DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES
FRESH OUTREACH
Govt writes to 40 farm leaders, invites
them for talks, at a date of their choosing
In five-page letter, Agri Ministry
asks for ‘details in respect to doubts’
HARIKISHAN SHARMA
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
WITH FARM unions intensifying
protests to press their demand
for the repeal of the three farm
laws,thegovernmentonSunday
invited farmer leaders for a new
round of talks, and urged them
to choose a date according to
their convenience.
In a five-page letter to
Krantikari Kisan Union, Punjab
state president Dr Darshan Pal,
VivekAggarwal,jointsecretaryin
the Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers’ Welfare said: “You are
requested to share the details in
Banking on
HC order,
interfaith
couple say
won’t go
back to UP
SOFI AHSAN
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
“WE WOULDN'T have been able
tomarryinShahjahanpur,some-
one would have found out and
stopped us,” said 25-year-old
Shameem, who fled with 21-
year-old Simran from their
hometown in Uttar Pradesh’s
Shahjahanpur last month.
Fearing vigilantism in the
name of 'love jihad' and with the
UP Police clamping down on in-
terfaith couples citing the newly
promulgated Uttar Pradesh
Prohibition of Unlawful
ConversionofReligionOrdinance,
the interfaith couple had on
December16petitionedtheHigh
Court,seekingprotectionnotonly
from their families but also any
coercive action by the UP Police.
On Saturday, the couple ap-
plied for registration of their
marriage under the Special
MarriageActafter the Delhi gov-
ernment assured the High Court
on Wednesday that they would
beprovidedasafehouseandalso
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Covid impact: Dal
lake set to get a water
ambulance, on a shikara
Patloo turned his shikara into an ambulance. Suhaib Masudi
PAGE 1
ANCHOR
BASHAARAT MASOOD
SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 20
CONFINED TO a bed at the Shri
Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS)
HospitalinSrinagarfourmonths
ago after testing positive for
Covid, Tariq Ahmad Patloo
couldn’t get past this question:
why did they shun him when he
needed them the most? The an-
swer has now given shape to the
Valley’s first water ambulance.
The 51-year-old has devel-
oped a “shikara ambulance” for
thoseresidingaroundDallakeand
hopestofollowitupwitha“mini
hospital”insideahouseboat.“The
idea came at the hospital. Once I
respect to your doubts after hav-
ing discussion with farm union
leadersinvitedearlier,andinform
the date for punah vaarta (next
round of talks) according to your
convenience, so that the matter
can be resolved by holding a
meetingagainatVigyanBhawan,
NewDelhi;sothatthecurrentag-
itation can be ended soon.”
The letter, addressed to Pal
and copied to 39 other farmer
leaders, gives the background of
all rounds of talks held with the
farm union leaders so far.
Aggarwal’sletterhascomein
response to Pal’s December 16
email, through which he had
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Experts to meet today on UK virus strain;
Minister says vaccine rollout likely in Jan
KAUNAIN SHERIFF M
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
THEHEALTHMinistry'stopadvi-
sory body will meet urgently on
Mondaytodiscussthenewstrain
of the novel coronavirus in the
UnitedKingdom,whichhastrig-
geredconcernandpromptedsev-
eral European countries to stop
incoming flights from the UK.
SourcessaidexpertsfromAI-
IMS and the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR), along
with a representative from the
Nepal PM gets House dissolved,
sparks protests, resignations
YUBARAJ GHIMIRE
KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 20
TRIGGERING PROTESTS and the
resignations of at least seven
Cabinet-rank ministers, Prime
Minister K P Sharma Oli Sunday
dissolved the country'sHouseof
Representatives, which is the
lower house of Parliament, two
yearsshortof itsfive-yeartenure
following months of bickering
amongfactionswithintheruling
Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
With legal experts and polit-
ical leaders slamming the move
was discharged, I started to work
on making this dream a reality.
Now, thankfully, that has hap-
pened. We will be launching it in
three-four days,” he says.
Patloo owns the houseboat,
‘SeaPalace’,ontheDalandtested
positiveinAugust.Buttoreachho-
spital, he first needed to cross the
lake.“Itwastoughtogetsomeone
to row the boat. The bitter exp-
eriencehappenedonceagainwh-
en I returned. I am not blaming
anyone, people were afraid they
would catch the virus,” he says.
“Once I decided to build a
water ambulance, I called the
Satya Rekha Trust (an NGO) and
shared my idea with them. They
told me not to worry about the
financial aspect. Once they gave
methatassurance,Istartedwork
on the ambulance,” he says.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in New Delhi on Sunday. He
paid tributes to Guru Tegh Bahadur. PTI
World Health Organisation
(WHO), will attend the meeting
on the new strain, which shows
alterations in the spike protein
that could theoretically make it
more infectious.
Meanwhile, even as India's
topregulatorhasaskedthreevac-
cinemanufacturersforadditional
data on late-stage trials to con-
siderclearingtheircandidatesfor
emergency use, Health Minister
DrHarshVardhansaidonSunday
thathebelieves“personally”that
Indiacouldbeinapositiontobe-
gin administering the vaccine to
A protester burns the effigy
of Nepal PM Oli in
Kathmandu Sunday. Reuters
SINCE 1932
the public “maybe” next month.
“Ourfirstpriorityhasbeenthe
safety and effectiveness of vac-
cines. We don’t want to compro-
mise on that. I personally feel,
maybeinanyweekofJanuary,we
can be in a position to give first
Covid vaccine shot to people of
India,” news agency ANI quoted
Dr Harsh Vardhan as saying.
Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-
AstraZeneca, and Bharat Biotech
have submitted applications for
emergency use authorisation to
the Central Drugs Standard
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
as“unconstitutional”,severalpe-
titions were filed before the
Supreme Court within hours of
the House dissolution.
The decision was taken at a
CabinetmeetinginOli'sresidence
after the failure of talks with rul-
ing party co-chairman and dissi-
dent leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Prachanda.PresidentBidhyaDevi
Bhandari approved the move af-
ter a no-trust motion was tabled
by 91 Parliamentarians of the
NCP, signalling that the eight-
month internal tussle had
reached a point of no return.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
`5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
CBI in Hathras rape: Accused
‘frustrated’ after victim rebuff
Saysbothin‘relationship’,whichgot‘disturbed’afterMarch
AMIL BHATNAGAR
spite the woman naming three
people when her statement was
and their friends Ramu (26) and
LuvKush(23).Thewomanwasas-
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20 recorded on September 19, the saulted allegedly by the four on
name of only one was men- September14,anddiedafortnight
THE 19-YEAR-OLD Dalit woman tioned in the statement. It fur- later at Safdarjung Hospital in
killed in Hathras was allegedly ther states that “though victim Delhi. Thefouraccusedhavebeen
raped by four men after she re- allegedmolestation,hermedical in judicial custody since their ar-
buffed one of them, Sandeep, examination regarding sexual rest in September.
and this “change in their rela- assault was not conducted”. According to the
tionship” “aggravated his feel- The CBI chargesheet against chargesheet, the woman and
ings” and “frustrated him”, the thefourupper-castemenhasbeen Sandeep lived nearby and “he
CBI has said in its chargesheet filedinacourtinHathrasunderIPC developed acquaintance with
filed in the case. Sections 376 (rape), 376 (D) (gan- the victim two/three years back
The chargesheet also has a grape),302(murder)andrelevant whichgraduallyturnedintolove
scathing indictment of the Uttar Sections of the SC/ST Act, against affair”. It states that “it also came
Pradesh Police, stating that de- Sandeep (20), his uncle Ravi (35) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
E
E X P L A I NE D
Anew
● worry
AS THE US and Europe go
through a surge in cases,
the detection of a new,
potentially more deadly
strain of the virus in the
UK has triggered concern
in India too. The new
strain shows alterations
in the spike protein.
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
NEW PARLIAMENT:
BEYOND THE FACADE
BY MADHAV GODBOLE
PAGE 8
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
Lucknow
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
Attack on UN
vehicle: India
rejects Pak
charge, says
should probe
own lapses
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
INDIA ON Sunday rejected
Pakistan’s allegations regarding
IndianforcestargetingaUNvehi-
cleandcalledthem“incorrectand
false”,andaskedIslamabadto“re-
sponsibly investigate its lapses”.
MEA spokesperson Anurag
Srivastava said, “Allegations by
Pakistan regarding Indian forces
deliberatelytargetingaUNvehicle
on18December,2020,havebeen
investigatedindetailandfoundto
be factually incorrect and false.
Ourforwardtroopswereawareof
thevisitof UNMilitaryObservers
in the area and did not conduct
any firing as alleged.”
“Insteadofrepeatingbaseless
andfabricatedallegationsagainst
Indiatocoverupitsownfailurein
ensuring the safety and security
of UN personnel in territory un-
deritscontrol,Pakistanshouldre-
sponsibly investigate its lapses.
India has conveyed its findings
andviewsonthesemisrepresen-
tations to the Pakistani side,” the
MEA spokesperson said.
PakistanForeignministrysaid
it has taken up the “attack” by
India on the United Nations
Military Observer Group in India
and Pakistan (UNMOGIP)
Observersandtheirvehiclealong
the LoC with the UN, urging it to
initiateatransparentinvestigation
into the incident.
InaletteraddressedtotheUN
Secretary General and the
President of the Security Council,
Pakistan’s Permanent Represe-
ntativetotheUNstatedthatdelib-
erate targeting of the UN
Observers and their vehicle —
which was clearly marked with a
UNlogoandflag—appearstobea
new ploy by India to hinder
UNMOGIP’s work. The letter also
informstheSecretaryGeneraland
theUNSCthatPakistanhadcred-
ible information that the Indian
government was planning to
stage a ‘false flag’ attack to divert
attention.Theletteralsorequests
theUNtoforcefullycondemnthe
attackandcallonIndiatoobserve
the2003ceasefireunderstanding.
PakistanPMImranKhantweeted,
“In complete violation of int law,
India’s delib firing at LoC on UN-
MOGIP vehicle, despite clear UN
markings & flying blue UN flag,
shows India’s total disregard for
all int norms of acceptable state
behaviour & respect for int law &
UN. Pak strongly condemns this
rogue behaviour.”
2 killed, 4 hurt in
clash at Gujarat’s
Morbi town
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
RAJKOT, DECEMBER 20
TWO MEN were killed and four
wereinjuredastwogroupsfrom
the same community clashed in
Morbi town on Sunday. The po-
lice said the situation has now
been brought under control.
According to the Morbi po-
lice, Adil Rafiq Mandaliya, 32,
and his supporters clashed with
Mammu Dadhi and others in
Khatkivas area. Adil and Dadhi’s
nephew, Imran (35), were killed.
“Adil and Imran had an argu-
ment over passage of vehicles. It
turned violent and Dadhi’s
groupfiredonAdil’sgroupwhile
Adil’s group attacked Dadhi’s
group with knives. Prima facie,
Adil was killed by a gunshot
while Imran died due to stab
wounds,” Subodh Odedra, SP of
Morbi, told The Indian Express.
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FROM PAGE ONE
Govt writes to
40 farm leaders,
invites them for
talks, at a date of
their choosing
informedthegovernmentof the
farm unions’ decision to reject
the Centre's proposal of conces-
sions regarding changes in the
farm laws.
The last round of talks be-
tweenthegovernmentandfarm
unions was held on December 8
whenHomeMinisterAmitShah
had held a meeting with the 13
representatives of farm unions.
A day after this meeting, the
Centre sent a written proposal
of concessions to the protesting
farm unions, which they re-
jected in an email to Aggarwal
on December 16.
Since then, there has been
speculation about the next
round of talks.
In an interview to The Indian
Express, Agriculture Minister
Narendra Singh Tomar had said
that he was ready to send an in-
vitation for the next round of
talks to the farm unions.
“I am ready to send them an
invitation once they revert on
the changes proposed by the
government,” Tomar had said.
CBI chargesheet
in Hathras case:
Accused was
‘frustrated’ after
victim rebuffed
him
on record” that they “used to
meet in isolated places”, and
that “these facts are supported
by many villagers”.
The chargesheet further
states that Sandeep had three
phonenumbersandseveralcalls
were made from those to a
phone number belonging to the
victim’s family. “However, all
family members affirmed dur-
ing their examination that they
neither called nor spoke to
Sandeep over the phone.”
“Investigation further re-
vealed that when family mem-
ber of the victim came to know
about the mobile calls ex-
changed between victim and
Sandeep, they had a wordy
quarrelwithSandeep’s familyin
front of his house. This incident
was witnessed by several vil-
lagers… Subsequently, the vic-
tim’s father also made oral com-
plaint to (the pradhan’s son)
about the phone calls made by
theaccusedtothevictim,ascon-
firmed by witnesses…” the
chargesheet states.
Whencontacted,thevictim's
brother told The Indian Express,
"There was absolutely no ac-
quaintance between my sister
Weather-based advance warning system
for disease outbreaks in the works: Govt
ESHA ROY
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
THE MINISTRY of Earth Sciences
(MoES) is developing an 'Early
HealthWarningSystem'whichis
expected to forecast the possibil-
ity of disease outbreaks in the
country, officials have told The
Indian Express.
While the model currently in
development—basedontherela-
tionship between weather
changes and incidence — is ex-
pected to predict outbreaks of
vector-bornediseases,particularly
malaria and diarrhoea, subse-
quently,itislikelytomonitornon-
communicable diseases as well,
they added.
MoES secretary M Rajeevan
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
VIDEO
and the accused, Sandeep. He
had obtained our number from
somewhere and would make
prank calls, pretending to be
someone else. A couple of
missedcallsaswell.Besidesthat,
no calls had been exchanged.
The entire village is against us
and I believe they would say
anythingtofalsifythecrimethat
took place."
According to the
chargesheet, the “analysis of call
detail records of accused and
victim and mobile calls pattern
from October 2019 to March
2020 indicates that there were
shortduration(signal)callsfrom
the side of victim to Sandeep,
which were followed by long
duration calls from accused
Sandeeptovictim’sfamilynum-
ber. This established that the re-
lationship/affairbetweenvictim
and accused Sandeep was in
good form till March 2020”.
It adds: “Thereafter, no calls
weremadefrom(victim’sfamily
number) to either of Sandeep’s
number, which shows that their
relation/affair was disturbed."
The chargesheet says the re-
lationship soured further when
their family members got to
know and that after March 20,
Sandeep tried to contact the vic-
tim fromvariousnumbers of his
friends and relatives.
The chargesheet states that
the examination of a person re-
vealed that Sandeep had asked
him to call the victim’s family
number and connect him on a
conference call. “During exami-
nation, (the person) also stated
that the victim was avoiding ac-
cused Sandeep and his mobile
calls for some time. Because of
herchangedbehaviour,Sandeep
was in frustration,” the
chargesheet states, adding that
hesuspectedshewashaving“an
affair” with someone. “This
change in their relationship ag-
gravated the feelings of accused
Sandeep,” it states.
On the allegations against
the accused, the chargesheet
states:“Duringher examination
onSeptember22,thevictimcat-
egorically stated that she was
gangraped by the four accused
persons; she also named them
in her dying declaration… It es-
tablishes that on September 14,
the victim was gangraped at the
bajra field when she was alone.
Investigation also revealed that
all four accused were present in
the village or nearby place,
which corroborates the allega-
tion of the victim.”
The chargesheet also states
that a medical examination of
the victim was carried out by a
doctor from the Department of
Forensic Medicine at AMU on
September 22 and the final
opinion statedthat“thereareno
signsof vaginal/analintercourse.
There are evidences of physical
assault (injuries over the neck
and the back)".
After the CBI took over, a
Multi-Institutional Medical
toldTheIndianExpress,“Thereare
certain diseases where weather
patterns play a crucial role. Such
as malaria, for which particular
temperaturesandrainfallpatterns
can approximately predict
whether an area is likely to have
anoutbreakwithfairlyreasonable
accuracy. What we are looking at
is an advance warning of around
two weeks.”
Changes in rainfall and tem-
peraturepatternslikelyplayama-
jorroleintheincreasedincidence
ofthesediseasesacrossgeograph-
ical locations.
“Wecanpredictthelikelihood
ofheat-relateddiseasesaswellas
diseasessuchascholera,”hesaid,
adding that such a system, when
deployed, would give local au-
thorities ample time to prepare.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
TRIPURA STUDENT OPENS LED BULB FACTORY, GIVES JOB HOPE AMID PANDEMIC
Asecond-yearstudentpursuingHonoursinEnglish,RohitBhattacharjeehasopenedanLEDbulb
manufacturingfactorythatemployseightpeople.
WISTRON UNREST:
WORKERS SAY WAGE
DISPARITIES TRIGGER
Contractual employees
flagged wage issues
Nepal PM gets House dissolved
OlisecuredCabinetapproval
for the dissolution hours after
hisfirstmeetingofthedaywith
the President. A communique
from the President's office said
that a general election will be
held in two phases, on April 30
and May 10 next year.
Senior NCP leaders said the
dissolution will “lead to expul-
sions and counter-expulsions”
inthepartyfollowedpossiblyby
a split.
The seven ministers who
quitina“collective”decision,in-
cluding those who tried to re-
solve the internal differences,
called the dissolution “an un-
constitutionalandundemocra-
tic act”.
The NCP Parliamentarians
had submitted notice for a no-
trustmotiontoreplaceOliwith
Prachanda--asperamandatory
provisiontosuggestanalterna-
tive -- but minutes later, the
Prime Minister recommended
dissolution, said Pampha
Bhusal, a former minister and
oneofthesignatoriestothemo-
tion.
Board (MIMB) was constituted
by the Forensic Department at
AIIMS, which stated, "The possi-
bility of sexual assault can't be
ruled out as minimal bleeding
wasdetectedmicroscopicallyaf-
ter one week of assault as al-
leged in the case. However, pat-
tern of injuries sustained during
an incident of sexual violence
may show considerable varia-
tion. This may range from com-
plete absence of injuries (more
frequently) to grievous injuries
(very rare). In this case, since
there was a delay in
reporting/documentation/foren
sic examination for sexual as-
sault, these factors could be re-
sponsible for absence of signifi-
cantly visible signs of genital
injury."
Banking on HC
order, interfaith
couple say won’t
go back to UP
police security, if required.
The court, however, did not
go into their apprehensions
against the UP Police. The cou-
ple had sought a direction that
the authorities in Delhi be asked
toensurethatintheeventof any
investigation by UP Police, they
wouldnotbetakenoutof theju-
risdiction of the Delhi High
Court without its prior permis-
sion.
While declining the couple's
plea, Justice Anu Malhotra said
on Wednesday that the prayers
“are in the realm of speculation”
and “no such orders in relation
Toverifytherobustnessofthe
advance warning system, a de-
tailedanalysiswascarriedoutear-
lier this year of malaria and diar-
rhoea cases in two districts of
Maharashtra—PuneandNagpur.
The study found that while
both districts have incidences of
both diseases, Nagpur reports a
higher number of malaria cases
while diarrhoea cases are higher
in Pune.
The analysis has also found
thattemporalandspatialvariabil-
ityinweatherparameters,forex-
ample, a short-term increase in
temperatureandrainfallasanef-
fectofEl-Niñocanleadtomalaria
epidemics.
Meanwhile, an
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change noted in its 2007
EXPLAINED
The dissolution sparked
protests on the streets by the
NCP dissident camp and the
main Opposition Nepali
Congress with slogans being
shouted against the President
andthePrimeMinister.Oli,who
willcontinueascaretakerPrime
Minister, held an emergency
meeting with the National
SecurityCouncilandgave“strict
instructions” to maintain law
and order. The lower house,
with275members,waselected
in2017.“It’sacoupontheconsti-
tution by the executive head,”
said Dr Bhimarjun Acharya,
noted constitutional lawyer.
Senior NCP leader and for-
mer prime minister Jhalnath
Khanal said Oli “will pay the
pricefortakingthisextremeand
unconstitutional act”. Bamdev
Gautam,Oli'scolleaguewhoat-
tempted a patch-up Saturday,
said the decision “deserves all
condemnation”.
Sourcesattributedthelatest
crisis to Oli’s loss of majority in
keysectionsof therulingparty:
central secretariat, standing
thereto can be granted
presently”.
Talking to The Indian Express,
the couple said they fled
Shahjahanpur in November as
Simran's family was allegedly
forcing her into marriage with
another man, and added that
they do not plan to go back any-
time soon as they feared
reprisals from vigilantes and au-
thorities.
“The new law is a problem
for interfaith couples. That was
one of the reasons we left
Shahjahanpur,” Shameem said.
“Agar wahan se karte, toh
love jihad keh dete (if we had
married there, they would have
called it love jihad)... even if I
wasn't being forced into mar-
riage, they would have said that
becauseIamwithaMuslimboy.
In UP, they do this deliberately
to trap the man,” Simran added.
The couple said they met in
April 2017 at a coaching centre,
where Simran was studying to
get into the police, and
Shameem for a banking job. “He
was good at studies and so we
started talking and got close,”
said Simran.
While Shameem, a BTech
graduate from Lucknow, later
moved to Delhi, where he
worked for an automobile com-
pany, Simran stayed on in
Shahjahanpur,workingasanac-
countant, a job, she says, she left
"due to family pressure" during
the lockdown.
The couple told The Indian
Expressthattheyfearedreprisals
from their families as much as
from vigilantes and authorities
in UP.
report that climate change may
increasetheriskofdiarrhoealdis-
eases, which is of major concern
in developing countries, with in-
creasingincidentsoffloodsaswell
as drought.
“We are starting with vector-
bornediseasesbecausethereare
direct links to such weather pat-
terns. There have been some
studies and analysis on weather
patterns affecting the spread of
viral diseases — especially with
the advent of the Covid-19 pan-
demic — but this is a far more
complex disease and we have
beenunabletoestablishacertain
link between such diseases and
the weather,” said D R Patnaik of
the Indian Meteorological
Department (IMD), who is in-
volved in the project.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
WHY TRUMP HAS
SIGNED A STOPGAP
FUNDING BILL
It could have led to a
government shutdown
committeeandthecentralcom-
mittee. The 43-member stand-
ing committee was earlier
scheduledtodiscussonSunday
afternoon a 19-page “political
resolution” submitted by
Prachanda listing serious
chargesofcorruptionandnepo-
tism. Opposition MPs, mean-
while, had been considering an
impeachment motion against
the President. The Nepali
Congress held a meeting of its
central office bearers and de-
cided that it would coordinate
withotheroppositionpartiesto
fight "this conspiracy
hatched...to derail the constitu-
tion”.Priortothedissolution,Oli
had filled 45 vacant posts in 13
constitutionalcommissionsun-
deracontroversialnewlyprom-
ulgatedordinancethatempow-
ers the Prime Minister to
recommend such appoint-
ments with the support of just
onememberinthesix-member
constitutional council -- one
councilpostiscurrentlyvacant.
The move effectively brings
these key commissions under
“I was mostly home during
the lockdown and my family
suspected that I was talking to
someone on the phone for long.
They started forcing me to get
married,” Simran said.
She said her family did not
suspect that the man she was in
touchwithwasMuslimuntilshe
left for Delhi in November.
OnceinDelhi,theycontacted
an NGO that helped them move
court.
Shameem said that until last
month, his family had not
known about their relationship.
“Even if they object, I can’t leave
her or ask her to change her re-
ligion. I will marry under the
Special Marriage Act,” he said.
Covid impact:
Dal lake set to
get ambulance,
on a shikara
Withnomedicalknowledge,
Patloo says he took “initial les-
sons” from Google. “I looked at
several designs but they were
costly. Finally, I decided to use a
traditional shikara. I made a
wide one, and used different
materials -- wood, iron, alu-
minium and plastic -- to make it
light and waterproof. I have also
put an engine,” he says.
As of now, Patloo is equip-
ping the ambulance with an
oxygen cylinder, BP apparatus,
an oximeter and a glucometer.
“But I plan to equip it fully. If fi-
nances allow, I will also instal a
vitalparametersmonitoringsta-
RAJASTHAN
Cong forms board in 36
of 50 urban local bodies
HAMZA KHAN
JAIPUR, DECEMBER 20
RIDING ON a good show in the
RajasthanUrbanLocalBody(ULB)
polls last week, the ruling Cong-
ress managed to form a Board in
36 out of 50 ULBs which went to
polls. BJP had to contend with 12,
followedbyIndependentsontwo.
In the results declared on
December 13 for 1,775 wards of
50 ULBs in 12 districts, Congress
won619wardsandBJPwon548.
BJP had also fallen behind Inde-
pendents who won 596 wards,
followed by BSP(7), CPI (2), CPM
(2) and Rashtriya Loktantrik
Party in one ward.
OnSunday,Congresswonnine
out of ten Nagar Palikas in Jaipur,
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Hyperloop is not in the
business of speed
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
In the latest episode of Our Own Devices,
we speak to the Josh Giegel, co-founder of
Virgin Hyperloop, about the company's
future, the challenges ahead for it, and
what it is like travelling in a Hyperloop Pod.
the Prime Minister's control.
In India, the latest political
twistisbeingtrackedwithkeen
interest,especiallyafterForeign
Secretary Harsh Vardhan
ShringlavisitedKathmanduand
met Oli last month in the first
high-leveldiplomaticvisittothe
countrysincetheslideintiesaf-
tertheboundaryrowthissum-
mer.
India’sinaugurationofanew
road from Dharchula to
Lipulekh on the Mansarovar
Yatra route in May hadangered
the Oli government, which
came out with a new map of
Nepal,addingtoitanareaof370
sq km at the tri-junction of
Nepal, India and China (Tibet),
whichIndiamaintainsisitster-
ritory. A Constitution amend-
mentBillwaspassedbyNepal’s
parliament to legitimise the al-
teration to the country’s map
with the addition of Kalapani,
LipulekhandLimpiyadhura.The
passage of the Bill and the new
map led to breakdown of com-
munication between the two
countries.
tion. I also want to add a Basic
Life Support system in the fu-
ture... I am in touch with some
doctors. I would also like to have
a doctor or a nurse stationed in
the ambulance,” he says.
But Patloo says “it is unfortu-
nate” that the government has
“neglected” the community
around the lake. “You will find a
dispensary, a healthcare insti-
tute everywhere, even on hill-
tops. But we don’t have one.
After this, I will try to build a
mini hospital in a houseboat for
the patients of my community,”
he says. Health Services director
(Kashmir) Dr Sameer Matoo
says they are ready to help
Patloo. "It is a wonderful initia-
tive. They have not approached
us but whenever they do, we
will help. I will try to help in
whatever way I can and defi-
nitely recommend his case," he
says.
Patloo credits his family, in-
cluding his seven-year-old
daughter Jannat who was
praisedbythePrimeMinisterfor
her efforts to clean Dal Lake two
years ago, and friend Riyaz
Ahmad for realising his dream.
Experts to meet
today on UK
virus strain;
Minister says
vaccine rollout
likely in Jan
Control Organisation (CDSCO)
with Bagru going to an Indepe-
ndent.TheotherIndependentwin
cameinDholpurNagarParishad.
In Alwar, BJP won four out of
six Nagar Palikas, with the other
two going to Congress. All seven
Nagar Palikas in Bharatpur were
won by Congress. Similarly, all
three Nagar Palika/Parishad in
Dausa, all three in Karauli, and
both in Baran were won by
Congress. In Sri Ganganagar,
Congress and BJP had to contend
with four Nagar Palikas each.
Thankingpartyworkersforthe
“expected”results,Congressstate
president Govind Singh Dotasra
said that with 12 Boards, BJP has
beenrestrictedto24percent.
BJP state president Satish Po-
oniaaccusedthestategovernment
of misusingstatemachinery.
for their vaccine candidates.
“The Joint Monitoring Group
headed by the Director-General
of Health Services will be dis-
cussing this issue (of the UK
strain) and make a recommen-
dation to the Union Health
Ministry. Besides experts from
AIIMS, ICMR, and the WHO, the
meeting will also be attended
epidemiologists and experts
from outside the government,”
a top source said.
British media reported on
Sunday that Belgium, Italy, and
the Netherlands have an-
nounced bans on flights carry-
ing passengers from the UK, and
that a similar move was being
considered by France and
Germany as well.
The Covid-19 Genomics UK
(COG-UK) consortium, which
randomly carriesout geneticse-
quencing of positive Covid-19
samples around Britain, has
identifiedanewsetof mutations
in the virus, called VUI-
202012/0. In a report on
Saturday, COG-UK said one of
the most important mutations,
N501Y, occurs in the region of
the spike protein, the receptor-
binding domain (RBD), which
the virus uses to bind to the hu-
man ACE2 receptor. “Changes in
this region of the spike protein
can result in the virus changing
its ACE2 binding specificity and
alter antibody recognition,”
COG-UK has said.
The consortium, has how-
ever, emphasised that “at this
point in time, there is no reason
to believe that any of the muta-
tions discussed here will affect
vaccine efficacy”. The mutation
has caused 1,100 new infections
in 60 local authority areas, UK
Health Secretary Matt Hancock
has been quoted as saying.
Earlier on December 14,
Hancock had told the House of
Commons that initial analysis
revealed that the new variant
“maybeassociated”withthere-
cent rise in cases in southeast
England.
The New and Emerging
Respiratory Virus Threats
AdvisoryGroup(NERVTAG)that
advises the British government,
has said that it has “moderate
confidence that VUI-202012/01
demonstrates a substantial in-
crease in transmissibility com-
pared to other variants”.
But it has also said there are
“currently insufficient data to
draw any conclusion” on the
mechanism of increased trans-
missibility and increased viral
load. “The location of the muta-
tionsinthereceptor-bindingdo-
main of the spike glycoprotein
raises the possibility that this
variant is antigenically distinct
from prior variants. Four proba-
blere-infectionshavebeeniden-
tifiedamongst915subjectswith
this variant but further work is
needed to compare this reinfec-
tion rate with comparable data
sets,” the advisory group has
said.
Congress should
contest alone:
Mumbai city chief
Mumbai: Setting the tone for the
Congress for Mumbai civic elec-
tions, the party’s newly ap-
pointed Mumbai unit chief,
Ashok (Bhai) Jagtap, said on
Sunday that the party should
fight the polls independently.
“Individually and also as the
president of the Mumbai
Congress, I believe that we
should contest on all the 227
seats (of the BMC),” he said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray had earlier
declaredanintentionof contest-
ing the Mumbai civic polls in al-
liance with Maha Vikas Aghadi
partners NCP and the Congress.
Former Maharashtra minis-
ter Naseem Khan, named the
campaign committee head for
the polls, also echoed Jagtap’s
opinion.
Lucknow

3 UTTAR PRADESH
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
FARMERS’ PROTEST AGAINST NEW FARM LAWS
Oppn trying to misguide farmers: Adityanath
CM lays foundation stones and dedicates 40 projects worth about Rs 90 cr
for 15 districts; govt says farmers coming out in support of the farm laws
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 20
UTTAR PRADESH Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said
Opposition parties are trying to
misguide farmers over the
Centre’s new farm laws and the
concept of contract farming be-
cause they do not want the
country’s development.
Addressing a gathering of
farmers at Narendra Dev
Agriculture and Technology
University in Kumarganj at
Ayodhya, he said contract farm-
ing guarantees farmers’ welfare.
He said the way of the coun-
try’s progress and development
goes through the fields of farm-
ers and hence, it is the govern-
ment’s top priority to make
them prosperous and happy. He
said the Union government led
by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has taken several steps for
the welfare of farmers and the
new laws are steps in the same
direction.
“Iappealtoyoutonotbemis-
guided by the misinformation
campaign unleashed by the
Opposition and be assured that
we are not going to leave a sin-
gle stone unturned to ensure
your betterment,’’ he said, while
reiterating the Centre’s commit-
ment to double farmers’ income
by 2022.
Later in the evening, the UP
government said that farmers
from the state "have started mo-
bilising in support of the Central
government’s agricultural
Bills"."Thousandsoffarmerstook
outamarchfromMuzaffarnagar
toGhaziabadunderthebannerof
`Hind Kisan Mazdoor Samiti’ on
Sunday," a statement issued by
the government read.The state-
PTI
CM Yogi Adityanath visits a night shelter in Gorakhpur on Sunday; one of the protesting
farmers takes shelter in a makeshift tent on a trolley on Delhi-UP border on Sunday.
ment added that the march also
passed through Bijnor, Baghpat
and other districts before reach-
ing the Ramleela ground in
Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.
The farmers also met the
Union Agriculture Minister
NarendraTomarbeforegathering
in Ghaziabad, it added.
During the event in Ayodhya,
the Chief Minister laid the foun-
dation stone and dedicated 40
projectsworth about Rs 90 crore
— these projects are in the sec-
tors of agriculture, agriculture
science and research, animal
husbandry,fisheryandirrigation
in Ayodhya, Gorakhpur, Basti,
Bahraich, Barabanki, Balrampur,
Siddharthnagar, Ambedkar
Nagar, Amethi, Sultanpur,
Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Mau,
Chandauli and Sonbhadra.
He announced that on
December 25, the birth anniver-
sary of former PM Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, Prime Minister Modi
will transfer a total sum of Rs
18,000 crore to accounts of 9
crorefarmersunderthePMKisan
Samman Nidhi. Out of these, as
many as 2.30 crore farmers be-
long to Uttar Pradesh, he said.
The Chief Minister further
announced that to promote lat-
est techniques and research in
theagriculture,thestategovern-
ment has set up 20 Kisan Vigyan
Kendras with the assistance of
agriculture universities in the
past three years, and some of
these centres will be upgraded
to centres of excellence.
Stating that contract farming
is the need of the hour and it is
not going to hurt the interests of
farmers in any way, he added
that it will instead increase their
income considerably. The gov-
ernment is giving the guarantee
that farmers will get the right
price for their produce, he said,
adding that farmers are also free
to sell their produce wherever
they get the best price.
“However, some people are
continuously trying to misguide
the farmers and are spreading
Abhinav Saha
rumours that the MSP will be
quashed and farm mandis will
be closed. Our PM is repeatedly
assuringthatnothingof thiskind
is going to happen and it is our
continuous endeavour that
farmers get the best returns for
their produce and their income
is doubled,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the
Oppositiondoesnothaveanyin-
terest in the well-being of the
farmers. “The Swaminathan
commission’s report was never
considered as the Congress did
not have the interests of farmers
in mind,” he said.
Adityanath said that in its
first cabinet meeting in 2017, his
government had decided to
waive farmers’ loans worth Rs
36,000 crore in all. Even during
the pandemic, the state govern-
mentcontinueditseffortsforthe
betterment of farmers and as
much as 26 lakh metric tonnes
of wheat and 52 lakh metric
tonnes of paddy have been pro-
cured so far, he said.
Farmers’ protest fallout
of BJP’s politics of lies
and deceit, says Cong
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
BAREILLY, DECEMBER 20
THE ONGOING farmers’ protest
against the Centre’s new farm
lawsisafalloutof BJP’spoliticsof
“lies and deceit”, the Congress
said on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters here,
state Congress chief Ajay Kumar
Lallu also said that the party will
continueitsfightforfarmersun-
til the laws are withdrawn.
Thousandsoffarmers,mainly
from Punjab and Haryana, are
protestingagainstthelawsforthe
last over four weeks at various
border points of Delhi.
“Theagitationbythefarmers
against the farm laws is a fallout
of BJP's politics of lies (jhooth)
and deceit (fareb). The Congress
will continue to fight for the
farmers until the farm laws are
withdrawn,” Lallu said.
“Prime Minister Narendra
Modicannotbetrustedastillnow
hehasnotfulfilledanyofhiselec-
toral promises,” he alleged.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress
chief also alleged that today if
people raise their voice against
thewrongpoliciesof thegovern-
ment, then false cases are regis-
teredagainstthem.“Thefarmers
are fighting for their legitimate
rights, and their protests are get-
ting support from every section
of society. Prime Minister Modi
has time to meet industrialists,
but not farmers,” Lallu said.
Meanwhile, according to a
statement issued by the UP
Congress in Lucknow on Sunday
evening,partyworkerssubmitted
memorandums to BJP MPs and
PM Modi
can’t be
trusted
anymore:
Ajay Lallu
SPTOHOLDVILLAGE
CHAUPALSONDEC25
Lucknow: The Samajwadi
Party(SP)willconductaspe-
cial drive on December 25
when its leaders will go to
villages across the state and
hold chaupals with farmers
tomakethem“awareabout
the anti-farmer policies of
the BJP-led governments”,
the party said. “The party's
MPs and MLAs will lead the
'Samajwadi Kisan Ghera'
campaign as the BJP is hell
bentondestroyingfarmers,”
SP spokesperson said. PTI
MLAs in Gorakhpur, Shamli,
Kaushambi, Basti and other dis-
tricts,demandingthewithdrawal
of the three farm laws.
InSonbhadra,Congresswork-
ers were stopped from giving the
memorandumwhileinVaranasi,
a number of party workers were
putunderhousearrest. Congress
workers in Etawah staged a sit-in
outsidetheresidenceoftheMLA,
demanding that the laws be re-
pealed. Congressleaderswerear-
restedinAllahabadandChandauli
while in Ayodhya, police used
force to remove Congress leaders
protesting outside the residence
ofthelocalMP,thestatementsaid.
‘UP gave maximum loans
to MSMEs — Rs 22,800 cr’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 20
THE UP government Sunday said
that as many as 5.12 lakh MSME
(microandsmallandmediumen-
terprises) units in the state have
beengivenloanofRs22,800crores
toexpandtheirbusinesses.
“Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath has distributed loans
to MSMEs several times since
coming to power through loan
fairs, and issued instructions to
banks that businessmen should
notfaceproblemsingettingloans.
As a result, MSME units in Uttar
Pradeshhavereachedthefirstpo-
sitionintakingloansinthecoun-
try under the Credit Guarantee
Fund Trust for Micro and Small
Enterprises (CGTME).
19 die, active cases 17,245
STATE COUNT
TOTAL CASES
574631
INCREASE DEATHS
1247 8196
5,49,190 RECOVERED
2,24,39,369 SAMPLES
TESTED TILL DEC 19
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
The top 11 states that have
provided the maximum amount
ofloanstotheindustriesareUttar
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maha-
rashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, West
Bengal,Gujarat,MadhyaPradesh,
Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and
Bihar, the state government said.
CGTMSEisbeingoperatedun-
der the joint initiative of the
Ministry of Micro, Small
Industries,andSIDBIoftheCentral
government, and compensates
the loss of loan amount received
from banks by micro and small-
scaleindustryunitsworkinginthe
country. According to CGTMSE
CEOSandeepVerma,loansunder
the scheme are guaranteed to
small-scaleentrepreneurs,sothat
thosewhodonothavebankguar-
antees and want to expand their
businesses, can avail loans.
Lucknow: With 19 fresh coron-
avirus-related deaths reported
in UP, the death toll in the state
has risen to 8,196 on Sunday, of-
ficials said. The total cases in the
state rose to 5,74,631 with as
many as 1,247 fresh cases re-
ported in the last 24 hours. Of
the 1,247 fresh cases, as many as
226 were reported from
Lucknow. The count of active
cases stands at 17,245. PTI
Lucknow
 4 UTTAR PRADESH WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020

BRIEFLY BARRED FROM USING SOCIAL MEDIA

‘I’m not running away from UP,
Teendetained
for‘raping’ HC grants bail to man I’m not scared, and I will return’
arrested for offering
5-yr-oldniece
Hamirpur:Policehavede- ThreeyearsaftertheBRDhos- do to their lives,” he said, as two
tained a boy for allegedly SOMYA LAKHANI pital tragedy, Khan still tears up guests at the restaurant insisted
raping his five-year-old NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20 whenherecallsthesoundof par- on taking a selfie with him.

nieceinHamirpurdistrict
Saturday. SP Narendra
Kumar Singh said, “On
Saturday afternoon, the
five-year-oldgirlwasplay-
ing outside her house,
whenher16-year-oldun-
cleonthepretextofgiving
her a biscuit, took her to
his house, and allegedly
raped her.” The SP said
that based on the com-
plaint lodged by the fam-
ily of the girl, a case has
been registered against
the accused under vari-
ous sections of the IPC
and the POCSO Act. PTI
6getlifeterm
forkidnapping
Ballia: A court here has
sentencedsixpeopletolife
imprisonmentforabduct-
ing a six-year-old boy 15
yearsago.Governmentad-
vocate Virendra Kumar
Singh said the minor was
abducted on March 7,
2005, when he was going
to attend a coaching class
in Revti area. PTI
namaz at temple
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 20
THEALLAHABADHighCourthas
granted bail to Faisal Khan, ac-
tivist and member of Khudai
Khidmatgar,aDelhi-basedsocial
organisation which works to-
wards communal harmony.
Khan was arrested by UP Police
on November 2 after it came to
lightthrough a social mediapost
that he along with three other
members of the group – Chand
Mohammed, Alok Ratan and
Nilesh Gupta -- had allegedly of-
fered namaz inside Nand Mahal
TemplecomplexinMathuradis-
trict in October to “show com-
munal harmony”.
UP Police, however, booked
the four for promoting enmity
on grounds of religion, defiling a
placeof worshipandpublicmis-
chief and arrested Khan.
WhilegrantingbailonFriday,
the High Court prohibited Khan
from using social media till the
Faisal Khan was
arrested on November 2
after it came to light
that he and three
others offered namaz
inside Nand Mahal
Temple complex in
Mathura to “show
communal harmony”
conclusion of the trial.
Khan’s counsel Ali Qambar
ZaiditoldthecourtthatKhanwas
“a renowned social activist who
had revived Khudai Khidmatgar
movementof Indiaandhasbeen
working towards maintaining
communal harmony for the last
25 years”.
The counsel said that as part
of his effort towards communal
harmony, Khan had undertaken
a yatra of temples.
It is to be noted that the four
activists were on a 84-kos Braj
parikramafromOctober26to29
to spread the message of com-
munal harmony and religious
tolerance.
Countering the government
advocate’s plea of not granting
bail to Khan, Zaidi told the court
that his client was falsely impli-
cated in the case and allegations
against that he received foreign
funds were “baseless”.
Just on the basis of photo-
graphs,itcan’tbeconcludedthat
he(Khan)intendedtodisturbso-
cial harmony, Zaidi told the High
Courtand addedthat he“didnot
enter the sanctum sanctorum of
the temple and instead offered
namaz outside of the temple
with the permission of the
priest”.
Without expressing any
opinion on the merits of the
case, the High Court granted
Khan bail underlining Article 21
of the Constitution that guaran-
tees protection of life and per-
sonal liberty.
OVER A decade ago, when Dr
Kafeel Khan (28) was studying
paediatricsatManipal’sKasturba
Medical College, a professor told
him that he will “learn develop-
mentmilestonesintoddlers,such
astheirfirstwalkandword,when
he too becomes a father”.
WhileKhanhastwochildren
— a four-year-old girl, and a boy
who turns two next year — he
says he’s heartbroken that he
missed those “milestones” as he
was in prison both times in dif-
ferent cases.
“I went to prison, got beaten
up,waskepthungry,lostmyjob...
But the most pain that the Yogi
Adityanath-ledgovernmentgave
me was depriving me of my chil-
dren’s growing up years,” said
Khan, seated inside the coffee
shop at India Islamic Cultural
Centre in Delhi, where his
youngest brother got married
Thursday.
The same day, the Supreme
Court dismissed the appeal
moved by Uttar Pradesh govern-
mentagainsttheAllahabadHigh
Court order that dismissed
charges filed against him under
the National Security Act (NSA)
early this year. “I wore the sher-
wani I had bought for my
brother’s wedding totheSC too...
Dr Kafeel Khan in Delhi,
Saturday. Gajendra Yadav
Khan—whowasin-chargeof the
ward—wassuspended,andthen
arrested. At first, he was hailed a
hero for arranging oxygen cylin-
ders with his own money.
In 2018, he was arrested by
Bahraichpolicefor“creatingnui-
sance” at a district hospital. On
January 29 this year, he was ar-
rested over a speech he gave at
an anti-CAA protest in Aligarh,
and soon the NSA was invoked.
Khan was released from prison
in September, after which he
moved to Jaipur with his wife,
their children, and his mother.
“My mother has been very
strongthroughthesethreeyears
but I think the mental agony got
to her and when I got out, she
said, 'bas karo’. I decided to
spend time with my family and
moved to Jaipur... I’m not run-
ning away from UP, I’m not
scared, and I will go back.
Gorakhpurismybirthplace,Iam
not leaving it,” said Khan.
ents wailing, the beeping of ven-
tilatorsattachedtobodiesof chil-
dren, and the chaos of arranging
oxygen cylinders. “It was August
10-11andmotherswerebegging
ustosavetheirchildren,someat-
tendants held my collar, others
abused nurses and ward boys... I
remember a three-year-old girl
diedinfrontof herparents'eyes...
We all cried. I don’t regret what I
did...Iwoulddoitagaintodayif it
savesevenasinglelife,”saidKhan.
Khan said that he arranged
500 oxygen cylinders with his
own money, and on August 13,
he was told that the Chief
Minister wanted to meet him.
“IthoughtIwouldgetapaton
mybackfordoingmybestbuthe
wasfurious...Maybebecausethe
newswasoutintheopen.When
anFIRwasregisteredagainstme,
I realised that even though I am
fromanupper-middleclassfam-
ily, and I am a doctor, who did
good work, I was penalised. My
privilege didn’t protect me. The
CM changed the narrative from
deathsof childrentomedeliber-
ately,” said Khan.
Thosetwodaysin2017thathe
spent running around trying to
arrangeoxygenchangedhisfam-
ily’s life, said Khan. “My brother’s
business was successful but then
peoplestarteddisassociatingand
It was during his time in
prison in 2017 that Khan started
reading — from writings of
Mahatma Gandhi, Babasaheb
Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh to
Marx and Lenin, from Indian
history to World War I & II. “I
was not a political person be-
fore the BRD hospital tragedy. I
was just a doctor... In 2018, I
started travelling and realised
that all governments in the past
too, not just the BJP, ignored ba-
sics such as good education and
healthcare. All previous govern-
ments ignored it too but this
one just talks more about CAA,
Pakistan, Babri Masjid-Ram
Mandir,” said Khan.
In 2019, he said, he gave at
least 100 speeches at anti-CAA
protests. He was arrested from
Mumbai airport in January this
year for a speech he gave at
AligarhMuslimUniversity.“They
said I gave a speech that incited
hatebetweentwocommunities.
I didn’t. While being taken to UP
from Mumbai by the UP STF, I
wasbeatenup...Theymadewild
accusations. I was put in jail and
thenCovidstruck.Icouldn’tmeet
myfamilyformonths,thecondi-
tionsinsideprisonweredismal,”
said Khan.
AsfarashisBRDHospitalem-
ployment status is concerned,

SALUTE THE SOLDIER

I was so overwhelmed when the Khan’s wife is also a doctor. he suffered losses. We have a lot Khansaidheremainssuspended.
verdict came,” he said. Twoof hisbrothersarebusiness- of land in Gorakhpur, including a “The year when 63 kids died at
InSeptember2017,following men, one is a doctor, his sister in shoppingplaza,butnoonewants thathospital,eightlakhkidsdied
MARTYR OF CISF ON 21ST DECEMBER the deaths of 63 children at MuscatholdsaPhD,andanother to buy it. I don’t have a job. It took inIndia.TheBRDtragedywasjust
CISF proudly remembers the supreme sacrifice Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical in Lucknow is a microbiologist. my youngest brother three years thebrutalfaceofahealthcaresys-
of this brave-heart. On this day, he laid down College and hospital, allegedly Their father, an engineer, died in to get married... People are afraid tem in shambles... This is what I
his life at the altar of duty while fighting with due to oxygen supply shortage, 2003. of what associating with me will want to work on fixing,” he said.
miscreants at PTPS Patratu. His courage and
bravery would remain an abiding source of
HC/GD B. B. inspiration for the force. The force will remain
MANJHI PTPS eternally indebted to him for his noblest deeds.
PATRATU
Muslim man arrested
MUMBAi MeTroPoLiTAn reGion
deVeLoPMenT AUTHoriTY
under ‘love jihad’ law
(A Government of Maharashtra Undertaking) Police (ASP) Vinod Kumar said.
Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai-51. Tel: 022-26590001/4000 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE “Both the man and the
Fax:022-26591264 Website: https://mmrda.maharashtra.gov.in LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 20 woman are residents of
e-Tender noTice (ePc Mode) Gurusahaiganj. The two got to
Name of Work : Implementation of Improvement of Chhatrapati Shivaji A32-YEAR-OLDMuslimmanwas know each through Facebook...
Maharaj International Airport Junction (T2) by Construction of Vehicular arrestedinGurusahaiganjareaof According to the complaint filed
Underpasses between km 6+140 to km 6+950 of Western Express Highway. KannaujdistrictonSaturdaynight by the woman's father, the man
1) Estimated Cost : Rs. 111,94,36,980/- (Excluding GST) underthenew“lovejihad”law— told her family that he was from
2) Cost of Blank Tender Form : Rs. 5,600/- (Inclusive of GST ) UP Prohibition of Unlawful Lucknow and was having some
3) Earnest Money Deposit : Rs. 1,00,000/- (With Declaration as ConversionofReligionOrdinance, issueswithhisparentsandthere-
mentioned in bid document ) 2020–afterthefamilyof aHindu fore they could not attend the
4) Contract Period : 24 Months (Including Monsoon) woman,whomhehadmarriedto wedding a week ago that took
5) Bid Document download : 24.12.2020 (18.01 hrs.) to aweekago,filedacomplaintwith place at a guest house in
07.02.2021 (12.00 hrs.) the police. Lucknow,” the police officer said.
6) Last date of online submission : 08.02.2021 (18.00 hrs.) In the complaint filed by the A police officer on the condi-
Note: The e-Tender can be downloaded from e-Tendering Portal: https:// woman'sfather,SubhashVerma, tion of anonymity said that the
etendermmrda.maharashtra.gov.in. Any additional information, Corrigendum he alleged that Taufeeq posed as woman did not want to lodge the
& help for uploading & downloading the e-tender, may be availed by contacting Rahul Verma to marry his 29- complaintatfirst,butdidsounder
MMRDA’s e-tendering service desk at the following id: etendersupport@ year-old daughter Priya Verma. pressure from her parents. “She
mailmmrda.maharashtra.gov.in or call us on 022-26597445. “It has been alleged that a knew about his real identity and
MUMBAi MeTroPoLiTAn reGion For further information if required you may please contact man named Taufeeq married a didnotwanttocomplain,butnow
deVeLoPMenT AUTHoriTY Hindu woman, Priya Verma, a under pressure, she has also al-
(A Government of Maharashtra Undertaking) Shri. Arvind Dhabe, Executive Engineer on Telephone 022-26595915 or
weekagoinLucknowandhidhis legedthathecheatedherbyhiding
Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai - 400051. Tel : 26590001/04. Email : arvind.dhabe@mailmmrda.maharashtra.gov.in
religious identity and real name. hisrealname,”theofficeradded.
Fax: 91-022-26591264 Website : https://mmrda.maharashtra.gov.in
Sd/- Thewomanhasalsogivenastate- Police said the woman will
e-Tender noTice (ePc Mode)
Fulrani

Shri. Arvind. B. Dhabe menttothepolicelevellingsimi- bepresentedbeforeamagistrate

Name of Work : Implementation of Improvement of Chhatrapati Date : 21/12/2020 Executive Engineer lar allegations,” Kannauj on Monday where her state-
Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Domestic Terminal (T1) Junction Place: Mumbai MMRDA Additional Superintendent of ment will be recorded.
by Construction of Vehicular underpass and Widening of flyover
between km 5+300 to km 6+100 of Western Express Highway.
1. Estimated Cost : Rs. 56,04,19,560/- (Excluding GST)
2. Earnest Money Deposit : Rs. 1,00,000/- (With Declaration
as Mentioned in Bid Document)
MAGH MELA 2020-21 CRPF personnel
Prayagraj Mela Authority
3. Contract Period : 18 Months (including monsoon)
4. Tender fees : Rs. 3,360/- (Inclusive of GST) Triveni Bhawan, Triveni Bandh, Daraganj, Prayagraj
found hanging
5. Bid document download : 24/12/2020, (18:01 hrs) to
07/02/2021, (12:00 hrs)
+91 532 2500775 / +91 532 2504011, maghmelapmp@gmail.com from tree, cops
6. Last date of Online submission : 08/02/2021, (18:00 hrs)
Note : The e-tender can be downloaded from e-Tendering portal Notice Inviting E-Tender-For Selection of Agency/ suspect suicide
https://etendermmrda.maharashtra.gov.in Any Additional Agencies for Installation of Advertising Infrastructure
information, corrigendum & help for uploading & downloading
the e-tender, may be availed by contacting MMRDA’s e-tendering and Management of Advertisement Rights at Magh PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
service desk at the following id : Mela 2021 by Prayagraj Mela Authority SHAMLI, DECEMBER 20
etendersupport@mailmmrda.maharashtra.gov.in or
call us on 022-2659 7445. The Prayagraj Mela Authority Invites Bids for Tender A Central Reserve Police
For further information if require you may please contact Force (CRPF) soldier was found
Shri. Arvind Dhabe, Executive Engineer on Telephone number No.17/MM-2020-21 for “Selection of Agency / Agencies hanging from a tree in a sus-
022-26595915 or on E-mail : for Installation of Advertising Infrastructure and
arvind.dhabe@mailmmrda.maharashtra.gov.in pected case of suicide in Uttar
Sd/- Management of Advertisement Rights at Magh Mela Pradesh's Shamli district, police
said on Sunday.
Fulrani

Date : 21/12/2020 Shri. Arvind Dhabe 2021”. The Request for Proposal Documents shall be “He hanged himself from a
Place : Mumbai Executive Engineer, MMRDA
made available from the Uttar Pradesh E-Procurement tree on Saturday evening. The
GOVERNMENT OF ODISHA website https://etender.up.nic.in on 21/12/2020 for cause behind him taking the ex-
treme step is yet to be ascer-
RURAL WATER SUPPLY & SANITATION ORGANISATION Tender No. 17/MM 2020-21. Interested parties may tained,” the local police said in a
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER download/upload their proposal from 1630 hrs statement.
O-755
RWS&S DIVISION, ANGUL :AT: TALCHER 21/12/2020 till 1630 hrs 26/12/2020 for Tender No. TheCRPFsoldieridentifiedas
At- Baghuabole, Po.- Hatatota, Talcher, Dist.- Angul, Pin- 759100 17/MM 2020-21 via Digital Signature Certificate (DSC). Rajeev had come on leave to his
(Ph. No./ Fax - 06760-240762, E-mail : eerwssang@gmail.com) native village in Issopur Teel vil-
National Competitive Bidding through e-procurement
The bids received by interested parties shall be opened lage for three weeks. He was
Bid Identification No. 05/EE/RWSSIANGUL/2020-21 Dt. 15.12.2020 (JJM) in the presence of the respective bidders at 1700 Hrs on found hanging near his house in
The Executive Engineer, RWS&S Division, Angul:at:Talcher on 26/12/2020 for Tender No. 17/MM 2020-21. Details the village, Kandhla police sta-
behalf of Governor of Odisha invites Item Rate/Percentage bid
through e-procurement in double/single cover system according to
CHENNAI METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
Thalamuthu Natarajan Building, No.1, Gandhi Irwin Road, Egmore, Chennai - 600 008.
regarding the tender shall be made available on
tion SHO Rojant Tyagi said.
The CRPF personnel was
norm of e-Procurement system in on-line mode. https://etender.up.nic.in posted in West Bengal.
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (REOI) His body has been sent for a
Nature of Work : Rural Piped Water Supply Schemes. (Consulting Services – Individual Selection) District Magistrate, Prayagraj post-mortem and an investiga-
1 No. of Tenders : 7 Nos.
2 Tender Paper Cost : Rs. 6,000.00 to Rs. 10,000.00
Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), Government of /Vice Chairperson, tion is on, the SHO added.
Tamil Nadu has applied for financing from the World Bank towards the cost Prayagraj Mela Authority
3 Value of work : Rs. 46.31 Lakhs to Rs. 197.78 Lakhs of the Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat Development Project. CMDA now
4 Class of Contractor : : “B” & “A” Class invites eligible individual consultants / specialists to indicate their interest
5 Date & time of availability : 22.12.2020 at 13.00 hours to in providing the services for the below mentioned assignment under the OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER, RWS&S DIVISION, BALASORE
of bid document in portal 30.12.2020 upto 17.00 hours Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat Development Project. Tel: 06782-262249, Fax: 262931, email: eerwss_bls@nic.in, eerwssbls@gmail.com
6 Date & time of seeking : 28.12.2020 upto 17.00 hours NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING THROUGH e-Tendering
“Financial Management Expert for Project Implement Unit of CMDA O-730 Identification No. 18 Dt. 14-12-2020
tender clarification under Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat Development Project” 1. Nos. of Work : 18 Nos RPWS schemes in Balasore district.
7 Date & time of opening of : 31.12.2020 at 15.00 hours in the office 2. Estimated cost : Rs. 12.97 lakhs to Rs. 102.19 lakhs
tender & verification of of the Executive Engineer, RWS&S The detailed REOI and Terms of Reference are available in the websites -
www.cmdachennai.gov.in and www.tenders.tn.gov.in The Expression of 3. Period of completion : 180 days to 330 days
original document Division, Angul:at:Talcher 4. Availability of bid document in Portal : Dt. 21-12-2020 at 10.00 hours to 30-12-2020 up to 17.00 hours through online.
8 Time of completion : 5 (Five) to 8 (Eight) Calendar Months Interest (EOI) shall be submitted. Last date and time for submission of 5. Seeking of Clarification : Dt. 21-12-2020 at 10.00 hours to Dt. 28-12-2020 up to 15.00 hours
EOI is 04.01.2021 up to 5.00 p.m. The EOI shall be sent to the Member 6. Date of opening of Bid : Dt. 05-01-2021 at 11.00 hours in the O/O EE, RWSS Division, Balasore.
9 The bidders have to participate in online biding only. Further details
can be seen from the website https://www.tendersodisha.gov.in.
Secretary, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, Thalamuthu 7. Name and address of the Officer Inviting Tender : Executive Engineer, RWS&S Division, Balasore
Natarajan Building, No.1, Gandhi Irwin Road, Egmore, Chennai - 600 008, Bid Cost & Bid Securtiy will be receipt through electronic payment by NEFT/RTGS.
10 Corrigendum if any shall be publish in the above website only.
Tamil Nadu, India. Further details can be seen from the e-Procurement Portal: http://tendersodisha.gov.in
Sd/- Sd/-
Executive Engineer e.mail: cmdaprocurement@gmail.com EXECUTIVE ENGINEER,
RWS&S Division, Angul at Talcher Member Secretary, RWS&S DIVISION, BALASORE.
OIPR-25019/11/0013/2021 DIPR/4779/TENDER/2020 Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority OIPR-25013/11/0008/2021

Lucknow
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
BRIEFLY
Bimal Gurung
WEST BENGAL
Gurungbackin
Darjeelingafter
3yrs,slamsBJP
Kolkata: GorkhaJanmukti
Morcha leader Bimal
Gurung returned to
Darjeeling after about
three-and-half years on
Sunday and delivered a
speech in which he
slammed BJP and de-
claredsupportforTMC for
theforthcomingelections.
“BJPwasplanning49seats
with our support in north
Bengal.Wewillnowshow
BJP by making Mamata
CMforthirdtime,”hesaid.
“BJP has not decieved me,
but they have deceived
the Gorkha jaati and the
Gorkhas will punish
them.” Gurung had fled
Darjeelingin2017aftervi-
olence that led to the
deathofapoliceman. ENS
KERALA
Twotakeninto
custodyfor
‘molesting’actor
Kochi: Two men who al-
legedly molested a
Malayalamactoratamall
in Kochi were taken into
custody on Sunday, the
police said. Their arrest
will be recorded on
Monday. Both men will
be charged under IPC
Section 354 (Assault or
criminal force to woman
withintenttooutrageher
modesty), a police officer
said. In a social media
post describing the inci-
dent at the mall, the actor
had alleged that the two
men had walked past her
and that one of them had
grazed his hand on her
back.Shealsoallegedthat
the men stalked her and
her sister. PTI
MADHYA PRADESH
Manmarries
twowomenin5
days,thenflees
Khandwa: A 26-year-old
software engineer al-
legedly married two
women in five days in
MadhyaPradeshandthen
fled, police said on
Sunday.Basedonacheat-
ing complaint filed by a
woman’s family here on
Saturday, the police are
conducting a probe. The
accused, resident of
Indore, allegedly married
a woman in Khandwa on
December 2 and another
woman at Mhow in
IndoreonDecember7,the
official said. According to
the complaint, one of the
Khandwa victim’s rela-
tives who had gone to a
wedding in Mhow, sent
photos to her family
throughmobilephoneon
December 7 of the ac-
cused’s second
marriage. PTI
UTTARAKHAND
Leopardkills
womanin
Pithoragarh
Pithoragarh:A45-year-old
woman was killed in an
attack by a leopard in
Pithoragarh forest divi-
sion in Uttarakhand, an
official said Sunday. The
attack took place in
Pukhora village, he said,
adding it was the second
such incident in the area
in the last two days. Leela
Devi was giving fodder to
cattle outside her house
on Saturday evening
whenshewasattackedby
the leopard which
dragged her into the
bushes. Revenue Sub-
Inspector Naveen Kapri
said she died before vil-
lagers could come to her
rescue after hearing her
cries. In Kholigaon area,
another woman, Saruli
Devi, was killed in a leop-
ard attack. PTI
DEROGATORY REMARKS ON JAYA PRADA
Police get court nod to
take MP’s voice sample
MANISH SAHU
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 20
UTTAR PRADESH Police has re-
ceived court permission to col-
lect the voice sample of
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dr ST
Hasan in a case of alleged
derogatory comments made
about actor-turned-politician
Jaya Prada at a function in
Moradabad in 2019. The court
approved the police request af-
ter the MP said he did not have
any objection.
Theallegedlyobjectionablere-
markswere made at anevent or-
ganised to honour Rampur MP
Azam Khan after he defeated
Prada,aformerpartycolleaguein
the parliamentary elections. She
had contested the polls on a BJP
ticket.TheeventwasheldonJune
30, 2019, at the Muslim Degree
College. Among the seven other
accused in the case are Azam
Khan,hissonAbdullahKhan,and
thenSPSambhaldistrictpresident
Feroz Khan. At present, Azam
Khan and his son are in Sitapur
district jail in connection with a
case of alleged land-grabbing.
“Police had recently moved
an application in a local court,
seeking permission to take the
voicesampleof MPSTHasan.On
Saturday, the MP informed that
court that he had no objection.
The court then allowed the po-
lice’s application,” said govern-
ment counsel Munish Kumar
Bhatnagar. The police had yet to
complete its investigation in the
case, he added.
The FIR in the case was filed
at the Katghar police station un-
der IPC sections 354-A (sexual
harassmentandpunishmentfor
sexual harassment) and 509
(word, gesture or act intended
to insult the modesty of a
woman),saidBhatnagar.Thepo-
licealsoinvokedtheInformation
Technology Act.
After initial investigation by
the districtpolice, the probe was
transferred to the Rampur po-
lice’s crime branch unit.
Year on, withdrawal
of Pathalgadi cases
crawls; CM Soren
says will look into it
ABHISHEK ANGAD
RANCHI, DECEMBER 20
SOON AFTER being sworn in on
December 29, 2019, the govern-
ment of Chief Minister Hemant
Soren decided to drop “all cases”
related to the Pathalgadi move-
ment of 2017-2018.
Almost a year later, the
Jharkhand government is still to
send a requisition to the court to
withdraw the cases filed by the
BJPgovernmentofRaghubarDas,
many of which involved charges
of sedition.
According to information ob-
tained by Jharkhand Janadhikar
Mahasabha under the Right to
Information (RTI) Act, only 16 of
the 30 Pathalgadi FIRs registered
in Khunti, Saraikela Kharsawan,
and West Singhbhum have been
recommended by the district
committees for “complete with-
drawal”.
The charge of sedition under
IPC Section 124A had been in-
voked in 19 of these cases; the
committees have recommended
withdrawal of this section in 17
cases. Most of these cases were
registered in 2018; a few in 2017.
Ofthetotal172accused,police
hadsoughtsanctiontoprosecute
96. The charges against them in-
cluded, apart from sedition, “at-
tacking the police officers with
weapons”,“kidnappingofficersor
bodyguards of the MP with well-
plannedconspiracy”,“instigating
locals to create hurdles equipped
withlocalequipmentwithoutany
informationorpermission”,“cap-
turing the police station and
snatching the weapons from the
handsofpoliceofficers”,“creating
an insecure situation, misbehav-
ing with government officers”,
“provoking the people with their
inflammatory speech against
governmentandadministration”,
and“creatingobstaclesingovern-
mental progressive works and
disturbed law and order”.
Asked about the delay in im-
plementingthedecisiontakenby
hisgovernmentinitsfirstCabinet
meeting,ChiefMinisterSorentold
Idea Exchange at The Indian
Express:“Whenwetookthedeci-
sion, many questions also arose.
EXPRESS NETWORK 5
Chargesheet filed against
Azam Khan in case lodged
on Amar Singh’s complaint
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 20
RAMPUR POLICE have filed an-
other chargesheet against
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Azam
Khan in a case based on a com-
plaint by former Rajya Sabha
MP Amar Singh, who died on
August 1.
The case was initially lodged With this, the UP Police
attheGomtiNagarpolicestation has filed chargesheets
in October 2018.
in 66 of the 69 criminal
In his complaint, Singh ac-
cusedKhan,hisformerpartycol- cases against SP MP
league, of making objectionable Azam Khan. Last week,
remarks about him in a televi-
sion interview.
police claimed to have
The investigation was later found evidence of the
transferred to Rampur as the al- MP’s role in 11 more
legedcommentwasmadeinthe
district. cases of land-grabbing
“During the investigation,
DVD containing voice was sent With this, the police have
to the Forensic Science filedchargesheetsin66of the69
Laboratory for examination and criminal cases against Azam
its reports stated that there was Khan, according to a senior po-
no tampering done. On the basis lice official.
of investigation, the chargesheet
has been filed against Azam
Lastweek,theRampurpolice
claimed to have found evidence
Khan,” the police said in a press of the MP’s role in 11 more cases
release.
The case was lodged at the
of land-grabbing registered at
theGanj police station in 2019. It
Azeem Nagar police station in is alleged that homes con-
Rampur. The MP has been structed on a piece of land in the
charged under IPC sections 153- Dungarpur area were demol-
A (promoting enmity between ished. The land was later al-
different groups on grounds of legedlyusedtoextendtheprem-
religion, race, place of birth, res- ises of the Mohammad Ali
idence, language, etc., and doing Jauhar University, whose chan-
acts prejudicial to maintenance cellor is Khan.
of harmony), 153-B (imputa- “Azam Khan was initially not
tions, assertions prejudicial to namedinthose11cases.Therole
nationalintegration),295-A(de- of Azam Khan in criminal con-
liberate and malicious acts, in- spiracy came during the investi-
tendedtooutragereli-giousfeel- gation. The investigation of the
ings of any class by insulting its case is on and Azam Khan has
religionorreli-giousbeliefs),500 been booked in those 11 cases,”
(defamation) and 506 (criminal said Superintendent of Police
intimidation). Shogun Gautam.
During the movement,
stone plaques came up at
villages, declaring the gram
sabha’s authority. File
Some [cases] were false... kuchh
casesmeinbadmashiyaanbhithi
(Therewereproblemsinsome).It
is not that the matter is stagnant.
A solution has been reached in
halfofthecases,whichhavebeen
recommendedforwithdrawal;in
some, investigation is still pend-
ing...Ithadslippedmymind,Iwill
look into this now.”
Interestingly,therewasnodis-
cussion on withdrawal of the
Pathalgadicasesinareviewbythe
state Home Department at a
meeting on Friday, sources privy
to the proceedings said.
76-year-old Thakura Munda
expressed disappointment over
the delay in implementation of
the government's promise.
Thakura was accused in three
cases, of which included the
charge of sedition, arrested and
sent to jail. Two cases have been
recommendedforwithdrawal;in
the third, the charge of sedition
has been recommended to be
dropped.
“I stayed in Khunti jail. I was
[also] sent to Daltonganj jail
where my health deteriorated.
OnedayIcollapsed...Ispentalotof
money to get bail. Whenever
Adivasisfightfortheirrights,they
are crushed,” Thakura said.
During the Pathalgadi move-
ment of 2017-18, giant stone
plaquescameupoutsidevillages,
declaring the gram sabha as the
only sovereign authority. The
plaques quoted to claim their in-
dependence from the state and
assert their rights and culture.
Whilethemovementpeteredout,
many villagers alleged they were
subjected to “police brutality”.
Lucknow
 6 EXPRESS NETWORK
2017 train accident: NIA suspected
Maoists; Rly probe finds faulty part
AVISHEK G DASTIDAR
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
THREE YEARS after the National
Investigation Agency (NIA) said
in an FIR that it suspected sabo-
tagebyMaoistsasthereasonbe-
hind the derailment of the
Hirakhand Express at Kuneru in
Andhra Pradesh that led to 40
deaths, the Commissioner of
Railway Safety (CRS) has con-
cluded that the accident was
caused by a “fractured” part of
the track.
The final probe report, pre-
pared by CRS (South Central
Circle) Ram Kripal, states that
“the accident occurred due to
fracture of tongue rail”.
The tongue rail -- a nine-me-
tre piece that is also called the
switch rail -- is linked to both
rails on a track and helps a loco-
motive change directions. The
broken piece, which was found
near the accident site, was
handed over by the CRS to the
criminal investigation team.
The report says that while
the Civil Engineering
Metro car shed land not ego issue, open to talks: Uddhav
VISHWAS WAGHMODE
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 20
DEFENDING HIS decision of
shifting the Metro car shed from
Aarey colony to Kanjurmarg,
Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray on Sunday appealed
to the Union government to
comeforwardtoresolvetheland
dispute through dialogue and
added that he is ready to give
credit for it to the Opposition in
thestate.Meanwhile,NCPleader
and Minority Affairs Minister
Nawab Malik said party chief
Sharad Pawar is likely to inter-
vene in the matter to resolve it.
“Unfortunately, the Union
government’ssaltcommissioner
wenttothecourtagainstus.Why
createhindrances?Thestategov-
ernment has given prime and
costliest plot at the Bandra Kurla
Complexforthebullettrainproj-
ect... For the Union government
CROSSWORD 4307
ACROSS
1 Weather sets problem for
loved ones
(11)
9 Time free for making wreath
secure (7)
10 Number have a light grip
(5)
11 Musical soldiers in line
(4)
12 Uplift spiritually?
(8)
14 Tone adopted by doctor
coming in weary (6)
16 Underground source of salt?
(6)
18 Shaken and upset
(8)
19 A sign that Verne’s captain has
returned (4)
22 Something wrong with a
knot? (5)
23 Strain we hear inducing love?
(7)
24 Fit to take possession
(11)
SolutionsCrossword4306:Across: 1Spring,4Escapade,9Rotary,10Resident,12
Rate,13Writs,14Dent,17Tropicalfish,20Moneylending,23Nuts,24Warms,25
So-so,28Ordering,29Tophat,30Moondust,31Poetic.Down:1Sorority,2
Rotation,3Nero,5Sheetofflame,6Arid,7Aneled,8Estate,11Greasepaints,15
Minor,16Using,18Ricochet,19Agnostic,21Inform,22Studio,26Grid,27Polo.
JUMBLED WORDS
Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget
theanswerforthegivenquip.
Better__withtherestoftheworldthan___alone.-BaltasarGracian(3,..,4)
GALEA
DLWIS
Answer: Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone. - Baltasar Gracian
SOLUTION: ALGAE, WILDS, JAMMED, WAPITI
Hirakhand Express
derailment killed 40. File
Department of the East Coast
Railway was “blameworthy”,
there was no Railway official or
anyotherpersoneither“Primary
Responsible”oreven“Secondary
Responsible”.
The NIA, which was probing
the accident from a terror angle,
has notfiled a chargesheetin the
case. Sources said the agency's
probe has not reached any con-
clusion to fix culpability even
though sabotage has been ruled
out.
The probe report states:
“However, whether the fracture
occurred due to material failure/
Uddhav
Thackeray
projects,landisbeinggivenwith-
outcreatinganyhindrances.Even
if the land (Kanjurmarg) belongs
totheCentre,theissuecanbere-
solved. The Centre and state can
sit together and resolve the dis-
pute,” said Thackeray while ad-
dressing the people of the state
through a webcast on Sunday.
Thackeray’s statement
comes just days after the
BombayHighCourt,inapetition
filed by the Centre through
Deputy Salt Commissioner
(Mumbai), stayed the allotment
of land in Kanjurmarg for the
proposedMetrocarshedandor-
deredtostopallconstructionac-
tivities at the site. The ruling
came as a setback to the
DOWN
2 Call we hear to help with the
laundry (5)
3 Where needles are kept just in
case (4)
4 He’d caught the fish having
leaned over (6)
5 A writer’s attributes
(8)
6 A number walk wearily
around - it’s hard work
(7)
7 Courses in aviation
(6,5)
8 See 17 Down
13 Break one’s nose perhaps
(8)
15 Mother’s driving in fourth gear
and all at sea (7)
17 and 8 Down: Be smart and
continue to work in the theatre
(4,2,11)
20 Musical composition from
more remote times
(5)
21 I’m in a new car (4)
AEJMDM
AIIPTW
out-lived codal life could not be
conclusively established.
Because of inconclusive evi-
dence, I cannot hold any individ-
ual Railway official responsible
for this derailment.”
When contacted, S K Pathak,
Chief Commissioner of Railway
Safety, told The Indian Express
thatthetonguerailwaswellpast
its assigned codal life, which is
the maximum service life of any
asset after which it must be re-
placed. “It was a 52-kg rail,
which was supposed to with-
stand around 150 Gross Million
Tonnes (GMT) of traffic.
However, this piece of tongue
rail had withstood 175 GMT of
traffic. So that is the reason why
it would have broken,” he said.
The probe report, however,
statesthatRailwayofficialspres-
ent did not help in relief and res-
cue operations. “None of the
seven Railway employees who
were travelling on duty
pass/privilege pass reported for
rescue operation. TTEs also did
not participate in the rescue op-
erations, nor did they alert any
Railway employee travelling in
Thackeray-led Maha Vikas
Aghadi government. Trading of
political barbs between the Shiv
Sena and the BJP followed.
“If the Prime Minister calls
himself Pradhan Sevak, then we
are also people’s Sevak. If we
want to do something in the in-
terest of the people butmake it a
prestige issue, then we don’t de-
serve to sit in this chair. So, the
dispute over Kanjurmarg land is
not in the interest of the state
and its people. It would be nar-
row-mindedness if we start ob-
structing projects taken up by
each other. I want to urge the
Opposition that I am ready to
give you credit for resolving the
Kanjurmarg land dispute. It is
not an issue of my ego and
should not be that of yours,”
Thackeray added.
Malik said on Sunday that
NCP chief Sharad Pawar is likely
to intervene in the matter to re-
solve the issue. “Thackeray and
OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong
DifficultyLevel4s
Instructions
TosolveaSudokupuzzle,
everydigitfrom1to9
SUDOKU 4329
mustappearineachofthe
nineverticalcolumns,in
eachoftheninehorizontal
rowsandineachofthe
nineboxes.
DifficultyLevel
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;
3s=Medium;4s=Hard;
5s=VeryHard;6s=
Genius
the train to take part in rescue,”
the report says.
ItalsonotesthattheRailways
failed to dispatch an Accident
Relief Train to the site on time.
Asked why no official has
been named as responsible,
Pathak said it was an institu-
tional shortcoming, which was
addressedsubsequently.“It’snot
anyindividual’sfault.Werecom-
mended that all tongue rails in
Indian Railways should be re-
placed with the 60 kg rail variety
immediately which have codal
life of 200 GMT and they should
be marked for replacement
when they cross a threshold.
Railways has done that, so that’s
a positive fallout of the report,”
he said.
At the time of the accident --
around 11 pm on January 21,
2017, in Vizianagaram district --
the train was speeding at 82
kmph from Jagdalpur to
Bhubaneshwar carrying 600
passengers. Apart from the 40
killed, 67 others were injured.
This was one of six accidents
in quick succession, and
prompted the then Rail Minister
Pawardiscussedthecarsheddis-
pute on Sunday morning. Pawar
saidawayhastobefoundandthe
CM has also spoken about it to-
day. If required, Pawar may dis-
cuss the issue with the PM in the
next few days,” said Malik.
Following the stay by the
High Court, the BJP had targeted
Thackeray alleging that he was
being “arrogant” and has made
it an “ego issue” to shift the car
shed out of Aarey, its earlier lo-
cation. “I am arrogant for the in-
terests of Mumbaikars and
Maharashtra,” said Thackeray.
On October 11, Thackeray
had announced the scrapping of
the ongoing car shed at Aarey
Milk Colony saying that it would
instead come up on the land at
Kanjurmag.
Defending his decision, the
chief minister said that the car
shed was shifted from Aarey
colony to Kanjurmarg as it was
only meant for Metro line 3
SureshPrabhutowritealetterto
then Home Minister Rajnath
SinghseekingaprobebytheNIA
into “possibility of criminal in-
terference by outsiders”.
In 2017, months after taking
over the probe into the derail-
ment, the NIA had sent material
recovered from the site to the
Forensic Science Laboratory
(FSL) in Hyderabad to detect
traces of explosives on broken
railpieces,coachpartsandgravel
under the tracks. Nothing was
found and a bomb blast was
ruled out.
Following this, the agency
took the help of IIT-Kanpur to
conduct a simulation exercise
basedoncircumstancesandma-
terial--eventhisexercisedidnot
indicate sabotage.
Earlier this year, a probe re-
port on the derailment of the
Indore-Patna Express that killed
152 people in 2016 said the rea-
son was “welding failure” but
added that the NIA was still
probing the matter. It was one of
the accidents that Prabhu had
cited in his letter.
(WITHDEEPTIMANTIWARY)
(Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ) and for-
estinAareywouldbedestroyedif
additionallandwasrequiredinfu-
ture.The40-hectareKanjurmarg
land will have car sheds for three
Metro lines -- Metro line 3, 4
(Wadala to Kasarvadavali) and 6
(Lokhandwala-Jogeshwari-
Kanjur Marg). Also, it will be a
junction point for Metro line 14
(Kanjurmarg-Badlapur), he
added.“TheKanjurmargsitewill
serveforthenext50to100years.
What am I doing wrong if I am
working in the interest of the
people and state,” asked
Thackeray,statingthatthedevel-
opment with short term bene-
fits has no meaning and its long
term benefits should be taken
into account.
Thackeray also highlighted
the delay by the Centre in hand-
ing over the salt pan land for the
Mahul pumping station to ease
the flooding in Mumbai during
monsoon.
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4328
TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE
293 CASES:
ACTIVE CASES: 3,05,344
DAYS SINCE 1,00,31,223 DEATHS: 1,45,477
PANDEMIC
TESTS: 16,11,98,195 | RECOVERIES: 95,80,402
BEGAN
CASES
DEC19 26,624
STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASES
Kerala
Odisha
Jharkhand
STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLINING
Maharashtra
Delhi
West Bengal
STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES
Kerala
Maharashtra
West Bengal
STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS
Maharashtra
West Bengal
Delhi
DataasonDecember19,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical
Researchandstategovernments.Often,thenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays
aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive
Recorded performances, virtual worship:
Dehradun awaits a low-key Christmas
LALMANI VERMA
DEHRADUN, DECEMBER 20
GIFT SHOPS and bakeries in
Dehradun are decked up with
goodies ahead of the Christmas
celebrationsandchurchesarebe-
ingdecoratedwithlights,butlocal
residents and others returning
from other states for the festival
will have to celebrate at their
homes in view of the pandemic.
On the fourth and last advent
SundaybeforeChristmas,inplace
of live performance of Christmas
Drama and ‘sing song service’, a
pre-recordedperformanceofboth
were streamed on Facebook and
YouTubeastheCentralMethodist
Church at Neshvilla Road has re-
stricteddevotees’entry.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS
341 29,690 11,07,681
ACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK
60,451 322
3,035 207
1,718 108
ACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK
61,095 12,447
10,358 7,015
18,460 4,574
ONDEC19 TOTAL
6,294 7,00,159
3,940 18,92,707
2,155 5,34,850
ONDEC19 TOTAL
78 49,771
43 9,320
32 10,251
A church in the city
There will be no midnight
community worship (mass
prayer) on Christmas day. A link
willbesharedwithdevoteesand
church members who wish to
join the prayer online. Christmas
worship on December 25 will
DAY TODAY
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20)
Spend as much time
as necessary
dealing with
domestic and family
affairs. Even if you’re at work,
your concentration will be
distracted by thoughts of what
must be done at home. Your
romantic confidence should
improve, so you might be
ready to approach someone
you’re rather fond of.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
The important task
now is to talk about
your feelings.
Nothing else will do.
It may also be necessary to
take a few short journeys,
probably in pursuit of
outstanding family business. It
could be a relief to resolve a
lingering problem. Your social
stars look bright by the way, so
don’t be shy.
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)
You really must
make an early start
if you want to get
the most out of the
day. You should realise,
however, that the determining
factor will be the amount of
money you have in your
pocket, not to mention the cost
of those items which are
necessary to your plans.
CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
You may be slightly
unsure of yourself,
but that’s
understandable. This
is probably no bad thing, for a
little self-doubt will encourage
you to question your
preconceptions and hence to do
a great deal better next time
around. There’s room for
improvement, as you know.
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23)
You may be inclined
to spend more time
by yourself, away
from troublesome
human company. Whether
this is possible or not is
another matter. After all, you
can’t just abandon all your
commitments with the wave
of a hand. And, if someone
entrusts you with a secret, you
must respect their confidence.
VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23)
Your social stars are
strong - and you’ll
do well if you link
up with like-
minded people. That way,
even the most controversial
ideas could succeed. At work,
you will do best if you take the
long-range point of view and
avoid being bogged down in
short-term details.
PM to launch
J&K health
cover scheme
on Dec 26
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, DECEMBER 20
PRIME MINISTER Narendra
Modi will launch a health
scheme in Jammu and Kashmir
onDecember26toreachtheone
crore population that was not
covered previously under the
Ayushman Bharat programme
in the Union Territory.
So far, around 30 lakh people
in Jammu and Kashmir were
covered under the Ayushman
Bharat scheme.
With the launch of the Social
Endeavour for Health and
Telemedicine (SEHAT) scheme,
"J&K will be among the first in
the country to achieve Universal
Health Coverage", said Lt
Governor Manoj Sinha on
Sunday.
The beneficiaries are enti-
tled to free health insurance
cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per
year and there is no restriction
on family size, age or gender.
Sinha said programmes will be
organized across the
Union Territory and the
distribution of "Golden
Cards" will be started the same
day.
alsobevirtual.Thepandemichas
made Christmas celebrations in
Dehradunalow-keyaffair.Asper
tradition, the celebrations at
CentralMethodistChurchwould
start with first advent Sunday.
Thereafter, two groups of carol-
ers would visit over 500 mem-
bers of the church in Dehradun
city. And a community lunch
would also be held.
“Therearenocarolserviceand
community lunch. Pre-recorded
carolservicewillbeshownonline
from Monday evening.Devotees
will not be allowed inside the
churchforprayeronChristmas.In
place of midnight community
worship,therewillbeonlinenight
prayers,” said Rev. Dinesh Prasad,
Pastor in-charge, Central
Methodist Church, Dehradun.
BY PETER VIDAL
LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
The professional
picture looks fairly
positive, and you
may be required to
take on new responsibilities —
and accept authority over
other people. In all matters
you should be prepared to
play a maternal and
compassionate role, even with
complete strangers.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
You have to do the
right thing.
Lingering legal
questions should be
answered as soon as
possible, and moral issues
should be faced head-on. Also,
take the chance to get in touch
with family members
overseas, especially people
you haven’t seen for
some time.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
Business and
financial plans
require more
attention, especially
if you’ve taken a risk or got
involved in a possibly
awkward joint enterprise.
Take an inventive approach
and realise that old solutions
may no longer be the best. And
that goes for romantic affairs
as well.
CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
You will have to
listen to other
people — and take
their very good
advice. More important,
though, is the necessity of
understanding their
feelings and making a much
greater effort to sympathise
with their point of view. A
generous spirit should win
the day.
AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
Work must take the
first priority today,
even if social
concerns constitute
the major long-term
question. You should
recognise that there may be no
decision concerning one
important emotional tie for a
little while longer. Please
be patient.
PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
Love is the most
important thing at
the moment, but it
is by no means
certain that there is any one
relationship that pre-occupies
you. It is your friends who can
benefit from your new mood,
so make a point of spreading
any goodwill as widely as
you can.
Lucknow
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

7 GOVT & POLITICS

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020

SHAH HOLDS ROADSHOW IN BOLPUR PAYS RESPECTS TO GURU TEGH BAHADUR

DELHI CONFIDENTIAL ‘WillconsiderimplementingCAA Amid standoff with

afterCovid-19vaccinationstarts’
Says BJP will build Sonar Bangla; let them build Sonar Bharat first, counters TMC
SANTANU CHOWDHURY
BOLPUR, DECEMBER 20
UNION HOME Minister Amit
Shah on Sunday said the govern-
mentwouldconsiderimplement-
ingtheCitizenship(Amendment)
Act after the vaccination against
DAMAGE CONTROL Covid-19 begins.
Shah,whoheldaroadshowin
TRIPURA CHIEF Minister Biplab Deb, believed to be enjoying Bolpurandaddressedapresscon-
the confidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home ference in the evening, defended
Minister Amit Shah, seemed to have miffed the BJP leader- the Centre’s decision to write to
ship recently with his announcement to hold a public meet- the state government asking for
ing to “seek people’s mandate” amid strife in the party. Now three IPS officers to be sent to
he is on a “recovery” track, said party sources. According to Delhi on deputation.
sources, he has been advised to improve ties with state lead- Asked when the CAA would
ers and local media . On Sunday, he announced a health in- beimplemented,Shahsaid:“The
surance scheme for journalists in the state. Rulesof CAAareyettobeframed,
and such a big exercise cannot
proceedinthemiddleofthepan-
PLEDGING SUPPORT demic.“Isliye jab tika lagne ki shu-
ruwathojayegiaurcoronaki cycle
ADELEGATIONof farmersfromUttarPradeshmetAgriculture bhi thik ho jayegi, iss par hum za-
Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday and expressed roor vichar karenge. Aur jab kare-
their support to the new farm laws. The delegation, which in- nge aapko suchi di jayegi.
cluded members of Hind Mazdoor-Kisan Samiti, submitted (Therefore,wewilldefinitelycon-
a memorandum to the minister, asking the government to siderthisoncewebegintoadmin-
continue the farm laws with certain amendments. They also ister the vaccine and the corona
soughtwaiverof tubewellpowerbillsandwithdrawalof stub- cycle ends. You will be informed
ble burning cases. At least four such delegations have met the when that happens.)”
minister earlier to extend support to the new farm laws. To a question by The Indian
Express on the Centre’s letter
Amit Shah during his road show in Bolpur Sunday. Shashi Ghosh
hoursaftertheChiefMinistertw-
eeted her thanks to Opposition
Chief Ministers Capt Amarinder
Singh, Bhupesh Baghel, Ashok
Gehlot, and Arvind Kejriwal, and
DMKleaderMKStalinforbacking
hergovernment’spositiononthe
Centre’s move to transfer police
officers.Theofficerswereinchar-
ge of Nadda’s security on the day
his motorcade was attacked, al-
legedlybyTrinamoolsupporters.
Shah said the attack had tar-
geteddemocracyitself.“TheTMC
governmentiscompletelyrespon-
nounced that only a “son of Ben-
gal”wouldbecomethenextChief
Minister of the state.
“Does she (Banerjee) want a
country where people from one
statewillnotvisitanother?...This
is nothing but an attempt to mis-
lead the people. Don’t worry, no
one from Delhi will come to de-
feat you (Trinamool). Someone
from Bengal and a son of the soil
willchallengeyouandbethenext
Chief Minister of the state.”
Bengal,hesaid,“hadathirdof
India’sGDPatthetimeofIndepe-
show such this one, Shah, stand-
ing on a decorated, open-top ve-
hicle, told thousands of workers
and supporters of his party.
“This time people want a
change to stop infiltration from
Bangladesh, to put an end to the
politicalviolenceinBengal,tostop
the practice of extortion, and to
end the dadagiri of bhatija,” Shah
said, referring to the Chief Mini-
ster’snephew,AbhishekBanerjee.
Shah was accompanied by
stateBJPpresidentDilipGhosh,na-
tional general secretary Kailash
Vijayvargiya,partyvice-president
MukulRoy,UnionMinisterDeba-
sreeChaudhuri,MPSaumitraKh-
an,andformerMPAnupamHazra.
“I have come here to assure
youthatifyouvotefortheBJP,we
willtakeBengalonthepathofde-
velopment,” Shah said at the end
of the roadshow. “We will create
theBengalthatwasenvisionedby
Rabindranath Tagore and Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose... You have
givenachancetotheCongress,the
communists and the TMC. Has
Bengal seen development so far?
Hasinfiltrationstopped?Haspo-
litical violence stopped? Has in-
vestment come? Now give one
chance to the BJP. We assure you
farmers, PM visits
gurdwara in Delhi
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
ASTHEcentralgovernmentrem-
ains locked in a standoff with
farmers,manyofwhomareSikhs
from Punjab, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Sunday made
an “unscheduled visit” to
Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in
New Delhi.
ThePrimeMinisterpaidhisre-
spectsatthegurdwaraadayafter
the death anniversary of Guru
Tegh Bahadur.
Modi tweeted on Monday
morning:“Thismorning,Iprayed
at the historic Gurudwara
RakabganjSahib,wherethepious
body of Guru Teg Bahadur Ji was
cremated.Ifeltextremelyblessed.
I, like millions around the world
am deeply inspired by the kind-
nessesofSriGuruTegBahadurJi.”
Hesaid:“Itisthespecialkripa
of the Guru Sahibs that we will
mark the special occasion of the
400th Parkash Parva of Sri Guru
TegBahadurjiduringourgovern-
ment’s tenure. Let us mark this
blessedoccasioninahistoricway
andcelebratetheidealsofSriGuru
Teg Bahadur ji.”
The Guru’s martyrdom day is
an occasion of deep religious sig-
PM Modi at the gurdwara. PTI
ji told the PM that Guru Tegh
Bahadur’s body was cremated
here.Modijialsotoldhimhowhe
used to visit the gurdwara often
when he used to live nearby. He
also said he wanted to visit with-
out any fuss,” a gurdwara official
said on condition of anonymity.
They did not speak about the
farm Bills or farmers’ protests,
the official said. “This was nei-
ther the place, the day, nor the
forum for any political discus-
sion. He (the PM) had come as a
devotee and was received as
one,” the official said.
Since the farmers’ agitation
started,thegovernmenthasmade
severaloverturestotheSikhcom-
munity. It has come out with two
bookletstoshowModi’sspecialre-
lationship with Sikhs, and the
Prime Minister quoted Guru

MISSING AT MEETING
about the IPS officers, Shah said
the letter did not violate the fed-
eral structure of the country.
THEABSENCEof RandeepSurjewalaandK C Venugopalatthe “The letter which the central
meetingof seniorCongressleadersconvenedbySoniaGandhi governmentsenttothestategov-
on Saturday was noted by many in the party. Surjewala’s ab- ernment is completely legal and
sence was interesting as his remarks a day before the meeting has been sent as per Consti-
that all issues in the party stood resolved with the announce- tutional norms. It is very much
ment of the next election to the Congress president post had withintheparametersof thefed-
not gone down well with many of the letter writers. It is not eralstructure.She(ChiefMinister
clear why Surjewala, the party’s chief spokesperson, was not MamataBanerjee)mustquotethe
presentinthemeeting.Venugopal,generalsecretaryincharge rule of law before placing her
of organisation, on the other hand, was at his native place in opinionbeforethepublicandthe
Kerala to perform some rituals after the demise of his mother. central government,” Shah said.
The Home Minister spoke
sibleforthisattack.Suchincidents
take place because of the arroga-
nceofpower.Themoreyouattack
themoreBJPgetsstrongerinBen-
gal.”Violencewasatitspeakinthe
state,andtheTMChadkilledmore
than 300 BJP workers, he alleged.
“Corruptiontooisatitspeakhere.
FromAmphanrelieffundscamto
rationdistributionscam—whyis
the state government not allow-
ingaCAGspecialauditonthese?”
Responding to a question on
theTMCdescribingBJPleadersas
“outsiders” in Bengal, Shah an-
ndence;afterthreedecadesofco-
mmunist rule and one decade of
TMCrule,ithasshrunkbadly.Ben-
galcontributed30percentofInd-
ia’s industrial production in 1947.
Today, it has fallen to just 3.5 per
cent. I want to ask both Mamata
Di and the communists – who is
responsible for this downfall?”
Earlier,atamassiveroadshow
in Bolpur, Shah said the upsurge
ofsupportfortheBJPinWestBen-
gal showed the anger of the peo-
pleagainsttheTMCgovernment.
He had never seen a road-
that we will turn the state into
Sonar Bangla within five years.”
Later in the evening, senior
TMC leader Firhad Hakim said:
“TheyshouldmakeaSonarBharat
first, then they may try for Sonar
Bangla.Modisaidtheywillcreate
1 crore jobs, but 21 crore people
became jobless in his regime.”
ShahalsovisitedVisva-Bharati
University in Santiniketan and
paid homage to Tagore. He had
lunch at the home of Bengali folk
singer Basudeb Das Baul before
the roadshow.
nificanceforSikhs.Thespecialday
was observed at the farmers’
protest site at Singhu Border on
Saturday, complete with langars,
ardaas (prayer), and paath (reli-
gious teachings).
Representativesofthegovern-
mentsaidthiswasa“suddenvisit”
and there “was no police ban-
dobast or traffic barriers to the
common man during this visit”.
The Prime Minister met granthi
Hardayal Singh at the gurdwara.
“They spoke only about the
historyofthegurdwara.Hardayal
Nanakinhisspeechatthefounda-
tionstone-layingceremonyforthe
new Parliament building on
December10.
“GuruNanakhadsaid,‘jabtak
sansarrahe,tabtaksamvaadchalte
rehna chahiye’(aslongastheuni-
verse exists, dialogue must go
on),” Modi had said, underlining
theimportanceofthedemocratic
process to resolve differences.
Again, on a recent visit to
KutchinGujarat,Modihadinvited
farmers, many of whom were
Sikhs, for a meeting.

Ahead of campaign launch, Arhtiyas slam I-T searches, to shut

Stalin asks cadre to defeat
ministers, slams new outfits
Punjab mandis this week in protest
E
Farmers plan 24-hr hunger strike, call for ‘Thali Bajao’ session during PM’s next Mann Ki Baat
EXPLAINED

ARUN JANARDHANAN
CHENNAI, DECEMBER 20
DMKCHIEFStalinonSundayral-
lied his party men ahead of the
formallaunchof itscampaignfor
the May 2021 Assembly polls,
callingonthemtowintheminds
ofthepeopleandresist“newout-
fits” that only seek to “erode” its
vote share.
Stalin’s address at a party
meetinginChennaireflectedthe
general anxiety among his sup-
porters that the entry of players
such as Kamal Haasan,
RajinikanthandTTVDhinakaran
may end up strengthening the
BJP in the long run at the cost of
the traditional Dravidian politi-
cal formations.
Andforapartythathasspent
thelasttenyearsinoppositionto
the incumbent AIADMK, these
forthcomingpollsareverymuch
seen as the last chance saloon—
DMK is not expected to survive
another five years in opposition
unscathed.
So on Sunday, three days be-
fore the launch of the DMK’s poll
campaign, Stalin sought to rouse
hispartycolleagues:“AllAIADMK
ministers should be defeated in
thesepolls.Notjustthepartyma-
chinery but each of you should
makesurethattheyaredefeated.
Alltheseconstituenciesof minis-
ters will have a lot of money
Votebase worries
arhtiya association in Moga and
RAAKHI JAGGA & has been named as a member of
AMIL BHATNAGAR
●
for Dravidianparties LUDHIANA, NEW DELHI,
DECEMBER 20
the committee.
Federationchief Kalra,whois
also vice-chairman of Punjab's
mandi board, said his offices and
DESPITEDMKsupporters’fears,individualplayerssuchas AFTER INCOME Tax officials houseweresearchedonthenight
TTVDhinakaran’sAMMKandRajinikanth’snewoutfitare served notices to 14 top arhtiyas, ofDecember18.“Theyraidedmy
morelikelytoweakentheAIADMK-BJPvotebaseratherthan or commission agents, in Punjab shop in Makhu mandi at mid-
DMK’s.KamalHaasan,too,hadenjoyedthesupportof upper- andconductedsearchesatprem- night and my petrol pump. Over
castevotersinChennai’sMylaporeareaandthestate’s iseslinkedtosixof themoverthe 50 CRPF personnel, I-T officials
Coimbatoreregion.Despitethis,acleanimage enjoyedby last two days, a key umbrella and police were involved. They
Chief MinisterPalaniswamiwillmakethegoingtoughfor groupSundayannouncedtheclo- asked for documents and I gave
DMK.Keepingfamilyoutof partyaffairsandselectionof sure of all mandis in the state them everything. Since the keys
strongcandidatesmayhelpStalin’sperceptionamongpeople. from December 22 to 25 as a of my shop could not be located,
markofprotestagainsttheaction. they broke the lock,” he said.
The Federation of Arhtiya The other agents whose
power. But understand that son to remind his men about the Associations of Punjab said the premises were searched on
moneyalonewillnothelpinelec- virtues of politeness and humil- arhtiyas also plan to gherao the December 18 and 19 include of-
tions. AIADMK had lost several ity.Allegedlyunsavouryactivities offices of tax officials and a “final ficebearersof variousarhtiyaas-
polls even after they invested during the last DMK regime are plan of action” will be chalked sociations, Pawan Kumar Goyal,
money.Soourmissionistobreak still fresh in public memory. outafterconsultingfarmleaders. Jaswinder Singh Rana,
the money power and win peo- What gives DMK the edge in The federation's president, The meeting of the Ahrityas executive body at Baghapurana constituency in Punjab’s Moga Manjinder Singh Walia and
ple’s minds.” He then asked his this election to the 234-member Vijay Kalra, whose houseand of- district on Sunday. Hardeep Singh Ladda.
partyworkers:“Panamaa,makkal Houseisalarge,powerfulalliance fices in Ferozepur were among ApartfromBrarandGarg,the
manamaa? (money, or people’s made up of Congress, CPI and those searched, alleged the I-T five-membercommitteeformed
minds?).” CPM, Dalit party VCK, and Tamil action “was a pressure tactic to protestagainsttheactiontomor- during the next radio broadcast nate with the Sanyukt Kisan by the arhtiya federation com-
The DMK chief said that “cer- nationalist Vaiko’s MDMK, be- harass us as we are supporting row. They should return what- of Prime Minister Narendra Morcha, which is coordinating prises Sukhwinder Singh
tain new parties” were being sides a number of local, commu- thefarmers'protests”againstthe ever they have seized. They have Modi's Mann Ki Baat. “The the farm protests, to decide the Cheema, Mahavir Singh and
formed with the “sole purpose" nityoutfitswhichwillcontestun- Centre's new agriculture laws. beenraidedbecausetheysupport Government had earlier asked next step. Naresh Bhardwaj who hold key
of defeating DMK. der theDMKsymbol (risingsun). AttheSinghuborderinDelhi, us.Theyhavehelpedusalot,with citizens to bang utensils against “The committee will hold a positionsinarhtiyaorganisations.
Stalin appealed to his cadres TopDMKsourcesalsogaveanes- meanwhile, farmer's represen- rations and money. These laws the coronavirus. We appeal to meeting with the Morcha on “If the I-T department penalises
andleadersto“bepolite”and“an- timate of what the seat-sharing tatives hit out at the raids and have hit them as well. If they are citizens that they should repeat MondayorthedayafterinDelhi. an arhtiya, we will contribute
swerpeople’squeriesinthemost arrangement will look like this said they would escalate their implemented,arhtiyaswillbede- it on Sunday,” said Jagjit Singh We have over 400 arhtiya man- fundstohelppaythepenalty,and
humble manner”. “Talk to them, time—around 170 seats for those protest from Monday with a 24- stroyed,”saidRulduSinghMansa Dalewal of BKU Singhpur. dis in Punjab with nearly 28,000 our support to farmers will con-
invite them to us like you would contesting under the DMK sym- hour hunger strike. from the Punjab Kisan Morcha. According to Jatinder Garg, licensed ahrtiyas and approxi- tinue. The Government must re-
invitethemforaweddingatyour bol,25-30fortheCongress,and6- “We stand in support of the During a press conference the arhtiya federation's vice mately 40,000 arhtiyas in total alise that this is a public move-
family,” he said. 8 seats each for smaller parties arhtiyas.Wehavealsodecidedto Sunday, the farmer leaders also president,theyhavesetupafive- across the state,” said Amarjeet ment, and targeting arhtiyas is a
The party chief had good rea- suchasCPM,CPI,VCKandMDMK. gherao Income Tax offices and called for a “Thali Bajao” session member committee to coordi- Singh Brar, who heads the futile exercise," said Brar.

Scindia ji’s people have been accommodated well into the BJP: Vishnu Dutt Sharma
A YEAR after taking over the
reins as the state General
Secretary of the BJP in Madhya
Pradesh, VISHNU DUTT
SHARMA spoke to IRAM SID-
DIQUE on the prospects of a
Cabinet expansion, the ongoing
farm protests and the party’s
stanceonPragyaThakur’srecent
remark on shudras.
It has been a year since took
over as the state president of
the BJP in Madhya Pradesh,
why has there been such a
delay in party restructuring
at the state level?
There has been some delay
because of Covid-19 followed by
by-pollsduetowhichacollective
decision could not be taken. But
soon our Karya Samitis and vari-
ous morchas will be announced.
Our structure on the ground is
ready,70percentof theworking
committeeof themandalsisalso
ready, we have about 68,000
booth level set ups and working
well. We are in the process of
forming our zilla working com-
mittees which will be formed
soon after our Pradesh working
committee is ready.
Is a Cabinet expansion on the
cards? What about MLAs who
defected but lost in the by-
polls?
The two who were already
ministers, Tulsiram Silavat and
Govind Singh Rajput will defi-
nitely be made ministers. A deci-
siononCabinetexpansionwillbe
takenbytheChiefMinister.When
he feels the need, he will do it.
Recently, Jyotiraditya Scindia
came to meet you and the
Chief Minister with all his
MLAs in a convoy of 40
vehicles. How do you view
this?
Scindia ji kaa glamour hai.But
Scindia ji’s people have been ac-
commodated well into the BJP. I
haveseenitintheelections.Until
the very end, we were on the
edge thinking if the BJP worker
will agree or not to campaign for
Govind Singh Rajput. BJP work-
ers have taken a po-
litical decision and
not an emotional
one. Our govern-
ment, after all, was
made because of
them (defectors). We
decided to keep all
our differences be-
hind and give this
government stability,
which the workers
accepted. It was only
because of this that
we won Ambha,
Morena and Johra
constituencies.
BJP GENERAL SECRETARY,
Isn’t there a tussle
between the men
who owe Recently, BJP organised a caste hierarchy might be preva- Even in Jabalpur, as part of ABVP,
allegiance to training program for all MLAs lent at some point in society but we have saved many women.
Scindia and who have come into the with time things have changed Whenyougotogetmarried,you
those in the party. What is this training and we are all one. I believe that have to show to the court why
CM’s camp? about? work has been done to reduce you have converted; earlier
BJP is a cadre- It is routine; irrespective of this gap, be it by Dr Babasaheb these provisions were not there.
based organisa- howmanyyearsa VD Sharmaor Ambedkar or the Sangh parivar.
tion due to which ShivrajSinghChouhanhasspent Practicallyinthought,BJPandRSS How will this law be any
such issues don’t intheparty,theyhavetoundergo haveworkedtoabolishsuchcaste different from that of Uttar
arise. We don’t this training. Scindia ji will also differencesandwedonotaccept Pradesh?
look at those who comeasaworker.Thesetraining it. This is not the view of the BJP. InMP,weareworkingtohave
THE EXPRESS have followed are theoretical and practical. stringent laws that will punish
Scindia ji to join What is the basis of those committing this offence
INTERVIEW our party any dif- BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur legislating a ‘love jihad’ like andthoseaidingthem.Manyor-
WITH
ferently. recently said that Shudras law in Madhya Pradesh? ganisations that give a marriage
VISHNU DUTT Depending on feel bad while being called so, In MP, there is a special cell certificate like Arya Samaj will
SHARMA who is good at how does the party view her working on rescuing women face action if due process is not
what work, they statement? from such practices. So many followed.Thereareonlyabout1-
MADHYA PRADESH arechosenandput I don’t think such statements womeninBhopalhavebeenres- 2% women who willingly get
forward. are correct. Such a system of a cued, and brought to our shelter. married, the rest all are trapped.

Lucknow
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
WORDLY WISE

THE EDITORIAL PAGE Pay the worker his wages before

his sweat is dry
— THE QURAN

FOUNDED BY
Beyond the new facade
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
A new Parliament building must not overshadow
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
need to tackle urgent questions of democracy

THE BENGAL FIGHT Madhav Godbole

TMC has to blame itself for losing its leaders,
THEGROUND-BREAKINGCEREMONYof the The terms of reference of the Fifteenth their working non-partisan, opening the de-
walking into the trap of BJP’s predatory politics

O
new“People’sParliament”buildingtookplace
with considerable fanfare two weeks ago.
NSATURDAY,THEinfluentialTrinamoolCongress(TMC)leaderSuvendu Under Article 79 of the Constitution,
Adhikari joined the BJP along with eight other MLAs, two of them from Parliament consists of the President and its
the Left and one from the Congress, and an MP, during a rally addressed twoHouses.ButneitherthePresidentnorthe
by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Midnapore. Shah described the Vice-President, who is also the chairman of
arrival of turncoat legislators to the BJP as “just the beginning” and the Rajya Sabha, were invited. The protocol
wouldhaverequiredthePresidenttoperform
warned West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee that she will be
the ceremonies.
alone by the time of the upcoming Assembly elections. Of course, Didi is the supreme The construction of a new Parliament
leader of the TMC, her charisma defines the party top down, but the fact is Adhikari was building raises a number of questions. The
no mere minion. He was the chief mobiliser of protests at Nandigram which helped cat- ones pertaining to the redesigning of the
apult Banerjee to the chief minister’s office and when he asks questions of her and the Central Vista will, no doubt, be raised before
party, there are many who listen. In a way, his desertion shows how ill-equipped the TMC the Supreme Court. But three important is-
is to handle and address internal dissent and how centralised power in the party is. sues, namely, if we require such a large
Parliament; population as the basis of repre-
ThecrisisinTMCisnotunique.Itstemsfromastructuralflaw,commontoalotofregional
sentation in Parliament; and the functioning
parties that revolve around one leader or a family. The TMC, for instance, had a movement of Parliamenthavebeensidelinedsofar—ei-
charactertoitinthebeginning,whichenabledthepartytosuccessfullychallengetheelec- ther deliberately or conveniently.
toral hegemony of the CPM that lasted 34 years. However, it failed to reconstitute itself as a After the delimitation of constituencies,
partyofgovernment,thewaytheCPMhaddoneafterwinningofficeforthefirsttimein1977. Lok Sabha will have 888 members and Rajya
TheTMChasmaintainedtotaldominationonthegroundbecauseitinductedlocalleaders, Sabha 384 members, a total of 1,272 mem-
bers. Does India require such an enlarged
enforcers and cadres from other parties, who were attracted by the privileges of office and
Parliament? Parliament’s efficacy and effec-
threat of violence. Allegiance to the leader was the glue that held the party together — and tiveness can be increased by implementing
the leader bought loyalty by offering patronage, looking the other way as local corruption the reforms suggested hereafter. It does not
flourished, or threatening retribution. In a federal polity that lacked a powerful centre, this require enlarging its size.
model of regional power politics was successful. However, it has started to unravel follow- If parliamentary constituencies are re-
ingtheriseof theBJPin2014.AnambitiousBJPwantstoestablishitselfasthepremierparty drawnonthebasisofthe2021Censusandthe
presentcriterion,therepresentationof states
across regions and has the resources to match regional outfits in power. This has created a
will be so lopsided as to pose a real challenge
strange dichotomy wherein allies are leaving the BJP even as the latter inducts leaders and to India’s federalism. Due to the considerably
cadresfromrivalpartiesandinregionswhereithadalimitedpresence.Thispatternhasbeen lower rate of growth of population in the
visible in recent times in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Goa, southern states, their representation is likely
Gujarat and Telangana, besides West Bengal. It has enabled the BJP to expand its footprint to go down, while that of the northern states
and even overturn electoral verdicts in its favour. willgoupconsiderably.Thisunequalposition
is unlikely to be acceptable to the southern
TheunchallengedpredatorypoliticsoftheBJPisdeeplyproblematicasitendsupsqueez-
states and might lead to yet another north-
ingtheOppositionspaceandchallengingallinstitutionsmeanttocheckandbalance.Every
south confrontation, as happened in the case
election — local bodies onwards, as we saw in the recent Greater Hyderabad Municipal ofthecountry’sofficiallanguage.Thiswillalso
Corporation—isturnedintoawar-likespectacle,withtheparty’snationalleadershipusing have other overtones as the BJP has been un-
polarising rhetoric. Such a winner-takes-all approach may help the BJP win elections but abletomakeinroadsinthesestates,exceptfor
Karnataka. Maharashtra is also now out of
these unequal battles undermine electoral democracy in the long run. It has surely influ-
encedtheBJP,which,ofcourse,hasamajorityintheLokSabha,torulethroughexecutivefiat BJP’s hand. As a result, the representation of
than govern by building consensus on contentious national issues. The art of speaking and
non-BJP parties will decline significantly.
Inevitably,populationasthesolebasisforde-
listening that Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently emphasised is lost in the noise of the
cidingrepresentationinParliamentwillhave
BJP’s election machine. Which is what Shah, on stage in Midnapore, was cranking up. to be examined afresh and new criteria will
have to be evolved.
India has postponed the
consideration of
controversial questions —
an official language,
reservations for Scheduled
Castes and delimitation of
Parliament constituencies —
by extending the relevant
time limits. But now the
country will have to face the
potentially divisive issue of
delimitation of
constituencies in just a
few years.
FinanceCommissionstipulatedthatitshould
use population data of 2011 for allocation of
tax revenues among states. This was to re-
place the compromise formula in place from
1976,whichsoughttogiveincentivestostates
to control their population. The southern
states had strongly objected to it. The com-
mission’s views will be known when its re-
port becomes available in the public domain.
India has postponed the consideration of
controversialquestions—anofficiallanguage,
reservationsforScheduledCastesanddelim-
itationof Parliamentconstituencies—by ex-
tendingtherelevanttimelimits.Butnow,the
country will have to face the potentially divi-
sive issue of delimitation of constituencies in
just a few years.
The other important question pertainsto
thefunctioningof Parliament. Overtheyears,
Parliament has lost its pre-eminent position
asapillarof democracy.Inpublicperception,
it has lost credibility. Recommendations
madebyknowledgeablepersonsandexperts
to improve its functioning have not received
attention. With the impending delimitation
of constituencies, and the sizeable increase
in the size of both Houses, this matter has to
be addressed urgently. It will be impossible
to conduct any meaningful business, given
the proclivity of members for disrupting its
working by marching into its well, shouting
slogans, exhibiting placards and even ap-
proaching the presiding officer in a threat-
eningmanner.Theonlywaytoensureorderly
business will be to transact most of the busi-
ness in committees. During the Emergency,
IndiraGandhiattemptedtointroduceseveral
reformsinthefunctioningof Parliament.Her
attempt to introduce the committee system
wasnotsuccessfulbecauseof apprehensions
of the Opposition that this system was
an attempt to skirt Parliament. This also had
muchtodowithIndiraGandhi’soverbearing
style of functioning. Similar apprehensions
prevail at present with Narendra Modi as
Prime Minister.
If the committee system has to be made
effectiveandcredible,severalstepsneedtobe
taken. These include, among others, making
liberations of the committees to the public,
givingthecommitteesassistanceofNGOsand
non-profit organisations in the respective
fields, opening the committee meetings to
electronic,print,and digitalmedia,andstart-
ing a PBS channel as in the UK and USA for
wider dissemination of the deliberations of
the committees. Currently, ministers do not
appear before the committees. Now if
Parliament is to transact its business through
thecommittees,theymusthavealltherights
and privileges of the whole House. The min-
isters—aswellasthe PrimeMinister—must
beencouraged to appear before the commit-
tees.Itisalsoimperativetoreasserttheroleof
thejointparliamentarycommitteeandtore-
store its credibility.
India must adopt the best practices of
parliamentarydemocracyinothercountries.
Legislation must be enacted on matters per-
taining to the functioning of Parliament — to
lay down an annual calendar for Parliament
sessions, minimum duration of sessions in a
yearetc,as inseveralcountries. Alawshould
be enacted to regulate administration of
Parliament as in the UK, Australia and New
Zealand.Stepsalsoneedtobetakentocreate
a parliamentary budget office as in the US,
UK and Canada for independent scrutiny of
the budget proposals and their placement
before the committees of Parliament. The
oversight of Parliament must be increased
to approving international treaties and re-
viewing the work of intelligence and inves-
tigating agencies.
I had made a series of similar suggestions
in my book, India’s Parliamentary Democracy
on Trial (2011). Suggestions of others, which
too have long remained unattended, need to
beexamined.Decisionsonthesematterswill
have to be made by holding nationwide con-
sultations.Thegovernmentshould,therefore,
publish a white paper on these issues with-
out loss of time.
The writer is a former Union home secretary
and secretary, justice. His forthcoming book is,
India—A Federal Union of States: Ten
Faultlines, Challenges and Opportunities

WAGES OF DISCONTENT
A HOMEGROWN IDEOLOGUE
Worker unrest at Bengaluru facility warns against ignoring
labour concerns at a time India seeks to expand manufacturing

A
T A TIME when the government is actively courting foreign investment,
andmakingaconcertedattempttopositionIndiaasaglobalmanufactur-
inghub,thelabourcrisisattheWistronCorpplantinNarasapura,Bengaluru,
Rooted in RSS tradition, M G Vaidya strove to uphold Indian intellectualism
is disconcerting. The violence that erupted at the manufacturing facility
was allegedly on account of workers protesting the non-payment of reg- Rakesh Sinha
ular and overtime dues by the company. Both Wistron and Apple have acknowledged the
lapsesinthepaymentofwages.Wistronhasfireditsvice-presidentwhowasoverseeingthe M G VAIDYA, who passed away on December
Indiabusiness,whileglobaltechgiantApplehasputthecompanyonprobation,statingthat 19, was a familiar name in the intellectual life
the firm will receive no new orders till it completes all corrective action. However, episodes of India, and his contribution to many promi-
suchasthesenotonlysendawrongsignaltoinvestors,butmayalsoraisefurtherapprehen- nentdiscoursesisinvaluable. Infact,hisname
is synonymous with RSS’s intellectualism. He
sions over recent moves seen as diluting the protection afforded to labour.
worked with six RSS sarasanghachalaks, in-
The assembling of iPhones has often been held up as an example of the government’s cluding its founder K B Hedgewar. Vaidya
successinboostingdomesticmanufacturing.Wistron,alongwithFoxconnandthePegatron joinedtheSanghattheageofeightin1931and
Corp, lies at the heart of component manufacturing and the mobile phone assembly drive hiszealfororganisationalandideologicalmat-
in India. In fact, looking to replicate the apparent success of its mobile phone assembly ini- tersremainedundiminishedtillthelastbreath.
tiative, the government has recently announced the expansion of its Production-Linked He was appointed the Sangh’s first
spokesperson and interacted energetically
Incentive (PLI) scheme to cover 10 key sectors, ranging from automobiles to pharmaceuti-
with the media, with the objective of remov-
caldrugs.Separately,ithasalsomovedtoeasethestringentandarchaiclabourlawsthathave ing the then prevalent myths about the RSS,
long been held responsible for holding back the growth of a labour intensive manufactur- and confronting secularist lies.
ingsector.Forinstance,theIndustrialRelationsCode2020enablesindustrytoemploywork- Vaidyaaccordedprimacytoideas,notper-
ers on a fixed-term contract for seasonal and short-term jobs, sidestepping the contractor sonalities. This is one reason for his popular-
system — six contractors were responsible for recruiting contractual workers for Wistron. ity in the RSS. In a condolence meeting for
Considering thatchanges to labourlawsare often viewed with suspicion,as thedebate Hedgewar, his successor M S Golwalkar said,
“RSS is not a votary of individualism.” Vaidya
has often been framed in terms of empowering managements, the current crisis may well
remained true to this tradition all his life.
heighten such fears. The signals that emanate from this unrest are a cause for concern. At a He was born in Taroda, a village in
time of acute distress, labour practices will come under intense scrutiny. While some flex-
Maharashtra’s Wardha district on March 11,
ibility for firms is desirable, both the government and firms must realise that during peri- 1923andreceivedhisprimaryeducationfrom
ods of acute precarity, concerns of labour must be kept front and centre. the same school in Nagpur as Hedgewar. His
academicexcellenceledhimtobeateacherat
Morris College, Nagpur. Vaidya later served as
thechiefeditorofTarunBharat,aMarathidaily
Freeze Frame E P Unny run by the RSS. He also served as a member of
Maharashtra’s Legislative Council. He was
among national leaders like Dattopant
ThengadiandNanajiDeshmukh,whoreturned
totheRSSafteryearsinpolitics,withoutlosing
anyof theiroriginalideologicalinclination.
Vaidya believed in inclusive intellectual-
He was a voracious reader of
the works of European
thinkers but never
submitted to the Eurocentric
intellectualism which has,
unfortunately, trapped a
large number of our social
scientists. He argued that
contemporary Indian
intellectuals miss the
distinction between the
state and the nation.
ism, which led him to develop friendship
across ideological streams. This uniqueness
kept him free from intellectual or ideological
orthodoxy. He never hesitated to speak the
truth.Bookswerehisunfailingfriendsandhis
reading habits made sure that Vaidya was
never obsolete in any discourse.
In 2019, I requested him to write the fore-
word to my book, Understanding RSS. This
piece was, perhaps, his last serious contribu-
tioninthefieldofideas. Succinctlysummaris-
ing the objective of the RSS, he wrote, “The
RSSnever aimedatestablishing anorganised
group withinthesociety.Itsmissionhasbeen
to organise the entire society. And everyone
knowsthatanysocietyisacomplex existence
— it functions through various spheres of ac-
tivities. Politics is one sphere but not the only
one. Organising the society means organis-
ingallthesespheres.” Hebelievedthattheor-
ganisation is a living instrument of harmon-
ising groups and communities, including
politicalclasses—notaharbingerof conflicts.
Vaidyaunequivocallybelieved“politics isone
sphere,nottheonlyone” and,therefore,itwas
amyththattheRSSexistedforpoliticalgains.
He was a voracious reader of the works of
Europeanthinkersbutneversubmittedtothe
Eurocentricintellectualismwhichhas,unfor-
tunately,trappedalargenumberof oursocial
scientists. He argued that contemporary
Indian intellectuals miss the distinction be-
tween the state and the nation.
VaidyaendorsedErnestBarker’s definition
of state as “a living body of effective rules and
inthatsense,thestateisaboutlaw”.Theiden-
tityofanation,incontrast,ismuchgreaterand
older than that of the state. For a nation, the
sentimentsofthelandinwhichpeoplelivefor
generations, a common sense of history and
the adherence to a certain value system, cul-
ture,wereessential.ThatiswhytheRSS’smis-
sioniscivilisationalandisrepresentedbycul-
tural nationalism in contemporary context.
Conviction in ideological movements is
mostly confined to participants. The RSS has
initiated a new tradition. Its ideology is car-
ried forward by values. Without values, ide-
ology loses its engine of effective transmis-
sion.Manyideologicalmovementshavefaced
such dilemmas, and declined. The RSS em-
phasises that a swayamsevak’s family should
understandtheorganisation’sfunctioningand
ideological tradition: In other words, charity
beginsathome.Thatiswhythesonsofseveral
RSS workers have become the organisation’s
pracharaks. Mohan Bhagwat was inspired to
becomeapracharakashisfatherhadservedas
one for decades. M G Vaidya’s case is unique:
His two sons, Manmohan Vaidya and Ram
Vaidya,areSanghpracharaks.Hewouldbere-
memberedasanintellectualwhoneverprac-
tisedideologicaluntouchabilityandwasnever
a reactionary theoretician. His life is a lesson
for all those striving to uphold the Indian tra-
dition of intellectualism, and trying to give
rigour to the idea of India.
The writer, a Rajya Sabha MP of the BJP, is a
biographer of Hedgewar

DECEMBER 21, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO

MARCH HALTED
CONGRESS LEADER Y B Chavan was ar-
rested and later released while former
Chief Minister Sharad Pawar and about 450
others landed in police custody in a crack-
down on the farmers’ long march near
Pohar in Amravati district. Describing the
swoop as a “rehearsal” for the re-imposi-
tion of Emergency, the entire Opposition
has given a call for a Maharashtra bandh
and road blockade tomorrow. Chief
Minister A R Antulay has dismissed these
incidents as a small thing, stating that he
had no prior knowledge of these arrests.
He did not agree that the attempt to scut-
tle the long march was a pre-planned one.
“We left it to the local administration. I
can’t give directions for every small thing,”
he said.
ANTULAY’S ASSURANCE
THE MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT and
the leaders of the Shetkari Sanghatan are on
thesame pageas thefarmersdemandforre-
munerative prices is concerned. This una-
nimity is the outcome of prolonged negoti-
ations between the state government and
the Shetkari Sanghatan. The chief minister A
R Antulay said that he will use his good of-
ficeswiththeCentreandaskittotakeasym-
pathetic view of the farmers’ demands.
SANJAY’S DEATH
S MAHAPATRA M P and AICC(I) general sec-
retary said that the recent allegation about
the RSS’s involvement in Sanjay Gandhi’s
death is a “midsummer night’s dream”. He
said both Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and
the government are convinced that the air
crash was an accident. He also said that the-
ories of sabotage by a mechanic are canards
to embarrass the PM.
BENGAL MOB FURY
AT LEAST EIGHT people were blinded by an-
grymobsbetweenJanuaryandAprilinWest
Bengal’s Coochbehar district, the state’s
transport minister Shiben Choudhary
said citing an investigation report. All the
eight are alleged to be criminals, the minis-
ter added.

Lucknow

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
THE IDEAS PAGE
The food security bargain
WTO rulebook must evolve to support food security and rural livelihoods in developing countries,
especially in light of the Covid shock. India must take lead in pushing for this change
FROM PLATE TO PLOUGH
by Ashok Gulati and
Jonathan Hepburn
THERE IS WIDESPREAD consensus that the
World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules
should be updated so they better support
food security, rural livelihoods and improved
functioning of markets for food and agricul-
ture. But while an ambitious reform of the
rulebook will require new approaches and
sustained engagement of member coun-
tries, progress on some topics can also be
achieved in the short term.
One issue of particular concern to India
is the question of whether the current farm
subsidy rules provide enough room for de-
veloping countries to buy food at govern-
ment-set minimum support prices as part
of their public stockholding programmes.
The WTO’s 2013 Bali ministerial decision
confirmed that members would not initiate
legal disputes on this question, in exchange
for improved data and transparency on how
the schemes operated and additional safe-
guards. Ministers also agreed to negotiate a
permanent solution in this area.
But talks on this issue have not moved
fast, as many WTO members see it closely
linked to the broader question of how to im-
prove farm subsidy rules. There is a grow-
ing tendency among many countries to pur-
sue improved market access and closer
economic integration through bilateral and
regional talks, rather than at the WTO. More
recently, the Donald Trump administration’s
decision to veto new appointments to the
WTO’s appellate body has paralysed its dis-
pute settlement function, leaving many to
question the future of the rules-based mul-
tilateral trading system.
However, India’s farm subsidy notifica-
tion in March this year to the WTO’s com-
mittee on agriculture brought the topic of
procurement under public stockholding
programmes back to the attention of trade
officials. This submission indicated that
India had breached its agreed ceiling on
product-specific support to rice during mar-
keting year 2018-19. The ceiling is set at 10
per cent of the value of production under
the de minimis provisions of the global trade
body’s Agreement on Agriculture.
Market price support levels are calcu-
lated by taking the gap between applied ad-
ministered prices and an external reference
price or ERP, set at 1986-88 levels, and mul-
tiplying this by the volume of eligible pro-
duction. The government reported the ad-
ministered price of rice was $375.41/tonne,
while the ERP was $ 262.51/tonne, and the
volumeof eligibleproductionwas44.33mil-
lion tonnes — meaning that the total market
price support equalled just over $5 billion.
Government figures also indicate that
India’s wheat support was close to breach-
ing product-specific support ceilings, with
administered prices at $263.15/tonne and
Durga Shakti Nagpal
IT IS OFTEN said that without proper imple-
mentation, a policy is merely a well-inten-
tioned statement. And that the best policy
will fail if not properly executed. My mother,
a simple but successful homemaker, agrees:
“It’s not high philosophy — no preparation
will ‘taste’ good if it is not well executed.”
Indeed, it is taken for granted that a policy,
particularly a government policy or social-
development programme, is meant to be
perfectly executed.
Howisitthen,asFortunemagazinenotes,
nineoutof 10organisationsfailtoimplement
their well-thought-out plans? Why do most
fail to realise that implementation is the key
and end up with sub-par results and uncom-
pleted projects?
This enquiry and the associated chal-
lenges gain special focus in the context of the
politically-unanimous agenda for all-round
growth. Most of us probably saw India in the
recent past as a land of excavations — public
streets, internal roads, water and sewerage,
flyovers and highways lying, as if perpetually
dug out, and projects remaining uncom-
pleted were common. These “ruins” of mod-
erndevelopmentresultinawastageof scarce
public resources and hurt the common man.
They also hurt his trust and faith in the dem-
ocratic system, as this implementation-fail-
ure underlines the system’s inefficiency, un-
accountableprocesses,corruptionand,above
all, the lack of single-mindedness in the po-
litical leadership.
India has had mixed experiences post-
Independence. The consolidated develop-
an ERP of $264/tonne in 2018-19.
The Bali agreement means the breach of
rice de minimis may not be challenged by
other WTO members. Nevertheless, it does
underscore the importance of finding a “per-
manent solution” to this and other trade and
food security questions.
Although members’ views in this area
continue to diverge significantly, WTO
members could usefully consider whether
the fixed ERP of 1986-88 is still a relevant
benchmark, especially in the wake of the
global price hikes of 2007-08 and 2010-11.
Since then, global prices have moved to a
higher platform. Negotiators could consider
updating the reference prices to average
2014-16 or 2016-18 levels or using a rolling
average instead — perhaps flattening out
volatility by excluding the highest and low-
est years from a five-year period. Another
option could be to exempt support from
counting towards maximum limits when
administered prices are set below interna-
tional market price levels. Members could
also discount support consumed by subsis-
tence farmers themselves from the calcula-
tion of the volume of eligible production – or
exempting procurement that only equates
to a small share of domestic output.
Strikingly, India’s support, in fact, turns
out to be negative for the years since 2000-
01, if domestic market prices are compared
with international market prices using the
Producer Support Estimate methodology
applied by the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD). This
is the case even after accounting for input
subsidies, which represent a significant
share of India’s non-product-specific sup-
port using the WTO system for calculating
farm support.
Efforts to revitalise negotiations on farm
subsidies and to resolve the issue of public
food stockholding could be part of a com-
prehensive reset of global farm trade talks.
This, in turn, could help support incomes
and livelihoods, and spur economic recov-
ery from the COVID-19 shock. Doing so
The road to getting things done
Adynamicmonitoringsystemisneededtoimplementpublicpolicy
ment chart will appear rather skewed, with
tall skyscrapers, commercial malls and land-
scaped environment on the one hand, and
vastareassurvivingwithmostlystagnantcivic
infrastructure, inaccessible rural and hilly in-
habitations, crumbling and non-functional
education and healthcare institutions on the
other. Millions continue to live in abject
poverty,deprivedof basicamenitieslikealive-
able house, a private toilet, safe water, elec-
tricity and cooking gas, and an assured mini-
mum income. India desperately needs a
quantum leap to achieve a just society.
What is causing this implementation
deficit? Do we lack political commitment
and support? The processes of implementa-
tion are complex, particularly given the di-
verse demands on, and the challenges faced
by, the implementers.
What are the enabling and empowering
conditionswhichcanmakethedifference?It
wouldappearthatIndianeedstoworkonthe
implementation and reforms processes in a
wider manner, with the primary aim of at-
tainingfast-paceddevelopmentandeffective
delivery of the intended public benefits. This
effortmustalsomeetthedemandsof quality
and public probity.
Itwouldthushelptohighlightcertainim-
portantprerequisites,whichcanbringgreater
efficiency to implementation processes. The
first requirement, obviously, would be a ca-
pable implementing machine —or what has
been called the “perfect administration”,
drivenbypassionateteamleaders.Theprime
rule of the game is: Brook no delay. The guid-
C R Sasikumar
India’s farm subsidy
notification in March 2020
to the WTO’s committee on
agriculture brought the topic
of procurement under public
stockholding programmes
back to the attention of trade
officials. This submission
indicated that India had
breached its agreed ceiling on
product-specific support to
rice during marketing year
2018-19. The ceiling is set at
10 per cent of the value of
production under the
de minimis provisions of the
global trade body’s
Agreement on Agriculture.
ing urge should be not only to swiftly resolve
any bottlenecks and contradictions but also
to complete the task before schedule. Other
critical determinants include: Unambiguous
demarcation of responsibilities, particularly
atsupervisorylevels;frequentbrainstorming
sessionstoanticipateandtakeformalnoteof
likely challenges, and agreeing upon solu-
tions; ensuring and authorising a largely free
hand with matching resources, and the abil-
ity to make on-the-spot decisions. The ever-
green strategy to make implementation a
near-perfect process is to build in a vigilant
monitoring and evaluation mechanism,
which is both firm and benign. A dynamic
monitoring mechanism makes use of tech-
nology, which today is being built into vari-
ous flagship programmes initiated by the
present government.
In the interest of achieving wholesome
implementation, it would be desirable to set
up an autonomous “Monitoring Trust” as an
integral part of all important public policies
and programmes. The proposed Trust can
comprise core technical, administrative and
legal members, along with stakeholders and
social activists.
Engagingstakeholdersandimplementers,
throughvariousmethodologies,isfastemerg-
ingasaneffectivestrategy— indeeditneedsto
be seen as a goal in itself. Sharing information
and progress through dashboards and other
technologytools,invitingsuggestionsthrough
IT portals like MyGov democratise and enrich
both policy formulation and execution. Also,
generating larger participation and a sense of
would require WTO members to agree on a
shared framework for action on farm sub-
sidy reform and other outstanding issues on
the global trade agenda — setting a clear di-
rection and a timeframe for reaching a ra-
tional conclusion.
For this to happen, political leadership is
needed to help rebuild trust among coun-
tries on trade and food security after the dis-
ruption caused by US-China trade tensions,
and the inconclusive outcome of the WTO’s
2018 ministerial conference in Buenos Aires.
Reassuringly, even during the COVID-19
pandemic, G-20 countries (including India)
reaffirmed the importance of continued
flow of food and other products across bor-
ders. This minimised disruptions in food
supply chains.
G-20 ministers also reaffirmed their
commitment not to impose export restric-
tions or extraordinary taxes on food pur-
chased for humanitarian purposes by the
UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) —a
clear signal that food security concerns are
above trade priorities when people’s lives
are at stake. The December meeting of the
General Council that is mulling over WFP
food aid issues offers India (with G-20) an
opportunity to demonstrate its commit-
ment to WFP food aid and help rebuild con-
fidence in WTO’s ability to contribute mean-
ingfully toward faster post-COVID recovery.
An agreement in this area would be
worthwhile because of the lives it saves in
emergencies. But it could also lay the
groundwork for long-overdue progress on
the wider trade and food security agenda at
the WTO. If global rules on trade are to sup-
port food security and rural livelihoods in
India and around the world, the govern-
ment’s leadership and engagement today
will be essential.
Gulati is Infosys Chair Professor for
Agriculture at ICRIER, and Hepburn is a
senior policy advisor at the International
Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
in Geneva
ownership amongst stakeholders brings in
beneficiary acceptance, outreach to a greater
number in the last mile, and ultimately, trust
and happiness to the people in general.
It would be an enriching experience for
thereaderstoperusetheimplementationac-
count of a rural electrification programme —
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana —
covering 18,000-plus un-electrified villages,
acrossseveralstatesandUnionterritories.The
institutionsandmethodologiesdevelopedin
this case present an exemplary fusion be-
tween human ingenuity and the miracles of
thecustomisedtechnology.Theprojectmas-
ter-crafted and accomplished under the ad-
ministrative guidance of A K Bhalla, the then
secretary, Government of India, Ministry of
Power, sets unparalleled benchmarks in the
country’s development journey.
The political leadership both at the na-
tional and the state level is the most crucial
force behind the success of the implementa-
tionmachinery.Thisspiritandauthoritytravel
down to the local leaders and managers. It
doesnotmissanybody’snoticehowtheNDA’s
team of motivated ministers led by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has helped evolve a
world-class model to implement a complex
socialdevelopmentagenda.Suchanendeav-
our in effective implementation alone can
converge with good governance, bold inno-
vation, rewarding delivery and the transfor-
mation of marginalised human lives.
The writer, an IAS officer, is Deputy
Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“Julian Assange should not be extradited. The charges against him in the US
undermine the foundations of democracy and press freedom in both countries.”
The missing
second revolution
Punjab produces surplus food, but it has not had
large-scale industrialisation. The current agitation
has a lot to do with this deficit
Dhanmanjiri Sathe
THE AGITATION OF farmers, mainly from
Punjab, has raised issues pertaining to de-
velopment economics as we have under-
stooditsincetheearlyFifties.Development
theory illuminates how a backward-agri-
cultural economy can become an industri-
alised (including services) one. It also says
thatbeforeaneconomyisonthepathtoin-
dustrial revolution, it should have an agri-
cultural revolution -- the output and pro-
ductivityinagricultureincreasesbysuchan
amount that labour is freed to work in in-
dustry and the industrial labour can be fed
by agriculture’s surplus output.
InPunjab,anagriculturalrevolution(the
Green Revolution) has clearly occurred —
there is huge surplus output. If Punjab had
been an independent country, once it had
experienced an agricultural revolution, a
sensiblepolicywouldhaveencourageddo-
mestic industrialisation, possibly by re-
stricting imports in the initial stages, and
surpluslabourfromagriculturewouldhave
shifted to industry. But Punjab is part of a
bigger country. So, it has got the advantage
of having easy access to the Indian agricul-
turalmarket.Punjabhasbeensellingwheat
and rice at Minimum Support Price (MSP)
to the Food Corporation of India. The MSP
and the APMCs, as they have developed in
Punjab, have made the farmers much bet-
ter off than most of their counterparts in
the rest of India. The MSP and the well-
functioningAPMCswereapartof adeliber-
ate strategy of the central government to
have first, food sufficiency and, then, food
surplus, so that a situation like that in the
mid-1960s does not reoccur. This situation
was achieved some time back at a macro-
level — though this does not mean that
Indians are not under-nourished.
Increasingagriculturalincomesexpect-
edlyledtoanincreaseindemandforindus-
trialproductsliketractors,cars,washingma-
chines. These products are produced in
states (Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and
Karnataka) which developed as industrial
hubs. In short, Punjab has had an agricul-
tural revolution, but it has not moved on to
anindustrialrevolutionasithaseasyaccess
to products produced in rest of India.
Within an economy, one expects some
geographical specialisation depending on
naturalresourcesandlandfertility.Obviously,
mineswouldhavetobeinJharkhand.Forthat
reason, Punjab was selected for the Green
Revolution.Onecannotreallyexpectallstates
to be efficient in production of all goods. But
Punjabthenbecomesanintriguingcase.The
questionthenis:Whatshouldbetheunitfor
“development”?
Thesecondthingthathappensduetoan
agricultural revolution is that labour re-
leased from farms can be shifted to indus-
try. But hardly any industrialisation has oc-
curred in Punjab. Punjab remains an
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
RIGHT PRICE
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘Spectrum
of choices’(IE,December18).Theinter-
netisrejiggingtraditionalsectorsof the
economy, creating both traditional and
newerjobopportunities.Thesuccessof
the digital economy depends on the
quality and availability of the spectrum
withthetelecomserviceproviders.The
spectrum holding by a telecom opera-
torinIndiainaparticularserviceareais
well below the international average.
Thebasepriceof thespectrumavailable
for the upcoming auction must be
quotedcompetitively,asthispricingpol-
icyissuretohaveanimpactonthepace
of the economic recovery and employ-
ment generation.
Sudip Kumar Dey, Kolkata
LEFT REWARDED
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘Leftturnin
Kerala’(IE,December18).Thestate’srul-
ing LDF’s resounding victory in local
body polls, in the face of an opposition
smear campaign, reflected the people’s
approvaloftheachievementsofthegov-
ernment, especially welfare schemes
and grassroots interventions, including
housing for the poor. The only consola-
tion for the UDF was the slight upper
handitgainedinmunicipalities.Though
theBJPimproveditstallyfrom2015,the
partycouldnotreachanywherecloseto
its ambitious plans.
SS Paul, Nadia
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— THE GUARDIAN
“agricultural” state and, unfortunately, is
proud about it. The current agitation, in a
veryfundamentalsense,isareflectionof the
lackof industrialisation.InBihar,too,hardly
any industrialisation has occurred and so
thelandless,marginalandsmallfarmersmi-
gratetootherstates.ButinPunjab,thisclass
of people is not as poor as the Bihari farmer
whomigrates,buttheyarenotasrichasthe
big farmer in Punjab.
However, there is nothing in the Punjab
economy that should stop it from moving
on to an industrial revolution. But policy in
Punjab has been stagnant. As long as farm-
erscouldgetareasonableMSPandthepeo-
ple were fairly well off, state governments
over the years did not seem to be under
pressure to do anything else.
Hopefully, the current crisis will be
sorted out in a satisfactory manner. But
the basic fault line will remain. The urban
population in Punjab is around 40 per
cent. This needs to increase by way of
more industrialisation.
The current agitations should be a
wake-up call for Punjab’s policy makers.
From a food-scarce economy, the Indian
economy has shifted to surplus-in-some
crops economy. Consequently, no govern-
ment can continue with an open-ended
MSP for almost all farm output (wheat
here). In fact, this was one of the points de-
bated between Sharad Joshi and V M
Dandekar way back in the 1980s.
Some big farmers have become like the
permanentgovernmentemployeesandare
trying to protect their incomes — that is
their right. What is not clear is why the BJP
felt the need to pass these laws so urgently.
One would have expected any government
to make unpopular changes very quietly,
without announcing them, as is usually
done in India.
Nevertheless,thegovernmentwillhave
to buy some foodgrain at MSP to keep its
bufferstocks,andforsupplyingthroughthe
PDS.So,amiddlepathneedstobefoundfor
thesurplusfarmersandforthegovernment
— in Punjab and other states with a similar
agrarian profile. Additionally, as all govern-
ments in the developed world do, the gov-
ernment will have to interfere, give subsi-
dieswhenneededbuttheprivatesectorwill
also have to expand.
Further, generally speaking, incomes
fromindustryarehigherthanfromagricul-
ture.If moreindustryissetupinPunjab,in-
comes will be higher. The small and mar-
ginalfarmerswouldbethefirstonestoshift
toworkinindustryif theopportunityarises
in the state. The big farmers could diversify
to non-wheat non-rice crops as they have
the capacity to take risks.
Industrialisation of Punjab is not really
difficult. It has a decent law-and-order sit-
uation, people are entrepreneurial, hard-
working, educated and healthy. Punjab
should now learn from Bangladesh and
Vietnam and go in for labour-intensive in-
dustrialisation—itisadifferentmatterthat
theentirecountryneedstolearnfromthem.
Thereisalotthatastategovernmentcando
especially with respect to small- and
medium-scale industries. These industries
should be then allowed to become big.
Punjab could show the path here.
The writer is emeritus professor at the
Savitribai Phule Pune University
IDEAS
ONLINE
ONLY IN THE EXPRESS
● THE HEART-KIDNEY LINK:
PRATHAP KUMAR
● THE IMPUNITY OF
MARITAL RAPE:
ANIRUDH PRATAP SINGH
www.indianexpress.com
PATRONISING
THISREFERSTOthearticle,‘Inreformlies
the farmer’s interest’ (IE December 18).
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj
SinghChouhanandhisparty’sapproach
— of not classifying farmers as a group
with legitimate grievances and capable
of thinkingforitself andinsteadfeeding
thepatronisingnotionof thefarmerbe-
ing a naive simpleton — led to the cur-
rent protests. The government does not
seemabletofullygrasptheimplications
oftheirgrievance,whichiswhyitishav-
ing trouble communicating with the
community. Perhaps the writer and his
party should drop the annadata trope
and treat them as citizens first.
Animesh Mohan, Ballia
Lucknow

10 IDEA EXCHANGE
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
‘
Senior leaders say Pak, China involved... If we look at
farmers with suspicion, it will hurt the community
TheJharkhandCMsaysOppnmustexamine “politics insmallpockets”totakeonBJP, deniesspecialtreatmenttoLaluPrasad,saysGST“has brokenthebackof state
governments”andtalksof rebuildingtrustwithindustryplayerstogeneratejobsinstate.ThesessionwasmoderatedbyDeputyAssociateEditorManojCG
MANOJ C G: What has the last one year
as chief minister of Jharkhand been
like? What were some of the
challenges that you faced?
We came to power with a lot of ex-
citement and enthusiasm, but the past
year has been tough for everyone. The
entire world is still battling the pan-
demic. The year has given me a new ex-
perience as a leader. We learnt how to
deal with a wide-spread infectious dis-
ease. This experience will be a milestone
for us, and even for leaders in the future.
It will serve as a reference point to see
how a government faces a challenge and
overcomes them.
Our state has a different nature and
culture.Thearrangementsherearediffer-
ent. This is true for every state, and the
presentcrisishastestedtheabilityof each
of these governments to stand by its peo-
ple. For (Jharkhand’s) over three crore
population, we have created a feeling of
strength in these tough times.
MANOJ C G: Many of the Opposition
parties have raised questions about
the Centre’s measures during the
pandemic. What has your experience
of interacting with the Centre been
during these months?
Unfortunately, I have to say that non-
BJPstateshavenothadagoodexperience.
Itisthesamesituationforustoo.Ourstate
isamongthebackwardstatesinthecoun-
try, and it needs the most care and atten-
tion. But instead of getting that, our state
was ignored the most. Whether it is
healthcare or economic support,
Jharkhand has been dependent on the
Centre. We were hoping for special atten-
tionandsupportfromtheCentre,butdid-
n’t get any of it.
MANOJ C G: There is a lot of
conversation now over the issue of
availability of Covid-19 vaccine for the
common man. Have you got any
assurance from the Prime Minister or
the Centre that all residents of your
state will get the vaccine?
Yes, the conversation about the vac-
cine has been going on for some time.
There are a lot of questions regard-
ing the availability of the vaccine,
even though the vaccine is not
here yet. During the Bihar
elections the BJP said that
thestatewouldbethefirst
to be given free vaccine.
In such a situation, what
kind of priority will
states such as
Jharkhand get?... In the
supply of the vaccine,
the Central govern-
ment will play an im-
portant role, and we
will find out how it pri-
oritises states once the
supply chain is set in- to
motion.
MANOJ C G: You mentioned that state
governments did not get enough
support from the Centre during the
pandemic. What are some of the
measures that the Centre could have
taken in this period?
Jharkhand was among the first states
that had asked the Centre to allow mi-
grant workers to return (when the coron-
avirus lockdown was imposed in March-
April). It wasn’t allowed. On the other
hand, BJP-ruled states such as Uttar
‘ ‘
Pradesh took measures that were against
the Centre’s guide-
lines to get its people
home.Then,evenwe
said that if you don’t In such times of economic
allow us, then we crises, role of state govts ABHISHEK ANGAD:
will have to defy the
Centre’s guidelines. must be looked into.
The difficult con-
dition that migrant Centre has been forming the migrant
workers found own rules... Federal system workers who have
themselvesinduring
the lockdown was exists only in name
visible to everyone.
People were reach-
ing out to us from all
over the country, and it was becoming a
matterof concernforus.Somehow,things
movedforward.First,thenumberof trains
travelling tothe statewasnotenough.We
had to get people airlifted from the
Andaman&Nicobarislands,fromLadakh,
Assam... Somehow, we got our
people back.
As far as healthcare is concerned... The started many schemes to generate em-
Centre had received a lot of donations
from big corporate houses as part of the
PrimeMinister’sNationalRelief Fund,and
they had assured all the states that venti-
lators will be provided. The number of
ventilators that finally arrived were
negligible.
In the early days of the pandemic, we
did not even have Covid-19 testing facili-
ties in the state. Samples had to be taken
to our neighbouring states and the results
took 15-20 days to arrive. We repeatedly
HEMANT SOREN, CHIEF MINISTER, JHARKHAND
WHY
HEMANT SOREN
A
fter BJP’s victory in
general elections last
year, Soren’s JMM-led
alliance gave the Opposition
its first win in a state poll,
underlining the impact of local
issues. Son of three-time CM
Shibu Soren, his govt is set to
complete a year in office
sought permission from the Centre to
make our own laboratories operational,
but there too we got little help. Finally, we
set up four world-class testing laborato-
‘ ‘
ries in the state on our own. Today, we
have RT-PCR testing
facilitiesinallourdis-
tricts.
What are you
doing to ensure
employment for
returned to the
state in the past
months? And,
what is the
progress on the
schemes that you announced since
the lockdown in Jharkhand?
Jharkhand has a strong labour force,
and it could have been capitalised in a big
way. In the past, it was not done by the
state’s labour department. When I learnt
thatpeople migratefromthestateinsuch
large numbers, I was concerned. So, I
ployment.
We explored the MGNREGA scheme
in a big way, and when compared to the
last 20 years, we created a record number
of jobs. The MGNREGA wages were also
very low in the past and we also decided
to increase it... We brought back girls who
worked as bonded labourers in other
states and now their monthly earnings
have gone up. On December 29, our gov-
ernment completes a year, and by
February-March we are hoping to create
10,000 jobs.
Our skilling schemes are also being
implemented, and we are exploring dif-
ferent trade options. We are looking at
productsthatcanbeusedwithinthestate.
The country’s economic situation has
been shaken because of the pandemic,
and many of the industries that we ap-
proached are scared to invest now.
Also, because of some of the past
schemes, there was a loss of trust. We
have been working on rebuilding that
trust and many industry players have
given us a positive response and are
preparing to invest in a big way... Mines
and minerals have been the general em-
ployment sector in the state. We are try-
ing to explore other avenues as well. We
give 4-5lakhcyclestopoor children every
year,whichmeanswepurchase5lakhcy-
cles in a year. Why then do we not have a
cycle plant in the state? So we are now
telling corporates to set up production
units here, which will generate employ-
ment and also help with social activities
in the state.
ABHISHEK ANGAD: You recently
conducted reviews of state
government departments. Why did
you feel the need to do that, and what
did you learn from it?
The executive bodies, bureaucracy
help implement our ideas and vision on
the ground. But we have been a little dis-
appointed on this account. I saw a little
less creativity... Their role is not just about
implementing ideas...matters such as
wealth collection are also important. If
thereisacrisisof wealthinthestate,noth-
ing can happen. In such a case, all you can
Newsmakers in the Newsroom
Illustration: Suvajit Dey
do is implement the Centre’s schemes.
And what happens is that when the
schemes start, it is a 50:50 sharing (be-
tween the Centre and the state), then it
becomes 60:40, then 70:30, and finally
thestategovernment
has to bear all the ex-
penses.
Today, there is a There have been questions biggest
lot of concern over over availability of Covid-19 thing happens, the
the fact that our
state’s budget is Rs vaccine. In Bihar polls, BJP responsible for it.
85,000 crore, but the
actual resources are said state will get free
onlyworthRs25,000 vaccine. What priority will ward, the Covid-19
crore. Of this, about
Rs 18-19,000 crore is states like Jharkhand get? peak. Where he was
given in salaries.
What kind of work
can happen in Rs 8-
10,000 crore?
So that is why we held meetings with
allPSUsandmineownersinthestate,and
reviewed the business that they con-
ducted with the government. I was sur-
prised to find that many of the Centre’s
bodies such as SAIL, Coal India had dues
to the tune of lakhs of crores of rupees. In sad.WecouldhavehelpedtheRJDinafew
the firstmeeting itself, we found thatCoal
India had to give us Rs 1.5 lakh crore, and
withinterest,theCentreowesusRs3lakh
crore. To recover this money, we have
formedacommitteeundertheleadership
of the chief secretary.
We also brought reforms in the taxa-
tion system. You know that the GST has
brokenthebackof stategovernments.The
way the government is distancing itself,
soon we will become helpless.
I have been flagging these issues in
meetings with the Prime Minister. I said
that in these times of economic crisis, the
role of the state government should also
belookedinto.Butthatdidn’thappenand
the Centre has been formulating its own
rules...Thecountry’sfederalsystemexists
only in name.
‘
(On Jharkhand’ bureaucracy) In the
past 20 years, the BJP
has been in power
most of the time in Unfair to brand activists as protest. It is not right
the state. Before my
term, there was a Maoists. Jharkhand has
double-engine gov-
ernment in the state, large SC/ST population
and those five years which have been exploited...
weighed the state
down. People died of If people help... shouldn’t be seem too big. They
hunger, there were
farmer suicides, lack branded Maoists
of employment...The
previous govern-
menthasfailedinad-
dressingtheseissues.Wehaveneverdone
road shows outside the state. We want to
hold events in the state to attract people
here, through tourism etc. For instance,
wehaveaschoollikeNetarhatResidential
School which has produced innumerable
IAS officers, writers, poets... It is not just largely failed to give the BJP a good
an educational institution but also a her-
itage site. So I feel that Jharkhand actually that?
doesnotneedtoaskforhelpfromoutside.
Butnowwearebeingforcedtodoso...The
indifferenceof thepreviousgovernments,
and the ways of the bureaucracy have
been responsible for this.
ABHISHEK ANGAD: You mentioned
deaths due to starvation. Why has
your government said in the
Assembly then that no such deaths
have happened in the state? Earlier
this year, a man is said to have died
of starvation in Bokaro.
See,if therearefaults,wemustad-
mitandaddressthem.Inthepastone
year we have worked a lot on the up-
liftment of the social sector in the
state, and we have set an example
for the country. You have men-
tioned one incident, and if it is true,
then it is very sad. Those responsi-
bleforitwillbepunished.Wewon’t
let them get away or hide the facts.
But for the future, we are strength-
ening the systems, so that such an
incident never happens.
During the pandemic, we ran
Didi Kitchens in every panchayat, on
highways. For three-four months,
about fourcrorepeople were given free
meals.Usingourownresources,wehave
ensured that 15 lakh ration cards are
made, and they will be distributed from
December 29 onwards. No one will be
without ration.
We have also decided to have a corpus
in panchayats, so that even if one person
has a complaint, a ration card is arranged
for them. So yes, even one incident (of
starvation death) will be taken seriously
by the government.
SANTOSH SINGH: There have been
accusations of special treatment for
jailed RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, who
has been admitted at Rajendra
Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS)
in Ranchi for over two years now.
How would you respond to that?
Also, your party couldn’t join the
alliance with the RJD during the
Bihar elections. Do you have any
regrets regarding that?
As far as Laluji is concerned, the help
extendedtohimisintermsof healthserv-
ices.Thesamehospi-
tal also has the
Covid-19
ward... Now, if some-
state government is
When we shifted
him to a private
infection was at its
being treated earlier,
thebuildingattached
to his ward was our
coronavirus headquarter. The decision to
shift him to a cottage was an administra-
tive one. The cottage was empty. If it was
not so, he would have been moved to a
room in the hospital. It was not a political
decision by the government.
(Alliance in Bihar elections) Yes, it was
seats, and maybe the Opposition bore the
brunt of it, and the RJD failed to come to
power yet again in the state.
HARIKISHAN SHARMA: Farmers have
been protesting against the three new
farm laws at Delhi’s border for many
days now. Non-BJP-ruled states such
as Punjab, Rajasthan and
Chhattisgarh have passed laws in
their states to counter the Centre’s
laws. Do you plan to do the same in
the future?
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
‘
If one looks at it from a layman’s point
of view,thenlawswhichmakeblackmar-
keting, hoarding, profiteering legal, how
can the people support it? Ordinarily, all
these activities are considered a crime. I
‘
think now only the farmers are on streets,
but once the effect of the laws is evident,
all kinds of people
will come out to
to push 125 crore
people in hell for the
benefit of a few. I
can’t support it.
The demands of
the farmers don’t
only want the
Minimum Support
Price to be legally
fixed so that buying
below that price be-
comes a crime. I can’t support the new
laws.Thegovernmenthastakendecisions
in a rush.
MANOJ C G: While you defeated the
BJP in Jharkhand, the Opposition has
fight in many other states. Why is
It is a big question. The Opposition’s
weaknesses have made the BJP strong.
The divisions within the Opposition are
also to blame. The Opposition does not
have anyone to give it a direction.
MANOJ C G: The Congress is the
country’s biggest Opposition party.
What would your advice be for Rahul
Gandhi and the party?
Political developments happen from
timetotime.TheCongress’sregionallead-
ership is quite strong in many parts of the
country. But to coordinate between all
Opposition parties and present a joint op-
position to the BJP is a very big challenge.
There needs to be a middle path to de-
velop a strategy. We need to examine the
politics in small pockets and then strate-
gise... The Congress is a big organisation, it
has think-tanks, this can be done. The
Opposition has to first accept the ground
reality of the country.
MANOJ C G: After the Bihar elections,
there were talks about how giving the
Congress party 70 seats to contest in
the state was not a good decision. Is
the Congress becoming a liability for
regional parties?
If a few of us had also joined the al-
liance, the performance could have been
better. It would not be right to say that the
governmentcouldnotbeformedbecause
of the Congress. It is not just important to
win seats, but we also need a strong al-
liance that is on the same page.
DIPANKAR GHOSE: Recently, Union
Minister Piyush Goyal said that if the
farmers’ protest is freed from Maoist
and Naxal forces, they will
understand the benefit of the new
laws. In the past, people arrested in
the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon
case have been labelled as ‘urban
Naxal’. As a state that has experience
in dealing with Naxalism, how do you
look at these developments?
The issue of urban Naxalism has been
atalkingpointacrossthecountryforsome
time now. In Jharkhand, (Jesuit priest and
tribal rights activist) Stan Swamy was ar-
rested (in October in the Elgar Parishad-
Bhima Koregaon case). Maoism hasnever
scared me, I move around freely in my
state. One question that we need to ask
here is whether these people we are talk-
ing about are ideological Maoists or
dummy Maoists. It would be unfair to
brand a social activista Maoist. Jharkhand
has a large population of SC/ST commu-
nities which have been exploited by dif-
ferent sections. If some people help these
communities, they should not be
branded Maoists.
There are dummy Maoists in the state
who pushed black marketing of miner-
als. For the first time, we released pic-
tures of such Maoists in newspapers and
television channels, so that everyone
knows who these people are, and we get
the support of locals in solving the prob-
lem... About 80 per cent of the state is ru-
ral. If we give priority to rural regions in
our development programmes, then
such (Maoist) activities won’t last long.
(On Piyush Goyal’s comment) I heard
that he even said Pakistan and China are
involved (in the farmers’ protest). When
such a senior leader makes such a com-
ment... The new generation must think
about the basis of such statements. The
BJP’s rate of spreading propaganda is
very high... Insulting farmers like this...
There have been several farmers’
protests in the past. If we look at them
with suspicion, it will hurt the commu-
nity a lot. They provide food to the entire
country and they should not be facing
such allegations.
Lucknow
 E EXPLAINED
11
CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD
Coronavirus spike protein
imaged in its natural state
CORONAVIRUSES INCLUDING SARS-
CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, get
their name from the “corona” or
crown shape created by the protein
“spikes” on their surface. These spike
proteinsbindwithhumanproteinsto
initiatetheprocessof infection.These
spikes have been extensively studied
during the pandemic. Now, scientists
have made detailed images of those
spikes in their natural state — while
theyarestillattachedtothevirus,and
without using chemical fixatives that
might distort their shape. Detailed structure of a "spike"
Their method, which combines from a coronavirus that is a
cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo- milder relative of SARS-CoV-2
EM)andcomputation,isdescribedina K. Zhang et al., Quarterly Reviews of
study in the Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics Discovery
Biophysics Discovery. The researchers
said the method should
produce quicker and
more realistic snapshots
oftheinfectionapparatus
invariousstrainsofcoro-
navirus—acriticalstepin
designing therapeutic
drugsandvaccines. PAPER
“The advantage of
doing it this way is that
when you purify a spike
CLIP
protein and study it in NEW RESEARCH
isolation, you lose im-
portant biological context: How does The team also identified places
it look in an intact virus particle? It where sugar molecules attach to the
could possibly have a different struc- spike protein, a process that plays an
turethere,”seniorauthorWahChiu,a important role in the virus’s life cycle
professor at the US Department of andinitsabilitytoevadetheimmune
Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator system.
Laboratory and Stanford University, Source: SLAC National Accelerator
said in a statement from SLAC.
INDIA ACTIVE CASES
400,000
363,749
350,000
LAST 10 DAYS
300,000
Dec 10
Note: The Dec 19 figure in this graph is based on the government update on Dec 20
INDIA TOTAL CASES
10,031,223
Source:MinistryofHealth&Family
Welfare,updatedat11pmonDec20
Reading NFHS data: why findings of the latest round are of concern
UDIT MISRA & NUSHAIBA IQBAL
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
THE MINISTRY of Health and Family
Welfare(MoHFW) recently released the re-
sults from the first phase of the National
Family Health Survey (NHFS). This is the
fifth such survey and the first phase — for
which data was collected in the second half
of 2019 — covered 17 states and five Union
Territories.
Themostimportanttakeawayisthatbe-
tween 2015 and 2019, several Indian states
have suffered a reversal on several child
malnutrition parameters. In other words,
instead of improving, several stateshave ei-
therseenchildmalnutritionincreaseorim-
prove at a very slow rate.
The second phase of the survey was dis-
rupted by the Covid-19 pandemic; its re-
sults are expected to come out in May 2021.
The second phase will cover some of the
biggest states such as Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand.
Experts expect the second phase data on
child malnutrition to be even worse, given
the all-round adverse impact of Covid — be
it personal incomes, food availability,
healthcare provisioning etc.
What is NFHS?
NFHS is a large-scale nationwide survey
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
The research team
looked at a much milder
coronavirus strain called
NL63, which causes com-
mon cold symptoms and
is responsible for about
10% of human respiratory
disease each year. It’s
thought to attach to the
same receptors on the
surfacesof humancellsas
SARS-CoV-2 does.
Laboratory, Stanford
305,344
305,344
Dec 19
WORLD TOTAL CASES
76,559,930
Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,
updatedat11pmonDec20
of representative households. The data is
collected over multiple rounds. The
MoHFW has designated International
InstituteforPopulationSciencesinMumbai
as the nodal agency and the survey is a col-
laborative effort of IIPS; ORC Macro,
Maryland (US); and the East-West Center,
Hawaii (US). The survey is funded by the
United States Agency for International
Development(USAID)withsupplementary
support from UNICEF.
This is the fifth NFHS and refers to the
2019-20 period. The first four referred to
1992-93, 1998-99, 2005-06 and 2015-16,
respectively.
What data does it collect?
TheinitialfactsheetforNFHS-5provides
state-wise data on 131 parameters. These
parameters include questions such as how
many households get drinking water, elec-
tricity and improved sanitation; what is sex
ratioatbirth,whatareinfantandchildmor-
talitymetrics,whatisthestatusof maternal
andchildhealth,howmanyhavehighblood
sugar or high blood pressure etc.
Each round of NFHS has also expanded
the scope of inquiry. In the fifth iteration,
for instance, there are new questions on
preschool education, disability, access to a
toilet facility, death registration, bathing
practices during menstruation, and meth-
ods and reasons for abortion.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com
EXPLAINED FINANCE
Respected Finance Minister
Aheadof theBudget,oneof India’stopcapitalmarketsexpertswritesanopenlettertoFinanceMinister
NirmalaSitharaman,listingadozenwaystoraisefundstofinanceIndia’srecoveryfromthepandemic
block the stuck capital. From being equal to
EXPERT us in the 1980s, China has leapfrogged to be-
come five times bigger, based on higher
EXPLAINS creditcreation.Suchdecadalblockageof cap-
ital constrains credit creation and adversely
impacts our growth.
Nilesh Shah Sale and lease-back of
From The Indian Express panel government properties
of specialists, exclusive insight
8
The government can do a sale and
lease-backof itsincrediblesetsof prop-
erties. Rental cost to the government
Respected Finance Minister, will be lower than borrowing cost through
gilts. Obviously the governmentwill miss on
Despite demands for more government the real estate appreciation. Investors queue
spending, total expenditure was curtailed uptogetthegovernmentasalong-termten-
by 0.6%, as total receipts dropped by 33% in ant at attractive terms in a low-interest-rate
1H FY21. You optimised spending, borrow- environment. Auction the bragging rights of
ing and fiscal prudence. Covid-19 impacted saying “the government is my tenant”.
segments like hospitality and MSMEs,
which need fiscal support. There is demand Estate Duty
9
for reduction in consumption taxes for a pe- In the United States, estate duty goes as
riod of time to support demand creation. I high as 40%, albeit with several exemp-
am sure you are inundated with demands tions. Many Indians are happily paying
for money. I am taking the liberty to suggest estate duty in the US on their inherited assets
ways to raise resources to finance spending.
They aren’t easy, but if you won’t make an
attempt, who will?
inIndia.Weshouldlevyestatedutyonunpro-
ductive assets like precious metals & stones,
art,andoffshoreassets.Thiswillencouragein-
vestment in financial assets that will provide
Gold disclosure scheme domestic capital to accelerate growth.
1
Like kasturi mrig, we are roaming the
world searching for money, but are ig- Plug tax loopholes
10
norant of money that lies among us. In Ethical hackers are rewarded to
thelasttwodecades,wehavespent$373bil- find loopholes in programming.
lion for net imports of gold. Smuggled gold Ethical tax practitioners shouldbe
and jewellery worn by travellers will take rewarded for plugging tax loopholes. For ex-
that amount beyond $500 billion. ample, there is a cottage industry running to
Unfortunately, the bulk of this gold is convert interest income taxable at 43% to
blocked in the black economy. A Gold long-term capital gains taxable at 10%
Disclosure Scheme will mobilise taxes, un- through zero coupon listed debentures.
lock capital lying in the black economy, and Dividend stripping could take away hun-
upgradeIndia’ssovereignrating.Goodstruc- dreds of crores in taxes in the stock of a tech
turing and execution with precision, target- company that recently declared a large div-
ing 10% of the stock of gold has the potential Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a pre-Budget meeting last week. PTI idend. You will be surprised what well-mo-
to raise Rs 3,50,000 crore in taxes and un- tivated ethical tax practitioners will be able
block capital of Rs 10,50,000 crore. to plug leaks in our tax system.
12 years,thetradesbelow book at0.92times tributed 80% of non-tax revenue to the state.
Convert gold import duty despite a high dividend yield of 2.9%.
Improve ease of doing
to GST Piecemealandpredictablemarketdivest-
Plug the tax leakage on investments
2 11
Thelevyof import dutyongoldhasen- ment among other reasons have resulted in smuggled/fake cigarettes In the last two decades, more than
5
couraged smug- asharpde-ratingof PSUs. As per the Tobacco Institute of India, Rs 1,00,000 crore of investor
gling and enhanced Successful strategic di- the representative body of stakehold- moneyisstuckincollectiveinvest-
the attractiveness of gold vestment of one PSU can ers in the tobacco industry, ment schemes ranging from NBFCs, jew-
by increasing the rupee re-rate all PSUs. If PSUs smuggled/fake cigarettes account for 25% of ellers, chit funds, Vishi (a scheme similar to
value of gold. A shift of THE EXPERT trade at the higher end of cigarette volumes. It is such an attractive chit funds and popular in Gujarat), agro
taxation on gold from im- NILESH SHAH, Managing theirvaluations,themar- businessthatsomeof theCovid-19returnees tech/forest/emu rearing companies. Buying
port duty to GST will in- Director of Kotak ket value of the govern- smuggled in cigarettes for quick gains. a financial product isn’t as easy as buying
crease tax revenues as Mahindra Asset ment’s holdings will ap- We need to curb smuggling of ciga- gold. Multiple and high-cost of KYC con-
smuggled gold gives way Management Co Ltd, has preciate in excess of Rs rettes/manufacturing of fake cigarettes strains penetration of regulated financial
to official imports. over a quarter century’s 7,00,000crore.Forty-five through focused efforts. This has the poten- productsamongbottom-of-the-pyramid in-
Jewellers won’t be im- experience in capital per cent of HZL was tial to generate taxes of Rs 10,000 crore. In vestors. Simple and cheaper KYC will ensure
pacted due to the pass markets and market- strategically divested in the longer term, we need to bring bidi and more flows to financial products and en-
through, but will come related investments. He is 2002-03 for Rs 769 crore. other tobacco products, which accounts for hance availability of domestic capital to fi-
under the tax net. In the one of the country’s most The residual 30% govern- 91% of tobacco consumption, in the tax net. nance growth.
import duty regime, the astute financial analysts. mentstakeisvaluedatRs
investor perceives gold as 30,000 crore, an appreci-
Monetisation of enemy Allow PSUs to manage treasury
an item of investment, as ation of more than 59 property assets on a commercial basis
6 12
his cost and market value times in 18 years. Properties (including encroached and Private corporates invest in mu-
is the same at Rs 112.50 (12.5% import duty disputed)andfinancialassetsaggregat- tual funds to optimise their treas-
on gold). In the GST regime, the ultimate
Bring black market economy to ing more than Rs 1,00,000 crore have uryincome.PSUsdon’tenjoysim-
gold investor will have to pay Rs 112.50 to white economy beenheldbytheCustodianofEnemyProperty ilar flexibility. Better treasury management
4
get gold valued at Rs 100. Instant loss recog- Indians are large spenders in casinos at since 1968. A fast track mechanism to liqui- willhelpPSUstopaymoredividendandhelp
nition will diminish misallocation of our Macau, Singapore, Las Vegas, and date the same can raise resources and help re-rate valuations. I must disclose my con-
savings and make available domestic capital Nepal. Large-scale betting happens on catchupwithPakistan,whichliquidatedtheir flictasa mutualfund manager.However,our
to finance growth. the IPL, elections, and other events. Matka enemy properties way back in 1971. clients will vouch for my suggestion.
thrives.Wemustlegalisesuchactivitieswith There will be many arguments why the
Realising better value for PSUs necessary safeguards. This will transit crim-
Unblock capital stuck in above suggestions can’t be implemented.
3
In January 2008, the BSE PSU Index inalactivitiestoresponsiblebusinesses, raise commercial disputes Accelerated growth of India financed by do-
7
peaked at 11,205, and the Sensex at taxes, cut off funding to criminals, and sup- From the 1992 securities scam to the mestic capital is the only reason why the
20,827. After 12 years, the Sensex is up port the tourism industry that has been the 2018 IL&FS and DHFL cases, trillions of above suggestions need to be implemented.
2.25 times to 46,960, and the PSU Index is hardest hit by Covid-19. In 2018, Kerala lot- rupees are stuck in the absence of res-
down48%to5,871.ThePSUIndexhavingun- tery had turnover of Rs 12,000 crore and a olution. A fast-track mechanism for speedy Yours truly,
derperformed the market by 173% in the last profit of Rs 2,500 Crore. Lottery sales con- resolution of commercial disputes will un- Nilesh Shah
welfare metrics have described the latest What is the significance of these
CHILD NUTRITION PARAMETERS results as “shocking”, “alarming” and “very
troublesome”.
results?
Worsening child malnutrition, as well
■ Gujarat ■ Kerala ■ Maharashtra ■ WestBengal The graphs alongside show why. as rising levels of anaemia in women (espe-
On several parameters, the number of cially pregnant ones), points to Indian chil-
Chart1:InfantMortality(Deathsunderage Chart4:Proportionofunderweight statesworseningoverthelastround—NFHS- dren born in the past 5 years likely suffer-
80 1per1,000livebirths) childrenunderage5(%) 4(2015-16)—isnotonlyhighbutoftenmore ing from both cognitive and physical
60 39.7 than the number of states improving. deficiencies.
60 31.2
23.2 40 36.1 What is most troubling is that on child In January 2012, then Prime Minister
40 32.2
22 malnutrition parameters — such as infant Manmohan Singh had said that high child
20 20
4.4 19.7 and child (under 5 years of age) mortality, malnutrition level in India was “a national
0 1992 1998 2005 2015 2019 0 1992 1998 2005 2015 2019 child stunting (low height for one’s age), shame”. As it turns out, between NFHS-3
-93 -99 -06 -16 -20 -93 -99 -06 -16 -20 child wasting ( low weight for one’s height) (2005-06) and NFHS-4 (2015-16), India
Chart2:Stuntinginchildren (%) Chart3:Wastinginchildren(%) and proportion of underweight children — registered its most significant reduction in
several states have either been stagnant or child malnutrition, thanks to a flurry of in-
60 39 30 25.6 worsened. terventions such nutrition missions,
40 35.2 20 25.1 In other words, children born between Integrated Child Development Services,
33.8 20.3 2014 and 2019 (that is, 0 to 5 years of age) the introduction of MGNREGA and expan-
20 23.4 10 15.8
are more malnourished than the previous sion of Public Distribution System among
0 0 generation.Thereversalintheproportionof others.
1998-99
1992-93
(under3)
(under3)
2005-06
(under3)
2019-20
2005-06
2015-16
(under5)
(under5)
1992-93
(under3)
1998-99
(under3)
(under3)
2015-16
2019-20
children who are stunted is the most wor- Thelatestresultsshowthathealth-wise,
risome because unlike wasting and being India has taken a turn for the worse since
underweight (which can be due to short 2015 despite improvements in water avail-
term reasons and represent acute malnu- ability and sanitation methods.
trition), stunting represents chronic mal- Health outcomes such as child malnu-
nutrition.Reversalsinstuntingareunheard tritiondataaretheresultof acomplexsetof
Why are NFHS results important? That’sbecausethequestionsandthemethod- of in growing economies with stable reasons — ranging from the state of a fam-
The NFHS database is possibly the most ology is internationally valid. Thus, it places democracies. ily’s income generation to environmental
important one because it not only feeds into theresultsofsaychildmalnutritiontrendsin Anothercause of concern is thefactthat factors to government interventions.
theresearchneedsandinformsadvocacybut Bihar in the global context. the first phase data is pre-pandemic and it Experts say that only when the full set
also is central to both central and state-level is quite likely that the second phase — of raw unit-level data is available can a
policymaking. NFHS survey results also pro- What has NFHS-5 found? which will also incorporate Covid’s impact proper analysis of why India suffered such
vide internationally comparable results. Researchers and experts on health and — may throw up ever poorer results. reversals over the past five years be done.
Lucknow

12 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
A damaged vehicle at
the site of a blast in
Kabul. Reuters
AFGHANISTAN
9deadasKabul
bombingtargets
lawmaker
Kabul: A car bombing in
KabultargetinganAfghan
lawmaker killed at least
nine people, officials said.
Lawmaker Khan
Mohammad Wardak sur-
vived the blast but is
among 20 injured includ-
ing women and children,
Afghan Interior Minister
Massoud Andarabi said. It
isunclear whethertheex-
plosive was planted in a
car parked on the law-
maker’s route or if a vehi-
clewiththebombwasbe-
ing driven by a bomber,
Andarabi added.No one
hasclaimedresponsibility
for the blast. REUTERS
NEPAL
Report:Airline
flew69towrong
destination
Kathmandu: Passengers
bound for Nepal's
Janakpurwereinforasur-
prise after they ended up
in Pokhara, 255 km from
the actual destination, af-
ter a rare flight mix-up by
a leading private carrier,
according to a media re-
port on Sunday. The inci-
dent happened on Friday
to 69 passengers travel-
ling on Buddha Air, The
Kathmandu Post re-
ported. Buddha Air ad-
mitted to serious lapses
onitsside,thereportsaid.
Aviation experts say such
incidents may happen,
but they happen quite
rarely. PTI
PAKISTAN
50pilotslose
licenseforover
fakecredentials
Islamabad: The Pakistan
governmenthascancelled
thelicencesof50pilotsfor
flyingwithfakecredentials
and authorities will probe
howtheyobtainedthecer-
tificates through unfair
means, the country's Civil
Aviation Authority has in-
formed a top court here.
The issue of fake licences
surfaced in wake of the
crash of a Pakistan
International Airlines
plane in Karachi on May
22, killing 97 people. The
Dawn newspaper re-
portedthatauthoritiestold
the Islamabad high court
that under the require-
mentsoftheInternational
CivilAviationOrganisation,
they have reviewed li-
cencesof 860commercial
pilots and cancelled 50 of
them after a thorough
scrutiny. PTI
US: Nirav Modi’s brother
charged with $2.6 mn fraud
YOSHITA SINGH
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 20
NEHAL MODI, the younger
brother of fugitive diamantaire
Nirav Modi, has been indicted
hereforfraudulentlyobtainingdi-
amonds worth over $2.6 million
fromoneoftheworld'sbiggestdi-
amondcompaniesinManhattan.
Nehal,41,ischargedinaNew
York Supreme Court indictment
with Grand Larceny in the First
Degree, Manhattan District
Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. said.
“Whilediamondsmaybefor-
ever,thisflawedschemewasnot,
and now Modi will face the clar-
ityof aNewYorkSupremeCourt
indictment.MyOfficewillnotal-
low individuals who have the
privilegeof solicitingbusinessin
Medical teams celebrate before receiving their Covid-19 vaccine at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center in Israel Sunday. Reuters
US lawmakers resolve federal dispute,
race to close Covid stimulus deal
THE NEW YORK TIMES
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 20
US SENATORS were on the brink
of agreement on a $900 billion
compromise relief bill after
breaking through an impasse
late Saturday night, with votes
on final legislation expected to
unfold as early as Sunday after-
noon and very likely just hours
before the government is set to
run out of funding.
Senator Patrick J Toomey,
Republican of Pennsylvania,
agreed Saturday nighttonarrow
his effort to rein in the Federal
Reserve and accepted an offer
put forward by Senator Chuck
Schumer,Democratof NewYork
and the minority leader, accord-
ing to three aides familiar with
the discussion.
The agreement was a critical
breakthrough for lawmakers
European neighbours restrict travel to
Britain as new coronavirus strain spreads
REUTERS
LONDON, DECEMBER 20
SEVERAL EUROPEAN countries
placednewrestrictionsontravel
to andfromtheUnited Kingdom
on Sunday due to concern over a
new strain of the coronavirus
that is spreading rapidly there.
Belgium said it would close
its borders to trains and planes
coming from the United
Kingdom and the Netherlands
also suspended flights. Italy said
it was planning a similar ban.
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson and scientists an-
nounced on Saturday that the
new virus strain had led to spi-
ralling infection numbers. The
UK government tightened its
Daniel Pearl murder accused: Scapegoat, held under US pressure
SAJJAD HUSSAIN
ISLAMABAD, DECEMBER 20
A LAWYER representing the par-
ents of slain US journalist Daniel
Pearlhasproducedahandwritten
letterinPakistan'sSupremeCourt
in which the key accused in the
caseclaimedthathewasa“scape-
goat” arrested under “US pres-
sure” and the real mastermind
was a Karachi-based terrorist.
Manhattan's iconic diamond in-
dustrytodefraudourbusinesses
or consumers,” Vance said.
According to the indictment,
court filings, and statements
made on the record in court, be-
tween March 2015 and August
2015,Nehal,aformermemberof
NobleTitanHoldings,madefalse
representations to obtain over
$2.6 million worth of diamonds
from LLD Diamonds USA on
favourablecredittermsandcon-
signment, and then liquidated
the diamonds for his own ends.
Nehal's brother Nirav, 49, is
wanted in India on charges of
fraud and money laundering in
the $2-billion Punjab National
Bank scam case. He remains at
Wandsworth Prison in London,
where he has been lodged since
his arrest in March 2019. PTI
who have been racing to com-
pleteapackagetorushdirectpay-
ments, unemployment benefits
and food and rental assistance to
millionsof Americansstruggling
financiallyduringthecoronavirus
pandemic,aswellasrelieftobusi-
nesses and funds for vaccine dis-
tribution. Although negotiators
werestillwranglingoversmaller
issues, the Federal Reserve lan-
guagehademergedasthebiggest
impedimenttoafinalagreement.
“If things continue on this
path, and nothing gets in the
way, we’ll be able to vote tomor-
row,” Mr. Schumer said. “House
and Senate.”
One of the potential remain-
ingstumblingblocksisPresident
Donald Trump, who has largely
been removed from the stimu-
lus negotiations as he continues
to attack the outcome of the
November3electionandunder-
mine President-elect Joseph R.
E
EXPLAINED
Mutant strain
●
more infectious
THE NEW Covid-19 strain was identified in southeastern
England in September and has been circulating in the area
since, according to WHO's technical lead on the virus,
Maria Van Kerkhove, who said that it "does have increased
transmissibility, in terms of its ability to spread".
However, Britain's chief medical officer Chris Whitty
said that while the new strain is greatly more infectious,
"there is no current evidence to suggest (it) causes a higher
mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments".
Covid-19 restrictions for London
and nearby areas and disrupted
the Christmas holiday plans of
Pearl, the 38-year-old South
Asia bureau chief for The Wall
Street Journal, was abducted and
beheaded while he was in
Pakistan investigating a story in
2002 on the links between the
country's powerful spy agency
ISI and al-Qaeda.
British-born al-Qaeda leader
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and
his three aides were convicted
and sentenced in the abduction
and murder case of Pearl. In
Once a slogan of unity, ‘Je Suis Charlie’ now divides France
NORIMITSU ONISHI &
CONSTANT MÉHEUT
PARIS, DECEMBER 20
In the hours after the 2015
Islamist terrorist attack on the
FrenchsatiricalmagazineCharlie
Hebdo, a slogan emerged to
mourn the dead and defend free
speech, spreading like magic
across France and the globe
through its unifying force.
“Je suis Charlie.”
Pictures of the slogan, “I am
Charlie”—inwhiteandlightgray
letters on a black background —
inspired millions who marched
in France and were joined by
worldleadersfromWesternand
Muslimnationsalike.Hollywood
A-listerslikeGeorgeClooneypro-
claimed, “Je suis Charlie.” So did
Maggie on The Simpsons. All
standing together as Charlie
Biden Jr.’s victory. On Sunday, he
tweeted his frustration with
Congress for not yet acting on a
stimulus and signaled that he
would want larger direct pay-
ments than the $600 payments
currently under discussion.
“GETITDONE,andgivethem
more money in direct pay-
ments,” he wrote on Twitter.
While Congress approved
$1,200 direct payments in the
$2.2 trillion stimulus law that
passed in March, lawmakers are
coalescing around $600 pay-
ments for this round in part to
maintainRepublicansupportand
tokeepthepricetagof themeas-
ure under $1 trillion. The emerg-
ing deal would also provide en-
hancedfederaljoblesspayments
of $300 per week until early
spring.Itwouldalsoprovidehun-
dredsofbillionsofdollarstoprop
up small businesses, schools and
otherinstitutionsstrugglingamid
millions of people.
Belgian Prime Minister
Alexander de Croo said the ban
Pearl was
abducted,
beheaded in
Pakistan
in 2002
April, they were exonerated by
the Sindh High Court and an ap-
peal against their acquittal is be-
ing heard in the Supreme Court.
AccordingtoaExpressTribune
against terrorists who believed
that the magazine had insulted
Islamwithitscartoonslampoon-
ing the Prophet Muhammad.
But the once unifying slogan
has become one of division in
France — framing complicated
debates in everyday conversa-
tions and popular culture, on so-
cial media and even as part of
school curriculums.
“I am Charlie” gave birth to “I
am not Charlie,” giving rise to a
question that demands picking
camps: Are you or are you not
Charlie?Theanswerputspeople
on either side of France’s major
fault lines, including freedom of
speech, secularism, race, na-
tional identity and, of course,
Islam.
The slogan’s metamorphosis
exposesthepolarizationof polit-
ical discourse in France, further
deepened by the decapitation of
the pandemic, and fund the dis-
tribution of vaccines.
Congressionalleadersplanto
merge the $900 billion compro-
mise measure with a catchall
omnibus package that will keep
the government funded for the
remainder of the fiscal year.
House leaders notified lawmak-
ers to prepare for votes as soon
as early Sunday afternoon. But
lawmakers have yet to see the
text for either legislative pack-
age, and, particularly in the
Senate, a single senator could
potentially delay passage past
the midnight funding deadline.
Representative James E.
Clyburn of South Carolina, the
No.3DemocratintheHouse,said
onMSNBCthathehopedtheleg-
islationcouldcleartheHousebe-
fore midnight. Without that, he
said, Congress would likely take
upanotherstopgapspendingbill
to avoid a lapse in funding.
on incoming travel from Britain
covers Eurostar services via the
Channel Tunnel and will take ef-
fect for at least 24 hours from
midnight on Sunday, broad-
caster VRT said.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi
di Maio, announcing plans to
halt flights to and from Britain,
said: “Our priority is to protect
Italy and our compatriots.”
The Netherlands banned
flights carrying passengers from
the UK from Sunday and the re-
strictions will remain in place
until January 1.
Germany could impose re-
strictions on flights from the
United Kingdom and South
Africa -- which has also detected
a new coronavirus strain--- the
German Health Ministry said.
reportonSunday,FaisalSiddiqui,
counsel for Pearl's parents, has
producedthehandwrittenletter
in the Supreme Court in which
Sheikh claimed that the real cul-
prit was a militant, Attaur
Rehman, from Karachi.
Siddiquitoldthecourtthelet-
ter was submitted to the Sindh
High Court on July 19, 2019.
In the letter, Sheikh claimed
that he was “a scapegoat” ar-
rested on “US pressure” and that
The slogan’s metamorphosis exposes the polarization of
political discourse in France. Reuters File
a middle schoolteacher and two
otherrecentIslamistattacksthat
followedtherepublicationof the
caricatures of the Prophet
MuhammadbyCharlieHebdoin
September.Butasittookona life
Biden introduces his
climate team, says
‘no time to waste’
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WILMINGTON , DECEMBER 20
JUST AS the United States has
needed a unified, national re-
sponse to Covid-19, it needs one
for dealing with climate change,
President-elect Joe Biden said
Saturday as he rolled out key
members of his environmental
team.
“We literally have no time to
waste,” Biden told reporters as
introduced his choices.
The approach is a shift from
Donald Trump’s presidency,
which has been marked by ef-
fortsto boost oilandgasproduc-
tion while rolling back govern-
ment efforts intended to
safeguard the environment. The
incoming Biden team will try to
undo or block many of the cur-
rent administration’s initiatives.
There also will be an emphasis
on looking out for the low-in-
come, working class and minor-
ity communities hit hardest by
fossil fuel pollution and climate
change.
Inhisremarks,Bidenstressed
the diversity of an emerging
team that he described as “bril-
liant, qualified, tested and they
are barrier-busting.”
“Alreadytherearemorepeo-
ple of color in our Cabinet than
any Cabinet ever, more women
than ever,” said the former vice
president, who has promised to
assembleagroupof department
leaders who reflect the diversity
of America.
The nominees Biden intro-
duced Saturday had compelling
personal stories that they cited
as guiding them if confirmed by
Donald Trump
downplays Russia
in first comments
on cyberattack
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 20
CONTRADICTINGHISsecretaryof
state and other top officials,
President Donald Trump on
Saturday suggested without evi-
dence that China -- not Russia --
may be behind the cyberattack
against the United States and
tried to minimize its impact.
“The Cyber Hack is far greater
in the Fake News Media than in
actuality.Ihavebeenfullybriefed
andeverythingiswellundercon-
trol,"Hetweeted.Healsoclaimed
the media are “petrified” of “dis-
cussingthepossibilitythatitmay
beChina(itmay!).”Thereisnoev-
idence to suggest that is the case.
the real culprit was Rehman.
Theletterwasproduceddur-
ing a hearing of the appeals
against the acquittal of the four
accusedinthePearlmurdercase.
A three-judge special bench led
by Justice Mushir Alam heard
the appeals of the Sindh govern-
ment and Pearl's parents against
the high court ruling.
The court will decide on it on
the next date of hearing on
January 4. PTI
ofitsown,thesloganitselfhelped
sharpen France’s divisions.
“I wish this slogan would
cease to exist because in the
form it’s taken today, it deepens
thedivide,” said JoachimRoncin,
JoeBiden atTheQueenTheaterinWilmington,Delaware. AP/PTI
the Senate.
New Mexico Representative
Deb Haaland would be the first
Native American to lead the
Interior Department, which has
wielded influence over the na-
tion’s tribes for generations. She
said her life has not been easy.
She struggled with homeless-
ness and relied on food stamps
at one point.
“This moment is profound
when we consider the fact that
a formersecretaryof theInterior
once proclaimed his goal, was to
quote, ‘civilize or exterminate’
us,” Haaland said. “I’m a living
testament to the failure of that
horrific ideology.”
Former two-term Michigan
GovernorJenniferGranholmisin
line to be energy secretary. She
described arriving in the U.S. at
age 4 and brought from Canada
byafamily“seekingopportunity.”
North Carolina official
MichaelReganwouldbethefirst
AfricanAmericanmantorunthe
Environmental Protection
EU-UK trade talks
flounder over fish
as cutoff day nears
RAF CASERT
BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 20
DEEP INTO a crucial weekend of
negotiations, a breakthrough on
fishing rights remained elusive
for the European Union and
Britain, leaving both without a
tradeagreementthatwoulddull
the edge of a chaotic, costly eco-
nomic break on New Year's Day.
Withhundredsof thousands
of jobs at stake throughout the
economy, the tiny sector of fish-
eries continued to drive a wedge
between the 27-nation bloc and
theUK,highlightingtheanimos-
itythatdrovethemtoaBrexitdi-
vorce over the past four years.
BritainlefttheblocinJanuary
but the 11-month economic
transition period ends on
December 31.
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson's office said on Sunday
that the EU is “continuing to
make demands that are incom-
patible with our independence.
We cannot accept a deal that
doesn't leave us in control of our
own laws or waters”.
The almost mythical sense of
Britain's rights to rule its waves
was an essential part of what
drove Brexiteers to victory in the
the graphic designer who cre-
ated the slogan, which he saw as
a “security blanket: ‘Je suis
Charlie — we’re in it together.’”
Today, someone who is
Charlie is likely to be white and
supporterof thecaricatures’pub-
lication. At its extreme, the per-
son may back a strict secularism
that at times is a cover for anti-
Islam. Someone who’s not
Charlieisoftennonwhiteandop-
poses the cartoons’ publication.
Thepersoncouldgoasfarasjus-
tifyingIslamistterrorismoraban
of all criticism of religion.
Once a slogan that tran-
scended political cleavages, “Je
Suis Charlie” has now been
largely embraced by the right
and created splits on the left.
Gérôme Truc, a sociologist at
theNationalCenter for Scientific
Research, said the slogan had
been steadily weaponized as
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Agency.Regan,thestateenviron-
mental head since 2017, has
madeanameforhimself bypur-
suing cleanups of industrial tox-
ins and helping the low-income
and minority communities sig-
nificantly affected by pollution.
Biden’s nominee to oversee
the Council on Environmental
Quality is Brenda Mallory. The
office oversees environmental
reviewsforvirtuallyallmajorin-
frastructureprojectsandadvises
the president on major environ-
mental issues. If confirmed, she
would be the first African
American to hold the position
since it was created more than
half a century ago.
Two other members of the
team introduced Saturday do
not need Senate confirmation.
TheyareGinaMcCarthy,toserve
as national climate adviser, and
Ali Zaidi, to serve as her deputy.
McCarthy was EPA administra-
tor from 2013 to 2017 during
President Barack Obama’s sec-
ond term.
2016 referendum.
Johnson is seeking to make
sure that as much as possible of
the shared British waters are
nowreturned to UKvesselsonly.
The EU has always main-
tained that those waters have
been shared for decades, if not
centuries, andinsistsif toomany
fishing rights are taken away, it
will punish Britain by imposing
hefty import fees to the main-
land market, which is essential
to the UK seafood industry.
The stalemate has left the
overall talks inconclusive with
businesses on both sides clam-
ouring for a deal that would save
tens of billions in costs.
Johnson, though, could not
be budged.
“We need to get any deal
right and based on terms which
respect what the British people
voted for,” his office said.
The EU parliament needs to
approve any deal before the end
of the year and had set a Sunday
night deadline so it could have a
cursory vetting of the deal and
approveitbeforeNewYear'sDay.
Negotiators,however,seemed
little impressed by yet another
deadline when so many had al-
ready been missed during the
four-year departure process. AP
part of “a political fight that
seeks to generate divisions, to
distinguish those who are with
usandthosewhoareagainstus.”
The slogan put “oil on the
fire” burning in France, Mr. Truc
said, referring to issues that he
said the country had failed to re-
solveoverthepastfiveyears,like
Islamism,freedomof speechand
theplaceof religioninpubliclife.
Its potential explosiveness
was on display during a recent
interview that President
Emmanuel Macron gave to an
onlineyouth-orientednewssite,
Brut. A reader with an Arabic
name, Karim, asked him, “I’m
French, I love my country. But I
am not Charlie. Am I allowed to
be?”
Mr. Macron replied that
Karim was, but then added: “I
thinkwemustgetawayfromthe
slogan.” NYT
Lucknow

13 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
CABINET NOD SOUGHT IN OCTOBER, BUT DEFERRED AFTER OBJECTIONS
IT Min restarts talks on use of AI for
welfare schemes, trial run planned
AASHISH ARYAN
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
THEMINISTRYof Electronicsand
Information Technology has re-
started consultations with other
ministries and government de-
partmentsonthe useof artificial
intelligence(AI),especiallyinim-
plementation of state-run serv-
ices, senior government officials
told The Indian Express.
The IT Ministry had, as re-
cently as October, planned to
seek Cabinet nod on use of AI in
implementation of certain gov-
ernment-run programmes, but
theplanwasdeferredaftersome
ministries raised objections.
For now, the ministry may
use AI on a trial basis on some of
the welfare and scholarship pro-
How Positive Pay system could ONGC starts output
secure cheque payments further at West Bengal’s
GEORGEMATHEW
MUMBAI,DECEMBER20
Asokenagar-1 reserve
FROM JANUARY 1, 2021, the
ReserveBankofIndia(RBI)willin-
troduce the ‘Positive Pay’ system
for cheque transactions above Rs
50,000 in a bid to enhance safety
and eliminate frauds.
What’sthePositivePaysystem
forchequetransactions?
TheconceptofPositivePayin-
volves a process of reconfirming
keydetailsoflargevaluecheques.
Under this process, the issuer of
the cheque submits
electronically — der dispute resolu-
throughchannelslike
SMS, mobile app, in-
ternet banking and
ATM — certain mini-
mum details of that
cheque (like date,
nameofthebenefici-
ary or payee and amount) to the
draweebank,detailsofwhichare
crosscheckedwiththepresented
cheque by Cheque Truncation
System (CTS). Any discrepancy is
flaggedbyCTStothedraweebank
andpresentingbank,whowould
take redressal measures.
Whattypeof chequeswill
comeunderPositivePay?
Bankswillenablethenewsys-
BRIEFLY
‘RelianceHome
Financegets
sixbids’
New Delhi: Six suitors, in-
cludingKotakSpecialSituat-
ions Fund (KSSF) and Asset
Reconstruction Company
(India)Limited(ARCIL),have
submitted bids for Reliance
Home Finance, part of Anil
Ambani-promotedReliance
Group. Only two bidders
submitted compliant and
bindingbidswhilefourbids
are non-binding and not
compliant with bid condi-
tions, sources said.
Indianeeds
multiplebad
banks:CII
NewDelhi:IndustrybodyCII
saidSundayithasurgedthe
governmenttoconsidercre-
ation of multiple bad banks
to address the adverse im-
pact of non-performing as-
sets accumulated by public
sector banks in the recent
past, that got further accen-
tuatedduringthepandemic.
NandKishore
appointedED
ofIL&FS
Mumbai:InfrastructureLea-
sing and Financial Services
(IL&FS) said Sunday the
MinistryofCorporateAffairs
has approved appointment
of Nand Kishore as its exec-
utivedirector.Tillnow,Kish-
orewasservingontheIL&FS
board as non-executive di-
rector, the group said. PTI
MEETINGS WITH INDUSTRY ON AI USE CASES
■ Over the course of this
year, the Ministry of
Electronics and
Information Technology
had also held meetings with
the industry on AI use cases
to figure out a proper
implementation plan that
may push for “judicious”
use as well as be able to
create jobs
grammesthatitoversees,theof-
ficials said. A national imple-
mentation plan for AI will be re-
leased after that.
Over the course of this year,
theministryhad alsoheldmeet-
ings with the industry on AI use
tem for all account holders issu-
ing cheques for amounts of Rs
50,000andabove.Whileavailing
of this facility is at the discretion
of the account holder,banksmay
consider making it mandatory in
caseofchequesforamountsofRs
5,00,000 and above. National
Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI) will develop the facility of
Positive Pay in CTS and make it
available to participant banks.
Whatwillbethenewdispute
redressalmechanism?
Onlythosechequeswhichare
compliant with the new system
will be accepted un-
tion mechanism at
the CTS grids.
Member banks may
implement similar
arrangements for
cheques cleared or
collectedoutsideCTS
as well. The RBI has already told
banks to create adequate aware-
ness among their customers on
features of the Positive Pay
system through SMS alerts, dis-
play in branches, ATMs as well as
through their website and inter-
netbanking.ThePositivePaysys-
tem will be implemented from
January 1, 2021.
Whatwillbetheshareof
COVID-19 IMPACT
‘Network restructuring made
India vulnerable to cyber attacks’
The sudden rush to provide remote access to employees by
restructuring network and security systems during the
lockdown made India vulnerable to ransomware attacks,
cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies said
Higher govt spending may boost
economy, but challenges remain
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
THE VACCINE may boost con-
sumer confidence and speed up
business activity, but the next
few years are going to be a diffi-
cult time for most Indians, in
particular those earning a liveli-
hood in the informal economy.
With the services sector lag-
ging behind, and unlikely to re-
cover quickly, there aren't going
to be too many new employ-
ment opportunities.
Sluggish investments, at a
timewhen capacityutilisationis
relatively low, will also keep the
job market tepid.
The Production-Linked
Incentive (PLI) scheme, while no
doubtverypromising,willtakea
few years to attract a meaning-
ful amount of capital.
■ According to senior
government officials, the
industry has flagged about
150 job options where
artificial intelligence could
be used and the workforce
could be put to better use.
Some concerns of job losses
have been highlighted and
we are working to solve
those, officials added
cases to figure out a proper im-
plementation plan that may
push for “judicious” use as well
as be able to create jobs.
“The industry has flagged
about 150 job options where AI
couldbeusedandtheworkforce
PositivePayinoverallcheque
transactions?
The new measure will cover
approximately20percentand80
percentoftotalchequesissuedin
thecountrybyvolumeandvalue,
respectively. The CTS for clearing
cheques is operational pan-India
and presently covers 2 per cent
and15percentof totalretailpay-
ments in terms of volume and
value, respectively.
Theaveragevalueof acheque
cleared in CTS presently is Rs
82,000. The CTS-2010 standard
specifying minimum-security
featuresonchequeleavesactsasa
deterrent against cheque frauds,
while standardisation of field
placements on cheque forms en-
ables straight-through-process-
ingbyuseofopticalorimagechar-
acter recognition technology.
Whyisthenewsystembeing
implemented?
The Reserve Bank says the
Positive Pay system is to further
augment customer safety in
cheque payments and reduce in-
stances of fraud occurring on ac-
count of tampering of cheque
leaves. Banks had recently wit-
nessed a rise in frauds involving
high-value cheques.
The RBI announced the intro-
ductionofPositivePaysystemfor
CTS on August 6.
Top 5 countries most
affected by ransomware
attacks in third quarter
this year:
1. United States
2. India 3. Sri Lanka
4. Russia 5. Turkey
KEY INDICATORS NOT TOO PROMISING
Moderating inflation
CPI inflation, % avg
7 6.4
6
4.8
5 THE FINANCE Ministry on
4 3.4
4.7
3 Tamil Nadu and Telangana, have
FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23
(E) (E) (E)
Consumption will stay sub-
dued due to slower hiring, the
stunted increase in incomes and
the fear of job losses; private
consumption as in any way flag-
ging even before the pandemic.
Indeed, the banking sector
could see more pain than seems
to be the premise right now.
The outlook could be a lot
more optimistic if the govern-
ment was to launch a big bang
could be put to better use. Some
concerns of job losses have been
highlighted and we are working
to solve those,” a senior govern-
ment official said.
The push for “judicious” use
of AI technology has been
flagged by “very senior govern-
ment officials” after Prime
Minister Narendra Modi had
said the same in one of his
speeches earlier this year, one of
the officials said.
Earlier this year, the Prime
Ministerhad—whileaddressing
RAISE 2020 in October, a global
AI summit organised by the IT
Ministry — said that that while
there were very few things
which were as empowering and
easily accessible as AI, it was
equally important that the tech-
nology be used responsibly.
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
UNION MINISTER for Petroleum
and Natural Gas Dharmendra
Pradhan on Sunday inaugurated
production from state-owned
ONGC’sAsokenagar-1wellinthe
Bengal basin in the 24 Paragana
district in West Bengal. Product-
ion from the petroleum reserve,
located 47 km from Kolkata, has
startedwiththeextractedoilbe-
ing supplied to Indian Oil
Corporation’sHaldiarefinery,ac-
cording to the minister.
“With the commencement
of production from the
Asokenagar oil and gas reserve,
West Bengal finds a place in the
oilmap,”Pradhansaidafterded-
icating the project to the coun-
try. He added that the govern-
mentwascommittedtosupport
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
(ONGC) to increase production
of crude oil and natural gas from
the subsurface of West Bengal,
noting that this would increase
prosperity and local employ-
ment in the state.
Pradhannotedthatthecrude
oil discovered at the Asokenagar
reserve was of high quality.
39.2% Rise in cyber
attacks seen by
India between the second and
third quarter
71% Respondents, to a
global survey by
Check Point, who reported a
rise in cyberattacks during
February-March 2020
LOW CLOUD SECURITY:
Due to the immediate push,
several IT companies were
unable to scale up their cloud
security postures which led to
increased opportunity for
cyber criminals to carry out
attacks
Sluggish capex
New project announcements,
` lakh cr Government
Private
4.09
2.4
4.9
1.54
1.46
0.38
0.33
0.26
0.31
Q3FY20 Q4FY20 Q1FY21 Q2FY21
Source: CMIE
stimulus; but there's been little
of that so far. Also, the pandemic
has exacerbated the risk aver-
sion of banks.
But for the economy to make
a sustainable turnaround,
weakerbusinesses,too,mustget
access to credit. All in all, 2021-
2022 will certainly be better
timethan2020-21,buttheecon-
omyissomeyearsawayfromre-
gaining the lost ground. FE
“It remains our collective re-
sponsibility to ensure trust in
how AI is used. Algorithm trans-
parency is key to establishing
this trust. Equally important is
accountability. We must protect
theworldagainstweaponisation
of AI by non-state actors,” the
Prime Minister had then said.
The IT Ministry had last year
in July constituted four commit-
teesonAIanditsvariousaspects,
such as buildings, models and
frameworks,anduseof thetech-
nology for identifying and im-
plementingcriticalnationalmis-
sions in key sectors. Two
committees had also looked at
the ethical aspects around the
use of AI and the various meth-
ods of re-skilling or up-skilling
the workforce so as to better un-
derstand the technology.
Petroleum Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan
inaugurating the
Asokenagar-1 reserve. PTI
The Asokenagar-1 well was
completedasanoilproducerun-
der the early-monetisation plan
issued by the Centre. The first
discovery of oil and gas reserve
in the state was done in 2018.
“ONGC took a major step by co-
mmencing oil production from
the well Asokenagar-1, Bengal
Basinin24Paraganadistrict,”the
Ministry of Petroleum and
Natural Gas said in a statement.
ONGC has invested Rs 3,361
croreintheexplorationof hydro-
carbons in the Bengal basin and
issettospendRs425croreinex-
ploration activities in the basing
in the next two years.
95% Respodents who
faced added IT
security challenges with
provision of large-scale remote
access for employees and
managing shadow IT usage
WHYISITIMPORTANT:Inthe
rushtoenableremoteaccess,
manycompaniesallowed
connectivityfromunmanaged
homepersonalcomputersthat
oftenlackedbasic
cyberhygienesuchasupdated
softwarepatches,anti-malware,
amongothers
Source: Check Point/PTI
Five states get
FinMin nod to
borrow extra
`16,728 crore
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
Sundaysaidfivestates,including
beenpermittedtoborrowanad-
ditionalRs16,728crorefollowing
completionof stipulatedreforms
for ‘Ease of Doing Business’.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
and Madhya Pradesh are the
otherstateswhichhavebeenper-
mitted to borrow the extra
amount.
The government had in May
decidedtolinkgrantofadditional
borrowing permission to states
with reforms undertaken by
them to facilitate ease of doing
business.
Market Watch
FPIS INVEST `54.9K CR IN DEC SO FAR
New Delhi: Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) pumped in Rs 54,980
crore in domestic markets — Rs 48,858 crore into equities and Rs
6,122 crore into debt segment — between December 1 and 18, amidst
availability of excess liquidity and hopes of fresh stimulus. PTI
INTERVIEW WITH CEO, ZURICH AIRPORT INTERNATIONAL ASIA
‘Doing passenger studies to
understand requirements of
travellers from north India’
DESPITE HAVING presence in
India for over two decades thro-
ugh its investment in Bengaluru
airport, developing and manag-
ing a Greenfield airport in Uttar
Pradesh has come to prove a
wholedifferentballgameforZur-
ichAirportsInternational.DANIEL
BIRCHER, CEO of Zurich Airport
International Asia and CMD of
YamunaInternationalAirportPvt
LtdtoldPRANAVMUKULinanin-
terview that the company was
conducting passenger profile
studies to identify the needs of
travellers from a north Indian
background.Healsotalkedabout
the plans for the Noida Interna-
tional Airport in Jewar, which his
firm expects to be operational by
2024. Edited excerpts:
HowmuchhasCovid-19
changedintermsof the
targetssetfortheNoida
InternationalAirport?
Obviously, Covid-19 has im-
pacted the industry itself, quite
heavily. And I think what the in-
dustry has recognised, that by
2024, we will be up and running
abovepre-Covidlevelsforthedo-
mestic traffic and the Noida
International Airport will be pri-
marilycateringfordomestictraf-
ficintheinitialyears.So,Idon’tex-
pect there to be an impact. The
internationalpartwillmaybetake
oneortwoyearslongertorecover
compared to domestic, so I don’t
really see an impact there. We
(ZurichAirportInternational)also
operate airports in Brazil, where
wearealmostat90percentofthe
pre-Covid level. There will be
changes in the way we handle
passengers not points, but the
overallimpactontheindustrywill
be behind us by 2024.
Youhadbidquiteaggressively
towintheNoidaGreenfield
airport.DoesCovidthrowa
spannerintheworksforthe
plansonthebasisof which
thatbidwasmade?
Idon’tthinkso.Fromourpoint
of view, there are several factors
that determined this final pro-
posal.Thefirstfactoristhatweare
convinced about the Indian gro-
wthstoryandweseeourselvesas
a trusted partner to the govern-
ment and those underlying fun-
damentals have not changed.
I think India, with an increase
indisposableincome,propensity
to travel, economic and city-side
development in the larger catch-
New labour laws at root of unrest
in Wistron, Toyota: Siddaramaiah
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
BENGALURU,DECEMBER20
THEBJPgovernmentinKarnataka
must take proactive steps to re-
solve industrial disputes causing
workersunrestinmajormultina-
tionalmanufacturingunitsinthe
statelikeWistronInfocommIndia
Pvt Ltd and Toyota Kirloskar
Motors (TKM), leaders of the op-
positionCongressandJDSparties
in Karnataka have stated.
In a letter to Chief Minister BS
Yediyurappa,Congressleaderand
former Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah has said the newly
Implementation of
CARO order deferred
by one year: MCA
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER20
THEGOVERNMENThasdeferred
implementation of the strict dis-
closure requirements for auditor
reportsofcompaniesbyoneyear,
a move that comes amid the dis-
ruptions caused by the coron-
avirus pandemic.
Now, the Companies
(Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020
would come into effect from fi-
nancial years commencing on or
after April 1, 2021, according to a
notificationissuedbytheMinistry
of Corporate Affairs (MCA). It is
implementingthecompanieslaw.
Earlier, CARO 2020 was to
come into force from financial
year starting on or after April 1,
Daniel Bircher
ment, whether NCR, Agra or
maybe Mathura industrial corri-
dor — these elements have not
changedandweactuallyseemore
dynamicsthere.Last,butnotleast,
whenwelookatthetrafficstudies
and we have to take into account
40 years, we see traffic growth
way beyond 200 million passen-
gers and we know that the exist-
ing Delhi airport has final capac-
ity of 110-120 million.
Whenitcomestothebids,we
are reasonably close to the bid
from the competitors, and GMR
had the right of first refusal. So,
takingthisintoaccount,wecould
not have bid lower. So I think this
is a justified bid and we’re very
confidentthattheairportwillbea
successandismuchneededinfra-
structure for the NCR region.
Whatareyourcostand
investmentestimatesforthe
NoidaInternationalAirport
projectandhowdoyouplanto
financeit?
Atthisstage,weareindiscus-
sions with the banks. We are still
workingonanassumptionof be-
tween Rs 4,500-5,000 crore and
this will be financed with equity
andwithdebtinIndiancurrency.
Themainreasonbeingisthatour
main sources of revenue will be
alsoinINR.It’smainlyadomestic
airport,sothat’sthetypicalsetup,
and we’re confident that we can
close this in April. For the debt
part, we are looking at financing
in rupees so it’s mainly, India-
based financial institutions that
we are talking to.
Forequity,areyoulookingfor
afinancialpartnerora
strategicpartner?
We have already been in-
volved in India for over 17 years
with Bengaluru airport. So we
know the environment, and our
mid-term objective is to have a
portfolio — we’re looking at the
other assets when they come up.
introduced labour laws are at the
rootoftheworkers’unrestinfirms
like Wistron and TKM.
Usingtheshieldofnewlabour
laws passed during the coron-
avirus crisis, companies are in-
creasing work hours and are try-
ing to employ more workers
under the contract system than a
permanentsystem,Siddaramaiah
statedinhislettertoYediyurappa.
"When the workers protest
peacefully the government and
thelabourdepartmentpaynoat-
tention to them. When protests
takeasevereturn,theworkersare
called rioters and anti-nationals
and the police force is used to file
2020.TheCAROrequirescompa-
nies to comply with stricter dis-
closure requirements on various
issues, including whistle blower
complaints and default in repay-
ment of borrowings.
“CARO 2020 would necessi-
tate enhanced due diligence and
disclosuresonthepartofauditors
of eligible companies, and has
been designed to bring in
greatertransparencyinthefinan-
cialstateofaffairsofsuchcompa-
nies,” the MCA had said in
February this year.
Underthisstricterframework,
auditors are required to provide
detailed disclosures about loan
defaults, amount of cash losses
andimmovablepropertiesaswell
asotheraspectsaboutcompanies
in their annual reports.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
So, I wouldn’t rule out that in fu-
turewemightworktogetherwith
a strategic partner to make sure
thatwehavethenecessaryfunds
toreinvest.Atthemoment,forthe
development of the (Noida
airport) project, up to the start of
operations, we will do this our-
selves. It is also easier to manage
at this stage.
HowisIndiadifferentthan
othergeographieswhereyou
arepresent,intermsof doing
business?
Inmycurrentrole,I’malsore-
sponsibleforZurichAirport’sAsia
business development, and if I
compare India with other areas
here, I have to say India has a rea-
sonably mature public private
partnership legal framework.
Therehavebeennumerouscases
ofsuccessfulprivatisationsandso
thecertaintyandtheclarityofthe
concession documents, the
processesisabighelp.So,asanin-
vestor, you understand and you
know, the processes, you know
theagreementsyouhavetodo.So,
Ithinkthatisdefinitely,forusone
of the reasons why we want to
continue investing in India and
supportthenationalagendaofin-
frastructure building.
We are obviously aware that
north India is not the same as
south India. So, we are currently
doingpassengerprofilestudiesto
understand what are the needs
and requirements of travellers
from a north Indian background,
so that we can tailor-make our
product. With the diversity that
India offers, across the country,
this has to be taken into account.
Howdoyouseethe
consolidationinIndiainthe
airportssectorthathas
happenedoverthelastone
yearorso?Hasthatchanged
circumstancesfromwhen
ZurichAirportdecidedto
placeabethere?
Soweareobservingobviously,
what’s happening in the market
andasImentionedbefore,Ithink
the successful models of privati-
sationinthepasthavecontinued,
and I think it is a good move —
Indiahasnowworldclassairports
everywhere.Andwe,asanopera-
tor,arequitehappytocollaborate
with our peers in the NCR catch-
mentbutalsowithotherpeersin
the country to jointly help make
the aviation system as efficient
and as cost effective as possible.
cases against them," he added.
"After the protests at Wistron
tookasevereturnPrimeMinister
Modi called and expressed his
concernaboutincidents-accord-
ingtochiefministerYediyurappa.
The Prime Minister and Chief
Ministerhavenotexpressedcon-
cern over workers rights being
trampled. The main cause for the
current workers unrest are the
anti labor laws of the centre and
state," the letter further said.
In the past year, the state gov-
ernment has introduced an ordi-
nance to modify labor laws.
Full report on
www.indianexpress.com
EPFO net new
enrolments
up 56% in Oct
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 18
NET NEW enrolments with re-
tirementfundbodyEPFOroseby
56 per cent to 11.55 lakh in
October compared to 7.39 lakh
in the same month last year, ac-
cording to its latest payroll data,
providing a perspective on for-
mal sector employment amid
the coronavirus pandemic.
The net payroll additions,
however,haveregisteredaslight
dipinOctobercomparedto14.19
lakh in September this year, ac-
cording to a statement by the
Labour Ministry.
Provisional payroll data re-
leased by the EPFO last month
had shown that net new enrol-
ments stood at 14.9 lakh in
September this year.
Lucknow

14 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
‘Never thought I would see India getting all out for 42 or less’
GUNDAPPA VISWANATH
DECEMBER 21
I WAS in the team
when we were all out
for 42 against England
at Lord’s. But I would
never say that 36 laid
the ghost of that to
rest. I can never be
happy. I never thought I would see India get-
ting all out for 42 or less again in my life-
time. It doesn’t feel good. But they have to
just leave this behind and pull up their
socks.
Everything combines when a team gets
out for such a low score. All the bowlers will
bowl very well, top-order batsmen will get
some very good deliveries, and there will
not be much resistance from the lower or-
der.
Hazlewood's immaculate control was a hallmark at grade matches during his early years in Bendemeer
SANDIP G
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20
MOMENTS AFTER Josh Hazlewood fash-
ioned a famous victory against India at the
Adelaide Oval, en route picking the most
economical figure for a five-wicket haul by
an Australian, he got a congratulatory text
from his father. “Well done, son. It’s nearly
as good as my 5 for 4 when I played against
Nemingha in 1985,” it read. Trevor, his fa-
ther told local newspaper The Leader, that
he could hear his son’s crackle from far away.
In his younger days, Trevor was the local
tearaway, breaking arms and shattering toes
before he took up golf and then turned his
attention to steel fabrication business. In an
interview to Fox Sports TV, he admits he was
not the guiding figure in his son’s cricketing
development.
“I was busier when Josh was young and
he probably picked it from his elder brother
Aaron. But I always used to encourage
them,” he recounted.
But Hazlewood credits him for a different
reason. “A lot of whatever talent I've got
came from my dad and I'm the same size
and build,” he once said in a podcast with
cricketaustralia.com.au. Trevor might be
shorter by a few centimetres but is broader
and sturdier.
The backyard of the Hazlewood house-
hold, in Bendemeer, 300 kilometres north of
Sydney and with a population of 300, was
so large that Aaron and Josh had almost an
entire cricket ground to themselves. There
were not too many kids in the neighbour-
hood. The Bendemeer High School where
they studied had just 30 kids. The brothers
would spend endless afternoons playing
cricket.
There were little distractions. One of
them was Grey Fergie Tractor Muster, a local
fare. The town put on a bit of a show, with
tractor events, bush poetry, shearing
demonstrations, markets and food stalls and
the fare attracted people from everywhere.
But apart from this, it was just cricket and
school. When Aaron entered his teens, he
joined the Old Boys Cricket Club in
Tamworth, some 30 odd miles from
Bendemeer. And soon his younger brother
would tag along.
But Hazlewood had noticeably outgrown
his brother. Some of Aaron’s teammates
used to wonder who was the elder of the
two. One of their club-mates Ben
Middlebrook recollects an incident to this
newspaper: “Josh might have been around
12 or 13, when we played a grade match and
LA LIGA
Barcelona held by Valencia as Messi matches Pele goal haul
ASSOCIATED PRESS/REUTERS
DECEMBER 20
LIONEL MESSI equalled Pele's record of 643
goals for a single club on Saturday but was
unable to help Barcelona beat Valencia in La
Liga as they had to settle for a 2-2 home
draw. Valencia went ahead at the Camp Nou
when Mouctar Diakhaby pounced on some
slack Barca defending to head home in the
29th minute. Barca earned a penalty to-
wards the end of the first half when Jose
Gaya lightly pushed Antoine Griezmann in
the back and was initially shown a red card
which was then reduced to a yellow after
the referee consulted the pitchside monitor.
Messi saw his penalty saved by Valencia
keeper Jaume Domenech but Jordi Alba
kept the ball alive and his deflected cross
fell towards the Argentine, who dived to
head the ball across the line and score the
milestone goal.
Defender Ronald Araujo gave Barca the
lead early in the second half with an acro-
VOL XIX No.317 Registration No. DL-26003/2001 R.N.I No. UPENG/2001/5674. Printed and published by R.C. Malhotra on behalf of M/s The Indian Express Private Limited. Printed at The Indian Express Private Limited Press, C-26, Amousi Industrial Area, Lucknow and published at 1/8, Vivek Khand, Gomti Nagar,
Lucknow- 226010. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor : Raj Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor (Lucknow) : Rakesh Sinha * (*Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act). website: www.expressindia.com. Copyright: The Indian Express Private Limited. All rights reserved.
In Adelaide, the pitch became a little
quicker on the third day. The Australian
bowlers bowled really well, and consis-
tently. The same thing happened at Lord’s.
Whenever the batsmen were beaten, the
ball took the edge. Compared to Lord’s,
where it was cloudy and the ball swung, the
Adelaide Oval pitch had a little more bounce
but not much lateral or seam movement.
All the bowlers kept the batsmen under
pressure. (Cheteshwar) Pujara got one of
the best deliveries one could get. He had to
play it. Mayank (Agarwal) also. The ball
lifted and left him. (Ajinkya) Rahane played
from the crease. (Virat) Kohli went after a
widish delivery; maybe he was trying to
score some quick runs to ease the pressure.
The Indian team have played enough
cricket to get this out of their system. There
are players in this team who have played
60-70 Tests and even without Kohli, this
team has the ability to bounce back. Rahane
Small-town hero
Josh Hazlewood devastating spell of 5/8 against India on Day 3 in Adelaide swung
the game decisively in Australia’s favour. Reuters
Josh just blew away the other team. So after
the game, an umpire asked me why we were
playing with 20-25-year-old players. I told
him he was just 13. He was shocked.”
Not just the physique, he had the pace
and maturity that was beyond his age. “He
was too good for us. And he was a good bats-
man too, scored some hundreds. He was al-
ways going to go somewhere," he says.
Initially, it was Aaron who made the
heads turn with his all-round sparkle, and
scouts used to come from Sydney to track
him. But his father always had more faith in
his younger son’s skills. So he would tell his
batic strike from inside the area but Valencia
hit back in the 69th when Maxi Gomez
turned in a cross from Gaya, denying the
Catalans a third straight league win.
‘Football must innovate’
Football must embrace change to re-
main attractive to fans following the coro-
navirus pandemic, Real Madrid President
Florentino Perez said on Sunday.
Alluding to reform of domestic and in-
ternational competitions without giving
concrete details, Perez said Real Madrid
would be one of the driving forces in
changes to football as it was when the
European Cup was created in the 1950s.
"Nothingwillbelikeitwasbefore.Thepan-
demic obliges us to make football more com-
petitive. We must innovate and look for for-
mulas to ensure football remains attractive,"
Perez said at Real's annual general assembly.
"Real Madrid played a part in the foun-
dation of FIFA and the European Cup and
the current model needs a reboot, as the im-
pact of COVID-19 has demonstrated.
Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited.The Indian Express®
The Indian team have played enough
cricket to get this out of their
system. There are players in this
team who have played 60-70 Tests
andeven without Kohli, this team
hasthe ability to bounce back. ”
GUNDAPPA VISWANATH,
FORMER INDIA CAPTAIN
has captained India before, some years back,
and guided the team to victory.
However, some changes become imper-
ative. (Shubman) Gill has to come in place of
(Prithvi) Shaw. No two ways about it. (KL)
Rahul will come in place of Kohli. I don’t
know how bad is (Mohammed) Shami’s in-
jury. Hopefully, he will recover. Rohit
(Sharma) is there, but he will be available
only for the last two Tests. You have to come
good in the next three Tests. Forget about
acquaintances: “I’ve got a better one com-
ing along.” So many heads he turned that
some of his father’s friends took a 50/1 bet
on him winning the Baggy Green before he
turned 30. He made his Test debut at 23. Just
a fortnight away from his 30th birthday,
Hazlewood has already featured in 52 Tests,
in which he had shaped the destiny of many
matches with his immaculate lengths and
precise lines.
Hazlewood says, was shaped by his
countryside upbringing. “I think my up-
bringing was great and it played a huge role
in how I am and what I am. It’s a lot of hard
Messi saw his penalty saved by
Valencia keeper Jaume
Domenech but Jordi Alba kept
the ball alive and his deflected
cross fell towards the
Argentine, who dived to head
the ball across the line and
score the milestone goal.
Football needs new momentum and Real
Madrid will be right there at the heart of it."
Perez's words echoed those of FIFA
President Gianni Infantino, who said this
year that there should be fewer, more inter-
esting tournaments and fewer, more com-
petitive matches to safeguard the health of
players. Infantino has led the reform and
expansion of FIFA's Club World Cup which
was due to take place in 2021 in China but
has been put on hold due to the pandemic.
fancy shots. A lot of application is needed.
India’s catching has been poor. Not only in
this Test, but throughout the tour. It cannot
happen like that. And they missed some sit-
ters. If all those catches were taken, India
would have had a lead in excess of 100. The
momentum would have been different.
And if they (Australia) had to score 180-190
in the fourth innings, it could have been a
different ball game.
I will not say Rahane is struggling or hav-
ing problems with his technique and foot-
work. He played very well in the first in-
nings. It’s a question of staying positive all
the time.
Getting close to the ball
Everybody has his own way of playing
in terms of back-lift, bat-speed, use of the
crease etc. You need to adjust according to
the delivery, line and length, and a Test
player is expected to do that. You can’t (be
Ithink my upbringing was great and
it played ahuge role in how I am and
what I am. It’s alot of hard work out
there and probably I got those traits
from there. And of course, always
trying to stay grounded andhelping
each other out. ”
JOSH HAZLEWOOD,
AUSTRALIA PACER
work out there and probably I got those
traits from there. And of course, always try-
ing to stay grounded and helping each other
out,” he said in that podcast. It’s the reason
perhaps he’s the least demonstrative of
Australian bowlers. He seldom loses his tem-
per, barely sledges or stares.
Bendemeer loves him back too. At the
gateway to the town reads a yellow bill-
board: “Welcome to Bendemeer—the
hometown of Hazlewood.” Wherever in the
country he plays, a dedicated group of fans
would attend the game with a banner read-
ing, “From Bendemeer: The hometown of
Hazlewood.” A classmate of his even trav-
elled to the UK for the World Cup with a ban-
ner. They also gave him a rather feisty
moniker: “Bendemeer Bullet.”
Whenever he’s in town, he turns up for
the Old Boys Club. “The whole of Tamworth
would unload into the ground just to watch
him,” says Middlebrook.
It brings the best out of his brother too.
Last time he played a game — only as bats-
man as he was recovering from an injury —
his brother grabbed nine wickets and rat-
tled out a quick 80. “Just to show I am good
too, bro.” he later told a local channel. Their
father, Trevor, though would pleasantly dis-
pute: “Nearly as good as my 5-4 when I
played against Nemingha in 1985.”
McGrath comparison
‘The next Glenn McGrath’. Josh
Hazlewood had been probably hearing this
comparisonfromhisadolescence.Theparal-
lelsareirresistible.LikeHazlewood,McGrath
wasacountryboyfromNarromine,300-odd
kilometres from Sydney.
He’s a McGrath-type of bowler too, fast
enough at around 85mph but not a tear-
away, with enough bounce to perplex the
best batsmen. The soul of their bowling is
the immaculate line and length. The chas-
tened Indian batsmen would offer painful
testimonials.
It’s what Hazlewood’s childhood coach
John Muller saw in him some time in the
Perez, meanwhile, is reported to be one
of the main proponents of a breakaway
European league, according to British news-
paper The Times and La Liga President Javier
Tebas. The Real Madrid chief also said the
current number of matches was negatively
affecting players through increased injuries
and was attracting less interest from sup-
porters. Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has
been one of the leading critical voices on
the effect on players of the congested cal-
endar, which has been further squeezed by
the pandemic.
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman,
who like Klopp has lost a number of key
players to injury this season, has said the
schedule is "killing" footballers. "Everyone
is advocating reform in world football.
There is over saturation and fans, who are
the most important ones, are suffering,"
Perez said. "There's also consequences for
footballers with injuries. Football's reform
cannot wait. The biggest clubs in Europe
have millions of fans and they cannot turn
their back on them."
NEW ZEALAND BEAT PAKISTAN IN 2ND T20
Opener Tim Seifert carried his bat for 84 in an unbroken 129-run partnership with
captain Kane Williamson to steer New Zealand to a nine-wicket win over Pakistan in
the second Twenty20 international Sunday and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-
match series. Williamson finished 57 not out in his return to the short format as New
Zealand overtook Pakistan's total of 163-6 with four balls to spare. AP
reliant on) advice in that regard. You can’t
leave a gap between bat and pad while play-
ing the ball. You need to play much closer
to your body, keeping bat and pad together.
You can’t allow the ball to swing.
If you are playing forward, go to the pitch
of the ball to cover the swing. You can’t play
blindly off the front foot or back foot. You
have to pick the length early and can’t stay
rooted to the crease. Either you go full for-
ward or play off the back foot. Against spin-
ners, you use your footwork to neutralise
the turn and bounce.
At Test level, you know how to adjust to
the swing, turn and bounce. You are there
because you are good enough and should
be able to adjust. I won’t say they (Indian
batsmen) are playing with hard hands, be-
cause in the first innings, so many deliver-
ies didn’t carry to the wicketkeeper or slips.
It means that they played with soft hands.
My advice is just that they have to get closer
mid-aughts.
“Well, it’s what I thought of him when I
first saw him. Maybe, it was his height and
physique. He was quite skilful, and I needed
to do was polish him a bit, especially his ac-
tion,” he tells this newspaper.
He realised that his release point could
be higher. For that, he needed to bring his
bowling arm closer to his body and the run-
up needed to be slower. “I used to tell him
don’t rush, gradually build up and then re-
lease the ball before following through. A bit
like McGrath, well I try to teach a lot of kids
that action. But Josh learned it pretty fast," he
remembers.
The former left-arm seamer also instilled
in him the virtues of hard work and dedica-
tion. “I used to tell him that only hard work
took him to places, and he would listen. He
was very dedicated to his craft and contin-
ues to be so,” he recollects.
The McGrath comparison always flatters
him.“It'sflatteringwhenyoureadyourname
in the same sentence as McGrath and you're
being compared to him, it means you're go-
ing all right. Although, I try not to read too
much into it,” he once told in a press confer-
ence.Even McGrath sees a shade of McGrath
in him, even tipping him to break his Test-
record haul for Australia. “Sky’s the limit for
him,” he once said. Muller agrees too.
Javelin champion
David Tarbotton, a statistician at the New
South Wales Institute of Sports, is among
Australia’s most reputed scouts. Some 18
years ago, while sifting through the num-
bers of the Combined High School U-13 and
U-14 championship, he stumbled on a re-
markable number.
A 12-year-old boy had flung the shot put
to a distance of 53.11 m. It was a state school
record. Tarbotton sensed a potential
Olympic gold medallist. “If groomed well,
he could have been. His early promise indi-
cated he could've gone on to become an
Olympian.' I don't know the details why we
could not bring him here,” he told Sydney
Morning Herald.
But Hazlewood admits he never took
throwing seriously. “I was 12 when I first
threw it. I went on through the levels at
school and onto state CHS. I eventually
ended up at the nationals and picked up a
few gold medals there. It was good fun, I only
did it for something to do in the winter and
I loved the competition,” he told Sydney
Morning Herald.
Batsmen would wish Hazlewood was
rather content hurling the iron ball than be-
ing the spearhead.
Lionel Messi equalled Pele's record of 643 goals for a single club. AP
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
to the ball and must be precise with their
footwork.
This is Test cricket. You should analyse
your own game. This is not ODIs or T20s.
This is five-day cricket and Test matches are
not going into the fourth or fifth day. You
have a lot of time to stay at the wicket. But
this is not only India’s problem. If you see, it
is happening with every team. Australia
were all out for less than 200 in their first
innings. This is due to the fact that teams
are not playing enough Test cricket or play-
ing it regularly.
I will not blame the Indian players for
not playing Ranji Trophy. They don’t have
time. They don’t get the window to play do-
mestic cricket. Test cricket is a mind game
and you have to apply your mind. At this
level, you should be the best judge in terms
of what to do, how to adjust and play ac-
cording to the situation.
(As told to Shamik Chakrabarty)
Serious wounds
opened up, good
chance for clean
sweep: Ponting
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
MELBOURNE, DECERMBER 20
THE HUMILIATION in Adelaide has opened
up "serious wounds" for India and Australia
nowhavea"goodchance"of inflictingonthe
visitors a whitewash in the four-Test series,
reckons former captain Ricky Ponting.
India were bundled out for their lowest-
ever Test score of 36 in their second innings
as Australia claimed an eight-wicket win in
the pink-ball Test to take a 1-0 lead in the
Border-Gavaskar trophy. "Now there's some
serious wounds opened up. There could be a
good chance (of a sweep)," Ponting told
cricket.com.au. "Let's hope we do get a result
in Melbourne and if we do, I think India's go-
ing to find it really hard to bounce back and
win a game."
India will miss skipper Virat Kohli in the
remainingthreeTestsashereturnshomefor
the birth of his child and Ponting said it will
be a real test for the visitors as they look to
pick up the pieces under the captaincy of
Ajinkya Rahane. "We'll learn a lot about
them, won't we? With Kohli not being there
as well there's almost no one to pick them
back up after a loss like that," Ponting said.
India will need to find their best playing XI
for the Boxing Day Test, especially after the
below-par performances of young opener
Prithvi Shaw, who made 0 and 4, and wick-
etkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.
Ponting is in favour of giving a chance to
dashing wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh
Pant and young batter Shubman Gill in
Melbourne.
"They'vegottomakeacoupleof changes.
Rishabh Pant has to be in that middle order.
With Kohli not being there they've got to
strengthentheirbatting,he'sgottocomein,"
he said. "They'll look at Prithvi Shaw at the
topof theorderI'msurebutthere'sonething
to make selection changes there's anotherto
lift the spirits back up again and make sure
they're mentally right for the next challenge
because the Australians are not going to go
away now." "Now that they've got a bit of a
sniff they're going to go even harder next
game."
With Joe Burns returning to form with a
63-ball 51 and the experienced David
Warner and young Will Pucovski -- who
missed the first Test due to groin injury and
concussion respectively -- in contention for
the Melbourne Test, Australia will have a
happy selection headache.
Lucknow