alleged
illegal procurement by the
Ahmednagar MP and sought
action against him, along with
confiscation of such injections
by authorities.
Dr Sujay Vikhe Patil, BJP MP
from Ahmednagar, had last
week procured and distributed
10,000 remdesivir injections.
Politicians from several parties,
including those in the ruling
Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), sold
or distributed the drug directly
to people after procuring it from
the manufacturer or by dipping
into district stocks.
While the Aurangabad
bench had refrained from pass-
ing a specific order and said it
would deal with the plea on
April 29, it added, "Meantime,
respondent authorities be at lib-
erty to take effective steps as
they would have taken in the
event of such eventuality and do
what a call of duty demands
them to do."
OnTuesday,theHCaskedthe
central government lawyer,
“How can 10,000 vials be made
available by airlifting them from
Delhi by a chartered plane?
The court said the lack of
medicalfacilities--beds,oxygen
supply and key drugs like
Remdesivir -- are linked to the
right to life enshrined under
Article 21 of the Constitution.
The High Court's remarks
cameafteritwasinformedbyof-
ficials that only 74 HDU beds, 24
ICU beds and 14 ICU ventilator
beds were available in the city
Tuesday morning. The division
bench directed officials to ac-
commodatepatientsinhospitals
belonging to the defence forces,
such as Command Hospital, in
Bengaluru.
Earlier,onApril23,thebench
had called the Covid situation in
Sanjay Kumar Srivastava
[IndianInformationService]”,the
ministrysaid,“heservedindiffer-
ent publicity units of PIB” and
“also served in the personal staff
of a central minister”. Previously,
thestatementsaid,Srivastavaalso
served as the public relations of-
ficer with NCERT.
Former and serving PIB offi-
cials, who worked with him, said
Srivastava worked closely with
SharadYadavwhenhewasUnion
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
WEEKLY CFR
1.75%
OVERALL CFR
1.45%
ACTIVE WEEKLY TOTAL
CASES POSITIVITY VACCINATION
6,72,434 23.51% 1,49,06,543
3,06,458 16.53% 1,19,47,728
2,47,467 21.26% 69,91,400
3,01,918 16.91% 88,92,708
98,264 32.77% 30,61,554
TOTAL WEEKLY OVERALL
DEATHS CFR CFR
68,103 1.25% 1.94%
15,009 3.64% 2.00%
11,678 1.82% 1.61%
2,246 4.96% 1.55%
7,782 1.76% 1.65%
Would it not amount to private
distributionbytheperson?Delhi
itself is in crisis.”
"We want drugs to reach
everyone who is needy and
should not be only in the hands
of a few," Justice Kulkarni added.
The court was informed that
the incident in Ahmednagar
should not be seen in isolation
and there were many such pri-
vate individuals procuring
drugs. To which the bench said,
"If we find further such in-
stances where pharmaceutical
companies are providing
remdesivir directly to private
individuals, we may pass an in-
junction against them."
The court also directed the
state government to provide the
status of crematoriums and
morgues across Maharashtra
and measures taken to improve
their conditions, after it was in-
formed that the situation at cre-
mation centres were not prop-
erly managed due to the large
number of Covid-19 patients’
bodies being received.
Seeking responses from the
central and state government,
the court posted further hearing
on the PIL on Thursday.
Bengaluru “shocking” and
“scary”.
The city is facing a severe
crunchinbedsforCovidpatients
requiringintensivecareandven-
tilator support. “The situation is
so bad that even senior govern-
ment officials cannot get an ICU
or an ICU ventilator bed in the
city,” a senior official said.
The number of cases in
Bengaluru has soared from an
averageof 4,000inthefirstweek
of Apriltoover15,000inthepast
week. This month has also wit-
nessed 326 more Covid deaths
than the previous peak of
September 2020 when 971
deaths were reported.
minister in the Atal Bihari
Vajpayee government. After that,
he worked as a PIB officer with
Vice-President Hamid Ansari.
Condolinghisdeath,themin-
istrysaidhewillbe“remembered
for his professional competence
anddedicationtopublicservice”.
Hiscolleaguesrememberhimfor
his“unmatchablemediaoutreach
and personal connect”.
“Be it weekends or after-work
hours, he would never have any
qualmswithattendinggovernment
events and functions at any time,
and always made his presence felt
attheevent—thatpresencewillbe
missed sorely,” said a colleague at
the PIB, who worked with him for
morethantwodecades.
Till Thursday afternoon, a col-
leaguesaid,Srivastavawascoordi-
natingavirtualpressconference.
Ahmedabad
 10 EXPRESS NETWORK WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021

Goa court defers

verdict in
Tarun Tejpal
case to May 12
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MAPUSA, APRIL 27
AGOAsessionscourtonTuesday
deferred to May 12 pronounce-
ment of judgment in the case of
sexual assault against Tarun
Tejpal, former editor-in-chief of
the news magazine Tehelka.
Tejpal was accused of raping
a woman in 2013.
The sessions court in
Mapusa, North Goa, had earlier
listed the case for judgment on
Tuesday for which all parties
concerned — the prosecution,
the investigating officer and ac-
cused Tejpal — arrived in court
in the morning.
Additional Sessions Judge
Shama Joshi, however, informed
After HC rap, EC bans
victory rallies on May 2
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
A DAY after the Madras High
Court came down heavily on the
ElectionCommission(EC)forfail-
ing to stop political parties from
violating Covid protocols during
theircampaignrallieslastmonth,
and warned it over the coming
counting day, the poll body an-
nouncedabanonallvictorypro-
cessions following the results.
The counting of votes for the
Assembly elections in Assam,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal
and Puducherry will take place
on May 2.
TheCommissionalsocapped
thenumberof peoplepermitted
colwillbemaintainedsothat“this
statedoesnotsuccumbtoyouridio-
syncrasies any further”, the court
had warned that it might order
countingtobestoppedotherwise.
The scathing observations
followedtheCalcuttaHighCourt
censuring the EC for not doing
enough to ensure that political
parties followed Covid protocols
amid the surging second wave.
In its order, on a petition filed
by AIADMK leader and Tamil
Nadu Transport Minister M R
Vijayabhaskar, the Madras High
Court said, “You have been sin-
gularly lacking any kind of exer-
cise of authority. You have not
taken measures against political
parties holding rallies despite
every order of this court saying
order finally passed". It also de-
fendedthatitwasuptotheState
authoritiestoensureCovidcom-
pliance at public gatherings for
campaignpurposes."Atnoocca-
sion, the Commission takes over
the task of the SDMA (State
DisasterManagementAuthority)
for enforcement of Covid-19 in-
structions," the statement says.
In a veiled response to the
criticism that the EC did not stop
election campaigning in West
Bengal despite political parties
requesting the same, it noted
that the SDMA did not bar any Work on a new Covid care centre that’s coming up at the Ramlila Ground, a popular site for demonstrations and political
public gatherings under the rallies in New Delhi. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the site to review preparations. Praveen Khanna
Disaster Management Act 2005,
and that its direction to stake-
holders was to follow the in-
structions of the SDMA.
OXYGEN CRISIS

HC slams Delhi Govt: If you can’t

them that she will not pro- to accompany the winning can- ‘maintain Covid protocol, main- The EC also mentioned that
nounce the judgment on didatetoreceivetheelectioncer- tain Covid protocol’." from February 26, when the
Tuesday and said that the case tificate to two, saying the deci- The AIADMK leader has elections were announced, to
will be decided on May 12. sions were taken in “view of the sought directions to the EC to April 4, when elections ended

manage, will ask Centre to step in

Thecomplainanthadaccused
himof sexuallyassaultingherin-
sidealiftofafive-starhotelinGoa
during an event on November 7,
2013.Tejpal,whowasarrestedon
November30,2013,waslaterre-
leased on bail and had contested
the allegations.
surgeinCovid-19casesthrough-
out the country".
On Monday, the Madras High
CourthadslammedtheEC,calling
it “the only institution responsible
for the situation we are in today”.
Directing it to prepare a blueprint
beforeMay2onhowCovidproto-
implement strict measures dur-
ingcountingonMay2inhiscon-
stituency Karur, where 77 can-
didates contested.
In its reaction, the EC said the
statements being attributed to
theMadrasHighCourtintheme-
dia "do not find mention in the
everywhereexceptWestBengal,
thesecondwaveof Covid-19was
"yet to be visible fully". It also
pointed out that the Kerala High
Court on Tuesday said it was sat-
isfiedwiththestepstakenbythe
EC and the state government for
counting on May 2.
SOFI AHSAN
NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
IN A strong indictment of the
Delhi government's handling of
what your powers are and how
you have to administer.” Never sought 5-star Covid
facility, says High Court
Observing that the controls
imposed by the government
were in fact leading to hoarding,
the court said, “It transpires that Hotelforanyone,muchlessafive-

Tripura DM seeks the Covid-19 crisis in the Capital,

theDelhiHighCourtsaiditscon-
a substantial quantity of oxygen
is supplied to gas refillers but
SOFIAHSAN
NEWDELHI,APRIL27
star facility ,” it said in the state-
ment.Thefacility,aspertheorder

apology after video of

fidence was “shaken” and that if there is no mechanism... as of issued by Sub-Divisional
the government cannot manage now to account [for] the further THE DELHI High Court Tuesday Magistrate Geeta Grover Sunday,
the situation, the court will ask supplies that they make to the said it had not made any request was to be linked to Primus

DELHI CONFIDENTIAL him disrupting marriage the Centre to step in.

“Set your house in order.
Enough is enough. If you cannot
hospitals and nursing homes or
even individuals,” it said.
“You are only doing distribu-
to the Delhi government for set-
ting up a 100-room Covid Health
CentreatAshokaHotel,afive-star
Hospital. However, the court
orally told the government offi-
cialsthattheorderbewithdrawn.

leads to uproar manage it, tell us, then we will

DEBRAJ DEB
AGARTALA, APRIL 27
A DAY after he disrupted a wed-
ding ceremony and evacuated
the venue, allegedly for defying
night curfew, West Tripura
District Magistrate Sailesh
Kumar Yadav apologised for his
GATHERING RESOURCES action after videos of the inci-
dent went viral leading to an up-
DEFENCE MINISTER Rajnath Singh on Tuesday called up all roar on social media.
Governors and Lieutenant Governors of states and UTs indi- In a video, the District
vidually,askingthemtoutilisetheexpertiseof ex-servicemen Magistrate is seen stopping the
acrossthecountry.SinghaskedtheGovernorsandL-Gstourge wedding ceremony at Manikya
theirstategovernmentstousetherecentlyretiredarmedforces Court, a marriage hall at North
personnel, including doctors and nursing staff, in fighting the Gate of the Palace Compound
pandemic.Thereisashortageof trainedmanpoweracrossthe here, supposedly after 10 pm,
country,asthecrisisisgettingbigger,whichiswhySinghasked when the night curfew comes
theGovernorstotalktothestategovernments,andfollow-up into force. Among other meas-
actionhasalreadybeeninitiatedincertainstates,sourcessaid. ures, he is seen resorting to se-
The discussion took place a day after Chief of Defence Staff vere strictness, including shov-
General Bipin Rawat briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi ing out the bridegroom,
that recently retired armed forces personnel have been re- arresting everyone present, in-
called to work in combating the current crisis. cluding the bride and groom’s
familiesandtearingupawritten
permission for the wedding
FOR THE HOUSE signed by himself.
In the video, he says every-
THELOKSabhaSecretariathassetupaCovidControlRoomfor one who gathered at the venue
Members of Parliament and their immediate family mem- were in direct violation of pro-
bers in view of the rising Covid-19 cases in the country and hibitory orders under Section
the “difficulties being faced by Members of Parliament in get- 144 of the CrPC and would be
ting timely medical interventions”. The Control Room has prosecuted.Over30peoplewere
been set up at the direction of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. arrested and released later.
An order issued by Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh said, After the video led to an up-
“Members of Parliament, who are facing difficulty in access- roar on social media, with peo-
ing the required medical assistance for themselves or their
immediate family members, may seek assistance of the
ple accusing him of ruining a
marriage and calling for action
Control Room…” It added: “The Control Room will be opera- against him, DM Yadav on
tional round the clock. It will be the endeavour of the Control Tuesday told reporters: “All I
RoomtoprovidethebestpossiblehelptoMembersforgetting did was done during the night
the required medical assistance as soon as possible.” curfew period last night and
was for the benefit and well-
West Tripura DM
Sailesh Kumar Yadav
Opposition leader Manik
Sarkar and the CPI (M) said in a
statement that proper action
should be taken against the DM
for his behaviour.
West Tripura MP and BJP
leader Pratima Bhowmik said
she would visit the bride’s fam-
ily and appealed them not to
“lose heart”.
“The administration is doing
what’sneededtobreakthechain
of transmission of coronavirus.
But what happened last night is
most undesired. It should not
have happened,” she said.
Ruling BJP MLAs, including
Sudip Roy Barman, Ashish
Kumar Saha and Sushanta
Choudhury, wrote to Chief
Secretary Manoj Kumar seeking
removal of the DM.
Tripura royal scion Pradyot
KishoreManikyaDebbarma,the
chief of TIPRA Motha that re-
cently won the tribal council
elections here, who owns
Manikya Court, the venue of the
wedding, said he saw the video
of the incident on Tuesday.
In a Facebook post, he wrote,
ask the central government to
send their officers in and do it.
We will ask them to take over.
We cannot let people die like
this,” a division bench of Justices
VipinSanghiandRekhaPallisaid
soon after asking the govern-
ment to take over Seth Air
Products, a cylinder supplying
unit in Dwarka, which, it said,
could be resorting to black mar-
keting.
Hauling up the government
for alleged mismanagement in
distribution of medical oxygen
andblamingitforrampantblack
marketing of oxygen cylinders
and essential Covid-19 drugs in
Delhi,thecourtdirectedthegov-
ernment to inform by
Wednesdayaboutstocksheldby
gas refillers.
It also sought a report from
the state government on the
deathsinhospitalsonaccountof
oxygen shortage.
WhenSeniorAdvocateRahul
Mehra, representing the Delhi
government, told the court that
the government had found itself
in an unprecedented situation
and that it was "learning", the
court said, “You are administra-
tors. You should know how to
administer. You should know
tionof lollipops.Youissueorders
which you really don’t mean. It
seems they have sufficient sup-
ply," said the court.
Referring to Seth Air
Products, whose owner was
present at the hearing, the court
saiditwassurprisedthattheunit
wasnotevenenlistedinthegov-
ernment orders about suppliers
whomhospitalscouldcontactin
case of an emergency.
“We are surprised. Seth ap-
pears to be a rather big supplier.
He (Tarun Seth) is holding 20
MTs of liquid medical oxygen
and he does not form part of
your order. There seems to be
somethingfishy.Itcannotjustbe
an oversight. Why is he not part
of your order,” asked the court,
adding, "You are crying you do
not have oxygen but he does not
know whom to supply.”
Seth earlier told the court
that he had formal orders from
theDelhigovernmentforsupply
to only four hospitals but has
been supplying to 70 hospitals
on the direction of government
officials.“Theyaretellingmeyou
have to manage. I will supply to
whoever they tell me to supply,”
he told the court.
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
facility, for judges and judicial of-
ficers and their families.
Initiatingasuomotupublicin-
terestlitigation,theHighCourtis-
sued a notice to the Delhi Chief
Secretary and Sub-Divisional
Magistrate,Chanakyapuri,asking
themtofilearesponse.Italsosaid
the media was not wrong in
pointing to the order.
“This is very very misleading.
(The) High Court has not made
any such request for allocation of
any beds in five-star hospitals of
this kind. There is absolutely no
communicationinthisregard.We
are taking cognisance of this and
we have issued an order. You
please file a response to this,” the
division bench of Justices Vipin
Sanghi and Rekha Palli told the
Delhi government.
In a press statement issued
later,itsaid690staffofficialsofthe
HighCourtandtheDistrictCourts,
93 judicial officers and few High
Court judges were infected with
coronavirus over the last one
month.
“Beingalivetothecurrentsit-
uation and the limited available
resources, the government was
conveyed to create a suitable
mechanism for redressal of said
issues. There was never any de-
mandorrequestforreservingany
DeputyChiefMinisterManish
SisodiasaidTuesdayeveningthat
the order had been withdrawn
with immediate effect.
During the hearing, the High
Court said the government was
passingordersleft,rightandcen-
trewithoutbotheringormeaning
to do anything about it. “The pro-
jection is as if we have taken this
matter(theoneinwhichthecourt
has been monitoring the Covid-
19 situation in Delhi) to benefit
ourselves or that you have done
this to appease us,” the court told
the Delhi government.
“Theonlypurposeof havinga
meetingwasthejudiciary,partic-
ularly the subordinate judiciary
judge who are having to attend
courts…someof themnecessar-
ily hold courts... judges are going
for remand purposes... many of
themhavehavegotinfected.Their
families have got infected. We
have already lost two judicial of-
ficers. Our concern as their well
wishers...sinceitwasonustotake
careofthem...thereforeallthatwe
wantedwasthatincasetheyneed
anyhospitaladmissionthenthere
should be some facility available.
Thathasbeentranslatedintothis
kindofanorder…asifwewanted
this 100-bedded facility,” ex-
plained the bench.
Two ships graze
against each other
near Kandla port
Ahmedabad:Amajortragedywas
averted at the mouth of the navi-
gationalchannelofKandlaportaf-
ter a merchant vessel grazed

GROWING LIST
being of the people. My inten-
tion was not to hurt or humili-
ate the sentiments of anyone. If
TILL A week ago there was news of several senior bureaucrats anyone has felt so, I apologise
incentralgovernmenttestingpositiveforCovid-19.Now,there for that.”
is even news of ministries losing senior officers to the second Night curfew has been im-
wave of the deadly virus that has hit the national capital. The posed in Agartala municipal ar-
National Investigation Agency on Sunday suffered its first ca- eas since April 22 because of
sualty to Covid with one of its ASIs succumbing to the virus. sudden spike in Covid-19 cases.
On Monday, a joint secretary-level officer in the Education The state has recorded 793 ac-
Ministry, Madan Mohan, also died of Covid-19. tive cases and two deaths in the
past 24 hours.
SC asks UP govt SHANAYA KATWE STEPBROTHER’S MURDER SOLVED: COPS
“A complete investigation must against another on Tuesday.
be done on the incident. Also as “The incident happened at
per the VERBAL direction of Outer Tuna Buoy (OTB), near the
Honourable DM sahib (seen on mouth of the 22-kilometre navi-
the camera footage) I will com- gational channel of Kandla port
ply and close down my Manikya where ships drop their anchors
Court for the next one year. I be- and wait to enter the channel, a
lieveinfollowingthelawandthe passageway to the port. A cap-
enforcer. Time to rethink about sized vessel, carrying containers,
many things including starting grazed against a ship which was
new business in TTAADC areas anchored,” said an official of
as well.” Deendayal Port Trust, formerly
Kandla Port Trust.
There were no injuries or ca-
sualtiesintheincident.However,

Days after charred skull found,

to submit
Kappan’s
medical records
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
on Tuesday asked the Uttar
Pradesh government to submit
the medical records of arrested
journalistSiddiqueKappan,who
has tested positive for Covid,
over a plea citing medical emer-
gency and seeking his shifting to
AIIMS Delhi.
A bench headed by Chief
Justiceof IndiaNVRamanafixed
the matter for hearing on
Wednesday and asked Solicitor
General Tushar Mehta, who ap-
pearedfortheUPgovernment,to
alsoproducethemedicalrecords.
The court was hearing an ap-
plication by the Kerala Union of
Working Journalists (KUWJ),
whichsaidKappanhadcollapsed
inabathroomattheMathurajail,
where he was lodged, and later
tested positive for Covid-19. The
plea prayed the court to shift
Kappan to AIIMS. ENS
Kannada actress held for murder
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU, APRIL 27
A MURDER mystery that began
with discovery of a charred skull
in a remote forest area outside
Hubli city in north Karnataka by
afarmeronApril10,andthesub-
sequentfindingof charredlimbs
in another part of the city, has
now ended with the arrest of a
young model-turned-actress
and her friend.
The murder mystery was
cracked by Hubli-Dharwad po-
lice after DNA analysis of the
body parts found in separate re-
gions, study of CCTV footage on
roads leading to the forest area,
and analysis of cellphone tower
information for the regions
where the body parts were
found, according to the police.
Investigation has found that
the victim was Rakesh Katwe,
32, stepbrother of the accused
actress Shanaya Katwe. The po-
lice have identified his alleged
killers as Shanaya’s friend Niyaz
Ahmed Katigar, 21, and the lat-
ter's associates – Tausif Abdul
Rehman, 21; Altaf Tajuddin, 24;
and Aman Giraniwale, 19.
Thepolicesaidtheyzeroedin
on the suspects after investiga-
tions showed that a Maruti Ritz
carregisteredinShayana’sname
and a Hyundai Accent car regis-
tered in Aman’s name were al-
legedly used to dispose of the
body after Katwe’s death in
Hubli.Thearrestof NiyazAhmed
and his associates and their in-
terrogation revealed that Katwe
waskilledafterhereportedlyob-
jected to a relationship between
Shanaya and Niyaz, Dharwad
Superintendent of Police P
Krishnakantsaidafterthearrests.
Shanaya, who entered the
Kannada film world in 2018 af-
ter a modelling career, had re-
cently completed a second film.
The police said her family had
adoptedRakeshKatweasachild.
A farmer had found the
charred skull in Devaragudihal
forests outside Hubli on April 10;
other chopped, charred parts
werefoundnearGadagroadout-
side the town.
A police team headed by
Dharwad SP Krishnakant was
taskedwiththeprobe.Policesaid
the murder occurred on April 9
and that the body was chopped
and disposed of subsequently. A
mobile phone that Shanaya was
using during the period of the
crime had helped police track
down the killers, an officer said.
Shanaya was placed under
arrest on April 22 after her role
emerged in the crime when she
wasquestionedfollowingthear-
rest of the others on April 18, an
officer said.
the accident left a huge dent in
one of the ships. According to of-
ficials,thespaceatOTBisdecreas-
People complain about the issues faced by Covid-19 patients at SSG Hospital to Vadodara MP ingasanumberof shipsarelying
Ranjan Bhatt on Tuesday. Bhupendra Rana anchored right at the mouth of
Kandla port. ENS
Dispute over jumping queue for refill: 6 booked
after man opens fire at oxygen plant in Kutch
jumping a queue for getting fied men vandalised a car by ical oxygen. “They clashed after
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE medical oxygen cylinders at striking it with the scythes. accusing each other of jumping
RAJKOT, APRIL 27 Agrawal and Sons, an oxygen “However, policemen deployed the queue at the factory for get-
plant at Moti Chirai village atthefactorysiteintervenedand ting oxygen,” Zinzuavadiyasaid.
A MAN allegedly fired in the air around 9.15 pm on Monday. The dispersed the groups,” Prakit Based on a complaint filed by
after a dispute with a group of argument led to a clash, police Zinzuvadiya, police inspector of police constable Ramdevsinh
persons over refilling cylinders said, and Rajbha allegedly fired BhachautoldTheIndianExpress Jadeja, Bhachau police on Tues-
of medical oxygen at a private three rounds in the air from a re- on Tuesday. Private guards hired daybookedRajbha,Ramdevsinh,
factory at Moti Chirai village in volver.Theaccusedallegedlyalso bythefactoryandMotiChiraivil- Mayursinh, Shivrajsinh and
Kutch district’s Bhachau taluka put the firearm on the temple of lage sarpanch Harpalsinh Jadeja unidentified men for attempt to
late Monday night. Six persons one of the men from the rival had also intervened following murder,voluntarilycausinghurt,
have been booked in the case so groupandthreatenedtokillhim. which the rioting groups sped rioting, and under the Arms Act.
far, police said. According to an FIR, regis- away in their cars, police added. “Investigation is ongoing in the
Bhachau police said Rajbha tered at Bhachau police station, Rajbha, Ramdevsinh, Shivra- case, however, no one has been
Jadeja, Ramdevsinh Jadeja and Ramdevsinh was carrying a jsinhandMayursinhareresidents detainedorarrestedsofar.Theri-
two other unidentified men had wooden club while the two of Moti Chirai and work for otinghasnotaffectedoperations
an argument with Shivrajsinh unidentified men were carrying Ashapura Traders, a Bhuj-based of he oxygen plant,” the police
JadejaandMayursinhJadejaover scythes.Policesaidtheunidenti- private firm which deals in med- inspector said.

Ahmedabad
 11 E EXPLAINED
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021

@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com

SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER

CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD
INDIA ACTIVE CASES
3000,000
2,882,204
The Ct value in a Covid test
The cycle threshold value emerges in RT-PCR tests for the coronavirus, and determines whether a person
2,882,204
1,801,316
is positive for Covid-19 or not. To what extent does it correlate with viral load and disease severity?
2000,000
ANURADHA MASCARENHAS
PUNE, APRIL 27

AMONG VARIOUS scientific terms that the

Covid-19pandemichasmadepartofthepub-
1000,000 lic vocabulary, one is the ‘Ct value’ in RT-PCR
LAST 10 DAYS tests for determining whether a patient is
Apr 17 Apr 26 positive for Covid-19.
Note: The April 26 figure in this graph is based on the government update on April 27 This was the subject of a recent request
sent by the Maharashtra government to the
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
INDIA TOTAL CASES WORLD TOTAL CASES The state sought clarity whether it was ad-
17,636,307 148,018,784 visable to treat a person as Covid-negative if
theCtvalueismorethan24andthepersonis
Source: Ministry of Health & Family Source: Johns Hopkins University,
Welfare, updated at 11 pm on April 27 updated at 11 pm on April 27 asymptomatic. State officials said various
ICMRdocumentshadmentioneddifferentCt
values and there were divergent views even
amongNitiAayogandtheNationalCentrefor

How SARS coronaviruses Disease Control.

Dayslater,theICMRDGwrotebacktothe
state Health Secretary that ICMR has taken

use host cells to produce inputs from virology laboratories across the
countrytoarriveatasingleCtvaluecut-off.All

proteins and replicate

patients with a Ct value less than 35 may be
considered as positive while those with a Ct
value above 35 may be considered as nega-
tive, ICMR said.
CORONAVIRUS RESEARCHERS have for host proteins are selectively de- An RT-PCR test detects the virus; Ct value sets a benchmark for whether a person is to be counted as positive. Amit Mehra
discoveredhowSARSvirusesenhance stroyedbyaviralproteinnamedNsp1. But what is Ct value?
the production of viral proteins in in- Asaresultof thiscomplicatedprocess, Shortforcyclethreshold,Ctisavaluethat
fected cells, so that many new copies the infected cell predominantly pro- emerges during RT-PCR tests, the gold stan- sideredCovid-positiveif theCtvalueisbelow wasnotadvisabletousealowercyclethresh- sider the Ct value, as then I can decide
of the virus can be generated. Notably, ducesviralproteins,sothatmanynew dard for detection of the SARS-CoV-2 coron- 35.Inotherwords,if thevirusisdetectableaf- oldparameterasitwouldleadtomissingsev- whether to transfer the patient to the non-
coronaviruses other than SARS-CoV copies of the virus can be created. avirus. In an RT-PCR test, RNA is extracted ter35cyclesorearlier,thenthepatientiscon- eral infectious persons and increase disease Covid building or not. From the infectivity
(which causes SARS) and SARS-CoV-2 A research group led by Albrecht fromtheswabcollectedfromthepatient.Itis sidered positive.If thebenchmarkwereto be transmission, Dr Balram Bhargava, DG of point of view, it can matter, not severity,” Dr
(which causes Covid-19) do not use von Brunn of Ludwig Maximilian then converted into DNA, which is then am- lowered to 24 — the value mentioned in ICMR, has said. Prayag said
this mechanism, the researchers said. University of Munich discovered the plified. Amplification refers to the process of Maharashtra’s letter — it would mean that Ct
This may therefore provide a possible interaction between the proteins SUD creatingmultiplecopiesof thegeneticmate- values in the range 25-34 would not be con- Is there any correlation between a Ct Does a high Ct value always mean a low
explanationforthemuchhigherpath- and Paip-1 several years ago. “Being rial — in this case, DNA. This improves the sidered positive. A benchmark of 35, there- value and severity of disease? viral load?
ogenicity of the SARS viruses, they re- an experienced coronavirologist, I ability of the test to detect the presence of fore,meansthatmorepatientswouldbecon- No. Although Ct value is inversely corre- Whilethatmaybetheobviousinference,
port in the EMBO Journal. knew that one has to inspect the spe- virus.Amplificationtakesplacethroughase- sidered positive than we would get if the latedwithviralload,Itdoesnothaveanybear- some experts stress that some patients can
Coronavirusesthatcauseharmless cialregionsof theSARSgenomewhen ries of cycles — one copy becomes two, two benchmark were 24. The ICMR has said low- ingontheseverityofthedisease,expertshave have a high Ct value and yet have a very sig-
colds in humans were discovered trying to understand this virus,” he becomesfour,andsoon—anditisaftermul- ering Ct threshold parameter may lead to said. A patient can have a low Ct value, which nificant level of Covid-19 infection, and vice
more than 50 years ago. When it saidinastatementreleasedbyLudwig tiplecyclesthata detectableamountof virus missing several infectious persons. means her viral load is high enough to be de- versa. Many factors are important in inter-
emerged in 2002-03, the Maximilian University . is produced. One can think of Ct value as a measure of tected rapidly, but she may still be asympto- preting an RT-PCR test, and the results may
SARScoronaviruswasthe A research group led According to the ICMR advisory, the Ct transmissionpotential,saidleadingvirologist matic. also depend on the method of specimen col-
first coronavirus found to by Professor Rolf value of an RT-PCR reaction is the number of Dr Shahid Jameel. “So if there is more virus in A small study published in the Indian lection and time from infection to collection
cause severe pneumonia Hilgenfeld of the cyclesatwhichfluorescenceof thePCRprod- my throat and nose, I will transmit it better,” Journal of Medical Microbiology in January and to analysis.
in infected people. From University of Lübeck, uct is detectable over and above the back- said Dr Jameel, who is Director of the Trivedi this year found that there was no correlation An ICMR advisory in August last year
comparisons of the RNA meanwhile, had already ground signal. Put simply, the Ct value refers School of Biosciences at Ashoka University. between Ct values and severity of disease or notedthatCtvaluesdependonhowthesam-
genomes of innocuous elucidated the three-di- to the number of cycles after which the virus mortalityinpatientswithCovid-19disease.It ple has been collected. A poorly collected
coronaviruses with those PAPER mensionalstructureof the can be detected. If a higher number of cycles What is the significance of the ICMR found that the time since the onset of symp- sample may reflect inappropriate Ct values.

CLIP
of the SARS coronavirus, SUD protein some years is required, it implies that the virus went un- threshold of 35? toms has a stronger relationship with Ct val- Besides,Ctvaluesarealsodeterminedbythe
researchers identified a previously. The two re- detected when the number of cycles was Globally, the accepted cut-off for Ct value uesascomparedtotheseverityofthedisease. technicalcompetenceof thepersonperform-
region that only occurred search groups teamed up. lower. The lower the Ct value, the higher the for Covid-19 ranges between 35 and 40, de- The Ct value tells us about the viral load ingthetest,calibrationof theequipment,and
in the latter, and was NEW RESEARCH Dr Jian Lei in Hilgenfeld's viral load — because the virus has been spot- pending on instructions from the respective in the throat and not in the lungs, said Dr the analytical skills of the interpreters.
called the "SARS-unique group, a group leader at ted after fewer cycles. manufacturers of testing equipment. The ParikshitPrayag,consultantforinfectiousdis- Again,Ctvaluesmaydifferbetweennasal
domain" (SUD). Such ge- Sichuan University in ICMR has arrived at the Ct value of 35 based eases at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, andoropharyngealspecimenscollectedfrom
nomic regions and their protein prod- Chengdu (China), meanwhile, crys- Why is it important? on laboratory experiences and inputs taken Pune. “The Ct value does not correlate with the same individual. The temperature of
ucts might be linked to the extraordi- tallised the complex formed by SUD To put that in context, let us look at the from several virology labs. severity–onlywithinfectivity.Inthefirstre- transportation,aswellasthetimetakenfrom
nary pathogenicity of SARS and Paip-1 and determining its three- ICMR advisory and Maharashtra’s letter to There was no new advisory, but ICMR in- portIdonotreallylookattheCtvalue,butfor collection to receipt in the lab, can also ad-
coronavirusand itscousin, SARS-CoV- dimensional structure by X-ray crys- ICMR.AccordingtotheICMR,apatientiscon- formed the Maharashtra government that it follow-upof patientsinthehospital,Idocon- versely impact Ct values.
2, they said. tallography.Andco-firstauthorDrYue

Behind EU legal action against AstraZeneca

The research groups involved in "Lizzy"Ma-Lauerof vonBrunn'sgroup
the new study showed that the SUD characterised the complex of the two
proteins of these two viruses interact proteins and its function using a vari-
with a human protein called Paip-1, ety of cell-biological and biophysical
which is involved in the first steps of methods, Ludwig Maximilian
protein synthesis.Together withPaip- University said in the statement
1 and other proteins in human cells, "Interactionstudiesof thiskindbe-
SUD apparently binds to the ribo- tween coronavirus proteins and pro- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
somes, the molecular machines that teins of the infected human cell will NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
are responsible for protein synthesis help us understand how the viruses
incells.Thiswouldleadtoanenhance- change key functions of the cell to ONMONDAY,theEuropeanCommissionini-
ment of the production of all proteins, their own benefit," the university tiated legal action against AstraZeneca over
both those of the host cell and those quoted Hilgenfeld as saying. the shortfall in the company’s supply of vac-
of the virus. However, in cells infected cinestotheEuropeanUnion,whichhasbeen
with SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-2, the Source: Ludwig Maximilian University a contentious issue between the two for a
messenger RNA molecules that code of Munich few weeks now.
InMarch,severalEuropeancountrieshad
temporarilypausedtheuseof thevaccineaf-
ter reports of blood clots emerged. However,
the European regulatory body said that the
known benefits of the vaccine outweigh the
potential risks.
So, why has the EC launched legal action
against AstraZeneca?
ThedisputebetweentheECandthecom-
pany have been ongoing for a few weeks
now.AstraZenecastarteddeliveryof vaccines
to the EU in February and, under its contract,
it promised to deliver about 300 million
doses by the end of June. However, in mid-
March,thecompanyannouncedashortfallin
vaccine shipment meant for the EU. It said
AstraZeneca vaccine supplies to EU
have fallen short. AP
that it would deliver 100 milliondoses in the
first half of 2021, of which 30 million doses
would be delivered in the first quarter.
The company cited a lower-than-ex-
pected output from the production process
asoneof thereasonsfortheshortfallandsaid
that it would compensate by sourcing vac-
cines from its international supply network.
Itnotedthathalf of theEU’ssupplyinthesec-
ond quarter and about 10 million doses in
thefirst quarter wereduetobesourcedfrom
the company’s international supply chain.
According to Euro News, in terms of ab-
solute number of vaccinations, the UK is
leading in Europe and is “way ahead of the
rest of Europe”, with over 46 million vacci-
nations. Germany, Turkey and France fol-
low with 25 million, 21 million and 19 mil-
lion doses respectively. As per a Reuters
report, the delays in delivery are slowing
down the EU’s vaccination drive since the
bloc was mainly relying on this vaccine.
However, after repeated cuts in the sup-
plies, it is now mainly relying on the Pfizer-
BioNTech vaccine.
What next for AstraZeneca?
In response to the EC’s decision,
AstraZeneca has said it is about to deliver
about 50 million doses to European coun-
tries by the end of April. “AstraZeneca has
fully complied with the Advance Purchase
Agreement with the European Commission
and will strongly defend itself in court. We
believe any litigation is without merit and
we welcome this opportunity to resolve this
dispute as soon as possible,” the company
said.
Does the Serum Institute of India have a
role to play in this?
SII is one of the sites where the Oxford-
AstraZeneca vaccine is being manufactured,
which will be used in India and other coun-
tries around the world. The Indian version is
called Covishield, which received approval
for emergency use in India in January.
However, deliveries of the vaccine manufac-
turedbySIImeantforcountriesparticipating
in COVAX were delayed from March after
India banned exports to meet domestic de-
mand.
As of April 27, India has exported doses of
both Covishield and Covaxin to over 95
countries, including Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Brazil, Sri Lanka, the UK and Syria. These 95
countries do not include the 27 member
countries of the EU. As such, it is not clear to
what extent India’s ban of exports of vac-
cines has impacted AstraZeneca’s supply
chain to the EU.

OxygenfromSterliteCopper:permission,capacity,androadahead
ARUN JANARDHANAN
CHENNAI, APRIL 27
THE SUPREME COURT on Tuesday allowed
Vedanta Limited to operate its oxygen pro-
duction units at the Sterlite Copper plant in
Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. The Sterlite
Copper plant has been shut for three years
following public protests and police firing
that killed 13 protesters in May 2018. The
Supreme Court decision follows a submis-
sionbyVedantaLimited,whichcitedtheon-
going crisis for medical oxygen triggered by
asurgeinCovid-19casesacrossthecountry.
How it went to court
Vedanta Limited had moved the
Supreme Court last week requesting an
emergencyhearing.Citingthemedicaloxy-
gen crisis, it asserted that it could produce
1,000 tonnes of oxygen if the plant was al-
lowed to reopen.
On the court’s suggestion, the Tamil
Nadu government, which was initially
against the idea, held a public hearing in
Thoothukudi last week, where most stake-
holders opposed the proposal alleging that
it was a strategy by Vedanta to reopen the
entire plant.
On Monday, Chief Minister E P
Palaniswamimetrepresentativesof allma-
jor political parties. The meeting resolved
that the plant would be allowed to reopen
conditionally: only for standalone opera-
tions of oxygen production and for four
months,strictlyunderthemonitoringof the
stateanddistrictadministrations.AndTamil
Nadu’s requirement would be prioritised
beforesupplyingthisoxygentootherstates.
The oxygen crisis
There are many suppliers of liquid oxy-
gen in the southern region, including in
Sriperumbudur near Chennai. A portion of
itwasusedformedicalpurposesearlier,too,
whilethebulkwentforindustrialpurposes.
Data in the public domain shows that
the average liquid oxygen capacity of India
is7,200 metric tonnesa day, of which about
800 tonnes was the requirement for med-
ical purposes before the pandemic.
Demand went up to 2,000 tonnes/day dur-
ing the first wave around September 2020.
Oxygen in copper plant
The Vedanta Limited plant has two
oxygen production units lying idle, with a
combined capacity of 1,050 tonnes. The
oxygen from these units is meant to feed
the furnaces of the copper-melting plant.
These facilities suck in air from the atmos-
phere, which is processed so that the oxy-
gen-rich fraction of the air is absorbed in
the final process.
Vedanta Limited has claimed in the
Supreme Court that it can produce 1,000
tonnesoxygen.Thestategovernment,how-
ever, had submitted in the Madras High
Courtthattheplanthasaproductioncapac-
ity of 1,050 tonnes, and only 35 tonnes can
be used for medical purposes. Advocate
GeneralVijayNarayansaidwhatisrequired
is liquid oxygen with at least 99.4% purity
for medical use whileindustrial oxygen has
only 92%-93% purity. The state submitted
that Sterlite also has to install compression
and bottling plants to convert gaseous oxy-
gentoliquidoxygen,aprocessthatwilltake
a minimum six months. Sterlite has agreed
to set up the compression and bottling
plants as soon as possible.
The oxygen produced at Sterlite’s units
is crude oxygen. However, on Tuesday,
Vedanta Limited submitted in the Supreme
Court that it would be able to produce up
to 200 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen
within 10 days’ time. A source in Vedanta
Limited told The Indian Express that the re-
maining 800 tonnes will be produced as
gaseous oxygen, and they are in talks with
different stakeholders in the government
andprivatesectortofigureouthowitcanbe
made available for medical use.
Local concerns
Sterlite Copper had been facing protests
ever since its inception in 1994. The local
community’s concerns include hazardous
industrial operations that produce toxins
such as lead, arsenic and sulphur oxides,
pollution of the environment, and their im-
pact on public health.
Following a gas leak in March 2013, the
state government ordered shutting down
of the plant, and the Supreme Court fined
Sterlite Rs 100 crore for flouting environ-
mentalnormsthefollowingmonth,butthe
plant was in operation in June again. It was
shut down again following the violent
protests and police firing in May 2018.
On Tuesday, Justice D Y Chandrachud
said in the Supreme Court: “The nation
must stand together in this moment.” He
was referring to the medical emergency.
Oxygen productionwillnow dependon
maintenance and repair at a plant lying un-
used for three years. The local population
will be apprehensive of any deviation from
the agreement to produce oxygen only for
medical purposes.

Ahmedabad

12 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
Prayuth Chan-ocha
THAILAND
PMfined$190
fornotwearing
mask
Bangkok: With Thailand
struggling to bring its
worst coronavirus out-
break under control,
Bangkokmadeit compul-
sory for residents to wear
masksinpublicbeginning
on Monday. One of the
first to break the new
rule? The country’s prime
minister, Prayuth Chan-
ocha, who was seen
masklessatagovernment
meeting in a photo pub-
lished on his official
Facebook page. As a first-
time offender, he agreed
topayafineof about$190.
Bangkok’s governor,
Aswin Kwanmuang,
camearoundwithtoppo-
liceofficials on Mondayto
help collect it. “I informed
the prime minister this
was a violation of the
rules,”thegovernorwrote
on Facebook. The photo-
graph was removed from
the prime minister’s
Facebook page. NYT
CHINA
Newregulationto
prevent‘foreign
infiltration’
Beijing: China has rolled
out a new anti-espionage
regulation, under which
the national security au-
thoritywilldrawuplistsof
companies and organisa-
tions that are susceptible
to foreign infiltration and
requiresecuritymeasures
to deal with the threats.
Since “foreign spies, intel-
ligenceagenciesandother
hostileforces” haveinten-
sifiedtheirinfiltrationand
intelligence theft against
China through more di-
verse methods and in
broader fields, the regula-
tion clarifies “what, who
andhow”toguardagainst
foreignespionage,officials
fromthenationalsecurity
authoritysaidonMonday.
PTI
PAKISTAN
PML-Nleader
arrestedon
treasoncharges
Lahore: A Pakistani law-
maker was arrested here
on Tuesday on charges of
treason. PML-N leader
and former prime minis-
ter Nawaz Sharif's close
aide Javed Latif was ar-
rested by the Crime
Investigation Agency
(CIA) of Lahore Police af-
ter a sessions court re-
jected his pre-bail peti-
tion in the treason case.
According to the FIR, Latif
defamed state institu-
tions and passed hateful
remarksagainstthem.He
is also accused of talking
about dismemberment
of Pakistan in case any-
thing happens to Sharif's
daughter Maryam
Nawaz. PTI
SAUDI ARABIA
Explosive-laden
‘drone'boat’
targetsport
Dubai:Aremotelypiloted
boat packed with explo-
sives targeted the Saudi
port of Yanbu in the Red
Sea on Tuesday, the king-
dom said, with the blast
sending black smoke into
the sky off the coast.
Saudi Arabia claimed to
have intercepted and de-
stroyed the attack boat.
However,privatesecurity
firmssuggestedcommer-
cial traffic near the port
may have been hit in the
assault. AP
Myanmar guerrillas capture
govt base; airstrikes follow
GRANT PECK
BANGKOK, APRIL 27
ETHNIC KAREN guerrillas said
they captured a Myanmar army
base Tuesday near the border
with Thailand, representing a
morale-boostingactionforthose
opposing the military’s takeover
of the country’s civilian govern-
ment in February.
Myanmar’s military staged
airstrikes several hours later on
villagesinterritorycontrolledby
the Karen forces, said a guerrilla
spokesman, a senior Thai official
and a relief worker.
A spokesman for the Karen
National Union, the minority’s
main political group seeking
greater autonomy from
Myanmar’s central government,
said its armed wing attacked the
baseat5 am and burned it down
just after dawn.
Casualty figures were not yet
known,theKNU’sheadofforeign
affairs, Padoh Saw Taw Nee, said
in a text message. There was no
immediate comment from
Myanmar’smilitarygovernment.
The KNU, which controls ter-
ritory in eastern Myanmar near
the Thai border, is a close ally of
the resistance movement
against the military takeover
that ousted the elected govern-
ment of Aung San Suu Kyi. Its
armed wing is called the Karen
National Liberation Army.
Videoshot fromtheThaiside
of the border showed flames ris-
ing from the government posi-
tion on the banks of the Salween
A burqa-clad woman in Colombo. AP file
Lanka Cabinet approves
proposal to ban face
coverings in public places
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
COLOMBO, APRIL 27
SRILANKA’S CabinetonTuesday
approved a controversial pro-
posaltobanallformsof facecov-
erings in public places, citing a
threat to national security.
Themove comesweeksafter
Minister of Public Security
Sarath Weerasekara signed a
note in March, seeking the ap-
proval of the Cabinet to ban
burqas.
The Cabinet has decided to
ban all forms of face coverings in
public places, Cabinet
spokesperson and information
minister Keheliya Rambukwella
told reporters here, without
specifying burqas.
He said the decision was
taken two years after a wave of
coordinatedterrorattacksonho-
tels and churches on Easter
Sunday.
“All forms of face covers are
‘I FELT HURT AND LEFT ALONE: AS A WOMAN AND AS A EUROPEAN’
‘Sofagate’ incident was sign of enduring sexism: EU chief
ISABELLA KWAI
LONDON, APRIL 27
IT WAS an awkward diplomatic
moment.
Ursula von der Leyen, the
president of the European
Union’s executive, was left
standing during a visit to Turkey
this month as her colleague,
Charles Michel, president of the
EuropeanCouncil,andPresident
Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey
settled into two chairs.
Ms. von der Leyen, the first
woman to head the European
Commission, weighed in on the
situation for the first time on
Monday, telling European law-
MEANWHILE, IN DAWEI: Anti-coup demonstrators take out
a protest march against the junta. Reuters
River, amid the sound of heavy
gunfire. The river marks the bor-
der with Thailand.
A report by the Karen
Information Center, an online
news site, quoted an unnamed
villager on the Thai side of the
river saying he saw seven gov-
ernment soldiers trying to flee
the camp, which is opposite
Thailand’sMaeSamLaepvillage.
Padoh Man Man of the
KNLA’s 5th Brigade, which
launched the morning’s attack,
said Myanmar’s military carried
out airstrikes in the early after-
noon, but he did not know how
many casualties there were. He
described the air raids as a
“heinous war crime” and called
for the international community
topressurethejuntatostopthem.
Sithichai Jindaluang, the gov-
ernorofThailand’sMaeHongSon
province, confirmed at a news
a threat to national security,” he
said. However, wearing face
masks to combat Covid-19 is al-
lowed.
The covering of the full face
willautomaticallyincludeburqa
and niqab.
The proposal now must be
approved by Parliament to be-
come a law.
Last month, Pakistan's High
Commissioner to Sri Lanka
Ambassador Saad Khattak had
criticised the proposal to ban
the wearing of burqas in the
country, saying such “divisive
steps” in the name of security
will not only hurt the senti-
ments of Muslims but also
strengthen wider apprehen-
sions about the fundamental
human rights of minorities in
the island nation.
Muslims make up about 9
per cent of the 22 million people
inSriLanka,whereBuddhistsac-
count for more than 70 per cent
of the population.
makers that she had concluded
that the blunder happened be-
cause she is a woman.
“Would this have happened
if Ihadwornasuitandatie?”she
asked, speaking to the European
Parliament on Monday. “In the
pictures of previous meetings, I
didnotseeanyshortageof chairs.
But then again, I did not see any
womaninthesepictures,either.”
“Ifelthurt andleftalone: Asa
woman and as a European,” she
added, noting that the oversight
was a sign of “how far we still
have to go before women are
treated as equals.”
Video of the meeting held at
the Turkish presidential palace
this month showed Ms. von der
conference that Karen guerrillas
had overrun the Myanmar base
and said a woman on Thai soil
was wounded by a stray bullet
duringthemorning’sfighting.He
said about 450 villagers have
been evacuated from Mae Sam
Lap for their own safety.
Sithichai also said a
Myanmar military aircraft later
bombed a Karen village.
Dave Eubank of the Free
Burma Rangers, a humanitarian
aidgroupwithextensiveexperi-
ence in the area, said he could
confirm that there had been
airstrikesonKarenvillagesintwo
townships in Papun district. He
said Myanmar’s army was also
staging ground attacks in the
area.Neitherhenorthegovernor
had casualty figures available.
Fighting between the KNU’s
armed wing and Myanmar’s
military has been intense since
Two Spanish
journalists killed
in Burkina Faso
London: Two Spanish journalists
were killed in the African nation
of Burkina Faso after being kid-
nappedonMonday,accordingto
the Spanish authorities.
Prime Minister Pedro
Sánchez of Spain on Tuesday
confirmed the deaths of two
Spanish journalists, whom he
identified on Twitter as David
Beriain and Roberto Fraile. Both
were from northern Spain and
wereworkingonadocumentary
about anti-poaching efforts in
Burkina Faso, Spain’s foreign
minister,AranchaGonzálezLaya,
saidearlieratanewsconference.
Thetwojournalistswerepart
of a group of 40 who were am-
bushed on Monday in a nature
reserveinsouthernBurkinaFaso
near the border with Benin, Ms.
González said. The fate of the
others was unclear, but
ChristopheDeloire,theSecretary
General of Reporters Without
Borders,saidthatathirdjournal-
ist had been killed. NYT
EU lawmakers hold final Brexit debate before vote
REUTERS
BRUSSELS, APRIL 27
EULAWMAKERSkickedoff alast
debate on Tuesday on the post-
Brexittradeagreementbetween
the European Union and Britain,
ahead of a vote that is expected
to give the accord overwhelm-
ing approval.
That vote will be the final
step towards ratification of the
EU-UK trade and cooperation
agreement, struck in December
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen with
European Council president Charles Michel and Turkey
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reuters file
February.Governmentairstrikes
began on March 27.
Myanmar jets have bombed
and strafed Karen villages, and
its army has deployed fresh bat-
talions to the area, in possible
preparation for a large-scale of-
fensive. Up to 25,000 villagers
have fled their homes and are
hiding in jungles and caves, ac-
cording to Eubank.
In response, the KNLA has
kept up guerrilla attacks on
Myanmar patrols and bases. The
KNU has also given shelter to ac-
tivists against military rule who
have fled the government’s
crackdown on the resistance
movement in the cities.
There is a similar situation in
northern Myanmar, where the
Kachin minority claims to have
captured several government
outposts and been the target of
air attacks.
TheKarenandtheKachinare
two of the bigger minority
groups that have been seeking
greater autonomy for decades,
during which there have been
periods of armed conflict punc-
tuated by ceasefires.
The city-based resistance
movement against the current
ruling junta has wooed the eth-
nicguerrillagroupsinhopesthat
theycanformafederalarmyasa
counterweight to the govern-
ment’s armed forces. A parallel
National Unity Government es-
tablished by elected lawmakers
preventedfromtakingtheirseats
by the army has appointed rep-
resentatives of several minority
groups to ministerial posts. AP
Iran wants nationals freed from
US jails amid nuke talks in Vienna
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEHRAN, APRIL 27
IRAN SAID Tuesday it was seek-
ing the release of all Iranian pris-
oners held in the US amid talks
in Vienna meant to bring Tehran
and Washington back into the
nuclear deal between Iran and
world powers.
Cabinet spokesman Ali
Rabiei also hinted that another
exchange of prisoners between
Iran and America was possible,
saying that“theideaof a swapof
prisonershasalwaysbeenonthe
agenda” and adding they should
be released because of “humane
concerns”.
Rabieidid not offer details on
how many Iranians are held in
the US and claimed that releas-
ing their names could harm
them. However, he said, “their
number is bigger than that of
American prisoners in Iran”.
after more than four years of ac-
rimonious negotiations and lin-
gering mistrust as Britain ended
47 years of EU membership.
“This is a divorce. It is a warn-
ing, Brexit. It's a failure of the
European Union and we have to
learn lessons from it... Why did
52% of the British vote against
Europe?... Our duty is to listen
and understand the feelings of
the people," the EU's chief Brexit
negotiator Michel Barnier told
lawmakers, who gave him a
standing ovation for his work.
BILLIONAIRES QUARREL OVER NASA CONTRACT
MUSK TROLLS BEZOS AS SPACE RACE HEATS UP
Elon Musk on Tuesday took a swipe at Jeff Bezos’ attempt to challenge the awarding of a
major NASA contract. The two were competing for a NASA contract to deliver astronauts
to the moon, which Musk won. After Bezos filed a protest with the US Government
Accountability Office, Musk fired back with a tweet: “Can’t get it up (to orbit) lol.”
Human Rights Watch
accuses Israel of apartheid
JOSEPH KRAUSS
JERUSALEM, APRIL 27
ONE OF the world’s best-known
human rights groups said
TuesdaythatIsraelisguiltyof the
international crimes of
apartheid and persecution be-
cause of discriminatory policies
toward Palestinians within its
ownbordersandintheoccupied
territories.
In a sweeping, 213-page re-
port, the New York-based
Human Rights Watch joins a
growing number of commenta-
tors and rights groups who view
the conflict not primarily as a
land dispute but as a single
regime in which Palestinians —
who make up roughly half the
population of Israel, the West
Bank and Gaza — are systemati-
cally denied basic rights granted
to Jews.
Israel adamantly rejects that
characterization, saying its Arab
minority enjoys full civil rights.
It views Gaza, from which it
withdrewsoldiersandsettlersin
2005, as a hostile entity ruled by
the Islamic militant group
Hamas, and it considers the
West Bank to be disputed terri-
tory subject to peace negotia-
tions — which collapsed more
than a decade ago.
Human Rights Watch fo-
cused its report on the defini-
tions of apartheid and persecu-
tion used by the International
Criminal Court, which launched
a probe into possible Israeli war
crimes last month. Israel rejects
the court as biased.
Citing public statements by
E
E X P L A I NE D
Negotiation
● tactic
IRAN’S FOREIGN
Ministry spokesman
Saeed Khatibzadeh last
week made comments
suggesting Tehran hopes
to swing a major prisoner
swap as part of ongoing
negotiations in Vienna. A
similar swap accompa-
nied the 2015 nuclear
deal with world powers.
Iranian media have in recent
days identified seven Iranians in
US custody by name while the
US regularly asks Iran to release
American prisoners, including
Siamak and Baquer Namazi,
who are serving 10-year prison
sentences on spying charges.
The accord crafted in the last
days of 2020 only entered force
on a provisional basis until the
end of April, pending approval
from the European Parliament.
Lawmakers will vote late on
Tuesday, with the outcome
made public on Wednesday.
There is no doubt that they
will back the deal, after assem-
bly committees earlier cleared it
by 108 votes to 1. If they did not,
EU-UKtieswould fallbacktoba-
sic World Trade Organization
terms, with quotas and tariffs.
Leyen’s clear surprise as she let
out an “um” at the lack of appro-
priate seating. She quickly set-
tled on a sofa several feet away
asMr.Michel,whoranksequally
in the European Union’s hierar-
chy, and Mr. Erdogan sat posi-
tioned in front of the European
Union and Turkish flags.
Theimagescausedanimme-
diate storm, with many com-
mentingontheenduringsexism
they saw in the moment, and
clips spreading swiftly online.
#GiveHerASeat was soon trend-
ing on Twitter across Europe.
The meeting came at a cru-
cial diplomatic moment as
Turkey attempts to improve a
fraught relationship with the
Palestinian women wait to cross a checkpoint between the
West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem on April 16. AP
Israeli leaders and official poli-
cies, HRW argued that Israel has
“demonstrated an intent to
maintain the domination of
Jewish Israelisover Palestinians”
in Israel, the West Bank and
Gaza, coupled with “systematic
oppression” and “inhumane
acts.”
“When these three elements
occur together, they amount to
the crime of apartheid,” it said.
As to the charge of persecu-
tion, the group cited “grave
abuses” in the occupied territo-
ries, including land confiscation,
thesystematicdenialof building
permits, home demolitions and
“sweeping,decades-longrestric-
tions on freedom of movement
and basic human rights.”
The report cites a range of
policies it says are aimed at en-
suring a Jewish majority in Israel
and lands it intends to keep,
while largely confining
Palestinians to scattered en-
Siamak Namazi, a 46-year-
oldbusinessmanwhopromoted
closer ties between Iran and the
West, was arrested in October
2015. His 81-year-old father
Baquer, a former UNICEF repre-
sentative who served as gover-
nor of Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan
province under the US-backed
shah, was arrested in February
2016, apparently drawn to Iran
over fears about his incarcerated
son.
Also among Americans held
in Iran is environmentalist
Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian with
US and British citizenship also
initially sentenced to 10 years in
prison.
There are other Western na-
tionals in Iranian custody, in-
cluding Nazanin Zaghari-
Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian
woman who after serving a five
year prison sentence on spying
chargeshashowbeensentenced
to a sixth year in prison or
However, there had been
some doubt the vote would go
ahead as parliament protested
against British changes to trad-
ing arrangements in Northern
Ireland, a unilateral move that
prompted Brussels to launch le-
gal action.
Onceparliamenthasgivenits
consent, the 27 EU countries are
expected to rubber-stamp the
deal.
The bloc will then inform
Britain and the trade agreement
will formally be concluded.
European Union and to revive
the process of joining. It also
cameasTurkeyhastakenstrides
away from rights initiatives in-
tended to empower women,
something that Ms. von der
Leyen pointed to on Monday
when she mentioned Turkey’s
withdrawal from the Istanbul
Convention, a treaty that com-
bats violence against women.
Shealsomadeanotherpoint:
The diplomatic blunder only
made headlines because there
hadbeencamerasintheroomto
capture the episode.
But, she added, “Thousands
of similar incidents, most of
them far more serious, go unob-
served.” NYT
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
claves under overarching Israeli
control, with policies that en-
courage Palestinians to leave.
While such policies are far
more severe in the occupied ter-
ritories, HRW said they can also
be found in Israel itself, where
Palestinian citizens, who make
up roughly 20% of the popula-
tion, face widespread discrimi-
nation when it comes to hous-
ing, land access and basic
services.
Israel rejected the report.
Human Rights Watch “is known
to have a long-standing anti-
Israel agenda,” the Foreign
Ministry said. “The fictional
claims that HRW concocted are
both preposterous and false.”
HRWandotherrightsgroups
say that despite the existence of
the Palestinian Authority, Israel
maintains overarching control
over nearly every aspect of
PalestinianlivesinboththeWest
Bank and Gaza. AP
spreading “propaganda against
the system” for participating in
a protest in front of the Iranian
Embassy in London in 2009.
Iran does not recognize dual
nationalities, meaning thosede-
tained cannot receive consular
assistance.ThetwoNamazis,like
otherdualnationals,facedsecret
charges in closed-door hearings
in Iran's Revolutionary Court,
which handles cases involving
alleged attempts to overthrow
the government.
As nuclear talks are about to
getunderwayTuesdayinVienna
following a brief break, Tehran
hasbeen insisting thatthe US lift
all sanctions imposed under
then-President Donald Trump
after he pulled America out of
thenucleardeal,includingthose
not related to its nuclear pro-
gram. Meanwhile, Washington
has said Iran needs to comply
withallrestrictionsimposedun-
der the deal.
China minister in
Dhaka: Must
oppose alliance
in region by
non-Asia powers
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
DHAKA, APRIL 27
CHINA AND Bangladesh should
make joint efforts against pow-
ers from outside the region es-
tablishing a“militaryalliance” in
South Asia and practising “hege-
monism”, Chinese Defence
MinisterGenWeiFenghesaidon
Tuesday.
Weimadetheremarkswhen
he called on Bangladesh
PresidentAbdulHamidhereand
the two sides agreed to advance
the bilateral military coopera-
tion,China’sofficialXinhuanews
agency reported from Dhaka.
His comments came in the
backdropof thefirstvirtualQuad
summit attended by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi along
with US President Joe Biden,
Australian Prime Minister Scott
Morrison and Japanese Prime
Minister Yoshihide Suga on
March 12.
China has vehemently op-
posedtheformation of the Quad
with a Chinese foreign ministry
spokesman emphasising that
exchanges and cooperation be-
tween countries should help ex-
pandmutualunderstandingand
trust, instead of targeting or
harming the interests of third
parties.
Ahmedabad
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

13 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021

GOLD RUPEE OIL SILVER

`46,906 `74.66 $63.19 `67,890
Note: Gold, silver rates at Delhi spot market; gold per 10 g, silver per 1 kg; Crude oil (Indian basket) as on April 26, 2021

SENSEX: 48,944.14 ▲ 557.63 (1.15%) NIFTY: 14,653.05 ▲ 168.05 (1.16%) NIKKEI: 28,991.89 ▼ 134.34 HANG SENG: 28,941.54 ▼ 11.29 FTSE: 6,947.30 ▼ 15.82 DAX: 15,249.71 ▼ 46.63
International market data till 1900 IST

COVID WATCH SUPPORTS GOVT’S ASSET RECONSTRUCTION COMPANY PLAN Maruti Suzuki Q4
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Rising cases slowing

GrowthofARCsnotinline net slips 6.14%, FY21
dividend at `45/share
recovery: Falling air
flyer count, Google
withNPAtrends:RBIreport ajumpwasseeninthenumberof ARCs,itadded.“Thereisadefinite
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,APRIL27

HIT BY steep rise in commodity

Norms for bank,
Mobility Index show
GEORGEMATHEW ARCs in 2008, and then in 2016. scope for the entry of a well-cap- pricesanddeclineinnon-operat-
MUMBAI,APRIL27 AlthoughthenumberofARCshas italised and well-designed entity ing income, Maruti Suzuki India
NBFC auditor risenovertime,theirbusinesshas in the Indian ARC industry. Such Limited, reported a 6.14 per cent
WHILE THE Centre has announ-
appointment remained highly concentrated. anentitywillstrengthentheasset decline in consolidated net profit

DOMESTIC AIR PASSENGER TRAFFIC cedanassetreconstruction(ARC)

andassetmanagementcompany Mumbai: The Reserve Bank
OfthetotalAUM,about62per
cent and 76 per cent was held by
resolution mechanism further.”
AspertheWorldBankandthe
at Rs 1,241.1 crore for the fourth
quarter ended March 31, 2021. It
backedbygovernmentguarantee of India on Tuesday issued thetop-threeandtop-fiveARCsin Financial Stability Institute, the had reported a net profit of Rs InQ4,thecompanysolda
4,00,000 21,316 1,29,251
Source:CivilAviationMinistry

3,00,000 to address the problem of NPAs guidelines for appointment March2020,respectively,theRBI AMCexperiments—includingthe 1,322.3 crore in Q4 FY20. totalof 4,56,707unitsinthe
2,00,000 with public sector banks, the ex- of statutory auditors of report said. “Furthermore, in onesdiscussedearlier—thatsuc- Whilethecompany’srevenue domesticmarket,26.7%
1,00,000 3,03,252 istingARCindustryhasregistered banks and non-banking fi- termsofthecapitalbaseofthein- ceeded in fulfilling their original from operations rose 32 per cent higherthan ayearago. File
0 a lacklustre performance so far. nance companies (NBFCs), dustry,62percentwasheldbytop mandatehad:anarrowmandate fromRs18,207croreinQ4FY20to
Jun25,’20

Jul25,’20

Aug25,’20

Sept27,’20

Oct25,’20

Nov25,’20

Dec26,’20

Jan25,’21

Feb15,’21

Mar25,’21

Apr26,’21

AccordingtoaReserveBankof including housing finance three ARCs; the corresponding (such as resolving NPAs) with Rs24,035croreinQ4FY21,itsnon-
India (RBI) report on ARCs, the companies. PTI share was 67 per cent for the top clearly defined goals; a sunset operating income fell sharply ding quarter last year. Exports
growth of the ARC industry has five ARCs,” it added. clausedefiningtheirlifespan;sup- fromRs880croretoRs89.7crore were at 35,528 units during the
notbeenconsistentovertimeand IndianARCshavebeenprivate portivelegalinfrastructureinvolv- in quarter ended March 2021. quarter.Onastandalonebasis,the
anRT-PCRtestcertificate.The not always been synchronous trend except during the period of sectorentitiesregisteredwiththe ingbankruptcyandprivateprop- The nation’s largestcarmaker auto major reported net profit of
PRANAVMUKUL labinfrastructureofthecoun- with the trends in non-perform- high growth in the AUM around ReserveBank.PublicsectorAMCs erty laws; backing of a strong sawabigjumpinitsrawmaterial Rs1,166.1 crore,down9.7percent
NEWDELHI,APRIL27 tryisalreadystrainedanditis ing assets (NPAs) of banks and 2013-14,” the central bank said. in other countries have often en- politicalwilltorecogniseproblem expenditure during the quarter. from same period last year. For
obviously getting difficult for non-bankingfinancialcompanies During2019-20,assetsalesby joyed easy access to government loans; a commercial focus of the While the cost of materials con- FY21,thecompanyposteda22.69
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY across people to manage those tests. (NBFCs). However, it supported banks to ARCs declined, which funding or government-backed. AMCincludinggovernance,trans- sumed in the quarter ended per cent fall in consolidated net
India, which had steadily re- What we are seeing now is the government’s proposal for a could probably be due to banks By contrast, capital constraints parency, and disclosure require- March 2020 stood at Rs 8,313 profit at Rs 4,389.1 crore. In FY20,
covered till the beginning of largelynecessity-basedtravel. newARC,sayingthat“suchanen- opting for other resolution chan- haveoftenbeenhighlightedasan ments, the RBI said. crore, it rose by 45 per cent in ithadseenanetprofitofRs5,677.6
the second surge of Covid-19 Our own qualitative insights tity will strengthen the asset res- nelssuchasIBCandSARFAESI.The area of concern for ARCs in India. TheARCproposedintheBud- Q4FY21 to Rs 12,066 crore. crore.
earlier this year, is now wit- show that most people are olution mechanism further.” acquisition cost of ARCs as a pro- AccordingtotheRBIstudy,the get will be set up by state-owned Thecompanysaidthedecline InFY21,thecompanysoldato-
nessingafallasrepresentedby travelling only if their family The RBI report said notwith- portiontothebookvalueofassets movement in asset quality of andprivatesectorbanks,andthe- in profit was on account of steep talof14,57,861vehicles,down6.7
domestic air traffic numbers member is sick or to escape a standingtheriseinthenumberof declined,suggestinglowerrealis- banks and NBFCs following the re will be no equity contribution rise in commodity prices and per cent from FY20 and lower by
andtheGoogleMobilityIndex. newly announced lockdown ARCs, the growth in their assets able value of the assets. Covid-19 pandemic could bring from the Centre. The ARC, which “lower non-operating income 21.7percentascomparedtoFY19.
Domestic air passenger in their state,” an executive under management (AUM) has The ARC industry began with ARCsintogreaterfocusandaction. will have an Asset Management owingtomark-to-marketlosson The company’s board recom-
numbers on Monday were at withalow-costairlinetoldThe been largely trendless except for the establishment of the Asset Goingforward,introductionof Company (AMC) to manage and invested surplus.” mended a dividend of Rs 45 per
1.29lakh—lessthanhalfofthe IndianExpress,addingthatthe a major spurt in FY14. “When co- Reconstruction Company India anewassetreconstructioncomp- sellbadassets,willlooktoresolve InQ4,thecompanysoldatotal shareforFY21.Evenasthebench-
peak3.03lakhseenonFebru- airline was regularly can- mparedwiththevolumeofNPAs Ltd (ARCIL) in 2003, the RBI said. any for addressing the NPAs of stressed assets of Rs 2-2.5 lakh of 4,56,707 units in the domestic mark Sensex rose 1.1 per cent
ary15,andonly30percentof celling flights on some routes of banks and NBFCs, the AUM of After remaining subdued in publicsectorbanksmayalsosha- crore that remain unresolved in market, which was 26.7 per cent Tuesday,itssharesended1.24per
the pre-Covid average of 4.25 because loads were low. For ARCs has been on a declining theinitialyearsoftheirinception, pe the operations of the existing around 70 large accounts. higherthanthatinthecorrespon- cent down at Rs 6,558.2.
lakh passengers per day. example,theexecutiveadded,

Markets maintain
Similarly, information thatwithKarnatakaannounc-
sourcedfromGoogleshowed
that visits on April 23 to retail
ing a two-week lockdown ef-
fective Tuesday, there was a COVID-19 IMPACT ‘4G user addition to slow
‘Household savings jump down if curbs continue’
outlets such as restaurants, rushinbookingsfromBengal-

rally on Q4 results
shopping centres, cinema urutoplaceslikeDelhi,Guwa-
halls, etc. were 46 per cent hati, Ahmedabad and Pune.

to 22.5% of GDP in 2020’

down compared to a pre- Ameya Joshi of aviation “Giventherestrictionsinma-
Covid baseline. This metric, analysisportalNetworkThou- ENSECONOMICBUREAU jor cities, smartphone sales are
which was at its lowest of (-) ghts said: “Yesterday (Mon- NEWDELHI,APRIL27 likely to be impacted as well, to 14,653.05 on buying support.
86 per cent on April 26, 2020, day),thedomesticairtrafficin With lockdowns forcing people to remain indoors for most whichwouldslow4Gsubscriber ENSECONOMICBUREAU With this, the Sensex has
had peaked at (-) 18 per cent India was just 30 per cent of of 2020, household savings rose to 22.5% of GDP from 19.8% THENUMBERof4Gwirelesstele- additions in the current quarter. MUMBAI,APRIL27 gained1,064pointsinthelasttwo
in mid-February this year. pre-Covid numbers. The gov- in 2019, a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services said com subscribers is likely to touch The pace of additions should sessions. Ajit Mishra, VP—resea-
According to the Google ernmenthascappedcapacity 82crorebytheendofthisfiscalas pick-up gradually over the re- DOMESTIC STOCK markets on rch, Religare Broking Ltd, said the
Mobility Index, on April 23, at80percent—nowextended 5.8%of GDP:Physical savings the country battles the second mainder of this fiscal ascompet- Tuesdayralliedbyanother1.15per Sensex opened flat but gradually
visitstopublictransporthubs until end of May. Currently, of households during April-June waveof Covid-19pandemic,are- itive intensity in the wireless- cent aided by strong US markets, rosehigherasthedayprogressed
like bus and train stations too only 50 per cent of pre-Covid 2020 — when the whole nation search report by Crisil said. telecommarketincreases,”Crisil hopes of a dip in Covid cases and amidinvestors’hopesfromearn-
fell by 32 per cent. This was at flights are operating”. was under a strict lockdown — Thisnumber,however,would said in its report. better performance by corporate ings outcome by heavyweights.
its lowest on April 2 last year Moreover,thevariousloc- falling to almost half of pre- beachievableonlyifthelockdown Since all the three private heavyweightsinthefourthquar- Meanwhile, the rupee gained
and at the pre-Covid levels in
mid-February, and remained
kdowns or curfews currently
in place — in jurisdictions like
pandemic levels ` and restrictions put in place by
various states continue only for
telecom operators bought some
spectrum in the auctions that
terresults.ThebenchmarkSensex
soared 558 points to 48,944.14
by7paisetocloseat74.66against
theUSdollaronthebackofarally
consistent until April 9, after Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnat- 13.2%of GDP: Gross financial the April-June quarter. The addi- concluded in March, it is likely andtheNSENiftyrose168points in domestic equities.

`
whichtherewasadropagain, aka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, etc. — savings in December quarter tion of 4G wireless telecom sub- that going ahead these compa-
falling to its current levels. havebeenkeepingacheckon scribersislikelytoslowdownfur- nies will not turn their focus to
The baseline is calculated the number of people who 4.8%ofGDP:Financial therandtouchonly80croreusers gaining,retainingandupgrading
asthemedianvalueofthecor- can go to work. This is also re- liabilities during December Source: Motilal Oswal iftherestrictionscontinuebeyond the 25-30 crore active but non-
responding day of the week flective through the Google quarter of 2020 Financial Services/PTI the first quarter of this financial 4G subscribers on their respec-
during the five-week period Mobility Index, which shows year, the research firm said. tive networks.
betweenJanuary3andFebru- a 37 per cent fall in visits to
ary 5, 2020. These indicators workplaces compared to the
were broadly in line with the
rising number of Covid-19
baseline.Thesenumberswere
at their lowest during the ini- Domestic flights: Why
have curbs on capacity,
casesduringthesecondwave. tialphaseofthelockdownlast
According to the Ministry year in the first week of April,
of Health and Family welfare, and then gradually recovered

fare been extended

as of Tuesday morning, there toa13-14percentfallfromthe
were28,82,204activecasesin baseline in the first week of
the country, an rise of 68,546 Marchthisyear.Itthenstarted
cases over the previous day. falling again this April. amid rising jet fuel prices.
Forthedomesticflightop- Amongthevariousindica- PRANAVMUKUL These fare restrictions were
erations, airline officials allu- tors on the Google Mobility NEWDELHI,APRIL27 extended till May 31, 2021.
ded that local lockdowns and Index, trends for places of The Centre also extended the
stringent entry requirements workrecoveredtheleastafter THE MINISTRY of Civil Aviation 80 per cent restriction on the
bystateswerecausingafallin falling during last year’s na- hasdecidedtoextendtherestric- schedulethatairlinescouldoper-
passenger traffic. tional lockdown, indicating a tions on domestic flights intro- ateondomesticroutesbyanother MILITARY ENGINEER SERVICES
“Air travel to almost any higheradoptionofworkfrom duced at the time of resumption month. Originally, the schedule Headquarters Chief Engineer
point in the country requires home practices. in May 2020 by an- wascappedat33per Pune Zone, Dakshin Kaman Marg, Pune- 411001
other month till May cent of pre-Covid
31, taking into ac- flights. AMENDED ADVERTISEMENT
counttherisingCovid (EARLIER PUBLISHED ON 12 FEB 2021)
BRIEFLY VALUED AT NEARLY $2 BN cases in the country. Whydidthe 1. Applications are invited in the prescribed format for permanent

ADBprovides With $188 mn Whatrestrictions

havebeen
government
extendthese
restrictions?
appointment to the posts of Draughtsman (D'Man) & Supervisor
Barrack & Store (Supvr B/S) in the MES Department under the
aegis of Ministry of Defence (Gol), for all India placements.
$1.5bntoIndia boost, Urban extended?
At the time of re-
In a circular, the
Directorate General
2. The total Nos of vacancies of D'Man and Supvr B/S to be read
as under:-
NewDelhi:TheAsianDevel-
opment Bank (ADB) said it Company sumingdomesticflightslastMay
afteratwo-monthshutdown,the
ofCivilAviation(DGCA)notedthat
these decisions were taken in
S.No. Name of Posts No. of vacancies Qualification
(a) D'Man 114 As per detailed

turns unicorn
has provided $1.5 billion to Centre fixed fare bands to ensure view of the Covid 19 situation in Advertisement
India to deal with Covid-19. that passengers were not over- the country. According to data (b) Supvr B/S 458 As per detailed
chargedontheonehand,andthe from the Ministry of Health and Advertisement
Sebinormson ENSECONOMICBUREAU
airlines did not sell below cost to
compete on the other. In March,
Family Welfare, there were
28,82,204 active cases in the
3. Last date for submission of online application has been
extended upto 17 May 2021 (Time 23.59 Hrs)
debtinstruments NEWDELHI,APRIL27 Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep
SinghPuriannounceda5percent
country as of Tuesday, 8am.
Full report on
4 For distribution of vacancies with reservation and other
details please visit MES website i.e. www.mes.gov.in.
NewDelhi:Sebihasreleased URBAN COMPANY has raised a relaxation in the lower fare band www.indianexpress.com Detailed Advt has already been published in Employment
new framework to boost fresh $188 million (Rs 1,410.16 News wef 27 Mar 2021.
policies on provisional rat- crore) in funding from a clutch of
ingbycreditratingagencies
for debt instruments.
investors led by Prosus Ventures
(formerly Naspers), according to Crude rises as IYf¹ffÊ»f¹f A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff
¨f°fb±fÊ ½fÈØf, »fûIY d³f¸ffʯf d½f·ff¦f, øYýi´fbSX (DY²f¸f dÀfaWX ³f¦fSX)
OYOfeatureon
the company’s filings with the
Registrar of Companies sourced
from business intelligence plat-
OPEC+ set to follow (Phone/Fax: 05944-240021
´fÂffaI - 1261/23 E¸f-04/2020
E-mail- sepwdusn@gmail.com
dQ³ffaI 26/04/2021
isolationfacilities form Tofler.
The investment is believed to output boost plan BÊ-d³fd½fQf VfbdðX ´fÂf
New Delhi: OYO said it has havevaluedthenearlyseven-year BÀf I f¹ffÊ»f¹f IZ ´fÂffaI 1076/23 E¸f-04/2020 dQ³ffhI 05.04.2021 õfSf BÊ-MZ ¯OdSa ¦f (Mc -d¶fO dÀfÀM¸f)
launched OYO Care on its old startup at close to $2 billion, REUTERS IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ d³f¸ffʯf J¯O, »fû.d³f.d½f. I fVfe´fbS ÀfZ Àf¸¶fd³²f°f Sfª¹f ¹fûªf³ff IZ Aa°f¦fÊ°f d½f²ff³fÀf·ff ÃfZÂf ¶ffªf´fbS
mobileappforuserstobook making it the latest entrant to NEWYORK,APRIL27 ¸fZÔ ¸fbI ³Q´fbS ´f`¦ff PdI ¹ff ¦fb»ff¶fû ¸ff¦fÊ IZ ¨f`³fZªf 16.00 ÀfZ ¨f`³fZªf 18.625 °fI (I M` ¹ff ÀfZ ¸fP` ¹ff) IZ ´fi·ff¦f I f
quarantine/ isolation facili- India’sunicornclub.Thecompany ´fb³f: d³f¸ffʯf/ÀfbQÈPÞ eI S¯f I f¹fÊ I e Af¸fadÂf°f d³fd½fQf ªfû d³fd½fQf ´fûMÊ »f http://www.uktenders.gov.in ´fS
ties for Covid-19 patients is believed to have hit a valuation OILPRICESedgedhigheronTuesdayasOPEC+was dQ³ffhI 17.04.2021 ÀfZ C´f»f¶²f Wû³fe ±fe, A´fdSWf¹fÊ I fS¯f½fVf: C¢°f d³fd½fQf A¶f dQ³ffhI 30.04.2021 ÀfZ
and individuals. PTI of over $900 million August2019 expected to stick to existing plans to boost oil out- d³fd½fQf ´fûMÊ »f http://www.uktenders.gov.in ´fS d³f¸³ff³fbÀffS C´f»f¶²f Wû¦fe-
when it raised about $75 million put slightly from May 1, suggesting it doesn’t see a (1) d³fd½fQf ÀffBÊM ´fS C´f»f¶²f Wû³fZ I e d°fd±f- dQ³ffgI 30.04.2021 A´fSf³W 03.00 ¶fªfZ ÀfZÜ
‘Antitrustcharge in a round of funding led by Tiger
Global Management. It did not
lastingimpactondemandfromIndia’sCovidcrisis.
Brent crude was up 24 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at
(2) ´fie-d¶fO ¸fedMa ¦f I e d°fd±f-
(3) d³fd½fQf OfC³f»fûO I S³fZ I e d°fd±f-
dQ³ffgI 04.05.2021 ´fc½ffʳW 11.00 ¶fªfZÜ
dQ³ffgI 30.04.2021 A´fSf³W 03.00 ¶fªfZ ÀfZÜ
onApplebyEU’ comment on the funding.
In all, the company has raised
$65.89 a barrel by 12:32 p.m. ET (1632 GMT) after
climbing to a session high of $66.45. US oil gained
(4) d³fd½fQf A´f»fûO I S³fZ I e ´fifS¸·f d°fd±f-
(5) d³fd½fQf A´f»fûO I S³fZ I e Ad³°f¸f d°fd±f-
dQ³ffgI 30.04.2021 A´fSf³W 03.00 ¶fªfZ ÀfZÜ
dQ³ffgI 11.05.2021 A´fSf³W 03.00 ¶fªfZ °fI Ü
Brussels: EU antitrust regu- close to $400 million from in- 45 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $62.36. The group has
latorsaresettochargeApple vestors.Thelatestroundalsosaw alsoditchedplanstoholdafullministerialmeeting
(6) d³fd½fQf Jû»f³fZ I e d°fd±f- dQ³ffgI 11.05.2021 A´fSf³W 03.30 ¶fªfZÜ
this week with blocking participation from DF Internatio- on Wednesday, sources said. d³fd½fQf I e VfZ¿f Vf°fZË ´fc½fʽf°f SWZÔ ¦feÜ
WXÀ°ff./-
rivals on its App Store, a nal Partners, Wellington Manag- AtechnicalmeetingonMondayhadvoicedcon-
(¸fdWX´ff»f dÀfaWX SXf½f°f)
source said. REUTERS ement, Tiger Global, Steadview cern about surging Covid-19 cases but kept its oil
A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff
Capital and Vy Capital. FE demand forecast unchanged.
Ahmedabad

14 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021
BRIEFLY
'Ultra-rare' LeBron
rookie card sells for
$5.2 million
Miami: An "ultra-rare" signed rookie
card for four-time National
Basketball Association (NBA) cham-
pion LeBron James
sold for $5.2 mil-
lion on Monday,
breaking the
record for the most
expensive basket-
ball card ever sold.
It also equalled the
record for any sports trading card,
matching the amount paid in
January for a 1952 rookie card for
baseball great Mickey Mantle. "At
the heart of every collector in 2003
was the hope of pulling the ultra-
rare LeBron James Rookie Patch Auto
Parallel numbered to 23 copies,"
PWCC Marketplace said in a state-
ment posted to social media. "With
so few ever becoming available and
demand increasing by the day, this
card is quickly becoming the crown
jewel of all sports card investing."
The buyer's identity was not imme-
diately made public. A transforma-
tive figure on and off the court, 36-
year-old James is widely considered
among the greatest ever to play the
game, earning NBA most valuable
player honors four times. The 17-
time All-Star added yet another ac-
colade to his dazzling career last
year, picking up his fourth NBA
Finals MVP title after helping his Los
Angeles Lakers win the champi-
onship over the Miami Heat.
REUTERS
FCGoaplayoutyet
anotherdraw
Margao: FC Goa conceded an 89th
minute goal to squander the chance to
become the first Indian club to win a
match in the prestigious AFC
ChampionsLeague(ACL)astheyplayed
outa1-1drawwithAlRayyanof Qatar
here Monday. Jorge Ortiz gave FC Goa
the lead in the third minute of the
Group E match but Ali Ferydoon
equalisedwith justaminuteleftinthe
regulationtime.AlRayyanhadthema-
jority of possession in the first half but
itwasanevencontestinthesecondses-
sion. The ISL side went out of reckon-
ingforaknock-outberthafterAlWahda
oftheUAEbeatlastseasonrunners-up
Persepolis FC 1-0 in another Group E
match played earlier in the day.
Persepolis are still on the top group
standings with 12 points while Al
Wahda are second with 10 points. PTI
LaLigaconsidering
returnoffansfrom May
Barcelona: The Spanish government
andsoccerorganisingbodyLaLigaare
planning on letting fans back into
matchesforthefinalfourroundsoffix-
tures this season as national coron-
avirusrestrictionsloosen,radiostation
Cope reported on Tuesday. The report
said a maximum of 5,000 fans will be
allowed in from the weekend of May
8. Spain's state of emergency, in place
sinceJanuarytolimitthespreadof the
virus, ends on May 9. A La Liga
spokesmansaidtheorganisationcould
notofficiallyrevealadateforthereturn
offansbutstatedtheleaguewantssup-
porterstogetbackintogroundsassoon
as the government will allow it. If the
moveisapproved,supporterscouldre-
turn for the potential title showdown
between Barcelona and Atletico
Madrid on May 8. REUTERS
Article 50: Why IOC chose to continue ban on protests on field, podiums
MIHIR VASAVDA
APRIL 27
THIS WEEK, Olympic-bound athletes will
know the rules and restrictions to be im-
posed on them during their stay in Tokyo.
While they await that, and amidst the un-
certainty over the Games themselves, one
stipulation has been made clear: they
won’t be allowed to protest on the field, on
podiums, and during ceremonies. The de-
cision, taken on the back of the
International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s)
Rule 50, has triggered a fresh round of de-
bate over athletes’ right to expression.
The IOC’s Rule 50 forbids any kind of
“demonstration or political, religious or
racial propaganda” at venues and any
other Olympic area.
However, following the death of
George Floyd in the USA last May, which
triggered anti-racism protests and gave a
boost to the Black Lives Matter movement,
the Olympic body came under pressure to
relax the rule so that athletes could ex-
press themselves freely during the Games.
Subsequently, the IOC’s Athletes
Vol. LIV No. 73 RNI No. 15048/1968. Printed and Published by Hareshkumar K Bhagdev on behalf of The Indian Express Private Limited. Published at : 3rd Floor, Sambhav House, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad 380 015.
Phone (Board) : 26872481- 82- 83, Fax No. 26873950. Printed at : Bhaskar Print Planet, Survey No. 148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad. Chairman of the Board : Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor : Raj Kamal Jha, Editor : Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor : (Gujarat) Leena Misra *
(*Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act) Copyright : The Indian Express Private Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. The Indian Express®
Foreign cricketers promised flights home
BCCI says in talks with govt for post-IPL travel; Australia bans India flights till May 15; its PM Morrison says no priority for players
DEVENDRA PANDEY
MUMBAI, APRIL 27
OVERSEASCRICKETERSplayingintheIndian
Premier League (IPL) have been assured of
travel arrangements to fly back home at the
end of the tournament.
The promise by the BCCI to get everyone
home came on the day Australian prime
minister Scott Morrison said players in the
IPL would not get priority for travel. On
Tuesday,Australiaannouncedabanonallair
trafficfromIndiatillMay15followingasurge
in coronavirus cases.
In an email to the teams and players, the
BCCI's interim chief executive officer said
the Indian cricket board was in touch with
government authorities to firm up travel
plans of foreign cricketers when the tourna-
ment concludes.
Three Australians decided to leave the
IPL prematurely over the past three days
citing 'personal reasons'. India reported
nearly 320,000 Covid-19 cases and 2762
deaths on Monday.
The email from the BCCI sought to dispel
fears of foreign players being stuck in India
because of travel restrictions.
"Weunderstandthatmanyof youareap-
prehensive about how you will get back
home once the tournament concludes,
which is natural and understandable. We
want to apprise you that you have nothing
to worry about. The BCCI will do everything
toensurethatyoureachyourrespectivedes-
tinations seamlessly.
“TheBCCIismonitoringthesituationvery
closely and is working with the government
authorities to make arrangements to get you
home once the tournament concludes. Be
rest assured that the tournament is not over
for BCCI till each one of you has reached your
home, safe and sound," BCCI's interim chief
executive officer Hemang Amin wrote in an
emailtoteams,playersandthesupport staff.
Leg-spinner Adam Zampa,who is set to
return home, told The Age and Herald on
Tuesday that the 'dire Covid situation',
'bubble fatigue' and 'lack of motivation'
were the reasons why he decided to fly
back to Australia.
MumbaiIndiansbatsmanChrisLynnwas
thelastestplayertoraisesconcernaboutget-
ting back home. He told News Corp media
about asking Cricket Australia to charter a
flight for players once the tournament was
over.ButMorrison'sstatementandthetravel
ban meant there was no guarantee of crick-
eters being able to fly back at the end of their
respective IPL stints.
“They have travelled there privately. This
Old master does it again as young prodigy fails to take Capitals home
SYNOPSIS
■ABdeVillierscontinuestobeguile,
whileHetmyer’sdazzleendsintears
SANDIP G
APRIL 27
SHIMRON HETMYER nearly pulled off a heist
for Delhi Capitals, but for the brilliance of AB
deVilliers,whoseunbeaten75off42ballshad
turbo-chargedRoyalChallengersto171,ascore
Delhifellshortofbyasolitaryrun.Itwasaclas-
sical edge-of-the-seat, high-quality thriller.
Beguiling de Villiers
It seemed just another day at the office
for de Villiers, as he beguiled the audience.
No stroke was un-de Villiers-like, the staple
ones the audience had long got used to. But
there’s still a thrilling freshness about them
— he makes the audience believe that they
Commission started a consultation process
in June last year, took views from 3,547 ath-
letes before last week, it was recommended
that the rule should be maintained.
Field of play ‘sacrosanct’
According to the survey, 70 per cent of
the surveyed athletes felt the field of play
and official ceremonies were not an appro-
priate place for competitors to demon-
strate. Almost 67 per cent said they weren’t
in favour of podium protests.
Former shooter and Olympic gold
medallist Abhinav Bindra, who is a mem-
ber of the Athletes Commission, said the
process was ‘open and transparent.’ “The
biggest takeaway was that an overwhelm-
ing number of athletes still would like to
see that the field of play and the cere-
monies remain sacrosanct, and they are
kept away from any protests,” Bindra told
The Indian Express.
The athletes, the recommendations
added, will continue to have other oppor-
tunities to express themselves: in press
conferences, on social media, in mixed
zones, and there is also a suggestion to ‘in-
crease athletes’ expression outside the
Mumbai Indians’ Chris Lynn had requested Cricket Australia to charter a flight for
players once the tournament gets over.
wasn’t part of an Australian tour. They’re un-
der their own resources and they’ll be using
those resources too, I’m sure, to see them re-
turn to Australia in accordance with their
own arrangements," Morrison was quoted
by The Guardian.
‘Situation pretty dire’
Zampa's team mate at Royal Challengers
Bangalore Kane Richardson and Rajasthan
Royals' Andrew Tye are the two others who
have left for Australia before the travel ban
was enforced.
“ObviouslytheCOVIDsituationoverhere
is pretty dire. I just felt, rocking up to train-
ing and stuff, obviously, I wasn’t playing in
the team as well, I was going to training and
I wasn’t finding the motivation,” Zampa told
are beholding the strokes for the first time
in their lives. There is no monotony of rep-
etition — that’s the stamp of true greatness,
the legends of the game transcend the
commonplace.
A typical de Villiers knock makes it diffi-
cult to grade the quality of strokes. Almost
everystrokethatflowsfromhisbatisworthy
of fine detailing, be it for his imagination, en-
terprise, or execution. But a steered bound-
ary of Kagiso Rabada’s near-yorker was a
thing of utter beauty. De Villiers didn’t quite
pick it off his stumps, nonetheless it was a
delivery most batsmen would have strug-
gled to even get a glimpse of.
Fast and searing just outside off-stump,
not quite a yorker, but still a difficult ball to
put away, de Villiers just moved his front
foot away, opened the bat face a wee bit
and turned the ball between backward
point and short third-man, stationed to
abort his cuts. The stroke ushered in a
splendorous endgame.
Thesedays,deVilliersseemstopreferthe
F1 star Lewis Hamilton took a knee at
the Imola racetrack on Sunday. AP
Olympic Games’.
But the Olympic Village, ceremonies,
and field of play, Bindra said, were impor-
Sportzpics for IPL
The Age and The Herald.
“[Therewere]afewotherthingslikebub-
ble fatigue and the chance to get home, once
all the news broke about the flights and
everything. I thought this was the best time
to make the call.”
In all 35 Australians are part of the IPL, in-
cluding13players,11coaches,fourcommen-
tators, two umpires and four support staff.
In a statement on Tuesday, Cricket
Australia said they are having 'regular dia-
logues with players, coaches, match officials
and commentators on the ground in India'.
"We will continue to liaise closely with the
AustralianGovernmentfollowingtoday'san-
nouncement that direct flights from India to
Australia will be paused till May 15..."
TheemailfromtheinterimCEOalsotried
RCB’sABdeVilliershitthreefoursandfive
sixesinhisquick-fire75. Sportzpics for IPL
straighter boundaries than the ones behind
him. Maybe, the general sluggishness of
pitches might be the reason he doesn’t look
to harness the bowlers as he likes, but rather
generatespoweronhisown,fromthosewiry
forearms and twinkling bat speed. Just one
six (a monstrous pull) and that steer off
Rabada were the only boundaries he struck
tant to preserve. “The greatest degree of
solidarity lies in an Olympic Village, where
you have 206 National Olympic
Committees and an Olympic refugee team
living together peacefully in one place. It is
such a great example for the world and for
society in general,” he said.
“Hence, there is an emphasis
on the need to preserve (those ar-
eas) since this can also snowball
into something very dangerous.
You also have nations where ath-
letes could be forced to protest in
a certain way, whether they agree
to a certain aspect or not. So, one
has to be very, very careful.”
Contradicting views
The debate over the issue has laid bare
contradicting views among athletes and of-
ficials. Last year, when Sebastian Coe chose
Tommie Smith, Peter Norman and John
Carlos – the trio on the podium at the 1968
Olympics when Smith and Carlos made the
Black Power salute – to receive the World
Athletics President's award, many saw it as
the Briton’s support for podium protests at
the Tokyo Games.
ON THE TUBE
Indian Premier League
CSK vs SRH, 7.30pm, Live on Star Sports Network
Obviously the COVID situation
over here is pretty dire. I just felt,
rocking up to training and stuff,
obviously, I wasn’t playing in the
team as well, I was going to
training and I wasn’t finding the
motivation. [There were] a few
other things like bubble fatigue
and the chance to get home, once
all the news broke about the
flights and everything.”
ADAM ZAMPA
AUSTRALIA AND RCB SPINNER
to justify reasons for conducting the tourna-
ment as the second wave swept through
India with record cases and deaths.
"While you go about playing the sport,
we all love, you are also doing something re-
ally important. As some of you have said, ‘if
wecanhelpdistractpeoplefromallthetrou-
bles of recent times, even if it is for a short
while, we have done a great job.’ When you
all walk out onto the field, you are bringing
hope to millions of people who have tuned
in. If, even for a minute, you can bring a smile
on someone’s face, then you have done well.
While you are professionals and will play to
win, this time you are also playing for some-
thing much more important…. humanity."
India's Beijing Olympics gold medallist
shooter Abhinav Bindra wrote in The Indian
Express about how cricketers 'should realise
how privileged they are to be able to play the
IPL in these times'.
The IPL is being played at six venues but
in a phased manner. The first leg of the tour-
nament was played in Chennai and Mumbai
while the second, which began on Monday,
will be at Ahmedabad and Delhi. Bangalore
and Kolkata are the other venues and the
play-offs and final will be held at
Ahmedabad.Theleaguematcheswillendon
May 23, followed by the qualifiers from May
25 to 28, the eliminator on May 26 and the
final on May 30.
behind square. The rest were thunderous
blows in the arc between cover and widish
long-on. Poor Marcus Stoinis, who was des-
ignated the 20th over just because Amit
Mishra was supposedly too slow! But de
Villiers slaughtered him, as the Aussie all-
rounder conceded 23 runs. There remained
no novelty about de Villiers’ strokes, but 175
games and 5000-odd runs later, he contin-
ues to marvel.
Hetmyer’s dazzle
For much of his still-blossoming career,
Hetymer’s immense potential has only flick-
ered and not quite set a match on fire in the
IPL. His knock against Royal Challengers
could well be that carpe diem moment,
when he finally seemed to live up to his tal-
ent.Itwasaburstof someof thecleanesthit-
ting one would ever behold in the IPL, dust-
ing up memories of the old Caribbean
flamboyance,strokesthatdazzledasbrightly
as the gold chain that dangled from the
Guyanese’s neck.
Eve the US Olympic and Paralympic
Committee allowed American athletes to
‘raise their fists on the podium, kneel dur-
ing the national anthem or wear a face
mask that reads Black Lives Matter’, accord-
ing to The Washington Post.
Britain’s track cycling gold medallist
Callum Skinner told The Times
that ‘standing up for equality was
not a political act.’ “If one athlete
wants to take a knee, they will
take a knee,” Skinner said.
Skinner, now retired, is part of
the Global Athlete group, which
represents the athlete’s voice.
Last August, the body’s director general Rob
Koehler told The Indian Express that to give
athletes space to demonstrate outside the
field of play and ceremonies was ‘not
enough.’ “An athlete trains for the 10 years
of his or her life, athletes make very little
money if any. And if they get to the podium
one day and want to use it for what they
believe in as a mechanism for social
change, they should be allowed to do it,”
Koehler had said.
Bindra said the Athletes Commission un-
derstood the other viewpoint, but had to ‘see
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
More frequent
testing, no outside
food as bio-bubble
gets stricter
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
APRIL27
IN LIGHT of the severe Covid situation in the
country, the IPL has enforced stricter restric-
tions in the bio-bubble in place. Those inside
willnowbetestedfortheviruseverytwodays,
insteadof onceeveryfivedaysaswasthecase
tillnow.Thoughtheyhavevirtuallynocontact
withtheoutsideworld,theBCCIdoesn’twant
to take any chances at this moment.
TheIPLhasalsobarredtheplayersandoth-
ers inside the bio-bubble from ordering food
fromoutsidethehotelwheretheyarestaying.
There had been several instances when food
had been ordered from outlets outside the
bubble. The BCCI had allowed such deliveries
sothatpeopledon’tgetboredeatingthesame
hotelfood.Butitwasfeltthatthisincreasesthe
riskofcontactwithindividualsoutsidethese-
cured environment and, therefore, infection.
“Earlierinthetournament,wehadpermit-
ted food deliveries from outside your desig-
nated hotels, but these privileges have also
beenwithdrawn.Apartfromthis,wehavealso
increased our level of caution to strengthen
our bio-bubbles,” BCCI chief executive officer
Hemang Amin informed all IPL teams.
This constraint will also affect those peo-
pleinsidethebio-bubblewhousedtogetfood
from their homes or relatives in the same city
even when they couldn’t physically go there.
There had also been an instance of a five-star
hotelchargingRs500eachforanemptyplate
when food was brought from outside.
Afterthisrestrictioncameintoeffect,some
franchiseshavestartedhavingbuffetcounters
for their teams inside the hotels.
The IPL had to reassure players and others
inside the bio-bubble, especially those from
overseas,whomayhavebeenunnervedbythe
rapidlyrisingcoronaviruscasesinthecountry.
The match venues are – Mumbai, Chennai,
Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata –
have seen a great spike in infections in recent
weeks. At least four overseas players have
withdrawn from the tournament citing ‘bub-
ble fatigue’, anxiety over their personal safety
and/or concern about how they will get back
home as their countries have banned incom-
ing flights from India.
Poor Kyle Jamieson would vouch for the
sweet-striking abilities of Heytmyer. His first
three overs had leaked just 11 runs. But the
left-hander just tore into the tall Kiwi, rais-
ing hopes of an unlikely victory. The second
ball of Jamieson’s final over, a gift-wrapped
full toss, was hefted over deep midwicket, all
fluid bat-swing and nonchalance; the fourth
disappeared over deep-midwicket, another
brisk swing of the bat; and the final ball was
powered over long-on. From needing 46 off
18 balls, the target whittled down to a man-
ageable 25 from 12.
But it was a pity that Hetmyer faced only
fourof thelast 12ballsand watched in agony
his captain Rishabh Pant fumbling near the
finish line. In the last over, Delhi required 14,
but could muster only 12. A glorious knock
was laid to waste.
BRIEF SCORES: RCB 171/5 (AB de Villiers 75
not out off 42; 3 fours, 5 sixes; Rajat Patidar
31 off 22, 2x6) beat DC 170/4 (S Hetmyer 53
not out off 25, 2x4, 4x6, R Pant 58 off 48, 6x4;
H Patel 2/37) by one run.
the larger picture and uphold the values.’
“We will keep listening to this minority who
want increased opportunities to express
themselves at the Olympic Games because
they are important,” he said.
Sanctions
While it will be known only in July-
August, when the Games take place,
whether any athletes will go against the
recommendations and protests in the pro-
hibited areas, it is still to be determined
what kind of sanctions will be imposed on
those who violate Rule 50.
Bindra said it is for the legal commis-
sion of the IOC to provide “clarity on the
sanctions and intervene in a very quick
manner.” But in a rapidly-evolving society
amid contrasting viewpoints among ath-
letes, the Indian said “nothing can ever be
set in stone.”
“We’re always evolving. People are al-
ways evolving in mindsets and organisa-
tions also have to remain true and rele-
vant,” Bindra said. “What has been
recommended is for the time being. We
will see how things evolve over a period
of time.”
Ahmedabad