JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES
CHIEF JUSTICE BOBDE MINCES FEW WORDS
Slamming Centre over protests and process,
SC suggests stay on farm laws, panel for talks
SC order today; AG says stay drastic;
you failed to solve problem, says CJI
ANANTHAKRISHNAN G
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
IN ONE of its rare outbursts
against the Government in re-
cent times, a Supreme Court
bench, headed by Chief Justice
S A Bobde, questioned the
processbehindtheenactmentof
the farm laws and expressed
deep “disappointment” over the
Centre’s handling of the farm
protests.
Scheduling its order for to-
morrow,thecourtindicatedthat
itcouldevenstaytheimplemen-
tation of the new farm laws to
ostensibly “facilitate” a solution.
CJIBobdemincedfewwords:
“We do not think the Centre is
handling the issue correctly.
We don’t think you are being ef-
fective.”
Suggesting that the court
wouldappointacommitteethat
“willtellusif thelawsareinpub-
lic interest,” CJI Bobde said: “We
proposetoformacommitteeand
if thegovernmentdoesnot,then
wewillstaytheimplementation
of the farm Acts…We are doing
this because you have failed to
solve the problem. We are pro-
posing to pass this order to facil-
itate resolution of this problem
by a committee chosen by
us...We will make the atmos-
phere comfortable and con-
ducivefortalks.Tillthenthefarm
India take it on the
chest, in the ribs, for
greatest of comebacks
R Ashwin (right), Hanuma Vihari after holding off Australia
to ensure a draw in the third Test, at Sydney, Monday. AP
SRIRAM VEERA
MUMBAI, JANUARY 11
AFTER THE biggest loss in
Adelaide and the grandest win
in Melbourne, this Test series of
extremes threw up the greatest
draw in Sydney.
In the end, India's pride was
left scarless despite a broken
hand, a bruised elbow, a sore
hamstring, and a few dents on
the chest as they hung on to fin-
ish the final day at 334 for five,
leaving the four-game series at
1-1, with one more Test to go.
This was the longest fourth
innings by India in 41 years, af-
ter the draw against England in
1979. On Monday, they batted
131 overs with four batsmen —
CheteshwarPujara(77),Rishabh
Pant(97),HanumaVihari(23not
out) and Ravi Ashwin (39 not
EXPRESS NETWORK
PAGE 1
SHRIPAD NAIK ANCHOR
INJURED, WIFE KILLED
IN ACCIDENT
PAGE 10
WORLD
REPUBLICANS BLOCK
MOVE FOR QUICK
REMOVAL OF TRUMP
PAGE 14
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
BEFORE THE ORDER,
THE FRAMING
The bench made key
observations:
■ Not getting into
question on repeal
■ Staying action on law
isn’t same as staying law
■ Farmers’ groups can
appear before govt, why
not before committee
■ Want to resolve, create
conducive atmosphere
for talks
laws can be put on hold...If laws
areputonholdthennegotiations
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
out) — playing over 100 deliver-
ies each.
And although the Austra-
lians perspired to conjure a re-
sult in their favour, they were
left cursing in the shadows —
their frustration amplified by
stump microphones and later
paraded by Indian fans as proud
GIFs, mocking emojis, and cele-
bratory hashtags.
For India, a day that started
with thoughts of defeat was as-
tonishingly turned around by
PantandPujara,bothfightingre-
demption battles of their own.
During that heady second ses-
sion, India even dared to dream
of a victory. But after those two
fell, an injured Vihari, who was
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
FULL COVERAGE
PAGE 16
Bird flu triggers fresh fears, prices of chicken, eggs crash
PARTHA SARATHI
BISWAS & HARISH
DAMODARAN
PUNE, NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
WINTER FOR the poultry indus-
try is like summer for ice-cream
makers. The winter months are
when consumption of chicken
and eggs peaks, with those rear-
ing broiler and layer birds also
realising better rates.
But this time it is different,
thanks to the outbreak of avian
influenza, now confirmed in 10
states — Kerala, Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh, Himachal
DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
Farmers celebrate after the SC hearing, at the Ghazipur border Monday. Prem Nath Pandey
Farmers thank SC but draw line:
no panel, no stay, only repeal
RAKHI JAGGA &
AMIL BHATNAGAR
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
WHILE WELCOMING the
Supreme Court’s outburst
against the Centre, unions rep-
resenting protesting farmers
turned down the idea of a com-
mittee to resolve the issue and
THE FIRST FOUR
The all-woman crew of Air-India’s inaugural San Francisco to Bengaluru flight, lasting 17 hours,
on landing Monday. The longest flight by an Indian commercial airline, it was captained by
Zoya Aggarwal, with three crew members, and crossed over the North Pole. PTI
AFTER 9 MONTHS
Smiles are back on campuses as
schools, colleges reopen in Gujarat
RITU SHARMA &
KAMAAL SAIYED
AHMEDABAD, SURAT,
JANUARY 11
AFTER STAYING at home for
more than nine months, stu-
dents on Monday got back to
schools and colleges in Gujarat
that recorded thin attendance.
As per the data recorded by
the state education department
and accessed by The Indian
Express, the state recorded an
overallattendanceof 35percent
for Class 10, while it was 38 per
Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttara-
khand, and Delhi.
Since last Wednesday, when
reports of deaths of birds from
the disease started coming in,
farmgate prices of broiler
chicken have crashed from
around Rs 82 to Rs 58 per kg in
Maharashtra, Rs 94 to Rs 65 in
Gujarat, and Rs 80 to Rs 70 in
Tamil Nadu.
Over the same period, egg
prices have fallen from Rs 5.10 to
Rs 4.20 per piece in Namakkal
(Tamil Nadu), Rs 5.35 to Rs 4.05
in Barwala (Haryana), and Rs
5.30 to Rs 4.50 in Pune.
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
KHATTAR, DUSHYANT On Monday, the apex court
RUSH TO DELHI indicated that it could stay the
implementationof thenewlaws
CENTRE DETAILS and proposed the setting up of a
SAYS NO OPTION BUT committee.
Hours after the court pro-
REFORM PAGE 11 ceedings, the Sanyukt Kisan
Morcha, a joint forum of farm
reiterated their demand for a re- unions, issued a statement
pealof thefarmlaws,notmerely that read, “…we informed
a stay on them. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
At a school in Ahmedabad on Monday. Nirmal Harindran
cent for Class 12. “This will attendance on Monday,” said a
changeoverthecomingdaysasa senior education official.
few schools did not upload their CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Bird flu confirmed in Delhi, the Ghazipur chicken and egg
market was shut on Monday. Abhinav Saha REPORTS, P4,12
Staying
the law:
courts have
been very
cautious
APURVA VISHWANATH
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
HOW THE Supreme Court oper-
ationalises its suggestion to stay
the operation of the three farm
laws and open fresh talks via a
committee will be evident in its
orderTuesday.However,alineof
precedents shows that courts
have been very cautious while
passing interim orders to stay
laws passed by the Legislature.
“In matters involving the
constitutionality of any legisla-
tion enacted by the legislature
and rules, courts should be ex-
tremely loath to pass an interim
order,” a two-judge Supreme
Court bench had said in a 2013
ruling on the validity of the
Cigarettes and Other Tobacco
Products Regulation Act, 2003.
“At the time of final adjudi-
cation,thecourtcanstrikedown
the statute if found ultra vires of
the Constitution. However, op-
eration of the statute cannot be
stultified by granting an interim
order except when the court is
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Wary of lowering
standard to
fast-track a
vaccine, says
Nobel Laureate
SOHINI GHOSH
AHMEDABAD, JANUARY 11
Venkatraman
Ramakrishnan
URGING INDIA to invest more in
science to emerge as a knowl-
edge-based economy, Nobel
Laureate Venkatraman Ramak-
rishnan on Monday mentioned
about being wary of “lowering
standardstofast-trackavaccine”.
An Indian-born British-
American structural biologist
whosharedthe2009NobelPrize
in chemistry with Thomas A
Steitz and Ada Yonath “for stud-
ies of the structure and function
of theribosome”,Ramakrishnan,
popularasVenki,wasinteracting
virtually with academicians and
researchers of the Ahmedabad
University Monday. The session
was moderated by Patrick
French, the university’s dean of
the school of arts and sciences.
ToaquestionfromTheIndian
Express on clinical trials and
Indian policymakers’ move such
as the restricted emergency use
clearancegiventoBharatBiotech-
ICMRvaccinecandidate,Covaxin,
Ramakrishnan said, “Most of us
would be very wary of lowering
standardstofast-trackavaccine.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
E
EXPLAINED
Poultry
birds
● mostlysafe
ALTHOUGH BIRDS have
died in 10 states so far,
the only example of
deaths in organised poul-
try farms has come from
Haryana. Since birds in
poultry farms are gener-
ally isolated, chances of
their catching the virus
from foreign avian
species are low.
`4.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Serum says order
by govt for 11 mn
doses, first lot may
head out today
ANURADHA
MASCARENHAS &
PRABHA RAGHAVAN
PUNE, NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
THE CENTRAL government has
signedacontractwiththeSerum
Instituteof India(SII)forthesup-
ply of 11 million doses of
Covishield, the Indian variant of
the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
against the novel coronavirus,
the Pune-based firm said on
Monday.
Doses of the vaccine could
start shipping as early as
Monday night, a source with di-
rect knowledge of the develop-
ment told The Indian Express.
“(SII) may start despatching
the vaccines very soon. It may
Covishield vaccine transport vehicles arriving at the Serum
Institute of India in Pune on Monday. Arul Horizon
Centre will pay for
the first three crore
shots: PM tells CMs
KAUNAIN SHERIFF M
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
THECENTREwillbearthecostof
vaccinating three crore health-
careandfrontlineworkersinthe
first phase of the vaccination
drive against the novel coron-
avirus disease, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi told Chief
Ministers on Monday.
The PM stressed on three
critical aspects of the adminis-
tration of the vaccine: ensuring
that data are uploaded in real
time for effective monitoring of
beneficiaries; curbing rumours
and misinformation about the
vaccine; and ensuring effective
reporting of adverse events, if
An estimated 1.3 crore live
broiler birds and 20 crore eggs
onaveragearesolddailyinIndia,
andthesenumberscanriseto1.5
crore and 28-29 crore during
winter. The bird flu scare, how-
ever, has led to consumption
dropping by 30-40 per cent in
the last 4-5 days, according to B
Soundararajan, chairman of the
Rs 8,700 crore-plus-turnover
Suguna Foods Pvt Ltd.
This is almost a repeat of the
collapse that took place after
mid-January last year, when re-
ports of the spread of the novel
coronavirus in China were gath-
ering momentum. The price
happen either later tonight or
early morning tomorrow,” the
source said on Monday evening.
The doses will be sent by mul-
tiple modes of transport, in-
cluding by road and by air, the
source said.
In Pune, SII officials said the
consignmentswouldbeflownto
the nearest airport and then
driven to the depots. Some 60
locations, including in
Maharashtra and Gujarat, and
Chennai, are mentioned in the
consignee list, the SII officials
said.
TheSIIhasmanufacturedthe
vaccine under licence in India.
Thecountrywillstartitsmassin-
oculation programme against
Covid-19 on January 16. Around
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
any, after vaccination.
“...The most important thing
will be to identify and monitor
the beneficiaries who have to be
vaccinated.Forthiswewillbeus-
ing modern technology; using
Aadhaar, we will be able to iden-
tify the beneficiaries. It is my re-
quest that real-time data gener-
ated during the vaccination
should be uploaded on the Co-
WIN platform. The states have to
ensure this. Even a small glitch
candamagethismission,”hesaid.
“...Another critical thing is
that every state and Union
Territory will have to ensure
there is no vaccine-related ru-
mourormisinformation.Theex-
ercise cannot be based on ifs and
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
crash then was triggered by un-
substantiated rumours about
poultry products, especially
chicken meat, posing the risk of
Covid-19.
Thistimetoo,fearisplayinga
part.Thedeathsbeingattributed
to the avian influenza outbreak
are mainly of crows, pigeons,
ducks, egrets/herons, peacocks,
and other wild or migratory
birds. Deaths of poultry birds
have so far been confirmed only
from Parbhani in Maharashtra
and Barwala in Haryana. In
Parbhani, free-range backyard
hens have died; the deaths in
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Ahmedabad
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
FROM PAGE ONE
SC suggests stay
willhaveachancetoworkout.”
As the court was about to rise
for the day, Solicitor General
TusharMehtatoldthebench,also
comprising Justices A S Bopanna
andVRamasubramanian,thatthe
court made “harsh observations”
towhichtheCJIsaid:“Thatwasthe
most innocuous factual thing for
ustosay.”
The court’s remarks come af-
ter the latest round of talks be-
tweentheprotestersandthegov-
ernment on January 8 failed to
make any headway and unions
claimed they had been asked by
the government to go to court, a
move, they said, they were op-
posedto.
“What consultative process
has been followed for farm bills
that entire states are up in rebel-
lion?” asked CJI Bobde. “We are
sorrytosaythatyou,astheUnion
of India, are not able to solve the
problem. You have made a law
without enough consultation re-
sultinginastrike.Nowyouhaveto
resolvethestrike”.
The court said it is concerned
about any likely disruption of
peace.“Whoisgoingtoberespon-
sible for bloodshed? We need to
upholdArticle21(protectionoflife
and liberty) as a Constitutional
court.Whatifsomeconflagration
takesplace?”askedtheCJI.
As the hearing wound to a
close, the bench said it may pass
ordersMondayorTuesday.When
Attorney General K K Venugopal
urgedthecourtnottobeinahurry
and keep the orders for Tuesday,
the bench shot back: “We have
given you a very long rope. Don’t
lectureusonpatience.Wewillde-
cidewhentopasstheorder.”
The bench was hearing a
clutchofpetitionschallengingthe
validityof thethreefarmlaws.
Venugopalopposedthecourt’s
suggestiontostaythelawssaying
thatwouldbe“drastic”.Hepointed
outthatalawcannotbestayedby
the courts unless it is beyond the
competence of the legislature or
violated fundamental rights or is
against any constitutional provi-
sion. He pointed out that none of
thepetitionershasarguedthisand,
onthecontrary,manysupportthe
laws. The CJI clarified that the
bench was not declaring the laws
unconstitutional.
On the consultative mecha-
nism,theAGsaidtheprocesshad
startedduringthetermofthepre-
vious government. But the court
said:“Pleaseunderstanditwillnot
helpyouthatsomeothergovern-
mentstartedit”.
Venugopal pointed out that
farmers’unionswereinsistentthat
unless the laws were repealed,
theirprotestswouldcontinue.The
benchrespondedsayingitwasnot
gettingintothequestionofrepeal.
“Our intention is to see if we
canbringaboutanamicablereso-
Held for ‘politician-terror nexus’ case,
Para named with Hurriyat leader
ARUN SHARMA
JAMMU, JANUARY 11
ARRESTED BY the Jammu and
Kashmir Police soon after an NIA
court had given him bail in a ter-
rorfundingcase,PDPyouthwing
leader Waheed Ur Rehman Para
wasMondayremandedtoseven-
day police custody along with
Mukhtyar Ahmed Waza alias
Munir Ahmed Sofi, a People's
Leagueleaderandmemberofthe
Hurriyat Conference.
Thecaseagainstthem,under
the UAPA apart from several IPC
Sections, is of alleged links be-
tween politicians and terrorists.
Theremandapplicationsaysthe
FIR was registered by the
Counter-InsurgencyWingof the
J&K Police in Srinagar following
“information from reliable and
confidential sources that some
politicalfunctionariesaremisus-
ing their membership, position,
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lutiontotheproblem.Thatiswhy
we asked you why don’t you put
thelawonhold...Thenwecanform
a committee with Indian Council
for Agricultural Research mem-
bers…”,saidtheCJI.
When the CJI wondered
whetherthegovernmentis“part
of problem or solution,” SG
Mehta replied that “we are part
ofsolution”andaddedthatmany
farmunionshadsaidthelawsare
progressive and “we should not
give in”.
But the bench said there was
nopetitionbeforeitwhichsaidthe
lawwasbeneficialandaddedthat
those who feel the laws are pro-
gressive could say so before the
committee.
TheCJIpointedoutthatbefore
theNewYearrecess,thecourthad
askedthegovernmentwhetherit
could put the laws on hold but
therehadbeennoresponse.
“Peoplearecommittingsuicide.
People are suffering in the cold.
Who is taking care of water and
food? Old people and women are
intheground.Whyareoldpeople
in the farmer protests?” the CJI
askedandaddedthatthecourtdid
notwanttocommentontheagita-
tion.
With the AG opposing staying
ofthelaws,theCJIwonderedifthe
courtcanstaytheimplementation
ofthelawwithoutstayingthelaw.
The AG said this was one and the
same.“Stayingalawandstayingthe
implementation of a law is differ-
ent. We can always stay an execu-
tiveactionunderalaw”,saidtheCJI.
Senior Advocate Harish Salve,
who is appearing for a Delhi resi-
dentwhohashighlighteddifficul-
ties caused to citizens by the
protests,saidtheremustbeanas-
surancethatfarmerswillnotturn
their back if the laws are put on
hold.
“Wearenothavingalasthear-
ing. They will appear before the
committee”,thecourtsaidadding
that senior Advocate Dushyant
Davehadsaidso.
Intervening, Dave said there
are 400 organisations and he
would need to seek instructions
onappearingbeforethecommit-
tee. The CJI wondered why farm-
ers’ associations which appeared
before the government couldn’t
appearbeforethecommittee.
Senior Advocate Colin
Gonsalves, appearing for some of
the farmers’ unions said he, Dave,
Advocate Prashant Bhushan and
SeniorAdvocateHSPhoolka,were
partofacommitteeconstitutedby
thefarmers.“Allof uswillconsult
unionsandtakeastandonthis”.
Venugopal said talks with a
(court-appointed) committee
may not yield a result if farmers’
unionsreiteratetheirrepeal-and-
nothing-elsedemand.“Theyneed
to give suggestions clause by
clauseif it’snotintheirinterest”.
TheSCsaidittrustslawyerslike
Dave, Phoolka, Gonsalves and
PDP youth
wing leader
Waheed
Ur Rehman
Para
oraffiliationwithpoliticalparties
andasapartof criminalconspir-
acy, they have established clan-
destine connections and rela-
tions with different Pakistani
terroristsandsecessionistorgan-
isations operating in J&K’’.
Claiming to have recovered
“incriminating” material against
the accused during searches of
their houses in J&K, the FIR adds,
“Taking advantage of the cover
available to them because of
their membership or position or
affiliation with political parties,
theseunscrupulouspoliticalpar-
ties’functionarieshavevariously
supported the terrorists and se-
cessionists... by way of paying
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Bhushantoconveytothefarmers
thepurposeof thecommittee.
The CJI said that the protests
can go on and the court does not
wantanyonetosayitstifledtheag-
itation but once the laws are
stayed, it needs to be seen if the
protestors can be removed from
thepresentsite.“Frankly,wehave
anapprehensionthattherewillbe
someincident,whetherintended
or unintended, that may breach
thepeace.”
The bench said that the “re-
sponsibility is on all of us....As a
court we will not say you cannot
protest.Butwecansayitisnotthe
onlyplacetoprotest”.
The AG referred to reports
abouttheproposedtractorrallyin
Delhiandsaidabout2,000tractors
willbedriventoRajpathtodisrupt
theRepublicDayceremony.
Dave assured that nothing of
that sort would happen. He told
the court that farmers have said
they have relatives in the Army
andtheyrespectRepublicDay.
Welcoming the statement on
the Republic Day march, the CJI
said the police would take care of
such issues. The right to protest is
intact,hesaid,addingthatprotests
should be like Gandhiji’s
Satyagraha.
Senior Advocate P S
Narasimha, appearing for the
IndianKisanUnion,saidthatmany
organizationsbelievethelawsare
beneficial and urged the court to
hearhimbeforeanyinterimorder
isgranted.
Dave wondered why the gov-
ernment couldn’t call a joint ses-
sionof Parliamentanddebatethe
matter.
SeniorAdvocateVivekTankha,
representingsomefarmersunions
fromMadhyaPradesh,welcomed
the court’s suggestion to stay the
laws.
Phoolka said some of those
whowerecaughtfromtheprotest
site had said they were set up by
police.
“Iwanttotakearisk.Iwantyou
to tell them that the Chief Justice
of India wants them (old people)
to go back. Try and persuade
them”,saidtheCJI.
TheCJIalsosoughtsuggestions
on names of former judges who
can head the proposed commit-
tee. Dave suggested former CJI
Justice R M Lodha’s name.CJI
Bobdesaidhehadalreadyspoken
to his predecessor Justice P
Sathasivam who had expressed
his inability citing his difficulty in
understandingHindi.
Farm unions
(our lawyers) that we are unani-
mouslynotagreeabletogobefore
any committee that may be ap-
pointedbytheSCduetostubborn
attitudeof thegovernment.”
The statement also reiterated
that“allthefarmers'organisations
who are spearheading the fight
against the farm laws are unani-
money, organizing select physi-
cal attacks through terrorist ele-
ments, facilitating their move-
ments, transporting their
fighting hardware and impor-
tantlysavingthemfromrangeof
legal and coercive actions of Law
Enforcement Agencies...”
The police sought seven-day
remand saying they had to take
the two, arrested from the Joint
Interrogation Centre in Jammu
on January 10, to Srinagar to be
produced before the Special
Judge under whose jurisdiction
the case fell. Granting the transit
remand, the NIA court directed
thepolicetoproducethetwobe-
fore the designated court on
January 18.
Criticising Para's arrest in an-
other "fabricated" terror case,
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti
tweeted, "This is purely political
vendetta against PDP for raising
our voice against Delhi’s on-
slaught."
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
FROM KHIRKI TO ‘SAMBHAJI NAGAR’, THE MANY NAMES OF AURANGABAD
KnownforitsTajMahalstyled17th-centurymarbleBibikaMaqbaraandancientAjanta-Elloracaves,the
present-dayAurangabadwasoriginallybuiltintheearly16thcenturybyMalikAmbar–anAfricanslaveturned
warrior.
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mous in their decision that the
lawsmustberepealed.”
DrDarshanPal,coordinatorof
the Morcha and president of
Krantikari Kisan Union, Punjab,
said farmers won’t participate in
anyproceedingsbeforeacommit-
tee that may be appointed by the
SupremeCourt.“Thematterisbe-
tweenusandthegovernment;we
don’twanttoprolongit,”hesaid.
JoginderSinghUgrahan,pres-
ident of BKU Ugrahan, the largest
farmer union in Punjab, told The
IndianExpress,“Ourdemandisfor
arepealofthelaws;notjustastay
on them. We appreciate the
SupremeCourt’shearinginwhich
they have snubbed the Centre for
notresolvingtheissuetillnow.We
don't, however, accept the idea of
setting up a committee… We
hopetheSCwillkeeppublicinter-
est in mind and direct the Centre
torepealtheselaws.”
Ruldu Singh, president of the
PunjabKisanUnion,said,“IftheSC
canstaythefarmlaws,theycandi-
rect the Centre to repeal them as
well.Werespectthecourtbutwe
won’t go back if the laws are not
repealed...”
PremSinghBhangu,president
of the All India Kisan Federation
(Punjab unit), which is part of the
Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, said, “We
continue to stick to our demand
for a repeal. A stay (on the laws)
wasneverourdemand.”
JagmohanSinghPatiala,mem-
ber of the All India Kisan
Sangharsh Coordination
Committee (AIKSCC) said, “We
will discuss the hearing with our
lawyers.Butonethingisclear:we
want the laws to be repealed.
What if this stay is lifted even be-
forewereachPunjab?”
Grounds for stay
convinced that the law is ex-facie
unconstitutional,” the bench of
Justices G S Singhvi and V Gopala
Gowdahadsaid.
Given that Parliament repre-
sents the will of the people, the
startingpresumptionisthatalaw
passed by Parliament is constitu-
tionalunlessacourtreviewsitand
strikes it down. The Parliament's
power to legislate, drawn from
Article254(1)of theConstitution,
canonlyberestrictedifthelawvi-
olatestheConstitution.
Even in 2019, the Supreme
Courtrefusedtostayamendments
made in 2018 to the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Atrocities Prevention Act saying
that a law made by Parliament
cannotbestayed.
The court also refused to stay
the Citizenship Amendment Act,
2019.
Evenstronglycontestedlegis-
lationsuchastheNationalJudicial
Appointments Commission
(NJAC) and Aadhaar were not
stayed by the Supreme Court but
were, instead, stalled by the gov-
ernment for the duration of the
In Central Vista’s revamp: Underground
‘people mover’ for govt employees, visitors
AVISHEK G DASTIDAR
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT em-
ployeesmaygettouseanunder-
ground “people mover” to reach
their offices, which will also con-
nectwithexistingMetrostations,
in the redeveloped Central Vista.
As for overground transport,
there will be buses, including
electric, for tourists and visitors.
“There will be underground
peoplemoverdirectlyconnected
totwoMetrostationsonthevista;
Itwillconnectallcommoncentral
secretariat buildings, conference
centre and National Archive.
Something like this connects dif-
ferentterminalsatthebigairports
like Chicago airport. Officials and
public visiting central govern-
ment offices will use this under-
ground people mover,” Durga
FULL COVERAGE
protractedlegalbattlesincourt.
While the NJAC Act, which
contemplatedasignificantrolefor
the executive in judicial appoint-
ments, was struck down as being
violative of basic structure, the SC
upheldtheAadhaarAct.
However,thereareinstancesof
stayingtheoperationofalawindi-
rectlybystayingarulingoftheHigh
Courts.AshappenedinSeptember
lastyearwhentheSupremeCourt
referred to a larger bench a batch
ofpetitionschallengingaBombay
High Court ruling that upheld the
Maharashtralawgrantingreserva-
tion to Marathas in jobs and edu-
cationalinstitutions.
The implementation of a law
can be halted on three narrow
grounds.Thefirstgroundislegisla-
tive competence, that is, if the
courtfindsthatParliamenthasno
powertolegislateonasubject.
The other two grounds are if
the law violates fundamental
rights or any other provisions of
the Constitution respectively.
Attorney General K K Venugopal
argued Monday that none of the
pleas filed challenging the three
farmlawsinvokesthesegrounds.
The government’s opposition
to the possibility of a stay against
the farm laws foreshadows an-
other faultline that could emerge
from the Supreme Court's inter-
vention–formationof acommit-
teetodiscussthelawwithprotest-
ing farmers. The Supreme Court
haspreviouslysetupcommittees,
delegating some of its powers to
the members to implement or
oversee a law or an order of the
court. For example, in 2017, in a
judgmentthatdrewcriticismand
wassubsequentlyrolledback,the
SChaddirectedsettingupof fam-
ily welfare committees to assess
complaints of domestic violence
beforebeinginvestigatedbypolice.
However, a committee to rec-
ommend whether a law must be
stayed or repealed or, as Chief
Justice S A Bobde said, to decide if
thelawsarein“publicinterest,”is
newterritoryforthejudiciary.
Serum
3 crore healthcare and frontline
workers will be the first in line to
receivetheshot.
At least 70 lakh healthcare
workers will be administered the
vaccine over the next three
months, NITI Aayog Member-
Health and chair of the National
Expert Group on Vaccine
AdministrationforCovid-19(NEG-
VAC),DrVKPaul,said.
Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, chair-
man of the Poonawalla Group of
whichSIIispart,confirmedthata
dealhadbeensignedwiththegov-
ernment.“Weareexpectingabig-
ger order next week,” he told The
IndianExpressonMondayevening.
Following the January 3 ap-
proval from the Drug Controller
General of India, SII CEO Adar
Poonawalla had announced that
Shanker Mishra, Secretary,
Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs, told The Indian Express
Monday on the sidelines of the
ministry’s press conference.
The government has identi-
fied around four locations — in
GoleMarket,KGMargnearAfrica
Avenue, and near Talkatora
Stadium — in central Delhi for
temporaryshiftingofficesof var-
ious ministries. Offices of min-
istries will be housed in a new
Central Secretariat building.
ThegovernmentMondaysaid
speculation about the projected
cost of the redevelopment of the
CentralVistaismorethanwhatit
wouldactuallybe.“Thecostofthe
projectwouldbeabsorbedbyre-
spectiveministriesthroughtheir
own budgets. The overall figure
will be much lower than what is
beingspeculated,”HardeepPuri,
Minister of Housing and Urban
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
WHAT IS PARLER
SOCIAL NETWORK
Apple, Amazon and
Google have suspended
the network
SII would offer the government a
“special” price of Rs 200 per dose
for the first 100 million doses of
Covishield. Asked whether the
price still remained Rs 200, Dr
CyrusPoonawallasaid,“Yes”.
The government is learnt to
havealsofinalisedacontractwith
BharatBiotechforitsCovaxinvac-
cine. No confirmation was, how-
ever, available from either Bharat
Biotech chairman and managing
director Dr Krishna Ella, or the
unionHealth Ministry. Therewas
alsonoconfirmationfromthegov-
ernmentonthesizeandnatureof
the deal with either SII or Bharat
Biotech.
Dr Cyrus Poonawalla on
Monday said SII had a huge stock
of vaccines, and appealed for a si-
multaneousrolloutfortheprivate
sectorandthevulnerablegroupof
elderlypeople.
“Whyshouldtheprivatemar-
ketandvulnerablegroups,mainly
elderly people, be deprived until
thegovernmentstartsdistributing
in their priority areas?” Dr
Poonawallasaid.
PM to CMs
buts. A certain section wants to
createsomebarriers;thereiscor-
porate competition. We have to
ensurethattherightinformationis
disseminated to the citizen. We
havetoinvolvereligiousorganisa-
tions, the social sector, self-help
groups,”thePMsaid.Mostaware-
ness will be required after the
completionofthefirsttworounds,
when the 3-crore priority group
hasbeenvaccinated,headded.
To ensure effective tracking,
digital certificates must be given
to the beneficiaries, he told Chief
Ministersatthemeetingthattook
placebyvideolink.“Fromthiscer-
tificate,wewillknowwhohasre-
ceivedthedose;anditwillactasa
reminderofwhentheseconddose
has to be administered. After the
second dose, a final digital certifi-
catewillbegenerated,”Modisaid.
Indian comeback
playingforhiscareer,andAshwin,
who loves a good sporting brawl,
madeadrawfeellikeawin.
Would an Indian team of the
pasthavebattledsomanyinjuries
withsuchatalentedandtenacious
back-up group putting up a stir-
ring fight like this? The jury is out
on that one. But there is no ques-
tion about the enormity of this
achievement, particularly in the
chaoticbackdropof thegame.
“Welcome to the greatest of
the comebacks,” was how
Australian motormouth skipper
Tim Paine welcomed Pant to the
creaseatthefallofAjinkyaRahane,
who departed in the second over
of the day. It was a deliberate
sledge since Pant had been hit on
the elbow in the first innings. But
the young Indian wicketkeeper
keptquietandwalkedovertochat
with Pujara. Soon, Pant went on a
People
mover
PEOPLE mover is the
term used to describe
small transit systems
serving a limited number
of people in a defined
area, like theme parks,
airport terminals, etc.
Affairs, told reporters.
The ministry’s internal
Heritage Conservation
Committee Monday also okayed
construction of the new
Parliament building — a matter
which had, until recently, been
entangled in Supreme Court liti-
gation. “Democratically elected
government has to make a deci-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
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rousing attack, launching himself
into off-spinner Nathan Lyon. He
didn’tgetcarriedawaythough,as
he played the pacers on merit,
drivingandpullingasperthesitu-
ation. Against Lyon, he was an
overwhelming force; against the
pacers,hewasmethodical.
Pujara,meanwhile,negotiated
the situation perfectly. He played
hisshots,rotatedthestrikeandde-
fended solidly. Runs came in a
flood but Pant fell and so did
Pujara,leavingIndiainacornerat
the tea break. With Jadeja’s left
thumbbrokenandbandaged,the
pursuit of a win evaporated and
the possibility of a draw, too, be-
gantogetclouded.
Ashwin, his wife would later
tweet, was unable to “stand
straight”inthemorning,riddenby
a “terrible back” pain. He “could-
n’tbenddown”totiehisshoelaces.
But the game hung on his back as
he went to join a hamstrung
Vihari. Together, ball by ball, they
rebuilttheinnings.Thestumpmi-
crophonecaughtAshwinadvising
hispartnerinTamil:“Let’splay10
balls each”. By the end, it turned
into a playful Tamil cry of, “aadu
mama,aadumama!(playon,man;
playon,man!).
Until that phase, the
Australians tried their best -- the
bowlers with the ball, the fielders
with the lip. But finally, it became
clearthattheyhadgivenupwhen
Painestartedtotalkaboutthenext
Test, the finale of the series, in a
venueknowntohelpfastbowlers.
“Can’twaittogetyoutotheGabba
(stadium in Brisbane),” he told
Ashwin. The exchange was loud
enough to be caught up by the
pitchmic.“Can’twaittogetyouto
India, it’ll be your last series,”
Ashwinretorted.
Bird flu
organised poultry farms have oc-
curredinBarwala,whichisanegg-
producinghub.The120-oddfarms
herehouseonlylayerbirds.
“Thecarriersofthefluvirusare
mostly migratory birds from
Siberiaandothercoldregionsthat
come to India during November-
February to escape the extreme
winters there. They live close to
waterbodieshere,fromwherelo-
cal birds contract the virus. But
these would be free-living birds,
not the ones raised in organised
poultry farms,” Soundararajan,
whose company is India’s largest
broiler producer, told The Indian
Express.
Dr A S Ranade, dean of
Mumbai Veterinary College, said
chancesofbirdsinorganisedpoul-
try farms getting infected were
very low. This is because they are
keptinnearisolation.
Nobel Laureate
He added that a vaccine must
notbeuseduntildataisproduced.
“Forvaccinesthathaven’tun-
sion when to have a new
Parliament.Thisgovernmenthas
takenthatdecision.TheEstimates
Committee in 1985 said so too.
Secretary of Lok Sabha Speaker
MeiraKumarin2012wrotetothe
Urban Development secretary
thenaskingforit(newParliament
building). The demand has to
comefromtheusersof thebuild-
ing,” Puri said.
The government has also
giventhecontractforredevelop-
mentandwideningoftheCentral
Vistaavenue,likeRajpath,tocon-
struction major Shapoorji
Pallonji, for around Rs 477 crore.
“Work is on in various segments.
The whole project should be
completed by 2025,” he said.
The2022RepublicDayparade
will happen in the new Rajpath,
said Mishra. Work will start right
after the R-Day this year.
A14-memberheritagepanel,
dergone clinicaltrials, theymust
be producing data first. That is
myview,thatisascientist’sview.
Butpoliticianshavetoact,itisup
to the governments ultimately,”
he added.
“India needs to invest much
more in science. My feeling is,
theIndiangovernmentisnotdo-
ingenoughbutIndianindustries
are doing even less... This needs
toimproveif Indiawantstocom-
pete in the 21st century. Days of
cheap labour will disappear ow-
ing to automation. India has to
become a knowledge-based
economy. So, would urge India
to stop these stupid internal
squabbles,” Ramakrishnan said.
An alumnus of MSU
Vadodara, Ramakrishnan said,
“One thing that is different from
when I was growing up in India
and now, is that, earlier univer-
sities were often fairly good in
science. They had at least one or
two professors in each depart-
ment doing reasonably good
work. Over the next two or three
decades, the focus shifted from
the universities to the central in-
stitutes (such as Indian Institute
of Science (IISc), Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research (TIFR),
Indian Institute of Science
Education and Research (IISER))
and that decoupled education
fromresearch,whichthegovern-
ment is trying to reverse now...
You cannot raise the average un-
lessyouhavemoremoneytoim-
prove the average. And that can-
not come from the government
alone...Ithinkprivateinstitutions
have a role to play.”
Referring to the politics-sci-
encedebate,hesaid,itisuptothe
governmenttodecidewhichdis-
ease it has to tackle on priority.
“But after deciding the large pri-
orities, it should then be left up
tothescientistsonhowtoimple-
ment those priorities. For exam-
ple,(USpresident)RichardNixon
started a war on cancer but he
cannot tell scientists that he
wantsthemtotacklecancerwith
someparticulardrugs...,”hesaid.
Ramakrishnan said the coro-
navirusmRNA(messengerRNA)
vaccine has shown that the
“(mRNA) technology is impres-
sive”, especially given that it has
shown to be effective against
mutatedversionsof thevirus.He
said there was great “potential”
in the technology to address
otherailmentsaswell,butadded
that some areas required to be
looked into and addressed with
respect to mRNA vaccines, in-
cluding the “problems of distri-
bution”, given the extremely
cold storage temperature it re-
quires to keep the molecule sta-
ble,and“thecost”whichisman-
ifolds of other vaccine formats
such as live-attenuated or inac-
tive vaccines.
FULLREPORTSON
www.indianexpress.com
headed by the Additional
Secretaryof theministry,okayed
theprojectpavingthewayforthe
newParliament’sworktostartin
thenextfewdays.“If youseehis-
tory, the existing parliament
building was never designed to
house the legislature of an inde-
pendent country,” said Puri.
The National Emblem will
crownthenewParliamentbuild-
ing. It will have six committee
rooms to conduct business.
Asked if a public hearing was
mandatory before granting ap-
proval, Mishra answered, “No”.
The panel has officers from
different organisations and ex-
perts as members. Mishra said
the committee’s members are
the ones who look into what is
provided under unified building
bylaws based on which they ac-
cept or reject a proposal or sug-
gest modifications.
Ahmedabad
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

3 GUJARAT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
NFHS-5 REPORT
WOMEN ALCOHOL DRINKERS ON THE RISE
The percentage of women consuming alcohol has doubled in the last four years in
Gujarat, a “dry state”, since its inception in 1960, according to the recently released
National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) report for 2019-20.

Places
CASE TRACKER
Confirmed Deaths New cases State to get first shipment 12forpolicemen test positive
Covid in Dangs district
of Covid-19 vaccine today
Ahmedabad 57,814 2,271 128
Amreli 3,902 34 2
Anand 2,381 17 9
Aravalli 1,181 26 1 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE The district so far recorded
Banaskantha 4,684 38 7 SURAT, JANUARY 11 168 cases of coronavirus but
Bharuch 4,001 18 6 16,” he added.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Patel said that a video-conference THETRIBALdistrictof Dangsthathadbeen no fatalities due to the
Bhavnagar 6,011 70 8 AHMEDABAD, JANUARY 11 willbeheldonMondaynightwiththe reporting just one or two fresh Covid-19 virus, as per the state
Botad 1,041 12 1 central ministry of healthto decideon casesperdayonanaverage, saw 12police-
THE GUJARAT health department is supply and distribution of the doses. men testing positive on Sunday.
government dashboard
Chhota Udepur 914 4 1
Dahod 3,163 7 14 expected to receive its first shipment Out of 250 Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT)
of Covid-19vaccineonTuesdaymorn-
RT-PCR testing facility at done on police officers at Dangs Police
Dang 168 Ahmedabad airport
ing at the Ahmedabad airport. Bhavan and police headquarters, 12 offi- works in a private hospital had tested pos-
DevbhoomiDwarka 9,816 5 3 Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel NeubergSupratech, a privatediag- cers, including a deputy superintendent of itive for Covid.
Gandhinagar 8,298 105 19 who also holds the health portfolio nosticlaboratory,hassetupanRT-PCR police, tested positive, out of which four On learningthis, superintendent of po-
Gir Somnath 2,383 22 3 said said that as has already been as- testing facility on Ahmedabad airport areadmittedtoahospitalinAhwaandoth- lice Ravirajsinh Jadeja coordinated with
Jamnagar 10,317 35 14 sured by the Prime Minister premises for travellers from Monday. ers are in home isolation. the district collector and organised RAT
Narendra Modi, the expenditure of The round-the-clock counter can The district so far recorded 168 cases of tests for the personnel.
Junagadh 5,095 32 11
vaccinating nearly three crore front- be availed by domestic as well as in- coronavirusandaspertheGujaratgovern- Dangs District Superintendent of po-
Kheda 3,054 16 10 line workers across the country will ternational travellers with the test mentdashboard,itreportednodeathsand lice, Ravirajsinh Jadeja, said, “We carried
Kutch 4,155 33 11 be borne by the central government. results declared within six to eight has 27 active cases at present. As per the out RAT for the staff in Police Bhavan and
Mahisagar 2,009 13 7 “We have been told by our Prime hours,executive director of Supratech dashboard, 239 people are under quaran- police headquarter, of which 12 personnel
Mehsana 6,776 38 12 Minister that once vaccination of the Neuberg Dr Sandip Shah, said. tine in the district. testedpositive.Eightof themwereasymp-
first two phases — healthcare work- A private RT-PCR testing facility Police department sources said that a tomatic, while others had cough and cold.
Morbi 3,155 21 6 Polio drive postponed
ers and frontline Covid-19 workers — at the Ahmedabad airport for few days ago, a head constable serving Theheadconstablewhosedaughtertested
Narmada 2,012 1 8 are nearly 50-60 per cent completed, travellers. Express The oral polio vaccination drive with the district police control depart- positive, has tested negative in RAT. After
Navsari 1,613 8 3 he will conduct a meeting with all that was expected to commence from ment reported that his daughter who few days he will be tested again.”
Panchmahal 4,184 23 7 chief ministers to discuss and review January 17 has been postponed, a
Patan 4,197 51 the outcomes...,” said Patel. ical staff etc. Across Gujarat nearly healthdepartmentofficialtoldthispa-
“On January 16, across nearly 287 25,000 booths (vaccination sites) per on Monday.
Porbandar 1,080 4
booths — most of them in have been prepared... The PM will A notification on the fresh date is
Rajkot 21,748 202 60 Ahmedabad and Rajkot — the PM mark the launch of the vaccination expected soon from the central health
Sabarkantha 2,897 13 9 will interact with doctors, paramed- drive across the country on January ministry, added the official.
Surat 50,852 972 129
Surendranagar 3,487 14 3
Tapi 1,064 7 1
Vadodara 25,976 249 119
Valsad 1,381 8 3
Other states 148 3
Cumulative Total New Cumulative
discharge: cases: cases: deaths:
2,40,517 2,51,813 615 4,372

Constable dies after bike

rams his two-wheeler
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JANUARY 11
A30-YEAR-OLDpoliceconstable
in Ahmedabad died after a
speeding bike collided with his
two-wheeleronSarkhej-Dholka
road in Shaktinagar on Sunday.
According to police, consta-
bleYogeshParmar(30),attached
to Sarkhej police station, met
with the accident around 8.30
pm on Sunday.
“The victim was riding a
Scooty with his wife Manisha
Parmaronpillionwhenaspeed-
ingbikecollidedwithhisvehicle.
Both Parmar and Manisha were
taken to Shelby Hospital where
Parmar was declared brought
dead while his wife is in critical
condition.Wehavelodgedacase
against the unknown bike rider NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF
underIndianPenalCodesections PERSONS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES (DIVYANGJAN)
304aforcausingdeathwithneg- Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)
ligence, 279 for rash driving and (Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India)
337 for causing hurt with negli- (An ISO 9001 : 2015 Institution)
gent or rash act,” said a police of- Manovikasnagar, Secunderabad-500 009, Telangana
ficer at M Traffic Police Station. Tel: 091-40-27751741-745, Fax : 091-40-27750198. Website : niepid.nic.in
WALK-IN-INTERVIEWS FOR ADMISSION
Applications are invited for filling up for vacant seats in the following Courses
through Walk-In- Interviews to be conducted in NIEPID, Secunderabad
premises on 18.01.2021 from 10.00 am onwards
Courses
M.Ed Special Education ( ID)
B.Ed Special Education ( ID)
P.G. Diploma in Early Intervention
Applicants can download applications from NIEPID Website:
www.niepid.nic.in (at admission notification 2020-21) duly filled in and
attend with all original certificates for verification during interviews.
Director, NIEPID
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE EMPOWERMENT
OF PERSONS WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES (DIVYANGJAN)
Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)
(Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India)
(An ISO 9001 : 2015 Institution)
Manovikasnagar, Secunderabad-500 009, Telangana
Tel: 091-40-27751741-745, Fax : 091-40-27750198. Website : niepid.nic.in
Composite Regional Centre for Skill Development, Rehabilitation &
Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
Old District Hospital Campus, Rajnandgaon, Chattishgarh - 491 441
WALK-IN-INTERVIEWS FOR GUEST STAFF POSITIONS
Walk-in-Interviews/screening for empanelment of the
following guest staff for the Early Intervention Unit at Composite
Regional Centre, Rajnandgaon will be held on 27.01.2021 at
CRC Rajnandgaon from 9.00 am onwards.
Positions for EIU
1) Special Educator 2) Early Interventionist
3) Ear Mould Technician 4) Optometrist
For Complete details about the qualifications, experience,
remuneration, terms & conditions, please visit our website
www.niepid.nic.in or crc rajnandgaon.nic.in.The engagement
of guest staff will be done as per the merit based on
requirements from the empanelment list. Director, NIEPID

WESTERN RAILWAY - BHAVNAGAR DIVISION

PUBLIC NOTIFICATION REGARDING KITE
FLYING NEAR ELECTRIFIED RAILWAY TRACK
Notice is hereby given to General public that the Railway
Track is Electrified on 25000 Volt on AC through Over Head
Voltage Electric wires on Surendranagar - Savarkundla
sections of Bhavnagar Division. There are activities of
removal of the entangled kites, threads from Over Head
Traction Wires, which can cause loss of human life. There is
a risk of human life, while removing the entangled kites,
threads from 25000 Volts Over Head Traction Wires, which
can cause breakage of over head traction wires thereby
causing serious interruption to railway traffic and loss of
human life.
In addition to this, it is noticed that some of threads are
having metallic powder coating which may cause loss of
human life while flying the kites in the vicinity of the over
head traction wires (OHE).
Hence public are hereby requested to avoid kite flying
near Railway track/kite removal from high voltage traction
wires of Railways use of metallic powder coating threads as
this may endanger human life and also advice to other
people.
BVP-50

Ahmedabad
 4 GUJARAT
AIMIM to contest local body
polls, holds first meet in state
AVINASHNAIR
AHMEDABAD,JANUARY11
THE ASADUDDIN Owaisi-led All
India Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen (AIMIM) held its first
political gathering in Gujarat on
Monday where leaders of the
party said they would fight the
upcoming local body
elections in the state and emerge
victorious.
Imtiaz Jaleel, Member of
Parliament from Aurangabad
whoaddressedagatheringatthe
minority-dominated area of
GomtipurinAhmedabad,saidhe
along with Waris Pathan, former
MLA from Maharashtra, have
been visiting various cities in
Gujarat,includingSurat,Bharuch
and Vadodara, for two days. “The
kite(electionsymbol)ofAIMIMis
going to fly very high in Gujarat,”
Jaleel said.
“Athirdpartynevergotspace
in Gujarat. It was either BJP or
After Junagadh, bird flu spreads
to central, southern districts
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
VADODARA,SURAT,RAJKOT,
JANUARY11
THENUMBERofdistrictsaffected
bythebirdfluinthestatewentup
to four Monday as samples of
crows,whichwerefounddeadin
some central and southern dis-
tricts a few days ago, tested posi-
tive for H5N1 influenza. Thirty
crows had dropped dead in
Vadodaradistrict,whilecarcasses
of six and five crows were found
in Surat and Valsad districts, re-
spectively,overthelastweek.This
comes days after H5N1 cases
were noted in Junagadh district.
Vadodara and Surat district
collectors Monday imposed re-
strictions on the movement of
man and machinery to and from
poultry farms in affected areas
even as more mass mortality of
birds was reported from
Saurashtra and Kutch.
Officials at Vadodara animal
husbandry department said the
NationalInstituteofHighSecurity
Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) labo-
ratory in Bhopal confirmed three
ofthefivesamplesofthe30crows,
which were found dead at
Vasantpura village in Savli taluka
Thursday, tested positive for
H5N1. “We are taking the utmost
precaution in the affected area.
We have asked poultry farms to
restrict entry and movement of
people.Theyhavetokeepsanitis-
ing the farms and continue fol-
lowing the protocols. There is no
needforpanicamongpeoplebut
exercising caution is important,”
Dr Prakash Darji, the animal hus-
bandry officer of Vadodara, said.
Dr Darji said samples of pi-
geons,founddeadatKiavillagein
Karjan taluka, and a peacock,
found dead in Vadodara city, too,
Surat textile expo a success: Organisers
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
SURAT, JANUARY 11
AROUND21,000textilebusiness-
men(weavers)fromSuratvisited
thethree-daySuratInternational
TextileExpo(SITEX),anexhibition
of textile machineries, organised
bytheSouthernGujaratChamber
of Commerce and Industry
(SGCCI)inSuratthatconcludedon
Monday.
AccordingtoSITEX2021exhi-
bition committee chairman,
HimanshuBodawala,“Majorityof
the exhibitors got orders and
bookings. One of the local textile
National toy fair from February 27 to boost indigenous industry
RITU SHARMA
AHMEDABAD, JANUARY 11
A HYDRALULIC JCB controlled
using syringes, a periscope to
look beyond the wall, a robot
madeusingaDCmotor,explain-
ing textbook trignometry
through a sine wave car, easy
learning of geometry through
lamps — these are a few of the
over 200 toys developed at the
Indian Institute of Technology,
Gandhinagar’s(IIT-Gn)Centrefor
Creative Learning (CCL), which
will be a part of the first national
toyfairscheduledtobeheldfrom
February 27 to March 2.
The Ministry of Textiles, in
collaboration with other min-
istries, including the Ministry of
AIMIM holds its first politicial event at Gomtipur in
Ahmedabad on Monday. Avinash Nair
Congress... But we will fight elec-
tions in Gujarat. We have not
come here just to fight. We will
fight and win,” he told a small
crowd that had gathered by the
roadside near Al-Amin Hospital.
“Every five years when they
(Congress)faceanyelection,they
ask for votes and they know that
these people (Muslims) will not
had been sent to NIHSAD.
Vadodara collector Shalini
Agarwal,meanwhile,issuedano-
tificationprohibitingactivitiesin-
side poultry farms across the dis-
trict, including transport of
products,birdsandequipmentto
and from farms in Vadodara for
the next 60 days.
The restrictions, which will
haveadirectimpactonthesaleof
poultry products in the district,
alsoincludesadirectiontoensure
thatmigratorybirdsthatcomein
contactwithwaterbodiesshould
berestricted.Thenotificationalso
earmarks a containment area in
theaffectedvillageandimposesa
restriction on the involvement of
peopleinpoultryfarmbusinesses.
In Surat and Valsad districts,
authoritiesconfirmedsamplesof
crows — bird carcasses were re-
covered from Madhi railway sta-
tion area of Bardoli taluka and
Bardoli town in Surat; and Sugar
Street, Valsad town, and Reserve
ForestDepartmentlandatAtgam
village in Valsad — have tested
positive for H5N1. Surat collector
Dhaval Patel said area falling
withinaone-kmradiusof Madhi
railway staff colony has been de-
clared a containment zone. “We
have issued notifications with an
attempt to contain the infection.
The notification will remain in
force for 60 days. Different teams
of health and veterinary officials
will survey poultry farms in
Bardoliandindifferenttalukasin
Surat district,” Patel said.
H5N1caseswerefirstnotedin
Junagadhdistrictafterlaboratory
testsconfirmedonJanuary8that
a few of the 55 birds, which were
found dead on the coast of Kharo
dam at Bantva village in the dis-
trict, had died due to the disease.
OnMonday,Junagadhdistrict
collector Sourabh Pardhi said, six
machinery manufacturing firms
got orders of 1,900 machinery
worth Rs 700 crore.”
SITEX 2021, which com-
menced on January 9, was inau-
guratedbyUnionTextileMinister
Smriti Irani.
Sources said that 110 ex-
hibitors — majority of them from
Surat — from across the country
participated in the exhibition.
Machines with latest technology
such as air jet looms, water jet
looms, rapier looms, electronic
jacquard machines, digital print-
ing machines and heat transfer
machine were on display at the
SGCCIconventionhallatSarsana.
Education, is organising the vir-
tualeventwithanaimtoprovide
joyful learning to children by in-
cluding them in teaching and
learningaswellaspromotingthe
indigenous toy industry.
“The idea of a toy fair
emerged from Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat
address on August 30, 2020,
where he highlighted the huge
potential of toys market and the
opportunitiesthatcanbetapped
to promote indigenous toys. In
this fair, along with CCL’s toys,
there will be 75 exhibition stalls
of the Department of School
Education and Literacy (DoSEL),
Ministry of Education, National
CouncilforEducationalResearch
and Training (NCERT), State
CouncilforEducationalResearch
gowiththeBJPanditistheircom-
pulsion to vote for the Congress.
They have been taking advan-
tage,” the Jaleel said.
“Some political parties tried
hard to ensure that this event do
not take place in this area of
Ahmedabad,” he said attacking
the Opposition Congress.
He said AIMIM has won seats
othercrowsthatwerefoundillat
Lohejvillageof Mangroltalukain
Junagadh districtandwerebeing
treated,hadsuccumbed.Thecol-
lector, however, said the sale of
poultryproductinthedistrictwas
not affected. “There are only two
orthreepoultryfarmsinthevicin-
ity of places where bird deaths
have been reported. So far, no
mortalityamongpoultrybirdshas
been reported. While vigilance
has been upped, there are no re-
strictions on the sale of poultry
products as yet,” Pardhi said.
On Sunday, 35 cormorants
were found dead inside a well at
Bhimasar village of Anjar taluka
in Kutch, Dr Haresh Thakkar, the
deputy director of animal hus-
bandry (DyDAH) department of
Kutch district, said. “The well has
anactiveelectricmotorpumpand
one possibility is that the cor-
morants could have died due to
electric shock. However, as a pre-
cautionarymeasure,wehavesent
samplesofthebirdstoBhopal,”Dr
Thakkar added.
FifteenRed-wattledlapwings
have also been found dead on
Bhadar riverbank at Shivrajgadh
villageof GondaltalukainRajkot.
“We are awaiting results of the
tests from NIHSAD even as we
have started surveillance,” Dr KU
Khanpara, DyDAH of Rajkot, said.
Meanwhile, a poultry farmer
at Dolasa village in Gir Somnath
districtclaimedaround100chick-
ensdiedoverthepastfewdaysaf-
ter some wild animals raided the
farm. “We visited the enclosure
Sunday and found one dead bird
with injury marks on its neck.
While the mortalities seem to be
due to attack by predators, we
havesentsamplesfortests,”DrSN
Vaghasiya, DyDAH at animal dis-
ease investigation centre of
Junagadh, said.
SGCCIsourcessaidthatonthe
first day of the event, the footfall
was 6,125, while it went up to
9,000 on Sunday.
Bodawala said, “The three-
day exhibition was a success as
many of the exhibitors got book-
ings. The highest number of
bookings was received by textile
machinery manufacturer
Mahendra Kakadia whose firm
got orders of 1,900 machines of
rapier jacquard, water jet looms
machines and air jet looms ma-
chines worth over Rs 700 crore.
The textile industry market is
growing and people are turning
towards latest machines.”
Prof Manish Jain, coordinator CCL, explains how the hydraulic JCB is prepared and works. (Right) Lamps of different shapes
on display. Express
andTraining(SCERT),alongwith
their schools and teachers,” said
CCL co-ordinator Prof Manish
A third party never
got space in Gujarat.
It was either BJP or
Congress... But we will
fight elections in Gujarat.
We have not come here
just to fight. We will fight
and win”
—IMTIAZ JALEEL
AURANGABAD MP
in the Maharashtra and Bihar as-
sembly and is no more a political
unit restricted to Hyderabad.
“NowthatweareinGujarat,peo-
ple say the same old things; that
we will cut votes,” he added.
Attacking Prime Minister
NarendraModi,he saidthat“like
the theory of Newton, whatever
goes up, will come down”.
“Modiji, everyone has to come
down. So much of haughtiness
andprideisnotgood,”hesaidcrit-
icising the farm laws.
With spike in
bird flu cases,
state govt issues
SOPs for
Karuna Abhiyan
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, JANUARY 11
IN THE wake of bird flu cases in
parts of Gujarat, Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani Monday held a
meeting with top officials of
forest and animal husbandry
departments and announced
the standard operating proce-
dures (SOPs) to be adopted for
the upcoming Karuna Abhiyan.
Every year, the state govern-
ment undertakes the Karuna
Abhiyan, a campaign to save
and treat birds that get injured
during Uttarayan, a kite festival.
An official release said fol-
lowing cases of bird flu in
Junagadh, Vadodara, Surat, and
Valsad, the chief minister held
a high-level meeting and issued
specific precautions to be
adopted in dealing with birds
during the Karuna Abhiyan this
year. While all existing guide-
lines prevailing for the Covid-19
pandemic, like social distanc-
ing, wearing masks, washing
hands with soap, and use of
sanitiser, will have to be fol-
lowed during the campaign, the
SOPs said the number of NGO
volunteers should be limited
this year owing to the cases of
bird flu.
All those taking part in the
campaign will have to wear PPE
kits and hand gloves, it added.
Instructions have also been is-
sued for the handling of the in-
jured or dead birds.
If a bird carcass is found,
then it has to be kept in a plastic
bag with zip-lock and handed
over to a nearby veterinary
clinic of the animal husbandry
department separately, the
SOPs stated.
Injured birds have to be put
carefully in a container and then
shifted to a nearby treatment
centre and a container has to be
properly sanitised after every
use, it added.
The NGOs, which want to
participate in the campaign,
will have to compulsorily pro-
vide sufficient PPE kits, hand
gloves, plastic bag with zip-lock,
and proper container to their
volunteers. The municipal cor-
porations of Ahmedabad, Surat,
Vadodara and Rajkot will also
have to provide sufficient PPE
kits, hand gloves, plastic bags
with zip-lock and containers for
shifting injured birds.
Jain.
EstablishedinApril2017with
an existing team of 10 to nurture
Students reach at Don Bosco School, Vejalpur, in Ahmedabad as schools reopen for classes 10 and 12; (right) Authorities ensure
SOPs are followed before welcoming back students at a school in Vadodara on Monday.
FROM PAGE ONE
Schools, colleges
reopen in state
According to Education
Minister Bhupendrasinh
Chudasama, “Across the state,
schools recorded an attendance
of 35-40 per cent, while colleges
and higher education institutes
recorded 40-50 per cent atten-
dance.Thefiguresareencourag-
ing after a huge break of nine
months, as usually on the first
day after Diwali or summer va-
cations,theattendancewouldbe
similar. We are expecting the
numbers to increase after
Uttarayan.”
“Attendance was low in col-
leges as examinations are going
oninmostof theuniversities,in-
cluding the Gujarat University
(GU) and Gujarat Technological
University (GTU). Where there
were no exams, the attendance
was nearly 40-50 per cent.
Picture will be clearer by next
week,” said Anju Sharma,
Principal Secretary Education.
Not compromising on stan-
dard operating procedures
(SOPs), a few students who
reached Government Secondary
and Higher Secondary School in
Makhtampura, Juhapura, with-
outconsentletterweresentback
by the teachers.
“Myparentsareoutof station
and I could not get the consent
letter signed,” said Sanya Chau-
han, Class 10 student of the
school. She was sent home to get
thelettersignedbyhereldersib-
lings.
“Wehavebeeninstructednot
toallowanystudentwithoutthe
consent letter... we have already
communicated the same on
WhatsApp groups,” school prin-
cipal Nirmalaben Parmar told
The Indian Express.
On the arrangements made,
theprincipalsaidthattheschool
wassanitisedbytheAhmedabad
MunicipalCorporation(AMC)on
Sunday.
Sanya returned with the
signed form soon and was led to
her class by Nirmalaben and her
classteacher,VinodMagarwadia.
With a seating arrangement of
20inaclassroomagainstthenor-
2 minors who ‘eloped’ traced
to Vapi, boy booked for rape
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
VADODARA, JANUARY 11
NEARLY TWO weeks after they
“eloped”, the police traced two
minors,bothaged14,toVapidis-
trict where they had been “liv-
ing as a couple”.
The children were brought
back to Vadodara on Sunday
night, police said. While the girl
was sent to back to home, the
boy was detained for alleged
rape after the former’s family
submitted a complaint, police
added.
The minors, both students of
class 9, are neighbours but be-
longtodifferentcastes.Theyhad
“eloped” on December 28 last
yearfromtheirhomeatPadamla
village in Vadodara allegedly af-
ter suffering from “separation
thescientifictemperandcreativ-
ity in students and teachers, CCL
has created over 200 toys and
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
Nirmal Harindran
Students at Vanita Vishram School in Surat on Monday. Express
mal strength of 60, the school
staff ensured social distancing
and other SOPs. Posters with in-
structionswereplacedacrossthe
school,whichisalsoadesignated
Covid vaccination centre.
Theschool reportedanatten-
danceof15percentwhere27stu-
dentsinClass10and18inClass12
attended school on the first day.
“We were expecting at least 30-
40 per cent per cent students to
attendtheschool.Buteventhisis
not bad,” Nirmalaben said.
“With 23,631 students out of
79,470totalstudentsforClass10
and12enrolledin690schoolsin
the district area, the attendance
was 29.73 per cent. To check the
arrangements,ateamof 150vis-
itedmorethanfivetosixschools
each. The feedback received is
very positive,” said district edu-
cationofficer(DEO)Ahmedabad
rural, Rakesh Vyas.
Teachers who conducted a
survey among parents last week
reportedqueriesfromparentson
reopening of schools. “Most of
the parents who are daily wage
labourers wanted schools to be
reopened. Since everyone could
not afford a smartphone to at-
tend online classes, even stu-
dents were eager to return to
school,”NehaShah,ahighersec-
ondary teacher, told The Indian
Express.
At Delhi Public School (DPS)
in Bopal area of Ahmedabad, 20
studentsreportedonthefirstday.
The school, affiliated to CBSE, re-
sumed only Class 12 science and
commercestreamsforwhichthe
school has strength of 350 stu-
dents. The school will resume
Class 10 from January 18.
anxiety” during the lockdown.
On Sunday, the girl’s parents
lodgedarapecomplaintafterthe
two confessed that they had
been in a physical relationship
andwantedto“livelikehusband
and wife”, police said.
According to the police, the
two had run out of the Rs 30,000
they had “stolen” from their re-
spective homes — the boy had
taken Rs 25,000 while the girl
took Rs 5,000 — before they al-
legedly eloped. To earn a living,
the boy had begun working as a
“labourer” for a local garment
trader and earned Rs 366 per
day, while the girl stayed home
at their rented apartment.
Police Inspector RS Dodiya of
Chhani police station said, “As
per the law since the girl is a mi-
nor, the boy was booked for rape
under Section 376 of the Indian
models. Also, over 6,000 school
teachersandengineeringcollege
professors have attended differ-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
The school had elaborate
arrangements, including
portable machines for fumiga-
tion, a medical room, social dis-
tance markings everywhere, in-
cluding the playground.
“Majority of the parents
wanted school to resume from
February 1, while many agreed
on January 18,” DPS Bopal prin-
cipal, Surender P Sachdeva, told
this paper. Adding that there is
excitement among students,
while parents are apprehensive,
he said, “Parents are not sure but
children are insisting that they
sign the consent letter to attend
classes.”
“This being my last year in
school, I did not want to miss a
singledayafterthestategovern-
mentallowedschoolstoreopen.
We missed the campus and
classes. I am happy to be back in
schoolwithmyteachers,”Kashvi
Shah, a Class 12 student.
The school also plans to start
the school bus service from
January 18, initially with 15
buses.
In Surat, schools recorded 40
per cent attendance on first day.
Surat District Education officer
HHRajyagurusaid,“Wegotgood
responsefromteachers,students
andparents.Theattendancewas
40 per cent and we hope it will
goupaftertheUttarayanfestival.
Wehavemadesixteamstocarry
out surprise checks in at least 40
schools every day to ensure the
SOPs are followed.”
AtVanitaVishramSchool,au-
thorities had made seating arra-
ngements on the ground where
openclasseswereheldforlangu-
ageandsocialscience.ForMaths
PenalCodeandrelevantsections
of the Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences (POCSO)
Act. The boy has been sent to a
juvenile home and now the
JuvenileJusticeBoardwilldecide
on his case.”
The officer added the two
minors had not “married” but
only began living together.
“They rented a room for Rs
1,000 per month after they
reached Vapi by a private taxi.
The owner of the property
claimed he had not suspected
anything as the boylooked older
than his actual age,” Dodiya
added.
The girl, another officer said,
has told the police that she was
planning to work as a domestic
help in adjoining houses in the
locality in Vapi for earning more
income.
entworkshopsorganisedbyCCL.
Adding that the CCL is play-
ing a role of an expert group for
the content provider for the toy
fair,Prof Jainsaid,“Unfortunately,
the traditional toys are stuck in
tradition but tradition can be in-
novated,too.Tocreatethatnarra-
tive, the toy fair is a good idea.”
To be organised in phases
from cluster to state level, the
Gujarat Council of Educational
ResearchandTraining(GCERT)is
makingarrangementsforthevir-
tualtoyfair.“Theclusterandblock
leveltothedistrictleveltoyfairis
being planned before January 31
followed by the state level fair
aroundsecondweekof February
to be organised through a virtual
mode. The shortlisted ones will
participate in the national fair,”
Bhupendra Rana
and Science subjects, they were
allowed inside the classroom.
Anisha Mahida, principal of
VanitaVishramSchool,said,“We
had70percentof Class10and12
students of both Commerce and
Sciencestreamattendingclasses
today. Not only the students but
teachers were also happy to see
thestudentsaftersuchalongpe-
riod. There are 750 students in
Class10and224studentsinClass
12.FromTuesday,wearehoping
100percentattendance.Several
parents who came to check the
arrangements were satisfied.”
DipakRajyaguru,presidentof
self-finance schools association
inSurat,said,“Weallhappywith
schools reopening. Students
weremadetositmaintainingso-
cial distancing, while during in-
terval, we kept an eye on them.
We are hoping to see 100 per
cent attendance soon. We have
gotconsentfrom90percentpar-
ents to send their children to
schools.”
The districts with highest at-
tendance in Class 12 included
Bharuch with 56 per cent fol-
lowedbyBotadwith55percent,
Bhavnagar 53 per cent, and
Dangs and Navsari with 52 per
cent each.
Ahmedabadreportedover29
per cent attendance on the first
day in 690 schools — 49 govern-
ment, 250 grant-in-aid and re-
maining majority self-financed
schools — in the district.
Districts that reported the
highestClass10attendancewere
Bharuch with 49 per cent and
Navsari 48 per cent followed by
Sabarkantha47percentandTapi
45 per cent.
InRajkot,895highschoolsre-
opened with around 40 per cent
attendance. “Out of the around
79,000studentsenrolledinClass
XandClassXII,around34,000at-
tended the school on Monday.
We expect the attendance to go
up in the next few days as lots of
parents were saying today that
they would like to see for two-
three days how things go and
then would start sending their
children to school,” Bharat Kaila,
district education officer (DEO)
of Rajkot said.
Mandarin should
be our fourth, fifth
or sixth language,
says Lt Gen Shukla
Ahmedabad: Stressing upon
academia-militarycollaboration,
GeneralOfficerCommanding-in-
Chief Army Training Command,
Lieutenant General Raj Shukla,
saidforayingintoareassuchashu-
manities and languages was the
needof thehour. “Wehavetoex-
pand into forays of humanities
andlanguages.Wehavetounder-
stand Mandarin, which must be-
comeourfourth,fifthorsixthlan-
guage,” he said.
Lt Gen Shukla while speaking
onthesigningofanMoUbetween
SchoolofMilitaryAffairs,Strategy
andLogisticsof RashtriyaRaksha
University with Indian Army’s
Electronics and Mechanical
Engineering School in Vadodara
on Monday. The MoU has been
designedtogiveacademicrecog-
nitiontotheprofessionalmilitary
education and training. ENS
said GCERT director TS Joshi.
Adding, Joshi said, “This fair
will give an opportunity to
schools to showcase various ed-
ucational toys developed by
themandtoexplaintheiruseful-
nessinlearningandunderstand-
ing various concepts.”
Aimed at providing a plat-
formtostatestodeveloptoysre-
flecting the history, culture and
socialmilieuspecifictothestates
andalsotorevivetraditionaland
indigenous toys in the lives of
children, the national toy fair
claimstoalsoboosttheeconomy
by supporting local toy industry
under ‘Atamnirbhar Bharat’.
Thetoyfairisdividedintofive
stages — pre-school to Class II,
primary,upperprimary,second-
ary and senior secondary.
Ahmedabad
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
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THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 4325 DAY TODAY BY PETER VIDAL
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20) LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
Financial risks Your last word over
continue, but there family or domestic
is scope to side-step affairs has not been
difficult issues, put uttered. However,
arduous tasks to one side and although underlying
emphasise sheer fun, pleasure contradictions or
and relaxation. Creative and complications may remain, the
competitive Ariens will benefit pressure to do something
- and be building up credit for about them will be eased. And,
the future. as tension relaxes, so your
optimism will grow.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
For all your energy SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
and determination, Your lunar patterns
you appear to be are distinctly
confused in several challenging, but
important respects. The point is looking on the
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson that, although your good bright side, such periods tend
qualities are being emphasised to stimulate you into new
at the moment, partners will achievements. Or, to put it
just have to be very another way, the best lessons
understanding and are sometimes the most
sympathetic indeed. And you difficult. So, if you meet
will have to be patient. challenges head-on, you'll be
ACROSS DOWN the winner in the long run.
1 Modern type of rock has 1 Evidence of the strength of GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)
peculiar fans (7) one’s spirit? (5) Anything that SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
5 Maintain a high level 2 No criterion for what a danger disturbs your peace I suspect that many
(3,2) signal should be (7,2,2,2) of mind must be Sagittarians are
8 A bit rusty, like a retired doctor 3 Establishes if farms need dealt with, if only slightly confused.
(3,2,8) cultivating (7) because you deserve to feel One planetary force
9 He lives an ordered existence 4 Step out a little way then go by happy and relaxed. The last is drawing you towards
(5) bus perhaps thing you want to do now is everything that is routine,
10 Kind of seaside complaint (6) squander an opportunity. And ordinary and mundane, while
(7) 5 Long stitches may fasten a if you're ahead of the game another is urging you to be
11 Assimilate a summary carpet (5) you'll already be tackling new profound and spiritual. What
(6) 6 Soldier gets pay for work; wealth-generating you've got to do is try and bring
12 Eager to change a trend others may get it without opportunities. the two together.
(6)
15 Warning to habitual introvert?
work (7,6)
7 Stop before taking the way out MARVIN by Tom Armstrong CANCER (June 22 - July 23) CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
(4,3) (7) Money matters Creative aspirations
17 Pole taking meat around for 11 Not straight zoom up to the top and social passions
sale? (5) (7) of your agenda. This seem to be at the
19 It cuts both ways 13 New verse I’d corrected is neither a good centre of this week's
(3-5,5) (7) thing, nor is it bad. It does, stresses and strains. You may
20 Spaniard or anyone else with a 14 Disturb the master flow (6) however, reinforce the have strong feelings about
present 16 Sequence followed by those suspicion that you really must certain people, and might do
(5) who are obedient (5) get cash questions sorted out. better not to get too closely
21 Infuriates with fresh demands 18 Idols cavorting at the beaches You must also make sure that involved. But then sometimes
(7) (5) partners are happy — even if you just have to get in and stir
you don't feel like it. the emotional pot. Can you
resist the temptation?
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23)
SolutionsCrossword4324:Across:1Hated,8Saltbeef,9Steel,10Drawnear,11
Antic,12Eli,16Esther,17Vendor,18Amy,23Newer,24Impounds,25Felon,26 Colleagues and co- AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
Holsters,27Stake.Down:2Astonish,3Eyesight,4Laurel,5Stows,6Revel,7Afire, workers are bound What magnificent
12Era,13Ivy,14Interest,15Homework,19Modern,20Tight,21Spell,22Quite. to want more than times these are! Any
you are prepared to adverse or
give, but this will probably challenging
be the least of your problems. If planetary influences signify
you are able, turn your that you are now presented
JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel5s
serious attention to spending with a remarkable opportunity
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4349

plans. And if you're looking for to break the patterns and habits
Instructions a new job, the underlying of a lifetime. The next stage is to
Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, trends are now moving in continue with your plans
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 your favour. in private.
SUDOKU 4350

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe
______isapermanentlyself-enlargingexperience-M.ScottPeck(4,4) VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23) PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
nineverticalcolumns,in The positive aspect Creative activities
eachoftheninehorizontal of current obstacles, are signified by the
HLVEE CORSLL rowsandineachofthe hurdles and peculiar line-up of
nineboxes. challenges is that planets in active
you may become more and energetic sectors of your
experienced, self-confident chart. Bring your own unique
LTWAR GLOVER DifficultyLevel
and astute. You see, stars talents to every area of your
which are awkward for existence, both personal and
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; others are actually quite professional. You'll be taking
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; favourable for you. Fate on new group responsibilities
5s=VeryHard;6s= certainly has some surprises soon, by the way, so make
Answer: Real love is a permanently self-enlarging experience - M. Scott Peck Genius in store. some spare time.
SOLUTION: HELVE, TRAWL, SCROLL, GROVEL

Dakshin Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd.

CIN U40102GJ2003SGC042909
Bharuch City Division
Martyr of CISF on 12th January
B/h Jilla Panchayat, Bharuch-392 001 GUJARAT
CISF proudly remembers the supreme
DGVCL Toll Free No. 19123(or 1800 233 3003)
sacrifice of this brave-heart. On this day, he
Install MCB/ ELCB/ RCCB &Prevent Electric Shocks/ Electrical Accidents
laid down his life at the altar of duty. His
Tender Notice
courage and bravery would remain an
Tender Nos. 23 & 24-2020-21 DGVCL/BRHC/CITY/21/58 and
abiding source of inspiration for the force.
57 dated 04.01.2021 Adv. No.__ HC/GD CHHEDI The force will remain eternally indebted to
Tenders are invited for providing FRP fencings around trans- LAL BSP BHILAI
him for this noblest deed.
former centers at various locations within jurisdiction of 12-01-1983
Bharuch East sub-division of Bharuch City Division.
Tenders are invited for PCC works inside transformer centers'
FRP fencing areas at various locations within jurisdiction of OFFICE OF THE ADDITIONAL CHIEF
Bharuch City Division. ENGINEER, PHED, REGION AJMER
Details are available on www.gseb.com and https://dgvcl.npro- PHONE NO. 0145-2628475 E-mail: aceregionajmer@gmail.com
No. F. ( )/Ar. MP/2020-21/10703-10752 Dated: 07/01/2021
cure.com. EE (O&M), Bharuch City Division, DGVCL.
NOTICE INVITING TENDERS FOR WORKS
Bids for work of Work of Providing, Laying, Jointing, Testing and
Dakshin Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd. commissioning of DI Pipe line of various sizes and Jaipur road from
CIN U40102GJ2003SGC042909 ambedkar Circle near bus stand to MDS Tiraya for utility shifting under
Surat Urban Division Office CSD V, Ajmer, alongwith defect liability period of one year are invited
from interested bidders upto 16.01.2021. Other particulars of the Bid
Opp. Batliboi Co., Udhna-Navsari Road, may be visited on the procurement portal
Pandesara, Surat-395023 GUJARAT (http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in, http://sppp.raj.nic.in) of the state.
DGVCL Toll Free No. 19123(or 1800 233 3003) SAVE WATER- SAVE LIFE
Install MCB/ ELCB/ RCCB &Prevent Electric Shocks/ Electrical Accidents Sd/- (Anil Kumar Jain)
UBN No.: PHE2021WSOBO7783
NIB No.: PHE2021A4113
Additional Chief Engineer, PHED,
Tender Notice DIPR/C/245/2021 Region, Ajmer.
Tenders are invited for erection & maintenance of overhead
11/22 kV HT/LT lines, providing new DTR and replacement of
DTR and other activities, installation of HT Terminal Protectors GUJARAT STATE ELECTRICITY CORPORATION LTD.
(UV Resistance), work of disconnection and reconnection of Bhavnagar Lignite Thermal Power Station,
consumers of 1ph/3ph meters, providing overseers (workers) At & PO: Padva, Ta : Ghogha, Dist : Bhavnagar-364050
for 11/22 kV underground cable network for route patrolling on Ph. 0278-2931375/0278-2931175,
e-mail: cegbltps.gsecl@gebmail.com, Website: www.gsecl.in
ARC basis under all Schemes for Sachin Rural sub-division;
CIN: U40100GJ1993SGC019988
hiring of Bolero type vehicle for Sachin Rural and Kharvasa
sub-divisions under Surat Urban Division. TENDER NOTICE NO. 23/BLTPS/2021
Vendors may visit https://nprocure.com for view, download and Chief Engineer (Gen), Gujarat State Electricity
online submission and www.dgvcl.com for view of the tenders. Corporation Limited, Bhavnagar Lignite Thermal Power
EE (O&M), Surat Urban Division, DGVCL. Station invites following E-Tenders & Web-Tenders:
E-Tenders (On-Line Tenders): (1) Work of contaminated
GUJARAT MARITIME BOARD LDO filtration and online Turbine oil purification work as per
ONLINE TENDER NOTICE NO.16/2020-21 suitable process at BLTPS, GSECL on as and when require
basis. (Tender ID:443783) (2) Work of providing, shifting,
On behalf of Chairman Gujarat Maritime Board, B-1 erection, preparation and dismantling of scaffolding at 1st pass
tenders by the Executive Engineer (C), Construction & convective pass of BLTPS Unit#2 at Padva, Bhavnagar as
Division, Gujarat Maritime Board, Near V. C. Fatak, and when require basis. (Tender ID:443786) (3) Supply of
Morbi. 363 641 Ph. No. 02822-234465 Invited on line CGL/Kirloskar/Bharat Bijlee/ABB/Marathon/Siemens make
Energy Efficient -IE2 Class LT Motors for BWSR and Crusher
tender for the work: Providing CC paverblock plat-
installed in lignite handling system at BLTPS. (Tender ID:
form at coal yard at Port Navlakhi. Tender 433890) (4) Works to carry out Battery Capacity (C-10) test
amounting to Rs. 3,98,34,292.90 from eligible and healthiness Checking of Various Capacity of Battery sets
approved registered contractors from R & B installed at GSECL, BLTPS 2*250 MW Power plant. (Tender
Department years. ID: 443787) (5) Procurement of M/s. MARATHON make
The tender documents are available on website Various capacity HT Motor for Lignite handling plant at BLTPS
https:/gmb.nprocure.com For further particular 2*250 MW power plant, Padva, Bhavnagar. (Tender ID: 443788)
contact above office/or visit us on websites Web-Tenders: (1) Supply, Erection, and Commissioning of
www.statetenders.com and www.gmbports.org Maintenance free Electronics Earth pits for AHS, LMCS and
CWPH at BLTPS. (2) Work of ESP HVRT Transformer lifting &
Schedule for e-tendering is fixed as under: shifting on as & when required basis of EMD department at
1 Downloading of tender Start Date 16-01-2021 BLTPS. (3) Providing & laying micro concrete by GP2 cement
documents (Start & End End Date 15-02-2021 with alignment of blower Foundation for unit- 1&2 for 2 nos. of
Date): Till 18.00 Hrs. foundation @ BLTPS, Padva.
2 Submission of EMD and Start Date 16-02-2021 The Tender documents of above are available on Website
www.nprocure.com (for View, download and on line submis-
Tender fee etc through End Date 22-02-2021
sion-For E-Tenders) and on web Site www.gsecl.in (for view
RPAD Till 18.00 Hrs. and download only). Interested Vendors may surf the above
3 On-line opening of On date 24-02-2021 at Website and may download the said Tender from our website
tender 12.00 hrs if possible. for physical submission of your Tender before due date and
Executive Engineer (C) time.
Construction Division Note: Be in touch with above websites till opening of Tender.
Morbi. Chief Engineer (G), BLTPS.

Ahmedabad
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021 7
GOVT. OF ODISHA GUJARAT WATER SUPPLY & SEWERAGE BOARD Tender Notice No. 27 of 2020-2021
OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER ON-LINE TENDER NOTICE No.21 of 2020-21) The on-line tenders are invited by Executive Engineer, Ahmedabad (R&B)
RURAL WORKS, CIRCLE, BHAWANIPATNA (I.D.No : 443462) Division, Block - C, 2nd Floor, Multistoried Building, Drive - in Road,
O-866 Bid identification No.:- Executive Engineer, Public Health Works Division, GWSSB Vastrapur, Ahmedabad - 380 052 from the Registered contractors (R&B)
BPT/Online-06/ 2020-21 Date: 07.01.2020 Surat (Ph.0261-2782088) invites online tenders through E-ten- Department. Tender shall have to be submitting online through E-Tendering
NOTICE INVITING TENDERS FOR ROAD WORKS IN ODISHA dering single bid system from registered contractors in "R & B for Estimate Cost Rs. 374.30 Lakh to Rs. 685.17 Lakh for 2 (Two) Road
NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING THROUGH e-Procurement
Department/ Irrigation Department for the work with GWSSB Works respectively. Bid can be available & downloading receiving on web
1. Name of the Work : Construction of incomplete Road and Bridges site www.nprocure.com on Dated 18/01/2021 to 02/02/2021 for 18:00 Hrs.
works under State Plan in the District of
under Action Plan Works Surat and Navasari District RWSS
Surat Bulk Pipeline Work of Estimated amounting Rs.287.37 More details of work & tender can be available on Information Department
Kalahandi.
Crore For further details of tender notice, scope of work ten- web site www.statetenders.com & Notice Board of this office. Please any
2. No of Works : 2 Nos.
der fee, EMD and specification etc. Please visit Web sites amendment in future by the department see online.
3. Location details : Kalahandi District No. INF/ABD/1228/2021
4. Estimated Cost : As per NIT. http://gwssb.nprocure.com, The last Date of online bid submis-
5. Period of : As per NIT.
sion is Dt.08/02/2021 up to. 18.00 hrs. & Tender Physical
Completion Documents submission Hand to hand on date: 09/02/2021 up
6. Cost of tender paper : Rs. 10,000/- per set. to 15.00 pm. hrs Dept. reserves the right to reject anyone or all
7. Other details : tenders without assigning any reason. Now onwards, all the
Availability of tender for Last date & time for Date and time of
improvements/ correction in the tender shall be done online
online bidding seeking tender opening of technical only.
clarification bid For any query regarding water supply problem, please call on
From To helpline number-1916 No.:INF-Surat/1172/2020
13.01.2021 28.01.2021 27.01.2021 29.01.2021
11.00 A.M. 5.00 P.M. at 11.00 A.M.

Further details can be seen from the web site “www.tendersorissa.gov.in” Online E-Tender Notice No.33 of 2020-21
Superintending Engineer,
Rural Works, Circle, Bhawanipatna
Capital Project Division No-3, Gandhinagar
OIPR-25102/11/0007/2021 Online Tenders are invited on behalf of Governor of Gujarat
State from the Executive Engineer, Capital Project Division
No. 2, Nr. Block No.8, New Sachivalaya Campus,
Gandhinagar -382010 (Ph. No. 079-23252931) as per below
mentioned work from experienced contractors.
Sr Name of Work (1) Estimated Cost
No. (2) EMD
(3) Tender Fee (Rs)
(4) Qualification of
Bidder
1 Construction Work of Major (1) 52,14,87,623.00
Bridge across River Sabarmati (2) 52,14,876.23
ODISHA RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
Connecting to Village Sadra
(Ta. Gandhinagar) and Aluva
(3) 18000.00
(4) AA class & Sp Cat-I Under the Department of Energy Classifieds
Village (Ta. Kalol) (Bridge) class Government of Odisha
The bid documents will be available on the Road & Building (ISO 9001:2008 / ISO 14001:2004) PERSONAL
departments web site www.rnb.nprocure.com up to S/59, MANCHESWAR INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
Dt.22/02/2021, 18:00 hrs. and can be downloaded up to 16:00 Website: www.oredaorissa.com, E-mail: ceoreda@oredaorissa.com
hrs on Dt.22/02/2021. Earnest money deposit, Tender Fee and NOTICE INVITING TENDER
other necessary documents such as copy of Registration,
Valid Bank Solvency Certificate, PAN No. GST number and all
E-Tender call notice No. 153 / Dated 08.01.2021 /
required documents and necessary documents mentioned in ODISHA RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY invites sealed e-tender in two
the tender must be scanned and uploded with tender. Original part bidding system from manufacture for supply, installation, commissioning including warranty
DD (Tender fee) & EMD must be submitted on or before and comprehensive maintenance contract for a period of five years of Solar Street lighting sys-
Dt.01/02/2021 during office hours in above mentioned office tem & Mini Mast. Details are given below.
by RPAD/Speed post. 1. Date of publication of RFP on E-procurement website and 11-01-2021
Pre Bid meeting will be held on Dt.05/02/2021 at 12.00 hrs in OREDA website
the office of Superintending Engineer, Capital Project Circle,
2. Due date and time for receipt of pre-bid quarries on the RFP 18-01-2021 up to 1.00 P.M.
Block-11/2, Dr.J.M.Bhavan, Gandhinagar.
Any change in Tender Notice will not published in newspaper 3. Date and time for the pre-bid meeting through online mode 20-01-2021 at 11.30 A.M.
but it will be mentioned on above website. For further details & only. Meeting invite link on Google hangout platform (link for
online submission of tender please visit our web site pre-bid meeting = https://meet.google.com/irx-agjw-qrh
mentioned above. INF/1712/20-21 4. Due date of hosting of final bid documents on E-procurement 25-01-2021 EDUCATION
Website and OREDA website
GUJART WATER SUPPLY AND 5. Due date and time for submission of online copies of Techni- 05-02-2021 up to
National Central council
of Vocational Training
GUJARAT WATER SUPPLY & SEWEAGE BOARD
SEWERAGE BOARD E-TENDER NOTICE No. 10/2020-21
cal Bid and price bid 5.00 P.M. invited application for
6. Due date and time for submission of hard copies of Technical 09-02-2021 up to start Training and
Tender Notice No. 13 of 2020-2021 TENDER I.D. No. (1) 440602 (2) 440525 (3) 440520 (4) 440620
Bid for Select Bid Forms only 1.00 P.M.
Study Centre
Superintending Engineer, P.H. Mechanical Circle, GWSSB, 3rd Floor, Tender are in invited through E-Tendering bid system by the Executive Mob.7499647774
Engineer, Public Health Works Dn. Khambhalia Devbhoomi Dwarka 7. Due date and time for the opening of Technical Bid for both 09-02-2021 at 3.00 P.M. 0090280260-3
Jal Bhavan, B/h Town Hall, Ellis Bridge, Ahmedabad - 380 006 invites
(Phone No. 02833-235765 / 235766 M. No. 9978406618) from the online copies and hard copies, except price bid.
e-tender for probable drilling of tubewells in following districts from ‘‘ IMPORTANT ’’
Government registered Contractors in proper class and above and 8. Due date and time for the opening of online price bid ap- To be intimated later on
GWSSB registered drilling contractors or registered civil contractor Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of
having the financial and technical criteria laid down in tender plicable only for the bidders whose Technical bids shall be advertising copy, it is not possible to verify its
minimum ''D'' class & above in R&B or Irrigation Department, Govt. contents. The Indian Express (P) Limited cannot be
documents for post qualification purpose for the work of below: responsive held responsible for such contents, nor for any loss
of Gujarat. The detailed tender notice and tender documents and or damage incurred as a result of transactions with
further future amendments are available on website: Sr. Name of work Rs. in Lacs Interested prospective bidder may visit OREDA web site www.oredaorissa.com and companies, associations or individuals advertising
in its newspapers or Publications. We therefore
www.gwssb.nprocure.com & www.statetender.com. Last No. www.tenderwizard.com/OREDA for details relating bidding process and all other terms and con- recommend that readers make necessary inquiries

date of online submission of tender is on date 03.02.2021 upto 1 (Tender ID No. 440602) Rs. ditions. The bidder can view the tender documents from www.oredaorissa.com website on free before sending any monies or entering into any
agreements with advertisers or otherwise acting on
18.00 hrs. Board reserves the right to accept or reject any or all ten- Design, supply, construction, installation, testing 1330.01 of cost. Sd/- Chief Executive an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

ders without assigning any reason. and commissioning of Sewage Treatment plant Lakhs
Sr. District Group No .of Estimated Tender E.M.D. Tender ID (5.50 MLD) based on open Technology with
No. Banaskantha Bores Cost Fee (in Rs.) Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) with MCC panel
(Rs. in (in Rs.) room, DG set and all civil electrical, mechanical,
Lacs) piping and instrumentation work with three months
1 Banaskantha A 35 191.15 3600.00 191200.00 443794 trial run, and post completion operation and
maintenance of entire system for 7 (Seven) years
2 Banaskantha D 30 171.06 3600.00 171100.00 443796
including 3 (Three) years defect liability period at
3 Banaskantha E 10 54.52 2400.00 54600.00 443797 Khambhalia District Devbhoomi Dwarka, Gujarat.
4 Patan E 32 180.39 3600.00 180400.00 443810
2 (Tender ID No. 440525) Rs.
5 Patan F 20 128.09 3600.00 128100.00 443817 Design, supply, construction, installation, testing 1017.59
Contact toll free No. 1916 for complain for rural water supply. and commissioning of Sewage Treatment plant Lakhs
(3.00 MLD) based on open Technology with
No. DDI/PAL/459/2020-2021 Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) with MCC panel
room, DG set and all civil electrical, mechanical,
piping and instrumentation work with three months
trial run, and post completion operation and main-
tenance of entire system for 7 (Seven) years includ-
ing 3 (Three) years defect liability period at
Bhanvad, District Devbhoomi Dwarka, Gujarat.
3 (Tender ID No. 440520) Rs.
Design, supply, construction, installation, testing 1424.42
and commissioning of Sewage Treatment plant Lakhs
(6.20 MLD) based on open Technology with
Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) with MCC panel WATER AND SENITATION MANAGEMENT Online E-Tender Notice No.15 of 2020-21
room, DG set and all civil electrical, mechanical, ORGENISATION Online Tenders are invited on behalf of Governor of Gujarat
piping and instrumentation work with three months Online Tender Notice No. 12 OF (2020-21) State from the Executive Engineer, Capital Project Division
trial run, and post completion operation and main-
The Executive Engineer, D.W.S.U. (WASMO), 'Jal Bhavan', 2nd No. 2, Nr. Block No.8, New Sachivalaya Campus,
tenance of entire system for 7 (Seven) years includ-
Floor, Bilkha Road, Junagadh Telephone No. 0285-2654105 Gandhinagar -382010 (Ph. No. 079-23252931) as per below
ing 3 (Threee) years defect liability period at Salaya,
invites Online tender from The Registered Contractors. Tebder mentioned work from experienced contractors.
District Devbhoomi, Dwarka, Gujarat.
Details are as under Sr Name of Work (1) Estimated Cost
4 (Tender ID No. 440620) Rs. Tender Name of work Est. Cost No. (2) Class/Qualifications
Design, supply, construction, installation, testing 2269.00 ID Rs. 1 Poviding contractual manpower (1) Rs. 1064.93 Lacs
and commissioning of Sewage Treatment plant Lakhs
443894 (1) SUMP 1.50 & 0.50 lac lit. cap. (2) 20,85,912/- for various deptt. in Sardar (2) Who will fulfill pre-
(6.20 MLD) based on open Technology with
PVC D.L. & R.M. Pipe line (3) T-section, Bhavan, Gandhinagar qualification criteria as
Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) with MCC panel
(4) Pumping machinery-2 Nos, (5) per conditions of tender
room, DG set and all civil electrical, mechanical,
Pump House-2 Nos, (6) wall Painting The bid documents will be available & upload on our website
piping and instrumentation work with three months
and One Month Trial run, At VILLAGE: www.rnb.nprocure.com From Dt.28/01/2021 up to 17:00 Hrs.
trial run, and post completion operation and
Shergadh TALUKA: Keshod UNDER if possible tender will be opened on 28/01/2021 at 17.15 hrs.
maintenance of entire system for 7 (Seven) years
''JAL JIVAN MISSION'' in circle office.
including 3 (Threee) years defect liability period at
Tender Fee, Earnest money deposit and other eligibility docu-
Salaya, District Devbhoomi, Dwarka, Gujarat. Tender documents can be seen, down loaded & submitted on
ments as given in details about tender must be submitted in
website http://www.nprocure.com The last date for submission
Tender documents can be seen down-loaded and submitted on webside electronic format only (By Scanning) while uploding the bid.
www.nprocure.com. Detailed information of the tender are available on of tender is dT.25/01/2021 upto 18.00 hrs. Any Further amend-
And also above eligibility documents (Duly attested) must be
website as mentioned above. Last date of submission of Tender Dt. ments will be publish online only website of information depart-
submitted to the office of Executive Engineer, Capital Project
21.01.2021 upto 18.00 hrs. (No offer in physical form will be accepted and ment https:wasmo.nprocure.com.
Division no.2, Gandhinagar by R.P.A.D/ Speed Post on or
any such offer if received by GWSSB will be outright rejected. Toll free helpline no.1916 or 18002333944 of GWSSB for water
before Dt.4/02/2021 during office hours.
supply related any complaints of villages.
Contact the toll free helpline number 1916 for the complain of rural water For further details, addendum, corrigendum & online submis-
Executive Engineer,
supply. Mahiti/Jam/653/2020-21 sion of tender please visit our website mentioned above.
INF/JUNA/ADVT/802/21 DWSU (WASMO) - JUNAGADH
INF/1717/20-21

''IMPORTANT''
Whilst care is taken prior to
acceptance of advertising
copy, it is not possible to verify
its contents. The Indian
Express (P) Limited cannot be
held responsible for such
contents, nor for any loss or
damage incurred as a result of
transactions with companies,
associations or individuals
advertising in its newspapers
or Publications. We therefore
recommend that readers
make necessary inquiries
before sending any monies or
entering into any agreements
with advertisers or otherwise
acting on an advertisement in
any manner whatsoever.

Ahmedabad
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
WORDLY WISE

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

It's clear that prevention will never be
sufficient. That's why we need a vaccine that
will be safe. — LUC MONTAGNIER

The march of the coup

FOUNDED BY
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
Whysiegeof CapitolinWashingtonDCresonatescloser
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
home,carrieslessonsforusall

A BIG TEST Suhas Palshikar

Covidvaccinationwillpresentchallenges.Government THEATTEMPTEDMOBtakeoveroftheCapitol pletetakeover.Third,hehadlimitedsuccessin trated and sustained use of mobs which are
willprobablyremainararedevelopment.Rare, waylaying the Republican party but both par- excited prior to being unleashed and, two, a
mustworkswiftlytominimiseexclusion,pluggaps because political ingenuity often finds more ties finally agreed on rescuing American network of ideologically motivated organisa-

I
sophisticated versions of conceit. Setbacks to
NDIA’SVACCINATIONDRIVEagainstCOVID-19,targeting3crorehealthcareperson- democracyarenotnew,noraremegalomania
nel and frontline workers, will commence from January 16. Coordination systems and orchestrated outrage unknown as its
between 20 ministries are reportedly being put in place and the government has causes. Trump’s rhetoric had all these ele-
framed a set of guidelines for the rollout that deal with logistics, human resources ments. While the US has currently managed
and monitoring systems to report adverse events. Dry runs have been conducted in more tostallthetakeover,theghostofthattakeover
should teach larger lessons.
than700 districts to acquaint the administrative agencies and vaccinators with some of the
The most elementary lesson is about the
challengesthatlieahead.Theseexerciseshaveshonealightonthegapsthatmustbeplugged fragilityofdemocracy.TheUSexperienceindi-
before the first shots are administered. catesthatdemocracyrequirescontinuouscau-
Digitalsystemshaveakeyroleinthevaccinationplan.Nearly80lakhbeneficiariesinthe tion.Justasthereisnothinglikeanaturallypro-
firstprioritylisthavereportedlyregisteredontheCentre’sCOVIDVaccineIntelligenceNetwork democratic social environment, there is also
(Co-WIN)system—“adigitalisedplatformtotracktheenlistedbeneficiariesforvaccination nothinglikeanaturalassuranceofdemocracy’s
sustenance. Both are matters of collective so-
on a real-time basis”. The challenge now is to make the manual interventions to this plat-
cial will and effort. The second lesson is that
formfoolproofanduser-friendlyforASHAandotherhealthcareworkersinvolvedinthelast- executivecoupsarelikelytobethenormrather
mile delivery of the vaccine. Care must also be taken to obviate server malfunctioning that than exception. As the American presidency
hasbeenalongstandingbaneof IT-enabledservicesinthecountry.Therehavebeenreports transformedintotheimperialpresidencyand
of the Co-Win app not performing as per plans during the mock drills — officials in several parliamentary systems transformed into
partsofthecountryhavecomplainedthattheplatformdidnotshowthenamesofallthetar- primeministerialsystems,executivesbecame
the repositories of state power and came to
getedbeneficiaries.Also,lastweek,thispaperreportedthatcodesofsomevillagesinAndhra
representthemightofthestate.Thishaspaved
Pradesh,Punjab,GujaratandAssamwerenotmappedontheCo-Winplatform.Expertshave the way for silent or noisy coups by the exec-
rightlywarnedthatsuchsnagscouldpreventintendedbeneficiariesfromkeepingtheirdate utives. As Hungary has shown, the pandemic
withthevaccine,andevenmoreworryingly,erodetrustintheinoculationprocess.TheUnion only expedited this process and as this writer
Ministriesof HealthandInformationTechnologyarereportedlycollaboratingonbolstering warnedlastyear,India’s“successful”lockdown
the IT infrastructure and have sought inputs from private players. inauguratedthetemplateforturningthepub-
Thegovernmentplanstoadministerthevaccineto30crorepeopleinthefirsttwophases lic sphere into a silence zone.
But perhaps the least learned lesson at
of the inoculation drive. According to current plans, each person will be administered two
homeinIndiaisaboutthecomparativepathol-
dosesof avaccine.Inotherwords,60croreshotswillbeadministeredinthenextsixtoeight ogy of such autarchy lurking in our midst. So,
months.Nearlyonelakhvaccinatorswillbeinvolvedintheprocess.Thedryrunshavebared while looking from a distance as to where
the inadequacies, especially in reporting adverse events. Healthcare officials have also ex- Trump failed and why, let us better focus on
pressedapprehensionsthatsuchalarge-scaleproject,involvingconversionofPHCsintovac- where even Indira Gandhi’s infamous “emer-
gency” dictatorship too differs from the slow
cination points, could result in the disruption of regular health services, including routine
death of democracy we might be witnessing.
immunisation programmes and institutional deliveries — already there are concerns that
BecausethebasicTrumptakeawayisthatone
thecountry’sTBcontrolprogrammehassufferedasetbackbecauseofresourcesbeingdiverted shouldnotwaittillthecrowdsactuallyoccupy
forCOVID-19control.Thecomingmonthscouldbeexactingforthecountry’shealthcaresys-
the democratic space.
tem. How it steps up to the demands of the moment will be watched. Executive coups are a product of a triad:
Constructing a constituency of willing mobs,
corrosionofinstitutionsandproducingapolit-
ical establishment unconcerned with demo-
Perhaps the least learned
lesson at home in India is
about the comparative
pathology of such autarchy
lurking in our midst. So,
while looking from a
distance as to where Trump
failed and why, let us better
focus on where even Indira
Gandhi’s infamous
‘emergency’ dictatorship too
differs from the slow death
democracyfromhisassaultand,alongwiththe
legislature,theotherimportantpartofthepo-
litical establishment, the media, too, did not
yield.Inasense,therefore,Trumpfailedandhis
attemptremaineddesperateandamateur.
InIndia,wheneveranydiscussionofassault
on democracy ensues, the story of Indira
Gandhi’sEmergencyisobviouslyremembered
as the first brazen, but short-lived, executive
coup.TheEmergencystorycontinuestoattract
derision from her critics and careful academic
memorialisationbystudentsof Indianpolitics
(the latest is the new book, India’s First
DictatorshipbyChristopheJaffrelotandPratinav
Anil).Butitisnecessarynottoallowthelightof
memorytoblindustothepresent.Incompar-
isontotheEmergencyof1975,thecurrentmo-
ment is far better equipped for an executive
coup and even while Indians mocked the US
forJanuary6,muchworsesignalsofamorese-
rious takeover have dotted the political land-
scape.Thefootstepsof thecurrentcoupareso
soft that most analysts and observers are un-
willingtoevenrecogniseitsshadow,leaveaside
theactualdarknessithasbrought.
So,wheredoIndia’sexecutivecoupsdiffer
fromTrump’s?IndiraGandhi’scoupusedinsti-
tutions more effectively than Trump, but de-
spiteallherpopulism,herresorttomobsasin-
strumentsoftakeoverwasverylimited.While
shecouldeasilyreininherownparty,shehad
to face an uncompromising Opposition and
take recourse to preventive detention. So, in
comparisontoTrump,herswasamoredeter-
mined and somewhat systematic coup, bar-
ring announcing elections.
With the experience of Indira Gandhi, it
wasthoughtthatIndiacouldnothaveanother
executive coup — firstly, because she was po-
litically punished and, secondly, because col-
lective memory would enhance a public rea-
son more cautious about such takeovers. But
the current phase of Indian politics might be
tions systematically whips up mob mentality
amongsectionsthatareemotionallypushedto
theprecipice.Thus,the“science”of mobpoli-
tics is employed in a nuanced manner with a
rhetorical discourse legitimating the mob as
the people.
Secondly, the present moment is charac-
terisedbyanunprecedentedinstitutionalcol-
lapse. Executive coups are dependent on bu-
reaucracies for their operational competence
andoncourtsfortheconstitutionallocationof
political chicanery. The ease with which both
these institutional safeguards have crumbled
hasonlymadeiteasierforthecouptobecome
viable and respectable.
Three,thevigourof thepoliticalestablish-
ment to fight against the coup is completely
lacking. With the media as cheerleader, the
couphasmarchedon.Therulingpartyandthe
legislature have been easily set aside — much
as Indira Gandhi did. But what is even more
striking is the way in which the so-called
Opposition has caved in. The failure of the
Oppositionisnotmerelyinitsinabilitytofight
backbutmoreinitsinabilitytograspthesever-
ityof themomentanditswillingnesstoshare
the same traits of autarchy.
Trump relied on megalomania; Indira
Gandhi,too,wascarriedawaybyherownim-
age. But in the present moment, we have a
combination of megalomania with systemic
ingredientsensuringthatinanOrwellianfash-
ion, democracy will not be defined by what
oughttobe,butonthebasisofwhatisclaimed
asdemocracy.Hisvotesharenotwithstanding,
Trump could muster only a handful and only
for a few hours to claim that they constitute
thepeopleoftheUS.InIndia’scase,withmuch
lessvoteshare,alargesectioniswillingtokeep
their faith in the new idea of democracy con-
stitutedbyvictimhoodanddominanceasen-
titlements of majority.
So, laugh as we may at the situation

MESSAGE FROM SYDNEY craticnorms.Trumpcouldarousethemobsbut

that was only at the final moment of a long
drawnbittercontestationovertheelectionout-
A line has been drawn on racism, a precedent has been set — come.Americandemocracymaystillclaimthat
thecultureofsuchmoboutrageisnot“normal”.
for Australia as well as for other teams, including India Trump made every effort to demean institu-
of democracy we might be
witnessing. Because the basic
Trump takeaway is that one
should not wait till the
crowds actually occupy the
recorded in history as the second executive
coup India has had — and a much more suc-
cessful and durable one.
In terms of constructing a constituency of
the mob, the present moment is probably
more dangerous than what India has seen so
Americafindsitself in,itisaswellthatweare
aware of our own willingness to sustain an
executive coup.
The write, based at Pune, taught political
science and is currently chief editor of

T
tionsbutdidnotsucceedinhishopeof acom- democratic space. farfortworeasons:Thereisacarefullyorches- Studies in Indian Politics
HE FEW STEPS that India’s Test debutant, Mohammed Siraj, took towards his
team at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday might have helped cricket take
agiantleap.Fieldingontheboundarylineandatthereceivingendofwordsthat

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

he and teammate Jasprit Bumrah had reported as offensive the previous day,
Sirajrefusedtoturnadeafeartoanymoreoftheintimidatingbackgroundnoisefromanun-
ruly section of the crowd. He ran in from the fence and reported his annoyance to the team
leadership,whichwasreadytoputitsfootdownandstopplay.Themomentofreckoningfor
racist behaviour in cricket had arrived, and Australia which for long has blurred lines be-
tween banter and abuse, were forced to respond unequivocally and firmly.
Government must give ASHAs, Anganwadi volunteers rights, benefits due as workers
Alinehasbeendrawn,aprecedenthasbeenset.WithCricketAustraliaandmatchreferee
David Boon playing a proactive role in locating the miscreants and taking prompt action, Neetha N
cricket suddenly has an SOP in place to deal with an unsporting situation in the stands. It is
nowexpectedthatfromGabbatoWankhedeandJohannesburgtoTrentBridge,playerswill COVID-19 HAS given visibility to Accredited sumption that women’s care and emotional Itishightimethatthestaterecognisesthe
duly report all such offensive slurs thrown at them to match officials, who will be expected SocialHealthActivists(ASHA)andAnganwadi labour is outside the mundane world of mar- contributions of these women and accept
todowhat'sneeded.Thisshouldalsotriggerothermajorchanges.Withincreasedawareness workers — women “volunteers” attached to a kets is often evoked to pay these overworked themasworkers.Thiscouldhelpinresolving
sweepingthecricketinguniverse,itwillnotbetoomuchtoexpectplayersandtheiron-field government scheme or employed on a mis- workers just an honorarium. But, even in the the larger issue of devaluation of women’s
sionmode—whoarefrontlinewarriorsinthe best paid states, this honorarium is not even work and their secondary status as workers.
bantertonotdabbleinracistinsultseither.Matchofficialsandtheboardshouldalsoenforce
battleagainstthepandemic.InIndia,thereare closetothegovernment-mandatedminimum The exclusionary tendencies of the labour
mutingof theirplayers'freeflowingunparliamentarylanguagewhichtargetsopponents.It about a lakh ASHA workers, 1.3 million wages offered to workers doing comparable market,rootedinthesocialunderstandingof
must no longer be passed off as passions running high. Anganwadi workers and another 1.2 million jobs. Many petitions have been submitted by women’s work, where the state is an active
What happened on the field in Sydney 2021 stands in total contrast with the unsavoury Anganwadihelpers,ofthemwomen.Asthere- community workers and their unions de- participant has not only restricted women’s
events of Sydney 2008, when Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh got away lightly for what sponsetothepandemicrequiredlocalisedap- manding recognition as workers. During the employment prospects, but has also created
hesaidtoAussieall-rounderAndrewSymonds,aftermountinganincredulousdefence.Ithad proaches,servicesof communityworkersbe- pandemic, Anganwadi, ASHA and National silos of women’s employment such as paid
cameuseful,giventheirrobustcontactsatthe It is high time that the state HealthMissionworkershadatwo-daynation- domestic work. The declining women’s
escapednoone'snoticethatracistchantsandmockinghaderuptedintheWankhedestands
grass roots. During the lockdown, whenthere wide strike demanding safety, insurance, risk workforceparticipationhasbeenamatterof
against Symonds earlier, and that Indian cricket fans are anything but saintly when in their was uncertainty and fear of the virus, these
recognises the contributions allowanceandfixedwages.TheParliamentary concern even before COVID. Wages and con-
flow.ThesameprotocolstoprotectvisitingplayersshouldnowapplyonIndiangroundsand womenbecametheconnectinglinkbetween of these women and accept Standing Committee on Labour also recom- ditions of work of women care workers are
with local fans. If you can't hold your tongue, go home and watch the game on television, is thecommunityandthe statemachinery. them as workers. This could mended formalising the work of community matters of concern and the state apathy to
the clear message from Sydney. However, these community worker-vol- help in resolving the larger workers.Butthegovernmenthasnotrelented. recognise the growing sectors of women’s
unteersareaperfectexampleofhowthestate Thecontributionsofthesewomenworkers employment such as domestic work has a
devalueswomen’swork,especiallythelabour issue of devaluation of have been taken for granted by the commu- long history.
ofthoseinvolvedincarework.Thestereotype women’s work and their nity, an outcome of the social understanding WithallfieldreportsandCMIEdatapoint-

LEADER WITH A DIFFERENCE secondary status as workers.

that persists of women’s ability and their in-
built consciousness to understand other fel-
low beings’ feelings, especially other women,
makesthemperfectlysuitabletoberecruited
Madhavsinh Solanki, four-time CM of Gujarat, forged a social ascommunityworkers.Thisexplainsthepres-
coalition his party could not build on enceof alargenumberof womenincommu-
The exclusionary tendencies
of the labour market, rooted
in the social understanding
of women’s work, where the
ofwomen’slabouranditsinvisiblestatus.The
onepositiveaspectoftheirworkisthattheso-
cietyrecognisesthemasapartofthestatema-
chinery.Thisenablesmanywomentonegoti-
ate patriarchal restrictions and norms of
mobility.However,mobilityof womenwork-
ing to a deeper crisis in female employment
during the pandemic, state intervention is
much needed. The recognition of ASHA and
Anganwadivolunteersasworkers,evenif itis
contractual, will thus not only be a tribute to
their contribution during the pandemic, but

M
nity-basedprogrammesacrosstheworld.But, ersisoftenacontestedterrainandgetsdefined alsoanopportunitytoshakethestructuralun-
state is an active participant
ADHAVSINH SOLANKI, THE four-time Gujarat chief minister who passed in India, there is a refusal to recognise this “all and controlled as per social norms. derstanding of women’s labour and their sta-
women workforce” as workers providing has not only restricted Now that the pandemic is moving to the tus in the labour market. Recognition of care
away aged 93 on Saturday, was a politician and a man of ideas. The social
coalition he invented in the 1970s — KHAM — allowed the Congress to re-
labour.Theyareclassifiedas“honorarywork- women’s employment next stage with the coming of the vaccine, work in the public sphere could also help in
ers”,deniedminimumwages,leaveandother prospects, but has also these volunteers will be the first to be forgot- unsettlingthegenderedandunequaldivision
gainthegroundithadlostduringtheNavnirmanMovementandwincon- conditions that work entails. Sugar-coated in tenbothbythestateandsocietyatlarge.From of house work and unpaid care burden.
secutive elections in 1980 and 1985, with a record number of seats. The KHAM alliance in- the superior value-domain of women as the
created silos of women’s the glorified position of corona warriors, they
cludedtheKshatriya,Harijan,AdivasiandMuslimcommunities,whichconstitutedover50 embodiment of care service providers, the employment such as paid will slowly retreat to their old unrecognised The writer is professor, Centre for Women’s
percentof thestate’spopulation.AsCM,Solankibackedthiscoalitionbyintroducingreser- statepreferstocallthem“volunteers”.Theas- domestic work. identity and sphere of neglect. Development Studies
vationsforOBCsineducationandemployment.However,ittriggeredabacklashfromtheup-
per castes, who had until then operated the levers of power in Gujarat. Though Solanki re-
turned to office with a larger majority in 1985, he had to resign following anti-reservation
riotsthatacquiredacommunalturn.TheCongresscouldneitherconsolidatethesocialcoali- JANUARY 12, 1981, FORTY YEARS AGO
tion Solanki had forged or translate the goodwill among the OBCs, tribals etc. into a lasting
electoral base. In fact, his leaving state politics to become a Rajya Sabha member and the INDIRA ON NSA wasnomovetoimposethepresidentialform MIGS ARRIVE
External Affairs Minister in P V Narasimha Rao’s cabinet allowed the BJP to grow in Gujarat THE RELATIONSHIP OF the Congress-I with of government. THE FIRST MIG-23 ground attack aircraft
— of course, on the back of the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement. theDMKwillcontinue,PrimeMinisterIndira have arrived. Attempts are made to include
SchooledinMNRoy’sRadicalHumanismandinfluencedbypeasantleaderIndulalYagnik,
Gandhi said in Madras. When asked if the VAJPAYEE’S FORMULA them as a surprise element in the Republic
AIADMK had come close to her party, she THE BJP LEADER Atal Bihari Vajpayee has Day fly parade. The first batch of the IAF pi-
SolankistoodapartfromhisCongresscontemporaries.AsCM,heintroducedmid-daymeals replied, you can ask the local people. suggested a formula for solving the foreign- lots are also back from the Soviet Union af-
in schools and made education free for girls. For him, KHAM was not just an electoral tactic Commenting on the AIADMK’s use of the ers’ problem in Assam. The formula includes ter receiving training on operating the air-
buttheextensionofasocialvisionthatpromisedthefruitsofdemocracyandelectoraloffice NationalSecurityAct in tacklingthe farmers’ detection of all foreigners on the basis of rel- craft.
to a wide section of the society. He is credited with shaping the Congress response to the agitation when the Act was not used in evant provisions of the Constitution and the
MandalCommissionaftertheVPSinghgovernmentannounceditsimplementationin1990 Maharashtra, Mrs Gandhi said that local ex- existing laws, making use of the 1951 NRC to IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS
—thepartybackedOBCreservationsattheCentrebutarguedfortheexclusionofthecreamy isting laws could have been used to handle regularise all entrants up to 1951 and re- A TOP IRANIAN negotiator indicated for the
thesituation.“Whethertheuseof NSAisjus- moval of the names of all foreigners who first time today that Iran has dropped its de-
layer among the beneficiary communities from Mandal’s remit.
tified is for you to judge,” she said. The came to Assam between 1961 and 1971. He mand that the US deposit $ 24 billion in
Solanki’spoliticalcareerendedfollowinganactof improprietyundertaken,allegedlyon Centre’s intention is not to use NSA for polit- said that the leaders of the Assam agitation Algerian banks before the 52 American
theordersof hisparty,intheBoforscasewhilehewasaUnionminister.Forcedtoquitoffice, ical purposes but against anti-social ele- were ready for talks and the government hostages being heldin Iran are held. Iranalso
he retired from active politics and retreated to his home and library. ments, the PM said. She reiterated that there should extend an invitation to them. has asked for international guarantees.

Ahmedabad

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
THE IDEAS PAGE
Engaging the neighbour
For Delhi, the choice is not between intervention and non-intervention within the subcontinent.
It is about managing the dynamic interaction between the domestic politics of India and its neighbours
RAJA MANDALA
by C. Raja Mohan
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s travels to Sri
Lanka last week and the incoming visit of
Nepal’sforeignminister,PradeepGyawali,this
weekbringIndia’sneighbourhooddiplomacy
back into focus. The two visits also highlight
the perennial questions on India’s role in the
domesticpoliticsofotherSouthAsiannations.
India’s reluctance to be drawn into the
latest round of political turmoil in
Kathmandu has drawn much attention.
Delhi’s refusal is in contrast to Beijing’s active
effort to preserve the unity of the ruling
communist party in Kathmandu.
Has India finally recognised the virtue of
non-intervention in the internal affairs of its
neighbouringcountries?AndisBeijingbreak-
ingfromitsproclaimedprincipleofnon-inter-
ference in other societies?
Not so fast. Neither Delhi nor Beijing are
departing from the basic traditions of their
foreign policy towards the neighbours.
Interventions on their periphery have been
an enduring feature of Indian and Chinese
foreign policy. The problem is less with their
diplomatic practice than the misleading
public discourse on the principles of “sov-
ereignty and non-intervention”.
That India can’t simply stand apart from
the domestic politics of its neighbours was
quite evident during Jaishankar’s remarks
in Colombo. Jaishankar underlined the im-
portance of Colombo addressing the expec-
tations of the Sri Lankan Tamil minority for
“equality, justice, peace and dignity” within
a united Sri Lanka.
China’s rhetoric on non-intervention
never corresponded with the reality of its
foreign policy. In the 1960s and 1970s, it
fanned communist revolutions all across
Asia. There was a brief pause during Deng
Xiaoping’s tenure when China sought to
end Maoist excesses at home and abroad to
focus on economic development.
As China became strong and its interests
intheneighbourhoodbegantogrow,itdeter-
mined to shape outcomes in other societies.
China’s current behaviour in Nepal is not an
exception to the rule; it is very much part of
China’scurrentinterventioniststrategyacross
Asia and beyond.
Tomakemattersalittlemorecomplicated,
IndiaandChinaalwaysinsistthatothercoun-
triesshouldstopinterferingintheirrespective
internal affairs. It is tempting to call out this
hypocrisy;butbignationsalwaysintervenein
other nations but fend off potential threats to
their own sovereignty.
That does not, of course, prevent others
frommessingwithDelhiandBeijing.Mostre-
cently, India reacted strongly to the Canadian
PrimeMinisterJustinTrudeau’scommentson
thefarmers'agitation.TheUSanditsalliesreg-
ularlycriticiseChina’sdomesticpolicies,most
recently Beijing’s actions in Hong Kong. Delhi
and Beijing have a long record of accusing the
otherofinterferenceintheirdomesticpolitics.
Intervention is part of international life;
and the rhetoric on sovereignty in the in-
Ajay Vir Jakhar
“UNFORTUNATELY, THE clock is ticking, the
hours are going by. The past increases, the
future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, re-
grets mounting,” Haruki Murakami’s words
best describethe farmers’ protest and plight.
Frustrations about a decade of low
farm-gate prices form the genesis of the
farmers’ protests — a consequence of the
government’s carefully crafted agenda to
keep placated the urban consumer vote
bank which costs farmers their livelihoods
and dignity. In face of the determined agi-
tation, the government realises it has erred;
yet, without acknowledging as much, it has
relented to amend the Acts within weeks of
their enactment.
But, the farmers demand that theActs be
repealed. Their point is best exemplified by
an analogy: A family, on purchasing a new
car, takes delivery. Before they can leave the
showroom compound, the car stutters and
stops. On closer examination it is found the
electricals have failed and the engine has a
manufacturing defect. The company offers
to repair the car free of cost. But, what does
the family do? The family obviously wants a
replacement notarepairedcar.Similarly,the
farmers want the Acts to be replaced not
amended. Theseus’ paradox too asks
whether a ship that has had all its parts re-
placed is still the same ship.
Seeing tens of thousands descend on
Delhi,thehatespewingsocialmediabrigade,
anchors of some media channels, and polit-
ternational discourse tends to be, as one
scholar put it, “organised hypocrisy”. All
powers — big and small — frequently vio-
late the principle of sovereignty.
The concept of national sovereignty was
neverabsolute.Theabilitytosecureone’ssov-
ereignty depends on a state’s comprehensive
national power. Big nations tend to intervene
more,andthesmalleronesfindwaystoman-
age this through the politics of balancing
against their large neighbours.
Ironically,preventinginterventionbyone
power invites intervention by another. For
example, Nepal has long resented India’s in-
terventions and saw Beijing as a benign
neighbour. But as it gets closer to China to
balanceIndia,NepalfindsBeijinghasitsown
imperatives for intervention.
The pressure for external intervention of-
ten comes from major domestic constituen-
cieswithin.Forexample,theconflictbetween
Sinhala majority and Tamil minority in Sri
Lanka produces Chennai’s political pressure
on Delhi to intervene in Sri Lanka.
Thedemandsometimescomesfromout-
side. In Nepal, for example, elite competition
seesdifferentfactionstryingtomobiliseexter-
nalpowerstogaintheadvantageovertheirdo-
mesticrivals.Inrecentyears,wehavealsoseen
the intense interaction between domestic
powerstrugglesandexternalpowerslikeIndia
and China. The Maldives is one example.
For India, the question is not about choos-
ing between intervention and non-interven-
tion. It is about carefully managing the un-
avoidable and dynamic interaction between
the domestic political processes of India and
itsneighbours.GiventhenatureofSouthAsia's
politicalgeography,veryfewproblemscanbe
isolatedwithintheterritoriesofnations.There
isalsothetensionbetweenthesharedcultural
identityinthesubcontinentandthedetermi-
nation of the smaller nations to define a con-
temporary identity independent of India.
ThebitterlegaciesofPartitionleavethedo-
mesticpoliticaldynamicsofBangladesh,India
andPakistantiedtogetherandcomplicatetheir
interaction as separate sovereign entities.
India’s relations with its smaller neighbours
arealsoburdenedbythelegacyof India’spast
hegemony and the emerging challenges to it.
India can neither stand apart nor jump
into every domestic conflict within the
neighbourhood. The real question, then is,
Step back from the abyss
Bothgovernmentandfarmers needtore-evaluatetheirpositions
ically motivated members of the academia
flush with past successes in subduing
demonstrationsagainstthegovernment,be-
gan a media blitzkrieg to vilify the agitating
farmers.Theprotestsmorphedintoanation-
wide movement that has gathered interna-
tional attention. Worse, a cold-blooded at-
tempt was made to divide farmers on
religious, occupational and regional identi-
ties. The trolls have not only antagonised the
farmers, but they have also damaged the
Prime Minister’s image considerably. His
good intentions have been laid to waste.
Faced with the police, Central govern-
ment forces digging 10-feet broad trenches
in the national highway, cement blocks
topped with concertina wires, cranes park-
ing shipping containers and tear gas can-
isters to stop protesters from entering
Delhi, the farmers get the feeling that they
are mere supplicants and not equal citizens
at the gates of what is now the new
Republic of India.
The strategy to make farmers believe
they were alone and could be defeated
seems to have backfired. Talking to the
farmers sleeping in tractor trollies, shiver-
ing in the biting wet winter cold, one gets
the sense that this is what led to hardening
of their stand for a complete repeal of the
three Acts. It’s time for the leadership to put
a leash on the trolls as they are painting the
Centre into a corner from where it is be-
coming increasingly difficult for it to extract
The bitter legacies of
Partition leave the domestic
political dynamics of
Bangladesh, India and
Pakistan tied together and
complicate their interaction
as separate sovereign
entities. India’s relations
with its smaller neighbours
are also burdened by the
legacy of India’s past
hegemony and the emerging
challenges to it. India can
neither stand apart nor jump
into every domestic conflict
within the neighbourhood.
The real question, then is,
when to intervene and when
to avoid it. There is no single
formula to guide policy on
this score. It is always about
political judgement about
specific situations.
itself honourably.
The compassion shown by government
interlocutors in the meetings with farmers
is contradictory to how leaders address the
issue in public – this adds to the distrust.
This makes a negotiated settlement even
more problematic. Though I suspect the
problem runs deeper.
Even after a better understanding and
eight rounds of discussions, the central gov-
ernment has refused to repeal the Acts be-
cause it feels such a step will set a bad prece-
dent and open a pandora's box of
demonstrations for caste reservations, mi-
nority rights and most probably by labour
unions who feel they’ve been literally hung
out to dry by the labour law reforms.
Like a manna from heaven, the
Supreme Court has redeemed itself by pro-
viding an amicable solution to the stale-
mate by suggesting that the Acts be held in
abeyance. In light of the trust deficit and
point-blank refusal to repeal the Acts, the
government will be wise to accept the
Court’s suggestion. It is common knowl-
edge that with the present Acts, it’s impos-
sible to achieve the PM’s promise of “dou-
bling farmers income”.
The government should re-evaluate its
response and agree to four other points.
One, circulate the draft of the amended
Acts; two, explicitly define its MSP commit-
ment; three, hold wide ranging consulta-
tions with various stakeholders; four, if it is
C R Sasikumar
when to intervene and when to avoid it.
There is no single formula to guide policy on
this score. It is always about political judge-
ment about specific situations.
If the concept of national sovereignty is
limitedbycircumstance,soistheeffectiveness
ofthird-partyintervention.Externalinterven-
tionsinthedomesticpoliticsofneighboursare
rarelysuccessfulandproduceunintendedcon-
sequences that acquire a life of their own.
Big powers tend to underestimate the
costs of intervention in their neighbour-
hood and overestimate the prospects for
success. Active and direct intervention in
the domestic politics of neighbours must
be a prudent exception rather than the rule
in India’s regional diplomacy.
Eventhemostpowerfulnationsfindithard
tocompelthesmalleststatestodowhatisright
onsuchissuesasdemocraticgovernance,mi-
norityrightsandfederalism.Theymustcome
out of the organic evolution of each society.
Democracy and good governance can never
be an outsider’s gifts to a nation.
India can encourage, but can’t really
force Colombo and Kathmandu to respect
the rights of Tamils and Madhesis. But given
the intricate web of linkages across South
Asian borders, Delhi can’t avoid dealing with
these difficult issues either.
The subcontinent has historically been an
integrated geopolitical space with a shared
civilisational heritage. Equally true is the real-
ity of multiple contemporary sovereignties
within South Asia. In dealing with these twin
realities,theprinciplesguidingIndia’sengage-
ment are not too difficult to discern.
As Jaishankar promised Sri Lankan lead-
ers in Colombo, “India will always be a de-
pendable partner and reliable friend” and
is committed to strengthening bilateral ties
“on the basis of mutual trust, mutual inter-
est, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity”.
These are not easy principles to follow. But
the new vocabulary on “mutual respect and
mutual sensitivity” is certainly welcome.
Delhi’s consistent pursuit of this framework
could help India better manage the com-
plex dynamic with its neighbours.
The writer is director, Institute of South Asian
Studies, National University of Singapore and
a contributing editor on international affairs
for The Indian Express
unagreeable to a one-person committee,
constitute a small committee — otherwise
it will be interpreted as a ruse to scuttle the
issue. The Acts, though, can’t be set right
even with amendments. Not only because
the farmers are demanding it, but to usher
in the much needed tangible agricultural
reforms, it would actually be wise to put in
place a new legal framework.
Today, the perception is that farmers
are on one side of the trenches and the gov-
ernment on the other. This is a pivotal mo-
ment for the government and it should not
have come to this. In every negotiation,
both sides must have a face saver for the
victory to have a lasting and positive im-
pact. In the present circumstances, it’s ab-
solutely essential to provide a way for the
farmers to return home with dignity. Heart
wrenching tales of distraught farmers re-
turning home in hundreds of thousands,
feeling betrayed is an omen of bad tidings.
Before the storm begins to take a turn for
the worse or begins to ebb, it is time also
for the farmers to reassess and seek posi-
tive concessions, because at the end of the
agitation, no one would want a status quo
ante, that is inevitable otherwise. A learn-
ing that I wrung out of the agony is that “it
is better to have smart foes than a foolish
band of cohorts.”
The writer is chairman,
Bharat Krishak Samaj
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“Long after he has gone, Trump’s Capitol outrage will be remembered with a
shudder and a shiver. With anger, pain and shame, the riot reflected all that
went wrong under this most despicable of American leaders.”
Let the House
meet
Covid can’t be an excuse to avoid assembly of
Parliament. Steps must be taken to ensure full-
fledged resumption of parliamentary work
Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury
WHAT STARTED in Wuhan in the winter of
2019setoffacrisisacrosstheworldthrough-
out2020andthreatenstocastitsshadowon
the new year too. The COVID-19 curve in
Indiaappearsreassuring,thougharenewed
spikecannotberuledoutgivenreportsofthe
new strain. But every aspect of the nation —
social,economic,cultural,educationaltopo-
litical — remains severely impacted. Like
elsewhere, our government is working to
overcome this impasse: With ordinances
promulgated, several policy decisions and
new pieces of legislation hurriedly passed,
all efforts are towards aligning our national
system to the “new normal”. Walter
Lippman once said that in a democracy, the
Oppositionisnotonlytoleratedasconstitu-
tionalbutitmustbemaintainedbecauseitis
indispensable. In the new normal in India,
theroleof theOppositionis,therefore,more
arduous, challenging and critical.
More so, when the pandemic has led to
a marked downturn in the number of sit-
tingsof Parliament.Lastyear,theHousemet
for just 33 sittingsandthe winter session of
Parliament is conspicuous by its absence.
COVID-19 was first reported in India on
January 30, 2020, and it almost coincided
with the budget session of Parliament,
which commenced on January 31. But the
session had to be adjourned sine die on
March 23 after the House reassembled on
March 2 post the recess from February 11.
The entire budget session thus witnessed
only 23 sittings with a total of 19 bills (18 in
Lok Sabha and one in Rajya Sabha) intro-
duced;15billswerepassedbytheLokSabha
and 13 by the Rajya Sabha.
The monsoon session met for 10 sit-
tings from September 14 to 23.
Significantly, it saw drastic changes in the
outlay of the List of Business of the House
with not a single day being allotted for the
transaction of Private Members' Business;
the starred list of questions was totally dis-
pensed with. However, this cannot be the
rule of law as it severely restricts the effec-
tive functioning of the House.
Thefactthateveryoralanswertoastarred
questionontheflooroftheHousebythemin-
isteractsasanassurancebythegovernment
makes it an important tool to hold the exec-
utivetoaccount.Inthelimitedtime,atotalof
16governmentbillswereintroducedand25
government bills were passed in the Lok
Sabha during the monsoon session.
WecannotbeblindtothesecondCOVID-
19 wave in many parts of the world. The ap-
proval for the two vaccines comes as great
relief but they are no magic bullets. Faheem
Younus, chief of infectious diseases at the
UniversityofMaryland,hassaidthatitcould
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
SPEND MORE
THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘India's new
deal moment’ (IE, January 11).
Reaching our true potential is a multi-
fold process and the first benchmark
should be to reach Pre-Covid levels of
economic activity. And the only way to
achieve this is through public invest-
ment. The government must not worry
about the fiscal deficit.
Bal Govind, Noida
COURT AND POLITICS
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘Owningthe
crisis’(IE,January11).Timeandagainthe
government has charged the judiciary
with encroaching on its domain. Now it
wantsthejudiciarytointerveneandadju-
dicate on the validity of the three farms
lawsishardtostomach.Doesthejudiciary
have a magic wand to settle the con-
tentious and protracted issue? It is clear
thatthegovernmenthasshownlittlepo-
litical acumen or understanding in deal-
ingwithfarmers’grievances.
Deepak Singhal, Noida
NOT ENOUGH
THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Twitter’s
Trump ban: BJP slams it, Congress says
welcome signal’ (IE, January 10). The
move is too little, and coming after a
mob egged on by US President Donald
Turmp laid siege to the Capitol build-
ing, it is too late. Trump has a long
record of sharing falsehoods and big-
otry on social media. Blocking a loud-
mouth or despot or leader of a mob is
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— THE OBSERVER
take three years before the world is vacci-
nated. That COVID-19 will stay with us for a
long time is undeniable.
Insuchascenario,theeffortstakenbythe
Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha
Speakerhavebeenveryencouraging.Under
theirleadership,suitablearrangementswere
madeforParliamenttoassembleduringthe
monsoon session: A “shift system” was in-
troduced for the Lok Sabha and the Rajya
Sabha to meet separately, human interface
was significantly reduced and all other nec-
essary precautions were strictly adhered to.
I strongly feel — and I am sure this is
echoed by my fellow legislators — that
avoiding regular assembly of the House is
not a solution. If we could meet under the
leadership of Hon'ble Chairs of both the
Houses when COVID-19 cases were soar-
ing, we can meet now as well. How, in the
name of the pandemic, can a people's rep-
resentative sit in the comfort of his or her
home especially when our farmers are sit-
ting on the roads for days together? We
should continue to meet, though for a
shorter period, to discuss farmers' issues,
other issues of urgent public importance
and transact the essential business of the
House with all the COVID-19 precautions
in place.
We should remember B R Ambedkar's
opinionthattheonce-a-yearmeetingof the
Central Legislature under the Government
of India Act, 1935, was designed to avoid
scrutiny of the government by the legisla-
ture.Weshould,therefore,notmeetmerely
to fulfil the constitutional mandate under
Article 85 which says "…six months shall
not intervene between its last sitting in one
session and the date appointed for its first
sitting in the next session." We need to
work out an alternative modus operandi,
somewhere between the virtual and real
meeting platforms, to facilitate the full-
fledged working of the House. And if the
need arises, we can take recourse to “mod-
ification of Rules and Procedures” to facili-
tate the same.
Atthesametime,adjournmentorreduc-
tioninthesittingsoftheHouseshould,inno
way, put a pause on the duties of the
Opposition. The role of the committees
should be reinforced: With limited mem-
bers,theyserveasmini-Parliaments.Allpre-
ventive medical advisories can be observed
while they work at full strength. If bills can-
not be discussed on the floor of the House
due to paucity of time, they should be re-
ferredtothesecommittees,whichcanmeet
frequently and scrutinise them.
In the pandemic, as the country is gov-
erned by ordinances, the Opposition is en-
trusted with the greater responsibility of
keeping a check on the executive, question-
ing its initiatives, being extra vigilant,
guarding the purse and ensuring all-round
accountability of the government. It is only
a responsible Opposition that can enable
the government to guide the world’s
largest democracy amid all the challenges
posed by the pandemic.
The writer is leader of the Congress
in Lok Sabha
IDEAS
ONLINE
ONLY IN THE EXPRESS
● FAILING THE
ECO-DISASTER VICTIM:
TARIKA JAIN
● A ROADMAP FOR
THE YOUNG:
AMRUT BANG
www.indianexpress.com
hardly the answer.
S S Paul, Nadia
BETTER SCHOOLS
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘The open
classroom’, (IE January 11). Quality edu-
cation,accessibletoeachandeverychild,
istheneedofthehour.First,publiceduca-
tionshouldbepromotedasamajorityof
children cannot afford to go to private
schools.Second,rotelearningneedstobe
substituted with quality learning. Third,
a common education system should be
designed.Thiswouldensurethatchildren
arenotforcedtodropoutoftheirschools
especially in situations like the present
one. Fourth, something more than just a
degreeshouldberequiredintheselection
processofteachersbecausetheyareshap-
ingthefutureof ourcountry.
Sarachana Sisodia, Delhi
Ahmedabad

10 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
India hands
back PLA
soldier to China
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
THE INDIAN Army on Monday
handed back to China a soldier
of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army (PLA), three
days after apprehending him at
the southern bank of Pangong
Tso in eastern Ladakh, official
sources said.
The soldier was returned to
China at the Chushul-Moldo
border point in eastern Ladakh
at 10.10 am, they added.
"The PLA soldier, who was
apprehended on January 8, was
handed back to China at
Chushul-Moldo at 10.10 am on
Monday," a source said.
"The PLA soldier had trans-
gressed across the LAC and
was taken into custody by
Indian troops deployed in
this area. Troops from either
side are deployed along the
LAC since friction erupted
last year due to unprecedented
mobilisation and forward
concentration by Chinese
troops," the Army said in a state-
ment on Saturday.
Maritime security, coastal defence exercise begins
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MUMBAI,
JANUARY 11
The Navy will coordinate the
second edition of the coastal de-
fence exercise on January 12
and 13. It will be undertaken
along the entire coastline and
Exclusive Economic Zone of
India.
The Navy said Sea Vigil 2021,
a biennial exercise that began in
January 2019, “will be under-
taken along the entire 7516 km
coastline and Exclusive
Economic Zone of India and will
involve all the 13 coastal States
Students use ‘experts’ Astrologer claiming political links
1989 RUBAIYA SAYEED KIDNAPPING CASE
TADA court frames charges for GRE from home: dupes ex-HC judge of Rs 8 crore
against Yasin Malik, 9 others Govt, US alerted
ARUN SHARMA
JAMMU, JANUARY 11
MORE THAN 31 years after the
abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed,
daughter of the then Union
Home Minister late Mufti
Mohammad Sayeed, Special
TADA Judge Sunit Gupta on
Monday framed charges against
10 accused, including Jammu
Kashmir Liberation Front chief
Yasin Malik.
Besides Malik, charges were
framed against Ali Mohammad
Mir, Mohammad Zaman Mir,
Iqbal Ahmad Gandroo, Javed
Ahmad Mir alias Nalka,
Mohammad Rafiq Pahloo alias
Nana Ji alias Saleem, Manzoor
Ahmed Sofi, Wajahat Bashir,
Mehraj-ud-Din Sheikh and
Showkat Ahmad Bakshi.
Referring to confessional
statements by Mohammad
Zaman Mir and Ali Mohammad
Mir before the magistrate under
Section 164 of CrPC regarding
their involvement and the role of
otheraccused,thejudgeobserved
that he was of the considered
view that “sufficient grounds ex-
ist’’ for drawing prima facie pre-
sumption that Yasin Malik, Ali
Mohammad Mir, Iqbal Ahmed
Gandroo, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi,
Mehraj-u-Din Sheikh and Rafiq
Ahmed Pahloo have committed
theoffencesofenteringintocrim-
inal conspiracy, kidnapping
MoS Naik injured in accident, his wife, aide dead Gujarat yet to file response to PIL even as
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU, JANUARY 11
VIJAYA NAIK, the wife of Union
Minister of State for Defence
Shripad Naik, and a close aide of
the minister died after suffering
serious injuries in a car accident
near Hosakambi village in
Ankola taluk of Karnataka’s
Uttara Kannada district on
Monday.
The minister, who was trav-
elling in the car, has suffered
multiple injuries and has been
shifted to a hospital in Goa.
The minister’s aide who
died was identified as Deepak
Dube.
CDS, Air Force chief discuss
operational issues in Ladakh
Slight thinning in deployment by both sides began in December, sources said
KRISHN KAUSHIK
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
CHIEF OF Defence Staff General
Bipin Rawat and Air Force Chief
Air Chief Marshal RKS
Bhadauria on Monday visited
Ladakh and discussed opera-
tional issues with senior offi-
cers of the Air Force and the
Army, amid the standoff be-
tween India and China in east-
ern Ladakh.
The visits come at a time
when both sides have reduced
a certain number of troops
from the region. Top sources in
the Army said that a slight thin-
ning in deployment by both
sides began in December, but it
was only in the depth areas and
not from the frontlines.
Both sides have around
50,000 troops each in the re-
gion, along with additional air
defence assets, artillery and
and Union Territories along
with other maritime stakehold-
ers, including the fishing and
coastal communities”.
The Navy said in a statement
on Monday that the “scale and
conceptual expanse of the exer-
cise is unprecedented in terms
of the geographical extent, the
number of stakeholders in-
volved, the number of units par-
ticipating and in terms of the
objectives to be met”.
The exercise, it said, “is a
build up towards the major
Theatre-level exercise TROPEX
(Theatre-level Readiness
Operational Exercise)” con-
ducted by the Navy every two
Yasin Malik
Rubaiyawithanintentiontomur-
der and keeping her in wrongful
confinement under provisions of
Ranbir Penal Code, apart from
TerroristsandDisruptiveActivities
(TADA) Act and Indian Arms Act.
The other accused --
Mohammad Zaman Mir, Javed
Ahmed Mir, Wajahat Bashir and
Shoukat Ahmed Bakshi -- were
charged with criminal conspir-
acy, keeping Rubaiya under
wrongful confinement and pro-
visions of TADA Act.
The10accusedareamongthe
twodozenaccusednamedbyCBI
initschargesheetfiledbeforethe
TADA court. Among the others,
Mohammad Rafiq Dar and
Mushtaq Ahmed Lone are dead
andtwelveothersareabsconding.
The absconders include
Halima, Javed Iqbal Mir,
MohammadYaqubPandit,Riyaz
AhmedBhat,KhursheedAhmed
Dar, Basharat Rehman Noori,
Tariq Ashraf, Shafat Ahmed
The accident took place
while the car was travelling
towards Gokarna via Ankola
and Yellapura. PTI
The accident took place
while the Toyota Innova Crysta
car was travelling towards
Gokarna via Ankola and
Yellapura. The car hit a tree, top-
Air Chief Marshal RKS
Bhadauria during his visit to
Ladakh on Monday. PTI
tanks.
However, sources said
China is continuing to build in-
frastructure near several fric-
tion points along the Line of
years.
“Sea Vigil and TROPEX to-
gether will cover the entire
spectrum of maritime security
challenges, including transition
from peace to conflict,” the
Navy said, and added that “as-
sets of the Indian Navy, Coast
Guard, Customs and other mar-
itime agencies will participate”
in Sea Vigil, and its conduct is
“also being facilitated by the
Ministries of Defence, Home
Affairs, Shipping, Petroleum
and Natural Gas, Fisheries,
Customs, State Governments
and other agencies of Centre/
State”.
The Navy stated that while
Shangloo, Manzoor Ahmed,
Gulam Mohammad Taploo,
Abdul Majeed Bhat and Nissar
Ahmed Bhat.
According to the CBI
chargesheet, the accused en-
tered into a criminal conspiracy
in the first week of December
1989tokidnapRubaiya,thenun-
dergoing resident rotatory in-
ternship training in Lal Ded
HospitalatSrinagar,forensuring
the release of their five associ-
ates lodged in different jails.
The CBI chargesheet has said
they borrowed a blue car from
one of the accused, Ghulam
Mohammad, and some of them
and assembled in the house of
accused Mushtaq Ahmed Lone
on December 8,1989 and delib-
erated upon the plan to kidnap
her when she is on her way back
from the hospital to her resi-
dence at Nowgam Bye Pass,
Srinagar.
Thereafter,alltheaccusedex-
cept Mohammad Zaman Mir
reached the hospital gate and
splitintosmallergroups,accord-
ing to the CBI. To enable them to
identify Rubaiya, accused Yasin
Malik pointed towards her, the
charge sheet said. The accused
interceptedongunpointthemini
businwhichshewastravelling,it
added. From there, Rubaiya was
made to board a car and kept in
captivity till five JKLF militants
werereleasedfromdifferentjails
in exchange of her release.
pled and fell into a ditch, the po-
lice said.
“The accident occurred be-
tween 7.45 pm and 8 pm. Two
people suffered serious injuries
—the wife of the minister and
an aide. The minister also had
multiple injuries,” Additional SP
for Karwar region S Badarinath
said.
He added that the minister
was moved to Bambolim
Hospital in Goa on directions of
the Goa government. Three oth-
ers who were in the car — a per-
sonal guard of the minister, the
driver and a friend of the min-
ister — suffered minor injuries,
police said. One of them, who is
a local resident, was treated at
Actual Control, including
Galwan Valley and Spanggur
Gap. A senior Army officer said
that China is “consolidating”
and is “digging its heels” by
building infrastructure.
Another senior Army officer
said that India too is building
infrastructure on its side of the
LAC, as how the events will pan
out around April, May, when
the summer begins, is not
known yet.
While Air Chief Marshal
Bhadauria visited Advanced
Landing Grounds, including the
strategically important Daulat
Beg Oldie (DBO), in the region
on Monday, General Rawat is
scheduled to visit the forward
areas on Tuesday morning. The
CDS received comprehensive
briefings at the XV Corps
Headquarters in Leh.
In a statement, the Air Force
said that the Air Chief Marshal
“undertook a visit to Air Force
“smaller scale exercises are con-
ducted in coastal states regu-
larly, including combined exer-
cises amongst adjoining states,
the conduct of a security exer-
cise at national-level is aimed to
serve a larger purpose” as it
“provides opportunity, at the
apex level, to assess our pre-
paredness in the domain of
maritime security and coastal
defence”.
It said Sea Vigil 21 “will pro-
vide a realistic assessment of
our strengths and weaknesses
and thus will help in further
strengthening maritime and
national security”.
The statement said “the en-
AASHISHARYAN&
PRANAVMUKUL
NEWDELHI,JANUARY11
CHEATING BY STUDENTS taking
theGraduateRecordExamination
(GRE) online from their homes,
following the Covid-19 outbreak,
has been red-flagged by the
largest Indian franchise of US-
based The Princeton Review.
The GRE, owned and admin-
isteredbythe US-headquartered
EducationalTestingService(ETS),
isastandardisedtestrequiredfor
admissionstograduateschoolsin
the US and Canada. In India,
85,050candidatestooktheGREin
2019 compared with 90,146 in
China and 3.95 lakh in the US, ac-
cording to the ETS.
Besides informing the ETS
abouttheriseinfraudulentactiv-
ities, the Indian franchisee has
written to the Ministry of
Education and Niti Aayog high-
lighting the ‘moral’ aspect of us-
ing unfair means and its impact
on student’ quality.
The Indian Express spoke to
several students who took the
GRE with help from outside ex-
perts or ‘collaborators’. While
none of them wished to be
named, they revealed a meticu-
lously-planned modus operandi.
In the “at-home” offering of
theGRE,anonlineproctorasksthe
testtakertoshowtheentireroom
usingawebcamtoensurenobody
else is inside the room. In case of
a hospital in Ankola and the
other two in Goa, police said.
Goa is about 110 km from
Ankola where the accident oc-
curred. Karwar is the district
headquarters for the Uttara
Kannada district in Karnataka.
Karnataka Chief Minister B
S Yediyurappa expressed con-
dolences over the death of
Naik’s wife.
“The death of Vijaya Naik is
very unfortunate. May her soul
rest in peace and God give stre-
ngth to her family to overcome
their grief,” he said.
The Chief Minister wished
quick recovery for the Union
minister, who also holds charge
of the AYUSH ministry.
Stations and Advanced Landing
Grounds in Ladakh” on Monday,
and “interacted with field com-
manders and was briefed on the
preparedness and status of de-
ployed forces at air bases as well
as in the forward areas. He also
interacted with IAF and Indian
Army personnel deployed at
these locations”.
During his visit to Thoise,
Air Force said, “he reviewed the
ongoing logistic operations for
support and sustenance of
troops in the winter season”
and visited “DBO and Nyoma
ALGs where he was given a se-
curity overview in the respec-
tive sub-sectors”.
“Prior to his departure,” Air
Force said that Air Chief
Marshal Bhadauria “joined the
CDS for a comprehensive dis-
cussion on operational matters
with senior IAF and Indian
Army Commanders at Air Force
Station Leh”.
tire coastal security set up was
reorganised after the 26/11
Terror attack at Mumbai which
was launched via the sea route”.
Apart from the Navy, the
Indian Air Force, Coast Guard,
National Security Guard, the
Border Security Force, oil han-
dling agencies and airports will
participate in the exercise.
Captain Ajay Yadav,
Command Coastal Security
Officer at the Western Naval
Command headquarters, said
the effectiveness of the fishing
community in serving as the
eyes and ears for early warning
of threats will also be assessed
during the exercise.
any suspicion, the proctor would
then sporadically ask the exam
taker to show the room on the
camera.Theexambeginsafterthe
proctor is satisfied.
AkeyfeatureoftheonlineGRE
testisthattheadvancedadaptive
design allows the exam taker to
freely move forward and back-
ward through a section being at-
tempted. This is a loophole ex-
ploitedbythoseresortingtounfair
practices.
Accordingtopeoplewhowit-
nessedcheatingfirst-hand,aper-
sonwouldentertheroomfroman
angle he/ she is not visible to the
onlineproctor,takepicturesof all
questionsintheparticularsection
—verbalreasoningorquantitative
reasoning — as the exam taker
scrolls up and down through it.
The person then leaves the room
to solve these questions with the
help of collaborators outside. He
wouldentertheroomwithapiece
of paper with all answers.
Athird-yearbiomedicalengi-
neeringstudentenrolledatapre-
mier national institute, who
spoke to The Indian Express on
condition of anonymity, said
most of those who take tests on
behalf of others are in the third
and fourth year. Often, they are
approached by teachers from
otherinstitutestohelpcandidates
for money. A 4-5 student group
gets paid in the range Rs 30,000-
Rs 40,000.
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
animal deaths in Gir forest increasing: HC
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JANUARY 11
MORE THAN a month since the
Gujarat High Court asked the
state government to respond to
an application opposing the
installation of a broad-gauge
line and electrification of tracks
in a stretch passing through the
Gir forest, the latter remains to
file its reply in the matter.
The high court had issued
notices to state and railways au-
thorities in the matter on
December 8 last year and
BJP national president J P Nadda is felicitated by Assam CM
Sarbananda Sonowal, state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa
Sarma and others during a meeting in Silchar on Monday. PTI
Will protect Assam’s
culture, language: Nadda
flags off BJP campaign
ABHISHEK SAHA
GUWAHATI, JANUARY 11
BJP PRESIDENT J P Nadda on
Monday set the tone for the
party's campaign in poll-bound
Assam highlighting the
Sarbananda Sonowal govern-
ment's work and adding that the
party was committed to uphold
the language and culture of the
state’s indigenous people.
Speaking at public rally in
Silchar in the Barak Valley region,
Nadda said: “The BJP will always
protectAssam’sculture,language
and existence…The BJP has al-
ways been empathetic to the
rights of the people of Assam.”
However, he avoided any direct
mention of issues like the
Citizenship(Amendment)Actand
theNationalRegisterof Citizens.
Assam is scheduled to go to
polls in April-May. Earlier in the
day, senior Assam minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted,
“TheVijaySankalpaSamabeshat
Silchar today marks the begin-
ning of our campaign for
Assembly Election.”
In his address at the rally,
Nadda said the state, its culture
and leaders had got regognition
at the national level under the
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU, JANUARY 11
A SELF-STYLED astrologer, who
claimed access to top political
leaders, has been arrested by
Bengalurupolicecrimebranchfor
allegedly cheating a retired high
courtjudgeofoverRs8crorewith
the promise of a “high position”
through his connections.
Yuvaraj Ramadas, 52, who
has a history of cheating cases,
was arrested last month for al-
legedly duping retired judge
Indrakala B S, 68.
The arrest was based on a
complaint filed by the former
judge at the Wilson Garden po-
lice station alleging that
Ramadas had cheated her be-
tween June 2018 and November
2019 of Rs 8.27 crore by promis-
ing her a “high position” in the
country's administration.
Following the arrest, Joint
Commissioner of Police (Crime)
Sandeep Patil said that an FIR
was registered on the complaint
thatRamadas“falselyclaimedto
know some important persons
andpromisedtogetgovernment
jobs and government work
done”.
“The CCB (Central Crime
Branch) took a search warrant
for the accused and raided his
house. In the search, Rs 26 lakh
in cash and cheques addressed
to the accused worth Rs 91 crore
were seized,” Patil said.
Incidentally, Ramadas had
obtained anticipatory bail in
sought a response by December
22 that year. The state, however,
sought more time when the
matter was listed on the return-
able date.
On Monday, while mention-
ing the matter before a division
bench headed by the Chief
Justice of Gujarat HC Vikram
Nath, amicus curiae Hemang
Shah pressed that “despite two
orders of the court, the state has
not yet filed a reply”.
In its order, the bench noted:
“...No reply has been filed by the
state and the number of deaths
in Gir forest is increasing day by
NDA regime. He added that the
Bharat Ratna was conferred to
renowned musician Bhupen
Hazarika and Assam’s first CM
Gopinath Bordoloi during NDA
rule. Stressing that the BJP and
itsallieshavewoneveryelection
inAssamsincetheSonowalgov-
ernment came into power in
2016,Naddacriticisedtheearlier
Congress regimes. He said that
during the rule of the UPA gov-
ernment in Centre, Assam got
only Rs 50,000 crore for devel-
opment work, but under the
NDA government, it has already
got Rs 3,00,000 crore.
“It’sadouble-engine govern-
ment,” said Nadda, explaining
how the Central and state gov-
ernmentswereworkingincoor-
dination to develop Assam. He
highlighted several points — in-
cluding the smart fencing proj-
ect on the border to stop infiltra-
tion; construction of roads and
bridges;rapidelectrificationand
construction of toilets; and im-
provement in law and order sit-
uation in the state — to stress on
howtheBJP-ledgovernmenthas
worked to bring about progress
to the state.
Naddasaidthepartywillwork
towinmorethan100seats(outof
126) in the coming polls.
June and December 2020 in an-
othercase,forallegedlycheating
a Mumbai businessman of Rs 10
croretosettleapropertydispute.
In her complaint, the retired
judge stated that she was intro-
duced to Ramadas, alias Swamy,
in 2017-18 by a retired SP who
was known to her since 2000.
According to the complaint,
Ramadas allegedly claimed that
he could predict the future and
told the former judge she was
destined for a high position. He
allegedly claimed to have access
to top leaders in Delhi and
showed her pictures of himself
in their company. “The central
leaders are searching for deserv-
ing women candidates like you
for high positions,'' Ramadas is
alleged to have told the com-
plainant.
According to the complaint,
Ramadastoldherthatshewould
have to contribute some “party
funds” to facilitate her ascent to
a high position.
According to the retired
judge, she used returns from the
sale of a housing site she owned
andamortgageonanapartment
to arrange Rs 3.77 crore for
Ramadas.Whentheallegedcon-
man sought more money, Rs
4.50crorewasarrangedthrough
loansfromassociates,theformer
judge stated.
After collecting the funds,
Ramadas allegedly stopped
communications with the re-
tired judge and did not provide
any position as promised, she
said.
day.” The matter is now ex-
pected to be heard on January
27.
Shah, who has been repre-
senting the high court in an ex-
isting suo motu public interest
litigation (PIL) of 2018 on the
preservation of the Gir sanctu-
ary’s ecosystem for the Asiatic
lions, filed the fresh application,
also opposing the state govern-
ment’s decision to install gas
and oil pipelines as these may
lead to gas leakage and forest
fires.
The amicus curiae, in the ap-
plication, had questioned the
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Andhra HC
suspends SEC
notification for
panchayat poll
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD, JANUARY 11
THEANDHRAPradeshHighCourt
onMondaysuspendedthenotifi-
cationissuedbytheStateElection
Commission to hold Panchayat
elections in the state.
The commission announced
onJanuary9thatitwillholdpan-
chayat elections in four phases.
The elections were scheduled for
February 5, 9, 13, and 17.
However,theAndhraPradesh
governmentobjected,statingthat
theCovid-19situationinthestate
isnotconducivetoholdelections.
The government challenged the
commission’s notification in the
High Court.
Whileobservingthatthecom-
mission had not undertaken an
objective decision in the matter,
the court impugned the notifica-
tion in the interests of public
health. The commission has not
objectivelyconsideredtheviewof
the government and has ap-
proachedthesubjectmatterinits
owndomain,theordernoted.The
court also noted that the election
programme would hamper the
Covid-19vaccinationprogramme.
Last March, State Election
CommissionerNRameshKumar
postponedelectionstolocalbod-
ies, citing Covid-19 safety proto-
cols. Early this month, when the
State Election Commission was
considering announcing the
scheduleofelectionstopanchay-
ats, Chief Secretary Adityanath
DasmetSECKumarandconveyed
that the government anticipates
asecondwaveof Covidcasesand
it is not the right time to hold the
elections. However, the commis-
sion rejected the government’s
appeal to postpone polls by 2-3
months. The decision to hold the
elections again put SEC Kumar
and the Y S Jaganmohan Reddy-
led government on a confronta-
tional path.
The police probe also re-
vealed that Ramadas had finan-
cial dealings of around Rs 1.24
crore with Radhika
Kumaraswamy, the actress who
was closely associated with for-
mer CM and JD(S) leader H D
Kumaraswamy.
The actress, who held a press
conference after being sum-
moned by the crime branch for
questioning last week, said she
received Rs 15 lakh from
Ramadas, who is known to her
family for over 17 years, and that
Rs 60 lakh was given by a film
producer.
“A detailed inquiry has been
done by theinvestigating officer.
Further investigations based on
what she has said will be done,''
JCP (crime) Patil said.
Theprobealsoledtopictures
purportedly of Ramadas in the
company of several political
leaders of the BJP and Congress
atthenationalandstatelevel,in-
cluding many aspiring to be
ministers in the Karnataka
Cabinet, according to the crime
branch.
Karnataka Deputy Chief
Minister Laxman Savadi, who is
among the leaders seen in the
pictures, said many people tend
to take pictures with political
leaders by claiming to be party
workers or workers for party af-
filiated groups.
Asked about the actress's fi-
nancial dealings, H D
Kumaraswamyindicatedthathe
had no association with her.
“Who is that?” he said.
State Wildlife Board’s decision
to transfer 150 hectares of land
in Gir forest to the railways for
installation of a broad-gauge
line and electrification of tracks,
highlighting that development
cannot come at the cost of an
endangered species, such as the
Asiatic lion.
In another public interest lit-
igation before the Gujarat HC
seeking a revised detailed pol-
icy for protection of wildlife at
Gir, a notice was issued to the
state in September 2020. The
state is yet to file a response in
the matter till date.
Ahmedabad
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

11 GOVT & POLITICS

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021

Khattar, Dushyant to
meet Shah today, JJP
DELHI CONFIDENTIAL calls MLAs to Delhi
Several MLAs on verge of quitting: Hooda

SUKHBIR SIWACH &

VARINDER BHATIA
CHANDIGARH, JANUARY 11

AFTERPROTESTINGfarmersran-
sacked the venue of Haryana
Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar’s “kisan mahapan-
chayat” at a Karnal village, top
leadersof BJP-JJPalliance,includ-
ing Khattar and Deputy Chief
WARM WELCOME Minister Dushyant Chautala, are
settomeetUnionHomeMinister
WHEN PARTICIPANTS of the National Youth Parliament ar- Amit Shah to discuss the politi-
rived in Parliament House, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla cal scenario in the state.
wanted to make it a memorable event for them. Birla had in- The meeting is scheduled to
structedthatthe84participants—winnersfromthestateand Protesters at the Delhi-Ghazipur border on Monday. Prem Nath Pandey takeplaceinNewDelhiTuesday.
UTs — be taken to both chambers and given detailed briefing But before that, Dushyant will
on the history and heritage of the building. Birla also offered hold a meeting with JJP MLAs at
his moral support to a participant from Arunachal Pradesh, his farmhouse in Delhi. All JJP
whowasallegedlyharassedduringherjourneytothenational AFFIDAVIT IN SC CONTESTING FARM PROTESTERS’ CLAIMS legislators have been asked to
CM Khattar, deputy Chautala
dent at the Karnal village Sunday
hasthegovernmentworriedasit
tookplacedespitealleffortsbythe
state machinery to prevent any
disruption.
Sources said the BJP-JJP lead-
ers will brief the Union Home
Minister about the recent devel-
opments.ApartfromKhattarand
Dushyant,stateBJPpresidentOm
PrakashDhankar,stateEducation

Centre details ‘two decades’ of

capital. The incident took place on Saturday at the inter-state come to the capital on Tuesday. MinisterKanwarPalGujjarandJJP
bus terminus in Guwahati. The Speaker said he would do The exercise is seen as an at- state president Nishan Singh will
everything to ensure strict action taken against the culprits. tempttokeeptheflockofMLAsin bepartof thedelegation,asenior
thealliancetogetheramidincreas- BJP leader confirmed.

talks, says no option but reform

ing pressure over them with the Earlier in the day, Khattar in-
MISSING MATERIAL farmers’agitationdominatingthe
political landscapeinHaryanafor
teracted with the five Indepen-
dent MLAs backing the alliance
THE RASHTRIYA Kamdhenu Aayog has pulled down the con- thepastone-and-a-half month. government at the residence of
troversial cow exam “reference material” from its website. The meeting comes amid a statePowerMinisterRanjitChau-
The Aayog had uploaded a 54-page reference material for as- statementbyformerHaryanaCM tala, also an Independent MLA.
pirants who want to appear in the Kamdhenu Gau-Vigyan
Prachar-PrasarExaminationonFebruary25.However,soonaf- ANANTHAKRISHNANG
tion”, and that an Expert
Committee set up to review the
sive, more liberal” State Agricult-
ure Produce and Livestock Mark-
Govt cites law Bhupinder Hooda Monday that
several MLAs of the ruling com-
Meanwhile,INLD leader Abh-
ay Chautala wrote a letter to the
ter the announcement last week, the “reference material”
went viral. While no official announcement has been made,
NEWDELHI,JANUARY11 agricultural marketing system
had in a June 2001 report sug-
eting (Facilitation & Develo-
pment) Act to “provide for
and order to bine are on the verge of quitting.
In the 90-member Assembly,
Assembly Speaker Monday, ask-
inghimtotreatitashisresignation
the material is not available on the website now. SEEKING TO dispel what it called
“theerroneousnotion...peddled"
gestedvariouslegislativereforms.
Followingthis,theCentrepoi-
geographically restriction-free”
trade of agricultural produce; to
move SC against theBJPhas40seatsandtheJJPhas
10 legislators; five out of seven
from Vidhan Sabha if the govern-
mentdoesn’twithdrawthe“three
R-Day march
MARK OF PROTEST
byprotestersthatthegovernment nted out, an inter-ministerial task give “freedom” to farmers to sell; Independent MLAs are support- black farm laws” by January 26.
and Parliament did not hold any forcereportof June2002hadalso to“enhancetransparency”inpay- ing the government. The farmer Abhay is the lone MLA of INLD in
consultations before passing the recommended“severallegislative ments;topromotemultiplechan- agitation has made it difficult for theAssembly.
AT A meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on farm laws, the Centre Monday reforms in the State APMC Acts nels for competitive marketing, EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE the alliance ministers and MLAs His “resignation letter”, it is
Agricultureon Monday,Oppositionmembersdemandedthat filed an affidavit in the Supreme andtheEssentialCommoditiesAct agri-processing and agricultural NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11 toholdpublicmeetingsinvillages, learnt,hasbuiltmorepressureon
the new farm legislation and the protests they had triggered Court detailing the “two decades to remove restrictive provisions export; and to encourage invest- withfarmersshowingblackflags, Dushyant, who has been project-
be discussed. Agenda of the meeting was examination of the of deliberations” behind them. It impedingdevelopmentofaneffi- ments. On May 21, 2020, the affi- THE CENTRE on Monday moved chasing their vehicles, damaging inghimselfasleaderoffarmersbut
status of veterinary services and availability of animal vac- also argued that some states had cient and competitive marketing davitsaid,theDepartmentofAgr- the Supreme Court seeking an helipads and staging protests to isfacingtheirireforsupportingthe
cines inthe country. After Chairmanand BJPMP Gaddigoudar been tardy in implementing the system, for promotion of direct iculture,CooperationandFarmers’ injunction against the “pro- prevent such meetings. The inci- BJP-ledgovernment.
Parvatagouda Chandanagouda refused, Congress’s Rajya reforms in their “true spirit”. marketing, for encouraging con- Welfarehelda meeting,attended posed” tractor march by those
Sabha members Partap Singh Bajwa and Chhaya Verma, and The affidavit filed by the tract farming and for rationalisa- by 13 states/UTs, for feedback on protesting against the new farm
Rajya Sabha MP and former Akali leader Sukhdev Singh
Dhindsa walked out of the meeting in protest.
Secretary,MinistryofAgriculture
andFarmers’Welfare,alsounder-
tionof marketfee/taxstructure”.
It was after acceptance of this
thisnewlegalframework.
Thus, the Centre said, it has
laws, saying it was an effort to
“disrupt the august gathering Mamata: India staring
at food crisis due to BJP
lined the “serious, sincere and report that the Agriculture been“activelyandintensivelyen- andcelebrationsof thenationon
constructiveefforts”madebythe Ministry formulated the Model gaging with the states for about Republic Day”.
government to engage with “the APMCAct,2003,andRules,2007, two decades to achieve the... ob- “It has come to the knowl-
PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS ACT limitednumber”offarmersprote- in consultation with states, the jectives of reforms to provide ac- edge of the security agencies

2017 rules not contrary sting the laws. It said the fact that
the agitation was limited to only
oneplaceshowedthatamajority
Centre said. When it was noticed
that their adoption by states and
Union territories “was of varied
cessible and barrier-free market
system” and that “states either
showed reluctance to adopt the
throughvarioussourcesthatthe
smallgroupofprotestingindivid-
uals/organisationshaveplanned
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, JANUARY 11

to Act... not confiscation of thefarmersfindthelegislation

“progressiveandintheirinterest”.
“The agitation by/in the name of
degree and slow”, in 2010, an
Empowered Committee of 10
state ministers was formed to
reformsintruespiritormadepar-
tial or cosmetic reforms”.
About talks with the protest-
to carry out a tractor/trolley/ve-
hicle march on Republic Day”
and that the “proposed march is
WEST BENGAL Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on Monday
claimed that India was staring at

but seizure: Govt to SC some of the farmers may, there-

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
THE CENTRE has told the
Supreme Court that provisions
in the Rules framed by it in 2017
under the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals Act, 1960 regarding
removal of an animal from the
custody of an accused are not
contrary to provisions of the Act.
In an affidavit filed in the top
court,thegovernmentsaidtheRules
onlypermit“seizure”whichistem-
poraryinnatureandmerelytaking
possessionofpropertyandnot“con-
fiscation”which amountsto trans-
ferofownershipinthepropertyand
issupposedtobecarriedoutonlyaf-
terfinaladjudicationoftherightsof
thepartiesinagivencase.
The affidavit comes in re-
sponsetoaquerybythetopcourt
whichsaidaprovisioninthe2017
rulesnotifiedbytheCentreallow-
ingforfeitingofanimalsoftraders
and transporters during pen-
dency of trial in cases under The
Preventionof CrueltytoAnimals,
1960 was contrary to the provi-
sion in the Act which allows this
only in case of conviction.
Thecourtposedthe question
onJanuary4whilehearingaplea
by the Buffalo Traders Welfare
AAP MLA Bharti arrested
Association, challenging the
Constitutional validity of the
Preventionof CrueltytoAnimals
(Care and Maintenance of Case
Property Animals) Rules, 2017
and Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals(Regulationof Livestock
Markets) Rules, 2017.
Thegovernmentaffidavitsaid
thatduringpendencyofacase,the
local magistrate by its discretion
on interim custody sometimes
hand over the animal to some lo-
cal Pinjarapoles or Gaushala or
AnimalShelterHouses,whenthe
accused owners are not fit to get
interimcustodyofthecattleasper
lawlaiddownbythecourt.
The expenditure incurred by
such shelter houses in caring for
the rescued cattle during pen-
dency of the litigation has to be
borne by the accused owner and
the transporter as provided in
the Act, the affidavit said.
The Centre said arguments
regarding right to livelihood of
the traders are also not sustain-
able as there is no fundamental
right to do a business illegally,
and that the traders are required
to do business as per The
Transport of Animal Rules, 1978,
which state that a maximum of
six animals can be transported
in one vehicle.
fore,notbetreatedasreflectionon
the validity of the law or its effi-
cacy and usefulness for the farm-
ers’ community.”
Theaffidavitarguedthatchan-
geswereneededinstatemarket-
ing laws as these hindered agri-
culturaltradeaswellasprovision
of legal support to farmers to re-
alise remunerative prices. It said
theneedforreforms“wasfeltand
conceivedinthelateNinetiesafter
kick-start of economic liberalisa-
Haryana BKU chief: Reach Delhi
borders for tractor parade by Jan 24 Sharad Pawar meets Left leaders
SUKHBIR SIWACH
CHANDIGARH, JANUARY 11
HARYANA FARMERS are plan-
ning to reach Delhi borders by
January24tojointhe“tractorpa-
rade” in the national capital on
the occasion of Republic Day on
January 26.
Inavideomessagetofarmers,
Haryana BKU president Gurnam
Singh Chaduni said, “As per our
strategy,allfarmerbrotherswith
their tractors should reach Delhi
borders by January 24. We will
enterDelhionJanuary26,evenif
thepoliceuselathisorbullets.We
will break all their (police) barri-
cades to enter Delhi.”
Meanwhile, Haryana Police
“persuade” the states to imple-
ment the Act and rules, as well as
to suggest further reforms.
Thiscommitteesubmittedits
report in 2013, seeking steps for
removing barriers in the way of
markets. The affidavit said the
committee“specificallyconsulted
farmersfromvarious states”,and
hencethepetitioners’claimofnot
being consulted “has no basis in
fact whatsoever”.
In2017,theCentresaid,thego-
vernmentformulated“aprogres-
Sonia dials Opposition leaders,
Chaduni has
been
booked for
‘disturbance’
at Khattar
event
have booked BKU president
Chaduni and 70 others for “cre-
ating disturbance at the kisan
panchayat” of Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar at Kaimla
village of Karnal district Sunday.
Police said the accused have
been booked for “entering into
the event venue with sticks,
damagingthegovernmentprop-
erty, conspiracy, assault on the
government employees and in-
ing farmers, the Centre said it
had done all it could to address
“specific grievances of some
farmers”, listing the “construc-
tive dialogue” held on different
dates, and the implementation
of the Swaminathan report
through hiked MSP. Given that
the Acts had received “wide ac-
ceptance”, it said, the demand
for repeal is “neither justifiable
nor acceptable”.
FULL REPORT ON
www.indianexpress.com
stigating the people”.
“Our next programme will
take place on January 26 but if
Khattar sahab plans a rally even
before it, we will oppose that
event too,” said Chaduni.
The announcement to reach
Delhi borders is significant as
farmers had previously suc-
ceededtoreachthecapital’sout-
skirts by breaking all barricades
installed on highways in
Haryana.
Farmers are also not letting
publicmeetingsof BJP-JJPminis-
ters and MLAs take place in
Haryana villages. On Sunday,
farmers had broken the stage of
Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar's “kisan panchayat” in
Kaimla village of Karnal district.
slated to disturb and disrupt the
august celebrations of nation on
Republic Day and would be
bound to create a massive law
andordersituation”,theCentre's
application said, seeking direc-
tions from the court.
Stipulating that the right to
protest is subject to the counter-
vailing public interest and law
and order, the government
added that “the right to protest
can never include maligning the
nation globally”.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
ASTHESupremeCourtcriticised
the Centre over the farmers’
protests, the Congress on
Monday said the issue was nei-
ther “legal” nor “legalistic” and
asked the government to repeal
the three farm laws paying heed
to the court’s observations.
Congress president Sonia
Gandhi, meanwhile, began talk-
ing to Opposition leaders and is
planning to convene a meeting
to formulate a joint Opposition
strategy on the protests. Her ini-
tiative came on a day NCP chief
Sharad Pawar met Left leaders
Sitaram Yechury and D Raja. The
a food crisis because of the BJP’s
“adamant” approach towards
three new farm laws that thou-
sands of farmers camped on the
Delhi border are protesting.
Banerjee demanded the imme-
diate repeal of the laws.
“The country is staring at a
foodcrisis.If theBJPcontinuesto
remain adamant on the farm
laws, there will be a food short-
age in our country. The farmers
are assets of our country and we
shouldnotdoanythingthatgoes
SitaramYechuryaftermeetingSharadPawarinDelhi. AnilSharma
Left leaders said they discussed
the issue of farmer protests.
While the Congress is en-
thused at the strong observa-
tions made by the court, party
leaders said farmer unions view
the petitions in the apex court
with suspicion.
Mamata Banerjee at a rally
in Nadia district. Express
against their interest,” the
TrinamoolCongresschairperson
said at a rally in Ranaghat in
Nadia district.
Banerjee termed the BJP a
“junk party” that is “filling up its
rankandfilewithcorruptandrot-
ten leaders from other parties”.
“We respect the Supreme
Court and its concern... but ulti-
matelyrepealof thelawsandthe
discretiontorepealthelaws...lies
at the doorsteps of the govern-
ment and not the Supreme
Court,”Congresschiefspokesper-
son Randeep Surjewala said.

in UP, ink thrown on him Don’t put pressure… my statement clear: Rajinikanth after protest

E
MANISH SAHU pressed displeasure that mem- launched the party in his own
EXPLAINED

LUCKNOW, JANUARY 11 ARUN JANARDHANAN

AAP MLA and former Delhi min-
ister Somnath Bharti was on
Monday arrested in Rae Bareli,
produced before a local court in
Amethi’s Sultanpur and sent to
judicial custody for 14 days.
Minutes before his arrest, a
member of a Hindutva outfit
workerthrewinkonBharti’sface
outside a Rae Bareli guest house
where he had been staying for
the last two days. The MLA was
inRaeBarelitomeetpartywork-
ers and locals.
Police said two cases were
filed against Bharti for allegedly
promoting enmity after his al-
leged derogatory remarks
Somnath Bharti in Rae
Bareli on Monday. PTI
against UP CM Yogi Adityanath
and the state's hospitals and
schools.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal
saidBhartihadgonetocheckthe
conditionof governmentschools
and alleged that Adityanath was
“scared”toletothersseeschools.
CHENNAI, JANUARY 11
A DAY after a protest in Chennai
to demand his political entry,
Rajinikanth on Monday clarified
that he has no plans to revisit his
decision to abstain from the po-
litical arena and asked his fans
not to pressure him further.
“Do not put pressure on me
to change my decision to not en-
ter politics by holding rallies.My
statement was clear about why I
am not entering electoral poli-
tics,” he said.
Amidreportsthattheprotest
was orchestrated by a section of
people on behalf of the BJP,
Rajinikanth’s statement ex-
bers of his fans club had joined
handswithpeoplewhowereac-
tually expelled from Rajini
Makkal Mandram (RMM) -- a
Rajinikanth fans association. “It
was against the decision of
RMM,” Rajinikanth said.
Rajinikanth’s decision to opt
out of politics last month was
seenasasetbacktoBJPasthena-
tional party hoped to build on
another power centre in Tamil
Nadu parallel to the established
Dravidian parties.
Sources close to Rajinikanth
said the actor thinks the protest
was the handiwork of elements
who wanted to benefit from his
political entry.
“There were a couple of rea-
The actor’s remarks come
after a protest in Chennai
against his decision to
abstain from political arena
sons that made him take the fi-
naldecisiontooptoutof politics.
The main reason was BJP pres-
sure and their consistent inter-
ference in his party affairs.
Howhis decision way.Allalong,hewasbeingsub-
missive. He didn’t want to invite
●
affects BJP unnecessary trouble too by tak-
ing an aggressive stand against
them,” a source close to
RAJINIKANTH’S DECISION to abstain from electoral politics Rajinikanth said.
did not only derail the BJP’s immediate plans but also de- S Shankar, a journalist-
creased the party’s bargaining power and leverage against turned-Rajinikanth fan club
senior alliance partner AIADMK. From its earlier strategy to leader who also runs a website
endorse Rajinikanth’s outfit, and ostensible bickering over for the actor, said many who at-
the CM candidate, the party is now clear in its recognition of tended Sunday’s protest were
the AIADMK being the bigger partner. On Monday, C T Ravi, genuine fans. “People who gen-
senior BJP leader in charge of Tamil Nadu, said that AIADMK uinely wished for his political
being the single largest party in their alliance would be the entry were there but those who
one to naturally pick the CM candidate too. organised the event were differ-
ent. They were like ghosts. He
(Rajinikanth)knewthisfact,that
Pressure from both his daugh- much interest and often is why he issued a statement to-
ters for health risks also played a sounded as if they will make use day to avoid such protests,”
role... If BJP hadn’t shown this of him, he would have still Shankar said.
Ahmedabad

12 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
BRIEFLY
Pramod Sawant
GOA
Asmorejoinstir
againstIIT,CM
readyfortalks
Panaji:Theprotestagainst
the proposed IIT campus
nearavillageinNorthGoa
entered the seventh day
on Monday as people
from nearby areas joined
thestir.Shel-Melaulimvil-
lage in Sattari taluka has
beenthesiteoftheprotest
againsttheproposedIITin
theareawithresidentsin-
sisting they will not part
with their land for the
project. Chief Minister
Pramod Sawant said his
government is firm in its
resolve to go ahead with
theIITproject,butoffered
to initiate talks with pro-
testers. "If agitators want,
they can come to Panaji
and discuss their issues
with me. I am ready for
discussion," he said. PTI
ODISHA
Bridgecollapses,
probehintsat
substandard
material
Bhubaneswar: A day after
an under-construction
bridge collapsed in
Nabarangpurdistrict,leav-
ingonelabourerdeadand
four others severely in-
jured,preliminaryinvesti-
gations have hinted to-
wards the use of
substandardmaterialforit
construction. "After pre-
liminaryinvestigations,we
are suspecting that there
wassomefaultincement-
ingsupport.Wearealsoin-
quiringintothedesignas-
pectsofthebridgeandthe
exact reason behind the
mishap will be known,"
InspectingofficialPradeep
Jena said. Nabrangpur
Collectorhaslodgedacase
againstthecontractor,sub
divisional officer and jun-
ior engineer for causing
death due to negligence.
Noarrestsinthecasehave
been made yet. ENS
MAHARASHTRA
6accidentson
Pune-Bengaluru
highway,3dead
Pune: The Katraj Dehu
Road bypass of the Pune-
Bengaluru highway saw a
series of accidents in a
span of seven hours
Monday in which three
personswerekilledandat
least16sustainedinjuries.
Of the six mishaps, five
tookplaceonanaccident-
pronepatchof thebypass.
Officials said that all these
accidents caused serious
traffic snarls. Senior in-
spector Devidas Gheware
of Sinhagad Road police
stationsaid,“Theaccidents
have taken place at and
near the black spots that
have been identified on
this accident prone patch
of the Katraj Dehu Road
bypass.” ENS
WEST BENGAL
Teagarden
workerkilledin
elephantattack
Alipurduar: A tea garden
worker was Alipurduar
district on Monday in an
attack by a wild elephant,
officials said. The incident
occured at the Hantapara
tea garden in Madarihat,
they said. The deceased
was identified as Kande
Munda. He was taken to
the Madarihat Primary
Health Centre in a critical
condition and he died
there while undergoing
treatment. PTI
Amid Covid, an NREGS first:
10 cr people used scheme
HARIKISHAN SHARMA
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
AS THE economy plunged into
recession amid the coronavirus
pandemic, the number of work-
ers who availed the National
Rural Guarantee Scheme
(NREGS) has crossed the 10-
crore mark for the first time,
marking an unprecedented de-
mand for the rural job scheme.
Latest data available on the
NREGS portal shows that till
January 10 in the current finan-
cialyear,over10croreindividuals
acrossthecountryworkedunder
the scheme, which is 21 per cent
higher than the 7.89 crore figure
for2019-2020.Withtwomonths
still remaining in the current fi-
nancial year, the number is ex-
pected to go up further.
The 10-crore number is the
highestsincetheinceptionof the
scheme in 2006 – the previous
high was in 2011-12, when 8.2
crore individuals availed the
scheme.
West Bengal has seen the
highest numbers this financial
year, with 1.07 crore individuals
availing the scheme until
January 10. The state is followed
by Uttar Pradesh (1.06 crore),
Rajasthan (99.25 lakh), Madhya
Pradesh (91.62 lakh), Andhra
Pradesh (77.57 lakh) and Tamil
Nadu (75.37 lakh).
Under MGNREGS, every ru-
ral household, whose adult
members volunteer to do un-
skilled manual work, is entitled
to at least 100 days of wage em-
ployment in a financial year.
Lost in Bhandara hospital fire: A 3-day
infant, a couple’s hope of parenthood
VIVEK DESHPANDE
NAGPUR, JANUARY 11
FORHIRALALBhanarkar,42,and
his wife Hirkanya, 39 -- both
landlesslabourersfromUchgaon
village in Maharashtra’s
Bhandarandistrict--thefireinci-
dent at Bhandara District
Hospital on Saturday not only
snuffed the life out of their first
live baby, born after four still-
births,butalsoputanendtotheir
quest to become parents.
“After our marriage in 2006,
my wife conceived for the first
time after three years, but she
had a premature delivery after
six months with the baby, a girl,
arriving dead. Two years later, a
prematureboywasborndeadaf-
ter six months of pregnancy. In
2014, another baby, a girl again,
Bhandara hospital was functioning
without fire NOC since inception
TABASSUM
BARNAGARWALA
MUMBAI, JANUARY 11
THEBHANDARADistrictGeneral
Hospital, in which 10 newborns
diedinafire,hadbeenoperating
without the mandatory no ob-
jection certificate (NOC) from
the local fire department since
its inception in 1981.
In 2015, when the hospital
constructed an extension to
open a sick newborn care unit
(SNCU), a medical store and a
nutrition rehabilitation centre,
no fire NOC was obtained from
the Bhandara Nagar Parishad.
Senior district officials also
CPM-linked trade union hits out at
Customs after leader ‘threatened’
SHAJU PHILIP
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
JANUARY 11
THE RULING CPI (M)-affiliated
Kerala Secretariat Employees
Association on Monday hit out at
theCustomsdepartment,daysaf-
terthestateassistantprotocolof-
ficer -- a prominent leader of the
association -- alleged he was
threatened by the agency when
questionedinconnectionwiththe
gold smuggling case last week.
Whilestateassistantprotocol
officer M S Harikrishnan com-
plainedtopolicethatCustomsof-
E
E X P L A I NE D
Asafety
● net
THE UNPRECEDENTED
jump in demand for
unskilled work under
NREGS is a pointer to
the economic distress
in rural areas. In wake
of the pandemic, the
scheme has emerged as
a safety net for crores of
unskilled workers,
particularly migrant
workers.
The number of households
availing the scheme too has
reached an all-time high of 6.87
crore until January 10 this finan-
cial year. In 2019-2020, 5.48
crore households availed the
scheme.
The current financial year has
also seen an unprecedented in-
crease in the number of new job
cardsissuedunderthescheme.So
far,1.49crorehouseholds(or2.68
crore individuals) have got new
job cards -- more than double of
the 68.26 lakh households (1.27
lakhindividuals)inallof2019-20.
The number of person-days
generated so far this financial
year too has reached an all-time
high of 302 crore, up from 265
crore person-days last financial
year.
The expenditure under
NREGA has reached an all-time
high, with Rs 87,520 crore of the
Rs-1-lakh crore allocated to the
HiralalandHirkanyaata primaryhealthcentreinEkodi. Express
also arrived dead after seven
months of pregnancy. And yet
another girl child was born dead
twoyearslater,afterninemonths
of pregnancy,” said Hiralal.
The couple then approached
a private doctor at Lakhni, who
said the building was handed
over by the PWD to the public
health department without an
occupation certificate.
Since 2015, only one fire drill
has taken place under the
Kayakalp scheme in 2016-17.
A six-member committee
comprising health and fire offi-
cials and electrical engineers is
conductingadetailedinquiryinto
the death of 10 newborns in the
hospital’s SNCU early January 9.
WhiletheSNCU’soxygenpipe
and electric wiring system had
melted, its air-conditioning sys-
tem and one radiant warmer
weregutted.Officialssuspectthe
fire either started in one radiant
warmerinthe“out-bornsection”
ficialshadthreatenedhim,hisas-
sociationissuedastatementsay-
ing that “it would see the hands
of theCustomsdonotraiseagain
against secretariat employees”.
Thestateprotocolofficeisau-
thorizedtoissuedutyexemption
certificates to the consulates for
import without Customs exam-
ination. The protocol office also
handles files related to foreign
trips of the Assembly Speaker,
ministersandbureaucrats.There
wasafireatthestateprotocolof-
fice last year after it came under
the scanner of probe agencies.
Associationgeneralsecretary
K N Ashok Kumar said Customs
TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE
315 CASES: ACTIVE CASES: 2,22,526
DAYS SINCE 1,04,66,595 DEATHS: 1,51,160
PANDEMIC
BEGAN TESTS: 18,17,55,831 | RECOVERIES: 1,00,92,909
JAN10
CASES DEATHS
16,311 161
SHARPESTDECLINEINLASTWEEK
ACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK
West Bengal 7,881
Uttar Pradesh 11,134
Rajasthan 6,726
STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES
ONJAN10
Kerala 4,545
Maharashtra 3,558
West Bengal 823
STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS
ONJAN10
Maharashtra 37
Kerala 23
West Bengal 19
DataasonJanuary10,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical
Researchandstategovernments.Oftenthenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays
aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive
scheme being spent.
As part of the economic
package announced in the re-
sponsetoCovid,thegovernment
declared an additional funding
of Rs 40,000 crore for NREGS,
started treating Hirkanya to en-
sure a safe delivery. But this time
too, a baby girl was born prema-
turely after seven months. She
was rushed to the Bhandara
DistrictHospitalandadmittedto
the sick neo-natal care unit
orintheelectricwiring,sinceboth
sustained maximum damage.
The four-storey civil hospital
building has 482 beds. Early last
year, over 300 more beds were
addedforthetreatmentof Covid-
19patients.“Theentirebuilding’s
wiring system is very old. We
have raised this issue several
times,” a health official said.
LastNovember,theBhandara
district health office had written
to the Bhandara Nagar Parishad
to conduct a fire audit. Earlier, a
letter,againrequestingafireaudit,
wassenttotheNagarParishadin
2018.Whencontacted,Bhandara
Collector Sandeep Kadam said,
“Theinquiryison.Wearelooking
into the matter.”
is repeatedly harassing the sec-
retariat staff to depose before
them against the state govern-
ment. The trade union leader
said Customs is a crippled horse
and a “bootlicker” of corporates
and the Sangh Parivar.
CPI(M) has mounted an at-
tackonCustomsaftertheagency
decided to question Speaker P
Sreeramakrishnaninconnection
with the smuggling of forex out
of the country. His assistant pri-
vate secretary K Ayyappan was
earlier questioned despite an at-
tempt by the Assembly secre-
tariat to prevent the agency cit-
ing legal protection.
RECOVERIES TESTS
16,959 6,59,209
2,565
2,182
1,765
TOTAL
8,11,149
19,69,114
5,60,709
TOTAL
51,233
3,350
9,941
over and above the Rs 61,500
crore allocated in the Union
Budget 2020-21. With this hike,
the NREGS budget has crossed
the Rs 1 lakh crore figure for the
first time ever.
(SNCU) on January 6. The
Bhanarkars’ dreams of parent-
hood, however, came to a tragic
endonJanuary9.Afireatthehos-
pitalclaimedthelivesof 10new-
borns, including their daughter.
“Our world has come crash-
ing down. I worked day and
night to collect money required
formywife'streatment...Allthat
is now in vain,” Hiralal said.
Hirkanya has been admitted
at the primary health centre in
Ekodi for treatment of trauma.
The Maharashtra government
hasgiventhecoupleachequefor
Rs 5 lakh as compensation.
But the Bhanarkars have de-
cided not to try for a child again.
“Thedoctor said my wife will
face a risk to her life if we try for
a child again. So, we have de-
cided not to pursue it further,”
said Hiralal.
VHP circulates
video on
Ram temple
movement ahead
of donation drive
MAULSHREE SETH
LUCKNOW, JANUARY 11
AHEAD OF the launch of its
fundraising campaign for the
construction of Ram Temple in
Ayodhya, the VHP has circulated
a video on social media on the
temple movement.
Titled “Sri Ram Janma
Bhoomi Vijay Gaatha” (Victory
Sagaof Ram'sBirthplaceof Ram),
the13-minutevideoclaimstotell
the “struggle for Ram Temple in
Ayodhya” beginning from the
16thcenturytothedemolitionof
Babri Masjid in 1992 and the
launchof theconstructionforthe
temple at the site in 2020 after
the Supreme Court's verdict in
the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri
Masjid title suit.
While the video was shared
by the official Twitter handle of
the VHP with the hashtag
#RamMandirForRamRajya”and
by Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth
Kshetra Trust general secretary
Champat Rai, a senior func-
tionary said the VHP has noth-
ing to do with the short film.
“The documentary has been
made by actor and director
ChandraprakashDwivedi.Buthe
has not given his name in the
documentary’s credit. He has
made it as a service to Bhagwan
Ram,” VHP national spokesper-
son Vinod Bansal told The Indian
Express.
AVIAN FLU CONFIRMED IN AT LEAST 10 STATES
Centre allays transmission
fears, states try to limit spread
ENS & PTI
NEW DELHI, CHANDIGARH,
MUMBAI, JANUARY 11
THE BIRD flu has spread to 10
states with authorities initiating
controlmeasuresandthegovern-
ment assuring that there are no
scientific reports of the virus’
transmission to humans after
hundreds of birds were found
dead in several areas across the
country on Monday.
Delhi, Uttarakhand and
Maharashtra on Monday con-
firmed bird flu cases, days after
Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh,
Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar
Pradesh reported avian deaths
due to the disease.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modiaskedallstategovernments
to ensure a constant vigil near
places such as water bodies, zoos
and poultry farms, expressing
hopethat“wewillbeabletoover-
come this challenge soon”
through proper coordination be-
tween Forest, Health and Animal
Husbandry Departments.
While states announced sev-
eral steps, including mass culling
of poultry, ban on live birds mar-
kets and restriction on chicken
and related food materials, the
Centre asked them not to close
mandis or impede the sales of
poultryproducts.TheCentrealso
directed states to maintain ade-
Parts of Srinagar’s Dal Lake have frozen over. Shuaib Masoodi
North India braces for
cold wave; rain forecast
for TN, Kerala this week
ANJALI MARAR
PUNE, JANUARY 11
NORTH INDIA is bracing for yet
anothercoldweek,withtheIMD
warning of cold to severe cold
wave conditions that are likely
to prevail till January 15. The
southernregionsmeanwhileare
likelytoexperiencewetweather.
A Cold wave is declared
when the minimum tempera-
turesfallby5-6°Cbelownormal,
along the plains.
The minimum temperatures
in most north and northwestern
regions — Punjab, Chandigarh,
Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and
west Uttar Pradesh — would see
a fall in night temperatures in a
range of 2-4°C in the next four
days. Dense fog is likely to engulf
theseareas,theMetdepartment
said.
“Cold wave to severe cold
wave conditions are expected at
isolated places of Punjab,
Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan
JAVADEKAR RELEASES EVALUATION REPORT
Survey: Tirthan sanctuary, Great
Himalayan National Park best
performers among protected areas
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
MINISTER FOR Environment,
Forest and Climate Change,
Prakash Javadekar on Monday
released Management
Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE)
of 146nationalparksandwildlife
sanctuaries in the country.
India has a network of 903
Protected Areas covering about 5
percentofitstotalgeographicarea
of the country. According to the
survey,TirthanWildlifeSanctuary
and Great Himalayan National
Park in Himachal Pradesh have
performed the best among the
surveyedprotectedareas.
TheTurtleWildlifeSanctuary
in Uttar Pradesh was the worst
A chicken vendor in
Prayagraj. PTI
quate stock of PPE kits and acces-
sories required for culling opera-
tions.
Animal Husbandry and
Dairying Minister Giriraj Singh
said there have been no scientific
reportsontransmissionofbirdflu
tohumansandconsumersshould
not be scared.
Even as the first confirmed
cases of bird flu were reported
from Delhi, officials from the for-
est department in neighbouring
Gurgaon said there has been a
surge in the number of calls re-
ceivedregardingcarcassesofbirds
over the last one week.
InMaharashtra,threecrowsin
Mumbai and 15 pond egrets and
two parrots in Thane were con-
firmedtohavediedduetobirdflu,
officialssaidonMonday.Thestate
has recorded 1,205 avian deaths
sinceFridaywithauthoritiesplan-
ning culling of poultry within 1
km radius of an infected area in
northwest Uttar Pradesh and
Rajasthan till January 15,” the
IMD's forecast issued on
Monday read.
In the south, the Regional
Meteorological Centre (RMC) in
Chennai has warned of wide-
spread rainfall, thunder and
chances of lightning till early
Friday. “This will be mainly un-
dertheinfluenceof thepresence
of acycloniccirculationlayingoff
Sri Lanka coast over the Bay of
Bengal,” the weather update is-
sued by RMC, Chennai, said.
As a result, Tamil Nadu,
Pudduchery, Karaikal, Mahe and
Kerala will experience wet days
till the end of this week.
Till January 11, Tamil Nadu
recorded751percentexcessrain.
Chennai broke a century-old
rainfall record for the month last
week, recording 126mm in 24
hours on January 7. This excep-
tionally wet January over Tamil
Naduwastriggeredbymoistand
strong easterly winds blowing
over from the Bay of Bengal.
performer in the survey.
Speaking at the event,
Javadekar said, “70% of the global
tigerpopulation,70%of Asiaticli-
onsandmorethan60%ofleopard
populationinIndia isa certificate
of India’s thriving biodiversity as
thesebigcatssitatthetopof food
chainandtheirgrowingnumbers
shows the well-being of the
whole ecosystem.”
He also announced that this
year onwards, 10 best national-
parks, five coastal and marine
parks and top five zoos in the
country will be ranked and
awarded every year.
Management Effectiveness
Evaluation of Protected Areas
has emerged as a key tool that is
increasingly being used by gov-
ernmentsandinternationalbod-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Parbhani district on Tuesday.
“Cases found in Mumbai and
Thane region are among crows
and not poultry. There are no
poultryunitswithinMumbaiand
it is not an infected area. All the
casesfoundareinbackyardpoul-
try... It is completely safe to eat
eggsandpoultrymeat,iftheeggs
and poultry meat are cooked for
30minutesatatemperatureof70
degrees Celsius,” said Anoop
Kumar, Principal Secretary at the
Maharashtra Animal Husbandry
department.
The Himachal Pradesh gov-
ernment banned supply of all
poultryproductsfromotherstates
foraweek.“Thebanhasbeenim-
posed to ensure that infection
does not come from other states
through poultry products,” Chief
Minister Jai Ram Thakur said.
Meanwhile, wildlife officials
said 122 more migratory birds of
various species were found dead
in Pong Dam Lake wildlife sanc-
tuary Monday, taking the toll
among such waterbirds to 4,357.
In Uttarakhand, bird flu was
confirmed on Monday in crows
found dead in Dehradun and
Kotdwar in recent days. The state
has put forest and animal hus-
bandry officials on alert.
TheLucknowZoo,meanwhile,
suspendeditsbirdexchangepro-
gramme and closed its aviary for
visitors after samples of a couple
of bird carcasses in Kanpur Zoo
were found positive.
SC seeks reply
from Punjab
govt over UP’s
plea seeking
Ansari’s custody
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 12
THE SUPREME Court on Monday
sought a reply from the Punjab
government and gangster-
turned-politicianMukhtarAnsari
onapleafiledbytheUttarPradesh
government seeking his custody
in connection with the cases
pending against him in the state.
A Bench of Justice Ashok
Bhushan, Justice R Subhash
Reddy and Justice M R Shah gave
the Punjab government and
Ansari two weeks time to re-
spond.Thecourtalsosoughtare-
portofAnsari'smedicalcondition.
AnsariwasbroughttoPunjab
from a jail in Uttar Pradesh on
productionwarrantinearly2019
in connection with an extortion
case filed in Mohali. Since then,
Ansari has been lodged in the
Ropar jail.
In UP, Ansari has 38 cases of
heinous crime lodged against
him. The UP government has
been seeking his custody, citing
criminal cases pending against
him in the state. However, as per
Punjab Prisons department, a
panel of doctors has “advised
Ansari against long travel”.
In the Supreme Court on
Monday, the counsel for the UP
government contended that
while Ansari is facing serious
charges, he has been kept in
Punjab for two years in a minor
case. Ansari is “trying to play
withthefederalstructure”of the
country and misuse the provi-
sions of the CrPC, the counsel
contended.
ies to understand strengths and
weaknesses of the protected
area management systems.
India has systematically des-
ignated its Protected Areas in
four legal categories -- National
Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries,
Conservation Reserves and
Community Reserves under the
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Under this Act, India has 903
formally designated Protected
Areas with a total coverage
1,65,012.6 square km. Among
theseare101NationalParks,553
Wildlife Sanctuaries, 86
Conservation Reserves and 163
Community Reserves. For the
survey, 146 National Parks and
Wildlife Sanctuaries across 29
statesandUnionterritorieswere
evaluated.
Ahmedabad
 E EXPLAINED
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

13
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com

SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER

CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD

INDIA ACTIVE CASES

300,000
222,526
India at UN high table
India is back as a non-permanent member on the United Nations Security Council. A look at its seven
250,183
previous terms, and what its agenda will be amid events concerning China, Pakistan and the US
222,526
250,000 Issues before India
SHUBHAJITROY UNREFORMS: NewDelhihassaiditises-
NEWDELHI,JANUARY11 sential that the Security Council is expanded
in both the permanent and non-permanent
LAST 10 DAYS AT A time when the US is going through a categories.ItsaysIndiaiseminentlysuitedfor
Jan 1 Jan 10 chaotic transition in leadership, China is hop- permanent UNSC membership by any objec-
200,000 ing to become the pre-eminent global power, tivecriteria,suchaspopulation,territorialsize,
and Pakistan is trying to rake up Kashmir and GDP,economicpotential,civilisationallegacy,
Note: The figure Jan 10 in this graph is based on the government update on Jan 11 the human rights situation in India, India has culturaldiversity,politicalsystemandpastand
entered the United Nations Security Council ongoingcontributionstoUNactivities—espe-
(UNSC) as a non-permanent member this cially to UN peacekeeping operations.
INDIA TOTAL CASES WORLD TOTAL CASES month.Itwillstayonthecouncilfortwoyears. TERRORISM: The international effort
10,466,595 90,475,499 against terrorism is a key priority for India in
India at UNSC theUN.Withtheobjectiveofprovidingacom-
Source:MinistryofHealth&Family Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity, IndiahasservedintheUNSecurityCouncil prehensivelegalframeworktocombatterror-
Welfare,updatedat11pmonJan11 updatedat11pmonJan11 seven times previously. ism, India took the initiative to pilot a draft
■ In 1950-51, India, as President of UNSC, Hardeep Singh Puri, then India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, during Comprehensive Convention on International
presidedovertheadoptionofresolutionscall- India's last stint in the UNSC during 2011-12. Twitter/@MEAIndia Terrorism (CCIT) in 1996. A text of the
ingforcessationofhostilitiesduringtheKorean Convention is being negotiated in the 6th

New device can detect War and for assistance to Republic of Korea.
■ In 1967-68, India co-sponsored
Resolution238extendingmandateofUNmis-
posed to international trade and security by
piracyoffthecoastofSomalia,Indiapromoted
This was the time when the Gulf War
erupted and India voted in favour of the US-
Committee of the UN General Assembly.
India worked closely with its partners in
the UNSC to ensure the listing of Pakistan-

coronavirus antibodies sion in Cyprus.

■ In1972-73,Indiapushedstronglyforad-
missionofBangladeshintoUN.Theresolution
international cooperation against the pirates.
At India’s initiative, the Security Council
mandated international cooperation for re-
sponsored resolution in April 1991. “India’s
votewasdictatedbypragmaticconsiderations.
The Americans had made it clear to India, in
based terrorist Masood Azhar under the
UNSC’s1267SanctionsCommittee(May2019)
concerning al-Qaida and ISIS and associated

in seconds: study
wasnotadoptedbecauseofavetobyaperma- leaseofhostagestakenbypiratesaswellasfor Washington as well as in New Delhi, that fail- individuals and entities, which was pending
nent member. prosecutionofthosetakinghostagesandthose ure to support the resolution would make it since 2009.
■ In 1977-78, India was a strong voice for aiding and abetting these acts. very difficult for them to help India in the
AfricaintheUNSCandspokeagainstapartheid. India also worked for enhancing interna- World Bank and the IMF,” Gharekhan wrote. The China challenge
AN ADVANCED biosensing platform Then External Affairs Minister Atal Bihari tional cooperation in counter-terrorism, pre- India was going through a severe balance-of- India is entering the UNSC at a time when
can detect, within seconds, antibodies Vajpayee spoke in UNSC for Namibia’s inde- ventionoftheproliferationofweaponsofmass payment crisis, and needed funds from these Beijing is asserting itself at the global stage
specifictoSARS-CoV-2,thecoronavirus pendence in 1978. destruction to non-state actors, and the organisations.Also,IndianeededtheUSonits much more vigorously than ever. It heads at
that causesCovid-19,researchers have ■ In 1984-85, India was a leading voice in strengtheningofUNpeacekeepingandpeace- side, if and when the Kashmir issue came up. least six UN organisations — and has chal-
reported in the journal Advanced UNSC for resolution of conflicts in the Middle building efforts. Twenty years later, when India again be- lenged the global rules.
Materials. In addition to testing, the East, especially Palestine and Lebanon. cameanon-permanentmemberattheUNSC, China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-
platform will help to quantify patient ■In 1991-92, PM P V Narasimha Rao par- Politics within UNSC it was stronger economically but still had to Pacific as well as the India-China border has
immunological response to the new ticipated in the first ever summit-level meet- The seven previous terms have given negotiate politics within the Council. been visible in all of 2020, and New Delhi will
vaccines with precision, according to ingof theUNSCandspokeonitsroleinmain- Indiandiplomatstheexperienceofhowdiplo- India’s then Permanent Representative, have to think on its feet to counter Beijing.
Carnegie Mellon University, whose re- tenance of peace and security. macy is conducted at the multilateral setting. Hardeep Singh Puri (now Union Minister of AtPakistan’sbehest,Chinahastriedtoraise
searchersauthoredthestudyincollab- Schematic representation of the ■In2011-2012,Indiawasastrongvicefor ChinmayaRGharekhan,India’sPermanent Civil Aviation and Housing) wrote in Perilous theissueofKashmirattheUNSC—buthasnot
orationwithcolleaguesfromUniversity device. Carnegie Mellon University developingworld,peacekeeping,counter-ter- RepresentativeattheUNduringthe1991-1992 Interventions: The Security Council and the foundmuchsupport.Thereissomediscussion
of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and University of rorismandAfrica.FirststatementonSyriawas UNSC stint, wrote in his book The Horseshoe PoliticsofChaos:“Mostprofessionaldiplomats amongthestrategiccommunityinNewDelhi
Pittsburgh Medical Centre (UPMC). during India’s Presidency at the UNSC. Tablethatthefivepermanentmemberswould shed their innocence before they arrive at the onraisingtheissuesofTaiwan,HongKongand
The breakthrough test would re- providesincreasedsurfaceareaandan Duringthe2011-12term,Indiachairedthe like the non-permanent members to be “co- horse-shoe table around which the Security Tibet at the UNSC. New Delhi will weigh the
quire a very small drop of blood from enhanced electrochemical reaction, UNSC 1373 Committee concerning Counter- operative”, and no stand in the way of major Councilmeets.Intherealworldofforeignand pros and cons with partners on what steps to
a fingertip (less than five microlitres) where antibodies can latch on to anti- Terrorism,the1566WorkingGroupconcern- resolutions. securitypolicy,decisionmakersareinvariably take in this direction.
to identify two antibodies, which are gens coated on the electrode. The spe- ing threat to international peace and security Mostnon-permanentmembersgetinflu- confronted by cruel choices that are equally But,thepolarisingpoliticsinsideIndiagives
specific to the virus’s spike S1 protein cificgeometryallowsthedevicetoload byterroristacts,andSecurityCouncil751/1907 encedbytheP-5members,Gharekhanwrote. problematic and come in various shades of a window of opportunity to its rivals, and
and receptor binding domain (RBD). more proteins for detection. Committee concerning Somalia and Eritrea. “They did not wish to irritate the permanent lousy.Practitioners areacutelyconsciousthat opens up the possibility of criticism — espe-
Through an electrochemical reaction This results in very accurate, quick India played an active role in discussions members, and were keen to be perceived by itisonlydiplomacy’soutwardpackagingthat cially on human rights issues.
within a handheld microfluidic de- results, Carnegie Mellon said, adding onallissuesrelatedtointernationalpeaceand them as ‘cooperative’. This was precisely how iscouchedinacommitmenttoahighermoral AsNewDelhiengageswithalliesandplays
vice, the nanomaterial-based plat- that the test has a very low error rate security, including several new challenges thepermanentmemberswouldlikethenon- purpose. The shameless pursuit of narrowly itscardsattheUNSC, itwill bemindfulof vet-
form can detect antibody concentra- becausethebindingreactionbetween whichtheUNSCwascalledupontodealwith permanent members to behave. The Indians definedinterestsismostoftenthemotivation eran diplomat Gharekhan’s advice about the
tions at an extremely low level — one the antibody and antigen used in the inAfghanistan,Coted’Ivoire,Iraq,Libya,South took their work more seriously, and conse- and seldom raises eyebrows in the world of SecurityCouncilinhisbook:“Nothingremains
picomolar (0.15 device is highly selective. Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In view of the threat quently had to fight a lonely battle.” multilateral diplomacy.” secret in this leakiest of all organisations.”
nanograms per millil- Theresearcherswereable

Breathing rate and the risk of virus infection

itre), Carnegie Mellon
saidinastatementonthe
research. It said the re-
sults are sent almost im-
mediately to a simple in-
terfaceona smartphone.
The device can be
cleaned(i.e.regenerated)
to exploit this natural de-
sign to their advantage.
"Because our tech-
nique can quantify the
immuneresponsetovac-
PAPER cination, it is very rele- “Since different individuals are likely to deposition and consequently infection.
CLIP vant in the current envi-
ronment," Panat was
KABIRFIRAQUE
NEWDELHI,JANUARY11
■ BreathingCycle

within one minute using
a special chemistry dis-
25
❍ Breathholdtime havedifferinglungmorphometry(dimensions
associated with bronchioles), their inherent
■ The research found a correlation be-
tween deposition and the aspect ratio of the
quoted as saying. Panat protectionislikelytobedifferent,”hetoldThe capillaries,suggestingthatdropletsarelikelyto
NEW RESEARCH collaborated with Shou- BREATHING SLOW can bring various health 20 Indian Express. Prof Panchagnula and col- deposit in longer bronchioles.
AlveolarDF (%)

covered by the re- Jiang Gao of UPMC and benefits—butnotasfarasairbornetransmis- leagueshavedonepreviousworkhighlighting ■Measurementsshowedthathentheflow
searchers that allows multiple, suc- Pitt, and lead author Azahar Ali, a re- sion of disease is concerned. In a new study 15 the variability in aerosol uptake from individ- of aerosol movement is steady, the particles
cessive readings from the same searcher in Panat's lab. published in Physics of Fluids, a journal of the 10 ualtoindividual—apossiblereasonwhysome deposit via diffusion; when the flow is turbu-
device, the researchers said. Because the platform is generic, it American Institute of Physics, IIT Madras re- people are more susceptible to airborne dis- lent, the particles deposit via impaction.
"We utilised the latest advances in can be used for the rapid detection of searchers have found that a lower breathing
5 eases than others. Diffusion and impaction are two of the
materials and manufacturing such as biomarkersforotherinfectiousagents frequency — and holding one’s breath — in- 0 three mechanisms by which aerosols are de-
nanoparticle 3D printing to create a such as Ebola, HIV, and Zika, Carnegie creasestheriskof virus-ladendropletsreach- 0 5 10 15 20
Modelling the flow positedinvariousregionsofthelung,thethird
device that rapidly detects Covid-19 Mellon said. ing the deep lung. Asaproxyfortheairwaysinthelungcalled beingsedimentation(undertheeffectofgrav-
Time(s)
antibodies," Carnegie Mellon quoted The device, which has a provi- bronchioles,theresearchersusedmicrocapil- ity).Impactionhappenswhenthedropletsare
mechanical engineering professor sional patent, is inexpensive to make The complex lung lariesofdiameterrangingfrom0.3to2mm.A moving so fast that they do not faithfully fol-
Rahul Panat as saying. Panat uses spe- (in the tens of dollars). And, the man- Our bodies fight off much of the aerosols How deposition of aerosol varies over syringe pump simulated breathing in these low the air, and instead “impact” the walls of
cialised additive manufacturing tech- ufacturing capabilities already exist. weinhalebeforetheycandepositthemselves time for different breathing microcapillaries.Generatedfromwatermixed the bronchi. “Diffusion is an effect where the
niques for research ranging from “My research team was working intheinnerlung,thankstothecomplexgeom- frequencies and breath hold times. The with fluorescent particles, the aerosols could tinydropletsaretransportedtowardsthewalls
brain-computerinterfacestobiomon- on3Dprinted high-performancesen- etryof theextrathoracicregionandthelungs. y-axis plots the fraction of inhaled betrackedastheymovedanddepositedinthe of bronchioles by ‘random walk’. This is aided
itoring devices. sors to detect dopamine, a chemical Partoftheaerosolsareflushedoutintheform aerosols that is deposited in the lung. capillaries. After measuring the deposition of by the fluctuations in the air causing droplets
Thetestingplatformisbasedonan in brain, when we realised that we ofmucus,whilethosethatcrossthenasalpas- Mallik, Mukherjee & Panchagnula, Physics of Fluids aerosols, the researchers characterised the to move towards bronchiole walls,” Professor
additive manufacturing technology, could adapt our work for Covid-19 sage would still have to navigate the complex quantityofaerosolthatwouldbedepositedin Panchagnula said.
called aerosol jet 3D printing. Tiny, in- testing. We shiftedour research to ap- branching structure that define the lung. a bronchiole as a function of its dimensions. Turbulence — which the study associated
expensive gold electrodes are printed ply our expertise to combatting this The study looked at the dynamics of mi- nature ensures that gases are able to diffuse withdepositionbyimpaction—istheprimary
atnanoscaleusingaerosoldropletsthat devastating pandemic,” Panat was crometre-sizeddropletsthroughsuchmicro- much faster than particles. This is part of the The findings mode of deposition in the upper bronchi
are thermally sintered together. This quoted as saying. channels, mimicking the lung environment. body’s own protection against aerosol parti- ■ The experiments showed that low where the air velocity is high. But once the air
causes a rough, irregular surface that Source: Carnegie Mellon University “Transport of material — particles or gases — cles reaching the blood,” said Mahesh breathingfrequency—thenumberofbreaths reachesthedeeplung,itissloweddownsignif-
inthedeeplung(asweapproachtheacinusor Panchagnula, professor of applied mechanics perminute—increasesthetimethevirusstays icantly,resultingingastransportaidedbydif-
bloodbarrier)ispurelydiffusive.Thisdiffusive at IIT Madras. inside, and therefore increases the chances of fusion primarily, Professor Panchagnula said.

How the pandemic is sending luxury liners to Alang, for dismantling

AVINASHNAIR
AHMEDABAD,JANUARY11
THEALANGShipbreakingYardinBhavnagar
districtofGujaratisoftenseenamirrorofthe
global economy. When the economy is ro-
bust and ships sail, the yard sees a slump in
business.Inthelast50days,threeluxurylin-
ers have queued up to be broken.
Whyistheresuchaqueue?
The cruise liner sector, which usually at-
tracts foreign tourists, has come to a stand-
still.“TheCovid-19outbreakoncruisevessel
DiamondPrincessdockedinJapaninFebruary
2020 caused a global scare with regard to
cruise tourism,” said Haresh Parmar, hon-
orary joint secretary of Ship Recycling
Industries Association of India, and a ship-
breaker at Alang. More than 3,600 passen-
gers and crew were quarantined on the
DiamondPrincessatYokohamaport.Theout-
break eventually led to 700 Covid infections
and seven deaths.
Parmarsaidmanycruiseownershaveei-
therbeenforcedoutofbusinessorarefacing
bankruptcyamidinterestonloans,andcosts
of insurance, crew maintenance, anchorage
andfuelcosts.“Withcruiseoperationsnotex-
pected to restart in the next 6-8 months,
many (vessels) have been put up for sale or
tobescrapped,”Parmarsaid.“Everyyearjust
onecruiseshiponanaveragecomestoAlang.
Inthelastoneyear,nocruisevesselscame.It
isafteraverylongtimesomanycruisevessels
are headed to Alang.”
WhichluxurylinershavereachedAlang
recently?
The first was MV Karnika which reached
Alang in end-November 2020. The 14-deck
vessel had failed to restart operations after
the lockdown.
On January 2, the 40-year-old Ocean
Dream beached at Alang after it lay idle for
close to a year near Hiroshima.
On January 9 came the Marco Polo — for-
merly Alexander Pushkin, commissioned in
1965 and then the largest and fastest liner in
the Soviet merchant fleet. It went through a
bankruptcyauctionandwassoldasscrapaf-
ter subsequent charter deals fell through.
A fourth vessel, Grand Celebrations, will
follow.This1987-builtshipsailingunderthe
St Kitts and Nevis flag is expected to reach
Alang later this January.
HowhasAlangmirroredtheglobal
economynow,andpreviously?
Shipbreakers say Alang has always mir-
rored the global economy. “In 2010-11 the
freightmarketgloballywentthroughacrisis
Ocean Dream,
one of three
luxury liners
queued up for
breaking at
Alang in the
last 50 days.
Express
and the impact was felt in Alang when a
record 415 ships came to the yard to be dis-
mantledand sold asscrapin2011-12.When
imports and exports decline, the ships lie
idle,”saidCaptainSudhirChadha,retiredfrom
the Gujarat Maritime Board and now a port
officer at Alang. “... At present no country is
encouraging tourists to take cruises and the
global slump in the cruise industry is push-
ing debt-ridden and ageing cruises to ship-
breaking yards like Alang.”
In 2018, during a slump in the global oil
market,everythirdvesselreachingAlangwas
either an oil rig or an oil tanker.
Howarecruiseshipspricedin
comparisonwithothervessels?
Container vessels and tankers constitute
99% of the traffic at Alang. Cruise ships cur-
rently reaching Alang are priced lower than
containervesselsby$25-50perLDT(lightdis-
placementtonnageorweightof theshipex-
cludingcargo,fuel,storesetc)“Whenaship-
breaker purchases a ship for recycling, he
mostly looks at the amount of steel they can
salvaged.Incruiseliners,theamountof steel
islessandsotheyaresoldcheapercompared
to an oil tanker, bulk carriers or a container
ship,” Captain Chadha said.
The INS Viraat and MV Karnika were
boughtbyShreeRamGroupatdifferentauc-
tions, the Karnika at twice the price paid for
Viraat. “Karnika is the largest cruise ship to
have come to Alang recently. We had got it
fromacourtauctionfor$12.65million(about
90crore).Thiswasafullyloadedship,having
spares,stores,engines,etc.Incomparison,INS
Viraat weighs less than half of Karnika at
14,000milliontonnes.Secondly,Viraatwasa
dead vessel and had to be towed to Alang. It
didnothaveitsownpower.Therewasnoen-
gine or propeller… Just the propeller, which
weighsaround50tonnes,canfetchuscrores
as it is sold at Rs 300-400 a kilogram,” said
MukeshPatel,chairmanofShreeRamGroup.
Whathappenstothematerial?
Almost 30% of the steel salvaged from
ships dismantled in Alang reaches re-rolling
mills in Bhavnagar. The rest goes to mills in
Mehsana(Gujarat),Punjab,MadhyaPradesh
and Maharashtra. Every year, 2.5-3 million
tonnesof steelissalvagedfromshipsbroken
up in Alang.
There is also a huge market flourishing
outside Alang yard where nearly 900 shops
sell reusable parts from furniture, crockery
and carpets to consumer goods such as TV
sets, refrigerators, boats and machinery.
“With a number of cruise vessels coming to
Alang, there is renewed interest in the sec-
ond-handmarketthatflourishesjustoutside
the yard,” said Parmar.

Ahmedabad

14 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
Bidzina Ivanishvili
GEORGIA
Richestcitizen,
rulingpartychief,
quitspolitics
BIDZINAIVANISHVILI,the
head of Georgia’s ruling
party and its richest citi-
zen, said on Monday he
was quitting politics, two
monthsafteraparliamen-
tary election his oppo-
nents allege was rigged.
Ivanishvili, 64, and his al-
lies in the ruling Georgian
Dream party, which won
the Oct. 31 election, deny
rigging it. International
observers said the vote,
which triggered street
protests, was broadly free
and fair. Ivanishvili, who
lives in a glass and steel
mansion that looms over
the Georgian capital
Tbilisi, announced his po-
litical exit in a letter pub-
lishedonhisparty’ssocial
mediafeeds,citinghisage
and the party’s success in
establishing itself as a
dominantforce. REUTERS
ITALY
Studentsstage
sit-intodemand
schoolsbeopened
DOZENSOFstudentsstaged
a sit-in protest outside their
school in central Rome on
Monday,urgingthegovern-
ment to re-open the educa-
tion sector across the coun-
try after most of its 20
regionsextendedclosuresto
contain rising Covid-19 in-
fections. Italian schools re-
opened in mid-September
after a six-month stop, the
longest in Europe, but face-
to-face lessons in high
schools across the country
were gradually suspended
again a month later due to a
new surge in cases. “School
iscrucial.Weareaskingfora
safereturntoface-to-faceac-
tivities,” student Emanuele
Santorisaid. REUTERS
VENEZUELA
23deadinclash
betweengangs
andpolice
AT LEAST 23 people died
over the weekend in a clash
betweenpoliceandgangsin
Venezuela’s capital Caracas,
according to news reports
and human rights activists,
as the government faces in-
ternational scrutiny for
killings by security forces.
The bloodshed began on
Fridayafternoonwithanop-
eration by two police units,
the Special Action Forces,
known as FAES, and the
Special Tactical Operations
Units,knownasUOTE,inthe
gang-ridden neighborhood
of La Vega. It continued into
Saturday, activist Marino
Alvaradotweeted. REUTERS
LAWS CHANGED TO FORMALISE PRACTICES THAT ARE ALREADY COMMON IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD
Pope says women can read at Mass, but still can’t be priests
NICOLE WINFIELD
ROME, JANUARY 11
POPE FRANCIS changed church
law Monday to explicitly allow
women to do more things dur-
ing Mass, granting them access
to the most sacred place on the
altar, while continuing to affirm
that they cannot be priests.
Francis amended the law to
formalise and institutionalise
what is common practice in
many parts of the world: that
womencanbeinstalledaslectors,
to read the Gospel, and serve on
thealtaraseucharisticministers.
Previously, such roles were offi-
cially reserved to men even
ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT INTRODUCED
House Democrats charge Trump with
‘inciting violence against the govt of US’
GOPblocksbidtodemandthatPenceacttoremovePresident
NICHOLAS FANDOS
JANUARY 11
HOUSE DEMOCRATS on
Monday introduced an article of
impeachment against US
President Donald Trump for in-
citing a mob that attacked the
Capitol last week, vowing to
press the charge as Republicans
blocked a separate move to for-
mallycallonVicePresidentMike
Pence to strip him of power un-
der the 25th Amendment.
The dual actions came as
SpeakerNancyPelosiandhercau-
cus sought toratchet up pressure
on Pence to intervene and push
Trump to resign. If they did not,
the Democrats promised imme-
diate consequences for Trump’s
role in an attack that put the lives
ofthevicepresident,membersof
Congress and thousands of staff
working on Capitol Hill at risk as
officials met to formalise
President-electJoeBiden’svictory.
“The President’s threat to
America is urgent, and so toowill
beouraction,”PelosisaidMonday.
As expected, Republicans ob-
jected to a resolution calling on
Pence to invoke the 25th
Amendment, meaning that the
House would have to call a full
vote on the measure, most likely
on Tuesday. Democratic leaders
wereconfidentitwouldpass,and
pressuredRepublicanlawmakers
to vote with them to beseech the
vice president, who is said to be
opposedtousingthepowersout-
linedintheConstitution,todoso.
It was a remarkable threat. If
Netanyahu orders
advancement of
plans to build West
Bank settler homes
JEFFREY HELLER
JERUSALEM, JANUARY 11
ISRAELI PRIME Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu ordered
construction plans advanced on
Mondayforsome800Jewishset-
tler homes in the occupied West
Bank, anchoring the projects in
the final days of the pro-settle-
ment Trump administration.
Palestinians condemned
such construction as illegal. The
timing of the move appeared to
beanattempttosetIsrael’sblue-
print in indelible ink before Joe
Biden, who has been critical of
its settlement policies, becomes
US president on Jan. 20.
Moving ahead with the proj-
ects could help shore up sup-
port for Netanyahu from set-
tlers and their backers in a
March 23 election, Israel’s
fourth in two years, in which
the conservative leader faces
new challenges from the right.
An announcement by
Netanyahu’s office said about
800 homes would be built in the
settlements of Beit El and Givat
Zeev, north of Jerusalem, and in
Tal Menashe, Rehelim, Shavei
though exceptions were made.
Francis said he was making
the change to increase recogni-
tion of the “precious contribu-
tion” women make in the
church, while emphasizing that
all baptised Catholics have a role
to play in the church’s mission.
But he also noted that doing
so further makes a distinction
between “ordained” ministries
such as the priesthood and dia-
conate, and ministries open to
qualified laity. The Vatican re-
serves the priesthood for men.
The change comes as Francis
remainsunderpressure toallow
women to be deacons — minis-
ters who perform many of the
same functions as priests, such
Security fencing surrounds the US Capitol on Monday. Reuters
Merkel: Trump Twitter ban problematic
Berlin: German Chancellor
Angela Merkel considers US
President Donald Trump’s
eviction from Twitter by the
company “problematic”, her
spokesman said Monday.
Asked about Twitter’s deci-
sion, Merkel’s spokesman,
Steffen Seibert, said the opera-
tors of social media platforms
“beargreatresponsibilityforpo-
liticalcommunicationnotbeing
poisoned by hatred, by lies and
Pencedoesnotintervene“within
24 hours” after passage and the
President does not resign, House
leaders said they would move as
early as Wednesday to consider
the impeachment resolution on
the floor, just a week after the at-
tack. Already more than 210
Democrats have signed onto the
leading charge, just shy of a ma-
jority of the House. Several
Republicans were said to be con-
sideringvotingtoimpeachforthe
first time, though party leaders
Movingaheadwiththe
projectscould helpshoreup
support forNetanyahufrom
settlersintheupcomingpolls
Shomron, Barkan and Karnei
Shomron in the northern West
Bank. It gave no starting date for
construction.
“Itisanattempttoraceagainst
time and benefit from the last
daysofthecurrentUSadministra-
tion,”WaselAbuYoussef,amem-
beroftheExecutiveCommitteeof
the Palestine Liberation
Organisation, told Reuters.
The Donald Trump adminis-
tration has effectively backed
Israel’s right to build West Bank
settlements by abandoning a
long-held US position that they
breakinternationallaw. REUTERS
Pope Francis said he was making the change to increase
recognition of the “precious contribution” women make in
the church. AP
as presiding at weddings, bap-
tismsandfunerals.Currently,the
by incitement to violence.” He
saidit’srightnotto“standback”
whensuchcontentisposted,for
examplebyflaggingit.
But Seibert also said free-
dom of opinion is a funda-
mental right of “elementary
significance”.
Merkel believes that the
intervention by social media
companies into this freedom
makes the move problematic,
he said. AP
were opposed.
The four-page impeachment
article charges Trump with “in-
citing violence against the gov-
ernment of the United States”
when he sowed bogus claims
aboutelectionfraudandencour-
agedhissupportersatarallyout-
side the White House to take ex-
traordinarymeasurestostopthe
counting of electoral votes un-
derway at the Capitol. A short
time later, rioters mobbed the
building, ransacking the seat of
INDONESIAN DIVERS FIND MORE WRECKAGE
Indonesian Navy members pull up a piece of debris during a search for the remains from
Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182, which crashed into the sea off the Jakarta coast. Divers scoured the
sea bed on Monday, retrieving human remains and pieces of plane wreckage. Okky Bisma, a
flight attendant on the plane, was identified by his fingerprints, a police official said. Reuters
Sri Lanka govt to drop case against MP
over murder of senior Tamil politician
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
COLOMBO, JANUARY 11
A MURDER case against a sitting
MP, and close political ally of the
Rajapaksas’ SLPP, in connection
with the 2005 killing of a senior
Tamil parliamentarian, is set to
be dropped, the Sri Lankan
Attorney General’s Department
told a court in the eastern town
of Batticaloa on Monday.
JosephPararajasingham,avet-
ministry is reserved for men
even though historians say the
E
E X P L A I NE D
Senatetrial
dilemma
● forDems
WITHJUSToveraweekleft
beforetheBidenadministra-
tiontakesoffice,many
Democratsareworriedthat
if theHousesendsarticlesof
impeachmenttotheSenate,
thetrialthatensuescould
takeupallof Congress’time
whichwouldotherwisebe
usedtoconfirmBiden’s
Cabinetpicks.Thiscouldde-
laythenewadministration’s
Covidrelief efforts,among
otherthings.TheDemocratic
leadershiparenowreport-
edlyconsideringimpeaching
Trumpwithavoteinthe
House,butwaitingforafew
weeksbeforeholdinga
Senatetrial.AlthoughTrump
wouldhaveleftofficeby
then,if theSenatevotes
againsthim,thatcoulden-
surethathecanneverrun
forofficeagain.
American government and
killing a Capitol Police officer.
Four others also died as a result
of injuries or medical emergen-
cies on Capitol grounds.
Last minute changes were
made late Sunday to include a
reference to the 14th
Amendment, the post-Civil War
era addition to the Constitution
that prohibits anyone who “en-
gaged in insurrection or rebel-
lion” against the US from hold-
ing future office. NYT
eran Tamil politician, was killed
onChristmasEveof2005. Agun-
man had stormed a church and
opened fire at Pararajasingham,
thenaseniormemberoftheTamil
National Alliance (TNA).
Thethenchief ministerof the
easternprovince,Sivanesathurai
Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan,
was accused of the murder. He
was a political ally of the then
president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
With the change of govern-
ment in 2015, when Mahinda
ministry was performed by
women in the early church.
Francis has created a second
commission of experts to study
whether women could be dea-
cons, after a first one failed to
reach a consensus.
Advocates for expanding the
diaconate to include women say
doing so would give women
greater say in the ministry and
governance of the church, while
alsohelpingaddresspriestshort-
agesinseveralpartsof theworld.
Opponents say allowing it
would become a slippery slope
toward ordaining women to the
priesthood.
Phyllis Zagano, who was a
member of the pope’s first study
Biden picks veteran diplomat
William Burns as CIA director
MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON, JANUARY 11
US PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden
announced Monday he has cho-
sen veteran diplomat William
Burns to be his CIA director.
A former ambassador to
RussiaandJordan,Burns,64,had
a 33-year career at the State
Department under Republican
and Democratic presidents. He
rose through the ranks to be-
come deputy secretary of state
before retiring in 2014 to run the
Carnegie Endowment of
International Peace.
Amid tumult in the State
Arnold Schwarzenegger likens
Capitol siege to Nazi violence
REUTERS
JANUARY 11
HOLLYWOODACTORandformer
California governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger has compared
the storming of the US Capitol by
supporters of President Donald
Trump to Nazi violence against
JewsinavideopostedonTwitter.
Schwarzenegger,aRepublican
Party member and long-time
critic of Trump, likened the siege
at the Capitol Building last week
to “Kristallnacht”, or the Night of
Broken Glass, when Jewish-
Rajapaksawasdefeated,Pilleyan
was arrested in October of 2015.
Meanwhile, Pilleyan was
elected to Parliament in the
August 5, 2020 general election
andimmediatelybecamepartof
the current government of
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa,
theyoungerbrotherof Mahinda.
Speaking to reporters
Monday,Pilleyansaid,“Thewhole
casewaspoliticallymotivatedand
Iwasremandedbasedonastate-
ment by two individuals.”
commission, called the changes
important given they represent
the first time the Vatican has ex-
plicitlyandthroughcanonlawal-
lowed women access to the altar.
She said it was a necessary first
step before any official consider-
ationofthediaconateforwomen.
“Thisisthefirstmovementto
allow women inside the sanctu-
ary,” said Zagano. “That’s a very
big deal.”
Noting that bishops have
long called for such a move, she
said it opens the door to further
progress. “You can’t be ordained
as deacons unless you’re in-
stalled as lectors or accolytes,”
said Zagano, a professor of reli-
gion at Hofstra University. AP
Burns has had a 33-year
career at the US State
Department
Department after Donald Trump
took office in 2017, Burns held his
tongueuntillastyearwhenhebe-
gan writing highly critical pieces
on Trump’s policies in Foreign
Affairsandotherpublications. AP
Hemadethe
remarksina
Twittervideo
owned businesses and institu-
tionsweredestroyedbytheNazis
in 1938 and dozens were killed.
“Theydidnotjustbreakdown
the doors of the building that
housed American democracy.
Theytrampledtheveryprinciples
on which our country was
founded,” he said in the video
published on his official Twitter
account on Sunday.
Policeclashwithsupportersof themonarchyinKathmandu. AP
Nepal: Police clash with
pro-monarchy crowd
YUBARAJ GHIMIRE
KATHMANDU, JANUARY 11
CLASHESERUPTEDbetweenpo-
lice and supporters of the
monarchy as thousands were
marching to the federal secre-
tariat in Kathmandu on Monday
to pay homage to the late King
PrithviNarayanShah—architect
of modern Nepal — on his 299th
birth anniversary.
Riot police wielding teargas
shells, and with a water canon
deployed nearby, stopped the
crowd about three hundred
metres away from the Ramshah
Path crossing, where a life size
statue of the king stands. The
police action came after the
crowd insisted on garlanding
the statue. The crowd also
raised pro-monarchy slogans
near the statue.
Harris team says it was
blindsided by Vogue cover
Wilmington: US Vice President-
electKamalaHarrishaslandedon
the cover of the February issue of
Voguemagazine,butherteamsays
there’s a problem: the shot of the
country’s soon-to-be No. 2 leader
isn’t what both sides had agreed
upon,herteamsays.
Instead of the powder blue
power suit Harris wore for her
cover shoot, the first woman
elected vice president is instead
seen in more casual attire and
wearing Converse Chuck Taylor
sneakers, which she sometimes
woreonthecampaigntrail.
In a statement, Vogue said it
wentwiththemoreinformalim-
ageofHarrisforthecoverbecause
the photo captured her “authen-
tic, approachable nature, which
we feel is one of the hallmarks of
theBiden-Harrisadministration.”
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
China: WHO
experts arriving
Thursday for
investigation
into virus origins
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING, JANUARY 11
EXPERTS FROM the World
Health Organisation are due to
arrive in China this week for a
long-anticipated investigation
into the origins of the coron-
avirus pandemic, the govern-
ment said Monday.
The experts will arrive on
ThursdayandmeetwithChinese
counterparts,theNationalHealth
Commission said in a one-sen-
tence statement that gave no
other details. It wasn’t immedi-
ately clear whether the experts
would be travelling to the city of
Wuhan, where the coronavirus
was first detected in late 2019.
Negotiationsforthevisithave
long been underway. WHO
Director-General Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus ex-
pressed disappointment last
week over delays, saying that
membersoftheinternationalsci-
entific team departing from their
home countries had already
started on their trip as part of an
arrangement between the WHO
and the Chinese government.
Foreign Ministry spokesper-
sonZhaoLijiansaidChinahadap-
provedthevisitfollowingconsul-
tations between the sides and
called it an opportunity to “ex-
changeviewswithChinesescien-
tistsandmedicalexpertsonscien-
tific cooperation on the tracing of
theoriginofthenewcoronavirus.”
“Along with continuous
changes in the epidemic situa-
tion, our knowledge of the virus
deepens, and more early cases
are discovered,” Zhao told re-
portersatadailybriefing,adding
that the search for the origin will
likely involve “multiple coun-
tries and localities.”
Actor Manisha Koirala, who
was part of the anniversary cel-
ebration committee, was al-
lowedtomovetothestatuewith
around two dozen others. But
police snatched floral wreaths
and garlands from the crowd.
“It’s a shame, and a con-
demnable act that the govern-
ment has refused to honour the
right to expression and assembly
universallyguaranteedbythehu-
man rights of the people,” Koirala
saidaftershewasrefusedpermis-
sion to speak near the statue. “I
wantedtoexpressmyprideformy
Nepali identify, which like all
Nepalis, I owe to King Prithvi
Narayan Shah who formed mod-
ernNepal,”shesaid.
Theincidenttookplacehours
after Nepal President Bidhya
Devi Bhandari remembered the
latekingasaherothatthenation
should always remember.
Kamala
Harris on
Vogue’s
cover. Credit:
@voguemagazine
Twitter account
Harris posed in the light blue suit
for the magazine’s cover. She also
posed, more casually dressed in
slacks, a blazer and sneakers in
front of a pink and green back-
ground, for photos that were
planned for inside the magazine,
a person from Harris’ team said.
The cover also generated outrage
on social media as posters ex-
pressed disappointment in how
the magazine decided to present
thenation’sfirstfemalevicepres-
identonitscover. AP
Ahmedabad

15 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
PSBs’ BAD LOAN RATIO OF 9.7% LAST SEPT MAY JUMP TO 16.2%
FSRredflag:NPAssettoshootupto
13.5%bySept,moreifseverestress
‘Second Covid wave, new mutations spread uncertainty, threatening to stall fragile recovery’
GEORGEMATHEW
MUMBAI,JANUARY11
WITHTHEeconomytakingahitin
the wake of the Covid pandemic
and“amulti-speedrecoverystrug-
gling to gain traction”, bad loans,
or gross non-performing assets
(NPAs), of the banking sector are
expected to shoot up to 13.5 per
cent of advances by September
2021, from 7.5 per cent in
September2020,underthebase-
linescenario,theFinancialStability
Report (FSR) of the Reserve Bank
of India(RBI)said.
TheFSRhaswarnedthatifthe
macroeconomic environment
worsens into a severe stress sce-
nario,theratiomayescalateto14.8
percent.“Amulti-speedrecovery
isstrugglingtogaintraction,infus-
ing hope, reinforced by positive
news on vaccine development,”
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das
said.“Nonetheless,asecondwave
of infections and new mutations
of the virus have spread height-
ened uncertainty, threatening to
stallthefragilerecovery,”headded
inthereport.
Covid-19 safety takes
Budget papers online
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,JANUARY11
IN THE backdrop of the Covid-19
pandemic, the government has
decided not to print copies of the
Union Budget 2021-22, which is
slated to be presented in
Parliament on February 1. Budget
documents will be provided only
through online means and
MembersofParliamentwillgetan
e-versionof thesedocuments.
A dedicated printing press for
Budget documents is inside the
North Block. To maintain secrecy
aroundBudgetannouncements,a
large number of officials are re-
quired to stay together for weeks
inside the press. This year, to stall
any potential threat of the spread
of Covid, all Budget documents
BRIEFLY
GovtrejectsITR
extensiondemand
New Delhi: The Finance
Ministry Monday rejected
demand for further exten-
sionof the last datefor filing
returns where audit is re-
quired beyond February 15.
Lastmonth,thegovernment
had extended the ITR filing
deadline for individuals till
January 10, and for compa-
niestillFebruary15.
`6,000crore
tostates,UTs
NewDelhi:TheFinanceMin-
istryreleasedthe11thinstal-
ment of Rs 6,000 crore to
states and union territories
(UTs)tomeetthegoodsand
services tax (GST) compen-
sation shortfall.
FY22:‘RealGDP
togrow10.1%’
Mumbai:RatingagencyIcra
Ratings said it expects the
realgrossdomesticproduct
(GDP) to grow by 10.1 per
cent in FY22. It, however,
said the value of GDP in the
next fiscal will only mildly
surpass the level that had
been recorded in FY20.
BHELbags
NALCOorder
NewDelhi:State-runengine-
ering firm BHEL said Mon-
day it has bagged an order
worth Rs 450 crore for a
steamandpowerplantfrom
NationalAluminiumCorpo-
ration Ltd (NALCO), for the
latter’s 5th Stream Alumina
Refinery Expansion Project
at Damanjodi, Odisha. PTI
SENSEX: 49,269.32 ▲ 486.81 NIFTY: 14,484.75 ▲ 137.50 NIKKEI: 28,139.03 ▲ 648.90 HANG SENG: 27,908.22 ▲ 30.00 FTSE: 6,842.01 ▼ 31.25 DAX: 13,970.86 ▼ 78.67
RBI cautions against high debt
Mumbai: The RBI has raised
concernovertheimpactofthe
increasingsovereigndebtand
the growing disconnect be-
tween the financial markets
andtherealsector.
“In spite of rising public
commitments for mitigating
the impact of the pandemic,
fiscal authorities are also wit-
nessingrevenueshortfalls.The
resultant expansion in the
market borrowing pro-
gramme of the government
has imposed additional pres-
suresonbanks,”RBIGovernor
Shaktikanta Das said in the
FSR. “The adverse impact on
government revenue and the
resultantincreaseinsovereign
“Amongbankgroups,NPAra-
tio of PSU banks of 9.7 per cent in
September 2020 may increase to
16.2 per cent by September 2021
under the baseline scenario,” the
FSRsaid.Banksmanagedtobring
downtheirNPAsto7.5percentof
willbeprovidedonline.
“It is true that there will be no
physical copies this time, but a
number of digital platforms and
other modes of dissemination
have been planned in addition to
existing channels. There will also
beamobileapp,”aseniorgovern-
ment official said. The modalities
of online dissemination of these
documents will be announced
closertotheBudget.
Apartfromphysicalprintingof
documents, the process of distri-
bution of the papers involves a
numberof workers.Sofar,asetof
Budgetpaperswith14documents
wouldbeloadedinguardedtrucks
andtakentoParliamentonBudget
day. This year, the speech and all
Budget-related documentscanbe
accessed on www.india-
budget.gov.inafteritspresentation.
Amazon moves HC division Bench
against observations in Future case
AASHISH ARYAN
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11
AMAZON HAS moved the divi-
sion Bench of the Delhi High
Court against a single-judge
December 21 judgment, chal-
lenging an observation that
Future Retail had on two counts
beenabletoprovethattherewas
“prima facie case of tortious in-
terference by Amazon”, two
sourcesintheknowof thedevel-
opment told The Indian Express.
The case is likely to be listed for
hearing this week, one of the
sources said.
InitsDecember21judgment,
a single-judge bench of the High
Court had refused to restrain
Amazon from writing to the
SecuritiesandExchangeBoardof
First time in FY21:
Retail auto sales post
growth in December
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,JANUARY11
WHILE WHOLESALE despatches
have shown growth for the past
few months, retail automobile
salesregisteredgrowthinDecem-
ber — first time so far this fiscal.
According to data released by
the Federation of Automobile
Dealers Associations (FADA) on
Monday, retail sales across cate-
gories grew 11 per cent during
December on a year-on-year (y-
o-y) basis.
Thegrowthwasonthebackof
a good crop season, better offers
inthetwo-wheelersegment,new
borrowing in a period when
fiscal authorities are also re-
quired to provide stimulus to
economic growth, is increas-
ing sovereign debt to levels
thathaveintensifiedconcerns
relating to sustainability with
crowding out fears in respect
of the private sector in terms
of both volume of financing
andcoststhereof,”itsaid.
“The growing disconnect
between certain segments of
financialmarketsandrealsec-
tor activity, pointed out in the
lastFSR,hasgotfurtheraccen-
tuated during the interreg-
num,withabundantliquidity
spurring a reach for returns,”
thereportsaid. ENS
advances as of September 2020
from 8.2 per cent in March 2020
and9.1percentinMarchlastyear.
Banks wrote off a record
Rs2,37,876croreinfiscal2019-20,
enablingthebankstoshowlower
NPAs, the RBI recently said in its
‘Mutual fund AUM up 17%
in 2020, tops `31 lakh cr’
A massive rally in equities since May helped mutual fund
AUM grow 17% to top the `31-lakh-crore-mark in 2020,
1 percentage point lower than 2019, a Crisil report said
Outflows in open-ended equity
funds: December saw cumulative
outflows of `9,058 crore in
open-ended equity funds
The case is likely to be
listed for hearing this
week, a source said
India (Sebi), Competition
Commission of India (CCI) or
otherstatutorybodiesagainstthe
Future Retail Limited- Reliance
Retail and Lifestyle Limited deal.
The single-judge Bench had,
in its judgment, also noted that
Amazon’s assertion that Future
Retail’s August 29, 2020 resolu-
tionwasvoidandthatithadcon-
troloverFutureRetailsinceithad
astakeinFutureCouponswould
“fall foul of the freedom of FRL
(Future Retail) and Reliance
(RelianceRetail)toenterintothe
transaction thereby causing loss
launches both in passenger vehi-
cle as well as two-wheeler seg-
mentsandafearof priceincrease
in January.
While retail sales of PV had
shown growth in previous
months also, December for the
firsttimesawsalesoftwo-wheel-
ers move into the positive terri-
tory,growingby12percenty-o-y.
The sales growth is not sur-
prisingasbeingthecalendaryear
ending month dealers clear their
stocks as consumers prefer new
year manufactured vehicles. To
pushsalesduringthemonthboth
manufacturers and dealers offer
discounts which are greater than
earlier months. FE
‘Report on trend and progress of
bankinginIndia2019-20’.TheRBI
has warned that the modest NPA
ratio of 7.5 per cent at end-
September 2020 “veils the strong
undercurrentofslippage”.Though
the RBI had announced morato-
rium on loan repayments till
August 2020, borrowers are sad-
dledwithunpaiddues.Bankshave
sought relief, including a 30-day
extension in NPA classification,
from the RBI in recognition of
stressedloansamidthemounting
fearsoverrisingNPAs.
“Given the uncertainty in-
duced by Covid and its real eco-
nomicimpact,theassetqualityof
the banking system may deterio-
rate sharply, going forward,” the
RBI had said. In absolute terms,
grossNPAsdeclinedtoRs8,99,803
crore in March 2020 from
Rs9,36,474croreinMarch2019.
The FSR said the NPA ratio of
private banks and foreign banks
mayincreasefrom4.6percentand
2.5percentto7.9percentand5.4
per cent, respectively, over the
same period. “In the severe stress
scenario, the NPA ratios of PSU
banks, private banks and foreign
`27.6 lakh cr:
Mutual fund AUM
recorded at end of 2019
Steady inflows in dividend yield
funds: Dividend yield funds saw
firm inflows to the tune of
`1,490 crore in December
to both FRL and Reliance which
wouldbeacivilwrongactionable
by both FRL and Reliance in case
they suffer any loss.”
On August 29, Future Retail
announced that it would “sell by
wayof aslumpsaletheretailand
wholesalebusiness”of itssuper-
market chain Big Bazaar, pre-
miumfoodsupplyunitFoodhall,
and fashion and clothes super-
mart Brand Factory’s retail and
wholesale units, to Reliance
Retail, a unit of Reliance
Industries.
The deal had, however, run
into legal trouble with Amazon,
which had last year signed a
Rs 2,000-crore deal with Future
Retail under which the e-com-
merce major would acquire 49
percentstakeinFutureCoupons,
the promoter firm.
US CONGRESSIONAL REPORT
‘India, US negotiating on
wide range of trade issues’
LALITKJHA
WASHINGTON,JANUARY11
INDIAANDtheUSarenegotiating
onawiderangeoftradeconcerns,
including greater access to the
Indian market for American agri-
culturalproducts,potentiallyinex-
changeforAmericarestoringNew
Delhi’s status under the
GeneralisedSystemofPreferences
(GSP), according to a Americanlawmakerstomakein-
Congressionalreport.
USPresidentDonaldTrumpin
2019 terminated India’s designa-
tion as a beneficiary developing
nation under the key GSP trade
programme after determining
banksmayriseto17.6percent,8.8
per cent and 6.5 per cent, respec-
tively, by September 2021. These
NPA projections are indicative of
the possible economic impair-
ment latent in banks’ portfolios,
withimplicationsforcapitalplan-
ning,”theRBIsaid.
AccordingtotheRBIGovernor,
India’s banking system faced the
pandemic with relatively sound
capital and liquidity buffers built
assiduouslyintheaftermathofthe
global financial crisis and but-
tressedbyregulatoryandpruden-
tial measures. “Notwithstanding
theseefforts,thepandemicthreat-
ens to result in balance sheet im-
pairments and capital shortfalls,
especiallyasregulatoryreliefsare
rolledback,”Dassaid.
Banks will also be called to
meetfundingrequirementsofthe
economyasittracesarevivalfrom
thepandemic,hesaid.
“Congenial liquidity and fi-
nancing conditions have shored
up the financial parameters of
banks,butitisrecognisedthatthe
availableaccountingnumbersob-
scureatruerecognitionof stress,”
hesaidintheFSR.
18% Growth in mutual
fund AUM recorded
in 2019; from Rs 22.86 lakh
crore in 2018
3% Fall in mutual fund
AUM recorded in
December 2020
Factors thathelpedraise
inflowsintoindustry:
■ Buoyant run-up in the
underlying equity market
■ Firm inflows into open-ended
debt funds and equity
exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
`4.5lakh cr: Amount added to
assets under management
(AUM) in 2020 by the
44-player mutual fund industry
Source:
Crisil/PTI
‘Govt working to
boost output of
components for
oil & gas sector’
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,JANUARY11
PETROLEUM SECRETARY Tarun
Kapoor on Monday announced
that the government was aiming
toboostthedomesticproduction
ofalargenumberof components
used in the oil and gas sector,
which are currently imported.
KapooraddedIndiacouldsave
a lot of foreign exchange and cre-
ate a number of jobs, while low-
ering carbon emissions by focus-
ing on bio-fuels. “We are looking
at a large number of products
which are currently being im-
ported.Wewantthemtobemade
in India,” said Kapoor addressing
theEnergyStartupSummit2021.
GSP BENEFITS
■ US President Donald
Trump in 2019
terminated India’s
designation as a
beneficiary
developing nation
under the key GSP
trade programme.
thatithasnotassuredtheUSthat
it will provide equitable and rea-
sonableaccesstoitsmarkets.
“The United States and India
arenegotiatingonawiderangeof
trade concerns, including greater
GOLD
`48,866
Note: Gold, silver rates at Delhi spot market; gold per 10 g, silver per 1 kg; Brent crude as of 0000 IST
LAUNCHES SINGLE WINDOW CLEARANCE PORTAL FOR STARTING MINES
Shah: Coal sector will
be major contributor
to $5-tn economy goal
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,JANUARY11
LAUNCHING THE single window
clearance portal for starting coal
mines in the country, Home
Minister Amit Shah on Monday
said the coal sector would be a
major contributor towards the
goal of a $5-trillion economy.
“The pandemic may slow
down our speed in realising the
dream of becoming a $5-trillion
economy but we will certainly
achieveit,”hesaid,notingthatre-
forms under the Narendra Modi
government had brought trans-
parency and ease of doing busi-
nesstothecoalsector,whichwas
earlierthoughttobecontributing
less that one-third of its total po-
tential to the country’s economy.
The launch also included the
signing of agreements with 19
successfulbiddersduringthefirst
ever auction of coal blocks for
commercial mining, which had
concluded in November.
Shah said the operationalisa-
tionofthecoalblocksallocatedto
the19bidderswouldbringstates
annualrevenuesofRs6,500crore
andcreatemorethan70,000jobs.
Also at the event was Coal
Minister Pralhad Joshi, who said:
“Presently,about19majorappro-
vals,orclearancesarerequiredbe-
fore starting the coal mine in the
country.Intheabsenceof unified
platform for grant of clearances,
companies were required to ap-
proach different departments,
leadingtodelayinoperationalisa-
tion of the coal mines.” He added
that the portal would be opera-
tionalised in a phased manner.
Clearancesincludingenviron-
ment and forest clearances, wild
life clearance, clearances related
to safety, and rehabilitation of
project-affected families among
othersaresettobegrantedviathe
portalwhichisalreadycapableof
Sensex crosses 49K-mark on
global rally, good Q3 results
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
MUMBAI,JANUARY11
DOMESTIC MARKETS joined a
global stock rally amid expecta-
tionsofamegastimulusbythein-
comingJoeBidenadministration,
goodcorporateresultsandfurther
recoveryintheeconomy.Inching
closer to the 50,000-level, the
benchmark Sensex crossed the
49,000-mark, soaring 487 points
to 49,269.32, while the NSE Nifty
Indexrose138pointsto14,484.75
on buying support by foreign in-
vestors and domestic investors.
Most Asian markets rose fol-
lowing another record perform-
ance on Wall Street as investors
cheered the prospect of a further
massivestimulusfortheUSecon-
omy, with President-elect Biden
callingforaspendingspreeinthe
trillions of dollars. With vaccines
beingrolledoutaroundtheworld
and key risk events including the
US election, Georgia senate
runoffs and Brexit now out of the
way,focusisnowontheexpected
global recovery from last year’s
economic catastrophe.
accesstotheIndianmarketforUS
agricultural products, potentially
in exchange for US restoration of
India’s eligibility under GSP. The
current status of the negotiations
hasnotbeendisclosed,”thelatest
report by independent Congress-
ionalResearchService(CRS)said.
Reports of the CRS are not an
official report of the US Congress.
Itssubjectmatterexpertsprepare
reports on various issues for the
formeddecisions.Indiaisseeking
exemption from high duties im-
posedbytheUSonsomesteeland
aluminiumproductsandresump-
tion of export benefits to certain
productsundertheGSP. PTI
RUPEE
`73.40
Home Minister Amit Shah (right) with Coal Minister
Pralhad Joshi at the launch of the single window
clearance portal for starting coal mines. Anil Sharma
How single window
clearance portal will
benefit coal sector
KARUNJITSINGH
NEWDELHI,JANUARY11
THECENTREonMondayann-
ounced a new online single
window clearance portal for
thecoalsectortospeedupop-
erationalisationofcoalmines.
Whatisthesingle
windowclearance
portal?
The single win-
dowclearanceportal
is aimed at allowing
successful bidders for coal
blocks to be able to obtain all
requiredclearances,including
environmental and forest,
fromasingleportalwithprog-
ress monitoring instead of
having to go to multiple au-
thorities.Theportalwouldal-
providing approval for mining
plans on launch, according to a
government release.
An expert, who requested
Soaring 487 points to 49,269,
the Sensex is now 731 points
short of 50,000. File
SRanganathan,headofresea-
rchatLKPSecurities,said,“Buoyed
bypositiveglobalcues,techstocks
together with auto stocks pow-
eredtheNiftyclosertothe14,500-
mark.” The Sensex is now 731
points short of the 50,000 mark.
“TheSensexisexpectedtocro-
ssthe50,000levelthisweek.Fore-
igninflowsarestillstrong.There’s
goodliquidityinthemarket,”said
BSE dealer Pawan Dharnidharka.
Meanwhile, the rupee depre-
ciatedby16paisetocloseat73.40
against the US dollar on Monday,
tracking a rebound in the
American currency overseas.
‘China to push its tech
cos to share credit data’
REUTERS
HONGKONG,JANUARY11
CHINA PLANS to push tech giants
includingAntGroup,Tencentand
JD.com to share consumer loan
data to prevent excess borrowing
andfraud,twopeoplewithknowl-
edgeofthemattersaid,inBeijing’s
latesttighteningof scrutiny.
The plan, if implemented,
would effectively end the govern-
ment’slaissez-faireapproachtothe
industry and is another sign of at-
temptstoreininthecountry’stech-
nologycompanies.Largeplatforms
havetendedtoresisthandingover
theirdata,acrucialassetthathelps
themrunoperations,managerisk
andlurenewcustomers.
Chinese regulators, including
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
OIL SILVER
$55.75 `64,726
International market data till 1900 IST
low successful bidders to op-
erationalise mines quickly.
Howwillthishelp?
Industry sources said that
the sector has long sought a
single window clearance sys-
tem to help with quicker op-
erationalisation as obtaining
the requisite clear-
ances was taking
over 2-3 years for
successful bidders in
many cases. An ex-
pert noted that the
Pariveshmechanism
forforestandenvironmentre-
lated clearances would likely
bemergedintothesinglewin-
dow clearance mechanism
which would help with the
operationalisation of blocks.
Full report on
www.indianexpress.com
anonymity,saidsomecoalblocks
auctionedasfarbackas2015had
stillnotbeenoperationaliseddue
to delays in obtaining clearances.
Global stocks
slip off highs
REUTERS
NEWYORK,JANUARY11
GLOBAL STOCKS came off record
highs on Monday partly on cau-
tion over rising coronavirus cases
globally while elevated Treasury
yieldssupportedthedollar,which
hit its highest in two and a half
weeksagainstabasketof peers.
Wall Street indices slipped
ahead of the start of an earnings
season that arrives with equities
at new highs, and as House Dem-
ocratsintroducedanarticleofim-
peachment against US President
Donald Trump. The Dow Jones
IndustrialAveragefell0.23percent
to 31,025.8, the S&P 500 0.35 per
cent to 3,811.36 and the Nasdaq
Composite 0.68 per cent to
13,112.46.TheSTOXX600indexin
Europelost0.67percent.
Brentfell52centsto$55.47by
11:11amEST,afterearlierfallingto
asessionlowof $54.99.
thecentralbank,thePeople’sBank
of China, plan to instruct internet
platforms to feed their vast loan
data to some of the nationwide
creditagencies,sourcessaid.
The agencies, which include
the PBOC’s Credit Reference
Center, China’s main, centralized
creditscoringsystem,andthecen-
tral bank-backed Baihang Credit,
the country’s first licensed per-
sonalcreditagency,willsharethe
datamorewidelywithbanksand
other lenders to adequately eval-
uate risks and prevent over-bor-
rowing, the people said. Ant and
Tencent declined to comment.
JD.com and the PBOC did not im-
mediatelyrespondtorequestsfor
comment. The two sources de-
clinedtobeidentifiedastheywere
notauthorisedtospeak.
Ahmedabad

16 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
Ashwin 39* (128), Vihari 23* (161) battle injury to help India defy Australia on Day 5 for a famous draw; Pujara (77) and Pant (97) make major contributions
SANDIP G
JANUARY 11
At the end of arguably the most heroic rear-
guard act in the history of Indian cricket,
Hanuma Vihari, one half of the famous
Sydney jailbreak pair, could barely move. He
was limping and hobbling through much of
his 161-ball tour de force — how much he
scored hardly mattered — after tearing his
hamstring when stealing a single early in his
innings.Heplungedintothetiredembraceof
Ravichandran Ashwin, who had worn lusty
blows on his chest, arm and ribs.
In the end, after their 256-ball exhibition
of unshakeable defiance, they were ex-
hausted, in both body and mind, and had not
the energy to even shake hands, let alone
scamper for souvenir stumps.
Ashwin was lost for words, but gathered
himself and told a television interviewer: “It
wasaknockequaltoscoringahundred.”The
most valued 39 runs of his career. Later the
proud captain, Ajinkya Rahane, said he was
convinced Vihari would treasure this knock
more dearly than his only Test hundred till
date. It didn't seem like this was to be a spe-
cialdayforVihariwhenheclutchedhisthigh
and grimaced in pain after taking a single.
After the physio attended him, he tried to
take a few steps but stuttered.
He leant on his bat, as if it were a walking
stick. His partner Cheteshwar Pujara looked
empathetically at him. From the dressing
roombalcony,Ashwinlookedonurgently,in
caseViharichosetosurrenderandretirehurt.
But he is made of sterner stuff than that.
Beneath his unassuming manners and inex-
pressive gaze is a tough mind that would not
give up. He firmly signalled towards the
dressing room that he was disinclined to re-
tire hurt. Rather die fighting than not fight at
all.
Impaired movements
Thetearimpairedhismovements,hehad
to reach out to defend on the front foot. The
Australian pacers sensed the kill, peppering
him with fuller deliveries outside the off-
stump, interspersed with the short ball.
Nathan Lyon would tease and torment him
with fuller balls outside the off-stump.
Vihari looked troubled. He had endured
sowretchedaseriesthathisfutureintheside
teetered on the edge of the precipice. But
what mattered was that he protected his
wicket. He stabbed at balls, but didn’t edge.
He was in an almost trance-like state.
So was Ashwin, his comrade-in arms. His
batting had seemingly tapered off in recent
In supersonic era, Pujara shows value of old-school batting
SANDIP G
JANUARY 11
WITH A nondescript nudge through mid-
wicket, Cheteshwar Pujara completed his
6,000th run in Test cricket, only the eleventh
Indiancricketerintheelitelist.Amorestand-
out feature was that he achieved this mark
fasterthanahostof battingglitterati,infewer
innings(134)thanSouravGanguly(159),and
Mohammad Azharuddin (143), Michael
Clarke (135) and AB de Villiers (137), in ex-
actly the same duration as Jacques Kallis and
Mahela Jayawardene.
Yet, bafflingly, there has been a reluctance
to acknowledge him as a great of this genera-
tion. Bizarrely, there hangs, in some minds,
questionmarksoverhisinfluenceandplacein
theside.Instead,hisold-schoolapproach and
his pace of scoring is constantly critiqued,
shockinglyeventhoseformer-pundits-turned-
cricketerswhoownhalfaprolificrecordashis
or batted at a slower pace than him.
The cricket world hounded him for his
slowest half-century in the first innings,
though in hindsight, his 176-ball 50 glows in
FALLOUT OF CAPITOL STORMING
Detrimental to ‘American brand’: Trump golf club loses PGA Championship
KEVIN DRAPER & BILL PENNINGTON
JANUARY 11
THE P.G.A. of America, which conducts the
P.G.A. Championship — one of golf’s four
prestigious global major men’s champi-
onships — announced on Sunday night that
it would no longer hold its featured event at
the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster,
N.J. It had been scheduled to be played there
in May 2022.
“It has become clear that conducting the
P.G.A. Championship at Trump Bedminster
would be detrimental to the P.G.A. of
America brand, and would put at risk the
P.G.A.’s ability to deliver our many programs,
andsustainthelongevityof ourmission,”Jim
Richerson, the P.G.A. of America president,
said in a video statement.
The Trump Organization responded
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Sydney Cricket Grind
In the end, after their 256-ball
exhibition of unshakeable
defiance, they were exhausted,
in both body and mind, and had
not the energy to even shake
hands, let alone scamper for
souvenir stumps.
times, though he had seldom looked out of
touch. On Sunday night, his wife Prithi
tweeted, he had gone to bed with a terrible
back pain. He could not stand up straight in
the morning or bend to tie his shoelaces.
Trading languidness for solidity, Ashwin
reeled out his bravest innings to date. When
the full-ball ploy didn’t harvest immediate
rewards, Pat Cummins decided to blow him
with short balls.
Justaftertea,ashortballcrashedontohis
arm-guard, which the umpire deciphered
had brushed his glove. Ashwin immediately
reviewed,uponwhichthedecisionwasover-
turned. That was a decisive moment in the
match, as his exit would have exposed
Ravindra Jadeja, padded up despite a broken
arm, and the flimsy lower order.
He took a solid blow from Cummins on
his chest, and almost fell on the canvas. But
when the pacer dug another one short, he
got nicely behind the line and defended off
the backfoot. A short ball from Josh
Hazlewood brushed Ashwin’s right shoul-
der, another thundered onto his chest, close
to his sternum. But Ashwin didn’t budge.
Hazlewood then stationed four catchers on
the legside and made no effort to conceal his
ploy to target Ashwin.
Bowlers left cursing luck
Thebowlerwasleftcursinghisluckwhen
a leading edge fell in no man’s land. Another
one jumped out of substitute fielder Sean
Abbott’s grasp. Ashwin rode his luck, and
made it count. Between overs, the two bats-
men barely talked or laughed. It was not un-
til it came down to the last two overs that
Vihari broke into half a smile. Ashwin,
though, did all the pep talk, constantly urg-
ing Vihari: “Aadu Maama Aadu, innum path
over tha!” (Keep on batting, there are just 10
more overs). An over later, Starc finally
caught the edge of Vihari’s bat, only for it to
begrassedbyTimPaine. Ashwinkeptshout-
ing:“Paravailee,aaduMaama(Itdoesn’tmat-
ter, keep on playing). And they did, safely ne-
gotiating a late onslaught to script one of
India’s most famous jailbreaks.
It’s time his contributions got a
standalone value. It’s time he
shed the next Dravid label. Both
are different as chalk and
cheese, but for their essence of
batting. Dravid was more stylish,
Pujara more crabby, yet the soul
of their game is batting time and
battling elements with the
defensive resoluteness and
indefatigable mental strength.
immensity in the final stock-checking of the
match. Had he not soaked in all those balls,
India would not have reached even to the
first innings total they eventually managed
(244). The flak he copped seems as unrea-
sonable as it is irrational.
This indeed is a supersonic era, the cars
and trains are faster, the telephone networks
supersonic, brain-synapses rocket-fuelled. A
Sunday, saying: “We have had a beautiful
partnership with the P.G.A. of America and
are incredibly disappointed with their deci-
sion. This is a breach of a binding contract,
and they have no right to terminate the
agreement.”
The P.G.A. of America’s decision came
days after a mob incited by President Trump
convergedontheCapitol,sweptpastlawen-
forcement and rampaged through the halls
of Congress, resulting in the deaths of five
people, including a Capitol Police officer.
Seth Waugh, chief executive of the P.G.A.
of America, directly tied the decision to the
violence at the Capitol.
“Our feeling was, given the tragic events
of Wednesday, that we could no longer hold
it at Bedminster,” he told The Associated
Press in an interview. “The damage could
havebeenirreparable.Theonlyrealcourseof
action was to leave.”
Ravichandran Ashwin grimaces after he was hit by the ball, as the team physio attends to him. Ashwin struggled with a bad
back during his 128-minute unbeaten knock on the final day of the Sydney Test. AP
worldwhereindelaysandsnagsaremetwith but for their essence of batting. Dravid was
intolerance, the virtues of patience and for- morestylish,Pujaramorecrabby,yetthesoul
bearance hurled out of the window and of their game is batting time and battling el-
nipped in childhood. Yet, there is still a place ements with the defensive resoluteness and
for the slow riffs and rhythms of life. indefatigable mental strength.
Marathons are still valued, long rallies in ten- There are climes and bowlers, Dravid has
nisarestillappreciated,year-longsoapoperas conquered like few other, like the swing and
and never-ending Netflix series are still en seamof Englandandthedelicatewrist-work
vogue. Then why slow batting in Test cricket of JamesAnderson.Butthen,Pujarahasafor-
is rebuked? It’s poetic injustice, rather insen- midable record in Australia, his hundreds in
sitivity.RememberAnilKumble’swordswhen Adelaide and Melbourne laying the founda-
he defended Pujara: “I thought strike rates in tionof India’sfirst(andsofaronly)serieswin
Test cricket are only limited to bowlers.” Down Under. In 19 innings. he averages 48.
Anyway, what constitutes slow in Test Dravid,despitethelandmark233inAdelaide,
cricket? Pujara bats with a strike rate of averaged just 41.64 in 32 innings. This is not
45.45. Ajinkya Rahane’s corresponding fig- todevaluethecontributionsof Dravid—who
ures are 49.8. What difference does a five- played his part in the famous Perth win in
ball differential matter in Test cricket? If one 2008withhis93—butjusttoputPujara’scon-
goes back in time, Rahul Dravid’s was 42.5. tributions in perspective, just to appreciate
No doubt that Pujara has not reached that the fruits of his labour even more.
stature, whether he scales such dizzying His contributions to some of India’s fa-
heightsismereconjecturetoo,butPujarahas mous wins are often forgotten. Like the 145
created a space for himself in world cricket. not out on a difficult Colombo track, which
A Pujara-scape. conceptualisedKohli’sfirstserieswinascap-
It’s time his contributions got a stand- tain; or the first innings 50 in Johannesburg,
alone value. It’s time he shed the next Dravid or the second innings 72 in Nottingham, or
label. Both are different as chalk and cheese, obviously his three hundreds in Australia
For years, Mr. Trump had lobbied each of
golf’s primary governing bodies to send one
of golf’s biggest events to one of his golf
courses. In 2014, well before he announced
his candidacy for president, the P.G.A. of
America chose Trump Bedminster for its
2022 championship.
In the statement, Mr. Richerson said the
organization’s board of directors voted “to
exercise the right to terminate the agree-
ment” to hold the tournament at the Trump
property.
A replacement site for the event, which
was first contested in 1916, will be chosen at
a future date. The P.G.A. of America will have
The P.G.A. of America’s decision came many options for relocating the 2022 cham-
days after a mob incited by President pionship, including the New York State-
Trump converged on the Capitol, swept ownedBethpageBlackcourseonLongIsland
past law enforcement and rampaged and other venues that have hosted the tour-
through the halls of Congress. AP nament, like the Valhalla Golf Club in
Louisville, Ky.
INDIA TO TRAVEL TO BRISBANE
The Indian cricket team is set to leave for Brisbane on Tuesday. “I want to thank
the Queensland Government for their cooperation and willingness to working
closely with CA and the BCCI so we can deliver the fourth Test as planned. But
more importantly delivering on a plan that places the safety of the players,
match officials,” CA interim CEO Nick Hockley said in a statement.
that marked the zenith of Kohli’s captaincy
career yet. His average in matches India have
won abroad is 45.29; Kohli’s is 41.88.
On Monday, Pujara filed another re-
minder of his indispensability. His reassur-
ingpresencepoweredRishabhPantthefree-
dom to launch a stirring counterattack. Until
JoshHazlewoodproducedanotherballof the
match contender, Pujara was flawless.
And let it not be lost in the magnificent
effort of Hanuma Vihari and Ravi Ashwin
that Pujara soaked up the most number of
balls (205) in this epochal draw.
Ahat-trickof boundaries,wroughtoff Pat
Cummins, silenced some of his critics. But
it’s not his prerogative to thrill. He’s not paid
to thrill, but to bat for his country, to dig deep
and win matches. The thrill-seekers could
switch onto a Leeds United game, or watch
BBL on a reel. Leave Pujara and Test cricket
alone. After completing 6,000 runs in Tests,
at a faster rate than several legends of the
games,hedeserveshisbitof peace,hisspace,
and legacy.
There will spring the Kohlis and Smiths
of the world, but less so the Pujaras of the
world.
The Bedminster club hosted the 2017
United States Women’s Open, and the pres-
ident’s club in Virginia was the site of the
2017 Senior P.G.A. Championship. The P.G.A.
of America, which was founded 105 years
ago, represents nearly 30,000 teaching club
professionals.
Second instance
It is the second time in roughly five years
that the P.G.A. of America withdrew a tour-
nament from a Trump course. The P.G.A.
GrandSlamof Golf,whichwasscheduledfor
Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in
2015, was canceled not long after Mr. Trump
madedisparagingcommentsaboutMexican
immigrants while seeking the Republican
Party’s nomination for president.
Since entering the White House, Mr.
Trump has been associated with golf like no
president before him, even by the standards
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
PTI
I let the team
down: Paine
on dropped
catches
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
SYDNEY, JANUARY 11
A "BITTERLY disappointed" Australia captain
TimPaineconcededhe"hasn'thadtoomany
worse days" than Monday after his three
dropped catches "let the team down" and
playedtheirpartinIndiapullingoff adrawin
the third Test here. Paine said he was below
par behindthe stumps afterIndiaheldon for
a draw in pursuit of 407.
Paine dropped two catches of Rishabh
Pant, who made a fluent 97 and raised hopes
of an Indian win, and then dropped one of
Hanuma Vihari, who remained unbeaten on
23 and ensured that the game ended in a
draw along with Ravichandran Ashwin (39
not out). "Obviously the dropped catches
have played a part in the result. Probably go-
ing both ways to be far. But I am bitterly dis-
appointed,Ipridemyself onmywicketkeep-
ing. Haven't had too many worse days than
that today," Paine said at the virtual post-
match press conference.
"It's a horrible feeling knowing our fast
bowlers and our spinner (Nathan Lyon)
bowled their hearts out and gave everything
to the team. I certainly feel I let them down.
I have to wear that, but I'll get another crack
at it next week so move on," said the wicket-
keeper referring to the fourth and final Test
in Brisbane.
PainealsohadaverbalduelwithAshwin,
whiletheIndianoff-spinnerwasbatting.The
Australian skipper said it was all a part of the
game. "There was a bit of by-play going on.
Theywerewastingabitof time,wewereget-
ting a bit frustrated, we let him know, he had
a bit of say back and again it's all part of the
game.Noharmdone,"the36-year-oldmain-
tained. According to the Australia skipper,
Indiadeservedtheresultastheyfoughthard.
"Well, obviously, we wanted to win the
game.Ithoughtwecreatedenoughchancesto
doso,wouldn'tsayit'sdeflating,thoughtthere
were a lot of positives out of the game and it
wasanawesomegameof Testcricket.Clearly,
we are disappointed not to get a win but
thought there were some good signs.”
SCORECARD
AUSTRALIA VS INDIA
SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND
Toss: Australia, chose to bat
AUSTRALIA 338 & 312/6 D
INDIA 244 & OVERNIGHT 98 FOR 2
CPujarabHazlewood 77(205b,12x4)
ARahane(c)cWadebLyon 4(18b)
RPant†cCumminsbLyon
97(118b,12x4,3x6)
HViharinotout 23(161b,4x4)
RAshwinnotout 39(128b,7x4)
■ Extras (lb3,nb6 w2) 11
■ Total(131overs) 334/5
■ FoW: 1-71(ShubmanGill,22.1ov),2-92(Rohit
Sharma,30.2ov),3-102(AjinkyaRahane,35.4ov),
4-250(RishabhPant,79.1ov),5-272(Cheteshwar
Pujara,88.2ov)
■Bowling:
MStarc 22-6-66-0
JHazlewood 26-12-39-2
PCummins 26-6-72-1
NLyon 46-17-114-2
CGreen 7-0-31-0
MLabuschagne 4-2-9-0
Result: Match drawn
4th Test: Brisbane, Gabba, Jan 15 to 19
of an office that is frequently occupied by a
golfer.
While he has been booed by fans at a
World Series game and sparked protests by
athletes in basketball and football, among
other sports, Mr. Trump has tried to main-
tain his ties to pro golf and some of the most
decorated players in the history of the game.
He has awarded the Presidential Medal
of Freedom to four golfers: Tiger Woods,
Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Gary Player and
Annika Sorenstam.
Thelastthreeof those,DidriksonZaharias
posthumously, were awarded the honor at
the White House on Thursday, the day after
the attack on the Capitol by the pro-Trump
mob.
Mr. Trump has visited his golf clubs over
300 times since taking office and inspired a
best-selling book about how golf is the best
way to understand him. NYT
Ahmedabad